Mixed-use Neighborhoods Research Articles

Socialinės kontrolės žemėlapiai: miesto erdvės analizė pagal M. Foucault

The aim of this article is to reveal how two Foucauldian modalities of power, disciplinarity and biopolitics, are enacted in urban space as practices of social control and negotiation of norms beyond the limits of sovereign juridical power. The article contributes to other spatial studies based on the Foucauldian perspective in two respects: by combining the analysis of both disciplinarity and biopolitics, and by focusing on an urban neighbourhood, rather than a single institution. The characteristics of built structures in a mixed-use neighbourhood in Vilnius were analysed by combining observation and photo-documentation. Qualitative data analysis and thematic mapping of the data was based on coding categories originated from the Foucault’s discussion on the divides and interrelations of power modalities in his lectures at the College de France. The findings show that each structure, regardless of its function, employs both disciplinary and biopolitical techniques of social control at three distinct levels: a) urban planning, prescribed functionality and its correspondence to actual use; b) means of limiting access, containment and transparency; c) circulation of populations and their compliance to the particular spatial setup they find themselves in.

Socialinės kontrolės žemėlapiai: miesto erdvės analizė pagal M. Foucault

The aim of this article is to reveal how two Foucauldian modalities of power, disciplinarity and biopolitics, are enacted in urban space as practices of social control and negotiation of norms beyond the limits of sovereign juridical power. The article contributes to other spatial studies based on the Foucauldian perspective in two respects: by combining the analysis of both disciplinarity and biopolitics, and by focusing on an urban neighbourhood, rather than a single institution. The characteristics of built structures in a mixed-use neighbourhood in Vilnius were analysed by combining observation and photo-documentation. Qualitative data analysis and thematic mapping of the data was based on coding categories originated from the Foucault’s discussion on the divides and interrelations of power modalities in his lectures at the College de France. The findings show that each structure, regardless of its function, employs both disciplinary and biopolitical techniques of social control at three distinct levels: a) urban planning, prescribed functionality and its correspondence to actual use; b) means of limiting access, containment and transparency; c) circulation of populations and their compliance to the particular spatial setup they find themselves in.

Transforming industrial heritage in St. Petersburg Possible futures for the southern industrial belt

Together with ITMO University of St. Petersburg, the National Superior School of Architecture of Strasbourg (ENSAS) and the Faculty of Architecture of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) set up a Collaborative Urban Design Studio on the transformation of the southern industrial belt of St. Petersburg. The sustainable redevelopment of postindustrial landscapes into attractive urban districts through new programmatic and spatial possibilities taking into account the sense of place and the unique characteristics of St. Petersburg’s urban geography, the reuse of industrial structures and their adaption to new activities, the designing of spatial structures for lively mixed-use neighbourhoods with housing and work facilities meeting different needs and incomes, are some of the key issues for a common workshop scheduled in November 2015.

Moral Intuitions and Smart Growth: Why Do Liberals and Conservatives View Compact Development so Differently?

ABSTRACT:Political liberals are significantly more supportive than conservatives of walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods, transit-oriented development, and other aspects of the “compact city,” not just in their views about government policy toward metropolitan development but also in their consumption preferences regarding neighborhoods. I argue that social psychologists’ theory of moral intuitionism helps account for these differences. In this view, liberals and conservatives emphasize different sets of affective, emotion-laden moral impulses—such as those involving fairness, purity, or ingroup loyalty—predisposing them toward particular reactions to compact development. Political ideologies also are associated with different personality traits that are relevant to opinions on the built environment. To explore the intuitionist hypothesis, I review qualitative accounts that suggest an association between certain moral worldviews and attitudes toward development patterns. I then conduct multivariate analysis of a public opinion survey that contained questions relevant to moral foundations and to views on compact development.

Knowledge Neighbourhoods: Urban Form and Evolutionary Economic Geography

Spencer G. M. Knowledge neighbourhoods: urban form and evolutionary economic geography, Regional Studies. This paper examines connections between the urban form of neighbourhoods in relation to the evolutionary economic geography of knowledge-intensive industries. The data presented show that firms in ‘creative’ industries tend to be located in dense, mixed-use neighbourhoods near the city core, while ‘science-based’ industries tend to be concentrated in low-density, single-use neighbourhoods in the suburbs. It is argued that these spatial patterns are related to the fact that inter-firm networks are more important in the ‘creative’ industries, while ‘science-based’ industries rely more heavily on intra-firm interactions and learning.

Influences of Neighborhood Characteristics and Personal Attitudes on University Commuters’ Public Transit Use

This study examined the links between attitudes, the built environment, and travel behavior on the basis of data from the Ohio State University's 2012 Campus Transportation Survey. The analysis results indicated that attitudes might have explained travel behavior better than the built environment. Survey respondents were asked questions about their attitudes on public transit use, and their answers were grouped into new attitudinal factors by using principal component analysis. Then, new neighborhood categories were created by K-means cluster analysis by means of built-environment and land use variables (population density, employment density, housing density, median age of structures, percentage of single-family housing, and intersection density). As a result of this analysis, discrete neighborhood categories, such as urban high-density and residential neighborhoods, and urban low-density and mixed-use neighborhoods, were created. Then, differences in attitudes toward public transit were analyzed across these new neighborhood categories. Binary logit models were estimated to determine the influence of these neighborhood categories as well as personal attitudes on public transit use after sociodemographic characteristics were controlled for. The results indicated that attitudes were more strongly associated with travel behavior than with neighborhood characteristics. The findings of this study will aid in the formation of a better understanding of public transit use by highlighting the effects of attitudes and neighborhood characteristics in transit use as well as differences in attitudes between neighborhood types.

Livability and Social Capital in West Bay, The New Business Precinct of Doha

Scholars argue that there is a mutual relationship between built environment, social interactions (and/or social capital) and livability: the form of the built environment contributes to the construction of social capital and/or enhancement of livability. Therefore in order to enhance livability, the built environment should provide the arena encouraging social activities. The study of the relationship between built environment, social capital and livability has focused on existing spatial environments at macro level or urban scale. Namely, regardless of the interest to this relationship, direct assessment of the extent to which the built environment of West Bay, the new business precinct of Doha, contributes to the formation and enhancement of social capital, has not been investigated yet. Therefore, this research project aims at filling this gap in the literature. The paper argues that the current spatial form of the built environment of West Bay does not facilitate the development of social activities, which in turn contribute the formation of social capital and enhancement of livability. The aim of the paper is to explore and explain the extent to which the spatial form of the built environment of West Bay can be implemented in order to enhance social interactions and/or social capital and, therefore, to contribute to create a more livable environment. Data is obtained from a household survey and focus group interviews that measured the social capital of tenants living in eight high-rise buildings in West Bay, through their involvement in social activities within the built environment. This allowed understanding how the built environment of West Bay should be modified in order to enhance social capital and consequently implement livability in the neighborhood. The analysis indicates that (1) tenant living in West Bay have low level of social capital and that (2) in order to enhance livability, the spatial form of the neighborhood’s built environment needs to be implemented with public spaces, mixed-use neighborhood design, efficient public transport systems, pedestrian and bicycle networks. This would contribute to create a sense of community and expand opportunity for social interactions, which in the end would contribute to enhance livability.

