This case study on urban heat island effects report will focus on an innovative design concept on how to reduce urban heat island effect using eco friendly concept for building and design. This project encapsulates the concept of earthen clay cones as cooling system. In urban heat islands during summer heat, the climate is sub-tropical-arid with hot summers and warm winters. For example, the hottest months are July and August, when average maximum temperatures reach above 45 degree Celsius on the coastal plain. The case study report of Doha, Qatar is structured on a number of strategic choices aiming to be a functional facility through a sustainable design vision. The site plan is defined by the main attraction of shade using cylindrical clay cones- placed next to each other to capture hot air and convert it to cool air. Attention is given to the layout of the clay cones along with a water pipe which throws water captured from rainwater harvesting or ground water on the surface of the pipes to cool the surrounding air. The water that falls down will be collected at a space in the ground and reused. The space will provide for a cool shaded area with a rich canopy of different varieties of palm trees, hibiscus, plumeria, bougainvillea and other species native to the country of origin, among other vegetation. This will instill an overall sense of community while offering shaded areas and panoramic points of view. Centrally positioned, earthen cones will allow for an ultra- low maintenance, sustainable, and inexpensive alternative as using the porous terracotta as heat exchange medium tapping on to cooling the properties of water, converting the hot air from the summer heat into a pleasant breeze. A handful of benches in the green area is used for meditation and quiet gatherings. Emphasis is put on the building materials like lighter colored materials and surfaces which should be permeable, as while wet, a permeable paving system of interlocking concrete blocks performs cooling better than impermeable surfaces. Equally important is the application of sustainable applications, i.e. , passive cooling through water and cool air passing through the pipes, cross ventilation by solar powered fans. Semicircular waterfalls are located at one end of the site, accessible through the pedestrian area at the entry of the site. Earthen clay cones installation is an exciting opportunity to implement new building standards in Doha, Qatar, a design while reflecting the modernization of the country can be considerate and respectful of its own traditions and heritage.

Metropolitan planning is by far a major trend in the worldwide spatial development landscape for decades. Though metropolitan areas have long been considered to reflect the institutional dimension of urban-rural partnerships, in the last 15 years the concept of Functional Urban Area (FUA) has emerged in connection to the degree of urbanization around cities. FUAs illustrate the economic interdependencies between an urban core and its hinterland, typically determined by commuting patterns or accessibility criteria. According to the OECD’s methodology based on population, density and contiguity, FUAs were defined for Romania’s county capitals (40 cities) as territories where urban development projects could be financed from regional development funds in the framework of the 2014-2020 programming period. In this paper, we analyse the relationship between the defined FUAs (considering their total surface, number of Local Administrative Units, percent of the county occupied by the FUA) and the territorial dynamics in both the urban core and the hinterland (with reference to the demographic and economic profile - population size, number of employees, etc, and, most importantly, the spatial pattern of housing and amenities) for one of the fastest growing urban areas in Romania: Cluj-Napoca. By using a comparative analysis of satellite images between the years 2010 and 2019, we identified the areas around Cluj-Napoca where the demographic and economic growth had the biggest impact. In the end, we chose one of these new residential developments around Cluj-Napoca for a more detailed analysis regarding public service provision and housing quality. The results showcase the spatial impact of the economic development around emerging cities, reflected especially through expanding boundaries of the artificial surface and the development of housing units in the functional urban areas. Considering the fragmented territorial organisation configuration, the current administrative boundaries are no longer able to capture the new functional relationships generated by the real estate dynamics in the last decade. Furthermore, the current planning system has proven to be incapable of providing new residential developments in suburban areas an adequate quality of living, with public services and amenities often lacking. Given these arguments, we support the need to introduce a normative territorial plan at Functional Urban Area level in the Romanian planning system, in order to correlate the spatial development vision of functional areas around Romania’s developing cities. Such an instrument will not only support an efficient land-use management and enhanced living conditions, but it will also provide a framework to systematically integrate territorial investments around major cities.

The dynamics taking place in the big cities of Europe and the world pose a series of challenges and unprecedented demands. On the one hand, the need for affordable housing has increased due to the growing population in cities like Milan and Vienna. On the other hand, phenomena related to climate change are affecting the livability of human settlements and requiring mitigation and environmental solutions, that should be combined with the necessary refurbishment of the existing housing stock. Most large cities worldwide have recently experienced the dramatic effects of the climate crisis. To meet the 1.5-degree pathway and the Paris goals, cities must reduce 55-60% of their net emissions by 2030. The cities of Vienna and Milan have been impacted by Urban Heat Islands (UHI) phenomena, which are particularly critical in densely populated residential districts. UHI challenges housing in several ways: new construction, as well as the operation of existing buildings significantly contribute to CO2 emissions. As one of the major causes of UHI, buildings therefore constitute a crucial field of action for mitigation and future reduction. Especially in densely built-up neighborhoods with few green spaces where larger households live with less income, the negative effects of hotter summers diminish residents’ quality of life. Modern tools of urban development and housing production after World War II have proven unable to face both challenges, leaving a huge stock of environmentally unsustainable post-war housing in heat vulnerable urban fabrics. However, even more contemporary standards applied to retrofitting have proven unable to sufficiently increase its environmental qualities. Since housing is an inertial object its transformation is hardly reversible, the consequences of today’s errors can last for decades. We urgently need innovation in the way we produce and transform the housing stock to provide more spaces for livability and sustainability. Especially the ecological aspects can no longer be relegated to certain “demonstration projects,” but have to be applied in every single project if the 1.5-degree goal is to be reached. This will be a daunting task for affordable housing production, which is already under economic pressure due to increased land and construction costs. The scarcity of resources and building materials resulting from the Covid-19 crisis have further raised the costs. In this context, design and regulation can play key roles. By following the cradle-to-cradle principles of a circular economy, a potential solution is offered. Architectural design based on a circular economy can combine affordable design solutions with environmental goals and integrate green concepts in new construction and renovation while achieving CO2 neutrality. Targeting the refurbishment of the existing building-stock provides a huge chance to achieve the ambitious 1.5-degree goals while improving the living situation of city dwellers. Greening concepts have been applied to facades and roofs of new buildings, but rarely to existing ones. Innovative and light-weight greening concepts present alternatives, while Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) for the design of open spaces can prove environmentally effective and cost-efficient. Building regulations often hinder both ecological refurbishment and architectural innovation. If redrafted according to circular economy principles, they could stimulate sustainable housing developments and the integration of green measures. Starting from these environmental, social and economic challenges and focusing on the cities of Vienna and Milan, the research will investigate opportunities for architecture and regulative innovation to improve green and environmental standards in housing production and renovation and, ultimately, to enable better and more livable housing experiences. The result shall be a guideline to apply the principles of circular economy to decrease housing costs and achieve the climate targets.

