AESOP Digital Archive
Not a member yet
2915 research outputs found
Sort by
Revising the AESOP Core Curriculum – for the 21st century
No full textdisP - The Planning Review, 60(1)In 1995, AESOP issued its ‘Statement on European Planning Education’Footnote1 – with the objective of establishing common principles that would foster high-quality planning education provision across Europe. These common principles were encapsulated in a set of requirements forming a Core Curriculum for planning education. Adopted by the AESOP community, these principles served as the basis for the admission of new AESOP member institutions and to promote quality in planning education.
However, as planning is a very dynamic field, planning practice and the profession have changed considerably since 1995. Awareness of issues related to climate change and sustainable development has increased; national and local democracies have evolved; and the digital revolution is profoundly impacting the process and the tools of planning, to mention a few important changes. Furthermore, the Bologna agreement (1999) has changed the academic landscape, offering new possibilities and imposing new constraints on the organisation of planning education. For these reasons, in 2021, AESOP’s ExCo decided to embark on updating the principles eschewed in its Core Curriculum.publishedVersio
Transit-Oriented Development Approach to Social Sustainability, Doha city as a Case Study
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024Transit-oriented developments (TODs) are widely used to promote sustainable mobility by encouraging residents to use public transportation and to reduce car dependence (Calthorpe, 1993). Doha, the capital of Qatar, has faced numerous challenges including excessive reliance on private vehicles and lack of integrated last-mile connections. This study points to better integrating TOD models with sustainability indicators, to achieve more sustainable urban development. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used, including literature review concentrating on TOD and sustainable urban mobility, SWOT assessment, site analysis, data collection from the Qatar Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), consultant companies, and Qatar Railways Company. The study demonstrates the adaptation of TOD approach to non-western country through promoting socio-cultural spaces, heat mitigation strategy, integrated transport system, and more community engagements.
Keywords: Transit-Oriented Development, Sustainable Development, travel behaviour, Doha, Qatarpublished versio
Research on the Psychological Health Impacts for Children in Urban Built Environments Zhang, Dongyu
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024In recent years, the incidence of psychological and behavioral problems in children has increased, making it a critical intervention target within the framework of the Healthy China Action. The development of children's psychological health is influenced by a myriad of factors, with psychological biases potentially accumulating over time and evolving into psychological health issues such as depression and autism. Various disciplinary fields address the development of children's psychological health through genetic factors, family dynamics, social surroundings, and material space. Among these, urban and rural planning disciplines optimize the material spatial environment through planning design and indicator regulation, mitigating or reducing biases in children's psychological development and thus preventing or ameliorating the psychological health risks they face. Existing studies indicate a substantial correlation between factors of the urban built environment and residents' psychological health, exerting long-term, sustained, widespread, and subtle effects on psychological well-being with the potential for optimization and improvement. Moreover, owing to their social vulnerability, health susceptibility, and highly malleable biological characteristics, children's psychological health is particularly susceptible to the influence of urban built environments. The developmental trajectory of children's psychological health possesses unique characteristics, and their utilization and experience of urban space differ from that of adults. Some studies have noted that certain material spatial elements relevant to adult psychological health may not hold the same significance among children and adolescents. Therefore, in urban planning research addressing the psychological health needs of children, the following questions merit further elucidation: (1) What constitutes the specific connotation of children's psychological health, and what comprises psychological health at different age stages? (2) What are the characteristics of the effects of urban built environments on children's psychological health? (3) What potential impact pathways exist during this process? This article aims to explore the impact of the urban built environment on children's psychological health across these three dimensions. Comprehensive interdisciplinary research seeks to clarify the concepts, processes, and compositions of children's psychological health, along with the psychological health characteristics of children across all age groups; extract and identify elements and characteristic indicators of the urban built environment, analyzing their impact pathways from various perspectives on the psychological health benefits for children.
Keywords: Children's Psychological Health; Urban Built Environment; Interdisciplinary Researchpublished versio
The Impact of Online Social Activities on Public Spaces in the Digital era - A Case Study of Guochuang Park in Nanjing
No full textGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024In the digital era, public spaces are not only significant venues for daily recreational experiences in the physical world but also the focus of online social platforms. This study, using Guochuang Park in Nanjing, China, as a case study, to explore how online social activities influence the production of virtual spaces on social media platforms and the vitality and landscape of physical public spaces. The research indicates that users on the platform establish new social relationships and virtual spaces through online social activities. Additionally, platform activities can inject vitality into physical spaces but may also lead to some social and spatial issues. Consequently, this study advocates for urban planning to accommodate digital activities while preserving the significance of physical spaces.
Keywords: Social Media Platform, Online Social Activities, Public Space Vitality, Production of Space, Local Culturepublished versio
Integrating Curation and Retail in Chinese Urban Commercial Revitalization: The transnational exchange of the curatorial concept in Shanghai and Beijing, China
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024Originally from the Latin for "to care for," curation has evolved from organizing and presenting within museums and galleries, to interactive facilities and immersive experience of audiences in contemporary urban space, where art installations transform streets and commercial complexes into vibrant cultural environments. In this vein, the paper focuses on "CURETAIL," a strategy that integrates curatorial practices into retail to rejuvenate urban commercial areas, and attempts to uncover the knowledge exchange behind. It takes two leading contemporary projects, namely TX Huaihai in Shanghai and The Box Chaowai in Beijing as cases. Contextualized in the historical development of retail commercial space and curation practice globally, the paper investigates the conceptualization of project operators, responsive design strategies and consumers’ preferences, identifies the characteristics of CURETAIL and reveals the transnational factors behind.
