Urban Planning and Economic Development April 2012

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A Global Publication

IMPACT: Business helping communityHosanna House of Michigan Gentle House of Hope Social Equity Impact Assessment

URBAN PLANNING ANDECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

NEWS MAGAZINE

A Global Publication

In Association withUrban Planning and Economic Development Associates

Our Vision is to share a full range of interdisciplinary professional knowledge with community leaders, professional planners, businesses and interested citizens having a commitment to operational excellence in the public and private sectors. Contributions from our constituency will assist in facilitating sound decisions in community and economic development to promote continued commitments in creating quality places to live, work and play. Our goal is to provide educational information and services in urban planning and environmental conservation to an interconnected global community that will both enable in-dividuals and communities to adapt to new holistic techniques and solutions to resolve existing and future urban and environmental issues and foster economic and sustainable development.

General Manager/PublisherPamela Shinn, B.S. URP

Editor in ChiefDavid Weinstock, Ph.D

Photographic and Design Consultant David Loomis

Cover Photo, Balboa Park, San Diego, California By Pamela Shinn

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“Partnering for a Brighter Tomorrow”

FEATURE ARTICLES:Business helping Communities:

IMPACT - Hosanna House of Michigan 4By Kraren Bacon

Gentle House of Hope: 17By Miriam Gentile

EconomySocial Equity Impact Assessment 18by Marc Brenman

California Schools: initative for a 12special voteby Pamela Shinn, BS URP

Brewpubs as Community Anchors 9 by Denese M Neu, Ph.D. Urban Scape

The Irruption of High-Rising Buildings: 22Intensive land exploitation in the metropolitan periphery of Buenos Airesby Guillermo Tella, Estela Cañellas, Martin Muñoz, and Daniela Natale

City Community - Amsterdam: 27A sense of communityby Andrey Maltsev, Olga Kist, Yekateriana Dobrits-kaya

RedevelopmentRe-developing the past: 14The Ottawa Street Power Station by Pamela Shinn, BS URP

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Our Story

Hosanna House of Michigan is a 501C3, non-profit organization in the Mid-Michigan area that has been established to help the growing population of youth who are at risk of transitioning into adult-hood without the skills they need to be successful. Our passion at Hosanna House of Michigan comes from a strong desire to change the statistical outcomes for these youth.

Most youth transition suc-cessfully into adulthood, they complete their high school education, they make the connection to the labor force and they have a good support system of friends and family. Those youth who do not make this transition suc-cessfully make up about 5 to 7 % of the youth popu-lation. This equates to about 1.7 million youth in our society each year that have not made this transition successfully.

The cost is high, not only to them, but to our econo-my. Youth who do not make this transition success-fully often dropout of school, end up in prison, fail to make the connection to the labor force and rely on unemployment and social services to support them.

Each year it is estimated that 1 million youth drop-out of school. The impact to the U.S. economy is estimated to be roughly $192 billion dollars. Of these youth, over 60% of them are male and over half of them will end up in prison. On any given day in the United States there are more young males in prison than at a daytime job.

The majority of the young girls in this population will have at least one child before the age of 21. Many of them will have little to no income and depend on social services to support them and their children. Many of these young mothers will not have adequate family support to help them raise their children, which will increase the number of children who enter into the foster care system. We need to make an investment in these children now.

If we intend to improve the statistical outcomes for these youth we need to open up avenues within our own communities to help them achieve individual success. First, we need to help the whole child, not just bits and pieces of the child’s needs. Unless their basic needs of food, shelter and safety are met we will never help them move toward the next step of con-centrating on their education and their connections to the work force, as well as, building their connec-tions to a social support system that will be critical to helping them achieve success.

We cannot afford for these children to fail, our so-ciety needs these children to be successful. It is not the fault of any one institution, i.e., the family, the parents, the schools, the teachers, the media, busi-nesses or the government, but we do need all of these institutions to come togeth-er and collab-orate to help these children transition into adulthood and give them every opportunity to become success-ful and productive members of our society. It is not enough to make great achievements, to be successful we must put these accomplishments in a context that is meaningful and relevant, not only to these youth but to our community. Only then can our perform-

By Karen Bacon

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ance be measured and our efforts be recognized both as a group and individ-ually. The creation of IMPACT is being developed to communicate the values of Hosanna House, its principals and goals. IMPACT will also be used as a program to recruit members of the local business community and the educational community as program mentors and peer groups where they can provide the leader-ship, knowledge and opportunity that is desperately needed to prepare our youth for the future. These volunteers will be critical in instilling confidence, provid-ing knowledge and hope for the future. It will also create awareness of the needs of this neglected group of at risk young adults.

Their StoryWe, at Hosanna House of Michigan want to teach youth to redefine or rewrite their future life story. To see beyond their current situation, whatever that might be and write a new ending to their future story. We want to fill their hearts and minds with “anything is possible”, and with hope. Children grow up hearing fairytales with happy end-ings, why not let them write and achieve their own fairytale end-ing. When children can see their future, they can find a way to reach for their dreams. Once children find a way,

“Our Mission at Hosanna House of Michigan is to

assist and inspire youth to become healthy, productive

and successful young adults.”

they can then develop a path that leads them. Dreams are what successes are created from. A goal of Hosanna House is to INSPIRE con-fidence in its members to strive to reach levels that they haven’t begun to realize or thought that they are capable of reaching. It’s this inspi-ration that will act as the catalyst to fulfilling these dreams and setting goals for the future.

Hosanna House believes that it is not enough to provide food and shelter to our at-risk youth population. It is equally critical that this grow-ing segment of our population is given the op-portunity to be-come key innovators, creators and leaders and are fully prepared to face their future. Hosanna House’s goal is to provide the opportuni-ties, the leadership and the knowl-edge, to instill the belief that every youth in the program can change their futures even in the most ad-verse situations and regardless of their past. Often all that is need-ed to move people forward is motivation. That’s what Hosanna House provides. Creating the confidence is only part of the equation, gaining trust in the future will MOTIVATE each youth to see beyond the day to day challenges.

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Hosanna House provides leadership through its community, to moti-vate residents to accept the challenges before them. Hosanna House will be pas-sionate in its quest to inform the public and private sector of our goals and PROMOTE how each one of our members have achieved them. Additionally, our advisors from the surrounding business commu-nity will be able to inform their peers of the quality citizens and prospective future employees Hosanna House has nurtured.

Today’s young adults find themselves having to make decisions virtually on a daily basis. Without the right guidance in many cases, bad choices are made and unfortunate results occur. Hosanna House provides the leadership to insure that its members receive ADVISE to get them on the right path for their future, and help them stay there. Our staff assists in finding suggestions that influence their futures.

At Hosanna House we strive to help our members reach their potential regardless of what it may be. We CHALLENGE our members to go the extra mile, to take themselves further then they could ever im-agine. We constantly inspire mem-bers, as well as staff, to venture from their comfort zones to discover qualities in themselves that are waiting to appear.

The leadership of Hosanna House continuously stimulates ideas that stretch the minds and demands growth intellectually, mentally and phys-ically. The results are a legacy of citizens that continue to dem-onstrate their value to society. During their time at Ho-sanna House our members will be able to expe-rience a TRANSFORM-ation that allows them to move beyond their past while creating a vision for what lies ahead. This metamorphose allows members to become new people with a pur-pose, a future and contributors to society.

In April we start a pilot for our afterschool program at Dwight Rich Middle School in Lansing Michigan. Twelve 7th graders have been chosen to participate in this pilot program. Our afterschool program is literature based and our goal through these books is to IM-PACT the vision of their future. We hope to incorporate our program into several other Middle Schools and High Schools in the Lansing area this year. Our afterschool program is one of five goals for Hosanna House.

Our next goal is Education, with a focus toward young people who have already dropped out of school or those who are simply not doing well in a traditional school setting who could benefit from our program, we are not a school, our goal is to assist youth in attaining their high school diploma or GED by providing access to the requirements needed to acquire their high school diploma or their GED. We do not intend to rebuild the wheel, we are collabo-rating with local community leaders and resources already available to provide these services.

