Side walks in Yazd:
In cities like Sydney buildings and streets are designed in the way that streets could catch the maximum sun light of three hours. In desert area in Iran this issue is inverse. Side walks in cities like Yarzd should have shadow to protect people from harsh and hot climate of desert areas. In order to get shadow in sidewalks of Yazd, tall walls are located in two sides of  narrow side walks. The direction of sidewalks are usually east to west which get the lowest amount of sunlight in that region. (Ahmadkhani Maleki 2011). Furthermore there are arch structures and sometimes a room which is called sabat, that are located above the side walks to provide more Shadow. Hot flows in desert areas are common. Side walks in Yazd are curve to decrease the amount of flows (keshtkaran 2011) This simple structures in Yazd helps people to adjust themselves to harsh and warm climate.

http://www.trekearth.com

http://www.iotpe.com/IJTPE/IJTPE-2011/IJTPE-Issue6-Vol3-No1-Mar2011/16-IJTPE-Issue6-Vol3-No1-Mar2011-pp84-91.pdf
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705811048697#

Tree roots in walkways:
Trees are important elements in streets. they provide shadow, decrease carbon emission and make street more beautiful. In Sydney there are large number of walkways which damaged by tree roots. These walkways are not proper for biking, walking and to carry trolley or trolley bags. In order to keep trees and also prevent and minimise the damage to walkways there are several thing that could be done. According to Gliman (2002) removing some part of walkways can help to reduce damage to walkway. Furthermore using barriers and channels to change the direction of roots to open soil could be helpful. Using gravel under the pavement causes roots to stay under pavement. Well drained soil is important to reduce the damage. Roots in this sort of soil can receive more oxygen because water will scattered in the soil instead of pooling in certain part of soil.

http://houston-treeservice.com/blog/

http://www.pasadenanow.com

source: 
Gliman,F (2002) Urban Design to Accommodate Trees: Sidewalk Solutions,Department of Environmental Horticulture,pp3-22

Borneo-Sporenburg:

http://fr.urbarama.com/project/borneo-sporenburg

In Rotterdam there is strong oriented residential area alonge the water edge and water canal. All of the building are 3 storey with out basement. Some of the buildings are located directly on the water edge. The blocks are long and the streets are narrow, mostly without trees.Material of pavement makes cars to reduce their speed. In some blocks buildings are same and they are repeated. In other parts of area the facades of buildings have exotic variety.Apart form houses there are some unexpected spaces and buildings that are located between blocks. In one area blocks cut suddenly with oblique green space. In other locations there are two  high rise buildings between blocks that are positioned obliquely. The water front and walkways which located at the edge of water are so simple .

http://archporn.wordpress.com/2009/09/16/borneo-sporenburg-by-west8/

http://www.uytenhaak.nl

 

 Marina Barrage in Singapore:
Marina  Barrage is a dam that is located in Singapore strait. According to Singapore`s National Water Agency (2014) this dam has three different functions. First one is flood controlling to preserve  areas around catchment. When the level of water rises because of the rain, the gates of the dam will be opened to decrease catchment water. Second feature is about providing some part of the water demand of the city. Third feature is attraction. The Marina Barrage is a sustainable building. It has green roof that provide exotic view to the city, catchment and Bay Gast garden. This dam is a good example of a structure with three different and useful features for city.

http://bigwalkonwater.wordpress.com

http://www.eventfinda.sg

Source:
http://www.pub.gov.sg/Marina/Pages/default.aspx

Canal City Hakata:
The Canal City Hakata is located in commercial and entertainment district of Fukuoka in Japan . This structure consisted of 2 hotels,shopping mall with restaurant, theatre, cinemas and a water canal with fountain in centre of it (Japan guide 2011) . In centre of canal and structure there is a stage that sometimes artists perform there. There are open balconies from shopping mall in this area plus one of the glazed facades of the hotel that have view to fountain and stage. The choice of colour for shopping mall is different and interesting that can draw attention. In general this structure has engaged people well with indoor and outdoor places. There are large number of shopping mall complex in all over the world but this one could be more successful because of the special curve design and mix of functions.

http://yokanavi.com

 

http://www.yelp.com

 source:
 http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4800.html

Palace Square St Peters burg:

