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Urbanization of slums in permanent preservation areas in urban areas in the Amazon region as a socio-spatial equity instrument
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southThis proposal intends to discuss the need to adopt new urban parameters and environmental sanitation in urban projects of slums in Permanent Preservation Areas (PPAs) in the Amazonian context, focusing on the city of Belém (capital of Pará State).
In a city whose historic urbanization process is so closely related to the conditions of the river system in the landscape, it can be inferred that there is conceptual elaboration possibilities of relations between urbanization and water. In the case of the city of Belém and its regional surroundings, the varied territorial forms that accompanied and expressed this process of urbanization exhibit structural components of this historic relationship.
Belém is located at the confluence of the Guamá River with the Bay of Guajará, intersected by several water courses and flooded areas. These geographical features proved to be an important factor in structuring their urban space and ended up representing a hindrance to urban expansion of the city, requiring a constant "struggler" against the wetlands (PENTEADO, 1968; MOREIRA,1966). On the other hand, the urban conformation of Belém structured "interstices" which, especially during the twentieth century, led the design of the lowland areas, which manifest the first characteristics of housing informality design developed today: physical precariousness of housing, the lack infrastructure, lack of regular subdivision and land irregularity. This process follows a Brazilian tendency with respect to the pattern of occupation of slums, from which the urban poor would be set, usually on public land, devalued, inadequate, fragility/environmental protection (BUENO, 2009). The strategies of occupation of these areas by the poor families include intensive land use, occupying the wetlands through construction adapted to the Amazon floodplain as the “palafita” and “estiva” under high constructive and population density in consolidated urban conditions.publishedVersio
Social representations of children in higher density housing: enviable, inevitable or evil?
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southApartments and townhouses are increasingly being advocated by developers and planners as an attractive and cosmopolitan housing choice and as a solution to a range of urban ills in Australian cities. Brisbane, Australia’s third largest city, has seen a dramatic increase in the construction of this relatively unfamiliar housing type in the past decade. Despite the proliferation of higher density developments, the appropriateness of apartments as a place to raise children is often contested by planners, developers and residents and in the newspaper media. In addition, Australian cities have often been criticised for failing to create child-friendly environments. Commentators have cited sedentary and over-protected lifestyles, lack of opportunity for recreation and self expression and high levels of parental anxiety as reasons why Australian cities are adversely impacting children (Gleeson & Sipe 2006). Prior research has noted a strong emphasis on childless, high income households in the discourses and marketing strategies surrounding this housing typology (Costello, 2005; Fincher 2007). This has historically served as a justification for the lack of provision of child-friendly facilities, areas and design in inner-city locations.
The following paper employs Social Representation Theory, a theory derived from social psychology, to identify the ways in which ‘common sense’ understandings of children in higher density housing is collectively constructed in Brisbane. The theory provides a critical lens to evaluate the way in which certain representations about children and housing are shared and supported while excluding, defending and limiting other representations in the process. The purpose of this paper is two-fold; firstly, it will identify key social representations of children in higher density occurring in the newspaper media and in the discourse of planners, developers and residents.publishedVersio
Corruption in planning, institutional design, and legal norms: a global challenge to planning law
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southPlanning legislation is today on the books of most countries of the world. All advanced economies certainly have planning laws. Recently there is a new momentum across the globe whereby many developing and transition countries too, either adopt planning laws for the first time, or replace antiquated dysfunctional laws. But what about corruption and planning law? What do we know about this unspoken “guerrilla in the room” which decision makers, consultants, and scholars, all wish to ignore?
Any planning-law system inevitably enables considerable discretion about the use and development of land. Planning laws enable the authorities to make plans – and these entail a considerable amount of judgment. Needless to say, the designation in plans of some parcels of land for lucrative development and other parcels for historic preservation, public services, or open space – all affect the value of land. Planning instruments used to implement plans also entail considerable leeway for decisions, such as the number and timing of building permits to be granted and those postponed or denied, variations allowed from the plan’s rules, and designation of some parcels fo land for expropriation. These and many more types of decisions steer great amounts of wealth, and can direct it to certain areas in cities or regions, and ultimately, to specific individuals who have much to gain, or lose. Land is not just another type of commodity. Land is the custodian of a major part of global wealth.
