Ordenar a Cidade - Newsletter 04

http://www.ordenaracidade.pt/


Newsletter 04 | 31 de Março de 2014



Caríssimos, temos o prazer de vos anunciar:

• A realização dos dois primeiros seminários sobre o ordenamento da ocupação dispersa, a partir dos resultados da nossa investigação, apresentados por Jorge Carvalho, Alexandre Cancela d’Abreu, Carina Pais e Frederico Moura e Sá. Terão lugar na sede dos respetivos organizadores: dia 4 de Abril, na CCDR-Algarve, e dia 11 de Abril na CCDR-Norte. Mais informações aqui e aqui.

• A participação, também no dia 4, de Jorge Carvalho numa conversa sobre estratégia e cidades com o Eng.º Fonseca Ferreira, em Santarém. Mais informações no site da APPLA.

Recebeu este email porque está registado na newsletter do grupo http://www.ordenaracidade.pt/

Se pretender dialogar connosco, reforçar pontos de vista, contestar as nossas opiniões, poderá usar o contacto de email geral@ordenaracidade.pt

How future urban sprawl maps out

Projections of urban growth indicate areas where biodiversity is at high risk.

Lucas Laursen
18 September 2012

Urbanization shapes the environment, but the way in which it does so depends on where and how cities grow. In an effort to forecast how urbanization over the next couple of decades might affect biodiversity and the carbon cycle around the world, researchers have made detailed predictions about how urban areas are likely to grow.

Forecasts of different regions' likelihood of urban expansion could be used to direct conservation efforts.

Urban growth is proceeding apace, with the biggest changes occurring in developing countries. The United Nations (UN) predicts that cities will absorb all of the world's population growth — of around 2.3 billion people — in the next four decades. Yet population projections do not account for variations in how individual cities occupy their land, nor the impact they have on local ecosystems. So geographer Karen Seto of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and her colleagues looked more closely at how individual cities grow.
...

Given the team's prediction that the world's urban area will double by 2030, Seto says well-informed decisions made now stand to have a large impact. Seto adds that she hopes conservation groups will begin to consider "urbanization hotspots" and will help to shape the next generation of urban infrastructure to account for biodiversity. "Once roads are in place, sewers are in place, it's really difficult to re-do how a city looks," she says.

Ler artigo completo:
http://www.nature.com/news/how-future-urban-sprawl-maps-out-1.11426

VIII Colóquio de Geografia de Coimbra "Espaço, Natureza e Sociedade. A Geografia na Estratégia 2020 da Região Centro:"

Quando:
27 e 28 de março de 2014


Onde:
Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra (Pólo I)


Organização:
Departamento de Geografia




SUB-TEMAS
1. Epistemologia e História da Geografia;
2. Ordenamento Territorial, Regional e Local e novas lógicas de gestão territorial;
3. Grandes desafios demográficos. Envelhecimento, inclusão social e combate à pobreza;
4. Espaço urbano sustentável. Transformações observadas nas últimas décadas e que se perspetivam;
5. Recursos naturais, culturais e turismo;
6. Proteção do ambiente e eficiência na utilização dos recursos;
7. Processos geomorfológicos e evolução da paisagem;
8. Gestão e prevenção de riscos e adaptação às mudanças climáticas;
9. Modelação geográfica e análise espacial;
10. Investigação e inovação. A sociedade do conhecimento, da criatividade, da tecnologia e da inovação;
11. A geografia e o trabalho. Novos desafios profissionais;
12. Os territórios e a educação. Da educação formal à criação de competências e aprendizagem ao longo da vida.

Ver mais:
http://www.uc.pt/fluc/depgeo/VIII_Coloquio_Geografia_Coimbra

Conferencia de Kamila Shamsie

Esta conferencia forma parte del ciclo "Ciudad abierta"

Quando:
24 marzo 2014 - 19.30h

Onde:
Barcelona - CCCB

Organiza:
Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

Participante/s:
Presentador: Najat El Hachmi
Ponente/s: Kamila Shamsie

Programa:
En 1947, con la partición de la India y Pakistán, Karachi perdió la mitad de su población pero aún así duplicó su tamaño a causa de los refugiados/emigrantes que llegaron de la India. La consecuencia fue una ciudad hecha de nuevo de la noche a la mañana, sin planificación urbanística para poder hacer frente a aquellos cambios. Durante décadas, repetidas olas de inmigración han transformado su población, que ha crecido cada vez más dividida por diferencias étnicas y políticas. La ausencia de mapas que puedan permitir a los ciudadanos de Karachi orientarse en esta ciudad en continua transformación simboliza la dificultad de concebir mentalmente la ciudad entera como una unidad. Aprender a imaginar Karachi sigue siendo un reto para sus ciudadanos, incluyendo a sus escritores.



Ver mais:
http://www.cccb.org/es/curs_o_conferencia-ciudad_abierta_ix_conferencia_de_kamila_shamsie-45313

«Las afueras»

Conferencia de Bruce Bégout

El filósofo francés Bruce Bégout exploró la realidad del suburbio en una charla que formaba part del ciclo Ciudad Abierta y que tuvo lugar el lunes 24 de febrero en el CCCB.

