NO SMOK ING.

viernes, 9 de julio de 2010

Solar Equation

Hace algunos meses los habitantes de Melbourne pueden tomar una siesta bajo la luz de un sol nocturno que se instaló en la plaza principal de la ciudad. Solar Equation es una instalación de arte público que simula un sol "100 millones de veces más pequeño que el original". Es un Globo gigante y colgado por cables desde los edificios que conforman las fachadas de esta fantástica plaza, donde la gente se reúne a tomar por estos tiempos un sol de invierno. Calienta al menos lo mismo que el sol diurno por estos días invernales.

Artista: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

jueves, 8 de julio de 2010

Camberra ‘new town’? What are the defining features of new towns?

Canberra was planned in the earliest 20s century, in order to satisfy the governmental administration as a “central colonial government” (Neutze 1977, p13). Located in the State of New South Wales and not distant of the Sydney prior big city, Canberra might not be defined as a new town city according to the literature review by this paper. It is more commonly known as a Garden City related with the beautification of the new Capital City and created in the core of the Garden City movement and beautiful cities theories. Even though, the city has being including some core aspects of a new town city being an addition of the preceding theories that guide the first approach of Griffins planning. This essay will develop the essential features of the new town concept and the relation with the urban planning theory used in Canberra city.
The new towns were developed as a response of a needed population distribution and employment after the World War II. It concepts appear in the 1940´s when the post-war situation demand for new urban settlements, the factory town was demanded or a regeneration of a declining rural area was required. One of this examples is England, with the first new town called Stevenage in 1946 (Hall y Ward 1998, 52), designed for Osborn and the TCPA.
It essential features where related with the housing pressures of big cities due to the high demand of accommodation once the war was over due to the growth population, the household growth, the acceptance of the need of reconstruction, and the reduction on congested urban areas, the demand lid to create a new urban settlement which has to contain a “balanced communities for work and living” (Cullingworth 1977, 197). Due to the focus on a sustainable community employment has to be achievable for everyone and where developed by government finance. These new towns include others previous theories like green belts, industrial locations, and expanded towns green cities, including houses with gardens and low density housing and neighbourhood towns. A new aspect was added due to the new facilities for the cities, the automobile was a new item for the already complex puzzle and the new towns intent to segregate the automobile traffic from the pedestrian sidewalks and also with the modern movement all the activities were separated in different spatial areas. The last important issue is that they where a post-war city planning (Cullingworth 1977, 196), even as they were different in “size and function” (Hall y Ward 1998, 53)
The aspects that are not related with Canberra as a new town planned city are mostly and the most important the period of city design, it was developed before the 1920´s so it was a previous World War II city designed. Also it was developed as a big city and the capital of the republic instead of a satellite city, this was not related with the expanded small towns or new locations related with bigger cities.
Even though the previous , Canberra might be consider as a new town planned city as well due to it presence of another aspects related with the new town features: It was created as a new city related with work, the city was a demand of governmental work and governmental employees where immigrating to this place to live and work. Also the city was developed in low density from the original griffins planned city which was maintained the designed open spaces related with leisure and nature. Also Canberra respond to bigger city relation [1]due to it location at less than 100 km from Sydney city, even that Canberra is independent in all senses of Sydney; in addition Canberra city was planned as a automobile urban development, where the car takes an important role in the urban shape as a the 40s new towns developments patterns where represented in the new towns city. Moreover, Canberra represents it as a central spatial ambivalent place working as a central area of a neighbourhood. Another important issue is related with it location, following the hygienic standpoint, with a view of the landscape, and the object of beautification and expansion” (Neutze 1977), this point was one of the important issues in the matter of locations of new towns. Due to the depression, war and post-war the Canberra development was stopped and it began it accelerated growth in 1950s including the automobile aspects in it design. (Neutze 1977)
Image 1: Canberra might be more assimilated with a garden city or a beautification movement city than a new town. Even though you can notice in this picture the segregated spaces between the governmental area from the residential and commerce spaces related only by some bridges crossing the artificial lake.
Image taken by Carolina Carrasco P. March 2010.

