Network Of Public Spaces Research Articles

Unfolding the dynamical structure of Lisbon\u2019s public space: space syntax and micromobility data

Space Syntax and the theory of natural movement demonstrated that spatial morphology is a primary factor influencing movement. This paper investigates to what extent spatial morphology at different scales (node, community and global network) influences the use of public space by micromobility. An axial map and corresponding network for Lisbon’s walkable and open public space, and data from e-scooters parking locations, is used as case study. Relevant metrics and their correlations (intelligibility, accessibility, permeability and local dimension) for the quantitative characterization of spatial morphology properties are described and computed for Lisbon’s axial map. Communities are identified based on the network topological structure in order to investigate how these properties are affected at different scales in the case study. The resulting axial line clustering is compared via the variation of information metric with the clustering obtained from e-scooters’ proximity. The results obtained enable to conclude that the space syntax properties are scale dependent in Lisbon’s pedestrian network. On the other hand both the correlation between these properties, the number of scooters and the variation of information between clusters indicate that the spatial morphology is not the only factor influencing micromobility. Through the comparative analysis between the main properties of the public space network of Lisbon and data collected from e-scooters locations in a timeframe, centrality becomes a dynamic concept, relying not only on the static topological properties of the urban network, but also on other quantitative and qualitative factors, since the flows’ operating on the network will operate several transformations on the spatial network properties through time, uncovering spatiotemporal dynamics.

ARCHITECTURAL-URBAN-MODELING OF THE NETWORK OF PUBLIC SPACES IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE LARGEST CITY (ON THE EXAMPLE OF KHARKIV)

The paper is dedicated to the problem of creating a network of public spaces in the downtown area of a major city as an effective means of its humanization. The goal of the work is to justify and develop a graphical model of the network of public spaces in the structure of the downtown area of a major city on example of Kharkiv. Analysis of the scientific works of foreign and domestic authors has shown that the issues relating to the formation of a spatially integrated network of public spaces have not been subjected to special scientific scrutiny. The use of the law of isomorphism of structures of urban planning systems suggested that a network of public spaces could have a linear-nodal spatial organization. It is shown that open public spaces are located along the streets and should be seen as part of the city’s communication framework. The placement of a significant variety of small public service elements on the first floors of the city center neighborhood development contributes to the formation of public spaces along the streets. These pedestrian spaces providing connections to subway stations are “linear” components of the network. The presence of open, undeveloped spaces in areas close to the entrances to subway stations creates attractive conditions for the formation of new types of public spaces. On the basis of analysis of placement of 8 subway stations in the structure of the downtown area of Kharkiv there was justified the assumption that it is their areas that are considered to be “nodal” elements of the networks of public spaces. In this way, a spatially integrated network of public spaces is created and presents an effective means of humanizing the urban environment as a whole. The study of the architectural and urban construction of the network of public spaces in the city structure led to the conclusion of the effectiveness of such a measure in social, economic and aesthetic aspects.

Public Spaces in the Arab Region

The Arab Region has been facing several challenges. While some countries are facing socio-economic issues, others have been civil strife and conflict. In both cases, public spaces play an important role in tackling these issues, and in cities’ social, economic, health and environmental life, since they contribute to build social cohesion, improve the quality of human interactions and the physical and mental health of inhabitants. Based on this, UN-Habitat has been supporting the development of ‘Public Spaces in the Arab Region’ programme since 2016. The programme has been rehabilitating public spaces using participatory tools to foster sustainable development and ultimately achieve SDG 11, target 11.7. However, the implementation of these siloed projects, coupled with lack of data, inadequate design and improper management didn’t allow for the development of a strategic plan for public spaces in the cities of the Arab Region. Acknowledging such issues and challenges, the programme in cooperation with the UN-Habitat's Global Public Space programme is further developing the regional approach to focus on rehabilitating public spaces that are safe for the most vulnerable groups, in particular women and girls, given the violence they face in the public domain. The programme is also working with relevant stakeholders and authorities to upscale such projects and to develop a city-wide public space network that is aligned with a strategic action plan.

