Urban Planning Perspective Research Articles

Sanitation Dilemmas and Africa’s Urban Futures: Foregrounding Environmental Public Health in Contemporary Urban Planning

Africa is rising, so goes the current narrative on Africa’s growth and development prospects. While most of these narratives are in direct reference to economic indicators and existing potentials for Africa’s sustainable development, there is no doubt that the rapidly urbanizing landscapes of Africa, characterized by sprawling cities, high-rise buildings, and flashy city lights represent an urban revolution in most of Africa’s cities. Beneath the glow of flashy city lights lies a dark and gloomy contrast: inner city slums, sanitation dilemmas and environmental public health challenges which converge to pose significant challenges to Africa’s broader sustainable development aspirations. This paper foregrounds urban sanitation challenges and public health imperatives from a contemporary urban planning perspective. The paper argues that urban planning and public health have shared a close historical relationship both in thinking and practice; however, recent developments in urbanization processes have seen the two professions drift apart. The paper further asserts that human habitat considerations from the perspective of urban planning in Ghana, in particular, treat issues of sanitation management and public health and safety issues as after-thoughts and are excluded in initial planning processes. While the paper acknowledges the influence of increased population growth and the reality of climate change in current urbanization processes, the paper advocates for new approaches that make cities and other urbanizing communities resilient.

THE OUTSTANDING UNIVERSAL VALUE OF THE HISTORIC COLONIAL CENTRE OF THE CITY OF GRACIAS (HONDURAS)

Abstract. This paper analyses the outstanding universal values, integrity, and authenticity of the city of Gracias (Honduras), as well as its protection and heritage management tools. The main objective is to demonstrate that Gracias meets the UNESCO requirements to qualify as a candidate for inclusion in the International List of the World Heritage Convention (1971). Gracias is a colonial Spanish city, founded in 1536, in the region of Lempira. It had great productive, strategic and administrative importance in Central America, demonstrated in part by its hosting of the ‘Audiencia de los Confines’. The ‘Audiencia’ was the highest court of the Spanish Crown with jurisdiction over the current republics of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the region of Chiapas. The aim of this court was to represent the interests of the indigenous people in these areas. An on-site analysis, diagnosis and assessment of the heritage elements was carried out from architectural, urban planning, historical, and intangible heritage perspectives. Additionally, other similar sites in Central America have been analysed for comparison. Results show that this city meets criterion iv of the World Heritage Convention: ‘an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history’. Furthermore, the city´s heritage assets are well-preserved and most of them remain functional; the indigenous culture is alive; and planning, conservation and managing tools are in use. Currently, Gracias maintains its harmony and life and its respect for the natural environment, creating a cultural landscape that has been maintained for almost 500 years.

Restrictions of Historical Tissues on Urban Growth, Self-Sustaining Agglomeration in Walled Cities of Chinese Origin

This article uses a fractal observation to help delineate the constraints placed by multiple city walls on the growth of historical East Asian cities. By applying advanced technologies from economic geography and fractal indices, a staged scaling process within urban dimension coherence can be applied to both indices. In this study, a discovery is proposed based on the urban organism concept that is capable of indicating a proportional intra-urban structure from a fundamental wall-bounded urban element (local specificity) to other greater walled spatial properties (global variables). This local specificity potentially performs approximate scaling regularities, and spatially denotes an average historical threshold of urban growth for its overall size, with similar scaling law constraints. This finding involves territorial, urban planning, and ancient architectural perspectives, providing a historical and local response to the expansion of contemporary cities. By employing growing fractal estimation, data processing enables the logarithmic city size to be obtained by measuring each wall’s specific features using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method. On the basis of two-dimensional allometric scaling patches, a spatial unfolding mechanism is utilized to reproduce these dynamic changes with city walls as a result of the human trajectories in time geography.

