Assessing Nodality in Neighbourhoods of Transformation: a Concept of Sustainable Urban Form. The Case Study Of Rahue Bajo, Osorno, Chile.

The transformation of Chilean cities has followed the same pattern change as observed in European and North American state of affairs everywhere in consumption of energy as well as land. More demand on the possession of... [ view full abstract ]

The transformation of Chilean cities has followed the same pattern change as observed in European and North American state of affairs everywhere in consumption of energy as well as land. More demand on the possession of individual housing units and automobiles was a subject of the decade. From individuals to communities, social relations has been in a decreasing observed manner following the individualistic family model. Consequently, this way of living has reflected its features on the morphological function of the city; forming new residential structures, changing the city scale and hence provoking numerous environmental debates on sustainability. In recognition of city patterns at different scales, neighbourhoods are identified as the basic unit of sustainable urban form (SUF) in which socio-urbanistic concepts are rather tangible. By looking critically at the unfolding of urbanisation process and the change of social relations, neighbourhoods are under threat to lose their vitality and identity. Vitality of neighbourhoods is a concept that was termed both by some urbanists on vibrant urbanities expressing the presence of communities in public areas. In turn, public spaces in neighbourhoods represent the hub of social control over territories. The current notion is observed in public outdoor areas deserted of people, although some others are seen to be congested. Accordingly, this shows the gap that appears in the urban design practice that has spiralled out of control. Despite the misleading debate about sustainable city concepts, professionals have agreed upon the necessity of acting locally since generalizing statements added up more difficulties for applying theories into practice. In order to analyse the SUF, five dimensions were set by researchers as: accessibility, connectivity, density, diversity and nodality. These criteria have been applied successfully in a number of cities for the construction of urban regeneration program areas. By applying nodality in neighbourhoods as a strategy to comply with the current transformation, the city scale can be redefined. Like many cities in the Patagonian region, Osorno is passing through a dramatic transformation phase. The research aims to evaluate the quality of public spaces in Rauhe Bajo, according to how users perceive them. Through cartography, the neighbourhood is re-organized with a new hierarchical map that is defined by nodes of social interaction. The research follows an empirical case study approach with a qualitative analysis of urban space. Furthermore, the research interprets the new map that is confronted with the normative map that is prepared by the municipality. Despite its technical depth, it gives a new perspective of the collaboration between academia and municipalities to help officials advance with new methods and analytical tools and accordingly achieve better design results. This can be seen as a step forward towards more inclusive city development and can expose the discussion of new management systems, since the results are based on user-oriented design mind-set, illustrating people’s behaviour in space.