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Historic centres constitute a heritage space given their historical importance and the existence of remains dating back to the origin of the city where they are located. In Spain, historic centres of greatest interest, with an important number of spaces and heritage buildings, are protected by legislation and other instruments for their conservation. This study focuses on 19 historic centres with the highest level of heritage protection in medium and small-sized cities in the Autonomous Region of Galicia. In the context of the current public policies for the rehabilitation of these historic centres, the aim of this article is to provide background and criteria for the rehabilitation of housing, facilities and public spaces mainly for elderly people.Based on the analysis of the main experiences and criticisms of the rehabilitation processes of historic centres, we comparatively analyse the population aged 65 and over and the state of conservation of the buildings in these historic centres. The results show that an important part is concentrated in the most deteriorated areas of these centres, showing greater vulnerability of this population. In order to incorporate inclusive design criteria and proposals for elderly people, we analysed studies that demonstrated the direct relation and positive impact of designs adapted for elderly people, on their physical and mental health and socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The Casablanca Medina Rehabilitation Project, spanning from 2010 to 2023, aimed to address deficiencies in this historic district. Its objectives encompassed improving living conditions, restoring the built environment, creating new infrastructure, safeguarding monuments, enhancing tourism appeal, and reviving economic activities. Divided into three phases, each spanning three years, this article focuses primarily on the inaugural phase, managed by the Casablanca Urban Agency from 2010 to 2013. Notably, this phase marked a significant milestone as it represented the city's first major project led by a public entity recognizing civil society's pivotal role. Within this context, the paper delves into the intricate dynamics of the key actors involved, with a particular emphasis on civil society, the steering committee, and Medina's resident population. It accentuates critical moments of conflict between these stakeholders, shedding light on the foundational representations underpinning their respective claims to legitimacy. Throughout the project's duration, multiple local associations played a crucial role in meticulously overseeing its progress. Serving as intermediaries bridging the divide between developers and the local population, they actively engaged in facilitating communication and conducting project presentations. However, this involvement was not without its challenges, as underlying tensions among different associations regarding their legitimacy to participate in the project surfaced. In conclusion, the paper underscores that citizen participation within the Medina project often retained a predominantly symbolic nature, marked by a preference for pre-established choices. In a broader context, these experiences illuminate the intricate challenges and complexities associated with citizen participation in urban development projects. They serve as a reminder that participatory processes can sometimes veer toward symbolism, with predetermined decisions eclipsing genuine collaboration. These insights encourage a deeper exploration of the multifaceted dynamics between civil society, authorities, and project implementation, offering valuable lessons for future urban development and community engagement endeavors. more...

Coworking spaces are shared workplaces in which desk space is available to remote workers, freelancers, and small enterprises. They offer the social, technological, and networking advantages of an office while allowing workers the freedom to reside in a location of their choice. Remote working has become a common work practice in recent years, accelerated by restrictions introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Irish Government policy strongly supports coworking spaces across the island to support employment diversity and retain populations in towns and villages. Along with the provision of viable workplaces, coworking spaces can provide a range of co-benefits to their localities, such as stimulating local economies and reducing commuting-related emissions. This paper describes a mixed-method study seeking to identify this range of co-benefits through a survey of coworking space users and semi-structured interviews with coworking space founders, managers, and coordinators. The study uses an integrative process to categorise the findings into social, urban, and environmental co-benefits. The research finds that locating a coworking space in a central rather than peripheral urban area can support and optimise many of these co-benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Abstract This phenomenon of slums represents one of the most serious problems that Iraqi cities suffer from, especially the city of Baghdad, which has become teeming with a lot of slum buildings that have distorted most of its areas and neighborhoods. Most of the slums are in the form of scattered construction and chaotic gatherings that do not follow any planning standards. This paper aims to present and analyze the mechanisms of urban upgrading of two models of slums in the city of Baghdad and London. The treatment was through the urban development of these slums and the provision and improvement of services to reduce the phenomenon of total removal. The GIS program was used to calculate the urban variables and requirements, the optimal locations for services, and the total and partial removal percentages. The research achieved the lowest percentage of total and partial removal of the actual areas, which amounted to 7.31% in the first model and 14.26% in the second model. The slum area was also provided with all the necessary services in accordance with the urban housing standards specific to each city, to turn it into a residential neighborhood instead of calling it a slum region. more...

