questioners-urbanism465

[questioners-urbanism465]

The future of the cities is not interily clear. the search for live in a place where people can work abd  at the same time they could raise a family is increase. In these aspects the most successful places (or future places) in different levels and attributes are:

Reykjavik, Iceland  - Green City

Reykjavik is the smallest amazing green city on our list, with only about 115,000 people living in the city and roughly 300,000 people in the entire country of Iceland. But its impact on the world has been impressive.

Iceland plans to unplug itself from all dependence on fossil fuels by 2050 to become a hydrogen economy. Already, Reykjavik (and all of Iceland) gets energy for heat, hot waterand electricity entirely from hydropower and geothermal resources -- both of which are renewable and free of greenhouse gas emissions. Some vehicles even run on hydrogen, including three city buses.

future...

MASDAR, ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

In the middle of the oil-soaked Middle East, the emirate of Abu Dhabi is spending $15 billion to build an eco-friendly emerald city: Masdar City.

Masdar will make use of progressive sustainable and renewable resources including solar, wind power and biofuels for energy and water purification, as well as underground light rail transportation. Construction on Masdar broke ground in early 2008, and it should be completed in the next decade. The city will be a 2-square-mile (5-square-kilometer) zero-emission community with about 40,000 to 50,000 residents. (To learn more, read Is a zero-carbon, zero-waste, zero-car city on the horizon?)

Copenhagen, Denmark - Sustainable City

Copenhagen, site of 2009’s climate change talks, is a shining green jewel as Denmark’s capital city. Like to bike? You’ll be in good company—as more than a third of the city’s 1.2 million people regularly cycle to work via more than 217 miles of dedicated bike lanes. Officials hope to get 50 percent of the population on two wheels by 2015 by closing down some major roads to cars and developing an additional 43 miles of bike lanes.

Besides having the largest wind turbine industry in the world, Denmark also leads in wind production—supplying roughly 19 percent of the country’s power needs. A new offshore wind farm planned for 2013 (featuring 111 turbines) will supply an additional four percent.

As part of their goal to be the world’s first carbon neutral capital by 2025, city officials have instituted a mandatory green roof policy, requiring all new developments to incorporate some level of vegetation into their building designs. In addition, “pocket parks” (half the size of a soccer field) are being installed around Copenhagen so that by 2015, 90 percent of all residents will be able to walk to a green space in less than 15 minutes.

BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH...

A new model of urbanisation, powered by renewable energy and defined by a restorative and mutually beneficial relationship between cities and their hinterland, is urgently needed. Cities must go beyond sustainability to truly regenerative development: not only becoming resource-efficient and low carbon emitting, but positively enhancing rather than undermining the ecosystems on which they depend. Regenerative cities mimic nature’s circular metabolism and operate in a closed-loop system that transforms waste outputs into inputs of value.

Among these cities we can highlight three exemples about how some cities around the world are trying to create a better future:

Mexico City , Mexico

Transportation accounted for a whopping 41% of Mexico City’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2009, more than double the share in the rest of the country and far more than the 15% share globally. This was largely due to a high rate of motor vehicles per capita, congestion, low public transport mode share, and inadequate fuel standards. A new City law aims to solve this now.

The city has since tried to address this by introducing and then expanding its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, introducing a bike-share program, improving infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, retooling parking programmes and revitalising public space. All this won the city an international sustainable transport award in 2013.

Belo Horizonte, Brazil

There are 842 million undernourished people in the world today who do not have access to sufficient quantities of healthy food. The impacts of climate change threaten to significantly increase the number of people at risk of hunger and malnutrition over the next decades. The effect of a changing climate on food production is intuitive: Warming temperatures, floods, droughts and pestilence are already devastating harvests in many parts of the world. Volatile and unreliable food production leads to famine, migration and war. Modern agriculture’s impact on the climate is obvious as well: Production and distribution of food within a globalized economy account for high CO2 emissions because of energy intensive farming systems and long transportation routes.

A comprehensive policy framework introduced in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil addresses both these aspects.

The policy is based on a municipal law stipulating the right to food and over 20 different programmes that ensure compliance with this law and provide food for all population groups.

The goals of the policy are to support affordable, local and diverse agriculture while working towards food sovereignty for the city’s 2.5 million inhabitants. Central to the policy is the support of local and regional  family farms:  Local producers are given market space to sell their products within the city, resulting in higher profits for the farmers,  easy accessibility  and cheaper prices  for the consumers by cutting out the middlemen.

Jakarta, Indonesia

Indonesia is a rapidly urbanising country: Over half of the country’s population lives in urban areas, a fifth of which lives in the metropolitan area of Jakarta, which is expected to house 11 million residents by 2020. Urban beltways connect the large cities of Indonesia and blur the boundaries between urban and rural in the region, in both the physical and socioeconomic sense.

“Now, local governments have more power than previously. Coordination and local public participation are key.” –Eko Kurniawan, Deputy Director for Metropolitan Spatial Planning and Development, The Directorate General of Spatial Planning, The Ministry of Public Works, Indonesia, at FCF 2013

A new law in 2007 and regulation in 2010 spurred a process towards decentralised planning in Indonesia, allowing local governments to have more power than previously. In an attempt at a clean break from the previous authoritarian regime, the Indonesian parliament passed the Spatial Planning Law 26/2007 – a replacement of the Spatial Planning Law 24/1992 – which explicitly lays out the mandate of provincial and district governments in spatial planning. In the past, spatial planning that crossed provincial borders fell under the jurisdiction of the national government, whereas with the new law, the responsibility lies with the governments of the respective provinces to coordinate with each other. Zoning and spatial planning permits are now issued by local governments. The spatial planning authority of the central government is thus curtailed and decentralised to the subnational level, allowing for urban spatial plans to be more readily implemented.