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Health & Well Being is our 3rd goal and is so critical to the future of any child. We must make sure that our children have access to proper healthcare so they can build a strong body and mind today, we can-not afford to wait until it is too late, the damage will already be done.

Transitional Living is our 4th goal, there is a critical need in our communities to help older youth 18-21 transition into adulthood, without help they will fail and they will become a statistic that will cost much more than the help we can provide for them today. Our transitional living program will provide up to 2 years for youth to gain the life learning skills they need to be successful. Our program will help these youth complete their education, help them to gain the skills and make the connections they need to the work force and help them to build the support system of friends and family that will help the to be successful when they step out on their own.

Our 5th goal is Homeless Youth Outreach. We hope that word of mouth will open the door for may homeless youth to come our way, but we know that some will need more convincing than others. Our program will not be easy for these youth but it will certainly be worth it. Our homeless youth out-reach program will bring some of our services to the streets and give us an opportunity to open this door

to them.

My StoryI was a latchkey kid myself with a mother who worked 17 hours a day 6 days a week to raise 4 chil-dren on her own. An absentee father and a 13 year old alcoholic brother who absorbed all of my moth-ers free time. At 16 I had had enough of that life and wanted to escape, I just knew there was something better beyond the confinements of the small town in New Hampshire I grew up in and I set my sights on California with a determination to never return. I was so determined to never go back home that I got a job at a bank, I went to night school to obtain my high school diploma and I attended modeling school.

I learned a very sad lesson my first year in California, I realized one day that there wasn’t anyone that was going to take better care of me, than myself. I had to be able to support myself if I was going to survive and succeed on my own.

I never did return home, I lived in California for 18 years. I have no regrets. Had I not left home at 16 I would not have gained the knowledge and the expe-rience I have today. I believe those experienc-es have prepared me and blessed me with the passion and desire I have to help other youth gain the knowledge and experience they too need to survive and be suc-cessful on their own.

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I have no doubt that I was one of the lucky ones’, I met a family that took me in and treated me like I was one of their own children for 5 years, without them who knows what would have become of my life. This family gave me an opportunity to still be a child in a safe envi-ronment with guidance and love and allowed me to find my way in life. I am forever grateful for their love and support. Now I want to return the favor that was given to me.

I hope you will join us in making a difference in these young kid’s lives. It can take just one adult to impact a child’s life that last a life time. Help us to help them, whether it be your time, or financial sup-port for a program or resources you have available that could impact the life of a child, please help us make a difference.

Karen BaconPresident/Co-Founder

Your StoryBecome part of our story—how you can help

Afterschool Program Support - $100.00 per child.

Support the growth of our organization by making a finan-cial contribution to our mission.

Be a Sponsor for one of our fundraising events

Follow us on facebook and tell a friend about us and our mission.

Follow us on our website at www.hosannahousemi.org

Volunteer in our community or where you live– mis-sions cannot survive without the help of volunteers.

Contact Us at Hosanna House of Michigan 2517 E. Mount Hope Avenue Ste. 9, Lansing MI, 48910 517-316-2113 .

“Our Mission at Hosanna House of Michigan is to

assist and inspire youth to become healthy, productive

and successful young adults.”

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Brewpubs as Community Anchors

By Denese M. Neu, Ph.D.

Increasingly, planners have become aware of the value of cultural capital to local economies. With globalization, the internet, and social media, people have become less reliant on the resources in their own community and as a result, the sense of com-munity has eroded. In recent years, planning trends have worked to reverse the negative aspects of these trends. Much of this has been through design, place-making, and campaigns to keep money in the local economy. Ironically, some cities with strong cultural capital (such as New Orleans) were left behind in the eco-nomic boom and were often viewed as provincial. But when the country’s economic crisis struck, people once again turned local. They recognized the need to keep local dollars in the community by way of supporting local businesses. At the same time, awareness of the health and environmental benefits of local food sourcing increased, and with less discre-tionary spending power, people began to seek quality third spaces to connect with neighbors and friends. Despite businesses shuttering around the country, hundreds of new brewpubs have opened during the economic recession and seven hundred more are in planning. We know that “local” doesn’t always regis-ter on the livability index, but it does create a unique sense of place.

In Bowling Alone (2000), Robert Putnam provided an examination of how American social spaces have declined. Around this same time, community plan-ners were embracing the concepts of New Urbanism. This professional practice heralds design as the key to creating community. More than a decade later, places that were built with the principles of New Ur-banism are receiving the attention of social scientists. Some have successfully created a sense of place, while others feel as sterile and duplicative as shopping malls. The primary difference between success in generating community and just building something

Brewpubs: A likely resource as Community Anchors

that complies with the design principles seems to be businesses. More importantly, businesses that func-tion as true third spaces -spaces that not only meet commercial needs but also social needs.

Brewpubs as third spacesThird spaces draw people and encourage people to engage with each other. Historically, these were often neighborhood taverns. In fact, some of Robert Putnam’s early work examined how the decline of the sense of community correlates to the decline of the neighborhood tavern. As drinking culture and demographics in the United States shifted, these old taverns, often the cornerstone of community social life, slowly became dive bars. They were no longer where engaged neighborhood residents gathered to talk politics, discuss community issues, and organ-ize to meet local needs. They became cheap watering holes catering to the poor and those who had given up and dropped out. Certainly, one can argue that a sense of community existed among the denizens, but these were no longer spaces that generated positive action and creativity.

As lifestyle trends brought the young professionals back to the urban core, older neighborhoods began

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began to gentrify. In an ironic twist, some of these taverns took on the status of being cool places to party. But many more of these old places closed their doors and were replaced by fancier, louder bars serv-ing higher quality alcohol. It is a rare occasion when either generates a sense of community. It’s a rare occasion when this type of place fosters meaningful conversation and engagement among friends and perhaps more importantly, loosely connected neigh-bors or even strangers.

Bars vs. coffeehousesAs I examine drinking establishment trends, I also must address the popularity of coffeehouses. Like bars, the styles vary from one place to another. Some are cozy places where friends and neighbors sit on couches while visiting. They are designed to give one a sense of comfort in the third space. Others are designed for drawing the self-employed, often crea-tive professional. They are merely office substitutes without much of the interaction that occurs within the traditional workspace. And then there is the ubiquitous coffee house chain. Starbucks, the popu-lar hangout place for those who want to be alone among a crowd. With WiFi and computer, they are connected to the world but isolated from the person on the next stool.

Gentrification and coffeehouses really emerged as New Urbanism was getting a foothold. It is unlikely that any reader is unfamiliar with New Urbanism, so I’m not going to expound upon its principles. The emphasis is on design – design to make people behave in certain ways and adopt a lifestyle that a segment of architects and planners view as optimal. But even with charrettes and other public engage-ment processes, the designs are often formulaic and fail to achieve the sense of community that existed in old urbanism.

So what does any of this have to do with drinking establishments? When Europeans migrated to the United States, they brought with them the traditions of the pub (or rather the public house). The very

name connotes social gathering space. If my histori-cal evaluation is correct, taverns emerged in con-nection with the small breweries that served local neighborhoods. These spaces were the public house for many new immigrants and for many working class communities. In these spaces, men found jobs, housing, and organized for better hours, better pay, and better work conditions.

Today, there is much attention paid to placemaking to draw the creative class. We promote a place’s life-style image (or the one it wants to have) and deploy economic dollars to create the jobs that will bring the young creative class. But this class requires far more than cookie cutter streetscapes, American versions of Irish pubs, and chain restaurants. They demand qual-ity and increasingly, they are demanding local. They want lifestyles that connect them to their community.

In an era where urban design trends focus on walk-ability, connectivity, and traditional neighborhood design to provide promote quality of life, brewpubs are ideal businesses. They are generally locally owned, they generally provide a quality locally made product, and they often serve as a economic an-chors. Over the past 25 years, brewery owners have established themselves as both historic and cultural preservationists while revitalizing an old commercial corridor.

