Reseach proposal

Research Methods AC5005 Research Proposal Aqeel Khan 0910334

“Exploring meaning and significance of ‘Contextual Dimension’ of an Eco-City Concept”

Introduction By 2030 it is envisaged that around 5 billion people will be living in urban areas.

Researchers have issues and concerns with warnings regarding the heavy use of finite resources. The fact is that cities are emerging rapidly in countries, such as, in India and China giving rise to mega-cities in a scale the world has never witnessed before. A struggle to reinstate a balance of growth, development and overall environmental impact, the eco-city emerged as a conceptual and strategic intervention, therefore, allowing us to shift the way we have developed cities in the past.

Cities are considered to be the largest creation of humanity and the designing, constructing and operating them has the greatest impact on nature than any other human activity. (Register, 2006) Eco-cities consider wider environmental issues yet making place-responsive actions. As modelling a city is much more difficult than a single building due to multiple urban conditions and stake holders, the central questions in this research is to judge whether there are contextual values more significant while drafting an eco-city concept.

Hypothesis and Research Question The relevant literature will be critically reviewed; important information obtained will be represented graphically as well as being critically analysed.

My objective whilst writing the dissertation and collating research data will be to answer the following hypothesis: Is the contextual meaning of an eco-city profoundly addressed with its application in a microclimatic condition?

Research Context In 1975 Richard Register and allied professionals in Berkeley, California had founded Urban Ecology as a non-profit organisation to “rebuild cities in balance with nature”. The book explained how Berkeley could be eco-logically rebuilt over several decades. (Roseland, 1997) Register and his associates were responsible for making the term ‘eco-city’ more popular but later there were movements such as Urban Ecology under the wider datum of sustainable development, seeking solutions to city’s wider environmental issues in a more universal way. There were other ideas that were prevalent around this time which were appropriate technology, community economic development, social ecology, the green movement, bioregionalism and sustainable development. (Roseland 1997) The main idea behind bio regionalism concentrates on place, where collectively the term means ‘a life territory a place that is defined by its life forms, its typography and biota. It is only recently that there has been an increased level of

interest but there has been a limited amount of guidance in this area. Some of the ideas are used have been around for many years. (Roseland 1997) It is understood that there is no single definition of eco cities or sustainable communities. (Roseland 1997) The ‘eco city’ was initially proposed by Richard Register in his book eco city Berkeley. An eco city is determined as to being an ecologically healthy city. It is very easy to strip the environmental attributes, such as, taking out forests or polluting it rather than to preserve it. It seems as though humans are unable to live with other creatures as they destroy natural areas by creating infrastructure, which are vital for sustaining animal life. (Register, 1993) Register explains a method in which cities can adopt the idea of an eco city. “The particular kinds of growth and change which could turn today’s cities into eco cities depends on the bioregion of the city and the imagination of its citizens” (Register 1993 p.8).

Principles within biology assist us in building eco cities. Register explains the idea behind the eco city as he states, “The idea behind eco cites is not to stop development neither to reverse the clock but to move into the future by encouraging different kinds of development, building height limits have to be considered in a different kind of light.” (Register 1993 p.24) Outside of the city, a large part of the greenhouse gases come from agriculture and deforestation.

The main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in cities are from energy uses which include industrial production. To define a possible resolution to this problem I have understood that the generic term of ‘sustainability’ is not correct to use in this situation, as we fail to look at specific and contextual attributes that are solely responsible for environmental degradation, thus contributing to the wider problem of greenhouse effects.

The number of people living within an urban context is rapidly increasing that will have greater impact on a city and its habitats. (Lim and Liu, 2010) China has also embarked on the development of eco cities at a smaller scale, such as, Tianjin eco city. The relation of the building within its immediate environment is very important and the buildings impact must be considered within its broader context.

The buildings that we design require to be situated within a context that may be environmental, cultural or historical. To succeed in developing a new architecture greater understanding will be required in areas of science, history and culture. Two of the key factors in a sustainable future are biology and biodiversity. (Thomas and Garnham, 2007) How we build is city’s is very important as Register explains “The quality of life depends largely on how we build our cities. The density and diversity of a city, the less dependent it is on motorised transport; and the less impact it has on nature.” (Register, 2006 p.15).

More precise definition of an Eco-City

Transport and infrastructure

An eco-city is defined as being a city that balances social, economic and environmental factors to achieve a sustainable development. The city is designed with the consideration of the environmental impact, inhabited by people that are dedicated to the reduction of the required inputs of energy, chemical, water and waste without gains in output in heat, air pollution, methane and water pollution.

