‘Activating Nature’: The Magic Realism of Contemporary Landscape Architecture in Europe

The redefinition of European cities has created new opportunities for the greening of public urban spaces. Lucy Bullivant describes how three young practices in particular – West 8, Gross.Max and Mosbach Paysagistes – are leading the way with their highly dynamic and inventive narrative approaches to history, culture and the emergent city. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial Restructuring of Industries Under Economic Globalization: Enterprises’ Choice and Governments’ Response

1. Introduction An undeniable fact happening in the process of globalization is that the regional division of labor first brought about by the multinational corporations is hav-     

Spectacular Heritage: ‘Total Restoration’ at the Site of Carcassonne

This article discusses the rise of the heritage site as spectacular theme park through a case study of Carcassonne in southern France, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and includes all the trappings of mass European tourism. This medieval town is a meta-site of changing practices in architectural conservation, as it was first subjected to extensive restorations under the direction of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc in the mid-1800s. It is this history of conservation which assists in making the argument that the phenomenon of the heritage site as spectacle is not only a contemporary transformation, but also has roots in nineteenth century practices.     

Contemporary tendencies in Colombian urban planning: the case of the ‘Planes Parciales’ in Medellín

After decades of internal conflict, Colombia is experiencing economic growth and urbanization. It remains, however, one of the most socially unequal countries in Latin America. Medellín, acclaimed the most innovative city, implemented large-scale transport infrastructures to link socially excluded areas to the city; new educational and cultural facilities; new public spaces and housing projects, rooted in the Barcelona model. This so-called ‘social urbanism’ has shifted local perceptions, though its socio-economic impact has been questioned. This paper focuses on the less analysed transformations in planning policy and management through two instruments: the Land Use Plan (Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial – POT) and the ‘Plan Parcial’. The research, based on a desktop review, interviews and site visits, examines the application of these instruments in Medellín, reflecting on how they contribute to achieving the aims of ‘social urbanism’. The paper explores the differences between ‘rhetoric’ and practice that are reflected in those between the city’s overarching plan (POT) and the implementation of ‘planes parciales’, focusing on redevelopment, urban renewal and urban expansion. Such differences mirror the deficiencies in the adaptation of the ‘urban project’ Barcelona model in Medellín, and provide the basis for a call to develop ‘social urbanism’ that is genuinely more socially, territorially comprehensive and inclusive.     

Accommodation of China’s Industrial Heritage in Urban Conservation Practices (I)

In recent years, the conservation of industrial heritage in China has gained increasing attention within the broader context of urban conservation practices. For both policy-makers and scholars, accommodating this industrial heritage will emerge as a pertinent issue for consideration as a growing number of industrial architectural legacies dating from the Republican and Maoist eras come under (re)development pressures. This paper thus traces the development of industrial heritage conservation practices in China and discusses several dilemmas intrinsic to this type of conservation, including issues of authenticity, representativeness, and distinction. Based on comparative case studies from China and other international precedents, this paper also seeks to illustrate the different approaches that could be pursued while still attaining a balance between competing interests and claims.     

Are World Heritage concepts of integrity and authenticity lacking in dynamism? A critical approach to Mediterranean autotopic landscapes

This paper examines how contemporary on-going and lively debate on Critical Heritage Studies merges with previous discourses on World Heritage Cultural Landscapes and rural societies. The scholarly approach to authenticity and integrity, and the critical point of static and dynamic approaches to these terms allow the author to challenge previous World Heritage (WH) discourses with a view to obtaining innovative insight into abandoned vernacular landscapes. Two main arguments are thus developed in this study. The first of these is an overview of the dynamics of abandoned cultural landscapes on an international scale. The second is an inside view aiming to provide an accurate interpretation of how these landscapes should be scrutinised and understood. To do this, autotopias and heterotopias broach the fundamental issue of how the Outstanding Universal Value of attributes in abandoned cultural landscapes needs to be understood, enhanced, experienced, and managed in an innovative WH approach. In conclusion, complex proposals for these heritage landscapes should rely on understanding the dynamics of the material and the social construct of the habitats they contain in order to assess them effectively from the standpoint of a World Heritage Cultural Process Assemblage rather than that of Outstanding Material Stratification.     

Housing Market Renewal: Evidence of Revanchism or a Response to ‘Passive Revanchism’ Supporting ‘Citizenship of Place’?

In England, housing market renewal (HMR) proved an urban policy cause célèbre held to be representative of state-sponsored gentrification. This paper considers some critiques and explores the relocation experience of a group of residents in South Yorkshire, England during the implementation of HMR policies during 2005–2007. This paper argues that: (i) from the mid-1970s, ‘place-based citizenship’ and participation standards had been eroded and the introduction of HMR was an antidote to state neglect; (ii) state failure in addressing ‘slow-burn’ shocks such as deindustrialisation and housing market restructuring can be viewed as a form of ‘passive revanchism’ and (iii) HMR can be viewed as a means of addressing deficits in participation standards that arise from differential experiences of place: the term ‘citizenship of place’ is therefore used to signal the call for a more nuanced account of policy interventions such as HMR in order to assess how complex processes of restructuring affect citizens across spatial and temporal scales.     

