Article Publications by Andreas Papallas
Article for the Cyprus Mail newspaper. 19th July 2015
Conference Presentations by Andreas Papallas
AESOP Annual Congress 2019
Urban Design and Planning worldwide have long been criticized for their lack of meaningful public... more Urban Design and Planning worldwide have long been criticized for their lack of meaningful public consultation and participation in the process of shaping our built environment. Currently, the existing practices of consultation and participation are within the confines of council meetings, complex form filling and survey reports that often carry little weight towards the decisions made by the planning authorities; the latter are increasingly seeking for ways to encourage meaningful public participation in urban development decisions. This paper presents a systematic literature review on sustainable urban governance vis-a-vis participatory planning, in an effort to consolidate, evaluate and critique the various approaches on involving the public in decision-making process in relation to urban form in general and public space in particular. The literature/case studies presented are referenced across a scale of degrees of participation, referring to a range of influence that participants have in the decision-making. In its two extremes it can be viewed as no participation, where designers make assumptions of users’ needs and requirements, and full participation, based on user-defined criteria of quality. The evaluation of many participatory research practices is somewhere in between the two extremes, focusing more on design with the users. However, the given theoretical process, might provide an insufficient degree of realism that designers need to cope with, due to time and budget constraints. If it is to remain grounded to the practice of design, literature should be able to cope with barriers, and seek understanding beyond its conceptual approaches.
Public participation in the decision-making processes that shape the urban environments we inhabi... more Public participation in the decision-making processes that shape the urban environments we inhabit is an imperative aspect of a democratic society. Recent developments in the fields of Information Visualization, Gamification and Immersive Technologies (AR/VR/MR) offer novel opportunities for civic engagement in the planning process that remain largely unexplored. This SIG aims to identify ways in which these technologies can be used to tackle the public participation challenges identified by the European Commission, the UN Habitat and the World Bank and experienced by citizens across the world. The overarching goal of this SIG is to define methods and processes where technology can facilitate public participation in the planning process for the inclusive and democratic development of our cities. The overarching goal of this SIG is to bring together an interdisciplinary group of practitioners, academics and policy makers from the CHI communities (Design, User Experience, HCI for Development (HCI4D), Sustainability and Games & Entertainment) and beyond, to discuss innovative ways to increase the transparency, accountability and democratic legitimacy of this innately political process.
This chapter seeks to investigate the relationship between social structures rooted in conflictin... more This chapter seeks to investigate the relationship between social structures rooted in conflicting identities and the urban environment in the contested context of Nicosia - the last divided city in Europe and capital of Cyprus. The urban actors consisting of the two communities that inhabit the divided island are characterised by differences in language, religion and origin. Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have been initially separated in 1963 and have been living in a completely divided island since 1974. The opening of the Lockmaci/Ledra Street checkpoint in the old section of Nicosia in 2003 resulted in subtle manifestations of temporal activities and interventions within the urban fabric. Appreciating the alienation between the two communities and the development of separate identities involves understanding two urban impediments. First, the failure of the city as a political institution to ensure that the diversity will still continue upon a solution of the Cyprus conflict and second, the mismanagement of ethnic diversity as a large socio-spatial concern. This chapter investigates the political, social and cultural parameters in the urban context as manifested through symbols and artefacts that enhance this obsession with preserving the national self. By performing a thorough investigation of Nicosia’s multi-faceted environment, this chapter attempts to understand the current cultural structure between the two communities as the result of conflict. The quotidian reality of the inhabitants suggests that the enforcing, manipulation, moulding and alteration of cognitive memories shape the perception of ‘the other’. The chapter will consequently explain the role of the urban environment as a vessel for structuring the identities of Turkish-Cypriots and Greek-Cypriots in the future as we speculate a reunification scenario.
Thesis Chapters by Andreas Papallas
THESIS. Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge.
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This essay outlines an implementation strategy for pursuing and realising a planning project that... more This essay outlines an implementation strategy for pursuing and realising a planning project that negotiates security and urban functioning amidst the sovereignty hybridity characterising the UN Buffer Zone in Nicosia, Cyprus. The proposed framework questions the role of the architect within a network of established actors in the governmental and non-governmental sectors through an in-depth analysis and understanding of the political, social and economic conditions in global and local scales.
