Learning from Our Tampines Hub: Co-Generative Hubs for Urbanism

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-98
Author(s):  
Chee Huang Seah ◽  
Shawn Eng Kiong Teo
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
The Social ◽  
Productive Potential ◽  
The City ◽  
Community Space

Within the past three years, the Singapore government has completed three integrated community hubs around the island. In tandem with the state's decentralization plan of 1991, such large-scale communal architecture plays a significant role in rejuvenating the heartlands and fostering a sense of place as towns mature. These nodal developments leverage on its urban context and programmatic offerings in a bid to generate a sustainable hub ecology for the city. Integrating various national and community stakeholders within a single development might seem like a literal trope for a whole-of-government approach to co-locate, co-share and collaborate. Through Our Tampines Hub, we examine the complexities of Singapore's first integrated hub. While validating the post-occupancy performance of the development, we also re flect and analyse specific design strategies and processes that aid in the social production of this mega community space. Through the theoretical underpinnings of largescale communal architecture as social condensers, this paper seeks to investigate the role and productive potential of this emerging shared urban model of integrated communal architecture in Singapore. It examines not only economic value in the land and space optimization harnessed, but also the new designs produced in the governance framework, closed-loop environmental outcomes and social impetus.

CONCEPT OF THE IMPROVEMENT OF A KEY PUBLIC SPACE (USING THE EXAMPLE OF «ALLEY OF ARCHITECTS», VORONEZH)

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-109
Author(s):  
С. Л. Подвальный ◽  
О. А. Сотникова ◽  
Я. А. Золотухина
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Ecological Condition ◽  
Territory Design ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Modern Technologies ◽  
Intensive Growth

Постановка задачи. В настоящее время формирование современной комфортной городской среды приобретает особое социально-экономическое значение и выдвигается в число приоритетных государственных масштабных программ. В связи с этим необходимо разработать концепцию благоустройства ключевого общественного пространства, а именно: определить основные и сопутствующие функции данной территории, создать эскизное предложение проекта благоустройства с учетом всех необходимых норм и стандартов, внедрить современные технологии. Результаты. Выполнен эскизный дизайн-проект «Аллеи архитекторов» по ул. Орджоникидзе г. Воронеж, включающий в себя основные элементы по зонированию территории, проектированию акцентных объектов и внедрению инновационных технологий «умного города», позволяющих повысить уровень комфорта горожан. Выводы. Благоустройство населенных мест приобретает особое значение в условиях дискомфорта среды. С выполнением комплекса мероприятий, направленных на благоустройство, и с внедрением современных технологий значительно улучшается экологическое состояние, внешний облик города. Оздоровление и модернизация среды, которая окружает человека в городе, благотворно влияет на психофизическое состояние, что особенно важно в период интенсивного роста городов. Statement of the problem. Currently the formation of the modern comfortable urban environment is gaining a special social and economic value and moving forward in the priorities of state large-scale programs. The purpose of development of the concept of improvement of public space is definition of the main and accompanying functions of this territory, design of the outline offer of the project of improvement considering all necessary norms and standards and implementation of modern technologies. Results. The conceptual project of “Alley of Architects” includes the basic elements of territory zoning, design of accent objects and implementation of technologies of a “smart-city”. These elements allow one to increase the level of comfort of inhabitants. Conclusions. Improvement of the inhabited places is of particular importance in the conditions of discomfort of the environment. Carrying out a complex of the actions directed to gardening and improvement, introducing modern technologies, the ecological condition, the physical appearance of the city considerably improves. Improvement and modernization of the environment which surrounds the person in the city influences a psychophysical state well that especially important during intensive growth of the cities.

