scholarly journals Local Power and Its Limits: Three Decades of Attempts to Revitalize Kitchener's CBD

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Filion ◽  
Trudi E. Bunting
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
Local Power ◽  
Business District ◽  
The City ◽  
Partial Implementation ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
Municipal Level

This article which covers thirty years of central-area change in the City of Kitchener, Ontario focuses on the initial impetus that led to the preparation of large-scale plans, on the down-scaling and partial implementation of those plans, and on the current decision-making environment that allows for more public participation than existed in the past. The local political scene was dominated by a well-organized coalition of interest groups promoting urban renewal in the central business district, yet this coalition was unable to achieve its objectives. The situation is attributed to suburbanization and related shifts in political and economic power at the municipal level; the vulnerability of municipal administrations to senior governments' priority changes; tensions within the coalition itself; and the growing empowerment of other local groups unsympathetic to the coalition's goals. Generally, the emphasis is on limitations to the capacity of locally-powerful actors to implement large-scale and long-term policies in a consistent fashion.

scholarly journals Shrinkage in Tokyo’s Central Business District: Large-Scale Redevelopment in the Spatially Shrinking Office Market

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kohei Kawai ◽  
Masatomo Suzuki ◽  
Chihiro Shimizu
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
Building Performance ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Office Market ◽  
Business District

Although metropolises continue to grow worldwide, they face the risk of shrinkage. This study seeks to capture and contextualize the “shrinkage” of the office market in Tokyo, a city that is one of the largest in the world but whose labor force has been shrinking since 1995. Employing unique property-level data on office building performance and use, this study quantifies the geographical distribution of office supply over time and shows that the geographical area of office supply is shrinking from the fringes, in line with the large-scale redevelopment of the central area since the collapse of the asset bubble in the early 1990s. As a result, analyses of changes in the vacancy rate and rent premium (from hedonic regressions) suggest that old office properties in the suburbs have recently faced more vacancies and lower rent premiums, even during the upturn peak of around 2007. This evidence suggests that (i) the concept of shrinking cities is also applicable in a spatial context, even for service sector workplaces in a nation’s central metropolis, and that (ii) allowing large-scale redevelopment in the central area while the economy remains powerful can transform the metropolis into a more compact form, which may be desirable in the long run.

The Central Business District of Melbourne and the Dispersal and Reconcentration of Capital

1986 ◽  
Vol 18 (11) ◽  
pp. 1447-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
S T Moser ◽  
N P Low
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
The State ◽  
Private Capital ◽  
Spatial Dynamic ◽  
State Capital ◽  
Business District

This paper is a discussion of the complex spatial dynamic at work in the second largest state capital in Australia. What is happening to the central business district, it is argued, has to be seen in the context of the interaction between the state government and private capital. The evolving sociospatial structure of Melbourne will continue to be conditioned by the changing balance between the opportunities for capital which arise in the course of suburbanisation and the need for the state government and large-scale property interests to maintain a higher rate of investment in the central area.

scholarly journals Reshaping the Gdańsk Shipyard—The Birthplace of the Solidarity Movement. The Complexity of Adaptive Reuse in the Heritage Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7183
Author(s):  
Piotr Lorens ◽  
Łukasz Bugalski
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Adaptive Reuse ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Brownfield Redevelopment ◽  
Solidarity Movement ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Business District ◽  
The City

The Gdańsk Shipyard—the birthplace of the Solidarity movement—is host to a unique example of a multi-layered brownfield redevelopment project, an area that is burdened by a complex history, overlapping heritage, and multiple memories. These circumstances require an integrated yet differentiated approach to the site’s heritage and make the creation of one homogeneous narration of its future impossible. At the same time, the size of the area, as well as its location within Gdańsk city centre, has meant that its future has been the subject of numerous discussions and speculations conducted over the last 20 years—starting from the creation of a large-scale open-air museum and continuing to the localization of the new Central Business District of the city. Consequently, that broad discussion carried out regarding the scope of redevelopment projects has been rooted in the possible introduction of diverse models of adaptive reuse. This variety of possible approaches also includes discussion on the mode of integrating heritage in the redevelopment processes. The goal of this paper—written just before the initiation of the final stage of the conceptual part of the project—is to present the complexity of approaches to issues related to redevelopment and heritage preservation.

