Globalization ; Large city ; Right to the city ; Urban geography ; Urban policy ; Urban social movement ; Urban society ; Urbanization
In Le Droit à la Ville (1968), Lefebvre projects the urban trajectory of his day into the sci-fi imaginary of Asimov's remarkable Foundation series. In La Révolution Urbaine (1970), Lefebvre had already begun hinting at a new reality, not only
an urban society, but of planetary urbanization. Today, four decades on, Asimov's extraterrestrial universe seems closer to home than ever, and closer to Lefebvre's own terrestrial prognostications : planetary urbanization is creating a whole new spatial
world (dis)order. The article tries to rethink theoretically the urban question and the question of urban politics in our era of planetary urbanization, working through the political role of the urban in the light of recent ‘Occupy’ mobilizations.
This article considers wastelands or anomalous spaces of urban nature as an interdisciplinary terrain that extends from renewed interest in urban biodiversity to alternative conceptions of landscape authenticity. It is suggested that a more
theoretically nuanced and historically grounded conception of the intersections between critical cultural discourses and recent advances in urban ecology might provide a useful counterpoint to narrowly utilitarian approaches to urban nature.
The travels of critiques of neoliberalism. Urban experiences from the “borderlands”
Concept ; Critical geography ; Epistemology ; Governance ; Neo liberalism ; Portugal ; Role of the State ; Urban policy ; Urban renewal ; Urban theory ; Urbanization
Using the case of a state-led urban regeneration program implemented in Portugal since 2000, the Polis Program, this article discusses the hegemonic status of neoliberalism as a theoretical concept and as an analytical framework and on discussions
about the travels of dominant critiques of neoliberalism beyond the sites of epistemological production. It argues that the current analytical overinvestment in neoliberalism may obscure important drivers of contemporary urbanization and that recourse
to a diversity of concepts may be a more profitable line of inquiry. It suggests that current efforts at epistemological renewal within urban studies benefit from taking up cities in the “borderlands” of urban theory as relevant cases in their own right.
The article contends that critical urban research is characterized by horizontalism. It argues that the swathe of recent urban writings have neglected the vertical qualities of contemporary urbanization. The paper then elucidates three areas where
vertically oriented research is emerging. These encompass : the links between Google Earth and urbanism ; the connections between social secession and ascension through buildings, walkways and personalized air travel ; and the links between verticalized
Cities within the city : do-it-yourself urbanism and the right to the city
Activism ; Appropriation of land ; Australia ; Citizenship ; Creativity ; Local policy ; Right to the city ; Sydney ; Urban area ; Urban policy ; Urbanism
The article asks to what extent such practices constitute a new form of urban politics that might give birth to a more just and democratic city. In answering this question, it considers these so-called ‘do-it-yourself urbanisms’ from the perspective
of the ‘right to the city’. After critically assessing that concept, it argues that in order for do-it-yourself urbanist practices to generate a wider politics of the city through the appropriation of urban space, they also need to assert new forms of authority
in the city based on the equality of urban inhabitants. This claim is illustrated through an analysis of the do-it-yourself practices of Sydney-based activist collective BUGA UP and the New York and Madrid Street Advertising Takeovers.
Watering our cities : The capacity for Water Sensitive Urban Design to support urban cooling and improve human thermal comfort in the Australian context
Australia ; Climatic change ; Comfort ; Evapotranspiration ; Green infrastructure ; Heat island ; Impact ; Infiltration ; Town ; Urban climate ; Urban cooling ; Urban ecology ; Vegetation ; Water resources
This paper draws on existing literature to demonstrate the potential of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) to help improve outdoor human thermal comfort in urban areas and support Climate Sensitive Urban Design (CSUD) objectives within
the Australian context. WSUD provides a mechanism for retaining water in the urban landscape through stormwater harvesting and reuse while also reducing urban temperatures through enhanced evapotranspiration and surface cooling. Research suggests that WSUD
Australian urban environments for landscape irrigation and soil moisture replenishment to maximize the urban climatic benefits of existing vegetation and green spaces.
