The Potential for Urban Vegetation to Mitigate Ambient Air Pollution Threats to Public Health

This paper assesses the threat that ambient air pollution poses to urban public health and the potential role of urban vegetation to mitigate those threats. Air pollution is a major global risk to health, especially in urban areas. In this paper, four major air pollutants were assessed: particulate matter, tropospheric ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. These pollutants were found to have several adverse effects, including increasing mortality and respiratory morbidity. These pollutants come from a variety of sources, but a major contributor in urban areas is the burning of fossil fuels in automobiles. The adverse health effects of pollution are expected to grow as climate change worsens air quality. Research and case studies find that urban vegetation can filter air and remove pollutants through deposition and stomatal uptake. The effectiveness of air pollution removal is dependent upon specific variables, including leaf characteristics, type of vegetation, and seasons. Urban vegetation may worsen air quality in some cases due to slowing ventilation and producing biological volatile organic compounds. While urban vegetation has potential to mitigate ambient air pollution, conducting site specific research is needed when implementing greenspace policies.

The Psychological Effects of Urban Design

Regardless if we are aware of it or not, our mental wellbeing is being directly affected by our surroundings - the built environment. Certain styles of buildings, the layout of streets, and the provision of green spaces are altering our psychology subconsciously. There are several ways in which cities can encourage better mental wellbeing by considering better urban design. During an age where it is becoming increasingly important to comprehend the impacts of poor mental health, an opportunity utilizing urban planning can help contribute to a healthier mental state overall. This paper seeks to present the various ways cities can utilize urban design to help improve the mental health of its citizens, and a case study from Tokyo, Japan is analyzed. The paper is written from an urban planning perspective; however, it also includes a brief introduction to the psychological background on how exactly our minds are affected by the built environment. “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.”- Winston Churchill

Placemaking in Planning: A simple buzzword or a new planning movement?

This article is an investigation into the role of placemaking in the modern planning profession, with a focus on the evolution of placemaking, evaluation through the lens of a case study in Edmonton, AB, and analysis through three planning theories. It is argued that the ideas of placemaking have existed for much longer than the word itself. A brief background is provided detailing the development of placemaking. Examples of placemaking throughout history are discussed with a focus on the writings of Jane Jacobs. The Imagine Jasper Avenue and Experience Jasper Avenue pilot projects are explored, with a discussion of their placemaking elements. The history of Jasper Avenue as Edmonton’s main street and efforts to reimagine Jasper Avenue in the face of intense public scrutiny are investigated. Finally, placemaking is analysed through three planning theories: Planning as Design, the theories of Michel Foucault, and Semiotics. The major themes of these theories and their application to both placemaking and the case study are examined.

Seizing the Means of Domesticity: Mass-Housing Spaces, Objects and Relationships in Soviet Everyday Life

The Soviet state created mass-housing to reshape the city and everyday life itself. This paper examines the spaces and objects of mass-housing to examine the relationship between residents, the state and objects within Soviet everyday life. Approaching the study of everyday life in the Soviet Union from the early 1920s to the late 1980s via the spaces of mass-housing can offer a tangible approach to a way of life that might otherwise seem strange or uncanny. This paper uses ethnographic analysis by drawing on scholarly sources along with five historical photographs. The mass housing spaces of the kommunalka and later khrushchyovka served as places of push and pull. The state attempted to expand the public realm while residents simultaneously tried to create privacy and individuality. Within the interior, the Red Corner and the commode were embodiments of contradictions between modernization and tradition. Despite the state’s efforts, commodity fetishism lingered at the core of everyday life. Within Soviet everyday life, mass-housing spaces and objects can be useful to illustrate the changing yet stagnant relationship between residents and the state.

