The Transformation of Dorćol Power Plant: Triggering a Sustainable Urban Regeneration or Selling the Heritage?

The power plant “Power and Light” (1932, Belgrade) was the first one to generate alternating current in Serbia. Situated along the Danube river, it represented a part of an industrial area positioned in the Dorćol neighborhood, close to the urban core. Since 2005, the whole area has been exposed to a significant transformation into a luxurious residential and commercial complex, triggered by the intentions of private investors and directed by the ideas of changing city authorities. Considering the unpredictable local context created by the dominant post-socialist transitional economy, the article focuses on the sensitive relationship between the social sustainability of the ongoing urban regeneration plans and the emerging neoliberal forces targeting the areas of industrial heritage. Consequently, the case of the Dorćol ex-power plant and the anticipated changes in its urban surrounding are analyzed according to the selected principles of social sustainability. Revealing numerous controversies, both on the level of preferred urban policies and their questionable application, this case addresses the problems of heritage (re)use and regeneration in an environment of fast-shifting governmental priorities and financial flows, with reduced receptivity to sustainable solutions.

Urbanizing Islands: A Critical History of Singapore's Offshore Islands

While Singapore is often considered an island city in the singular sense, the city-state actually consists of many islands, with the Singapore mainland being by far the largest. While most of these islands traditionally had thriving indigenous communities, all have since been displaced over time as the islands were developed to service Singapore's economic and metabolic needs as a rapidly urbanizing and developing nation. Some of the islands have also undergone considerable transformation (through reclamation) which has had significant impacts on the ecologies of the offshore islands. This simultaneously allowed for the ‘ruralization’ of mainland Singapore to provide more green space for nature conservation, recreation and leisure. This paper will provide a brief history of these transformations, drawing on specific examples which serve to illustrate how Singapore's offshore islands have been redeveloped over time to service the nation-state and in response to the changing needs of the urban core. In doing so, the paper examines how spaces on the urban periphery are deeply bound up with processes of ‘urbanization’, given their important role in processes of urban metabolism. In this way, the paper contributes to recent work in urban political ecology which has sought to trace processes of urbanization beyond the city and render visible the socio-environmental inequalities produced therein.

Assessment of masonry structure “Radnički dom” in Mostar

The paper presents the assessment of the building “Radnički dom” (Workers’ Home) in Mostar, which was built in the Austro-Hungarian period, and represents one of the buildings of cultural and historical significance, located in the area of the historic urban core of the city. The paper explains the steps in assessing the condition of the existing structure, which include the collection of existing documentation, structural inspections, tests and calculations, and the assessment and decision on further action. The paper presents the drafts and gives descriptions of the performed visual inspection and the performed static calculation of the existing structure. At the end of the paper, recommendations are given for the rehabilitation and consolidation of the walls of the building: classical methods (injection and grouting) as well as modern methods (carbon strips). The paper points out the complexity of the procedure for the restoration of cultural and historical heritage buildings, the need for valid expertise of the condition and causes of building degradation, the importance of designing details of new structural elements and their corresponding and adequate connections with the original structure of the object.

MONITORING THE CONGESTION OF URBAN PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF INTRODUCING THE CROWD SHIPPING DELIVERY IN BRATISLAVA

The aim is to study the congestion of urban passenger transport in the historical part of Bratislava for the possibility of introducing crowdsourcing technology. The visual methods of examination are used in work. According to the results of the study, data were obtained on the congestion of urban passenger transport and its distribution by hours of the day at the entrances to the historic part of the city. The obtained results indicate the possibility of using crowd shipping technology in off-peak periods. Monitoring of public transport flows in the urban core will identifying the distribution of travellers and contribute to understanding the time window for implementing crowd shipping technology during the day, minimal whit influence on the other participants of the transport process. The peak traffic load is observed on the routes passing through the Slovak National Rebellion (SNP) square in direct downtown of the city, from 8 am to 9 am and from 4-6 pm in the evening, and from 7 am to 8 am in the morning and 5-6 pm for the routes passing through the SNP bridge across the river Danube. A new way to monitoring the number of passengers in public transport was suggested. The paper provides credits for future development sharing technology and sustainable development of transport in Slovakia. The results could be usfull for transport policy and regularities for local government in Bratislava in case of apply new delivery technology.

Analysis of the Influence of Sources on the Spatial Variation in Atmospheric Methane Concentrations in the City of Tandil, Argentina

There is an overall trend in urban methane (CH4) emissions due to the presence of several sources; however, differences exist between cities, and therefore further local research should be undertaken. The present study analyzes the spatiotemporal variation in atmospheric CH4 concentrations during a year at ten sampling sites in the urban core of a medium-sized city. The mean annual atmospheric CH4 concentrations varied between 2.02 ppm and 5.45 ppm; the maximum concentrations were found in a site close to a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), presenting a significant increase toward the summer. In the rest of the sites, the maximum concentrations were recorded in the coldest months due to the influence of combustion sources dependent on natural gas (NG). An exploratory regression analysis was performed, in which the variables “homes connected to the gas network” and “distance from compressed NG stations” each explained 66 and 65% of the spatial variation of the atmospheric CH4 concentrations at the 9 sites (excluding that one nearest the WWTP). The results show the need to prevent NG leaks in all urban areas to reduce the emissions of this potent greenhouse gas, which, at the same time, will provide economic benefits for the sectors involved.

