2015 Definite Space – Fuzzy Responsibility, Prague, 13-16th July
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Publication Open Access I move therefore I can. Translating mobility capitals into planning practice(AESOP, 2015) Vecchio, GiovanniAim of the paper is to understand if the construction of mobility capitals, as shaped by planning actions, could be introduced in planning practice and if it could contribute to the orientation of individual and collective travel behaviours towards more sustainable mobility practices. Mobility capitals, that can be framed as the opportunities in the field of movement which are available to individuals, are introduced as a key concept to associate individual aspirations and their reflection on mobility practices, focusing on how individuals differently appropriate the opportunities of movement. Consequently, the potential significance of mobility capitals for mobility planning is discussed through various examples, referred in particular to the now spreading Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans a planning tool developed at the European level which seem to contribute to the construction of mobility capitals with different styles of mobility governance.Publication Open Access Book of proceedings : Definite Space – Fuzzy Responsibility, 29th Annual AESOP 2015 Congress July 13–16, 2015 | Prague, Czech Republic(AESOP, 2015) Macoun, Milan; Maier, KarelDear members and friends of the AESOP community, Welcome in Prague for the 2015 annual AESOP Congress! In these challenging and troubled times, the unpredictable and contested nature of our shared spaces forces us to develop innovative planning research, in the light of intellectual freedom, democratic enhancement of differences, cooperation, ethics and justice. This requires a deep sense of responsibility, individually as well as collectively, considering our ethical sensitivity, civic engagement and research commitment as parts of a wider social practice. This issue – and the consequential dialectical tension – is at the core of the AESOP Prague Congress; in fact, the gap between sprawled powers and blurred sense of responsibility is the focus of the 2015 Congress debates. According to its intriguing title “Definite space – fuzzy responsibility”, the Prague Congress asks us: who should take responsibility for how cities and regions are being changed? Our community will face this difficult question, with hundreds of papers and presences in Prague. This is a great occasion in order to consider whether anything systematic can be said about how such ethical and political issues arise, hence how they might be understood, and addressed today. The AESOP Prague Congress also provides an opportunity for researchers in planning to think about the implications for their work of the changes in governance and planning which have been both a spur for, and object of, their academic work. In large measure, these derive from a perennial set of ethical issues surrounding research which seeks to inform public policy. There are ethical challenges which are distinctive of the kind of research which at least some planning researchers undertake, in contexts of social tension and/or conflict, sometimes associated with clear oppression and injustice. These circumstances are only more extreme versions of the challenge to any planning scholar, because the definition and use of space is bound up with social justice in the broadest sense, and the way power – and governmental responsibility – is exercised in society. Consequently, one of the purposes of the Congress is to explore ways of thinking about planning which considers the social context of ethical perception and public political behaviour. By doing this, we hope to shift the emphasis of discussion from individual and/or occasional probity to those circumstances that help planners and public officials develop and use sound ethical judgement: in public life, in society, in our cities as well as in our schools. Although the moral landscape within which planning is undertaken is not an easy one to read or traverse, the Conference debate and contributions will certainly identify significant planning issues which can constitute part of an agenda for discussion among researchers and policy-makers. Due to the excellent and terrific work of the Prague Local Organizing Committee, the AESOP Congress 2015 is providing the best environment for all this, and I wish a fruitful and intellectually attractive experience to all the participants! Francesco Lo PiccoloPublication Open Access Processes in the construction of public space: bottom up versus top-down processes : Informal spaces and alternative uses(AESOP, 2015) Trachana, Angelique; Martín Castillejos, Ana M.; Martínez, Josefina FloresHistorically there have always been two different genealogies of public space (Rowe,1981; Sennett,1997 Trachana, 2014). On the one hand there have been spaces created by human societies over time, based on evolution, empirical knowledge, daily life and the real needs of communication and exchange among citizens. These are places full of life that persist over centuries in our cities (De Certeau, 1999). On the other hand, there are instant spaces, planned, designed, and imposed from above. These spaces are governed by a geometric, abstract and symbolic order. They are regulated or regulatory spaces that