El ciclo de conferencias Ciudad Abierta contó el lunes 24 de febrero con la presencia del filósofo y escritor Bruce Bégout, uno de los pensadores franceses más relevantes en la actualidad. Bajo el título «Las afueras», su charla exploró la realidad del suburbio, la parte de la ciudad que ha crecido más desaforadamente en las últimas décadas y el escenario de nuevas culturas y modos de vida inéditas. La periferia va en aumento y, por tanto, está lejos de desaparecer, pero Bégout entiende su urbanidad dispersa y banal como un «espacio de desaparición». Cuando el individuo contemporáneo busca el anonimato, cuando huye del control social o de la promiscuidad que supone el contacto con los demás, ya no se disuelve en la multitud de los centros urbanos, sino en la uniformidad difusa del extrarradio. Los suburbios son pues un espacio de fuga que promete al individuo la posibilidad de ser ignorado, de replegarse, de excluirse de la vida en común y refugiarse en el escondite del dominio privado. Pero, ¿qué tipo de sociedad genera esta fuga? La ponencia de Bégout fue presentada por Neus Ballús, guionista, directora de cine y autora de La plaga (2013), largometraje que narra la vida de cinco habitantes de la periferia de la Barcelona metropolitana y que ha recibido varios reconocimientos.

Este acto forma parte de la iniciativa «Europe City»


Ver mais:
http://www.publicspace.org/es/post/las-afueras

Semana da Reabilitação Urbana

Quando:
19 a 26 de Março de 2014

Onde:
Lisboa



Durante a Semana da Reabilitação Urbana estão previstas acções de rua, passeios, conferências, tertúlias, workshops, exposições e a entrega do Prémio Nacional de Reabilitação Urbana. Os eventos vão decorrer no Pátio da Galé, no Museu da Moda e do Design e no Terreiro do Paço.

Ver mais:
http://www.cm-lisboa.pt/noticias/detalhe/article/semana-da-reabilitacao-urbana-apresentada-nos-pacos-do-concelho

Ler revista:
http://www.semanadareabilitacao.vidaimobiliaria.com/revista

Borders and Boundaries in an Age of Global Urbanization

Urban Affairs Association Conference

Quando:
March 19‐22, 2014

Onde:
USA - San Antonio, Texas

Urban areas have grown at an unprecedented rate in the last decade. More of the world's population now lives in cities than in any other context. International trade, capital investment and divestment, migration, and porous economic, social and political boundaries fuel this global urbanization. Enormous governance challenges result for megacities and fast‐ growing urban centers due to in‐migration and other trends, particularly in the global south. Ethnic, racial and economic disparities across the globe create new tensions and vehicles for exclusion, while also creating interesting possibilities for cooperation and collaboration. Economic, political, and environmental crises further burden governance and demand innovative solutions to problems unique to global urbanization. All of this raises old and new civic and policy questions about boundaries and borders of global urbanization. Consequently, the 2014 conference theme is "Borders and Boundaries in an Age of Global Urbanization." The conference site, San Antonio, is a global city with a population of approximately 1.3 million, in a significant border region with boundaries that defy simple conceptualizations. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, and one of its most ethnically diverse, with almost 70 percent of its native and immigrant residents being of Hispanic descent. It provides a particularly apt setting to explore borders and boundaries and how they shape urban affairs in the 21st Century.
To broaden the conference discourse on the theme of global urbanization, UAA will sponsor a special track on Urban Issues in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

Topical Categories
 Arts, Culture in Urban Contexts
 Disaster Planning/Disaster Management for Urban Areas, Cities and National Security
 Economic Development, Redevelopment, Tourism, Urban Economics, Urban Finance
 Education, Schools, Higher Education Institutions
 Environmental Issues, Sustainability, Urban Health, Technology and Society
 Globalization, Multi-national Urban Issues
 Governance, Intergovernmental Relations, Regionalism, Urban Management
 Historic Preservation, Space and Place
 Historical Perspectives on Cities, Urban Áreas
 Housing, Neighborhoods, Community Development
 Human Services and Urban Populations, Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector in Urban Contexts
 Immigration, Population and Demographic Trends
 Infrastructure, Capital Projects, Networks, Transport, Urban Services
 Labor, Employment, Wages, Training
 Land Use, Growth Management, Urban Development, Urban Planning
 Poverty, Welfare, Income Inequality
 Professional Development, The Field of Urban Affairs
 Public Safety in Urban Areas, Criminal Justice, Household Violence
 Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Diversity
 Social Capital, Democracy and Civil Society, Social Theory, Religion and the City
 Urban Communication (Urban Media Roles, Urban Journalism, Social Media/Technology in Urban Life)
 Urban Design, Urban Architecture
 Urban Indicators, Data/Methods, Satisfaction/Quality of Life Surveys
 Urban Politics, Elections, Citizen Participation
 Urban Theory, Theoretical and Conceptual Issues in Urban Affairs

 SPECIAL TRACK: Urban Issues in Central & South America and the Caribbean



Ver mais:
http://urbanaffairsassociation.org/conference/conference2014/

Conferencia "La ciudad abierta"

Conferencia de Richard Sennett

Esta conferencia forma parte del ciclo "Ciudad abierta"

«Ciudad abierta» es el título del Debate de Barcelona, el ciclo de conferencias que organiza anualmente el Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona (CCCB) y que, este año, se enmarca dentro del proyecto «Europe City», impulsado por cuatro instituciones de Helsinki, Liubliana, Londres y Barcelona. A lo largo de nueve lunes consecutivos, entre el 27 de enero y el 24 de marzo, ponentes de muy diversos orígenes y sensibilidades plantearán el concepto de apertura como una condición necesaria del hecho urbano. Es precisamente la naturaleza abierta de la ciudad lo que impide que su cuerpo nunca pueda llegar a ser considerado como una forma acabada, lo que la hace crecer desbordando siempre sus propios límites y tensa los umbrales entre el espacio público y el privado. Al mismo tiempo, la apertura de la ciudad hace posible su dinamismo y heterogeneidad, el carácter promiscuo y cosmopolita que, por un lado, genera los inevitables conflictos propios de la convivencia y, por el otro, hará siempre posible y legítimo replantear las formas de vida de común.

