Redevelopment Scenarios Research Articles

Reviving the Practices of Transhumance in a Forgotten Settlement in Mainland Greece

The aim of this research project is the investigation of the forgotten landscape of transhumance in mainland Greece, focusing on areas that have been abandoned by modern society and their historical significance. The goal is to make these lands functional again by preserving their cultural heritage and developing a sustainable community that meets the needs of people, livestock, and the environment. The investigation employs a dual approach: examining transhumance as a cultural and natural practice while analyzing vernacular architecture to preserve collective memory. This involves extensive historical research and a simultaneous analysis of spatial, social, symbolic, and architectural elements. This study identifies points of convergence between cultural practices and architectural heritage, applying these insights to contemporary redevelopment scenarios. Findings reveal a significant interplay between transhumance practices and the region’s anonymous architecture. Key characteristics of the landscape and its spatial identity are documented, providing insights into effective preservation and redevelopment strategies. Specific case studies validate these strategies, demonstrating their relevance to current and future efforts. This study concludes that understanding the historical context and spatial identity of transhumance landscapes is crucial for sustainable redevelopment. By preserving cultural practices and architectural heritage, this project provides a framework for revitalizing these landscapes, ensuring a balanced coexistence of people, livestock, and the environment.

Retrofitting of the Italian precast industrial building stock. LCA analysis as decision-making tool

The challenging European goal concerns the achievement of a carbon-free economy by 2050 must necessarily consider the improvement of the construction sector along with the redevelopment of the existing buildings. In fact, according to a European report concerning existing buildings, 80% of the built environment will remain the same by 2050. Nowadays buildings are responsible for 30% of the global final energy consumption and 37% of global energy and process emissions. As regards industrial buildings, they account for 33% of global final energy demand. The research aims to define some effective retrofitting measures to be applied in the existing Italian industrial facilities to improve their both energy and environmental performance. Several redevelopment scenarios and their possible combinations related to external envelope technological solutions and systems are analysed. The different interventions are applied to an existing Italian industrial building chosen as a case study and are compared by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis considering different environmental indexes (GWP, AP, PERT and PENRT). The calculation of the primary energy demand is also performed. Phase B6 accounts for about 80% of the whole environmental impact calculated considering 20 years as building lifetime. The redevelopment scenarios that foresee the intervention on the external envelope are the most impactful ones in terms of the production phase (A1-A3). Those related to the existing roof are characterised by a significant impact due to the demolition, disposal and landfill of finishing panels made of asbestos. The configurations that include the substitution of the existing heating system with an air-to-air heat pump coupled with renewables to produce electrical energy on-site are the most advantageous ones. The latter make the industrial building carbon-zero thanks to the considerable amount of surplus electrical energy produced on-site. In this case, phase D mostly recovers the environmental impact of the whole life cycle considering the different indexes.

Evaluating ecosystem-based management alternatives for the Puget Sound, U.S.A. social-ecological system using qualitative watershed models

Population growth and the associated transformation of landscapes is a major management challenge for coastal ecosystems. Coastal conservation and management should be guided by social, cultural, economic, and ecological objectives, but integrative decision support tools appropriate for complex ecosystems remain underutilized. Evaluating alternative policies for objectives that span the interconnected terrestrial, freshwater, and estuarine habitats along coastlines is limited by the lack of appropriate quantitative tools and available data. We employed qualitative network models (QNMs) to evaluate multi-benefit outcomes of potential management interventions to address population growth and development using a case study of Puget Sound – a large, urbanized fjord-type estuary in Washington, U.S.A. With input from regional scientists and stakeholders, we developed a base conceptual model of the links among human stressors and ecosystem components across the terrestrial-freshwater-estuarine gradient of a generalized Puget Sound watershed. We simulated scenarios representing alternative strategies for accommodating human population growth, namely new development outside of urban centers versus redevelopment (densification) within urban centers, and characterized the responses of multiple recovery objectives and ecosystem stressors for each scenario. Of the urban redevelopment scenarios, reducing stormwater runoff and increasing green infrastructure provided the most favorable outcomes. On rural lands, limiting new development to existing transportation corridors and iincreasing floodplain and riparian habitat extent concomitant with new development produced similar outcomes. Moderate levels of coordinated interventions on both urban and rural lands had favorable outcomes for more ecosystem objectives compared to either moderate intervention applied separately. This study demonstrates the value of qualitative tools for cross-habitat evaluations of possible futures in complex ecosystem-based management systems.

