Urban Planning Methodology Research Articles

Civic Engagement in Urban Planning and Development

The scientific literature has revealed that there is often a discrepancy between urban planning initiatives and the actual development of cities. Urban development is a complex process strongly affected by the self-organisation of citizens and entrepreneurs, who produce services and events, create new public places, and shape urban regeneration through everyday practices. However, the actors of self-organised urban development are rarely met in participatory urban planning practices. The gap raises the research problem of how to recognise and facilitate civic engagement in urban development. The authors of this article have been investigating the ontology and methodology of urban planning and development over the past two decades, culminating in the framework of expanded urban planning. The article aims to present multiple approaches to civic engagement in urban planning and development, based on an updated longitudinal study conducted in a Helsinki neighbourhood. The authors argue that urban planning should be updated with expanded urban planning (EP), which extends the focus of civic engagement from public participation to self-organisation and everyday life practices.

Environmental Adaptation Tools as an Approach to Meet Challenges in Urban Planning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Urban areas are facing the risk of climate change due to high temperatures, floods, storms, droughts, and the expected rise in sea levels, as a result of the rapid growth in urban and industrial activities. Cities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are primarily exposed to the effects of high heat and floods after rare events of heavy rainfall. This requires the search for sustainable and appropriate planning solutions to adapt to climate change within the framework of sustainable urban planning. Urban planning can play a significant role in addressing climate change through sustainable adaptation. Therefore, the research aims to study and identify appropriate environmental tools and planning approaches that can be integrated into the urban planning methodology to adapt to climate change in urban areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Some case studies of urban areas exposed to the risk of climate change were studied and analyzed to evaluate the planning tools and approaches adopted to confront these risks. five cases were studied. The challenges and positives of these tools and approaches were deduced. The appropriate planning approach has been selected for the privacy of Saudi cities to face the effects of climate change. The research concluded that sponge cities are the appropriate approach for Saudi cities to face the risks of floods. The suitability of the sponge cities was assessed in comparison with the case of floods in Jeddah city, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The research also reached steps to integrate the requirements of converting to spongy cities in the urban planning methodology at the different planning levels

Coastal territories of small rivers in the context of the modern landscape architecture development

The article presents the first stages of research into the elements of spatial structure of a large city on the example of the coastal territories of small rivers as integral components of the water-green framework of a modern city. The authors proposed a schematization of the relationship between the object and the subject of the study, graphic definition of the place of riverbank territories in the urban environment, as well as the detailing of the functional structure of the city in the context of the relationship with the coastal territories of small rivers in large cities. The scientific approach and the corresponding improved methodology of urban planning and design of small river bank territories that we are developing will allow us to make ecologically effective, economical and socially responsible decisions related to the widespread inclusion of small river bank territories in the economic and economic activity of the settlement and to implement the actual techniques of landscape architecture at the stage of design concepts. At the next stage of the study, we plan to pay attention to environmental, economic, social and functional factors, as well as their interrelated combinations of improving the methods of decision-making regarding the improvement of the coastal territories of small rivers. In the future, our improved methodological approach to urban planning and design of urban (small) riverside territories can be used, among other things, for the subsequent selection of the most effective types of improvements according to the given parameters.

A Low-Cost Gamified Urban Planning Methodology Enhanced with Co-Creation and Participatory Approaches

Targeted nature-based small-scale interventions is an approach commonly adopted by urban developers. The public acceptance of their implementation could be improved by participation, emphasizing residents or shopkeepers located close to the areas of interest. In this work, we propose a methodology that combines 3D technology, based on open data sources, user-generated content, 3D software and game engines for both minimizing the time and cost of the whole planning process and enhancing citizen participation. The proposed schemes are demonstrated in Piraeus (Greece) and Gladsaxe (Denmark). The core findings can be summarized as follows: (a) the time and cost are minimized by using online databases, (b) the gamification of the planning process enhances the decision making process and (c) the interactivity provided by the game engine inspired the participation of non-experts in the planning process (co-creation and co-evaluation), which decentralizes and democratizes the final planning solution.

