Luis Balula | University of Lisbon (original) (raw)
Papers by Luis Balula
Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Ku... more Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Kunming.
Springer eBooks, 2017
Urbanization stands amongst the most significant global trends of the 21st century, with cities a... more Urbanization stands amongst the most significant global trends of the 21st century, with cities accounting already for 70% of global wealth creation, 60% of total energy consumption, 70% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of global waste (UN Habitat 2015). These numbers are telling of both the vigor of cities and the challenges they face. The unprecedented levels of urbanization worldwide over the last decades have fuelled global economic growth while raising a number of social, environmental and spatial concerns that are increasingly shared by all cities, rather than unique to particular sites, thanks to globalization. Sustainability, socio-territorial cohesion and sustainable urban development became mots d’ordre and the city emerged as the critical building block for a more sustainable future. In this chapter, we consider the imperatives of sustainability and how they impact the urban planning field. In light of the United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2004–2014), we look into the requirements of higher education for sustainable urban planning and development (SUPD) and examine how sustainability concepts and principles are shaping the curricula of academic programs with a focus on the built environment. Supported by topical literature on sustainability and urban planning, the content analysis of a sample of 10 top world academic programs dealing with the built environment—covering the areas of architecture, urban design, urbanism and city planning—helped to identify the topical themes/fields for conceptualization and action, as well as the key skills which urban professionals need to master, in order to advance SUPD. Findings support the idea that, over the last decades, the imperatives of sustainability for urban planning have contributed to a growing convergence between the social sciences and the spatial planning field.
Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Ku... more Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Kunming.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Nov 26, 2015
The scale and speed of China's urbanization translate into major challenges for sustainability. C... more The scale and speed of China's urbanization translate into major challenges for sustainability. Could the 'eco-city' and 'low-carbon' agendas, and the promotion of related pilot cities drive Chinese urban practice towards more environmentally sustainable solutions? We explore this question through a critical review of experience in China, identifying problems relating to the development of space, the treatment of scale and the pursuit of efficiency (the 'space-scale-efficiency nexus'). China seeks sustainable solutions through eco and low-carbon agendas, but our review finds that current efforts fall short of expectations, and problematic patterns are repeated. We propose that a geo-administrative notion of functional regions could provide a strategic framework to address the range of design, physical and administrative planning problems, ensuring that eco-city and low-carbon city pilots result in comprehensive solutions that can be effectively replicated.
Information on ESPON and its projects can be found on www.espon.eu. The web site provides the pos... more Information on ESPON and its projects can be found on www.espon.eu. The web site provides the possibility to download and examine the most recent documents produced by finalised and ongoing ESPON projects.
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2016
The United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD 20... more The United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD 2004-2014) advocates the need for universities to embed sustainability in all learning areas. This inquiry examines how selected postgraduate top-level programmes in urban studies are adapting their curricula to promote sustainable urban development. We start by reviewing an extensive literature to identify the principles and practices characterising the UN DESD, and to identify the topics and themes considered essential for teaching aimed at the promotion of sustainable urban development. Based on the extensive literature review we define an analytical framework in five parts, related to various aspects of curricular content and teaching and learning approaches: programme orientation, skills, ethics and critical reasoning, interdisciplinarity and content related to sustainable urban development issues. We then conduct an empirical study of 25 among the best postgraduate level (MA and MSc) programmes in urban studies from Europe, China, the USA and the Global South, to see how they are adapting their curricula to the requirements of sustainable urban development captured in the analytical framework. While acknowledging the significant context specificities that must be respected, and the multiple challenges that must be reconciled when defining urban studies curricula-we find both strengths and weaknesses in these top programmes, including important differences among the programmes from the four regions. Our data suggests that important steps are being taken towards 'wholesystem' transformation envisaged by the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, but also that transformative factors depending on cultural and institutional values and practices remain relatively weak.
