Urban Planning Process Research Articles

Future-oriented Codesign Workshops as a Method of Empowering Citizens in Urban Infrastructure Development: A Capabilitarian Analysis

ABSTRACT Urban mobility infrastructures have a major impact on the everyday life of city residents. Not only their mobility, but also their health, enjoyment of life and development of lifestyle preferences are affected by them. However, inclusive participation in infrastructure planning processes is difficult to achieve. We explore a foresight approach that develops desirable urban visions that involve residents in the preparation of decisions that will impact their lives. We propose future-oriented co-design workshops for the operationalisation of a capabilitarian focus on conscientisation, conciliation and collaboration to involve citizens in the visioning of infrastructure planning. The study is based on future-oriented codesign workshops held in Montreal in 2022–2023. Residents were invited to evaluate and discuss various future scenarios that re-imagine a highway currently cutting through the city. The results show the capabilitarian co-design workshops to promote critical thinking, vision creation and to a lesser extent collaboration in the discussions triggered by the future-oriented codesign workshops. The results also reveal the difficulties of making such discussions truly inclusive, as well as their ambivalent relation to urban planning processes.

ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ КОЛОРИСТИКИ ГОРОДСКОЙ СРЕДЫ ПОД ВЛИЯНИЕМ ЦВЕТОВОЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ И ЦВЕТОВЫХ ПРЕДПОЧТЕНИЙ СУБЪЕКТА

Colour plays an important role in creating a safe and informative urban environment. However, there is still a tendency towards colour monotony or, on the contrary, chaotic flashy colours in the colourism of urban space. The globalisation process in urban planning also has a negative impact and leads to the loss of individual image and recognition of modern fast-growing cities, including Tyumen. The article studies the colouristics of the city, its formation under the influence of colour culture and colour preferences of citizens. The author compares the existing methods of formation of urban environment colouristics based on a set of different factors. A special place in the study is given to regional colour culture. Its basis lies in the colour preferences of a person, certain social groups or a nation. The study of the history of colour culture in Tyumen relies on historical and qualitative methods, analysis of archival materials, various written and visual documents. The study gives examples of the influence of colour culture on the formation of urban environment colourism. Field surveys of real architectural objects in the central part of Tyumen and the analysis of changes in colour preferences caused by the change of colour carriers made it possible to identify the colouristics peculiarities in the city in certain periods of its construction. Scientific novelty consists in an in-depth consideration of the formation of urban environment colouristics in the context of regional colour culture.

E-PARTICIPATION IN URBAN PLANNING: ISTANBUL SENIN APPLICATION

In parallel with the developments in information and communication technologies, traditional participation in urban planning processes is gradually evolving into e- participation applications. For the effective use of e-participation applications, it is important to evaluate the effectiveness and quality of the applications in terms of participation mechanisms, design, interaction, structure, transparency, and security of processes. The aim of the study is to examine Istanbul Senin application in terms of e-participation, to investigate the use of this application by the citizens and to offer suggestions for its improvement.The study seeks answers to the questions of what the positive and negative aspects of the Istanbul Senin application are in the context of e-participation and how it is used by citizens. The study was designed in two stages. First, Istanbul Senin application was analyzed in line with the criteria for evaluation of e-participation platforms. Second, a survey was conducted to examine the use of this application. The sample group was determined on a voluntary basis and a sample of 100 participants was determined within a reasonable margin of error (10%), taking time and cost into account. Accordingly, issues such as informing and raising awareness of the citizens about the importance of participatory processes, increasing the familiarity of the application, improving the design and increasing the ease of use, improving the way of interaction have been emphasized for the Istanbul Senin application.

Contribution to the Research on New Belgrade: The Unbuilt Projects and the Concepts of Nikola Dobrović

