Situational Urbanism

Transforming modernistic urban areas to fit contemporary needs is one of the predominant challenges that postwar European cities face today. Although these transformation processes are highly complex they generate a wide variety of chances to take advantage of existing micro-economies, cultural diversity and spatial structures. Situational Urbanism is an adaptive methodology that identifies new ways of dealing with modernistic urban areas. In order to synthesize the lived experience on the street with the need for long-term planning, this design approach addresses simultaneously spatial, socio-economic, and cultural issues. This results in a variety of innovative and versatile design strategies that deal with post-war urbanism. The volume combines applicable spatial theory, innovative analytical methods and a comprehensive toolkit of flexible design methods for transforming modernist urban areas, ranging over the full array of scales, from the individual house, via the block to the neighbourhood.

Contemporary society is marked and defined by the ways in which mobile goods, bodies, vehicles, objects, and data are organized, moved and staged. Against the background of the ‘mobilities turn’ this book articulates a new and emerging research field, namely that of ‘mobilities design’. The book revolves around the following research question: How are design decisions and interventions staging mobilities? It builds upon the ‘Staging Mobilities’ model (Jensen 2013) in an exploratory inquiry into the problems and potentials of the design of mobilities. The exchange value between mobilities and design research is twofold. To mobilities research this means getting closer to the ‘material’, and to engage in the creative, exploratory and experimental approaches of the design world which offer new potential for innovative research. Design research, on the other hand, might enter into a fruitful relationship with mobilities research, offering a relational and mobile design thinking and a valuable basis for design reflections around the ubiquitous structures, spaces and systems of mobilities.

""A well-balanced presentation... especially notable for its succinct review of the factors currently controlling the South African political situation."" -- The Nation .."". authoritative work... "" -- Foreign Affairs .."". broad enough in its reach to be useful to teaching in interdisciplinary African studies courses for undergraduates."" -- Perspective ""Gus Liebenow has produced a winner, eminently suitable for classroom use, with enough substance to be of interest to both teachers and students."" -- Africa Today A sympathetic but hardheaded analysis of the crisis issues common to the continent as a whole: the struggle for national identity, poverty, the unresolved festering issue of white supremacy in Southern Africa, the problem of political community in the African urban setting, and the struggle for popular control over government.

Consisting of presented papers from the 15th International Conference on Urban Regeneration and Sustainability, the included works address various aspects of the urban environment and provide solutions leading towards sustainability. Urban areas result in a series of environmental challenges varying from the consumption of natural resources and the subsequent generation of waste and pollution, contributing to the development of social and economic imbalances. As cities continue to grow all over the world, these problems tend to become more acute and require the development of new solutions. The challenge of planning sustainable contemporary cities lies in considering the dynamics of urban systems, exchange of energy and matter, and the function and maintenance of ordered structures directly or indirectly supplied and maintained by natural systems. The task of researchers is to improve the capacity to manage human activities, pursuing welfare and prosperity in the urban environment. Any investigation or planning on a city ought to consider the relationships between the parts and their connections with the living world. The dynamics of its networks (flows of energy matter, people, goods, information and other resources) are fundamental for an understanding of the evolving nature of today’s cities. Large cities represent a fertile ground for architects, engineers, city planners, social and political scientists, and other professionals able to conceive new ideas and time them according to technological advances and human requirements. Coastal areas and coastal cities are an important area covered in this volume as they have some specific features. Their strategic location facilitates transportation and the development of related activities, but this requires the existence of large ports, with the corresponding increase in maritime and road traffic and all its inherent negative effects. This requires the development of well-planned and managed urban environments, not only for reasons of efficiency and economics but also to avoid inflicting environmental degradation that causes the deterioration of natural resources, quality of life and human health. These research papers put a focus on sustainability across the multidisciplinary components of urban planning, the challenges presented by the increasing size of cities, the number of resources required and the complexity of modern society.

Collective Urban Planning in Research, Teaching and Practice This practice orientated handbook aims at all urban actors wishing to develop and realise complex urban planning concepts. It sets out a series of techniques, methods and process models that range from analytical approaches and concept strategies to the creation of participatory projects. Creative open-ended experiments have been proven as effective academic practice driven methods within applied participatory urban mediation. The book proposes a method-catalogue of immediately realisable approaches for experimental urban research as part of a design and planning procedure within education and practice. Cross-disciplinary methods and working methods for urban planning Case studies from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne, London, Madrid and Wuppertal Foreword Barbara-Ann Campbell-Lange and contributions by Theo Lorenz, Mohamed Fezazi, Alexia Radounikli and Vera San Payo de Lemos

This book will appeal to researchers and scholars interested in entrepreneurship and creativity issues, coming from a wide range of academic disciplines. These readers will find an up-to-date presentation of existing and new directions for research in

The mushrooming of illegal housing on the periphery of cities is one of the main consequences of rapid urbanisation associated with social and environmental problems in the developing countries. Sustainable Urbanism in Developing Countries discusses the linkage between urbanism and sustainability and how sustainable urbanism can be implemented to overcome the problems of housing and living conditions in urban areas. Through case studies from India, Indonesia, China, etc., using advanced GIS techniques, this book analyses several planning and design criteria to solve the physical, social, and economic problems of urbanisation and refers to urban planning as an effective measure to protect and promote the cultural characteristics of specific locations in these developing countries. FEATURES Investigates an interdisciplinary approach to urbanism, including urban ecology, ecosystem services, sustainable landscapes, and advanced geographical systems Analyses unique case studies of rapid urbanisation from a local to a national scale in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, China, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia and their global impact Examines the use of GIS and spatial statistics in analysing urban sprawl and the massive amount of data gathered by every operational activity of municipalities Focuses on the holistic perspective of sustainable urbanism and the harmony in the human–nature relationship to achieve sustainable development Covers a wide range of issues manifested in urban areas with economic, societal, and environmental implications contributed by leading scholars from the Global South

Design has long expressed and established itself as an independent research competence – a fact that also companies, institutions and politicians have come to acknowledge. What is still needed, however, is a stronger public platform for design to confidently reflect upon this process and to establish and communicate the specific innovative and experimental dimension of design research. For this reason, BIRD, the Board of International Research in Design, has developed the New Experimental Research in Design / NERD format. The edited conference contributions of twelve young researchers from all over the world provide an impressive and diverse and insightful range of intelligent and inspiring approaches in design research, giving rise to further debate and action in the rapidly evolving field.