Community Catalyst: Building a Water Sanitation System for Social Inclusion in Winneba, Ghana

Located on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in Ghana, West Africa, the city of Winneba boasts one of the important ecological wetlands inscribed on the list of Ramsar Sites. However, Winneba faces daunting environmental, economic and social challenges—e.g. water sanitation crisis, infrastructure deficiency, environmental degradation, gender inequality, and social conflicts—interacting with each other to create a vicious cycle. Based on a collaborative workshop, a “crowd-sourcing” decisionmaking process, on-site fieldworks, and an Interactive Web Map, the project team develops in-depth study of the social context and traditional customs of Winneba. A water sanitation system, also as a network of public spaces that facilitates ecological and social improvement, is proposed. It includes drainage systems, rain gardens, water kiosks, orchards, public biogas toilets, and organic waste collection stations. Combining a three-phase implementation, i.e. establish the concept of public space, create a site through collaborative work, and connect communities, the project team introduces a bottom-up incentive system that encourages local community residents to collaborate and participate in constructing and maintaining the public space system for their communities, so as to improve the wellbeing of the communities and the city. Not just proving a design strategy for a kind of public space or a plan for a network of urban green space system, this project sets an exemplar to long-term sustainable management of water sanitation system through self-government of residents and communities in developing countries.

Pieter Roos Park and public dwelling: displacement in an inner-city Johannesburg public space network

Pieter Roos Park and public dwelling: displacement in an inner-city Johannesburg public space network

PUBLIC SPACES IN THE AREAS OF SUBWAY STATIONS

The purpose of this work is to consider the factors influencing on the features of architectural and urban organization of public spaces in the areas of subway stations as important resources for the development of their network in the structure of the largest cities in Ukraine. Public spaces are considered as publicly accessible areas of the city where informal communications and short-term recreation of citizens take place. The location of these objects in the structure of the transport and communication framework of the city creates the preconditions for the formation of a kind of integrated network of public spaces that perform a special communicative function of the city community. This determines the relevance of this work. The need for such spaces is defined by theoretical understanding and a professional approach to their creation. The study has identified the factors that affect the functional and planning parameters of public spaces in the areas of subway stations’ influence. They consist of three groups:
 - characteristics of the urban situation;
 - type and rank of the transport interchange;
 - the needs of passengers who use the subway station, adjacent public transport stations or visit the area for other reasons.
 The following conclusions have been made on the base of the study:
 
 In the zones of subway stations’ influence the locations are formed that fully correspond to the characteristics of "public spaces". These new functional and spatial formations are one of the complex and dynamic elements of the system of public spaces of the city which have significant potential for the formation of an integral network of spaces of this type.
 It has been improved the necessity of the spatial organization of public spaces in the areas of subway stations’ influence in order to optimize their functional and planning organization and landscaping.
 It has been defined and researched the factors of influence on the organization of public spaces which will allow to define receptions and principles of their functional and planning organization in various urban organization situations and features of formation of the given objects’ network.

Enhanced Public Open Spaces Planning in Saudi Arabia to Meet National Transformation Program Goals

Public open spaces offer social, health, environmental and economic benefits to cities and their residents. As planners seek to realize these benefits and respond to human demand, different approaches have emerged; ranging from the opportunistic use of land as it becomes available, to more systematic methods. In Saudi Arabia, the current approach is predominantly opportunistic and purely quantitative, which presents a challenge to the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MoMRA) as it seeks to meet the National Transformation Program goal of increasing public open space per capita from 3.4 m2 to 3.9 m2. This study set out to identify ways of improving the planning and design of public open spaces in Saudi Arabia, by reviewing 20 open spaces (five each in Taif, Hail, Tabuk, and Abha) and interviewing municipality officers. The findings of this review indicate that MoMRA and the municipalities in Saudi cities need to adopt a system of collaboration to support the implementation of public open spaces, by: 1) introducing qualitative design guidelines in order to reduce dependence on the square meter measure and encourage smart design and location of open spaces within the urban fabric; 2) creating incentives for further connectivity of public spaces at the city-wide level; and, 3) improving the functions of open spaces to match community needs through a more participative approach, including citizen engagement. Responding to these key challenges will require the capacity to be built in both MoMRA and the municipalities, to unblock the expertise that local planners and designers have in the urban transformation of Saudi cities and to ensure that decision-making processes are effective. These changes will benefit from a public open space typology, and a system and network to be implemented country-wide.

