Unless otherwise sourced, all images are the intellectual work and property of The Uncertain[ci]ty Project
Master of Urban Design at Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan.
Open
Recasting
Reclaiming
Retooling
Renegotiating Agency in The Uncertain[ci]ty
The present urban condition is an imperfect work in progress, constantly reshaped and reinvented by disparate geopolitical, socio-economic, and environmental realities. The shifts in the uneven circulation of global capital are simultaneously producing extreme urban landscapes of wealth accumulation and resource commodification, and sustained decline and dispossession. Operating in an uncertain climate, urban designers have to negotiate a myriad of tangible and intangible forces while addressing urgent, localized responses to place and care.
In a time of rapid urban changes at a planetary scale, what is our agency negotiating these forces in the making of a more just city? Is it policy, property, form, program, process, advocacy, or activism that should guide the work? What are the networks and coalitions that we should seek to make design intentionally grounded and pluralistic? How to design for difference and a multiplicity of lifestyles? How to render belonging, joy, and wonder while addressing the many crises of today?
Addressing these prompts and using the urban project as the unit of analysis, the research is categorized under four key themes that reflect the uncertainties of the modern day city: After Decline, Climate Contingencies, Foreign Urbanisms and Urban Retrofits.
Account of key global, national, and local events that helps contextualize the urban projects under study.
18
20
A Global / Local Timeline
1995
Second IPCC report detects "signature" of human-caused greenhouse effect warming, declares that serious warming is likely in the coming century.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Serious flooding in Netherlands lead to a state of emergency, with a quarter-of-a-million people evacuated from their homes.
1996
Refugees in Rwanda and Burundi are caught up in new fighting and killings.
1997
U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station. Another spacecraft begins sending back pictures from Mars. Hong Kong reverts to Chinese control. The Asian Crisis - widespread reversal of billions of dollars of foreign investment in East Asian countries. Kyoto Protocol adopted
1998
Google introduces their search engine to the Web.
the
Megaflood in China. The 1998 megaflood was a major flood that included the river basin areas of the Yangtze, Nengjiang and Songhua rivers.
Americans for UNFPA - Americans for UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which supports the health and dignity of women everywhere.
1999 Macao reverts to Chinese rule.
World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
1800-1830
1910 Union of South Africa is created.
The 5 October 1910 revolution in Portugal and proclamation of the First Portuguese Republic.
1911 The Italo-Turkish war which led to the capture of Libya by Italy, begins.
Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew the Qing dynasty of China, begins.
Swiss race car driver and automotive engineer Louis Chevrolet co-founds the Chevrolet Motor Company in Detroit with his brother Arthur Chevrolet, William C. Durant and others.
1912
2004 The Kivu Conflict in the eastern Congo, an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
1900 Galveston hurricane leaves an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 dead. Boxer Rebellion in China against the Manchu government.
1901 Commonwealth Of Australia Created.
2001
Four coordinated 9/11 Terrorist Attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against US.
1902 Eruption of Mount Pelée, Martinique (40,000 killed)
Terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi, on December 13.
Gujarat Earthquake, India
US and Great Britain attack Afghanistan Warming observed in ocean basins; match with computer models gives a clear signature of greenhouse effect warming.
1903 The Wright Brothers make their first successful airplane flight in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1904 Russo-Japanese War
Stock prices took a sharp downturn in markets across the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe, causing the crash.
Brazilian City Statute providing land access and equity in large urban cities.
2002
International Criminal Court (ICC) Euro replaced the Dutch guilder. Bahrain becomes a constitutional monarchy.
The insurgency in the North African Maghreb and Sahel regions (2002-present) followed the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002.
2003
New Delhi becomes the capital of British India.
End of the Chinese Empire. Republic of China established.
1913
2005 Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane Katrina caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Maharashtra floods impacted many parts of the Indian state, including large areas of Mumbai. Kyoto Treaty signed by major industrial nations except US. Work to retard emissions accelerates in Japan, Western Europe, US regional governments and some corporations.
1914
Britain and the Ottoman government sign a treaty recognizing the independence of Bahrain, but the country remains under British administration.
US congress establishes federal reserve system
USA joins the Allies for the last 17 months of World War I.
The Netherlands government accepts the marching of German Imperial Army through Dutch territory during the invasion of Belgium to maintain neutrality.
Panama Canal opens to traffic. Governments learn to mobilize and control industrial societies.
1916
2006 The Mexican Drug War, an ongoing low-intensity conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking cartels. China overtakes the US as the world’s biggest CO2 emitter.
1906 Movement for Women's Suffrage becomes active in Britain Underground Fire France Earthquake San Francisco thirty thousand homes were either partially or wholly destroyed and an estimated 3,000 were reported dead Mount Vesuvius Erupted San Francisco Earthquake Antiquities Act
1907 Romanian Peasants Revolt
War in Darfur, major armed conflict in Sudan with the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan
SARS
In advance of the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Sykes–Picot Agreement treaty is signed between the UK and France, with assent from the Russian Empire and Italy,. It defined mutually agreed influence and control, defining the common border between Syria and what was to become Jordan, Palestine / Israel and Iraq
1917 The Ukrainian–Soviet War begins.
2007 Virginia Polytechnic Institute Shootings comprised two attacks on the campus. Fourth IPCC report warns that serious effects of warming have become evident; cost of reducing emissions would be far less than the damage they will cause. Illegal Immigration Hits 11 Million
Russian Revolution
1908 Development of the inexpensive automobile -Ford Messina Earthquake The earthquake and tsunami it caused killed between 50,000 and 150,000
The Iraq War, a protracted armed conflict from 2003 to 2011, began with the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed.
2008 Barack Obama Elected President Great Recession Subprime mortgage crisis triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the collapse of a housing bubble, leading to mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and the devaluation of housing-related securities
1909 Establishment of The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Plan for Chicago by Daniel Burnham
Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
The Belfour Declaration issued announcing support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then under Ottoman Rule
1918
Ukraine declares independence from Russia. German Revolution begins. World War I ends. Worldwide influenza epidemic strikes
1919 Irish War
2009 The Boko Haram insurgency, the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. Bitcoin was born. Brazil blackout.
1903 Detroit Henry Ford founded the Ford Motor Company in Detroit.
1920s "Golden Twenties" in Europe Europe and the United State's economy boomed during the 1920s, resulting from a paradigm shift.
League of Nations - The first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.
1920 By 1920, every state west of the Mississippi River allowed women to vote.
The Ku Klux Klan, a genocidal domestic terrorist organization founded during Reconstruction, was revitalized in 1920.
League of Nations established Women Right to Vote: passed in the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1930 Global warming trend since late 19th century reported Revolt in Brazil after Conservative Julio Prestes was elected President.
1931 Japanese expansion in Manchuria (Mukden Incident) Empire State Building, the world's tallest building for the next 35 years, constructed. The Bahrain Petroleum Company, a subsidiary of Standard Oil, discovers oil and production begins.
1932 Roosevelt, elected president, announces the "New Deal" to combat the economic and social devastation of the Great Depression.
Saudi Arabia founded. World War II started September.
2015 US and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations.
1921 The Communist Party of China officially formed.
World Expo in Milan, Italy
1933 The NSDAP (Nazi Party) under Adolf Hitler wins the German federal election.
Researchers find collapse of West Antarctic Ice sheet may be irreversible, bringing meters of sea-level rise over future centuries.
1922 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) created. Lower Louisiana Floods affect fifty thousand people.
1924 Indian Citizenship Act or Snyder Act.
made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Emirates, opened. history in the Gulf of Mexico.
Shanghai, China world’s second-largest economy
'Good Neighbor Policy' (a foreign policy of US for Latin America) implemented for non-intervention and noninterference in the domestic affairs of Latin America.
Paris Agreement: nearly all nations pledge to set their own targets for greenhouse gas cuts and report progress.
2016
Solar electricity and wind power become economically competitive with fossil fuels in some regions.
1934 National Housing Act encourages improvement in housing standards and conditions, to provide a system of mutual mortgage insurance".
China is launches the world's first quantum satellite.
1922 Mussolini marches on Rome; forms Fascist government. Irish Free State a self-governing dominion of British Empire Official fall of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey declared a republic.
China launches Shenzhou 11 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Inner Mongolia.
China launches Long March 5 from China Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan.
Sports became popular in Latin America - Latin American Games in Rio de Janeiro
protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab named The Arab Spring. Earthquake and Tsunami impacted Fukushima resulted in a major nuclear accident ending the nuclear power.
1935 Ethiopian Empire invaded by Italy during the Second ItaloAbyssinian War from 1935 to 1936.
Emergency Relief Appropriation Act creates the WPA or Works Progress Administration that provided millions of jobs in the US.
1940 Hitler invaded Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Churchill became Britain's prime minister.
1941 Germany attacked the Balkans and Russia. Japanese surprise attack on US fleet at Pearl Harbor brought U.S. into World War II; US and Britain declare war on Japan.
1941 US war economy: during World War II, the US manufacturing at a highest rate while also under "command economy" in which price controls were in place.
1944 Allies invaded Normandy on D-Day.
1945 Germany and Japan surrendered. U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
United Nations established. Taiwan returned to Chinese control.
U.S. Office of Naval Research began generous funding of many fields of science, some of which happened to be useful for understanding climate change.
United Nations was formed.
United Nations Security Council, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, the arts, the sciences, and culture. Word Bank (WB) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Brazil became a member of UN.
1946
2017
1926-1927 First United Front alliance between Nationalists and CCP. Northern Expedition (anti-warlord military campaign) begins. Led by General Chiang Kai-shek reunifies China under Nationalist government.
Hurricane Harvey Donald John Trump, elected 45th US President Insurgency in Cabo Delgado 'Brexit' - Britain's exit from the EU dropped its economy in the first quarter
1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident initiates invasion of mainland China. Battle of Shanghai follows from mid AugustNovember followed by the occupation of Beijing and the then capital city, Nanjing.
President Trump announces his intent to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement
South Sudan becomes Brazil's first female president.
find recent disastrous heat waves, of precipitation, and floods were worsen
1929 Stock market crashed on Black Thursday (October 24) and caused the start of the The Great Depression. The long duration of depression led to large unemployment and poverty, as well as increasing social unrest worldwide.
Republic Civil War
in West African
2019
President Vargas In Brazil lead coup, ruled as dictator with military backing. Economy placed under state control, start of social welfare revolution.
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, World's longest seacrossing bridge. Bahrain reports discovery of the kingdom's largest oilfield in more than 80 years.
1938 Callendar argues that CO2 greenhouse global warming is underway, reviving interest in the question. Germany begins its persecution of Jews.
70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
1939 Start of World War II
Increasing disasters (tropical cyclones, wildfires, etc.) join scientists' warnings to spur public demonstrations and civil disobedience.
Mean global temperature is 14.8°C, the warmest in tens of thousands of years. CO2 levels in atmosphere is 415 ppm, the highest in millions of years.
1920s São Paulo 2200 lots laid out to transform a farmland to formal urban fabric, which later became Paraisopolis.
2015 Rotterdam 75 years of reconstruction of the city was celebrated.
happened in Shenzhen.
saw a near 16 percent increase in
lings
1920s Shanghai Shanghai's concession enjoyed a special peace and accelerated its economic development and population growth.
1956
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide.
A new constitution implemented in Brazil, restored the rights of individuals.
Strike wave in US, the largest strikes in American labor history
1947
A cholera epidemic toke 20,000 lives in Egypt India gets Independence
Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital accepted patients after a speedy construction build period. The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco normalize ties with Israel
1948 Gandhi assassinated in New Delhi
1949
Housing Act, (aka Taft-Ellender-Wagner Act) provided federal loans to cities to clear slum areas.
Glasgow Global Conference on Health & Climate Change, with a special focus on Climate Justice and Healthy and Green Recovery from COVID-19 Massive flooding in Germany, China, India and the US exacerbates the impacts of Climate Change globally.
Battleground of the civil war. CCT controlled it in 1949.
1957
1958
Troops Land in Lebanon revolt in Iraq resulted in the Lebanese government.
1930s Shenzhen In 1937, Shenzhen participated in the war of Resistance against Japanese Aggression..
1930s Muharraq After a series of catastrophes including wars, price crashes, the arrival of cheap cultivated pearls, the Wall Street crash and its impact on the market for luxury goods, and riots by divers aggrieved at the loss of income, all led to the decline in the 1930s and ultimately total collapse of the industry by 1950.
1930 Pittsburgh
1930 São Paulo São Paulo Futebol Clube was formed in the Morumbi District.
1932, Detroit Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) Act was passed. This act
1941 Pittsburgh strong public health campaign in Pittsburgh to link health to air pollution
1932 Muharraq Muharraq is Bahrain's third largest city and served as its capital until 1932 it was replaced by Manama.
1940 Rotterdam Heavy aerial bombardment by the Luftwaffe during the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II.
1950 Amman Jordan formally annexes the West Territories
1920s Detroit All throughout the 1920s, patterns arose of whites beginning to de
ne black neighbourhoods by race.
1920s Shenzhen Relationship between KMT and Communist Party broken, thus conflicts
1940s Shenzhen
1950s Shenzhen Became the bridge of the continent
1950 Muharraq Total collapse of the Pearling
1950s Bremen Bremen's economy boomed in Wirtschaftswunder of the 1950s permanent settlement, of a large drawn largely
1998 Google introduces their search engine to the Web. Megaflood in China. The 1998 megaflood was a major flood that included the river basin areas of the Yangtze, Nengjiang and Songhua rivers.
Americans for UNFPA - Americans for UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which supports the health and dignity of women everywhere.
1999 Macao reverts to Chinese rule. World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
The Iraq War, a protracted armed conflict
to 2011, began with the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed. Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
A Global / Local Timeline
Pittsburgh It was chosen as host city for the prestigious and influential G20 summit
Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, prime minister. and Russia. fleet at Pearl Harbor brought Britain declare war on Japan.
War II, the US manufacturing under
A Global / Local Timeline
1950
Cold war between the US and the USRR heated up.
Post–World War II economic expansion started. Also known as the Golden Age of Capitalism
Postwar baby boom dramatically increases birth rates in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.
Suburbanization boom
Korean War started, USRR putt nuclear missiles on submarines.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) White Flight with white families moving from cities to the suburbs.
1951
Decolonization of Africa
King Abdullah assesisnated in Jerusalem over secret talks with Israel
1952 Immigration and Naturalization Act.
Ideological clash between Communism and Capitalism Polio epidemic in US Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany formed the European Coal and Steel Community.
1953
Cuban Revolution started
The Soviet Union detonates a hydrogen bomb with much more power than the atomic bomb.
1954
Netherlands was hit by a storm which destroys the Dykes and killed 1836 people.
2000 U.S. brush fires
The Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court states "separate but equal" school systems are unconstitutional, starting an era of desegregation of schools.
2001
1995
1960
Brazil capital moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia. OPEC ( Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries ) formed during meeting in Baghdad, Iraq Civil Right Act, dealt primarily with voter disenfranchisement.
1961
The Berlin Crisis of 1961 occurred between 4 June – 9 November 1961, and was the last major European politicomilitary incident of the Cold War about the occupational status of the German capital city, Berlin, and of post–World War II Germany.
1960s Civil Unrest. Political Assassinations, labor movement, women's movement, civil rights, anti-Vietnam war. Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)
1962
1963
China-Indian Border War.
Civil Rights march in Washington on 28 August 1963, more than 200,000 demonstrators took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in the nation's capital.
Colony of Netherlands New Guinea was ceded to Indonesia.
First meeting of experts concerned with global warming warns that a rise in sea level is likely, with "immense flooding" of shorelines.
1964
War on Poverty, the unofficial name for legislation proposed by president Johnson in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent.
Over 5 million acres destroyed by brush fires in Western US worst in 50 years
The US enters into the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) to oppose communism in Asia.
Four coordinated 9/11 Terrorist Attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against US.
The US launches the first nuclear powered submarine, the Nautilus.
Vietnam War started
Second IPCC report detects "signature" of human-caused greenhouse effect warming, declares that serious warming is likely in the coming century.
Scientific and Cultural specialized agency promoting through international cooperation sciences, and culture.
Organization (FAO)
1996
1997
1971 War between India and Pakistan begins.
The environmentalist group Greenpeace is founded. Bahrain declares independence and signs a new treaty of friendship with Britain. Bahrain and the US sign an agreement which permits the US to rent naval and military facilities.
1972
President Nixon makes an unprecedented eight-day visit to Communist China and meets with Mao Zedong. U.S. planes bomb North Vietnam on Christmas Day. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) coordinates responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system.
1973
U.S. signs peace pact and troops pull out of Vietnam. Bombing of Cambodia stops, ending 12 years of U.S. combat in Southeast Asia.
2004 The Kivu Conflict in the eastern Congo, an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
Great Britain, Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, the EU. Oil embargo and price rise bring first "energy crisis", leading to economic crisis in the US and many other developed nations.
The Fourth Arab–Israeli War broke out between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria.
Terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi, on December 13.
Urbanization Rate of China decreased to 17.58% Oil reserves discovered in Oman; extraction begins in 1967. Jordan and Saudi Arabia concluded a bilateral agreement that realigned and delimited their boundaries. Civil Rights Act, landmark civil rights and labor law in the US that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Gujarat Earthquake, India US and Great Britain attack Afghanistan
US Federal Housing Act initiates the urban renewal era.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Serious flooding in Netherlands lead to a state of emergency, with a quarter-of-a-million people evacuated from their homes.
Clashes resume between imamite forces, seeking an independent state in the interior, and those of the sultan.
Warming observed in ocean basins; match with computer models gives a clear signature of greenhouse effect warming.
1955 Phillips produces a convincing computer model of the global atmosphere.
Refugees in Rwanda and Burundi are caught up in new fighting and killings.
(UNICEF) - United Nations providing humanitarian and worldwide. implemented in Brazil, restored the strikes in American labor lives in Egypt Delhi Wagner Act) provided federal areas.
1998
1956
Stock prices took a sharp downturn in markets across the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe, causing the crash.
Brazilian City Statute providing land access and equity in large urban cities.
2002
Second Arab-Israeli War after Egypt seizes the Suez Canal from the British.
U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station. Another spacecraft begins sending back pictures from Mars. Hong Kong reverts to Chinese control.
1957
1999
1974
2005 Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane Katrina caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Maharashtra floods impacted many parts of the Indian state, including large areas of Mumbai. Kyoto Treaty signed by major industrial nations except US. Work to retard emissions accelerates in Japan, Western Europe, US regional governments and some corporations.
1965 US Great Society aprograms seek the total elimination of poverty and racial injustice. Boulder, Colorado meeting on causes of climate change: Lorenz and others point out the chaotic nature of the climate system and the possibility of sudden shifts. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Housing and Community Development Act established the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG) and focused on redevelopment of existing neighborhoods and properties rather than demolition.
1975
2006 The Mexican Drug War, an ongoing low-intensity conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking cartels. China overtakes the US as the world’s biggest CO2 emitter.
1966 China began its decade-long “Great Cultural Revolution,” a decade of civil turmoil.
International Criminal Court (ICC) Euro replaced the Dutch guilder.
Ewing and Donn offer a feedback model for abrupt climate change.
The Asian Crisis - widespread reversal of billions of dollars of foreign investment in East Asian countries. Kyoto Protocol adopted
Bahrain becomes a constitutional monarchy.
The insurgency in the North African Maghreb and Sahel regions (2002-present) followed the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002.
2003
Rome Treaty, signed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, established the European Economic Community, otherwise known as the Common Market.
Google introduces their search engine to the Web.
1958
Megaflood in China. The 1998 megaflood was a major flood that included the river basin areas of the Yangtze, Nengjiang and Songhua rivers.
1967 The Peace Movement seeks to end wars and minimize interhuman violence. aiming to achieve world peace. International Global Atmospheric Research Program established to gather data for better short-range weather and climate forecast.
War in Darfur, major armed conflict in Sudan with the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan
The Great Chinese Famine begins, causing the death of nearly 30 million.
Americans for UNFPA - Americans for UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which supports the health and dignity of women everywhere.
Egypt and Syria join United Arab Republic.
US Troops Land in Lebanon to help maintain order after a revolt in Iraq resulted in the ouster of the pro-Western Lebanese government.
Macao reverts to Chinese rule.
1968
North Vietnamese enter Saigon. The last group of Americans are evacuated by helicopter at the last minute from the roof of the embassy. The War in Vietnam is over.
1976 The United States celebrates the Bicentennial marking 200 years as a nation.
2007 Virginia Polytechnic Institute Shootings comprised two attacks on the campus. Fourth IPCC report warns that serious effects of warming have become evident; cost of reducing emissions would be far less than the damage they will cause. Illegal Immigration Hits 11 Million
1977 Scientific opinion tends to converge on global warming, not cooling, as the chief climate risk in the next century.
1978
Egypt's president Anwar Sadat and Israeli premier Menachem Begin sign a "Framework for Peace" after meeting for 13 days with Jimmy Carter at Camp David. Later they win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Britain moves its main Middle East regional naval base from Aden to Bahrain.
SARS The Iraq War, a protracted armed conflict from 2003 to 2011, began with the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed.
2008 Barack Obama Elected President Great Recession Subprime mortgage crisis triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the collapse of a housing bubble, leading to mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and the devaluation of housing-related securities
Californians vote in Proposition 13 to cut property taxes by 60 percent. This sets the stage for a series of budget crises. China was transformed into a market economy in 1978 with comprehensive reform and opening-up policy by Deng. The economy and urbanization started rapid growth.
Fair Housing Act prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin or sex.
2009 The Boko Haram insurgency, the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. Bitcoin was born. Brazil blackout.
1950
World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
1950s Bremen
Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
1960
Bremen's economy boomed in line with the West German Wirtschaftswunder of the 1950s and 1960s, with the growth, and permanent settlement, of a large migrant worker population, drawn largely from Turkey and southern Europe.
1960 Rotterdam Euromast tower built.
2010
1950s Shenzhen Became the bridge of the continent and Hongkong. 1960s Shenzhen Affairs of stowaway into Hongkong happened frequently.
1950 Detroit
Industrial mergers in the 1950s, especially in the automobile sector, increased oligopoly in the American auto industry.
1950 Muharraq Total collapse of the Pearling industry. Pittsburgh to link health to air begins.
1962 Rotterdam Port of Rotterdam ranked world's busiest port by cargo tonnage.
1970
1970s Bremen Bremen's heavier industries failed to recover from the oil-priceshock recession of the early 1970s.
1970
1970 Detroit The NAACP fi
1979 In Iran, the Shah leaves the country after years of turmoil. Exiled Muslim leader Ayatollah Khomeini returns and declares an Islamic Republic. 1950 Pittsburgh Accounting for nearly half of national
1970 Detroit Henry Ford II conceived of the Renaissance Center as a way to help the city retain residents who were moving to the suburbs.
estate market after the housing crash of 2008 1997 Bremen Bremer Vulcan, Bremen's major shipbuilders, closed
1963 Muscat Slavery abolished.
lings
1980 The Iranian hostage crisis deepens. U.S. breaks diplomatic ties with Iran. Eight Americans killed when helicopters collide in a rescue mission.
Iraq invades Iran and an eight-year war ensues.
First Chinese Special Economic Zone, offering low regulation and encouraging foreign investment.
The Chinese One-Child Policy, under which couples are fined for additional children with few exceptions, came into force until 2015.
Sino-Vietnamese conflicts 1979–90: Chinese forces began shelling the Vietnamese Cao Bằng Province.
1981 President Reagan nominates Judge Sandra Day O'Connor,
first female judge in Supreme Court.
The first cases of AIDS identified.
Reagan Presidency brings backlash against environmental movement to power. Political conservatism is linked to skepticism about global warming.
1985 Brazil’s returned to civilian rule.
Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko dies and is replaced by a young Mikhail Gorbachev. He calls for reforms in the Soviet Union.
Scientists announce the discovery of hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic.
In art, the Guerilla Girls stage protests over sexism and racism in the world's museums.
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SARC)
2015 US and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations.
Bahrain joins the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which also includes Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
World Expo in Milan, Italy
Researchers find collapse of West Antarctic Ice sheet may be irreversible, bringing meters of sea-level rise over future centuries.
1982 Great Britain defeats Argentina in a war over the isolated Falkland Islands.
2016
1986 The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the USSR spreads radiation over Russia and Europe, forcing the evacuation of 135,000 people.
Paris Agreement: nearly all nations pledge to set their own targets for greenhouse gas cuts and report progress.
The Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution fails to gain ratification. Feminists are frustrated. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev dies and is succeeded by Yuri Andropov.
made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Emirates, opened. history in the Gulf of Mexico.
Spain and Portugal join the European Economic Community.
U.S. House kills Reagan's Star Wars anti-missile program.