impose certain patterns of use and behaviour that have prevailed from the Renaissance and Baroque to modern and contemporary times in terms of urbanism. Today the effectiveness and professionalism in urban design that local administrations and economic powers have promoted and always justified by the common good, is being questioned. ı The main issue addressed here is how some practices that are being spread nowadays, can be justified. This paper is a critical review of different urban actions that are taking place in Europe (with special emphasis in the case of Spain) and Latin America, and that are an alternative to the public sector in urban planning. Some of the most common actions are the occupation of empty sites, urban gardens, ephemeral transformations of public space for social and recreational uses, and other practices that generally respond to citizen’s real needs in depressed neighbourhoods and impoverished urban areas. These practices constitute effective responses with little means adapted to the current socio-economic situation that imply austerity in public resources and an optimization in the use of technological tools within easy reach by both, professionals and citizens. They are made possible by the network connectivity resulting in collective actions in the physical space. The new models of performance have not only begun to be supported by the public sector but have been adopted and are actually promoted by them.Publication Open Access The role of visual representations in urban planning(AESOP, 2015) Akinci, BurcuVisual representations in its all-different forms help us to understand our cities, make it available for analysis. They help us to make useful conceptual shortcuts in our understanding in order to have a glimpse of what’s happening in our cities. This research focuses on visuals as representations of cities. These visuals may be a single spatial representation as a map or a sketch, or it may be in form of a visual metaphor (for example Blue Banana, European Bunch of Grapes, London Green Belt, the finger model of Copenhagen etc.) or a complex set of images. Throughout the history, the urban planning discipline has looked at visual representations in various different ways, giving little to no attention on them at all (Jarvis 1994; Neuman 1996, 2000; Faludi 1996; Dühr 2007). Since the notion of planning through debate (Healey, 1992) they are accepted communication tools which shape attention (Forester 1989), therefore shape the discourse (Kunzmann 1996; Healey 1997, 2006; Forester 1999). On the other hand, they are object to treacherous vision (Shields, 1996) which allows manipulations (Pickels 1992; Neuman 1996; recognized that representations may focus on certain parts while inevitably neglecting others (Harvey 1996). Since the visual representations of spaces, like cartographical maps, are not accepted as objective and scientifically informed instruments only, they as well are object to communicative distortions (Dühr, 2007). Thats why it is believed by some theoreticians that it is probably abstain visual representations (Eeten and Roe, 2000) because they can lead to serious conflict (Zonneveld, 2000) through their biased perspective of reality (Crampton, 2001). Despite the recognized consensus-building purpose of representations; growing chaos, complexity and fuzzy reasoning hinders their effective outcomes (Forester, 1999; Healey, 2007; Innes and Booher, 2010; Neuman, 2010). Growing complexity makes planning messier, their outcomes sketchier (Neuman, 2012) and their discourse more abstract. On the other hand, how can we make planning interesting and understandable without using visual representations (Zech, 2013)? Nevertheless, discourse helps finding meaning in complexity and it can create unquestioned knowledge that requires unconventional creative thinking. Visual representations in all its different forms help us to understand the urban complexity.Publication Open Access Planning Coordination Mechanism of Scenic Spots and City Area Contradiction Case Study of Dengfeng, Henan, China(AESOP, 2015) Shao, HuaDengfeng is located in the central of Henan province of China. World Cultural Heritage The Centre of Heaven and Earth, the Songshan Scenic Area and the world famous Shaolin Temple are located in Dengfeng. The rapid development of economy and city expansion brings to the contradiction of scenic spot and city area, culture tourism and Real estate development, high rise building and city style. Therefore, it is reference significant to explore the synergistic mechanisms of scenic spot and city area under the participation of local government, enterprise planners and citizen. In order to exploring the reasons of contradictions between scenic spot and city area, cultural tourism and city development in the process of rapid urbanization of China, it is important to research the synergistic mechanisms of typical case in the micro and macro bilinear logic view in the interception of certain historical span. It is argues that keeping the flexible adaptability of micro system relative to macro system (the national or regional scale) is the key to stable local elements, guide the coordination of scenic spot and city area and inverse configuration. The synergistic mechanisms of scenic spot and city area, which consist by the transition space of basic control line, height zoning and cultural infiltration, could form a bidirectional adjustment path and elements allocation pattern which aims to optimize small unit. city unit development mode leads to the reshape of scenic spot and city blending area, but it also brings with a certain degree of inner closed tend, which deeply influences the formation of new relationship of scenic spot and city area. At last, it reclaims that China should transfer from the macro guide system to micro innovation system when deal with the relationship of scenic spot and city area, to enhance the ability of independent regional development organization and effective allocation of elements.Publication Open Access Urban Landscape Cultivation in Contact With Protected Nature; How to Solve Fuzzy Relations by Design?