scholarly journals Brownfield sites as catalysts for sustainable urban regeneration in Middle Eastern contexts and the demand for objectives, tools and classifications for the support of their redevelopment

Author(s):  
Deyala Tarawneh

Almost two decades today, the topic ofhas extensively been researched in urban sociology, urban planning, and human geography, and numerous Western-Centric studies have linked the redevelopment of the abandoned, contaminated, vacant or derelict sites to sustainable urban regeneration and achieving smart cities and sustainability goals in general. Yet, until this day, the concept has received little academic and practical attention in Middle Eastern contexts.Western contexts on the other hand including Europe, UK and USA continue to offer unique perspectives on approachingin ways that reduce the alarming spatial cluttering and addressdisparities and spatial segregation in addition to achieving economic and environmental goals, and similar to the global scene, brownfield sites make a large portion of the post-industrial city of Amman, the capital of Jordan. However, with the lack of a systematic definition for the urban phenomenon objectives, methods to identifying potential brownfield sites and evaluating theof their redevelopment that takes into consideration context particularities, and with the absence ofapproaches that include the local community in the decision-making regarding these spaces, city planners fail to include the increasingly growing number of brownfield site that proliferate their cities in the urban planning practice.Through the examination of literature discussions on objectives, approaches, classification systems, methodologies, assessment and evaluation tools for the support of design anddecisions for brownfield regeneration in different contexts, and through looking at the numerous potential alternatives for brownfield sites regeneration these contexts highlight, this paper bids tothe importance of developing context specific,tools tailored for the Middle Eastern case.Building on the above, this paper identifies five potential brownfield typologies in the context of Amman; (1) residual planning outcomes; (2) discontinued mines and quarries; (3) unfinished mega-projects; (4) contaminated and hazardous sites, and; (5) miscellaneous abandoned sites and buildings, and ends on the note that looking at the increasing demand to meeting smart growth and sustainability needs, these urban landscapes may function as catalysts for achieving comprehensive sustainable urban regeneration. 

Author(s):  
Haysam Nour

Through the last century, historic Muslim Cities witnessed significant decay. The level of decay, while a number of those cities were inscribed in the WHL, created an international urge to intervene. With very limited exceptions, modern interventions did not create an obvious impact due to common factors: inefficient management, fragmented responsibilities on administrative levels, weak legislations, and lack of community awareness, participation, and absence of integrated mechanisms. However, those factors are mostly of operational nature. This paper sheds light on a socio-cultural aspect of deterioration through inquiring about a basic issue: “How was the historic Muslim city maintained for centuries?”The key answer refers always to “the Waqf”. Although its nature and role are quite different now, the Waqf institution was the main player in urban regeneration in Muslim cities until early 1900. How did it use to work? Within which value reference? In addition, what was the position of the local community in the process? Those are the key issues discussed in the paper arguing that reconsidering this traditional mechanism might add another layer to the understanding of the complexity of Muslim cities and accordingly, might lead to different approaches in future interventions.


Author(s):  
Oksana Sadkovskaya

One of major factors of deterioration in a microclimate of urban development in the conditions of the Rostov region, is degradation of landscapes owing to violation of water balance of the territory. In article the main reasons for violation of water balance which included natural features of the region, a consequence of anthropogenic influence, climatic changes, etc. are considered. Examples from the world practice of urban planning, which show the relevance and effectiveness of compensation for the effects of anthropogenic im-pacts and climate change using planning methods, are given. The experience of the United States, the Nether-lands, Canada and other countries that use water-saving technologies in planning is considered. The rela-tionship of urban planning and the formation of sustainable urban landscapes is shown. The integration of water-saving technologies into the urban environment can be a means of optimizing landscapes and a means of creating unique urban spaces. Reclamation of the urban landscape of low-rise buildings is a necessary step in creating a modern and comfortable urban environment in the conditions of the Rostov region. Meth-ods are proposed to compensate for negative changes in urban landscapes that can be applied at the stage of urban planning. As well as the proposed methods can be applied in the reconstruction of urban low-rise buildings. The considered methods concern not only urban landscapes, but also agricultural landscapes that surround small and medium-sized cities of the Rostov region. In article the author's concept of the organiza-tion of the low housing estate on a basis Urban- facies is submitted. Planning methods of regulation of water balance of the territory on the basis of models the ecological protective of landscapes are offered: an ecolog-ical core, an ecological corridor and an ecological barrier and also analogs from town-planning practice are considered. The reclamation of urban landscapes based on urban planning methods for regulating the water balance of the territory will allow creating unique urban spaces that are resistant to local climatic conditions and the possible consequences of climate change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6486
Author(s):  
Christina Kakderi ◽  
Eleni Oikonomaki ◽  
Ilektra Papadaki

