ObjectiveMountains, forests, grasslands, and other landscape elements are all intricately connected by hydrological processes in watersheds, which are essential ecological communities. Theoretically, watersheds are the best geographical scale for effectiveness of ecological restoration since they are whole ecological units with cohesive biological processes. As ecosystem services having the most direct impact on human civilizations and serving as the primary determinants of the effectiveness of watershed restoration, water-related ecosystem services (WES) are vital connections between ecological restoration processes and human well-being. Additionally, one crucial metric for assessing the relationship between ecosystem services is the trade-offs between WES. Not merely the main source of WES, the ecological spatial pattern of watersheds is also the physical expression of coupled natural-anthropogenic processes, making it an essential analytical viewpoint for restoration ecology. In addition to improving effectiveness assessment, examining watershed restoration from the perspective of WES trade-offs may also help guide strategic approaches to integrated watershed management.MethodsAn integrated methodological approach is used in this research to assess the effectiveness of ecological restoration in the mainstream watershed of the Liaohe River from 2000 to 2020. To thoroughly assess restoration results, the research employs a multi-model approach that includes geospatial analysis, landscape ecology measures, and ecosystem service modeling. In order to measure changes in the composition and layout of ecological spaces, satellite imagery processed in ArcGIS 10.8 is used to create land use transition matrices and landscape pattern indices. Four important WES are assessed using the InVEST 3.14.1 model, namely water purification (nutrient delivery ratio module), water conservation (annual water yield module), soil conservation (sediment delivery ratio module), and habitat quality (habitat quality module). Root mean square deviation (RMSD) is used to calculated the trade-off intensity between various services, and Origin 2024 is used for data standardization and statistical analysis. Additionally, the research adopts multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR 2.2 software) to distinguish between natural elements (driven by climate) and anthropogenic elements (driven by land use) affecting WES trade-offs in order to pinpoint the driving processes. Through spatial explicit modeling, this analytical methodology makes it possible to diagnose the root causes of restoration effectiveness and quantify them across several dimensions (spatial pattern, individual service, and ecosystem service trade-off). To guarantee region-specific accuracy, local hydrological and ecological data are used to calibrate all model parameters.ResultsResearch results are summarized as follows (covering the period from 2000 to 2020). 1) Landscape transformation: The conversion of agricultural production space (2,765.45 km2) creates 1,873.06 km2 of new ecological space (including 292.67 km2 of forests, 980.10 km2 of grasslands, 382.96 km2 of wetlands, and 217.33 km2 of water bodies), and produces unique spatial patterns, such as aggregated growth down the mainstream (AI increases by over 17%), and dispersed expansion in upper tributaries (PD and LSI increase by 11.77% and 2.64%, respectively). 2) Despite regional variation, all the four WES display quantifiable improvements: There is a 9.14% improvement (with nitrogen output decreasing from 1.74×107 kg to 1.58×107 kg) in water purification (WP), mostly along the mainstream of the Liaohe River and upper reaches of its tributaries; a remarkable 184% increase (from 9.81×107 m3 to 27.86×107 m3) in water conservation (WC); a significant gain of 85.73×106 tons in soil conservation (SC), representing a 74.7% improvement from the baseline in 2000; and a modest but ecologically significant progress in habitat quality (HQ), with the watershed-wide mean index increasing from 0.315 to 0.321 (a 1.9% increase). 3) Two of the six trade-off connections under investigation indicate a decline in trade-off intensity (WC-WP: RMSD decreases by 0.0339; WC-HQ: RMSD decreases by 0.0035), while the other four show the reverse pattern (WP-SC: RMSD increases by 0.0219; WP-HQ: RMSD increases by 0.0192; WC-SC: RMSD increases by 0.0515; SC-HQ: RMSD increases by 0.0039). 4) In particular, the landscape composition is advantageous for WP, SC, and HQ but detrimental for WC, the landscape fragmentation is advantageous for WP but detrimental for SC, while the landscape aggregation is opposite. These ecological spatial patterns have opposite effects on WES, which is the primary cause of the increase in WES trade-offs. 5) In addition, the ecological spatial layout plan previously centered on water purification is a significant factor in the rise in WES trade-offs.ConclusionFrom the perspective of WES, this research has verified that ecological restoration in the mainstream watershed of the Liaohe River from 2000 to 2020 is a traditional single-objective ecological restoration mode, which is beneficial for single-objective local restoration, but detrimental for multi-objective coordinated restoration. Optimizing the ecological spatial pattern is a crucial tactic to raise the overall effectiveness of ecological restoration of territorial space and human well-being in watersheds. In the future, integrating the trade-off intensity of WES into the effectiveness assessment system will support the multi-objective coordinated development of ecological restoration in watersheds. This research provides factual support for the shift from single-objective to multi-functional watershed restoration strategies, as well as a replicable assessment framework. There are new avenues for operationalizing “ecological civilization” principles in real-world watershed management through the scientific fusion of landscape ecology, ecosystem service research, and spatial statistics.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Architectural drawing and design
