Refurbishment Model for Qatari Neighborhoods

Present a model that remedies root causes of sustainability and livability issues as they are not tackledin Qatar’s current urban development plans with relation to the most basic unit of urbanism: theneighborhood. The developed model presents modifications to Al-Markhiya in short-, medium-, andlong-term implementation phases that include typical characteristics applicable to any Dohaneighborhood so that they could be easily adopted by municipalities as well as local communities.Developed model received favorable feedback when presented to a group of environmental and urbanplanning experts at the frontlines of developing and updating Qatar National Master Plan and detailsof urban planning regulations to poll their views on its applicability for greater. This study is expectedto influence decision makers in Qatar to pay the required attention to the enhancement ofneighborhood sustainability and livability. This model may be the stepping stone to future strategiesand plans of refurbishment as the next national goal post the World Cup to be hosted in 2022

DESIGNING FOR A HEALTHY AND CULTUREINTEGRATIVE URBAN ENVIRONMENT: THECASE STUDY OF AL-DIRIYAH TRIANGLE

Problem Definition: The given situation is pushing urban designer and planner to think of solutions that could help alleviate the threats of the rapid growth repercussions and plan for a better living urban environment. Aim and Objectives:This paper examines the possibility of planning future urban developments through the application of modern sustainable urban models and solution as well as learn from century old environmentally responsive architectural and urban practices. Methodology: This paper will take the Case Study of Al-Diriyah Triangle project in Riyadh – Saudi Arabia, a new urban development bordering Wadi Hanifa and neighboring to the historic core of Al-Diriyah and UNESCO World Heritage site of Al-Turaif. The The 90 hectares development is one of Saudi Vision 2030 projects and aims at enhancing the role of Al-Diriyah as a heritage, cultural and entertainment center respecting the historic, environmental and ecological specificities of the sites soft-mobility and green open spaces network to environmental architectural guidelines. Through the case study, the paper will demonstrate urban designers can participate in planning a healthy living environment and improving the wellbeing of urban societies

Circular design in everyday urbanism: Towards regenerative and restorative dynamic spaces in cities

Our habitats are being rapidly urbanised, renovated and restructured and, in this process, our cultural landscape is being radically altered. This unstoppable process of urbanisation across the globe has foremost implications for the environment, biodiversity, health and wellbeing of residents. The everyday city is a living laboratory that offers dynamic perceptions highlighting strands and synergies between senses, materials and spaces. This article reflects on the environmental effect of ecological design and circular economy on individual’s wellbeing at urban scale, so-called circular city. It deployed urban and ecological design principles to transform neglected spaces into healthy places through integrated grassroot experiments and models that empower local communities in innovative learning environments. For instance, urban greenspaces and community gardens are considered effective innovators in tackling problems associated with the deterioration of urban life such as waste, contamination and urban heat island effects. In the introduction section, this essay establishes a melted pot between the realms of urban planning, design and environmental psychology, particularly how human-caused problems such urban waste or vacant lands affect human health and wellbeing. The selected manuscripts for the special issue 11 of Visions for Sustainability titled “Wellbeing in Daily Built Environments” have emphasised the notion of wellbeing applied to design of the everyday city by interconnecting and balancing psychological, environmental, socio-spatial and cultural challenges. Projects, studies and materials presented in this selection propose a different way of thinking, playing and making our cities. They offer relevant literature and methodological supports from urban, architectural, aesthetics, perception and environmental psychology to inspire readers of this Journal to connect the states of the art in the fields of circular design and environmental psychology and also deepen on our understanding of processes and mechanisms underlying distinctive regenerative and restorative environments. It proposes a framework for understanding the dynamics of circular city, which can assist policy makers and planners to co-develop and design greenspaces with higher liveability and reuse or improve existing ones, ultimately humanising our urban environments and future replications

Smart Zabrze: Building on a Mine of Opportunities

In this report the reader is introduced to the vision for the Smart City Zabrze in Poland. This new city district in Zabrze - Nowe Miasto is a ca. 250ha large plot of mostly agricultural land and wetland vegetation. Smart City Zabrze will help pave the way for sustainable development of the Nowe Miasto area. The vision constitutes of three pillars: 1) the creation of a green network along the stream, 2) building a pilot community, a showcase of sustainable urban planning and 3) a golf course which respects the local environment. As the development of Nowe Miasto will be an integral part of Zabrze’s overall transition towards sustainability, we decided to expand our scope beyond the investment area itself and added further recommendations for the old city

