The role of the urban support in the regeneration of vulnerable neighbourhoods

The processes of social and urban segregation have got worse during the last decades. Several studies have deepened into the analysis of the causes and consequences of these processes and have tried to define solutions that beyond eradicating some specific problems, were aimed at the consolidation of sustainable urban environments. This paper presents an approach to the problem of urban inequality based on the concept of urban vulnerability as something that goes beyond the social and economic problems. In exclusion processes it is very important to consider the urban context and the physical and structural conditions not only in each neighborhood but also in the city as a whole. The paper seeks to pose a reflection on the urban support, which is understood in all its complexity and thought to be a key to ensure access and the right to the city of the citizens most in need.

Urbanism and dictatorship: perspectives of the field of urban studies

In 1933 public letter to Wilhelm Furtwängler, Joseph Goebbels synthesized the official understanding of the link between politics, art and society in the early steps of the Third Reich. By assuming the ethos of art, politics acquired a plastic agency to mold its objects —population and the state— as a unified entity in the form of a ‘national-popular community’ (Volksgemeinschaft); in turn, by infusing art with a political valence, it became part of a wider governmental apparatus that reshaped aesthetic discourses and practices. Similar remarks could be made about the ordering of cities and territories in this period. Dictatorial imaginations mobilized urbanism —including urban theory, urban design and planning— as a fundamental tool for social organization. Under their aegis the production of space became a moment in a wider production of society. Many authors suggest that this political-spatial nexus is intrinsic to modernity itself, beyond dictatorial regimes. In this light, I propose to use dictatorial urbanisms as an analytical opportunity to delve into some concealed features of modern urban design and planning. This chapter explores some of these aspects from a theoretical standpoint, focusing on the development of dictatorial planning mentalities and spatial rationalities and drawing links to other historical episodes in order to inscribe the former in a broader genealogy of urbanism. Needless to say, I don’t suggest that we use dictatorships as mere templates to understand modern productions of space. Instead, these cases provide a crude version of some fundamental drives in the operationalization of urbanism as an instrument of social regulation, showing how far the modern imagination of sociospatial orderings can go. Dictatorial urbanisms constituted a set of experiences where many dreams and aspirations of modern planning went to die. But not, as the conventional account would have it, because the former were the antithesis of the latter, but rather because they worked as the excess of a particular orientation of modern spatial governmentalities — namely, their focus on calculation, social engineering and disciplinary spatialities, and their attempt to subsume a wide range of everyday practices under institutional structuration by means of spatial mediations. In my opinion the interest of dictatorial urbanisms lies in their role as key regulatory episodes in a longer history of our urban present. They stand as a threshold between the advent of planning in the late 19th and early 20th century, and its final consolidation as a crucial state instrument after World War II. We need, therefore, to pay attention to these experiences vis-à-vis the alleged ‘normal’ development of the field in contemporary democratic countries in order to develop a full comprehension thereof.

Urban voids, spaces of great expectations

Study and progress of urban voids. opportunities for new urban design.

Los residuos de envases y embalajes en edificación residencial. Patrones de generación y estrategias de mejora de su gestión

