Marco Keiner

The real and the virtual worlds of spatial planning

Part I. The Real World of Spatial Planning.- Spatial Planning in the Twenty First Century.- Venice, Venice, Venice- Three Realities of the European City.- Sustainable Development and Urban Management in Developing Countries.- Indicator Sets on City and Cantonal Levels in Swtitzerland.- Implementing Sustainable Urban Development.- Transforming Cityspace.- City of Regions.- Increasing Resistance to Political Consulting.- Evaluation and Decision Support Systems in Multiple Land Use Planning.- Part II. The Virtual World of Spatial Planning.- Dynamic Immersive Visualization.- Behavioral Monitoring in Virtual Environments.- Assessment of Urban Green Space Qualities Using 3D Visualization Tools.- Movism.- Hiking in Real and Virtual Worlds.- Complex Systems Applications for Transportation Planning.- On the Variability of Human Activity Spaces.- Networked Systems.- Material Flow Analysis as a Tool for Sustainable Management of the Built Environment

Nachhaltige kantonale Richtplanung

Spatial planning in Switzerland is based on the principle of precaution. The cantonal guiding plans are strategic management tools for spatial development. They could determine spatial development more than they do currently. The updated land use statistics of Switzerland demonstrate an unsustainable development which spatial planning could not prevent. This leads necessarily to a stronger consideration of the principle of sustainable development in Swiss planning. A first step could be made within the domain of cantonal guiding planning. The objective is to strengthen the axiom of precaution and to establish a more effective and process oriented guiding planning. A deduction of operative objectives for spatial development from the general objectives of sustainable development is required. To be measurable, these objectives should be related to a set of indicators. To ensure sustainability oriented steering of guiding plans adoption of controlling and monitoring instruments is essential.

Urbanisierungstendenzen in Entwicklungsländern

The worlds population is growing tremendously. Most affected are developing countries where strong migrations have lead to unprecedented urban growth. The sprawling cities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America cause a series of environmental, social and economic problems for their inhabitants. Often, the authorities are unable to steer the development, most of all in the so-called mega-cities. But urbanization also brings opportunities for sustainable urban development. Fast growing but still relatively small cities (sub-mega-cities) should take advantage of these chances before the problems become unsolvable. For these kind of cities, based on case studies on Johannesburg, Santiago de Chile, and Gaborone (Botswana), the AGS-sponsored project Designing, Implementing and Measuring Sustainable Urban Development (DIMSUD) has analyzed the challenges and opportunities for action and offers recommendations to science and local decision-makers on how to achieve a more sustainable urban development.

City Energy Networking in Europe

Publisher Summary Urban settlements are projected to house more than half of the growing population near future. The nature of energy consumption and its associated development infrastructure significantly affects the way cities function and grow. History shows that the energy consumption patterns have made significant changes on human societies. To understand this, one only has to compare the pre-industrial and post-industrial city, their infrastructure, their housing structure, and their size. The current problem is that people are building cities based on outdated infrastructures relying on an abundance of fossil fuels. Moreover the most rapidly growing cities are in developing countries with priorities other than the efficient use of energy resources to maximize their future return. This exacerbates existing problems of rapid population growth, finite and secured resources, and inadequate governance. Networks on energy issues promise to yield solutions at several levels: in their ability to produce new information, disseminate best practices, and further the cause by supporting changes in public policy and industry on a global scale. New information may include the results of project partnerships among cities as well as public/private initiatives and campaigns, while the dissemination of best practices is dependent on the active participation of a broad-based membership as well as an attractive and effective website as communication platform. Major hindrances to energy networks include already established communication paths, for example within governments, which are inconducive to cross-disciplinary themes and thinking. Dealing with the issue of rethinking a better future for the cities requires the ability to put scientific information in a governance context, only then can technological advancement and innovation be put into practice.

Urban Development in Southern Africa and Latin America

This initial chapter gives a brief summary of the scope and goals of the DIMSUD project. The starting point is the urbanization process in the developing world. The world’s population is growing tremendously. Particularly affected are developing countries in Africa and Latin America where strong migration fluxes lead to unprecedented urban growth. City sprawl engenders a series of environmental, ecological, and social problems for its inhabitants. Authorities are often unable to steer the development, most of all in so-called “mega cities.” But are there also opportunities to help turn rapid urbanization into sustainable urban development? Cities that are rapidly growing and yet relatively small in comparison to mega cities have to act before their problems become unsolvable. Based on case studies in Johannesburg, Gaborone, and Santiago de Chile, the DIMSUD project analyzed the challenges and potentials for action in order to achieve more sustainable urban development.

