How to inculcate transparent practices in planning and product development.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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We see packaged food products with a label on the back displaying what constituents, what proportions, of how much calories, what all vitamins and minerals, also sometimes seen, how ethically raw materials were sourced and from which regions, how sustainably product was made; and we start to see consumers making and mending their choices accordingly, and in turn businesses starting to revisit and reinvent their product line to match up with the emerging expectations of new age customers, those who are increasingly aware of the impact that their purchase choices are going to make on world, on environment and on generations to come. 

May be, its time that “buildings”, (may be by choice of developers and with help of architects or by statutory provision), start displaying their constituents, rationale of material choices, ethical sourcing of material, direct and indirect jobs created during construction and afterwards, mechanism planned and adopted to assure fair treatment and due payments to labour involved, building’s embodied energy in total and per household or per occupant, projected operational energy usage per household, building's carbon offsetting programme and period (if at all); in turn allowing investors and buyers to make reasonable and responsible real estate decisions; that may also prompt occupants to make further responsible operational choices and adjustments in their lifestyle, on realising their material footprints, on visualising their energy consumption and more. 

Its not about putting someone in difficult spot but about keeping pace with time, being more and more aware and responsible, possibly to drive change away from decades of inertia. 

Author: Anoop Jha

Knowing what you are dealing with is the first step of planning –A typical case of island research and development

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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A typical island, having a strong contained geographic and resource connotation, with a peculiarity of inside-outside, what is there and what in not, been there or not, whether to be disturbed or not

Close-knit native, historical and vernacular communities, having a symbiotic relationship with outside world

Embedded vulnerability due to delicate equilibrium of ecology, microclimate, demography and economy

Higher susceptibility to climate change effects, hazards, communication and supply chain blockage, energy shortage

Embodiment of contradictions – island’s opportunity is its threat, its remoteness is its attractiveness, its abundance is cause of its exhaustion, its beauty and tranquility are its curse, though a place of rejuvenation it also needs a period of uninterrupted rejuvenation

Our time-tested universal success models from planning to business to governance may still fall short of meeting the distinct needs, context and expectations of island geography, community and its biosphere 

Changes we intend to do there and in surroundings might have a nonlinear impact and may me irreversible

Success here may mean different things to different stakeholders. 

Author: Anoop Jha

#island #islandplanning #communityplanning #urbanplanning #islandmanagement #biodiversity #climatechange #travel #tourism #destination #Rotterdam #Netherlands #oceancommunities

Not anytime sooner AI or ChatGPT will surpass human intelligence or completely fulfil human desire for excellence.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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As the saying goes - there are finer fishes in the ocean then ever been caught. Likewise, there is way too much human experiences than ever been documented, way too much knowledge then ever been published, countless layers of emotions then ever been fathomed. Worth mentioning, as above knowledge and experiences never made their way to big data with which machines are being trained in principle.

Machine intelligence may amuse one, may even trick one, for a moment or two for sure, may serve the worldly purpose to much extent as well, but not going to surpass human intelligence (not in terms of weather prediction) and instinct any time sooner, neither fulfil their quest and expectations. Needs of human intellect is more than ever possibly to be fulfilled by machine or AI, at least not in near term.

History is dotted with precedents. Take a look at art for instance, photography and digital media were perceived to have immense disruptive potential, and they actually disrupted creativity and aesthetics, but never could kill art, rather made art more stronger. Take example of internet, it had potential to disrupt knowledge and it did, but could never uproot academia, rather it strengthened it. Take for instance cars, there was technically no going back to non-motorised vehicle, but bicycle prevailed and rather going stronger. When there came polyester, there was no going back to handloom, but it left people longing even more for cotton. Likewise the advent of genetically modified food and reactionary human quest for organic produce. And robots that could never render manpower obsolete.

As human needs and reactions to external events are way complex, hence their self organising tendency around any new disruption is also evident. Human being prefer to dwell at the borderline of existence, to have a chance to immerse oneself in experience in one instance (sometimes driven by technology) and withdraw in private seclusion in next moment. Essentially delocalised and never to be confined in one orbit.

Human quest remains unchallenged, as there is no technology which can quench their thirst, their quest for excellence, and search for newness. The best thing one can do in such times of technological flux is to embrace the change and keep calm!

Author: Anoop Jha

#technology #ChatGPT #AI #ML #bigdata #machinelearning #futuretech #disruption #smartcity #urbanplanner #architect #Rotterdam #Hague #Eindhoven #Utrecht #Amsterdam #Netherlands

Image:Pixabay 

Rotterdam #Art day out!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Its always refreshing to find some time to catch up with ones hobby. Visited few art galleries in Rotterdam last week. Mesmerized to see impressive works of many international artists on display, mostly dominated by contemporary, abstract and surreal fine art style. Coincidently it was amidst ongoing #RotterdamArtweek.

One of the #artgallery owner was kind enough to spend some time to discuss about some of the paintings including one of his favorite one on display. I also took opportunity to show him pictures of my past hobby art works (sketches/ paintings) and get some quick feedback, validation and handy tips to improvise on hobby craft sometime in future. Sharing snippets of my old artwork, which the gentleman found interesting enough in terms of contemporary art scene.

Gallery owner was very generous to give some handy tips and food for thought to ponder, he being in creative business for quite some time; saying these days its fine to blend different art styles, also may be good idea to have a contemporary and international take on history, culture and roots, from the place of origin of artist, also explaining why it may be important to pay equal attention to all parts of painting including foreground and background, he took time to show and explain finer details of some of the works on display.

We talked about how #arthelps transcend time, possibly also helping new generation to connect with past and how art may help foster dialogue.

Having interest in art has certainly helped me during #architecture study, but also as an urban planner and on path of being an urban management professionals it has often helped me find order, pattern, as well as finding innovative, creative and humane solutions to challen
ges of modern city life, #urbanplanning and #urbanmanagement.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image/Work: Author

#Rotterdam #artgallery #urbanplanning #Architecture #netherlands #art 

Week of Circular Economy 2023 (Week van de Circulaire Economie)

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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As the Week of Circular Economy 2023 (Week van de Circulaire Economie) ended; thought of looking back at own previous attempts to instill circular practices in DIY projects and found a quick experimental interior design installation from archive, that one made way back using bunch of wasted (printed/ unusable) A4 papers. With little creativity
, honeycomb arrangement and some back light it seem to worked well.

Thinking about concept of circular economy in a generic way and looking at cities as being an organic whole, also looking from cultural and economic perspective; with little observation and recollection we realize that circular practices have been part and parcel to many nations, cultures and communities across the world and throughout the history. Sometimes due to cultural influences or sometimes due to economic necessity they seem to apply circular practices by instinct, like being resource efficient, sharing resources and products within large joint families and close-knit community, using products overs generations, innovative use of material, keeping the material and products in loop by changing hands, repurposing etc.

Also, as resources are being increasingly scarce, one of the best things we can do to increase awareness about circular transition in modern city context, practices and products, is to introduce the concept of circular economy in educational curriculum from the very early stage and onwards.

#circulareconomy #architecture #interiordesign #circulartransition #Netherlands #WeekofCircularEconomy #weekvandecirculaireeconomie 

Digitalisation - possibly the only way forward!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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We, take action (going from point A to B in a city) to accomplish day to day task and take smaller steps (changing transport modes, crossing road) to eventually complete the task (reaching destination in this case). Now lets take "digital" out of the equation to understand the role of digitalisation in this process. Which means it will be difficult to know the exact status of next bus, local train until reaching bus stop or station; add time spent in buying ticket possibly, and if running out of cash then may pay visit to bank first (as even ATMs won't be around), also traffic signals won't be syncronised, so it will be difficult even to cross the road quickly and safely; also after reaching a new destination spend additional time searching for exact address in absence of digital map, while it will also be difficult to get task completed remotely in absence of digitalisation.

