Urban Revitalisation

Although planned as the " City of Tomorrow " , the Bijlmer district in Amsterdam quickly became the quintessential symbol of urban decline. Today, even with half of the planned renewal of the Bijlmer completed, the alleged success of this urban revitalisation programme is questionable. Parts of the black middle class did not move out and some are even returning to the Bijlmer; the combination is producing a type of " black gentrification " , which forces the " undesirables " like drug users, homeless people and undocumented immigrants to leave. This revanchist renewal not only benefits the middle and lower-class population of the district, but it also serves the interests of private developers. European revanchism makes the city safe for corporate investment and aims to restore social order as well as stimulating the development of a strong middle class. This paper demonstrates how hard revanchist policies are demanded not only by private developers but also by the middle and lower classes, and they exist alongside soft " caring " policies, even for the " undesirables " . 
Keywords: revanchism, urban revitalisation, gentrification, Amsterdam, black middle class, homeless people, modernist urban planning, undesirables, drug use, public space, high-rise flats

Cette recherche s’interroge sur la logique inhérente aux dispositifs de revitalisation urbaine et en examine l’impact au regard des stratégies d’appropriation du territoire déployées par les minorités issues de l'immigration. Dans ce contexte de déploiement de politiques visant la régénération physique des quartiers en déclin, nous avons examiné la manière dont se déploient les pratiques de quête de mobilité sociale (à travers les pratiques économiques informelles) des minorités.

Les impacts sociaux ont été observés et analysé auprès des populations issues de l’immigration.

This paper focuses on the social dimension of urban (spatial) planning, exploring options for urban regeneration of a region with a focus on cultural interventions and the ensuring social cohesion, taking as case study Piraeus the city with the largest port in the country. After a brief reference to the interventions planned at the crossroads between city and harbor, this study highlights the institutional and official 'discourses' expressed with respect to the remodeling of the identity of the city through urban planning and its social construction. Particular emphasis is given to social and cultural interventions pursued by redevelopment based on the establishment, development and promotion of cultural uses, activities and resources. Through the juxtaposition of different data and analysis of expected effects, our research draws attention to some risks that may jeopardize the guarantee of social cohesion and social interaction.

Rad donosi sociološki i kulturnoantropološki pogled na ključne aktere, prijepore i vizije revitalizacije povijesne jezgre Dubrovnika, počevši od potresa 1979. godine pa sve do danas, istražujući njene društveno-ekonomske okvire, prijepore, potencijale, ključne aktere i vizije. Navedeno razdoblje bremenito je posljedicama nedovoljnog upravljanja urbanim i turističkim razvojem povijesne jezgre, ali i cijelog Dubrovnika te različitim odnosima moći političkih, ekonomskih, stručnih i civilnih aktera te njihovim sukobima. Posljedice su vidljive u demografskoj i funkcionalnoj degradaciji povijesne jezgre u turistički distrikt sa samo 1557 stanovnika. Međutim, postoje i potencijali revitalizacije povijesne jezgre uočeni u djelovanju civilni i stručnih aktera, a koji idu u smjeru razvijanja participativnog upravljanja povijesnom jezgrom s ciljem njenog održivog razvoja, ali i ukupnog održivog razvoja grada Dubrovnika. Iako je ovaj rad tek naznačavanje navedenih fenomena urbanog prostora, pokazuje potencijal doprinosa sociološkog i antropološkog holističkog pogleda izradi zaokruženih smjernica te planova revitalizacije nekog područja, u ovom slučaju povijesne jezgre, ali i cijelog grada Dubrovnika.
Ključne riječi: Dubrovnik, revitalizacija, urbani razvoj, održivost, građanska participacija, sudioničko upravljanje.

Revitalisation of the Old Town of Dubrovnik: main actors and dilemmas
Using a sociological and cultural anthropological approach, paper is dealing with the analysis of the main actors, power relations, dilemmas, and potential of the revitalisation process of the Old Town of Dubrovnik, beginning from the earthquake in 1979. until today. The aforementioned period is burdened with the consequences of the insufficient urban and tourism planning whose negative consequences can be seen in the demographical and functional degradation of the Old Town. However, potential for its revitalisation has been found in the activities and efforts of the civil actors and experts, which are heading in the direction of developing and maintaining the imperative of participative governance of the Old Town in order to achieve a sustainable development of not only the Old Town, but Dubrovnik itself. Even though this paper aims only to provide a short summary of the aforementioned urban phenomena, it shows the potential of the sociological and anthropological holistic approach to the urban renewal which can be of a great help in making more rounded guidelines and plans for the revitalisation of a certain area, in this case the Old Town of Dubrovnik.
Keywords: Dubrovnik, revitalisation, sustainability, urban development, citizen participation, participatory governance