Indikatorengestütztes Controlling der Richtplanung in der Schweiz

KurzfassungIn der Fachliteratur mehren sich seit geraumer Zeit wieder Beiträge, die die Einführung eines Controlling in der Regionalplanung fordern. Die Idee des Controlling in der Raumplanung ist nicht neu, aber zu einer breiten und institutionalisierten Umsetzung ist es bisher nicht gekommen. In der Schweiz wird das Thema Controlling in der Raumplanung seit Mitte der 90er Jahre intensiv diskutiert und seit kurzem werden verstärkt Anstrengungen unternommen, Controlling als integralen Bestandteil der kantonalen Richtplanung zu etablieren. Zahlreiche kantonale Raumplanungsämter erarbeiten Controllingkonzepte für die Richtpläne, die in Bezug auf Inhalt und Maßstab mit den deutschen Regionalplänen vergleichbar sind. Am Fallbeispiel des Kantons Luzern werden im folgenden Beitrag methodische Arbeitsschritte zur Einführung und Durchführung eines Controllingkonzepts dargestellt. Abschließend wird erörtert, ob sich ein solcher Ansatz auf die Regionalplanung in Deutschland übertragen lässt.AbstractRecently, planning articles claim the introduction of controlling mechanisms in regional planning. The idea of controlling mechanisms in planning is not new, however, it has never been institutionalised. In Switzerland controlling mechanisms in spatial planning are strongly discussed since the middle of the nineties. At the moment efforts are carried out to integrate controlling mechanisms into cantonal guiding planning. Several cantonal spatial planning authorities are working on concepts for controlling mechanisms for cantonal guiding plans which correspond in content and scale to the German regional plans. The present article highlights the case study of the recently developed concept of controlling mechanisms for the guiding plan of the canton of Lucerne. Finally it discusses whether the approach can be transfered to regional planning in Germany.

Indicator Sets on City and Cantonal Levels in Switzerland: Tools for Sustainable Development

With the integration of the principle of sustainable development into the new Federal Constitution in 1999, sustainability gained a strong foothold on the federal level in Switzerland. In 1996, the Interdepartmental Committee Rio (IDCRio) published an inventory entitled Sustainable Development for Switzerland (BUWAL 1996), which assessed the implementation of sustainable development in different policy branches of the Helvetian Confederation. Spatial planning was identified as an action field for the realization of sustainable development (see UVEK 1999; Keiner 2001). The Council for Sustainable Development worked out a plan of action for Switzerland (BUWAL 1997) with middle- to long-term objectives and recommendations for implementation in sectoral policies. From this, a sustainability strategy of the Federal Council was derived (Bundesrat 1999). With regard to the RIO+10 summit in Johannesburg in 2002, this strategy has been updated to an action plan as the Strategy for Sustainable Development 2002 (Bundesrat 2002).

Spatial Planning in the Twenty-First Century: Continuing or Ceasing?

Why planning? Since the very first days of mankind, the unpredictable, the unforeseeable, and the unknown has been something bewildering, uncomfortable and even dangerous for human beings. However, the abilities of rational thinking and reasoning, of resolving conflicts and problems, and of perceiving space and time has enabled man to devise proposals for the future and design ‘plans.’ Planning, the “ideal of an alternative to the competitive management of uncertainty,” (Marris 1998:16) thus seems to be a basic need of mankind.

The Case Study Cities

This chapter examines the “sense of place” of Santiago de Chile, Johannesburg and Gaborone, reflecting on their environmental, physical, socioeconomic, policy and development perspectives. In each individual case study city, short textual episodes and topical themes are used to focus on the distinctive urban settings and sustainability experiences of previous and newly born generations of Latin American and African urban dwellers. For this chapter, the background information is resourced from individual DIMSUD project city reports covering a wide range of urban narrations and descriptions aiming at supporting more sustainable urban practices. After two years of investigation by DIMSUD partners, this chapter draws on synthetic rendering to try to come closer to understanding the individual qualities and dynamics of these three rapidly expanding cities.

Framework for Research on Sustainable Urban Development

This chapter discusses the importance of international academic collaboration on sustainable development and presents the innovative methodological framework for research collaboration within the DIMSUD project. Focus is laid upon four crosscutting research themes that enabled a comparative assessment of the three case study cities: Gaborone, Santiago de Chile, and Johannesburg. Finally, a discussion of research limitations will be followed by an outlook on forthcoming training needs and the dissemination of research results.