2022 Space for Species : Redefininig Spatial Justice, Tartu 25 - 29th July

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Book of Proceedings : Space for Species: Redefining Spatial Justice : AESOP Annual Congress, Tartu 25 - 29. 7. 2022.
(AESOP, 2022) AESOP; Jürgenson, Evelin; Leetmaa, Kadri; Pastak, Ingmar; Grišakov, Kristi; Raagmaa, Garri; Tammis, Toomas; Põdra, Kätlin; Muru, Toomas; Metspalu, Pille; Sooväli-Sepping, Helen
Our motivation behind this title is to explore space in terms of all species, the environment in general as well as various territories and habitats, including different kinds of spaces as well, such as cultural spaces, for example. Under this title, we would unite the aspects of legislation and justice, technological solutions and developments, the concept of a smart city, considering the smart city infrastructure as a method for inclusion or exclusion. Although Estonia is small, the country and its landscape and cityscape are very versatile. The low population density has given rise to scattered urbanisation and planning also focuses on scattered areas. The title would enable to find a balance between the track topics that have remained throughout the congresses and new thematic sessions in order to promote interdisciplinarity and enable people from narrower planning research fields to come together to see the big picture, co-operation, the interrelations between areas and how things affect each other.
Open Access
Book of abstracts : Space for Species : Redefining Spatial Justice, AESOP annual congress, Tartu 25 - 29. 7. 2022
(AESOP, 2022) AESOP
Participatory mapping can be used both in transactional person-environment research and as a tool for participatory planning. In the presentation, I will give examples of both usage cases of online public participation GIS (PPGIS) methodology. PPGIS methodology is among the most widely spread, digital, place-based approaches used in real life public participation processes and in the study of transactional person-environment relationship. Maptionnaire is an advanced example of PPGIS methodology that was originally developed in Aalto University and today used in more than 40 countries. To learn in what kind of real life public participation projects the tool was used and to identify the pros and cons of using this methodology, we studied over 200 Maptionnaire cases. The analysis revealed that the studied planning projects varied in geographical scale stretching from nationwide surveys to those concerning single buildings. In terms of the project topics green and blue area planning and management projects together with transportation planning projects comprised over half of the cases. When studying at which phases of the planning project the tool was used, both extremes of the planning process stood out, early initiation and the evaluation phases. To identify the pros and cons of PPGIS approach, we asked whether PPGIS tools can (1) enhance effective arrangements of public participation, (2) reach a broad spectrum of people and 3) produce high quality and versatile knowledge. The results indicated a variety of advantages and disadvantages in using PPGIS methodology in participatory planning practice. By categorizing the pros and cons of using PPGIS in practice, we can enable planners to implement more inclusive and influential participatory planning. Place-based approach is not only fruitful in promoting smart participation but also in transactional person-environment research, where the active role of both persons and the contexts is considered. A wide variety of research themes have been studied, e.g. social sustainability, active living, ecosystem service accessibility, perceived safety and the everyday service networks & mobility patterns related to various lifestyles. Many different user groups have participated the online PPGIS studies including children and young people and the elderly. These studies produce contextually and individually sensitive evidence about the ways urban structural characteristics are associated with human experiences and behavioral patterns. By anchoring research findings to specific contexts and specific planning solutions, these research findings can become an essential part of knowledge informed planning. Planners, however, 59typically rely mostly on the explorative analysis of the PPGIS data. Deeper, diagnostic forms of analysis can potentially be very useful, to explain how urban structural characteristics are linked with human behavior and to predict usage patterns. The search for urban and transportation planning solutions that promote both human wellbeing and planetary health is among the key challenges of today. Place-based research strategy helps achieving a more realistic and context sensitive understanding of the human aspects in planning and helps solving some of the most wicked problems of our era
Open Access
Age Structure, Residential Density and Housing Quality : Using Citizen Hotline Data to Understand Community Conflicts in Shanghai
(AESOP, 2022) Hou, Li; Zhu, Wei; Zhang, Yiyi; Chen, Xin
Community conflicts make communal life complete. From the perspective of urban governance, mitigating neighbourhood conflicts and creating a harmonious society are key duties for administration at the grass roots. As for residents, community conflicts add chaos to everyday life. And sometime, as Crenson (1983) found, they also create community bonds. All of this means that community conflicts play an important role in shaping community life. So, what factors influence the occurrence frequency and content characteristics of community conflicts, and further to say, how they function? This has been a question of great interest to urban managers, community planners and residents. Both in terms of social structure and spatial pattern, urban communities are diverse and heterogeneous, which is becoming more so as urban economic growth and population mobility accelerate. Neighbouring communities may have vastly different spatial characteristics and environmental qualities, housing families with a wide range of occupations, educational backgrounds, and income levels, as well as access to wholly distinct property management. In varied urban communities that carry an increasing number of social affairs, it is crucial to critically examine the patterns of community conflict and governance, contradiction and change. However, the problems that arise between neighbours have not received the academic scrutiny they deserve (Cheshire and Fitzgerald, 2015). To deal with the growing complexity of community governance, the purpose of this