Models and opportunities for sustainable urban development - Compact City

The possibilities for developing are specific for each city and have to be established in terms of the context and the region.  Urban sprawl is usually followed by functional specialization of certain areas of shopping centers, recreational zone, zone for housing, industrial and craft parts that drastically reduces the ecological capital of small and large cities. Urban development should be conducted in cooperation with the public and community, social priorities, the establishment of urban form and care for the local environment. Measures of urbanization should be reoriented thus create maximum effects with minimal use of resources.

Coherence and compact city. Cities should be coherent and compact (inclusive towns) with the aim urban area to become simpler, affordable and stimulating for their citizens, regardless of their social status, age and health condition.  Focus is on inclusiveness in urban centers that act as machines that need to pull the economy forward.

The idea of a compact city (centralization) originate from Europe, particularly first theory is mentioned in the Commission of the European Communities in 1990 as a mixture of various socially sustainable features that will concentrate future development. It should significantly reduce the need for motor traffic that in turn will gradually reduce the emission of harmful gases into the air.  This idea promotes the use of public transport, walking and bicycle use. The compact city model answers on the relationship between the density and intensity of development. Compact cities are characterized by medium and high density built environment with mixed functional and public open spaces, with certain limits of growth and planning in accordance with the protection of natural resources outside of urban areas. The compact city is homogeneous phenomenon. Creating a compact city includes intensification of built parts and intensification is a dynamic process.

The compact city should be developed around the centers of commercial and social activity that is desirable to gravitate towards public transport. Thus developed focal points with owns public space and parks with greenery. The compact city concept is found today mostly in Europe, America and Japan, as in other industrialized countries and in developing countries in Asia.

Plan of London 2004: a compact city - adequate space. Plan of London from 2004 is the first example in England of a new type of regional plan that promotes London as a sustainable city. Spatial London faces with changes in terms of housing population and increasing of employment. That would mean an increase by 10 % by 2016 to occur with the new development in the existing city limits without expanding the environment. London will become more compact and will develop intensively.

London is one of the three financial centers in the world. Especially it is suitable for international migration which up to 100 000 per year. According to current estimates the population in London is expected to grow to 8.2 million people by 2021. London Plan contains 28 areas planned for sustainable development which is mostly located in the northeastern and southeastern sub region city. The eastern part of the city is a priority area for development by providing 850 000 new jobs by 2026 people who would be nested in areas off Isle Dogs and Stratford City. New bridges over the Thames are envisaged for transport. Notable are the development plans relating to spatial changes for the Olympic Games that had been held in London in 2012. The plan was criticized for being too centralized and requires more polycentric development outside central London and improving the surrounding transport links, which will allow promotion of new local jobs. London suburban areas occupy 2/3 of the total area of London and are essentially dependent on the transport car. The plan offers development of that suburban areas, particularly by improving the transport system and intensify the potential to the housing and employment in other areas .

Asian compact cities. Asian cities are basically with high-density built up, with use of small vehicles and high use of public transport. It is made a comparison of the nine most important Asian cities which are at different levels of development: Surabaya, Jakarta and Manila which in 1990 were low - developed cities, than Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Seoul were well developed and at the end - Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo were highly developed cities. Just Kuala Lumpur between all these cities has an average density of development and population similar to European cities. It is characteristic that in Asian cities with high population density occur fewer vehicles per capita. The best example for that is Hong Kong where public transport covered 82 % of the total motorized movement in the city in 1990 and only due to the high population density. Large population density allows some distance by passing with pedestrian movement without ever having used motor traffic of any kind. High density of population is the reason why Asian cities have high density of built up and small length of roads and fewer vehicles. In such circumstances, it is logical traffic capacity is less per capita unlike cities and regions with low population density. Some Asian cities have well- organized fast roads. In 1990 Hong Kong had a 4.4 m fast road of 1 hectare of urbanized land, Kuala Lumpur 2.6m in 1985 and already 4.1m in 1997, Seoul in 1995 has 3.1m per hectare and Singapore in 1990 has 3.3m per hectare.

Much of the residential neighborhoods in Asian cities are planned and designed for housing, but without mass use of cars and thus imposes public transport. The high level of use of cars is unacceptable for urban high population density. Therefore in Asian countries is a popular movement with bicycles and mopeds.

http://www.archh.com/blogs/104/models-and-opportunities-for-sustainable-urban-development-compact-city/

Models and opportunities for sustainable urban development - Polycentric urban development

http://www.archh.com/blogs/99/models-and-opportunities-for-sustainable-urban-development-polycentric-urban-development/

There is no doubt that the city is the dominant type of human settlement, especially given that the half the world's population is settled in the cities and urban life is the leading form in all environments.  Increasing urban population is closely tied to the relocation of the population, particularly the rural abandonment and resettlement in urban areas. With such a rate of migration very soon 90 % of the world's population would live in urban areas. Cities that abrupt and rapid increases have major problems with environmental pollution. The most important element here is the human dimension that must be taken into account. Currently 60 % of the world's population already lives in urban areas, of which 65 % live in cities with more than 2.5 million inhabitants . It is expected that already in 2020 the world population will be 8 billion people. 

Sustainable urbanization also need to recognize new spatial models. Urban development couldn't be based on standardized models.

Polycentric urban development is based on the idea of a space where dominate multiple centers. This model begins its development in the 1970s of the last century over decentralization of economic activities, growing mobility of capital, labor and technology progress. Polycentricism refers to the morphology of the urban centers, the composition and the relationship of urban centers in the urban hierarchy.