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According to the Project for Public Spaces, place-making should:

build and support the local economy nurture and define community identity, and foster frequent and meaningful contact

A well-designed and unique brewpub can achieve this. Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama is an excellent example. The owners, real estate developers, recognized the need to create an economic and social anchor for the area. An aban-doned historic firehouse provided the perfect space and a chapter of community history provided the perfect theme. When ABC opened in late 2011, they found that their business model drew people to an otherwise abandoned streetscape. Working closely with a local community development agency, they partnered to provide short-term free rent to other local start-ups. While it is too soon to evaluate long-term impact, brewpubs have helped revitalize urban neighborhoods, abandoned urban cores, and com-mercial corridors of smaller towns.

In larger cities, they often anchor the neighborhood by creating quality social gathering spaces. Some cities, such as Portland, Oregon, have fully embraced local brewing as cultural capital, a layer that inter-weaves with the fabric that defines the area. The meaningfulness is beyond the beer and the bricks and mortar. In fact, drinking culture in Portland is heavily rooted in localized economy and the philos-ophy supports brewing in placemaking. They em-brace quality beer but the beer session is about the interaction among people. This is ultimately what defines a true third space. If we scale up to the level of regional economy, the local brewing scene and the associated historic preservation projects draw visitors.

Economic development aims to bring money to town, through jobs and through tourism. Some communities embrace the brewpub while others are reluctant. This seems to be due to the industrial na-ture of the brewing itself or a community resistance

to the liquor license. But time and time again, these businesses have proven themselves, not just as suc-cessful businesses, but as components that help re-store and revitalize an area. Think about it. The next time you are recruiting a new business or promoting your community, wouldn’t you love to take the visitor to your local brewpub?

Denese Neu is a community and economic devel-opment professional with extensive experience in social infrastructure and cultural capital. She is a consultant, professor, author and public speaker. She is also a long-term craft beer lover and combines this passion with her Ph.D. in urban studies. During the past few years, she has advised on community planning issues for the craft brewing industry and authored Chicago by the Pint: a Craft Beer History of the Windy City. Her book provides pint-sized urban and social history lessons to enjoy with your suds. Her forthcoming book, Hops and Heritage in New Orleans, is scheduled for release in 2013. Learn more about her work at www.hhsplanning.com and her book at www.chicagobythepint.webs.com

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Avondale Brewing Company in Birmingham, Alabama

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California Schools

initiative for a special voteBy Pamela Shinn BS URP

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Voters of California and county residents are cur-rently circulating a petition proposing amendments to the California Education Code and Taxation Code relating to increasing funds for education and early childhood programs. The proposed initiative measure is designed to reduce the education bond debt and make available funding to promote better educational standards in the state of California. The hope is that this will be added to a special statewide election prior to the next general election.

Currently the state of California ranks 46th nation-ally in what the state invests in the education of each student. California also ranks last out all 50 states and currently has the largest class room sizes based on the national standard. California is currently facing cuts which enlarge classroom sizes even more should this state wide proposal fail.

According to the State Attorney General of Cali-fornia, recent cutbacks due to budget cuts have put California schools even further behind. Over the past three years, California schools have been faced with more than $20 billion dollars which has been cut from education, adversely affecting California schools and their quality of education. Due to these cuts, over 40,000 teachers have faced layoffs, increas-ing classroom sizes. Many essential programs are in jeopardy such as Early Head Start, Free Lunch programs for eligible students, early childhood and preschool education programs. These programs which have proven successful face being eliminate or cut.

The votes of California believe that through alterna-tive measures, they can reverse the current trends. They feel that they must do better and that their chil-dren are their future and through investing in educa-tion, not only k-12 but early childhood development and education, they can better prepare children for success. It is also believed that without a quality educational system, the children of the state of Cali-fornia will not be able to compete in a global market, due to the lack of skills and a quality education.

To date the underfunded early childhood develop-ment programs currently only serve approximately 40% of all eligible three to four year old children.

It is estimated that only 5% of low income infants and toddlers eligible for programs have access to these programs. The voters of the state of California contend that they can do better and that new meas-ures to be voted on will ensure wide spread improve-ment in the California educational process. Voters also believe that these measures will strengthen and support California public and charter schools by increasing the per-pupil funding which in turn will improve programs by refunding those programs geared toward at risk children, early childhood edu-cation programs (ECE) k-12 academic performance, graduation rates, vocational college enrollments, as well as career and life skills for those students enter-ing the work force post graduation. The taxation for education and early childhood programs initiative measure calls for an increase in personal income tax for those with an annual earn-ing over $7,316.00 by using a sliding scale from .4% to the lowest earners to 2.2% for those individuals who earn more than $2.5 million, which ends after a 12 year period.

During the first four years of the proposed initiative measure, 60% of the revenue generated will go to the states k-12 programs, where 30% of the funds will repay state debt. In addition, 10% is allocated for the early childhood programs throughout the state. Af-ter the four year period, 85% of all revenues from the proposed initiative measure will be allotted to k-12 school programs with 15% then being allocated for early childhood programs statewide.

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California Schools

initiative for a special voteBy Pamela Shinn BS URP

This proposed program will also provide funding based on k-12 school specific, per pupil basis which will be under local control and audits along with public input. It also will prohibit the state from di-recting or using the funds for any alternate purpose. According to estimates by the Legislative Analyst and the Director of Finance of Fiscal Impact for state and local government, they estimate the revenue increase will vary anywhere from $10 billion to $11 billion in the first fiscal year which will begin in 2013 - 2014 and will increase over time. They have also estimate that during the 2012 – 2013 fiscal year that amount would be approximately half that of 2013-2014. The increase in state personal income tax revenues will begin in 2012 and end in 2024. They have also estimated that by the end of 2016-2017, 60% of the revenue increase would be dedicated to k-12 educa-tion and 10% would be dedicated to early childhood development education programs, supplementing existing programs. They have also determined that in 2017-2018 and in subsequent thereafter, 85% would be dedicated to k-12 and 15% to early child-hood development education programs.

The general fund savings on debt-service costs, according Legislative Analyst and the Director of Finance and Fiscal Impact also estimate around $1.5 billion in 2012-2013 and $3 billion in 2013-2014, where saving will grow thereafter. This of course is assuming that the subsequent years have strong growth in state personal income tax revenues, with the hope that the growth will be that of several hun-dred million dollars per year, which would be used for debt service costs, which in turn will result in

state savings.

Within the program, it also calls for some of the following measures: smaller class room sizes, more teaching staff, counselors, librarians, school nurses, support staff. It will also call for extended learning through longer school days or longer school year, summer school programs, student enrichment and tutoring, alternative education models. K-12 per-pupil educational program grants – free lunch programs. Provisions for early care and educational programs and pay debt service bond. In addition the initative call for personnel costs by number, type and seniority of personnel and use actual salary and benefit figures for employees (without individual identify information) and additional student sup-port programs and programs that my extend those currently provided by state, local and federal sources (new programs).

Over time, the current proposed initiative measure appears to be of sound ground and provides for a positive impact. The impact of the measure of course would be providing that the subsequent years have strong growth in state personal income tax revenues, with the hope that the growth will be that of several hundred million dollars per year, which would be used for debt service costs, which in turn will result in state savings.

For more information on the entirety of the proposed initiative measure can be found at: http://ag.ca.gov/initiatives/activeindex.php?active=A&year=2011

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Re-developing the past: The Ottawa Street Power Station

By Pamela G. Shinn

When I was a planning intern for the City of Lan-sing Michigan in 2004, my planning preceptor at the City of Lansing Planning office and I took a stroll and walked along the River Front Walkway along the Grand River in Lansing and as we walked by the old Board of Water and Light (BWL) Ottawa Street Power Station. I mentioned what a great build-ing with history that it was and asked if there were any plans for its redevelopment. We discussed the possibilities, mixed use, single use and what types of funding could be made available for it. In 2009 I moved from the Lansing area, not giving the old power plant another thought until I recently revisited Lansing. I was pleased to see that the BWL Ottawa Street Power Plant Station had been resurrected and put to a suitable use.

