AESOP Digital Archive
Not a member yet
2915 research outputs found
Sort by
Enhancing Social Interaction in Urban Spaces: The Role of Vertical Greening Systems in High-Density Areas
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024The critical role of nature exposure in fostering prosocial behaviour and social connectedness is wellestablished in existing research, while intensifying urbanization presents growing challenges to the development of the nature in urban areas. The Vertical Greening System (VGS), an innovative approach that conserves land, emerges as a creative solution. However, its potential in enhancing social interactions remains under-explored. To bridge this gap, experiments were conducted to assess the impact of VGS on improving spatial quality, enhancing space attractiveness, and increasing pedestrians' willingness to walk, stay, and engage in social interactions. Results indicate that VGS serve as important visual attractors and significantly enhances the visual attractiveness of urban spaces, leading to improved perceptions of environmental quality. This enhancement positively affects the affective experience of pedestrians, creating a more inviting atmosphere conducive to walk, stay, and socialize. Eye-tracking data shows that green elements serve as important visual attractors, suggesting that their strategic placement in urban design is critical to promoting social interaction.
Keywords: Vertical greening system, Environmental perception, Affective experience, Social interactionpublished versio
Fallacies and Revisions: Evaluation of Economic Benefits of Development Rights Transfer and Density Bonus -- 17th and 69th Neighborhoods in Shanghai Hongkou Historic Conservation Districts Regeneration as the Case
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024Development rights transfer and density bonus (TDR&DB)are often vaguely and implicitly used as a financial compensation tool in historic conservation districts regeneration in Shanghai to compensate to achieve a comprehensive cost-benefit balance. However, this is a misinterpretation and deviation of the effect of TDR&DB. This paper takes the 17th and 69th neighborhoods in Hongkou District as an example, explains the constraints on the cost-benefit of the regeneration, analyzes the market mechanism of TDR&DB, and evaluates the economic benefits of TDR&DB in detail with the help of land value allocation rate method and revenue reduction method. The study concludes that: 1) local governments often have the false illusion of FAR when using TDR&DB, they should restrain their urge to increase FAR and restore the basic attributes of public interest orientation of TDR&DB. They should explore the shift from the land expropriation model to the rights conversion model to reduce the cost of urban regeneration; 2) the idea of cost-benefit balance has obscured the essence and value of TDR, the essence of the TDR is to realize the efficient utilization of overall spatial resources through the dynamic adjustment of development rights. This provides a new way for the introduction of this system into our country; 3) market players can obtain more economic benefits by using TDR&DB, and they should make more "special public contributions" for the regional development. It is suggested to introduce the concepts of "incentive coefficient" and "incentive amount" to accurately evaluate the "special public contributions"; 4) The TDR&DB should take into account their external effects on the surrounding areas, and further research should be conducted to quantify and evaluate the external effects of the receiving lots, so as to promote the practical application of TDR&DB. The above conclusions can provide useful references for constructing a sustainable urban regeneration mechanism in China.