De la ciudad emerge, cada día, una ciudad nueva, fruto del movimiento incesante de sus habitantes, de la yuxtaposición de sus historias, de la inagotable fricción y mezcla de la vida en las calles. De la misma manera que la calle, la «habitación del colectivo», es la célula básica de la forma urbana, la apertura es la condición y la esencia de la ciudad, la medida de su vitalidad y de su fuerza creadora. Inevitablemente, sin embargo, esta condición trae la ambigüedad, el conflicto, la novedad, el riesgo. Por eso, la tensión entre cierre y apertura es constante, y a pesar de que la ciudad es por definición algo inacabado, polimorfo, resistente a la determinación y el control, proliferan mecanismos y estrategias de cierre, límites y umbrales que aspiran a disciplinar, integrar y reducir la genuina heterogeneidad ciudadana. La ciudad abierta es una herramienta para pensar: una aspiración, una condición utópica, un horizonte ideal. Su matriz, imperfecta e incompleta, hace posible soñar la ciudad como espacio de emancipación, imaginar otras maneras de vivir juntos y evidenciar las lógicas de exclusión, las estrategias de supervivencia, las disonancias inevitables que se desprenden de la vida en común.

Quando:
17 marzo 2014 - 19.30h

Onde:
Barcelona - CCCB

Organiza:
Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

Participante/s:
Presentador/es:Judit Carrera
Ponente/s: Richard Sennett

Programa:
¿Qué impacto tiene el diseño de los edificios, las plazas o las calles sobre las relaciones sociales?
¿Puede planificarse una ciudad abierta?
Para el sociólogo Richard Sennett, la coherencia, el equilibrio o la integración no son necesariamente virtudes en la planificación urbana. Es más, la ciudad debe ser ambigua y flexible, conectada por membranas y no por muros o fronteras, imperfecta e inacabada. Solo así la ciudad abierta puede preservar su fuerza creativa, su capacidad para acoger experiencias a menudo contradictorias o disonantes, para provocar y mover a la reflexión.

Ver mais:
http://www.cccb.org/es/curs_o_conferencia-ciutat_oberta_viii_conferncia_de_richard_sennett-45310
http://www.cccb.org/es/marc-ciutat_oberta-45240

Tokyo’s Urban Growth, Urban Form and Sustainability

Junichiro Okata and Akito Murayama

2.1 Introduction
Tokyo, the largest mega-region in the world so far with 35 million inhabitants in 2007, has experienced a rapid growth in the twentieth century with vari- ous issues associated with urban form and urban environment. Some issues were solved and others remain to be solved. If Tokyo is evaluated as one of the most efficient, productive and sustainable mega-regions in the world, it is the result of rapid urban growth and development in the twentieth century. After that, Tokyo has been facing new challenges as it left the phase of rapid growth and entered the phase of no- or low-growth, depopulating and aging society. In this respect, Tokyo is a leading or an instructive mega-region in the world. At the same time, Tokyo must take part in the global effort to achieve sustainability. This chapter focuses on the history of Tokyo’s urban growth, the diversity of urban form issues in Tokyo, some previous successes in solving urban environmental problems and some new challenges facing efforts to enhance urban sustainability.
In this chapter, the term “Tokyo” refers to Tokyo region comprised of Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) jurisdiction and the surrounding three prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, covering 13,551 km2 and accommodating 35 million inhabitants.
...

