Urban Planning Procedures Research Articles

Underground urbanism: Master Plans and Sectorial Plans

The urbanization process leads many urban areas and megacities to be densely built and to overcome their physical and operational limits; in several cases, urban population density is growing faster than their infrastructures. Considering land use constraints, for mitigating some disagreeable living conditions and for creating new population opportunities, city planners have different opportunities involving the two opposite vertical directions: upward, erecting higher buildings or downward, developing a more intense use of the underground space. Both directions are characterized by positive and negative aspects and require suitable local condition to be built.In this paper, main issues related to the urban underground planning procedures are highlighted, taking also in consideration that after some very old visionary approaches, no relevant debates and concrete results have been further developed. Several underground-related technicalities are described and analyzed, mainly at sectorial level (f.i. mass transport systems, infrastructures for energy and water supply, storage facilities) however, experiences of a global urban planning – involving a holistic approach inside a City Master Plan – are still very few (Helsinki). A collection of some best practices is reviewed in this paper. Particular emphasis is devoted to the integrated planning approach and the related tools for the subsurface space assessment: the role of different planning tools for the rational use of the underground space in urban areas is analyzed and a variety of planning levels are discussed, from the more general one – the Master Plan – to the more sectorial ones. Moreover, the more recent visions for future cities – Smart, Resilient, Low-carbon and Post-Carbon Cities – are producing relevant and very useful technical and management solutions and the role of Integrated Mater Plans in this transition is further discussed.

Energy and underground

Driven by urbanization growth, in recent years, the relationships among energy systems and underground space are becoming more and more intense for many reasons: the severe competition in the land use, the security of energy commodities management, the need of huge infrastructures for mass and energy transportation (e.g. pipelines), the safety requirements against seismic events and eventually, economic and environmental considerations.For such reasons, nowadays underground space is becoming an extremely important as an alternative for urban areas expansion, if properly planned. In fact, a correct underground space planning strategy, together with the progressive developments of suitable integrated connections between surface and subsurface can increase the livability of cities and improve public health.Population in urban areas is expected to grow, in particular in developing economies (such as China); this phenomenon leads to an increasing pressure on urban areas to supply the growing energy needs. In fact, several end-use services should be fulfilled to provide indoor comfort in buildings, for mobility of people and goods, etc. Anyway, only a very limited amount of energy can be generated inside urban areas (from municipal solid wastes, from thermal/solar PV and heat pumps installations); as a consequence, the majority of the energy commodities are produced, converted and stored in power plants located far from cities and require huge transport infrastructures.In this paper, the cost/benefit relationship between underground and energy use is explained by reviewing main application of existing underground space utilizations for energy processes (distribution, storage and generation), as well as other innovative opportunities. From the analysis of past experiences analysis, the main conclusion is that a rational approach in urban energy planning procedures, integrating both over- and below-ground space utilizations, could help to raise the quality of energy services and it is fundamental for reaching a smarter and more resilient society. In such a new Underground Urbanism approach, the need for long-term Integrated Master Plans that propose suitable Guidelines is highlighted.

Methodology to calculate the carbon footprint of household land use in the urban planning stage

The growing concerns of climate change require implementing measures to quantify, to monitor and to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Nonetheless, most of the measures available are not easy to define or execute because they rely on current emissions and have a corrective character. To address this issue, a methodology to characterize GHG emissions that allows implementing preventive measures is proposed in this paper. The methodology is related to household urban planning procedures and considers urban infrastructures to characterize GHG emissions and to execute preventive measures based on sustainability design criteria. The methodology has been tested by applying it to a set of medium-sized municipalities with average GHG emissions from 6,822.32 kgCO2eq/year to 5,913.79 kgCO2eq/year for every residential unit. The results indicate that the greatest pollutant source is transport, especially in the issuance of street network design, followed by gas and electricity consumption. The average undevelopable land area required for the complete GHG emissions capture amounts to 3.42m2 of undevelopable land for every m2 of urbanizable land and 9.02m2 of undevelopable land for every m2 of built land.

