Urban Science — Open Access Journal

The aim of this study was to address the highly controversial problem of the increasing touristification of urban centers, analyzing the case of Valencia. The paper begins with a theoretical reflection to disambiguate the term “sharing economy”, the emergence of all kinds of digital service platforms that are revolutionizing traditional economic sectors of services, such as transport, tourist accommodation, or personal services. The new geography of urban conflicts that has arisen in recent years in this city, largely as a consequence of the paradigm of the collaborative economy in the tourism sector, was analyzed. This situation contrasts sharply with the panorama of conflicts that existed before and during the international financial crisis. Finally, the main social, economic and environmental impacts of collaborative economies are discussed, from the approach of a new phase in neoliberal capitalism. Full article

Given the incessant and clandestine proliferation of housing on the Undevelopable Land of Extremadura, Spain, and that administrative attention to this problem has been scarce, it is inevitable that urban geographers will turn away from the main focus of their study: cities. Thus, a methodology has been designed to discover housing irregularities in the countryside, and to quantify, locate, and date them. To do this, we have digitalized all urban planning in the region and performed sweeps on orthophotos at a maximum scale of 1:1500. Every single dwelling in the region has been detected using this method. The rurbanization in this region means that there has been a change in the urban model that has not been gradual. The fragile and weakened urban network of Extremadura has agglutinated a large part of the population, which has resulted in territorial emptying, but not in a stagnation of artificialization. In fact, the urban network has become increasingly dispersed and isolated because of residential growth outside the limits of Urban and Developable Land. In addition, this growth is eminently clandestine. The worrying results show us that there is an urgent need for the Administration to create and apply a Regional Plan for the Management and Control of Rurban Development. Full article

Public transport transforms urban communities and the lives of citizens living in them by stimulating economic growth, promoting sustainable lifestyles and providing a greater quality of life. Globally, the healthiest cities have one thing in common, a public and active transport network that does not depend on each person owning a personal motorised vehicle. Growing dependence on the automobile has created a multitude of problems, some of which public transport can help solve. Adverse social, environmental and health effects related to automobile emissions and car-dependency suggest that using public transport will result in a decrease in an individual’s carbon footprint, will lessen overall CO₂ emissions, and will help to ease urban traffic congestion as well as encourage more effective and efficient land use. With many urban areas experiencing ongoing traffic problems, it is acknowledged that any sustainable long-term solution must entail a significant public transport element. The aim of this research study, conducted in November and December 2017, was to obtain essential baseline information on service user satisfaction levels with the existing public bus services in Galway City, Ireland. By measuring levels of satisfaction, it is possible to build our overall knowledge of the public transport network and thus identify improvements in the service that would lead to an increase in bus passenger numbers and result in reductions in the amount of cars on the roads. Results suggest deficiencies in public transport infrastructure, such as Dedicated Bus Lanes, and the lack of attention to customer services are hindering improvements in the public bus service. Full article

Urban design is a complex problem-solving activity that commonly requires the aid of a variety of methods to support the process and enhance the quality of the outcomes. How to help designers with suitable methods to deal with ill-defined urban problems constitutes a major challenge in the urban design domain. In this regard, the use of urban design patterns is considered as a method that can contribute to urban design problem-solving. However, this tool was never investigated to understand its role in the task-related activities that take place during the design process by designers working in a team, and its influence on the creativity of the final design outcome as perceived by urban designers and students. Therefore, an empirical research based on a controlled experiment was carried out to explore the aid provided by design patterns during the conceptual stages of the process. Sixty-three master students working in teams of three were assigned a set of patterns to solve an urban design task. They were requested to use this material to produce as many creative conceptual solutions as possible. At the end of the sessions, they evaluated the creativity of their outcomes, and they completed a questionnaire about the aid afforded by the patterns. The solutions were also assessed by two independent urban designers. The study contributed to gain a better insight into the main design activities derived from the use of patterns as problem-solving tools and to unveil their contribution to urban design. The aid provided by the urban patterns was mainly concerned with task-related activities, and thereafter with team interactions. Overall, the use of patterns was seen to enhance the functionality of the design. Implications for design practice and design education are discussed. Full article