Under the background of new urbanization, urban construction has entered the stage of stock renewal, and the research on the renewal of old blocks is urgent. Taking the material environment and the use behavior of residents as the research object, this paper puts forward a set of evaluation and design methods for block renewal from macro and meso levels. By analyzing the connotation of the concept of healthy city and the governance characteristics of old blocks, based on the theory of healthy social determinants, health promotion theory and meta theory of healthy city, the objective requirements of healthy China 2030 and the actual development of healthy cities in China, A five dimensional evaluation index system of "healthy block" based on "healthy built environment healthy people's psychology" is established. Taking Xichang street block in Changsha as an example, the quality of old block renewal is evaluated and renewal strategies are put forward. This study has certain reference significance in examining the urban public health problems, carrying out the environmental assessment of the existing blocks, investigating the psychological needs of residents' health, and optimizing the renewal methods of old blocks in the city. It provides support and exploration for the optimization methods of block level in the construction of healthy cities in China.

There are a large number of historic blocks and a high proportion of seniors in Beijing Xicheng District, which is an important area where modern urban life and traditional physical space meet. With the renewal and construction of historic blocks, public space has become the key to reshape the historic blocks' living atmosphere. However, do these public spaces meet the living needs of most residents? Under the advocacy of the community life circle, we will return to observing residents' daily life and space needs and put forward the exploration of age-friendly renewal for the life circle of historic blocks. This paper takes seniors as the research object, selects the public space in the historic blocks of Beijing Xicheng District as sample spaces to explore the characteristics and influence of public space and seniors' behaviors. Through literature review, site survey, interview information to obtain relevant data, further expand the data induction statistics, model construction and impact analysis to carry out the research. The survey results show that: 1.The distribution of public space in the historic blocks is unbalanced, showing differences in quantity, area, function and other aspects, which is difficult to cover the living needs of residents fully. 2.Combined with the literature research and the observation of the behavior characteristics of seniors in public space, "communication" and "pass by" behaviors are the most common; The group behavior represented by "playing cards or playing chess and watching" is less likely to occur, and once it happens, a large number of people will gather. 3.It classifies behavior into static and dynamic and respectively discusses the influence of spatial form on its occurrence frequency. Found space area, the number of seats, enclosure degree of space to seniors' static behavior has a significant effect, space area and adjacent street width, the number of facilities has a significant influence on seniors' dynamic behavior. This paper aims to guide the age-friendly renewal of the public space in the historic blocks based on the analysis of the characteristics and influence of the public space and seniors' behaviors. Then, we propose some renewal strategies, such as the flexible layout of a multiform public space system, benign interaction between different behaviors and space, and ageing promotion of diverse space facilities. Keywords：Community life circle, historic blocks, public space, seniors' behaviors, age-friendly renewal

China has experienced the largest and fastest urbanization in the worldwide history, but there are also serious problems such as environmental pollution, barbaric land expansion and inadequate governance. In order to promote urban ecological progress and high-quality development, China is exploring new modes of urban governance like the so-called approach “City Physical Examination” (CPE for short). Guangzhou is a pilot city to carry out such an approach of government-citizen collegiality. The CPE mainly includes the following steps: firstly, the municipal government and research institutions work together to develop a CPE index system covering 50 indicators in 8 categories; Secondly, through the combination of quota and randomization, a survey with a sample size of more than 200,000 was conducted to sketch citizens’ residential satisfaction to urban infrastructure. Thirdly, the data of CPE index are collected and studied through the extensive collaboration of the four scales including city - district - town - street - community. The empirical part of this study points out that there are 9 major problems such as garbage siege and traffic congestion in Guangzhou. Coping with these problems, this study has formulated detailed improvement measures from four aspects, including policy formulation, standard specification, action plan and key projects. The findings were highly valued by the municipal government and reflected by the government annual report and the work plan for the next year. In addition, the CPE should be continuously improved through the long-term mechanism of "yearly physical examination and five-year evaluation" and related information platform monitoring.