This research stems from reports of the interaction between the growing informal communities such as Makoko, the coastal plains of the degenerating Lagos contexts and their limited access to central infrastructure. The effects of climate change on the low-lying coastal plains further exacerbate the degeneration experienced in these contexts. Therefore this research examines how people live independently of central infrastructure in informal contexts such as Makoko and whether this autonomy can be embedded into interventions that are integrated within the socio-economic networks of these contexts in a bid to shift from defective central infrastructures to social infrastructures that transform the blighted Lagos contexts in a manner that builds resilience at a local level. By using Makoko as a site for exploration and communicating with the locals of the context, Lagos professionals and non-governmental organizations, it emerged that there is currently an unhealthy relationship between the state, its local governments and its informal communities such as Makoko, in that the city of Lagos is managed principally from the office of the governor. This central management results in infrastructures that are implemented without critical acknowledgement of the problems faced by individuals who live in the many informal contexts of Lagos thereby resulting in little or no observable transformation in its (Lagos) degenerating contexts. It was also observed that Makoko has a unique urbanity of soft infrastructures that lend themselves to different scales of functions in the context and diverge from the typical hard infrastructures employed by the Lagos state government. The observations and findings point to the fact that the relationship between the state and its people must be strengthened for delivered infrastructures to be of any consequence in realizing any positive social change and transform Lagos and settlements like Makoko from their states of human and environmental degeneration by acknowledging that these contexts have unique problems and urbanisms that must be fused into any interventions within their precincts in a sustainable, ecological and economical way. This move will go a long way in transforming and legitimizing Lagos's degenerating contexts as important facets of the city.

The township in the South African context is a unique consequence of Apartheid spatial planning. Envisaged as settlements for black labourers on the outskirts of the city, they have become home to many South Africans. Mamelodi was established as an effectively designed township for labourers working in Pretoria, and grew at an exponential rate, leading to a sizeable demand for housing. A mass provision of housing was implemented then and, post 1994 to meet this demand. The same strategy of housing is still continuing through the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). This provision of housing has not been complimented by a provision of public amenities and has led to monotonous neighbourhoods filled with housing and no public space. The ever growing community of Lusaka, in the east of Mamelodi, is a community with a landscape of housing without public amenities and public spaces. This neighbourhood has large amounts of people moving in and out, with some people seeing it as a place of permanence and some as a temporary detour. This influx of people and the duality of temporality and permanence creates a very dynamic society, one that the current architecture cannot respond to. The new architecture has to address the above mentioned issues, providing the community with access to public amenities and public spaces that add value to their environment. The solutions derived can be discussed and used to address similar problems plaguing townships around South Africa. / Informele nedersettings in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks is 'n unieke gevolg van Apartheid se ruimtelike beplanning. Oorspronklik in die vooruitsig gestel as nedersettings vir swart arbeiders het hulle 'n tuiste vir baie Suid-Afrikaners geword. Mamelodi was gestig as 'n effektief ontwerpde informele nedersetting vir arbeiders wat werk in Pretoria en het teen 'n eksponensi?le koers gegroei wat gelei het tot 'n groot aanvraag vir behuising. 'n Massa voorsiening van behuising was toe en n? 1994 ge?mplementeer om hierdie aanvraag te voorsien. Dieselfde strategie van behuising word steeds voortgesit deur die Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Hierdie behuisingsvoorsiening was nog nie aangevul deur 'n voorsiening van openbare geriewe nie en het gelei tot eentonige woonbuurte wat gevul is met behuising en geen openbare ruimte. Die steeds groeiende gemeenskap van Lusaka, in die ooste van Mamelodi, is 'n gemeenskap met 'n landskap van behuising sonder openbare geriewe en openbare ruimtes. Hierdie woonbuurt het groot getalle mense wat in en uit beweeg, met sommige mense wat dit sien as 'n plek van blywendheid en ander as 'n tydelike ompad. Hierdie instroming van mense en die dualiteit van tydelikheid en blywendheid skep 'n baie dinamiese samelewing, een wat die huidiglike argitektuur nie op kan reageer nie. Die nuwe argitektuur moet die bogenoemde kwessies aanspreek om die gemeenskap toegang te bied tot openbare geriewe en openbare ruimtes wat waarde toevoeg tot hulle omgewing . Deur dit te doen kan die oplossings wat afgelei is bespreek en gebruik word om soortgelyke kwessies aan te spreek wat informele nedersettings regoor Suid-Afrika teister. Argitektuur is vir die mense / Mini Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / Unrestricted

