scholarly journals Can the Pandemic Be a Catalyst of Spatial Changes Leading Towards the Smart City?

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-227
Author(s):  
Barbara Zgórska ◽  
Dorota Kamrowska-Załuska ◽  
Piotr Lorens
Keyword(s):  
Smart Cities ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
Urban Structures ◽  
Spatial Changes ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Urban Problems ◽  
City Structure

The worldwide spread of Covid-19 infections has had a pervasive influence on cities and the lives of their residents. The current crisis has highlighted many urban problems, including those related to the functionality of urban structures, which directly affect the quality of life. Concurrently, the notion of “smart cities” is becoming a dominant trend in the discourse on urban development. At the intersection of these two phenomena, questions about the effects of Covid-19 on the future of cities arise. These are concerned with the possible roles of the pandemic in the process of urban regeneration and the development of smart solutions. The article aims to create a conceptual framework that will allow researchers to assess the influence of Covid-19-related changes on urban structures and their functionality in the following areas: city structure, connectivity and mobility, public spaces, access to green areas, and digital transformation. In the empirical part of the article, the influence of pandemic-caused changes on the development of various aspects of smart cities is discussed. The article concludes with an analysis of the effects the pandemic might have on digital urban regeneration.

scholarly journals Quality of urban parks in the perception of city residents with mobility difficulties

PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e10570
Author(s):  
Magdalena Błaszczyk ◽  
Marzena Suchocka ◽  
Magdalena Wojnowska-Heciak ◽  
Magdalena Muszyńska
Keyword(s):  
Physical Disability ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Urban Parks ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Survey Questionnaire ◽  
Limited Mobility ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Physical Barriers

Urban parks should be inclusive for all. Availability and accessibility of urban parks determine the quality of life in cities. The importance of access increases for residents with limited mobility who, facing obstacles due to inadequate adjustment of the surrounding physical space, are exposed to social exclusion. Five groups of respondents completed a survey questionnaire revealing their attitudes towards green areas and indicating barriers to parks’ accessibility. The groups were designed to include blind and vision impaired people, those who use a wheelchair, have a physical disability of any kind, their carers/assistants and parents pushing strollers. The results revealed more similarities than differences among the five groups (the differences included preferences towards the neighbourhood and destination parks, physical barriers in parks, as well as using assistive technology devices and mobile assistive applications). Overall, city residents with mobility difficulties find those green public spaces as an important element of their life quality.

scholarly journals MUSZYNA ZDRÓJ - 10 YEARS OF SPATIAL CHANGES IN THE TOWN AND IN THE SPA

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Karol Wójcikowski
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Mineral Waters ◽  
Health Resort ◽  
Medicinal Uses ◽  
Southern Poland ◽  
Spatial Changes ◽  
Health Resorts ◽  
The Town

The aim of the article is to present activities in Muszyna Zdrój, located in the region of southern Poland spa resorts. In Poland there are 45 spa resorts (mostly small towns and villages) half of them were developed in the southern part of Poland and many of them are interesting examples of the transformations of the urban public space in the spa resorts. Almost all those settlements are locate in the outstanding natural environment including landscapes, climate and above all in the water, confirm a number of studies and a long tradition of conducting treatment advances in medicinal uses of many diseases. After a period of stagnation caused by ownership transformations in health resorts associated with the privatization and the reprivatisation of property nationalized after the Second World War. As well as long-term negligence in the period of system change in Poland after 1989. The activities carried out during last 10 years in Muszyna Zdrój like in the other health resorts located in the south of Poland focused to improve the quality of public spaces in these towns. Muszyna Zdrój is one of the most effective in attracting financial resources from European funds for all designed activities example. Muszyna Zdrój is a small historical town with developed in the beginning of XX century spa resort. The main advantages of the spa were climate, values of the landscape and sources of mineral waters. The spa resort is separate by the River Poprad from the town and develop separately. After few years of dynamic spatial changes in Muszyna Zdrój, the town and the spa resort become revitalized. Now Muszyna Zdrój is one of the good example of recent spatial changes in the health resorts of the whole of southern Poland spas. The main revitalization activities in the health resort consisted in creating a modern place for outside events, walking areas, place when everyone can drink the mineral water from the source and rest in different and attractive parks or spend time in outside mineral pools. New paths along the Poprad River and parks, designed and implemented in the spa part of the resort serves both residents, visitors and numerous tourists visiting the town and the spa. Activities undertaken in Muszyna Zdrój serve not only to improve the attractiveness of the town by improving the quality of public spaces for the comfort of visitors and tourists, but also for the sake of residents as well as natural resources of mineral resources thanks to which the spa towns have been functioning for centuries.

