Green urbanism (Architecture)

Cities need to become independent from finite resources, among which fossil fuels. There is great potential to save energy is many cities, however the generation of power is insufficient due to the limited space as a result of urban densities. An energy source less commonly explored is reuse of waste heat from various urban functions. In that matter, central heat grids, powered by industrial waste heat at high temperatures, are well-known, but the lower-caloric heat from buildings as offices, supermarkets, swimming pools and also dwellings is abundant and seldom utilised. This has a two-sided negative effect: energy is lost and the city is heated up, which in summer can aggravate the urban heat island effect, which statistically leads to higher mortality rates. The Rotterdam Energy Approach & Planning (REAP) was developed to support energy-neutral urban planning in a structured, incremental way. The approach was used in several studies and has received worldwide acclaim. Especially the second step of the REAP method, regarding tuning, exchanging, cascading of energy at various scales, is relatively new, offering new opportunities for cities. Nevertheless, REAP needed to be elaborated further, for practical application in actual urban redevelopment. This was done for the transformation of the Rotterdam city harbours, in a study called REAP2. The research project, culminated in the proposition of five principles for a heat system in the urban district, including the introduction of novel techniques for the exchange of different temperature levels of heat and involving the spatial plan based on the energy system chosen. The paper will discuss REAP, the REAP2 research project, the methodology involved, proposition of energy system principles, novel concepts for heat exchange, and spatial consequences.

In response to rapidly changing urban conditions and planning systems that cannot reconcile speculative development with social needs, other types of urban allotments are emerging which differ from the conventional forms of the past. A number of case
studies from 11 European countries form the evidence base for the identification of new approaches to the design and implementation of allotment gardens which substantially differ from the conventional type on green land.

AUTORZY OPRACOWANIA: Andrzej Greinert (red.), r. 1, 2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1-4.3; Monika Edyta Drozdek (red.), r. 1, 2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1-4.3; Anna Bazan-Krzywoszańska, r. 5; Michał Ćwiąkała, r. 4.10; Krzysztof Lisowski, r. 3.3; Teresa Nowak, r. 1.3.8.3; Dominik Osyczka, r. 3.1; Marta Skiba, r. 5; Dorota Szaban, r. 3.3; Agnieszka Tokarska-Osyczka, r. 4.4-4.9; Załączniki – karty ewidencyjne – Andrzej Greinert, Monika Edyta Drozdek, Anna Bazan-Krzywoszańska, Agnieszka Kochańska, Marta Skiba

To address the call for developing passive climate resilience strategies, the project examines the influence and effectiveness of utilising vertical greening for reducing space-conditioning loads of urban buildings and surrounding microclimates. By examining this focus, the project aims to improve the design of urban built environments that would in turn lead to health and wellbeing enhancements of their growing populations. The purpose of this paper is to present preliminary findings from a monitoring campaign carried out at an indoor atrium case study in Cambridge, UK. Key parameters monitored included soil, surface, and air temperature; relative humidity; and surface air movement. Results obtained show relatively lower air temperature and higher relative humidity levels proximate to the living wall. Wintertime monitoring has also indicated a surface flow pattern that demonstrates the presence of a modest downdraught effect. Although these modifications are modest in magnitude, they could still offer significant localised thermal comfort benefit to building occupants, as well as potential for contributing to a reduced space-conditioning load.

Hızlı kentleşmenin, sanayileşmenin yıkıcılığına karşı, doğayla uyumlu alternatif yaşam modelleri arayışı eko-köy kavramını ortaya çıkarmıştır. Ekolojik köy, insan eylemlerinin doğaya zarar vermeden sağlıklı bir ortam yaratarak sürekli kılındığı insan ölçekli bir topluluktur. Esasında doğadan ve kırsaldan kentlere akın başladıkça unuttuğumuz veya küçümsediğimiz köy hayatının benzerinin, belki biraz daha organize biçimde yaratıldığı yaşam alanlarıdır. Dolayısıyla bu projede hedeflenen temel amaç, insan eylemleri ile doğanın sürdürülebilir bir şekilde bir arada olmasıdır. Bu nedenle eko-köy kavramı içerisine, bir alt kavram olarak "simbiyosis" de çalışmaya dâhil edilerek hedeflenen bu birlikte yaşamın organizasyonu yapılmıştır. Simbiyoz kavramı “birlikte yaşam” anlamına gelen biyolojik bir terimdir. Simbiyotik ilişkiler, iki taraf için de yararlı ya da bir taraf için yararlı diğer taraf için nötr olan ilişki türlerini temsil eder. Yapılan projede simbiyoz kavramı, oluşturulacak eko-köyün mekân organizasyonu için baz alınmış, simbiyotik kurallar ve ilişkiler, mekân - insan - doğa üçgeninde doğacak her mekânsal ihtiyacın düzenlenmesinde rehber kabul edilmiştir.