Divergent Residential Pathways from Flood-Prone Areas: How Neighborhood Inequalities Are Shaping Urban Climate Adaptation

Flood risks are rising across the United States, putting the economic and social values of growing numbers of homes at risk. In response, the federal government is funding the purchase and demolition of housing in areas of greatest jeopardy, tacitly promoting residential resettlement as a strategy of climate adaptation, especially in cities. Despite these developments little is known about where people move when they engage in such resettlement or how answers to that question vary by the racial and economic status of their flood-prone neighborhoods. The present study begins to fill that gap. We introduce a new typology for classifying environmental resettlement along two socio-spatial dimensions of community attachment: (a) distance moved from one’s flood-prone home; and (b) average distance resettled from similarly relocated neighbors. Next, we analyze data from 1,572 homeowners who accepted government-funded buyouts across 39 neighborhood areas in Harris County, Texas – Houston’s urban core. Results indicate that homeowners from more privileged neighborhoods resettle closer to their flood-prone homes and to one another, thus helping to preserve the social and economic value of their homes; homeowners from less privileged areas end up farther away from both. Implications for understanding social inequities in government-funded urban climate adaptation are discussed.

Provisioning an Early City: Spatial Equilibrium in the Agricultural Economy at Angkor, Cambodia

A dominant view in economic anthropology is that farmers must overcome decreasing marginal returns in the process of intensification. However, it is difficult to reconcile this view with the emergence of urban systems, which require substantial increases in labor productivity to support a growing non-farming population. This quandary is starkly posed by the rise of Angkor (Cambodia, 9th–fourteenth centuries CE), one of the most extensive preindustrial cities yet documented through archaeology. Here, we leverage extensive documentation of the Greater Angkor Region to illustrate how the social and spatial organization of agricultural production contributed to its food system. First, we find evidence for supra-household-level organization that generated increasing returns to farming labor. Second, we find spatial patterns which indicate that land-use choices took transportation costs to the urban core into account. These patterns suggest agricultural production at Angkor was organized in ways that are more similar to other forms of urban production than to a smallholder system.

The Impact of the Real Estate Crisis on a South European Metropolis: From Urban Diffusion to Reurbanisation

Beginning in the 1970s, the urban core of the Rome Metropolitan Area (RMA) experienced four decades of intense depopulation and urban diffusion, which caused a considerable social impact. On the basis of an original dataset on residential mobility within the city of Rome, this paper aims to show that the RMA is currently experiencing a new stage of reurbanisation resulting from the bursting of the housing bubble after the 2008 crisis. Unlike other European contexts, the RMA repopulation is lacking forms of “urban resurgence” and is taking place in one of the most difficult periods of the city’s recent history. Paradoxically, the trend of private real estate market succeeded to stop urban sprawl where for a long time public decision-maker had failed. This created an opportunity to finally govern the process and steadily halt the urban diffusion, implementing targeted residential densification measures aimed at stabilising the demographic recovery of the urban core and preventing a return to urban sprawl.

A Novel Model for Detecting Urban Fringe and Its Expanding Patterns: An Application in Harbin City, China

Urban fringe is an active expanding belt, indicating urban-rural interaction processes. Previous studies have attempted to define urban fringe as the transitional area between urban and rural areas, but there is a lack of quantitative analysis of the periphery boundaries. We developed a novel , the Spatial Segmentation Model (SSM), to detect the extent of urban fringe via calculating the share of the built-up land. Within the urban fringe, we statistically compared the number of built-up patches in each direction and described four urban expanding patterns (stable, sprawling, leaping, and mixing patterns) indicated by the empirical analysis. The results show that this model can reliably detect the urban fringe and could reveal urban growth characteristics. We find the spatial territory changes are highly relative with transport infrastructures in Harbin. Meanwhile, the roads density in the urban core are higher than in the urban fringe. Especially for city roads, roads density in the urban core is more than 4 times higher than in the urban fringe. The growth of the urban fringe is closely related to the development of social economies as well as the space policies and development plans designed by governments. Similar to the post-industry cities worldwide, Harbin should take action to address population decline. Effective land-use and suitable urban growth strategies play an important role in alleviating urban shrinkage. Thus, understanding the dynamics, urban expanding patterns, and driving factors in the urban fringe can help us form a basis for future urban development.