Francisca Molina 24 / 04 / 2013
E N VI RON ME N TA L A N D H UMA N F A CTORS TH A T LEA D TO LE A VE TOWN S FU T U R E T R E D S ,
R E G A R D I N G CU R R E N T P OP U LA TI ON DE CLI N I N G A R E A S
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In the past two centuries, urban growth has increased at a rapid pace, mainly driven by the demographic impact of industrialization. REPOSITORY OF GHOST CITIES, LOST TOWNS AND REMOTE SETTLEMENTS ANCIENT VS. PRESENT LOCATIONS Hashima Chernobyl Prypiat Detroit San Zhi, Taipei (Taiwan) Birao (Africa Central)
Besides urban growth, effects of industrialization have likewise intensified urban shrinkage (decrease).
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INTRODUCTION
Cities of the industrial age have:
experienced unprecedented economic crises followed by waves of out-migration; suffered from violent destruction, made possible by the mechanization of war; they have been drained by suburbanization driven by an industrialized building sector and increasing private car ownership; they have undergone processes of deindustrialization followed by losses of workplaces and population.
KEY WORDS: SHRINKING CITIES-SUBURBANIZATION-DEINDUSTRIALIZATION- URBAN GROWTH
Factors of Abandonments of Settlements around the World • W ORLDWIDE E XEMPLES •
MOST RELEVANT CAUSES OF SHRINKING CITIES AND ABANDONEMENT
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ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS We are entering an era where the potential for an environmentally migration of disasters is rising
◦ Considered Unforseeable ◦ Earthquakes ◦ Unstable slopes
◦ Forseeable IN THE LONG TERM by climate change mitigation ◦ Floods ◦ Hurricanes (Katrina) ◦ Stormy coasts ◦ Volcanoes (Monserrat)
The Caribbean island of St. Montserrat, buried in 1995
Human or Antropogenic Factors INDUSTRIALISATION
TERRITORY [Land Property]
◦ Leveraging [obtaining] of resources ◦ Mining & Exploitation ◦ Resource Depletion
◦ War Conflicts [devastation] ◦ [unsustainable] development
◦ Housing Oversupply [soaring
(i.e. Coal)
housing prices or artificial land
◦ De-Industrialisation
boom]
[decline of Capitalism?]
REPOSITORY OF GHOST CITIES, LOST TOWNS AND REMOTE SETTLEMENTS 6
abandonement by N UCLEAR D ISASTERS FAC TOR:
E XPLOITATION
1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then officially Ukrainian SSR)
OF
N ATURAL R ESOURCES
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NUCLEAR DISASTERS FORSEEABLE OR UNFORSEEABLE?
Prypiat City
Hashima - Gunkanjima (軍艦島)
As coal became obsolete in 1960s Japan, the mines on the island were shut down
abandonement by 1. R ESOURCE H ARVESTING 2. D EPLETION
OF
[OBTENTION]
N ATURAL R ESOURCES
[SHORTAGE]
Harvesting gold or diamonds
ACTUAL LOCATION FACTOR: LEVERAGING OF RESOURCES
•
Rush diamond drilling
reflects the wealth •
By German miners who sought their fortunes there
German imperial gov. jealous Against others to get their loot (diamonds)
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HASHIMA: ABANDONED ISLAND OFF THE COAST OF MACAO 1959- one of the most densely populated cities with more than 5,000 inhabitants
SKYFALL
835 people lived on a square meter and a half of land per person.
SHOOTING
abandonement by P ROCESSES OF D E - INDUSTRIALIZATION
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ACTUAL LOCATION: DETROIT-MOTOR CITY FACTOR: DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION ‘Swiss cheese’ pattern of neighbourhood abandonment 800,000 out-migrants since 1950s;
In red colour: Surface parking lots and underutilized demolished building sites shown in red.
With its dependence and traditional center of the automotive industry (companies based General Motors, Ford and Chrysler), the Detroit area is more vulnerable to economic cycles than most large cities.
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ACTUAL LOCATION: DETROIT-MOTOR CITY FACTOR: DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION
A rise in car manufacturing using robot technology, inexpensive labor in other parts of the world, and increased competition has led to a transformation of certain types of jobs in the region.
Economy is currently in a prolonged dead spiral: Houses for close, then abandoned, neighbourhoods died. Accelerated by recession. Deindustrialisation.
Increasing unemployment rate in the metropolitan Detroit Recently local government seeks to demolish abandoned homes, re-zone land use
Ruins of civilization – A dying city. Listed as the most dangerous city in USA
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ACTUAL LOCATION: DETROIT-MOTOR CITY FACTOR: DE-INDUSTRIALIZATION Results portray a city of contrasts: deep in distress in many areas, but surprisingly strong in others. The survey, found more than 30,000 vacant residential structures, with more than 10,000 of them open to trespass and in dangerous condition.
reports that a recent landmark survey has found that a third of Detroit’s residential parcels are either vacant lots or abandoned homes.
John Gallagher, Detroit Free Press results provided by the Detroit Data Collaborative
ABANDONED PARTS OF DETROIT MAY BE TURNED INTO A ZOMBIE THEME PARK!!! Detroit Dry Docks complex
Solutions?
