Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Garden Cities of the 21st Century: A Sustainable Path to Suburban Reform
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1104
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1104
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 181-196
Author-Name: Nicolas Vernet
Author-Workplace-Name: École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Grenoble (ENSAG), Université Grenoble Alpes, France; French Environment and Energy Management Agency, France
Author-Name: Anne Coste
Author-Workplace-Name: École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Grenoble (ENSAG), Université Grenoble Alpes, France
Abstract: The garden city is often presented as a low-density, unsustainable and space-consuming archetype of suburbanization (Duany, Roberts, & Tallen, 2014; Hall, 2014; Safdie & Kohn, 1997). It has been deliberately also misused by property developers for gated communities (Le Goix, 2003; Webster, 2001). But these projects have little in common with the original concept of garden cities. We argue that the original garden city, as a theory (Howard, 1898) and as experiments (Letchworth and Welwyn Garden Cities), is a precedent that can be used in a sustainable approach that addresses a range of issues and concerns, such as housing, governance, the economy, mobility, the community, agriculture, energy and health. The recent Wolfson Economics Prize (2014) and the many new garden cities and suburbs projects currently planned in the UK have demonstrated the resurgence of this model in the planning world, both in terms of theory and practice. In this paper, we explore its potential in the light of environmental challenges. We therefore suggest that as a model, it can in particular underpin the evolution of suburbs in an era of energy transition, since these areas require an ecosystemic rather than sectoral approach to design.
Keywords: density; eco-systemic approach; energy transition; garden cities; model; suburbs; Wolfson Economics Prize
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:181-196
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Comparing the Landscape Fragmentation and Accessibility of Green Spaces in Territories-in-Between across Europe
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1122
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1122
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 161-180
Author-Name: Alexander Wandl
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urbanism, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Abstract: To improve the positive effects provided by green spaces on human well-being in dispersed urban areas is a key challenge for sustainable spatial development in Europe. This article presents a methodology that allows for the comparison of the potential of green spaces in Territories-in-Between across Europe, in a way that crosses the fields of urban ecology and urbanism. The article adds to the existing knowledge and understanding of the relation between the spatial organisation of systems of green spaces and their accessibility to biodiversity and human well-being. Firstly, it adapts the fragmentation index in a way that it can be applied to the specific spatial characteristics of Territories-in-Between. Secondly, it combines the fragmentation index with an indicator for accessibility of green spaces, in order to integrate aspects of ecology, human well-being and the spatial heterogeneity of the relation between them. The methodology is applied to ten areas across western Europe in order to inform decision and policy makers including urban planners, designers and environmental agencies to be able to assess the potential of system of green spaces for biological diversity and human well-being in an integrated manner.
Keywords: accessibility of green spaces; dispersed urban development; ecosystem services; landscape fragmentation
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:161-180
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Suburban Infill to Redevelop Suburbia—Retrofitting Post-Suburban Business Locations in the Zürich Metropolitan Area as a Component of Growth Management
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1092
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1092
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 146-160
Author-Name: Hendrik Jansen
Author-Workplace-Name: ILS—Research Institute for Regional und Urban Development, Germany
Abstract: Regional growth management has become a significant component of sustainable urban land development in many European metropolitan areas. Particularly in rapidly growing metropolitan regions, increasing population and job numbers require strategic planning management, but there is little knowledge about which planning instruments influence or direct these processes most effectively. Based on an analysis of spatial development in the Zürich metropolitan region, particularly in suburban areas, over the past several decades, this article examines the opportunities for the infill, revitalization and retrofitting of suburban business locations as key elements of growth management. In doing so, this article focuses on one central question: To what extent does (cantonal) regional planning and its specific instruments (cantonal structure plan) influence and control the spatial development and urban design quality in the retrofitting of suburban locations? The Glattal region was chosen as a case study as it experienced a significant change in terms of its urban structure during the last 10–15 years. In this context, suburban service locations were examined and analysed in depth using two case studies. The Hochbord area in Dübendorf and the Glattpark area in Opfikon demonstrate the conversion of formerly mono-functional areas (Hochbord) to mixed-use neighbourhoods and the development of new mixed-use locations (Glattpark). The article demonstrates how the suburban office stock transformed to strategic spots for mixed-use in both locations and explores how the retrofitting process could be directed at the cantonal level. In this context, spatial planning instruments at the regional level, such as the cantonal structure plan, seem to play a significant role in the transformation of the urban periphery.
Keywords: growth management; retrofitting suburbia; suburban infill; urban revitalization
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:146-160
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: ‘A Peaceful Path to’ Healthy Bodies: The Biopolitics of Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1251
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1251
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 141-145
Author-Name: Samuel Martin Clevenger
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
Author-Name: David Lawrence Andrews
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, USA
Abstract: Recent renewed discussions of the garden city as a “developmental model for the present and foreseeable future” (Stern, Fishman, & Tilove, 2013) have prompted us to reflect upon its endurance as an agent of spatial and urban reform. Looking to extend the established garden city literature, we argue the history of Ebenezer Howard’s community model should be reexamined as a cultural history of body and environmental politics. In this commentary, we explicate how Howard’s garden city model served as a spatial vehicle for installing the biopolitical agendas of Victorian reformers keen to “civilize” working class bodies in the service of British industrial and imperial power. This entails a brief examination of the biopolitical dimensions of garden city history, keying on the prescribed restructuring of urban life and the concomitant “regeneration” of working class bodies within and through garden city designs. Our aim is to challenge scholars, planners, and policymakers of the garden city present, to consider the ways the garden city was historically planned to reproduce the cultural, spatial, and biopolitical relations of Western capitalism.
Keywords: biopolitics; countryside; Ebenezer Howard; embodiment; garden city; nature; working class
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:141-145
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Suburban Innovations
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1276
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1276
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 137-140
Author-Name: Pierre Filion
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada
Abstract: This commentary addresses the evolution of the North American suburb over the last 70 years, a period over which it adopted a development pattern marking a radical break from prior forms of urban settlement. Early in this period, the emerging suburban form constituted perhaps the sharpest transition in the history of urbanism in terms of urban form and transportation. This suburban form rapidly came to dominate North American metropolitan regions and spread to other parts of the world. In this commentary, I propose a brief history of the North American suburb since the late 1940s seen through the lens of the contributions it made to the evolution of urbanism across the continent. I contend that while suburbs are often associated with urban stasis, because perceived as an impediment to the emergence of new environmentally sensitive and socially and functionally integrated urban formulas relying on public transit and walking, they have played a major transformative role in the past and may be the source of further urban transitions in the future. North American suburbs have also undergone deep social changes over the last decades. However, I question the claim, made by some researchers, that we are entering a post-suburban era; but at the same time, I acknowledge the possibility of major future innovations within present suburban configurations.
