scholarly journals [a] Project for the Sub-Centre

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Grace Helen Salisbury Mills
Keyword(s):  
City Centre ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Specific Design ◽  
Architectural Form ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
A Site ◽  
The City

<p>In the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake, a state of polycentric urbanity was thrust upon New Zealand’s second largest city. As the city-centre lay in disrepair, smaller centres started to materialise elsewhere, out of necessity. Transforming former urban peripheries and within existing suburbs into a collective, dispersed alternative to the city centre, these sub-centres prompted a range of morphological, socio-cultural and political transformations, and begged multiple questions: how to imbue these new sub-centres with gravity? How to render them a genuine alternative to the CBD? How do they operate within the wider city? How to cope with the physical and cultural transformations of this shifting urbanscape and prevent them occurring ad lib? Indeed, the success and functioning of the larger urban structure hinges upon a critical, informed response to these sub-centre urban contexts. Yet, with an unrelenting focus on the CBD rebuild - effectively a polycentric denial - little such attention has been granted.  Taking this urban condition as its premise and its provocation, this thesis investigates architecture’s role in the emergent sub-centre. It asks: what can architecture do in these urban contexts; how can architecture act upon the emergent sub-centre in a critical, catalytic fashion? Identifying this volatile condition as both an opportunity for architectural experimentation and a need for critical architectural engagement, this thesis seeks to explore the sub-centre (as an idea and actual urban context) as architecture’s project: its raison d’etre, impetus and aspiration.  These inquiries are tested through design-led research: an initial design question provoking further, broader discursive research (and indeed, seeking broader implications). The first section is a site-specific, design for Sumner, Christchurch. Titled ‘An Agora Anew’; this project - both in conception and outcome - is a speculative response to a specific sub-centre condition. The second section ‘The Sub-centre as Architecture’s Project’ explores the ideas provoked by the design project within a discursive framework. Firstly it identifies the sub-centre as a context in desperate need of architectural attention (why architecture?); secondly, it negotiates a possible agenda for architecture in this context through terms of engagement that are formal, critical and opportunistic (how architecture?): enabling it to take a position on and in the sub-centre. Lastly, a critical exegesis positions the design in regards to the broader discursive debate: critiquing it an architectural project predicated upon the idea of the sub-centre.  The implications of this design-led thesis are twofold: firstly, for architecture’s role in the sub-centre (especially to Christchurch); secondly for the possibilities of architecture’s productive engagement with the city (largely through architectural form), more generally. In a century where radical, new urban contexts (of which the sub-centre is just one) are commonplace, this type of thinking – what can architecture do in the city? - is imperative.</p>

scholarly journals [a] Project for the Sub-Centre

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Grace Helen Salisbury Mills
Keyword(s):  
City Centre ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Specific Design ◽  
Architectural Form ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Cultural Transformations ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
A Site ◽  
The City

<p>In the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake, a state of polycentric urbanity was thrust upon New Zealand’s second largest city. As the city-centre lay in disrepair, smaller centres started to materialise elsewhere, out of necessity. Transforming former urban peripheries and within existing suburbs into a collective, dispersed alternative to the city centre, these sub-centres prompted a range of morphological, socio-cultural and political transformations, and begged multiple questions: how to imbue these new sub-centres with gravity? How to render them a genuine alternative to the CBD? How do they operate within the wider city? How to cope with the physical and cultural transformations of this shifting urbanscape and prevent them occurring ad lib? Indeed, the success and functioning of the larger urban structure hinges upon a critical, informed response to these sub-centre urban contexts. Yet, with an unrelenting focus on the CBD rebuild - effectively a polycentric denial - little such attention has been granted.  Taking this urban condition as its premise and its provocation, this thesis investigates architecture’s role in the emergent sub-centre. It asks: what can architecture do in these urban contexts; how can architecture act upon the emergent sub-centre in a critical, catalytic fashion? Identifying this volatile condition as both an opportunity for architectural experimentation and a need for critical architectural engagement, this thesis seeks to explore the sub-centre (as an idea and actual urban context) as architecture’s project: its raison d’etre, impetus and aspiration.  These inquiries are tested through design-led research: an initial design question provoking further, broader discursive research (and indeed, seeking broader implications). The first section is a site-specific, design for Sumner, Christchurch. Titled ‘An Agora Anew’; this project - both in conception and outcome - is a speculative response to a specific sub-centre condition. The second section ‘The Sub-centre as Architecture’s Project’ explores the ideas provoked by the design project within a discursive framework. Firstly it identifies the sub-centre as a context in desperate need of architectural attention (why architecture?); secondly, it negotiates a possible agenda for architecture in this context through terms of engagement that are formal, critical and opportunistic (how architecture?): enabling it to take a position on and in the sub-centre. Lastly, a critical exegesis positions the design in regards to the broader discursive debate: critiquing it an architectural project predicated upon the idea of the sub-centre.  The implications of this design-led thesis are twofold: firstly, for architecture’s role in the sub-centre (especially to Christchurch); secondly for the possibilities of architecture’s productive engagement with the city (largely through architectural form), more generally. In a century where radical, new urban contexts (of which the sub-centre is just one) are commonplace, this type of thinking – what can architecture do in the city? - is imperative.</p>

Cities of Refuge, Rebel Cities, and the City to Come

2019 ◽  
pp. 253-271
Author(s):  
Giovanna Borradori
Keyword(s):  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Symbolic Capital ◽  
Political Agency ◽  
The Political ◽  
Shared Experience ◽  
The Core ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
To Come ◽  
The City

As the processes of globalization transform cities into nodes of accumulation of financial and symbolic capital, it is fair to assume that urban contexts have never been more vulnerable to the systemic imperatives of the market. It is thus surprising that cities continue to be the site where the deepest social and political transformations come to the surface. What, then, preserves the city as a space of dissent? The claim of this chapter is that a critical reflection on the political agency of Northern and Southern cities has to start from asking what it means today to occupy the pavement of their streets. The argument explored here is that, in this age of molecular neoliberal encroachment and restructuring, it is a certain experience of dispossession, rather than the quest for identification and recognition, that makes the city the core of a shared experience of refuge and resistance.

scholarly journals URBAN CONVERSION IN THE CONTEXT OF VILNIUS CITY DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO SOLUTIONS OF MASTER PLAN FOR 2015

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-139
Author(s):  
Rūta Leitanaitė
Keyword(s):  
City Centre ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Master Plan ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Social Infrastructure ◽  
City Development ◽  
Family Housing ◽  
Industrial Zones ◽  
And Control ◽  
The City

Following the principles of sustainable development, one of the priorities, set in the new Master Plan of Vilnius, is development of a compact city. One of the instruments to achieve it is urban conversion. A convertible territory is a territory, which doesnt correspond to city‘s development priorities, its urban structure, or is injurious to the environment. There are two types of convertible territories defined in Vilnius: the former or is existing industrial zones and territories of collective gardens. Convertible territories are set after analysing them by criteria describing their impact on the city’s urban, environmental, economic, social qualities. When setting the regulations of conversion and future function of a territory, future sustainable connections with the adjacent urban and functional structures are the essential thing. The main principle of urban conversion is the multifunctional use, accentuating the necessity of public, social infrastructure. The regulations for convertible areas are analogous to the ones set for newly developing areas. The main part of the former industrial territories is to be converted into multifunctional (residential, commercial, public) zones, giving priority to the ones located in the city centre or local centres. All the territories of collective gardens are to be converted into single-family housing areas. The process of implementation of the regulation and control of urban conversion isn’t unquestionable. Improvements of the method are suggested referring to the experience of other European cities. Urbanistinė konversija Vilniaus miesto plėtros kontekste pagal bendrojo plano 2015 metams sprendinius Santrauka Pateikta Vilniaus BP konvertuojamų teritorijų samprata ir tipai, aptariamas jų potencialo nustatymo būdas. Pristatoma konvertuotinų teritorijų Vilniaus mieste identifikavimo metodika; apžvelgta teikiama Vilniaus miesto savivaldybės teritorijos bendrajame plane iki 2015 metų teritorijų konversijos reglamentų nustatymo metodika bei konversijos reglamentų siūlymai konkrečioms miesto teritorijoms. Aptariami teritorijų konversijos sprendinių įgyvendinimo ir reguliavimo Lietuvoje mechanizmo trūkumai bei Europos miestų patirtis šioje srityje, išskiriant optimalius metodus. Apžvelgiama urbanistinės konversijos reguliavimo problema žemesnio nei bendrasis planas rango teritorijų planavimo dokumentuose.

