Transformation Of Urban Landscape Research Articles

Urban Regeneration and “Resistance of Place”: Foregrounding Time and Experience

Time and experience lie at the heart of urban life. While extensive research on the social implications of the spatial transformation of urban landscapes has been undertaken since the 1980s, the discussion of the impact that manifold temporalities and sensory experiences might have in shaping or constraining the physical and social change of a neighbourhood have been limited, however. Existing research has a tendency to focus on a specific period in time within the remaking of a neighbourhood and draws conclusions from this window in time on the impact of the regeneration. By drawing on a longitudinal ethnographic study of the regeneration of el Raval, Barcelona from 1996 to now, this article interrogates how a focus on temporality and experience produce interruptions of power in contemporary urban regeneration processes leading to what I define as a `resistance of place’. While there have been attempts to regenerate el Raval since the early 20th century, most dramatically during the last 20 years to create Barcelona’s new cultural quarter, the neighbourhood has not been gentrified and developed as expected by Barcelona’s city council. I argue that while elements of control, discipline and gentrification are certainly part of global contemporary regeneration strategies, temporal and experiential dynamics destabilise their full implementation so that these elements are only partial in their imposition.

Infographic restitution of the historic centre of the Spanish town of Oviedo

Our historic town centres possess an evocative quality that has recently led to considering these town centres a subject of scientific research, overtaking, if not contradicting, the romantic vision by which they obtained importance in the Western world from the late 18th century.Thus, the present work is framed in the existing and ultimately consolidated method of European universities, which analyse, with an increasing scientific rigour from many different perspectives, the knowledge of the abundant and rich historic town centres that geographically define our living environment.This study focuses on the reconstruction of the urban shape of the town of Oviedo in a series of stages that are marked by the cartographic data collected during the time of the study and that involve substantial changes to the urban fabric of the town. The study attempts to be a historical analysis of urban transformation. This research established a systematic study of earlier times when the urban form offered space patterns different from existing patterns. Using the current structure of the historic centre of Oviedo and the analysis of its pathologies throughout history as a starting point, this study considers the possibility of a methodical study of the past.This project presents the coexistence of parallel textual and visual accounts, which can be read together, as a new methodology to understand the spatial formation and transformation of urban landscapes.

The neighborhood effects of new road infrastructure: Transformation of urban settlements and resident's socioeconomic characteristics in Danang, Vietnam

This study documented the transformation of urban landscape and residents’ socioeconomic conditions associated with the development of Nguyen Tat Thanh Road in Danang, Vietnam. The road was newly built along the coastal lines of Danang Bay in 2003, linking downtown Danang with the western part of the city. To better understand the relationship between infrastructure and urban change in developing countries, we conducted in-depth interviews of 400 property owners living in one of the following sites: 1) an area directly abutting on the new road, 2) an area abutting on an existing road but is away from the new road, and 3) an area inside an urban block which is disconnected from all types of vehicular roads. The results showed that road development took place along with a sizable number of urban changes over time, including housing types, building densities and uses, income level, commuting distances, and the type of occupation. The changes were more striking in the area abutting the new road—where relatively well-off migrants settled down and capitalized on land rents by accommodating a variety of retail uses—compared to other areas away from the road. However, the area inside the block also experienced small-scaled, parcel-level adaptive reuse of the built environment by the original residents who maintained the livable environment of the residential neighborhood.

