Search Results (65)

Currently, an active debate is underway among the academic community, urban planners, and policymakers regarding optimal models of urban development, given that the majority of the population now resides in cities. One concept under discussion is the 15 min city, which posits that all urban residents should be able to reach key, frequently used services within a 15 min walk or cycle. Although the literature suggests numerous potential benefits, debate persists about whether such cities would be optimal from the standpoint of sustainable development objectives and residents’ quality of life. The ongoing discussion also concerns the extent to which existing cities are capable of aligning with this concept. This is directly linked to the actual spatial distribution of individual services within the city. The literature indicates a research gap arising from a shortage of robust case studies that would enable a credible assessment of the practical implementation of this idea across diverse cities, countries, and regions. This issue pertains to Poland as well as to other countries. A desirable future scenario would involve comprehensive mapping of all cities, with respect to both the spatial distribution of specific services and related domains such as the quality and coherence of linear infrastructure. This article presents an analysis of the spatial accessibility of basic urban services in the context of implementing the 15 min city concept, using the city of Koszalin (Poland) as a case study. This city was selected due to its representative character as a medium-sized urban centre, both in terms of population and area, as well as its subregional functions within Poland’s settlement structure. Koszalin also exhibits a typical spatial and functional layout characteristic of many Polish cities. In light of growing challenges related to urbanisation, climate change, and the need to promote sustainable mobility, this study focuses on evaluating access to services such as education, healthcare, retail, public transport, and green spaces. The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools enabled the identification of spatial variations in service accessibility across the city. The results indicate that only 11% of Koszalin’s area fully meets the assumptions of the 15 min city concept, providing pedestrians with convenient access to all key services. At the same time, 92% of the city’s area offers access to at least one essential service within a 15 min walk. Excluding forested areas not intended for development increases these values to 14% and 100%, respectively. This highlights the extent to which methodological choices in assessing pedestrian accessibility can shape analytical outcomes and the interpretations drawn from them. Moreover, given this article’s objective and the adopted analytical procedure, the assumed pedestrian walking speed is the key parameter. Accordingly, a sensitivity analysis was conducted, comparing the reference scenario (4 km/h) with alternative variants (3 and 5 km/h). This approach demonstrates the extent to which a change in a single parameter affects estimates of urban-area coverage by access to individual services reachable on foot within 15 min. The analysis reveals limited integration of urban functions at the local scale, highlighting areas in need of planning intervention. This article proposes directions for action to improve pedestrian accessibility within the city. Full article

Minor Southern Italian population centers present a fragmented and uneven urban landscape, resulting from abandonment and depopulation phenomena that have led, especially in historic city centers, to urban voids scattered with rubble, buildings in a state of ruin, and others with evident structural collapses. Within a broader urban regeneration strategy for these centers, aligned with current national and European policies, the recovery of these vacant spaces can play a decisive role in enhancing urban quality and the desired touristic appeal, with social, economic, and environmental implications. These areas may also become valuable resources for innovating the urban core in a green transition process, contributing to carbon neutrality goals while improving residents’ quality of life. This paper addresses the importance of pocket parks as systems of resilience against climate change and hydrogeological risks, as well as rainwater drainage systems in densely built urban areas with strong historical character. The study includes a case study application focusing on a location in the Sicilian hinterland, notable for its historical and architectural value. The urban center under examination, Naro in the province of Agrigento, has experienced significant depopulation over the past fifty years, and the designation of its provincial capital as the Italian Capital of Culture 2025 could provide the opportunity for revival through small-scale, low-cost, and sustainable actions. Full article

