RETHINKING GATED COMMUNITIES
New Urbanism for neighbourhood development
CASE OF STUDY - BOGOTA, COLOMBIA. The capital city of Colombia, Bogota, was the case of study for this work. Whereas the city has traditionally grown via open neighbourhoods, the last two decades have been settle on by the growing of gated enclaves with over 2.7 million people living there. This phenomenon has placed a high level of spatial fragmentation and social divides between high and low-income neighbourhoods, that has been emphasized by the lack of planning and design regulations.
High-priority private vehicles
Feeling of fear and Insecurity
Poor quality of Architecture
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Bogota is probably the densest city on the planet, with 7 million individuals living on 35,000 hectares. Vehicle possession is low, at one vehicle for every nine occupants (1), similar to the quantity of vehicles comparative with the length of the street arrange (2). About 71% of mechanized outings are by the system of buses known as Transmilenio (1). Additionally to long travel times, these underlying problems led to poorly maintained roads, bad driving behaviours, and parked cars occupying public spaces such as sidewalks.
Homes surrounded by fences
15 km River
Wetlands
City parks
Town
Eastern Hills 2.600 mts
• Gated communities in Bogota, Colombia
• Section
RESEARCH PROBLEM - SPATIAL SEGREGATION AND GATED COMMUNITIES
CONNECTIVITY GREEN SPACE
CONNECTIVITY GREEN SPACE
CASE - PABLO VI
LAND USES
LAND USES
Spatially, the next layouts show the degree of connectivity, land uses and green space for three gated communities allocated in Bogota, Colombia. The initial outcomes suggest a lack of connectivity and, land use activities.
CASE - LA FELICIDAD
LAND USES
CONNECTIVITY
CASE - COLSUBSIDIO
GREEN SPACE
In recent years most of the neighbourhood units in the Global South have been developed under gated communities’ schemes (residential areas with restricted access in which normally public spaces are privatised). Whilst this might bring benefits for residents such as a sense of security, and, in some cases, good quality of design, gated enclaves also establish physical and social barriers which highlight social differences, and promote discriminatory behaviours.
• Bogota city context
SITE PROJECT From the city scale, the site project includes several metropolitan landmarks considered as part fundamental of townscape and urban structure. For example, The Simon Bolivar Park is the largest in the city with almost 400 hectares. (2) It also has a large number of recreational and cultural facilities that attract local and international scale events . The planning department is located within a modern building created in 1933. This part of the city supply services related to planning, road infrastructure and all aspects related to urban planning (3). The area is also surrounding by other important places such as The National University. La Candelaria is household to some of Bogotá’s most popular museums and attractions. The neighbourhood is an eclectic juxtaposition between old and new, historic and modern. The beautiful buildings are typical of Spanish colonial architecture (4).
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MASTER PLAN VISION
SITE ANALYSIS
The creation of a new centrality for development of tech industries, a sustainable community with high quality housing,excellent environment for pedestrians, cyclist , and good connections toemployment opportunities and multiple modes of transport.
The chosen site for the project was an urban renewal area, falling within the Puente Aranda district nearby city town centre. The location is characterized by having industrial buildings, derelict warehouses, and a historic building that stands out as the unique educational centre in the place. Equally, there is a critical lack of housing and local services, resulting in feelings of non-activity and insecurity for residents and visitors.
• Reshape gated communities by using design principles to achieve people-friendly places. 1.
• Development of tech industries and local creative economies. 2.
• Promote ecological and functional connectivity through creation of new green corridors. 3.
• Replacing existing roundabout by a new linear park for pedestrian mobility.
ROAD NETWORK AND TRANSPORT
• Site context
Bus rapid system station “Transmilenio“
AGRESSIVE TRAFFIC ACCESS BARRIERS
Potential pedestrain access Landmarks Historical building
CONSTRAINTS
Access barriers Area of pedestrian constrain Lack of urban life Inactive frontages
DISCONNECTED ROADS
Potential street connections Access to the light train system
New squares
New metropolitan center
Proposed corridors
DESIGN PRINCIPLES - NEIGHBOURHOOD UNIT AS A GUIDE
Cycle routes Road bridges
Industry Residential Civic Commercial
Parking Business Warehouse
OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSTRAINTS
OPPORTUNITIES
New parks
Proposed landmarks
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Bus station Bus routes
Green corridors Parks Private green Leftover green spaces after planning
Residential development New industrial edge
LAND USES
GREEN SPACE
the existing roundabout and boundary fences have set up physical barriers to pedestrians and cyclists’ movement, which in turn have increased the risk of accidents and undermined the visual character and public life of the place. . These negative connotations are common in other parts of the city and towns in Colombia, where the lack of governance and regulations have reinforced the vulnerability to problems such as spatial segregation promoted by the gated environment.
