On handling urban informality in southern Africa

In this article I reconsider the handling of urban informality by urban planning and management systems in southern Africa. I argue that authorities have a fetish about formality and that this is fuelled by an obsession with urban modernity. I stress that the desired city, largely inspired by Western notions of modernity, has not been and cannot be realized. Using illustrative cases of top–down interventions, I highlight and interrogate three strategies that authorities have deployed to handle informality in an effort to create or defend the modern city. I suggest that the fetish is built upon a desire for an urban modernity based on a concept of formal order that the authorities believe cannot coexist with the “disorder” and spatial “unruliness” of informality. I question the authorities' conviction that informality is an abomination that needs to be “converted”, dislocated or annihilated. I conclude that the very configuration of urban governance and socio-economic systems in the region, like the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, renders informality inevitable and its eradication impossible

Rethinking place-making: aligning placeness factors with perceived urban design qualities (PUDQs) to improve the built environment in historical district

Understanding the concept of place is critically important for urban design and place-making practice, and this research attempted to investigate the pathways by which perceived urban design qualities (PUDQs) influence placeness factors in the Chinese context. Twelve hypotheses were developed and combined in a structural equation model for validation. The Tanhualin historical district in Wuhan, China was selected for the analysis. As a result, place attachment was verified as a critical bridge factor that mediated the influence of PUDQs on place satisfaction. Among the five selected PUDQs, walkability and space quality were revealed as the most influential factors associated with place attachment and place satisfaction. Accessibility was actually indirectly beneficial to place-making via the mediation of walkability. Corresponding implications and strategies were discussed to maintain the sense of place for historic districts

Cultural and leisure clusters in Greek cities: Spontaneous formation and 'Laissez-Faire' development

This article is concerned with cultural economies in the post-industrial city and examines the phenomenon of cultural and leisure clusters in Greek cities. In the first part, the article discusses the key role of cultural economies in the post-industrial city and presents types of cultural clusters in inner city areas. The second part focuses on Greek cities and analyses three cultural and leisure clusters in Athens, Thessaloniki and Volos. The article documents the spontaneous formation and the 'laissez-faire' development of such clusters; it records the shift of land uses and the transformations of urban landscape, and also highlights the urban policies involved. Finally, it draws conclusions on the formation and management of cultural and leisure clusters, especially the differences among large cities in the core of Europe and large Mediterranean cities in the developing periphery of Europe

Urban design: the evolution of concerns, the increasing power, challenges and perspectives

[No abstract available

Urban design, urban space morphology, urban tourism: An emerging new paradigm concerning their relationship

The paper concerns the relationships between the physical form of the urban environment and leisure activities. It examines how urban space morphology-i.e. spatial patterns and formal patterns-may have an impact on tourists' attraction and preferences in the contemporary cultural context of urban tourism. Can urban design and the physical form of space in themselves determine anything in urban tourism development

New technologies opposing urban sustainability

This paper is concerned with the impacts of new technologies on urban sustainability. First, it briefly presents those new technological developments affecting urban life of individuals. Then, it focuses on new spatial phenomena which are encouraged by new technologies and opposing urban sustainability: (a) urban sprawl, exurban new centralities and the 'dispersed city ', and (b) the socio-demographic restructuring and diminishing of inner city areas. It finally discusses green architecture and energy-save buildings which nowadays are feasible by new technological developments, and in this sense, they may moderate the negative impacts of new technologies on cities

Cultural clusters in the post-industrial city: The Greek experience

This paper is concerned with cultural economies in the post-industrial city and examines the phenomenon of cultural and leisure clusters in Greek cities. In the first part, the paper discusses the key-role of cultural economies in the post-industrial city and presents types of cultural clusters in inner city areas. The second part focuses on Greek cities and analyses three cultural and leisure clusters in Athens, Thessaloniki and Volos. The paper documents the spontaneous formation and the 'laissez-faire' development of such clusters; it records the shift of land-uses and the transformations of urban landscape while it highlights the urban policies involved. Finally, it draws conclusions on the formation and management of cultural and leisure clusters and especially, the differences among large cities in the core of Europe and Mediterranean large cities in the developing periphery of Europe. © 2007 WIT Press

Aspa Gospodini — Culture-led Regeneration in European Cities:The Question of Sustainability and Critical Parameters of Culture and Leisure Epicentres

[No abstract available

Urban waterfront redevelopment in Greek cities - A framework for redesigning space

The paper examines urban waterfront redevelopment in Greek cities, regarding them as a group of cities rather than focusing on each case independently. It attempts to set up a theoretical framework for the redesign of space based on three considerations: (a) the development prospects of Greek cities, and especially smaller Greek cities, within the European urban system, (b) the potential of urban design as a means of economic development of cities and the ways such a 'use' of urban design may be adopted by Greek cities in urban waterfront redevelopment and (c) the main morphological and spatial characteristics exhibited in common by Greek cities and their waterfronts. The paper argues that in the competitive European urban system, urban waterfront redevelopment is a challenge for Greek cities - a pilot spatial terrain where 'change', 'improvement' and 'development' may operate: (i) 'change' of the established urban design practices from episodic and soft interventions towards large scaled interventions and avant-garde design of space, (ii) 'improvement' of the quality of space in the core of Greek cities, and (iii) 'development' of urban tourism by placing Greek cities on the urban map of Europe as a distinct group of cities with characteristic waterfronts. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Urban development, redevelopment and regeneration encouraged by transport infrastructure projects: The case study of 12 European cities

This paper attempts to describe the potential of urban transport infrastructure projects such as metro, regional rail and tram, to indirectly work as a catalyst for the development and redevelopment of urban areas as well as the regeneration of declining areas. The paper presents the outcome of research on a sample of 12 European cities-Athens, Bratislava, Brussels, Helsinki, Lyon, Madrid, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Stuttgart, Valencia, Vienna and Zurich. This research is part of the Transecon project which was funded by the European Commission under the competitive and sustainable growth programme of the fifth framework- and concerned with all kinds of different indirect effects (economic, social and spatial) of new transport infrastructure investments in European cities. The outcome of the research points out that urban transport infrastructure may have a catalytic effect on the development, redevelopment and regeneration of urban areas but there are a lot of other influencing factors which make such re-Urbanization processes a successful or unsuccessful story