Conference paper

• A ‘Neighbourhood Renaissance’: Community Development in St. Louis in the 1970s

  In 1977, the city of St. Louis was experiencing a ‘Neighbourhood Renaissance’ with greater attention to the neighbourhood, rather than the city or metro area, as the unit of planning and community development projects. Some St. Louis commentators saw this as a local phenomena, inspired by the city’s historically distinct neighbourhoods with strong place-based community groups and neighbourhood improvement associations. Local politicians, like Mayor Jim Conway, also gave particular attention to neighbourhood development as a means to reverse St. Louis’s shrinking population and economy.
  
  However this planning approach also reflected in national political shifts. The growing predominance of bottom up, small-scaled planning projects under the Model Cities programs reflected a reaction against the modernist top-down, large-scale redevelopment projects of the 1950s and 1960s. Policies such as the Community Development Act of 1974 provided new opportunities for distributing federal funds for innovative urban revitalization programs including infrastructural improvements for historic preservation districts, and small-scale infill and redevelopment projects in blighted areas.
  
  While the 1970s increased attention to the neighbourhood, it was not the first or last time this scale would be the focus of planning programs. Both in the St. Louis and nationally, neighbourhoods also garnered attention during the Progressive era, and to some extent in the early modernist plans. In St. Louis, interested in neighbourhood planning can be seen both in the proposals for Community Centres in the 1907 plan and the Neighbourhood Units in the 1947 Plan by Harlard Barthothomew. 
  
  The distinct conceptions of neighbourhood from three eras of planning from the 1900s, 1940s, and 1970s can be seen when examining the planning proposals for two low-income neighbourhoods in St. Louis, Carr Square and Soulard. By tracing the approach to neighbourhood planning across these three time periods, this paper will start to define the changing meaning of the neighbourhood as a planning unit in national policies. It will also question how these theoretical trends in planning shaped neighbourhood-based planning projects in the specific context of deindustrializing St. Louis.

  In 1977, the city of St. Louis was experiencing a ‘Neighbourhood Renaissance’ with greater attention to the neighbourhood, rather than the city or metro area, as the unit of planning and community development projects. Some St. Louis commentators saw this as a local phenomena, inspired by the city’s historically distinct neighbourhoods with strong place-based community groups and neighbourhood improvement associations. Local politicians, like Mayor Jim Conway, also gave particular attention to neighbourhood development as a means to reverse St. Louis’s shrinking population and economy.
  
  However this planning approach also reflected in national political shifts. The growing predominance of bottom up, small-scaled planning projects under the Model Cities programs reflected a reaction against the modernist top-down, large-scale redevelopment projects of the 1950s and 1960s. Policies such as the Community Development Act of 1974 provided new...

  In 1977, the city of St. Louis was experiencing a ‘Neighbourhood Renaissance’ with greater attention to the neighbourhood, rather than the city or metro area, as the unit of planning and community development projects. Some St. Louis commentators saw this as a local phenomena, inspired...

  Susanne Cowan

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• Planning a Revolution; Labour Movements and Housing Projects in Tehran, 1943-1963

  When life itself becomes a political project, any distinction between space of action and dwelling ceases to exist. Contemporary bio-capitalism is nothing but the strenuous attempt to parasite and make productive any form of living far beyond the body and the spatial-temporal coordination of its movement, subsuming the whole complexity of relations, affects, desires as crucial driving forces of development. 
  The most typical domestic activities, traditionally concealed as ‘unproductive’ and ‘servile’ unpaid labour, have become paradigmatic forms of exploitation, to the extent that household management, reproduction, affectivity and care have become, today, the fundamental qualities of the ubiquitous field of labour precarity. In this sense, dwelling itself has been stripped out of its spatial organizations and traditional protective clichés, becoming the most profitable living performance of value production, triggering a progressive hybridization of the domestic space through a parallel and opposite feminization of labour and an internal masculinization of the Existenzminimum. This differentiation indeed is tended to neutralize the life itself. The emergence of such forms of life has progressively eroded the strict division between public and private space, blurring Hannah Arendt’s distinction between work, labour and political action. The city becomes at the same time a continuous field of exteriorized publicity and a sequence of autonomous, privatized interiors. 
  
  Tehran is a paradigmatic case of the latter phenomenon, in which collective life proliferates almost entirely in interiors. Commercial, productive and living activities are confined between the same architectural types, which stretch throughout the metropolis as a continuous field of urbanization. In particular, the house is the place where all the economic, political, social, theological and class conflicts are deployed. In Tehran, parallel to the Post- World War II political movements (1943-63), the immediate need for massive reconstruction not only resulted in developing new construction techniques and planning regulations, but also paved the way for direct implementation of series of political projects. Those could be seen as attempts to instrumentalize technology and modernist architectural and planning concepts in order to tame the socio-political tensions. This period is mainly characterized by the project of secularization, at the center of which was the mass housing projects.
  
  The paper will read the early Post-WW II (social) housing projects of the city, in light of social and political mobilization of the country. It will take into account the works of architects and planners who were associated with the Tudeh Party (Iranian Communist Party) and the Iranian Oil industry movements, as well as the American agents who were in charge of executions of the Truman’s Point IV program in Iran. It aims ultimately to cast light on series of projects and counter-projects through which both the city and the citizens were kept in a constant state of conflict, the effects of which triggered the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

  When life itself becomes a political project, any distinction between space of action and dwelling ceases to exist. Contemporary bio-capitalism is nothing but the strenuous attempt to parasite and make productive any form of living far beyond the body and the spatial-temporal coordination of its movement, subsuming the whole complexity of relations, affects, desires as crucial driving forces of development. 
  The most typical domestic activities, traditionally concealed as ‘unproductive’ and ‘servile’ unpaid labour, have become paradigmatic forms of exploitation, to the extent that household management, reproduction, affectivity and care have become, today, the fundamental qualities of the ubiquitous field of labour precarity. In this sense, dwelling itself has been stripped out of its spatial organizations and traditional protective clichés, becoming the most profitable living performance of value production, triggering a progressive hybridization...

  When life itself becomes a political project, any distinction between space of action and dwelling ceases to exist. Contemporary bio-capitalism is nothing but the strenuous attempt to parasite and make productive any form of living far beyond the body and the spatial-temporal coordination...

  Hamed Khosravi

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• The resilience of the Karoo townscapes of South Africa: conserving what the Group Areas Act, 1950, spared.

  Apartheid South Africa was obsessed with separating citizens on a racial basis yet, despite passing various segregationist laws, in many urban areas members of different ethnic groups continued to live as neighbours. This was countered by the passing of the Group Areas Act, which restricted the occupation of land to specific racial groups and saw the forceful relocation of citizens and the demolition of building stock, none more glaringly than District Six in Cape Town, 1966. However, in imposing apartheid planning principles on an established small town, the townsfolk and the historic fabric felt the brunt, with physical and emotional voids and scars that still show today. 
  The towns of the South African interior were established during the 19c, largely by the dominant faith community. Settler farmers would converge, especially at high festivals when they would encamp, hence the ubiquitous provision of church and square. Typically this space became architecturally defined by townhouses, which affording parishioners would build for their accommodation over those festivals or on retirement. The properties were serviced by water furrows to become self-sufficient entities and furthered the agricultural basis of most such towns. Following the Dutch tradition, the townhouses were unified as a walled development in the shadow of the towering church, yet fronted by narrow verandas along tree-lined streets, and adapted in construction and design to withstand the extremes of climate. As whites vacated these townhouses e.g. to move into larger, detached houses, people of other racial groups would move in. 
  From the late-1960s onwards came the apartheid decree for the reordering of towns to minimise social contact between different races. The centres were zoned as part of the white group areas and blacks were legislated for in townships located outside town; effectively, the Act applied to coloureds, an ethnic group composed primarily of persons of mixed race. Different ethnic groups were to be separated by buffer strips of open land at least 30m wide, assisted by geography and infrastructure. In Richmond, somewhat unusually, the mission church with the square was razed and removed from the white town, while significant building stock of coloureds was destroyed to create an appropriate buffer. 
  Interestingly, the voids created by demolitions or the vestiges of floors and stairs often do not register any particular association with today’s students until historical photographs are found. It is then that the influence of politics comes alive. However, understanding the forces of political vandalism and seeking confirmation from older residents is one thing; restitution and rebuilding in the ‘manner of today’ while conserving what the Group Areas Act has spared, is the design challenge. 
  An exploratory approach to the research will question the extent to which the resilience of the townscapes in the semi-desert Karoo interior of South Africa, informed the proposals for conservation, as put forward by senior students of architecture at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, in 2013. 

  Apartheid South Africa was obsessed with separating citizens on a racial basis yet, despite passing various segregationist laws, in many urban areas members of different ethnic groups continued to live as neighbours. This was countered by the passing of the Group Areas Act, which restricted the occupation of land to specific racial groups and saw the forceful relocation of citizens and the demolition of building stock, none more glaringly than District Six in Cape Town, 1966. However, in imposing apartheid planning principles on an established small town, the townsfolk and the historic fabric felt the brunt, with physical and emotional voids and scars that still show today. 
  The towns of the South African interior were established during the 19c, largely by the dominant faith community. Settler farmers would converge, especially at high festivals when they would encamp, hence the ubiquitous provision of church and square. Typically this space became...

  Apartheid South Africa was obsessed with separating citizens on a racial basis yet, despite passing various segregationist laws, in many urban areas members of different ethnic groups continued to live as neighbours. This was countered by the passing of the Group Areas Act, which restricted...

