Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Governmentality ecological sustainable city'

This study focuses on the politics around ecological sustainable development in Sweden today, with emphasis on urban development, building and living. The starting-point for this study is the environmental adapted city district of Stockholm, Hammarby Sjöstad. The primary focus of the study is to investigate what means of control the environmental investment in Hammarby Sjöstad is expressing, and to elucidate their ideological, political and social implications. The empirical material is primarily based up on the local Hammarby Sjöstad environmental program along with qualitative in-depth interviews with citizens of this district. The study is based on critical discourse analysis

The result of this study is that the ecological investment in Hammarby Sjöstad partly constitutes a hidden exercise of power, taking shape as built-in physical measures in the dwellings and the neighbouring surroundings. Hidden means of control transform political and ideological environmental targets in to practical factual matters. Hidden means of control makes ideological and political environmental issues non-political and reduces them in to technical issues.

Current global agricultural practices are recognized as unsustainable. The increase in overall human population as well as the global trend of rural to urban migration, partially as a result of historically and continual unsustainable agricultural practices, exacerbates the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger in developing countries. Furthermore, cities and regions in developed countries practice unsustainable food production, distribution and consumption patterns, and as a result, exceed their global ecological footprint (Rees 2009). Consequently, the world is facing a global food (FAO 2009) and water crisis (UN Sick Water 2010). Cities and Regions must learn to feed themselves to address local food insecurity as well as protect from the climate effects of increased urbanization, including the Urban Heat Island effect (UHIe) by optimizing and fully integrating the local ecosystem services of food, water and forest within a tightly woven compact urban form through the implementation of strategic urban and regional food system planning. Cities can mitigate climate change and reduce the UHIe, by implementing sustainable intensive urban agriculture approaches through policy and zoning interventions that include concepts such as intensively productive urban agriculture that includes green roofs, vertical farming and greenways as continuously productive and edible urban landscapes, referred to in this paper as continuously productive urban agriculture and forestation (CPUAF) in the private and public realm. A highly participative, adaptive systems approach is explored as the key to sustainability within an economic world order that included corporate social responsibility and social enterprise as the foundation for the integration of multiple synergies. An increasing body of evidence often links urban forestation with urban greenery initiatives, as a carbon sink to reduce UHI effects, to reduce GHG emissions and as a tool for urban beautification and place making (ISDR: 2009,109). Urban agriculture, through the production of local food is increasingly recognized as a means to reduce fossil fuel emissions by reducing transportation and production outputs, to provide a secure local food source, enhance biodiversity and educate the public regarding food source while fostering a sense of community, environmental awareness and stewardship. This thesis explores the links between intensive urban agriculture and forestation, and the relationship between climate change, and the UHI’s as an adaptation and mitigation process in global cities, implemented as a interconnected, integrated, holistic urban management approach that has a further benefit of providing food security and a sustainable and local urban food source.
Dissertation (MTRP)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Town and Regional Planning
unrestricted

As the world population moves toward 10 billion people over the next 50 years environmental decline seems inevitable unless changes are implemented. Issues of ecology, sustainability and the city are now being recognised as critical. The systemic and holistic nature of the problem means that sustainable policies must address a wide range of social issues, political attitudes, economic practices and technological methods. Volume One offers a wide-ranging and comprehensive review of Environmental Problems and Sustainability and seeks to map out both the historical and contemporary basis for a widespread transition towards a more sustainable society. The world's cities now offer the critical context within which sustainable strategies can be developed and tested. Much current academic and policy literature describes a range of sustainable development models representing radically different views of how the processes leading towards the planning and implementation of cities needs to b e realised. Volume Two describes Paolo Soleri's Arcology Model and the Arcosanti Laboratory as a relevant methodology and case study. The arcology model attempts to address issues of sustainability by advocating a balanced relationship between urban morphology and performance within cities designed to conform to the complexity - miniaturization - duration (CMD) paradigm. The methodology recognises the need for the radical reorganisation of urban sprawl into dense, integrated compact urban structures in which material recycling, waste reduction and the use of renewable energy sources are part of a sustainable strategy aimed at reducing the flow of resources and products through the urban system. As governments, eager to deliver major environmental improvements, press on with, as yet, untried and untested 'centrist' urban policies, there is a need to research relevant models of compaction. Over the last ten years, as the criteria of urban sustainability have become more widely accepted and understood the relevance of the Soleri's model has become clearer. Arcosanti in Arizona, begun in 1970, offers a laboratory for testing the validity of the theory. Volume Two concludes by critically reviewing arcology and Arcosanti in the context of the discourse on sustainability offered in Volume One. Since the energy crisis of the mid-1970s efforts at Arcosanti have been directed toward the definition and testing of various architectural effects that, when combined, could offer a response to many of today's environmental problems. But today progress is painstakingly slow. Lacking the level of funding and resources that would enable it to be convincing, it now represents not so much a specific prototypical solution but an activist engaged strategy that advocates the possibility of building our dreams and visions. In a world plagued by so many problems, and so few alternatives, it continues to offer a beacon of hope for a sustainable future.