Convergence of the materialistic and idealistic in the methodology of urban planning

The realities of the present require changes and development of urban methodology as a science of methods covering the entire methodological chain – from clarifying concepts, streamlining tasks and establishing characteristics of objects to methods of analysis, evaluation and justification of decisions, and urban planning design and management of urban development. The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth understanding of the methodology of urbanism in the context of convergence (rapprochement, interconnection, interpenetration) of materialistic and idealistic approaches, and to streamline and develop methodological tools for urban planning. Urban planning activity is considered a set of purposes, criteria, priorities, and constraints. The multiplicity of purposes – strategic, tactical, regulatory, and criteria – necessitates changes in methodology, analysis and assessment of spatial situations, and justification of decisions, including the requirements of multicriteria. The design of territorial systems is oriented towards integrated development, increasing the validity and efficiency of the implementation of the concepts of their spatial organisation. The study is methodological – it emphasises the significance of improving the methodological culture and developing the urbanist’s systemic thinking (reflection, worldview), their creative potential and the set of professional knowledge, skills and abilities to implement projects and other functions of professional activity. It is extremely important in the era of large databases and the Internet, changes in planning and research practices, increased capacity and depth of information analysis, and the emergence of new techniques and procedures. Integration of new research methods should be designed to obtain new knowledge about processes and phenomena, establish regularities and increase the validity of the principles of organisation, functioning and development of urbanised systems and territories

Development of a Methodological Framework for Measuring Energy Performance of Urban Patterns in New Egyptian Communities (Toward Achieving Sustainable Urban Regeneration)

The concept of Sustainable Urban Regeneration/Retrofitting (SUR) is considered a promising approach for addressing most of the current environmental issues. Developed countries have shown a growing interest in achieving SUR in consistence with raising the efficiency of urban performance. Since the energy sector greatly impacts urban development, it is necessary to adapt new approaches & frameworks (FW) to activate Energy Efficiency (EE) in planning a new, not just Egyptian settlement. Enhancing Energy Performance of Urban Patterns (EPUP) is achieved by: (i) controlling energy consumption of urban patterns; & (ii) pursuing energy self-sufficiency. Egypt still confronts major challenges in how to manage growing consumption rates in a way that is not commensurate with the rates of growth of local production. Practical case studies confirmed the failure in applying the principles of EE in most urban pattern of new cities. Therefore, the research problem is formulated as: the current urban planning methodology in Egypt fails to consider EPUP. Consequently, this research aimed to develop a comprehensive Methodological Framework for Energy Performance Measures (MFEPM) of spatial urban patterns of new Egyptian communities. The MFEPM was developed based on the analysis of relevant Literature & comparative analysis of SUR case studies & tools, resulting in a set of indicators (checklist) to measure & minimize EE of the main urban systems forming the diverse urban patterns. Next, the suitability of the checklist for the Egyptian context was improved based on national strategies & guidelines, and through questionnaires with local stakeholders. Then, the MFEPM was tested on urban pattern samples from new Egyptian cities through an extensive qualitative analysis with GIS tools. Finally, the MFEPM will be integrated into the strategic urban planning methodology adopted by the researcher. The MFEPM assists decision makers to apply the concept of contingency planning through developing more efficient interventions to cope with the dynamic urban context.

Urban security of urban objects affected as a result of terrorist attacks

This study examines the development of an optimal urban planning methodology that ensures the safety of buildings and structures in residential areas affected by hostilities in Syrian cities as part of the recovery and reconstruction process to minimize the loss of urban property and population in the event of a recurrence of such hostilities in the future. The study is based on the urban planning methodology developed by the author to assess the destruction of residential areas and is considered its continuation, which allows determining the degree of destruction of residential areas in the radius of the source of destruction by the excessive pressure of a blast wave and the explosives used. The principles of safest urban planning were determined by analyzing and comparing urban planning models and determining the optimal distance between buildings by defining the blast radius and the safest distance at which buildings can be located.

