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These days, high-density cities are facing growing challenges related to the urban heat island (UHI) effect. Greening can be a nature-based solution for UHI effect mitigation. This study aims to evaluate the potential of nature-based solutions to improve the urban living environments in Baishizhou, a high-density neighbourhood in Shenzhen. An integrated 3D visualisation research method was proposed in this study. Rhino 7, Grasshopper, and ENVI-met software were combined to evaluate environment characteristics before and after design, as well as compare differences in the outdoor thermal comfort index and the building surface temperature. The greening design scenarios include adding trees, green roofs, and green facades. The simulations ran for 24 h during the test period from 01:00 to 24:00 on 9 August 2019, which was the hottest day in Shenzhen. Baishizhou was selected as the test area for this study and environmental simulation. Results indicated that (1) vegetation has a positive cooling effect, providing outdoor thermal comfort, while shade “trees” provide significant cooling effects on hot days in tropical and subtropical climates; (2) adding green roofs and green facades to a building can significantly affect the cooling effect.

The post-socialist urban restructuring of Skopje, North Macedonia has been characterized by significant changes in the built fabric of the city, resulting from the political, economic and societal processes following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. In early 1990s and post-privatization, there was a dynamic transformation of the city’s housing stock in post-WWII prefabricated apartment buildings. Flat owners in socialist-era housing estates in Skopje modified their apartments by expanding and enclosing balconies, thus gaining more living space. Garages were converted into shops and ground-floor and first-floor apartments were renovated into offices, resulting in commercialization of previous residential space. To better understand the spatial disorder triggered by transformation of housing estates during the lengthy transition from a centrally-planned system to a market economy, this article evaluates various spontaneous and planned practices of transformation of residential space in housing estates in post-socialist Skopje. We analyze these changing practices of transformation through fieldwork and focus group discussions with residents. We also review archival material and administrative and legal documents, including municipal master plans and national planning laws and decisions related to housing estates in post-1991 Skopje. Findings emphasize the complex interplay between many actors, ideologies and interests that shape the experience of urban life in post-socialist Skopje, evidenced by outcomes related to housing choice and renovation practice, especially the enclosure of balconies for providing more living space. Such interventions are viewed as important steps towards improving living conditions in prefabricated apartment buildings in Skopje. Individual decisions about apartment renovation affect urban planning at the neighborhood level, and the findings from this research thus inform residential mobility and neighborhood-level strategic decision making. The aim is to help neighborhoods—built in an earlier socio-political era under a central planning system—to adapt to future demands.

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Hitre politične in gospodarske spremembe po padcu socializma so povzročile dinamične procese urbanega prestrukturiranja v mestih, pri čemer so stare vzorce in modele rasti zamenjali tisti, pri katerih sta bila kapital in tržno gospodarstvo ključna za rast in razvoj. Preobrazba v tržno gospodarstvo in ponovna uvedba lastništva zemljišč sta zahtevali nov, decentralizirani sistem odločanja, kar je neposredno vplivalo na zgradbo in obliko mest. Med urbanimi preobrazbami so prišle jasno do izraza spremembe v lokacijskih vzorcih trgovskih objektov v mestih, ki so ponazarjale različne vzorce prostorske organizacije postsocialističnih mest. V članku avtorja preučujeta in predstavita nekatere posebnosti te preobrazbe v Bukarešti, Budimpešti, Pragi in Sofiji pred padcem socializma in po njem. Na podlagi analize izbranih mest predstavita procese postsocialističnega prostorskega prestrukturiranja, pri čemer preučujeta spremembe njihovih središč, ki so povzročile razdrobljenost mest in razpadanje urbanega tkiva. V primerjalni študiji je poleg tega prikazano, kako se v mestih s podobno preteklostjo lahko pojavijo različni razvojni vzorci.