Jacques Teller

TOWNSCOPE II - A computer system to support solar access decision-making

Abstract TOWNSCOPE II is a computer system devoted to support solar access decision-making in a sustainable urban design perspective. The software consists of a three-dimensional urban information system coupled with solar evaluation tools. We’ve paid particular attention to the fact that numerical results interpretation proves to be all but trivial in complex built environments. It is nevertheless a crucial aspect in decision-making, especially for current negotiated urban design practices. Therefore it is important to develop visual instruments in order to unveil the geometrical mechanisms lying behind the final results. Various spherical projections were thereby developed, each of them presenting specific advantages and disadvantages for solar access visualisation and/or evaluation purposes.

A Spherical Metric for the Field-Oriented Analysis of Complex Urban Open Spaces

The author deals with the analysis of urban open spaces, once conceived as part and parcel of our urban heritage. He introduces a mathematical modelling technique that is capable of mapping the variation of the sky visible from points distributed throughout space. The resulting maps overcome the limits of orthographic (plan, section, and elevation) and perspective methods of analysis by considering the dynamic qualities of the Gibsonian ‘visual world’ that takes account not only of bifocal vision but also of the relatively free movement of the head and shoulders, that is, vision as part of the human ecology. The maps show how a person might experience those volumes of a void that define a space, not from a fixed point but from moving about inside the entire urban open space.

Review of present European environmental policies and legislation involving cultural heritage

Abstract Cultural heritage is being addressed by a number of charters and conventions and it is clear that its consideration within decision-making processes is progressively becoming a real challenge, both for developers and public authorities. Against this background, this paper reviews the environmental assessment framework developed by the European Community, as this should increasingly influence decision making about cultural heritage in an urban setting. The legislative framework for access to environmental information is also reviewed because of its relevance to the decision-making process. The Directives on Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment both require a consideration of cultural heritage in decision making. This requirement can go some way to addressing the paradox in the European Communitys position whereby the community wishes to conserve and enhance its own cultural identity whilst, at the same time, cultural heritage is usually defined at a local level. The present paper suggests that, given their flexibility, the two European Community directives on environmental assessment constitute a promising opportunity to address this seeming paradox, but that there is a significant gap between legal obligations and the methodological tools to meet them.

Landscape Quality and Brownfield Regeneration: A Community Investigation Approach Inspired by Landscape Preference Studies

Abstract Increasing emphasis is given to brownfield regeneration across Europe. However, many local actors consider landscape quality as a secondary issue in the regeneration process. The present research investigated community sensitivity to landscape quality in the context of brownfield regeneration. This analysis was conducted in six post-industrial neighbourhoods situated in Wallonia (Belgium). The investigation method was inspired by landscape preference studies (LPS) and complemented with a qualitative case study approach. This method produced valuable insight into local community expectations regarding landscape management in the context of brownfield regeneration. The results presented in this paper suggest that perceived landscape quality influences community evaluation of regeneration schemes and reveal an unpredicted preference of certain community groups for post-industrial aesthetics. The findings also suggest that higher landscape quality in brownfield regeneration increases the attractiveness and liveability of a locality.

Ontologies in Urban Development Projects

Ontologies are increasingly recognized as essential tools in information science. Although the concepts are well understood theoretically , the practical implementation of ontologies remains challenging. In this book, researchers in computer science, information systems, ontology engineering, urban planning and design, civil and building engineering, and architecture present an interdisciplinary study of ontology engineering and its application in urban development projects. The first part of the book introduces the general notion of ontology, describing variations in abstraction level, coverage, and formality. It also discusses the use of ontologies to achieve interoperability, and to represent multiple points of view and multilingualism. This is illustrated with examples from the urban domain. The second part is specific to urban development. It covers spatial and geographical knowledge representation, the creation of urban ontologies from various knowledge sources, the interconnection of urban models and the interaction between standards and domain models. The third part presents case studies of the development of ontologies for urban mobility, urban morphological processes, road systems, and cultural heritage. Other cases report on the use of ontologies to solve urban development problems, in construction business models, building regulations and urban regeneration. It concludes with a discussion of key challenges for the future deployment of ontologies in this domain. This book bridges the gap between urban practitioners and computer scientists. As the essence of most urban projects lies in making connections between worldviews, ontology development has an important role to play, in promoting interoperability between data sources, both formal (urban databases, Building Integrated Models, Geographical Information Systems etc.) and less formal (thesauri, text records, web sources etc.). This volume offers a comprehensive introduction to ontology engineering for urban development. It is essential reading for practitioners and ontology designers working in urban development.

