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Recent Submissions
Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
(AESOP, 2016) Randolph, Rainer
We are publishing here the extended abstracts presented at the IV WPSC. Those which were discussed in the Track Sessions, as well as a considerable number of contributions in Plenary and Special Sessions and Roundtables. Farnak Miraftab´s Opening Keynote “Insurgency, planning and the prospect of a humane urbanism” was published (in portuguese) in ANPUR´s journal Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais (Brazilian Journal of Urban and Regional Studies), v.18, n. 3 (2016), p. 363-377 (http://rbeur.anpur.org.br/rbeur/article/view/5499).
It is our conviction that these texts reflect an important panorama of ideas, thoughts, experiences and practices of the nearly 600 researchers, scientists, students and practioneers who attended the congress in Rio de Janeiro with the aim to have an unique opportunity to discuss the matter of planning with colleagues from all over the world.
As it puts our colleague Carlos Balsas in the conclusions he wrote about his experiences by participating the discussions at the congress: “Attention was directed at the need to look forward to more planning not less, more planning research not less, and more educational opportunities to strengthen urban and regional planning. … Alternative paradigms based on the radical deconstruction of prevailing knowledge sets and philosophies by some of those living in southern and northern hemispheres are making positive strides and can be confidently further developed”
The city and the environment : 2024 AESOP Excellence In Teaching Award
(AESOP, 2024) Román López, Emilia; Hernández Córdoba, Rafael
‘The city and the environment’ is a compulsory urban planning course taught in the 3rd year of the Foundation Degree in Architecture at the School of Architecture of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. It deals with the relationship between the city and its physical-climatic environment through the study, analysis, diagnosis, and proposals at the territorial and urban scale. It is organised based on a practical workshop but considering the need for a concrete and exhaustive knowledge of the basic concepts and relationships established between urban centres and the physical environment in which they are located.
In the first part of the workshop, an approach to the city and its territory will be made at different scales, carrying out different analysis exercises: physical and climatic environment, environmental aspects, landscape, etc., to end with a synthesis and territorial diagnosis to obtain the suitability of the land for certain uses (urban, agricultural-livestock and protection). This part will be supported by an instrumental block, which will help to know the analysis tools used in practice, based on the Geographic Information System (GIS).
In the second part of the workshop, an environmental assessment of a specific urban area will be carried out with the aim of proposing microclimatic improvements, focusing on healthy urban design, in its outdoor public spaces (streets, squares, urban edges, facilities, etc.)
During the workshop classes, a debate will be established between all the working groups, which will constitute the main scenario for the development of the practical work and for its follow-up by the teachers.
Symbolic disputes related to Mauá Harbor regeneration project in Porto Alegre - Brazil
(AESOP, 2016) Misoczky de Oliveira, Clarice; Gregoletto, Debora
Porto Alegre, the southern capital of Brazil, in the recent decades has staged considerable changes in terms of its agenda in urban planning. The city worldwide known as the pioneer experience of the Participatory Budget and host of many editions of the World Social Forum can recently be identified as one of the host cities of the FIFA World Cup 2014. Being a host of a sport mega event, in terms of urban planning polices, represented an opportunity to deepen managerialism, and mainly, to introduce “urban entrepreneurialism” (HARVEY, 1989) and city marketing strategies (KOTLER;HAIDER; REIN, 1994) to transform the city to compete in the Brazilian and Mercosul scenarios. Thereat, eighteen Large Urban Projects (LUPs) were conceived. From those, fourteen were related to urban mobility, two to stadia and two to waterfront regeneration. However, it is important to signalize that from those eighteen LUPs, only twelve were related to the Responsibility Matrix. The other six, including one stadium and the waterfront regenerations projects have arisen with the opportunity of investments that being a world cup host city represents (OLIVEIRA, 2013).
During the process, different kinds of resistances have emerged, and not all LUPs have been implemented or completed so far. At this paper, we are especially interested in bringing to the light the symbolic disputes related to one LUP, the Mauá Harbor regeneration project. The harbor is located at the city center, and used to be host important ephemeral cultural events. The regeneration project is to transform the historical harbor pavilions and its open spaces in a shopping mall and business center. This particular project haven`t been implemented so far, and, at the present moment, is an object of disputes between different strata of the society.
Leisure-time physical activity among adult women in Northern Mexico: relation to neighborhoods, parks provision and social deprivation
(AESOP, 2016) García-Pérez, Hilda; Lara-Valencia, Francisco
It has been widely documented around the world that physical inactivity is a major factor in the increasing risk of non-communicable diseases and premature mortality1. Cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer, and obesity are some of the chronic conditions whose incidence across nations is inversely related to physical activity2. Despite increased awareness in past years, for most developing countries physical activity remains a pressing public health issue.
Particularly, inadequate levels of physical activity have been associated with the epidemic of chronic diseases and obesity affecting Mexicans, but principally women. Epidemiological data show that 10% of cases of breast cancer, 6.2% of coronary hearth diseases, and 7.7 % of type 2 diabetes affecting Mexican women are attributable to a lack of physical activity 3.
Because of the public health benefits of LTPA, international agencies are recommending programs promoting exercise in developing countries, particularly programs targeting women and other at-risk groups4. Authorities in developing countries are responding to these calls by launching ambitious programs to engage people in regular exercise, as well as eliminating barriers to physical activity 5, 6. A case in point is Mexico City’s “Muevete y Metete en Cintura” program that promotes physical activity through education, enhancement of public parks, and the transformation of abandoned city parcels into spaces for community recreation 5.
Planning (beyond) tourism. The case of Barcelona ‘In Common’
(AESOP, 2016) Russo, Antonio Paolo
A coalition of leftfield political groups, civic movements, and grassroots organizations led by social activist Ada Colau has won the Barcelona municipal elections of 2015 and though from a position of minority, is now governing the Catalan capital. Commentators believe that the key issue that determined this success has been the positioning of this coalition in relation to city tourism. Only a few years ago considered a ‘best practice’ in urban regeneration and transformation into an iconic urban tourism capital, prized in 2014 with the title of ‘sustainable tourism capital of the world’, Barcelona has lived in the last two years a veritable revolution in the public perception on tourism, from ‘manna from heaven’ to serious issue which is compromising the quality of life of its citizens. This paper looks into the factors which have determined this shift, from the objective growth of tourism beyond what could be considered a ‘social-economic carrying capacity’ threshold for an urban system, to the more subtle issue of the diversification of the forms of ‘being a tourist’ and their blurring with the quotidian livelihoods of resident populations. It then follow the steps of ‘Barcelona in Common’ candidature and of the negotiation of a programme to redress the balance of tourism in favour of citizens, something which is remarkably removed from mainstream tourism planning and management approaches and goes deeply into the debate on and progressive urbanism: the state of health of cities in the age of mobilities, the reclamation of the right to the city and public goods, and the role of redistributive institutions face to the global pressure of capital.