João Pedro Costa

Post-conflict cities are often understood as an outcome of fragmented governance, where coordination is limited, power is centralized and where spatial planning and urban development are often neglected and under-resourced across governance scales. This paper examines how temporal misalignment between framework systems contribute to uneven urban development of post-conflict cities. Focusing on Dili, Timor-Leste, this paper analyses how the different framework systems of planning, legislation and budgeting interact to shape the city. To this end, analysis of public documents relating to each of these systems is reviewed, such as government programs, existing studies, legislative documents and budgetary books and data. The key outcomes are mapped on a timeline to identify lags and gaps within and between these frameworks. Analysis shows that despite clear increase in intent to incorporate spatial planning into governance and decision-making processes, there is a gap between programming intent and legislative actions, and between legislative instruments and budget allocations. Consequently, institutional coordination is constrained, and sectoral interventions take place, leading to fragmented and uneven urban development. This paper contributes to discussions on post-conflict urbanism, arguing that uneven temporal consolidation of planning across interconnected planning, legal and budget framework systems shape urban development in transitioning post-conflict contexts.

Spatial planning is a newborn practice in Timor-Leste; the first approved spatial plan was developed in 2015 for the island of Ataúro, although spatial planning public policy was only established i...

While global climate adaptation goals are well-established, their translation into neighborhood-scale spatial reality remains underexplored, creating a critical knowledge gap regarding the social acceptability of specific interventions. This study addresses this “governance–perception mismatch” through a case study of Caferağa, a high-density coastal district in Istanbul. By surveying 104 “ground-floor interface” stakeholders, the research investigates the extent to which spatial strategies are integrated and how they are perceived by local users. The findings reveal three significant patterns: (1) an “implementation gap”, where a majority of respondents (51.0%) report no effective adaptation measures despite strongly prioritizing green infrastructure (38.5%) over water management solutions (13%); (2) a “participation paradox”, evidenced by a stark divergence between high willingness to engage (73.1%) and negligible perceived involvement; and (3) the conceptual validation of “informed cynicism”, where higher education levels correlate with deeper institutional distrust due to the recognized inadequacy of current actions. The study concludes that in centralized planning systems, the structural exclusion of high-human-capital stakeholders transforms potential co-production into active alienation.

Reseña del libro: Carles Crosas, Álvaro Clua, Inés Aquilué y Melisa Pesoa (coords.), Enseñar urbanismo: apuntes y experiencias, Recolectores Urbanos, 2023, 280 pp., ISBN: 978-84-123141-8-2.

La «ribera entre proyectos» es un trayecto por la ribera industrial, investigada a partir del caso de Lisboa, en sus dos momentos de formación territorial y de transformación urbanística.Mostrándose como una ribera plural - en el espacio y en el tiempo -, configurada por una multiplicidad de espacios con lógicas propias, esta ribera en singular está, al final, compuesta por diversas riberas localizadas en territorios de características distintas, preexistentes o ganados al río, sobre el agua o, en determinado momento, alejada del río.Es, también, una ribera que, habiendo sido inicialmente ocupada por la industria de la ciudad, por la actividad del puerto y por la nueva infraestructura de accesibilidad a ambos, sufrió dinámicas de utilización variables a lo largo del tiempo.La investigación se centra en la identificación de un conjunto de patrones comunes en la formación y transformación de la ribera a partir del periodo industrial, elegidos a partir del caso de estudio (Lisboa) y comprobados con recurso a cuatro casos de trabajo (las riberas de Rótterdam, Shangai, Duisburgo y Hamburgo).A partir del trayecto por el territorio y por diversas fuentes primarias y secundarias, de la primera parte del trabajo resulta la propuesta de definición de siete procesos de formación de la ribera industrial, identificando para cada uno el periodo temporal en que predominan, concretamente:1. La formación edificio a edificio;2. La estructura de muelle, calle y almacén;3. El crecimiento espontáneo sobre el viario o el ferrocarril;4. El proyecto de la compañía industrial;5. El plan general del puerto delante de la ciudad;6. La parcelación industrial;7. El gran complejo industrial autónomo.La segunda propuesta de un cuerpo conceptual realizado a partir de una abstracción de la lectura de los casos se refiere a los procesos de transformación de la ribera en el periodo post-industrial, proponiéndose:A. La transformación a la escala del proyecto de arquitectura;B2a. El proyecto de los grandes equipamientos de la ribera;B1. La transformación de la compañía industrial;B2b. La transformación del espacio industrial como nuevo tejido urbano;B2c. El proyecto del espacio público de frente-río;C. La transformación de la ribera de jurisdicción portuaria;D1. El proyecto especial;D2. El proyecto de metrópolis.En estos ocho procesos de transformación también fue posible elegir un conjunto de dimensiones urbanísticas que marcaron una presencia común en los ejemplos estudiados.El trayecto por las varias partes y momentos de la ribera asume que, antes de más, cada ejemplo es un ejemplo y cada caso estudiado es diferente de los demás.El recorrido por el caso de Lisboa y de los cuatro casos de trabajo es así, antes que nada, un recorrido por las distintas formas deformación y transformación de este territorio de origen industrial.El título y el contenido de las dos parte de la investigación refleja esa dualidad; "formas" corresponde al análisis de distintos ejemplos en cinco casos distintos, cada cual con sus características propias, y "procesos" marca la tentativa, que conlleva siempre un componente reductor, de sistematizar esas realidades en un cuadro común.Con la definición de estos patrones comunes - que no constituyen un dato absoluto o una matriz indispensable -, los procesos de formación y transformación de la ribera del periodo industrial podrán utilizarse para apoyar la lectura de este territorio en otras ciudades portuarias de río.Como herramienta de trabajo, este cuadro conceptual pasa a estar disponible para informar otras riberas, siguiendo siempre el presupuesto de partida, presente en su propia abstracción, de que cada ciudad portuaria de río es un caso particular donde no todos los procesos ocurren y donde los que se manifiestan encuentran sus propias formas. The «ribera entre proyectos» (riverfront between projects) studies the industrial riverfront based on the Lisbon case, focusing on both moments of its territorial formation and urban transformation.Being a plural riverfront - plural in space and plural in time - it is composed of multiple spaces with its own logic and distinct characteristics, being its preexistent areas or spaces conquered by the river, located by water or separated from the river somewhere in time.Firstly occupied by the industry of the city, by the port or by the new infrastructure of accessibility to both, this riverfront has known variable dynamics of use through time.The research focus on the identification of a group of common patterns in the formation and transformation of the riverfront starting in the industrial period; these patterns are identified in the Lisbon case study and confirmed in four other cases - the riverfronts of Rotterdam, Shanghai, Duisburg and Hamburg.Studying the territory and its several primary and secondary fonts, the first part of the project proposes the definition of seven processes of formation of the industrial riverfront, identifying for each its predominant period in time:1. The formation building by building;2. The structure of pier, street and warehouse;3. The spontaneous growth supported by corridors of accessibilities (streets and railway);4. The project of the industrial company;5. The master plan of the port in front of the city;6. The industrial allotment;7. The large and autonomous industrial complex.The second conceptual definition resulting from the abstraction of the cases studied refers to the processes of transformation of the post-industrial riverfront, being proposed:A. The transformation at the scale of the project of architecture;B2a. The project of the large public equipment of the riverfront;B1. The...