1987
Solar electricity and wind power become economically competitive with fossil fuels in some regions.
U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Rotary Club must accept women members.
China is launches the world's first quantum satellite.
The Vietnam Memorial opens in Washington, designed by a young Maya Linn. Initially controversial, it becomes a beloved memorial.
Shanghai, China world’s second-largest economy
China launches Shenzhou 11 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Inner Mongolia.
A severe earthquake hits Los Angeles killing six and injuring 100.
The world's population hits 5 billion.
China launches Long March 5 from China Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan.
Greenland ice cores reveal drastic temperature oscillations in the space of a century in the distant past.
2017
protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab named The Arab Spring.
1983 President Reagan announces his plans for a missile defence plan called Star Wars.
Earthquake and Tsunami impacted Fukushima resulted in a major nuclear accident ending the nuclear power.
The U.S. invades the tiny island of Grenada.
2018
South Sudan becomes Brazil's first female president.
find recent disastrous heat waves, of precipitation, and floods were worsen
2019
1987 Lieyu massacre: 19 people killed by the Republic of China Army targeting Vietnamese boat people near the coast of Kinmen.
Hurricane Harvey Donald John Trump, elected 45th US President Insurgency in Cabo Delgado 'Brexit' - Britain's exit from the EU dropped its economy in the first quarter
1984 Soviet leader Yuri Andropov dies; Konstantin Chernenko succeeds him. In protest of the Olympic boycott of four years before, the Soviets boycott the Los Angeles Olympics. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards. A thousand Sikhs are killed in riots. The Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which China and the United Kingdom agreed to the transfer of Hong Kong to China and the preservation there of democracy and capitalism under the one country, two systems model, was signed during the visit of the British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
Republic Civil War in West African
saw a near 16 percent increase in
1988 George Bush elected US President.
The U.S. and Canada reach a free trade agreement.
President Trump announces his intent to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement
Toronto conference calls for strict, specific limits on greenhouse gas emissions; UK Prime Minister Thatcher is first major leader to call for action.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) created
1989
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, World's longest seacrossing bridge. Bahrain reports discovery of the kingdom's largest oilfield in more than 80 years.
1990 Iraq invades Kuwait and seizes oil assets, igniting the Persian Gulf War. Leaders of 34 European Nations proclaim a United Europe. IPCC
1991
Report
The USSR dissolves into 15 separate republics. Warsaw Pact for Military Protection dissolved.
Commonwealth of Independent States Bahrain signs a defence cooperation agreement with the US, providing for port facilities and joint military exercises. Deltawerken, a complex system of coastal defences completed in Netherlands.
1992
Presidents Bush and Yeltsin declare a formal end to the Cold War.
President Bush pardons former Reagan administration officials involved in the Iran-Contra affair.
Rio Earth Summit
1993
Greenland ice cores suggest that great climate changes (at least on a regional scale) can occur in the space of a single decade.
Gulf War led by the US against Iraq in response to Iraq's annexation of Kuwait.
European Union (EU) formed.
Huoshenshan
The East German government allows their citizens to cross into West Berlin. Shortly, the Berlin Wall is torn down.
In Hungary, the parliament enacts democratic reforms and pressures the Soviets to pull out their troops.
Israel
70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
Increasing disasters (tropical cyclones, wildfires, etc.) join scientists' warnings to spur public demonstrations and civil disobedience.
Czech parliament ends Communist rule. The Soviet Union withdraws its troops from Afghanistan. Jiang Zemin became General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.
Mean global temperature is 14.8°C, the warmest in tens of thousands of years. CO2 levels in atmosphere is 415 ppm, the highest in millions of years.
2015 Rotterdam 75 years of reconstruction of the city was celebrated.
1994
South Africa holds their first interracial, one-man-one-vote election and Nelson Mandela is elected president.
Ethnic cleansing continues in the former Yugoslavia.
The Hubble Space Telescope first finds evidence of black holes in the universe. The find is confirmed in 2001.
1956 Second Arab-Israeli War after Egypt seizes the Suez Canal from the British. Ewing and Donn offer a feedback model for abrupt climate change.
1957 Rome Treaty, signed by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, established the European Economic Community, otherwise known as the Common Market.
1999 Macao reverts to Chinese rule. World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
1958 The Great Chinese Famine begins, causing the death of nearly 30 million.
Egypt and Syria join United Arab Republic.
A Global / Local Timeline
Boulder, Colorado meeting on causes of climate change: Lorenz and others point out the chaotic nature of the climate system and the possibility of sudden shifts. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
1966
1967
the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed. Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
US Troops Land in Lebanon to help maintain order after a revolt in Iraq resulted in the ouster of the pro-Western Lebanese government.
1976 The United States celebrates the Bicentennial marking
years as a nation.
1977 Scientific opinion tends to converge on global warming, not cooling, as the chief climate risk in the next century.
1978 Egypt's president Anwar Sadat and Israeli premier Menachem Begin sign a "Framework for Peace" after meeting for 13 days with Jimmy Carter at Camp David. Later they win the Nobel Peace Prize. Californians vote in Proposition 13 to cut property taxes by
1979 In
Detroit The city elected Coleman Young as its first black mayor. Young emphasized increasing racial diversity in the police department and worked to improve Detroit’s transportation system.
1950 Detroit Industrial mergers in the 1950s, especially in the automobile sector, increased oligopoly in the American auto industry.
Pittsburgh Accounting for nearly half of national steel output.
Chicago DuSable Museum of African American History Established
Chicago Chicago Freedom Movement, led by
Amman Jordan formally annexes the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories
Amman Battles between Jordanian Armed Forces and the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) take place during the Black September Attacks
1950s Shenzhen
Shenzhen
of stowaway into Hongkong happened frequently.
crash
1970s Bremen Bremen's heavier industries failed to recover from the oil-priceshock recession of the early 1970s.
1971 Bremen The University of Bremen founded
1950s Bremen
Muscat Office of municipality president established.
1963 Muscat Slavery abolished. 1967 Muscat Petroleum Development Oman headquartered in Muscat.
major shipbuilders, closed
oil assets, igniting the
Nations proclaim a United Europe. Change Assessment Report
1995
separate republics. Warsaw dissolved.
A Global / Local Timeline
2000 U.S. brush fires Over 5 million acres destroyed by brush fires in Western US worst in 50 years
2001
2000 U.S. brush fires Over 5 million acres destroyed by brush fires in Western US worst in 50 years
2001
1995 Second IPCC report detects "signature" of human-caused greenhouse effect warming, declares that serious warming is likely in the coming century. World Trade Organization (WTO) Serious flooding in Netherlands lead to a state of emergency, with a quarter-of-a-million people evacuated from their homes.
Second IPCC report detects "signature" of human-caused greenhouse effect warming, declares that serious warming is likely in the coming century.
Independent States cooperation agreement with the and joint military exercises. system of coastal defences
World Trade Organization (WTO) Serious flooding in Netherlands lead to a state of emergency, with a quarter-of-a-million people evacuated from their homes.
1996
declare a formal end to the former Reagan administration Iran-Contra affair.
1997
2004 The Kivu Conflict in the eastern Congo, an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
Four coordinated 9/11 Terrorist Attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against US. Terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi, on December 13.
Four coordinated 9/11 Terrorist Attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against US.
Terrorist attack on the Parliament of India in New Delhi, on December 13.
Gujarat Earthquake, India US and Great Britain attack Afghanistan Warming observed in ocean basins; match with computer models gives a clear signature of greenhouse effect warming.
Gujarat Earthquake, India US and Great Britain attack Afghanistan
1996 Refugees in Rwanda and Burundi are caught up in new fighting and killings.
1997
Refugees in Rwanda and Burundi are caught up in new fighting and killings.
2004 The Kivu Conflict in the eastern Congo, an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Hutu Power group Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami hit northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
2005 Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane Katrina caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Maharashtra floods impacted many parts of the Indian state, including large areas of Mumbai. Kyoto Treaty signed by major industrial nations except US. Work to retard emissions accelerates in Japan, Western Europe, US regional governments and some corporations.
2005 Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane Katrina caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Maharashtra floods impacted many parts of the Indian state, including large areas of Mumbai. Kyoto Treaty signed by major industrial nations except US. Work to retard emissions accelerates in Japan, Western Europe, US regional governments and some corporations.
Stock prices took a sharp downturn in markets across the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe, causing the crash.
Warming observed in ocean basins; match with computer models gives a clear signature of greenhouse effect warming.
Brazilian City Statute providing land access and equity in large urban cities.
Stock prices took a sharp downturn in markets across the US, Canada, Asia, and Europe, causing the crash.
U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station. Another spacecraft begins sending back pictures from Mars.
Hong Kong reverts to Chinese control.
2002
Brazilian City Statute providing land access and equity in large urban cities.
The Asian Crisis - widespread reversal of billions of dollars of foreign investment in East Asian countries. Kyoto Protocol adopted
U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station. Another spacecraft begins sending back pictures from Mars. Hong Kong reverts to Chinese control.
that great climate changes (at occur in the space of a single Iraq in response to Iraq's
The Asian Crisis - widespread reversal of billions of dollars of foreign investment in East Asian countries. Kyoto Protocol adopted
1998
2006 The Mexican Drug War, an ongoing low-intensity conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking cartels.
China overtakes the US as the world’s biggest CO2 emitter.
2006 The Mexican Drug War, an ongoing low-intensity conflict between the Mexican government and various drug trafficking cartels. China overtakes the US as the world’s biggest CO2 emitter.
2002 International Criminal Court (ICC) Euro replaced the Dutch guilder. Bahrain becomes a constitutional monarchy.
The insurgency in the North African Maghreb and Sahel regions (2002-present) followed the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002.
International Criminal Court (ICC) Euro replaced the Dutch guilder.
Bahrain becomes a constitutional monarchy.
1998 Google introduces their search engine to the Web. Megaflood in China. The 1998 megaflood was a major flood that included the river basin areas of the Yangtze, Nengjiang and Songhua rivers.
The insurgency in the North African Maghreb and Sahel regions (2002-present) followed the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002.
2003
Google introduces their search engine to the Web.
Americans for UNFPA - Americans for UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which supports the health and dignity of women everywhere.
Megaflood in China. The 1998 megaflood was a major flood that included the river basin areas of the Yangtze, Nengjiang and Songhua rivers.
interracial, one-man-one-vote elected president. the former Yugoslavia.
Americans for UNFPA - Americans for UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which supports the health and dignity of women everywhere.
rst finds evidence of black is
rmed in 2001.
1999 Macao reverts to Chinese rule. World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
1999 Macao reverts to Chinese rule.
2003 War in Darfur, major armed conflict in Sudan with the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan
SARS
War in Darfur, major armed conflict in Sudan with the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan
SARS
The Iraq War, a protracted armed conflict from 2003 to 2011, began with the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.
2007 Virginia Polytechnic Institute Shootings comprised two attacks on the campus. Fourth IPCC report warns that serious effects of warming have become evident; cost of reducing emissions would be far less than the damage they will cause. Illegal Immigration Hits 11 Million
2007 Virginia Polytechnic Institute Shootings comprised two attacks on the campus. Fourth IPCC report warns that serious effects of warming have become evident; cost of reducing emissions would be far less than the damage they will cause. Illegal Immigration Hits 11 Million
2008 Barack Obama Elected President Great Recession Subprime mortgage crisis triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the collapse of a housing bubble, leading to mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and the devaluation of housing-related securities
2009
2008 Barack Obama Elected President Great Recession Subprime mortgage crisis triggered by a large decline in US home prices after the collapse of a housing bubble, leading to mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures, and the devaluation of housing-related securities
The Iraq War, a protracted armed conflict from 2003 to 2011, began with the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed.
Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed.
2009 The Boko Haram insurgency, the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. Bitcoin was born. Brazil blackout.
The Boko Haram insurgency, the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. Bitcoin was born. Brazil blackout.
2010 Congress Passes the Affordable Care Act
1995
World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
position as China's most trade center.
Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
2000
2005
2000 Chicago The Chicago Housing Authority formed and began its Plan for Transformation in 2000.
1995 New Orleans The May 1995 Louisiana flood, was a heavy rainfall event which occurred across an area stretching from the New Orleans metropolitan area into southern Mississippi.
1996 Rotterdam Erasmusbrug bridge construction is completed.
world, speeding up the pace we will maintain an annual
1995 Muscat Oman Oil and Gas Exhibition Centre established. approved by the city council. approval from the national
2000 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh's population was roughly half of what it was at its peak
Early 2000 Chicago With several large public housing facilities torn down, Chicago experienced lots of empty lots leftover from dilapidated housing demolitions established.
