CITYLEFT ///OPEN SOURCE URBANISM

Metro Doha

2012-02-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

Doha, capital city of the Arab emirate of Qatar, has grown from a small, port city to a bustling capital region with global ambitions. Today almost 85% of Qatar’s total population (1.4 out of 1.7 million inhabitants) live in metropolitan Doha, while before 1971 (pre-independence) its total population was 30 times less. Blessed with generous oil and particularly gas reserves, since the 1970s the country has undertaken urban mega-projects and expensive land reclamations which have increased the built up area in the capital region by 60 times. In this article we review Doha’s past and current urban development, highlighting Qatar’s different urban phases. Also, by comparing Doha to Dubai, we investigate the impacts of Qatar’s “mega-projects agenda” on two important government-led developments: Education City and Mshereib Redevelopment.

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Conceiving transit space in Singapore/Johor

2012-02-02T12:02:00.001-08:00

Between Singapore and Johor Bahru (JB) about 30,000–50,000 people cross the Johor Strait during weekdays to enjoy better wages in Singapore; vice versa during the weekends Singaporeans enjoy the high purchasing value of the Singaporean dollar over Malaysian goods and entertainment. These cross-border dynamics affect many strata of the local social geography and, therefore, the economic dynamics of this region. Johor–Singapore is indeed a rapidly emerging transnational urban region in Southeast Asia. Recent plans are being implemented in Johor to move up the value chain from the industrial to the knowledge sector.Iskandar Malaysia is a vision which aims to reinvent JB as a centre for leisure, high-tech production and the knowledge industry. But to what extent can urban planning contribute to achieving at least part of such targets is the focus of this article, set in the frame of a wider transnational urban region? With the intensification of planned gated communities, extensive land privatization and increasing infrastructure investment to support a car-based urban development, the risk for JB is to move away from its original, noble purposes. To unfold the transnational urban issues of this region, we propose investigating its transit space. In a comparative manner, in this article we show how problems such as perceived lack of safety, ineffective public transport, splintered urban developments, scarce environmental sustainability and extreme privatization of land and services are all aspects which can be better managed by planning a good transit space. Last but not the least, improving Malaysian transit space will facilitate intercultural dialogue among the different, Malaysian ethnic groups in the spirit of the recent government's motto of ‘1Malaysia’.

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Iskandar Malaysia

2012-02-02T12:01:00.000-08:00

Since 2006, the Federal Malaysian government has developed the South-Johor Economic Region as a major corridor for economic development. A vision, known as Iskandar Malaysia, has been facilitated through a Comprehensive Development Plan underpinning strategies to boost the physical and economic development of the Johor Bahru metropolitan area. The latter borders Singapore; the two cities, separated by a one km. sea channel, are linked by two bridges. Thousands of people cross the Johor Straits to enjoy better wages (in Singapore) and cheap goods (in Malaysia). The paper provides an analysis of the Iskandar Malaysia Vision. A key message is the need for future plans to consider both cities, Johor Bahru and Singapore, as part of an emerging transnational urban region
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Beyond Theory@Qatar University - Jassim Telfat/QF-Capital Projects

2011-12-19T01:17:00.000-08:00

mr. Jassim Telfat will deliver a practical lecture on urban planning in the frame of dr. Agatino Rizzo's course "Overview of Regional and Urban Planning" in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Qatar University the 20th of December at 10.00am.

In Beyond Theory: Education City Master Plan mr. Jassim Telfat will discuss recent developments on Education City Campus in Doha. You are invited to the guest lecture which will be held in theCollege of Engineering, Females Campus, Room 258 (new building, first floor).

P2P-Urbanism: What's new? (excerpt)

2011-12-13T07:57:00.001-08:00

The recent informational revolution has brought new concepts such as peer-to-peer, open source, free software, copyleft and so forth. In the last decade these concepts are redesigning social relations, advocating for the direct involvement of people in decision making, production, and management of any hard and soft product at any scale. Thanks to the efforts of the P2P foundation ( see http://p2pfoundation.net/) and its main driver, Michel Bauwens a Belgian philosopher based in Thailand , peer-to-peer (P2P) philosophy has been discussed on the web at any significant scale - from P2P architecture to P2P Warfare (see http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/).

