Urban studies.
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Rethinking rules and social practices. The design of urban spaces in the post-Covid-19 lockdown
Fellow: Stefano Borgo Authors, abstract & keywords
Authors: Maria Rosaria Stufano Melone, Stefano Borgo Abstract: In the last months a pandemic has changed the daily life of billions of people. Among the efforts to reduce the impact of the disease, social distancing has had huge consequences and raised may concerns, from the inadequacy of contemporary urban design to the social inequality of national and regional lockdown. This paper focuses on the consequences that this experience is having on the design of urban public and private areas. Everybody admits that our cities are going to change but, beside the first quick adaptation to social distancing, it is unclear how to rethink today’s urban areas. We start from our previous work on the classification of architectural rules and on the study of how creativity is expressed via architectural rules, to discuss the principles and social aspects of newly proposed designs. The motivation for this analysis is to investigate and raise awareness of the consequences of changes in social practices: given that we are in need for new structures and service organization, we can still make choices and should balance the positive and negative aspects of these design alternatives. The community should be aware, as much as possible, of the intrinsic forces that novel solutions exert on our social system and urban environment. This work shows just one way to analyse architectural design, and should be considered as a contribution to a much needed broad and inclusive discussion about how we want urban spaces to be. Keywords: City, Architecture, Rule, Ontological analysis, Social practice |
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Urban open spaces as a commons: The credibility thesis and common property in a self-governed park of Athens, Greece
Fellow: Paschalis Arvanitidis Authors, abstract & keywords
Authors: Paschalis A. Arvanitidis, George Papagiannitsis Abstract: Although abandoned, unused or underused urban open spaces can play an important role in urban well-being, the traditional approaches of state management and privatization have failed to revive them, due to the lack of necessary public funds, low private investment interest or the vagueness of property rights. Therefore, a solution might be to manage this land as a commons, where local users collectively undertake governance of the resource. The current paper explores a successful initiative, the Navarinou Park initiative in downtown Athens, in an attempt to consolidate the experience gained and to draw policy recommendations for the success of such actions. In this endeavour, the paper employs Ostrom’s Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framework to analyse the park as a commons and then, building upon this, proceeds to explore the credibility of the institution along the lines of the credibility thesis and its underlying theory, with particular reference to the Formal, Actual and Targeted (FAT) institutional framework. The paper concludes that Navarinou Park is a functional, long-standing and credible institution, successfully serving the manifold needs (recreational, environmental, social and political) and interests of the local population. Thus, in line with the Credibility Scales and Intervention (CSI) checklist, an advisable intervention would likely comprise a subtle blend of condoning and co-opting; governments to leave the daily praxis undisturbed while fostering a regime within which this praxis is permitted to flourish. Keywords: Commons, Socio-Ecological Systems (SES), Credibility thesis, Formal, Actual and Targeted (FAT), institutional framework, Endogenous property rights. |
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From Commons Dilemmas to Social Solutions: a Common Pool Resource Experiment in Greece
Fellow: Paschalis Arvanitidis Authors, abstract & keywords
Authors: Paschalis Arvanitidis, Fotini Nasioka Abstract: Common pool resources frequently give rise to social dilemmas in which individuals have to choose whether they would overexploit the common good to maximise their short-term personal returns or whether they would refrain from doing so for the sake of the long-term social benefit and the sustainability of the resource. This chapter used a laboratory experiment to explore this in Greece, and to assess whether subjects, by communicating with each other, manage to cooperate and to form institutions that overcome the commons’ tragedy. For this purpose, three experiment sessions were undertaken with 77 final-year undergraduates in economics. The game was played in eight rounds, where every two the rules were slightly different. The study recorded the decisions (and earnings) of the subjects in each round, examining whether, under different communication conditions, they would refrain from personal maximisation towards the sustainable use of the resource. It was found that individuals in commons dilemmas are not always confined to their narrow self-interest, but that small-group, face-to-face communication enables them to articulate cooperation-facilitating institutions and achieve outcomes that are almost socially efficient. Keywords: Common pool resources, Commons dilemma, Institutions Game, Experimental economics, Greece |
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Building obsolescence in the evolving city. Reframing property vacancy and abandonment in the light of urban dynamics and complexity
Fellows: Edwin Buitelaar, Stefano Moroni, Anita De Franco abstract & keywords
Abstract: This conceptual article analyses how both policymakers and academics often discuss the state of buildings. Property vacancy and abandonment are generally approached statically, in an undifferentiated way and responded to with ad hoc public policies. However, there is great variety in the causes and effects of a building's state of affairs. This article adopts a more complex and dynamic view of building obsolescence to better understand the development of a building and the reasons behind its current (temporary) state. It basically shows that a different set of policy options come into the picture when viewing the city as a complex evolving system, rather than as a ‘made order’ or ‘organisation’. Rather than policy rules and actions that are reactive and correct for undesired urban outcomes, these (framework) rules are anticipative as they facilitate and incentivize change before a building reaches a socially unwanted state. Those policy options are empirically illustrated. Keywords: Complexity, Urban planning, Vacancy, Obsolescence, Jane Jacobs |
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Adaptive and anti-adaptive neighbourhoods: Investigating the relationship between individual choice and systemic adaptability
Fellows: Ian Carter, Stefano Moroni abstract & keywords
Abstract: Recent work on ‘anti-adaptive’ neighbourhoods has highlighted a number of common features, including scale of design, number of designers, mono-functionality, percentage of public space, planning rules and system of ownership. This article aims to provide a more general conceptual analysis of adaptability and anti-adaptability in terms of degrees of individual choice, where an individual’s choice set is understood as a combination of individual freedoms, both physical and normative, and of individual normative powers. Individual choice is constitutive of adaptability, and its ‘non-specific’ value helps to explain why adaptability is itself seen in a positive light. Thus, the article points to a potentially unifying explanatory factor that can help us to better understand the various common features of anti-adaptive neighbourhoods highlighted in the recent literature. The final part of the article discusses some of the implications of this reasoning for policy and design. Keywords: Freedom, anti-adaptive neighbourhoods, individual choice, adaptability, complexity |
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The (anti) adaptive neighbourhoods. Embracing complexity and distribution of design control in the ordinary built environment
Fellow: Stefano Cozzolino abstract & keywords
Abstract: While cities as a whole work as complex adaptive systems, the same cannot be said of many of their neighbourhoods constructed in the 20th century. The formation and perpetuation of anti-adaptive-neighbourhoods is a very recent and still under-explored phenomenon in urban history. The paper investigates the causes behind this phenomenon and suggests policy and design implications to generate neighbourhoods and built environments that are more adaptable. It demonstrates that contemporary discussions can be enriched if we pay more attention to certain underestimated urban factors that guarantee the incremental adaptation of the built environment: action, ownership, and time. Keywords: Built environment, urban design, self-organization, complexity, adaptability, neighbourhoods. |
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Action, Property and Beauty. Planning with and for Emergent Urban Complexity
Fellows : Stefano Cozzolino, Stefano Moroni OVERVIEW
What are the challenges and potential of complex and emergent urban systems? This book answers this question by shedding new light on the topics of emergence, complexity, and self-organisation and showing their interconnectedness with other concepts, such as property and beauty, which are usually considered separately. It contributes to the discussion by interpreting and explaining the nature of emergent urban phenomena and suggesting more appropriate design and planning measures. The book explores and untangles these crucial topics in a compact and accessible way by offering fresh interdisciplinary perspectives on the themes of action and interaction, self-organisation, property, neighbourhood adaptability, urban beauty, and suitable public planning and design interventions. It provides novel and crucial insights for students, researchers, and academics in Urban Studies, Planning Theory, Planning Ethics, Planning Law, Legal, Political and Human Geography, Urban and Regional Economics, Urban Sociology, and Urban Design. It is essential for anyone interested in exploring the emergent dynamics of complex urban contexts, as well as for those involved in developing various projects and measures who aim to consider the spontaneous nature of cities seriously. |
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Abandonment as a Social Fact. The problem of unused and unmaintained private buildings in a neo-institutional perspective
