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A knowledge discovery approach to urban analysis: Beyoglu Preservation Area as a data mine
No full textEnhancing our knowledge of the complexities of cities in order to empower ourselves to make more informed decisions has always been a challenge for urban research. Recent developments in large-scale computing, together with the new techniques and automated tools for data collection and analysis are opening up promising opportunities for addressing this problem. The main motivation that served as the driving force behind this research is how these developments may contribute to urban data analysis. On this basis, the thesis focuses on urban data analysis in order to search for findings that can enhance our knowledge of urban environments, using the generic process of knowledge discovery using data mining. A knowledge discovery process based on data mining is a fully automated or semi-automated process which involves the application of computational tools and techniques to explore the “previously unknown, and potentially useful information” (Witten & Frank, 2005) hidden in large and often complex and multi-dimensional databases. This information can be obtained in the form of correlations amongst variables, data groupings (classes and clusters) or more complex hypotheses (probabilistic rules of co-occurrence, performance vectors of prediction models etc.). This research targets researchers and practitioners working in the field of urban studies who are interested in quantitative/ computational approaches to urban data analysis and specifically aims to engage the interest of architects, urban designers and planners who do not have a background in statistics or in using data mining methods in their work.
Accordingly, the overall aim of the thesis is the development of a knowledge discovery approach to urban analysis; a domain-specific adaptation of the generic process of knowledge discovery using data mining enabling the analyst to discover ‘relational urban knowledge’. ‘Relational urban knowledge’ is a term employed in this thesis to refer to the potentially ‘useful’ and/or ‘valuable’ information patterns and relationships that can be discovered in urban databases by applying data mining algorithms. A knowledge discovery approach to urban analysis through data mining can help us to understand site-specific characteristics of urban environments in a more profound and useful way.
On a more specific level, the thesis aims towards ‘knowledge discovery’ in traditional thematic maps published in 2008 by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality as a basis of the Master Plan for the BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area. These thematic maps, which represent urban components, namely buildings, streets, neighbourhoods and their various attributes such as floor space use of the buildings, land price, population density or historical importance, do not really extend our knowledge of BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area beyond documenting its current state and do not contribute to the interventions presented in the master plan. However it is likely that ‘useful’ and ‘valuable’ information patterns discoverable using data mining algorithms are hidden in them.
In accordance with the stated aims, three research questions of the thesis concerns (1) the development of a general process model to adapt the generic process of knowledge discovery using data mining for urban data analysis, (2) the investigation of information patterns and relationships that can be extracted from the traditional thematic maps of the BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area by further developing and implementing this model and (3) the investigation of how could this ‘relational urban knowledge’ support architects, urban designers or urban planners whilst developing intervention proposals for urban regeneration.
A Knowledge Discovery Process Model (KDPM) for urban analysis was developed, as an answer to the the first research question. The KDPM for urban analysis is a domain-specific adaptation of the widely accepted process of knowledge discovery in databases defined by Fayyad, Piatetsky-Shapiro, and Smyth (1996b). The model describes a semi-automated process of database formulation, analysis and evaluation for extracting information patterns and relationships from raw data by combining both GIS and data mining functionalities in a complementary way. The KDPM for urban analysis suggests that GIS functionalities can be used to formulate a database, and GIS and data mining can complement each other in analyzing the database and evaluating the outcomes. The model illustrates that the output of a GIS platform can become the input for a data mining platform and vice versa, resulting in an interlinked analytical process which allows for a more sophisticated analysis of urban data.
To investigate the second and third research questions, firstly the KDPM for urban analysis was further developed to construct a GIS database of the Beyoğlu Preservation Area from the thematic maps. Then, three implementations were performed using this GIS database; the Beyoğlu Preservation Area Building Features Database consisting of multiple features attributed to the buildings. In Implementation (1), the KDPM for urban analysis was used to investigate a variety of patterns and relationships that can be extracted from the database using three different data mining methods. In Implementations (2) and (3), the KDPM for urban analysis was implemented to test how the knowledge discovery approach through data mining proposed in this thesis can assist in developing draft plans for the regeneration of a run-down neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu Preservation Area (Tarlabaşı). In Implementation (2), the KDPM for urban analysis is implemented in combination with an evolutionary process to apply a regeneration approach developed by the author; a computational process which generates draft plans for ground floor use, user-profile and tenure-type allocation was developed. In Implementation (3), students applied the KDPM for urban analysis during the course of an international workshop. The model enabled them to explore site-specific particularities of Tarlabaşı that would support their urban intervention proposals.