The HistoryThe Ottawa Street Power Station building is the former municipal electric and steam utility generat-ing station for the city of Lansing in Michigan. The original building was designed and engineered by Ralph C. Roe and Allen Burns from the firm Burns and Roe firm with the assistance of architect Edwyn A. Bowdirm of the Bowd and Munson firm. Built in 1937 just prior to World War II it took a total of 9 years to complete, being built in two phases in which the first saw completion in 1939.

The buildings architecture is a classic example of Art Deco architecture with its stream line step back structural style showcasing black granite to represent the water table of the river, and as you look up the sides of the build, the design is symbolic of the in-dustrial age of coal power generation. The design on the sides of the building rises up to mimic the sight of flames in the brickwork and gradually flowing up the sides of the building in a multi-color design of dark purple brick flowing up from reds and orange and yellow symbolizing the flames which was gener-ating the power and heat to the homes in the Lansing area. The plant was completed in 1946, with the first phase done in 1939, with a cost of approximately 4 million dollars in which funding came from ratepay-ers without the use of any insurance bonds or the use of any government funding.

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By Pamela G. Shinn

The Ottawa Station was in operation providing steam heat and electricity to the city of Lansing from 1939 , until the 1980’s. The plant had the capacity of gener-ating at a rate of around 81,500 kilowatts. Sometime in the 1970’s the BWL through the operation of the improved facility at the Eckert Station that also ser-viced the area, the Ottawa Station was operating as a backup system for only the generation of electric-ity, still providing steam heat to the down town area. Then in 1984, additional improvements at the Eckert Station, now making it possible in providing steam heat service made the old Ottawa Station obsolete where it was then decommissioned in 1992. In 2001, the Ottawa Station was retrofitted to provide chilled water plant to provide conditioning and a high-pres-sure steam distribution to the Lansing area, where it provided the service until 2009 when the BWL had now build a newer chilled water plant in Lansing.

I knew I had driven by the building prior to my re-tirement in 2009, only to note that the beautiful old building was no longer in use and the water cooling system had been removed. I discovered by talking with one of the Planners at the city of Lansing today that prior to the Ottawa Station decommissioning in 2009, back in 2007 serious thoughts had been given to the possible uses of the building, rather than its demolition and demise. The power to restore, retro-fit and reuse such an icon as the Ottawa Power

Station building is a wonder and a feat, and the city of Lansing, along with the planning department, the Lansing Economic Development Corporation along with the Board of Water and Light, the Christman Company, Blue Cross Blue shield of Michigan, Ac-cident Fund and other partners have accomplished what I as an area long time resident and as a planner was pleased to see for the fate of the structure.

This redevelopment came with many obstacles that had to be concurred prior to the purchase of the building by the Christman Company. There was the issue of additional acquisition of property by the city of Lansing to make the site complete and ready for the process to truly begin. There was a walkway that needed to be removed along with Parking Deck expansion on Grand Avenue which occupied a sec-tion of the development and to include in the new development of a 1,000 car parking deck to replace the deck that had been removed. The chiller towers needed to be moved to Washington and Pine.

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By Pamela G. Shinn

Players and BenefitsIn an effort to assist in the funding of the project, the City of Lansing established the site as historic mak-ing it eligible for historic preservation funding. The build is on the National Registry of Historic Places as well as on the Michigan Registry.

According to the developer, The Christman Cor-poration, the Christman company had developed a public-private partnership with the Accident Fund Holding Inc., Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Board of Water and Light, the City of Lansing, the State of Michigan along with other partners. Public financing of the project was made possible through Brownfield tax increment financing (TIF), job creation grants in which approximately 500 new jobs would be added with company growth, state and federal historic tax credits, renaissance zone through the city of Lansing, and other funders. The fund-ing also included a package from Lansing Economic Development Corp (LEDC)-financed bonds and to assist with the new design improvements made to the site, such as a public walkway along the river, light-ing. Beautification and seating came from the Clean Michigan Initiative grant which is administered by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) as part of a 3.2 million dollar grant initiative.

The total amount spent on the project is said to be $182 million, which was the estimated budget for

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the project. The projects completion of the entire 7-acre office campus and parking deck took place in 2011 and contains approximately 185,000 square feet of office space. The site includes approximately an additional 105,000 square feet of new building space, designed to complement the historic segment of the project and offers additional office space to house 400 employees. The Accident Fund building can house up to 1,200 employees, 500 of which will be new jobs added with company growth.

To find out more about Lansing Economic Devel-opment Corp (LEDC) funding visit http://www.lansingmi.gov/invest/business_services_/business_fi-nance_assistance_program.jsp

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By Miriam Gentle

A Safe Place: Gentle House of HopeGentle House of Hope (GHOH) is a start up non-profit organization that in the near future will pro-vide shelter and assistance in a safe environment for women and children involved in domestic violence. GHOH is not currently up and running its facil-ity but is in the process of forming such a facility. GHOH was founded in 2011 by myself, Miriam Gentle in the Los Angeles, CA. Currently working with me in forming this organization is Nina Ochoa, Vice President; David Swoish, Director of Finance; Malisa Young, Board Member; Bonny Williams, Board Member, Anita Armas, Administrative As-sistant and Kristi Jones, Secretary of Board. They all share the same passion and need to help as I do. I have worked with Nina Ochoa for 6 years and we are very close friends. Malisa I have known for 2 years through college and Bonny I met through a mutual group and who is also a domestic violence survivor. I am still trying to form the board of directors and still in search for some great people. I have a background in human resources and counseling and currently obtaining my bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Phoenix in Woodland Hills, CAwhich will be completed on June 9, 2012. This is a very big accomplishment for me and I would be the first in my family to complete college. I am also unemployed and raising two beautiful chil-dren, Michelle 8 years old and Mario Jr. 3 years old. Fortunately, unlike a lot of single mothers, I have thehelp of my kids, and father to help raise our childrenand be a father figure for them. I am very fortunate to have the support and help I have from my family and friends to be able to organize such a wonderful gift to women. Women fight each day to just have a good male role model in their lives for their children.Power, jealousy, control all take part of what drives a

they do to their partner that results in abuse. At no part in a man or woman’s life should they experiencesuch rage, anger and abuse from anyone wheather it be a stranger, friend or family.

Love is suppose to be unconditional and without judgment but loving by instilling fear into your part-ner is not the path to take. Having this freedom to choose health and wellness over fear and abuse is the message I want to send out to the victims of domestic violence. Violence and abuse is something you can live without and not have to put up with. Reminding the women of the empowerment that have in them and that there is life after abuse is the message I also want to send out. There is not a moment in life when this subject arise and I don’t get emotional. To feel trapped in a situation you believe you cannot get out of is the mind frame women need to train themselves to think differently on. Everyone has choices in life in every situation they are in. . You have a choice to leave or stay in an abusive relationship. Every woman I have spoken to “wish” they can get out of their situation and at times have no clue what the can do. What women need to start saying is “I am going to get out of this situation” and the next step is to figure out how. That is where organizations such as GHOH comes in.

Having access to information such as escape plans and knowing your local domestic violence shelter or even the domestic violence hotline number helps the victims at a starting point. These are just a few to mention on getting a person started on a plan for change. Just having someone to talk, encourage, empower, embrace, and just help is all the motivation they need. But without the word being put out there that someone can do this for them is what holding women back and making them feel they have to stay in the situation they are in. I have seen close friends, relatives, and heard many stories on domestic vio-lence. This topic truly hits my heart in so that I de-cided to create this organization. Seeing this happen to many women is a devastating issue that is and still

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By Miriam Gentle

l continue to be.

According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control Prevention says that “one in 3 women (32.9%) has experienced physical violence by an intimate partner and nearly 1 in 10 (9.4%) has been raped by an intimate partner in her lifetime…that is 5.9% or 7.0 million women in the United States, reported experiencing these forms of violence by an intimate partner in the 12 months prior to tak-ing the survey” (CDCP, 2011).

