scholarly journals Urban planning in riverfront areas. A case study of a mediterranean city: Terrassa (Catalonia, NE Spain)

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 14-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Santasusagna Riu ◽  
Joan Tort Donada

Abstract Since 1980, Spain has introduced urban regeneration plans in various cities with the aim of integrating the river environment into the urban system. This process has proved most challenging in cities whose rivers present extreme features, as is the case with Terrassa (Catalonia, NE Spain), a medium-sized city (215,000 inhabitants in 2013) whose three river courses are prone to flash flooding. Through the critical analysis of urban planning undertaken in the city from the fifties to the present day, we show that the urban evolution of each of the three intermittent streams has differed significantly. Thus, while the plans affecting el Torrent de Vallparadís have led to the construction of Terrassa’s central park, the plans for la Riera del Palau and la Riera de les Arenes have impeded, in their own ways, full urban integration.

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 238-251
Author(s):  
Barbara Roosen ◽  
Liesbeth Huybrechts ◽  
Oswald Devisch ◽  
Pieter Van den Broeck

This article explores ‘dialectical design dialogues’ as an approach to engage with ethics in everyday urban planning contexts. It starts from Paulo Freire’s pedagogical view (1970/2017), in which dialogues imply the establishment of a horizontal relation between professionals and amateurs, in order to understand, question and imagine things in everyday reality, in this case, urban transformations, applied to participatory planning and enriched through David Harvey’s (2000, 2009) dialectical approach. A dialectical approach to design dialogues acknowledges and renegotiates contrasts and convergences of ethical concerns specific to the reality of concrete daily life, rather than artificially presenting daily life as made of consensus or homogeneity. The article analyses an atlas as a tool to facilitate dialectical design dialogues in a case study of a low-density residential neighbourhood in the city of Genk, Belgium. It sees the production of the atlas as a collective endeavour during which planners, authorities and citizens reflect on possible futures starting from a confrontation of competing uses and perspectives of neighbourhood spaces. The article contributes to the state-of-the-art in participatory urban planning in two ways: (1) by reframing the theoretical discussion on ethics by arguing that not only the verbal discourses around designerly atlas techniques but also the techniques themselves can support urban planners in dealing more consciously with ethics (accountability, morality and authorship) throughout urban planning processes, (2) by offering a concrete practice-based example of producing an atlas that supports the participatory articulation and negotiation of dialectical inquiry of ethics through dialogues in a ‘real-time’ urban planning process.


2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Ricardo Serraglio Polucha

As pesquisas elaboradas para compreender a urbanização desigual em Curitiba enfatizaram o papel do planejamento urbano nesse processo. Entendendo que essa desigualdade é resultado da forma como se dá a valorização da terra e da apropriação diferenciada desta pelas camadas sociais, torna-se necessário compreender como a prática do planejamento urbano se articula a essa dinâmica. Considerando que o avanço dessa discussão deve procurar revelar as causas dessa desigualdade, e não apenas constatar sua existência, este artigo tem como objetivo compreender essa relação a partir da análise de um caso específico: o Ecoville. Originalmente concebido como uma nova frente de expansão urbana que evitaria a ocupação de áreas impróprias na cidade, sua implantação ocorreu de maneira totalmente oposta, produzindo um espaço com baixa densidade populacional voltado para camadas de alta renda. Argumenta-se que o estudo do Ecoville contribui para construir uma explicação sobre a prática do planejamento urbano em Curitiba, porque evidencia as contradições que são produzidas em torno da valorização da terra. Palavras-chave: Ecoville; Curitiba; planejamento urbano; urbanização; valorização da terra. Abstract: In order to understand the uneven urbanization in Curitiba, previous researches have emphasized the role played by urban planning on this process. Believing that this urban inequality results from the manner that land values and ways of occupation by different social classes are established, it urges then to understand the work extent of urban planning on this dynamic. The goal of this article is to move forward the debate on this field by revealing the causes of this inequality, and not only assuming its existence, through the analysis of a specific case study: “Ecoville”. Originally conceived as a new urban front that would avoid settlement at improper areas within the city, its materialisation followed a totally opposed path, producing a low density development only suitable for upper classes. The research of this case study – “Ecoville” – helps to build an explanation of the urban planning practice in Curitiba, as it reveals the contradictions that stir around land values. Keywords: Ecoville; Curitiba; urban planning; urbanization; land valorization.


