Contemporary Urban Development Research Articles

Putting the crisis to work: The real estate sector and London's housing crisis

The idea of ‘crisis’ plays an important role in academic and policy imaginations (Heslop and Ormerod, 2020), particularly since the global financial crisis. Across major western cities, at the same time as policy-makers have had to respond to ‘the (economic) crisis’, many have also experienced intense ‘housing crises’ and the acute divergence of average incomes and house prices. In response, cities such as London have become central sites in debates around housing acquisition by the ultra-wealthy, land value extraction and growing levels of unaffordability. However, much critical geography research on housing crises is state-centred or focused on civil society impacts, with relatively little reflection on the real estate sector and the work that crisis does as a narrative in shaping institutionalised and actor-centred practices. In this paper, we draw on in-depth research with developers, investors, and advisors in London to argue that crisis-driven policy responses have created political risk which is differentially experienced by actors across the sector, with large housebuilders and advisors benefitting whilst smaller niche developers move out. Moreover, we show how consultants, investors and developers have used the crisis situation to create new geographies, products and investor types in the housing market. These, in turn, require regulatory support and demonstrate the inherently political nature of crisis narratives' use. We use the London case to broaden understandings of the impact that conceptualisations of ‘crisis’ have on urban and regional planning practices, and how these influence and shape processes of contemporary urban development.

Urban growth, from manufacturing to consumption and financialization: the case of China’s contemporary urban development

ABSTRACT This article provides an empirically based novel research framework addressing ‘the land/built environment–finance and economic development nexus’ of China’s urban growth model. First, urban growth must be viewed beyond manufacturing and production activities to incorporate consumption activities. Mega-projects and infrastructure development have gradually become dependent on the incomes and spending of increasingly mobile consumers and residents. Second, the article highlights the ‘Chinese type’ of financialization of the built environment. As financial assets, urban land and real estate have been connected to newly emerging finance capital actors and circuits nationwide, as well as to direct cross-regional property investments made by urban households.

How Location-Based Social Network (LBSN) Data Contribute to Contemporary Urban Development

<div>In recent years, social media has created a large amount of new data due to the development of Internet technologies. Scholars in related fields focus a lot on the location-based social network (LBSN) and data generated from LBSN to provide new ideas for urban development. This research analyses LBSN data advantages, including the advanced data source, diversity of LBSN platforms, and LBSN data contents. Challenges of using social media data like deviation in data samples, privacy issues and technical barrier are also covered. Last but not least, this essay will discuss the applications of LBSN data in urban design.</div>

Landscape in transition: the case of the Royal Axis in Wilanów

ABSTRACT This article examines the encounter between the cultural landscape of a historic residence and contemporary urban development. It aims to find the proper framework for the conservation and development of such areas. The issue has been analysed on the example of the Royal Axis in Wilanów. The research concerned: the creation and transformation of the Royal Axis and its landscape context, the contemporary development of this area, the state of Axis relics and forms of protection as well as the elaboration of directions for the further protection and development, taking into account the recommendations of international doctrinal documents and good practices.

Contemporary urban development of Yogyakarta municipalitys peri-urban areas

The peri-urban areas of Yogyakarta Municipality have been designated as part of Greater Yogyakarta Urban Development through Yogyakarta Urban Development Project (YUDP) launched in 1989. This paper presents the results of the investigation and analysis on the contemporary urban development of the areas after more than two decades of planning and implementation of the program. Some districts show some spontaneous growth, more specifically those involving the change from agriculture lands to urban functions. Contemporary developments of Yogyakarta's peri-urban areas mainly produced by a mixture between urban activities, physical forms and some rural features, thus producing fragmented rural landscapes, indicated by unbalanced intensity of growth among the districts. Several identified factors are geographical location and conditions, population growth and demands for residential spaces, local regulations or policies, economic pressures, as well as education and tourism developments as the leading sectors in Yogyakarta.