Among the outputs of the thesis three of them are considered as utilizable outputs that distinguish this thesis from previous studies:
The KDPM for urban analysis.
Although there have been other studies which make use of data mining methods and techniques combined with GIS technology, to the best of our knowledge no previous research has implemented a process model to depict this process and used the model to extract ‘knowledge’ from traditional thematic maps. Researchers and practitioners can re-use this process model to analyze other urban environments. The KDPM for urban analysis is, therefore, one of the main utilizable outputs of the thesis and an important scientific contribution of this study.
The BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area Building Features Database.
A large and quite comprehensive GIS database which consists of 45 spatial and non-spatial features attributed to the 11,984 buildings located in the BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area was constructed. This database is one of the original features of this study. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other examples of applications of data mining using such a comprehensive GIS database, constructed from a range of actual micro-scale data representing such a variety of features attributed to the buildings. This database can be re-used by analysts interested in studying the BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area. The BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area Building Features Database is therefore one of the main utilizable outputs of the thesis and represents a scientific contribution to the research material on the BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area.
A computational process which generates draft plans for ground floor use, user-profile and tenure-type allocation, using GIS and data mining functionalities with evolutionary computation.
This output of the thesis was generated by Implementation (2), which aimed to investigate Research Question (3). The overall process involved the successive application of Naïve Bayes Classification, Association Rule Analysis and an Evolutionary Algorithm to a subset of the BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area Building Features Database representing the Tarlabaşı neighbourhood. Briefly, the findings of the data mining analysis were used to formulate a set of rules for assigning ground floor use information to the buildings. These rules were then used for fitness measurements of an Evolutionary Algorithm, together with other fitness measurements for assigning user-profile and tenure-type information (defined by the author according to the regeneration approach developed by the author). As a result, the algorithm transformed the existing allocation of the ground floor use in the buildings located in Tarlabaşı in accordance with the given rules and assigned user-profile and tenure type information for each building. This computational process demonstrated one way to use the data mining analysis findings in developing intervention proposals for urban regeneration. A similar computational process can be implemented in other urban contexts by researchers and practitioners. To the best of our knowledge, no prior research has used data mining analysis findings for fitness measurements of an Evolutionary Algorithm in order to produce draft plans for ground floor use, user-profile and tenure-type allocation. This is, therefore, the most original scientific contribution and utilizable output of the thesis.
As a result of the research, on the basis of the data that is available in the thematic maps of the BeyoÄŸlu Preservation Area, the potential of a knowledge discovery approach to urban analysis in revealing the relationships between various components of urban environments and their various attributes is demonstrated. It is also demonstrated that these relationships can reveal site-specific characteristics of urban environments and if found ‘valuable’ by the the targeted researchers and practitioners, these can lead to the development of more informed intervention proposals. Thereby the knowledge discovery approach to urban analysis developed in this thesis may help to improve the quality of urban intervention proposals and consequently the quality of built environments. On the other hand, the implementations carried out in the thesis also exposed the major limitation of the knowledge discovery approach to urban analysis through data mining, which is the fact that the findings discoverable by this approach are limited by the relevant data that is collectable and accessible
Urban Climate Design: Improving thermal comfort in Dutch neighbourhoods
Get PDFThis thesis presents research into the possibilities for climate adaptation in Dutch urban areas. We want to know how cities can best prepare for extreme rainfall, droughts, and heat waves in future climates. These events are likely to become more frequent and more extreme. The focus is on heat resistance as this has been a neglected concept in Dutch urban planning.
The aim of this study is to extend our knowledge of the effects of climate-adaptation measures and to stimulate the implementation of such measures in the design of public space. Anticipating on the effects of climate change, the research was guided by the question: Which urban design principles can be applied in specific Dutch neighbourhoods to respond to the effects of climate change, especially in terms of outdoor thermal comfort and water management?
The three stages of the project are:
A literature review of existing knowledge on climate adaptation and knowledge gaps
Research into the specific field of urban climatology
Applied research on the broader field of urban planning
The urban climate and adaptation measures
In the evaluation of measures for climate robust urban areas it is important to gauge the extent of the effects of such measures. These effects are generally expressed in terms of air temperature. However, the comparison of results of measures from various studies is not a simple matter: there are significant differences in spatial, climatological and methodological variations adopted in these studies. Bringing results together from very specific studies may give an impression of the potential of certain measures. For example, most studies support the idea that greening has the highest effect on thermal comfort as it provides both shade and active cooling due to ‘evapotranspiration’1. Nevertheless, vegetation can also retain heat, as we can feel after sundown. Other measures that were investigated for their effects are water, urban morphology, materials and colour.
