Micro-renewal of old communities in Huang Shi city

With the rise of the urban renewal motion in recent years in China, more and more cities have shifted the focus of construction to the renovation and renewal of old areas. The renewal of the old community plays an essential role in the urban upgrading of China, which is related to the quality of a city, as well as a crucial criterion for evaluating the comfort of the living environment. The old community to retain their vibrancy and culture is needed to renew by a way of modernization. The paper will discuss how to use micro-renewal design to improve the quality of the old community, awaking the historical memories of the community simultaneously, thereby balance the relationship between history and use-value.

Building Community in Pavão-Pavãozinho : Architecture as a Process of Urban Upgrading in Informal Settlements

Self-built structures in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are the primary housing reaction to the city’s increasing population, densification, and lack of affordable housing. Known as favelas, these communities are often categorized under the same impoverished conditions when in reality; each is uniquely distinct in their character and response to context. As such, architecture that seeks to create longevity and sustainable change must treat each community with distinction. Upon recognition that favelas are a permanent condition in Rio de Janeiro, this thesis considers self-building as a socially sustainable opportunity to improve impoverished living conditions. In the specific community of Pavão-Pavãozinho, the project proposes a site-specific architecture that seeks to mend the complex relationship between the formal and informal sectors of the city. Through an understanding of existing favela patterns, the design explores how architecture can both integrate and support existing self-building processes

Building Community in Pavão-Pavãozinho : Architecture as a Process of Urban Upgrading in Informal Settlements

Self-built structures in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are the primary housing reaction to the city’s increasing population, densification, and lack of affordable housing. Known as favelas, these communities are often categorized under the same impoverished conditions when in reality; each is uniquely distinct in their character and response to context. As such, architecture that seeks to create longevity and sustainable change must treat each community with distinction. Upon recognition that favelas are a permanent condition in Rio de Janeiro, this thesis considers self-building as a socially sustainable opportunity to improve impoverished living conditions. In the specific community of Pavão-Pavãozinho, the project proposes a site-specific architecture that seeks to mend the complex relationship between the formal and informal sectors of the city. Through an understanding of existing favela patterns, the design explores how architecture can both integrate and support existing self-building processes

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and its Contribution to Urban Growth

Technological transformation plays a crucial role in our world today. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) represents a significant transformation in many areas of industry in different countries. The rapid speed and scope of the transformation resulted in many urban development challenges, which will subsequently force cities to devise smart solutions to improve the standard of living of urban settlements to provide a better life for their residents. The research aims to discuss these challenges and explore how the 4IR affects the development, urbanisation and transformation of cities into smart ones by highlighting various technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, blockchain and 3D printing. Furthermore, a group of specialists in the field (designers, planners and consultants) will be assessing the contributions of the 4IR that support smart cities and the challenges of achieving urban development and try to reach the relative importance of the participation of each application in achieving urban development and rearrange them according to their significance, to meet the proposed framework. KEYWORDS Smart city, technological development, urban challenges, urban development, urban upgrading, 4IR applications

A floating dream: urban upgrading, population control and migrant children’s education in Beijing

In recent years, Beijing has implemented urban renewal policies aimed at forcing out rural migrants to restrict the city’s population. One such policy restricts their access to public schools. We use the demolition of the Beijing Sun Palace Farmers’ Market to examine the long-term impacts of these policies on the educational status of migrant children in Beijing. Based on a survey and in-depth interviews with migrant vendors, we find that government-initiated urban remodelling campaigns have an enduring impact on their social mobility and the educational opportunities of their children. Despite severe limitations to their mobility and economic opportunities, many migrant vendors were still determined to stay in Beijing. Subsequently, their worsened living status significantly affected their children’s prospects. Migrant children caught in this urban dynamic either struggle in substandard informal migrant schools in Beijing or are left behind in their hometowns, with little hope of a good education or improved social status.