Uno de los retos a los que se enfrenta la humanidad es la demanda de una sociedad con casi cero residuos: la búsqueda de una economía más eficiente en el uso de los recursos teniendo en cuenta el cambio climático y un abastecimiento sostenible de materias primas que permitan satisfacer las necesidades de una población mundial cada vez mayor, dentro de los límites sostenibles de los recursos naturales del planeta. Abordar este desafío implica la recuperación y reciclaje de materiales para reducir consumos de materias primas y, para ello, debe promoverse la innovación en la prevención y gestión de residuos, como estrategia hacia un desarrollo urbano sostenible. Los envases y embalajes forman parte de la cultura actual, relacionándose con el grado de desarrollo de países y regiones; el sector de la construcción no es ajeno a la problemática y genera un importante volumen de embalajes en las obras que no se gestionan de forma adecuada. El modelo de gestión de Residuos de Construcción Demolición (RCD) actual es poco eficaz, ya que los vertederos siguen recibiendo grandes cantidades de residuos valorizables. La normativa ha conseguido minimizar las prácticas ilegales, pero se comprueba que la gestión actual de los RCD en obra deja en manos de las plantas de tratamiento la misión de separar los residuos según su naturaleza y los datos aportados por las distintas plantas no permiten afirmar el grado de alcance de dicho objetivo, ni el destino de los mismos. Los envases y embalajes son un tipo de residuos que por su naturaleza suponen una fuente de recursos valorizables y por ello están presentes en directivas y leyes, dirigidas fundamentalmente al sector de la alimentación. En el ámbito de la construcción, hasta la fecha, no se habían tratado de forma específica, motivo que justifica este trabajo. Esta Tesis Doctoral tiene como objetivo principal mejorar la gestión de residuos de embalajes procedentes de materiales de construcción. Para ello se estudia un importante conjunto de obras de edificación residencial colectiva de 1173 viviendas, análisis que llevará a conocer los patrones de producción de los Residuos de Envases y Embalajes en Construcción (REEC) e identificar los productos o materiales responsables de su generación. La monitorización realizada, permitirá diseñar estrategias específicas que minimicen la generación de estos residuos y optimicen su valorización. Se ha podido comprobar que el tratamiento particularizado de los REEC puede mejorar los resultados de la gestión del conjunto de RCD, debido a que, al no mezclarse, se elimina un importante agente contaminador de los residuos inertes. Las obras analizadas alcanzan un nivel de segregación in situ muy bajo, y los capítulos de cerramientos e instalaciones suman más del 50% del global de REEC. Particularizando en cada tipo de material, el cartón predomina en los trabajos de electricidad, el plástico en las particiones y la madera en fachadas. Se evalúa la opción del eco-­‐rediseño para uno de los embalajes predominantes, y se identifican estrategias para minimizar su impacto. Se comprueba que el ahorro en la gestión de RCD en caso de impulsar la segregación in situ no es muy significativo en las obras estudiadas, si bien se demuestra que la viabilidad económica es el factor más importante para motivar a las empresas constructoras. Las Administraciones Públicas deberían incentivar la gestión responsable, estableciendo medidas de control en las plantas de tratamiento e implementando en sus obras medidas de gestión de RCD ejemplares para el mercado. Una adecuada planificación de la obra, y formación específica para el personal son medidas que facilitan la segregación in situ y mejoran los resultados. Los promotores, mediante su relación contractual con el resto de agentes, tienen la capacidad de establecer objetivos de reducción, planificación y gestión sostenible de los REEC. Por último, se propone un sistema de gestión de REEC, integrable dentro del Sistema de Gestión de la empresa constructora, que permite evitar que residuos valorizables tales como los envases y embalajes se envíen a vertedero, guiando al sector hacia un futuro más respetuoso, alineado con el desarrollo sostenible. ABSTRACT One of the challenges humanity faces is the demand of an almost zero waste society: the search for a more efficient economy in the use of resources, taking into account climate change and a sustainable supply of raw materials, that meet the needs of an increasing world population within the sustainable limits of the planet's natural resources. Addressing this challenge involves the recovery and recycling of materials to reduce consumption of raw materials, so innovation must therefore be promoted in the prevention and management of waste, as a strategy towards a sustainable urban development. Packaging is part of our current culture and is related to the degree of development of countries and regions; the construction sector is no stranger to this problem and generates a significant amount of packaging waste in the site works, which nowadays is not managed properly. The current Construction Demolition Waste (CDW) management model is ineffective, since landfills continue to receive large amounts of recoverable waste. The legislation has managed to minimize illegal practices, but it has been observed that the current management of CDW in the analysed works leaves the mission of separating waste according to their nature to the plants, and data provided by the latter does not allow for checking the scope of this objective, nor the destiny of the waste. Packaging is a type of waste which, by its nature, represents a source of recoverable resources and is therefore present in directives and laws, focused primarily on the food industry. It has not been specifically treated to date in the construction field, hence the reason that justifies this work. This Thesis aims to improve the management of packaging waste from construction materials. An important set of residential building works with 1173 dwellings is analysed, which leads to knowledge on the production patterns of packaging waste (PW) in the construction industry, and the identification of the products responsible for its generation. The monitorization also allows for the design of specific strategies which minimise the generation of waste and optimize recovery. It has been found that the individualized treatment of PW can improve the results of the management of the whole CDW since, when not mixed, a major pollutant of inert waste is removed. The analysed works reached a very low segregation level and the façades and building services phases account for more than 50% of the overall PW. Focusing on each type of material, cardboard predominates electricity works, plastic on partitions and wood on façades. Eco-­‐redesign is evaluated for one of the predominant packages, and strategies are identified to minimise their impact are . There is evidence that the savings in the CDW management in case of promoting segregation on site are not very significant at the studied works, although economic feasibility is the most important factor to motivate the construction companies. Public Administrations should encourage responsible management, establishing control measures in treatment plants and implementing CDW management exemplary measures on their work sites for the market. A proper planning of the works and specific training for the personnel are measures that facilitate in situ segregation and improve outcomes. The developers, through their contractual relationship with the other agents, have the ability to set reduction targets, planning and sustainable management of PW. Finally, a management system for PW is proposed, integrated within the Management System of the construction company, which aims to avoid that recoverable waste such as packaging is sent to landfill, leading the industry towards a more environmentally friendly future, aligned with sustainable development.

Hybridization Processes: The case of the urban game: Hybrid Hunt: Petrified

The proposal highlights certain design strategies and a case study that can link the material urban space to digital emerging realms. The composite nature of urban spaces ?material/ digital- is understood as an opportunity to reconfigure public urban spaces without high-cost, difficult to apply interventions and, furthermore, to reactivate them by inserting dynamic, interactive and playful conditions that engage people and re-establish their relations to the cities. The structuring of coexisting and interconnected material and digital aspects in public urban spaces is proposed through the implementation of hybridization processes. Hybrid spaces can fascinate and provoke the public and especially younger people to get involved and interact with physical aspects of urban public spaces as well as digital representations or interpretations of those. Digital game?s design in urban public spaces can be comprehended as a tool that allows architects to understand and to configure hybrids of material and digital conceptions and project all in one, as an inseparable totality. Digital technologies have for a long time now intervened in our perception of traditional dipoles such as subject - environment. Architects, especially in the past, have been responsible for material mediations and tangible interfaces that permit subjects to relate to their physical environments in a controlled and regulated manner; but, nowadays, architects are compelled to embody in design, the transition that is happening in all aspects of everyday life, that is, from material to digital realities. In addition, the disjunctive relation of material and digital realms is ceding and architects are now faced with the challenge that supposes the merging of both in a single, all-inclusive reality. The case study is a design project for a game implemented simultaneously in a specific urban space and on the internet. This project developed as the spring semester course New Media in Architecture at the Department of Architecture, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece is situated at the city of Xanthi. Composite cities can use design strategies and technological tools to configure augmented and appealing urban spaces that articulate and connect different realms in a single engaging reality.