Keywords: dispersion; landscape urbanism; New Urbanism; North America; post-suburbanism; recentralization; suburb; suburban innovations
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:137-140
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Plowshares or Swords? Fostering Common Ground Across Difference
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1181
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1181
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 133-136
Author-Name: Karen Trapenberg Frick
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of City and Regional Planning, College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Abstract: With political polarization challenging forward progress on public policy and planning processes, it is critical to examine possibilities for finding common ground across difference between community participants. In my research on contentious planning processes in the United States, I found four areas of convergence between participants over transportation policy and process related to public process and substantive matters. These convergences warrant planners’ attention because they united stakeholders coming from different vantage points.
Keywords: agonism; agonistic ethos; common ground; conflict resolution; sustainability planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:133-136
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Maximizing Green Infrastructure in a Philadelphia Neighborhood
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1039
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1039
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 115-132
Author-Name: Kate Zidar
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Drexel University, USA
Author-Name: Timothy A. Bartrand
Author-Workplace-Name: Corona Environmental Consulting, LLC, USA
Author-Name: Charles H. Loomis
Author-Workplace-Name: Charles Loomis Chariss McAfee Architects, USA
Author-Name: Chariss A. McAfee
Author-Workplace-Name: Charles Loomis Chariss McAfee Architects, USA
Author-Name: Juliet M. Geldi
Author-Workplace-Name: North Street Design, USA
Author-Name: Gavin J. Rigall
Author-Workplace-Name: North Street Design, USA
Author-Name: Franco Montalto
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Drexel University, USA
Abstract: While the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) is counting on Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GI) as a key component of its long-term plan for reducing combined sewer overflows, many community stakeholders are also hoping that investment in greening can help meet other ancillary goals, collectively referred to as sustainable redevelopment. This study investigates the challenges associated with implementation of GI in Point Breeze, a residential neighborhood of South Philadelphia. The project team performed a detailed study of physical, social, legal, and economic conditions in the pilot neighborhood over the course of several years, culminating in the development of an agent-based model simulation of GI implementation. The model evaluates a) whether PWD’s GI goals can be met in a timely manner, b) what kinds of assumptions regarding participation would be needed under different theoretical GI policies, and c) the extent to which GI could promote sustainable redevelopment. The model outcomes underscore the importance of private land in helping PWD achieve its GI goals in Point Breeze. Achieving a meaningful density of GI in the neighborhoods most in need of sustainable redevelopment may require new and creative strategies for GI implementation tailored for the types of land present in those particular communities.
Keywords: agent-based modeling; green infrastructure; participatory modeling; stormwater; urban redevelopment
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:115-132
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Evolving the Evolving: Territory, Place and Rewilding in the California Delta
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/998
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.998
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 93-114
Author-Name: Brett Milligan
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Ecology, Landscape Architecture, University of California Davis, USA
Author-Name: Alejo Kraus-Polk
Author-Workplace-Name: Geography Graduate Group, University of California Davis, USA
Abstract: Current planning and legislation in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta call for the large-scale ecological restoration of aquatic and terrestrial habitats. These ecological mandates have emerged in response to the region’s infrastructural transformation and the Delta’s predominant use as the central logistical hub in the state’s vast water conveyance network. Restoration is an attempt to recover what was externalized by the logic and abstractions of this logistical infrastructure. However, based on findings from our research, which examined how people are using restored and naturalized landscapes in the Delta and how these landscapes are currently planned for, we argue that as mitigatory response, restoration planning continues some of the same spatial abstractions and inequities by failing to account for the Delta as an urbanized, cultural and unique place. In interpreting how these conditions have come to be, we give attention to a pluralistic landscape approach and a coevolutionary reading of planning, policy, science and landscapes to discuss the conservation challenges presented by “Delta as an Evolving Place”. We suggest that for rewilding efforts to be successful in the Delta, a range of proactive, opportunistic, grounded and participatory tactics will be required to shift towards a more socio-ecological approach.
Keywords: California Delta; coevolution; complexity; conservation; infrastructure; landscape approach; logistics landscape; place; scenario planning; water
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:93-114
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Expanding the Scope of Sustainability Planning: Lessons from Stockholm’s Congestion Charging Policy
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1028
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1028
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 81-92
Author-Name: Amy Rader Olsson
Author-Workplace-Name: Swedish Centre for Innovation and Quality in the Built Environment, Sweden
Author-Name: Diane E. Davis
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Planning and Design, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, USA
Abstract: In 2007, after years of unresolved debate, the Swedish parliament approved a congestion charge for Stockholm applied to cars crossing the city’s inner boundary. Since its introduction, congestion charging has led to an even more lasting reduction of car trips to the city center, in part because the policy generates revenues for financing new subway extensions and uses these same resources as the basis for negotiating new transit oriented housing in subway extension areas. As such, congestion charging is arguably as much a sustainable housing solution as it is a narrowly defined transit policy for reducing automobile congestion or pollution. This article investigates how and why Stockholm, despite considerable political conflict, technical complexity and negative public opinion, was able to turn a long-standing and controversial debate over moderating automobile traffic via tolls into widespread support for a national congestion tax, which itself laid the groundwork for a more expansive sustainability agenda. It further suggests that only when congestion charging was strategically reframed and widely recognized as addressing the concerns of multiple and competing constituencies, did efforts for its adoption translate into larger sustainability gains.
