Activate, Inactive, Activity.

<p>Sports facilities in the Central Wellington area cater to physical activity for only a select portion of the population. Most of the time use is determined by the posts at each end of the field. Through the process of design research, I will test ways of maximizing space which is not used in thesefacilities to bring more physical and recreational options to the wider community. The theory of active living will influence the design as it has been associated with preventing diseases andimproving mental health. However, to increase physical activity in the community there needs to be new and improved devices that will encourage physical and social activity. This researchassignment will test what sports and physical activities can co-exist in the same space, maximizing the usage of land in an undulating and shrinking city. Reshaping these facilities will offer options that do not require consistent commitment and can be used whenever the user can dedicate time to recreation, shifting away from traditional sport and using other solutions to keep the community active. This I hope will stimulate and increase community mental health and reduce the risks of non-communicable diseases.</p>

Activate, Inactive, Activity.

<p>Sports facilities in the Central Wellington area cater to physical activity for only a select portion of the population. Most of the time use is determined by the posts at each end of the field. Through the process of design research, I will test ways of maximizing space which is not used in thesefacilities to bring more physical and recreational options to the wider community. The theory of active living will influence the design as it has been associated with preventing diseases andimproving mental health. However, to increase physical activity in the community there needs to be new and improved devices that will encourage physical and social activity. This researchassignment will test what sports and physical activities can co-exist in the same space, maximizing the usage of land in an undulating and shrinking city. Reshaping these facilities will offer options that do not require consistent commitment and can be used whenever the user can dedicate time to recreation, shifting away from traditional sport and using other solutions to keep the community active. This I hope will stimulate and increase community mental health and reduce the risks of non-communicable diseases.</p>

Changing Trends in Long-Term Sentiments and Neighborhood Determinants in a Shrinking City

This research examined social media’s role in understanding perceptions about the spaces in which individuals interact, what planners can learn from social media data, and how to use social media to inform urban regeneration efforts. Using Twitter data from 2010 to 2018 recorded in one U.S. shrinking city, Detroit, Michigan, this paper longitudinally investigated topics that people discuss, their emotions, and neighborhood conditions associated with these topics and sentiments. Findings demonstrate that neighborhood demographics, socioeconomic, and built environment conditions impact people’s sentiments.

Identifying and Classifying Shrinking Cities Using Long-Term Continuous Night-Time Light Time Series

Shrinking cities—cities suffering from population and economic decline—has become a pressing societal issue of worldwide concern. While night-time light (NTL) data have been applied as an important tool for the identification of shrinking cities, the current methods are constrained and biased by the lack of using long-term continuous NTL time series and the use of unidimensional indices. In this study, we proposed a novel method to identify and classify shrinking cities by long-term continuous NTL time series and population data, and applied the method in northeastern China (NEC) from 1996 to 2020. First, we established a long-term consistent NTL time series by applying a geographically weighted regression model to two distinct NTL datasets. Then, we generated NTL index (NI) and population index (PI) by random forest model and the slope of population data, respectively. Finally, we developed a shrinking city index (SCI), based on NI and PI to identify and classify city shrinkage. The results showed that the shrinkage pattern of NEC in 1996–2009 (stage 1) and 2010–2020 (stage 2) was quite different. From stage 1 to stage 2, the shrinkage situation worsened as the number of shrinking cities increased from 102 to 162, and the proportion of severe shrinkage increased from 9.2% to 30.3%. In stage 2, 85.4% of the cities exhibited population decline, and 15.7% of the cities displayed an NTL decrease, suggesting that the changes in NTL and population were not synchronized. Our proposed method provides a robust and long-term characterization of city shrinkage and is beneficial to provide valuable information for sustainable urban planning and decision-making.

Does One Decade of Urban Policy for the Shrinking City Make Visible Progress in Urban Re-Urbanization? A Case Study of Bytom, Poland

Planning and managing the declining fortunes of shrinking cities are essential in shaping urban policy in post-industrial urban societies, especially in Central and Eastern European states. Many studies emphasize city management and redevelopment as important policy constituencies for driving revitalization. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about policy-making and the underlying political and socio-economic disagreements that impact successful measures to reverse urbanization and regenerate post-industrial cities. This paper provides a case of urban policy-making for Bytom—a severely shrinking city in southern Poland. This article aims to clarify the mismatch between the city’s policy and the socio-economic situation Bytom after 2010. This discrepancy could have weakened effective policy to address shrinkage and revitalization. Statistical and cartographic methods (choropleth maps) helped analyze the socio-economic changes in Bytom and its shrinking. The issues related to the city’s policy were based primarily on free-form interviews and the analysis of municipal and regional documents concerning Bytom. The conducted research shows the need for concerted and coordinated policy direction that considers the real possibilities of implementing pro-development projects. Such expectations also result from the opinions of local communities. Finding a compromise between the idea of active support for projects implemented in a shrinking city and an appropriate urban policy is expected. Such an approach also requires further strengthening of social and economic participation in local and regional governance.