This research examines ways to assess the built environment (BE) for its impacts on the ecosystems and its sustainability in terms of social, economic and environmental aspects on an urban scale. The examination is based on the argument, acknowledged in the literature, that urbanisation is one of the leading causes of unsustainable development, and that the BE makes a significant contribution to this. In order to accomplish this, urban dynamics are identified and mapped with respect to the built environment, and the relationship between urbanisation, the built environment, and the ecosystem is closely examined. The thesis argues that the common denominator in all efforts to move closer to sustainability is an effective assessment method, which not only quantifies the impacts but also informs and educates. The current methods used for assessment of the impacts of BE are found to be inadequate. An appraisal of contemporary assessment methods addressing sustainability and environmental issues at micro (individual building) and macro (urban system) levels is conducted to understand the mechanics of assessment theories. Based on this, a framework for a new assessment system which has the potential to overcome some of the observed weaknesses of the existing ones is proposed. Using multi-criteria analysis principles, this system uses ecological footprint and spatial analysis as its operational engine. It is then applied to a part of the Sydney Central Business District (CBD) for an integrated sustainability assessment. The ecological footprint of the building stock, transport, roads, waste disposal and water supply is calculated as a measure of the environmental impact of the built environment. In addition to this, ???return on investment??? (rental return on construction costs) as a measure of the economic aspect, embodied energy as a measure of material consumption, and ???proximity to facilities??? as a measure of the social benefit of the building stock, are calculated to assess the study area performance on these aspects. These are used to compute an integrated sustainability index for the study area. Various attributes of the built environment, such as total constructed area, height of building, road density etc., are analysed against the ecological footprint to understand the patterns of relationships between urban morphology and the state of sustainability.

With the global population becoming more urban and less rural, increasingly research has argued for concepts such as establish Green Infrastructure (GI) as a tool for enhancing wildlife survival and human’s living quality (e.g. Harrison et al., 1995; Benedict and McMahon, 2006). However, an interdisciplinary planning approach underpinned by ecological and social evidence has not yet been fully developed. This research therefore seeks to integrate an ecological network with a green space planning standard by exploring the use of biotope and sociotope mapping methods. Seeking a comprehensive planning that takes all green resources into account, a green space typology is firstly developed according to Taiwanese contexts for identifying green spaces from land use maps. In order to specify effective features of these green spaces to bird survival and user preferences, an insight was conducted into the relationship of ‘birds and urban habitats’, as well as ‘human preferred urban green spaces’ in Taipei City. Important environmental factors influencing bird distribution and influencing human experiences in urban green spaces are respectively specified and developed into an ecological value index (EVI) to detail potential habitats and a social value index (SVI) to evaluate recreational green space provision. Interestingly, proximity to green space appears to plays a more critical role in human preferences than bird survival in Taipei city; size is important both as a habitat and for creating an attractive green space; and green space quality tends to be a more significant factor than its structure for both wildlife and people. Utilising the bio-sociotope maps, this thesis argues for a number of strategies: conserving, enlarging, or creating large green spaces in green space deficient areas; increasing ecological and recreational value by enhancing green space quality of specific characteristics; and tackling gravity distance by combining green space accessibility and attractiveness in optimising urban green structure. As these suggestions are a challenge to apply in intensively developed urban areas, barriers from land use, political mechanisms, technical shortages, and cultural characteristics are also explored with possible resolutions presented for facilitating implementation. It is clear that optimising a multifunctional GI for both wildlife and people requires interdisciplinary knowledge and cooperation from various fields. The EVI and SVI developed within this thesis create the potential for a more place-specific and quantifiable green spaces strategy to help better link ecological and social functions in urban areas.