research is to explore how community characters affect the intensity and types of neighbourhood conflicts. For instance, what age and social structure of communities tend to have less conflicts? Is there a link between residential density and the frequency of community conflicts? How do community characteristics affect the main types of neighbourhood conflict in different ways? Is the planner's drive to develop a higher-quality, more diversified community space in a high-density setting of social value? Understanding the mechanisms of community conflicts will help us to comprehend cities and move towards Good Governance. Research into the patterns of community conflicts once relied on the analysis of traditional social statistics. For example, basing on self-reported neighbour problems across Brisbane, Australia, Cheshire and Fitzgerald (2015) observed how neighbourhood levels of concentrated disadvantage, residential mobility and population density all increase the chances of residents encountering a combination of nuisance and antisocial or criminal neighbour problems over nuisance problems
Open Access
Characteristics of Tod Guidance System and Enhancement Strategies in China
(AESOP, 2022) Ye, Dan
As urbanization progresses, the rapid growth of urban population size and the surge in demand for land will lead to continuous urban development and spatial expansion. In the last century, the motor-oriented development model adopted by many cities in Western developed countries has induced a series of urban problems [1, 2], including traffic congestion, air pollution, energy overload consumption, social differentiation and land waste. In this context, the concept of "New Urbanism", which advocates compact, high-density, diverse, mixed and sustainable development, has emerged [3, 4], of which Transit-oriented Development (TOD) is an important component. TOD is a type of urban development that maximizes the amount of residential, commercial, and recreational space within walking distance of public transportation; it emphasizes a close symbiotic nesting relationship between urban form and public transportation, and it is a concept that has been developed by the American architect Peter Calthorpe in his book The American Metropolis of the Future: Ecology-Community-American Dream. The TOD model has been used by many cities around the world [5-8] and has played a crucial role in promoting intensive urban development [9, 10], enhancing urban vitality and transportation synergy [9, 11, 12], and promoting low-carbon travel [1, 10]. Many cities in China are now vigorously developing urban public transportation to improve urban transportation services. It is urgent to explore how to scientifically guide the development of station areas, promote the efficient and high-quality construction of station-integration, improve the spatial quality and human-oriented experience of the city, and thus achieve sustainable urban development. Cities in North America have undergone a transformation from sprawling development to smart and intensive development, in which the TOD model has played a significant role. Therefore, this paper adopts an inductive and case study approach, firstly, to analyze the characteristics of the current TOD guidance system in China, and at the same time, to analyze the experience of North American cities in order to provide a reference for China's practice.
Open Access
An Analysis on the Development Gap Between the North and the South in China Under the New Pattern: Characteristics, Causes and Countermeasures
(AESOP, 2022) Zhang, Xuchen
With the continuous development of China's economy and the entry of socialism with Chinese characteristics into a new era, the main social contradiction in China has been transformed into the contradiction between the growing needs of the people for a better life and the unbalanced and insufficient development. Regional economic disparity is an important manifestation of unbalanced development, a long-standing phenomenon in the process of China's economic development, and also the focus of continuous academic attention. With the continuous promotion of the "western development" and the "rise of central China" strategies, the economy of the western region has grown rapidly. In 2019, the economic growth of the western region will reach 10.17%, the total GDP will account for 20.8% of the country, and the imbalance between the East and the West will gradually decrease. In contrast, in the northern region, the economic development has been slow in recent years, and the GDP growth rate has declined rapidly, while the southern region still maintains a stable development trend. In 2019, the GDP growth in the North was negative, about 11 percentage points lower than that in the south. The regional development pattern at the national level has gradually changed, and the East-West imbalance has gradually shifted to the North-South imbalance, and the gap has gradually widened. The unbalanced development between the north and the South has gradually become a new problem facing China's regional development. So, what are the main aspects of the unbalanced development between the north and the south? What are the factors that cause these imbalances? What can be done to promote the coordinated development of North and South China? These will become the key issues to be discussed in the process of building a regional economic layout with complementary advantages and high-quality development during the "fourteenth five year plan" period. However, for a long time, the academic research has focused on the gap between the East, the middle and the west, including the analysis of the difference characteristics from the overall perspective, the factor perspective, the employee income perspective, and the analysis of the causes and relevant countermeasures from the perspectives of governance, system, economy . However, there are few studies on the unbalanced development of the north and South regions, and most of them are analyzed from a single factor. Therefore, this paper believes that at the key point of the opening year of the "fourteenth five year plan" period, it is necessary to comprehensively sort out the reality of the unbalanced development between the north and the South and analyze the influencing factors of the imbalance, so as to put forward optimization suggestions for narrowing the gap between the north and the South and promoting the coordinated development between the north and the south, in order to provide reference for the strategic decision-making of China's regional coordinated development.
