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Understanding culture in territorial management and its implications for spatial planning
Get PDFPrevious experiences have shown that the implementation of planning policy does not always lead to the originally intended territorial management outcomes. This issueˬis particularly crucial when policy ideas, institutions, models and programmes are transferred into places with different cultural settings without adaptations (Knieling and Othengrafen 2009b; Sanyal 2005). These unexpected consequences in planning practice and management outcomes have brought a significant amount of attention to the importance and roles of culture on shaping decision-making in territorial management process and determining transferability of a policy (Friedmann 2005a, 2005b; de Jong and Mamadouh 2002; Sanyal 2005; Ostrom 2005a; Knieling and Othengrafen 2009b). However, conceptual frameworks that seek to understand the roles of culture and its implications for spatial planning are still rather limited.
This study presents and applies an integrative conceptual framework which is usedÀ¨to explain how culture, planning policy and territorial management outcomes are interrelated, and what the implications are for spatial planning. The framework integrates relevant theories and ideas from anthropology, organisational management and political sciences to understand influences of culture on spatial planning. The integrative framework suggests a way of characterising territorial management in the form of ideal types. This helps simplify cultures regarding territorial management to make them comparable. It enables an analysis of ‘cultures’ that includes a broader scope of culture than existing frameworks that focus primarily on ‘planning cultures’ expressed in forms of planning systems, organisations and instruments. This broader scope includes also the implicit expressions of culture in informal forms, such as ideas, customs and social behaviours shared by involved actors in the management of a given territory.
The framework also offers two analytical perspectives to investigate whether culture is an important element (or context variable) explaining planning practices and territorial management outcomes in different settings. These perspectives are the analysisˬthat assumes a stable state of culture (a synchronic perspective) and the analysis that considers culture as dynamic and interrelating with other context variables (a diachronic perspective). Findings derived from the analysis of the case studies based on these two perspectives help draw theoretical conclusions about how planners may deal with culture in order to improve planning practices.
The study investigates territorial development processes in the context of floodplain management in urbanised delta regions. This specific context is selected because of its strong relations between physical attributes and spatial planning activities. The analysis is carried out based on a comparative approach at two levels. At the cross-national level, the Rhine-Meuse delta region in the Netherlands and the Chaophraya delta region in Thailand are used as case studies. The comparative approach is useful for this study because culture can be best understood in a relative form. The sub- national analysis emphasises comparison of floodplain management in three selected districts in the Chaophraya delta region. The two levels of analysis are carried out in order to understand whether the influences of cultures on planning practices and territorial management outcomes at different scales of development are affected by similar elements. Besides the theoretical contribution, this study also contributes methodologically through development of a common conceptual framework that can be applied to the analysis of various issues in territorial management, which is not limited only to the subject studied here. The framework is also expected to be applicable for the analysis of territorial management in a diverse range of cultural settings.
The findings derived from a synchronic analytical approach validates arguments given by previous studies (such as de Jong and Mamadouh 2002 and Stead et al. 2008) regarding the importance of ‘conformity’ between policy content and local cultures for enhancing achievement of policy implementation and transfer. The findings from a diachronic perspective contribute to understanding of dynamic dimensions of culture as interrelating to other context variables. It reveals that cultures regarding floodplain management can be categorised into two parts — (i) the part that is significantly affected by core values and (ii) the experiential part of culture with close relationships with physical environments. Each dimension of culture regarding floodplain management is sensitive to each part of culture to different degrees. Furthermore, the analysis reveals two fundamental conditions required to promote effective management of collective tasks. They are (i) a unified perception towards shared problems and solutions; and (ii) management that acknowledges local institutions throughout planning process.