The nineteenth and early twentieth-century architectural heritage of North African cities embodies an important cultural exchange between the southern and northern Mediterranean. This heritage commonly lies adjacent to the old medinas, and has often been neglected in the drive to revitalize the historic centers of cities in this region. The Ville Nouvelle of Tunis, which was built when Tunisia was a French Protectorate, reflected a move from the urban patterns of the old medina to a grid plan that changed the character of the city. The urban revitalization plan, devised and spearheaded by the Association de Sauvegarde de la Médina de Tunis (ASM), has restructured the public spaces of the area around Avenue Bourguiba and Avenue de France and made them chiefly pedestrian. It has also listed and restored key monuments, such as the Théâtre municipal de Tunis, Marché central, Ancien Tribunal administratif and Cinéma Palace, which are once again in use. The ASM continues to actively guide institutions and individuals in the public and private sectors who wish to undertake preservation projects, in order to ensure overall quality and meet the objectives of the many stakeholders.

El presente es un estudio comparativo de dos barrios patrimoniales con alto valor inmobiliario, aledaños a
las áreas centrales en dos ciudades intermedias de Argentina. Ambos cuentan con construcciones de
grandes dimensiones vacantes de uso donde los actores individuales y el Estado determinaron escenarios
diferentes. En Córdoba, Maipú continúa con la antigua normativa de zonas suburbanas, lo que provoca
intervenciones informales de densificación de media densidad. En Rosario, Pichincha induce procesos de
rehabilitación, completamiento y renovación edilicia a través de un plan especial.
En primer lugar, se describe el desarrollo histórico de cada barrio, haciendo énfasis en las similitudes y
diferencias encontradas (patrimonio construido, conexiones con la ciudad, rol funcional). Luego, se exponen
las normativas vigentes en relación a las políticas de protección del patrimonio y renovación urbana.
Posteriormente se enuncia las características del mercado residencial. Por último, analiza los procesos
urbanos producto de las condiciones socio-económicas y normativas planteadas.

This is a comparative study of two heritage neighborhoods with high market values, adjacent to the central
areas in two intermediate Argentinean cities. Both have large vacant buildings, where individual actors and
land use regulations have determined different scenarios. In Córdoba, Maipú keeps the suburbia model,
which causes informal micro interventions in order to increase its density. In Rosario, Pichincha induces
building rehabilitation, completion and renovation processes through a special development plan.
At first, the historical development of each section is described, emphasizing the similarities and differences
found (built heritage, connections to the city, functional role). Afterwards, the current land use regulations
(regarding protection policies of heritage and urban renewal) are exposed. Subsequently, features are
described in the residential market. Finally, urban processes product both of the socio economic conditions
and land use regulations are analyced.

O tema dos “clandestinos”, entretanto legalizados ou permanecendo ainda hoje marginais, sofreu em Portugal um longo período de desinteresse por parte de técnicos e investigadores, mesmo quando algumas mudanças significativas iam ocorrendo, podendo proporcionar avanços interessantes para o seu conhecimento e qualificação.
Nem mesmo a produção legislativa que enquadrava os esforços de legalização desenvolvidos pelas autarquias, associações de moradores e mesmo pelos co-proprietários individualmente (quando pretendiam transaccionar os lotes e valorizá-los previamente através de uma oportuna legalização) ou, ainda, a disponibilização de um largo manancial de elementos estatísticos ao longo das últimas décadas, foram capazes de lhe conferir centralidade na agenda política, social ou académica.
Este fenómeno nasceu em na segunda metade do século passado, resultado de um imbricado conjunto de circunstâncias sociais, políticas, legais e económico-financeiras e que, ainda hoje, não se encontra totalmente resolvido, apesar dos esforços encetados por todas as partes envolvidas. A consciencialização da dimensão do problema e dos seus impactes na gestão e planeamento do território, culminou no surgimento de um diploma excepcional, que viria a parametrizar os processos de reconversão urbanística destas áreas.
Este artigo, para além de uma delimitação prévia da realidade hoje existente e da necessária contextualização histórica, sintetiza a dimensão da problemática deste fenómeno na Área Metropolitana de Lisboa. A informação sobre a socio-demografia e sobre os processos de reconversão utilizados permitiram a definição tipológica dos modelos de reconversão urbanística destas áreas, com base em análises de homogeneidade entre as actuações e os perfis socio-demográficos característicos de cada AUGI.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Loteamentos ilegais; Bairros clandestinos; Reconversão Urbana; Perfis socio-demográficos.