Urban Development Through Smart Cities in India

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neeta Baporikar
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Shared Knowledge ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
City Life ◽  
Urban Problems ◽  
Near Future

India is on the path of developing its smart cities at a faster pace in near future. But what constitutes a smart city and what is purpose of this focus remains to be explored. Through in depth literature review and grounded approach this paper, appraises the genesis of smart city to develop a better understanding of urban problems. It explores how smart cities intend to relate the infrastructure, operational functioning, planning through management, control and optimization to ensure equity, fairness for realizing better quality of city life. The paper also attempts to review how informed participation creates shared knowledge for democratic governance. Anticipated paradigm shifts that will occur in this area of research and the expected impacts in developing and planning smart cities in general and in particular the steps being taken in India in development of smart cities is delved into.

Smart cities and cloud computing: lessons from the STORM CLOUDS experiment

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Kakderi ◽  
Nicos Komninos ◽  
Panagiotis Tsarchopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Research Trends ◽  
Cloud Environment ◽  
City Governments ◽  
Computing Paradigm ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Urban Problems

Since the emergence of cloud computing paradigm, there has been an increasing interest on the adoption of cloud computing from municipalities and city governments towards their effort to address complex urban problems. This paper explores the significant role that cloud computing can play in helping cities on their way to become smart. We focus on the STORM CLOUDS paradigm as a solution for municipalities everywhere in order to (i) deploy a portfolio of smart cities applications related to governance, economy and quality of life on a single cloud-based platform and (ii) use the platform and its accompanied tools to migrate their existing applications to the cloud environment. Besides the conclusions from the STORM experience, the paper closes with a number of research trends and future challenges that are expected to define the adoption of cloud computing from municipalities and city governments in the following years

scholarly journals Smart Bus Stops as Interconnected Public Spaces for Increasing Social Inclusiveness and Quality of Life of Elder Users

Smart Cities ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 430-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Víctor Manuel Padrón Nápoles ◽  
Diego Gachet Páez ◽  
José Luis Esteban Penelas ◽  
Olalla García Pérez ◽  
María José García Santacruz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Bus Stops ◽  
Ict Infrastructure ◽  
Technological Means

As the Smart City concept evolves, it necessarily incorporates more sustainability and inclusiveness features. In this context, the mobility of people is still one of the major challenges for cities. Among the most vulnerable group of citizens are the elderly, as they demand special requirements in the design of smart mobility. At the same time, smart cities’ technologies could be used to maintain their quality of life. From an architectural and sociological point of view, smart cities change the meaning and the use of public spaces, from physical meeting places to relational public spaces, in which humans use interposed technological means and information flows. This leads to the concept of Interconnected Public Spaces: a mixture of physical and virtual environments, generating interconnections at a planetary scale, that can be used to attract elderly people for collectively sharing experiences outdoor in public spaces (parks, squares or bus stops, in any city on our planet), increasing their physical form and stimulating them mentally, socially and emotionally. This paper describes the development of an inclusive smart bus stop prototype and the use of its ICT infrastructure to build Interconnected Public Spaces.

Practical examination of target indicators, planning methods and spillover mechanisms that lead to spillover effects of urban revitalization projects

Impact ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-50
Author(s):  
Hisashi Shibata
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Urban Regeneration ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Urban Revitalization ◽  
Practical Examination ◽  
Planning Methods

The power of landscape architecture cannot be underestimated as a tool to not only enhance the aesthetics of a public space but also improve its safety, with knock-on benefits for peoples' mobility and happiness. It is employed in urban regeneration projects, which seek to reverse the decline of public spaces by improving the physical structure, as well as the economy. Regeneration can help to reduce issues associated with unemployment, poor health, crime and education, while simultaneously improving the physical environment. Professor Hisashi Shibata is a landscape architect and urban designer based in the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Fukuoka University, Japan. He has an interest in urban regeneration, with a focus on ensuring the safety of public spaces and enhancing their beauty. He believes that this can have a significant impact on quality of life and ultimately contribute to improved society.

scholarly journals Provision of the population of Saint Petersburg with green construction objects

