Aspects Of Urban Planning Research Articles

Legal and economic aspects of urban planning in the field of housing management

Legal and economic aspects of urban planning in the field of housing management

Redefinition of prefabricated large panel building systems - face lifting or disruptive revolution

The notion of “a large panel system (LPS)” means a building system from prefabricated structural elements, concrete slabs, used for the construction of blocks of flats and other buildings. Despite its simple definition, the name evolved over time into an urban, architectural and sociological phenomenon of massive impact changing the character of many European cities for good. It is estimated that nowadays in Europe (excluding the countries of the former Soviet Union) around 41 million inhabitants live in housing estates built from prefabricated panels. The presented elaboration aims to determine a real scale of this issue and provoke a discussion on the basis of undertaken actions - the discussion about the possibilities of stopping the destructive spatial and social processes affecting such areas. On the basis of the above-discussed architectural, urban planning, sociological and technical aspects of the large panel system housing estates and their juxtaposition with competitive contemporary housing estates, an attempt can be made to compare the negative and positive characteristics of these areas. A division into three groups is proposed: 1. Spatial and functional parameters in urban planning, 2. Spatial and functional parameters in architecture, 3. Technical and aesthetic parameters. However, the above-described terms mainly function on the grounds of the downtown (city-centre) building development. Therefore, only by the reference to the revitalization of housing estates do we understand specific areas in degraded housing complexes. Finally, the undertaking of the revitalization actions in the context of large housing developments made with industrial technologies is called ‘the humanization of housing estates’. This term refers to a whole range of works, beginning from the survey of the technical condition, through consultations with the local community, to the selection of solutions in the field of architecture, economics or ecology. On the contrary to the typical modernization, humanization focuses its activities also on the analysis of the collective addressee, their needs and expectations. Humanization of huge housing complexes is coupled with the strive for sustainable development of cities, which has recently become a strategic term in the economies of all developing European countries.

Nuevos ensanches: análisis comparado en cuatro ciudades medias del noroeste español

La falta de una visión de conjunto determina que desconozcamos en gran medida el resultado de la aplicación de los modelos de urbanización compacta en ciudades de tamaño medio, que ha tenido lugar desde finales del siglo XX. Tal situación deriva en diagnósticos muy generalistas, basados sobre todo en las grandes aglomeraciones. Aquí se ofrece una comparativa entre cuatro poblaciones españolas de categoría intermedia, geográficamente cercanas, donde fueron promovidos durante el cambio de siglos grandes polígonos de viviendas, emparentables aunque diferenciados. Mediante un acercamiento transversal, numérico y cualitativo, a variables morfológicas, económicas, relativas a la comunidad y el medioambiente, se valora el peso de los factores locales en el modelado urbano final. La investigación demuestra que, a esa escala de análisis, aflora una considerable diversidad de situaciones y una serie amplia de aspectos mejorables, con los cuales el balance resulta desfavorable en términos de sostenibilidad.

The influence of Moscow and Leningrad on the compositional organization of residential quarters in Yaroslavl in the 1920s and 1930s

Introduction. The article shows the relevance of studying compositional techniques applied to residential areas in provincial cities in relation to the unfolding program of housing renovation and reconstruction of historical centres of cities. Despite a significant amount of research on various aspects of Soviet urban planning and domestic architecture of the period under review, the local research, focused on the development of particular cities in comparison with the architectural practice of the capital is in demand in both domestic and foreign architectural studies.
 Materials and methods. The step-by-step comparison of the Yaroslavl domestic architecture, dating back to the 20ies and 30ies of the 20th century, is compared with the one of Moscow and Leningrad to identify the features characterizing the formation of compositional techniques applied to residential areas in Yaroslavl.
 Results. The study highlights several stages in the evolution of residential development in Yaroslavl. It is shown that the first stage gravitated towards the Moscow practice characterized by a somewhat mechanistic approach to filling the territory of a quarter. The second stage, which dates back to the end of the first five-year plan, was characterized by a new function of domestic architecture as a limiting controller of central urban spaces. Further stages are focused on the task of developing approaches to the preservation of the valuable historical legacy in the context of reconstruction of central neighbourhoods.
 Conclusions. The article shows the features of the Yaroslavl architecture at each stage, and conclusions are made about the extent and nature of influence produced by the Moscow and Leningrad schools. There are unique approaches to the compositional organization of residential quarters built both on vacant land plots and in the central neighbourhoods of the city that accommodates a valuable historical heritage.

How can we plan for a good urban sound environment, focusing on road traffic noise?