The urban built environment of contemporary cities confronts a constant risk of deterioration due to natural or artificial reasons. Especially political aggression and war conflicts have significant destructive effects on architectural and cultural heritage buildings. The post-war urbanscapes demonstrate the striking effects of the armed conflicts during the hot war encounters. However, the residues of the urbanscapes become the actual indicators of damage and loss. Since today we can make future predictions using a variety of machine learning algorithms, it is possible to represent hybrid projections of urban heterotopias. In this context, this research proposes to explore dystopian post-war projections for modern cities based on their architectural styles and demonstrate the utopian scenarios of rehabilitation possibilities for the damaged urban built environment of post-war cities by using generative adversarial network (GAN) algorithms. Two primary datasets containing the post-war and pre-war building facades have been given as the input data for the CycleGAN and pix2pix GAN models. Thus, two different image-to-image GAN models have been compared regarding their ability to produce legible building facade projections in architectural features. Besides, the machine learning process results have been discussed in terms of cities' utopian and dystopian future predictions, demonstrating the war conflicts' immense effects on the built environment. Moreover, the immediate consequence of the destructive aggression on tangible and intangible architectural heritage would become visible to inhabitants and policymakers when the AI-generated rehabilitation potentials have been exposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The Casablanca Medina Rehabilitation Project, spanning from 2010 to 2023, aimed to address deficiencies in this historic district. Its objectives encompassed improving living conditions, restoring the built environment, creating new infrastructure, safeguarding monuments, enhancing tourism appeal, and reviving economic activities. Divided into three phases, each spanning three years, this article focuses primarily on the inaugural phase, managed by the Casablanca Urban Agency from 2010 to 2013. Notably, this phase marked a significant milestone as it represented the city's first major project led by a public entity recognizing civil society's pivotal role. Within this context, the paper delves into the intricate dynamics of the key actors involved, with a particular emphasis on civil society, the steering committee, and Medina's resident population. It accentuates critical moments of conflict between these stakeholders, shedding light on the foundational representations underpinning their respective claims to legitimacy. Throughout the project's duration, multiple local associations played a crucial role in meticulously overseeing its progress. Serving as intermediaries bridging the divide between developers and the local population, they actively engaged in facilitating communication and conducting project presentations. However, this involvement was not without its challenges, as underlying tensions among different associations regarding their legitimacy to participate in the project surfaced. In conclusion, the paper underscores that citizen participation within the Medina project often retained a predominantly symbolic nature, marked by a preference for pre-established choices. In a broader context, these experiences illuminate the intricate challenges and complexities associated with citizen participation in urban development projects. They serve as a reminder that participatory processes can sometimes veer toward symbolism, with predetermined decisions eclipsing genuine collaboration. These insights encourage a deeper exploration of the multifaceted dynamics between civil society, authorities, and project implementation, offering valuable lessons for future urban development and community engagement endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Revista de Arquitectura (1657-0308) is the property of Universidad Catolica de Columbia, Facultad de Arquitectura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Purpose: This paper aims to explore one question: to what extent does urban rehabilitation impact the housing search cost of the low-income tenants. Design/methodology/approach: This paper adopts the fixed effects time-on-market (TOM) model and pricing model to study the research question. Findings: Urban rehabilitation lifts the subdivided units (SDUs') prices by around 7%. For the SDU located in old districts, urban rehabilitation gives rise to the rental price up by 11%–12%. The SDUs in the area without urban rehabilitation experience a short marketing period of 16%–17%. The SDU located in the old district that is without urban rehabilitation would have a short marketing time. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the pioneering research to investigate the relationship between rehabilitation and low-income rental housing from the improved search theory. The improved search theory posits that under the circumstance of urban rehabilitation, low-income tenants' options are limited and the search behavior will be restricted in the affordable areas, and then TOM will be shortened. With the concentration of SDUs in Hong Kong, the test of the search theory is broken down into two hypotheses. (H1) Urban rehabilitation leads to low-income housing prices increase. (H2) Low-income housing located in areas without urban rehabilitation has a shorter TOM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article addresses the contemporary framework of housing at the EU level in the era of the 'Housing at the Centre' approach. More specifically, the research focuses on mass housing neighbourhoods (MHN) as the leading pattern of urban transformation in European cities in the second half of the 20th century, with the intention being to decode the possibilities for its rehabilitation in line with integrated approaches. The article combines (1) a review-based and systematically-oriented approach, in order to provide a state of the art of EU design taxonomy related to the housing issue, and, more specifically, related to MHN, with (2) a comparative study between EU and national design taxonomies, in order to address their conditionality and possible mismatches. The research considers design taxonomy to gain a more comprehensive insight into the content and coherence between programme values and the relevant EU documents (declarations, statements, policy positions, resolutions, reports, communications, charters, action plans, opinions) related to the housing issue, or broader urban issues that include housing as the scope of observation. The taxonomy enables a conceptual methodological framework for a systematic, consistent, and complete description of key research relations. Accordingly, the specific objective of this article is to establish an evaluation framework for reprogramming of MHN based on the EU design taxonomy through (1) the development of the programming matrix for evaluation, which corresponds to the value-based architectural programming model; and (2) introducing Serbian national design taxonomy, in order to demonstrate the anticipation of design values based on the EU taxonomy within the local context. The results indicate the need to examine and test regulatory experimental settings through middle-out approaches, whose central research perspective will be built parallel and coherently through bottom-up inputs, created as the result of collaborative approaches at the community level, and top-down inputs which are the result of the strategic framework established in relation to priorities at the European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper deals with the confrontation between the forms of urbanisation of Lisbon, Portugal, that extends its fringes over the Alcântara Valley. This same Valley—topography and hydrography—plays as determinants of the occupation that will assume distinct narratives. This gradual process is explained through three narratives about (1) the urbanisation of the margin driven by industrialisation and the construction of a stigmatised periphery, (2) the imposition of large capacity infrastructures far beyond what is local, (3) the system of open spaces and landscape projects and the urban brink that the valley claims. The debate focuses on the answers that the urban and landscape project, necessarily going through urban planning and its practical and theoretical scopes, i.e., Urbanism and urban planning thinking, especially in a broad present seeking to discuss both sides of the coin: on the one hand, an urban rehabilitation with public space for all, on the other hand, a qualified and central space that attracts real estate investment that may bring effects contrary to those expected. The article seeks to contribute (1) to a broader perception of the superimposition of processes that transformed the Alcântara Valley, (2) to a fuller dissemination of the urbanistic experiences in the city of Lisbon since this city is still vastly underrepresented in the international (primarily Anglo-Saxon) literature, (3) to deepen the debate between urban rehabilitation, urban regeneration, consequences and opportunities practiced is still trying to cope with. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Through the requalification of buildings, the improvement of public spaces and the reorganization of motorized and pedestrian circulation, success is achieved, and thus the trend of decay of the urban fabric is reversed, transforming and returning urban centers to the people. The Strategic Plan for Urban Rehabilitation of Machico is an important document for the sustainable development of the city, which will contribute to social harmony and the improvement of the people's quality of life, reducing the environmental impact of human mobility, boosting the economy, and creating conditions for the usufruct of the city of Machico in terms of mobility. The current article arises with the main objective of analyzing the Strategic Plan for Urban Rehabilitation of the Municipality (PERU) of Machico, which is an essential tool for the sustainable development of Machico. It is also important to emphasize the dimension of PERU in local economic development, from the perspective of the real estate market and in public investment. The results obtained showed that the Municipality of Machico faces some challenges in the implementation of sustainable urban development programs, due to the recent financial and economic crisis, which could limit the existing funding to fund sustainable urban development programs. It is from this plan, from the solutions determined for the rehabilitation of the public space in terms of security and mobility, based on the urban operations that are being developed, that it will be possible to offer the population a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of VLC Arquitectura is the property of VLC Arquitectura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Copyright of Conservar Património is the property of Associacao Profissional de Conservadores-Restauradores de Portugal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