ObjectivePhotography, as an innovative method of recording Chinese gardens in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, has a significant impact on the research on gardens both then and in later generations. In spite of this, garden research and photographic research do not overlap much as they are two parallel disciplines. The purpose of this research is to draw comparisons between photographic representations of space and garden research texts. As an emerging image material and a way to understand and review gardens, photography has driven a shift in gardening research, with the underlying mechanisms being investigated in this research. In addition, the research also explores the interaction between photography’s technical characteristics and gardens’ spatial characteristics.MethodsThis research adopts the case study of Osvald Sirén’s photographic images of Chinese gardens. The first research path takes photography techniques and photographic images as the starting point, and analyzes the tone threshold of photographic images to figure out the technical points of Osvald Sirén’s photography, with a focus on the quality of shadow, as well as the characteristics of the images of gardens that are reproduced under the scenarios in which these photography techniques are applied. Furthermore, this research examines how people’s perceptions of garden space have changed as a result of these characteristics. Another path is based on Osvald Sirén’s research experience, which aims to conduct a comparative study between photographic images and written documents regarding Osvald Sirén’s writings and research texts on Chinese gardens, so as to explore the reverse shaping of garden memories and garden understandings through image technology. This research is based on the intersection between the history of gardens and the history of photography, and provides an in-depth analysis of the interactions between garden space and photographic technique to explore their internal, non-obvious connections.ResultsThe results show that Osvald Sirén used a large-format camera, a medium-focal-length lens, and technical concepts similar to those of the zone system to increase the density of image shadow, deepen the details, and compress space during photographing. His early research on art history profoundly influences his approach to expressing photography and his perspective on interpreting gardens. The gardens photographed by Osvald Sirén often depict spatial scenes of significant depth. However, the close-up, middle and distant views of images can all be clearly presented, and even the details of the patterns and architectural decorations in the distant view are also very clear. The pursuit of shadow and texture in his photography dilutes the common obsession with space in garden photography. Photographs give an objective and accurate perspective to garden recording, giving birth to a more convincing and neutral approach. Osvald Sirén’s photographs are obviously not satisfied with this. In his images, sensitivity to art mingles with the other side of the extreme pursuit of photography, and gardening expresses the art of living. The expressiveness of Osvald Sirén’s individual works attempts to take into account all such elements as the complexity of gardens, the wandering line of sight brought about by scatter perspectives, the flow of light and the emphasis on the artistic conception of rocks. The localized images taken from different perspectives construct a distinct narrative language of gardens, an alternative spatial narrative language to the traditional garden narrative, accompanied by the emergence of an emerging research branch of garden space reading logic — a school of garden research based on modern iconography.ConclusionPhotographic interventions in garden space research were constrained by many technical conditions which posed substantial challenges to early photography. Osvald Sirén clearly solved these technical problems skilfully, and this is what distinguishes his works as valuable works of art from common garden photography. He applied a concept very similar to the area exposure method, generating images with personal characteristics. At the same time, these images of gardens with great detail content have formed a strong set of garden narratives, which in turn influence the perspective of garden research — a spatially compressed perspective with multiple details superimposed on each other, and a perspective that transforms spatial protagonists and garden narratives, which has begun to subconsciously influence the direction of garden research. The combination of this influence and western spatial research has formed a very common paradigm for garden research. From another perspective, photography interventions in garden space research are constrained by a plethora of technological conditions. This process of overcoming photographic practice constraints is also the driving force behind photographic equipment iteration. Photographers’ strong artistic aspirations under limited technical conditions have given garden photography, as a sub-category of photography, an exceptional artistic character. As a microcosm of the application of photography by modern overseas sinologists in their research on China, Osvald Sirén’s photographic practice provides an original and accessible perspective for the modernization of modern research.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Architectural drawing and design