The historical telegraphic towers from Madrid to Valencia: from knowledge to preservation and enhancement

ABSTRACT The optical telegraphic system was introduced in Spain in 1844. In fact, more than a hundred towers were built to connect Madrid to Irún, Valencia and the Andalusia. Decommissioned at the end of the nineteenth century, despite their historical value, the towers are today abandoned with a high level of material and functional obsolescence, waiting for a new utilization. In light of the above-mentioned aspects, the research aims at the identification, cataloguing and qualification of the telegraphic towers located on the pathway from Madrid to Valencia in order to propose a large-scale territorial project for their preservation and enhancement. In particular, the paper is going to describe, first, a historical and morphological evolution of the telegraphic towers. Second, a methodology for qualification of the architectural, material, constructive and functional characteristics of the towers is reported, with a specific reference to the given case study of the telegraphic paths between Madrid and Valencia. Finally, a redevelopment scenario is proposed for the restoration of the towers as well as for their integration in a cycling and pedestrian naturalistic pathway.

Assessing the effect of urban form on social sustainability: a proposed \u2018Integrated Measuring Tools Method\u2019 for urban neighborhoods in Dubai

Among the three pillars of sustainability, social sustainability has received the least attention, especially among the studies addressing the sustainable housing development in Dubai’s urban neighborhoods. Unfortunately, these neighborhoods are not showing enough vibrancy of their public spaces and amenities which seemingly undermined their social sustainability. The lack of a comprehensive tool that can assess the interlinked indicators of social sustainability in urban neighborhoods has urged the research to propose an Integrated Measuring Tools Method (IMTM), that incorporates relevant computational simulation techniques alongside the appropriate conventional qualitative tools. The proposed IMTM was utilized in assessing the social sustainability indicators within the urban form of an existing neighborhood in Dubai. The assessment revealed that various urban form characteristics including; density, land-use, mobility options, mobility networks, streets layouts, and the built environment’s safety and aesthetic qualities, are the main factors undermining social sustainability in the studied locality. The results informed a set of suggested redevelopment strategies/guidelines for this neighborhood that takes into consideration the exiting constraints and opportunities. These included; increasing density by infill development, redefining land-use to achieve diversity in housing types and decentralized amenities, diversifying mobility options, improving the spatial integration of the mobility networks while restraining the private cars movement, improving accessibility, enriching urban landscape, and finally enhancing the quality of amenities and services. A social sustainability redevelopment scenario was suggested based on these strategies. When compared to the exiting neighborhood utilizing the IMTM, it proved significantly better attainment of social sustainability principles. So, it might be claimed that the proposed IMTM and its outcomes proved to be a valid basis for assessing, redeveloping and validating social sustainability of existing neighborhoods with similar typology in Dubai, and potentially in the region.

Land allocation model using cellular automata to understand housing demand and supply

India is witnessing unprecedented urbanization that has led to the growth of real estate sector, particularly housing. However, since independence providing affordable housing has been a challenge. The gap of demand and supply has been ever increasing and has reached threshold levels due to congested spaces in major cities of India. This work articulates the changing patterns of spatial development in Mumbai. Mumbai has seen two types of growth in the same neighborhood. Brownfield development is highly regarded as a viable option for the physical and natural constrained city of Mumbai. This work describes the land use simulation model to understand the re-development scenario within a ward of the city of Mumbai and allocates housing demand on spatial city grid to match with maximum utility from demand-side and maximum profitability on the supply side, thus generating a map of re-developed cells at every time step. Cellular automata (CA) based platform is employed to undertake Spatio-temporal analysis. Land use maps and land use simulation through CA points out the evolving pattern of outgrowth in the city. The proposed housing redevelopment model predicts future scenarios of housing redevelopment from supply-side and spatial allocation through income class-wise location preference. The model tests the newly proposed inclusionary housing policy along with the slum rehabilitation and relocation scheme of Mumbai’s development plan 2034.