These facts alone along with many other drove me to the decision of opening a shelter for the women and children of domestic violence. Many families per month are being turned away due to lack of space. It is hard enough that women can’t get ahead in life professionally but to also have the hardship of an ag-gressive relationship from their partners in life is also hard. Not being able to keep your children safe or even yourself can turn a sane person insane. My goal is to bring the awareness to everyone.

The MissionGentle House of Hope mission is to help victims in bringing services to them to let them know they are not alone. Services such as a temporary emergency shelter (from 60 days to 18 months transitional housing), counseling, support groups, children services, job assistance, relocation assistance, finan-cial assistance, parenting classes and legal assistance. Whether the violence is sexual, mental, physical, or verbal GHOH strive to break the cycle that help these victims get away from the abuse and psychologi-cal strain as not only do the women experiences the trauma but also their children.

Through awareness, empowerment, and support from the community the cycle can be broken. Once the cycle is broken, our next generation can live a life

filled with love and respect. Everyone relationship has its ups and downs but to have a relationship free from abuse is priceless. There are many advocates and organizations out there but the word needs to reach everyone.

I have a pending partnership with YesICan.org in bringing an online support group. This will be one of my first partnerships and I am very excited to bring this much needed service to the women that needs and wants the help. There is other talk in the works in working with Lisa Baldwin, President and CEO, of EmPOWERed Film Works (www.empow-eredfilmworks.com). She directs and produces a wonderful stage show called “Mirror Mirror on the Wall” in Oklahoma City, OK that concentrates on domestic violence issues. We are hoping to bring the show to Los Angeles late this year hopefully as one of our fundraising events. But we cannot do anything without the support of the people. For nonprofit, fundraising and donations is a big drive for funding resources. Due to budget cuts, there is less govern-ment funding for programs and shelters like the one I am trying to form. We need the help of your support (the community and government) in order to bring such services to the women and children that needs it. People throw away hundreds of dollars every month on things they barely use or even want and all I am asking is to just think of the people that need it more than you in order to survive and get away from the abuse that holds them and their chil-dren back from “living”. I am giving all I can into this organization but one person’s action of giving will won’t speak louder than hundreds or even thousands but it’s a hell of a start. The goal is to have a facil-ity up and running by the end of 2013 beginning of 2014. In the meantime, show your support by visit-ing our website at www.gentlehouseofhope.org andalso “Like: our facebook page at www.facebook.com/GHOH11. At and also sending in your donations to help us get the ball rolling on breaking this cycle.

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Social Equity Impact Assessment By Marc Brenman

Social Equity ImpactSocial equity is unfortunately neglected in planning. In a book forthcoming from Island Press, “Planning as if People Matter: Governing and Equity,” Tom Sanchez and I try to correct this problem by educat-ing planners and public administrators on these is-sues. We have been interested in the issues for some time. We approached them from the viewpoint of one type of infrastructure, transportation, in our book, “The Right to Transportation,” published by the American Planning Association in 2007. We had an opportunity to put our thoughts into practice in the only successful civil rights case brought under ARRA, the federal stimulus statute, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This Act, passed in response to the Great Recession of 2007-2009, attempted to jumpstart the US economy, heavi-ly through transportation construction projects. Un-fortunately, it weighted “shovel ready” projects that could be started quickly. These were mostly projects that had already been partially planned, then shelved for lack of funds. Although they had gone through some reviews, including environmental ones under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), they had not been through social equity impact assess-ment. Social equity has been defined as “The fair, just and equitable management of all institutions serving the public directly or by contract, and the fair and equitable distribution of public services, and imple-mentation of public policy, and the commitment to promote fairness, justice, and equity in the forma-tion of public policy.” (National Academy of Public Administration, Standing Panel on Social Equity).

Ultimately, social equity means that access to all aspects of the community (including health, safety, open space, transportation investments, and eco-nomic development) is fair for all residents—regard-less of socioeconomic status, race, class, ethnicity, gender, age, or ability.

Each study, plan or review by a governmental agency or recipient of federal financial assistance needs to include the following elements:

(1) A clear description of what is planned; (2) An analysis of the impact on all populations, including minority and low income populations; (3) An analysis of available alternatives; (4) The documented inclusion of minority and low income populations in the study and decision-mak-ing process; and (5) An implementation plan to address any concerns identified in the equity analysis.

We had an opportunity to address these issues di-rectly and on the ground when we were approached by Richard Marcantonio of Public Advocates, Inc., a public interest law firm in San Francisco, Califor-nia. Public Advocates was representing a coalition of transportation equity advocates in the Bay Area, including Urban Habitat, TransForm and Genesis. These organizations believe that transportation should fairly serve all the people, including people of color and low income people. These ideas are con-sistent with environmental justice, a confluence of environmental and civil rights laws, which states that the benefits and burdens of publicly funded projects should be shared equitably, with minorities and poor people not suffering high and disproportionately adverse impacts. Environmental justice serves as a framework for understanding why low-income and minority communities bear the brunt of negative im-pacts from public investment. Environmental justice includes the fair treatment and meaningful involve-ment of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental and other public laws, regulations, and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people, including a racial, ethnic, or socioeconomic group, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial

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operations or the carrying out of federal, state, local and tribal programs and policies. Environmental Justice or EJ has been of concern to low income and minority groups since the 1980’s, due to the accumu-lation of environmental health insults to their neigh-borhoods through public projects placed there, and through lack of services.

The Environmental Justice Executive Order was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1994. It requires federal agencies to avoid projects that have high and disproportionately adverse effects on minority, limit-ed English proficient, and low income communities. The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA’s) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Circular institu-tionalizes these requirements by requiring an equity analysis “at the planning and programming stages” to examine whether the project’s benefits and burdens fall fairly on all affected communities. Many federal agencies have such environmental justice rules for their recipients of funding. These rules encompass almost every public entity in the urban planning and economic development field.

Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin by recipients of federal financial assistance. Specifically, will the benefits of the project be shared fairly by minority and low-income communities, or will they be excluded and treated worse than Anglo and higher income com-munities? And will the environmental, cost and other burdens fall fairly on those communities? Will the whiter and higher income groups get the ben-efits, while the minority and lower income commu-nities suffer the disruption of construction, the noise of operations, and pollution?

BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, is a fixed rail mass transit train system similar to METRO in Washington, DC. It is the San Francisco Bay Area’s heavy rail surface-and-underground transit provider, with service reaching from the San Francisco Inter-national Airport, up through the City of San Fran-cisco, under the Bay into Oakland and Berkeley, and into the East Bay suburbs. It was planning an exten-sion from downtown Oakland, California,

to the Oakland International Airport, through East Oakland, with no intermediate stops. The neighbor-hoods in between would not be served. The pro-posed one-way fare was $6, double that of BART’s existing bus shuttle. The neighborhoods were currently served by buses, and access to the Airport from the minority neigh-borhoods was limited. They are largely low income and minority, and airports are traditionally job engines. The Airport was already served by buses. The SF Bay Area is heavily minority, but the various transportation types and modes carry different mix-es of races, ethnicities, and incomes. BART tends to skew toward more Anglo and higher income riders than some of the other surface modes, like the East Bay’s AC Transit and San Francisco’s Muni. Air travelers also tend to skew toward more Anglo and higher income passengers. BART appeared to be rushing to serve this more Anglo and higher income ridership with better and faster service, separated from people of color and low income people.

The advocacy groups tried to persuade BART to change its plans to serve these neighborhood com-munities with two or three intermediate stops, but BART refused. The groups arranged for Public Ad-vocates to represent them in federal court litigation on this and other transportation planning issues. The litigation has been making very slow progress in the federal courts, with some failure, in part due to limitations in the law because of some conservative US Supreme Court decisions.

In 2010, Public Advocates asked us to help them rethink the case. We helped them file a Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 administrative com-plaint against BART with FTA. We alleged that low income people and people of color were being dis-criminated against by BART because they would not be served by the Oakland Airport extension. BART is subject to Title VI. The complaint alleged that the lack of stops and the planned high fare excluded low-income riders and riders of color from the ben-efits of the project, and that this exclusion violated not only Title VI, but also the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Environmental Justice Order, and

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FTA’s Title VI Circular guidance. We also alleged that BART was not serving limited English profi-cient (LEP) people, as required by federal law, and did not have an adequate public involvement and participation process, a requirement of USDOT. We also noted that some time ago, BART had done away with its Title VI advisory committee.

