Planning and Using Resurrection City

Resurrection City was the dwelling place, on the Mall, of about 2,800 demonstrators brought to Washington, D.C., as part of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s “Poor People's Campaign of 1968.” Rains and organizational difficulties within the City and the Campaign eventually caused severe problems; yet at the peak of its development it was a demonstration of people building for themselves with enthusiasm and pride. Though temporary, Resurrection City is a useful model of the community development process in action.     

Terrains of Civil and Uncivil Society in Post-Apartheid Durban

Post-apartheid Durban civil society politics reflects not only durable anti-racist activism, but primarily, Karl Polanyi’s pendulum of a ‘double movement’ of the market against people and environment on the one hand, and social backlashes against neoliberalism on the other. The most important movements and campaigns of a socioeconomic nature can be summarised as follows: local resistance to economic disempowerment and lack of service delivery in various trade union strikes (1994–present), South Durban’s fight against polluters and the port’s expansion (1996–present), Chatsworth’s water and electricity battles (1999–2012), the Treatment Action Campaign’s access to AIDS medicines (early 2000s), Abahlali baseMjondolo’s anti-eviction campaigns (2005–present), the defence of the Early Morning Market (2009–10), the Umlazi Occupy (2012), and sporadic community protests throughout. Resistance has occurred in urban poor neighbourhoods and townships and also penetrated the Durban inner city and university campuses. Durban activists’ tactics range from militant protests to ‘occupation’ of space ranging from townships to the Speaker’s Corner next to the Convention Centre, innovative door-to-door campaigning and court action. While the limits of single-issue and often assimilationist civil society politics are becoming obvious in one of the world’s most unequal cities, there still has not yet been a successful ‘united front’ project to fuse interests, in part due to ideological division and the geographical diffusion of dissent.     

Occupied Space

With the rapid privatisation of urban space worldwide, architecture has become an increasingly political issue. The Occupy Movement, which set up encampments in over half the cities in the world during 2011 to protest against social and economic inequality, understood the power of physical occupation. Architect and lecturer Louis Rice describes how the potency of such expression lies not in its form – temporary tents and makeshift structures – but in its potential to challenge the current power base and reconceptualise the city.     

The ‘People’s City’

The mid-20th-century communist ideal was for cities that were ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. Wang Jun , an editor at Outlook Weekly magazine and author of a best-selling book on the planning of Beijing, describes how the ambition to accommodate public life in urban space is a relatively modern phenomenon that goes against the grain of a long tradition of landownership in China. Given this background, can the original notion of the ‘People's City’ ultimately survive the current wave of property privatisation? Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comment: Klaus Kunzmann's Reflections on Spatial Planning

Complexity is integral to planning today. Everyone and everything seem to be interconnected, causality appears ambiguous, unintended consequences are ubiquitous, and information overload is a constant challenge. The nature of complexity, the consequences of it for society, and the ways in which one might confront it, understand it and deal with it in order to allow for the possibility of planning, are issues increasingly demanding analytical attention. One theoretical framework that can potentially assist planners in this regard is Luhmann's theory of autopoiesis. This article uses insights from Luhmann's ideas to understand the nature of complexity and its reduction, thereby redefining issues in planning, and explores the ways in which management of these issues might be observed in actual planning practice via a reinterpreted case study of the People's Planning Campaign in Kerala, India. Overall, this reinterpretation leads to a different understanding of the scope of planning and planning practice, telling a story about complexity and systemic response. It allows the reinterpretation of otherwise familiar phenomena, both highlighting the empirical relevance of the theory and providing new and original insight into particular dynamics of the case study. This not only provides a greater understanding of the dynamics of complexity, but also produces advice to help planners implement structures and processes that can cope with complexity in practice.     

The redevelopment of peri-urban villages in the context of path-dependent land institution change and its impact on Chinese inclusive urbanization: The case of Nanhai,China

Following nearly three decades of urban sprawl, China's urbanization has entered a new era of land redevelopment that encompasses built-up land in villages in a manner that is unprecedented. Village redevelopment involves both dramatic institutional change and governance restructuring. The extant literature on this redevelopment focuses primarily on top-down initiatives launched by urban governments, paying little attention to villages' responses as actual landholders. Through a case study of village redevelopment in Nanhai, this paper examines villages' behaviour during periods of institutional change and their interactions with urban governments to shape final outcomes. Institutional uncertainty emerges during path-dependent institutional change, as revealed through the absence of effectively executed planning control and unclearly defined profit sharing. As a result, villages and urban governments sign incomplete contracts for entire redevelopment plans. Such agreements result in disordered competition for land rents that take the form of villages ‘holding up’ the government that has previously made a commitment to the village pursuant to the contracts. Villages maximize their profits and attenuate the government's role in ensuring public revenue, whereas government compromises related to development control challenge the capacity of limited public governance. The government's concessions related to profit distribution result in increased inequality between more prosperous villages and other groups, such as migrant populations and remote rural villages. Research findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of newly created governance in redevelopment and call for a critical evaluation of existing urban renewal policies to ensure that urbanization is an inclusive process.     

‘Downtown Is for People’: The street-level approach in Jane Jacobs' legacy and its resonance in the planning debate within the complexity theory of cities

Jane Jacobs suggested that ‘just and diverse streets’ reflect the functioning of the city as ‘a problem of organised complexity’. The topic has recently been at the centre of the debate on her work. This paper looks at Jane Jacobs's reconstruction of the way a city works with reference to self-organisation and ethical aspects (trust and respect for diversity). The paper uses ‘Street-Level epistemology’ (SLe), which is a theory on the knowledge of ordinary people, in order to examine different ways to approach contemporary complex urban systems, resulting from myriads of self-organised practices and ‘vital little plans’. The paper employs Jacobs's early works on cities, in particular, a chapter in her book titled ‘Downtown Is for People’, to outline a proper Jacobsian Street-Level approach (SLa) substantiated by an ethical-cognitive component. This SLa is associated with the Complexity Theory of Cities (CTC), to improve the understanding of how complex, non-linear, discontinuous, and contingent urban systems work while constantly progressing and transforming. The paper draws on Jacobs's legacy and advocates progress through specific advancements in the debate around theoretical planning within CTC that describes the city as an emerging complex order.     

The Sustainable Disco

Valentina Croci describes how Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde's Sustainable Dance Floor (SDF) provides the centrepiece for an eco-club in Rotterdam that builds low energy consumption into the attraction. The square dance floor uses ‘mechatronic’ sensors to convert kinetic movement into electricity when people dance. Movement is not only part of the thrill, but is literally electrifying. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Planning and its Orientation to the Future

Planning is often described as a future-oriented activity. However, little attention has been given to the relationship between planning and its orientation to the future. This article explores this relationship from a socio-historical perspective by examining the emergence of planning as a social phenomenon in relation to society's break from a traditional to a modern experience of the future. Discussion centres on how planning functions as society's way of ‘normalising’ the future, of making decisions about the future a normal part of everyday life. This function is discussed in both a modern and ‘post’ modern context.     

‘No Chinatown,please!’: contesting race,identity and postcolonial memory in Kuala Lumpur

From the 1980s onwards, the Malaysian government embarked on a policy to Malaynise and Islamise the urban landscape of Kuala Lumpur. At the same time, the historical Chinese oldest quarter of the city experienced various measures threatening to erase Chinese urban history and turn the area into a ‘Chinatown’, arousing strong resistance from the Chinese community. This paper examines the spatial struggle of the Malaysian Chinese community and its contesting of the state-sponsored representation and creation of ‘Chinatown’ in Kuala Lumpur in the 1990s. It argues that the making of ‘Chinatown’ symbolised the minoritisation of the Chinese. To challenge the conception of the post-colonial city which focuses on giving voice to the once-colonised nation whilst keeping the ethnic minority groups in the shadow of the nation, this paper explores a contested vision of Kuala Lumpur with the inclusion of the marginal Chinese urban spaces. It examines how the Chinese used the contested Chinatown to negotiate their cultural identity, to challenge the state's version of nationalism and multiculturalism, and to call for a more inclusive interpretation of the urban landscape of Kuala Lumpur.     

基层消防监督执法工作中存在的问题及对策

改革开放以来,随着政府制度越来越健全,人民的生活水平也越来越好,和从前生活状况有了差异性的变化,但随之而来的火灾隐患也更频繁了,因而消防监督执法人员的工作变得越来越重要,消防机关执法人员需要大力呼吁人民群众对消防知识的学习和运用,重视各大企业门市所隐藏的消防安全隐患。     

探讨"不及时报告火警"行政处罚案件办理 ——以青田县某火灾调查为例

《中华人民共和国消防法》(新修订)第五条规定"任何单位和个人都有维护消防安全、保护消防设施、预防火灾、报告火警的义务",即任何单位和个人都有报告火警的义务.随着近几年消防宣传力度不断加大,公民的消防安全意识有较大提升,"遇有火情,及时拨打119报警"的常识深入人心,但仍有些当事人不愿报警、不敢报警,导致贻误火灾救援的最佳时机,进而导致矛盾纠纷加剧,增加了社会不稳定因素.笔者结合青田县某火灾调查案例,探讨"不及时报告火警"案件办理程序,供参考.     

Transfer of urban ideas: The emergence of Venezuelan urbanism in the proposals for 1930s’ Caracas

This article focuses on the emergence of Venezuela's modern urbanism through the proposals for 1930s’ Caracas. In an effort to combine the different discourses which underpinned the urban discipline, both technical and legal literature are reviewed. As a way of illustrating how urbanistic ideas travelled from Europe to Latin America until the early decades of this century, the article stresses the professional background of the French urbanists called to design the 1939 ‘Plan Monumental’ of Caracas. The role of the local administration in assembling the different strands which had shaped Venezuelan urbanism since the late 19th century is highlighted.     