The nations of the ancient world paid special attention to the vegetation cover and made it units of different dimensions and different arrangements, and various types of life sciences, engineering, and art were used for these units. Nature, fresh air, and spacious spaces. Algerian cities in general and their residential streets, in particular, know many aspects of deterioration, especially those associated with the preparation of external areas, foremost of which is the apparent lack of creation of green spaces within urban areas. El Bayadh city, like others Algerians cities, complains of most of its residential streets of a complete absence of prepared green spaces, while the remaining streets contain green spaces in a deteriorating condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Car-oriented settlements have a negative impact on human beings and the environment. In many places, planners already try to densify such areas and retrofit infrastructure for pedestrians. While such measures are generally accepted for the improvement of liveability, it is still difficult to evaluate their impact. This paper aims to quantify proposed retrofit interventions for pedestrians in the new town of Pardis, Iran. Interventions are: introducing pedestrian zones, relocating parking spaces, traffic calming, removing barriers and decentralising facilities. Two different methods are used: 1) walking distances in combination with detour factors; and 2) space syntax. The results show that these methods are effective to quantify improvement for pedestrian retrofit measures. Even simple interventions such as removing fences have a measurable positive impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This article addresses the contemporary framework of housing at the EU level in the era of the ‘Housing at the Centre’ approach. More specifically, the research focuses on mass housing neighbourhoods (MHN) as the leading pattern of urban transformation in European cities in the second half of the 20th century, with the intention being to decode the possibilities for its rehabilitation in line with integrated approaches. The article combines (1) a review-based and systematically-oriented approach, in order to provide a state of the art of EU design taxonomy related to the housing issue, and, more specifically, related to MHN, with (2) a comparative study between EU and national design taxonomies, in order to address their conditionality and possible mismatches. The research considers design taxonomy to gain a more comprehensive insight into the content and coherence between programme values and the relevant EU documents (declarations, statements, policy positions, resolutions, reports, communications, charters, action plans, opinions) related to the housing issue, or broader urban issues that include housing as the scope of observation. The taxonomy enables a conceptual methodological framework for a systematic, consistent, and complete description of key research relations. Accordingly, the specific objective of this article is to establish an evaluation framework for reprogramming of MHN based on the EU design taxonomy through (1) the development of the programming matrix for evaluation, which corresponds to the value-based architectural programming model; and (2) introducing Serbian national design taxonomy, in order to demonstrate the anticipation of design values based on the EU taxonomy within the local context. The results indicate the need to examine and test regulatory experimental settings through middle-out approaches, whose central research perspective will be built parallel and coherently through bottom-up inputs, created as the result of collaborative approaches at the community level, and top-down inputs which are the result of the strategic framework established in relation to priorities at the European level. more...