This Square is surrounded  by different classic buildings. There are huge gapes between buildings plus a high and big arch as the location of entrance and a high column in the centre of it.Unlike most of the squares which are rectangular,Palace square do not have certain shape and the only elements in square are column and pavement.There are no benches and trees in square maybe because this square in the past was a place to gather people for certain events.The square is shaped by 3 long buildings around it.The important thing about this square is the sense of overwhelming that caused by the height and length of buildings,entrances and column .

http://en.wikipedia.org

 

 Nomba Parks Osaka:
Nomba Parks is located In Osaka,one of the most dense and populated cites of Japan. This 8 storey structure consisted of shopping mall with a theatre and different restaurants,and roof park which combined with a tower. Inside of the structure there is an open void that shops an restaurants are located there. This open void is like desert canyons in America which is combined with glass and few vegetation s. There are sky ways that connect two sides of void and an elevator that make the connecting between different storeys and roof park. The roof park is defined in different level and in each level different shops and restaurants are accessible. Generally this park is an  interesting combination of  different functions. People can spend hours in this park to do different activities. Although most of the shopping malls have these features, the roof park which is defined in different levels and the open void and the combination of this structure with tower make it distinguished.

http://bigpicture.ru

http://architecture-view.com

http://www.danhartfordphoto.com

Port of Nagoya:
Nagoya is one of the most populated cities in Japan. The port of the Nagoya is located at south of the city. The aquarium of Nagoya , terminal and sea food restaurant are located around the port. There is a pedestrian bridge that connects the terminal to aquarium. This area do not have enough planting. The walkway around of the port is too vast with out special design for pavement. Although there are some simple benches for seating the walkways seems empty. The design of the bridge seems better when someone walk on it. But from the walkways on the port it is a simple structure. The only things that can could draw attention are the aquarium and terminal building with curve design. Generally this port have potential to become more alive.

https://plus.google.com

Manhattan high line:
In 1930s elevated rail line was built in Manhattan. In order to provide goods for manufactures , there were stations inside the manufactured buildings. The railway was elevated to be safe for pedestrians and cars. But after a while manufacture disappeared from Manhattan and the rail station remained unused. In 2000s the city decided to chang it to elevated park. Today most part of the park have been constructed. The elements of the park are included different planting, pavement and benches. Designers kept some  of the rail way. The shape of some part of elevated rail line have been changed. As people walk in the park they experience different spaces. In some parts of park high rise building are closer but in other part the gap between building and park is further. Sometimes park crosses inside a high rise building. High line park have a good view to river,streets and high rise buildings, however in other parts it has view to parking lots and roof of other buildings. Totally it can be seen that this structure is successful now. large amount of people come to this park every day and it makes them to walk long distant in the city.

http://www.nycgovparks.org

 

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W2Yq1zzxAc#t=146

http://www.geograph.org.uk

Finsbury Avenue Square:

Finsbury Avenue Square is located in London and surrounded by 8 storeys office buildings. LED lights in pavement of this square  makes it distinguished. Other elements such as trees,Sculpture and benches

http://www.panoramio.com

http://www.panoramio.com

help to shape the square and complete it. Different colours in lighting makes people to feel different about the space in different times. Except LED lighting on the floor there are not special lighting around it and the most emphasis were on the LED lighting. Commercial buildings around the square have glazed facade which can reflect the light and make it more interesting.People can seat on benches and watch the lighting or walk on LED. This is how This square engage and attract people. In day time there is no colourful lighting and it does not seem to attract people at that time. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JWySNfEhHc

La Ramble, Barcelona:

La Ramble is a street in Barcelona that connect Catalonia plaza to the sea coast. Every year this street attract large number of tourist and local people. It has a wide walkway in the middle and two narrow street in both side of it. The wide walkway is filled with benches,Classic street lights, kiosks, restaurant`s table and chairs, tall trees, pedestrian and artists activities. In two side the street there are mixed use classic buildings that are included stores,hotel and restaurants and residential settlements and etc. These kind of varieties and activities draw people`s attention and make this street attractive for pedestrians. Furthermore encourage people to walk long distance to reach the sea coast. Although pedestrian activity is high in this street, it is not completely pedestrain friendly. The grand flour of buildings are mostly filled with stores and restaurants. Because of this pedestrians from wide walkway, try to cross the street to reach stores and restaurants. This could be dangerous because the volume of traffic is usually high in there. Another problem is about the kiosks that are located in the wide walkway.They block the view for pedestrians and motor vehicles that could be dangerous and make the street scape less interesting from appearance point of view.

