Conference paper

• Ng’ambo Tuitakayo : reconnecting the Swahili City

  The City Of Zanzibar is well known for the historical Stone Town which is a World Heritage Site since 2000. What is less known about the City is the fact that it consists of two parts, Stone Town and Ng’ambo,  of which Ng’ambo is the one that has received far less attention. The two parts of the city have been developing alongside since the mid-19^th century, becoming together the biggest Swahili City in the world by the beginning of the 20^th century. Despite the social and economic differences existing in the two parts of the city they retained, an intimate connection translated into the economic, social and cultural sphere.

  It is only with the advent of the British dominance, that the two parts started to be perceived as separate entities. Through colonial policies and planning interventions they became segregated and Ng’ambo received a lasting stamp of being a slum in need of upgrading. From the time of the British Protectorate, through the revolution and post-independence modernization projects, Ng’ambo has been a subject to various, not always successful planning initiatives. Despite the turmoil and major upheavals it witnessed Ng’ambo has managed to retain its distinctly Swahili character which has been sustained by the resilience of its inhabitants.

  This pejorative image of Ng’ambo has lingered over the area for a long time and it is only recently that Ng’ambo has received renewed attention by being designated as the new city centre of the Zanzibar City. The Ng’ambo Tuitakayo (Ng’ambo We Want) project was started in the wake of this renewed attention directed towards Ng’ambo with the aim of developing an inclusive redevelopment plan for the area guided by the principles of UNESCO Historic Urban Landscape recommendation. One of the underlying aims of the project was to revive the historic connection between the two parts of the city.

  Through this paper it will be argued that the perceived distinction between Stone Town and Ng’ambo is not inherent to the place, but was created through foreign impositions. Through an in-depth study of the morphological development of the area and discussion of the layered urban history of Zanzibar City, the (dis)continuities between the two parts of town will be unravelled. The paper will also unfold the methods explored in the Ng’ambo Tuitakayo project from the beginning until the completion of the final draft of the redevelopment plan and policies.

  The City Of Zanzibar is well known for the historical Stone Town which is a World Heritage Site since 2000. What is less known about the City is the fact that it consists of two parts, Stone Town and Ng’ambo,  of which Ng’ambo is the one that has received far less attention. The two parts of the city have been developing alongside since the mid-19^th century, becoming together the biggest Swahili City in the world by the beginning of the 20^th century. Despite the social and economic differences existing in the two parts of the city they retained, an intimate connection translated into the economic, social and cultural sphere.

  It is only with the advent of the British dominance, that the two parts started to be perceived as separate entities. Through colonial policies and planning interventions they became segregated and Ng’ambo received a lasting stamp of being a slum in need of upgrading. From the time of the British Protectorate, through the...

  The City Of Zanzibar is well known for the historical Stone Town which is a World Heritage Site since 2000. What is less known about the City is the fact that it consists of two parts, Stone Town and Ng’ambo,  of which Ng’ambo is the one that has received far less attention. The two parts...

  Antoni Scholtens Folkers, Muhammad Juma Muhammad

  25-40

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• Mapping transition: Divided cities of Jerusalem and Sarajevo

  Societies affected by the conflict are confronted by extreme and enforced urban changes that often extend into a transitional period. These changes vary, but in some cases they may lead to the development of divided cities. 
  Taking many guises and playing different roles within conflicts, divided cities may become an arena for inter-group hostilities; a stage for the expression of antagonistic acts towards other groups; or even become an accommodative space and provide an opportunity for peace-building. 
  Cities may have long-term symbolic significance, they can symbolise the nature of the wider conflict itself, and may indeed be the epicentre of the most intense form of the conflict. Additionally, they may embody a planned policy of segregation. 
  The urban challenges of two divided cities: Jerusalem and Sarajevo will serve as case studies for cities in conflict and cities in transition respectively. This paper aims to map transition and to discuss the positive and negative outcomes of transition, as well as its impact on urban development and planning initiatives. The transitional period usually reveals more profoundly the consequences of conflict. 
  Sarajevo is not physically divided, however it still suffers from social division and the political and administrative division of the state. Complex state administrative organisation is the primary reason for insufficient planning policy and the chaotic state of planning. Altered demographics, land ownership, illegal or unlicensed construction, and the lack of administrative coordination are some of the consequences of the conflict which have had long term impacts on urban planning. 
  Jerusalem, on the other hand, as a politically divided city, mirrors the wider Palestinian-Israeli conflict and symbolises the essence of the historic dispute of both sides’ claims to the city. Throughout the history of negotiations, the city has been described as the “undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish people” by Israel, and Palestinians have insisted that no permanent solution will be reached without resolving the issue of Jerusalem, and their desire for it to serve as the capital of a Palestinian State. 
  On a geo-demographic level, the Jerusalem has witnessed extreme urban changes, due to the imposition of Israeli settlements that continue to be built in and around the city on occupied Palestinian land, challenging the identity and character of the city. On a functional level, up until the eve of the Peace Process, East Jerusalem was the primary urban centre of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as it hosted the major services, media and political institutions for Palestinians. Gradually, Jerusalem has been torn out from its Palestinian urban context and Ramallah has become the new urban centre for the West Bank, especially since the beginning of the construction of the Separation Wall. This had led to the transfer of functions, professionals and businesses from Jerusalem to Ramallah. 
  The purpose of this paper is to depict the urban fabric and functionality, and future urban development within these cities, detached from their surroundings, whilst discussing urban changes under the pressure of conflict and transition.

  Societies affected by the conflict are confronted by extreme and enforced urban changes that often extend into a transitional period. These changes vary, but in some cases they may lead to the development of divided cities. 
  Taking many guises and playing different roles within conflicts, divided cities may become an arena for inter-group hostilities; a stage for the expression of antagonistic acts towards other groups; or even become an accommodative space and provide an opportunity for peace-building. 
  Cities may have long-term symbolic significance, they can symbolise the nature of the wider conflict itself, and may indeed be the epicentre of the most intense form of the conflict. Additionally, they may embody a planned policy of segregation. 
  The urban challenges of two divided cities: Jerusalem and Sarajevo will serve as case studies for cities in conflict and cities in transition respectively. This paper aims to...

  Societies affected by the conflict are confronted by extreme and enforced urban changes that often extend into a transitional period. These changes vary, but in some cases they may lead to the development of divided cities. 
  Taking many guises and playing different roles...

  Rami Nasrallah, Kudumovic Lana

  43-55

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• The passeist, modernist and futurist features of some social housing ensembles built during the transitional period of 1960-1970 (case of “Maurelette” in Marseille)

  The history of architecture and urbanism is classically represented as a sequence of major movements and doctrines. However, the factual evolution does not have this kind of linear character. The well-known architectural “isms” are chained together with productions of the so called “transitional” periods, the legacy of which deserves special scientific interest. Thanks to its unique mix of previous and present tendencies, as well as techniques and compositional approaches these architectural layers form a base for the future movement. A significant number of this kind of interesting “in-between produce" in the field of social housing has been built during the 60th and the 70th. These ensembles were constructed between the periods of Modernism and Postmodernism, when the postulates of modernism (particularly the ones embodied in the social housing groups) were severely criticized for having poor urban and architectural design. 
  Since the end of 1980 in many European countries, particularly in France, massive renovation processes started and continue to this day. Due to political, social and aesthetic changes, a great part of post-war residential heritage has been radically reconstructed or demolished. This process touches not only ordinary residential groups (so-called “grand ensembles”) realized right after the Second World War with very limited means and techniques, but also harms some of the interesting ensembles. Many of them are undervalued, not rehabilitated since their creation and are often doomed to disappear. 
  The current paper is an attempt to analyze the historical, urban and morphological aspects of “Maurelette” residential complex, built in the northern suburbs of Marseilles during 1963-1965. The interpretation of the landscape, as well as the particularities of space organization, proportions and choice of materials in "Maurelette" complex demonstrates the ambition to create the “non-ordinary” ensemble by ordinary inexpensive constructive means and elements. As opposed to the great number of post-war primitive “cité” built on “tabula rasa” with no former architectural remains, the authors of “Maurelette” respectfully included the main elements (House of Maitre, the sycamore tree lane, etc.) in the new structure of the ancient bourgeois property and kept their important role. Here we can see the original interpretation of traditional “square”, “street” and “rampart”, that could be considered as early application of Postmodernist ideas of decontexutualisation and free “quotation” of historical urban forms. Thus, the “Maurelette” appears as a “cultural bridge” connecting the past, the present and the future. Fortunately, until the present day this ensemble remains almost intact, and in 2006, it has even received the "Heritage of the twentieth century" label, as “Maurelette Parque”. However, today its “survival” could be considered a rather extraordinary phenomenon than a usual case.
  This case study intends to raise awareness towards the heritage constructed between the major architectural movements (for example: Modernism and Postmodernism), as it represents an interesting architectural symbiosis, has hidden values and deserves to be included in the contemporary urban structure without negating or altering their authentic concept. Their existence will contribute to the continued, uninterrupted urban environment and thus, making the modern city more resilient.