In short, the conceptual framework proposed in this study proves to be helpful in gaining a better understanding of culture regarding territorial management and its implications for spatial planning. The findings imply that despite the significant influences of cultural preconditions in shaping planning practices and territorial management outcomes, planners may use spatial intervention mechanisms to ensure that outcomes match initial policy objectives. This could be done through the promotion of caution and cultural sensitivity in policy design, and in selecting appropriate implementation mechanisms to match the local preconditions
Building for a better hospital: Value-adding management & design of healthcare real estate
Get PDFRecent deregulation of laws on hospital real estate in the Netherlands implies that healthcare institutions have more opportunities to make independent accommodation choices, but at the same time have themselves become responsible for the risks associated with the investment. In addition, accommodation costs have become an integral part of the costs of healthcare. This sheds new light on the alignment between the organisation of healthcare and accommodation: care institutions themselves bear the risk of recouping their investment in real estate and high accommodation costs lead to higher rates for healthcare compared to competing institutions.
In this thesis, the ideas and concepts of Corporate Real Estate Management ˬ(CREM) are examined in terms of the contribution they could make to the processˬof accommodation decision by using recent cases in Dutch hospitals. CREM can be defined as the management of the real estate portfolio of a corporation by aligning the portfolio and services with the needs of the core business in order to obtain maximum added value for the business and an optimal contribution to the overall performance of the organisation. This definition assumes that accommodation can add value to the organisation and contribute to its overall achievement. Elaborating on the added value of real estate in addition to quantifying these added values and making them applicable to hospital real estate management is therefore central to this study. The added values determine the transition between the different phases in the cycle of the initiation, design, construction and occupancy of the accommodation. In addition, the added value of real estate functions as a common language between the disciplines involved in the design and construction of hospital accommodation, such as the healthcare institution, healthcare manager, real estate manager and architect.
In four sub-studies (1) Context, (2) Management, (3) Value and, (4) Design several concepts that contribute to a more informed decision-making on accommodation aligned with the organisation of healthcare are made applicable by elaboratingˬon, and connecting, existing conceptual frameworks. Conceptual models fromˬdifferent disciplines are aligned in order to achieve an integral approach by both organisation and accommodation management. In addition to the conclusions and recommendations of the separate studies (1-4), the final result is a toolbox (PART 5) that can be used to support a decision-making process that results in a better informed real estate strategy. The instruments are tested by an assessment of recently completed hospital construction projects.
The context of hospital real estate
The context in which hospitals have to make long-term decisions on their investment in accommodation is determined by political, demographic, economic, social and technological factors. Hospitals need to determine their position in relation to these environmental factors on the one hand and the interests of their internal and external stakeholders on the other. Context-mapping (Figure 2) is an instrument to analyse these stakeholder interests, the factors relating to the external environment and sector-specific trends and scenarios.
The analysis of the hospital sector shows that recent changes in the political context has led to hospitals having to determine their own strengths and opportunities, thereby also taking responsibility for the risks and threats in recouping their investment in accommodation. The transfer of responsibilities implies that the real estate-related risks are transferred too, which immediately has implications for the financial position of the organisation and the access to loans and venture capital. Organisations must maintain reasonable access to the financial markets at all times in order to be ableÀ¨to invest when necessary. Since the deregulation of investment decisions and the implementation of integrated rates in healthcare, hospitals have become more aware of their competitive position in the healthcare market as well as their position inÀ¨the region. In addition, the influence of various external stakeholders has changed.À¨The decrease of the government’s direct influence on investment decisions andÀ¨the related capacity of healthcare institutions meant an increasing influence ofÀ¨health insurance companies in purchasing healthcare (capacity) and banks in the financing of accommodation investment. Consequences of the changing context of accommodation decisions for hospitals are: a new positioning of the hospital within the community with associated location choices; need for accommodation choices that contribute to labour-saving innovations; need to add value by real estate toÀ¨the organisation and; possibilities for anticipating changes in the organisation of healthcare.
Managing hospital real estate
How hospital real estate can be optimally aligned to organisational objectives is examined by paralleling existing conceptual models of CREM models that controlÀ¨the quality of the organisational processes. The basic conceptual model for this is an abstraction of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model in four steps: (1) stakeholders’ objectives, (2) the organisation’s key issues for success, (3) managing the organisation’s structure and resources; (4) improvement of the primary process. The plan-do-check-act cycle as common ground in quality management is also included in this basic conceptual model.
