Virtual Only | Track 3 | Session 2. Territorial Governance and co-creation

Major public health events have exposed the problems existing in the implementation of urban planning, and also promoted the development of urban planning. However, concept of physical space planning which still stays in the theoretical category can play very limited role in dealing with urban public health emergencies. As the spatial basis for epidemic prevention and control in the special period of COVID-19, the spatial form and management mode of urban blocks are the key issues to effectively block or reduce the spread of the virus and to curb the spread of the epidemic. China's management mode of "closed city + closed community" has also made outstanding contributions to combating the epidemic. The urban block pattern is a natural result of the changes in China's development environment and is a spatial practice in a constantly changing state. Existing studies show that the urban block pattern implies a complex decision-making mechanism and the value orientation of the city’s future development. As the grass-roots governance unit from top to bottom in the city, the form of urban blocks in China is mainly concentrated and closed which is the product of the specific relationship of spatial practice. With the emergence of problems such as lack of characteristics and scale imbalance of closed blocks, the construction mode of blocks has completely turned to openness. However, in the face of public health emergencies, the contradiction between the practical closed measures and the theory of open planning has become increasingly prominent. The problems such as whether, when and how the blocks are opened have triggered a re-examination and reflection on the urban block planning. Therefore, in the context of public health emergencies, it is of great significance for the construction of urban social spatial structure and urban space governance to seek a balance between the closed and open forms of urban block pattern. In this study, by reviewing the promotion of public health events on urban block planning, from the perspective of construction area, we compares the patterns, boundaries and control modes of different urban blocks during the epidemic period. Taking the Baiwanzhuang community in Beijing and the Yixing community in Harbin as examples, this study analyzes the correlation and emphasis of the influencing factors in different stages of epidemic development and different spatial resolutions, and rethinks the responsiveness, adaptability and resilience of urban block pattern in the context of public health emergencies. This study reflects and explores the future urban block patterns and proposes that in the future block planning, we should fully rely on the planning strategies of intelligent technology, establishing flexible management means, implementing refined space design, and promoting the construction of social governance community which ensures urban safety. The study further considers the dialectical relationship between the block pattern and health safety, to promote the healthy and orderly development of the city.

The ‘Right to Transportation’ and ‘Movement of people, rather than vehicles’ are the keys for a sustainable urban transport system. This was strongly realized when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to come to a standstill. It brought forth the vulnerabilities of urban transportation systems and services. Urban transport has become indispensable as cities have outgrown their physical boundaries extending to regions. It is an essential service providing access to fundamental necessities for the common citizens. Increasing urbanization and industrialization has further given a fillip to the demand for transport in cities. These issues post the COVID-19 pandemic further added on to the existing concerns of transport such as congestion due to increased vehicle ownership and impact of transport on the environment. Previous transport policies had a limited assessment of such unforeseen scenarios. The Government of India had drafted an overarching National Urban Transport Policy in 2006 which had been the guiding document for the states in the country regarding urban mobility and its concerns. The changing mobility choices and the concerns of urban transport provisioning in such circumstances calls for attention by the policymakers. There is a need to probe into the mobility choices of the people, understand their changing travel behavior vis-à-vis urban transport provisioning. In lieu of realizing the same, this study puts forth recommendations for drafting a robust and wholistic urban transport policy for the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. The study methodology includes meticulous review of secondary data literature, Indian and International case studies, policies and legislative frameworks for urban transport. It also includes a primary field study and urban transport citizen feedback through an online survey. The study recommendations take base from extensive deliberations and focus group discussion to identify the demand and supply gaps in public transport in Madhya Pradesh, during, pre and post covid-19 pandemic. The discussions focused on understanding the grassroot level issues and challenges faced by various stakeholders in urban transport. The availability and suitability of urban transport options in context of Madhya Pradesh were assessed. Existing governance framework and the role of government bodies and stakeholders, financial challenges and their impact on urban transport along with upcoming technologies and implementable solutions were also studied. The deliberations were done with representatives from civil society organizations, women, senior citizens and transgender persons, officials from State Transport Department, Urban Local Bodies, Department of Social Justice and Disabled Welfare, transport service providers and experts from academic institutions and think tanks. Formulation of recommendation involved a critical analysis of the discussions, secondary data literature review and primary field investigations. The study focuses on social justice, equity and inclusive transport planning along with planning for safe, sustainable, convenient and affordable transport services to all citizens. Public transport services should operate in a manner least disruptive to the environment with use of innovative financial, social and economic resources and implementation of smart IT solutions for optimum monitoring for ease of access to the people at large. The concepts of mobility as a service, eyes on the street, disability based planning, allocation of funds for non-motorized transport infrastructure, congestion pricing, capacity building to promote transport literacy are some of the key recommendations. The study also proposes a decentralized governance framework through a dedicated Urban Transport Body for cities with a population of .1 to .5 million. It suggests changes in existing policies to create an enabling environment for public transportation systems and services thereby facilitating the end users as well as the stakeholders of the urban transportation and mobility sector.