1996 Chicgao The federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took control of the CHA, on the grounds of mismanagement and poor performance.
1996 Rotterdam Erasmus bridge opens.
2005 Amman Bombings target 3 upscale hotels in the city resulting in the country tightening its security strategy
2006 São Paulo May 2006 São Paulo violence.
2006-2012 New Orleans Louisiana “Road Home” Program offers $150,000 per flooded homeowner, minus insurance settlements and FEMA grants.
2004 Philadelphia The remnants of Hurricane Ivan dumped from 4 to 7 inches of rain in central Pennsylvania. secured tens of thousands of for trail development. 1998 San Francisco
fl
- The
that runs through Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park resulted in about $40 million in damage
2000s Shenzhen The State Council approved Shenzhen as the national comprehensive supporting reform pilot zone. 2001 Muscat Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque built. Muscat
2000 São Paulo The municipality developed a strategic plan for Paraisopolis under the new initiative, Barrio Legal — Legal Neighbourhood Programme.
2008 Detroit National Housing Crash propelled the Detroit’s foreclosure crisis after the bottoming out of the real estate market after the housing
2015 US and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations. World Expo in Milan, Italy
Researchers find collapse of West Antarctic Ice sheet may be irreversible, bringing meters of sea-level rise over future centuries.
2015 US and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations.
World Expo in Milan, Italy Researchers find collapse of West Antarctic Ice sheet may be irreversible, bringing meters of sea-level rise over future centuries.
Paris Agreement: nearly all nations pledge to set their own targets for greenhouse gas cuts and report progress.
Paris Agreement: nearly all nations pledge to set their own targets for greenhouse gas cuts and report progress.
2010 The tallest man-made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, opened. Largest oil spill in US history in the Gulf of Mexico. World Expo in Shanghai, China China becomes the world’s second-largest economy
made structure to date, the Burj Khalifa in Emirates, opened. history in the Gulf of Mexico. Shanghai, China world’s second-largest economy
protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab named The Arab Spring. Earthquake and Tsunami impacted Fukushima resulted in a major nuclear accident ending the nuclear power.
2016 Solar electricity and wind power become economically competitive with fossil fuels in some regions.
China is launches the world's first quantum satellite. China launches Shenzhou 11 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Inner Mongolia.
2016 Solar electricity and wind power become economically competitive with fossil fuels in some regions.
China is launches the world's first quantum satellite.
China launches Long March 5 from China Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan.
China launches Shenzhou 11 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Inner Mongolia.
2011 Anti government protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab nations, collectively named The Arab Spring. Great Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami impacted Fukushima in Japan and resulted in a major nuclear accident ending the renaissance of nuclear power. Iraq War ended. Yemení Crisis Libyan Crisis Ethnic violence in South Sudan Dilma Rousseff becomes Brazil's first female president.
South Sudan becomes Brazil's first female president.
find recent disastrous heat waves, of precipitation, and floods were worsen
China launches Long March 5 from China Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan.
2017
Hurricane Harvey Donald John Trump, elected 45th US President
2017 Hurricane Harvey Donald John Trump, elected 45th US President Insurgency in Cabo Delgado 'Brexit' - Britain's exit from the EU dropped its economy in the first quarter President Trump announces his intent to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement
Insurgency in Cabo Delgado 'Brexit' - Britain's exit from the EU dropped its economy in the first quarter
President Trump announces his intent to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement
2012 "Attribution" studies find recent disastrous heat waves, droughts, extremes of precipitation, and floods were worsen by global warming. Hurricane Sandy Mali War Central African Republic Civil
2013 Ebola virus epidemic in West African
Republic Civil War in West African
2018 Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, World's longest seacrossing bridge. Bahrain reports discovery of the kingdom's largest oilfield in more than 80 years.
2018 Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, World's longest seacrossing bridge. Bahrain reports discovery of the kingdom's largest oilfield in more than 80 years.
2019 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China Increasing disasters (tropical cyclones, wildfires, etc.) join scientists' warnings to spur public demonstrations and civil disobedience.
2019
70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China
Increasing disasters (tropical cyclones, wildfires, etc.) join scientists' warnings to spur public demonstrations and civil disobedience.
2020 Covid-19 declared as a global pandemic, shook the global economy with businesses and services, shut down for months.
Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital accepted patients after a speedy construction build period. The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco normalize ties with Israel
Huoshenshan Hospital and Leishenshan Hospital accepted patients after a speedy construction build period. The UAE, Bahrain,
Mean global temperature is 14.8°C, the warmest in tens of thousands of years. CO2 levels in atmosphere is 415 ppm, the highest in millions of years.
Mean global temperature is 14.8°C, the warmest in tens of thousands of years. CO2 levels in atmosphere is 415 ppm, the highest in millions of years.
2015 Rotterdam 75 years of reconstruction of the city was celebrated.
16
saw a near 16 percent increase in lings
2010
2021 COP26 Glasgow Global Conference on Health & Climate Change, with a special focus on Climate Justice and Healthy and Green Recovery from COVID-19 Massive flooding in Germany, China, India and the US exacerbates the impacts of Climate Change globally.
& Climate
with
special focus on Climate Justice and Healthy and Green Recovery from COVID-19 Massive flooding in Germany, China, India and the US exacerbates the impacts of Climate Change globally.
2017 San Francisco Bay The Anderson Dam in San Jose overflowed in February, resulting flooding along Coyote Creek forced the evacuation of 14,000 people in San Jose and caused $73 million in damage.
2020 Bremen As of 2020, close of a third of the city population were of recent non-German origin.
2020
The Fitzgerald Revitalization Project and he project to uplift the northwest Detroit neighborhood has accomplished a lot.
2020
2007
Refugees in Rwanda and Burundi are caught up in new fighting and killings.
1997 U.S. space shuttle docks with Russian space station. Another spacecraft begins sending back pictures from Mars.
1998 Google introduces their search engine to the Web. Megaflood in China. The 1998 megaflood was a major flood that included the river basin areas of the Yangtze, Nengjiang and Songhua rivers.
Hong Kong reverts to Chinese control. The Asian Crisis - widespread reversal of billions of dollars of foreign investment in East Asian countries.
Kyoto Protocol adopted
Americans for UNFPA - Americans for UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which supports the health and dignity of women everywhere.
1998 Google introduces their search engine to the Web.
1999 Macao reverts to Chinese rule. World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
1999 Macao reverts to Chinese rule. World population reaches 6 billion. Group of Twenty (G20) India-Pakistan War around Kargil.
2002 International Criminal Court (ICC) Euro replaced the Dutch guilder. Bahrain becomes a constitutional monarchy. The insurgency in the North African Maghreb and Sahel regions (2002-present) followed the end of the Algerian Civil War in 2002.
and
(SLM) and the
Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan SARS
Megaflood in China. The 1998 megaflood was a major flood that included the river basin areas of the Yangtze, Nengjiang and Songhua rivers. Americans for UNFPA - Americans for UNFPA identifies itself as an organization which supports the health and dignity of women everywhere.
A Global / Local Timeline
The Iraq War, a protracted armed conflict from 2003 to 2011, began with the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed. Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
2003 War in Darfur, major armed conflict in Sudan with the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan SARS The Iraq War, a protracted armed conflict from 2003 to 2011, began with the invasion of Iraq by the US–led coalition which overthrew the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein. Observations raise concern that collapse of ice sheets (West Antarctica, Greenland) can raise sea level faster than believed.
Deadly summer heat wave in Europe accelerates divergence between European and US public opinion on Climate Change.
2008
2009
After Decline: Recasting new urbanities under transition
In the context of global economic transformation, cities around the world have suffered severe socio-spatial transformations in recent decades. The unemployment and outmigration caused by industrial shift to modern service industries, have left a mark in the urban environment. Consequently, the cities after decline are challenged by problems related to abandoned and underutilized industries, vacant residential areas, derelict communication and transportation systems, and other utility infrastructure. The worldwide diverse urban renovation strategies and practices have been implemented to recover the multidimensional disproportions.
This line of research scrutinizes the agency of urban design in the transformation of cities suffering long-term depopulation trends. However, one dilemma for cities experiencing the ongoing decline of population, is their poor finance to support sufficient renovation resources. The different projects shed light on the complex mix of agents and funding sources, the coalitions building resilience in the local communities, industrial areas, and the opportunities to learn from failures and successes in post-industrial transit in the global north. The research initiates the recasting possibilities by means of urban design, through four different directions: Qualified public space, brownfield regeneration, vacant industrial sites, and living communities.
OPEN SPACE AS ASSET IN THE CITY WITH DECLINING POPULATION
Yue Xu
In cities experiencing persistent population decline, with a surplus of vacant land, is the open space system an asset or a liability? While open spaces may seem scarcely used and their intended use not readily apparent, they perform many cultural, social, economic, and environmental functions. With little funding available and limited resources, interventions typically result from the ingenuity and stewardship of local groups and residents in the area. Yet, if we agree that cities with declining populations are fertile grounds for design experimentation,1 What tools and resources can the urban designer contribute? Land stewardship, advocacy, pro-bono work, storytelling?
Recognizing that the nature of abandonment is multilayered and complex, the designer may exercise different strategies and techniques to build possibilities instead of a single answer.2 This investigation considers the case of Detroit and a series of projects in their full life cycle (from design conceptualization, implementation, and maintenance) to shed light on the many roles the urban designer can take. Together with the importance of designing for impermanence and programmatic diversity, the investigation sheds light on the importance of partners and sustainable funding sources. This article focuses on two typical projects, Detroit Future City and the Fitzgerald neighborhood revitalization, as two different scales of vacant land reuse. Both types of studies can help to investigate the different roles of urban designers. Although both projects occur in the same city with their specificities and limitations, depopulation is a global phenomenon,3 and the case study results can be helpful in other countries.
1.Ryan, Brent D. “Design after Decline How America Rebuilds Shrinking Cities.” Book. The City in the Twenty-First Century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012.
2.Desimini, Jill, D’Oca, Daniel, and Czerniak, Julia. “From Fallow: 100 Ideas for Abandoned Urban Landscapes.” Book. [Novato, Calif.]: ORO Editions, 2019.
3.Oswalt, Philipp, Rieniets, Tim, and Schirmel, Henning. “Atlas of Shrinking Cities.” Map. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2006.
DETROIT, MI, US 2020
“DETROIT
IS A CITY WITH MORE THAN 120,000 VACANT LOTS. THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE VACANT LAND WITHIN THE CITY IS SMALL, FORMERLY RESIDENTIAL PARCELS.”
“THE SYSTEM OF OPEN SPACES IS ONE OF THE CRITICAL STRUCTURING ELEMENTS IN THE CITY AND ITS EVERCHANGING CONFIGURATION CENTERS
MUCH OF THE
AGENCY
OF URBAN DESIGN IN THE CITY.”
RECASTING URBANITY: COMMUNITY-BASED
DESIGN PRACTICES FOR THE
VACANT CITY
Huiting Qian
Since the 1980s, the global economic shifts have caused widespread, enduring urban depopulation trends in some formerly US industrial cities1. The out-migration of capital, jobs, and residents had ripple effects in the urban landscape of vacant lots and abandoned buildings characterizing these legacy cities2. Over the years, the abandoned factories, empty wastelands, underoccupied buildings, and vacant lots defeated urban identity and the sense of belonging. At the neighborhood scale, the impact of vacant and blighted properties exacerbated the decrease in property values and the deterioration of urban services, thereby fueling further population loss and the concentration of poverty3. With a dwindling capacity at the municipal level to serve the citizens in these neighborhoods, community members were left on their own to organize and fight back the process of urban decline. Over time, communitybased design practices have joined efforts to advance the revitalization of local communities through long-term partnerships and carefully curated interventions.
This investigation studies two initiatives promoting the visibility of community-oriented design projects transforming vacant spaces in vulnerable neighborhoods: Frame(works) of Resilience4 and Fitzgerald Revitalization Project5. Both frameworks address issues like art and culture, businesses, education, and urban agriculture, and they emphasize the subtle but actionable, flexible design interventions with participatory and site-specific opportunities to ensure collective rights to the city6. The study surveys the specific urban contexts, land stewards, financial support, community engagement strategies, and operating mechanisms behind the projects, and discusses the environmental, socio-spatial and cultural considerations for cities facing the same urban dynamics. What are the structural challenges of community-based design? Can the project be easily replicable, or their components transferable? How can the slow transformation of vacant space into collective space help inspire new ways of living?