In this way, the central government is encouraging local government initiatives. In 2011, mayors helped finance green spatial planning in their cities by presenting plans to the central government and joining its green city development programme. Adoption of sustainability principles are done at the city level. The local government of Jakarta now has more decision-making and implementation tools and power, allowing it to consequently expand flood-protection.

References:

http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/fileadmin/user_upload/papers/WFC_Regenerative_Cities_web_final.pdf

http://www.futureofcitiesforum.com/content/07-download/future-of-cities-forum-report.pdf

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/five-amazing-green-cities.htm#page=10

http://www.ecomagination.com/top-five-most-sustainable-cities-in-the-world

http://www.futureofcitiesforum.com/about

http://power-to-the-people.net/tag/regenerative-city/

[questioners-urbanism465]

Could a street designed for car transit also give space for people gathering?

Although the Riverwalk in downtown Chicago is a successful public space, its potential as a pedestrian friendly area could be improved if its surroundings had a more physical interaction with it. In this way, people walking on the riverwalk could look at a nice pedestrian area up above in the Wacker Dr instead of seeing the car traffic, for example.

The street could be partially taken only for pedestrian traffic, introducing a nice green area with bike paths and places to sit. These modifications would add to the riverwalk a great experience for the pedestrian circulation without creating a complete obstruction of the automobile traffic, which could be relocated to the lower level of Wacker Dr. This intervention could also stablish a connection across the river by converting one of the bridges for pedestrian traffic only.

Designing a pedestrian friendly area doesn’t necessarily mean to remove the idea of the automobile, but rather to find a balance in which both can coexist giving to people the priority over the cars.

[questioners-urbanism465]

Pedestrian-focused spaces

Last class the main idea all turned around the human need of interacting in public spaces, whichimplies in many professions to get concerned about improving the quality of thesepublic spaces, and that does not only include but  is a very special attribution to architects.

To improve this typeof space is demanded to think about the uses contained in them, which alsomeans to care about the users – pedestrians. Nonetheless, this is the topic ofour post this week: If this outdoor spaces improvement must be focused on pedestrians

what are the most successful pedestrian-centered streets/areas in the world? What makes them well designed public places?

We made a selection of 5 examples we believe to be the best among many places in the world:

1.    Copenhagen

Copenhagen used to be a car-centric city but by narrowing roads, reducing parking places, and enlarging pedestrian areas they have transformed it into the bike and pedestrian city it is today.

Everything happened with the COPENHAGEN’S 10-STEP PROGRAM, which consisted in:

CONVERT STREETS INTO PEDESTRIAN THOROUGHFARES The city turned its traditional main street, Stroget, into a pedestrian thoroughfare in 1962. In succeeding decades they gradually added more pedestrian-only streets, linking them to pedestrian-priority streets, where walkers and cyclists have right-of-way but cars are allowed at low speeds.

REDUCE TRAFFIC AND PARKING GRADUALLY To keep traffic volume stable, the city reduced the number of cars in the city center by eliminating parking spaces at a rate of 2-3 percent per year. Between 1986 and 1996 the city eliminated about 600 spaces.

TURN PARKING LOTS INTO PUBLIC SQUARES The act of creating pedestrian streets freed up parking lots, enabling the city to transform them into public squares.

KEEP SCALE DENSE AND LOW Low-rise, densely spaced buildings allow breezes to pass over them, making the city center milder and less windy than the rest of Copenhagen.

HONOR THE HUMAN SCALE The city’s modest scale and street grid make walking a pleasant experience; its historic buildings, with their stoops, awnings, and doorways, provide people with impromptu places to stand and sit.

POPULATE THE CORE More than 6,800 residents now live in the city center. They’ve eliminated their dependence on cars, and at night their lighted windows give visiting pedestrians a feeling of safety.

ENCOURAGE STUDENT LIVING Students who commute to school on bicycles don’t add to traffic congestion; on the contrary, their active presence, day and night, animates the city.

ADAPT THE CITYSCAPE TO CHANGING SEASONS Outdoor cafes, public squares, and street performers attract thousands in the summer; skating rinks, heated benches, and gaslit heaters on street corners make winters in the city center enjoyable.

PROMOTE CYCLING AS A MAJOR MODE OF TRANSPORTATION The city established new bike lanes and extended existing ones. They placed bike crossings – using space freed up by the elimination of parking – near intersections. Currently 34 percent of Copenhageners who work in the city bicycle to their jobs.

MAKE BICYCLES AVAILABLE The city introduced the City Bike system in 1995, which allows anyone to borrow a bike from stands around the city for a small coin deposit. When finished, they simply leave them at any one of the 110 bike stands located around the city center and their money is refunded.

