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Sustainability
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Pathways to Sustainable Urban Form: Compact Cities Re-Imagined
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Pathways to Sustainable Urban Form: Compact Cities Re-Imagined

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 30362

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Mike Jenks

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture, Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment, Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
Interests: sustainable urban form; sustainable urbanism; compact city; urban planning and design
Prof. Dr. Steffen Lehmann

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Urban Futures Laboratory, School of Architecture, The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Interests: sustainable urban form; sustainable architecture and urbanism; compact city theory
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to present contributions from well-known scholars and practitioners whose theoretical or practical work addresses urban form such as compactness, density, and sustainability at various scales from city planning and urban design to public space and architectural design. The intention is to take a more holistic approach to sustainable urban form by understanding the relationships between its social and the environmental dimensions, and by advancing the theory that underpins it.

Urban form, density, and compactness are complex and challenging issues affecting the liveability, resource-efficiency, and resilience of cities in many parts of the world, from Asia to Europe and America. Key concepts of compact urban form, density, and sustainable development embody the achievement of a good quality of life, and include issues of transport and mobility, “optimal” densities, mixed uses, healthy living, social and economic diversity, and support the use of appropriate technology, such as solar design, greening and re-naturing of cities, and a reduction in the use of finite resources.

At neighbourhood and maybe town or city levels, compactness, increased densities, improved public transport, walking, and cycling have entered into policy, and many examples are appearing on the ground. Autonomous vehicles using less space will affect urban design and form in new and interesting ways. At a larger scale, in most rapidly developing cities pressure pushes people out of centres creating sprawl, but denser sub-centres and intensification around transport hubs may form, increasing the importance of the networks and connectivity. The idea of the “compact city” appears an anomaly when faced with the largest scale of urban agglomerations, mostly in Asia, but developments of very rapid land transit that link cities together collapses time and distance, and may in theory make them more “compact”.

The objective of this Special Issue is to advance and “re-imagine” the ideas and theories behind sustainable urban forms, and to investigate over a range of urban contexts and scales how far the boundaries of theory can be embraced within the umbrella of the term “compact city”. Specifically, this Special Issue invites theoretical, empirical, and practice-based studies related to the keywords below, but other relevant topics will be considered.

Prof. Mike Jenks, PhD
Prof. Steffen Lehmann, PhD
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • compact city theory now and in the future
  • sustainable urban forms
  • sustainable neighbourhood forms
  • sustainable city forms at different scales
  • networks and connectivity within urban environments
  • the collapse of time and distance through rapid transit innovation
  • the impact of autonomous vehicles on urban design and sustainability
  • the link between compactness, walkability, and sustainability
  • the link between urban form and quality of life
  • systemic integration of nature-based solutions
  • urban climate and resilient cities
  • liveability and public space
  • biophilic cities: well-being in cities
  • inclusive urban regeneration
  • low-carbon neighbourhoods
  • urban metabolism: the energy–water–food nexus

