Many researches have shown that urban parks can enhance the quality of life, which is a key factor of building a sustainable city. Hong Kong, as one of the most densely populated financial city in the world, has severely low urban park density. Instead, a large number of small public urban open spaces (SPUOS) are scattered within the city fabrics. This paper therefore aims to study the design and functions of these SPUOS. It is also hoped that find out whether a network of connected small open spaces can compensate for a large urban park. After reviewing the history of urban parks in Hong Kong. It is believed that the multitude of SPUOS is the result of poor urban planning and imperfect urban renewal schemes during the early occupation by the British Government. These SPUOS are usually around 1000 to 1500 m2 large in size and can be abundantly found along adjacent streets. For the design of the SPUOS, benches are usually the only facility installed and the vegetation is of poor quality. The connectivity of SPUOS located within the study area in the Yau Tsim Mong District is investigated with the use of graph theory and connectivity indices. The result has shown that these SPUOS in the study area have a high degree of connectivity. They are further compared with a larger urban park located nearby. Based on the comparisons and other prior researches, a conclusion has been drawn that size of a park is not the major concern of park users but rather its facilities and design. It is believed that a network of connected SPUOS might serve the local community better due to their locations. However, they should not be able to entirely replace large urban parks since they have fewer amenities provided. The SPUOS are found to have rather different functions to the society than what urban parks are commonly expected. Their environment and economic functions are constrained mainly by the poor design and the locations. An interview with the representative of a non-government organization has been made to further understand their social functions. The interviewee believes that SPUOS now mainly act as social hubs and living rooms for senior citizens. This statement is then verified by the result of a prior survey and some other researches. This is due to the combination of aging population structure, exploding population growth, and expanding poverty gap. Lastly, a comparative study has been made on the small public urban green spaces (SPUGS) in Copenhagen. The SPUGS can attract visitors of different age group from other far neighborhoods. Despite than fact that there is cultural difference and citizens from these two cities have different lifestyles, a better design of the pocket park might be the reason of why it becomes an attractive natural meeting point in the central Copenhagen for all age-groups visitors. Based on all the investigations and findings, suggestions have been made to improve the quality of SPUOS in Hong Kong.

The diploma theses Visual Media in the Urban Space deals with the issue of commercial visual media in the public space and the way they are incorporated to the city centers. I am focusing on that kind of media that invade the public space with the biggest force, such as billboards, bigboards, citylights, video screens, wraps, etc. The goal of the research is to compare the placement and the quantity of the out-of-home advertisements in the center of Prague and Barcelona. The research is done from the historical, cultural and geographical point of view (I am not going to investigate the visual messages from the semiotic point of view). I have chosen these two cities because they are the economic and cultural centers of the region and they have a very long history. Since these two cities are placed in the European cultural space and there are global agencies operating on the market I suppose there will be some parallels in the placement and appearance of the visual messages. My hypothesis is that most of the advertisements will be placed in the new-built neighborhoods and the historical centers will be less "visually polluted". Another hypothesis is that the public space in Prague will be filled more with aggressive media forms than the public space in Barcelona. According to my hypothesis there is...

S'il semble évident, depuis quelques décennies, de protéger le patrimoine architectural lors d'opérations de renouvellement ou d'aménagement urbain, la préservation de l'environnement est une préoccupation plus récente puisqu'elle ne s'est véritablement imposée que depuis l'émergence du concept de développement durable dans les années 1990. A travers ces deux thématiques, que sont le patrimoine et l'environnement, la qualité paysagère des projets urbains apparaît toujours en pointillé dans les règlements ou les cahiers des charges des opérations d'aménagement sans toutefois être explicitement citée comme un objectif à atteindre. Pour ne pas négliger, sous prétexte de « faire » des quartiers durables, les incidences paysagères de certains choix, cette recherche propose ainsi de lier les deux notions que sont le paysage urbain et le développement durable, qui comprennent respectivement le patrimoine et l'environnement.Dans une première partie, l'analyse historique et règlementaire du terme de paysage urbain nous a permis de définir les fondamentaux qui démontrent son existence sur le territoire de Paris. La seconde partie présente les étapes qui ont mené à l'émergence d'une démarche de développement durable dans la politique urbaine à Paris. Enfin, dans la troisième partie, l'étude détaillée de trois projets urbains, nous a permis d'identifier de nouveaux modes de suivi des opérations dans lesquels les démarches de développement durable et l'évaluation continue occupent une place croissante. Néanmoins, il est apparu que si la prise en compte de la qualité paysagère, pour contribuer à la « fabrication » de paysages urbains durables, puis de projets urbains paysagers, semble acquise pour les acteurs, celle-ci ne se formalise pas encore clairement dans le suivi opérationnel. Des éléments