The thesis covers the role of the Green Space Factor (GSF) system as a nature-based solution for ecological urban planning in the sustainable city. One main focus for sustainable urban development is the aspect of constructing green spaces and green buildings in order to improve land-use efficiencies and thus minimize negative environmental impacts. Hence, in this study research is made through conducting a qualitative municipal document analysis on how the GSF system is portrayed and implemented in urban planning strategies based on the municipalities of Malmö and Gothenburg. To limit the study, two urban areas are selected for further investigation, the Western harbour in Malmö City and the Freeport in Gothenburg City. The documents included in the study are based on three categories of developing the chosen urban areas: visions, area programs and detailed plans. From the document analysis, several categories or themes were extracted consisting of future goals and vision, actors and trademarks, visionary sustainability, climate change adaptation strategies, sustainable urban development models, green infrastructure, and lastly strategies and design principles of the Western harbour and the Freeport. The results are analysed through the theory of neoliberalised urban climate change adaptation strategies and green fix as crisis management. In order to include the local context of sustainable urban development, environmental policy localization is also included in the analysis of the results. The results from the analysis of the empirical material show that the municipalities of Malmö and Gothenburg have implemented the GSF planning system into the local context of their visions, area programs and detailed plans of both the Western harbour and the Freeport. The GSF system is included in both urban planning strategies through indirect terminologies connected to general sustainable development, such as climate change adaptation, green infrastructure and design principles showcasing the desired sustainability strategies. However, the results present the risk of market-based sustainability trademarking. The study concludes on the mark that it is important for the cities to on one hand implement the GSF system into the overall policies design, and on another hand face sustainable urban development at a variety of spatial scales in order to meet the external requirements originating in the localization of environmental policies.