That should give you a taste of what the show is like
to do something about the city’s plan to formally abandon these neighborhoods by turning them into something more fun and constructive http://www.digitaltrends.com/lifestyle/abandoned-parts-of-detroit-may-be-turned-into-a-zombie-theme-park/ 16
ABANDONEMENT BY WAR CONFLICTS AND HISTORICAL MEMORIES
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ANCIENT LOCATION FACTOR: WAR/BELIC CONFLICTS
But in 2007 came to the town rebels brought violence and destruction against government troops, leaving Birao almost completely burned to the ground.
Only a few years ago Birao served as the capital of Vakaga, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic.
Birao, prefecture of Central African Republic
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ANCIENT LOCATION FACTOR: WAR MEMORIES LOST
Abandoned Yugoslavia Monuments that look like they're from the Future: These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president in the 1960s and 70s to In the 1980s, these monuments attracted millions of visitors per year. After the Republic dissolved in early 1990s, they were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were forever lost.
MEMORIES FROM THE PAST Commemorate sites where â—Ś WWII battles took place, â—Ś Concentration camps stood.
Convey powerful visual impact to show the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic.
ABANDONEMENT BY OTHER PHENOMENA
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San Zhi, Taipei (Taiwan)
ANCIENT LOCATION
Abandoned settlement on the outskirts / sububs
FACTOR: SOCIAL FEARFULNESS A mysterious series of accidents led this would-be tourist town to go unused upon its completion. Further, regional beliefs also kept the abandoned settlement from demolished - for fear of angering spirits dwelling in the complex.
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HOUSING BUBBLE STILL BURSTING IN SPAIN
VALDELUZ CITY (GUADALAJARA) •
Stop on the high speed rail
•
Built to house 30,000 people;
•
only 1,000 people took up residence.
SESEÑA (TOLEDO) Apartments selling: •
2008 - 221,000 €
•
2013 -65,000 € (markets floors below cost since March 2012)
Due to the economic downturn, never finished
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PRESENT LOCATION VALDELUZ CITY
Not even entirely populated area Causes: Due to the changes in State Land Legislation: 1996–2008
FACTOR: UNSUSTAINABLE DWELLING SITES Our national currently cause – PRIORITY
MACROURBANIZATIONS Despite the scarce population, the town is a reminder of the economic downturn and how easy it is for towns to be abandoned.
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‘YOUR HOPES MEET OUR HOPES MEET OURS EVERY DAY’
Consequencies: As a result, the construction sector, encouraged by the residential-infrastructure tandem, steadily increased its share of the Spanish GDP.
’
Valdeluz City (Guadalajara suburb near Madrid)
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CONCLUSIONS
‘Current trends in population growth and global environmental change will result coming decades to ◦ population displacements,
◦ forced migrations, and ◦ abandonment of settlements
on scales previously unseen.’ McLeman, 2011:
PRESENT LOCATION FACTOR: POPULATION GROWTH Potential for environmentally related migration is rising.
Development of Artificial Land
Population growth rates are highest in regions where are acute:
•
resource depletion,
•
land degradation,
•
and the expected impacts of anthropogenic climate change.
As the number of settlements experiencing a heightened state of vulnerability grows, increasing numbers of people will undertake adaptive migration. In some locations this will lead to population decline
City of Almere HOLLAND
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PROCESS OF ABANDONMENT
‘In the context of the long time-scale, the abandonment of inhabited locations may be seen as just one stage in the ongoing cycle of human settlement and land use.’ Stage 1 Rising vulnerability Stage 2 Population decline
Cameron, 1993:
Stage 3 Abandonment
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COMMUN FACTORS OF ABANDONEMENT
Overexploitation Resource Depletion
(i.e. Coal)
Soaring housing prices or artificial land boom Housing Oversupply OPINION As an architect, I think the old abandoned sites after the hegemony of the industrial age should be preserved as cultural heritage.
WHAT CAN YOU DO AS A CITIZEN? ACTIVE CITIZEN - TOP 7 WEBSITES FOR CREATING THE FUTURE CITY
A collaborative platform for sharing
LEARNING CITIZEN – BOOKS, ARTICLES I.
R. Register. EcocitiesRebuilding Cities in Balance with Nature. 2006, New Society Publishers
II.
R.A. McLeman Settlement abandonment in the context of global environmental change. Global Environmental Change (2011)
III.
Pérez, J.M.G. The Real Estate and Economic Crisis: An Opportunity for Urban Return and Rehabilitation Policies in Spain. Sustainability 2010, 2, 1571-1601.
ideas about:
◦ urban development, ◦ urban transformation, ◦ engage in dialogues
GIVE A MINUTE, EIGHBOURLAND, THE CITY 2.0, WALKONOMICS, WALK YOUR CITY, SPACEHIVE
A crowdfunding platform for neighborhood improvement projects.
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OUR PARTICULAR ABANDONED INFRASTRUCTURES
UNCOMPLETED LARGE-SCALE ENDEAVOURS
Culture City (GALICIA)
What can we do with our abandoned airports and thematic centres that carry public debts that will last for decades to the citizenship?