It is not just another software.. It is GIS

GIS stands for geographical information system . It's technicalities are known to most urbanises and teams engaged in urban planning because of the versatility and the diversity in which it's base map and database is built ..
During the years , working with private and public sectors institutions , I realised that the focus on the output and the form in which the analysis need to shown especially the interactivity of the web-view made GIS a one time exercise ..
As a professional , I perceive GIS as a decision making tool on the planning decisions ranging from land use allocation to height .. It is this focus and function that optimises and justifies the investment in the application and the training it needs ..
For GIS to be that, it has essentially to be adopted as an essential part of the organisation policies and development procedures .. The management as well as the employees need a change management strategy that focus on true challenges in the organisational culture as well as the technical skills upgrade program that need to roll out ..
So may argue that GIS is a tactical decision .. It is just a software .. Well, it is not .. It is a strategic decision that implies that we need a more sophisticated platforms that enable multiple decision points to weigh in before we approve a a direction or approach..
So, before you sign the procurement form or the invoice for acquiring a GIS in your company , ask one question : what is your strategy to make it a part of the daily tasks of the employees ?

Cityscape awards architecture 2011

Over the last few years the Cityscape Awards have developed into the world’s premier Architectural Awards for the emerging markets.
This year, being  part of the judging committee,i got the chance to view  more than 120 entries in 15 categories spanning from residential to community planning - islamic architecture to enviromental design.

The entries displayed creativity, innovation, efficiency and enviromental sensitivities .It was a difficult process especially that the entries all had eye on innovation, creativity but also functionality. Most of the entries showed high interest in customising their concepts to the context they are working with especially when it comes to street level. Urban design has become a major driver in shaping the architectural elements of the building . The other main trend that i have noticed in the entries is the use of energy efficiency systems to improve the functionality of the building- Sustainability is no longer a trend - there is an increasing demand on it as an essential criteria of design evaluation by clients.

i was highly impressed by two categories:
1- the young architects category- the entries showed an edgy approach that brings optimism in the pool of futureregional  talent we have-  it also showed an increasing blurring of boundaries between architecture, urban design and planning which means that our educational systems need to be redesigned to tackle it more.
2- islamic architecture- although i have heard many debates on the qualifiers of islamic architecture, i have to say that the entries showed a transformation of the way islamic architecture is viewed- Some of the entries transcended the past meanings and presented it under a new light.

Design Awards have always been an effective tools to spread awarness over the importance of quality in designing of our built enviroment and more than ever, it represents an incentive to gain recognition.
It recognises Architects and community planners and their projects that have shown outstanding designs, performance, vision and achievement in key areas of architecture.thething about design is that when it is done with a holistic approach , it benefits on many dimensions the context and that is where the categories in the awards provide a direction on which one can perceive the value of the project For example a good residential project might be as beneficial to the community and a well designed mixed use conplex might contribute to the local tourism.

the shortlist is out and you can check it on below link 

just click to view  the Cityscape Awards shortlist 2011

I am looking forward for a heated deliberation .

a theoratical review of the elements of Planning system and the current trends in improving its design

Planning System Design

The creation and establishment of a planning system depends on the context drivers such as:

• Legal system which is a byproduct of the  political governance system 
• Institutional system  that stems from the government agencies mandates and  responsibilit
•  Development Proces and its various actors
• Existence of a defined urban planning professional bodies

Public administration efforts focused on managing new developments and improving the built environment through improving and defining the planning system. Local governments had no separate identity and were strictly controlled through a central system .presently, decentralization is happening progressively – central and local governments are partnering although power and responsibilities are being transferred, it more has to do with responsibility and expenditure .Resources and ability to make key decisions still lie with central governments.

A Systems  

The planning systems can be structured in three patterns:

1-Centralized pattern distributed in one or more planning tiers

2-Balanced responsibility distribution over different tiers

3-Decentralized system with high degree of autonomy on each tie

Planning operates within legal frameworks that are either Regulatory framework with strict public policies and rigid controls. Or Discretionary framework that are flexible and open

B Functions 

Planning systems differ in their scope, methods of operation from country. But, they are formed by three main functions:

Strategic planning-Focusing on long term vision that integrates the drivers based on an evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities  of the built environment and its different dimensions.

