Urban Transformation Processes Research Articles

When art meets monsters: Mapping art activism and anti-gentrification movements in Seoul

Art activism is growing in the political landscape of gentrification in South Korea. This paper examines a case of Takeout Drawing—a café and art gallery in Seoul, to illuminate the interplay between art activism and anti-gentrification struggles evolving around the shifting urban politics of displacement. By locating the case in the historical context of urbanisation and urban social movements in Seoul, this paper aims to construct a comprehensive picture of the growing art activism. First, we closely examine the process of Takeout Drawing's struggle in which art activists, unsatisfied by the lack of control on the widespread displacement in commercial gentrification collectively claimed the right to stay put. Second, we outline the social transformation and the potential contribution that art activism has played in terms of the case study. The main conclusion of this research is that art activism is successfully bringing critical attention to the voices of the displaced that were otherwise unheard. The findings urge urban theorists and activists to question the fundamental democracy of urban transformation process, where the desires of property owners, speculative capital and government elites have overshadowed the everyday politics of ordinary inhabitants. Lastly, this paper demonstrates how current art activism in Seoul is reaching out to the broader public, commercial tenants, policymakers, and scholar activists to progress the hard-fought struggle for a spatially just city. • Takeout Drawing resisted gentrification and tried to challenge dominant socio-economic forces through artistic strategies. • The practice of creative resistance enabled Takeout Drawing to pool together concerned activists, artists and scholars. • Takeout Drawing’s art activism made more citizens conscious of gentrification. • Takeout Drawing’s art activism can help to raise new ideas relating to socio-spatial transformation.

Contested marketplaces: Retail spaces at the global urban margins

This paper argues that retail spaces, such as marketplaces, are increasingly becoming sites of urban contestation. The globalisation of retail, online shopping and the redevelopment of cities has pushed marketplaces to the margins, but they still serve millions of people, particularly the urban poor. Concurrently, marketplaces are branded as authentic consumption experiences for tourists and residents. Building on these contradictions, I propose a novel framework with three analytical lenses to reposition marketplaces as marginal city spaces that serve as productive sites for studying urban transformation processes across the Global North and South.

Cyborg urbanization beyond the human: the construction and ruination of the Matinha gasworks site

ABSTRACTWork on cyborg urbanization has unveiled the way in which the city is produced through hybridizations of the human and non-human. However, less attention has been given to the ways by which non-human actors entangle each other without human mediation. On the other hand, literature on urban ruination has explored the agency of the non-human in landscape transformation, however few works have established the link between the processes of ruination and urban transformation. In this article, we bridge these two literatures and argue that it is possible to extend the concept of cyborg urbanization to include urban transformation processes that are conducted by non-human actors, namely vegetation.We explore these missing links through an exploration of the Matinha Gasworks site, located in the Eastern Zone of the city of Lisbon, Portugal, and deactivated in 2001. It is a vacant land, with several ruined derelict constructions of a gasworks. We draw upon archival work, remote sensing techniques, and post-phenomenological fieldwork to explore the 80-year long process of construction and ruination of the Matinha Gasworks site. Our findings highlight the accumulation of distinct temporalities, scales, matters, and subjectivities in the production of the urban.

GISualization: visualized integration of multiple types of data for knowledge co-production

ABSTRACTUrban planning deals with multiple layers of information stemming from concurrent activities and stakeholders intervening in urban development. For a better management of complexity more comprehensiveness and data integration are needed. This study develops an adaptive and iterative mixed-method approach for knowledge production in urban transformation processes. Specific research questions relate to data integration from different sources and facilitation of co-production of knowledge beyond triangulation. A new multi-layer framework, GISualization, has been developed in the context of a research project exploring compact city qualities. The framework is structured through five data layers, representing different methods for data collection and different grades of complexity, richness and interpretation: basic statistics; advanced statistics; exogenous quali-quantitative descriptions; exogenous qualitative descriptions; and endogenous qualitative descriptions. Thus, data stem from both quantitative and qualitative sources. Our study has proven that GISualization is a methodological framework that enables analysis and visualization of complex data in a rich format. The approach is closely related to analytical eclecticism and abductivity. It embodies a collaborative communication platform that provides a language to navigate between heterogeneous data, information and methods. The GISualization framework opens up for broader stakeholder involvement and community participation extending research into the domain of transdisciplinary knowledge production.

Planetary gentrification and urban (re)development

Abstract Gentrification is no-longer, if it ever was, a small scale process of urban transformation. Gentrification globally is more often practised as large scale urban redevelopment. It is state-led or state-induced. The results are clear – the displacement and disenfranchisement of low income groups in favour of wealthier in-movers. So, why has gentrification come to dominate policy making worldwide and what can be done about it?

