Rivers: urban blue infrastructure

I worked on urban rivers and their role in improving urban infrastructure cultural ecosystem services. Today I found an interesting web link (BBC Persian) on how a river transforms the urban landscape.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/interactivity/2013/04/130409_ugc_zayandehrood.shtml


The images in the link  show Isfahan, a big city in central Iran. Due to local water resource management system during drought years, Zayandeh Rood (the main river in the city) flows only a few months annually. Today the river brightened and revitalized the city after a dry season. Looking at people and their faces shows how excited they are. I just thought Zayandeh Rood is the most appropriate name for such an influential river: it means a river that generates and creates, a river that gives life. 

Rivers in urban spaces, Thames

I was looking through different topics related to water in urban space, especially Thames in London. I found "Thames 21", which is a waterway charity, website and I read their activities. And then interestingly I found Soundmap of London website, in which u can listen to recorded sounds of different parts of Thames in this url:

http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/waterways/

I listened to Regents Canal Camden. It was a good experince, different from what we hear everyday in London, especially during daytime.

Lighting up- the phenomena

Currently I'm working on an urban project in Chelmsford, Marconi site.

I thought the site basically needs lighting up, in an efficient way. So I'm looking at artists who have worked on light installations and lights in different colours. I've looked at some works by Tadao Ando, Anish Kapoor, David Batchelor and Dan Flavin.

Dan flavin:

Anish Kapoor's installations are not mainly about lighting up at first sight, but as these examples have a reflective surface, they work great in urban open space:

Sources:

http://livegso.blogspot.com/2010/10/light-artist-tadao-ando.html

http://lightingtheshadows10.blogspot.com/

http://chenlu2011.blogspot.com/2011/08/week-6-anish-kapoor-sculpture-not.html

http://wewastetime.wordpress.com/2011/04/09/david-batchelor/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog+culture/arts-policy

http://inhabitots-v1.com/page/3/?s=games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wissenschaftspark_02.jpg

As we move through a place with different colours around us, we'll probably experience different emotions unconsciously. Looking at colour wheel may show how different we feel by different colours. For instance yellow attracts eyes, making people feel hungry(!!!) or light purple is mostly known for its spiritual characters.

Tehran, in a video

I accidentally found this video on Youtube, which is about comparing different urban characteristics of Tehran in different periods of time with a taste of humor. I'm not sure about the filming time, but I guess it should be for 4-5 years ago, to say the least.
The funny scene is the background quote of when Mr Djafar which is very happy about current situation of Tehran, his ideas. The background says: Our city, our home ( the motto of municipality of Tehran)

And here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QZ5pN6E3YA

The main webpage:
http://www.linktv.org/bridgetoiran

Paris (1)

Barcelona

Urban projects

Stockholmsporten Gate to Stockholm
The centre of project is a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that connects neighborhoods and countryside on the four sides of the road. It is going to be a landmark for Stockholm. More info: http://www.archi-europe.com/news-1318-entry-by-ega-for-stockholmsporten-gate-to-stockhol.html

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A red Dot Award winner:
Balancing Barn
By: Living architeture
Location: a few miles inland from the Suffolk coast, near the historic towns of Walberswick and Aldeburgh

More info:
http://www.living-architecture.co.uk/the-houses/balancing-barn/overview/

http://www.archi-europe.com/news-1332-balancing-barn-receives-prestigious-red-dot-award.html

Cities- Italy

Todi, Italy
"The ancient Romans used a consolidated scheme for city planning, developed for military defense and civil convenience. The basic plan consisted of a central forum with city services, surrounded by a compact, rectilinear grid of streets, and wrapped in a wall for defense. To reduce travel times, two diagonal streets crossed the square grid, passing through the central square. A river usually flowed through the city, providing water, transport, and sewage disposal."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planning



"Panoramio"


Turin, Italy



"http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8873304"

Food

As I found on Wikipedia, food distribution consists of 3 parts: transport (roads, vehicles, railways, airports, ports,...), food handling technology and regulation (refrigeration, storage,...) and supply (based on demand and need).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO29iT4HHnM

Food marketing and distribution

Once produced, food products need to be cleaned, assembled, packaged, stored and transported to urban markets . Rural markets, handling, storage and transport facilities as well as roads need to be in place and farmers, transporters and traders need to be made aware of appropriate techniques to prevent spoilage and contamination of food .

Efficient marketing infrastructure such as assembly, wholesale and retail markets and storage are essential for cost-effective marketing, to minimise post-harvest losses, to reduce health risks and to ensure an adequate stability of basic food supply. The characteristics of wholesale markets continue to change as retailing adapts to urban growth, the increasing role of supermarkets and increased consumer spending capacity. The conflict between traditional and modern food distribution arrangements needs to be addressed in order to minimize negative repercussions on income opportunities for the numerous formal and informal agents active in the food economy.

An important aspect for policy consideration is the role played by the informal commercial sector in making food available to low income urban areas and in generating income for poor families. This requires a positive attitude by the authorities and special programmes to facilitate informal food trading activities and to minimise any possible adverse consequences.

(http://www.fao.org/fcit/food-marketing/en/)