This paper deals with the confrontation between the forms of urbanisation of Lisbon, Portugal, that extends its fringes over the Alcântara Valley. This same Valley—topography and hydrography—plays as determinants of the occupation that will assume distinct narratives. This gradual process is explained through three narratives about (1) the urbanisation of the margin driven by industrialisation and the construction of a stigmatised periphery, (2) the imposition of large capacity infrastructures far beyond what is local, (3) the system of open spaces and landscape projects and the urban brink that the valley claims. The debate focuses on the answers that the urban and landscape project, necessarily going through urban planning and its practical and theoretical scopes, i.e., Urbanism and urban planning thinking, especially in a broad present seeking to discuss both sides of the coin: on the one hand, an urban rehabilitation with public space for all, on the other hand, a qualified and central space that attracts real estate investment that may bring effects contrary to those expected. The article seeks to contribute (1) to a broader perception of the superimposition of processes that transformed the Alcântara Valley, (2) to a fuller dissemination of the urbanistic experiences in the city of Lisbon since this city is still vastly underrepresented in the international (primarily Anglo-Saxon) literature, (3) to deepen the debate between urban rehabilitation, urban regeneration, consequences and opportunities practiced is still trying to cope with. more...

Resumen El Poblado Dirigido de Entrevías es un barrio de promoción pública de mitades del siglo XX, que tuvo un papel muy relevante en la arquitectura española de aquella época. A pesar de tener un gran interés patrimonial, este conjunto de viviendas mínimas y edificios complementarios no está protegido por la Administración Pública, y ha sufrido muchas transformaciones que están produciendo la progresiva desaparición de sus elementos originales. En el presente estudio se profundiza el conocimiento del proyecto, y de la construcción de este barrio, con la ayuda fundamental de los documentos originales encontrados en los Archivos del INV. Estos documentos, en parte inéditos, revelan muchos detalles sobre el método “experimental” utilizado en estas viviendas mínimas por Sáenz de Oíza, que alcanzó en este proyecto una relación muy estrecha entre arquitectura y urbanismo. También se descubren, a través de los documentos originales encontrados, unos edificios complementarios, cuya autoría de Oíza era totalmente desconocida. Abstract The “Poblado Dirigido de Entrevías” is a public promotion neighbourhood of halves of the 20th century, which played a very important role in Spanish architecture at that time. Despite having a great patrimonial interest, this set of minimum housing and complementary buildings is not protected by the Public Administration and has suffered many transformations that are producing the progressive disappearance of its original elements. In the present study the knowledge of the project and the construction of this neighbourhood is deepened, with the fundamental help of the original documents found in the INV Archives. These documents, partly unpublished, reveal many details about the "experimental" method used in these minimal dwellings by Sáenz de Oíza, which achieved in this project a very close relationship between architecture and urbanism. They are also discovered, through the original documents found, complementary buildings, whose authorship of the same Oíza was totally unknown. more...

During its Olympic cycle (2009-2016), at a historic moment in which governments and private agents around the world sought to overcome the effects of a serious economic crisis evidenced precisely in the relationship between financial capital and urbanization, the city of Rio de Janeiro received huge investments for urban policies. The Madureira neighbourhood, represented by its Afro-Brazilian traditions, was a privileged place for these investments and fundamental for understanding the short-term effectiveness of this city project and its resulting conflicts and political twists. The objective of this article is to present reasons, actions and omissions for the implementation of this city project, with its potentials, contradictions and its immediate effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2522-3380) is the property of Arab Journal of Sciences & Research Publishing (AJSRP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

The results of a crime localization study in Russian cities are presented. A long-term model of urban environment influence on criminal intent is proposed. Social and spatial causes of rising criminal level and later urban reconstruction methods are shown on the example of Pruitt-Igoe (St. Louis) and Bijlmer (Amsterdam) districts. A model for the reconstruction of the Novo-Lenino district in Irkutsk is proposed. Measures have been developed considering the historical dynamics of the region and its unique features. more...

