scholarly journals A Sustainable Urban Concept for Housing Estates: Plot, Patch, Part

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-143
Author(s):  
Regina Balla

While, in practice, the rehabilitation of prefabricated housing estates has mostly focused on the buildings, a comprehensive concept, which is able to revalorise this problematic housing stock has become increasingly relevant. The specific, holistic proposal of the revalorisation demands an interdisciplinary approach, based on urban planning principles of SUN (sustainable urban neighbourhoods), that can reconceptualise housing units on the different scales as plot, patch and part of a city or town. To find proper methodology, this paper attempts to adopt an approved evaluation tool used in the field of property development. Property development strongly adheres to various certification systems. These apply not only to buildings, but on the urban scale, neighbourhoods can also achieve good qualification in systems like LEED Neighbourhood. This study argues that the requirements of LEED Neighbourhood can be adequately applied in the case of existing housing estates; as a result of which, they could become less isolated and could be more easily integrated into the neighbouring urban network as sustainable parts of cities and towns.

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-34
Author(s):  
Wai Kin Lau ◽  
Daniel Chi Wing Ho

Aging of building stock is emerging. Open Building as a sustainable approach to deal with the problems associated with the aging housing stock is seldom applied in high-rise, densely populated built environment. With aims to identify the constraints and seek rooms for Open Building implementation in aforementioned context, a survey of 495 building layout plans from ten major housing estates in Hong Kong is conducted. The floor plans are analysed against the Open Building characteristics and criteria laid down by Tiuri (1998). Facts and obstacles of achieving Open Building in the territory are unearthed, and opportunities for implementation are then discussed. The layout and structure of the surveyed private residential buildings in Hong Kong are very much alike. They are in fact closed buildings without the capacity to adapt, so any change in user requirements cannot be accommodated easily. Implementing Open Building using flexible and green fittings remains a viable option that enables transformation in existing housing stock.


2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-65
Author(s):  
Krystyna Ilmurzyńska

Abstract This article investigates the suitability of traditional and participatory planning approaches in managing the process of spatial development of existing housing estates, based on the case study of Warsaw’s Ursynów Północny district. The basic assumption of the article is that due to lack of government schemes targeted at the restructuring of large housing estates, it is the business environment that drives spatial transformations and through that shapes the development of participation. Consequently the article focuses on the reciprocal relationships between spatial transformations and participatory practices. Analysis of Ursynów Północny against the background of other estates indicates that it presents more endangered qualities than issues to be tackled. Therefore the article focuses on the potential of the housing estate and good practices which can be tracked throughout its lifetime. The paper focuses furthermore on real-life processes, addressing the issue of privatisation, development pressure, formal planning procedures and participatory budgeting. In the conclusion it attempts to interpret the existing spatial structure of the estate as a potential framework for a participatory approach.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 321-335
Author(s):  
Marco Vona

Background: Seismic risk mitigation is an important issue in earthquake-prone countries, and needs to be solved in those complex communities governed by complex processes, where urban planning, socioeconomic dynamics, and, often, the need to preserve cultural assets are present simultaneously. In recent years, due to limited financial resources, mitigation activities have often been limited to post-earthquake events, and only a few in periods of inactivity, particularly in urban planning. At this point, a significant change in point of view is necessary. Methods: The seismic risk mitigation (and more generally, natural risk mitigation) must be considered as the main topic in urban planning and in the governance of communities. In fact, in several recent earthquakes, significant socioeconomic losses have been caused by the low or lack of resilience of the communities. This is mainly due to the high vulnerability of private buildings, in particular, housing units. Results: Therefore, in recent years, several studies have been conducted on the seismic resilience of communities. However, significant improvements are still needed for the resilience assessment of the housing stock, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In this study, which is applied to the housing system, a proposal regarding a change in urban planning and emergency management tools based on the concept of resilience is reported. As a first application, a case study in Italy is considered. Conclusion: The proposal is focused on defining and quantifying the improvement of the resilience of the communities and this must be obtained by modifying the current Civil Protection plan. New tools are based on a new resilience community plan by encompassing urban planning tools, resilient mitigation strategies, and consequently, emergency management planning.


