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New urbanism and urban sprawl
New urbanism and urban sprawl
New urbanism and urban sprawl
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New Urbanism – A Vision for Sustainability
New Urbanism (NU) – a concept that changed the vision of how the planners used to see the fabric of the town panning. It is an approach that provides the means of what the key to a sustainable city design is. It supplies the fundamentals which leads to the foundation of a society that harmonise the community life, nurtures the nature and give a new light to the human spirit for living in a world that caters all, with a sense of prosperity and a bright future simultaneously, tackling the threats of the modern world in the best and the most efficient manner.
‘New’ meant a ‘renaissance’ or rebirth of traditional urbanism to replace suburban sprawl, rather than the imposition of something totally new. This rebirth of time-tested traditional urbanism, such as that found in the most successful precincts of Australia’s inner cities, must continually adapt itself, in response to changing circumstances such as newly recognised ecological and resource constraints, the Post-Industrial Economy, and decreasing household sizes. (Kaufman, 2006)
The term New Urbanism (NU) was coined by the end of 20th century. ‘New Urbanism is being promoted as a set of ideas to mitigate sprawl, to encourage sustainable growth, and to facilitate infill development.’ (Garde, 2004). The new urbanism’s focus is the compact metropolitan areas containing ‘multiple, yet dense walkable neighbourhood connected via transit, bounded by regional and local park system’ (Loomis, 1999, p.165). The phenomenon of the new urbanism was seen as the response to the original circumstances, the urban growth and development which was characterized by the continuously degrading quality of environment, falling public domain and the fast spreadin...
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...ildings, residences, shops and closer services it creates a society that is economically efficient and is more convenient, enjoyable place to live. With all these things in mind a planner must always aim for a sustainability. Sustainability encompasses the aspects like minimal environmental impact of development and operations, eco-friendly technologies, green transport, respect for ecology and value of natural systems, energy efficiency, less use of finite fuels, more local production more walking, less driving. All the above mentioned postulates forms the framework of NU and work in accordance with emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, human comfort, and creating a sense of place. Special placement of civic uses and sites within community. Human scale architecture & beautiful surroundings nourish the human spirit and maintain the quality of life. (NewUrbanism.org,)
Finally in 1991, the federal government initiated a ‘Better Cities Program’ which aimed to make Australian cities sustainable and more liveable. It encoura...
There are many examples of cities reforming itself over time, one significant example is Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. More than a hundred years after the discovery of gold that drew thousands of migrants to Vancouver, the city has changed a lot, and so does one of its oldest community: Downtown Eastside. Began as a small town for workers that migrants frequently, after these workers moved away with all the money they have made, Downtown Eastside faced many hardships and changes. As a city, Vancouver gave much support to improve the area’s living quality and economics, known as a process called gentrification. But is this process really benefiting everyone living in Downtown Eastside? The answer is no. Gentrification towards DTES(Downtown Eastside) did not benefit the all the inhabitants of the area. Reasons are the new rent price of the area is much higher than before the gentrification, new businesses are not community-minded, and the old culture and lifestyle of the DTES is getting erased by the new residents.
“One by one, many of the working class quarters of London have been invaded by the middle-classes—upper and lower. Shabby, modest mews and cottages—two rooms up and two down—have been taken over, when their leases have expired, and have become elegant, expensive residences .... Once this process of ‘gentrification’ starts in a district it goes on rapidly until all or most of the original working-class occupiers are displaced and the whole social character of the district is changed.”
Urban renewal is the rehabilitation of city areas by replacing or renovating dilapidated buildings with new housing, public buildings, parks, roadways, industrial areas, etc. This urban dynamic has been operating in the suburb of Pyrmont from 1994 when Pyrmont was under construction till now when the final renovations are underway. As a result of Pyrmont’s urban renewal, it has provided new foreshore promenades and parks, leisure, housing and entertainment facilities along with employment opportunities to many people. This has led to more people living in Pyrmont as well as more people coming to work here every day. The social component, the economic character, the culture of place and growth, development, future trends and ecological sustainability
The modern story of developed areas is a move from the inner city to the suburbs. This decentralization of metropolitan areas has left urban areas neglected. Such a transformation has had negative consequences, because it has inherently meant the abandonment of those left behind in urban centers. Furthermore, the issue is complicated by the fact that the distinction between those moving to the suburbs and those left behind has been defined largely by race. As Kain notes,
Of the many problems affecting urban communities, both locally and abroad, there is one issue in particular, that has been victimizing the impoverished within urban communities for nearly a century; that would be the problem of gentrification. Gentrification is a word used to describe the process by which urban communities are coerced into adopting improvements respective to housing, businesses, and general presentation. Usually hidden behind less abrasive, or less stigmatized terms such as; “urban renewal” or “community revitalization” what the process of gentrification attempts to do, is remove all undesirable elements from a particular community or neighborhood, in favor of commercial and residential enhancements designed to improve both the function and aesthetic appeal of that particular community. The purpose of this paper is to make the reader aware about the significance of process of gentrification and its underlying impact over the community and the community participation.
Beginning in the 1960s, middle and upper class populations began moving out of the suburbs and back into urban areas. At first, this revitalization of urban areas was 'treated as a 'back to the city' movement of suburbanites, but recent research has shown it to be a much more complicated phenomenon' (Schwirian 96). This phenomenon was coined 'gentrification' by researcher Ruth Glass in 1964 to describe the residential movement of middle-class people into low-income areas of London (Zukin 131). More specifically, gentrification is the renovation of previously poor urban dwellings, typically into condominiums, aimed at upper and middle class professionals. Since the 1960s, gentrification has appeared in large cities such as Washington D.C., San Francisco, and New York. This trend among typically young, white, upper-middle class working professionals back into the city has caused much controversy (Schwirian 96). The arguments for and against gentrification will be examined in this paper.
The notion of “Garden City”, famously explored by Ebenezer Howard was a solution intended to bring together the economic and cultural advantages of both city and country living. He sees it as an alternative to the congested urban areas in England. Canberra –the capital city of Australia differs from the garden city proper, a city that is perhaps not what Howard wished garden city to be. Nonetheless Canberra is a city that incorporates many of the garden city principles and in this essay I will argue that Canberra indeed is a garden city, as Canberra is build on central garden city concepts such as public ownership of land, limited growth and population in the city and a balance between town and country. Whilst Canberra may not be a true garden city, the city structure still contain a concentric pattern of green spaces, sense of community and grant boulevards that was designed by Walter Burley Griffin in the 1920’s along the garden city principles that can be traced back Howard, thus Canberra will be very recognisable to him as a garden city.
Again, this section will give a working definition of the “urban question’. To fully compare the political economy and ecological perspectives a description of the “urban question” allows the reader to better understand the divergent schools of thought. For Social Science scholars, from a variety of disciplines, the “urban question” asks how space and the urban or city are related (The City Reader, 2009). The perspective that guides the ecological and the social spatial-dialect schools of thought asks the “urban question” in separate distinct terminology. Respected scholars from the ecological mode of thinking, like Burgess, Wirth and others view society and space from the rationale that geographical scope determines society (The City Reader, 2009). The “urban question” that results from the ecological paradigm sees the relationship between the city (space) as influencing the behaviors of individuals or society in the city. On the other hand...
Sociologist … explained that open pattern of suburb is because of seeking environment free noise, dirt and overcrowding that are in the centre of cities. He gave examples of these cities as St. John’s wood, Richmond, Hampstead in London. Chestnut Hill and Germantown in Philadelphia. He added that suburban are only for the rich and high class. This plays into the hands of the critical perspectives that, “Cities are not so much the product of a quasi-natural “ecological” unfolding of social differentiation and succession, but of a dynamic of capital investment and disinvestment. City space is acted on primarily as a commodity that is bought and sold for profit, “(Little & McGivern, 2013, p.616).
Humans are part of natural ecosystem of earth, hence they are inseparable from the nature and its biodiversity of living organism. Every habitation has its own natural ecology, even cities has its own ecosystem which not only occurs in open green spaces and water bodies but also in every element of city and its development. Urban landscape is developed to increase green spaces in cities and spaces of interaction for the people; it’s more focused on planning and designing of the space and attraction to the visitors, and less focused on natural ecology of the place for example plantation of native trees which attracts native birds and its species which prevents the natural biodiversity of the place. Developing urban open spaces without taking natural ecosystem into consideration can end up extinction of particular type of species which cannot adopt it. Hence urban development of place should have integrated approach towards natural ecology, social and use of technology (Davies et al.,
In a world where over half of the human population calls a city their home, the need to restructure and revolutionize the way we design our urban environments has never been greater. Currently, the notion that these vast metropolises of metal, concrete, and sludge could one day be fully realized pillars of sustainability is certainly laughable. However, when these same cities are constantly growing and multiplying across the globe, all the while using a greater and greater chunk of our planet’s energy, this impossible task becomes a necessary focus. To strive towards the closed, continuous loop of “true” sustainability could greatly alter the image of the modern city. Any improvement over the current state of urban affairs could carry weight, and even if that goal is not entirely fulfilled, the gained benefits would be immense.
Moore said that we can understand sustainability as “a storyline, a narrative thread that people use to understand how the past, present, and future can be connected in different ways” (Moore 2007). Since the understanding of sustainability has been changing, we can neither predict what will happen in the future nor establish a set of rules for the future generation to follow. As Norton argued, sustainable activities can be conducted in the present “without negatively impacting the range of important choices that should be left open to the next generation” (Norton 2005:432). Therefore, it’s crucial to apprehend the nature of sustainable cities in order to set up the framework while never kill
A general situation of urbanization trend in developing countries and developed countries is increasing. In 18th Century only 3% of the world total population lived in urban areas but as projected in 2000 this number will increase at above 50% (UN as cited in Elliot, 1999, p. 144). According to UN (as cited in Elliot, 1999, p.144), it is figured that the total urban population in developing countries has increased from approximately 400 millions people in 1950 to approximately 2000 millions people in 2000. At the same time, total urban population in developed countries is double...
The notion of sustainable city has mounted a paramount place in the contemporary urban planning. In the world Conservation strategies in1980, the concept of sustainable development was firstly introduced.