The Concept of Pervading Authenticity: Contribution to Historic Urban Landscape approach

The article focuses on the notion of Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) introduced by the UNESCO in 2005 and 2011 responding to the expanding understanding of cultural heritage and the urgent call to reconcile heritage preservation and contemporary urban developments and re-introduce heritage as a driver of urban and overall societies development. The analysis of the fundamental and recent literature on the theoretical grounding and the applications of HUL had revealed numerous benefits of this concept including the integration potential, acknowledgement of intangible dimensions of heritage and the values of contemporary architecture; however, several challenges and conflicts were identified as well: the challenge of the search of valuable historical patterns, the questions of what extent of change of historic environment is acceptable, and the underlying tension between the call to conserve the existing valuable historical fabric and the urge to employ heritage as the driver for high quality future development. The research suggests that the understanding of the notion of authenticity plays the fundamental role in the success of the HUL approach and, after reviewing the contemporary ideas on heritage authenticity, introduces permanent pervading authenticity, which would allow searching for valuable development patterns based on kairos time instead of chronos in the frame of the HUL concept.

Eco-City: Model Concept for Transforming Brownfield into Modern Urban District

Brownfields are undoubtedly a problem in many 21st century cities. Abandoned, degraded, dangerous, overgrown and degrading the image of cities, they also have many potentials and assets. In the context of contemporary urban development trends related to sustainable development and the idea of creating a compact city with a high quality of life, post-industrial areas, especially those located in city centers, are ideal areas for new investments. Polish cities still have a tendency to urban sprawl, which is why the purpose of this article is to draw attention to the transformation of brownfield areas into modern eco and healthy urban districts as a way of creating sustainable urban space. In addition, the article deals with the topic of pro-ecological solutions, including those related to adaptation to climate change. The study uses the case study method. Five significant examples of post-industrial area transformation from Germany, Spain and France were selected. During the analyzes compared masterplans, functional schemes and location of these areas, and then the basic parameters and relationships between them were distinguished in four main categories: general data, environment, land development and attractiveness assessment. The conclusions of the comparative analysis allowed for the definition of detailed guidelines for creating a model concept for land development of the brownfields located in the city structure. The chosen location is placed in Katowice in former areas of Silesia Zinc Plant. The proposed concept presents functional solutions for connecting residential, recreational, commercial office and industrial areas. It is a template solution for the process of spatial, social and economic development. The project proposes pro-ecological solutions and technologies, including: water recycling, use of solar energy, energy storage, intelligent control and monitoring systems, sustainable mobility, building development based on natural ventilation of the city, rain gardens, reducing heat islands, etc. The transformation methods based on modern pro-ecological technologies in the context of adaptation to climate change which were presented in the article may constitute guidelines for the implementation in similar cases of transforming brownfield areas into modern urban districts.

Towards a discourse and governmentality approach to spatial development – the case of inner city shopping centres

Using the example of the political-planning discourse on former plans to develop a large-scale shopping centre in the inner city of Mainz, the potential benefits of a discourse and governmentality approach to spatial research subjects is discussed. In particular, the discursive discursive mechanisms of inscribing an entrepreneurial and depoliticized conception of urban space into apparently neutral and objective techniques of spatial analysis are worked out. At the same time, this idea of urban space as a competitive entity determined by spatio-economic principles is challenged by competing conceptions of urban development focused on the conservation of place-specific structures of the built environment. Thus, the case study illustrates how discourse analysis can excavate the spatial knowledge structures guiding the management of contemporary urban development projects.

The ‘garden city’ in the green infrastructure of the future: learning from the past

ABSTRACT Contemporary urban development takes place mainly in already built areas. The article’s objective is to examine how towns on the outskirts of large cities can use and revitalise green areas and the urban heritage of garden cities to contribute to filling the societal demand for building sustainable cities. Lillestrøm, a former garden city on the outskirts of Oslo, Norway’s capital, is used as the starting point to discuss how learning from the past can provide a foundation for developing new solutions. The case study was carried out as a DIVE analysis by using qualitative methods to describe the town’s cultural environments, their characteristics, and heritage assets. The analysis is supplemented with practical advice. Local planners need convincing arguments to promote urban heritage and green infrastructure as resources in sustainable urban development in a time of accelerating densification and climate change.