Barriers and levers for implementing sustainable Nature-Based Solutions in cities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloé Duffaut ◽  
Nathalie Frascaria-Lacoste ◽  
Pierre-Antoine Versini
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Urban Plan ◽  
Education And Awareness ◽  
Awareness Raising ◽  
The City

<p>Hydro-meteorological risks are increasing and this could be due to global changes. These risks are particularly important in the urban context where most human beings live. Indeed, the impervious surfaces present in cities increase the risk of flooding, for example. Nature-Based Solutions can help to reduce these risks by creating permeable soils or storing water while promoting biodiversity. In this context, it is essential to understand what hinders the development and sustainability of these Nature-based Solutions in the city and what could help to deploy them on a large scale. For this purpose, various professionals working on Nature-Based Solutions in the city in France, were interviewed between 2020 and 2021, both in the academic and operational sectors, or even at the interface between the two: researchers in ecology or hydrology, IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) project manager, project managers at the Regional Biodiversity Agency, director and natural environment manager of a watershed union, agro-economists engineer among others. They were asked what are the barriers and potential opportunities for Nature-Based Solutions implementation and sustainability in city. By analysing their answers, it emerges that the obstacles are more often cultural, political or financial than technical. The potential levers often mentioned are education and awareness-raising at all levels, especially for elected officials and the general public. Regulations such as the PLU (Local Urban Plan) and new funding for more natural spaces in the city also seem to be means of promoting Nature-based Solutions in urban areas. These interviews with diverse professionals directly involved in Nature-Based Solutions in cities allow to give real courses of action to be taken to democratize these Solutions throughout the French territory, or even internationally, and therefore ultimately reduce the risks of hydro-meteorology. This is one of the objectives of the French ANR project EVNATURB (Assessment of ecosystem performance of a renaturation of the urban environment), in which this study has been carried out.</p>

scholarly journals Re Thinking the Public Toilet of Dhaka City: An Adaptable Prototype Design Solution to Improve the Existing Situation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Syeda Faeza Hasan ◽  
Farjana Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Public Infrastructure ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Human Waste ◽  
The Public ◽  
Hygiene Education ◽  
The City ◽  
Public Toilets

Dhaka is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world with a population of 21 million. With the constantly rising inhabitants, this urbanizing hub officially only has 122 public toilets, and in reality, most of them are not functional (Sanyal, November 05, 2016). Different studies also suggested that current situations of the public toilets in the city are unusable and unhygienic. Apart from a few good ones, most toilets have filthy floors, inadequate lighting and ventilation, and unbearable odor of human waste. Although unhygienic open defecation by men is a common scene in the city, for the woman it is not an option. While the city plans to construct a few, there still will be a huge need for public toilets to meet the demand of the vast population. It is critical to realize the challenges existing and evolving from the forbidding public hygiene situation and the lack of proper public infrastructure. Understanding the user group is crucial as modern and costly toilets end up being rejected than being used. Thus the paper tries to address the problems and suggests design strategies to achieve a feasible design solution for a sustainable public toilet that supports and empowers communal hygiene. The contribution of this paper is not only to promote a design solution but how this infrastructure can integrate with the surrounding urban context. A modular prototype is proposed which is adaptable, feasible, cost-effective, easy to erect, and can be plugged into any corner of the city. Rethinking public toilets as an adaptable prototype is not only about providing proper sanitation but also encouraging people about hygiene education, awareness, and innovation. The design is conceptualized as a prefabricated self-sustainable modular unit that can be altered, increased, or decreased as per the necessity of the surrounding area. 

What is Popular about the Khānqāh?

2015 ◽  
pp. 90-102
Author(s):  
Nathan Hofer
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Profound Impact ◽  
The Social ◽  
The City

After Saladin opened the Saʿīd al-Su ʿadāʾ Cairo was infused with many hundreds of juridical Sufis from the East. This immigration had a profound impact on the social and religious fabric of the city. Upon their arrival these individuals lived and worked in the very heart of urban Cairo, the bayn al-qa‚ rayn district. While the Sufis were obliged to spend portions of their day engaged in devotions within the walls of the khānqāh, they were not required to sequester themselves. They performed public rituals every evening, they paraded through the streets of Cairo every Friday, and they frequented the city’s many madrasas, mosques and teaching circles. Locals also came to the khānqāh to study with them on site. All these practices contributed to the popularisation of Sufism on a large scale in Cairo. But what exactly where these Sufis popularising?

