Carlos Smaniotto Costa

A agregação das Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação ao espaço público urbano: reflexões em torno do Projeto CyberParks – COST TU 1306

Apresenta-se o Projeto CyberParks para discutir a relacao entre o uso de meios digitais (smartphones, conexoes wi-fi etc.) em espacos publicos (parques, jardins, pracas etc.) e a contribuicao das novas tecnologias para qualificar e aumentar a participacao de usuarios na sua producao e manutencao. CyberParks e guiado pelas questoes: (1) Como as Tecnologias de Informacao e Comunicacao (TIC) afetam o uso do espaco publico? (2) Quais sao os riscos associados a recente, mas acelerada, dinâmica de difusao das TIC no espaco urbano? (3) Como os usos identificados se enquadram no conceito de sociedade virtual? Em suma, trata-se de investigar a contribuicao das TIC na transformacao das cidades em contextos mais inclusivos, e nao somente mais high tech. O projeto objetiva desvendar o papel das TIC na producao e no desenho de espacos hibridos. Uma premissa e aumentar o conhecimento das possibilidades que as TIC abrem para uma melhor compreensao da forma como as pessoas usam esses espacos. Discutem-se o âmbito e a pertinencia da perspectiva de estudo focada na relacao entre TIC e espaco publico, apresentando objetivos do Projeto CyberParks. Em sequencia, problematizam-se algumas das principais linhas de investigacao, apresentando os resultados de um estudo de caso desenvolvido em Lisboa, Portugal.

Cyberarchaeology: Improved Way Findings for Archaeological Parks Through Mobile Augmented Reality

Latest improvement on mobile devices capabilities definitively changed the way people experience their surroundings. Thanks to the improvement of built in sensors, devices are able to sense the environment at users’ location. The ability to provide contextual services to the visitors is a key aspect to make public parks more accessible, comprehensible end enjoyable. The paper outlines the application of Augmented Reality technologies in a real case scenario. The aim is to equip visitors with an ICT tool able to enhance their perception visiting open spaces and parks. The reporting area chosen for the study case is an Archaeological park, the Cardeto, located within an urban green open space in the outskirts of Ancona, a city in central Italy. Ensuring the success of the experiment has required an hybrid approach, with the main objective of providing visitors with an endless flow of information, anytime and anywhere. To reach this result, a mobile application has been developed, exploiting two different tracking systems: location-based and edge-based. The first one helps users to move along with a network of given Points of Interest disseminated within the park. At the same time, the second system displays a rich set of information each time a user came in close the proximity with artefacts or valuable heritages. This work is part of a wider ongoing project aiming at a better understanding of the potentials inherent the design space for smartphones in context-aware AR applications for tourists. Our experiment demonstrates the validity of purposed methodology as a promising solution for Cultural Heritage purposes.

As modernas tecnologias de informação e comunicação e o espaço público Explorando as fronteiras de uma nova relação

Este estudo discute a relacao entre as tecnologias de midia digital e a sua utilizacao no espaco publico. Uma relacao que nao e nova, mas esta crescendo a um ritmo acelerado e se transformando em um desafio para os especialistas em informatica, paisagistas e arquitetos e cientistas sociais. Ao apresentarmos e discutirmos alguns exemplos levantamos questoes sobre o desenvolvimento urbano, agora sob a luz das novas tecnologias de midia digital. A questao central e qual o contributo dessas tecnologias para transformar nossas cidades em ambientes mais sociais, em vez de apenas mais high-tech . Apresentamos e discutimos aqui uma analise de como as TICs interferem no uso do espaco publico, com que resultados e riscos, e como elas se integram no novo conceito de sociedade virtual. http://dx.doi.org/10.17127/got/2013.3.009 Data de submissao: 2013-03-30 Data de aprovacao: 2013-06-11 Data de publicacao: 2013-06-30

Digital Tools for Capturing User’s Needs on Urban Open Spaces: Drawing Lessons from Cyberparks Project

The chapter discusses how ICT can be used to enhance the understanding of the relationship between space, users and social practices. As an example of possible use of ICT for capturing and better understanding user’s needs, the new digital tool WAY Cyberparks is presented and discussed. A “cyberpark” is defined as a new type of urban landscape where nature and ICTs blend together to generate hybrid experiences and enhance quality of life. The WAY Cyberparks digital tool consists of a smart phone application, server/cloud and web services. Through the experiences from testing it in selected urban open spaces in Barcelona, Lisbon and Ljubljana opportunities are presented and lessons are drawn about relevant aspects of the ICT towards building a more participatory and collaborative process in planning of public spaces. A relevant aspect of the ICT lays in their ability to enhance communication with (potential) users, transforming the production of public open spaces into an interactive process, and enabling creative community participation and empowerment. Furthermore, some challenges of the increasing penetration of digital technologies devices (smart phones, smart watches, tablets, etc.) within the broader context of their use in public urban open spaces such as parks, gardens, squares, plazas are discussed, together with the consequences of this interweaving, which is growing at a rapid pace, unfolds research needs in the future.