The city counts also on many car-free streets and slow-speed zones, what makes it one of the best places to be a pedestrian. In this link you can find a video showing how alive these places are in Copenhagen, a consequence of how well their plans worked: http://www.streetfilms.org/copenhagens-car-free-streets-and-slow-speed-zones/

2.    Seattle

Seattle caught our attention for being a city that implemented a “Pedestrian master Plan”: “Developing a vibrant pedestrian environment is one of the goals of the Pedestrian Master Plan. Destinations that generate pedestrian traffic—such as transit stations, parks, schools, grocery stores, and libraries—play a key role in creating vibrancy. However, not all destinations generate the same levels of pedestrian activity. For example, a regional transit station is likely to generate more pedestrian traffic than a local bus stop. Multi-family residential buildings and regional destinations, such as the Pike Place Market, are likely to generate more pedestrian activity than low density office and retail uses. In addition, the distances people are willing to walk to and from different types of destinations vary. For example, people may be more likely to walk farther to a light rail station than to a coffee shop. Some of the pedestrian generators and types of infrastructure used in the analysis are shown here. Detailed information about where people walk is available in The Pedestrian System. “

3.    Barcelona

Spain's second city (or first city for nightlife aficionados and beach-seekers) is home to La Rambla (sometimes refereed to in the plural: Las Ramblas). This huge pedestrian thoroughfare is the heart of the city. Shops, restaurants, vendors and street performers make this an exceptionally exciting place to walk. Pedestrians can continue their stroll along the Barcelona harbor pedestrian area or can wander to the other end of the pedestrian boulevard and take a stroll through the Plaça de Catalunya, the city's central square. Also within a few footsteps of La Rambla is Barcelona's famous Gothic Quarter, which is filled with 15th century churches and historic plazas. 4.    London 

Camden High Street, in London is one good example of pedestrian commercial street. The place is full of locals shoppers and tourists all the time. Full of independent shops and markets, the streets are intertwined and pedestrian friendly, lined with old unique buildings, each one different from the next. Each street fosters new and unique experiences. Dozens of train and transit lines come here, with the main underground tube station right in the center of things. There is no dominating age group, race or gender, and if you wanted to meet people from every corner of the world in one day, Camden Town would be the place to do so. * A correspondent commercial street in Chicago would be the Denvon Street. 

5.    Curitiba

Finally but not last there is Curiitba, Brazil which became a model for the country for being the first city to implement a pedestrian Street: “Rua das Flores” is located in the middle of the city and counts on flowers, trees, fountains and sitting spaces that make the street a good place for staying. The city also has some car-free zones, such as the bus lanes, that help the transportation system to be more efficient.

bonus section: How can these spaces impact people’s lives?

A recent research has shown that not only pedestrian friendly cities can promote happier and healthier citizens, but that could also be a contributing factor for making more money:

“Average gross domestic product per capita—a fancy way of saying approximated average income—in metro areas ranked as “highly walkable” is 38 percent higher than in “low walkable” areas. In dollars and cents, that means the average GDP per capita in places that promote walking is $60,400 compared to $43,900 in those that do not. It’s not quite clear why that is, the new study says, but “evidence suggests that encouraging walkable urbanism is a potential strategy for regional economic development.”

Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros was produced by the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis at George Washington University School of Business and Smart Growth America. It examined how much retail and office space was concentrated in areas with a Walkscore.com rating of 70 or more (out of 100).

In Washington, D.C., which topped the list, 43 percent of that space—where people live, work, and shop—is in areas where walking is easy and safe. New York scored 38 percent, Boston 36. In Orlando, Phoenix, Tampa, and other cities near the bottom of the list, under 10 percent of that real estate is in walkable areas.

Please don’t assume moving to one of those cities—or setting your treadmill to 3 mph—will put more cash in your pockets. The correlation likely can be explained, the report says, by the fact residents of more walkable cities tend to be better educated than those in less pedestrian-friendly areas. Get more education, make more money.

This research doesn’t indicate whether more educated people make cities more walkable or walkable cities attract the better educated, or whether both factors are at play, says Chris Leinberger, lead author of the report and president of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis. While there’s no clear causal connection behind this “very substantial correlation,” he says, cities shouldn’t wait to make life better for pedestrians. Whatever the reason for the correlation, it’s clear that more walkable areas are wealthier areas. That should be reason enough to slow traffic, add crosswalks and bike lanes, and improve public transit.”

This chart from the report shows how GDP and rates of higher education drop as pedestrians become less pampered:

References:

http://goingtocopenhagen.com/stroget/

http://www.copenhagenet.dk/cph-map/CPH-Pedestrian.asp

http://www.streetfilms.org/copenhagens-car-free-streets-and-slow-speed-zones/

http://www.newurbanism.org/pedestrian.html

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/photos/the-best-big-cities-for-pedestrians/barcelona

http://www.pps.org/blog/9-great-streets-around-the-world/

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/pedestrian_masterplan/exsum_where.htm

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2011/11/pictures/111115-car-free-city-zones/

http://2013-2014.nclurbandesign.org/generic-post/learning-from-copenhagen-pedestrian-oriented-city/

http://www.wired.com/2014/06/walkable-cities-income-education/

[questioners-urbanism465]

What are the “best” sustainable urban design ideas?

What are the “best” sustainable urban design ideas?

10 Categories by City Climate Leadership Awards

01. Urban Transportation Greening urban transportation as measured by modal shift and reduced GHG emissions. Not limited to reducing traffic congestion, improving public transportation, alternative ways of urban commuting, incorporating low carbon transportation technologies, and greening city transportation.

02. Solid Waste Management Beneficial impact on the waste management system of a city, considering social, environmental, economic and public participation impacts.Not limited to comprehensive approaches for reduction of city’s waste, measures for transforming waste into clean energy, initiatives for waste re-use such as turning waste to raw materials and organics diversion, and practices like anaerobic digestion and advanced thermal treatment.

03. Finance & Economic Development Innovation in financing or incentivizing investment in projects across sustainable growth, or one that demonstrates how environmental and climate protection initiatives can be effectively incorporated into an economic development strategy for the city. This will look for financing and/of green development models that have global potential. Not limited to, PPPs, bonds, assets leveraging, partnerships with business to attract investment and create jobs.

