Institute of Social Sciences

In this study, urban creativity is examined through the binomial concept of public space/public sphere. Simultaneously, distinction is made between radical-strategic and incremental-qualitative policies, and there is comparative analysis of the dynamics of three urban areas, informally recognized as ‘creative neighborhoods’, or ‘cultural districts’ (Bairro Alto in Lisbon; Vila Gracia in Barcelona; and Vila Madalena in São Paulo), are compared and contrasted. The public and private places for public use in the three neighborhoods are analyzed in terms of their functionality, accessibility, and morphology. On the other hand, there is equal analysis of the perception of local agents of the relations between these urbanistic factors and the creativity, vitality and competitiveness of the respective districts. Thus, there is identification of some of the conditions and opportunities of the traditional urban territories for attracting and retaining creative actors and innovative activities, while critically examining the prospects for competitive, but socially and culturally, accountable, urban development.

The deterritorialization of the public sphere and the emerging social formations on the virtual “public spaces” of the network society are matched by a growing erosion of collective life in the traditional public spaces and urban places. Still, and concurrently with this new city of fluxes, a few central urban areas endure as remarkable referential spaces of the city of places. This study – making a contribution for the ongoing discussion of the Creative City – compares and contrasts the dynamics of three of such places, informally known as “creative neighborhoods,” or “cultural neighborhoods:” Bairro Alto in Lisboa; Vila Gracia in Barcelona; and Vila Madalena in São Paulo. The article’s first part exposes the theoretical underpinnings of the study: an approach to the theme of creativity based on the binomial public space/public sphere; the recognition of the importance of certain economic activities for the vitality of public spaces; and the hypothesis that public space’s morphology – a determining factor on the way people will use it – associated with a great concentration of private spaces of public use, are decisive factors for the creativity and competitiveness of urban territories. The second part describes three case studies, comparing and contrasting the dynamics of the public spaces and private places of public use of the three neighborhoods in terms of their functionality, accessibility, and morphology; as well as how local key-agents perceive the relationships between such urbanistic factors and the creativity, vitality, and competitiveness of each neighborhood. The analysis identifies some of the conditions and opportunities of traditional urban territories for attracting and retaining creative actors and activities. It also formulates a critical examination of the possibility to develop new urban areas that are competitive, but socially and culturally accountable.

The deterritorialization of the public sphere and the emerging virtual ‘public spaces’ of the network society are matched by a growing erosion of collective life in traditional public spaces and urban places. Nevertheless, and concurrently with this novel city of fluxes, a few central urban areas endure as remarkable referential spaces of the traditional city of places. Drawing on the ongoing discussion of the Creative City, this paper approaches the theme of urban creativity by focusing on the binomial public space/public sphere, and claims that public space’s morphology, associated with the concentration of private spaces of public access, are decisive factors towards the vitality and creativity of urban territories. A comparative study examines the character and dynamics of three central urban precincts, informally known as ‘creative neighbourhoods’ or ‘cultural quarters:’ Vila Gracia, Barcelona (Spain); Bairro Alto, Lisbon (Portugal); Vila Madalena, São Paulo (Brazil). Operating like islands within the three cities, these neighbourhoods comprise an uncommon number of creative activities and artistic communities that have favoured the emergence of distinctive urban subcultures and alternative ways of life. The mix of local residents and outside visitors is heterogeneous and the confrontation between ‘alternative’ and ‘conventional’ is constantly negotiated on the streets of these popular urban areas. A survey of both the neighbourhoods’ public spaces, and of the networks of private spaces that are accessible to the public, displays commonalities that help explain their resilience as spatial/cultural references, as well as their ability to remain compelling places of collective interaction on a rapidly changing urban landscape. Concurrently, interviewed local key-agents uncover a number of specific features that contribute to the neighbourhoods’ popularity and vitality. With this paper I expect to contribute to the understanding of urbanism as a powerful shaper of urban life, and as a facilitator (or not) of the coexistence of diverse lifestyles in a shared territory.

Do ponto de vista urbanístico, os últimos cinquenta anos podem ser entendidos enquanto o período em que foi levada a cabo uma experiência social e geográfica sem precedentes. Sob a influência do paradigma modernista-tecnicista, abandonámos uma tradição milenar de fazer cidade e investimos todos os nossos recursos numa experiência singular, nunca antes testada: o crescimento urbano através da suburbanização difusa. O Estado subsidiou, directa e indirectamente quer a oferta quer a procura de habitação e serviços periféricos; o Estado investiu em vastas redes de infraestruturas e serviços para servir as novas áreas suburbanas; os bancos financiaram todas as operações; as políticas públicas adaptaram-se a esta 'máquina de crescimento'; e as pessoas adaptaram-se aos tempos. Crescimento urbano era—e continua a ser—equacionado com crescimento económico. A suburbanização acelerada das últimas décadas, no entanto, foi conduzida por uma lógica de crescimento a que faltou, quase sempre, uma visão de objectivos estratégicos de longo prazo. Recentemente temos vindo a ser confrontados não apenas com as externalidades negativas mas também com os limites desta experiência...

