South African ‘know-how’ and Israeli ‘facts of life’: the planning of Afridar,Ashkelon, 1949–1956

In 1949, in the newly founded state of Israel, South African architects Norman Hanson and Roy Kantorowich planned the city of Ashkelon and, within it, the exclusive neighbourhood unit Afridar. Managed by the South African Jewish Appeal, which initiated and funded the project, Afridar presented a radical exception to Israel’s centralized planning approach during that period. An early example of a semi-private settlement initiative for an ethnic and class-based enclave reserved for ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Jewish immigrants, it functioned as a ‘model town’ for the immigrant population from the Middle East and North Africa, which was housed by the government in the rest of the city of Ashkelon. Afridar’s enclave reproduced planning practices from South Africa, which had been coloured by race since the 1920s. Despite its exclusive image, it was modelled after progressive experiments in the design of Native Townships. Their main objective of such experiments was to improve the standards of housing of racially discriminated populations yet, in practice, they served as a tool to implement apartheid policies. This paper interrogates this ambivalence of social aspirations and complicity with state segregation practices through examining the translation of apartheid’s planning practices to the Israeli context, and the negotiations and conflicts this translation entailed.     

Advancing a ‘new professionalism’: professionalization,practice and institutionalization

By way of review and response to the Building Research & Information special issue entitled ‘New Professionalism’ (2013, volume 40, number 1), compiled by Bordass and Leaman, this paper assesses the potential and prospects for changes to the ‘system of professions’ in construction associated with a shift towards sustainability. The paper builds on and develops the analysis of professionals and professionalization in the special issue, forming a bridge with other contemporary work in organization studies and the sociology of the professions. The creation of a ‘new professionalism’ that transcends existing divisions amongst building professions will present a number of challenges. Amongst these are, on the one hand, the interweaving of processes of professionalization and institutionalization and, on the other hand, the influence of practice. Suggestions are provided on how the themes and issues raised in the special issue can be taken forward in both research and practice.     

The ‘landscape scale’ in planning: Recent experience of bio-geographic planning units in Britain

Landscape-scale mapping is becoming more widely used as an approach to identifying ‘characteristic’ units of countryside for information gathering and policy delivery purposes. A number of innovative approaches currently being developed and applied in Britain are reviewed. The justifications for producing these methods, as reflected in published sources, are analysed. Interviews with selected professionals, who identify various benefits for more effective policy delivery, integrated planning, partnership formation and public engagement, are reported on. Most of the approaches also override administrative boundaries, which enables a more naturalistic reflection of environmental systems, whilst also creating some political difficulties. Other problems are associated with cost and subjectivity. Overall, the methods are likely to improve joined-up rural decision making, but further research into their effectiveness is needed.     

Hans Scharoun’s ‘Dwelling Cells’ and the autonomy of architecture

This article traces a genealogy of three Berlin housing projects: Hans Scharoun’s housing estate Charlottenburg Nord (1956–1961); the Siedlung Siemensstadt (1929–1931), planned with Martin Wagner; the pre-modern reform block of Nonnendamm, designed by Johnson and Josef Feldhuber (1910–1912). Whilst for Scharoun the inversion of the figure of the perimeter block of Nonnendamm through the Zeilenbau organisation of Siemensstadt exemplifies modernism’s radical break from the past, it is the variegated form or Gestalt of Charlottenburg Nord that verifies the essential nature of a dwelling cell, or neighbourhood.

By contrast, this paper argues that Scharoun’s dwelling cell is the result of a continuous trajectory of typological reasoning. Each of the key spatial components of Nonnendamm—the figure of the block, the façade, the ground and the void—are taken up, hyper-articulated and re-configured, all in the service of the coherence and differentiation of a segment of the urban population. This trajectory exemplifies how modern architecture’s impetus for experimentation is taken into the service of and propels the broader reflection across disciplines regarding how to house and group the urban population.     

