Abstract
In the 20th century a dramatic change occurred in urban development. From a physiological point of view the large scale exploitation of fossil energy and the technical inventions and innovations in the transport infrastructure allowed on one hand a rapid liberation from the limits of renewable biomass and on the other hand a rapid exchange of mass goods over large distances. From a morphological point of view the same factors led to a ‘dilution’ of urban settlement from dense centres into a network, of highly variable nodes and connections (the Netzstadt). The distinct separation of rural and urban segments within a cultural landscape disappeared. This new urbanity is a relatively young phenomenon. According to the criteria of a ‘Sustainable Development’, such a culture is not apt to survive on a long-term and global scale. It follows then that the urban systems of the 20th century have to be reconstructed.
‘Designing the Urban: Discovering a Transdisciplinary Method’ describes the research process of two groups, rooted in very different academic cultures: one in architecture and urban planning, the other in environmental sciences and engineering. At the beginning (in 1993) there was neither a clear concept of how to tackle the methodological problems in order to investigate this new phenomenon nor a reflected concept of transdisciplinary work. The case study presented in the following chapter gives first, a report on ‘identifying and answering questions’ connected with urbanity and second, some illustrations of the answers found ten years later as a result of the transdisciplinary approach.
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References
Baccini, P. and Oswald, F.: 1998, Netzstadt – Transdisziplinäre Methoden zum Umbau urbaner Systeme, vdf Hochschulverlag an der ETH Zürich, Zürich, 252pp.
Bergmann, M., Brohmann, B., Hoffmann, E., Loibl, M.C., Rehaag, R., Schramm, E., and Voß, J.-P.: 2005, Quality Criteria of Transdisciplinary Research. A Guide for the Formative Evaluation of Research Projects. ISOE Studientexte Nr. 13. ISOE, Frankfurt.
Müller, D.B., Tjallingii, S.P., and Canters, K.J.: 2005, A Transdisciplinary Learning Approach to Foster Convergence of Design, Science and Deliberation in Urban and Regional Planning, Syst Res Behav Sci 22 (3), 193–208, Retrieved June 11, 2007, from www.interscience.wiley.com.
Oswald, F. and Baccini, P.: 2003, Netzstadt – Einführung in das Stadtentwerfen (Netzstadt – Designing the Urban), Birkhäuser, Basel, 303pp.
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Baccini, P., Oswald, F. (2008). Designing the Urban: Linking Physiology and Morphology. In: Hadorn, G.H., et al. Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6699-3_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6699-3_5
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