urban planning & design portfolio
vicente romero
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Vicente Romero is a city planner, urban designer, and geographer from Ciudad Real, Spain.Vicente has a bachelors degree in geography from the University of Castilla-La Mancha and a masters degree in urban and regional planning from the University of California, Los Angeles. Work presented in this portfolio is a reflection of projects created at both of these institutions and contracted work for cities and private companies. planning & design|
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urban and regional analysis Spatial Planning Guidelines for Cabezarados and Villamayor, Spain Cabezarados and Villamayor are two rural towns in Spain. The territorial analysis and rural planning aim to promote the development of these areas to avoid their deterioration, whether natural, cultural, historical, social, etc. These two municipalities are rural areas in decline, whose essential characteristics are the weak population growth, marked emigration, low levels of infrastructure, poor economic development, the need to protect and conserve the natural heritage, etc. This project has a great interest today since it is not only limited to this case study, but also has an application at national and global levels.
data & tools
satellite images topographic maps
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census data ArcGIS
digital elevation model
slope analysis
geomorphology
infrastructures
land uses
spatial model
planning & design|
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urban and regional analysis natural hazards in Granatula, Spain
volcanic risk
seismologic risk
Natural hazards have always represented a threat to the human being and its assets, and in most cases have led to catastrophic disasters. This type of danger can occur quickly and violently as in earthquakes, or slow, such as soil erosion. The effects on the territory, in turn, can be localized, such as landslides or can affect large areas such as floods. 6 |vicente romero
The disproportionate growth of some cities means that relocation is not possible, so there is only the alternative of planning before the risks happen. This is one of the objectives of spatial planning since disasters, in most cases, are predictable. Natural hazards maps represent a basic tool for the prediction, study, and solution of these problems.
flood risk
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urban and regional analysis
office development around Madrid
GIS analyses of cadastral/zoning data
regional scale:
office space and service employment in Madrid Office space - Cadastre 2010
Service employment - NACE 2007
office development along Madrid’s northwest highway corridor 8 |vicente romero
local scale:
office spaces in Madrid A. age B. density C. type of building D. offices’ average size
office spaces in the Salamanca district (Madrid)
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3.59
Most Specialized Industries (LQ 2010) Legal Services Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services Specialized Design Services Computer Systems Design and Related Services
4.51
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services
3.36
Scientific Research and Development Services
1.88
2.01
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services
6.19 1.63
4.06
3.65 1.94
3.36
3.81
2.99
3.3 2.13
2.08
2.75
2.94
2.41
3.72 2.31
Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
3.67
4.46 7.44 2.65 8.05
2.12
1.95
4.83 4.06
4.15
2.06
3.41 4.52
4.29 2.26 2.573.29
Âą 10 |vicente romero
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2
4
8
12
16 Miles
1.99
1.82 1.81
5.04
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urban design | active transportation ENTER.HUB | Ciudad Real Ciudad Real is perhaps best known for the work of fiction by Cervantes, who depicted the travails of Don Quixote de la Mancha. Just an hour away from Madrid and its Barajas Airport by HighSpeed Train, the city has begun to develop as a long-distance suburb of the Spanish capital, as well as offering its own range of cultural attractions. This project promotes the role of railway hubs/multimodal interfaces of regional relevance in medium cities as engines for integrated urban development and economic, social and cultural regeneration.
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I. Strategies to improve the station’s neighborhood _relocation of the Esperanza neighborhood
_new commercial and office spaces in the surroundings planning & design|
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urban design | active transportation
I. Strategies to improve the station’s neighborhood _new public spaces around the station
_new park entrance
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I. Strategies to improve the station’s neighborhood A B
_new sections for Santa MarĂa de Alarcos street, (A) with parking, (B) without parking
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urban design | bike itineraries II. Improving the cyclist and pedestrian connection bewteen the station and downtown Ciudad Real:
_cycling network around the station
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II. Improving the cyclist and pedestrian connection bewteen the station and downtown Ciudad Real: _pedestrian itineraries from the station to downtown
_current access to the station planning & design|
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urban design | wayfinding system III. Strategies of perception and orientation: a wayfinding proposal for Ciudad Real:
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urban design | pedestrian itineraries Using GPS tracks from wikiloc, a point density map in the historic city center of Toledo shows tourists’ itineraries. This map represents how many registered points are found in each 10m x 10m cell, meaning the density of tourists’ presence considering how long they stay at a point (if a tourist stays longer, the track will have more points registered at that point). This grid presents some errors as the precision of the domestic GPS is not very high. For this reason, a new map is drawn representing the density of GPS tracks shared in wikiloc.
planning & design|
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urban design | design concepts
Ciudad Real is a city in central Spain, located in the middle of the way from Madrid to Seville. It has 75,000 inhabitants, the majority of which work on the service and the administrative sector as the city is the capital of the province. The city was founded by king Alfonso X of Castile in 1255 with a medieval design, but we can distinguish today all the four city design models: traditional in the central city, modernist in the southern extension and in the university campus, green in the “Garden City� neighborhood, and system in the orbital ring that once was the city’s historic wall.