Globalising higher education and cities in Asia and the Pacific

.,2004; Storper and Venables, 2004). Becausethe economies of large cities are the drivers ofthe national economy, urban universities areoften identified as a key institution and majorimpetus for the creation of knowledge in thecity economy: universities are viewed as spacesfor innovation and developing industry link-ages, as part of the broader reputation of citiesthemselves and as sites for the training of futureskilled workforces (McCarney, 2005; Goddardand Vallance, 2013). Universities are also animportant dimension of the broader urbanfabric, having impacts on local economies andgeographies, and employing and educatinglarge numbers of faculty, staff and students(Wiewel and Perry, 2008). The presence andpractices of domestic and international studentsare significant not only within the bounds of thecampus but also as ‘urban agents’ involved inthe transformation of urban landscapes (Collins,2010). Housing and the broader urban environ-ments within which students live and study havebecome an important focus for policy and strat-egies within local government and universitiesthemselves (Smith, 2008; Fincher and Shaw,2009).The relationship between universities andcities is particularly salient given contemporarytransformations of higher education systems.While universities have long been engaged inmore-than-local learning, recent decades haveseen a substantial globalisation of higher edu-cation systems. Where universities were oncetasked principally with the training of a nationalelite, many are now also focused on globalmissions based on knowledge production, insti-tutional competition and student recruitmentthat stretch across national borders (Sidhu,2006; Mohrman

Recording the transformation of urban landscapes in Turkey: the diaries of Kurt Erdmann and Ernst Diez

Two travel diaries by scholars working in Turkey in the 1940s and 1950s are at the centre of this article. The Austrian art historian, Ernst Diez (1878–1961), and his German colleague, Kurt Erdmann (1901–1964), both taught art history at Istanbul University, although they were not in the city at the same time. Diez's appointment, from 1943 to 1949, was interrupted during World War II, when citizens of the German Reich were interned in the small Anatolian city of Kırşehir. During this time, Diez recorded his discoveries of decaying historical buildings in his diary. Erdmann was Diez's successor of sorts, teaching in Istanbul from 1951 to 1958. The diaries that Erdmann left record his travels throughout Turkey in minute detail, pairing a sense of humour with acute awareness of the changes that were taking place in rural Turkey. Together, the two scholars’ travel diaries are an invaluable source of information on a period in which the major transformations of provincial Turkish cities had just begun.

Remote sensing land-cover change in Port Elizabeth during South Africa’s democratic transition

Urban population increase has caused significant urban landscape transformation globally. Before 1994, South Africa’s highly regulated urban growth was shaped by the restrictive Prevention of Illegal Squatters Act of 1951. After the abolishment of the act in the 1980s, the period of transition to democracy in the 1990s was characterised by an unprecedented urban population influx that caused a myriad of socio-economic and environmental challenges. These challenges have consequently compounded the need to monitor urban growth for the planning and optimisation of urban spaces. The limitations of traditional mapping methods, such as surveying and photogrammetry, in urban mapping are well documented. In the recent past, satellite remote sensing has emerged as one of the most viable urban mapping tools. Using post-classification comparisons, we sought to monitor major land use and land cover (LULC) changes in the city of Port Elizabeth during South Africa’s democratic transition (1990–2000). Images for 1990, 1995 and 2000 were acquired, geo-rectified and atmospherically corrected. An iterative self-organising data analysis (ISODATA) was then used to generate existing LULCs. Classes generated using ISODATA were then amalgamated to the city’s major LULCs and resultant classes were validated using aerial photographs and field visits. Results showed that ‘Built-up’ and ‘Bare surface’ LULC classes had the highest increase and decrease, respectively. There was no change in the ‘Beach or dune’ LULC, whereas ‘Green vegetation’ and ‘Water’ classes had minimal changes. This study illustrates the efficacy of remote sensing in monitoring urban change and the potential of remote sensing to aid decision-making in rapidly changing urban landscapes.

Lightness and weight: (re)reading urban potentialities through photographs

Geographical fieldwork often involves using photography to document and illustrate theoretical and empirical concerns. Capturing images is deeply entwined in a complex web of associations, linking the epistemology of research practice with the perceived nature of evolving spatial processes. One example of this is the way urban geographers use images to document the transformation of urban landscapes. This is the outcome of not only material but also discursive forces that reshape the urban imaginary. The discourses of post‐industrial entrepreneurial urbanism that stimulated the development of Irish cities during the Celtic Tiger offer a clear case in point. However, when the set of relations and suppositions that underpin the way in which we formulate meaning through these landscape images shifts – such as the case with the current economic ‘crisis’– then the images themselves take on new resonances, identities and potentialities. Taking the Celtic Tiger crash as a starting point, this article explores one image taken during fieldwork researching urban change in Cork. Focusing on the way in which the image disrupts the linear (progress) vision of the city, the article examines how in the absence of a clear urban ‘idea’ we are left with an uncoordinated system of urban signs, but also perhaps a deterritorialised city of potentiality.