Introduction. The sound environments in our cities are affected by unwanted sounds, i.e. noise, to an extent that is largely undesired, affecting health and wellbeing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated the burden of disease from traffic-related noise within the western part of Europe and concluded that we each year lose at least one million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and that only air pollution has a larger disease burden among environmental factors. The burden of environmental noise is mainly sleep disturbance and annoyance. And the dominant source is road traffic.Methods. This paper describes the mechanisms behind road traffic noise and how we can use them in an urban sound planning perspective to improve the sound environment, as an integral part of sustainable cities and communities. The results are based on calculations and measurements made in previous and ongoing projects.Results. Treatments at source consider tyre, road, engine (whether electric or combustion), driving speed and acceleration, and further vehicle restrictions. Methods for reduction of noise during propagation and more general urban planning aspects include low-height barriers and ground treatments; acoustically absorbing facades and roofs of buildings, e.g. including vegetation; and building morphology and quiet side. Quantitative reductions, in decibels, as well as qualitative aspects are presented.Conclusions. The described possible improvements to the urban sound environment, with focus on road traffic noise as the dominant impairing factor, inform us about how a good urban sound environment can be reachable. However, to reach a good sound environment in reality, the work process of applied urban sound planning demands work across disciplines, also at early-stage planning, instead of traditional noise control applied late in the planning process.

Integrated Methodology for Urban Flood Risk Mapping at the Microscale in Ungauged Regions: A Case Study of Hurghada, Egypt

Flood risk mapping forms the basis for disaster risk management and the associated decision-making systems. The effectiveness of this process is highly dependent on the quality of the input data of both hazard and vulnerability maps and the method utilized. On the one hand, for higher-quality hazard maps, the use of 2D models is generally suggested. However, in ungauged regions, such usage becomes a difficult task, especially at the microscale. On the other hand, vulnerability mapping at the microscale suffers limitations as a result of the failure to consider vulnerability components, the low spatial resolution of the input data, and the omission of urban planning aspects that have crucial impacts on the resulting quality. This paper aims to enhance the quality of both hazard and vulnerability maps at the urban microscale in ungauged regions. The proposed methodology integrates remote sensing data and high-quality city strategic plans (CSPs) using geographic information systems (GISs), a 2D rainfall-runoff-inundation (RRI) simulation model, and multicriteria decision-making analysis (MCDA, i.e., the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)). This method was implemented in Hurghada, Egypt, which from 1996 to 2019 was prone to several urban flood events. Current and future physical, social, and economic vulnerability maps were produced based on seven indicators (land use, building height, building conditions, building materials, total population, population density, and land value). The total vulnerability maps were combined with the hazard maps based on the Kron equation for three different return periods (REPs) 50, 10, and 5 years to create the corresponding flood risk maps. In general, this integrated methodology proved to be an economical tool to overcome the scarcity of data, to fill the gap between urban planning and flood risk management (FRM), and to produce comprehensive and high-quality flood risk maps that aid decision-making systems.

Current Status and Future Trend of Urban Low-Carbon Transportation in China

<p>The concept and connotation of urban low-carbon transportation are put forward and expounded. The status of energy consumption and carbon emission of urban transportation since 2000 in China is analyzed. The analysis shows that the total energy consumption and CO2 emission of urban transportation has increased rapidly, and public transportation has the lowest carbon emission intensity among all kinds of motor vehicles. The construction of urban low-carbon transportation in China faces the following problems: the development speed of public transportation lags behind; the non-motorization degree of residents’ travel structure has decreased greatly; the lack of effective demand management, weak awareness of energy conservation and emission reduction; and the urban transportation management system is incompatible with the construction of urban low-carbon transportation Based on the analysis of the present situation, this article puts forward three strategic directions and five main measures for the construction of low-carbon transportation in Chinese cities. Transportation industry is a basic service industry and a key area of urban energy conservation and emission reduction. Effective measures should be taken to accelerate the development of urban low-carbon transportation from the aspects of urban transportation planning, construction and operation.</p>

Imagining Cities of Inclusion—Formulating Spaces of Justice

This introduction underlines some of the topics the present thematic issue focuses on, such as segregation and security, control and creativity, resistance and networking, presenting continuities and changes in urban governance and urban justice in different parts of the world. We argue that urban theory should be rethought to consider cities as fora that recentre the ‘political’ in relation to gentrification, rights to the city, justice, and alternative urbanisms. We highlight structural aspects of urban policy and planning, including the intersection of mega-development projects with disruptive acts of social dispossession and efforts to depoliticise institutional control. Simultaneously, we emphasise tactics that reinterpret hierarchical modes of governance and create initiatives for enhanced justice through claim-making, negotiation, improvisation, acts of everyday resistance and organised opposition.

