Beyond the Dirty War is part of the second wave of studies to examine the last military government of Argentina, which controlled the nation from 1976 to 1983. The first generation of histories rightfully focused on state terror and the human rights violations committed by the regime. However, more recent scholarship has started to examine other aspects of the armed forces’ agenda. Through large-scale urban reforms in Buenos Aires, the military government attempted to resolve long-standing issues. The generals in charge sought to curb chaotic urban growth and transform the capital into a modern metropolis, thereby accomplishing a task with which previous administrations had struggled. However, the military quickly encountered vocal public opposition to the reforms. Citizens rebuked efforts to reshape the capital city, condemning the mayor’s unilateral actions and the flaws in the projects. Despite the terror that characterized the period, residents created productive spaces for dissent and demanded that regime be held accountable for its failures. Through the lenses of political participation, urbanization, and environmentalism, this study reveals the vulnerability of the authoritarian government and the limits of its repression. / text

Buffalo, New York was once among the wealthiest cities in the United States, today it is one of the poorest, with a poverty rate of 30%. The economic-infrastructural shift following the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway ended the region’s reliance on the Erie Canal, leading to years of economic and population decline. The resulting urban voids left from acres of abandoned worker’s homes, industrial land and commercial strips provide opportunities for an innovative approach to negotiating Buffalo’s urban issues. This thesis proposes the university campus as a pilot project to address settlement and building in this shrinking context by way of a new urban paradigm incorporating ecology, urbanism and architecture.

Caught between a cultural scene nostalgic to historic architecture and economic growth manifesting its volume in tall skyscrapers, the overlooked modern heritage of Kuwait City is increasingly vanishing. This thesis tests to what extent modern heritage can inform a contemporary mixed-use development in Old Kuwait City. Not perceived as a source for fixed prototypes, modern architecture is studied both as a major component of the contemporary cityscape, giving the city its urban nature, and as a product of critical thinking that explores different possibilities in mediating the modern with the particularities of the Middle Eastern context. The work of elite architects inspired an investigatory reading of the contemporary City, with focus on lasting implications both modern planning and design had on the city. Modern heritage of Kuwait City is studied at various scales for strategies, in an attempt to arrive at a design that breaks away from prototypical forms while being continuous with the past.

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There is a need to review and recast how space is being planned and how regulations are responding to the realities of the informal economy. Street trading provides a critical platform to explore the dynamics and complexity of planning and management of informal activities in public spaces. This research explored how city governance shapes the practices of informal street trading in Gaborone, Botswana. It investigated how street traders navigate their daily trading and their spatial practices and strategies. Insights were gleaned through in-depth interviews with street traders in three different sites in Gaboroneand key informant interviews with politicians and government officials–both senior and lower level staff. Combining the government officials'and traders' perspectives has allowed for the exploration of the disjuncture betweenthe two. The interview findings indicated that the state continues to govern but with inappropriate tools, and traders continue to trade but in sub-optimum ways. The Gaborone Council has made some headway in accepting street traders but still provides little or no infrastructure. It is argued that traders themselves constitute public space, so their voices, practices, strategies and resilience need to be understood. The dissertation concludes by making recommendations that could improve conditions for all parties.

Since the establishment of Pretoria in the 1840s, the city has expanded significantly. Businesses started to sprout which created a number of job opportunities within the city CBD. Mamelodi was established to the east of Pretoria CBD in 1860 as a settlement for black people flocking to the city for job opportunities (Nico & Walker, 1991). Since its initial establishment, it has grown as a community and is now considered as one of the denser communities in Pretoria. Because of the distance to the city center or any other place of work, a series of public transport networks developed to deal with the daily commute to and from work. These networks put tremendous strain on the public infrastructure, and has resulted in a congested community where there exists little co-existence and co-ordination between isolated public transport types. In an attempt to address this issue of Access to the City, this dissertation focuses on creating a communal Architecture where the existing programs of public transport root themselves, and where passengers and pedestrians can communally start their daily commute by safely engaging with the various transport systems. It further exploits the idea of Community and Access by being true to its architectural context. Therefore, this project and its construction is focused on being a product of the community. With contextual materials and community-engaged construction, it aims to be a true manifestation of the event that is The Communal Commute. / Mini Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