04. Carbon Measurement & Planning The strategic role a comprehensive, crosscutting, policy-relevant, standardised GHG emissions inventory can have in cities’ green strategies. Advanced thinking on greenhouse gas measurement, or demonstrate how the city’s carbon measurement has become a strategic part of city’s climate action planning.

05. Sustainable Communities The pathway to sustainable, resilient, and low carbon communities. These are attempting to achieve a climate positive or carbon neutral outcome, those with extraordinary community participation, policy and legislative improvements, regeneration projects, whole neighbourhood approaches to development or projects highlighting the benefits of integrated planning

06. Green Energy Reducing the carbon intensity of energy supply, either on a city and/or neighbourhood level. Including decentralized energy, defined here as low and zero carbon power and/or heat generated and delivered within the city; or utilize following technologies: biomass, absorption cooling, combined heat and power (CHP) and district heating/cooling networks, ground cooling, heat pumps (ground and air source), solar photovoltaic (PV), solar hot water (SHW), wind, hydropower & tidal power and geothermal.

07. Adaptation & Resilience Innovating approach to measuring, assessing and addressing climate risk, and details steps to achieve a resilient outcome. All aspects of climate adaptation will be reviewed such as reducing exposure to impact of natural disasters, increasing preparedness and response capacity to mitigate damage, and addressing impacts on all social and economic sectors.

08. Energy Efficient Built Environment Mitigate the environmental impact that public, commercial and residential buildings or other city assets have on the city, by making it more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Under the scope of this category are holistic business models and projects for the refurbishment of energy inefficient buildings, ground breaking planning initiatives or real estate development initiatives.

09. Air Quality Improve air quality in cities such as innovative approaches and strategies for reducing PMand NOx emissions while also addressing global climate change. Reducing air pollution stemming from individual traffic and congestion, industrial manufacturing, or the built environment.

10. Intelligent City Infrastructure Optimize existing or new infrastructure systems by making them faster, more efficient, safer or more reliable. Integrating intelligence into infrastructure projects helps to reap the full potential in areas like transportation, power grids or buildings.

How are cities with population densities similar to LA (approx 7,000 people/square mile) addressing urban sustainability?

  Rotterdam : 2,969/km2 (7,690/sq mi)

Green rooftop revolution

Rotterdam has about 100,000 square meters of sprawling green across its skyline, the city expects to cover 160,000 square meters by the end of 2014. To spur the green rooftop movement, Rotterdam kicked off a scheme to help residents fund the installments. Not only do green patches provide a buffer to help absorb excess rainwater, but they also clear the atmosphere and slow down roof erosion, according to Rotterdam Climate Initiative

Public transport for nature

A sustainable city is one that looks after not only its human population, but also its wildlife, plants and insects.That’s why Rotterdam’s landscape architecture firm Openfabric has proposed a way to utilize the city’s public transport network to “make them suitable for both humans and the biodiversity”. Dubbed “Diverse Networks”, the initiative would allow them to link up some of the hotspots for the city’s wildlife. Rotterdam’s public transportation could be transformed into green corridors that could bring butterflies, dragonflies, crickets and grasshoppers into the city center. If implemented, bus stops and metro stations could provide shelter for the people and foraging for the birds and insects.

[questioners-urbanism465]

How can architects design urban environments that prevent slums?

Last class we talked about the strategies we, as architects, could have to prevent more slums in the cities. One main problem that worsens the creation of slums in cities is the lack of government infrastructure, particularly in these areas, that aggravate the problems involving healthy, education and safety for its inhabitants.

Better housing and slum upgrading can contribute to reducing social inequalities and also improving urban safety through their social and spatial impacts. Indeed, smart and productive cities of the future will be those in which slums are turned into vibrant neighborhoods that are fully integrated into the city’s fabric and urban management systems, rather than remaining as vast islands of informality, social exclusion, poor housing and underdevelopment.

One strategy that is becoming common within the architects is the participatory design in these communities. Participatory Design is a new great way to urbanists to work with low-income populations as we all agree that the local communities should be involved in projects that affect them.

One great example is what is happening in Pune, India. There, a network of poor women's collectives, known as Mahila Milan ("Women Together") are planning to mobilize around 700 families in 7 slums to participate in design and construction to upgrade their homes as part of an incremental housing strategy developed in partnership with SPARC and an international group of architects led by Filipe Balestra and Sara Göransson.

Another example is the creation of the Morar Carioca Urbanization Plan within the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, where by the 1970s, 13% of the city’s population lived in slums, and the number kept rising until reaching 22% of the population.

 Morar Carioca is the name of the plan to turn all favelas into neighborhoods by 2020. Funded by City Hall, the Federal Government and the Inter-American Development Bank, the program combines interventions to provide public services and to improve people's homes, along with the construction of new housing and community infrastructure.