Domicide: displacement and dispossessions in Uppsala, Sweden

ABSTRACT This article investigates the lived experiences of tenants staying put in two neighborhoods undergoing urban renewal processes and increased rent levels in Uppsala, Sweden. The article is drawing on a place sensitive analysis to escape a ‘Euclidean prison’ that we contend underpin many displacement studies; studies that reduce the notion of displacement to only signify out-migration. Such studies often miss both the scope of displacement, and the grievances experienced by tenants following changes in place and space under various urban transformation processes. Through phenomenologically inspired interviews with tenants, we contend that place cannot, as it often is in practices of urban development, simply be understood as coordinates on a map, but has to be understood relationally. Adhering to such a place-sensitive understanding of space our study asks what changes to place and to ‘home’ is experienced by tenants staying put in neighborhoods under increasing displacement pressures. What surfaces is a series of displacements that can be categorized as spatial dispossessions; thematized under subcategories ‘contraction of home’ and ‘withering entitlements’, and temporal dispossessions; categorized under ‘life on hold’ and ‘erasure of history’. These displacements are suffered by tenants who despite displacement pressures have remained throughout the renewal process.

Towards a Neutral North—The Urban Low Carbon Transitions of Akureyri, Iceland

Climate change has made urban decarbonisation a global imperative. Cities are both a source of emissions and a leverage-point for the necessary transformation processes. Iceland is blessed with an ample supply of renewable energy sources. Hydropower and geothermal are widespread in the country and they dominate the country’s electricity and district heating systems. Despite this huge potential, per capita emissions in Iceland are still way above levels required to meet the 2 degrees target. This is because decarbonisation processes have, so far, fallen short of addressing emissions from sectors such as waste and transportation. Against this background, this paper investigates the low carbon transition in the northern Icelandic municipality of Akureyri. With roughly 18,000 inhabitants, the town of Akureyri is the biggest urban centre in the north of the country. Here, a number of key actors have initiated an ambitious urban transformation process of local carbon flows. Based on 19 semi-structured interviews, we analysed the role of key actors and their resources and strategies. To better explore the transition’s underlying mechanisms, we analysed the dynamics through the lens of the multi-level perspective (MLP), applied in a descriptive context. We found that a key factor for success of the urban transition was a strategy that integrated several previously disconnected carbon flows of the community. Important success factors were close community connections, public-private partnerships, the enthusiasm of multiple individuals who drove the process, the establishment of a strong intermediary organisation, and stable political support. The case can teach us about the challenges of transitions that integrate disconnected carbon flows in an urban context. Furthermore, it provides valuable findings on the role intermediary organisations play in these processes.

Xentrificación e comunidade artística en Lisboa

A cidade de Lisboa está a experimentar un profundo e rápido proceso de transformación urbana que comezou inmediatamente despois da crise financeira de 2008. Estimulada por un boom turístico e unha forte inxección de capital inmobiliario transnacional, a rehabilitación urbana avanza sobre centro histórico mellorando substancialmente o edificado pero provocando un ascenso imparable do prezo da vivenda que torna a cidade cada día máis inaccesible para os seus habitantes. Nesta investigación queremos achegarnos á comunidade artística para analizar como se está a ver afectada por este fenómeno e identificar as súas percepcións sobre o mesmo. A partir da análise do asentamento de diferentes colectivos independentes en varias zonas máis e menos centrais da capital portuguesa, suxerimos que a comunidade artística é primeiro vehículo e máis tarde vítima da xentrificación dos barrios onde se instala.

Traffic Calming as a Comprehensive Solution Improving Traffic Road Safety

The purpose of the article is presentation of various aspects of improvement of traffic calming solutions on traffic safety and the results of implementations of these solutions. The paper is a review of methods and measures on improving traffic safety. The main implementation criterion of traffic calming solutions to improve the state is often urban traffic safety. Traffic calming solutions significantly reduce the number of accident victims (ie. fatalities and serious injuries). The key to achieving these effects is reducing speed, adjusting speed to street character and function, and transforming road and street infrastructure, which forces to drive slower and improves the quality of the urban environment. The implementation of the area conception of traffic calming is often linked to the process of urban transformation and revitalization of the area. Solutions of traffic calming in Poland in all forms including: zones 50, zones 30-40, inhabitant zones (20 km/h) as well as shared spaces improve the traffic safety, reduce the accident risk and simultaneously improve the environmental conditions of residential areas, promote the increasing of cycling, public transport and pedestrian traffic as well the aesthetics of the urban landscape. The best results bring solutions of traffic calming on the implementation on the transit roads passing through the small cities and in urban centres. The effectiveness of solutions of traffic calming in the aspect of safety must be systematically evaluated, due to their relaxation, because drivers get used to it and increase the speed of travel.