Changing Faces Competition. Mobilizing Citizens to Reclaim Public Spaces in Nairobi

Statistics show that urban green public spaces deteriorate globally. In African cities, where the urbanization rates are the highest in the world, public spaces quickly disappear under layers of garbage or are grabbed. For public authorities having to deal with other pressing socio-economic challenges in the context of outdated regulations, insufficient capacity and resources and wide-spread corruption, public spaces are not a priority. However, the research worldwide has demonstrated the potential of public spaces to become the key catalyst of socio-economic growth given their environmental, economic and social benefits that are however largely ignored by public authorities and the general public in African cities. This article suggests a citizen-driven public space upgrading movement can address these challenges and presents a gamification approach for citizen mobilization and raising awareness: The Changing Faces Competition that has been piloted by Nairobi-based organizations Dandora Transformation League and Public Space Network.

The Improvement of the Comfort of Public Spaces as a Local Initiative in Coping with Climate Change

Being the vital element of successful cities, public spaces play an important role in achieving sustainable development goals and in coping with climate change. The new urban agenda considers public spaces indispensable for sustaining the productivity of cities, social cohesion and inclusion, civic identity, and quality of life. Accordingly, there is no doubt about the importance of public spaces, while their quality is generated through the symbiosis of various elements. On the basis of normative theories of urban design, several public space design frameworks have been established in order to define what makes a good public place. Such a framework for public space quality evaluation is developed and tested at the Chair for Planning and Design in Landscape Architecture at the University of Belgrade—Faculty of Forestry. The framework covers six criteria which illuminate key aspects of public spaces: safety and security, accessibility, legibility, comfort, inspiration and sensitivity and liveability. In this research, special attention is paid to the criteria of comfort analysed on two scale levels in Belgrade, Serbia. In the past, Belgrade was affected by extreme weather events that caused serious and sometimes disastrous consequences. The most pronounced challenges among them are heat waves in summer that, due to the shortage of vegetation combined with the proliferation of tarmac and concrete surfaces and reduced air ventilation, particularly threaten the densely populated central municipalities of Stari Grad, Savski Venac and Vracar. The first scale level covers the analysis of the public space network and the degree of establishment of green infrastructure in Lower Dorcol quartier, which is located in the Municipality of Stari Grad, using quantitative and qualitative indicators and GIS (Geographic Information System) digital tools. The aim of this study is to observe the actual state of the public space network and to define a future scenario of its development in line with climate change challenges. Jevrejska Street, as an element of the above-mentioned public space network, is the subject of the next phase of the research. The study on this scale level will cover qualitative and quantitative analysis of public space elements such as paving, urban equipment, greenery, lighting, water facilities, etc. Next to that, by using the ENVI Met platform, the actual and proposed improvement of the street will be explored. The final part of this research will include a discussion about the research methodology used in order to improve the public space design process and to point out the need for the careful consideration of comfort as an important aspect of good public space.

Social Media, Public Space and Movement Discussion of Urban Farming in Indonesia

The internet and social media expand public space has been much associated with public space and digital networks in many studies, where Habermas's public space theory and the theory of the Castells network society have been much debated about its relevance to the techno-social development. Both Habermas and Castells tend to see the public space of the Internet as a contestation space where corporate and state forces work in various ways to control and dominate it. This study emphasizes more on the creativity of citizens forming community networks through the use of the Internet and social media and conducting autonomous conversations in the public space. Netnographic studies of the dynamics of the discourse of public space in the social movement networked Indonesia Berkebun show that the Internet and social media become creative means for citizens to package global discourse locally to voice their demands. This study concludes that the concepts and theories of public space, network society are relevant as tools for analyzing public space and Internet networks and social media. The potential of the Internet network and social media as autonomous communication spaces depends on the design and purpose and the utilization of available features. Conversations - conversations that are restricted to the agenda of the 3E program help communities focus on discourse and shape the character of a rational Indonesian gardening space. This community from the beginning realized the potential of the Internet and social media to form networks and public spaces. But like gardening, public space requires commitment, such as caring for the garden from pest attacks, weeds, giving it fertilizer so the plants grow as expected.