Open Access
The Influence of Moral Knowledge on Urban Villages in Shenzhen, China
(AESOP, 2022) Tan, Diwen; Rocco, Roberto
Chinese moral knowledge, immensely informed by the primitive cosmology and the ethical philosophy of Confucianism, had deeply affected people’s attitudes and way of life. It had been practiced throughout history by framing and ordering social practice on the land, becoming a part of the path of Chinese beauty (Li 1988). However, when China has gone into its fast urban development that is much influenced by the global economy and political movements, these traditional practices face extensive challenges from the dominant western paradigms. The understanding of the traditional knowledge as cultural forces shaping the distinct characteristics of Chinese spaces and urban life (Li 2004) is urgently needed. Chinese urban village is one of the areas where the local traditions confront modernisation. It is a particular phenomenon where the traditional rural villages are gradually surrounded by built-up urban areas in the process of rapid urbanisation (Wang et al., 2009; Pan and Du, 2021). Shenzhen, a metropolitan city in southern China, has more than 1000 urban villages (Du, 2020). The urban village has its essential roles in cities: it offers social opportunities to migrants, including the facilitation of temporary practices that meet their aspirations and needs; it fits into the landscape and generates inclusive social interactions beyond the lineage origins; it also embraces the notion of urban heritage that recognises its existing cultures and accumulated experiences as related to diversity and identity (UNESCO 2019). As the city’s land resources are quickly consumed driven by the market benefits, urban villages as such have become the main target for urban redevelopment. Huaide Village is no exception, and the process is demolished-oriented. Existing studies started to acknowledge the importance of urban villages, but they mainly focused on affordable housing, typologies, and other physical elements. What are the core values of urban villages that make the distinct characteristics of Chinese spaces? How should the values of urban villages be recognised in the transitional time towards sustainable development? This paper explores the concept of moral knowledge and analyses how it influenced the spatial configuration that bears the socio-ecological values in Huaide Village in Shenzhen. The lessons and insights from the tradition provide alternative ways for future urban renewal strategies that engender better citizen engagement.
Open Access
Regional Planning Gamification : A Game-Based Approach for Activating Regional Planning Strategies
(AESOP, 2022) Stiewing, Marvin; Weber, Tobias; Fastner, Lena; Henzel, Maximilian; Rettkowski, Dominik; Berchtold, Martin
While gamification has already been a topic of discussion for years (Scholles, 2005, p.326-333), the reality of planning does look different. In the presented work, issues of the formal regional planning in Germany are depicted in general and specific on the Stuttgart region. Well-known as the key economic region in Baden-Württemberg and southern Germany with global players such as Daimler, Porsche and Bosch in economically performing sectors like engineering, automotive industries and business services, even Stuttgart faces several challenges, which broadly can be subsumed as growth related pain. In the regions characterised by growth pains, actors in regional development, citizens and political decision-makers from various municipalities are confronted with one another in multiple constellations along with their positions and motivations. As an overall spatial planning concept, the regional plan has to take integrated account of the functional interrelations of the region and mediate between competing uses while it is often met with incomprehension, reluctance or even headwind, corresponding with negative consequences for the acceptance and appreciation of the plan. The current procedures, concepts and planning instruments of formal regional planning to ensure sustainable settlement development seem to have reached their limits. They need to be supplemented by persuasive instruments, among others, in order to convincingly convey the concepts in political decision-making processes (Stiewing, Mangels and Grotheer, 2020, p.1) One persuasive, game-based approach for the above-mentioned issues with a focus on mediation, consultation and integration into political decision-making processes has been developed within the framework of a student project by students of the master's program in urban and regional development at the Technische Universität Kaiserslautern and will be presented in this paper. It addresses both citizens and political decision makers of the municipalities at the interface of regional planning and offers a possibility to present regionally relevant but locally rather intangible matters in a comprehensible way in order to stimulate an awareness-raising process. At the same time, this paper shows in which fields of practice the designed card-game can be used.