A implementação de empreendimentos hidrelétricos no Médio Araguari e a nova configuração urbana de Ferreira Gomes-AP, na Amazônia brasileira

A ocupação do espaço urbano por meio da organização sistemática do uso do solo confere ao planejamento urbano a responsabilidade em atribuir organização e ordenamento nas cidades. Assim, o principal objetivo deste trabalho é identificar os principais aspectos da expansão urbana da cidade de Ferreira Gomes - Amapá, em decorrência de sua proximidade com 3 empreendimentos hidrelétricos (Usinas Hidrelétricas Cachoeira Caldeirão, Ferreira Gomes e Coaracy Nunes), avaliando especificamente as principais limitações deste processo sob a ótica do planejamento urbano e ordenamento territorial. Para a elaboração deste trabalho houve a busca por literatura específica nesta temática, recuperação de dados secundários em instituições públicas, além de pesquisas em campo para a validação de informações coletadas e identificação das principais zonas de expansão urbana e dos cenários decorrentes deste fenômeno.

Ruili, China: The China–Myanmar nexus hub at the crossroads

This profile of Ruili examines this significant border city which sits at the nexus between China and Myanmar. Despite its strategic role and location, Ruili has attracted comparatively little attention. Ruili is an important Chinese city because, despite its strategic role and location, it has attracted comparatively little attention. We review the historic role of Ruili on the southwestern route of the Silk Road and document the recent transformation of its urban socioeconomic landscape and fabric since the beginning of the Belt and Road Initiative. We argue that Ruili developed from a ‘small’ and ‘ordinary’ border city to become the hub of cooperation between China and Myanmar. This transformation was driven by the port economy and border trade of this city as well as the elevated position occupied by Ruili in state planning and mega-project investment deployed by the authorities. Indeed, Ruili grew because of its geographic significance at the Myanmar border as well as key nodal point status as a nexus radiation center facing Southeast Asia which enabled the concentration of production, finance, and commodity trade. This article examines and discusses land use and spatial structures from the perspective of Ruili urban planning. We also discuss the challenges faced by this city as a national border space manifest in bilateral trade flow fluctuations and shortages of urban services and infrastructure. We conclude that cross border management governance innovation and reform, particularly to include additional stakeholders, will be necessary to nurture and sustain the role of Ruili as a regional hub in Southeast Asia.

Public Open Spaces Urbanity: A Confrontation Between the Physical and Social Dimension at the Parque Germânia

Public open spaces have historically been places of political action. Contemporary life, on the other hand, raises challenges to the city and its places of urbanity: they need to meet multiple demands, which indirectly include political action, but also involve leisure, entertainment, sport and social interaction, for example. Understanding the city as a place of encounter, and public open spaces as essential facilities for social interaction, leads to an approach to public open spaces from the perspective of urbanity. This article analyses the case study of Parque Germânia in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The case study considers a confrontation between the built environment as a physical dimension and appropriation as a social dimension. The study analyzes public use of the park through non-participant observation focusing on the following concepts: diversity and tolerance; visibility and flexibility. Diversity and tolerance is considered as a way of understanding the dynamic of appropriation by different social groups and their relationships; visibility is considered as a concept related to urban security, and flexibility is analyzed from the seasonal nature of different scenarios of use in the same space. The study analyzes the physical dimension by presenting a layered map that focuses on urban insertion, environmental aspects and design. Urban insertion is considered from the perspective of urban planning, such as use of the surrounding areas, access points and mobility; the environmental aspects consider areas of environmental preservation and hydrography; design considers the design of the park and its facilities as support for community activities and its multifunctional ability to serve different uses. The article presents a possible approach to public open spaces from the perspective of urbanity by considering both physical and social dimensions, and specifically builds a structured analysis of Parque Germânia.

Research on the Planning Strategy and Layout Pattern of Electricity Grids in Megacities from the Perspective of Urban Planning

In light of the advancement of urbanization and the development of digital and intelligent technologies, urban power consumption has shown a continuous and rapidly increasing trend, which makes power supply and its protection key issues in terms of further urban development. Given this context, the electric power system per se has likewise been undergoing continuous improvement and change, with many efforts directed toward AC-to-DC conversion for electricity transmission. As such, the new measures applied in urban areas inevitably face the challenge with regard to coexisting with the existing urban systems. On the one hand, electricity grids, as important infrastructure of urban power supply systems, play a key role in supporting modern urban life. On the other hand, the traditional planning methods, solely relying on electricity load forecasting and load nodes, results in a certain degree of inconsistency and conflict between the electricity grid planning and the Master Urban Plan, thereby leading to serious negative impacts of the electricity grid layout on urban space quality. Given this context, this article reflected on the limitations of the traditional electricity grid layout and planning methods by analyzing the current situation and the needs of urban space development. Subsequently, relevant planning theories were combined to explore strategies and models for the planning and layout of electricity grids and related facilities in megacities based on comprehensive consideration of power security, power safety, not-in-my-backyard mentality, urban development needs, and urban space quality, in order to achieve harmonious coexistence of electricity grid construction with urban-rural space.

Urban green infrastructure: A review on valuation toolkits from an urban planning perspective

As a response to increasing urbanization and changing weather and climatic patterns, urban green infrastructure (UGI) emerged as a concept to increase resilience within the urban boundaries. Given that implementing these (semi-) natural solutions in practice requires a clear overview of the costs and benefits, valuation becomes ever important. A range of decision-support tools for green infrastructure and ecosystem services exist, developed for various purposes. This paper reviews the potential of 10 shortlisted and existing valuation tools to support investment decisions of urban green infrastructure. In the assessment, the functionality is regarded specifically from the urban planning and decision-making viewpoint. The toolkits were evaluated on 12 different criteria. After analyzing the toolkits on these criteria, the findings are evaluated on the (mis)match with specific requirements in the urban planning and management context. Secondly, recommendations and guidelines are formulated to support the design of simple valuation tools, tailored to support the development of green infrastructure in urban areas. Approaching the valuation toolkits biophysically and (socio-)economically provides an integral overview of the challenges and opportunities of the capacities of each framework. It was found that most tools are not designed for the peculiarities of the urban context. Several elements contribute to the hampering uptake of GI valuation tools. Firstly, the limited effort in the economic case for green infrastructure remains a burden to use toolkits to compare grey and green alternatives. Secondly, tools are currently seldom designed for the peculiarities of cities: urban ecosystem (dis)services, multi-scalability, life-span assessments of co-benefits and the importance of social benefits. Thirdly, toolkits should be the result of co-development between the scientific community and local authorities in order to create toolkits that are tailor made to the specific needs in the urban planning process. It can be concluded that current tools, are not readily applicable to support decision making as such. However, if applied cautiously, they can have an indicative role to pinpoint further targeted and in-depth analyses.

The multispecies community at the Służewiec Racetrack in Warsaw

ABSTRACT Urban horse-racing tracks cover vast areas and are often located in urban districts. One of them is the Służewiec Racetrack in Warsaw. It consists not only of a hippodrome, but also an inner training and housing center where most of the racing stables in Poland are placed. Based on archival and ethnographic research, humans and non-human animals’ relations within “racing town” are elaborated in different sociohistorical contexts. On the microlevel, this paper analyzes how multispecies relations are interwoven with forms of social control and hierarchy. The contemporary development of the human and non-human inhabitants’ web of life is interpreted as a counter-reaction of “racers” to organizational paresis of the Służewiec Racetrack. Horse racetracks are sometimes troublesome from the perspective of urban planning. On the macrolevel, this case study is considered within the paradigm of recombinant ecology, as an inspiration for rethinking the potential of this type of space.

Understanding Threats to Young Children's Green Space Access in Unlicensed Daycare Centers in Japan.

Access to green space (GS) is vital for children’s health and development, including during daycare. In Japan, deregulation to alleviate daycare shortages has created a new category of so-called unlicensed daycare centers (UDCs) that often lack dedicated GS. UDCs rely on surrounding GS, including parks, temples and university grounds, but reports of conflicts highlight the precarity of children’s well-being in a rapidly aging country. Knowledge about GS access in Japanese UDCs remains scarce. Our mail-back survey (n = 173) of UDCs and online survey (n = 3645) of parents investigated threats to GS access during daycare across 14 Japanese cities. Results suggest that UDCs use a variety of GS and aim to provide daily access. Caregivers are vital in mediating children’s access, but locally available GS diversity, quality and quantity as well as institutional support were perceived as lacking. Parents did not rank GS high among their priorities when selecting daycare providers, and showed limited awareness of conflicts during GS visits. Implications of this study include the need for caregivers and parents to communicate and collaborate to improve GS access, and the importance of strong public investment into holistically improving GS diversity, quality and quantity from the perspective of public health and urban planning.

Procedimentos para estudo de uma interseção semaforizada mediante técnicas de engenharia de tráfego

The transport sector may be major responsible for directing the urban development of cities, however this possibility is overshadowed by the overuse of individual motorized modes of transport. This situation leads to problems such as congestion, accidents, pollution and increased travel times. In this scenario Traffic Engineering aligned with the perspective of sustainable urban planning appears as an essential tool to mitigate these effects., . Studies in this area provide important data such as the number of vehicles traveling in a particular region, as well as their composition, their origins/destinations and their speed of operation. Using this information, obtained from collection and analysis of data through recognized methodologies, urban managers can make decisions about traffic intervention measures aiming to increase traffic safety and efficiency. Therefore, the present article demonstrates the planning for developing a traffic study in a traffic light controlled-intersection of Cachoeira do Sul city, as a result of a cooperation between the Federal University of Santa Maria - Campus Cachoeira do Sul and City Council, also involving practical activities of degree subjects as an active teaching / learning resource.

A novel high-order Voronoi algorithm and its application in affected coverage of health city assessment

The work of China’s urban health impact assessment (HIA) is still in the exploratory stage. From the spatial perspective of urban planning, using the natural topological characteristics of Delaunay Triangle, the high Order Voronoi Diagram algorithm of the order Delaunay Triangle data structure is applied in practice. This algorithm can deal with the k nearest neighbors and the mutual distance relationship, which can be effectively applied to the definition of the impact scope of healthy city evaluation, thus providing a new auxiliary method for health city evaluation research.

Smart urban governance: An urgent symbiosis?

Over the past decade, two dominant perspectives prevail on the governance of smart cities. From a public administration perspective, ‘smart governance’ emphasizes the importance of technology-based tools in transforming government institutions. From an urban planning perspective, the governance of smart cities focuses on the institution interaction with spatial challenges. Within this backdrop, these perspectives can learn from each other to arrive at new transformative smart governance approaches. This paper proposes a specific urban planning perspective on smart governance, labeled as ‘smart urban governance’. It is aiming specifically at the transformative governance of the socio-spatial context of urban challenges associated to smart cities via technological innovations and opening up new possibilities for city transformation. To this end, the meaning of smart urban governance is conceptualized from three dimensions: purposes, components and contexts. Based on a systematic literature review, these three dimensions are integrated into one holistic framework. A case illustration was applied to demonstrate the use and advantages of this framework. From this, this paper concludes that smart urban governance, by explicitly taking into account the specific socio-spatial context, can improve our understanding of the urban challenges associated to smart cities and contribute to its appropriate and ‘smart’ governance.

Characteristics and Reducing Methods of Urban Particulate Matter

Purpose: Modern-day cities are experiencing various problems that have not been experienced before. For instance, abnormal climate in various areas accompanied by climate change is regarded as a representative urban problem, and it causes other issues. Recently, particulate matter (PM) is emerging as a major urban problem. Particulate matter is a complex result of many factors and is closely related to abnormal climate. Therefore, in this study, we aim to identify the characteristics of the PM generated and active in cities from the perspective of urban planning. In addition, we seek to draw the possibility and implications for reducing urban PM through case analysis. Method: This study consists of theoretical and case studies. Based on preceding studies, the conceptual definition of ‘urban PM’ was established. Moreover, the main factors affecting the generation and activity of PM in the city were identified. In the case study, we analyzed the cases focusing on ‘reduction’ as a way to solve the urban PM problem. Result: Urban PM is influenced by urban functions structures and components, climate and nature. In order to cope with PM, urban spaces can be conceptually divided into ‘road’, a hot spot that generates PM, and ‘open space’ and ‘building’, where the particulate matter moves and spreads. The ways to solve urban PM problem can be divided into ‘prevention’, which minimizes the impact in advance in response to the causes of PM, and ‘reduction’, which minimizes the damage to the generated PM. ‘Prevention’ consists of legal and institutional regulations, spatial unit management, measurement, forecasting and warning systems. ‘Reduction’ includes ecological, physical and chemical solutions.

大数据时代步行城市和社区的设计

In this paper, we discuss walkable cities from the perspective of urban planning and design in the era of digitalization and urban big data. We start with a brief review on historical walkable cities schemes; followed by a deliberation on what a walkable city is and what the spatial elements of a walkable city are; and a discussion on the emerging themes and empirical methods to measure the spatial and urban design features of a walkable city. The first part of this paper looks at key urban design propositions and how they were proposed to promote walkability. The second part of this paper discusses the concept of walkability, which is fundamental to designing a walkable city. We emphasize both the physical (walkways, adjacent uses, space) and the perceived aspects (safety, comfort, enjoyment), and then we look at the variety of spatial elements constituting a walkable city. The third part of this paper looks at the emerging themes for designing walkable cities and neighborhoods. We discuss the application of urban big data enabled by growing computational powers and related empirical methods and interdisciplinary approaches including spatial planning, urban design, urban ecology, and public health. This paper aims to provide a holistic approach toward understanding of urban design and walkability, re-evaluate the spatial elements to build walkable cities, and discuss future policy interventions.

Diffusion régionale et intégration urbaine des espaces de coworking. Les spécificités d’une région française faiblement métropolisée

The geography of economic activities is evolving rapidly and the emergence of alternative workplaces—so-called third places—is changing its traditional models. This paper adopts a geographical and urban planning perspective to examine the dynamics of coworking spaces (abbreviated as CWS) by analyzing the links between CWS and space at different scales. As CWS are widespread and quite well studied in metropolitan areas, our focus here is on CWS in intermediate and mid-sized cities. The first section reviews the existing literature in geography and urban planning on coworking and its urban context. Then, we present the qualitative methodology (cartography, observation, and interviews) that was used to study the location patterns of CWS in a non-metropolitan French region. The third section presents the Loire Valley region and the intermediate cities where the spatial diffusion of CWS was analyzed: Tours, Orleans, and Blois. Section four presents our main findings: (i) the location patterns of CWS in intermediate cities varies according to the status of the project’s holder (private, public, not-for-profit); (ii) the transformative effects of CWS at the scale of a neighborhood are not very noticeable in intermediate cities; and (iii) local government can play an important part in creating or anchoring CWS in cities.

Об опыте разработки «Градостроительного атласа России» и современном использовании его результатов

В 1991-1994 годах по заданию Минстроя России «Ин­ститут геобиосферных исследований РАЕН» разрабатывал «Градостроительный атлас России» (М 1:8 000 000). В статье с точки зрения научной значимости и возможности современ­ного использования дана оценка выполненных работ. Целью разработки атласа являлось обобщение самой современной на тот период информации о территории России, её оценки с позиций расселения и градостроительства, а задачами - систематизация, анализ и прогноз. Атлас был призван стать символом научного престижа отрасли, предназначался для широкого применения в проектировании, управлении, при обучении специалистов градостроительных специальностей.
 Работа выполнялась в начале «перестройки», в пери­од максимальной открытости информации, интенсивного межотраслевого сотрудничества министерств, ведомств, специалистов различных областей науки, заинтересованных в комплексной оценке территорий страны, её регионов и городов. Это было предпосылкой новизны и уникальности полученных результатов.
 В работе над «Градостроительным атласом России» приняли участие ведущие специалисты в области градостроительства, географии, экологии, геологии, экономики и других научных дисциплин. На начальном этапе были разработаны методология, методика, структура, содержание атласа и ряда тематических карт, их предполагалось около 50. К концу 1993 года было раз­работано 15 карт, пробным тиражом изданы две - посвящённые наиболее актуальным проблемам того времени («Радиационная обстановка России» и «Транспорт России. Основные комму­никации»). Несмотря на прекрасные отзывы специалистов и организаций в период кризиса в 1994 году работы были при­остановлены и впоследствии не возобновлялись.
 Сегодня, когда в соответствии с «майскими» указами Президента России В.В.Путина наступило время активных действий в сфере обоснований стратегического планирования пространственного развития и практического решения акту­альных задач расселения и градостроительства, целесообразно использовать наработки «Градостроительного атласа России», в том числе в области методологии. Методология создания атласа в определённой степени является прообразом формирования будущих отраслевых информационных систем, использующих методы электронного картографирования.
 Значительная часть разработанных карт не потеряла своей актуальности или требует небольшой актуализации, после чего они смогут стать составной частью аналитической базы пространственного развития.

