Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Climate Change: Implications for the Assumptions, Goals and Methods of Urban Environmental Planning
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/771
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.771
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 103-113
Author-Name: Kristina Hill
Author-Workplace-Name: College of Environmental Design, University of California Berkeley, USA
Abstract: As a result of increasing awareness of the implications of global climate change, shifts are becoming necessary and apparent in the assumptions, concepts, goals and methods of urban environmental planning. This review will present the argument that these changes represent a genuine paradigm shift in urban environmental planning. Reflection and action to develop this paradigm shift is critical now and in the next decades, because environmental planning for cities will only become more urgent as we enter a new climate period. The concepts, methods and assumptions that urban environmental planners have relied on in previous decades to protect people, ecosystems and physical structures are inadequate if they do not explicitly account for a rapidly changing regional climate context, specifically from a hydrological and ecological perspective. The over-arching concept of spatial suitability that guided planning in most of the 20th century has already given way to concepts that address sustainability, recognizing the importance of temporality. Quite rapidly, the concept of sustainability has been replaced in many planning contexts by the priority of establishing resilience in the face of extreme disturbance events. Now even this concept of resilience is being incorporated into a novel concept of urban planning as a process of adaptation to permanent, incremental environmental changes. This adaptation concept recognizes the necessity for continued resilience to extreme events, while acknowledging that permanent changes are also occurring as a result of trends that have a clear direction over time, such as rising sea levels. Similarly, the methods of urban environmental planning have relied on statistical data about hydrological and ecological systems that will not adequately describe these systems under a new climate regime. These methods are beginning to be replaced by methods that make use of early warning systems for regime shifts, and process-based quantitative models of regional system behavior that may soon be used to determine acceptable land uses. Finally, the philosophical assumptions that underlie urban environmental planning are changing to address new epistemological, ontological and ethical assumptions that support new methods and goals. The inability to use the past as a guide to the future, new prioritizations of values for adaptation, and renewed efforts to focus on intergenerational justice are provided as examples. In order to represent a genuine paradigm shift, this review argues that changes must begin to be evident across the underlying assumptions, conceptual frameworks, and methods of urban environmental planning, and be attributable to the same root cause. The examples presented here represent the early stages of a change in the overall paradigm of the discipline.
Keywords: climate change; ecological planning; planning theory; sea level rise; urban environments
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:103-113

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: City Labs as Vehicles for Innovation in Urban Planning Processes
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/749
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.749
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 89-102
Author-Name: Christian Scholl
Author-Workplace-Name: International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Author-Name: René Kemp
Author-Workplace-Name: International Centre for Integrated Assessment and Sustainable Development, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
Abstract: This paper assesses the role of urban experiments for local planning processes through a case-based analysis of the city lab of Maastricht. In conjunction with this, the article offers three contributions, as additional elements. Firstly, the paper develops a set of defining characteristics of city labs as an analytical concept which is relevant for discussions about (collaborative) planning. Secondly, it refines the literature on collaborative planning by drawing attention to experimentation and innovation. Thirdly, the paper assesses the potential of city labs to contribute to the innovation of urban governance. The work draws from the literature on experimentation and learning as well as the literature on collaborative urban planning. In the conclusions, we discuss the potential of city labs as vehicles for learning about new urban planning approaches and their limitations as spaces for small-scale experimentation. The paper is based on research for the URB@Exp research project funded by JPI Urban Europe.
Keywords: boundary work; city labs; co-creation; experimentation; Living Labs; public value creation; urban planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:89-102

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Post-Colonial Urban Development and Planning in Cyprus: Shifting Visions and Realities of Early Suburbia
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/768
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.768
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 79-88
Author-Name: Byron Ioannou
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, School of Engineering, Frederick University, Cyprus
Abstract: The paper studies the evolution of early suburban neighbourhoods in the context of the post-colonial urban development and planning. The Planning Report of the colonial Government of Cyprus in 1959 examines the foundations of urban development in Cyprus and at the same time implies a surprisingly sustainable vision for the future of planning. Despite this early intentions and guidance, the urban districts developed far from being sustainable under widely accepted criteria and indicators (participation, effectiveness of planning and development control, sprawl, character and identity, green). The basic hypothesis is that planning has proved insufficient in providing rational urban development. The paper outlines the roots of the planning shortcomings during the last fifty years. British perceptions on planning of the first half of the 20th century influenced the 1959 Report, which affected, in turns, the legislation which followed. It is explained why development constrains and land market restrictions prevented the implementation of rational key ideas, and sustainable visions throughout the years. The paper concludes in attempting to visualize these dynamic processes at the early suburban neighbourhoods and measure distortions on densities, green spaces and layouts by taking an early suburban district as a case study.
Keywords: city expansion; development control; land speculation; neighbourhood layout; suburban development; urban densities; urban sprawl
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:79-88

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Assessing Threats and Conservation Status of Historical Centers of Oak Richness in California
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/726
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.726
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 65-78
Author-Name: Kelly Jane Easterday
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California Berkeley, USA
Author-Name: Patrick J McIntyre
Author-Workplace-Name: Biogeographic Data Branch, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Sacramento, USA
Author-Name: James H Thorne
Author-Workplace-Name: Department Environmental Science and Policy, University of California Davis, USA
Author-Name: Maria J Santos
Author-Workplace-Name: Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Maggi Kelly
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California Berkeley, USA
Abstract: Oak trees are emblematic of California landscapes, they serve as keystone cultural and ecological species and as indicators of natural biological diversity. As historically undeveloped landscapes are increasingly converted to urban environments, endemic oak woodland extent is reduced, which underscores the importance of strategic placement and reintroduction of oaks and woodland landscape for the maintenance of biodiversity and reduction of habitat fragmentation. This paper investigated the effects of human urban development on oak species in California by first modeling historical patterns of richness for eight oak tree species using historical map and plot data from the California Vegetation Type Mapping (VTM) collection. We then examined spatial intersections between hot spots of historical oak richness and modern urban and conservation lands and found that impacts from development and conservation vary by both species and richness. Our findings suggest that the impact of urban development on oaks has been small within the areas of highest oak richness but that areas of highest oak richness are also poorly conserved. Third, we argue that current policy measures are inadequate to conserve oak woodlands and suggest regions to prioritize acquisition of conservation lands as well as examine urban regions where historic centers of oak richness were lost as potential frontiers for oak reintroduction. We argue that urban planning could benefit from the adoption of historical data and modern species distribution modelling techniques primarily used in natural resources and conservation fields to better locate hot spots of species richness, understand where habitats and species have been lost historically and use this evidence as incentive to recover what was lost and preserve what still exists. This adoption of historical data and modern techniques would then serve as a paradigm shift in the way Urban Planners recognize, quantify, and use landscape history in modern built environments.
Keywords: Quercus; species distribution models; urban planning; vegetation type mapping
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:65-78