  The history of architecture and urbanism is classically represented as a sequence of major movements and doctrines. However, the factual evolution does not have this kind of linear character. The well-known architectural “isms” are chained together with productions of the so called “transitional” periods, the legacy of which deserves special scientific interest. Thanks to its unique mix of previous and present tendencies, as well as techniques and compositional approaches these architectural layers form a base for the future movement. A significant number of this kind of interesting “in-between produce" in the field of social housing has been built during the 60th and the 70th. These ensembles were constructed between the periods of Modernism and Postmodernism, when the postulates of modernism (particularly the ones embodied in the social housing groups) were severely criticized for having poor urban and architectural design. 
  Since the end of 1980...

  The history of architecture and urbanism is classically represented as a sequence of major movements and doctrines. However, the factual evolution does not have this kind of linear character. The well-known architectural “isms” are chained together with productions of the so called...

  Nune Chilingaryan

  61-74

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• Reforming Beijing in The Shadow of Colonial Crisis: Urban Construction for Competing with The Foreign Powers, 1900‐1928

  During the period from 1900 to 1928, Beijing, like other Chinese cities, experienced a dramatic alternation, through the invasion of Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and the end of Beiyang government in 1928. For centuries Beijing had had no official city government. Until the twentieth century the Metropolitan Police Board and later the Municipal Council, promoted and founded by Zhu Qiqian, were established and became the leader of the program of urban construction. While the colonizers attempted to rebuild the Legation Quarter in a “modern” style in Beijing, to create the discrepancy between the Legation Quarter and the Chinese community in terms of the cityscape, civilization and power; the local government, from the Qing to Republican periods, constantly considered it as a great threat to sovereignty. 
  
  With this background, the paper argues that urban improvement by the local government played a role in safeguarding the national sovereignty and promoting national dignity to be resilient to the colonial crisis. Building a “modern” Beijing was regarded as not merely a strategy to reduce the differences between the Chinese and the colonial cityscape, but also a demonstration that Beijing, the capital of China, should be recognized as the same kind of great, independent and civilized capital city as those of the West. It did not deserve to be seen as a “backward” or even a colonized city. To a certain extent, it was the comparison and competition with the “Western cityscape” in the Legation Quarter, or in other concessions in China, that promoted the reformation of urban space in Beijing.
  
  Firstly, the paper considers the urban segregation strategy applied by the foreigner power between the Legation Quarter and the local neighborhood from both the foreigners’ and the Chinese government’s perspective. On one hand, it strengthened the image of colonial power by associating it with effective governance, an improved built environment, and richer, virtuous and stable life, in contrast to local Chinese society, and thus symbolized expressing the legitimacy of the colonizers. However, from the Chinese government’s viewpoint, this was one of the limited feasible approaches capable of minimizing colonial impact. 
  
  Moreover, the paper explores the local government, especially the municipal council, paid specific attention to urban construction in order to modernize the old capital city, since the urban regeneration to improve the transport system and sanitary conditions, and create more convenient facilities for citizens, closely connected with the demands of the government and social elites to compete with the Western powers. Specifically, the government not only accepted and learned the “western modern” in both the technological and the ideological aspects, in order to reconstruct Beijing as the same kind of modern and civilized city as the Legation Quarter; the government also believed that the protection of the city’s ancient imperial legacy could be a means of representing the glories past, rendering Beijing different from the foreign capital cities to serve the purpose of containing the colonial power and challenging the invasion of colonial modernity in Beijing.

  During the period from 1900 to 1928, Beijing, like other Chinese cities, experienced a dramatic alternation, through the invasion of Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and the end of Beiyang government in 1928. For centuries Beijing had had no official city government. Until the twentieth century the Metropolitan Police Board and later the Municipal Council, promoted and founded by Zhu Qiqian, were established and became the leader of the program of urban construction. While the colonizers attempted to rebuild the Legation Quarter in a “modern” style in Beijing, to create the discrepancy between the Legation Quarter and the Chinese community in terms of the cityscape, civilization and power; the local government, from the Qing to Republican periods, constantly considered it as a great threat to sovereignty. 
  
  With this background, the paper argues that urban improvement by the local government played a role in...

  During the period from 1900 to 1928, Beijing, like other Chinese cities, experienced a dramatic alternation, through the invasion of Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900, the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1911 and the end of Beiyang government in 1928. For centuries Beijing had had no official...

  Xusheng Huang

  83-94

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• Public Housing of Early Modern Tianjin (1928-1937)

  Societal reform, the planning and construction of public housing and the introduction of new building typologies went hand in hand in early modern China. Western and Japanese debates on public housing served as models, and Chinese scholars and professionals with the support of the KMT (Kuomintang) developed public housing as a sign of innovation both in terms of societal organization and building typology. Using the under-researched case of Tianjin’s public housing in the so-called Golden Decade (1928 -1937) as a case study, the paper first explores how journals and foreign trained Chinese scholars introduced the concept of modern housing to China through publications, and early constructions. Notably the YMCA Labours Model New Village in Shanghai impressed the KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek. It then explores three public housing projects developed for Tianjin, only one of which was realized. Exploring the locations, architectural designs, renting regulations and management rules of these projects, the paper argues that these projects (both planned and realized) aimed mostly at poor families, and served as a means to solve housing problems and reform society as well as to police the poor. The public housing projects in this period formed the foundation for later public housing in China.

  Societal reform, the planning and construction of public housing and the introduction of new building typologies went hand in hand in early modern China. Western and Japanese debates on public housing served as models, and Chinese scholars and professionals with the support of the KMT (Kuomintang) developed public housing as a sign of innovation both in terms of societal organization and building typology. Using the under-researched case of Tianjin’s public housing in the so-called Golden Decade (1928 -1937) as a case study, the paper first explores how journals and foreign trained Chinese scholars introduced the concept of modern housing to China through publications, and early constructions. Notably the YMCA Labours Model New Village in Shanghai impressed the KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek. It then explores three public housing projects developed for Tianjin, only one of which was realized. Exploring the locations, architectural designs, renting regulations and management...

  Societal reform, the planning and construction of public housing and the introduction of new building typologies went hand in hand in early modern China. Western and Japanese debates on public housing served as models, and Chinese scholars and professionals with the support of the KMT...

  Yanchen Sun, Carola Hein, Kun Song, Jianghua Wang

  95-106

  • PDF
• Study on Urban Planning and Construction Management Institution of Modern Tianjin

  After the Second Opium War in 1860, Tianjin was opened as a treaty port of China. From 1860 to 1902, nine foreign countries had set up concessions in Tianjin. They are British, France, US, German, Italia, Japan, Russia, Austria and Belgium. Tianjin became the city which had the most concessions in China. Since then, the import of modern urban planning theory and management regime from the western countries had a profound effect on the urban planning and construction in Tianjin. Great changes had taken place on land consolidation, real estate development, urban construction, spatial planning, and construction management.
  This paper focuses on the organization structure of the urban planning and construction management institution， management principles, government laws, land policy in Tianjin from 1860 to 1945. It highlights the transformation of urban planning and construction management organization in concessions and native area in Tianjin during that time. As the first established concession in Tianjin, the British Concession followed the public concession of Shanghai, founding the municipal committee to supervise urban construction. Subsequently, other concessions set up their respective management institutions. And the Tianjin Provisional Government was the first to apply management mode of the concessions into Chinese native area. This paper explores how the western urban construction management system was introduced into concessions in Tianjin, and how it was applied in the construction and management of Chinese section in Tianjin based on a wealth of collected information. Such as historical archives, historic documents, old postcards, old pictures from Tianjin Municipal Archives and previous research works.
  From the perspective of city planning and construction management system, this paper reveals the causes and process of transformation of urban construction in modern Tianjin. At the same time, it further analyses the important influence and effect of the introduction of western urban construction management mode on urban construction in Tianjin. Finally, it reaches a conclusion that all the changes which happened in modern Tianjin not only transformed the boundary and spatial structure of this city, but also affected the pattern of development and management in Chinese section. From then on, a new chapter of urban construction for modern Tianjin has been opened.

  After the Second Opium War in 1860, Tianjin was opened as a treaty port of China. From 1860 to 1902, nine foreign countries had set up concessions in Tianjin. They are British, France, US, German, Italia, Japan, Russia, Austria and Belgium. Tianjin became the city which had the most concessions in China. Since then, the import of modern urban planning theory and management regime from the western countries had a profound effect on the urban planning and construction in Tianjin. Great changes had taken place on land consolidation, real estate development, urban construction, spatial planning, and construction management.
  This paper focuses on the organization structure of the urban planning and construction management institution， management principles, government laws, land policy in Tianjin from 1860 to 1945. It highlights the transformation of urban planning and construction management organization in concessions and native area in Tianjin during that...

  After the Second Opium War in 1860, Tianjin was opened as a treaty port of China. From 1860 to 1902, nine foreign countries had set up concessions in Tianjin. They are British, France, US, German, Italia, Japan, Russia, Austria and Belgium. Tianjin became the city which had the most...

  Qingyue Liu, Dongwei Li, Kun Song, Jianghua Wang

  107-120

  • PDF
• Resilience of Public Spaces: A Case Study of the Colonies in Ottoman Palestine, 1878-1918

  "Moshavot" were a new form of colonies established by immigrants, mainly from Eastern Europe, to Ottoman Palestine from the late 19th century to the early 20th. The paper will explore the initial four decades of these colonies, from the founding of the first one in 1878, to the beginning of the British Mandate in Palestine, in 1918. During these forty years, the colonies were exposed to processes of radical change and modernization: the industrial revolution, political and cultural developments under Ottoman rule, and the social transformations wrought by World War I. 
  The huge impact of these processes was particularly marked in the colonies' public spaces. To cope with the physical and functional changes wrought by the exigencies of the war, as well as an influx of immigrants and other demographic changes, these spaces required functional flexibility, adaptive design, and structural resilience. Planned and designed as modern spaces, they were characterized by broad boulevards, large administrative buildings, and landscaped promenades, all of which exhibited a strong capacity for resilience. The paper will examine the vigour and robustness of these early modern public spaces from three perspectives: their planning and construction; the functions they served; and how they changed over the course of these four decades.
  According to researchers of urban space such as Lewis Mumford, the resilience of public spaces is predicated on the ways they are created and defined, and the extent to which they evoke a sense of ownership and belonging in the communities they serve. In the colonies we have studied, public spaces were vibrant local centres for a multi-cultural population, whose wide-ranging ethnic, religious and national roots could be seen in wide French-style boulevards, with Ottoman-style civic buildings and water fountains, sebils, and in synagogues designed, apparently, by Templar German architects. 
  In this paper we will discuss the characteristics that gave these public spaces their diverse, multi-cultural nature, and those that contributed to their robust physical and spiritual strength. On the basis of new, as yet unpublished archival evidence, we will present a few case studies of public spaces (parks, civic institutions, etc.) in the colonies of Palestine which thanks to their innate vitality managed to survive this volatile and stormy period of history.

  "Moshavot" were a new form of colonies established by immigrants, mainly from Eastern Europe, to Ottoman Palestine from the late 19th century to the early 20th. The paper will explore the initial four decades of these colonies, from the founding of the first one in 1878, to the beginning of the British Mandate in Palestine, in 1918. During these forty years, the colonies were exposed to processes of radical change and modernization: the industrial revolution, political and cultural developments under Ottoman rule, and the social transformations wrought by World War I. 
  The huge impact of these processes was particularly marked in the colonies' public spaces. To cope with the physical and functional changes wrought by the exigencies of the war, as well as an influx of immigrants and other demographic changes, these spaces required functional flexibility, adaptive design, and structural resilience. Planned and designed as modern spaces, they were characterized...

  "Moshavot" were a new form of colonies established by immigrants, mainly from Eastern Europe, to Ottoman Palestine from the late 19th century to the early 20th. The paper will explore the initial four decades of these colonies, from the founding of the first one in 1878, to the beginning of...

  Marina Epstein-Pliouchtch, Talia Abramovich

  125-134

  • PDF
• Landscape-induced Metropolization: revealing the forgotten geography of Paris’ north-eastern suburbs

  The word “Resilience” was first used in material sciences to qualify a kind of elasticity. It migrated to psychology and later to environmental studies, with the same meaning of recovery from a traumatic situation. This linguistic transposition may be explained by the metaphor, recurring since Antiquity, which links urban form with the human body and mind. 
  
  In the field of urbanism, landscaping is commonly considered as the main tool to link chaotic urban fabrics together and to restore a sense of place in metropolitan areas obscured by infrastructures. By reinforcing environmental qualities it helps generate urban biodiversity and offers opportunities for outdoor leisure activities. Furthermore, by revealing a forgotten geography, landscaping may help people of different origins and classes to develop a feeling of belonging to a larger community.
  
  I therefore propose examining the planning of park systems and green corridors in the surburbs north-east of Paris, all the way through the 20th century and up to the present. This specific area, which is part of the departement of Seine-St-Denis, is caracterized by two plateaus, extending eastward from Paris down to the hillsides of the river Marne, which also have woods and traces of agriculture. This suburban area has suffered from a lack of comprehensive neighboorhood planning and has been scarred by infrastructures which obliterate its geomorphology. Its revitalization represents a major challenge, if we want to re-balance the eastern section of Greater Paris, which suffers from social and ethnic segregation as shown by the riots of 2005. Moreover, the Paris attacks of 2015 stressed the fading sense of a common destiny between Paris itself and underserved suburbs.
  
  As opposed to major British, American and German cities, the green spaces in Greater Paris suffer from a fragmented historiography. But it is still instructive to study the historical process of landscape-induced metropolization, given current legislation concerning the new “Métropole du Grand Paris”. The concept of green spaces as “monuments”, for both Paris and banlieues, has just begun to emerge, but without referencing previous theories. 
  
  My “applied history” project will identify links between planning initiatives reaching back to the 1910s, most of which never came to fruition. It will emphasize the forgotten geographic contributions to the planning of Greater Paris, and will refer to the corpus of official reports, competitions and master plans prepared by the City of Paris, the Departement de la Seine, the French State, and the Ile-de France region, including current land use plans and recent reports on behalf of AIGP (Atelier International du Grand Paris), a think tank dealing with regional development projects. The project will also focus on current local initiatives by elected representatives to create landscaped corridors. 
  
  The basic method – studying relevant texts and superimposing historical maps – will be complemented by a planned field survey to be carried out in the spring of 2016 by students from the Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture de Belleville. By then examining the current landscape, we can determine the success or failure of planning initiatives.

  The word “Resilience” was first used in material sciences to qualify a kind of elasticity. It migrated to psychology and later to environmental studies, with the same meaning of recovery from a traumatic situation. This linguistic transposition may be explained by the metaphor, recurring since Antiquity, which links urban form with the human body and mind. 
  
  In the field of urbanism, landscaping is commonly considered as the main tool to link chaotic urban fabrics together and to restore a sense of place in metropolitan areas obscured by infrastructures. By reinforcing environmental qualities it helps generate urban biodiversity and offers opportunities for outdoor leisure activities. Furthermore, by revealing a forgotten geography, landscaping may help people of different origins and classes to develop a feeling of belonging to a larger community.
  
  I therefore propose examining the planning of park systems and green corridors...

  The word “Resilience” was first used in material sciences to qualify a kind of elasticity. It migrated to psychology and later to environmental studies, with the same meaning of recovery from a traumatic situation. This linguistic transposition may be explained by the metaphor,...

  Corine Jaquand

  137-150

  • PDF
• The implementation of the neighbourhood unit concept in the Western Garden Cities in Amsterdam in the early post-war period

  This paper analyses the way the General Expansion Plan for Amsterdam was modified after 1945 to accommodate the principles of the neighborhood unit concept, using the Western Garden Cities as a case study. The purpose is to evaluate continuities and discontinuities between per-war and post-war modern urbanism. The original plan was heralded as exemplary for the CIAM approach to urbanism since its presentation in 1934 - not surprisingly since Cornelis van Eesteren, its principal designer, was president of the CIAM. So far scholars have ignored the way the plan was partly re-designed in the 1940s and 1950s, the neighborhood unit concept providing the reasons for most of the changes. Exploring these changes is the original contribution of this paper. The methodology combines historical research into the motives of the principal stakeholders - Van Eesteren, the municipal planning office, local politics and the housing corporations among others - with a thorough analysis of urban plans and the structure of the neighborhoods. 
  
  After briefly outlining the original plan, the paper analyses the neighborhood unit, its introduction in the Netherlands during the German occupation, the role assigned to it in fostering a new sense of community (the lack of which was seen as one of the origins of the war), and the impact it made on Dutch urban planning after the war. The core of the paper describes how the principles of the neighborhood unit concept impacted the Western Garden Cities, the first substantial part of the General Expansion Plan that was actually realized. 
  
  The findings of the research demonstrate to what extent the original plan reflected the urban planning principles as outlined at the International Town Planning Conference in Amsterdam in 1924: the traditional concentric expansion strategies were replaced by a radial approach that, in Van Eesteren's plan, culminated in 'fingers' stretching out in the surrounding countryside, separated by wide green wedges - an approach that can be found in numerous other general expansion plans made in the 1930s. Then the Dutch variant of the neighborhood concept is analyzed. Developed in the United States as method to make housing estates fit for the car while at the same creating social units with all the facilities for everyday life, the concept was charged with new meaning in the Netherlands in the years of the German occupation. Inspired by the characteristically Dutch political philosophy of 'personalist-socialism', the model was now seen as a tool to forge a new sense of community, the lack of which having been identified as one of the underlying causes of the war. Finally and most importantly, the implications of the concept for the Western Garden Cities are described. The paper shows that a hierarchy of housing units of different scales was introduced: neighborhoods made up of several sub-neighborhoods, with facilities such as shops concentrated in neighborhood centers, leading to a much more differentiated urban landscape.

  This paper analyses the way the General Expansion Plan for Amsterdam was modified after 1945 to accommodate the principles of the neighborhood unit concept, using the Western Garden Cities as a case study. The purpose is to evaluate continuities and discontinuities between per-war and post-war modern urbanism. The original plan was heralded as exemplary for the CIAM approach to urbanism since its presentation in 1934 - not surprisingly since Cornelis van Eesteren, its principal designer, was president of the CIAM. So far scholars have ignored the way the plan was partly re-designed in the 1940s and 1950s, the neighborhood unit concept providing the reasons for most of the changes. Exploring these changes is the original contribution of this paper. The methodology combines historical research into the motives of the principal stakeholders - Van Eesteren, the municipal planning office, local politics and the housing corporations among others - with a thorough analysis of urban...

  This paper analyses the way the General Expansion Plan for Amsterdam was modified after 1945 to accommodate the principles of the neighborhood unit concept, using the Western Garden Cities as a case study. The purpose is to evaluate continuities and discontinuities between per-war and...

  Noor Mens

  157-170

  • PDF
• Representing Najaf: an investigation into the current pressure on the physical and social fabric of Najaf’s old town

  Day by day social life in the core of historical cities in Iraq has changed, and there are different outcomes which have an impact on the ground. This paper seeks to examine the extent to which the physical and social fabric of the al-Houaish neighbourhood has become redundant, and why the original families of long standing descent have chosen not to live there. Briefly, the al-Houaish neighbourhood is a significant part of the holy city of Najaf, a pilgrimage city in Iraq. The al-Houaish has a special character, and it is of particular interest because it has historical and cultural values, but it has been neglected. The aims of this paper are to highlight the current pressures on the social and urban fabric, explain why that fabric is worth protecting, and what the difficulties are. The paper uses documentary evidence and evidence gathered through interviews with stakeholders, local residents, heritage elites and decision makers, and I will examine the approach taken in detail to reveal the problems that exist in applying international standards of heritage protection on the ground in Iraq. 
  The findings in this paper are summarized into two parts physical and social fabric. The rapid development inside the old town, increase in land value, the huge number of visitors, and the governments’ neglect of services, are putting great pressure on the physical fabric. Besides, the lacks of clear regulation encourage building's authorities to change the land use from residential to commercial use. Moreover, the political issues led to a change in the social demography to weaken the power of the religious scholars, and that led to weak the social relationships and activities in the historic neighbourhood. In addition, the Najaf old town cannot offer big houses, wide roads, parks, and other services compared with the new neighbourhood, and therefore it did not and could not satisfy these needs. In conclusion, there is no overall management in place, and therefore the al-Houaish is losing both its historic physical and social fabric, and is undergoing much demolition. Thus, the process of heritage protection on the ground needs both the government and local citizens’ attentions to be able to stand and survive. Ultimately, there is need of a team on the site, and possibly a steering committee.

  Day by day social life in the core of historical cities in Iraq has changed, and there are different outcomes which have an impact on the ground. This paper seeks to examine the extent to which the physical and social fabric of the al-Houaish neighbourhood has become redundant, and why the original families of long standing descent have chosen not to live there. Briefly, the al-Houaish neighbourhood is a significant part of the holy city of Najaf, a pilgrimage city in Iraq. The al-Houaish has a special character, and it is of particular interest because it has historical and cultural values, but it has been neglected. The aims of this paper are to highlight the current pressures on the social and urban fabric, explain why that fabric is worth protecting, and what the difficulties are. The paper uses documentary evidence and evidence gathered through interviews with stakeholders, local residents, heritage elites and decision makers, and I will examine the approach taken in...

  Day by day social life in the core of historical cities in Iraq has changed, and there are different outcomes which have an impact on the ground. This paper seeks to examine the extent to which the physical and social fabric of the al-Houaish neighbourhood has become redundant, and why the...

  Sadiq Abid

  171-172
• The Transformation of the Santo Antonio District, in Recife, Brazil, (1938-1949)

  The city of Recife became a privileged field of experimentation for the new ideas of Urbanism, having many plans made between 1927 and 1943 and attracting the interest of the most important urban planners throughout the country. Initiated by the presence of the French urban planner Alfred Agache, the debate saw a series of proposals, studies, suggestions published in the local and national journals and newspapers. Santo Antonio was the administrative and commercial center of the city, with many public buildings and shops. Most of the debate was centered around the transformation of the central district, the island of Santo Antonio. Financial constraints prevented more expropriations and the project was reduced to a single large avenue and its neighboring blocks of buildings. 
  
  The new avenue was a brutal intervention in the district, destroying eighteen blocks of the city. From a large square facing the river, the avenue starts 60 meters width, decreasing to 40 in the middle and reaching the 30 meters when arriving at the Independência Square, in the center of the district. Along this length, these volumes are separated by two narrow streets, which are barely perceptible; when one is on the avenue these streets cannot be seen due to the masses of these volumes. 
  
  The new avenue, later called Guararapes, was intended to modernize the old center, transforming it into a monumental ensemble. Its verticalization, greater density and concentration closely resembled the business-center proposed by Agache for Rio. In the perspective submitted with the plan, one perceives velocity and fluidity, as converging lines and the cornices of the buildings conduct eyes to the vanishing point. The buildings were not there to be individually seen or admired, but to compose scenery. Legislation produced the desired profile (building heights and setbacks) of the avenue. 
  The replacement of the colonial urban fabric by a new pattern was due to the establishment of building codes regulating building codes determined alignment of facades, volumetric unity of blocks and concordance of heights and architectural motifs. The new urban design communicated an intense image of power and discipline through its architectural mass, monumental scale and vast open spaces. It was clearly intended to form of urban scenery, expressing Vargas Regime corporatism, social control, and state regulatory interventionism. 
  
  This paper explores the role of the building codes in the weaving of urban elements, dynamic forces and desires of patrons, bureaucrats, and architects towards the creation of a modern district.

  The city of Recife became a privileged field of experimentation for the new ideas of Urbanism, having many plans made between 1927 and 1943 and attracting the interest of the most important urban planners throughout the country. Initiated by the presence of the French urban planner Alfred Agache, the debate saw a series of proposals, studies, suggestions published in the local and national journals and newspapers. Santo Antonio was the administrative and commercial center of the city, with many public buildings and shops. Most of the debate was centered around the transformation of the central district, the island of Santo Antonio. Financial constraints prevented more expropriations and the project was reduced to a single large avenue and its neighboring blocks of buildings. 
  
  The new avenue was a brutal intervention in the district, destroying eighteen blocks of the city. From a large square facing the river, the avenue starts 60 meters width,...

  The city of Recife became a privileged field of experimentation for the new ideas of Urbanism, having many plans made between 1927 and 1943 and attracting the interest of the most important urban planners throughout the country. Initiated by the presence of the French urban planner Alfred...

  Fernando Diniz Moreira

  173-184

  • PDF
• Atifragility and The Right to the City: The regeneration of Al Manshiya and Neve Tzedek, Tel Aviv-Jaffa

  Henri Lefebvre’s concept of the Right to the City, expresses the right of the citizens to be part and to take part in their city’s creation. Lefebvre's theory was formed as a contra to “top-down” planning, which excluded the citizens from the process of urbanisation and led to the creation of alienated urban environments.
  Complexity theorists criticised the "top–down" approach as well, largely due to its desire to simplify the city, in order to re-plan it rationally and efficiently. This simplification, created a “closed system”, which neglected various variables in the urban system, and sought to predict its unpredictable future development. The chase after the efficient city therefore leads to the formation of urban projects, which are not only alienated to their inhabitants, but that are also rigid and unable to adapt to the ever-changing nature of the city.
  “Inefficient” urban systems, as Jane Jacobs had shown, have proven to be efficient after all, due to their diffused urban economy, which relied on several small-scale economic and social forces, enabling them to better adjust to unpredicted changes. Nassim Taleb called this type of behaviour Antifragililty, which describes complex systems that do not only remain unaffected by unpredicted changes, but also manage to take advantage of them.
  Therefore, one could assume that if more individuals are able to take part and influence the city’s creation, then their Right to the city is more practiced, and the city, due to its fragmentation, is supposed to adjust better to unexpected changes.
  In order to support this hypotheses, my research focused on two adjacent neighbourhoods in central Tel-Aviv: Manshiya and Neve-Tzedek. Both built in the 19th century. In 1954, they were declared as slums and designated for deconstruction. Manshiya was torn down in the 1960’s in a failed attempt to build the city’s central business district. Neve-Tzedek was not deconstructed but regenerated in 1980s-1990s.
  My research asked: Was there a change in the granted Right to the city between the two projects? And how did this affect the neighbourhood's ability to adapt to unpredicted changes? To answer this question the research focused on the manner each project addressed five different civil rights crucial to the Right to the City: the right for habitation, the right to enjoy the city's infrastructure, the right to difference, the right to take part in the city's planning and the right to take part in the city's physical formation. This was then crosschecked with the manner each project responded to the social, economic and physical changes the city had undergone.
  Manshiya's redevelopment was led by large-scale corporations, which excluded the citizens from the process of urbanisation, granted a minimal Right to the city and concluded in a rigid and failed mega-structure. Neve-Tzedek in contrast, was regenerated due to small-scale investments led by the local community, which granted a much larger Right to the city and enabled the neighbourhood to take advantage of the changes in the city, and to turn to one of Tel-Aviv’s most desired areas.

  Henri Lefebvre’s concept of the Right to the City, expresses the right of the citizens to be part and to take part in their city’s creation. Lefebvre's theory was formed as a contra to “top-down” planning, which excluded the citizens from the process of urbanisation and led to the creation of alienated urban environments.
  Complexity theorists criticised the "top–down" approach as well, largely due to its desire to simplify the city, in order to re-plan it rationally and efficiently. This simplification, created a “closed system”, which neglected various variables in the urban system, and sought to predict its unpredictable future development. The chase after the efficient city therefore leads to the formation of urban projects, which are not only alienated to their inhabitants, but that are also rigid and unable to adapt to the ever-changing nature of the city.
  “Inefficient” urban systems, as Jane Jacobs had shown, have...

  Henri Lefebvre’s concept of the Right to the City, expresses the right of the citizens to be part and to take part in their city’s creation. Lefebvre's theory was formed as a contra to “top-down” planning, which excluded the citizens from the process of urbanisation and led to the...

  Gabriel Schwake

  189-200

  • PDF
• (UN)HEALING THE URBAN SCAR IN NICOSIA: SPATIAL AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN POST CONFLICT DIVIDED CITIES

  Urban seperation of cities mostly resulted by the political and ethnic conflict is not considered a lasting solution. When a political solution couldn’t be achieved, where it is mostly seen as a necessity for cooperative urban and social infrastructure, the temporary solution for the city’s divided landscape and everyday life becomes permanent. Hence divided cities are arenas where issues around urban resilience and (re)production of space under contested states are more than everyday debate.

  Nicosia widely known as the last divided capital city in Europe serves as the capital of Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. The United Nations (UN) Buffer Zone formalized in 1974 as an emergency measure against inter-communal clashes has bisected the Walled City Nicosia seperating its citizens and breaking the urban unity. The union of the two communities on Cyprus had been broken up and the continuity of space had then become a past. Nicosia Master Plan (NMP) the cooperative planning initiative of the professionals that had been managed before political consensus is reached, had created a unique solution for the city. The success of NMP in physical terms stayed limited as the division continued. In 2008 with the opening of the Ledra Gate within the Walled City had symbolic meaning as it will make the two communities feel as if they belong to the united urban texture and have the potential of giving chance to new socio-economic developments and for daily interactions. Civil actors from formal and informal groups have gradually stepped forward to strenghten the positive effect of the NMP; bringing life to the Dead Zone of the city.

  The recent spatial and social transformations along the divide of Nicosia are scrutinized in this paper. It explores the policy and planning responses that are being proposed in divided cities and the solution efforts that is promoted by professionals, citizens and NGO’s more than the states. The analysis is based on qualitative data; the visual and verbal records centered on activities and actions of NMP and NGO’s on the field. Within this context the paper focuses on intentions and concrete steps where the Buffer Zone is perceived as a shared space. It also aims to point out an insight for social and spatial (re)production in post conflict divided cities.

  Urban seperation of cities mostly resulted by the political and ethnic conflict is not considered a lasting solution. When a political solution couldn’t be achieved, where it is mostly seen as a necessity for cooperative urban and social infrastructure, the temporary solution for the city’s divided landscape and everyday life becomes permanent. Hence divided cities are arenas where issues around urban resilience and (re)production of space under contested states are more than everyday debate.

  Nicosia widely known as the last divided capital city in Europe serves as the capital of Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. The United Nations (UN) Buffer Zone formalized in 1974 as an emergency measure against inter-communal clashes has bisected the Walled City Nicosia seperating its citizens and breaking the urban unity. The union of the two communities on Cyprus had been broken up and the continuity of space had then become a past. Nicosia Master Plan...

  Urban seperation of cities mostly resulted by the political and ethnic conflict is not considered a lasting solution. When a political solution couldn’t be achieved, where it is mostly seen as a necessity for cooperative urban and social infrastructure, the temporary solution for the...

  Huriye Gurdalli

  201-208

  • PDF
• Beyond Soviet Model: Institutional Change and Planning Evolution in Maoist Era’s China

  Pre-reform Chinese urban planning is often described as “Soviet Planning Mode”, thus overlook the impact of Mao. The planning history in Chinese context shall perceive it in the vein of its historical development, this article explores planning practice in Maoist Era’s China exclude “Soviet Planning Mode”. In order to trace the Planning Evolution due to institutional Changes, research selects three typical planning events which are Capital Beijing Planning at the initial stage of new China, People’s Commune Planning in the late 1950s, Daqing Planning Pattern in 1960s. The study reveals that urban planning from 1950s-1960s experienced the ideological thought of prudency, learning, idealism and decentralism, its evolving process link to Mao’s political and economic policies closely. Besides, in later life of Mao’s China, urban planning Thoughts shows a Hybridism state with both Soviet mode and local gene.

  Pre-reform Chinese urban planning is often described as “Soviet Planning Mode”, thus overlook the impact of Mao. The planning history in Chinese context shall perceive it in the vein of its historical development, this article explores planning practice in Maoist Era’s China exclude “Soviet Planning Mode”. In order to trace the Planning Evolution due to institutional Changes, research selects three typical planning events which are Capital Beijing Planning at the initial stage of new China, People’s Commune Planning in the late 1950s, Daqing Planning Pattern in 1960s. The study reveals that urban planning from 1950s-1960s experienced the ideological thought of prudency, learning, idealism and decentralism, its evolving process link to Mao’s political and economic policies closely. Besides, in later life of Mao’s China, urban planning Thoughts shows a Hybridism state with both Soviet mode and local gene.

  Pre-reform Chinese urban planning is often described as “Soviet Planning Mode”, thus overlook the impact of Mao. The planning history in Chinese context shall perceive it in the vein of its historical development, this article explores planning practice in Maoist Era’s China exclude...

  Hao Xu, Baihao Li

  215-224

  • PDF
• Determining factors for the urban form and its orientation in Spanish colonial town planning : Planning the town of Guatemala in the 18th century

  The planning methodologies of the Spanish colonial such as urban form, planning of streets, blocks, and squares, and scale planning are basic principles of sort of a “new town” planning in the early modern period. Some of those concepts and actual town construction cases already provide planning philosophy as a foundation of the Modern city planning. This paper especially focuses on the determinants of the size and urban form, which are defined rather in the Modern city planning. From the 19th century on, town’s scale is calculated commensurate with the population size. In the Spanish colonial town planning, basic planning philosophy regarding the size and urban form of a city is illustrated but in the actual town construction, it was hardly realised in theory. This paper aims to clarify the determining factors of a urban form in the Spanish early modern period through the case study such as the town plan of Guatemala in the 18th century. 
  First, this paper gives consideration to the planning philosophy illustrated in the representative planning norms such as the Ordinances of Philip II (1573) and the Laws of the Indies in 1680. Neither of them includes provisions on the town wall or an outline, and no interest on the town’s boundary or scale is shown. 
  Secondly, this paper studies the planning philosophy concerning town shape and the orientation of streets in the Renaissance architectural theory that greatly influenced the planning philosophy of Spanish colonial towns. Those Renaissance Vitruvian ideas show determining factors for town shape and the direction of streets in relation with the local main wind direction. However, the Vitruvian ideas have validity in the explanation for town layout only if illustrated with a shape of perfect polygon or geometrical shape. Historically the planning of this type has been hardly realised and the determining factors for the urban form have been obscure in the early modern period. 
  Thirdly, this paper studies the determining factors of town’s scale and shape from the practical town plans. Comparing several town plans such as those illustrated in case of the reconstruction of Guatemala City in the 18th century, the key determining factors for the town shape are discussed here. 
  Consequently the following planning techniques were observed. (1) Although the town shape is generally based on the geographical conditions, use of the straight lines is remarkable for the determination of town’s outline. (2) The bending points of town’s outline are determined not by the geographical conditions but largely by the eight directions of the land illustrated using the very central point of the town. (3) These techniques provide a planning method in which it is quite ease to identify the local eight orientation of the compass for the inhabitants, if connecting the locations such as vertex to town centre or vertex to vertex, utilising the polygonal outline. These show that the geometry took precedence over geographical conditions in drawing a town plan.

  The planning methodologies of the Spanish colonial such as urban form, planning of streets, blocks, and squares, and scale planning are basic principles of sort of a “new town” planning in the early modern period. Some of those concepts and actual town construction cases already provide planning philosophy as a foundation of the Modern city planning. This paper especially focuses on the determinants of the size and urban form, which are defined rather in the Modern city planning. From the 19th century on, town’s scale is calculated commensurate with the population size. In the Spanish colonial town planning, basic planning philosophy regarding the size and urban form of a city is illustrated but in the actual town construction, it was hardly realised in theory. This paper aims to clarify the determining factors of a urban form in the Spanish early modern period through the case study such as the town plan of Guatemala in the 18th century. 
  First, this...

  The planning methodologies of the Spanish colonial such as urban form, planning of streets, blocks, and squares, and scale planning are basic principles of sort of a “new town” planning in the early modern period. Some of those concepts and actual town construction cases already provide...

  Akihiro Kashima

  235-244

  • PDF
• The work of the Japanese Specialists for New Khmer Architecture in Cambodia

  Cross cultural exchanges are an important aspect in the development of modern architecture. Multiple flows of ideas have shaped the architecture of Cambodia in the second half of the 20th century. Western designers shaped Cambodia’s architectural and urban form, but the country also saw collaboration from Japanese practitioners and this paper explores their respective roles and paradigms. Helen Grant Ross and Darryl Leon Collins, for example, regarded the 1960s as the age of New Khmer Architecture in Cambodia. They have explored the French-educated architect young Cambodian leader Vann Molyvann, who led this age as an architect-administrative official. However the fact that there were some Japanese architects who collaborated on some of these projects is not well known. In particular, Gyoji Banshoya (1930-1998) and Nobuo Goto (1938-2000), two students of the Japanese leading architect Kiyoshi Seike, officially participated in projects during the 1960s and wrote plans, reports and articles. 
  Based on new resources found in the private libraries of the Japanese planners, this paper discusses Modern Khmer Architecture based on the largely unknown fact that some Japanese architects participated in projects in Cambodia. The question of how to manage the modernization of historical spatial composition of cities was a common interest shared by the French, the Japanese and the Cambodians alike. This paper explores the international context of building in Cambodia including the movements of CIAM members, including the French planner Gerald Hanning, the participation of Banshoya, and the supervision by Vann Molyvann. It specifically explores how the Japanese architects, Banshoya and Goto, contributed to the projects in Cambodia in the 1960s, the age of Modern Khmer Architecture. Banshoya participated in huge projects such as the stadium, collective houses and master plans. Goto also supported the work of Banshoya. He investigated his own interests and found his own way with his experimental habitat. What is important is that these French-influenced Japanese architects cherished the historical composition of Asian or local space and incorporated it in their modern planning policy. A specific example is Banshoya’s first piece “the Square House” which was a low cost house which harmonized Japanese tradition and modernism. His work in Algiers titled “Temporary Housing Replacing Tin-Roofed Shelters” adopted the traditional housing plan with patio supporting the separation of public and private spaces. In Cambodia, under the supervision of Banshoya, the more senior Goto tried to reconstitute the spatial composition of the traditional Khmer house and suggested plans for modern Khmer house and housing areas. 
  Banshoya completed his mission in the ancient French protectorate of Cambodia and his projects were also related to some of the heritage of CIAM. Banshoya’s mission in Cambodia was limited to 1 year, but it was significant as his first assignment as a UNDP specialist. He continued as a UNDP specialist untill the 1970s when he elaborated the master plan of Aleppo. This paper focuses on the cross-cultural investigation of the Cambodian projects and therewith lays the foundation for new analytical perspectives of the master plans in Beirut, Damascus and Aleppo.

  Cross cultural exchanges are an important aspect in the development of modern architecture. Multiple flows of ideas have shaped the architecture of Cambodia in the second half of the 20th century. Western designers shaped Cambodia’s architectural and urban form, but the country also saw collaboration from Japanese practitioners and this paper explores their respective roles and paradigms. Helen Grant Ross and Darryl Leon Collins, for example, regarded the 1960s as the age of New Khmer Architecture in Cambodia. They have explored the French-educated architect young Cambodian leader Vann Molyvann, who led this age as an architect-administrative official. However the fact that there were some Japanese architects who collaborated on some of these projects is not well known. In particular, Gyoji Banshoya (1930-1998) and Nobuo Goto (1938-2000), two students of the Japanese leading architect Kiyoshi Seike, officially participated in projects during the 1960s and wrote plans,...

  Cross cultural exchanges are an important aspect in the development of modern architecture. Multiple flows of ideas have shaped the architecture of Cambodia in the second half of the 20th century. Western designers shaped Cambodia’s architectural and urban form, but the country also saw...

  Kosuke Matsubara

  251-260

  • PDF
• Territorial planning in Central America in the XXIst. Century: common trends, originalities, and challenges

  This paper studies the transformation processes occurred in the field of territorial planning in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic during the XXIst. century. All countries have undertaken major conceptual and political changes in their planning systems in the last 15 years through the approval of national planning legislation, policies, plans, and guidelines. These instruments are concerned with: environmental issues, particularly climate change adaptation and economic development. Moreover, a new Territorial Planning Agenda has emerged within the Central American Integration System (SICA) providing with a new regional framework that fosters change at the national level. 
  
  Nonetheless, national particularities persist, related with different planning histories, and institutional designs. Some countries maintain predominant urban planning practices whereas others are more oriented by environmental concerns or national development strategies. In this scenario common challenges appear in terms of: institutional design, articulation between national and local levels, and addressing urgent social issues. Future perspectives for territorial planning in Central America will be related to: resolve institutional conflicts, gaps and overlaps; strength professional capabilities; consolidate the social relevance of the discipline and the pursuit of regional agendas without losing the diversity of current pluralistic approaches. 

  This paper studies the transformation processes occurred in the field of territorial planning in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic during the XXIst. century. All countries have undertaken major conceptual and political changes in their planning systems in the last 15 years through the approval of national planning legislation, policies, plans, and guidelines. These instruments are concerned with: environmental issues, particularly climate change adaptation and economic development. Moreover, a new Territorial Planning Agenda has emerged within the Central American Integration System (SICA) providing with a new regional framework that fosters change at the national level. 
  
  Nonetheless, national particularities persist, related with different planning histories, and institutional designs. Some countries maintain predominant urban planning practices whereas others are more oriented by...

  This paper studies the transformation processes occurred in the field of territorial planning in Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic during the XXIst. century. All countries have undertaken major conceptual and political...

  Carlos Ferrufino

  275-286

  • PDF
• Narratives of a transformation: The role of space in the advent of neoliberal planning in Bogotá.

  This text aims to explore, with a critical perspective intellectually rooted in postcolonial theory, one among the most controversial urban transformations of postmodern Latin America: the one that took place in Bogotá chiefly between 1993 and 2003, and that dealt primarily with the city’s public space. 
  By focusing on the spatial aspects of change (according to Henri Lefebvre’s trialectics of social, physical and mental space) and, within that, on the urban processes and projects that determined a detachment between imaginary and real Bogotá, the article aims to critically query the most prominent and first case of postmodern urban transformation in Colombia, through the analysis of the contestation that such change introduced between official and unofficial urban narratives.
  From the analysis of the diversity of urban narratives that emerged from a specific case – the alameda El Porvenir, this work locates the urban transformation experienced by Bogotá within those local/global phenomena of rapid urban development that seem to call with growing force for the epistemological reformulation of the symbology and role of space in postmodern cities, as well as for more critically aware theorisations of its codes of production.
  The analysis of the narratives emerged from the case of the alameda El Porvenir will help to clarify and, hopefully, start relocating the contested “success” of the neoliberal urban agenda that, locally, has been driving urban transformations in Colombia since then. While, regionally, it has contributed to change the way public space is conceived (and planned) in Latin American cities.

  This text aims to explore, with a critical perspective intellectually rooted in postcolonial theory, one among the most controversial urban transformations of postmodern Latin America: the one that took place in Bogotá chiefly between 1993 and 2003, and that dealt primarily with the city’s public space. 
  By focusing on the spatial aspects of change (according to Henri Lefebvre’s trialectics of social, physical and mental space) and, within that, on the urban processes and projects that determined a detachment between imaginary and real Bogotá, the article aims to critically query the most prominent and first case of postmodern urban transformation in Colombia, through the analysis of the contestation that such change introduced between official and unofficial urban narratives.
  From the analysis of the diversity of urban narratives that emerged from a specific case – the alameda El Porvenir, this work locates the urban transformation...

  This text aims to explore, with a critical perspective intellectually rooted in postcolonial theory, one among the most controversial urban transformations of postmodern Latin America: the one that took place in Bogotá chiefly between 1993 and 2003, and that dealt primarily with the...

  Giulia Torino

  289-302
• The renaissance of post-war metropolitan planning in Melbourne, Australia 1949-1954

  This paper examines Melbourne’s first statutory metropolitan planning scheme in 1954 in terms of its origins, production, promotion and reception. While a cautious trend-tidying template, it represented a landmark in Melbourne’s planning history and established permanently a metropolitan planning apparatus at the state government level. Metropolitan planning initiatives in Australia before World War Two were few and far between. The scale of thinking, resourcing and implementation was beyond most state governments with a notable exception being the 1929 report of the Melbourne Metropolitan Town Planning Commission. This was shelved during the depression years but by the 1940s an active planning movement in Melbourne and development by major infrastructure agencies highlighted the need to revisit a coordinative metropolitan strategy and ensure it did not sit on the shelf. The agency officially charged with devising, promoting and implementing a new regional-scale planning scheme in 1949 was the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (MMBW), a legacy public utility from the 1890s. The paper examines the grafting of planning functions onto the MMBW and in particular the appointment of E.F. Borrie as Chief Planner. Two intertwined themes thread through the development and eventual marketing of the plan to the wider community and key stakeholders including local authorities and developers. One was an early retreat from visionary planning towards a more politically-pragmatic and business-like incrementalism. The second was the endeavour to secure broad citizen acceptance of the proposals through selling them as necessary common-sense solutions to emerging issues such as employment distribution, transport congestion, and open space provision. Key agents of the MMBW’s propaganda campaign were a series of public exhibitions held in 1953-54 along with other public relations initiatives including endorsements from leading planners from overseas. The paper revisits these and other key events in the narrative to establish metropolitan planning oversight on a secure footing in Melbourne. The campaign proved successful. The MMBW was confirmed as Melbourne’s regional planning authority in December 1954 and hence became part of the bureaucratic machinery of state government. From that point, planning debate shifted decisively from the general case of for and against to even more challenging and controversial issues of implementation.

  This paper examines Melbourne’s first statutory metropolitan planning scheme in 1954 in terms of its origins, production, promotion and reception. While a cautious trend-tidying template, it represented a landmark in Melbourne’s planning history and established permanently a metropolitan planning apparatus at the state government level. Metropolitan planning initiatives in Australia before World War Two were few and far between. The scale of thinking, resourcing and implementation was beyond most state governments with a notable exception being the 1929 report of the Melbourne Metropolitan Town Planning Commission. This was shelved during the depression years but by the 1940s an active planning movement in Melbourne and development by major infrastructure agencies highlighted the need to revisit a coordinative metropolitan strategy and ensure it did not sit on the shelf. The agency officially charged with devising, promoting and implementing a new regional-scale planning...

  This paper examines Melbourne’s first statutory metropolitan planning scheme in 1954 in terms of its origins, production, promotion and reception. While a cautious trend-tidying template, it represented a landmark in Melbourne’s planning history and established permanently a...

  Robert Freestone, Marco Amati, Peter Mills

  311-318

  • PDF
• Urban formation and cultural transformation in Mughal India

  India was comprised of many villages before the arrival of Muslim. Those Muslim invaders, who conquered India and established their rule, essentially belonged to the urban ruling classes. In early Turkish Empire (1206 – 1266), ruling classes have developed numerous urban centres across India. In Muslim period, Iqta system provided opportunities to Turko – Afghan communities to have luxurious life style which provoked skill workers, artisan and architect to migrate from villages to urban centres. Early towns and cities flourished around the military garrison. These towns also emerge as cultural centers with the passage of time. Early cities like Daultabad, Fatehpur Sikri and Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) were royal capital cities. Some of the major cities like Kabul, Agra, Allahabad, Lahore and Multan were developed near major road (Grand Trunk Road). Many towns like Dholpur, Jodhpur, Sirohi, Asirgarh and Ajmer were inhabited near non metalled roads . European travelers also narrated the glory and significance of these cities and towns in their accounts. They compared Indian cities with Europe, like Fatehpur Sikri was larger than London and Delhi was not less urbanized than Paris. These urban centers were not only the administrative units but also considered as cultural centers in Mughal State. Emperors sometimes generated the economic activities in these urban centers. Many factories in Delhi, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri supplied many precious articles in the King’s wardrobe. People brought their masterpieces in the capital cities just to get the acknowledgement of kings and nobles. This paper analyzes the development of major urban centers in the period of Mughals (most illustrated dynasty of the Muslim civilization). It also highlights the cultural transformation of Muslims under the influence of native rulers. It also deals with the mediatory classes which were so powerful in these urban centers. These classes paved a way for English rule in India.Urbanization was its zenith in the age of great Mughals. Many of the Mughal cities like Delhi, Agra,Ahmadabad, Benaras and Cambay are still survived and having a rich culture of cosmopolitan cities. ( It is an oral presentation.)

  India was comprised of many villages before the arrival of Muslim. Those Muslim invaders, who conquered India and established their rule, essentially belonged to the urban ruling classes. In early Turkish Empire (1206 – 1266), ruling classes have developed numerous urban centres across India. In Muslim period, Iqta system provided opportunities to Turko – Afghan communities to have luxurious life style which provoked skill workers, artisan and architect to migrate from villages to urban centres. Early towns and cities flourished around the military garrison. These towns also emerge as cultural centers with the passage of time. Early cities like Daultabad, Fatehpur Sikri and Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi) were royal capital cities. Some of the major cities like Kabul, Agra, Allahabad, Lahore and Multan were developed near major road (Grand Trunk Road). Many towns like Dholpur, Jodhpur, Sirohi, Asirgarh and Ajmer were inhabited near non metalled roads . European travelers also...

  India was comprised of many villages before the arrival of Muslim. Those Muslim invaders, who conquered India and established their rule, essentially belonged to the urban ruling classes. In early Turkish Empire (1206 – 1266), ruling classes have developed numerous urban centres across...

  Rukhsana Iftikhar

  319-329

  • PDF
• The paradox of Gordon Cullen: between international celebrity and a limited career abroad

  The British draughtsman, journalist and “townscape consultant” Gordon Cullen had a paradoxical position in the postwar international planning scene. He acquired early international celebrity thanks to his editorial work but he never managed to establish a broad international professional practice even if he was at first recruited for consultancy abroad. 
  Gordon Cullen became known after publishing articles in the professional journal The Architectural Review between 1947 and 1959 that belonged to the “Townscape” editorial campaign. In 1961, he published the book entitled Townscape collecting these articles with a theoretical first part, which has been translated in eight languages until today. In 1959, he came by boat to join the planning team funded by the Ford Foundation and assembled by the American planner Albert Mayer to help the Indian technicians to develop a new master plan for New Delhi. Recruited as civic designer, he proposed in his own report entitled The Ninth Delhi an impressive transformation of the city core in a new townscape. This commission was quickly followed by another one again for the Ford Foundation to work on the planning of Calcutta. Between these two studies, he was also commissioned jointly with Ian Nairn, his fellow “townscapist” at The Architectural Review, by Ian McHarg and the University of Pennsylvania for a research on “The American Townscape” granted by the Rockefeller Foundation. This commission was chaotic: his visit of six East coast cities in 1960 ended in the production of a manuscript that was never published. 
  After these first commissions, his long career of consultant remained almost entirely within Britain, working alone or within teams for the Camden Borough Council, the Cities of Liverpool, Bolton, Northampton and Peterborough, the Kent County Planning Council, the Buckinghamshire Departments of Architecture and Planning, etc. before ending his career with commissions for the London Docklands Development Corporation and the Scottish Development Agency. Nevertheless, he worked also on some small commissions abroad like a study for St Quentin en Yvelines New Town near Paris for Kinneir Calvert Tuhill or a study of the Argentinean Northwest touristic villages for the Organization of American States. More importantly, he organized during several years a summer school in the small village of Biot on the French Riviera which attracted an international audience of students. 
  The reasons of his paradoxical position are complex. His introverted character and, moreover, his inability to travel by airplane explain partly his limited career abroad. However, during the same period, other key theorists without the same limitations, such as the American Kevin Lynch, never developed an international consulting activity. They exemplify a disruption between theory and practice in the postwar international scene that may be linked to the contrast between practice, which remained idiosyncratic, and theory, which could quickly be spread around the world thanks to the growing international diffusion of publications.

  The British draughtsman, journalist and “townscape consultant” Gordon Cullen had a paradoxical position in the postwar international planning scene. He acquired early international celebrity thanks to his editorial work but he never managed to establish a broad international professional practice even if he was at first recruited for consultancy abroad. 
  Gordon Cullen became known after publishing articles in the professional journal The Architectural Review between 1947 and 1959 that belonged to the “Townscape” editorial campaign. In 1961, he published the book entitled Townscape collecting these articles with a theoretical first part, which has been translated in eight languages until today. In 1959, he came by boat to join the planning team funded by the Ford Foundation and assembled by the American planner Albert Mayer to help the Indian technicians to develop a new master plan for New Delhi. Recruited as civic designer, he proposed in his own...

  The British draughtsman, journalist and “townscape consultant” Gordon Cullen had a paradoxical position in the postwar international planning scene. He acquired early international celebrity thanks to his editorial work but he never managed to establish a broad international...

  Clement Orillard

  349-360

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• The Regionalist Vision of Henry Wright: Lessons in Sustainability

  Though lesser known than his Regional Planning Association of America colleagues – Clarence Stein, Lewis Mumford, and Benton MacKaye – Henry Wright played a key role in implementing and promoting critical regional planning ideals. In doing so, he embraced what Wheeler (2002) characterizes as “ecological regionalism” and more recently Berke (2008) describes as the “environmentally sustainable urban form” (p. 395). After earning his degree in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Wright spent his early professional years in the office of nationally prominent landscape architect George Kessler. Here he gained a sensitivity to site design, including grading and infrastructure development, and a broadening understanding of natural systems and networks. His subsequent employment with the Emergency Fleet Corporation designing communities for war workers during World War I, established his expertise in economically designing communities. During the 1920s and until his death in 1936, he applied this expertise to design communities that reflect many of the current criteria of sustainability, new regionalism, and green infrastructure. 
  
  This paper examines archival writings of Wright, his contemporaries, and more recent explorations of sustainability, green infrastructure, and new regionalism to assess the elements of Wright’s community planning, site design, and broader regionalist ideas that prefigured these modern concepts. As Planning Advisor to the New York Commission of Housing and Regional Planning, his contributions towards a 1926 proposal for statewide planning forms a critical component of this examination. Further, his lesser known articles on town planning, land development, and the economics of housing design offer a sustained perspective regarding the dynamics of his contributions to regionalism. These include conceptual new town designs integrating intensive mixed use urban areas punctuated with outlying parks as part of a balanced regional network of communities. A comparative and critical analysis of these contributions within the context of the contributions of his RPAA colleagues and regional scholarship today highlights his legacy as an architect, landscape architect, and planner.

  Though lesser known than his Regional Planning Association of America colleagues – Clarence Stein, Lewis Mumford, and Benton MacKaye – Henry Wright played a key role in implementing and promoting critical regional planning ideals. In doing so, he embraced what Wheeler (2002) characterizes as “ecological regionalism” and more recently Berke (2008) describes as the “environmentally sustainable urban form” (p. 395). After earning his degree in architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, Wright spent his early professional years in the office of nationally prominent landscape architect George Kessler. Here he gained a sensitivity to site design, including grading and infrastructure development, and a broadening understanding of natural systems and networks. His subsequent employment with the Emergency Fleet Corporation designing communities for war workers during World War I, established his expertise in economically designing communities. During the 1920s and...

  Though lesser known than his Regional Planning Association of America colleagues – Clarence Stein, Lewis Mumford, and Benton MacKaye – Henry Wright played a key role in implementing and promoting critical regional planning ideals. In doing so, he embraced what Wheeler (2002)...

  Kristin Larsen

  367-376

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• The Lost Identity of Izmir

  Port cities are distinguished from other cities by their waterfronts, which were shaped by economic and cultural transactions between each city and its networks. Trade-related activities prepared the conditions for accelerated globalisation with economic changes. The Ottoman Empire supported commerce and production in Western Anatolia after 16th century. Many European merchants thus moved to Izmir in accord with an agreement made by the Ottoman Empire in order to maintain commercial events. Afterwards, the city developed as a culturally diverse entity due to its port activity. The waterfront and arguably the whole structure of the city have been influenced by cross cultural exchanges. Study explains how shifting networks have created a unique palimpsest of structures and actor networks between 16th and 21st century in Izmir, a port city on western coast in Turkey. This paper explores the transformation of Izmir’s urban form and identity. Different architectural practices such as Dutch, British, French, Italian, Greek were concretised on Izmir’s waterfront and have become a part of the city’s identity. Nevertheless, political decisions, governmental policies, fires, earthquakes, planned and unplanned events changed the waterfront and caused gaps in history told by its built environment. This study analyses the vicissitudes in the planning history of Izmir’s waterfront.

  Port cities are distinguished from other cities by their waterfronts, which were shaped by economic and cultural transactions between each city and its networks. Trade-related activities prepared the conditions for accelerated globalisation with economic changes. The Ottoman Empire supported commerce and production in Western Anatolia after 16th century. Many European merchants thus moved to Izmir in accord with an agreement made by the Ottoman Empire in order to maintain commercial events. Afterwards, the city developed as a culturally diverse entity due to its port activity. The waterfront and arguably the whole structure of the city have been influenced by cross cultural exchanges. Study explains how shifting networks have created a unique palimpsest of structures and actor networks between 16th and 21st century in Izmir, a port city on western coast in Turkey. This paper explores the transformation of Izmir’s urban form and identity. Different architectural practices such...

  Port cities are distinguished from other cities by their waterfronts, which were shaped by economic and cultural transactions between each city and its networks. Trade-related activities prepared the conditions for accelerated globalisation with economic changes. The Ottoman Empire supported...

  Fatma Tanis

  381-389

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• The Diplomatic Quarters in Riyadh. A Western-shaped neighborhood in an Islamic city.

  Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is a complex relatively young city. One of its major districts was built ex-novo only 30 years ago as part of a governmental input to define Riyadh as capital of the Kingdom. Albert Speer III and Partners thus designed the Diplomatic Quarters (DQ) as an enclave built in a major spot on the Valley Hanifa, nearby the first Riyadh settlement called Al Dirriyah. The urban landscape has been recognized for being well integrated with both the valley and the deserted landscape. In addition, the DQ’s major core could be considered a prototype of the New Urbanism Theory. The DQ was designed to be accessible to all citizens, but early 2000 terrorist attacks forced the DQ management to close its fences and made this place only accessible for tenants and temporary visitors. However, it has become a major district for scholars to define Riyadhs’ identity. 
  
  Through a design process analysis, and primary observation methodologies, this paper aims to answer the following questions: why is the DQ becoming an identity spot for scholars and citizens? How is this space been interpreted by scholars to make it part of Riyadh’s identity discourse? How has this space been preserved and used by its inhabitants, both locals and foreigners? 
  
  The paper analyses the DQ’s urban planning by highlighting the elements that leads to the interpretation of identity, such as landscape integration, district configuration or the Major Core’s urban spaces and typologies. The paper will question the validity of the identity discourse, and will show the DQ challenges facing Riyadh’s conservative society. Finally, this paper expects to raise awareness on the need to rethink from a historical perspective a main district in one of the fastest growing cities in the world. 

  Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is a complex relatively young city. One of its major districts was built ex-novo only 30 years ago as part of a governmental input to define Riyadh as capital of the Kingdom. Albert Speer III and Partners thus designed the Diplomatic Quarters (DQ) as an enclave built in a major spot on the Valley Hanifa, nearby the first Riyadh settlement called Al Dirriyah. The urban landscape has been recognized for being well integrated with both the valley and the deserted landscape. In addition, the DQ’s major core could be considered a prototype of the New Urbanism Theory. The DQ was designed to be accessible to all citizens, but early 2000 terrorist attacks forced the DQ management to close its fences and made this place only accessible for tenants and temporary visitors. However, it has become a major district for scholars to define Riyadhs’ identity. 
  
  Through a design process analysis, and primary...

  Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is a complex relatively young city. One of its major districts was built ex-novo only 30 years ago as part of a governmental input to define Riyadh as capital of the Kingdom. Albert Speer III and Partners thus designed the Diplomatic...

  Margarita Gonzalez Cardenas

  393-404

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