Adaptable Suburbs: a study of the relationship between networks of human activity and the changing form of urban and suburban centres through time

这个项目研究的是小规模的社会和经济活动中心是如何通过物理和社会网络随时间改变其形式的方式塑造的。由于它们往往不在政策范围之内，对于较小的中心如何构成大型空间/社会网络的一部分，在知识上存在明显的差距。这一主题领域需要跨学科的方法；既要提供工具来处理关于城镇中心内和周围街道活动的大量数据集，又要提供知识和理解，以便以有意义的方式解释与空间有关的社会/经济数据。由于我们的集体专业知识，我们能够测试一个关于社会经济活动中心如何随着时间的推移而出现的新命题，现有的中心-边缘或边缘地带理论模型似乎不足以解释这一命题。我们将讨论地方自组织、设计干预和功能变化如何对大规模连接网络产生影响的问题。需要制定一项关于郊区的具体政策，以实现其尚未开发的潜力，这对于提高当今城市的质量至关重要。我们的研究将为在英国郊区提供有针对性的资金提供证据，科昌和其他人认为，这是采取预防性行动以阻止郊区进一步衰落并避免未来需要重大支出所必需的。显然，这座城市作为一个整体是密不可分的，任何中心都不可能孤立于其他中心而取得成功(正如2008年7月伦敦市长关于《规划建设更美好伦敦》的报告所概述的那样)。在以新的通信技术为特征的巨大社会和经济变化以及从根本上改变工作、生活和消费模式(如灵活工作和当前的经济低迷)的时候，郊区中心对于迫切需要重新评估如何规划我们较老城市的未来增长至关重要。这些理论差距反映在设计和政策领域，它们发现很难将一般原则应用于特定情况；举个例子，在全国范围内实施的“密集化”的政策需求，遇到了无法理解其影响，特别是地方背景的问题。了解城市边缘较小中心的空间形态和社会/经济意义至关重要。有必要充分了解如何塑造这些较小的中心，以防止目前的解决方案在未来制造它们自己的问题。这一提议是在政策和地点制定的关键时刻提出的。政策制定者告诉我们，迫切需要通过挖掘城市和郊区环境的致密化、再利用和适应潜力来解决城市和郊区环境未来的可持续性问题。了解较小的中心如何在其直接的和区域性的较大中心网络内运作，对于伦敦等复杂特大城市未来的经济、社会和环境可持续性至关重要。当前对这三个领域的概念化的主要问题之一是，没有以综合和整体的方式看待它们。初步证据表明，活动的多样性有助于在地方中心创造活力，为当地经济的客户、雇员和雇主提供服务；经济和社会方面反过来又取决于环境的可持续性：我们需要了解老化的基础设施减少资源消耗的潜力。

This project is a study of how small-scale centres of social and economic activity are shaped by the way in which physical and social networks change their form through time. Due to their frequently being below the policy radar, there is a clear gap in knowledge about how smaller centres form part of the large-scale spatial/social network. This subject area requires an interdisciplinary approach; both to provide the tools to handle large data sets on street-level activity within and around town centres, as well as by providing the knowledge and understanding to interpret the spatially related social/economic data in a meaningful way. Due to our collective expertise, we are in a position to test a novel proposition about how centres of socio-economic activity emerge through time, for which existing theoretical models of centre-periphery or fringe-belt do not seem adequate. We will address the question of how local self-organisation, design interventions and functional changes have an impact on large-scale network of connections. The need for a specific policy on suburbs to realise their untapped potential is essential to improve the quality of cities today. Our research will provide the evidence for targeted funding in the UK suburbs that Kochan and others have maintained are required for preventative action to halt further decline in the suburbs and to avoid the need for major expenditure in the future . It is clear that the city as a whole is inextricably linked and no centre can succeed in isolation from the others (as outlined in the London Mayor's report on 'Planning for a Better London', July 2008). At a time of great social and economic flux characterised by new communications technologies and radically changing patterns of work, living and consumption (such as flexible working and the current economic downturn), suburban centres are critical to an urgently needed re-evaluation of how to plan for the future growth of our older cities.These theoretical gaps are mirrored in the design and policy worlds, which find it hard to apply general principles to particular cases; taking one example, a policy demand for 'densification' implemented nationally comes up against an inability to understand its implications in particular, local contexts. It is vital to understand the spatial configuration and social/economic significance of smaller centres at the peri-urban edge. An informed understanding of how to shape these smaller centres is necessary to prevent current solutions creating their own problems in the future. This proposal comes at a critical juncture in policy and place-making. We have been told by policy-makers that there is an urgent need to address the future sustainability of urban and sub-urban environments by tapping into their potential for densification, reuse and adaptation. An understanding of how smaller centres work within their immediate and regional networks of larger centres is critical to the future economic, social and environmental sustainability of complex mega-cities such as London. One of the major problems with current conceptualisations of these three domains is that they are not viewed in an integrated and holistic way. Preliminary evidence suggests that diversity of activity helps create the vitality in local centres that provides the customers, employees and employers of the local economy; the economic and social aspects are dependent in turn on environmental sustainability: we need to understand the potential of an aging infrastructure to reduce resource consumption.