We said that recipients of federal financial assistance like BART should do a social equity impact assess-ment before planning, designing, or building pro-jects. FTA conducted an investigation and found that BART had not conducted the required assess-ment, had not properly planned for serving LEP people, did not have an adequate public involvement plan, could not come into compliance before the ARRA funding obligation time limit had expired, and agreed with us.

$70 million in ARRA funds were redistributed on order of the federal government. The advocates had put BART and the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) on notice the previous summer that federal civil rights and envi-ronmental justice requirements had not been met, and that the project would have foreseeable discrim-inatory consequences.

One of the lessons for other public transportation providers, metropolitan planning organizations, and other recipients of federal financial assistance is the need to conduct a social equity impact assessment early in the planning stage of proposed projects, and then pay careful attention to the findings of the as-sessment.

This was a rare victory for environmental justice efforts. Advocates have long taken the position that social equity analysis, public involvement and public participation are critical for a publicly funded pro-ject to serve all the people in a service area equitably. Equity in land-use, transportation, housing, and education go hand in hand to produce sustainable development. Public transportation is a critical fac-tor in fighting climate change and reducing green-

house gases. Many minority and low income groups have taken a serious interest in climate change, because they believe that they will be adversely af-fected earliest and most severely by it and the adverse effects on landforms. They also understand that the same policies that drove segregation and disinvest-ment in communities of color over the last hundred years have also generated the sprawl and vehicle travel that is fueling climate change.

This should be a wake up call to state and local agencies across the country that they will be held accountable for making sure that all taxpayer dol-lars are spent appropriately and wisely, whether from ARRA or any other federal funding. Planning should take social equity concepts into consideration at the earliest stages of planning. All public planning and economic development should include finding out and addressing the views and needs of all the affected demographic groups in the service area, as well as the cumulative impacts that have adversely and dispro-portionately affected some groups in the past.


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The Irruption of High-Rising Buildings

Intensive land exploitation in the metropolitan periphery of Buenos AiresBy Guillermo Tella, Estela Cañellas, Martin Muñoz, and Daniela Natale

IntroductionThe intensive exploitation of urban low-occupancy areas is a vector that allows inquiring into the log-ics working in the construction of the city. Many of the new real estate products, such as ‘high-rising buildings’, are born within the context of a process of market demands targeting medium-high sectors who seek ‘shelter’ within the consolidated city.The impact of these buildings is not minor, because they bring about the breakdown of urban structures sedimented over time and the qualitative degrada-tion of the pre-existing features. Also, neighbours make their voices of rejection be heard in relation to this phenomenon. In Buenos Aires, even though the intensive substitution processes have begun to be re-interpreted in the last decade, the high-rising build-ing is not a recent phenomenon either.

Why are they built? Who is in favour, who against? What is its impact on the city built? These are some of the questions that seek answers. From this per-spective, the work focuses on the transformation processes of the consolidated city and the identifica-tion of urban policies operating behind them.

So this paper is about characterizing recent urban changes, examining the processes of decision-making -as regards public and private agents, institutional frameworks and instruments- around the construc-tion of high-rising buildings. Stemming from the look into a leading case, it aims to contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms for urban produc-tion and management, the interests involved and the network of agents that enable intensive densification.

The evaluation of the development modelThe process began in 2003 with the construction boom and sparked off considerable debate three years later when residents of the neighbourhoods of

Caballito, Palermo, Núñez, Villa Urquiza, Villa Puey-rredón and Vicente López raised their voices against the territorial changes they were suffering with the irruption of high-rising building on residential ur-ban fabric of low and/or medium density.Consequently, beyond the particularities of each case, in these processes it is possible to observe how the State has abandoned its role as a direct agent for channelling unmet social demands so as to become a facilitator of market activities, providing the tools necessary for private investment to flourish. Within this context, there appears the case of the municipal-ity of San Miguel, which is located in the Metropoli-tan Region of Buenos Aires.

Figure 1:

Location of the territory of the municipality of San Miguel within the greater context of the Metropoli-tan Region of Buenos Aires (RMBA).

Institute of the Conurbation, National University of General Sarmiento (Argentina)

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The city of San Miguel is the namesake municipal-ity seat, and is defined as regional sub-centre in the crown of cities defined by the Reconquista River. The study area is located in this municipality, forming a polygon of 16 blocks and a catchment area of four blocks around.

Figure 2:

Location of the area of study in the city of San Miguel (demarked by a yellow continuous line). A hinterland was also considered (demarked by a doted line) for considering services and infrastructure. Continuous red lines mark main arteries, and white dashed line, railroads and its stations.

It is an urban fabric almost completely occupied, consisting of an orthogonal grid -alternating square and rectangular blocks- and of buildings of predomi-nantly residential use with low population density and commercial corridors on major roads.The motivations that led to the selection of this area of study meet several criteria: high concentration of high-rising buildings, high urban indicators set in the legislation in force, predominance of a low-densi-ty residential fabric, connectivity with major centres in the metropolitan area, articulation with the main structural mobility axis, proximity to commercial and services centres, and unhindered 'balconying' of high-rising buildings acting as a landscape capital.

Evaluation of building construction typesRegulations in force in the study area emerge from Decree-Law 8912 of 1977 on ‘Territorial Planning and Land Use’ of the Province of Buenos Aires. Within this context, municipal legislation determines high urban indicators for the area and it is named “Downtown”. The high-rising buildings in the area, with heights surpassing 20 floors, are characterized by the definition of a typology of their own, with free perimeter constructions and their ground floors entirely allocated for usage as common spaces.

Figure 3:

Panoramic daylight photograph showing the area of study and the main typologies of high-rising build-ings detected, as well as their insertion within the low-density urban fabric.

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Figure 4:

Panoramic photograph of the same area at night.

The landscaping of the entrance is an especially marked feature and the provision of garages at ground floor level is mostly welcomed where pos-sible. The transfer of part of the front side of the plot for public space does not recognize a common pat-tern in all cases, because it varies greatly according to the high-rising building and its location.The area shows dominant volumes on the urban low density residential urban fabric. Whereupon, as a consequence arising from the height the high-rising buildings reach, a shadow is cast significantly affect-ing the solar radiation received by the surrounding fabric.

Also, the higher density implies a higher actual and potential demand for services, transport and public spaces, and it triggers off the expansion of commer-cial development. The impact of new buildings on the provision of social services and infrastructure supplying the area is high (water and effluent treat-ment, education and health services, and public transportation). The quality of services in the area conformed to the actual density that existed until the enactment of the aforesaid legislation, but they were never up-dated according to the potential growth that the new regulations stimulated, which determined a terminal pressure on the quality of basic services provision.

The process of land managementThe real estate market of San Miguel has changed its dynamics as from 2004, as a result of this phenom-enon of ‘city verticalization’. This process drove many traditional local families out of the zone because of the pressure exerted on land values. In short time, the price per square meter shot over 30%.

Within an urban scope, territorial planning and land use in the municipality of San Miguel is governed by Decree-Law 8912 of the Province of Buenos Aires, as it was mentioned before. But it was by Ordinance 448 of 1979 that the Preventive Zoning Code was passed, which is a legal instrument defined by the aforesaid provincial Law. It is a preliminary stage before pro-viding the municipality with a Municipal Land Use Plan, which has not been developed so far, therefore all municipal urban development still refers to the Preventive Zoning Code from the late seventies as the main instrument of urban planning, which, accord-ing to the legislation itself, it is meant to deal with the minimum needs of land planning.

The inadequacy of the instrument for new situ-ations generated in the urban development was partly solved by various ordinances validated by the Province, such as, for instance, the extension of the Downtown area and the option of authorizing special projects, as set by law. Therefore, the provincial legal framework regulates the faculties of its municipalities within a system of autarchy, that is, they can admin-istrate themselves, but within the scope of rules that are imposed from the superior level.