scholarly journals Housing Demand in Urban Areas and Sanitary Requirements of Dwellings in Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Dettori ◽  
Lucia Altea ◽  
Donatella Fracasso ◽  
Federica Trogu ◽  
Antonio Azara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Housing Demand ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Italian Population ◽  
Housing Conditions ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
The City

The phenomenon of urbanisation is becoming increasingly prevalent on a global level, and the health issues regarding the urban environment are of primary importance in public health. Accordingly, the present manuscript describes an analysis of the housing conditions of Italian urban areas, referring to the city of Sassari (Sardinia), Italy, focused on the dwelling structural and sanitary conditions issued by the Italian regulations. Data relating to the housing conditions of the population were acquired by the Local Hygiene and Public Health Service (SISP), in a period between 2012 and 2016. Qualitative variables were summarised with absolute and relative (percentages) frequencies, whereas quantitative variables with means and standard deviations depending on their parametric distribution. Statistical comparisons for qualitative and quantitative variables were performed with the χ2 test or Student’s t-test, respectively. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Finally, the dwellings and the collected variables were georeferenced on a city map. During the 2012–2016 observation period, 363 certification requests were received from 193 (53.2%) foreign-born citizens and 170 (46.8%) Italians at the SISP offices. The main reasons relate to the request for a residency permit (46.6%) and to obtain a subsidy from the local government (32.8%). Overall, 15.4% of dwellings were found to be improper, while 35.3% and 22.0% were found to be unhygienic and uninhabitable, respectively. The foreigners’ homes were found to be suitable in 82.7% of cases; the housing of Italian citizens, on the contrary, was found to be suitable in 28% of the observations. The present study offers a cross section of the housing conditions of Italian urban areas, referring to the city of Sassari. To the authors’ best knowledge, this observation is the first one carried out in Sardinia and one of the first observations in Italy. It has emerged that “hygienically unsuitable” homes are those that, in most cases, are located in the city centre. Moreover, the Italian population is hit by a significant housing problem, due to overcrowding, uninhabitability, and unhygienic conditions. Overall, our findings suggest that it is necessary to develop a multidisciplinary approach to guarantee public health, with safe dwellings homes and the surrounding urban context alongside the development of social relations. Nevertheless, there is still little evidence available today on the population housing conditions, especially regarding the private indoor environment, and further research is needed to bridge this knowledge gap.

URBANISTINIŲ TENDENCIJŲ POVEIKIS MIESTO CENTRO RENOVACIJAI

2011 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 276-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Bardauskienė ◽  
Mindaugas Pakalnis
Keyword(s):  
Planning System ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Think Tank ◽  
Urban Structures ◽  
Territorial Planning ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Urban Issues ◽  
The City

A city centre is an integral part of the overall urban model of the city and its metropolitan area. Therefore, the centre is influenced by the same urban trends. Renovation of the centre and devastated inner areas is related to the chaotic suburbanization trend. This trend is known as urban sprawl. It sucks viable powers (people, investments) from the city, which reflects in the loss of density of the existing urban structure as well as unaesthetic landscapes and threatens the revitalization of the existing urban structures and centres. The research on master plans of cities show their nonconformity to the demographic situation, which makes it impossible to avoid negative consequences of urban spread, growing use of resources, car dependency and pollution. New housing is developed to satisfy market needs, whereas the public interest is ignored. Based on the theoretical and practical research, the authors came to the conclusion that there is a need for a coordinated urban/rural policy and a realistic integrated territorial planning system as well as related monitoring and implementation tools. The EU policy documents and resolutions of National urban forums, which serve as a strong public think tank and monitoring tool in Lithuania, can serve as the guide for the sustainable development. The urban issues should be integrated into the National strategy for 2030. Santrauka Miesto centras yra integruota viso miesto ir jo metropolinės zonos dalis, jį veikia tos pačios urbanistinės tendencijos. Sąlygų miestų centrams renovuoti, degraduojančioms teritorijoms atsinaujinti ir kompaktiškumui pasiekti susiformavimas ar, jei pripažįstame, kad plėtrą galima valdyti, sudarymas, yra susijęs su chaotiškos priemiesčių suburbanizacijos mastu. Nevaldomos priemiesčių suburbanizacijos reiškinys tarptautiniuose mokslo darbuose, politikos dokumentuose vadinamas urbanistiniu sprogimu. Lietuvoje urbanistinis sprogimas išryškėjo XXI a. pradžioje, jį lemia įvairūs sociokultūriniai veiksniai. Atlikti tyrimai rodo, kad urbanistinis sprogimas reikalauja miestų renovacijos išteklių, blogina miestų demografinę situaciją, didina energijos vartojimą, automobilių skaičių bei viešosios infrastruktūros poreikį. Chaotiškos priemiesčių suburbanizacijos problemų neišsprendžia fizinės aplinkos projektavimas, atsietas nuo socialinio, ekonominio planavimo. Jis daugiausia sprendžia komercinius uždavinius. Remdamiesi pasaulinio garso urbanistų teiginiais, ES urbanistinės politikos gairėmis, atliktais Lietuvos urbanistinių tendencijų tyrimais, Vilniaus miesto monitoringo ataskaitos duomenimis, autoriai teigia, kad chaotiškas priemiesčių urbanizavimas yra nei funkcionalus, nei estetiškas, nei palankus miestų urbanistinių struktūrų, tarp jų ir centrų, renovacijai. Jis gali būti įveiktas tik numatant kompleksines, koordinuotas urbanistinės politikos, teritorijų planavimo ir įgyvendinimo priemones.