TERRITORIO ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
Chiara Tornaghi

This paper presents an English case of urban agriculture, the Edible Public Space Project in Leeds, contextualised in a context of urban agriculture initiatives committed to social-environmental justice, to the reproduction of common goods and the promotion of an urban planning which promotes the right to food and to the construction of urban space from the bottom up. The case study emerged as the result of action-research at the crossroads between urban planning policies, community work and critical geography. As opposed to many similar initiatives, the Edible Public Space Project is not intended merely as a temporary initiative hidden within the tiny folds of the city, but rather as an experiment which imagines and implements alternatives to current forms of urban planning within those folds and it contextualises them in the light of the ecological, fi nancial and social crisis of the last decade.


Author(s):  
S. Artese

The paper describes the implementation of the 3D city model of the pedestrian area of Cosenza, which in recent years has become the Bilotti Open Air Museum (MAB). For this purpose were used both the data available (regional technical map, city maps, orthophotos) and acquired through several surveys of buildings and "Corso Mazzini" street (photos, topographic measurements, laser scanner point clouds). In addition to the urban scale model, the survey of the statues of the MAB was carried out. By means of data processing, the models of the same statues have been created, that can be used as objects within the city model. <br><br> The 3D model of the MAB open air museum has been used to implement a Web-GIS allowing the citizen's participation, understanding and suggestions. The 3D city model is intended as a new tool for urban planning, therefore it has been used both for representing the current situation of the MAB and for design purposes, by acknowledging suggestions regarding a possible different location of the statues and a new way to enjoy the museum.


2004 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Eskelund

Sport and urban planning – with Copenhagen as case study This article deals with the field of sport and urban planning in large cities, with special focus on the municipality of Copenhagen from 1988-2003. In the first place a situation marked by decline is shown to have existed in the field of sport in Copenhagen over recent years (especially in the central section of the city). This provides the opportunity to pose the question of primary concern: How can sport, city life and urban planning be conceived in relation to future guidelines on the politics of sport and on urban planning in a large city such as Copenhagen? The task here is to recommend a way out of decline through an analysis of the area of “sport and urban planning”. Looked at more specifically, in an attempt to break with possibly restrictive thinking patterns, questions have to asked as to the reasoning behind existing politics on this area. What forms of authoritative and legitimate rationalization (and what conditions of power) have been dominating the politics of sport in Copenhagen from 1988- 2003? And how should future guidelines be formulated in order to make sport a more integral part of the city? On this matter a hypothesis is put forward here that sport in a municipal context is subject to a dominant planning norm, which is devoted to an idea of “obligational fellowship”, and that this norm can be restrictive in regard to new thinking on how to make sport a more integral part of the city.


Author(s):  
Elena Grigore ◽  
Norman Garrick ◽  
Raphael Fuhrer ◽  
Ing. Kay W. Axhausen

“Bikeability” is becoming increasingly relevant in the field of transport- and urban planning. However, it is often unclear how bikeability is defined, let alone how it can be modeled. The goal of this project was to develop a quantitative method to model bikeability. A case study area in the city of Basel, Switzerland was selected for assessing the model. Here “bikeability” is understood as a measure of the ability and convenience in reaching important destinations by bike, based on the travel distance weighted by the perceived safety, -comfort, and -attractiveness of the streets and intersections along the routes. The underlying assumption was that cyclists try to minimize the distance traveled and maximize the perceived safety, -comfort, and -attractiveness of their route of choice. Unlike most of the previous bikeability assessments we reviewed, our method used existing route choice studies to identify attributes for quantifying cycling quality, which presumably results in a model that more accurately reflects real-life behavior. Many relevant attributes that have not been captured by previous models are included in this work, such as the high curbs of tram stops, tram tracks, and the turn direction at intersections. The method is suitable for several applications in urban planning, such as the identification of locations that need improvement and the comparison of planning measures. The current model covers conventional bikes used by commuting cyclists. However, the method could be used for E-bikes and non-commuting cyclists by applying the appropriate input values.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Palacios Labrador ◽  
Beatriz Alonso Romero

