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Kanellopoulou Dimitra - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Redécouvrir Athènes. Balades urbaines et récits quotidiens du centre-ville
    Bulletin de l’association de géographes français, 2019
    Co-Authors: Kanellopoulou Dimitra
    Abstract:

    Depuis les années 1980, des travaux d’envergure d’aménagement des espaces publics, visent à aiguiser le profil touristique et culturel d’Athènes, ayant comme conséquence le retour de la marche à pied en tant que pratique de loisir au sein du centre historique. De nombreuses associations d’habitants, qui ont vu le jour surtout après les années 2000, proposent la redécouverte des quartiers centraux à travers des balades collectives. En s’appuyant sur des interviews des acteurs locaux d’aménagement des espaces publics, de fondateurs et de participants du groupe Atenistas, l’article interroge l’émergence d’une nouvelle forme de promenade urbaine qui jongle entre pratique touristique, acte de sociabilité et action citoyenne. Marcher ensemble et échanger sur l’expérience commune de la marche, confronte les participants des balades-évènements de Atenistas, à divers récits urbains méconnus ou marginalisés. C’est l’objectif de cet article d’interroger les conditions de création et d’émergence de ces balades ainsi que leur capacité à répondre à des enjeux de réactivation touristique et économique du centre-ville à travers le renouement du lien social : par la marche, la rencontre, la découverte.Since the 1980s, extended Pedestrianization works in Athens’ public spaces have been designed to sharpen the tourist and cultural profile of the city, resulting in a lively return to walking as a leisure activity within the historic center. There are many associations of inhabitants, who were created especially after the 2000s, offering the rediscovery of the city through collective walks. Based on a field survey, interviews with local actors and the founders and participants of the Atenistas group, the article questions the emergence of a new form of urban walk that juggles between tourist practice and sociability and citizen’s action. Walking together and discussing the common experience of walking, confronts the inhabitants and participants with the Atenistas group’s walk-events, with various urban narratives hitherto unknown or marginalized. It is the objective of this article to question the conditions of creation and gradual emergence of a new form of urban practice that seeks to respond to issues of tourist and economic reactivation of the city center with a focus on the renewal of the social bond: by walking, meeting, discovering

  • The plural walking : planning, practices and experiences of public spaces in the center of Athens
    2015
    Co-Authors: Kanellopoulou Dimitra
    Abstract:

    La marche occupe de plus en plus le devant de la scène des politiques urbaines et des campagnes promotionnelles des villes. Ce n’est pas un hasard que cette pratique propre à l’être humain soit devenue un terrain prometteur des recherches et d’innovation, et se trouve au cœur des enjeux relatifs aux espaces publics urbains. Un chaînon indispensable du système des transports urbains, un exercice physique efficace, un moyen d’expression artistique reliant le corps aux manières d’expérimenter la ville, la marche est surtout le fondement de la vie sociale urbaine. Pendant plus d’un siècle, elle a prospéré dans les rues sinueuses médiévales, elle a ensuite été mise en marge des grands axes de circulation menacée par la prédominance de l’automobile, et elle a finalement connu un retour triomphant dans les années 1970 dans les zones qui lui étaient particulièrement réservées et les promenades soignées des centres-villes. Marcher semble avoir trouvé la place qui lui correspond au sein de la planification urbaine. Pourtant la question demeure : L’aménagement a-t-il vraiment exploré cette pratique sociale composite ? Le but de cette thèse est donc d’examiner comment la planification peut être enrichie en décortiquant la relation entre la marche et son environnement. En s’appuyant sur le cas du centre historique d’Athènes, la recherche opte pour une triple approche. D’abord, elle examine l’évolution des politiques publiques après les années 1970, au cours desquelles la marche a sans aucun doute bénéficié d’un intérêt accru de la part des aménageurs. Comment la marche pendant ces dernières quarante années fut approchées par les visions des planificateurs et les grands projets de piétonnisations inscrits dans les procédures plus générales qui ont mis l’accent sur le profil touristique-culturel des zones autour de l’Acropole ? Or, cette multiplication de projets en faveur de la marche fut orchestrée par des intérêts divers, elle a fait naître de nouveaux acteurs dans l’arène de l’aménagement public et elle a eu de nombreux impacts sur le caractère et le fonctionnement des lieux publics. Malgré le savoir-faire en matière de piétonisations bien forgé au fil des ans, la pratique de la marche en soi très peu analysée. Au-delà d’une trame de zones célèbres pour marcher, cette recherche examine dans un deuxième temps, la marche dans les espaces où les usages et le paysage ne répondant pas vraiment à l’image commerciale et touristique des espaces publics. L’intérêt pour ces espaces controversés repose sur le fait qu’ils se trouvent au cœur de la tempête, soumis à de fortes pressions liées aux transformations effectuées par rapport à l’occupation des sols et au paysage du centre-ville. Comment et pourquoi la marche prospère-t-elle dans la rue Athinas et la place Omonoia qui, bien qu’elles soient taxées de dégradées et chaotiques, elles réussissent à accueillir une vie quotidienne étonnamment mixte ? Observer la marche de près, révèle une richesse des pratiques de l’espace public étroitement liées à l’histoire des lieux, des usages des rez-de-chaussée et à la vie quotidienne. Si la marche dépend des pratiques collectives, elle est également une affaire personnelle. La compréhension de la façon dont les gens expérimentent la marche et donnent du sens aux lieux, permet de mieux saisir le fonctionnement de ces derniers dans le temps et de mieux interpréter la manière dont ils peuvent être conçus. Les ambiances, les habitudes, les humeurs et les souvenirs créent la façon dont on habite l’espace public. En accompagnant vingt Athéniens pendant leurs itinéraires routiniers, la recherche révèle dans un troisième temps, un éventail de raisons et de manières d’interagir avec l’environnement traversé.Walking increasingly appears at the forefront of urban policies and city promotional campaigns. It is not by random that this most natural practice of human beings has become a promising field of innovation and research while at the same time being at the heart of land use planning policy addressing public urban spaces. As a perfectly versatile part of urban transport systems, an effective physical exercice and a medium of artistic expression relating the body with different ways of experiencing the city, walking is a constituent element of the foundations of urban social life. For over a century, walking prospered in the twisting streets of the medieval city. When cities made way large avenues, became menaced by the ascendency of the car. After the 1970s, howhever , it came triumphantly back in specially reserved zones as well managed promenades in city centres. Walking seemed to have finally found its place in urban planning. Still, the question remained : has the planning can be informed by further analysing the relation between walking and the environments in which this activity takes place. Focussing on the historical centre of Athens, the research take a three-pronged approach. First, the shift in public policies after the 1970 so as to benefit the practice of walking is examined. While the growth in interest in walking by land use planners during this period is widely recognised, this thesis provides a more detailed examination of how the practice of walking was approached in their projects and visions. The analysis describes how public spaces were shaped during forty years of intense Pedestrianization, and how these projects where themselves inscribed in more general programmes aimed at boosting the touristic and cultural profile of the zones around the Acropolis. At the same time that the multiplication of projects in favour of walking was orchestrated by a diverse range of interest, so it also gave rise to new actors in the arena of urban planning. The analysis also shows how these projects impacted on the character and function of public space. Although kwow-how in Pedestrianization operations advanded over this 40-year period, it it shown that the pratice of walking was largely ignored. The second approach used in this thesis focuses on walking in areas whose uses and image do not fit with the prevailing image of a commercial-touristic public space landscape. It is argued that the interest of these spaces lies in the fact that they are the centre of controversies arising from the transformations currently occuring in the land uses and the landscape pf the city centre. In which ways and why is walking thriving in Athinas street and Omonoia square, which – despite being criticized for beeing ‘ degraded ’and ‘ chaotic ’ – are managing to attract a surprisingly mixed street life ? By means of close observation of walking the richness of practices in public space related history of the places, land uses and every day street life revealed. If walking depends of collective practices, it is also a personal affair. The deeper understanding of the way that people experience walking and give meaning to places leads to a better understanding of how places function in time. This can in turn help to inform the way in which such places are designed. Ambiance, habits, moods and memories create the fashion in which we inhabit public space. By means of accompanying twenty Athenians during their routine walks, the third approach used in this thesis reveals these subjects’ range of reasons and ways of interacting with their environment