The renovation and maintenance projects in the “Million program” areas are currently ongoing in many parts of the country. As the stocks in many descriptions have similar conditions with regard to urban structure, construction technology and socio-economic situation, there is great potential for comparison. This means that different results from a renovation may be linked to other factors than the execution and choice of measures. In this thesis two different “Million program” areas have been compared, one in the suburbs of a big city and one in the suburbs of a small town (which will be referred to as ftS and fts in the report). The comparison will be evaluated from the three sustainability perspectives: social, ecologic and economic. To make these three perspektive interact is difficult but when all perspectives are considered as sustainable the “Point of Optimization” has been achieved. The projects that have been involved in this bachelor thesis are Nystad 1, which is owned by Svenska Bostäder, and Drabanten 3, which is owned by Nybro Bostad. Nystad 1 is placed in Akalla which is a suburb to the big city Stockholm and Drabanten 3 is placed in Kungshall which is a suburb to the small town Nybro. Both projects change the ventilation system to FTX, replace windows, put solar cell systems on the roof, renovate the kitchen and the bathroom and additional insulation to varying degrees. The scale of the renovation in Akalla is larger as the entire building to the core gets removed and rebuilt and a total refurbishment of the yard is also included in the project. The purpose of the report is to produce values linked to each perspective of sustainability that are comparable in both projects to evaluate the connection between the results and the placement in either ftS or fts. To produce results that are measurable within every aspect a customer survey was sent out, the reduced usage of energy were calculated and the economic profit was estimated. The project in Akalla is more extensive and the total cost amounts to just under 1,3 million SEK per apartment. Prior to the renovation the rent was 971 SEK/m2 which will be increased with 25% after the renovation. For Kungshall the total cost amounted to roughly 1 million per apartment and led to an increase of rent by 28% from the original rent which was 795 SEK/m2. The participation rate of the customer survey in Akalla was lower than in Kungshall which got a better result in all categories. The reduced use of energy of the project in Akalla is estimated to 32% while the project in Kungshall merly reached 21%. The use of method in this report determine that none of the projects successfully reached economic profit with their own company-specific calculation interest. However, the analysis of vulnerability shows that after 30 years Kunghall has gained a profit of 3.2 million SEK. Akalla is expected to reach sustainability from a social and ecological perspective but not from an economic perspective. In Kungshall the social and economic perspective are assessed to be sustainable while the ecological perspective is not, due to the fact that it did not reach “Klimatiniativets” goal at a reduced energy usage of 30 %. The result in this thesis concludes that the placement in either ftS or fts impacts the sustainability from the social perspective and normally also from the economic perspective, although not with the specific circumstances regarding this ftS due to Järvaavtalet. The sustainability from the ecological perspective is not connected to the placement but merely a result of choice of measures and execution. However, as the sustainable development is an interplay between the different perspectives, the result from the ecological perspective is also indirectly affected by the placement in either ftS or fts.
Renovering och underhållsprojekt i miljonprogramsområden är pågående i flera olika delar av landet. Bestånden har i många avseende liknande förutsättningar med hänseende till stadsstruktur, byggteknik och socioekonomisk situation. Det finns således stor potential för jämförelse och därför kan resultat av en renovering eventuellt kopplas till andra faktorer än utförande och val av åtgärder. I detta examensarbete jämförs två olika miljonprogramsområden, ett i förort till storstad och ett i förort till småstad, (som i rapporten benämns som ftS och fts) och utvärderas ur de tre hållbarhetsperspektiven socialt, ekologiskt och ekonomiskt. Samspelet mellan dessa tre perspektiven är i många fall svårt och när samtliga perspektiv anses som hållbara så har den så kallade “Optimeringspunkten” uppnåtts. De projekt som detta examensarbete behandlar är Nystad 1, som ägs av Svenska Bostäder, och Drabanten 3, som ägs av Nybro Bostad AB. Nystad 1 ligger i Akalla som är en förort till storstaden Stockholm och Drabanten 3 ligger i Kungshall som är en förort till småstaden Nybro. Båda projekten utför byte till FTX-system, fönsterbyte, solcellsanläggning på tak, renovering av kök och badrum och tilläggsisolering i olika omfattningar. Renoveringen i Akalla utförs i större skala, hela byggnaden görs stomren och en total upprustning av gården ingår också i projektet. Syftet med arbetet är att ta fram jämförbara värden kopplat till varje hållbarhetsaspekt för att sedan kunna avgöra om resultaten som speglas i dessa värden kan kopplas till att projektet är placerat i antingen ftS eller fts. För att ta fram mätbara resultat inom varje aspekt skickades kundundersökningar ut, energiberäkningar utfördes och nuvärdeskalkyler ställdes upp baserat på material som tillhandahållits av respektive projektledare eller inhämtats från andra källor. Renoveringen i Akalla är mer omfattande och den totala projektkostnaden uppgår till strax under 1,3 miljoner per lägenhet. Innan renoveringen uppgick hyran i 971 kr/m2 och höjdes efter renoveringen med drygt 25%. Den totala projektkostnaden i Kungshall uppgick i strax över 1 miljon per lägenhet och resulterade i en hyreshöjning på strax under 28% från den ursprungliga hyran på 795 kr/m2. Akalla hade lägre deltagandeandel på kundundersökningarna och fick sämre resultat än Kungshall i samtliga kategorier. Akalla förväntas uppnå en total energibesparing på 32% medan Kungshall enbart uppnådde 21%. Inget av projekten lyckades, enligt rapportens metod, nå företagsekonomisk lönsamhet med de företagsspecifika kalkylräntor som delgetts, dock så lyckades Kungshall generera en vinst på 3.2 miljoner efter 30 år utifrån känslighetsanalysen. Akalla bedöms nå en social- och ekologisk hållbarhet men inte en ekonomisk hållbarhet. Kungshall bedöms ha nått en social- och ekonomisk hållbarhet men utefter “Klimatiniativets” mål på en energiminskning med 30 % efter renoveringen så bedöms inte en ekologisk hållbarhet uppnås.Arbetet kommer fram till att resultatet ur det sociala perspektivet är bundet till placeringen i antingen ftS eller fts. Det ekologisk resultatet beror främst på utförande och val av åtgärder men eftersom den hållbara utvecklingen är ett samspelet mellan de olika perspektiven så påverkas även det ekologiska resultatet indirekt av placeringen i antingen ftS eller fts. Det ekonomiska resultatet bedöms i normalfallet vara starkt kopplat till placeringen i antingen ftS eller fts. I detta specifika fall har placeringen i ftS eller fts inte en avgörande roll eftersom det ekonomiska resultatet för projektet i ftS beror på involveringen i Järvaavtalet.

