Zmiany struktury usług i handlu na obszarze Starego Miasta w Toruniu

The article addresses the issues of retail and service structure in Torun’s Old Town in the context of contemporary decline in traditional city centre functions in Polish cities. Torun’s Old Town is experiencing a disappearance of retail and basic services connected to residential function. Non-basic services appear, called “new services”, appear, and their development is characteristic for the contemporary city centres. All streets of Torun’s Old Town were subject to analysis that aimed to identify directions of changes in property use in the centre. The choice of research area enabled reference to earlier studies to show the functional changes in twenty-year perspective.W artykule poruszono kwestie związane ze zmianami struktury handlu i usług Starego Miasta w Toruniu w kontekście dostrzegalnego współcześnie zaniku tradycyjnych funkcji śródmiejskich w polskich miastach. Tendencją charakterystyczną dla Starego Miasta w Toruniu jest zanik handlu i usług podstawowych uzupełniających funkcję rezydencjalną. Znamienne jest natomiast pojawianie się usług ponadpodstawowych, określanych także mianem „usług nowych”, których rozwój jest symptomatyczny dla obszarów współczesnych centrów dużych miast. Analizie poddano wszystkie ulice toruńskiego Starego Miasta celem określenia kierunków zmian użytkowania lokali w centrum. Wybór obszaru badań pozwolił nawiązać do wcześniejszych opracowań, dzięki czemu możliwe stało się ukazanie zmian funkcjonalnych z dwudziestoletniej perspektywy

International Conference. 20th Century New Towns. Archetypes and Uncertainties

Producción CientíficaThe paper aims to revalue and to compare two urban phenomena of growth and change during the second half of the 20th century: the Mat Building and the Gated City. On the one hand, Mat Building is analysed as a modern strategy of spatial and formal organization in architecture, which is related to the concept of Mat Urbanism. This idea is rooted in the interest of TEAM X in the traditional cities of North Africa, Japan and China, among others, during the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1974 Alison Smithson defined this urban structure using the model of Arab fortresses called Kasbah: “where the functions come to enrich the fabric, and the individual gains new freedoms of action through a new shuffled order, based on interconnection, close knit patterns of association and possibilities for growth, diminution and change.” Alison Smithson formulated an alternative to the functional city described in the CIAM´s Athens Charter. But she also proposed a new urban form, closed and opened at the same time, a kind of urban structure based on the necessity of identity and mobility. On the other hand, the phenomenon of the Gated City is also closely related to the idea of urban identity. The CIDs (Common-Interest-Developments) began to emerge at the end of the 1970s, but actually, that idea was put into practice during the 19th century, as a reaction of utopian socialism to environmental and social consequences of the Industrial Revolution. In the context of the sprawling city, during second half of the 20th century, the New Urbanism also established its criticism to the urban ideology of the Modern Movement, as the TEAM X had done before them. However, unlike the previous one, this current used the paradigm of the walled medieval city, or Gated City, which was indebted to the anti-industrial manifesto of Rob and Leon Krier. They wrote: “function follows form”, and not the opposite, as Louis Sullivan had said. Therefore, a purely picturesque approach to urban form was adopted, against the rationalism of the modern post-war planning. The paper compares both strategies through European and North American urban developments. It analyses their spatial and social structures pointing their own relevance in contemporary urban discourse, and it provides a critical relationship between them, which is full of paradoxes and contradictions for the sustainable urbanism and the landuse planning challenges

Turnitin - Local Wisdom of The Native Settlement as A Main Gate in The Northern Axis of Javanese City Center In Semarang

Similar to the city structure of Islamic cities in Java, Semarang also has multi-ethnic kampongs located around alun-alun / traditional square. There is a uniqueness kampong ethnic village that was located in the coastal city of Semarang. Now there are no longer in coastal area. Based on historical method using some old maps and the old images and field study resulted that the old city centre of Semarang had a north axis connecting the seaport (Kampung Darat - 14th century) to the alun-alun as administrative city centre (16th century). The axis was once a commercial corridor with settlements arrays behind the commercial corridor. There is some local wisdom in the settlement arrangement. The economic and religious harmonies live together along the corridor. The ethnic Chinese and Arabs as a merchant set up shop houses in the corridor that had a strategic value. Meanwhile, Malay, Arab, Cirebon and Banjar settlements located behind commercial corridors. This corridor present that the economic activity dominated done by Arabic and Chinese trader. Local wisdom in urban design heritage along North axis functioned as main gate to traditional city centre. The local wisdom is potential to be integrated with recent situation and replicated in another regio

HERITAGE CITIES AFTER WARS: BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION - A CASE STUDY OF BEIRUT IN LEBANON