Key Words: Development rights transfer and density bonus (TDR&DB), Evaluation of Economic Benefits, Economic calculations, historic conservation districts, Market mechanism, Urban regenerationpublished versio
Roundtable Inclusive and Cohesive Urban Development in European Cities European Reflections and Learnings for a Post-War Urban Planning Friday, October 18, 2024
No full textColleagues at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, together with the AESOP Thematic Group on Transboundary Planning and Governance invited the AESOP community to an indeed remarkable one day Roundtable to collect European experiences and inspiration for a post-war urban planning in Ukraine. This day of Roundtable continued the engagement of the AESOP Thematic Group in voicing the various implications for Urban and Regional Planning in the face of the war in Ukraine. At earlier occasions organized by the TG, concerns of European macroregional and cross border cooperation were discussed in more detail (f.e. at the AESOP Annual Congress in Lodz 2022). At the Bratislava event, emphasis was put on listening to challenges and threats of urban and regional planning in Ukraine and to discussing learnings and options for a post-war era. The event was transdisciplinary and the list of speakers stretched from Ukrainian politicians and stakeholders to national and international researchers in the field. As a result, contributions were diverse and painted a varied picture of post-war planning. Some explicitly highlighted the situation in Ukrainian cities while others provided input and learning from post-war urban planning from other places and from historical experiences. The setting of the event helped to connect the practitioners’ and the researchers’ inputs by being a fully hybrid event, taking place at the premises of Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava and being livestreamed via zoom to the online community of AESOP and particularly Ukraine. A total of approx. 60 participants joined the event, half of them onsite and half of them online
Second Runner-up 2024 AESOP Excellence In Teaching Award - Building competence of participation in planning - Module-based teaching in/for/on knowledge, skills, and experience
No full textThe course is an elective interdisciplinary course for students in spatial planning education. It contains three modules covering three aspects of participation competence: knowledge of, skills in and, experiences with participation. Different study backgrounds have been reflected in their learning activities and through peer-to-peer learning. The course is theoretically grounded in the theory of multiple learning loops that not only includes the students, but the educators and institution as well. Students learn through reading and reflection of theoretical concepts, practical case studies and experiencing a real-life case, running a participation activity with children and/or youth. The students have to deliver a range of assignments reflecting the aimed learning outcome for each of the three linked modules. The feedback from students, based on course evaluations, and surveys before and after the course, indicates a significant learning curve, particularly in practical applications, compared to theoretical learning alone.publishedVersio
Resisting and reinforcing neoliberalism
Get PDFRossini, L. (2024). Resisting and reinforcing neoliberalism. plaNext – Next Generation Planning, 14, 11–18. https://doi.org/10.24306/plnxt/100In the context of the ongoing global intertwined financial, environmental, socio-political crises, the intricate relationship between neoliberal urban planning and the challenges these crises present has become increasingly visible. Despite these challenges, neoliberal restructuring justifications remain central to urban agendas and planning culture, often exacerbating social inequality. Its principles and related political decisions frequently intensify social conflicts, sparking protests as their adverse effects on marginalized communities and areas become evident, especially after decades of market-driven policies and the global financial crisis. In many cities around the globe, these popular rebellions, as local and residential activism, started increasingly to target varying regulatory regimes and strategies pursued by supranational, national, or local authorities, often organized as urban social movements.
This think piece examines how neoliberal urbanism simultaneously incites resistance and absorbs it, reflecting a paradox where insurgent practices challenge the system but are also co-opted into its framework. By exploring key dynamics in urban governance, participation, and social movements, it seeks to understand how neoliberalism’s resilience lies in its ability to incorporate dissent into its operating logic while marginalizing radical alternatives, so to perpetuate its dominance despite widespread opposition. Briefly mentioning some examples of organized groups and forms of resistance around the globe, theoretical debates, and historical perspectives, the discussion unfolds by: analyzing how neoliberal practices shape urban governance and planning; investigating how movements resist neoliberalism and how their ideas are co-opted; addressing the enduring struggle over “to whom the city belongs” and proposing ways to foster meaningful democratic engagement.publishedVersio
How Shanghai’s Urban Heritage Conservation Plan Loses Effect? Paradoxical Governance Goals and Disparities in the Regeneration of Residential Historic Neighborhoods
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024Shanghai is a pioneer for urban heritage conservation in China. However, a sharp turn has emerged since 2018, where existing regeneration pathways for historic residential neighbourhoods are replaced by governmental buyouts, total demolition, and exclusive luxury housing redevelopments, facilitated by conservation masterplan revisions achieved through invitational expert participation. This paper examines the multiple self-contradictory goals that the local government plans or claims to achieve behind this sharp redevelopmental turn, and argues that these paradoxical goals – together with widespread debates and contestations across various realms that transform into coalitions of distinct stances – have necessitated the creation of a complex governmentality mediated through mainstream narratives about urban renewal. As a case study, we mapped sweeping land buyout, urban fabric change, and conservation masterplan breaches/revisions in Shanghai’s Historic City Centre (Laochengxiang), and carried out discourse analysis based on text and video materials (n=393) to reveal dynamics of contestation, coalition formation, and governmentality production. While the Shanghai case echoes existing models such as state-initiated social engineering and state entrepreneurialism, emerging traits of “new municipalism” (manifested by self-mobilisation of non-government stakeholders) are also observed. With this perspective, we analysed risks and disparities in Shanghai’s urban renewal movement, and discussed ways forward focusing on community agency.