References:

http://unhabitat.org/urban-themes/housing-slum-upgrading/

http://www.academia.edu/4105696/Participatory_Slum_Upgrading_and_Community-based_Development_Practices_and_Challenges

http://www.treehugger.com/urban-design/the-urbanization-of-rio-de-janeiro-s-slums-a-model-for-sustainable-development.html#14261739463551&action=collapse_widget&id=4877585

http://thewhereblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/participatory-design-in-poor.html

[questioners-urbanism465]

The Lakeshore East Park: a Hidden public space in Chicago

               For many people, when you suggest hanging out at LakeshoreEast Park, the first thing they are going to say is: “where?”. And the reasonof it is just because the park is literally hidden for the first sight only easily visible to people who lives around Aqua Tower or usually do their groceries shopping at Mariano’s. Magnificent by day and magical at night Lakeshore East provides a botanical centerpiece to Chicago’s newest neighborhood 

              Siting at top what were originally the sand dunes of Lake Michigan with a total of 5.79 acres, Lakeshore East Park includes extensive outdoor recreational opportunities in this densely populated community, including tennis courts, a quarter mile soft surface running track, softball diamonds and a playground. Inside it offers a full-size gymnasium, a fitness center and meeting rooms available for rent.

             The park was designed by The Office of James Burnett (2002 – 2003), but its master planning was conceived by Skidmore, Owings and Merril (SOM). It is the central amenity of the 28-acre Lakeshore East development in Chicago’s Inner Loop. Overlooking the confluence of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan, Lakeshore East is a $4 billion redevelopment that will include 4,950 residential units, 1,500 hotel rooms, 2.2 million square feet of gross commercial space, 770,000 SF of retail space and an elementary school at completion. The landscape architect was engaged early in the project by the master plan architects and helped produce the open space guidelines that would later guide the design and development of the park.

    Complete Site Program (more)      

              Integration into Chicago’s 3-tiered transit system results in a daunting grade change of approximately 25′ from the south side of the site to the north. To mitigate this condition the landscape architect created a grand overlook that offers a commanding view of the park and reinforces the axial connection to Grant Park. A minimalist arrangement of pavers carries the axis of North Field Street down the generous limestone staircase, through the park and into an intimate plaza at the north end of the site. A study in form and geometry, the plaza continues the form language of the axial connection and extrudes it into the third dimension through the addition of precast concrete seat walls set in plinths of decomposed granite and surrounded by mixed understory plantings.

            Two sweeping promenades of white pavers serve as the primary east-west circulation across the site. Each promenade features a series of five fountain basins activate the street edge. Forty-six species of ornamental plants celebrate the horticultural history of Chicago and provide changing seasonal displays of color. A series of botanical courts extend along the western water garden echoing the form and proportion of the promenades.

           Occupying the interstitial space created by the intersection of the promenades and the North Grant axis, the children’s garden is organized by a circular plaza with an interactive water feature and safety play surfacing. Located along the transitioning slope near the south side of the park, the dog park offers a safe, secure area for owners to play with their dog. Three hierarchical, sod-covered berms emphasize the six-foot grade change across the dog park. Slicing through the highest of the berms, a low stone fountain wall spills water into a meandering runnel that collects at base of the smallest mound.

             During our site visit last week, we could notice pros and cons in the park location and its uses. But one of them can be either pro or con: the fact that the park be "hidden". This peculiarity brings a discussion if the parks should be always an open space and touristic attractions, or if in some places the best idea is a more reserving public space as an extension of the neighborhood’s houses with an intrinsic connection with the residential building?

            The good side of the small and hidden places is the safety. As a small place surrounded with residential towers, the Lakeshore East Park can be considered safe thanks to constant surveillance of the neighborhood added to a satisfactory amount of street lights.

           Another good perspective to be at the center of tall buildings is they will block wind and noise, providing a quiet and more peaceful place to use during leisure hours.Another good thing about the park is the walkability. Diagonal paths with water features to cross through and a mix of open spaces and more private benches. Linked to this the proximity to school and restaurants create a good place to relax in a day off.

         The problem is, as we all realized, the feeling of being trespassing on private property when you go to this kind of public space. Besides being hidden, the small dimensions of the park conveys the idea of private place intended solely to building around. The small size contributes to fewer people use the site, it is more visible during the winter (at least at the morning. The mainly part of users are people taking their dogs to a walk or people who work near there and are just passing. The use is hampered because most of the seats and ledges are covered with snow, and there is no option of movable seats, the landscape changes considerably between winter and summer days.  

        If during the cold days the park is almost empty, in the summer the day and night lives are intense. With a program which involves since yoga classes until outdoor movies sessions passing by music concerts, Lake Shore East park provides a nice environmental to all the family, an undiscovered place where you can run, riding a bike, take outdoor gym classes and enjoy diary events.

References:

"The Park at Lakeshore East / The Office of James Burnett" 24 May 2009. ArchDaily. Accessed 04 Mar 2015. http://www.archdaily.com/?p=14158

http://www.magellandevelopment.com/lakeshore-east/park/

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/Lake-Shore-Park/

http://www.neweastsidecommunity.com/#!recreation/c17gs

http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/parks/lake-shore-east-parkno-546/

http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/union-sq-us2-lakeshore-east-06-13-2014.pdf

http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/May-2012/A-Guide-to-Lakeshore-East-Where-to-Eat-Shop-and-Play/

http://www.magellandevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Gardenflyer-050905-p1.pdf

http://www.vectorworks.net/success-stories/?id=161&language=en

[questioners-urbanism465]

How can urban housing and public space be well designed together to improve people’s quality life in cities?

Last post we talked about how architecture and urban planning could improve the quality of life in cities. However, a good public space or a good architecture separately is not enough to improve the people’s quality of life yet it helps. So, how urban housing and public spaces can work together to improve people’s quality life in cities?

We saw some factors which were important to build a good public spaces, many of them present in the chart below:

Talking about housing however, there are other important points that need to be achieved to create a successful housing project. It is important to make them safe, comfortable and sustainable.

Some principles and guidelines can help to develop a good housing project, for example, these ones pointed out in the Community tool box website:

·         Locating near public transportation and/or providing shuttles to stations or shopping to discourage unnecessary driving.