Didėjant urbanizacijos mastams, būtina akcentuoti darnų miestų vystymąsi. Dažniausiai literatūroje nagrinėjami ekologiško ir kompaktiško miestų modeliai. Analizė atskleidžia, jog pagrindiniai jų principai yra mišrios paskirties žemės naudojimas, išvystytas visuomeninis transportas bei dviračių takai, didelis tankumas, viešųjų erdvių prieinamumas, gamtos resursų išsaugojimas, ekonominis, socialinis ir ekologinis stabilumas. Baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjami šie du miestų modeliai, socialiniai veiksniai bei nurodoma monitoringo svarba planuojant miesto plėtros tendencijas. Elektrėnų savivaldybės pavyzdžiu išskiriami situacijos vertinimo indikatoriai, naudojami bendrajame savivaldybės plane. Baigiamajame darbe išanalizuoti pagrindiniai principai ir išskirti pagrindiniai subalansuotos plėtros įvertinimo kriterijai, bei nustatyta, kad galima išsami miesto subalansuotumo analizė kombinuojant išskirtus kriterijus.
With increasing the scale of urbanization, it is necessary to focus on sustainable development of the city. The ecological and compact models of the city are common issue in the literature. Main principles of these models are mixed land use, good quality of public transport and opportunity for bicycling, high density, access of public spaces, and conservation of natural resources, economical, ecological and social stability. There are distinguished indicators of state evaluation of Elektrenai municipality as an example. The article examines two urban models, social factors and the importance of monitoring in the urban planning process. In the article, basic principles are analyzed and main sustainable development evaluation criteria are emphasized.

Urbanisation is a global trend and in the year 2050 a big part of the world's population is expected to be living in urban areas. With this demographic change comes challenges. Biodiversity is the foundation for ecosystems to create services that human welfare depends on. The so called ecosystem services create functions that have provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting values för humans. The expansion of ecosystems is threatened around the world because of the increased urbanisation and more paved areas and less green spaces that are available for species to settle in. Green infrastructure is a management system that has become popular mainly in urban areas as a tool to conserve biodiversity and manage ecosystems in a sustainable way. By re-creating habitats and ecosystem functions a higher resilience is created in cities and through that it becomes easier to face challenges that come with a changed climate. In Sweden green infrastructure is an important component to reach global and national environmental goals. The capital of Sweden, Stockholm is growing rapidly. Because of the growing population the design of the city and the amount of green spaces is even more important to improve the ecological, economical and social aspects in society. In this study a qualitative content analysis has been made to examine how Sweden works with the implementation of green infrastructure on a national, regional and local level. By analysing three relevant policy documents an analytical framework has been used to look closer at how ecosystem services are expressed in the different levels. The result shows that ecosystem services are given a large place in the guidelines and the action plan for green infrastructure in Sweden. It is even more clear on a local level because a big part of the planprogram over the formation of the new district Årstafältet concentrates on creating ecological solutions to help ecosystem services to create its functions. The result also shows that the implementation of green infrastructure should be overarched by cooperation and transparency where more participants are included for the best possible decisions to be made.
Urbanisering är en global trend och år 2050 förväntas en stor andel av världens befolkning vara bosatta i urbana områden. Med denna demografiska förändring kommer utmaningar. Den biologiska mångfalden är en grundsten för att ekosystem ska kunna skapa de tjänster som människans välmående är beroende av. Ekosystemtjänster skapar funktioner som har försörjande, reglerande, kulturella och stödjande värden för människor. Ekosystemens utbredning hotas världen över på grund av ökad urbanisering då många ytor hårdläggs och färre gröna ytor blir tillgängliga för arter att bosätta sig i. Grön infrastruktur är ett förvaltningssystem som har blivit populärt framförallt i urbana områden för att bevara den biologiska mångfalden och förvalta ekosystem på ett hållbart sätt. Genom att återskapa livsmiljöer och ekosystemfunktioner skapas en högre resiliens i städerna och det blir på så sätt lättare att stå emot de utmaningar som kommer i och med ett förändrat klimat. I Sverige är grön infrastruktur en viktig komponent för att nå upp till globala och nationella miljömål. Sveriges huvudstad Stockholm växer i snabb takt. I och med den växande befolkningen blir utformningen av staden och andelen gröna ytor än viktigare för att förbättra de ekologiska, ekonomiska och sociala aspekterna i samhället. Denna studie har utgått ifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys för att undersöka hur Sverige arbetar med implementering av grön infrastruktur på nationell, regional och lokal nivå. Genom att analysera tre relevanta policydokument har ett analytiskt ramverk använts för att undersöka hur ekosystemtjänster kommer till uttryck på de olika nivåerna. Resultatet visar att ekosystemtjänster får en stor plats i riktlinjerna och handlingsplanerna för grön infrastruktur i Sverige. Än tydligare blir det på lokal nivå då en stor del av planprogrammet för utformningen av den nya stadsdelen Årstafältet inriktar sig på att skapa ekologiska lösningar för att underlätta för ekosystemtjänsterna att utveckla sina funktioner. Resultatet visar även att implementeringen av grön infrastruktur måste genomsyras av samarbete och transparens där flera aktörer involveras för att bästa möjliga beslut skall fattas.