The social context and politics of large scale urban architecture: Investigating the design of Barcode, Oslo

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt Andersen ◽  
Per Gunnar Røe
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Urban Architecture ◽  
Class A ◽  
The Social ◽  
Transnational Companies ◽  
City Centres

The well-known and much investigated rise of urban entrepreneurial policies has fuelled a transformation of urban spaces and landscapes, and has led to changes in the social composition of city centres. This is the case for Oslo, Norway’s capital, where increasingly urban policies are designed to attract transnational companies and those in the creative class. A key strategy to achieve this has been to transform the city’s waterfront through spectacular architecture and urban design, as has taken place in other European cities. Transnational and local architects have been commissioned to design the Barcode, one of the most striking waterfront projects. This article investigates the role of architecture and architects in this process, because architects can be seen as influential generators of urban spaces and agents for social change, and because there is remarkably little published empirical research on this specific role of architects. It is argued that although there was an overall planning goal that the projects along the waterfront of Oslo should contribute to social sustainability, with the implication that planners and architects possessed information about the local urban context and used this knowledge, in practice this was not the case. It is demonstrated that the architects paid little attention to the social, cultural and economic contexts in their design process. Rather, the architects emphasized the creation of an exciting urban space and, in particular, designed spectacular architecture that would contribute to the merits of the firms involved. It is further argued that because of this the Barcode project will not contribute to the making of a just city.

scholarly journals Trees and their seed networks: the social dynamics of urban fruit trees and implications for genetic diversity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurore Rimlinger ◽  
Marie-Louise Avana ◽  
Abdon Awono ◽  
Armel Chakocha ◽  
Alexis Gakwavu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Fruit Trees ◽  
Urban Trees ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Exchange Networks ◽  
The Social ◽  
The City

AbstractTrees are a traditional component of urban spaces where they provide ecosystem services critical to urban wellbeing. In the Tropics, urban trees’ seed origins have rarely been characterized. Yet, understanding the social dynamics linked to tree planting is critical given their influence on the distribution of associated genetic diversity. This study examines elements of these dynamics (seed exchange networks) in an emblematic indigenous fruit tree species from Central Africa, the African plum tree (Dacryodes edulis, Burseraceae), within the urban context of Yaoundé. We further evaluate the consequences of these social dynamics on the distribution of the genetic diversity of the species in the city. Urban trees were planted predominantly using seeds sourced from outside the city, resulting in a level of genetic diversity as high in Yaoundé as in a whole region of production of the species. Debating the different drivers that foster the genetic diversity in planted urban trees, the study argued that cities and urban dwellers can unconsciously act as effective guardians of indigenous tree genetic diversity.

Henri Lefebvre

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Zieleniec
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Right ◽  
The University ◽  
The City

Henri Lefebvre is now established as one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century. Over a long life (b. 1901–d. 1991) he wrote and published prodigiously more than sixty books and several hundred articles on a range of issues and themes. His legacy and lasting impact not only includes being the most influential and seminal theorist on the reprioritization of space in social and critical analysis but also recognition for his contribution to the analysis of everyday life, modernity, the Right to the City, and the urban. He continues to influence and inspire research across a number of disciplines and fields; these include rural and regional studies, sociology, geography, politics, philosophy, and urban studies. Lefebvre’s commitment Marxism; his nondogmatic and humanist approach to the definition, discussion, extension, and application of key concepts; and his integration of those concepts into his various analyses of the rural and the city, of the state, of space and politics, and of modernity and everyday life led him to a conflicted relationship and at times marginalization within the structuralist-influenced French Academy and the Communist Party of France in which he was a member for thirty years. His anti-Stalinist stance and nonconformist opposition to the structural determinism prevalent within the party led to his expulsion, but throughout the 1960s, as professor of sociology at the University of Strasbourg and latterly at the new university at Nanterre, he became one of the most respected teachers and intellectuals inspiring and influencing the May 1968 student revolt. Lefebvre’s work after that, still influenced and committed to Marxist dialectics and critique, increasingly focused on the urban, the social production of space, everyday life, modernity, and the survival of capitalism. Of these his introduction of the concept of the right to the city and the social production of space have been immensely influential for a range of urban scholars and theorists and his work as a whole is being increasingly adopted, adapted, and extended by a variety of researchers of the city in a range of disciplines. The works selected below reflect Lefebvre’s long career and extensive corpus of work. However, only those books and articles that have been translated into English are included here. They represent his exegesis of Marxism and its application to a range of themes that were applied or are important for urban analysis. The secondary literature cited is organized thematically and while not comprehensive provides an overview of the expanding literature on, about, and applying Lefebvrian analysis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document