The reuse of brownfields is becoming a necessary option to meet the current requirements of urban densification and for the preservation of agricultural land, as well as for improvement in the quality of life. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the main objectives and benefits of a rehabilitation project implemented in Canada. The rehabilitation of the brownfield site Lachine-Turcot-Petite Bourgogne in Montréal was analyzed according to four indicators (revenue, average cost of rent, rental usage, and home resale price). The findings of the study demonstrate that the expectations (socio-economic benefits derived from Southwest borough—City of Montréal) of the local community were not respected and that the initial objectives of the project changed during its implementation. In particular, the average rent increased considerably after four years, by 165.47% in the period 2001–2006. The percentage of resident homeowners increased from 89% to about 95% in 10 years, and in the 1996–2014 period the total income per household increased from about $25,000 to about $78,000. We propose an evaluation tool that integrates an ontology of the elements necessary for decision-making and local indicators related to the environmental and socio-economic components with the goal of meeting the expectations of the local community. Full article

In this paper, the spatial dimensions of a transboundary, coopetitive (coopetition: cooperation of rivals) network, established by restaurant owners, are scrutinized empirically by applying advanced toolkits of spatial network analysis (SpNA). The paper emphasizes that the coopetitive network has geographical extensions, and on the other hand, interactions between vertices generate network space. The new type of economic network could thus be analyzed by SpNA to understand the spatial characteristics of a rivals’ network at transboundary level. The paper may be referred to as cutting-edge research, because on one hand, it dissects a new type of economic network (coopetitive networks) and on the other hand, a new method is utilized (SpNA) to study the geographical parameters of inter-firm relationships. This approach emerges as a novel method. As a result, the paper provides significant, fruitful and new findings in both network science and urban economics as well. By employing metrics of SpNA, the main spatial traits of the coopetitive network can be mapped, such as the circumference, spatial structure, diameter, spatial density, spatial small world phenomenon, and global connectivity of the network. The results show that the coopetitive network possesses hub-and spoke spatial framework, in which the hub is localized far from the cluster of players. Moreover, the coopetitive interaction does not require face-to-face nexus, because the focal firm communicates with them via IT devices. The coopetitive activities contribute significantly to the urban economic growth. The main agent (the hub) ought to be supported by the regional development policy at the local and inter-urban geographical scale as well. Full article

This paper presents an exploratory study on the potential for sharing urban data; one where citizens create their own data and use it to understand and influence urban planning decisions. The aim of the study is to explore new models of participation through the sharing of emotional data and focuses on the relationship between the physical space and emotions through identifying the links between stress levels and specific features of the urban environment. It addresses the problem in urban planning that, while people’s emotional connection with the physical urban setting is often valued, it is rarely recognised or used as a source of data to understand future decision making. The method involved participants using a (GSR) device linked to location data to measure participant’s emotional responses along a walking route in a city centre environment. Results show correlations between characteristics of the urban environment and stress levels, as well as how specific features of the city spaces create stress ‘peaks’. In the discussion we review how the data obtained could contribute to citizens creating their own information layer—an emotional layer—that could inform a shared approach to participation in urban planning decision-making. The future implications of the application of this method as an approach to public participation in urban planning are also considered. Full article

We are living in an age of concern for mental health and wellbeing. The objective of the research presented in this paper is to investigate the perceived health, social value and happiness benefits of urban agriculture (UA) by focusing on home and community food gardens in South Australia. The results reported in this paper are from “Edible Gardens”, a citizen science project designed to investigate the social value, productivity and resource efficiency of UA in South Australia. Methods include an online survey and in-field garden data collection. Key findings include: dominant home gardener motivations were the produce, enjoyment, and health, while dominant community gardener motivations were enjoyment, connection to others and the produce. Exploratory factor analysis revealed four key factors: Tranquillity and Timeout, Develop and Learn Skills, the Produce, and Social Connection. The key difference between home and community gardeners was an overall social connection. Although home gardeners did not appear to actively value or desire inter-household social connection, this does not mean they do not value or participate in other avenues of social connection, such as via social learning sources or by sharing food with others. The combined results from this research regarding health and wellbeing, social connection and happiness support the premise that engagement in home or community food gardening may provide a preventative or supportive role for gardener health and wellbeing, regardless of whether it is a conscious motivation for participation. Full article