Keywords: congestion charging; innovation; land-use policy; planning; politics; transport; urban sustainability
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:81-92
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: The Social Dimension of Sustainable Neighborhood Design: Comparing Two Neighborhoods in Freiburg, Germany
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1035
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1035
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 64-80
Author-Name: Bjoern Hagen
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning, Arizona State University, USA
Author-Name: Cara Nassar
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning, Arizona State University, USA
Author-Name: David Pijawka
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning, Arizona State University, USA
Abstract: The study presented in this article adds to the body of research on the socio-cultural dimension of sustainable cit-ies by looking at the efforts of the City of Freiburg, Germany to create neighborhoods that acknowledge the im-portance of the social dimension of sustainable development. The research in this article is centered on evaluating the social responses of living in Freiburg’s two recognized sustainable neighborhoods Rieselfeld and Vauban. The study focuses on the motivational factors that prompted todays residents of the two neighborhoods to move there in the first place, their level of satisfaction living there now, and their perceived social interactions and level of community engagement. Result show that satisfaction with living in a place and reinforcing its assets through so-cial resiliency or livability can result in long-term community staying power. In general, there were few differences in preferences ratings of physical and social assets between the two communities. The levels of importance of so-cial factors contributing to place satisfaction and staying power were not significantly different in both neighbor-hoods. Having a “cluster” of social factors present that were important to residents contributed significantly to place satisfaction. In fact, survey results showed that it was these social factors that were seen as more important to place satisfaction than the physical attributes of sustainable developments.
Keywords: Freiburg; social dimensions; social equity; survey research; sustainable community
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:64-80
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Engaging Youth in Climate Resilience Planning with Social Media: Lessons from #OurChangingClimate
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1010
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1010
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 51-63
Author-Name: N. Claire Napawan
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Ecology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California Davis
Author-Name: Sheryl-Ann Simpson
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Ecology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California Davis
Author-Name: Brett Snyder
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Design, University of California Davis
Abstract: In light of the socio-ecological complexities associated with climate vulnerability, planning for community resilience will require participatory techniques to engage those most vulnerable. In particular, youth set to inherit the predicted impacts of climate change must be engaged with the processes that determine the future of their built environments. Drawing from existing literature on youth-based participatory planning and climate engagement, this paper presents an alternative process for engaging youth in climate resilience planning by employing digital technology as a tool for youth-based evaluations of existing built environments. Using the pilot project #OurChangingClimate as a case study, the authors propose a new model for engaging youth with an understanding of their communities and their resilience or vulnerability to climate change. The article details the use of social media and digital narratives as tools for participatory resilience planning and presents some of the preliminary content generated in four pilot youth workshops held from 2015–2017. Lastly, implications of youth-generated content on climate resilience planning are discussed.
Keywords: climate resilience planning; digital narratives; participatory design; social media; youth engagement
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:51-63
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Risk Communication and Climate Justice Planning: A Case of Michigan’s Huron River Watershed
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1045
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1045
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 34-50
Author-Name: Chingwen Cheng
Author-Workplace-Name: The Design School, Arizona State University, USA
Author-Name: Jiun-Yi Tsai
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Communication, Northern Arizona University, USA
Author-Name: Y. C. Ethan Yang
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lehigh University, USA
Author-Name: Rebecca Esselman
Author-Workplace-Name: Huron River Watershed Council, USA
Author-Name: Margaret Kalcic
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Ohio State University, USA
Author-Name: Xin Xu
Author-Workplace-Name: Marine Science Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Author-Name: Paul Mohai
Author-Workplace-Name: School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, USA
Abstract: Communicating climate risks is crucial when engaging the public to support climate action planning and addressing climate justice. How does evidence-based communication influence local residents’ risk perception and potential behavior change in support of climate planning? Built upon our previous study of Climate Justice maps illustrating high scores of both social and ecological vulnerability in Michigan’s Huron River watershed, USA, a quasi-experiment was conducted to examine the effects of Climate Justice mapping intervention on residents’ perceptions and preparedness for climate change associated hazards in Michigan. Two groups were compared: residents in Climate Justice areas with high social and ecological vulnerability scores in the watershed (n=76) and residents in comparison areas in Michigan (n=69). Measurements for risk perception include perceived exposure, sensitivity, and adaptability to hazards. Results indicate that risk information has a significant effect on perceived sensitivity and level of preparedness for future climate extremes among participants living in Climate Justice areas. Findings highlight the value of integrating scientific risk assessment information in risk communication to align calculated and perceived risks. This study suggests effective risk communication can influence local support of climate action plans and implementation of strategies that address climate justice and achieve social sustainability in local communities.
Keywords: climate change planning; climate justice; risk communication; risk perception; social sustainability; vulnerability
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:34-50
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: ‘Living Well’ as a Path to Social, Ecological and Economic Sustainability
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1006
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1006
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 19-33
Author-Name: Karen Bell
Author-Workplace-Name: The Centre for Urban and Public Policy Research, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, UK
Abstract: While there is wide agreement on the need to move towards fairer and more sustainable societies, how to best achieve this is still the source of some debate. In particular, there are tensions between more market-based/technological approaches and more redistributive/social approaches. Living Well, a strategy which falls into the latter category, has been proposed as a path to social, ecological and economic sustainability by several state governments of the Global South. This paper examines the Living Well paradigm as implemented in Bolivia through the lens of the recently agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The article is based on a 3 year, ESRC funded project on transitions to sustainability and reports the findings of documentary, policy and secondary data analysis, participant observations and semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders. The work indicates that, despite constraints and set-backs, in just a decade, Living Well has achieved a major shift towards social, economic and ecological sustainability in Bolivia. This seems to be primarily a result of the emphasis on redistributive policies, an intention to live in harmony with nature, respect for traditional values and practices, local control of natural resources, and participative decision-making. It is, therefore, argued that other nations might achieve more success in transitioning to sustainability by focusing on these factors, rather than continuing to emphasise the technological/growth/market approaches which are currently dominating global sustainability debates and activities.
Keywords: Bolivia; Buen Vivir; environment; global south; green economy; human needs; Living Well; sustainability; sustainable development goals; Vivir Bien
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:19-33
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: A Carbon-Neutral California: Social Ecology and Prospects for 2050 GHG Reduction
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1077
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1077
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 5-18
Author-Name: Stephen M. Wheeler
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Ecology, University of California Davis, USA
Abstract: How might a large jurisdiction approach carbon neutrality by 2050, and what initiatives might increase the chances of success? This article explores these questions using California as a case study. Current trends as well as multiple modeling studies show that existing policy directions for the state will not be sufficient. Additional initiatives appear needed to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles, reduce driving, reach 100 percent renewable electricity, convert existing buildings to zero-net-carbon status, change diet, and reduce consumption. The state’s social ecology does not currently support such changes. Consequently, planners and other professionals need to consider strategic actions to change social ecology as well as climate policy. Potential steps to do this include raising the price of carbon; revising the state’s tax system so as to increase public sector capacity; developing a stronger framework of incentives, mandates, and technical support between levels of government; and expanding educational and social marketing programs aimed at behavior change. A main implication of this analysis is that in many contexts worldwide sustainability planners should consider action on both policy and social ecology levels to maximize chances of success.