Optimizing the Redevelopment Cost of Urban Areas to Minimize the Fire Susceptibility of Heterogeneous Urban Settings in Developing Nations: a Case from Mumbai, India

Heterogeneous and mixed urban forms profoundly influence fire susceptibility. Planning interventions to achieve fire resilience in urban areas are often not prioritized, primarily due to lack of analytical evidences. This paper proposes a novel analytical framework to reduce the fire-susceptibility in urban areas through optimal and cost-effective redevelopment of the existing UBFs. The framework includes a linear regression model to estimate the relationship between the fire-susceptibility of an area and the built-up spaces at a granular scale. A linear optimization model is incorporated in the framework to minimize the financial expenses, incurred during the redevelopment, for the reduction in fire-susceptibility of a city. The applicability of the framework is demonstrated through four different redevelopment scenarios of the southern part of Mumbai city. Pareto optimal solutions for various desired conditions of fire-susceptibility and population are determined. The results suggest that redesigning the urban settlement could lead to a significant decrease in susceptibility while catering larger population. The illustrated cases suggest medium and high rise buildings as the prime constituent to accommodate less susceptible larger populations in cost-effective ways. The outcomes suggest separate urban compositions for redevelopment scenarios, which make the approach suitable for informed decision making.

Values, Memory, and the Role of Exploratory Methods for Policy-Design Processes and the Sustainable Redevelopment of Waterfront Contexts: The Case of Officine Piaggio (Italy)

In the last few decades the renewal of waterfront contexts has been especially inspired by neoliberal approaches favoring the creation of residential units and entertainment facilities. However, sustainability frameworks suggest that the economic dimension should be interpreted in a way that goes beyond the profitability of the interventions and that takes into account non-monetary values as well. In light of the complex social value (CSV) theory—which considers as a fundamental value component the intrinsic values attributed by communities to environmental and cultural heritage resources—this article proposes the adoption of exploratory methods to firstly map and then integrate citizens’ points of view into the evaluation and design of redevelopment scenarios, selecting the ex-industrial complex of Officine Piaggio (Italy) as a case study. Survey results highlighted that discrepancies between the new functions advanced by official redevelopment proposals and citizens’ opinions were present, and that values such as memory and collective meaning need to be considered if multidimensional sustainability represents a goal. Coherent with these results, a new project scenario is then envisioned and implications related to the application of exploratory methods in the decision-making and policy-design processes are finally advanced.

Amenity proximity analysis for sustainable brownfield redevelopment planning

Idle brownfields in urban settings are potential resources that could be put to productive use, meeting the goals of urban intensification, helping to curb urban sprawl on the periphery and benefiting communities living around sites. Various decision support tools exist in order to evaluate redevelopment scenarios. Spatial decision support systems have recently been developed to aid in evaluating the implications of the physical attributes of redevelopment scenarios, with a limited focus on the proximity of essential amenities to the local community. The application of proximity analysis in this context supports stakeholders in determining which social amenities are furthest from the local community and the extent to which including such amenities on-site would benefit the local community. A geographic information system based proximity analysis approach is presented specifically for this purpose. The distribution of walking distances for local households is compared to scenarios in which specific social amenities are included on-site. The approach is demonstrated using an abandoned brownfield case study in the Flemish region of Belgium. The local community would benefit most from having a doctor and pharmacy on-site in terms reduced walking distance. The inclusion of other amenities on-site such as employment, schools, green space, meeting places and shops also shortens walking distances for the local community but to a limited extent in comparison to a doctor and a pharmacy. ‘Walking distance’ is an indicator that is easily understood by stakeholders and the approach lays the foundation for more detailed analyses that would include frequency of visits.