Evaluation of the model implementedThe territorial model to which the provincial law responded matches the paradigm of technocratic central planning of that time, based on the ideas of a scientific urbanism that facilitated the diagnosis and laid the ground for actions on the city.

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The municipal government had the task of planning its territory on the basis of control over the actions of private agents through land use zoning, along the same directions set forth in provincial regulations. The rest of the investments in urban development, transport, road system, infrastructure and equip-ment, given the budgetary constraints on them, was basically in the hands of the provincial and/or na-tional governments' investment.

The ways of addressing urban development and the instruments and ways of managing the terri-tory changed in order to give a response to the old deficits inherited and to the new environmental and economic challenges (reducing inequalities, austerity of resources, productivity and innovation in the new economic contexts), while incorporating new themes (such as participation, or the new role of local gov-ernments).

The linkages between planning and management, on the one hand, and between the city as a whole and its parts, on the other, have begun to be assessed, as well. Thus there is the idea that urban planning should have flexible instruments to guide actions in the medium and long term and address the present situation.

Within this context of changes in the orientation of urban planning, the municipality of San Miguel continued with the same legal scheme regulated by the Province of Buenos Aires, but still unfulfilled, although reality imposed new pressures on land and economic and social development.

During these years of rapid expansion of real es-tate market -expressed in the ‘high-rising building’ product-, neighbours’ concerns led to the forma-tion of commissions and different social expressions and claims that showed to the local government its concern about the carrying capacity of service infra-structure due to the increased density and the result-ing urban morphology arising from the inorganic implantation of high-rising buildings.

This prompted the municipal government to pass Ordinance 3 in 2008. It suspended the procedures for

the approval of plans, expansions, urban projects or permits for the construction of buildings that exceeded the ground floor and five floors in plots located in the Downtown area and created a Mu-nicipal Advisory Committee for urban planning in the district. These provisions were in force for a consecutive 180-days term.Somehow, it was a good initiative to start discus-sions between local authorities and those of differ-ent scopes with intervention in the territory. The concept behind was rather including some views and guidelines for drafting a Code of Urban Plan-ning, that is, an operational instrument that would replace the Preventing Zoning Code. Thus, no pro-gress was made as regards the two remaining stages established by provincial Decree-Law 8912: the Urban Planning Plan and Particularized Plans.

The necessary formulation of an urban planThe process for the design and enactment of an Urban Plan currently calls for the defini-tion of a global direction to which actions will conform, both public and private, that is, the definition of the basic guidelines that aim to achieve objectives that will impact in the future and will also be the reference framework for resolving current problems. This means that it is necessary to develop a planning process that will end up in a strategy open to change (for it is not a closed prediction about ‘definite’ sce-narios of the evolution of the city) and accom-panied by urban projects that synthesize this strategy.

Urban plans, then, embody the general guidelines of the urban pact, which is the product of the consen-sus among different agents (both public and pri-vate). These features make the Urban Plan an instru-ment of management and negotiation, and the Code is one of the regulating instruments that is a part of it. Therefore, in order to make a diagnosis and pro

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pose a strategy, it is necessary to carry out a process allowing the reconstruction of the partial views, so as to account for a holistic view of the city and its problems, and, at the same time, an interpretation of behaviours and relationships among different social agents involved and the conflicts that may arise.

The local government’s role in this process is to encourage the action of the diverse social agents in the construction of the city. Its role is to ensure that intervention strategies express the highest levels of consensus, without delegation of its leading responsi-bility in the definition of urban policies.

As it can be seen, it is a much more complex and comprehensive process than it is thought of. So, from an academic discourse, there arises the idea of a physically and socially integrated city based on planning which articulates public and private agents, so that densification responds to an idea of a more equitable and more efficient city for everyone.

Research support:

The research project is ‘Torres en jaque. Procesos de sustitución edilicia para explotación intensiva en la ciudad consolidada: el caso del municipio de San Miguel’(Towers in check. Processes of building substitution for the intensive explotation of urban land within the consolidated city: the case of the municipality of San Miguel). It was developed in the Institute of the Conurba-tion, of the National University of General Sarmiento (Argen-tina).

About the author(s):Guillermo TellaHe is an Architect. He has finished his Doctorate Higher Studies in the University of Buenos Aires and is presently working on the finishing of this doctoral thesis. He has been Professor and Researcher in Urban Planning since 1989. Moreover, since 2005 he carries out academic activities in the Institute of the Conurbation in the University of General Sarmiento (Argentina). In his professional experience, he takes part and coordinates the development of strategic plans and of urban ordinance and local development for public as well as for socio-urban and environ-mental consulting firms. As a result of this theoreti-cal production and professional practice, he has



published numerous science and outreach works on the processes and effects of the metropolitan trans-formation

Estela CañellasShe holds a Licentiate degree of Urban Planning and a Diploma in Social Sciences Studies from the Na-tional University of General Sarmiento. She has post-graduate studies at Lincoln Institute of Land Policy on Urban Law, Access to Urban Land for Popular Sectors in Argentina and Land Management in Large Urban Projects. She is part of UNGS research teams and Swiss National Center of Competence North-South. She is Assistant to Coordination of the Regional Urban Management Plan for the Munici-pality of Lobos and of the project ‘Innovative deci-sion-making process in sustainable urban projects’, NCCR-NS. She has published papers in national and international journals.

Martín MuñozHe is a Certified Public Translator in English Lan-guage graduated from the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina ‘Santa María de los Buenos Aires’ and is currently a student reading for the Licentiate Degree of Urban Planning at the National University of General Sarmiento . He is also author of papers published in national magazines and translator of articles in sociology and urban planning.

Daniela NataleShe holds a Licentiate degree in Urban Planning and a Diploma in Management Studies from the Univer-sidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, in which she serves as researcher and professor. Currently, she is reading for her Master in "Environmental Man-agement of Urban Development" in the National University of Mar del Plata. She was Director of Urban and Territorial Ordinance of the Municipal-ity of General Las Heras, Province of Buenos Aires. She was member of the cadastral digitalization team in the Cadaster Department of the Municipality of Morón. She also undertook many consultancy works.

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City Community

Amsterdam: a sense of communityBy Andrey Maltsev, Olga Kist, Yekateriana Dobritskaya

The urban community is the more effective social evolution in our modern time. This is wonderful form of the industrial society, mix of the different cultural forms. In our time, process of urbanization is going so fast. Generally, you can think that urban community is same like rural community, but only has a biggest size. But now, urban communities are not only groups of people who are sharing location, village or town by other words have same territory, at present moment we can say that definition of com-munity is closeness, sense of friendship through shared sport activities (football club or basketball), collective action, common status (ethnic traditions or religion) and also in our daily life we participate in difference communities over world using Internet. So, we can say in nowadays, that urban community is social model, where there is different type of people from different place of world.

Amsterdam was originally founded as a fishing vil-lage in the 12th century. The population of Amster-damas is 741,636 on 2010, an urban population of approximately 1,209,419 and a metropolitan popula-tion of 2,158,592. The city is in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The Amsterdam center is one of the famous places of Europe You will find here a mix of architectural styles belonging to different ages. Narrow buildings looming over canals lined with lovely small shops, comfy brown cafes. But just in five minutes’ walk from the Central Station, away from well-trodden touristy routes, one will find himself surrounded by modern architecture. Here,

in the centre of Amsterdam you can admire a mix of traditional buildings (over 6800) originating from the 16th -18th centuries and modern ones built of concrete and glass. There are 8 windmills within the city boarders.

We can define this present composition as a physical aspect of the urban community where old buildings were not demolished or totally rebuilt. They were preserved in their initial state and new ones nested in between bearing the looks of the same old style. This unique mix and a contrast between difference ages perfectly reflects the social line of modern people liv-ing in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam has acquired the name of the Northern Venice due to the role that water plays in its architec-tural structure and building development. It owns its beauty to canals dominating the historic city centre which consist of 90 islands connected by 240 bridges (in total there are over 165 canals in the city with more than 2500 floating houses moored alongside and over 1200 bridges including 8 wooden opening ones.