  Walter Peters

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• Kuy-e Narmak: A Resilient Heritage of Modern Housing in Tehran, Iran

  Similar to many Middle-Eastern countries during the 20th century, Iran underwent a unique process of modernisation. This process was accelerated in Tehran after the second World War, when the urban population density dramatically grew, due to rural-urban migration, and the construction of mass housing got a prominent place in the development agenda of the Iranian government. Furthermore, for creating a modern nation that made Iran part of the civilized world, the government diffused the notion of modern living through mass housing largely carried out by a group of Western-trained Iranian architects. Creating cross-cultural exchanges, they played the mediator role between the International Style and the Iranian culture, and they helped the Iranian government to purse the objectives of the development plans. 
  
  Accordingly, the government established a new financial organisation named Bank-e Sakhtemani (Construction Bank) to fund new urban projects, and the parliament adopted a new law by which the arid lands beyond the border of cities were declared as state properties. Doing so braced the role of Bank-e Sakhtemani in land-use strategies, and as a result, a series of new neighbourhoods was constructed in Tehran, such as Kuy-e Narmak (1951-58), Kuy-e Nazi-Abad (1952-54), and Tehran-Pars (1958-72). Among these neighbourhoods, Narmak played a crucial role in forming modern Tehran’s Identity, and the project created a strong collective identity among its residents. Situated in the North-Eastern part of Tehran, Narmak was constructed on an area of 507 hectares, from which around 200 hectares was allocated to the public and collective amenities. This project aimed at accommodating 25,000 residents; however, it houses approximately 340,000 inhabitants, at present. 
  
  To understand this adaptability, the spatial organisation of Narmak and its development should be studied. The urban layout of Narmak proposed a series of public outdoor spaces including a grid of linear gardens (Chaharbagh), and 110 enclosed gardens (Meydan) allocated to each respective block. In the block layout, houses were located around the edges of Meydans, and the repetition of this pattern provided the urban structure of Narmak. In this structure, Chaharbaghs and Meydans have become the permanent constituting a frame around which change could take place. Although these public spaces have remained unchanged, based on new needs, the inhabitants have had the possibilities to transfer their low-rise houses to mid-rise apartments, and adapt their private spaces. Therefore, by analysing Narmak’s urban form and development, this paper reveals typological elements, socio-cultural characteristics, and economic features that led to the survival and resilience of this modern urban form over times. Understanding the development of this model demonstrates whether the process of modernisation through affordable housing practices in a non-western country such as Iran presents a sense of continuity in the structure, meaning, character and identity of place, or generates a sense of disjuncture.

  Similar to many Middle-Eastern countries during the 20th century, Iran underwent a unique process of modernisation. This process was accelerated in Tehran after the second World War, when the urban population density dramatically grew, due to rural-urban migration, and the construction of mass housing got a prominent place in the development agenda of the Iranian government. Furthermore, for creating a modern nation that made Iran part of the civilized world, the government diffused the notion of modern living through mass housing largely carried out by a group of Western-trained Iranian architects. Creating cross-cultural exchanges, they played the mediator role between the International Style and the Iranian culture, and they helped the Iranian government to purse the objectives of the development plans. 
  
  Accordingly, the government established a new financial organisation named Bank-e Sakhtemani (Construction Bank) to fund new urban projects, and...

  Similar to many Middle-Eastern countries during the 20th century, Iran underwent a unique process of modernisation. This process was accelerated in Tehran after the second World War, when the urban population density dramatically grew, due to rural-urban migration, and the construction of...

  Seyed Sedighi

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• Cities under Siege: Flood in 1931 and Environmental Challenges of Chinese Urban Modernization

  The paper explores the connection between China’s urban modernization and the resulted environmental vulnerabilities revealed in the 1931 flood. The flood in 1931 is believed to be the deadliest disaster in 20th century China with one-fourth of China’s population affected. The paper challenges the conventional view that the flood was an “unavoidable” natural disaster mainly caused by bad weather conditions (namely heavy rain, a historic high water level, and low-lying ground of the Jianghan plain). The explanation does not address why key urban centers along the Yangzi appeared unusually vulnerable and suffered great loss in the flood of 1931. 
  
  The paper takes the worst affected urban region in 1931—Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang as focus of the study. Flood prevention was historically important to the three riverine cities. In traditional China the walled cities with designed hydraulic schemes often provided shelters for people from rural hinterland during the time of flooding. However the three cities were only found defenseless in 1931 after experiencing the rapid urban modernization since the late 19th century. The study specifically examines the urban reconstruction efforts made in the Qing and the Republic and their impacts on the urban flood protection prior to 1931. It explores how the shifting focus of the government from agriculture to trade prioritized urban developmental pattern incompatible with the traditional water-control design. For instance, the rapid urban sprawl since the late Qing caused the reclamation of wetlands and lakes outside city walls preserved as high-water discharge zone. The dismantling of the flood-resistant city walls, locks and moat seriously weakened the traditional urban drains system. In addition, the birth of “the developmental state” in the Republic era marked a new chapter of the Chinese centralized urban modernization with technocratic confidence and industrial ambition. After 1927 the urban social reform reflected a drastic rupture in the government’s policy and societal practice in water control. The concentration of power on the revolutionary government in the cities resulted in the decline of local organizations used to assume water control responsibility at the community level. They were replaced by centrally appointed modernist urban planners who were often ignorant about local condition and traditional wisdom and practice of water control.

  The paper explores the connection between China’s urban modernization and the resulted environmental vulnerabilities revealed in the 1931 flood. The flood in 1931 is believed to be the deadliest disaster in 20th century China with one-fourth of China’s population affected. The paper challenges the conventional view that the flood was an “unavoidable” natural disaster mainly caused by bad weather conditions (namely heavy rain, a historic high water level, and low-lying ground of the Jianghan plain). The explanation does not address why key urban centers along the Yangzi appeared unusually vulnerable and suffered great loss in the flood of 1931. 
  
  The paper takes the worst affected urban region in 1931—Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang as focus of the study. Flood prevention was historically important to the three riverine cities. In traditional China the walled cities with designed hydraulic schemes often provided shelters for people from rural...

  The paper explores the connection between China’s urban modernization and the resulted environmental vulnerabilities revealed in the 1931 flood. The flood in 1931 is believed to be the deadliest disaster in 20th century China with one-fourth of China’s population affected. The paper...

  Zhiguo Ye

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• Floods and Extension Plans: discourse and projects in Southern Brazil

  This paper focuses on four extension projects on floodable areas in the city of Porto Alegre, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is in the Jacui River delta, which flows into the Guaiba Lake, one of the main waterways in Southern Brazil. Such urban projects – with similar goals amongst themselves, such as integrating housing and industries, for instance – were never implemented. However, as initiatives associated to state economic and strategic development plans (between 1935 and 1960), the study of such projects significantly contributes to the understanding of Porto Alegre’s metropolitan area in its trajectory of expansion. The Jacui delta and its islands limit Northern Porto Alegre. The projects were to be located on such wetlands, given their strategic site in relation to means of external connection, such as waterways, roads and railways. Because this area had always been subject to floods, a solution for overcoming such issue with infrastructure works was always present in the creation of projects for the delta. Porto Alegre, from its foundation to the first half of the 20thcentury, suffered with floods of the Guaiba Lake that caused major damages to the city. Because of that, from 1942, a dam and a wall were built; to this day, they influence the connection between city and Lake, maintaining the collective memory of past floods. Therefore, this work focuses on the different approaches and discourses of the authors of the extension projects for the flood issues, and on their intentions towards making such projects resilient to the recurring floods. While researching the plans, we have observed that the cost of construction work and of the expropriation needed for building the dam have contributed to postponing, deterring and modifying the execution of such projects. In spite of the failure on implementing the projects, their focus on the relation between the city and its surrounding waters became an important resource for the study of the city’s history, given that the wetlands are a significant part of its collective memory.

  This paper focuses on four extension projects on floodable areas in the city of Porto Alegre, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is in the Jacui River delta, which flows into the Guaiba Lake, one of the main waterways in Southern Brazil. Such urban projects – with similar goals amongst themselves, such as integrating housing and industries, for instance – were never implemented. However, as initiatives associated to state economic and strategic development plans (between 1935 and 1960), the study of such projects significantly contributes to the understanding of Porto Alegre’s metropolitan area in its trajectory of expansion. The Jacui delta and its islands limit Northern Porto Alegre. The projects were to be located on such wetlands, given their strategic site in relation to means of external connection, such as waterways, roads and railways. Because this area had always been subject to floods, a solution for overcoming such issue with infrastructure works was...

  This paper focuses on four extension projects on floodable areas in the city of Porto Alegre, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is in the Jacui River delta, which flows into the Guaiba Lake, one of the main waterways in Southern Brazil. Such urban projects – with similar goals...