·         Creating pedestrian- and bike-friendly spaces, bike and walking/running paths, etc. to encourage exercise and – again – discourage unnecessary driving.

·         Using low-impact construction and landforming methods (changing the site as little as possible, and minimizing or eliminating the use of heavy machinery). This includes respecting existing landscape features, especially those, such as streams and wetlands, that have an important place in the local ecology.

·         Reclaiming brownfields. Brownfields are former industrial sites that are polluted, but cleanable. Using a brownfields site for development can be tricky, in that all the toxic material has to be either removed or cleaned in such a way that it will never be a danger to those living there. If it’s done right, however, reclaiming a brownfields site has many advantages: it recycles an area that has already been built on, rather than clearing new ground and eliminating more open space; it cleans up a polluted area, leaving a healthier environment and eliminating a danger; and it turns an eyesore into a community asset.

·         Reclaiming old buildings. Turning an empty mill, warehouse, or hotel, for instance, into housing reuses a valuable resource, rather than throwing it away, and preserves community history as well.

·         Rehabilitating derelict buildings. Many old buildings are solid under their outer decay. Rather than being torn down, they can be turned into attractive and durable housing. This also can rehabilitate whole neighborhoods by eliminating abandoned buildings that may be used as crack houses, or become dangerous places for children to play.

·         Mixed-income development. The intent here is to create a diverse community that spans two or more income levels, with no distinctions made, where cross-cultural and cross-class socializing and friendships are possible.  In the ideal, the diversity of the residents removes the stigma and isolation of poverty that often goes with subsidized housing, and encourages all to take pride in maintaining their homes.

·         Mixed-use development. A mixed-use development includes both residential and commercial space, often one above the other. It may also be mixed-income, and/or include residence areas for both seniors and families with children. One advantage of mixed use is that it encourages street life, and creates a “village” feel to the development, making the area safer and more pleasant.

·         Housing for seniors and/or people with disabilities.

However these are guidelines to housing projects, it is possible to notice that there is a relationship between the urban design guidelines and the housing design guidelines, and some of them can also be applied to both.

For example, create pedestrian and bike flow is important to guarantee the safety of dwellers but it is also important to make the street life comfortable and safer. Having public transportation that connects housing and public spaces can be a tool to guarantee this flow and safety, because people have more freedom to move through the city, specially elderly people.

The idea of having mixed use and mixed-income in housing can give support to a good public space, since mixed use buildings bring more life to the streets as Jane Jacobs described in her book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. It also brings people to nearby parks and plazas in different hours. And as said before, mixed-income housing can bring different people to the public spaces nearby, and reduces the stigma and isolation of poverty.

Another common guideline that can be used in both, public and private development, is to give new uses to the spaces. This is not only create a new good space, but can help to recover entire neighborhoods. A great example of how good this can be to cities is The high line in New York City, a high line opened to trains that stopped to work in 1980 and which would be demolished. However, with the help of residents from the surroundings neighborhoods and other activists who advocate for the High Line’s preservation and reuse as public open space, the high line is now a great public space, which attracts people all around the world.

Many people using The High Line

The High Line from Above

You can see more about the high line in the link below:

http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_burden_how_public_spaces_make_cities_work#t-20551

All these are simple principles, which can improve design and consequently the people’s quality of life in the city, and that if applied in both architecture and urban planning, if thought together, can make even a bigger difference.

References:

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/implement/phsyical-social-environment/housing-quality/main

http://www.rudi.net/pages/8750

http://designtrust.org/projects/housing-open-space/overview/

http://www.thehighline.org/blog

http://www.dwell.com/map/worlds-best-public-spaces

http://www.pps.org/reference/grplacefeat/

http://www.academia.edu/313641/The_Sociology_of_Urban_Public_Spaces

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1687404813000084

http://www.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/10-Principles-for-Building-Healthy-Places.pdf

https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/sites/default/files/asset/document/the-value-of-public-space.pdf

[questioners-urbanism465]

Do architects have a social responsibility on people’s life?

Architects like to believe that architecture affects quality of life.And it does!

Urbandesign is an important tool to promote equality and social justice. It has been used in many places with different purposes.

1 - The first thing to notice is that what defines a character of a city is its public space, not its private space. 2 - Improve streets, as Public Spaces is also important, because streets are a fundamental public space in a city, but many of them are choked by traffic. The ideal street would be able to sustain different modes of transportation and all would work parallel with each other. And create pedestrian-friendly streets. This will provide spaces for interpersonal interaction and foster a sense of community.

3 - Create squares and parks as multi-use destinations. Public squares and parks should be planned around major public destinations, because they build local economies, civic pride and social connection. They also serve as “safety valves” for a city, where people can find their peace, in a well-planned park space, or fear and danger, in a badly-planned one. Multi-use destinations are successful. They have many attractions and activities, where citizens can find common ground and where ethnicity and economic tensions almost do not exist. Making a place more than the sum of its parts offer a variety of things to do in one location. For example, a park should not only be a park, but a park with a fountain, playground, food vendor, nearby library, etc. It must have something to do, it gives people a reason to come to a place, and return. When there is nothing to do, a space will be empty and that generally means that something is wrong.

4 – Public markets are another good idea, because they have the historic “mission” to be the place where people have come together, where they are traditionally the most productive and dynamic, the exchange of news, politics and gossip takes place. It also encourage entrepreneurship, sustain farmland around cities, strengthen ties between urban and rural areas and improve access to fresh food. However, replace the traditional market with a supermarket has no social value and has only deteriorated existing community ties.