Keywords: 2050 goals; California; climate change; carbon neutral; carbon neutrality; climate planning; GHG mitigation; global warming
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:5-18
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Biophilic Cities and Healthy Societies
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1054
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i4.1054
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 4
Pages: 1-4
Author-Name: Timothy Beatley
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, School of Architecture, University of Virginia, USA
Abstract: Biophilia holds that as a species humans are innately drawn to nature and to living things. Mounting research confirms the many positive health benefits of contact with nature, and the need for daily (and hourly) contact with the natural environment in order to live happy, healthy, meaningful lives. A new vision of Biophilic Cities is put forward here: cities that are nature-abundant, that seek to protect and grow nature, and that foster deep connections with the natural world. This article describes the emergence of this global movement, the new and creative ways that cities are restoring, growing and connecting with nature, and the current status and trajectory of a new global Biophilic Cities Network, launched in 2013. There remain open questions, and significant challenges, to advancing the Biophilic Cities vision, but it also presents unusual opportunities to create healthier, livable cities and societies.
Keywords: biophilia; biophilic; nature in cities; resilience
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:4:p:1-4
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: A Framework for Multifunctional Green Infrastructure Investment in Camden, NJ
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1038
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i3.1038
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 3
Pages: 56-73
Author-Name: Kate Zidar
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Drexel University, USA
Author-Name: Maryse Belliveau-Nance
Author-Workplace-Name: The Trust for Public Land, USA
Author-Name: Anthony Cucchi
Author-Workplace-Name: The Trust for Public Land, USA
Author-Name: Danielle Denk
Author-Workplace-Name: The Trust for Public Land, USA
Author-Name: Andrew Kricun
Author-Workplace-Name: Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, USA
Author-Name: Shaun O’Rourke
Author-Workplace-Name: The Trust for Public Land, USA
Author-Name: Shudipto Rahman
Author-Workplace-Name: Boomi Environmental LLC, USA
Author-Name: Sri Rangarajan
Author-Workplace-Name: Boomi Environmental LLC, USA
Author-Name: Eric Rothstein
Author-Workplace-Name: eDesign Dynamics LLC, USA
Author-Name: Justin Shih
Author-Workplace-Name: eDesign Dynamics LLC, USA
Author-Name: Franco Montalto
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Drexel University and eDesign Dynamics LLC, USA
Abstract: This study demonstrates a decision-support framework for planning Green Infrastructure (GI) systems that maximize urban ecosystem services in Camden, NJ. Seven key ecosystem services are evaluated (urban agriculture expansion, combined sewer overflow reduction, heat island reduction, flooding reduction, capacity building/green jobs expansion, fitness expansion, and stress reduction), to produce a normalized value for each service for each drainage sub-basin within the city. Gaps in ecosystem services are then mapped and utilized to geographically prioritize different kinds of multifunctional GI. Conceptual designs are developed for four site typologies: parks, schools, vacant lots, and brownfield sites. For one demonstration site, additional analysis is presented on urban engagement, life cycle cost reduction, and new sources of funding. What results is an integrated, long-term vision where multifunctional GI systems can be readily customized to meet multiple needs within urban communities. This study provides a portable and replicable framework for leveraging the regulatory requirement to manage stormwater to meet broader urban revitalization goals, all through a decentralized network of green infrastructure assets.
Keywords: ecosystem services; green infrastructure; stormwater management; urban redevelopment
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:3:p:56-73
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Sustainable Cities and Healthy Cities: Are They the Same?
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1018
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i3.1018
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 3
Pages: 45-55
Author-Name: Kent E. Portney
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy, The G.H.W. Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, USA
Author-Name: Garett Thomas Sansom
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Sustainable Communities, Texas A&M University, USA
Abstract: There is robust literature examining the wide array of public policies and programs cities pursue in order to try to become more sustainable. Whether the focus of such programs is explicitly on improving the bio-physical environment, climate protection and adaptation, energy efficiency, land use regulation, or any of a number of other targets, such programs often carry with them an expectation that the programs will contribute to improve the health of populations. While there is significant attention to asserting that such a relationship exists, or ought to exist, there have been no efforts to explicitly and empirically link city policies to health outcomes. This paper tackles this issue head-on, investigating the extent to which cities in the US that have the most aggressive sustainability initiatives exhibit better health outcomes than cities with less aggressive sustainability initiatives. Using data from the largest cities in the US, this paper presents evidence concerning the strength of this relationship, discusses the foundations for the relationship, and provides a discussion of the implications for urban planning, sustainability policies and for improving the health of populations.
Keywords: healthy cities; obesity; smart cities; sustainability; sustainability index; sustainable cities
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:3:p:45-55
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Testing the Use of Crowdsourced Information: Case Study of Bike-Share Infrastructure Planning in Cincinnati, Ohio
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1013
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i3.1013
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 3
Pages: 33-44
Author-Name: Nader Afzalan
Author-Workplace-Name: College of Arts & Sciences, University of Redlands, USA
Author-Name: Thomas Sanchez
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech, USA
Abstract: Considering the power of web-based tools for crowdsourcing, planning organizations are increasingly using these technologies to gather ideas and preferences from the public. These technologies often generate substantial, unstructured data about public needs. However, our understanding of the use of crowdsourced information in planning is still limited. Focusing on the City of Cincinnati Bike-share planning as a case study, this article explores the challenges and considerations of using crowdsourced information. Employing mixed analysis methods, the article analyzes participant suggestions and examines whether and how those suggestions were incorporated into the bike-share plan. Interpretive analysis of interviews provided insights about suggestions that were used in the final plan. The results highlight organizational opportunities and limitations. A variety of organizational factors affected the utility of crowdsourced information in Cincinnati bike-share plan. These include the capability of the planning organizations to analyze data and facilitate participation, and the perception of planners about the value of crowdsourced information and local knowledge.
