scholarly journals Conflicting economic and social interests in the use of urban commons: Segways and electric scooters in public spaces. A case study from Budapest, Hungary

Author(s):  
György Varga
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 230
Author(s):  
Onel Pérez-Fernández ◽  
Juan Carlos García-Palomares

Moped-style scooters are one of the most popular systems of micro-mobility. They are undoubtedly good for the city, as they promote forms of environmentally-friendly mobility, in which flexibility helps prevent traffic build-up in the urban centers where they operate. However, their increasing numbers are also generating conflicts as a result of the bad behavior of users, their unwarranted use in public spaces, and above all their parking. This paper proposes a methodology for finding parking spaces for shared motorcycle services using Geographic information system (GIS) location-allocation models and Global Positioning System (GPS) data. We used the center of Madrid and data from the company Muving (one of the city’s main operators) for our case study. As well as finding the location of parking spaces for motorbikes, our analysis examines how the varying distribution of demand over the course of the day affects the demand allocated to parking spaces. The results demonstrate how reserving a relatively small number of parking spaces for scooters makes it possible to capture over 70% of journeys in the catchment area. The daily variations in the distribution of demand slightly reduce the efficiency of the network of parking spaces in the morning and increase it at night, when demand is strongly focused on the most central areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5071
Author(s):  
Beata Makowska

Intensive urban development has created a shortage of urban green areas. The need to economically plan and use urban green spaces has fueled the redefinition of public spaces and parks so as to provide the residents with both recreation and relaxation facilities, as well as a forum for contact with culture. This paper discusses the case of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in the Kallithea district on the outskirts of Athens, near the Mediterranean Sea. It fills a gap in the research on the aspects of the practical functioning of such facilities. The methodology used in the research included an analysis of the literature, the SNFCC’s reports, and an in situ survey. The cultural center hosts a number of events aimed at promoting Greece’s natural and cultural heritage. The paper includes a detailed analysis of the events organized by the SNFCC in the period 2017–2020 and their immense impact on residents. The aim of the study is to show that the creation of the SNFCC with the park areas has functioned as a factor contributing to the improvement of the quality of urban space and the quality of life of the city’s inhabitants. The paper’s conclusions indicate that the sustainable SNFCC project, which fulfils the urban ecology criteria, has been very well received by the visitors—citizens and tourists alike. A program-centered innovation introduced by the SN Park has added great value to their lives. The project contributes to economic and cultural growth, as well as the protection and promotion of heritage.


2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy T. Cooper ◽  
Christopher Mele

In this article, we generate a “middle–ground” perspective to interrogate the range of interactions between political economic processes and everyday practices in the study of urban redevelopment. Focusing on the contested redevelopment of residential, commercial, and public spaces in the Spandauer Vorstadt neighborhood of Berlin, we examine how institutions and individuals incorporated certain local everyday practices and behaviors into renewal agendas. Such processes of incorporation were neither uniform nor homogeneous but disputed; state actors, planners, and developers, as well as residents, focused on certain existing neighborhood practices (and ignored others) in an effort to manage and control the course of neighborhood redevelopment. Conversely, everyday practices influenced redevelopment processes in ways often not intended by residents or other stakeholders. Finally, while our findings pertain to the case study of Berlin, we suggest that similar processes are at work in other cases of urban redevelopment in Western cities.


2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Masik

The Quality of Life of Suburbanities: A Case Study of the Gdańsk Agglomeration The article explains the meaning of the concept of ‘quality of life’, placing emphasis on its subjective dimension. As the concept is more and more discussed in the literature, the author intends to examine the satisfaction within public spaces for which local government is responsible. According to research made in Canada it is worth measuring not only satisfaction as such but also the importance of its constituent dynamics. Therefore, a survey made in the suburbs of the Gdańsk agglomeration asked respondents about their satisfaction with public transport, roads, environment, etc., including questions about the relative importance of such issues. The combination of satisfaction and importance provide the overall quality of life. At the end of the paper the author considers if there is a chance to improve the quality of life through a brief analysis of local governments expenditure.