Landscape and the Kingdom of God

‘Landscape and the Kingdom of God’ examines how co-operation with secular partners in a World Heritage Status Bid may be seen as an expression of mission, and how the transformation of urban landscape and sacred space may reflect the Kingdom of God. The history of Wearmouth-Jarrow, explored through Bede’s story of the founding of the seventh-century monastery, highlights contemporary resonances in art, learning, community and Christian communication. The Wearmouth context is explored historically, practically and theologically, with the etching of cruciform pathways on the site’s surface seen as a means of interpreting access, encounter and human transformation.

Global-City-Formation, Immobilienwirtschaft und Transnationalisierung

Global-City-formation and the making of a new “corporate geography“: The case of Mexico City. The paper argues that global-city-formation is a key driving force in the transformation of urban landscapes and in the globalization of real estate markets. Taking Mexico City as a case study it is shown that the growing presence of a) foreign companies and b) advanced producer sector firms increases demand for office space, in particular in the high end spectrum of the market. This demand is met by the production of a new CBD in western parts of the city. Mexico City’s corporate geography is, thus, characterized by two CBD, with the new one housing the majority of firms that entered the Mexican market in the last 15 years. The paper also argues that the new corporate geography is marked by processes of de- and transnationalization, becoming thus step by step detached from the urban fabric.

Cultural and leisure clusters in Greek cities: spontaneous formation and ‘laissez-faire’ development

This article is concerned with cultural economies in the post-industrial city and examines the phenomenon of cultural and leisure clusters in Greek cities. In the fi rst part, the article discusses the key role of cultural economies in the post-industrial city and presents types of cultural clusters in inner city areas. The second part focuses on Greek cities and analyses three cultural and leisure clusters in Athens, Thessaloniki and Volos. The article documents the spontaneous formation and the ‘laissez-faire’ development of such clusters; it records the shift of land uses and the transformations of urban landscape, and also highlights the urban policies involved. Finally, it draws conclusions on the formation and management of cultural and leisure clusters, especially the differences among large cities in the core of Europe and large Mediterranean cities in the developing periphery

TRANSFORMATION OF URBAN LANDSCAPEIN LATGALE REGION ON CHANGE OF 20- 21 CENTURIES

The paper deals with transformation of urban landscape in the 2 cities and 12 towns of Latgale region on change of 20-21 centuries, in the period from 1990 to 2007. Article provides information about factors and social economics processes that have influence on urban landscape structure and quality. The paper have a look at changes of land use structure, demographical processes, urban environmental quality, dynamics of urban transportation system and intensity of construction works in the cities and towns of Latgale region. The results establish disparities between scopes and directions of urban landscape transformation among different ranks of urban settlements.

Von der unmöglichen Ordnung zu einer möglichen Unordnung im Entwerfen der Stadtlandschaft

This essay describes the origins of the term “cities without cities” (Zwischenstadt), which is the spread and transformation of urban landscapes and the causes, the various approaches, the landscape characteristics of the city without a city and the reasons for the public's disinterest in it. Lastly, the particularities of the designs in the connection with city-regions are sketched out.