Urban heritage is one of the most important aspects that identify a city’s history and evolution. Rebuilding cities after war is a concept that takes into consideration several aspects of maintaining a visual memory of urban heritage. A proper understanding of heritage aspects and elements should be considered in new extensions and the redesigning of old parts of cities, especially after wars. Beirut in Lebanon is one of the Middle Eastern cities that have been rehabilitated and rebuilt successfully after suffering from several wars. This research discusses and analyses conservation approaches that have been used in old parts of Beirut city and the evolution of the approaches to rebuilding buildings, from tradition to innovation, that have been applied in the downtown Beirut district. This research aims to analyse downtown Beirut as a benchmark for the reconstruction of countries destroyed after war. Furthermore, the approaches that have been used in reconstructing the new buildings of downtown Beirut heritage are categorized in order to establish the link between the elevations of traditional buildings and newly constructed buildings, while maintaining the concept of a visual memory of urban heritage

No. 04: The Urban Food System of Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is a colonial city and, like the country of Jamaica more generally, was the product of early mercantilism moulded by colonialism, sugar plantations and slavery. As Jamaica’s capital, Kingston is an economic and administrative hub with a social geography marked by many of the characteristic fissures of emerging cities in transition economies. Its population is fed by a combination of food imports and domestic production from agricultural areas across the island. The key trading point for fresh produce flows into Kingston is Coronation Market in the city centre. Between 60% and 70% of fruit and vegetables arriving at Coronation Market are re-distributed through other wholesale markets in and around Kingston. Domestically produced foods flow into Kingston largely through Jamaica’s higgler system. These informal vendors perform many functions as market intermediaries, including trade, harvesting, post-harvest processing, re-distribution and sales. Jamaicans spend an average of 43% of their income on food; a figure significantly influenced by price shocks. Some of these shocks are the result of severe weather conditions, including cyclones with excessive rains as well as drought. While there is a strong preference for domestically produced goods, cheaper prices and perceived safety of imports entice consumers. Jamaica has also moved increasingly towards a higher fat, more refined diet, resulting in higher rates of obesity and nutrition-related chronic diseases

Is There Such a Thing as a Post-Apartheid City?

In an introductory section, this paper considers briefly the achievements and problems of urban governance in post-apartheid South Africa through an assessment of three categories: administrative reform, developmental issues and conflicts over service delurban studies, Durban, South Africa, local government, private-public

Food Superstores, Food Deserts and Traffic Generation in the UK: A Semi-Parametric Regression Approach

This study contributes another route towards explaining and tackling ‘food desert’ effects. It features the estimation of a (semi-parametric) trip attraction model for food superstores in the UK using a composite dataset. The data comprises information from the UK Census of Population, the NOMIS (National Online Manpower Information System) archive and traffic and site-specific data from the TRICS (Trip Rate Information Computer System) databases. The results indicate that traffic to a given food superstore, ceteris paribus, increases with household car ownership, store parking provision, site size (floor space), and distance to the nearest competitor. Furthermore, increases in public transport provision are shown to be associated with increasing car trips. This latter effect is discussed in the light of planning policy for development control purposes and a role linked to the reinforcement of ‘food deserts’. The results also reveal activity-specific household economies of scope and scale. It is suggested how these may also further perpetuate unsustainable development and ‘food desert’ characteristics.Traffic Generation, Food Superstores, Food Deserts, Activity Based Travel, Sustainable Development, Modelling

The Use or Misuse of Urban Streets? Exploration of Everyday Urbanism in Traditional City Centres

Urban residents often transform street precincts into places for informal activities through everyday urbanism to meet their daily needs, particularly in traditional city centres. Although strict regulations and control over public space exist, people-centred (bottom-up) interventions usually occur in traditional city centres. While such action exemplifies the rights people claim to suit their requirements and improve the daily living experience, there are arguments that everyday use of the streets generates land-use problems. In this regard, using data collected through questionnaire surveys, observations, and interviews, this study explores the factors that facilitate everyday urbanism and encourage using the streets as public spaces in traditional city centres of Nigeria. This is to provide helpful information that could serve as a tool for putting everyday urbanism into urban planning and design practices. The study established that the three most common street activities in the traditional city centres were informal trading, social events/ceremonies, and cultural festivals. It was also shown that the everyday use of public spaces created a unique setting for social interaction among people and contributed to the liveliness of the city centres. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the crucial factors that facilitated and encouraged the everyday use of streets were the economic factor (18.2%), the inadequacy of environmental amenities (17.8%), and culture and social lifestyle (12.2%). This study concludes that everyday urbanism contributes significantly to creating vibrant communities and improving life quality; therefore, it is recommended that the control and management of activities in public spaces should align with people's culture, lived experiences and socioeconomic realities

The case for high speed rail to the three cities: final report

This report has been commissioned by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) to provide evidence on the case for the Three Cities of the East Midlands, Derby, Leicester and Nottingham to be part of a UK high speed rail network. This report outlines the economic benefits of the introduction of a high speed rail link serving the Three Cities, coupled with upgrades to the existing lines, to form a coherent strategy for the rail network over the next 20 to 30 years