  • La marche plurielle : aménagements, pratiques et expériences des espaces publics au centre d'Athènes
    HAL CCSD, 2015
    Co-Authors: Kanellopoulou Dimitra
    Abstract:

    Walking increasingly appears at the forefront of urban policies and city promotional campaigns. It is not by random that this most natural practice of human beings has become a promising field of innovation and research while at the same time being at the heart of land use planning policy addressing public urban spaces. As a perfectly versatile part of urban transport systems, an effective physical exercice and a medium of artistic expression relating the body with different ways of experiencing the city, walking is a constituent element of the foundations of urban social life. For over a century, walking prospered in the twisting streets of the medieval city. When cities made way large avenues, became menaced by the ascendency of the car. After the 1970s, howhever , it came triumphantly back in specially reserved zones as well managed promenades in city centres. Walking seemed to have finally found its place in urban planning. Still, the question remained : has the planning can be informed by further analysing the relation between walking and the environments in which this activity takes place. Focussing on the historical centre of Athens, the research take a three-pronged approach. First, the shift in public policies after the 1970 so as to benefit the practice of walking is examined. While the growth in interest in walking by land use planners during this period is widely recognised, this thesis provides a more detailed examination of how the practice of walking was approached in their projects and visions. The analysis describes how public spaces were shaped during forty years of intense Pedestrianization, and how these projects where themselves inscribed in more general programmes aimed at boosting the touristic and cultural profile of the zones around the Acropolis. At the same time that the multiplication of projects in favour of walking was orchestrated by a diverse range of interest, so it also gave rise to new actors in the arena of urban planning. The analysis also shows how these projects impacted on the character and function of public space. Although kwow-how in Pedestrianization operations advanded over this 40-year period, it it shown that the pratice of walking was largely ignored. The second approach used in this thesis focuses on walking in areas whose uses and image do not fit with the prevailing image of a commercial-touristic public space landscape. It is argued that the interest of these spaces lies in the fact that they are the centre of controversies arising from the transformations currently occuring in the land uses and the landscape pf the city centre. In which ways and why is walking thriving in Athinas street and Omonoia square, which – despite being criticized for beeing ‘ degraded ’and ‘ chaotic ’ – are managing to attract a surprisingly mixed street life ? By means of close observation of walking the richness of practices in public space related history of the places, land uses and every day street life revealed. If walking depends of collective practices, it is also a personal affair. The deeper understanding of the way that people experience walking and give meaning to places leads to a better understanding of how places function in time. This can in turn help to inform the way in which such places are designed. Ambiance, habits, moods and memories create the fashion in which we inhabit public space. By means of accompanying twenty Athenians during their routine walks, the third approach used in this thesis reveals these subjects’ range of reasons and ways of interacting with their environment.La marche occupe de plus en plus le devant de la scène des politiques urbaines et des campagnes promotionnelles des villes. Ce n’est pas un hasard que cette pratique propre à l’être humain soit devenue un terrain prometteur des recherches et d’innovation, et se trouve au cœur des enjeux relatifs aux espaces publics urbains. Un chaînon indispensable du système des transports urbains, un exercice physique efficace, un moyen d’expression artistique reliant le corps aux manières d’expérimenter la ville, la marche est surtout le fondement de la vie sociale urbaine. Pendant plus d’un siècle, elle a prospéré dans les rues sinueuses médiévales, elle a ensuite été mise en marge des grands axes de circulation menacée par la prédominance de l’automobile, et elle a finalement connu un retour triomphant dans les années 1970 dans les zones qui lui étaient particulièrement réservées et les promenades soignées des centres-villes. Marcher semble avoir trouvé la place qui lui correspond au sein de la planification urbaine. Pourtant la question demeure : L’aménagement a-t-il vraiment exploré cette pratique sociale composite ? Le but de cette thèse est donc d’examiner comment la planification peut être enrichie en décortiquant la relation entre la marche et son environnement. En s’appuyant sur le cas du centre historique d’Athènes, la recherche opte pour une triple approche. D’abord, elle examine l’évolution des politiques publiques après les années 1970, au cours desquelles la marche a sans aucun doute bénéficié d’un intérêt accru de la part des aménageurs. Comment la marche pendant ces dernières quarante années fut approchées par les visions des planificateurs et les grands projets de piétonnisations inscrits dans les procédures plus générales qui ont mis l’accent sur le profil touristique-culturel des zones autour de l’Acropole ? Or, cette multiplication de projets en faveur de la marche fut orchestrée par des intérêts divers, elle a fait naître de nouveaux acteurs dans l’arène de l’aménagement public et elle a eu de nombreux impacts sur le caractère et le fonctionnement des lieux publics. Malgré le savoir-faire en matière de piétonisations bien forgé au fil des ans, la pratique de la marche en soi très peu analysée. Au-delà d’une trame de zones célèbres pour marcher, cette recherche examine dans un deuxième temps, la marche dans les espaces où les usages et le paysage ne répondant pas vraiment à l’image commerciale et touristique des espaces publics. L’intérêt pour ces espaces controversés repose sur le fait qu’ils se trouvent au cœur de la tempête, soumis à de fortes pressions liées aux transformations effectuées par rapport à l’occupation des sols et au paysage du centre-ville. Comment et pourquoi la marche prospère-t-elle dans la rue Athinas et la place Omonoia qui, bien qu’elles soient taxées de dégradées et chaotiques, elles réussissent à accueillir une vie quotidienne étonnamment mixte ? Observer la marche de près, révèle une richesse des pratiques de l’espace public étroitement liées à l’histoire des lieux, des usages des rez-de-chaussée et à la vie quotidienne. Si la marche dépend des pratiques collectives, elle est également une affaire personnelle. La compréhension de la façon dont les gens expérimentent la marche et donnent du sens aux lieux, permet de mieux saisir le fonctionnement de ces derniers dans le temps et de mieux interpréter la manière dont ils peuvent être conçus. Les ambiances, les habitudes, les humeurs et les souvenirs créent la façon dont on habite l’espace public. En accompagnant vingt Athéniens pendant leurs itinéraires routiniers, la recherche révèle dans un troisième temps, un éventail de raisons et de manières d’interagir avec l’environnement traversé

