AESOP Eprints
Not a member yet
1474 research outputs found
Sort by
Planning of urban green areas based on GIS tools
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Decision processes regarding the use of public resources in green infrastructure requires new approaches capable of providing on-going evaluation and trade-off analysis concerning the level of service that new urban green areas can provide in social-ecological terms. Such information is critical either to improve decision-making, planning practice (e.g. new locations) or even to improve landscape design processes. In order to solve these concerns, the present study aims to provide a model-based tool that allow to estimate service areas in Oeiras municipal ecological structure, but also capable to geographically identify socially meaningful areas for public investment regarding new urban green spaces. The study was developed in two phases. Grounded on kinematic laws and multi-criteria decision principles a conceptual model was initially shaped. Incorporating criteria and sub-criteria such as (i) the friction of slopes and (ii) the friction regarding physical conditions of the pedestrian public space (e.g. materials, dimensions, accessibility conditions, and others) into the model, the results revealed to be consistent with reality. This allowed developing a decision support system based on GRASS GIS and Bottle, in a second phase. The application was developed in Opensource environment using the Phython language, which allows programming the model and having as outputs the simulation of green space service areas and the identification of geographical locations for new ones, improving decision-making in landscape planning context and optimizing human and financial public resources.Published versio
Brain train or brain drain? Еffects of high speed rail on the spatial structure in the age of the knowledge economy
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Transport infrastructures facilitate access to people, knowledge, and markets, thus increase the “potential of opportunities for interaction” (Van Geenhuizen et al., 2007: 7) of a place and stimulating economic activity, leading to urban development. Particularly in Europe, High Speed Rail (HSR) has been of growing importance in providing passenger mobility on medium distances. During the last three decades, HSR has connected more and more cores of metropolitan regions, airports, and sometimes also previously unserved peripheral places nationally and later internationally. Its spread occasionally also led to a reduction in rail accessibility when conventional rail services were subsequently reduced. At the same time, globalisation means that the ‘knowledge economy’ (KE) is becoming a key driver of development especially in highly developed countries. The performance of firms depends more and more on knowledge as production factor, and the input of highly skilled workers. Locational factors of knowledge-intensive firms differ from those of ‘conventional’ firms. They seek a combination of ‘global pipelines’ and ‘local buzz’ (Bathelt et al., 2004), i.e. global connectivity together with a stimulating local environment of face-to-face contacts. Under these conditions, HSR stations come into focus as potential new nodes for future economic development, since the immediate surroundings of HSR stations profit most from a gain in accessibility and provide ‘spaces for dialogue’, which are of particular relevance for KE firms. There have been several studies on the structural effects of HSR lines, especially in the cases of the French TGV and Spanish AVE networks. Despite the strong growth of ridership, hopes of a dispersion of economic development away from the metropolitan centres did not always materialise. Instead, some cases suggest that HSR access leads to ‘brain drain’ effects, upscaling on Mega-Regional levels, and residential ‘supersuburbanisation’ instead. Other studies argue that positive economic effects exist, but are merely of a redistributive nature. In each instance, the influencing factors augmenting economic development in the individual case, such as integration with the conventional network, and local absorptive capacity, must be more thoroughly discerned in research on transport effects. In this study, we present the results of a gravitational accessibility analysis of the German rail network in 1990, before the opening of the first HSR line, and its comparison with the 2017 values to quantify gains and losses in accessibility generated by HSR. The German case differs somewhat from most other European cases due to its federal, more dispersed spatial structure and the lack of a clear dominant centre. Furthermore we project accessibility changes by two ongoing HSR projects such as the new Berlin-Munich mainline via Erfurt and Nuremberg. We find that, besides obviously boosting accessibility in previously poorly connected areas, even stations which lose access to the intercity train network profit from HSR through greater overall network effects. However, the upgrading of the conventional rail network in East Germany after 1990 improved accessibility levels more than HSR projects. The results of the accessibility analysis can then be used for a range of ‘quasi-experiments’ for difference-in-difference analyses (cf. Ahlfeldt and Feddersen, 2010) of firm locations, especially in situations of high accessibility differentials, e.g. ‘external shock’ conditions in peripheral areas. As an outlook, we propose such a methodology to test the effects of accessibility changes on the development of knowledge-intensive firms, both in the immediate surroundings of new or upgraded HSR stations, as well as their regions.Published versio
Value added as a tool in participatory approach to urban rehabilitation projects. a case study in Yerevan