Sustainability-oriented configurational analysis of the street network of China's superblocks: Beyond Marshall's model

The duality in China's traffic planning has given rise to the basic unit of urban form and function called the superblock, which is defined and bound by an arterial street network. The street network of China's superblock underpins the coexistence and interaction of global and local movement, the public and daily space, and affects place diversity and local characteristics. However, its configuration remains to be articulated because of the lack of a systematic representation method, and the associations between configuration and performance, cognition and design cannot be determined. This study proposes an improved representation method for the street network of China's superblocks based on Marshall's route structure analysis to explore the configurational characteristics and sustainability of the network. To fit local conditions, this study improves Marshall's route structure analysis from four perspectives, namely, the judgement of relative hierarchy, the node construction principle, and the deletion and addition of the original indicators. The improved method is then applied to calculate and compare the depth, connectivity, and complexity of the street networks of 10 sample superblocks in Nanjing, which are classified into six types by construction backgrounds, each having two scenarios differing by the level of publicity. Results indicate that the types formed in accordance with the “The Capital Plan” of the Republic of China, which presents a combination of fine orthogonal grids and radiations, and by the renewal of the traditional street-and-lane network, which has the “characteristic structure” defined by Marshall, perform best in terms of configurational sustainability. The analysis also reveals that the addition of semipublic streets formed mainly from the bottom up narrows the sustainability gap among the samples. This study provides a tool for elaborate urban study and design and provides insights into the cognitive and practical aspects of China's urban planning and design.

Does it matter where you live? Examining the impact of gender, gender egalitarianism and city context on the work–family interface

PurposeThis study asks the following research question: does “city” context interact with gender and gender egalitarianism (GE) to impact the positive (WFPOS – work–family positive spillover) and negative (WFC - work-family conflict) aspects of the work–family (WF) interface of working men and women in India.Design/methodology/approachMANCOVA analysis is used to examine data gathered from 250+ working men and women from eight different Indian cities that were ranked based on the 2018 Ease of Living (EOL) Index.FindingsThere was no significant main effect of gender on WF interface variables. Low levels of GE and low EOL were significantly associated with high levels of WFC and WFPOS. There was a significant interaction between gender, GE and city. An examination of within-gender differences indicated that in low-EOL cities, men and women with low values of GE (traditionals) had significantly higher time-based WFC than men and women with high values of GE (egalitarians). Additionally, traditional women reported higher WFPOS than egalitarian women. In high-EOL cities, traditional men reported significantly higher time-based WFC than egalitarian men. There were no significant differences between women.Research limitations/implicationsGender, along with gender-related attitudinal and contextual variables, does a better job of explaining variance in the WF interface as compared to gender alone. Results support the notion that high WFPOS and high WFC can co-occur in contexts of change and transition such as rapidly growing urban centers.Practical implicationsThe results have significance for work–family practitioners as well as urban city planners looking to improve the quality of work–life in India and other similar emerging market economies experiencing rapid urbanization.Originality/valueThe study extends work–family research by bringing aspects of urban planning and gender studies into an understanding of the work–family interface.

Health and Physical Activity in Urban Neighbourhoods. Case Study: Shah Alam City, Selangor, Malaysia

Environmental health is referring to the health of people in relation to environmental quality. Due to rapid urbanisation, more people are living in urban neighbourhoods. Urban planning and design aspects including the neighbourhood environment are potentially affecting the human healthy lifestyle and health condition. Thus, the relationship between Malaysian neighbourhood environmental aspects and human health has become the concern of this research. One of the neighbourhood units in Shah Alam city had been chosen as the study area for this purpose. Questionnaire survey had been carried out to examine the health condition and physical activeness of residents. Besides, the perception of residents on the quality of neighbourhood environmental aspects also had been collected in the questionnaire survey. The health condition of residents was measured by non-communicable diseases (NCD) and the physical activeness was measured in duration as well as the frequency of physical exercise activities. The study found that the quality of neighbourhood environmental aspects significantly increased the physical activeness of respondents. The physical activeness was positively associated with human health as measured in NCD (heart diseases and high blood pressure, HBP). It shows that neighbourhood environmental (physical and social) aspects are potentially affecting the healthy life of people living in the neighbourhood.Keywords: Healthy life, Neighbourhood environment, Non-communicable diseases (NCD), Physical activeness, Quality.