URBAN ENVIRONMENT DESIGN: NEW METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES BASED ON THE BIOSPHERE COMPATIBILITY PARADIGM (PART 2)

Statement of the problem. New challenges of our time significantly affect the methodology of urban planning. The development of new principles of city life, regulating the biosphere compatibility of cities and the development of human capital, should be considered an urgent scientific task that requires identifying the patterns of functioning of urban elements of planning structures (residential areas). Results. The paper develops the methodological foundations of urban planning, design and evaluation of design options for residential planning units of the city (quarter, neighborhood, residential area) on the principles of the paradigm of biosphere compatibility of cities and settlements that develop people. A conceptual model of the functional and planning organization of the territory- the hierarchy of city functions - is proposed. An algorithm for evaluating variants of residential area planning projects based on the index of urban function provision has been developed. For each of the functions of the city, the necessary and sufficient composition of indicators for evaluating design decisions is identified. The article discusses the prospect of quantifying the social well-being of the population of residential areas of a biosphere-compatible city as an alternative condition for the formation of a comfortable urban environment.Conclusion. The numerical evaluation of the design solution and a comparative analysis of the level of favorability of a residential neighborhood using the principles of the biosphere compatibility paradigm show what changes are required in the composition of urban planning solutions not only to achieve the quality of the material environment of life, but also human development in all respects.

URBAN PLANNING METHODOLOGY FOR ASSESSING THE DESTRUCTION OF RESIDENTIAL AREAS AFFECTED BY HOSTILITIES

This article discusses the task of developing an urban planning methodology for assessing the degree of destruction of residential areas aff ected by hostilities in Syrian cities. This methodology will be the basis for the theoretical substantiation of the process of restoration the destroyed residential areas of the cities and their functional planning organization in the context of ongoing military confl icts. The research is based on the methodology for assessing the degree of destruction of buildings presented in GOST R 42.2.01-20141 « Civil defense. Assessment of the state of potentially dangerous facilities, defense and security facilities under the infl uence of damaging factors of conventional weapons» .The state of the buildings destruction is determined using satellite imagery as well as fi eld tests. The parameters of the damaging factors are determined analytically. The developed methodology makes it possible to determine the degree of destruction of residential areas within the radius of destruction formed by the excess pressure of the blast wave and the explosives used and to assess the suitability for recovery in the context of continued hostilities. On the basis of the established degree of destruction of residential areas, a scheme of urban planning zoning of the residential area of Homs was made.

Identifying agricultural areas with potential for city connections: A regional-scale methodology for urban planning

The main objective of this study was to characterize the spatial structure of periurban agriculture for the purpose of operational urban development, avoiding the use of cumbersome and costly surveys when the public action sphere is extended to a region or a country. On the basis of Partial Least Squares-Path Modeling (PLS-PM), the approach developed here uses data freely available in France and makes it possible to analyze complex relationships between the socio-economic structure of farms, demography, landscape structure, and landscape management and function. The results are used to identify spatial units of periurban farmland (USAP). Aggregated at the municipal level, they reveal municipalities under the influence of an urban pole whose agricultural areas have a greater possibility of developing short marketing chains towards the city and that could consequently justify public support for local supply options.

URBAN PLANNING ARCHITECTURE

Statement of the problem. New challenges of our time and the dynamics of socio-political and socio-economic factors in the development of Russia significantly affect the methodology of urban planning. The deteriorating environmental situation in many cities encourages a new approach to understanding and developing new principles of city life that regulate the biosphere compatibility of cities and the development of human capital as the main criteria for the effectiveness of territorial planning, construction and operation of urban facilities. Results. The article deals with a fundamentally new approach-urban planning, which should be understood as a system of fundamental provisions on life in the territories of cities and settlements and the principles of their spatial development and settlement. In practical terms, urban planning is an activity for the internal arrangement of the city's living environment, creating favorable conditions for the life of all categories and strata of the population without exception. The fundamental differences between the concept of urban development and urban planning are related to the need to understand the unity of the city and Nature, the symbiotic "embedding" of the city in the Biosphere. The Central element of the concept of urban development is the person, the conditions for its development in the urban environment.Conclusion. As part of the research, the practice of urban planning allows solving the problems of innovative development of the urban economy and increasing human potential, and in the long term -- transforming cities into biosphere-compatible and developing people as an alternative condition forthe survival of humanity and a priority for its development as an intellectual community.