de réponses sont ainsi proposés dans cette recherche pour que la qualité des paysages urbains puisse être considérée comme un véritable objectif de projet urbain et soit évaluée, à ce titre, dans la conception, la réalisation et la gestion des quartiers durables / If it seems evident, since a few decades, to protect the architectural heritage during renewal operations or urban planning, the environmental protection is a much more recent preoccupation and has become an imperative only since the emergence of the concept of sustainable development in the 1990s. Through these two themes, i.e. the heritage and the environment, the landscaped quality of the urban projects always seems to be implicit in every regulations, steps or specifications of the operations of development without, however, being explicitly quoted as an objective to be reached. This research suggests to connect both notions of townscape, linked to the protection of the heritage, and sustainable development, including beside the social and the economic aspect the question of the environment, in order not to neglect, under pretext of "making" sustainable districts, the landscaped incidences.The historic and statutory analysis of the term of townscape, whose validity has already been demonstrated on the Parisian territory, together with some reflections on the emergence of the notion of sustainable development in the Parisian administration, led us to evoke a new representation of the "ideal" city as the origin of new urban forms. Finally, the detailed study of three sustainable projects of development, allowed us to identify new ways of monitoring in which the initiatives of sustainable development and evaluation play an increasing role. The consideration of the landscaped quality, as contributing to the "manufacturing" of sustainable townscapes and sustainable urban project, seems already acquired by the actors even if it doesn't yet appear clearly, until these days, in the monitoring of the operations. This research develops the first elements of an answer in order to consider and evaluate urban landscaped quality as a real objective in the conception, realization and maintenance of sustainable districts

La diffusione della città nella campagna è evidente in Italia e in Europa (EEA, 2006). L’estensione della scala delle relazioni antropiche, altrettanto. (Hall, Pain, 2006). I dati, pur incerti, testimoniano, anche nel nostro Paese, ritmi di “urbanizzazione” incessanti (ONCS, 2009). La necessità di regolare i rapporti tra le aree rurali e le aree urbane non è certo una esigenza recente, né solo italiana; tuttavia, il suo soddisfacimento assume oggi una nuova importanza e, in certi casi, un’evidente urgenza. I primi modelli di pianificazione territoriale adottati in Italia, influenzati da approcci teorici non esenti da una connotazione ideologica, hanno spesso sottostimato l’effettiva praticabilità di un disegno ideale in un contesto reale (Benevolo, 2010) al punto che né la promozione della trasformazione urbana delle campagne, né il contenimento dell’urbanizzazione hanno prodotto, almeno in Italia, il risultato auspicato e programmato (ibid.). Nel tempo, si registra una modificazione dell’approccio disciplinare in materia di governo del territorio, e con essa si è osservata (e ancora si osserva) una costante innovazione degli strumenti e delle norme (Oliva, 2008). Tuttavia, si rileva un’evidente debolezza metodologica in ordine alla lettura delle relazioni tra città e campagna. Due categorie, ereditate dal passato, che tendono a confermarsi solo agli estremi del continuum territoriale che oggi rappresenta la porzione prevalente dello spazio contemporaneo e che per questo vedono attenuare fortemente la propria capacità interpretativa. Da ciò l’evidenza, e in alcuni casi l’urgenza, di una nuova lettura delle relazioni tra urbano e non urbano che registri i nuovi paesaggi e le nuove funzioni svolte dalle campagne urbane (Donadieu, 2006a), tratti l’a-spazialità di molte attività economiche e la conseguente indifferenza localizzativa, prenda atto dell’accresciuta vulnerabilità ecologica dei territori contemporanei, dove i livelli di pressione sulle risorse naturali, a partire dal suolo, sono ormai insostenibili. Una lettura dicotomica, univoca e restrittiva, delle connotazioni territoriali appare forzata: ruralità ed urbanità non sono (più) dimensioni autonome, anzi si confrontano, si sovrappongono, producendo esiti assai differenti. Mappare ed interpretare questi cambiamenti, risulta assai complesso. Del resto, la ruralità non può essere intesa in modo residuale e passivo. Oggi è una controparte attiva e dinamica, nonostante le debolezze endogene del settore primario. Parimenti, l’urbanità, e in particolare, la sua tradizionale capacità di attrazione appare in crisi. Esiste invece un variegato “spazio di mezzo” da interpretare ricercando nuove modalità di rappresentazione. Ne consegue la parziale inutilità o la difficile applicabilità di rigide forme di ordinamento territoriale basate sulla gerarchia di funzioni (produttive o economiche in senso lato), così come la separazione razionalistica degli spazi assegnati a tali funzioni. Per una nuova lettura delle relazioni urbano/rurali è poi necessario analizzare i metodi di classificazione impiegati e sperimentati a livello nazionale ed internazionale, per prenderne atto delle criticità e della parziale incapacità di rilevare adeguatamente la nuova dimensione della periurbanità. La presente tesi si propone, come obiettivo, quello di dare alcune risposte a queste criticità. Dapprima, offre una analisi della evoluzione dei sistemi territoriali, urbani e rurali, anche in chiave storica, e cerca di comprenderne i loro cambiamenti secondo le interpretazioni date da varie scienze sociali. In seguito, cerca di studiare gli effetti delle politiche territoriali fino ad ora implementate, anche in una prospettiva comparata. Infine, offre una rassegna tassonomica delle principali metodologie di classificazione e comprende la sperimentazione di un metodo originale di zonizzazione validato per