Plan Making  

Providing spatial frameworks based on which developments are planned on the national, regional, city, neighborhood and specific locations. Plans may have different content such as :Strategy ,Policy ,Statutory measures ,Project, Structure Land use, Settlement pattern,Housing, Retail, Leisure and Tourism ,New planned districts 

Development controls 

Legal and administrative procedures operating at the local level aim to control the location, form, character, activity of the urban development and may include the use permutations within the building affecting the site use.

Urban planning profession is now becoming more open to address beside land use infrastructure programs and integrate more with the sectoral processes responsible for urban finances. It is producing a more open, flexible and proactive planning that takes into consideration community inputs.

C Types of plans

 Structural plans:

 Originated in the United Kingdom – their flexibility and general guiding principles enable diverse solutions Operating usually at the regional and sub regional level, they are broad in scope covering in addition to land use, infrastructure, landscape, social considerations and economic goals as well as the institutional analysis. Structural plans require intersectoral integration and a robust financial analysis.

Master Plans:

Oldest version of city planning going to 3,000 BC, the plan aims at specifying at the municipality on  local level the land use zones for an administrative area whether it is a planned district or general zone. 

Local plans:

 Usually providing detailed and specific spatial design plans for a specific area, they focus on short term goals either putting in more controls where it is needed or specifying changes spatially where changes are about to happen .

Action Plans:

Based on community participatory processes outputs. It responds to an immediate need or negotiation over specific issue or challenge. They lack the legal status of a plan and in that case highly depend on the municipality management team to support it

D Range of Urban Planning Tools

Planning tools: techniques and information to plan transport, residential housing, landscaping

Information tools: baseline and periodical data as well as impact monitoring and exchange of information through networked

Policy Tools: general or specific guidelines or indicators

Fiscal tools either incentives such as tax relief or  disincentives such as tax subsidies, lifecycle costing, procurement policies

Decision making tools assessment, mediation sessions, workshops, stakeholder engagement

 Educational tools conferences, workshops, task forces, case studies, training,

 

Participatory tools:

• §  Participatory mapping of settlements for inhabitants
• §  Community lead socio economic analysis,
• §  collective modeling of housing,
• §  collective analysis of trends in life histories of residents,
• §  collective goal and priority ranking,
• §  inspirational individuals life stories,
• §  formal community champions

policy agenda for a sustainable urban future

City in the Developing World - it is one of the reference topics  to focus and centre my attention on why urban leadership is increasingly needed and how can our daily decisions be linked to a holistic perspective. A particular them in this topic that has always intrigued me is urban policies.
So what about urban policy?
Urban policy needs to be assessed in the context of development policy as a whole. But, since the 1980’s, policies took the neo-liberal turn which encouraged free market shaping urban space and its components. In that sense, policy shifted away from a policy of urbanisation containment to strategies which enabled the increase in urban areas overall productivity.
Increasingly, international development agencies are also encouraging structural adjustment programmes that link macro – economic performance of nations to the urban management programs focusing on economic, social, demographic and environmental conditions.

The thinking behind this is stated in a famous paper prepared by the World Bank in 1990 – urban policy and economic development –it explains the interrelationship between urban economic activities and the gross domestic product of nations.

The United Nations development program agrees in that increasingly, urbanisation is contributing to a stable economy –it is a major shift from neighbourhood policies that revolved around slums upgrade, housing provision, municipal services connections and housing finance schemes.
It is the city wide reforms that are capable of translating macroeconomic objectives and economic development strategies into tangible initiatives and projects that will contribute to city development.
To increase productivity, there is also a need to look at infrastructural deficiencies

•   outdated building codes,
•   governance structure for housing markets
•   improvement of the municipal system and financial institutions for urban development.

Government shifts from the role of provider to enabler by creating the adequate regulatory and financial frame within which private sector, SME, community associations play an active role in fulfilling their needs.

