Transport planning and its impact on city competitiveness

The economic and productive development of a region is closely tied to its transport infrastructure. Adequate transport infrastructure enables companies to increase their production levels as a result of lowered logistical costs, inventory savings and access to larger supply and labour markets. The competitiveness of a city depends on elements of its economy and other aspects such as social disciplines. Despite being a rather broadly defined concept, it is widely used to categorise and compare cities, projecting the image of a prosperous city in the public eye. The aim of this issue of the Bulletin is to identify the role played by investments in transport in the competitiveness of a specific city and to demonstrate the need for adequate transport planning to ensure that economic development does not interfere with the quality of life of city dwellers.

Urban food planning, city logistics and sustainability: the role of the wholesale produce market. The cases of Parma and Bologna food hubs.

At global level, the population is increasingly concentrating in the cities. In Europe, around 75% of the population lives in urban areas and, according to the European Environmental Agency (2010), urban population is foreseen to increase up to 80 % by 2020. At the same time, the quality of life in the cities is declining and urban pollution keeps increasing in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, waste, noise, and lack of greenery. Many of European cities struggle to cope with social, economic and environmental problems resulting from pressures such as overcrowding or decline, social inequity, health problems related to food security and pollution. Nowadays local authorities try to solve these problems related to the environmental sustainability through various urban logistics measures, which directly and indirectly affect the urban food supply system, thus an integrated approach including freight transport and food provisioning policies issues is needed. This research centres on the urban food transport system and its impact on the city environmental sustainability. The main question that drives the research analysis is "How the urban food distribution system affects the ecological sustainability in modern cities?" The research analyses the city logistics project for food transport implemented in Parma, Italy, by the wholesale produce market. The case study investigates the renewed role of the wholesale market in the urban food supply chain as commercial and logistic operator, referring to the concept of food hub. Then, a preliminary analysis on the urban food transport for the city of Bologna is presented. The research aims at suggesting a methodological framework to estimate the urban food demand, the urban food supply and to assess the urban food transport performance, in order to identify external costs indicators that help policymakers in evaluating the environmental sustainability of different logistics measures

Recycling the city: a sustainable planning framework to reduce, reuse and recycle urban residual spaces

Cities are key locations where Sustainability needs to be addressed at all levels, as land is a finite resource. However, not all urban spaces are exploited at best, and land developers often evaluate unused, misused, or poorly-designed urban portions as impracticable constraints. Further, public authorities lose the challenge to enable and turn these urban spaces into valuable opportunities where Sustainable Urban Development may flourish. Arguing that these spatial elements are at the centre of SUD, the paper elaborates a prototype in the form of a conceptual strategic planning framework, committed to an effective recycling of the city spaces using a flexible and multidisciplinary approach. Firstly, the research focuses upon a broad review of Sustainability literature, highlighting established principles and guidelines, building a sound theoretical base for the new concept. Hence, it investigates origins, identifies and congruently suggests a definition, characterisation and classification for urban “R-Spaces”. Secondly, formal, informal and temporary fitting functions are analysed and inserted into a portfolio meant to enhance adaptability and enlarge the choices for the on-site interventions. Thirdly, the study outlines ideal quality requirements for a sustainable planning process. Then, findings are condensed in the proposal, which is articulated in the individuation of tools, actors, plans, processes and strategies. Afterwards, the prototype is tested upon case studies: Solar Community (Casalecchio di Reno, Bologna) and Hyllie Sustainable City Project, the latter developed via an international workshop (ACSI-Camp, Malmö, Sweden). Besides, the qualitative results suggest, inter alia, the need to right-size spatial interventions, separate structural and operative actors, involve synergies’ multipliers and intermediaries (e.g. entrepreneurial HUBs, innovation agencies, cluster organisations…), maintain stakeholders’ diversity and create a circular process open for new participants. Finally, the paper speculates upon a transfer of the Swedish case study to Italy, and then indicates desirable future researches to favour the prototype implementation.