<p class="Abstract" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="sr-Cyrl-BA" style="mso-fareast-language: BS-LATN-BA;">Architect Nikola Dobrović is best known in Serbia for his only constructed building in Belgrade, the complex of the State Secretariat of National Defense (DSNO), better known as the General Staff, today an endangered cultural heritage and a crumbling building with an uncertain future. However, his short-term engagement as the head of the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Serbia from 1946-1947, and his later professorship at the Faculty of Architecture University of Belgrade, are equally significant for Belgrade and Serbia. Documents testifying to the post-war period of his work are scattered in several places: in the Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade, the Museum of Science and Technology, the Historical Archive of Belgrade, and the rare publications can only be found in a few libraries in Serbia. In the course of his short-term work on New Belgrade, Dobrović provided several conceptual projects and sketches for New Belgrade within the Urban Planning Institute: the perfomance square, road schemes and the urban planning solution of the zone between the Palace of the Federation and the Railway Station - today's Central Zone of New Belgrade. Finally, at different stages of his career, Dobrović also designed individual objects, such as the project for the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and the building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, which remained in the domain of 'paper architecture', unbuilt, and which provides an insight into the way he thought about the process of urban and spatial planning, through the positioning of builidngs which would've generated the character of their immediate and distant surroundings.</span></p>

Assessment of environmental odor pollution using a dispersion model in an industrialized urban area of Kocaeli, Turkey

AbstractThe main goal of the present study was to highlight how crucial odor evaluation methods may be for raising the general standard of living in a region. For this, the dispersion of odor concentrations detected by an olfactometric method in an area of Kocaeli, Turkey, where odor problems are frequently experienced, was investigated using the AERMOD atmospheric dispersion modeling system. According to the findings of the olfactometric measurement, the mean odor concentrations in the industrial area was high at 1342 OU m–3, while in the residential areas the values were lower, at 578 OU m–3 within the selected study area. As a result of the modeling study, the maximum odor concentration was 2081 OU m–3 at the 1 h. The model also showed that the coordinate points where the maximum odor concentration was observed changed with time, and that the concentrations recorded at the 1 h may decrease by as much as 88%–91% at the 24 h. In the study, a survey was also conducted to identify possible effects of odor pollution on people. The survey findings showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between the two areas (industrial and residential) for seven variables of a total 28. We suggest that measuring odor concentrations, modeling their distribution, and conducting surveys are effective methods when managing the urban planning process.

On a critical walk: The politicisation of pedestrian planning as a tension in participatory planning

This paper analyses urban walking during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 as an object of urban planning in Helsinki. The paper investigates planners' experiences of planning for temporary spatial solutions during a time of exceptionality in urban life. The paper is motivated by the wish to determine the influence of residents' environmental critique on official urban planning processes. Analysis is primarily based on walk-along interviews with urban planners and residents in the densest eastern downtown neighbourhoods of Helsinki. Supplemental data, including a survey, chat group discussions and planning documents, are used to deepen analysis. Results discuss the politicisation of planning and the delicate relationship between public planners and the political steering of planning in a Nordic welfare planning system. The paper discusses how the politicisation of planning imposes barriers to participatory planning by tying planners' time and attention to organisational tensions, but also by not being able to direct public attention to contentious planning topics. To analyse the role of planners in advocating for pedestrian planning and citizen participation, the study incorporates concepts from organisational communication and urban governance: tensions, rational ignorance and guerrilla governance.

Johannesburg’s transit revolution: a critical report on transit-oriented development strategy

ABSTRACT In urban planning processes, global policies that are evaluated positively may not achieve favorable performance in specific urban, social, and policy circumstances. The practice of transit-oriented development (TOD) strategy in Johannesburg is a representative example. This report focuses on its role in balancing ecological sustainability, social inclusion, economic development, and impact on citizens. The report finds that while TOD can theoretically help eliminate social inequalities and promote economic and ecological sustainability, its practical effect is limited, manifesting in exacerbated government deficits and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. This report examines the causes and provides recommendations.

The cyclical nature of dualistic trends in urban design. Historical analysis of the creative attitudes of selected masters over the centuries

In this article, the authors raise issues of dualistic solutions in urban design and city development. It should be noted at the outset that the very concept of duality is not obvious and is inherently ambiguous. The numerous definitions that exist are very general. We can distinguish several disciplines and scientific areas where the concept of dualism occurs or can appear. At the same time, the definition of each of these phenomena will be different, depending on the area in which it occurs. Hence, the authors have made a far-reaching reduction in the types of dualisms, narrowing the area of research to the creative attitudes of urban planners, philosophers of space, artists, and architects in historical terms. The aim of the search for dual features in spatial forms is to find the key to a better understanding of the laws governing urban planning and urbanisation processes. Verification of opposites and dual characteristics takes place on three levels: community, form, and function. The urban conditions that occur contribute to the creation of new qualities and new spatial forms, which help redefine the city and its development. The paper is based on the thesis that dualism is a permanent feature of spatial solutions (a recurring feature) across the spectrum of history.

Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Science for Sustainable Urban Planning

The rapid urbanization of modern cities presents significant challenges in sustainable development. To address these challenges, there is a growing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Environmental Science to enhance urban planning processes. This research aims to assess the impact and utility of AI techniques within the framework of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for sustainable urban planning. Specifically, it investigates how AI-enhanced GIS tools can be employed to improve urban development strategies and enhance sustainability assessments. Employing Spatial Analysis with GIS, this study analyzes data on land use, population density, and environmental indicators across several metropolitan areas. The methodology incorporates machine learning algorithms to predict and simulate urban growth patterns, enabling the assessment of various urban planning scenarios. The findings reveal that AI-enhanced GIS tools significantly improve the precision of development forecasts and sustainability assessments. These tools facilitate more informed decision-making in urban planning by enabling precise predictions about urban expansion and its environmental impacts. The integration of AI with environmental science not only enhances the efficiency of urban planning processes but also contributes to the resilience and sustainability of urban environments. The study provides urban planners and policymakers with advanced tools to forecast and mitigate the environmental impacts of urbanization, thereby setting a benchmark for future studies in the realm of sustainable urban planning. This research demonstrates the practical application of AI in enhancing the capabilities of GIS for complex spatial analyses, contributing significantly to the field of urban planning.

Analysis of cold island effect in city parks from the perspectives of maximum and cumulative values – a case study of Xi'an City

The continuous process of urbanization and climate change has led to severe urban heat island (UHI) effects. Constructing parks with cooling capabilities is considered an effective measure to alleviate UHI effects. However, most studies only quantify the cooling effect from a maximum value perspective, lacking a measure of temperature diffusion in space. This study combines the perspectives of maximum value and accumulation to define a cold island index, quantifying the cooling effect of 40 urban parks in the main urban area of Xi'an city. The results show that, on average, urban parks can reduce the surrounding environment by approximately 2.3℃, with a cooling range of about 127.1ha, which is three times the park area. Different factors drive the measurement of the cooling effect using different cold island indexes, but all indexes are highly correlated with green space area. There are significant differences in the cooling effect among different types of parks, and overall, ecological parks have the best cooling effect. The directional spread of internal cold islands in parks is most related to park shape, while external spread is related to surrounding green spaces. The research results have practical value in the construction of parks with cooling effects and the sustainable development of cities in urban planning processes..

Urban Borderlands: Difference, Inequality, and Spatio-Temporal In-Betweenness in Cities

The concept of urban borderlands helps us to understand how divisions take <em>place</em> in the city. Urban borderlands expand territorially beyond the mere linear border, drawing together what exists in or across both sides of the divide. In that they are not merely physical, but of course always socially, culturally, and experientially densely charged, the notion of the urban borderland offers itself as a useful analytic in the study of urban conditions that are marked by contiguity and coexistence. Contributions in this issue explore the potential of urban borderline studies across global cities, spanning various scales and employing theoretical frameworks such as borderlands, liminality, and multiple identities. This issue emphasizes the importance of considering bordering processes in urban planning and design and shows that urban borderlands are sites of contestation, negotiation, and coexistence, offering valuable lessons for the future of urban research and practice.

Conceptualizing Place Borders as Narrative: Observations From Berlin-Wedding, a Neighbourhood in Transformation

Place is of central significance to urban planning processes that specifically target community involvement and co-ownership of development decisions. Consequently, the intriguing but often daunting task of understanding how a sense of place emerges, develops, and evolves has been a subject of interdisciplinary study that links the social sciences, humanities, and more recently, cognitive sciences. Since Kevin Lynch’s classic study of urban images and mental maps, borders within cities have either directly or indirectly featured as vital meaning-making elements of place identities. However, despite some remarkable precedents, analysis of political and socio-cultural borders has only begun to link place-making and bordering processes in ways that resonate with urban planning studies. In this article, we will suggest that borders emerge in the embodied creation of social space as a means to interpret the environment and stabilise ways of knowing the wider world. Building on our own previous research on participatory place-making initiatives in Berlin, we will indicate how border stories (i.e., the social communication of neighbourhood distinction, relationality, and transformation) represent vital knowledges of place. These knowledges reflect embodied experiences of place as well as contestations and tensions that characterise place development processes. Perhaps most importantly in terms of planning, the salience of urban borders lies in broadening understanding of how and why places function—or fail to function—as communities.

