Urban Furniture Research Articles

Sürdürülebilir Malzemeler Bağlamında Kent Mobilyaları

While the efforts to ensure the ecological balance for a sustainable and livable future have gained momentum in recent years, sustainable materials have become more needed in this context. Sustainable materials can be summarized as materials that consume less energy and do not harm the environment, nature, and human health, from the process of obtaining their raw materials to the processing stages, their use, maintenance, and repair, and the environmental conditions they are in during waste generation. In addition, they are local materials that respond to the culture they are in, are open to change, recyclable, non-toxic, and non-poisonous. Sustainable urban furniture can contribute to the future by minimizing environmental problems. Within the scope of this study, urban furniture such as seating elements, trash bins, lighting elements, pavement materials, playgrounds, and pergolas in the newly built or revised green areas in the center of Rize in the last five years, in the context of sustainable materials; Durability / Easy maintenance, Performance, Functionality, Space Relation, Economy, Recyclability, Aesthetics, and Ecological Materials were examined by considering criteria. By evaluating the results, evaluations were made on the materials used in urban furniture to create ecological and sustainable environments.

The Impact Of Walkways and Open Spaces on Promoting Sustainable Pattern of Life in the Campus Case Study Of Mahlia Girls' Campus Jazan University , Saudi Arabia

The term "University Campus" defines an institutional place that is usedfor education as the primary activity for a large number of students and staff, thephysical environment of a campus includes buildings, open spaces and all theessential infrastructures needed to function effectively .The concept of‘Walkability’ provides an important principle of sustainability in such places, thequality of campus environment in terms of walkways and open spaces haspositive influence on ‘Walkability’. The quality of which the built environmentenables the mobility of pedestrians define it's walkability .This study examinesthe impact of walkways and open spaces on walkability in Mahlia Girls' Campusof Jazan University. The author investigated the existing conditions of the campusand their impact on creating a sustainable pattern of life .The research methodsapplied a mix of methods: a walkability audit tool to record data of physical builtenvironment elements was developed and tested, a questionnaire and directobservation. The resulting data were statistically analysed. The results obtainedwere supported by graphical illustrations prepared by the author. The researchfound certain physical infrastructure challenges that influence female students andstaff willingness to walk. Results emphasis major factors such as landscape ,width and connectivity of the walkway ,weather protection and shading ,appropriate urban furniture for activities such as seating and places forrefreshment .The conclusions are summarized to provide design guidelines for theimprovement and enhancement of existing conditions.

Empirical Evidence on Analysing the Quality of Life of Informal Settlement for Regeneration Project: Case Study of Boa Wala Settlement, Lahore

The empirical evidence from literature has disclosed that the extensive share of world’s population continues to live in informal settlements due to extensive economic, social, and welfare disparities. These informal settlements possess the attributes of poor infrastructure and utilities services. In reality, due to excessive housing prices, economic incapacity, and insufficient technical abilities among poor people, they are forced to live in such dilapidated settlements. However, over the times, governmental institutes have adopted several distinct strategies to enhance the quality of life (QOL) of inhabitants living in informal settlement. Therefore, this research study intends to examine the contemporary living conditions in informal settlement using multi-indicator analysis. To assess the QOL, five leading indicators including building density, utilities services, road infrastructure, urban furniture, and social services and their associated 29 sub-indicators was identified and Bao wala as informal settlement in Lahore, Pakistan has been selected as case study area. A semi structured questionnaire was formed and sample size of 99 was calculated to perform socio-economic surveys. In the surveys, proportionate and random sampling technique was used to gain diverse outcomes. In the data analysis, descriptive analysis technique was used to examine the public perceptions regarding contemporary utilities services and regression analysis techniques was used to explore the relation between perceived and dependent variables. The results outcomes have shown that majority of the population of Bao wala settlement express extreme dissatisfaction regarding all the perceived indicators based on the provision, maintenance, and operation quality; however, the regression analysis indicates that all the five leading indicators have strong and significant relation with the dependent variable.