1.“Urban Economies: Trends, Forces, and Implications for the President’s National Urban Policy.” Cityscape (Washington, D.C.). U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Policy Development and Research Office, n.d.
2.Tighe, J. Rosie; Ryberg-Webster, Stephanie. “Legacy Cities: Continuity and Change amid Decline and Revival.” University of Pittsburgh Press, n.d.
3.Lind, Kermit J; Schilling, Joe. “Abating Neighborhood Blight with Collaborative Policy Networks. Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going?” University of Memphis Law Review. Memphis: University of Memphis Law Review, n.d. 4.2021. Creativegrounds.Org. https://www.creativegrounds.org/frameworks-of-resilience.
5.”Livernois - Mcnichols | City Of Detroit”. 2021. City Of Detroit. https://detroitmi.gov/departments/planning-anddevelopment-department/neighborhood-plans/west-design-region/livernois-mcnichols.
6.Harvey, D. “The right to the city”. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27: 939-941, 2003.
“ THE SURPLUS OF VACANT LAND WITHIN A SEA OF SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING DEFINES DETROIT’S URBAN CONDITION”
“THE CONTINUED CLOSURE OF BUSINESSES ALONG MCNICHOLS SINCE THE LATE 1970S ACCELERATED THE DECLINE OF THE FITZGERALD NEIGHBORHOOD.”
CHICAGO, IL, US 2020
“BRONZEVILLE IS NOT ON CHICAGO’S LARGE LOTS PROGRAM SELLING CITYOWNED LAND FOR $1. AS A RESULT, VACANT LOTS ON HOLD STILL WAIT FOR FURTHER NOTICE THERE.”
1. “THE LONGSTANDING DECLINE IN THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY HAS CAUSED A CONSTANT OUTFLOW OF POPULATION IN CHICAGO, PARTICULARLY AFRICAN-AMERICANS WHO MORE LIKELY RELY ON MANUFACTURING EMPLOYMENT.”
RECLAIMING THE CITY: BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT IN CITIES LOSING POPULATION
The globalization of the manufacturing industry has caused severe damage to the once-powerful construct of the industrial city. Economic recession, employment loss, and vacancy of the industrial sites ended decades of prosperity, leaving the cities facing sustained population loss and urban decline with contaminated vacant industrial land. These wastelands are usually attached to transportation corridors or waterfronts and hold different levels of pollution, complicating the path to reuse. Yet, their high accessibility, visibility, and large scale make them prime real estate land and key pieces in any redevelopment effort signaling economic revitalization.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a Brownfield is “a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.”1 Brownfield redevelopment has become an issue worthy of attention in cities with sustained population loss where the presence of industrial wastelands is both a challenge and an opportunity to reimage the city. Abandoned and polluted brownfields represent the unrealized resources and potential of the city.2 Conversely, the lack of government funding and the reluctance of the private sector to take risks increased the resistance to engage in these types of projects.3
This research examines brownfield redevelopment projects in Detroit and Pittsburgh, two paradigmatic US post-industrial cities, their barriers, and strategies. The case studies address historical and cultural factors, the sociopolitical background, and the layers of financial support behind each project. The evaluation is conducted based on three aspects tracing how these projects positively affect the revival of the city:4 the revitalization of the local economy, the improvement of the community, and the protection of environmental health. Last, the study interrogates the role of the urban designer in the conceptualization of brownfield redevelopment projects and the opportunities for replicability in other territories.
1.“Brownfield Overview and Definition.” EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, August 3, 2016. https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfield-overview-and-definition_.html.
2.Panagopoulos, Thomas. “2nd WSEAS International Conference on Urban Planning and Transportation System.” From Industrial to Postindustrial Landscapes – Brownfield Regeneration in Shrinking Cities, n.d.
3.Alriksson, Anton, and Memuna Iddrisu Abu. “Barriers to Brownfield Redevelopment: A Study of Policy Responses in Michigan”, 2016.
4.“Diamonds in the Rough - Reclaiming Brownfields For Michigan’s Communities.” Accessed November 17, 2021.
YEARS, PITTSBURGH HAS INVESTED TO REPOSITION ITS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS ON RETAINING YOUNG PEOPLE, KNOWLEDGE WORKERS, AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CREATIVE CLASS.”
“ONE OF ITS MOST RECENT STRATEGIES HAS BEEN TO REDEVELOP FORMER RIVERSIDE INDUSTRIAL BROWNFIELDS INTO SUCCESSFULLY ADAPTIVE REUSES. ”
“DUE TO URBAN DEPOPULATION, DETROIT HAS EXPERIMENTED WITH ECO-URBANISM TO TRANSFORM LARGE AMOUNTS OF VACANT LAND.”
“WHILE THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE RIVERFRONT INTO AN INVITING PUBLIC SPACE HAS BEEN A DECADESLONG GOAL, DEEP CONCERNS REMAIN ABOUT POLLUTERS ALONG THE DETROIT RIVER, AND DISPUTES OVER WHAT TO DO WITH NEARBY HISTORIC PROPERTIES.”
RETOOLING INDUSTRIAL VACANCY THROUGH TEMPORARY INSERTS
During the process of economic restructuring and globalization, a large number of cities in the global north experienced high unemployment, depopulation, and the resulting surplus of abandoned land.1 While the causes are well documented, and there are successful models for the revitalization of vacant industrial sites, the replicability and transferability of the experiences remain limited. Limited public funding and complex regulatory clean-up processes, require the projects to leverage the availability of private investment. In turn, feasibility and market-driven profit lead the formulation of the recovery projects, pushing for leaner regulations and shorter approval processes. Without sufficient public funding or subsidies, many post-industrial cities like Detroit, lack the financial capacity to revitalize vacant land or attract private capital to an unstable market. As a response to the realities of limited funding, scholars and practitioners call for more experimentation and a retooling of urban design to embrace temporary interventions as a sort of scaffolding addressing large, complex urban problems incrementally.2
Temporary urbanism can be defined as the processes, practices, or policies of and for spatial adaptability, allowing the fluid transformation of space, and thus facilitating interventions that may impact the surrounding socio-economic urban environments without costly infrastructural investments.3 As low-cost and low-risk strategies, temporary projects could respond quickly to changing conditions and demands — a particular advantage in many cities, where “political and economic conditions are uncertain, and cause a reluctance to enter potential long-term commitments, responsibilities, and liabilities.”4
This investigation delves into the concept of Temporary Urbanism and the series of tactics and strategies employed to revitalize vacant industrial land under constrained financial resources. The work offers an international overview to deepen the understanding of how temporary uses and projects participate in the transformation of urban environments and what this means for research and practice, in different contexts. Case study, Plantage 9 in Bremen, sheds light on the potential lessons for Detroit-like cities.
1.Lee, Jaekyung; Newman, Galen; Park, Yunmi. “A Comparison of Vacancy Dynamics between Growing and Shrinking Cities Using the Land Transformation Model.” Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland). Switzerland: MDPI AG, n.d. doi:10.3390/su10051513.
2.Jason Schupbach, Why Design Matters, Just City Essays
3.“Transforming Cities Through Temporary Urbanism: A Comparative International Overview.” Cham: Springer International Publishing AG, n.d.
4.Németh, Jeremy; Langhorst, Joern. “Rethinking Urban Transformation: Temporary Uses for Vacant Land.” Cities, vol. 40, Elsevier Ltd, pp. 143–50, doi:10.1016/j.cities.2013.04.007.
Shuyue Lei
“POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ARE UNCERTAIN, AND CAUSE A RELUCTANCE TO ENTER POTENTIAL LONG-TERM COMMITMENTS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND LIABILITIES.”
“TEMPORARY URBANISM IS ONE OF THE POSSIBLE EXPEDIENT AND LOW-COST URBAN DESIGN STRATEGIES. IT IS OFTEN EMPLOYED TO ENLIVEN COMMUNITIES, SUPPORT ENTREPRENEURSHIP, ACTIVATE PUBLIC SPACE, AND REVITALIZE VACANT INDUSTRIAL SITES.”
Climate Contingencies:
Reconfiguring Human-Nature Relationships
As the process of global urbanization intensifies, environmental problems have become increasingly prominent. With climate change already manifesting through a myriad of catastrophic events due to extreme weather--floods, droughts, hurricanes, heatwaves, and typhoons--, the impacts can be particularly devastating in urban areas with higher concentrations of population, capital, and critical infrastructures.
Through the focus on the Climate Contingencies, we explore the agency of design in urban areas based on the performative capacities of land, environmental infrastructures, and built form. Climate Contingencies attends to the imperative of designs responsive to changing social needs and integrates comprehensive strategies that combine adaptation and mitigation guiding urban transformation. In so doing, we seek approaches that go from post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, to anticipatory strategies aimed to build community resilience and a more balanced relationship between humans and nature. Activating the private and public domains, this section explores new organizational structures worthy of our attention to re-learn how to design for impermanence and change in the urban realm.
MORE NATURE FOR THE CITY: MITIGATING URBAN FLOODING THROUGH
NATURE-BASED STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE
Impervious patterns of urban development, outdated combined sewer systems, and a changing climate with more intense precipitation exacerbate overflows and flooding risks in cities.1 As a response, nature-based urban design solutions offer a response to urban flooding mitigation through the implementation of green-blue stormwater infrastructure systems. Low impact development techniques2 have proven effective for flood management, enhanced ecosystem services and biodiversity, and lower costs than traditional infrastructure.3
Methodologically, this research project uses a multi-city analysis to compare the blue-green solutions for urban flood mitigation. I compare two middlesized US cities, Detroit and Philadelphia, with similar geographical, economic, infrastructure models and hydrological features. The study assesses a set of blue-green infrastructure interventions in each city, the policy frameworks and design strategies behind them, the governance models, community engagement and implementation capacities. The purpose is to assess the responses to urban flooding and climate change engaging nature-based solutions and the opportunities to promote a greener, more sustainable city by understanding community preferences and stewardship of the green-blue infrastructure.
Blue-green infrastructures are, at their core, performance-based environmental components integrated into an urban landscape to create more resilient and biodiverse ecosystems.4 When existing conventional grey infrastructure remains inadequate to address urban flooding, nature-based green-blue infrastructures can help minimize risks while preparing urban communities for future uncertainties caused by climate change.
1.Yijing Huang et al., “Nature-based Solutions for Urban Pluvial Flood Risk Management,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water 7, no. 3 (2020): e1421.
2.Low Impact Development: A Design Manual for Urban Areas. University of Arkansas Community Design Center. 2011
3.Francis Turkelboom et al., “How Does a Nature-Based Solution for Flood Control Compare to a Technical Solution? Case Study Evidence from Belgium,” Ambio, May 11, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-021-01548-4.
4.Nicolas Faivre et al., “Nature-Based Solutions in the EU: Innovating with Nature to Address Social, Economic and Environmental Challenges,” Environmental Research 159 (November 1, 2017): 509–18, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. envres.2017.08.032.
Yiru Zhang
PHILADELPHIA, PA, US 2020
“GREEN
CITY, CLEAN WATERS INTENDS TO REDUCE THE VOLUME OF STORMWATER ENTERING COMBINED SEWERS BY USING GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPANDING STORMWATER TREATMENT CAPACITY.”
“PHILADELPHIA HAS A LONG HISTORY OF FLOODING CAUSING BOTH LOCAL AND WIDESPREAD DAMAGE, AFFECTING PEOPLE’S LIFE, WORK, TRAVELS, AND RECREATIONS. ”
“SOME OF THE MOST MODEST WORKING HOUSING WAS LOCATED IN AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING WITH INSUFFICIENT INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY.”
MORE THAN CLIMATE
Haorui Tian
Climate change is increasingly affecting urban areas, driving the need for sustainable development strategies helping communities in the path for resiliency. Extreme events are becoming a new normal: rising temperatures, prolonged droughts and fires in some regions, and more intense and frequent precipitation rendering flooding and stressing urban infrastructure on others. Unexpected expenses from these extreme occurrences are adding growing burdens to the city and national budgets. Climate change is also worsening existing socio-economic problems and the exposure to other environmental risks.1 Framing the impacts of climate change in the social fabric of the city, scholars, policymakers, and the public are bringing a justice lens to the work.2 While climate change has negative impacts on most of the world’s population, the justice lens reminds us that vulnerable groups, who lack the resources to cope with and adapt to the changing conditions, are more severely affected by the devastating social, economic, and public health disruptions. This is attained by relating the causes and impacts of climate change to the concept of justice.