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Using Systematic Observations to Understand Conditions that Promote Interracial Experiences in Neighbourhood Parks
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/756
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.756
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 51-64
Author-Name: Amy Hillier
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of City & Regional Planning, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Author-Name: Bing Han
Author-Workplace-Name: RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, USA
Author-Name: Theodore S. Eisenman
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning, University of Massachusetts, USA
Author-Name: Kelly R. Evenson
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, USA
Author-Name: Thomas L. McKenzie
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, USA
Author-Name: Deborah A. Cohen
Author-Workplace-Name: RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, USA
Abstract: We analysed observations from 31 neighbourhood parks, with each park mapped into smaller target areas for study, across five US cities generated using the System for Observing Play and Recreation in the Community (SOPARC). In areas where at least two people were observed, less than one-third (31.6%) were populated with at least one white and one non-white person. Park areas that were supervised, had one or more people engaged in vigorous activity, had at least one male and one female present, and had one or more teens present were significantly more likely to involve interracial groups (p < 0.01 for each association). Observations in parks located in interracial neighbourhoods were also more likely to involve interracial groups (p < 0.05). Neighbourhood poverty rate had a significant and negative relationship with the presence of interracial groups, particularly in neighbourhoods that are predominantly non-white. Additional research is needed to confirm the impact of these interactions. Urban planning and public health practitioners should consider the health benefits of interracial contact in the design and programming of neighbourhood parks.
Keywords: Intergroup Contact Theory; interracial contact; parks and recreation; SOPARC; urban parks
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:51-64

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Clumsy City by Design—A Theory for Jane Jacobs’ Imperfect Cities?
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/732
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.732
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 42-50
Author-Name: Sarah Maria Schmitt
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, Austria
Author-Name: Thomas Hartmann
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands and University Jan Evangelista Purkyne, Czech Republic
Abstract: How do different concepts of justice correspond with the principles of diversity in cities introduced by Jane Jacobs? This contribution connects Jane Jacobs’ ideas on the diverse city with Mary Douglas’ Cultural Theory and its concept of clumsy solutions. According to Douglas’ Cultural Theory, every social situation can be described in terms of the four ideal-typical “rationalities”: individualism, egalitarianism, hierarchism, and fatalism. These four rationalities are again linked to different concepts of justice: libertarian, utilitarian, or social justice. Douglas’ Cultural Theory assumes that in every social situation all four of those rationalities emerge in some way and concludes that if a situation is not poly-rational, it is less robust. This opts for imperfect and “clumsy solutions”. It is argued that clumsy solutions, the four rationalities and related concepts fit Jane Jacobs’ claim for more diversity in urban design. This essentially calls for imperfect cities by design, ‘built’ by Jacobs’ generators for diversity. Although this outcome might not be revolutionary in the current debates about urban design, the concept of clumsy solutions provide a foundation for Jane Jacobs’ atheoretical claim for a diverse city. This contributes to new reflections on the urban planning paradigms of Jane Jacobs.
Keywords: clumsy solutions; Cultural Theory; diversity; Jane Jacobs; just city; libertarianism; Mary Douglas; social justice; urban design; utilitarianism
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:42-50

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Shifting Approaches to Planning Theory: Global North and South
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/727
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.727
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 32-41
Author-Name: Vanessa Watson
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Cape Town, South Africa
Abstract: Planning theory has shifted over time in response to changes in broader social and philosophical theory as well as changes in the material world. Postmodernism and poststructuralism dislodged modernist, rational and technical approaches to planning. Consensualist decision-making theories of the 1980s took forms of communicative and collaborative planning, drawing on Habermasian concepts of power and society. These positions, along with refinements and critiques within the field, have been hegemonic in planning theory ever since. They are, in most cases, presented at a high level of abstraction, make little reference to the political and social contexts in which they are based, and hold an unspoken assumption that they are of universal value, i.e. valid everywhere. Not only does this suggest important research methodology errors but it also renders these theories of little use in those parts of the world which are contextually very different from theory origin—in most cases, the global North. A more recent ‘southern turn’ across a range of social science disciplines, and in planning theory, suggests the possibility of a foundational shift toward theories which acknowledge their situatedness in time and place, and which recognize that extensive global difference in cities and regions renders universalized theorising and narrow conceptual models (especially in planning theory, given its relevance for practice) as invalid. New southern theorising in planning is drawing on a range of ideas on societal conflict, informality, identity and ethnicity. Postcolonialism and coloniality have provided a useful frame for situating places historically and geographically in relation to the rest of the world. However, the newness of these explorations still warrants the labelling of this shift as a ‘southern theorizing project’ in planning rather than a suggestion that southern planning theory has emerged.
Keywords: collaborative and communicative planning; global South; southern planning theory; universalized theory
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:32-41

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Re-Thinking Housing: From Physical Manifestation of Colonial Planning Policy to Community-Focused Networks
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/737
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.737
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 20-31
Author-Name: Shelagh McCartney
Author-Workplace-Name: Ryerson University, Canada
Abstract: Current housing systems and policies for First Nations communities in Canada produce a physical manifestation of ongoing colonialism: the house. Examinations of the physical community and house yield an understanding of deeply systematized imperial struggles between Indigenous communities and planning as a discipline. Indigenous families are in crisis as the housing system and Federal planning policies have not allowed for the provision of adequate nor appropriate homes. The recent independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission has begun a civic discussion, accompanied by a new federal government looking to begin a new relationship with Indigenous peoples—here we explore how planning can be a leader in this shift. The ‘contact zone’ is used as an operational lens to examine the ways discourse is used to shape the existing housing system. An interdisciplinary and global approach informs interventions in the existing housing system and policies, creating a community-driven model, and uncovering a reimagined role for the planner.
Keywords: Aboriginal; development planning; First Nations; housing; inclusive and sustainable development; Indigenous planning; participatory planning; spatial planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:20-31