Walking Distances to and from Light-Rail Transit Stations

1996 ◽  
Vol 1538 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean O'Sullivan ◽  
John Morrall
Keyword(s):  
Central Business District ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
Walking Distance ◽  
Light Rail ◽  
Rail Transit ◽  
Light Rail Transit ◽  
Bus Stop ◽  
Business District ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

A quantifiable basis for developing design guidelines for pedestrian access to light-rail transit (LRT) stations is provided for planners based on observations in Calgary, Canada. Calgary's LRT system, which began operations in 1981, has been operating for long enough for walking patterns to and from its stations to become established. Interviews were conducted with 1,800 peak-hour LRT users about the origins and destinations of their LRT trips. Those who walked to or from a station were asked to point out on a map their approximate origins or destinations. The distances were then measured off the maps. Walking distance guidelines were developed for central business district (CBD), transfer and local stations. Catchment area maps were produced, and the relationship between reported walking time and measured walking distance was calculated. Also compared are the walking distances at LRT stations and the walking distances at bus stops. The research strongly indicates that people walk farther to reach an LRT station than a bus stop. Using bus walking standards would result in an underestimate of LRT walking distances by about half. For the city of Calgary the average walking distance to suburban stations is 649 m with a 75th-percentile distance of 840 m. At CBD stations the average walking distance is 326 m and the 75th-percentile distance is 419 m.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Issue of On-street Parking in Commercial Areas: A Case Study of the City of Hyderabad, Pakistan

2018 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 01-09
Author(s):  
Baig Farrukh ◽  
Sahito Noman ◽  
Bano Arsla ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Business District ◽  
Public Views ◽  
The City

In developing countries, rapid urbanization has created an enormous pressure on land use, infrastructure and transportation. The fast growing ratio of motorized vehicles in urban areas is the main cause of environmental degradation. Almost 80% of the greenhouse gas emission is from vehicles in cities. In the city centers, on-street parking is considered the major cause of traffic congestion. The aim of this study was to evaluate the problems of on-street parking and disorderly parking at Central Business District (CBD) of Hyderabad city. The field survey methodology was adopted to perceive the current traffic problems in the city center and traffic count survey was carried out in both peak and off hours. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics frequency analysis technique with the help of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings revealed that increasing number of vehicles, on-street parking, improper parking, encroachment, inadequate parking space and poor condition of roads are the main causes of traffic congestion. The study bridges up the research gap of determining public views about on-street parking challenges in the context of Hyderabad, Pakistan and provides statistical results which may equally be adapted by policy makers and transportation planners in order to improve the traffic situation.

scholarly journals Exploring the Synergies between Urban Overheating and Heatwaves (HWs) in Western Sydney

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan Saeed Khan ◽  
Riccardo Paolini ◽  
Mattheos Santamouris ◽  
Peter Caccetta
Keyword(s):  
Central Business District ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Urban Station ◽  
Advective Flux ◽  
Important Interaction ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Business District ◽  
Open Question ◽  
The City ◽  
Synoptic Circulation

There is no consensus regarding the change of magnitude of urban overheating during HW periods, and possible interactions between the two phenomena are still an open question, despite the increasing frequency and impacts of Heatwaves (HW). The purpose of this study is to explore the interactions between urban overheating and HWs in Sydney, which is under the influence of two synoptic circulation systems. For this purpose, a detailed analysis has been performed for the city of Sydney, while considering an urban (Observatory Hill), in the Central Business District (CBD), and a non-urban station in Western Sydney (Penrith Lakes). Summer 2017 was considered as a study period, and HW and Non-Heatwave (NHW) periods were identified to explore the interactions between urban overheating and HWs. A strong link was observed between urban overheating and HWs, and the difference between the peak average urban overheating magnitude during HWs and NHWs was around 8 °C. Additionally, the daytime urban overheating effect was more pronounced during the HWs when compared to nighttime. The advective flux was found as the most important interaction between urban overheating and HWs, in addition to the sensible and latent heat fluxes.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Structure and Accessibility of Public Space Network in Kano Central Area with the Bid to Promote Urban Cohesion and Sustainability