One of the most popular subdisciplines of contemporary urban communication studies is mediated urbanism studies that examines media impact on urban space and its inhabitants. Thorough analysis of multiple works in this field revealed three paradigms of mediated urbanism studies: previrtuality (1950s – 1970s), virtuality (1990s – early 2000s), and postvirtuality (since mid-2000s). Key normative model of the postvirtual paradigm of mediated urbanism studies is City 3.0, where physical space and electronic space complement each other by combining new media technologies with traditional forms of non-mediated communication. In modern Russia this model manifests itself in third places (anticafes, coworkings, revitalized parks and libraries) and new urban communication practices (pop-up cafes, verbal book reviews exchange, escape rooms, etc.). For the present, these manifestations do not dominate in Russian urban culture – they rather create numerous spatiotemporal enclaves like Omsk City Picnic. 

Одно из самых популярных направлений современных городских коммуникативных исследований – медиаурбанистика, изучающая влияние медиатехнологий на городскую среду и интеракцию ее обитателей. Анализ многочисленных источников позволяет выделить три парадигмы развития медиаурбанистики: предвиртуальность (1950–1970-е гг.), виртуальность (1990-е – начало 2000-х гг.) и поствиртуальность (со второй половины 2000-х гг.). Нормативной моделью поствиртуальной медиаурбанистики является «город 3.0», где физическая и электронная среда дополняют друг друга, а новые медиатехнологии гармонично сочетаются с традиционными формами межличностной коммуникации. В современной России эта модель воплощается в таких процессах, как развитие третьих мест (антикафе, коворкинги, ревитализованные парки и библиотеки) и появление новых городских коммуникативных практик (фудмаркеты, обмен пересказами, офлайн-квесты и др.). Эти проявления поствиртуальности пока не доминируют в российской городской культуре, а образуют многочисленные локальные пространственно-временные анклавы, характерным примером которых является омский проект «Городской пикник».

In the last thirty years, a vast literature has been compiled on the legacy of socialist architectural heritage and its evaluation after the fall of the regimes. The researchers of post-socialist urban transformation often select for their analysis clear cases like a whole town built or re-built under socialism, or focus on full-scale cultural and administration districts created on the site of earlier ones or placed near to the old, historic core as an alternative, representing a new era.1 Such examples of new socialist cities or new city centres have been described and analysed in the case of Hungary as well.2 However, Budapest, the Hungarian capitol, was spared radical interventions, at least in its city centre. Right after the war, the participants of an architectural competition intended, in the spirit of a new beginning, to remove all the buildings left standing after bombardment along the banks of the Danube and replace them with free-standing modern blocks. This plan was never realised, because of the lack of money.3 The few new buildings erected in the inner city between 1945 and 1960 – functioning mainly as offices – were built on infill plots, meaning that they were usually not visually striking but were surely expensive.4 A deliberate and programmatic development of the inner city started only after 1960 when the master plan of Budapest was finally accepted, in parallel with the political consolidation following the failed 1956 revolution.

In the initial part of the article the author covers the problem of reasons underlying towns’ degradation. In the following parts he refers briefly to revitalization processes and concentrates his considerations on these which are carried out within the framework of programmes created and implemented by town authorities. From this point on further discussion is devoted to problems of effects measurement which, owing to these programmes, are accomplished. To start with, there are presented mistakes made most frequently in this field, followed by explanations how to construct the correct system of revitalization effects measurement. The process of the above system construction is discussed in detail and divided into stages such as: correct definition of operational objectives of the due revitalization programme, describing the effect indicators, opinions and activities, as well as listing the requirements for descriptive analyses. The overall content is supported by numerous examples which make up the significant part of the study. The article is concluded by information on the application of the discussed system, referring to the organization of revitalization effects measurement, obtaining numerical data, public opinion survey, preparing periodical assessments, correcting revitalization project and presenting the final evaluation as well as recommendations.

This is the manuscript version of chapter two of the book:

http://policypress.co.uk/exploring-the-production-of-urban-space

Chatper Summary
How did an isolated, tough, masculine, nondescript logging camp
with one rough and ready pub become transformed into an iconic
world city? How did the neighbourhood ‘written off in the early
1960s as a slum’ that should be ‘cleared to make room for a highway’,
become one filled with ‘high-end restaurants, condominiums, offices,
modern furniture’ and men’s clothing stores so ‘hiply minimal that it
makes a person’s teeth hurt’ (Bula 2011). A couple of chapters in this
type of book cannot provide definitive answers to all these questions.
The more modest objectives are to explore the recent histories of the
production of urban space and ramifications for city transformation in
that most iconic of Vancouver neighbourhoods, Gastown.