Extracting human perceptions from street view images for better assessing urban renewal potential

Accurate and efficient assessment of large-scale urban renewal potential is an indispensable prerequisite for managing and facilitating projects. However, few studies consider the built environment when assessing urban renewal potential because it is difficult to measure. Street view images can show the physical setting of a place for humans to perceive the built environment. Hence, we separately extracted emotional and visual perceptions from street view images to construct a new comprehensive indicator set to assess multi-class urban renewal potentials. To establish the assessment model, we applied a backpropagation neural network based on the presence and background learning (PBL-BPNN). The renewal potential assessment based on the proposed indicator set can reach the highest accuracy. Emotional perceptions contribute more to assessing renewal potential than visual perceptions because they are more consistent in portraying the blighted built environment. Emotionally, the ratings of safety, boring, depression, and lively are stable in the blighted built environment. Visually, greenness and imageability often remain at lower values, highlighting the importance of greenspace and urban furniture in determining urban renewal. Furthermore, multi-class renewal potentials can be used for scenario analysis by assuming different renewal intentions. The results can support governments and planners in making efficient urban renewal decisions.

Adaptive Estimation and Detection of Filament Width Deviation during 3D Robotic Printing of Construction Materials

3D Concrete Printing (3DCP) is an emerging topic in both industry and research, it helps to save construction time while increasing the complexity of building objects, this advantage allows to print urban furniture of simple shapes from recyclable materials, as well as complex shapes with variable and greater curvature. The 3DCP process is performed by a complex system composed of different parts including robot, pump and materials. The quality of printing can be affected by changes of material behavior and imperfect combination of printing system parameters. Conventional printing tasks require human operator to make decision for the intervention on the printing system when the printing quality deteriorates, which does not meet the requirement for a closed-loop control of the printing quality. In this work, we propose an integrated approach based on Fault Detection and Isolation method for real-time monitoring of printing quality and automatic detection and isolation of a geometric fault that occurs to the printed object during a robotized 3D concrete printing process.

Parkour Fails and Hébertisme: Laughing at the New Man

“Parkour Fails” represent a genre of comedic YouTube videos consisting primarily of compilations of failed stunts by practitioners of the extreme sport of parkour. Parkour originated in the suburbs of Paris and involves creative reappropriation of urban furniture. In mass media, it is usually coded as a defiant challenge to urban norms and a symbol of multicultural France’s growing social mobility. However, it was inspired by Hébertisme, a training system embraced by eugenicists and the Vichy government as a way to cultivate the New Man, an idealized figure incarnating fascist values. While parkour athletes do not endorse fascism, many promote their practice with a rhetoric of decadence and decline, return to nature, and masculine power that echoes Vichy’s New Man ideology. This article explores the extent to which parkour fail videos humorously problematize that rhetoric.

Research Note: Optimising Urban Furniture in External Space of Subway Stations in China

With the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) model developing in urban construction in China, the contradiction between limited space resources outside subway stations and the enormous demands of stakeholders has become more prominent. The present research on urban furniture mainly focused on the underground space system and the development of surrounding industries. Still, there was a lack of in-depth discussion on the external space of subway stations. This research aims to explore the spatio-temporal differences of activities in the external space of the subway station and put forward the corresponding optimising strategies of urban furniture. The external space of Wushan station in Metro Line 3 in Guangzhou was selected as the research area to investigate and analyse human activities and their demands through the PSPL Survey. It was found that there were significant peaks of human flow on weekdays and weekends separately. On weekdays, the peak was mainly concentrated in the morning and evening. At the same time, that was slightly behind, concentrated primarily on the weekend meal times and apparent differences in the routes of human flow, resulting in different stakeholders having demanded seats. Therefore, this paper proposed foldable and modular design strategies. It could provide a reference for optimising public facilities in the same type of space and a research basis for urban space renewal and rail traffic optimisation.

Accessibility in Parks: The Case Study of Afyonkarahisar Prof. Dr. Veysel Eroğlu Park

Bu çalışmada, Afyonkarahisar ilinde bulunan Prof. Dr. Veysel Eroğlu Parkı’nın erişilebilirlik açısından incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Bu kapsamda, park içerisindeki yapısal (girişler, yollar, rampalar, kent mobilyaları, çocuk oyun alanları) ve bitkisel ögeler başta engelli bireyler olmak üzere tüm kullanıcılar açısından erişilebilirlik kavramı doğrultusunda, engellilerin için hazırlanan uluslararası standartlar göz önüne alınarak incelenmiştir. Yerinde yapılan incelemeler sonucunda elde edilen bulgular, alandan çekilen fotoğraflarla desteklenmiştir. Peyzaj mimarlığı açısından bulgular değerlendirildiğinde, parkın her noktasına erişilebilirliğin mümkün olduğu saptanmış olmakla birlikte bazı donatılardan kullanıcıların faydalanmada zorluklar yaşandığı anlaşılmıştır. Bu bağlamda, incelenen parkın engelsiz bir parka dönüşmesi için bazı önerilerde bulunulmuştur.

