Search by tag «Urban Planning» 13 results

• Urbanist Dhiru Thadani: to Improve Cities, We Must Focus on People

  According to UN estimates, by 2050 the population of Earth will reach nine billion people. The rapid growth of urban population, climate change, depletion of fossil fuels, healthcare crises – these are just a few of the global issues that experts are trying to tackle. In the search for sustainable means of subsistence, city planning is becoming a bigger priority. But what should modern cities look like and how can ubranists prepare for the rapid changes in the environment? These are some of the issues that Dhiru Thadani, architect, urbanist and VP-Members of the International Society of City and Regional Planners, is working with. Recently, Mr. Thadani gave an open lecture at ITMO’s Institute of Design and Urban Studies. In an interview with ITMO.NEWS, Dhiru Thadani speaks about the similarities between St. Petersburg’s “grey belt” and USA’s brownfields, how new global challenges will affect the teaching process and what issues need to be prepared for even now.

  03.10.2017

• Spatial Development Forum: How Citizens Create Smart Cities

  According to IESE’s Cities in Motion Index, St. Petersburg is rated 103rd among the world’s “smartest” cities. The city’s Governor believes that the city has potential to be among the top 50. How can that goal be achieved, however? Through the integration of information technologies in the city’s management systems. It is also important that the citizens take on a more active role in the city’s life. At the III International Spatial Development Forum (ISDF), a plenary discussion on the future of “smart” urban technologies was held. This year, the forum’s main theme is “Re.Urban – Re.Evolution — rethinking of cities’ essence and evolutional ways of their development”. The event is co-organized by ITMO University and the Government of St. Petersburg.

  29.09.2017

• Lawns vs. Paths: Why Urban Planners Can’t Please Everybody

  Traffic jams, a lack of green areas or infrastructure, overpopulation, crowded public transportation – these issues are all too familiar to the citizens of major cities. The solutions to these problems can seem strange: closing roads, sharing cars with strangers or laying down paths only after the people have moved into the neighborhood. But research shows that it is such seemingly uncomfortable solutions that make for a comfortable urban environment. Michael Lees, co-head of International Laboratory “Urban Informatics” and Assistant Professor at University of Amsterdam, spoke to ITMO.NEWS about how urban studies save cities, which paradoxes of urban planning scientists encounter and why “smart” technologies take so long to be adopted by major cities.

  20.06.2017