Re-Ocupación y/o Re-Construcción de estructuras urbanas en desuso y su conexión con el espacio público y el paisaje

Los nuevos comportamientos urbanos nos permiten observar cada vez con más frecuencia en nuestras calles y plazas realidades que siempre habíamos considerado domésticas. Al contrario también pasa, todos los días vivimos en nuestras casas situaciones que implican relacionarnos con personas que no son de nuestro núcleo familiar. El diseño doméstico de nuestras ciudades y el urbanismo del diseño de interiores parecen herramientas oportunas en el mundo que nos ha tocado vivir. Esto nos lleva a pensar que los espacios públicos y privados son términos simplificados, definidos en base a conceptos de propiedad para organizar la ciudad. En cambio, sus usos y vivencias, su gestión y sus comportamientos se han complejizado, distorsionando la terminología convencional hasta hacerla obsoleta. En este contexto, considerado también el marco socioeconómico actual, surgen las “acciones de abajo a arriba” como nuevo paradigma o modelo de renovación urbana, que entienden la involucración del ciudadano como parte activa en el proceso de construcción de la urbe desde la misma gestación del proyecto, frente a las acciones habituales que consideran al usuario como mero receptor de las propuestas. Un ciudadano que parece estar cada vez más radicalizado y una administración que parece asustarse ante el desconcierto que el acercamiento al ciudadano puede acarrear, han ocasionado por un lado, espacios “gueto” de carácter casi anárquico y, por el otro lado, lugares tan institucionalizados que derivan en espacios asociados a la administración y ajenos al ciudadano. Por ello, se considera imprescindible la colaboración entre ambos poderes. De acuerdo con el discurso que precede, dentro de un marco comparativo, se estudian 5 supuestos seleccionados de las ciudades Madrid y Zaragoza. Madrid porque es referencia nacional e internacional en el desarrollo urbano a través de procesos ‘abajo arriba’. Zaragoza porque es una ciudad ‘media’ que históricamente no se ha definido por estrategias urbanas claras, ya sean de carácter social o institucional. Sin embargo, en el momento actual se pueden identificar planteamientos relacionados con la recuperación de construcciones y espacios vacantes que pueden ser determinantes a la hora de alcanzar equilibrios con los intensos procesos institucionales acaecidos en las dos últimas décadas. De los procesos urbanos registrados en cada lugar, desarrollados en construcciones y espacios vacantes, he seleccionado: Construcciones Vacantes Madrid |Tabacalera de Lavapiés Zaragoza | Antiguo I.E.S. Luis Buñuel y antiguo Convento de Mínimos Espacios Vacantes Madrid | Campo de Cebada [solar] Zaragoza | Patio ‘antiguo I.E.S. Luis Buñuel [espacio libre] y plaza Eduardo Ibarra [espacio libre] El proyecto de investigación ha partido de las hipótesis de partida que siguen: UNA… Las ‘acciones de abajo arriba’ o renovación desde abajo no tienen cabida como elementos urbanos aislados sino conectados entre sí, posibilitando la producción de sinergias y la construcción de la ciudad; pudiendo ser consideradas acciones de desarrollo y enlace urbano, pues su objetivo es convertirse en motores del espacio público. Cuestión que es aplicable al resto de los procesos o acciones urbanas [‘horizontales’ o ‘institucionales’] DOS… La capacidad de adaptación manifestada por las ‘acciones de abajo arriba’ implica un marco ideológico de referencia asociado a la importancia de la construcción con mínimos recursos [Re-ocupación y/o Re- Construcción de estructuras urbanas en desuso] en los procesos urbanos descritos, como vía para comprender los concepto sostenibilidad y calidad figurativa de lo construido. Cuestión que es aplicable a la recuperación de aquellos aspectos de la arquitectura que la convierten en necesaria para la sociedad. Y tiene como objetivo: Identificar modelos de sostenibilidad urbana como una estrategia que va de lo individual a lo colectivo y que se transmite fundamentalmente con la acción, mezclando la innovación y la tecnología en múltiples ámbitos, utilizando los recursos naturales e intelectuales de una manera eficiente y entendiendo la inteligencia humana y sobre todo la inteligencia colectiva, como principio y justificación. Se han analizado los siguientes aspectos: sociales [participación ciudadana e implicación de la administración pública], urbanos [conexiones con otros colectivos o espacios urbanos / transformaciones urbanas a través de los procesos de gestión utilizados], constructivos [materiales utilizados en la re-construcción de construcciones y espacios vacantes / sistemas constructivos utilizados] y los relacionados con la sostenibilidad [sostenibilidad económica / sostenibilidad de mantenimiento / sostenibilidad funcional / inteligencia colectiva] El estudio de los aspectos considerados se ha desarrollado con las herramientas metodológicas siguientes: Entrevistas abiertas a expertos: se han obtenido respuestas de 25 personas expertas [5 por cada espacio o construcción vacante] relacionadas con las acciones urbanas sostenibles, la cultura y las relaciones sociales, y que también conocen los lugares y su entorno desde los puntos de vista urbano y construido. Son ‘tipos ideales’ asociados a uno de los cinco poderes que se manifiestan en la ciudad: el poder educativo [la universidad], el poder creativo [la cultura], el poder administrativo [la política], el poder empresarial [la empresa privada] y los usuarios [un usuario activo y representativo de cada lugar elegido que haya intervenido en la gestación del proceso]. Han sido personas que conocían el tejido social y urbano de la ciudad de Zaragoza y Madrid, ya que la herramienta ‘entrevista abierta a expertos’, recoge datos y opiniones planteadas en las construcciones y espacios vacantes ubicados en Zaragoza y Madrid. Entrevistas cerradas a usuarios: como la población de usuarios que se somete a la investigación es infinita o muy grande, resulta imposible o inconveniente realizar la obtención de los datos sobre todos aquellos elementos que la forman. Por lo tanto, he decidido estudiar sólo una parte de la población que denomino ‘tipos ideales’, obteniendo respuestas de 150 usuarios [30 personas por cada espacio o construcción vacante]. La selección de grupos de personas entrevistadas, debe permitir que los resultados sean representativos