Accommodation of China’s Industrial Heritage in Urban Conservation Practices (Ⅱ)

In recent years, the conservation of industrial heritage in China has gained increasing attention within the broader context of urban conservation practices. For both policy-makers and scholars, accommodating this industrial heritage will emerge as a pertinent issue for consideration as a growing number of industrial architectural legacies dating from the Republican and Maoist eras come under (re)development pressures. This paper thus traces the development of industrial heritage conservation practices in China and discusses several dilemmas intrinsic to this type of conservation, including issues of authenticity, representativeness, and distinction. Based on comparative case studies from China and other international precedents, this paper also seeks to illustrate the different approaches that could be pursued while still attaining a balance between competing interests and claims.     

Housing and Mortgage Markets in Turbulent Times: Is Australia Different?

This paper presents an account of recent housing and mortgage market developments in Australia viewed from a longer-term perspective. It is argued that Australian housing drivers and outcomes are, to some extent, unique, enabling the sector to withstand the fall-out from the global financial crisis to date. However, they have resulted in increasing problems of housing stress for lower-income and younger households who are finding it increasingly difficult to access homeownership and are facing significant affordability problems in the private rental market. The paper casts forward to the next 20 years, outlining both a ‘positive’ ‘business-as-usual’ scenario characterized by buoyant housing demand and strong national economy, and a ‘negative’ scenario marked by stalled economic growth and a sharp downward correction in housing prices. Under both scenarios, it is suggested that addressing the housing affordability gap will remain a major policy challenge.     

Down to Earth: Linking Planning Theory and Practice in the ‘Metropole’ and Beyond

The paper explores the issue of the link between planning theory and practice, and achieving what is sometimes termed ‘situated’ planning theory. It argues that mainstream planning theory (i.e. the various strands of communicative planning theory [CPT]) has come closer to this than most previous theorizing, but that there is still a significant gap between theorizing about, and the reality of, practice in particular contexts. While this issue has been a subject of debate within that part of the world where CPT has its origins (the global North), the relevance of mainstream planning theory to practice in other parts of the world has had less attention. This paper asks how well CPT ‘travels’ across the globe, and what might be required to improve its portability.     

Beyond Le Corbusier and the modernist city: reframing Chandigarh's ‘World Heritage’ legacy

Mounting concern about the slow progress of the drive to reconstruct Britain's cities in the late 1940s and 1950s led to a sustained debate about strategies and priorities. This paper offers insight into the climate of ideas of a key period in the recent past by considering the work of the Society for the Promotion of Urban Renewal (SPUR). A pressure group that campaigned for resuscitation of urban reconstruction under the banner of ‘urban renewal’, SPUR staged exhibitions and published manifestoes that reasserted core urban values, reconfigured decentralization on an intraurban basis, proposed multi-level circulation systems and, latterly, sought to redress the balance of rehabilitation and conservation strategies against comprehensive redevelopment. After a contextual introduction, the opening section of this paper clarifies two key concepts – ‘reconstruction’ and ‘renewal’ – that shaped thinking about the replanning of British cities in the early postwar period. The ensuing sections analyse the origins and founding ideals of SPUR and examine its key projects and manifestoes. The conclusion reflects on consensus and plurality in the group's work in the context of wider currents of thought about urban renewal.     

The ‘distinctiveness of cities’ and distinctions in cities: boundaries of belonging in comparative perspective

It is in cities where people are most strongly confronted with diversity in an ‘age of migration’. However, comparisons of local integration contexts usually take ethnic boundaries as given or assume that they are constituted by the nation state. Our analysis of local discourses challenges this methodological nationalism. Departing from the ‘distinctiveness of cities’ approach, we scrutinise how Frankfurt, Dortmund, Birmingham and Glasgow differ in how diversity is discursively constructed. We maintain that the discourses not only reflect different frames in dealing with diversity but also serve as a proxy for debating the self-image of the city.     

Response of Aspergillus flavus,Aspergillus niger and Penicillium citrinum to oxidative stress induced by Fenton’s reagent

The presence of fungi in water systems represents a threat to human health. Hydrogen peroxide is known for its disinfecting properties and easy decomposition to water and oxygen. Its activity can be enhanced by the addition of iron as a catalyst, a reagent known as Fenton?s reagent. In the present study, different Fenton concentrations were investigated on the spores of Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger and Penicillium citrinum at different time intervals. The results indicate that complete inactivation of spores was noticed after 60 min of exposure to both 2 and 3% H₂O₂ catalyzed by 0.025 g Fe²⁺/100 ml for A. niger, and 3% H₂O₂ catalysed by 0.075 g Fe²⁺/100 ml for P. citrinum. The activity of two antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), was determined in mycelial mat harvested after 7 days. Their activities were either highly increased or reached their minimum values prior to inactivation of spores.     

Growth and degradation in the Orient’s ‘Las Vegas’: issues of environment in Macau

This paper argues that the rapid growth of gambling‐related tourism and urban construction in Macau has given rise to serious environmental degradation. The major environmental issues include air quality, water supply, solid waste disposal, noise prevention, heritage conservation and environmental management. The author suggests that the government in Macau should refocus this city’s development direction and commit itself to sustainable development. At the policy‐making level, there are such urgent issues as integration of environmental, economic and urban planning with community participation in decision‐making; enhancement of environmental legislation and institutions; implementing vital measures to control of the numbers of visitors; developing a mass transport system; and protecting the city’s cultural heritage.