2.2 History of Tokyo’s Urban Growth
...

2.3 Diversity of Urban Form Issues in Tokyo
As a result of rapid urban growth and a relatively weak planning system, Tokyo is a patchwork of various types of urban space with diverse urban form issues. Some of the major issues are as follows.
2.3.1 Several Kinds of Urban Sprawl
Most of Urban Areas in the mega-regions in Japan are divided into Urbanization Promotion Area (UPA) where development is promoted and Urbanization Control Area (UCA) where urban development is not permitted in principle. Some Urban Areas called Undivided Urban Areas (UUA) are not divided into UPA and UCA. There are several kinds of urban sprawls in Urban Area, somewhat different from urban sprawl in North America where it is generally considered as the expansivos of urban area with insufficient urban infrastructure such as streets, parks and utilities.
Firstly, in UPA, not only large-scale planned developments but also small-scale or ‘single lot’ developments are permitted as long as each building lot is attached to a street which width is 4 m or wider in prin- ciple, causing urban sprawl by incremental accumulation of small scale ‘mini-developments’ and ‘plot-by-plot’ developments.
Secondly, in UCA, certain developments such as housing for farmers’ sons, retail facilities for the locals or public facilities are permitted, contributing to urbanization. Thirdly, in UUA where land use regulation is generally loose, various kinds of developments including large-scale commercial developments were possible. Thus, urban sprawl can be observed both in UPA, UCA and UUA. Urbanization in UCA and UUA has been controlled mainly by Agricultural Land designation in Agricultural Area where agricultural land is protected to promote productive agriculture (Figs. 2-5 and 2-6).
As a response to continuing urban sprawl and downtown decline, City Planning Law was recently amended to permit large-scale commercial developments exclusively in commercial, neighborhood commercial and quasi-industrial zoning zones, that are to be designated by a local government with consent of its higher government which is responsible for regional location management of major commercial centers. This response might have been too late since many large-scale commercial developments have already occurred in urban fringe areas since the early 1990s.
2.3.2 Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)
...
2.3.3 Intensification of Urban Centers
...
2.3.4 Redevelopment of Brownfields
...
2.3.5 Conservation of Historic Areas
...
2.3.6 Improvement of Vernacular or Popular Settlements
...
2.3.7 Maintenance and Improvement of the Suburbs
As Tokyo entered the phase of no-or low-growth, depopulating and aging society, with people moving back to central Tokyo after the collapse of the bubble economy, maintenance and improvement of the suburbs has become a new issue. Many suburban housing estates, both multi-family and single family, were developed in the 1960s and the 1970s, the age of rapid growth. Baby-boomers who purchased housing in those estates are now retiring and most of their children have already left home. Decline of schools and shops, and growing demand for social services mean that it is questionable if these suburbs will be socially and economically sustainable in the future. Measures to maintain the suburbs might include provision of various community services to support the lives of the aged population, regeneration of multi-family housing estates to attract diverse population and local management of vacant properties (Fig. 2-16).
Parts of Tokyo suburbs not well served by public transit have automobile-oriented urban structure and landscape. Improvement of landscape in commercial strips along arterial roads, for example, might be an issue particularly from the aesthetic point of view (Fig. 2-17).

2.4 Previous Successes in Solving Urban Environmental Problems
...
2.4.1 Fighting Against Environmental Pollution in the 1970s
...
2.4.2 Reducing and Recycling Waste in the 1990s
...
2.4.3 “No Diesel Strategy” Campaign Since 1999
...

2.5 New Challenges to Enhance Urban Sustainability
2.5.1 Energy-Saving and a Shift to Renewable Energy
...
2.5.2 Tokyo After 10 Years Plan
Tokyo After 10 Years Plan, published in the end of 2006 by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, set a near future vision of Tokyo growing to a higher level in the fields of urban infrastructure, environment, security, culture, tourism and industry. The plan presented the following eight goals to be accomplished in the next 10 years. (Headquarters of the Governor of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Government 2006)
1. Recover Beautiful Tokyo Embraced by Water and Green Corridors
2. Tokyo will be Reborn by the Three Ring Roads
3. Realize the City with Least Environmental Load in the World
4. Reinforce Reliance on Tokyo by Creating Disaster-Proof City
5. Create the World-Leading Urban Model for Hyper Aged Society
6. Establish the Presence of Tokyo by the City’s Attractiveness and Industry
7. Create a Society that Any High-Motivated People can Challenge
8. Provide a Dream for Children of the Next Generation through Sports
In order to implement the plan speedy and surely, interdepartmental “Joint Strategic Meeting for Environmental City Building” was established within TMG. Under the meeting, two headquarters were established, namely “Carbon Minus City Building Promotion Headquarters” and “Green City Building Promotion Headquarters”. The two headquarters launched their 10 years projects (Tokyo Metropolitan Government 2007).
Carbon Minus Tokyo 10 Years Project is an effort to realize a city with least environmental load in the world. It will establish a new urban model in the twenty-first century and spread it to Asia and rest of the world. The project consists of the following five parts: The development of Tokyo-Originated Energy Strategy Using World-Class Energy Saving Technologies, Realization of a City with the Most Renewable Energy Use, Realization of Sustainable Transportation Network, Development of New Environmental Technologies and Creation of Environmental Businesses and Carbon Minus Movement.
On the other hand, Green Tokyo 10 years project is an effort to recover beautiful Tokyo embraced by water and green corridors. It will promote the networking of existing greenery and the provision of new greenery. The project consists of the following five parts: Shaping Green Road Network, Creation of Greenery in the Gaps of Urban Space, Creating Green Center in Neighborhood, Conservation of Existing Greenery and Creation of High Quality Greenery and Green Movement that Involves Local Governments and Businesses.

