Ruin Nation: Destruction and the American Civil War

In view of the dramatic increase in the population of world cities, the necessities of aesthetic urban planning have increased. Addressing the aesthetics problems of urban spaces implies working with new models of aesthetic cities for developing comprehensive urban planning. This study highlights the importance of the consideration of urban aesthetics in the urban planning process using the qualitative grounded theory study as the main methodology. The study further showed the need for planners to consider economic and social outputs in planning considerations. The study contributes that the planning process should be tailored to implement aesthetic inherited planning into urban planning management.

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A Quest on the Role of Aesthetics in Enhancing Functionality of Urban Planning

describes incidents of collaboration and confrontation among and between different German, Vichy, and indigenous groups. Her narrative on these subjects is rich, and it is unfortunate that she does not make more of them in her very short conclusion. The main historiographical debate addressed in her book is that between the functionalist and intentionalist interpretations of German foreign policy. Was Hitler’s foreign policy primarily a response to domestic pressure, as Hans Mommsen and Martin Broszat argued? Can this perspective also serve to explain colonial policy? Or, did Hitler have more definite colonial goals, as Klaus Hildebrand claimed, goals which cannot be seen as a secondary outcome of German internal crises? Though she never declares herself explicitly, her answer seems to fall toward Hildebrand’s camp: Hitler was indulgent with colonialists at home as long as they did not obstruct his wider international aims. In sum, Metzger’s book must be seen as a colossal contribution to the study of imperialism and Nazi Germany. Winner of the Prix Jean-Baptiste Duroselle, this Thèse d’État clearly measures up to the exacting standards of thoroughness and detail so valued by French doctoral examiners. The text runs to 750 pages including notes, and is accompanied by a second volume containing 77 appendixes and an 80-page bibliography. It is difficult to imagine a more meticulous examination of the source base, which includes French and German diplomatic and colonial archives, newspapers and contemporary literature. Her prose, though unexciting, is clear, and the appendixes are pertinent. The book’s greatest strength is its encyclopaedic nature and attention to minute details. It is an invaluable resource for specialists in this area.

The Bad City in the Good War: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Diego (review)

The peacebuilding process plays a critical role for urban planning in paving the way for sustainable peace or upcoming conflicts, where it is not innocent and not impartial. The paper aims to draw out lessons learned from Belfast to Syria, focusing on the urban intervention role in sustaining the peace process. The article reviews Belfast’s literature review, using the timeline to scan the recovery process and extract a few lessons learnt. This is followed by reviewing the current interventions for the recovery of Syria based on chosen articles in the Venice charter on reconstruction that define specific indicators of the role of architects and urban planners. Authors debate the way and the aspects of urban intervention in dealing with conflicts. The paper shows the critical role of urban interventions in sustaining peace process implementation and concludes with essential areas to ensure the integration of the urban intervention part of the peace process.

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The Role of Urban Planning and Architecture in Sustainable Peacebuilding: Lessons from Belfast to Syria

War-city relationships had long been studied by scholars regarding wars' sudden impact on cities. Studies typically focused on one specific event's impact on urban military, politics, economy, or society. This approach, however, treated war's impact on cities as only temporary, hindered opportunities to reveal multiple political regimes' spatial competition through war-oriented city planning and construction, which is crucial for city development, and their resultant urban form changes through time. In response, this study has examined city planning and construction activities during the short time gaps between multiple military conflicts, with various military objectives, and conducted by different political regimes in Shenyang, China. In accordance with archival research, a space syntax axis analysis has been used to quantify spatial dynamics throughout war-peace-war cycles to explore the impact of military-oriented planning on city-scaled development. We have found these planning strategies, initiated by specific military goals, acted as extensions of war planning, segregating the city and causing urban fragmentation. They also acted as a driving factor which promoted modernization of the city in the early 20th century. We conclude that wars oriented planning can alter a city's development track and impact its structure and form through the creation of internally connected but isolated urban districts.
Copyright © 2018 Journal Of Contemporary Urban Affairs.

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Huaqing Wang

Papers

Urban Planning as an Extension of War Planning: the Case of Shenyang, China, 1898-1966