Evaluating Tenure Mix Interventions: A Case Study from Sydney,Australia

Policies of tenure mix, by removing concentrations of social housing or through the application of inclusionary zoning-type powers to new developments, are being pursued throughout Australia and in the USA, the UK and New Zealand. Implementing this tenure mix policy agenda requires significant intervention into urban areas that currently have concentrations of social housing, through programmes of regeneration or renewal. Despite this policy agenda, research on the benefits of tenure mix has produced inconclusive evidence, both in Australia and internationally. The paper reports on research undertaken in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which tests a method of evaluating tenure mix policy. The exploratory method uses dwelling price data as a proxy for measuring amenity or ‘neighbourhood quality’ changes from tenure mix interventions.     

‘Fourth places’: the contemporary public settings for informal social interaction among strangers

This paper introduces ‘fourth places’ as an additional category of informal social settings alongside ‘third places’. Through extensive empirical fieldwork on where and how social interaction among strangers occurs in the public and semi-public spaces of a contemporary masterplanned neighbourhood, this paper reveals that ‘fourth places’ are closely related to ‘third places’ in terms of social and behavioural characteristics, involving a radical departure from the routines of home and work, inclusivity and social comfort. However, the activities, users, locations and spatial conditions that support them are very different. They are characterized by ‘in-betweenness’ in terms of spaces, activities, time and management, as well as a great sense of publicness. This paper will demonstrate that the latter conditions are effective in breaking the ‘placelessness’ and ‘fortress’ designs of newly designed urban public spaces and that, by doing so, they make ‘fourth places’ sociologically more open in order to bring strangers together. The recognition of these findings problematizes well-established urban design theories and redefines several spatial concepts for designing public space. Ultimately, the findings also bring optimism to urban design practice, offering new insights into how to design more lively and inclusive public spaces.     

Social needs of the elderly and active aging in public open spaces in urban renewal

Urban renewal districts have a relatively high concentration of elderly people. Open spaces are important for the elderly for enhancing social interaction and active aging. However, planning and design of open spaces tend to stress on the physical and safety needs of the elderly, while social needs are not frequently addressed. This study intends to identify whether the social needs of the elderly regarding the use of public open spaces in urban renewal districts are addressed in the standard planning and design guidelines which newly planned development and districts are often based upon. Eight focus groups were conducted in elderly community centers in two urban renewal districts in Hong Kong. The results indicate that elderly people consider ‘social and physical activities’, ‘community life facilities and services’ and ‘social network’, as well as a ‘clean and pleasant environment’ to be their most important needs. Thus, planners and designers should take into consideration these criteria for enhancing the social well-being of the elderly and active aging in public open spaces in urban renewal. Furthermore, it stresses that urban renewal districts are part of the elderly's past living experiences and established social networks, which is not the case in new developments and areas. As such, the users' actual needs should be elicited rather than perceived by planners and designers.     

From Low Demand to Rising Aspirations: Housing Market Renewal within Regional and Neighbourhood Regeneration Policy

The paper draws on qualitative empirical evidence from studies of regeneration in North-East England, and seeks to link housing market renewal to wider regeneration issues at regional and neighbourhood levels. It suggests that the discourse on, and justification of, housing market renewal has shifted from a specific concern with low housing demand and abandonment to a more generalised modernisation agenda seeking the restructuring of low-income neighbourhoods in terms not only of housing quality but also of tenure and population. This modernisation discourse is strongly linked to a regional economic regeneration agenda. It is argued that despite claims for the holistic nature of market renewal policies, it seems unlikely that these will improve the economic circumstances of existing residents as opposed to serving regional economic development objectives. Moreover, the more sweeping change implied by the modernisation agenda may reinforce the tension at neighbourhood level between community-led neighbourhood renewal and the restructuring of tenure and population through market renewal.     