http://www.travelblat.com

google map

http://bikefriendlyoc.org

Urban podium in Rotterdam:
This modern podium is located in on side of a square that is srrownded by residential appartments,Saint Laurens cathedral and Delfsevaart canal. I saw the pictures before this podium and notice that this area was so dull, boring and there were no special activities (Figure 1 and 2). It seems that city built this podium to make this area more vital. This simple structure is a stage for performance and  define the square with other buildings. Two side of it is open, therefore it can not reduce the view to canal an church whether there is performance or not. Other people in residential areas also could watch performance from their places. At nights because of the lighting it can draw more attention to itself but in days it does not seem to be attractive and the gray color makes it worst. Furthermore the confliction between this modern structure and old church from certain views is interesting. In general this structure can help to increase activity in this area.

Google Map (Figure 1)

Google Map (Figure 2)

http://architype.org

http://europaconcorsi.com

Solar access:
Today  because of the large number of population, high rise buildings is going to increase. High rise and dense buildings could decrease the accessibility to sun light. According to King (2011 p2) lack of exposure to sunlight which has vitamin D ,for worker housing in19th century in Europe caused bone disease. Today sunlight should be provided to improve both human health and reduce the usage of non-renewable sources. Photovoltaic tiles, solar heat water and other solar power systems need enough sunlight to produce energy. Furthermore private and public open spaces and areas for drying cloths should have access to sun light (Waverley Development Control Plan 2010). For this reason urban design play important role to increase solar accessibility. Designing urban areas should be according to sun path of that area. In winters buildings should absorb sunlight by windows, but in summer shadow is more demanded for a building (King 2011 p1). Therefor sun path can determine the direction of buildings, blocks and streets. Before the construction of a building the shadow of it should be assess. In Sydney pavement needs at least 2 hour  sunlight in winters (King 2011 p7) Trees height and location in the street should be considered as well.
sources:
-http://www.academia.edu/4326214/Our_place_in_the_sun_urban_design_implications_of_solar_access_controls
-http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/3470/Part_G2.pdf

Rain gardens: 

http://dcplanning.org

Storm waters usually caries pollution that mostly caused by motor vehicles and industrial activities. According to Water Resource Education (2009) Storm water carries metal, phosphorus, nitrogen, bacteria, pesticides and other kind of toxic. These materials that are harmful for nature reach to water sources with drains and make them polluted. One of the solutions to this issue is to use rain garden in urban green areas. Because storm water could not be absorbed from surfaces like parking, walk ways , drive ways roofs and other impervious surfaces it flows in drain system. But instead it could be easily absorb by depression gardens. Soil filters the water which plants in the garden absorb and flows to ground water and recharge it with less pollution (City of Des Monies 2009). These gardens could provide other advantages such as making the appearance of the city better and reducing the air and noise pollution. According to City of Desmond it is better to use native plants, because they have adjusted to that area and they need water in driest time of the year.


 Source:
-City of Des Monies Park and Recreation 2009,Rain Gardens, United State,accessed 18 May 2014,<http://clean-water.uwex.edu>
-University of Wisconsin Extension 2009,Polluted urban runoff, United State,accessed 18 May 2014 <http://www.dmgov.org>

Reducing noise pollution in urban areas:

http://www.norcalblogs.com

http://www.norcalblogs.com

 Today the population of urban areas are going to increase which make roads more crowded. Noise pollution is one cause of the crowded that could affect human mentally and physically.According to  National Centre for Biotechnology Information  (1989) in order to reduce urban noise pollution there are several solutions from urban design point of view.
1. Decreasing the source of noise by controlling traffic volume and using different kind of asphalt that produces lower noise (Bin,Y 2009)
2. Putting barriers to reduce the noise Such as shelters,walls and plants. Trees an lawn can mitigate noise pollution, however they should cover large width which is not usually available in city centres

3.Streets with high rise building in both side in city centres are usually noisy because the sound of activities and traffic in the street are echoed. Therefore is better to make the width of the street bigger and to combine different height of the buildings in both side of the street ( Xiang,Z et al,2009 p.3).

For buildings, elements such as balcony, green roofs and small size of openings and using materials like brick and concrete in walls  could help to alleviate the noise pollution (Xiang,Z et al,2009 p.4).

sources:
 - Xiang,Z  Bin,C  Shuang,L 2009,Design for Human Aural Health:Noise Pollution Prevention and Control in Urban Dwellings Design of China,Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering,pp1-4.
-  Bin,Y 2009,Impact Analysis of Low-Noise Asphalt Pavement to Improve the Urban Environment,Management and Service Science,pp 1-3.

