Welcome to the ECOCITY 2022 Interactive Programme

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A New Urban Model, based on the principle of replicated fractal patterning can be used to integrate high density urban living with the biophilic experience of forest bathing. Mapping the patterns of resources – as stocks, flows and yields – provides a foundation by which to order the hierarchy of daylight access, cross ventilation, and free harvest from the sun, wind and precipitation, to discover the fit of these factors to the benefit of an urban population.

This design approach reaches beyond the binary choice of isolating built form from nature and instead posits the urban form as an integral ecology of non-living and living systems; which most importantly is scalable from the individual, to the urban block, to the district, to the full city form.

The modulation of that integral ecology, using fractal patterning, enables the ‘making’ of urban form as an expression of growth; much in the spirit of the lessons of nature, wherein underlying patterns of order frame the reaching for, the responding to, and/or the accommodating of, the complex emergence of pioneer and succession systems of habitation – not only those of nature but also those of human population.

Nature teachers that the key element of all growth is the cell and that form is an expressive result.

Our cities can borrow from that lesson, and, as is shown in the New Urban Model can place all occupancy in close reach to nature; wherein Healthy Urbanism measures the mutual health of our communities of population and our communities of ecology – as patterns of fractal integration.

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Addressing climate change adaptation in urban areas is increasingly urgent and requires fundamental transformations of supply infrastructures such as transport and mobility, electricity and water supply, or telecommunication as well as an improved understanding of the interactions of these critical infrastructures. Practical experiences show, that in general there is an awareness of these interconnections, but for example emergency plans often fall short regarding the growing indirect influences of climate change on infrastructural failures expected in the future. Therefore, there is also a growing need for research and systemic approaches to overcome this isolated sectoral view of climate change impacts to gain a holistic understanding of the critical infrastructure networks.

Against this background, the paper highlights the relevance of climate change impacts on critical infrastructures, infrastructure interdependencies and potential cascading effects. The analysis uses a system dynamics approach that has been applied within a case-study for the metropolitan area of Hamburg, Germany. It is based on transdisciplinary research methods, connecting the realms of scientific knowledge about regional climate change with real-world experiences. Thereby specifically a participatory approach – e.g. using a stakeholder mapping process, interviews, group model building techniques, workshops and impact matrices – has been carried out with key stakeholders from different sectors to identify climate-related drivers causing the most severe failures and losses in the system – either directly in the same sector or indirectly due to breakdowns in other sectors.

By this hands-on deep dive into the topic – also addressing key aspects of the “Agenda 2030” and the “New Leipzig Charter” – the paper presents valuable practical insights regarding the specific relevance of cascading effects for the sectors energy, water and transport. Thereby it introduces the topic of adaptation to climate change as a starting point for a better understanding and management of systemic risks in order to build and maintain a resilient mobility infrastructure and to make cities and settlements safe, resilient and sustainable.

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With the acceleration of urbanization, the air quality of many cities is worrying. The improvement of wind environment can effectively promote the diffusion of air pollutants and inhibit the formation of urban heat island effect. This study intends to study the coupling relationship between wind environment and block shape through parametric study of urban residential block form and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation method. The project selects 10 typical residential forms in Beijing, and classifies them into groups for the morphology parameterization. Combined with the local environment, the wind environment of different residential areas is evaluated. According to the simulation results, the wind environment of different altitudes of each group of models is statistically analyzed. The morphological characteristics of urban residential block forms are summarized, which are conducive to the reduction of air pollutants, and scientific planning suggestions and reference for the future urban residential blocks with a good ventilation environment are given.

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Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica (Houtt.) Ronse Decr) is an invasive species that causes significant structural and functional changes in urban ecosystems and substantial economic damage in the US, UK and Europe. Is there any benefit of Japanese knotweed in cities and could it somehow be used in urban farming? In this research, the aboveground parts of Japanese knotweed were considered as an alternative local resource for the production of organic fertilizer (OF). To obtain an average yield of 5 kg/m² for the selected crops and cover 100 % crop N requirement an application of 2 kg/m² OF would be required; the application covers two thirds of P crop requirements and almost ninety percent of K crop requirements. The results indicate OF from Japanese knotweed has a potential to fuel urban food production. Such use could serve as a complementary method to existing approaches for managing Japanese knotweed in cities. The OF production is DIY friendly (replicable by small urban farmers) and has the potential to be replicated on a larger scale, e.g. by waste management companies. Further research should focus on different soil types, a wider variety of plants, and consider possible reluctance of farmers to use OF made from invasive plant.

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Long before the times of lockdowns and travel restrictions, we knew about the benefits of green spaces and fresh air. Yet restrictions drew our radius closer to home, and so the Viennese population too started flocking to their own doorstep: the Vienna Woods. However, the increased use of the area for recreation by the urban population are leading to growing number of conflicts between sustainable land use and recreational use addressed by different stakeholder groups. Whether through active rule breaking or merely unknowingly, users of this sensitive landscape have a(n negative) impact on the forest ecosystem and thus stirred new debates on conservation and monitoring strategies to adapt to the new normal. The stakeholders influencing use and conservation of the Vienna Woods (e.g. tourism and athletic associations, forest services, local government, etc.) follow a variety of goals ranging from pure nature conservation to improving usability for recreation. As the assumption remains, that use of these areas is a trend to stay. The question was posed, how the arising user conflicts are being adapted into strategies and policies and to what extent monitoring is implemented to maintain sustainable use of the Vienna Woods.