Insights/Opinion: Promoting Urban Studies and Practice with Emerging Technologies: City Laboratory, New City, and Future City Exploration

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, marked by emerging/disruptive technologies like mobile internet, big data, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), immersive media (VR/AR/MR), and the Internet of Things (IoT), is transforming cities and promoting urban development. This paper argues that these technologies foster urban studies and implementation in three pathways: methodology, epistemology, and practice. First, the new data environment offers a foundation for quantitative and objective urban studies, enabling researchers to treat cities as laboratories and conduct city experiments worldwide. Second, emerging technologies are reshaping contemporary urban life and space, promoting the update of urban theories. Third, these technologies are expected to be applied as new elements in the urban planning and design processes to create smart urban spatial forms that cater to contemporary needs. Overall, this paper highlights the potential significance of emerging technologies for urban research and development in terms of research methods and data support, theoretical updates and iterations, and practical urban planning and design.

No Room for Modesty in Heritage Significance: The Case of Dennesig in Stellenbosch, South Africa

Significance and authenticity are two key concepts that run through the practice of urban heritage conservation. When combined, they form a powerful tool within a value-based system that ensures the preservation and continued use of historic places. Stellenbosch, being the second oldest town in South Africa, holds great importance as a historic town. However, several historic suburbs have experienced processes of redevelopment, studentification, and gentrification over the past decade, resulting in their deterioration. But what happens when the unique heritage character of a place is considered insignificant by developers, heritage practitioners, architects, and the local authority? This paper focuses on the Dennesig neighborhood in Stellenbosch, where the broader context of modest heritage significance has been neglected and erased from historical records due to poorly conceived planning, urban design, and mismanagement of heritage resources. The argument put forth in this paper is that in order to evaluate a specific case study site, one must consider the complexities of broader heritage and urban planning processes. This understanding is crucial to comprehend the factors that have shaped the current context and the eventual significance attributed to a particular place, setting, or townscape.

Soundscape techniques applied to urban planning goals

The soundscape method is a powerful tool for understanding the perception of our acoustical environment. Urban planning is the technical and political process by which we manage and mold our cities. Smart growth is a movement within urban planning which emphasizes the livability of our surroundings. These disciplines all seek to shape the form of our communities to improve the quality of life for those who live, work, and play there. Yet, there has been little formal interaction between soundscaping and urban planning. It is imperative that soundscapers who wish to implement improved urban designs and interventions adopt the language and methods of urban planners in order to succeed and accomplish their mutual goals. Soundscape protocols must engage the urban planning process, including the comprehensive, or master, plan to achieve implementation on a city-wide scale. Several recent initiatives which illustrate the integration of soundscape techniques with urban planning methods are presented and discussed.

Making Space: A New Way for Community Engagement in the Urban Planning Process

The current research shifts from the tradition of researcher-generated and directed community study and explores a new model for data collection based on citizen-directed participation and restorative economies. This is important because the scholarship of urban planning is often separated from the practice, in which scholars undertake the bulk of the academic research and professional planners work in the field, engaging with the community and creating and implementing plans around local issues and opportunities. While urban planning trends support diverse, equitable, and inclusive engagement in visioning and shaping local development, few operationalized examples exist for citizen-led scholarship with local community application. The work outlined herein explicitly partners with local residents to collect data on both community and academic interests, and it also promotes a citizen sense of agency. Community leaders worked with the local public university to design and implement a study to solicit park use ideas and visions among three groups: youth; adults; and returning citizens. Results identify an overall theme of a lack of engagement with the community, relative to other local parks, and they also highlight four common areas of thought between the three populations—concerns about safety among park users, functional use of park space, demand for widespread park access, and desire for natural environment conservation. This work represents a viable local engagement approach including demonstrated investment in a local community and resultant increased trust; also, this work contributes valuable new knowledge about local history and the use of a community resource to inform land use planning and policy around community sustainability.