A model for evaluating a greenbelt planning in the city of Qazvin (Iran) using MICMAC method

This paper addresses a model for evaluating land use suitability in the city of Qazvin, Iran. It considers greenbelt was an opportunity to increase the ecological performance and the quality of life in the city. Existing traditional orchards and a Forest Park that could be part of a sub-natural greenbelt, but the weak structure of the local management and poor applied information technologies are jeopardising any opportunity to create a greenbelt programme. In this regard, MICMAC and GIS techniques are considered to provide sounds arguments for a greenbelt planning in the city. This was carried out through a hybrid method with statistical and spatial analysis. The results revealed that a greenbelt would be spatially corresponded to the existing traditional orchards and the Forest Park with an overlapping of 40%. Hence, Qazvin has a good opportunity to plan a suitable greenbelt, as a measure to control the course of a rapid urban sprawl. Based on the evidences gathered in Qazvin, a conceptual model for planning greenbelts is proposed.

The appropriation and transformation of the landscape: the urbanization process resulting from the cultivation of the erva mate in Paraná (Brazil)

ABSTRACT This paper aims to describe the landscape patterns and the urbanization process which evolved due to the mate tea (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hill) cultivation in the Brazilian state of Paraná. Drinking mate tea is an ancient tradition of the Guarani Indians who settled the southeastern region of South America. The large-scale cultivation of mate in Paraná has been taking place for centuries, mainly in the region around the city of Irati. Mate cultivation induced the development of settlements and influenced their growth; it stamped the economic and social character of the region, and shaped a rich and characteristic landscape. As other cultural landscapes, the ‘mate landscape’ is undergoing changes, with agriculture and urbanization being the most important drivers. To sustain its values it is necessary to call for attention to its environmental, economic, social and cultural virtues. We discuss the ecological and aesthetic value of mate culture, and the social and environmental demands of its future. We also offer arguments and some ideas to create from the landscape a significant community added value, bearing in mind that landscape is a key element of the quality of life and an important asset for future generations.

Water as an Element of Urban Design: Drawing Lessons from Four European Case Studies

One of the most challenging problems that urban areas will face in the future is adaptation to the effects of climate change, particularly with regard to local problems of water management (e.g., flooding caused by heavy rain events, degradation of urban streams, and water scarcity). Sustainable local management of stormwater calls for approaches that connect technical and ecological solutions with urban design aspects and socioeconomic factors. This in turn opens up great opportunities to advance knowledge toward the application of water-sensitive urban design (WSUD), an approach that integrates the water cycle into urban design to simultaneously minimize environmental degradation, improve aesthetic and recreational appeal, and support social cohesion. A comparative study of four case studies across Europe reveals some of the successes and limits of WSUD implemented so far and presents new considerations for future developments. Best practices on integrated management as well as concepts to re-establish natural water cycles in the urban system while ensuring water quality, river health, and sociocultural values are included. In the selected case studies, water takes a structuring role in urban development, which has been designed to serve diverse public functions and maximize environmental quality, urban renovation, resilience to change and sustainable growth.

Kleingärten: um componente da infraestrutura urbana: aspectos urbanísticos, ecológicos e sociais dos jardins arrendados na Alemanha

This paper discusses the concept of the kleingarten, a system of allotment gardens present in almost all German cities. It focuses on their social relevance and on their potential for building the green infrastructure, as a way to improve the quality of urban environment. These gardens, which could be called green lungs, are in most cases part of the citys real estate and leased to groups of people who want to grow vegetables, fruits and flowers. The movement of kleingarten, supported by a strong institutional framework, created these gardens initially to help workers in large industrial cities to increase food security and improve outdoor leisure opportunities, insuring an improvement in their quality of life. Today, almost 150 years later, the movement has become a significant part of German culture. Offering leisure and outdoor recreation opportunities for a large part of the population kleingarten became a striking element of the urban landscape in Germany. Due to the leisure opportunities, landscape and urban significance and political force the kleingarten movement is interesting for gaining a deeper insight.