In order to create a comprehensive picture of the (conflict) situation, a mixed-method approach based in the field of environmental and landscape planning was used. First a media analysis and investigation of visitor statistics were used to determine how visitor behavior and trends have developed since March 2020. Following this, stakeholder analysis used to identify new and rising conflicts and the areas in which they occur. Finally, a policy analysis was conducted to identify how new trends and conflicts are being addressed in local strategies.

This contribution displays the changes that have rapidly occurred and concludes with recommendations on how local authority can improve strategies to protect peri-urban recreation areas and which aspects need closer monitoring to ensure future sustainability and uphold the invaluable function the Vienna Woods have for the urban population.

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Isobenefit Urbanism is a libertarian paternalist planning approach based on a morphogenetic code inducing a 15-minute walking city where one can reach within 1km: natural land, shops, amenities, services and places of work. It does it by being semi-liberally driven by market forces and genius loci. The urban development and growth follow spontaneous or desired functional morphological patterns and densities across the urban planimetry, with infinites outputs satisfying the Isobenefit Urbanism design objective function. The latter is to reach an evenly walkability across every urban area, where everyone from everywhere can walk toward natural land, and her daily activities. The generated urban forms and spatial ratio distribution between cemented and green lands would have the potential to reduce urban heat island effects, flooding, particulates, commuting time, physical and mental urban illness linked to pollution, noise, forms of stress, car use. It also opens interesting discussion and simulations of real estate values distribution deserving investigations. A few simulations from an alpha version of this cellular automata code will be briefly discussed from planning, environmental and economic issues.

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We know that to truly address the climate crisis, the greatest changes need to happen in our towns and cities. The majority of people now live in towns and cities, and they will soon account for ¾ of our energy use and green house gas emissions.

Bioregional has been working with delivery partners in five towns and cities across the world as part of a grant funded programme. In each region, communities have created sustainability action plans and collaborations – helping them move towards a greener, healthier future, where everyone enjoys a good quality of life. Across the programme, 105 people have been trained as One Planet Integrators, and over 100 action plans have been created.

Additionally, ecological and carbon footprints were calculated in four of the regions, acting as a baseline from which to identify key areas for concerted action.

Our programme has brought together local authorities, businesses, schools and community groups in Canada, Denmark, South Africa, Russia and the UK to make their towns and cities better places to live.

These organisations have developed action plans and partnerships to help their region become more sustainable. The process has been led in each location by an 'on-the-ground' lead partner.

Bioregional’s One Planet Living framework is used to structure the plans. These ten simple principles – from health and happiness and sustainable food to zero carbon energy – provide a common language to talk about sustainability and to drive change.

Through our work across the 5 towns and cities, we have developed a clear collaborative process for driving sustainability action in a region that is based around the co-creation of shared vision and development of action plans.

The programme has created an international network of knowledge-sharing designed to accelerate change towards happy and prosperous lives for all within the limits of our one planet.

We’re now looking to expand our programme and are inviting more towns and cities to join our network.

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Large cities are in constant changes. These changes are becoming increasingly compulsory due to the dynamism and growing urban population. Such flows of people rely on sound and timely transport systems daily. Therefore, more paved paths must be developed while more private and public vehicles used. The result will be more traffic congestions, air pollution, carbon emissions, infrastructure, and energy consumptions. Sustainable solutions and strategies must be developed to reduce these burdens and make transportation more sustainable and effective.

This research has made a case for Tehran as the largest city in Iran in terms of population and size area. The city has grown fast due to mass rural-urban migrations, industrialization, and improper urban development over the past decades. Currently, the city has embedded 22 Municipality Districts across its vast fish-like shape area.

Based on a recent comprehensive annual report published by the Tehran Municipality, we determined the most influential parameters affecting daily commutes across all residential areas located in 22 Districts. A total of 15 variables were defined, such as ‘number of the population per area unit’ (Pop_dens). As an innovative data analysis approach, we employed SQL algorithms to evaluate relationships between these 15 variables and select those with lower-than-mean thresholds. We then crossed each of these variables chosen with daily commutes figures for each District. We could attain several SQL-based queries and determine the best District for offering low-carbon daily commutes. Among all Tehran Districts, District-22 could offer higher scores (6 out of 10) based on queries made for low-carbon daily commutes.

This research revealed a reliable data analysis approach to tackle transport inefficiency and reducing carbon emissions in the cities.