The COVID-19 pandemic has put lifestyles in question, changed daily routines, and limited citizen freedoms that seemed inalienable before. A human activity that has been greatly affected since the beginning of the health crisis is mobility. Focusing on mobility, we aim to discuss the transformational impact that the pandemic brought to this specific urban domain, especially with regards to the promotion of sustainability, the smart growth agenda, and the acceleration towards the smart city paradigm. We collect 60 initial policy responses related to urban mobility from cities around the world and analyze them based on the challenge they aim to address, the exact principles of smart growth and sustainable mobility that they encapsulate, as well as the level of ICT penetration. Our findings suggest that emerging strategies, although mainly temporary, are transformational, in line with the principles of smart growth and sustainable development. Most policy responses adopted during the first months of the pandemic, however, fail to leverage advancements made in the field of smart cities, and to adopt off-the-shelf solutions such as monitoring, alerting, and operations management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-222
Author(s):  
Karima Kourtit

AbstractThe contemporary ‘digital age’ prompts the need for a re-assessment of urban planning principles and practices. Against the background of current data-rich urban planning, this study seeks to address the question whether an appropriate methodological underpinning can be provided for smart city governance based on a data-driven planning perspective. It posits that the current digital technology age has a drastic impact on city strategies and calls for a multi-faceted perspective on future urban development, termed here the ‘XXQ-principle’ (which seeks to attain the highest possible level of quality for urban life). Heterogeneity in urban objectives and data embodied in the XXQ-principle can be systematically addressed by a process of data decomposition (based on a ‘cascade principle’), so that first, higher-level urban policy domains are equipped with the necessary (‘big’) data provisions, followed by lower-ranking urban governance levels. The conceptual decomposition principle can then be translated into a comprehensive hierarchical model architecture for urban intelligence based on the ‘flying disc’ model, including key performance indicators (KPIs). This new model maps out the socio-economic arena of a complex urban system according to the above cascade system. The design of this urban system architecture and the complex mutual connections between its subsystems is based on the ‘blowing-up’ principle that originates from a methodological deconstruction-reconstruction paradigm in the social sciences. The paper advocates the systematic application of this principle to enhance the performance of smart cities, called the XXQ performance value. This study is not empirical, although it is inspired by a wealth of previous empirical research. It aims to advance conceptual and methodological thinking on principles of smart urban planning.


Smart Cities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaheer Allam ◽  
A. Dhunny ◽  
Gaëtan Siew ◽  
David Jones

The Smart City Scheme, as part of the Smart Mauritius initiative, adopted by the Government of Mauritius in 2014, heavily incentivised the emergence of new smart cities in greenfields. The resulting migration of business and residents from existing cities to new cities affected the liveability standard of existing cities and encouraged property speculation. This shift reduced home pricing affordability further from the grasp of young professionals. With the Mauritian Landlord and Tenant Act of 1999 discouraging investment in Mauritian city centres, property developers were additionally encouraged to invest in housing projects in these emerging Smart Cities. As part of the Smart Urban Regeneration strategy of Port Louis that sought to reduce competition between new and existing cities, the provision of housing was seen as paramount to enabling the Smart Cities concept as promoted by the Government. The findings of this paper, which explores the urban footprint of Port Louis through field survey, provides insights, as to the components of the city, that can assist policy-makers and developers to better shape projects that are more responsive to the Smart Urban Regeneration plan.


2018 ◽  
Vol 170 ◽  
pp. 02021
Author(s):  
Olga Chudiniva ◽  
Marina Afonina

The development of “Smart Cities” is associated with a comprehensive study of the General system of settlement. The aim of the study is to use the system of indicators for the objective assessment of territories, as well as determining the effect of each part in the overall assessment of the functioning of the «Smart City». The leading method of research is a comparative analysis of international rankings, surveys of experts and a comprehensive study of indicators. The article analyzes the papers of specialists working in the field of research «Smart Cities» and technologies: Mueller, Battarra, Srivastava, Dolgikh etc. The basis for this work were the studies by authoritative rating organizations such as IESE Business School University of Navarra, Vienna University of Technology and Research Institute of technology and communications (NIITC, Russia) which allowed to generalize the available research from the perspective of sustainable development and use them on a concrete example.The authors have adapted the existing groups of indicators in relation to the SKOLKOVO innovation city, Russia. The applied system is represented by 7 groups and 23 indicators, which allow to present the planning aspect of the current urban planning structure with its impact on human capital, transport infrastructure, social cohesion, the state of the environment, etc. The work lets confirm the influence of the selected indicators on the development of SKOLKOVO (Russia) and use the obtained data for the rating of “Smart Cities” adapted for Russia. The materials of the article can be extremely useful in the designing of concepts for the development of territories focused on the use of smart solutions in order to minimize costs in the implementation of new solutions.


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