New Towns

Irvine is the largest North American new town. It is also the quintessential Urban Design inspired new town (Forsyth, 2006); its planning and design were shaped by the latest Urban Design principles adapted to low-density, single-family environments . Perhaps the most unique aspect of Irvine's design of Irvine is the deliberate use of Urban Design as a marketing tool. Imageability was not only valued in aesthetic terms, but became a way to differentiate between different marketing "products," a term that included the homes as well as the identity that would derive from living in them. Three decades after its founding the city is still developing according to these Urban Design principles.

In 1943 Patrick Abercrombie (1879-1957) presented the Country of London Plan. He designed this plan in collaboration with H.J. Forshaw, who was working at the time as an architect for the London County Council, the administrative body responsible for commissioning the plan. The following year Abercrombie presented the Greater London Plan, a plan for the London region commissioned by the Ministry of Town and Country Planning. The Greater London Plan, as well as the County of London Plan, attempted to offer solutions to London’s rampant growth, incoherent architectonic development, increasing traffic congestion, inferior housing conditions, inadequate and poor distribution of public open space, and entangled housing and employments functions. Both plans have been called the most significant contributions to the practice of urban planning in Great Britain.

The Dutch version of this chapter can be downloaded via www.PKMvR.nl.

This paper explores how local culture may curb the homogenizing forces of globalization in the diffusion of planning ideas. Given that the built environment is constructed both physically and culturally, this paper draws a comparative case study of territorial planning and the creation of new towns in Israel and Brazil in the mid-twentieth century. The private colonization scheme in northern Paraná state, in Brazil, and the Physical Planning in Israel were both based on widely influential ideas collected in the Greater London Plan 1944. Although the resulting regional strategies were similar, their urban forms differed largely due to their unique modes of being-in-the-world. While the Israeli new towns acclimatized the physical aspects of garden cities for ideological reasons, the Brazilian new cities stuck to a more practical gridiron layout. As a conclusion, this study illustrates how culturally sensitive projects gave local form to ideas and models that had been diffused through global interconnectivity.

Gated communities are considered to be the most reflective mirror of neoliberal approaches. Within the Egyptian context, they have attracted a large sector of the elite residents in order to subsume a considerable percentage of the population from the urban centre in order to give way, according to the elite authoritarian bodies, for economic growth and stability. On another level, several scholars and authors have been questioning degree of success to which such privatized territories have contributed to the nation, not just in relation to urban features but also on the political, economic and social levels. This paper takes a closer look at gated communities in Egypt from a bird-eye view, the reasons behind their emergence and how they are managed within the national context in order to pursue neoliberal policies. It also examines the long-lasting relationship that has been established between the public and the private sectors since the 1980s and 1990s which has set a foot within capital zones to implement elite visions, and most importantly introduces the concept of the " commons " as a democratic trend that rather questions the level of inclusion of several stakeholders in the decision making processes, including local residents, household organizations, market policy makers, private developers and local government. As Sutton & Fahmi argue " Exclusive suburbs have contributed as private dynamism have replaced public planning " (2001, p. 135).

Cities and suburbs are on the brink of a new era. Decades-long suburbanisation of the affluent and the socially mobile has almost ceased as we knew it. In its place there is now city gentrification and suburban diversification, upsetting linear understandings of mobilities on the metropolitan level. In his dissertation Yannis Tzaninis addresses the puzzle of contemporary production of (sub)urban space by investigating the former suburban new town Almere, a space and place caught in a vortex of global change. Through the analysis of municipal statistics, and by conducting a survey and interviews with current and former residents of Almere, he analyses people’s mobilities, experiences and aspirations. He finds that placemaking processes are fluid and adapt to wider social changes, while households are pushed and pulled depending on material resources, aspirations and city branding. In conclusion he uncovers the character and future of suburbia, advancing our understanding of urban growth, placemaking and mobility.

A journey to the universe of New Towns, this is the invitation the present doctoral thesis comes to offer to its readers in order to stroll, from the author’s particular view, through the context, the concepts and the aspects related to this urbanistic type, still underexplored in the specialized Brazilian literature.
A journey made of national and international examples, from Ancient History to the 20th Century, unveiling their entrepreneurs, their dominating roles, their strategic locations, their professionals and their projects. Elements sought and gathered throughout time, planned and designed, yielding, as a result, a diversity of models, the essence of which is the same: to be a New Town.
A journey bearing no chronological order or geographical delimitations, in which the New Towns are exposed so they provide the reader with an easier and swifter understanding of the approached theme. Likewise, the references obtained from patrimonies in Brazil, France and Italy, permeated by research performed in specialized electronic sites, serve as a base and offer support to the constructed concepts. 
An open journey, from a personal gaze and definition, of what I wish to transform in a safe harbor for future endeavors as both a researcher and a scholar of the theme New Towns.

This paper discusses some adaptations of the garden-city concept in Brazil, and reveals how a foreign physical model was conveniently matched to specific civic purposes. The layout of three planned new towns-Águas de São Pedro, Maringá, and Goiânia-and two garden suburbs (Jardim América and Jardim Shangri-lá) are analyzed along with their planners' discourses and their representations in the contemporary local press. The analysis reveals that the garden-city concept was used as a path to modernity, a civilizing instrument, and a tool for real-estate venture by involving processes of representation and institutionalization different to those at their point of origin.

Монография посвящена изучению особого типа городских поселений — посадов. Основной объект исследования — подмосковный Сергиевский посад — поселение, сформировавшееся около прославленного Троице-Сергиева монастыря и ставшее посадом в 1782 г. На его примере прослежены изменения, происходившие в новоучрежденных городах и посадах, выявлены специфические городские формы жизни. Сделанные наблюдения и выводы дополняют существующие представления о типологии городских поселений XVIII в. Сергиевский посад показан как живой функционирующий организм со всеми присущими ему особенностями. Его специфика заключается в универсальном влиянии крупнейшего в стране монастыря буквально на все стороны жизни поселения — структуру населения, состав органов управления, особую ориентированность торговли и, конечно же, доминирующее положение архитектурного ансамбля Лавры во внешнем облике посада.
Книга рассчитана на специалистов и всех интересующихся историей России.

Firenze University Press 2018 CENTRO DI STUDI SULLA CIVILTÀ DEL TARDO MEDIOEVO SAN MINIATO Collana di Studi e Ricerche 15 I CENTRI MINORI ITALIANI NEL TARDO MEDIOEVO Cambiamento sociale, crescita economica, processi di ristrutturazione (secoli XIII-XVI) Atti del XV Convegno di studi organizzato dal Centro di studi sulla civiltà del tardo medioevo San Miniato 22-24 settembre 2016 a cura di FEDERICO LATTANZIO GIAN MARIA VARANINI I centri minori italiani nel tardo medioevo : cambiamento sociale, crescita economica, processi di ristrutturazione (secoli XIII-XVI) : San Miniato 22-24 settembre 2018 / a cura di Federico Lattanzio, Gian Maria Varanini. -Firenze : Firenze University Press, 2018. (Collana di Studi e Ricerche ; 15) http://digital.casalini.it/9788864537481 ISBN 978-88-6453-747-4 (print) ISBN 978-88-6453-748-1 (online PDF) ISBN 978-88-6453-749-8 (online EPUB) Progetto grafi co di Pagina Maestra snc Certifi cazione scientifi ca delle Opere Tutti i volumi pubblicati sono soggetti ad un processo di referaggio esterno di cui sono responsabili il Consiglio editoriale della FUP e i Consigli scientifi ci delle singole collane. Le opere pubblicate nel catalogo della FUP sono valutate e approvate dal Consiglio editoriale della casa editrice. Per una descrizione più analitica del processo di referaggio si rimanda ai documenti uffi ciali pubblicati sul catalogo on-line della casa editrice (www.fupress.com). La presente opera è rilasciata nei termini della licenza Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0: (a cura di), I centri minori italiani nel tardo medioevo. Cambiamento sociale, crescita economica, processi di ristrutturazione (secoli XIII-XVI). San Miniato 22-24 settembre 2018, ISBN 978-88-6453-747-4 (print) ISBN 978-88-6453-748-1 (online PDF) ISBN 978-88-6453-749-8 (online EPUB) CC BY 4.0, 2018 Firenze University Press

PhD thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy, May 1983. under the supervision of Mr. E. W. Chandler.

ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to analyse the nature of educational facilities planning processes in new towns; how these processes are influenced by the framework of procedures at central and local government, Development Corporation and church authority levels; to
contribute to the understanding of the effects of overall new town development upon the planning and provision of educational facilities and to suggest alternative measures to deal with and avoid the problem situations that were observed in this study.

After more than a hundred years of over-controlled master planning approaches dominance, urban specialists agreed that it failed. Even the most generous team can not predict all complexities and externalities of city developments. There are more and more theoretical and practical works, which insist that our cities should develop organically. Even though, the experience of the previous century should also be taking into account. That is why contemporary projects are trying to combine both top-down and bottom-up development.
This work focus on the development of urban expansion areas, which are traditionally totally influenced by the architect’s visions (the informal urban expansion is not taken into consideration in this thought). In the light of Organic Urbanism movements, these areas tend to give more opportunities and responsibilities to the future residents. With this in mind, the current study looks at residential Community Building as an essential parallel process with the actual spatial area development. Moreover, for many western countries these responsibilities deviations are new not only from the environment policy point of view but also for the society. Altogether, it determines the nature and focus of current study. The aim of the research is to explore the links between Organic Urban Expansion and Community Building as well as what is the influence of the Innovation Diffusion on it? The Almere Oosterwold is a case study for this research.
The study makes use of qualitative data. The main sources if information for this were interviews with future residents, municipality workers, architects; analysis of Facebook and Twitter posts, comments; secondary data as several interviews with project creators, information about Almere development history as well as project details. First, the analysis of this information leads to the identification aspects that influence on particular personal and community characteristics. Second, it showed the relationships of these characteristics with spatial characteristics of the different initiatives1. Finally, this analysis determinates several community and spatial projects typologies as well as result of their combinations.
At present, the actual development of Oosterwold consists of initiatives of different sizes (from a single detached house up to large developments with 60+ dwellings). Most of the initiators, who are building now or about to start it, are the pioneers of Oosterwold. Each of them had spent around two or even more ears on getting all necessary permits. This study detected what are the drivers and barriers which influence on the social composition among pioneers. It also shows that they form different types of communities depending on their attitudes and reasons of collaboration. It is important to realise that relationship inside those communities, their openness to the neighbours, decision-making power distribution and other aspects influence on the physical characteristics of their projects. For example, some of them have common space other do not; there are monotony projects and diverse.
Under those circumstances, it is important to understand to what kind of pioneers the strategy of Organic Urban Expansion correspond to achieve certain goals the urban professionals have.

As early as 1926, Mussolini shared his expectations for Italian art, declaring that on the "wellprepared ground" of Fascism "a new and great art can be reborn, that is both traditionalist and modern."ii He concluded his intervention asserting:

The association between spatial patterns of retail activity and the spatial configuration of street networks was examined by means of the space syntax methodology in eight Israeli cities that represent two city types, characterized by different planning approaches and urban growth: (i) new towns, which were established according to a comprehensive city plan and modern planning concepts of “tree-like” hierarchical
street networks and “neighborhood units”; (ii) older cities, where street networks and the spatial patterns of retail activity were formed incrementally during their growth.
Unlike in older cities, retail activity in new towns concentrates in relatively less accessible and intermediate locations. This is indicated by a weak correlation between retail activity and the street network’s Integration and Choice centrality measures. The
comparison between Israeli cities illustrates the influence of urban growth and planning approaches on the formation of retail activity and its interaction with the structure of the street network.

The town of Leonessa was born in 1278 in the northern frontier region of the Kingdom of Sicily, and it is one of the most documented cases among the new towns promoted by the Angevin dynasty. By studying its birth and development, we can obtain precious data regarding these new towns, all built between the second half of 13th and the first half of 14
th century and marked by many common factors: they were all synoecisms, they all involved both the lower population and the nobility, their urban structure was carefully planned, they were all erected to control relevant routes accessing the Kingdom and to guarantee the kings against rebellions. The comparison between Leonessa and the other new towns, however, allows us to ascertain the reasons behind its peculiar development: Leonessa indeed stands out for its geographical position, extremely close to the border, and for its slow but steady growth, which progressed despite the many problems the new town had to face.

The article has been published in the journal “Eurostudium”, July-September 2018, pp. 59-80: see link http://www.eurostudium.eu/Eurostudium48/casalboni%20(2).pdf

The northern region of Paraná State, Brazil, was colonized by an English company during the second quarter of the twentieth century. British private investment was attracted to this little-explored region following the advance into the west of Brazil and the expansion of coffee growing areas. As a fundamental part of this overseas land-speculation enterprise, the whole territory was parcelled into small rural plots, a cluster of regularly spaced towns was founded, and a railway line built; only then immigrants were settled. Thus, systematic colonization, deliberate urbanization and town and country planning in advance of territory occupation can be seen. However, no formal evidence of this comprehensive colonization scheme has been found, apart from a few maps, some company documents, a large number of photographs and some scattered information. Hence, drawing upon the history of planning, cultural studies, Imperialism/colonialism, British colonial towns and the Garden City movement, this paper argues that certain British planning ideas and practices were applied in this area, more specifically those related to the garden city concepts, which have contributed to the construction of a particular landscape.

PPP of Paper presented orally by the author (in Farsi) at the International Conference on New Towns, Ministry of Housing & Urban Planning (MHUP), New Towns’ Development Corporation of Iran, September 2004, Tehran, Iran.
Printed in the proceedings of the conference.

Abstract
The origins of the idea of new-town planning, worldwide, can be related, first, to the social and physical consequences of the conditions of living in large cities, suffering such problems as poor housing, overcrowding, lack of job opportunities, and on the other hand to the long distance of commuting from suburban areas to the city and also to the bad living conditions in some unplanned housing estates. The combination of these considerations has culminated in the almost universal acceptance of decentralisation policy and the formation of ‘self-sufficient’ (in terms of supplying sufficient employment opportunities) and ‘balanced’ (in terms of housing all socio-economic groups, proportional to the society at large) planned communities. Although the intention has always been the formation of problem-free living environments, the new-towns, in different countries, in spite of some achievements during their development processes, has faced various problems and threats. These problems, not only have varied dimensions, aspects and facets also their features and characteristics have transformed through time. Hence, the problems that the new-towns have encountered in their initiation and primary years of development are different from the ones they have experienced in their maturity. The purpose of this paper is to study the nature of the transformed new-towns’ planning problems. To achieve this end, and in order to be able to follow the processes of problem formation and transformation during a long history of planning and managing the urban change, the new-towns with rather longer histories of development have been considered. Here, besides differentiating between the problems of inhabiting in a new-town and the problems faced by new-town planners and managers, it is emphasised that some of the aims, planning solutions and design principles employed in new-towns have themselves created problems in later periods. It is thus that the lack of due consideration to the sustainability and strategic considerations in planning the new-towns will make them experience varied and changing problems and the accumulation of unresolved problems.

Keywords: new-towns, planned communities, New Town Development Corporation, problem transformation in new towns, urban planning, urban problems, planning problems, problem-definition,

The post-war period has witnessed the emergence of new towns in a number of countries in Southeast Asia. The new town development in Malaysia started with Petaling Jaya (PJ) as a satellite town. PJ was designed in accordance with British town planning principles, which were based on the model of a modern ideal city. PJ also constituted a new regional character because it was developed with consideration for factors such as local technologies as well as social conditions. Kenneth Frampton (1998) and others discussed Asian regionalism and described this type of development in terms of the concept of "contextual modernization". This study is in concurrence with this concept and adopts the viewpoint that the impact of universal civilization can be reduced and modified by means of critical regionalism.

This book is proposed at a propitious moment for three reasons. Firstly, the recent explosion of Lefebvrian inspired production of space research. Secondly, the implosion of right to the city (RTC) struggles concentrated in cities world-wide. Thirdly, the recent collision of debates around the championing or deriding of: the urban age, cityism and planetary urbanisation. Each of these developments has complicated the already existing complex terrain of Lefebvrian literatures regarding cities, urbanisation and the production of space. Empirical research based on Lefebvre’s ideas has taken myriad form since the 2000s and is now aired in many academic journals worldwide. The range of applied topics and geographical locales has also multiplied at a bewildering rate. Despite or because of this there remains no agreement about how to interpret Lefebvre’s production of space ideas or even the fundamentals of the spatial triad. A somewhat disparate body of literature has emerged rather than one with a significant degree of cohesion. We are delighted that Catherine Régulier-Lefebvre has agreed to write the Foreword.

Il quartiere di Villanova, sulle falde della città pisana chiamata Castello di Cagliari, viene studiato col ricorso alla documentazione esistente, all'analisi della struttura urbanistica, del tipo edilizio e delle sue caratteristiche costruttive. Si delinea una nuova interpretazione delle sue fasi di formazione, con la distinzione di un nucleo regolare fondato ex novo ante 1281 secondo il modello delle terrenove toscane, cui segue una probabile espansione trecentesca.
Il convento di San Domenico, costruito al limite del quartiere, stimola la rapida crescita del quartiere, anche attraverso la programmazione di una lottizzazione e di una ampia piazza triangolare. Più in generale la fondazione appare coordinata con l'impianto urbano, tramite l'orientamento delle sue strade principali in modo identico a quelle del quartiere nuovo che sorge alle falde opposte del Castello.
L'analisi delle murature e del tipo edilizio portano alla definizione di alcuni peculiari caratteri costruttivi, alcuni dei quali puntualmente registrati dalle normative edilizie medievali e della prima età moderna.

By 1950, the northern region of Paraná State was an affluent settlement zone, due to the prosperous coffee-growing industry and a recent systematic colonization scheme, with its deliberate process of urbanization, which had been responsible for a network of planned new towns. The region was economically and culturally tied to the dominant city of São Paulo, and the changing image its main towns-Londrina and Maringá-was basically the result of the work of prestigious São-Paulo-based architects and town planners that had been hired by the local elite. Notably, modern architecture and urbanism were imported as a means of achieving modernity: a targeted instrument of civilization, even in a colonization zone where material conditions were relatively unfavorable. In fact, the acts of borrowing, rejection, imitation, adaptation, and transformation can be observed in the movement of ideas. Thus, this paper aims to analyze the two-way relationship established between the most influential Brazilian metropolis and the wealthy provincial hinterland longing to mirror modern features. More precisely, it aims to account for foreign influences and local initiatives as global mechanisms responsible not only for the diffusion of modern planning and architectural practices but also for the construction of a pioneering regional identity.

Las mini ciudades son productos inmobiliarios de uso mixto que se han desarrollo
en las últimas dos décadas en América Central, en el marco de una tendencia urbanística de corte neoliberal y con fuerte inversión extranjera y regional. En Guatemala se desarrolla ciudad Cayalá. Es un proyecto por etapas que incluye un paseo comercial y diversos barrios residenciales. Por su parte, el caso costarricense presenta múltiples ejemplos de los cuales se tomará avenida Escazú. Una avenida comercial con espacios residenciales en sus niveles superiores. Ambos proyectos presentan una tipología que emula una mini ciudad con espacios abiertos para ocio, variedad de ofertas de restauración, entretenimiento, trabajo y residencia. Inscrito dentro del discurso de la geografía urbana, este artículo identifica una simultaneidad espacial que invita a pensar las dinámicas urbanas más allá del binarismo clásico. Se proponen diversas aproximaciones a partir de los aportes de Baudrillard (2016), Foucault (1984), Hannigan (1998) y Soja (2000) con el objetivo de abordar el complejo análisis espacial de estas tipologías hibridadas.

Brazil is known for its accomplishments in the field of urban legislation, particularly regarding the 2001 City Statute. São Paulo was a pioneer city in this regard, and the first to integrate instruments from this groundbreaking law into its 2002 Master Plan. As a result, some areas of the city were designated as “Zonas Especiais de Interesse Social” (ZEIS, or Special Zones of Social Interest), which include some of the city's poorest areas. These vary from informal settlements to neglected but transportation-rich neighborhoods in central districts. Considering social housing as a priority and the social function of the urban land, the ZEIS are in tune with the ideal of a sustainable city. However, ten years after the implementation of the ZEIS’s, the access of the poor population to well-located areas in São Paulo is still deficient. While land and tenure regularization of peripheral, informal settlements designated as ZEIS is now easier than before, the central ZEIS are not being used by the local government to expand social housing in well-located areas. This paper discusses the case of the “Nova Luz”, an urban renewal project that provides an example of the misuse of the central ZEIS – and to a certain extent, of the City Statute as well. In this project, a ZEIS is considered as a “reservoir” for the poor, a small island where a few will be allowed to stay while many will be evicted and displaced. Even worse, the ZEIS has been used to mitigate the impacts of a massive public-private redevelopment project and thereby legitimate mass evictions, an issue that has become increasingly critical in the Brazilian economic boom and redevelopment spurred by the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Keywords:  urban renewal project, compact city, gentrification, inclusive city, affordable housing, Brazil

Nowadays, with increasing urban population in Iran, urban management made the decisions to control the population by developing new towns in order to improve the urban services. In this research we have analysis Pardis New towns as a residential city. In order to, the applied methodology is based on qualitative and quantitative methods with point on social indicators to adjusting the level of settlements in the spatial system of the regions and reduction and removal of the existing inequalities among these regions by TOPSIS model. Results showed that the major environmental issues in Pardis New town involved the problem of water shortage, urban and industrial and agricultural sewage entering the watercourse natural, existence of different factories and create noise pollution, soil erosion and soil contamination. Finally presented some solve ways.

So far, as current historical and architectural analyses of 1930s Italian exhibitions are concerned, fine arts shows have been separated from “non-art shows for a mass audience” (Claudio Fogu). This estrangement implies reducing installations to a pure design exercise or to a means for disseminating propaganda and celebratory statements, whereas the history of exhibitions has long claimed displays as autonomous aesthetic forms. The most critical development in this respect is the possibility to address the layering of histories and experiments that disturbingly correlate Fascist exhibitions to avant-garde experiments – a task that the author of the text pursues by juxtaposing contemporary art and trans-disciplinary exhibitions in an international context.

This paper examines planning diffusion by considering the role of a model city upon the design of two Brazilian new-town layouts. Maringá, designed along garden city lines, informed the planning of Ivaiporã and Sinop, but in spite of certain similarities with the common model, the two new towns could not appear more diverse. This paper will thus show that a model town can be perceived differently from person to person, from situation to situation and from one period to another, which can result in quite different outcomes. A set of borrowings, emulations, and adaptations are illustrated, as planning history is understood as a narrative of the dissemination and transformation of planning ideas.

The paper proposes an approach to comparative and interdisciplinary historical analysis on the «Città nuove» (new towns) founded in the territories of the Spanish kingdom between 16th and 17th century. The phenomenon of the new settlements characterised European urban history from the late Middle Ages, being particularly relevant at the beginning of the Modern Age in Sicily and in the colonies of the New World, in terms of characteristics and the high number of settlements. Consequently, the paper focuses on various issues in these two areas, as they seem to present useful features for future comparative analysis.

New Towns can historically be characterized by their clear preconfigured shape; spatial organization has being one of the main tools for controlling inhabitants and defending the city. In contrast to gradually developed cities, the New Towns' main shape is considered a crucial part of its settlement, reflecting a top-down ideology, a set of inhabitant needs, or the sovereign’s ambitions. If observed all at once, the formal principles that New Towns have assumed over the centuries can provide a wider reflection of political ambition and ideology. Moving through history a gradual – although discontinuous – transition can be observed, from clear, geometry-based shapes, reflecting a unitary set of ideas, to increasingly blurred and unclear shapes. Is this the result of a more complex society and an increasingly fragmented and complex configuration of power?

This paper discusses the massive colonization plan and settlement scheme implemented in the early 1970s by the Brazilian government as part of the development of the Amazonian territory, and accounts for some of the reasons for its failure. Building on the notion that the Amazonian settlement scheme had taken a mid-twentieth-century private-colonization enterprise in northern Paraná state as a planning model, this paper reveals that they were both grounded in garden-city repertoire; particularly the ideas of decentralization, satellite towns and the marriage of town and country. However, unlike its model, the Amazonian settlement scheme failed badly. The adaptations made to the model and the innovations of the new scheme will also be identified.

This article explores the repercussion of the Americanization of Brazilian society as observed in mid-20 th century town planning. More specifically, it focuses on the plans for new towns that emerged in the pioneering agricultural hinterlands of Brazil and examines the American ideas that contributed to the construction of new urban forms. By analyzing the layout of Goiânia-GO (1936), Angélica-MS (1954), and Medicilândia and Rurópolis-PA (1972) in the light of their historical and sociocultural context, this article shows that the North American neighborhood unity concept helped materialize the local aspiration for modernization and development, as depicted by the American way of life'. The configuration of the neighborhood unit in the city plans studied unveils the appropriation and adaptation of the American planning idea, and also reveals that the Americanization phenomenon coincided with the consolidation of the rationalist/functionalist urbanism hegemony in Brazil and got blurred by it. Keywords Planning diffusion. Modern town planning. New towns. he americanization of brazilian cities: new urban forms and the neighbourhood unit idea t Renato Leão Rego

Las mini ciudades en Centroamérica son nuevas tipologías urbanas que se pueden identificar como proyectos de uso mixto con espacios residenciales, comerciales y de entretenimiento, de iniciativa privada. La novedad de esta tipología urbana sugiere un acercamiento desde la geografía urbana ya que no se han investigado previamente. Este es el objetivo principal de esta revisión epistemológica sobre los abordajes de tipologías urbanas como barrios cerrados, centros comerciales y parques temáticos para intentar caracterizar las mini ciudades centroamericanas. Esta revisión bibliográfica hace parte de una tesis doctoral que aborda la temática específicamente para el caso costarricense y guatemalteco. La revisión bibliográfica no pretendió ser exhaustiva ni profunda sino crítica y con carácter de diagnóstico. Se señalan seis líneas temáticas que incluyen: i) las discusiones sobre el riesgo de simplificar la teoría de las tipologías urbanas a todo el continente americano; ii) los análisis de las ciudades con un amplio recorte histórico, desde la antigüedad hasta las actuales tendencias; iii) las búsquedas de la definición de ciudad; iv) las investigaciones sobre los centros comerciales y parques temáticos que emulan ser mini ciudades; v) abordajes de la reorganización del espacio urbano y su constante carácter dinámico; vi) los faltantes (gaps) en la teoría de la
geografía urbana centroamericana, específicamente sobre las recientes mini ciudades. Se concluye reflexionando sobre la necesidad de aportar un análisis específico sobre las mini ciudades como nuevas tipologías urbanas en Centroamérica.

Abstract:
Central American mini cities are new urban typologies that can be identified as mixed-use projects with residential, commercial and entertainment spaces of private initiative. The novelty of this urban typology suggests an approach from the urban geography since it has not been previously investigated. This is the main objective of this epistemological review of the approaches of urban typologies like gated communities, commercial centres and “Theme parks” to try to  characterize the Central American mini cities. This bibliographic review is part of a doctoral thesis that addresses the issue specifically for
the Costa Rican and Guatemalan cases. The bibliographic review was not intended to be exhaustive or thorough, but critical and diagnostic. Six main themes are identified. These include discussions on the risk of simplifying the theory of urban typologies to the entire American continent. Also, several productions used a wide historical cut from the
antiquity to the current trends. Another line is the search for the definition of city to adapt it to the current proposals of mini cities. There is also research on malls and theme parks that emulate mini cities. Another recurring theme is the constant reorganization of urban space and its constant dynamic character. Finally, gaps were identified in the
theory of urban geography in Central America, specifically on the recent mini-cities. It is concluded by reflecting on the need to provide a specific analysis on mini cities as new urban typologies in Central America.

Rather, what proponents of the China-as-laboratory perspective point to is the confluence of large amounts of capital, speculative and otherwise, the huge impetus for development, and a political environment in which government at all levels, and thus the capital aligned with it, is often untrammeled by the political constraints that can make large scale development in the Western world particularly difficult to realize. These factors create the possibility of realizing ambitious or unconventional projects that might not be viable in another environment. Critics of this perspective decry the disingenuous opportunism that they perceive on the part of designers, often foreign but increasingly Chinese, who pursue grandiose but frequently ill-conceived projects, arguing that the unique conditions that make such projects possible in China do little if anything to ensure that these designs are in fact good, and that the Chinese people ought not be made into laboratory subjects .

(main paper) Paper presented orally by the author (in Farsi) at the International Conference on New Towns, Ministry of Housing & Urban Planning (MHUP), New Towns’ Development Corporation of Iran, September 2004, Tehran, Iran.

ABSTRACT
The origins of the idea of new-town planning, worldwide, can be related, first, to the social and physical consequences of the conditions of living in large cities, suffering such problems as poor housing, overcrowding, lack of job opportunities, and on the other hand to the long distance of commuting from suburban areas to the city and also to the bad living conditions in some unplanned housing estates. The combination of these considerations has culminated in the almost universal acceptance of decentralisation policy and the formation of ‘self-sufficient’ (in terms of supplying sufficient employment opportunities) and ‘balanced’ (in terms of housing all socio-economic groups, proportional to the society at large) planned communities. Although the intention has always been the formation of problem-free living environments, the new-towns, in different countries, in spite of some achievements during their development processes, has faced various problems and threats. These problems, not only have varied dimensions, aspects and facets also their features and characteristics have transformed through time. Hence, the problems that the new-towns have encountered in their initiation and primary years of development are different from the ones they have experienced in their maturity. The purpose of this paper is to study the nature of the transformed new-towns’ planning problems. To achieve this end, and in order to be able to follow the processes of problem formation and transformation during a long history of planning and managing the urban change, the new-towns with rather longer histories of development have been considered. Here, besides differentiating between the problems of inhabiting in a new-town and the problems faced by new-town planners and managers, it is emphasised that some of the aims, planning solutions and design principles employed in new-towns have themselves created problems in later periods. It is thus that the lack of due consideration to the sustainability and strategic considerations in planning the new-towns will make them experience varied and changing problems and the accumulation of unresolved problems.

Keywords: new-towns, urban planning, urban problems, planning problems, problem-definition,

Author: Zohreh A. Daneshpour
Paper presented orally by the author (in Farsi) at the “International Conference on Urban Development & New Towns”, Urban Planning & Architecture Research Centre of Iran, Ministry of Housing & Urban Planning (MHUP), 13-15 January, 1993, Esfahan, Iran.
Published in: Conference Proceedings.

ABSTRACT
Problem under study: New Towns worldwide have been developed under varying socio-economic situations and have experienced varying socio-economic problems. Both less developed countries (LDCs) and more developed countries (MDCs) have followed the policy of new Town development in order to fulfil different aims, either easing the congestion problems of their larger cities or as an inducement to regional economic development. Though through time, New Towns development as a national policy was withdrawn from the national policy priority order of many countries worldwide.
Aims: To study comparative and salient aspects of New Towns in LDCs and MDCs towards finding similarities/dissimilarities of the different aspect of their development through time.
Adopted method: searching the different aspects of New Town development between different countries worldwide, classified into two groups of LDCs and MDCs, by finding relevant indicators / measures, as: a) the size of target population, b) location, c) timing of designation, d) original aims for New Town development, e) planning documents, f) manner of land and built-space acquisition, g) responsible authority for planning, implementation of New Town plans and management of New Town, and g) mechanisms for controlling the value of land and built-space.
Findings: Making applicable proposals for the New Towns of Iran based upon the comparative analysis of New Towns worldwide, in such decision areas as: a) improving the New Towns planning process, b) the underlying aims of New Towns development, c) concluding indicators / measures from New Towns planning aims and objectives, d) applying a rational process for New Towns goal and objective finding and their hierarchical order, e) assessment of the New Towns development process by the relevant authorities, and, f) founding New Towns authorities and the coordination of their activities.

Keywords: New Town planning, New Town planning goals and objectives, comparing New Towns in LDCs and MDCs, urban planning, criteria and measures for comparative analysis of New Towns,

This essay examines the relationship between the changing organization of urban space and the evolving political culture of a Mumbai slum. Recent work emphasizes that the contemporary city is highly fragmented and poor people are incapable of realizing a fully civil society. The essay uses the case of struggles over the redevelopment of Golibar to critically interrogate these arguments. The essay finds that the city’s poor are the social location that continues to sustain the aspiration for an inclusive urbanism and a more civil society.

The new towns built in India post-1947 that were intended to exhibit the vigour and vitality embodied in the actions of the fledgling nation state. As a result, the objective was to create new human relations as a corollary to planning. It implied that people could transform civic life if they embraced and optimized the hard-won gains of citizenship over the kinship ties.

The term 'satellite city' can be applied at multiple scales and with multiple meanings. In this article, the Chinese city of Shenzhen will be viewed both as a satellite city at the (mega)city-level, and as a city consisting of many sub-city satellites. In the first years after becoming China's first Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen developed as a satellite city not only of its neighbour Hong Kong, but also of Beijing, as the first zone of experiments with 'capitalism with socialist characteristics'. In later development stages the city has emancipated to also become a centre in its own right. At the same time, however, Shenzhen is a 'city of satellites', comprising many sub-centres that could also be seen as satellites themselves. After exploring Shenzhen as a whole as a satellite city of Hong Kong, Beijing and other 'external influencers', we will discuss three examples of different types of sub-city satellites: OCT, Shekou/Qianghai, and Guangming New Town.

Problem Statement: Regarding the nature of the New Towns in Iran, the attempt to have a desirable habitation and an expected level of urban qualified life by residents in these settlements is faced with multiple challenges.
Aims: This research aims at presenting an evaluative model of the urban management challenges in New Towns based on the interpretive structural modeling approach.
Methodology: In the present study, the interpretive structural modeling is used to map the hierarchical relationships of the main factors. Hence, the main sources of data in this study are the opinions of a panel of experts in this field. In this method, the initial self-interaction matrix is created and the final reachability matrix is drawn. Thereafter, the variables are ranked and their relationships are clarified and clustered.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the factors are ranked in six groups that are included in the cause and effect diagram as follows: the “environmental” factors at the first level, the “social and cultural” factors at the second level, the “facilities and services” at the third level, the “administrative and institutional” factors and “urban development and architecture” factors at the fourth level, the “financing and budgeting” factors at the fifth level and finally the “planning and policy-making” and “legal” factors at the sixth level. Moreover, the clustering of factors showed that the two “planning and policy making” factors and “legal” factors are recognized as independent driving factors. In addition, “urban development and architecture”, “administrative and institutional”, “financing and budgeting”, and “environmental” factors were identified as intermediary factors. Finally, the “facilities and services”, and “social and cultural” factors were considered as dependent ones. None of the factors were clustered as autonomous. The results of this research can help planners and policy-makers to review the urban management system of New Towns for further improvement of the system structure and enhancing the ability of facing the challenges and improving the quality of life for citizens of these towns.