Beyond Theory@Qatar University - PROAP architects

2011-12-12T03:59:00.001-08:00

PROAP architects will deliver a practical workshop on urban planning in the frame of dr. Agatino Rizzo's course "Regional and Urban Land Use Planning" in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Qatar University the 14th of December between 17.00 and 18.30.

In Beyond Theory João Nunes and Andrea Menegotto will discuss their professional approaches for the Valdebebas Urban Park, the Silves Hillside Castle, and the Ribeira das Naus/Alcantara Water Treatment Station projects.

Qatar-based Students, Practitioners and Researchers are invited to the guest lecture which will be held in the College of Engineering, Male Campus, Room BCR H210 (Corridor D or Corridor 4).

more info

Emerging Mega-City Regions in Asia (excerpt)

2011-12-07T23:36:00.001-08:00

This study will explore linkages and exchanges between Johor Bahru and Singapore in comparison to those between Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur. It will investigate prevalent and potential impacts of transnational urbanisation as well as those emanating from the urban hierarchy within the national system on Johor Bahru. It will focus on the exploitation and/or waste of potential economic and social benefits from transnational regional exchanges and globalisation.

Notebook_Singapore-Johor Transnational Urban Region

2011-12-05T07:02:00.001-08:00

Notebook_Straits Mega-City Region

2011-12-05T06:59:00.001-08:00

Notebook_Qatar

2011-11-30T04:31:00.000-08:00

Places of Memories

2011-09-30T00:22:00.001-07:00

Introduction by Agatino Rizzo

During the last 50 years Doha has experienced dramatic transformations which have led to the creation of new typology of places (the mall, the promenade, the golf course, the croisette, etc.) and the destruction of others (the Majlis, the old souk with annex harbor, etc.).

These transformations have impacted deeply into the life of Qatari and long term Qatar residents. Also, 1964 and 1984 public housing policies have contributed to the displacement of people from the old, dense (some said “overcrowded”) city centre to today Doha’s sprawled suburbs (Al Rayaan, Umn Salil, etc.). It means that once knit extended families living side by side in Doha is today spread over a wide area which we may call Doha Metropolitan Area.

The aim of this final project is to re-trace back impacts of these urban transformations in the everyday lives of people of Doha from a chronological point of view. While on the one hand some would say that lives of Qatari are today much better than before, on the other hand something has been lost during this modernization process such as typical Gulf maritime skyline, places of gatherings, some habits, mobility, relation between interior desert and city, fisherman villages, ways of spending time among members of the extended family and values, ambitions, and expectations of Qatari youth, etc.

In this qualitative research inquiry students of the Research and Statistical Analysis in Planning course of the MUPD will deploy one or more basic skills to collect in-depth cross-sections of Qatar’s transformed society and urban places. Slices of videos, photo albums, interviews, and other documentation can be patch-worked together to provide an in-depth, qualitative understanding of the investigated phenomenon. Results will be presented the 30th of May by using whatever presentation tool e.g. power point, storytelling, video projection, games, and other performances.

Places of Memories

Gateway City

2011-09-30T00:18:00.000-07:00

Introduction by Agatino Rizzo

Qatar is characterized by an extreme tendency to urban primacy, that is the concentration of the majority of country's population in one city (the capital city). This tendency has led to, amongst others, a shortage of affordable housing, land value inflation, and localised environmental impacts.

A polycentric approach to urban planning in Qatar could be sought by considering the implementation of a new-town/urban-densification program along the future railway fro Doha-Education City to Bahrain, thus directing growth to interior of the country. Along this railway axis vast government owned land could serve the critical provision of affordable housing which would be directly connected to rail-based commuting transport, thus reducing both Qatar’s CO emissions and traffic congestion in the capital region. New “Food”, “Logistics”, “Energy”, ”Tourist”, and “R&D” cities could be created along this high speed/high capacity transit axis.

Within the Master in Urban Planning and Design based at Qatar University we are exploring polycentric development options along the Doha-Bahrain rail axis which could be part of the future QNMP. Thanks to the collaboration with the MMUP graduate students are developing interesting planning hypotheses which will be further investigated and made them publicly available with future graduates’ theses.