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: The Potential of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in Future Transport Systems
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/612
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.612
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 6-19
Author-Name: Maria Attard
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Development, University of Malta
Author-Name: Muki Haklay
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering
Author-Name: Cristina Capineri
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences, University of Siena
Abstract: As transport systems are pushed to the limits in many cities, governments have tried to resolve problems of traffic and congestion by increasing capacity. Miller (2013) contends the need to identify new capabilities (instead of capacity) of the transport infrastructure in order to increase efficiency without extending the physical infrastructure. Kenyon and Lyons (2003) identified integrated traveller information as a facilitator for better transport decisions. Today, with further developments in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and a greater disposition by the public to provide volunteered geographic information (VGI), the potential of information is not only integrated across modes but also user-generated, real-time and available on smartphones anywhere. This geographic information plays today an important role in sectors such as politics, businesses and entertainment, and presumably this would extend to transport in revealing people’s preferences for mobility and therefore be useful for decision-making. The widespread availability of networks and smartphones offer new opportunities supported by apps and crowdsourcing through social media such as the successful traffic and navigation app Waze, car sharing programmes such as Zipcar, and ride sharing systems such as Uber. This study aims to develop insights into the potential of governments to use voluntary (crowdsourced) geographic information effectively to achieve sustainable mobility. A review of the literature and existing technology informs this article. Further research into this area is identified and presented at the end of the paper.
Keywords: government; sustainable mobility; transport; VGI
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:6-19

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: The Death and Life of Collaborative Planning Theory
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/715
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i4.715
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 4
Pages: 1-5
Author-Name: Robert Goodspeed
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Michigan, USA
Abstract: It has been over 20 years since Judith Innes proclaimed communicative action to be the “emerging paradigm” for planning theory, a theoretical perspective which has been developed into what is known as collaborative planning theory (CPT). With planning theory shifting to a new generation of scholars, this commentary considers the fate of this intellectual movement within planning. CPT never achieved the paradigmatic status its advocates desired because of its internal diversity and limited scope. However, its useful combination of analytical and normative insights is attracting the interest of a new generation of researchers, who are subjecting it to rigorous empirical testing and addressing longstanding theoretical weaknesses. Like Jane Jacob’s classic book the Death and Life of Great American Cities, CPT has made an enduring impact on planning theory, even as it has failed to achieve a total revolution in thinking.
Keywords: collaborative planning theory; communicative action; Jürgen Habermas; planning theory
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:4:p:1-5

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Sustainability Planning as Paradigm Change
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/740
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i3.740
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 3
Pages: 55-58
Author-Name: Stephen M. Wheeler
Author-Workplace-Name: University of California at Davis, USA
Abstract: The theme of the next issue of Urban Planning will be Paradigm Shifts. To make the link between “sustainability” and “paradigm change,” the following commentary analyzes the former concept as a main example of the latter. Although it is often applied to rather modest planning initiatives, “sustainability” can be seen as requiring shifts in cognitive paradigm that are transformational, radical, and not yet fully appreciated by most of those who use the term. Specifically, this term implies a proactive, results-oriented approach (e.g. initiatives to actually meet GHG reduction targets), a long-term viewpoint (e.g. planning for 50 or 100+ years in the future), and a holistic or ecological mindset able to understand dynamic, evolving systems. This last change is the most difficult and requires thinking across scales of action, across time frames, across issue areas and goals (e.g. the “Three E’s” of environment, economy, and social equity), and across communities. It also means integrating different types of actions into a broader program of social change. Though challenging, these cognitive shifts can lead to radically different outcomes than past urban planning.
Keywords: paradigm change; sustainability; sustainable development; urban planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:3:p:55-58

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Governing Uncertainties in Sustainable Energy Transitions—Insights from Local Heat Supply in Switzerland
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/673
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i3.673
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 3
Pages: 38-54
Author-Name: Basil Bornemann
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel
Author-Name: Stephan Schmidt
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel
Author-Name: Susanne Schubert
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute IWAR, Technische Universität Darmstadt
Abstract: The governance of sustainable energy transitions (SET) is facing multiple technological, economic, societal and political uncertainties. In practice, these energy-related uncertainties play a role not only at the level of “major politics,” but also in the policymaking of local decision makers and planners. This paper seeks to attain a more differentiated understanding of how uncertainties concerning the energy transition play out and are dealt with in policymaking and planning “on the ground.” To do so, the paper combines conceptual reflections with an explorative empirical study on local heat supply policy in Switzerland. In conceptual regards, it proposes some distinctions of types of uncertainties related to energy transitions, and a typology of strategic decision options for dealing with uncertainty. On this basis, the paper reveals similarities and differences regarding the perception of uncertainties and ways of dealing with them in a number of Swiss cities. These insights evoke further questions about the causes and effects of different sensitivities to uncertainty and ways of dealing with them.
Keywords: energy transition; governance of uncertainty; sustainability; sustainability governance; uncertainty; urban heat supply
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:3:p:38-54

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Cool City Design: Integrating Real-Time Urban Canyon Assessment into the Design Process for Chinese and Australian Cities
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/646
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i3.646
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 3
Pages: 25-37
Author-Name: Marcus White
Author-Workplace-Name: Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, Australia
Author-Name: Youpei Hu
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, China
Author-Name: Nano Langenheim
Author-Workplace-Name: Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, Australia
Author-Name: Wowo Ding
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, China
Author-Name: Mark Burry
Author-Workplace-Name: Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne, Australia
Abstract: Many cities are undergoing rapid urbanisation and intensification with the unintended consequence of creating dense urban fabric with deep ‘urban canyons’. Urban densification can trap longwave radiation impacting on local atmospheric conditions, contributing to the phenomena known as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). As global temperatures are predicted to increase, there is a critical need to better understand urban form and heat retention in cities and integrate analysis tools into the design decision making process to design cooler cities. This paper describes the application and validation of a novel three-dimensional urban canyon modelling approach calculating Sky View Factor (SVF), one important indicator used in the prediction of UHI. Our modified daylighting system based approach within a design modelling environment allows iterative design decision making informed by SVF on an urban design scale. This approach is tested on urban fabric samples from cities in both Australia and China. The new approach extends the applicability in the design process of existing methods by providing ‘real-time’ SVF feedback for complex three-dimensional urban scenarios. The modelling approach enables city designers to mix intuitive compositional design modelling with dynamic canyon feedback. The approach allows a greater understanding of existing and proposed urban forms and identifying potential canyon problem areas, improved decision making and design advocacy, and can potentially have an impact on cities’ temperature.
Keywords: performative urban design; real-time design; sky view factor; urban canyon; Urban Heat Island
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:3:p:25-37

