Tali Hatuka

Human-biometeorological conditions and thermal perception in a Mediterranean coastal park.

This study looks at the interrelation of human-biometeorological conditions, physiological thermal stress and subjective thermal perception in the design and use of a new waterfront park in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Our initial assumption was that the parks design would embody a comprehensive response to the areas ever-increasing heat stress and water shortage. However, almost half of it is covered by grass lawns, irrigated with fresh water, while the remaining area is mainly covered with concrete paving, with minimal shading and sparse trees. We hypothesized that stressful thermal conditions would prevail in the park in the summer season and would be expressed in a high discomfort perception of its users. Thermo-physiological stress conditions in a typical summer month were compared with the subjective comfort perceptions of pedestrians surveyed in the park. It was found that even during mid-day hours, the level of thermal stress tends to be relatively mild, owing largely to the strong sea breeze and despite the high intensity of solar radiation. Moreover, it appears that the largely favorable perception of comfort among individuals may also result from socio-cultural aspects related to their satisfaction with the parks aesthetic attractiveness and in fact its very existence. Adaptive planning is proposed for such vulnerable regions, which are expected to experience further aggravation in thermal comfort due to global as well as localized warming trends.

Politics and culture in the making of public space: Taksim Square, 1 May 1977, Istanbul

This paper analyses how political and cultural claims over public space are symbolic of the social and historical transformation of a society at large. As an example, we aim to show that symbols, monuments and live practices of civic participation in Taksim Square, Istanbul, are integral to national and global events, and to the discourses of significance that mark particular decades. Accordingly, we discuss the changing meaning and the role of Taksim Square starting from the symbolic declaration of secularism during the first decade of the republican era, to a space of mass politics during the 1970s and finally as a spectacle of globalisation by the beginning of the twenty‐first century. The May Day celebration of 1977 that ended in violence is the focal point of our analysis. We argue that this event is an expression of the mass politics of an era of urbanisation and industrialisation in a developing society during the 1970s, during which time the military often intervened. The military coup of 1980 and the global processes of liberalisation in the post‐1980 era have also marked the Taksim Square. With expressions of mass politics banned, the square has become a spectacle of tourism and a locus of global culture. Henceforth, through the analysis of Taksim Square, we aim to present space as layers of articulations and fragmentation in the political culture of the nation and as instrumental in the power dynamics of the historically significant social processes and groups.

Loose ends: the role of architecture in constructing urban borders in Tel Aviv-Jaffa since the 1920s

A border is an ideological socio‐cultural construct by which communities define and defend their territory. But what are its formal and spatial configurations? How is the border architecturally conceived and perceived? This paper investigates these questions through analysis of three border typologies – the door, the bridge and the gateway – fostering a new discussion of architecture as a border‐making practice. It also relates to how architects and planners contribute to conflict, and to ethnic and physical barrier‐making by not being fully aware of the cultural and political implications of their actions. These ideas are discussed in the context of Israel/Palestine and the dynamic of the demarcation and separation between Israelis and Palestinians since the early twentieth century. It focuses specifically on the border zone between Tel Aviv and Jaffa, the Menshiyeh quarter. By examining border‐making from architectural and urban perspectives, the paper expands the political‐historical discussion of Israeli boundaries and clarifies the relationships between conflict (destruction), architecture (construction) and the everyday life of groups and individuals in today’s world of modern nationalism.

Being visible in public space: The normalisation of asymmetrical visibility

Over recent decades, cities have been radically transformed by information and communication technologies (ICTs) that modify people’s daily lives by reorganising mobility, infrastructure systems and physical spaces. However, in addition to the role that technology plays in the development of the infrastructure in our cities, it is also being used ‘as a means of control’. This view of technology as a disciplinary tool that restructures space, time and the relations among activities has been promoted by scholars who have shown that technology is also a means of saturating and sustaining contemporary capitalist societies and deepening inequalities. However, the situation is far more complex than that. Technology is not only used top-down but also bottom-up, with individuals using technological devices to share and enhance their visibility in space. This bidirectional paradigm – of vertical surveillance and horizontal sharing – contributes to a sense of ‘being exposed’ in public space that normalises practices of sharing personal data by individuals and thus results in diminished privacy. This argument is supported by an experiment conducted on smartphone users that includes personal interviews and the use of a smartphone Android application that combines online tracking with experience sampling. The findings show a convergence between the online and offline worlds (a ‘public’ situation in the offline world is also considered as such in the online world), which is a condition that contributes to the normalisation of ‘asymmetrical visibility’. Based on these results, the paper ends with a discussion of the contemporary meaning of public space.