Szimbolikus politikai fordulatok és térbeli mintázataik: közterületek átnevezése Budapest I. és V. kerületében

The (re)naming of public spaces has become a central feature of one of the most known spatial references in everyday urban life. These names help in spatial orientation and administration. In addition, they are accumulations of collective memory and part of a “propaganda machine” of current (political) power. In this study I show that the network of public places and spaces are not only flow-zones, but also social products and, ultimately, a collection of symbolic space-elements which influence and shape society. In my opinion, this article’s case studies, which are the 1st and 5th districts of Budapest, are perfect examples of a certain political phenomenon that occurs when a series of political acts and countermeasures are manifested as spatial patterns and legible city-texts. Adopting a critical view, this paper analyses the thematic spatial patterns, texts, and changes of street names in Budapest’s two core neighbourhoods by exploring the underlying political-power relationships and by questioning and contesting their appropriateness and oppression.

Physical co-presence intensity: Measuring dynamic face-to-face interaction potential in public space using social media check-in records.

Urban public spaces facilitate social interactions between people, reflecting the shifting functionality of spaces. There is no commonly-held consensus on the quantification methods for the dynamic interplay between spatial geometry, urban movement, and face-to-face encounters. Using anonymized social media check-in records from Shanghai, China, this study proposes pipelines for quantifying physical face-to-face encounter potential patterns through public space networks between local and non-local residents sensed by social media over time from space to space, in which social difference, cognitive cost, and time remoteness are integrated as the physical co-presence intensity index. This illustrates the spatiotemporally different ways in which the built environment binds various groups of space users configurationally via urban streets. The variation in face-to-face interaction patterns captures the fine-resolution patterns of urban flows and a new definition of street hierarchy, illustrating how urban public space systems deliver physical meeting opportunities and shape the spatial rhythms of human behavior from the public to the private. The shifting encounter potentials through streets are recognized as reflections of urban centrality structures with social interactions that are spatiotemporally varying, projected in the configurations of urban forms and functions. The results indicate that the occurrence probability of face-to-face encounters is more geometrically scaled than predicted based on the co-location probability of two people using metric distance alone. By adding temporal and social dimensions to urban morphology studies, and the field of space syntax research in particular, we suggest a new approach of analyzing the temporal urban centrality structures of the physical interaction potentials based on trajectory data, which is sensitive to the transformation of the spatial grid. It sheds light on how to adopt urban design as a social instrument to facilitate the dynamically changing social interaction potential in the new data environment, thereby enhancing spatial functionality and the social well-being.

Square Between Two Synagogues in Rzeszow (Poland) – a Place with Potential?

The aim of the article is to examine selected aspects of the potential of the square between two synagogues in Rzeszów. The study covers historical, spatial, functional and location features. Rzeszów is a large city in south-eastern Poland. It is the capital of the Podkarpackie Voivodship. The city has a historic centre, that in part is refurbished and pedestrianised, and, in part, its potential still waits to be unleashed. Between the historic market squares of the Old Town and the New Town, there is a sequence of smaller squares. One of the squares in that sequence is the subject of the study, described in the following paper. Characteristic feature of that square is its location between the former synagogues. It is located within an area entered into the Polish Register of Historic Monuments. The square is well-defined, to a large extent. It is located between two synagogues, tenement development, and a park. Compared to the areas of the historic market squares of the Old Town and the New Town, that square is smaller. The study seems interesting, as Rzeszów is a developing city and a metro area under construction. Interesting and attractive city centre may contribute to further development of the city. The present paper may be helpful in assessing the potential of the square between two synagogues in Rzeszów as an attractive place in the urban network of public spaces. The square seems to be an interesting place, worth using for expanding the boundaries of the attractive city centre.