At the core of this study lies the recognition that the current human civilization is facing a multitude of concurrent environmental challenges converging from many directions. Deteriorating condition of the Earth's rehabilitative processes and regenerative systems gives out subtle warning signals that these environmental challenges have the real potential of culminating in a total environmental catastrophe, which may conceivably produce widespread devastation unlike any other in human history. This study aims to identify major environmental design principles and strategies to overcome these challenges, and to assist the civilization reestablish the naturally regenerative harmony and the rehabilitative balances of Nature. The results of literature review and resource analyses behind this study suggest that most pressing environmental design challenges can be clustered within a few major categories including environmental degradation, resource depletion, global climate change, and population growth.

As the majority of current environmental challenges appear to originate from planning, design, and operations of urban environments, this study identifies a series of Core Principles from mainstream urban design practices such as Smart Growth, New Urbanism, Resilient Cities, Eco-Villages, Regenerative Design, Living Buildings, as well as Green Urbanism. To complement the core principles, a series of Supporting Strategies are derived from such practices as Urban Redevelopment and Infill, LEED-Neighborhood Development, Transit-Oriented Development, Growth Management, Natural Capitalism, Renewable Sources of Energy and Materials, Urban Agriculture, Hannover Principles, as well as Next Industrial Revolution. Based on this foundation the author synthesizes a new, integrated, comprehensive design agenda aiming at the restoration of natural environment, which is coined here as Restorative Design or Restorative Urban Design. The restorative approach not only realigns a wide variety of fragmented design principles and strategies of designing inherently resilient and sustainable environments but also repurposes their ultimate goals toward the restoration of pristine Nature.

Relying exclusively on multifaceted, multi-disciplinary, long-term, and comprehensive environmental planning principles and strategies, the Restorative agenda sets out to propagate appreciation and respect for Nature in order to prevent the destruction of planetary life and to reestablish human harmony within natural systems. It strongly advocates not only the management of population growth and urban sprawl but also the expansion of open natural areas and natural ecosystems. The Restorative theory encourages phasing out of nonrenewable practices and promotes reliance on current solar income and other renewable sources of energy, placing greater emphasis on increased urban densities, quality of life, as well as equality within economic and social structures. It also seeks new legal instruments, land ownership, mass transportation, as well as agricultural patterns toward transformation of existing urban fabric. Finally, the study concludes that only through such a realignment and heightened purpose can environmental planning and design efforts effectively restore and sustain the richness, diversity, health, and beauty of the natural world. The worldwide application of the outlined restorative principles and strategies can help the recovery, revitalization, and restoration of pristine natural systems to the fullest extent possible.

Maintaining well-functioning natural environments under increasing human population and consumption is a critical urban design consideration as we seek to reconcile anthropogenic activities and the functions of natural systems. According to many scholars/thinkers, substantial transformations of urban environments are not only possible but also imperative if humans – and countless other species – are to enjoy life on Earth beyond this century. The multi-dimensional impacts of urban design require well-coordinated assessment and mitigation and the restoration of resilient, life-supporting natural systems. Urban design focused on environmental restoration (Restorative Urban Design) can rehabilitate the ecological cycles and balances that would otherwise remain disturbed beyond recovery.

Green infrastructure enhancements are widely supported to address urban heat-related risks. The challenge of implementing enhancements in dense cities has necessitated the development of surface greening, with vertical living walls having gained increased prominence in recent years. This paper considered the performance of such in-situ applications to quantify the extents of their influence on the microclimates of two sheltered urban conditions. The results highlight the potency of hygrothermal modifications to be most apparent within the proximate zone, with other phenomena introducing mixing to disrupt influence distribution. Air movement data at the indoor study also highlights a dominant daytime downward flow that encourages the formation of a microscale centripetal thermal system. This flow lacks potency to cause discomfort, although has capacity to present thermal sensation and diversity to occupants. The findings therefore highlight the necessity for installation designers to take account of proximity influence, and in future designs increase building occupant access to their canopies.

In response to the need to mitigate urban heat risks, green infrastructure enhancements have been widely advocated in recent times. To meet the challenges of implementing enhancements in dense cities, surface greening approaches such as vertical living walls have gained increased prominence. This paper reports on the principal challenges and drivers influencing the sustainable maintenance of such installations, identified through the inspection of ten European case studies and interviews with their management authorities. The study reports on key maintenance areas highlighted by installation managers as requiring attention. Furthermore, it reports on human engagement behavioural aspects as being a significant motivator, with installation managers assigning value to building occupant and public perception of an installation’s flourishing state. The evidence reported therefore is beneficial to key decisionmakers and designers when considering the inclusion and sustainable maintenance of such greening installations.

It has long been documented that cities have their own climate and are typically warmer than the surrounding countryside. This phenomenon described as the urban heat island (UHI) effect, results from the inadvertent modification of urban surface properties that lead to the greater absorption of solar radiation, reduced cooling from slower wind speeds, and lower evaporation rates. Cities contain fewer green and blue spaces than rural areas, with the existing under constant threat from increasing population densities. The reduced evaporation rates resulting from the loss of such urban features is considered a significant contributor toward increasing the magnitude of heat islands. This paper seeks to identify the fundamental principles of how green and blue space affect canopy layer and boundary layer temperatures in the mitigation of urban heat risks. To address this, the paper presents a review of current understanding from city planning, urban climatology, and heat island and climate change studies. The findings highlight recent research that suggests the cooling influence of both features to be mainly relevant for canopy layer conditions, with green space offering greater heat stress relief when it is most needed. Any contribution to the cooling of the boundary layer climate is attributed mainly to green space increasing surface roughness that improves convection efficiency rather than evaporation, while little evidence exists for blue space that support significant boundary layer influence. This in turn has significant bearing on how these features should be used in future urban growth strategies that aim to mitigate adverse heat island influences and enhance climate change resilience.

The paper investigates a theme that, in the first half of the twentieth century, was the subject of an important debate: the relationship between the urban green system and the monuments. An interest, probably, derived from the nineteenth-century English tradition; in fact, major figures of the Italian cultural scene, involved in the study of vegetation and gardens (Giacomo Boni, Maria Pasolini Ponti), established close relations with Anglo-Saxon exponents (W. Morris, Ph. Webb, W. D. Caröe). Rome, since the Italian unification, faced the question regarding the relationship between ruins and plants. This approach plays an important role related the urbanization of the city such as the cases regarding the arrangement of Roman Forum and Palatine hill, and the related debate on the Flora of the ruins. The research analyzes personalities including Giacomo Boni, and his collaboration with John Ruskin.

Zero waste concepts pursue people to do active process in the waste management by applying the principle of 3R: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. It supports the objective of sustainable design to meet social and economic needs through architecture while minimizing the impacts to the environment. This is the chance of architects and urban planners to take part for helping urban areas to gain better quality of life.

“Pantai Baru Pandansimo” in Bantul Yogyakarta is a developing marine tourist area. It has a beautiful landscape of touristic area because of the Casuarina plantation which brings comfort microclimate. It is attracting people to come and enjoy this beach. In this development phase, waste generation are shown. To solve the problems, the villagers found a community development group to organize themselves in managing the beach,  Gadjah Mada University proposed green urban design for the new master plan, and Bantul Regency fully supports the implementation of research results in their annual programs. Although the implementation of the master plan has not completed yet, the public engagement is intensively attached in this process