1,720,953 research outputs found
Integrated Urban River Corridors: Spatial design for social-ecological resilience in Bucharest and beyond
No full textThe issue of urban resilience concerns a multitude of urban systems and spaces. This thesis focuses on Urban River Corridors (URCs)—that is, urban spaces where the overlap between the urban systems (carrying the ’social-‘) and the river system (carrying the ‘-ecological’) is at the highest intensity—as strategic spaces with a potentially high contribution to urban resilience. The general hypothesis is that with an integrated spatial understanding, planning and design of rivers and the urban fabric surrounding them, cities could become more resilient not just to flood-related disturbances, but to general chronic stresses as well. Hence, the thesis addresses four spatial problems arising from the loss of synergy between the natural dynamics of rivers and the spatial configuration and composition of urban areas that they cross: (1) river-taming operations combined with riverside traffic corridors have weakened the relationship between fluvial geomorphology and urban morphology, transforming rivers into physical barriers; (2) flood-protection measures aiming for resistance to water dynamics have led to a latent flood risk; (3) the capacity of urban rivers to deliver ecosystem services has been diminished; and (4) rationalisations of the river system have reduced the scalar, (and implicitly) social and ecological complexity of urban rivers.Drawing on theories of social-ecological resilience and urban form resilience, on conceptual and analytical tools from spatial morphology and landscape ecology, and on practical experience in urban river design projects, the thesis constructs a theory of social-ecologically integrated Urban River Corridors, in which it proposes a spatial-morphological definition, an assessment framework, and a set of design principles and design instruments. Framed as a transdisciplinary design study, the thesis integrates knowledge from various disciplines dealing with the problematique of urban rivers and employs a design-driven methodology that includes design explorations and design testing in the research process.The case of Bucharest crossed by URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina is used to contextualise the spatial-morphological definition, and to demonstrate, develop and test the proposed assessment framework, design principles, and design instruments with a distinct set of methods in each of the three parts of the thesis. In addition to a transdisciplinary literature review of URCs, and a historical review of Bucharest’s URCs, Part 1 presents a qualitative data analysis of 22 expert interviews, used to determine the current state of URC Dâmbovița and URC Colentina. Based on four key properties of URCs identified in literature, Part 2 develops an indicator system and a method for the assessment of social-ecological integration. Informed by key problems and potentials identified by the local experts, the assessment framework is then applied on the two URCs of Bucharest. In the last part, design applications, including urban river projects carried out by the author on other rivers and a design workshop in Bucharest, are used to demonstrate and test the design principles through design instruments.A+BE | Architecture and the Built Environment No 31 (2018)Environmental Technology and Desig
Bucharest: Between North and South
No full textBucharest, as many other cities, is a divided city. This urban divide is described here as the result of a dense historic stratification of unfinished urban projects, in terms of current socio-economic processes, and as related to the conflict between the structure of the city and its wider environment. Rather than targeting the less developed half of the city, the proposed strategy addresses the area of interaction between the two sides: the valley. Born from the former floodplain of Dâmbovi?a, the river crossing Bucharest's very center, here the valley is structurally defined on the West-East direction, while the three case studies show the details of the intervention meant to improve the integration between North and South. The work is concluded with a reflection on the possible wider effects of the intervention and initiates a debate on how the structure of the city might change into a configuration that has a more synergistic relation with the territory.European Postgraduate Masters in UrbanismUrbanismArchitectur
Smart and resilient cities: How can big data inform spatial design and planning for urban resilience?
No full textAmongst other vectors of change, the development of cities as complex socio-technical-environmental systems is influenced by two notable driving forces: the accelerated development of smart city technologies enabled by the abundance pervasiveness of Big Data and the challenge of resilience to an increasing number of shocks and stresses driven by climate change and urbanisation. Recognising potential synergies between these two driving forces, the paper explores ways in which Big Data can contribute to the translation of systemic resilience targets into principles of spatial transformation and, as a result, to a better evidence base for urban design and planning decisions. To that end, the paper discusses the relationship between Big Data, urban design and planning, and urban resilience. It highlights how resilience-building is enabled by Big Data through, such as evidence-based design, spatial data visualisation and cross-scalar design. The paper also provides an overview of challenges that are brough by Big Data to urban resilience-building. The discussion ends with how Big-Data-driven urban resilience can be an approach that is complementary rather than alternative to traditional practices.Urban Desig
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Concrete Dynamics
No full textBridges are both landscape and infrastructure elements. Looking through the eyes of a landscape architect, bridges become a continuation of the landscape; a manmade action that heals the misconnections of the landscape. The problematique of infrastructure as a type of landscape and connecting element is a crucial topic which influences the landscape and its function. Connecting infrastructures such as bridges provoke urban, economic and cultural development . The challenge for landscape architects is to investigate in conceptualizing and illustrating a design approach that involves the landscape-urban connection and influences the society, economic growth and natural processes. The design of a bridge is a multidisciplinary task which requires a lot of understanding of the landscape, natural processes and engineering. The framing of the landscape through the infrastructure, sense of orientation, symbolism, imageability and adaptability of the design form the method which a landscape architect should follow in order to design a landscape infrastructure.Architecture and The Built EnvironmentUrbanismLandscape Architectur
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Forum Romanum in Varna: A landscape-based strategy for the integration of marginalized Roma settlements through a sequence of public spaces
No full textThe city is a cultural object. It is a place where social life reflects the values and habits of communities. Every city is characterized by centralities and marginalities, with specific socio-spatial concentrations of maximum significance, while others lack in value. The political landscape of Eastern Europe has dramatically changed over the past few decades. The challenges in the contemporary urban landscape are the result of technocratic approach to the spatial planning system and society during Communism. Its process of urban systematization to create a mask of national homogeneity on a complex ethnic patchwork has affected and changed the cultural landscape. Paradoxically, this policy of assimilation has resulted in the enhancement of ethnic boundaries and led to the contemporary fragmented cities in which increased social injustice is visible. Roma are generally considered ‘outsiders‘ by the ethnic Bulgarians, as there is little shared national culture among the dominant national culture and the specific culture of the Roma minority. This vulnerable position of Roma in the socio- economic hierarchy is reflected in their spatial position in the urban landscape. The Roma, or: ethnic minorities in general, ask for a new vision on the urban planning systems, whereby multi-cultural diversity and self-managing communities form the core of the urban development strategy. There might be limitless ways to integrate communities within the socio-spatial reality of a city. Yet, the defining feature of every community is its connection with the landscape. The operative landscape approach defines the landscape as a constantly evolving medium that takes notion of programmatic and ecological dynamics and uses landscape to direct communities to an inclusive whole by incorporating change over time and maintaining an active project agenda. This thesis explores an ethnic minority as Cultural Enclave to understand how the cultural identity of an ethnic group could be used as a defined feature with potential in itself for integration. Thus fragmentation becomes diversity and is something to be celebrated rather than conquered.Landscape ArchitectureUrbanismArchitecture and The Built Environmen
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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