International Conference Virtual City and Territory (CTV)

Climate Change, regional and urban planning

Coord. Blanca Arellano Ramos — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Global warming is an unequivocal fact, increasingly affecting the ecosystems of the entire planet, with the consequent increase in singular events (heat waves, torrential floods, droughts, storms, ...). Climate Change (CC), in addition, is reinforced in cities by the presence of different phenomena such as the Urban Heat Island, air pollution, soil waterproofing or low albedo.

In this context, it is essential to radically rethink the historically inherited urban development model, promoting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It is also necessary to know the effects of CC on the population and develop methodologies conducive to improving environmental conditions by adapting cities to climate change and reducing their effects on the population, both from territorial planning and urban design.

Tools and criteria for a sustainable city

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The current urban model based on the excessive consumption of resources, is a totally unsustainable system, marked by an uncontrolled growth of urban systems and its population and an exorbitant use of non-renewable resources, which generates pollution and waste. This reality makes it necessary to establish strategies and policies with environmental criteria to change this current model for a sustainable model, because otherwise, there is no future for new generations.

This communication aims to establish common criteria for the evaluation of sustainability in different urban areas. It is based on the collection of documentary information to analyze the current state of cities. An analysis of the main existing indicators at urban level and also current evaluation tools will be carried out, describing their methodology / stages and evaluation criteria. Once this analysis is done, general criteria will be established for each of the areas of application of the analyzed tools, according to those already contemplated and those that should be contemplated, in this way we obtain a matrix with the main indicators according to the scope and dimension.

When analyzing all the aspects that converge in the conformation of a sustainable city, it is clear that to achieve the objectives of sustainability a collective commitment is required, since a series of variables that in themselves involve other lines of study are involved, so They turn out to be complex in themselves. Although there are objectives, indicators, criteria, regulations and tools, not all city managers understand the importance of including environmental criteria in their projects and that, to achieve efficient city management, it is necessary to understand it as a whole, from a local perspective, as a scenario where complexity of factors converges and most importantly, where we all live.

The road to achieving these goals is not easy and full of obstacles, but it is the only way for future generations to have a future. In this area, existing tools should be strengthened, so that they are more accessible to all and citizen participation mechanisms so that we all make a city. If citizens do not understand the city as their responsibility, no urban strategy will make sense, since it will not last over time. There are many ways to achieve a sustainable city, the important thing is to understand and apply them according to our reality.

Episodes of extreme intensity of precipitation in Barcelona. Flash Flood Risk

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

One of the main features of urban areas is the prevalence of impervious surfaces (sealed soils). Depending on its density and extent, soil sealing restricts natural soil functions, since it reduces water infiltration capacity and run-off regulation, thus increasing flash flooding risk. In the case of heavy rainfalls in urban areas with high imperviousness ratio, the sewage system could no longer be able to cope with the excess of rainwater and then pluvial floods develop. In many European zones, urban spread and densification have increased the impervious surface ratio (European Environment Agency, 2016). In Barcelona conurbation, most areas have high fractions of sealed soils (60–80%) and in the city, this fraction exceeds 80% (source: European Environment Agency, GMES/Copernicus). Heavy rainfall episodes are relatively frequent in this area, especially in autumn, and some of them have resulted in flash floods. In this study, rainfall intensity records from an urban network of 23 stations are analysed. The database consists of series of rain amounts collected at 5-minute intervals, which provides a measure of rainfall intensity (mm/5 minutes). The recording period encompasses 16 years (1994-2009). For all the records with durations greater than 60 minutes and total amounts greater than 25 mm (67 episodes, 499 records), the total rain amount, average intensity and maximum intensity are determined. We have selected the records exceeding, simultaneously, the 95th percentile of these three variables, thus obtaining 29 extreme records, which could lead to pluvial flash flood events. These extreme records correspond to seven different episodes, occurred from the end of July to October. Most of these extreme episodes are generated by convective processes at local scale as well as by eastern advections. The seven extreme episodes caused important affectations in road communications, breakdowns at traffic lights and telephone lines, as well as interruption of the service of some suburban lines, the airport and the railway network. Because of climate change and global warming, the frequency of episodes of very heavy precipitation is likely to increase. The development of policies aimed at limiting or reducing the proportion of sealed soils in urban areas would be a key element to mitigate, as far as possible, this risk of flash flooding.

Integration measures as a regenerative and investment instrument in the city

Lorena Sicilia Pedroza, Gustavo Gómez Peltier — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The theories that support the idea of city are based on a rational consensus to the existence of subjects with the same rights represented by democratic and efficient governments. However, in underdeveloped countries conceptual basis, on which the idea of a city is build, differs from that established in countries with more developed democratic structures and social practices.

Impact of real estate development generated by capitalist production of cities in Latin America has not only accelerated processes of territorial segregation and social conflicts, but they have also exceeded the capacity to plan, finance and manage urban development by local and national governments. Real estate dynamic has affect city meaning and their relations, without been able to build a new city idea that effectively integrates this dynamic and not only reject it.

In Mexico City, we find one of the best examples of urban transformation processes in which it is very clear that planning and management models of the city are totally exceeded, but it also presents a great opportunity to rethink models before implementation of a new legal framework: the first Political Constitution of México City. In this study case is explained the existing urban problems and it is presented a methodological proposal for local administration to have better tools to perform a systemic evaluation of urban impacts of real estate development, as well as an example of how they can reduce and compensate for its effects.

This proposal is based on a case –currently under development- carried out by Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico City campus. Its objective is that this methodology for evaluation of urban impacts becomes a tool from which urban development planning instruments become quantitative instruments and not only indicative ones, establishing a direct relation between develop and financing, at least at local level.

Environmental Implications of CO2 Absorption by Pervious Concrete Pavement in Urban Roads

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This research deals with a new material, made from conventional pervious concrete, but with the addition of two components in its mixture, calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), to improve its carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption properties from the atmosphere, and Scrap Tyre Tubes (STT), a rubber waste from used tyres of vehicle (motorcycles and cars), which makes the new material lighter and contributes to urban sustainability by reusing industrial waste automotive. Conventional pervious concrete has a main property that benefits the environment, which is natural from its porous structure, which is the permeability of the urban pavement, which allows the drainage of rainwater from the urban pavement to the underground, contributing to the reduction of flooding in cities through the infiltration of water into the groundwater. This research sought to improve conventional pervious concrete through additives in its mix to create a new porous material, more efficient at sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere, lighter and reusing rubber waste from used tyres. The porosity of conventional pervious concrete makes this material ideal for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration due to the ease of CO2 penetration into its internal structure pore network, which interacts with cement and other additives, which by means of a chemical reaction called carbonation, absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere to form calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in its internal structure, which is an excellent environmental benefit for the materials used in the manufacture of urban pavements, as it makes the urban pavement contribute directly for air quality and for the control of pollution emanating from motor vehicles traveling on urban roads. In this investigation were performed laboratory tests of compressive strength and permeability, because these are the most important properties of conventional permeable concrete that make this building material a porous pavement that can be used on urban roadways, these properties are essential for the new pervious concrete material, were also CO2 volume monitoring in contact with specimens of conventional pervious concrete and specimens of new material, because this environmental benefit of CO2 absorption from the atmosphere is very important for the control of air quality in large metropolis, which have high levels of pollution that affect the life of urban citizens, causing respiratory diseases in old and children. In this research, 40 conventional pervious concrete were manufactured with limestone aggregate, to serve as a control group in the statistical analysis and 10 specimens of the new material of pervious concrete also were manufactured with proportions of 1:0.5:4 (cement:Ca(OH)2:pebble), factor water/cement (w/c) of 0.30, with 5% STT in mix, because the proportion of SST in the mix defines how much waste tyre waste can be reused in the manufacture of this new material. The STT is a non-biodegradable material that occupies a lot of urban space, so it harms the environment and the quality of life of the urban citizen, an alternative to reuse STT in the mix of new pervious concrete material is a very important sustainable solution to modern cities around the world due to the progressive annual increase of this waste tire rubber from automotive industries. In this research the results of the tests served to compare compression and permeability, as well as monitoring the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere of the different groups. The results of the compressive strength and permeability tests and CO2 volume monitoring were analyzed statistically for normality and the t-Student test. This analysis showed that the improvement of environmental properties harms the physical properties of the new material with compressive strength of 1.25 MPa, permeability of 7.00 mm/s and 5% of STT in the mix of new material of the pervious concrete, however, this new permeable concrete material can be used in non-structural works, such as garden pavement, pedestrian sidewalks, finishes to beautify buildings and condominium facades, etc., due to the environmental benefits it produces and cannot be neglected.

Urban Soundscape Quality Rating Using GIS Data and Remote Sensing: A Case Study of Al-Safa District, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Ayman Imam — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The economic life of an urban area can significantly benefit from a good living environment, making this an essential part of any effective regeneration plan. As cities progressively compete with one another to invite investment, the existence of tranquil spaces, such as gardens and squares, becomes an important business and marketing tool. Managing noise is a major consideration for enhancing citizen’s quality of life, since excessive noise levels have adverse effects on both human health and urban biodiversity. Soundscape evaluation is usually determined by approximating the monetary costs due to exposure to noise, such as hospital expenses, decreased productivity and returns from tourism or measured changes in biodiversity. The major objective of this study is establishing noise maps showing the areas with the highest noise level in order to propose and proposing urban solutions can control such nose level to enhance the quality of life for the residents and visitors of Al-Safa District in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, using live monitoring of noise. Methods previously used to evaluate the impact of the urban soundscape measure urban noise level include hedonic pricing, a surveying technique, and choice experiment to evaluate individuals’ preference of neighborhood. However, such studies lack real data, as they provide virtually no information on the way buildings or natural green walls can act as sound barriers or insulation, do not consider properties' proximity to noise zones, lack detail on the impact of contextual factors, such as weather, on the soundscape.

Furthermore, methodologies used to evaluate sound barriers do not differentiate between noise pitch and vibration. Moreover, noise reduction also has economic impact. One of the most important strategic goals of the Saudi Arabia’s national Vision 2030 is focused on improving the quality of life of the Kingdom’s citizens and residents. This plan will be implemented by creating an environmental system that contributes to increasing the level of economic, social, and development of the Kingdom’s cities. The program uses six international indicators to assess the quality of life, with improving individuals’ living conditions for a satisfied and healthy life through enhancing the urban environment prevailing as one of the overarching goals. Numerous studies have demonstrated the negative effect of noise pollution in cities on residents’ health in cities by increasing risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, hearing loss, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, monitoring and managing noise pollution in cities is crucial to improving the quality of life in any urban environment. In the present study, remote sensing and GIS data were obtained to derive environmental and urban factors that may influence the soundscape quality. The smartphone application YOPELO was used to measure noise levels in the Al-Safa district of Jeddah. More than 25 distributed roadside spots in the study area were evaluated based on the traffic volume and mixed land use. The results of the study demonstrate noise levels ranging from 50-82 dB in the areas examined. The modeled high noise levels were significantly associated with commercial areas and higher traffic volume zones. The results of the current research can serve in assisting the government and policy makers in city planning with accordance to social, environmental and urban requirements. In addition, this research contributes to implementing Saudi Vision 2030 by providing pertinent data and interactive maps to determine city locations with lowest level of noise to create optimal public spaces. Moreover, the present research will contribute key information regarding areas with high noise pollution rates to facilitate planning and implementation of intervention strategies to make the areas more livable.

Model to support resilient urban growth in a context of climate change

Isabel Zapata Alegría, Jorge Cerda Troncoso — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In a scenario of growing unplanned urbanization, with a projection of increasing extreme weather events; Iquique - Alto Hospicio is a fragmented and vulnerable conurbation against natural threats, affecting the consolidation and future urban growth of this Metropolitan Area. The objective is to base and improve planning and adaptation for future urban development, in the search for urban sustainability in a context of climate change. Against this, it is important to evaluate the levels of vulnerability and risks of the growth alternatives of the metropolitan system.

The purpose is to guide the planning decisions, based on the construction of a model of the urban system, whose evaluation, allows to indicate potential action axes for its future ordering. A systemic platform is obtained to formulate different future scenarios, a tool that guides the public decision-making process in planning matters.

For this, the surfaces of urban footprints are quantified according to temporary cuts and types of urban fabric, defined by classes of land use analysis, intensity of occupation and level of consolidation; through photointerpretation of aerial photography, measuring historical growth in the period 1982-2017. The need arises to assess vulnerabilities and risks, developing a diagnosis that supports a clear knowledge of the threats and vulnerabilities that affects the future metropolitan system of Iquique - Alto Hospice.

A methodology is developed to evaluate different scenarios; within the framework of an urban planning process and strengthening of public institutions (Metropolitan Government). This, in a context of future growth, in which the threats due to climate change scenarios will increase and therefore will pose challenges for the regional administration with the powers attributed to it by Law 19.175 to reduce vulnerabilities, thus achieving cities resilient and with greater adaptive capacity, based on the participation of the different regional urban public and private actors.

It considers instances of participation of key regional actors with vast knowledge of the territory, for the selection and prioritization of threats, as well as the validation of the results. In addition, a meteorological modeling has been carried out using the WRF model for the 2017 meso-scale year, and the CALMET model, to lower the resolution at local scale incorporating the information of the available surface meteorological stations of Alto Hospicio, and UNAP – Huaiquique

With this background, current and future vulnerabilities of the urban system are quantified from a multidimensional approach (human, physical, functional, economic), through multicriteria and probabilistic analyzes of climatic changes for temperature and wind variables. The weights are obtained from the results of a Participation Workshop, corresponding to the traffic light exercise carried out for the issues of the different dimensions of vulnerability for each threat. The result is urban development scenarios proposed for intelligent growth that considers the reduction of vulnerability due to climate change effects, and thereby minimizing the damage caused by threats.

It concludes in an evaluation of the model used, contributing to the development of a more resilient urban system, reducing vulnerability through better system conditions, in the context of the development of urban planning processes.

Work methodology for ecological design strategies in hot humid climate of Mexico

Ignacio Alejandro Guzmán Hernández, Fidel Franco González, Jaime Roset Calzada — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The need for people’s comfort has always led us to modify our environment, within this search for comfort we find thermal comfort, of a state of mental satisfaction with the environment. In places with warm-humid climate, such thermal comfort is difficult to achieve during several seasons of the year, due to the high temperatures that are accompanied by high levels of humidity, causing hot flashes. This essay is focused on expressing some of the problems that appear in the implementation of some passive air conditioning systems for housing projects with the climate in question, as well as some possible solutions to be analyzed. A simple methodology of passive design strategies, or low power consumption, to reduce temperatures and humidity is exposed. In the case study, Villahermosa, Tabasco, only ideal conditions are available approximately 4.73% of the time, while the high humidity levels remain throughout most of the year. The strategies analyzed in the article are: solar protection, natural and mechanical ventilation, passive and active low enthalpy geothermal, desiccant panels and the collection of water from dehumidification. The implementation of Peltier cells in dehumidification processes is proposed, which help to condense the water vapor contained in the air, so that when entering the homes, it is more comfortable.

Development of adaptive capacities to climate change in urban and rural communities in southern Jalisco, Mexico

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This paper is a systemic approach to the study area that is covered by urban and rural areas of the municipalities of Zapotitlan de Vadillo, Tuxcacuesco, Zapotlan el Grande, Tuxpan and Gomez Farias, Jalisco, Mexico. Making manifest the ecological, social, economic, political and cultural aspects that to be modified are intended through formal and informal Environmental Education and raising awareness of the vulnerabilities, risks, threats that affect these municipalities to different degrees, as well as the impact they are taking into the climate change and global warming.

Through developing adaptive capacities, the many climate changes in urban and rural communities through Environmental Education in five municipalities of the Southern Jalisco region.

The study area is located in the south of the state of Jalisco, Mexico. In three different hydrological basins (Armería Basin, Lerma-Chapala Santiago Basin, and Coahuayana. In addition, in three regions, Sierra de Amula, South and Southeast Region, which have different socio-environmental characteristics with particular microclimates. However, they have common environmental, social, economic, political and cultural aspects, and above all a significant degree of vulnerability to different types of poverty according to the classification of vulnerability to climate change in the municipalities of Mexico (National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change, 2013). The interactions of one affect the other municipalities, for example, water scarcity in a region will directly affect three or four neighboring municipalities.

The main lines of action for the development of the project was: Environmental education for sustainability, adaptive capacities for contribution to climate change, contribute to the resilience of ecosystems in the region under study, strengthening environmental management and basic production systems good practices.

For the development of the processes of social learning and collective action that guided the construction of integral adaptive capacities were through: Problem-Based Learning (PBL), playful learning, development of experiences, proactive participation, workshops, congresses, conferences, panels, work tables and mass cultural events, Water Fair, Tilapia Fair, environmental calendar: highlighting the celebration of World Wetlands Day, World Water, Earth and Environment Day, regional, national and international meeting of indigenous communities.

For which, educational and communication materials were used in the development process were outdoor classrooms, auditoriums, working guide, guided visits, direct observation, oral, mimicry and written communication, presentation of educational videos, power point presentation, electronic materials and pre-instructional, coin-instructional and post-instructional teaching techniques, posters and interactive dome.

However, the importance of this work is in recognition of the vulnerability of the aforementioned municipalities and their impact on the socio-environmental corridor of these. When performing this work georeferencing vulnerable critical points that have social groups to become more sensitive to the negative effects of climate change sought were.

In conclusion, there is some degree of viability can contribute to the resilience of the region to contribute to the remediation of climate change because, it is a global problem which can contribute to local actions of good practice in the use and exploitations rational use of ecosystem goods and services in the region; by developing adaptability skills through formal and informal environmental education, which strengthens and promotes the values of sustainability.

In this work they involved 1,978 people, who are students of basic education and higher secondary education, as well as the five municipalities mentioned above agricultural, forestry and tourism producers and 50 members of the Nahua indigenous community: students telesecundaria the Zenzontla, from the Municipality of Tuxcacuesco, Tuxcacuesco High School, Zapotitlan de Vadillo, Ciudad Guzmán, Tuxpan and San Sebastian del Sur High School, Jalisco State Baccalaureate College (COBAEJ), Industrial and Baccalaureate Center for Technology and Services (CBTis ) between ages 13 and 18. Which showed high availability to continue contributing to formal and informal environmental education with their family, friends and social circles in their environment.

Reshaping the City: Containing the Urban Sprawl and Reducing Solar Access on the Streets in a Hot Desert Climate City

Carlos Fernando López Ordóñez, Isabel Crespo Cabillo, Jaume Roset Calzada — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Most of the studies on world demographic evolution point to a population growth foresight of almost double by 2050. Also, the proportion of the urban population is expected to grow, from the current 55% to 68% of the total. This perspective generates the need to think about the present and future cities, especially those located in mid – latitudes, where most of that populations accumulates. Many of these cities have a hot desert climate and follow, until now, a dispersed city model (a large extension of the urban area and low densities). These characteristics move them away from the sustainability objectives, so work must be done to reverse the situation. One of the objectives of this work is to demonstrate that urban densification, through the reshaping and stacking of the city, represents an intelligent way to contain the urban sprawl. At the same time, and given that the climate plays a decisive role in these types of cities, in this study is intended to improve the quality of life in the urban public space while answering the growing housing demand. To carry out this work, a hot desert climate city was selected, Hermosillo. The city is located in the state of Sonora in Mexico. It currently has a population of approximately 900,000 inhabitants, it is expected that by the year 2030 it will have increased to around 1,100,000 inhabitants. Therefore, its urban area will go from 17, 500 hectares to almost 23,000 hectares, all of this will create a great housing demand to meet. The methodology in this work is applied to an area of Hermosillo. In this area, the dominant type of land use is commercial, but it also presents other uses to a lesser extent: urban equipment and housing. This type of configuration, together with low-rise buildings, results in an area with low density. The methodology of this study is divided into three stages. The first is the collection of statistical, urban and climatological data. Second, the processing of this data and the creation of GIS-based maps using the ArcMap software. The third stage is the assessment of the solar access at street level, for this, 3D models were elaborated for simulation and evaluation using the Heliodon2 calculation tool. The results have shown that carrying out urban densification through these approaches, and taking into account the planning regulations of Hermosillo favors the increase, favors the increase of housing in the study area, as well as an improvement in the use of public space. A 6.5 times higher density than the actual is achieved by maintaining the current average ratio of square meters of living space per person. At the same time, a considerable reduction of direct solar access at street level is produced. This favors the pedestrian’s thermal comfort, resulting in an improvement in the quality of urban life. This paper concludes that urban densification through these types of approaches generates the possibility to provide quality housing (in terms of habitable space of each dwelling). At the same time, it makes possible the contention of the urban sprawl. As for the improvement of the public spaces conditions, the generation of shade upon the urban space is achieved by using the form of the city itself.

Rainwater Harvesting and Reuse and Rainwater Runoff in Barcelona Thanks to The WSUDs (Water Sensitive Urban Design Systems)

María del Mar Pérez Cambra, Dr.Josep Roca Cladera, Dra.Dolors Martínez Santafe — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Water sensitive urban design (WSUD) is an approach to planning and designing urban areas to make use of this valuable resource and reduce the harm it causes to our rivers and creeks” WSUDs (Water Sensitive Urban Design Systems) try to integrate the urban water cycle in the urban design to improve the environmental behavior in the urbanization of the cities. When we urbanize we transform pervious surfaces into impervious surfaces. With WSUDs pervious surfaces are implemented.

Water presence should allow rainwater harvesting, decrease water runoff and improve surfaces thermal behavior. The two first hypothesis will be shown in this research. Thus the main question is: could it be possible to reduce water consumption and rainwater runoff thanks to WSUDs in the city of Barcelona? This paper shows a study case trying to answer this question in a flood area. The last question, about surfaces thermal behavior was explained last year in the CTV’2018. This two articles are a part of the current thesis taken by the author of which Dr.Josep Roca and Dr.Dolors Martínez are tutoring. This part of the research uses a calculation methodology (while the CTV2018 Congress showed an experimental methodology).

As climate change preview more intense rains in our territory the last IDF curves registered by the Fabra Observatory will be used instead of the IDF curves calculated with the MaxPluWin previously by the author due to the fact that the Fabra ones are more precise. Some considerations will be taking when using the “project rain” in order to approach it to the real pluviometry. Thus, reserve period of the water depos will have to be modified in the future and floods in the streets might be increased.

Trying to improve flood effects, water scarcity and the heat island effect, the WSUDs with better thermal effect could be used in some cases harvesting rainwater and reducing the rainwater runoff. This better thermal effect means that WSUDs surface temperature, in some cases, is lower in summer than the environmental temperature2.

This WSUDs implementation can be used as an urbanistic micro-acupuncture practice. Rainwater runoff also gets to the depuration central station much more polluted after urbanizing if WSUDs are not considered. Therefore, WSUDs allow to improve water quality when it arrives to the water treatment plant as well and reduce energy in its transportation to the sewage treatment plants.

Another question is in which area is better to harvest water if we need a good water quality. It will be possible to treat it, always or with hypochlorite or with ozone but the numbers of molecules required if we need to clean rainwater mixed up with oil or gasolines or without them reduce are much less. Also studies of water quality in blue roofs or green-blue roofs show that the best construction system is a green-blue roof. It’s been studied previously although it won’t be explained in this paper for not being the main goal.

The research is focused to work on the most flooded areas in Barcelona by changing impervious surfaces into pervious ones getting rainwater to be reused and removed from the streets. In the studied area results show a not negligible water quantity which could supply some domestic uses of the dwellings in the flood area, in this study case.

Although reducing rainwater with WSUDs is not new for the Barcelona Municipality, using their constructions as a complementary system to reduce water consumption in the city using systems which, at the same time, reduce surface temperatures, are added values studied in this paper. Currently Barcelona has some WSUDs in some areas just to minimize rainwater runoff but reduces water consumption thanks to phreatic waters. The study case shows an alternative, another way to reduce rainwater runoff and water consumption while improving surface temperatures of the city.

Brief, this preliminary communication tries show how we could reduce water consumption, rainwater runoff and “heat island” effect thanks to the WSUDs construction systems.

Elements for diagnosing resilience due to sea level rise in coastal cities of the Colombian Caribbean

Alexander Stward Niño Soto, Jim Héctor Hurtado Morales — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The general objective of the research was to build a model of urban resilience assessment, for coastal cities on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, in which different approaches to urban resilience in coastal towns and cities were studied; from the construction of measurable elements in urban centers, which can be used as an instrument of planning and territorial planning. The exploration was carried out in stages, which linked a first phase of conceptual and methodological elaboration based on risk management, for the construction of the set of indicators that provided information for the evaluation of resilience in coastal urban environments. Then, the principles of urban resilience were identified for the formulation of sustainable urban planning models in coastal cities. Thus, the studies carried out by the coastal state authorities were consulted and crossed with the locations of the urban centers. Then, from the previous conceptual and methodological construction, the scope of affectation due to increase in sea level was determined cartographically, determined by the increase in global temperature, which allowed obtaining data for the preparation of qualitative and quantitative profiles of impact on coastal urban centers. Thus, an impact assessment and the magnitude of response were estimated according to their installed and quantified capacities, to be referred to as an indicator of the level of resilience of each urban system. Information was collected from flood studies and projections conducted by the Climate Central Organization, with open availability in the Surging Seas tool. From the georeferenced images of the Surging Seas models and Google Earth pro satellite images, on which planimetric information from the Administrative Department of Statistics - DANE of Colombia is superimposed; With these inputs the cartographies of each of the coastal municipalities of the Coastal Environmental Units of Darién, Gulf of Morrosquillo, Rio Magdalena, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and La Guajira were built. A total of 39 maps of 25 municipalities and their areas of influence were prepared, as well as tables of analysis and interpretation of the data, in which the impacts due to sea level increase were quantified in three scenarios of increase in the global temperature each on modeled mapping for each of the municipal headings and relevant indicators were evaluated for the diagnosis of the social, environmental and economic dimensions, which with the implementation of risk induction methods, could allow the estimation of the capacity of resistance and response to induced impact, translated into the level of resilience of each of the municipalities studied. The studies made it possible to estimate that of the analyzed sample corresponding to 264 km², 52% will suffer serious impacts with a relative increase in the global temperature of 1.5 ° C, that is, in the most conservative range of increase in sea level - ANM according to the reference studies, which can lead to 1,184,353 potentially affected inhabitants, in addition to the severe impact on a large percentage of all types of social, economic and ecosystem services infrastructure of the municipalities analyzed. It is evident that the impact generated by the increase in sea levels, projected in accordance with the expectation of global temperature increase, will leave coastal municipalities in very critical conditions; But essentially the departments and emblematic cities of the Colombian Caribbean coast will run out of central administration. Reason why, the generation of evacuation, relocation and progressive accommodation plans towards the continent of the population with latent threat is imminent, restricting future developments in areas with threat testing and the generation of natural systems of buffering the territory, all This is done with the important contribution of robust and multidisciplinary research programs that support decision making. Therefore, land planning plans must begin to act on the premise of real flooding as a condition of territorial planning.

Urban climate project in Palma de Mallorca: Eje Alomar - Rosselló

Nicolas Uriel Architector — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Climate change and urban heat island effects are no longer discussed anywhere, and its consequences will be the new paradigm with which we will face in the near future, in fact, we are suffering many of these effects in the present.

Even though we already have the scientific knowledge and the right tools, there weren't significant changes in the methodology of urban developments.

his article exposes the need for a metropolitan understanding of the urban environment, a complete analysis of the area (demographic, socio-economic, mobility, regulatory, climatic and the effects of climate change), the development of a climate behavior map of Climatops, the corroboration of the existence of an urban heat island effect in the region, the development of a map of climate recommendations, and the subsequent development of an urban climate project in the municipality of Palma de Mallorca focused on three areas of action: the improvement of urban green, generation of quality public space, and the promotion of more sustainable mobility.

In addition, the project will be subjected to climate simulations to determine and quantify the effects it will have on local climate behavior, as well as to verify its contribution as a mitigator of the urban heat island and climate change effects.

The composition of green spaces and levels of physical activity of older people in Barcelona

Guillem Vich, Javier Dopico Magadán, Carme Miralles-Guasch — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The study of urban green spaces (UGS) has received great attention from both academics and urban planners, as they offer a broad range of services offering an improvement in values for society. Urban open spaces provided with natural elements have been linked to a series of benefits, both for the environment and health and for the well-being of urban residents. This is possible since these places offer to the people the possibility to interact socially as well as with the environment, to the extent that they promote outdoor leisure and recreation activities. They are, therefore, suitable places for the practice of physical activity. The physiological and psychosocial health benefits of UGS are important to address the future challenges of aging in modern societies. The association between visitors to these spaces and increases in PA levels is related to a wide range of benefits especially among the elderly. The shape and composition of UGS can vary widely from the point of view of the infrastructure provided. In turn, these characteristics can influence the use that people make in these spaces. There is little evidence to explore the relationship between the provision of different types of natural landscapes present in UGS as well as the different types of surfaces available. Through the categorization of natural landscapes this exploration is possible. To contribute to this field of research, this research aims to analyze the relationship between the composition of UGS and its use by older people in a Mediterranean city like Barcelona. More specifically, this study explores the relationships between the provision of different types of natural landscapes and different types of available surfaces in UGS with the time spent and the PA intensity of the performed activities by the elderly. Additionally, the effect of certain individual characteristics such as gender or age is also analyzed. To carry out this study, it was necessary the use of GPS tracking data in combination with accelerometer data recorded in 63 older adults residing in Barcelona. Participants were provided of devices capable of making these records. They had to use it for 7 consecutive days in order to obtain their daily locations and the intensity of PA. Thus, the total time spent within these spaces was calculated in addition to the intensity (sedentary or active) of their activities to explore the use of different areas according to the type of vegetation and natural landscape in addition to the type of soil. The results of this study have shown that participants spent a median of 8.5 minutes within the analyzed UGS, and that registered sedentary activities predominate over active ones. It has been shown that hard soils are positively linked to the total time spent, while there is a negative association between soft soils and time spent on active behavior. The main conclusions drawn from this work indicate that age and health of the population are key aspects to take into account when building and designing UGS that are inclusive and accessible to all profiles of society, also highlighting the importance of other aspects such as accessibility (in terms of distance from home). Also, the type of surface plays a relevant role. Hard soils are related to a greater total time in these spaces while soft soils involve less time devoted to PA of active behavior.

Environmental Outlook for the Tres Palos Lagoon, Municipality of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Tres Palos lagoon in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, is a shallow inland water body that, in addition to the biodiversity it contains and the ecological benefits it generates, serves as sustenance for the surrounding towns. Currently, water pollution affects economic activities such as fishing and tourism. The objective was to construct a physical and socio-economic characterization of the Tres Palos Lagoon for a complexity analysis of the problem and its prospective in fishing activity. Four stages were developed: recognition of the Lagoon, environmental and socioeconomic characterization, analysis of the problem and evaluation of time series for fishing activity; marine probe, GPS, thermometer and laboratory equipment were used; statistical processing was done in Excel, Minitab and cartographic in ArcGis. Poverty is a general condition along the communities studied. The main economic activities are fishing, agriculture and tourism. As a result of the chemical analysis three zones were identified: the limits with Río de la Sabana, which is shallow and presents the greatest turbidity with the entrance of sewage water and solid waste; the north zone presents a greater current, so the salinity is low, as well as the average temperature; and the southern zone, with a lower degree of eutrophication and greater vegetation presents high conductivity depending on salinity. The environmental problem is exacerbated by mangrove deforestation, dusting and overfishing; The waters discharged by the Río de la Sabana represent the main source of pollution in the lagoon. The future of fishing production is uncertain, species of greater commercial value such as robalo (centropomus nigriscens) is declining, while more resistant species such as tilapia (oreochromis niloticus) is produced in aquaculture farms will increase. It is concluded that there is conflict between actors and weakness of the institutions in the fulfillment of policies; the Laguna de Tres Palos requires efficient environmental governance.

Rain roads, urban channels: new lines of land use planning. The master plan for the urban open space in Sabadell. The Green Infrastructure criteria

Tomás de Castro Borregán, Rosa Maria Torra Reventós — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In order to face the growing artificialization of the environment, the management and protection of urban and peri-urban open spaces is necessary. These spaces must be constituted as effective environmental elements, to increase urban resilience. The renewal of planning databases, including the creation of new thematic bases to analyze public space, together with the critical analysis of current planning figures, has revealed that instrumental planning has blurred the main objectives of the general plan of ordination of 93.