Globalization has profoundly impacted architecture by promoting urban homogenization, where global styles and materials overshadow local character. This shift prioritizes standardized functionality and energy efficiency over cultural identity, erasing regional architectural distinctiveness. In historical urban centers, globalization-driven interventions—such as ventilated facades or external thermal insulation systems (ETISs)—often simplify original compositions and alter building materiality, texture, and color. The Ensanche of San Sebastián serves as a case study highlighting this issue. Despite its architectural richness, which includes neoclassical and modernist buildings primarily constructed with sandstone from the Igeldo quarry, unprotected buildings are at risk of unsympathetic renovations. Such changes can distort the identity of what is considered “everyday heritage”, encompassing the residential buildings and public spaces that shape the collective memory of cities. This study presents a replicable methodology for assessing the vulnerability of buildings to facade interventions. By utilizing tools like digital twins, point cloud modeling, and typological analysis, the research establishes criteria for interventions aimed at preserving architectural values. It emphasizes the importance of collaborative efforts with urban planning authorities and public awareness campaigns to safeguard heritage. Ultimately, protecting architectural identity requires balancing the goals of energy efficiency with cultural preservation. This approach ensures that urban landscapes maintain their historical and social significance amidst globalization pressures. Full article

Today, cities and their heritage function under so-called BANI (Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible) conditions. Climate change, military conflicts, and the urge to comply with sustainability requirements and to implement green transformation and urban regeneration cause a threat to rapid decision making, which may result in the loss of more subtle, intangible values in the urban environment. Such loss may particularly affect industrial heritage with its contested values and identities. This encourages searching for approaches to capture, analyze, and employ these invisible values for future developments. The methods of research used in this study include qualitative analysis of the literature, the theoretical conceptualization and development of a methodology to capture and record these invisible and intangible values, and the application of the developed methodology to the case study of a historical industrial site in Kaunas (Lithuania). The main findings of this research include a theoretical framework for the analysis of hidden values of historic industrial sites revolving around the concepts of place identity, spirit of place, symbolic potential of place, embedded values, and time depth and its application to the case study of the historic industrial site in Kaunas. This research has demonstrated that historic industrial sites existing in urban settings contain a multiplicity of aspects and meanings, which are not visible at first glance and require thorough qualitative analysis. These invisible aspects constitute important resources for the future development of the site and can contribute to the identity and local character of regeneration efforts and nature-based solutions. Full article

Cities are particularly vulnerable to climate change for their intrinsic characteristics. Imperviousness, heat islands, and pervasive pollution are common urban problems that challenge the current status quo in decision-making. As an alternative, Nature-based Solutions (NbS) arose from the need to tackle environmental issues through multifunctional solutions. Plant biodiversity is at the core of NbS, but such solutions are constrained by the limited knowledge of species benefits for cities, particularly in the biodiverse Global South. In this review, we stress the potential use of morphological characters from taxonomic studies as a shortcut to assess the ecosystem services of plant species. Species description and identification keys can be translated into ecosystem services to support the use of species not yet listed in cities. Bridging the potential for ecosystem service provision and morphological characters like life form, bark, leaf phenology and morphology, and reproductive morphology based on the comprehensive literature will allow decision-makers to widen their options to promote urban biodiversity. Building a platform requires summarizing plants’ ecosystem service knowledge and subsequently validating models’ predictive power. Still, this approach holds great potential to promote urban biodiversity for more resilient and enjoyable urban environments. Full article

Urban growth is vast in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to economic development, and there is a need to consider liveability and sustainable ecosystems for future urban expansion. Promising strategies for sustainability focus on minimizing a building’s effects on the environment and improving residents’ quality of life, which is important in the desert and when confronting the issues of water and climate change. Sustainable practices that impact the livelihood of people in the UAE include factors such as walkable areas, open space, policing, healthcare, education, housing, and ensuring friendly transport that enhance the overall quality of life of residents in the region. Recognizing and appreciating the UAE’s cultural values is crucial when incorporating these aspects, allowing references to the nation’s character when creating communal areas. The primary research included quantitative surveys of three identified communities, composed of fifty participants each, where the findings indicate partial to full compliance, with 85.7% of the liveability indices being about public transport and green space. Through this analysis, liveability and sustainability principles need to be trialed and incorporated into future urban development to embrace the ecology as well as the inhabitants. To realize these targets, the proposed study adopted a four-part approach. Initially, an analysis of related studies concerning the UAE or the Gulf area was carried out to obtain important liveability and quality-of-life factors. A total of 6 dimensions and 51 indicators were extracted from the literature to inform the next stage. Subsequently, the authors identified and evaluated the design of three chosen communities in various cities in the UAE concerning liveability and sustainability indices. Consequently, a conceptual redesign of a typical community was made, illustrating the improved quality of life and sustainability. Lastly, a survey with respective facets from an urban planning architect and environmental scientist cum environmental economist was conducted to evaluate the practicality of the proposed design. This research gives a comprehensive picture of how liveability and sustainable ecosystem concepts need to be implemented in the UAE urban context and offers a direction to develop lively, context-specific, culturally attached, and sustainable urban environments for the present day and for the future. Full article