We present the result of our first investigation on polycentric urban development in Qatar by displaying the work of the students of the Regional and Urban Land Use Planning Course (2011). More results will be published in future blog posts and articles.

Gateway City

From the World Cup to the World Stage (excerpt)

2011-05-09T01:22:00.000-07:00

Like all other Gulf nations, Qatar is undergoing a spectacular economic, social and urban change. This multi-faceted metamorphosis is projecting Qatar’s capital city, Doha, to be among the leading global city-regions in the Gulf. At the same time, the current situation in Bahrain and other MEA countries teach us that there is a need to allow local social networks to participate in a country’s global aspirations, thus fostering long-term political stability. In physical terms this means that social infrastructures capable of both valorising local social-capital and propelling knowledge-based economy must be delivered in order to achieve sustainable economic growth. By reviewing and comparing current and future real estate projects in Qatar and abroad, Dr Rizzo proposes a practical framework to help to deliver urban real estate strategies for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Arab world.

• Examining the role of world class social infrastructures in propelling a knowledge-based economy

• Revealing Qatar’s position among the Gulf’s global city-regions and pinpointing urban development milestones for long term success

• Unveiling tools to valorise diversity, creativity and social links for the benefit of local/global economies

qu-City launch

2011-04-05T03:33:00.000-07:00

qu-City displays the work undertaken at the Master in Urban Planning and Design (MUPD) based at Qatar University (Doha).

The main contents are: students' work, MUPD publications, book reviews, and news about upcoming events in Doha and the Gulf Region.

The platform is powered by students, collaborators, and researchers of the Master in Urban Planning and Design at Qatar University (for more info go to this link).

Beyond Theory@Qatar University - QNMP

2010-11-01T04:04:00.000-07:00

Stanislaw Konstanty will deliver a practical workshop on urban planning in the frame of dr. Agatino Rizzo's course "Regional and Urban Land Use Planning" in the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Qatar University.

In Beyond Theory Stanislaw Konstanty will discuss the nw Qatar National Master Plan.

Qatar-based Students, Practitioners and Researchers are invited to the guest lecture which will be held in the College of Engineering, Male Campus.

Brief History of P2P-Urbanism

2010-10-15T12:19:00.001-07:00

P2P (peer-to-peer) Urbanism joins ideas from the open-source software movement together with new thinking by urbanists, into a discipline oriented towards satisfying human needs. P2P-Urbanism is concerned with cooperative and creative efforts to define space for people’s use. This essay explains P2P-Urbanism as the outcome of several historical processes, describes the cooperative participation schemes that P2P-Urbanism creates, and indicates the possible outcomes of applying P2P-Urbanism in different human environments.
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UTM-FAB Summer course: Planning in Developing Metropolitan Regions

2010-05-17T03:45:00.000-07:00

UTM-FAB is organizing a summer course this year as following:

Summer course title: Planning in Developing Metropolitan Regions
Date: 18th - 31st July 2010

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia is announcing the UTM2010 Summer School in Urban and Regional Planning "Planning in Developing Metropolitan Regions". It will be held from July 18th till July 31st, 2010 in Johor Bahru, Johore, Malaysia.

The summer school features advanced courses for graduate students and young researchers in the field of urban planning, metropolitan planning, and urban and transnational studies.

It consists of 2 weeks on site workshop with excursions in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Iskandar Malaysia Corridor. One online preparation week will precede the event.

The program aims to equip participants with urban management and planning knowledge to understand the complex metropolitan planning issues in fast developing countries. This will also help them to apply the knowledge in design and project planning of neighborhood or a city.