scholarly journals Et universitetsområde for fremtiden - Nygårdshøyden i Bergen. 1960-årenes ambisjoner, og ettertiden som tok dem ned

Nordlit ◽  
2015 ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Siri Skjold Lexau
Keyword(s):  
Municipal Government ◽  
Central Area ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
University Campuses ◽  
Urban Structures ◽  
Historical Structures ◽  
The University ◽  
The City

<p>The article investigates the development of a central area in the city of Bergen from the mid 1960s onwards, called Nygårdshøyden. Lying between two harbour areas, Puddefjorden and Vågen, this topographic ridge was pointed out for necessary university expansion. The architectural firm Andersson &amp; Skjånes’ ambitious plans for a university campus which would totally eradicate the existing urban structure, was approved by the municipal government and the university administration. </p><p>New, effective and flexible building systems had been introduced at university campuses all over the world. In Bergen, some of the buildings originally planned as academic centres were erected according to the plan by Andersson &amp; Skjånes. Others were modified and adapted to changing architectural ideals. The present situation shows clearly how the critique of huge-scale, late-modern architecture had an impact on further developments. Economic and aesthetic aspects combined with an increasing demand for the preservation of historical structures led to modifications of the huge master plans. The dynamics of inserting new architecture into historic neighbourhoods also represent advantages on different levels, creating a diversity of spaces and volumes.</p><p>The proximity of the university area to the city centre and its urban features represents a quality for students and employees. In the end, large parts of the street pattern of the university area were kept, corresponding with the rest of the city’s building structure. A substantial part of the existing buildings of the area were transformed and adapted to university needs, and new buildings have been raised partly as infill and extension projects. In this way, the planning and development of Nygårdshøyden can tell us a lot about urban development and changing ideals through the last 50 years. In addition, as always when we are looking back, we see that priorities and criteria for preservation or demolition of existing urban structures change all the time.</p>

scholarly journals Design for Smart Transport: An Integrated Multi-Modal Transport Interchange in Central Christchurch

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Joey Moh
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Sustainable City ◽  
The Public ◽  
Organisational Form ◽  
The City

<p>Transportation, an essential component of modern life, is responsible for one of the biggest growth  areas of our greenhouse gas emissions which causes problem for our environment and the economy. New  Zealand cities face the same issues as many other cities in the globalised world. This thesis  analyses the integration of all the public transport systems to encourage people to get out of the  car and reduce the traffic volume within the city centre to develop with the aim of developing a  sustainable city towards the future. Drivers in New Zealand believe commuter stress could be  significantly reduced by improving public transport. The design calls for a new central transport  interchange for all the public transport systems within Christchurch city to form a spectacular  gateway to the city. The aim of the design is to create a unified urban structure in which diverse  infrastructural and public elements merge together to form one building. The outcome of this research identifies a strong future for a public transport interchange, but  states that its physical and organisational form needs to be re-established. It finds that  technology and architecture offer new opportunities useful for reinterpreting the typology. The  thesis concludes that future public transport interchanges will become hybrids of activity, and  places where the threads of urban life are joined together. The interchanges can become a major  catalyst of urban regeneration - a focus for commerce and the flow of ideas as well as the movement of people.</p>

scholarly journals Concrete Island: Lost Sites and Hidden Heritage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Zackary Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Central Business District ◽  
Place Identity ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Urban Planner ◽  
The Public ◽  
Business District ◽  
The City