The modern day mechanical integration and organisation of cities have disturbed the natural systems and sequences of the environment, as well as the social fabric and collective notions of society within cities (Mumford, 1938:17). Man's progressive "liberation" from the natural environment has desensitised him to nature (Crowe, 1995:233) creating an artifi cial realm where man is removed from nature. Pretoria's establishment was greatly infl uenced by its landscape - aptly called "the valley between the ridges and the rivers" (Dippenaar, 2013:6). Urban modernisation and infrastructure development have however progressively disregarded the river and the landscape within the city, consequently detaching the city from these natural elements, which resulted in the loss of their signifi cance. As one of the last remaining underdeveloped sites in the inner city of Pretoria, Berea Park represents a continuation of the landscape and the Apies River channel into the city. Situated at the southern gateway of the city, Berea Park was Pretoria's fi rst offi cial recreational, social and cultural venue, hosting numerous sport, outdoor and other events. Unfortunately Berea Park is currently in a derelict and idle state. Infrastructural developments have gradually disconnected the site from the surrounding city fabric and community. The isolated and forgotten park, has like the river, tragically lost its essential signifi cance. The divide between the city fabric, the Apies River channel and the Berea Park landscape presents the opportunity to explore architecture's role in re-integrating and connecting experiences of "nature" into the city to enhance the quality of urban life. This dissertation explores architecture and the hybrid typology of "building as a landscape", as a means to create a new topography and interface between the Berea Park landscape, river channel and the city. The concept of a hybrid architecture that merges the typologies of urban park, landscape, infrastructure, public amenity and building is explored with the intention to develop a new typology that can respond to the contextual challenges. The building becomes an extension of the park, and the park becomes an extension of the building. The new interface, proposed programme and activities are aimed at linking the city, its inhabitants, communities, the landscape and the river. / Die hedendaagse meganiese integrasie en organisasie van stede het die natuurlike sisteme en ritmes van die omgewing, asook die sosiale strukture en kollektiewe opvattings van gemeenskappe in stede versteur (Mumford, 1038:17). Die mens se progressiewe "bevryding" van die natuurlike omgewing het gelei tot 'n skeiding tussen die mens en die natuur (Crowe, 2013:6), wat der volglik ? kunsmatige domein waarbinne die mensdom uit die natuurverwyder is, geskep het. Die totstandkoming van Pretoria was grootliks be?nvloed deur sy natuurlike landskap - met die gepaste benaming van " 'n vallei gele? tussen rante en riviere" (Dippenaar, 2013:6). Met stedelike modernisering en infrastruktuur ontwikkeling is daar stelselmatig minder ag geslaan op die rivier en die omliggende stadslandskap, wat daartoe gelei het dat die stad van die natuurlike omgewing afgesonder geraak het en uiteindelik het dit die verlies van die essensi?le betekenis en waarde van die natuurelemente veroorsaak. Berea Park, een van die laaste oorblywende onderontwikkelde terreine in die sentrale stadsgebied van Pretoria, is gele? aan die suidelike ingang van die stad en verteenwoordig 'n verlenging van die landskap en die Apiesrivierkanaal na die stad. Di? terrein was Pretoria se eerste amptelike ontspannings-, sosiale en kulturele byeenkomsplek, wat sport-, buitelugen ander byeenkomste aangebied het. Ongelukking is Bera Park tans 'n verlate, verwaarloosde en onbenutte area. Infrastruktuur ontwikkeling van di? gebied het geleidelik die terrein afgesonder van die omliggende stad en gemeenskap. Die ge?soleerde en vergete park het, soos die rivier, tragies geen betekenis of nut meer nie. Die skeiding tussen die stedelike bouomgewing, die Apiesrivierkanaal en die landskap van Berea Park bied die geleentheid om argitektuur se rol met betrekking tot die herintegrering en verbinding van die "natuur" met die stad te