Interactive model of urban development in residential areas in Skopje

Abstract

Development of residential areas in Skopje in a period after the 1963 earthquake led to an emergence of continuous pressure to the physical structure of the city. It's essential to analyse, explore and understand the processes that are shaping our city. The study explores interactive tool that exercise the complex analysis of architectural and urban structure within the Skopje's residential areas and proposes a 3D model to investigate local dynamics and best fitting urban indicators for development. Through series of analysis of diverse typologies, programs, spatial and functional configurations of the dwelling within the city, the study presents an effort by use of Interactive Visualization Tool (InViTo) for modeling of urban development to explicate spatial distribution, the process of transformation and acknowledge the regularities and suitability of development of urban form in Skopje's residential area and, in particular, the relationship between functions and its localizations. In the last century and especially in the period of transition from socialism to capitalism the cities in South-Eastern Europe have experienced heavy transformation. In the context of a debate that examines these transformations, the continuities and the discontinuities in urban space, this paper focus on the development of 3D modelling tool for analysing and building knowledge on the urban change in residential areas of city of Skopje. It points out the importance of the tools for critical reading and understanding of city's past, research and comprehension of the dynamic city presence and support spatial decision-making and planning for the future urban development in residential areas. There has been a profound change in what city represents, a deep restructuring of the meanings and spatial specificity and conceptual expression in the urban imaginary (1). The apparent development of the Postmetropolis (2) has raised the notion of the human systems as systems that are far-from- equilibrium. Moreover, spatial aspect of human systems has become more complex due to technological change, bigger mobility and social, cultural and demographic transitions of these globalized processes. Cities are complex systems constituted of physical elements interrelated in elaborated spatial relations. Its complexity is enhanced by its constantly changing and evolving shape and structure. To try to understand the dynamics and processes that are shaping our cities we have to develop models that are coherent with the dynamic and complex nature of the cities, but comprehensible and simple enough to be operationally useful. Hence, any attempt to model the spatial system and dynamics of the cities should involve this indeterminacy and instability of the cities and theoretical framework as one of its basic features. In the same time it should be followed with strong knowledge and data management that should provide necessary coherence with the nature of the city.