The Miyi Tower is the winning entry for a proposed landmark building in Miyi County in Sichuan province, China and will be doing double-duty. The new tower will not only be the cultural centerpiece of a new master plan, but will also filter and cleanse the polluted river.

Through an RFQ process, the New South Town of Miyi County in south eastern China selected the Los Angeles based team of Studio SHIFT and SWA Group to create a master plan for the developing area. As part of the new plan, Studio SHIFT has designed a tower containing various programs aimed at promoting the region’s heritage and natural amenities.

The Miyi Tower will act as a bridge between the northern section of the New South Town master plan, slated for a new high-density residential and cultural core – to the southern section, which will transform the contaminated river into a rehabilitated wetland ecosystem. (more…)

The Nakheel Harbour & Tower offers the ultimate symbol of Dubai’s evolution as a commercial and cultural capital, according to project designers Woods Bagot. 

The global architecture practice believes that the design for the 270 hectare masterplan and more than one kilometre-high tower will provide the centrepiece for the future of Dubai’s development, altering its skyline forever. As a focus for the city’s intermodal transport system, the project will create the most progressive mixed-use development in the world offering both functionality and lifestyle, while evolving the city’s infrastructure. (more…)

“The rise of the mega-region” is a paper by Richard Florida, Tim Gulden and Charlotta Mellander and develops new data on mega-regions. It takes issue with theories of globalization which argue that global economic activity is being more widely decentralized—‘the world is flat’.

To produce an objectively consistent set of mega-regions for the globe, the three authors used  a global dataset of night-time light emissions. They drew on high-resolution population data to estimate the population of each of these regions.  Furthermore, they processed the light data in combination with national gross domestic product (GDP) to produce rough but useful regional estimates of economic activity. They also present estimates of technological and scientific innovation. Read a lot more an the concept, theory, methodology and findings here. (more…)

ISSUE NO.5: SOCIAL SERVICES

Dossier

This dossier sums up the discussions about social services in the light of the development of the PerfectCity Charter. By asking our readers which factors define this issue for them the most we want to identify the relevant ones. And these are the results:

At first, we would like to thank everyone who took part in the voting.

As shown in the figure the most important factor about social service in the city of the future is “Education”. “Education” is such an important factor because the high returns on universal primary education are proven. Education impacts on human development and economic growth, and it is a fundamental requirement for democracy. The UNESCO specifies:

• Education is a human right.
• It is a catalyst for human development.
• It improves one’s quality of life.
• It is vital for economic development and political stability and democracy.

The influence of education on urban structures such as cities is remarkably visible in cities revolving around big universities. We supported this fact in September when we published an article on the so called “University cities". 

In addition we would like to refer you to “The Data Report 2008” which has a whole chapter on the importance of education (especially in 3rd world countries).

“Education" is followed by the factor “Health care” in second place. “Health care” is defined as the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well being through the services offered by the medical, nursing, and allied health professions.
A report by The Earth Institute, a research institute with the mission to address complex issues facing the planet and its inhabitants, with particular focus on sustainable development and the needs of the world’s poor underlines the importance of health care. This report “The Importance of “Urban” in Urban Health” was published after the Global Urban Summit. In 2007 the Rockefeller Foundation and the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) at Columbia University’s Earth Institute convened an expert panel on global health issues. The focus of the discussions was the specific challenges posed by urban population health. The paper summarizes the key points that emerged from the summit’s urban population health week and raises some questions about future directions for urban population health, particularly as they relate to sustainable and equitable urban development in the Global South.
Another report, issued by the “Families USA Foundation”, was published in June 2008 and focuses on the health care crisis in the USA and the specific role of the US cities. To examine the status quo of the health care system in the US “Families USA”, a national non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for Americans, designed a short survey of eleven questions to distribute to mayor’s offices of a sample of 35 cities with a population greater than 100.000 each. A total of 13 cities completed the survey which resulted in the following key findings:

• The nation’s cities are on the front lines of the health care crisis and are affected on a daily basis by the rising number of uninsured Americans.
• Cities reported experiencing the following situations over the past year as a result of growth in the number of uninsured people:
  • Increased demand for services at safety net clinics (all 13 cities),
  • Crowding in hospitals and hospital emergency departments (11 cities),
  • Increased demand for mental health and substance abuse services (10 cities),
  • Increased demand for family support services (nine cities),
  • Problems affecting children in the city’s schools (seven cities), and
  • Area hospital closings (four cities).
• In addition to providing services to city residents, mayors also oversee the provision of health coverage to city employees. Here, too, city leaders reported that cities are struggling to fulfill this role amid rising health care costs.

The factor “Social security” comes in third place. “Social security” is the provision of basic needs by the social network or group (eventually also, but not only by the state) for its members.
We supported this factor with an article in which we linked to a report called “Developments and Trends – Supporting Dynamic Social Security”. This report was written by a team of social security specialists and practitioners and is citing significant national and international developments and examines recent trends in social security policies and practices. It underlines the need for policy responses that contribute to accessible and sustainable social protection systems and seeks to inform the international debate in this evolving policy field.