Urban planning and historical aspects of the development of urban territories of the Kola Peninsula

The article analyzes the urban planning and historical aspects of the development of urban areas of the Kola Peninsula. It is shown what caused the urbanization, namely the processes of narrowly directed industrial development. The characteristic features that define the specifics of urban development processes for the settlement system of the Murmansk region are listed. The scheme of territorial planning in the existing system of settlement of the region is proposed. Depending on the size of the locality and its zone of influence, reference centers of various orders are allocated. Support centers perform organizational and comprehensive maintenance of the surrounding area, are economic centers, and are located at a significant distance from each other at the intersection of transport routes. The need for support is shown Northern regions by the state.

Urban planning for low-carbon sustainable development

With the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, increasingly serious global climate change issues have profoundly affected the survival and development of human beings, and natural, ecological and social systems are facing unprecedented threats and challenges. The purpose of this article is to study urban planning from multiple perspectives and levels, and strive to create a healthy ecologically balanced environment. This article takes city A as the research object, and uses the theory of SD and low-carbon(LC) cities as a guide to analyze the social and economic development level, regional resources, and environment of city A, and compare it with representative cities. Through the analysis of decoupling index, the stage of LC development in city A was clarified, and the urbanization rate of city A was 68 %. The economic growth of city A mainly depends on the rapid development of high-energy-consuming industries. We must adjust the economic structure. On the basis of full demonstration and analysis, development strategies are proposed from the aspects of urban planning, LC economy and LC transportation to promote the harmonious development of the ecological environment and the city.

АНАЛИЗ МАЛОЭТАЖНОЙ ЖИЛОЙ ЗАСТРОЙКИ ЛЕНИНГРАДА (НА ПРИМЕРЕ РАЙОНА УДЕЛЬНОЙ)

The areas of low-rise buildings in Leningrad in the period from 1944 to 1950 are considered. The current state of development is reflected. A detailed analysis of the features of residential blocks is carried out on the example of the Udelnaya district. Graphic diagrams showing the location of low-rise blocks in the modern urban fabric are presented. The process of involving creative teams of architects in the design of low-rise buildings is described. The general characteristics of urban planning and architectural aspects of development are given. The characteristic features of the planning structure formed in each area of low-rise construction are analyzed. The assessment of the preservation of the building ensemble at the present stage is given. The existing urban fabric of the Udelnaya district is presented, indicating the gradual formation of development. The architectural features of low-rise buildings in the Udelnaya district are analyzed using the example of three types of houses. A comparative analysis of three types of houses is presented in tabular form. The comparative analysis provides a graphical representation of the main facades and the three-dimensional composition of buildings. The graphic scheme illustrates the silhouette of Yeletskaya street in the Udelnaya district. A general description of the area improvement environment is given. As a result of the study, the positive and negative sides of low-rise buildings are identified. In conclusion, the operational disadvantages of the analyzed low-rise buildings are indicated. Based on all the materials presented in the article, it is proposed to renovate low-rise areas as a single ensemble.

Membranes for spontaneous separation of pedestrian counterflows

Designing efficient traffic lanes for pedestrians is a critical aspect of urban planning as walking remains the most common form of mobility among the increasingly diverse methods of transportation. Herein, we investigate pedestrian counterflows in a straight corridor, in which two groups of people are walking in opposite directions. We demonstrate, using a molecular dynamics approach applying the social force model, that a simple array of obstacles improves flow rates by producing flow separations even in crowded situations. We also report on a developed model describing the separation behavior that regards an array of obstacles as a membrane and induces spontaneous separation of pedestrians groups. When appropriately designed, those obstacles are fully capable of controlling the filtering direction so that pedestrians tend to keep moving to their left (or right) spontaneously. These results have the potential to provide useful guidelines for industrial designs aimed at improving ubiquitous human mobility.

Flood Hazard and Risk Assessment Due to Land Use Changes in Purbalingga, Indonesia

Purbalingga Regency is one of the regencies in Central Java Province that has rapid growing in economic and tourism in accordance with comprehensive urban planning. Land use changes is an important aspect of urban planning. Therefore, spatial analysis is needed to highlight the problem of flooding in Purbalingga Regency. Spatial analysis performed for flood risk is a spatial analysis based on flood hazard zoning and flood vulnerability. Flood hazard zoning and flood vulnerability analysis were conducted using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Geographic Information System (GIS) for existing condition, regarding current data and projection condition presented in Purbalingga Urban Planning 2011-2031. Result of flood hazard zoning analysis showed that for existing condition, Purbalingga Regency is mostly considered into the medium category of hazard category with an area of 62,652.077 ha. On the other hand, referring urban planning projection data 2031, there is a decrease in categories of low, medium, and high, but increase in very high and extreme category. Risk assessment shows that Purbalingga Regency currently has an extreme category with an area of 11,080.047 ha, including the proposed location of Wirasaba Airport.