Open Access
Cinematic Open Spaces of Flanders : Spatial Planning and the Imagination of Flemish Open Space in the Fiction Films Bullhead and Kid
(AESOP, 2022) Staessen, Annelies
Who does not know An Inconvenient Truth (Guggenheim & Gore, 2006)? Most people remember this as the title of a documentary film about global warming. Even people who did not see one image of it, know the film raised international public awareness on the subject. In fact, according to various studies (Butts, 2007; Jacobsen, 2011), awareness of climate change translates into behavioral change and in carbon offsets after watching the documentary. In any case, the film and its narrative concerning climate change and its consequences set things in motion. When coping with the effects of climate change in Flanders (northern region of Belgium), open space is considered to be primordial. In a densely populated and highly urbanized region such as Flanders, open spaces are crucial to retain water in the event of drought or sudden rains, to provide biodiversity and natural resources, raw materials, food production, and more. Although open space is of vital importance, it lacks a strong narrative. The concept or definition of open space remains often as diffuse and fragmented as its appearance in this so-called ‘rurban’ area, the blurred zone of urban and rural. Morphological differentiation with open spaces as the opposite of the city determined traditional planning discourses of the last 45 years (Leinfelder, 2007). However, this dichotomous planning model, urban development versus conservation of open space, has lost its relevance as the Flemish countryside is also characterized by urban sprawl. The building pattern takes 33% of the total land cover and is scattered over the area without concentration in big metropoles, leaving the remaining open spaces fragmented between the built-up plots. For a long time, open space was considered as the unbuilt area or residual space, which remained after all other developments and served as potential ground for agriculture or residential expansion. Similarly, comprehension of open space based on functional frameworks in terms of land use and land cover is equally incomplete and does not fully grasp the complex spatial mix of functions. The basic principle for open space is then the unsealed or non-built condition of land units by any unnatural cover. Consequently and according to this interpretation, open space coincides almost exclusively with nature and/or agriculture, the two major conventional land use categories. The increase of newcomers in land use and the transformation into hybrid ‘rurban’ spaces with mixed and multifunctional uses as urban agriculture, private gardens, horse meadows, etc., abolishes this categorization. (Brandt & Vejre, 2004; Dewaelheyns, Vanempten, Bomans, Verhoeve, & Gulinck, 2014; Wilson, 2007) Moreover, these transformations consolidate the inefficient spatial organization which is accompanied with economic and ecological problems. Prices for farmlands rise as the non-agricultural functions increase in agricultural areas, the cost for construction and maintenance of road and utility infrastructure is seven times more in a dispersed settlement pattern compared to concentrated city centers (VITO, (Vermeiren et al., 2019), traffic jams on these roads as a result of high frequency of daily commuting movements, are only a few examples of economical damage. Furthermore, this spatial organization, with amongst others this high amount of road infrastructure and traffic jams, also generates an ecological impact. Spaces for nature disappear as paved areas provide further development.
Open Access
Air Temperature CFD Simulation of Outdoor Space According to Height Change of Main Building of Apartment Complex
(AESOP, 2022) Song, Hyungi
The fact that abnormal temperatures and urban heat island phenomena are occurring all over the world has been revealed based on many existing studies. One of the causes of these abnormal temperatures and urban heat islands is human-induced urbanization. (Park Sang-wook, 2019) Nowadays, most cities in the world usually have temperatures between 1℃ and 4℃ higher than those in the surrounding rural areas, and the temperature increase in Korea is more than twice as fast as the average temperature in the world. In the past 100 years, global temperatures have risen by 0.74°C, the average temperature in the six major cities of the Republic of Korea has risen by 1.8°C, the precipitation has risen by 11.6m in the last 10 years, and the sea level by 10cm in 40 years Due to the recent realization of climate change, abnormal climates such as heatwaves, droughts, and cold waves are frequent and the damage is intensifying. The damage from the abnormal climate in Korea is concentrated in urban areas where more than 90% of the people live. (Ministry of Environment 2011) The reality is that apartment complexes, which account for a high proportion of residential buildings in urban areas today, are designed and built with quantitative development as priority, so the design to respond to climate change is insufficient. To this end, the thermal environment of the outdoor space of the apartment complex was analyzed by applying various types of design element types to the CFD simulation. Therefore, in this study, by simulating the microclimate environment of an apartment complex, the effect of temperature reduction in the complex according to the change in the height of the main building, a design element of the apartment complex, is to be analyzed in detail by using the CFD simulation program Envi-met.