de la población total de usuarios. Además, la elección de ‘tipos ideales’ se ha identificado con los vecinos de los núcleos urbanos [o barrios] en los que se ubican las construcciones o espacios vacantes analizados. Observación estructurada: recoger información a través de la observación me ha permitido conocer las actuaciones y comportamientos de los ciudadanos en el medio urbano. Esto ha facilitado el estudio del medio a nivel práctico, valorando el uso que la sociedad da a las construcciones y a los espacios vacantes analizados. Es importante posicionar la estrategia en relación con el tema de investigación propuesto. Una estrategia que dibuje un panorama plural, desarrollado a través de herramientas sociales y constructivas que permitan que la arquitectura hable de cosas parecidas a lo que interesa a la ciudadanía. Para ello, propuse un catálogo de herramientas arquitectónicas que han permitido evaluar todas las propuestas. Un contexto de estrategias comunes que han descrito con los mismos códigos las distintas actuaciones analizadas. Estas herramientas tocan diferentes campos de interés. Desde las partes más tectónicas y constructivas, hasta las más ligadas con el desarrollo urbanístico y social. Acciones de participación colectiva: Experiencias o laboratorios urbanos participados por los alumnos del grado de arquitectura de la UNIZAR y los agentes sociales. Las acciones son una herramienta propositiva. Investigar y analizar proponiendo ha permitido que el análisis del contexto pueda llegar a capas de mucha más profundidad. No se ha trabajado estableciendo jerarquías de profesores y alumnos, sino que se ha intentado posibilitar la conexión de distintos agentes que trabajan coordinadamente durante el tiempo que han durado las acciones. Por un lado esto ha permite que cada integrante haya aportado al grupo lo que mejor sabe hacer y de la misma manera, que cada uno pueda aprender aquello de lo que tenga más ganas… y reflexionar sobre determinados aspectos objeto del análisis. Una vez interpretados los resultados, obtenidos a través de las herramientas metodológicas referenciadas, se ha concluido lo que sigue: Respecto de la Hipótesis de partida UNO LAS ACCIONES ‘ABAJO ARRIBA’ han revelado que no se puede entender ningún proceso de gestión urbana fuera de la participación ciudadana. El ‘ESPACIO LIBRE’ de una ciudad necesita lugares de autogestión, espacios de cogestión, movimientos de ‘arriba abajo’ y también modelos que todavía no sabemos ni que existen. LAS ACCIONES INSTITUCIONALES ‘ARRIBA ABAJO’ han demostrado que no han presentado permeabilidad ni relación con las circulaciones de entorno. Tampoco han tenido en cuenta a otras muchas personas, ‘usuarios productores’, a las que les interesan los procesos de búsqueda y las fórmulas de conexión más interactivas. Respecto de la hipótesis de partida DOS LAS ACCIONES ‘ABAJO ARRIBA’ han revelado que el ‘derecho a la ciudad’, paradigma defendido por Lefebvre desde el cual se piensa el urbanismo ciudadano, en estos supuestos podría entenderse como el ‘derecho a la infraestructura’. El ESPACIO LIBRE es infraestructura y se quiere para infraestructurar los derechos de cada uno. Y aunque también es verdad que estas acciones son simples destellos, han hecho visible otro paradigma de gestión y propuesta urbana que puede ser predominante en un futuro próximo. LAS ACCIONES INSTITUCIONALES ‘ARRIBA ABAJO’ han revelado que las intervenciones estuvieron enfocadas únicamente a la resolución de los procesos constructivos y a la incorporación del programa como un dato ‘problema’ que era necesario resolver para evitar la afección al diseño. ABSTRACT The new urban ways of behaviour let us watch more and more frequently in our streets and squares, realities that we had always considered as domestic. This also happens the other way round. Every day we have to go through situations at home which imply relationships with people who don’t belong to our family circle. The domestic design of our cities and the urban planning of indoor design seem to be adequate tools in the world we have to live in. This leads us to think that public and private spaces are simplified terms, defined according to concepts of property in order to organise the city. On the other hand, its uses and the experiences of people, its management and ways of behaviour is now more complex, changing the conventional terminology that has become outdated. In this context, ‘bottom-up’ actions arise as a new paradigm or model of urban renewal. These actions consider the active role of social participation in the process of building up the city from the very beginning, in comparison with the former way of acting that considered the user as mere receptor of the proposals. A citizen who seems to become more and more radical, and an administration that seems to be afraid of the unknown, have created both almost anarchic ghetto spaces and, on the other hand, spaces which have been so institutionalised that derive into areas associated to the administration but alienated from the citizen. For this reason, cowork of both forces is considered as crucial. In accordance with the above mentioned ideas and within a comparative framework, five situations chosen from the cities of Madrid and Zaragoza are studied. Madrid because is a national and international reference in urban development that uses “bottom-up” processes. Zaragoza because is a “medium-size” city that, historically, has not been defined by clear social or institutional urban strategies. Nevertheless, at the present time we can identify approaches on the recovery of constructions and empty areas that may be determining for reaching a balance with the intense institutional processes that have taken place in the two last decades. From the urban processes registered in every place and developed in vacant areas and constructions, I have chosen: Vacant constructions Madrid | Lavapiés Tobacco Factory Zaragoza | Old Secondary School Luis Buñuel and old Convent of the Minimos Vacant areas Madrid | Campo de Cebada [non-built site]. Zaragoza | Old courtyard of the secondary school and Eduardo Ibarra square [free space] The research project has been issued from the following starting hypotheses: ONE… “Bottom-up actions” or renewal from below have no place as isolated urban elements but as connected parts that can produce synergies and the construction of