Smart Integrated Ecological Approach for Geelong, Australia

Regeneration of many cities is essential to enable their sustainable re-development but importantly to maintain their viability and creativity in this global and rapidly changing world. Most cities face major ecological challenges that require immediate intervention for their future survival. The predominant focus of current sustainable cities projects is concentrated upon the challenges of natural adaptation and mitigation practices these burgeoning metropolises present. Smart Cities is one of those terms, like sustainable, resilient, carbon free, post carbon cities that mean different things to different people. Smart could mean fashionable, stylish, and chic as much as intelligent clever and shrewd. This article argues that Intelligence is the ability of a city to vary its state or actions in response to varying situations and past experience, in other term, develops a self-organising characteristics; one of the principles of ecological systems. Regeneration initiatives provide opportunities for new approaches to urban development in regional Australian cities. There is a need for innovative re-think beyond terms, like sustainable, resilient, carbon free, post carbon cities that mean different things to different people. The paper discusses the development of Vision II, a regeneration project for the City of Geelong. The paper highlights the need for new ways to theorize, contextualize, and practice the design of future smart interventions in Australian cities. The realities of climate changes on the other hand, led to the urgency to channel our thinking into a new direction, one that is capable to engage our people, one that is capable of extracting hope from the structures of fear that underpins an obsolete mitigation agenda and outdated governance structures. Impacts of climate change is also one of the causes of the shift in city agenda that also include the general decline of infrastructure, conspicuous resource depletion, and the emergence of ecology as a new paradigm in urban studies. This paper challenges the capacity of a number of cities to deal with ecological stress adversities and the ability to bounce back and maintain well-being for their inhabitants. The presentation provides a broad critical analysis of the contemporary ecological challenges. The paper, through a study of an applied project directed by the author in Geelong, considers various strategies and guidelines that have formed regenerating existing urban forms and relationships. Keywords: regeneration, sustainability, post carbon, smart interventions, climate chang

The application of BIM tools to explore the dynamic characteristics of smart materials in a contemporary Shanashil building design element

Traditional architecture is known for its crafted facade features that respond to environmental, social and cultural requirements. Contemporary architecture produced façade features that attempted to enhance local design identity and local culture. Despite the advantages of modern technology, architectural elements have difficulties in fulfilling the idea of sustainable elegance that once traditional elements provided. This problem calls for an interdisciplinary design approach to deliver sustainable design solutions that positively adapt to the surrounding environment as well as maintain the state of elegance in design. With this in mind, the research aims to explore the role of new glass technologies to improve the performance and at the same time maintain the design value of traditional façade element “shanashil” in Baghdadi buildings. This research utilises BIM tools and uses smart materials to restore the lost value in design, which mimics the dynamic characteristics observed in nature, inspired by biomimetics strategies. Such qualities are found in the characteristics of smart dynamic glazing material particularly in the switchable, reversible properties of transparency and coloration efficiency. The material characteristics are attached to a 3D digital prototype to visualise the difference between dynamic and static properties through the use of technology tools Revit plugin and smart glazing virtual reality prototype. This research concludes that the dynamic characteristics of smart glazing materials are effective in delivering a multifunctional design quality to collectively blend in harmony with the surrounding environment

Diversity in the arts : perspectives and challenges of the production of art & architecture

This case study is an urban regeneration scheme in Belfast, one that was built on thehistorical success of the shirt industry in Derry with the intention to harness the iconic buildings capacity to overcome the divisive visual perception of the built environment.The paper examines how the two communities in Northern Ireland visually perceivetheir shared built environment and the extent to which architecture can access or createa blending of such visions, thus instilling a sense of symbiosis among the communities.The context of the paper is the explicit cultural frame, which appears to impact ondecisions in the design and implementation of urban regeneration schemes andarchitectural design in Belfast. By asking whether the culture concept has indeed a roleto play in the design and building of contemporary architecture in Belfast, what it pertains to do, but actually does, this paper calls for the rethinking of our assumptionssurrounding the question of how diversity is to be managed in order to be sustained

Recognizing greenway network for quantifying students experience on campus-based universities : assessing the campus outdoor spaces at San Diego State University

This paper evaluates the potential of creating a green infrastructure – more specifically, an urban greenway – and its contribution the students’ campus experience, with emphasis on the outdoor university activities. To achieve best value for money – particularly in the current financial climate, with severe budget cuts constraining universities – justifying investments on campus outdoor spaces such as greenways, relies on a clear demonstration of their link to the overall success of the campus. Attempts of quantify the benefits from investments on such spaces are challenged by the scarcity of studies on the relationship between students’ experience and design (and related cost) of different types of campus landscape settings. This paper fills this gap by offering a thorough examination of a variety of extant campus developments and by measuring the performance of some selected open spaces against a ‘price-tag’ mechanism. The case study of the San Diego State University has been chosen as core case study and supplemented by 16 sub-cases across California State. The assessment has been conducted through three steps. First, a site inventory of the physical characteristics and landscape features has been conducted, focusing on 7 typologies of campus outdoor spaces (COS). Second, four main use patterns (Individual-customized, Group-social, Programmed-scheduled, and Active experiences) have been assessed by calculating the intensity of use (function of the frequency and duration of use) for each of them. The data collected was based on syntax observation methods with photos and maps of COS as prompts. Third, a Campus-Experience-Score (C-E-C) has been calculated and normalized to the size and population of the university, matching it against the actual development costs of each COS setting. The C-E-C allows measuring the link between types and features of COS and related students’ experience. Findings were discussed and verified through six in-depth interviews with local and international academics and developers/practitioners. This paper offers valuable benchmark to designers and planners seeking to maximize the value for money of investments on COS such as greenways

A participatory model for the regeneration of Australian cities : the case of Geelong

Urban regeneration projects have become a key focus of attention in cities globally. The case study of Geelong City, Australia, illustrates the challenges of maintaining the viability and relevance of the city while shifting from its historical industrial character. The Vision II urban regeneration project aimed to revive Geelong city centre. The project adopted the process of crowd sourcing where both individual and organisation sectors collaborated aiming to achieve a better quality of life. The project consisted of several crucial elements including partnership working, project governance, participatory workshops, scenario creation, community engagement and a transparent flow of this information to the community at large. This paper aims to expose the process used for this project as a valuable contribution to future urban regeneration development activity. The process involved different types of citizen’s involvement aiming to create a powerful partnership between the different stakeholders. The conclusion identifies the main strengths in the process that can be later implemented in other urban regeneration projects

Aesthetic appealing wall insulation: A novel approach for uptake of solid wall insulation in the UK

Solid wall dwellings in the UK are in urgent need for energy retrofit to support achieving the UK net-zero strategies in the building sector and reduce fuel poverty. Several barriers are a cause of uncertainty for householders about Solid Wall 1nsulation (SWI) and slow down the progress. This paper aims to examine people's perceptions of possible inclusion of aesthetics elements in Internal Wall Insulation (IWI), providing a suitable solution to promote wall insulation intake and attractiveness. To achieve this aim, first, the current literature is critically reviewed and analysed to highlight the gap between energy studies and design/aesthetic features of SWI retrofit. Then, an online survey is conducted, and the collected data are analysed. The results show that the aesthetic factor is very important for participants with more than 90% agreement. This level of agreement is as high as other well-known critical factors in renovation such as cost and energy saving. Also, aesthetic integration in IWI can surpasses negative concerns such as the retrofit cost or losing internal space. Furthermore, over 2/3rd of participants are in agreement with a suggested business model for delivering both aesthetic and energy improvement in combined retrofit plans by established approved organizations. It is concluded that aesthetic inclusion is the priority and an encouraging factor in the internal renovation to reduce the barriers and increase success. Finally, the findings from this research pointed to how the retrofit industry, policymakers, and designers should evolve to achieve the benefits of aesthetics in SW

The resilience of urban design to pluvial flood

Resilient urban design has become an essential concern for cities needing to withstand the increasing number of natural and human-induced disasters. Yet cities and their infrastructures are becoming more vulnerable and threatened as flood protection measurements are still following the same line of thinking in terms of nature resistance. The conventional structures of flood protection are increasingly questioned amongst academics, decision makers and communities particularly since many cases of failure around the world. New approaches for characterising the resilience of urban design are urgently needed and worth investing in on local and regional scales. This research calls for a practical approach to investigate the resilience potential of urban design as a man-made solution and to consider the adjacent ecology as the natural surroundings. This aims to develop an ecologically compliant urban design approach that contributes to the mitigation of flood consequences with other infrastructure solutions. This research aims to shed light on the potential of ecological urban design to demonstrate a resilient urban form that can cope with the escalating flood threats in the Muscat area in Oman. A shift in thinking is required, towards a paradigm that calls for a breakaway from the closely confined resistance approach to the much more tolerable concept of living with the reality of water dominance. This is going to be realised by carrying out in-depth analysis of the ecological system services along with the physical aspects of urban design

Exploring Social Capital within Damietta’s furniture industry value chain as mode of community currency

Social Capital contributes to the development of professions as well as communities, especially in small scale urban settings with a dense interlocking social structure. Within industry-based communities, a strong Social Capital Network acts as a basis for transactions between enterprises, which strongly ties into the drivers that constitute many of today’s community/alternative currency initiatives. Furniture enterprises in Damietta form the main economic base of the city, with majority of residents working in furniture-related activities, passing down their businesses through generations. This paper examines the impact of Social Capital on the nature of this industry’s value chain and extent of its influence on business patterns and transactions as a driving force towards an unspoken alternative currency. This is achieved though examining Damietta’s existing spatial, social and business patterns, which arise and influence the city’s socio-economic industry dynamics. The paper aims at provoking arguments on geographical scale and lifestyle patterns being instrumental in the formulation of a local system of transactions based on Social Capital. The paper builds on the work of Putnam, Wallman and Porter, using interviews and GIS spatial mapping to investigate the connection between Social Capital measures (trust, networks and norms), local furniture industry value chain and socio-spatial living and working patterns in Damietta. The results reveal spatial and social connections that exhibit how Social Capital in Damietta’s Furniture industry drives an unspoken currency between enterprises in the city