When it comes to smart cities, one of the most important components is data. To enable smart city applications, data needs to be collected, stored, and processed to accomplish intelligent tasks. In this paper we discuss smart cities and the use of new and existing technologies to improve multiple aspects of these cities. There are also social and environmental aspects that have become important in smart cities that create concerns regarding ethics and ethical conduct. Thus we discuss various issues relating to the appropriate and ethical use of smart city applications and their data. Many smart city projects are being implemented and here we showcase several examples to provide context for our ethical analysis. Law enforcement, structure efficiency, utility efficiency, and traffic flow control applications are some areas that could have the most gains in smart cities; yet, they are the most pervasive as the applications performing these activities must collect and process the most private data about the citizens. The secure and ethical use of this data must be a top priority within every project. The paper also provides a list of challenges for smart city applications pertaining in some ways to ethics. These challenges are drawn from the studied examples of smart city projects to bring attention to ethical issues and raise awareness of the need to address and regulate such use of data. Full article

Although the Janmarg (people’s way) Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) system in Ahmedabad, India, achieved worldwide accolades since its introduction, it has not reached its expected ridership. In analyzing ridership, research shows that external factors of BRTS such as built-form indicators have a potentially greater effect on ridership than its internal factors. In order to assess the ridership of the Janmarg BRTS, a methodology was developed based on built-form indicators that were quantified using the “5D” approach. The use of appropriate geo-information science (GIS) techniques helped to analyze the built-form spatial data effectively. The calculated built-form indicators were used as inputs in a regression analysis. The consulted literature suggests a relationship between built-form indicators and ridership. However, in the present study this relationship was not confirmed. Moreover, land-use diversity, road connectivity, and job accessibility by BRTS were found to be relatively low. Several policy recommendations were suggested along the BRTS corridors in line with the existing policy such as the utilization of full Floor Space Index potential, the application of Transit Oriented Development strategies and the integration with non-motorized modes to increase the accessibility to the most important job locations. Full article

Increased use of sensors and social data collection methods have provided cites with unprecedented amounts of data. Yet, data alone is no guarantee that cities will make smarter decisions and many of what we call smart cities would be more accurately described as data-driven cities. Parallel advances in theory are needed to make sense of those novel data streams and computationally intensive decision support models are needed to guide decision makers through the avalanche of new data. Fortunately, extraordinary increases in computational ability and data availability in the last two decades have led to revolutionary advances in the simulation and modeling of complex systems. Techniques, such as agent-based modeling and systems dynamic modeling, have taken advantage of these advances to make major contributions to diverse disciplines such as personalized medicine, computational chemistry, social dynamics, or behavioral economics. Urban systems, with dynamic webs of interacting human, institutional, environmental, and physical systems, are particularly suited to the application of these advanced modeling and simulation techniques. Contributions to this special issue highlight the use of such techniques and are particularly timely as an emerging science of cities begins to crystallize. Full article

This paper argues that a monolithic land-use planning “grand narrative” is not sufficiently flexible, but that the fragmentation into innumerable “small narratives” goes against any sense of the existence of an established domain of knowledge. Its aim is to explore the epistemological possibility for “middle ground” theories. The methodology adopted for this purpose is to take as a standard reference the methodological components of comprehensive/procedural planning and to measure against them the methodologies proposed by a corpus of other major land-use planning approaches. The outcome of this comparison is that for more than half a century, planning theories in the field of urban and regional planning have been revolving incessantly around the methodological components of the comprehensive model, which seem, at least at the present stage of our knowledge, to be the universal nucleus of the land-use planning enterprise. This paper indicates on this basis the prerequisites for the construction of middle-ground land-use planning theories and how we can pass from the formal contextual variants to real life contexts through the original articulation of planning theory with input from the findings of the actual planning systems. Full article