Urban planning and industry in Spain: A novel methodology for calculating industrial carbon footprints

In this paper we present a methodology for calculating the carbon footprint of the industrial sector during the urban planning stage in order to clearly develop and implement preventive measures. The methodology created focuses on industrial urban planning procedures and takes into account urban infrastructure in the characterization of GHG emissions. It allows for the implementation of preventive measures based on sustainability design criteria. The methodology was derived for specific industrial activity categories and was tested on a group of municipalities in a province south of Madrid, Spain. The results indicate that the average carbon footprint of industrial activities varies between 137.36kgCO2eq/m2e and 607.25kgCO2eq/m2e depending on the activity. Gas and electricity are the most important emissions sources for the most polluting industrial activities (chemical and nonmetal mineral products), while transportation is the most important source for every other activity. Municipalities can have a decisive influence on the industrial carbon footprint because, except for waste management and two industrial activities related to electricity, the majority of reductions can be achieved through urban planning decision variables.

Impact of Inadequate Urban Planning on Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

This study examines the impact of inadequate urban planning on municipal solid waste management (MSWM) in the Niger Delta Region (NDR) of Nigeria. The continuous migration and high concentration of people, administration and industrial activities in the region with little or no implementation of urban planning procedures during the development of the settlements in the region has contributed to increase the problem of MSWM in the NDR. It is not uncommon to see streets, roads, undeveloped plots of land and drains littered with solid waste in most Niger Delta cities, towns and communities. The data for this research were gathered from field surveys, observations, questionnaires as well as desktop information from published materials. Chi-Square statistical method was used in the analysis of the correlation data. The results show that there is a strong relationship between inadequate waste collection and the existence of unplanned settlements in the region. The study also revealed that indiscriminate waste disposal is strongly linked with the existence of unplanned settlements in the NDR of Nigeria. Therefore, the implementation of urban planning procedures and inclusion of waste management during the building and development of cities, towns and villages in the Niger Delta should be taking as a matter of high priority if cities in the region are to be clean and free from wastes and environmental pollution.

Chinese Urban Planning

How should the considerable discrepancy between the concepts of sustainable urban development proclaimed by the Chinese authorities and the reality on the ground be understood? This article examines the urban planning procedures that currently hold sway in China. The building of new cities is based upon a generic method of hyper-productivist and functionalist planning, reflected as a pyramid structure that extends over the whole country and is embodied by urban zoning on a vast scale. This procedure, which has been in force for nearly 30 years, is not at present one that is called into question by Chinese decision-makers, and does not take environmental principles seriously into account. Conversely, all of the reasoning upon which urban development is based remains very far removed from environmental considerations. China is continuing down the road of accelerated development behind the wheel of a growing hyper-functionalist urban machine.

Climate change, urban energy and planning practices: Italian experiences of innovation in land management tools

Climate change and energy saving are challenging the city and the territorial organization. Innovative spatial and urban planning methods and procedures are required, and new approaches and instruments must be elaborated and applied in order to shift from the building scale to the urban and territorial ones. In fact, while energy saving and emission control measures are usually applied to single buildings, plants and technological systems, the urban and territorial scales are not fully considered, although energy consumption and greenhouse gases reduction are connected to the urban form and density, to activities allocation, to mobility, etc., thus involving spatial and land-use planning decisions. It is therefore urgent to overcome the divide between energy and urban planning by elaborating and using new implementation tools. In general, the usual top-down, public-led actions are no longer politically and economically viable, whereas new methods based on public–private partnerships are being progressively adopted. This is a major change, which may set new objectives for planning practices in terms of urban quality, equity, and energy efficiency. This perspective requires redefinition of the usual methods for development rights assignment, and the activation of new planning procedures based on the assessment of actions in terms of performance instead of conformance to pre-defined rules. The expected results regard a more efficient land market and better performing development (or re-development) choices.The article focuses on the Italian case and analyzes the possibility of integrating energy planning with spatial planning, the effectiveness of plan implementation mechanisms, and the prospect of integrate public-led interventions with market tools. Recent innovations in the legislative framework support the inclusion of energy saving and climate change adaptation and mitigation goals in plan implementation procedures.