Practice of Urban Transformation in Terms of Financial and Economic Cycles: A Case Study of Isparta in Turkey

In Turkey, urban transformation has been on the agenda of urban spatial developments, the economic-political framework, and social discussions particularly for the last 30 years. An important dimension of urban transformation practices is their impacts on urban economy, national economy, and financial markets. The process of financialization of the building in general and of housing in particular as the object of transformation commenced in the 1980s. This period is also called the post-Keynesian neoliberal globalization processes. The house production processes also began to articulate with the financial market system upon the financialization of housing. The increased importance of house production for the financial markets also accelerated the urban transformation practices. Within the scope of this paper, the financial cycle of the urban transformation processes, the actors and the stages in the process of financialization of housing are examined in the case study of Isparta, Turkey. The economic dimension and sectoral dynamics of the urban transformation process are explained.Keywords: Urban Transformation, Urban Transformation Economy, Financialization of Housing, Actors and Stages of Urban Transformation, Incentives, Isparta

Challenge of identity in the urban transformation process: The case of Celiktepe, Istanbul

Challenge of identity in the urban transformation process: The case of Celiktepe, Istanbul

Evolution of High-Speed Rail and its Development Effects: Stylized Facts and Review of Relationships

The potential effects of high-speed rail (HSR) reach into many overlapping fields of interest. This paper summarizes the evolution of HSR and elaborates on the development effects of the HSR transport infrastructure. HSR can simultaneously become a core component of desired urban developments, while also having undesirable outcomes. Positive impacts will be achieved only if interactions with other factors and contexts are maintained. This paper stratifies and expands the understanding of the development effects of HSR at three levels-regional, urban, and station area-based on the economic and temporal nature of all infrastructure projects. There is ample evidence that at the regional level, the implementation of an HSR service disrupts the existing network of cities along the proposed corridor. The HSR network changes the accessibility of a locality. Better accessibility will change the mobility patterns and will eventually affect the development in the impacted region, reshaping the entire urban-regional system. The HSR is expected to play a catalyzing role in driving the spatial and urban transformation process. This paper emphasizes the importance of establishing a synergy between HSR and urban development. A synergy between HSR and other elements, like urban transit facilities, paratransit, station area development, node, and sub-center development, can usher in spatial and economic development, but an institutional arrangement across all the elements is of paramount importance. Such a synergy would enhance livability and provide improved quality of life opportunities in cities and regions served by HSR. Last, an HSR corridor is beneficial both to the settlements along the corridor and to the railway operator. An HSR corridor is also beneficial to the cities along the railways, and the station areas provide an important opportunity to harness revenue through non-railway businesses. However, achieving the full development effects of an HSR project may take decades. Careful pre-planning of the project and coordination amongst the stakeholders are necessary to accomplish a set of phased goals to realize the envisioned development of an HSR corridor.

Planning of the green system in Cuban human settlements

Addressing the issues of landscape, agriculture, the green system, sustainability and its relations with urban and rural systems is an extremely complex task in itself, due to the characteristics of the development models implemented by humanity up to the present. A methodological instrument of territorial planning is proposed, contextualized in the Cuban reality, where agricultural areas are considered an important part of urban and peri-urban greening. This isbased on the principles of landscape ecology. The current urban and peri-urban agricultural development strategy is assumed by the territorial order as a process, which can transform the traditional urban model of Cuban cities and relations with their territories (city-countryside relationship); in parallel, agriculture takes on a multifunctional character in itself from the processes of urban and peri-urban agricultural transformation. From this perspective, it contributes to an edge for a sustainable city model, based on the ecosystem integration between urban and rural areas, built upon a local development that enables the protection of the territory.

Public life, immigrant amenities and socio-cultural inclusion: the presence and changes of Turkish amenities in Amsterdam

ABSTRACTImmigrant amenities contribute to the public life of the street by supporting its diversity and vitality, which is crucial for the socio-cultural inclusion of immigrants into mainstream society. However, immigrant amenities change within urban transformation processes, many times in the context of urban renewal. These changes influence their contribution to the public life of the street. How do these changes in immigrant amenities relate to the socio-cultural inclusion of immigrants? This study focuses on the changes of Turkish amenities in Amsterdam at street and city levels. It concludes that the decline of immigrant amenities contradicts policy aimed at supporting the socio-cultural inclusion of immigrants.

