The International Making Cities Livable Conference IMCL focu

The International Making Cities Livable Conference (IMCL) focuses the discussion of livability on the need for efficient mass transit, bike lanes and networks, child-friendly city spaces, and mixed-use urban fabrics. Similar to new urbanism, IMCL aims to revive the city center, create compact neighborhoods, and create human-scaled public places where people can gather to participate in farmers’ markets, festivals, outdoor cafes, and prostaglandin receptor life (Figure 2). Crowhurst argued that we needed “to rediscover the principles of true urbanism, rebuild our cities so that they are ecologically sustainable, and regain communities that are healthy and socially sustainable” (IMCL; Lennard and Lennard, 1995). Current urban design analyses criticize the modernist approach of conceptualizing buildings as sculptures that are imposed on the surrounding context. They oppose the functionalism and dreariness of modern city spaces as well as the commodification and standardization trends of modern architecture and planning (Goodchild, 1990; Ravetz, 1980). The individual building is frequently perceived as a fragment of a larger “whole,” which is the urban fabric in its historical and physical dimensions. Some urban designers aim to revive vernacular and historical traditions, understand the human characteristics of space, and accentuate the controversial temper of the public realm (Barnette,1995; Gosling, 1996; Hillier, 1996; Kashef, 2011; Nassauer, 2012).
Urban livability and planning literature The second approach, which has dominated the urban scene for the past several decades, is concerned with the technical and functional aspects of urbanity. This approach accompanies the development of modernity and generally emerges from comprehensive and system planning theories (Alexander, 1992, 2000). The systems approach (Figure 3a) views the city as a collection of distinct social and economic components that can be physically segregated to optimize the performance and activities within each component (Catanese and Snyder, 1988; Mcloughlin, 1969; Taylor, 1998; Wolfe, 1989). Perfecting vehicular traffic and reducing the externalities that emerge from the proximity of incompatible uses are regarded by mainstream planners as embodiments of urban livability. The most recent planning approaches associate urban livability with other all-encompassing terms, such as “sustainability,” “biodiversity,” and “ecosystem” (Ruth and Franklin, 2014; Nassauer, 2011). Each of these terms requires further study to define and understand their implications for the existence and continuity of human life on Earth. In the broadest sense, these terms relate to the concept of “balance of nature.” Natural ecosystems experience fluctuations and undergo successive adaptations that have previously led to a state of homeostasis or internal stability because of the coordinated response of the parts to external stimuli or forces that tend to disturb the natural balance. Humans, animals, plants, and their surrounding physical environments interact to create a state of equilibrium that has been sustained over a long period. Environmentalists and modern-day ecologists suggest that such natural balance is currently being violated by the explosive growth of the human population. Moreover, modern advances have facilitated a massive exploitation of natural resources to satisfy benefits and demands that are perceived as essential to enhancing quality of life. In this process, humans degrade the environmental quality of their surroundings and disrupt the ecological harmony that is required to sustain their physical well-being. Despite their ideological differences, contemporary academics and professionals agree that ecosystem considerations are vital to the well-being of humanity (Beatley and Kristy, 1997; Luccarelli, 1995; McHarg, 1969; Nassauer, 2011; Walter, 1992). The city, with its industrial, commercial, and residential functions, constitutes an imposed physical presence over the natural terrain. Such presence affects natural biodiversity and ecological stability by modifying the natural landscape and emitting different kinds of wastes and pollutants to the environment. To improve the overall livability of the region, cities must minimize their influence on the environment. Many scholars have affiliated the idea of urban livability with the concepts of sustainability, biodiversity, and ecosystem given the present awareness on these issues. Some scholars conceptualize the city as a biological system with resource inputs and waste outputs (Figure 3b) (Newman, 1999). The proponents of this approach call for a general restructuring of urban areas to allow the woodlands, wetlands, and agricultural lands to permeate urban development (Figure 3c) (Green Cities, 1991; Hough, 1990; Kahn, 2006; Rowntree, 1994).