Even the city was not developed in the exact period of the new town cities, Canberra might be a new town due to the mixed of theories applied on it and the addition of posterior elements related with new town theories as the automobile, the shopping centre, and the segregated spaces.

Bibliography:

Cullingworth, J B. Town and Country Planning in Britain. Great Britain: T. and a. Constable Ltd., 1977.
Hall, Peter, y Colin Ward. Sociable Cities: the legay of Ebenezer HOward. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1998.Neutze, Max. Urban Development in Australia. Sydney: George Allen & Unwin Australia Pty Ltd., 1977.

[1] The new towns where built around cities, as in Uk were built around London and Glasgow. (Hall y Ward 1998)

COLONIAL CITIES IN ASIA PACIFIC

Colonial cities in Asia where conformed during the 19th century and they were generally characterized for the intrusion of a new and estrange culture in relation to the preexisting culture for an extensive period[i]. This new culture developed colonial cities in order to satisfy the requirement of a link between the maintaining systems and the colonial government[ii]. The initial over construction of colonial cities in Asia has left social and special marks in the urban development of contemporary cities, as way to manage and plan the city. These characteristics and guidelines will be demonstrated through two examples of colonial cities, Singapore and Sri Lanka. These two cities can be compared do to its colonization place in the time and also due to the origin of the external government imposed.[iii]This paper will summarize some important decisions and success witch modified the pre-colonial city and finally they will be characterized in common aspects.[iv] Finally, these characteristics will be evaluated in the contemporary city.
The city of Singapore, located in a strategic geographical zone of the Malaya peninsula, symbolize diverse situations representative of a colonial city. Firstly, it was formed as a strategic commercial point, and in 1969 it consolidate its position as an important transactions points for the East-West trade, being considered as a “bridgehead” city[v], all the primary products generated in Malaysia where distributed through the port of Singapore. This is related with the economic structure of the city as another constant aspect imported from the European industrialization development[vi].
Secondly, the city of Singapore where dominated and reshaped by the Europeans concepts and population, this formed a city represented by a predominant Chinese population in a planned colonial city by Europeans. In consequence, the city match in a dual image between the imposing buildings of “colonial munificence”[vii] and European replications[viii], and the native culture buildings and urban structure represented as an object of tourism or symbol of the past culture where is representative the separated residential clusters in opposition of the traditional market and mixed used neighbors related with the Chinese culture
A third important aspect of the colonial city of Singapore was its rapid urban growth due to the immigration of rural habitants to the city provoking a high demand of housing for the laboring classes, developing central housing areas where the accessibility to the working space was maximized and the cost of transportations where low[ix] and the wealthiest Europeans families create a middle class suburbs far away of the congested city. [x]
Following the previous aspects, the city of Sri Lanka can be assimilated to Singapore colonial process in many aspects even though it diverse colonial origins due to the equivalent influence colonial government in the urban planning was the British one, due to its commercial vision of the conquest which required spatial and social transformations in the city.[xi]This city was converted into a crown colony in the 1815 where the British destroy the social order replacing the higher dominations class in “low-caste men”[xii] under the rules of the British crown.
Due to the imposition of the foreign culture [xiii] [xiv] transformed the cities in heterogeneous city where the native culture and urban representation has being minimized by the one which is dominant, assuming the Europeans desires and own characteristics lacking of integration and social geographical comprehension.
First the spatial segregation, as many other Asian cities they can be recognize of their characteristics as “dual cities”[xv], where they involve the historical and original town and the new and modern cities brought for the conquerors. It is characterized by different social classes in the city, as a dominant and power elite, the indigenous population, the mixed cultured-race population.[xvi] Although there is not only the racial or the culture the main factor that exist spatial segregation, also it happens due to the different “produced roles” in groups and it is mainly related with cultural and racial aspects.[xvii]This characteristic is still common to see it in the main cities of the Asian countries where the spatial segregation is a common aspect in the developed city. The spatial territories are segregated inside the cities and they are different in image, population, and culture.
Second the cultural pluralism. The colonial cities are evidently differentiated due to the mixed in spatial morphology and architectural elements related with the imposition of a new culture over a preexisting one. It combine diversity of cultures including, British immigrants, native people relation characterized by a relation of dependence and domination. The colonial city has evidence of their traditional cultural past through their architecture[xviii] and urban structure and the new developed city with the modernization of the city.
The third aspect that we can find in both cases is the relation between dominance-dependence, the domination and the power, where the colonizers have the entire domination of the “social, economic and political power”[xix]. The colonial cities are immersed in a productive force related with the capitalist world economy assumed until today. The colonial process where characterized on the concentration and over exploit of the colonial lands and the demanding of natural resources, this aspect demand to this cities to be a worked force city deriving in diverse slums, squatters, and tenements, that can be seen until today in the capitals cities as an industrial capitalism.[xx]
Despite of the fact that the contemporary cities have being changed in size and population, the main characteristics of a colonial city are still entrenched in the growing dynamic urban design, but the situation is transforming due to relation between the social and economic characteristics in the same process in that the colonial cities where related on the “global structure process”[xxi]. Due to that, the contemporary cities will content new ways of reach the social and economic goals and it is trying to give a answer to the spatial segregation, the dominance-dependence and the cultural pluralism with a contemporary vision since the changes of paradigms. The new aspects of the contemporary cities are related with a broader external cultural impact, and they have to answer as a world trade center in a globalized world, avoiding the special segregation, and the dominance-dependence as it was thought imposed by force and rethink it a given global services city, and also the cultural pluralism will be more intensive due to the mixed of cultures and languages that they might attempt.