Spatial correlations between urbanization and river water pollution in the heavily polluted area of Taihu Lake Basin, China
Anhui ; China ; Lake ; Population growth ; River ; Urban development ; Urban growth ; Urbanization ; Water pollution ; Water quality ; Watershed
This article analyses the spatial correlations between urbanization and river water pollution in the heavily polluted area of Taihu Lake Basin, China. The results show that the urban township units have the highest level of urbanization and highest
pollution, but the best water quality; meanwhile the suburban units have lower level of urbanization, but higher pollution and worse water quality. However, the rural units have the lowest level of urbanization and lowest pollution, mainly affected
by upstream pollution, but worst water quality. Lastly, urban and rural planning committees should gradually resolve the issue of pollution control lagging behind urban life and urban development, giving priority to construction of centralized sewage treatment
Digitizing the dragon head, geo-coding the urban landscape. GIS and the transformation of China’s urban governance
China ; Geographical information system ; Governance ; Guangdong ; Knowledge ; Shenzhen ; Urban area ; Urban change ; Urban landscape
Through an in-depth case study of Shenzhen, this article analyzes how urban GIS has been transformed from a practice involving internal organizational workflow automation, into a more active dimension of the governance of urban spaces-reflected
in the expanding practice of “geo-coding” the urban landscape. It demonstrates that GIS practices constitute a particular form of geographic rationality that seeks to govern at a distance while simultaneously regulating the urban environment, intersecting
with the broader transformations of China’s urban governance. It concludes that these developments have been largely government-centric rather than citizencentric, yet they provide possibilities for new forms of spatial knowledge production for citizen
Technifying public space and publicizing infrastructures : exploring new urban political ecologies through the square of General Vara del Rey
Architecture ; Infrastructure ; Madrid ; Political ecology ; Public space ; Spain ; Technology ; Urban area ; Urban planning
The article explores new ways of integrating technology, nature and infrastructures into urban public spaces. It is done through a case study, the design of this square of Madrid, which is offered here as a model to explore a novel urban political
ecology. Through the double movement of ‘the technification of public space’ and ‘the publicization of infrastructures’, the square aims to rethink the political ecology of urban public spaces. The transformation of infrastructures into fully visible
, public and political agents provides a useful model to address the growing proliferation of infrastructural and technological elements onto contemporary urban surfaces and to open up the possibility of new forms of civic participation and engagement.
A smooth ride ? From industrial to creative urbanism in Oshawa, Ontario
Canada ; Creative city ; Local development ; Ontario ; University ; Urban economy ; Urbanism
development. Planners and policymakers that mistake the complexities of economic restructuring for a smooth urban transition put the cities at risk of creating new problems out of efforts to improve local conditions.
A note on the average density function in urban analysis
Distance from city centre ; Population density ; Spatial structure ; Urban area
It is argued that the density function, commonly used in the study of urban spatial structure, is more appropriately described as the ‘marginal density function’. From such a marginal density function, it is possible to derive two types of average
of the urban context. The two types of average density function are examined for different underlying forms of the marginal density function. Of the two types, the second has a greater applicability than the first in the analysis of urban spatial structure.
2013
[b2] School of Social and Political Sciences: Urban Studies, Univ., Glasgow, Royaume-Uni
Missing the point? Urban planning and the normalisation of ‘pathological’ spaces in southern Africa
Africa ; Central Africa ; Informality ; Livelihood ; Planning ; South Africa ; Street vendors ; Urban economy ; Urban planning
In this paper, the author demonstrates that urban planning systems have been mobilised to correct or eliminate ‘spatial pathologies’ through illustrative cases from southern Africa (Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe). He
argues that the authorities’ obsession with ‘normalising’ urban spaces they have designated as ‘pathologies’ is misplaced because it defies the reality on the ground. He analyses the effectiveness of ‘corrective’ measures that exclude and marginalise
2013
[b1] Urban Studies, School of Social and Political Sciences, Univ., Glasgow, Royaume-Uni
Dialectics ; Marxism ; Political ecology ; Post-colonialism ; Radical geography ; Research ; Right to the city ; Urban geography ; Urban social movement ; Urbanism
Aided with French and German scholarship, the paper takes stock of Lefebvre’s relevance in contemporary English-speaking urban research on social movements, postcolonial situations, the state, scale, gender, urban political ecology, regulation
, and the right to the city. What becomes clear from this survey is that Lefebvre’s capacity to contribute to cutting-edge urban research requires a selective translation of his work. While the modalities of translating Lefebvre vary depending on the subject
matter, transfiguring Lefebvre for today is most plausible when taking into account the dialectical nature of his urbanism and the open-ended and integral character of his marxism.