Key words: Transnational exchanges, CURETAIL, retail commercial space, urban regenerationpublished versio
Winner of the 2024 AESOP Excellence In Teaching Award - The city and the environment
Get PDF‘The city and the environment’ is a compulsory urban planning course taught in the 3rd year of the Foundation Degree in Architecture at the School of Architecture of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. It deals with the relationship between the city and its physical-climatic environment through the study, analysis, diagnosis, and proposals at the territorial and urban scale. It is organised based on a practical workshop but considering the need for a concrete and exhaustive knowledge of the basic concepts and relationships established between urban centres and the physical environment in which they are located.
In the first part of the workshop, an approach to the city and its territory will be made at different scales, carrying out different analysis exercises: physical and climatic environment, environmental aspects, landscape, etc., to end with a synthesis and territorial diagnosis to obtain the suitability of the land for certain uses (urban, agricultural-livestock and protection). This part will be supported by an instrumental block, which will help to know the analysis tools used in practice, based on the Geographic Information System (GIS).
In the second part of the workshop, an environmental assessment of a specific urban area will be carried out with the aim of proposing microclimatic improvements, focusing on healthy urban design, in its outdoor public spaces (streets, squares, urban edges, facilities, etc.)
During the workshop classes, a debate will be established between all the working groups, which will constitute the main scenario for the development of the practical work and for its follow-up by the teachers.publishedVersio
Evaluation and Spatial Governance Strategies for Old Residential Areas' Renewal and reconstruction in Urban Downtown Districts: A Case Study of 70 old residential areas in Changzhou, China
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024As vital components of urban renewal efforts in old city districts, old residential areas play a crucial role in rejuvenating regional vitality, enhancing residents' well-being, and fostering sustainable economic and social development in cities. Taking the example of the transformation of old residential areas in the Zhonglou District of Changzhou City over the past three years, a comprehensive assessment is conducted.By integrating the theory of a full life cycle, a holistic evaluation system for the renovation of aging residential communities is established to assess the project comprehensively. This evaluation system focuses on three dimensions: space, services, and culture, in order to evaluate overall resident satisfaction across all elements.Finally, long-term governance strategies are proposed from four dimensions: government governance, social operations, engineering projects, and economic funding.
Keywords: Old residential area, Renewal evaluation, Spatial governancepublished versio
From uncertainty to the ‘mega’ event: Four years of AESOP events
No full textdisP - The Planning Review, 60:4This article provides a concise retrospective of AESOP’s event evolution from 2020 to 2024, a period marked by global uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical crises. It traces the association’s transition from cancelled and online-only activities to a full return to in-person events, culminating in a large-scale congress in Paris in 2024. The piece highlights how AESOP adapted through hybrid formats, empowered Thematic Groups, and introduced a new Conference Management System. Through these transformations, AESOP not only maintained continuity in scholarly exchange but also strengthened its internal community and global outreach. The analysis underscores the resilience of academic networks and the potential of flexible event formats in sustaining professional engagement during disruptive times.publishedVersio
The Evaluation on Walkability in an Aging Society : the Case of Senri New Town, Japan
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024This study aimed to enhance urban environments for the elderly by assessing walkability in the Takanodai area of Senri New Town, Japan. Seven indicators for walkability were selected through a literature review, and a quantitative evaluation using the seven indicators was conducted. The results are presented in a heat map of walkability, and shows that pedestrian-only paths scored lower than roadways in detached house residential areas. This suggests that slopes and stairs of pedestrian-only paths were not considered obstacles at the time of construction of the new town, and have remained unchanged over time. It is possibly due to a low level of awareness on addressing barrier-free issues by whom? in the past. In contrast, pedestrianized street in public housing zone scored higher than others. The reason for this may be that the public housing zone was designed with better green space and sidewalks. The study's findings could inform improvement areas for future urban development for creating walkable cities accessible to all citizens.
Keywords: walkability, elderly, slopes and stairs, Newtown, urban developmentpublished versio
Building Tomorrow's Urban Futures: Reflections on the “BuildDigiCraft” Project and the Pursuit of High-Quality “Baukultur” in Higher Education
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024The BuildDigitalCraft project (2019 - 2022) underscores the importance of education in fostering interdisciplinary knowledge exchange for creating high-quality urban spaces. It highlights a shift towards deeply integrating digital tools into professional practices while acknowledging societal concerns about digitalization in education. Findings indicate a significant evolution in our approach, moving from using digital tools as aids to deeply integrating them into professional practices. This article advocates for academia to serve as a facilitator of emerging modes of learning and promote scientific self-reflection. It emphasises the multidisciplinary nature of high-quality Baukultur and advocates for the intertwining of crafting qualities, tacit knowledge, and qualitative immeasurable aspects with digital, quantifiable, and data-driven qualities.published versio