The meta-model (Figure 3) shows how the parallel management of organisation and accommodation in three sequential steps (context, value and management) results in the design of a process (4) and a building (8) in four steps of alignment between:À¨(A) the outcomes for stakeholders (1) and the perspectives on real estate (5); (B) the organisation’s key issues for success (2) and the added value of real estate (6); (C) managing structure and resources (3) and managing real estate (7);À¨(D) the primary process (4), and the design of the building (8).
In the integrating framework, the steps at the level of the organisation are completed by the steps of the EFQM model. The strategic, financial, functional and physical perspectives on real estate (5) can be positioned parallel to the stakeholders’ objectives (1) that are described in the EFQM-INK model. In this way stakeholder management is part of the organisational management and is translated into real estate perspectives on CREM. The perspectives on real estate are translated into real estate added values (6) as the common language that in all phases of the real estate lifecycle can be assessed. This concept of adding value by real estate is connected to the key issues for success (2) that result from the demands and wishes of society, employees, customers and the organisation’s management at an organisational level. Both the key issues for success and the added values of real estate provide input into the change management process of the organisation (3) and its real estate (7). The organisation’s change management (3) is directed by leadership and is about policy & management of the resources, including human resources and real estate. In this part of the model, different resources for production have to be balanced against each other. This results in a process that has to be implemented in a physical environment.
In this model, the Designing an Accommodation strategy (DAS)-Frame is the basis for real estate change management (7). In an iterative process a match is made between demand and supply, now and in the future, resulting in a building which can support organisational primary processes. Paralleling the management of accommodation with organisational change thus leads logically to a step-by-step plan for the transformation of the accommodation. Both the processes and the building are compared with the stakeholder demands and related perspectives on real estate.
In addition, a five-point scale for all items in the integrating framework is developed for a triple assessment on the stage of development of the organisation andˬits accommodation decisions. This triple assessment of the organisation and accommodation shows where the organisation stands, how real estate is controlled and the pursued level of ambition with a corresponding focus on product, process, system, chain or society.
Adding value through hospital real estate
Value is defined in this study as the valued performance of a product or service that contributes to the achievement of the goals set by the stakeholders. As a consequence, value depends on the (subjective) assessment of the stakeholders. Added values of real estate have to be defined in advance (ex-ante) to pre-set the goals of the stakeholders in order to be able to test them afterwards (ex-post) in the design.
The research into the added values of hospital real estate shows that the conceptˬof adding value through real estate fits the practice of hospitals that have recently designed and constructed a new hospital building. Applying the added values of real estate from the CREM literature to the construction of new hospitals in the Netherlands has resulted in a sector-specific definition of the added values of hospital real estate and a categorisation into three clusters. The first cluster consists of user-values suchˬas the promotion of organisational culture and patient and employee satisfaction.ˬThis cluster is followed by the more tactically oriented production-values such as improving productivity, reducing accommodation costs and the flexibility to adapt the physical environment to new healthcare processes. The third cluster consists of future- values, e.g. the image of the building, sustainability, real estate related risks and the opportunities to use the financial value of real estate for financing primary processes.
In addition to defining the added values of hospital real estate, the value-impact- matrix (Table 3) has been developed that links nine types of added value (Table 2)À¨to the interests and needs of the stakeholders by four perspectives on real estate: strategic, financial, functional and physical. The value-impact-matrix was developed to support the alignment between the organisation’s key issues for success, theÀ¨added values of real estate and stakeholders different perspectives of real estate. This instrument makes it possible to highlight the added values of real estate from different perspectives on real estate (strategic, financial, functional and physical). Table 4 shows an example of possible connections between one of the values — patient satisfaction and healing environment — to four different perspectives.