(AESOP, 2015) Turzová, MáriaThis paper explores the process of cultivation of specific areas within Bratislava urban landscape located in close proximity to protected areas of Little Carpathians included in the Natura 2000 BA project towards Restoration of NATURA 2000 sites in cross-border Bratislava capital region. However, the concept of landscape management of contact zones of urban and natural structures is not reflected in the project and existing policies. Therefore, responsibility for decision making and sustainability of these areas are fuzzy and divided between many actors with conflicting interests, such as residents and vacationers, environmentalists, municipalities, developers and activists. Hence, the emergent need is to cultivate these spaces - to develop their relations into deeper levels of understanding, participation and sharing by visionary planning, innovative design and sensitive management in the complexity. The output of the research is the framework of development measures for sustainable development and cultivation of the urban fringe natural areas developed by author in cooperation with NGOs Daphne and BROZ - the Natura 2000 BA partners. Using field research, analyzing historical and existing characteristics of the sites, by the participation of residents and visitors, and consulting with experts, the concept of landscape plan was developed. Segments of the plan designed in detail respect both the interests of nature and also human requirements - democratic, accessible places with more opportunities for sociability. This paper contributes to the debates on practical examples of managing various interests in specific locations, characterized by fuzzy relations between natural and urban aspects.Publication Open Access Waterfront Space Utilization in Coastal Metropolitans: An Empirical Study Based on Quantitative Analysis(AESOP, 2015) Wang, Sicheng; Tang, Lingling; Kong, Lingyu; Han, JingFor most coastal metropolitans, the waterfront areas provide various valuable resources, However, reasonable arrangement and utilization of different resources, scientific distribution of diverse functions and efficient management of various urban elements with the limited space are major difficulties for urban planners. This study chooses 14 famous coastal cities over the world as the research objects, to conduct a quantitative analysis. Researchers have demarcated a 10-km2 waterfront area (10-kilometer-long coast, 1-kilometer-wide outspread urban space) in each case city with a screenshot software based on Google Earth, then marked different components on the map with different colours, and calculated the ratios of buildings and lands with different functions. Moreover, this study has elaborately analysed the qualities, functions and heights of buildings through the open-source plat form Open street map and Geographic Information System, for answering three questions: (1)the proportions and percentages of various types of lands; (2) the types, forms and heights of constructions and buildings; (3)the organization of road net system. 'The result of the study has concluded key elements of coastal-waterfront space planning, utilization and management.Publication Open Access Geo-ICT services in spatial planning: defining a contextual framework for operationalising public land policy(AESOP, 2015) Elisei, Pietro; Cînța, Wendy Laura; Cocheci, Radu-MateiFragmented, inefficient institutional arrangements, layered on top of the weak reliability of statistical information across both the developed and developing world, and the subsequent low degree of awareness concerning the management of public property / public land rule out the effectiveness of traditional planning instruments. To what extent may a Planning System incorporate geo-ICT (geographic Information Communication Technology) services to the mutual benefit of the planning profession, communities and policy-makers in their attempt to optimize the development processes? An open and responsive government seems more likely to encourage an aggregated view of new planning models rather than obstructing them, subsequently propelling effective public service delivery. The contemporary ICT era triggers the need for master planning as a dynamic collaborative process / output, allowing on the integration of end-user requirements through means of a crowdsourced inflow of data, having thus modelled the pre-existing regulatory planning framework. Through this paper, we aim to define a possible framework for connecting ICT models with normative and strategic planning processes at local level, starting from a comparison