Uma promenade nos trópicos: os barões do café sob as palmeiras-imperiais, entre o Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo

O presente trabalho propõe-se a discutir a transformação da paisagem urbana das cidades vale-paraibanas, a partir do estabelecimento de uma elite ligada à cultura do café nessa região e do surgimento de uma configuração paisagística específica, apoiada na utilização da palmeira-imperial (Roystonea oleracea). Seu recorte cronológico abrange o período entre 1808 e 1911, enquanto espacialmente seu foco direciona-se para o eixo Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo, com estudo mais aproximado do caso da cidade de Lorena, São Paulo, de modo a cobrir as transformações aí ocorridas desde a chegada do café até o esgotamento dessa cultura. Acompanhando as transformações urbanas do período, surgiram e consolidaram-se exemplos paisagísticos próprios da sociedade do café: ruas arborizadas com renques de palmeiras, a demonstrar a proximidade com a Corte, a sinalizar os novos "modos afrancesados". Utilizaram-se tais configurações com o propósito de qualificar os logradouros públicos, a fim de equipará-los aos novos edifícios que substituíam aqueles da tradição colonial. O texto desenvolve-se em três momentos principais: a introdução da palmeira-imperial no Rio de Janeiro, sua vinculação à idéia de nobreza e classe, e conseqüente aproximação com a arquitetura neoclássica trazida pela Missão Francesa de 1816; a difusão de sua utilização como recurso paisagístico qualificador dos espaços públicos desde a Corte até a capital paulista, principalmente pelo baronato do Segundo Império; e, finalmente, a possibilidade de sua introdução nos espaços públicos paulistanos ter sido viabilizada por um lorenense, vinculado à elite cafeeira, embora já sob a República.

Recreating place, replacing memory: Creative destruction at the Singapore River

Abstract: The transformation of urban landscapes is as much a physical process as it is a symbolic one. Material changes in the form of demolition and redevelopment are often accompanied by changes in the image and identity of places, as well as the personal and collective memories associated with these places. Focusing on the Singapore River, we explore how waterfront redevelopment has rendered certain activities, people and place memories invisible, to be replaced by other landscape elements and their associative identities. Through ‘creative destruction’ and ‘destructive creation,’ the waterfront's transformation is evident in three areas: its built environment (‘builtscapes’), activities and events (‘eventscapes’) and displays of public art (‘artscapes’). We contend that landscapes reflect the tensions between ‘remembering to forget’ and ‘forgetting to remember’ in ‘New Asia-Singapore,’ a city attempting to blend modern Asian dynamism with tradition and heritage.

Re-encoding the Spectacle: Urban Fatefulness and Mediated Stigmatisation in the 'City of Tomorrow'

This article presents an empirical study of the public re-encoding processes occurring after the spectacular BoOl Housing Fair, the City of Tomorrow, hosted in Malmo, Sweden, in 2001. The fair initiated the reconstruction of a former shipyard and harbour area, creating a new post-industrial district. Due to economic and political scandals, however, the image of the new neighbourhood was seriously wounded. The fair was turned into a symbol of the 'new economy', which led to a media-driven stigmatisation of both the district and its early settlers. Taking Erving Goffman's concept of fatefulness as point of departure, the analysis stresses the symbolic and social vulnerability involved in the transformation of urban landscapes. It is argued that this vulnerability increases as an effect of informationalisation.

“Glocalising” urban landscapes: Athens and the 2004 olympics

This paper deals with transformations of urban landscape in the era of globalization. First, it attempts to describe and understand how particular aspects of urban morphology, such as built heritage and innovative design of space, have become the competitive edge in terms of landscape. Second, it develops the argument that on the basis of their great potential for (a) promoting economic growth and (b) enhancing place identity of cities, both built heritage and innovative design of space appear to be expansively used as major components of contemporary strategic plans of cities for the transformation and improvement of urban landscape. Combining and promoting built heritage and innovative design of space as two central themes in urban landscape transformations generates, for the 21st century city, a new landscape collage dominated by two extremes: (a) that of tradition with rather local spatial references and (b) that of innovation having more universal or global spatial references. Thus, under the forces of globalization, the new emerging urban landscapes may be termed as “glocalised” ones. As a case study, Athens and the landscape transformations for Olympic Games 2004 are analysed.