The objective is to establish the criteria that must be impregnated in new urban planning and project solutions, based on the problems detected in the diagnosis and indicator development phase.

The methodology is based on the existence of a double complexity in the project of open spaces: the logic of citizen routes or "urban channels", and the logic of environmental value embodied in the water cycle or "rain roads".

"Urban channels." The setting of guidelines has been made based on the following criteria:

• The structure of the civic axes must gradually facilitate the creation of a continuous network of spaces that structure the different neighborhoods of the city. These axes have been blurred as planning has become more short-term and instrumental

• The maturity of the configuration of the urban continuum limits the creation of new parks: the expansion of free spaces must go hand in hand with the reconfiguration of sections of large streets, avenues and pedestrian spaces.

• Discontinuities detected in the main pedestrian networks are not acceptable. Private transport infrastructures have been the only ones to provide inter-municipal communications.

• The new organization of the city can no longer be dominated by growth dynamics or by the construction of new infrastructures.

• It is necessary to consider the continuity of urban open spaces with the network of peri-urban and undeveloped spaces, so that they do not present discontinuities.

"Rain roads." It is necessary to introduce elements of urban resilience in the realization of these opportunities. We must rearm urban projects with ecosystem content:

• The water cycle, in its three moments (emission / irrigation, transport / geometry and modeling, reception / infiltration) is the element that embodies this change. This water cycle also shapes new types of green spaces.

The data used have been: Urban planning maps, digital topographies, activity mapping, areas of possible transformation, open spaces, mobility studies. Analysis of rainfall, soil. Analysis of biodiversity and vegetation. Own municipal experience.

The free spaces are ordered with 2 planning instruments: The Master Plan of the Urban Open Space (in process) and the Master Plan of Urban Green (in writing)

The management of urban open space consists of:

• Proposal for the open space network: Definition of the network of free spaces and main civic axes - pedestrian network + Identification of the main connectivities of urban and peri-urban open space, which has led to a review of non-developable land planning

• Identification of the main city projects to complete the planned model.

• Definition of pending transformation and management areas.

• Global analysis of compatibility with other networks: cyclist, public transport, basic road ...

• Rebalancing by expanding the naturalized and pedestrian space with guidelines for Urban Planning Area projects.

On the other hand, we are currently developing the Urban Green Master Plan, to describe the criteria of green infrastructure that green spaces must satisfy, relevant from an environmental point of view.

The critical analysis of territorial and urban planning, as well as the proposal, hint:

• The lack of coordination in the planning process for new growths and the provision of infrastructure in the context of Vallès.

• The loss of validity of the city model proposed by the General Plan in some aspects.

• The great qualitative and quantitative potential of the functional rebalancing of the network of civic axes in empowerment and connection of open spaces and in the environmental improvement of cities.

From necessity to project: the design of public space for water control and climate change mitigation

Marta Rabazo Martin, Francesca Paola Mondelli — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Substituting natural areas for paved surfaces typical result of urbanization, not only increases the existing environmental problems in our cities. The severity of flooding, lack of groundwater recharging, erosion of natural water channels, increased temperatures and heat islands, the fragmentation of natural habitats, urban segregation, light pollution and increase of car use with the consequence of air pollution are merely some of the consequences to which this contributes.

Designing correctly the urban public spaces, their materials, permeability and different levels of vegetation, and following some good practice guidelines, would help to mitigate all these negative effects. A good example in this field, are the "water squares" developed in northern Europe, mainly in Rotterdam, a city that is strongly affected by its complex relationship with water. These squares, designed as multifunctional public spaces, have the task of capturing rainwater and becoming, in the case of heavy rains or floods, like detention basins that progressively filter the water to the subsoil, alleviating the problem of overflowing the sewer system. When there is no water, they remain empty and function as relational areas or playgrounds, highlighting the benefits of a dynamic design of the space that is not only projected for a single function, but is capable of transforming according to necessity. In another order of importance, maybe secondary in terms of quality as a public space but vital in terms of the amount of surface they occupy in our cities, parking lots can have a main role as well, as different projects and studies in the last decades have pointed out, to contribute to reverse the consequences of urbanization.

One of the main consequences of climate change are heavy rains. The canopy of trees can absorb about 11.1% of annual rainfall. As a result, this percentage varies focusing on the type of trees used, the time of year and the duration and intensity of rainfall; higher interception rates occur for broadleaf evergreens, warm summer storms, and short, light rain. Tall trees will help to reduce peak rainfalls, with the consequence of stopping and evaporating the water, mitigating light rains and minimizing heavy rains. Therefore, evergreens assist to mitigate surface and water heating.

In addition, a common practice in car parks and large paved surface areas, in general, is to evacuate the rainwater as quickly as possible through the drainage system by pouring that water into a nearby stream. What seems the logical use of these facilities results in a huge amount of water pouring from these canals when the rains are very strong, quickly eroding the stream bed, dragging the vegetation and existing debris of its banks, and leaving a wide rocky watercourse. It is much efficient to produce an on-site water detention system that is able to encourage a progressive evacuation of the water, avoid water runoff and promote a constant influx of water into aquifers. Parking areas also highly contribute to the heat island effect, which happens in asphalt surfaces that do not consider any vegetation, making these surfaces 20º to 40º warmer than a vegetated one, reaching a variation of 48.8 degrees to 17.2 º

The aim of this article is to highlight the vital importance that a correct design of our public realm can have on the adaptation of our cities to climate change and the mitigation of its effects. Acting on small areas of the urban surface with good practice bases, we can create larger networks that minimize the effects of an uncontrolled urbanization. We should imagine a new ecological network to which all public spaces contribute effectively to, considering these not as isolated actions but as a continuous system, achieving a considerable improvement of our urban environment and working to counteract the effects of climate change.

Through an inductive methodology, we will analyze different cases that in recent decades have worked on these issues in order to develop a new code of good practices.

Tree canopy cover estimation by means of remotely sensed data for large geographical areas: overview, available data, and proposal

Nicola Colaninno, Ahmed H. Eldesoky, Eugenio Morello — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Climate change and global warming requires a strong boost to sustainable growth strategies. In particular, urban green management and planning is becoming a crucial and at the same time critical aspect. Therefore, urban green requires being accurately mapped, quantified and monitored over time. In this study we propose a cost-effective but reliable approach for the automatic classification and quantification of the tree canopy cover over extended geographical areas. The classification can also be used for estimating the number of trees, based on land use land cover (LULC) and the corresponding planting layout. The case study application is the Metropolitan City of Milan. Data used for classifying the tree canopy are based on high-resolution satellite imagery provided by the PlanetScope constellation. Based on the latter information, the work relies on the use of radiometric Vegetation Indices (VIs) to quantify the tree canopy. However, because the use of VIs can cause mixing of different types of vegetation, such as tree and grass, we used a stack of multi-temporal data from PlanetScope to retrieve per-pixel statistics for Red band and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The hypothesis here is that during spring-summer season tree canopy provides less variability than grass and/or agricultural fields. The approach provides an improved vegetation index capable of separating potential canopy-tree from other vegetation types. The result of the accuracy assessment shows an overall accuracy of 78.33% and 71.5% for the whole Metropolitan City of Milan and the City of Milan respectively.

Improving Local Climate Zones Automatic Classification Based on Physic-Morphological Urban Features

Ahmed Hazem Mahmoud Eldesoky, Nicola Colaninno, Eugenio Morello — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Local Climate Zone (LCZ) classification scheme, introduced by Stewart and Oke (2012), offers promising opportunities for better studying the urban climate phenomena at the micro- and local scale (e.g. the urban heat island effect). However, although several methods have been introduced to apply the concept of LCZs to cities, only a few utilize publicly available data, like, for instance, the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT). However, to date, results are relatively rough, and frequent quality assessments demonstrate moderate overall accuracy. This paper proposes an approach for improving the quality of LCZ automatic classification, combining freely available multispectral satellite imagery together with morphological features of the urban environment. And, overall accuracy of 67% was achieved for the Metropolitan City of Milan with an improvement of 12% with respect to using only Landsat 8 multispectral and thermal data. This ascertains the physic-morphological nature of the LCZs and opens the possibility for mapping more accurate LCZs without the need for additional thermal information.

Soil Resistance, The Invisible Landscape

Celia Martínez Hidalgo, Marja Skotheim Folde, Elisabeth Sjødahl — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Urban planning must help mitigate the effects of climate change, moderate the global rise in temperature and control the misuse of energy and hydrological resources. This research is based on a case study of the daylighting project on the river Kjørbekk in the Municipality of Skien in Norway. The project substitutes the actual storm water management in old pipes, to a visible nature-based solution (NBS), corresponding to a landscape infrastructure capable of retaining, infiltrating and transporting water and generating a new landscape of urban and territorial cohesion.

The human-made underground is a challenge for urban projects that have traditionally focused on the physical definition and legislation of what is visible, paying less attention to the invisible underground. The project reveals inherent underground constraints such as old landfills, polluted industrial ground, existing fresh and sewage water systems, fiber cables, electricity, etc. This has been necessary to map as a `contemporary archaeology´ in order to enable the design of the new waterways as well as the areas of retention and infiltration. The transformation of the old infrastructure into a new storm water management project corresponds to a system change that has demanded a design of a process over time, including both private and public actors. The urban project is under a paradigm shift which includes uncertainty and where the dynamic and the management of risk becomes a part of the project.

Seasonal variations in the cooling effect of Barcelona's urban parks: an approach using remote sensing

Alan García-Haro, Blanca Arellano, Josep Roca — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Urban parks are spaces of opportunity for the adaptation of cities to climate change. Its commonly abundant vegetation and unsealed surfaces, break the continuity of the artificial land cover that distinguishes urban areas, and generate a temperature reduction in relation to its context, which extends towards its surroundings and generates the so-called urban park cool island (PCI). Therefore, recognizing the role of the physical characteristics that define this effect is an opportunity to propose parameters of climate adaptation of cities and reduce health risks during extreme heat wave episodes. In recent years, the addition of the Land Surface Temperature (LST) to studies of the climatic behavior of urban spaces, has allowed addressing a greater number of cases with simultaneous thermal information in larger-scale areas. In this context, in this work we propose a remote sensing approach to the quantification of the seasonal variations of the cooling effect of the urban parks of Barcelona and the role of their design and location. Particularly, we highlight the relationship of the annual changes in the composition of the green spaces inside and around the parks with their microclimatic behavior. For this purpose, we calculate the PCI limit extension (Lmax) and intensity (ΔTmax) of 86 urban parks in the city of Barcelona, through a method of homogenization of the surrounding temperature using concentric rings, based on the LST of Landsat-8 OLI / TIRS satellite of representative days of the four seasons of the year. Subsequently, we analyze the correlation between these indicators and the physical attributes of shape, location and annual variations in the composition of the green spaces of the parks and their surroundings. Where we obtained the latter by quantifying changes in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the same satellite images.

First results record that the urban parks in Barcelona has an average LST per season between 0.99 and 2.56ºC lower than the urban context. Where we register average PCI values of 57.91 to 78.02m of Lmax and 0.75 to 1.70°C of ΔTmax. In addition, throughout the year, 83 parks register positive PCI and only one negative the entire year. Most of the parks record their maximum PCI during summer and their minimum in winter. On the other hand, the set of parks records an average NDVI of 0.17 to 0.22 greater than the urban context of Barcelona. Where, the annual variation range of NDVI of each park does not correlate with its PCI variations. In addition, coinciding with the literature, ΔTmax is the indicator of the PCI with the highest correlation with physical attributes throughout the year. Particularly, the greater the proportion of areas with clustered trees (identified with an NDVI from 0.50 to 0.60), the greater the ΔTmax in the four seasons, while the rest of the attributes vary in each season. As for the Lmax, it does not register a constant significant correlation during the year with some physical attribute, although with the ΔTmax does. In general, the results point to a predominant influence of the physical characteristics of the park shape and the composition of its green spaces. Leaving aside its location and the characteristics of its urban context.

Given this, as conclusions we discuss the relevance of the methodological approach to the case studied and the contributions to the recognition of the influence of the design and location of urban parks in Barcelona on their microclimatic influence. The present study is part of the project “Urban-CLIMPLAN. The urban heat island: effects on climate change and modeling for territorial and urban planning strategies. Application to the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona”; financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (MINECO) and the European Fund for Regional Development (FEDR).

Hydrological Consequences of Climate Change in Urban Environments

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The possible intensification of the hydrological cycle due to climate change and its effects on hydrology should be taken into account in order to prevent future problems in urban drainage systems. The intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) curves, an important tool used in the design and construction of different hydrological structures for water management, could be altered by a supposed increase in heavy rainfall due to climate change (Willems et al. 2011, Rodríguez et al. 2014). Whereas in other latitudes an increase in total precipitation due to global warming has been reported (IPCC, 2007), in the Mediterranean area several studies point to a decreasing dominant trend in recent decades (Pérez and Boscolo 2010). This is not the case with extreme or torrential precipitation, for which an increase is expected, due to a greater occurrence of shorter and more intense rainy episodes (Christensen and Christensen 2003). The evaluation of these changes is especially interesting in urban areas with high population density, due to the vulnerability of their complex sewage systems to torrential rain (Casas et al. 2010, Rodríguez et al. 2013b).

To describe mathematically the IDF curves of a place, it is possible to use a scaling relationship related to the fractal property of scale invariance of rainfall intensity (Menabde et al. 1999, Rodríguez-Solà et al. 2017). In the monofractal case or simple scale, this scaling relationship is determined by a single parameter or scaling exponent β, whose value seems to be related to the rainfall pattern of the place, or more particularly, to the irregularity of the rain (Casas-Castillo et al. 2018b). Thus, this parameter takes values close to -1 for areas where rain is usually very irregular, with sudden maximum isolated values, while it takes higher values for areas with a more regular rainfall pattern. It is to be expected that the supposed tendency of the annual precipitation to decrease and the relative increase in extreme precipitation due to climate change will be reflected in changes in the rainfall scaling behavior, with values of parameter β that tend to decrease. In order to highlight these changes, simulated daily precipitation series for the 21st century have been analyzed for two densely populated cities: Barcelona and Madrid. These future series were obtained from several general circulation models and for different climate change scenarios: A1B, A2, B1 and B2 for Barcelona (114 series in total), and RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0 and RCP8.5 for Madrid (213 series).

In spite of the great variability of results obtained from the climatic models, it is possible to draw some conclusions with the sufficient degree of certainty. For the total annual precipitation calculated from the projected future series, it has been observed that, in Barcelona, this magnitude will suffer an approximate decrease of 5% in the last third of the 21st century. In Madrid, on the other hand, there seems to be a little significant increase in annual rainfall, being the uncertainty very high in this case.

Regarding the simple scaling relationships obtained for the intensity of future rainfall in both cities, a significant decrease in the scaling exponent β has been obtained from the second third of the 21st century, which is consistent with the forecasts of a possible increase of heavy rains in the near future due to climate change. These results indicate a probable increase in the frequency of torrential rains and the consequent increase in the risk of flooding in both cities, so it should be taken into consideration in the design of its hydraulic infrastructure, being recommended an according improvement of its networks of sewage system and its drainage systems.

Girona urban system: analysis of the urban climate of a system of Catalan middle cities using Remote Sensing

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Urban design did not take into account environmental factors beyond aesthetic issues. However, with the constant evidence of climate change, it is increasingly important that urban planning be carried out based on various climate indicators. Climatopes are a basic tool for the future design of cities, as well as to make decisions to face global warming by urban planners and politicians. The idea of climatope is that different urban structures interact differently with each other, and can be grouped by common characteristics, thereby identifying sensitive areas where there are urban and environmental problems.

The idea of climatope arises in Germany in the 1970s, adapting to most German cities, as well as to other European cities. However, in Spain only studies have been done in a few important cities, which is why it is especially necessary to study climatopes in medium cities. By average city we understand an urban system, that is, not only a city but also the municipalities that make up its urban environment. For this, a series of indicators are used, such as NDVI, NDBI, LST, EBBI, IBBI and DMT obtained through geographic information systems. The present study intends, through the analysis of urban climate and remote sensing, to determine the existence of an urban heat island of an average city in Catalonia, which is not part of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, being Girona the one chosen for the study due to its importance within Catalonia.

The Oasis Effect Concept in Hot Desert Climate Cities: Densifying and Compacting Around Metro Stations to Enhance Pedestrian Comfort

Badia Ghassan Masoud, Helena Coch-Roura, Benoit Beckers — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Nowadays, the cities in which we are living are complex, energy-consuming, and polluting systems. Radical changes since the last century have happened as a result of the automobile introduction and the oil boom. Moreover, one of the essential factors that influence microclimate is urban morphology. Streets, as they are a substantial part of urban open space, play a significant role in creating the urban microclimate. Street geometry and orientation affect the amount of solar radiation received by street surfaces. Outdoor thermal comfort in hot desert-climate cities depends on solar radiation. Under low latitude conditions, the minimization of solar radiation within the urban environment may often be a desirable principle in urban design, and the urban fabric of old compact Islamic cities reflects that. Jeddah is a city located in the western part of Saudi Arabia, at latitude 21° 32' north. The city is expected to start constructing a subway in 2020. Therefore, that is likely to change the behaviors of its inhabitants drastically.

This study aims to extract concepts from the old compact area to develop an outstanding future strategic compact morphology that would facilitate the dynamic development of the city. Considering the main stations of the future metro as nodes creating more densely inhabited fabric around them would provide transitional spaces for pedestrian activities. The concept is to provide an 'oasis effect,' mainly attributed to shading. Microclimate generated in and around these activity nodes must be mainly well designed to encourage residents and visitors to reclaim a pedestrian life that was noticeable in the old city, but has virtually disappeared in newer neighborhoods, entirely devoted to automobile transport. Services and facilities around metro nodes should become the transitional thermal comfort areas of the metro station exits.

The paper provides an overview of the old Islamic cities' morphology located at low altitudes. It evaluates the characteristics of the old urban fabric of Jeddah city through graphical analysis of the street geometry, orientations, and calculating the built-up density. Four different density indicators have been calculated (FSI), (GSI), (L), and (OSR). Furthermore, simulations that are used to assess the incident solar radiation in the old urban layout by the software "Heliodon 2" (direct shortwave, Sky View Factor) "Heliodon plus" (climatic data), describe the quantitative distribution of incident radiation on the canyon and facades enabling us to identify specific aspects.

The findings illustrate the implications of the old layout. It shows that the existing morphology significantly undermines the intensity of solar energy and solar access time interval in summer and winter on the horizontal surfaces (canyons) and vertical surfaces (walls). The results provide some helpful insights for the planning of a high density and compact 'Oasis effect' around the metro nodes.

Green infrastructure as a tool for urban adaptation and mitigation in the city of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Gilkauris María Rojas Cortorreal, Julio Peña, Jaume Roset, Alison García — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Global warming is an unequivocal fact, increasingly affecting the ecosystems of the entire planet, with the increase in the increase of singular events (heat waves, torrential floods, droughts, gales, among others). Climate Change (CC), in addition, is reinforced in the cities by the presence of phenomena such as Urban Heat Island, air pollution, soil waterproofing or low albedo.

In this sense, it is essential to radically rethink the historically inherited urban development model, promoting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Likewise, it is necessary to know the effects of CC on the population and develop conducive methodologies to improve environmental conditions by adapting cities to Climate Change and reducing their effects on the population, from Territorial Planning, from urban design

The objective of this research in the evaluation of temperature increases in the last ten years in the city of Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) will determine the most vulnerable areas to determine mitigation and adaptation strategies through green infrastructure.

The methodology implemented is the collection of meteorological and urban data of the city, the data will be an evaluation of the information that will determine the times of the year and the most vulnerable urban areas in the city. These areas of greatest modification are the main mitigation and adaptation strategies through green infrastructure.

The results obtained are that the city of Santo Domingo perceives a constant increase in temperature that is closely linked to certain environmental phenomena that have been occurring in recent years (drought, rainfall, among others). This increase is perceived mainly in the areas of the city where it lacks vegetation and urban permeability, generating floods in times of rain among other afflictions. An action plan is generated to achieve urban adaptation in these sectors.

Spatial definition of the cooling effect of urban green spaces using remote sensing: Case studies in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area

Blanca Arellano, Alan García-Haro, Josep Roca — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Urban green spaces play a fundamental role in the climate change adaptation of the cities. Commonly, the high concentration of vegetation within cities is accompanied by an increase in humidity in the air and a greater projection of shadows on the surfaces. Which breaks the continuity of the artificialized ground cover distinctive of the cities and the high amount of solar radiation absorbed by it, which causes, in part, the urban heat island effect (UHI).

In this sense, the green spaces register a reduction in temperature in relation to their urban context, which commonly extends over the closest surroundings. This effect is known as the urban green spaces cool island (GCI) and is commonly addressed through two indicators of magnitude: the extent and intensity of cooling. The cooling extent (Lmax) refers to a spatial indicator that describes the distance between the perimeter of the green space and the furthest point of the spread of its microclimatic effect on its surroundings. While the cooling intensity (ΔT) describes the temperature difference between the urban context and the green space. Given this, the literature has addressed the cooling quantification through three types of analysis of the climatic behavior of urban spaces: 1) field measurements, 2) numerical modeling and 3) remote sensing. In general, there is a broad consensus on the quantification of the cooling effect of green spaces by calculating the ΔT in the three types of approximations. However, the spatial definition of the cooling extent has been evolving in recent decades and presents an open panorama for methodological proposals that are appropriate to different contexts. Particularly, the recovery of the Land Surface Temperature (LST) from satellite images has allowed the inclusion of larger-scale microclimatic studies to discuss the spatial definition of the thermal influence of urban spaces through statistical approaches.

Given this, the present work proposes a multiple-stage approach to spatial analysis for quantifying the cooling effect of green spaces in the metropolitan area of Barcelona from the LST of the Landsat-8 OLI/TIRs satellite. We select the summer period as a case study because of the increased vulnerability posed by climate change in cities during extremes heat waves episodes, which is accentuated by the UHI. We quantify the Lmax and ΔT of the cooling effect of seven green spaces in the conurbation of Viladecans, Gavà and Castelldefels through three analytical methods based on multiple stages of spatial subdivision of urban surroundings by concentric rings. The first results show a ΔT of 1.25ºC and 1.50ºC in relation to the concentric rings of 0-100m and 100-300m respectively. The Lmax calculated with the 10m-width concentric rings registered an average of 91.67m with a maximum ΔT (ΔTmax) of 1.22 ° C. Finally, with 10m-width cross sections in addition to the concentric rings of an arborized street, we identify an average ΔTmax of 2.21ºC in industrial areas, 1.05ºC in residential areas and 1.76ºC in spaces adjacent to another park. As well as an average Lmax of 109.00m to the northeast and 129.67m to the southwest, with a maximum of 170.00m in the industrial areas and 310.00m in the area adjacent to the other park. The ΔTmax records a correlation of 0.81R² (p<0.01) with the average LST of the closest surroundings to the perimeter of the park, while resulting in a non-significant correlation with the LST of the parks. In the conclusions, we discuss the differences between the methods applied and the considerations for their reproduction in larger-scale studies. The present study is part of the project “Urban-CLIMPLAN. The urban heat island: effects on climate change and modeling for territorial and urban planning strategies. Application to the Metropolitan Region of Barcelona”; financed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (MINECO) and the European Fund for Regional Development (FEDR).

From Energy Efficiency to Ecological Transition. Urban Rehabilitation as a Driver of Change

Consuelo del Moral Ávila, Luis Delgado Méndez, Carlos Marmolejo Duarte — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This article deals with the results obtained in a research being carried out within the framework of the project "EnerValor" (EnerValor, 2015), with the aim of analysing the positive effects that an intersectional regulatory framework can achieve in the process of ecological transition undertaken from the Spanish State. In this process highlights as a fundamental element the improvement of the energy efficiency conditions of buildings, both new construction and those undergoing rehabilitation (art. 3.3) (Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015).

The methodology used has consisted in the analysis and evaluation of several mandatory standards in areas such as urban planning, the environment and the building industry and always referring to new residential buildings and refurbishment of existing ones to achieve the strategic objectives set out in the European Energy Action Plan: 2020, 20% reduction in consumption, 20% introduction of renewables, 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions ([COM(2010) 639 final de 10.11.2010]). Together with this, the next milestone is that of Europe 2030 developed through a framework for action on climate change and energy policy. This framework aims to support progress towards the development of a competitive economy and a secure energy system (Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático, PNACC).

The norms analysed have as a common thread the Law of Urban Land and Rehabilitation because, based on the principle of sustainable urban and territorial development, it prescribes that regulation, planning, occupation, transformation and land use have as their common purpose their use in the general interest. Natural resources need to be used rationally by harmonizing the requirements of the economy, employment, social cohesion, equal treatment and opportunities, health and safety of people and environmental protection (art. 3.1 y art. 3.2) (Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015). This Law requires the evaluation and monitoring of the sustainability of urban development with the guarantee of technical and economic viability of urban environment actions. To this end, is required the authorities responsible for urban planning and implementation to draw up a report on the monitoring of urban development activities falling within their competence, which should consider both environmental and economic sustainability (art. 22.6) (Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015).

The regulations and documents discussed in the context described above are as follows:

- National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (Plan Nacional de Adaptación al Cambio Climático, PNACC). Work programs and monitoring reports.

- Energy aid programme for heating, domestic hot water or kitchen, better known as “Thermal social bonus“. (Bono social térmico).

- Electric Bill Discount Program aimed at vulnerable consumers, better known as “Electric social bonus” (Bono social eléctrico).

- Law on urgent measures for energy transition and consumer protection (Real Decreto-ley 15/2018).

- Law on administrative, technical and economic conditions for the self-consumption of electricity (Real Decreto 244/2019).

The results of the analysis carried out allow us to state the following:

- The Law of Urban Land and Rehabilitation (Real Decreto Legislativo 7/2015) contains the legal and management mechanisms that make buildings' energy efficiency policies more effective through collective actions in large areas of the new or existing city.

- Recent regulations on climate change and environmental sustainability enable effective action on vulnerable areas of the existing city.

Climatic study in the High-Andean region and the analysis of bioclimatic indicators of potential application in architectural design

Jorge Luis Poma Garcia, Lillian Garay, Karolina Romero — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The integration of the related climatic and energy data directly in the conception of the urban habitat requires: (i) in first place , the knowledge first of all of the local climate, taking into account the modifications granted by the built environment, of the scale of the agglomeration, of the presence of the so-called islands of urban heat or the wells of freshness present in the immediate surroundings; and (ii) in a second place of the indices of the architectural parameters on the qualitative and quantitative aspects at the level of internal, external and transitional spaces of the buildings.

The objective of the communication of this research work is to know the importance of climate studies and their relationship with bioclimatic indicators to be taken into account in the architectural design process.

The methodology used for this research consists of collecting climatic data in two places proposed in the High-Andean region, specifically in the Junín region. Then is proceed to systematize and characterize the particular climate of the study areas. In a second time some diagnostic tools are used for bioclimatic design such as Givoni psychometric abacus, Olyay diagram and finally Mahoney tables.

The data used is from official sources obtained from public institutions such as the National Meteorology and Hydrology Service of Peru (SENAMHI), the Ministry of Environment, The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics, etc. As well as data taken at the site, that is, measurements made directly in the field in order to contrast and validate the official data. The selected locations are those that are located very close to the official weather stations.

The preliminary results obtained show the relevance of this approach that deals with the study on the climatic integration of the traditional High-Andean rural habitat. Which has allowed us to make an evaluation of the alternatives suggested in each case, places of study, alternatives that would be valid for the context in the High-Andean region.

This research will allow future professionals in architecture to take into account sustainability criteria and integrate them into their architectural and urban proposals. In this way, the academic objective of improving teaching learning of the criteria of conception of bioclimatic architecture in a Peruvian context.

The field of our research is defined by the study of climate integration concerns the traditional High-Andean rural habitat in the Junín region. The places taken for this research are representative and account for the diversity of microclimates in the Peruvian territory. These would allow, in the precise context of our High-Andean region, to clarify and quantify the intensity of the relationship between climate and architecture.

One of the objectives of this research is to provide designers, architects and urban planners with a diagnostic tool and possible solutions that could be applied as recommendations in our context of the High-Andean region. Allowing in this way the possibilities of implementation of the new techniques and innovative solutions used in the conception of our built environment, as well as the revaluation of ancestral techniques used in Peruvian architecture.

In a second phase for this investigation, at a more practical level, it is to face the real possibilities of replication and / or transposition of traditional techniques in the current conception of the habitat in the High-Andean region, taking into account cultural and socio-economic variations that would condition the validity of these possible replications in the territory.

Polygeneration systems in urban areas: advantages and disadvantages today

Moritz Wegener, Antonio Isalgue Buxeda, Anders Malmquist, Idalberto Herrera — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Due to the depletion of fossil fuels and a growing awareness of the consequences of greenhouse gases, the intention to implement more sustainable and efficient energy systems is increasing worldwide. With this objective, the biomass mini-generation systems (<1 MW of electricity) aspire to make the most of fuel resources, supplying various services related to energy such as electricity, heat, refrigeration, drinking water, biochemicals, etc. Although its economic and technical viability has been confirmed in rural areas, there are several drawbacks that have slowed its development in urban areas.

Based on two case studies, supported by an in-depth review of the literature, the biggest obstacles to introducing mini-generation systems in urban areas have been identified. The difficulties that polygeneration systems present in urban areas are the high investment costs due to the need to use advanced technologies (eg heat exchangers, “prime movers” / primary motors, absorption coolers, etc.), the high complexity of the systems (their design, construction and operation, as well as in legal matters) and greater difficulty in obtaining a sufficient quantity of biomass.

In addition to technological factors, socio-political aspects such as the uncertainty related to the evolution of technologies and financing slow down the promotion of polygeneration systems.

After identifying these factors, strategic solutions are proposed that municipal authorities can implement to increase the use of biomass mini-generation systems. Among others, it is suggested to implement more efficient processes for the collection and recycling of municipal waste, provide a financial boost to a certain selection of key technologies to favor their growth in the market and greater government support for cooperation between companies, citizens and the own administration.

Towards a More Energy Efficient Educational Architecture in Cities: Typologies of Barcelona and Quito Public Schools for Energy Modelling

Gabriela Ledesma, Jelena Nikolic, Oriol Pons-Valladares — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The existent building stock is one of the most energy intensive sectors, accounting for approximately a third of the worldwide energy use. The analysis of a cities’ built park requires the application of data mining in order to group buildings with homogenous properties thus creating architecture typologies. In the field of energy efficiency, clustering techniques have been used for evaluating the energy performance of an entire built stock by relying on reference buildings. These are real-life or theoretical edifices which characteristics are representative of the whole sample, and whose results can be generalized without incurring in significant errors.

This study analyses the educational built-park in order to establish a creation process based in statistical techniques for theoretical reference buildings in the cities of Barcelona-Spain and Quito-Ecuador. The overall aim is to generate archetype buildings for detailed energy analysis including their passive thermal behaviour and resilience to climate change. This study is part of a wider research on envelope rehabilitation of school’s buildings through algorithm-based energy simulations for optimal passive treatment of their individual surfaces. Starting from the entire built-park of the cities it was possible to obtain the sample relevant characteristics and make a primary classification based on construction period and gross floor area. Clustering techniques were then used to subdivide the samples into subsets of similar buildings regarding their geometrical and thermal barrier properties. Finally, the mathematical calculation of the centroids of each subset of buildings were used to create the theoretical reference buildings.

The sample was limited to public schools in urban consolidated areas due to ease of access to information either on public domain or provided by the local Educational Departments. The primary classification was done following the methodology of the European TABULA project using 2-axis matrixes relating the construction period to the gross floor area (categories) and, allocating each school centre to a specific category. Information on the thermo-physical properties of the buildings was collected in standardized factsheets relying on information from cadastre, technical drawings and, GIS data. Considering the “passive architecture” focus of the research, the variables selected are: compactness, ground floor area, external wall area, average U-value of walls, average U-value of roofs and, number of floors. The statistical clustering method used was K-means in combination with a hierarchical technique as to subdivide the sample into non overlapping clusters by associating similar buildings together. The result of the clustering is a mathematical calculation of its centroids otherwise understood as the most representative values for each of the data variables. These values were used to create the reference building virtual models.

In both cases of Barcelona and Quito, the cluster analysis yielded significant results for two clusters showing that there are substantial differences in the thermal behaviour of their school built-park and that, retrofit interventions must be tailored specifically for each typology. The results in the case of Quito are: A) Disperse, 1-storey schools with pitch roofs and metal-cladding and; B) Compact, 2-storey schools with flat concrete slabs. In the case of Barcelona, the results are: A) Semi-compact, 1 up to 2-storey schools with large footprints and reticular slabs and; B) Compact, over 3-storey schools with relative small footprints and unidirectional slabs with ceramic interjoists. At present, the buildings are being modelled using dynamic simulation software as to assess their energy performance. The virtual models include the previous mentioned data on the thermo-physical properties of the buildings and, the occupation and operation patterns collected from the closest representative real-life school centre. These schools are also being monitored during a 3-month period on their thermal behaviour while in passive operation. The project results will be the foundation to move forward in the energy efficiency of these cities educational architecture and their future refurbishment.

Vil·la Urània civic center, an nZEB building

Pasqual Bendicho Cabutí, Marc Camallonga Rodríguez, Jordi Pagès Serra — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Vil·la Urània Civic Center is a building designed under nearly Zero Energy building parameters (nZEB). A building with low environmental impact and reduced energy consumption and that produces part of the energy it needs at the building itself or close to it.

An equipment, with more than 3200m2, stands out for the use of intermediate spaces, naturally heated, closed by a large facade formed by several overlapping filters that adapt to the external conditions, providing a vegetal facade that accompanies the users in all their activities. A photovoltaic production plant, geothermal heat pump systems split over the site plot and an efficient water-cycle management, brings clean energy to the built complex.

The extension is conceived as a tall and narrow building, oriented to Southeast with a large gallery, a semidetached greenhouse, a passive system to warm and refresh the meeting areas and informal activities as well as the circulation of the building. This intermediate space works as a winter greenhouse and as a shaded house in summer, and acts as a thermal mattress by separating the heated areas from the outside, reducing the energy demand of the building. The facade adapts automatically to outdoor conditions. Indoor temperature sensors act on the glass facade, opening it completely when necessary. Outside sensors measure solar radiation by acting on the folding shutters in summer. The inner plantation formed by different species provides a pleasant sensation of freshness in summer, while in winter reduces its volume to allow to capture the solar radiation.

Eco-efficiency analysis of the Municipality of Barcelona

Qianhui Zheng — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The evaluation of Eco-efficiency is to measure the benefits generated by the unit consumption of the system. By defining several ecological consumptions and the corresponding benefits that they produce, a relationship can be obtained to compare and analyze the efficiency of each object of the system to understand the general level of Eco-efficiency of the area through an integral evaluation, horizontal and vertical comparison, comparison intra-regional and inter-regional, and find differences between them and development trends. In this work, Eco-efficiency is analyzed at the district level in Barcelona and the Sant Martí district is chosen as an example to study Eco-efficiency at the neighborhood level. According to the definition of Eco-efficiency, Eco-efficiency is defined as the relationship between informative entropy (the total information it produces) and physical entropy (the value of ecological consumption), and eco-efficiency is obtained with the Shannon formula. To obtain informative entropy, a model is created with the economic activity data of the local ground floors and a visual map of urban complexity is made. For physical entropy, indicators of ecological consumption are identified as variables that fall into 3 categories: resource consumption, environmental pollution and social investment. The general database in Barcelona City Council is obtained and the most detailed data of districts and neighborhoods are estimated. To integrate the indicators, a matrix of the data is created and the entropy weighting method and the membership function are used, thereby obtaining the physical entropy of districts and neighborhoods. Then, eco-efficiency is calculated and the eco-efficiency ratio is analyzed at two levels. Finally, we compare Eco-efficiency between districts and neighborhoods, taking Sant Martí as a reference, which indicates that, although the evaluation objects are at different levels, there is some comparability.

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and green bonds as financial mobilizers. An opportunity for climate-aligned investments in Latin America?

Ketty Alexandra Lino, Carlos Marmolejo Duarte — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Climate is changing, the atmosphere and the ocean are warming up, snow volumes and ice are diminishing, sea levels are increasing and greenhouse gas emissions keep increasing (IPCC,2013). The upcoming danger of climate change has invoked the international community to take immediate action to tackle it. Embracing green finance tools within this process has been ratified by several countries by the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and lately through the Pari Agreements in 2015, both agreements convened by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In the Kyoto Protocol, both developed and developing countries agreed to finance the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), in which developed countries with the commitment to reduce or limit emissions, must implement emission reduction projects in developing countries in exchange for credits for Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) (Ledezma & Caballero, 2013a) which may be traded in carbon emissions trading schemes.

Globally, the issuance of CERs at the end of the first Kyoto commitment period (2008-2012), exceeded 1,000 million units, which shows the dynamism of the mechanism (UNFCCC, 2011). On the other hand, Green Bonds (GB) or fixed income debt securities are another climate-aligned financial market mechanism issued by multilateral organizations, state or municipal public entities, and private financial and non-financial entities. The issuance of Green Bonds in Latin America has shown a conservative development according to the report of the Climate Bonds Initiative (2018).

The aim of this study is to obtain a comparative analysis of the two mechanisms described above, in terms of their contribution to the region's energy policy. The methodology starts from the case study in countries that have implemented such instruments in a relevant manner (Brazil and Mexico).

For the comparative analysis, aspects related to the procedures, the evolution, the advantages and / or disadvantages of implementation were reviewed, with special emphasis on the selected countries and from the point of view of their attractiveness for international investors. The preparation of the study required a bibliographic review of academic sources (doctoral theses), normative documents related to investment in the capital market, statistical sources related to organizations that provide information on Latin American finances, official websites, and a review of scientific articles.

The resources obtained by Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) for the application of CDM projects as a result of the implementation of energy projects are significant. This mechanism has promoted investments in technologies with lower energy consumption. The main barriers to its development are the lack of diversification of emitters and the fluctuation of the carbon market that discourages investments. Regarding green bonds, the market is fickle and still requires strategic conditions for its development. Brazil is at the forefront in attracting the two mechanisms; development banking has played an important role in supporting these instruments.

Main conclusions: The results suggest that, among the analyzed mechanisms, those highly participated by the State are the ones that have better results in terms of energy investments. Regarding the CDM, there are expectations about what will happen in 2020 when the commitment to the Kyoto Protocol will conclude and therefore the formal process of mobilizing resources towards developing countries. Green Bonds have financing potentials in the green market, but there is no clear horizon in Latin American markets.

Financing instruments for efficient building: analysis of green bonds and mortgages

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This document is the result of the subject Research Seminar, imparted by the Urban and Architectural Management and Valuation line, at the MBArch Master of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. According to the United Nations Development Program, the measures we take today regarding climate change will have consequences that will last for a century or more. Building stock, responsible for a high percentage of CO2 generation and total energy consumption (in the European Union, buildings are responsible for 36% of the generation of carbon dioxide and 40% of final energy consumption) attracts the attention of governments and the international community, concerned with the generation of strategies to limit carbon emissions. The volume of capital managed by the financial sector invites governments to collaborate with it in the creation of a new, more energy-efficient housing stock. The Paris Agreement and the programs and regulations derived from it promote the creation of green financing instruments by the public and private sectors. The main objective of the study is to develop a state of the art on green financing: what is it, what are its antecedents in relation to agreements and regulations, what are the fundamental types and the most prominent examples. We focus especially on two financing instruments: green bonds (on a global scale) and green mortgages (in the United States, Mexico and the European Union, with special emphasis on Spain), in addition to two previous financing experiences outside this classification: The English case Green Deal and the German EnEv. The methodology used consists of a review, registration and analysis of different sources of information classified in: a) scientific articles, b) normative documents and c) institutional web pages, on green financing and its main instruments (green bonds and mortgages), analyzed from the perspective of regulation, dissemination and application. The analysis has revealed that there is no standardization for issuance and certification in any of the green funding cases. There is a search to homogenize these processes, with green bonds being the advantage over other financing mechanisms. In the mortgage outlook, the borrower disinformation about access; the lack of a single certification system that facilitates regulation; the possible insecurity for the investor; the very limited supply of products in countries such as Spain; the inequalities associated with access to these types of products, as well as the tendency to locate on the periphery of the homes registered with this type of financing, are some of the limitations observed during the study.

Comparative study of urban eco-efficiency. Case study: Sarrià district - Sant Gervasi

Leonardo Anibal Sepúlveda Navarro, Josep Roca Cladera — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Based on the studies referring to the city as a dissipative structure and the information theory applied to the urban environment, this research focuses on the analysis of physical entropy (S), as an indicator of the degree of environmental deterioration generated by the Metabolism of the urban system and its relation with the production of negative entropy or neguentropía (H) that compensates the negative impact on the environment. This type of entropy was related to the Shannon theorem, which allows measuring the amount of information generated by a system, in this case, the neighborhoods to study. The information, expressed in bits, reflects the degree of complexity of the city, which is generally associated with the positive attributes of diverse and compact city models.

The main problem related to this type of evaluation is the lack of disaggregated information at scales lower than those of cities (districts and neighborhoods), mainly with respect to physical entropy indicators such as energy consumption, waste production, among others.

The objective of the study is to develop an example of a comparative environmental assessment methodology, which allows qualifying a specific urban environment in a simplified way, through a ratio applicable at different scales.

This comparative study focuses on the analysis of the Sarriá - Sant Gervasi district of the city of Barcelona and the 6 neighborhoods that comprise it, in which the variables physical entropy (S) and the variable negative entropy (H) were calculated separately. Variable S was simplified only to the calculation of energy consumption by neighborhood and its correspondence in CO2 emissions, and variable S was calculated by applying the Shannon formula to 4 urban indicators related to the complexity and diversity of each neighborhood. For the calculation of S, the data on energy consumption and its correspondence in CO2 emissions at the district level, present in the Barcelona Energy Balance document, available on the website of the energy observatory of the ecology department, were analyzed. urban planning and mobility of the Barcelona city council. From the verification of a series of correlations between the total district energy consumption and indices such as that of gross per capita income and cadastral areas at the city level, a series of linear regression models were generated, through the IBM program SPSS STATICS, with which the data on consumption and CO2 emissions are disaggregated for each neighborhood in the district studied.

Regarding the H index, it was calculated with the Shannon entropy formula, applied to data obtained mainly from the website of the Barcelona City Council's statistics and data department, which are related to the diversity of each neighborhood: Inventory of premises commercial on 1st floor, cadastral premises according to use, academic level of the population, the nationality of the population.

Finally, to calculate the eco-efficiency index, the H / S formula is applied, which divides the results of the annual CO2 production per neighborhood, by the weighted average of the urban complexity calculations for each of the 4 analyzed indices.

The main results can be expressed in the following: The Sant Gervasi - Galvany neighborhood obtained an S index of 1.32 tCO2eq, an H index of 2,127 bits, and an eco-efficiency index of 1,606 tCO2eq / bits. As for the Sarriá neighborhood, it obtained an S index of 0.81 tCO2eq, a magnitude H of 2,256 bits, and an Eco-efficiency index of 2,798 tCO2eq / bits.

From the previous results we can infer that: The neighborhood that obtained the most physical entropy, Sant Gervasi - Galvany, is the least eco-efficient, the information it produces does not compensate for the high CO2 emissions that the commercial and services sector generates. On the other hand, the Sarrià neighborhood is the one that generates the least physical entropy and at the same time is the second most diverse neighborhood in the district.

Energy poverty and spatial segregation: new urban dimensions for inequality

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The concept of energy poverty was born in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom as the inability to obtain an adequate amount of energy services at home for 10% of family income (Boardman 1991).

This definition has subsequently been complemented with constructive and habitability aspects, for example, from the establishment of a limit temperature for obtaining comfort (DOE 1996). In the most recent international literature, it is possible to find definitions with a strong interdisciplinary bias based on accessibility to 3 vulnerability thresholds: technological, physical and economic (González-Eguino 2015). The latter is the most widely used in developed countries, mainly associated with the consumption of heating for domestic use (more precise concept of "fuel poverty"), although it is recognized that it tends to underestimate the number of households that cannot effectively afford energy consumption for these minimum habitability conditions, or the provision of other energy demands, which constitute the so-called technological threshold (Mold and Baker 2017; Bouzarovski and Petrova 2015). On the other hand, the physical threshold has been studied more recently from thermal comfort, specifically in its relationship with vulnerability and health, finding significant correlations with respect to the constructive characteristics of the houses (Gray, Jiang, and Poortinga 2015; Atsalis et al. 2016).

In this context, the incorporation of socio-spatial segregation methodologies to enrich this concept is of very recent date and has not yet been applied at the national level. This approach is important, since it allows identifying areas of agglomeration of energy poverty, an important aspect for the design of urban policies.

Coexistence marriage: collaborative lodging and tourist housing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. An approach from urban planning

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The paper discusses the relationship between collaborative lodging and the provision of tourist housing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, taking urban planning and its instruments as the axis of analysis.

The technological development experienced on a global scale has brought deep changes in production and consumption. Thus, companies emerge that operate as intermediaries between producers and consumers, resorting to digital platforms in sectors such as mobility, air transport or accommodation. In these practices, innovative platforms that are part of the so-called collaborative economy are used.

In accommodation, the availability of private homes facilitates to cover this segment of the tourist offer. The speed and depth of these new forms of accommodation are putting strong pressure on tourist destinations worldwide without effective regulatory or compensation mechanisms.

To analyze the footprint of collaborative lodging, the lens focuses on Puerto Vallarta, a recreational destination located in the Pacific Ocean of Mexico, taking the urban planning instruments for the analysis. The urbanization process of Mexican cities (and in particular, tourist on the coast) is characterized by the incomplete application of the vast urban planning tools available to it, due to the weakness of the institutional framework, where private interests end up imposing themselves, resulting in extractive practices to the detriment of common good.

Therefore, urban plans in areas with boom in real estate maintains with proper updated or ways to address the tensions generated by the expansion. Operationally, modifying urban planning control rules in a discretionary manner it is a common practice with the aim of increasing the offer in the real estate market.

This implies the existence of informal agreements between real estate developers, builders and government officials (especially at the municipal level) to facilitate the alteration in the rules to increase the profitability of new ventures.

In the work, was reviewed the offer of collaborative lodging between 2010 and 2018, documenting the expansion in tourist housing in two representative neighborhoods of the town. Urban planning instruments and official documents compared with empirical data in the analyzed zones.

Among the conclusions, it is pointed out that: 1) the availability of digital platforms worldwide affects the emergence of new forms of accommodation, having a dynamic and attractive field in Mexico and Puerto Vallarta; 2) recreational activity drives the boom in tourist homes, especially in attractive neighborhoods; 3) urban plans are modified discretionary to maximize the real estate offer, calling into question the functionality of the territorial management; 4) the State, in particular the municipal government, ceases to be the regulatory entity between property rights and urban development to grant immoderate powers to the private sector in Puerto Vallarta; 5) it is pertinent to promote mechanisms to manage the tensions generated by collaborative lodging and tourist housing, under a perspective of community prosperity.

Neighborhood cooperatives for active aging in obsolete neighborhoods. Implications for improving the rental market

Carlos Jesus Rosa Jiménez, Nuria Nebot — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In 2050 the population over 65 will reach 2,000 million worldwide. In Spain –like the rest of the countries in the southern European area-, the aging process of the population started later but with a higher intensity than in the rest of the surrounding countries. According to the 2017 Continuous Household Survey, elderly people who live alone inhabit approximately 10% of Spanish households. Older people who have lived in a community for a long time prefer to grow old in them and not move around while their traditional and community social networks last. In addition to loneliness, aging in the place has two other great challenges: on the one hand, most older people have oversized homes that no longer fit their real housing needs, which is why they tend to sell them and acquire a smaller house near your sons or daughters; and on the other, the uncertainty of pensions puts at risk the capitalization necessary to carry out a reform, to have professional support assistance. In addition to this problem, in the large Spanish tourist cities, the lack of rents due to the effect of the new collaborative economies is consolidated. Long-term rental (intended primarily for residents) currently suffers from significant competition for short-term rental (primarily intended for visitors and tourists). The administration's response to this phenomenon is the development of a regulatory body that attempts to regulate or prohibit it. However, administrations with jurisdiction over housing are not able to offer new models that counteract this unstoppable process. As an alternative, this article shows that the model of a neighborhood cooperative for older people in a neighborhood is an economically viable model that solves the problem of loneliness by grouping cooperative members in adapted housing, freeing the rest of the homes that would become part of the offer of long-term rental housing, managed by the cooperative itself. Through an economic study of income and expenses, the economic viability of its implementation in two study neighborhoods (Sixto and Cortijo Vallejo) is analyzed, in a sector of social neighborhoods built between 1960 and 70 in Malaga (Spain), with an important level of physical and functional obsolescence. The results indicate that the neighborhood cooperative for older people reduces the loneliness problems of older people and increases the supply of rental housing. In addition to loneliness, this model responds to the economic uncertainty of pensions and special needs for habitability. In this way, older people can adapt those homes that are best located for their needs, while renting the remaining homes allows capitalization of the economic resources of older people. Compared to other models, such as co-housing or urban regeneration with a public subsidy, the neighborhood cooperative for older people fosters the social economy and aging in place. Its self-sufficiency allows its application in times of economic crisis. But, fundamentally, it offers a tool that administrations can use to increase the rental housing market, especially for those families at risk of social exclusion, since it favors rental at appraised prices. The implementation of this model could solve up to 50% of the rental needs in the study city. Finally, the article proposes future lines of research, such as the sociological analysis of the model and the need to extend the rehabilitation of housing to all cooperative members.

Measuring Gentrification Processes in Barcelona and Madrid: A Methodological Proposal

Antonio Lopez-Gay, Joan Sales i Favà, Miguel Solana Solana, Andrés Peralta — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Western cities are witnessing first-hand significant transformations in their socio-spatial configuration. On the one hand, exclusive areas are expanding rapidly from the metropolitan centers due to an increasingly qualified immigration and the resurgence of central spaces linked to the location of new productive activities and the concentration of cultural, creative and innovative enclaves. On the other hand, recent studies show that low-income residents are displaced and concentrated in the most peripheral and deprived spaces, with less access to all kinds of services. As a result, different social groups would be moving away territorially. In line with the first process, gentrification is the most local and visible example to define the transformation of a neighborhood. The common element among the many interdisciplinary definitions that have been given to gentrification processes is that of population replacement, understood as a sociodemographic substitution resulting from the arrival of upper-middle class population that contributes to the expulsion of previous residents, usually with fewer resources. Although this process was conceptualized more than five decades ago, the quantitative approach to the process of substitution and displacement of the population has been less developed than its theoretical approach. Academics and public institutions at local and regional level have tried to measure gentrification from a quantitative perspective. These approaches have sought to categorize neighborhoods according to the intensity of the process using population, geographic and / or urban variables. However, the diversity of sources in each country and the complexity of measuring displacement and substitution processes through data, explain the lack of a common and standard methodology to measure these processes at an international level. In the Spanish case, the geographic limitations of the last population census, as well as its distance in time, was carried out in 2011, have contributed to the lack of a quantitative approach to the most recent gentrification processes.

In this paper, we propose a methodological and conceptual exercise to calculate a composite indicator measuring the intensity of the sociodemographic transformation processes linked to gentrification that the neighborhoods of Barcelona and Madrid have experienced from 2011 to 2017. The indicator includes seven theoretical dimensions associated with different axes of neighborhood socioeconomic transformation: (1) population rejuvenation; (2) changes in the origin of the population, understood as the growth of population born in countries with a high Human Development Index; (3) changes in the family arrangements/values, associated with the growth of single-person adult households; (4) attraction to population with university degree; (5) population substitution, understood as the loss of population without university studies due to the effect of migration and changes of residence; (6) speed of change, which introduces the transformative capacity of migratory and residential flows to alter the composition of the population; (7) transformations in the housing market, measured through price increases. One of the innovations of the indicator is the diversity of the data sources we have used, since it includes stock data (Population Register), flow data (migration and residential flows, including a socioeconomic variable such as level of education), characteristics of households and housing market indicators.

The final values of the indicator have not only allowed us to identify which neighborhoods of Barcelona and Madrid have experienced gentrification processes in recent years, but also, and probably more interestingly, to measure its intensity. The indicator has been calculated based on common parameters, granting us not only to compare the indexes of the neighborhoods of both cities, but also to trace the main axes of expansion of the gentrification processes.

Gentrification and Real Estate Business in Mexico

Marco Antonio Merchand Rojas — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this paper is to analyze how urban restructuring undertaken by the State and real estate businesses revitalize or rehabilitate urban areas or areas that are part of the city center based on their heritage value of historic buildings renovated or built. These revitalized or restructured urban areas can be carried out, because the native inhabitants of these urban areas are expelled or dispossessed, which forms an inertia and atmosphere of real estate financial businesses that potentiate their income from generating new forms of consumption (purchase or rent of sumptuous apartments and / or generation of conspicuous consumption). These, urban restructuring undertaken, are baptized as a gentrification process. The epistemic and theoretical object of the significance of the gentrification process would be equivalent to a process of residential segregation in peripheral metropolitan areas, due to the high prices of land in the rehabilitated central area and generating population expulsion towards distant peripheries. Likewise, this gentrification is conceived with a “pro-business” role, this functional role being to the high margins of private accumulation of land rent and, to a new housing production market, in central land - historical centers. Through opinion studies and data collection on site, it is confirmed that gentrification would be like a process that interconnects the liberation, privatization, revitalization and dispossession of a large part of the most profitable spaces of the city and demonstrates the interests that exist by elites to control the production of the city. The data obtained show that the expulsions of the populations of the areas to be rehabilitated are often carried out with acts of violent dispossession of their social-cultural values and / or housing flats and then in those same spaces, already free of social pressure. , vertical buildings, shopping centers, restaurants, galleries are built that offer functionality to a new high-income population or tourist visitors to tour and admire, renovated buildings, streets and neighborhoods with another urban imaginary more ad hoc to the commodized fetish, all this It is carried out by the synchronicity of interests between the real estate financiers and a federal and local state that legally legitimizes the dispossession. Preliminary conclusions based on field recordings in situ aim to point out the processes of gentrification, build cities that have become situations of struggle between the globalizing trend and the revitalization of local identities. Observe the intensification of the specialization of urban space in social sectors with different land uses, globalized, special and competitive.

Obsolescence and urban vitality in tourist coastal cities. Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Puerto Vallarta is the second most populous and fastest growing city in the state of Jalisco outside the municipalities that make up the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, currently forming an interstate metropolitan area with Bahia de Banderas, Nayarit, a municipality that has the highest development and Nayarit state growth according to data from (INEGI 2018) which has led Puerto Vallarta and Banderas Bay as a whole to be considered as the main tourist destination of the sun and beach of the Mexican Pacific coast and the second nationally after Can-Cun, by virtue of the fact that a little over six and a half million visitors arrive annually in this area (Pto. Vta. 4'300,000 approx, Banderas Bay 2'200,000 approx. SECTUR, 2018) so from a focus Territorial and urban planning has become a central node for regional development that provides specialized services.

In the last ten years Puerto Vallarta-Bahía de Banderas as a tourist destination have faced a crisis of several edges resulting on the one hand for Puerto Vallarta from the wear and tear of its tourist life cycle that has been accentuated with other external and internal factors. And in conjunction with Bahía de Banderas, we detect that, from externalities, the competition of other recreational and diversified offers consolidated and emerging outside and inside Mexico, the global economic crisis, the housing bubble, the H1N1 virus and the widespread violence in the country. In the internal aspects, an economic and urban model is identified that favors the prevalence of private interests over the groups, local government actions are observed in the exercise of public policy with negative results, traditional areas that experience obsolescence are visualized in In contrast to others of striking vitality, there are signs of a predatory and extractive tourist and urban system of the economy, as well as isolated interests for renewing and diversifying recreational options.

This paper discusses the multifactorial processes that have been articulated around the conformation of two urban areas that have been subjected, one to real estate pressure processes with urban revitalization efforts for a growing tourist housing market, and another, which It has had large investments of public capital and they have not been able to develop the attributes for which they were raised in terms of investment, finally some projects that involve a relaunching of the tourist destination are approached and analyzed in order to reinvent themselves to continue in force in the market World Tourism.

wo premises are supposed to be discussed, urban vitality as a multifactorial process that keeps one area of the city attractive and vigorous, and urban obsolescence as a result of parallel processes with differentiated variables in the other study area, both considered as homogeneous areas separated by a river but connected by tradition and infrastructure, configured by a tourism model where the real estate sector appears as the lever of development arm (where gentrification processes underlie), whose benefit for the enjoyment of the population is not noticed and policies Local publics have not been sufficiently effective to boost the development of a mature tourism system that shows symptoms of stagnation and gentrification.

Inclusive housing production through Urban Renewal processes: the case of the Partial Plan of the Phoenician Triangle in Bogotá – Colombia

Juan Felipe Pinilla — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The main objective of this paper is to expose an example about the possibilities of land readjustment as a “third way” for land management and the availability of social housing in urban renewal projects. The example is a project situated in Bogotá’s downtown, promoted by the Universidad de los Andes. The project is in its first step of execution, nevertheless, is a referent for the city because its opening and participative process for formulation and the innovations in its proposal of actors’ association. The project includes the original owners as main participants and a diverse component of all kind of housing, like substitution housing, social housing and free housing for the developers and new residents.

The scale of the project (9 blocks and 10 hectares of land) allows to comprehend the potentialities and the complexities or urban renewal and land readjustment as ways to promote the diverse and balanced supply of land, by both in relation with the composition of land uses and the socioeconomic composition and in the way to integrate and coordinate a wide range of public and private actors.

In order to expand the relevant issues of this case, this paper is going to do, in first place, a brief contextualization of land readjustment, defining it as a tool and showing its importance in the Colombian urban legislation. Also, it will talk about the traditional ways of land management, the expropriation and the free market, demonstrating how the land readjustment is that “third way” for the management.

Subsequently, it will show the Partial Plan process, pointing out the stages of formulation, the general, socioeconomic and housing characterization of the project area. The analysis of the way in which it be promoted the participation and deliberation between a wide range of actors (owners, public authorities, traders, communitarian organizations) in the formulation and execution stages of the project shows the virtues and the complexities of new ways of urban governance where the interaction and the coordination between different actors are a mode to try to achieve more equitable and inclusive results in the urban renewal process in the central places of the city.

On the other hand, the paper will show the general urbanistic proposal of the plan as long as the objectives and the scope of the housing supply, the owners and residents participation schemes and mechanisms, the ways of management, and financing for construction and the current progress of the project. And finally, the lessons are presented as a conclusion on two topics; access to housing and governance or citizen participation.

The data used is that provided by both the developers and the participants in the project, through a methodology that allows collecting the experience of the project to the extent that the author has closely followed the main milestones since the stage of formulation. Also, secondary sources such as reports, concertation minutes and the communications that the actors make through different printed and electronic media are taken into account.

The case of the Partial Phoenician Plan manages to show an urban renewal project framed in the inclusion and citizen participation, fundamental aspects for the success of the land readjustment. Furthermore, it demonstrates the need to build trust among the participants, establish clear rules of the game, and even take into account the actors who do not sit down to negotiate. In short, the good results that can be achieved when active citizenship is part of the formulation and execution of projects that seek a better city.

Verticality in tourist housing. The transformation process of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

David Israel Bustos Bernal, Jorge Ignacio Chavoya Gama — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Due to its popularity as a tourist destination, the city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico is experiencing an intense urban growth, primarily as a migratory flow of new residents, that manifests itself through the appearance of new buildings that consist, primarily, of vertical tourist housing, according to the architectural terminology used in the urban-planning of the city. In these new schemes, tourist housing plays a decisive role in the territorial reconfiguration of the city. It triggers the tendency to verticalization which, in turn, promotes new architectural attributes that change the urban landscape. All this has been done, so far, in an extractive mode. That is why in this research I have asked myself the following questions: what urban-planning and architectural factors should impact the option of verticality in tourist housing in the city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco; and what urban-planning processes are affected by tourist housing, and what is the response to the trend towards verticalization in the city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco?, the objective is to identify; and demonstrate the architectural and urban factors that have led to the urban transformation, and have influenced the trend towards verticality in tourist housing in the municipality of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco and to identify; the new architectural attributes, to develop the concept of densification as expressed through verticality in tourist housing, and to identify; recent and current urban transformations as a result of this process. This methodology is being completed using the qualitative analytical method, by means of the technique of participant observation in the previously selected places of interest.

The transformation of industrial vacant land as a principle for the cohesion and regeneration of the municipalities of southern Madrid

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Madrid, like many cities in the world, is undergoing a progressive “turistization” and gentrification (Dominguez & Leal, 2008). This process is notably transforming the sociological characteristics of the urban spaces by new ones destined for a floating population, whose main representatives are tourists and temporary residents. Thus, commercial, social and cultural activities tend to promote the homogenization of public space in favor of the consumer of scale. This process progressively excludes the local population which cannot cope with the increase in the cost of living or the progressive deterioration and replacement of the traditional socio-economic framework. Gentrification in turn leads to a displacement of the local population to environments that are more economically accessible, mainly located in the metropolitan peripheries, in a clear process of "social centrifugation" (Santiago Rodríguez, 2007). However, in large cities, and due to real estate pressure, these areas maintain market prices that are much higher than the average purchasing power. This circumstance hinders both access to housing and social involvement in a process of urban improvement.

In the case of Madrid, and specifically in the District of Villaverde, this phenomenon is evidenced in high returns on real estate investment that do not materialize, however, either in an improvement of the urban space or in the increase in the quality of life of the local owners of traditional housing and local commerce (Dominguez & Leal 2008). In this way, the real estate pressure, added to the progressive aging of the population and the dismantling of the belt industry located in the southeast of the capital favors the degradation of these areas. In view of this, the need to implement different effective actions that endow and regenerate the social network is raised, in order to reverse the increasing levels of exclusion. Thus, over the last year, the most representative agents and interest groups of the district of Villaverde (Madrid) and its neighboring municipalities (Leganés and Getafe) have been analyzed in order to develop a strategy that allows the inclusion of new population, young profile, compatible and complementary to traditional social networks. In this way, the article exposes through a quantitative and qualitative analysis the possible urban alternatives to social demand. And, especially with regard to the consensus scenarios in order to promote proposals that are realistic for the reuse of the old vacant industrial plots in these areas. The methodology used based on the costs of housing and rent has allowed us to propose a strategic action proposal for urban regeneration in phases, respecting both social demands and predominant land uses.

Finally, the proposals for an urban regeneration strategy on vacant industrial plots that have obtained greater acceptance among agents and interest groups are presented. So that the introduction of a new use and neighborhood profile is encouraged to improve the social and urban cohesion of southern Madrid.

Impact of the impacts on the residential fabric and on the commercial fabric, derived from the gentrification processes in a “two-speed Barcelona”

Eliana del Pilar Veronica Carrillo Angeles — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Barcelona has not been oblivious to the phenomena of urban segregation, even the implementation of its first reforms at the end of the 19th century led to the displacement of less favored social classes due to the rising cost of living in the intervened areas. These dynamics have given rise to gentrification processes, which although they are configured as a phenomenon: structural, permanent and general of cities, they are not exempt from particular features that define their own reality. Thus, from its great transformation for the 92 Olympics to the current context, Barcelona has managed to position itself as a global city, where its growing tourist activity represents one of the main dimensions of the gentrification processes.

This exponential increase in tourists - a floating population that is increasingly present in the daily life of the city - has impacted the residential fabric by demanding more tourist accommodation, becoming the rise in the value of housing and the appearance of housing for tourist use (HUT's by its acronym in Catalan). In addition, the impact on its environment that has transformed the structure of the commercial fabric; characterized by its proximity model, forcing its adaptation to the profile and demands of new consumers, due to the profitability it represents and leaving the needs of residents in the background. This is reflected in the figure of the food markets, whose validity is governed by its possibilities of reinvention, must contemplate its double dimension "economic - social", disputing the weight between its roles of commercial activity and public equipment.

In this context, the study of the repercussions on the urban structure of the city, pointing out the impacts on the residential fabric and the commercial fabric, as effects derived from the gentrification processes developed within the framework of an intense tourist activity. Likewise, this complex reality tends to polarize even more, if it manifests itself in a “two-speed Barcelona”; referring to the divergence in the trajectories that the socioeconomic behavior of its neighborhoods experiences, increasing the inequalities between its inhabitants and living in a constant competition between residents and tourists.

A quantitative analysis methodology will be developed based on data obtained in previous studies and official documents of the City Council (reports, censuses, websites). Considering two indicators; the 1st: referred to the change in the use of the residential fabric expressed through the registry of dwellings for tourist use (HUT's) in the neighborhoods of the municipal area and the 2nd: related to the dynamics of the commercial fabric with respect to the interventions executed in the markets Food and the number of active establishments. Linking all this to the level of available family income (NRFD) of the residents, in order to establish the incidence of the population's spending capacity.

The results show a relationship between the evolution within the food markets; expressed in number of establishments, depending on the residential fabric of the neighborhoods that house them. In turn, this evolution can be linked to one of the main consequences of gentrification: the presence of HUT’s, which impacts traditional uses. It should be noted that HUT’s find a bearable coexistence in consolidated neighborhoods such as the Dreta de l’Eixample; which has a mostly well-stocked population, as well as a high rate of tertiary activities, allowing an ideal environment for these businesses to develop their double dimension: innovating as a commercial activity and as a public service that meets the needs of the community.

Finally, the present study has not only referred to a theoretical and descriptive review of gentrification processes in Barcelona, but also focuses on analyzing them through indicators and interrelates them, with the aim of having a joint vision of their effects concatenated in the framework of a city where the socioeconomic differences of its population are increasingly noticeable.

Baths’ architectures facing the rise of ground level

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The great transformation of the coastal landscapes foreseeable in the coming decades, intensified by the effects of the so-called climate change, constitutes a field of study of growing interest for architecture. Beyond the serious impacts that may occur in the urbanized environment, this phenomenon offers an opportunity to rethink the relationship of coastal cities with their seafronts. This research focuses on the capacity of architecture to respond to the transformation of the coastal environment as a result of the rise in sea level for a specific type of resource: public spaces associated with seaside recreation (architectures, infrastructure or facilities for leisure bathers). The main strategies that influence this problem are described and catalogued in order to establish, from a global perspective, action strategies for particular cases.

This study is structured through a methodological sequence based on the search, collection and analysis of documentation and information on interventions in public spaces linked to seaside leisure. Each example is studied, redrawn and valued considering a series of parameters that affect the relationship between the urban environment and areas at risk of flooding. In this way, a conceptual framework can be developed that identifies and organizes different architectural projects affected by sea level rise through the parameterization of concepts applied to their design. The results extracted define extrapolated strategies that can help to redesign the seafront in the face of the new coastal paradigms that are predicted by climate change and the consequent rise in sea level

The port area of A Coruña as a sustainable ICT campus for the UDC

Cándido López-González, María Carreiro-Otero, Iria López-Carreiro — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The paper aims to illustrate the suitability of the quays of Batería and Calvo Sotelo for implementing an “innovative” use in the Port of A Coruña: the sustainable Campus of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) of the Universidade da Coruña (UDC). This is an unprecedented activity in the most recent port transformations that implies setting the qualities of the place.

The methodological approach comprises four steps. First, the paper analyses the urbanisation models mostly applied in the regeneration strategies of port areas. Second, it defines the case study of A Coruña. Specifically, the research analyses the quays of Batería and Calvo Sotelo, and their evolution over time through the comparison of historical and present cartographies. Third, the study reviews the University archives for identifying the campus model that the UDC proposes in the urban framework. Finally, the research determines a set of sustainability dimensions and associates them with specific parameters of the port area. These dimensions are established in accordance with diverse studies and guides on sustainable university campuses. In summary, the methodology allows us to identify the potential of port areas for hosting university uses.

In the last decade of the 20th century, almost the entire coastline of the Municipal Term of A Coruña is regenerated, with the exception of those areas corresponding to the Port of the city. In that moment, different port activities are transferred from the inner harbour to the outer port area of Punta Langosteira, in the municipality of Arteixo. As a consequence, two port areas of about 6.40 hectares -the quays of Batería and Calvo Sotelo- are released. This relocation allows to complete the city waterfront. But moreover, it provides an opportunity to analyse the suitability of the Port for hosting a University research campus linked to ICT. A complementary use with the ones developed in the urban area, and also with the fishing and tourist activities that respectively take place in the quays of Linares Rivas and A Palloza, and of Trasatlánticos.

With the objective to assess the implementation of this new model, the research analyses a series of existing projects focused on port regeneration, both at national and international levels. Then, it develops a historical approach to the place and contextualises the University in the urban framework of A Coruña. Finally, the notion of sustainability is incorporated as a key element for a balanced development of the port; and its dimensions are connected with specific parameters of the maritime area. The historical dimension is associated with the identity; the cultural dimension, with the recognisability and the complementarity; and the environmental dimension, with the accessibility and the urban mobility. The study also explores the social dimension of the University, which is reflected in the so-called third mission: the transfer (of knowledge) to society. This transfer resides not just in the teaching and research activities that characterise the academic institution, but also in its ability to become a reference of sustainability.

The study establishes a series of qualities that confirm the potential of the quays of Batería and Calvo Sotelo as a sustainable technological pole. The first quality refers to the unique identity of the area, provided by the sedimentation of the different historical layers. The second quality -the recognisable nature of the place- appreciates the heritage value of the various buildings located in the port. The third quality alludes to the complementarity of the diverse existing uses in the adjacent maritime spaces. Finally, the fourth quality addresses the location of the port area, which promotes pedestrian accessibility and the use of sustainable mobility options. Moreover, social and economic transfer reinforces the connection between the port and the University, in a symbiosis that emphasizes the urban character of the port, and also encourages the presence of the University in the city.

Our reflection is addressed to the public administrations that are involved in the subject: Autoridad Portuaria de A Coruña, Ayuntamiento de A Coruña, Ministerio de Fomento and UDC.

Study of the civic and road connection in the orchards of Sant Bertran, port of Barcelona

Jaime Coll López, Judith Leclerc — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of the paper is to present a study / research entitled "On the waterfront" conducted for Barcelona Regional, on the civic connection (extending the urban plot of Poble Sec to the sea) and road (modification of the Carbonera and urbanization of the land of the Ronda Litoral in the passage through the Morrot). This work is part of a series of 12 works commissioned by B.R on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Barcelona Rondas. The objective of the study is to rediscover the identity of the place and the maritimitat the uses that must configure the future civic and urban space of the Muelle de Sant Bertran, at the foot of the Morrot.

Have been built 34 records of elements, buildings, situations, existing (in general re-programmed), never built or disappeared. What Montalbán calls the soloists of the heart, those elements that at one time have configured a space, fundamental activity in the life of the port (the floating Maritime club on the quay of Barcelona in 1906 or the restaurant “Mar i Cel” at the lighthouse of the port in 1926) and that like so many others have disappeared due to speculation, other priorities or simply ignorance of the value that buildings have sometimes had insignificant but very important in the memory of the people.

Have been proposed 6 actions to generate a "multidimensional" city, a place with potential to generate multiple maritime activities, more closed, a place in evolution:

- Re-Program the Sant Bertran Warehouse in the Mar school and the Post building in social housing

- Re-inhabit the port. Bring Poble Sec to the front line

- Re-Urbanize the Port, eliminate fences, recover public space full of activities

- Re-Define the profile of the waterfront, compatible with nautical activities

- Re-Naturalize the platform released by the underground of the Rondas

- Re-Connect the swallow circuits, the streets of Poble Sec and Miramar

The problems that the port currently has can be summarized from the categories that we have deduced from the Typological Port Atlas:

1. The new buildings are functionally specialized, have no mix of uses and therefore serve a specific activity, difficult to reprogram, with limited hours, and isolated from public access.

2. They are not systemic buildings, connected to transport networks.

3. They are not hybrid morphology buildings.

4. Low architectural quality of public buildings.

5. Low quality of the port buildings: the last constructions that can be considered to be of good quality to be preserved are the Sant Bertran ships.

6. No accessibility to port infrastructures. The port is totally sectored and isolated from the city.

7. Low quality of public spaces. If in 1988 and 1929 the city configured the port, today it is a free territory, a place for transport vehicles, large roundabouts, customs, and total absence of walks.

8. Maritime profile that does not allow to approach the water.

9. Discontinuity in the circuits. Currently the cable car is a means of transportation for tourists, as are the swallows that make an open circuit, with no stops. Now the swallow announces as the means to "see Barcelona from the sea" or go to "see the cruises".

Hafen-schaft, el nuevo paisaje fluvial de Hamburgo: propuesta por una nueva relación entre puerto y ciudad

Paolo Burattini, Andrea Tomasino — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Talking about the city of Hamburg means talking about its entire port. Not only because its genesis is committed to its original commercial essence, but this fundamental characteristic has been maintained and sought over time. It is a port located in the estuary of the river Elbe, and almost 100 km separate it from its mouth. For centuries, the port and its forms have been the protagonists of continuous transformations that have characterised and defined the image of the city, accomplice and spectator of this change. The different forms that the port has assumed over time have modelled both the urban scenarios of this complex urban reality and its tangible waterfront, whose unity lies in this constant and dynamic state of metamorphosis. The research that has taken place in Hamburg's territory had the specific objective of providing instruments to read this landscape in continuous evolution. This landscape is constituted both by the union between the city and the port, and by the Elbe, a river that contrasts them firmly. Thanks to this research we have reflected on the key role that the port has always played in weaving the identity of Hamburg, discovering the multiple relationships that can be formed on the banks of the river, which are actually two opposite and complementary waterfronts.

The aim is to rethink the relationship between port and city, with the proposal of a type of interaction that does not see one reality prevailing over the other. We have come to the definition of a design solution in the architectural and landscape field, which is focused on urban regeneration in the port context, and consequently on an inevitable new way of relating to the water. Those elements that contribute to the definition of the waterfront have been sought in order to achieve a conformation of the urban space that can be resolved as a new point of connection between the port and the city.

The reconversion of urban port maritime facades: the case of Alicante

Olga Grao Gil — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The seafronts of the cities, conceived in past times as merely defensive and often residual spaces linked to the port, have nowadays become a showcase for coastal cities and hubs for their prevailing tourist activity.

The city of Alicante, capital of the homonymous province of the Valencian region and an important seaport enclave with a long commercial tradition in the Mediterranean Sea, is analyzed as a case study. In the mid-nineteenth century, Alicante was the first Spanish maritime city connected by rail with the capital —Madrid—, with the relevant consequences of all sorts that this entailed. Advances in communications resulted in the opening of the coast to the inhabitants of the interior, who began to move to the coast to take the sea baths as a source of health, so fashionable in those years. At the same time, the city ceased to be a military stronghold, which allowed the demolition of the defensive walls that constrained the city preventing its normal growth. For all these reasons, Alicante can be considered a paradigm of a Mediterranean coastal city in its evolution from its walled harbour city structure to its configuration as a reference tourist destination in the Spanish Levante.

The aim of this study is to analyse the evolution of the Alicante maritime front, starting from its defensive origins, passing through the creation of seafront promenades at the end of the nineteenth century, until reaching the current urban structure. The methodology followed is based on the detailed study of all the elements that are part of the maritime facade, always understood within its historical context. The temporal scope, although it ranges from the first Muslim-era coastal walls, focuses mainly on the period from the demolition of the city walls, in the mid-nineteenth century, to the present day. With regard to the space field, the study refers to the proper urban maritime facade that frames the historic centre and is bounded at its ends by two old railway stations, La Marina Station —to the northeast— and Murcia Station —to the southeast—, as historical milestones in remembrance of the importance of the railway in the development of the coastal front. Coinciding with the three existing promenades at present, the seafront is considered divided into three different sections, from north to south: Gómiz-Explanada-Canalejas, with a total length of approximately 2 km.

The initial hypothesis is that the generation of the promenades and, eventually, the urbanization of the city-sea interface, is a consequence of a functional change of the coastline. After several centuries of defensive function, materialized in the walls of the coast, and of mercantile function, serving as surroundings to the port, on the seafront of Alicante dominated the playful-representative function, while the increasingly numerous bathers began to arrive in search of the benefits of sea water in the second half of the nineteenth century. The spa visitors were followed, when spas went into decline, by sun and beach tourists from the 60s and 70s, making Alicante the chosen destination to spend the holidays by the sea and second residence of many inhabitants of the interior of the peninsula. This playful-representative role was combined for more than a century with the commercial one, until in the 90s of the last century the port activity was definitely moved to the south of the city, leaving the historic dock for nautical and recreational boats, as anecdotal record of the port city that in the past was.

The interest of the study is that much of the conclusions drawn from the research, regarding the conversion of the sea façade into other uses and the consequent impact on the rest of the city, could be extrapolated to other coastal cities of similar characteristics, with port tradition, turned into places of major tourist activity today.

Disruptive and Contentious Enterprises: Megaprojects in Bilbao, Istanbul and Hong Kong

Gerardo del Cerro Santamaria — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In order to increase their global visibility, many cities have undertaken in the past two decades’ strategies of revitalization and re-development that in many cases include the construction of emblematic megaprojects, often iconic buildings from an architectural point of view. The expectation was that such iconic buildings and structures would internationalize the city, put it "on the map", attract global investments, visitors and tourists, and thus contribute to solve the perennial problem of improving the welfare and prosperity of urbanites. The city of Bilbao, Spain, is a legendary example (one that is more successful than others) of this focus on urban development via construction of spectacular architecture in times of globalization.

This paper discusses contentious aspects in the planning and development of megaprojects in three cities around the world: Bilbao, Istanbul and Hong Kong. Our purpose is to lay out the variety of controversies, difficulties, obstacles, negative impacts and civic opposition associated to the construction of urban projects in the three cities. We will show that the nature and the shaping of projects owes to the socio-economic, developmental, institutional and geographic context where they emerge. However, we will also see that urban megaprojects, regardless of context, constitute disruptive and contentious enterprises and have an intrinsic potential (often realized) to elicit substantial controversy and criticism that fundamentally questions the parameters of the projects as envisioned and publicly presented by their promoters. As a result, it is possible to highlight – as will be done in the conclusion to this paper -- some suggestions for future research and policy practice aiming at urban sustainability that can be applied to the planning, design, management, implementation and development of megaprojects worldwide. The list of negative impacts of megaprojects is long: cost overruns, negative environmental impacts, gentrification risks, drawbacks of top-down cultural engineering, neglect of local cultural identities, an uncertain economic success, population displacements, the spoiling of cities´ visual and structural uniqueness, rise of congestion and overpopulation, political gridlock, threats for ecosystems, environmental risks of many kinds, etc.

In this paper, we specifically claim that megaprojects are disruptive and contentious enterprises. They are disruptive enterprises in that they substantially modify the physical appearance of cities and their urban fabric, often triggering socio-economic imbalances and realignments in urban power arrangements in growth machines and civil society. Megaprojects also require substantial financial investments which, in practice, may drain out local budgets and substantially alter the priorities of local governments. Megaprojects are also contentious enterprises because of the complex make up of stakeholders with conflicting interests in their planning, construction, management and governance. This often results in major obstacles for megaproject implementation, the strategic misrepresentation of costs and benefits, optimism bias among planners and promoters about megaproject impacts and, as a result, a widespread perception among urbanites that these structures are negative for their cities.

In view of all of these drawbacks, it seems reasonable to think that better investment opportunities exist for cities, but very often these opportunities are not priorized given the hegemonic neoliberal urban discourse that focus on growth, international visibility and competition in the global arena. Based on the evidence in the three cases (Bilbao, Istanbul, Hong Kong) we highlight some of the keys to ensure that urban leaders (and urbanites themselves as creators and re-creators of the places they inhabit) cease to prioritize neoliberal development models based on megaprojects and work to organize sustainable urban ecosystems from an ecological, environmental and socio-economic perspective.

Pedagogical Landscapes Platform: a virtual territory to learn

Ana Laura Goñi Fitipaldo, Norma Piazza, Marcelo Payssé Alvarez, Hugo Inda — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The goal of this contribution is to expose the design and implementation of a digital platform called Pedagogic Landscapes Platform (PLAPP because of Spanish acronym), online at http://www.plapp.edu.uy, directed to children in school-age and built from remote sensing and visualizing technological gadgets. This platform exposes the results of a research about local landscape perception among children from a school located in the East of Uruguay. Digital photography, drone flights and participative cartography were applied as innovative tools in order to foster landscape comprehension from different scales and approaches.

The interdisciplinary team, composed by architects, anthropologists, landscape designers and professors worked together with school teachers and children from a rural school as a pilot experience. Research developed over a 12-month period. Obtained results were adapted to a communication and content format specifically tailored to school population. We developed a digital platform that exhibited several viewpoints with 360-degree vision capabilities, incorporating also sensible points that deployed additional information about the place and/ or topic. Each viewing station has a help menu in order to facilitate navigation across the available options, including orbiting from a viewpoint, displacement to another location, image zooming and capture from a contextual menu. Deployable cards containing information related to native plant trees and birds (related to the local street nomenclator) were generated by the research team and integrated into the platform, together with drawings, texts and audios generated by the children. In addition, a time lapse study was developed, based on aerial photographs provided by the local Geographical Service from 1943, 1966, 1985 and current satellite imagery, which allowed the team to develop the morphing technic by the implementation of an historical path that promote the identification of landscape transformation through time.

The unmanned aerial vehicle technology allowed the capture of high-quality video and still images (4K 3840 x 2160 pixels) in locations inaccessible from the ground. Aerial views covered a vast portion of the territory and allowed the generation of comprehensive panoramas, overviews, landscape markers and control points. The aerial photograph survey was conducted by circular trajectories at different fly heights and static panorama captures with varying viewing angles. Another development included the merging of such panoramas to generate a semi-spherical image which can be accessed and interactively navigated from a web browser. Such interactive image is the result of merging together 27 flat images. In addition, a version for touch sensitive devices was also developed.

The methodological approach is linked with the Learning Analytics concept by evaluating the impact of new technologies introduction to learning capabilities. It seeks to analyze data recovered from the activities proposed by the project in order to define and identify any problems or unforeseen issue that could prevent the adoption of such new learning technologies. Content and speech analysis were included in the Project, allowing the identification of meaningful data about the interaction between children and new technologies related language expressions. Among developed activities, virtual landscape cartography emerged as a key element.

The vast array of learning possibilities promoted by this virtual environment is strongly related with current ways of knowledge and information exchange in which the world is perceived as a complex network of interactions. A XXIth Century child who navigates through the Google Earth engine holds a visual perception of earth landscapes that is dramatically different from the perception of children from last decades and centuries. The general idea of the landscape as a cultural construction is accompanied by a pleasant sensation in viewing a territory. We are experiencing an era of abrupt and rapid changes in the way we perceive this intricate network of relationships and links that characterize the digital era. In this context, the search for new ways of teaching and learning from tools such as virtual territories emerge as a needful and promising field of research.

Smart Management of Waste from Construction Sites: Mobile Application Technology in the City Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This study was carried out in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, a municipality surrounded by the Amazon Rainforest. This world heritage site, with a great diversity of fauna and flora, requires the care and attention of both the authorities and the population. The research involved studies on four construction sites to collect data regarding the waste generated and the environmental management practices, especially regarding waste disposal, considering that this item causes major environmental impacts in the Amazon Forest surrounding the city of Manaus. There is only one public landfill, managed by the Municipality of Manaus, and several clandestine landfills, which end up being the final disposal of many construction waste due to lack of inspection and population neglect. The consequences are serious for the Amazon rainforest that suffers the impact of the pollution generated by these residues, such as plastic, paper, metal, and debris which is a major contaminant since it may contain paints, solvents, oils and other materials toxic to nature. Two of the construction sites under study were residential buildings and the other two were thermoelectric power plants (industrial). After data collection through interviews, statistical studies were carried out to analyze and discuss the results obtained, aiming to make the characterization of the current production of construction waste in the city of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, and understand how these wastes affect the environment of the Amazon Forest. The collected data enabled the identification of the types of construction waste produced, their respective volumes, and their environmental management practices regarding reuse, sale or disposal. After analyzing the results, it was concluded that the sampled construction companies do not reuse nor recycle construction waste, and discard them in municipal or clandestine landfills. To minimize the identified problem regarding the disposal of construction waste in the city of Manaus, a proposal for the environmental management of construction site waste was developed through mobile application technology, with the aim of mitigating the environmental impacts of these wastes in nature. The mobile application serves as a tool for environmental managers in construction sites, and even for citizens who want to make a renovation in their home and do not know how to allocate the generated construction waste in a responsible and sustainable way. The mobile application was developed on the Android platform and had as premises the main construction waste identified in the construction companies studied in the city of Manaus, which would be plastic, paper, metals, rubble, and demolition remains, such as broken bricks, broken tiles, damaged wood, coatings, paints, mortar and other debris, with potential for contamination and pollution of the environment. The structure of the computer program was developed in order to enable the purchase, sale, exchange, recycling or donation of construction waste through the mobile application itself, which can be acquired for free at the virtual stores. The application was tested by construction professionals, interested in the allocation of small or large amounts of construction waste in safe and legalized sites, controlled either by the municipal or federal government. The application was also presented to and tested by waste disposal companies and urban citizens, to verify the efficiency of the application in the intelligent management of construction waste. Although the application is still in the test phase and not yet commercially available, the results obtained so far demonstrate a higher degree of acceptability and user satisfaction. The results showed widespread interest in the mobile app among urban citizens, construction professionals and waste collection companies, although these latter reveal some concern regarding possible increased monitorization and fiscalization associated with a wider use of the mobile application in the urban area of the city Manaus.

Virtual Urbanism: A User-Centered Approach

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The cities in which we live are changing rapidly, presenting the scenery to debate future visions of transformative designs and its impact on the city. The decisive influence of new technologies is important for the generation of a new reality from the economic, social and urban point of view. It is a challenge for organizations and society to question the status quo and experiment often. To take advantage of the changes and opportunities offered by the inclusion of digital technologies, accommodation of the digital transformation into the visualization of Urbanism is required. The interests of citizens are coming to the forefront nowadays with the awareness that a livable city does not only consist of good infrastructure and sustainable energy supply but also citizen input and feedback.

The main goal of the paper is to present the use of digital transformation in processes of urban design through Virtual Reality in which specialized users can analyze, represent and transmit ideas, problems and solutions for the design of urban space. The hypothesis is based on demonstrating the following two statements: (1) the implementation of virtual gamified strategies in the field of urban design helps to critically evaluate the result of urban design, make decisions and understand the location conditions, dimensions and relationships of urban spaces thanks to enhanced visual technologies. (2) The interactive Virtual Reality system helps for the understanding of three-dimensional space and the human scale immersive perception in Virtual Reality could be a tool to defend the arguments of urban projects.

The urban project we work on, promoted by the Barcelona City Council, aims to generate spaces that are designed to meet the needs of the users. The spaces are modeled virtually, intended to be an accessible environment where users (professionals related to the construction and design field) can interact –play– with, to recreate new spaces. These spaces are meant to have maximum realism, including the materials, textures, movements, and even sounds of the environment. The system is tested on the Barcelona Building Construmat Fair using a quantitative method. The data obtained from the assessment exemplify the effectiveness of virtual systems on the urban design process. The results obtained from inquiries to 79 citizens –specialized in the construction and design field –, showed that it is possible to empower Digital Transformation as Virtual Reality systems increase the understanding of the space. The results show that the system helps: 1) to identify the needs and requirements of the human scale and the relationship between people and the natural or artificial environment and objects; 2) to critically evaluate the result of an urban design and make decisions; 3) to transmit problems, solutions and ideas, to a non-specialized and specialized public, 4) apply formal, functional and technical basic principles to the conception and design of urban complexes; among others.

It is proven that is a system that eases the representation and argumentation of urban projects. Knowing the interactive Virtual Reality system, participants specialized in the construction and design field were motivated to change the way of working on the future. The end of the paper is to present a visualization of the results, in a way designed to be attractive and informative for users so the conducted analysis may be reproducible in other urban data contexts.

The topics that are approached on this paper are: (1) A descriptive analysis of different technologies that can be incorporated to ease the process of urban design. (2) A selection of one of these technologies to model the scenario that will be studied. (3) The exposition and evaluation of a case study and the analysis of the results. And (4) the explanation of the conclusions and next steps to take.

Emotion Detection in Public Space: A Multilanguage Comparison in Barcelona

Liya Yang, Carlos Marmolejo Duarte, Pablo Martí Ciriquián — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Sentiment analysis via LBSN (Location-based social network) data has been a popular topic in urban studies since the booming of social media applications, such as work stress, the emotion of railway passengers, mapping sentiment, etc. Although it is difficult to measure variations of mass emotions on a precise level, there are some correlations between emotion and spatial environment. Therefore, understanding mass emotion is beneficial to improve the allocation of urban facilities and promote the urban environment. However, most researches are limited to English texts or single language due to the studied area or the technical problems of analyzing different languages. In fact, immigrants and visitors usually take an important portion in international metropolises. The analysis based on a single language is not sufficient to reveal perceptions about the same city from people who use other languages. Moreover, except for the cultural differences, the mass emotion is possibly different in different urban spaces, such as local and tourist spaces. As local language is usually distinct from visitors’, the sentiment analysis based on multi-language could reflect the differences to some degree. Therefore, this study aims to detect the difference of mass emotion between people who use different languages in the same public space. Moreover, Previous studies mainly focus on a single type of land-use, such as tourist attractions or green parks. For filling the gap, the ultimate goal of the research is to explore the relationship between the urban environment and the mass emotion.

This study utilizes 30 months of Twitter data to analyze the mass emotions in Barcelona. Specifically, English, Spanish, and Catalan are involved in the comparison of emotions as the case study, because the number of tweets written by the three languages account for about 90% of our dataset. The analysis is composed of an analysis of high-frequency words and sentiment analysis on plazas. The sentiment analysis is implemented by two commonly used algorithms: Senti-strength that estimates sentiments in short informal texts and Svader that specifically focus on the social media texts. Based on the sentiment (positive, neutral, negative) given by the algorithm, a comprehensive score of sentiment is assigned to each tweet. In brief, the process includes: 1) cleaning data and removing non-individual tweets; 2) translating Spanish and Catalan tweets into English through Google Translate API; 3) calculating the sentiment score of each tweet via Senti-strength and Svader software; 4) comparing the sentiment classification from the two software; 5) a sample check of sentiment analysis via manual evaluation; 6) comparing the sentiment differences between the three groups of different language in twenty public spaces of Barcelona.

The result confirms the differences of high-frequency words between the three languages, though they have some words in common. The high-frequency Catalan tweets appeared more words which are names of local places. English tweets contained more words that are related to tourism. Spanish tweets seemed to be in between. In terms of sentiment variations, the proportion of positive emotion was higher than negative emotion in general.

Identification of points of tourist interest through social network data

Francesc Valls Dalmau, Josep Roca Cladera — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In most European cities, mass tourism is becoming a major industry, but the effects of the increasing visitor pressure are beginning to be negatively perceived by its inhabitants. Local authorities must implement policies that modulate these activities so they can coexist and become compatible with the daily life of the local population. However, these policies must take into consideration that tourist activity tends to concentrate in very specific areas, which must be clearly identified before implementing specific taxation schemes, or requiring the procurement of a mandatory license for certain activities. To clearly designate these areas, this research proposes using social media data to identify hot spots of visitor activity in Barcelona, as an emerging source of information for stakeholders in their decision-making process, using as a case of study more than 75,000 geotagged pictures collected the Panoramio picture sharing community through its Application Programming Interface.

This data-driven approach to urban analysis must address some of the issues of what some authors describe as “the 4 V’s of Big Data”: volume, variety, velocity, and veracity. In particular, this research is especially sensitive to two aspects (volume and veracity) that must to be addressed accordingly. In the case of its volume, the large number of locations made conventional spatial data analysis challenging, while in the case of veracity, the informal nature of the source data reduced the confidence on location precision. The methodology followed a principled approach based on spatial statistics, focusing on the spatial distribution of locations analyzed using kernel density estimation (KDE), with the bandwidth determined to identify general trends at the intended scale of analysis and reduce spatial noise.

However, the analysis of the density of photographs in isolation ignores the spatial variation of the intensity of use within the city, since a greater concentration of photographs is expected in areas of elevated activity, ceteris paribus. The estimation of the level of activity was based on the inventory of businesses in the city of Barcelona, considering that it was a good indicator of the intensity of use in the different areas of the city, under the premise that a higher number of businesses is indicative increased pedestrian activity.

To analyze tourist attractiveness considering this spatial heterogeneity in the use of the city, the spatial distributions of photographs and street-level commercial activities (as an indirect indicator of intensity of use) were compared. To make both distributions equivalent, a methodology was developed to normalize the values obtained from the KDE, obtaining an indicator (relative attractiveness) robust regarding the resolution of discretization, the number of locations, and their spatial distribution. The differences between both standardized surfaces were classified on a divergent scale to identify and quantify the hot and cold spots of tourist activity, highlighting the areas of outstanding tourist pressure and also the “deserts” almost devoid of visitors.

The proposed approach proposes an emerging avenue of research in a traditionally data-scarce field of study, and suggests that social media is capable of becoming a valuable source of data in urban research. However, while this amount of data available is unprecedented, it also requires new analysis techniques as well as specific domain knowledge in the data collection, cleaning, analysis and visualization processes to successfully provide accurate and meaningful results.

Sabadell- SaBIMdell... The path is made by walking...

Rosa Maria Torra Reventós, Tomás de Castro Borregán — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Virtual reality has approached all strata of the population. Using Google Maps to rehearse a future route is a common activity among citizens. This comfort in the acquisition of ordered information, easily and correctly interpretable in a geospatial way, even by lay people in the reading of plans, is an asset that has crept into our lives. The transforming agents of urban realities must take advantage of new technologies for the development of smart, sustainable, economically efficient and socially inclusive cities. Sabadell is a city of just over 200,000 inhabitants, whose region is home to more than 900,000 inhabitants and a wide variety of business activities. The construction sector represents around 6% of the total invoiced annually.

Description of the challenges of migration to digital modeling and structuring of a median city of 200,000 inhabitants in the context of a skinny and numb administration for 10 consecutive years of economic crisis.

Own municipal experience and comparison with other benchmark experiences in other nearby administrations (Barcelona Metropolitan Area and Infrastructures.cat), and with other local institutions that promote digital change, such as the Institut de Tecnologia de la Construcció, the commission is. BIM of the Ministry of Public Works, GuBIMcat (Grup d'Usuaris BIM de Catalunya), etc.

Own experiences in the development of different urban projects, both in the preliminary project and executive project drafting phases, both modeling and communication with the different managers, tender. These projects have served as a pilot test, prior to the generalization and systematization of the experience. Right now we are pending both the implementation of projects carried out with this methodology, as well as their subsequent management or maintenance, to have the opportunity to evaluate the complete life cycle of the infrastructure.

It has been within this legislature, specifically in the period 2017-2019, within the municipal administration of Sabadell. At first, it was carried out almost in a veiled, almost imperceptible way, without the municipal machinery stopping, which did not seem to cost. In a second moment, with new allies within the municipal administration, and with the help of key departments, IT, Human Resources

The results at the communication level, both with citizens and with the rest of the managers of the "municipal heritage" are spectacular, since, often, the difficulties of reading and spatial understanding of the proposals represented an insurmountable handicap. Citizen participation is not possible without an understanding of the proposals for changes. The extension of the methodology already appears as a major difficulty. The progressive reduction of the human and material endowment within the administrations of our environment and in this last decade, as well as its aging, appears as a serious obstacle to modernization. Likewise, a certain appreciation of the innovative vocation is lacking. It seems that day to day leaves little room for innovation.

Progress in any field, and also in technology, is currently an extra cost that, at the moment, not all managers of municipal resources (human, technical, material) are proactively willing to give up. This methodology, which has an easy communication component, is easy to promote at the top level.

The difficulty, beyond communication, lies in an effective implementation, to obtain a significant increase in productivity, by automating as many functions as possible, as well as having useful information systematized, classified and ordered for subsequent maintenance. It is necessary to keep in mind the principle of long-term effectiveness, to avoid that today's emergencies do not prevent us from paving the way for the improvement of tomorrow's productivity. On the other hand, it is necessary to extend, publish and democratize technological advances in order to have a return in the industrial activity of the sector, both at regional and national level.

Augmented Reality for Co-Design: The Perspective of Real Estate Developers, Architectural Firms, and Public Administrations

Barbara Ester Adele Piga, Marco Boffi, Nicola Rainisio, Gabriele Stancato — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The paper focuses on the design and development of an Augmented Reality (AR) app for public participation in urban transformations. The project, named "AR4CUP: Augmented Reality for Collaborative Urban Planning", is part of H2020 EIT Digital (Digital Cities) and involves the Augmented Reality company Artefacto, the university Politecnico di Milano, the research center VTT, and the Real Estate Developer Company Covivio. The project began in January 2019 and will end on December 2019. A pilot case study application will be carried out at the end of 2019 on an urban transformation project in the south of Milan (Scalo di Porta Romana), namely the design project VITAE, developed in the frame of the C40 Reinventing City.

The AR4CUP project is organized in four main parts: analysis of customers needs, development of the methodology for studying people experience in place, app design and implementation, pilot case study application with final users. The paper addresses the first phase. The AR4CUP AR app is able to: (i) show, directly on-site, urban and architectural proposals geolocated in real dimensions; (ii) gather citizens emotional reactions to proposed urban transformations; (iii) automatically analyze the collected data; (iv) represent the outcomes of the analysis. The main customers of the app are Architectural Firms, Real Estate Developers, and Public Administrations, while the main target is citizens living in the area and future inhabitants, i.e. dweller and city users. The app contributes to (a) inform clients on citizens' perception on their design project, which might impact on its development; (b) inform and involve citizens in the urban transformation, enabling them to potentially play an active role in the decision-making process.

The app aims at facilitating the collaboration among citizens, stakeholders, and public administrators, to induce a virtuous process that contributes to the co-creation of the future of cities. Such a tool allows to: (i) inform citizens about design projects; (ii) represent subjective points of view and compare the overall people perception of design outcomes to designer/developer/administrators expectations; (iii) support negotiation and decision-making of public administrations and private companies in the urban design and planning field.

The focus of the paper is the first phase of the AR4CUP project, which was dedicated to interviewing relevant stakeholders, i.e. Real Estate Developers, Architectural Firms, Public Administrations. The goal was to explore the needs of potential customers of the app, identifying practical and conceptual issues useful to develop its functionalities. We used semi-structured interviews for gathering information about: (i) their current workflow; (ii) the main key actors they interact with during the design process; (iii) the crucial technological solutions currently adopted for showing design projects to laypeople; (iv) how they envision the advantages that the AR4CUP app could generate in their field. What emerged from the interviews to professionals is a diffuse concern about the effectiveness of AR apps currently on the market as design and representation tools. This distrust seems to be induced by two main issues: (i) low quality of AR representation (details, quality of textures, reflections, shadowing on the virtual elements, and similar), that might lead to an undervaluation of the final project features; (ii) lack of the so-called "dream effect" due to the representation realism, that might negatively affect marketing strategies. Positive aspects of AR also emerged from the interviews, namely: (i) playful engagement of citizens directly on-site; (ii) simultaneous involvement of many citizens or other stakeholders.

More generally, the expectations about this new app follow the idea that experimenting 3D interactive model in AR is a useful tool to involve people in urban decisions. In the AR4CUP app, users' interaction can take place without requiring specific skills since every task is designed to be friendly and enjoyable; this will contribute to widen the audience and potentially lead to more informed design decisions. The app is not meant to function as a mere communication of the final design solution for marketing purposes, but is a means to anticipate the urban experience for design purposes. With this goal, the project develops an app based on the use of experiential simulation coupled with a psychological assessment for anticipating people's reactions to urban transformation projects. Through this collaborative process citizens provide their point of view on design projects to developers, architects, and decision-makers; in so doing, they become an active actor in the transformation process, and this contributes to citizens empowerment.

Parametric Modeling of Urban Coastal Areas: Visualizing Alternative Scenarios for Participatory Planning

Helio Takashi Maciel de Farias, Amiria Bezerra Brasil, Fabricio Lira Barbosa — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Over the past decades, research on the use of prospective visualization as a means to communicate with and engage the community as actors in participatory planning processes has matured through methodological discussion, all the while exploring and incorporating new technology in representation and communication. The published results on experimentation with varying levels of abstraction/realism, simplicity/complexity and interactivity can clue planners developing participatory planning activities towards the most desirable tools and methods for their particular situation. This study reports on the use of parametrically generated urban landscape visualizations in the context of participatory planning as it took place during the participatory planning stages of the revision of city planning regulations in the municipality of Natal/RN, Brazil. Amongst more general definitions, planning regulations for the municipality include parameters that govern urban morphology, such as locally-defined maximum floor-to-area ratios (FAR), minimum setbacks and maximum building height, as well as special zoning that restricts land use as deemed necessary for the purposes of environmental protection, social or touristic interest. Additionally, specific cases of landscape-protecting regulations are in place on distinct locations along the beachfront and nearby zones. The abstract nature of these regulations can greatly limit the understanding of the related parameters’ values by non-expert population. While the revision of the municipal plan for Natal, which includes zoning and building regulations, scheduled for the year 2019, was required by law to include participatory planning stages, the methodology for this participation remained unclear. Whereas the construction industry-related interest groups have been intensely engaged in efforts to loosen building restrictions in environment and landscape protection zones, the general public has had little access to discussions pertaining these regulations. As a response to the perceived need to better include citizens in this process, the Fórum Direito à Cidade (“Right to the City” Forum) group has organized parallel workshops, to discuss and clarify planning topics being targeted in the plan’s revision. As thematic groups pertaining to these topics have been set up, the need has arisen to build visual material that might help non-expert participants to better grasp the mechanisms and results of proposed regulation changes. Given an evaluation of the available resources (time, hardware, and expertise), the authors chose two techniques – 3D computational modeling and photographic manipulation – in order to represent future scenarios. As a first step, the authors used parametric-enabled software to develop definitions representing general building regulations, as well as parametric representations of specific line-of-sight rules as contained in the current city plan. Subsequently, two urban coastal areas that feature landscape protection regulations were modeled, based on CAD data. The previously developed parametric definitions were then applied to the 3D models in a variety of different density, height and line-of-sight restriction configurations, generating aerial and ground level visualizations of these areas, as they would be materialized under alternative building regulation scenarios. These visualizations were presented both as low-fidelity “flat” shaded polygon models, which could be viewed in real-time 3D, as well as photo compositions onto real backgrounds, which aimed to represent the potential for landscape line-of-sight obstruction in each of the proposed scenarios. The visualizations, despite being restricted to static images, were regarded by workshop participants as invaluable aids to comprehending building regulation and landscape obstruction. When presented in events, the visualization results have elicited strong reactions from all sides in contentious planning situations, and have been widely shared in social media, even when incomplete and even against the researchers’ wishes. The chosen techniques allowed the visualization team to visually render disparate scenarios encompassing large urban areas and including several thousands of buildings, complete with prospective urban density indicators, with comparatively little required modeling effort and acceptable quantitative accuracy, even if not necessarily representing morphological realism. The modeling method has been deemed adequate for the development of additional visualization scenes based on other areas of the city, and further experiments may be done with direct participant interaction with the models.

Modelling a New Workflow Based on Emotional Analysis of the Floor-Plans Using Machine Learning Algorithms and Semiotics

Nima Fatemi, Jelena Nikolic, Francesc d'Assis d'Assis Moreno, Noguer — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The initial purpose of technology is to aid us in repetitive tasks. For example, in recent years, CAD programs are helping Designers to spend more time on the Design itself; being limited by the tool seems like a distant memory. Designers can generate complex forms and plans for their design, however, like our predecessors, we are still open to all kinds of mistakes. With the emergence of Artificial Intelligence, not only we can make machines do a specific task for us, but also learn to guess, predict, and plan for the future and avoiding the same mistakes over (Tech Innovations to Help Manage Project Data and Create New Ways of Designing, 2018). Specifically, Machine learning (ML) is a field of artificial intelligence that uses statistical techniques to give computer systems the ability to "learn" (e.g., progressively improve performance on a specific task) from data, without being explicitly programmed (Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig, 2009).

As Architects, we are all responsible for what we design and carry out, even further, we are responsible for the effects which our Buildings render into the world. Therefore, in Academia, we approach design as a practice of refinement, it's a process of Generating Alternatives and testing them, over and over, until finding the final option. This is Indeed, very similar to the way an automated machine works except machines are without human error. With the help of our current technologies, we can train machines to learn the design process and aid us in various tasks such as planning, optimization, and prediction for the outcome.

One of the most fundamental aspects, regarding the design of a building, is the process of generating plans based on user’s needs; in which many factors are actively affecting the process. Many factors drive the generation/design of an architectural plan and Our Emotions towards a specific space is one of the important ones, which mostly and often dismissed by the Designer. By applying AI to this process; which follows the same principles; the designer is constantly supported by a recorded knowledge that can help him design avoiding such mistakes (Embracing artificial intelligence in architecture, 2018).

Our creative goal is to develop an A.I, which can make a dialectic between the designer and the user’s emotion, making the design more efficient for the user. The research aims to find hidden relationships between the factors which shape a floor plan and the user’s emotions; and finding a balance point to establish a new Workflow. The first step to do so is to train a computer program, which learns the relation between our emotions and the design, the latter can be achieved using machine-learning technics, provided with data sets of floor-plans, powered by semantic networks.

Methodology to determine more sustainable locations for social housing complexes in Valdivia, Chile

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Within the multiple decisions related to the development of social housing neighborhoods in Chile, the location of the complexes is especially relevant because of their potential to facilitate, or not, social mobility, access to better opportunities, and urban integration (Sabatini and Brain, 2008). In this sense, the housing policy has been insufficient, although it has incorporated specific incentives to improve the location, they are centralist application parameters that do not contribute to improving the condition of new neighborhoods in smaller cities, making the generation of incentives with a local approach.

The Differential Location Grant (SDL) is part of the housing policy that seeks to address the deficiencies in housing and urban matters that have been perpetuated for more than 30 years in Chile. However, this policy has not fulfilled all its objectives, since its location parameters allow the location of social housing in sectors with poor access to equipment networks. Although it is requested to report the distance of travel for aspects such as transportation, health, and education in the formulas to obtain this incentive, they do not include, among others, measures for travel to places of employment (Brain et al., 2010).

This is how it becomes valuable to investigate less explored variables in this decision-making, such as massive databases related to geo-referenced data. These are a powerful source of information to gather new responses and approaches to urban issues (Pentland, 2009).

Taking into account that today there are numerous data sources for most of all cities, realities such as displacements, flows, land uses, among others, can begin to be modeled with high accuracy, in near-real time, with lower costs and Highest reliability. The volume of information provided by mobile phone antennas makes them capable of describing traces in different time-spaces (day, week, month) and for different groups, exposing how much, how and where people move in a city (Hoteit and col., 2014).

Using the urban ICT capabilities, sustainability indicators have been described for areas of residence and destinations (Integration, Connectivity, and Diversity) and proposals for proximity and morphological criteria to locate new neighborhoods or improve existing ones from urban regeneration actions.

In contrast to the current criteria of location and forms of urban characterization, this work represents a novel and valid approach to know the urban reality in a contextualized manner and complementary to the current instruments, but with the potential to replace them.

Re-extraction from urbanized areas based on high-resolution night light images

Qianhui Zheng — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The definition of urbanized areas, both regionally and globally, is an important basis for urban development monitoring and management, as well as an important condition for studying social policies, economics, culture and the environment. Thanks to the development of science and technology, urban expansion is developing rapidly. The method of extracting urbanized areas quickly and accurately has become the focus of research. In the 1970s, with the beginning of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), the images of night lights that provide a new method for the extraction of urbanized areas were born. However, due to the limits of spatial resolution and spectral range, it’s true that there are defects in urbanized area extraction based on OMSP-OLS nightlight images. In recent years, with the development of remote sensing technology, remote sensing data with a higher resolution emerged, providing an effective and applicable data source for urban planning monitoring.

I suppose that the images of night lights with a higher resolution have greater precision than the old ones in the extraction of urbanized areas. This work has dedicated the images of night lights (NPP-VIIRS and Luojia1-01) and the images of urbanized areas (FROM-GLC 2017) to construct a logistic regression model to evaluate and compare the accuracy of the two images of night lights in the extraction of urbanized areas. And I hope to explore the advantages of the night light images of the new generation satellite Luojia1-01 in the smaller scale studies. First, I will learn the knowledge of night light imaging to summarize and determine the necessary methods, including methods of data processing, urbanized area extraction, evaluation and etc. Second, I will process the images and data in Arcgis to obtain the values of each pixel as variables, and I will make a logistic regression model of the original and logarithmic data in SPSS. In addition, I will calculate the cross table of the 4 results with the urbanization value to obtain the probability and Kappa. Finally, I will compare and analyze the probability and Kappa, and pass the thresholds obtained to Arcgis to perform the re-extraction of urbanized areas.

The Agenda for A Digital and Ecological Future

Marike Charlier, Renaud Francou — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Ecology often criticizes the impacts of digitization considering it as a symbol of global acceleration and globalization of flows. Moreover, there is little doubt that digitization actors are rather moved by opportunities related to economic value creation than any consideration about their risks or impacts.

Based on these considerations, the convergence between the two sectors seems very difficult. However, the Internet New Generation Foundation (FING), a French think tank that defines its mission as concretely imagining a digitization with a future and focused on human capabilities, observed the following:

“The ecological transition is the horizon of our societies and the digital transition, the great transforming force of our time. The first knows her destination, but it is hard for her to draw her way; the second is our day to day; a permanent force of change but that does not pursue any specific collective objective. One has the objective, the other the way: these two transitions need each other!” With this idea, the project of an Agenda for a digital and ecological future* was born in 2015. It was published in March 2019, after 3 years of collaborative work, in association with ADEME or IDDRI among others. It is aimed at researchers, companies, organizations, public actors, media, etc., to disseminate their recommendations.

This Agenda seeks collaboration between digitization and ecology based on the conviction that digital transformation has no meaning, nor future, if it does not consider its own ecological footprint and does not mobilize to act against climate change and the other consequences of human activity. To achieve this convergence, it marks new paths or existing paths to be reviewed or promoted that are classified in 5 principles (which the agenda details in 20 challenges):

1. Technology does not provide solutions, but solutions can produce technologies.

To contribute to the ecological transition, digitization must participate in alternative models of development, other forms of production, exchange and consumption.

2. The transformative force of digitization will not be a result of calculations but of collective action.

Data are essential for many environmental actions, but only their open management and shared use that generate social interaction, will allow the mobilization of citizen groups and a transformative impact.

3. Collaborative digitization and democratic ecology are inseparable, although they are not yet fully aware of it.

Digital models have demonstrated their transformative force but their contribution to ecology is not obvious at all. The rapprochement between the actors of collaborative digitization, those of public and democratic innovation and ecological ones will generate a common culture of digital and environmental challenges thanks to shared learning.

4. Innovation can only play a positive role in the ecological transition if it focuses on both its impact and its economic model.

The innovation management system together with the institutions and financial devices that allow it, must control that innovation measures its environmental and social impacts and ensure that it really achieves its objectives in this matter.

5. Digitization and its industry must teach the way.

The digital industry must be green by design and lead the circular economy, proposing eco-responsible, repairable or recyclable products, with a longer life and lower resource consumption.

The challenges of the Agenda for a digital and ecological future mark the steps to achieve an innovative as well as frugal, democratic and trust builder digitization. There is no doubt that the ecological aptitude of this digitization is considerable. So, considering that the problem is worldwide, we consider the message of the Agenda has to be propagated and applied outside the limits of the hexagon.

Cognitive urban planning model for a prototype of collaborative housing access and urban planning

Pedro Jiménez-Pacheco, Diego Esteban Puente Garrido, Lorena Recalde, Jaime Meza — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Considering the current housing situation, the weak participation in urban planning processes and the stagnation of the construction sector in Ecuador, the main objective of the Interuniversity Research Project “Cognitive Urban Planning” is the development of social web application that promotes collaborative urbanism within the framework of cognitive cities. This document seeks to establish the urban functional requirements (RFU) of the cognitive urban planning model (MPUC) for the development of a real-time collective work software prototype that allows access to housing and collaborative urbanism, as driving practices for a renewed urban planning in the Ecuadorian cities of Quito and Portoviejo. The research methodology is developed in five moments: i) Epistemological synthesis of the results of the systematic literature review (SLR); ii) review of a partial cognitive urban planning model; iii) conceptual design of the collaborative system for accessing to housing and urban planning (SCAVU); iv) collection and analysis of information in Quito and Portoviejo; and v) development of use cases for the definition of the RFU in the construction of the prototype. Potential users of the application provided the data during workshops with public institutions and unions, and through surveys conducted in community spaces in the two cities mentioned before. The RFUs that describe the functions for the software prototype assumed the findings of the analysis of the collected information. This evidenced that the proposed use cases, linked to the RFU, allowed the project’s cognitive architecture team to advance with the intelligent requirements of the MPUC, by elaborating the first prototype samples supported by cognitive algorithms design.

Identifying Architectural Attributes and Aesthetics for Assessment of New Infill Design in Urban Historic Context: The Case of Historic Jeddah

Ayman Khalil Alitany — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Urban regeneration and architectural design in historical contexts have always presented serious challenges, thereby raising critical questions regarding the assurance of modern architecture designs that maintain compatibility with cherished heritage sites. Previous studies have analyzed theories and strategies in cases where new architecture has been interwoven into the existing historical urban fabric as infill projects aligned with the existing architectural heritage. These studies elaborated upon alternative philosophies regarding infill architecture projects, from mimesis or replication to contrasting approaches. The former seeks compatibility and visual harmony by linking new building designs to the historical aesthetics and character in order to preserve the contextual values of the site and its heritage. The alternative approach posits that any new intervention should represent its own period of time. Despite the inevitable contrast, new architecture should respect and compliment the historical context rather than overwhelm it. In some historic sites, the design of new buildings has been an important aspect reflected in the contextual design and integration of new infill structures; however, few focused on the historical area whose architectural and urban heritage values must be preserved. International organizations, such as UNESCO and ICOMOS, strive to preserve historical sites, including monuments, buildings, and exemplar neighborhoods worldwide. Doing so exposes them to several conflicting interests, not the least of which is the struggle between preservation and progress. Through these organizations, many guidelines have been declared in charters, formal recommendations, and binding resolutions that form the preservation, revitalization, and development principles for historical sites. To achieve these goals, most design principles and guidelines outline the desirable attributes and aesthetics of historic environments, especially their visual and spatial qualities. In historic sites, these characteristics are vital for the formation of appropriate design guidelines that can help maintain high-quality contextual bonds between the new and old. These common compatibility principles are used to assess urban and architectural features, including size, scale, proportion, character, materials and detail in order to protect the integrity of both the new structure and the context into which it is placed. In some sites, the identifiable physical attributes and aesthetics are not obvious, even for responsible local organizations and professional designers. One notable example is historic Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, a listed UNESCO World Heritage site. The historic center of old Jeddah has suffered continuous degradation resulting in the partial sacrifice of its traditional spirit, authentic urban and architectural Hijazi features, as well as hundreds of irreplaceable historic homes. Further, the urban expansion of Jeddah city is characterized by a fragmented structure and unregulated urban sprawl that lacks appealing integration between the old district and the new city. This has led to irregular building practices with an unpleasant blend of relatively few remaining historical buildings and an increasing percentage of contemporary buildings featuring non-conforming architectural characteristics. Current regulations and guidelines have not been sensitive to the district's historical nature or special status. The integration of new development into the old context has essentially failed, and the historic city's aesthetic and physical attributes remain undefined. Therefore, the aim of this study is to define the architectural attributes and aesthetics of Historic Jeddah in order to identify the basic principles of contextualism between the new and historical contexts. Methodologically, the study comprises two segments performed sequentially. The first introduces the current state of historic old Jeddah within its urban context and identifies the morphological transformations that shaped the current fabric as well as the main urban components and unique character areas that define the historical core of the city. The second identifies the attributes and aesthetic qualities of Hijazi-built communities in old Jeddah within the framework of existing theories of contextual architecture. The findings reveal how accurately defined attributes and aesthetics can be useful for major organizations and developers by providing clear information to enable the formulation of appropriate design guidelines for new architectural projects in historic urban environments, and also to ensure successful infill developments that preserve irreplaceable cultural values well into the future.

Italian Historic Centers and Marginality. For a Regeneration Strategy of the Contemporary Historic Territory

Marika Fior, Irene Poli, Giulia Bevilacqua — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The study developed by Ancsa* and Cresme** shows the current state of the Italian historic centers from the economic and demographic point of view, which is the starting point of the paper in reflecting on the Italian urban policies for the enhancement and preservation of the contemporary historic territory. Moreover, the paper aims to deeper investigate the phenomenon of marginality as arising from the application of the concept of “periphery” to historic centers.

Starting from the analytical-interpretative methodology used in the Ancsa-Cresme 2017 report, our study follows an inductive method based on demographic, social and economic survey trends in the provincial capital cities. Although in a quantitative way, this approach reflects the trend Italian cities are going through, and is useful to outline the common characteristics of the marginality phenomenon of some historic centers. This general investigation represents the reference framework for the in-depth and comparative analysis of the case studies useful to understand the specific phenomena that are characterizing historic centers, as well as of the policies, strategies and planning outcomes for their regeneration. Due to their structure and morphology, historic centers are living and unique organisms, and it is thus difficult to plan a predefined and standardized urban policy framework. That is why, starting from a general framework, we deepen some case studies to outline the policies suitable for similar urban contexts.

The paper proposes a comparative analysis between two Italian case studies that are characterized by phenomena of degradation or by hiking tourism, ageing and declining population (especially young people and families) as well as the loss of neighbourhood business activities. At the same time, the paper considers historic centers as nodes of the historic territory network identified through an enhancement approach of the historic and cultural heritage more in line with the shape and needs of the contemporary city. These two conditions demonstrate that historic centers should become crucial for the new urban policies agenda.

The data used are taken from the census surveys of the National Institute of Statistics and/or available from local databases, as well as data taken from the urban planning tools in force.

The results show the urban policies that it would be useful to support in order to promote a regeneration of the contemporary city. These policies must be aware of both the problems that afflict the traditional historic components (the marginality of historic centers) and the new challenges deriving from socio-economic and environmental changes, which considerably extend the inhabitants’ memories and urban planning competencies beyond the perimeter of the historic centers.

* Ancsa, Associazione Nazionale Centri Storici Artistici, National Association of Historic Artistic Centers

** Cresme, Centro di Ricerche Economiche e Sociologiche di Mercato dell’Edilizia, Center for Economic and Sociological Research on the Building Market

Bringing Life Back to Falastin Street in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mohammed Alamoudi — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In modern urbanism, streets are essential to providing urban vitality, with pedestrians playing a key role. The process of pedestrianization of a city is important to the quality of life of all its inhabitants, but does not always receive the attention it deserves in urban plan development of cities in Saudi Arabia. Improved pedestrianization could significantly contribute to bringing vitality to the streets of the Kingdom’s cities, where many of the city residents tend to use private cars rather than walking in the streets. In this empirical study, we chose Falastin Street as the case study in the city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. As part of the underlying theoretical framework, we reviewed the new urbanism criteria and principles. Subsequently, site analysis was performed, including land use, traffic, building height, wind, sunlight, access and nodes. The nodes were obtained by applying social media data gathered from the application Snapchat, which was used to create the heat map of the Falastin Street. Furthermore, four successful case studies were chosen, with at least one common feature in terms of weather, economy, social life, and length, in our case. The case studies were divided into two types: new and renovated projects. The streets were evaluated according to various urban and architectural aspects. Comparison of studies yielded several flaws, including lack of appropriate lighting and human scale consideration, as well as insufficient public spaces and attractive elements. A review of cases of effective pedestrianization of streets enabled us to outline the principles of urban renovation projects, including diversity in commercial activities, increased density in the center of the street and architectural quality improvements, such as addition of open spaces around the center of the street for visitors. For the master plan, the site was divided into 5 zones, with each zone having its own public space. Approaching the urban design criteria by studied and obtained principles enabled establishment of the main objectives of the project, including spaces for outdoor daily life activities and social gathering in this street. As a main solution for increasing the density in the site, we proposed increasing the center social life activities of the street, as the main node can increase the value of the middle site due to augmented density. In addition, using the retail marketing approach, we have determined that distribution of brands on the Falastin Street can serve as attractive points for pedestrian movement. These distributions were provided by Grasshopper software, yielding five scenarios, with the optimal chosen scenario offering the best connection network among the brand stores. Finally, the master plan was generated by creating the public spaces inside the site and considering the optimal distribution of brand stores on the street. Considering the rich cultural heritage of Jeddah, another recommendation includes the use of its specific traditional windows called Rawashen for urban façades. Other strategies for enhanced pedestrianization of the Falastin Street include promotion of public spaces and brand distribution as attractive elements for visitors to visit by foot. Applying such criteria in the similar streets could help city planners and policy makers in pedestrianizing the streets in Saudi Arabia.

Conservation of Historic Districts: Challenges of Integration in Modern Cities within Sustainable Perspective

Maha Salman, Kabila Hmood — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Architecture is a significant product of civilization that represents culture and retains history as culture is the reaction of mankind to nature. The development of architecture is a result of mankind's need to survive and its continual survival with today's sophisticated life style. Cities and regions with diverse and rich architectural heritage have been exposed to extensive deterioration and destruction, due to the rapid modernization and economic, social, and cultural changes.

Dependency on cars and other means of transportation caused most modern cities to expand rapidly. This uncontrolled expansion transformed major cities into metropolitan areas and changed the traditional life style into a modern one. During the past few decades, many architectural heritage symbols and historic buildings as well as historic districts were demolished due to several reasons: modernization and urban development, deteriorated conditions, and unsafe construction situations or they were just not viable economically.

During this period, development and following the international modern typology subjugated urban planning and architecture. Historic buildings and districts faced extreme challenges to survive and cope with the modern urban patterns where cars and grid-iron streets patterns dominated city planning while new buildings were mainly constructed using modern construction technology and building materials such as reinforced concrete, steel, and glass.

One of the main objectives of this research is to explore conservation of historic buildings, in an architectural level, and historic districts, in an urban level, within a sustainable perspective as a multi-layered process with a lot of challenges. Being raised and educated in a region with very rich heritage and witnessing the destruction this valuable immense heritage suffered due to modernization, wars, neglect, and unprofessional conservation policies, was one of reasons that motivated the authors to investigate conservation of historic buildings/districts within modern cities. This process requires planning, knowledge, strategies, research of architectural styles, and professional skills. Conservation of historic buildings and districts has inestimable value for people; however, it can be a costly process. One of the major concerns of historic buildings conservation is how to make these buildings worthwhile financially, viable socially, and vital publically to maintain historic features and cultural value.

This research investigates the impact of modernization on architectural heritage in historic districts in cities with rich heritage in different regions. The research aims to explore how historic buildings/districts can go beyond being just monuments to visit through playing pivotal roles in societies’ daily activities as vital living parts that are integrated within modern cities. To accomplish that, the research examines the adaptive reuse of several case studies in different regions with a focus on community connectivity strategies within sustainable approaches that conserve resources, unique architectural characteristics, and local identity within economic viability.

The research methodology is based on field case study observations and a qualitative analysis of literature review to the main discussed concepts: urban conservation, culture, vernacular architecture, conservation methods, rehabilitation of historic buildings, and sustainability. Using comparative analysis method, the research examines a number of case studies through investigating the conservation polices, strategies, and methods that allow of integration of historic buildings/districts within modern cities fabric and its people everyday life.

Through analytical approach, the research concluded that city development should not be in expense of losing historic buildings/districts; it can be achieved efficiently through applying urban conservation polices within sustainable perspective environmentally, socially, and economically. The research intensifies the role of individuals, society, and local communities in getting involved as well as investing in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings and rehabilitation of historic districts to revitalize the heritage and cultural identity of the society.

Furthermore, the research set some guidelines for planning urban conservation policies that enhance integration of historic districts and old city cores within modern cities planning to preserve the characteristics of society and reveal identity of the region.

Strategy for the Extraction of Knowledge to Support the Development of Urban Planning

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This research is based on knowledge management (KM), to develop a strategy to support the development of plans and projects at the neighborhood level or improvement of the historic center. The strategy has been implemented in the old town of San Andreu in Barcelona and part of the results revealed the need to take advantage of the knowledge that urban managers/planners possess in urban planning issues. A strategy is conceptualized so that, in which it is feasible to plan, develop and implement the KM in urban planning issues. This strategy consists of three phases: the first, the analysis of the strategy, this is composed of three stages: the knowledge inventory, the knowledge map, and the network analysis, the second phase: the SWOT analysis and the last phase: The technological system. The information obtained from in-depth interviews is a basis for determining the knowledge inventory and thus, who is the holder of the fundamental knowledge is identified. The information obtained from the interviews is organized in the knowledge inventories to identify who are the holders of the fundamental knowledge. For the development of the project, data collection and knowledge extraction of one of the important and necessary axes for the preparation of the planning, the vision of the planner/manager of plans and projects for the improvement of neighborhoods or historical centers is carried out. This strategy proposes the extraction of the necessary knowledge for the development of urban planning at the neighborhood level or improvement of the historic center, here a combination of tools and some mixtures of knowledge-based system design techniques will be considered. The strategy aims to visualize the generation/transfer of knowledge of the three important axes (planner/manager, inhabitants of the field of study and urban morphology) necessary for the development of planning. From this stage, it is concluded that the main achievements or advances in knowledge obtained in terms of the KM system oriented to urban planning, highlight that the planners/managers have basic information online from computer software (Vista, Vissir, cadastre, registry, etc.), but some of them, such as, lack the social or the perception of the inhabitants of the neighborhood, it is also possible to emphasize that the time factor of the agents is an impediment to the execution process. The SWOT analysis facilitated the understanding of strengths and weaknesses, helps clarify and summarize the main issues and opportunities of the information obtained, and this facilitates the development of strategic thinking, allowed to effectively explore positive factors and neutralize or eliminate the effect of Negative factors, generates new ideas to help harness strengths. Finally, all the information generated from the strategy analysis and the SWOT analysis of the strategy was stored in the technological system for its easy management and use. This document discusses the relevance of the use of GC methodologies in the development of urban improvement plans, which, although it is a growing issue, there is evidence within the business or organizational sector that demonstrates that the KM is an instrument that provides added value on issues related to this sector. This research has shown the use of collaborative strategic planning for the resolution of urban planning problems at the neighborhood level or improvement of the historic center, which is of great importance, therefore, it is possible to guarantee that the KM, due to the results shown in this document, which although its greater application in a sector with different problems, can provide important information in solving urban problems, as is the case with strategic planning.

Digital Transformation, Small Town, Experimentation: Membrana Smart Research Project

Domenico Passarelli, Vincenzo Alfonso Cosimo, Giuseppe Caridi — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In his book Me++ (2004), Mitchell, when ascertaining the concrete effects that digital information is capable of producing in the various sectors and with regard to aspects that were once extraneous to it, states that binary code is the most powerful tool we have for expressing our projectuality and translate it into concrete actions. However, the changes that digital transformation is able to produce to the structure, organisation and logic of operation of the city and territory have been taken into consideration, primarily, with reference to the large urban scale, or to specific and circumstantial aspects such as, for example, low-income communities. And yet, what kind of link exists between digital transformation and the smaller centres that characterise Italy and Europe? How can the disciplines of the project interpret it profitably? And, conversely, what are the risks that arise from a deontological and ethical perspective?

In light of these reflections, this contribution aims to illustrate some of the results related to the "Membrana smart" research project, in collaboration with a partnership of companies operating in the Calabrian territory, funded under the POR CALABRIA FESR-ESF 2014 -2020, Axis I "Research and innovation", Specific objective 1.2 "Strengthening of the regional and national innovative system", Action 1.2.2 " Support for the realisation of complex research and development projects on a few thematic areas of relief and the application of functional technological solutions to the realisation of the S3 strategies".

This is accomplished by starting from the realisation of a technological device that is i) advanced, with the capacity of self-identification, localisation, status diagnosis, data acquisition, elaboration and implementation; ii) interactive, as it responds to people's stimuli/actions and the changes in the surrounding environment; iii) modular, to be assembled so as to form multisensory and artistic surfaces; iv) intelligent, as it makes use of the latest wireless technology, network scale-up (broadband), downsizing of mobile transmission/reception devices, augmented reality, Internet of things (IOT); v) open source, open to the proposition of different options for which users are left with the decision on which to evolve and not. The authors, after having examined the different implications of membrane smart in everyday life, draw the attention towards the different structural criteria with which this medium/instrument allows the organization of communication and the enjoyment of the city and the territory, highlighting how its value lies precisely in the type and quality of the relationships it establishes with the surrounding environment; therefore, membrane smart does not present itself as an object in space but, rather, as a tool for the construction of space, as an element for the staging of a city and a territory of which it is a part. Evidently, this field of investigation finds reasoning in that part of the scientific debate that stimulates us to reimagine and reconstruct the places by starting from the relationships between the material and the virtual world, and to reconsider the implications that such modifications have on the disciplines of the project. As is known, this debate has been maturing since the second half of the 90’s due to the concomitant competition of technical issues (simultaneous application of information technology, electronics and cybernetics), disciplinary issues (definition of Mitchell's City of bits, computerisation of the space, etc.) and interdisciplinary issues (media art, land art, etc.). The research project finds concrete expression in the proposal of four initiatives for the use of membrane smart for the well-being of communities located in smaller centres. They pertain to i) the regeneration of urban spaces and architectural artefacts that have lost their original function over time; ii) the identification, expansion and protection of latent resources; iii) the valorisation of heritage valued as collective wealth, accessible to all; iv) the entrepreneurial potential of digital technologies, especially with reference to teleworking and youth and women’s entrepreneurship.

In the fragile and scarcely investigated smaller centres, membrane smart’s expected results aim at constructing/activating the contexts of interaction design through which to awaken broad social participation. More generally, this project aims to add new tools to those that already form the designer's repertoire. No longer just hard tools, like the ones we are used to, but also those made up of bits, connections and software.

Amón_RA: the use of ICT to enhance and revitalize a historic neighborhood in Costa Rica

David Porras Alfaro, Kenia García Baltodano — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Amón_RA research project is developing augmented reality technology for the enhancement and dissemination of the historic urban landscape (HUL) of barrio Amón; which is intended to show through a mobile application and a web page. This contribution aims to demonstrate the resources that have been identified from the project and analyzed from two perspectives, one, focused on the revaluation of this space as HUL and another, center around the opportunities for economic and social revitalization.

The paper considers part of the results obtained in a process initiated in 2017, by the research project ‘Amón_RA. Implementation of augmented reality as a tool for the enhancement and dissemination of the historic urban landscape of barrio Amón', developed by the Schools of Architecture and Urbanism, Industrial Design and Computing of the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, with the participation of the Department of Geography of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, the Municipality of San José and the Center for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Youth.

Methodologically, the identification of resources was carried out by collecting information on site. Subsequently, participatory processes were carried out to contrast and complement the information obtained with the vision of the social agents of the neighborhood. Next, the resources were classified, in parallel to the generation of ICT content. With these results, resources with patrimonial values are evidenced and those with potential for socio-cultural, economic and environmental dynamization. Among the data used, the quantitative information obtained from the field surveys and the qualitative information produced by the participatory processes stand out; in addition to a detailed review of bibliographic and documentary sources.

The Amón_RA project, following the approaches of UNESCO (2011), appeals to the use of ICT as a tool that contributes to the education and awareness of cultural heritage, by providing information that allows to expand the historical, cultural, urban and heritage contents. At the same time, it is intended to serve as an instrument to publicize resources and activities offered with the intention to promote the economic and social revitalization of this sector of San José.

Among the results obtained is the geolocation of tangible resources. Within the resources with heritage values, 23 buildings of architectural interest were found, nine of which have a declaration of Historical-Architectural Heritage; in addition, it was possible to identify seven spaces that were called 'Lost Past', those that respond to missing buildings but remain in the collective memory, as well as 19 spaces in which 'Secrets' were established, understood as little known aspects of real estate but interesting to spread. Finally, within this category, three natural elements of importance to the neighborhood were located.

As resources with dynamism potential, a series of elements that make up the ‘Urban Offer’ of the neighborhood were found, which is composed of 14 gastronomic venues, 12 facilities linked to culture and art, 8 lodging services and 12 public institutions. All these results have been translated into the content of the mobile application and web page, which can be visualized through resources such as interactive maps, photographs, augmented reality, 3D models and 360° photographs.

Intangible resources have been classified into information about the origins of the neighborhood, experiences, characters, and activities of the neighborhood. This information is visualized in an interactive timeline, as well as in textual and illustrative content linked to tangible resources.

The main conclusion, it is evident that, despite its depopulation and outsourcing, Amón is a neighborhood in San José that has a series of historical, aesthetic, symbolic, cultural and social heritage values that make it a reference in the city and of the various processes that have shaped its urban configuration. Besides, it has a series of resources and services with the potential to stimulate the neighborhood through ICT.

Certification Protocol “Historical Small Smart Cities”: a Decision Support System tool for the strategic management and recovery of Minor Historical Centers

Valentina Pica — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The ongoing research is presented for the definition of a Decision Support System (DSS) addressed to the minor local administrative bodies of the internal areas. The tool, called HISMACITY Protocol (Historical Small Smart City), has been built in its hierarchical structure, which runs from objectives identified on the basis of a preliminary study. It is the SWOT analysis of the characteristic elements of the small historical centers of the areas examined, both in Italy and in Spain. The objectives contribute to the reduction of the depopulation risk of these urban centers and to the improvement of basic services and localised employment opportunities, while at the same time aiming to protect historical heritage. The guidelines contained in the protocol formulate the opportunity to provide for the relocation of services to the capitals or some specialised centers, i.e. major centers that offer the concentration of multiple services and productive activities, according to a network strategy, and the Institute of Union of Municipalities, as supported by the National Reform Plan in Italy, promoted by the Agency for Territorial Cohesion, and by the consequent National Strategy for Internal Areas.

The protocol definition method is briefly described: through a comparative analysis of the literature on the Smart City and sustainable cities, on the recovery of historical centers, as well as on the protocols for sustainability and urban regeneration initiatives, the evaluation criteria have been defined and connected to the established objectives. These criteria have been then joined with simple and compound indicators that allow the measurement of qualitative and quantitative performance standards, for the purposes of classification and scoring. The criteria are sorted into six action areas: Mobility, Economy, Environment, Heritage, Living, Governance. Each criterion is associated with at least two alternative proposals for integrated intervention, and a series of concrete actions which will be partly chosen by local decision makers on the basis of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique of the Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Each municipality will be obliged to choose at least one alternative associated with one criterion for each area of action. The system can be modified during the decision-making process by means of a geolocated data platform, processed on a GIS software. Regarding cultural heritage protection, this framework includes the “modulation of the protection”. It is a procedure already included in the technical standards for implementation (NTA) of the Recovery Plan of the historical center of Formello (Cerasoli, 2010). It detects the types of intervention range, from restoration and conservative rehabilitation to building repositioning. They follow a cataloging work and in-depth analysis of the characters and types of existing built heritage, which allow for the classification of building categories.

The data used in the framework refer to the various constituent elements gathered on the historical analysis centers (road, infrastructural, geomorphology of the urban tissue, etc.), useful for the definition of performance indicators. Currently the system’s architecture has been defined on the pilot project of the urban center of Sutri, in the province of Viterbo. It is also being assessed the possibility that it can be made scalable on the historic center of Berga, in the province of Barcelona, in Spain. The protocol can become the first case of experimentation of a dynamic data collection and analysis tool for the intelligent management of small historical centers in rural areas, also useful for monitoring the expected results through its connection to the application of IOT sensors. The numerous challenges that today's centers in marginality are facing, including climate change, in addition to gentrification and the risk of the inexorable loss of much of the minor building heritage, make tools such as HISMACITY necessary and the evaluation of their adoptability at the institutional level, a possible plan to be seriously evaluated.

Documentary approach to energy concepts in the traditional city

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In the present context of the economy’s internationalization, reconsidering the urban systems and the competitive between metropolis, we see in the past the opportunity to find some examples which can help us to improve the projects in present-future. The urbanism and the contemporary architecture cannot be understood without including in its definition a rethinking towards something sustainable, trying to answer large climatic and sustainable worries, which challenge the habitability in the cities. In this sense, the urban proposal which are looking for propitiate a context more consistent with the actual environmental logics seem to share, at least, one problematic: urban systems are considered obsoletes, cities which in many occasions are not understood, or are not read according the important possibilities presented.

The issue of identity as an instrument of natural risks reduction in small historical centers

Allegra Eusebio — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Barcelona has not been oblivious to the phenomena of urban segregation, even the implementation of its first reforms at the end of the 19th century led to the displacement The paper presented shows the first results of wider research carried out by the Department of Architecture of Rome Tre, together with the Department of Engineering, Natural Science, Economics and Humanitarian studies, which aims at defining a protocol of natural risk mitigation in historical centers of Italian Inner Areas. In the following lines the attention will be focused on the theme of identity as an instrument of risk mitigation and community engagement, especially in those fragile territories of the Italian Inner Areas.

Italy is, in fact, an extremely heterogeneous and rich country, whose wealth is based not only on the historical and artistic heritage of the big cities, but also on a network of small villages and an incredible variety of territories, most of which are found in Italian Inner Areas, which represent the image of Italian landscape that we all know and love.

These territories, besides being economically disadvantaged, are also located in areas affected by very high natural risk levels, both because of their natural geomorphological conformation and their localization in the Italian peninsula, and because they are affected by depopulation and abandonment phenomena, that inevitably lead to a lack of territorial maintenance.

The National Strategy of Italian Inner Areas aims at reactivating these territories, which have an incredible territorial, historical, and - potentially - economic value, but only marginally deals with the issue of secure their territories, which should instead be considered of primary importance. It is impossible to reactivate an unsafe place, it would therefore be important that smart policies of natural risks mitigation were included in the programme of the National Strategy of Italian Inner Areas, focusing the attention on small historical centres, great heritage in danger.

The research carried out by the Roma Tre University aims at defining a useful and smart process of risk prevention, identifying the steps necessary for correct risk mitigation actions. Starting from this objective, this paper intends to illustrate the role and importance of the recognition of the elements representing identity, within the risk mitigation process, especially in historical centers.

It is common to deal with the issue of identity in post-catastrophe reconstruction phase, when the question is how to reconstruct both the physical heritage and the sense of attachment of the community, destroyed by the disaster. This research tries to move the issue of identity from reconstruction phase to prevention phase, so that alongside preserving strategic elements from a functional point of view, the protection of identity elements is also considered.

Prior identification of identity elements representative of a place and a community, such as a square or a characteristic historic building, could also promote the starting of community participatory project, focalized on the identification of those elements. This would, on one hand, be instrumental to the identification of buildings and useful spaces to save the identity image of the town in the event of a disaster, and, on the other, make the citizens aware of the hazard affecting the place they live. In fact, awareness and knowledge are the first prevention actions.

The methodology is based on an accurate study of risk mitigation actions and instrument currently used, focusing the attention on the role of the Minimum Urban Structure in historical centers, as a tool for seismic risk prevention and emergency management. The issue of identity can be introduced into the concept of Minimum Urban Structure, thus dividing the minimal urban structure into a functional part and into an identity part. However, the research uses the concept of minimum urban structure applied to a multi-risk approach, not only associated with seismic risk, and also focuses its attention on the identification of the minimum identity urban structure, omitting the identification of the functional one (already subject of other studies and research).

The study has been validated on Montenero Sabino, a small village in Sabini Mounts, close to Rieti.

Interventions to improve accessibility in the historical buildings of Barcelona

Cossima Cornado, Sara Vima, Estefania Martín García — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In the last decades, interventions of rehabilitation of existing residential addressing improvements in accessibility have been a very usual practice. They have been commonly fostered by public administrations with the aim to complement the already frequent public investments in public space accessibility with funds that address the improvement of living conditions within the multi-family housing stock. This type of interventions is particularly necessary in historic centers, where building typologies in which the accessibility conditions are significantly below the current standards are abundant.

This paper presents a study of different forms of intervention of accessibility improvement in historical buildings in Barcelona. This category includes buildings constructed with historical techniques in Ciutat Vella, Eixample and some municipalities of the Barcelona plane that are nowadays part to the city of Barcelona. In these buildings, it is usual to find situations of lack of accessibility: more than three stories with no elevator installation, stairs in halls and lobby entrances to the buildings, as well as insufficient landings giving access to the dwellings. Moreover, the morphology of the buildings and their structure frequently challenge the implementation of an accessibility improving intervention because common spaces and inner courtyards use to have tiny dimensions.

The present study analyses 20 cases located in the area in which an intervention of rehabilitation affecting exclusively the common spaces has been implemented. Initial deficiencies regarding universal accessibility between and within the different levels are exposed: with respect to the exterior, between floors and within each of the floors.

The solutions adopted according to the morphology of existing buildings in each case are analyzed at design and technological level. From a design perspective, this study focuses on how several situations are addressed, such as the election of the suitable placing of the new elevator, its landing in each floor and the reconfiguration of lobbies according to the relocation of services and the possibly needed suppression of stairs and other architectonic barriers within the lobby. From a technological perspective, aspects related the constructive adopted solution in relation to contact with the existing building are described, such as the solution of the elevator pit (supported on the terrain or hanging), new openings in load-bearing walls, possible partial cropping of ceramic vaults, the adopted enclosure material of the lift and the solution of its contact with the roof.

Consecutively, this paper describes the detected incompatibilities between the current regulation framework and the possibilities of implementation on site. Usually, the impossibility to meet universal accessibility standards can be explained by the geometrical limits of existing buildings or the excessive reduction of ventilation and illumination conditions that the intervention would suppose (for example, when the elevator is to be located in inner courtyards). Decisions that have been determinant for the reasonable readjustment of the adopted solution will be exposed.

Besides, it is interesting to note how the heritage protection context affects in each case the architectonic definition of implemented projects regarding their constructive solutions, the selection of finishes and the preservation and restoration of elements.

Finally, this paper to provide both a general and precise vision in depth of the usual casuistic within interventions that address the improvement of accessibility conditions in historic buildings of the city of Barcelona, as well as other cities in which, similarly, historical centers and old residential buildings need to be actualized.

Approach to the impact of public spaces in historic centers from a transport, quality of life and social welfare perspective. Comparison Guadalajara-Medellín

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The excessive dispersion of the cities of the last century has caused the abandonment and deterioration of the historic centers, a polycentric and fragmented city, hence the interest of the conservation of the historical heritage through urban strategies that seek rehabilitate built heritage and infrastructure, as well as recovering the traditions and social memory of cities. Factors that, therefore, tend to improve elements of a social, economic, political and administrative nature in these centers. Therefore, from the comparison of two historic centers in Latin American cities, a reading was made of the impact of mass transit and pedestrianization initiatives in urban centers, this document aims to synthesize some experiences and conclusions that were drawn, mainly from the quality of life and social well-being approach, from the Lawton concept (2001), which defines it as the "multidimensional assessment, according to intrapersonal criteria and socio-regulatory, personal and environmental system of an individual." The above was raised through a FODA/DAFO analysis through a bibliographic exploration of existing plans in relation to observation field work and social perceptions. Finally, results were reached which, although somewhat favorable disagrees at one point, so in addition to the strategies already proposed by urban development managers, some reflections were concluded that encouraged the already existing.

Cultural Heritage and the Digital Age

M Concepción Rodríguez Pérez — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

While it is true that historical centers have undergone a great transformation since the 1960s, it is no less true that there is still a distance between the cultural heritage of cities and the population. The area surrounding the heritage seems to be wrapped in an "intellectual" halo completely away from the citizen that is often not able to feel part of its wealth. On the other hand, nowadays, the relationship between us and the historical centers is affecting them badly due to the waves of tourists that accelerate the phenomenon of gentrification and pious the inhabitants thereof to other areas of the city. How can we reverse all this, bring heritage closer to citizens and raise awareness about the importance of caring for our historic centers?

For the preparation of this study, bibliography related to concepts such as cultural heritage, dissemination, technological advances, anthropology and architecture has been consulted. Another tool used for the development of this article has been the internet, online specialized magazines, related articles and university papers that share study themes.

The data used are the results of the studies found in the methodology section.

The advances linked to the different industrial revolutions that have been taking place since the SXIX have led to a change that goes far beyond the production systems or the materiality itself. Nowadays, in fields such as art or architecture, the interaction of the work with the individual is increasingly explored. In architecture, practices such as cohausing, cooperatives or inclusive urban planning that uses citizen platforms such as Consul to generate a rapprochement between citizens and architecture are being multiplied. The digital revolution, the rise of open source or technological advances are some of the key concepts to understand this phenomenon. But how is all this affecting heritage? On the other hand, as French critic and historian Françoise Choay expresses perfectly in her Allegory of Heritage, the change produced in the middle of the last century that completely transformed the concept of cultural heritage is closely related to the way we understand the spaces. Continuing with this reasoning, it is worth asking how the term space has changed and what does it refer to right now, does the definition given in the 1960s still apply? Do we continue to conceive of the spaces as we did before? The emergence and rapid development of augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality is giving a total change to the way we live and understand spaces. Apparently innocent games like Pokémon Go or applications like Geocaching are making us relate to cities and architecture in a whole new way, opening the way to countless possibilities and opportunities.

New technologies have greatly affected the way we understand architecture today. As users, we feel much closer to the transformations that occur in our cities, we have totally changed the way we relate to spaces and there are new non-physical connections that link us with other users and allow us to have a voice on the changes and on the final decisions. Within the field of architecture these transformations occur more slowly in heritage, although there are very interesting initiatives that are striving to bring technologies to historic centers. We have analyzed them based on three characteristics that we believe are fundamental to arrive at an optimal solution to the problem we are facing. These are: the possibility of generating an experience that links the user with Heritage, their ability to generate a community and how are the relationships between members and, finally, the ability to adapt its content to the general public.

Betting on the dissemination of heritage using a closer language, the use of new and current techniques based on both new methodologies (such as m-learning), digital tools and promoting citizen participation are key actions to face the problems characteristic of our historical centers. The citizens are the one who has the key to save our city centers, we need to democratize the heritage. Only by feeling part of something will we be able to fully engage in their care and preservation.

Violation of the right of the woman to housing in Spain (2008-2018)

Jordi Bosch Meda — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The objective of this article is to analyse the physical and economic dimension of housing exclusion among women in Spain during the 2008-2018 period. This research is based primarily on two statistical sources: The Survey on Living Conditions (ECV) carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) and the 2018 Survey on Integration and Social Needs of the FOESSA Foundation (EINSFOESSA). The results have been complemented with data from secondary sources obtained through a non-exhaustive literature review. The main contribution of this work lies in the fact that it offers a complete and up-to-date vision of the feminization of housing exclusion in Spain, an issue that has been scarcely examined. The results show conclusively that the housing bubble bust and the subsequent financial crisis caused a severe housing crisis that affected women more intensely. The economic dimension of this feminization of housing exclusion is particularly visible in the evolution of the relationship between household income and residential costs. During the 2008-2018 period, the housing cost burden and, in general, the housing cost overburden rate of women were higher than that of men. Therefore, these households have a greater propensity to develop strategies aimed at reducing the housing costs, such as the subletting of rooms, low consumption of electricity, water or heating, or greater residential mobility in search of more affordable dwellings. In this regard, it is worth highlighting the higher levels of housing vulnerability of single-parent households and single-person female households in the rented sector. The worse position of women in housing markets is also reflected in their physical housing conditions and its urban surroundings. Woman-headed households have a higher likelihood of living in non-barrier-free dwellings, in insanitary conditions, lacking of natural light, and with renewal needs. In addition, their dwelling is more likely to be located in urban areas with higher levels of pollution, noise, vandalism and crime. Given this reality, it is appropriate to ponder the effectiveness of all political and legal documents that call on governments to guarantee the right of women to decent and adequate housing at the national and international level. How can it be explained that the right of women to housing in Spain has reached such levels of violation despite the extensive relationship of international treaties and conventions that protect it and are applicable? There are not undoubtedly enough measures to correct the feminization of housing exclusion in Spain. Moreover, the cuts in public spending that took place in Spain after the crisis have undermined gender equality and housing policies, and by extension, widen the gender gap in housing exclusion. In this context, it is obvious that it is necessary to overcome the theoretical and declarative level of recognition of the right to housing and equality between men and women and to ensure that these policies are appropriately budgeted, implemented, and monitored.

The Measurement of Walkability in Villa-Type Neighborhoods: Using HPE’s Walkability Index. Case of Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

Rahif Maddah — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

One of the main elements that make open spaces livable, friendly, and healthy is walkability. Walkability has attracted much attention from urban designers and architects in recent decades. Cities that did not take into consideration the walkability key principals during the planning process are now facing several urban issues such as the lack of safety, friendliness, and a sense of freedom for the public. Therefore, applying walkability in urban design has now become more crucial than ever before. Saudi Arabia, being an Islamic state, requires mosques in the neighborhood to be at the center of the residential blocks within the walkable distance that can be used five times a day for the prayers. Since the demolition of the city walls of old Jeddah, Jeddah City has become the second-largest city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and as a gate to the holy city of Makkah. With the rapid expansion, several issues related to pedestrianization have risen, such as the increase in the ratio of fatal car accidents along with some cases of residential violations. This has led the municipality to set up a strategy to determine the priority of amenities, infrastructure development, and advancement of the built environment of planned neighborhoods (Jeddah Magazine, 1st April 2016). Thus, responding to the needs for the development of planned neighborhoods, and the built environment, this study aims to 1) Make arrangements for the development of planned neighborhoods in Jeddah, 2) Clarify to what extent Al-Andalus district and Al-Naeem District villa-type neighborhoods are walkable in Jeddah City using Hall Planning & Engineering’s Inc. (HPE) Walkability Index, and 3) Identify the existing issues in villa-type neighborhoods and come up with a method so that such issues can be avoided in the prospective neighborhood planning.

The methodology of this study is 1) Survey villa-type neighborhoods combined with the chronological growth of Jeddah City. This survey was carried out by using data such as city land use map from the Jeddah Municipality, occupancy of each neighborhood from the General Authority for Statics, and other related studies. After achieving this, the author then sorted them into different categories (establishment date of each district). The districts selected for this research area) Al-Andalus District. as an old district. which was established in 1979, b) Al-Naeem District. as a new district. which was established in 2007. These sites were selected to represent the old villa-type neighborhood and a new villa-type neighborhood to be tested in this study. 2) Apply the measurement tool of HPE’s Walkability Index to these two districts. A pilot survey for 25 days during April 2019 was also carried out. The measurement consists of evaluating all factors of HPE’s walkability Index, such as vehicle's flow speed during non-peak hours (measured with a speed gun, using Pocket Radar Personal Speed Radar with an accuracy of +/- 1 MPH (+/- 2 KPH) ISIN: B003IM6YAM), width of pavement at each pedestrian crossing, availability of parking on-street, width of sidewalk, pedestrian connectivity, availability of different facilities and features for pedestrian features, street enclosure, use of available land, design of façade, and finally the availability of transit and/or bicycle features. 3) Analyze the results of the survey to identify the current issue of the built environment for each category. This study concluded that there is a remarkable correlation between the total score of HPE’s and the establishment date of each neighborhood and in each category of the neighborhoods. Based on the results, the walkability level in Al-Naeem District. is moderately walkable whereas in the Al-Andalus District. it has basic walkability. The results also show that the municipality must revise and develop the existing regulation and standards of the neighborhood development to enhance the principle of walkability by studying the factor of vehicle's flow speed, width of pavement, availability of parking on-street, width of sidewalk, pedestrian connectivity, presence and quality of pedestrian features, and enclosure of the street.

Urban Entrepreneurship in Face of Social Housing Policy: An Analysis of the Brazilian Housing Program "Minha Casa Minha Vida" in Rio de Janeiro State

Angela Moulin Simões Penalva Santos, Pedro Vasques — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Despite the centrality of housing in urban policies, Brazil would have had only a housing policy as of 1964. Nevertheless, public resources use for this matter only started occurring in 2009 through the Minha Casa Minha Vida program (MCMVP). Its focus was the subsidized construction of new housing using public resources or via less expensive financing rules. At that moment, the federal government's strategy implied a convergence of the social demands with the alternative of facing the 2008 crisis by adopting countercyclical measures, with civil construction playing a prominent role in this dynamic. In order to understand the size of MCMVP, by October 2018, about $115 billion dollars had already been invested in the program, with Rio de Janeiro being the sixth State that received the most resources. In the course of its implementation, the discourse used was that the social housing provision would be justified as a viable alternative that supposedly would dialogue with the various dimensions associated with the right to housing. However, despite the promises of the federal government, MCMVP contributed to the cities’ horizontal growth, as a rule, towards urban centers’ peripheries and poorer areas, a dynamic that has been widely observed in the country since the beginning of the urbanization process intensification. Considering this scenario, the present work aims to analyze the program’s implementation, giving special attention to the State of Rio de Janeiro and its capital, based on data requested to federal government at the end of 2018. Such data include the number of housing units contracted, as well as the amounts involved, and consider both the time variable (per year), as the economic (by income range served by the projects) and territorial (for states, cities, state capitals and planning area of the capital of Rio de Janeiro). In the analytical model developed, in addition to the total amounts invested in the country, only data referring to the 10 most representative states (in number of contracted units and resources spent) were analyzed. With regard to Brazilian municipalities, only the states’ capitals and those above 100 thousand inhabitants were selected - where there is greater demand for housing. These, in turn, were categorized considering whether or not they belonged to a particular metropolitan area. Finally, the analysis of the State capital of Rio de Janeiro was made based on the planning areas defined by the municipal executive. The observation of the MCMVP from this data set has two main objectives. First, to explicit the limits of the social dimension of public housing policy based on its verified results, especially in regard to the promotion of the right to the city. Secondly, to illustrate to what extent the program has helped to intensify the horizontal growth of the capital towards its peripheral and poor regions. Regarding the first, the study indicated that, in the case of Rio de Janeiro, MCMVP was mainly used in response to the removals made under the discourse of the city's preparation for sports mega events (e.g., Olympics and FIFA World Cup), limiting its incidence under pre-existing demand for social housing. On the second, the location of social housing in the west and north of the capital reiterates the assertions that the program would have stimulated the growth of the capital's poor peripheries. However, it was possible to observe some efforts of the municipal executive to limit the incidence of MCMVP, authorizing new housing projects only in regions with some urban infrastructure. The results reaffirm the strength of entrepreneurship against a narrative of social urbanism, i.e. a trap of urban planning which has not yet been possible to pull away in Brazil.

Construction of a tool for urban planning of daily life: the case of Barcelona

Ana Paricio, Pep Vivas i Elias — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

All human beings are part of groups and communities and, therefore, we are interdependent. That is why, at some point in our vital processes, we need help from other people: in childhood, in illness, in old age and, very often, in everyday life. People are also eco-dependent: we need air to breathe and the ecosystems to survive. The capitalist model has historically omitted these two dependencies, causing inequalities and imbalances.

Traditionally, in our urban and social culture, productivity and market economy have been related to the public sphere, while domestic and care activities, traditionally assigned to women, have been devalued, made invisible and relegated to the private sphere. The gender perspective aims to make visible and problematize these inequalities and provide a new perspective when designing and building cities.

Urbanism from a gender perspective puts the focus on life processes of the different groups, and seeks to allow and support everyday needs and, at the same time, be respectful with ecosystems.

Life support activities such as: buying food, visiting a medical center, caring for children or sick people, playing, socializing or participating in the community ... have a spatial and temporal translation.

With the purpose of making these activities visible we have designed a tool “Manual of everyday life urban planning”.

This tool has been built after extensive research, in the city of Barcelona, thanks to different projects carried out, the Map of everyday life (Barcelona Regional, 2018), Map of Jane Jacob’s walks (Barcelona Regional 2018), Gender differences in the use and discourse of public space (IGOP, 2009) and various collaborations in the academic field.

In those projects we have used a set of techniques for the qualitative analysis of the city: documentary research, social cartography, go along methods, workshops, open surveys and participant observation. Those methodologies and techniques have allowed us to: a) an in-depth approach to the different urban realities analyzed; b) the possibility of generating theoretical knowledge on care in the daily life of cities and c) the production of relevant information for the construction of the tool, the main objective of our work. This research has followed a process based on grounded theory. Unlike deductive methods that begin with a general theory and use hypotheses for experimental tests, the grounded theory is an inductive method that begins the research by direct observation and then forms patterns, relationships, or general categories and concepts.

The tool presents a series of templates that evaluate the spaces according to quality criteria, with respect to six elements of the physical and social space, including facade, floor, urban elements, environment, people and social uses. We try to reevaluate and make visible the care activities in urban public spaces and place people's lives at the center of the urban agenda. Thus, the objective of the inclusive city tool is to collect data from people and their environment through observation in an effort to analyze and diagnose what factors facilitate care activities in the public space. The data collected will help planners in Barcelona, and other cities with a similar urban net (compact and diverse), to anticipate the challenges and opportunities of spaces from a gender perspective and, therefore, to design more inclusive spaces.

The right to the city as a new emerging human right

Maria Francisca Zaragoza Martí — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Currently, more than fifty percent of the world's population lives in the cities, configured as a meeting place for a modern, innovative and committed multiculturalism with its environment, which does not accept continuing urban planning and excessive growth developed during the last decades The current social movements that claim for a right to the city as an emerging human right, based on the value of solidarity and the participation of all, arise in the need to share a public space in which the citizen and the person can meet and commonly build a city that promotes and protects the fundamental rights necessary for the development of an adequate life. Unfortunately, emerging human rights, whether new claims or old claims, do not find accommodation within the classic generations of human rights, thus being outside a binding jurisdictional system at international level that demands obligations for States, but in view of the need for imminent regulation after the degradation to which they are subjected today. The bourgeois policy of the world elite has perverted the system of rights, designed by and for all, eliminating access to citizen resources and institutions through which the city commonly forms. In response to this and through a strictly legal methodology, this study aims to determine the legal nature of the right to the city, for which the dialectic between the generations of rights and the new emerging rights will be addressed, analysing the city and its law as a basic and fundamental right, especially through the theory of connectivity. In view of the results, there is only a soft law recognition of the claimed right to the city, since it is not included in normative texts with binding legal force, as were the rights of first and second generation, in the International Covenants of 1966. However, through the connectivity of rights it is possible to ensure that the right to the city has the same defining characteristics as the rights of the first and second generation, so it can and should be recognized as a basic and transversal human right, where many other fundamental rights are developed and implemented. Despite this, its implementation cannot be achieved without paying attention to existing inequalities and without collective participation of all affected entities. Therefore, it is necessary to continue advancing through the implementation of new, more participatory, integrative, innovative and effective approaches, from the glocal perspective (local and global) that allows the city to be configured as an indispensable space for the vital development of human beings and rights. that characterize him as a person, on the principles of equity, social justice, democracy and sustainability, being able to find reflection in current legal regulations.

The right to the city from a gender perspective in the El Gallito neighborhood (Guatemala)

Glòria Maria Caravantes López de Lerma — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The cities of the world concentrate economic and social powers and, by their own idiosyncrasy, offer the necessary tools to face the new development challenges. However, as recently stated by the United Nations (2018), the increase in vulnerability and social exclusion has directly led to a notable growth in inequalities between regions and cities. In addition, in recent decades’ urban spaces have emerged strongly in which social imbalances, lack of community resources, deterioration and degradation of the environment, have been accentuated within cities giving rise to so-called vulnerable neighborhoods. The recognition of such situations by the United Nations has materialized in the Sustainable Development Goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities in order to "make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable." The increasingly evident emergence of this type of environment necessarily recovers the theoretical conception of the right to the city since: “it cannot be conceived as a simple right of visit or return to traditional cities. It can only be formulated as the right to urban life, transformed, renewed” (Lefebvre, 1969, p. 138).

Therefore, the study presented is focused on the city of Guatemala whose selection has been based on accessibility to direct contacts with professionals working in the city and that, thanks to the people contacted, it has been possible to establish more contacts with citizenship resident in the El Gallito neighborhood, located in the capital city. In the last Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (2016), the intervention of the Delegation of Guatemala declared itself to be the least urbanized country in the most urbanized region in the world and highlighted the opportunity to redefine the country's development model, framing in this context the Urban Agenda GT of national character. In this way, the need for urban planning is highlighted in order to reduce inequality gaps and avoid the extension of urban areas with people in high-risk areas, among others. However, it should be noted that Guatemala is one of the fourteen countries with the highest rates of violence in the world, aggravated by the presence of criminal groups. The presence of maras and flags in different areas of Guatemala and different countries of Latin America, are part of the day-to-day life of citizens residing in these environments. Thus, the object corresponds to "determine the different types of sociability existing in the neighborhood of El Gallito (Guatemala) from the community perspective." To achieve this goal, a total of ten auditions (individual and group) have been made in order to discern what urban life is like in El Gallito by different profiles: technicians, religious and citizens, and in particular, what role they play Women in the urban work of El Gallito. For the analysis of the different auditions, the Maxqda2018 computer program has been used to codify and categorize the speeches of the auditioned people according to the objective and indicators of this communication. Regarding the results, it should be noted that they have been obtained within the framework of an investigation carried out at the international level in order to analyze the phenomenon of vulnerability and social exclusion in Guatemala and in Spain from the selection of two neighborhoods vulnerable. In this case, the main results include the violence (citizen and institutional) to which its residents are subjected, with special mention to adolescents and women of El Gallito. In addition, the development of the capacity of territorial resilience as a means of coexistence in the face of the climate of violence of criminal groups and organized gangs, is one of the key issues that has been indirectly mentioned throughout the speeches. In addition to the stigmatization climate and population rejection of people living in El Gallito, they result in the identification of this neighborhood as a vulnerable space in the capital city.

Finally, among the most outstanding conclusions of the study it is worth pointing out, on the one hand, the paralysis of the administration due to the chronicity of the situation, and, on the other hand, the existence of explicit and implicit phenomena to the community, as is the case with the strong stigmatization social towards the neighborhood and its residents, as well as the naturalization (institutional and citizen) of the control exercised by groups and bands organized over the geographical boundaries of El Gallito.

The recovery of urban capital gains and the materialization of socio-spatial justice in Bogotá (Colombia) and Sao Paulo (Brazil)

Oscar Pérez-Moreno — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The present paper brings an analysis between land value capture and the materialization of socio-spatial justice in Bogotá (Colombia) and in São Paulo (Brazil), by the exploration of two relevant cases: Equitable Distribution of Charges and Benefits (Distribución Equitativa de Cargas y Beneficios – DECB –in Spanish) in Bogotá, and the Consortiated Urban Operation Água Espraiada (Operação Urbana Consorciada Água Espraiada – OUCAE –, in portuguese) in São Paulo. The key research question seeks to answer if in the DECB in Bogotá and in the OUCAE in São Paulo advances were made in the materialization of social and spatial justice, based on the progress that has been made in decreasing five specific problems related to particular features of urbanization and development in Latin America: 1. The reduction of private appropriation of land value resulting from public action; 2. The consolidation of concepts as onerous granting of the right to build, and equitable distribution of burdens and benefits; 3. The shift of the uneven and often inequitable patterns of distribution of urban infrastructure; 4. The minimization of negative effects of socio-spatial segregation; and 5. The decrease of informality in access to urban land. For the purpose presented above, it was assumed at first that progress was made in the materialization of socio-spatial justice forms in Bogotá and in São Paulo, mainly, because during its implementation, Land value capture was considered as a process that involves actions before and after recovery and in which the distributive principle and the redistributive goal prevails in both case studies. The methodology used a comparative analysis within three levels of analysis: First, at the general level, were examined concepts, laws and instruments related to the subject of research in Colombia and Brazil; second, at the specific level, the impact of land value capture instruments studied in the materialization of socio-spatial justice in Bogotá and São Paulo was analyzed in three moments: a) the action prior to recovery, b) the action of recovery, and c) the post-recovery action. Finally, at the synthesis level, a comparison of the results in the materialization of socio-spatial justice is made. As a result, it was possible to observe that, the hypothesis proposed was partially confirmed; as, in the first action, prior the recovery of land value capture, it was observed that it is characterized by the unequal distribution of urban infrastructure and the differential value of land, which leads to the need to define mechanisms that seek the reduction of inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth in society. In the second action, the recovery of the land value capture, progress was made in the fight against private appropriation of land value and in the consolidation of the distributive principle. Finally, it was found that a practical contribution resulting from the post-recovery action of land value capture, it is related to the idea that the resources obtained must be primarily allocated to serve the population with lower incomes, either in the same areas where the projects were carried out, as well, in the other areas of the municipality that are not benefited by general budgets of Latin American cities.

The Right to the City from residential exclusion: The evolution of vulnerable neighborhoods in the Valencian Community

Glòria Maria Caravantes López de Lerma — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The right to the city was a concept used for the first time by Lefebvre (1968) understood as that right of citizenship to constitute cities that respond to human needs. In this way, the needs of a city are nothing more than the express manifestation of the collective needs of its residents reflected in the urban and community space (Caravantes, 2018). The specific needs of the people who are an active and integral part of the cities can be added to the collective needs. The concentration of such needs, as well as phenomena linked to the residential environment, lead to the “accumulation of disadvantaged classes in cities” (Subirats, 2016, p. 43). On the other hand, Alguacil et al. (2014, p. 77) report that this accumulation refers to urban vulnerability, understood as “that potentiality of the population of a specific urban space being affected by some adverse circumstance (s). The social inequality and fragility that is generated in the structuring of certain territories and the location of social groups in them (Subirats, 2005), is explained through two different processes: the first one manifested through the socio-social profile. demographic and socio-economic community, where minority ethnic groups converge. Secondly, due to the structural characteristics of the neighborhoods, including the availability of resources and / or services and access to them. In this last point, the distancing of community resources determines the level of well-being available to the population and their deficiencies, they will mark their most sensitive points for the community. Based on this, there are different instruments at state and regional level that allow geographically identifying the location of vulnerable environments in cities. From the Atlas of Urban Vulnerability of the Ministry of Development, through autonomous studies such as the Social Risk Map of Zaragoza (MRSZ), the identification of areas of residential vulnerability in Barcelona, to the Viewer of Sensitive Urban Spaces (VEUS) of the Community Valenciana developed by the Department of Housing, Public Works and Urban Planning. In the latter case, VEUS measures urban vulnerability based on census sections, based on residential, socioeconomic and socio-demographic variables. From this, three types of urban vulnerability are identified concerning: integral vulnerability, poly-vulnerability and residual vulnerability. With this, the purpose of this communication corresponds to analyzing the evolution of the vulnerable neighborhoods of the CV since 1991 - 2016. However, the sources that allow to carry out a panel study based on that period, are identified with the Atlas of Urban Vulnerability and the Map on Housing and Roma Community in Spain. In addition to this, the territorial identification by types of vulnerability developed by the VEUS, also allows mapping each of the provinces by census section and identifying the territorial nuclei with the highest rates of residential, socioeconomic and socio-demographic vulnerability. According to the results obtained through the Ministry, the CV has experienced an increase in vulnerable neighborhoods similar to what happened in Spain. In 1991, a total of 24 vulnerable neighborhoods were defined in 9 cities, while in 2001 38 were identified in 12 cities. The dynamics of population concentration respond to “a series of inertia that are part of the system in which we live, which are present both in the policies that lead to poverty and, sometimes, in the forces that try to combat them” (Varea et al., 2016, p. 100). According to the latest FOESSA report (2019), migrant and Roma people are among those profiles with the highest risk of social exclusion, doubling the rate of social exclusion of the CV with respect to the rest of Autonomous Communities. If we look at the data of the Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Valencia is the Valencian province where the highest index of neighborhoods or settlements with Roma population has (5,534), followed by Alicante with 5,515 (Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, 2016). In this way, the results provide both quantitative data that show the emergence, increasingly noticeable of vulnerable neighborhoods, and maps of the urban vulnerability of the Valencian Community where these types of environments are reflected based on the three provinces. Likewise, VEUS (2018) identified a total of 830 census sections with a representation of Sensitive Urban Spaces (EUS) of 24%, being in Alicante 37.47% (458), Valencia with 17.92% (324) and Castellón with 10.48% (48). In this sense, the identification of EUS encompasses a larger territorial space than the administrative delimitation offered by the Vulnerability Atlas and offering a more detailed X-ray of the CV from the local and proximity level. Among the main conclusions, it should be noted that, both in the configuration of the right to the city and in the identification of those spaces marked by vulnerability, the phenomenon of residential exclusion is an essential issue that cannot be avoided by the public authorities in the guarantee of this right. The abandonment of public policies in favor of the right to the city aggravates and chronicles the inequalities existing in this type of urban environment. Currently, the political argument continues to be scrutinized in the already consolidated economic crisis and encountering significant resistance to developing a territorial governance of a local nature that allows to tackle the processes of inequality.

Dose the University Built Environment Matter for Students' Quality of Academic Life: A Case Study of Female Students in a Saudi University

Eradah Omar Hamad — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years there has been increased concern over the quality of life (QOL) of individuals in many countries and cultures globally, including the Arab countries, specifically, Saudi Arabia (SA). SA has recently begun to improve the QOL of its population. One of the programs in the country’s 2030 vision focuses on this concept is called Quality of Life 2020. Youth represent the largest proportion of the population in SA. The age group of between15 and 64 years old, for example, represents about 65.4% of the total population in SA. Furthermore, Saudi Arabian women are an important part of the sustainable development of the country, and their empowerment is vital in SA’s 2030 vision. The quality of academic life (QOAL) is one dimension of an individual's general QOL, and it is specialized for academic institutions and can be an indicator of students' future professional life. University education is one of the educational stages that may affect the students' perception of themselves and their ability to feel independent and satisfied in meeting their needs; this means education impacts the quality of their lives, such as their willingness to join a job or have a family. Their satisfaction with achieving their personal and objective goals may affect their motivation for achievement and the quality of their academic performance. While many studies have investigated the concept of QOL in Western populations, including the QOAL of students in educational settings, this area of research is still in its infancy in SA. More specifically, the research on the QOAL in SA needs more attention from academics and researchers specializing in various fields. Many Western studies, for example, have examined the influence of the built environment on the QOAL and the overall perception of students' university experiences. However, none have been conducted on Saudi Arabian student populations. Thus, this study has two main objectives. The primary objective is to measure the level of the QOAL in a sample of Saudi Arabian female students. The secondary objective of the study is to examine the personal constructs (individual meanings) of the students regarding the indoor and outdoor design aspects of the university’s built environment and how it, positively or negatively, affects their QOAL. The population of this study is female undergraduate students in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in SA. A total of 129 third- and fourth-year psychology students participated in the study. The study employs a mixed methods design and includes both qualitative and quantitative data within the theoretical framework of Personal Construct Psychology. The quantitative data were collected through the use of a short demographic questionnaire and the Arabic version of the QOAL. This 50-item scale consisted of four dimensions: 1) academic self-management, 2) academic self-efficacy, 3) academic affiliation, and 4) academic communication. The qualitative data, on the other hand, were obtained using rebuilt (adapted) form of the Repertory Grid Technique, which was used as an alternative instrument to the traditional questionnaire for evaluating the criteria of the built environment of the female section of KAU university from the students’ point of view. While quantitative data were analyzed using R software for descriptive and reliability and factor analyses, the analysis of qualitative data was conducted using thematic analysis. The study’s results revealed that the themes surrounding the university-built environment (e.g., the incoherent muddle of buildings, lighting, temperature, and colours of classrooms, and streets and paths) have a slightly moderate negative impact on the students' QOAL. The study suggests that the female students deserve attention on aspects of their QOAL, especially in improving the sufficient and adequate aesthetic, physical, and functional qualities of the indoor built environment. Findings of this study can be used to design an environment to support successful undergraduate student learning outcomes.

Citizen participation strategies and new technologies. Current approach to urban centers and urban innovation centers

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

In recent years the need to implement a new participatory democracy in urban affairs has been ratified, where citizens manage, inform, reflect and propose solutions to the current and future problems of cities. Urban Centers or urban innovation centers are emerging as tools for the construction of collaborative urban policies by strengthening the active role of citizens with common interests, with a local and global vision. The main objective to develop in the paper is the conceptualization and approach around the urban center and its current state, taking as a reference the case of Bologna, Barcelona and Boston, in addition to establishing the current relationship between the face-to-face and the digital in the citizen participation.

Documentary information on the UC has been collected emphasizing their role in the active and direct participation of citizens, which allows us to understand the phenomenon and its variants and the possibilities that may result from its application in the areas of participation Citizen In addition to this, to be able to deepen more in the implementation of this participation, a methodology is proposed that allows determining the necessary strategies for this, with the support of the groups involved in this process and the use of the new platforms and digital media. This methodology is divided into three phases, ranging from the current diagnosis, to the collective generation of proposals; these data will be obtained and processed with survey and participation platforms, as well as face-to-face work tables.

When analyzing the results, we can notice the little dissemination that this type of citizen participation mechanism has had, reaching its greater dissemination and implementation in Italy, the UC of Bologna being the reference point. An interesting case is that of Boston, which is in the transition from a center to a network of centers, allowing the exchange of experiences, raising common problems and solutions and meeting the specific and general needs of the city and its citizens. In the case of Barcelona, a UC is being implemented where urban innovation is promoted in the social, urban, economic and technological fields. These good practices, although they need to be expanded and renewed, can serve as a platform for the creation of a territorially decentralized network of citizen participation and urban collective practices benchmarks. From this, it is important to follow three lines: transform existing ones, including citizens not only as spectators, but as active agents in the shaping of the city, through workshops, seminars, debates, digital platforms, documentation, exhibition centers and work tables, hand in hand with new technologies for the user-citizen; create a wider network of UC, interconnected with each other, to exchange experiences and good practices, and create tools or rely on existing ones, for a real-time, more transparent and accessible participation. This means greater coverage and information on the current participation processes.

Right to the city, urban extractivism, violence and resistance. The Olympic Village and Villa 20 in Commune 8 of Buenos Aires

Anabella Roitman — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The concept of extractivism has a direct relationship with the Latin American productive development model. Mega-mining, agribusiness and oil exploitation through fraking are some relevant examples of this phenomenon, which has an urban correlate linked to the real estate business around land and housing. Taking this situation into account, we notice that the city of Buenos Aires of Argentina, capital of the country, currently has about 3 million inhabitants, of which 300,000 live in overcrowded conditions, and about 200,000 live in the city's slums. In this context, the Right to the City, understood as the possibility of accessing housing, decent work, health and education, is a structurally violated concept for an important sector of the population.

At the same time, the local government currently develops two urban projects that aim at large-scale housing construction. Both are located in the southern part of the city, called Commune 8. This commune, historically delayed and with high deficits in housing, is the scene of two developments: a) the construction of the Olympic Villa - 1000 homes for middle classes built in a "vacant" sector, on the occasion of the realization of the Youth Olympic Games in October 2018- ; b) the redevelopment of the Villa 20, which is a self-managed neighborhood with high rates of urban precariousness and building, in which about 30,000 people currently live and1600 new homes are being built.

Both projects have verifiable dynamics and display synergies with each other, which have become actions of social groups that seek to resist the violence that has arisen around the difficulty in accessing housing in a decent neighborhood.

The objective of this research focuses on the critical and comparative analysis of the basic conditions, the reflections regarding the pre-existing ones in each property and in the immediate environment, the strategies and criteria deployed in both urban projects; at the same time as the results obtained in terms of solutions to the problems of the habitat, to the spatial and urban qualities proposed and achieved, and to the management models selected in each case study.

These variables were studied in relation to the violence deployed around these phenomena, such as the consideration of housing as a good of exchange and not as a good of use, the limited scope and divergent approaches of public management regarding the concept of the city and the intervention in the urban plot, and the respective popular resistances, from the urbanism, and the spaces of the urban management and the civil society.

For this investigation, were considered as work input both news published in official media of the City Government as specialized newspaper articles, interviews with key informants, material resulting from the architectural competitions carried out within the framework of the definition of both cases, and urban planning regulations approved during the course of its realization.

As a preliminary result of this work, the dynamic and non-monolithic character of the state apparatus is verified, in which certain public policies that differ widely from the notion of the city they support are deployed in parallel, and which is verified in the analysis of public works built, its impacts at the social and urban level, and the proposed management models.

Critical and Gender Urban Planning. Case Study in Coia, Vigo

Ruth Pérez Costas, Iván Julio Ramos Martínez — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Gender urban planning proposes daily life alternatives to achieve real equality between people within the framework of urban development. This work applies these theories in a specific spatial field, criticizing the public policies in urban matters started to date.

Structure, Urban Image, Transport and Mobility through the years in Guayaquil

Yelitza Naranjo, Blanca Arellano Ramos, Josep Roca Cladera — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The entire process of urban renewal generates an impact on a social, physical, economic, environmental level and depending on the particularities of the context, defining the most specific strategies to develop a project, especially those that are directly linked to transport in cities (Naranjo, Y. & Arellano, B., 2018).

Guayaquil and its urban transport have been linked to the growth of the city due to the increase in its population and its economy to the fines of the 19th century. The city and its center were sometimes in a process of commercial densification from the 1960s. Previously, its relationship with the Guayas River, a fundamental reason for its creation and existence, which ceased to be vital due to the decrease in economic activities that take place on the banks of the river. All these events associated with a growing migration of the population to the new residential neighborhoods developed in the periphery, and laid the groundwork for a decrease in the city center, largely limited to banking and public commercial activities.

In 2006, the Municipality of Guayaquil, implemented the integral Urban Mass Transportation System "Metrovía" and the city began to be subject to new physical transformations, in this case with the implementation of the new mass public transport system, which corresponds to a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system presented with sustainable visions, that is to say reduction of vehicular congestion, movement of greater amount of passengers and in less time than urban buses, reduction of environmental pollution and comfort in its displacement.

Its main objective is to analyze the impact and changes that have taken place in the urban structure of Guayaquil with transport, an investigation that aims to justifiably understand the parameters mentioned above, in turn the desire to know the mobility of the city as the main actor of public space, the way people are placed and moved from one place to another on foot, by bicycle or in a mass transit system.

The methodology used is qualitative - descriptive, with sources of information posed by a review of the current “Guayaquil mobility plan”, the goals and actions that have been established and to what extent they have been implemented or developed, as well as contrast with the objectives that the Government has raised in the public document of the "Plan of Good Living". The literature review plays an important role in contrasting the changes that have occurred over the years in the mobility of the population.

Cities do not die, grow and transform, as a result of the local economy, the needs of their inhabitants and the response capacity of the entities that have competences on the improvement of their quality of life. As a result of growth, the city has sought to implement a mechanism that represents greater benefits in terms of time, money and quality of service, but perhaps leaving aside the study of those peculiarities that denote a respect for the built environment (Naranjo, Y & Arellano, B., 2018).

In conclusion, in the city of Guayaquil, from the urban car company to the Metrovía mass public transport system, great changes have been obtained, however these changes have not offered, nor have they guaranteed a mobility that allows intermodality to be established or that generates spaces where the Pedestrian be the main protagonist. The mobility plan raised between its goals and actions mentioned a project with equity, integration, balance and articulation of the different modes of transport, however, until this year there have been no such improvements.

Centrality and subcentrality in cities with low regulation, the case of Antofagasta and La Serena in Chile

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This work seeks to identify labor and service sub-centers in the area, using information from the surveys of origin destination of the Chilean Ministry of Transportation, and to analyze the building activity and housing market in each of them. The identification methodology will be followed, established in Marmolejo and Aguirre (2011) regarding the density peaks and the use of worker density, its version of composite density and validating by means of an appropriate version of time density.

There is still a clear relationship between the agglomeration of uses and segregation in the city and the low regulations in the land and housing market. In Chile, there is a low regulation of the housing markets and in particular both cities have regulations at the municipal level, which, given their complexity of approval, once they were approved they are already surpassed by reality and become obsolete.

Under this premise, the cities of Antofagasta and La Serena-Coquimbo, located on the coastal plain of northern Chile, are analyzed, seeking to identify urban patterns and their impacts on the housing and land markets. Antofagasta (380 695 inhabitants, Census 2017) and La Serena-Coquimbo (412 586 inhabitants, Census 2017) are cities that receive the greatest benefits from mining and therefore during the copper super cycle, (from 2003 to 2016), both cities grew in inhabitants and buildings in an unprecedented way. In this sense, its complexity, as well as its average income, were observed on the rise. In addition, both communes are capitals of their region, they are coastal, linear and are constrained by the coastal range to the east,

It is possible to identify an incipient subcenter in Antofagasta and two agglomerations in La Serena, these being of an industrial and / or services nature, however, when analyzing a clearer analysis, but it is not possible to determine their impact on prices, nor in building activity. In both cities, agglomerations of workers are identified, but they are far from structuring the territory, or contributing to a competition of other types of travel with the center.

Agro-export activity and its relationship with the urban growth of the Ica valley – Peru

Jorge Luis Poma Garcia — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The actors of the agro-export activity in the study area are basically small farmers on one side and medium and large farmers on the other hand, the latter strongly linked to the agro-export activity. Land and water are two precious resources for the support of agro-export activity, there is currently a trend in the world for the concentration of these precious resources and in the case of the Ica Valley this trend is no exception.

The objective of the communication of this research work is to know the type of relationship that exists between the agro-export activity and the rural and urban growth of the Ica Valley.

The methodology used for this research is non-experimental and descriptive, which consists of collecting official statistical data which are analyzed in a comparative and evolutionary way, that is, over time in two contexts the national and more specifically in the study area.

The data used are the statistical data of the last three National Farmers Censuses, from which the trend on land ownership, production and export of agricultural products is analyzed; On the other hand, to analyze the evolution of the agricultural and urban extension of the Ica Valley for this, its use the Population and Housing Census is used, in addition to satellite photos taken at different time periods to produce an analysis of the studied territory and then make the correlation with the agro-export activity.

Preliminary results show that there is a direct relationship with the appearance of the new rural and urban settlements in the valley that are directly related to the predominant economic activities in the Ica Valley, causing the city to grow precariously in areas of the peripheries of the city without an orderly planning. This demonstrates the existence of a new dynamics of land ownership where the existence of the concentration of land for agro-industrial purposes by large agricultural producers at the expense of small producers is confirmed. It is also confirmed that there is a constant growth of new agricultural lands destined for the exporting agro-industrial sector, formerly eriazas lands and that at present have been won to the desert through an over exploitation of fossil aquifer resources, causing without a doubt several environmental problems in this territory.

Peru has experienced a great dynamic on the land market, as a result of the country's new economic policies. Policies aimed at the liberalization of markets and the promotion of private investment. And the current Peruvian agro-exporter Boom would consequently have its origin in changing the laws that regulate land ownership.

The predominant activities in a territory predetermine and shape the new urban settlements, their appearance without planning represents future urban risks such as precarious growth without basic services and commonly settling in high-risk areas in the face of natural phenomena that are increasingly frequent and violent in a context of climate change how in a Peruvian territory.

This research work opens the way to the study of the concentration of precious resources such as agricultural land and water. Studies that must have a sustainable development approach which takes into account the environmental, economic and social variable. In what corresponds to the environment we can infer that the concentration of land by large agricultural producers has a negative impact on the territory and its inhabitants, and this is mainly due to production methods that are not respectful of the natural environment, to overexploitation of groundwater, degradation and contamination of the soil due to the intensive use of chemicals such as pesticides.

The Medium Cities in Jalisco, an alternative for Sustainable Development, through the Metropolization process for the consolidation of the Regions

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Middle Cities in the process of consolidation as Metropolitan areas in Jalisco, generate positive expectations as an alternative of "Sustainable Development", and the decentralization of the Metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. This study will focus on two zones and/or metropolitan areas being the metropolitan areas of Ocotlán, in the Ciénega Region of the State of Jalisco, Mexico and the metropolitan area of the South of Jalisco, in the South Region of the State, in addition to the implementation of instruments such as the development and/or updating of the metropolitan program through the Territorial Planning in order to seek equity for Sustainable Urban Development that seeks impact in a more balanced way in its regions.

This research has a systemic approach, based om the recognition of the possibilities offered by the territory where the zones and/or metropolitan areas of the central municipalities are located in the consolidation process in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, and the outer municipalities which are grouped around these central municipalities forming the metropolitan areas. The average cities chosen for this case study are in the Ciénega region of the state, where the city of Ocotlán is located (central municipalities), Jalisco, Mexico, this due to its peculiarity in terms of its tourist-industrial vocation and the other in the South Region, where it is located; Ciudad Guzmán (central municipalities), Jalisco, Mexico, due to the negative impact process that is taking place in its territory through agro-industrialization, which in the beginning this city is located in an endorheic basin, with vocation for forestry, services and education.

For all the above, it is necessary to take as a starting point the highest concentration human settlement “Central Municipality declared Zones and/or Metropolitan Areas”, as a regional development hub, (in these two case studies, within a corridor of national merchandise transfer), through the impact it generates in the (regional) territory, based on the analysis of the ecological, environmental, social, economic, political and cultural aspects that are intended to be observed. Taking into account mainly the natural and anthropogenic vulnerabilities that afflict these areas and / or metropolitan areas in their territory, as well as the impact they are having on climate change and global warming on sustainability.

According to ONU-HABITAT (2016), cities are divided into four categories; the small cities that range from 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants, the intermediate cities that are considered from 500,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants and two other categories that are not useful for this study because they are of greater population being only the metropolitan area of Guadalajara which would be in that rank in the State of Jalisco. Small and intermediate cities are considered according to data from organizations such as the (Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), 2018) as the scenarios of sustainable development, that is, it is the intermediate cities that could make a paradigm shift of the urban development that seeks decentralization, in the territorial planning of the region.

In the case of our country Mexico, the intermediate cities (ONU-HABITAT range (2016), play a fundamental role, only in the case of the study of the Medium Cities in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, declared as metropolitan areas in our Mexican legislation (SEDATU 2013), they are in the range of small cities according to UN-HABITAT (2016), since none exceeds the range of 500,000 inhabitants.

Of the two middle cities included in the Delimitation of the metropolitan areas of Mexico 2015, (official Federal delimitation of CONAPO, INEGI and SEDATU); The metropolitan area of Ocotlán, consisting of the municipalities of Jamay, Ocotlán and Poncitlán, has a population of 176,158 inhabitants, (census of INEGI 2015), the decree by the Jalisco State Congress is missing. In the case of the southern metropolitan area, formed by the municipalities of Gómez Farías, Zapotiltic and Zapotlán el Grande of the state of Jalisco, it has a population of 148,893 inhabitants, (census of INEGI 2015), this metropolitan area was only decreed in the congress of the State of Jalisco, Mexico and is not included in the delimitation of the metropolitan areas of Mexico, (official Federal delimitation of CONAPO, INEGI and SEDATU).

Ground level permeability as indicator of walkability in cities

Judit López-Besora, Isabel Crespo Cabillo, Carlos Alonso Montolío — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

For centuries, urban developments were dimensioned on a human scale. Cities had a limited number of inhabitants and a size which was not convenient to overtake so as not to exceed a balance point. Over time, after important discoveries in the field of transportation, these limits blurred. Mechanical transport systems made possible the expansion of cities because private cars allowed people to move easily and at a reduced cost. Then, the prioritization of vehicle traffic in streets grew at the expense of pedestrians. Street quality decreased gradually with this change, as authors like Jane Jacobs warned in the middle of the last century.

After decades of urban sprawl, academic and political institutions call today for a totally opposite model. A shift towards compact cities, with mixed use neighborhoods and walkable streets is aimed nowadays. The study presented in this paper is focused on the last point, the promotion of streets designed for people to walk, enjoy and feel secure.

Walkability is a concept that integrates several aspects related to street design with the aim of inviting people to move on foot. One of the aspects that affect walkability is the direct relationship between pedestrians and ground floors, both regarding the appearance and permeability of façades. Permeable ground level façades provide a connection between pedestrians and the surrounding buildings, making them feel secure and comfortable in the street.

Some institutions have developed urban sustainability assessment tools which evaluate walkability of urban developments, among other parameters. Usually, a score system quantifies the degree of compliance of some metrics related to walkability. In this study, two metrics from the TOD Standard 3.0 assessment tool were applied to a case of study, both referred to ground level permeability. The objective is double: testing the system itself by getting some reference values and finding out the relation between the values in detail and their position along the street.

The assessment was carried out in two streets in Gràcia neighborhood, Barcelona: Verdi and Bruniquer-Terol-Ros de Olano. The streets are perpendicular, 5-10 meters wide and 780 and 882 meters long. Gràcia is considered a vibrant, active, compact and mixed-use neighborhood, so that it would be expected to achieve a high score in ground level permeability.

The chosen parameters are metric 1.B.1, “Visually active Frontage” and 1.B.2, “Physically Permeable Frontage”. The metrics were applied to the mentioned streets in a field study following the procedure defined in the standard. A series of pictures and a floor plan of the zone were used to this end. The result of 1.B.1 metric was a 100% of visually active frontage in both streets, which means that all segments or blocks have more than 20% of transparent length. This value corresponds to the maximum value in the score. In the case of 1.B.2 metric, the number of entrances per 100 meters of block frontage is 17 in Bruniquer-Terol-Ros de Olano and 20 in Verdi. The required value to obtain the maximum score in the TOD Standard is 5 entrances per 100 meters, so both streets are much over the score. According to both metrics, walkability would be widely reached.

The analysis of each segment showed a relationship between ground level permeability and two features: plot distribution and the age of the building. Apart from this, an important question arose when applying the procedure, the influence of time; whether it be the time of day, the time of the year, or the situation of the premises on the ground floor according to market fluctuations. Depending on them, the data acquisition on field might change the result.

The application of walkability TOD Standard metrics in the field has resulted to be an easy and useful tool to analyze ground level permeability, though subject in some way to the criteria applied in the data acquisition. The values obtained have been much higher than the maximum required in the score, so compact cities may need another range of values to provide a subtler definition of walkability because the score seems to be out of scale. The application in this field study has shown that the score is bound to the context and that a tool may consider that the nature of cities is variable.

Graphic Approach to Indicators of Urban Quality of Life and sustainability

Carlos Alonso-Montolio, Isabel Crespo, Helena Coch, Judit López — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The characteristics of the built urban environment influence the behaviour and well-being of the users. In the Mediterranean cities, with mild climate, the environmental conditions are favourable to the well-being of the pedestrian. However, they are not always homogeneous in all the streets of the same district. There are perceptible differences that cause that pedestrians take some routes, in their daily journeys that are not always the shortest ones or the most efficient. Urban analysis tools that provide reliable and measurable data of these characteristics have become a useful resource for the scientific community in this area and for forums where decision-making is focused on urban policy on a small or large scale. In this work, one of these tools, the Transit Orientated Development Standard (TOD Standard), a scoring instrument defined by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), has been taken as a basis for evaluating a total of 12 urban areas of the Cities of Rome and Barcelona. The work shows that the graphical representation of some values on a map provides very important complementary information that does not appear in the simple numerical quantification. The geographically located data representation adds contextual information to the numerical values. Conveniently adjusted in their values and scale, it allows evaluating the quality of the urban space on a small scale. When applying the criteria established for urban typologies typical of sprawl cities to cities with a compact morphology, an adjustment to that reality is required. They also suggest qualities that are not seen in the tables of values. It is revealed that map representation is the best way to understand what can make some streets busier than other streets. This work demonstrates that placing the TOD scoring data on the map completes the information and allows interpreting qualities of urban life that are essential for promoting mobility on foot. Taking into account qualitative data, in addition to quantitative data, can be decisive to ensure the success of urban projects that aim to promote pedestrian paths as a priority mobility system.

Right to mobility and resilience routes. Reuse and relaunch of secondary railways for the regeneration of fragile territories in Italy and Spain

Chiara Amato, Chiara Ravagnan, Francesca Rossi, José Maria de Ureña Frances — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The processes of metropolization of the territory foster the phenomena of spatial polarization that determines a growing state of economic and social fragility of the “inner peripheries” connected to infrastructure and environmental problems. In this context, the scientific debate and political agendas highlight the centrality of mobility, which redesign the “fast and slow areas” of the countries, the access to services and the potential for sustainable development, feeding or weakening the vital lymph of the territory, the flows of people and goods. The Right to Mobility, aimed to guarantee connections and accessibility, constitutes a fundamental part of a regeneration strategy to ensure a new urban welfare, within the framework of the resilience tracks for fragile territories.