The late modernist community in the late socialistic block of flats: the issue of urban neighbourhood vitality in Poland

The question of the big-city neighbourhood seems important due to the discussion on the condition of modern cities. The issue is centred on the problems of sustainable development and designing social relations. The problem of the neighbourhood in relation to various forms of residence triggers a discussion rooted in the classic issues of sociology as a discipline. In the proposed article, the researchers address the problem of the late socialistic block of flats, attempting to diagnose the condition of the modern urban community in the developmental context of Central Europe, based on the neoclassic concept of ‘spatially determined social circle’. The text introduces the issues of ‘socialist modernism’ using the available Central European literature. In the research part, the data obtained from an online survey on the subject conducted in 2019 in three Polish cities and from a nationwide online survey on the same subject are statistically analysed. The linear regression analysis suggested the relative vitality of the block form of residence, whose sources are both economic and social. The problem of traditional forms of accommodation and urban neighbourhoods has become a hotly debated political issue that triggers a scientific reflection on the phenomena of integration and disintegration in cities. In this context, the issue of the vitality of the forms of housing seems important not only for diagnosis purposes but also for predictions for the forthcoming decades. The case to be analysed herein is that of the late socialistic block of flats (LSBF) in Central and Eastern European countries, which for some is an anachronistic form of residence whereas for others is a partial solution to the insufficient market dynamics intended to meet people’s housing needs. In this context, we ask four questions based on a hypothesis regarding LSBF urban neighbourhood vitality in Poland. The first question is a partly theoretical question based on the conceptualisation of social circles: To what extent does living in an LSBF modify one’s sense of belonging to a social circle? The second question concerns the empirical findings regarding the LSBF neighbourhood: What is the neighbourhood assessment related to declared residence in an LSBF? The third question concerns more specific subjects related to the LSBF neighbourhood: To what extent does living in an LSBF affect the declared depth of neighbourly relations? The fourth and last question relates to the notion of vitality of the LSBF neighbourhood: Does the length of residence in an LSBF impact the interactions between the neighbours therein? The questions concerning the present-day LSBF cannot be answered without historical references to the concept of the city of socialist modernism. It is only from the genetic perspective dating back to several decades that we can understand the dynamics of the process, which has been marked by a few fundamental tribulations.

     

Factors affecting environmental sustainability of urban renewal projects

Urban renewal programmes offer an opportunity to improve the environmental sustainability of urban areas by creating well-designed and well-constructed built environments. In this study, the contributions of built environment design elements to environmental sustainability were evaluated through a questionnaire survey with the participation of 323 people who previously worked in urban renewal projects. Implementing factor analysis, interrelated elements have been gathered under five factors: ‘transportation and accessibility’, ‘conservation of natural resources’, ‘built environment quality’, ‘supporting social life’ and ‘high-density usage’. To identify the importance weights of these factors, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis was carried out with 40 academics and practitioners. Based on the results, ‘conservation of natural resources’ was found as the most important factor affecting the environmental sustainability of urban renewal projects. It is expected that the results of this study shall guide a wide range of urban renewal stakeholders, extending from designers to citizens, along the path of creating environmentally sustainable cities.     

The Relational Economy of Informality: Spatial Dimensions of Street Trading in Ivory Park,South Africa

The paper seeks to contribute towards an understanding of the spatial ordering of the neighbourhood economy of marginalised urban communities where informal businesses predominate. In doing so, we examine the spatial economy of informality in which contestations and agreements over space exert an organising dynamic. These social-spatial processes are examined through a case study in Ivory Park, Johannesburg, wherein we focus on the consumption and organisation of space, the infrastructural and architectural strategies that entrepreneurs utilise in responding to market impulses, risks and pressure and the unseen organisational logics as well as social processes in which the use of space is contested. The analysis is based on primary data collected through a business census and a social-spatial examination of the street market environment, including infrastructure and business forms. The research highlights three aspects of this relational economy that are insightful for the process of thinking about how cities should respond to economic informality. First, the case illustrates the flexible agility of businesses, witnessed in the responsiveness of business activities to space and place dynamics. Second, it illuminates some of the unseen organisational logics that accommodate different business and non-business needs (traders versus pedestrians; small businesses versus large) but also uphold power dynamics. Third, it reveals the social processes that facilitate inclusivity, from surveillance, to the acceptance of ‘outsiders’ and the sociability afforded by the publicness of interactions within the street space. Taken together, these aspects demonstrate the importance of reimagining current approaches to managing neighbourhood economies in ways that are sensitive to the complex systems that spatial informalities can generate.     

