Search

Height estimation of scatterers in complex environments via the Tomographic Synthetic Aperture Radar (TomoSAR) technique is still a valuable research field. The parametric spectral estimation approach constitutes a powerful tool to identify the superimposed scatterers with different complex reflectivities, located at different heights in the same range–azimuth resolution cell. Unfortunately, this approach requires prior knowledge about the number of scatterers for each pixel, which is not possible in practical situations. In this paper, we propose a method that analyzes the scree plot, generated from the spectral decomposition of the multidimensional covariance matrix, in order to estimate automatically the number of scatterers for each resolution cell. In this context, a properly improved regularization step is included during the reconstruction process, transforming the parametric MUSIC estimator into a non-parametric method. The experimental results on two data sets covering high elevation towers, with different facade coating characteristics, acquired by the TerraSAR-X satellite highlighted the effectiveness of the proposed regularized MUSIC for the reconstruction of high man-made structures compared with classical approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The celebration of the European Year of Architectural Heritage in 1975 in Amsterdam had a great impact on architectural debate in West Berlin, which held a similar event one year later entitled A future for our past. There was a climate of great tension in the city between the precursors of the urban development plans and the social movements in the affected neighborhoods. The article discusses the extent to which a methodological change was possible, from an approach that obliterated the existing new proposals in order to readjust the role of heritage in the urban reconstruction. The idea of declaring existing urban fabric as patrimony became the central debate of this period, in which the idea of demolition and replacement became an expression of social inequality. This article comparatively analyzes the celebration of two proposals promoted by Berlin's architectural senator Hans C. Müller in 1976: The pilot project for Block 118 in Charlottenburg and the Symposium on Urban Structure and Urban Form in Tiergarten Süd. Two innovative and methodologically distinct approaches were to establish the principles that would regulate the internationally known reconstruction of the IBA, both the Old and the New, two years later. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We address the problem of simplifying two‐dimensional polygonal partitions that exhibit strong regularities. Such partitions are relevant for reconstructing urban scenes in a concise way. Preserving long linear structures spanning several partition cells motivates a point‐line projective duality approach in which points represent line intersections, and lines possibly carry multiple points. We propose a simplification algorithm that seeks a balance between the fidelity to the input partition, the enforcement of canonical relationships between lines (orthogonality or parallelism) and a low complexity output. Our methodology alternates continuous optimization by Riemannian gradient descent with combinatorial reduction, resulting in a progressive simplification scheme. Our experiments show that preserving canonical relationships helps gracefully degrade partitions of urban scenes, and yields more concise and regularity‐preserving meshes than common mesh‐based simplification approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the possibilities of the structural and functional transformation of blocks in the historical center of Zagreb as a part of modernization after many years of neglect as well as earthquakes in 2020. The research aims to determine how the existing block tissue corresponds with the needs of today's residents and the possibility of its improvement. The historical circumstances in which the blocks were formed and underwent the most significant changes and modern processes that affect the state and value are determined. There is a special focus on the interior of the block (courtyards), as well as on the spaces on the ground floors of street facades, where numerous, unexplored changes can be observed. The findings provide starting points for desirable structural–functional transformations of blocks and stem from the synthesis and interpretation of knowledge from four interrelated parts of the research. The characteristics of blocks have changed during city development stages, as depicted by an analysis and graphic interpretation of historical maps and urban plans (1864–2021). Influences of modern processes on changes of the city are determined on the basis of the synthesis of previous research from different interdisciplinary points of view; a detailed analysis of the structural–functional changes is conducted on the example of three selected blocks. Transformation models for three selected blocks are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban scene modeling is a challenging task for the photogrammetry and computer vision community due to its large scale, structural complexity, and topological delicacy. This paper presents an efficient multistep modeling framework for large-scale urban scenes from aerial images. It takes aerial images and a textured 3D mesh model generated by an image-based modeling system as the input and