Residential transformation of squatter settlements: Urban redevelopment projects in Ankara

Since the 1980s, many cities have been facing the problems of a transforming city instead of the problems of a growing city. One such Turkish city is the capital Ankara. Along with the problems of transforming the city center, planners and policy-makers have had to deal with the impact of the changes in the residential areas of the city. Increasingly, urban redevelopment projects have been their main tools for controlling the transformation of residential areas, especially squatter settlements. This paper compares and evaluates three urban redevelopment projects in Ankara. These projects attempted to turn squatter settlements into residential areas with a high environmental quality and better living conditions. Even though all three projects had the same goal, their outcomes have been different. Hopefully, this comparative review will help improve the policies and models so they could be beneficial to other urban redevelopment projects.     

Ventilation strategies for urban housing: lessons from a PoE case study

Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery is still not widely used in UK housing, but with insulation and air-tightness standards becoming increasingly strict, it is likely to become more common. Operable windows are almost a given for housing and the UK climate is rarely extreme enough to restrict people's use of those windows for natural ventilation. This is a potential problem for the use of heat-recovery systems and could greatly reduce their energy efficiency. The paper takes the Iroko housing scheme at Coin Street, London, as a post-occupancy evaluation (PoE) case study to investigate the questions raised with respect to how well the occupants of the houses cope with balancing both natural ventilation and mechanical systems to achieve thermal comfort energy efficiently. First, the optimum balance of mechanical and natural ventilation is estimated and used to determine the maximum potential saving it could give when compared with natural ventilation alone. Short-term monitoring of the building in question together with the results of questionnaires showed why this theoretical balance is not achieved and that the energy consumption is likely to be worse than for natural ventilation alone. Noise, perceived control, perceived freshness and misunderstanding are all discussed as possible causes for the apparent disjunction. Misunderstanding on the part of residents was shown to be a critical determinant, so information about the heat recovery system was distributed to the residents and the paper ends by looking at what theoretical energy savings might be made as a result of this act.     

Converting a public housing project into a tenant-managed housing co-operative: A Canadian case study

The conversion of the Alexandra Park public housing project into the Atkinson Housing Co-operative took place from 1992 to 2003. The new co-operative represents an attempt to increase resident participation in the management of their housing community. Although there have been other efforts to increase resident participation, this is the first conversion of its kind in Canada, and as a result a new housing model has been created. This paper discusses this new model, referred to as a hybrid structure that contains elements of the co-operative and public housing models.     

Conflicts in passive building performance: Retrofit and regulation of informal neighbourhoods

Urbanization growth in developing countries raises concerns regarding these countries' ability to consider slums, underdeveloped communities, and neighbourhoods in economic, health, and climatic goals. This research proposes a methodology that integrates algorithmic design and analysis strategies to define, study, and measure key parameters that affect the rehabilitation of these areas. Construction scenarios and design dimensions are analysed to establish design and comfort thresholds, and alternatives are simulated and tested to identify possible improvements. The methodology includes an optimisation step integrated in the workflow that maximizes thermal comfort, minimizes costs, and ensures fairness in the rehabilitation of large sets of buildings. This step identifies improvements in thermal comfort for different construction scenarios from which a two-staged rehabilitation plan is defined. The first stage comprises a sensitivity analysis to identify building materials regarding their improvement and cost of application, and the second defines the most suitable construction scenarios considering the results from the optimisation process for each building. Additionally, we research and document guidelines regarding the parameters tested for building design, revealing the existing conflicts between performance objectives, and the architect's role in their prioritization.     

Politics of housing redevelopment in China: The rise and fall of the Ju'er Hutong project in inner-city Beijing

This paper explores how and why anaward-winning, government model ofrehabilitating dilapidated housing – the Ju'erHutong project – was suspended and notreplicated elsewhere in Beijing. Despite therhetoric of improving the living conditions forlocal residents, this paper finds that, underBeijing's Old and Dilapidated HousingRedevelopment (ODHR) program, local governmentsand local State-Owned-Enterprises (SOEs) builtgrowth coalitions to accumulate wealth(exchange value) at the expense of providinglocal residents with adequate places to liveand work (use value). As a result, housingmodels with a higher exchange value rather thana higher use value were favored in theenvironmental decision-making process. Thisstudy will offer insight into the politics ofhousing redevelopment in China's transitionaleconomy.     