<p>In cities like Auckland, suburban sprawl has led to the introduction of extensive elevated motorways that create barriers and cuts across the ordering elements of the city. Urban planner Roger Trancik refers to the areas beneath and adjacent to these urban motorways as “lost sites”, considered ‘unbuildable’ even though they occur within the central business district. This research investigation looks at how architecture can help return a sense of place identity and cultural significance to otherwise placeless zones defined by elevated urban motorways.  The central Auckland site for this design-led research is the Central Motorway Junction (CMJ), commonly referred to as ‘spaghetti junction’ — a site physically and environmentally inappropriate for housing development, but large and high profile enough to contribute significantly to Auckland’s ‘cultural hub’.  The proposed programme for this investigation is a new facility to house Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’s stored collections. Arguably New Zealand’s most valuable cultural holdings, only 3% of Te Papa Tongarewa’s collections are on display at any time. The rest of the museum’s stored collections are completely hidden from public view within its back of house facilities and warehouse structures in Wellington.  Due to Wellington’s location on major fault lines, studies are underway to permanently move the stored collections to Auckland, where they will remain removed from the public eye. This design-led research investigation proposes that once these collections are relocated to Auckland, if they are made visually accessible to the public, they could provide a vital extension of the cultural hub for the city centre.  The investigation proposes to architecturally inhabit one of Auckland’s most prominent lost sites, the Central Motorway Junction, in a way that celebrates its iconic elevated motorway as a viable urban context capable of actively contributing to urban re-vitalisation and cultural consolidation.  The thesis investigation examines the city’s motorway infrastructure as a framework for a new typology for architecture that actively uses the ‘motorway typology’ to establish architectural and place identity. Simultaneously the investigation explores how expansive elevated motorway sites can provide significant footprints for new public buildings to enhance the cultural identity of the urban centre.</p>

Modelling the Urban Boundary-Layer Over a Typical Mediterranean City Using WRF: Assessment of UHI and Thermal Comfort

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-V. Guarino ◽  
A. Martilli ◽  
S. Di Sabatino ◽  
L. S. Leo
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stress ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Wrf Model ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
The City ◽  
Mediterranean City

The aim of this work is to simulate the Urban Heat Island (UHI) in a medium size Mediterranean city (Lecce, IT) and to analyze its consequences for thermal comfort. We use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model (version 3.2), that accounts for the urban structure with a multilayer urban parameterization (BEP+BEM i.e. the Building Effect Parameterization (BEP) combined with the Building Energy Model (BEM)). Three hot and cloudless summer days have been simulated and results have been compared with field data collected during an experimental campaign performed over the whole summer in the city of Lecce, Italy. In the model, the structure and shape of the city are reproduced using detailed data related to different urban classes, urban fraction and building morphometry. For the residential urban classes, different thermal parameters that are representative of building materials in the oldest and the newer part of the city, are used. Results show that UHI reaches, on average, its maximum intensity (4–5 °C) just before sunrise, and its minimum (2 °C) occurs during the day. Model validation inferred through statistical analysis shows overall a better model performance for the historical city centre than for the suburban area. This suggests that further refinement of the building representation in the outskirts might still be required. Consequences of the increased urban temperature are evaluated in terms of thermal comfort. The maximum thermal stress occurs during the central hours of the day, while, the minimum thermal stress occurs during the twilight hours.

scholarly journals Urban Use and Urban Form: Alexanderstrasse, Berlin

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Forsyth ◽  
◽  
Andrea Hasse ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Form ◽  
Basic Type ◽  
Rail Transport ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Urban Forms ◽  
The City

This paper attempts to illustrate the suitability of specific urban forms for particular planning objectives within a given urban context. Proposals for a reurbanisation project in Berlin are discussed. The proposals were prepared by students during 1992-1993 in conjunction with a study to improve rail transport and areas around railway and underground stations by SNV Studiengesellschaft Verkehr mbH. Berlin. The designs seek to interpret the existing planning aims for the area around Alexanderstrasse, south of Alexanderplatz from the City of Berlin and from the District Berlin-Mitte. An evaluation of the range of proposals points to four basic type solutions for the urban structure. The suitability of particular forms for specific aims is noted as well as the structure which appears to offer the greatest potential to reconcile at least some ofthe conflicting aims for the area.

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