2020 ◽  
Vol 217 ◽  
pp. 02010
Author(s):  
Svetlana Ershova ◽  
Tamara Orlovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Green Building ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Public Parks ◽  
Relative Level ◽  
Saint Petersburg ◽  
Green Areas ◽  
Complex Development ◽  
The City

The results of studies of greening areas of Saint Petersburg are presented. Differentiation was carried out by indicators of the area of public parks; the area of public green spaces per 1000 inhabitants; share of the area of public green spaces in the district. According to the ranking results, groups of districts have been identified, which make it possible to assess the relative level of greening of the territory of districts and the availability of large green public spaces for the population. Carrying out a study based on the proposed methodology makes it possible to consider the heterogeneity of the complex development of the city territory by various factors. Approbation of the methodology in the context of the administrative districts of Saint Petersburg made it possible to assess the quality of the urban environment by the level of provision of the population with green areas and to set priorities in the green building strategy. The results obtained can be used as a basis for the formation of standards for urban planning of Saint Petersburg, analytical material for adjusting the investment priorities in green building and the formation of programs for the integrated development of city territories.

Spatial Autocorrelation in the Study of Neighbourhoods towards Smart Cities: Empirical Evidence from Kerman, Iran

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Asra Hosseini
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Moran’S I ◽  
Moran's I ◽  
Urban Planner ◽  
Universal Feature ◽  
Autocorrelation Method ◽  
Selection Of

From earliest cities to the present, spatial division into residential zones and neighbourhoods is the universal feature of urban areas. This study explored issue of measuring neighbourhoods through spatial autocorrelation method based on Moran's I index in respect of achieving to best neighbourhoods' model for forming cities smarter. The research carried out by selection of 35 neighbourhoods only within central part of traditional city of Kerman in Iran. The results illustrate, 75% of neighbourhoods' area in the inner city of Kerman had clustered pattern, and it shows reduction in Moran's index is associated with disproportional distribution of density and increasing in Moran's I and Z-score have monotonic relation with more dense areas and clustered pattern. It may be more efficient for urban planner to focus on spatial autocorrelation to foster neighbourhood cohesion rather than emphasis on suburban area. It is recommended characteristics of historic neighbourhoods can be successfully linked to redevelopment plans toward making city smarter, and also people's quality of life can be related to the way that neighbourhoods' patterns are defined. 

Spatial Autocorrelation in the Study of Neighbourhoods towards Smart Cities: Empirical Evidence from Kerman, Iran

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Asra Hosseini
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Moran’S I ◽  
Moran's I ◽  
Urban Planner ◽  
Universal Feature ◽  
Autocorrelation Method ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Monotonic Relation

From earliest cities to the present, spatial division into residential zones and neighbourhoods is the universal feature ofurban areas. This study explored issue ofmeasuring neighbourhoods through spatial autocorrelation method based on Moran's I index in respect of achieving to best neighbourhoods' model for forming cities smarter. The research carried out by selection of 35 neighbourhoods only within central part of traditional city of Kerman in Iran. The results illustrate, 75% ofneighbourhoods, area in the inner city of Kerman had clustered pattern, and it shows reduction in Moran's index is associated with disproportional distribution of density and increasing in Moran's I and Z-score have monotonic relation with more dense areas and clustered pattern. It may be more efficient for urban planner to focus on spatial autocorrelation to foster neighbourhood cohesion rather than emphasis on suburban area. It is recommended characteristics of historic neighbourhoods can be successfully linked to redevelopment plans toward making city smarter, and also people's quality of life can be related to the way that neighbourhoods' patterns are defined.

Using the potential of peripheral green areas of cities for educational and recreational purposes on the example of Stary Sącz, Nowy Targ and Kraków

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63
Author(s):  
Mateusz Kulig ◽  
Anna Przeniczny ◽  
Piotr Ogórek
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Geospatial Data ◽  
Valuable Resource ◽  
Green Areas

AbstractGreen areas located on the peripheries of cities have the potential to become green public spaces not only of recreational but also educational character, promoting at the same time the knowledge about environmental protection. The cities included in the research belong to the małopolskie voivodeship (Lesser Poland voivodeship). With the use of geospatial data of land cover, as well as territorial forms of environmental protection, it was pointed that 48.4% of forest, wooded and shrub green areas located within city borders are covered by a form of environmental protection, thus being a valuable resource of significant nature potential. Making such spaces available in a conscious and attractive way is presented on the example of projects implemented in the cities of: Stary Sącz, Nowy Targ and Kraków. The presented projects were used to make recommendations for city authorities to create green public spaces.

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