Unsettling Stories of Eviction from the New Saigon

AbstractStories of settling and civilizing a landscape often mask or conceal stories of displacement. Settling stories are often unsettling stories—and scholarship on urban settlement should strive to show both faces of the settlement process. This article analyzes interview excerpts collected between 2010 and 2012 from residents who have been evicted from an urban development site located across the Saigon River from Ho Chi Minh City’s central business district. I highlight how evictees evoke their own histories of settlement as a way of unsettling the triumphalist story of contemporary urban development in the city. Along the way, an unexpected, yet equally unsettling, irony emerges. The settlement stories evictees rely upon to prove their own status as legitimate urban settlers evoke the larger story of Vietnamese manifest destiny, which is also an unsettling tale of conquest, displacement, and settler colonialism.

Place branding and growth machines: Implications for spatial planning and urban development

ABSTRACT Place branding is increasingly being adopted by cities in advanced economies, with recent evidence suggesting that branding has expanded beyond its traditional role of presenting an image reflective of an existing local identity and is instead now able to play a role in guiding local planning and urban development. As with other elements of contemporary urban development, however, place branding also required scrutiny regarding what configurations of local stakeholders are involved in the branding process as well as the resulting implications for planning and development. In this regard, place branding presents a contemporary example of the growth machine thesis. Using this context, the key stakeholders, their roles, and the implications for spatial planning and urban development due to the configuration of the coalition are explored through a series of in-depth interviews with local officials (n = 18), semi-private economic development practitioners (n = 8), and place branding consultants (n = 10). Findings of the study show that the growth machines are dominated by private-sector stakeholders—in particular consultants—who guide the branding process. As a result, these private-sector actors are setting the broad policies that guide the urban development policies and spatial planning of cities.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE OF COMFORT OF AN APARTMENT BUILDING

It is known that the density of cities has a negative effect on the mental state of the urban population, but at the same time, residential real estate in Ukraine plays an important role in the economy of the state. In the modern development of any country, which is experiencing a significant influence of politics and Economics, the problem of housing comfort is quite complex and unexplored challenge facing urban development. Also the changes that have occurred over the last decades influenced the development of the latest information technologies and technical equipment in construction, should be considered by designers for the erection of a comfortable home, which refers to psychological comfort, harmony between the space of the living environment and the subjective pleasure. Through this, it is necessary to investigate all the factors and processes that describe the interaction between the above mentioned elements. Today offers a variety of planning concepts. One of these areas is focused on the pedestrian, the other on the exterior of apartment buildings, that is, they have already begun to consider the comfort of rules which are already under discussion the relevant state agencies. Although the standards of residential property offer a number of advantages, which include enclosed and secure territory and underground Parking, etc., but unfortunately these existing standards almost nothing is said about the parameters of psychological comfort. One reason is that contemporary urban development is more focused on the price per square meter, rather than internal (psychological) comfort. Thus, in this article, the authors set out the General theoretical questions of system analysis of information processes describing the comfort of the living environment from the point of view of internal (psychological) characteristics of the health of the residents of apartment buildings, taking into account various factors and parameters that affect quality accommodation in this type of houses. Special attention is given to the information process in activities of urban construction in modern conditions of instability and crises occurring in society, the economy and other social spheres, since the most important and basic requirement which faces modern housing is a harmonious blend of physiological and psychological signs of comfortable life.

Groundwater Mining in Contemporary Urban Development for European Spa Towns

Mining activity is usually associated with heavy industry, the degradation of space and areas with a clearly industrial character. In fact, mining can be associated with other functions, such as health resorts, recreation and leisure. In the case of spas specializing in balneotherapy, medicinal underground waters “mineral and thermal” are extracted from local deposits using mining methods, in borehole mines. Mining activity is not the main direction of development of these places, but it remains absolutely essential for maintaining the spa function and offering services in the field of recreation, rest and tourism. The article focuses on the relationship between mining activity and the basic function of spas, the spatial relations between urban development and the spa zone, the range of mineral and thermal water use (natural resources obtained from underground deposits using the borehole method), and above all-the manner of exposing mining facilities in spa space and explaining the importance of these elements. The basis for the discussion featured in the article is constituted the results of an original study carried out by the author, employing field research, in 2018 at the Institute of Cities and Regions Design, Faculty of Architecture of the Cracow University of Technology. Research work was performed in a dozen South-German statutory spas (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony). Four cities representing a much wider group of spa centres were selected for detailed analysis: Bad Buchau, Bad Saulgau, Bad Aibling and Bad Schandau. It was shown that the selected cities were directly related to the mining of groundwater, but at the same time differed significantly in terms of the studied features. The study's conclusions may be useful in programming the development of spa towns operating on the basis of underground medicinal waters, as well as in the creation of concepts and projects on the urban and regional scale. Doi: 10.28991/HEF-2020-01-01-01 Full Text: PDF