PREDICTING URBAN TRIP GENERATION USING A FUZZY EXPERT SYSTEM

One of the most important stages in the urban transportation planning procedure is predicting the rate of trips generated by each trac zone. Currently, multiple linear regression models are frequently used as a prediction tool. This method predicts the number of trips produced from, or attracted to each trac zone according to the values of independent variables for that zone. One of the main limitations of this method is its huge dependency on the exact prediction of independent variables in future (horizon of the plan). The other limitation is its many assumptions, which raise challenging questions of its application. The current paper attempts to use fuzzy logic and its capabilities to estimate the trip generation of urban zones. A fuzzy expert system is introduced, which is able to make suitable predictions using uncertain and inexact data. Results of the study on the data for Mashhad (Lon: 59.37 E, Lat: 36.19 N) show that this method can be a good competitor for multiple linear regression method, specially, when there is no exact data for independent variables.

Aree militari dismesse e trasformazioni urbane: l'esperienza di Roma

This paper gives an introduction to the presence of military establishments in contemporary Rome and it describes the main processes by which properties no longer used for military purposes are abandoned and converted for civilian uses. After first describing 1990s conversion projects, the paper focuses on 15 properties which have been at the centre of urban planning projects and procedures since 2010. To conclude, the author comments briefly on the Rome Capital experience and the main difficulties concerning the expectations of citizens with regard to the government intervention and the difficult relationship between the timing of urban planning work and that of private sector investment as well as those concerning consensus building.

Linking territorial foresight and urban planning

PurposeThis article aims to show the opportunity and benefits of linking territorial foresight tools to urban planning procedures. Additionally, it suggests ways to reinforce the scenario design method with more in‐depth analysis, without losing its qualitative nature and communication advantages.Design/methodology/approachThese assumptions are tested in a scenario design exercise that explores the future evolution of the sustainable development paradigm and its implications in the Spanish urban development model.FindingsMajor findings are obtained on the feasibility of a systematic approach that provides anticipatory intelligence about future disruptive events that may affect the natural environment and the socioeconomic fabric of a given territory. In addition, the study confirms that foresight offers interesting opportunities for urban planners, such as anticipating changes, fostering participation and building networks, in contrast to its perception as a mere story‐telling technique that generates oversimplified visions without the backing of rigorous analysis.Research limitations/implicationsIn order to boost the perception of scenario design as an added value instrument for urban planners, three sets of implications – functional, parametric and spatial – are displayed to provide substantial information for policy makers.Originality/valueThe value of the present work lies in the synergy that can be generated between territorial foresight and urban planning, offering a great opportunity for policy makers to use futurists' output as input for urban planners' work.

Geneva, from Car-euphoria to Opening of the Borders: Trajectory and Coordination of Transport and Urban Planning Policy

Over the last two decades, urban planning has been reapplied in several European countries: common tendencies that underline the reform of planning procedures are the generalization of sustainable development and the reorganization of local government. Bringing an additional degree of complexity to planning procedures, the implementation of sustainable development appears to be strongly dependent of an effective and efficient inter-sectorial coordination between urban and transport policies. However, beyond these common evolutions, large differences appear in practice, depending on political cultures, planning traditions, and local contexts. This recent need for coordination, commonly considered a condition for success within urban sustainable development strategies, leads us to question the role of urban planning procedures and its evolution by analysing a specific case study, the cross-border agglomeration of Geneva, Switzerland, and reconstituting its “trajectory” during the last forty decades. The policy paths of the Genevan urban area have been described by considering the evolution of successive master plans, the implemented technical solutions and projects and the different means used in favour of an inter-sectorial coordination. For this analysis, factors of change or inertia in terms of have been identified by focusing on three main variables: ideas, institutions and interests. The case of Geneva illustrates how planning procedures take an integral part in the policymaking process, with these procedures elaborated simultaneously with policies. Torn between the renewal of public policy goals and the outcome of new territories, the reform of urban planning presents several contradictions. Conversely, sustainable development particularly fails to be addressed as a true political issue, limited to a definition of norms or legitimizing local policies.