il contesto lombardo. / The spread of cities into the countryside is evident in Italy and in Europe (EEA, 2006). The extension of the scale of human relationships, as well. (Hall and Pain, 2006). The data, although uncertain, testify, even in our country, the “rhythm of urbanization" incessant” (ONCS, 2009). The need to regulate relations between rural and urban areas is not recent, but its satisfaction assumes a new importance and, in some cases, an obvious urgency. Early models of land use planning adopted in Italy, influenced by theoretical approaches not free of an ideological, have often underestimated the actual feasibility of an ideal design in a real context (Benevolent, 2010). The promotion of urban transformation of rural areas or the containment of urbanization have obtained, at least in Italy, the planned result (ibid.). In time, there is a modification of the approach in disciplinary matters of territorial government, and with it, there was (and still is observed) the constant innovation of tools and standards (Oliva, 2008). However, it notes an obvious methodological weaknesses in order to read the relationship between cities and countryside. Two categories, inherited from the past, which tend to confirm at the extremes of the spatial continuum that today represents the portion of the prevailing contemporary context. This continuum is difficult to interpret. It is necessary to read the new functions of urban campains (Donadieu, 2006), to point out the localization indifference of many economic activities, to take note of the increased ecological vulnerability of contemporary territories, where the levels of pressure on natural resources, starting from the land, are now unsustainable. A dichotomous reading, unique and restrictive, of these new territories appears forced: rurality and urbanity are not (more) dimensions autonomous, indeed, they overlap and produce very different outcomes. Mapping and interpreting these changes is very complex. Moreover, the rurality can not be considered so as residual and passive. Today it is a dynamic and active counterpart, despite the weaknesses of the endogenous primary sector. Likewise, the urbanity, and in particular, its traditional ability to attract several resources appears in crisis. Instead there is a varied "middle space" that is seeking new ways to representation. They follow the partial worthlessness or the difficult applicability of rigid forms of territorial organization based on a hierarchy of functions (productive or economic in the large sense), as well as the rational separation of spaces allocated to these functions. For a new interpretation of urban/rural relations is necessary to start to analyze the methods of classification used and tested at national and international level, to take note of the problems and the partial inability to properly detect the new size of the peripheral urbanity (periurban areas). This thesis aims to give some answers to these critical issues. First, it offers an analysis of the evolution of regional, urban and rural, territorial system and tries to understand their changes according to the interpretations given by various social sciences. Then, it tries to study the effects of regional policies implemented, even in a comparative perspective. Finally, it offers an overview of the main methods of classification and includes an original zoning validated for the context of Lombardy.

With the global population becoming more urban and less rural, increasingly research has argued for concepts such as establish Green Infrastructure (GI) as a tool for enhancing wildlife survival and human’s living quality (e.g. Harrison et al., 1995; Benedict and McMahon, 2006). However, an interdisciplinary planning approach underpinned by ecological and social evidence has not yet been fully developed. This research therefore seeks to integrate an ecological network with a green space planning standard by exploring the use of biotope and sociotope mapping methods. Seeking a comprehensive planning that takes all green resources into account, a green space typology is firstly developed according to Taiwanese contexts for identifying green spaces from land use maps. In order to specify effective features of these green spaces to bird survival and user preferences, an insight was conducted into the relationship of ‘birds and urban habitats’, as well as ‘human preferred urban green spaces’ in Taipei City. Important environmental factors influencing bird distribution and influencing human experiences in urban green spaces are respectively specified and developed into an ecological value index (EVI) to detail potential habitats and a social value index (SVI) to evaluate recreational green space provision. Interestingly, proximity to green space appears to plays a more critical role in human preferences than bird survival in Taipei city; size is important both as a habitat and for creating an attractive green space; and green space quality tends to be a more significant factor than its structure for both wildlife and people. Utilising the bio-sociotope maps, this thesis argues for a number of strategies: conserving, enlarging, or creating large green spaces in green space deficient areas; increasing ecological and recreational value by enhancing green space quality of specific characteristics; and tackling gravity distance by combining green space accessibility and attractiveness in optimising urban green structure. As these suggestions are a challenge to apply in intensively developed urban areas, barriers from land use, political mechanisms, technical shortages, and cultural characteristics are also explored with possible resolutions presented for facilitating implementation. It is clear that optimising a multifunctional GI for both wildlife and people requires interdisciplinary knowledge and cooperation from various fields. The EVI and SVI developed within this thesis create the potential for a more place-specific and quantifiable green spaces strategy to help better link ecological and social functions in urban areas.