Urban Ecology

Emerging Patterns and Social-Ecological Systems

Pramit Verma, Pardeep Singh, Rishikesh Singh, A. S. Raghubanshi

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9780128207307
• eBook ISBN:
  9780128207314
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Ecology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Urban Ecology covers the latest theoretical and applied concepts in urban ecological research. This book covers the key environmental issues of urban ecosystems as well as the human-centric issues, particularly those of governance, economics, sociology and human health. The goal of Urban Ecology is to challenge readers' thinking around urban ecology from a resource-based approach to a holistic and applied field for sustainable development. There are seven major themes of the book: emerging urban concepts and urbanization, land use/land cover change, urban social-ecological systems, urban environment, urban material balance, smart, healthy and sustainable cities and sustainable urban design. Within each section, key concepts such as monitoring the urbanization phenomena, land use cover, urban soil fluxes, urban metabolism, pollution and human health and sustainable cities are covered. Urban Ecology serves as a comprehensive and advanced book for students, researchers, practitioners and policymakers in urban ecology and urban environmental research, planning and practice. - Includes global case studies from over 14 countries, providing a first-hand account of recent applications - Covers the phenomena of sustainable transport, nutrient recovery and human health, among many others - Examines environmental issues as well as social-ecological systems and governance

Theme VII

Sustainable urban design

Outline

Chapter 20. Towards sustainable urban redevelopment: urban design informed by morphological patterns and ecologies of informal settlements

Chapter 21. Assessing the role of urban design in a rapidly urbanizing historical city and its contribution in restoring its urban ecology: the case of Varanasi, India

Chapter 22. ‘Green building’ movement in India: study on institutional support and regulatory support

Chapter 23. Challenges and innovations of transportation and collection of waste

Chapter 24. Critical assessment and future dimensions for the urban ecological systems

Chapter 20: Towards sustainable urban redevelopment: urban design informed by morphological patterns and ecologies of informal settlements

Wenjian Pan, and Juan Du Department of Architecture & Urban Ecologies Design Lab, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Abstract

Informal settlements, as prevalent neighbourhood types in rapidly transforming cities, possess high-density and heterogeneous morphological patterns. They provide affordable housing and employment opportunities for low-income populations while also supporting cities' operation and development. As China's pioneering special economic zone, Shenzhen exemplifies this situation as its informal settlements, namely urban villages, house over half of its total population. However, the morphological characteristics of these urban enclaves and their environmental effects on the city have yet to be systematically investigated. Through evaluating pedestrian urban heat island intensity (PUHII), outdoor thermal comfort level (UTCI) and street-canyon ventilation capacity (VR_w), this chapter analyzes morphological characteristics and environmental effects of three representative typologies of urban villages in Shenzhen and cross-compared with other urban morphological patterns. Ultimately, the ‘four shared elements’ of urban village neighbourhood (UVN) are conceptualized and elaborated, which provides insights into sustainable urban design.

Keywords

Environmental evaluation; Four shared elements; High density; Informal settlement; Shenzhen; Sustainable urban design; Urban morphology; Urban resilience; Urban village

1. Acknowledgements
2. 1. Introduction
   1. 1.1 Informal settlements in the global
   2. 1.2 Environmental effects of informal settlements within cities
   3. 1.3 Objectives and analytical methods
3. 2. Urban villages: China's typical informal settlements
   1. 2.1 Overview of urban villages in Chinese cities
   2. 2.2 Misperception of urban villages' physical environment
   3. 2.3 Underestimated environmental aspects of urban villages
   4. 2.4 Urgency and challenges in the city of Shenzhen
4. 3. The case study
   1. 3.1 Concept of urban village neighbourhood
   2. 3.2 Investigation of Hubei village neighbourhood
      1. 3.2.1 Continuous history and diverse morphological patterns
      2. 3.2.2 Morphological characteristics of the investigated spaces
      3. 3.2.3 Neighbourhood dynamics
      4. 3.2.4 Environmental diversity
5. 4. Reflections of existing urban design practices
   1. 4.1 Main strategies for urban village redevelopment
   2. 4.2 Limitations of the strategy of ‘reduce density’
   3. 4.3 Necessity of innovative thinking and a more flexible approach
6. 5. Ecologies of urban villages: the ‘four shared elements’
   1. 5.1 Shared environment—morphological diversity
   2. 5.2 Shared space—temporospatial permeability
   3. 5.3 Shared amenity/welfare—functional distribution
   4. 5.4 Shared social capital—social inclusiveness
7. 6. Conclusion and future outlook
   1. 6.1 Summary of environmental analysis
   2. 6.2 Insights for urban design and policy implications
8. References

1. Introduction

1.1. Informal settlements in the global

Globally, informal settlements, such as slum in Latin America, gecekondu in Turkey, bustee in India, desakota in Southeast Asia, as well as urban village in China, were extensively documented urban phenomena during rapid industrialization and urbanization (McGee, 1991; Brillembourg et al., 2005; Saunders, 2010; Sengupta, 2010; Al, 2014). According to UN-Habitat (2013), around 25% of the world's population live in informal settlements, with 213 million informal settlement residents contributed to the increase of global population since 1990. There are three main characteristics/types of informal settlements, including ‘(1) inhabitants have no security of tenure and land for dwellings, (2) neighbourhood with lacking of basic services and urban infrastructure and (3) the housing may not comply with current planning and building regulations, and is usually situated in geographically and environmentally hazardous areas’. The informal settlements ‘can be a form of real estate speculation for all income levels of urban residents, affluent and poor’ (Patel, 2013; UN-Habitat et al., 2015 ). Nevertheless, those informal settlements that are located in city centers, though are identified as ‘illegal’ status and so-called ‘backward’ places, usually function as hubs...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Foreword
• List of reviewers
• Theme I. Emerging facets of urban ecology ̶ urban and urbanization, theory and concepts
• Theme II. Urban land use land cover
• Theme III. Social ecological systems
• Theme IV. Urban environment
• Theme V. Urban material balance
• Theme VI. Cities: healthy, smart and sustainable
• Theme VII. Sustainable urban design
• Index