Keywords: bike-share; crowdsourcing; information; organization; web-based technology
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:3:p:33-44
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Making Smart and Sustainable Infrastructure Projects Viable: Private Choices, Public Support, and Systems Constraints
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/999
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i3.999
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 3
Pages: 18-32
Author-Name: Douglas Noonan
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis, USA
Author-Name: Shan Zhou
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Author-Name: Robert Kirkman
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Abstract: Sustainable cities will require major infrastructure investments coupled with widespread behavioral change. Examples of smart, green technologies abound, but evidence for actual use lags. This partly owes to the tension between public support and private choices: individuals thinking as members of the public may see solutions as smart for the city, but thinking of their private interests may see those same solutions as not smart for themselves. This also owes to the disconnect between private and public choices, on the one hand, and the workings of complex systems, on the other. Even if public and private interests align, existing built environment systems may resist change. This article examines public perception and use of the Atlanta BeltLine, a pioneering sustainability initiative to transform the auto-dependent city into a greener, denser city. Analyzing a general public survey reveals widespread support for the BeltLine alongside reticence from residents to change their commute or greenspace use. The findings also show that drivers of public support and prospective use of the BeltLine differ. Public support may be insufficient if individual use decisions do not follow. Yet, private adoption decisions may not follow until and unless the systems in which they are embedded are already changing.
Keywords: behavioral changes; green space; public perception; public transit; smart solutions; urban infrastructure; urban sustainability
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:3:p:18-32
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Trying to Smart-In-Up and Cleanup Our Act by Linking Regional Growth Planning, Brownfields Remediation, and Urban Infill in Southern Ontario Cities
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1026
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i3.1026
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 3
Pages: 5-17
Author-Name: Christopher De Sousa
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson University, Canada
Abstract: The reuse of brownfields as locations for urban intensification has become a core strategy in government sustainability efforts aimed at remediating pollution, curbing sprawl and prioritizing renewal, regeneration, and retrofitting. In Ontario, Canada’s most populous, industrialized, and brownfield-laden province, a suite of progressive policies and programs have been introduced to not only facilitate the assessment and remediation of the brownfields supply, but to also steer development demand away from peripheral greenfields and towards urban brownfields in a manner that considers a wider regional perspective. This article examines the character and extent of brownfields infill development that has taken place in three Ontario cities (Toronto, Waterloo, and Kingston) since the provincial policy shift in the early 2000s. Using property assessment data and cleanup records, the research finds that redevelopment activity has been extensive in both scale and character, particularly in Toronto where the real estate market has been strong. While the results are promising in terms of government efforts to promote smarter growth that builds “in and up” instead of out, they also reveal that government could be doing more to facilitate redevelopment and influence its sustainability character, particularly in weaker markets.
Keywords: brownfields; contamination; development; infill; smart growth; sustainability
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:3:p:5-17
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: From the Garden City to the Smart City
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1072
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i3.1072
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 3
Pages: 1-4
Author-Name: Stephan Hügel
Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, UK
Abstract: It has been a century since the first Garden Cities at Welwyn and Letchworth were founded and, in the eyes of many, we have entered the age of the Smart City. This commentary briefly reflects upon the origins of Ebenezer Howard’s vision in the slums of overcrowded, filthy London and the fire-traps of early 20th century Chicago before outlining some of the main contributing factors to its ultimate failure as an approach: the lack of a robust theory underpinning his ideas, a finance model which was unacceptable to the banks—leading to a compromise which robbed the more idealistic participants of any real power over their schemes—and finally, a dilution of Howard’s vision by architects who were more focused on population density than on social reform. A parallel is then drawn between the weaknesses which afflicted the Garden City vision, and those which afflict current Smart City visions, a loose agglomeration of ahistorical techno-utopian imaginaries, whose aims almost invariably include optimising various measures of efficiency using large-scale deployments of networked sensors and cameras, linked to monolithic control rooms from which our shared urban existence is overseen. The evolution (or perhaps more accurately: alteration) of these concepts in response to criticism is then detailed, before some of the less well-known ideas which are now emerging are briefly discussed.
Keywords: garden city; smart city; urban technologies; utopias
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:3:p:1-4
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Investigating the Potential of Ridesharing to Reduce Vehicle Emissions
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/937
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i2.937
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 2
Pages: 26-40
Author-Name: Roozbeh Jalali
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Business and Information Technology, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada
Author-Name: Seama Koohi-Fayegh
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada
Author-Name: Khalil El-Khatib
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Business and Information Technology, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
Author-Name: Daniel Hoornweg
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada
Author-Name: Heng Li
Author-Workplace-Name: College of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Hunan University, China
Abstract: As urban populations grow, cities need new strategies to maintain a good standard of living while enhancing services and infrastructure development. A key area for improving city operations and spatial layout is the transportation of people and goods. While conventional transportation systems (i.e., fossil fuel based) are struggling to serve mobility needs for growing populations, they also represent serious environmental threats. Alternative-fuel vehicles can reduce emissions that contribute to local air pollution and greenhouse gases as mobility needs grow. However, even if alternative-powered vehicles were widely employed, road congestion would still increase. This paper investigates ridesharing as a mobility option to reduce emissions (carbon, particulates and ozone) while accommodating growing transportation needs and reducing overall congestion. The potential of ridesharing to reduce carbon emissions from personal vehicles in Changsha, China, is examined by reviewing mobility patterns of approximately 8,900 privately-owned vehicles over two months. Big data analytics identify ridesharing potential among these drivers by grouping vehicles by their trajectory similarity. The approach includes five steps: data preprocessing, trip recognition, feature vector creation, similarity measurement and clustering. Potential reductions in vehicle emissions through ridesharing among a specific group of drivers are calculated and discussed. While the quantitative results of this analysis are specific to the population of Changsha, they provide useful insights for the potential of ridesharing to reduce vehicle emissions and the congestion expected to grow with mobility needs. Within the study area, ridesharing has the potential to reduce total kilometers driven by about 24% assuming a maximum distance between trips less than 10 kilometers, and schedule time less than 60 minutes. For a more conservative maximum trip distance of 2 kilometers and passenger schedule time of less than 40 minutes, the reductions in traveled kilometers could translate to the equivalent of approximately 4.0 tons CO2 emission reductions daily.