Simulations and measurements
Contextual aspects and combinations of measures can seriously influence the effects of measures. To get a grip on such effects and their co-occurrence (interrelations), possible adaptations to an existing rural configuration were modelled and their effects on the microclimate were simulated using the numerical program ENVI-met. It is demonstrated that, for instance, trees combined with highly reflective façades do often not provide cooling, whereas trees combined with moderate façade colouring does.
To assess the effects of a single measure, independent of its context, single parameter simulations of thermal comfort (PET) were performed. This is the first time that such a comparative study was undertaken in The Netherlands. The complexity of the situations was increased gradually from an empty field with only pavement or only grass, to pavement with grass and a single building, moving up to a building with a few trees to many trees, multiple buildings and built forms.
During this study it became clear that airflow has a significant influence on the comfort temperature. However, cooling by means of creating drafts on a mesoscale is difficult to manage and control. The low wind speed, which is typical for Dutch heat waves, provides ventilation through thermal stratification. Airflow between warm and cool spaces only occurs with sufficient temperature differences and low wind speed. This principle was investigated on the side towards new measures because little is known about the effects of generating airflow as a result of façade colour. Measurements were performed first in a small-scale experiment in a controlled area and when results seemed promising this was extended to a full-scale situation on an average Summer’s day.
Research design
In current practice, urban design pays little or no attention to the urban microclimate and urban-heat stress. Designers indicate that they have insufficient knowledge and evaluation instruments. The design study discussed in the third part of this thesis provides examples of climate adaptive applications and suggestions for design strategies.
Using urban typologies makes it possible to integrate the microclimate in the design without needing urban microclimate expertise. By analysing specific neighbourhood typologies applying a variety of microclimate indicators three simple distinctive parameters emerge:
balance between pavement and natural surfaces;
building height;
built form.
Design solutions were applied to reveal spatial implications for most of the neighbourhoods in the analysis and serve as examples and a source of inspiration. Promising and neighbourhood-specific measures were selected per neighbourhood type to support the design process.
To demonstrate how microclimates can be managed with design choices, a design case was developed in more detail for three cities. Prioritizing measures at the design stage depends on many external and intrinsic factors. The three designs in this thesis follow the same path: analysis > maximisation > optimisation > integration. When maximization focuses on thermal comfort only design measures concerning this aspect are applied. Prioritization can be applied in a three-step strategy of: warming prevention, passive cooling and active cooling. The design process is an iterative process in which promising combinations may be found in the optimization and this may require additional analysis.
This thesis hopes to build bridges between knowledge and science and the practice of the design of public space. That goal is approached with a product that unfolds from the three parts of the study:
Factsheets to simply check and evaluate mechanisms and affordances of measures;
Guidelines for the further development of knowledge of and design with urban microclimates;
A categorized set of measures to be able to select the right measure for the right neighbourhood typology.
The study is part of a consortium of complementary research projects and stakeholders with the aim to generate knowledge through research as input for councils and other stakeholders. In addition, three participating municipal councils have gained further insight into cases that were proposed by them.  
Imagine: Energy
No full textClimate design and climate engineering are nowadays standard in the design process. The more successful we are in this, the less energy we need to run the building during its useful life and we can focus instead on an additional aspect: the embodied energy — the energy we need for the material production and construction process. Interestingly, the reduction in energy used in a climate-efficient building during its lifetime is equal to the energy consumption necessary to produce and install the building. This aspect triggers us to reconsider the design potentials of focusing on less energy in the construction. Which materials make sense energy-wise? Do we need to build with simple materials for 500 years or should we go high-tech and design the complete life cycle for a perfect reuse with maximum recyclable materials? Or should we build out of materials that can be used as energy after being a building? This publication focuses on the embodied energy aspects of building materials, their life cycle and their potentials for reuse as energy or in construction, and presents some far-reaching design ideas
Woningcorporaties en Vastgoedontwikkeling: Fit for Use?
Get PDFWoningcorporaties en vastgoedontwikkeling, dat is een logische combinatie. Tenminste, het lijkt een logische combinatie. Woningcorporaties worden niet voor niets nog steeds vaak woningbouwverenigingen genoemd. Vastgoedontwikkeling is altijd í©í©n van de activiteiten geweest waar woningcorporaties mee bezig zijn geweest: woningen ontwikkelen voor een specifieke doelgroep, woningen renoveren en sinds de jaren ‘90 ook het investeren in ander vastgoed dan alleen woningen. Het is een dynamisch werkveld, de institutionele context van en rondom corporaties verandert continu en de markt is altijd in beweging.