Visualising Household Energy Use in the Interest of Developing Sustainable Energy Systems

In times of climate change political goals concern a reduction in total energy consumption and to use energy more efficiently. To achieve this, users need to transform their behaviour and start reflecting on their energy use. This paper discusses three different methods for visualising energy use, namely information tools, keeping time-diaries and using the ‘Power-Aware Cord’. Each method has its pros and cons, but combining different methods could prove a useful way to draw attention to household energy use and the possibilities for energy reduction. By combining the data gained from the different methods, it will be more likely that strategies will be found that are better suited to people's behaviour.     

Actually existing neoliberalism in Glasgow: the case of Buchanan Galleries

A number of scholars have drawn attention to neoliberalism to describe and theorize the ongoing deconstruction and reconstruction of urban space. While this has widened the interest in neoliberalism, such discussions have also deepened its problematic through a number of conceptual variations – including neoliberal, neoliberalized and neoliberalization. This paper will focus on one such variation in actually existing neoliberalism to emphasize the contentious and volatile nature of retailing in the in the west of Scotland. As part of Glasgow's retail-led regeneration, the concepts of ‘path dependency’ and ‘creative destruction’ are used to give a focus to the Buchanan Galleries case study. It is shown that neoliberalism's demand for more space has served to further intensify intra-regional competition between Glasgow and its surrounding hinterland. In conclusion, I then offer some critical reflections for future research.     

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.     

Jaqueline Tyrwhitt: a founding mother of modern urban design

Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (1905–83) was a town planner, editor and educator who was at the centre of a group of people who shaped the post‐war Modern Movement. Tyrwhitt’s great contribution, especially to the planning arm of the Modern Movement, the new field of urban design and the new science of ekistics, is under‐recognized, largely because she worked willingly as the ‘woman behind the man’ – notably as a disciple of Patrick Geddes, translator and editor of Sigfried Giedion, and collaborator of Constantinos Doxiadis. In doing so she extended their influence greatly and shaped the work of many people. Histories of planning lose much by omitting the contribution of collaborative, catalytic actors such as Tyrwhitt, whose career serves as a touchstone for this era, considered to be a watershed in the history of planning as an intellectual and professional movement. This paper sheds light on Tyrwhitt’s contribution through a chronological narrative, interweaving the biographical facts of her career with the larger themes her work engages in the broadest sense: the globalization of planning and urban design as an intellectual and professional movement as part of the larger civilizational transformation – the emergence of countervailing, ‘postmodern’ globalism, a humane, ecological world view very much like Geddes’ Neo‐Technic Era.     

Stealing Baghdad: the city of Opa-locka,Florida and The Thief of Bagdad

Kenneth Frampton's version of the theory of critical regionalism turns on a dialectics between ‘universal civilisation’ and ‘national culture’ while relegating the political circumstances of his chosen architecture merely to a form of negation. Yet Frampton's source for this opposition, Paul Ricoeur, was writing directly about the cultural problems faced by anti-colonial liberation movements. This article returns critical regionalism to the immediately post-colonial moment of Singapore in the early 1960s. It explores the Singapore Conference Hall and Trade Union House (Malayan Architects Co-Partnership, 1962–1965) as an exemplary building of that period. Between colonialism and the rapid modernisation that would be unleashed on Singapore in the later 1960s, the building balanced particular forms of the regional with the universal forms of rationalism that modernism had come to represent. Bound up with this balance was another delicate negotiation. The building was the product and embodiment of the brief alliance between organised labour and the government of Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party. The article suggests that a better understanding of the building within these circumstances not only helps to give political, and specifically post-colonial, resonance to theories of critical regionalism, it also provides a counter-balance to Rem Koolhaas's dismissal of this period in Singapore's urban development.     

The Significance of Demographic Change in the Swiss Approach to Private Rented Housing: A Potential for Ageing in Place?

Recent findings indicate that changing social constructions of age are mirrored in a growing desire for autonomous living in later life. This individualised concept is referred to as ‘ageing in place’. This paper discusses the challenges for the housing industry and examines to what extent maintenance and development strategies of Swiss real estate investors are meeting the changing demands of older people. Drawing on a number of case studies in Switzerland the paper concludes that investors' concepts of older people and their needs are not merely out of step with the reality of older people's lives and choices but obstruct the desire to age in place. Furthermore, an analysis of the market potential of older people's wish to stay in their present home demonstrates that some investors may be failing to exploit serious business opportunities that could arise from providing services to older people.     

The City as Dining Room,Market and Farm

Food has been sold on the street ever since people have lived in town settlements. Encouraging social exchange and interaction, the public consumption of food brings vitality and conviviality to urban life. In recent years, the sale of food in upmarket cafés and speciality shops has intensified, becoming a tool of urban regeneration. Here, Karen A. Franck, the guest-editor of this issue, introduces the themes behind ‘Food + the City’ and suggests why architects and planning professionals should pay attention to ‘the city's multiple functions as dining room, market and farm’.