Keywords: emission reductions; ridesharing; spatiotemporal data mining; trajectory clustering; trajectory mining
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:2:p:26-40
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Mobility as a Service: A Critical Review of Definitions, Assessments of Schemes, and Key Challenges
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/931
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i2.931
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 2
Pages: 13-25
Author-Name: Peraphan Jittrapirom
Author-Workplace-Name: Nijmegen School of Managment,
Radboud University, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Valeria Caiati
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of the Built Environment, Urban Planning Group, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Anna-Maria Feneri
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of the Built Environment, Urban Planning Group, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Shima Ebrahimigharehbaghi
Author-Workplace-Name: Nijmegen School of Managment,
Radboud University, The Netherlands
Author-Name: María J. Alonso González
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Jishnu Narayan
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands
Abstract: Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is a recent innovative transport concept, anticipated to induce significant changes in the current transport practices. However, there is ambiguity surrounding the concept; it is uncertain what are the core characteristics of MaaS and in which way they can be addressed. Further, there is a lack of an assessment framework to classify their unique characteristics in a systematic manner, even though several MaaS schemes have been implemented around the world. In this study, we define this set of attributes through a literature review, which is then used to describe selected MaaS schemes and existing applications. We also examine the potential implications of the identified core characteristics of the service on the following three areas of transport practices: travel demand modelling, a supply-side analysis, and designing business model. Finally, we propose the necessary enhancements needed to deliver such an innovative service like MaaS, by establishing the state of art in those fields.
Keywords: business model; innovative mobility services; integrated mobility; modelling
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:2:p:13-25
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: The Ubiquitous-Eco-City of Songdo: An Urban Systems Perspective on South Korea's Green City Approach
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/933
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i2.933
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 2
Pages: 4-12
Author-Name: Paul D. Mullins
Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, UK
Abstract: Since the 1980s, within the broader context of studies on smart cities, there has been a growing body of academic research on networked cities and “computable cities” by authors including Manuel Castells (Castells, 1989; Castells & Cardoso, 2005), William Mitchell (1995), Michael Batty (2005, 2013), and Rob Kitchin (2011). Over the last decade, governments in Asia have displayed an appetite and commitment to construct large scale city developments from scratch—one of the most infamous being the smart entrepreneurial city of Songdo, South Korea. Using Songdo as a case study, this paper will examine, from an urban systems perspective, some of the challenges of using a green-city model led by networked technology. More specifically, this study intends to add to the growing body of smart city literature by using an external global event—the global financial crisis in 2008—to reveal what is missing from the smart city narrative in Songdo. The paper will use the definition of an urban system and internal subsystems by Bertuglia et al. (1987) and Bertuglia, Clarke and Wilson (1994) to reveal the sensitivity and resilience of a predetermined smart city narrative. For instance, what happens if the vision moves from the originally intended international-orientated population towards remarketing the city to attract a domestic middle-class population. The lens of the financial crisis in 2008 revealed that the inherent inflexibility of a closed-system approach in Songdo was not sufficiently resilient to external shocks. The shift towards a domestic middle-class population revealed the inequality in accessing the city services in a system designed with formalized and rigid inputs and outputs. By focusing predominantly on technology, the social dimensions of the city were not part of Songdo’s smart city vocabulary. Therefore, in adopting a technologically deterministic approach (Mullins & Shwayri, 2016) to achieving efficiency and combating environmental issues, Songdo’s green city model was found insufficient in its ability to cope with the complexity and dissonance that occurs in relation to “glocal” challenges facing cities today.
Keywords: eco-cities; Free Economic Zones; green city; smart city; Songdo; South Korea; sustainability; ubiquitous; urban systems
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:2:p:4-12
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Three Tales about Limits to Smart Cities Solutions
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1071
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i2.1071
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 2
Pages: 1-3
Author-Name: Soora Rasouli
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Science and Systems, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Harry Timmermans
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Science and Systems, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Dujuan Yang
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Science and Systems, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Abstract: This editorial is the introduction to a special issue on smart cities. The concept of a smart city is not well-defined, yet expectations among urban planners and decision-makers are high. This special issue contains three papers that discuss three different manifestations of smart cities and the success—or lack of it—of the solutions discussed. The papers highlight some limitations of the concept of smart cities, but at the same time also pinpoint some potentially beneficial solutions.
Keywords: Mobility as a Service; smart cities; smart mobility; urban interventions
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:2:p:1-3
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Scenario Analysis of Alternative Land Development Patterns for the Leipzig-Halle Region: Implications for Transport-Land-Use Sustainability
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/838
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.838
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 108-129
Author-Name: Eda Ustaoglu
Author-Workplace-Name: Independent Researcher, Kayseri, Turkey
Author-Name: Brendan Williams
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland
Author-Name: Laura Petrov
Author-Workplace-Name: European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Belgium
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to present alternative land development scenarios for the sustainability impact assessment of transport-land-use relationship in the Leipzig-Halle Region. Using the MOLAND Model that was applied to a declining urban region for the first time, two different land-use scenarios were developed representing a baseline dispersed development and an alternative compact development case. The assessment of land-use-transport relationships is carried out incorporating the use of social, economic and environmental indicators. The impacts and indicators were specified and evaluated subject to a quantitative and qualitative assessment. The findings imply that a compact development scenario is preferable over dispersed development scenario in terms of potential quantitative data on the benefits to the environment and society. In contrast, dispersed development in the baseline case indicates the costs of such development exceed the benefits. The results of this type of scenario analysis provide an objective evidence basis in policy evaluation and decisions regarding future urban developments. This research was developed from several scenarios created with the key stakeholders of the Leipzig-Halle Region from research originally conducted as part of the PLUREL Project in 2012 and updated in 2016. It aims at contributing to literature by providing a sustainability assessment framework for rapid rail infrastructure provision that incorporates socio-economic and environmental impact assessment of alternative future urban form scenarios into the analysis. In addition, due to MOLAND features, it provides the opportunity for the sustainability impact assessment of different forms of urban development linked with transport infrastructure provision in the Region and compare the findings with other case study areas in Europe and internationally.