This investigation scrutinizes urban responses to climate change through two frameworks: the Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan in New York (NMCA), sponsored by the WE ACT,3 and the Taking Steps Together on Equity and Climate Change for New Orleans, a product of the Climate Action Equity Project, a partnership between the City of New Orleans, the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice. [4] In the research, I examine how organizations advance the work to achieve equality through different strategies, such as energy, public transportation. By rendering visible the organizations and partnerships working on these strategies, I aim to situate the role of the urban designer and the unique contributions it can offer. Through my research, I aim to give visibility to the inequities due to climate change and to provide a foundational framework for integrating climate justice in our contributions to community resiliency: what to do, how to do it, and the mechanisms of coalition building to frame the coproduction of the work.
1.Granberg, Mikael, and Leigh Glover. 2021. “The Climate Just City”. Sustainability 13 (3): 1201.
2.Pearson, Adam R., Corinne G. Tsai, and Susan Clayton. 2021. “Ethics, Morality, And The Psychology Of Climate Justice”. Current Opinion In Psychology 42: 36-42.
3.“Northern Manhattan Climate Action Plan | WE ACT For Environmental Justice”. 2016. WE ACT For Environmental Justice. https://www.weact.org/campaigns/nmca/.
4.“Taking Steps Together On Equity & Climate Change: A Report By And For New Orleanians | Greater New Orleans Foundation”. 2021. Greater New Orleans Foundation. https://www.gnof.org/taking-steps-together-on-equity-climatechange-a-report-by-and-for-new-orleanians/.
HARLEM, NY, US 2020
“THREE YEARS AGO, HURRICANE SANDY SWAMPED LOWER MANHATTAN AND FORCED WALL STREET TO CLOSE FOR A HEADLINE-MAKING TWO DAYS. THE OTHER HALF OF MANHATTAN DIDN’T MAKE SPLASHY HEADLINES AFTER HURRICANE SANDY, BUT ITS WOES WERE REAL. ”
“INFRASTRUCTURE
IS BADLY NEEDED IN AREAS OF NORTHERN MANHATTAN WITH A DEARTH OF GREEN SPACE AND LOCATED IN A FLOODPLAIN, SUCH AS EAST HARLEM”
NEW ORLEANS, LA, US
DESIRE AREA WAS ISOLATED FROM THE REST OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD. MANY ASSETS WERE DEVASTATED BY HURRICANE KATRINA. HOWEVER, RESIDENTS REALIZED THAT KATRINA CREATED AN OPPORTUNITY TO UNCOVER THE FORGOTTEN ASSETS.
NEW ORLEANS, LA, US
“ON
AUGUST 29, 2005, KATRINA STRUCK NEW ORLEANS, INUNDATING 80 PERCENT OF THE CITY AND FOREVER CHANGING THE CHARACTER AND THE LIVES OF ITS RESIDENTS, MANY OF WHOM NEVER RETURNED.”
RESILIENT AND ADAPTIVE: FRAMEWORKS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IN COASTAL CITIES
Tejas Saiyya
While climate change is experienced across the planet, the impacts of global warming through sea-level rise and extreme floods are more acute in coastal cities. The vulnerability to sea level rise, the disruption of environmental and human ecosystems, and the devastating effects on coastal habitat are well known, yet many cities fail to work in anticipation and are left to crisis management responses post-disaster. Designing adaptive frameworks able to retool the city to better anticipate and manage the effects of climate change is becoming a central trait for the urban designer.
This study takes stock on the Resilient by Design (RbD) initiative in the Bay Area, a densely populated US coastal region facing rising sea levels. This collaborative design challenge brought together local residents, public officials, and local, national, and international experts to develop resilient and adaptive frameworks that strengthen the region’s resilience to climate change.1 This investigation analyzes two proposals: ‘The South Sponge Bay,’ using nature and natural systems as primary tools for climate adaptation and resiliency2and ‘The Estuary Commons,’ protecting local neighborhoods and restoring native habitats.3 The study develops a comparative analysis of the geopolitical, socioenvironmental, and infrastructural components delivering the multilayered resilient framework for climate change.
Advocating for resilient ecologies in the design of coastal cities, identifying global and regional strategies and stakeholders from the RbD framework, the paper questions the replicability of such responses in other coastal cities facing sea-level rise.
1.Brown-Stevens, Amanda, Emma Greenbaum, and Resilient by Design Teams. 2019. Resilient by Design. San Francisco, California: Multiplier/Bay Area Resilient by Design.
2.The Field Operations Team. 2017. The South Bay Sponge. San Francisco, California: Resilient by Design
3.All Bay Collective. 2017. The Estuary Commons. San Francisco, California: Resilient by Design.
SAN LEANDRO, CA, US 2021
“SAN
LEANDRO IS CONNECTED TO THE OAKLAND ESTUARY, WHICH HAS A HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES LIKE REDLINING AND PREDATORY LENDING, LEADING TO ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE.”
SAN LEANDRO, CA, US
“NOW, LET PEOPLE BE AT THE CENTER OF A MULTI-RESILIENT APPROACH.”
EAST PALO ALTO, CA, US 2021
“EAST PALO ALTO, IN SAN MATEO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, IS ONE OF THE MOST DISADVANTAGED AND VULNERABLE
COMMUNITIES TO SEA LEVEL RISE IN THE BAY AREA.”
EAST PALO ALTO, CA, US
“RATHER THAN RESISTANCE, LET’S BUILD WITH RESILIENCE.”
Foreign Urbanisms: Urban Form in the Age of Global Capital
Fueled by a hunger to join the league of global metropolises shaping our modern world, many developing cities have become a playground for experimentation, adopting foreign real estate strategies as models to emulate the perceived success of developments abroad. Benefiting from relaxed local regulatory frameworks to protect the investment of foreign capital, these projects often result in exclusive spaces of exception where only a few are represented. As urban designers, what role do we play in these grand schemes? And how can we contribute to render visible the new order these interventions impose?
Challenging the adoption of three imported investment models illustrated in the form of an urban project; the mix-use business districts, future oriented mobility infrastructures and tourism focused developments, this line of research uses the lens of the urban political economy to interrogate specific developments and infrastructures and their impacts in the city, while exploring design alternatives, all while framing the agency of the urban designer in the process.
AN ALIEN HAS LANDED IN AMMAN
BEYOND THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT: RECASTING IDENTITY IN THE POSTCOLONIAL CITY
Are central business districts (CBDs) a sustainable urban model for cities in developing countries? Is the free circulation of global capital shaping another age of colonization in the post-colonial city? This urban manifesto unpacks the origins of this urban type guised as a neoliberal project, a product of globalization or worlding. Generating an irreversible attack on the local city fabric, the business district advances renewed colonial agendas by entrenching the dependence on the colonizer through excessive reliance on external investment and global capital.1 The result is an alien spatial construct characterized by a self-serving programatic mix and an inscrutable management structure. Rooted on a desire to entice the global market, CBDs embody a set of building types characterized by an architectural expression that is devoid of contextual character and preoccupied with the representation of power and foreign aesthetic regimes.
Using the Al Abdali Uptown2 in the post-colonial city of Amman as a case study, I examine the outlandish planning and architectural components of the development, its exclusionary goals, the involved parties and their relationship to the government and the political apparatus. Initial research findings suggest there is an inherent colonial legacy in the adoption of a western-born urban type that promotes exclusionary regimes of occupation, spatial injustice and denies citizens “access to prosperity.”3
Are there alternatives to the full adoption of this model? Or are we to submit to foreign sovereignty powers once the local government abandons their mandate towards its citizens? Is development only possible by paving the way for “the global market” to privatize and appropriate the urban condition through “exclusive lifestyle experiences”?4 This manifesto provides a call to action challenging the loss of local culture in the name of globalized prosperity. The piece reclaims urban development practices guided by inclusive and contextual programing, and architectural designs birthed from the communities it aims to serve, as prosperity can be achieved without giving up identity.
1. Susan S Fainstein, “Introduction: Toward an Urban Theory of Justice,” in The Just City (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press ; Bristol, 2011), 1–21.
2.“About Abdali.” Accessed November 10, 2021. https://abdali.jo/en/AboutAbdali.
3.David Harvey, “The Right to the City,” New Left Review, no. 53 (September 2008): 1–16.
4.Toni L Griffin, Ariella Cohen, and David Maddox, The Just City Essays : 26 Visions for Urban Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity. Volume 1 (New York: J. Max Bond Center On Design For The Just City At The Spitzer School Of Architecture At The City College Of New York, 2015), 27.
Khalid Altamimi
“THIS MANIFESTO RECLAIMS URBAN DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES GROUNDED IN A NUANCED READING OF CONTEXT.”
“WHEN ARE WE GOING TO START TO QUESTION OUR ROLE AS URBAN DESIGNERS? WE PLAY OUR PART IN THE LARGER SCHEME OF THINGS, SO WHY IS OUR ROLE FOCUSED ON ACHIEVING GOALS THAT DO NOT ALIGN WITH OUR DUTY?”
HERITAGE AND TOURISM: URBAN DESIGN STEWARDSHIP IN THE MIDDLE EAST
For many cities around the world, tourism is an opportunity to sustain local employment and economic growth. The tourism industry often builds on the unique potential of a place stemming from its natural features, sense of place, history and heritage, and ethos. Urban regions across the world are facing similar challenges when marketing themselves as tourist destinations: the need for better policies and support for heritage conservation, resources to adapt to contemporary needs without negatively impacting the existing social fabric, and a sustainable plan for tourism development nurturing the ecosystem of smaller businesses and operators in place.1 However, increasing dependency on tourism flows as the prevailing economy may disrupt local livelihoods in both positive and negative ways. How can urban design integrate more sustainable urban development patterns around tourism? How to overcome the negative impacts?
Sustainable urban design can help promote tourism in cities and play a key role in creating unique experience for urban tourism. By showcasing two projects in the Middle Eastern cities of Oman and Muharraq, this investigation shed light on the challenges cities face to formulate urban agendas around the promotion of heritage-driven tourism.2 Harat Zaman in Muscat, Oman, recounts the tale of Omani life and heritage while catering to high-end visitors.3 The Bahrain Pearling Path, a cultural heritage project engraved on the UNESCO World Heritage list, relates the unique legacy of Bahrain’s pearling era through the architecture and the urban heritage of the old city of Muharraq.4 These two projects are relevant examples of heritage protection, economic development, and long-term sustainability. Tourism opens up possibilities for repurposing buildings that would otherwise render obsolete, through conservation and adaptive reuse while still preserving their rich past and character.
This investigation provides lessons for the other cities, especially those in developing countries, on the importance of urban tourism in proposing social and cultural sustainability.
1.Giriwati, N., R. Homma, and K. Iki. 2021. “Urban tourism: designing a tourism space in a city context for social sustainability.” Sustainable City 165-176.
2.Khirfan, Luna. World Heritage, Urban Design and Tourism: Three Cities in the Middle East. Routledge, 2017.
3.Harat Zaman Urban Design - Al-Khwaji Architects.” AL. Accessed October 26, 2021. https://alkhwajiarchitects.com/ portfolio/harat-zaman-urban-design/.
4.The Pearling Path in Detail.” Pearling path. Accessed October 27, 2021. https://pearlingpath.bh/en/the-pearling-pathin-detail/.
Zifan Xu
“THE
URBAN DESIGN PROJECT DISPLAYS A RICH ARRAY OF REINTERPRETED STRUCTURES TO RELATE THE RICH HISTORY AND HERITAGE OF OMANI LIFE. “
“THE DESIGNERS INSTILL THE VISUALIZATIONS WITH STYLISTICALLY REFINED, APPEALING FEATURES TO ATTRACT VISITORS.”
MUHARRAQ, BAHRAIN 2020
“TOURISM
OPENS UP POSSIBILITIES FOR REPURPOSING BUILDINGS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE DISCARDED, AS WELL AS WAYS TO CONSERVE AND MAKE THEM ACCESSIBLE WHILE PRESERVING THEIR RICH PAST AND CHARACTER.”
MUHARRAQ, BAHRAIN 2005
“SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS DEMAND THE EFFECTIVE INTEGRATION OF SPACE AND PHYSICAL FEATURES OF A CITY TO ACHIEVE TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY.”
community
retrofit justice equity culture
Urban Retrofits:
Intervening in the City as Found
Cities are products of social, economic, and political forces, always in transformation. After experimenting with radical urban policies and aggressive renewal schemes during the twentieth century, cities around the world started questioning the disruptive outputs of such policies. Confronting those unjust models, some cities started adopting approaches to urban upgrading and reconstruction instead of the tabula rasa approaches that rendered the displacement of the most vulnerable residents.