This study examines the transformation of the urban fabric by analyzing changes in both structural and numerical parameters of spatial organization, with a particular emphasis on the hierarchical relationships between streets, blocks, and buildings. The research utilizes Bursa, the former Ottoman capital in Turkey, as a case study to explore these dynamics. The elements of streets, blocks, and buildings are posited as fundamental components in conceptualizing cities as layered palimpsests, where successive historical layers coexist within the urban fabric. The research establishes a conceptual parallel between the methodologies and analytical tools of urban morphology, particularly through the shared notion of the palimpsest. In the case of Bursa, the architectural remains and urban form of the Early, Classical, and Late Ottoman periods and of the Republican period are superimposed. In particular, the late Ottoman reform era, the Tanzimat period of the 19th century, brought great change. Historical maps from this era serve as primary sources for comprehending the evolving character and spatial configuration of the city. This research presents a novel methodological contribution by extending the analytical framework of urban morphology to integrate both qualitative and quantitative data. It employs Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and statistical methods to quantify changes in the urban fabric, assessing both pre-modernization and post-modernization phases. Historical maps from the 19th century are utilized as primary sources to trace and compare transformations within the urban fabric, with clustering techniques further aiding this analysis. The findings provide a deeper understanding of the dynamic processes that shape the historic structure of cities, offering a dual approach to urban transformation that harmonizes historical continuity with modern development. Full article

The topographical turn in literary and cultural studies has shed new light on the deeply symbolic significance of the natural and urban places where stories unfold. This focus on spatiality is particularly evident in the South Asian literature by contemporary women writers, where locations acquire a personality and significantly contribute to the shaping of gender identities. Although most of these narratives portray female protagonists who develop strategies of resistance and sisterhood within traditional domestic spaces, the widely praised transnational novels Brick Lane and The Mistress of Spices show that women can also achieve independence and self-realization in the bustling urban environment. Drawing on cultural geography as well as gender and social studies, this essay argues that the global dimension of the city offers diasporic women the opportunity to forge new empowered selves in the above-mentioned books. First, the article maintains that London and Oakland, CA, where the main characters live, exert a centripetal force on women, thus triggering change and mobility, both in physical and psychical terms. Second, it claims that the two cities are gendered “heterotopias”, i.e., heterogeneous spaces where border-crossing women, like those featured in the two novels at hand, can overcome alienation and develop creativity, resilience, and self-confidence. In conclusion, urban spaces serve as “safe houses” for immigrant women, where they can cure their emotional and physical diseases and become figures of adaptive hybridity. Full article

The humanistic-geographical associations of popular music foster the potential to articulate the production and reproduction of an activity-centered politicized ontology of space in the everyday social life of any creative communitarian framework where an alternative set of lifestyles, choices, and tastes engage in a constant play. A cursory glimpse at the (counter-)cultural artistic productions of the American 1970s shows that the lyrical construction of real and imaginary geographical locales has remained a distinguishing motif in the song-writing techniques of the celebrated rock poets. In the case of Bruce Springsteen, whether it is the ‘badlands’, constituting the rebellious and notorious young adults, or the ‘promised land’, which is the desired destination of all his characters, his lyrical oeuvre has numerously provided an alternative sense of place. Springsteen’s lyrical and musical characterization of fleeting urban images like alleys, hotels, engines, streets, neon, pavements, locomotives, cars, etc., have not only captured the American cities under the changing regime of capital accumulation but also contributed to the inseparability of everyday social lives and modern urban experiences. Against the backdrop of this argument, this article seeks to explore how the socio-political and cultural aesthetics of Springsteen’s song stories unfurl distinct spatial poetics through their musical language. Also, the article attempts to delineate how Springsteen’s unabashed celebration of the working-class geography of the American 1970s unveils a site of cultural struggle, wherein existing social values are reconstructed amidst imaginary landscapes and discursive strategies of resistance are weaved. Full article

This article analyzes the correlation between the city size, population density and character of three Polish cities and the following aspects: (1) inhabitants’ subjective stress level and its change during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) sources and effects of their stress during the pandemic, (3) ways of reducing stress by residents and the role of greenery in this respect and (4) directions of changes in the structure of post-pandemic cities desired by their residents. The main research method was geo-surveys, the results of which were developed using statistical analysis and GIS methods. On the basis of the constructed scale, respondents subjectively assessed the level of experienced stress and its change during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research shows that none of the considered features of cities (including size measured by the number of inhabitants) are related to the level of pandemic stress of their inhabitants. All of them, on the other hand, are correlated with the directions of urban spatial development desired by the residents, conducive to stress reduction. Furthermore, the size of the city and its character affect the subjectively perceived change in stress levels during the pandemic (compared to the stress level before pandemic). Some of the effects of pandemic stress and ways of reducing it depend on the character of the city. The stress experienced by the inhabitants is the lowest in cities with the largest share of green areas in the spatial structure (especially with forest complexes and naturally shaped areas of river valleys), where an effective system of greenery has been adopted (the Howard’s garden city model), and at the same time with dominant single-family housing. The research results were used to indicate new directions for shaping post-pandemic cities that are more resistant to stress and thus healthier for their residents. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a significant change in mobility habits within cities, leading to a significant decrease in the use of collective urban transport in many countries that has been only partially and unevenly reversed. In this context, many cities are analyzing what factors are hindering this recovery process to design actions to promote sustainable mobility. Thus, this study, carried out in the city of Almeria (Spain), tried to analyze whether the main operating variables of the municipal bus network (frequency, average vehicle occupancy, the length of the lines, urban or suburban character, circularity, nodality, and intermodality) have an impact on the annual number of users recovered in 2022 compared to 2019. Although a strong statistical correlation between variables was not observed, the overall results show that the lines that have recovered the most users on average are suburban lines, as well as the nodal lines that serve key centroids such as the university, highlighting that the dependence of users on public transport might be the most important determinant in the recovery process, more than other variables representative of the service’s intrinsic quality such as frequency or average vehicle occupancy. This result shows the importance of facilitating public transport to those who lack alternatives, as well as the convenience of restrictions on less sustainable transportation alternatives for the prompt recovery of the space lost by urban public transportation. Full article

The growing importance of climate change underlines the need to comprehend Urban Heat Islands (UHI), particularly those influenced by urban morphology. As progress has been made in understanding the macroscale relationship between urban morphology and UHIs, the microscale effects are often overlooked. This study, conducted in the city of Erzurum in Turkey, delves into the complex relationship between urban morphology and UHI intensity in different housing areas with distinct microclimates, focusing particularly on street networks, building systems, and land use. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationships between morphological indicators and UHIs in different housing areas. Key findings include that (1) noticeable UHI effects were observed, especially in dense areas with high-rise buildings. (2) UHIs reveal a strong correlation with both 2D and 3D urban morphological indicators. A moderate-to-high Sky View Factor (SVF) tends to reduce UHIs, while an extremely high SVF aggravates UHIs. (3) Enhancing street network integration emerges as a more effective strategy for mitigating UHI effects in mid-rise buildings compared to other morphological factors. The Normalised Difference Built-Up Index (NDBI) and Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) may not reliably indicate UHIs in housing areas with a predominantly rural character. Consequently, this article recommends that urban morphology optimisation for UHI mitigation should prioritise spatial and indicator specificity in urban design and spatial planning for cities. Future research endeavours should investigate the influence of morphological indicators on UHI dynamics in different seasons, including various remote sensing indicators related to morphological structure, to enrich our understanding of daily UHI fluctuations within urban morphology research. Full article