O presente artigo propõe uma análise das dinâmicas de urbanização emergentes das transformações estruturais do pós-fordismo. Examinam-se os aspectos formais da reorganização do espaço urbano e as contradições inerentes à sua actual produção num contexto de urbanismo ‘pós-modernista’. Face à crescente despacialização da esfera pública, e à crescente privatização do espaço público, propõe-se a recuperação das morfologias espaciais rejeitadas pelo modernismo, enquanto contributo fundamental do planeamento físico contemporâneo para o reforço da comunicação e da coesão social.

This article probes the emergent dynamics of urbanization under the structural transformations of post-fordism. It investigates the formal aspects of the reorganization of urban space, and the inherent contradictions of its production in a 'post-modern' planning context. In the face of a growing de-spatialization of the public sphere, and a growing privatization of public space, we suggest the revival of spatial morphologies rejected by modernism, as an important contribute of contemporary physical planning for the recovery of human communication and social cohesion.

Along the past half-century, suburban sprawl has created a new spatial geography which diverse authors have called the extensive city, the fragmented city, the formless city, or the city without model. An outstanding characteristic of the extensive city is its lack of formal coherence and functional efficiency. The shortcomings of this type of urban development have been noted from a variety of perspectives. Environmentalists worry about the extensive loss of natural and rural land, the steep increases in carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions derived from traffic, and an over reliance on fossil fuels. Sociologists point to the loss of long-established social networks, the erosion of the public sphere, and the rise of social ghettos in fragmented residential areas isolated from nearby communities. Urban planners and policymakers struggle to manage an increasingly complex mosaic of disjointed land-uses, over-extended infrastructures, and erratic investments of public and private capital. And all those who experience the dysfunctions of living in the extended city—from regular traffic congestion in daily trips to work, to social isolation, to the poor quality of urban environments—complain about the associated stress and distress. In light of these problematic aspects of contemporary urban development, an increasing number of planners, policymakers, architects, designers, and developers are examining the potential of alternative models of placemaking to counter some of the worst consequences of what has been—in spite of the existence of plans and other development control mechanisms—a rather unregulated process of urban sprawl...

This first deliverable for WP4: Infrastructure and services for sustainable urbanization: trends and policy support mechanisms, has allowed us to review the state of the art for the WP core themes, drawing on a combination of scholarly and policy literature. Given the nature and objectives of WP4, we have sought to compare trends and challenges in China and in Europe, and identify policy implications that will inform the second part of the WP (support mechanisms for decision--‐making: indicators, paradigm shifts and scenarios). Today, there is no doubt that these two major world regions stand at very different stages of development and ‘urbanisation’ – an expression which we use to refer to a condition (the share of total population in cities), a planning process and a social process (whereby societies become more urban). However, we have shown here that these regions share more commonalities than differences, and  that there is significant scope for joint research and collaboration in the search for pathways to sustainable urban futures.

Human beings are a force of nature, and nowhere is this more evident than in sprawling building sites around the world. "The Future We Want", invoked at the 2012 Rio+20 Conference, will depend on the cities we want, and these in turn will be shaped by the knowledge and skills we inherit from higher education. As current urban planners, architects, geographers and engineers engage with the almost unthinkable dimensions of scale and speed of urbanisation, academies around the world seek to equip their next generation with the skills and wisdom commensurable to the challenge. This challenge was the focus of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2004–2014) advocating the need for universities to embed sustainability in all learning areas across the curriculum. In this short paper, we look at the specific case of urban studies education and how this embraces the challenge of sustainable urban development...

REGIÕES FUNCIONAIS: DOS CONCEITOS ÀS PROPOSTAS DE INTERVENÇÃO
Uma visão de síntese sobre as 'regiões funcionais' – o que são, para que servem e em que condições podem ser utilizadas no contexto de políticas e estratégias de desenvolvimento territorial.

Urbanization stands amongst the most significant global trends of the 21st century, with cities accounting already for 70% of global wealth creation, 60% of total energy consumption, 70% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of global waste (UN Habitat 2015). These numbers are telling of both the vigor of cities and the challenges they face. The unprecedented levels of urbanization worldwide over the last decades have fuelled global economic growth while raising a number of social, environmental and spatial concerns that are increasingly shared by all cities, rather than unique to particular sites, thanks to globalization. Sustainability, socio-territorial cohesion and sustainable urban development became mots d’ordre and the city emerged as the critical building block for a more sustainable future. In this chapter, we consider the imperatives of sustainability and how they impact the urban planning field. In light of the United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2004–2014), we look into the requirements of higher education for sustainable urban planning and development (SUPD) and examine how sustainability concepts and principles are shaping the curricula of academic programs with a focus on the built environment. Supported by topical literature on sustainability and urban planning, the content analysis of a sample of 10 top world academic programs dealing with the built environment—covering the areas of architecture, urban design, urbanism and city planning—helped to identify the topical themes/fields for conceptualization and action, as well as the key skills which urban professionals need to master, in order to advance SUPD. Findings support the idea that, over the last decades, the imperatives of sustainability for urban planning have contributed to a growing convergence between the social sciences and the spatial planning field.

This volume explores the ways children participated in the expansion of global knowledge and horizons in the time of European Enlightenment. Great discoveries of global diversity – both social and geographical – were made over the early modern period, and such new knowledge was disseminated across Europe through media including travel narratives, material objects, children's books, periodicals, and popular histories. The contributions to this volume analyse the forms and the social and political functions of this dissemination, as well as the significant impacts the awareness of global diversity had upon notions of European identity and national self-identification.