Hospital real estate design assessment
Only those design decisions that are incorporated into the final design contributeˬto achieving the objectives set, so the translation of accommodation targets intoˬthe architectural design is a crucial step in achieving added value by real estate. In addition to defining these values in advance, applying added value as a framework also requires an assessment to measure these values in the design and use phase. Different analytical drawing techniques used in this part of the research show how the attainment of these values in the architectural design can be tested for different aspects of patient satisfaction. Pre-set values are visualised and different design solutions compared. In particular techniques that come from space syntax provide opportunities to study aspects of user-value in the architectural design drawings. The results are promising, despite the fact that PART 4 of the study is a first exploration of the possibilities of design-assessment. The graphs that can be produced seem to give good insight into the consequences of spatial design, although the analyses are still indicative and as yet unvalidated. More validating research is needed to examine the extent to which the results of the analyses are representative in the physicalˬbuilt environment of hospitals. This is possible by comparing the results of design assessment with measures of user experiences in actual buildings, e.g. by building-in- use studies or so-called Post-Occupancy Evaluations (POE).
Toolbox to support value adding management & design
One of the results of this research is the design of a toolbox that can contribute toˬthe decision-making regarding accommodation for hospitals. This toolbox providesˬa structure for the context, value, design and management of accommodation and is intended as a reference for the alignment between real estate and the organisationˬof healthcare. The instruments can be used independently of each other, but canˬalso be combined. As such, the toolbox provides guidelines for the distribution of responsibilities and tasks between the hospital board, real estate manager, healthcare managers and architects in various phases of occupancy, initiative and design.
Existing frameworks as the starting point
The case studies demonstrate the usefulness of the conceptual models of CREM in matching accommodation for hospitals and the organisation of healthcare. The model for context-mapping provides a starting point for getting a grip on the position of real estate in the dynamic context of hospitals. The arrangement of different conceptual models in the meta-model and the link to the EFQM model as an abstract description of the organisation results in a roadmap in which the accommodation and organisation of healthcare can be coordinated iteratively. While the meta-model at the level of the CEO provides an overview and outline of the considerations to be made, the integrating framework is a comprehensive tool for real estate managers to further elaborate on these various steps. Generic values from the literature are discussed and translated into the sector-specific added value of hospital real estate. In addition, design assessment makes it possible to test various aspects of pre-set values already before the design is actually constructed.
Transdisciplinary approach to accommodation and organisation of healthcare
Another important contribution made by this research to the scientific debate is making the link between existing CREM models and conceptual frameworks from quality management and spatial quality. The toolbox supports decisions on real estate for hospitals in making connections between existing knowledge from different disciplines. The addition to existing frameworks is therefore aimed at connecting the various disciplines, creating a new basis in which every professional such asˬreal estate managers, healthcare managers, medical specialists and the hospital board can contribute to a better balance between accommodation and healthcare.ˬOn a conceptual level common principles from real estate management and the organisation of healthcare are aligned in the meta-model in four steps (context, value, manage, design). On a practical level the added values of real estate are to be regarded as a common language between the different disciplines.
Focus on quality of organisation, accommodation and spatial design
The connection between the disciplines and conceptual models is found by lookingˬat the quality of both the organisation, accommodation management and spatial design. First, quality models are used to conceptualise, characterise and describeˬthe organisation and its processes. In addition, existing models from the CREM literature are positioned relative to each other by using two basic principles of quality management and in this way implicitly looking at the quality of the accommodation parallel to the organisation and its primary processes. How the added value of real estate can be connected to spatial quality is then examined. The classification of added value in user-value, production-value and future-value turns out to be a useful clustering. This opens a window to considering the added value of real estate as the realisation of quality, as perceived by the stakeholders. With this in mind, consciously managing and integrating the added values of real estate with a focus on the quality of the organisation, accommodation and spatial design can be seen as the answer to the main research question of this thesis.
Recommendations
In the dynamic context in which hospitals make real estate investments, theÀ¨hospital board as central stakeholder is responsible for balancing the interests of the different stakeholders; the establishment of accommodation goals; the alignment of accommodation goals to the organisation’s mission and vision; and the assessment of whether all these goals are achieved in the design of the hospital building.
An integrated development of organisational management and real estate management is recommended in order to align accommodation management to the vision, mission and goals of the hospital organisation.
Managing hospital accommodation requires a balanced analysis of the potential added value of real estate. Important values include: user-values such as improving the organisational culture and satisfaction of patients and employees; production-values such as reducing accommodation costs and increasing productivity and use-flexibility; future-values such as reducing real estate risks and increasing financial possibilities, supporting the image of the organisation and sustainability.