Nodes and Corridors of Metropolitan Structure Development. Identification and Parametrization Issues On Example of Krakow

The subject of the author’s research is planning and urban aspects of modelling the spatial structure of cities being in the metropolitan development phase, with particular emphasis on the problems typical of their inner city. The research approach consists in an attempt to define the main elements forming the urban structure of this structure. It is assumed that these are nodal locations and development corridors, i.e. points and bands distinguished by accessibility by transport, diversity and intensity of land use, increased investment traffic and significance for the urban composition of the city. The purpose of research is to define the basis of spatial policy for particular types of development corridors and the corresponding nodal sites, also called urban centres. The article presents the assumptions of the method of identification, classification and parameterization of these elements. The criteria and factors were derived from the following assumptions and experiences: a) there is a close relationship between spatial development policy and transport policy, where pedestrian and bicycle traffic is becoming a higher priority, b) metropolitan centres are shaped in places with the highest availability of collective transport, and these places form a network of public spaces of the contemporary city, c) the importance of ecological, architectural and urban quality factors increases, as well as the values that create the identity of particular spaces that build the metropolis, d) the main corridors of spatial development should integrate sensitive and strategic areas, including areas requiring revitalization and areas of intense and spontaneous transformations. Conclusions from the research based on the example of Krakow allowed for the refinement of factors assessing the potential of activation and integration of development corridors.

Ancient Cartographies as a Basis for Geolocation Models in Public Space: The Case of Giambattista Nolli and its Heritage Application

In 1748, the architect and surveyor Giambattista Nolli mapped an abstract reality of the city of Rome. As a challenge to the inherited projections, it represented the city mixing streets, halls, corridors, churches, baths and markets as part of a unique public space network. A new way to design public space and rethink the whole urban system was opened by the possibility of containing in these representations a single layer with all kinds of public space (including the interior of public buildings). Despite this, Nolli’s plan remained as a useless instrument since the hegemony of automobile mobility appeared as a pre-eminent system. This research tries to understand how the application of the ancient cartographies’ methodology can improve the pedestrian mobility of historic cities by means of enhancing the graphic value of the system of Giambattista Nolli. Nowadays, free public space is represented as empty and built ones, as solid. This proposal would revert this reified conception of the city, understanding this baroque representation as an instrument of identification and assessment of the transitional heritage. The clues unveiled by Nolli seem to be able to integrate the plans of public buildings within the urban tissue, which would result in a step towards the full integration of cartography and mobility. The success of the comprehensive tools offered by large servers such as Alphabet inc. (Google) or Bing Maps confirm the suitability of the combination of new technologies and Big Data with urban planning, reaching the synchronisation of Smart Cities. Nowadays, open public space can be ‘walked in’ from any electronic device, consequently, the application of the “Nolli methodology” would implement the model of urban geolocation with the assimilation of inner public spaces. In the creation of a great global map of the public space, a chimaera could be intuited. This would be discussed within a tangible reality: every open public space is already housed in the Big Data and it is accessible through geolocation tools. The inclusion of the of the public buildings’ interiors would contribute to develop a greater permeability between city and citizens. Furthermore, this representation would optimize pedestrian travel times and would be able to expand the geolocation system network as a documentary repository.