Keywords: urban regeneration, historic district, contestation, governmentality, state entrepreneurialism, new municipalismpublished versio
Chlorophyll City: Regenerative and Restorative Urban Planning for a Sustainable Future through Extensive and Branching Reforestation Initiatives
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024The problems arising from the expansion of cities are global challenges that require innovative and sustainable solutions. This paper explores the beneficial potential of urban forestation with regenerative and restorative urban planning. Focusing on the reuse of marginal, empty and abandoned areas, it proposes to transform them into smart parks to mend the green spots of cities and to reconnect the empty and degraded urban tissues, but would also offer tangible services and benefits to the local community. All connected through ecohuman networks to make urban spaces relatable and give species the opportunity to move freely in uncontrolled cities. This integrated approach to urban planning could play a crucial role in shaping chlorophyll cities, sustainable for the future.
Keywords: Urban environmental sustainability, Restorative and Regeneration, Natural Based Solution, Cultural Based Solution, Eco-Human corridorspublished versio
A Study on the Path of Enhancing the Social-ecological System Resilience in Shrinking Small Towns in China
Get PDFGame changer? Planning for just and sustainable urban regions, Paris, 8-12th July 2024In 2022, China experienced its first population decline in decades, leading to an increasingly common phenomenon of urban and rural shrinkage. Small towns, under the dual pressures of the suction effect from larger cities and rural revitalization policies, face elevated development risks. This paper proposes pathways to enhance the resilience of the social-ecological system of shrinking small towns through the territorial spatial planning. These pathways include enhancing buffering capacity both within and beyond urban development boundaries, strengthening self-organisation at all levels, and improving learning capacity through dynamic assessment and adjustment. The aim is to proactively mitigate the risks faced by shrinking small towns, improve residents' quality of life, and offer insights for China's high-quality urbanization development and governance.
Keywords: shrinkage, small town, social-ecological system, resilience, territorial spatial planningpublished versio
Video: In search of the caring city
No full textAhead of the game: Reversibility, frugality and care in the context of urban transitions. Grenoble, July 3-6th, 2024What does this book set out to do?
- recognising a breadth of care issues that are of relevance to urban environments and their design.
- to consider some of the broad ways in which urban design positions and shapes care practices and relations and how, in the process, it can be considered as caring ... and as an ethical practice responding to care issues and contexts of various kinds.
- to set out a configuration of aspects or dimensions of a caring cit
Master of Science in Urban Regeneration and Planning (Department of City and Regional Planning Faculty of Architecture, Yıldız Technical University)
No full textThe MSc in Urban Regeneration and Planning delivered at Yildiz Technical University is distinctive in its focus on courses in urban regeneration and planning with a specific focus on the socio-spatial, economic and political issues for urban transformation. It brings together the following aspects of quality in planning education:
Programme Curriculum and Identity
- An effective blend of compulsory and elective courses focused on contemporary research areas in urban regeneration and planning. An excellent balance of theoretical, methodological and policy-based courses delivered by a highly-qualified teaching team in relation to the interdisciplinary character of the programme.
- An effective exposure to contemporary political, economic and socio-spatial challenges across the modules of the curriculum.
- Fostering awareness about global change, its relevance and implications at the regional scale and beyond.
Principles of Pedagogy
- Providing students with theoretical and practical knowledge whilst enabling them with opportunities to develop analytical, critical and interpretive thinking through methodological and studio-based courses.
- Excellent level of student’s/employer's engagement in facilitating research-oriented and proactive curriculum appraisal, and bridging the gap between planning education and reallife practices through real-world projects, field trips, site visits, and guest lectures.
- Encouragement of active, independent and peer-learning in theoretical and studio-based courses through reflective learning, project-based learning (PBL), work in teams, workshops, and presentations.
Best Practices
- Providing lectures promoting practical reasoning, fostering interactive and engaging reflection on court cases, and addressing contemporary social and spatial challenges.
- Offering course such as the "Planning, Urban Transformation, Implementation Studio (SBP 5201)" that involve the municipalities, focusing on problems, and finding innovative solutions. It also shows how the gap is bridged