Managing hospital accommodation requires careful consideration of the interests, preferences and requirements of all stakeholders and perspectives on strategic choices, financial considerations, user perspective and the physical possibilities of real estate.
Achieving added value from real estate requires the ex-ante formulation of accommodation targets and ex-post assessment of whether these objectives have been met. This assessment of accommodation goals in an architectural design demands pre-construction design research by floor plan analysis in which the values are made visible and measurable and as such part of the design decision process
Between Flexibility and Reliability: Changing Planning Culture in China
Get PDFThe aim of this research is to provide an outline to address questions with regard to the transformation of planning in China that has occurred after the 1980s. The research is using “planning evolution” as the main research skeleton. The starting point is to investigate to what extent Chinese urban planning has developed after the opening up and other reforms under the state-led and market-driven modes of Chinese reformation, and to investigate how the different modes and various actors have influenced urban planning, based on the investigation of the respective political and economic changes within the initial reformation in general, and planning in particular.
In recent years, China has undeniably undergone a dramatic process of urban growth and transformation. Apart from its speed and scope, it is less recognized that these processes are confronting the Chinese planning institutions with new and unexpected demands almost on a daily basis. In reference to the increasing importance of private investments and developments within the Chinese urbanization process, a new balance between public planning and private developments, and between top-down and bottom-up approaches is required to be able to generate both a reliable and responsible framework for long-term urban development and a flexible system of implementation that meets the needs of changing conditions and new demands. Flexibility and reliability become the new demands for planning practice.
Based on the theory of planning culture, planning traditions, concepts, systems and decision-making processes are always related to the cultural context and cultural background of the people and societies involved. Investigating the contemporary urban transformation and urban development processes in China can allow us to outline the new planning culture of contemporary China in relation to its historical roots and traditional characteristics in a long term framework. I argue that the changing role of urban planning is strongly embedded in the political, economic, and social domains and is a part of cultural innovation.
The research opens a general debate on the circumstances of the contemporary Chinese transformation after the 1980s. After introducing the idea of planning culture and elaborating to what extent the idea of planning culture is applied in this research, I argue that the “soft” characteristics of planning emphasized by the idea of planning culture are crucial to understand Chinese planning evolution. The idea of planning culture is applied to build up the theoretical framework needed in order to approach the research subject: the contemporary Chinese transformation, based on a systematic structure.
Overall, this research states the following. 1). The reversal of Chinese policies in 1978 and the opening up of the country to foreign investments and technology were taking up the job that had been left unfinished in 1949. The momentum is regarded as a part of the long-term evolution of Chinese modernization, for which the term of “critical-modernity” is introduced, situating the changes within the broader context of the globalization. It cannot be disconnected from the roots of Chinese history and tradition and as such is an alternative to Western paradigms. 2). The dissection of the specific Chinese historical evolution results in a sequence of layered modes of hybrid development. 3) Situating the political-economic momentum of the 80s in a longer time span and exploring it beyond the political status of the time by making the contextual linkage to the cultural and traditional consensus of Chinese history, it is seen as a “cultural turn” of Chinese society. 4). This study applies the idea of “planning culture”–to compare different periods in one country and to analyze the changes that have taken place with regard to both the planning system and the cultural context; and to approach urban planning transitions from political, social, and economic aspects by investigating the conditions, approaches, and results of current spatial planning in China.
According to the application of the idea of planning culture as a systematic framework, the research comprises three major research themes: the transformation of society, the transformation of the planning system and the implementation of planning in practice.
The Transformation of the Society comprises two parts. The first reviews the philosophical roots of the Chinese norm and value system and the second part introduces the contextual background of the emerged evolution of Chinese modernization. The purpose is on the one hand to anchor the contemporary Chinese transformation within the Chinese context, and on the other hand to argue that the transformation of contemporary China in the 1980s is a new turn that is part of the evolution of modernization.
The Transformation of the Planning System offers the specific information about the transformation that took place in the 1980s, in particular in relation to the reforms initiated by the central government. The focus is in on the re-modification of the urban planning system after 1978; special attention is given to the political structure, planning organization, and plan forms. It is the analysis of the top—down system.