Open Access
Place Identities of Japanese Social Housing (Danchi):The Role of Urban Design in Creating a “Place”
(AESOP, 2022) Soma, Hanae
In the backdrop of post-war economic growth and rapid urbanisation in Japan (late 1950s to early 1970s), many large-scale developments took place in suburban areas to counteract the critical situation of housing shortages. These social housings, referred to as “danchi,” which were suburban residential community with multi-family apartment blocks became a defining characteristic of the period. For its efficiency, danchi were generally developed into uniform homogenised forms. In reference to Relph's (1976) concept, lacking authentic and individual sense of identities, a typical danchi is more likely to represent placelessness than place. Despite once perceived as an iconic lifestyle of the middle-class, welcoming working-age families, today its context is commonly associated with social issues (Nordin & Nakamura, 2018). Nearly half a century after the peak of developments, many danchi communities are faced with issues of weakened social structure such as, ageing population, depopulation, weakened neighbourhood relationships (Gouda & Okamoto, 2012), and deteriorating or dated physical issues such as, absence of elevators, dated or degraded basic infrastructure (Yoshikawa, 2010).
Open Access
Informal Migrant Settlements Between Irregular Condition and Right to the City : New Challenges for Planning in Cross-Border Euro-Mediterranean Contexts
(AESOP, 2022) Lo Piccolo, Francesco; Todaro, Vincenzo; Siringo, Salvatore
The phenomenon of migratory flows, which has been growing exponentially in Europe for more than two decades and is recently reaching its peak also as an effect of the political and economic instability in North-Africa and the Middle-East, represents a major element of change in the European social framework. Over the last fifty years, many European regions in the Mediterranean area, historically considered areas of origin of international migratory flows, have been transformed into places of reception. Underlying this mobility is the demand, by a variable and globalized economy, for ‘easy’ labour, mostly made up of new immigrants (Ambrosini and Abbatecola, 2004), instrumental to that particular economic system (Berlan, 2008; Keskinen, Norocel and Jorgensen, 2016). Over the last ten years, the most significant percentage changes in Europe’s resident foreign population have been recorded mainly in the Southern regions (especially in Italy, Greece and Spain), where, despite the economic crisis, substantial increases in the number of resident foreign citizens have been recorded (Eurostat, 2021).
Open Access
Mapping the Walk : A Scalable Computer Vision Approach for Generating Sidewalk Network Datasets from Aerial Imagery
(AESOP, 2022) Svetsuk, Andres
After a century of car-oriented urban growth (Walker & Johnson, 2016), cities around the world are implementing policies and plans that aim to make their neighborhoods and streets more walkable and transit oriented. Renewed attention to walkability is driven simultaneously by the impending climate crisis, public health concerns, and a strive for economic competitiveness. With more than a third of all CO2 emissions attributable to the transport sector (EPA, 2021), it has become clear that climate goals will not be reached unless urban populations start driving less and relying more on walking and public transportation (Cervero, 1998; Speck, 2013). From a health perspective, more walkable cities have been found to have lower obesity and inactivity-related conditions, respiratory diseases, and lower overall public health expenditures (Frank & Engelke, 2001; Grasser et al., 2013; Zapata-Diomedi et al., 2019). Economically, walkable and transit-served city environments have also become an important draw for a competitive workforce (Moretti, 2012; Glaeser, 2010) and now command some of the highest-priced real estates in American cities (Leinberger & Lynch, 2014). Despite the growing, multi-pronged importance of pedestrian-oriented city design, the necessary geospatial data for pedestrian infrastructure mapping and modeling remains far behind vehicular infrastructure data. Digital mapping of vehicular road networks expanded rapidly in the 1990s, led by Federal legislation (President Clinton 1994), municipal governments’ investments, as well as private companies such as Navteq and TomTom that operationalized roadway mapping in cities across the world. Assembly and wide-scale dissemination of such data has been instrumental to numerous technologies that use road network data as a key input: mapping and routing applications (e.g., Google Maps, TransitApp), transportation service technologies (e.g. Uber, Amazon Prime), urban transportation models and policies (e.g., metropolitan and urban Travel Demand Models, congestion charging systems in various of cities), as well as mobility data specification standards (e.g., Google’s General Transit Feed Specification, and the City of Los Angeles’ Mobility Data Specification).