Fellow: Anita De Franco Overview & keywords
Overview: This book provides a multidisciplinary approach for the study of the “abandonment” problem at the intersection among urban studies, neo-institutionalist perspectives, and social ontology. An analytical framework (based on descriptive and operational issues, factors, reasons, policies) has been built to interpret the phenomenon of abandonment and possible ways of intervening. The work considers the Italian situation in general terms and examines the case study of Milan in depth. The purpose of the book is to show that the problem of the “abandonment” of urban buildings should be understood as a social fact and not as a brute fact. Thus, in this work the “abandoned” state of buildings is considered as not directly related to certain physical variables; rather, it entirely depends on human evaluations. Crucial information in this regard is how institutional frameworks (e.g. sets of rules of conduct) influence individual behaviour and actions through time. The neo-institutional approach helps to highlight how the problem of abandonment is articulated with respect to property rights, formal constraints, reasons behind policy decisions, intervention strategies and implementations. Keywords: Abandoned buildings, Social Facts, Institutions, Vacancy, Dereliction, Regeneration, Reuse |
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The city as an information system: Urban agency, experiential inputs and planning measures
Fellow: Anita De Franco, Stefano Moroni abstract & keywords
Abstract: From the point of view of urban agents, the city can be seen as an information system. In this article, we focus on the city as an information structure insofar as it is an experiential context. Therefore, we will not deal with the “analytical information” about city X that is available while being elsewhere. We will instead deal with the “experiential information” which is accessible while being/acting in city X. A large part of urban experiential information reaches individuals without any specific conscious focal awareness. For the individuals operating in the city and using the city (residents, shopkeepers, entrepreneurs, developers, consumers, tourists, etc.), experiential information is crucial. At the personal level, experiential inputs help to positively regulate an individual's psycho-physical state. On an interpersonal level, experiential inputs help to structure and coordinate agency among human agents, and between them and physical elements of the environment. In discussing experiential information, the attention is not merely on human senses, but, first of all, on the vehicles that convey such information: images, sounds, smells, artifacts, behaviours. Taking experiential information seriously implies new ways to interpret the functioning of cities and modes of urban intervention (e.g. planning and urban design). Keywords: Experience, Senses, Perception, Information, Experiential information, Non-propositionality |
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Complejidad e incertidumbre en la ciudad actual
Fellow: José Miguel Fernández-Güell overview
Overview: Este libro se plantea tres objetivos principales. En primer lugar, pretende exponer de la manera más divulgativa posible, pero sin excluir la valoración crítica, la evolución histórica tanto del pensamiento sistémico como de los estudios del futuro. Un segundo objetivo es plantear y presentar un modelo conceptual que explique el funcionamiento sistémico de la ciudad, para lo que se ha huido de los modelos cuantitativos repletos de algoritmos matemáticos. El fin de este modelo no es reproducir con precisión matemática las dinámicas urbanas, sino proporcionar un instrumento de trabajo o de juego –según se conciba– que permita esbozar con facilidad las situaciones cambiantes que experimenta la ciudad, así como determinar las implicaciones más relevantes de los cambios en sus sistemas funcionales. El tercer objetivo es acercar el pensamiento sistémico al mayor número de profesionales, estudiosos, alumnos y grupos de interés urbanos con el afán de informarles y concienciarles de la utilidad de afrontar los retos urbanos con mentalidad sistémica. Este trabajo se ha concebido en el ámbito académico, por lo que se ha realizado un esfuerzo por utilizar de manera coherente la terminología sistémica para analizar y debatir los conceptos centrales aquí tratados. El libro está organizado en dos grandes partes: una divulgativa y otra propositiva. La primera parte está dedicada a revisar las principales aportaciones realizadas al pensamiento sistémico y a los estudios del futuro, tanto a nivel general como en el ámbito urbano. En la segunda parte se analiza la utilidad de los modelos conceptuales para abordar e interpretar los sistemas complejos, concretamente las ciudades. |
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Incorporating a Systemic and Foresight Approach into Smart City Initiatives: The Case of Spanish Cities
Fellow: José Miguel Fernández-Güell authors, abstract & keywords