The Implementation of Planning System in Practice zooms further in on the micro-scale of planning evolution by analyzing the planning implementation in practice in one of the fastest growing cities of the country: Shenzhen, located in the Pearl River Delta, which can be regarded as an almost newly constructed city with approximately 300.000 inhabitants in 1980 and reaching 10.47 million in 2011. During a relatively short period of development the degree of acceleration and the scope of an entirely unexpected growth forced local planning authorities to constantly readapt to changing conditions and new demands. In this framework, different planning documents and the process of decision-making are analyzed, with special attention to the coordination and fine-tuning between planning intervention and planning implementation.
These three clusters of research themes serve to answer a series of research questions respectively. The main research question is: How does urban planning in contemporary China face the challenges of the emergent urban evolution within the current world society? This research argues that planning strategies have to be developed, on the one hand under the circumstances of inevitably increasing uncertainties in China society generating the flexibility for new and unexpected developments, and on the other hand to confront the unpredictability and uncertainty of initiatives from diverse public and private actors by generating and building up a reliable framework for sustainable long-term developments. Planning embodiment (ideology, aim, system etc.) must be understood and used not only for political-economical interventions but, furthermore, as a spatial agent in order to mediate the changing confrontations of socio— spatial demands embedded in the cultural domain, instead of being used only as a top—down dominating intervention tool.
China enters a critical era of modernity, a society in which to retrieve the socio-spatial meaning for people is a much more powerful force than only focusing on economic success and political stability. This reflection shall be based on the revival of Chinese traditions and values and the re-evaluation of those values in a systematical manner.
However, in comparison with drawing a concrete conclusion, this study’s intention is to inspire reflection, to provoke further debate and to disclose and dissect the context of Chinese planning culture. It is by the same consideration that I found the idea of planning culture a useful and valuable framework to access urban development and planning evolution in non-Occidental countries. The “soft” core of planning culture has the same essential cultural value everywhere, and for countries like China who share the similar hybridity of evolutional history, the processes of industrialization, urbanization, decolonization, Westernization, post-industrialization and globalization are affecting the country not in a linear—subsequent manner, but on different layers simultaneously and sometimes with contradicting demands.
Being embedded in this unique Chinese political—socio—economic environment, urban planning is used by the state as a powerful instrument providing a vision for the country’s future in the transitional process between the rules of both extreme modes of top-down and bottom-up approaches, balanced by involving the governmental and public sectors simultaneously.
I am convinced that the idea of planning culture can trigger a new wave of discourse leading to a completely new insight in and understanding of cultural differences, not only in an abstract sense for Chinese culture but also in general for everybody whose live is strongly influenced by planning decisions and whose daily activities are interactively incorporated in the socio-spatial domain.
 
The Meaning of Activities in the Dwelling and Residential Environment: A Structural Approach in People-Environment Relations
Get PDFThe dwelling is a central setting in people’s everyday life. People use their dwelling and residential environment for a large variety of activities and purposes. The Meaning of Activities in the Dwelling and Residential Environment systematically relates activities, settings and meanings to improve the insight into people-environment relations which is called a meaning structure approach. Over 600 people, living in either a city centre, suburban or rural type of residential environment were asked about their everyday activities and the meanings thereof. The results show that meanings are important for the way in which people use their dwelling and residential environment.