The summer school is organized by UTM in collaboration with Curtin University. Decisions for admission are made on a case by case and first come first served bases. We have applicants from all over the world. Therefore the earlier you apply the better.

http://utm2010.blogspot.com/

an island lost at sea

2010-05-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

How long do we have still to wait until we recognize that ferries are an important part of our cities? Ferries build trans-nationals links, provide workplaces for thousand people, are so far vectors for innovation in a really condensed space.
Cities should learn a lot from those devices. Perhaps, metropolises should fear a bit these mini-cities and, because of that, they should try to establish partnership to provide physical and social benefits for the urban space.Many advantages could be achieved by moving further urban developments in these devices: competitiveness, preservation by urban-sprawl-developments of natural areas, a dynamic identity fitting the actual social needs, and a better involvement of private investors in new form of business as well as in social issues.A new platform has been developed to investigate this non-urban phenomenon. It is avalaible at this URL: http://www.cityleft.altervista.org/ferry/ferry.htm

PLUG & PLAN

2010-05-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

In the last 15 years Helsinki and Tallinn have been developing a bottom-up partnership led to strength local economy in Estonia and global benefits for Finnish companies. This partnership is bringing many advantages to both cities, but also disadvantages especially in Tallinn. Disadvantages are, for instance, social segregation, environmental pollution, and traffic congestion. A more balanced structure will help the HTR to compete with other cities in the Baltic Sea Region, allowing a better way of live for its inhabitants.

see: http://www.cityleft.altervista.org/

Boarder Cities_presentation+exhibition

2010-05-15T09:37:00.000-07:00

Flyer_trashback_bauhaus

2010-05-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

trashback...an ID-card of the urban society in Europe

today, more than ever,trash contributes to give us a
sharp picture of our urban society. a great amount of
objects that are a part of our daily life are thrown
away: bottles,toys,shoes,fridges,TVs,PCs,cans,and papers
are all part of the "inconvenient landscape",these can be
found in the corner shadows in our cities.
in Dessau we can find all these things in Rodebille
Viertel. Here we have an interesting case study from
which we can try to draw-up the life style of the urban
society.

[a.rizzo-r.micheller-r.santacruz-s.krishnamurthye.
soares-t.jonsson]

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upstream to countryside in sicily

2010-05-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

see:
http://www.bda.unict.it/Pagina/It/La_Rivista/0/2007/10/31/1152_.aspx

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Bookshelf

2010-05-15T02:45:00.001-07:00

Papers
a selection of papers published by Agatino Rizzo and others...

Monographes
a selection of papers published by Agatino Rizzo and others...

ARCHIPELAGO CITY

2010-05-15T02:41:00.000-07:00

In 2007/2008, the Border Cities Kolleg, facilitated by the Germany-based Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, brought together an international group of young planners, architects, artists and urbanists to explore the complex dynamics of trans-national urbanism in the Baltic Sea Region.

Within this framework our group came together to consider the cities of Helsinki and Tallinn as a case of EU spatial policy implementation. Region makers such as EUREGIO view the two cities as part of an emerging European Region, one that opens an opportunity to enhance economic and administrative capacities, as well as to expand transportation and distribution networks. These in turn form or enhance a number of interweaving bonds.

The focus of our group research was to see how far this notion of region building has progressed, compared with past and present common identity building processes. The cross border effects as well as historical pre-conditions manifest in the urban fabric of Tallinn appeared to us as an archipelago of ‘islands’, each with different economic, social, and cultural milieus; segregations overlooked or underconsidered by city planners and administrators. The model of the archipelago also created an inverse space between these hegemonic ‘islands’ where new inputs can enrich HTR’s diversity.

Research >
Blog >
Urban Art Interventions >
Website >

Abruzzo

2010-05-15T02:39:00.001-07:00

P2PFOUNDCITIES: Project Proposal for the Reconstruction and the Preservation of Abruzzo

We present a scheme for efficient transitional housing for the communities of Abruzzo accounting for the need to maintain the social cohesion of original communities under reconstruction. With this proposal we hope to offer a comprehensive strategy that will serve as a model for similar contexts worldwide.
What we propose is a form of transitional architecture specifically intended to quickly re-establish the functional 'social infrastructure' of damaged towns in ways similar to the original architecture being restored and in the immediate proximity of the original towns so that people are 'at home' and able to function as a community to support the restoration effort. Our key tool for this is a concept called Peer-To-Peer Architecture; building methods that allow the inhabitants of a community to design and spontaneously redesign their habitat as they see fit. Our main priority is, in fact, to develop a design process which is open to the local community. We think that after establishing a nucleus of our cargotecture we could then involve local stakeholders in the development of temporary settlements. This participation process is actually coherent to our P2P ideal. We think that for the self-sustainability of any design process a direct involvement of locals must be achieved.