Open Access
Places, Pandemic and Multiple Risks: New Emerging Urban Challenges
(AESOP, 2022) Sepe, Marichela
The Covid-19 emergency, although in different manner and measure, is changing habits and use of places and cities at global level. In many cities, public spaces became completely empty for months and new urban landscapes have substituted the previous ones, transforming the private in public (Sepe, 2021). Children and young have interrupted the school in presence to start that by internet; adults started the smart working; elderly begun to meet their sons through the computer. Houses and balconies were used for work and study, allowing people to go inside the private life of everyone. The reopening of public spaces has happened after months of closing, allowing again “live” social interactions, although in respect of the physical distance, confirming the importance for all people of these places (Carmona, 2019; Crappsley, 2017; Gehl, 2010). The new challenges concern facing the presence of multiple risks (Sepe, 2022a), improving health, integration, and liveability of places for more flexible and adaptive uses. Accordingly, to provide a sustainable regeneration meant in its three-fold meaning, it needs to use new methodological approaches, including: the 15-minutes city (Moreno, 2020) that is a city able to offer all its inhabitants everything they need to live, work and have fun to be reached on foot in no more than 15 minutes; the flexible one (CRA, 2019) that is based on tools for architectural and urban planning and design, which are able to allow changes in the course of implementation of those projects; the Soft City (Sim, 2019) that is based on the idea that from the union of density and diversity a more liveable and healthier city can be obtained, as proximity of an environment can be translated into time; the Health-Liveable city (Sepe, 2022b) is a city in which public spaces are considered the main places to enhance and health and liveability issues the first factors to improve; and the smart city (Karvonen et Al., 2019) in which the whole range of technologies are at the service of the place both to improve its liveability and health and ensure its sustainability. Starting from these premises, this study, carried in the framework of the Prin 2020 - Research Projects of National Relevance titled “Sustainable modelling of materials, structures and urban spaces including economic-legal implications” – ISMed-CNR Unit with the author’s responsibility, is aimed at illustrating: a new method of analysis and design of public spaces, the original Healthy Place Design – within the Health-Liveable city approach - (Sepe, 2022b) and an emblematic case study, characterized by both flexibility and accessibility at different level. Conclusion concerning both critical and positive issues of the case study will complete the paper.
Open Access
Culture, Productive Heritage and Spatial Development
(AESOP, 2022) Scaffidi, Federica
Culture is an important driver of innovation for heritage management and spatial development. In recent years, many scholars have analysed this phenomenon to understand the effects on the territory (Dodd, 2020). Culture indeed has a transformative ability to create new flows and growth in the urban space. It positively affects the enhancement of local resources, and promotes social interaction and community spaces (Clark & Wise, 2018). In recent years, much attention has been given to the creative regeneration of marginalised heritage, such as productive heritage (Areces, 2005; Scaffidi, 2021). In Europe there are many cases that have recycled disused heritage through art and culture. At the heart of the debate are innovative communities, where cultural initiatives, art exhibitions, alternative forms of education and cooperation keep heritage alive. These are places often managed by social enterprises that involve citizens and local governments. These innovative social enterprises indeed promote the creative reactivation of neglected assets through cultural activities, services, and community involvement. Numerous studies have shown that these centres are able to create open and inclusive urban spaces (Scaffidi 2021; Schröder, 2018). They foster moments of debate and social interaction (Walker et al. 2004). These cultural enterprises aim to innovate in the art sector with new management models that promote culture, through social innovation practices. Many policies have been developed to support these enterprises to enhance local assets (Cerreta et Al., 2021). They promote a more open governance that includes stakeholders in decision-making processes, which innovates the development of assets culturally, socially, economically and environmentally. The research aims to discuss the importance of innovative cultural centres for the development of cities and the reactivation of underused heritage. Considering this purpose, the research examines specific examples where socio-cultural actions have been the driving force behind the creative regeneration of productive assets and spatial innovation. Today, creativity is an important factor in urban transformation. Culture enhances the innovative capacities of a society and plays a relevant role in spatial reactivation. The socio-cultural dimension is explicitly expressed in some examples of heritage reactivation.