KAHRAMANMARAŞ ENGELSİZ YAŞAM PARKI’NIN ENGELLİLER İÇİN EVRENSEL STANDARTLAR KILAVUZU KAPSAMINDA DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ

Everyone has the right to act independently in life. This is accepted as one of the most important conditions for accessing opportunities and services in social life. According to a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2011, approximately 15% of the world's population (more than 1 billion people) consists of individuals with disabilities. The universal design approach includes the design of spaces and products that serve all members of society equally. With the acceptance of the concept of universal design, studies for the creation of relevant standards have started. One of these studies is the "Universal Standards for Persons with Disabilities". This study was carried out in order to evaluate the "Engelsiz Yaşam Park" in Kahramanmaraş within the scope of the universal standards guide for persons with disabilities. In this context, the standards under the headings of ramps and stairs, pedestrian ways and sidewalks, parking lots and pedestrian crossings, and open and green areas in the guide and the current situation in the area were evaluated. As a result, it was determined that the current situation in terms of quality and maintenance of ramps and slope conditions, floors, parking lots, urban furniture, and materials used in Engelsiz Yaşam Park does not meet the standards, and recommendations for making the necessary arrangements were made based on the criteria specified in the universal standards guide.

Evaluation of Urban Furniture from the aspect of Landscape Architecture: Case of Sultanahmet Square

Geçmişten günümüze kadar toplumlar tarafından yoğun olarak kullanılan kentsel mekanlar, içerisinde barındırdıkları kentsel donatı elemanları sayesinde insanların bu mekanlarda geçirdikleri zamanlarının daha kaliteli olmasını sağlayarak kentsel yaşam kalitesinin artırılmasına katkı sağlamaktadırlar. Bu kentsel donatı elemanları, bulundukları alanla bütünleşen, insanların yaşam koşullarını kolaylaştırarak toplumun ihtiyaçlarına cevap veren, alanı canlandıran, bulunduğu bölgeyi iyileştiren özellikte olmalıdır. 
 Bu bağlamda araştırmanın ana amacı kentsel donatı elemanlarının peyzaj mimarlığı açısından değerlendirilmesidir. Bu amaçla tarihi ve kültürel özelliklerinden dolayı yoğun kullanıma maruz kalan Sultanahmet Meydanı çalışma alanı olarak seçilmiştir. Çalışmada ilk olarak; kent yerleşimleri, kentsel donatı elemanlarının işlevleri, kentsel donatı elemanlarının barındırması gereken özellikleri ile ilgili literatür araştırması yapılmıştır. İkinci olarak; çalışma alanı gezilerek donatı elemanlarının yeterliliği konusunda gözlem yapılmış, çalışma alanında bulunan donatı elemanlarının fotoğrafları çekilmiş ve donatı elemanlarının antropometrik açıdan değerlendirilmesi için ölçüleri alınmıştır. Son olarak da alanda mevcut bulunan kentsel donatı elemanları yapılan araştırmalar doğrultusunda, peyzaj mimarlığı meslek disiplini açısından incelenmiş ve oluşturulan kentsel mekânların işlevsel ve estetik açıdan daha kullanışlı olması için öneriler getirilmiştir.

Material, Functional, and Aesthetic Solutions for Urban Furniture in Public Spaces

Urban furniture is a wide collection of objects of different sizes and geometries, performing different functions in the city. The paper describes the history and contemporary development trends of urban furniture. It analyses the construction materials most often used in their production, as well as functional and aesthetic solutions. A questionnaire survey, exploring the issue of urban furniture from the view point of the student population, was statistically analysed. It showed the preferences and expectations of current and future users of urban furniture, which can be helpful in achieving harmony between the creation of a positive image of the city and the comfort of public spaces for its residents. In the study of the preferences of urban furniture users, contingency tables were used for questions with a possible single answer. The results of questions with possible multiple answers were illustrated using Venn diagrams or equivalent UpSetR charts.

