Urban planning as collective, progressive, interrelated and path-dependent decision making

This article discusses the implementation of two large-scale urban waterfront projects that are currently under construction in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) capital cities of Belgrade and Bratislava. Against the backdrop of postsocialist urban studies and recent reflections on urban or ‘world-city’ entrepreneurialism (Golubchikov, 2010), we reveal how both elite-serving projects are being shaped according to their very own structure and agency relations. Our comparative analysis unravels the power-geometry of the decision-making processes that reshape urban planning regulations of both transforming waterfronts. The path-dependent character of “multiple transformations” (Sykora & Bouzarovski, 2012) in the CEE region can, even after three decades, still be traced within the institutional environments, which have been adapting to the existing institutional architecture of global capitalism. Yet, at the same time, the dynamic globalization of this part of the world intensifies its further attractiveness for transnational private investors. As a consequence, public urban planning institutions are lagging behind private investors’ interests, which reshape the temporarily-fixed flows of capital on local waterfronts into landscapes of profits, politics and power. We argue that suchlike large urban developments, focused on promoting urban growth, accelerate the dual character of these cities. Thus, while the differences between both investigated case studies are being highlighted, we simultaneously illustrate how national and local state actors respectively paved the way for private investors, and how this corresponds to similar overarching structural conditions as well as outcomes.

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Housing Programs for the Poor in Addis Ababa: Urban Commons as a Bridge between Spatial and Social

Journal of Urban History ◽

10.1177/0096144221989975 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 009614422198997

Author(s):

Marianna Charitonidou

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Low Income ◽

Addis Ababa ◽

Low Cost ◽

Development Program ◽

Housing Program ◽

Cultural Aspects ◽

The Poor ◽

The Government

The article presents the reasons for which the issue of providing housing to low-income citizens has been a real challenge in Addis Ababa during the recent years and will continue to be, given that its population is growing extremely fast. It examines the tensions between the universal aspirations and the local realities in the case of some of Ethiopia’s most ambitious mass pro-poor housing schemes, such as the “Addis Ababa Grand Housing Program” (AAGHP), which was launched in 2004 and was integrated in the “Integrated Housing Development Program” (IHDP) in 2006. The article argues that the quotidian practices of communities and their socio-economic and cultural characteristics are related to the spatial attributes of co-housing practices. Drawing upon the idea that there is a mutual correspondence between social and spatial structures, it places particular emphasis on the analysis of the IHDP and aims to show that to shape strategies that take into account the social and cultural aspects of daily life of the poor citizens of Addis Ababa, it is pivotal to invite them to take part in the decision-making processes regarding their resettlement. Departing from the fact that a large percentage of the housing supply in Addis Ababa consists of informal unplanned housing, the article also compares the commoning practices in kebele houses and condominium units. The former refers to the legal informal housing units owned by the government and rented to their dwellers, whereas the latter concerns the housing blocks built in the framework of the IHDP for the resettlement of the kebele dwellers. The article analyzes these processes of resettlement, shedding light of the fact that kebele houses were located at the inner city, whereas the condominiums are located in the suburbs. Despite the fact that the living conditions in the condominium units are of a much higher quality than those in the kebele houses, their design underestimated or even neglected the role of the commoning practices. The article highlights the advantages of commoning practices in architecture and urban planning, and how the implementation of participation-oriented solutions can respond to the difficulties of providing housing. It argues that understanding the significance of the endeavors that take into account the opinions of dwellers during the phase of decision-making goes hand in hand with considering commoning practices as a source of architecture and urban planning frameworks for low-cost housing in this specific context. The key argument of the article is that urban planning and architecture solutions in Addis Ababa should be based on the principles of the so-called “negotiated planning” approach, which implies a close analysis of the interconnections between planning, infrastructure, and land.

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Excluded communities and participatory land-use planning: experience from informal Roma settlements in Serbia

Environment and Urbanization ◽

10.1177/09562478211024095 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 095624782110240

Author(s):

Zlata Vuksanović-Macura ◽

Igor Miščević

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Land Use ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Capacity Building ◽

Citizen Participation ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Planning Process ◽

Participatory Approach ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Active Involvement

Citizen participation in the planning and decision-making process in the European post-socialist context is much debated. Still, the involvement of excluded communities in the urban planning process remains understudied. This paper presents and discusses the application of an innovative participatory approach designed to ensure active involvement of an excluded ethnic minority, the Roma community, in the process of formulating and adopting land-use plans for informal settlements in Serbia. By analysing the development of land-use plans in 11 municipalities, we observe that the applied participatory approach enhanced the inhabitants’ active participation and helped build consensus on the planned solution between the key actors. Findings also suggested that further work with citizens, capacity building of planners and administration, and secured financial mechanisms are needed to move citizen participation in urban planning beyond the limited statutory requirements.

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Path Dependence

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199978427.013.7 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Michelle Hegmon

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Path Dependence ◽

General Level ◽

Historical Contingency ◽

Difficult Decision ◽

Critical Junctures ◽

Potential Applications ◽

Path Dependent ◽

Historical Sequences ◽

Lock In

Path dependence concepts, thus far, have seen little application in archaeology, but they have great potential. At a general level, these concepts provide tools for theorizing historical sequences, such as patterns of settlement on a landscape and divergent historical traditions. Potential applications include issues of historical contingency in the late Rio Grande, settlement in the Mesa Verde region, and divergent trajectories in the post-Chaco period. Specific concepts from path dependence theory, including lock-in and critical junctures, are illustrated by an analysis of the growth of Hohokam irrigation, which exhibited a path-dependent trajectory. As archaeological study of path dependence builds awareness of the importance of decision-making on the future, it contributes to difficult decision-making in today’s world.