The meaning structure approach allows for a high level of aggregation identifying general meanings of the dwelling, such as a place to be together with family and friends. It also allows for a low level of aggregation, for example, using internet at home has for many people become part of everyday life, providing them with easy access to a wide range of information. This illustrates the usefulness of meaning structures as a tool for investigating people-environment relations
Towards a sustainable Northern European housing stock: Figures, facts and future
Get PDFNever were energy use and security of energy supply as high on the international political agendas as they are now. There seems to be a consensus that energy savings and sustainable energy production must have a high priority. Because the energy use in the residential and non-residential sectors account for a large part of the total energy use, new programs are being developed in order to limit the consumption of energy in these sectors and a lot of attention is put into increasing the energy efficiency of the existing building stock. Towards a Sustainable Northern European Housing Stock is based on a search and inventory of data on the existing Northern-European building stock and related policy developments. In this book, the authors try to give a realistic image of what is really known about the current quality of the building stock, the type of renovation activities that are undertaken and the policies being currently implemented. Recommendations are also made on how to improve the present situation
Synergy in Polycentric Urban Regions: Complementarity, Organising Capacity and Critical Mass
Get PDFIn understanding and explaining the functioning of cities, contemporary urban and regional studies attribute great significance to relationships between cities. This book focuses on relationships between cities in polycentric urban regions (PURs), which are regions containing proximate but distinct cities that are rather similar in size. This book explores whether there are synergies between cities in PURs. In doing so, several widespread assumptions with respect to PURs are questioned. Do cities constituting a PUR increasingly complement each other? Does a PUR provide a similar critical mass for supporting amenities as a monocentric city region? Does a network model of spatial organisation describe the spatial-functional structure of PURs more accurately than a central place model? The author develops theories on synergy in PURs and clarifies related concepts such as complementarity, regional organising capacity and critical mass. Drawing on empirical evidence from PURs in North West Europe, particularly the Randstad, it appears that PURs are often far from being more than the sum of the parts
Cost Effectiveness of Sustainable Housing Investments
Get PDFIn the context of the sustainability of housing, the assessment of interventions in the stock is of primary importance. So, one of the first requirements for a decision support tooi in this field is that it can compare renovation to demolition followed by new construction. In this thesis the model of the Eco-costs/Value Ratio is elaborated for housing in a way that it meets this requirement. The elaboration of this approach connects eco-cost estimating to the traditional economic cost estimating in housing projects. This way, the assessment of the environmental burden of a plan can virtually be executed without extra calculation activities. The model can indicate whether a certain alteration in a building plan, aimed at reducing ecological burden, is cost-effective or not. Application in a case study shows that new construction and renovation need different approaches as to improving their performances in respect of ecological burden
Imagine: Reimagining Housing
No full textArchitects much prefer to design new buildings. It gives a clear style and language, defines a position and contributes to developments in architecture. But today’s reality is that most buildings we will use in the future have already been built. We are required to reimagine them, whether refurbishing them for a better performance or giving them an entirely new duty.
This is the theme Reimagining Housing is targeting: the potentials of refurbishing an existing building not just to better insulate it but also to generate a new idea for the existing house, whether in the sense of retaining its spirit, refreshing it, spicing it up or renovating it completely
Imagine: Rapids
No full textProcesses of construction are related to available technologies of production and assembly. IT has made a deep impact on design possibilities and the control of production logistics, enabling feats such as freeform architecture and increasingly precise elaboration. Alternately, the idea of Rapid Prototyping and Rapid Manufacturing Technology provides the chance to create one-off components and elements for architecture. We now have the opportunity to design and construct without the disadvantages of production resistance and assembly needs - to realise genuine IT-driven architecture
Urbanism on Track: Application of Tracking Technologies in Urbanism
No full textTracking technologies such as GPS, mobile phone tracking, video and RFID monitoring are rapidly becoming part of daily life. Technological progress offers huge possibilities for studying human activity patterns in time and space in new ways. Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) held an international expert meeting in early 2007 to investigate the current and future possibilities and limitations of the application of tracking technologies in urban design and spatial planning. This book is the result of that expert meeting. Urbanism on Track introduces the reader to the basics of tracking research and provides insight into its advantages above other research techniques. But it also shows the bottlenecks in gathering and processing data and applying research results to real-life problems. Urbanism on Track showcases tracking experiments in urban studies, planning and design — from pedestrian navigation in Austria to Danish field tests, from TU Delft's Spatial Metro project to MIT's Real Time Rome and last but not least the Sense of the City project realised in Eindhoven. Urbanism on Track discusses the relevance of tracking for policy making, the possibilities of a new cartography and the implementation of tracking technologies in urban design and planning. This makes Urbanism on Track a unique book, setting the agenda for the structural embedment of research using tracking technologies in urbanism