Urban Planning Update June 2010 - ALHOSN University

UrbanPlanningUpdateNewsletter of the Department of Urban Planning01:03 June 2010 www.alhosnu.ae/dup/upuGreetings from the ChairThe Department of Urban Planning (DUP)concluded a successful spring edition of itsPlanning Lecture Series. It brought to campus anumber of distinguished scholars from across theworld who offered insight on critical elements thatare necessary to build sustainable cities. Byfocusing on urban planning and design, graduatesare able to use “peripheral” vision, which bringstogether all aspects of the city into considerationfor a strategic plan. The lecture series was wellattended and warmly received by students, facultyand the professional community at large. Specialthanks go to Vice Chancellor Sabouni andProvost Sheibani for their unwavering support.— Adnan Husnéin, Ph.D.Lang and LeGates Address ALHOSN CampusThe final lecture of the season on 27 April 2010featured a presentation by Richard LeGates,Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies and Planningat San Francisco State University, and FulbrightSenior Specialist. LeGates explored “artistic” and“scientific” approaches to urban planning past andpresent and how those elements may convergewhen creating cities of the future. ProfessorLeGates is the author of Think Globally, ActRegionally, co-author of The City Reader, and coeditorof the Routledge urban reader series.On 1 April 2010, the series brought internationalurban design expert Professor Jon Lang whodiscussed ways of achieving quality of urbanspaces through development controls. Jon Lang isEmeritus Professor of Architecture at theUniversity of New South Wales in Sydney,Australia where he is associated primarily withthe Master in Urban Development and DesignProgram (MUDD). Lang is also author of thebook Urban Design: The American Experienceand Urban Design: A Typology of Procedures andProducts.Green Week @ALHOSNThis year, the annual Earth Day celebration wastransformed into week-long activities on campus.Green Week @ALHOSN (22-29 April) featured asignature campaign for a pledge to protect theenvironment, documentary screenings, and a funworkshop (see next post). The screenings featuredthe Oscar winning documentary An InconvenientTruth that made global warming the number onetopic of conversation, and Home a documentarywhich is almost entirely composed of aerial shotsof various places on Earth. The latter showed thediversity of life on Earth and how humanity isthreatening the ecological balance of the planet. Inaddition, the ALHOSN website was changed togreen to support campus-wide initiatives. GreenWeek was a joint collaboration between the GreenClub, the Student Council and the Office of theProvost.An Unconscious WorkshopGreen Week @ALHOSN concluded its activitieson 29 April 2010 with an afternoon of fun andself-exploration featuring artist Wasel Safwan. Heled “An Unconscious Workshop” whereparticipants were guaranteed to unleash theartistic giant within! The experience was bothexhilarating and entertaining, and workshopattendees included students, faculty and staff.Wasel Safwan is an artist and architect fromUnited Arab Emirates. He has participated in anumber of exhibitions including the solo exhibittitled Constructivism and UAEism.The Future Development of Desert OasesMembers of DUP faculty attended workshopsessions and roundtable discussions hosted byUniversité Paris-Sorbonne in Abu Dhabi on 12-13May 2010. The workshop was devoted to thestudy of communities which settled in the Arabian

peninsula oases and featured international as wellas local researchers.MEED Green Building Middle East SummitSeveral green initiatives in the region such asMASDAR in Abu Dhabi and ENPARK in Dubaiwere featured during the two-day conference andexpo held from 24-25 May. DUP was present atthe summit which addressed relevant themes suchas the economics of green construction, makinglow carbon construction possible, efficient watermanagement, waste and recycling, sourcingbuilding materials ethically and responsibly,adapting to the impact of climate change,designing green, and creating sustainable cities.The last theme was picked up by Doug Kelbaugh,Executive Director of Design and Planning atLimitless, a Dubai World company. According toKelbaugh, “a traditional street and road grid withgreater connectivity would make it quicker, easierand cheaper to get around.” In other words,shorter journeys, efficient use of fuel, lesspollution and increased productivity. ProfessorKelbaugh is a globally recognized expert, speakerand educator. He has authored numerous essays,editorials, and books on architecture and urbanplanning. (Special thanks to Nicholas HamiltonArcher for facilitating a memorable experience!)DUP Welcomes a New MemberMs. Marwa Yousuf has joined the Department ofUrban Planning as a teaching assistant in latespring. Marwa earned a bachelor of arts in urbanstudies and a minor in design from the Universityof Minnesota in 2009. Welcome to DUP, Marwa.Urban Incentives for Top StudentsThe Abu Dhabi Education Council has joinedforces with UPC, the Abu Dhabi Urban PlanningCouncil, to provide scholarships and employmentopportunities within the field of urban planningfor Emirati graduating seniors and universitystudents who have exemplary marks. An initialgroup of 15 students will be chosen to attenduniversities both in the UAE and abroad. Toapply, eligible applicants should be natives of theEmirate of Abu Dhabi– high school students needa minimum average score of 85% on theirsecondary school certificate while current collegestudents must have a GPA of 3.0. (source: AbuDhabi Week May Issue).Site Visit to Burt HillDUP students conducted a site visit to Burt Hill, adesign and planning firm on 22 April 2010. Thiswas a required assignment for the ProfessionalPractice and Internship Seminar (UPL 404). Thevisit was facilitated by the course instructor Dr.Seif Khiati.Cityscape Centerpiece!Post contributed by junior student Enass KhalilA huge scale model of how the capital of theUnited Arab Emirates will appear in 2030 formedthe centerpiece of this year's Cityscape Abu Dhabi(18-21 April 2010). For its massive representationof Abu Dhabi City, the Urban Planning Council(UPC) hired the UK firm Pipers ArchitecturalModels to build a miniature of the entire island,including Shahama, Mussafah and Al Falah, aswell as the islands of Saadiyat, Yas, Lulu, Reemand Sowwah.According to The National (April 21, 2010), themodel is by far the largest at the exhibit. “Themock-up was shipped to Abu Dhabi from Londonin 36 boxes containing 262 sections. The contentsweighed more than eight tons when loaded fortransport. Workers needed 260 hours to assembleand set up the model at the exhibition.” Themodel can be broken down into a series of standalonedisplays.(photos courtesy of: www.thenational.ae &www.abudhabi.ae)Quote of the Month: And to end this new issue ofUPU on an optimistic note, we return to DougKelbaugh, “Tens of thousands of laborers, shopworkers, hotel staff and office employees travel toand from work in privately-registered buses andvans, most of which are provided by thecompanies they work for. They are the unsungheroes of our transport system, as without themour roads would be even more congested, ourjourney times even longer, and our air and groundmore polluted.” “The goal now is to encourageeven more people to follow this example bytaking the Metro or the bus for some trips.”— Doug Kelbaugh, Green Building Middle EastSummit, 25 May 2010Urban Planning Update is published five times a year by the Department of Urban Planning at ALHOSNUniversity. If you have news to include in future issues, please email it to: a.husnein@alhosnu.ae.