Public space and the challenge of urban transformation in cities of emerging economies: Jeddah case study

Urban planning, design guidelines and new management practices have radically transformed public spaces in many countries. With fresh development decisions, urban spaces change spatially. This may improve places, increasing prosperity and extending expectations of modernization in many cities. However, widespread public disillusion and failures to produce environments reflecting local values can collectively shape public areas. This article contributes to debate about dynamism in such spaces. It explores how modernist approaches to planning and design alongside fractures in management practices in emerging cities have shaped the quality urban space. We use Jeddah as a radically re-planned city in a rapidly developing economy, but one where largely unusable public spaces have failed to meet people's everyday needs and aspirations. Our investigation – based on extensive literature reviews, documentary analyses, morphological survey, photographic and qualitative surveys – provides a better understanding of the role of a proactive urban design for promoting environmental quality. This helps resolve the multiple challenges confronting public space provision.     

On-street toilets for sanitation access in urban public spaces: A systematic review

This review aims to raise awareness of the role of on-street public toilets in urban sanitation and to identify gaps in understanding and guiding future research. Although the literature shows a diversity of viewpoints with regard to solutions, sanitation in public spaces was shown as indispensable for providing universal access to safe, accessible, and inclusive public spaces, particularly for women, transgender people, children, elderly, and people with disabilities. The provision of sanitation services in public spaces can be guided by further research, inclusive engagement, and the elements of the normative policy framework provided by the United Nations.     

Optimized greenery configuration to mitigate urban heat: A decade systematic review

Urban vegetation is a nature-based solution for cooling cities. Under global warming and urban population growth, it is essential to optimize urban vegetation configuration in the urban area to bring maximum cooling benefit. This paper reviews 85 optimized urban vegetation configuration studies published from 2010 to 2020 to provide an insight into the most effective vegetation configuration for urban heat mitigation. Patterns and preferences in methods and the optimized greenery configurations are comprehensively analyzed. The results indicate that size, quantity, and layout of urban green space and the physiological characteristics and spatial arrangement of urban vegetation significantly influence their cooling effect. Additionally, two other research gaps were identified. First, more research needs to be done in southern hemisphere cities experiencing rapid urbanization and severe impacts of extreme weather. Second, a comprehensive method for quantifying interactions and cumulative effects of natural and artificial factors in the urban environment is required. Future study needs a holistic understanding of the interactive effects of vegetation spatial distribution on urban environment and climate for a more accurate analysis of optimal cooling greening layouts in large urban areas at multi-scales.     

A spirit of urban capitalism: market cities,people cities,and cultural justifications

ABSTRACT

Diverse urban theories discuss how economic processes shape conceptions of a city, but less research focuses on how pragmatic situations of urban life contribute to the characterisation of cities. We argue that pragmatic justifications reify socially constructed meanings of cities by creating a ‘spirit of urban capitalism.’ This framework conceives of two spirits: the market city, which aligns with neoliberal assumptions, and the people city, which foregrounds a resident-focused model. Using case studies of Copenhagen and Houston, we showcase how these conceptions of cities are justified by elites and residents, and thereby build empirical scaffolding connecting urban economies and cultures.     

Walled cities and urban density in China

We analyse a sample of nearly 300 prefectural-level cities in China, among which about half historically had city walls. We document that cities that had walls in late imperial China have higher population and employment density today, despite that their walls have long gone. Using data from various sources, we test whether a historically walled city's higher density can be explained by a historical urban core, a different industry composition, a different local geography, a compact urban shape, or more valuable rural land in surrounding areas. We find that historically walled cities still have higher density after taking into account all of these factors, which we interpret as evidence of economic persistence.     

Measuring the urban competitiveness of Chinese cities in 2000

Previous studies have understood urban competitiveness mainly from an economic perspective. Drawing on insights from recent debates on urban governance that argue for sustainable development, this study employs a more balanced view that takes into account the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of urban competitiveness. A four-level hierarchical indicator system is used to examine the competitiveness of 253 Chinese cities at the prefecture level or above in the year 2000. The results show that most of the top 20 cities are in the eastern part of China and have populations over 0.5 million. The bottom 20 cities are located primarily in the western part of China and have smaller populations that range from 0.2 to 0.5 million. In 2000 the city with the top economic competitiveness was Shanghai, the top social competitiveness was Beijing, and the top environmental competitiveness was Zhuhai. A given city does not necessarily rank the same in economic, social, and environmental competitiveness, but may perform well in different ways. The paper argues that, in order to sustain urban competitiveness, a city should achieve not only good economic performance, but also satisfactory social and environmental development.     