Public transportation has been a mandate of state road transport corporations (SRTCs) in India since their inception in the 1960s and 1970s. The establishment of these corporations was to provide public transport in the state ensuring principles of equality, inclusiveness and societal welfare. Public Transport is a democratic approach to equality in accessibility bridging the gap between the haves and have nots in terms of mobility and transportation. Quality public transport service assures the inclusiveness of lower strata of people in the income ladder and reduces class conflict. The various provincial State Road Transport Corporations majorly provide intracity and intercity transport services. They run under the aegis of the state governments with funds allocated under their annual budgets or under various schemes as floated time to time by the Government of India. Transport being a sector of essential service, the non-profitability of operations, led most of the SRTCs in the country to heavy financial losses. The Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (MPSRTC) owing to its operational challenges faced the brunt of financial losses and in 2005, the state government shut down the MPSRTC. Until then, MPSRTC was the sole provider for road transportation in the state of Madhya Pradesh, primarily responsible for operating intercity and interstate buses. The vacuum created after the closing down of MPSRTC was occupied by private bus service providers, which operated based on the permits issued by the regional transport offices in the state. Two reform based missions namely Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation were launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, to strengthen the urban local bodies for provision of urban transport services. Under the aegis of these missions, 20 city level public transport service agencies were established as special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in 20 cities in 20 districts in Madhya Pradesh. These quasi-governmental agencies primarily offer intercity and intracity public bus transport services. This study documents the functioning of these agencies and understands how they ensure the demand for mobility in the rural and urban areas of the state. It further recommends strategies to adopt them in other districts of the state and cities worldwide, which are primarily small and medium sized towns, having a population ranging from .1 to .5 million or less. The decentralized model of governance and models of operations for provisioning of public transport service in the state demonstrates one of the planning tools/strategies which the policy makers and planners can adopt to ensure access to transportation. The study methodology encompasses a comparative analysis of the revenue generation, route operations etc. vis-à-vis operations of public bus transport under state transport corporations in other states. The recommendations of the study were drafted based on detailed stakeholder consultations with public transport providers, State Transport Department officials and Chief Executive officers of each special purpose vehicle in the state of Madhya Pradesh based on detailed structured discussions, focused group discussions and questionnaires. The study puts forth how these SPVs have helped in ensuring equity in accessibility, removal of transport poverty, revenue generation, technology adoption, and financial independence.

In the process of rapid urbanization in China, due to the dual structure of urban and rural areas and the substantial increase in floating population, informal communities are densely populated. They have unclear property rights, average environmental quality, and are difficult to renovate. Therefore, they have become an important area for urban stock land management. According to statistics, there are about 300 million “new citizens” in China, including agricultural transfer population, inter-city transfer employment population, and graduates from colleges and vocational colleges. These people are the main groups who rent informal housing. In recent years, the problem of urban living has become increasingly prominent. Against the background of increasingly prominent urban living problems, the renewal practice of informal communities has shifted from demolition and construction to multiple renewal. Public policies such as housing, medical care, and finance also favor “new citizens”. From the perspective of "new citizens", this paper studies the reasonable positioning of informal communities in the city, explores a more inclusive informal community renewal method in the new era, and promotes the indiscriminate integration of “new citizens” and informal communities into social life and urban space, and ultimately reduce social problems caused by residential differentiation and spatial mismatch. Firstly. we clear important about guiding the construction of informal communities, which is beneficial to the healthy development of cities. This paper points out that the current renovation has problems such as denying informality, excluding floating population, and ignoring public interests. We believe that informal community renewal should face up to informality and “new citizens”, a large group that has a certain impact on urban development. It should be combined with the construction of affordable rental housing for new citizens to form an inclusive renovation path. Secondly, on the basis of studying international practical experience, this paper takes the practical experience of Europe, America, Africa, Latin America and China as reference objects, and emphasizes the importance of the following concepts: government coordination, institutional improvement, multi-participation, "connecting" urban informality and formality. We will pay attention to the “new citizens”, a fourth party besides the government, developers and local residents. Finally, from the perspective of “new citizens”, this paper puts forward relevant suggestions at the three levels of system, space and society, hoping to provide a reference for the realization of the multi-governance of urban space and the coordinated development of society and economy. At the institutional level, it is necessary to clarify the role of the government in the renewal, clarify the role of the government in the renewal, ensure the supply of public resources, and encourage a mechanism for multiple participation. At the spatial level, it is necessary to ensure that new citizens can equally enjoy public resources and coordinate the relationship between work and residence. At the social level, a collaborative participation mechanism for new citizens should be established on the path of marketization.

Under the combined action of rapid urbanization and economic globalization, the phenomenon of urban informality, mainly represented by informal settlements and informal economic activities, has emerged worldwide, especially in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Due to the high rate of population growth and rural-urban migration in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the limited capacity of states to manage urban growth since independence, most people in cities live in informal settlements and support themselves through informal employment. Compared with the limited employment opportunities and high living costs in formal cities, "urban informality" could greatly reduce the burden of daily life of people, especially low-income groups. However, due to the strong intangibility and disorder of informal settlements and informal economic activities, and the level of urban planning guidance in most African countries cannot keep up with the "out-of-control" development and variation of urban informality, it is easy to cause a series of problems such as poverty, pollution, congestion and disease. Under the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, research on planning and governance of informality is of great significance to the reconfiguration of urban living environment in contemporary Africa. Based on this circumstance, this study selected several typical countries in sub-Saharan Africa and analyzed the origin, development, impact of informality phenomenon in various countries and typical cities, and summarized four reasons for stimulating informality in African cities: (1) The number of residential facilities and jobs in cities cannot keep up with the rate of urbanization, which is represented by Ghana, Rwanda and so on. (2) The western colonial and planning system has a profound influence, which is represented by Kenya, Cameroo and so on. (3) Serious immigration and apartheid, which is represented by countries such as South Africa. (4) Its own development is limited and the country's overall economic level is backward, which is represented by Zimbabwe. Finally, in view of the urban informal phenomenon caused by different reasons, the author tries to put forward the corresponding planning and governance strategies based on the Case of China.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the health problems of people around the world are under threat. With the dynamic zero-coronavirus policy, China has achieved good results in proposing a bottom-up urban space control and planning path from a community perspective. However, in cities such as Harbin, China, the rapid resurgence of the epidemic and the decline of health level have exposed many shortcomings in the design of living space, posing health promotion challenges to urban structure, residential units, physical environment, and social space. We first analyzes the development contradictions and problems of living space based on the development process of urban internationalization to localization. It can be divided into two major development stages. The first stage implemented the idea of systematic planning, and experienced typical models such as the Garden city model, the Godernist model, and the Soviet model. The second stage is more focused on the early development of multi-integration and the later development of Chinese style, including the transition period mode of living space planning in line with international standards, and the stable period mode of economic-led living space planning. The above two paths have influenced the form of living space in Harbin from different periods, and collaged a unique living space pattern in Harbin. We then further focus on micro-living unit issues through Web Metadata and field research. Specifically, it includes: excessive opening of industrial supporting communities, and low-income groups living in dilapidated buildings, which aggravate security risks; the reduction of physical activity and lack of blue-green space under the epidemic have exacerbated potential health risks; and due to the gap between administrative space and residents' behavior space, the development flexibility and sustainability are weakened. These indicate that it is urgent to propose urban healthy living units that are suitable for living, managing and designing. Therefore, we proposes a research framework for urban healthy living units and implements them in urban space. The urban healthy living unit takes into account the principles of health promotion, management convenience, sustainable development, moderate sharing, and emphasizes the interaction of healthy environment, health services, and healthy behaviors within a certain time and space to jointly promote individual health. The research is carried out from four aspects: data base, space division, circle division and environmental design. In other words, we first determine the basic information of living space and classify it; secondly, we divide the variable unit space according to people's behavior, perception and other abilities and administrative boundaries; thirdly, we divide the circle according to behavioral preferences and facility characteristics; and then design a flexible environment according to the space structure. Finally, some communities in Harbin are selected for empirical research. The proposed framework is based on the urgent needs of the development of residential and living space in some cities, China, and has certain universal applicability. It is hoped that this research can make certain contributions to healthy community development, resilient environment design, and health equity.