2.6 Conclusion
The major planning issue of the twentieth century Tokyo was to expand and intensify the urban area in order to accommodate rapid growth. Until the 1960s urban expansion was controlled neither by a strict planning system nor by a greenbelt but by developments around railway stations. Though experiencing very rapid urban growth and with a relatively weak planning system, Tokyo had barely accommodated the flood of immigrant population and had provided not less than minimum level of living environment and social services. From the viewpoint of urban form, Tokyo is a patchwork of various types of urban space with diverse urban issues. As Japan entered the phase of no- or low-growth, depopulating and aging society, it is not possible or not necessary to change the current spatial structure of Tokyo so drastically. It is more realistic to improve or conserve existing urban spaces incrementally to enhance quality of life in a sustainable manner. As there is a diversity of urban issues, diverse and creative approaches are needed. The major problem of Tokyo’s planning is that so many areas have no clear future vision of urban space. Mixed use and vibrant looking vernacular urban places, often praised by European and American planners and urban designers, are merely the incidental results of market economy and loose land use/building regulations, and are actually vulnerable in many ways. In order to shape attractive urban space through the regeneration of existing urban space, it is important in each area to establish a future vision and to implement measures for realization. The high-density mixed-use “urban village” concept now becoming popular worldwide, might give hints to many areas in Tokyo.
Tokyo has experienced various urban environmental problems since the 1970s due to the rapid growth and concentration of population and industries. Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has successfully solved many of these problems, taking creative measures ahead of the national government and leading other prefectures in Tokyo Region. With the recognition of the limitation of energy resource and global/urban warming caused by excessive use of energy being the most important urban sustainability issues, TMG has started to work on some new measures related to the efficient use of energy. “Carbon Minus Tokyo 10 Years Project” and “Green Tokyo 10 Years Project” are new official initiatives to pursue a sustainable city. It should be noted that this chapter focused on the efforts of Tokyo Metropolitan Government and did not look in to the efforts of other prefectures and local governments.
In Tokyo, urban growth and urban form issues have not been considered explicitly in relation to environmental issues or sustainability issues. Rather, environmental issues were tackled with mainly technological improvements and promotion of eco-life-style. Also, greenery issues were tackled with enhancing and improving existing greenery structure. There is no explicit policy to reorganize or redesign the existing urban form or land use pattern in order to enhance the sustainability of Tokyo.
Since the level to be accomplish is not so high, it might be easy to accomplish current ‘improving and enhancing’ approach. However, If we must reach higher goal in respect with environmental issues and ‘hyper aged society’ issues, we cannot help but adopt more ambitious and difficult approach that reorganize spatial form and infrastructures including innovative public transportation system, comfortable and easy-to-access public spaces and pedestrian environment, and effective and efficient social service system especially for aged people and working mothers.

References

Ler artigo completo:
http://www.thecandlelightclub.com/Sakura%20in%20Old%20Tokyo/9784431992660-c1.pdf

EL RAVAL. Territorio cosmopolita

Itinerario a pie

Quando:
15 marzo 2014 - 10h

Onde:
Barcelona - CCCB

Programa:
¿Cómo favorecer la mezcla de usos, culturas y clases sin excluir a nadie?
El que había sido el sector más desfavorecido de la Barcelona enmurallada, tapiz de huertas puntuado por hospitales y conventos, es hoy el barrio más densamente poblado de la ciudad. En la evolución entre estos dos extremos, el Raval ha devenido un territorio cosmopolita a base de mezclas y contrastes, pero nunca ha conseguido librarse de los efectos de la marginalidad.

Ver mais:
http://cccb.org/es/itinerari-el_raval_territorio_cosmopolita-44608

Exposição - Think Global, Build Social!

Architectures for a Better World

Quando:
15.03.2014 – 30.06.2014

Onde:
Áustria - Viena

With the jointly conceived exhibition “Think Global, Build Social! Architectures for a Better World” the Architekturzentrum Wien (Az W) and the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) direct their attention to the question of contemporary architecture’s social responsibility.

Currently, architecture finds itself in something of a crisis. On the one hand there is what is known as “star architecture” that functions as an image-bearer for a few wealthy, politically influential clients. On the other hand as part of the rampant expansion of mega-cities of Asia, Latin America and Africa an amazing amount of building projects are being undertaken – most of them without the involvement of architects. In addition to which throughout the world increasing numbers of people are living in slums. The pressing question is: what kind of solutions can architecture offer the sector of the world’s population that presently has no access to a well-designed environment?

For more than 10 years now the Architekturzentrum Wien has been looking for answers to these questions. Following the Az W exhibitions “Just build it! The Buildings of the Rural Studio” (2003), “Jo'burg Now! Construction Site South Africa” (2004), and “Bottom up. Building for a Better World” (2006), "Think Global, Build Social!" represents the highpoint so far of a series of exhibitions on this theme. “Think Global, Build Social! Building for a Better World” shows current examples of an alternative, socially committed architecture which, with minimum financial expenditure but a great deal of initiative and creativity, attempts to improve the living conditions of people in less privileged areas of the world. Frequently these exemplary projects, which include schools, public spaces and housing, are created through close collaboration with the future users and incorporate local building traditions. They do not deny the needs of those for whom and with whom the buildings are erected and ensure a mutual transfer of knowledge. Linked to early, pioneering examples of a not-for-profit oriented architecture – as represented, for example, by the Rural Studio (USA) since the early 1990s – these works are an expression of the desire for social change and a responsible architecture.

ON THE EXHIBITION
Curator Andres Lepik was responsible for choosing 22 positions in which the long called-for connection of ethics with aesthetics is made in an exemplary fashion. The focus is on buildings that were erected during the last 10 years and whose concrete impact on their location has already become evident. The many aspects shared in common that can be identified in the different approaches and projects indicate that, far beyond “star architecture”, a very different kind of movement has emerged in contemporary architecture that is directing its attention to the social questions of global community.