for urban futures p. 1 abhijit ekbote p. 3 aslı duru p. 5 olivia bina, josefine fokdal, luis balu... more for urban futures p. 1 abhijit ekbote p. 3 aslı duru p. 5 olivia bina, josefine fokdal, luis balula & marta varanda p. 8 gabrielle bendiner-viani & shana agid p. 11 renato d'alençon castrillón global education urban pamphleteer # 5 p. 14 maria augusta hermida, daniela konrad & kris w. b. scheerlinck p. 17 nancy couling, paola cannavò, silvia paldino, alexandra middea, shweta wagh, sonal sundararajan & rupali gupte p. 19 kirsten doermann & solam mkhabela p. 23 mika savela & mo kar him p. 26 gretchen wilkins & ian nazareth p. 29 christian iaione & paola cannavò p. 32 miriam pinto p. 35 adriana allen, camillo boano, alexandre apsan frediani, caren levy, barbara lipietz & julian walker p. 38 caren levy & barbara lipietz p. 40 adriana allen & rita lambert p. 43 giovanna astolfo, giorgio talocci & camillo boano p. 46 beatrice de carli p. 48 ben campkin, paola alfaro d'alençon, daniela konrad, neil klug, solam mkhabela, andrew harris & johannes novy Urban Pamphleteer we are delighted to present urban pamphleteer # 5 In the tradition of radical pamphleteering, the intention of this series is to confront key themes in contemporary urban debate from diverse perspectives, in a direct and accessible-but not reductive-way. The broader aim is to empower citizens, and inform professionals, researchers, institutions and policy-makers, with a view to positively shaping change. # 5 global education for urban futures This issue aims to stimulate a critical discussion about the future of higher education focused on cities and urbanization. In a world that is both rapidly urbanising and globalising, it is widely acknowledged that it is crucial to facilitate urban education that is cross-, interor trans-disciplinary; based on global knowledge addressed towards international issues; and engaged with live projects or taught through approaches defined as practice-oriented or laboratorial. Yet it is not always clear how these ambitions can best be achieved, especially to ensure higher education plays a constitutive role in addressing issues of urban exclusion or inequality, and global disparities in the production of urban knowledge and application of expertise. What challenges do trends in global urban theory, policy and development pose for contemporary educational practice? What are the origins, institutional contexts and futures of international approaches to urban higher education? What good models exist that best facilitate working across different geographical contexts? These are the questions our contributors address. The issue features projects that document, contextualise and comment on existing pedagogies and teaching, as well as critiques of existing models, and suggestions of future challenges and opportunities. It highlights innovative, critical and speculative pedagogies that are inter-and trans-disciplinary, practice-oriented, and comparative; and which help to facilitate international collaboration through visual methods and digital platforms. Urban Pamphleteer is supported by the UCL Urban Laboratory and the UCL Grand Challenges.
Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Ku... more Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Kunming.
Springer eBooks, 2017
Urbanization stands amongst the most significant global trends of the 21st century, with cities a... more Urbanization stands amongst the most significant global trends of the 21st century, with cities accounting already for 70% of global wealth creation, 60% of total energy consumption, 70% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of global waste (UN Habitat 2015). These numbers are telling of both the vigor of cities and the challenges they face. The unprecedented levels of urbanization worldwide over the last decades have fuelled global economic growth while raising a number of social, environmental and spatial concerns that are increasingly shared by all cities, rather than unique to particular sites, thanks to globalization. Sustainability, socio-territorial cohesion and sustainable urban development became mots d’ordre and the city emerged as the critical building block for a more sustainable future. In this chapter, we consider the imperatives of sustainability and how they impact the urban planning field. In light of the United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2004–2014), we look into the requirements of higher education for sustainable urban planning and development (SUPD) and examine how sustainability concepts and principles are shaping the curricula of academic programs with a focus on the built environment. Supported by topical literature on sustainability and urban planning, the content analysis of a sample of 10 top world academic programs dealing with the built environment—covering the areas of architecture, urban design, urbanism and city planning—helped to identify the topical themes/fields for conceptualization and action, as well as the key skills which urban professionals need to master, in order to advance SUPD. Findings support the idea that, over the last decades, the imperatives of sustainability for urban planning have contributed to a growing convergence between the social sciences and the spatial planning field.
Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Ku... more Chenggong: the new Kunming municipal government center in Yunnan. Chenggong is a new town near Kunming.
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Nov 26, 2015
The scale and speed of China's urbanization translate into major challenges for sustainability. C... more The scale and speed of China's urbanization translate into major challenges for sustainability. Could the 'eco-city' and 'low-carbon' agendas, and the promotion of related pilot cities drive Chinese urban practice towards more environmentally sustainable solutions? We explore this question through a critical review of experience in China, identifying problems relating to the development of space, the treatment of scale and the pursuit of efficiency (the 'space-scale-efficiency nexus'). China seeks sustainable solutions through eco and low-carbon agendas, but our review finds that current efforts fall short of expectations, and problematic patterns are repeated. We propose that a geo-administrative notion of functional regions could provide a strategic framework to address the range of design, physical and administrative planning problems, ensuring that eco-city and low-carbon city pilots result in comprehensive solutions that can be effectively replicated.
Information on ESPON and its projects can be found on www.espon.eu. The web site provides the pos... more Information on ESPON and its projects can be found on www.espon.eu. The web site provides the possibility to download and examine the most recent documents produced by finalised and ongoing ESPON projects.