Estimating and projecting the populations of urban communities

"The author describes a model for estimating and projecting the populations of communities living in small areas within cities. The model provides a means of updating the demographic inputs needed for projection between censuses and means of developing scenarios of demographic change and housing development. The method for estimating small-area populations between censuses is evaluated with recently published 1991 [U.K.] Census data. Single-year age-group detail is provided and the associated databases are embedded in a flexible user interface. Illustrative projections are discussed and interpreted for the northern English city of Bradford.... The model, although particular to districts of West Yorkshire, has been specified in a general way and could be adapted for use with any British district."     

论小城镇社区道德文化建设

目前,随着我国社会现代化建设的发展,小城镇社区的道德文化建设的重要性将日益凸现出来。小城镇建设要重视经济发展和道德文化建设的良性互动,要努力实现经济社会协调发展和社会主义物质文明与精神文明的共同进步。 社区,作为不同人群生活的特定区域,是人们各种价值取向和不同关系构成的微型社会共同体。社区道德文化建设是指我国在政治文明和精神文明建设的大背景下,社会教育组织文化机构、社会团体利用社会设施和社会的各种条件对社区成员进行道德文化教育的活动。虽然它有时是正式政府组织和非正式组织的自觉有力行为,然而它大都是通…     

The consequences of urban policies in socialist Yugoslavia on the transformation of historic centres: the case study of cities in Northern Serbia

The socialist and the post-socialist paradigms of urban development are usually described by scholars as radically opposing. However, the cities in the socialist ex-Yugoslavia (1945–1992) present a different development model, defined by the unique position of the country during the Cold War. Balancing between two main ideological blocs, ex-Yugoslavia adopted the values of the non-aligned movement, simultaneously acting as a stage for the cooperation and exchange of professionals. The distinctive combination of socialist and market-driven elements reflected in urban policies, introducing an innovative approach of local decentralization, unprecedented in the communist and socialist world. The evolution of locally based urban policies was especially favourable for the cities with preserved elements of self-government, inherited from previous periods. The cities presented in this article (Pan?evo, Sremska Mitrovica, Zrenjanin and Kikinda) follow this pattern due to the Habsburg legacy of strong local governance. Situated in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, these four small cities used the benefits of locally modified urban policies creating a balance between Modernist interventions, implemented during socialism, and the protection of the general outline of their refined historic cores. Considering these specificities and their impact on the urban continuum, this article will use the selected examples and their planning practice for highlighting a new perspective on the urban development manifested before, during and after the period of Yugoslav socialism.     

关于新时期城镇体系规划的思考

一、城镇体系规划的产生与发展 城镇体系规划以结构的形式首先在英国提出并在规划法规中被明确规定。当时由于西方国家城市蓬勃发展,带来了城市之间、城市与区域之间关系的复杂化和矛盾化。于是,便有了区域整体发展的迫切要求。规划的产生就是为了协调区域和城市发展过程中的矛盾和问题。现在对城镇体系的一般理解为“在一个相对完整的区域或国家中,由不同职能分工,不同等级规模,联系密切,互相依存的城镇的集合”。 我国对城镇体系的研究兴起于20世纪70年代末80年代初,到20世纪80年代末形成较为成熟的理论体系。城镇体系规划是与城镇…     

资源枯竭型城市转型策略研究——以昆明市东川区为例

资源枯竭型城市的转型是我国经济发展过程中亟待解决的问题。本文利用昆明市东川区异地办园的实例,探讨资源枯竭型城市如何实现城市转型,主要研究内容为产业调整、空间布局、政策指引等方面。通过经验的总结,针对资源枯竭型城市的转型提出实现城市经济、社会、生态共赢的适应可持续发展的对策与建议。     

后现代城市规划中的机遇与挑战--读 Viewpoint-Challenge and creativity in past modern planning 有感

结合Viewpoint-Challenge and creativity in past modern planning一文中对规划者在后现代规划中的机遇与挑战的理解，阐述了对规划者角色变化的个人观点，提出了对规划者的更高要求。     

小城镇建设规划与城市设计

依据小城镇规划编制特征,从城镇整体物质形象、人文形象、结构关系的建构等方面来探讨小城镇建设规划中的城市设计内容,进一步深化小城镇建设规划内涵,从而使小城镇建设规划更具有科学性和合理性。     

古城保护 改造与城市发展

我国是一个历史悠久的国家,有着灿烂的文化、丰富的文物古迹和优秀的人文传统。几千年优秀文化的积淀,凝固于一座座古城、古建筑中,发掘、保护、利用历史文物资源,提高民族形象、地位,我们国家为此做出了很多努力,取得了一定的成效。 然而,我们也应该看到,在一浪高过一浪的经济建设大潮中,在迅速膨胀、发展的城市建设中,许多古城     

城中村改造中的多元利益边际分析与策略

结合城中村改造的本质,通过利益相关者边际分析的方法,对政府、开发商、村民三个主要相关方的利益冲突进行分析,揭示出维护各自合理利益所在是城中村改造成功的必要前提。