The garden suburb of the Garbatella, 1920–1929: defining community and identity through planning in post‐war Rome

Situated in the industrial district of Ostiense, the Garbatella neighbourhood was primarily designed to house railway and dock workers built by the Istituto per le Case Popolari (ICP), a national building society founded in 1903 dedicated to public low‐cost housing. The Garbatella distinguished itself from other ICP neighbourhoods in Rome by its remote location and its experimental Garden City‐influenced design, adapted for a Roman context. The first period of construction from 1920 to 1923 saw the Garbatella develop along the lines of Ebenezer Howard’s model of the Garden City. While those who planned the neighbourhood continued to aspire to Howard’s ideals, the Garbatella’s rapid expansion (by 1930 it boasted the highest population density in the city) meant that it failed to live up to these aspirations. Despite increased population levels and the construction of larger multi‐functional ‘super‐blocks’, the architecture and planning of the Garbatella contributed to the fostering of a sense of community and a distinct Roman identity. This article investigates the way in which this architectural style established a ‘dialogue’ with and drew inspiration from the city’s rich and varied history, while contributing a new layer to the urban palimpsest of Rome.     

Immigrants and home in the making: thresholds of domesticity,commonality and publicness

The search for home as a material and symbolic space is an increasingly salient social question across contemporary multiethnic cities. The boundaries between what is public, communal and domestic are increasingly contested and yet remain a crucial issue, especially for minority groups such as immigrant and ethnic communities. The domestication of everyday living spaces carried out by immigrant and ethnic groups entails a variety of ways of ‘cultivating home’. In a context characterized by transnational mobility, ethnic segregation and social marginality, domesticity—understood as the potential to enact a domestic dimension in meaningful places—is an important asset to resist present hardships, cultivate memory and lay out projects for the future. In this Editorial, we seek to untangle the multiple stakes entailed by the practices of ‘making home’ and ‘feeling at home’. We invite scholars to observe how, even in minute and mundane details, dwelling places and the built environment come to be imbued with social and cultural meanings, which are pivotal to survival and social recognition. The articulation of domesticity, commonality and publicness can be fruitfully mapped through the concept of ‘thresholds’, which brings together the case studies that follow. By doing so, this Special Issue as a whole lays out a new research agenda at the intersection of housing, urban and migration studies.     

‘The field of grain is gone; It's now a Tesco Superstore’: representations of ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ within historical and contemporary discourses opposing urban expansion in England

Ideas about the difference between rural and urban areas are woven into the fabric of English society. This paper asks how two different campaigns against urban expansion and rural homebuilding in England – one interwar and one more contemporary (related to the production of the ‘National Planning Policy Framework’ document) – represent the difference between ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ and how they use these representations to justify and naturalize their arguments. Utilizing interpretive textual analysis to compare the two periods, we show that, whilst planning has undergone significant paradigm shifts during the period between the two campaigns, in both archives a dominant ‘rural idyll’ is (re)produced and reinforced through the representational themes of beauty, nature, purity, an elite educated class, and a traditional social order. This is strongly contrasted to the representation of the ‘urban sphere’ as an unnatural, ugly, modern, and socially fragmented dystopia. ‘Urban’ areas are therefore constructed as the constitutive ‘Other’ to the rural idyll. In this way, the apparently natural urban characteristics associated with built-up areas are represented as ‘out of place’ within the rural sphere. These representations work to justify the argument that ‘development’ is a threat to the intrinsic characteristics of the countryside and should not be allowed to take place. This rural idyll/urban dystopia binary is argued to continue to have an important influence on shaping policy debate.     

Towards the experiential meaning of milieu for neighbourhood regeneration: discussions on the institutional designation of milieu-valued areas in Tallinn, Estonia

This article analyses the constructive and strategic character of the milieu discourse in the planning of urban neighbourhoods in Tallinn, Estonia, that has an influence on neighbourhood regeneration. In the institutional designation of milieu areas, the concept of milieu area means the coherent historical housing environment as assessed by planning experts. The article argues that this milieu discourse has strategic aims in terms of preserving architectural housing heritage and acknowledging the traditional understanding of the heritage value. This has influenced, in the collective knowledge, the specific perception of the term ‘milieu’ that will in turn influence the change of a neighbourhood’s social structure and of its placemaking. For example, the concept of milieu area is used by real estate agents for selling and renting apartments in deprived neighbourhoods that are institutionally acknowledged as the neighbourhoods with the milieu value. The study concludes that the expert-based milieu discourse does not consider the socio-spatial neighbourhoods’ everyday life, which is significant in terms of viable neighbourhood regeneration. The reconstruction of the milieu term towards an experiential milieu approach is suggested, as the involvement of residents in neighbourhood regeneration is especially essential in the neighbourhoods of the dispossessed.     

Participation in neighbourhood regeneration: achievements of residents in a Dutch disadvantaged neighbourhood

Despite the fact that resident participation has become central to the Dutch policy discourse on ‘good’ urban planning, it is unclear to what degree new participation mechanisms have created opportunities for residents to actually influence neighbourhood governance and contribute to the improvement of their neighbourhood. This paper explores how residents in the neighbourhood of Transvaal (Amsterdam) have been involved in regeneration since 1999. Although residents have been successful in putting everyday concerns about safety on the agenda and contributed to small-scale improvements of public space, they were unable to contribute to regeneration plans at the scale of the neighbourhood, in particular strategic decisions about state-led gentrification.     

(W)Escaping the Challenges of the City: a Critique of Cape Town’s Proposed Satellite Town

Much of the current planning discourse has come to reject master planned ‘new cities’ as both unrealistic and undesirable. However, with growing urbanisation challenges in the Global South, master planned cities, suburbs and communities have come back on the agenda driven by both public and private interests. This paper explores the WesCape Development (WD), a proposed satellite suburb to be located north-west of Cape Town, South Africa. Situating the WD in a longer lineage of utopian and new city planning approaches, I argue that the proposal is deeply flawed. Rather than being the solution to the urban ills facing Cape Town, it is an ‘anti-urban’ strategy which supports suburbanisation and assumes a particular and problematic urban growth scenario. It relies on ‘environmentally deterministic’ assumptions and depoliticised and deinstitutionalised designs. Ultimately, it tries to escape, rather than confront, the operational, political and social challenges of the city leading to the devaluation of planning instruments and citizenship engagement. The WD highlights the importance and power of radical and utopian thinking as well as the necessity of grounding and situating these impulses in the specificities and complexities of the city.     

Exploring the ‘Just City principles’ within two European sustainable neighbourhoods

The objective of this paper is to analyse and compare in detail the social structure of the two most acclaimed European sustainable neighbourhoods, which have had a completely different implementation approach: bottom-up urban development in Vauban (Freiburg) and top-down urban development in Western Harbour (Malmö). The goal is to uncover the unrevealed urban elements that determine social sustainability. The paper uses an innovative methodological framework - the Fainstein’s ‘Just City’ concept, which encompass several social determinants within three main pillars/principles: democracy, equity and diversity. The ‘Just City’ principles and its determinants add a new perspective to social urban manifestation encompassing ‘social justice’ and ‘local governance’ dimensions. These dimensions represent innovative research approaches in exploring urban social sustainability. Through the Just City framework, the social structure of the two representative case studies is dissected to establish the level of urban social sustainability in each urban area. The aim of the paper is to answer to the question: “Do the most acclaimed leading sustainable neighbourhoods embody democratic values, assure equality and respect (allow) diversity?”     