  Adriana Miranda

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• CIAM 8. The Heart of the City as the symbolical resilience of the city

  The “Heart of the City”, title of the 8th CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne), held in 1951, is a contradictory and pervasive figure of speech which has marked a thinking and urban transition after the 2nd World War and still affects our contemporary urban and social condition.
  In 1951, two opposite urban conditions are considered by Sert, President of CIAM, as main issues which the Heart discourse should face: from the disappearance of city centres because of the destruction of the War to the negation of the urban centrality because of urban sprawl and the infinite constant enlargement of city boundaries. But the Heart itself also represents two different figures of speeches, the symbol and the metaphor: from one side it becomes a humanist symbol “which springs directly to the senses without explanation”, in opposition to the
  “mechanized killing”, to the “tyranny of mechanical tools” as stressed by Giedion during CIAM 8; from the other side the Heart still keeps its anatomical metaphorical organic meaning translated into a presumed right physical form and dimension of the city. 
  These oppositions - from annulled bombed centers to infinite urban structures, from metaphor to symbol, from pro-urban to proto-urban Idea are the main causes of the complexity and of the stratification of several different layers of significances of the Heart of the City, since CIAM 8 until the present.
  Starting from CIAM 8, the paper investigates this Post-war urban tension, which lies at the crossroads of intellectual-theoretical and architectural-design worlds. On the one hand, there is the resilience of the decontextualized social-spatial tabula rasa created by the dangerous mechanical progress which led to the blood and horror of the War. While on the other, the resilience of embracing, stemming, and compressing the Galileo scandal, “the constitution of an infinite, and infinitely open space” (Foucault, 1967) which was, for the first time, mirrored in the urban sprawl.
  The aim of this paper is to focus on the complexity and the difficulty of interpreting the Heart of the City, from the tangible Janus-faced binomial reconstruction-recentralization of the urban Core, to the symbolical abstract resilience of the Heart as a constituent element at the foundation of the urban structure and anticipator of an anthropological idea of Habitat as an integrating part of the human settlement.
  From this analysis, the paper states that the Heart does not only concern the Post War reconstruction of the cities as has been generally thought.
  On the contrary, the Heart of the City is still a valid issue in our contemporary urban condition and it deals with the progressive, contemporary topic of a correct synergy between social and physical space, between the private and public sphere.

  The “Heart of the City”, title of the 8th CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne), held in 1951, is a contradictory and pervasive figure of speech which has marked a thinking and urban transition after the 2nd World War and still affects our contemporary urban and social condition.
  In 1951, two opposite urban conditions are considered by Sert, President of CIAM, as main issues which the Heart discourse should face: from the disappearance of city centres because of the destruction of the War to the negation of the urban centrality because of urban sprawl and the infinite constant enlargement of city boundaries. But the Heart itself also represents two different figures of speeches, the symbol and the metaphor: from one side it becomes a humanist symbol “which springs directly to the senses without explanation”, in opposition to the
  “mechanized killing”, to the “tyranny of mechanical tools” as stressed by Giedion...

  The “Heart of the City”, title of the 8th CIAM (Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne), held in 1951, is a contradictory and pervasive figure of speech which has marked a thinking and urban transition after the 2nd World War and still affects our contemporary urban and social...

  Leonardo Zuccaro Marchi

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• Unique Case of Squatter Prevention Projects in Turkey: the Tozkoparan Neighbourhood, Istanbul

  Istanbul is a metropolitan city, owing the foundations of its physical form to many harsh urban decisions made through the 1950's. Rapid urbanization and internal immigrations, caused an urgent need of housing resulted in an uncontrolled, unplanned growth of the city. The public authorities, constrained by an inertia, offered only limited solutions to shelter the urban poor. Instead, the public investments were assigned to the construction of new highways and housing for middle to upper middle class. Old neighbourhoods in the historic center of the city were torn apart in order to accommodate a new, automobile-based life style and many former residents of the city had to be evicted and relocated. 
  
  Tozkoparan neighbourhood, the case study investigated in this paper, is the first example of “Squatter Prevention Projects”, an exception to the urban conditions, as it is a public housing project intended to shelter those evicted from their houses or incapable to dwell in formal houses. Among a limited number of projects countrywide, Squatter Prevention Projects were made possible with the Squatter Act of 1966. Yet with the shifting urban politics after 1980's, these projects become the target of a new, urban renewal discourse, which would result in a radical transformation of the neighbourhoods. 
  
  An investigation across changing housing politics in Turkey shows firstly the state organizations' late attempt to deal with the internal immigration and an unplanned expansion of illegal neighbourhoods. The immigration provided the required labour power for the growing city, yet the housing policies could not manage the increase of urban population. A big part of the new inhabitants had to find their own solution. Finally the social state was able to provide the necessary investment into social housing. The case study also reveals that it has been a critical point in the urban planning history of Turkey, the attempt of becoming a social state was interrupted by military coups and newly introduced neoliberal politics.
  
  Our paper, at first, briefly depicts the Act of 1966 and the Tozkoparan Project. Secondly, offering a short overview of the last 40 years of the neighbourhood, deals with the emerging issue of the so-called liberal policies against the urban poor. The spatial interventions done by the inhabitants through this period are also considered as an important aspect of this overview. Respectively many of the appropriations show the lack of certain qualities in the planning of the project.

  Istanbul is a metropolitan city, owing the foundations of its physical form to many harsh urban decisions made through the 1950's. Rapid urbanization and internal immigrations, caused an urgent need of housing resulted in an uncontrolled, unplanned growth of the city. The public authorities, constrained by an inertia, offered only limited solutions to shelter the urban poor. Instead, the public investments were assigned to the construction of new highways and housing for middle to upper middle class. Old neighbourhoods in the historic center of the city were torn apart in order to accommodate a new, automobile-based life style and many former residents of the city had to be evicted and relocated. 
  
  Tozkoparan neighbourhood, the case study investigated in this paper, is the first example of “Squatter Prevention Projects”, an exception to the urban conditions, as it is a public housing project intended to shelter those evicted from their houses or...

  Istanbul is a metropolitan city, owing the foundations of its physical form to many harsh urban decisions made through the 1950's. Rapid urbanization and internal immigrations, caused an urgent need of housing resulted in an uncontrolled, unplanned growth of the city. The public...

  Sebnem Soher, Ipek Akpinar

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• How to understand the history of housing planning in modern Serbia to achieve new quality in housing?

  The topic of (post)socialist housing has been in the spotlight of European science for years. It has usually been examined in relation to specific social and economic aspects, such as tenant rights, social affordability or the issue of rents. Furthermore, it has been interpreted through the lenses of functional and physical aspects, close to urban planning. Nevertheless, scientific research traditionally makes a clear distinction between (post)socialist housing and its “counterpart” in Western Europe, regardless of the aforementioned aspects. However, this “dichotomy” has not been clear-cut in all parts of Europe. The space of former Yugoslavia is a good example of this ascertainment. Centrally positioned, Serbia has had a particularly interesting history of housing planning. Both western/capitalist and eastern/socialist influences have blended in Serbian housing since the beginning of modern age, in early 20th century. The former Oriental matrix of housing has gradually transformed into a specific urban construct through mixed influences. It began with early capitalist progress, which formed both the first modern housing and the informal housing in interwar period. The second period was very interesting because of a unique socialist model in housing with numerous western influences. The last period, i.e. post-socialist transformation, has brought some remnants from the past; visible informality has been developed side by side with new market-oriented housing models, causing observable housing segregation. This situation has created a new distinctiveness of Serbian housing. The purpose of this research is to understand these planning patterns of housing in Serbia, aiming to give recommendations and guidelines for a more resistant and proactive housing planning. This aim will be achieved through the critical presentation of the mentioned three periods. Significant effort will be put into headlining the distinctiveness of the planning of Serbian housing, which can be a crucial element for its qualitative transformation.
  
  BIBLIOGRAPHY:
  1) Antonić, B., Mitrović, B., Ralević, M. (2014). The Challenges of Housing Regulation in Serbian Legislation: Towards European Context and Best Practices. In: V. Mako, V. Lojanica (Eds.) HOUSING Development in Serbia in the Context of Globalization and Integrations. Vol. 3, Strategies and Models (pp. 167- 177). Belgrade: Faculty of Architecture, ISBN 978-86-7924-134-4; COBISS.SR-ID 212398092.
  2) Hamilton, I., Dimitrovska Andrews, K., Pichler-Milanović, N. (2005) Transformation of cities in central and Eastern Europe: Towards globalization. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
  3) Mitrović, B., Antonić, B. (2014). The Chances for Achieving Urban Social Cohesion: Case Study of Belgrade Informal Settlement as a Pilot Project for New Social Housing, In: Book of Proceedings of International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference SGEM -Volume: 14/1 / Informatics, geoinformatics and remote sensing, SGEM Scientific Papers DataBase (pp. 581-588); Varna, Bulgaria: STEF92 Technology Ltd. ISBN 978-619-7105-10-0; ISSN 1314-2704; DOI: 10.5593/SGEM2014/B62/S27.087; hi-index 3 by Thomson Reuters, hi-index 5 by Scopus.
  4) Petrović, M. (2014) Društvo i gradovi između lokalnog i globalnog (Society and Cities between Localization and Globalization). Belgrade: Institut za sociološka istraživanja.
  5) Tsenkova, S. (2005) Trends and Progress in Housing Reforms in South Eastern Europe. Paris: Council of Europe Development Bank.

  The topic of (post)socialist housing has been in the spotlight of European science for years. It has usually been examined in relation to specific social and economic aspects, such as tenant rights, social affordability or the issue of rents. Furthermore, it has been interpreted through the lenses of functional and physical aspects, close to urban planning. Nevertheless, scientific research traditionally makes a clear distinction between (post)socialist housing and its “counterpart” in Western Europe, regardless of the aforementioned aspects. However, this “dichotomy” has not been clear-cut in all parts of Europe. The space of former Yugoslavia is a good example of this ascertainment. Centrally positioned, Serbia has had a particularly interesting history of housing planning. Both western/capitalist and eastern/socialist influences have blended in Serbian housing since the beginning of modern age, in early 20th century. The former Oriental matrix of housing has...

  The topic of (post)socialist housing has been in the spotlight of European science for years. It has usually been examined in relation to specific social and economic aspects, such as tenant rights, social affordability or the issue of rents. Furthermore, it has been interpreted through the...

  Branislav Antonic

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• Tram-cars, tents, igloos and garages: An institutional-theoretical lens on temporary dwellings in Australia

  Following World War II, Australia was confronted by a severe shortage of dwellings. One relief valve for some cities was a stock of un-serviced building lots situated on the suburban fringe. In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, thousands of aspiring home-owners purchased such land but, affected by shortages of money and materials, were only able to construct a temporary dwelling. These homes ranged from shacks and garages to tram-cars, Nissen-huts and tents.
  
  The post-war phenomenon of such housing in Australia has been neglected both empirically and theoretically. This paper draws upon Sorensen’s suggestion of Historical Institutionalism in an attempt to pursue the theoretical challenge. The proposition explored is that the existence of temporary dwellings in Sydney was evidence of a critical juncture in the institutionalised regulation of housing, creating opportunities for policy change. Firstly, local authorities were forced to permit the occupation of dwellings which did not comply with existing ordinances, and secondly, they adapted their regulations to give permanent approval to sub-standard accommodation. 
  
  The paper concludes by suggesting that policy changes reverted to the institutionalised model for two reasons: path dependency and positive feedback mechanisms privileged those committed to an unchanged institution, while the permanent housing converged with adapted regulations.

  Following World War II, Australia was confronted by a severe shortage of dwellings. One relief valve for some cities was a stock of un-serviced building lots situated on the suburban fringe. In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, thousands of aspiring home-owners purchased such land but, affected by shortages of money and materials, were only able to construct a temporary dwelling. These homes ranged from shacks and garages to tram-cars, Nissen-huts and tents.
  
  The post-war phenomenon of such housing in Australia has been neglected both empirically and theoretically. This paper draws upon Sorensen’s suggestion of Historical Institutionalism in an attempt to pursue the theoretical challenge. The proposition explored is that the existence of temporary dwellings in Sydney was evidence of a critical juncture in the institutionalised regulation of housing, creating opportunities for policy change. Firstly, local authorities were forced to permit the...

  Following World War II, Australia was confronted by a severe shortage of dwellings. One relief valve for some cities was a stock of un-serviced building lots situated on the suburban fringe. In Sydney, Australia’s largest city, thousands of aspiring home-owners purchased such land but,...

  Nicola Pullan

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• The Neoliberal Urbanization in São Paulo, Brazil: the case of Agusta Park

  The purpose of this article is to understand the consequences of accelerated neoliberal urbanization in the city of São Paulo by analyzing the Augusta Park and it’s environs. The study is justified because this city has been pursuing neoliberal practices that generate social and urban fragmentation. The current neoliberal scenario transforms the urban space and restructures the city, it creates marginalized and segregated urban environments, and replaces public spaces with private amenities. The research question is the following: Does Augusta Park represent a kind of resistance to accelerated neoliberal urbanization in São Paulo? To support this research, we use a qualitative methodology in order to demonstrate the urban destruction that threatens this area, the object of this study. First, we contextualize the Augusta Park as a public space with twenty four thousand square metres, located on Augusta Street, in the downtown area of São Paulo, representing a significant green area, a scarce amenity in this region. Then we demonstrate that in recent years, due to the increasing valuation of real estate in the downtown area, the region has become a strong target for the property market who intend to suppress the Park to make way for modern and luxurious housing. This fact has generated a large mobilization of the park’s users, locals and others, who demand that this area be preserved and handed over to the population in the form of a public space in all of its integrity. The case remains a legal process in the courts due to the influence of real estate capital on the Government. The research aims to reveal the historical and urban importance of the Park for the region and the impact of the developers activities in the urban environment. Historically the above issues have been justified by man’s domination of his environment. So, it is inevitable to analyse the instruments for environmental protection, especially National Urban Development Policy in Brazil. In conclusion we believe that the urban landscape of the city of São Paulo is changing quickly and intensely, causing profound changes to the city’s structure. The accelerated neoliberal urbanization process contributes significantly to this scenario with the main actors being the property and financial markets. Despite neoliberal practices producing devastating effects on the local way of life, promoting the disintegration of history as well as the memory of the city and decaying urban spaces definitively, Augusta Park reveals itself as a potential resistance to this neoliberal influence.

  The purpose of this article is to understand the consequences of accelerated neoliberal urbanization in the city of São Paulo by analyzing the Augusta Park and it’s environs. The study is justified because this city has been pursuing neoliberal practices that generate social and urban fragmentation. The current neoliberal scenario transforms the urban space and restructures the city, it creates marginalized and segregated urban environments, and replaces public spaces with private amenities. The research question is the following: Does Augusta Park represent a kind of resistance to accelerated neoliberal urbanization in São Paulo? To support this research, we use a qualitative methodology in order to demonstrate the urban destruction that threatens this area, the object of this study. First, we contextualize the Augusta Park as a public space with twenty four thousand square metres, located on Augusta Street, in the downtown area of São Paulo, representing a significant...

  The purpose of this article is to understand the consequences of accelerated neoliberal urbanization in the city of São Paulo by analyzing the Augusta Park and it’s environs. The study is justified because this city has been pursuing neoliberal practices that generate social and urban...

  Dan Levy, Carla Liguori

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• Towards a sustainable plan for new tube houses in Vietnam

  In Vietnam, the history of cities can easily be seen through their urban patterns, landscapes and housing typologies. Most recently, the economic reform in 1986 has resulted in huge impact on the Vietnamese society. The rapid economic growth and privatisation of the market has resulted in the appearance and significant development of the “new tube house” which soon became the most dominant housing type in Vietnam. Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, has a long history and also is very rich in architectural styles and typologies which are reflected in its urban pattern. However, there is no actual clear boundary in urban scale as the new tube houses are scattered all over the city and they are adapted differently to the contexts. This paper aims to investigate how the traditional urban tube houses in Hanoi transformed into the new tube house and, on the other hand, present the results of a survey conducted in Vietnam on how these houses respond to the Vietnam local climate and perform in terms of energy consumption.

  In Vietnam, the history of cities can easily be seen through their urban patterns, landscapes and housing typologies. Most recently, the economic reform in 1986 has resulted in huge impact on the Vietnamese society. The rapid economic growth and privatisation of the market has resulted in the appearance and significant development of the “new tube house” which soon became the most dominant housing type in Vietnam. Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, has a long history and also is very rich in architectural styles and typologies which are reflected in its urban pattern. However, there is no actual clear boundary in urban scale as the new tube houses are scattered all over the city and they are adapted differently to the contexts. This paper aims to investigate how the traditional urban tube houses in Hanoi transformed into the new tube house and, on the other hand, present the results of a survey conducted in Vietnam on how these houses respond to the Vietnam local climate...

  In Vietnam, the history of cities can easily be seen through their urban patterns, landscapes and housing typologies. Most recently, the economic reform in 1986 has resulted in huge impact on the Vietnamese society. The rapid economic growth and privatisation of the market has resulted in...

  Phan Anh Nguyen

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• Patrick Geddes as Social-ecologist: A century of mapping underused spaces in Dublin.

  The emergent discourse on urban resilience can be considered a response to the rapid pace of change and severe challenges facing urban areas. Urban resilience is understood as the application of social-ecological systems thinking to urbanised areas, and to have evolved from the study of ecological systems in the 1970s. This paper reports on research that places the discourse in a broader legacy that relates back to the emergence of the town planning movement.
  The research is carried out as part of the inter- and trans-disciplinary EU FP7 TURAS project (Transitioning to Urban Resilience and Sustainability) (2011-2016), which seeks new approaches to urban planning and governance that can build urban resilience. This paper identifies the mapping of underused spaces as an example, exploring the practice through re-examination of a map showing vacant sites in Dublin from 1914 influenced by Patrick Geddes (1854-1932), and review of an experimental online civic engagement platform called ‘Re-Using Dublin’ that was developed by the TURAS Project in 2015.
  Patrick Geddes interpreted the world in terms of social-ecological systems and applied this intelligence to the city. Geddes was a key figure in the emergence of the town planning movement and has been a reference point for successive environmental planning discourses. This paper re-examines aspects of Geddesian theory and practice in the context of the contemporary discourse on urban resilience. Parallels are drawn between Geddesian thinking and social-ecological resilience thinking in relation to the humanity-nature relationship, city in transition, and community capital, before focusing in on Geddesian thinking in relation to the practice of surveying and vacant sites.
  Geddes recognized the potential of a multi-disciplinary, inclusive and interactive process of civic survey as a means to engage citizens with local issues, and by extension with global issues. Underused spaces were considered a resource for alternative uses and the 1914 Dublin map of vacant sites provided a management tool for change in response to a severe housing crisis. A century later, Geddesian thinking can be observed in contemporary ICT applications such as ‘Reusing Dublin’, which facilitates the mapping of underused spaces in a participatory civic survey process. Underused spaces are identified through student projects and online crowd-sourcing. Users can discover and share information on any identified underused space and connect with others in relation to any particular space. The website therefore aims to empower citizens to identify opportunities and self-organise, building adaptive capacity to change in an uncertain future. A network of underused spaces is revealed, providing a landscape of opportunities within which communities, municipalities, spatial practitioners and other stakeholders can precipitate social-ecological innovation through adaptive co-management and co-design.
  The paper therefore seeks to illustrate that Geddesian ideas on vacant sites and civic engagement through the practice of surveying are still very relevant and informing new experimental practices in Dublin, and that the mapping of underused spaces might be considered an example of what urban resilience means in practice.

  The emergent discourse on urban resilience can be considered a response to the rapid pace of change and severe challenges facing urban areas. Urban resilience is understood as the application of social-ecological systems thinking to urbanised areas, and to have evolved from the study of ecological systems in the 1970s. This paper reports on research that places the discourse in a broader legacy that relates back to the emergence of the town planning movement.
  The research is carried out as part of the inter- and trans-disciplinary EU FP7 TURAS project (Transitioning to Urban Resilience and Sustainability) (2011-2016), which seeks new approaches to urban planning and governance that can build urban resilience. This paper identifies the mapping of underused spaces as an example, exploring the practice through re-examination of a map showing vacant sites in Dublin from 1914 influenced by Patrick Geddes (1854-1932), and review of an experimental online civic...

  The emergent discourse on urban resilience can be considered a response to the rapid pace of change and severe challenges facing urban areas. Urban resilience is understood as the application of social-ecological systems thinking to urbanised areas, and to have evolved from the study of...

  Philip Crowe, Karen Foley

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• Ebenezer Howard Idea in the planning of Krakow. A short history

  Neither professional planner nor architect, Ebenezer Howard has remained an outstanding figure in the field of planning and, more generally, shaping the structure and image of contemporary cities. His Garden City notion has been used, or sometimes misused, in numerous projects, quotations, references and other forms of attention being paid.
  
  Howard’s 1898 publication became known to Polish readers, through reviews, as early as in 1899. In 1912 Howard paid a brief visit to Krakow. He delivered a lecture there and, after having gained some site orientation, issued comments on Krakow urban development. His calling Krakow ”a garden city from natural growth” was proudly quoted in there.
  
  Since Howard had fully published his concept and visited the city, Krakow faced a number of challenges which added new stages to its thousand-year-long development history and resulted in new urban forms and heritage. In 1918 the city ceased to be powerful Austrian fortress it had been since 1850, while the 1909-1915 eight-fold enlargement resulted in substantial opportunities of development on vast “Great Krakow” areas. Its harmonious urban development during the Polish Second Republic (1918-1939) was broken by the World War II and Nazi occupation (1939-1945). The city’s rapid growth in the communist Poland (1945-1989) started in 1949 with the construction of Nowa Huta, a planned “Socialist” city next to Krakow and continued until 1988 with numerous Modernist housing projects and industrialization. Since in 1989-1990 market economy and self-government were restored in Poland, the city, despite unaltered area and population figures, has been turning into a metropolitan centre through intensification and thorough transformations.
  
  It could be initially expected that, like most new theories, Howard’s ideas would sink into oblivion in Krakow. However, they have never been entirely forgotten. Some of the urban challenges were responded with the solutions influenced by the Garden City concept. Although the attempts to link the Salwator Hill housing project (1908) with Howard’s ideas have already been proved impossible, some of the Interwar Period projects, especially the Officers’ Neighbourhoods (planned in 1924-1932), based on the regulation plans, seem to have been inspired by the Garden City. Another case can be found in the first neighbourhoods of Nowa Huta, which had been designed in 1949 before the Socialist Realism doctrine fully took over until 1955. And recently Garden City seems to be a notion appreciated by potential customers and therefore used in advertisements on new housing projects, however that usually differs from what Howard actually meant. 
  
  The article deals with direct and indirect impact of Howard’s concept upon Krakow urban development in particular periods. According to the research the extent of Garden City concept’s influence was weakening with time. The range of effects and the number of examples of Garden-City-related approach was limited. Moreover, the popularity of Howard’s concept did not necessarily mean sharing his original views. Finally, it would be less justified to call Krakow “the garden city from natural growth” nowadays than over a hundred years ago.

  Neither professional planner nor architect, Ebenezer Howard has remained an outstanding figure in the field of planning and, more generally, shaping the structure and image of contemporary cities. His Garden City notion has been used, or sometimes misused, in numerous projects, quotations, references and other forms of attention being paid.
  
  Howard’s 1898 publication became known to Polish readers, through reviews, as early as in 1899. In 1912 Howard paid a brief visit to Krakow. He delivered a lecture there and, after having gained some site orientation, issued comments on Krakow urban development. His calling Krakow ”a garden city from natural growth” was proudly quoted in there.
  
  Since Howard had fully published his concept and visited the city, Krakow faced a number of challenges which added new stages to its thousand-year-long development history and resulted in new urban forms and heritage. In 1918 the city ceased to be...

  Neither professional planner nor architect, Ebenezer Howard has remained an outstanding figure in the field of planning and, more generally, shaping the structure and image of contemporary cities. His Garden City notion has been used, or sometimes misused, in numerous projects, quotations,...

  Maciej Motak

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• The city as an environmental assets intended to satisfy people’s healthy quality of life in contrast to the irregular occupation of land in Brazil

  The Brazilian urban development has created a lack of housing and irregular settlements in some urban centers which are problems caused by the inefficacy of the land reform, the industrialization process, the rural exodus and the lack of urban planning. With the 1988 Federal Constitution the city with its two realities, regular and irregular establishments, takes on the legal nature of an environmental good, having the social function of property (article 5, section XXIII, Federal Constitution), the capitalist economic system and the respect for human being dignity (article 1, sections III and IV, Federal Constitution) as guiding principles. That way, the private and public good binomial doesn’t have to be treated under the legal structure of the environmental good (article 225, Federal Constitution), which provides an immediate tutelage according to articles 182 and 183 of the Federal Constitution.
  This article intends to show the historical evolution of the right to property and housing until it reached the current Brazilian urban scenario, which complies with Law 10257/01.
  Such structure requires that the clash between the right to property, the right to housing and the ecologically balanced environment, which makes for a healthy life quality, be analyzed. 
  So how can the right to housing be guaranteed and the ecologically balanced environment be ensured? To try to answer this question, we will look into the Collective Urban Acquisitive Prescription which we think provides the social function of property and the right to housing with efficacy, allowing the regularization of irregular areas and later urbanization. 
  Property is a fundamental right, guiding the economic order, laid down in article 5, section XXII, and article 170, section II, in the 1988 Federal Constitution. With clear social dimensions, established in article 5, section XXIII, in the 1988 Federal Constitution, the exercise of the domain attributes is now subject to the social interest. 
  Therefore, the right to property is now seen as subject to limitations created by the Constitution itself, acquiring a new function, where the well-being of the community is related to the social function of the urban and city property, which through the use of the City Statute tools, such as the collective acquisitive prescription, allows for the organization of the urban space, which in turn is directly connected with the healthy quality of life. 
  Thus, strong harmonic movements demand everybody’s participation in the decision-making process to break conservative barriers concerning the topic. The article will be based on the Brazilian Federal Constitution, the City Statute and reference work.

  The Brazilian urban development has created a lack of housing and irregular settlements in some urban centers which are problems caused by the inefficacy of the land reform, the industrialization process, the rural exodus and the lack of urban planning. With the 1988 Federal Constitution the city with its two realities, regular and irregular establishments, takes on the legal nature of an environmental good, having the social function of property (article 5, section XXIII, Federal Constitution), the capitalist economic system and the respect for human being dignity (article 1, sections III and IV, Federal Constitution) as guiding principles. That way, the private and public good binomial doesn’t have to be treated under the legal structure of the environmental good (article 225, Federal Constitution), which provides an immediate tutelage according to articles 182 and 183 of the Federal Constitution.
  This article intends to show the historical evolution of...

  The Brazilian urban development has created a lack of housing and irregular settlements in some urban centers which are problems caused by the inefficacy of the land reform, the industrialization process, the rural exodus and the lack of urban planning. With the 1988 Federal Constitution...

  Simone Cardoso, Adriana Yaghisian

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• Insurgent Urbanism: alternative modes of production and appropriation of urban space in the outskirts of Sao Paulo

  This paper presents a research on new forms of appropriation of public space through actions that are self-managed and crosscutting to government arrangements, led by decentralized groups, organized so anarchic and horizontal, flexible and situational, which has been called in Brazil as "urban collectives". Because of theirs critical stance to the status quo and limiting forms of access to urban, these groups propose alternative ways to use, look, plan, discuss, build and inhabit the city, we call: insurgent urbanism. Therefore, this paper seeks to understand the appropriation of public spaces by these groups in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, on the margins of large investments primarily cultural. We presents some mapping of these groups and their actions in the North, East and South zones of the city, which have significant and increasing number of micro urban interventions with strong political character, but which are still not known because they are off-axis "center - west", recognized as a creativity axis. In these periphery areas, the key element is the functionality and the potential for organization to fight, argue and claim for public policy for the communities of the suburbs. The aim is to understand its legitimacy as a social organization, and the public sphere concepts tied to the emergence of these groups in Brazil. By mapping the alternatives that has been made in these areas, one can compare them with the actions developed in the most valued areas of the city, identifying conceptual approaches and significant differences in these actions. The historical context in which the "urban collectives" arised in Brazil is from the 1990s, in a productive post-restructuring period, which resulted in the deepening socio-spatial inequalities in São Paulo. Also during this period, the construction of shopping malls and gated communities grew; there was the spread of the culture of fear, with expansion of buildings with prison walls, private security and traffic controls, fragmenting the city and aggravating inequality between extremes of the population. At this time, the excluded population manifests itself, creating a real "civil war for places", ie a clash between the city "militarized" versus the resumption of public space by the population, especially through cultural movements in the periphery. The popular uprisings, spontaneous interventions or ephemeral architectures, ie, micro urban interventions represent demands and emergencies, with the motto citizens as key player in the city's production. Network communication and increased access to information influence largely social organizations from that time, becoming the main tool used by the collectives for their articulation. One should note that the forms of collective action currently differ from those of the last century, trade unions, for example. Self-managed, decentralized, with horizontal hierarchical, allowing certain nomadism, they use short-term and tactical actions, to reach long-term changes. Thus, this research aims to provide conclusive data not only for the understanding of these experiences in the peripheral areas of São Paulo, but mainly to provide support to the urbanist generates solutions that really meet the demand of the population, respecting cultural differences of each region.

  This paper presents a research on new forms of appropriation of public space through actions that are self-managed and crosscutting to government arrangements, led by decentralized groups, organized so anarchic and horizontal, flexible and situational, which has been called in Brazil as "urban collectives". Because of theirs critical stance to the status quo and limiting forms of access to urban, these groups propose alternative ways to use, look, plan, discuss, build and inhabit the city, we call: insurgent urbanism. Therefore, this paper seeks to understand the appropriation of public spaces by these groups in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, on the margins of large investments primarily cultural. We presents some mapping of these groups and their actions in the North, East and South zones of the city, which have significant and increasing number of micro urban interventions with strong political character, but which are still not known because they are off-axis "center - west",...

  This paper presents a research on new forms of appropriation of public space through actions that are self-managed and crosscutting to government arrangements, led by decentralized groups, organized so anarchic and horizontal, flexible and situational, which has been called in Brazil as...

  Maria Carolina Maziviero

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• A history of visions and plans for the transformation of a coastal tourism city into a knowledge city: Australia’s Gold Coast

  Many coastal mass tourism centres have attempted to reinvent themselves as they have grown from informal coastal towns into large cities. Lifestyle migration boosts urban growth as these cities become home to ‘permanent tourists’ attracted by the characteristics that attract tourism. Australia’s best known resort, the Queensland Gold Coast, provides a case study of a resort region experiencing similar transformations to those noted in Honolulu, Miami and Sitges, Spain. These cities have pursued broader socioeconomic resilience rather than the common strategy of simply expanding or improving their tourism appeal. Using literature review and documentary research, this paper traces how ideas of a ‘knowledge city’ have featured in Gold Coast planning history since the 1980s, through proposals including an ‘innovation corridor’, ‘research triangle’, a designated knowledge precinct and the development of universities and hospitals under plans and strategies for economic development. Although implementation has been sporadic, the case study demonstrates a continuity in narrative that has shaped outcomes towards the desired ‘knowledge city’, thereby creating a more cohesive urban structure integrating knowledge nodes, town centres and urban transport infrastructure investments. This case study will add knowledge to inform planners grappling with the transformation of similar coastal tourism areas into significant cities.

  Many coastal mass tourism centres have attempted to reinvent themselves as they have grown from informal coastal towns into large cities. Lifestyle migration boosts urban growth as these cities become home to ‘permanent tourists’ attracted by the characteristics that attract tourism. Australia’s best known resort, the Queensland Gold Coast, provides a case study of a resort region experiencing similar transformations to those noted in Honolulu, Miami and Sitges, Spain. These cities have pursued broader socioeconomic resilience rather than the common strategy of simply expanding or improving their tourism appeal. Using literature review and documentary research, this paper traces how ideas of a ‘knowledge city’ have featured in Gold Coast planning history since the 1980s, through proposals including an ‘innovation corridor’, ‘research triangle’, a designated knowledge precinct and the development of universities and hospitals under plans and strategies for...

  Many coastal mass tourism centres have attempted to reinvent themselves as they have grown from informal coastal towns into large cities. Lifestyle migration boosts urban growth as these cities become home to ‘permanent tourists’ attracted by the characteristics that attract tourism....

  Daniel O'Hare

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• Neighbourhood Regeneration in Istanbul – from Earthquake Mitigation to Planned Displacement and Gentrification

  The paper analyses the development of neighbourhood regeneration in Istanbul since the 1999 Marmara earthquake, contrasting initial concepts and policy recommendations with actual policies and outcomes. It draws on original research to develop an analytical framework which focuses on the evolving inter-relationship between academic and professional discourses, innovative neighbourhood projects and central government’s neo-liberal economic and political strategies. 
  The analysis identifies three phases. The first was the initial response to the 1999 earthquake, in the context of recovery from the 2001 recession, the early EU harmonisation process and the advent of single party (Justice and Development Party-AKP) government. This focussed attention on the legacy of the unregulated growth of Istanbul in the second half of the 20th century – thousands of poorly constructed earthquake vulnerable apartment blocks. The metropolitan municipality commissioned studies from local universities and international experts. Combined with an EU funded pilot project, this innovative research established the key components of a Turkish model of strategic earthquake resilient redevelopment of poor neighbourhoods, with minimum gentrification.
  But in the context of a rapidly growing economy, faltering EU harmonization and a second term for an increasingly pro-development government the second phase was dominated by the controversial implementation of the 2005 renewal law No. 5366 in the city’s historic districts. The central government housing development agency TOKI became the leading actor, working in partnership with district municipalities. Implementation was epitomized by the Sulukule Project which destroyed the Roma community. In parallel, the Fener-Balat EU project was succeeded by a construction company-led project which promoted gentrification. There was growing collective resistance from residents to regeneration projects in gecekondu (squatter) neighbourhoods. The concept of neighbourhood regeneration as earthquake mitigation was marginalized - gentrification was seen as a greater threat. 
  A third term AKP administration prioritised supporting the construction sector to sustain economic development in the aftermath of the global downturn, but it also had to respond to the 2011 Van earthquake. The third phase began with the 2012 urban regeneration law No. 6306 which aimed to stimulate neighbourhood regeneration outside historic districts. Forty Urban Regeneration Areas have been designated in fifteen districts, through processes controlled by central government. However these neighbourhoods are generally not those most vulnerable to earthquake destruction, but those where redevelopment is highly profitable. A case study of Bağcılar illustrates the limitations of contemporary practice but also identifies positive developments which could be built on under changed circumstances.
  The paper concludes that the 20th century solutions to the challenges of urbanisation have substantially defined the neighbourhood regeneration problems of the 21st century and that current ‘top-down’ neo-liberal urban policies will not protect the poor from future earthquakes. Two parallel tasks are proposed for progressive academics and professionals: ‘bottom-up’ empirical research to provide hard evidence of the socially regressive outcomes of current practice and its failure to deliver earthquake resilience; and the definition of alternative models of neighbourhood regeneration, together with a specification of the changes in national policies necessary to deliver them.

  The paper analyses the development of neighbourhood regeneration in Istanbul since the 1999 Marmara earthquake, contrasting initial concepts and policy recommendations with actual policies and outcomes. It draws on original research to develop an analytical framework which focuses on the evolving inter-relationship between academic and professional discourses, innovative neighbourhood projects and central government’s neo-liberal economic and political strategies. 
  The analysis identifies three phases. The first was the initial response to the 1999 earthquake, in the context of recovery from the 2001 recession, the early EU harmonisation process and the advent of single party (Justice and Development Party-AKP) government. This focussed attention on the legacy of the unregulated growth of Istanbul in the second half of the 20th century – thousands of poorly constructed earthquake vulnerable apartment blocks. The metropolitan municipality commissioned...

  The paper analyses the development of neighbourhood regeneration in Istanbul since the 1999 Marmara earthquake, contrasting initial concepts and policy recommendations with actual policies and outcomes. It draws on original research to develop an analytical framework which focuses on the...

  Mike Gibson, Zeynep Ayşe Gökşin

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• Gorakhpur: A Case Study of Resiliency

  India with its immense geographic diversity faces multidimensional risks to climate change. Increased flooding, heavy storms and extreme weather events are affecting people's everyday life significantly. According to 'India Today' (September, 2015), the country has a strong history of getting affected by floods starting from 'Bihar floods' in 1987, 'Maharastra floods' in 2005, 'Assam floods' in 2012, 'Uttarakhand floods' in 2013, 'Jammu & Kashmir flash floods' in 2014 & recently 'Chennai flood' in 2015. Statistics related to its devastating effects show how weak infrastructure and services magnify the impacts of extreme events for modern cities.
  
  Henceforth, Government of India, while envisioning '100 New Smart Cities' or 'Rejuvenation of 500 old cities' (AMRUT, 2015), does resilience get priority? This research paper will try to investigate the nature of resiliency we should envisage through the case of Gorakhpur (a city located in Uttar Pradesh), because of country's rapid physical as well as climatic transformation, in order to assure safety & sustenance first for its people.
  
  The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), supported by the Rockefeller Foundation was launched in 2009 to create climate resilience strategies and action models in 10 cities across four countries in Asia. Gorakhpur was one of the three pilot cities in India to have developed their resilience strategies under the ACCCRN network. Multiple stakeholders joined hands with the city governments to develop resiliency strategies and identified pilot adoption projects for implementation. 
  
  “We say ‘live with the flood, our lives were in tune with the floods,” having said that Shiraz Wajih, the Director of GEAG further explains the transformed context of Gorakhpur. “But now the floods come very fast. There are flash floods, landslides and more water logging. So in spite of best preparedness, no one is ready for such uncertainties.” The emerging context of pre-disaster, disaster and post-disaster periods has brought Gorakhpur authorities, civil society experts and farming communities together to work on climate change issues at the heart of disaster preparation plans for last few years.
  
  The impact of the implementation of simple techniques to protect lives and property of the individual tenant farmer when extreme floods and storms arrive is to be documented and described. Necessary actions taken in a ‘response-centric’ manner include running community seed banks with climate-resilient seeds and sharing knowledge about diverse, traditional crop varieties, incorporating locally developed solutions to protect housing from intense storms, to covering crop stores when rain is on the way, and making simple flotation devices to protect non-swimmers.(Rooting Resilience in ODDS, 2011)
  
  The research enquiry will also acknowledge its historical reference by showcasing country's successful example of 'Flood Resiliency'. The sustenance of 3000 year old city, Varanasi on the western bank of Ganges, was assured by putting majestic ghats along with high retaining wall across the span of 'erosion edge'. Contextual reference of such traditional physical planning principles along with a critical analysis on local government & community empowerment will initiate discussion on how contemporary inclusive resilient planning strategies can be framed for modern India.

  India with its immense geographic diversity faces multidimensional risks to climate change. Increased flooding, heavy storms and extreme weather events are affecting people's everyday life significantly. According to 'India Today' (September, 2015), the country has a strong history of getting affected by floods starting from 'Bihar floods' in 1987, 'Maharastra floods' in 2005, 'Assam floods' in 2012, 'Uttarakhand floods' in 2013, 'Jammu & Kashmir flash floods' in 2014 & recently 'Chennai flood' in 2015. Statistics related to its devastating effects show how weak infrastructure and services magnify the impacts of extreme events for modern cities.
  
  Henceforth, Government of India, while envisioning '100 New Smart Cities' or 'Rejuvenation of 500 old cities' (AMRUT, 2015), does resilience get priority? This research paper will try to investigate the nature of resiliency we should envisage through the case of Gorakhpur (a city located in Uttar...

  India with its immense geographic diversity faces multidimensional risks to climate change. Increased flooding, heavy storms and extreme weather events are affecting people's everyday life significantly. According to 'India Today' (September, 2015), the country has a strong history of...

  Debayan Chatterjee, Suzanne Frasier, Niyanta Muku

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• THE RECONSTRUCTION OF GIBELLINA AFTER THE BELICE EARTHQUAKE OF 1968

  On 15 January 1968 a catastrophic earthquake struck fourteen towns of the Belice Valley. In half of the cases in the reconstruction plans it was decided to abandon and raze the old settlements affected by the earthquake and to build new ones in different places and not always close to their original centers. These ‘new’ cities were specifically Gibellina, Santa Margherita Belice, Vita, Menfi, Santa Ninfa, Montevago and Poggioreale.
  Among these centers Gibellina was the most damaged and the town was built about 18 kilometers away from the old settlement in an area within Salemi, where the highway and the railroad converged, in an attempt to take away the new center from the isolation in which it had lived for centuries.
  For the reconstruction of the town, similarly to what happened to other centers of Belice, a development plan was drawn up by the Istituto per l'Edilizia Sociale (ISES). The ISES, established by Italian Act No. 133 of 15 February 1963, was presented as a technical Rome-headquartered body in charge of social housing across the country and was also responsible for intervening in cases of housing reconstruction after public disasters.
  This Institute was assigned the task to elaborate the general plan, designed in an extensive urban model alien to the identity of the local population, was also responsible for the primary and secondary urbanization works, including the construction of social housing, school buildings (kindergarten and secondary school), a cemetery and a community center, in addition to the construction of a cattle and vegetable markets.
  At the same time the earthquake was the pretext for experimenting with significant projects by famous architects and artists, who were called to intervene in the new center by the then Mayor Ludovico Corrao. These professionals contributed to reconstruct the city and to make Gibellina a real ‘museum’ of modern architecture. Significant examples of the great cultural ferment that swept Gibellina since the seventies are the Cathedral by Ludovico Quaroni, the Secret Gardens by Francesco Venice, the Porta del Belice by Pietro Consagra, the system of squares designed by Laura Thermes and Franco Purini with the Civic Tower by Alessandro Mendini.
  This study aims going deeply into the case of Gibellina by analysing its new urban plan and its architectures, that represents a unicum among the cities rebuilt after strong earthquakes. For this research a variety of bibliographical and archival sources, especially the ISES fund, kept in the State Archive of Palermo, will be consulted. Particular attention will be given to the comparison between the case-study of Gibellina and the other towns of Belice destroyed by the earthquake in which the construction of the ‘new’ cities designed to replace the old centers has created identity problems that are still unsolved.

  On 15 January 1968 a catastrophic earthquake struck fourteen towns of the Belice Valley. In half of the cases in the reconstruction plans it was decided to abandon and raze the old settlements affected by the earthquake and to build new ones in different places and not always close to their original centers. These ‘new’ cities were specifically Gibellina, Santa Margherita Belice, Vita, Menfi, Santa Ninfa, Montevago and Poggioreale.
  Among these centers Gibellina was the most damaged and the town was built about 18 kilometers away from the old settlement in an area within Salemi, where the highway and the railroad converged, in an attempt to take away the new center from the isolation in which it had lived for centuries.
  For the reconstruction of the town, similarly to what happened to other centers of Belice, a development plan was drawn up by the Istituto per l'Edilizia Sociale (ISES). The ISES, established by Italian Act No. 133 of 15...

  On 15 January 1968 a catastrophic earthquake struck fourteen towns of the Belice Valley. In half of the cases in the reconstruction plans it was decided to abandon and raze the old settlements affected by the earthquake and to build new ones in different places and not always close to their...

  Federica Scibilia

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• 'Be bold, courageous and wise'; Post-war reconstruction in the city of Exeter

  The city of Exeter sustained extensive bomb damage during the Second World War, suffering a total of 18 air raids between 1940 and 1942. Exeter was designated as a blitzed city and encouraged to produce a comprehensive reconstruction plan. The resultant plan, Exeter Phoenix, was initially praised and welcomed by traders and citizens. However, it was not fully executed and later became the subject of derision. The Exeter Phoenix has been the subject of a small number of studies which have cited trader pressure and financial constraints as the reasons for the alterations, while the rebuilt central area has been criticised for its architecture, design and poor architectural control. However, it is notable that these studies have not examined the local records in any detail. As a result various factors which led to changes in Sharp’s plan have been overlooked, as have the methods which the City Council used to control the architectural treatment of the new buildings. This paper examines the city’s use of leases as method of architectural control and the handling of trader discontent in order to execute the plan. External factors such as governmental guidelines are also indicated as factors for changes in the plan.

  The city of Exeter sustained extensive bomb damage during the Second World War, suffering a total of 18 air raids between 1940 and 1942. Exeter was designated as a blitzed city and encouraged to produce a comprehensive reconstruction plan. The resultant plan, Exeter Phoenix, was initially praised and welcomed by traders and citizens. However, it was not fully executed and later became the subject of derision. The Exeter Phoenix has been the subject of a small number of studies which have cited trader pressure and financial constraints as the reasons for the alterations, while the rebuilt central area has been criticised for its architecture, design and poor architectural control. However, it is notable that these studies have not examined the local records in any detail. As a result various factors which led to changes in Sharp’s plan have been overlooked, as have the methods which the City Council used to control the architectural treatment of the new buildings. This paper...

  The city of Exeter sustained extensive bomb damage during the Second World War, suffering a total of 18 air raids between 1940 and 1942. Exeter was designated as a blitzed city and encouraged to produce a comprehensive reconstruction plan. The resultant plan, Exeter Phoenix, was initially...

  Clare Maudling

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• The presence of the Germanic ideas about urbanism at the School of Engineering from Porto Alegre, Brazil (1896 – 1930)

  The main objective of this paper is to understand and discuss the role of the School of Engineering from Porto Alegre, between the years 1896 and 1930, as a channel for the introduction of ideas about the construction of cities, according to the urbanism widespread in Germany, from the mid-nineteenth century. Thus, the work brings to discussion the main ideas about the city and the urbanism developed in Germany to understand what led this nation to be a protagonist in a scenario constituted by problems caused by the industrialization process. The concept der Städtebau was used extensively in this context in reference to the new discipline on the construction of cities.
  In the case of Porto Alegre, a capital city of the State of Rio Grande do Sul in the South of Brazil, the paper presents its context, in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, trying to correlate the strong Germanic presence with the socio-economic development of the capital, as well as with its cultural exchanges. From this, the study adopts the School of Engineering from Porto Alegre and its engineers in the period of the Old Republic, as a means of conducting historical narrative, analyzing the correlations of the School, both with the Germanic presence, as with urban issues. In order to verify the presence of the Germanic ideas about urbanism throughout the School, the research investigates which ideas circulated, as well as the means or vehicles by which these ideas have come to it. 
  The presence of original books like Der Städtebau nach seinen künstlerischen Grundsätzen from Camillo Sitte, for example, or volumes of the important Städtebauliche Vorträge aus dem Seminar für Städtebau at the Technischen Hochschule zu Berlin, organized by Joseph Brix and Felix Genzmer, were found at the library from the School of Engineering. Besides that, magazine’s articles at the EGATEA – the periodical of the School at that time - with the reinterpretation from Joseph Stübben’s speech were discovered and analyzed by the researcher. Furthermore the research identified at least two characters that, on one side, had contact with this Germanic ideology, while they studied at the Technischen Universität zu Berlin, and, on the other, established links with the School of Engineering. Finally, the text analyzes the contributions of these characters to the spreading of that ideology in Porto Alegre.

