No abstract

Linear megastructures, apart from megastructures in general, are one of several types of concepts in context of linear urban development. The term refers to various compact architectural, infrastructural and transportation plans in linear form. With their daunting massive scale these concepts are often attributed to utopian attempts of pursuing an ideal city and therefore doomed to remain unrealized. This paper examines several models created throughout the course of history in terms of their emergence motivation, socio-economic circumstances and relation to urban sustainability. Through the analysis, it is argued that linear megastructures are often unjustly rejected without acknowledgement of their underlying beneficial features in terms of mitigating challenges to sustainable urban development.

Maintaining a balance between economic development and carbon emissions reduction is an important part of low-carbon development in modern cities. At present, the positive effect of urban compactness on carbon emission efficiency has been demonstrated in large cities, but few studies have been carried out on small towns. Small towns are an important part of China’s urban system, accounting for 70% of the total population and 60% of the national GDP. Most small towns in China still promote economic growth and enhance the social welfare of residents by large-scale urban construction, which inevitably leads to urban expansion and high carbon emissions. How to reduce carbon emissions by optimising urban form while continuing with economic development and maintaining people’s welfare has become an important issue faced by small towns in China. To guide the low-carbon planning of small towns, it is necessary to understand the relationship between urban compactness and the economic benefit and socialwelfare levels associated with the carbon emissions in small towns. This study quantitatively analyse the relationship between urban compactness and carbon emission efficiency (including CO2 economic efficiency and CO2 social efficiency) in small towns in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2008 to 2017. This study resulted in four main findings. (i) the expansion of urban scale had significantly improved the CO2 economic efficiency and CO2 social efficiency; (ii) the compactness presented opposite effects on the CO2 economic efficiency and CO2 social efficiency, compactness had a negative correlation with CO2 economic efficiency, and had a positive correlation with CO2 social efficiency; (ii) The CO2 economic efficiency and CO2 social efficiency both show an upward trend over the period 2008 to 2017; (iv) The relationship between GDP and carbon emissions in small towns did not reach an ideal state, the economies of small towns in China are still strongly dependent on scale expansion.

Współczesne mieszkanie ma służyć człowiekowi i rodzinie w realizacji dążeń odpowiadających aspiracjom i wymogom czasu. Struktura (osiedle), w którym się znajduje, powinno zapewnić społeczności sąsiedzkiej warunki do zachowania prywatności oraz kontaktu i współdziałania. Środowisko mieszkaniowe ma również manifestować wyznawane wartości i osobowość mieszkańców: styl zamieszkiwania wyraża bowiem relacje człowieka z kulturą. Celem artykułu jest 1) opis najważniejszych trendów, które zarysowały się w architekturze mieszkaniowej w XXI wieku oraz 2) identyfikacja czynników wpływających na architekturę mieszkaniową w Polsce i wskazanie, które z nich promują, a które hamują implementację cech innowacyjnych. Świadomość zjawisk i procesów zachodzących w architekturze mieszkaniowej i mieszkalnictwie może pomóc lepiej wpływać na rozwój środowiska mieszkaniowego w kierunku zrównoważenia. Housing Trends - XXI CE Poland Contemporary housing attempts to help people and families meet their aspirations and social needs. A dwelling and housing estate should provide neighbourhood ties, privacy, contact, and cooperation. The housing environment also manifests the values and personality of residents: living style expresses the relationship between humans and culture. The paper aims to 1) describe the most important trends that have emerged in housing architecture in the 21st century and 2) identify factors influencing housing architecture in Poland and indicate which types promote and hamper the implementation of innovative design features. Awareness of the phenomena and processes occurring in housing and design can help better shape the development of housing environments towards sustainability.

The 'iron-law of megaproject management' relies upon the logic of exception and includes extra budget, special regulations, non-standard organisational structure, questioning of public accountability, and the central role of developers at the expense of the city leaders, planners and citizens. With previous in mind, the crucial question is how to improve collaboration among different interested parties, negotiate diverse interests, and secure transparent planning procedures leading to the outcome that will address many of the initially identified needs. To explore the collaborative mechanisms, we focus on the case of Lincoln Yards, a contemporary urban megaproject development in the central part of Chicago, United States. Using the overview of primary sources (legal and regulatory documents and newspapers articles) and semistructured interviews with the relevant stakeholders, we elucidate the following: 1) the response of professional planners towards the developer's application, i.e., the intention to redevelop the area; 2) the approach applied and values promoted by developers; 3) the strategies used by the local community to protect the local identity and local needs; and 4) the relationship of public officials (aldermen) towards both the local public and investors. Finally, the case provides insights into the lessons learned relevant for the spatial challenges posed by urban megaproject development.