We present on above-given example of Hel’s town the programme of certain undertakings, that particularly contain:
1. enlarging the port, taking into consideration the external preconditions and providing it, as a part of creating a new image for the costal zone, with new significance,
2. preparing a project of coastal zone as a recreational water-land track, using among others the values of Hel’s historical buildings from the former fishing settlement (protection of the cultural heritage),
3. creating tourism facilities by modernizing existing buildings and erecting new ones, in accordance with the principles of sustainable development,
4. reactivating the project of creating the Hel Health Resort, which was abandoned before a military fortified region was created here,
5. an analysis of the possibility of reactivating town-forming factors in the forms of the hitherto processing industry as an element of the town’s economic activation, is a reflection of the National Regional Development Strategy, adopted by the Local Authority of the Pomeranian Region - the supreme self-government authority in the region – where the main goals and tasks of urban centers of the Baltic Region, threatened by marginalization, include: (“The Strategy for developing the Pomerania Region – Pomerania Regional Studies, Marshall’s Office of the Pomerania Region. Gdańsk 2000)
6. development and modernization of  the environmental protection infrastructure,
7. raising the attractiveness of investments in region,
8. development of the tourism sector,
9. mobilization of the entrepreneurial potential in the regions,
10. economic activation  of towns where industry has collapsed,
11. development of trans-border co-operation,
12. forming personal and institutional resources enabling Polish regions to effectively co-operate internationally on the basis of partnership.

Urbani obroč okoli historičnega jedra Ljubljane sestavljajo večinoma soseske in gradnje iz obdobja po drugi svetovni vojni. Mestne četrti znotraj avtocestnega sistema so bile še do leta 1935 (nastanek Velike Ljubljane) samostojne vaške občine in so pravzaprav kazale ne prav mestno podobo , saj ponekod še danes »občudujemo « kmetije , kozolce in druge ruralne artefakte tamkajšnjih prebivalcev.

This is a comparative study of two heritage neighborhoods with high market values, adjacent to the central areas in two intermediate Argentinean cities. Both have large vacant buildings, where individual actors and land use regulations have determined different scenarios. In Cordoba, Maipu keeps the suburbia model, which causes informal micro interventions in order to increase its density. In Rosario, Pichincha induces building rehabilitation, completion and renovation processes through a special development plan. At first, the historical development of each section is described, emphasizing the similarities and differences found (built heritage, connections to the city, functional role). Afterwards, the current land use regulations (regarding protection policies of heritage and urban renewal) are exposed. Subsequently, features are described in the residential market. Finally, urban processes product both of the socio economic conditions and land use regulations are analyzed.

Town centre management (TCM) has evolved considerably over the last 25 years in terms of both its purpose and methods. Whilst most reviews of TCM to date have focused on its development within the Anglo-Saxon world (typically North America and the United Kingdom), comparatively little attention has been given to other models of place and town centre management that have emerged across Europe. This paper seeks to redress the balance by exploring the relevance of other models from a number of European countries, which were researched using a case study approach and conceptualised within a framework which seeks to classify TCM schemes by their funding sources and structural formality. It is argued that, despite their lower budgets or lack of formal recognition, other models of TCM such as informal place management schemes or hybrids of formal and informal TCM schemes can often be just as effective in delivering positive outcomes for urban communities.

Compared to industrially well-developed western European countries, which after the Second World War experienced intense growth of urban population, Slovenian urban system marked a distinctive form of polycentric development supported by specific political decisions. The diminishment of agricultural activities i.e. deagrarisation, was not followed by intense migration to urban areas and could be better described as moderate growth of urban population. After the change of political system in 1991 and introduction of free-market conditions, the socio-economic restrictions that directed urban development suddenly disappeared. The processes of urbanisation intensified and supported the fast economic development of Slovenia. The fast upgrade of the highway network triggered intensive automobilisation processes that fuelled urban sprawl and influenced various groups of people and economic activities to move from the previous locations in the city centres. Consequences of these processes are seen in the start of gentrification process, expansion of suburban consumption spaces and change in the role of city centres.

Town centre management (TCM) has evolved considerably over the last 25 years in terms of both its purpose and methods. Whilst most reviews of TCM to date have focused on its development within the Anglo-Saxon world (typically North America and the United Kingdom), comparatively little attention has been given to other models of place and town centre management that have emerged across Europe. This paper seeks to redress the balance by exploring the relevance of other models from a number of European countries, which were researched using a case study approach and conceptualised within a framework which seeks to classify TCM schemes by their funding sources and structural formality. It is argued that, despite their lower budgets or lack of formal recognition, other models of TCM such as informal place management schemes or hybrids of formal and informal TCM schemes can often be just as effective in delivering positive outcomes for urban communities.