Resilience in the social and physical realms: Lessons from the Gulf Coast

The mounting frequency and scale of natural disasters, increasing urbanization, a growing reliance on interdependent technologies and infrastructure, and inflated expectations of emergency response interventions are responsible for greater disaster vulnerability and demonstrate the need to establish more resilient communities ahead of a disaster. The decisions of the private sector are among the reasons for increased vulnerability, for example through unsustainable or unsound real estate development.One factor that is known to impact resilience is social capital, particularly as manifested in strong social networks. The built environment has been shown to influence social networks in multiple ways. Research has shown that walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods with a higher concentration of social gathering places and public space encourage the development of social capital and place attachment through an increase in social interaction. The built environment is a physical, social, and symbolic anchor for residents. Most importantly for resilience, it can be a support system for social networks. The private sector influences this relationship through real estate development decisions.This paper examines how characteristics of the built environment that influence social networks contributed to greater resilience to Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Given that social networks increase community resilience to all types of disasters, that social networks are shown to be influenced by certain types of space, and that the built environment is a common intervention for urban planners, this paper explores the potential for creating cities that are more resilient by encouraging private development that fosters social networks.

The influence of attitudes on Transit-Oriented Development: An explorative analysis

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), where compact, mixed-use neighbourhoods are being realized around existing or new public transit stops, is a promising tool to restrict urban sprawl and stimulate sustainable travel modes. However, TODs are not always as easy to implement at every location. In high-density city centres a TOD is relatively easy to implement, since density and diversity are already high and most residents have a positive stance toward car alternatives due to self-selection processes. In more low-density suburbs, however, the situation is more difficult. There is not only the problem of adapting the built environment, but also the problem that most initial residents have a preference for car use, since they chose their neighbourhood based on the physical characteristics of the initial neighbourhood. In this viewpoint we will look at how travel-related attitudes and residential self-selection can affect the success rate of TODs in three different situations. It seems that taking into account attitudes is especially important for the realization of TODs in low-density neighbourhoods.

مختبر التطوير الحضري: المشاركة في تصميم حضري خاص في إمارة رأس الخيمة

The urban and rural landscape of Ras Al Khaimah reflects the major investments in manufacturing and trade that have been made by its rulers since its entry into the United Arab Emirates Federation in 1972. The emirate’s pharmaceutical, ceramics, cement, and other industries have met with much success and have been accompanied and supported by widespread organizational and economic reforms and investments. The emirate has experienced year-after-year of growth and development, which continued even through the recent global economic downturn. The vision of His Highness Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi to diversify Ras Al Khaimah’s economy and encourage growth in a range of sectors will impact the future shape of the city of Ras Al Khaimah and its position within the emirate. Such growth highlights questions about the future shape of Ras Al Khaimah in relation to the Ruler’s vision of economic diversity. His Highness would like to reduce Ras Al Khaimah’s reliance on industry and encourage growth in a variety of sectors, including projects related to sea ports and the airport, the expansion of the Free Trade Zone, and an increase of investment in the tourism sector. As a result, planning is underway to define how these sectors can work in harmony to create a functional city, one that generates income, provides an agreeable home for its residents, and constitutes an attractive destination for tourists. The Urban Development Lab in Ras Al Khaimah was developed in response to a call for tenders by the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in the area of urban planning and development research in Ras Al Khaimah. The Urban Development Lab is an innovative process that uses perception studies and live interactive sessions with residents to capture the “tacit knowledge” of the city’s residents with regard to their perceptions and aspirations for Ras Al Khaimah’s urban landscape. The findings of the perception studies and live sessions are combined with global research on best practices in urbanization to begin to develop a culturally-relevant participatory urban design process for this city. The study’s lab process began with a comprehension phase in October 2012, which was designed to collect background information on the way that Ras Al Khaimah’s residents perceive their city. This information was used in the formation and administration of a survey instrument that focused on urban planning. The deliberation phase followed the comprehension phase and used highly-structured group sessions to acquaint residents with urban planning practices while seeking to crystalize their perspectives on Ras Al Khaimah. Finally, the consolidation and delivery phase involved ICOS’s processing of its data and formulating a comprehensive report that served as the basis for this Al Qasimi Foundation Working Paper. ICOS’s initial report was completed in October 2013. The Urban Development Lab process demonstrated that residents of all regions of Ras Al Khaimah would ideally like the city to develop into a place that puts importance on the family and that has diverse sectors of economic development. The neighborhood is the point of reference in Ras Al Khaimah. Accordingly, the majority of residents identify the appearance of their neighborhood as its most important aspect. Residents favor mixed-use neighborhoods that have essential services close by. The willingness shown by residents to move around their neighborhoods on foot could pave the way for Ras Al Khaimah to become one of the first walkable cities in the region. ICOS is an independent research organization working in areas of urban and community development, rights and citizenship, and youth education and employment. ICOS uses its research methodologies to gain a deep understanding of the reality on the ground in Ras Al Khaimah and to engage people in the process of assessing their own situations. كما هو الحال مع العديد من المواقع التاريخية في منطقة الخليج، يمثل التجديد الحضري للمنطقة القديمة في رأس الخيمة ، الإمارات العربية المتحدة تحديا في الحفاظ على التوازن بين المحافظة والتجديد. يهدف هذا البحث إلى تسليط الضوء على أهمية منطقة البلدة القديمة كموقع تاريخي وثقافي لصانعي السياسات في الإمارة.