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: The Role of Planning in Minimizing the Negative Impacts of Global Climate Change
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/671
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i3.671
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 3
Pages: 13-24
Author-Name: Bjoern Hagen
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, USA
Abstract: Climate change is one of the most salient challenges to society, both today and in the near future. Considering the complexity, uncertainties, and scale of possible global climate change (GCC) impacts, there is agreement that urban planning has the capacity to facilitate the development and implementation of adaptation as well as mitigation strategies. The land use planning system provides a framework to reduce greenhouse gas emissions considerably by addressing central issues such as community design, transportation networks and use, and increasing development density. Planning can also play an important role in impacting public behavior, thus slowing the pace of GCC and allowing the development and implementation of adaptation measurements. The purpose of this article is to examine the important role of the planning profession in developing and successfully implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies. There is a growing sense that planning will receive increasing attention as an important policy instrument for addressing both the causes and impacts of climate change. This work also supports the argument that climate action plans can be a vital instrument in confronting the challenges of climate change and that planners need to be more involved in the development and implementation process of such plans.
Keywords: adaptation; global climate change; mainstreaming; mitigation; urban planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:3:p:13-24

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Engendering Creative City Image by Using Information Communication Technology in Developing Countries
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/686
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i3.686
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 3
Pages: 1-12
Author-Name: Dillip Kumar Das
Author-Workplace-Name: Central University of Technology, Free State, South Africa
Abstract: Creativity has been a major key word in the city planning and urban marketing policies all over the world. Arguably, it ensures an image that can ensue marketable branding of a city. Thus, a creative city has major socio-economic implications. However, the question remains how a creative environment in a city can be engendered and an attractive image can be built. In the contemporary age, Information Communication Technology (ICT) apparently has increasingly been influencing every sphere of the city functions, and it is hypothesized that it will assist in building a creative image of a city. Therefore, the objectives of the paper are (1) to map the theoretical insights on the concepts of creativity, city image building and branding; and (2) to explore the influence of ICT on developing image of a creative city. The investigation was conducted by using both qualitative and quantitative research methods. A stimulating mix of literature review and case study analyses were done to develop the concept of a creative city and image building. Besides, using a survey research method and by considering two cities (Bloemfontein from South Africa and Bhubaneswar from India) two case studies were performed to examine how ICT can engender a creative image of a city in developing countries. Findings suggest that although urban creativity is not a revolutionary approach towards urban policies, and there are criticisms against such concept, economic variables, such as, business environment, entrepreneurship and innovation, availability of knowledge workers and ICT activities; socio-cultural variables, such as, art, culture, receptive attitude, safety and tolerance; and environmental variables, such as, cleanliness, greenery, quality public spaces and tourism enforce distinct images of cities. It is also revealed that ICT can play a catalytic role in the creative image building as it contributes extensively in the form of enabling better business environment, bringing social cohesion and multicultural tolerance, promoting tourism and engendering of clean environment. However, the image of every city could be unique depending on the attributes focused and reinforced in the development of a city.
Keywords: creative image; city branding; entrepreneurship; environment; ICT; socio-cultural
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:3:p:1-12

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: The V in VGI: Citizens or Civic Data Sources
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/644
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.644
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 141-154
Author-Name: Suthee Sangiambut
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Author-Name: Renee Sieber
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Abstract: Volunteered geographic information (VGI), delivered via mobile and web apps, offers new potentials for civic engagement. If framed in the context of open, transparent and accountable governance then presumably VGI should advance dialogue and consultation between citizen and government. If governments perceive citizens as consumers of services then arguably such democratic intent elide when municipalities use VGI. Our empirical research shows how assumptions embedded in VGI drive the interaction between citizens and government. We created a typology that operationalises VGI as a potential act of citizenship and an instance of consumption. We then selected civic apps from Canadian cities that appeared to invoke these VGI types. We conducted interviews with developers of the apps; they were from government, private sector, and civil society. Results from qualitative semi-structured interviews indicate a blurring of consumer and citizen-centric orientations among respondents, which depended on motivations for data use, engagement and communication objectives, and sector of the respondent. Citizen engagement, an analogue for citizenship, was interpreted multiple ways. Overall, we found that government and developers may increase choice by creating consumer-friendly apps but this does not ensure VGI offers an act of civic participation. The burden is placed on the contributor to make it so. Apps and VGI could potentially further a data-driven and neoliberal government. Planners should be mindful of the dominance of a consumer-centric view even as they assume VGI invariably improves democratic participation.
Keywords: Canada; citizen engagement; consumer; democracy; governance; government; municipal; open data; participation; volunteer
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:141-154

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Kilburn High Road Revisited
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/614
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.614
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 128-140
Author-Name: Cristina Capineri
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social, Political and Cognitce Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
Abstract: Drawing on John Agnew’s (1987) theoretical framework for the analysis of place (location, locale and sense of place) and on Doreen Massey’s (1991) interpretation of Kilburn High Road (London), the contribution develops an analysis of the notion of place in the case study of Kilburn High Road by comparing the semantics emerging from Doreen Massey’s interpretation of Kilburn High Road in the late Nineties with those from a selection of noisy and unstructured volunteered geographic information collected from Flickr photos and Tweets harvested in 2014–2015. The comparison shows how sense of place is dynamic and changing over time and explores Kilburn High Road through the categories of location, locale and sense of place derived from the qualitative analysis of VGI content and annotations. The contribution shows how VGI can contribute to discovering the unique relationship between people and place which takes the form given by Doreen Massey to Kilburn High Road and then moves on to the many forms given by people experiencing Kilburn High Road through a photo, a Tweet or a simple narrative. Finally, the paper suggests that the analysis of VGI content can contribute to detect the relevant features of street life, from infrastructure to citizens’ perceptions, which should be taken into account for a more human-centered approach in planning or service management.
Keywords: content analysis; Kilburn High Road; place; VGI
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:128-140