Keywords: land-use model; land-use policy; scenario analysis; transport indicators; transport-land-use sustainability
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:108-129
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Visualizing Conflict: Possibilities for Urban Research
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/880
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.880
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 100-107
Author-Name: Juan Francisco Saldarriaga
Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Spatial Research, Columbia University, USA
Author-Name: Laura Kurgan
Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Spatial Research, Columbia University, USA
Author-Name: Dare Brawley
Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Spatial Research, Columbia University, USA
Abstract: The Center for Spatial Research (CSR) is undertaking a multiyear project investigating what we have termed Conflict Urbanism. The term designates not simply the conflicts that take place in cities, but also conflict as a structuring principle of cities intrinsically, as a way of inhabiting and creating urban space. The increasing urbanization of warfare and the policing and surveillance of everyday life are examples of the term (Graham, 2010; Misselwitz & Rieniets, 2006; Weizman, 2014), but conflict is not limited to war and violence. Cities are not only destroyed but also built through conflict. They have long been arenas of friction, difference, and dissidence, and their irreducibly conflictual character manifests itself in everything from neighborhood borders, to differences of opinion and status, to ordinary encounters on the street. One major way in which CSR undertakes research is through interrogating the world of ‘big data.’ This includes analyzing newly accessible troves of ‘urban data,’ working to open up new areas of research and inquiry, as well as focusing on data literacy as an essential part of communicating with these new forms of urban information. In what follows we discuss two projects currently under way at CSR that use mapping and data visualization to explore and analyze Conflict Urbanism in two different contexts: the city of Aleppo, and the nation of Colombia.
Keywords: conflict; data; data visualization; GIS; interactive; mapping; urbanism
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:100-107
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Rethinking Urban Form: Switzerland as a “Horizontal Metropolis”
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/871
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.871
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 88-99
Author-Name: Paola Viganò
Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Urbanism, École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Author-Name: Christian Arnsperger
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Geography and Sustainability, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
Author-Name: Elena Cogato Lanza
Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Urbanism, École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Author-Name: Martina Barcelloni Corte
Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Urbanism, École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Author-Name: Chiara Cavalieri
Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Urbanism, École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Abstract: In light of the rapid population growth forecast for the coming years and the powerful transformations already occurring throughout its whole territory, today’s Switzerland stands in urgent need of critical reflection on its urban future. A novel set of concepts and actions is needed in order to produce new visions and operational tools capable of critically reconsidering mainstream debates about Switzerland’s future urban growth. On the one hand, national policies and narratives tend de facto towards lending increasing support to a dynamic of “metropolization,” which usually leads to stronger territorial hierarchization strategies and processes aiming at a spatial condensation of urban services and functions in specific, selected locations. On the other hand, however, the Swiss territory—with its deep rootedness in federalism and its unique aggregative structure—still embodies key features of what, at different times, has been named a single “Grande Ville,” a “dezentralisierte Großstadt,” a “Ville-Territoire” or, more recently, “Stadtland Schweiz.” The country as a whole is still characterized by extended and layered conditions of inhabitability, where the dispersion of the urban fabric, enmeshed within the agricultural and forested landscape, is articulated through horizontal rather that vertical relationships. This paper offers a novel reflection on how the ongoing metropolization process could be seen as a positive force if a markedly different idea of metropolitan space is introduced—the “Horizontal Metropolis.” Its key idea is to distribute and enlarge the benefits which metropolization, if conducted in line with the tradition of decentralization and horizontality, could bring to the Swiss territory and its population. The “Horizontal Metropolis” concept recovers and leverages the various forms of inhabitability and their relation with the infrastructural support. It considers the long-term construction of the Swiss “City-Territory” as a renewable resource, which means reflecting on new life cycles, capitalizing on the urban and territorial embodied energy, and therefore rethinking, without denying it, Switzerland’s extensive and diffused fixed capital. This could be a precious resource to accommodate future urban growth and reorient the form it takes, keeping at bay indiscriminate sprawl as well as its currently predominant ideological counterpart, indiscriminate densification and polarization.
Keywords: city-territory; diffused urbanization; growth; Horizontal Metropolis; recycling; Switzerland
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:88-99
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Getting to Common Ground: A Comparison of Ontario, Canada’s Provincial Policy Statement and the Auckland Council Regional Policy Statement with Respect to Indigenous Peoples
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/850
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.850
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 72-87
Author-Name: Fraser McLeod
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen’s University, Canada
Author-Name: Leela Viswanathan
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University, Canada
Author-Name: Jared Macbeth
Author-Workplace-Name: Walpole Island First Nation Heritage Centre, Canada
Author-Name: Graham S. Whitelaw
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Environmental Studies, Queen’s University, Canada
Abstract: Indigenous rights are crucial to contemporary land use planning and policy in settler states. This article comparatively analyzes the manifest and latent content of the 2014 Provincial Policy Statement of Ontario, Canada (PPS) and the 1999 Auckland Council Regional Policy Statement of Aotearoa New Zealand (ACRPS) in order to evaluate their relative capacity to recognize the rights of Indigenous peoples. While the results show that jurisdiction is an impediment to fostering common ground between Indigenous peoples and settler states, the authors conclude that the PPS and the ACRPS serve vital roles in building dialogue and equitable planning outcomes.
Keywords: Aotearoa; Auckland; Canada; comparative policy; Indigenous; land use planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:72-87
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: The Architecture of the Metacity: Land Use Change, Patch Dynamics and Urban Form in Chiang Mai, Thailand
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/869
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.869
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 53-71
Author-Name: Brian McGrath
Author-Workplace-Name: Parsons School of Design, The New School, USA
Author-Name: Somporn Sangawongse
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, Chiang Mai University, Thailand
Author-Name: Danai Thaikatoo
Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Author-Name: Martina Barcelloni Corte
Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Urbanism, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Abstract: This essay analyzes the spatial and temporal dynamics which have emerged from the rapid development of Chiang Mai, Thailand over the last four decades. Modern urbanization since the 1980s in the previously remote Chiang Mai-Lamphun Valley has coincided with digital and financial globalization, neo-liberal governance, and the articulation of a new geological era of the Anthropocene based on evidence of human induced climate change. This time frame serves as a lens to theorize the architecture of the “metacity”, a new urban form and new form of urban practice responding to the demands of global digital financial networks and neo-liberal trade policies, but grounded in the ecology and life worlds of particular localities. The metacity appears in Chiang Mai within the interstices of a particularly fragmented rural/urban mix within a self-organized rather than plan-controlled built environment. The entire valley has been the site of intensive inhabitation for centuries, and recently urbanized, yet is spatially heterogeneous, extensive and patchy rather than ordered, bounded and uniform. The resulting landscape is marked by a disjunction between a feudal wet-rice cultivation land tenure structure overlaid with a market-based typology of urban real estate products with little enforcement of land use controls. The essay begins with theorizing the form of the metacity, continues with a description of the Chiang Mai case study, and concludes with a general assessment of the need to create a new form of metacity urban practice. A metacity design practice would re-conceptualize urban theories and forms by inking architectural and ecological thinking with inclusive social practices, enhanced by new digitally-enhanced urban imaginaries and new representational tools of mapping, modeling and design.