LOCAL URBAN-PLANNING FORMATIONS AS A FOUNDATION FOR REORGANIZING REGIONAL SYSTEMS OF SETTLEMENT: PREREQUISITES FOR DEVELOPING THE METHODOLOGY

Statement of the problem. New trends in urban planning of the 21st century reflect the influence of scientific and technological progress and development of social relations. In the territorial systems of settlement, there is a pronounced dynamics of urban planning processes, their regional identity, heterogeneity and locality of location in space. Without proper methodology in place, maintaining the existing structural and functional order is becoming challenging. Establishing the features and patterns of development of territorial systems as the basis for their reorganization requires the systematization of the latest urban planning experience.Results. A special group of objects - local town-planning formations - is revealed, their characteristic features are substantiated which predetermine the construction of a typology. Based on the differentiation of the ways of their interaction with territorial systems, the main provisions of the methodology of urban planning are formulated.Conclusions. The signs, properties and characteristics of local town-planning formations determine the dynamics of territorial systems. Considering them when justifying urban planning decisions allows one to simultaneously implement the requirements of sustainability and innovation, which contributes to the formation of new elements and connections in territorial systems, determines the process of urban planning evolution and contributes to an increase in the comfort of the living environment.

Features of the Transformation of Urban Public Spaces Based on Their Socio-Cultural Potential

Changes in the structure of public spaces of cities are conditioned by spatial-planning, environmental, social factors and often in post-Soviet cities have spontaneous and a little controllable character. At the same time, the set methodology of urban planning cannot provide an effective tool for environment formation, fully complied with new social needs, which makes the development of principles and technologies of the transformation of environment relevant, which is capable of evolution and self-development. The particularity of construction of public spaces of the Soviet city and the features of their social and spatial transformation in the post-Soviet period are considered. Urban public spaces, being in the process of development in space and changing in time, are characterized by the properties of incompleteness and enrichment of their environment with elements of time. On this basis, the typology of public spaces is considered on the example of the territories of the Krasnoarmeysky district of Volgograd as the main semantic structure-forming elements and socially significant dominants of the city, the types of spaces are defined according to the degree of completion of the formation: emerging, habitable, stable, subject to reconstruction and possible directions of their transformation are proposed. The conclusion about the need of preservation of the specific spaces of the city, containing outstanding historical elements, and their transformation based on the principle of historical continuity, built on the combination of historical objects and new components of the environment is made.

Озеленення забудованих територій малих міст у контексті дотримання державних будівельних норм

Стале міське землекористування передбачає дотримання чинних національних стандартів. Відстежено дотримання вимог державних будівельних норм (ДБН 360-92. Планування і забудова міських і сільських поселень) щодо планування міст у частині формування системи зелених насаджень на прикладі території малого історичного міста Вишгород Київської області. Виявлено слабкі місця у нормативному документі та рекомендовано заходи з озеленення забудованих територій з метою подальшої оптимізації містобудівного планування в Україні. Дослідження виконано у чіткій послідовності відповідно до вимог, викладених у ДБН-360-92 з порівнянням реальної ситуації на території міста, визначеної способом натурних обстежень. Методи дослідження – експертно-аналітичні. Встановлено, що на території дослідного міста зазначені нормативні рекомендації порушують або взагалі ігнорують. Не дотримано мінімальні відстані насаджень дерев і кущів від будівель і споруд, вуличні насадження мають обмежений асортимент кущових рослин. Ущільнене будівництво зазвичай здійснюють за рахунок територій зелених насаджень, зокрема центрального парку міста. Не дотримано рекомендації щодо максимального збереження ділянок із існуючими насадженнями. Нормативи з влаштування майданчиків різного функціонального призначення на прибудинкових територіях житлових масивів давно забуто, що, можливо, потребує перегляду самих нормативів, викладених у ДБН.