Home is where the female is: Analysing the geography of gender inequalities and the home

Discourses on the home as a physicality often recount on romantic or nostalgic notions such as safety, comfort, and identity. Home as a defined boundary from the public realm and as a private space can be conceptualised as a gendered landscape, in which women are confined to roles involving reproductive and domestic labor. Thus, in a paradoxical sense, although home is socially constructed to fit ideals and create a space of material safety, it can also create a geography of difference in terms of women and the systemic barriers that can lead to violence against women, such as domestic or familial violence. This paper discusses the geography of the home and its physical and social attributes as it intersects with gender inequalities. Moreover, an intersectional and focused analysis on how domestic violence can occur because of gendered perceptions in the home is provided. This introductory research paper examines existing literature and can add to the limited research in domestic violence against women. Thus, the paper may be used to inform future housing policy such that a more comprehensive approach which includes domestic violence perspectives are considered.

A Framework to Improve Urban Revitalization Developed Through a Theoretical Analysis and Critique of Pruitt Igoe

Urban revitalization is a complex task, greatly impacted by which stakeholders have the authority to identify and implement revitalization strategies. This article uses the Pruitt Igoe housing development to critique and explore alternatives to a modernist revitalization approach. Pruitt Igoe was built in 1954 on 57 acres of inner city land characterized by an overrepresentation of impoverishment and consisted of 33 identical 11-storey towers. Despite improving the quality of housing for residents of the area, Pruitt Igoe quickly deteriorated into an isolating and dangerous environment for residents. Ultimately, revitalization was not achieved and Pruitt Igoe was demolished just 18 years after construction. Analyzing the case of Pruitt Igoe through the theoretical frameworks of advocacy planning, planning as design, and several concepts from Michel Foucault reveals how inequalities and power differences led to some of the project’s negative outcomes. Using the considerations derived from these frameworks, the article demonstrates why renewed infrastructure alone is often insufficient to achieve effective urban revitalization. This article advocates that ongoing engagement with residents is critical to identify the complex social circumstances that underpin urban decline and create lasting, effective, and inclusive urban revitalization.

The Exploration of LGBTQ2+ Communities

This paper will analyze identity, and what identity means for the LGBTQ2+ community with regards to physical places and spaces. Shared identity, and individual identity of the LGBTQ2+ community shape the physical places and spaces in which the community can live and thrive. Looking into the differentiation of sexualities today has led to boundaries separating the LGBTQ2+ community from cultural and social spaces, as well as physical places and spaces. Why these boundaries exist for the LGBTQ2+ community, and the justification for these boundaries will be brought to light from an urban planning perspective. The importance of the work of urban planners shaping cities and communities to create a safe and comfortable space for the LGBTQ2+ community will be explored. The boundaries presented by the LGBTQ2+ community provides a just social and cultural geography for individuals with shared identities to create a safe space and diverse communities and neighbourhoods. The border presented by LGBTQ2+ communities allows for the voice of LGBTQ2+ individuals to be heard, and the cultural and social geographies to reflect the acceptance of this community.

DIY Urbanism: Influences & Impacts on Community Planning

‘Do It Yourself’ (DIY) urbanism is usually initiated by community members using a grassroots approach to change urban areas. Community planning involves making decisions about urban areas. This paper examines topics regarding DIY urbanism and community planning. Community engagement, neoliberalism and municipal support are key influences of DIY urbanism related to planning. DIY urbanism impacts the planner’s role as well as the relationships between planners, communities and municipalities. Three Canadian examples of DIY urbanism are introduced, including the Urban Repair Squad, PARK(ing) Day, and CITYlab. Discussion focuses on the opportunities and potential challenges of DIY urbanism for planners to consider. Potential challenges include public safety and municipal liability. Recommendations for planners regarding DIY urbanism are provided. DIY urbanism can be beneficial if planners work collaboratively and focus on small scale, low cost improvements.

Sustainability Through Green Roofs and Walls in Urban Areas

This paper discusses the sustainability benefits through the installation of living green roofs and walls in urban areas. A brief history of these living systems is provided to give context to the reader. Different kinds of green roofs and walls, how they are maintained, and their many benefits will be discussed. The many public and private benefits for cities that implement these systems will be examined. Then two case studies in different locations will be looked at that examine different benefits of green roofs in two different climates.

Ice District

Ice District