Traditional city design
Green city design
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Modernist city design
Traditional city desing The city within the historic wall is characterized by having a traditional city design. As can be seen in the map, the central main square (Plaza Mayor) is the origin of three of the most important old roads: Calatrava, Toledo (Pic 2), and Caballeros (from right to left). These streets are a bit wider and have taller buildings than the rest. There other streets are more irregular and we can find small or medium squares and parks all over the city. Picture 1 shows a traditional house: one floor and four rooms with a central corridor leading to a big patio. However, the usual residential building today is multi-family, mixed-use, very compact and dense (Pic 3). Sidewalks are wide and car lanes are narrow so pedestrians are prioritized.
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urban design | design concepts 1
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Green city design
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The “Garden City” neighborhood was built in the 1930s in order to expand the city because of the physical constraints the central city was suffering. The city decided to develop a Garden City just like other cities were doing. The green city design provided the medium-to-upper classes with single-family homes with both front and back gardens. With time some of the gardens have been filled up or densified. However, the “green spirit” that the district was created with can be felt still today in its treelined streets. The green areas abound in comparison with other parts of the city as well. We do not see mixed-use zones here though, as the district was mainly residential.
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Modernist city desing This piece of modernist city design is the last city’s expansion from 2000s. A key artifact is the city’s main hospital located in the middle of the district. The main streets are four lanes wide with a median, so pedestrians have it difficult to walk around it. In this sense, the district could be an example of the system city design as well. The hospital building looks more like a ship than a hospital itself. The significant form is also present in the residential buildings that try to call the attention of the driver. They are usually multi-family, spaced, and form gated communities with several community services inside.
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urban design | active transportation Ciudad Real is a city in central Spain, located in the middle of the way from Madrid to Seville. It has 75,000 inhabitants, the majority of which work on the service and the administrative sector as the city is the capital of the province. The city was founded by king Alfonso X of Castile in 1255 with a medieval design. In the case presented here, the city “forgot� this issue getting rid of an old road when planning the University Campus. Here I propose a reorganisation of the intersection of the old road (mainly used for pedestrians/students to get from downtown to the University Campus) with the city’s beltway (two lanes in each direction, used by cars), keeping the continuity and preeminence of the former over the latter. In addition, I propose new uses and renovation of the existing land and buildings. Affordable live work spaces are proposed so students have a place to develop their startups when fininshing 24 |vicente romero their studies at the university.
A pedestrian crossroad, a social pole for the community
Problems
Fire station in old industrial building
The police station is a “shoe box” building
The sidewalk in this stretch of Calatrava Street is almost unexistent
The back of the residential buildings do not overlook the beltway
A retirement home’s park is fenced off of the neighbors
The old Calatrava road “dies” in front of the university library
The intersection is dangerous and unattractive
The parking area where live work spaces are proposed planning & design| 25
urban design | active transportation Removal of fences and physical obstacles so the retirement home’s park is shared with neighbors and elderly can interact with others
The community members participate in the The old industrial building (currently a fire planning process designing their parks and station) is restored and reused as the new playgrounds, painting cultural murals, etc. university gym, recreation center and dining hall.
Improve the pedestrian itineraries
New bike lane network from the downtown to the university campus and along the beltway
New roundabout to distribute traffic
Bike lane Sevilla, Spain 26 |vicente romero
Public participation is essential La Mina neighborhood, Barcelona
A pedestrian crossroad, a social pole for the community
Bluwater Crossing Live-Work Lofts Carlsbad, United States
Live work spaces with large workshop areas and patios are provided so students can develop and produce their ideas
Dynamo Metal Workshop Zurich, Switzerland
Solar panels so the live work spaces are energy self-sufficient The old Calatrava road is restored and kept available to citizens
A pedestrian crossroad, a social pole for the community
More space provided for cafeterias and bars along the beltway
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urban design | public spaces
BROXTON AVENUE “MEDITERRANEAN LOUNGE” PARKLET PLAN A PROPOSAL FOR THE WESTWOOD VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
Site plan
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Detailed plan
Exterior
Interior planning & design|
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urban design | real estate development Beverly Square is a real estate development and finance project of a new neighborhoodserving specialty retail center at 9900 South Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills,CA. As the design expert, I elaborated the development program and design concept, as well as the GIS cartography for the site and the market conditions analyses. In addition, I created the 3D SketchUp flyover of the retail center, as well as other graphic material such as a broker’s set-up sheet that served the jury to bet and invest on the project. 30 |vicente romero
concept design
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site analysis: 9900 S. Santa Monica Blvd.
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goals and project design pedestrian-scale development
architectural continuity
natural resources management
vibrant shopping district
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Floor plan - Level 2
Floor plan - Level 1
Section view
project design
project summary
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urban design | design guidelines
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Update of the specific plan and rewriting of the design guidelines for the community of Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. As the design expert, I developed all the graphic material that was exposed at the community meetings, as well as the GIS cartography and analyses. In addition, I created and distributed visual surveys to the community, so their ideas and thoughts were heard in the process. The final product was presented to the community and to the staff from the L.A. Dept. of City Planning.
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Zoning + Standards
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Vision map
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Swarthmore Paseo: a new pedestrian public space for the neighborhood
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Parking area: a sustainable [complete] parking and pedestrian area
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urban design | SketchUp models Santa Ana-Garden Grove Streetcar Project
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urban design | SketchUp models a TOD design proposal for the San Fernando Valley
GOALS__ 44 |vicente romero
LIVING HERE
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WORKING HERE
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PLAYING HERE
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editor | layout editor | designer design of booklets / magazines
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editor | layout editor | designer design of RFPs and RFQs recent projects by Cordoba Corporation
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