Urban concentration is a reality that brings with it the hegemony of urban productivity. Such emphasis might impact social inequalities and may affect the urban space quality in between city regions. There will be an increased pressure on the environment due to newly formed urban nodes
Policy makers will need to balance the enormous demand for urban housing due to the increased importance of cities in national economies and the challenge of social integration and inclusiveness.

regional boundaries drawn by phone

Sourced and adapted from http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec10/UKmap.html (Dec. 20, 2010)


An Analysis of phone calls shows how regional  boundaries could be ideally drawn by generating a map of regions of Great Britain in which people communicate more with each other than with outsiders.
Crowd sourcing technologies might change the way we view our boundaries , As Heidegger once said, a boundary is where reality begins it own unfolding ..
An interesting study coordinated between Cornell, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in the United Kingdom Analysed telephone calls in UK and generated a map in which the community/communication boundaries and patches were compared to  boundaries between admistrative regions . The map is a result of looking at a database of 12 billion calls over a one-month period, from which 20.8 million nodes and 85.8 million links between them were extracted. The map of the island was divided into 3,042 pixels, each 9.5 kilometres square- The main measure used was total call time between nodes in each pixel and those in every other pixel. The computer then automatically generated groupings among pixels until it found an arrangement that showed the most links within communities and the fewest between them.


"A community is something where most of the links are inside the community instead of outside," explained It was Steven Strogatz, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, that advised the researchers on how to analyze the data using an algorithm- The basis of the algorithm is on the number of links generated by phone calls inside a certain boundary – it is an interesting study since anthropology, sociology, mathematics and information technology experts all worked together to test our main hypothesis of a community – which is by definition an introverted group of people that share together values – mathematics interprets the quantity of the links generated by these values. IT will be more insightful to see if specific data mining on specific key words that relate to specific communal historical values can lead to the same results. .*
The research according to its instigator Dr, Strogatz saus that it could be applied in areas where conflict of boundaries cannot be resolved through technical ways such as surveying> this method seems to have a more basis into the social dimension as it relates directly to how people interact with each other and in that case it has a lot of capabilities if a historical dimension is also investigated.
Social science usually used observation – such as field trips and questionnaire in order to describe, analyse and study specific cultural and political organisations. It is here the overlay of geography that makes this research multi dimensional
The result is that the groupings coincided nicely with existing boundaries of administrative regions. The researchers came to the conclusion that "cohesive patterns within society promoting change in administrative boundaries and the latter, in turn, affecting human interaction."
Two main discrepancies from administrative boundaries were observed:

1. People in eastern Wales communicated extensively with those around nearby cities in the adjacent region of West Midlands.
2. Scotland communicated less with other parts of Britain.
3. new "region" west of London was showing which is very close to a growing centre of high-tech industry

The research might be used in the economic analysis where seeing the amount of links between one district and the other, they concluded that "The effects of a possible secession of Wales from Great Britain would be twice as disruptive as that of Scotland, "as well as the new high tech node in London where it can become the future silicon valley of UK
The methods used in this research can be extended to cell phone records, credit cards or personal travel patterns which would measure more personal as opposed to business communication, or with credit card transactions or personal travel patterns,
The research will be very interesting since it is giving a new social dimension to what preciously known as geographical analysis – it is the overlap of the geography with social that will give transportation planners, policy makers, local councils and other city managers the possibility to see linkages on their blind spot- is not this what planning is ? Is not this one of the way we can use technology to assist us in sustainable planning?

• The algorithm was developed by former Cornell researchers Michelle Girvan, now a University of Maryland physics professor, and Mark Newman, now a University of Michigan physics professor. The research is reported in the Dec. 8 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE. The Cornell algorithm is described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103: 89577-8582 (2006).

why research on public space is now more important for policy makers?

In an era of globalization, the role of public policy makers and urban designers is increasingly concerned in marketing their cities by advocating that they are integrated into the global map. Technology, and most precisely the upgrade of information technology sector, becomes essential in marketing the urban space as being connected with the global flows of capital, people (Porter et al. 2000 cited in Marshall 2003:18).