Plug & Plan urban centers are a system of temporary, removable, and adaptable urban workshops creating the necessary space to allow experts (say architects, planners, region makers, researchers) and non-experts (say NGOs, inhabitants) interaction.
We have called this approach Urbanism 3.0, a new way to deal with urban issues, where trans-disciplinary research and P2P urbanism merge together for the study/planning/developing of urban environments. This conferencing approach is not only intended to be a mode of collaborative design but also a means to restoring a sense of empowerment to the members of the community.

The use of adapted ISO shipping containers -often called 'cargotecture'- for relief shelter is nothing new and has many advantages in the role of emergency relief and transitional shelter. However, we propose to use this technology in a very different way. We propose to use containers as modular elements for the construction of complex multi-storey structures formed of single, pair, triplet and quad side-by-side room sets with a number of additional accessory elements such as stairways, walkways, pergolas, and outdoor decking. These would be combined into larger conjoined complexes serving as neighborhood clusters -microvillages-, freely designed and adapted collaboratively by their own inhabitants in order to approximate some of the character of their original homes and reestablish, in parallel, the same social, commercial, industrial functions of damaged structures under restoration.

The basic module set for our system is composed of the following structural elements;

- Shelter Units: basic 20'x8' finished building units for housing and other uses composed of single-room and multi-room sets with one or both ends fitted with windows or sliding door units.

- Shelter Accessories: special purpose single container modules for pre-finished bathrooms, kitchens, utility systems, staircases, balcony/decks, repositionable friction-stay partitions, rooftop gardens and decks, and the like.

- Open Space Modules: containers modified with no walls used to create outdoor spaces and outdoor structures like gazebos and seating areas interconnected to the shelter modules. Would also be used as open interstitial elements to support raised/cantilevered portions of the shelter structures.

- Special Purpose Modules: concerned mostly with infrastructure systems including solar/wind power, telecommunications, water supply, waste processing (though most dwellings may employ marine incinerating toilets), trash handling, etc. Would also include kiosks for small shops and outdoor cafes and certain health and recreational facilities.

- Industrial Units: simple work-shed variation of the Shelter Units intended for light industrial applications and used for local container modding facilities as well as work facilities for the ongoing restoration work. The free demountability of the structures also means that the initial community design is not set in stone. At any time things that prove less workable or effective than originally anticipated or which must be updated to suit changes in the neighborhood situation, can be changed with minimum disruption to the community. Ultimately, these transitional structures would disappear completely from their sites leaving no trace.

*** This project was submitted to an international open context held in June in Italy and titled “Un’idea per la ricostruzione”. Together with other proposals, it was selected Among 204 participants for a honorable mention.***

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True Europe

2009-05-01T23:14:00.000-07:00

It might sounds démodé, in an architectural era dramatically permeated by the Koolhaasian pragmatism, referring to a dinosaur such as Le Corbusier. However, in 1923 LC concived the modern/industrialized city in revolutionary terms: city like transatlantic ships. The transatlantic stood as suitable model for a clean, rational, compact, and unitary concept of city. BUT WHAT IF WE MIRROR THIS CONCEPT?

Modernism failed the challenge to update the old urban order. But what if, meanwhile architects and urbanists were busy to blow-up historic pearls, centrifugate cities, and create urban monsters, what if naval engineers were silently, modestly, and maybe unconsciously working for THE VERY FIRST FULLY IMPLEMENTED ANTI-URBAN UTOPIA?

Indeed, in the last 40 years cruise design evolved in scale as well as in contents. Free assemblage, density, symbolic congestion, surprise, and extra-territoriality are all principles aimed to creating a sexy and fancy floating landscape made of tax-frees, pubs, shopping centers, discos, wellness centers, casinos, conference halls, and so on. TODAY WE FACE A NEW ERA DOMINATED BY CRUISEFERRY INDUSTRY.

Cruiseferries are an important part of the current Baltic Transit Space. Mapping the present sea routes, in fact, will reveal the density of a ferry/cruise/tanker/cargo network linking the most dynamic urban hotspots in the region. Yet Cruiseferry is strongly affecting the local social geography. INHABITANTS, COMMUTERS, CITY USERS, and METROPOLITAN BUSINESSMEN are the social material informing offshore practices. The purposes are different: LEISURE, CHEAP PRICES, TRANSGRESSION, BUSINESS, TOURISM, AND MOBILITY.

The magnitude of this new phenomenon (the Cruiseferries) seems slowly understood and underestimated by local architects and planners. But what if the current spatial organization of inshore metropolises is, insofar, DRIVEN BY THE COMPLEX AND HIGHLY DYNAMIC OFFSHORE NETWORK? And what if ONE DAY CRUISEFERRIES WILL BE STRATEGIC DEVICES SERVING THE BALTIC METROPOLITAN SPACE, making it the very ‘True Europe’?

Our understanding is more than a theoretical speculation. It is an actual blueprint for the future TRANS-NATIONAL METROPOLISES IN EUROPE.

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landscape inside landscape

2008-09-09T09:39:00.000-07:00

karma?

2008-09-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

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landscape

2008-09-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

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UAI TALLINN

2008-05-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

16th-18th May 2008

# 1		# 2

exploration of the spatial concept of an archipelago of islandswith the two projects Tallinn Retold at the harbour and Porta de Viru at Tammsaare Park discussions with tourists and locals took place about the potential of the spatial structure of Tallinn; people were encouraged to visit different parts of the city and exchange stories about meaningful places;		exploration of areas in transition two very different areas, Rotterman district and Balti Jaam Market, were chosen for integrative projects; while Rotterman is a well designed new urban site with expensive high brands but few social interaction, Balti Jaam Market is a very cheap informal area that is very important for economically less fortunate locals. Our project consisted of building up small market stands where we distributed goods from the contrasting area in exchange for people’s desires. The intent was to get local opinion about what has value in the further development of the city; In a subsequent project in the evening, a projection regarding real estate speculation in Uus Maailm community started a discussion about the topic of future city development and whose city it is to develop;

# 3		#4

activation of abandoned space related to real estate speculation many areas at the harbour are waiting for transformation but seem abandoned at the moment. Through temporary structures installed in the space we wanted to show that a different use of urban space is possible; related projects used these spaces for breakfast and dinner gatherings as well as an area next to Linnahall for a temporary beach;		cross border relations a projection of people going into a pedestrian tunnel was shown at a site in Viimsi where the future tunnel to Helsinki will emerge out of the ground according to current planning; the projection visualized the idea of social connections, beyond purely economic and regionmaking desires for connecting the two border cities.

# 5		# 6

public breakfast The aim was to explore potentials in Tallinn's in-between space.		information kiosks With this intervention we tried to stimulate visions concerning the local urban space. Printed material was edited to allow people exploring popular as well as forgotten urban areas. We distributed question-postcards to send us back by post.

repetition

2007-07-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

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[past and present] demolition in berlin

2007-07-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

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clever decay...leipzig

2007-07-11T09:31:00.001-07:00

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countryside landscape in leipzeig

2007-07-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

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the joyul sea

2007-05-12T09:35:00.000-07:00

«[…] Not with a subway, not with skyscrapers is measured the covice of the contemporary world - founded on the principle of acceleration - but with the joyful sprout that works its way through the stones of the city. Our blood, our music, our concept of the state, all this will continue to live in the tender existence with nature, Nature-Psyche. In this realm the spirit is not contaminated by men, each tree will be ephydriad, and every phenomenon will speak about its own metamorphosis.» [Osip Mandelstam, On poetry, 1928]

***

If leaving home you realize that you have a whole sea at your disposal where you can breathe, think walking, skiing, playing, fishing, admire the landscape around you then maybe you are in a city not only of houses, offices, malls, roads, cars, trains, trams, antennas, people always in movement but also an accessible, insightful, playful, joyful, vivid open space. [Helsinki, Winter 2007].