The Pattern of Public Space on Barrang Lompo Island as High-Dense Environment in Makassar-Indonesia

One of the problems in dense environments such as Barrang Lompo Island is the lack of public space that islanders use for various activities. Due to the lack of public space, they use the space around them as a gathering place. The purpose of this study is to know the pattern of public space in Barrang Lompo Island and the factors that shape this pattern. The island is located at Makassar in Indonesia and is one of the islands in the Spermonde archipelago group. It has an area of 0.49 km² and 4,793 inhabitants, of which 2,442 are male and 2,351 are female. To answer the research questions, qualitative research methods are used by observing the activities of the islanders in public spaces. The result of the research is that the public spaces on Barrang Lompo Island are scattered around the house, such as in the street, aisle, street corner, courtyard, under the houses on stilts (Siring), courtyard, square, around the cemetery, seashore and pier. The bale bale is the most important urban furniture as a meeting place in the public space. The proximity of houses to each other, the gatherings known as Tudang Sipulung and the dense environment are factors in the pattern of public space. This study provides benefits to local authorities in Barrang Lompo Island as a guide for public space planning. For example, comfortable bale bales or benches should be placed as gathering places in many places, especially along the street, so that the local wisdom of gathering can be maintained.

KENTSEL AÇIK YEŞİL ALANLARIN ENGELLİLER İÇİN EVRENSEL STANDARTLAR KILAVUZU KAPSAMINDA DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ: KAHRAMANMARAŞ ENGELLİLER SEVGİ PARKI ÖRNEĞİ

Engelli bireylerin tüm kent sakinleri gibi kentsel açık yeşil alanlardan yararlanma ve bu alanlarda özgürce hareket etme haklarına sahip olmasına rağmen ulaşım ve fiziksel çevrede yaşanan sorunlar bu durumu zorlaştırmaktadır. Dünya nüfusunun yaklaşık %15’i (1 milyardan fazla insan) engelli bireylerden oluşmaktayken Türkiye’de ise kayıtlı 2.511.950 engelli bireyin bulunduğu belirtilmektedir. Engelli bireylerin tüm insan hak ve özgürlüklerinden tam ve eşit şekilde yararlanmalarını sağlamak amacıyla yapılan çalışmalar sonucunda evrensel tasarım yaklaşımı ortaya çıkmıştır. Evrensel tasarım kavramının kabul görmesi ile birlikte konu ilgili standartların oluşturulması çalışmaları kapsamında “Engelliler için Evrensel Standartlar Kılavuzu” oluşturulmuştur. Bu çalışma Kahramanmaraş’ta bulunan “Engelliler Sevgi Parkı”nın engelliler için evrensel standartlar kılavuzu kapsamında değerlendirilmesi amacıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Bu doğrultuda kılavuzdaki; yaya yolları ve kaldırımlar, rampalar ve merdivenler, yaya geçitleri ve otoparklar, açık ve yeşil alanlar başlıkları kapsamındaki standartlar ile alandaki mevcut durum karşılaştırılarak değerlendirilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, Engelliler Sevgi Parkı’ndaki mevcut durumun döşemeler, rampalar ve eğim durumları, kent mobilyaları, otoparklar ve kullanılan malzemelerin kalite ve bakımı açısından standartlara uygun olmadığı belirlenmiş ve evrensel standartlar kılavuzunda belirtilen ölçütler esas alınarak gerekli düzenlemelerin yapılması için öneriler geliştirilmiştir.

6.O. Workshop: Urban design interventions for fostering mental health and mental health literacy

Abstract With roughly half of the global population living in cities and an expected rise up to 85 % by 2050, urban environments are central to public health. Yet, they are often perceived as health risk factors due to e.g., noise, pollution, crowding, and anonymity. Indeed, mental disorders show higher incidence in urban contexts compared to rural areas, generally increasing, e.g., due to the Covid19-pandemic as well as to climate change. However, we argue that there is also a rich potential of urban environments to act as resource for mental health and to address mental health issues in the public space. Design interventions such as urban furniture, art and information elements can act as perceived affordances, signifiers and situative stimuli to influence health behaviour, social discourse and individual mindsets regarding mental health. Furthermore, by considering their unique potentials and resources during the design process, the specific surroundings of these interventions can become an integral part of the actual design. As a result, this might change citizens’ perspective on the urban setting as such. While there exists a large body of literature as well as case studies focusing on physical health promotion by urban design interventions, evidence regarding its mental correlate is still scarce. This workshop aims at collecting and elaborating on features in the urban space as potential resources to foster mental health as well as mental health literacy. To that aim, first, three seven-minutes-presentations introduce different disciplinary perspectives on the topic: Starting from a psychological point of view, the relationship between urban environments and mental health will be outlined. Based on insights from human geography, social determinants of urban settings will be elaborated and participatory approaches will be presented as a crucial method for designing effective intervention. Synthesizing these insights, the role of design to influence health behaviour will be discussed and afterwards illustrated using the example of a trail-based design concept as the backdrop for the interactive part. In the second part of this session, first, co-creation methods (such as mindmapping and brainwriting) will be applied together with participants to brainstorm relevant categories, features and potentials of the urban space to foster mental health and mental health literacy. Participants will then be asked to contribute their expertise from their specific field of work particularly with regards to increasing mental health literacy in citizens. This exercise will be highly valuable for participants to acquire interdisciplinary knowledge regarding the influence of urban design interventions and mental health and broaden their perspective and knowledge regarding urban mental health and the built environment. Learnings and variations of this exercise could be also applicable in other settings such as rural communities or semi-public spaces. Key messages • This workshop aims at understanding how features of the urban space can be utilised to foster mental health and mental health literacy. • By co-creatively sharing and elaborating on insights from various disciplines, participants broaden their horizons regarding the interrelations between the urban built environment and mental health.

