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Permanent Transience: the identity crisis within representations of new urban housing
Get PDFIn the twenty-first century, our way of life is fast accelerating. This acceleration can be attributed to disposable and transient lifestyle, the desire to consume and the accessibility of products, all of which are simultaneously dependent on one another. Rarely, however, do we consider the notion of the disposable and the dynamics of consumption and production in spatial terms. In 2007-08 during the last economic boom in the UK, house building peaked as 207,370 new homes were constructed compared to 128,680 in 2009-10 after the economic collapse (Housing and planning statistics 2010), clearly demonstrating the relationship between the economy and construction, and in turn, production and consumption.
This paper considers three key urban issues related to the disposable and transient, production and consumption, and the identity of dwelling. Firstly, by espousing Paul Virilio’s theories of the dromospere and picnolepsy, the paper interrogates the relationship between speed and the disposable, and the paradoxical desire to escape the city only to be reliant on global technology within the safety of private space. Secondly, the paper continues by exploring issues of spatial production drawing from The Production of Space as well as Neil Brenner’s Implosions/ Explosions to raise concerns of social and community sustainability within capitalist urbanisation of cities. Thirdly, the paper contests the concept of dwelling as mass product, arguing that the consumerist-driven catalogue browsing approach to home ownership by definition separates the very essence of dwelling from community whilst it is still no more than an idea.
To support the theoretical position of this paper, three case studies of different typologies will be analysed via participant observation and discussions with residents. These case studies were all constructed during the last economic boom. The case studies are Bellevue, Dublin- a large apartment complex on the outskirts of the city centre, Cranbrook, Exeter- a new suburb to support Exeter’s expanding city and Singleton Close, Southport- a small estate of semi-detached dwellings. The paper concludes by attesting that slow urbanism, achieved by critical understanding of existing (or lack of) community identity could successfully improve social sustainability in the thickening urban network of globally connected cities
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
Spatial Morphology and Intelligibility: Enhancing Movement and Wayfinding in High-Density Environments: the Case of Mina Tent City
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Dubai revisited: is new planned housing sustainable?
No full textDubai, the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates, is a fast growing hub with increasing need for infrastructure, housing and public facilities. Dubai is trying to market itself as an attractive holiday destination, which saw the launching and building of large scale planned communities, some of which are located on reclaimed land along the city's coast line. This paper reviews Dubai\'s green building agenda by examining the scale and typologies of new and planned low carbon projects, and discusses the potential of renewable sources of energy that can reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels and improve the country's long term sustainability. It assesses the potential of solar energy, wind power, and geo-thermal energy in Dubai and the UAE in general
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
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