To What Extent Can the Green Belts Prevent Urban Sprawl?—A Comparative Study of Frankfurt am Main, London and Seoul

A salient issue facing contemporary urban development in many countries is that the physical areas of major cities are growing at a faster rate than their populations. The popularity of the green belt concept among advocates is that it can effectively counter urban sprawl while safeguarding the countryside from urban development. This paper is intended to measure the efficacy of the green belt in preventing urban sprawl through an international comparative study in three cities of different sizes, and which have experienced different urban growth pressures, namely Frankfurt am Main (Germany), London (UK), and Seoul (South Korea). The study adopts the urban sprawl measurement methodological framework defined by Jaeger et al. to process GHSL data in order to examine the urban sprawl index in the three case study cities. This quantitative evidence-based comparative study demonstrates that the designation of green belts has failed to prevent urban sprawl both within urban centers and at a wider regional level.

Contrasts of socioeconomic space in the center of Russia and their evolution: two cross-section cases

The article reveals the level of contrasts in the center of Russia by municipal units, based on some economic and social indicators for two sections, or profiles, that together resemble the letter X on the map. The first profile follows the way from St. Petersburg to Moscow, crossing Leningrad, Novgorod, Tver’, and Moscow oblasts and then to the south of Tula region; the second one also follows the highways from the southern part of Kaluga Oblast via Moscow and Yaroslavl oblasts to the eastern outskirts of Kostroma Oblast. Inequalities in intra-regional, interregional and international migration to permanent residence along the selected profiles, as well as in intra- and interregional temporary labor migration, are studied and graphically shown. The long-term dynamics of population and the post-Soviet transformation of industry and agriculture, obtained including from field research and literary sources, allow us to partially explain modern population movements. It is shown that migration losses in the areas around the Moscow region are both a consequence and a cause of the local economic crisis. It is observed that the pre-revolutionary industrial potential was largely destroyed by the end of the twentieth century, while the accumulated late Soviet potential had a significant impact on the contemporary urban and areal development. However, the possibilities of its post-Soviet use varied greatly from place to place. The cumulative effects of economic spatial shrinkage and population concentration in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, regional centers and their suburbs are clearly visible. Population migration to large cities and agglomerations turn into losses of the most active population in the regions’ peripheries, and, consequently, into spatial economic polarization. Although the economy is partially recovering, changing specialization, its consolidation and modernization, including in agriculture, increases the problems in employment and social sphere, particularly acute at the municipal level. Migration losses in areas around the Moscow region are both a consequence and a cause of the local economic crisis.

From “Sarskaya Road” to “Victory Avenue”. The Architectural Ensemble of Moskovsky Avenue in Saint Petersburg

The article contains a brief overview of the history of the formation of the architectural ensemble of Moskovsky Avenue in Saint Petersburg — one of the major highways in the southern districts of the city. The role of regular urban planning techniques is noted in the process of organizing the main part of the modern highway, starting from Sennaya Square. The highway from the moment of its inception has served as part of a lengthy route important for the whole country, connecting Saint Petersburg with Moscow and Kiev. The process of gradual changes in the architectural characteristics of the avenue in the 19th century is traced, when the composition of the following sections of the highway was formed — from the Fontanka to the square at the Moscow Triumphal Gate. The historical and symbolical emphasis of the Gate is emphasized. The focus of the article is on the part of avenue that was created in the middle of the twentieth century in the neoclassical style of that time. The results of a large competition for the development of planning projects of the highway, conducted when the avenue was named after Joseph Stalin, are briefly reviewed. The authors analyze the spatial structure of the highway, the developed nature of which makes it possible to compare Moskovsky Avenue to Nevsky Avenue. It is shown that the very use of the patterns specific to the order system allowed for the creation of an ensemble, whose solemn character is consonant with the theme of victory in the war of 1941–1945. The authors evaluate the creative contribution of a number of Soviet architects and sculptors in the creation of the ensemble. The article also explores examples of the contemporary urban development of the neighboring city blocks and evaluates the level of their compatibility with the task of preserving the ensemble as an art monument of its time.