‘The imaginary texture of the real …’ critical visual studies in landscape architecture: contexts,foundations and approaches

In this paper I examine potential for critical visual research studies in landscape architecture and related disciplines. The reasons for a neglect of imagery in research publications and the gap between landscape architectural practice and theory are considered, and the ways in which this restricts understanding are explored. I argue that visual studies can be used to bridge the practice–theory divide and enable investigations which are currently limited or absent in text-based methods and dissemination. To this end, five kinds of visual study are defined and their philosophical and methodological underpinnings and potential discussed. I conclude with an examination of the relationship between critical thinking and visual processes and the role of the viewer. The overall aim is to provide openings for future visual research studies and the development of critical visual discourses.     

Hitler's ‘Generalsiedlungsplanung Ost’: a case only for Poland? A forgotten dimension of national-socialist spatial and town planning in the former Czechoslovakia

Adolf Hitler constructed his Nazi ideology as a universal worldview aimed at the German Reich's eastward expansion; the ‘Generalsiedlungsplanung Ost’ programme was officially launched in 1940. The forcible establishment of multiple administrative units in 1938/1939 created the conditions for an architecture that would serve the totalitarian regime. Thus began an enormous planning process and the targeted institutionalization of urban development and spatial planning and research. This programme included not only German government agencies and research institutions specifically established or reorganized for this purpose, but increasingly also involved communal politics and independent or government architects. The author pursues the thesis that this Germanization concept, formulated within the framework of the ‘Generalsiedlungspläne Ost’, allowed the relevant agencies to increase their influence or eliminate any opponents. From this basis, the study identifies the role that GBI (Generalbauinspektor) for Berlin Albert Speer, his architects, and local architects played in the planning process in Czechoslovakia and Poland, and analyses the architectural evidence of the Nazi rulers’ Germanization and colonization policies. The initial comparison of the urban planning models applied in ‘Großreich Deutschland’ with those in the annexed regions in today's Poland and Czech Republic offers relevant arguments related to this far-reaching sociological and architecture–historical topic.     

‘Unfolding from within’: modern architecture and the dream of organic totality

With the proclamation of the Turkish Republic, in October, 1923, Ankara became the laboratory and showcase of the nation-building project led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. A number of European architects, planners and artists were involved in the transformation of this small Anatolian town into the political and symbolic centre of the ‘New Turkey’: as the Republic was also known. At the same time, European observers were drawn to witness a place that was described as ‘the most extraordinary capital in the world’. At a crucial juncture, in which the geopolitical space of the Orient was radically reconfigured, Ankara provided an unexpected terrain of cross-cultural encounters between East and West. This essay explores the historical traces of these encounters that emerge from an uncharted body of sources, ranging from early-1920s' travel writings to the first comprehensive accounts of the new capital published in the mid-1930s. A tropological analysis of this rich and diverse literature shows that Ankara destabilised the discursive frame through which the West had hitherto constructed the Orient as its irreducible ‘other’. The accounts of this modernist experiment reasserted the hegemony of western culture while revealing, in the process, its inner fractures and contradictions.     

Towards a synergy between ‘content’ and ‘process’ in Dutch spatial planning: the Heuvelland case

Spatial planning in the Netherlands is shifting from regulatory toward more developmental modes of planning. This paper explores the background of these changes and discusses current approaches to developmental planning, especially in rural areas. It combines views reflected in planning theory with the accumulated experiences of a project in the southern part of the Netherlands, called Heuvelland. The Heuvelland project is aimed at the mobilisation of market parties for spatial developments. It is an attempt to circumvent the path-dependency in which many current spatial innovation projects get caught up, owing to established institutional planning and policy arrangements. We argue that in order to stimulate innovation and create a new economic base for rural spatial developments, new economic actors and new public–private structures and networks must be mobilised. We consider how this can be done, taking into account the importance of sustainable regional development.     

News from the field: ‘Town and townscape: the work and life of Thomas Sharp’

The New South Wales Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979, came into effect on 1 September 1980. It was Australia's first planning legislation where the objects of the Act explicitly included a balance between economic, social and environmental outcomes. The Act also facilitated public participation at all stages of plan-making and land-use decision-making. While the Act continues to promote such aims, it has also undergone significant amendment, particularly in the last 5 years. This has seen a distinct move away from the spirit of the original objects of the Act to more centralized and less participatory decision-making. This paper examines the evolution of the Act and of the New South Wales planning system. The NSW Planning Department considers that the state's planning system is still world standard. This review concludes otherwise. Rather, the evidence strongly indicates that a review of the planning system and legislative framework is warranted in order to achieve better land management.     

