Social Participation in the Context of the Urban Public Space Renewal： The Case of Lagarteiro Neighborhood in Oporto

In 1980, Giancarlo de Carlo wrote in the Perspecta： Yale Journal, ＂An Architecture of the Participation＂. Carlo, proposed a sequence of procedures： the problem definition, the solution and the results evaluation, in all the three steps, the social communities should be integrated in as part of a share and dynamic process. This text corresponds to a new way of understanding the importance of the social communities in the architecture definition. From de Carlo＇s text, the main goal of this paper is to present the results of an intervention in public space renewal of the Lagarteiro neighborhood （in Oporto city） and the relation of this process with the participation of the resident population. The urban context of Lagarteiro＇s neighborhood presented before the intervention the typical and classic signs of disqualification of environmental and urban peripheral areas of resettlement. The term ＂disadvantaged areas＂ is associated with these areas in urban or peri-urban case, was framed in a specific Portuguese policy, called Initiative Critical Neighborhoods. Being a recent intervention, the renewal of the public space in Lagarteiro is a complete case study that allows comprehending the participation phenomenon in nowadays, at the same time that seduces a reflexion about technical and architectural solutions for ＂critical＂ neighborhood.     

Collaborating to Compete—The Governance Implications of Stakeholder Agendas at Mount Pulag National Park,the Philippines

Regional planning has long sought to manage places that extend across political boundaries. The international trend to decentralize governance and promote co-management of protected areas is consistent with emerging collaborative spatial planning theory (Healey, 1997, 1999, 2006), which suggests that through dialogue, parties assert multiple cultural perspectives, share knowledge, and forge shared landscape values as the basis of decisions. As a form of collaborative spatial planning, co-management specifies shared resource management power between national government and one or more local or indigenous communities. Both approaches assume decentralized governance systems. Although critics fault collaborative planning for glossing over historical and cultural contexts, and for ignoring power in decision making, few case studies ask why partners participate or how specific decentralized governance institutions affect plan implementation. This paper draws from a study of co-management at Mount Pulag National Park, the Philippines—a shared indigenous cultural landscape that was to be managed by a board representing multiple local, indigenous, and national jurisdictions. Tracing road decisions by two municipal partners, the paper summarizes how and why major stakeholders adopted and then circumvented protective policies by building duplicative road projects across fragile forests. In this context of changing indigenous rights, the same decentralization laws that enabled co-management also rewarded competition and strategic behavior that weakened the collaborative and fragmented the shared landscape. The case demonstrates the need to interrogate, rather than assume the benefits of decentralized governance and to study why stakeholders participate before relying on voluntary collaboration to manage regional landscapes. The initial version of this paper was presented to the 2006 annual meetings of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Fort Worth, Texas.     

Reinforcing Housing Assets in the Wrong Location? The Case of Botshabelo,South Africa

Apartheid policies were instrumental in displacing black urbanisation away from key urban areas. Botshabelo, 55 km east of Bloemfontein, is an example of this. This paper uses asset-building theory to argue that post-apartheid policy for Botshabelo has largely reinforced apartheid spatial planning patterns and locked in a significant percentage of the Botshabelo population. Population growth is slow, with evidence of the working age population leaving Botshabelo. At the same time, substantial investment in infrastructure services has increased investment in housing in the past 20 years.     

Urban Development in the Age of Globalization 2.0——The Transformation of West Cities and Impacts on Chinese Cities

如果把2008年之前的全球化称为“全球化1.0版”,那么2008年后的“全球化2.0版”正在显露出自己的特点.两者最重要的区别是,全球化1.0版是由西方国家市场力和政府力的结盟推动的,社会力被排除在全球化过程之外.全球化2.0版是对1.0版的修正,实质是社会力对市场力和政府力的抗争,迫使它们考虑全球化过程中社会的利益,并在一定程度上制约了资本的全球流动.这样的变化具有复杂的后果.在分析了全球化1.0版和全球化2.0版的异同,全球化2.0版形成的原因、特点及理论问题后,讨论新的全球化时期西方城市的转型,以及对中国城市产生的影响.     

The Forecast of the Targets for the Urban Housing for a Relatively Comfortable Standard of Living in China

To attain a relatively comfortable standard of living by year 200O is the strategic target ofChina＇s economic development.We should first make it clear what is the pattern and standard forhousing for a relatively comfortable. Through our study in the present housing conditions andthe life pattern in 2000.analysis of lowest area limit for one housing unit and macro-analysis ofhousing economy.and study on the inevitability of multiple and multi-level targets for housing ofrelatively comfortable standard of livng,as well as using the analysis of indexes for judging hous-ing conditions in other countries as reference.we set multiple and Mlti-level Targets for Housingfor a Relatively Comfortable Life and Use Them as Reference and Basis for Drafting the GeneralSystem of Housing for a Relatively Comfortable Life and for the Development of HousingProducts.     