Woningcorporaties reageerden en reageren verschillend als deze bewegingen worden vertaald naar de activiteiten en hun manier van handelen in vastgoedontwikkeling. De aard en omvang van vastgoedontwikkeling is vanuit de context voor een groot deel te analyseren en te verklaren. Er is evenwel weinig inzicht in de manier waarop corporaties de opgave uitvoeren, terwijl de manieren die wel zichtbaar zijn sterk per corporatie verschillen. Dit roept verschillende vragen op:
Waarom heeft de ene corporatie alles ‘in huis’ georganiseerd en legt de andere corporatie alle verantwoordelijkheid voor ontwikkeling in handen van een derde?
Waarom heeft de ene organisatie een aparte afdeling projectontwikkeling en de ander een team vastgoedontwikkeling binnen de afdeling vastgoed?Waarom verandert de manier van organiseren van projectontwikkeling binnen corporaties continu en ook nog eens in verschillende richtingen bij verschillende corporaties?Is het niet logischer dat woningcorporaties, met een op hoofdlijnen gezamenlijke doelstelling, inmiddels een goede manier van werken hebben ervaren en zich meer eenduidig volgens deze manier zouden kunnen organiseren?
Dit issue van A+BE gaat in op de antwoorden van deze vraagstukken. Het vakgebied vastgoedontwikkeling voor woningcorporaties moet hiervoor in beeld gebracht worden.Wat gebeurt er nu daadwerkelijk in de dagelijkse praktijk? Waar treden problemen in — de organisatie van - vastgoedontwikkeling door corporaties op? Zijn woningcorporaties op dit moment wel ‘fit for use’ om vastgoedontwikkeling uit te voeren
Housing, Urban Renewal and Socio-Spatial Integration: A Study on Rehabilitating the Former Socialistic Public Housing Areas in Beijing
Get PDFThe initiative of this study derived from my concern of two critical urban issues in China today: housing and urban renewal. In the recent two decades, the Chinese urban housing stock underwent a significant, if not extreme, transformation. From 1949 to 1998, the urban housing stock in China largely depended on the public sector, and a large amount of public housing areas were developed under the socialistic public housing system in Beijing and other Chinese cities. Yet in 1998, a radical housing reform stopped this housing system. Thus, most of the public housing stock was privatized and the urban housing provision was conferred to the market. The radical housing privatization and marketization did not really resolve but intensified the housing problem. Along with the high-speed urbanization, the alienated, capitalized and speculative housing stock caused a series of social and spatial problems. The Chinese government therefore attempted to reestablish the social housing system in 2007. However, the unbalanced structure of the Chinese urban housing stock has not been considerably optimized and the housing problem is still one of the most critical challenges in China.
Based on the background of privatization, the former socialistic public housing areas in Beijing confront the ambiguity of their housing stock and the confusion of housing management. While they still accommodate the majority of urban residents and are identified by their good places, (social and programmatic) mixed communities, vibrant local life, and diversified housing types, they are facing the serious challenges of physical deterioration and social decline. Therefore, urban renewal was thought as an effective solution seeking to improve the living conditions in those neighborhoods. Nevertheless, urban renewal in itself is also a controversial issue. In order to solve the housing problem, the large-scale urban renewal in Beijing started at the beginning of the 1990s. The radical housing reform further boosted urban renewal, often in the form of wholesale reconstruction and linked to real estate development. The market-driven urban reconstruction resulted in the resident displacement, community destruction, disappearance of historical images and, more threatening, socio-spatial segregation. It encountered the rising criticism from scholars and activists and resistance from the residents. As a result, many housing renewal projects, including the reconstruction projects of former public housing areas, had to be stopped or suspended in Beijing after 2004. Nowadays there is a dilemma for the urban renewal of Beijing’s former public housing areas. On the one hand, its conventional approach became inadaptable in the existing transitional context of China, and thus led to the increasing conflict of interests between different actors (or groups) and the tension between individuality and collectivity; but on the other hand, if there will be social-oriented, adapted strategies, urban renewal would still be an effective means to improve the quality of living and to solve the housing problem of the city. Therefore, my study addressed the general research question, “What will be the adapted strategies used for the urban renewal of former socialistic public housing areas in Beijing to improve the local living conditions and to deal with the existing urban housing problem?”
As a social-oriented, step-by-step approach to avoid wholesale reconstruction, urban rehabilitation might be an alternative approach for Beijing’s urban renewal. It is the hypothesis of my study. However, here comes the question if this approach, originally developed in the West, can adapt to the Chinese situation. In a transitional society undergoing continuous social diversification and differentiation as well as ethical collision, contemporary Chineseness could refer to the hybridity of ethoses. Facing this super hybrid situation, the adaptability of the Western approach, which was developed in the context of the hybrid ethos (an ethos based on the common belief of individualism and consumerism), is questionable. Therefore, we need a pragmatic and inclusive theoretical thinking, as ontology and methodology, to guide and to frame the research. In my study, that is what I called the thinking of spatial phenomenon.