Developing an Evidence-Based Framework of Universal Design in the Context of Sustainable Urban Planning in Northern Nicosia

Sustainable urbanism involves a wide range of issues, starting with the building unit and leading up to the city scale under the discourse of sustainability, including the four main dimensions of environmental, economic, cultural, and social. Universal design (UD) can be suggested as one of the significant catalyzers of urban design parameters, which are among the basic elements of social sustainability. UD is significant in terms of providing solutions that meet the common needs of all individuals in built environments. There is a strong relationship between social sustainability and UD. Thus, adopting the concept of UD in the planning of urban spaces is crucial. Within this framework, via the relevant theoretical evaluation, a conceptual framework is constructed in order to explain universal design as a concept within the context of urban design parameters and social sustainability. Alongside discussing universal design as a term, urban design parameters and social sustainability are also discussed in order to explain the development of the theoretical model. Later, in the methodology section of the study, northern Nicosia has been chosen as the study area. A qualitative evaluation regarding the seven dimensions of universal design and a quantitative assessment based on the TSI standards, prepared including European directives/regulations, were applied to the chosen nine urban space items on the avenue. Based on the findings at Şht. Kemal Ünal Avenue, it can be concluded that urban spaces in northern Nicosia do not achieve a convenient environment for all individuals to the greatest extent possible. Further, in the discussion section of the study, several suggestions are presented for the improvement of streets, taking into account UD principles. These suggestions refer to the stops, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, urban furniture, and equipment on the avenue. In sum, it is expected that the qualitative and quantitative analyses undertaken and the literature review, including a theoretical model, will contribute to the existing knowledge on the terminology of universal design in the context of social sustainability.

Evaluation of Urban Seating Element Designs in the Context of Pandemic Conditions: Example of Urban Furniture Design Competitions

İnsanlık tarihindeki birçok salgın, yetersiz kentsel sanitasyon sistemleri ve evsel alanların sıhhi olmayan düzenlemeleri gibi bir dizi nedenden dolayı, insanların diğer canlılarla birlikte yaşama biçimlerini ve kentsel alan kullanımlarını etkilemiştir. Aralık 2019'da ortaya çıkan ve halen devam eden Covid-19 süreci, şehirleri kalıcı olarak etkileyen küresel bir pandemi olarak tarihsel süreci etkilediği gibi bugünümüzü ve geleceğimizi de etkilemektedir. Son iki yılda "yeni normal" olarak belirtilen yaşam düzenine uyum sağlamakta zorlanan kentsel kullanıcıları, salgının ekonomik, sosyal, fiziksel ve psikolojik etkileriyle mekânsal kullanımlarını değiştirmektedir. İnsanların kamusal alan kullanımlarında odak noktası olan kent mobilyaları da bu süreçten etkilenmiştir. Kent mobilyaları kullanımının bir ürünü olan kentsel oturma elemanları da bu süreçte en çok etkilenen ve üzerinde düşünülmesi gereken konulardan biri olmuştur. Çalışmanın kavramsal çerçevesinde kent mobilyası olarak oturma elemanlarına ait bilgiler incelendikten sonra, kentsel oturma elemanlarının tasarım kriterleri ile salgın arasındaki ilişkiden bahsedilecektir. Çalışmada incelenecek olan kentsel oturma elemanları, güncel tasarım süreçleri ve eğilimlerin izlenebildiği proje yarışmalarının bir türü olarak kent mobilyaları tasarım yarışmaları kapsamında seçilmiştir. Bu araştırmanın amacı, yaşanan Covid-19 pandemisinin kamusal alan kullanımındaki kentsel oturma elemanı tasarımları üzerindeki etkisinin literatür kapsamında belirlenmiş olan parametreler üzerinden değerlendirmesinin sunulmasıdır. Bu bağlamda çalışma, pandeminin kent mobilyaları tasarımı üzerindeki etkisinden kamusal alanların kullanımına kadar getirdiği değişikliklere odaklanan birçok araştırmaya da ilham kaynağı olacaktır.