Este artigo identifica transformações urbanas e relações entre formas, usos do solo e movimento no Bairro Miramar em João Pessoa – PB, nas últimas três décadas. Localizado em uma das avenidas estruturantes da cidade com vista-mar, o bairro Miramar passou por muitas transformações recentes, atraindo o mercado imobiliário para a área. Esse estudo se baseia na teoria da Sintaxe Espacial, alinhado à teoria do movimento natural. O estudo foi feito através de mapeamentos comparativos entre 1990 e 2020, relacionando características dos conjuntos edilícios (tipo, interface, gabarito) e usos do solo, com centralidades na malha urbana, utilizando mapas axiais e de segmentos e gráficos de correlação. Em uma análise mais específica foram selecionadas cinco ruas diferentes com centralidades similares, contabilizando o movimento de pedestres e automóveis. Resultados identificaram um aumento de edificações multifamiliares; uma tendência de renovação edilícia em vias mais centrais; um aumento do número de comércios e serviços em ruas integradas, corroborando a teoria do movimento natural. Ao contabilizar o movimento de passantes, foi constatado que ruas com mais diversidade de uso apresentaram mais movimento, ao contrário de ruas monofuncionais com edificações verticalizadas do “tipo isolado”, apontando indícios de efeitos negativos das edificações recentes à vitalidade urbana.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
This paper shows some results of the research activities carried out in the spoke five of the National Biodiversity Future Center aimed at testing the effectiveness of urban regeneration projects, including the creation of Pocket Parks as adaptation strategies to climate change. The methodological approach adopted to validate the design of small scale resilient urban spaces implemented by the Municipality of Florence will be presented starting from the definition of state-of-the-art. Furthermore, it will analyse how the meta-planning model (based on the integration of NbS) and the predictive tools used in the experimentation can be used to develop future regulatory tools for planning and controlling the transformation of the built environment.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Architectural drawing and design
In this study, the co-participative development of a Local Strategic Plan for Dementia is presented and analysed. Fifteen institutions from a territory in central Portugal participated in this dynamic, each represented by a reference professional and 2 senior technicians from the City Council (n=17). Participants with previous experience in providing care to elderly people and caring for people with dementia were recruited. The co-participative ideation dynamics took place in a single 8-hour session, which was divided into 4 distinct phases: (i) icebreaker presentation, (ii) co-design of objectives, (iii) co-design of strategic axes, (iv) co-design of intervention. A content analysis of the exercises and a summary were carried out according to the following structure: objectives for the strategic plan, strategic axes and actions to be implemented. Throughout the ideation exercises, more significant keywords were defined, reflecting the most relevant dimensions in assistance and care for people with dementia: 10 dimensions for processes, 7 for social health, and 7 for policies. Five axes were defined: Community Literacy, Combating Isolation, Aging in Place, Intergenerational, and Dementia Friendly Service, which were supported by 13 objectives, 15 actions and 17 goals and 20 strategic partners. The design of a co-participative proposal for a Local Strategic Plan for Dementia proved to be an innovative and effective methodology, and it should, in the future, involve other community stakeholders and develop lines of action for the coordination and monitoring of the strategy.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
The liquid reality of the urban has been often explored in the field of urban political ecology, which has considered the ways in which the city is actually stitched together or pulled apart by the physical flows of liquids, the submerged city made of pipes, tubes and sewers, a hidden network in which the drinkable and the wasted liquids intersect and flow asymmetrically. Many of these works have
been crucial in embedding water in socio-political relations. However, often at the cost of reducing
water to said relations, falling short of attending to water’s agentic capacity, failing to consider the encounter between those socio-political relations and the materiality of the liquid itself.Usually framed
through questions of power, inequality, consumption and cultural meaning, rarely these studies have engaged with the materiality and agency of urban liquids and, most crucially, with their essential capacity to overflow. In this propositional piece, we ask the question: what does it mean to think the city through its overflows?