Environmental impact assessment application in infrastructural projects in Malawi

The current increase in the number of development projects in Malawi is leading to loss of natural resources and the general degradation of the environment. Both the Malawi Environmental Management Act of 1996 and the Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment of 1997, prescribe a list of infrastructural projects that must undergo environmental impact assessment (EIA) before their implementation. This study identifies the key limitations of EIA application to infrastructural projects in Malawi. A desktop study used to gather information in this study involved a review of several documents such as EIA reports, policies and laws, books, journals and internet articles. Primary data was obtained from policymakers, contractors, EIA practitioners and the general public using both structured and unstructured interviews, as well as through questionnaires. Focus group discussions and direct observations were employed wherever necessary in the study. Major limitations to successful EIA in infrastructural projects in Malawi include: (1) limited experience and practice of EIA practitioners; (2) cost of EIA process; (3) limited links between EIA and urban planning procedures; (4) lack of political will; (5) project delays; (6) lack of effective monitoring and auditing, (7) lack of data, especially those to be used in predictive models. This violates the principles of sustainability science and the international best practices for EIA that were developed by the International Association for Impact Assessment. It is recommended that active environmental management should actively involve the interests of all stakeholders, and that follow up of predicted environmental impacts resulting from any project should entail monitoring, auditing and reporting.

A GIS-based human health risk assessment for urban green space planning—An example from Grugliasco (Italy)

The need to develop approaches for risk-based management of soil contamination, as well as the integration of the assessment of the human health risk (HHR) due to the soil contamination in the urban planning procedures has been the subject of recent attention of scientific literature and policy makers. The spatial analysis of environmental data offers multiple advantages for studying soil contamination and HHR assessment, facilitating the decision making process. The aim of this study was to explore the possibilities and benefits of spatial implementation of a quantitative HHR assessment methodology for a planning case in a typical urban environment where the soil is contaminated. The study area is located in the city of Grugliasco a part of the Turin (Italy) metropolitan area. The soils data were derived from a site specific soil survey and the land-use data from secondary sources. In the first step the soil contamination data were geo-statistically analysed and a spatial soil contamination data risk modelling procedure designed. In order to spatially assess the HHR computer routines were developed using GIS raster tools. The risk was evaluated for several different land uses for the planned naturalistic park area. The HHR assessment indicated that the contamination of soils with heavy metals in the area is not sufficient to induce considerable health problems due to typical human behaviour within the variety of urban land uses. An exception is the possibility of direct ingestion of contaminated soil which commonly occurs in playgrounds. The HHR evaluation in a planning case in the Grugliasco Municipality confirms the suitability of the selected planning option. The construction of the naturalistic park presents one solution for reducing the impacts of soil contamination on the health of citizens. The spatial HHR evaluation using GIS techniques is a diagnostic procedure for assessing the impacts of urban soil contamination, with which one can verify planning options, and provides an important step in the integration of human health protection within urban planning procedures.

The Democratic Legitimacy of Urban Planning Procedures: Public Private Partnerships in Turin and Zurich

Many European cities are faced with the task of transforming former industrial zones into new residential and commercial neighbourhoods. Such urban planning processes frequently include both public and private sector actors in decision making. Furthermore, they often give way to controversial public debates about the design and uses of the urban environment as well as the planning procedures. My paper examines democratic legitimacy of decision making in urban planning processes since the 1990s. Its aim is to contribute to the research on governance and democracy at the municipal level. The study consists of a qualitative comparison of two recent conversions of former industrial sites into new urban neighbourhoods in Zurich (Switzerland) and Turin (Italy). The theoretical approaches used in the study derive from fields of urban governance (e.g. Rhodes 1996, Stoker 1998) and democratic legitimisation of decision processes (Scharpf 1999, Sorensen and Torfing 2005, Skelcher 1998). The two cases of so-called public private partnerships show similarities in the decision making processes, notwithstanding different institutional contexts. The phases of planning and construction included citizen participation and deliberative instruments. However, neither the democratic legitimacy of the decision making processes nor of the actors involved was always assured. Consequently, non-classical means of civic political participation (petitions, lobbying) were applied to influence planning decisions, especially where no institutional means for citizen involvement in urban planning such as local referendums were possible. The paper shows that the increase in civic participation and the problems with democratic legitimacy in governance processes are not only typical of this rather common problem in urban policy making; the two phenomena are connected to a more general change in many fields of local policy making which involves the participation of private companies as well as citizens.