between different EU planning systems and how geo-data can be used in both facilitating the implementation of planning regulations and building local governance capacity. Addressing the challenges and inconsistencies of spatial planning norms in relation to the real-time developments / evolutionary trends, by mapping the gaps between different planning levels, may pave the way for geo-ICT services as innovative binder between the co-dependencies generated at various planning scales.Publication Open Access Flood recovery in the social media era.an assessment of social network information in building social flood resilience(AESOP, 2015) Esposito, Angela; Piccolo, Giustino EmilioIn the face of the social technological revolution the sharing of information has led cities evolving towards always more complex systems. Social media have indeed a strong capacity of connecting people, and several urban self-organized initiatives have been emerging from virtual communities impacting on urban activities organisation. By enhancing communication opportunities, social media could be taken into account to improve urban planning decision making processes, and so they can also play a significant role in flood risk management. In dealing with urban flooding it is important to know how quickly and efficiently a city can recover from a flood event. Before the event, social media can help increasing awareness by enabling wider risk communication. During and after the calamity, creating easily accessible information sharing platforms, social media are able to increase the disaster recovery capacity of the affected urban system, as a sort of social recovery rate. Many sets of indicators have been proposed in the literature analysing the social perspective of flood vulnerability and urban resilience. Nevertheless, in these it is not easy to include the impact of using social media coping with floods. In June 2013 during the flood of the river Elbe, citizens of Dresden (Germany) created a spontaneous Facebook network to require offer aids and assistance. Building on the experience, we propose a methodological approach aiming at evaluating how the use of social media can affect social flood resilience, and in this way assessing the effectively social function of the media.Publication Open Access Technology, information and actors: making smart cities sustainable: exploring attitudes of South Korea’s smart city practitioners using Q methodology(AESOP, 2015) Kim, Joon SikWith regard to the applications of intelligent technologies in urban development, the concept of smart cities has spread widely and been applied to many empirical projects around the globe. In recent years, smart cities have employed the notions of the sustainable urban development with a great concern on global climate change. Although the current smart sustainable city model has particularly emphasised on energy optimisation and low-carbon management, the sustainability strategy of smart cities should go beyond the technological aspects of intelligent solutions. In order to address this emerging issue, planners have faced the complex challenge of how to develop smart cities in a wider sustainability context considering the city’s economic dynamics, social di complexity. This research draws attention to perspectives and attitudes of the practitioners in association with sustainable strategies in the development process of smart cities, and Q methodology has been used for this purpose. To define the wider range of issues under study, the research explores lessons-learnt from the context of long-standing debates around collaborative planning practice towards sustainable urban development. Relevant stakeholders for Q analysis have been identified using author’s earlier contacts and snowball-sampling technique. The research aims to demonstrate an overview of the subjective perspectives and attitudes on sustainability in the smart city development, especially from the standing point of the observed practitioners. The results may show how the smart city practitioners interact with very controversial and complex issues on environmentally-sustainable development in South Korea and around the world.Publication Open Access Eco-intelligent Technology Integrated Planning—Application of ZZAEPZ General Planning(AESOP, 2015) Xiaoming, Kuang; Xueyuan, Deng; Lu, WangSince Ecological City was clearly put forward by UNESCO in the “Man and the Biosphere” plan in 1971, the thought of harmonious development of man and environment has gradually won support among the people. The countries of the world are carrying out Ecological City planning and construction practice one after another. However, “Ecology” was defined as minimum damage to nature (Register, 1982) in the 20 and to the urban metabolism The theory of urban metabolism turns from the ecological-system perspective to research perspective centering on human activities. The theory of urban metabolism researches urban social economic activities, and the flow of material and energy in the regional and global biogeochemical process. The century, which was far from enough for the future development of city. An ecological city in the future will not be the enemy of the nature, instead it should be blessed by the nature and become the doctor and friend of the destroyed nature. The ecological city in the future is a positive ecological