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017In the conditions of ever growing urbanization and continuous societal transformations as well as the increasing prominence of the sustainability agenda the issue of urban quality is subject to prior consideration worldwide (Brenner and Schmid, 2015). As acknowledged by Healey (1997), it is difficult to avoid the impact of economic restructuring on the landscape and social and economic life of many cities which were used to grow within certain economic structure and also supported by the state. In many post-socialist countries, the issue is even more pressing due to existing urban decay as a result of major institutional transformations, economic crisis and political discrepancies. In particular, the collapse of the socialist system in these countries was followed by a number of economic, social and legal reforms, due to which the land and property ownership in most of the countries has been transferred from public to private sector. However, in most cases the state transferred to private hands not only the ownership to the property but also the problems related to the quality of that property as well as the responsibility for its further maintenance. The issue has a specific importance with regard to multi-unit housing since the latter occupies the largest share of urban fabric in many countries worldwide, and in majority of post-socialist countries in particular.Published versio
Post-graduate studies in planning in Latin America : rationality vs. deliberation
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017This paper describes the current academic scenario of post-graduate studies in planning in Latin American Universities by focusing on the curricula of masters and doctoral programs as well as theses produced in the last 3 years in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Venezuela. The study attempts to determine the character of the programs and their orientation towards rational or deliberative models. It also develops a historical analysis of planning education in the region, and its different stages in time, and whether or not spaces of dialogue are being built. In order to determine the emphasis of the programs a survey was conducted to coordinators in planning schools in the region. Survey includes objectives and academic structures of the existing degrees as well as theses titles regarding their rational or deliberative emphasis. It also inquires about historical facts such as the first time a post-graduate program was offered in every country studied. In addition, it also explores the certification process and standards defined by national governments for post-graduate studies in planning. Urban and regional planning was introduced to Latin America as an area of specialization for architects and engineers. Urbanismo, Planeación Urbana y Regional or Estudios Urbanos are the Spanish terms to refer to any course or degree related to the city, including urban and regional planning, and urban studies. Therefore, the survey targeted only the programs with this titles, regardless their adscription to geography, architecture, engineering or economics schools. Since the first half of the 20th century some courses on Urbanismo were inserted in undergraduate programs’ curricula in Latin America; yet they were merely introductory and limited to an architectural approach. Some decades later in the 1960s, post-graduate programs in planning, as part of a rising discipline, were offered in architecture and engineering schools with a rational/ substantive model embedded, but there are reasons to believe this approach is slowly leaning towards deliberation. This study concludes with general remarks on academic structures and orientation that could help matching regional programs with planning schools around the world, including the Europeans, since faculty and students mobility between Europe and Latin America is becoming common ground.Published versio
Multi-criteria decision analysis for promoting bikefriendly city vision of Izmir using GIS
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Deploying GIS at its analysis of multilayered spatial data about Izmir (the third biggest metropolitan city in Turkey), this paper aims at suggesting ways of providing bicycle routes and roads in the already developed built environment of the densely populated cities. Focusing on multiple characteristics of topography, land use and population, the study deploys overlay analysis and network analysis respectively at city level and district level. Despite of the limited number and characteristics of data available about Turkish cities, this study has been limited to the lack of crime data and travel demand data of related neighborhoods.Published versio
Moving to access in transport planning: identifying barriers, designing strategies
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Accessibility is a well-established concept in planning research. It measures the ease of reaching destinations or activities, or the potential for interaction (Hansen, 1959). In very general terms, accessibility can be defined as the level of ability to successfully reach a certain object, place, event, or person. It is a key concept for understanding the social and economic life of cities in particular and societies in general. The purpose of this paper is to inform the ‘accessibility approach’ to transport policy, planning, and investment by means of critically analysing its implementation barriers in professional circles and how to overcome them. We argue that it is necessary to focus less on technological issues such as what are the best instruments and decision-making tools to promote the accessibility approach. There is now sufficient knowledge about that (Papa et al. 2016). Now, the priority is to identify the institutional, organisational and cultural barriers to this approach. Mobility and transport networks can facilitate accessibility, but only to a certain extent. Defining accessibility as what is granted by mobility is a reductionism. In our view, mobility is in many cases a necessary condition for accessibility, but rarely is a sufficient one. Traditional transport planning has in numerous instances failed to realise this important nuance. As a result, traditional transport planning has frequently equated implementing measures aimed at increasing mobility to improvements in accessibility levels. That is not necessarily a very accurate way of understanding what happens. This is fully acknowledged by the accessibility planning approach. In fact, accessibility planning recognises that the absolute opposite to that might be closer to the truth: increasing mobility might represent less accessibility (Ferreira and Batey, 2007).Published versio
Political conflict on spatial practice at urban parks in Turkey: Cases af Ankara and İstanbul