Green spaces are becoming increasingly important for cities due to the growing pressures of urbanization and climate change. Along with trees, shrubs, and lawns, flower beds are an important part of urban green spaces. The majority of flower beds in public spaces consist of annual and biennial flower species. Such seasonal flower beds feature eye-catching colors but require significant effort to maintain and manage. Compared to these conventional flower beds, those with herbaceous perennials are more ecologically effective and less costly to maintain, and therefore more sustainable. The aim of this research was to analyze flower beds with perennials in the public green spaces of the city of Zagreb and to develop a tool based on predefined criteria and indicators to evaluate the sustainability of flower beds. In the context of the research, sustainability meant appropriate selection of flower species based on environmental conditions (temperature, light, precipitation), species diversity, greater ground cover and extensiveness of maintenance. The research results showed that there were 327 flower beds with perennials planted in the ground. The constructed Flower Bed Sustainability Index (FBSI) showed that the majority of these perennial beds (56.3%) had a conventional character, as only 28.1% of the beds had a completely correct species selection. This result indicates that the use of perennials does not necessarily guarantee the sustainability of flower beds, since, as in the case of flower beds with seasonal flowers, it depends, among other things, on the correct selection of species adapted to local environmental conditions. The FBSI is shown to be a suitable tool for assessing the degree of sustainability of a flower bed and could be a useful tool in landscape design and management of such types of green spaces. Full article

In her triple condition of emigrant, artist and woman, the work of Spanish filmmaker Chus Gutiérrez is a privileged and singular object of study. Through her filmography it is possible to approach the changes that have taken place in the cities on both sides of the Atlantic. Chus Gutiérrez resided in New York during the decade of the 1980s and returned to Madrid to witness the changes that this city was undergoing: from being the epicenter of a dictatorship to a democratic city. Her vision of both places is clearly reflected in two of her films: Sublet (1992) and El Calentito (2005). The protagonists profiled by Chus Gutiérrez in these films are young women who move through complex metropolitan spaces at a critical moment of their lives. Cities become another character, illustrating, pushing, or limiting their course; spaces in which the protagonists accept their differences and begin the search for their individual and collective identity. Full article

Nicosia Walled City, on the northern side of Cyprus, encapsulates historical imprints from various cultures and civilizations within its layered structure, despite being a divided city since 1974. Based on this beautiful Medieval sequence, this study investigates the implications of architectural design approaches aimed at incorporating contemporary architecture into this heterogeneous historic city to conserve its historical identity. While the threats facing this diverse built heritage composition are various, the changes brought about by design outcomes and development actions can be challenging. This is especially so when designers are obligated to adhere to conservation principles that clash with the city’s character and that resort to design strategies that prohibit the addition of new layers. This study employed a mix of qualitative and quantitative research methods and examined three case studies based on buildings that were erected during the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus period, spanning from 1983 to when the crossing began in 2003. This study’s conclusions revealed that the design schemes negatively impacted the city’s historical identity layers because the designers followed selective conservation principles that entirely concentrated on nostalgia rather than typological values. Rather than creating new layers, preferences energized this problem, and the designers’ attitudes towards the place’s heterogeneous character maintained the same context uniformity patterns. Efforts to add sequences of layers reflecting the identity of the present time and its perceptions were thwarted. These reductions in the historical layers, the subsequent transformations, and the current social–cultural necessities should stimulate individual determination and practical policy instruments. The tools proposed here will accommodate inclusive ideas that encourage fresh dialogues with the past, thus keeping the city’s identity significant for the future. Full article