outputs compact polygon models with semantics at different levels of detail (LODs). Based on the key observation that urban buildings usually have piecewise planar rooftops and vertical walls, we propose a segment-based modeling method, which consists of three major stages: scene segmentation, roof contour extraction, and building modeling. By combining the deep neural network predictions with geometric constraints of the 3D mesh, the scene is first segmented into three classes. Then, for each building mesh, the 2D line segments are detected and used to slice the ground into polygon cells, followed by assigning each cell a roof plane via a MRF optimization. Finally, the LOD model is obtained by extruding cells to their corresponding planes. Compared with direct modeling in 3D space, we transform the mesh into a uniform 2D image grid representation and most of the modeling work is performed in 2D space, which has the advantages of low computational complexity and high robustness. In addition, our method doesn’t require any global prior, such as the Manhattan or Atlanta world assumption, making it flexible to model scenes with different characteristics and complexity. Experiments on both single buildings and large-scale urban scenes demonstrate that by combining 2D photometric with 3D geometric information, the proposed algorithm is robust and efficient in urban scene LOD vectorized modeling compared with the state-of-the-art approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known how the planning model of a "car-oriented city" was common among Western experts in the post-Second World War period, but here we claim this approach was common in both sides of divided Berlin. Investigating East- and West-Berlin's reconstruction, here we analyse the relationship between the transnational sphere of circulation and its local realisations. Focusing on the leading figures of urban planning in West- and East-Berlin (who acted as "transfer agents", participating in the transnational discourse) let us to better frame Berlin's urban history in the 1960s and 1970s. The example of Lyon as France's most "car-friendly city" is included in the analysis, so to transcend traditional perspectives of Cold War-antagonism, as well as to show the diverse and multilateral ways of exchange. Finally, the findings of the article will put the established periodisation of the "car-oriented city" in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between neoliberal institutional management of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake and the local dwelling practices, which consequently originated in the new urban layout. Design/methodology/approach: It presents itself as a post-catastrophe ethnography carried out from a specific approach, that is, the street ethnography that consists of collecting the practices and discourses of inhabitants, administrators, experts and commercial operators, which take place on or around the street. Findings: Illustrating the stages from the declaration of the state of emergency to the expertise-proposed reconstruction models, it shows the differences between resilient strategies and policies of urban management and resistant dwelling practices that are analyzed progressively focusing on a particular social group: the teenagers of the alleys. Research limitations/implications: Descending in the alleys means to take a micro-sight that ables to identify present living paths. Practical implications: Based on a long fieldwork, it bridges the gap between "theories" and practices, and it highlights those fields of action that despite being dominated by wide-ranging disaster management and urban planning logics bring out the work of social life in reweaving its threads in contexts of crisis. Social implications: Paying attention to a social portion that often escapes from ethnographic investigation, this study has the merit of dealing with teenagers in this kind of situation. Originality/value: Indeed, this part of society and its creative "culture" receive the focus of a few studies, especially in case of catastrophes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the period of the Cold War, architecture became a critical medium of knowledge transfer, facilitating the processes of modernization. The Cold War protagonists, the USSR and the USA, vied to gain the political allegiances of third world nations of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas. This was done through development and aid programmes that offered to lift nations out of poverty, and thereby also deliver them into political commitment to one side or the other. The destruction of Skopje, capital of Macedonia, in 1963, along with the subsequent efforts to replan and rebuild the city, brought with it a significant disruption to the Cold War dynamic. For one thing, Skopje happened to sit within Yugoslavia, a non-aligned country. For another, the winner of the competition to rebuild Skopje was a Japanese, Kenzo Tange. Moreover, the rallying efforts of the United Nations to bring people and resources from around the world to the aid of Skopje managed to transcend much of the partisanship characteristic of international politics. This paper explores the actors, networks, and mechanisms that came together from both sides of the Cold War divide to deliver one of the most defining trans-national urban projects of the 1960s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 1905 a conflagration devastated Adrianople's intramural quartiers, the majority of whose inhabitants were non-Muslims. Post-disaster rumours and suspicions agreed by common consent that the fire was not due to natural causes. The Province of Adrianople had not been immune to the reverberations and consequences of the political and demographic turmoil originated in Macedonia, a contested territory who had for years witnessed various forms of violence, including massacre and incendiarism. This article searches for the possible sources of the said rumours and suspicions on grounds of intercommunal conflict and political violence, with an emphasis on the uses of arson as a means of terrorization, reprisal and de-territorialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the 1923 Belgrade Master Plan's preparation and implementation process, a significant moment in Belgrade's political and urban history when, after the First World War, the city lost its centuries-long border position, becoming the capital of a newly established extended country, the Kingdom SHS, later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The goal of government and city authorities was to create a representative national capital and overcome the city's existential and functional problems. Crucial to the process was the Association of Serbian Architects and Engineers’ organization of an international competition in 1921-1922. Twenty-two projects were submitted, from Vienna, Paris, Budapest, Berlin, Zurich, Prague, etc. First prize was not awarded, but 18 were rewarded and purchased. These represented the basis for creating a final plan, supervised by G. P. Kovalevsky. The 1923 Master Plan introduced very innovative and modern approaches to solving the city's problems and improving residential areas, traffic, and greenery. The paper discusses the plan's realization, its extensive changes and partial implementation, which greatly influenced later city development. Despite obstacles, the plan initiated some important and progressive ideas whose impact was vital for the functional transformation of the city and its realization represents Belgrade's modern urban heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government, seeking to break an impasse in its state-sponsored war-damage reconstruction efforts after the Second World War, presented proposals in the late 1940s to reclaim centuries-old canals in its central area to dispose of wartime rubble and create land for redevelopment. The Government also received a proposal forwarded by Japan’s professional baseball association to reclaim a scenic pond in central Tokyo and build a baseball stadium there, and it responded favourably. Two canal reclamation projects were realized, but the pond reclamation was eventually abandoned. These reclamation proposals provoked debates of varying intensity over the loss of traditional scenery as part of urban reconstruction. This paper examines those debates and interprets their meaning within the history of Japan’s city planning. It notes the awakening of concern for land use planning after reclamation – in particular, the preservation of locations of scenic value – in the context of urban reconstruction. The paper also considers the limited nature of civic space for public discourse and debate over planning proposals and a collusive aspect of the inter-governmental relationship in city planning. It also considers the attitudes towards reclamation displayed by Hideaki Ishikawa, the principal planner of Tokyo’s war-damage reconstruction plan. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The massive destruction of historic city centres during the Second World War was used, first in Britain and then in the rest of Europe, by contemporary architects and planners for justifying a modernist ‘clean slate’ approach to urban reconstruction; for them, war was ‘a blessing in disguise’ that could be exploited for adopting revolutionary planning concepts. In 1948 Tel Aviv, similar justifications were used for the total demolition of Manshiya, a centrally located ‘slum’ neighbourhood which allegedly suffered extensive and irrecoverable war damages during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. This article argues that contrary to common perceptions, the 1948 Manshiya demolitions were not a ‘complementary’ act obligated by the destruction of war, but rather a deliberate exploitation of wartime confusion and misinformation in order to launch an ambitious (and illegal) ‘modernization’ project for the whole area of southern Tel Aviv. Unlike European post-war urban reconstruction, in Manshiya, war was deliberately used by Tel Aviv’s leadership as a camouflage for a large-scale planned ‘civilian’ destruction that realized town planning ideals in their most radical form. This made the events exceptional not only in the backdrop of the 1948 War, but also in the local history of urban planning as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Our ancestors are master story tellers. They interweave our past, present and future for us. They deliver our genealogy, connecting people and their environment, conveying identity and obligation. Can you hear their voices in the city as you move along its waterways and paths and through its structures? In recent decades there has been a resurgence in the use of Indigenous languages, knowledges, culture and stories in urban areas. For some of us, there is a sense of optimism that comes from the success of initiatives that reassert