2020 ◽  
Vol 177 ◽  
pp. 106777
Author(s):  
Sara Moreira ◽  
Mayo Fuster Morell
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-169
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mehdi Nasiri Khalili ◽  
,Mohammad Reza Zand Moghaddam ◽  
Syed Jalaldin Daryabary ◽  
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◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2019 ◽  
pp. 179-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfredo Manfredini

Considering place-based participation a crucial factor for the development of sustainable and resilient cities in the post-digital turn age, this paper addresses the socio-spatial implications of the recent transformation of relationality networks. To understand the drivers of spatial claims emerged in conditions of digitally augmented spectacle and simulation, it focuses on changes occurring in key nodes of central urban public and semi-public spaces of rapidly developing cities. Firstly, it proposes a theoretical framework for the analysis of problems related to socio-spatial fragmentation, polarisation and segregation of urban commons subject to external control. Secondly, it discusses opportunities and criticalities emerging from a representational paradox depending on the ambivalence in the play of desire found in digitally augmented semi-public spaces. The discussion is structured to shed light on specific socio-spatial relational practices that counteract the dissipation of the “common worlds” caused by sustained processes of urban gentrification and homogenisation. The theoretical framework is developed from a comparative critical urbanism approach inspired by the right to the city and the right to difference, and elaborates on the discourse on sustainable development that informs the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda. The analysis focuses on how digitally augmented geographies reintroduce practices of participation and commoning that reassemble fragmented relational infrastructures and recombine translocal social, cultural and material elements. Empirical studies on the production of advanced simulative and transductive spatialities in places of enhanced consumption found in Auckland, New Zealand, ground the discussion. These provide evidence of the extent to which the agency of the augmented territorialisation forces reconstitutes inclusive and participatory systems of relationality. The concluding notes, speculating on the emancipatory potential found in these social laboratories, are a call for a radical redefinition of the approach to the problem of the urban commons. Such a change would improve the capacity of urbanism disciplines to adequately engage with the digital turn and efficaciously contribute to a maximally different spatial production that enhances and strengthens democracy and pluralism in the public sphere.


2020 ◽  
pp. 177-192
Author(s):  
Iman Hegazy

Public spaces are defined as places that should be accessible to all inhabitants without restrictions. They are spaces not only for gathering, socializing and celebrating but also for initiating discussions, protesting and demonstrating. Thus, public spaces are intangible expressions of democracy—a topic that the paper tackles its viability within the context of Alexandria, case study Al-Qaed Ibrahim square. On the one hand, Al-Qaed Ibrahim square which is named after Al-Qaed Ibrahim mosque is a sacred element in the urban fabric; whereas on the other it represents a non-religious revolutionary symbol in the Alexandrian urban public sphere. This contradiction necessitates finding an approach to study the characteristic of this square/mosque within the Alexandrian context—that is to realize the impact of the socio-political events on the image of Al-Qaed Ibrahim square, and how it has transformed into a revolutionary urban symbol and yet into a no-public space. The research revolves around the hypothesis that the political events taking place in Egypt after January 25th, 2011, have directly affected the development of urban public spaces, especially in Alexandria. Therefore methodologically, the paper reviews the development of Al-Qaed Ibrahim square throughout the Egyptian socio-political changes, with a focus on the square’s urban and emotional contextual transformations. For this reason, the study adheres to two theories: the "city elements" by Kevin Lynch and "emotionalizing the urban" by Frank Eckardt. The aim is not only to study the mentioned public space but also to figure out the changes in people’s societal behaviour and emotion toward it. Through empowering public spaces, the paper calls the different Egyptian political and civic powers to recognize each other, regardless of their religious, ethnical or political affiliations. It is a step towards replacing the ongoing political conflicts, polarization, and suppression with societal reconciliation, coexistence, and democracy.


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