The attempt at a more sustainable land use by increasing urban density may have a negative effect on the daylighting of residential buildings. In densely built areas, obstructions generated by the ...surrounding buildings can substantially reduce the available amount of daylight, causing poorly daylit spaces and a less healthy indoor environment with higher electricity consumption as a consequence of artificial lighting. European standard EN 17037, Daylight in Buildings, was established in 2018 to ensure appropriately daylit spaces. In this paper, a three-step methodology was developed to investigate the relationship between certain urban planning parameters and the daylighting of a typical room defined by specific (Slovenian) legislative restrictions about its geometry and minimum required window to floor area ratio, in order to establish the maximum densities of residential developments still fulfilling the minimum requirements for daylight provision defined by EN 17037. The results show that a relatively low urban density is required to fulfil the stipulations for minimum daylight provision for the deepest permissible room according to the Slovenian legislation. The impact of the development floor area ratio on the daylighting potential of buildings was identified as significant, followed by the site coverage, development layout, and building typology. Furthermore, the developed methodological approach clearly demonstrates a substantial potential for application in urban planning, with indoor daylight environmental conditions being linked to the planning of residential developments in the earliest stages of the project.
This article examines the birth of the urban development known as Colonia del Carmen, in Coyoacán, from 1890 to 1910, during the Porfirio Díaz Regime, in Mexico. To do so, the main source analyzed ...here is the Bosquejo Histórico de Coyoacán of Francisco Sosa, one of the most famous Mexican writers and historians of the time. Indeed, although this text is written by this author as an innocuous historical narrative of Coyoacán, the fact that it was specifically written to commemorate the inauguration of the Colonia by Porfirio Díaz and his wife Carmen reveals a lot of the ideological climate that was behind this type of development at the end of the nineteenth century. Contrasting Sosa’s narrative with the official archives related to the development of the Colonia shows how Sosa tried to inscribe the commercial enterprise it represented within the myth of the Pax Porfiriana.
This study is part of a comprehensive process in the City of New Bern, North Carolina aimed at drafting a subdivision regulatory framework that promotes sustainable residential developments with a ...heightened sense of community and vitality. The aim is to develop an objective assessment tool for new subdivision plans. Issues considered in this assessment include intra-and-inter-neighborhood connectivity, walkways, open spaces, the environment, and home architecture. The study highlights the transition from the traditional, open-grid street network and porch-fitted homes to modern suburbs with disconnected streets and garage-dominated homes. It draws on five planning and design criteria (accessibility, walkability, community, sustainability, and variety) to develop a performance-based rating system for development proposals. The rating system allows planners and architects to assign points and identify failings and changes required to encourage the development of well-planned residential subdivisions that complement the small-town appeal of traditional American urban centers.
The intense urbanization of the Mediterranean coast as a result of the development of residential-tourist activities since the 1960s, especially from the mid-1990s to 2008, has generated new urban ...environments associated with extensive urban typologies. These include gardens linked to houses with outdoor spaces that are shared between all of the residents of the residential developments. The aim of this study is to determine the main characteristics of these new urban green spaces and their effect on domestic water consumption in Alicante (Spain). To do this, we analysed the characteristics that define these types of gardens (surface area, density, plant species and irrigation system) and determined their water needs using the Water Use Classifications of Landscape Species method. The main conclusions are that the increase in paved areas is one of the strategies to reduce water consumption in spaces where turf grass is the most common plant species. This is due to increased water prices and lack of water resources.
Hope in Hard Times Kelly, Timothy; Power, Margaret; Cary, Michael
2016
eBook
Of the many recipients of federal support during the Great Depression, the citizens of Norvelt, Pennsylvania, stand out as model reminders of the vital importance of New Deal programs. Hoping to ...transform their desperate situation, the two hundred and fifty families of this western Pennsylvania town worked with the federal government to envision a new kind of community that would raise standards of living through a cooperative lifestyle and enhanced civic engagement. Their efforts won them a nearly mythic status among those familiar with Norvelt’s history.
Hope in Hard Times explores the many transitions faced by those who undertook this experiment. With the aid of the New Deal, these residents, who hailed from the hardworking and underserved class that Jacob Riis a generation earlier had called the “other half,” created a middle-class community that would become an exemplar of the success of such programs. Despite this, many current residents of Norvelt—the children and grandchildren of the first inhabitants—oppose government intervention and support political candidates who advocate scrutinizing and even eliminating public programs.
Authors Timothy Kelly, Margaret Power, and Michael Cary examine this still-unfolding narrative of transformation in one Pennsylvania town, and the struggles and successes of its original residents against the backdrop of one of the most ambitious federal endeavors in United States history.
This paper models trip generation for a cross-section of residential developments around the UK. Consistent with recent literature, the empirical model tests whether trip making patterns for ...residential developments are independent of car ownership and finds that trip generation is dependent upon car ownership socio-economic factors and site-specific characteristics, in particular land-zone type (e.g. town centre, out of town, etc.). However, public transport services are not found to have a significant relationship with trip generation; consequently, a policy implication of the results is that increasing bus services to residential developments is not associated with a reduction in generated trips.
The resettlement of the Negev Bedouin (Israel) has been wrought with controversy since its inception in the 1960s. Presenting evidence from a two-decade period, the author addresses how the changes ...that took place over the past sixty to seventy years have served the needs and interests of the State rather than those of Bedouin community at large. While town living fostered improvements in social and economic development, numerous unintended consequences jeopardized the success of this planning initiative. As a result, the Bedouin community endured excessive hardship and rapid change, abandoning its nomadic lifestyle and traditions in response to the economic, political, and social pressure from the State—and received very little in return.
This paper examines the possibility of Public-Private-People partnership (4P) model as a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from residential developments. The case project focuses on the energy ...system design as a part of urban planning. Based on the case experiences, the paper presents a 4P framework for low-carbon residential development systems. The theoretical model was tested in one specific case project, Nupurinkartano. The major findings were that the 4P framework is a relevant tool for decreasing carbon emissions when planning a new development; the applied solution delivered an energy system design that could reduce the CO2 emissions of the development by 75%. Based on literature this paper suggests that a new development should be viewed as one system instead of several different subsystems. The paper concludes by suggesting that 4P offers an alternative approach for urban planning, specifically energy system planning, and it can deliver significant improvements in carbon efficiency.
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