There is no index specifically focused on planning or land-related corruption, but all planning systems are susceptible to corruption to some extent. Even in countries with a very good score on the international “corruption perception index”, decision makers are not immune to land-related temptations.publishedVersio
The construction of the “Metropolis of the 2 banks”: cross-border cooperation and urban planning on the Franco-german border in Strasbourg-Ortenau
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southWhat can better symbolizes the process of integration in a large urbanized area than a pedestrian and cycling bridge linking two green areas located on two banks of a river? Moreover, this object embodies also the proximity between two cities thanks to the cross-‐border cooperation. The bridge and the garden of the two banks are now the core of the European ‘Metropolis of the 2 Banks’, the official name given to the urban space built on both sides of the border in the Franco-‐german urban area of Strasbourg-‐Kehl.
The aim of this paper is to understand how cross-‐border cooperation in urban planning, especially Interreg programmes, 25 years after their launching, contributes to build an integrated urban area on one of the most conflicted border from the first part of the 20th Century. How did both cities coordinate their plans and did they elaborate common plans? Does the emerging urban space reveal a special identity? What can we learn from this case study on cross-‐border urban planning in Europe in general?publishedVersio
Challenges of integrating Dolmus, the paratransit mode In Turkey, into the existing public transport network: the cases of Ankara and Istanbul
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southIn the last 20 years, Turkey experienced major changes in urban transportation in terms of quality and technology; new metro lines introduced, smart card ticketing applications became widespread, the quality of service vehicles improved etc. For the sustainable transportation management, Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications launched a smart transport project on the national level proposed to be completed in 2023. Within this project, decision makers are planning an integrated transport system in city scale. Nevertheless, the transit system would never be fully integrated without addressing the paratransit services and finding mechanisms to integrate them with the public transport network namely bus and metro services. According to the latest statistics, the share of paratransit in the total public transport trips in Ankara is 31.1 % and in highway traffic in Istanbul is 22.8 %. That is why, Turkish paratransit services which are called “dolmus” are needed to be coordinated with the conventional buses and metro services for the efficiency of the system. However, it should not be forgotten that the formalization process is quite important to create a successful operation. With the help of land use analyses, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) applications and case specific negotiations, decision makers have to introduce integration projects. Users, operators and decision makers are the three stakeholders of public transport operations. From three different perspectives of these three groups, advantages and challenges of the paratransit should be analyzed.publishedVersio
Mobility and access: the importance of an integrated transportation network for economic sustainability and quality of life
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southPopulation mobility and transportation access have become the main topic of public discussion in South Florida in recent years. As of 2014, the Miami Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which comprises the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, is the eighth most populous area in the United States, as well as the eighth most densely populated area. The significant population increase over the past two decades, combined with the geographic characteristics of the area which borders the Atlantic on the east the protected Everglades National Park on the west, have created significant transportation challenges. The urbanized area is as little as five miles wide (east to west), and reaches 20 miles at its widest, but stretches approximately 110 miles (180 km) from south to north. Among the world’s urbanized areas, only one – New York - equals the length of the Miami MSA.
The adverse effects of increasing traffic volumes and gridlock observed on most major roads in the area has produced an increased interest by the community on the relevance of transportation to quality of life and sustainable development. In the context of transportation, sustainability is “a way to make our communities more livable by integrating and balancing economic, social and environmental needs.” (American Public Transportation Association).publishedVersio
The socio-economic interfaces of the Port City of Ghent: acknowledging its potential towards the third industrial revolution
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southSince the 1950s, the historical strong link between port and city changed and became weaker. Following the second industrial revolution based on petro-chemical processes, the maritime industrial and transport sectors focussed on economies of scale. This forced port activities to move away from their host cities in search of better accessible areas to develop (Olivier & Slack, 2006). Next to these spatial effects, the revolution also induced the upcoming of a powerful, but limited, group of multinationals (OECD/ITF, 2015). The combination of the enlargement of (bulk, liquid or container) cargo and the growing power of multinationals changed the governance of port cities. Already in the 1990s, Slack (1993, p. 580) stated that “Ports are becoming pawns in an game of commerce that is global in scale”. This change of power towards the private sector induced the establishment of independent port authorities and delineated port areas around the world (Verhoeven, 2010). It seemed that the former tight interweaving of urban and port governance was not suited to react fast enough to the ever changing requirements of the multinationals, resulting in a competitive disadvantage.