  • La marche plurielle. Aménagements, pratiques et expériences des espaces publics au centre d'Athènes.
    HAL CCSD, 2015
    Co-Authors: Kanellopoulou Dimitra
    Abstract:

    Walking increasingly appears at the forefront of urban policies and city promotional campaigns. It is not byrandom that this most natural practice of human beings has become a promising field of innovation and researchwhile at the same time being at the heart of land use planning policy addressing public urban spaces. As aperfectly versatile part of urban transport systems, an effective physical exercise and a medium of artisticexpression relating the body with different ways of experiencing the city, walking is a constituent element of thefoundations of urban social life. For over a century, walking prospered in the twisting streets of the medievalcity. When cities made way for large avenues, walking was menaced by the ascendency of the car. After the1970s, however, it came triumphantly back in specifically reserved zones and well managed promenades in citycentres. Walking seemed to have finally found its place in urban planning. Still, the question remains: has theplanning of public space explored the complexity of this social practice? It is the aim of this thesis to examinehow land use planning can be informed by analysing the relation between walking and the environments inwhich this activity takes place. Focussing on the historical centre of Athens, this research takes a three-prongedapproach. First, the shift in public policies after the 1970s, so as to benefit the practice of walking, is examined.While land use planners’ growing interest in walking is widely recognised, this thesis provides a criticalexamination of how the practice of walking was approached by planners in their projects and visions. Thisanalysis describes how public spaces were shaped during forty years of intense pedestrianisation, and how theseprojects were themselves inscribed in more general programmes aimed at boosting the touristic and culturalprofile of the zones around the Acropolis. It is shown that at the same time that the multiplication of projects infavour of walking was orchestrated by a diverse range of interests, so did these projects give rise to new actors inthe arena of urban planning. The analysis shows how these projects impacted on the character and function ofpublic space. Although know-how in Pedestrianization operations advanced over this 40-year period, the practiceof walking per se was largely ignored. The second approach used in this thesis focuses on walking in areas, theuses and images of, which do not fit with the prevailing image of a commercial-touristic public space landscape.It is argued that the interest of these spaces lies in the fact that they are at the centre of controversies arising fromthe transformations currently occurring in the land uses and the landscape of the city centre. In which ways andwhy is walking thriving in Athinas Street and Omonoia Square, which – despite being criticized for being‘degraded’ and ‘chaotic’ – are managing to attract a surprisingly mixed street life? By means of closeobservation of walking, the richness of practices in public space related to the history of the places, land uses andevery day street life are revealed. If walking depends on collective practices, it is also a personal affair. Thedeeper understanding of the ways in which people experience walking and give meaning to places leads to abetter understanding of how places function in time. This can in turn help to inform the way in which suchplaces are designed. Ambiance, habits, moods and memories create the fashion in which actors inhabit publicspace. By means of accompanying nineteen Athenians during their routine walks, the third approach used in thisthesis reveals these subjects’ range of reasons and ways of interacting with their environment. Pedestriansskilfully base their choice of route on a delicate ‘emotional path’ that combines cultural beliefs, commonrepresentations and sensory stimuli. The analysis of these routine walks helps to foreground walking as thecornerstone of the public character of the city centre. Walking emerges as a tool with which to understand theidentity of the city. Having access to the collective character of the city also implies having access to thefunctions of places and to their image, and therefore having freedom of action and of appropriation of commonplaces. Consequently, experiencing public space escapes the limits of seeing it or sensing it. It is about ways ofdwelling in it and feeling capable of interfering in it in order to (re)define it.La marche