The objective of this paper is to analyse and compare in detail the social structure of the two most acclaimed European sustainable neighbourhoods, which have had a completely different implementation approach: bottom-up urban development in Vauban (Freiburg) and top-down urban development in Western Harbour (Malmö). The goal is to uncover the unrevealed urban elements that determine social sustainability. The paper uses an innovative methodological framework - the Fainstein's "Just City" concept, which encompass several social determinants within three main pillars/principles: democracy, equity and diversity. The "Just City" principles and its determinants add a new perspective to social urban manifestation encompassing "social justice" and "local governance" dimensions. These dimensions represent innovative research approaches in exploring urban social sustainability. Through the Just City framework, the social structure of the two representative case studies is dissected to establish the level of urban social sustainability in each urban area. The aim of the paper is to answer to the question: Do the most acclaimed leading sustainable neighbourhoods embody democratic values, assure equality and respect (allow) diversity?
COBISS.SI-ID: 35165533
During urban redevelopment, it is not always completely clear which spaces and groups are the most valuable social and cultural amenities that support creativity and improve the general quality of life in the city. This article uses case studies from Slovenia and Japan to analyze why some spaces are perceived as socially and culturally important whereas others are defined as obsolete and dispensable.
COBISS.SI-ID: 42480173
In the theoretical introduction, we discuss the reflexivity of education to sustainable development (SD). Since the concept is still relatively enigmatic and weak in its operationalisation, we argue the sense of reflexive reading. It is obvious that in society in general as well as in professional circles there is no consensus on complex SD ideas. Nevertheless, it is presented in educational curricula as a consensual paradigm. The preliminary empirical analysis presented in the second part shows that even in school programmes wholeness is still an unsurpassed standard of SD treatments. What is the appropriate relationship between cognitive analytical and practical applications of SD remains an unsettled dilemma. Within the existing formal school system its presentation is reductionist mainly because the school system is not adapted to integrating radical transdisciplinary ideas. The key observation therefore is that the frequency of "sustainable" concepts in school curricula proves that SD is the most important development idea of the twenty-first century, while the reductionism and partiality of SD presentations indicate differences in perceptions and understandings of this "radical" concept. This greatly complicates implementation of the idea in both the education system and society in general.
COBISS.SI-ID: 35263581
The article addresses occupational development in the field of sustainable urbanism. To this end, examples of sustainable neighbourhoods are analysed: Hammarby Sjöstad (Stockholm), Vauban (Freiburg), and GWL-Terrein (Amsterdam). The introduction presents the issues of understanding the operation of occupational groups, their competencies, and occupational professionalisation, followed by an empirical analysis of existing sustainable neighbourhoods. Based on the analysis and interpretation of its findings, the article then provides concrete recommendations for occupational and human resource development in the field of sustainable urbanism in Slovenia and Europe. These derive from the premise that sustainable urbanism, which tries to solve spatial as well as social, cultural and economic problems, requires that social, natural science and technical occupations be adequately represented.
COBISS.SI-ID: 35267421
This paper analyses an often underestimated and ignored urban design element: the neighbourhood community centre (NCC). The aim is to define, describe and highlight the multidimensional effects that a neighbourhood community centre (NCC) has on a local urban community, and to examine the possible correlation between the level of the NCC's development and the neighbourhood's "social urban sustainability" (social cohesion, local identity, sense of place etc.). The main research effort involves exploring and comparing the implementation and development of NCCs in "exemplary urban systems" - the best and most well-known sustainable neighbourhoods in Europe. The final international comparative analysis of NCCs in European sustainable neighbourhoods offers very specific, valuable propositions that can be transferred to future NCCs, with an adaptation to local urban specifics.
COBISS.SI-ID: 35165021