Architecture, Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying
Fábio Lúcio Zampieri, Sheila Patrícia de Andrade, Vanessa Goulart Dorneles
Este artigo procura investigar as condições e problemáticas relacionadas aos passeios públicos a partir da percepção dos usuários. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa baseada em entrevistas focalizadas com três diferentes grupos de pessoas – técnicos de urbanismo, pedestres adultos e pedestres idosos. A partir deste estudo pôde-se identificar diversas questões enfrentados pelos pedestres nas calçadas em Porto Alegre - RS, e também sistematizá-los em diferentes categorias, como: “acidentes”, “ambientais”, “conforto”, “manutenção”, “segurança pública”, entre outros. A pesquisa averiguou a falta de qualidade das calçadas brasileiras através do grande descontentamento dos grupos quanto as condições das calçadas, principalmente em relação à falta de manutenção e conforto, além da falta de atuação do poder público em prevenir estes problemas.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying
With the revolution of 25 April 1974, Portugal initiated a unique cultural journey that paralleled, in the architectural field, the questioning of the modern movement that occurred since the aftermath of World War II. The academic context was a particular mirror for this criticism. The director of the Lisbon architecture course pronounced its engagement in “a sort of counter-culture”; the cultural critique that occurred, however, was more of a fortunate accident. In fact, an optimistic post-traumatic euphoria was a common element in some of the most radical pedagogical expressions that took place. In the face of the ‘creative’ productions that unfolded under the Lisbon architecture school in the 1980s, we acknowledge an unconventional form of expression that leads us to question whether a particular identity frame has characterised Portuguese architectural culture and its interrelation with the city of Lisbon ever since. This paper provides evidence for such a claim by examining previously untapped primary sources – testimonies and documents – that relate directly to Lisbon’s architecture course between 1976 and 1986 and which have informed background research for a PhD. Three videos from the School’s archives were analysed to demonstrate how students related to the topic of urbanity, specifically that of Lisbon, via this particular form of art.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="section"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>On the occasion of the second International Architecture Biennale of Rotterdam, the Municipality, with the Dutch Ministry of the Delta waters and the Polder Authority of Schieland and Krimpenerwaard, asked a question: nowadays is the water a resource or an emergency for the city? <br /></span>The answer is the mastercase "Rotterdam waterstad 2035", that planned an integrated strategy to transform water emergency into an occasion for urban renewal. </p><p><span><br /></span></p></div></div></div></div>
Architecture, Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying
En el contexto de las múltiples transformaciones urbanas que experimentan las grandes metrópolis, este trabajo analiza el modo en que, por medio de diversas intervenciones, la práctica del urbanismo fragmenta las condiciones espacio-temporales sobre las cuales se constituye la espacialidad urbana de la vida cotidiana. Con un enfoque etnográfico de la movilidad cotidiana de los habitantes de la ciudad de Santiago, describe el modo en que la fragmentación urbana es vivida por los habitantes, los que implementan diversas estrategias de movilidad para zurcir las espacialidades inconexas, interrumpidas y segregadas en las que ha sido descompuesta la ciudad, y que han ido fragmentando la espacialidad de la vida cotidiana. Los resultados de la investigación dan cuenta de las consecuencias de este urbanismo fragmentador, en particular en las condiciones de exclusión social, y también permiten proponer posibles intervenciones urbanas destinadas a aminorar el impacto de dicha fragmentación y consiguiente exclusión.
Architecture, Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying
The consequences of the economic crisis on a social level are bringing about a series of changes in how we live and reside. Some of these transformations are destined to become structural and affect how housing is designed, to take into consideration new housing models, cultural diversity, nomadism linked to working mobility, and the ageing of the population.The provision of social housing must adapt to these transformations in society and respond to the challenge by expanding the services available to residents, in a new framework of relations between the public and private sectors.Public operators are joined by new parties such as foundations while attempting new forms of support for the private initiative, which adapts to cover a part of the requirement of the middle classes made more fragile by the crisis.
Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying, Architectural drawing and design