This basically means we may have to add more minutes and hours in our planned action as cushion to offset uncertainty, and to overcome anxiety. Different versions of above case anyways used to be reality a decade or two ago.

If digital interventions in people's life equates to saved time per day, per action that means better planning, more freedom of choice, less efforts, relaxation, sanity, better health, better control of action (life) and also as a perk ever connectedness, omnipresent assistance and being more resourceful. The way digital services are embedded in todays day to day life, it may be difficult to chose alternative disconnected life, unless someone is on vacation in a remote eco-resort or beach retreat.

Even when people complain about constant surveillance in public space, the first thing they will possibly wish for will be CCTV coverage, in case they happen to be in a situation of threat or facing petty or serious crime.

There are some good examples of how digitalisation can work very well without much compromise, for instance in one of the South Rotterdam Neighborhood to counter the burglary etc. the pilot smart street lights uses audio visual clues to detect unusual situations, suspicious behaviors like burglary and theft, fight etc., and then intensifies light, raises alarm, record events only in such situations and alert law enforcement. Details of pilot here (https://lnkd.in/eHP7MNPh).

Digitalisation is sometimes synonyms with smart cities. While its a constant debate that what kind of and how much digitalisation is needed in a (smart) city; acknowledging the role and embeddedness of digital interventions in day to day life, the possible best way forward would be to embrace the digitalisation, and attempt to keep improvising same.

Author: Anoop Jha

#Digitalisation #urbanplanning #urbanmanagement #architecture #smartcity #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Denbosch  #Alkmaar #Noordholland #Northholland #Tilburg  #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

Decoding architectural and urban planning profession, mannerism and dimensions!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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How architects and urban planners possibly think, what all they encounter? What are the key challenges of profession?

Architects and urban planners are usually creative, imaginative, and practical enough to almost dwell at the border of science and philosophy. They often like to draw analogy, parallel and similarity, find harmony and juxtaposition, search for patterns, logic and inspiration, build complex compositions while capable of offering even more complex explanation of same, articulate subtle thoughts, envision rare possibilities and more; meanwhile juggling between, functionality, aesthetics and feasibility; which most of the time remains a trade-off. Their works also have to qualify on aspirations of range of stakeholder and users, today and in centuries to come; work that should also withstand test of time, finding continued relevance, facing weather, disaster, praise and criticism alike.

Sometimes, rather many a times architects and urban planners operate on different scales, but their quest and creative search remains similar, i.e., creating something for people, community; something that is functional, aesthetic, comforting and nostalgic; but also within reach and viable; may be complex but also abstract enough to be explained to and understood by all.

Architects and urban planners sometimes draw similarity between human and architecture, and between human and city, as possibly human, being the most complex functional entity. A vast and complex subject as it is, has equally vast challenging regime, where half of world may not be having proper access to architectural services, neither having means, representation or entitlement, searching from the pool of architects who don’t even exist today; Similarly scores of unauthorised settlements, suburban villages and small towns in different parts of world, big or complex enough to qualify for a city title, having little awareness, resources and empowerment, to have timely access to urban planning services.

Architectural and urban planning profession has been that way since quite few decades, that is asymmetric in its services and reach, no less than economic or digital divide; also characteristic of juxtaposition, from the epitome of expression and demonstration at one end to the absolute absence of same on other end.

What’s going on now and what’s the way forward? Increasingly resource gap is being filled, awareness within, and about architecture and urban planning is growing, architectural and planning services are increasingly reaching to areas of cities and areas beyond cities which remained unattended in past, and increasingly serving the remote parts of world.

Author: Anoop Jha

Architect Planner

#urbanplanning #architecture #smartcity #Delhi #Mumbai #India #Africa #Europe #EU #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #alkmaar #noordholland #northholland #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands