Tweeting in open public space : case study Belgrade

Public spaces represent essential elements of vibrant, inclusive, and smart cities. Being attractive, safe, comfortable, active and sociable, open public spaces play the main role in revitalizing communities, supporting their sense of identity and culture and triggering their economic development. Considering the current trends and demands in design and use of open public spaces, the role of ICT becomes more important. This paper will present and analyze the connections which are established and intensified between users and open spaces via online social networks. The emphasis will be on Twitter which currently has around 300 million active users. The case study is a network of several open public spaces placed in the historical urban core of Belgrade. The analyzed network presents one of the most attractive and important urban route for pedestrians with the squares as nodes. The method that was used in analysis is the method of mapping users on the social maps (via social networks) and through the other ICT tools. It was based on a new software application – Twitter search engine – developed at the University of Nis, Faculty of Electronic engineering, during the PhD course “Advanced topics in data and knowledge engineering”. The aim was measuring the concentrations of users in open public spaces. The obtained results have enabled the determination of the image of the open public spaces perceived by the users, as well as the intensity of users and tweets through the social networks, with the aim to measure the quality of open public spaces and concentration of users. This research has indicated the potential of the analyzed area for the formation of transverse and longitudinal pedestrian flows. On the one hand they could enable active use of a selected segment of the network as one of the most important urban pedestrian route of the city, as well as to improve the image of it.Funded by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union.peer-reviewe

The Spirit of Time—The Art of Self-Renovation to Improve Indoor Environment in Cultural Heritage Buildings

The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges of an old low-standard urban district with a strong historical and cultural heritage and propose more sustainable renovation solutions, acceptable for the residents and municipality. The challenges of physical renovation or refurbishment are complex due to poor condition of the buildings, municipal ownership and governance, mixed management with community and low rents, which are insufficient to cover the costs. The paper discusses the proposed solutions of living standards, supported by the research in two directions: (i) available resources and reuse of materials, (ii) developing a renovation guidance for inhabitants from the building physics perspective, including indoor environment quality. Challenges related to energy efficiency are addressed from the decision-making perspective to overcome the barrier of lack of motivation to invest in energy-efficient measures at the individual and community level. The interdisciplinary approach complements engineering-focused studies with a focus on the comfort conditions and the influence of occupant habits in sustainable buildings. The methods used were literature review, case studies with observations and survey, looking to cover all technical, social, and historical aspects of sustainable renovation of cultural heritage buildings with the same level of importance. Results show that to keep a sustainable, low-cost urban living model, instructions for self-renovation are a valuable guidance for non-professional actors to make more sustainable choices. In conclusion, we can emphasize that inhabitants are accustomed to lower living standards, so the project is aimed to present the proper solutions for improvement as a balance between new sustainable technical solutions, personal self-renovation skills, habits, and health

Place competitiveness expressed through digital data. measuring the place attractiveness tracking the geotag data visuals

The globalized and decentralized world we live in is simultaneously the arena for the competition of cities belonging to the global network. Striving to secure a better position on the international scene, responsible managements turn to entrepreneurial activities aimed at finding new forms of competitive capitalism. All efforts are directed towards improving place identity with an aim to build a strong, positive image, representing a way in which a certain place is experienced in one’s consciousness. Based on the place image model of communication, which understands primary, secondary and tertiary communication, this paper aims to give an overview of contemporary techniques and tools to be used for tracking tertiary communication, as key element of the process of building strong place image. Tertiary communication is followed indirectly, not by analyzing the contents of a text, a photo or a video published online, but rather by analyzing geospatial metadata shown on maps, connected to published contents. Presented maps are formed by taking over geospatial metadata, i.e. geo-tags from five relevant internet platforms: Panoramio Google Service, Instagram, Flickr, Twitter and Foursquare

Connecting places. Smart pedestrian space: network potentials based on user experiences and activities

Considering the current trends of urban redevelopment of Belgrade’s riverfronts megaprojects along the Sava and Danube rivers ("Belgrade Waterfront" and "City on Water"), Kosančićev venac could be developed as an important pedestrian connection between this sites and historical core of the city. The methods that were used in analysis include method of direct surveying of inhabitants based on the Kevin Lynch`s determination of the image of the city. Space Syntax method, as well as the method of mapping users on social maps (via social networks). The aim of the text was measuring the intensity of pedestrian movement in the monitored territory and concentrations of users in open public spaces. Summarizing and interpreting the collected data obtained three groups of results: the image of Kosančićev venac, composed of five elements: paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks; an overview of the intensity of pedestrian movement on the observed territory, compared with the content located along the path and with the distribution of the image of the city and the intensity of the users. This research has indicated the potential of the analysed area for the formation of transverse and longitudinal pedestrian flows as well as concentrations. However, they could enable active use of the research area and integrate the connections of the Sava`s and Danube`s Amphitheatre

The Improvement of the Comfort of Public Spaces as a Local Initiative in Coping with Climate Change