RISK FOR PEDESTRIAN ACCIDENTS
The project developed six main principles inspired by the NEW URBANISM approach and the case study review (1). They seek out to inform decision-making on how to create a better-built scenario for new mixed-tenure neighbourhoods via a master plan. Some principles are described below The principles are supported by the theoretical concept of “five-minute walking distance”, which means that all the basic community facilities are affordable within a radius of 400 meters within neighbourhood.
• Diagram -theoretical approach
15 - 80 Hectares
+/- 5 minute walk
Connectivity. It encompasses links and the density of intersections into a street network.housing,excellent environMOVEMENT BARRIERS
POLLUTED SIDEWALKS
Small blocks. Which focuses on block size to promote connectivity. Block lengths between 90 to 120 mt work well to get a high degree of walkability. Active Frontages. Provide opportunities for urban activity by extending indoor life to the front of the buildings.
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GREEN SPACE DISTRIBUTION
Existing green spaces
LAND USES DISTRIBUTION
Proposed green areas Proposed green corridors
Green and creative Housing - medium Mix uses - tech Commerce corridors
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• Aerial view
WALKABILITY
Its applicability will depend on involving residents within the design-making process for building a strong vision of place and place attachement. Moreover, it is imperative to consider the the local political support and socio-cultural diversity of Bogota. This proposal has comprised five master planning stages described below. SMALL BLOCKS
CIVIC SPACES
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MIXED USES
BUILDING TYPES
• Design proposal - Technical drawing 1
Large street with transit Central two-ways street
TRANSPORT
Shared commercial streets Pedestrian-only streets
MASTER PLAN - A SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION The principles described previously have been applied into a demonstrative masterplan such as a vision of how the selected site could change in the long term (above). The aims have been to redevelop the area to repair the urban structure and deliver a well-design place capable to discourage the gated environment.
Train station Parking station
MOBILITY SYSTEM
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Socialwellbeing equipments Cable way station
Buses mass lines
Cable way line
Underground bus line
Light train lines
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Neighbourhood corridor
Shared roads
Pedestrian Only
Main transit street
Block lengths of about 80 mts
Small size 25 – 50 mts Medium size 50-120 mts Large Size size. + 120mts
• Section A - A
Houses up to 3 F Block of flats up to 3 F
Equipment's up to 6 F
Small Industries up to 4 F Tech industries / offices up to 8 F
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Courtyards Large Courtyards Industrial pavilions and row houses
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Distinctive architecture style Multi-storey buildings
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MASTER PLAN - NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD The enclosure spaces are articulated through an alleyways system and a set of architectural installations located in the center. These artifacts work as a community symbol where multiple activities such as kinder gardens, small libraries, or community centers can take place. The following diagrams show how they are integrated with the proposed street network and buildings.
•Proposed courtyards and alleyways
• New open community • Multifunctional Equipments connecting by bridges and vertical links.
• Aerial view - new linear park
ROUNDABOUT INTERVENTION - NEW LINEAR PARK As was explained before, the existing roundabout is the hardest environment for pedestrian mobility. Most areas belong to road netxwork and the green areas available are strongly denied to use and benefit by local communities and visitors. Thefore, this section describes the further intervention, and technical design for this place.
The major intervention involves the recovering green areas dominated by roads and vehicular bridges. This entailed the proposal of an underground tunnel for car traffic, and thereby create a new linear park linked to underground bus stations. The project aimed primarily to offer a functional and attractive green landmark at the city level.
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Existing landscape dominated by roads and vehicular bridges.
• New buildings and enclosure spaces •
Proposed tunnel for connection of AV. Americas and AV. Comuneros.
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Aerial view: new linear park, including cable car line, new green areas and connections with underground stations.
• The view of Community spaces from a section.
Underground bus station
• Proposed tunnel and public platform
• Existing road facing proposing buildings.
• Main pedestrian corridor and visual goals.
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