Virtual Environments as Enablers of Civic Awareness and Engagement

The wide availability of accurate sensors currently hosted by smartphones are enabling new participative urban management opportunities. Mobile crowdsensing (MCS) allows people to actively participate in any aspect of urban planning, by collecting and sharing data, reporting issues to public administrations, proposing solutions to urban planners, and delivering information of potential social interest to their community. Although collected data can be very helpful to enhance the quality of life of citizens, mobile users are still reluctant to use their devices to take advantages of the opportunities offered by the digitized society, mainly due to privacy issues. From August to December 2018, the city of Florianópolis, capital of Santa Catarina, in southern Brazil, was used as a living lab environment for an MCS application called ParticipACT Brazil, a socio/technical-aware crowdsensing platform. While the current literature focuses on MCS from a purely technical point of view, this research demonstrated that a multidisciplinary approach that includes both human sciences and ICT is needed in order to better identify critical issues, highlights the untapped potential of MCS paradigm, and suggests research methodologies that could provide benefits for all the actors involved (researchers, public administrators, and citizens).

Three-Dimensional Visualized Urban Landscape Planning and Design Based on Virtual Reality Technology

The traditional methods of urban landscape planning and design cannot integrate designs into the entire planning scenes planning processes, and cannot efficiently, intuitively and coordinately express planning effects of multiple schemes and large scenes. With the development of computer science and technology, virtual reality (VR) technology, which is based on similar theory, mathematical theory, control theory, and graphics processing theory, is playing an important role in many aspects of urban landscape planning and design. On the basis of summarizing and analyzing previous research works, this article expounded the research status and significances of three-dimensional (3D) visualized urban landscape planning and design, elaborated the development background, current status and future challenges of VR technology, introduced the methods and principles of spatial roaming sorting algorithm and evaluation indicator screening and system construction, established 3D database and virtual scene model of urban landscapes, performed 3D visualized urban landscape modeling, realized 3D presentation of virtual scene landscape, discussed the integration and optimization of landscape design schemes, analyzed the 3D modeling and interactive adjustment of the landscape planning and design schemes, and finally conducted simulation experiment and its result analysis. The results show that the VR technology provides designer with realistic information processing effects through intelligent drawing, full display and timely information, which greatly improves design efficiency and effectively promotes design quality; the 3D visualized technology can transmit a large number of information through graphics in a short time, enabling professionals to intuitively and quickly observe test results or interactively process these results.

The Analysis of Urban Planning Aspects and Development of Residential Real Estate in Tallinn, Estonia

Abstract At the present time, the world’s population is rapidly increasing, and the existing resources, which are limited, are being significantly consumed. Due to this fact, in order to use these resources more efficiently, the concept of planning day by day gains importance in the framework of sustainable development. Although Estonia is one of the countries that has the fewest number of people in Europe, owing to its economic reliability, high development level and worldwide awareness of the field of software, Estonia has become one of the less affected countries by the crisis. At the same time, Estonia is one of European countries that executes planning for long-term economic development. The aim of the research is to analyse the interrelation aspects between urban planning and residential real estate development on different levels in Tallinn, capital of Estonia, in the context of sustainable development. Analysis and synthesis, comparison, observation, and logical deduction methods are used within the research. According to the research conducted, the price ranges of real estate objects are closer to each other in the condition towards homogeneity in residential settlements which have similar residential and planning features. It can be recommended to build a contemporary system regarding interrelation of urban decisions and tendencies within development of the real estate market, which can help investors and other market participants in sustainable, efficient, and long-term decision making.

Dynamic Models for Exploring the Resilience in Territorial Scenarios

The present paper focuses on the role covered by dynamic models as support for the decision-making process in the evaluation of policies and actions for increasing the resilience of cities and territories. In recent decades, urban resilience has been recognized as a dynamic and multidimensional phenomenon that characterizes urban and metropolitan area dynamics. Therefore, it may be considered a fundamental aspect of urban and territorial planning. The employment of quantitative methods, such as dynamic models, is useful for the prediction of the dynamic behavior of territories and of their resilience. The present work discusses the system dynamics model and the Lotka–Volterra cooperative systems and shows how these models can aid technicians in resilience assessment and also decision makers in the definition of policies and actions, especially if integrated in wide evaluation frameworks for urban resilience achievements. This paper aims to provide an epistemological perspective of the application of dynamic models in resilience assessment, underlying the possible contribution to this issue through the analysis of a real case study and methodological framework. The main objective of this work is to lay the basis for future compared applications of these two models to the same case study.