O atual modelo de cidade capitalista, voltado ao crescimento econômico, proporciona um desequilíbrio na estrutura sócio-ambiental das áreas urbanizadas, acarretando sérios problemas ambientais. A crise ambiental e a exclusão social levam à necessidade de formular novas propostas para o desenvolvimento sustentável, atreladas ao potencial ambiental e cultural da cidade ao longo da sua evolução urbana, estimulando trajetórias de maior qualidade socioambiental e um melhor preparo para lidar com as grandes tendências evolutivas e seus impactos. O desenvolvimento sustentável implica no reconhecimento da relação natureza-cultura; valorizando os recursos naturais e os sentidos culturais que mobilizam a construção social da história. É necessário vincular a complexidade ambiental ao processo de construção da identidade de um povo; seus costumes, tradições e crenças. A abordagem ecológica é a base para o resgate da relação afetiva cidadão-cidade, tendo como principais eixos de amarração o patrimônio cultural e os recursos hídricos, analisados de acordo com a evolução da cidade. A pesquisa tem como principal objetivo avaliar a qualidade socioambiental e desenvolvimento de novos cenários para um projeto urbano sustentável baseado na elaboração e aplicação do Selo LABVerde II, um selo de localização sustentável, e na análise da estrutura ecológica, hídrica e cultural do município de Itu, em especial a ligação entre o Centro Histórico e o Novo Centro da cidade. Este trabalho valorizará o potencial ambiental e cultural nos projetos urbanos, estabelecendo vínculos afetivos da sociedade com sua identidade e com os recursos naturais, incentivando possíveis intervenções dos órgãos públicos no planejamento urbano e na formulação de novos planos diretores, com o objetivo de proporcionar uma qualidade de vida melhor.
The current model of a capitalist city, focused on economic growth, provides a lack of balance at socio-environmental structure of urbanized areas, leading to serious environmental problems. Environmental crisis and social exclusion evoke the formulation of different proposals for sustainable development linked to the environmental and cultural potential of the city, along its urban evolution, stimulating trajectories of higher socio-environmental quality and better preparedness to deal with big evolutionary trends and impacts. Sustainable development implies recognition of nature - culture relationship; valuing the natural resources and cultural sensethose mobilize social construction of history. It is urgent to link environmental complexity to the process of building a people\'s identity; their customs, traditions and beliefs. Ecological approach is the basis for the rescue of the citizen-city affective relationship, having as main axes of mooring cultural heritage and water resources, analyzed according to the city evolution. The main objective of the research is to evaluate socio-environmental quality and develop new scenarios for a sustainable urban project, based on the elaboration and application of the LABVerde II Seal, a seal of sustainable location, analyzing ecological and water resources and cultural structure in the municipality of Itu - in special connection between Historic Center and New Center of the city. This work intend to value environmental and cultural potential in urban projects, establishing affective bonds of society, with its identity and natural resources, encouraging possible interventions by public agencies in urban planning and the formulation of new master plans formulation, looking for better life quality.

Over the years, every major city turns into a knot of intractable problems: overpopulation, traffic jams, environmental degradation. Some countries make a faster conversion from an industrial development to an information growth phase, than the infrastructural changes take place. Therefore, environmental design and construction would not be short-termed, but rather will be the long-term targets for all the groups associated with the construction. The healthy living is one of the most important reasons to start a complicated long-term reconstruction of eco-cities. Successful ecological reconstitution requires a knowledge about already implemented exemplary solutions. For this purpose, the dissertation analyzes the basic ecological problems of settlements, analyzing the examples of approaches to improve the environmental performance of cities on the reference of foreign experience and creates criteria and principles for designing urban structures for healthy living in CR.