Informal settlements sit at the transition between numerous dimensions of globalisation and political decisions. Although poverty plays a big role in the manifestations of informal settlements, it is more complex due to the human tendency to find resolution with living in the city. The problem when looking at the “solution” for informal settlements is by blaming the growth of it on simplistic “problems” because of political and civil state tendencies. Global governance promotes human rights yet on the other side of the spectrum aim to decrease informality and poverty causing a stigma of unworthiness towards people living in these settlements (Huchzermeyer 2011). Thus, this project aims to investigate the impact architecture has on informal urbanism and the legal boundaries surrounding it. Plastic View, an informal settlement situated amid the affluent eastern suburbs of Pretoria, South Africa, is presented as an example of how these policies that have been misinterpreted over a span of more than a decade, with little to no evidence of architectural engagement. Civil disobedience tests the statute and forms part of constitutionalism moving towards the process of effecting and affecting the law through any extra-legal action. The division between interior and exterior law is the foundations of all law (Finchett-Maddock & Lambert 2013). Architecture can be the best expression of the law and its organized system. Expression through urban development and spatial planning of informal settlements that will reconfigure the law by putting these settlements on the grid of property rights (Finchett-Maddock & Lambert 2013). Architecture becomes the physical embodiment of law (Karim 2018). Acting as the private realm the adjacent Moreleta NG church has initiated various socially engaged programmes which aims to uplift the community of Plastic view. Through the use of various design principles this project's architectural intentions is to activate the South Eastern boundary through seaming together both the private and public realm. Through the use of intimate and open public spaces, permeable inclusive spatial layouts allow for new opportunities for civil discourse between various social realms. By activating and occupying these various spaces, exclusive socio-legal and socio-spatial boundaries can be broken down. / Mini Dissertation (MArch (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Architecture / MArch (Prof) / Unrestricted

One of the major challenges of the 21st century is the rapid growth of many cities<br />and the decline of others.<br />There are many cities like Cleveland which were built to serve a far greater population<br />than currently inhabits the city. Infrastructure built for 800,000 now services<br />400,000 leaving creating surplus capacity and derelict spaces; urban voids which<br />have fallen into disuse. Manufacturing and shipping industries occupy valuable<br />waterfront space, highways create rifts and large civic public spaces designed<br />with the best of intentions create vacuums.<br />Cleveland is not dealing with the issue of growth but with transformation; in its<br />remaking as a place of mixed communities and neighborhoods. Understanding<br />the city spatially is the first part of an exploration into devising interventions that<br />can utilize existing infrastructure, reclaim and re-purpose spaces to generate new<br />uses and new vitality. This thesis is concerned with identifying an opportunity and<br />proposing a programmatic and spatial transformation. / Master of Architecture

Transformation of an old hostipatal area in Znojmo. Design of implementation of this area to the urbanism structure of the city. Designing hotel and complex of houses.

This project explores the challenges of increasing density in a college town grappling with how to appropriately respond to expected population growth. It presents a concept idea for a section of Downtown Blacksburg, Virginia that meets the various planning goals for the community. It also experiments with an innovative way of presenting and fostering discussion around this kind of vision by inviting stakeholders to experience models of the concept in an immersive three dimensional environment. Common negative perceptions of density lead to resistance to increased density projects by the public and elected representatives. While there seems to be a consensus of understanding that denser development is preferable to sprawl, Americans in communities across the country have been resisting efforts to increase density. In Blacksburg higher density is often met with fear of student housing located too close to single family neighborhoods. Density resistance is rooted largely in the lack of general knowledge of what density looks like, how it is built, and how it feels once built. The negative aspects of high density neighborhoods, which have caused fearful reactions, are results of poor design, not an inevitability caused by density. This thesis uses two approaches to argue for the advantages of higher density development. Methods include background research of densification elsewhere, a neighborhood redevelopment proposal, and a research event in which a select group of participants completed surveys, viewed presentations of 3D computer models of virtual developments in Blacksburg, and discussed their opinions and thoughts about the models and proposal. This project has demonstrated that 3D modeling is a more effective planning tool for helping decision-makers perceive density and understand the value of quality designs than typical planning tools based on 2D presentations. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning