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Can Church Gardens Represent a Valuable Recreation Alternative in Cities?
Get PDFUrban green infrastructure is a key element in improving quality of life and creating an appropriate framework for sustainable, resilient and inclusive cities. Also, achieving a coherent spatial planning based on development of urban green infrastructure can be an useful solution to negative changes related to environmental quality, segregation and ecosystem services. We use church gardens in Bucharest as a case study to understand how these small green spaces can be integrated into urban planning.
The paper aims to analyse the potential of church gardens as recreation areas at city level in Romania. The analysis focused on three major aspects – the spatial distribution of churches, the accessibility of green spaces located in church gardens (calculated both for adults and elderly people as most important groups accessing the gardens) and the characteristics of those gardens in terms of facilities, use and problems (based on a field survey filled for a 20% sample of the 287 churches in Bucharest).
The results showed that the homogenous spatial distribution of churches with green gardens makes them accessible for residential areas located far from traditional green recreational areas. In Bucharest, the service areas of churches with green spaces cover 84% of the residential areas when accounting for the adult’s walking speed and 61% when accounting for elderly people. Green spaces in church gardens amount to over 25 ha in Bucharest, with an average of 1737 square meters per garden, representing a surface which could be designed to respond better to the population needs. The major challenges identified in the church gardens are (a) the use of green space for other purposes than recreations, such as storage space for construction materials (31.5%), waste (17.5%), temporal constructions (12.3%) or car parking (21%), and (b) quality of vegetation.
Our study highlights that through their number and distribution church gardens can represent an alternative to large green areas if they are opened to the population and used for organising activities and events. Their importance and potential could be increased if designed for such purpose. Such analysis can be useful in the planning process of small urban green areas in order to integrate them into urban management process
How to Make Existing Urban Structures Climate-Resilient?
Get PDFWe are currently faced with a variety of serious crisis: climate, health and migration, all of them deeply interwoven. And all of them particularly apparent within the dense city structures. Urban open space becomes - once more - crucial in facing the accompanying negative effects like rising heat, density and infection. Evidentially green and blue infrastructure provides a cooling effect, a qualitative life space and a healthy environment – considered in a holistic and large-scale view guaranteeing good living conditions throughout the city. Before the background of urban densification the streetscape holds a huge potential in this regard. The street system forms a stable network of open space defined by building structure. It is entirely publicly owned and thus more easily accessible to public authorities for the immediate development and implementation of necessary measures. Furthermore, a change in mobility patterns is to be expected, that will initiate a debate about new functions of the street system. Last but not least, a variety of studies indicate, that the desealing of surfaces and the integration of trees and other vegetation - including green facades - offer a particular climate adaptation potential especially within the streetscape.
Although within the scientific society and politics well-known, the implementation of green and blue infrastructure measures is confronted with a variety of barriers - starting with administrative, technical and legal frameworks but also to a great part through missing awareness of and acceptance by neighbours and local stakeholders. This paper focusses on the latter presenting supportive processes and actions which are needed for transforming existing urban structures towards climate resilience in this regard. The findings are based on lessons learned in the Smart Cities Demo project LiLa4Green (Accompanying Living Lab for the implementation of green-blue infrstructure measures in the Smart City Vienna, 2018-2021).
LiLa4Green focusses on the visibility and traceability of the additional value of potential green and blue interventions within the streetscape opening up the discussion and mutual learning with the diverse involved parties on site. Main goals set are a) to cooperatively highlight existing challenges and elaborate potentials of green and blue design measures on site; b) to literally show options of participatorial developed interventions within the streetscape by effectively implementing commonly accorded small-scale measures; and c) to visualize potentials and alternatives virtually by means of an AR tool to enable low-treshhold participation in an early planning stage and to raise awareness for the topic. Multifold methods such as potential analysis, design studios, climate measurements and simulations have been applied to accomplish these goals - accompanied by a continuous Living Lab process on site.
In the course of LiLa4Green several barriers and restrictions but also potentials for making existing urban structure more climate-resilient became evident. All in all, the project managed to start a transition towards climate resilience in one of the densly built areas of Vienna. Three key elements proved to be essential 1) find solutions which fit to the local setting and set concrete actions 2) raise awareness and involve local networks, stakeholder and neighbours and 3) embed measures and demonstrations into a continuous process
Investigation of the State of Spatial Transformation Policy and Practice: Lessons from the City of Johannesburg
Get PDFcountry's spatial legacy. This planned segregation system left many South African cities with a spatial legacy that cannot support the ever-rising urban population, particularly the black African population that is ever migrating from rural to urban areas. The elements of concern include informal settlements, undesirable spatial configuration, single land use development, improper transportation and different forms of infrastructure. This paper aims to assess the level of spatial transformation across the city of Johannesburg. The paper adopts a case study research design and applies a mixed methods approach. Data was collected through interviews, a literature review on the spatial planning policies, and direct observations of the city's infrastructure. When the country gained its democracy in the year 1994, many policies and legislative frameworks were introduced, all of them having one primary objective: to transform South Africa spatially, mainly the cities. Since then, several policies and legislative frameworks have been implemented with the same vision of transforming the spatial configuration of the urban areas in the country. However, the spatial issues have remained the same for many if not all South African cities. Spaces in these cities remain divided along racial lines. The results revealed an improvement in the level of transformation across the municipality and an improvement in the policies and practice of spatial transformation. Developmental projects such as transit-oriented development have led to income elasticities for properties along the corridors of freedom. Overall, the paper recommends collaborative planning as a tool for assessing the performance of spatial transformation
KI-gestützter Wordcloud-Generator für Beteiligungsprozesse
Get PDFEs liegt auf der Hand, dass eine digitale Unterstützung von Planungs- und Beteiligungsverfahren in vielfacher Hinsicht enorme Vorteile bietet. So können mittels moderner, digitaler Partizpationsplattformen Prozessbeteiligte orts- und zeitunabhängig an städtebaulichen Ideenfindungs- und Bewertungsverfahren teilnehmen und ihre Gedanken, Meinungen und Vorschläge mit anderen teilen und diskutieren. Seit einigen Jahren stehen hierfür eine Reihe adaptierbarer Softwareprodukte zur Verfügung, z. B. Consul, ein community-basiertes Opensource-Projekt der Consul Democracy Foundation auf GitHub, die proprietäre Software citizenLab des gleichnamigen belgischen Unternehmens, oder dem neuseeländischen Pendant Loomio der Loomio Cooperative Ltd. und viele weitere. Der webbasierte Zugang ermöglicht dabei nicht nur eine potenzielle Reichweitensteigerung an Teilnehmenden und die schnelle Verlinkung zu anderen digitalen Inhalten bzw. Medien, sondern erleichtert auch die statistische Informationsauswertung und die mediale wie inhaltliche Dokumentation des Gesamtprozesses. Aktuelle Softwarelösungen sind dabei als anwenderfreundliches Baukastensystem konzipiert, das je nach Anwendungsfall individuell, modular und ohne Programmierkenntnisse zusammengesetzt werden kann. Die zuschaltbaren Module reichen von einfachen Formularmasken über interaktive Karten-Tools, MindMaps und Umfragen bis hin zu integrierten Video-Chat-Funktionen und kollaborativen Whiteboards.
Zukünftig ist davon auszugehen, dass die modulare Struktur und die enorm vielfältigen Einsatzgebiete dieser Softwarelösungen zunehmend auch KI-gestützte Funktionen als neue Features enthalten werden bzw. im Baukasten bestehende Module optimieren oder ablösen werden. Die Gründe hierfür liegen größtenteils im disruptiven Fortschritt der Softwarentwicklung. Andererseits darf aber auch erwogen werden, ob nicht doch häufig beobachtete Hemmnisse oder Probleme bisheriger Partizipationsverfahren ggf. durch den unterstützenden Einsatz von KI auch abgebaut oder verringert werden könnten.
Beide Perspektiven stellen für sich genommen schon sehr breite Grundlagenforschungsfelder dar, die insbesondere durch die noch hinzukommenden Aspekte der Technologieakzeptanz enorm komplex werden können. Da aber die technologische Hürde zur Umsetzung einfacher Software-Prototypen durch die Vielzahl zur Verfügung stehender Opensource-Tools sehr niedrig ist, entwickelte der Forschungsschwerpunkt nextPlace der Technischen Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe zunächst eine allererste, prototypische Hardware-Software-Applikation, um - im Sinne eines Proof-of-Concept – die Relevanz und Aufwände tiefergehender Forschungs- und Entwicklungsarbeiten abschätzen zu können. Folglich stellen die nachfolgenden Ausführungen einen technischen Erfahrungsbericht der ersten Entwicklungsschritte dar, um einen einfachen, kostengünstigen und experimentellen Zugang in dieses noch recht junge Forschungsfeld nachvollziehbar zu machen
The Effects of City Fabric on Urban Strategies in Pandemic Time – Case Study Rome City (Italy)
Get PDFOne of the most important aspects of studying the consequences of Covid-19 pandemic in cities is urban form and public spaces, particularly the central cores of cities because of their high population density which relates to their touristy, commercial and office functions. The aim is to review the strategies for restoring urban life and safe living by examining the relationship between dwellers and urban spaces. The city form which the movement is taken are going to be like a body which has no blood flow, as a result of those vital arteries will be disrupted and all the current economic, social, psychological and even political dimensions will be damaged. The methodology involves personal natural observation. In general, the proposed solutions in dealing with the destructive effects of pandemics classified into short-term and long-term approaches. Some strategies like Review of rigid and regulations in architectural design with the aim of mandatory natural ventilation could be related to future and Coloring of street urban walls based on high risk / low risk/ no entry areas for children and elderly people can help governments to face the corona pandemic and trying to take preventive measures, control and planning to return in normal life
Towards Climate Neutrality through Integrated Energy Planning – a Cross-Country Comparison and Case Study Analysis of Positive Energy District Concepts between Switzerland and Norway
Get PDFReaching for the Global Sustainability Goals, cities play a prominent role as from a geographical view they are identified as the main area for global emissions. On the other hand, they play a prominent role in putting global goals into local policies and means and at the same time embedding them in local context with site specific demands and settings. The Positive Energy District (PED) Concept is currently evolving based on the Strategic Energy Transition (SET) plan of the European Union member states and contributions from different initiatives. A common understanding or definition is not yet in place. Creating districts in the built environment that produce more energy than they consume embedded in a holistic approach to reduce energy demand and produce renewable energy is seen as one means to reach climate neutrality. As the first PEDs are developing all over Europe, we have little knowledge on how the PED concept is implemented nationally and how first PED projects develop within the specific national contexts. We ask: What are the concepts and approaches towards PED developments in Switzerland and Norway? What learnings can we extract from these projects? What are the implementation strategies and how are functional issues addressed?
By looking at different recent developments of PEDs in Switzerland and Norway, we describe the characteristics of national approaches towards PEDs. By deepening the description of 2 respective case-studies in the two countries, we analyse how PED approaches are implemented within the specific context. We compare the PED concepts, local implementation and functional issues to analyse the approaches. Our research is based on literature and document analysis and qualitative interviews.
The results show that different implementation concepts require different measures. From the analysis of the results, the conclusions are that integrated energy planning is more important than ever. Understanding the different dimensions of sustainable development in combination with energy supply and consumption is important to plan and realise settlements that not only contribute significantly to reducing energy consumption and securing the location of energy infrastructure (generation, distribution, storage), but also in terms of long-term sustainable development and specifically climate neutrality
Facilitating Transit Oriented Development in the Purple Line Corridor: The Plans and Regulations Information Tool
Get PDFThe Plans and Regulations Information Tool (PaRIT) is a computing interface that enables spatial queries to identify and access the many plans and regulations that apply to a given place. These plans and regulations are created by various government, intergovernmental, and non-governmental organizations and are created at different times with different functional, spatial, and temporal scopes. As argued elsewhere (Hopkins & Knaap, 2016), we should neither expect these plans to be consistent nor try to make them consistent. PaRIT accesses multiple plans and regulations to give decision-makers emergent information in support of several plan-using tasks: plan commission staff report, affordable housing location opportunities, developer location opportunities, aggregating ideas across plans for advocacy such as bikeways or affordable housing (National Center for Smart Growth, 2019), neighborhood group advocacy/opposition, looking for consistency or contradictions related to particular goals such as hazards or climate change mitigation (Berke, Malecha, Yu, Lee, & Masterson, 2019).
We demonstrate the capabilities of PaRIT in applications to the Purple Line light rail transit project in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, Maryland, north of Washington, DC. This tool operationalizes concepts for creating Information Systems of Plans (Finn, Hopkins, & Wempe, 2007; Kaza & Hopkins, 2012), structured databases for collecting, indexing, and querying the many plans that typically apply and relating these plans to regulations. The tool relies on an extensive database of geo-spatially defined plans that express intentions or visions of important organizations in both Counties. These plans range from traditional neighborhood level land-use plans to county-wide general plans but also include educational facility master plans and bicycle and pedestrian plans. Regulations included in the tool include legally binding rights, incentives or constraints on land development in the corridor such as zoning, impact fees, and economic development incentive zones.
Funded by the Federal Transit Administration, the tool is designed to facilitate transit-oriented development across the Purple Line Corridor. Spatial queries can be defined in several ways: by street address; by drawing a point, line, or polygon; by uploading shapefiles; and a buffer can be added to any of these queries. Queries can use filters to focus on particular types of plans or regulations. Query results present important attributes of each plan or regulation that applies to that location and include links to PDFs and websites for the complete documents. A summary report can be formatted in printable format
Flexible Bike Parking: New Ways of Thinking Bicycle Racks
Get PDFWith the steadily increasing number of cyclists in Austrian urban agglomerations over the past decade, the gaps and deficiencies in the cycling infrastructure also becomes more visible, especially parking problems with bicycles. The DrückMichi project focuses on an expansion of the usage of existing car parking lots on streets towards an equal access for bicycles.
Therefore, an idea competition was organized in spring 2020; the general public was invited to submit their ideas, which resulted in a multitude of approaches and ways to conceptualize flexible bicycle racks. A new type of bike rack – which is flexible in its usage as it can be pulled into the parking space whenever needed – enables bicycles to be parked on car parking lots, primarily dominated by motorized vehicles. The outcome of the contest shows that bicycle racks can be thought and designed differently to the classic, omnipresent models such as the Wiener Bügel. This paper provides an overview of some of the submitted ideas of the competition and thus aspires to inspire and motivate to rethink bicycle parking.
This project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) as part of the “Mobility of the Future” program. Funding is handled by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Developing and Implementing the Design-led Nexus Approach for Sustainable Urbanisation
Get PDFThe design-led nexus approach aims to integrate design thinking and nexus thinking for urban food-energy-water (FEW) management. The approach was originally proposed in the M-NEX project with a grant by the Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative (SUGI) and has been developed through a series of participatory design workshops since 2018 in six consortium cities, including Amsterdam, Belfast, Detroit, Doha, Sydney and Tokyo. This article describes theprocess to develop the methodologies and applications about this unique approach, for SUGI peers to share and learn from each other. The M-NEX design-led approach is developed reflectively in a series ofdesign workshops in six target cities. Through the iterative practices in different contexts, we found that (1)the food-as-entry approach serves as a trigger to attract stakeholders’ attention, and the FEW nexus provides a common ground for stakeholders to rethink the sustainability of cities by breaking down the barriers of siloed thinking, (2) the design-led method works by combining design thinking and systematic nexus thinking iteratively in visual and scientific languages, (3) the iterative application of a scientific evaluation tool, FEWprint, makes the performance of design solutions visible and comparable through communication, and (4) living labs play a key role in networking actors, practicing ideas, and scaling up to the policy landscape. We also learned that (1) FEW issues and solutions are sensitive to contexts, (2) redundant resources and the potential for improving self-sufficiency can be discovered even in developed cities by creatively integrating knowledge, technology and policy, and (3) the nexus approach is beneficialfor all actors, including governments, companies, and community leaders who are looking for collective ways of working towards policy goals such as zero carbon emissions and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Partizipative Prozesse bei taktischen Interventionen – Einblicke aus Villach
Get PDFDer öffentliche Raum ist überwiegend zugunsten des motorisierten Individualverkehrs verteilt. Dennoch werden Zu-Fuß-Gehen, Radfahren und die Qualitäten des öffentlichen Raums immer mehr diskutiert. Die Transformation des öffentlichen Raums hin zu einem gerechten, klimafreundlichen Lebensraum ist dringlich – insbesondere im Kontext des Klimawandels. Stadt- und Verkehrsplanungsprozesse dauern jedoch oft zu lange und reagieren nur langsam auf diese aktuellen Herausforderungen. Die COVID-Krise hat jedoch gezeigt, dass es in den Städten ein großes Potenzial für mehr Flexibilität und Experimentierfreude bei der nachhaltigen Mobilität und der Nutzung des öffentlichen Raums gibt: In zahlreichen Städten wurden Pop-up-Fahrradspuren eingerichtet, die das veränderte Mobilitätsverhalten aufgrund von Sperrungen und erleichtertem Radfahren während der Krise nutzen. Als Grundgedanke dieses neuen Planungsverständnisses kann der Ansatz des „Tactical Urbanism“ angesehen werden. In diesem Ansatz werden Interventionen als temporäre Veränderungen des öffentlichen Raums umgesetzt und können auch ein wichtiger Teil von Beteiligungsprozessen sein. Erfolgreiche Interventionen und auch die Planung generell hängen in hohen Maßen von der Inklusion und Information betroffener Akteurinnen und Akteure in Beteiligungsverfahren ab.
Das österreichische Forschungsprojekt „Tactical Mobilism – Interventionen für eine nachhaltige Mobilitätskultur“ nutzt diesen Ansatz und zielt darauf ab, zeitlich begrenzte, einfache und kostengünstige Interventionen zu erproben, um Mobilitätsmuster zu verändern und eine gerechte Verteilung des Raums zwischen verschiedenen Mobilitätsmodi im öffentlichen Raum zu unterstützen. In diesem Forschungsbeitrag wird der Anwendungsfall der Stadt Villach beschrieben, wo aktuell der Beteiligungsprozess läuft und zukünftige Interventionen in der Stadt diskutiert werden. Das Projekt wird im Rahmen des Forschungsförderungsprogramms „Mobilität der Zukunft“ durch das Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie (BMK) gefördert