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Urban parks are defined as ‘green’, ‘open’ and ‘public’ spaces where citizens recreate themselves; interact with nature and each other. Furthermore, (as lived spaces) parks provide a backcloth for spatial practices and (re)produce urban everyday life via framing daily rhythms and behaviours within their physical boundaries. Nonetheless, urban parks (as conceived spaces) are regulated via official decisions of the state, especially by the hand of local governments, which implies the spatial policy of the party in power and capital accumulation process rather than use value of inhabitants and spatial quality of natural-built environment. Indeed, spatial policy is fragile particularly in the countries like Turkey, since it is extremely influenced by the political-economic shifts. Moreover, neo-liberal spatial policies stretched the limits and definitions of public and private spaces; which led to both deformation of open-green areas and privatization of public spaces. We can follow a disruption and displacement process within urban public spaces and green areas especially in the cases of Ankara and İstanbul, two great cities of Turkey. As an essential example, Ankara was conceived and re-designed delicately in 1920s as the capital of newly-established nation-state which has both a spatial and political essence in the planning history of Turkey. The re-creation of Ankara served for not only creating new publics with their (public) spaces but also constituting the examples of modern city planning in new Turkish Republic (i.e. Gençlik Park [meaning Youth Park, one of many examples constructed in several other Turkish cities in early-republican period] and Güvenpark [the name of the park means ‘safety’, ‘trust’; it was designed with a symbolic-political content and formed as a part of both the master plan of the city (Jansen Plan) and micro design of the city–centre]). However, public space pattern of the city has been gradually disrupted in the following decades. Rather than staying in and practicing publicness, citizens tend to pass through open public spaces, which is partly a result of incremental and arbitrary approaches to the design and construction. Moreover, the political-symbolic displacement process –during the reproduction of open public spaces and urban greenery– led to a decrease in the socio-spatial quality of such spaces. On the contrary to the first era of early-republican period, dysfunctional and poor-quality public spaces have been constructed and reproduced through plans, codes and projects of decision makers hand in hand with market mechanisms though their recreational and public potentials via urban daily experience.Published versio
Planning for creating a peace park; Peace park between Turkey and Georgia as case study
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017There are a whole host of environmental issues for biota along the political borders. Many international borders, not only appear on maps, but are bounded by fences or other obstacles that fragment landscapes and ecosystems. More or less, many international borders have been caused ecological issues including biodiversity reduction; the fragmentation of habitat (particularly for endangered animals which both require wide open spaces to survive and maintain gene pool diversity); habitat destruction through land filling and extensive service roads and invasive vehicular patrolling (Cunningham, 2012). In these situations removal of border obstacles and creation of designated corridors to facilitate animal movement has sometimes proven to be a worthwhile solution. However, cross border conservation solutions have been used more. Typically solutions like this are called Transboundary Conservation Areas (TBCA’s) which is also known as peace park.publishedVersio
Urban codes inducing street life, a possible approach for the Brazilian case
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017Brazilian cities have experienced several cycles of transformation, which ultimately altered these places from colonial fabric to modern agglomerations and metropolitan regions. Population figures are still rising and the urbanisation ratio as well. There is nothing particular about those processes; it is a general trend observed in most countries of the world. What typifies the Brazilian case is that the country has an enormous income disparity that results in different ways to deal with urbanisation and expanding cities network. Perhaps the most striking feature of the major Brazilian cities, in general, is the social and spatial segregation and its impact on street life. This paper is based on research developed for a master thesis (Carvalho Filho, 2014) in 2014 , that currently is further explored in a PhD study. The research aims to explain the effect of the relation between private and public spaces on urban dynamics. In particular, it will assess to what extent the spatial configuration of this boundary contributes to street life and urban vitality. This study addresses the current set of formal and informal planning institutions to discuss the way plots, buildings and blocks incrementally shape urban spaces and on the other hand how space impacts on human behaviour. So far, the case studies will be in Brazilian cities.Published versio
Flexibility in urban renewal practices: the case of Turkey
No full textBook of proceedings: Annual AESOP Congress, Spaces of Dialog for Places of Dignity, Lisbon, 11-14th July, 2017In Turkey, urban planning is provided through the regulatory planning system. However, significant changes in the planning system since 2000 have triggered a shift in the planning system which is defined as regulatory in theory, towards a flexible planning system in practice. A flexible system is also evident in urban renewal practices. Flexibility in urban renewal implementations occurs in two different ways. Firstly, urban renewal practices are excluded from the regulatory planning system due to a projected approach instead of a plan-led approach. Urban renewal practices are applied in accordance with special laws that have been in effect since 2004. These special laws bypass the hierarchy that exists within the regulatory planning system. Moreover, development rights, which are prepared in accordance with the regulatory planning system, expire once an area is declared an urban renewal area. This situation enables a great deal of flexibility in urban renewal practices, in sense of giving of new development rights. Secondly, the legal regulations regarding urban renewal differ from the legal tools of the regulatory planning system in that the former give both the central and local administrations discretionary power on various issues, such as the identification of the renewal area or the completion of the implementation.Published versio