city, which is not to consume the ecology but to supply the ecology. In the city level, it includes such concepts as increasing green area, cold islands, capacity and water purification (Wu Zhiqiang, 2004). The positive ecological city is supported by green and ecological technology.Publication Open Access Environmental Friendly Planning Practices Implemented in China's Ultra High-Rise Structures Planning & Implemental Process of 606meters" Wuhan Greenland Centre, China(AESOP, 2015) Pei Tak, Seak; Nan Kai, XiaWith China's fast economic development in the past decade, China now has more than 350 over 200 meters high-rise buildings and seven of them are in the present highest skyscrapers. Ultra high-rise building projects plays an important role in economic growth of China as the urban area development space is becoming more limited and also other resources. Ultra-high-rise buildings are the substantial and spiritual symbol for the region which can push forward development of different areas. Therefore, with the development of information technologies used in fields in urban planning, architectural design and property management, problems like safety, cost, energy saving, and optimization of the structure have been continually thrown out and focused by world's leading experts. Wuhan Greenland Center (606 meters height), the 2nd tallest structure in China and 4th in the world. The 300,000 m2 urban complex consists of cultural spots, residential apartment, hotel, offices, shopping center and tertiary sectors like finance, creative studio, etc. The project aims to generate a new city sub-centre as well as the revitalization of this area. And being a key participant in the Wuhan Greenland Center project, this article will share details during the pre-stages of decision making, site selection, environmental evaluation and social economic effects, functional compound, etc. By the means of modern information technologies and cutting-edge tools, which benefits in settle the public needs and shorten the processing period.Publication Open Access Qualitative GIS and social justice in the urban management(AESOP, 2015) Giannola, ElenaMulticulturalism and multi-ethnicity are increasingly transforming European cities: in this complexity, making right policies to guarantee the social justice and the quality of life is really difficult. More generally it’s an ethical problem. Society isn.t uniform, and to safeguard the multiple giving all the citizens (women, children, strangers, young or old people) the same rights, we must change the way of making knowledge. Planners should adopt mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) to analyse the urban context, and also representations should include all points of view, through new mapping systems. Traditional maps could be integrated with new typologies of drawings, like mental maps or similar, to be more inclusive and more representative of the reality. ICT and digital mapping systems like Geographical Information Systems (GIS) can represent a valid support for this new geographical vision: for example, touch screen devices could be used in the participatory processes to draw collective digital maps, as an interactive document for the local governments and for planners. The citizens. needs can be expressed with the map’s language, as well as the decisions are drawn on the master plan. International researches about this theme have produced some interesting experiences of qualitative GIS, forced the traditional instrument’s limits, using mixed met multi-level interpretation of spatial context. In this way it’s possible to build image, influencing the spatial perception and the hypothesis of future about the urban and regional development.Publication Open Access Connecting the smart city parts(AESOP, 2015) Hojda, AlexandreSmart City is the sum of the parts that involve technologies, information and actors. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are given great prominence, but are only one of the parties to the smart cities’ development (non-exclusive, nor the most relevant). The information needs to be dynamic, available, with quality and organized, to be better offered and demanded. Finally, the actors, whether government, private or civil society are extremely importance for the realization of smart city. ICTs are essential, but the investment in human capital must occur for the smart city success. Perhaps this is a gap in the literature (and in practice) of smart cities, since, for the actor to act properly, this should be trained and encouraged in the actors relationship, with trust an unpreparedness, ignorance and discouraging of the actors involved can lead to a negative scenario of disinterest, discontinuity and, finally, make every project "smart city" lose its ability to integrate, to act and to contribute. The aim of this study is to analyze the smart cities as the result of the group from different parts: technology, information and actors, because, above all, the latter is often "placed in the background" when talking about smart city.Publication Open Access Permanent public art from the perspective of claims and context(AESOP, 2015) Vlachynska, PetraPermanent public art is one of the layers of the city. In the Czech Republic the practice of public art dramatically changed after1989. All the legislative and institutional support that regulated and