State-led Urban Regeneration in Istanbul: Power Struggles between Interest Groups and Poor Communities

From the early 2000s, urban policy-makers in Turkey have promoted ‘urban regeneration’ as the main tool to transform low-income housing areas, along with former industrial estates, disused port facilities and so on, into modern living, working, shopping and entertainment areas. The intention has been to boost land and property values by transforming both the physical appearance and the sociocultural and class composition of selected sites. But while the impact, the rationale and the outcomes of urban regeneration in Turkey are broadly similar to those reported in the substantial global literature on ‘urban regeneration’, a case-study approach shows that a number of crucial context-specific factors have shaped the assumption and responses of key players and collective actors. These in turn have determined how ‘regeneration policies’ are finally translated into practice. This article illustrates this point by describing a particular recent case study in Istanbul: the Tozkoparan Regeneration Project.     

历史城市的“再生”实践及关键问题:以西安市为例

"城市再生"理论的一个突出特征是强调城市建设目标的多样性与综合性,并认为促进经济发展与实现社会、文化与环境等其他建设目标同等重要。基于该理论,该文以西安为例,探讨了历史城市的规划策略在"城市再生"过程中的变化,并分析了其中的主要问题与关键因素。西安历史城区的再生实践表明,地方政府拥有过多的自由裁量权,同时,城市规划缺乏完善和有效的实施监管机制。这些也成为城市再生目标得以顺利实现的瓶颈问题。     

Location choice of Chinese urban fringe residents on employment,housing, and urban services: A case study of Nanjing

Urban fringe area is the most important space for city development. It includes several complicated elements, such as population, space, and management organization. On the basis of local population attributes in the city fringe area combined with people’s movement characteristics in time and space, this article reclassifies basic public service facilities and discusses the relationship between facility layout and housing, employment, and commuter transportation. Through a questionnaire survey in Qiaobei District of the urban fringe area in Nanjing and on the basis of comparative analysis, we discuss the impact factor on the choice of housing, urban services, and the tolerance of commuting time. Our findings indicate mutual promoting and restricting connections among living, employment, and services. Workers’ living situation determines their daily behavior, such as dining, shopping, and entertainment. Furthermore, different income levels have a great influence on residents’ choices with regard to places to live and develop their careers     

Neoliberal urbanism restructuring the city of Ankara: Gated communities as a new life style in a suburban settlement

Development of gated communities in Turkey is associated with the neo-liberal restructuring of the economy towards urban-focused economic strategy-making, the rise of new urban consumer groups, and the diversion of capital to assist markets and property development with state taking an active role in securing markets and defining the elements of place-marketing via a socio-spatial and -economic reorganization of metropolitan space. The case study held in Beysukent, Ankara reveals this structure where the combination of the interests and actions of the state, local governments, real estate developers, the media, and consumers suggest that prevailing structural conditions assure the future proliferation of gated communities. Gated communities in Turkey provide one example in clubbing together for increased individual benefits with the aim of protecting an élite local lifestyle as a consumer practice with the main objective of revaluing prime urban land. This can be achieved through a planning environment in which planning follows demand and plan conditions are determined according to the area to be invested in, increased demand expectation being decisive. Thus this study demonstrates how patterns of neo-liberal urbanism have collaborated to transform a suburban area with elements of élite consumption patterns, gated communities being the primary factor in the transformation of the area.     

The spatial dynamics of neighborhood change: exploring spatial dependence in neighborhood housing value change

This study examined spatial dependence in neighborhood change between 1990 and 2010 in the largest 100 metropolitan areas in the U.S. By analyzing neighborhood housing value change, this study found that there is considerable spatial autocorrelation in neighborhood change. Neighborhoods form spatial clusters in neighborhood housing value and its change. The spatial analysis also showed that there was a persistent spatial inequality between the city and suburbs but that this spatial inequality has declined over time. Finally, this study suggests that coordinating community development efforts with surrounding neighborhoods rather than taking isolated actions can result in more successful outcomes.     