(Yang, Wu and Jiang 2012)

Register explains that cars are ruining the city as the cities are built up around them, the current focus is towards efficiency rather than reducing their numbers and increasing the reliance on public modes of transport. He metaphorically describes them as the dinosaurs of our time in which they are preventing the progression towards the next step of our cultural evolution. (Register, 2006) Once a city has been shaped for cars it remains dependent upon them. Unfortunately most people have the idea that finetuning the current city wouldn’t be sufficient to resolve the issues, but what is required is the rebuilding of our cities as failing to notice the crisis, won’t make it go away. (Register 2006)

Food and agriculture Food and agriculture together account for a third of global greenhouse emissions.

This will need to be addressed as its readjustment within eco cities can reduce their impact as they also account for nineteen million hectares of rainforest that we lose out each year, and half of the food thrown away in the USA each year becomes a critical concern for the global food crisis. (Lim and Liu, 2010 p.237) Food is something that we cannot live without. The way in which it has been grown, bought, cooked, consumed, shared are aligned in such a way without recycling back to its original state is becoming part of the eco-city concept. I feel that food could be the key to resolving this fundamental problem we have inherited in our cities. We must obtain a balanced approach yet making ourselves equipped for a modernised life style. (Lim and Liu, 2010)

The importance of a place responsive eco-city concept It is said that the city is contains the fundamentals of culture and civilisation.

Some have stated without the city culture and civilisation would never have come into existence. Eco-cities could be the key to reducing the intense growth we face within our cities which are classed as wasteful and ecologically unhealthy sprawl. (Register 1993 p.8) Masterplanning of an eco city is important but what fails to be highlighted in the current masterplans, is that the economic, social and political issues are taken away from these concepts. I completely disagree with this approach as these areas assist in shaping our society. Today as the population and densities within a city are increasing the solution is not to create

new and improved masterplans but we should establish a greater understanding of the city. Sustainability alone will not solve the issues of global warming (Lim and Liu, 2010) Recently designed eco-cities provide evidence that almost any approach can be taken and made green, the question we must ask ourselves has anything changed from what was previously produced? Lim makes a very interesting statement about an eco-city currently under construction called Masdar “anything that has some

streets, reflecting pools, public transportation nodes, and an assortment of buildings and wind turbines is now an eco-city. This is the direct consequence of pretending masterplans were cities.” (Lim and Liu, 2010 p.248) This will be challenged during the writing of the dissertation as the contextual dimension of an eco-city is the key to its success. The notion of green roofs, waste control and energy management are important but are temporary solutions to a serious problem confronting humanity.

Table of relevant articles It is important to obtain information from many sources to allow for varying opinions among a particular topic. The table below allows for the abstract information to compare the different direction the authors took in their article. A more critical theoretical underpinning is required, and the following lists of literatures are beginning to grasp on the subject, which will be researched and expanded with more literatures from journals.

Title

Author

Abstract

Research Type

Jing Yue Eco City, Changchun (China)

Bauwelt, 2008 Dec.29, Germany

“Masterplan for a sustainable satellite city outside of this provincial capital in Northeastern China. Architects: AS&P Architects Consulting.”

Journal

China blueprint Dongtan

Buxton, Pamela – Riba Journal 2009

“Dongtan might not have broken physical ground yet, but the once-radical principles and ideas in the world's first eco-city masterplan have already been embraced across the world. Even America wants one now.' Masterplans of Dongtan and Wanzhuang by Arup.”

Journal

Kisho Kurokawa: from the EcoCity to the Eco-Media City

A & U: architecture & urbanism, 1998 June.

“Three projects: Chubu EcoMedia-City, Japan (1996); Kuala Lumpur Eco-MediaCity, Malaysia (1994); Shenzhen Eco-Media-City, China (1994)”

Journal

A critique of pure sustainability

Oculus, Millard, Bill

“After years of attention to sustainability, some architects are looking beyond semantics to substance and asking: What exactly are we trying to sustain?”

Journal

Arup plans eco-park for China city

Waite, Richard, Architects' journal, 2005

“A tourist attraction that will become the showpiece of a massive public park in the heart of the new ecocity, the world's first carbonneutral city in China.”

Journal

Dongtan: a Shangri-La for Shanghai?

Bullivant, Lucy, A & U: architecture & urbanism, 2007 May

“Series: New Relationship between Landscape Architecture and Urban Design - Part 9. Since 2005 Arup has been designing and materplanning the world's first eco-city.”

Journal

Enter the dragon: sustainability

Galilee, Beatrice; Levin, Elius

“China is notorious for its polluted cities and frenetic urban growth driven by huge population drift from the countryside. There's a lot riding on an Arup masterplan for a postindustrial, sustainable model city near Shanghai.' On the masterplan for energy production at Dongtan EcoCity. Sidebar by Elius Levin.”