ideologically controlled this domain was abolished. New strategies and policy have not yet been established. However, new permanent public art is still installed into the cities. This contribution analyses three phases of the process leading to the new art in the city. Claims, context and art itself are three elements of the whole. They have equal importance. Theoretical understanding of claims, context and art can lead to the precise articulation of future claims, appropriate expectation and better evaluation of benefits. Claims are specific in time and space. Claims, often expressed by the subjects initiating the process of creation, represent mental soil. They are formulated in official strategies (general level) or discussed for the purpose of a specific work. The importance of context developed significantly in the last decades. Context is considered a crucial element in the meaning of public art. Location of important public art, monuments and memorials requires a complex approach and the involvement of artistic professionals, architects and preservationists. Art in public spaces lays on the intersection of different forces: artistic individuality and public interest, sensitivity for actual issues as well as long-term values.Publication Open Access Fall of Traditional Settlements and Countermeasures of Contemporary Planning(AESOP, 2015) Zhang, Ziying; Ou, Jingzhu; Tong, MingOver the past three decades. modernization in China, the traditional settlement precious resources of both culture heritage and tourism have increasingly gained favor of tourism and entertainment. Consequently, the settlements gained profit for its resident while faced with a conflict from three aspects. First, contradiction between the residents. demand for modern and authentic feature continuation; second, contradiction between tourism’s demand and authentic feature continuation; thirdly, the authentic feature have to remain as exactly the core value and sustainable dynamics of this area. Therefore, planning have to consider an approach balancing resource conservation, economic development and living conditions improvement. The paper takes a comprehensive view of the development trend taking the traditional settlements in the Ancient Huizhou Area as an example, trying to build the framework for the traditional settlements preservation that well balances the three aspects mentioned and guide further projects. Framework building is based on careful investigation in which summarizes the central features and typology along with the all the settlements' layout database. Then the settlements are classified by their historical value to differentiate the preservation strategies guaranteeing the optimization. According to that we come up with differentiated planning countermeasures for preservation and optimization of their historical value and practical performance. It is concluded that the traditional settlements are classified to six types which are integrity-remained settlement, partially remained settlement, structural remained settlement, environment-remained settlement, limited authentic buildings remained settlement, decaying settlement. And for each typology specific planning disciplines and strategies are proposed.Publication Open Access The Role of User-Generated Emotion Data and their Optimized Visualization for Planning Decision-Making(AESOP, 2015) Sebastian Bergner, Benjamin; Steffen, DanielWith the rise of wearable technologies in the field of ambulatory assessment and commercial body monitoring products, the human being itself becomes a sensor of its immediate environment. In particular, user-generated vital data allows to draw conclusions from people’s emotions at every time and everywhere. This fact poses the question to what extent this data can be used for planning decision making. For decades, ambulatory assessment methods have been used to identify humans’ emotions linked to distinctive stimuli. The research is mostly done in laboratories under controlled conditions. Knowledge transfer to real world applications is still rare due to many uncontrollable environmental issues. Psychophysiological monitoring, however, shows high potential of transferability to real-world studies. If this user-generated emotion data is to be used for planning decision processes, many challenges have to be met: a) providing valid physiological, geo-referenced data in a real-world environment, b) preparing and processing data for following analyses, c) joining individual and environmental meta data, d) optimizing emerging visualizations and identifying emotional stimuli as basis for planning decision-making. The research at hand confronts these challenges, exemplified by a case study in the field of urban safety and security. It aims at identifying stress eliciting stimuli during an open air event. The methodical approach comprises physiological data collection and analyses, standardized questionnaires of stress experience and event perception, subjective self-assessments and spatial analyses of the surroundings as well as the combination of the results in different GIS-based visualization techniques.Publication Open Access Shanghai Lilong renewal from the perspective of consumer culture(AESOP, 2015) Baoyu, Wang; Guanzeng, ZhangWith the development of social economy, the renewal of traditional lane residential areas in Chinese cities is significantly