In this context, the reflexion illustrated in this document is part of the research activity that the group of academics of the Universities La Sapienza, Roma Tre, UCLM and UPC are developing in the framework of urban and territorial regeneration issues, deepening the relationships between urban planning mobility, infrastructures and territorial regeneration and highlighting the challenges fostered by the presence of dismissed railways.

The research entitled “Resilience routes. Reuse and relaunch of minor railroads for the regeneration of fragile territories. Experiences in Italy and Spain” address the reactivation of underutilized or disused minor railway lines, through an integrated approach, moving from “landscapes of waste” to structuring axes of socio-economic and environmental rebalancing, as well as morphological reconfiguration and landscape valorization.

The proposal, based on the contextualization of the on-going dynamics in Italy and Spain, such as the marginalization of the “aree interne” and the “España vacía”, aims to identify new methodological and operational references, through the definition of guidelines for the reactivation and reuse of minor railway networks, in line with policies and programs aimed at responding to divestment processes of infrastructures.

The research adopts three consolidated perspectives within the framework of the urban debate to analyze the phenomena of “fragilization” and cases of plans and projects, in consistence with the policies and programs:

- a "structural" perspective, which identifies the regeneration of the railway network as an opportunity for the socio-economic revitalization of marginal areas, based on a reactivation of the public service towards a “right to mobility”;

- a "morphological and landscape" perspective, based on the deepening of the form as a cognitive and planning tool to interpret the identity of places and enjoyment as an indispensable element to govern the perception of the territory, which focuses on the osmotic relationship between infrastructure and landscape;

- an “ecological and environmental” perspective, which considers the regeneration of railways as an opportunity for sustainable development, which suggests the transformation into integrated green networks fostering new forms of slow mobility and collective ecological values.

In this framework, moving within an inductive and iterative research process, the document summarizes the first results of the research that underline the need for new integrated and intercalar planning categories for infrastructure networks: rapid mobility corridors, tourist railroads, green ways, new operational criteria that identify the roads as "regeneration figures" that put in synergy ordinary and extraordinary tools, multilevel public and private resources, long, medium and short term scenarios, as well as new international and multilevel forms of network and services management.

The Mending Termini Station Method: The Strategic Planning of the City

Fabrizio Felici, Alessandra Pusceddu, Arturo Becchetti — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this study is to propose an adaptable, multidisciplinary and all-inclusive method, which considers the intervention on the infrastructure system and nodes as a strategic priority, in order to ensure a level of planning that allows the concatenation of subsequent interventions.

The development of a method is finalized to the implementation of the necessary actions to complete a strategic plan aimed at a radical transformation of the city. The case-study presented deals with Termini station and the city of Rome, with the long-term objective of reversing the trend in mobility patterns and enhancing the area within the Aurelian Walls (UNESCO heritage). The current state of infrastructure systems and nodes offers possibilities, sometimes supported by a debate rooted in time, able to address the interests of various actors. Therefore, by establishing the intervention on the infrastructure as the first step, necessary to recalibrate the balance between the urban systems, it is possible to preview direct effects on the nodes and on the city that allow to further transformations. Among these, the recovery of urban land is a fundamental step of the method, achievable through the burying of part of the infrastructure or stations. The feasibility of projects of this scale is often linked to the liberalisation of the railway system, which has given ownership of the areas to public companies governed by private law, making them promoters and guarantors of the transformations, through agreements with public authorities.

On the base of the transformation of the infrastructural system, it is possible to carry out interventions on mobility, on the environmental system and of urban requalification, able to establish the main lines of development of the city. These interventions can be extended in time, in order to make urban transformation sustainable and less radical, and must work as catalysts to achieve the strategic objectives preponed. To provide a guideline for future projects, Mending Termini Station ends with the planning of a new urban polarity on the area of the ex-railway yard, a proposal that defines limits and prescriptions regarding services, functions, landscape and formal relationship with the context.

Methodological research is built through a critical re-reading of virtuous examples that, at an international level, have triggered large-scale urban regeneration processes. In the Maine-Montparnasse project in Paris, the objective was reached through the replacement of the 19th century station, the insertion of new managerial, commercial and residential functions, and a new urban park above the tracks. The positive effect of this intervention still brings a continuous investment to make Montparnasse an innovative, sustainable, technological and strongly identitary pole. The King's Cross Central project in London was born in response to a phase of serious decline in the area, using the new link to the Channel Tunnel as an important incentive for urban regeneration and an opportunity for revitalization of the entire district. Starting from the recovery of the stations, the area becomes a new hub for mixed use and the enhancement of public spaces is considered a priority to ensure an improvement in urban life and economic development. The Seven Yards of Milan project is the result of the possibility of converting disused railway areas, which are interesting for their size and strategic location. The fundamental objective is to rethink the way of conceiving the city itself, in a multicentric and integrated way, through a planning, also in terms of time, of the interventions.

The proven validity of this methodology is spontaneous if the basis of the process is a strategic planning aimed at achieving the macro-objective of building the city of tomorrow. The further development of this study fits, in part, into the strategic planning of processes that have the same basic objectives. The applications, which show interested results, are the Zuidasdok project for Amsterdam and the competition for the redevelopment of public spaces in the Charles De Gaulle airport district in Paris.

Road infrastructure and urban projects: forms of urban mobility and territorial exclusion. Case of the San Luisito neighborhood, Monterrey, Mexico

Elizabeth Rivera Borrayo, Eduardo Loredo Guzmán — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The recent history of the big cities in Latin America reflects a late addition to the global processes that need a bigger livability and modernization of the urban spaces. The development of the cities is not only about residents but complex metamorphosis of the metropolis through forms of planning.

This text is from a part of a longer research of collaborative and interdisciplinary teamwork that share some theoretical and conceptual framework. The research aims to identify and explain a part of the rapid transformation processes of the cities, mainly due to the socio-spatial implications with the planning construction of the urban projects and road infrastructure. The reflection is about the conjecture if these interventions in the urban space allow to create more social cohesion, urban permeability, and urban mobility improvement in the different social sectors in Mexican cities.

Our case study is situated in one of the most important metropolis in Mexico; it is localized in the northeast of Monterrey metropolitan area. There are more than 5 millions of inhabitants and the increase of motor vehicles went from 500 thousand in 1990 to 2 millions in 2015 (INEGI,2018). This situation has lead to the projection of different planning strategies and metropolitan development to find solutions to the urban and mobility problems.

Even though the situation and context of the Monterrey metropolitan area have been reviewed, the particular case has had some urban and social connectivity problems. « El barrio San Luisito » due to historical and traditional conditions represents an element of identity of the city. This community has been exposed to different forms of social exclusion and urban fragmentation. For this reason, it faces real-estate pressure and land use regulations from the surrounding area. Some decades before, it has been intimidated by government departments and private industry to build and impose urban projects and road infrastructure; they are classified as « strategic » to gain « development and progress ». These projects pursue are the answers to demands and kinds of speculation of the real-estate market, under the « rhetorical » promise of contribution in the development processes, interconnections, and urban mobility improvement.

The methodology of this research is focused on the theory and methods of the urban planning and architecture, as well as the reciprocity of human geography, sociology, and anthropology to establish a transverse framework that allows quantity and qualitative basis to support and understand social-space conditions. The results from the qualitative analyze will describe spatial conditions and everyday mobility, and explore the relations between the construction of these urban projects and road infrastructure, added to social resistance processes. In order to contextualize the derived stages from the prospective analyses that visualizes the planning forms for the urban mobility under the premise of improving the conditions and terms of benefits and quality of life and well-being. As well as, the spreading of paths to study the mobility since the analytical whole of the urban livability. Finally, it reaches some reflections about territorial exclusion and the struggles as a result of concatenation of organized efforts from the inhabitants themselves to defend their communal space.

Secondary Railways and Inner Areas in Italy. Planning and Economic Opportunities

Mario Cerasoli, Gianluca Mattarocci — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The 90s European policy about railway liberalization, to promoting a modern infrastructure network for railway transportation, aimed to increase competition among national players, to exploit the opportunities related to the new technology opportunities and to make easier and faster all connections between the hinterland and the main cities. Up to today, European investments are focused on the main areas and the high-speed railway because, even if the number of users is a minority with respect the overall population, the profitability of the investment is significantly higher with respect to the average of the transportation industry. This strategy has increased the difference between high growth and low growth areas with the former served by efficient transportation facilities and the latter characterized by low quality level transportation services. The lack of good transportation serviced in the hinterland increased significantly the risk of creating new ghost towns because a lot of citizens were obliged to migrate to the bigger cities due to the lack economic opportunities and public services offered to citizens in the area. In Italy population is living mainly in hinterlands served by local railway services that due to the low quality of the service offered are often underutilized and sometimes the railway company decides to stop offering the service. The main target for the future will be to develop a new policy (at European and national level) for supporting the growth of local railways starting from the change of the regulatory framework at Country and European community level. The new infrastructure, urban planning, economic, and social framework has to support the development of local railways in order to revitalize dismissed areas and low density towns and to support their role for the society and the environment. In fact, the railway service is one of the main instrument in order to avoid the exclusion of people living in small towns from job opportunities offering them a solution to commute every day at a reasonable cost and avoiding the risk of urban concentration and sprawling. Local railway services have an impact on the demand of real estate assets in the hinterland for people not interested to live in the metropolis and interested to spend more time every time in commuting in order to have the opportunity to live outside the city. Railway companies working in the passenger transportation are firms that are working in a limited competition market (oligopoly) and may take advantage of public subsidies for reaching their break even. The type of service offered to customer is significantly different with respect to high-speed trains because the demand is interested to pay only for basic services and all ancillary services cannot be sold at a reasonable price. The analysis considers all the Italian railway companies that are currently authorized to offer passenger and freight transportation services and evaluates the main difference for local railway companies operating in the passenger services with respect to all other players in the industry. Results show that firms operating in the local railway services have different economic and financial equilibria because they are less profitable but also less exposed to a risk of bankruptcy.

Urban quality, mobility, quality of life. A grammar for the rebirth of the city. A proposal for the new "industry quarter" in Sant Adrià del Besòs, Barcelona

Mario Cerasoli, Ilaria Pandolfi — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

A strict connection exists between mobility patterns and urban quality. You don’t need to be an expert to appreciate how some places are more welcoming than others and how, most of the times, those same places are the ones deprived of an object that has been affecting our lives for decades: the car.

The automobile allowed the diffusion of settlement patterns characterized by urban sprawl - clearly inspired by the United States - which, where not well regulated, became a “mandatory” instrument for transportation.

The big contemporary cities, dominated by the car, have grown following the model of “urban sprawl” in which public space has completely lost its role of “urban armor” and the criteria of urban quality have been completely set apart.

Following this growth pattern, the city appears today comprised of fragments that, integrating with the consolidated or historical fabric, produce friction.

Today the concept of “sustainability” imposes a change in the settlement patterns, abandoning the globalized culture of suburbanization in favor of urban regeneration.

Within this context, public space must once again play a fundamental role in mending the urban fragments produced during the decades of incessant growth of the city and in restoring its quality.

Furthermore, urban fragments and residual spaces, too little valued and often forgotten, represent today for the communities that inhabit them an opportunity to rescue their own feeling of belonging and community.

Citizens must therefore “reclaim” these parts of the city through the (re)construction of public space, basing on criteria that ensure the urban quality of the project:

- participation: since the inclusion of the people who will have to animate those spaces cannot be underestimated, but rather, plays a key role;

- cultural valuation: since the recovery of what were the places of memory, the foundation of the community, cannot have a marginal function;

- quality of the environment: since guaranteeing biodiversity and the requalification of the existing one in favor of a healthy and revitalized environment is one of the pillars on which the very concept of urban recovery is based.

The cities that have favored public transport, bicycles and pedestrians at the expense of private cars, are those today characterized by a superior urban quality.

Today, more than ever, mobility planning is an effective urban regeneration tool.

Therefore, it is proposed in this context to investigate the evolution that mobility planning, urban policies and government of the territory have registered in recent years, with the aim of dealing with the degradation caused by urban fragmentation, mobility models and the degradation of public space.

To achieve that, it is presented a study on the contemporary city and the elements that compose it in order to understand the role that each of them plays in planning. Always with a look at the international scientific scene, studying in detail the phenomenon object of this work, the causes that generate it and the aspects to take into account to stop or interrupt it.

As an intervention tool, inspired by a hypothesis developed by the Italian urban planner Marcello Vittorini in 1988, an “urban grammar” is proposed, expressed through a “theoretical grid” aiming to reconfigure urban mobility structures, and oriented towards the regeneration and sustainable development of the city.

Taking into account the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, where mobility plans consistent with the criteria of the theoretical grid have already been implemented, a study is presented on the municipality of S. Adrià de Besòs (in the AMB), an urban fragment consisting of a former industrial area of approximately 4 square kilometers. This study is intended to mend this urban fragment and insert it between the fabrics of the municipalities of Barcelona and Badalona, so to re-connect the consolidated city through the application of the “theoretical grid”.

Daily Mobility of University Students. Case of the Faculty of Architecture of the Central University of Ecuador

Adriana Inés Olivares González, María Isabel Orquera Jacome — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

One of the issues that are permanently and increasingly on the metropolitan and local governments of Latin America agenda is urban mobility. This is due to its implications on efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of the city (WBCSD, 2013; UN-Habitat, 2015) as well as in the quality of life of its inhabitants, especially in relation to health and leisure (Miralles, 2010).

In particular, Quito, the capital of Ecuador, has a set of variables that have hindered the management of urban mobility. This has affected all inhabitants, especially in their commute to work and school-. On this paper we will focus on the problem that university students have to commute. For this investigation the Faculty of Architecture of the Universidad Central Del Ecuador (UCE) has been taken as a case study. Central University Universidad Central Del Ecuador brings together more than 30% of students from Pichincha province, around 47,700 students.

The problem is generated because of the location of Universidad Central Del Ecuador and its Faculty of Architecture. It is located in the city’s Hipercentro, which houses the twelve universities that the Metropolitan District of Quito (DMQ) has, and where daily 159 thousand students commute to.

In addition to universities, there are businesses and urban facilities, where multitudes of citizen’s have to commute, generating 60% of public transportation and 40% of private transportation journeys (DMQ, 2014). On the other hand, in territorial terms, Quito has a linear city morphology of 42 km long and only 4 km wide (Cuenin & Silva, 2010), which extends from north to south. Therefore, Quito has a limited road network generating constant traffic and congestion problems. The DMQ public transport infrastructure consists of three axes: The Ecovía, the Trolebus, the Metrobús and soon Quito’s subway, these three transportation systems are interconnected to transport Quito’s cities’ from north to south.

In that context, the objective of this paper is to analyze that urban morphology, mobility infrastructure and the location of the UCE; affect students from different socioeconomic status of the faculty of architecture in their everyday displacement. These case study corresponds to a part of the doctoral thesis work called Lifestyles and everyday mobility in university students. Case of the School of Architecture and Urbanism in the Metropolitan District of Quito (DMQ), from one of the co-authors of this document.

The methodology starts from the analysis of the daily itineraries of 41 students of the Faculty of Architecture of the UCE, through an integrated GPS app called Wikiloc, chosen for its easy installation on cell phones and for being an application with which students are familiar with. Through an interview with Each student, the frequency of each trip and the motives which were divided by activities of university studies, sports, work, health, food, family, supplies and recreation were identify. This information was crossed with the location of the student's residence and the location’s socioeconomic level, taking into account their everyday mobility.

Among the results, it was identified that students who live in the northern and southern urban limits of the DMQ, and have less urban accessibility, are those who spend more time commuting, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Likewise, diversity of activities and the residential location of the students, affects positively the Hipercentro of the DMQ and negatively to the external neighborhoods, These aspects influence in the same sense, in the variety and frequency of their daily activities.

Therefore, we verify that the accessibility and functional diversity of the places of residence of university students are fundamental for the development of activities that promote their development. This will promote a greater frequency of health and recreational activities; as well as taking care of their eating habits. On the other hand, it emphasizes that sports activities are not related to accessibility to special urban facilities, but to other cultural factors in which it would be necessary have further studies. It was also found that if there is a gender component in the organization of students’ displacements with children, influenced by their role as resp for them and the home.

Metro M4, the New Green-Blue Backbone of Milan. From Infrastructure Design to Urban Regeneration Project

Marika Fior, Piergiorgio Vitillo, Paolo Galuzzi — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The aim of this work is to demonstrate how it is possible to transform the infrastructural project of the new Milan metro line (M4) into an occasion for the reconfiguration of public spaces and the enhancement of local identities, i.e. into an urban regeneration project.

The goal is to integrate 5 different objectives in order to:

1. bring the city centre closer to the suburbs and enhance the more peripheral neighbourhoods by using the new (highly accessible) metro stations;

2. connect two metropolitan environmental systems (Parco Agricolo Sud Milano in the South-West and Grande Parco Forlanini in the East) by identifying green and blue corridors at urban scale and promoting minimal re-greening interventions adaptable to different urban fabrics;

3. assign new urban values/meanings to the infrastructural nodes, working on the physical urban space of metro stations, making it available to new populations and different social uses;

4. implement slow mobility networks by supporting the urban policies aimed to reduce vehicular traffic;

5. integrate different existing urban projects by coordinating specific and/or sectorial interventions.

The paper presents a research developed at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of Politecnico di Milano. The research is based on a design approach aimed at the physical transformation of the city and focused on improving the liveability of the contemporary city. The approach used updates the methodology of the so-called “land project”. It consists of influencing urban policies through the physical prefiguration of the “space among things” (the one available for civil life) and is a way to conceive of the project as a useful tool for building up material and immaterial relationships.

The output of the research is a Masterplan at urban scale, obtained from the analysis of the local resources and opportunities identified through a systemic approach based on the recognition of infrastructure, settlement and environmental components. The analysis of the urban environment has been integrated by studies on the urban functions able to attract or generate users and the functional roles of neighbourhoods, developing specific analyses on the accessibility to the metro station for pedestrians and cyclists.

The set of these analytical and interpretative operations led to the definition of a pedestrian and cycle platform (the green-blue backbone) qualifying the new urban mobility. It doesn’t exactly overlap the underground line, but accompanies it, enwraps it and expands it, connecting important places of the city, i.e. the most relevant places from the point of view of infrastructures (systems and nodes of urban mobility), environment (areas and green axes, water system), services and public equipment (expression of history and memory of the place), integrating them and bringing them closer to the station area.

The data used are provided by the urban planning tools of the Milan Municipality, available from the regional database, while for the analysis of the mobility flow and the role of neighbourhoods as generators or attractors of users for the new green-blue backbone the data of the National Statistical Institute (such as the number of companies and population registered in the census sections of Milan) were used.

To sum up, this paper outlines the outcome of the integrated analyses developed for the research; the project proposals for 3 pilot stations; the Masterplan that defines the new green and blue backbone inside the urban fabrics crossed by the metro line. With the Masterplan, a project theme is formulated and articulated for each of the 21 stops, together with the first Design Guidelines useful to improve pedestrian and cycle access to the stations.

The research outcome is a Masterplan of paths and actions for the revitalization of public spaces next to the M4 stations (i.e. the green-blue backbone). The stations become real urban thresholds, hubs of connectivity that collect, bring to the surface and distribute urban and metropolitan flows. The green-blue backbone Masterplan captures the opportunity generated by the new infrastructure to rethink a complex and diversified system of urban spaces and relationships. The backbone reveals urban places and their connections with the metropolitan landscape. The result is a unitary but articulated design of pedestrian and cycle paths alternative to the vehicular mobility. It is a unique itinerary for different city users, that connects the regional environmental systems with the modern districts and the city centre.

Urban Interventions with A Sustainability Focus: Strategy Against Informality in Montería, Colombia

Jhon William Pinedo López, Carmen Lora Ochoa — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The main objective of this research is to analyze the urban interventions carried out after the approval of the first territorial planning plan of Montería (POT) in 2002 and its urban effects, mainly interventions designed to correct urban imbalances associated with informality in transport (motorcycle taxi), informal commerce and inappropriate use of public space. The work approach is quantitative and qualitative; on one hand, data on informality and urban projects are presented, and on the other hand, their effects are analyzed at urban and social levels. The methodology includes documentary technique and field technique. The first corresponds to a review of the territorial planning plan, municipal development plans, institutional reports and publications. The second corresponds to the participant observation and photographic records that allow verifying the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the mentioned interventions. The sources of information used are, among others: POT of Montería 2002-2015 and the development plans 2001-2003; 2004-2007; 2008-2011; 2012-2015 and 2016-2019.

Among the results are: I) Social, urban and economic indicators of the city of Monteria before 2002, presented in the POT diagnosis and description of the five main long-term strategies of this plan, which allowed establishing the roadmap for the formulation of future development plans; II) The description of the main urban projects and interventions programmed in the development plans of the mayors Luis Jiménez Espitia, León Fidel Ojeda, Marcos Daniel Pineda García, twice, and Carlos Eduardo Correa. III) “Friendly Cities” Program as a strategy for efficient mobility and public transport of passengers of the National Development Plan 2006-2010 “Community State: development for all” approved by Law 1151 of 2007 and the incorporation of Montería to this program through CONPES document No. 3638 of February 1, 2010. IV) Climate Change Master Plan (PMCC) and the Action Plan 2032, Sustainable Monteria, as supports to achieve the inclusion of this city in the “Sustainable and Competitive Cities” program, which promotes the sustainable urban mobility; V) Projects "Strategic Public Transport System" (SETP), "Ronda del Sinú" and "Línea azul", and its effects on the offer of public space and urban mobility.

The projects programmed in the post-POT development plans have contributed to partially reduce informal trade activities on the center's platforms, showing significant progress in urban indicators. The execution of these managed to increase the supply of public space from 1.66 square meters per inhabitant to 3.46, build and rebuild 133 parks, recover 144.604 square meters of platforms, construction of 30 kilometers of bicycle lanes and pedestrianization of two streets in the center and north of the city. The mobility for the pedestrian improved completely on the first avenue and partially on the second, third, fourth and fifth avenues, where some old merchants are still maintained and new vendors and / or motorcycle taxi drivers arrived.

One of the conclusions of this work expresses that, the projects and interventions designed with a sustainability approach contributed to improve the environmental and urban quality of the city and the quality of life of its inhabitants, but failed to change the habits of the monterians in the use of transport, mainly those related to the obstinacy to use the informal transport of the motorcycle taxi, the unnecessary use of the motorcycle and the repeated use of the car in lanes destined for buses, which obviously increases emissions and does not contribute to the sustainable mobility that It is intended with the vision of Green City. This article, as a result of research funded by Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, not only describes the urban projects of five periods of the municipal administration, but also analyzes their relevance, continuity and effectiveness at the urban, social and mobility levels. There is currently no evidence of similar work in this City., although there are reports, press releases and scientific papers with partial approaches. It is aimed at the academic and scientific community interested in this type of studies.

City limits: rural vs. historical infrastructure Urban growth. L’Ortoll case study, in Vilanova i la Geltrú

Gerard Martínez Görbig — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The uncontrolled - or not at all - growth of medium-sized cities on the outskirts of the metropolises, or simply in rural or agricultural environments, has on numerous occasions led to the appearance of unorthodox spaces (garbage?) That confront the imposed fabric of these urban settlements. The limits of the cities outside the metropolitan area are in a conflictive position when facing the previously existing territory, since the mentioned cities do not have sufficient strength to face such terrain, and in turn, because the infrastructure system of connection between them, fragments and it accidentally divides the terrain, making it lose its identity.

The non-connection between the rural and urbanized world with cities becomes a problem for the sustainable growth of the fabric, whose current solution must include different essential concepts for contemporary territorial development, such as sustainability, technology, economy or society. Therefore, it is proposed, rather than imposing urbanity in these areas, to include them within urban centers, thus allowing the inclusion of new canvases that serve urban development with green spaces, equipment, industrial areas or others.

The L’Ortoll park, west of Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona), has been taken as a practical case, where the relationship with the city has been negatively influenced by the urbanization process, becoming an abandoned large plot. In order to treat the boundaries of the area as described above, an analysis was carried out with three different approaches, using sources from the historical archives, orthophotos, GIS technology and field work, including interaction with conservation associations:

- Morphological and geographic: evolution of topography and terrain.

- Functional and social: different uses of the area over time.

- Historical, to understand and associate the previous two.

- After carrying out this analysis, it is possible to reach different conclusions, which allow developing different hypotheses about the reason for the unfavorable collision:

- L’Ortoll's land belongs to a much larger system than the territory itself: the infrastructure belonging to the primary sector throughout the Catalan autonomous territory.

- The rapid and indiscriminate growth of the city does not manage its limits and cannot cope with the inclusion of other systems already created.

- The development of the interurban infrastructure system with Barcelona and Tarragona (mainly) creates expressways of a different speed and incompatible with rural areas, which fragment the original territory.

- The primary sector is deterred by a stronger tertiary and secondary economic system, making the area obsolete.

- The need for conservation of the area's historical and natural interest collides with urbanization plans and speculation in the area.

- We also observe two different fronts of action versus the area in question:

- The real estate sector, which tries to speculate with the territory.

- Social action, which tries to recover the territory, with a higher success rate.

When interpreting the results, it is concluded that for the integration of new areas with the capacity to provide the city with green spaces, public and with possibilities, in a way corresponding to the current evolution of the cities, it is necessary to work on the limits between the urban fabric as independent elements, and later set development guidelines for the area, always creating a link with the different layers of the city (physical, economic, social, digital, etc.) and the new territory.

In addition, from the analysis carried out, different clues can be intuited on which projects must be based in this type of territory to be successful:

- Social interaction with the terrain. The user himself as a city generator.

- Respect for what exists; natural, historical and urban.

- The functional deficit of a specific area.

- The ability to create a system with its own entity, but permeable on both sides.

Finally, an attempt is made to apply the different conclusions on the ground with a project for the urbanization of the boundary in question, whose form in this specific area is going to be a small archeology campus, which will complement and integrate what is currently happening in the area and will extend into the territory in question.

Shanghai Skywalks. The Walkable Multilayered City

Dora Steric — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

This research deals with the actualization of the skywalks phenomenon in evolvement a multileveled city such as Shanghai.

As in many contemporary megacities, Shanghai's generic evolution, which includes both, urban expansion, and inner densification of the city, causes the complete neglect of the relation between the individual and the urban environment. It seems that in such a context, the skyway phenomenon could offer new, unconventional, different public spaces and represent the possibility for the reinvention of humanlike spaces. The nature of the examined skyway phenomenon combines seemingly opposed ideas and concepts. These structures have extremely large dimensions, but then again, they offer spaces of human scale. Examined elevated walkways are closely connected to other city layers and they integrate a wide variety of uses, from sightseeing and meeting points to places for street vendors and traditional dance practices. At the same time skyways represent new public spaces and infrastructures of soft mobility, which points out the significance of the idea of “walkability”. The research examines if these structures could contribute to the implementation idea of "urban porosity" in the extremely dense context of Shanghai. The concept of urban porosity is seen as a possibility for the multilayered city of Shanghai to enrich its public spaces, promote walkscapes and offer new perspectives. This work considers the skywalk phenomenon within a “framework” that could be applied from the smallest up to the metropolitan scale.

Taking all this as a starting point, it is our belief that, by providing humanlike spaces in a beyond scale context, these elevated walkways could represent a mechanism for the inscription of everyday life and culture into the multilayered urban settings.

Dispersed growth and its metropolitanization process

Fernando Javier Zambrano Loor, Karen Adriana Pico Alonso — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The growth of the city of Boston has strengthened in the last two decades, developing an urban model composed mainly of suburbs of low and medium density, a characteristic pattern that mentions the theories of "Urban Sprawl". Therefore, this work will pay special attention to the gaze of James O'Connell, who tells us the historical process, the social effects, the events and the different public-private administrative decisions that have led her to become one of the largest metropolis in the world today. The interaction value is calculated to determine the level of polycentrism between municipalities, and an approach to the morphological analysis of discontinuity is proposed, one of the physical patterns that idealize urban expansion, proposed by Galster, et al (2001). To do this, the existence of “Sprawl” in the Boston metropolitan area (MAPC) will be analyzed based on the characterization of urban fabrics. For this it is necessary to obtain the growth of the multitemporal urban spot of the metropolitan area, to objectively assess the land consumption in the territory. To carry out the procedure, satellite image processing from NASA Landsat 5 TM was used, using SIG (remote sensing) technology, years 1985, 2002, and 2011 respectively. The objective is to calculate the BU (Build-up Index) or constructed area index, which shows that the higher the construction index, the lower the green area index (He, et al, 2010). It is necessary to observe how the soil cover changes (water and vegetation in relation to the artificialized surfaces), the results derived from this analysis will also be manifested in the study of the tissues revealing certain patterns of discontinuity.

The Relationship Between Infrastructure/Mobility and Urban Fabrics Produced by PMCMV Ventures in the Functional Metropolitan Area (AMF) of the Metropolitan Region of Natal-RN/Brazil

Tamms Maria da Conceição Morais Campos, Bruna Caroline Pinto Campos — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The Región Metropolitana de Natal (RMN), as well as Brazil, has experienced in recent decades a growing increase in the urbanization process characterized by a discontinuous model of urban sprawl expansion and population concentration that resulted in significant alterations in the structures physical, social and economic of their cities. Consequently, there is a peripheral growth pattern, resulting from speculative behaviors that overlap the social function of urban land and reinforce its low occupational density, in addition to increasing distances, inefficiency of transport, rising social and private costs of urbanization and inefficiency of public administration in terms of urban sustainability. The process of creating a residential periphery is clearly consolidated by the predominance of low density and single-family housing in the RMN municipalities that distance themselves from their central city, presenting an urban dispersion; while, in the municipalities of the immediate environment - whose scale of analysis is the Intraurbana Metropolitan Region, which includes the municipalities of Natal, Parnamirim and São Gonçalo do Amarante, referred to in this research as Área Metropolitana Funcional (AMF). Note that the heterogeneity of urban tissues produced by the differentiation in the distribution of infrastructure items according to the data of the last census of Brazil conducted by the Instituto Brasilero de Geografia e Estatística – IBGE (2011) and the characteristics of the environment (paving, storm drain, sewage, cleaning and public lighting) reinforces the formation of an AMF marked by strong socio-spatial inequalities, fragmented with large areas of expansion and at the same time with concentration of housing typologies that constitute homogeneous areas of spots in the metropolitan territory that highlights the abrupt form of urbanization provided by residential real estate capital in the (re) configuration of the RMN.

Recently, in the AMF, preliminary data shows that the phenomena of relocation of industries and services, together with the demographic dynamics exposed, explain that there have been important changes in intermunicipal mobility in RMN, with the reduction of radial movements, the increase of a more transversal nature and the successive incorporation of the AMF of increasingly integrated territories to the central city, Natal. With all this ask: How the urbanization provided by the current residential real estate dynamics materializes in the (re) configuration of the RMN, as for the AMF? For this purpose, the objective of this research is to relate the urbanization promoted by the current residential real estate capital as a driver of urban growth in relation to the road infrastructure and the mobility of the AMF. Therefore, the methodology used was the concentration of the data generated by the relationship between the occupational process and the new urban tissues of the RMN through the production of thematic maps. The sources were collected in: the Town Halls and their respective environmental and urban licensing units of the cities involved, SEMTHAS / Natal, Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável e Meio Ambiente (IDEMA), Secretaria de Meio Ambiente e Urbanismo de Natal (SEMURB), IBGE (2011), Sistema Eletrônico de Serviço de Informação ao Cidadão (e-SIC) regarding the contracts made by the CEF via PMCMV, between 2009 and 2014 and data from the Observatório de Metrópoles. The methodology was complemented even with aerial photogrammetry through which local production could be observed, especially the urban insertion of PMCMV ventures and urban tissues produced through market strategies and the choice of location. As a result, it was possible to observe that lately the real estate valuation processes are defining the distances and inequalities between the different spaces. Urban polytique carried out in the RMN, especially in the cities of Natal, Parnamirim and São Gonçalo do Amarante, promotes urban development that stimulates urban fragmentation and social and spatial inequality, where real estate capital is the main agent of development, producing and guiding demand, isolated from real needs and turning the form of occupation into a mismatch in terms of sustainability and effective mobility.

Cover

CTV Barcelona — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Cover