Some of the roots of this movement are to be found in Vienna: as part of the preparations for the exhibition “Just build it! The Buildings oft he Rural Studio”, which was shown in the Architekturzentrum Wien in spring 2003, the Az W invited Austrian architecture faculties to consider undertaking similar projects. This signalled the start of a series of projects in South African townships. The first project, mediated by the Viennese NGO s2arch–social sustainable architecture, was implemented under the direction of Peter Fattinger with the studio design.build of the TU Vienna in the township of Orange Farm near Johannesburg. Since then the design-build movement has developed dynamically further and in the future it will have a permanent position in architects’ university education. Consequently, the exhibition “Think Global. Build Social” in the Architekturzentrum Wien is enriched by the presentation of projects involving Austrian participation. Through Peter Fattinger the TU Vienna is a pioneer in the area of university design-build studios, while Baerbel Mueller heads a laboratory at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna in which the spatial, infrastructural, ecological and cultural phenomena of sub-Saharan Africa are examined. With its project studio BASEhabitat the Kunstuniversität Linz focuses on the utilization of alternative energies in regions with limited access to a public infrastructure. The architecture firm of gaupenraub +/- is developing a series of remarkable projects for homeless people in Vienna, and in the course of the last ten years the association s2arch, founded by Green Party politician Christoph Chorherr, has carried out more than 40 social projects in South Africa.

Ver mais:
http://www.azw.at/page.php?node_id=3&page_id=836&lang_id=en

Urban Sprawl and Local Infrastructure in Japan and Germany

Stefan Klug; and Yoshitsugu Hayashi [...]

Journal of Infrastructure Systems
Vol. 18: 232-241
(Volume publication date: December 2012)

Abstract
Urban dispersion processes in metropolitan areas have led to patterns of suburbanization and urban sprawl. These processes are inseparably connected with the shift of private mobility from green transport modes to cars. Urbanization is always accompanied by the development of physical infrastructure, which requires huge investments and determines the structure of a city over long periods of time. Moreover, it cannot be readily adjusted to changing patterns of the demanded services, e.g., triggered by population shrinking. Thus, the impacts of urban sprawl on the local urban infrastructure asset represent complex and important issues to be considered in this context. This comparative study, conducted for the metropolitan regions of Nagoya in Japan and Munich in Germany, correlated six land-use patterns and two mobility parameters with the complexity of urban infrastructure by multiple regression modeling. The result confirms the impact of density on public infrastructure stock and additionally shows that there are other relevant parameters of urban sprawl beyond density, such as the concentration of urban development. The saving potential, which was calculated as the monetary cost difference between the most infrastructure-efficient and most inefficient municipalities, is 85% on average for Munich and 57% for the Nagoya region for sewage, primary schools, and local roads.

Ler artigo:
http://ge.tt/m/44GytPH
http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.0000101

Urban sprawl and protected areas: How effective are buffer zones inreducing recreation impacts on an urban national park?

A. Arnberger, R. Eder, K. Taczanowska, R. Deussner, G. Stanzer, T. Hein, S. Preiner, I. Kempter, U. Nopp-Mayr, K. Reiter, I. Wagner, R. Jochem

5th Symposium for Research in Protected Areas
10 to 12 June 2013, Mittersill
Conference Volume pages 21 - 26


Abstract
New housing developments for tens of thousands of new local residents in the 22nd Viennese district will increase the recreation use pressure on the nearby Donau-Auen National Park and the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Untere Lobau. These areas are intensively used settings and the high use pressure caused by urban sprawl will further negatively impact the natural resources and the quality of the visitor experience. This study investigated planning and management options regarding their capability to reduce the visitor pressure on these areas. The main challenge was how can the existing large-scale agrarian-dominated areas surrounding the park be transformed into attractive recreational landscapes. Stakeholders from several administration bodies and scientists from various disciplines developed these scenarios, which included a bundle of landscape design, land use, traffic and recreational infrastructure measures. In addition, measures to restore the ecological integrity of the area were included. An agent-based model tested the effectiveness of these buffer zone scenarios. The definition of agents (=virtual visitors) and their decision making algorithms included several approaches such as an image-based conjoint choice survey among area visitors and visitor counts. The agent-based simulations indicated that these buffer zones can only absorb up to 30% of the recreation use pressure.

Introduction
National parks within the borders of larger cities provide many ecosystem services for urban population. They are biodiversity hot spots, produce for example drinking water, regulate hot summer temperatures, and provide wildlife viewing, recreational, spiritual and eco-tourism opportunities and wellbeing for their visitors (DANIEL et al. 2012). They are also refuges from hectic city life and the work environment and are settings for social gatherings (ARNBERGER et al. 2010; HAMMITT 2002). At the same time, they are confronted with high recreation use pressures throughout the day, week and year because of their attractiveness. Crowding, recreational conflicts, and degraded environments may occur within urban protected areas and reduce the recreational quality they offer. Serious conflicts between recreation use and nature conservation management can arise because users may displace due to overcrowding to areas of high ecological value and, thereby, potentially reduce undisturbed zones and times for wildlife (ARNBERGER & BRANDENBURG 2007).
The Viennese part of the IUCN-category II Donau-Auen National Park, which also includes the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Untere Lobau, is such an example of a heavily used urban protected area (Figure 1). This area is a traditional, intensively used, recreational setting of high ecological value as documented by more than 600,000 visits annually (ARNBERGER 2006). New housing developments for tens of thousands of new local residents will further increase the recreation use pressure on the nearby national park. This development will result in drastic transformations of the local environments surrounding the park. About 50,000 new local inhabitants are expected within the next 15 years (ARNBERGER et al. 2012). The increasing high recreation use pressure will further degrade the park’s natural resources and the quality of the recreational experience because of crowding and user conflicts (ARNBERGER et al. 2010; EDER & ARNBERGER 2012).
This study, which was co-financed by the Austrian Man & the Biosphere Programme (ÖAW-MAB), investigated planning and management options regarding their capability to reduce the visitor pressure on these areas (ARNBERGER et al. 2012). Urban sprawl is obviously one of the relevant research priorities affecting this and many other protected areas in the world. The question of arises whether protected areas under pressure can fully achieve their objectives in terms of protection of processes, ecological functions and biodiversity, and recreational quality.
...