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In times of increasing urbanisation, constantly growing density of urban settlements and respective effects on city climate, resource consumption and quality of life, sustainable urban development is a crucial element to create liveable and resilient cities. Urban green attracts increasing attention of urban planners as it has numerous positive effects on environment and citizens. It is not only of ecological importance but also of economic and social value for the city although these benefits are often unseen or underestimated by decision makers. And as space is scarce in urban settlements, new, innovative and smart forms of urban greening are required.

The research project VertiKKA, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, uses a technological approach to increase energy, land and resource efficiency and improve environmental quality as well as quality of life within a city. In collaboration with the City of Cologne (Germany), the project partners develop and analyse a multifunctional green facade element using domestic grey water for irrigation and producing energy with attached photovoltaic elements.

Besides high investment costs and monetary benefits like reductions of incidental housing costs, the VertiKKA-module with its vertical green element provides several uncompensated public benefits. Main ecosystem services, provided by the green VertiKKA module, are regulating services such as local climate and air quality regulation, carbon sequestration and reduction of heat island effects as well as cultural services including impacts on mental and physical health, aesthetic aspects and increased quality of life. Furthermore it provides habitat for species and contributes to biodiversity. To provide arguments and evidence for these public benefits, the economic valuation of the ecosystem services of the VertiKKA module is part of its economic analysis. The assessment comprises a combination of economic valuation methods and participatory approaches. It not only includes a monetary classification of the ecosystem services but also a holistic assessment of qualitative and quantitative benefits as decision basis and road map for urban decision makers.

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This research investigates how worldbuilding can be used to create more participatory and interdisciplinary planning initiatives for resilient urban futures. A design methodology with origins in fiction and Hollywood filmmaking, worldbuilding employs a collaborative, ethnographic design methodology that emphasizes extensive research at individual, community, and world scales to explore grounded visions of alternative futures. It uses a narrative, story-based approach to synthesize research strains in order to create more human-centered articulations of potential future conditions. Because narratives are processed differently than other forms of information, the narrative tools of worldbuilding can challenge existing views and belief systems without threatening deeply held values (Zaidi, 2019). In this way, worldbuilding can provide fertile ground for enhanced collaboration and participation, between professional disciplines as well as groups with significant cultural differences. As stronger degrees of collaboration have been shown to enhance social resilience (Ledogar and Fleming, 2010), the worldbuilding approach presents valuable potential to create the more resilient cities the 21^st century demands.

The presentation focuses on a project titled Future World Vision. The project is a worldbuilding initiative created for the American Society of Civil Engineers, to envision and articulate what dense urban environments could become by the year 2070. Developed as an interactive educational video game for emerging civil engineering students, the project is designed to provoke deeper questions about what urban life might be like and invite in-depth conversation, planning and strategy to identicy about what preferable futures could be. A breakdown of the project’s methodology serves as an example of worldbuilding’s potential utility in creating more collaborative, participatory engagement in long-term urban development and building more resilient communities.

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The COVID 19 pandemic has shaped the way citizens perceive their food environment, catalyzing the surge of innovative solutions that answer these new perspectives.

In Germany, the crisis has led to a shift in consumption and eating habits, increasing the demand for regionally produced and organic products and those made under standards of animal welfare, climate, and biodiversity protection.

As a result, many existing alternative food systems solutions (e.g., community-supported agriculture and food assemblies) enjoyed high reactivation and great acceptance at the same time novel initiatives popped-up to supply the demand for these products, such as a boost in e-commerce, new forms of food distribution, and an increase in at-home food production.

Through an exploratory analysis, this study aims to understand better how urban food systems used their potential for innovations and responded to the current health crisis and the lessons learned to promote and enhance more resilient and sustainable urban food systems in the Cologne-Bonn region.

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Ongoing urbanisation and current environmental concerns such as global warming, climate change and the required transition towards a more circular and renewable way of living, will have a large impact on the character and functionality of our cities and in particular of local neighbourhoods – the building blocks of our cities. Sustainable solutions for urban resource management are increasingly organised in a decentral way and need to be spatially embedded and supported by local communities. Local and global goals towards a sustainable future are often visionary and ambitious, however the reality of designing and implementing effective measures is not so straightforward due to complex institutional systems, vested interests and local resistance to the proposed change. This transition requires therefore new forms of design and development processes for the (re)development of neighbourhoods.

This particular study aims at getting insight in how participatory processes can enhance the implementation of circular initiatives at the level of the neighbourhood in order to accelerate the transition towards sustainable urban areas. Six recently implemented Dutch circular initiatives are analysed following the ‘value flower field method', which has been specifically developed for this research. This method enables a multi-layered analysis of ambitions, actors, resource cycle(s), spatial interventions and value creation. The data is gathered through interviews with key stakeholders, site observations and a study of the policy documents and plans. The results demonstrate that ambitious (organised) citizens are able to create multiple local value by closing resource cycles at neighbourhood level. Collaboration of the initiators with the local municipality is often not straightforward because the organizational structures of the local municipality often work against the integral approach inherently needed by the nature of the locally initiated interventions. The value flower field map method provided insight in the integrality of the urban metabolism implementation and value creation processes and could therefore be used as a process tool for future initiatives.