The Ph.D. Thesis is based on the principle of open approach into the urban greenery in the frame of sustainability improvement in inner cities. Sustainable inner city planning and management brings also the supply for indicators of sustainability and life quality in urban space. The Ph.D. thesis is interested in evaluation of positive and negative impact of greenery into life quality in the inner city. There is studied the impact of greenery into the human being in the city and what has influence on urban greenery too. The thesis observes existing indicators whose describe urban greenery quality and its utilizing from the point of view of sustainability and collaterally observe the greenery perception from the city inhabitant’s point of view. On the basement of analysis and theoretical knowledge including in the thesis is for urban life quality measurement constructed new aggregated indicator – the Indicator of Common Urban Greenery Quality. This indicator is in the thesis valuated on the data set of 70 Czech cities and medium sized towns. There is valuated its possibility to describe urban greenery potential. The relationship between the indicator and clime change and other urban development changes is also solved. The indicator and its mathematical construction brings new information about urban greenery potential and its impact and usage in city sustainability and urban life quality increasing.

Though most commonly regarded as a revolutionary public health invention, the introduction of conventional wastewater sanitation systems has a mixed legacy in the U.S. A growing body of research links sewage-based sanitation systems with nationwide ecosystem degradation and an unsustainable dependence on vast inputs of materials and resources. In addition to contributing to chronic problems across the country, today these wastewater infrastructures are in various states of disrepair. The EPA estimates that at least $270 billion must be invested in coming years to prevent massive sanitary failures, but municipalities are increasingly unable to fund these expensive (re)investments in buried water-carriage sanitation infrastructures. Some U.S. communities are exploring the potential for community-scale decentralized sustainable or ecological sanitation (ecosan) solutions to meet their sanitary needs at a fraction of the cost of wastewater treatment schemes and with various additional benefits. This thesis examines the first two pilot applications of community ecosan in the New England region of the U.S. to understand the opportunities, challenges, and adaptation strategies that characterize these projects in the North American context. An emergent, mixed methods approach was developed over several years and involved personal engagement with the cases reviewed. The two pilot projects are compared and contrasted, and several themes are identified: First, the case studies indicate that specific conditions may have provided fertile contexts for the introduction of community-scale ecosan in the U.S. Second, various challenges have been posed to large scale ecosan projects in the U.S, but existing sanitary regulations and funding pathways present the most formidable barriers since they often deter innovative solutions. Third, these cases show that communities can develop myriad strategies to overcome these challenges and confront barriers to sanitation reform in the U.S. The study is framed by an inquiry into the role of professional planners and local community members in sustainable sanitation reforms. Findings indicate that individual planners can react both positively and negatively to proposals for community ecosan schemes, and that planners possess numerous tools to support community-led programs in navigating the significant barriers they face. Ultimately, though, communities must practice self-determination in sanitation reform planning. Final recommendations suggest that future community ecosan projects focus on incremental and complementary introduction, integrate research components, and incorporate effective ecosan residuals management schemes into their programming.

The present research consists of the current research on methodologies to approach the measurement of sustainable development in different global contexts. Cities will be taking over an essential role in the Development towards a climate-neutral, resilient future. By 2030, nearly 5 billion humans will be living in cities, a vast majority of them in today's emerging and developing countries. This increase in importance of urban space is accompanied by rapid technological and societal change. The importance of this field has sparked a significant number of initiatives and studies worldwide, intending to gather and organize data related to Development and sustainability. From the scientific point of view, proven methods and models for measuring the efficiency of cities in terms of sustainability are lacking. Throughout the thesis, the focus is being set on the Morgenstadt approach, developed by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. The purpose of the thesis is to identify the weaknesses that can or can not be identified through the standard indicator systems. Furthermore, the aim is to define the methodologies strengths and weaknesses in the context of the upcoming international climate initiative. The methodology is going to be applied in Piura, Peru, in order to assess a southern American cities readiness while considering a city as a complex system, impossible to be predicted or foreseen.
O estudo apresentado é composto pela investigação actual de metodologias que medem o crescimento sustentável em diferentes contextos globais. As cidades terão um papel essencial no Desenvolvimento para um futuro resiliente e neutro a nível climático. Em 2030, aproximadamente 5 biliões de humanos estarão a viver nas cidades, sendo que uma grande maioria deles estará a habitar nos que são hoje considerados os países desenvolvidos e emergentes. Este crescimento na importância do espaço urbano é acompanhado pelas rápidas mudanças tecnológicas e sociais. A importância deste campo despoletou um número significativo de iniciativas e estudos por todo o mundo, com a intenção de reunir e organizar dados relativos ao Desenvolvimento e sustentabilidade. Do ponto de vista científico, são escassos os métodos e modelos que possam quantificar a eficácia das cidades ao nível da sustentabilidade. Ao longo da tese, o foco predomina na abordagem do método desenvolvido no âmbito de Morgenstadt, desenvolvida pelo Instituto Fraunhofer na Alemanha. O objectivo da tese é a identificação das fraquezas que podem ou não ser reconhecidas através dos sistemas indicativos standard. Adicionalmente, pretende-se identificar metodologias fortes e fracas no contexto da próxima iniciativa climática internacional. A metodologia apresentada será aplicada em Piura, Peru, de forma a avaliar a prontidão de uma cidade Sul-Americana, tendo em conta o seu complexo sistema enquanto cidade.