Thinking of spatial phenomenon starts with an idea of pragmatization and phenomenalization of spatiality, which stems from both the Chinese tradition and the Western modernity. As an analytic tool, it includes different ethical viewpoints and is hence composed of three dimensions: the socio-economic dimension (a structuralistic point of view for the modern society), the community-placial dimension (a humanistic point of view for everyday life) and the aesthetic-technical dimension (a positivistic point of view for physical environments). As a philosophy of practice, it emphasizes the historicality and practicality of thinking and the unity of theory and practice. Moreover, considering the current Chinese situation in general, thinking of spatial phenomenon has its primary thesis of socio-spatial integration, which recalls the Chinese tradition of approaching-to-the-good society and is the ethical task of contemporary Chinese urban rehabilitation.
My research study is thus enframed by the methodology of thinking of spatial phenomenon. It is both problem-driven (the problems on housing and urban renewal for the former socialistic public housing areas in Beijing) and purpose-driven (the purpose of socio-spatial integration in the context of the hybridity of ethoses in a transitional society). And the research followed a matrix composed of its historical and dimensional axes. The former axis represents the consideration from a historical review and the analysis of the status quo to the referable case studies and the development of new strategies, while the latter is demonstrated by the analyses in the socio-economic, community-placial and aesthetic-technical dimensions in each section.
This research framework is presented in my writing. In this book, Part II, following the introductive Part I, reviewed the historical evolution of Beijing’s socialistic public housing in the socio-economic, community-placial and aesthetic-technical dimensions, respectively. Part III subsequently analyzed the current urban housing problem, the existing conditions of Beijing’s former socialistic public housing areas and the dilemma of urban renewal. It concluded by raising the concrete challenges of an alternative approach for renewing those housing areas. These challenges comprise the balance of housing affordability and economic sustainability, the stabilization of mixed community and the alternative physical initiatives instead of the wholesale reconstruction.
In order to answer to these challenges, the study in Part IV focused on several successful and referable experiences of urban renewal in cities with a comparable context, i.e. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Berlin, Vienna and Hong Kong. And Part V, based on two “pilot design research projects” on Sanlihe Neighborhood 1 in Beijing, developed a proposal for rehabilitating the former socialistic public housing areas in Beijing. This proposal is called an integrated plural approach. This approach is made up of six recommended strategies that are also sorted by three dimensions. There are housing re-socialization and economic sustainability in the socio-economic dimension, housing differentiation and community participation in the community-placial, as well as a combination of housing renovation and reconstruction and an integral physical planning/design in the aesthetic-technical dimensions. In conclusion, while those strategies gave answers to the existing practical challenges, the integrated plural approach in all proposed a new establishment of urban rehabilitation to adapt to the hybrid, diverse and plural Chinese situation and to fulfill the ethical task of sociospatial integration.
However, in comparison with drawing concrete conclusions, this research study has more to do with inspiring reflection. On the one hand, my study on rehabilitating the former socialistic public housing areas in Beijing can only be concluded as a proposal, same as many other urban studies. The applicability of an integrated plural approach must be proved in practice. A proposal of urbanistic research has to be tested and modified within urban practice. On the other hand, this book cannot be seen as an end but as a beginning of new explorations in urban study, theoretically. The openness, inclusion and integration of thinking of spatial phenomenon might contribute to the establishment of new ontology and methodology for the study of not just Chinese but also universal urban issues in an era of globalization
Duurzame Ontwikkeling door Collectief Bewonersinitiatief: Leidraad voor professionals om bewonersgroepen aan de duurzaamheidsopgave te verbinden
Get PDF‘The joint residents’ initiative aimed at renewable energy optimization has been increasing in The Netherlands. This is evident from the survey carried out for this study during 2012 of ‘renewable energy residents initiative’ in The Netherlands, as well as the changing government policy. The engineering sector is contributing to this development by introducing new types of energy systems for housing complexes with multiple households.