Journal

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi

Rau, Cordula, Topos: the international review of landscape architecture & urban design, 2010

“The eco-city of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi is planned to be sustainable and carbonfree. Architects: Foster + Partners.”

Journal

Dimensions of the eco-city

Roseland, Mark, Cities, 1997

Journal

Eco-city planning policies, practice and design

Wong, Tai-Chee.

Towards an Eco-city : calming the traffic

Engwicht, David, 1992

The eco-city: ten key transport and planning dimensions for sustainable city development

Dimensions of the eco-city

“read with interest the visions of eco-city and the emerging trends of tailormade eco-towns and cities that are fast transforming scores of new cities in China, including Tianjin Eco-City development by the governments of China and Singapore;United Kingdom’s plan to build 10 eco-towns across the country, and the world’sfirst ambitious multibillion dollar carbon neutral city in Masdar, Abu Dhabi in the Middle East, etc.”

“A study of transport issues affecting the quality of life in our cities which presents a practical vision of how we can make them more habitable. Examines such questions as how people and motor vehicles can best coexist, freeway development and pedestrians' rights. Includes an index, a glossary and a bibliography.”

Book

Jeffrey R Kenworthy

“Making existing cities and new urban development more ecologically based and liveable is an urgent priority in the global push for sustainability.”

Journal

Mark Roseland – Paper

“The paper explores the evolution of the concept of the eco-city, and shows how it can be linked to issues ranging from urban planning and economic development through to matters of social justice.”

Journal

“Mankind's original primitive habitat, the cave, provided shelter from wind and rain, shade from the sun, and natural ventilation. Fuel for heat,

Elec Book

Volume 14, Issue4 1997.

Eco Urban design

Flannery, John A. 2011

Book

light and cooking was found locally from sustainable sources.”

Shan Cao, Chi Li, Procedia Environmental Sciences

“The establishment of lowcarbon eco-city planning in the pattern of low-carbon economic development and the low-carbon society consumption with cities as a unit can remove the bottleneck for urban development, promote sustainable urban development and provide ample opportunities for industry upgrading and transformation in cities.”

Journal

Climatic Sub-Regions and Design Contextualism

Issac A. Meir Building and Environment,

“Planning and design in the twentieth Century were drastically altered by a number of factors: the need for rapid housing solutions by the end of world war 2.”

Journal

Kinetic systems in architecture: new approach for environmental control systems

Nelly Ramzy, Hatem fayed

“This paper is about to discuss this new trend and answer some questions about how far could it introduce real solutions to architectural problems, to how extent could these solutions be supportive to environmental control systems, and how could they help developing the interaction between the building and its context.”

Journal

The exploration of concepts and methods for Low-Carbon Eco-City Planning

Aim:

Research Methodology

The topic of choice for the research proposal will be about the idea of ‘Exploring meaning and significance of ‘Contextual Dimension’ of an Eco-City Concept.’ The reason that I feel that this research is significant is due to the fact that environmental issues are becoming more and more important in architecture today but these issues are generalizing the localised issues or the contextual meaning.

Historical research

Contextually the issues we face when designing an eco city is that cities requirements for a healthy environment may be completely different to the other cities in terms of micro-climate and related attributes. We see today precedents are being set on the design of Eco Cities and these can be also be considered as ‘Prototype Cities’ as they are applying innovative technology to reduce the cities strains on its energy resources in which emphasis have given towards self-sufficiency and reinstating a balance in a social dimension within a community.

Continuous references will be made to the initial hypothesis and will be referred to in the conclusion of the research paper.

In order to obtain a greater understanding of initial ideas within an eco city, I will carry out Desk based research will be carried out in which I will study books, journal articles web based research in the areas of Context in Architecture, Ecocities, Urban Design and Sustainability.

Articles and books published by Richard Register, CJ Lim, Ed Liu, Mark Roseland and Ken Yeang as their opinions will prove important in my research conducted.

The research that will be carried out will provide an understanding how context is critical to eco-city applications. I believe that this is a unique topic but requires further research on how others have taken this argument in a critical way. This understanding will be central to my dissertation during the following semester. Once I have established a historical context I will then look to further my analysis on whether eco-cities have adopted the climatic context in their designs or whether it is just the case of copying ideas.

The literature review has allowed me to understand the basic contextual parameters within an eco-city. As the topic is vast and has benefited from a large contributions from various authors has allowed me to narrow down to a direction in which the dissertation will be taken.