If delta and estuary areas are observed under the perspective of a double system of dynamic infrastructures, the object of parallel “water/urbanisation” processes, the interface spaces become key nodes. In this perspective, port and waterfront areas can be described as spaces of mediation. The article argues that in the case of Lisbon and the Tagus, as possibly in several other port cities, these edge spaces can be described as “fluid territories.” The pre-eminent characteristic of “fluid territories” is that they are not permanent, neither in space nor time. These areas present accelerated transformations, less defined boundaries, and an increased spatial and management complexity. Moreover, “fluid territories” also mediate (a) the culture-natural environment, with human action appropriating the natural system through infrastructure and urbanisation, and (b) the industrialised economic estuary, with its continuous updating. To demonstrate this hypothesis, two samples of Lisbon’s riverfront are observed, recording its constant variability over the last 200 years of industrialisation, emphasising the “fluidity” of the mediating spaces. The understanding of the “fluid” characteristic of water/land mediation spaces is relevant for the present. Being dynamic and regularly reinventing spaces, spatial planning, public space, and architectural design processes in “fluid territories” should increasingly seek adaptability, flexibility, and openness to change. In the climatic context of continuous uncertainty combined with the need to make room for infrastructure, rethinking mediation areas through the lens of the theoretical concept of the “fluid territory” enables the implementation of urban transformation processes consistent with contemporary challenges.

Over the last decade, soft planning has become an increasingly visible concept in planning literature. Since the term soft spaces was firstly coined, soft planning has been used to describe a growing number of practices that occur at the margins of statutory planning systems. However, as soft planning-related literature proliferates, so does the diversity of approaches and planning practices it encompasses. Such diversity fuels long-standing questions about what can or cannot be considered as soft planning as well as about its usefulness for today’s planning theory and practice. To shed light on this still unclear conceptual outline, this article divides the soft planning debate into five contextual components (ethos; governance; politics; policies; spaces; and scale) while paying particular attention to the relationship between soft planning and strategic spatial planning. The aim is to foreground soft planning as a concept, and add clarity and awareness on the challenges, the risks and opportunities, planning currently faces.

In recent years, cruise tourism has increased the negative effects caused by touristification in many European port cities. Despite this, these cities are in a great competition to be a destination, a tourist-port. Cruise tourism has come to stay, and a steady growth can be expected in a post-COVID-19 scenario, but at what cost? The tourist-port demands highly effective planning answers occurring simultaneously, and the global pandemic crisis provides a buffer of time to seek best practices, combining the expected economical (re)development with social, environmental, and cultural sustainability. This paper proposes five different strategies that contribute to finding a sustainable coexistence between tourist ports and their cities. To this end, trans-scalar strategies developed in previous research from different disciplines have been studied and categorized in a port-city context, in order to provide a holistic viewpoint on the measures carried out to maximize the benefits and limit the negative impacts of cruise tourism on cities.

The relationships Malaga has established with its port have changed over the centuries, conjuring up a variety of scenarios and circumstances. The past and present are closely linked phenomena in this case study where the porosity of the port‐city fabric has marked the city’s development and constitutes a key issue in the current and future challenges it faces. Malaga provides a particularly interesting example of a post‐industrial city that has reopened its port to its inhabitants’ acclaim while maintaining port activity. However, the growth tourism has seen in recent years has come to dominate the local economy. Cruise ships have taken on a significant role and have brought about important changes in the dynamics and flows between the port and the city, unsettling the balance between the two. This profile explores port‐city development through the lens of boundaries and flows, demonstrating how their dynamics have determined Malaga’s spatial, functional, and social development over time and how they continue to do so to this day. This article reviews the transformations the city has undergone and its future opportunities to achieve a balanced and sustainable port‐city relationship.