The Right to Vision A New Planning Praxis for Conflict Cities

Building on Henri Lefebvre’s work on the role of imagination in crafting socially just urban conditions and “rights to the city,” this paper asks whether new ideas and urban practices can be produced through the use of experimental visioning techniques. Using empirical evidence drawn from an ideas competition for Jerusalem, one of the world’s most intractable conflict cities, the paper considers the extent to which the global call to create alternative visions for a just, peaceful, and sustainable Jerusalem resulted in new strategies considered fundamentally different from those routinely deployed in conventional planning practice, how and why.

Transformative Terrains: Counter Hegemonic Tactics of Dissent in Israel

What makes citizens choose a particular mode of protest? This paper discusses the role of space in recent protests by three Israeli groups, Machsom Watch, Anarchists Against the Wall, and Women in Black, in Israel/Palestine. It looks at the way groups protest state violence (i.e., the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and the construction of the separation wall) by initiating counter hegemonic strategies and tactics, and by creating new terrains of opposition. More specifically, I elaborate on their model of action and its function within a range of spheres (physical, geographical and virtual), supported by four key principles (difference, decentralisation, multiplicity and informal order). I argue that unlike more conventional protest rituals, often led by the dominant political parties, contemporary dissent takes place in parallel spheres constructing what I call transformative terrain – a social platform that challenges bounded politics by using imagination and space in creating new possibilities.

The Need for Advocating Regional Human Comfort Design Codes for Public Spaces: A Case Study of a Mediterranean Urban Park

Abstract Though widely acknowledged, climate change and global warming considerations are poorly integrated in landscape planning practices. Exploring this matter, the paper analyses the design of a contemporary urban park in Jaffa, Israel, investigating why climate considerations are so poorly addressed. The analysis focuses on the various competing parameters such as social use, design, political considerations and community desires that influence the planning process as well as the park experience. Results confirm a paradox. Though climate conditions are highly acknowledged, and aggravation in heat stress and discomfort conditions are well known in this region, planners and users alike prefer to suspend them in favour of image and aesthetics. Responding to these results, the paper discusses possible venues for further integrating climate considerations into landscape planning.

The emergence of portable private-personal territory: Smartphones, social conduct and public spaces

This paper underscores the centrality of individual technological devices, particularly mobile phones, in structuring contemporary social interaction in public spaces. It illustrates the need to re-think the relationship between information and communications technologies and practices of sociability in public spaces. Based on surveys of users of mobile phones (basic mobile phones and smartphones), we explore the practices and actions of subjects in public spaces. Empirical analysis shows that the use of mobile phones and, particularly, smartphones, is gradually modifying the normative constraints associated with place and social codes, simultaneously enhancing both a sense of freedom and estrangement. Based on our findings, the paper suggests the concept of portable private-personal territory to better understand the personal space individuals develop with the support of technology. Finally, the paper concludes with a reflection on the future implications of portable private-personal territories for public spaces and cities.

The Architecture of Repeated Rituals

Abstract This paper examines the relationship between architecture and civil participation by specifically looking at the formal attributes of Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, its development as a public urban space, its nationally symbolic meaning, and its civic role. A major conclusion of this study is that public assembly and the physical space in which it occurs are indivisible, revealing architectures unique contribution to the shaping of citizenship.

Navigating Housing Approaches: A Search for Convergences among Competing Ideas

Abstract Since the late nineteenth century, researchers, policy-makers and planners have searched for housing solutions. Nowadays, housing projects are closely connected to global socio-spatial challenges, such as urban equity, vulnerability and resiliency. In the context of these urban challenges, housing emerges as a local, national and global concern influenced by shifting globalized economies and dynamic real estate markets. Thus, housing can no longer be understood as a one-dimensional problem that can be solved by providing more housing units through a top-down mechanism, nor can it be perceived as personal space distinct from national and global contexts. But most studies in housing focus on one issue and explore it from a single perspective, contributing to a complex, specialized and fragmented body of knowledge. This specialization and fragmentation result in the loss of the ability to see the whole picture from its parts. By responding to these issues, this paper aims to establish the importance of (1) becoming familiar with the varied levels of housing studies as well as their underlying premises and paradigmatic boundaries and (2) exploring convergences or expansions among these levels as an initial step in establishing possible paths for a research synthesis that can support new research agendas and action strategie.