Primerjava poletne onesnaženosti zraka z dušikovim dioksidom v Ljubljani med letoma 2005 in 2013
Comparaison de la pollution estivale de l'air par le dioxyde d'azote à Ljubljana entre 2005 et 2013
Atmospheric pollution ; Ljubljana ; Nitrogen dioxide ; Pollution ; Slovenia ; The 2000's ; Urban area ; Urban ecology ; Urban transport
the results of NO2 measuring campaigns in Ljubljana during the summers of 2005 and 2013 and seek to explain the differences in the pollution of diverse urban space types and for the significant decrease of concentrations in all types of urban space. - (IKR)
In Ljubljana, the air pollution by NO2 is mainly caused by transportation. The AA. focus on traffic-related air pollution in three different types of urban space: urban background, open space near the roads, and street canyon. They compare
What drives the spatial development of urban villages in China?
China ; Employment ; Guangdong ; Land ; Land market ; Land rent ; Land use ; Location ; Shenzhen ; Urban development ; Urban village ; Urbanization
This paper tests the hypothesis that the driving factors of built intensity in rural villages in Shenzenare analogous to factors that drive land prices in the formal city. Results of multivariate regression models of the built intensity of urban
villages across the city show a remarkable resemblance to hedonic models of land prices elsewhere. Location matters and access to employment, along with development constraints,are the most important determinants for the development of Shenzhen’s urban
Cultural studies ; Islam ; Istanbul ; Neighbourhood ; Neo liberalism ; Poverty ; Social policy ; Turkey ; Urban policy ; Urban renewal
This paper discusses the changing urban policy framework in Turkey through the analysis of a unique coupling of neoliberalism and Islamism. It explains that Turkey’s Justice and Development Party has successfully established networks of economic
and political interdependence by appeasing both the emergent Islamic capitalist class through lucrative contracts and business-friendly reforms, and the urban poor through gestures ingrained in traditional Islamic community values and morality. The working
of this co-articulation is examined in the case of an urban renewal project in a peripheral neighbourhood in Istanbul.
Sustainability analysis of the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou City based on information entropy between 2004 and 2010
China ; Ecosystem ; Entropy ; Guangdong ; Guangzhou ; Pollution control ; Socio-economic system ; Sustainable development ; Urban area
This paper analyzes the ability of the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou City to sustain development from the perspective of entropy. The research was carried out in 3 steps. First, an evaluation index system that considers the ability of the urban
ecosystem for sustainable development was formed based on the structures and functions of the urban ecosystem and the change in the entropy of the urban socioeconomic ecosystem. Second, the sustainable development ability assessment model for the urban
ecosystem was built using information entropy. Last, by combining the time series variation of the evaluation indicators with the entropy weights, this paper analyzed the influence of the combined factors on the sustainable development ability of the urban
ecosystem in Guangzhou and suggested some measures to promote the sustainable development of the urban ecosystem in Guangzhou.
Urban soil organic carbon and its spatial heterogeneity in comparison with natural and agricultural areas in the Moscow region
Carbon ; Comparative study ; Cultivated land ; European part of Russia ; Human impact ; Land use ; Moscow ; Natural region ; Soil ; Soil properties ; Urban area
This study aims to improve our understanding of urban soil organic carbon (SOC) in comparison with agricultural and natural areas for the Moscow region (Russia). SOC content was studied in different land use types, soils, and urban zones through
stratified random sampling. SOC contents were significantly higher in urban areas compared with non-urban areas. Further analyses proved that the difference can be explained by the so-called cultural layer, which is the result of human residential activity
and settlement history. SOC contents in the urban environment presented a very high spatial heterogeneity with standard deviations of urban SOC considerably higher than those for agricultural and natural areas. It is concluded that urban SOC should not be ignored
Building on well developed research frameworks in neoliberalism studies, this article proposes a set of analytical tools to interpret links between particular projects and homogenizing practices. It illustrates this with a case study of urban
“megaevents” (eg Olympic Games or football World Cup), demonstrating how ideological commitments to event-based development strategies allow both the homogenizing imposition of entrepreneurial urban policy, and localized innovations in urban governance.