Systemic Shifts: The Case of Abidjan's Urban Planning, 1945–60

In the span of one decade, Abidjan received two urban plans: the Badani plan (1952) and the SETAP plan (1959). Both times, a heterogeneous system was forged through the expertise of urban planning in an attempt to create a more efficient city. Both times, the urban plan succeeded only briefly while the associative forces holding it together staved off the dissociative forces ripping it apart. This article focuses on this broader movement of forces, that is, the systemic shifts, which manifested in both urban plans but had ramifications beyond them.     

The Delphi Method as a Useful Tool to Study Governance and Protected Areas?

The Delphi method is a systematic, interactive, written method, which relies on a panel of experts. This paper seeks to discuss whether the Delphi method is an appropriate method for obtaining information about governance. In this study we used the Delphi method to assemble information from 10 professionals with vast experience in nature conservation, protected areas and governance. The purpose of this study was to get a better understanding of the scientific governance debate. Three rounds of questionnaires were sent to the selected experts. The results of this Delphi Questionnaire reveal that there is a broad common understanding of protected area governance. They also reveal insights into how individual categories of protected areas will develop in the future. However, the study also shows that specialists are not fully agreed on this point.     

Analysis of Urban Morphology in Core Towns＇ Neighborhoods of Mexico： Santa Barbara＇s Neighborhood as a Case Study

Cities＇ urban morphology is the result of historic, cultural, political and social processes. The historical cores in Mexican cities have high cultural diversity, which also intermingle pre-Hispanic cultures with colonial forms, as well with modernity and post-modernity irruption. The case study is Santa Barbara＇s neighborhood in Toluca City, which was founded in 1524, and the case study was the first neighborhood in Toluca＇s historical core. At present time, this neighborhood is considered as one of the most dangerous places in the city＇s historical core, therefore, it has been abandoned. This paper will display the changes in urban morphology of the neighborhood through the years from 1877 to 2010. For site evaluation, the methodologies of Ashihara （1982） and Lynch＇s （1961） were used in order to analyze positive and negative spaces, as well as main street visual features, street and avenue directions, street circulation and street circulation path configuration. The results show that the focal nodes are a key factor for economic and social reactivation, with which, through urban activation of vacant lots and the traditional use of the streets as public space, is possible to generate centripetal development to restructure the neighborhood.     

The Issue of Street Construction in the Transformation of Old City Areas in Medium-and-Small-Sized Cities

Excerpts: The rapid economic development of cities provides the material basis for the transformation of the oldcities. The reconstruction of streets is the first issue being looked at. In the past few years,experiences have beengained and problems encountered. For instance, only some sections of the streets are reconstructed, the scale and de-velopment program of reconstruction are decided without any comprehensive, conceptual planning program, Thispaper attempts to analyse the reasons and defects of the past practice and some suggestions are made on improve-ment measures. It is pointed out in particular, that the transformation of streets should be based in the need, devel-opment potential, characteristics and specific role of the cities in order to enable the streets to be reconstructed incoordination with the transformation of the cities as a whole.     

Valuing Social Resources or Capitalizing on Them? Limits to Pro-poor Urban Governance in Nine Cities of the South

Drawing on research in nine cities of Africa, Asia and Latin America, evidence of local-level networks and associational life is analysed, to assess where benefits accrue when they are harnessed in the interests of city governance. Adopting a critical approach to the concept of social capital, it is concluded that the social resources of the urban poor (family, kinship, social networks and community-level organization) are as much an asset for urban development institutions and processes as they are for the poor themselves. Although urban government and other development agencies may draw upon the social resources of poor communities and benefit from or respond to public action, this does not mean that they depend on them. Although public action is important to ensure local democracy, social capital, it is concluded, does not guarantee pro-poor governance.     

Impact of “We Media” on Public Participation in Urban Planning:A Case Study on the Urban Design of Xuanwu Avenue in Nanjing

From a stakeholder perspective, this paper discusses the positive and negative impacts of “We Media” on public participation in urban planning based on a case study on the public event related to the Urban Design of Xuanwu Avenue in Nanjing. This research draws the following conclusions. Firstly,“We Media” helps to reduce the cost of the bottom-up feedback in the public participation process as it expands information dissemination approaches, and the comprehensiveness and objectiveness of the in...     

