The Public Carpet - renewal of post conflict transitioning districts

The Public Carpet - renewal of post conflict transitioning districts: an inclusive urban design approach to public life

Vink, T.V.

Calabrese, L.M. (mentor)
Rocco de Campos Pereira, R.C. (mentor)

Architecture and The Built Environment

Urbanism

Complex Cities

2017-04-21

Unregulated development is one of the core problems in post conflict areas. Current rebuilding and city planning face tremendous challenges regulating rapid development of the urban environment and reserving and preserving space for the public domain. The latter one has been often disregarded its importance. It has been found that public space and social places are part of the basic needs espcially in developing countries. Integrating that public dimension within current contexts of post conflict conditions have great challenges. Those challenges related to social-cultural, political, economic, environmental and physical-urban contexts. This thesis focuses on Dodona, a neighborhood in capital Prishtina, Kosovo. The neighborhoods urban fabric changed rapidly in the aftermath of the conflict and the limited quality spaces are in decay and affect livability of the area. In order to design (spatial) interventions for the Public Carpet Dodona, 6 urban strategic themes are developed that aim to create synergy on political, social and cultural level and 25 patterns of post-conflict development are found through socia-spatial analysis of the neighborhood. An integrated approach has resulted in a 3 level priority design concept, the minium level, the desired level and the maximum level. That concept results in the design of 7 public domain interventions for Dodona. These interventions act on existing problems and challenges found in the context and integrate the renewed public focus of the government. The design proposes a basic interventions, innovative ideas for space use, reserves space for an public-private interaction, offers space to new public activities and tries to create synergy between spatial and social on different scales. The design showed that there are 5 conditions that contribute to the development of Dodona’s public network: the available space, entrepreneural spirit, transition to comfort, range of development and scale. The interventions in Dodona can provide interesting urban program, contribute to the urban quality of the area and create a new public domain. Various neighborhoods and their public space quality are challenged by the post conflict processes. The interventions proposed in for this neighborhood could be used in different contexts when adapted to the local situations.We have to think and act different when it comes to challenging urban conditions. These conditions ask for innovative thinking in order to create space for living, working and public life. A good approach and integration of all its actors need to be part of any spatial intervention. However, this thesis showed that interventions in the public domain can be integrated in an urban area, can bring urban quality and in that way can contribute to the achievement creating a livable neighorhood.

post conflict processes
unregulated development
public space network
social dimension
urban design
Prishtina
Kosovo

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:06dcb06c-c077-4ec2-a640-adb5fd18df51

42.66290, 21.16550

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2017 Vink, T.V.