scholarly journals A Methodological Framework for Assessing Practicability of the Urban Space: The Survey on Conditions of Practicable Environments (SCOPE) Procedure Applied in the Case Study of Cagliari (Italy)

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Garau ◽  
Alfonso Annunziata ◽  
Mauro Coni

Children’s independent activities within public spaces emerge as a fundamental condition for their development considered in the context of their needs: socialization, movement, autonomy, and enrichment of their creative, imaginative, and cognitive potential. The promotion of their independence represents a relevant issue for implementing the smart city paradigm. This paradigm calls for a methodological framework where the urban fabric’s performance is evaluated via comprehensive analytic protocols. The proposed study presents an audit tool for evaluating the quality of urban spaces in terms of their practicability by children: the Survey on Conditions of Practicable Environments (SCOPE). The practicability of this research is establishing the quality of urban spaces’ usability, and it is expressed in terms of compositional, configurational, functional, and social factors of the built environment organized within a framework articulated in seven key dimensions (connectivity, convenience, comfort, commitment, conviviality, conspicuousness, and coexistence). The introduction of the concept of practicability and of indicators incorporating the demand for a children-sensitive perspective in the project of public spaces determine the novelty of the SCOPE procedure. This methodology was applied to an area in Central Cagliari, Italy, to evaluate the usability of public spaces. The results reveal that the proposed methodology is relevant for implementing the smart city paradigm because it addresses children’s autonomy and their rights to the city by selecting and defining indicators to clarify and assess conditions of the built environment conducive to children’s autonomy and independent social activities.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5071
Author(s):  
Beata Makowska

Intensive urban development has created a shortage of urban green areas. The need to economically plan and use urban green spaces has fueled the redefinition of public spaces and parks so as to provide the residents with both recreation and relaxation facilities, as well as a forum for contact with culture. This paper discusses the case of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in the Kallithea district on the outskirts of Athens, near the Mediterranean Sea. It fills a gap in the research on the aspects of the practical functioning of such facilities. The methodology used in the research included an analysis of the literature, the SNFCC’s reports, and an in situ survey. The cultural center hosts a number of events aimed at promoting Greece’s natural and cultural heritage. The paper includes a detailed analysis of the events organized by the SNFCC in the period 2017–2020 and their immense impact on residents. The aim of the study is to show that the creation of the SNFCC with the park areas has functioned as a factor contributing to the improvement of the quality of urban space and the quality of life of the city’s inhabitants. The paper’s conclusions indicate that the sustainable SNFCC project, which fulfils the urban ecology criteria, has been very well received by the visitors—citizens and tourists alike. A program-centered innovation introduced by the SN Park has added great value to their lives. The project contributes to economic and cultural growth, as well as the protection and promotion of heritage.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8352
Author(s):  
Chiara Garau ◽  
Alfonso Annunziata

The global process of urbanization, and the modification of social interaction determined by the pandemic crisis, poses the issue of the place of vulnerable users and, in particular, children, within the contemporary city. This research aimed to elaborate a theoretical and methodological framework, based on the concepts of affordance and capability, for analyzing the potential of public spaces to enable and support children’s independent activities. This potential, or meaningful usefulness, is expressed by the Index of Meaningful Usefulness of public Urban Spaces (IUIS). The latter is calculated via the tool ‘Opportunities for Children in Urban Spaces’ (OCUS). This methodology is applied to the analysis of significant public spaces within the historic center of the city of Iglesias in Sardinia, Italy. The results reveal adequate usefulness of the selected spaces, while underlining criticalities related to intrinsic spatial and physical attributes. The application to the case study confirms the validity of the theoretical and methodological framework embodied in the OCUS tool for supporting urban design and planning by orienting place-shaping processes towards the acknowledgement of children’s needs.