The underlying reasons for this change are the societal change towards less government involvement and the increase of civilian initiative in society. The underlying reason is the disappointing outcome of the current energy program, referring to the monitoring of the ‘Central Planning Bureau’ (CPB, 2009), and the ‘Energy Research Centre of The Netherlands’ ( ECN, 2010). The agreements with third parties, housing associations and developers did not result in the required and desired results (Ministry VROM & NEPROM, 2008) (Ministry VROM & Aedes, 2009). The task of the governmental program ‘Clean and Efficient ‘ for the ‘ urban environment’ is daunting (Ministry VROM, 2007a). Before 2020, CO2 emissions must (with 1990 as reference) be reduced by 30 %. Renewable energy share will have to contribute 20% to this decrease (in the less stringent ‘Energy Agreement’ (Ministry EZ, 2013) this contribution of renewable energy has remained unchanged unless the new 14% target for 2020). This is in accordance with the restated agreements with the rental sector and project development entrepreneurs (Ministry BZK & Hire Partners, 2012) (Ministry BZK & Partners, 2012).
This is further supported by recent government policies. In 2011, the government developed, the ‘Plan for energy saving within urban environment‘ (Ministry BiZa, 2011b), including the ‘Block for Block’ program (Ministry BiZa, 2011a) which was aimed at reducing the energy consumption on the basis of clusters of homes. In addition, the program ‘Promoting Renewable Energy’ ( SDE ) emerged during this period and the subsequent ‘National Energy Agreement for Sustainable Growth’ (hereinafter called the ‘Energy Agreement’) (Ministry EZ, 2013 ) which are focusing on the achievement of the national goals for renewable energy emphasizing on citizen participation and initiative.
However, in practice there is no breakthrough in this field: the inventory of ‘joint residents initiative’ for ‘renewable energy’ conducted in 2012 showed that only 0.2 % of Dutch households are involved. This result is consistent with the conceptual model of the ‘Transition Theory‘ ( Rotmans, 2003) (Rogers 2003). According to this model- based approach for the introduction of renewable energy innovations only 2 to 3% of the population of the ‘innovation type’ would like to participate in new developments. This could increase to 15% if the group described as ‘early adopters ‘ would participate as well. As such it will be necessary to further research the possibilities of stimulating sustainable development through ‘joint residents initiatives’.
Sustainable development according to the approach of the UN Brundtland Commission (1987), includes both a physical as well a social and sustainable developments places in a durable context: ‘the developments that meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations.’ This would require a perfect and sustainable balance of ecological, economic and social interests. Within an urban environment, the restructuring activities (technical quality, the quality of living and quality of life in neighbourhoods and districts), social problem solving (how people interact in social cohesion) and sustainability challenges (environmental, energy -related) as well as the sustainability challenge (now and in the future) are to be the most timely and urgent.
The relationships, described by Brundtland between physical, social and sustainable, laid the groundwork to involve the knowledge and experience of ‘residents initiatives’ in the Dutch neighbourhood restructuring challenges, for investigating ‘the potential’ of residents initiating renewable energy in the home environment. As was reflected in the central research question: ‘Under which conditions do social cohesion and sustainable corporate residents initiative influence each other successfully, for the sake of renewable energy in the built environment for living?’
In order to be able to answer the central research question, two lines of research were followed; in addition to research on conditions for social cohesion (a social collective of residents), conditions for residents collectives to invest in renewable energy were investigated. The research methodology included a combination of literature review, case studies at various levels (group discussions, interviews) and research among professionals (group discussions). This included (besides the literature search) all qualitative research to get the motivations and reasons behind ‘residents decisions’ more clear.
The above mentioned case studies included both neighbourhoods that are known for the present social cohesion and sustainability realized as a result of ‘residents initiative’. This included the districts IJburg Amsterdam and Hoograven Utrecht, some ecological neighbourhoods in The Netherlands, as well as the GWL site in Amsterdam and ‘City of the Sun’ in Heerhugowaard. The geographic scale on which ‘residents initiatives’ appear, has therewith a part of the research and a component in analyses.
Finally, group discussions with professionals regarding the role of resident initiatives, both in urban development (real estate professionals) and energy transition (renewable energy) in the environment (energy professionals) were conducted. This was included to establish the attitude and roles of professionals towards ‘residents initiative’.
The conclusion is that three ‘Blocking dilemmas’ further prevent the development of ‘joint residents initiative’ for renewable energy. These ‘Blocking themes’ are: the limited motivation of residents to act sustainably, that social and sustainable ‘residents initiatives’ are not mutual acting together giving start conditions, and the fact that the professionals involved primarily act with a long term view and not short term as residents that generally do. The survey results also provide insight into new perspective for a more significant transition to renewable energy from joint initiative of resident groups. Three ‘Chance Full development opportunities’ may also contribute. These are: mainly the ‘Pull’ conditions motivate residents, residents are willing to follow ‘leaders’ (residents and/or professionals), and social cohesion provides durability on ‘joint residents initiatives’.