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.25) ◽  
pp. 54
Author(s):  
Muhammad Muktar ◽  
Abdulaziz S. Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Road Network ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Space Network ◽  
Sustainability Issue ◽  
Business District

There have been major concerns in the planning of both public and private spaces in Kano central area. Consequently, the entire urban fabric have been restructured due to uncontrolled developmental growth, population density, high cost of land value, unavailability of business location and poor accessibility to road network. These situations have brought about a physical and social shift in the position of Kano Central Business District (CBD) area, of which not prevented will continue to cause major urban cohesion and sustainability issue. Thus, this paper took a preemptive step to evaluate the existing problems and identify the major sustainability issues and where urban cohesion failed. A qualitative method was employed that does not only consider the study of morphological factors of the public space network in Kano CBD, but also the social, environmental and economic dynamics they generate. Thus, the data were collected through fieldwork (favoring direct contact with the territory), and analyzed using four key dimensions namely ‘Form and legibility’, ‘Access and Connections’, ‘Uses and Activities’, then ‘Sociability and Identification’. The findings revealed that the neighborhoods that make up the CBD have lot of abandoned buildings, insufficient access routes, poor drainage system, high volume of traffic that cause lot of pollution and proliferation of solid waste that makes road network impermeable, and an aesthetic eyesore. In view of these, the study recommends a set of urban intervention strategy capable of guiding the planning and redesign of public spaces in Kano CBD in order to promote urban cohesion and a sustainable environment. 

Exploring Intra-Urban Travel Mobility using Large-Scale Taxi Global Positioning System Trajectories

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haixiao Wang ◽  
Fang Liu ◽  
Jinjun Tang
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Central Business District ◽  
Operation Efficiency ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Harbin City ◽  
Residential District ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Gps Devices ◽  
Business District

Using taxi GPS trajectories data is of very importance to explore Spatio-temporal features of human mobility in transportation designing and planning. The data were collected from taxi GPS devices in Harbin city during a week. The taxi trips are extracted from GPS data, and travel distance and time in occupied and vacant states are firstly used to investigate the human mobility. Then, the urban area is divided into 400 grids. Furthermore, travelling network corresponding to taxi trips are designed to further examine the dynamics of mobility, in which the grid are considered as nodes and edge weights are defined as total number of trips among nodes. We observe some basic statistical features of network: degree, edge weights, clustering coefficients and network structure entropy. We also use the correlation between strength and degree to analyze the significance of nodes. Based on network analysis, we select two grids, a central business district and a residential district with high degree and strength, to study the spatial and temporal properties of trips that start from and end at these two grids. Finally, the correlation between trip volume and operation efficiency is explored and we find that hourly trip volume express negative correlation with operation efficiency.

Urban Rail Development in China

2012 ◽  
Vol 2275 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Salzberg ◽  
Shomik Mehndiratta ◽  
Zhi Liu
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Urban Transport ◽  
Transit Oriented Development ◽  
Rail Systems ◽  
Urban Rail ◽  
Analytical Work ◽  
Metro Systems ◽  
The City

This paper provides an overview of the recent development of urban rail systems in Chinese cites and the challenges ahead. China is set to become the world leader in length of metro lines in operation in the near to medium term. In view of the large scale of this investment, a focus on the overall economic and financial viability of these systems is needed. On the basis of analytical work supporting a project investment in the city of Kunming and a study tour of urban rail systems in China, this paper highlights four areas believed to be crucial in meeting these objectives: integration of new metro systems with existing systems of public transport, a supportive overall urban transport policy, transit-oriented development, and long-term financial sustainability. The conclusion is that in all of these areas, China possesses tools that may enable the program to succeed if they are used effectively and in concert. Any issues appear to result from a lack of attention to these four areas and from a managerial focus on ensuring the completion of the construction program above all other concerns. The RMB 1 trillion investment in urban rail construction under way in China needs to be a catalyst for joint action on the issues identified in this paper (RMB 1 is approximately US$0.15). Otherwise, Chinese cities may be left with an investment that carries large long-term costs and does not deliver the crucial economic benefits expected.

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