the city, and that can also be considered as actions producing urban development and links. This can also be applied to the rest of urban processes or actions [‘horizontal’ or ‘institutional’]. TWO… The capacity of adaptation shown by “bottom-up actions” implies an ideological framework of reference which is related to the importance of construction with minimal resources (re-occupation and/or reconstruction of urban structures in disuse) in the above mentioned urban processes, as a way for understanding the concepts of sustainability and the representational quality of what has been constructed. This can also be applied to the recovery of those architectural aspects that make architecture necessary for society. And its objective is: Identify models of urban sustainability as a strategy going from the individual to the collective, which are mainly transferred by action and that mix innovation and technology in many fields. Models that use natural and intellectual resources in an efficient way, and understand human intelligence and, above all, collective intelligence, as principle and justification. The following aspects have been analysed: social [civic participation and involvement of the public Administration], urban [connections with other collectives or urban spaces / urban transformation by the processes of administration used], constructive [materials used for the re-construction of empty spaces / construction systems used] and those focusing on sustainability [economic sustainability /maintenance sustainability /functional sustainability / collective intelligence]. For researching into the above mentioned aspects, the following methodological tools have been developed: Open interviews with experts: answers from 25 experts have been obtained [five for every vacant space or empty construction] on sustainable urban actions, culture and social relations, who also know the places and their environment from an urban and constructive point of view. These are “ideal types” linked to one of the five powers acting in the city: the educational power [University], the creative power [culture], the administration power [politics], the corporate power [private companies] and the users [an active and representative user for every place selected during the establishment of the process]. They were people who knew the social and urban fabric of Zaragoza and Madrid, since the “open interview for experts” tool collects data and points of view set out in vacant constructions and spaces of Zaragoza and Madrid. Close interviews with users: as the number of users targeted for the research is very big or infinite, it is impossible or inconvenient to get data from all its constituent parts. Therefore, I have decided to research into the part of the population that I call “ideal types”, obtaining answers from 150 users [30 people for every empty space or construction]. The selection of the groups of people interviewed must produce results which are representative of the total population of users. Furthermore, the election of “ideal types” has been identified with the inhabitants of urban areas [or city districts] in which the vacant spaces or constructions analysed are located. A structured observation: I have known the actions and ways of behaving of the citizens in the urban environment by means of collecting information after observation. Therefore, the practical research into the target environment has been easier by valuing the use that society gives to the empty constructions and spaces analysed. It is important to position the strategy with respect to the research subject proposed. It involves a strategy able to get an overview of a plural landscape, developed by social and constructive tools, allowing architecture to talk about topics which are interesting for city dwellers. Therefore, I proposed a set of architectural tools to evaluate all the proposals. A context of common strategies describing the different actions analysed by using the same codes. These tools focus on different fields of interests, from the most tectonic and constructive parts, to the most related to urban and social development. Actions on collective participation: experiences or urban laboratories shared by the students of architecture of the University of Zaragoza and social agents. The actions are a proactive tool. Researching and analysing by means of proposing, has allowed me to analyse the context and much deeper layers. This work has not been done by establishing ranks of professors and student, but trying to get an interaction between the different agents who work in close coordination during the implementation of the actions. This has allowed every agent to contribute the group what they do the best, and also every individual has had the possibility to learn what s/he prefers…, thinking about the different aspects targeted by the analysis. Once the different methodological tools have been interpreted, this is the conclusion: With regard to the initial hypothesis ONE “BOTTOM-UP” ACTIONS have proven that no process of urban management can be understood outside civic participation. The “FREE SPACE” of a city needs self-managed places, co-managed spaces, “up-bottom” movements, and also models whose existence is still ignored. “UP-BOTTOM” INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS have proven that they have not presented neither permeability nor relation with local ideas. They have also disregarded many other people, the “usersproducers”, who are interested in the most interactive means of searching and connecting processes. With regard to the initial hypothesis TWO Under these premises, “BOTTOM-UP” ACTIONS have shown that the “right to the city”, a paradigm defended by Lefebvre and from which citizen-focused urbanism is conceived, could be considered as a “right to the infrastructures”. A FREE SPACE is an infrastructure and must be used to “infrastructure” the rights of every citizen. And, even though it is true that these actions are mere flashes, they have made visible another paradigm of management and urban proposal that can be prevailing in a near future. “UP-BOTTOM” INSTITUTIONAL ACTIONS have revealed that the interventions have only focused on resolving construction processes and the incorporation of the program as a “problem” data that was necessary to resolve in order to avoid its influence on the design.

