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Archive for the ‘Self management’ Category

Planning and design of today’s urban centres cannot be for a specific single purpose alone. All aspects of society need to be taken into account. Stakeholder involvement is a must, it is the users of the space after all who are the ones for whom the planning is done. However some of these stakeholders will have a very narrow view of what they want from a specific space and a central and coherent view of the urban space is in the end a very important thing.

Urban planning affects everything from economic development to social interactions and a diverse team of experts working on these issues is in my opinion vital. Interdepartmental and intercity cooperation regarding city development is what is needed as; economic development, traffic planning, health issues, population diversity and education (to name a few) go hand-in-hand.

Mobility centres (public transport hubs), open public spaces, biking lanes and roads, liveable sidewalks, building communities with both public and private space for inhabitants are part of the solution. A requirement for building communities is a space in which that community can interact; that space should be aesthetically pleasing and be easy to access.

Open space

An open public space is a truly democratic and accepting concept, where a wide variety of people can come together on equal terms. If more of our lives happen in the open it also let us come to terms with “the other” knowing more about those around us makes us accept or understand that “other”.

However, public, does require that you also have a, private, urban planning can help here also by  creating private spaces, for example, within city blocks, where only the residents have access. Combining these two could also be a solution where public space (on the street space) is limited.

Under developed areas

Brown field redevelopment including remediation is an important issue in regard to city development. City density by restoration of brown field areas should be a priority. Restoring or making use of a derelict site within a neighbourhood can be the key to activating that community, kids get a safe place to play, community plots and gardens etc. Often brown fields are, or are surrounded by aesthetically poor, low income or industrial areas but neither low income nor industrial have to mean poor aesthetics, green areas and common spaces for inhabitants are important. Places for young and old to express themselves are important, being shown that someone care is important; this can be done on a city-wide or personal level.

In the case of a brown field area or under developed area the building an infrastructure that allows for community engagement physically is so much easier as rundown buildings are renovated and open spaces created from scratch, there is no or small need to take physical aspects into account.

It should however be remembered that the people living in the area are the ones you develop the area for, place is important and developing a part of a city so that the inhabitants have to move away is not the solution for how to build a sustainable city or society.

Practical issues of urban planning

Waste management both private and public vital for the community; trash in the neighbourhood signals that it is ok to throw more a vicious circle that can only be stopped by a coordinated effort starting at pre-school education and cleaning the streets to informing about the problem and engaging the community. Of course waste management infrastructure has to be in place for any of it to work, trying to get a people littering or not recycling to do so will require that the trash bins and recycling points are where you need them not around the corner and far apart as in so many cities.

Management and development

Integrated management of the urban space. Exemplifying this is education which reflects on health, and health directly on city wide economic development; we cannot afford to take all aspects of society into account when planning our environment.

Some aspects of urban planning can fairly easily be integrated and co-managed. Take for example waste, energy and material resource management.

A wastewater plant creates sludge that can be used as a resource for biogas production, or fertilizer for growing energy plants or dried and used as landfill building material.

Household waste can be separated and recycled, metal, paper, cardboard, bio waste etc. The same goes for industrial waste, wood, gypsum, rubber, plastic for recycling (preferred). Or you can make REF-fuel (Recycled Energy Fraction) out of that non-recyclable trash a fuel that can replace coal at a ratio of 1:1, which is much better than the landfill if managed properly.

For this to be possible there has to be areas and procedures for these actions, planned in cooperation with stakeholders for and in the city.

Crisis

When a community is hit by a crisis it is its infrastructure that is tested first. Can one move around in the city after the crisis hit, is the communication networks working, building resilience into today society requires long and careful planning.

Supermarkets and the utilities for basic necessities and services are on the forefront of such a crisis. When will the food run out, can we get more to the stores? Are there other ways of feeding the city? Community gardens or farmers markets, do they have access? How is the energy grid built? Does the city get its electricity from only a few key contact points? Is it dependant on just one power plant? What is the amount of decentralized renewable energy in the city?

Solution? the future sustainable community that also takes all these questions into account.

EDUCATION

Vocational schools in low income areas, with public restaurants and evening program; movies concerts, workshops all run by students and teachers together.

Focused education for; renewable energy projects (supported by the city) ex. intra city smart grids, housing areas with renewable energy, infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles etc.

Free universal education, Life Long Learning…

City Area VIII

Having lived in an aesthetically very pleasing and green area for almost a decade, where neighbours care for each other in a very diverse community, one can’t but wonder why it isn’t like that everywhere? What is it that works?

The green courtyard and a small housing company that traditionally has done most things themselves (talkootyö, unpaid (food and drink) work for the common good).

In most places I’ve visited that have a vibrant community it is an open publicly cared for space that have been one of the main connecting factors. In the city I’m now living in we have several areas of high rise housing complexes and quite a few of them have a (bad) reputation.

There are however examples that stand out from the rest, where they have become a community, and you can see that in the yards between the houses. The yard is not just a lawn and a sandbox for the kids but gardens and playgrounds. People are much more active, they are proud of where they live.

Traditionally this area was just like any other low income area but with community comes pride and a sense of accomplishment.

I’ve mentioned low income several times, but I don’t think that high income areas are all that different. For a community to flourish those areas need about the same things. We are all people after all…or am I?

Example:

When trying to focus on writing a paper and your mind starts to wander, focus on doing something else supportive of the writing process (which isn’t writing) read a related blog post, clean up the table (only for a little while though) then get back to writing…getting over the impulse to clean the house go for a walk etc.

By not forcing yourself or letting go completely you create a more positive atmosphere around the task at hand.