THE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN 1 Urban Space JAN GEHL PUBLIC SPACES AND PUBLIC LIFE · KLAUS TÖPFER THE SUSTAINABILITY OF CITIES · BEIRUT SAMIR KASSIR SQUARE · GENEVA PLACE DES NATIONS · SANTIAGO DE CHILE PLAZA DE LA CIUDADANÍA · SPLIT THE RIVA · LONDON BANKSIDE URBAN FOREST · KRAKÓW AND SIBIU REGENERATION OF THE INNER CITY · NEW YORK CITY THE SEARCH FOR URBAN SPACE · MOROCCO, KENYA AND VIETNAM STRATEGIC URBAN PROJECTS · SHANGHAI NEW PUBLIC SPACE · CRAIG POCOCK CARBON FOOTPRINT · ANGKOR MEDIEVAL SPRAWL 61 2007
Most of humanity lives in cities. Although cities with enormous sprawl existed even in the Middle Ages, as documented by this issue’s article on the Cambodian city of Angkor, the megacities of our time sometimes go beyond the limits of the imaginable and the manageable. People crowd into cities in their search for work; many of them have no other choice if they want to survive. Climate change, food supply and the lack of water call for intelligent strategies, as we have attempted to show in Topos 60.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
T H E I N T E R N A T I O N A L R E V I E W O F L A N D S C A P E A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D U R B A N D E S I G N
Urba
n Sp
ace
612007
,!7ID7G6-hbhfjh!ISBN 978-3-7667-1759-7
Urban space: Public life in the city is constantly changing, which has effects on the city’s openspace. Consequently the demands made on urban space are manifold. Whether in historical con-texts or in new city districts, it must meet at least one: the provision of usable and aestheticallyattractive places, where urban residents have a sense of wellbeing. Topos presents successfulexamples from all over the world, among others from New York, Santiago de Chile and Beirut,from London, Shanghai and Kraków.
Urban SpaceJAN GEHL PUBLIC SPACES AND PUBLIC L IFE · KLAUS TÖPFER THE SUSTAINABILITY OF CIT IES · BEIRUT SAMIR KASSIR SQUARE · GENEVA PLACE
DES NATIONS · SANTIAGO DE CHILE P L A Z A D E L A C I U DA DA N Í A · SPLIT THE RIVA · LONDON BANKSIDE URBAN FOREST · KRAKÓW AND SIBIU
REGENERATION OF THE INNER CITY · NEW YORK CITY THE SEARCH FOR URBAN SPACE · MOROCCO, KENYA AND VIETNAM STRATEGIC URBAN
PROJECTS · SHANGHAI NEW PUBLIC SPACE · CRAIG POCOCK C A R B O N F O OT P R I N T · ANGKOR M E D I E VA L S P R AW L
61 20
07
ToposTitel.qxd 11.12.2007 11:52 Uhr Seite 1
3
Robert Schäfer
Most of humanity lives in cities. Although
cities with enormous sprawl existed even in
the Middle Ages, as documented by this issue’s
article on the Cambodian city of Angkor, the
megacities of our time sometimes go beyond
the limits of the imaginable and the manage-
able. People crowd into cities in their search
for work; many of them have no other choice
if they want to survive. Climate change, food
supply and the lack of water call for intelligent
strategies, as we have attempted to show in
Topos 60.
Beyond such thoughts on the ecology and eco-
nomics of the city, which we can call ecovalue,
we should not forget to design the city itself so
that it can handle its responsibilities in the first
place. The tasks are manifold. While cities in
countries such as Germany are shrinking and
thus subject to transformation, cities from São
Paulo to Seoul are literally exploding. The
infrastructure and organisation of public life
are not always developing harmoniously and
effectively. Above all, all cities seem to be
swelling according to the old, actually super-
seded growth pattern. The buildings tower
upwards; the canyons between them are mostly
freed up for motorised traffic.
Probably the worst heritage of Modernism is
the city sacrificed to the automobile. It is a
model that has no future viability, not only
because of the rising cost of oil. People are not
born to be car drivers and yet they all patiently
let themselves get trapped and obey fate. But
now the time has come to reconsider because
imminent challenges will bring new mixed
uses, new management and different organisa-
tional forms of everyday life.