Detection of ventilation paths using high-resolution roughness parameter mapping in a large urban area

In this study, an urban roughness mapping method is presented on the example of a large study area in Szeged, Hungary, as an example. With this roughness mapping procedure, the potential ventilation paths of the city can be located. Our calculations of the roughness parameters are based on a 3D building database; however, this new approach using the lot area polygons provides more detailed results than other recent studies. The detected ventilation paths could play a significant role in the development of the urban heat island circulation and result in the reduction of air pollution in the central parts of the city. Based on our results, we can mark out the areas where the city government should keep the advantages of the ventilation paths considering the human comfort aspects of the urban climate, thus providing important input data for urban planning procedures.

Locating Religion in Urban Planning: Beyond ‘Race’ and Ethnicity?

This article aims to expand the scope of existing research on ‘race’, ethnicity and planning by exploring the relationship between planning and religion, drawing on field research in Birmingham into the effects of urban planning procedure on British Muslims. The article moves away from the understanding—implicit in much of the literature on planning and ‘difference’—that religion is simply an epiphenomenon of ethnicity. It achieves this, firstly, by exploring the ways in which Muslims qua Muslims have experienced particular forms of constraint in the context of interactions between religious organizations and the planning system; and secondly, by examining the ways in which Muslims have mobilized religious values and beliefs in (periodically transformative) challenges to planning practice.

Representing the City: Mosques and the Planning Process in Birmingham

There has been very little research into the effects of urban planning policy and practice upon religious groups amongst the South Asian diaspora in Britain. This paper attempts to make up some of this shortfall by examining the role of urban planning procedure in regulating the location, architectural form and use by Muslims of mosques and religious education establishments in Britain. Birmingham, in the West Midlands, provides the empirical focus. The paper has two parts. The first part is historical and traces the modes of interaction between mosque committees in the city and the local planning authority, focusing principally upon the Birmingham Central Mosque. The second part examines the contemporary situation, using quantitative data on planning decisions and the results of semi-structured interviews with members of various mosque committees in Birmingham. Interviewees were asked to evaluate the responses of the City Council to planning applications relating to their places of worship and education.

Morfologia original e morfologia antropogênica na definição de unidades espaciais de planejamento urbano: exemplo na metrópole paulista

This study is an example of application of methodology to approach main interferences in terrestrial surface, proposed by RODRIGUES (1990, 1997, 1999, 2003). That methodology implies among others needs to consider the geomorphological systems in its different stages of disturbances such as pre-disturbance, active disturbance and post-disturbance. It also includes the view in witch man interferences are analyzed as geomorphological actions and should be considered as interferences in forms, materials and processes. It demonstrates how the same type of original landforms in São Paulo Metropolitan area can change into different derivative and anthropogenic landforms and starts with cartographic recognization of original morphologic units moving on to the consideration of the sequence of human interferences in forms and materials. The procedure is presented in two different and complementary scales: first, in big scales, such as 1:25000 and 1: 10000 considering a period of thirty years and further in small scales such as 1: 100000 and 1:250000 considering a period of one hundred years. The tests demonstrate how the different combinations of original and anthropogenic landforms can result in complex urban units and why those units should be taken into account so as to explain the derivative processes and to adopt urban planning procedures.

Planeación metropolitana y política urbana municipal en la Ciudad de México

El objetivo de este artículo es analizar en forma exploratoria la vinculación entre la gestión urbana municipal y la planeación de la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México. Se desarrollan algunas consideraciones introductorias sobre el proceso de institucionalización de la planeación urbana en México; se caracteriza el marco institucional que circunscribe la participación en la planeación metropolitana de las instancias locales de gobierno, y se presentan algunas evidencias ilustrativas del modo en que los procedimientos de la planeación urbana han llegado recientemente a constituirse en un marco de referencia de la política urbana local. A modo de conclusión se plantean algunas reflexiones sobre el impacto de la planeación urbana en las características y efectos de la gestión urbana local.