occupe de plus en plus le devant de la scène des politiques urbaines et des campagnespromotionnelles des villes. Ce n’est pas un hasard si cette pratique propre à l’être humain est devenue un terrainprometteur de recherche et d’innovation, et si elle se trouve au coeur des enjeux relatifs à l’aménagement desespaces publics urbains. Moyen de déplacement à moindre coût, chaînon indispensable du système des transportsurbains, exercice physique mais aussi moyen d’expression artistique, la marche est l’un des fondements de la vieurbaine. Pendant plus d’un siècle, elle a prospéré dans les rues sinueuses des cités médiévales, avant d’être miseen marge des grands axes de circulation, menacée par la prédominance de l’automobile. Elle a finalementeffectué un retour triomphant dans les années 1970, avec la création de zones dédiées et le développement depromenades soignées dans les centres villes. La marche semble aujourd’hui avoir enfin trouvé la place qui luirevient au sein de la planification urbaine. Pourtant la question demeure : les politiques d’aménagement ont-ellessuffisamment exploré cette pratique sociale composite ? En décortiquant la relation entre la marche urbaine etson environnement, cette thèse examine les conditions d’une amélioration de la planification urbanistique. Ens’appuyant sur le cas du centre historique d’Athènes, la recherche opte pour une triple approche. D’abord, elleexamine l’évolution des politiques publiques à partir des années 1970, au cours desquelles la marche a sansconteste bénéficié d’un intérêt accru de la part des aménageurs. Dès lors, plusieurs grands projets depiétonnisation furent inscrits dans des procédures de régénération urbaine. Les planificateurs mirent l’accent surle développement de la dimension touristico-culturelle des zones situées autour de l’Acropole. Cettemultiplication des projets en faveur de la marche fut orchestrée par des intérêts divers. Elle a fait surgir denouveaux acteurs dans l’arène de l’aménagement public et a eu un puissant impact sur le caractère et lefonctionnement des lieux publics. Malgré un réel savoir-faire en matière de piétonnisation forgé au fil des ans, lapratique de la marche en soi a été très peu analysée par les différents acteurs Athéniens de l’aménagementurbain. Au-delà d’une trame de zones piétonnes essentiellement touristiques, cette recherche examine donc, dansun deuxième temps, la marche dans des espaces dont le caractère ne répond pas à l’image prévalente des espacespiétonnisés du centre-ville. Exposés à des transformations liées à l’occupation des sols et au paysage du centreville,ces espaces controversés se trouvent au coeur de la tempête : leur reconfiguration est soumise à de fortespressions des usagers et des pouvoirs politiques. Comment et pourquoi la marche prospère-t-elle dans larue Athinas et la place Omonoia qui, bien qu’elles soient taxées de dégradées ou chaotiques, parviennent àaccueillir des populations et des usages étonnamment mixtes ? L’étude des pratiques piétonnières, révèle unevariété d’appropriations de l’espace public étroitement liée à l’histoire des lieux, des usages des rez-de-chausséecommerciaux et aux habitus de la vie quotidienne. Si la marche se déploie à l’extérieur, elle est également uneaffaire personnelle. La compréhension de la façon dont les gens expérimentent la marche et donnent un sens auxlieux, permet de mieux saisir le fonctionnement de ces derniers dans le temps et de mieux interpréter la manièredont ils peuvent être conçus. Les ambiances, les habitudes, les humeurs et les souvenirs créent la façon dontchacun habite l’espace public. En accompagnant vingt Athéniens pendant leurs itinéraires quotidiens, larecherche révèle et explicite dans un troisième temps, un éventail de manières d’interagir avec l’environnementtraversé. Les piétons tissent leurs itinéraires au fur et à mesure de leurs déambulations, en s’appuyant sur unguide émotionnel combinant des croyances culturelles, des représentations communes et des stimuli sensorielsqui font de la marche une pratique créatrice d’espace public. La marche devient ainsi un instrument permettantde valoriser les identités plurielles de la ville. Elle génère une liberté d’action et d’appropriation des lieuxcommuns. Par conséquent, l’expérience de l’espace public dépasse les limites de ce qui peut être vu ou senti. Lavaleur sociale de la pratique de la marche repose ainsi sur les différentes manières d’habiter l’espace urbain touten se sentant capable d’y interférer pour le (re)définir. La fabrication de parcours multiples facilite unecompréhension polysémique des lieux et dessine la dimension démocratique de l’espace public

Jaillet Marie-christine - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Réaménager la ville pour y faire place à la marche « ordinaire »
    Sciences de la société, 2019
    Co-Authors: Jaillet Marie-christine
    Abstract:

    L’article s’intéresse à la marche en ville et à son traitement dans les politiques d’aménagement urbain, en essayant de comprendre quelles représentations de la marche nourrissent ces politiques et sur quels types de dispositifs et dispositions elles débouchent. Après s’être interrogé sur les raisons du regain d’intérêt pour la marche, il montre en quoi le marcheur fait aujourd’hui l’objet d’une forte valorisation, puis il examine ce que l’on attend de la réintroduction de cette figure en ville. L’auteur est alors en mesure d’examiner les modalités réelles de la marche en ville, de retracer le mouvement de piétonisation des centres villes et ainsi de mieux cerner comment penser la marche en ville aujourd’hui.The article focuses on urban walking and its management in urban policies. It aims at understanding what representations of walking these policies feed and what types of devices and dispositions they lead to. After having reviewed the reasons behind the renewed interest for walking, it shows how the walker is now the subject of a high valuation, and then it looks at what is expected from the reintroduction of this practice in urban life. The author is then able to examine the actual conditions of walking in cities, to trace the movement of Pedestrianization of city centers, and to better understand how to think urban walking in contemporary settings

Ke Yang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Urban slow transportation system based on “the living environment and urban space ”
    2016
    Co-Authors: Ke Yang
    Abstract:

    Key words:shared space,slow system,living environment,rational thinking Abstract. Slow transportation system is currently a hot topic among Chinese scholars who are interested in either city planning or urban communications. Although their contentions regarding this issue vary, their concerns can be categorized into two main aspects: traffic speed, and the means of travelling. These two concepts are interconnected, as they at the same time contradict each other. However, traffic speed not only depends on peoples ’ travelling methods; In this paper, the researcher intends to accomplish two things; one is to rationally study the “fast and slow ” of urban traffic and the Pedestrianization of urban streets, the other is to rethink the significance of “slow transportation system.” I

  • urban slow transportation system based on the living environment and urban space
    Advanced Materials Research, 2014
    Co-Authors: Ke Yang
    Abstract:

    Slow transportation system is currently a hot topic among Chinese scholars who are interested in either city planning or urban communications. Although their contentions regarding this issue vary, their concerns can be categorized into two main aspects: traffic speed, and the means of travelling. These two concepts are interconnected, as they at the same time contradict each other. However, traffic speed not only depends on peoples’ travelling methods; In this paper, the researcher intends to accomplish two things; one is to rationally study the “fast and slow” of urban traffic and the Pedestrianization of urban streets, the other is to rethink the significance of “slow transportation system.”