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Citizen-Centric Urban Planning through Extracting Emotion Information from Twitter in an Interdisciplinary Space-Time-Linguistics Algorithm
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/617
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.617
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 114-127
Author-Name: Bernd Resch
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geoinformatics - Z_GIS, University of Salzburg, Austria; Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA and Institute of Geography (GIScience), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Author-Name: Anja Summa
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Computational Linguistics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany
Author-Name: Peter Zeile
Author-Workplace-Name: Computergestützte Planungs und Entwurfsmethoden (CPE), University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Author-Name: Michael Strube
Author-Workplace-Name: NLP Group, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies gGmbH, Heidelberg, Germany
Abstract: Traditional urban planning processes typically happen in offices and behind desks. Modern types of civic participation can enhance those processes by acquiring citizens’ ideas and feedback in participatory sensing approaches like “People as Sensors”. As such, citizen-centric planning can be achieved by analysing Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) data such as Twitter tweets and posts from other social media channels. These user-generated data comprise several information dimensions, such as spatial and temporal information, and textual content. However, in previous research, these dimensions were generally examined separately in single-disciplinary approaches, which does not allow for holistic conclusions in urban planning. This paper introduces TwEmLab, an interdisciplinary approach towards extracting citizens’ emotions in different locations within a city. More concretely, we analyse tweets in three dimensions (space, time, and linguistics), based on similarities between each pair of tweets as defined by a specific set of functional relationships in each dimension. We use a graph-based semi-supervised learning algorithm to classify the data into discrete emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger/disgust, none). Our proposed solution allows tweets to be classified into emotion classes in a multi-parametric approach. Additionally, we created a manually annotated gold standard that can be used to evaluate TwEmLab’s performance. Our experimental results show that we are able to identify tweets carrying emotions and that our approach bears extensive potential to reveal new insights into citizens’ perceptions of the city.
Keywords: integrated space-time-linguistics methodology; participatory planning; semi-supervised learning; Twitter emotions
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:114-127

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Data-Driven Participation: Algorithms, Cities, Citizens, and Corporate Control
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/645
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.645
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 101-113
Author-Name: Matthew Tenney
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Author-Name: Renee Sieber
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Abstract: In this paper, we critically explore the interplay of algorithms and civic participation in visions of a city governed by equation, sensor and tweet. We begin by discussing the rhetoric surrounding techno-enabled paths to participatory democracy. This leads to us interrogating how the city is impacted by a discourse that promises to harness social/human capital through data science. We move to a praxis level and examine the motivations of local planners to adopt and increasingly automate forms of VGI as a form of citizen engagement. We ground theory and praxis with a report on the uneven impacts of algorithmic civic participation underway in the Canadian city of Toronto.
Keywords: big data; civic engagement; data-driven; local government; participation; smart city; urban planning; VGI; volunteered geographic information
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:101-113

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Ensuring VGI Credibility in Urban-Community Data Generation: A Methodological Research Design
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/620
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.620
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 88-100
Author-Name: Jamie O'Brien
Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, London, UK
Author-Name: Miguel Serra
Author-Workplace-Name: Space Syntax Laboratory, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, London, UK
Author-Name: Andrew Hudson-Smith
Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, London, UK
Author-Name: Sophia Psarra
Author-Workplace-Name: Space Syntax Laboratory, Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, London, UK
Author-Name: Anthony Hunter
Author-Workplace-Name: UCL Computer Science, University College London, London, UK
Author-Name: Martin Zaltz-Austwick
Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, London, UK
Abstract: In this paper we outline the methodological development of current research into urban community formations based on combinations of qualitative (volunteered) and quantitative (spatial analytical and geo-statistical) data. We outline a research design that addresses problems of data quality relating to credibility in volunteered geographic information (VGI) intended for Web-enabled participatory planning. Here we have drawn on a dual notion of credibility in VGI data, and propose a methodological workflow to address its criteria. We propose a ‘super-positional’ model of urban community formations, and report on the combination of quantitative and participatory methods employed to underpin its integration. The objective of this methodological phase of study is to enhance confidence in the quality of data for Web-enabled participatory planning. Our participatory method has been supported by rigorous quantification of area characteristics, including participant communities’ demographic and socio-economic contexts. This participatory method provided participants with a ready and accessible format for observing and mark-making, which allowed the investigators to iterate rapidly a system design based on participants’ responses to the workshop tasks. Participatory workshops have involved secondary school-age children in socio-economically contrasting areas of Liverpool (Merseyside, UK), which offers a test-bed for comparing communities’ formations in comparative contexts, while bringing an under-represented section of the population into a planning domain, whose experience may stem from public and non-motorised transport modalities. Data has been gathered through one-day participatory workshops, featuring questionnaire surveys, local site analysis, perception mapping and brief, textual descriptions. This innovative approach will support Web-based participation among stakeholding planners, who may benefit from well-structured, community-volunteered, geo-located definitions of local spaces.
Keywords: community participation; data credibility; geo-spatial quantification; participatory methods; quality of data; urban planning; volunteered geographic information
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:88-100

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: ‘Sensor’ship and Spatial Data Quality
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/608
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.608
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 75-87
Author-Name: Elisabeth Sedano
Author-Workplace-Name: Spatial Sciences Institute, University of Southern California, USA
Abstract: This article describes a Los Angeles-based website that collects volunteered geographic information (VGI) on outdoor advertising using the Google Street View interface. The Billboard Map website was designed to help the city regulate signage. The Los Angeles landscape is thick with advertising, and the city efforts to count total of signs has been stymied by litigation and political pressure. Because outdoor advertising is designed to be seen, the community collectively knows how many and where signs exist. As such, outdoor advertising is a perfect subject for VGI. This paper analyzes the Los Angeles community's entries in the Billboard Map website both quantitatively and qualitatively. I find that members of the public are well able to map outdoor advertisements, successfully employing the Google Street View interface to pinpoint sign locations. However, the community proved unaware of the regulatory distinctions between types of signs, mapping many more signs than those the city technically designates as billboards. Though these findings might suggest spatial data quality issues in the use of VGI for municipal record-keeping, I argue that the Billboard Map teaches an important lesson about how the public's conceptualization of the urban landscape differs from that envisioned by city planners. In particular, I argue that community members see the landscape of advertising holistically, while city agents treat the landscape as a collection of individual categories. This is important because, while Los Angeles recently banned new off-site signs, it continues to approve similar signs under new planning categories, with more in the works.
Keywords: categorization; landscape; outdoor advertising; spatial data quality; VGI
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:75-87

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Civic Hackathons: New Terrain for Local Government-Citizen Interaction?
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/627
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.627
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 65-74
Author-Name: Pamela J. Robinson
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Author-Name: Peter A. Johnson
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
Abstract: As more and more governments share open data, tech developers respond by creating apps using these data to generate content or provide services that citizens may find useful. More recently, there is an increase in popularity of the civic hackathon. These time-limited events gather tech enthusiasts, government workers and interested citizens, in a collaborative environment to apply government open data in developing software applications that address issues of shared civic importance. Building on the Johnson and Robinson (2014) framework for understanding the civic hackathon phenomenon, Canadian municipal staff with civic hackathon experience were interviewed about their motivations for and benefits derived from participation in these events. Two broad themes emerged from these interviews. First, through the development of prototypical apps using municipal open data and other data sets, civic hackathons help put open data into public use. Second, civic hackathons provide government staff with valuable feedback about municipal open data sets informing and evolving future open data releases. This paper concludes with reflections for urban planners about how civic hackathons might be used in their practice and with recommendations for municipal staff considering using civic hackathons to add value to municipal open data.
Keywords: civic hackathon; civic technology; geospatial web; open data; open government; volunteered geographic information; web 2.0
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:65-74