affected by consumer culture. In the case of Shanghai, Lilong (the local name of lane residential area) renewal has always been combined with tourism and commercial strategies, and has created a new format of urban development since 2000. In this paper, 5 typical Shanghai Lilong areas are selected. To study the characteristics of consumer groups, motivation, behavior, the attraction of street space and cultural elements of these areas, a questionnaire survey is conducted, and the commercial structures of the 5 samples are also analyzed. The paper has discovered that the characteristics of the main consumer groups in Shanghai Lilong are represented by 3 Hs (high education, high income, and high social class) also by lower age, higher percentage of international population and distinct regional features (far higher percentage of native Shanghai people), etc. Through a statistical analysis, 4 representative consumer groups are identified: white-collar workers, college students, foreign tourists and business people, and natives of Shanghai, whose core motivation of consumption is considered to be the construction of social identity and self-identity, reflecting complex values and behavior characteristics. To better cater to its consumer group’s motivations, the Lilong keeps on strengthening the significant characteristics of consumer culture like unique, historic and aesthetic features, as well as the middle to higher consumption tendency and the density of significance. The author argues that the renewal of traditional Lilong has really improved the image of the city and stimulated consumption, but also led to some potential problems, such as the social contradictions, the loss of the authentic culture represented by Lilong, and the superficial trend of cultural connotations in consumption. This research is intended to provide a case study for the renewal of traditional Lilong or lane residential areas in Chinese cities and some reflections on corresponding problems.Publication Open Access From Victims to Sensors: An Overview of PPGIS Applications in Emergency Planning and Management(AESOP, 2015) Chang, Hsiu-Tzu; Chen, I-HsinThe term public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) was born National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA), meaning to bring GIS technology to a local level in order to increase the data access and allow stakeholders to participate in the knowledge building and decision making process. With the growing popularity of personal computers and electronic personal devises, the contribution from public via the internet has also grown significantly based on the appearance of volunteered geography information (VGI). With the lack of immediate authoritative data, it has applied increasingly to emergency response as citizen became the sensors to report the unknown situations at the disaster area. With the growing amount of sensing and new information source, to what extent PPGIS has engaged in the planning process and changed the ways we defined data and knowledge in emergency planning and management is the core inquiry of this research. This paper takes an overview of the development of PPGIS applications in emergency management mostly in the United States, identifying its roles and functions in the four steps of emergency management mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery- in relationship to types of disaster and level of participation. A classification of PPGIS applications in emergency management is established through reviews of existing literatures, professional magazines and websites. This paper will facilitate further understanding of PPGIS, its trend, and identify new possibility in emergency management from the perspective of spatial planning discipline.Publication Open Access Permanent public art from the perspective of claims and context(AESOP, 2015) Vlachynska, PetraPermanent public art is one of the layers of the city. In the Czech Republic the practice of public art dramatically changed after1989. All the legislative and institutional support that regulated and ideologically controlled this domain was abolished. New strategies and policy have not yet been established. However, new permanent public art is still installed into the cities. This contribution analyses three phases of the process leading to the new art in the city. Claims, context and art itself are three elements of the whole. They have equal importance. Theoretical understanding of claims, context and art can lead to the precise articulation of future claims, appropriate expectation and better evaluation of benefits. Claims are specific in time and space. Claims, often expressed by the subjects initiating the process of creation, represent mental soil. They are formulated in official strategies (general level) or discussed for the purpose of a specific work. The importance of context developed significantly in the last decades. Context is considered a crucial element in the meaning of public art. Location of important public art, monuments and memorials requires a complex approach and the involvement of artistic professionals, architects and preservationists. Art in public spaces lays on the intersection of different forces: artistic individuality and public interest, sensitivity for actual issues as well as long-term values. Keywords: permanent public art, claims, context