Ontologies for an Improved Communication in Urban Development Projects

The main objective of the COST Transport and Urban Development Action C21 is to increase the knowledge and promote the use of ontologies in the domain of urban development, in the view of facilitating the communications between information systems, stakeholders and urban specialists at a European level. Secondary objectives of the Action are: • producing a taxonomy of ontologies in the urban development field, contrasting existing design methodologies, techniques and production standards; • developing an urban development ontology both in textual and visual (graph) presentation and a visual editor to integrate and update concepts, definition, photos into the ontology (software tool); • developing a set of guidelines for the construction of urban development ontologies, based on practical examples (cases); • analysing the role of ontologies in the daily practice of urban development. The research work has been organized along three working groups, the first one dealing more specifically with methodologies for developing urban development to practical applications of ontologies in the urban development field. straightforward way to define end-users’ needs in terms of urban ontologies at the moment. Technology-driven approaches are not relevant as they would rapidly lead to restrict the research to the sole issue of computer representations while the ambitions of this Action extend far beyond this aspect. Furthermore conceptualizations are often tacit or implicit in the urban development domain and efforts to formalize these conceptualizations are generally viewed as “over-simplifications” by experts that are struggling to defend their scientific and technical legitimacy. It was hence suggested to adopt a “prospective approach” in order to better identify the potential role of ontologies in fostering the exchange and support of urban knowledge. In a design-like perspective, the identification of “end-user needs” and relevant issues that could be addressed by ontologies in the urban domain should hence be considered as a product rather than a starting point of this Action. The main parisons between European urban development cases and the third one dedicated It was soon acknowledged by the COST C21 members that there is no

Editorial: Design and evaluation of a semantic enrichment process for bibliographic databases

The limited semantics of thesauri and similar knowledge models hinder the searching and browsing possibilities of the bibliographic databases classified with this type of resource. This work proposes an automatic process to convert a knowledge model into a domain ontology through the alignment with DOLCE, an upper level ontology. This process is facilitated by an intermediary alignment with WordNet, a lexical model. The process has been tested with the thesauri and bibliographic databases of Urbamet and the European Urban Knowledge Network. The Urbamet model has been used to create an atlas of urban related resources with advanced search capabilities.

Comparing sky shape skeletons for the analysis of visual dynamics along routes

The motion of an observer in a given space produces a particular perception called motion perspective. This has been defined by Gibson as the gradual changes in the rate of displacements of contour lines in the visual field of the observer. This paper describes a new approach intended for analysing the motion perspective in order to quantify the morphology of urban open spaces along routes. It is based on spherical projections, which provide the shape of the sky boundary around the observer. The projections are studied through their skeletons, which are continuous sets of curves obtained by a progressive thinning down of the shapes around their main saliencies. The proposed method uses these skeletons to follow the variations in the shape of the sky boundary between the successive views. Measures of these variations have been developed and applied in a range of simplified theoretical examples and a real field example in order to show that they succeeded in capturing significant variations in spherical projections.

Olympic stadiums in their urban environment: a question of design and cultural significance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between Olympic stadiums and the urban environment. This relationship is considered as key to understanding the cultural significance of these exceptional event‐based buildings. It helps to explain present challenges faced by their conservation and raises the issue of considering likely heritage values at the design stage of stadiums.Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on a periodization of the relationship between Olympic stadiums and the urban environment. This periodization proposes a six stage typology, starting from the stadium of Olympia at the Hellenistic period. It combines an analysis of the stadium architecture itself and the integration of Olympic facilities within their urban setting and the city at large.Findings – The article highlights that Olympic stadiums have progressively been isolated from the city environment they are located in. This isolation can both be observed at the scale of the building, through ...

Addressing the determinants of built-up expansion and densification processes at the regional scale

An in-depth understanding of the main factors behind built-up development is a key prerequisite for designing policies dedicated to a more efficient land use. Infill development policies are essential to curb sprawl and allow a progressive recycling of low-density areas inherited from the past. This paper examines the controlling factors of built-up expansion and densification processes in Wallonia (Belgium). Unlike the usual urban/built-up expansion studies, our approach considers various levels of built-up densities to distinguish between different types of developments, ranging from low-density extensions (or sprawl) to high-density infill development. Belgian cadastral data for 1990, 2000 and 2010 were used to generate four classes of built-up areas, namely, non-, low-, medium- and high-density areas. A number of socioeconomic, geographic and political factors related to built-up development were operationalised following the literature. We then used a multinomial logistic regression model to analyse the effects of these factors on the transitions between different densities in the two decades between 1990 and 2010. The findings indicate that all the controlling factors show distinctive variations based on density. More specifically, the centrality of zoning policies in explaining expansion processes is highlighted. This is especially the case for high-density expansions. In contrast, physical and neighbourhood factors play a larger role in infill development, especially for dense infill development.