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Planning with Citizens: Implementation of an e-Planning Platform and Analysis of Research Needs
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/607
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.607
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 46-64
Author-Name: Stefan Steiniger
Author-Workplace-Name: Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable (CEDEUS), Departamento de Ingeniería Transporte y Logística, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile
Author-Name: M. Ebrahim Poorazizi
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada
Author-Name: Andrew J. S. Hunter
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary, Canada and McKenzie and Co Consultants Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract: Citizen participation should be an essential part of an urban planning process if the needs of the local population are to be addressed. Citizen participation should also improve acceptance of private construction projects by residents that live in or near such development. A complementary form of citizen participation to public planning meetings is to permit citizen engagement via Web 2.0 technologies, which also has the potential to get citizens involved that are usually difficult to reach. We aim to build a social, i.e. participatory, planning platform that allows technology savvy citizens to inform themselves of future and ongoing development projects and to also discuss them online. In this work we discuss the functional needs and context-of-use constraints of such an e-planning platform. A conceptual model of the technical architecture is outlined and a prototype implementation is presented. This prototype is built on free and open source software components, including a social network, to enable platform adoption in other locations. Finally, we discuss the research needs that are to be addressed if the development of participatory e-planning platforms should advance.
Keywords: design criteria; e-planning platform; open-source; participatory planning; PPGIS, social networks
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:46-64

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Leveraging VGI Integrated with 3D Spatial Technology to Support Urban Intensification in Melbourne, Australia
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/623
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.623
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 32-48
Author-Name: Soheil Sabri
Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for SDIs and Land Administration, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Author-Name: Abbas Rajabifard
Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for SDIs and Land Administration, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Author-Name: Serene Ho
Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for SDIs and Land Administration, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Author-Name: Sam Amirebrahimi
Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for SDIs and Land Administration, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Author-Name: Ian Bishop
Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for SDIs and Land Administration, Department of Infrastructure Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Abstract: High density residential development in metropolitan Melbourne, where contradictory imperatives of neighbourhood character and urban intensification play important roles, remains an uncertain practice. One key issue for plan implementation is the lack of consistency between authorities, developers and the community in interpreting the standards, design guidelines, and state/local strategies, especially those relating to neighbourhood character. There is currently no mechanism to incorporate community perceptions and place experiences as subjective aspects of neighbourhood character in development assessments. There is also little use of micro-scale and multi-dimensional spatial analysis to integrate these subjective aspects with objective measures (e.g. building volume and height; streetscape) to communicate effectively—and in a limited timeframe—with all stakeholders. This paper explores the potential of two emerging geospatial technologies that can be leveraged to respond to these problems. Evidence in the literature suggests that volunteered geographic information (VGI) can provide community input around subjective aspects of the urban environment. In addition, a deluge of three-dimensional (3D) spatial information (e.g. 3D city models) is increasingly available for micro-level (building- or property-level) assessment of the physical aspects of the urban environment. This paper formulates and discusses a conceptual framework to link these two spatial technological advancements in a virtual geographic environment (VGE) that accounts for micro-scale 3D spatial analysis incorporating both subjective and objective aspects of neighbourhood character relevant in implementing compact city strategies.
Keywords: 3D city models; compact city; Melbourne; neighbourhood character; VGE; VGI
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:32-48

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Characterizing New Channels of Communication: A Case Study of Municipal 311 Requests in Edmonton, Canada
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/621
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.621
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 18-31
Author-Name: Qing Lu
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Canada
Author-Name: Peter A. Johnson
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Canada
Abstract: City governments around the world are developing and expanding how they connect to citizens. Technologies play an important role in making this connection, and one frequent way that cities connect with citizens is through 311-style request systems. 311 is a non-emergency municipal notification system that uses telephone, email, web forms, and increasingly, mobile applications to allow citizens to notify government of infrastructure issues and make requests for municipal services. In many ways, this process of citizen contribution mirrors the provision of volunteered geographic information, that is spatially-referenced user generated content. This research presents a case study of the city of Edmonton, Canada, an early adopter of multi-channel 311 service request systems, including telephone, email, web form, and mobile app 311 request channels. Three methods of analysis are used to characterize and compare these different channels over three years of request data; a comparison of relative request share for each channel, a spatial hot spot analysis, and regression models to compare channel usage with sociodemographic variables. The results of this study indicate a shift in channel usage from traditional to Internet-enabled, that this shift is mirrored in the hotspots of request activity, and that specific digital inequalities exist that reinforce this distinction between traditional and Internet-enabled reporting channels.
Keywords: 311; digital divide; mobile app; municipal government; open data; VGI
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:18-31

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Revealing Cultural Ecosystem Services through Instagram Images: The Potential of Social Media Volunteered Geographic Information for Urban Green Infrastructure Planning and Governance
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/609
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i2.609
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 2
Pages: 1-17
Author-Name: Paulina Guerrero
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Institute of Environmental Planning, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany
Author-Name: Maja Steen Møller
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Author-Name: Anton Stahl Olafsson
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Author-Name: Bernhard Snizek
Author-Workplace-Name: metascapes.org, Denmark
Abstract: With the prevalence of smartphones, new ways of engaging citizens and stakeholders in urban planning and governance are emerging. The technologies in smartphones allow citizens to act as sensors of their environment, producing and sharing rich spatial data useful for new types of collaborative governance set-ups. Data derived from Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) can support accessible, transparent, democratic, inclusive, and locally-based governance situations of interest to planners, citizens, politicians, and scientists. However, there are still uncertainties about how to actually conduct this in practice. This study explores how social media VGI can be used to document spatial tendencies regarding citizens’ uses and perceptions of urban nature with relevance for urban green space governance. Via the hashtag <em>#sharingcph</em>, created by the City of Copenhagen in 2014, VGI data consisting of geo-referenced images were collected from Instagram, categorised according to their content and analysed according to their spatial distribution patterns. The results show specific spatial distributions of the images and main hotspots. Many possibilities and much potential of using VGI for generating, sharing, visualising and communicating knowledge about citizens’ spatial uses and preferences exist, but as a tool to support scientific and democratic interaction, VGI data is challenged by practical, technical and ethical concerns. More research is needed in order to better understand the usefulness and application of this rich data source to governance.
Keywords: cultural ecosystem services; e-governance; geosocial mapping; green space governance; spatial analysis; VGI
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:2:p:1-17