The Application of Integrated Multimodal Metropolitan Transportation Model in Urban Redevelopment for Developing Countries

Abstract Urban redevelopment is an important way for city evolution especially in metropolitans where the limitation of land resource becomes a bottleneck to farther development. However, redevelopment can bring a number of perturbations on transportation system, even though it improves the efficiency of land use. Many cases can be found to cause or exacerbate traffic congestion because of redevelopment especially in developing countries. Urban redevelopment scenario might be erroneous without accurate travel forecasting and traffic impact evaluation. To avoid the negative impact on traffic under redevelopment, an effective transportation model is needed to forecast accurate travel demand, and effective traffic impact evaluation measures are also needed based on output of the transportation model to compare scenarios and complete scenario planning. Developing countries often lack robust transportation planning models and effective evaluate measures to address urban development and redevelopment. In this paper, based on the differences of transportation system and travel demand forecast between urban development and redevelopment, we propose an integrated multimodal metropolitan transportation model to meet the requirements of urban redevelopment forecast, and develop an evaluation index system for scenario planning to compare traffic impact of urban redevelopment scenarios quantitatively. To illustrate recommendations for developing countries, we use state of Maryland in the United States as a case study to demonstrate forecast accuracy of the integrated transportation model and also show the traffic evaluation for redevelopment scenario planning. The results indicate that the integrated multimodal metropolitan transportation model can get better fitness and it is easy to assess which scenario can reduce traffic congestion using the evaluation index system.

A software-aided workflow for precinct-scale residential redevelopment

Growing urban populations, combined with environmental challenges, have placed significant pressure on urban planning to supply housing while addressing policy issues such as sustainability, affordability, and liveability. The interrelated nature of these issues, combined with the requirement of evidence-based planning, has made decision-making so complex that urban planners need to combine expertise on energy, water, carbon emissions, transport and economic development along with other bodies of knowledge necessary to make well-informed decisions. This paper presents two geospatial software systems that can assist in the mediation of complexity, by allowing users to assess a variety of planning metrics without expert knowledge in those disciplines. Using Envision and Envision Scenario Planner (ESP), both products of the Greening the Greyfields research project funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information (CRCSI) in Australia, we demonstrate a workflow for identifying potential redevelopment precincts and designing and assessing possible redevelopment scenarios to optimise planning outcomes.

Modelling housing typologies for urban redevelopment scenario planning

Increasing levels of urbanization, combined with growing populations and a need to manage urban redevelopment more sustainably has prompted the need for new tools for urban regeneration in established urban areas. While significant activity is occurring in the areas of volumetric analysis and 3D visualization, utilising these technologies in the development of urban planning tools requires a data schema for defining precinct objects for performance assessment while simultaneously addressing the complexity and interconnected nature of issues relevant to the urban built environment. This paper presents the outcomes of the research and development of a web-based 3D precinct visualization and assessment system, Envision Scenario Planner (ESP), which uses a library of housing typologies to generate easy-to-use, bottom-up, precinct-scale reports on residential infill. The paper illustrates how, through the specification of a residential precinct object data schema and the provision of a set of housing typologies, end users can quickly, and without domain knowledge, generate visualizations and assessments for a variety of housing scenarios, which allows them to determine fit-for-purpose solutions that address a range of issues relevant to contemporary planners and policy makers.

Assessment and Distribution of Heavy Metals Pollutants in Manzala Lake, Egypt

Contamination with heavy metals is one of the most serious problems in the aquatic environments. In Egypt, Manzala Lake is suffering from this problem. The objective of this work was to assess heavy metals pollutants and their spatial distribution in Manzala Lake using GIS technique. Georeferenced water and sediment samples were randomly collected from the lake. The detected heavy metals were: Fe, Pb, Cu, Cd, Cr, Zn and Co. The obtained results indicated that the highest concentrations of heavy metals were observed in the northeastern and the southern parts of the lake nearby drains. This could be attributed to industrial, agricultural and municipal wastes coming through the drains especially Bahr El-Baqar drain and the industrial wastes coming from Port Said drains. From the geo-accumulation index, it was noticed that the lake is more polluted with cadmium and lead in the hydrosoils samples. All metals in water are within the EPA standard limit except for cadmium. Geostatistics provides effective methods to quantify the contaminated waters and sediments which support decision-making about redevelopment scenarios or remediation techniques.