Evaluación del impacto del programa Monumenta en los centros históricos del sur de Brasil : los casos de Pelotas, Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul) y São Francisco do Sul (Santa Catarina)

Esta Tesis tiene como objetivo demostrar que los programas de preservación del patrimonio, durante su fase de implementación, deben someterse a un análisis multidisciplinar que haga un balance de su ejecución. Dicho análisis permitirá identificar resultados significativos, capaces de fundamentar la rectificación de las bases conceptuales de la política pública en cuestión. Este reajuste podrá darse, por lo tanto, durante su vigencia y, de forma más relevante, posteriormente, sus motivos y resultados permitirán elaborar nuevas estrategias que serán aplicadas en futuros programas de intervención. Por otro lado se indagó, además, si las ciudades participantes en un programa nacional de preservación del patrimonio, regidas por normas y metas comunes, podrían alcanzar resultados diferentes. Para atender a estos objetivos, la investigación se encuentra enfocada a la realidad brasileña, siendo seleccionado como objeto de estudio el Programa Monumenta. Este Programa formó parte de la política pública cultural del Ministerio de Cultura con una importante implicación del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Implementado a partir de 1999, procuró promover un proceso de recuperación urbana sostenible y de preservación del patrimonio de 26 Sitios Históricos Urbanos o Conjuntos de Monumentos Urbanos protegidos por el Instituto del Patrimonio Histórico y Artístico Nacional (Iphan). El Programa contó con el apoyo de la Unesco y del Iphan, así como con la participación de las Administraciones Municipales y/o Estatales, sectores privados y la sociedad civil. Las hipótesis planteadas en esta Tesis Doctoral fueron: (a) el análisis de los resultados en la fase de implementación de un programa de preservación del patrimonio es imprescindible, porque permite extraer conclusiones preliminares y orientar sus reformas; (b) los objetivos a corto plazo establecidos por el Programa Monumenta fueron alcanzados de modo diferenciado en las distintas ciudades beneficiadas; (c) a pesar de las diferencias, el Programa Monumenta presentó resultados preliminares positivos y significativos en la preservación del patrimonio histórico urbano brasileño. Los procedimientos metodológicos se centraron en un análisis cuantitativo, cualitativo y comparativo de los resultados alcanzados por tres ciudades beneficiadas por el Programa Monumenta, seleccionadas según su tamaño poblacional: Pelotas, Porto Alegre (Estado de Rio Grande do Sul) y São Francisco do Sul (Estado de Santa Catarina). Estos procedimientos fueron aplicados en los siguientes indicadores: utilización de los equipamientos culturales, características de la población y de los domicilios, variación de las actividades económicas, financiación destinada al sector privado para la recuperación de inmuebles y el fomento de la seguridad urbana. La Tesis ha englobado discusiones y conceptos abordados en las disciplinas de la Sociología Urbana, Geografía Urbana, Historia, Economía y Estadística de modo que se atribuye al objeto de investigación una visión interdisciplinar que ayudará a la comprensión de la teoría y la práctica preservacionistas. El análisis de la varianza, la regresión lineal y el análisis factorial fueron las herramientas estadísticas aplicadas sobre los datos con el objetivo de constatar la significación de los resultados y la relación de correspondencia entre algunas variables. Esta Tesis contribuye a la elaboración de una metodología analítica que puede ser aplicada en el cálculo de la superficie ocupada por las actividades económicas, con base en el método estadístico del Diagrama de Caja y Bigotes, de John Wilder Tukey. Las conclusiones corroboran las hipótesis planteadas y pretenden contribuir al diseño de las nuevas políticas públicas de preservación de sitios históricos de carácter urbano, enfatizando, con ello, la necesidad de evaluaciones más profundas de los resultados durante su fase de implementación. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RESUMO--------------------------------------------------------------------------- A presente Tese apresenta como objetivo principal demonstrar que os programas de preservação do patrimônio histórico, durante a sua fase de implementação, necessitam de uma análise multidisciplinar sobre a sua execução. Essa análise permite identificar resultados significativos, capazes de fundamentar a retificação das bases conceituais da política pública em questão. A correção poderá, portanto, ser realizada tanto durante a sua vigência como posteriormente, ao permitir a elaboração de novas estratégias a serem aplicadas nos futuros programas de intervenção. Por outro lado, indagou-se se cidades participantes de um mesmo programa nacional de preservação do patrimônio histórico, regidas por normas e metas comuns, poderiam alcançar resultados não similares. Para atender tais objetivos, a investigação enfoca a realidade brasileira, tendo sido selecionado o Programa Monumenta como objeto de estudo. Esse Programa fez parte de uma política pública cultural do Ministério da Cultura, que atuou em parceria com o Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento. Implantado em nível nacional, a partir de 1999, visava promover um processo de recuperação urbana sustentável, bem como a preservação do patrimônio de 26 Sítios Urbanos Históricos ou Conjuntos de Monumentos Urbanos, protegidos pelo Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (Iphan). O Programa contou com o apoio da Unesco e do Iphan, além da participação