A Case Study of Egirdir Zero Waste Park for Living and Learning

Due to increasing demand on natural and man-made sources in all areas, some of the solid materials (i.e., wood, metal, plastic) have become under pressure for effective recovery and reuse. In this sense, the use of solid waste materials in urban furniture applications has become an important need for environmentally friendly urban space design. A city park, Eğirdir Zero Waste park, has already established from selected recovered solid wastes as urban furniture elements, was evaluated in view of landscape architecture discipline. The park was found to be design in sustainability concept which offer multiple ways for users to interact with it. It looks created urban furniture and playground elements useful and safe not only for children’s but also all other user groups for living and learning concept. The park elements and decorative objects are created by and the combination of, waste wood, retailed railroad tie, old telephone posts, waste tires, metal scraps, old irrigation vessels which not only play a role of partition and guidance, but also can be useful as a background and a beautiful decoration from the aesthetical view point. It is clear advantage to use those materials in park as urban furniture, may confer sustainability identity feelings. All these elements were found to be very helpful to the knowledge, and creates interesting areas for the visitor with supplying special concept on selected solid waste concern. It looks one of the aims of built that park is to keep alive of solid wastes to users.

Explaining the safety of children's parks based on the physical components of the space (case study: parks in region 1 of Mashhad)

Attention to the safety of children and adolescents as an effective stratum of society is inevitable. The stratum which the future of every city and country is in their hands. Nowadays, children in addition to nutrition, clean air and a shelter, need a safe and healthy open space to play and communicate with the environment. Flaws of urban spaces do not allow children to experiment and bring them to digital devices and solitaire games. The result is nothing but the growing individualist kids with a spirit of isolationism, a topic that can be called a threat to the health of the community. The present study is a small step towards recognizing the issues of the sense of security of children in the parks of Mashhad. In this research, the physical characteristics and space design, which include pass way quality indicators, lighting, urban furniture, and ultimately the security of space in parks of region 1 of Mashhad municipality will be analyzed. In this study, the research method is descriptive-analytical and with the understanding of effective physical indices on security through field, documentary and library studies, and comparing the contribution of these indices to other physical indices in similar samples, we explain the importance of these indices. Based on the data the most important physical factors affecting the improvement of security of children’s urban parks are the attention to the lighting index of all parks at nights, and also the reduction of out-of-sight locations and inducing fear in the design of the parks.

Urban socio-environmental vulnerability in Bilbao, Spain: a study through an urban indicator, Geographical Information Systems, and qualitative data analysis

Population trends lean towards urban settings. Its rapid expansion has created inequalities and poverty in urban areas around the world. This research is part of a series of recent publications on Spanish cities (Barcelona and Madrid). The work attempts to evaluate the current situation of urban socio-environmental vulnerability in Bilbao, a city located in the north of Spain. Three spatial scales have been considered: census tract, neighbourhood and district. The 277 census tracts that make up the municipality are analysed through the Synthetic Indicator of Relative Socio-environmental Vulnerability (RSEVuSI). Subsequently, the census tracts identified as vulnerable by the indicator were analysed in depth through a qualitative methodology. Among the main findings, we highlight the spatial distribution patterns of socio-environmental vulnerability in Bilbao. In general, the least vulnerable areas are located near the centre and the Bilbao estuary, while the most vulnerable are located in the peripheral districts (i.e. Otxarkoaga-Txurdinaga and Rekalde). However, some census tracts that present high vulnerability values ​ are located in a central district (i.e. Ibaiondo). In fact, one of the main challenges to be addressed is the gentrification of this area, as many authors argue. The qualitative evaluation reveal that, in general, there is an acceptable level of maintenance and cleaning of public spaces and urban furniture. However, with respect to the urban landscape, there are significant differences between the census tracts with the highest and lowest RSEVuSI values. It should be done more qualitative research so that planning and renewal actions can be implemented where they are really needed.

Smart energy applications and integration of urban furniture into smart systems in cities

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