No abstract

Urban comfort is becoming increasingly important due to climate change, increasing population and urbanization. Greater use of mechanical cooling is not reasonable due to consuming more energy, discharging anthropogenic heat and CO 2 emissions which all can be minimized by passive strategies. As part of the EPSRC funded project Urban River Corridors and Sustainable Living Agendas, URSULA, two radically different urban regenerations for a site in Sheffield were passively designed and had to be microclimatically assessed upon their thermal impacts. Passive design strategy for the first is wind tunneling and solar shelter effects owed to compact form that provides river bank access by perpendicular streets. The second, park option, offers space for the river to flood into a green channel which provides evaporative cooling. Simulations using ENVI-met BETA4 applied four receptors to record different meteorology and the pedestrian comfort in terms of Predicted Mean Vote, PMV. The increased green coverage showed horizontal shifting of about 0.2 with 2h of urban time lag in PMV records from 14.00-16.00LST in some places. Results give advantage for the park option design but needs more emphasize on indoor performance.

In a post-industrial world one of the foci of urbanism has been on the regeneration of former industrial sites along urban rivers. This is a contemporary urban design issue that needs further attention, especially in relation to urban forms and design interventions. This paper sets out to contribute to research in design by reviewing past theories and practices in order to inform the formation of conceptual ideas. These are of importance to inform practice and ensure responsive and responsible processes in planning and design. Such a review has hitherto been lacking, but with a renewed interest in urban densification, research in the design of cities is required. Thus, this paper provides a critical assessment of theories, which are identified and categorised in relation to urban riverside regeneration. For this study, urban design is considered as a craft requiring ‘savoir faire’ to ensure the functionality and quality of urban spaces. Transferable principles and ideas are identified in relation to the specific characteristics of riverside locations contributing to the definition of a ‘riverside urbanity’. It provides a theoretical framework identifying types of riverside landscapes, including the relationship between urban forms and river corridors.

Creation of living environments has always been led by strong ideas guided by social or environmental objectives. Thus, urban form has in the past, for example, been influenced by safety, order, hygiene and health. During the second half of the twentieth century regeneration of cities has often been guided by notions of local character or genius loci, as a reaction to the destruction and brutal transformation following the Second World War. Climate change and potential higher temperatures have increased concerns about urban heat island effect, which is now probably the single most important factor to consider in the design of cities. This concern, however, should not overtake the need to also create places that are attractive to live in. Urban morphology has proved a successful approach to analyse the characteristics of urban environments and in certain cases to inform urban design guidance; this article will explore the possibility and potential of using morphological techniques to identify the key factors to take into consideration that influence microclimate in cities and inform urban design to provide a maximum cooling effect. This would help to create spaces that are more comfortable for residents. This tentative exploration was initiated as part of the author's work on a case study related to an ongoing research project entitled Urban Rivers and Sustainable Living Agenda (URSULA, www.ursula.ac.uk). Hypothetical parameters related to urban morphology are put forward to analyse the climate performance of different urban forms of a riverside location in Sheffield and the micro-climate data collected there. This will contribute to the ongoing research to identify which urban morphology characteristics have the most significant impact on thermal comfort and how they could be manipulated to mitigate the urban heat island effect.

Drawing from student-centered learning theories, this paper identifies key issues related to active participation of students, collaboration and independent learning. It draws from the author’s experience of developing and delivering a student-centered curriculum delivered around a field study trip. It explores approaches to active and experiential learning in Higher Education through the various stages of the curriculum development and the identification of the pedagogical benefits. The student-centered curriculum is part of a professional accredited course in Landscape architecture. The Field study trip is an opportunity to actively explore the topics of study in real settings and to learn through hands on experience, which is essential to form professionals confronted with making places through planning and design. More generally the field study trip module is an opportunity to understand how to practically embed experiential learning approaches in Higher Education.  The paper also discusses the merits of field trip to address some issues related to the learning experience and participation in the context of the internationalisation of the students’ cohort.