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2016
The United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD 20... more The United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UN DESD 2004-2014) advocates the need for universities to embed sustainability in all learning areas. This inquiry examines how selected postgraduate top-level programmes in urban studies are adapting their curricula to promote sustainable urban development. We start by reviewing an extensive literature to identify the principles and practices characterising the UN DESD, and to identify the topics and themes considered essential for teaching aimed at the promotion of sustainable urban development. Based on the extensive literature review we define an analytical framework in five parts, related to various aspects of curricular content and teaching and learning approaches: programme orientation, skills, ethics and critical reasoning, interdisciplinarity and content related to sustainable urban development issues. We then conduct an empirical study of 25 among the best postgraduate level (MA and MSc) programmes in urban studies from Europe, China, the USA and the Global South, to see how they are adapting their curricula to the requirements of sustainable urban development captured in the analytical framework. While acknowledging the significant context specificities that must be respected, and the multiple challenges that must be reconciled when defining urban studies curricula-we find both strengths and weaknesses in these top programmes, including important differences among the programmes from the four regions. Our data suggests that important steps are being taken towards 'wholesystem' transformation envisaged by the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, but also that transformative factors depending on cultural and institutional values and practices remain relatively weak.
for urban futures p. 1 abhijit ekbote p. 3 aslı duru p. 5 olivia bina, josefine fokdal, luis balu... more for urban futures p. 1 abhijit ekbote p. 3 aslı duru p. 5 olivia bina, josefine fokdal, luis balula & marta varanda p. 8 gabrielle bendiner-viani & shana agid p. 11 renato d'alençon castrillón global education urban pamphleteer # 5 p. 14 maria augusta hermida, daniela konrad & kris w. b. scheerlinck p. 17 nancy couling, paola cannavò, silvia paldino, alexandra middea, shweta wagh, sonal sundararajan & rupali gupte p. 19 kirsten doermann & solam mkhabela p. 23 mika savela & mo kar him p. 26 gretchen wilkins & ian nazareth p. 29 christian iaione & paola cannavò p. 32 miriam pinto p. 35 adriana allen, camillo boano, alexandre apsan frediani, caren levy, barbara lipietz & julian walker p. 38 caren levy & barbara lipietz p. 40 adriana allen & rita lambert p. 43 giovanna astolfo, giorgio talocci & camillo boano p. 46 beatrice de carli p. 48 ben campkin, paola alfaro d'alençon, daniela konrad, neil klug, solam mkhabela, andrew harris & johannes novy Urban Pamphleteer we are delighted to present urban pamphleteer # 5 In the tradition of radical pamphleteering, the intention of this series is to confront key themes in contemporary urban debate from diverse perspectives, in a direct and accessible-but not reductive-way. The broader aim is to empower citizens, and inform professionals, researchers, institutions and policy-makers, with a view to positively shaping change. # 5 global education for urban futures This issue aims to stimulate a critical discussion about the future of higher education focused on cities and urbanization. In a world that is both rapidly urbanising and globalising, it is widely acknowledged that it is crucial to facilitate urban education that is cross-, interor trans-disciplinary; based on global knowledge addressed towards international issues; and engaged with live projects or taught through approaches defined as practice-oriented or laboratorial. Yet it is not always clear how these ambitions can best be achieved, especially to ensure higher education plays a constitutive role in addressing issues of urban exclusion or inequality, and global disparities in the production of urban knowledge and application of expertise. What challenges do trends in global urban theory, policy and development pose for contemporary educational practice? What are the origins, institutional contexts and futures of international approaches to urban higher education? What good models exist that best facilitate working across different geographical contexts? These are the questions our contributors address. The issue features projects that document, contextualise and comment on existing pedagogies and teaching, as well as critiques of existing models, and suggestions of future challenges and opportunities. It highlights innovative, critical and speculative pedagogies that are inter-and trans-disciplinary, practice-oriented, and comparative; and which help to facilitate international collaboration through visual methods and digital platforms. Urban Pamphleteer is supported by the UCL Urban Laboratory and the UCL Grand Challenges.
