Ocupar o centro: Vivências no processo de reconversão de imóveis abandonados em áreas centrais

Esta pesquisa surge da crítica ao Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida (PMCMV) frente à disponibilidade de imóveis vacantes nos centros urbanos. O trabalho parte de estudos teóricos e empíricos que propõem uma reflexão, através de diferentes abordagens metodológicas, para a realização da reconversão de imóveis abandonados na área central. Questiona também o papel dos profissionais e estudantes de arquitetura na prestação de assessoria técnica de movimentos populares. A Ocupação Vito Giannotti (OVG), localizada no Bairro do Santo Cristo, na área portuária da cidade do Rio de Janeiro, foi definida como estudo de caso visando demonstrar a importância do projeto participativo para alcançar um ambiente construído de qualidade. Essa experiência demonstra a necessidade de formar arquitetos com a capacidade de interlocução e mediação, em vez da imposição do projeto arquitetônico. Palavras-chave: Assessoria Técnica; autogestão habitacional; Ocupação Vito Giannotti. Abstract This research emerges from the critique of the Programa Minha Casa Minha Vida (PMCMV) considering the availability of vacant properties in urban centers. The work begins with theoretical and empirical studies that propose a reflection, through the different methodological approaches, to carry out the conversion of abandoned properties in the central areas of large cities. It also questions the role of architecture professionals and students in providing technical assistance to popular movements. The Ocupação Vito Giannotti (OVG), located in the Santo Cristo neighborhood, in the port area of the city of Rio de Janeiro, was defined as a case study aiming to demonstrate the importance of the participatory project to achieve a built environment of quality. This experience demonstrates the need to train architects with the capacity to dialogue and mediate, instead of imposing the architectural project. Keywords: Technical Assistance; Social Housing Self-Management; Vito Giannotti Occupation.

Caregiver Perceptions of Environmental Facilitators and Barriers to Healthy Eating and Active Living during the Summer: Results from the Project SWEAT Sub-Study

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine caregiver perceptions of summertime neighborhood-level environmental barriers and facilitators to healthy eating and active living in their elementary-age racial minority children. Methods: Caregivers with students in the prekindergarten–fifth grade were recruited from two schools located in low-income urban neighborhoods of Columbus, OH, with a predominantly Black population. Participants engaged in the research portion of the Healthy Eating Active Living: Mapping Attribute using Participatory Photographic Surveys (HEALth MAPPSTM) protocol, which included (1) orientation; (2) photographing and geotagging facilitators and barriers to HEALth on daily routes; (3) in-depth interview (IDI) discussing images and routes taken; (4) focus groups (FG). IDIs and FGs were transcribed verbatim. Analyses were guided by grounded theory and interpretive phenomenology and were coded by researchers (n = 3), who used comparative analysis to develop a codebook and determine major themes. Results: A total of 10 caregivers enrolled and 9 completed the IDIs. Five caregivers participated in focus groups. A majority (77.8%, n = 7) of caregivers identified as Black, female (88.9%, n = 8), and low income (55.6%, n = 5). IDI and FG themes included (1) walkway infrastructure crucial for healthy eating and active living; (2) scarce accessibility to healthy, affordable foods; (3) multiple abandoned properties; (4) unsafe activity near common neighborhood routes. Conclusions: Caregivers perceived multiple neighborhood-level barriers to healthy eating and activity during the summer months when school is closed. Findings from this study provide initial insights into environmental determinants of unhealthy summer weight gain in a sample of predominantly racial minority school-age children from low-income households.

One House for €1: Case Studies on the Governance of Abandoned Properties in Small Villages

This proposal aims at analyzing the Italian initiative “Case a 1 €” launched in 2009 for the preservation of abandoned goods, in Gangi, a small village near Palermo. The Municipality has put for sale the ruined houses for the symbolic prize of 1 €. As this initiative has been imitated by other municipalities in Italy and thus become a model, my intention is to explore how it works based on two different levels of investigation, in terms of: 1) contractual schemes (parties and respective rights and obligations) and 2) policy choices, comparing proposed and achieved goals by the administrations and the parties. Some relevant issues arise after 12 years: is the initiative an appropriate answer for the management of abandoned properties, both private and public? Is it an effective instrument to undermine the idea that such properties are a burden? Can they become a resource for collective, social and economic development? Is it a model to regain cultural identity revitalizing the small, abandoned centers, promoting inclusion, participation and environmental sustainability? I will use both inductive and deductive methods, examining and comparing some case studies in Sicily, among those municipalities that adopted this policy (Cammarata, Sambuca, Gangi, Itala, Salemi, Regalbuto, Mussomeli and Saponara). In order to investigate level 1), I will identify the contractual frames and documents provided online by the Municipalities administrations. To find answers on level 2), I will analyze (when available) the number of goods transferred from private parties to Municipalities and of those finally assigned to the final buyer. I will interview the administration’s civil servants and the final buyers to understand if their expectations (private and collective) have been satisfied.