Keywords: Chiang Mai; Desakota; land use change; landscape ecology; metacity; Thailand; urban design; urban/rural mix
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:53-71
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Planning in the Face of Power. Experiencing Power Dimensions in a Visioning Process in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/862
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.862
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 41-52
Author-Name: Katharina Gugerell
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Spatial Planning and Environment, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Author-Name: Stefan Netsch
Author-Workplace-Name: Department Smart Building and Smart Cities, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Austria
Abstract: This article reflects on dimensions of power that occurred in visioning workshops with different stakeholder in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The overall argument developed in the article is that the visioning process—especially signs of spatial and institutional dimensions of power—occurred in both cases in a rather similar way, even though the conditions for planning and visioning are significantly different in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The visioning process illustrated that planning indeed shows signs of mediating space and power. Those power struggles are deeply rooted in the Palestinian planning history, the long-standing separation between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and the protracted conflict between Israel and Palestine. Experiencing oneself the ‘dark side of planning’ makes clear that planning is not benign and that planning can be a powerful tool for either progressive, pluralistic practices or oppressive ones, as means of regulation and control.
Keywords: conflict; dark side of planning; mobility; Palestine; power; spatial planning
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:41-52
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: ‘Our Changes’? Visions of the Future in Nairobi
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/834
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.834
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 31-40
Author-Name: Constance Smith
Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Global Prosperity, The Bartlett, University College London, UK
Abstract: In Kenya, the Vision 2030 masterplan is radically reimagining Nairobi as a ‘world class’ city of the future. This has generated dramatic digital imagery of satellite cities, skyscrapers and shopping malls. For tenants in rundown public housing, these glossy yet speculative visions are enticing, but also provoke anxieties of exclusion. Yet so far, little has materially manifested. This article explores the effects these future vistas produce in the present, in the gap between the urban plan and its implementation. It argues that the spectacle of official planning has generated anticipatory actions, as Nairobians’ engage with the future promised by such schemes. These actions are characterised by dissonant temporal experiences, in which local residents experience the future city as both near at hand and forever out of reach.
Keywords: Kenya; megaprojects; Nairobi; temporality; urban planning; visual culture
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:31-40
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Sky View Factors from Synthetic Fisheye Photos for Thermal Comfort Routing—A Case Study in Phoenix, Arizona
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/855
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DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.855
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 19-30
Author-Name: Ariane Middel
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, USA
Author-Name: Jonas Lukasczyk
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Computer Science, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Author-Name: Ross Maciejewski
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Computing, Informatics & Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, USA
Abstract: The Sky View Factor (SVF) is a dimension-reduced representation of urban form and one of the major variables in radiation models that estimate outdoor thermal comfort. Common ways of retrieving SVFs in urban environments include capturing fisheye photographs or creating a digital 3D city or elevation model of the environment. Such techniques have previously been limited due to a lack of imagery or lack of full scale detailed models of urban areas. We developed a web based tool that automatically generates synthetic hemispherical fisheye views from Google Earth at arbitrary spatial resolution and calculates the corresponding SVFs through equiangular projection. SVF results were validated using Google Maps Street View and compared to results from other SVF calculation tools. We generated 5-meter resolution SVF maps for two neighborhoods in Phoenix, Arizona to illustrate fine-scale variations of intra-urban horizon limitations due to urban form and vegetation. To demonstrate the utility of our synthetic fisheye approach for heat stress applications, we automated a radiation model to generate outdoor thermal comfort maps for Arizona State University’s Tempe campus for a hot summer day using synthetic fisheye photos and on-site meteorological data. Model output was tested against mobile transect measurements of the six-directional radiant flux density. Based on the thermal comfort maps, we implemented a pedestrian routing algorithm that is optimized for distance and thermal comfort preferences. Our synthetic fisheye approach can help planners assess urban design and tree planting strategies to maximize thermal comfort outcomes and can support heat hazard mitigation in urban areas.
Keywords: climate-sensitive urban design; desert city; heat; MRT; outdoor thermal comfort; pedestrian routing; PET; sky view factor; thermal comfort routing; urban form; walkability
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:19-30
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: ‘Resources to Needs’: A Paradigm for Addressing the Potentiality of the Urban Volume
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/759
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DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.759
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 6-18
Author-Name: Michael Robert Doyle
Author-Workplace-Name: Laboratory of Environmental and Urban Economics, École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Abstract: Underground resources are often addressed only out of necessity, leading to conflicts between uses and missing opportunities for productive synergies. The Deep City project is exploring a paradigm of ‘resources to needs’, which considers resource potentials prior to specific urban projects or plans. Mapping is central to the project and has been explored in several cities around the world. The ‘resources to needs’ paradigm, however, has received little theoretical or philosophical attention. To think resources before needs challenges common urban normative models and the process-oriented thinking of mechanical and ecological paradigms popular today. Where current methods for mapping the underground tend to enroll elements in a particular performance or resource use, Deep City seeks to facilitate an intermediate stage in which resource potentials can coexist without any pre-existing interaction or relationship. To think about the urban volume this way, this article works with the informational motor proposed by French philosopher Michel Serres. The logics of substitution and circulation of the map and its contents helps to think an alternative form of mapping in which the map itself becomes a reservoir of potentiality for thinking the urban volume less in terms of predefined functions and processes than a mass to be collectively cultivated.
Keywords: city models; contingency; information theory; mapping; Michel Serres; potentiality; underground resources; urban underground
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:6-18
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Title: Urban Forms and Future Cities: A Commentary
File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/863
File-Format: text/html
DOI: 10.17645/up.v2i1.863
Journal: Urban Planning
Volume: 2
Year: 2017
Issue: 1
Pages: 1-5
Author-Name: Shlomo Angel
Author-Workplace-Name: Marron Institute of Urban Management and Sten School of Business, New York University, USA
Abstract: The commentary reflects on the critical ways in which the proliferation of private property rights and local planning powers constrain and delimit the changes in the forms of cities that will be required in the coming years to ensure that they remain productive, inclusive, and sustainable. It argues that the effective management of the coming disruptions now require a shift of power from the private and the local to the metropolitan and the regional.
Keywords: arterial roads; conservation; eminent domain; metropolitan labor markets; Nimbyism; property rights; public works; smart cities; urban form; urban renewal
Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v2:y:2017:i:1:p:1-5