Marie-christine Jaillet - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Réaménager la ville pour y faire place à la marche « ordinaire »
    Presses Universitaires du Mirail, 2016
    Co-Authors: Marie-christine Jaillet
    Abstract:

    The article focuses on urban walking and its management in urban policies. It aims at understanding what representations of walking these policies feed and what types of devices and dispositions they lead to. After having reviewed the reasons behind the renewed interest for walking, it shows how the walker is now the subject of a high valuation, and then it looks at what is expected from the reintroduction of this practice in urban life. The author is then able to examine the actual conditions of walking in cities, to trace the movement of Pedestrianization of city centers, and to better understand how to think urban walking in contemporary settings

De Visscher Jean-philippe - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Research by design as a tool of commoning. Reclaiming public spaces in Brussels metropolitan centre
    2019
    Co-Authors: De Visscher Jean-philippe, The City As A Commons
    Abstract:

    The Brussels Studies Institute_Brussels_Center Observatory is a multidisciplinary and multi-university research platform dedicated to the transformations of the Brussels downtown area. It was set up in 2015, following the Pedestrianization of the central boulevards and the many controversies raised by the planning and management shortages. Considering the lack of a global vision as the main problem, the BSI_BCO struggle for a wider redevelopment of the metropolitan centre through the reclaiming of its ‘public’ spaces as ‘commons’ spaces (Quilligan, 2018). The methodology of the BSI_BCO is based on two main principles: - University as a mediator: through series of open-access publications, public exhibitions and debates, walks, workshops, etc. the BSI_BCO brings together public and private stakeholders, civil society organizations, social innovators and scholars (Iaione, 2017) in order to foster new cooperations. - ‘Research by design’ as a tool of co-production: through series of design explorations at both a small and a large scale, the BSI_BCO aims to cross-fertilize academic, institutional and citizen’s knowledge. The first part analyses the ‘cheap talks’, ‘mapping’ and first ‘practicing’ works (Co-cities, 2019) of the BSI_BCO in order to discuss the role of ‘research by design’ in understanding urban spaces as a common resource, and in developing commons-oriented partnerships and policies. More specifically, it depicts ‘research by design’ as an in-between planning and activism practice, fostering the mutation of public administration into ‘enabling’ actors (Co-cities, 2019). As an example, the main concrete impacts of those first stages have been: - A modification of the perimeter of the metropolitan centre and the correlated objectives in the ‘Regional Sustainable Development Plan’. - A scientific support for the redevelopment of the main historical axis of the centre, commissioned by the regional administration of territorial development to the BSI_BCO (ongoing). - A prototyping of urban gardens and walkability improvements connecting a networks of schools, commissioned by the Flemish Community Commission (and possibly the City of Brussels) to a cluster gathering the BSI_BCO, planners, designers and a citizens association (ongoing). The second part analyses more generally how prospective spatial approaches can help overcoming the interdependent complexity of urban resources, collectivities and governance frameworks (Borch, Kornberger, 2015, Foster, 2017), and ‘transitioning from the urban commons to the city as a commons’ (Co-cities, 2019). First, ‘research by design’ helps acknowledging space as a resource. The series of design builds a knowledge of the potential alternative realities. As a consequence, present situations can be judged not only following their intrinsic qualities and failures, but also in comparison with what could be. Second, ‘research by design’ helps gathering the relevant stakeholders beyond social, political and legal boundaries. 3D models and drawings make specialized discourses much easier to understand. Above all, it helps the many stakeholders shift from a conservative struggle for their own interests, towards a more collaborative and open-minded approach. Third, ‘research by design’ makes abstract goals very concrete. It points out the strategic places where concrete pilot-projects could be experimented. It helps grounding future policies into an action-based and incremental process of experimentation

  • Making better use of existing spatial capital through commoning: seven design investigations
    2019
    Co-Authors: De Visscher Jean-philippe, Xvii Biennial Iasc-conference ‘in Defense Of The Commons: Challenges, Innovation, And Action
    Abstract:

    Seven design investigations (Ellefsen, 2015) carried out by architecture students from UCLouvain contribute widening the range of reasons (Foster, 2016) and methodologies (Moss, 2014) calling for new urban commons. Each project varies in scale, type of location and type of issue. However, each project ends up with a similar outcome: developing commons governance is a necessity to make better use of existing spatial capital (Vigano, 2012). Spaces allowing standing at the threshold between visibility and invisibility are essential to homeless people living in the Marolles neighborhood, Brussels. However, urban renewal programs tend to eradicate those spaces for safety reasons. The first project illustrates why threshold spaces are a strategic resource and why making use of them requires new forms of commoning. Brussels traditional city blocks are mainly made of row houses that have been continuously divided into smaller apartments, and where most inhabitants haven’t access to green space, space for waste management or a bike parking. Simultaneously, issues of water management necessitate developing a network of infiltration pools at local scale. The second project demonstrates how managing streets and urban blocks as commons can provide new answers. The central boulevard of Brussels used to attract a various people in terms of age, income or cultural origin. However, its Pedestrianization fosters the development of mass-shopping and tourism. The third project argues that preserving the diversity of uses and users necessitates integrating a whole set of adjacent secondary spaces into the plan, and set up a new form of common management beyond private ownership. The Hans of Istanbul are historic courtyard building used by communities of craftsmen. However, developers supported by the public authorities aim to turn them into hotels. The fourth project demonstrates that craft and tourism economies could be combined by planning the whole network of Hans as a commons. Charleroi is a post-industrial city facing economical decay. The fifth project looks at the spatial patterns inherited from the industrial period as a resource for a new circular economy. It illustrates how a commons management allows to take better advantage of the high diversity, connectivity and complementary of spaces. Most villages of the district of Rochefort lack public facilities and transportation. The sixth project explores how developing a network of small common spaces connected by bicycle and bus tracks helps reducing the dependency on private cars, along with its social and environmental impacts. In Madagascar, a vicious circle of deforestation, erosion and obstruction of rice fields threatens life in villages. Through the design of a new valley organization, the last project provides the villagers with a common strategy to break the circle

  • Research by design as tool of commoning. Reclaiming public spaces in Brussels metropolitan centre.
    2018
    Co-Authors: De Visscher Jean-philippe, International Association For The Study Of The Commons Celebrating Commons - Scholarship
    Abstract:

    The Pedestrianization of the central boulevards of Brussels has been a visionary political coup, but disconnected from any clear planning. In addition, the design of the project has many weaknesses. However, the project has had at least one major quality: it has opened a wide debate on the role of public spaces in the centre of the metropolis. The conflict between space for cars, and space for inhabitants and nature is now clearly on the agenda. But how moving forward on that topic? How bridging the gaps between the conflictual interests, means and agendas of the many private and public stakeholders? How crossing the boundaries between specialized studies? The presentation relates the methodology used by the Brussels Studies Institute_Brussels Center Observatory, a multidisciplinary and multi-university research platform. Its methodology is based on two principles: - Universities as ‘third actor’: through series of open-access publications, public exhibitions and debates, walks, workshops, etc. the BSI_BCO aims to activate new cooperations between public, private and associative stakeholders. - ‘Research by design’ as tool of co-production: through series of design explorations gathered into a large model of the Brussels metropolitan centre, the BSI_BCO aims to cross-fertilize academic, institutional and citizen’s knowledge. Looking backward, this experience could be analysed as a ‘practice of commoning’, where ‘research by design’ is the key tool. First, ‘research by design’ helps acknowledging space as a resource. The series of design build knowledge of potential alternative realities. As a consequence, present situations can be judged not only following their intrinsic qualities and failures, but also in comparison with what could be. Second, ‘research by design’ helps gathering all the stakeholders beyond social and legal boundaries. 3D models and drawings make specialized discourses much easier to understand. Above all, it helps the many stakeholders shift from a conservative struggle for their own interests, towards a more collaborative and open-minded approach. Third, ‘research by design’ makes abstract goals very concrete. It points out the strategic places where concrete pilot-projects could be experimented. It helps grounding future policies into an action-based and incremental process of experimentation