 -National Center for Biotechnology Information 1989,An intervention policy for reducing noise pollution in urban areas, United State, accessed 18 May 2014,<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov>





















http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2483630

Spain grid pattern:
The existing grid pattern in Spain goes back to 19th century by Lldefon Cerda ( Harvard University 2014). As a designer he consider criteria that make these grid pattern the most sustainable one. Blocks in this grid pattern are similar together. Each of them is rectangular with chamfer in four corners and court yard with garden inside them. Chamfers make intersections vaster, that increase visibility and help to reduce the amount of traffic. Because of court yards each house has two free sides that could increase the amount of sunlight and it let the air to move inside the house as a natural ventilation. Some of these ideas never had come true. For example the hight of blocks are higher now and there are not garden in all of the court yards. Instead of garden some of them have car parking or shopping center. In recent years when a block becomes empty, government occupise that to recreate the garden in court yard.

 Elevated walkways in Hong Kong:

I watched a video from Hong Kong city center that was about elevated walkways in that area. I noticed that this kind of structure has considerably helped to the traffic flow, make it safe and quick for pedestrian to cross the streets and has provided good view for them.This is a suitable structure for dense areas like Hong Kong. On the other hand I noticed that this structure could block the motor vehicles view to buildings and street.According to  Rotmeyer (2006) elevated walkways could affect the vitality of streets when pedestrian became seperated from it.Furthermore in dense areas like Hong Kong city center with high rise bulidings the air movement is low especially at the street level and elevated walkways could perform as a barrier to make it worst (Department of Architecture Chinese university of Hong Kong 2005). Therefore these problems should be considered to adjust this effective structure to dense areas like Hong Kong. 

Sources:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZK85yQY2J0

- Rotmeyer,J 2006,The sustainable city,WTI press publishing, United Kingdom.

- Department of Architecture Chinese university of Hong Kong 2005, Establishment of Air ventilation Assessment System, china, accessed 11 May, <www.pland.gov.hk>

Garden city movement:
In 19th century Ebenezer Howard innovated the idea of Garden City Movement in England. He came up with that idea because at that time people started to move from countries to cities. Therefore cities become crowded and polluted.  In his idea both urban and rural areas has their own quality.Urban area has social life and rural area has nature.His garden city idea was the combination of both of these in order to improve the economic situation and health  (ACT Planning and land Authority 2008). In his idea garden city is a circular town fill with residential area,school,stores,hospital and all things to be independent, surrounded by green area as a place for agriculture . Population could reach to 32000 in a 2400Ha field.When one town is fill whit that population another town will be created. His innovation first used in Letchworth (1903) and after that in Welwyn both in England. After that some areas in Unite States and Australia inspired by that idea.Canberra and Suburb of Adelaide are the examples of garden city in Australia (Department of City and Regional Planning 2005).

source:http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu

sourse:http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu

Canberra

Sources:ACT Planning and land Authority 2008,Garden city value and principles,accessed 6May 2014,<http://www.actpla.act.gov.au>

Department of City and Regional Planning,GARDEN CITIES OF TO-MORROW,accessed by 6May 2014,<http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu>

Lost spaces in urban area:
A few days ago when I was studying about a highway in Cape town, I noticed that spaces around these constructions are mostly empty and remained unused. I found some book and article to know about the causes of this issue.According to Moghaddam and Yazdipour ( 2014) in cities there are some areas that have been vacant or have not been used for along time.  They do not attract people and they are not connected to other areas around them. Areas around and under high ways, areas around rail road lines, water fronts ,spaces between buildings and industrial complexes  are examples of these spaces. To fill these areas and give them vitality, first it is important to recognize them.After that by providing suitable lighting and furniture and green spaces they could be fill by people.There are criteria like security and accessibility that should be improved.Communication by people in these areas could bring sense of belonging after a while that is an important criteria to make it alive.

source:Finding lost space by Trancik

source:http://www.ilnuovoberlinese.com

Source:
Moghaddam M, Yazdipour M, Yazdiha E and Azimi S (2014), Evaluating the Succeeded Rate of Reviving Identity Plans of Lost Spaces Using the Analytical Hierarchical Process,Journal of Engineering Science,pp 62-68.
 Trancik R (1943) ,Finding lost space, United State of America.