Qualitative evaluation The type of research that will be carried out is qualitative research. This will allow for in depth analysis of the topic through articles and publications by authors in this field of architecture. I feel that this type of researching library based research methods will allow me analyse data and draw conclusions from my findings.

Research relevance The designing, building and operation of buildings has the greatest impact on nature and towards an eco-city concept, but the questions still remain how closely the eco-city addresses the micro-climatic issues and the contextual values.

Eco cities have the ability to provide us of new ways of living and building within

cities. There is a need to verify whether the contextual meaning has been preserved at the level of application.

Register makes a very interesting point as he states that cars are the dinosaurs of our time as they are damaging nature.

Once a city has been shaped for cars they remain dependent upon them. (Register 2006 p.3). As concepts of eco cities are becoming more prevalent in architecture today. Their method of applications vary dependent upon their context. I feel more research needs to be carried out in this topic as the basic principles of what makes an eco-city are rather generic.

I will determine the theories that were around in the initial stages of this concept and theoretically analyse how they have developed.

Research schedule During the semester break further research will be conducted and additional material will be updated within the reference list. A breakdown of the dissertation submission will allow for time to edit material in preparation for the final submission in May.

References Ball, P. 2010. Termites show the way to the eco-cities of the future. New scientist.

205 (2748). pp. 35-37.

Bo, Z., Liajuan, L., and Shanyong, L. 2011.Quantitative Study of Eco-City in Northwest China. Procedia Engineering, 21, pp. 345-353.

Burnett, J. 2007. City buildings—Eco-labels and shades of green! Landscape and urban planning, 83(1), pp.29-38.

Cao, S. and Li, C. 2011. The exploration of concepts and methods for Low-Carbon Eco-City Planning. Procedia Environmental Sciences,11, pp. 199-207 Downton, P.F.2008. Ecopolis: Architecture and cities for a Changing Climate.

Springer, Australia.

Cooke, p. 2011. Transition regions: Regional-national eco-innovation systems and strategies. Progress in Planning.76 (3) pp. 105-146.

Fang, Y., Cote, R.P. and Qin, R. 2007.

Industrial sustainability in China: Practice and prospects or eco-industrial development. Journal of Environmental Management. 83 (3), pp. 315-328.

Hart, S. 2011., Ecoarchitecture : the work of Ken Yeang. Wiley.

Hassaan, A., Mahmoud, A. and El-Sayed, M.A. 2011. Development of sustainable urban green areas in Egyptian new cities: The case of El-Sadat City. Landscape and Urban Planning. 101 (2), pp. 157-170.

Hu, D. and Wang, R. 1998. Exploring ecoconstruction for local sustainability: An eco-village case study in China. Ecological Engineering. 11 (1-4) pp. 167-176.

Li, D.Z. et al. 2010. A methodology for ecoefficiency evaluation of residential development at city level. Building and environment, 45(3) pp. 566-573.

Lim, C.J. and Liu, E. 2010 Smart Cities and eco-warriors. Hoboken: Taylor & Francis Liu, Y., Song, Y. and Arp, H.P. 2012.

Examination of the relationship between urban form and eco-efficiency in China.

Habitat international. 36 (1) pp. 171-177.

Register, R., 1993. Eco-City Berkley. North Atlantic Books.

Register, R., 2002. Eco-cities: building cities in balance with nature. Berkeley Hills Books.

Register, R., 2006. Eco-Cities: Rebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature. Revised ed.

New Society Publishers.

Roseland, M. 1997. Dimensions of the eco-city. Cities, 14(4), pp. 197-202.

Thomas, R. 2005. Environmental Design: An introduction for Architects and

Engineers. 3rd ed. New York. Taylor and Francis.

Yang, Z., 2012., Eco-Cities: A planning guide. USA. Taylor and Francis group.

Thomas, R. and Garnham, T. 2007. The environments of Architecture: Enivironmental design in context. New York. Taylor and Francis.

Yeang, K. 1995., Designing with nature : the ecological basis for architectural design. McGraw-Hill.

Tung, C.H. 2011. Existing zoning analysis for eco-community using structural equation model. Procedia Engineering, 21, pp. 948-956.

Wu. F. 2012., China’s eco-cities.

Geoforum. 43 (2) pp. 169-171.

Yang, X.M, Wu, L. and Jiang, Q, 2012.

Carbon Footprint Incorporation into Leastcost Planning of Eco-city Schemes: Practices in Coastal China. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 13, pp. 582-589.

Yangfan, L et al. 2011. Canadian experience in low carbon eco-city development and the implications for China. Energy Procedia. 5, pp. 1791-1795.