Conclusion
This study tested a rather new method mix to simulate the effectiveness of several recreational scenarios regarding their capability in reducing recreation impacts on the protected area. This study relied on interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches, which required substantial resources. Nevertheless, the simulation of the scenarios assessed their effectiveness and thus can avoid suboptimal and costly planning and management measures. While first evaluations of the simulations indicate that results are reliable, further analyses which specifically compare stated with revealed behaviour of respondents are necessary. The integration of other (recreational) areas surrounding the national park and the new settlements into the simulation programme may provide a more holistic understanding of recreation use patterns in the region. A comprehensive long-term monitoring programme addressing the effects of urban sprawl on the national park and its ecosystem services would be useful. This would also include surveys among visitors and local residents on a regular basis investigating their perceptions of recreation quality and their responses to degrade environments and crowding.

Ler artigo completo:
http://www.landesmuseum.at/pdf_frei_remote/NP_Hohe_Tauern_Conference_5_0021-0026.pdf

Ciclo de Cinema - “The End of Suburbia”

“The End of Suburbia”
de Gregory Greene
EE.UU., 2004. Color, 77 min.
Documentário

Synopsis
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years, so too has the suburban way of life become embedded in the American consciousness.
Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, some scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary.
The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia

In:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-end-of-suburbia/

Ver também:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446320/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

Ver o filme:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-end-of-suburbia/

O ordenamento do território e as alterações climáticas

Quando:
6 de março de 2014

Onde:
Faro - Auditório da CCDR Algarve

Quem organiza:
Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Algarve e o Instituto de Ciências Jurídico-Políticas da Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa (ICJP)

Os riscos naturais do território, com expressão particular para as cheias, inundações e erosão costeira, repetem-se ciclicamente mas têm vindo a revelar uma maior frequência e intensidade, pelo que, atendendo às características geomorfológicas da região do Algarve, é da máxima atualidade a discussão das alterações climáticas e das medidas a tomar em matéria de ordenamento do território, com vista a minorar os efeitos destas ocorrências, razão pela qual se justifica o debate destas temáticas pelos oradores convidados nos painéis da conferência.

Ver mais:
http://www.ccdr-alg.pt/site/info/o-ordenamento-do-territorio-e-alteracoes-climaticas

Shared Spaces and Slow Zones: Comparing Public Space in Paris and NewYork

By Clémence Morlet
Feb 24, 2014






Everyday, high-density global cities are home to millions of pedestrians in their streets. Paradoxically though, many streets and transportation policies continue to place more space and importance on cars rather than people.

In Paris, where I hail from, almost 60% of journeys are exclusively pedestrian (this is without any consideration of walking as a part of a multimodal trip). New York City, which is more than four times larger than Paris with relatively low-density & little public transit in outer boroughs compared to Paris, still has a pedestrian mode share of 34% for all trips citywide ahead of car (33%) and transit (30%). Furthermore, 53% of Manhattan workers who live in Manhattan use no car, bus, subway or train in their everyday trips but instead walk, ride a bicycle or motorcycle, take a taxicab, or work at home. Having experienced this for myself in both cities, I decided to compare the two: How do they support this large pedestrian population and decrease auto-dominance in public space?
...

Beyond this first glance, shared spaces in Paris and New York’s slow zones differ from each other in many aspects showing that both cities are not at the same step towards a street-sharing plan we can accept. In the second part, I will explore how each city implements their programs, community involvement, and what the next steps should be!


Ler artigo completo:
https://www.pps.org/blog/shared-spaces-and-slow-zones-comparing-public-space-in-paris-and-new-york/

Nuevos paisaje metropolitanos: del paisaje figurativo al paisaje-red

por Eduardo de Santiago



Paisaje Transversal Blog: Nuevos paisaje metropolitanos: del paisaje figurat...:

1. Una lectura espacial del territorio contemporáneo: de la estructura formal a la estructura relacional.

La ciudad ya no existe[1]. Antes pensábamos en la ciudad como conjunto, como aglomerado diferenciado y reconocible, cerrado o limitado; y tenía sentido pensar en la forma de las ciudades porque era posible distinguir nítidamente en ellas un conjunto morfológico producido por la adición sucesiva de tejidos urbanos, cada uno con su propia genética; una figura, sobre un medio o paisaje natural, un fondo. La ciudad era un paisaje figurativo[2].

