mindartlab papers

PREFACE

2022-07-22T12:32:13-06:00

The Planned World: Urban, Rural, Wild Conference took place over two beautiful summer days in early August,
2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As with The City: Culture, Society, Technology Conference, held in
November, 2009, the conference days proved to be invigorating, stimulating, and full of exciting exchange from
participants in varied disciplines who were all interested in the same notion of how the world we live in exists as
planned space.
The Planned World Conference was a small and intimate event with about twenty papers presented by speakers from
a variety of countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, the United States, South Africa, Canada, and Egypt. One
thing we learned was that though we live in very different places with different social and cultural worlds, we share
many of the same concerns about how the world is a planned place. The conference featured a special lecture by
Patrick Y. Foong Chan from Architecture for Humanity Vancouver, as well as a roundtable discussion lead by
Architecture for Humanity Vancouver members Linus Lam, Neal LaMontagne, Theresa Fresco, and Patrick Y.
Foong Chan. Rounding out our program was a special screening of Yung Chang’s multiple award winning National
Film Board of Canada documentary feature film Up the Yangtze.
When we launched Interdisciplinary Themes in 2009 our goals were modest: we wanted to bring together scholars,
students, and practitioners, from around the world to engage in interdisciplinary and international exchange. The
first two conferences have reinforced our resolve to continue developing Interdisciplinary Themes as much as our
careers as university professors, administrators, and researchers, allows. The two groups of scholars, students, and
practitioners that we have hosted at the first two conferences demonstrated to us beyond expectations the
invigorating potential that arises when one brings together individuals from around the world.
As we look forward to The City: 2nd International Conference, which will be held in Vancouver in May 2011, we
also reflect about The Planned World Conference in the selection of excellent papers from the conference that are
published in this special issue of our journal.
Christian Riegel, Ph.D., Conference Coordinator
Katherine Robinson, Ph.D., Project Coordinator
Interdisciplinary Themes Conferences & Publishing

BRINGING PEOPLE TO THE PARK: EXCLUSIONARY REPRESENTATIONS IN THE MAKING OF GALT GARDENS

2022-07-22T12:27:50-06:00

In 2003 the Rotary Club of Lethbridge, Alberta proposed a revitalization of Galt Gardens, a historic ten-acre park in Lethbridge’s downtown. The proposal was accepted and the revitalization was completed in 2008. During these years the park changed significantly – public washrooms and a water feature were installed, and private security guards were employed to patrol the area. According to the local newspaper, developments have transformed Galt Gardens from a “hangout for the city’s street population” to “an idyllic scene of children splashing and playing, families picnicking and people strolling” (The Lethbridge Herald July 9, 2008). My paper asserts that space is always social and political – it is always imbued with power (Lefebvre, 1991). I explore the production of space as a complex social process, part of which is representational. Employing discourse analysis I look at newspaper articles, showing how these representations articulate who uses the space – who has, and who no longer has, the right to Galt Gardens park (Mitchell, 2003). Through the “revitalization” process, Galt Gardens is seemingly made a place where “families,” and “people of all ages” can participate in recreational activities. However, newspaper representations also work to exclude, producing “the city’s homeless” as unwelcome, as other-than “the public,” as other-than people.

MEASURING THE ECONOMICAL IMPACT TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE AREA IN METROPOLIS A PILOT STUDY FOR DEVLOPING PRACTICAL ELMOAZ STREET, FATIMIC AREA

2022-07-22T12:59:17-06:00

The importance of this study, is planning studies to address the analytical areas of architectural heritage with take into account the dimension of the economic side and a common link is restricted to return to the utilitarian perspective of economic development as a specific evaluative Standard and the main purpose of the study is to reach a matrix to measure the economic returns to the development of areas of architectural heritage as an input to the scheme of development of the Metropolis who has a pilot study of the study area.
The aims, parallel with the purpose of the study , are concentrated in defining the future framework for the development of aspects of urban heritage development as part of the city's Islamic and highlight the economic output of the Architectural Heritage. The methodology on the study is the systematic nature, ranging through the stages of research seemed to view the inductive phase of the foundations of planning and development mechanisms for regions Architectural Heritage Phase inferring through prioritization planning, and focus on the economic dimension as a parameter of the major graphic developmental studies, and phase is applied through the study of the analysis program to measure the economic impact and expected Conclusions that can be out of this reach , the architectural heritage areas are important element can make use in the development of economic resources of the hinterland of the Metropolis and that the economic impacts of a specific development plans

POTENTIAL AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THE PLANNED WORLD

2022-07-22T12:52:04-06:00

he technologies and strategies for achieving goals associated with carbonreduction and transitioning to a renewable energy future exist, and although they will continue to
improve with time, the precedents are sufficiently advanced at the present to allow for major
penetrations of renewable energy into mainstream design and societal infrastructures (Aitken
2006). Hence, a focused interdisciplinary collaboration that explores precedents for sustainable
building practices and solar energy in architecture and urban design projects in Europe and applies
them to the building context of North America is of great value. The goal of this paper is to
increase public awareness of the importance of efficient, sustainable energy at the building and
community scales. The authors, representing different disciplines including architecture, material
science and engineering, and economics, discuss the potential (focusing on energy supply and
demand) and implementation (specifically policy and financial strategies) necessary in moving the
planned world towards a renewable energy future. The strategies outlined in this paper will assist
in furthering understanding of the advantages of a shift in thinking from individual building-scale
sustainable design practices to realizing the social and environmental benefits of thinking about
renewable energy within our communities.