5 - Invest in public institutions like museums, government buildings and libraries so that they engage their surrounding urban environment and foster more opportunities for interpersonal interaction.

6 - Small moves like creating places to sit (in the sun and shade), sidewalk, cafe, planning a community event, organizing a container garden or painting crosswalks all have positive effects on a community and its public space. When people feel a sense of ownership in their cities, they are more likely to take better care of the common environment and of themselves, resulting in a reduction in daily stress and less neighborhood crime thanks to an active public realm. Great public spaces are where celebrations are held, social and economic exchanges take place, friends run into each other, and cultures mix.

7 - A successful public space is easy to get to and get through. It need to be accessible. It is visible both from a distance and up close.

Vienna, for example, has used urban design to promote equality of gender, trying to make the city safer so women do not feel afraid of using the public space, walking on the streets or using public transportation. They enhanced the accessibility, the public lightening, created some campaigns. In the end, these improvements were good not only in the gender equality perspective but also in a social, ethnic and health-related perspective.

Urban planning has been also used in many developing countries as a way to improve quality of life, as in Bogotá, Colombia, where the investments in public transportation and public spaces made a huge difference especially in the lives of poor people.

Other examples are some slums in Brazil in which the creation and improvement of public spaces made them safer and improved quality of life.

(Cantinho do Céu, São Paulo)

As well as Diadema where community-based interventions made people feel safer and reduced murder rate by more than 44%.

Despite of the existence of some good examples of how urban planning improved quality of life, in some developing countries, this is still a challenge. Thinking about that “The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University” made a study and separate some principles that could be followed for these countries:

•    Support the formation of national urban development commissions that are charged with developing plans for inclusive and sustainable urban development.

•    Create regional planning funds to support participatory, multi-stakeholder spatial planning initiatives at the regional level.

•    Pursue improved and transparent planning practices through large-scale, public-private partnerships.

•    Identify and invest in best practices and processes for urban planning.

•    Invest in community-based organizations and their intermediary support organizations.

As we can see, architects can do the difference. Sometimes with more difficult, but is our duty to do it and make people’s life better.

References:

http://www.di.net/articles/the_social_responsibility_architects/

http://www.archdaily.com/362988/ten-ways-to-transform-cities-through-placemaking-and-public-spaces/

http://www.pps.org/reference/grplacefeat/

http://www.charter-equality.eu/exemple-de-bonnes-pratiques/a-model-city-for-gender-mainstreaming.html

http://www.archdaily.com.br/br/01-157760/urbanizacao-do-complexo-cantinho-do-ceu-boldarini-arquitetura-e-urbanismo

http://m.huduser.org/edge/mpartdet.php?murl=pdr_edge_hudpartrpt_032213

https://urbantimes.co/2013/08/how-good-urban-planning-can-make-cities-safer/

http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2014_07_16_in_bogota_creating_social_equality_through_sustainable_transportation

http://www.ehu.eus/documents/1301294/0/dossier_oct2010.pdf

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[questioners-urbanism465]

WHAT IS THE RIGHT DENSITY FOR A CITY?

First what do we look at when discussing density?

When we most people think of density, they get the image of hyper compact cities, with little to no space, and little to no privacy. On the flip side, sprawl might have more space and, in theory, privacy but often lacks the proximity to daily essentials. So that begs the question, what is the best density?

In Singapore, they have implemented 10 basic principals when dealing with their density concerns. These principals deal with:

1. Long term Growth and Renewal

2. Embraces Diversity and Inclusiveness

3. Bring Nature to the People

4. Develop affordable, mixed use neighborhoods

5. Force their public space to work

6. Green transportation and building

7. Relieve density with variety and add green boundaries

8. Activate spaces for greater safety

9. Innovation and Non conventional soltuions are promoted

10. Foster partnerships between the people, the public and the private sectors.

Based on these elements, we begin to compare the cities in which we live and come from. We found that Seoul, South Korea, was far too dense for comfort although everything was incredibly easy to get to by walking. In Brazil, we found that the Capital cities were incredibly walkable and had a comfortable density but outside of those cities, we found that the density was not what we favored. We then looked at NYC vs Chicago, as they are 2 of the better examples of cities that embrace and have implemented many of the principals listed above. In our opinion, Manhattan was far too dense for comfortable living, but the other neighborhoods were considered more favorably. We all agreed that Chicago is a very comfortable density, very livable in price (something San Francisco and NYC cannot say), and is incredibly walkable no matter the location in the city. While far from perfect, a city of Chicago's size was found to be near the perfect density of roughly 152 units per acre. 

[questioners-urbanism465]

Mix Land Uses

Smart growth supportsmixed land uses as a critical component of achieving better places to live. Byputting residential, commercial and recreational uses in close proximity to oneanother, alternatives to driving, such as walking or biking, become viable. Mixed land uses also provide a more diverse and sizable population and commercial base for supporting viable public transit. Mixed use can enhance the vitality and perceived security of an area by increasing the number and activity of people on the street. It attracts pedestrians and helps revitalize community life by making streets, public spaces and pedestrian-oriented retail become places where people meet.