das Administrações Municipais e/ou Estaduais, setores privados e sociedade civil. As hipóteses estabelecidas nesta Tese Doutoral foram: (a) a análise dos resultados na fase de implementação de um programa de preservação do patrimônio é imprescindível, pois permite extrair conclusões preliminares e orientar as suas reformulações; (b) os objetivos em curto prazo, estabelecidos pelo Programa Monumenta, foram alcançados de modo diferente pelas cidades beneficiadas; (c) apesar das diferenças, o Programa Monumenta apresentou resultados preliminares positivos e significativos sobre a preservação do patrimônio histórico urbano brasileiro. Os procedimentos metodológicos se centraram em análises quantitativa, qualitativa e comparativa dos resultados alcançados em três cidades beneficiadas pelo Programa Monumenta, selecionadas de acordo com o tamanho populacional: Pelotas, Porto Alegre (Estado do Rio Grande do Sul) e São Francisco do Sul (Estado de Santa Catarina). Esses procedimentos foram aplicados nos seguintes indicadores: utilização dos equipamentos culturais, características da população e dos domicílios, atividades econômicas, financiamento destinado ao setor privado para a recuperação dos imóveis e, ainda, o fomento da segurança urbana. A Tese inclui discussões e conceitos abordados nas disciplinas de Sociologia Urbana, Geografia Urbana, História, Economia e Estatística, de modo a atribuir ao objeto de investigação uma visão interdisciplinar e uma compreensão entre a teoria e a prática preservacionista. A análise de variância, regressão linear e análise fatorial foram as técnicas estatísticas aplicadas sobre os dados, com o objetivo de constatar a significação dos resultados e a relação de correspondência entre algumas variáveis. Esta Tese contribui com a elaboração de uma metodologia aplicada no cálculo da superfície ocupada pelas atividades econômicas, utilizando como método estatístico o Diagrama de Caixa e Bigodes, de John Wilder Tukey. As conclusões corroboram com as hipóteses estabelecidas e pretendem contribuir para o desenho de novas políticas públicas de preservação de sítios históricos de caráter urbano, enfatizando a necessidade de avaliações mais profundas dos resultados durante a sua fase de implementação. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The main goal of this PhD. Thesis is to demonstrate that a multidisciplinary analysis is needed during the implementation phase of preservation of heritage programmes. Such analysis allows the identification of significant results, which in turn can serve as the foundation for the conceptual bases of the public policy at hand. Thus, any corrections can be made both during the programme and afterward, by introducing new strategies to be applied in future intervention programmes. On the other hand, this project also asks whether cities participating in the same national preservation of heritage programme with common rules and goals can achieve distinct results. In order to meet these objectives, the project chose Brazil as its focus and Monumenta Programme for its object of study. This Programme is part of the Ministry of Culture’s public cultural policy, and was developed with cooperation by the Inter-American Development Bank. Implemented at the national level in 1999, the Programme aimed at promoting a process of sustainable urban renewal and the preservation of 26 urban historic sites or urban monumental ensembles, protected by the National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN). UNESCO and IPHAN supported the Programme, and participants included municipal and state offices, private businesses, and local residents. The hypotheses established in this Doctoral Thesis were: (a) the analysis of the results in the implementation phase of a cultural public policy is imperative, because it enables preliminary conclusions to be drawn and orientate reforms; (b) the short-term objectives set out in the Monumenta Programme were achieved differently in the benefitted cities; (c) despite the differences, the Monumenta Programme displayed significant positive preliminary results in the conservation of the urban historic heritage in Brazil. Methodology procedures centered around quantitative, qualitative, and comparative analyses of the results achieved in three benefiting cities, selected according to population size: Pelotas, Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul State) and São Francisco do Sul (Santa Catarina State). These procedures were applied to the following indicators: the use of the cultural facilities, characteristics of the population and the residential housing, variation of the economic activities, financing destined for the recovery of real estate, and promoting urban safety. The Thesis includes discussions and concepts addressed in urban sociology, urban geography, history, economics, and statistics, in order to examine the object of study with an interdisciplinary eye and an understanding between preservation theory and practice. Variance analysis, linear regression, and factorial analysis were the statistical techniques applied to the data, with the goal of defining the significance of the results and the correspondence ratio between some of the variables. This Thesis attempted to elaborate an applied methodology for calculating the space occupied by economic activities, using John Wilder Tukey's statistical method of Box-and-Whisker Plot. The conclusions corroborated the hypotheses established and are meant to contribute to the design of new public policies of historical site preservation in urban settings, emphasizing the need for deeper evaluations of the results during the implementation phase.