Involvement and integration of renewable energy through ‘joint residents initiative’ cannot therefore be considered separately from the entire spectrum of sustainable development of energy sources. This because residents (individually and in groups) derive their motivation to improve the quality of life in their home environment rather, both socially and physically, as that on the basis of the renewable energy aspects alone. For a far-reaching transition of ‘residents involvement’, beyond that of the ‘early adopters’, it is not only necessary that professionals and residents are aware of this, leaders (initiating residents or professionals) are needed to start such initiatives. Only when this condition is fulfilled, projects on neighbourhood scale will be successful. The underlying reason is that residents and professionals due to their underlying interests rather act on the scale of the individual property (including the immediate environment) and the scale of the neighbourhood, the city and the region, respectively. Both local and national government can make a substantial contributions by informing citizens on a less fragmented basis, and more so as a part of the viability statement. Furthermore, taken the above aspects in the contract and covenant formation with professional companies will also improve the situation. Above all, professionals will need to listen (and to act in accordance with) to what motivates people in any situation. To obtain a full impression of the ‘Pull’ factors of residents is the first step to a successful transition towards a more significant integration of renewable energy sources in the urban environment in The Netherlands
Evaluation of Plan Implementation: Peri-urban Development and the Shanghai Master Plan 1999-2020
Get PDFSince the 1980s China has experienced unprecedented urbanisation as a result of a series of reforms promoting rapid economic development. Shanghai, like the other big cities along China’s coastline, has witnessed extraordinary growth in its economy and population with industrial development and rural-to-urban migration generating extensive urban expansion. Shanghai’s GDP growth rate has been over 10 per cent for more than 15 years. Its population in 2013 was estimated at 23.47 million, which is double its size in 1979. The urban area enlarged by four times from 644 to 2,860 km2 between 1977 and 2010.
Such demanding growth and dramatic changes present big challenges for urban planning practice in Shanghai. Plans have not kept up with development and the mismatch between the proposals in plans and the actual spatial development has gradually increased, reaching a critical level since 2000. The mismatch in the periurban areas is more notable than that in the existing urban area, but there has not been a systematic review of the relationship between plan and implementation. Indeed, there are few studies on the evaluation of plan implementation in China generally. Although many plans at numerous spatial levels are successively prepared and revised, only few of them have been evaluated in terms of their effectiveness and implementation.
This particularly demanding context for planning where spatial development becomes increasingly unpredictable and more difficult to influence presents an opportunity to investigate the role of plans under conditions of rapid urbanisation. The research project asks to what extent have spatial plans influenced the actual spatial development in the peri-urban areas of Shanghai? The research pays particular attention to the role of the Shanghai Master Plan 1999-2020 (Plan 1999). By answering the main research question this study seeks to contribute to a better understanding of present planning practice in Shanghai from a plan implementation perspective, and to establish an analytical framework for the study of the role of plans that fits the Chinese context. The findings may also help planners, policy makers and private developers to adjust urban planning within the implementation process in order to meet planning objectives at different levels.
The evaluation of plan implementation can be divided into peformance-based and performance-based approaches Conformance approaches focus on the direct linkage (i.e. level of conformity) between the plans and spatial outputs (Laurian et al., 2004; Tian & Shen, 2011). Performance approaches are concerned more with outcomes and the role of the plan in the urban development process (Barrett & Fudge, 1981; Faludi, 2000). Both of these approaches are employed in this research to evaluate the implementation of the Plan 1999. I firstly examine the level of conformity between the Plan 1999 and the overall peri-urban structure at the metropolitan level. I then use examples of specific areas (North Jinqiao Export Processing Zone and Xinmin Development Area) to evaluate performance of the Plan 1999.
The study also takes a diachronic approach, which looks at how relationships between variables change over time in the implementation of the Plan 1999. That is because the performance of plans is influenced by deeper-seated reasons such as the changing institutional context, particularly the levels of interaction between involved actors in the land development processes. As such, the changing planning system in Shanghai and the history of Shanghai’s peri-urban development in the second half of the 20th century are reviewed before the conformance-based and performance-based evaluation.
This research leads to three major findings. First, peri-urban areas have played an increasingly important role in Shanghai’s urbanisation process through accommodating the rapidly increasing population and demands for growth. Such extensive peri-urban development was not guided by the Plan 1999. It is not surprising that plans are left behind in the context of such unprecedented growth, but the pilot programmes and the key projects proposed in the Plan 1999 were implemented with a high level of conformance. However, the Plan 1999 performed differently in local urban projects, with varying degrees of project conformity, development process and development timing.