Surprisingly enough the inhabitants of Amsterdam do not seem to be very proud of their waters. In the end of the 19th century quite a number of canals

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City Community


were drained and filled up with sand to make room for streets and buildings. Only in 1900 when the city council proposed sanding Reguliersgracht (one the most picturesque canals running through the historic part of the city) public opinion changed and numer-ous protests arose against these plans of the munici-pality.

The modern Amsterdam city appears as hash of little ghettos, as different group of people, come to Nether-lands from different part of the world, in the various parts of the city “each group try to reproduce own the cultural level, language level and so on”. These ethnic groups are forms identity and in the same time completely deferent. The physical segmentation of different social groups in one city (immigrants and native, Chinese immigrants and Asia immigrants) is a social gap between social communities. Of course, we can see that there is not only distance between different communities also we can say that language – is universal units that gather people from so types of community.

In these fundamental stories of urban community, people at first time using only own language try to learn and understand new urban life, later when knowledge of language getting more and more deeper they are recreating meeting with social and cultural life in a new country. It is important; other people feeling that community which is has common ethnic roots and helps to people integrate in new society. And later, just language became such unit for connection people from different society.

The space of social life in modern city, country is so-cial products. These products can be reviewed as so-cial events which are happened from time to time in any city. In that case, all people around town may be in one social level or have social relationship between each other. These social events are making common, in general, all communities which are in a city. Good examples of such events typical of Amsterdam and attended by people from all over the country are Gay Pride, Queen’s Day and the Flower Parade. In these the whole city is united in one big community. Do not matter, from which ethnic group you are, what is your social level or language – people has common social event, where all are same. These local cultures involved its own social order, making different com-mercial relations and different cultural form.

Community in our days becomes more valuable things for better understanding culture, learning and interactive. Effective tool for discovering some interesting aspects of the life in other cities is type of communities available in the local place. Our cities are constancy changed, in other words, communi-ties that there are there also changed. For instance, the growth schema o metropolitan area around city in Netherlands is close associated with internal transportation system. The many Netherlands cit-ies which grew rapidly has very high quality bicycle roads inside but in same time roads for cars stay like many years ago – not so wide. And we can see here in Netherlands generation new type of community – bicycle community. The Netherlands is the country with the highest bicycle use in Europe.

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Within the Netherlands city Amsterdam is not only biggest city, is really primary as far as bicycle use. The men and women, the poor and the rich, pension-ers and the schoolchildren, all use the bicycle for a minimum of 20% of their trips, 28% people living in Amsterdam using bicycle every day. This is almost biggest percent using bicycle around not only the Netherlands but also whole Europe. Most cycling in Amsterdam is for practical purposes. Travel to work or school accounts for 32% of bike trips, shopping trips account for 22%. Dutch cyclists comprise virtu-ally all segments of society. For example, women are just about as likely to cycle as men. Women make 55% all bicycle trip in the Netherlands. Amsterdam’s city administration estimates that there were 600,000 bikes in Amsterdam in 2006, about 0.75 bikes per inhabitant (City of Amsterdam, 2007). But in 2011 situation is completely changed, estimated that there were 1 200,000 bikes in Amsterdam, about 1.6 bikes per inhabitant. At present moment the city of Am-sterdam has a more then of 500km of bike paths and lanes.

The parking facilities at the Amsterdam Central railway station have by now become famous. Due to large-scale construction activities the shortage of bicycle parking spaces near the station was extremely acute in 2000. To relieve the worst situations local authorities arranged for temporary parking facilities, among which a ‘bicycle tower’ with 2,500 spaces. This actually houses close to 3,500 bicycles. The use of the bicycle tower is free – and it is not guarded, but supervised.

Between 2005 and 2007 people in the city used their bikes on average 0.87 times a day, compared to 0.84 for their cars. This is the first time from history of Amsterdam when bicycle use exceeds car use. The number of trips by car, compared to 1990 in 2010, has fallen in all districts (-14%), whereas the number of trips by bicycle has only risen within the ring road (+36%). The bike is used most often in the town cen-tre (41% versus an average of 28%) and the car least often (10% versus an average of 28%), published in “Cycling in the Netherlands” by Ministry of Trans-port, Public Works and Water Management Directo-rate-General for Passenger Transport Netherlands.

This is quite specific and not so wide in the other countries. A cycle is a part of live for Amsterdam-mers, who are boasting that there are more bicycles than people in their city. It stands to mention, a good few of Amsterdammers’ life is connected with bicycle. You can see in the street a bike rider, who is riding a bike, having a lunch and drinking a juice at the same simultaneously! Bikes are naturally laid on the principal avenues in the town. The central part of the city is completely belonging to the bicyclists. They are having same rights on the streets like driv-ers. You can see on the streets hundreds bicycles in the all place where can be put it. "In town, the car is not the mode of transport," said Hans Voerknecht, international coordinator for FietsBeraad. "The bicy-cle is the grease in the traffic system, and in part, the economic system.... It makes everything possible."

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According to many observes to the Holland scene, football is central to Netherlands culture. In the end of 1960s new sport game was born in the Amster-dam, which being changed by Cultural Revolution - Dutch football. Within a few years, Amsterdam went from backwater to world significance. In the early 1970s Ajax won the European Cup three years. World Cup final between Spain and the Nether-lands – biggest event around Netherlands happened 2 years ago. Amsterdam administration expected the city's population will increase about twice to 1.5 million as fans from Europe and Holland come to the Amsterdam for watching Holland's first World Cup final. Around 100,000 Dutch fans had gathered at Amsterdam's Museumplein (Museum Square) watching a game, ready to make a celebration party for whole night (1). Soccer is widely accepted value that leisure, work, meeting with friends and so many other aspects life everyday issues. Football clubs provide many recreational and competitive oppor-tunities for people. The local soccer club Sporting Maros provide accessible pathway for children and adult alike to participate in organized sport and recreation. As result they play a main role in devel-oping sport and in the meeting expectation of the community regarding activity and competition. As we known, sport can provide us the major sensi-tive – collective participation, mainly through strong feeling and sense of your friends, which are in one team with you. I took interview from two people of the local soccer community and what are they think-ing about it:

City Community


Abu Abdel; the coach of a local football club Sport-ing Maroc, Amsterdam said: “You know, until that time we have created a football community, the peo-ple, who lives in our area, have been quite isolated and communicated within their own circle. Each national community was on its own. Everything’s completely changed for the moment. The commu-nity has united people of different religions, social classes and cultural traditions. We celebrate together several of national festivals and organize meetings outside the community. People have realized they’ve much in common; it is due to joint participation in our community”.

Alex Korzhof; a footballer of the local football team, club Sporting Maroc, Amsterdam said: “Before moving to the Netherlands, I’ve lived in one of the countries of Eastern Europe. And to be honest, I’ve never thought, the Netherlands is such an interna-tional country. After the moving to Amsterdam, I discovered a sports community in our area. And by the reason I was involved in playing football since my childhood, I entered into it. Now I have many friends from different countries, and I thankful that our community gave me the chance to feel homey in a foreign country. I’m perfecting myself as a football player, and, who knows, maybe in the future, I’ll be granted a chance to represent my new country at the international tournaments”.

1. Amsterdam Bilderdijkstraat. Travel Agency. Bil-derdijkstraat 136, 1053LA Amsterdam

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Urban Planning and Economic Development News Magazine

Amsterdam: a sense of community photos provided by professional photographer Maltsev An-drey from Almere Netherlands. You can view many of Maltsef ’s works at http://www.flickr.photos/ryzhik/

The Ottawa Street Power Station, Accident Fund photos provided by professional photographer David Loomis of Okemos Michigan. You can view more of Davids work at Website URL: DavidLoomisPhoto.com

California Schools photos as well as cover photo provided by Urban Planning and Economic Development News Magazine staff

Pamela G. Shinn

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Urban Planning and Economic Development April 2012

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