Dissertação de Mestrado Integrado em Arquitetura apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia
A presente dissertação surge do desafio lançado pela Associação Mentes Convergentes (Associação de Promoção e Desenvolvimento de Oliveira do Bairro), pela Câmara Municipal de Oliveira do Bairro e pela disciplina de Atelier de Projecto II-B da Universidade de Coimbra. O desafio consiste na criação de um projecto inserido numa estratégia urbana que explora o potencial do território de Oliveira do Bairro, promovendo a discussão sobre o seu desenvolvimento urbano.Este trabalho desenvolve-se ao redor de dois substantivos importantes no debate sobre o planeamento urbano: o parque e a cidade. Este tema assenta nos preceitos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável e do Urbanismo Sustentável, de forma a encontrar uma resposta aos problemas da cidade em questão, como o crescimento urbano, a falta de acessos, a primazia automóvel e a redução de áreas verdes em solo urbano. Tais condições detêm um papel significante na vida quotidiana das cidades, no bem-estar populacional e na organização urbana. Neste sentido, existe a necessidade de elaborar estratégias que visem a valorização do espaço público e a conservação dos ecossistemas, criando alternativas menos poluentes e mais ligadas ao aumento da qualidade de vida da população. O projecto em apreço aborda a requalificação do Rio Levira e a sua relação com a cidade, tendo como estratégia a sua ligação, criando um parque verde com características urbanas, definindo um corredor urbano-ecológico para esta região. Pretendemos, assim, promover a cidade com espaços lúdicos ligados à natureza do parque, fomentando a atracção e o desenvolvimento do território de Oliveira do Bairro. A presente proposta divide-se em três partes: o projecto à escala urbana, o desenho do Parque Verde da Cidade e o desenho do Pavilhão Multiusos e do novo Mercado Municipal de Oliveira do Bairro. Ao propormos um Parque Verde com vários equipamentos, pretendemos gerar mais dinâmicas sociais, culturais e populacionais, tornando esta área mais equilibrada e aprazível com mais espaços para a comunidade, valorizando o património ambiental e histórico, enobrecendo o potencial e o desenvolvimento da região.
The present dissertation begin from the challenge launched by the Mentes Convergentes Association (Oliveira do Bairro Development and Promotion Association), the Oliveira do Bairro City Council and the Atelier de Projecto II-B, discipline at the University of Coimbra. The challenge consists in the creation of one project inserted in a master plan that explore the potential of the Oliveira do Bairro territory, with the purpose of promoting the discussion about its urban development.This work is developed around two nouns that play a relevant role in the discussion about urban planning: the park and the city. The discussion of this theme is based on the precepts of Sustainable Development and Sustainable Urbanism, seeking to respond to the problems of cities, such as urban growth, lack of access, car primacy and reduction of green areas in urban soil. These factors are important in the daily life of cities and in the population’s well-being. In this sense, there is a need to create urban projects that aim at enhancing the public space and conserving ecosystems, creating alternatives that are less polluting and more linked to increase the quality of life for the population.The project deals with the re-qualification of the Levira river and its relationship with the city, having as its strategy its connection, creating a green park with ecological and urban characteristics, defined as an urban-ecological corridor. We intend to promote the city with playful spaces linked to the nature of the park, fostering the attraction and development of the territory of Oliveira do Bairro. This proposal is divided into three parts: the urban-scale project, the design of the Green City Park and the design of the Multi-purpose Pavilion and the Municipal Market. We aim to create more social and cultural dynamics with these buildings and with the proposal of the green park, promoting a more balanced and pleasant area for the community, in the same way that value the environmental and historical heritage, as well as the social spaces within the city, ennobling the potential and the development of the region.