Local and Regional Governments and Age-Friendly Communities: A Case Study of the San Francisco Bay Area

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which cities, county departments of adult and aging services, county transportation authorities, and public transit agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area have in place age-friendly policies, programs, and infrastructure in the areas of community design, housing, transportation, health care and supportive services, and opportunities for community engagement. The most common age-friendly features include those that target alternative forms of mobility (for example, incentives for mixed-use neighborhoods and changes to improve the accessibility of public transit), while the least common policies and programs are those that aim to help older adults continue driving, such as driver education programs, driver assessment programs, and slow-moving vehicle ordinances. The article concludes with policy and research implications of these findings.

Shifting Discourse about Transit-Oriented Development in Mumbai, India

The 2011 census report indicates a population of more than 12 million people in the city of Mumbai, India, over an area of 427 km2. The Comprehensive Transportation Study of 2008 for the city and its region revealed that 51% of all trips (vehicular and nonmotorized) were made by walking and 78.2% of purely vehicular trips were made by public transportation. This high usage of public transportation and walking modes was a result of dense, mixed-use neighborhoods that traditionally agglomerated around suburban railway stations. Planning, implementation, and operations of mass transportation systems, however, are handled by agencies other than the city municipal corporation that plans land use and its regulation. Coordination between these agencies is typically a challenge and results in poor integration of transport and land use. High transit dependency and ridership have prompted city stakeholders to presume that Mumbai has naturally, over the years, adapted to transit stations; although this presumption is probably true, current realities indicate a worrisome trend. Regulations set out in the existing development plan greatly incentivize ownership of private vehicles, with excessive sops available to build parking structures, even close to railway stations. Suburbs are incentivized to proliferate in a bid to decongest the old city areas. Metro- and monorail alignments are under construction without consideration of integrating land use. This paper argues that current regulations incentivize vehicles and built densities around transit nodes. A dire need exists to rethink these regulations and develop a comprehensive transit-oriented development approach to managing high population densities around transit nodes.

Travel Behaviour and Landuse Planning: The Planning of Mosque in Shah Alam, Selangor

Mosque is an important place for the Muslim to perform religious activities and as a place for social gathering. Several studies by M. Yilmaz, 2012 and A.Kahera et al., 2009 provided with the design criteria for the optimal siting of mosque. In Malaysia, the criteria to provide mosque in any locality is based on the Guideline for Planning Mosque and Surau. Several studies have shown that a higher density and mixed-use neighbourhood yield less vehicle trips compared to lower density development. This has resulted in ideas to apply new approach in landuse planning to reduce motor vehicle trips. This paper intends to investigate the travel behavior of respondents to reach the mosque from their house to demonstrate the travel behavior of people in different type of neighbourhood.