Urban living labs as public policy for smart cities: Evidence from tech parks in São Paulo, Brazil

Technology Park projects have been developed as Urban Living Labs to plan compact and multifunctional cities that integrate sustainability and innovation. Due to accelerated urbanization, the climate crisis, and post-pandemic challenges in the Global South, governments, businesses, and academia are working together on solutions for smarter and more sustainable cities. In this regard, a case study of the International Hub for Sustainable Development (HIDS) in Campinas, São Paulo, was conducted to comprehend these projects' potential in urban planning processes. This exploratory research is based on data collection following a mix of primary and secondary data and semi-structured interviews with 11 members of the HIDS advisory board with a technical profile. The results demonstrate how this type of initiative in Brazil has been configured as a public policy of innovation with the potential to boost urban planning for smart and sustainable cities. Over time, these projects have multiplied in the country, reaching 93 in 2021, with 58 in operation, 13 in the implementation stage, and 22 in planning.

Research on the construction path of large-scale industrial agglomeration circle in Foshan based on computer big data fusion

This paper innovatively proposes the goal of research on the decision support system of the large-scale industrial agglomeration circle in Foshan. Based on the computer big data combined with the process of urban planning and management in Foshan, this paper proposes the construction content of the current planning decision support system for the new industrial agglomeration circle in Foshan. This paper proposes the relevant models for the analysis and construction of the development and evolution model and the construction of the auxiliary decision-making management system. The method of large-scale industrial agglomeration area in Foshan proposed in this paper provides services for the government to make rational and scientific decision-making. The computer big data industry circle planning model proposed in this paper has certain practical significance.

Flood risk reduction and resilient city growth in sub-Saharan Africa: searching for coherence in Accra's urban planning

Urban resilience experts have highlighted that frequent extreme weather events are a result of rapid, unplanned development and climate change. To ensure coherent urban planning, effective land governance has been a priority since the introduction of the national urban policy in 2012. However, despite implementing this policy for over a decade, poor land governance continues to negatively impact city development, yet this subject has received limited academic attention. Our study focuses on Santa Maria, a community historically neglected by planning officials and currently facing unregulated urbanization and increasing flood risks. We used qualitative research methods, including key informant interviews and document reviews, to unpack land ownership and management complexities. These complexities have led to “planning by the commons,” the creation of green space deserts, and challenges related to residents' mobility and livelihood. Our study affirms that auto-constructed communities like Santa Maria reflect a form of tenacious urbanism that should be acknowledged and respected. Incorporating its logic into proposals for consolidation, informed by the opinions and desires of the residents themselves, can help integrate “planning by the commons” into the urban planning process of Accra. Rather than being viewed as a problem to be cured, this approach should be incorporated into the planning process, incorporating locally specific social functions and traditional structures to ensure equitable and just urban societies. The public sector must recognize that building on local capacity, skills, and expertise is essential in the quest for a resilient city. The experience from Santa Maria provides a great opportunity to nurture local development, fulfill the growing demand for solutions and services without biases, and provide an excellent opportunity for inclusive growth.

AN AGENT-BASED COMPUTATIONAL MODEL ON HOUSEHOLD ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION IN INDIAN CITIES

ABSTRACT Traditional methods of planning and managing cities often adopt a simplified linear approach to understanding their composition and functioning. These approaches have led to the creation of many undesirable and non-functional cities. However, over the last few decades, there has been a radical shift in the approach to investigating cities through the adoption of complexity science and its various concepts. Unfortunately, this paradigm shift has been limited to only a handful of developed Western nations. This study proposes an extendable agent-based computational model for assessing household electricity consumption patterns in cities of developing nations. The model is demonstrated using an urban precinct in India as a representative case. It simulates the monthly electricity consumption of an urban precinct in Nagpur by combining the significant factors impacting household electricity consumption in developing nations, with the household's electricity consumption process in relation to outdoor weather conditions, and the heterogeneity in occupants’ behavior. The predictive validation of the model using the “BehaviorSpace” tool yielded promising results, with the model consistently and accurately predicting the growth of variables and household electricity consumption patterns. The model also successfully generated multiple future scenarios, showcasing its capacity to forecast the future implications of policy interventions. The simulation results indicated that household electricity consumption in Indian cities is driven by population growth and income levels. Additionally, it suggests that widely practiced rooftop solar panel installation policies may not be a viable approach to achieving sustainability in this sector. This study finds that the “emergent urbanism” approach has the potential to revitalize the urban energy planning process through an effective framework for comprehensively understanding the phenomena and addressing its various complexities.