Legal and Illegal Processes of Building Disposal Under the Vision of Urban Planning

To solve the problem of illegal buildings, laws were used to control illegal buildings from the perspective of urban planning. Illegal buildings were legalized by reissuing relevant procedures. Illegal buildings were confiscated and auctioned. Illegal buildings that endanger public safety were completely removed. Illegal buildings that meet the safety standards were transformed into citizens' affordable housing and other disposal modes. The results showed that China's current laws on the lack of identification of illegal buildings, legal lag, legislative dispersion and many of the problems involved in illegal construction were cross-types. There were both frontier subject issues and ubiquitous issues. Regardless of the extent of the aspects involved, the legal issues of studying illegal building governance have always been the main line and the main tone of social development. Therefore, by perfecting laws and regulations on illegal building management, the administrative enforcement mechanism for illegal buildings is improved and publicity efforts are strengthened. The legal consciousness of the people is enhanced.

Territorial Resilience: Toward a Proactive Meaning for Spatial Planning

The international debate on resilience has grown around the ability of a community to prepare for and adapt to natural disasters, with a growing interest in holistically understanding complex systems. Although the concept of resilience has been investigated from different perspectives, the lack of understanding of its conceptual comprehensive aspects presents strong limitations for spatial planning and for the adoption of policies and programs for its measurement and achievement. In this paper, we refer to “territorial resilience” as an emerging concept capable of aiding the decision-making process of identifying vulnerabilities and improving the transformation of socio-ecological and technological systems (SETSs). Here, we explore the epistemology of resilience, reviewing the origins and the evolution of this term, providing evidence on how this conceptual umbrella is used by different disciplines to tackle problem-solving that arises from disaster management and command-control practices to augment the robustness. Assuming the SETSs paradigm, the seismic and structural engineering, social sciences and history, urban planning and climatology perspectives intersects providing different analytical levels of resilience, including vulnerability and patrimony from a community and cultural perspective. We conclude that territorial resilience surpasses the analytical barriers between different disciplines, providing a useful concept related to complex problem-solving phenomena for land use planning, opening a new research question: how can territorial resilience be measured, acknowledging different units and levels of analysis aiding decision-making in spatial plans and projects? In attempting to understand a resilient system, quantitative and qualitative measurements are crucial to supporting planning decisions.

Investigating the differentiated impacts of socioeconomic factors and urban forms on CO2 emissions: Empirical evidence from Chinese cities of different developmental levels

To reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions attributed widely to human activities, previous studies have paid great attention to the relationships between socioeconomic development, urban forms and CO2 emissions in cities, and provided relevant emission mitigation policies through the effective urban spatial planning. However, whether and how different features of urban forms (such as compactness) affecting the levels of CO2 emissions is still debatable, specifically considering the different development levels of the cities. Therefore, this study is to synthetically explore how socioeconomic factors and urban forms work together to affect CO2 emissions with the consideration of differences in development levels of five city tiers in China. First, CO2 emissions in each city were derived from provincial energy statistics, radiance-calibrated nighttime light imageries, and population distribution data based on a disaggregating model. Then, a set of variables representing socioeconomic factors and urban forms were acquired from the city statistics and land use data, respectively. After obtaining the balanced dataset of these five city tiers from 1995 to 2015, the panel data analysis was finally applied to evaluate the consequences of socioeconomic factors and urban forms on CO2 emissions under different development stages. The estimation results show that the economic development, population growth, and urban land expansion are important factors that accelerating CO2 emissions in all the city tiers. Besides, irregular or fragmented structures of urban land use could result in more CO2 emissions due to the increase in potential transportation requirements in all the city tiers. Notably, an increasing concentrated pattern in the urban core is found to increase CO2 emissions in the tier-one cities, but to promote the reduction of CO2 emissions in other four city tiers. The urban spatial development with a compact and multiple-nuclei pattern is suggested to be closely linked with a lower level of CO2 emissions. Such results highlight the importance of a city's development level for decision-making involving the mitigation of CO2 emissions, and provide scientific support for building a low-carbon city from the perspective of both socioeconomic development and urban spatial planning.