This section on Urban Retrofits focuses on projects intervening in the city as found or activating formerly urban grounds through performative and foresight context-based solutions, urban technologies, and citizen mobilization. These techniques include but are not limited to infrastructure, architecture, and economic activities, and address overcrowding, sprawl, obsolescence, and responses to environmental and public health crises.
This section investigates three approaches to retrofitting: Urban Acupuncture, Slum Upgrading, and Adaptive Reuse, ‘modifying’, ‘inserting’, and ‘rehabilitating’ the economic, social, political, and environmental infrastructure to best suit the changing needs of society. Learning from global examples, the investigation aims to offer insights for replication and transferability.
INCLUSIVE SLUM UPGRADING
Anmol Potani
São Paulo, the largest city of the Southern hemisphere, has around a third of its total population of 12 million people living in slum-like conditions.1 When in the late 19th century, coffee became Brazil’s vital export crop, São Paulo served as the main hub of Brazil’s industrialization and hence witnessed an accelerated expansion and a rapid increase in migration. Because of unaffordable formal housing, people squatted on vacant and abandoned lands all around the city, especially in areas unsuitable for construction - such as margins of rivers and rail lines, flood zones, and areas with environmental risks of flooding, mudslides, contaminated soils, and landfills.2
After focusing on slum eradication following the 1960s, the resistance from communities in favelas inspired Brazilian policy to shift towards in-situ upgrading, referred to as ‘slum upgrading’.1 The ‘Right to Reasonable Standard of Living’ was affirmed in the 1988 ratification of the Brazilian Constitution3 and following that, several initiatives in public housing and slum upgrading policies have been seen in São Paulo for the precarious population living in slums, squatter settlements, and illegal land divisions. The research examines the slum upgrading efforts that have been implemented so far in one of the largest favelas in the city - Paraisópolis4 and analyzes the impact of these policies using three lenses: Spatial Justice, Social Justice, and Environmental Justice.
1.Hoque, Lolontika. “Revamping Favelas: Top 10 facts about Poverty in São Paulo.” The Borgen Project. May 24, 2018. https://borgenproject.org/tag/slums-in-sao-paulo/
2.Fix, Mariana, Arantes, Pedro and Tanaka, Giselle. “Understanding Slums: Case Studies for the Global Report 2003.” Development Planning Unit. Accessed on October 12, 2021. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/Global_Report/cities/ saopaulo.htm
3.Brazil’s Constitution of 1988 with Amendments through 2014. Article 6: Page 13. https://www.constituteproject.org/ constitution/Brazil_2014.pdf
4.Savarese, Mauricio and Jeantet, Diane. “Favela Centennial shows Brazil communities’ endurance.” ABC News. September 19, 2021. https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/favela-centennial-shows-brazil-communitiesendurance-80108454
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL 2020
1. “THE NEW INTERVENTIONS OF THE SLUM UPGRADING PROGRAMS ARE LOCATED ALONG THE EDGE OF THE FAVELA, RECREATING THE IDEA OF SEGREGATION OF THE FORMAL AND THE INFORMAL.”
SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL
“LOCATED WITHIN THE FORMAL URBAN FABRIC OF THE RICH DISTRICT OF MORUMBI, PARAISÓPOLIS IS A CITY WITHIN A CITY. IT IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF HOW POVERTY AND EXTREME WEALTH CAN COEXIST NEXT TO EACH OTHER. ”
LIQUID ASSETS: CULTURE AS DRIVER IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF FORMERLY INDUSTRIAL HARBORS
Devendra Hemant Dugad
The transition from industrial to knowledge-based economies has resulted in large swaths of unused industrial land in cities worldwide. Strategically located along waterfronts and rail and highway infrastructure corridors, these sites remain highly accessible and visible key assets, ready for regeneration and adoption of new functions. Laying dormant for years due to environmental pollution, legal liabilities, and complex ownership structures, these sites appear otherwise ready to regenerate and adopt new functions.
In the last few decades, the competition among global port cities for a leading position in the increasingly fluid global market of supply chains has forced the relocation of old, centrally located harbor areas. As a result, large areas taken before by the container shipping sector have become laboratories of urban experimentation in making the global city.1 A mix of housing and services, cultural and creative industries, shopping plazas, and diverse entertainment set the template for successful transformation into dynamic post-industrial economies.2 Their location, high connectivity and visibility makes them appeling real estate assets, yet dependent on economic factors supported with investments in infrastructure, subsidies, and regulatory relief for private developers.3 However, despite the immense potential of these sites to offer a new vision of the cities that host them, their transformation may take decades, and cities struggle to revive and adapt to the changing economic regimes.
This investigation looks at the transformation of former industrial land and waterfront sites using culture as catalyst. Specifically, the research focuses on the Rotterdam Old Harbor Redevelopment and the role of urban design to redefine the district as new cultural anchor. Can Rotterdam, an European city case serve as model for the US city? What are the aspects that can be replicated and the challenges to transferability?
1. Remesar, Antoni & Costa, João. “Multifunctional land use in the renewal of harbour areas: patterns of physical distribution of the urban functions.” 2004.
2.Romein, Arie. “Leisure in Waterfront Redevelopment: An issue of Urban Planning in Rotterdam.” OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies, Delft University of Technology.
3.Harvey, David. 2008. “The Right To The City.” https://davidharvey.org/media/righttothecity.pdf
“ROTTERDAM’S PRIMARY STRATEGY HAS BEEN TO BUILD ON THE STRENGTH OF ITS PORT AND LOGISTICS SECTOR AND DIVERSIFY THE CITY’S ECONOMY AND EXPAND ITS FACILITIES TO MAKE IT AN ATTRACTIVE LOCATION FOR ‘KNOWLEDGE INDUSTRIES’ AND WORKERS.”
“THE
CITY ADOPTED A PROACTIVE WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY AND ENGAGED IN LARGESCALE MASTER PLANNING TO REVITALIZE THE OLD PORT AREAS AND CONNECT THE “CITY WITH WATER.”
URBAN ACUPUNCTURE TO HEAL THE CITY
After decades of rapid and large-scale urban redevelopment projects that have erased nature and history in our cities, redrawn streets serving cars and not people, and caused massive displacement of low-income communities, many cities are changing course. Instead of tabula-rasa, massive-scale planning, the new approach prioritizes livability, local economy, urban ecology, and social cohesion issues. Quoting the celebrated Brazilian urbanist Jaime Lerner, municipalities have learned that “no matter how good it may be, a plan by itself cannot bring about immediate transformation. It is almost always a spark that sets off a current that begins to spread.”1
Urban Acupuncture, a term initially coined by the Spanish urbanist Manuel de Sola Morales in the 1970s, has been widely applied worldwide. Urban acupuncture, a term taken from traditional Chinese medical practice, refers to a socially-minded approach to urban revitalization. The resulting interventions perform “at strategically chosen locations to maximize the effects causing possible (socially) catalytic spinoffs.”2. Sola Morales defined five aspects of the acupoints and urban projects acting on them: (1) the influence of the intervention is significant, not limited to the site; (2) the resulting functions are complex and interdependent, and they replace single ones (parks, roads, typed buildings, etc.); (3) the interventions are comprehensive considering use, users, utilization rate, visual orientation, and other factors; (4) the interventions have a medium scale and can be completed in a short time; and (5) the interventions stage urban architecture, with significant publicity in terms of investment and collective use.3
This investigation illustrates an Urban Acupuncture toolkit and learns from specific cases re-inviting green into an urban village in Shenzhen, China, and upgrading a historical community without demolition in Shanghai, China.
1. Jaime Lerner. Urban Acupuncture. Celebrating Pinpricks of Change that Enrich City Life, Trans. Mac Margolis, Peter Muello, and Ariadne Daher. (Island Press, 2014) 978-1-61091-584-7
2.R. Hoogduyn. Urban Acupuncture.’ Revitalizing urban areas by small scale interventions’ (Dissertation), 2014. http://urn. kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:bth-5162
3.Ibid.
Zhuyu Shi
SHANGHAI, CHINA 2020
“SHANGHAI
IS A CITY WITH A COLORFUL HISTORY, AND THIS IS LEGIBLE IN THE URBAN FABRIC OF THE CITY CENTER DESPITE THE NEWLYBUILT TOWERS ”
SHANGHAI, CHINA
“URBAN DESIGN PROJECTS AIM TO KEEP THE SHAPE OF HISTORICAL COMMUNITIES WHILE PROVIDING RESIDENTS A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE.”
SHENZHEN, CHINA 2020
“SHENZHEN IS THE CHINESE FASTESTGROWING CITY, EXPANDING FOR THE PAST 40 YEARS”
SHENZHEN, CHINA
“THE BASES OF SKYSCRAPERS STAND TODAY WERE VILLAGES WITH BUNGALOWS OR GREEN LAND COVER USED TO BE.”
A Brief Glossary
Acupoint
Also known as acupuncture point is a specific spot on a body where an acupuncture needle is inserted to control pain and other symptoms. Different acupoints on different body parts address various symptoms. Reading cities as bodies, acupoints can also manage central nodes with problems.
Adaptation
Adjustment in natural or human systems to a new or changing environment. When referred to climate change, the adjustment relates to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities.[1]
Asset vs. Liability
Any tangible or intangible resource contributed, owned, or controlled by an entity and used to produce positive value.[2] Liability refers to a future benefit loss that the entity makes to other entities due to past transactions or events.[3]
Austerity
Action by the governing entity during a period of adverse economic conditions to reduce its budget deficit using a combination of spending cuts or tax rises.[4]
Brownfield
Property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.[5]
Brownfield Remediation
Removal or sealing of contamination within a property for reuse without health problems. Contaminants are typically present in the soil, water, and air. Standard remediation methods include excavation, tank removal, capping, on-site or in situ treatment, bioremediation, phytoremediation, lead and asbestos abatement.[6]
City Statute
Federal Law passed in Brazil in 2001 that builds on the Brazilian Federal Constitution to create a new legal-urban order and provide land access and equity in cities. Premised on the idea of the Right to the City, it emerged as a result of many years of popular struggle.
Climate Change
Statistically significant variation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period (typically decades or longer).[7]
Climate Justice
Acknowledgment that climate change can have differing (and more significant) social, economic, public health, and other adverse impacts on underprivileged populations.
Coastal Flooding
Inundation of normally dry land areas along the coastline due to waves, tides, storm surge, or heavy rainfall from storms.[8]
Community Engagement
Process of working collaboratively with groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, particular interests, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people.[10]
Community Organization
Group of citizens and others aiming at making desired improvements to a community’s social health, well-being, and overall functioning. Community organization occurs in geographically, psychosocially, culturally, spiritually, and digitally bounded communities.[11]
Community-Based Design
Social method that enables social service providers, organizers, designers, and evaluators to serve specific communities in their environment, customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions.
Community-driven approach
Operating practice based on the principles of transparency, participation, accountability, and enhanced local capacity where the control of the development process, resources, and decision-making authority is in the hands of the community.[12]
Cultural Heritage
Intangible or Tangible expressions and practices of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions and values.[13]
Cultural Identity
Shared characteristics of a group of people, which encompasses, place of birth, religion, language, cuisine, social behaviors, art, literature, and music.”[14]
Culture
Manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively: customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social groups. City culture creates a shared sense of identity that the residents enjoy and consider valuable.[15]
Deindustrialization
Progressive closure or downsizing of manufacturing industries in a place, City, or region.[16]
Depopulation
Sudden or prolonged decline in the population of a place, city, or region.
Environmental Justice
Fair treatment of all people concerning environmental burdens and benefits they may be exposed to.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Executive Body of the United States Federal Government tasked with environmental and human health protection matters.[17] EPA sets regulations to implement Congress-enacted environmental laws.[41]
Flagship Urban Projects
Relevant urban developments in which strategically located land and property play an influential and catalytic role in urban regeneration.[18] They focus on global influences like investments, image building, and tourists while also catering to local factors like users and residents of the area.
Flooding Insurance Rate Map (FIRMs)
Map by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) indicating the special flood hazard areas and the risk premium zones for the designated community.[19]
Global Warming
Recent and ongoing global average increase in temperature near the Earth’s surface.[20]
Green Cloud
Urban design strategy proposed aiming to bring nature features back to low ventilation urban villages through rooftops greening design.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI)
Constructed features that use living systems to provide environmental services, such as capturing and filtering stormwater, creating wildlife habitat, providing shade, and recharging groundwater.