Open Access
Incorporating Smart Technologies for Energy Sufficiency in Built Environment of Developing Countries : An Architect's Perspective
(AESOP, 2022) Sanyal, Debashis
This is a burning problem of present era. The present unplanned and uncontrolled growth of housing cares little about energy conservation aspects. Sometimes even providing minimum energy to all households is not becoming possible by the local authorities. Studies reveal that around 18% of total energy consumption of mankind is in housing sector. It is necessary to consider energy conservation techniques before, during and after construction; as energy can be saved considerably in each stage. Over 80% of the embodied energy in mass housing is the energy required to manufacture the materials. Most of this energy usage is for manufacturing only a small number of the (high-energy) materials used in construction of housing units, principally steel products, cement, concrete products, bricks and ceramic materials. This embodied energy amounts to several times the annual energy consumption of that same housing in use. Energy is used wastefully in heat recovery processes, insulation techniques, and simple orientation concerns. Architectural lighting & space heating/ cooling are also two of the largest and most visible consumers of energy. A properly designed energy efficient housing will have a lower initial cost than one planned disregarding energy consequences. This cost advantage derives mainly from smaller building volume & lower energy demands. . The conventional centralized energy distribution network accounts for high transmission losses (ranging from 9 to 20% at times). In Indian context grid loss sometimes reach upto 35%. The energy consumption in residential structures accounts considerably high than other buildings, also it is a recurring ever cost increasing phenomena. It is very difficult to remain in the city and save energy beyond a certain limit without compromising the present day materialistic lifestyle by the city dweller households.
Open Access
Necessity of Eco-Housing in Developing Countries for Promoting Sustainable Development
(AESOP, 2022) Sanyal, Debashis
With its present growth rate (about 150 persons/ min.), as per UN projections, the world population will be crossing 11.25 billion by the end of the year 2100. As per the projections made, 57% of this population will be urban, out of which 95% contribution will be due to the developing countries. As a result, the population of 24 cities in developing countries will cross the figure of 20 million by the year 2025. Based on the List1 prepared by the UN, 50% of the 34-mega cities are already in developing countries. As per the above projections, it is quite easy to predict future housing needs. Already there is a global shortage of housing for 2 billion people. This shortage will be becoming more and more acute if no immediate actions/measures are taken. This advocates the need for the development of mass housing projects. This shortage will further increase by the advancing years. But what about the tremendous impact on the field of energy usage of these future developmental projects of mass housing? As per International Energy Agency report 2008, Urban areas account for approximately 70%–80% of global energy demands and greenhouse gas emissions, and thus they are a major contributor to global warming. A study of present processes of development with associated energy usage will help architects in designing mass housing with less energy consumption, leading ultimately to the conservation of natural resources and a less polluted urban environment.
Open Access
The Identification of Urban Vitality Center and its Spatial Relationship Based on Multi-Source Big Data in Jinan City, China : Learning from HIC-AL School of grassroots urbanism
(AESOP, 2022) Rong, Liying
With the acceleration of urbanisation in China, most urban spatial structures have changed from "single center" to "multi center"; urban centers are also gradually showing the characteristics of functional compounding. Scholars' research on urban centers has experienced a transformation from geographical centers to functional places providing trade, finance, administration and other services (Christaller, 1933). Since then, the connotation of urban center is no longer limited to the central location of urban geographical structure, but more from the perspective of the functions undertaken by the center itself. In recent years, with the continuous enrichment of the perspective of urban space research, scholars' research on urban space is no longer limited to the dominant elements such as space and function, and begin to emphasise the non-material space in urban research. Sociological content is added to the connotation of urban center, and it is considered that urban center is not only the functional core of the city, but also a material spatial form that condenses the sense of identity of citizens (Shi, Yang,2013,p.86).Taking the temporal and spatial characteristics of residents' behavior as an aspect of describing the urban center, it is believed that the urban center should have a certain use intensity (Zhang, Zhang&Zhou,2017,p.183).For the research on the spatial relationship of urban centers, many scholars took several large cities as examples to analyze the current situation of their urban center system and the influencing factors behind it, and gave the connotation and research framework of the urban center system. However, most of these studies focus on the hierarchical structure or spatial distribution, and use the individual attribute of the center as the research basis for the urban center system (Shi, Yang，2011，p.29; Zhang, 2012,; Wei, Xiu&Wang,2014, p.83). In fact, with the continuous development of information technology, the relationship between the centers is often generated through traffic flow, information flow, capital flow, technology flow, there are also obvious element links between urban centers.