Assessment of abandoned properties in geopolitical conflict zones

PurposeIn geopolitical conflict zones, the phenomenon of abandonment often correlates with challenges of legal definitions and ownership status. The abandoned properties in conflict zones share similar characteristics with what is commonly known as a brownfield site. However, due to the nature of geopolitical conflict zones, which is mixed with people and sentiments other than technical challenges, the usual solutions to the brownfield question, cannot provide enough tools to deal with the land management of areas engulfed in conflicts. This paper, therefore, aims to discuss and propose a land-use typology that describes abandoned properties in a geopolitical context.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed land-use typology serves as the main conceptual framework that integrates the sustainable brownfield regeneration approach with social theories of space and place. As an inductive research approach, this conceptual framework brought the fundamental and comparative literature on brownfield regeneration to support the main argument related to the similarities and challenges of the regeneration of abandoned properties in conflict zones. The approach used in this paper addresses the broader consideration of land management in geopolitical contexts and urban conflict zones that considers the relationship of exercise of extreme power over space.FindingsThe findings highlight an insufficient understanding of the origin of the property problems in geopolitical conflict zones, especially after a power struggle, producing significant land management issues. In a geopolitical context, urban planners and economists' perspective on definitions of space and place defined by maps, GIS data sets, Excel and other similar tools may not bring any practical or long-term solution to the land management challenges. The study suggests that dealing with abandoned properties and regeneration plans in conflict zones requires identifying and evaluating geo-political, geo-social, geo-economic characteristics of the area before any further action.Practical implicationsThis paper's findings are of particular interest to decision-makers and conflict stakeholders in geopolitical conflict zones, such as local governments, policymakers and peacekeeping agencies. The findings of this research can clarify and help them have an alternative understanding of the space engulfed in the conflict, other than a technocratic, mapping, GIS, statistical way of understanding and approaches to the complex aspect of a space.Originality/valueThis paper's conceptual framework provides a value-added contribution to the literature on land management in conflict zones by taking the reader's attention to the origin of the problems and their associated real estate issues in geopolitical contexts. For the first time, this inductive research proposes a land-use typology that considers the complexity of the interrelationship between land policies, land-use theory, social theories of space and place and the exercise of extreme power over space. This paper produced a concept that is not easily measurable by quantitative nor qualitative approaches.

Analysis of vacant and abandoned properties in the City of Toronto.

The city of Toronto is in the midst of unprecedented development fuelled by low-interest mortgage rates, foreign investment and staggering commute times. Despite this, a small percentage of properties remain vacant or abandoned in Toronto. This paper identifies the types of properties that are vacant and abandoned, assesses the property stock for degree of decay and re-examines the appropriateness of the classification of 'vacant' and 'abandoned'. This research indicates that vacant buildings in Toronto transition to abandonment for reasons that may be different from American cities. Vacancy in Toronto may be more affected by lengthy planning approvals, development financing and issues of site acquisition, more than urban decay or blight. The research further indicates that most vacant and abandoned buildings in Toronto are residential, commercial vacancy is transient by nature and industrial abandonment is found mostly along existing railway corridors.

Analysis of vacant and abandoned properties in the City of Toronto.

The city of Toronto is in the midst of unprecedented development fuelled by low-interest mortgage rates, foreign investment and staggering commute times. Despite this, a small percentage of properties remain vacant or abandoned in Toronto. This paper identifies the types of properties that are vacant and abandoned, assesses the property stock for degree of decay and re-examines the appropriateness of the classification of 'vacant' and 'abandoned'. This research indicates that vacant buildings in Toronto transition to abandonment for reasons that may be different from American cities. Vacancy in Toronto may be more affected by lengthy planning approvals, development financing and issues of site acquisition, more than urban decay or blight. The research further indicates that most vacant and abandoned buildings in Toronto are residential, commercial vacancy is transient by nature and industrial abandonment is found mostly along existing railway corridors.

Abandoned structures: tools for reuse and repurposing of buildings in Slovak municipalities

In this article, we aim to analyse the state of abandoned properties in Slovak municipalities and present possible solutions for this issue. In the theoretical part, we define abandonment and the tools for abandonment based on the current literature review. Building on this framework, the paper analyses the towns and villages of selected Slovak region, that being Banská Bystrica self-governing region. To map abandoned properties located in a selected region, as well as to identify emotional value of these building and the instruments needed for their reconstruction or removal, a questionnaire was sent to the mayors of all municipalities of over 1,000 inhabitants in the region of Banská Bystrica – a total of 115 municipalities in 2019. This concentrated research on one region enabled us to have a closer look at the status of abandoned structures in municipalities in a typical area of Central and Eastern Europe. We compare the issue of abandonment in the commuter zone (the two largest cities in the regions and their surrounding) and the hinterlands. Research has shown that the population in the hinterlands is declining more than in the commuter zone, but more abandoned buildings are located in municipalities in the commuter zone. Buildings in need of repair that are important for the inhabitants (e.g. from the point of view of history), are registered in their municipality by 93% of mayors in the commuter zone and 84% in the hinterlands. The most frequent obstacles to repairing these buildings are considered by the mayors in both zones the many number of owners who cannot agree on a plan for saving the objects. The quantitative research is completed with an illustration of an abandoned object in Banská Bystrica.

Changes in crime surrounding an urban home renovation and rebuild programme

Neighbourhood environments are a known social determinant of health. Vacant and abandoned buildings and lots and poor or hazardous housing conditions, combined with crime and violence, can affect residents’ health and wellbeing. Nationwide Children’s Hospital and its partners launched the Healthy Homes initiative in 2008, which sought to improve nearby residents’ health and wellbeing by rejuvenating vacant and abandoned properties and increasing homeownership in the South Side neighbourhood of Columbus, Ohio. Between 2008 and mid-2019 the initiative funded 273 repairs or renovations in this neighbourhood. We conducted a ZIP-code-level comparative case study of the Healthy Homes housing interventions using synthetic control methodology to evaluate changes in crime rate in the intervention area compared with those in a synthetic control area. While findings were mixed, we found some evidence of reduced thefts in the Healthy Homes area, relative to its synthetic control. This initiative to repair, rebuild and increase ownership of housing has the potential to reduce crime rates for neighbours of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital.