Analysis of Citizen Participation in Urban Planning of Comala,Colima,Mexico-A Secondary Publication

The objective of this study was to determine the degree of citizen participation in urban planning processes in the municipality of Comala,Colima,Mexico to have a broader vision of the citizens and the environment in which they live.An instrument was designed specifically to perform this study and the instrument was validated by calculating Cronbach’s Alpha.The results showed that citizens were highly involved in issues concerning their urban environment,and the main problems of the public spaces were also identified.

Urban Densification Strategy and Land Value in Tijuana,Baja California-The Opinion of Specialists

Specialists can provide opinions regarding the city and land value based on their specialized field.Professionals in these fields are identified as urban planners and valuators,who play a crucial role in the current dynamics of cities.They have a qualified opinion on city issues based on their professional practice in various areas of expertise.This opinion was obtained through the formulation and application of a questionnaire to specialists.Subsequently,the results were analyzed and graphically represented.In the discussion,several findings were found related to the relationship between land value and the urban densification policy established in the urban planning that governs the city of Tijuana,Baja California.The study investigated the behavior of the real estate market in the region and the establishment of a solid strategy toward densification.

Changing Concepts of City and Urban Planning Practices in Guangzhou(1949–2010): An Approach to Sustainable Urban Development

By focusing on Guangzhou, this paper examines how different concepts of city in terms of urban-rural relationships are shaped in transforming China since 1949, and explores how they influence the way in which urban planning are practiced. In the pre-reform era, the city was defined as a productive space under the system of urban-rural segregation established for securing rapid industrialization. Urban planning was thus only concerned with the development of urban areas. In the 1980 s and 1990 s after the reform, institutional change and economic transformation mobilized the urban-rural linkages. The development of suburban areas was then considered by urban planning, but this consideration was a passive response to urban problems such as population explosion and water resources protection. Since the new millennium, the agenda for sustainable development and problems of uneven urban-rural development have called for the development of urban-rural integration. In this context, the city is conceptualized as a complex of mountain, city, river, farmland and sea, reconstructing the ideology of urban-rural division in defining urban development. Urban planning has therefore sought in an active way to develop a sustainable city embracing rural and natural elements, and to balance economic growth and environmental protection. It is argued that developing the concept of city as a complex of urban and rural elements contributes to the urban planning for sustainable urban development, while this conceptualization relies on the recognition of the integrated urban-rural relationship.

Balance Between Jobs and Housing from Perspectives of Real Estate Development and Management and Urban Planning

Jobs-housing balance is the balance between employment and housing. Its philosophy has a long history and development process in urban planning. The concept of jobs-housing balance generally refers to that the number of employed people is roughly equal to the number of occupants within a certain range. This kind of balance is conducive to reducing the commuting time and the change of transportation mode on the way that the employed people spend at work. The realization of jobs-housing balance not only helps to optimize the structure between residence and employment in the region but also is conducive to improving the work enthusiasm and work efficiency of the employed in the region and reducing the commuting costs of workers in the region. In addition, the relegalization of jobs-housing balance also has a certain impact and effect on alleviating the traffic congestion and improving the environment of the region. In summary, the realization of jobs-housing balance has a multi-faceted impact on the development of a city, and promoting the balance between occupation and housing is conducive to promoting the development of the city. The realization of jobshousing balance involves many areas. In this article, In this article, the development history of jobshousing balance is sorted out from perspectives of real estate development and management and urban planning, and its development enlightenment is discussed.

Regional Planning and Development Under the Maximization of Urban Agglomerative Economies

Starting from the meaning and types of urban agglomerative economies, with the analysis of the characteristicsand causes of urban agglomerative economies, this paper puts forward that the regional planning and development shouldattach importance to urban agglomerative economies, follow the law of the maximization of regional urban agglomerativeeconomies. It also points out the countermeasures and advices to facilitate the regional planning and development based on theprinciple.

Strengthening Alexandria Urban Fabric by Planning Urbanism’s Walkable Area

Nowadays city of Alexandria has a very wide range of urban development projects;some of them have a major influence on the physical being of the city meanwhile others just have a small interpretation to its characteristics.The rapid growth of Alexandria city in the nineteenth century led to calls for parks to be provided for the health of all categories in the society.This could be seen as an early precedent to highlight the role of open spaces in supporting what we now call sustainable development.This paper proposes an urban development project which makes a replacement of an urban crawl in Alexandria city into unique open space through presenting a comprehensive approach for assessing this suggested project to create a walkability area based on a combination of its conceptual and applicable aspects.Discussion of the sustainability modules to this new urban development project in Alexandria will be accomplished,by the aim of investigating its ability to stand against the future challenges.It is concluded that a significant attribute of urban design achieves continuity of the urban fabric and streets,because this facilitates flows.Wherever movements occur,there is vitality and flow creates eyes on the street producing spontaneous surveillance.Also,comparison of contextual and neighbourhood before and after the project revealed the positive impact of the suggested project either on the built(physical)environment’s or health and social well-being.

Urban Planning and Greening Practices: A Case For Neighborhood Development in a Typical Urban Area

The work that follows aims at evaluating the urban area/neighborhood of“Agios Konstantinos”in the city of Larissa to the extent that it meets the criteria of green-sustainable design,as these criteria are included in the LEED-Neighborhood Development system methodology.The above methodology encodes the most important elements for green urban planning and provides a quantitative assessment system with key axes those of“smart location and connectivity”,“neighborhood model and plan”and“green infrastructure and buildings”.Nowadays,there is an ongoing debate on urban space and its problems.All urban elements,such as those of the built-structured environment,its open-public areas and its natural elements formulate the urban plot.At the same time,human activities greatly affect both the plot and the living conditions.Environmental issues are often disregarded in urban space and its planning process with damaging effects on cities and,more general,on urban settlements.The advantages and benefits of formally including environmental considerations in urban planning and integrating them into urban development strategies are many,as two of the most important“urban problems”are those of the gradual deterioration and degradation of the area’s microclima and the excessive consumption of energy resources.

Solidified Branding Function: How the Urban Brand Affects a Small Town’s Development? Case Study of Wangqingtuo, Tianjin, China

Chinese small towns are usually developed with single core industry,and the urban brand is the identity of a town that formed with the development of its industry.However,when the core industry representing its urban brand is facing a changing situation or market,will the brand be a motivation or an obstruction of the development of a town?The paper combined top-down and bottom-up research method to study the function of the urban brand in Wangqingtuo town in Tianjin,China.We studied over 400 samples(including government staff and town citizens)to make questionnaire investigation about the town’s branding.And we found that the solidified urban brand is a complicated emotional symbol for both government and citizens.The town has demand of exploring and developing new dominant industry,and it has the expectation to keep branding and upgrade its current core industry.

The Study of Urban Planning Decision-Making in the Background of Rapid Economic Development —— A Case Study of Shanwei City

Urban planning decision-making is an activity for the decision-makers to collect information, judge function of cities, select project and make policy which is ainaed at the problem of urban planning that have taken place, is taking place and will take place. Using historical review and comparative analysis, the articles summarizes planning decision-makings of Shanwei city and it＇s problem, and makes some suggestions to urban planning decision-making system of Shanwei city in the new period.

Overall Planning of Development of Urban-Rural Areas:A Policy Mechanism for Urban-Rural Coordinated Growth

While analyzing overall planning and coordinated development of urban-rural areas, this paper shows that overall planning for the development of urban-rural areas is a requirement for the best use of productive forces. It means the setting up of a policy mechanism for coordinated growth. Recognizing this, the government should set up a way to lead and manage a unified program to increase service and decrease controlling administration power, while safeguarding and fulfilling the farmers' ownership to the means of production.

The Development of the New Urbanism Theory and Reflections on its Application at Florida's Seaside

This article reviews the background,preparation,development and birth stage,and the main content and framework of the new urbanism theory,then understands new urbanism from a historical perspective and then discusses how the seaside project in Florida developed a smalltown community with a strong community atmosphere and a beautiful environment,guided by the theory of New Urbanism.This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the high construction and maintenance costs ofNew Urbanism in practice,the impact on the privacy of residents9 lives,the relative reduction of community ties,and other problems,and finally,it gives opinions on the sustainable development of the New Urbanism theory in the future.

The Study on Protection and Construction Mode of Urban Ecologically Sensitive Areas

The paper had analyzed the necessity and feasibility for the protection and utilization of urban ecologically sensitive areas, proposed planning urban ecologically sensitive areas reasonably and combining ecological protection with development construction. Guiding the healthy and ordered development of urban spaces was the key part and important approach to realize ecological cities. The guiding thought for development construction of ecological cities had been discussed, which was conducting laddered development according to the location and coverage of urban ecologically sensitive areas and protection grades of these sensitive areas. Then, it had proposed four kinds of protection and construction modes, which were tourism leisure green lands, relevant expositions, industrial areas and new city groups, and which had been analyzed by combining with successful cases, so as to provide feasible win-win development strategies of ecology and economy for the planning of urban ecologically sensitive areas in the future.

The Multi-Scale Numerical Modeling System for Research on the Relationship between Urban Planning and Meteorological Environment

Considering the urban characteristics, a customized multi-scale numerical modeling system is established to simulate the urban meteorological environment. The system mainly involves three spatial scales: the urban scale, urban sub-domain scale, and single to few buildings scale. In it, different underlying surface types are employed, the building drag factor is used to replace its roughness in the influence on the urban wind field, the effects of building distribution, azimuth and screening of shortwave radiation are added, and the influence of anthropogenic heating is also taken into account. All the numerical tests indicate that the simulated results are reasonably in agreement with the observational data, so the system can be used to simulate the urban meteorological environment. Making use of it, the characteristics of the meteorological environment from the urban to urban sub-domain scales, even the among-buildings scale, can be recognized. As long as the urban planning scheme is given, the corresponding simulated results can be obtained so as to meet the need of optimizing urban planning.

Green infrastructure： a planning concept for the urban transformation of former coal-mining cities

Green infrastructure is a concept aimed at realizing a strategically planned network of valuable natural and seminatural areas, designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and to protect biodiversity in rural and urban settings. In the general post-mining context of China and Germany, this paper suggests and outlines an approach that combines green infrastructure with specific concepts of post-mining landscapes. While Germany has a long tradition of post-mining restoration, concepts of green infrastructure are still poorly developed. China, on the other hand, has taken its first steps in the restoration of coal regions, and could profit from the new concepts while drawing on Germany＇s experience. The potentials of relevant strategies are investigated here through two case studies from Germany and China. Although there are significant differences in the post-mining development strategies of these two countries, it is clear that the green infrastructure concept can contribute significantly to a growth in ecosystem services. Four advantages of the green infrastructure concept are seen： First, it enables a systematic and highly objective assessment of mining impacts on the ecosystem. Second, the concept assists in the implementation of urban sustainability goals. Third, it is rooted in the local characteristics of landscapes. And finally, the green infrastructure concept seems to be highly compatible with tools of landscape and regional planning.

Pedestrian street and its effect on economic sustainability of a historical Middle Eastern city:The case of Chaharbagh Abbasi in Isfahan,Iran

Pedestrianization is an urban revitalization strategy to enhance sustainability and livability in car-oriented cities.Despite many studies in this research field,the effects of pedestrianization on the economy of cities in developing countries still need further investigation.Additionally,the impact of this strategy on the tenant mix of com-mercial and historical areas in Middle East countries is nebulous.To address these inadequacies,we considered Chaharbagh Abbasi street,located in the heart of Isfahan,Iran,and investigated the impact of a pedestrianization project with particular emphasis on how it affects the economic sustainability of existent commercial fabric.Pre-and post-project data along with field observations and quantifications used to assess structural replacements in trade,were analyzed with SPSS and ArcGIS software.The results revealed unexpected outcomes,such as the closure of some traditional businesses(27.5%),a stagnation in sales(69%)and a decrease in job offers(84%)leading the local economy to a fragile situation.Conversely,it was found that the footfall volume increased by 64% and 73% from the retailers’and pedestrians’viewpoints.This evolution along with a wide opening of food and beverage stores(approximately 60%)makes the post-pedestrianization results more promising than earlier predictions.In conclusion,these findings reinforce the importance of pedestrian streets in revitalizing economic activities in historical and commercial areas from the perspective of economic sustainability.Due to the lack of similar investigations in Middle East countries,these findings can support decision-makers and urban planners to take preventive measures in preserving the diversity of individual small shops for upcoming urban rehabilitation projects in terms of pedestrianization.

Development of Urban Agriculture:A Case Study of Qianjin Village,Jiangxia District,Wuhan City

We take the case of Qianjin Village,Jiangxia District,Wuhan City,to research how to establish the system of urban agriculture with distinctive features relying on the advantage of urban resources.Under the guidance of guiding ideology,basic principles and overall objectives of urban agriculture development planning,we analyze the specific construction planning of urban agriculture in Qianjin Village,mainly including the construction of growing areas and construction of leisure areas.Then we put forth the security system of development of urban agriculture as follows: land transfer is the prerequisite of development of urban agriculture;policy support is the important foundation of development of urban agriculture; agricultural science and technology is strong support for development of urban agriculture;good leadership is the organizational guarantee for development of urban agriculture;the industrialization of agriculture is the main objective of development of urban agriculture.

Study on Ecological Development of Urban Parks

Research background,significance,characteristics and planning methods of the ecological development of urban parks were elaborated.This paper took green space planning of Xishan Park in Qianxi City for example,explored the application of ecological development theories in green space planning of urban park.

Early Urban Planning of Harbin(1898-1917) by Russia: Impact of Colonialism and the Railway Economy on Emerging Cities in Modern Times

Harbin, a typical emerging colonial city in modern times, has drawn worldwide attention due to its quick transformation from a fishing village to a modern globalized metropolis. With Harbin and its urban planning from 1898 to 1917 as the subject of study from the perspective of planning historiography, this paper probes into the driving force behind Harbin's early modern urban development, historical phasing and characteristics of its urban planning, as well as evolution of planning and construction activities during this period. The findings reveal that Harbin's urban planning and construction activities were closely linked to Russia's political and economic interests and also reflected the political game between the powers led by Japan and Russia in the Manchurian region.

A Preliminary Study on the Inducements of Urban Public Landscape Fragmentation and Its Countermeasures

This study focused on the urban public landscape fragmentation in the process of rapid urbanization in China. By sorting out the management and control indicators and methods of urban planning management departments for residential land and comparing the actual practices and internal design principles of the mainstream developers in land development and construction based on this method, it is believed that the phenomenon of landscape space fragmentation from the city itself in the residential quarter in the city is caused by the mismatch between the design strategy of the developer and the overall demand of the urban space. Lack of government departments’ planning for the integration of urban public resources is the inducement. In view of these problems, several solutions were put forward.

Research on the Urban Agriculture Planning Models of Metropolis:A Case Study of Chengdu

With the accelerating urbanization, ecological environment of the city has attracted increasing attention, so the resulting problems have become key research focuses in all countries. Against this background, urban agriculture has been applied as one of the effective approaches for relieving urbanization. From the perspective of industrial form of urban agriculture, planning models of urban agriculture were explored, industrial form and planning model of Chengdu urban agriculture were analyzed to forecast its development prospects. Multi-dimensional development, and sustainable development measures were given to guarantee the sustainable development of urban agriculture.