Authors: José-Miguel Fernández-Güell, Marta Collado-Lara, Silvia Guzmán-Araña, Victoria Fernández-Añez Abstract: At the dawn of the twenty-first century, cities face serious societal, economic, environmental, and governance challenges. Under the term “Smart City,” numerous technology-based initiatives are emerging to help cities face contemporary challenges while the concept itself is evolving towards a more holistic approach. Nevertheless, the capability of smart initiatives to provide an integrated vision of our cities is still very limited. Eventually, many of these initiatives do not fulfill satisfactorily their initial objectives because they fail to understand the complexity, diversity, and uncertainty that characterize contemporary cities. The purpose of this paper is twofold: to display an urban functional system, capable of interpreting the city in a more holistic way, and to incorporate foresight tools so as to formulate Smart City visions in a more participatory way with the involvement of local stakeholders. Keywords: smart city; urban complexity; systemic approach; foresight tools; urban visions |
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How modern are renewables? The misrecognition of traditional solar thermal energy in Peru's energy transition
Fellow: Mathias Jehling authors, abstract & keywords
Authors: Alena Israel, Mathias Jehling Abstract: The ubiquitous claim for ‘modern’ energy access leads to profound transformative dynamics in energy systems in the global South. However, the policies' effects on existing socio-technical forms of energy provision must be considered. In this paper, we highlight the case of Peru, where the ‘modernisation’ of the energy systems endangers an established practice of renewable energy use. In the city of Arequipa, households widely rely on solar water heaters that have been manufactured locally since the 1930s. Applying an institutionalist approach, we analyse actors and institutions of this local energy system. We identify a disconnection of existing renewable energy practices from national policies and their marginalisation by international cooperation agencies. We show how the misrecognition jeopardises the livelihood of people involved and provokes the loss of contextualised innovation potentials. Thus, we discover a dichotomy of ‘modern’ energy policies and ‘traditional’ practices of solar thermal energy. Based on this case study, we therefore stress the need to include local energy practices into the energy policy framework for ensuring technological and social gains. We also emphasise the need to generally shift away from a top-down approach with generalised globally applicable solutions to more inclusive governance and policy formulation. Keywords: Energy justice, Peru, Global south, Renewable energy, Institutions, Innovation. |
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Unused private and public buildings: Re-discussing merely empty and truly abandoned situations, with particular reference to the case of Italy and the city of Milan
Fellows: Stefano Moroni, Anita De Franco authors & abstract
Authors: Stefano Moroni, Anita De Franco, Beatrice Maria Bellè Abstract: There is much debate today over the problem of unused buildings. This debate is often conducted in alarmed and concerned tones. Our idea is that it is indispensable to reconsider the issue with greater critical reflection and some necessary distinctions: in particular, between situations and aspects relating to public buildings and situations and aspects relating to private buildings; and, within the latter category, between totally natural and legitimate situations and truly problematic ones. To this end, we shall focus on definitory issues, quantitative issues, ethical issues and policy issues. We shall do so with particular attention to the Italian situation, which we believe is especially challenging, and to a specific case study, the city of Milan. However, part of what we shall say also applies to other contexts. |
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Self‐Organization and Urban Development: Disaggregating the City‐Region, Deconstructing Urbanity in Amsterdam
Fellow: Federico Savini abstract
Abstract: The idea that cities are self‐organizing systems, and that the state has a limited capacity to control and shape them, has gained momentum in the last decade among planning professionals, designers and politicians. Recent political discourse on new localism and liberal individualism builds on a similar understanding of cities, giving responsibility to citizens and their collective associations in light of state rescaling. The consequences of such perspectives for urban development have yet to be conceptualized. This article proposes a critique of the use of self‐organization in policy practice, building on the argument that this concept destabilizes two constitutive categories of urban intervention: spatial boundaries and temporal programmes. In so doing, self‐organization conveys two peculiar understandings of agency in city‐regional spaces and of urbanity: the disaggregation of city‐regions and the deconstruction of urbanity. Looking at the recent change in Amsterdam's urban development practice, I show that, while self‐organization is used to emphasize that city‐regions constitute interconnected systems of dynamics, when applied in policymaking it in fact leads to the disaggregation and fragmentation of urban regions. Moreover, while the capacity of self‐organization to deconstruct codified notions of urbanity that frustrate urban relations is often celebrated, its use in policy produces newly exclusive urban fabrics. |