Abstract Following a decades-long real estate bubble involving a culture of indiscriminate ownership and occupation of land, PAX—Patios de la Axerquía is proposing an innovative system of governance in the city of Córdoba in Spain that fosters a new urban model consistent with the aims of the New Urban Agenda and a Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive City: from a culture of speculation to one of rehabilitation. A system of multilevel co-management between the public administration and the social economy provides the basis for the acquisition and cooperative use of empty houses as a model of urban regeneration through social innovation in a heritage context. The rehabilitation of the patio-houses in Axerquía, which have been threatened by gentrification, aims to restore the environmental values of the Mediterranean city and upgrade its historical characteristics in a contemporary way together with the citizenship: from its architectural value as a World Heritage site to its anthropological value as Intangible Heritage of Humanity, as recognised by UNESCO in 2012. The interaction between innovative mechanisms of sustainable urban development opens up a pathway of virtuous policies for the densification of the existing city by the local population, generation of micro-employment, and support for collective projects that incorporate refugees and migrants in a system of solidarity. Updating the urban, environmental, social, and economic values of the traditional city is a step toward understanding the Mediterranean city as an undeniable reminder of our past and, at the same time, providing an essential tool for the future development of a smart, sustainable, and inclusive Europe. more...

The present communication proposes an imagery study on the transformations of the social housing Rainha Dona Leonor, in Porto, rehabilitated between 2017 and 2019. Through an immersive ethnographic work, it was possible to closely follow the radical changes that took place, from the demolition of the five housing blocks to the construction of a single block. In short, our methodology was guided by the following phases: 1) a series of exploratory visits to analyze the spatial morphology, the living conditions, the forms of occupation of shared spaces and the atmosphere of the neighborhood (receptivity, sense of security, accesses, flow of nonresidents); 2) further research into the history, context, and contemporary setting of the site; and 3) the close observation and follow up of two families from old residents. The idea of using photography as a resource for data collection and representation of the situation was due to its ability to convey the impact of the changes on the landscape, on the lives of the residents, and on their narratives before the demolition of their homes and after moving to their new homes. We registered details inside their old homes (their old lives), before being packed up, or discarded in the move to the new apartments. Furthermore, photography was taken as a tangible reminiscence for these people, remnant of their past life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In spite of the great multitude of regional and urban development interventions, urban ghettos as particular spaces of social and/or ethnic segregation have remained integral segments of socio-spatial structures of the rural hinterland of Northern Hungary since the regime change. Different social, economic, environmental, political and cultural factors have contributed to one of the deepest and most complex socio-structural crises in Hungary. Over the past quarter century, despite significant public and even EU financial support, the Roma and the extreme poor have experienced very little development in terms of their living standards. This improvement is still far from the average quality of life concerning low and low-middle strata people. Even though local governments have made steps towards mitigating the seriousness and extreme homogeneity of ethnic and/or poverty ghettos in recent decades. This could have been achieved due to urban regeneration projects, including de- and anti-segregation. These have involved the demolition of ghettos and the displacement of a large proportion of the extreme poor living in misery. The 'spectacular' results that might be observed in these areas have been overshadowed by the fact that ethnic-based ghettoization has not decreased significantly in the region for more than three decades. Instead, only its patterns have changed. Segregation, in fact, still persists, though in a modified form. Some of the notorious urban ghettos located in the vicinity of the city center have disappeared, and thus poverty has been 'swept away' from these areas. They were replaced by larger number of spatially fragmented, ethnically similar homogeneous neighborhoods. In the end, the conflicts still exist in different intra-regional and intra-urban contexts, mostly in some secluded spots of the rural countryside - far from social scientific observation and media attention. The emergence of these 'islands of extreme poverty' provide evidence of not one, but rather several parallel social realities in Hungary. These ghetto spaces are so different from mainstream ones that they might accurately be called 'Another Hungary'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Copyright of Pixo: Revista de Arquitetura Cidade e Contemporaneidade is the property of Pixo Revista de Arquitetura Cidade e Contemporaneidade and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Copyright of Párbeszéd: Szocialis Munka Folyoirat is the property of University of Debrecen and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