Assessment of Human Health Risk for an Area Impacted by a Large-Scale Metallurgical Refinery Complex in Hunan, China

ABSTRACTDue to accelerated urbanization and reform of industrial structure in China, polluting industries in major cities have been closed or relocated. Consequently, large numbers of industrial sites were generated and the contaminated soils on and around these sites may pose risks to humans. This case study presents an estimation of human health risks for an area that is mainly impacted through air dispersion and deposition from a large-scale metallurgical refinery complex in Zhuzhou city, Hunan Province, China. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks posed by the contaminants were estimated under future industrial and residential land use scenarios. The result shows that adverse health effects may occur primarily through ingestion of soils contaminated with As, Cd, and Pb. The total carcinogenic risks of multiple contaminants for a large area exceed the acceptable risk level of 1 × 10−5, and several localized hotspots, where the total hazard index exceeds 1 were identified. Soils in the Tongda site pose the highest carcinogenic risks and non-carcinogenic hazards. It is concluded that potential human health risks exist under the proposed redevelopment scenarios, and development of risk-based remediation strategies is recommended.

Morrow Tomorrow: Exploring the Pedagogical Experience of a Planning Studio Involving Students with Mixed Skills

This article explores the pedagogical experience of a group of graduate planning students with diverse undergraduate backgrounds in a degree capstone studio. The studio concentrates on the “shrinking” village of Morrow, Ohio. Following a brief overview of the shrinking cities literature, the article discusses the specific issues of economic decline facing the Village of Morrow and its population. It then delves into two specific aspects of this pedagogical experience, namely, a two-part SWOT analysis based on the data collected by the students directly and from a community charrette, and three redevelopment scenarios developed following an analysis of the lessons learned from this experience. The discussion and conclusion focus on the pros and cons of a planning studio involving students with mixed (design and non-design) skills.

Mapping and screening risk assessment of heavy metals concentrations in soils of the Bahr El-Baker Region, Egypt

Mapping the spatial distribution of soil pollutants is essential for delineating contaminated areas ofBahr El-Baker Soils, Egypt. Geostatistical interpolation and kriging was used to estimate pollutant levels in soils. The X- Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and X- Ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses results showed similarity of the studied soils in the most of chemical and mineralogical (dominant montmorillonite) properties; thus revealing to these exposed soils the same geological and pedological conditions. These soils exhibited that they possess both permanent and variable surface charges due to smectite minerals, amorphous iron oxides, and organic matter which ensures high metal sorption capacity thus, increasing the cation-exchange capacity (CEC) values. The spatial patterns showed the homogeneity in Cd, Pb, Cr, and Ni contents. In contrast, Cu and Zn contents, since their data distributions were characterized by great variation and high skewness (1.27 and 1.22 respectively). The best fit model for Cd and Pb were Circular and Exponential model with Mean Standardized (MS) values for them -0.0255 and 0.0600, respectively which is closest to zero. Root Mean Square Standardized (RMSS) values for Cd and Pb were 1.096 and 0.9789 respectively which are closest to 1. The best fit model for Zn was Pentaspherical model (MS = 0.0002) and Rational Quadratic model for Ni and Cr with -0.0029 and -0.0046 MS, respectively which is closest to zero. The data showed that the concentrations of heavy metals Zn, Cr, Ni, and Pb measured in these soils are still under the threshold values. However, the concentrations of Cd and Cu in some soils exceeded the threshold values for non-polluted soils. Since the whole study area (17818.93 ha) became contaminated by Cd, and 6370.23 ha only became contaminated by Cu. Although, this study is a screening presentation which helps to identify the important areas to sample in the future, the results indicate that these soils are still able to load with over concentrations of these metals and retained them, since they do not reach their saturation capacities except for Cu and Cd in some areas. But under bad management with continuous accumulation of these toxic metals in the environment, region will be exposed to real disaster. Geostatistics provides effective methods to quantify the contaminated soil which support decision-making about redevelopment scenarios or remediation techniques. Key words: Heavy metals, geostatistics, risk assessment, Egypt.