  The main objective of this paper is to understand and discuss the role of the School of Engineering from Porto Alegre, between the years 1896 and 1930, as a channel for the introduction of ideas about the construction of cities, according to the urbanism widespread in Germany, from the mid-nineteenth century. Thus, the work brings to discussion the main ideas about the city and the urbanism developed in Germany to understand what led this nation to be a protagonist in a scenario constituted by problems caused by the industrialization process. The concept der Städtebau was used extensively in this context in reference to the new discipline on the construction of cities.
  In the case of Porto Alegre, a capital city of the State of Rio Grande do Sul in the South of Brazil, the paper presents its context, in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, trying to correlate the strong Germanic presence with the socio-economic development of the capital,...

  The main objective of this paper is to understand and discuss the role of the School of Engineering from Porto Alegre, between the years 1896 and 1930, as a channel for the introduction of ideas about the construction of cities, according to the urbanism widespread in Germany, from the...

  Ines Martina Lersch

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• Assimilation of the Industrial Village concept by Japanese business circles at the turn of the 20th Century

  This study demonstrates the significance of a broader investigation into the assimilation of planning practices and concepts of western industrial villages by Japanese business circles. An early albeit lone example, is a 2016 introduction by Yorifusa Ishida describing Magosaburō Ohara’s achievement - a trial to develop an industrial village, and basic research on social reform - at the Kurashiki Bouseki Co Ltd. In addition, studies examining how Japanese academics, officials, and administrators, adopted the garden city idea primarily stem from their understanding of the writings of Ebenezer Howard (eg Watanabe, Katagi et al). However, few studies have examined Japanese business circles’ understanding of industrial villages as a broader basis for the Japanese adoption of garden city principles.
  In addition to schools of architecture, Japanese institutions of higher education such as schools of economics, agriculture, and law, collected books on western industrial villages. In general, schools of agriculture and economics had larger collections of books than schools of engineering, indicating that the idea of industrial villages, including the garden city, was accepted and taught in various contexts. Further, graduates in various fields of business could have recognized these ideas. Tokiyoshi Yokoi (1890-1927) introduced the idea of the garden city to Ohara. He taught at the Tokyo Imperial University School of Agriculture which collected books on the garden city movement. Hajime Seki (1873-1935), of the Tokyo College of Commerce, investigated the garden city concept when drafting the Kōjō Hō (the Manufacturing Act of 1911). His pupil, Masayoshi Tasaki (1880-1976), translated and introduced The Garden City Movement (1905) by G. M. Harris (with a preface by Howard) in 1917. Later, he proposed the development of a garden city for workers to the Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co Ltd.
  By analysing an existing compendium of Japanese overseas travelers in the late 19th and the early 20th century, we can attain a thorough understanding of their experiences in the western industrialised environment. Business travel increased rapidly in the 1890s and by 1910 one-third of total overseas travel was attributable to business. These trips enabled Japanese businesses to assimilate concepts and practical information regarding western industrial villages. The Nikkō Electric Copper Smelting Co Ltd sent its core administrators to western countries. Manager Tsunesaburō Suzuki (1873-1940) traveled to Bournville in the United Kingdom in 1911 to meet George Cadbury and received advice about industrial management. Returning to Japan, he reformed his factory according to the principles of Onjō-Shugi (closely translated as Paternalism). In 1915, Manager Tetsutarō Hasegawa (1884- ?) wrote about Krupp’s welfare facilities and housing supply in Essen, Germany.
  The concept of western industrial villages was considered a means of business administration in Japanese business circles. Current evidence indicates that the primary transmission of the concept was related to planning; however, we argue that it emerged first in the rural industries of Japan.

  This study demonstrates the significance of a broader investigation into the assimilation of planning practices and concepts of western industrial villages by Japanese business circles. An early albeit lone example, is a 2016 introduction by Yorifusa Ishida describing Magosaburō Ohara’s achievement - a trial to develop an industrial village, and basic research on social reform - at the Kurashiki Bouseki Co Ltd. In addition, studies examining how Japanese academics, officials, and administrators, adopted the garden city idea primarily stem from their understanding of the writings of Ebenezer Howard (eg Watanabe, Katagi et al). However, few studies have examined Japanese business circles’ understanding of industrial villages as a broader basis for the Japanese adoption of garden city principles.
  In addition to schools of architecture, Japanese institutions of higher education such as schools of economics, agriculture, and law, collected books on western...

  This study demonstrates the significance of a broader investigation into the assimilation of planning practices and concepts of western industrial villages by Japanese business circles. An early albeit lone example, is a 2016 introduction by Yorifusa Ishida describing Magosaburō Ohara’s...

  Junne Kikata, Ken Nakae, Haruka Yokogawa, Hanna Okada

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• From Street Network Analysis to Urban History

  The morphological analysis states that changes in urban form operate following a transitional system, which obeys a partially binding endogenous logic. This aspect has been heavily criticised for the bait it may induce, through the suggestion of an auto-perpetuation of urban forms. Actually, form's autonomy has a social as well as a morphological origin: it comes from the multiplicity of its functions, senses, and the multiplicity of actors. Nevertheless, the complexity of this social/spatial articulation might be the morphological analysis’ best asset. Indeed, it suggests that a theory of urban form’s evolution should rely on models which simplify reality, in order to focus on a single aspect: the form itself, for instance.
  Furthermore, the modelling that I propose focuses on a single component of urban form: the street network. Therefore, my aim is to know how the analysis of the street network’s evolution will bring me insights about the city’s formative process.
  Some authors have insisted on the necessity of perceiving these process as an action-retroaction mechanism: on the one hand, local modifications (such as adding a street) that occur in the street network have an impact on its global properties (in terms of density or centrality e.g.); on the other hand, the global network yields a conditioning on its elements’ substitution, which provokes, at least during a period of time, the stability of its global properties.
  The purpose of this communication is to expose this interplay between Bottom-up and Top-down processes. To achieve that, I compare the morphological properties of street networks, in a diachronic way, on long time periods. Then, I show how this comparison reveals the impact of local modifications on the network’s global properties, and reciprocally, how those properties sometimes remain stable despite local modifications. Finally, I introduce the external context (historical, political, socio-economic…) for each period, and look for regularities in causes of the observed impacts or remains. Those regularities will be sought in terms of exogenous reasons: are there categories of modifications (wars, urban sprawl…) that are more impactful than others? And then in terms of endogenous laws: are there network’s patterns that are more yielding, or more rigid than others?
  In order to test the relevance of my approach, I work on two very different case studies: Paris, the capital of France, and Beauvais, a small town in northern France. An interesting result was obtained on the city of Beauvais, by analysing the network’s accessibility and density, as well as the street’s width distribution (the number of streets for each width category) before and after World War II. I demonstrated a relative stability of the network’s properties for a certain time before the War, and then a deep modification after 1960’s reconstruction. A comparison of those parameters among others, on a longer time, for my two case studies, then the introduction of each context may allow me to show the regularities mentioned before, and could lead me to reveal generic city’s formative processes.

  The morphological analysis states that changes in urban form operate following a transitional system, which obeys a partially binding endogenous logic. This aspect has been heavily criticised for the bait it may induce, through the suggestion of an auto-perpetuation of urban forms. Actually, form's autonomy has a social as well as a morphological origin: it comes from the multiplicity of its functions, senses, and the multiplicity of actors. Nevertheless, the complexity of this social/spatial articulation might be the morphological analysis’ best asset. Indeed, it suggests that a theory of urban form’s evolution should rely on models which simplify reality, in order to focus on a single aspect: the form itself, for instance.
  Furthermore, the modelling that I propose focuses on a single component of urban form: the street network. Therefore, my aim is to know how the analysis of the street network’s evolution will bring me insights about the city’s...

  The morphological analysis states that changes in urban form operate following a transitional system, which obeys a partially binding endogenous logic. This aspect has been heavily criticised for the bait it may induce, through the suggestion of an auto-perpetuation of urban forms....

  Ryma Hachi

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• The Greek urban block since the establishment of the Greek State in 19th century. A chronicle about morphology and urban form.

  Based on literature and archival research along with specific plans, the study considers the different transformations of the Greek urban block in relation to street network, built and open space. Case studies such as
  Thessaloniki, Athens, Patra, Serres, offer the opportunity to highlight the evolution of the Greek urban
  block through representative examples of urban development in specific periods of Greek history; in
  the neoclassic city of the 19th century, during the beginning of 20th century, during the interwar period
  (1923 - 1940) and in the post-war city during 1950s and 1970s. The investigation focuses on the
  general historical framework connected to urban development, whereas specific masteplans showcase
  the practice of each period respectively. Moreover, the study highlights parameters, which form,
  reform or transform the urban blocks, such as planning principles and design tools. The objective of
  this research is to analyze characteristics and qualities of the morphology of urban blocks in order to
  understand its importance in the organization of the city.

  Based on literature and archival research along with specific plans, the study considers the different transformations of the Greek urban block in relation to street network, built and open space. Case studies such as
  Thessaloniki, Athens, Patra, Serres, offer the opportunity to highlight the evolution of the Greek urban
  block through representative examples of urban development in specific periods of Greek history; in
  the neoclassic city of the 19th century, during the beginning of 20th century, during the interwar period
  (1923 - 1940) and in the post-war city during 1950s and 1970s. The investigation focuses on the
  general historical framework connected to urban development, whereas specific masteplans showcase
  the practice of each period respectively. Moreover, the study highlights parameters, which form,
  reform or transform the urban blocks, such as...

  Based on literature and archival research along with specific plans, the study considers the different transformations of the Greek urban block in relation to street network, built and open space. Case studies such as
  Thessaloniki, Athens, Patra, Serres, offer the...

  Maria Oikonomou

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