Rethinking the mechanism of the social impact assessment with the ‘right to the city’ concept: a case study of the Blue House Revitalization Project in Hong Kong (2006–2012)

Over the past two decades, urban renewal has become a major means to increase the efficiency of land production in Hong Kong (HK). Although the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) have introduced the social impact assessment (SIA) mechanism to mitigate the social impact of renewal projects, social conflicts have intensified between affected residents and the URA/HKHA. To what extent can SIA effectively mitigate the social impacts of urban renewal in HK? To answer this question, the author draws on a mixture of empirical and secondary materials to analyse the development, assessment procedures, and report format of SIA in HK as a basis to evaluate the challenges of this mechanism. Then the author goes on to critically analyse how thinking on ‘right to the city’ and affected residents’ comments come together to inform reflections on SIA in HK. The author argues that the SIA mechanism in HK remains technocratic in nature because it does not function effectively in addressing the needs of affected residents and resolving the deep-rooted conflicts between residents’ right of living and pro-growth development.     

Void Metabolism

Since the Second World War, the urban fabric of Tokyo has been shaped by individual landownership and the proliferation of the detached house. For most Japanese architectural offices, domestic practice provides the mainstay of their work. This focus on the single private house, though, also limits the range of possibilities for urban interventions. Yoshiharu Tsukamoto of Atelier Bow-Wow explains how through its development of ‘Void Metabolism’, the studio has been able to turn its focus on the residential into a positive, breaking down the barriers between private and shared space in the city.     

The justification of planning solutions in ecological housing ‐ a case study of Viikki in Helsinki

Ecology and sustainability have produced new challenges to traditional argumentation in urban planning. In addition to the rhetorical approach informed by Perelman's ‘new rhetoric’, the recent changes can be analysed by using more traditional philosophical argumentation critique, which is also in line with recent developments in argumentation theory. The state of the art in planning is analysed in this article through a case study of an architectural competition for ‘ecological housing’ held in Helsinki in 1995. The analysis illustrates the way that environmentalism produces new discursive means of justification, but not necessarily new types of urban planning.     

Framing a new discourse on petromodernity: the global petroleumscape and petroleum modernism*

The concept of the Global Petroleumspace is an analytical tool which engages the roles which different oil actors play in the development of new urban ideas and built forms. Coined by Hein, this concept contributes to enriching our understanding of globalization, modernity, and architectural history and their impacts on space through time. Petroleum is modern industry’s fuel par excellence. For much of the world, it is the arrival of petroleum on the local scene that introduces modernity with its attendant spaces, forms, materials, and discourses. To frame this new discourse on urban development and petromodernity, three events were organized: ‘Petroleumscape Roundtable’ held as part of the 17th IPHS Conference at TU Delft, ‘Petroleum Modernism Symposium’, organized at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and ‘The Global Petroleumscape Conference’ held at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft. This article briefly recounts and reflects upon the scholarly discussions which took place at these events, in order to outline an emergent discourse on petroleum’s imbrication in architecture and planning.     

Not So Radical: An American Perspective

Jayne Merkel relishes the opportunity to talk about architecture in the light of communication, context, wider culture, ‘the ordinary’, new technology and aesthetic affect - all topics that are back on the agenda with this issue on Radical Post-Modernism. However, she provides a view from Manhattan that calls into question the possible re-emergence of a ‘Radical Post-Modern’ movement in North America, although some members of the American architectural establishment continue to practice PoMo even if they do not preach it. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Forced Relocation in France: How Residential Trajectories Affect Individual Experiences

In France, an urban renewal programme was launched in 2003 with the aim of boosting social mix by diversifying housing in disadvantaged neighbourhoods known as ‘Sensitive Urban Zones’. Drawing on 121 qualitative interviews conducted in seven neighbourhoods in the Paris region, this article focuses on relocation processes triggered by the demolition of social housing. How are these socio-residential changes experienced by those actually being relocated? To answer this question, the paper shows how an analysis of long-term residential trajectories can highlight and nuance the experiences of relocatees. Three broad types of trajectories are defined as an analytical framework for a comprehensive approach of the meaning of relocation and opportunity held by households. It shows how forced relocation can either be a positive step in residential trajectories or merely an adaptation in terms of housing, whether or not the inhabitants actually stay in their neighbourhood or leave it.