the potency and integrity of Indigenous worldviews in the urban setting. Initiatives that contribute and re-remember a richer story. In this paper, I explore how Indigenous-led urban strategies in central Ōtautahi|Christchurch are serving to prize open a space for Indigenous stories in the settler-colonial city and thereby support Indigenous peoples to be and see themselves through the resulting reconnection to place, culture, history and kin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an automatic reconstruction pipeline for large scale urban scenes from aerial images captured by a camera mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle. Using state-of-the-art Structure from Motion and Multi-View Stereo algorithms, we first generate a dense point cloud from the aerial images. Based on the statistical analysis of the footprint grid of the buildings, the point cloud is classified into different categories (i.e., buildings, ground, trees, and others). Roof structures are extracted for each individual building using Markov random field optimization. Then, a contour refinement algorithm based on pivot point detection is utilized to refine the contour of patches. Finally, polygonal mesh models are extracted from the refined contours. Experiments on various scenes as well as comparisons with state-of-the-art reconstruction methods demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of urban reconstruction. While there exists a considerable body of literature, this topic is still under active research. The work reviewed in this survey stems from the following three research communities: computer graphics, computer vision and photogrammetry and remote sensing. Our goal is to provide a survey that will help researchers to better position their own work in the context of existing solutions, and to help newcomers and practitioners in computer graphics to quickly gain an overview of this vast field. Further, we would like to bring the mentioned research communities to even more interdisciplinary work, since the reconstruction problem itself is by far not solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares the nostalgia culture of urban space in contemporary Berlin and Shanghai. In Berlin, the nostalgia for both pre-WWII Berlin space and East Berlin street culture prove attractive. In Shanghai, spaces that associate with the 1930s' Shanghai bourgeois life win high popularity among the local. Rather than understanding nostalgia in local-global tension, this article argues that the spatial nostalgia in both cities is related to the local resistance to the predominant national narrative in exhibiting competing understandings of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides a literature review of research published on South Africa's black townships in order to answer certain questions: how have the townships changed? In what directions are they changing? Which groups in the townships benefit from these changes? Which groups of actors who push for change in the townships can be identified? To what extent are these residential areas becoming multifunctional, shifting from their role as dormitory settlements to providing their residents with a higher quality of life than in the past? What new social and ethnic antagonisms arise in turn? The paper reviews township literature in four periods: up to the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and 2000s (the bulk of the review is however on the last 20 years). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2000, a deprived inner-city district of Enschede (the Netherlands) known as Roombeek was largely devastated by an explosion of a fireworks storage depot. This article evaluates the efforts made by the municipality of Enschede to actively involve the former residents in the reconstruction planning. The results indicate that through a well-ordered process and a considered mobilization campaign, the initiators of the participatory planning process have been successful in stimulating broad and representative public participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a system for automatic, geo-registered, real-time 3D reconstruction from video of urban scenes. The system collects video streams, as well as GPS and inertia measurements in order to place the reconstructed models in geo-registered coordinates. It is designed using current state of the art real-time modules for all processing steps. It employs commodity graphics hardware and standard CPU’s to achieve real-time performance. We present the main considerations in designing the system and the steps of the processing pipeline. Our system extends existing algorithms to meet the robustness and variability necessary to operate out of the lab. To account for the large dynamic range of outdoor videos the processing pipeline estimates global camera gain changes in the feature tracking stage and efficiently compensates for these in stereo estimation without impacting the real-time performance. The required accuracy for many applications is achieved with a two-step stereo reconstruction process exploiting the redundancy across frames. We show results on real video sequences comprising hundreds of thousands of frames. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the traffic planning for the inner cities in Germany. Role played by the automobile in urban life; Recall on the success of pedestrian zones; Attention to the functional requisites of urban life.