[i] Munasinghe H. Transformation of Colonial Urban Space in Sri Lanka, with special reference to The Port City of Galle. Helsinki. Helsinki University of Tecnology.1992. p15
[ii] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995.
[iii] Author Note: It can be easily comprehend the similarities between cities in a same context. Rakodi C. inheriting a settler-colonial city: change or continuity?.Chichester [England]; New York: J. Wiley, c1995.
[iv] Author Note: The main Physical/spatial characteristics will be analyzed based in the suggested characteristics given by King and the conceptual Spatial/characteristics will be analyzed through the interpretation of Yeoh. King A. Urbanism, Colonialism, and the World Economy, Cultural and Spatial Foundations of the World Urban System. London: John Urry Univesity of Lancaster, 1990, p19. Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.35
[v] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.35
[vi] Rakodi C. Inheriting a settler-colonial city : change or continuity? . Chichester [England] ; New York : J. Wiley, c1995.page 4
[vii] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.3
[viii] Terence G. McGee, The Changing Cities, in R.D. Hill (ed.) South –East Asia: A systematic Geography, Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1979, p.191 in Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.4
[ix] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.37
[x] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.45-46
[xi] Munasinghe H. Transformation of Colonial Urban Space in Sri Lanka, with special reference to The Port City of Galle. Helsinki. Helsinki University of Tecnology.1992. p16
[xii] Munasinghe H. Transformation of Colonial Urban Space in Sri Lanka, with special reference to The Port City of Galle. Helsinki. Helsinki University of Tecnology.1992. p25
[xiii] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995.
[xiv] King. Urbanism, Colonialism, and the World Economy, Cultural and Spatial Foundations of the World Urban System.London: John Urry Univesity of Lancaster, 1990, p16
[xv] Rakodi C. Inheriting a settler-colonial city : change or continuity? . Chichester [England] ; New York : J. Wiley, c1995.page 4
[xvi] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995.
[xvii] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995.
[xviii] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.5
[xix] Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995.
[xx] Author Note: In this category the functional aspect can be integrated, as a characteristic of the dominance-dependence relation and not as a single category as King suggest in Urbanism, Colonialism, and the World Economy, Cultural and Spatial Foundations of the World Urban System. London: John Urry University of Lancaster, 1990, p18
[xxi] Simon D. Colonials Cities, Postcolonial Africa and the World Economy: A Reinterpretation, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 13 (1989): 47-67) In Brenda S.A.Yeoh, Contesting Space in Colonial Singapore: Power Relations and the Urban Built Environment, Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1995, p.7