Solar energy integration in future urban plans of the South and Nordic cities

Main economic revenue of Algeria is related to export of hydrocarbons such as natural gas and oil (up to 95 % of its export) and the global falling of oil prices effects national economy. Also at the country level more than 90 % of the energy used is based on fossil fuels; deployment of renewable and clean energy technologies is still not widely developed. Algeria should adopt the renewable energy for its further development taking into account the favourable climatic conditions such as abundant sunshine throughout the year. The objective of this research is to apply a Sustainable Solar Urban Planning methodology used for definition of solar potential in urban planning for the city Ibenbadis (Constantine, Algeria). Obtained results allows us to compare the solar potential calculated for three different urban sites – the city Ibenbadis (Constantine, Algeria), Alcabideche (Cascais Municipality, Portugal) and Riga (Latvia).

Construction of Collaborative Teaching Strategy Model of "Urban Planning Methodology" Course

Construction of Collaborative Teaching Strategy Model of "Urban Planning Methodology" Course

Ecology-related resilience in urban planning – A complex approach for Pécs (Hungary)

The aim of this paper is to introduce an urban planning methodology which enables planners to select projects, which fit the main goal of the city and develop a resilient strategy structure, based on the selected projects. The planning process is demonstrated by the development of a resilient city strategy – in this case, by the city of Pécs.The main goal of a city (in the case of Pécs: to become a sustainable city) determines policy directives and the functional areas involved, whilst the strategic goals and sub-goals of the functional areas influence projects. These projects generate impact flows, which provide the basic data for Ecological Network Analysis to measure the basic resilience of the strategy structure.It is known from ecological systems that neither totally redundant nor highly efficient systems are sufficiently resilient. ENA allows an optimisation procedure to be undertaken. As a result, a complex iterative model is devised, suitable to elaborate a resilient strategy structure.This paper shows that efforts to achieve sustainability can be used to organize resilient structures. The study applies this locally – where city strategy pursues sustainable aims – and globally, where existing global knowledge will be organized into a resilient structure.

Technical and logical methods for improving the process of urban planning in Serbia

The subject of the paper is an analysis of the methodology for developing urban plans, considered in a normative, organizational and interest context. Based on current legislation defining the content and procedure for adopting a plan, and the institutional framework that defines the participants in the planning process, a basic methodological model for a planning solution was formed, which was then improved in the context of the collaborative planning paradigm. Starting from the assumption that harmonizing the different interests represents the ?grey zone? of planning in Serbia, the paper explores various methodological steps that would give a space for better cooperation between all stakeholders, and therefore contribute to the improvement of procedures for developing plans and the quality of the planning solutions themselves. On the basis of this research, a methodology for urban planning is defined as a logical and technical method of successively configuring a planning solution in a normative, organizational and interest context. Through analysis of the application of the methodological model in practice and a case study, it was confirmed that the method of producing a plan that includes timely and meaningful cooperation can reconcile the interests of the different stakeholders in planning.

Up-grading Illegal Building Settlements: An Urban-planning Methodology

Starting from the definitions of illegal building and synthesizing the historical roots of the phenomenon in Italy, this contribution identifies three types of illegal building and traces the development of the regulations that have characterized this problem. The proposal of a reading methodology is described through its application to the case-study of the municipality of Dragoni (Ce) in Campania Region. After proposing a distinction between illegal building and unauthorized urban-planning and recognizing three approaches to solving the problem: repression, amnesty and mitigation, the paper reflects on the latter since it addresses redevelopment with an urban vision and not exclusively a building one. After a brief analysis of national and regional legislation, where it is possible to resort to the Recovery of Illegal Building Plans, even through variants to the municipal general planning instruments, follows the highlighting of the main objectives and guidelines in reference to the preparation of specific implementation planning instruments.

Water management assessment methodology for urban planning

One of the biggest challenges in urban planning is to balance the use of natural resources with the need to preserve them. One of the main resources is water, which is essential to human life and activities. Population growth and urban sprawl challenge water availability. Thus, it is important to evaluate development trends in order to predict future scenarios, enabling the adoption of preventive actions and decision-making. The objective of this study is to present a water management assessment methodology for urban planning as a practical and direct tool capable of conveying the necessary information for decision making in the process of balanced and harmonious urban planning, applicable to medium size Brazilian cities.