The Protocity

Posted on: 6 December 2013
By: mackene
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An international blog by young academics covering urban planning and design, city economics, human geography, and city photography.

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Cities for people

Posted on: 6 December 2013
By: mackene
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Gehl Architects, urban quality consultants, offer expertise in the fields of architecture, urban design and city planning. Their work is based on the human dimension, the built environment’s effect on activity patterns and interaction between people. They consider the attractive and lively public realm to be one of the most important keys to quality in cities.

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City suburbs: Placing suburbia in a post-suburban worldurban

Posted on: 2 December 2013
By: mackene
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The author of a new book, City suburbs, explores how suburbanites interact with the city and calls for the suburbs to be better integrated into studies of the city.

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Designing with data: Shaping our future cities

Posted on: 28 November 2013
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RIBA and Arup present a report which shows how data on how people use cities and their services could revolutionise the way we design and plan our built environment. Through a series of case studies from around the world and insights from key experts, the report offers practitioners four main approaches to working with data and new technology to harness the wealth of opportunity big data presents. The report provides a starting point to smart architecture and planning, but there is further work to be done to roll this approach out. This begins with three recommendations to the UK Government to take place making into the digital age, and to extend the economic, social and environmental benefits of big data to the spatial disciplines of planning and design.

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National Conference on Urban Design 2013: The pursuit of growth – the role of urban design. Newcastle upon Tyne, 17-19 October 2013

Posted on: 27 November 2013
By: mackene
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This event explored how good urban design helps to create an advanced, balances and truly sustainable economy which can support homes, jobs, vibrant town centres and a high quality of life. Presentations are available online.

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Complexity, cognition, urban planning and design. Delft, Netherlands, 10-12 October 2013

Posted on: 22 November 2013
By: mackene
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CTC (Complexity Theories of Cities) is a domain of research that studies cities from the perspective of the various theories of complexity. The aim of the 2nd Delft international conference is to create a conversation between people from several disciplines that not often talk to each other; namely, between practitioners of CTC, cognitive scientists of spatial behavior, planning and design; researchers of design thinking, urban planners and urban designers. Abstracts are available online.

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Urban Markets Platform

Posted on: 22 November 2013
By: mackene
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This website is designed as a place of knowledge exchange and expertise on urban marketplaces.

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Safety in public spaces

Posted on: 18 November 2013
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Safety in public spaces is usually understood in terms of policing, i.e. safety from physical assault, video surveillance and the presence of police officers. But the USER URBACT project wants to go further and look at the feeling of insecurity that users can experience in public spaces, whether or not there are objective grounds for that feeling. How do we design public spaces in which users will not feel afraid? What uses should we support so that public spaces are conducive to socializing, and not a source of anxiety? The latest newsletter highlights developments in the project.

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Better streets delivered: Learning from completed schemes

Posted on: 13 November 2013
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Since 2009 the Mayor’s London’s Great Outdoors and Better Streets programmes have helped transform the Capital’s public spaces and street network. A range of interventions are making streets work and feel better for all, while increasing the vitality and sense of place in communities across the city. This book is a celebration of that ambition and the success of recent public realm projects across London. They show how moving around and living in the Capital can be improved significantly by careful planning, creative thought and good design, applied to different locations and settings at a range of scales.

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Royal Docks Design Competition

Posted on: 12 November 2013
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Registration has opened to find new design ideas for London’s Royal Docks. The Landscape Institute and Ecobuild, with support from the Mayor of London and London Borough of Newham, have launched ‘The Royal Docks Ideas Competition’ to find innovative design proposals that would transform the Royal Docks into a multi-functional, ‘liveable’ space. Comprised of three docks in East London, Royal Albert Dock, Royal Victoria Dock and King George V Dock, the Royal Docks is the largest enclosed docks in the world with a water area of nearly 90 hectares. The judging panel want entrants to incorporate green infrastructure and water sensitive design ideas into their proposals in an effort to make the area more resilient against environmental, social and economic challenges and to transform it into a world class location. The deadline for submissions is 6 January 2014.

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