Subsequently, global urban projects described as  large scale developments built to accommodate high-end functions, are  increasingly initiated such as Cyberport (Hong Kong) ,Tokyo Rainbow Town, Muang Thong Thani(Thailand), Luijazui and the  Pudong Redevelopment Area (Shanghai),New Downtown(Singapore), Putrajaya (Malaysia) (Olds 1995,Marshall 2003).

 However, under the pressure of economic development and global agenda, Public spaces are increasingly privatized and purified   (Graham and Aurigi   1997, Graham and Marvin 2001).

As a result, investigating interventions that aim at providing inclusive public space in the context of a global agenda will provide linkages in between the growing urban research on the privatization of public space and the actual urban design practices and products.

Therefore, the study of possible urban interventions targeting the public space of suburban developments spurred by the global agenda is important.

These interventions need to be based on a conceptual framework that will synthesize the design attributes of  public space with the development goals set by the global agenda.

In particular, there needs to be a more thorough exploration on  how the purification and privatization of public space can be reversed through urban interventions that can benefit from the recent growing research on retrofitting suburbs that share the same attributes of global projects .

In addition, the analysis needs to take into consideration how public space were conceived  in the context and the reasons behind the particular design and policy decisions which lead to the particular characteristics of these spaces.

Importance of  global projects

Research on Globalization developed intensively (e.g. Castells 1989; Harvey 1989; Giddens 1990; King 1993; Sassen 1991) during the last decade although it is believed to start during 1970’s (Waller stein 1974; Castells 1989; Harvey 1989; Giddens 1990; King 1993; Sassen 1991).

However, the focus of the research was on mainly economic and political processes that generalized globalization debate into abstract forces affecting the urban space. Global projects are emerging concepts that deal with the specificities of the urban space being remodeled to respond to global agenda. As such, they offer an opportunity to investigate specific articulations in space and time.

Urban research on globalization based on a locale is needed as it provides new directions in term of being more empirical and specific and leading to practical interpretation of theoutput of the design process .

 

§  Importance of the study  public space

Although privatization of public space has been researched on since 1980, the research focused more in identifying the problems and ills of such a privatized ’’public space’’.

Starting from a more activist perspective, there needs to be more  thinking on interventions that capitalize on existing research and address the possibility of the success of such interventions within the global context.

The  approach will be essentially more multidisciplinary as public space is defined by integrating multiple layers in terms of anthropology than sociology, urban interventions formulated shall offer the opportunity of a holistic integrative approach

urban developments - urban space vital to city development

            GLOBAL PROJECTS

The literature review chapter tackles three main themes that formulate the conceptual framework fro intervening to retrofit Big Urbanism projects influenced and intensified by globalization – I call them Global Projects

THIS IS  about defining global urban projects” as an emerging concept with its related challenges and investigates the forces that have lead to the sterility of their urban spaces. The public space definitions have been studied through different disciplines .Each discipline has studied its primordial characteristics and offered a partial perspective depending on the layer of analysis tackled. Few cases of research have attempted to present a comprehensive view or an overreaching concept (Low 2000). 

Global Urban Projects

Global urban projects represent the local articulation of global processes with the physical space of the city. They represent the materialization of the globalization forces in the urban territory. They are referred to as the “new urban form’’ (Forbes 1999, Lin 1994) that links city regions, or spans across borders or even become an extended ‘’metropolitan regions’’ (Rohwer 1995, Marshall 2003)

Their spread encompasses the five continents although most of the literature focused on their emergence in the Asia –Pacific region (Olds 1995, Marshall 2003).Most of the public spaces in these projects suffer from such as Pudong Area China.

Absent urbanism is reflected in the absence of a deliberate articulation of the physical and non-physical characteristics of urban space which Results in the absence of the link bonding it to the encompassing public realm of the territory it occupies. Thus, the space is not enabling multiple meanings and facilitating multiple perceptions or readings by its users. It becomes flat, purified and abstract.

Global urban projects sprang out of the political, economic and cultural forces of globalization. The below section will try and analyze the entrenched aspects of these forces contributing to the absence of urbanism 

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Global urban projects are seen as a marketing tool to put their host cities on the global map .In order to make foreign capital move efficiently, the projects disconnect themselves form their hosts and become isolated from the complexities of the territory surrounding them.

In the emerging urban economic base, cities compete mainly in terms of global competitiveness and connectivity which are the main criteria to determine their status (Short et.al 2003). In order to claim a position in the urban hierarchy, these cities establish global projects (Friedman 1995). According to Short (ibid.), the world city status is seen as a guaranteed enhanced level of prosperity in the contemporary urban economy (Dieleman 1994 in Short ibid.).

The connection to the global flow of capital means confining connectivity to a global network of information and people that are essential to sustain the activities of these nodes. The dependence on the foreign direct investment and the relocation of transnational companies make it essential to remove risks associated with local conditions.

Castells (1989) argues that ‘the suppression of places by the network of the information flows is essentially to avoid the complicated different layers of the urban space’. Therefore, developers of such spaces are taking advantage of the liberalization policies and consumerism by developing the spaces and the infrastructure supporting these spaces as a closed network .By filtering the boundaries of these projects and enhancing global connectivity via transportation and information highways, they risk a disconnection from the local context (Graham and Marvin 2001).

This disconnection will impact the life and life cycle of the urban spaces created in the global urban projects since they will become only a transient space for Multi National Companies  employees or Foreign Direct Investment guests. This transient character and the lack of connection with the existing fabric and community render their urbanism absent.

The dislocation and disconnection form the urban life of its host city, impacts negatively the input of these projects into the culture of the city.

Why their connection to the Cultural Dimension is lacking and is important to be restored?

The research proved that in practice these projects, although implemented due to the cultures diversity of either the consultants working on the project or the investors developing them, lack the multiplicity of spaces needed for representation and interaction. Although policy makers emphasizes the role of economic forces and political forces in the success of global projects ,their sustainability can not be attributed only to economic factors such as accessibility to global networks or agglomeration of producer services firms.

Current research stresses on the importance of social and cultural factors in their economic long term life  (Lee1995; Budd 1995; Amin and Thrift 1992, 1994).Global urban projects are essentially dependant on people. In his study of the Asian global urban projects, Olds argues that at the origin of the capital flows and mega urban developments between Hong Kong and Canada, lies essentially a cultural flow facilitated by the influential Chinese families and multinational consultants migrating Global projects are directly influenced by the cultural globalization that has been facilitated by the continuous flow of ideas, information, commitment and values across the world (Waters, 1995).

1.       Epidural (1990, 1996) propose five dimensions of these global cultural flows:

2.       -Ethnos capes: The movement of tourists, refugees and guest workers

3.       -Medias capes: the international flows of printed media

4.       -Techno capes: the spread and distribution of technologies

5.       -Financscapes: the flows of international capital

6.       -Icescapes: the flows of political ideas and values.

Another factor that proves the importance of the social and cultural aspects of these developments is the importance of livability or what is referred to formally as “Quality of Life”. This is depicted in the quantitative models developed by international institutions such as World Bank and IMF; Quality of Life encompasses aspects such as availability of public spaces, open spaces as well as the array of cultural activities available .It is the absence of these spaces that impedes these projects from achieving sustainability and fostering social and cultural interaction (Knight 1995).. The reason for this could arguably be a disconnection from the local dimension resulting in lack of spaces of representation and therefore the absence of urbanism in the spaces of these projects.

Contested territories

Sassen argues that the corporate culture as a representation of expertise neutralizes the urban space by ordering it through technology, economic efficiency and rationality. The main actors are the ‘’business elites’’ who establish their identity by “aestheticizing urban space to overshadow the aspects that need to be controlled (Murray, 1995; Zukin 1991, 1992, 1995). Sites become designed for one user group mainly business elites and employees providing spaces which can host them  without taking into considerations the  needs of other surrounding communities that are disregarded The issues of representation are key to understanding how various types of firms that are not associated with globalization or information economy are excluded. These are referred to ‘’contested representations of globalism’’ (Hannerz 1991).The representation of the city is merging with aims of boosting the city world status. These representations, either external or internal consumption, emphasize on the needs of the corporate new class: the city as a place of social justice, democratic participation or creativity is therefore silenced.

‘’This new managerial class colonizes exclusive spatial segments that connects with one another across city, country, world; they isolate themselves from the fragments of local societies’’ (Castells, 1989).

Sassen (1994) argues that there is a new space emerging that is calling for a new transnational identity. It is placed in the center because of its unique location and is considered transnational because it is connected to distant places .It is coinciding with Massey’s (1993) call for a ‘’progressive sense of place’’ that is global by linking itself to places beyond.

Although these flows have enabled the formation of a globalized culture, their articulation between each other and the local context lead to their reinterpretation and reinvention as subverted micro narratives (Appadurai 1990). In this sense, globalization is not a one way process, it adapts culturally to the local settings. However, differentiation does not occur in between societies. Instead, differences occur when clashes are produced between local cultures and imported ones (King, 1997).

Hence, Globalization as it advances will create hybrid spaces whereby the local and global fabric will fuse together and produce spaces that celebrate diversity while creating its unique narratives to the host city it belongs to.

What‘s in it for the developers to care so much about inclusive public spaces? Why it is it a big issue?

When the space is abstracted and purified through rationalization, it ceases to acknowledge that attractive urban spaces throughout famous cities have always been sordid. Peter Hall (1989) deduced, after reviewing planning theory of the twentieth century, that’ Great cities have never been earthly utopias: they are place of stress and conflict, messy places, sordid places but places nevertheless superbly worth living in’’ (ibid: 998).

Moreover, such acute privatization of public space can lead to the loss of the same security that the global agenda strives to protect. Examining the psychological implications of the decline of the public realm,  Senett (1974) notifies that this turning inwards undervalues the importance of class and community relations with strangers, particularly those that occur in cities.

Third, inclusive public spaces add to the an important indicator in global marketing strategies, by enhancing opportunities of a more vibrant social life. Zukin (1995) elucidates the importance of public spaces because it reveals   how the city receives strangers and integrates them into their social life.  Where the public arena gives way to mingling with strangers, urban spaces are transformed into scenes of the civic life. Boyer (1994) highlights the importance of everyday street life and ordinary places of collective assembly that initiate the emergence of a shared public culture which the new consuming places fail to infuse. Furthermore, she points out that this level of every day practices construct ’social vitality and cultures of socialization, talk, negotiation and understandings’ (ibid: 260).  

Fourth, face to face encounters is still an essential component in increasing creativity and reducing economic costs of insecurity.  Stressing on ‘’the extraordinary social nature of modern economics’, Thrift and Olds (1996) argue that ‘’in volatile and globalizing economies , trust ,reciprocity and face-to-face relational networks become centrally important to many economic practices’’.

Fifth, Hybrid public spaces will cut on costs.   By encouraging the sense of belonging for a variety of social groups, such space will also increase economic potential by increasing social relations between different groups and therefore enhance employment opportunities in minority enterprises, third sector services, local education and technical centers. Hall (1995) views such diversity as producing better conditions for ‘economic adaptability since cultural mixing would allow innovative business formulas and practices’ (ibid cited in Amin A et al.1997:423).Diversity in the urban areas contribute culturally and economically to a vital style of life which will sustain social cohesion, mobility and opportunity (Castells 1989).

Roundtable -CEO for CITIES-The Rockefeller Foundation and Crowdsourced Cities

Yesterday, a group of urbanists, technologists, designers and urban planners gathered at the offices of the Rockefeller Foundation to discuss the future of the crowdsourced city with the paricipition of  CEO FOR CITIES . Four presentations focused on forecasting the benefits, tensions and pitfalls of mining the data that humans generate as they go about their daily lives at a variety of scales — global, national and urban.
Sunny Brown  was brought in to  facilitate graphically the roundtable into three murals - doodling was used to bring patterns and words together.