Tigran Haas

Planning of Kampala City 1903—1962: The Planning Ideas, Values, and Their Physical Expression

The historical association between the planning of Kampala city and colonialism is unquestioned. The empirical observation indicates that the spatial structure of Kampala is partly a unique product of European colonial planning—their inherent ideas and principles. Scholars and analysts have largely ignored this important aspect in the assessment of planning of Kampala. This article attempts to fill the knowledge gap on the historical planning ideas and how the ideas were implemented in Kampala’s urban space. Through a descriptive and exploratory approach, and by review and deduction of archival and documentary resources, this article suggests two major factors including inter alia, the discovery of malaria and the germ theory, the need to reproduce ‘‘European type space’’ in Kampala affected planning and consequently, the urban structure of Kampala city in the first half of the twentieth century.

Transmutation and reinvention of public spaces through ideals of urban planning and design

Our cities are undergoing a rapid transformation of public spaces due to different factors, such as economic and cultural globalization, demographic transformations, marketing strategies, urban planning and design approaches, medialization reinterpretations, social networks, and others. The urban realm itself is the collection of public spaces and places—buildings, squares, streets, landscapes, and ecosystems, as well as processes, mindscapes, and people that make up and shape any environment. In that respect, urban planning and design is really characterized by two distinct processes that transubstantiate space and place: static and dynamic. This qualitative, reflective article discusses these issues, taking a standpoint from the notion of public space as a common good. This notion is discussed in relation to the factors that transform our cities and is analyzed in relation to the concept of public good. We reflect this discussion vis-à-vis the views of the leading paradigms in urban planning and design, and their intake on and outlook on these complex issues.

Emergent Urbanism : Structural change and urban planning and design

In response to the structural changes of recent decades, many European cities and towns have invested in production, consumption and transportation infrastructures, marketing and branding measures, and urban design schemes, in order to manage and stimulate urban regeneration. This paper contributes to a discussion of urban planning and design in the context of structural change, emphasizing the consequences that such change has had for urban heritage and the sense of place. The paper addresses two cases from Swedish infrastructure planning practice to construct a conceptual framework for the discussion and analysis of contemporary theory and practice in urban planning and design. Throughout this paper, we argue that the urban landscape should not be seen as solely resulting from deliberate planning and design measures. Rather, understanding the regeneration of that landscape requires a deeper consideration of decisions related to infrastructure planning, as well as emergent processes of economic, social and spatial processes of structural change. We put forward the term Emergent Urbanism to describe this expanded understanding.

Hybrid spatialities: Multi-storey extensions of socialist blocks of flats under post-socialist transition in Serbia, the case of Nis

The aim of this research is to study the emergence and evolution of the multi-storey extension (MSE) of socialist blocks of flats in the form of additional storeys or lofts on top of host buildings, which is seen as a dominant model of post-socialist spatial change in inherited multi-storey housing areas in Serbia. Relying on an analysis of empirical data sources, interviews, observation and a comparative analysis, the paper investigates the MSE as a predominantly self-organising process. It also considers its manifestations at different operational and spatial levels in the study area of the city of Nis. It is argued that the MSE, under conditions of low economic capacity, an indifferent attitude of local authorities, an inconsistent legislative environment, and the market as an essential driving force of the process, results in uneven urban transformations, both in physical and social terms.

Structural Change, Cultural Heritage And Place

In the last few decades, many cities have experienced structural change with deindustrialisation and public closure as a result. Strategies for regeneration include investments in infrastructures f ...

New Trends in Bottom-Up Urbanism and Governance—Reformulating Ways for Mutual Engagement Between Municipalities and Citizen-Led Urban Initiatives

This chapter addresses how bottom-up urbanism relates to urban governance in Europe. The recent proliferation of bottom-up urban initiatives contrasts with the conventional system of top-down planning. This chapter includes eight examples of bottom-up initiatives from Stockholm, Sweden, and Istanbul, Turkey. Three conclusions can be drawn: first, the discrepancy between organizational structures, a hierarchical governmental structure, and the dominance of politics create missing links in the relationship between municipalities and citizen-led urban initiatives; second, new governance arrangements alone are not enough to create opportunities for citizens to partake in participatory methods and to be involved in decision-making processes; third, the political perspective of social innovation reformulates mutual engagement by introducing political liaisons, such as municipal guides or neighborhood councils.

Taking the High Line: elevated parks, transforming neighbourhoods, and the ever-changing relationship between the urban and nature

The popularity and impact of the High Line in New York mirrors the complex reality of contemporary provision of public space. The development of the project, its relationship to its surroundings and the evolving trend of elevated parks are analyzed in relation to the role of urban green space and impacts of Landscape Urbanism. The High Line shows the way to a new role for urban green space by utilizing abandoned infrastructure. In analysing the narrative of the High Line, this article stresses the importance of understanding localities and connectivity. Based on observations as well as a review of the literature and media, the article concludes that great landscaping does not create great places without careful consideration of the surrounding community and residents.

Beyond the sustainable urban design roadmaps

The complexities of contemporary global urban, political, economic and environmental issues are evident. We are facing the consequences of accelerating and rapid urbanization, the scarcity of natur...

The energy transect; including sustainability issues in urban morphology analyses

To tackle climate change, pollution and dwindling resources, we need to rethink our urban environment by identifying the most suitable morphological structures, with an optimized local (cradle-to-cradle) approach to energy and resources; towards economic feasibility and improved environmental quality. In this paper we propose integrating the Transect concept with the energy issues, to provide a flexible system for allocating building types, landscaping, energy systems, etc. so that they contribute to a symbiotic ecosystem. This Transect framework can include a juxtaposed toolbox that can be used collectively at the region, city, sector, neighborhood, and block/building scale.

Economic agendas, strategy and proactive planning in post-conflict reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper looks at the post-conflict economic reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It takes a stance that the international assistance in reconstruction planning needs to focus on the overall systems framework, where all the segments play a crucial and equal role and where all the issues are regarded as dynamic and treated as interconnected. A significant progress has been achieved in understanding the social, political and economic factors underlying the civil and ethnic wars but the complexity of these factors in post-war situations and their inter-dependency has been comparatively neglected. This paper draws attention to the importance of innovation, knowledge creation and proactive strategies for achieving a competitive post-conflict society. What seems to emerge from the analysis is that achieving a real-time reconstruction is very difficult without a holistic approach to planning and systemic thinking. This paper, also considers the importance of the regional context and competitive (dis)advantages of Bosnia and Herzegovina.