Moral Intuitions and Smart Growth: The Political Psychology of Attitudes Toward Compact Development

Why is it that, as prior research shows, political liberals are significantly more supportive than conservatives toward mixed-use neighborhoods, transit-oriented development, and other aspects of the “compact city”? I argue that these preferences are not primarily deduced from different policy views about government’s role in the economy or in environmental protection. Instead I draw upon social psychologists’ theory of moral intuitionism to help understand why the political left and right differ, not just in their policy attitudes but in their consumption preferences toward different types of neighborhoods. In this view, different individuals are predisposed for or against compact development because liberals and conservatives are “pre-wired” to emphasize different sets of affective, emotion-laden moral impulses (such as those involving fairness, purity, or ingroup loyalty). Affiliation with the political left or right is also associated with different personality traits that are relevant to opinions on the built environment. For empirical support, I first review qualitative accounts that suggest an association between certain moral worldviews and attitudes toward compact development. I then conduct multivariate analysis of a public opinion survey that contained questions relevant to moral foundations and to views on compact development.

Changes in Physical Activity and Travel Behaviors in Residents of a Mixed-Use Development

Mixed-use developments may be especially promising settings for encouraging walking and other types of physical activity. This study examined the physical activity and travel behaviors of individuals before and after they relocated to Atlantic Station, a mixed-use redevelopment community in metropolitan Atlanta. A survey study was conducted to compare the behaviors, experiences, and attitudes of Atlantic Station residents before and after moving to a mixed-use neighborhood. Data were collected in 2008 and 2009 and analyzed in 2010. Key dependent variables were self-reported physical activity and travel behaviors including walking for recreation and transport, automobile use, and use of public transportation. Study participants included 101 adult residents of Atlantic Station, most of whom were female, young, and well educated. There were significant increases in walking for recreation or fitness (46%-54%; p<0.05) and walking for transportation (44%-84%; p<0.001) after moving into the mixed-use development. Respondents also reported reduced automobile travel and increased time spent using public transportation after moving to Atlantic Station. Because this study used individuals as their own controls, there is more control over confounding lifestyle variables compared to cross-sectional studies of individuals living in different neighborhoods. Adults who move to a denser, mixed-use neighborhood increase their levels of walking for both recreation and transportation, decrease their automobile travel, and increase their use of public transportation.

Are Land Use Planning and Congestion Pricing Mutually Supportive?

Problem: Congestion pricing and land use planning have been proposed as two promising strategies to reduce the externalities associated with driving, including traffic congestion, air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. However, they are often viewed by their proponents as substitutive instead of complementary to each other. Purpose: Using data from a pilot mileage fee program run in Portland, OR, we explored whether congestion pricing and land use planning were mutually supportive in terms of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction. We examined whether effective land use planning could reinforce the benefit of congestion pricing, and whether congestion pricing could strengthen the role of land use planning in encouraging travelers to reduce driving. Methods: VMT data were collected over 10 months from 130 households, which were divided into two groups: those who paid a mileage charge with rates that varied by congestion level (i.e., congestion pricing) and those who paid a mileage charge with a flat structure. Using regression models to compare the two groups, we tested the effect of congestion pricing on VMT reduction across different land use patterns, and the effect of land use on VMT reduction with and without congestion pricing. Results and conclusions: With congestion pricing, the VMT reduction is greater in traditional (dense and mixed-use) neighborhoods than in suburban (single-use, low-density) neighborhoods, probably because of the availability of travel alternatives in the former. Under the same land use pattern, land use attributes explain more variance of household VMT when congestion pricing is implemented, suggesting that this form of mileage fee could make land use planning a more effective mechanism to reduce VMT. In summary, land use planning and congestion pricing appear to be mutually supportive. Takeaway for practice: For policymakers considering mileage pricing, land use planning affects not only the economic viability but also the political feasibility of a pricing scheme. For urban planners, congestion pricing provides both opportunities and challenges to crafting land use policies that will reduce VMT. For example, a pricing zone that overlaps with dense, mixed-use and transit-accessible development, can reinforce the benefits of these development patterns and encourage greater behavioral changes. Research support: This project was supported by the Mineta Transportation Institute, where the authors are research associates.