Imagining Russian Regions: Subnational Identity and Civil Society in Nineteenth-Century Russia by Susan Smith-Peter

Reviewed by: Imagining Russian Regions: Subnational Identity and Civil Society in Nineteenth-Century Russia by Susan Smith-Peter Colum Leckey (bio) Susan Smith-Peter. Imagining Russian Regions: Subnational Identity and Civil Society in Nineteenth-Century Russia. Leiden: Brill, 2018. ISBN 978-90-04-35351-0. The entangled histories of provincial Russia and serfdom have stimulated a long line of scholarship. From the 1960s through the 1980s, monographs by P. A. Zaionchkovskii, Terrence Emmons, and Daniel Field established the narrative framework for exploring the political, economic, and ideological factors driving the emancipation of the Russian serfs. Since then, notable works by John Randolph, Katherine Pickering Antonovna, and Catherine Evtuhov, to name a few, have applied the methods of microhistory to examine the family, gender, and local dimensions of the peasant question that engaged Russia's national intelligentsia. In Imagining Russian Regions: Subnational Identity and Civil Society in Nineteenth-Century Russia, Susan Smith-Peter examines the equally complex intersection of local knowledge and experience with Russia's expansive network of rural public associations in the three decades preceding the end of serfdom in 1861. Focusing on the town of Vladimir and its adjacent districts, her research skillfully links the well-known debates transpiring in the capitals to the mental and physical spaces of one of Russia's most ancient historical regions. The result is a comprehensive portrait of a dynamic public sphere rooted in Vladimir's local particularities that envisioned a postemancipation civil society independent of the Russian state. For her part, Smith-Peter utilizes the methods of spatial history and the Enlightenment's own theories of civil society to highlight "the interplay between the state, estates (soslovie), and what was coming to see itself as society" (27). In the first two chapters, she recreates in expert detail the administrative, institutional, ecological, and socioeconomic spaces of the province. Based on extensive archival materials from Vladimir and other cities, her analysis confirms the existence of a robust protoindustrial and market-based economy centered on the textile towns of Iur´ev-Pol´skii and Ivanovno as well as a network of public spaces dating back to Catherine II's Statute on the Provinces. Although the stimuli for these social and economic developments came from the Russian state, by the mid-point of Nicholas I's reign Vladimir displayed the traits of an autonomous public sphere, including a public library, museum, statistical committee, and a newspaper whose "unofficial section" offered its local readers "a new mental picture of Vladimir province" (137). More intriguingly, Smith-Peter's archival digging has uncovered numerous examples of informal associations and obscure writers who together comprised and imagined the local public: seminarians with their handwritten samizdat-style journals; district [End Page 261] agricultural societies inspired by the Slavophiles; subscription lists filled with the names of men and women who formed civil society's personal networks; and the Old Believer V. A. Borisov, whose study of his native district was the first in Vladimir "to present workers as a complex group" (114-15). All told, Smith-Peter methodically and persuasively demolishes the outdated image of provincial Russia as a cultural backwater. Aside from rummaging through Vladimir's forgotten public spaces, Smith-Peter also chronicles the role of local intellectuals in forming visions of postemancipation society. Chapters 3 and 4 plot the trajectories of two parallel "modes of civil society" that evolved as the peasant question came to dominate public discussion in the 1850s. The first, inspired by Adam Smith's stadial theory of history and promoted by the Slavophiles, held that serfdom should be abolished "organically" and in concert with modernizing landowners as Russia inevitably advanced to the commercial stage of social development. By contrast, the second model endorsed the Hegelian notion of civil society based on shared property rights. Applied to postemancipation conditions, the latter envisioned a vigorous public sphere whose stakeholders—nobles, freed serfs, clergy, and merchants—would rise above estate interests to represent "society." Although Smith-Peter's analysis pretty much follows the reigning narrative established by Emmons and Field, her archival work does expand the depths and parameters of the national dialogue beyond noble assemblies to include provincial agricultural associations in Vladimir and elsewhere. Her rediscovery of...

Frentes marítimo-fluviales en ciudades españolas: nuevos espacios urbanos

En los últimos treinta años muchas ciudades españolas han abordado la renovación de sus frentes marítimos y fluviales, enfrentándose tanto a la obsolescencia de las actividades y usos que esos espacios acogían, como a la desconexión con los tejidos urbanos colindantes. Una selección de casos de estudio muestra la diversidad de estrategias que, con carácter general, logran la mejora a diferentes escalas de cuatro aspectos importantes: i) la conectividad territorial y entre tramas urbanas; ii) la redistribución de equipamientos en la ciudad; iii) la regeneración ambiental; y iv) una nueva articulación de las redes de espacios públicos urbanos y periurbanos. Los proyectos de renovación que han incluido los frentes marítimos y fluviales han supuesto no solo la transformación física del lugar, sino el cambio de percepción sobre estos espacios por parte de la población. La constatación de las preferencias y el uso social del espacio público en las áreas renovadas se analiza a través de las redes sociales, concretamente, a partir de los mapas de calor generados por el visor cartográfico Instasights.