DÜŞÜK DAYANIMLI BETONARME ÖRNEK BİR YAPIDA OLUŞAN KOLON HASARI VE BU HASARIN YAPISAL DAVRANIŞA ETKİSİ

In recent years, a new urban transformation process has been started to minimize the seismic hazard risk in Turkey. The main aim of this process is to avoid uncontrolled urbanization and faulty structuring by replacing old buildings with new seismic-resistant structures. Unfortunately, it brings new risks. The most important risk is formed with the damages which may occur on the adjacent buildings during the demolition. There are several cases and lawsuits reached to local authorities and courts about this issue. The main cause of these damages is the violation of the rules in regulations and ignorance of engineering principles related to demolition applications. In this study, a low-strength building in Istanbul is investigated which has been damaged by the demolition of an adjacent building. The effects of these damages to the seismic performance level of the building are analyzed with three different numerical models. Primarily, both seismic performance levels of undamaged and damaged states are evaluated using nonlinear analysis method. Furthermore, a new structural member is added to the analysis model using the damaged state’s results to strengthen the damaged zone. The local structural behavior of the damaged zone and overall seismic performance of the building are investigated by three different cases aforementioned above to assess the results of this kind of damages. As a result of this study, the necessary strengthening approach is revealed by means of strengthening the local damaged zone or whole structure to provide necessary seismic performance level of the low-strength buildings having this type of damages.

Trasformazioni urbane e spazi sociali: la dimensione relazionale come piattaforma di sviluppo locale

The article focuses on the relation between the relational dimension and contemporary urban transformation processes. Starting from the analysis of the main urban transformation phases, from the fordist to the post-fordist city, new evidences and practices of social governance territorial based will be described.Thanks to the model it will be possible to highlight how intangible resources (such as social networks, relations, communication) play a major role than tangible resources (like built and natural environment) in driving sustainable urban transformation processes in different phases. The paper undermines the direct correlation between density of relationships, stakeholder engagement at local level and the efficacy of urban transformation processes as a response to territorial needs.

Other gentrifications

This special feature focuses on contemporary processes of urban transformation in Beirut, examining the interplay of speculative investment, legal instruments and political-economic networks in sha...

The impact of land potential on urban transformations as measured by performed activities in residential neighborhoods of Erbil city

The involvement of the people with different social, economic, and cultural features causes the cities to be complicated and continually self-changing settlement units. The changes happen due to human impact, as they are likely to shape the space where they live in and are lined with their own wishes and needs. However, the most serious problems of the urban space have begun to be taken under the name “urban transformation process”. Urban transformation process as a continuous process has had important effects on the cities, one of which is the transformation of urban residential spaces. The purpose of this study is to examine the underlying causes of residential transformation activities which are potential of land. Through discussing the main aspects of residential transformation, the specific research problem has been formulated as “the impact of land potential on performed activities for neighborhood units in Erbil city is still unstudied”. Set of indicators are determined to be used in the practical part of this study. The main indicators that contributed in measuring the land potential for neighborhood units are the distance from city center (m), the street width (m), the dwelling unit plot area (m2) and the area of green open spaces (m2) .Other indicators have been assumed to measure the performed activities such as construction license, reconstruction license, trading level and land price. Correlation methodology has been adopted to analyze the direction and strength of relation between quantitative variables. The study conducted general survey for (47) neighborhood units for studying impact of land potential on performed activities. The numerical results were calculated through SPSS program. The contribution of this study lies in its role in extending the theoretical debates in the transformation literature to the potential of land.

Shenhong: The Anatomy of an Urban Investment and Development Company in the Context of China’s State Corporatist Urbanism

Shanghai, like other large Chinese cities, has multiple business districts. This paper examines the construction of one of its largest, at Hongqiao in the west of the city. Its specific focus lies in the central role played by one state-owned company, Shenhong, in the financing and construction first of the Hongqiao transport hub and then of the business district that jointly make up this new development pole. The paper examines in detail Shenhong as an organization as well as the tasks it has undertaken and the funding difficulties it has confronted. It argues that Shenhong is representative of the seldom discussed state-owned urban investment and development companies that have led the urbanization of China. Finally, it anchors these companies into theoretical debates, arguing that their ubiquitous involvement in China’s property-led process of urban transformation combined with their ambivalence as state companies operating along similar lines to private enterprises means that they can be seen as central players in a form of state corporatist urbanism.

Immaterial Dimensions of the Right to the City: The Case of Istanbul’s Derbent Neighbourhood in the Urban Transformation Process

Immaterial Dimensions of the Right to the City: The Case of Istanbul’s Derbent Neighbourhood in the Urban Transformation Process