ondersoek derhalwe die gehalte van 'n stedelike lewenswyse te verhoog. Die skripsie ondersoek argitektuur en die hibriede tipologie van 'n gebou as 'n landskap, wat deur die fasilitering van 'n nuwe topografi e 'n interaktiewe verbinding tussen die landskap van Berea Park, die rivierkanaal en die stad tot stand kan bring. Hibriede-argitektuur is 'n konsep wat die samesmelting van die tipologie? van stedelike park, landskap, infrastruktuur, openbare fasiliteit en gebou ondersoek met die doel om 'n nuwe tipologie te ontwikkel wat kontekstuele uitdagings kan aanspreek. Die gebou word 'n uitbreiding van die park en die park word 'n uitbreiding van die gebou. Die doelwit van die gebou as nuwe interaktiewe verbinding en die voorgestelde program en aktiwiteite, is om die stad se inwoners, gemeenskappe, die landskap en die rivier te herverbind. / Mini Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / Unrestricted

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Food culture has long been a fundamental part of the city; as a culturally cohesive urban infrastructure, food culture creates integral shared experiences and is a generator of socioeconomic opportunity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, existing systemic issues of racial segregation and isolation have exacerbated growing concerns of food insecurity within prominent minority neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. The instability created by the lockdown and consequential work-life culture shift reinforces the importance of establishing and maintaining equitable and sustainable pathways of access to food resources and the socioeconomic opportunities food culture can create. To promote resilience in the post-COVID-19 lockdown city, urban environments will need to be reimagined to incorporate social and economic infrastructures that promote flexibility and maximize entrepreneurial equity, diversity, and opportunity. As a driving force of this equitable change in Jamaica Plain and the surrounding neighborhoods, this thesis proposes a new sustainable food system that is in tune with the regions storied ecological landscapes as well as the current need for mobility in post-COVID-19 urban life. To bridge the gap between historically fragmented regions of the urban fabric, this thesis will propose an infrastructural landmark designed to support the proliferation of food cultures, enhance housing, industrial, and ecological infrastructures, as well as bike and pedestrian mobility to restitch the greater urban fabric of the city of Boston. This thesis explores the reorganization of a range of modalities of urban food culture into a comprehensive food hub. The Food Hub and associated program will serve as an incubator of socioeconomic opportunity as well as operate as a system of sustainable production and distribution aimed at creating food sovereignty amongst members of the community. The resolution of these analyses will culminate in an architectonic framework for food culture programs that are primed to support the sustainable and equitable flow of resources, users, and ideas between disparate communities.

Gasverket used to be a very important part of the city’s industrial and infrastructural history. Now it is under development just like other several old industrial areas in the city center while new industries are constantly pushed outside the city center limits.  Looking at Gasverket’s (The Gas Factory) history and importance for the city of Stockholm, this thesis questions how we can integrate abandoned infrastructures back into the urban texture while protecting not only the built structure but also the infrastructural character of the area and challenging the definition of what infrastructure can and should be in the 21st century. Inspired by the social working ideologies of churches and/or mosques as places for charity and community, Gasverket aims to create a secular people’s place that redefines the concept of charity by offering job opportunities and educational help to groups of people who are not always included in the labor market. The project contributes to creating inclusive economic growth and equal work opportunities to create sustainable societies. In doing so, it brings back the production of construction materials in the city by reusing several household wastes and creates spaces to strengthen the bonds between individuals and the community.The strategy for dealing with what is left after the old gas work activities is to bring back the dirtiness of the production industry in the city center while integrating it with the current social and economic situations to create a sustainable infrastructural model. As the title suggests, with this project the area will become a place for the “rebirth” of an individual’s role in society, a space for the rebirth of waste materials, a place for a metaphorical rebirth after death, and finally the rebirth of Gasverket.

Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения, списка литературы и приложения. Рассматриваются теоретические основы редевелопмента и социальной инфраструктуры, приводятся основные понятия, виды редевелопмента, его преимущества и недостатки, выявлены актуальные практические проблемы, с которыми сталкиваются девелоперские компании при реализации таких проектов, а также рассмотрен отечественный и зарубежный опыт проектов редевелопмента, в частности объектов социальной инфраструктуры. Проводится маркетинговое исследование, которое включает в себя анализ территории размещения объекта, имиджа района, социальной инфраструктуры и транспортной доступности к объекту, а также анализируется конкурентная среда и стратегические направления деятельности. В третьей главе оценивается эффективность проекта создания объекта социальной инфраструктуры с целью создания коммерческого общежития. Представлено технико-экономическое обоснование и расчет показателей эффективности реализации предложенного проекта. / The master's thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, a list of references and an Appendix. Examines the theoretical framework for redevelopment and social infrastructure provides the basic concepts, types of redevelopment, its advantages and shortcomings identified some practical problems faced by development companies in the implementation of such projects, and also considers domestic and foreign experience of redevelopment projects, particularly social infrastructure. Marketing research is carried out, which includes the analysis of the location of the object, the image of the district, social infrastructure and transport accessibility to the object, as well as analyzes the competitive environment and strategic activities. The third Chapter assesses the effectiveness of the project to create a social infrastructure facility in order to create a commercial hostel. The feasibility study and calculation of performance indicators of the proposed project are presented.

The object of research is Lithuania rural social infrastructure (RSI). The goal of research – after investigation the condition of rural social infrastructure of Lithuanian regions to determinate the reasons that has an influence to the consistent pattern of development of rural social infrastructure. The tasks of the work are the following: 1.To inspect the theoretical conception of the regional development and RSI. 2.To select and to systematize statistics about RSI in Lithuania regions. 3.To traverse and to determinate the consistent patterns of rural social infrastructure development in Lithuania. 4.To investigate and to determinate the causative factors that influence the condition of rural social infrastructure. 5.To mould the connection model of the condition of RSI and the causal – resultant factors. On purpose to reach the goal of research it’s done the analysis and the synthesis of 5 year the first and the second information which characterize the condition of rural social infrastructure, it’s used the methods of induction and deduction, information filing and count analyze, distribution of lines, average and relative rating, comparison, grouping, correlation analysis, series collation, analytical grouping, ranking, analogy, graphical rendering and other scientific research methods. In order to estimate the regional differences of rural social infrastructure it was evaluated the rates, characterizing RSI condition, also it was determinable the strength of the... [to full text]

Infrastructure continues to perpetuate the effects of splintering urbanism in South African cities. Where apartheid planning policies such as the group areas act used infrastructure as a mechanism of social organisation, this design dissertation proposes using architecture as social infrastructure to transcend these sociotechnical divides. The concept of the sociotechnical denotes the synergy of a city's infrastructural systems and its social life. In this design dissertation this idea is explored at various scales: at the urban level, through a development strategy that spatialises unsafe public open land; at the architectural scale, through surface articulation and interfacing with urban infrastructure; and at the technical level, through building performance analysis and technical design development in support of architectural goals. The project uses a distributed programme that stretches across communities in order to socialise the existing urban infrastructure of a pedestrian bridge. By leveraging the social significance of a local football club, the project proposes a social programme around the idea of a football clubhouse as a programmatic anchor. In reacting to urban infrastructure, the idea of imageability and presence are important considerations. These concepts enable youth to positively engage with the architecture, and allows the building to convey its purpose and programmatic intent, thereby creating a strong social interface with its users. Sociotechnical architecture is considered as an urban armature that socialises and spatialises urban infrastructure. The architecture therefore seeks the minimal amount of fixity to support a variety of flexible events surrounding sports and recreation activities. This is achieved through a selection of robust materials used in horizontal surfaces of social purpose, and the combination of structure, materiality and geometry to create a series of vertical surfaces of social presence and architectural imageability. The result is a strategic arrangement of architectural interventions deployed across a large urban scheme. By distributing the architecture across urban infrastructure, the project connects two communities and presents an architectural response to splintering urbanism.