‘The beautiful and useful laws of God’: Burnham's Swedenborgianism and the Plan of Chicago

The phrase ‘beautiful and useful laws of God’ comes from a letter the young Daniel H. Burnham wrote to his mother. Knowledge of Burnham's religious beliefs is profoundly important for a deeper, more nuanced understanding of his intentions and motivations for the 1909 Plan of Chicago. This influence is underestimated, in part, because it has no overt, dramatic representation in the plan and is overshadowed by the apparently contradictory but captivating rendered perspectives.     

Mind the gap: the UK’s new planning system,landscape conservation and biodiversity

Maintaining biodiversity and natural habitat are essential to achieving sustainable development. The UK’s Planning Policy Statement on ‘Biodiversity and Geological Conservation’ (known as PPS 9) and the ‘South East Plan’ emphasise the need to avoid a net loss in biodiversity, with Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) enjoined to pursue ecologically sensitive options. Our research revealed serious problems hampering the local planning authorities’ efforts to incorporate whole‐landscape scale planning into Local Development Frameworks (LDFs). These are required under the new ‘Spatial Planning’ framework, enacted in the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, and the Planning Act 2008.     

Planning outside ‘planning’: the changing role of the Queensland Co-ordinator-General

The unique office of Co-ordinator-General of Public Works was created by the government of the State of Queensland, Australia, in 1938 in line with a contemporary trend towards the coordination principle in public administration throughout much of the western world. Its function was to coordinate the development and planning of public works across the State. Through this role, supplemented by the various changes in function which have occurred over the years, it has been a very influential agency in the planning and development of the State. However, it has never been fully connected to the standard land use planning system. The paper explores the changing roles of the agency between 1938 and 1999 and discusses the influence of a planning agency which is not part of traditional ‘planning.’     

‘Order out of chaos’: the London Society and the planning of London 1912–1920

The history of civic consciousness in the late nineteenth century has focused on philanthropic housing reform and the provision of civic amenities such as public parks and libraries. Histories of the growth of the town planning movement in the same period likewise have been dominated by housing, with an emphasis on the garden suburb and the activities of the Garden City Association (founded 1899). At the same time, and partly due to the popularity of research on Ruskin, Morris and their followers, the history of popular movements emerging at the end of the last century has concentrated on conservation groups like the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (founded 1877) and the National Trust (founded 1895). An analysis is presented here of an emerging voluntary civic and planning movement and its contribution to urban and planning history. It examines the growth of modern civic consciousness from 1890 to 1920, when citizens began to exercise their right to participate in the planning and design of the urban environment. The analysis focuses on the relationship between the town planning movement, local government and a voluntary planning and amenity group, the London Society, founded in 1912, to argue that civic consciousness shifted in the period from a nineteenth century philanthropic approach to urban reform, which centred on housing and amenity, to a more professional and democratic attempt to attend to the planning of the whole urban environment. The research identifies a moment of progressive optimism regarding urban civilization at the beginning of this century, and thus dispels the myth that the period was characterized by anti-urbanism.     

Virtual enclosure,ecosystem services,landscape’s character and the ‘rewilding’ of the commons: the ‘Lake District’ case

Abstract

It is paradoxical that, while there is a generally increasing recognition of the scientific and cultural importance of conserving ‘semi-natural’ pastoral environments, and the negative effects of their widespread abandonment and overgrowth, British ‘rewilding’ activists and environmental managers are effectively advocating policies that will have a similar negative effect on the character of the semi-natural pastoral commons of places like England’s iconic Lake District. This situation, it will be argued, owes to the mindset of ‘virtual enclosure’ whereby the character of landscape is pre-defined by an assumed, behind-the-scenes, Euclidean/Ptolemaic spatial logic that leads to the comprehension of nature as a bounded scenic property; an (e)state of nature with its own economic system and services. This mindset is antithetical to both the practice of pastoral commoning and much contemporary natural science and conservation policy. It fits well, however, with older teleological ideas of nature, as well as modern ideas of privatisation, private property and management control.     