Archigram

I believe that the proposals by Archigram might be alternatives to suburbs, even though it suggests ideal or abstract architecture and new materials. The members of Archigram thought that people need the minimum living space, which is prefabricated unit space for the change and extension of space, with communal space where they could share with neighbors. Moreover, these kinds of spaces should not be stereotypical and fixed but variable and flexible. Many Americans, nowadays, live in suburbs and this causes the problems such as the lack of community, environmental pollution due to using too many vehicles, and the long distance between residential, commercial and recreational. I think we need to rearrange the suburbs by subdividing them into the proper size areas made up housing units with commercial and recreational to build the community, and also each area should be variable to handle a changing world.

source : Peter Cook-Plug In City, Ron Herron-Walking City 1964

              http://www.smartgrowth.org/principles/mix_land.php

[questioners-urbanism465]

While many components go into making a thriving urban metropolis, we believe the three crucial aspects in an city are walkability, connectivity, and green transportation.

1. Walkability

Regarding transportation, it is believed that having more people use non-motorized transportation more often is critical to sustainability, economic development, and good public health. However, the question becomes how do we get more people to bike and walk? One idea of improving the walkability in a city is by addressing the issues that have resulting by having an auto-centric culture and allowing cars to dominate the urban environment. This includes providing improvements to the streetscape that protect the pedestrian, such as curbside parking which buffers the sidewalk from moving vehicular traffic. Other pedestrian friendly designs include having buildings close to the street, tree lined streets, narrow slow speed streets, and in some cases pedestrian only streets which is common with many European plazas and boulevards.

According to Srividya Kalyanaraman, cities like Miami, Detroit, Denver, and Tampa, which are usually known more for suburban sprawl and traffic jams will be climbing the ranks in terms of the most walkable cities in the US. The increase in walkability will likely be due to planned investments in public transportation and commercial hubs. That being said, Washington D.C., New York, and Boston will still remain at the top of the list.

Walkable urban hubs are often comprised of urban development, education and economic growth, coupled with a college-educated adults. Additionally, most things should be within a 10-minute walk of home and work. When it comes to homeowners, younger generations are placing a higher emphasis on walkability and researching locations on apps such as walkscore. I know in Chicago when ever I experience a new neighborhood, I am always interested in the walkscore and how many amenities are within that golden “10-minute” walking distance. Currently, my apartment in Lincoln Park boasts a walkscore of 96, while IIT’s Crown Hall has a score of 74. 

2. Connectivity

Connectivity both within the city and with nearby cities is crucial to creating a thriving metropolis. Social connections can be encouraged through the designs of pedestrian friendly streets and public amenities such as parks and pedestrian boulevards. This is apparent when comparing the difference in environments between Venice, Italy which has 1,500 intersections per sq. mile and Irvine, CA which has 15 intersections per sq. mile. 

 Additionally having an interconnected hierarchy of transportation networks, such as in Amsterdam, helps to ease and disperse traffic.

Transport infrastructure becomes an especially critical element of an urban environment, as it allows certain components of the city to be centralized while accommodating an ever-growing population. Cities such as Hong Kong, have a difficult topography and have accommodated by implementing an affordable, efficient public transport system. Other cities such as São Paulo do not have the same geographical constraints, and as a result are dominated by cars as shown in the graphs.

3. Green Transportation

Green transportation is a third key element in creating a desirable urban environment. This involves creating a network of high-quality trains connecting cities, towns, and neighborhoods together. When analyzing the relationship between public transit, overall population, and population density in the US it isn’t shocking to see a correlation between large, denser cities, and public transit use. However, when we begin to look at public transit use in cities with populations less than 1 million residents, it becomes apparent that the major transit systems in use occur on the Northeast and West coasts, with the South representing the worst systems.

Another crucial part of green transportation is the implementation of pedestrian-friendly designs that encourage a greater use of bicycles and walking as daily transportation. With a plethora of biker friendly infrastructure such as separate bike lanes traffic lights, it may come as no surprise that…. “In Amsterdam, a city of 783,000, about 400,000 people are out riding their bikes on any given day.” In the United States, drivers may complain, but research suggests that car traffic isn’t really inconvenienced at all when the addition of cycling infrastructure is designed well.

While Chicago introduced the Divy bike system last year to encourage bike riding, major portions of the city lacks the focus on bike infrastructure to ensure the safety of the increased number of riders, especially when these riders may not be as experienced riding in an urban environment. Currently in Chicago there are many cases where bikes share lanes with cars, or streets lack any designation or signage at all. However, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is working on changing this with the “Chicago Streets for Cycling Plan 2020,” which will create a 645-mile network of on-street bikeways in hopes of making Chicago the most bike-friendly city in the United States.

A new study found that if the countries of the EU-27 reached a level of biking similar to Denmark's, that reductions of CO2 emissions of between 63 and 142 million tons per year could be possible by 2050. By setting the target date at 2050, that allows cities time to catch up and invest in the necessary infrastructure like in the case of Chicago. Additionally the study notes that the most impact can be seen with a reduction of fuel burning. It understands that not everyone will switch from cars to biking, but that even by picking the most fuel efficient car model, that can help reduce CO2 emissions for a healthier environment.

  References:

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/bike/general/ChicagoStreetsforCycling2020.pdf

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kbenfield/the_ten_steps_of_walkability.html

http://time.com/money/2887232/the-futures-most-walkable-cities-prepare-to-be-surprised/

http://www.newurbanism.org/newurbanism/principles.html

http://redbikegreen.blogspot.com/2011/12/infographics-comparing-co2-and.html

http://www.pps.org/blog/what-is-walkability-how-do-you-measure-it-take-aways-from-this-years-trb-meeting/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-your-citys-public-transit-stacks-up/

http://lsecities.net/media/objects/articles/urban-age-cities-compared/en-gb/

http://www.kennanlagreze.com/work/urbanism/idealcity/