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Compact Cities Are Complex, Intense and Diverse but: Can We Design Such Emergent Urban Properties?
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/535
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.535
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 95-113
Author-Name: Hye Kyung Lim
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Author-Name: Jaan-Henrik Kain
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Abstract: Compact cities are promoted by global and local policies in response to environmental, economic and social challenges. It is argued that increased density and diversity of urban functions and demographics are expected to deliver positive outcomes. ‘Emerged’ urban area which have developed incrementally seem to exhibit such dense and diverse characteristics, acquired through adaptation by multiple actors over time and space. Today, ‘design-based’ planning approaches aim to create the same characteristics here and now. An example of such is the City of Gothenburg, Sweden, which strives to involve multiple actors to ‘design’ urban density and mixed use, but with unsatisfactory outcomes. There is reason to investigate in what way current planning approaches need modification to better translate policy goals into reality. This paper studied which type of planning approach appears to best deliver the desired urban characteristics. Two cities are studied, Gothenburg and Tokyo. Today, these cities operate under different main planning paradigms. Tokyo applies a rule-based approach and Gothenburg a design-based approach. Five urban areas were studied in each city, representing outcomes of three strategic planning approaches that have been applied historically in both cities: 1) emergent compact urban form; 2) designed dispersed urban form; and 3) designed compact urban form. Planning outcomes in the form of density, building scales and diversity were analysed to understand if such properties of density and diversity are best achieved by a specific planning approach. The results show that different planning approaches deliver very different outcomes when it comes to these qualities. To better support ambitions for compact cities in Gothenburg, the prevailing mix of ‘planning by design’ and ‘planning by developmental control’ needs to be complemented by a third planning strategy of ‘planning by coding’ or ‘rule-based planning’. This is critical to capacitate urban planning to accommodate parameters, such as timing, density, building scale diversity, and decentralization of planning and design activities to multiple actors.
Keywords: compact city; density; diversity; emergent urban form; rule-based planning; urban adaptability; urban resilience
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:95-113

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Planners in the Future City: Using City Information Modelling to Support Planners as Market Actors
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/556
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.556
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 79-94
Author-Name: Emine Mine Thompson
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, UK
Author-Name: Paul Greenhalgh
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, UK
Author-Name: Kevin Muldoon-Smith
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, UK
Author-Name: James Charlton
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, UK
Author-Name: Michal Dolník
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, UK
Abstract: Recently, Adams and Tiesdell (2010), Tewdwr-Jones (2012) and Batty (2013) have outlined the importance of information and intelligence in relation to the mediation and management of land, property and urban consumers in the future city. Traditionally, the challenge for urban planners was the generation of meaningful and timely information. Today, the urban planners’ challenge is no longer the timely generation of urban data, rather, it is in relation to how so much information can be exploited and integrated successfully into contemporary spatial planning and governance. The paper investigates this challenge through a commentary on two City Information Modelling (CIM) case studies at Northumbria University, UK. This commentary is grouped around four key themes, <em>Accessibility and availability of data, accuracy and consistency of data, manageability of data </em>and<em> integration of data. </em>It is also designed to provoke discussion in relation to the exploitation and improvement of data modelling and visualisation in the urban planning discipline and to contribute to the literature in related fields. The paper concludes that the production of information, its use and modelling, can empower urban planners as they mediate and contest state-market relations in the city. However, its use should be circumspect as data alone does not guarantee delivery of a sustainable urban future, rather, emphasis and future research should be placed upon interpretation and use of data.
Keywords: city information modelling; future cities; GIS; market actors; market rich intelligence; smart cities; spatial planning; urban planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:79-94

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Spatial Segregation, Redistribution and Welfare: A Theoretical Model
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/537
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.537
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 68-78
Author-Name: Tommaso Gabrieli
Author-Workplace-Name: Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, UK
Abstract: This paper develops a theoretical model focusing on the effect that different neighborhood compositions can have on the formation of individual beliefs about economic opportunities. Specifically we highlight two effects that spatial segregation may have: (1) it can efficiently separate the individual effort choices of highly and low productive individuals, (2) it may imply that the median voter imposes a level of redistribution that is inefficient from the aggregate point of view. The trade-off implies that segregated and non-segregated cities may present very similar levels of aggregate welfare. We employ this framework to discuss how the structure of cities can play a role in the determination of US-type and Europe-type politico-economic equilibria and the implications for planning policies.
Keywords: median voter; redistribution; spatial segregation; welfare
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:68-78

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Designing Difference: Co-Production of Spaces of Potentiality
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/540
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.540
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 59-67
Author-Name: Garrett Wolf
Author-Workplace-Name: Manchester Architecture Research Centre, The University of Manchester, UK
Author-Name: Nathan Mahaffey
Author-Workplace-Name: Development Planning Unit, University College London, UK
Abstract: Design and Planning professionals have long been influenced by the belief in physically and spatially deterministic power over people and the environment, a belief that their representations of space become space. As a result the goal of design often becomes “fixing” or directing behavior and culture instead of letting culture happen. This outlook often prevents designers from engaging critically with culture, through representational space and spatial practice, as a crucial, possibly the most crucial, aspect in the design process. Just as human cultures interact to constantly reproduce and co-produce hybrid cultures, the professional designer and those users and experiencers of design (at whatever scale) must interact to co-produce spaces and places of activity. Through a critique of the practice of placemaking, we highlight the need to differentiate between participation and co-production. Understanding participation as one element of the design process and the role of design at larger scales of co-productive processes can help designers have a better understanding of how spaces are produced, and the role of designers in the creation of spaces of potentiality. Agamben’s writing on<em> potentialities </em>and Lefebvre’s spatial triad offer a theoretical framework to investigate the ethical role of professional designers in society while taking a critical stance against the singular solutions of modernist urban transformation. Spaces of Potentiality are seen here as a designer’s simultaneous withdrawal from rational problem solving and deterministic solutions, and an engagement with open source strategies for the co-production of urban space.
Keywords: Agamben; autogestion; co-production; differential space; Lefebvre; potentiality; spatial triad
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:59-67