Urban Restructuring and Forced Relocations: Housing Opportunities for Youth? A Case Study in Utrecht,the Netherlands

The existence of deprived urban neighbourhoods leads many governments to adopt policies of urban restructuring aimed at changing the socio-physical structure of these areas. Such policies often take form in the demolition of social rented dwellings and the displacement of residents. Although we know quite a lot about the effects of displacement on adults, little attention has been paid to the effects on youth. This paper provides insight into the effects of urban restructuring on the dwelling and neighbourhood conditions of youth between 12 and 21 in Utrecht (the Netherlands). The situation of forced movers over the last 10 years is compared with a control group of other movers. The findings indicate that many youth who were forced to relocate perceive that they moved to better dwellings. However, the improvements were generally small and more than half moved to low-income neighbourhoods similar to those they had left.     

Towards Achieving Resilience at the Rural–Urban Fringe: the Case of Jamestown,South Africa

The “rural–urban fringe” is under assault worldwide, as cities expand in seemingly unstoppable growth, commonly known as “urban sprawl.” As cities grow, this “transition zone” becomes a contested area as various actors fight for space, with varying opinions on land use. This paper describes the decision-making dynamics governing land use in Jamestown, located in the rural–urban fringe, in Stellenbosch Municipality, South Africa. A fundamental lesson that emerged out of the research is that local outcomes are highly vulnerable to economic and political realities that may exist far from the area itself, resulting in clear winners, and “losers,” often depending on the ideological perspective of the individuals involved. The paper aims to draw out several lessons for planners and advocates of sustainable urban design: given the complex pressures governing land use in present day South Africa, what is there to be learned from this particular case in terms of “best practice” and best/better ways forward?     

‘Every Tenant Matters’? The New Governance of Social Housing in England

This paper begins by considering the series of reviews of aspects of housing policy carried out by the Westminster government between 2004 and 2007. It then moves on to describe and evaluate the legislative changes derived from those reviews in the form of the Housing and Regeneration Act, 2008. Responsibility for funding social housing was separated from the regulatory role, after more than 30 years during which they had been combined within the Housing Corporation. The changes were intended to introduce and promote a new culture, on the one hand encouraging wider involvement of private, profit-seeking organisations in the production and management of social housing. On the other hand, the expressed intention was to develop a more consumer oriented approach to the regulation of social housing. The paper concludes by asking whether the Act marks a new era for social housing in England.     

Urban Digital Strategies: Planning in the Face of Information Technology?

A growing number of cities around the world have now developed urban digital strategies to speed up the pace of change, and more importantly to move their digital planning and policymaking from ad-hoc to an integrated and strategic approach. The paper provides a cross-national comparative study, based on recently developed urban digital strategies in Brisbane, Australia and Vancouver, Canada. The aim is to understand if and how urban digital strategies align with broader strategic planning in the two cities. To do so, the paper combines policy analysis with interviews of a selection of stakeholders in both cities. The lessons learned can be transferred to all cities interested in integrated digital planning for successful strategic urban outcomes.     

Improving Conviviality in Public Places： The Case of Naples, Italy

Under the umbrella concept of conviviality in public spaces, a research project on the rehabilitation of urban areas for commercial and retail uses---as engine of a complex process of production of places for social and cultural mixit6--has been defined. The aim of this research has been to produce useful tools for coping with the abandonment of public spaces in former commercial urban areas, without generating anonymous and globalized commercial districts. Through involving local stakeholders in a participatory process, the first phase of the research here presented needs to demonstrate the possible effectiveness of a pilot action plan in dealing with both isolation and gentrification processes of historical centres. The main hypothesis is that traditional retailers should be considered an essential element to ensure effective public use of urban public spaces. The research methodology is based on a qualitative approach. Focussing on the process of impoverishment within local commercial districts, the research group started working with local stakeholders in order to identify priorities and criticisms for enhancing a regeneration process. The case study to be carried out in Naples is the historical market place of Piazza Mercato in the Citth Bassa of Naples （Italy）.     

Urban questions in the countryside? Urbanization and the collective consumption of electricity in early twentieth-century Belgium

This paper studies the early phases of the process of electrification in Belgium in order to shed light on the emergence of a distributed model of urbanization. The paper argues that the policies developed to extent the supply of electricity to each and every corner of the national territory is part and parcel of a distributed urbanism which reproduced itself in different forms throughout the twentieth century. Detailed analysis of the policies developed by three Belgian provinces to support the electrification in the interbellum period brings into view the ambiguity of the Belgian policy of dispersion. On the one hand, this analysis shows an eagerness to advance industrial production over the entire territory by making use of existing, rural collective resources. On the other hand, the policies of dispersion, despite their anti-urban motivations, in time produced (a need for) collective structures that facilitate processes of accumulation and differentiation that over time may be characterized as urban.     

The (re)Making of Paris as a Bohemian Place?

As several authors have shown, culture is becoming a key tool of the urban planning kit. It is used by urban decision-makers to create symbolic and economic values, which are often considered as a competitive advantage for cities. Nevertheless, when so many cities are using the same strategies, to what extent does culture-led planning allow a city to distinguish itself?