When it comes to “Road and building maintenance” in fourth, the RTA, the Roads and Traffic Authority in New South Wales, Australia, gives an overview what road maintenance actually is. Road maintenance includes:

• Fixing potholes, rough patches and broken edges.
• Recoating bitumen and concrete surfaces to waterproof the road and reduce skidding.
• Rebuilding roads and bridges when they are worn out, often recycling existing materials.
• Changing the bulbs on traffic lights.
• Repainting lines.
• Replacing lines.
• Clearing drains.
• Preserving our heritage such as old bridges and drains, some convict-built.
• Clearing snow, blown sand and things dropped from cars and trucks.
• Moving road edges so drivers can see the guideposts.
• Keeping car ferries afloat.
• Opening bridges to let ships pass.
• Repairing damage from crashes, floods, fires and storms.

The RTA spends a lot of money on road maintenance and gets this money from the State (from road users’ registration and licence fees), from the Federal Government, from ratepayers and private motorways levy tolls.
To get an impression what buildings maintenance is about, visit the Queensland Government homepage and check the building maintenance guidelines.

The three least important factors according to the results of our poll are “Security services”, “Gardening and landscaping” and “Refuse management”. Regarding “Gardening and landscaping” we found a new urban trend called “guerrilla gardening" . You can find a decent archive of guerrilla gardening actions on Guerrillagardening.org.

On Dubai Architecture, a database of Dubai architectural styles, architects and regions, you can find a great compilation of the architectural projects of the last 18 years.

At first, please have a look at the development of the buildings and streets.

It is stunning how a street, which looked like desert land in 1990, completely change within 18 years.

On the website you find a list of projects that have been built within the last five years or are currently in progress: (more…)

According to the “World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision” by the United Nations the number of mega-cities had increased to 20 in 2005 and it was projected that there will be 22 mega-cities in 2015. A mega-city is usually defined as a metropolitan area with a total population in excess of 10 million people. The world is getting urban – everywhere. Since 2007 the number of people living in cities is the same as the number of people living in rural areas. Currently, the urbanization has reached its peak speeds in parts of Asia and Africa. New mega-cities like Mumbai with 14 and Shanghai with 18 million people are signs for this progressive urbanization.

What are the opportunities and risks, what possibilities are offered by mega-cites? With a portrait of the Japanese city Oskaka-Kobe we want to focus on an Asian mega-city to open up reasons and positions of the urbanization. (more…)

The Dresden Elbe Valley is an UNESCO World Heritage Site in Dresden, Germany. The valley, spreading some 20 kilometres through the city of Dresden, is one of the both cultural landscapes along the Elbe, a central-european river. This landscape gained  its worth due to the fact that it is part of the urban area as well as part of the natural river banks and slopes.

(more…)

Project data

Project summary

Westergasfabriek Park is a dismantled industrial site west of existing Westerpark, which links to
Amsterdam’s city centre. A main axis links both parks. Westergasfabriek Park is also accessible in
the south via a bridge across the canal.

Many extant buildings have been salvaged as monuments to the origin of the site and were integrated
in the morphology of the new park.
The park is intended for 24-hour use and offers restaurants, clubs, theatre and cinema in the old buildings.
A large site for open-air events is located in the northeast of the park, mainly used for concerts.
An earth wall forms a noise protection barrier shielding off the park from the railway tracks on the
north edge. It doubles as a promenade, and was built from contaminated on-site soil. This recycling
made unnecessary costly disposal. The wall’s construction is safe for humans, fauna and flora.
The earth wall slopes into a long-stretched swimming lake which is purified by reed beds.
Other relics from the past are the extant gas tanks: dismantled to ground level, they were flooded and
will turn into unique biotopes that can be experienced from wooden boardwalks.

Project data

Project summary

The park acts as the vertebra of the new residential development of Nesselande, situated in
Rotterdam’s east on marshland territory. „A new residential area and a new waterpark for Rotterdam“:
Water forms the park’s main constituent. It plays an important role both for the ecological function and
the ambience of the park.

All rainwater runoff from the site gets collected at Rietveldpark via holding tanks and pipes. The slop
water first gets cleaned in extensive constructed wetlands. Recreation facilities are located on a
number of islands, which form a contrast to the urban backdrop and are arranged in the water like
steppingstones. The islands are accessed by bridges. These are also part of links between the surrounding
residential areas.

The park makes distances short between many public facilities such as schools and day-care centres
located on the edges of the park. On the western edge, the park is characterised by long and narrow
banks lined with trees. On the eastern edge, the landform is more open, with terraced slopes incorporating
play and sports areas.
There were constrictions in the park design due to urban utilities, a gas pipe running in the subsoil
and a power line overground. The park also had to include a metro route that had been built in 2005.
One of the islands in the middle of the park houses the metro station, which connects Nesselande to
central Rotterdam and the adjacent districts. This island has a more urban character, comprising an
important public space and nodal point for metro, bus, car, cyclists, and pedestrians.