Shifts in governance modes in urban redevelopment: A case study of Beijing's Jiuxianqiao Area

Despite modes of governance having been recently identified, little research has explained the impetus for the formation and transformation of these modes of governance in an authoritarian political setting. This paper aims to close the gap by combining fragmented state and grassroots governance with institutionalism's “structure–agency” framework. A case study of Jiuxianqiao's redevelopment was undertaken to analyze its shifting modes of governance. The research found that the mobilized citizens and the Central government with its priority on social stability indirectly resulted in the formation of an alliance, which strongly counteracted the pro-growth coalition between Chaoyang's District Government and private enterprises in Jiuxianqiao redevelopment. Consequently, the alliance of the Central government and society moved the transformation from the realm of public–private governance to a more inclusive type of governance in urban redevelopment. However, additional research is needed to verify its generality in China's urban redevelopment.     

An urban social movement challenging urban regeneration: The case of Sulukule, Istanbul

Urban regeneration projects have become a focus of attention in Istanbul due to tourism promotion, particularly great expectations from the European Capital of Culture 2010 Event. Sulukule, a Romani neighborhood on the historical peninsula of Istanbul, was designated as an urban redevelopment zone. The Sulukule Urban Regeneration Project is one of the recent efforts to present “a better urban environment” to foreign visitors and investors. The project has accelerated the struggle for land, causing dispossessions, evictions and demolitions. Locals’ needs and rights are denied. Consequently, the citizens in Sulukule started to oppose regeneration and formed an urban social movement. This paper attempts to analyze the urban social movement in Sulukule, the Sulukule Platform, which emerged as an urban coalition challenging tourism-led regeneration.     

Implementing joint ambitions for redevelopment involving cultural heritage: a comparative case study of cooperation strategies

Urban redevelopment projects at brownfield sites are challenging, especially when heritage conservation needs to be integrated into urban development plans. In these processes, close cooperation between various actors is essential to develop and implement plans. However, many projects seem to fail or opportunities are missed. This paper sheds light on the barriers and drivers in the planning process of these projects and shows that cooperation and interaction strategies might enable actors to implement joint ambitions. Therefore, we conducted a comparative case study of 10 urban redevelopment projects involving cultural heritage buildings in the Netherlands. Our results show that there is no standard strategy. Various cooperation arrangements and interaction types are effective in dealing with complicating contextual factors and conflicts in the planning process.     

Housing entry pathways of refugees in Vienna,a city of social housing

This article presents the findings of an empirical study investigating refugees’ difficult entry into Vienna’s ‘tight’ housing market. Arguing that newcomers’ access to housing can be better understood by a closer look at the actors involved in the housing search process, an actor-centred approach is used. Complementing the constructivist pathway framework with a model of search based on Bourdieu’s theory of practice, four types of housing entry pathways could be identified. This study draws on semi-structured in-depth interviews with forced migrants who arrived in Austria in recent years. The analysis of newcomers’ housing entry pathways not only sheds light on the coordination structures at work in a city of social housing, but also on ‘good’ and ‘bad’ rental housing submarkets that have emerged in the course of the recent refugee movement. The paper concludes that a high proportion of social housing does not provide any indication that newcomers are granted better access to secure affordable housing.     

Social housing in Latin America: Opportunities for affordability in a region of housing need