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DEVELOPING A 3-D GIS MODEL FOR URBAN PLANNING. CASE STUDY: AMPANG JAYA, MALAYSIA

PLANNING MALAYSIA JOURNAL ◽

10.21837/pmjournal.v16.i7.501 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Mimi Zaleha Abdul Ghani ◽

Yazid Sarkom ◽

Zalina Samadi

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Spatial Information ◽

Gis Model ◽

Written Information ◽

Urban Planning And Design ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

The Rich ◽

Interactive Visualisation

This paper aims to explore the rich potential of interactive visualisation environment integrating GIS for modelling urban growth and spatio-temporal transformation of Malaysian cities. As a case study example, authors consider a 3-D GIS model of Ampang Jaya, Selangor to investigate the techniques of data acquisition, data reconstruction from physical to digital, urban analysis and visualisation in constructing a digital model ranging from low to high geometric content including 2-D digital maps, digital orthographic and full volumetricparametric modelling. The key aspect of this virtual model is how it would assist in understanding the urban planning and design of Ampang Jaya by translating complex spatial information that are currently used by the authorities for planning activities such as maps, plans and written information into responsive, easily understandable spatial information. It could serve as a new platform to disseminate information about Ampang Jaya, bridge gaps among professionals involved in planning processes, improve communications among decision makers, stakeholders and the public as well as support decision making about thespatial growth of Ampang Jaya. Demonstrations of Ampang Jaya will also provide a clearer picture of the importance of ownership and control of 3-D models by local councils in empowering them in decision making, for example, in improving transparency, and avoiding misuse by project developers (Shiffer 1993; Sunesson et al., 2008). Such environment will improve the subsequent digital models and research in the area of urban design and planning in Malaysia where visual communication is pivotal.

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Application of multi criteria decision making to urban planning: A review

Journal of Engineering Management and Competitiveness ◽

10.5937/jemc1601046a ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 46-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Ali Afshari ◽

Mahdi Vatanparast ◽

Dragan Cockalo

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Multi Criteria Decision Making

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The Co-Creation of the City

Advancing Research Methods with New Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-3918-8.ch002 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 12-33

Author(s):

Salvatore Iaconesi ◽

Oriana Persico

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Social Networks ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Urban Life ◽

Digital Information ◽

Pervasive Systems ◽

Time Space ◽

Multiple Cultures ◽

The City

Is it possible to imagine novel forms of urban planning and of public policies regulating the ways in which people use city spaces by listening to citizens’ expressions, emotions, desires, and visions, as they ubiquitously emerge in real-time on social networks and on other sources of digital information? This chapter presents the theoretical and methodological approach, the investigation and research phases, the design and prototyping processes constituting the ConnectiCity initiative, a collaborative, multi-disciplinary series of projects in which artists, scientists, anthropologists, engineers, communicators, architects, and institutions participated to the design of innovative ubiquitous and pervasive systems which were able to transform the ways in which the concepts of urban planning and city-wide decision-making are defined. Novel forms of urban life were imagined, in which cities became the time/space continuum for multiple, stratified layers of information expressing the ideas, goals, visions, emotions, and forms of expression for multiple cultures and backgrounds, producing new opportunities for citizenship: more active, aware, and engaged in the production of urban reality, and in the transformation of city spaces into possibilistic frameworks.

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Decision-Making for Urban Planning and Regional Development

Advances in Operations Research ◽

10.1155/2019/5178051 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-2 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marta Bottero ◽

Chiara D’Alpaos ◽

Alessandra Oppio

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Regional Development

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Engaging the Senses: The Potential of Emotional Data for Participation in Urban Planning

Urban Science ◽

10.3390/urbansci2040098 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 98 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Afif Fathullah ◽

Katharine Willis

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Urban Planning ◽

Urban Environment ◽

Physical Space ◽

Urban Setting ◽

City Centre ◽

Planning Decisions ◽

Information Layer ◽

Stress Levels ◽

Planning Decision

This paper presents an exploratory study on the potential for sharing urban data; one where citizens create their own data and use it to understand and influence urban planning decisions. The aim of the study is to explore new models of participation through the sharing of emotional data and focuses on the relationship between the physical space and emotions through identifying the links between stress levels and specific features of the urban environment. It addresses the problem in urban planning that, while people’s emotional connection with the physical urban setting is often valued, it is rarely recognised or used as a source of data to understand future decision making. The method involved participants using a (GSR) device linked to location data to measure participant’s emotional responses along a walking route in a city centre environment. Results show correlations between characteristics of the urban environment and stress levels, as well as how specific features of the city spaces create stress ‘peaks’. In the discussion we review how the data obtained could contribute to citizens creating their own information layer—an emotional layer—that could inform a shared approach to participation in urban planning decision-making. The future implications of the application of this method as an approach to public participation in urban planning are also considered.

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