Polycentric urban development is actually a decentralized urban development. The globalization on the world stage brought networked cities, synonym for capital growth (over-population, over-consumption, over-construction ...). The size of the city is in negative correlation with fuel for transportation. This applies especially to the rural areas which are attached to their cities where people work. That people use cars to pass this distance. One of the ideas is to create an urban environment that will ensure a quality life is with re-creating small neighborhoods like the so-called new urban villages decentralized geographically and institutionally. In this case it is not about city gardens, but geographically dispersed communities that containing houses with enough space around, so people can deal with agriculture and to produce food and other goods necessary for life. The traditional life there would be complemented by new telecommunication related life as a modern model and quality of life.

What is problematic in decentralized environments is the need to bring electricity to the same level as in urban areas which made the whole procedure more expensive. Also, it is unclear how much human dimension has telecommunications and the Internet social activity services that are inevitable for decentralized urban development.

Stockholm is a city recognized as “green and blue city “due to the large areas of greenery and blue sea around the islands on which the city is built. Stockholm today was the result of planning and development strategies of the last century. Since the 1920s, the city began with activities for promotion of affordable and decent houses for their residents. An important part of that strategy was to buy land for development and also to protect the area provided for recreation.  In the early 1950s was made the city planning development strategy.  New suburban areas were planned along the metro line, thus each suburban area is specific neighborhood with social and commercial core, houses with large population density together with detached houses. Green structure was placed in the form of parks and green areas that divide neighborhoods from each other. In addition, significant was installation of infrastructure across the region, particularly heating, water and sewage. Significant investments have been invested in developing an efficient public transport system based on a network of metro rail lines and connecting suburban communities. Today the city is facing new challenges in creating sustainable modern city. City Council in 1999 approve new urban plan of Stockholm 99.  In the process of developing the plan involved a multitude of citizens, organizations, local governments, companies-through public meetings and exhibitions of the plan. It is important to point out that Stockholm has a tradition of dialogue and discussion with citizens about their plans which is planned.  As much as is increasing awareness of citizens it is easier to implement program sustainability and preservation of the environment. The idea is to reuse and redevelopment of old industrial areas and changing the existing infrastructure. Several of these areas for development will be connected with high-speed rail system that will enable the development of urban nuclei in places where rail meets metro lines.

The first area of development was the area of the old docks and industry that transformed into a modern part with 8000 apartments and population of 20000 residents. The area should have its own recycling model and treatment of waste and sewage. The plan includes a new subway line and a highly developed network of pedestrian movement and bicycle paths. Another area is Kista ( "wireless Internet Valley " ) where are placed significant leading companies in the telecom and Internet market and the Nordic world , and the largest pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with research centers. In Stockholm 70 % of the population used public transportation to get to work from their residence in suburban areas.

The possibilities for developing are specific for each city and have to be established in terms of the context and the region.  Urban development should be conducted in cooperation with the public and community, social priorities, the establishment of urban form and care for the local environment. Residents should be encouraged to build cheaper and healthier houses and flats for housing. Cities have to plan their expansions in order to meet the emerging needs of the expanding residential areas, spaces for sport and recreation spaces for playgrounds and space for agricultural production.

Bridges between art and science

As a guest blogger  I publish at Mar 30, 2014 this text at www.archh.com :  

When Art And Science Combine To Create The Most Innovative Bridge Designs

http://www.archh.com/blogs/95/when-art-and-science-combine-to-create-the-most-innovative-bridge-designs/

I have also my attempt of design a bridge. The projected pedestrian and bicycle bridge represents architectural – constructive response for the concourse subject “The Drava River Area” for rearranging the town of Maribor in the European Capital of culture in 2012. The bridge itself is modern creation of significant urban element, functionally embedded in the urban tissue and stands for a sustainable structure. 

Proposed solution of this footbridge is compatible with the history artifacts in Lent and Tabor area and also natural attributes of Drava embankment. The bridge is placed in harmony with the surrounding of historic town core of Maribor, and in correlation with the other bridges on river Drava. It is very interesting to highlight on the relation with the neighboring bridge – the Main Bridge. The bridge provides movement for all users – pedestrians, bicycles (with speed approx to the pedestrian`s), and it is accessible to the persons with special needs.

The bridge composition reminds on longitudinal and open tube, embedded with “wings” of precast wooden elements. These wings are centripetally overcrossing each other symmetrically from both sides of the horizontal axis that passes through the center of circles, forming the constructive elements of the columns (piers). This game of visual overcrossing, underneath and above, metaphorically is presenting the body of vine – personification of “Stara trta”, or the oldest noble vine in the world, 400 years existing in Lent, on the left bank of river Drava. The composition made by arched wings is placed symmetrically to the central bridge axis and in the hanging direction, provides an open sight to the town panorama and view towards the other Drava bridges. The whole bridge is transparent and light, exciting and dynamic, enwrapped with wood (wooden precast wings), wooden handrails and wooden base for movement in glass combination that initiates comfortable ambience of warmth and nature. Both columns (piers) on which the bridge cables are hanging are symbolizing the town gates, existing in the time duration of the previous bridge on both banks of river Drava. 

The idea of central motto “Pure energy” which characterizes Maribor as European Capital in 2012 is connected with the future sustainable development.  That is in the very essence of this task, to promote the pedestrian and bicycle movement as healthy and clean way of transport. The proposed bridge solution gives opportunity for combined movement of pedestrians and bicycles. Beside this, the bridge itself uses energy efficient technology for lighting. With placed photovoltaic cells on small panels embedded in the constructive bridge elements – it is possible to absorb the daylight, which will be essential source for night bridge lighting. This way the bridge gains another quality, because of sustainability.