Port planning for the Port of Vigo using port and city integration criteria

Project planning and architectural management of a port area should include many variables, it must be in harmony with its environment and its historical development as the key to successful integration. This article explains the elements which should be taken into account when doing such planning by describing the proposal presented on the ?Concurso public internacional de ideas para proyectar la ordenación urbanística y arquitectónica del área central del puerto de Vigo?, with the aim of sharing comprehensive applied design philosofy, it will inspire and help future designers. Creative imagination is great added value to engineering creations, but should not overwhelm functionality and sustainability, but to be in harmony with them. The maximum aesthetic expression in engineering is achieved as the product of the conceptual elegance of the functionality of the structures.

Crisis and the city: neoliberalism, austerity planning and the production of space

The current crisis, with its particularly severe configuration in Southern European countries, provides an opportunity to probe the interrelation of economic crunches and the production of space, and also to imagine potential paths of sociospatial emancipation from the dictates of global markets. This introductory chapter offers a preliminary interpretive framework exploring the fundamental role of urban and territorial restructuring in the formation, management and resolution of capitalist crises and, conversely, periods of crisis as key stages in the history of urbanization. I will begin by contextualizing the 2007-8 economic slump, the subsequent global recession and its uneven impact on states and cities in the longue durée of capitalist productions of space, studying the transformation of spatial configurations in previous episodes of economic stagnation. This broader perspective will then be used to analyze currently emerging formations of austerity urbanism, showing how the practices of crisis management incorporate a strategy for economic and institutional restructuring that eventually impacts on urban policy, and indeed in the production of urban space itself.

Geology for planning at Crescent City, Illinois /

Includes bibliographical references (p. 15).

Guideposts for community planning; a report of the community survey, Oklahoma City, Okla., 1952-56.

Mode of access: Internet.

An operational research-based integrated approach for mass evacuation planning of a city

Large-scale disasters are constantly occurring around the world, and in many cases evacuation of regions of city is needed. ‘Operational Research/Management Science’ (OR/MS) has been widely used in emergency planning for over five decades. Warning dissemination, evacuee transportation and shelter management are three ‘Evacuation Support Functions’ (ESF) generic to many hazards. This thesis has adopted a case study approach to illustrate the importance of integrated approach of evacuation planning and particularly the role of OR/MS models. In the warning dissemination phase, uncertainty in the household’s behaviour as ‘warning informants’ has been investigated along with uncertainties in the warning system. An agentbased model (ABM) was developed for ESF-1 with households as agents and ‘warning informants’ behaviour as the agent behaviour. The model was used to study warning dissemination effectiveness under various conditions of the official channel. In the transportation phase, uncertainties in the household’s behaviour such as departure time (a function of ESF-1), means of transport and destination have been. Households could evacuate as pedestrians, using car or evacuation buses. An ABM was developed to study the evacuation performance (measured in evacuation travel time). In this thesis, a holistic approach for planning the public evacuation shelters called ‘Shelter Information Management System’ (SIMS) has been developed. A generic allocation framework of was developed to available shelter capacity to the shelter demand by considering the evacuation travel time. This was formulated using integer programming. In the sheltering phase, the uncertainty in household shelter choices (either nearest/allocated/convenient) has been studied for its impact on allocation policies using sensitivity analyses. Using analyses from the models and detailed examination of household states from ‘warning to safety’, it was found that the three ESFs though sequential in time, however have lot of interdependencies from the perspective of evacuation planning. This thesis has illustrated an OR/MS based integrated approach including and beyond single ESF preparedness. The developed approach will help in understanding the inter-linkages of the three evacuation phases and preparing a multi-agency-based evacuation planning evacuation

Museum of urban development and headquarters for the planning/preservation department of the city of Miami Beach.

The objective of this research and thesis was to develop a program and project in the context of the Historic Art Deco District in Miami Beach. This project intended to analyze the chronological history of the urban development of the Art Deco District, its geographical, political and socio-cultural conditions as well as the evolution and different architectonic typologies of the area. In order to understand the issues involved in design in a historic context, this research addressed and analyzed several architectonic interventions within various historic places. This research concluded with the design of a public facility located at Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, consisting of a Museum of Urban Development and Headquarters for the Planning/Preservation Department of the City of Miami Beach. The project proposal and thesis, addresses architectonic and theoretical issues specific to design in an historic area.