Open Access
Affordable Overnight Lodging in High-Cost, High-Need Coastal Environments
(AESOP, 2022) Riggs, William
Over the past 40 years, one of the strongest dialogues in the West has been the call to protect environmental resources, particularly access to the coastal environment. For example, in the mid-1970s the State of California created the Coastal Commission / Conservancy to protect, restore, and provide public access to California’s world-renowned coastal environment and marine resources. The California Coastal Commission (“CCC”) oversees all coastal development, manages habitat restoration and protection, and governs natural resource use. Coastal areas Section 30213 of the California Coastal Act (Division 20 of the California Public Resources Code) requires the CCC to protect, encourage, and, where feasible, provide for lower cost overnight visitor accommodations (“LCOVA”) along the State’s coast. As a mitigation measure per Section 30213, the CCC typically requires hotel and other development projects to include LCOVA facilities on-site, off-site, or pay an in-lieu fee. Despite such measures, the market has produced few LCOVA facilities along the California coastline. The supply of LCOVA facilities has not kept pace with demand, and as a result, coastal lodging facilities remain unaffordable to many Californians. Section 31104.1, Division 21 of the California Public Resources Code maintains the California State Coastal Conservancy (“SCC”) may, "accept dedication of fee title, easements, development rights, or other interests in lands, including interests required to provide public access to recreation and resources areas in the coastal zone."
Open Access
How Can Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment Tools Improve Urban Wellbeing?
(AESOP, 2022) Revellini, Rosaria
In the contemporary world we are facing four megatrends: population growth, population ageing, international migration and urbanization. All these trends interest both developed countries and developing ones, even if there are some differences and disparities among them. Moreover, they directly affect the sustainable development of nations and consequently have influence on people health and wellbeing. Paying attention on developed countries, and in particular on European (and Italian) cities, urbanization and population ageing are the two main issues to be considered. In fact, here the number of over 65 years old people is growing exponentially and in 2018 it has overpassed the number of under 5 children. In addition, elderly cohort will exceed the 15-24 one by 2050 (UN, 2019a). The number of people living in urban contexts will increase, reaching about 68% of the world population (UN, 2019b). This estimation means that cities and their public spaces have to be the core of the sustainable development to guarantee equity, health and wellbeing to the citizens. In fact, rapid urbanization exacerbates environmental problems, inadequate basic services, urban sprawl, differences in opportunities for people. For this reason, it is necessary to recognize the centrality of people in urban transforming processes by providing equal opportunities for all looking at 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and specifically to the 11th goal Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (UN, 2015). The purpose of this goal is to ensure access to housing and good public spaces and improve a more inclusive urban planning through adequate public transport and social cohesion. According to Fusco Girard (2006, p. 48) «the city that promotes sustainable human development is a city in which the human person, in the relational-community dimension is at the centre with its inalienable rights (health, quality environment, work, culture). It promotes integration from its neighbourhoods which reproduce a network of many micro-communities». Neighbourhood is the “ideal urban dimension” where innovation and public investments are possible. Therefore, this paper focuses on neighbourhood scale to look at health and wellbeing for people in urban contexts. Specifically, it aims to analyse some of the main Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment (NSA) tools to underline whether and how the use of them can improve urban wellbeing recognising in social sustainability the key to do that.
Open Access
Characteristics of Urban Settlements Impacting Migratory Bird Species in India
(AESOP, 2022) Panjwani, Ahefaz
On a broad level, India can be divided into six types of climate (Padmanabhamurthy, 1990) This in conjunction with the country being situated in three of the major global flyways, makes conservation of avian species highly essential. The different climates lead to rich diverse biomes where the migratory birds stop, nest, breed and progess on to their destinations. The grasslands and wetlands throughout the country make effective pitstops for landbirds and water birds alike. With massive urbanisation taking over, these ecological spaces are constantly encroached, leading to a decline in the native and migratory avian species. While there are different initiatives taken by the Indian Government such as the National Action Plan and the Perspective Plan on bird conservation, these are tentative guidelines with no legal binding on urban development. In reality, the National urban planning code (Urban and Regional Development Planning Framework of India) and the urban bye laws are devoid of biodiversity clauses. Optional frameworks such as the Indian Green Building Council guidelines mention incentivisation for preserving nocturnal habitats and native vegetation. The absence of such guidelines in the Urban development norms make native vegetation an easy prey to development and loss of habitat for birds.