Regenerating Cities: Reviving Places and Planet (Cities and Nature)

✍ Scribed by Maria Elena Zingoni de Baro

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 244
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book sets out the discussion on how cities can contribute solutions to some of the challenges the urbanised world is facing, such as the pressure of growing populations, mitigation of effects of, and adaptation to globally changing environmental, climate and public health conditions.

Presenting a detailed explanation of the causes behind the current state of modern cities, the book advocates for a paradigm shift to improve the quality of life of ever-increasing urban inhabitants whilst nourishing the natural systems that sustain human and non-human life in the planet. Recognising the precious role that nature plays in the functioning of cities, it delves into the study of biophilic design and regenerative development. The book argues that these social-ecological design approaches can act as catalysts to develop conditions in urban settings that are beneficial for natural and human systems to thrive and flourish, both in ecosystem services and social-cultural systems. This is particularly relevant for the design of new quality precincts or the regeneration of degraded urban spaces to promote health, wellbeing and urban resilience. A framework is proposed to guide the process of thinking about, designing and building healthier, more liveable and resilient urban environments that raise the quality of life in cities.

The method can be used by researchers, practitioners -urban designers, urban planners, architects and landscape architects- interested in developing their work within a social-ecological perspective. It can also be used by local governments and agencies to underpin policy making, and by educational institutions to prepare graduates with necessary skills to respond to current and future built environment challenges.

✦ Table of Contents

Foreword
Regenerating Cities?
Preface
Contents
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
1.1 Background to Regenerative Sustainability and a Nature-Positive World
1.1.1 The Urban Issue and the Challenges of the Anthropocene
1.1.2 The Legacy of Modernism
1.1.3 The Need of a Qualitative Shift
1.2 Understanding the Value of Nature and the Urgency to Reconnect Human Mindset and Activity with the Natural World
1.3 Shifting Worldviews
1.4 Incorporating Social-Ecological Approaches to Urban Design and Planning
1.5 Looking into the Future of Cities and the Next Generations
1.6 Book Structure
1.7 Use of Terms
References
2 The Anthropocene and the Urbanising World
2.1 Understanding the Anthropocene
2.1.1 The Great Acceleration
2.1.2 The Anthropogenic World and the Planetary Boundaries
2.2 The Planetary Boundaries Framework Translation into Practice
2.3 Cities in the Anthropocene and the Urgency to Address Their Challenges
2.4 Urban Utopias of the Great Acceleration
2.4.1 The Garden City
2.4.2 Critiques of the Garden City
2.4.3 The Modernist City
2.4.4 Critiques of the Modernist City
2.5 Conclusions
References
3 Why Working with Worldviews and Paradigms?
3.1 The Importance of Working with Worldviews and Paradigms
3.2 The Shifting Worldview and Paradigms
3.2.1 The Mechanistic Worldview and the Technological Paradigm
3.2.2 The Ecological Worldview and the Regenerative Sustainability Paradigm
3.3 Understanding the Built Environment as a Social-Ecological System
3.3.1 Ecosystem Services and the Built Environment
3.3.2 Socio-Cultural and Ecological Systems Co-evolution
3.4 Conclusions
References
4 Two Social-Ecological Design Approaches to Regenerative Sustainability
4.1 Regenerative Sustainability Paradigm
4.2 Biophilia, Biophilic Design and Biophilic Urbanism
4.2.1 Biophilia at the Urban Scale
4.3 Regenerative Development
4.3.1 A Brief History of Regenerative Development Foundational Theory
4.3.2 Regenerative Development and Design Framework and Methodology
4.3.3 Core Principles of the Regenerative Methodology
4.3.4 Main Concepts to Support Practice
4.3.5 Regenerative Sustainability Theoretical Underpinning
4.4 Conclusions
References
5 An Integrated Framework for Designing Regenerative Sustainable Urban Environments
5.1 Understanding Regenerative Sustainable Urbanism
5.2 The Framework for Regenerative Sustainable Urbanism
5.2.1 Place-Based Relationships
5.2.2 Pattern Literacy
5.2.3 Ecosystem Services
5.2.4 Progressive Human-Nature Relationships
5.2.5 Development + Design
5.2.6 Community Engagement
5.2.7 Beauty
5.2.8 Liveability
5.3 Applying the Framework to Practice
5.4 Analytic Strategy
5.5 Conclusions
References
6 Curitiba Case Study
6.1 Geographic Information
6.2 Brief History
6.3 Urban Planning History
6.3.1 Critiques of the Planning Process
6.4 Planning Methodology: A New Mindset for Urban Planning
6.4.1 Urban Acupunctures
6.4.2 Strange Archaeology
6.4.3 Curitiba’s Green Plan
6.5 The Biocity Program: Live Barigüi and Green Line Projects
6.5.1 The Live Barigui Project
6.5.2 The Green Line Project
6.6 Green Policies and Incentives
6.6.1 Summary of Environmental Laws, Green Policies and Incentives
6.6.2 Green Areas Incentives
6.7 Analytical Strategy Applied to Curitiba
6.7.1 Urban Planning Approach and Processes Analysis
6.7.2 Framework Application to Curitiba
References
7 Singapore Case Study
7.1 Geographic Information
7.2 Brief History
7.3 Urban Planning History
7.3.1 Singapore’s Biophilic Vision
7.4 Planning Methodologies
7.4.1 An Innovative Process with a Focus on Urban Biodiversity
7.4.2 Skyrise Greenery
7.4.3 New Era of Greening Programs
7.4.4 The Active, Beautiful and Clean (ABC) Waters Program
7.5 Environmental Policies, Incentives and Campaigns
7.5.1 Main Environmental Laws and Policies
7.5.2 Greening Programs
7.6 Analytical Strategy Applied to Singapore
7.6.1 Urban Planning Approach and Processes Analysis
7.6.2 Framework Application to Singapore
References
8 Cross-Case Analysis
8.1 Cross-Case Analysis
8.1.1 Commonalities and Dissimilarities
8.1.2 Convergence of Evidence
8.1.3 What Can We Learn from These Cities?
8.1.4 The Framework and Analytical Strategy Performance
8.1.5 Can This Approach Be Applied Anywhere?
8.2 Community Participation Versus Fast-Tracks Procedures in Urban Planning
8.3 How to Translate These Ideas into Local Action?
References
9 A New Agenda for Cities
9.1 Why Cities to Boost the Change?
9.2 The Importance of Integrating Social-Ecological Approaches to Urban Planning
9.3 The Advantage of Working with Systemic Frameworks
9.4 Urban Design and Planning as Social-Ecological Technologies
9.5 Social Capital Enables Transformative Change
9.6 Thoughts on Regenerative Sustainable Urbanism
9.7 Going Forward Towards a Culture of Regeneration and a (Re)integrated Society into Nature
References
Appendix A Regenerative Sustainable Urbanism (RSU) Framework
Appendix B Core Principles of Regenerative Development and Design
References