In advanced capitalistcountries, the term social housing normallyrefers to social rented housing, and itsprovision can be examined within the context ofthe type of housing welfare regime that hasevolved within the country under consideration.However, in large parts of Latin America –because of minimal affordability and limitedinvestment – social housing is very much amarginalised tenure and – apart from a smallsocial-rented sector – comprises illegalshelter in shantytowns, assisted self-buildhousing, and low-cost owner-occupation. Itwould therefore be unproductive to examinesocial housing in Latin America within thecontext of any of the welfare regimes thatprevail in the developed world.Within the region, large-scale migration intothe major urban areas created a substantial andgrowing housing deficit among the poor in thelatter half of the twentieth century. At first,there was an attempt to satisfy housing needsby the provision of social rented housing, butit was soon recognised that such accommodationwas unaffordable to the majority of the poor,while municipal governments were constrained bybudgetary considerations from increasing oreven maintaining its supply. At the same time,it was realised that informal housing could beupgraded more cost-effectively, and that forits future development the legalisation oftenure was essential; while self-build formalhousing could be constructed through theprocess of community funding. By the 1990s,even the middle-income segment wasdisadvantaged in the housing market asunemployment and interest rates rose and realwages fell, and therefore – through theintroduction of means-tested demand-sidesubsidies – the term social housing wasextended to the conventional owner-occupiedsector.Clearly, welfare regimes in Latin America areat a rudimentary stage in their development,although there is a tendency for governments toembrace neo-liberal housing policies. But at atime of fiscal constraint, it is a cause forconcern that macroeconomic priorities mightmake it more difficult for a large proportionof the population of the region to satisfy itshousing needs.     

Network governance in action: the case of Groningen complex decision-making in urban regeneration

Theories on network governance constitute a promising approach to a better understanding of complex decision-making and problem-solving. Network theories are increasingly used in housing research. In this paper we present case-study findings on urban regeneration decision-making in Groningen, a medium-sized city in the North of the Netherlands. We used a network governance approach as an analytical framework. Social landlords and local government in Groningen have been collaborating in urban regeneration processes for many years. In 2006 negotiations between these actors on a renewal of the Local Urban Regeneration Covenant ran into difficulties and encountered seemingly insurmountable differences of opinion. These difficulties were largely caused by the increased complexity of the decision-making process, the large number of actors involved and a shift in focus from ‘bricks-and-mortar’ investments to a more balanced approach including social and economic aspects of urban regeneration. In this paper we analyse decision-making on urban regeneration policy in Groningen over the past 10 years. The outcomes of the case study demonstrate the usefulness of the network approach as a framework to analyse decision-making processes. The paper also identifies strategies used by actors in the field to successfully deal with complexities and uncertainties in networks.     

On the margins of urban Europe: housing policies in a secondary city (Cluj,Romania)

This paper discusses recent housing developments in Cluj, a secondary city in Romania. The city is at a point in its development where it is being affected by forces initiated by Romania's accession to the EU. While new housing provision is largely dominated by the private sector, public housing policies are also taking advantage of the new opportunities provided by membership of the EU.     

Impact of urban upgrading on perceptions of safety in informal settlements: Case study of Bouakal,Batna

This paper explores how modifications of urban space in informal settlements influence residents′ quality of life and perceptions of safety. This is a case study of Bouakal, the oldest informal district in Batna, a middle city in Algeria. This paper examines the effects of urban improvement practices in Bouakal by exploring two questions: In what ways did interventions in this informal settlement affect the quality of life for the residents? How do these effects correlate with changes in the perception of safety in this area? The survey involved 141 residents from Bouakal, and local residents were selected to collect the levels of perceived safety. This paper concludes that urban upgrading has improved the quality of life and has a positive effect on the perception of safety in the settlement.     

The effects of changes to the post-socialist urban planning framework on public open spaces in multi-story housing areas: A view from Nis,Serbia

This study considers how changes to the post-socialist urban planning framework have affected the treatment of public open space in the transformation of existing mass-housing areas and newly developed multi-story housing areas for the city of Nis, Serbia. The study focuses on quantitative and qualitative changes as well as the physical characteristics of public open spaces, evaluating environmental comfort, safety, accessibility, privacy and intensity of social interactions. The investigation is based on a comparative analysis of three case studies in Nis, which are representative of different developmental, institutional and planning periods. The research indicates a regressive approach in the planning for and treatment of public open space. It also suggests that within the limited economic capacity of local authorities, investors and buyers, the market-oriented post-socialist urban planning framework can lead to spatial and functional fragmentation in housing areas and the degradation or disappearance of not only the public spaces but of open spaces in general.     

旧城区改造中的更新与延续——以京汉大道文化街车站路街区改造项目为例

<正>1前言旧城区的更新改造与城市文脉保护之间的矛盾,普遍存在于全国各大城市的建设中。现代城市处于不断变化与发展的过程之中,处于建设与衰败、更新与扩建、替代与改造这一新陈代谢过