The Treatment of Space and Place in the New Strategic Spatial Planning in Europe

AbstractThis article examines recent European experiences in urban and regional spatial strategies. It focuses specifically on the concepts of space and place deployed within these strategies and the institutional work these concepts are called upon to do. It explores how far such concepts reflect the shift in geographical thought to a dynamic, dis‐contiguous, relational conceptualization of spatiality. These issues are explored through an analysis of three recent strategic planning episodes: The Netherlands Fifth National Policy Document on Spatial Planning, the Regional Development Strategy for Northern Ireland, and the Framework Document for Milan. All are innovative in their contexts in one way or another and provide exemplars of new ways of thinking about space and place, and the role of spatial strategies in contemporary governance contexts. All the episodes reflect in some way new relational geographical ideas, but many traditional planning ideas live on. The analysis highlights the political dimensions of developing new spatial vocabularies to guide urban and regional development and the significance of the institutional context in shaping and accepting new spatial planning concepts.Cet article examine de récentes expériences de stratégies spatiales urbaines et régionales en Europe. Il s'attache aux concepts d'espace et de lieu appliqués à celles‐ci et au travail institutionnel qui leur est réclamé. Il étudie notamment dans quelle mesure ces concepts reflètent l'évolution de la réflexion géographique vers une conceptualisation dynamique, dissociée et relationnelle de la spatialité. Ce faisant, il analyse trois cas récents de planification stratégique: le 5ème Texte de Politique nationale des Pays‐Bas sur la planification spatiale, la Stratégie de développement régional en Irlande du Nord, et le Document‐cadre pour Milan. D'une manière ou d'une autre, tous sont novateurs dans leur contexte, et constituent des modèles originaux de réflexion sur l'espace et le lieu, ainsi que sur le rôle des stratégies spatiales dans le cadre des modes de gouvernance contemporains. Tous les cas traduisent par certains aspects de nouvelles notions géographiques relationnelles, la planification traditionnelle n'étant pas pour autant totalement évincée. L'étude souligne la portée politique des nouveaux lexiques spatiaux élaborés pour guider l'expansion urbaine et régionale, ainsi que l'importance du contexte institutionnel dans la configuration et l'acceptation de concepts de planification spatiale innovants.

Varsovie, les changements contemporains d'une métropole d'Europe de l'Est (Warsaw, current changes within an eastern European Metropolis)

Abstract. - In 1989, the disappearance of communism in Poland put Warsaw on the privatization and free market economy feet. This sweeping change is built up around the following patterns : actors competing for space use, shift to local self-government by communes, transformation of labour market. From a spatial point of view, these changes are going on with a transformation of urban landscape and with the setting of discrepancies between neighborhoods. Within the political map of the New Europe, the chief point is to know into what urban network will Warsaw fit.

The Greening of the Squares of London: Transformation of Urban landscapes and Ideals

Abstract The residential squares of London developed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries into a unique urban landscape form that introduced rural landscape values into the urban fabric in ways that continue to shape urban landscape ideals today. This study takes the viewpoint of cultural geography to look at the gardens in the squares as symbolic statements expressing social values in a critical period in the history of European cities, as property and social relations were in transition from late feudal to early capitalist modes. The open spaces of the squares were changed from open plazas in the seventeenth century to enclosed private parks at the end of the eighteenth century, based on the social values of the aristocracy, later adopted by the middle classes. Public rights of access were extinguished and the gardens were planted with trees and shrubs reminiscent of rural landscape parks. The squares and their surrounding residential districts represented some of the first expressions of the desire for class segregation, domestic isolation, and privatized open space that later were toform the basis of suburban living. They also were a major arena for playing out the tension between classes over access to open space and they influenced the development of early public parks. The residential squares and their gardens inspired imitation beyond London, including in the U.S. during the first third of the nineteenth century.