Urbanization stands amongst the most significant global trends of the 21st century, with cities a... more Urbanization stands amongst the most significant global trends of the 21st century, with cities accounting already for 70% of global wealth creation, 60% of total energy consumption, 70% of greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of global waste (UN Habitat 2015). These numbers are telling of both the vigor of cities and the challenges they face. The unprecedented levels of urbanization worldwide over the last decades have fuelled global economic growth while raising a number of social, environmental and spatial concerns that are increasingly shared by all cities, rather than unique to particular sites, thanks to globalization. Sustainability, socio-territorial cohesion and sustainable urban development became mots d’ordre and the city emerged as the critical building block for a more sustainable future. In this chapter, we consider the imperatives of sustainability and how they impact the urban planning field. In light of the United Nations declaration of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2004–2014), we look into the requirements of higher education for sustainable urban planning and development (SUPD) and examine how sustainability concepts and principles are shaping the curricula of academic programs with a focus on the built environment. Supported by topical literature on sustainability and urban planning, the content analysis of a sample of 10 top world academic programs dealing with the built environment—covering the areas of architecture, urban design, urbanism and city planning—helped to identify the topical themes/fields for conceptualization and action, as well as the key skills which urban professionals need to master, in order to advance SUPD. Findings support the idea that, over the last decades, the imperatives of sustainability for urban planning have contributed to a growing convergence between the social sciences and the spatial planning field.
The scale and speed of China's urbanization translate into major challenges for sustainability. C... more The scale and speed of China's urbanization translate into major challenges for sustainability. Could the 'eco-city' and 'low-carbon' agendas, and the promotion of related pilot cities drive Chinese urban practice towards more environmentally sustainable solutions? We explore this question through a critical review of experience in China, identifying problems relating to the development of space, the treatment of scale and the pursuit of efficiency (the 'space-scale-efficiency nexus'). China seeks sustainable solutions through eco and low-carbon agendas, but our review finds that current efforts fall short of expectations, and problematic patterns are repeated. We propose that a geo-administrative notion of functional regions could provide a strategic framework to address the range of design, physical and administrative planning problems, ensuring that eco-city and low-carbon city pilots result in comprehensive solutions that can be effectively replicated.
Along the past half-century, suburban sprawl has created a new spatial geography which diverse au... more Along the past half-century, suburban sprawl has created a new spatial geography which diverse authors have called the extensive city, the fragmented city, the formless city, or the city without model. An outstanding characteristic of the extensive city is its lack of formal coherence and functional efficiency. The shortcomings of this type of urban development have been noted from a variety of perspectives. Environmentalists worry about the extensive loss of natural and rural land, the steep increases in carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions derived from traffic, and an over reliance on fossil fuels. Sociologists point to the loss of long-established social networks, the erosion of the public sphere, and the rise of social ghettos in fragmented residential areas isolated from nearby communities. Urban planners and policymakers struggle to manage an increasingly complex mosaic of disjointed land-uses, over-extended infrastructures, and erratic investments of public and private capital. And all those who experience the dysfunctions of living in the extended city—from regular traffic congestion in daily trips to work, to social isolation, to the poor quality of urban environments—complain about the associated stress and distress. In light of these problematic aspects of contemporary urban development, an increasing number of planners, policymakers, architects, designers, and developers are examining the potential of alternative models of placemaking to counter some of the worst consequences of what has been—in spite of the existence of plans and other development control mechanisms—a rather unregulated process of urban sprawl...
Full papers and abstracts (and contact list) - Proceedings
We have sought to compare trends and challenges in China and in Europe, and identify policy impli... more We have sought to compare trends and challenges in China and in Europe, and identify policy implications that inform the support mechanisms for decision--‐making: indicators, paradigm shifts and scenarios...
This first deliverable for WP4: Infrastructure and services for sustainable urbanization: trends ... more This first deliverable for WP4: Infrastructure and services for sustainable urbanization: trends and policy support mechanisms, has allowed us to review the state of the art for the WP core themes, drawing on a combination of scholarly and policy literature. Given the nature and objectives of WP4, we have sought to compare trends and challenges in China and in Europe, and identify policy implications that will inform the second part of the WP (support mechanisms for decision--‐making: indicators, paradigm shifts and scenarios). Today, there is no doubt that these two major world regions stand at very different stages of development and ‘urbanisation’ – an expression which we use to refer to a condition (the share of total population in cities), a planning process and a social process (whereby societies become more urban). However, we have shown here that these regions share more commonalities than differences, and that there is significant scope for joint research and collaboration in the search for pathways to sustainable urban futures.
REGIÕES FUNCIONAIS: DOS CONCEITOS ÀS PROPOSTAS DE INTERVENÇÃO Uma visão de síntese sobre as 'regi... more REGIÕES FUNCIONAIS: DOS CONCEITOS ÀS PROPOSTAS DE INTERVENÇÃO
Uma visão de síntese sobre as 'regiões funcionais' – o que são, para que servem e em que condições podem ser utilizadas no contexto de políticas e estratégias de desenvolvimento territorial.