Climate change adaptation planning under uncertainty in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: a case study on institutional vulnerability, adaptive capacity and climate change governance

Climate change is expected to have wide-ranging impacts on urban areas and creates additional challenges for sustainable development. Urban areas are inextricably linked with climate change, as they are major contributors to it, while also being particularly vulnerable to its impacts. Climate change presents a new challenge to urban areas, not only because of the expected rises in temperature and sea-level, but also the current context of failure to fully address the institutional barriers preventing action to prepare for climate change, or feedbacks between urban systems and agents. Despite the importance of climate change, there are few cities in developing countries that are attempting to address these issues systematically as part of their governance and planning processes. While there is a growing literature on the risks and vulnerabilities related to climate change, as yet there is limited research on the development of institutional responses, the dissemination of relevant knowledge and evaluation of tools for practical planning responses by decision makers at the city level. This thesis questions the dominant assumptions about the capacity of institutions and potential of adaptive planning. It argues that achieving a balance between climate change impacts and local government decision-making capacity is a vital for successful adaptation to the impacts of climate change. Urban spatial planning and wider environmental planning not only play a major role in reducing/mitigating risks but also have a key role in adapting to uncertainty in over future risk. The research focuses on a single province - the biggest city in Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City - as the principal case study to explore this argument, by examining the linkages between urban planning systems, the structures of governance, and climate change adaptation planning. In conclusion it proposes a specific framework to offer insights into some of the more practical considerations, and the approach emphasises the importance of vertical and horizontal coordination in governance and urban planning.

Towards the Enabling City: Intermediate Places between Practices and Planning for Social Innovation in Bologna

The research investigates the interaction between social innovation practices and urban planning, assuming as a case study and field of application the city of Bologna, observed from the point of view of the production of urban policies and with respect to the places where it is practiced. Social innovation are localised actions tackling current urban complexities with micro-scale practices of service and urban production, by which new urban actors find answers to social needs, which are less afforded by the market and the public sectors. Planning and social innovation practices are two dimensions working in the city in different but complementary ways, subject to a mismatch. Through the lenses of interaction, the research explores the context of Bologna, a paradigmatic study and application field, a laboratory of innovative policies where a tradition of collective civic initiatives intertwines with a more responsible institutional planning framework. After drawing from area-based policies of Berlin and Barcelona, the thesis reads the role of specific intermediate places, mediators in bridging the level of institutions and the practices. Through an inventory and a cross-cutting taxonomy of intermediate places, the research draws the knowledge to inform a new urban model for the city of Bologna, aimed at overtake the mismatches by enabling the practices to act, allowing urban planning to frame them in a cross-fertilisation dimension. The proposed urban diagrammatic model, foresees intermediate places as local socio-urban observatories for research and development, interacting with both institutions and communities. The goal is to critically explore the limits and widen the meaning of the capacity of action of social innovation practices engaging in mutual-learning with the city. The model suggests a new possibility for reflection on urban planning as a more flexible approach, which translates the numerous experiences of the city into alternatives and multiple visions.

Greening the city: an ecosystem-based framework to support planning towards urban sustainability and resilience

Cities are small-scale complex socio-ecological systems, that host around 60% of world population. Ecosystem Services (ES) provided by urban ecosystems offer multiple benefits necessary to cope with present and future urban challenges. These ES include microclimate regulation, runoff control, as well as opportunities for mental and physical recreation, affecting citizen’s health and wellbeing. Creating a balance between urban development, land take containment, climate adaptation and availability of Urban Green Areas and their related benefits, can improve the quality of the lives of the inhabitants, the economic performance of the city and the social justice and cohesion aspects. This work starts analysing current literature around the topic of Ecosystem Services (ES), Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI) and Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and their integration within current European and International sustainability policies. Then, the thesis focuses on the role of ES, GBI and NBS towards urban sustainability and resilience setting the basis to build the core methodological and conceptual approach of this work. The developed ES-based conceptual approach provides guidance on how to map and assess ES, to better inform policy making and to give the proper value to ES within urban context. The proposed interdisciplinary approach navigates the topic of mapping and assessing ES benefits in terms of regulatory services, with a focus on climate mitigation and adaptation, and cultural services, to enhance wellbeing and justice in urban areas. Last, this thesis proposes a trans-disciplinary and participatory approach to build resilience over time around all relevant urban ES. The two case studies that will be presented in this dissertation, the city of Bologna and the city of Barcelona, have been used to implement, tailor and test the proposed conceptual framework, raising valuable inputs for planning, policies and science.