Under de senaste årtiondena har ofrivillig ensamhet rapporterats i allt högre utsträckning runt om i världen, och inte minst bland stadsbor. I Sverige utgör utrikes födda en av de grupper som i högre grad än genomsnittet uppges erfara ofrivillig ensamhet i flertalet undersökningar. Den fysiska miljön spelar en viktig roll i denna fråga, eftersom faktorer såsom att bo i ett ‘underpriviligierat’ område har visat sig ha en starkare korrelation med ensamhet än vad individuella faktorer har. Det finns dessutom studier som påvisar en koppling mellan förekomsten av gemenskap, socialt kapital och ensamhet, samt den fysiska miljöns påverkan på dessa aspekter. I syfte om att studera dessa begrepp i relation till social infrastruktur och den fysiska miljön formulerades följande frågeställningar: (1) Vad finns det för social infrastruktur i Norra Djurgårdsstaden och Rinkeby, och hur upplevs och används den? Hur påverkar den fysiska miljön gemenskapen och det sociala kapitalet i områdena? (2) Hur kan den sociala infrastrukturen utvecklas för att kunna stärka gemenskapen och det sociala kapitalet bland utrikes födda i de två områdena? Semistrukturerade intervjuer, enkäter och fältobservationer utfördes i Stockholmsområdena Norra Djurgårdsstaden och Rinkeby i syfte om att svara på dessa frågor. Resultaten visar att fastän det finns ett starkt sammanlänkande socialt kapital och gemenskap i båda områdena, så finns det en brist på överbryggande socialt kapital och gemenskap i förhållande till närliggande områden. De offentliga platserna saknar mångfald beträffande användardemografi, och tillgången till arbetsplatser, fritidsaktiviteter och kulturinstitutioner ser olika ut för utrikes födda i områdena. En bättre inkludering av utrikes föddas perspektiv inom den svenska samhällsplaneringen är därför önskvärd för att kunna utveckla hälsofrämjande och inkluderande platser för olika kulturella, ekonomiska och sociala behov. / During the past decades, involuntary loneliness has been more frequently reported among urban dwellers around the world. In Sweden, immigrants constitute one of the groups that have been reporting loneliness to a greater extent than the average in various surveys. The physical environment is considered relevant in this cause, as factors such as living in a 'deprived' area have been found to have a higher correlation to loneliness than individual-level factors. Studies have additionally found an interconnection between the phenomena of sense of community, social capital and loneliness, and asserted their varying nature in different neighborhoods. With the aim of studying these concepts in relation to social infrastructure and the built environment, the following research questions were formulated: (1) What social infrastructure is there in Stockholm Royal Seaport and Rinkeby and how is it perceived and used? How does the physical environment affect the sense of community and social capital in the areas? (2) How can social infrastructure be (re)developed in order to strengthen the sense of community and social capital among foreign born people in the two areas? Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and field observations were applied to the Stockholm neighborhoods of Rinkeby and Stockholm Royal Seaport in order to answer these questions. The key findings show that while bonding social capital and sense of community is deemed strong in both areas, there is a lack of bridging social capital and sense of community in relation to neighboring areas. The public spaces lack diversity in terms of user demographics and there are different levels of access to workplaces, leisure activities and cultural institutions for immigrants in the neighborhoods. This calls for greater exploration of the immigrant perspective in Swedish urban planning, in terms of building healthy and inclusive places for diverse cultural, economic and social needs.