At this historical moment, the urban planning and design professions are confronted with the twin challenges of unprecedented rapid urbanization on the one hand, and declining post-industrial regions on the other. In this environment, there are many different and often conflicting ideas about urban heritage and its relevance for contemporary urban planning and design. In this paper, we look for commonalities and a way forward from among a range of competing urban design models. We examine the illustrative case study of the geography and landscape of Detroit, USA. We consider seven contemporary urban planning and design ideals that dominate the contemporary planning and design discourse and their different views of the past and urban heritage in relation to the approaches in Detroit. From these, we draw a synthesis approach, making several recommendations and observations with a focus on the capacities of so-called “placemaking” approaches. In this paper, urban heritage is understood and examined as contributing a pattern of infrastructure that provides a helpful supportive framework, and (importantly) a set of structural limitations (e.g., historic plot boundaries), that can serve as a generative resource for new urban planning and design. We conclude that the necessary framework for democratic participation and opportunity within urban space can be provided most directly by leveraging the assets of urban heritage. Full article

In the cities of post-industrialized countries, renovation is the main part of building construction activity and has a major urban impact. Measuring this ongoing phenomenon and its distribution is of great usefulness for municipality urban planning and public policies. In this context, it is essential to introduce tools and processes that can allow for describing and predict how building renovation evolves. Open databases have become a valuable resource for observing processes and interactions in urban context. Data-driven analysis methods were used to directly interact with open city data, thus aiming to propose an alternative building renovation approach based on data gathering, parametric modeling, and visualization. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) is an efficient tool that overcomes incomplete data, as not all renovation is reported to city halls. This article presents a preliminary study on a method of measuring building renovation intensity using the city of Lisbon building permit alphanumerical and spatial database as a case study. Full article

The evolving phenomenon of zero waste encompasses the theory, practice, and learning of individuals, families, businesses, communities, and government organisations, responding to perceptions of crisis and failure around conventional waste management. The diverse and growing body of international zero waste experience, can be portrayed as both, an entirely new and alternative waste management paradigm, and or, interpreted as overlapping, extending, and synergetic with a general evolution towards more sustainable waste/resource management practices. Combining the terms zero and waste provokes creative, intellectual, and pragmatic tensions, which provide a contemporary axis for necessary debate and innovation in this sphere of resource management. This commentary draws on an interdisciplinary perspective and utilises some elements of the critique of zero waste, as a lens to examine and better understand this heterogeneous global community of practice. In particular, how the concept and implementation of a zero waste goal can increase community engagement and be a catalyst for the design and management of a more circular urban metabolism and hence, more adaptive, resilient, and sustainable future (zero waste) cities. Full article

In 2003, California allowed cities to count accessory dwelling units (ADU) towards low-income housing needs. Unless a city’s zoning code regulates the ADU’s maximum rent, occupancy income, and/or effective period, then the city may be unable to enforce low-income occupancy. After examining a stratified random sample of 57 low-, moderate-, and high-income cities, the high-income cities must proportionately accommodate more low-income needs than low-income cities. By contrast, low-income cities must quantitatively accommodate three times the low-income needs of high-income cities. The sample counted 750 potential ADUs as low-income housing. Even though 759 were constructed, no units were identified as available low-income housing. In addition, none of the cities’ zoning codes enforced low-income occupancy. Inferential tests determined that cities with colleges and high incomes were more probable to count ADUs towards overall and low-income housing needs. Furthermore, a city’s count of potential ADUs and cities with high proportions of renters maintained positive associations with ADU production, whereas a city’s density and prior compliance with state housing laws maintained negative associations. In summary, ADUs did increase local housing inventory and potential ADUs were positively associated with ADU production, but ADUs as low-income housing remained a paper calculation. Full article