An Analysis of Energy Consumption in an Adelaide Suburb with Different Retrofitting and Redevelopment Scenarios

Improving energy efficiency of the existing dwelling stock of towns and cities will increasingly be part of the effort to moderate fossil fuel energy consumption in the decades to come. At the same time, residential areas may be subject to densification to better utilise the existing urban infrastructure whilst accommodating a larger population. The analysis of energy consumption arising from these trends offers the potential for optimising built forms and assisting in development decisions for urban renewal to encourage lower energy outcomes. This article describes the application of a model which uses a life cycle approach to the analysis of energy consumption in a residential suburb. The results indicate that the inclusion of embodied energy expended during redevelopment can be substantial and should be considered when modelling future energy consumption scenarios.

Evaluation of sustainable urban redevelopment scenarios

Multi-criteria analysis is often used in planning for evaluating alternative development options against a set of evaluation criteria. In the context of sustainable development, the definition of these criteria is quite controversial because of the complex and fuzzy nature of this emerging topic. Decision making for sustainable (re)development at urban planning level requires an understanding of the multiple issues implied in the problem. The multi-modal framework can help decision makers handle the multiplicity of issues embodied in the concept of urban sustainability by guiding the selection of appropriate criteria for evaluating alternative solutions. This paper applies this framework to an Italian urban (re)development decision-making process by using the analytic network process, a most advanced network version of the analytic hierarchy process. This is the first mathematical theory that makes it possible systematically to deal with all kinds of dependencies and feedback. It requires a network structure to represent the decision problem, as well as pairwise comparison with established relations within the structure. The multi-modal framework is used to structure the case study problem towards a more sustainable solution.

Research Article: Making Connections in the Brownfield Marketplace

Brownfield redevelopment in many communities is now almost routine—a regular part of a larger community development strategy. Brownfield projects are treated in many instances as regular real estate transactions. Thus, for those brownfield properties in more attractive real estate markets, in communities with a high capacity for brownfield redevelopment, results are noticeable. This brownfield redevelopment scenario breaks down when applied to situations where there is low brownfield redevelopment capacity. Effective brownfield revitalization programs require substantial community support with public-private partnerships playing a critical role in building local brownfield capacity. The challenge lies in fostering these connections. This article reports on the findings from a case study in St. Louis, Missouri, that examined a regional effort to build brownfield capacity at the local level where community leaders brought together property owners and developers for a networking opportunity. Results show that direct intervention can help build brownfield capacity.Environmental Practice 11:170–178 (2009)

An Integrated Geostatistical Approach for Contaminated Site and Soil Characterisation

For several years, abandoned or stopped industrial sites increasingly arouse the interest of politics and investors. Having a high social and economic estate value, these sites generally reveal contaminated soils that must be remediated first before receiving any new use. Due to financial, environmental or human health stakes, heuristic methods appear inappropriate because they do not provide reliable estimations of contaminated soil volumes and ignore spatial uncertainties. Problems at hand may be very complex, involving multiple correlated contaminants for which spatially varying pollutant grades are to be estimated and confronted to various regulatory thresholds, depending on redevelopment target areas. In such conditions, geostatistics provides effective methods to quantify local and global uncertainties about soil contamination and contaminated soil volumes. By quantifying uncertainties, geostatistical models are useful as support for decision-making about redevelopment scenarios or remediation techniques. Specific approaches are required, however, to overcome particular modelling issues as related to the skewness of pollutant grade distributions or change of support. Making use of our practical experience, such an integrated geostatistical approach is proposed for modelling contaminated sites. It is illustrated by application to a recent actual case study.