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

30 pages, 10685 KiB  
Article
Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) in Dense Urban Watersheds. The Case of the Medrano Stream Basin (MSB) in Buenos Aires
by Daniel Kozak, Hayley Henderson, Alejandro de Castro Mazarro, Demián Rotbart and Rodolfo Aradas
Sustainability 2020, 12(6), 2163; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062163 - 11 Mar 2020
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 10016
Abstract
Conventional urban drainage approaches have historically focused on the volume of stormwater to be displaced with the aim of moving it as fast and as far as possible from the city. They have also been negligent regarding water quality and the inherent value [...] Read more.
Conventional urban drainage approaches have historically focused on the volume of stormwater to be displaced with the aim of moving it as fast and as far as possible from the city. They have also been negligent regarding water quality and the inherent value of watercourses to distinct forms of life in cities, from maintaining biodiversity to providing recreational space for residents. Contemporary responses to these issues point to a paradigm change: They seek to replicate the natural mechanisms of absorption and retention, with the aim of addressing pluvial drainage needs closer to the site of origin. This article aims to explore the extent to which such an approach could be accommodated in one dense and highly impervious setting in the Global South. Specifically, it compares urban morphology, land value, hydraulic performance, and politico-institutional conditions of grey and Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) scenarios in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The findings suggest that even in very dense and impervious urban basins it is possible to implement BGI with a significant effect in achieving urban-sustainability goals. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that it is possible to deculvert watercourses in line with Compact City principles through the development of hybrid BGI/grey-infrastructure systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathways to Sustainable Urban Form: Compact Cities Re-Imagined)
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18 pages, 10428 KiB  
Article
Compact Urban Form: Neighbouring and Social Activity
by M. Reza Shirazi
Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1987; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12051987 - 05 Mar 2020
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 5108
Abstract
Compact urban form has been widely suggested as a more sustainable development pattern that enhances different aspects of social liveability such as social exchange, collective interaction, and outdoor activity. Empirical research, however, challenges proposing a generic and universal understanding of compactness and its [...] Read more.
Compact urban form has been widely suggested as a more sustainable development pattern that enhances different aspects of social liveability such as social exchange, collective interaction, and outdoor activity. Empirical research, however, challenges proposing a generic and universal understanding of compactness and its social advantages: compactness is perceived and lived differently in different socio-cultural contexts. This paper contributes to the call for gaining a more place-specific understanding from the compact urban form. To do so, it examines the social life of compact neighbourhoods in two study sites in Berlin. Social life is investigated by measuring the two dimensions of “neighbouring” and “social activities”: while the former explores how residents of the neighbourhood perceive different aspects of social life, the latter maps how urban space accommodates different types of social activity. Questionnaires and advanced mapping techniques are the primary sources of research obtained through intensive fieldwork and on-site observation. The research findings challenge some dominant assumptions attributed to the compact urban form orthodoxy: a compact neighbourhood can be perceived as safe, offer acceptable home and neighbourhood satisfaction, and, at the same time, suffer from low social networking and community engagement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathways to Sustainable Urban Form: Compact Cities Re-Imagined)
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18 pages, 2198 KiB  
Article
Density through the Prism of Supertall Residential Skyscrapers: Urbo-Architectural Type in Global Megacities
by Vuk Radović
Sustainability 2020, 12(4), 1314; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12041314 - 11 Feb 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4721
Abstract
Since their inauguration in 2005, supertall residential skyscrapers have established themselves as a truly new, 21st century phenomenon. Their uniqueness spans the spectrum of critically important issues, ranging from discrete ways of conceptualization, production, and delivery, introduction of latest technologies, strict organizational and [...] Read more.
Since their inauguration in 2005, supertall residential skyscrapers have established themselves as a truly new, 21st century phenomenon. Their uniqueness spans the spectrum of critically important issues, ranging from discrete ways of conceptualization, production, and delivery, introduction of latest technologies, strict organizational and spatial rules and practices, all the way to various socio-cultural impacts, which include the peculiar, often invisible ways of cultural accommodation. This paper presents parts of a larger research project into this urbo-architectural type, focusing on the capacity of these skyscrapers to address numerous issues related to residential density, especially in fast-growing megacities. While a substantial number of research projects explore economic, architectural, engineering, and environmental attributes of these buildings by focusing on measurable aspects of their production and use, the holistic comparisons and qualitative elaboration of the significance of the residential supertall phenomenon are still lacking. This paper attempts to fill that gap and open a new approach into investigations of supertall residential skyscrapers. The starting position is that these are not simply bigger and taller, but fundamentally different urban artefacts, which have an untapped capacity to reach another kind of quality. Definition and recognition of that difference will enable us to better capitalize upon the qualities which it brings and help avoid the problems which it generates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathways to Sustainable Urban Form: Compact Cities Re-Imagined)
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21 pages, 15696 KiB  
Article
Between the Ideal and Reality of City Resizing Policy: Focused on 25 Cases of Compact City Plans in Japan
by Cheol-Jae Yoon
Sustainability 2020, 12(3), 989; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030989 - 30 Jan 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3193
Abstract
Since 2014, Japan has implemented a policy for forming a compact urban structure at a national level through an urban planning technique called a location normalization plan. A residence-induced zone included in the location normalization plan is considered as the essence of forming [...] Read more.
Since 2014, Japan has implemented a policy for forming a compact urban structure at a national level through an urban planning technique called a location normalization plan. A residence-induced zone included in the location normalization plan is considered as the essence of forming a compact urban structure and can be characterized as a policy that compactifies cities for a long period not only by inducing residence functions into the inside of the zones but also by applying regulations to the outside of the zones. This study examined the status of the dichotomous compact city policy applied in reality by analyzing various cases in Japan that established location normalization plans, and its implications. The conditions commonly observed in the induced zone in model cities indicated that the validity of residence-induced zones—how and where residence-induced zones had to be designated—was prioritized in many cases. Some cities, however, designated independent zones that maintained a certain level of residential functions outside the induced zones. Utilizing independent zones in non-induced zones can be assessed not as an act of simply dividing cities by a dichotomous way but as an attempt to reflect the situations and characteristics of individual cities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathways to Sustainable Urban Form: Compact Cities Re-Imagined)
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17 pages, 1766 KiB  
Article
Visualization and Analysis of Mapping Knowledge Domain of Urban Vitality Research
by Jian-gang Shi, Wei Miao and Hongyun Si
Sustainability 2019, 11(4), 988; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11040988 - 14 Feb 2019
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 6391
Abstract
Mapping knowledge domain (MKD) is an important research technology in bibliometrics. It provides a visual perspective for researchers and helps researchers to clearly understand the general situations of specific research fields. Presently, MKD has been widely used in fields such as ecology and [...] Read more.
Mapping knowledge domain (MKD) is an important research technology in bibliometrics. It provides a visual perspective for researchers and helps researchers to clearly understand the general situations of specific research fields. Presently, MKD has been widely used in fields such as ecology and transportation safety. In this paper, we conduct a systematically bibliometric analysis of the development trend on urban vitality research by using VOSviewer software, and this work is based on the related articles published in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) between 1998 and 2018. In the implementation, we firstly introduce the annual numbers of articles, source journals, highly cited papers, and production countries relating to urban vitality research. Then, we adopt a keywords co-occurrence analysis to explore the topic distribution, research frontiers, and research trends of urban vitality research intuitively. Overall, the Mapped Knowledge Domain method has proved to be an effective way to assess research trends in specific disciplines and to contribute to researchers and governments with respect to management and decision-making on issues of science. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathways to Sustainable Urban Form: Compact Cities Re-Imagined)
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