The home-sharing platform, Airbnb, is disrupting the social and spatial dynamics of cities. While there is a growing body of literature examining the effects of Airbnb on housing supply in first-world, urban environments, impacts on dwellings and dwelling typologies remain underexplored. This research paper investigates the implications of “on-demand domesticity” in Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, where the uptake of Airbnb has been enthusiastic, rapid, and unregulated. In contrast to Airbnb’s opportunistic use of existing housing stock in other global cities, the rise of short-term holiday rentals and the construction of new homes in Melbourne has been more symbiotic, perpetuating, and even driving housing models—with some confronting results. This paper highlights the challenges and opportunities that Airbnb presents for the domestic landscape of Melbourne, exposing loopholes and grey areas in the planning and building codes which have enabled peculiar domestic mutations to spring up in the city’s suburbs, catering exclusively to the sharing economy. Through an analysis of publically available spatial data, including GIS, architectural drawings, planning documents, and building and planning codes, this paper explores the spatial and ethical implications of this urban phenomenon. Ultimately arguing that the sharing economy may benefit from a spatial response if it presents a spatial problem, this paper proposes that strategic planning could assist in recalibrating and subverting the effects of global disruption in favor of local interests. Such a framework could limit the pernicious effects of Airbnb, while stimulating activity in areas in need of rejuvenation, representing a more nuanced, context-specific approach to policy and governance. Full article

This article focuses on the development of a measure for frontage permeability, which we argue is needed to complement existing metrics used to describe urban environments and assess, amongst others, social performativity. Built density and street network centrality are two characteristics often discussed in relation to urban vitality. However, high densities and high centrality do not always result in higher urban vitality, which can be partially explained by a typical densification model often used in Brazil and in some other Latin-American cities with high-rise residential buildings. To understand the relation between urban form and social performativity, the metrics for density and network centrality are thus not sufficient and we propose to add two other urban form properties: frontage permeability and plot size. The hypothesis is that the mentioned densification model combines higher density with larger plots and lower permeability. Many scholars have shown that higher density is often associated with increased urban vitality, but larger plots are said to have the opposite effect and in Latin American cities, it is observed that lower vitality is found where buildings have less permeable frontages. This research aims at studying the combined effect of density, permeability, and plot size on urban vitality or, more generally, social performativity. However, there is no well-developed method to measure frontage permeability. Therefore, this article first presents a method to measure frontage permeability, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. This measure is then combined with existing measures of density and plot size to analyse how these three urban form metrics relate to each other. In a forthcoming paper, pedestrian observation data will be added to the analysis, to be able to give more insight in the relation between the three urban form metrics and urban vitality using pedestrian counts as proxy. We will show that the developed measure seems to be coherent and effective in describing permeability. Further, the preliminary results confirm the hypothesis that the Brazilian densification model with high-rise residential buildings generates a decrease in frontage permeability, although it does not appear to significantly change plot sizes. Full article

Christopher Alexander has presented key concepts, such as wholeness, centres, and harmony-seeking computations, related to the coherence reached by a system. Wholeness is the global structural character of a given configuration existing in space. According to Alexander, wholeness is measurable although we do not have a mathematical language to describe it yet. Some authors have proposed a network perspective to address this problem. However, it is still poorly developed. This paper discusses how to improve the network approach already suggested in the literature. The aim is contributing to the debate on how to operationalise Alexander’s theories through a network perspective. We check out different descriptive systems and different centrality measures, which can be used to reveal the spatial relationship between urban entities and its hierarchy. The main conclusion is that centrality measures seem to offer an opportunity to get closer to Alexander’s concepts. However, a key point to move forward is a deeper investigation on how to describe the urban elements, how to identify spatial differentiation, and how to visualize the results. The relevance of such kind of research is the possibility of using those insights as analytical methods for supporting urban design. Full article