Carlos Martí (1999, p.57) apunta en este mismo sentido cuando afirma que “la ciudad ya es no un artefacto delimitado y concluso, un objeto autónomo circundado por la naturaleza, sino que, sometida a un proceso de expansión constante, es ahora una realidad inabarcable y mutante, cuyos límites se han hecho imprecisos y borrosos”. Veamos cuáles son las claves de las nuevas estructuras urbanas:

La primera industrialización y la concentración acelerada de población en torno a la ciudad introdujeron nuevas solicitaciones y requerimientos (tamaño, urgencia, etc.) que sólo pudieron responderse en tiempo y forma perdiendo parte de la coherencia (homogeneidad, continuidad de tramas, etc.) que había caracterizado al crecimiento sedimentado (sumativo, anular, por estratos) de épocas anteriores. Así se fueron yuxtaponiendo con violencia los nuevos tejidos requeridos por el sistema (espacios productivos, polígonos de empaquetamiento residencial, etc.) a la figura original, sustituyendo el viejo paisaje figurativo previamente existente por un collage[3] de fragmentos heterogéneos, compuesto por las antiguas piezas y las nuevas, con tamaños, formas, funciones y significados diversos; y sin embargo todavía vinculadas por el criterio de continuidad, de contigüidad. Las relaciones entre las partes dejaron de estar articuladas orgánicamente y fue la lógica de la yuxtaposición la que pasó a dotar de sentido al conjunto.

Fig. 3 y 4. La disolución progresiva de la figura y el fondo. La lógica de la yuxtaposición. Collage de Braque (1917) y fotoplano de la periferia de la ciudad de Logroño (2005)

Poco después, comenzaron a intensificarse también las dinámicas de descentralización masiva de la población y de las actividades productivas (ambas expulsadas por los precios del suelo), que fueron las causas fundamentales del crecimiento a saltos, del salto metropolitano. Así, estos saltos obligarían a alejarse aún más al observador del objeto analizado para ganar distancia, para poder entrever dentro de una misma lógica estos nuevos crecimientos dislocados. Pero con distancia suficiente, todavía era posible un entendimiento global del conjunto: el crecimiento era discontinuo, pero precipitaba sobre ciertos núcleos, estaba catalizado por perlas metropolitanas. Y, de este modo, todavía era posible encontrar una forma, entrever una figura (compuesta, eso sí), capaz de ofrecer una interpretación, una metáfora: el sistema planetario howardiano, espacialmente discontinuo pero funcionalmente integrado, un sistema además con una estructura muy fuerte, basada en férreas jerarquías y dependencias-relaciones verticales (centro-periferia, núcleo central-satélites, etc).

Pero la discontinuidad explotaría con la generalización de los procesos dispersivos, arrinconando definitivamente a la continuidad como principal criterio explicativo del crecimiento urbano, desdibujando las figuras definidas, disolviendo las estructuras yuxtapuestas, obligando al observador a alejar aún más la lente, a subir otra vez de escala para encontrar una nueva distancia suficiente que permitiera contemplar e integrar en una visión totalizadora formas yuxtapuestas, aglomerados planetarios y formas dispersivas. Y esa distancia resultante era de ya tal calibre que obligaba a considerar plenamente, a incluir en el campo de visión, no sólo el lleno, sino también el vacío: los distintos espacios y resquicios entre figuras, constelaciones de planetas, pieles de leopardo, archipiélagos dispersivos, vestigios naturales, fragmentos de ruralidad, etc.. Ofreciendo, como en el action painting, una composición de intensidad variable, concentraciones, grumos de materia sobre determinados puntos, fragmentos de figuras, drippings, silencios o rincones, amasijos de violenta concentración, etc.
...

Ler o artigo completo:
http://www.paisajetransversal.org/2008/02/nuevos-paisaje-metropolitanos-del.html

Conferencia "Escombros y progreso"

Conferencia de Rafael Chirbes

Esta conferencia forma parte del ciclo "Ciudad abierta"

Quando:
3 marzo 2014 - 19.30h

Onde:
Barcelona - CCCB

Organiza:
Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona

Participantes:
Presentador:
Marina Espasa, filóloga y escritora, guionista, periodista cultural y traductora.
Ponente:
Rafael Chirbes

En sus últimos libros, En la orilla y Crematorio, Rafael Chirbes describe el desolado paisaje que nos ha dejado la especulación inmobiliaria.
En su conferencia, Chirbes nos hablará de la Valencia de su infancia, vista a través de los ojos de un niño que recién empieza a descubrir la ciudad, sus peligros y posibilidades.

Síguela en directo desde la web



Ver mais:
http://www.cccb.org/es/curs_o_conferencia-ciudad_abierta_vi_conferencia_de_rafael_chirbes-45304

Shared Spaces and Slow Zones: Comparing Public Space in Paris and NewYork

By Clémence Morlet
Feb 24, 2014

Everyday, high-density global cities are home to millions of pedestrians in their streets. Paradoxically though, many streets and transportation policies continue to place more space and importance on cars rather than people.

In Paris, where I hail from, almost 60% of journeys are exclusively pedestrian (this is without any consideration of walking as a part of a multimodal trip). New York City, which is more than four times larger than Paris with relatively low-density & little public transit in outer boroughs compared to Paris, still has a pedestrian mode share of 34% for all trips citywide ahead of car (33%) and transit (30%). Furthermore, 53% of Manhattan workers who live in Manhattan use no car, bus, subway or train in their everyday trips but instead walk, ride a bicycle or motorcycle, take a taxicab, or work at home. Having experienced this for myself in both cities, I decided to compare the two: How do they support this large pedestrian population and decrease auto-dominance in public space?
...

Beyond this first glance, shared spaces in Paris and New York’s slow zones differ from each other in many aspects showing that both cities are not at the same step towards a street-sharing plan we can accept. In the second part, I will explore how each city implements their programs, community involvement, and what the next steps should be!

Ler artigo completo:
https://www.pps.org/blog/shared-spaces-and-slow-zones-comparing-public-space-in-paris-and-new-york/