Historical Conservation
Intervention in historic buildings and communities that protects their legacy value while readapting them into new use. Reorganization of the spatial functions could happen in the conservation.
Industrial Corridor
Industrial Corridor is a specific location along waterfronts, railway, or road infrastructure chosen by authorities for carrying out industrial development activities. Such corridors are set up across states to promote trade ties among them.[21]
Justice
Fairness based on ethics, rationality, law, and equity. The term takes on different meanings from different perspectives (i.e., environmental, social, racial, climate).
Knowledge Worker
Person required to think for a living. The labor is ever-changing, dynamic, autonomous, and requires innovation and devising new and better ways of doing things.[22]
Land Subdivision
Dividing the territory into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat.[23]
Micro-Upgrading (Cell-Therapy)
Injecting new and small facilities into the old community to create better functions, route guidance, and better spatial arrangements.
Mitigation
Human intervention to reduce the impact on the climate system that includes strategies to reduce greenhouse gas sources and emissions and enhance greenhouse gas sinks.[24]
Mix-Use Development
Type of construction that “blends significant revenue-producing uses, fosters integration, density, and, creates a walkable community with uninterrupted pedestrian connections”,[25] “mixing (of) different land uses in the same geographical area.” [26]
Multi-benefit Resilient District
A framework of funding for cooperation, implementation, managing, and delivering the region’s multi-benefit flood protection projects through a multi-jurisdictional governing body.[27]
Open space
Piece of undeveloped land (with no buildings or other built structures), public or private. It can include green space, schoolyards, playgrounds, general seating areas, public plazas, and vacant lots.[28]
Neighborhood Revitalization
Process of improvement of the quality of life for residents, including educational and developmental, commercial, recreational, physical, and social assets.
Growth Acceleration Program (PAC)
Brazilian federal program established in 2007 that provided funding for large-scale transportation infrastructure development, energy production and connectivity, public housing, and upgrading of favelas.
Post-Colonial City
Formerly colonized city “where claims of an identity different from the colonial past are expressed and indexed, and, in some cases, keenly contested.”[29] This suggests such cities are in a constant state of transformation.
Post-Industrial City
Urban center where the primary economic sector is no longer industrial. Service industries dominate the City’s economy, but the transition generates urban problems like depopulation, out-migration, abandonment, and vacant land.
Public-Private
Partnership (PPP)
Collaboration between government and the private sector to finance, build, and operate projects, such as public transportation networks, parks, and convention centers.[30]
Racial Segregation
Separation, either by law or by action, of people of different races in all manner of daily activities, such as education, housing, and the use of public facilities.[31]
Redevelopment
Any new construction on a site that has pre-existing uses. It represents a process of land development used to revitalize the physical, economic and social fabric of urban space.[32]
Right to the City
Concept first developed by French sociologist Henri Lefebvre in his 1968 book Le droit à la ville to defines the right of no exclusion of urban society from the qualities and benefits of urban life.
Rust Belt Region
Region around the US Great Lakes Basin once known for its thriving manufacturing industry and characterized by abandoned factories and urban decay since the 1970s.[33]
Slum, Favelas, Cortiços
Substandard housing and neighborhoods with inadequate housing conditions and tenure security, lack access to basic infrastructures like sanitation, sewage, and electricity, and/or access to decent healthcare, education, cultural facilities. The degree of deprivation varies in different contexts. Local terms include: favela, shacks, villas miseria, barrio, basti, bidonville, ghetto, kampong, katchi abadi, masseque, shanty towns, skid row, squatter cities, and bidonvilles. In the context of Brazil, cortiços and favelas are prevalent types. Cortiços refer to high density collective multifamily dwelling, divided into small rooms for rent, with access to a shared bathroom and a shared kitchen. Favelas are irregular settlements built on public or private property which are illegally occupied by poor families.
Slum Upgrading
Programs for the eradication of slums through in-situ rehabilitation. Slum upgrading aims at relocating the families to the nearest location, improving the access to basic infrastructure like sanitation, sewage, and electricity, to health, education, and cultural facilities, and spatially and socially integrating the informal settlements with the formal City.
Social Justice
Principle stating that everyone deserves equal economic, political, and social opportunities irrespective of race, gender, or religion.
Spatial Justice
In the words of Edward Soja, it suggests that geographies in which we live can have negative and positive consequences on practically everything we do and have access to.
Stormwater management
Practices to handle stormwater runoff from development through implementation of watershed plans, long-term maintenance of stormwater infrastructure (including detention ponds, inlets, catch basins, outfalls, and other devices), the use of nonstructural stormwater management options, expanded incentives for achieving objectives, more robust enforcement of regulations, and the development of stream restoration and debris removal guidelines.[34]
Suburbanization
The process of outgrowing the city boundaries, typically through lowerdensities than those in the city.[35]
Superfund
Federal program under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), enacted by US Congress in 1980, in response to the Love Canal toxic waste dump. EPA manages the process and forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work. [36]
Tax-Reverted Property
Property title vested in a local government unit under the General Property Tax Act due to the nonpayment of delinquent taxes and nonredemption within the statutory period.[37]
Temporary Urbanism
Planned or unplanned actions with the ambition of activating (or in some cases deactivating) a space in need of transformation and thus impacting the surrounding socio-economic environment.[38]
Urban Flooding
When stormwater exceeds the capacity of a city’s infrastructure to drain it, either by carrying it away in pipes or allowing it to infiltrate into the soil or ground, it can result in localized flooding (sometimes known as nuisance flooding) or larger-scale flooding. Urban flooding often happens when heavy rainfall or precipitation collects on the ground or causes rivers or streams to overflow, or storm surges, hurricanes, and high tides push coastal waters into cities.
Urban Regeneration
Urban Regeneration is the process of reversal of decline of a neighborhood or City by both improving its physical structure and more importantly and elusively, the economy of those areas. It is usually done using public money to pump prime private investment into an area.[39]
Urban Tourism
Activity in an urban area characterized by non-agricultural based economy such as administration, manufacturing, trade and services and by being nodal points of transport.[40]
Urban Village (China)
Located in the outskirts and the downtown segments of major Chinese cities, these are highly dense environments that mark an affordable entry point for migrants in the city. Threaten by redevelopment in the process of urban modernization, they remain essential nodes of culture and tradition.
Urban Vitality
Attributes of livability, a spatial quality “arising from a variety of unique commercial and entertainment opportunities, and a dense socially heterogeneous pedestrian population.”[41]
Vacant Land
Portions of the territory without permanent structures or uses. Vacant land may be available for development, or it may be set aside by a government or a private owner to remain vacant.[42]
Vulnerable Communities
Inhabited areas and their residents, facing barriers to socio-economic opportunities and a healthy environment. For example, communities of color, low-income people, immigrants, seniors, children, people with disabilities, people with limited English-speaking ability, tribal communities, those living in public housing, and currently or formerly incarcerated people.[43]
Water Equity
Condition of equal access to water.
Waterfront Redevelopment
Urban transformation of land adjacent to water bodies. It may involve brownfield regeneration and the change of industrial to commercial, recreational or residential uses
ZEIS
Special zones of social interest is a Brazilian zoning designation that protects areas with some level of informality in the City. These areas are targeted for state interventions and qualify for social services.
Glossary References
[1] “Glossary Of Climate Change Terms | Climate Change | US EPA”. 2021. 19January2017snapshot.Epa.Gov.https://19january2017snapshot. epa.gov/climatechange/glossary-climate-change-terms_.html#C.
[2] “Asset - Wikipedia”. 2021. En.Wikipedia.Org. Accessed December 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset.
[4] Austerity measure definition from Financial Times Lexicon. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20130322221836/ http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=austerity-measure.
[5] “What Is Brownfield Remediation?” Fishbeck. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://fishbeck.com/what-is-brownfield-remediation.
[6] EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/overview-epas-brownfieldsprogram.
[7] “Glossary Of Climate Change Terms | Climate Change | US EPA”. 2021. 19January2017snapshot.Epa.Gov.https://19january2017snapshot. epa.gov/climatechange/glossary-climate-change-terms_.html#C.
[8] “Coastal Flooding, Climate Change, and Your Health - CDC.” https://www.cdc.gov/climateandhealth/pubs/ CoastalFloodingClimateChangeandYourHealth-508.pdf.
[9] “Urban Flooding & Equity for Vulnerable Communities Collaborative - River Network.”
[10] “What Is Community Engagement?”. 2021. Plone Site. https://aese. psu.edu/research/centers/cecd/engagement-toolbox/engagement/ what-is-community-engagement.
[11] Shepard, Benjamin . “Play, Creativity, and the New Community Organizing”. 2005. Journal of Progressive Human Services. 16:2: 47–69. doi:10.1300/J059v16n02_04
[12] “Community-Driven Development - World Bank Group.” https:// www.worldbank.org/en/topic/communitydrivendevelopment.
[13] “What Is Cultural Heritage.” Culture in Development. Accessed December 6, 2021. http://www.cultureindevelopment.nl/cultural_ heritage/what_is_cultural_heritage.
[14] National Geographic Society, “Cultural Identity,” Nationalgeographic. org, 2019, https://www.nationalgeographic.org/topics/resource-librarycultural-identity/?q=&page=1&per_page=25.
[15] Spacey, John, “23 Types of City Culture”, updated on July 23, 2018. https://simplicable.com/new/city-culture
[16] Castree, Noel, Rob Kitchin, and Alisdair Rogers. A Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 2013.
[24] “Glossary Of Climate Change Terms | Climate Change | US EPA”. 2021. 19January2017snapshot.Epa.Gov.https://19january2017snapshot. epa.gov/climatechange/glossary-climate-change-terms_.html#C.
[25] Urban Land Institute, “Understanding Mixed Use and Multi Use,” 2019, https://knowledge.uli.org/-/media/ files/reading-list/reading-list-pdfs/readinglist_mixeduse_ v1.pdf?rev=6287a62984054023b3e238843b43d2be.
[26] Andy Coupland, Reclaiming the City : Mixed Use Development (London: E & Fn Spon, 1997), 1.
[27] The Field Operations Team. 2017. The South Bay Sponge. San Francisco, California: Resilient by Design
Jason Schupbach, Why Design Matters, Just City Essays
[28] “What Is Open Space/Green Space? | Urban Environmental Program In New England | US EPA”. 2021. Www3.Epa.Gov. Accessed December 4. https://www3.epa.gov/region1/eco/uep/openspace.html.
[29] Brenda S.A. Yeoh, “Postcolonial Cities,” Progress in Human Geography 25, no. 3 (September 2001): 456–68, https://doi. org/10.1191/030913201680191781.
[31] “Racial Segregation - New World Encyclopedia”. 2021. Newworldencyclopedia.Org. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/ entry/Racial_segregation.
[32] Caves, Roger W. Encyclopedia of the City. London ; New York: Routledge, Taylor et Francis Group, 2005.
[33] Abadi, Mark. “The US Is Split into More than a Dozen ‘Belts’ Defined by Industry, Weather, and Even Health.” Business Insider. Business Insider, May 7, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com/regionsamerica-bible-belt-rust-belt-2018-4#rice-belt-7.
[34 “Philadelphia District & Marine Design Center > Missions > Civil Works > Delaware River Basin Comprehensive Study > History of Delaware River Flooding,” accessed November 30, 2021, https://www. nap.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Delaware-River-BasinComprehensive-Study/History-of-Delaware-River-Flooding/.
[35]“Suburbanization - Wikipedia”. 2021. En.Wikipedia.Org. Accessed December 4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suburbanization.
[36] EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund.
[37]“Tax Reverted Property Definition | Law Insider”. 2021. Law Insider. https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/tax-reverted-property.
[39] Weaver, Matt, “Urban Regeneration - The Issue Explained” Published on March 19, 2001. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2001/ mar/19/regeneration.urbanregeneration1
[40] “World Tourism Organization.” UNWTO. Accessed December 6, 2021. https://www.unwto.org/urban-tourism.
[41] Mouratidis, Kostas, and Wouter Poortinga. 2020. “Built Environment, Urban Vitality And Social Cohesion: Do Vibrant Neighborhoods Foster Strong Communities?”. Landscape And Urban Planning 204: 103951. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103951.
[42] “Vacant Land.” The Free Dictionary. Farlex. Accessed December 1, 2021. https://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/vacant+land.
[43] “Urban Flooding & Equity for Vulnerable Communities Collaborative - River Network,” accessed November 30, 2021, https://www. rivernetwork.org/our-impact/how-we-help/strong-champions/urbanflooding-2/.