Author(s):  
Chiara Garau ◽  
Alfonso Annunziata

The global process of urbanization, and the modification of social interaction determined by the pandemic crisis poses the issue of the place of vulnerable users, and in particular children, within the contemporary city. This research aims to elaborate a theoretical and methodological framework, based on the concepts of affordance and capability, for analyzing the potential of public spaces to enable and support children’s independent activities. This potential, or meaningful usefulness, is expressed by the Index of Meaningful Usefulness of public Urban Spaces (IUIS). The latter is calculated via the tool ‘Opportunities for Children in Urban Spaces’ (OCUS). This methodology is applied to the analysis of significant public spaces within the historic center of the city of Iglesias in Sardinia, Italy. The results reveal adequate usefulness of the selected spaces, while underlining criticalities related to intrinsic spatial and physical attributes. The application to the case study confirms the validity of the theoretical and methodological framework embodied in the OCUS tool for supporting urban design and planning by orienting place-shaping processes towards the acknowledgement of children’s needs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 11-21
Author(s):  
Danijela Rogina ◽  
◽  
Radivoje Dinulović ◽  

The human population is currently on the rise and most Europeans live in urban areas, leading to increased urbanization. The change comes with its challenges, as cities, architecture, and urban spaces need to become more fluid, multi-functional, and innovative. This paper examines whether a change of use of public spaces, and functions of architectural and urban forms, can be used as an element in the implementation of sustainable urbanization. The theoretical framework of this paper focuses on literature findings relating to identified key aspects such as innovative approaches in changes of use — recycling and upcycling, green infrastructure and financial aspects, concepts of “right of the place”, and public participation. These aspects are addressed on both theoretical and practical levels, with the National Theatre in London as a case study. Findings convey that the change of use of spaces can be utilized to achieve sustainable urbanization, together with the management of functions and uses of architectural and urban forms. However, further research is needed with various stakeholders to identify a solid and inherent database, as a foundation on which the most optimal urban spaces would emerge, by identifying new functions and uses of urban space and architecture.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-48
Author(s):  
Parviz Akhtar Jaheed ◽  
Hamid Reza Ameri Siahvi ◽  
Asadollah Movahedi

The city is a place for human life, where all the components necessary for human life must be present in the city so that human beings can live physically and mentally in peace. The cities of Afghanistan, especially the residential town of Ahmad Shah Baba Mina, are facing many problems. The purpose of this research was to investigate the problems of this town and to provide suggestions for its improvement and organization. The method of this research is library, perception and field considerations. Targeted interviews were conducted with 12 people who were familiar with urban design and urban planning issues. The analysis was performed by SWOT technique and space arrangement. The research results show that this town is faced with challenges such as transportation problems, lack of proper sidewalks, lack of urban furniture, visual personality and identity issues, environmental challenges, lack of proper distribution of land uses, congestion in public spaces. And there are issues that have changed the physical appearance and public spaces. During this research, suggestions for setting up public transportation routes, setting up vendors and new neighborhoods for their activities, Create special bike lanes, Improving the quality of public spaces has been provided to create public activities, improve public spaces as well as promote sensory richness.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 221
Author(s):  
Siti Aminah

The pedestrian transformation in Surabaya smart city system encountered critical problem for pedestrians because transformation as a public space has reduced citizens’ rights to the city. Dominant forces tend to subordinate street vendors or Pedagang Kaki Lima (PKL), who require public space. The city or urban government produces pedestrians as public spaces to support the ‘Smart City’ concept. This study explores the government’s ability to guarantee citizens’ rights to the city. In addition, this study seeks to observe the process of public space transformation in cities that implement smart city systems and analyze spatial street vendors’ practices in the pedestrian space. This research applies the right to cities and public space from a Marxian spatial perspective. This research is a case study that uses a qualitative method and interpretive analysis. Research findings indicate pedestrians’ paradox due to the government’s dispossession process to protect pedestrians through ‘furniturization’ policies that reduce smart city implementation. In conclusion, there are dynamics of spatial practice and social expression as pedestrian problems. The smart city system’s implementation causes the loss of fulfillment of the poor and street vendors’ needs and rights to participate inclusively in the social and political process in managing the city’s public spaces.


2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 91-101
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Masik

The Quality of Life of Suburbanities: A Case Study of the Gdańsk Agglomeration The article explains the meaning of the concept of ‘quality of life’, placing emphasis on its subjective dimension. As the concept is more and more discussed in the literature, the author intends to examine the satisfaction within public spaces for which local government is responsible. According to research made in Canada it is worth measuring not only satisfaction as such but also the importance of its constituent dynamics. Therefore, a survey made in the suburbs of the Gdańsk agglomeration asked respondents about their satisfaction with public transport, roads, environment, etc., including questions about the relative importance of such issues. The combination of satisfaction and importance provide the overall quality of life. At the end of the paper the author considers if there is a chance to improve the quality of life through a brief analysis of local governments expenditure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanny Maria Caesarina ◽  
Nahdi Saubari

Ruang terbuka hijau telah dikenal memiliki peranan yang penting dalam meningkatkan kualitas lingkungan perkotaan. Ruang terbuka hijau dalam perencanaan kota kerap dianggap sebagai elemen pendukung terwujudnya smart city. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan seberapa jauh peran ruang terbuka hijau lewat penyediaan wifi corner dalam perencanaan kota menuju konsep smart city. Metode yang digunakan adalah deskriptif kualitatif berdasarkan observasi, survey lapangan dan serangkaian wawancara. Studi kasus yang diambil dalam penelitian ini adalah dua kota di Kalimantan Selatan, yaitu Banjarmasin dan Banjarbaru yang telah memiliki konsep smart city. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ruang terbuka hijau dalam perencanaan kota memiliki potensi yang kuat sebagai elemen pembentuk smart city. Apabila ruang terbuka hijau suatu kota telah direncanakan dengan baik dari berbagai segi fasilitas dan terkoneksi dengan jaringan internet yang berkualitas, maka dengan sendirinya konsep smart city akan lebih mudah dicapai. Kata kunci: perencanaan kota, ruang terbuka hijau, smart city, wifi corner. Green space has an important role in enhancing environmental quality of a city. Green space often considered as a supporting element for the concept of smart city. This research intended to acknowledge the role of green space through the installation of wifi corner in urban planning towards smart city. The methods that has been used was descriptive qualitative through observation, field survey and interviews. The case study in this research were Banjarmasin and Banjarbaru which already has the smart city concepts. The result shows that green space in urban planning is a potential element towards smart city. A well good planned green space with all the facilities that connected to a good internet network in a city might help forming the concept of smart city. Keywords: green space, smart city, urban planning, wifi corner.


Smart Cities ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Maaria Nuutinen ◽  
Eija Kaasinen ◽  
Jaana Hyvärinen ◽  
Airi Mölsä ◽  
Sanni Siltanen

Buildings shape cities as those cities grow from and nurture people living and working within the built environment. Thus, the conceptualization of smart building should be brought closer to the smart city initiatives that particularly target ensuring and enhancing the sustainability and quality of urban life. In this paper, we propose that a smart building should be interlinked with a smart city surrounding it; it should provide good experiences to its various occupants and it should be in an ongoing state of evolving as an ecosystem, wherein different stakeholders can join to co-produce, co-provide and co-consume services. Smart buildings require a versatile set of smart services based on digital solutions, solutions in the built environment and human activities. We conducted a multiphase collaborative study on new service opportunities guided by a Design Thinking approach. The approach brought people, technology, and business perspectives together and resulted in key service opportunities that have the potential to make the buildings smart and provide enjoyable experience to the occupants who support their living and working activities in smart cities. This paper provides the resulting practical implications as well as proposes future avenues for research.


Dimensions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-202
Author(s):  
Sergiy Ilchenko

Abstract This contribution elaborates upon the appropriation of urban space in spatiotemporal and procedural interventions in the example of the city of Kharkiv, as well as the impact of urban space on the process of how various groups rediscover and use various parts of the city. Being moved during collective actions - in the sense of feeling urged to move along - goes beyond routine practices by influencing the city and its perception. It seems that these general processions, celebrations, and festive activities of the residents are their contributions to the process of »urban renaissance« - the rebirth of interest in the urban way of life. Since public spaces reflect the historical inheritance of local communities, joint transformative actions such as, »appropriation «, »production«, and »governance« of urban spaces are considered. This article advocates for the practice of domestication of urban space by the local community, as well as the need for the existence of »urban lagoons« - free (unregulated) areas of the city used as resources for urban development and interaction of citizens.


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