As the threshold that distinguishes private property rights from urban space, the boundary of traditional Chinese residential space is a spatial line that reflects historical and cultural patterns, urban institutions and the modes of land division. Its coverage and structural form reflected the social status, economic level and lifestyle of the occupants, as well as the land tenure systems of the city. However, after the gradual disintegration of traditional society, the spatial structure of the boundaries has undergone drastic changes. The spatial ownership within the boundary became common to many people, and its private spatial properties gradually took on certain urban characteristics. The boundary began to lose its traditional role of spatial demarcation. However, as a kind of historical information and a representation of the scope of activities, the boundary still has a great significance in the traditional living space. The boundary of living space is the evidence of traditional Chinese dwelling, and its analysis helps to understand the relationship between institutional elements, behavioral elements and spatial structure in Chinese urban architecture. The study focuses on residential historical areas in the Jiangnan region of China, which exhibit the diachronic and diachronic characteristics. The article first analyzes the spatial and social characteristics of the boundaries in different periods, and then classifies and elaborates on the historical residential boundaries with the literature, comparing and analyzing the way they evolve. Then, through the study of urban policies and institutions in different periods, the way of evolution at the institutional and behavioral levels is illustrated. Finally, the relationship among boundaries, institutions, and behaviors is analyzed by examining the interconnections of boundary change features and institutional change features. This paper mainly explores the close relationship between the evolution of urban dwelling boundary and variation of institutional elements, while focusing on the influence of residents' behavior. As the border between private space and public space, the boundary change reflects the compound superposition relationship between policy change and residents' behavior, and is an essential paradigm and exemplar for the study of the evolution of residential space in traditional Chinese cities.

In the city of Grenoble (France) innovative and pioneering politics have always been introduced to address health, environmental and socio-spatial injustices. Indeed, the city administration has worked on health in all policies approach ahead of time. The goal was to maximise disease prevention, integrating multidisciplinary action through all public policies and at all territory levels. As the living environment is a major health determinant, the urban planning process, which shapes cities, is a powerful element in improving population health and promoting greater equality. Therefore, Grenoble has always been the stage of policies aiming to improve its inhabitants' health and quality of life through inclusive planning and resilient urban space projects. In this contribution, we investigate how the Grenoble administration accomplishes introducing urban measures in planning documents to improve citizens' well-being and have a good impact on their health. At first, we provide a brief historical perspective on the relationship between health and planning in Grenoble's policies. In the sixties, the city grew rapidly due to the 1968 Olympic Winter Games, which the city hosted. During this decade, the administration prioritised the social aspect of public health through the connection between urban transformation and social issues. Urban policies became the way to reduce inequalities in healthcare access and education and prevent the exclusion of families with low income. Since the beginning of the new century, innovative strategies have been developed to improve active mobility within the city and promote sports practices and healthy behaviours. Moreover, Grenoble was one of the first French cities to sign a Health City Plan (Plan Municipal Santé Ville de Grenoble 2011, 1016). This non-prescriptive document states the urgency to act on citizen health and designates a direction to take in local decisions to fight against social health inequalities. Furthermore, we discuss the current city approaches to integrating health in urban planning strategies. We analysed Grenoble's regulatory plans and we led interviews with counsellors and technicians at the city offices. Although health is not the main target in current urban plans, we have identified several actions and regulations that encourage a healthier environment and improve personal well-being behaviours. Some examples of public space transformation will be presented to highlight how those policies are trying to promote health and prevent chronic diseases. This research highlight how, good health is a sharing responsibility, from the personal choices to the central health system and the local authorities managing the territory. At the urban level, health protection can be achieved through a wide series of measures from the creation of a sociable environment, to the improvement of active mobility, to a better configuration of public and private spaces. Finally, one of the main arguments that have emerged from our research is the importance of a polyvalent approach in local policies to face health issues.