Author(s):  
Jasna Mariotti ◽  
Daniel Baldwin Hess

AbstractThe post-socialist urban restructuring of Skopje, North Macedonia has been characterized by significant changes in the built fabric of the city, resulting from the political, economic and societal processes following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. In early 1990s and post-privatization, there was a dynamic transformation of the city’s housing stock in post-WWII prefabricated apartment buildings. Flat owners in socialist-era housing estates in Skopje modified their apartments by expanding and enclosing balconies, thus gaining more living space. Garages were converted into shops and ground-floor and first-floor apartments were renovated into offices, resulting in commercialization of previous residential space. To better understand the spatial disorder triggered by transformation of housing estates during the lengthy transition from a centrally-planned system to a market economy, this article evaluates various spontaneous and planned practices of transformation of residential space in housing estates in post-socialist Skopje. We analyze these changing practices of transformation through fieldwork and focus group discussions with residents. We also review archival material and administrative and legal documents, including municipal master plans and national planning laws and decisions related to housing estates in post-1991 Skopje. Findings emphasize the complex interplay between many actors, ideologies and interests that shape the experience of urban life in post-socialist Skopje, evidenced by outcomes related to housing choice and renovation practice, especially the enclosure of balconies for providing more living space. Such interventions are viewed as important steps towards improving living conditions in prefabricated apartment buildings in Skopje. Individual decisions about apartment renovation affect urban planning at the neighborhood level, and the findings from this research thus inform residential mobility and neighborhood-level strategic decision making. The aim is to help neighborhoods—built in an earlier socio-political era under a central planning system—to adapt to future demands.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dušan Ignjatović ◽  
Nataša Ćuković Ignjatović ◽  
Milica Jovanović Popović

Serbia’s Law on Planning and Building has imposed the topics of energy efficiency in building sector, requiring adequate policy making and providing a starting point for improvement of the current situation in this field. Considering the fact that there are more than 3.200.000 housing units without any statistical classification a need arose for establishing a national building typology as a starting point for further decision making and appropriate activities definition regarding the existing housing stock. After joining EU TABULA (Typology Approach for Building Stock Energy Assessment) project, methodologies and approaches of the European countries have been analysed providing a common experience, at the same illustrating a need for identification and classification of local characteristics. In order to obtain adequate data a comprehensive survey has been conducted, providing a starting point for creation of typology. The National Typology has identified typical “model” buildings and defined the levels of improvement ranging from standard (according to the current law) to the low-energy level. The paper explains the methodology, procedures and local characteristics of the process and gives an insight in the activity describing the problems and potentials of the approach.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannele AHVENNIEMI ◽  
Kyösti PENNANEN ◽  
Antti KNUUTI ◽  
Anne ARVOLA ◽  
Kauko VIITANEN

Popularity of infill development is increasing because of the environmental benefits and cost saving potential it provides, which relate to the possibility to use existing infrastructure and services. However, the impact of infill development on value of existing properties has not been studied to a sufficient extent. Therefore, the aim of our study is to analyse whether infill development affects the prices of existing apartments. We carried out statistical analysis based on data from seven case neighbourhoods, and prices of more than 6000 housing transactions from one decade. The results of our analysis do not support the hypothesis of infill development affecting positively existing housing prices, but neither did the study show a significant negative effect. Both amenity effect and negative externalities may provide explanations as to why property values do not change due to infill development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (47) ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
K.V. Izmaylova ◽  
L.A. Kharchenko

The article analyzes domestic and international experience in the field of energy efficiency and energy security. Thus, it was important to adopt the Law of Ukraine "On the Energy Efficiency of Buildings", which introduced mandatory certification of buildings by energy consumption classes. The study of sources on the issues of effective energy consumption showed that issues related to improving the energy efficiency of buildings and structures are acquiring special relevance; the use of foreign models to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. Specific organizational and economic measures are highlighted that will help improve the energy efficiency of the national economy. The Swedish experience of using a modern cost model for the full period of operation ("General Concept") is studied, which aims to assess the economic results of investments in measures to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. The main principles of the modern cost model of the full operation period and the criteria for determining the number of necessary energy efficiency measures are considered. Analyzed "hard" (physical condition of the building) and "soft" (user behavior) measures that provide for the integrated energy efficiency of the building. The stages of the analysis according to the cost model of the full operation period are considered. The typical for Sweden ranges of the duration of energy efficient measures and the requirements for the internal rate of return, which depends on the general economic situation in the country and the terms of the loan, have been investigated.  Based on the results of the energy audit of the ten-story building selected for the study and taking into account the experience of Sweden, a number of measures to improve energy efficiency are proposed and a calculation is given to ensure the energy efficiency of a residential building in Ukraine. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that there is a positive trend in this implementation. With the integrated use of all measures that will even allow you to save more, you can significantly improve the energy efficiency of the existing housing stock in Ukraine.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Cesari ◽  
Leandro D’Aurizio

Abstract Following the increasing necessity of quantitative measures for the impact of natural catastrophes, this paper proposes a new technique for a probabilistic assessment of seismic risk by using publicly available data on the earthquakes that have occurred in Italy. We implement an insurance-oriented methodology to produce a new map of the seismic risk and to evaluate, under various hypotheses, the costs of insuring all the Italian housing units against it. The model is compared with two main privately developed models, well known in the reinsurance industry, providing fairly similar results.


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