This paper examines the role of 'urban rehabilitation societies', a legal and institutional framework launched by the Portuguese government in 2004 and implemented locally ever since. The paper discusses how this model has provided an alibi for neoliberal narratives, grounded on the virtues of the market and on market-oriented strategies. The research methodology uses a combination of qualitative documentary analysis and face-to-face interviews with government officials and public officers to scrutinize the effects of policies on issues of governance and housing affordability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

After modifying its urban planning legislation, Castilla y León has approved an Urban Regeneration Strategy -an instrument to facilitate decision making-. The paper analyse Spanish and regional context for urban regeneration delving into three aspects: degree of integration achieved in the urban planning system, capacity to direct and to balance the transformations of the existing city, and possibilities of promoting inclusive interventions. The Strategy looks for measuring the needs and the potential for transformation of projected interventions, but there are also some weaknesses and unknowns that hover over its still early application. more...

This paper examines the modifications of urban space, the reconfiguration of public and social space, and the transformations of the demographic and social structure occurred in Rome’s central district called Esquiline, with the aim of grasping how these different elements combine and interact to start an original urban evolution process. Esquiline ranks among nowadays major “arrival districts”, taking in or gathering many immigrants and aliens. Since the Nineties, this district has been concerned with an important urban requalification programme aimed at stopping urban dilapidation and demographic drain. Numerous studies show that districts concerned with an urban requalification policy are often touched by gentrification. So that begs the question: so has it been happening in the Esquiline area? Our researches seem to prove that transformations generally connected to urban and building rehabilitation operations, commercial urban revitalisation, increasing number of cultural events, could entail nothing but a trompe l’oeil gentrification here. more...

Copyright of Journal of Natural Sciences, Life & Applied Sciences is the property of Arab Journal of Sciences & Research Publishing (AJSRP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

Copyright of Direito da Cidade is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) more...