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Planning in/for/with the Public
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/599
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.599
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 55-58
Author-Name: Ulf Strohmayer
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geography & Archaeology, The National University of Ireland, Ireland
Abstract: This commentary traces key issues attaching to the use of the word ‘public’ within planning practices and theories. It argues for an alternative, non-binary engagement with public practices that may profit from being cast in a Foucauldian language and epistemology.
Keywords: alternative practices; dispositive; Foucauldian language; public sphere
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:55-58

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: From Ephemeral Planning to Permanent Urbanism: An Urban Planning Theory of Mega-Events
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/532
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.532
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 41-54
Author-Name: Eva Kassens-Noor
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Planning, Design and Construction & Global Urban Studies, Michigan State University, USA
Abstract: Mega-events like the Olympic Games are powerful forces that shape cities. In the wake of mega-events, a variety of positive and negative legacies have remained in host cities. In order to bring some theoretical clarity to debates about legacy creation, I introduce the concepts of the mega-event utopia, dystopia and heterotopia. A mega-event utopia is ideal and imaginary urbanism embracing abstract concepts about economies, socio-political systems, spaces, and societies <em>in</em> the host <em>during</em> events. The mega-event utopia (in contrast to other utopian visions other stakeholders may hold) is dictated by the desires of the mega-event owners irrespective of the realities in the event host. In short, a mega-event utopia is the perfect event host from the owner’s perspective. Mega-event utopias are suggested as a theoretical model for the systematic transformation of their host cities. As large-scale events progress as ever more powerful transformers into this century, <em>mega-event dystopias</em> have emerged as negatives of these idealistic utopias. As hybrid post-event landscapes, m<em>ega-event heterotopias</em> manifest the temporary mega-event utopia as legacy imprints into the long-term realities in hosting cities. Using the Olympic utopia as an example of a mega-event utopia, I theorize utopian visions around four urban traits: economy, image, infrastructure and society. Through the concept of the <em>mega-event legacy utopia</em>, I also provide some insight toward the operationalization of the four urban traits for a city’s economic development, local place marketing, urban development, and public participation.
Keywords: heterotopia; legacy; mega-event; Olympic; place; planning theory; society; transformation; urban theory; utopia
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:41-54

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Urban Structure, Energy and Planning: Findings from Three Cities in Sweden, Finland and Estonia
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/506
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.506
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 24-40
Author-Name: Juliane Große
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Author-Name: Christian Fertner
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Author-Name: Niels Boje Groth
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract: Transforming energy use in cities to address the threats of climate change and resource scarcity is a major challenge in urban development. This study takes stock of the state of energy in urban policy and planning and reveals potentials of and constraints to energy-efficient urban development. The relationship between energy and urban structure provides a framework for discussing the role of urban planning to increase energy efficiency in cities by means of three in-depth case studies of medium-sized cities in Northern Europe: Eskilstuna in Sweden, Turku in Finland and Tartu in Estonia. In some ways these cities go ahead when it comes to their national climate and energy policies and aim to establish urban planning as an instrument to regulate and influence the city’s transition in a sustainable way. At the same time, the cities are constantly facing goal conflicts and limitations to their scope of action, which creates dilemmas in their strategic orientation and planning activities (e.g. regional enlargement and increased commuting vs. compact urban development). Finally, considering urban form and spatial structure along with the policy context as well as regional drivers and functional relations is suggested as a suitable approach for addressing the challenges of energy-efficient urban development.
Keywords: climate change; energy efficiency; Northern Europe; sustainable development; urban form; urban planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:24-40

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Planning for Planet or City?
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/604
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.604
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 20-23
Author-Name: Mark Davidson
Author-Workplace-Name: Geography Department, Clark University, USA
Abstract: If we now live with a planetary urban process (Brenner &amp; Schmid, 2015a), the very idea of “future cities” must be brought into question. Indeed, we might ask whether urban planning has morphed into planetary planning, with its primary charge being the construction of vast networks of urban systems coordinating a global capitalist process. This commentary cautions against such over-extended theories of urbanization and related planning practices. Although global capitalism has engendered profound spatial changes, the concept of the city remains a crucial social and political idea. By outlining the continued centrality of the city to social and political life, the commentary argues for a democratic evaluation of the urban form in order to plan for, and realize, more just cities.
Keywords: future cities; urban forms; urban planning; urbanization
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:20-23

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Urban Gardening and Green Space Governance: Towards New Collaborative Planning Practices
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/520
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.520
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 5-19
Author-Name: Sofia Nikolaidou
Author-Workplace-Name: Centre of Social Morphology and Social Policy, Department of Social Policy, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Greece
Author-Name: Tanja Klöti
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland
Author-Name: Simone Tappert
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland
Author-Name: Matthias Drilling
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Social Planning, Organisational Change and Urban Development, School of Social Work, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Switzerland
Abstract: In the context of urban densification and central urban areas’ lack of open spaces, new forms of small-scale urban gardening practices have emerged. These gardening practices respond to urban pressures and open new modes of green space governance, presenting alternative and multifunctional ways to manage and revitalise cities. Focusing on the case of Geneva, the article unfolds two levels of discussion. On the one hand—and with reference to the theorist Habermas—it examines how multiple actors with different interests interplay and cooperate with each other in order to negotiate over open space, while discussing implications for local politics and planning. On the other hand, it describes how these negotiations result in new, innovative, and hybrid forms of public green space. The main findings indicate emerging forms of collaboration, partnerships, and governance patterns that involve public and private sectors and increase participation by civil society actors. Cooperation amongst several interested groups and the collective re-invention of public urban spaces increase these spaces’ accessibility for multiple users and actors, as well as present possibilities for alternative and diversified uses and activities. This might underline the hypothesis that future cities will be governed in less formalised ways, and that urban forms will be created through spontaneous, temporary, mobile, and adaptive negotiation processes.
Keywords: collaborative planning; green space governance; hybrid space; open green space; urban gardening
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:5-19

Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Inaugural Editorial of Urban Planning
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/586
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v1i1.586
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 1
Year: 2016
Issue: 1
Pages: 1-4
Author-Name: Luca D’Acci
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Tigran Haas
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Built Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Author-Name: Ronita Bardhan
Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Urban Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
Abstract: <p>This editorial is the introductory piece of <em>Urban Planning</em>, a new international peer-reviewed open access journal of urban studies aimed at advancing understanding of and ideas about humankind’s habitats in order to promote progress and quality of life.</p>
Keywords: future cities; progress; urban forms; urban planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v1:y:2016:i:1:p:1-4