In the 1950s, the city of Casablanca underwent a surge in demographic growth. Having become a strategic port during the French protectorate, it quickly had to accommodate more than 140,000 new arrivals from the countryside. The most extensive urban development project in the city was Carrières Centrales, introduced as a case study in the CIAM IX by the GAMMA team. Michel Écochard, Candilis and Woods reinterpreted the traditional Moroccan house in a compact horizontal fabric as well as in singular buildings. This became the typology not only for a house, but for the whole city. A revisit to Carrières Centrales 65 years after its construction provides an understanding of the metamorphosis that the urban fabric has undergone over time. The critical analysis in this research aims to uncover the main architectural and social parameters that have influenced its transformation. To achieve this goal, fieldwork was carried out during a research trip in October 2018. The work involved contacting local professors, accessing the archives of the University of Casablanca, interviewing the residents, and redrawing and graphing all the architectural elements that had changed since their construction. The urban fabric of Carrières Centrales was found to have evolved in a way that supports the following hypothesis: if an urban model imported into a developing country does not adapt to the changes in the life of its residents, it is considered a failure.


Author(s):  
A. Guardiola-Víllora ◽  
L. Basset-Salom

Abstract. This paper presents the vicissitudes of a residential dwelling built in El Cabanyal in 1923 and how poor urban planning can be a risk. The building corresponds to one of the most common traditional typologies: a terraced house with masonry load bearing brick walls and timber floors, three storeys, a linear staircase attached to the party walls, a courtyard at the rear and a gable roof. In the past, this building, proved to be resilient, overcoming the risk of collapse in some important episodes which affected directly El Cabanyal: the air raid attacks of the Valencian coastline settlements during the Spanish Civil War and the floods occurred in 1949 and in 1957. In 1988, the building was listed in the catalogue of the General Plan with a protection grade 3. The special protection plan (PEPRI 2001) which was supposed to protect and rehabilitate El Cabanyal, projected the extension of Blasco Ibañez Avenue to the sea and consequently, the division of the neighbourhood in two halves, tearing down an important number of houses. Subsequently, the City council began to expropriate buildings facilitating their occupation by squatters. The level of degradation caused by the urban planning is such that this area is known as ‘Ground Zero Area’. At the time of writing this paper, the building appears to be illegally occupied and in a bad state of preservation. After almost a hundred years facing different risks, poor urban planning appears to be the cause of the destruction of this heritage building.


One Ecosystem ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e25477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Cortinovis ◽  
Davide Geneletti

This study explores the use of ecosystem service (ES) knowledge to support urban planning in the assessment of future scenarios. The case study concerns the prioritszation of brownfield regeneration interventions in the city of Trento (Italy). Alternative planning scenarios considering the conversion of existing brownfields into new urban parks are assessed and compared. The assessment focuses on two ES of critical importance for the city, namely microclimate regulation and nature-based recreation. The benefits of the different scenarios are quantified based on the number of expected beneficiaries broken down into different vulnerability classes and then compared through a multi-criteria analysis. Three combinations of criteria and weights reflect different planning objectives and related decision-makers’ orientations about what ES and beneficiary groups should be prioritised. The application demonstrates the potential for ES assessments to support urban planning processes in the specific phase of assessment and selection of alternatives, by meeting the requirements in terms of both sensitivity to small-scale changes in land uses or management activities and capacity to capture simultaneous variations in supply and demand of multiple ES. Being coherent with socially-orientated planning objectives, indicators based on ES demand and beneficiaries can effectively convey information about ES in planning decisions. Multi-criteria analysis is an effective way to integrate multiple ES assessments with other information about costs and benefits of planning scenarios, exploring diverse stakeholder perspectives and balancing competing objectives in a rational and transparent way.


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