A noteworthy study from Great Britain may
provide food for thought in this regard.
Because many children are becoming obese
and inflexible due to lacking exercise (and
incorrect nutrition), urban spaces should be
designed in future so as to encourage exercise,
to make going through town on foot a plea-
sure, not only for window shopping but also
on the way to school or work. This simple pro-
posal nevertheless seems utopian to some. Yet
city life should not mean breathing bad air,
teetering on the narrowest of pedestrian paths,
trying to find one’s way by zigzagging between
motorways. The quality of urban space
includes many things, from a pleasant micro-
climate – to which plants, particularly trees,
make an essential contribution – through
spaces for public uses to places where people
can form community, which is after all what is
responsible for the functioning of a city dis-
trict, city or urban agglomeration worth living
in. Improvements can often be achieved even
with little means. Only there must first be an
intention to change.
U R B A N S P A C E E D I T O R I A L
S.002-003_Editorial.qxd 11.12.2007 11:53 Uhr Seite 3
4
36 The Riva: Split’s water-
front adjacent to the Palace
of Diocletian, a World Heri-
tage Site, is one of the city’s
main public squares. At night,
the Riva becomes a bright
promenade.
Cover: Plaza Dalí, MadridDesign: Francisco José Mangado Beloqui (architect),Francesc Torres (artist)Photo: Miguel de Guzmán
23 Samir Kassir Square, Beirut: the design
of the square revolves around magnificent fig
trees and a pool. The pool separates the square
from the busy street.
Gera
ldin
e Br
unee
l
Sand
ro L
endl
er
46 Sibiu, Romania: Piata Mare, the Large Square, is one
of the newly renovated squares in the historic centre of the
Transylvanian city.
Scot
t Eas
tman
S.004-005_Inhalt.qxd 11.12.2007 11:54 Uhr Seite 4
5
97 New York’s Bryant Park: the Manhattan
landmark regained its former beauty and pop-
ular use after comprehensive restoration.
50 Bankside quarter, London: the re-use of
viaduct arches supports the regeneration strat-
egy of the southern banks of the Thames.
31 Place des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland:
coloured light underlines the different parts
and elements of the square.
JAN GEHL
16 Public Spaces for a Changing Public LifeUniversal elementary quality criteria for urban open spaces
MOHAMMAD AL-ASAD, FEDERICO ALVAREZ ARRIETA
23 Samir Kassir Square in BeirutUrban open space in the Lebanese capital
BRAULIO EDUARDO MORERA
27 Plaza de la Ciudadanía, Santiago de ChileA public square’s vocation for urban integration
ANNE VONÈCHE
31 The New Place des Nations, GenevaSwitzerland: a symbolic square in front of the UN building
MARTINA PETRINOVIC
36 The Riva of Split, CroatiaContemporary urban waterfront in a historical context
ANNA SKRZYNSKA
41 Urban Space in KrakówPoland: landscape design in a historical setting
IOANA TUDORA
46 New Urban Life for a World Heritage SiteThe restoration of squares in Sibiu, Romania
KEN WORPOLE
50 The Bankside Urban ForestPublic space strategy for London’s Bankside quarter
PETER STEGNER
56 Beyond the FamiliarThe search for urban space in New York City
ADAM REGN ARVIDSON
66 Landscape Architects to the StarsMinneapolis: collaboration between star architects and
local landscape architects
STEFANIE RUFF, NANNAN DONG
70 Dancing TrianglesNew public space in a residential area in Shanghai
BRUNO DE MEULDER, KELLY SHANNON
74 Contested Sites and Strategic Urban ProjectsMorocco, Kenya and Vietnam: urban design as a tool for
negotiation
KLAUS TÖPFER
81 The Sustainability of CitiesDesign of cities, urban agglomerations and megacities for
future viability
CRAIG POCOCK
86 The Carbon LandscapeCarbon footprint and landscape architecture
SCOTT HAWKEN
90 Angkor: Sprawling Forms of a Medieval MetropolisResearch in Cambodia help explain low-density cities
NADINE GERDTS
97 Landscape Architecture in the United StatesSeries: The state of the profession around the world