THE IRONY OF INTERVENTION: DESPOLIATION AND REMEDIATION

2022-07-22T12:45:38-06:00

The out-scaled processes of strip-mining appear incredible, absurd, and even ironic. In
fact, the notion of irony, in which explicit meaning is different from intended meaning, is itself a useful
critical tool for extending concepts which otherwise guide conventional discussion about design for the
environment. J. B. Jackson, for instance, wrote about the “vernacular” landscape. But how can the word –
which denotes characteristics unintended, unselfconscious, yet entirely artificial – be applied to
landscape? Are there circumstances in which understanding the transition from a natural to man-made
landscape can be moderated by “ironic” sensibilities? Shlomo Aronson‟s design for the Negev Phosphate
Works, among other examples of extensive site intervention, provides a useful lesson. One can perceive,
in Aronson‟s work, a kind of visual vernacular, established by the natural landscape‟s own precedent at an
existing place and time. Perception of this vernacular, on the other hand, depends upon the subtle, ironic
chiasm between site specificity and its opposite: the general concept of landscape itself.

A CRITICAL REVIEW: IDENTIFYING THE ISSUES, CHALLENGES, AND SOLUTIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS) IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

2022-07-22T12:40:31-06:00

Due to a lack of foresight in urban and rural planning, many developing
countries face challenges in implementing and monitoring the development of their cities,
towns, rural areas, and residential communities. Some of the challenges that they face, such as
sewage, sanitation, and waste-water management, can lead to conditions that are hazardous to
human life, as well as to the environment, and can result in communities that do not run
efficiently. With the right tools, planners, surveyors and engineers, who possess technical
expertise, political know-how, and financial insight can transform a vision of tomorrow into a
strategic action plan for today. This paper provides a critical review about the issues and
challenges in urban and rural planning in developing countries with high population densities,
and conventional solutions that are currently being employed, including those based on GIS
and remote sensing data. This study is one component of an on-going research project that is
focused on the development of an enhanced model for a spatial decision-support system that
will be practically applied for the development of an early-warning escape plan for natural
disaster management, and for transportation network development and sustainable urban
planning.

URBAN SPRAWL / THE CLAIM FOR LIMITS

2022-07-22T12:48:35-06:00

The urban sprawl has had terrible consequences in Europe, and specially in my countryPortugal, (member of the European Community) . But this phenomenon also affects the underdeveloped
world and the poorest areas of the planet, and it is associated with the uncontrolled growth of cities, the
increase of population and with housing deficit. The archipelago of Cape Verde (a Portuguese colony
until 1975) is an interesting case-study. In Cape Verde, the phenomenon of urban- sprawl is visible,
especially in its major cities- Mindelo and Praia (the capital). Cape Verde seems to have everything that
could be the harsh reality of the coming decades of the XXI century. Water shortage, deforestation,
displacement of population from the country to the cities. And cities without limits. It is a good casestudy to understand how our contemporary cities can be controlled in its growth. And the main question
is: How can we limit the city, in our contemporary world? And the forest? - Can it be an urban limit? And
in the specific case of Cape Verde, is the forest sustainable as an urban containment? Is the forest viable
in a territory with, very irregular and low rainfall?

MODELING LANDFILL SUITABILITY BASED ON MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING METHOD

2022-07-22T12:43:16-06:00

Despite great efforts to reduce and recycle solid waste, landfill disposal is still the
most preferable method of solid waste management. One major problem, however, concerns
selecting an appropriate landfill site. This research aims to develop a landfill siting methodology
employing GIS, and a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) rule, consisting of analytical
hierarchy processes (AHP) and weighted linear combinations (WLC). The proposed method was
applied to the study area of the District of Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. Through this study, a few
potential sites for a new landfill facility were identified by considering the various environmental,
social and economic factors. The GIS is used for inputting, managing and visualizing the
geographic data, while the AHP and WLC methods are employed for analyzing the data, to
determine weights for the criteria, and to rank potential areas based on their suitability for landfill
siting, according to suitability index (SI) values. Application of the presented method indicated 5
potential sites for landfill with SI values ranging from 2.67 to 4.00. The results show that the use
of GIS along with the MCDM method provides a very useful decision support system for policy
makers in solid waste management issues.

URBAN SLUMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: UNDERSTANDING THEIR ORIGINS/EVOLUTIONS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVEMENT

2022-07-22T12:36:51-06:00

Currently, it is estimated that one billion people live in urban slums and the
expectation is that the number will double in the next twenty-five years (Tibaijuka 2005). Of all
the geographical areas in the world, sub-Saharan Africa has the worst record of meeting the
Millennium Development Goals and has the highest percentage of slums dwellers as a percentage
of the urban population (Hugo Ahlenius (UNEP/GRID-Arendal) 2005; UN-HABITAT 2003b).
Many of the UN Millennium Development Goals could achieve maximum effects if urban slums
were targeted for improvements due to the large populations they constitute. While some attention
is being given to improving the conditions of urban slums, the progress is slow and there appears
to be a scarcity of information about what is being done and if it is working. Slums have evolved
from their origins in Britain‟s industrialization in the 18th century through the social reformers of
the 19th century to today‟s slums, which are deemed unsafe because of a lack of basic
infrastructure and services. Additionally, three cases studies of improvement projects in subSaharan Africa give some insight into potential successful improvement methods, however, much
of these plans are yet to be implemented.