Evaluation of Structure and Accessibility of Public Space Network in Kano Central Area with the Bid to Promote Urban Cohesion and Sustainability

There have been major concerns in the planning of both public and private spaces in Kano central area. Consequently, the entire urban fabric have been restructured due to uncontrolled developmental growth, population density, high cost of land value, unavailability of business location and poor accessibility to road network. These situations have brought about a physical and social shift in the position of Kano Central Business District (CBD) area, of which not prevented will continue to cause major urban cohesion and sustainability issue. Thus, this paper took a preemptive step to evaluate the existing problems and identify the major sustainability issues and where urban cohesion failed. A qualitative method was employed that does not only consider the study of morphological factors of the public space network in Kano CBD, but also the social, environmental and economic dynamics they generate. Thus, the data were collected through fieldwork (favoring direct contact with the territory), and analyzed using four key dimensions namely ‘Form and legibility’, ‘Access and Connections’, ‘Uses and Activities’, then ‘Sociability and Identification’. The findings revealed that the neighborhoods that make up the CBD have lot of abandoned buildings, insufficient access routes, poor drainage system, high volume of traffic that cause lot of pollution and proliferation of solid waste that makes road network impermeable, and an aesthetic eyesore. In view of these, the study recommends a set of urban intervention strategy capable of guiding the planning and redesign of public spaces in Kano CBD in order to promote urban cohesion and a sustainable environment.

SABIAS TRANFORMACIONES URBANO-TERRITORIALES: REFLEXIONES SOBRE LA CONCATENACIÓN NATURALEZA-ARTIFICIO

This article gives part of the results of a research experience developed at Medellin in the research area of the Faculty of Architecture of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, in which different concepts related to the subject of sustainable urban development were investigated, with the goal of projecting interconnected urban settlements, more efficient, humane and participatory that avoid contamination, do not involve an intensive extraction of materials and also produce clean energies. In methodological order, the research was divided into three strategic phases: analysis, design and didactic. In the first one, architectural, climatic and landscape analyses of some urban and model landscape systems in Catalonia and Brazil were carried out. Through the second phase different lessons were extrapolated and after to reinterpreting them, were applied to the design of a new neighbourhood in Apartado (Colombia); process carried out by the University´s Extension Lab. In the last one, learned lessons were applied to a didactic intervention for the “Project Workshops” which belong to the first cycle of the Faculty of Architecture. The theoretical thought rise young students’ awareness about the responsibility of projecting new urban environments, in which architecture is linked to the natural environment, generating friendly, creative and inclusive public space networks that also produce clean energy, water and food.

Regenerating Urban Spaces: A Brief Commentary on Green Infrastructures for Landscape Conservation

The present study debates on the issue of urban regeneration in contemporary cities, adopting a strategic vision which includes the use of vegetation and green infrastructure to create a network of public spaces. Especially, urban periphery lacks of public spaces, meaning a public use of urban space for outdoor activities and social networks. The extraordinary program for the Italian peripheries, addressed to all the metropolitan cities and provincial capitals in 2016, inspired to Renzo Piano idea of “re-sewing” urban fabrics, has been a good opportunity for testing new approaches to urban regeneration. The case study investigated in this study is the financed project for the city of Perugia, which provides different interventions aimed at improving (and developing new) public spaces through vegetation enhancement and a large area destined to vegetable social gardens as a strategy for urban infill. By recovering public spaces with social purpose and providing a comprehensive strategy for aesthetic improvement of the city, the case study provides a representative example, how greening the city may promote together biodiversity conservation and urban regeneration.