Stitching Together the Urban Fabric

This Urban Design Studio in Springfield focused on incremental and systemic design changes at specific places in Downtown to improve the quality of life. The analysis investigated six interweaving, overlapping urban systems: Music and Art, Food and Retail, Working, Public Green, Education and Housing. Overlooked streets and their immediate context were of major focus: Worthington Street, Dwight Street, Willow Street and the stilted Interstate 91 viaduct. Downtown Springfield is currently undergoing a substantial change of the physical urban fabric: The renovation of the Union Station into a multi-modal transportation hub, the MGM Casino Resort and the new Dr. Seuss Museum at the Quadrangle. While these projects create larger-scale hubs at the edges of downtown, there is the necessity of stitching Downtown together with small scale amenities and activities. How can we bridge the gaps and create stepping stones that make downtown streets a more walkable and bicycle-friendly experience? How can we create new economic opportunities and possibilities to serve needs for adult education, gathering and small-scale entertainment? A Design Charrette with residents, stakeholders and community activists was held in the beginning of the studio. The charrette was organized around the six urban systems. The students led image-driven interviews with the community members, mapped places with existing assets or places with opportunities. Four design scenarios were created: HEART OF THE CITY -DESIGNING ARTERIES FOR THE PEOPLE designed the urban fabric around Worthington Street. 24/7, year around programming of underutilized parking lots, public art and lighting, temporary closure of streets and activation of empty storefronts work together with a coherent design palette. DWIGHT STREET REVIVAL: Dwight Street is transformed into a green bike and walk artery with new and repurposed places for working, living, adult education, and art. STOCKBRIDGE SQUARE: A VILLAGE IN THE CITY creates a village in the city adjacent to the MGM Casino Resort with open space for the community, mixed use buildings, sustainable street systems, ground level retail and multiple market-rate housing options. The village will attract new residents in downtown. ECOLOGY VISION creates a healthy downtown Springfield with “toolkit” around restored urban ecological systems for a livable and beautiful city. A stormwater park underneath I-91 is accompanied by a pedestrian boulevard and an urban forest. STITCHING TOGETHER THE URBAN FABRIC raises awareness for discovering the little notes and in-betweens. This proposal encompasses sustainability in a comprehensive way. It will make Springfield green and beautiful, will increase diversity, create jobs and bring vitality back

Hearst Lecture: Gary Hack - Disruptive Changes and the Pattern of Cities

Today I want to talk about the future, but I do so by first looking back, focusing on the moments in a city’s long history when transformative change occurs. I am interested in this topic because I see a lot of cities planning and struggling to do things that have been on their agendas for many years. However, as planners, urban designers, and landscape architects, we need to be thinking about things that will be needed 10 to 15 years from now. I don’t see many cities reinventing their future in the plans they are making. There are reasons for that. It takes time for ideas to mature politically. It takes time to assemble resources to overcome opposition. It takes even longer to accomplish ambitious changes. But if the horizon is 10 to 15 years ahead, then changes being pursued based on current needs are likely to be largely out of date when they are completed. A while ago, working on the plan for New York City’s West side waterfront, I discovered that there were several very large piers, including the 16-acre Pier 40, that had never been used for the passenger ships they were designed to serve. Pier 40 was built to accommodate the fast fading service between New York and England, but it took so long to build that it was completed about three years after the last passenger liner left port. Meanwhile, as these dinosaurs were being constructed New York was lagging behind in building the international airports that provided the future links across the Atlantic. We run that risk in many of the plans we are pursuing today, just as the pace of change has accelerated. I find it instructive to look at how cities have coped with large changes in the past. What was behind the transformative changes they needed to harness? How did they foresee change? What plans did they make? With answers to these questions in mind, I will move on to discuss the four major forces that we ought to pay attention to today because I think they will have transformative effects on our cities

Not Simply Green: Nature-Based Solutions as a Concept and Practical Approach for Sustainability Studies and Planning Agendas in Cities

The concept of a nature-based solution (NBS) has been developed in order to operationalize an ecosystem services approach within spatial planning policies and practices, to fully integrate the ecological dimension, and, at the same time, to address current societal challenges in cities. It exceeds the bounds of traditional approaches that aim ‘to protect and preserve’ by considering enhancing, restoring, co-creating, and co-designing urban green networks with nature that are characterized by multifunctionality and connectivity. NBSs include the main ideas of green and blue infrastructure, ecosystem services, and biomimicry concepts, and they are considered to be urban design and planning tools for ecologically sensitive urban development. Nowadays, NBSs are on their way to the mainstream as part of both national and international policies. The successful implementation of NBSs in Europe and worldwide, which is becoming increasingly common, highlights the importance and relevance of NBS for sustainable and livable cities. This paper discusses the roles, development processes, and functions of NBSs in cities by taking Leipzig as a case study. Using data from interviews conducted from 2017 to 2019, we study the past and current challenges that the city faces, including the whole process of NBS implementation and successful realization. We discuss the main drivers, governance actors, and design options of NBSs. We highlight the ecosystem services provided by each NBS. We discuss these drivers and governance strategies by applying the framework for assessing the co-benefits of NBSs in urban areas in order to assess the opportunities and challenges that NBSs may have. This way, we are able to identify steps and procedures that help to increase the evidence base for the effectiveness of NBS by providing examples of best practice that demonstrate the multiple co-benefits provided by NBSs.Peer Reviewe

Sustainability on the urban scale: proposal of a structure of indicators for the Spanish context

Some efforts to assess sustainability on the urban scale have been made and different tools for measuring the impact on and caused by cities have emerged. However, the sustainability concept varies from region to region, and indicators to measure it should be suitable for the context-specific conditions of the region under study. After doing a comprehensive review of the indicators included in 13 tools developed to assess urban sustainability of cities, this article proposes a new structure of indicators adapted to a Mediterranean city in Spain. The proposed structure is based on a two-level scheme that consists in 14 categories and 63 subcategories, which agglutinate urban sustainability indicators according to their purpose. This structure suggests a set of comprehensible qualitative and quantitative indicators that are easily applicable on neighbourhood or city scales. Given the similar features of Mediterranean countries in terms of environmental and socio-economic aspects, the proposed structure could be extrapolated to other countries with climatic and cultural similarities. Otherwise, the system is a useful tool in the decision-making process to help the different stakeholders involved in new urban developments and regeneration projects in existing neighbourhoods, such as developers, urban planners and public administrations