Being the vital element of successful cities, public spaces play an important role in achieving sustainable development goals and in coping with climate change. The new urban agenda considers public spaces indispensable for sustaining the productivity of cities, social cohesion and inclusion, civic identity, and quality of life. Accordingly, there is no doubt about the importance of public spaces, while their quality is generated through the symbiosis of various elements. On the basis of normative theories of urban design, several public space design frameworks have been established in order to define what makes a good public place. Such a framework for public space quality evaluation is developed and tested at the Chair for Planning and Design in Landscape Architecture at the University of Belgrade—Faculty of Forestry. The framework covers six criteria which illuminate key aspects of public spaces: safety and security, accessibility, legibility, comfort, inspiration and sensitivity and liveability. In this research, special attention is paid to the criteria of comfort analysed on two scale levels in Belgrade, Serbia. In the past, Belgrade was affected by extreme weather events that caused serious and sometimes disastrous consequences. The most pronounced challenges among them are heat waves in summer that, due to the shortage of vegetation combined with the proliferation of tarmac and concrete surfaces and reduced air ventilation, particularly threaten the densely populated central municipalities of Stari Grad, Savski Venac and Vracar. The first scale level covers the analysis of the public space network and the degree of establishment of green infrastructure in Lower Dorcol quartier, which is located in the Municipality of Stari Grad, using quantitative and qualitative indicators and GIS (Geographic Information System) digital tools. The aim of this study is to observe the actual state of the public space network and to define a future scenario of its development in line with climate change challenges. Jevrejska Street, as an element of the above-mentioned public space network, is the subject of the next phase of the research. The study on this scale level will cover qualitative and quantitative analysis of public space elements such as paving, urban equipment, greenery, lighting, water facilities, etc. Next to that, by using the ENVI Met platform, the actual and proposed improvement of the street will be explored. The final part of this research will include a discussion about the research methodology used in order to improve the public space design process and to point out the need for the careful consideration of comfort as an important aspect of good public space

Principles of climate sensitive urban design analysis in identification of suitable urban design proposals. Case study: Central zone of Leskovac competition

Paper represents the analysis of the change in the outdoor comfort during the summer days of open public space of the main square in Leskovac. The analysis covers the present state, two rewarded design proposals at urban design competition and proposal resulting from the evaluation of these solutions. The article focuses on the thermal comfort in outdoor space as a one of indicators in competitions of urban design, considering the fact that the re-design of public spaces often has a negative consequences of decisions made during the competitions. Following the thesis that successful public spaces should be responsive to the needs of their users, the paper considers the thermal comfort as the main quality of open public space. Analysis of microclimate could help designers to create comfortable urban place, which could attract vast number of users throughout the year, especially during hot summer periods. The aim of this paper is to highlight the complexity of the relationship between microclimate comfort in public open spaces and urban design, especially interventions such as implementation of the greenery and new surface materialization in order to emphasize the importance that this relationship has to be taken into account in urban design competitions

Twitter Data Mining to Map Pedestrian Experience of Open Spaces

This research investigated the classification and visualisation of Twitter user-generated data. Twitter data were classified based on their sentiment relating to pedestrian experience of the quality of open spaces, based on their content. The research methodology for Twitter data collection, processing and analysis included five phases: data collection, data pre-processing, data classification, data visualisation and data analysis. The territorial focus was on Oxford Street, London, UK. Special attention was placed on the questions regarding the potential of using Twitter data for extracting relevant topics for the public space and investigating whether the sentiment for these topics can relate to urban design and improvement of pedestrian space. The proposed research model considered amount and relevance, its possibilities regarding the interpretation of the collected sample, the potential of the data for the purpose of the analysis of pedestrian space quality, the precision of sentiment determination and the usability of data in relation to a particular open public space

Challenges of the Facilities Management and Effects on Indoor Air Quality. Case Study “Smelly Buildings” in Belgrade, Serbia

One of the key objectives and challenges nowadays is to live in safe and healthy cities. Accordingly, maintaining good air quality is one of the preconditions for achieving this goal, which is not a simple task given the various negative impacts. This paper deals with a phase of the construction process that is a cause of extreme indoor air pollution in the newly built facilities of the Dr Ivan Ribar settlement in Belgrade, popularly known as “smelly buildings.” Indoor air pollution is observed from the aspect of indoor air quality (IAQ) prevention and facilities management (FM) in order to define recommendations for future prevention of these and similar situations. The research indicates the existence of specific sources of indoor pollutants, as well as the need to pay special attention to indoor air as an aspect that affects the health, comfort and well-being of individuals who permanently or temporarily use a particular space, and to point out additional costs. The paper will also consider the potential of the FM approach in preventing negative issues related to IAQ, especially in the field of public construction and social and affordable housing. Keywords: indoor air quality; facility management; construction materials; “smelly buildings”; Belgrade; Serbi

Challenges of the Facilities Management and Effects on Indoor Air Quality. Case Study “Smelly Buildings” in Belgrade, Serbia

One of the key objectives and challenges nowadays is to live in safe and healthy cities. Accordingly, maintaining good air quality is one of the preconditions for achieving this goal, which is not a simple task given the various negative impacts. This paper deals with a phase of the construction process that is a cause of extreme indoor air pollution in the newly built facilities of the Dr Ivan Ribar settlement in Belgrade, popularly known as “smelly buildings.” Indoor air pollution is observed from the aspect of indoor air quality (IAQ) prevention and facilities management (FM) in order to define recommendations for future prevention of these and similar situations. The research indicates the existence of specific sources of indoor pollutants, as well as the need to pay special attention to indoor air as an aspect that affects the health, comfort and well-being of individuals who permanently or temporarily use a particular space, and to point out additional costs. The paper will also consider the potential of the FM approach in preventing negative issues related to IAQ, especially in the field of public construction and social and affordable housing