Arcology

Arcology, a portmanteau of the words "architecture" and "ecology", is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design of enormous habitats (hyperstructures) of extremely high human population density. These largely hypothetical structures would contain a variety of residential, commercial, and agricultural facilities and minimize individual human environmental impact. They are often portrayed as self-contained or economically self-sufficient.
The concept has been primarily popularized, and the term itself coined, by architect Paolo Soleri.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcology
Paolo Soleri (born June 21, 1919) is an Italian-American architect. He established Arcosanti and the educational Cosanti Foundation. Soleri is a lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University and a National Design Award recipient in 2006.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Soleri

Arcosanti
http://www.arcosanti.org/

Cities, Italy (3)

San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometres outside the town.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano"

Perugia

The capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the Tiber River, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perugia"





http://v5.cache8.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/1002413.jpg?redirect_counter=1

http://v7.cache8.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/28474720.jpg?redirect_counter=1

Cities, Italy (2)

Florence, Italy

A part of Florence

Also I found a research on urban shapes and urban grids, a comparative study of Adriatic and Ionian coastal cities (by Ermal Shpuza, 2007, Proceedings of 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, Istanbul).

www.spacesyntaxistanbul.itu.edu.tr/papers%5Clongpapers%5C009%20-%20Shpuza.pdf


Avola, Italy

at the centre of hexagon

Star Fort

A star fort, or trace italienne, is a fortification in the style that evolved during the age of gunpowder, when cannon came to dominate the battlefield, and was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_fort"

Bourtange, the Netherlands

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"

Canterbury

I had a great day in Canterbury.

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/)