Arsenic, antimony and selenium in urban soils: potential risks for human health in urban gardening

The benefits of urban agriculture are many and well documented, ranging from health improvement to community betterment, more sustainable urban development and environment protection. On the negative side, urban soils are commonly enriched in toxic trace elements that have accumulated over time through the deposition of atmospheric particles (generated by automotive traffic, heating systems, historical industrial activities and resuspended street dust), and the uncontrolled disposal of domestic, commercial and industrial wastes. This in turn has given rise to concerns about the level of exposure of urban farmers to these elements and the potential health hazards associated with this exposure. Research efforts in this field have started relatively recently and have almost systematically omitted the influence of Sb and Se, and to a lesser extent of As, although all three have proven toxic effects.

Urban Planning 2. Informal notes from the course’s practical content (2014-2015)

This document compiles, in an informal manner, the briefs of some of the practical exercises developed during the Urban Planning 2 course. The purpose of this compilation is to serve as reference and basis for future courses.

Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary and Lessons for Shanghai and Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou Urban Agglomeration, China

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

PLACE AND URBAN EXPERIENCE IN THE SUBURBS: MICROSOFT’S CAMPUS LOCATION AND ITS LONG-TERM COMPETITIVENESS

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

From Process to Product: An Analysis of Seattle's Design Review Program

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

A review of road structure data in six European countries

The European Union has expanded significantly in recent years. Sustainable trade within the Union, leading to economic growth to the benefit of the ‘old’ and ‘new’ member states is thus extremely important. The road infrastructure is strategic and vital to such development since an uneven transport infrastructure, in terms of capacity and condition, has the potential to reinforce uneven development trends and hinder economic convergence of old and new member states. In the decades since their design and construction, loading conditions have significantly changed for many major highway infrastructure elements/networks owing primarily to increased freight volumes and vehicle sizes. This, coupled with the gradual deterioration of a significant number of highway structures due to their age, and the absence of a pan-European assessment framework, can be expected to affect the smooth functioning of the infrastructure in its as-built condition. Increased periods of reduced flow can be expected owing to planned and unplanned interventions for repair/rehabilitation. This paper reports the findings of a survey regarding the current status of the highway infrastructure elements in six countries within the European Union as reported by the owners/operators. The countries surveyed include a cross-section of ‘existing’ older countries and ‘new’ member states. The current situations for bridges, culverts, tunnels and retaining walls are reported, along with their potential replacement costs. The findings act as a departure point for further studies in support of a centralised and/or synchronised EU approach to infrastructure maintenance management. Information in the form presented in this paper is central to any future decision-making frameworks in terms of trade route choice and operations, monetary investment, optimised maintenance, management and rehabilitation of the built infrastructure and the economic integration of the newly joined member states.

Garden Cities: A flawed model for Ecological Urbanism?

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Garden City model has been a predominant theory emerging from Ecological Urbanism. In his book Howard observed the disastrous effects of rapid urbanization and as a response, proposed the Garden City. Although Howard’s proposal was first published in the late 1800’s, the clear imbalance that Howard aimed to address is still prevalent in the UK today. Each year, the UK wastes nearly 15 million tons of food, despite this an estimated 500,000 people in the UK go without sufficient access to food. While the urban population is rapidly increasing and cities are becoming hubs of economic activity, producing wealth and improving education and access to markets, it is within these cities that the imbalance is most evident, with a significant proportion of the world’s population with unmet needs living in urban areas. Despite Howard’s model being a response to 17th century London, many still consider the Garden City model to be an effective solution for the 21st century. In his book, Howard details the metrics required for the design of a Garden City. This paper will discuss how, by using this methodology and comparing it with more recent studies by Cornell University and Matthew Wheeland (Pure Energies); it is possible to test the validity of Howard’s proposal to establish whether the Garden City model is a viable solution to the increasing pressures of urbanization.
This paper outlines how the analysis of Howard’s proposal has shown the model to be flawed, incapable of producing enough food to sustain the proposed 32,000 population, with a capacity to produce only 23% of the food required to meet the current average UK consumption rate. Beyond the limited productive capacity of Howard’s model, the design itself does little to increase local resilience or the ecological base. This paper will also discuss how a greater understanding of the
Land-share requirements enables the design of a new urban model, building on the foundations initially laid out by Howard and combining a number of other theories to produce a more resilient and efficient model of ecological urbanism.