The drone’s eye: applications and implications for landscape architecture

The use of next-generation automated consumer drones for aerial imaging and mapping is increasingly common. As a field that recurrently seeks new mapping methods, the practical aspects of drone imaging and mapping are most evidently applicable to landscape architecture. However, as a social art, landscape architecture also has a vested interest in the cultural implications of the consumer-oriented features of next-generation drones. This article bridges these professional and amateur domains of drone use. First, the article uses a topographically complex case study site to compare drone functionality against established imaging and mapping technologies. Second, the article interprets the potential implications of these applications on the practice and theory of landscape architecture. The article concludes that high fidelity drone mapping has the capacity to refocus contemporary landscape discourse from a predominantly satellite-based viewpoint to the site scale at which landscape is both experienced and designed.     

Urban planning and the design of towns in the Middle Ages: the Earls of Devon and their ‘new towns’

This paper examines what processes might have been involved in the design and planning of new urban landscapes in the High Middle Ages. It does so by looking in detail at the morphology of a group of late twelfth century ‘new towns’ established by one particular aristocratic family in southern England. The paper seeks to encourage a move away from orthodox interpretations of medieval urban forms, and challenges the view that irregularities in plan-form signify a lack of planning.     

Valley landscape management: the context of a ‘river contract’ in the Semois valley,Belgium

A trans‐boundary and multi‐disciplinary approach to the river contract project for the Semois valley in Wallonia (Belgium) is described that provided the opportunity for a landscape‐scale focus during actions to restore the watercourses and the associated valley area. A trans‐boundary landscape survey was carried out under the context of the Interreg III European programme. This resulted in the rediscovery of lost views and viewpoints within the landscape and in the implementation of actions leading to the opening up of the valley, which provided opportunities to re‐establish lost landscape features, such as hay meadows. The gathering of many partners in the negotiation process of this project can be seen as an example of ‘landscape democratization’ or participative management of landscapes in a trans‐boundary and trans‐disciplinary context and as such this project is a concrete realization of the aims of the European Landscape Convention (ELC).     

Photographic modern architecture: inside ‘the new deep’

This paper provides an architectural reflection on Titanic Quarter, a docklands urban regeneration scheme located in the east of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated within Queen's Island, historic home of Belfast's shipbuilding industry and birthplace of the ship, ‘Titanic’, this development utilises and exploits cultural associations with the titular ship, reflected in its iconographical employment of architecture and space. Notwithstanding its status as the endeavour of private enterprise, the Titanic Quarter has been wholeheartedly embraced by urban policy makers as a catalyst for the regeneration of an adjacent and deprived inner-city ward known as the Inner-East. This convergence of neo-liberal enterprise and public policy aspirations around the architectural iconography of the Titanic brand benchmarks Titanic Quarter as an important illustration of the current regeneration discourse in post-conflict Belfast. The essay investigates the capacity of Titanic Quarter to deliver inner-city regeneration. The discussion is constructed around three interrelated arguments: the particularly pragmatic neo-liberal regeneration model itself; the cultural positioning of Titanic Quarter; and the architectural programme of the development. The paper concludes by reflecting on the regeneration implications for both Titanic Quarter and the Inner-East of Belfast. It highlights the view that Titanic Quarter is ultimately responsive to commercial enterprise and reliant on iconographical associations to define space. Such characteristics significantly challenge its capacity to facilitate renewal in the Inner-East.     

Perspectives in planning history: planning and the dream of a better city in a global world – reflections on Helen Meller’s ‘Imagining Culture and the City in Planning History’

In the last decade of the nineteenth century, Bombay City was rocked by a series of events that undermined the systems of rule patched together over the course of the preceding century and triggered a crisis of the colonial ‘information order’ on which these were based. Saliently, these developments led to significant changes in the modes of colonial urban governance, in which a new planning agency played a key role. Integral to this shift was a reappraisal, on the part of the colonial state, of its mechanisms of information gathering and the growing recognition of the need for more knowledge about the swiftly expanding city and its rapidly diversifying population. The census of 1901 reflected, to a large extent, these new imperatives of colonial governance.