This article examines Lisbon's post‐crisis transition from a once dominant process of suburban expansion enabled by abundant credit to one of ongoing gentrification of its historic centre. In my research, I draw on quantitative and qualitative data to illustrate the remarkable growth of the metropolitan area's population and dwelling stock until the global financial crisis—which affected the Portuguese economy in the course of a process of financialization that relied heavily on the housing industry—and the intensity of urban rehabilitation in subsequent years. However, there is evidence that the latter has not halted nor reduced the loss of long‐term residents in the historic centre, as tourists and other international gentrifiers occupy the upgraded dwelling stock amid an escalation of house prices and rents. The specific contribution of this research lies in the link that it establishes between Lisbon's ongoing process of inner‐city gentrification and the lack of suburban expansion after 2007. By showing that the credit crunch triggered a shift in the geographic location of real‐estate capital that materialized in a new urban development model, this research adds an empirical layer to the study of the spatial effects of the crisis and contributes to the literature on the subsequent restructuring of southern European housing markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Currently, collaborative economy is an emerging concept which is open to debate, including different meanings depending on the model to provide services, the kind of participant or the use of shared information and communication platforms. However, a distinguishing feature of the collaborative economy is the use of new technologies by the various agents concerned in order to get a common goal such as in the financial sector or in the education sector. This new approach can be transferred to already consolidated organizations, which are noted for pursuing a social interest against the interest of the capital. These organizations seek social benefit and not the economic benefit, seeking a positive social impact that can change society. It is precisely the digital component and the use of the technologies of information the aspect that distinguishes these emerging activities that are developing in recent years. Besides, they are changing purchasing behaviour and ways of doing business. These changes are having significant impacts in economic and employment terms, conflicts with traditional companies that are disadvantaged, or breaches of tax duties. But, at the same time, it also encourages many actions of collective interest, to the extent that digital platforms can be an effective tool to track achievement of the multitude of actions in favour of the community. The aim of this paper is to analyse how platform cooperativism could be a suitable way to carry out the improvement of social welfare in vulnerable districts. In order to enhance the renovation and improvement of neighbourhoods it is necessary an active participation by citizens and public administrations. In fact, a key element to obtain an increase of the quality of life is the implication of residents, who often propose the changes and renovation in their districts, with significant deficiencies of habitability and power consumption, accessibility problems and lack of services. There is a need to recover the consolidated city through urban rehabilitation and urban renovation. The urban renewal has a strong impact on Europe's economy and also on its citizens' quality of life because promote their social welfare. The Spanish urban planning tradition has been based mainly on the production of new city, disregarding the regeneration of consolidated city. Nowadays, Spanish government is concerned about an environment with derelict areas and substandard housing, and a largely obsolete housing stock. Therefore, current urban regulation encourages the urban renewal, the restructuring of building industry and the compliance with European legal requirements regarding sustainable development. In Spain, there are around 6 millions of houses that were built over 50 years ago. Therefore, it is especially necessary and suitable the option of promoting urban renewal and regeneration at different levels. Urban renewal projects are fairly complex to make because many actors are involved in these processes and as well as the activities that should be carried out. Therefore, the use of the new technologies can attract many people to actively participate in the urban regeneration projects design. These projects will improve the quality of life and welfare of citizens who live in deprived neighbourhoods. In this context, we carry out a theoretical revision of platform cooperativism, as well as the urban development regulation focused on urban rehabilitation, studying the economic players involved in the urban regeneration projects such us: owners individually or associated in community of house owners, building corporations, co-operatives, and public administration, in order to analyse the role played by each of them in the platform cooperativism. The community of house owners play a leading role in the processes of urban rehabilitation, they are principal actors because these processes have a direct effect on their lifes; not only from an economic point of view (costs that must be paid by individual citizens) and from a social point of view (improvements in the building made directly affects their quality of life). In this respect, a digital platform could be very useful in order to serve as link between all owners or all those affected by the processes and should provide information about the identified problems that need to be solved by urban rehabilitation. One of the key elements in urban renewal is the implication of the residents, who take part in the changes and improvements of their district. The cooperative initiatives produce cohesive urban neighbourhoods and they are associated with participatory planning approaches and collective action. The cooperative society contributes to social cohesion; therefore this could be the economic organization more suitable in order to develop the urban renewal. The urban rehabilitation cooperative and the use of digital technologies helps to improve the level of quality of life and social well-being for citizens under the principles of democratic participation of all residents, providing more transparency into the process and the published information, allowing members of the cooperative the supervision of the information deposited in the network. In this business model the cooperative takes control of urban rehabilitation in a digital environment, resulting in a benefit to all members involved not only for the cooperative, establishing a commitment to access to different scenarios where conflicts of interest are likely to arise. This platform focuses on creating discussion for successful decision making. The construction companies and the public administration are also an essential part of the cooperative platform. They are the services suppliers, providing valuable information that must be communicated on the platform, allowing it to make effective decisions for residents for the duration of urban regeneration-development works. The platform cooperativism in the processes of urban rehabilitation would benefit all members and not just few as in the "commercial" digital economy. Thus, the main conclusion of the paper is that the cooperative platform should facilitate public participation of the different actors involved in the urban regeneration such as: cooperatives, residents or public administration. This platform should speed up the decision-making process in a democratic and transparent environment, pursuing a common goal to improve the welfare of the citizens through the urban rehabilitation. Thus, cooperative platforms involve a technological, cultural, social and political changing that we have to explore, taking into account the physical condition of many buildings in Spain. Platform cooperativism could be the link between cooperative values and digital revolution, aimed at improving the social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

A decade has passed since Porto’s city council, through its “urban rehabilitation agency”, put forward a renewed strategy aiming at the urban “rehabilitation” of the city’s historic center. This paper presents some of the results of a field research willing to highlight the main physical and social transformations resulting from the materialization of that strategy. The paper scrutinizes some of the major changes in the social fabric of Porto’s historic center and analyzes how longtime residents interpret and deal with the implications of the rehabilitation-cumgentrification of their place of residence more...