Comment on Emily Talen and Julia Koschinsky's “Is subsidized housing in sustainable neighborhoods? Evidence from Chicago”: “Sustainable” urban form and opportunity: frames and expectations for low-income households

Talen and Koschinsky demonstrate that Chicago's walkable, dense, mixed-use neighborhoods score poorly on measures of health, accessibility, safety, and social interaction. This comment raises and discusses several questions: How good a frame is ``sustainable'' for describing the urban form the authors measure? What are the connections between ``sustainable urban form'' (SUF) and good outcomes for assisted tenants in Chicago? Do SUF neighborhoods provide better conditions for assisted housing tenants? How does the scale at which we investigate this question influence the answer? More broadly, how do we expect SUF to work for assisted housing tenants and other low-income people? Finally, to what extent is SUF a necessary and sufficient condition for ensuring long-term income diversity through investment in affordable housing? The answers to all these questions are still open, making this is a promising time for more fine grained research supporting efforts to bring greater social justice to the city.

Ghost Houses and Trojan Horses

The Ghost Houses project was not supposed to be possible—five units of housing and a studio in three structures on a one-quarter acre infill lot with an historic zoning overlay. Yet, by using the history of the site as a wedge, we were able to overcome ossified regulations to create a progressive project consistent with our interest in dense, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods and architecture that is simultaneously responsive to both its locus and global environmental concerns. Through an improvised series of requests, meetings, and public hearings, the Ghost Houses became a project that explored the nature of zoning codes as a legal construct in which are embedded social, cultural, economical, and historical aspects of a community's self image. This process revealed the power of collective memory and positioned architecture as a critical practice that responds to, carefully evaluates, and ultimately helps to shape common values. By conceptually separating interior from exterior and esthetics from form, the Ghost Houses act as a Trojan Horse for instigating, through built form, a new dialog about the possibilities of a once overlooked neighborhood.

Cost-Effectiveness of Green Roofs

Life-cycle assessment was used to evaluate the widespread installation of green roofs in a typical urban mixed-use neighborhood. Market prices of materials, construction, energy conservation, storm-water management, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions were used to evaluate private and social costs and benefits. Results suggest green roofs are currently not cost effective on a private cost basis, but multifamily and commercial building green roofs are competitive when social benefits are included. Multifamily and commercial green roofs are also competitive alternatives for reducing greenhouse gases and storm-water runoff. However, green roofs are not the most competitive energy conservation techniques. GHG impacts are dominated by the material production and use phases. Energy impacts are dominated by the use phase, with urban heat island (UHI) impacts being an order of magnitude higher than direct building impacts. The quantification of private and social costs and benefits should help guide green roof policy. Results should encourage green roof enthusiasts to set appropriate life-cycle assessment boundaries, including construction material impacts and UHI effects.

Comparing the Capitalisation Benefits of Light-rail Transit and Overlay Zoning for Single-family Houses and Condos by Neighbourhood Type in Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona

Light rail transit (LRT) is increasingly accompanied by overlay zoning which specifies the density and type of future development to encourage landscapes conducive to transit use. Neighbourhood type (based on land use mix) is used to partition data and investigate how pre-existing land use, treatment with a park-and-ride (PAR) versus walk-and-ride (WAR) station and overlay zoning interrelate. Hedonic models estimate capitalisation effects of LRT-related accessibility and overlay zoning on single-family houses and condos in different neighbourhoods for the system in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Impacts differ by housing and neighbourhood type. Amenity-dominated mixed-use neighbourhoods-predominantly WAR communities-experience premiums of 6 per cent for single-family houses and over 20 per cent for condos, the latter boosted an additional 37 per cent by overlay zoning. Residential neighbourhoods-predominantly PAR communities-experience no capitalisation benefits for single-family houses and a discount for condos. The results suggest that land use mix is an important variable to select comparable neighbourhoods.