Making room for the extraeconomic

This paper revisits the 2011 debate in City over the relationship between assemblage urbanism and critical urban theory. Rather than emphasizing the somewhat exaggerated cleavage between the two sides of the debate, it seeks to address some of the incisive critiques that Brenner, Madden, and Wachsmuth ([2011]. “Assemblage Urbanism and the Challenges of Critical Urban Theory.” City 15 (2): 225–240) level against McFarlane's ([2011a]. “Assemblage and Critical Urbanism.” City 15 (2): 204–224) thought experiment regarding what assemblage thinking might bring to critical urban theory by returning to Deleuze and Guattari's political philosophy. It both explores the lineage of the two central concepts defining Deleuze and Guattari's political philosophy—the ‘state apparatus’ and the ‘war machine’—and uses aspects of the redevelopment of Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood as case study to argue that their political theory is especially well-suited for understanding the interaction of economic and extraeconomic forces (specifically ethics and aesthetics) in contemporary urban development.

Time as infrastructure

Overlapping and interlinked dimensions of time are shaped by and, in turn, structure contemporary urbanization and everyday life. This Special Feature debates the implications of such temporal dynamics for our cities: It explores the making of temporalities, the power relations in and through which this process is embedded, and the inequalities that its effects entail. Beyond definitions that focus on the material characteristics of infrastructures, the Special Feature understands temporalities themselves as infrastructures: structures that underlie and powerfully shape current forms of social organization and interaction. Considering time through this analytic lens promises to elucidate the ways in which political, social and economic conditions shape and exert authority over the everyday urban, as well as the material and social effects of such dominations. The papers assembled in this Special Feature unite scholars from different disciplines, probing this infrastructural lens to understand the structuring effects of urban temporalities in relation to central issues of contemporary urban development, including urban mobility and transnational migration, the politics of financializing urban infrastructure, urban energy transitions and climate risk. Moreover, thinking through the making of temporal infrastructures—that is, disentangling temporal authorities and their underlying power structures—allows thinking through opportunities for action and political change. In sum, these contributions advance three aims: to strengthen and enrich the analytical notion of infrastructure; to facilitate new knowledge about the construction of present, past and future temporalities; and to unveil potential entry points for social interventions that aim to establish empowering approaches towards urban equality and inclusion.

Urban development falling into the gutter: sanitation planning and ‘anti-politics’ in Myanmar

Urban development, and particularly the improvement of basic services delivery, is still approached in mostly technical terms by international development actors and municipalities of the Global South. Sanitation planning, for instance, remains the realm of engineers despite decades of evidence that conventional approaches focusing on infrastructure upgrading have failed to tackle socio-environmental challenges. Against this background, this paper explores sanitation planning in Mandalay, the second largest city of Myanmar. Here, the Asian Development Bank and a French consulting firm have seized the opportunity created by the country’s recent opening to embark with the municipality on a multi-million dollar scheme: the Mandalay Urban Services Improvement Project (MUSIP). Drawing upon insights from critical development studies, the paper argues that the MUSIP can be interpreted as an ‘anti-politics machine’ that ignored local needs and proposed disputable solutions to local sanitation challenges. The paper further explores how this machine jeopardised urban development in Mandalay more generally, and was eventually challenged by the municipality. The paper concludes that the case is not unique and illustrates how urban development is today being reshaped throughout Myanmar, while it also shows the continued relevance of the ‘anti-politics’ framework to understand contemporary urban development assistance projects.

Creative spaces in the structure of strategic planning of contemporary urban development: case of Saint-Petersburg

In the article, the authors consider the topical issue of the development of creative spaces and their effects on the growth of the modern digital economy. In terms of effective development of the modern metropolis, creative spaces are one of the best sources of new knowledge and technological innovations, they provide additional jobs and employment and contribute to increasing flexibility of the city's economic structure. Development of such spaces and industries is directly and inextricably linked with the strategic planning in the modern cities. Using the example of St. Petersburg the authors show that development of creative spaces and industries can only give the expected economic and social effects if it is balanced, well-coordinated and integrated into the system of urban strategic planning.