The second industrial revolution thus forced ports and cities to break up their different interfaces: economic, social, cultural, institutional and geographical. Consequently, worldwide ports grew with an increasing pace, this fuelled by the reciprocal relation between the competing port authorities and the economies of scale of the maritime petro-chemical and transport industry. However, since the global financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent economic downturn, this evolution is more and more questioned (ESPO, 2010; OECD, 2013; OECD/ITF, 2015).publishedVersio
Bottom-up energy transition. An analysis of successful and failed niche projects as basis for an energy transition as an overall social learning process
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southThe energy transition is one of the most complex transformation processes of this century. In view of the threat of climate change, the energy supply system, developed over more than a hundred years, with its energy supply chains and energy consumption patterns is planned to be largely replaced by a new system protecting the climate and the environment by the year 2050. An optimisation of the existing system alone will not suffice to reach the necessary climate protection goals. Due to the accelerated phase-out of nuclear power in the wake of the reactor accident at Fukushima in 2011, time pressure and the need for action in Germany are particularly great, since the shut-down of nuclear power plants leads to an increasing combustion of coal for power generation, which has negative effects on climate development. The large energy supply companies have so far invested very little in the expansion of power generation from renewable energies and economically still strongly depend on their fossil fuel-based power plants. Since it is not yet clear which new technologies are suitable for renewable power production - especially for the energy transition - and will establish themselves in markets, they are holding back large investments for the time being.publishedVersio
Bridging sustainability and liveability notions through building codes and regulations: an examination of streetscapes shaped by urban renewal, housing and infrastructure policies in Peru
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southThe discussion about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the recently approved United Nations global development agenda post-2015, generated an intense debate on the urban SDG (or Goal 11) during the preliminary rounds. Unexpectedly, this debate convened the academic and the policy circles alike, somehow revealing certain alignment in the concerns of both arenas. Although some interpret this alignment as a step forward in closing the pervasive gap between academic research and (global/national/local) urban policy-making, it is apparent that the fulfilment of the main aim of Goal 11’s: “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” would entail some conceptual and operational trade-offs that need to be addressed during the implementation stage. It can be argued that these trade-offs revolve around the synergies and contradictions of two notions: sustainability and liveability. Defined as the “sustainability vs. liveability” debate by the literature, scalar, temporal, disciplinary and measurement issues have been pointed out as main features to consider when operationalising these notions through policy and planning frameworks. To an extent, the contradictory nature of these issues has not been fully addressed, as revealed by the approaches currently dominating some policy and planning frameworks. In fact, it can be observed that many cities that nowadays are deemed as successful and with high quality of life have shifted their policy and planning agendas from sustainability to liveability approaches in the last decade (e.g. Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle, etc.).publishedVersio
Agglomeration benefits and polycentric growth: envisioning an efficient central metropolitan area in Belgium
No full textProceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the southIn Flanders (Belgium), the regional government engages itself to develop an efficient ‘metropolis Flanders’, which is large enough to assume an important economic position in the network of urban regions of the north-western European delta. The heart of this urban agglomeration is the metropolitan core area that comprises roughly the functional space of the quadrangle Brussels-Leuven-Antwerp-Ghent, also known as the ‘Flemish Diamond’ (Albrechts & Lievois, 2004). This densely populated core area is well accessible and embedded in the European context, but experiences a variety of pressures. For example, a large portion of the predicted population growth of Flanders and Brussels is expected to settle in this area. As a consequence, the development of a ‘metropolis Flanders’ should be based on solid strategic planning policies. The current paper reports on a research project (Van Meeteren et al., 2015), aimed at determining whether the defined metropolitan area operates as a well-integrated urban agglomeration, and at developing a spatial vision on strengthening this metropolitan core area through a stakeholder debate. We make this analysis respectively with regards to the labour market, the housing market, and the transport sector (with the emphasis on public transport). The study is positioned within the guidelines as set out by the Green Paper on Spatial Policy in Flanders (Flemish Government, 2012), meaning that the emphasis will be put on the ability to support a spatial visioning process, rather than aiming for an exhaustive spatial analysis. The exercise is carried out in a complex institutional context. Boussauw et al. (2013) indicate that the central-Belgian metropolitan area spreads out across three administrative regions (Flanders, Brussels Capital Region, and Wallonia), with the Dutch-French language border as a very strong barrier within some subsystems (e.g. within a range of public services), but nonetheless negligible in many other subsystems (e.g. international businesses).publishedVersio