Second, there was variation in the delivery of the main objectives to the subsequent urban plans, the consistency between the Plan 1999 and the related sector plans, the ways of interaction between involved actors and their reactions to the plan, and the methods of land development. Overall, the Plan 1999 performed better in the case of North Jinqiao Export Processing Zone because the governments (at both national and municipal levels) intervened more in the development process, compared with the case of Xinmin Development Area. The performance of the plan is closely related to the level of conformity between the plan and the actual development. Therefore, although the conformance-based and performance-based approaches to implementation can be separated conceptually, they are very interconnected in practice.
Third, the urban planning system in Shanghai has experienced a structural reorganization in terms of the system of plans, the involved actors and the planning instruments since the late 1980s. But the emphasis on the rational technocratic process used in the 1960s in the western society is still predominant in the planning system in Shanghai. Aside from the demanding urban growth, the other reason of non-conformance between the actual peri-urban development and the Plan 1999 and bad performance of the Plan 1999 in local projects is a big gap between the seemingly rational operation of the urban planning system and the reality of external challenges.
The current planning system lacks proper coordination with the external challenges, such as insufficient investigation of the existing circumstance or history, and ineffective planning instruments. Cooperation between involved actors is also largely absent in planning practice. Overall, urban planning and management in Shanghai could benefit from more recognition and monitoring of plan implementation which would lead to some reconsideration of the planning tools and processes to more effectively guide future urban development
New Instruments in Spatial Planning: An International Perspective on Non-Financial Compensation
Get PDF'New Instruments in Spatial Planning' addresses the topic of transferring development opportunities between areas in planning practice by a debate between academics, lawyers and planning practitioners at an international planning symposium in Annapolis, MD, USA and the Van Doorne-Habiforum conference on Transferable Development Rights a year later. The idea of transferring development opportunities between areas is more than only the transfer of development rights. It relates more to compensation: not in money, but in a non-financial perspective. A comparative study on non-financial compensation was started, funded by Habiforum and linked to a number of research projects, such as Van Der Veen’s and Spaans’ research funded by the Delft Centre for Sustainable Urban Areas and Janssen-Jansen’s research funded by the Dutch Scientific Organization NWO-STIP. The chapters in this publication are representative of a close cooperation between planners, economists and lawyers from both science and planning practice. The exchange of knowledge within the framework of this book has arisen from divergent paths
Water inSight: An exploration into landscape architectonic transformations of polder water
Get PDFWater inSight provides insight into the ‘water machine’ that forms the basis of the Dutch polder landscape. Authors Inge Bobbink and Suzanne Loen approach the polder landscape from a landscape-architectonic point of view, using technical and spatial analysis drawings, images, plans and experiments to visualise the Netherlands and its water system.
Special attention has been paid to polder water, the difference between a peat polder and a lake-bed polder, and the adaptations that are required in the face of climate change. Analyses of the Eendragtspolder, the Belvedí¨re museum, Wickelhof Park and the Onnerpolder pumping station show the diversity of the Dutch water machine and its potential landscape-architectonic qualities.
Water inSight is an accessible book for everyone who has a desire to understand the Dutch polder landscape and to be able to recognise the workings of the water machine and adapt it in a landscape-architectonic design. The book contains practical applications and is aimed at water design and management professionals, landscape architects and landscape managers
CItyMaker: Designing Grammars for Urban Design
Get PDFDue to its complexity, the evolution of cities is something that is difficult to predict and planning new developments for cities is therefore a difficult task. This complexity can be identified on two levels: on a micro level, it emerges from the multiple relations between the many components and actors in cities, whereas on a macro level it stems from the geographical, social and economic relations between cities. However, many of these relations can be measured.
The design of plans for cities can only be improved if designers are able to address measurements of some of the relationships between the components of cities during the design process. These measurements are called urban indicators. By calculating such measurements, designers can grasp the meaning of the changes being proposed, not just as simple alternative layouts, but also in terms of the changes in indicators adding a qualitative perception.
This thesis presents a method and a set of tools to generate alternative solutions for an urban context. The method proposes the use of a combined set of design patterns encoding typical design moves used by urban designers. The combination of patterns generates different layouts which can be adjusted by manipulating several parameters in relation to updated urban indicators. The patterns were developed from observation of typical urban design procedures, first encoded as discursive grammars and later translated into parametric design patterns. The CItyMaker method and tools allows the designer to compose a design solution from a set of programmatic premises and fine-tune it by pulling parameters whilst checking the changes in urban indicators. These tools improve the designer’s awareness of the consequences of their design moves