Talks by Andreas Papallas
Design practice and urban morphology: teaching combined morphological approaches to the next gene... more Design practice and urban morphology: teaching combined morphological approaches to the next generation of practitioners.
This third Round Table of the EPUM project builds upon previous discussions of the benefits and challenges of applying the different morphological approaches to the same case study of the historical centre of Porto during EPUM's first intensive summer workshop in Portugal in September 2018. The first two Round Tables addressed the possibility and desirability of combining the approaches, their complementarity in the understanding of the urban form, common threads and concepts, as well as the potential of building a common structure and systematizing the knowledge of urban morphology to expand existing methodologies, without radically altering the background theories which support them.
This debate focuses on the implications of teaching a multiplicity of approaches for the future of design practice. The discussion will address issues such as: i. the benefits and challenges of teaching multiple approaches within the time and resource constraints of existing urban morphology courses; ii. balancing broad knowledge and understanding of concepts with the need for teaching specific skills and practice of methods ; iii. the potential of urban morphological knowledge for future professionals and for design practice.
Papers by Andreas Papallas
Journal of Geography in Higher Education
Social, economic, and political fragmentation of contemporary cities is strongly related to urban... more Social, economic, and political fragmentation of contemporary cities is strongly related to urban form. In order to respond to this challenge, municipal authorities, policy makers, urban designers and scholars have developed a variety of approaches on understanding urban form in relation to social life, both theoretical and operational. These approaches, however, are characterized by specific disciplinary canons and have seen the emergence of separate schools of thought. They have traditionally been applied in isolation. The project on 'Emerging Perspectives on Urban Morphology' (EPUM, Erasmus+ project) has brought together five international partners embracing/developing different morphological approaches (historico‑geographical, process typological, space syntax, relational‑material and combined). Through a continuous learning process of meetings, teaching activities and workshops, EPUM aims at i) comparing and improving the ways in which urban form and the agents and processes that are responsible for its transformation over time, are taught; ii) comparing the theoretical, conceptual and methodological basis of the different approaches, identifying their main strengths and weaknesses, and exploring the possibilities for dialogue and combination. The proposed educational model aims to enable various institutions to work both independently and collaboratively, synchronously and asynchronously, eventually formulating an international 'community of practice' connected through embodied practical experience as well as through digital space and blended learning approaches. The roundtable will focus on contributions that seek to carve out connections between social life and urban form, raising following questions: How is urban morphology (re)defined with regard to relational conceptualizations of space? How is it approached and taught across different institutions and schools of thought? How can blended or face‑to‑face learning methodologies help to circumvent the shortcomings in studying urban morphologies in higher education?
Urban Design and Planning worldwide have long been criticized for their lack of meaningful public... more Urban Design and Planning worldwide have long been criticized for their lack of meaningful public consultation and participation in the process of shaping our built environment. Currently, the existing practices of consultation and participation are within the confines of council meetings, complex form filling and survey reports that often carry little weight towards the decisions made by the planning authorities; the latter are increasingly seeking for ways to encourage meaningful public participation in urban development decisions. This paper presents a systematic literature review on sustainable urban governance vis-a-vis participatory planning, in an effort to consolidate, evaluate and critique the various approaches on involving the public in decision-making process in relation to urban form in general and public space in particular. The literature/case studies presented are referenced across a scale of degrees of participation, referring to a range of influence that participants have in the decision-making. In its two extremes it can be viewed as no participation, where designers make assumptions of users’ needs and requirements, and full participation, based on user-defined criteria of quality. The evaluation of many participatory research practices is somewhere in between the two extremes, focusing more on design with the users. However, the given theoretical process, might provide an insufficient degree of realism that designers need to cope with, due to time and budget constraints. If it is to remain grounded to the practice of design, literature should be able to cope with barriers, and seek understanding beyond its conceptual approaches.
Identity, Belonging and Human Rights: A Multi-Disciplinary Perspective, 2016
This chapter seeks to investigate the relationship between social structures rooted in conflictin... more This chapter seeks to investigate the relationship between social structures rooted in conflicting identities and the urban environment in the contested context of Nicosia - the last divided city in Europe and capital of Cyprus. The urban actors consisting of the two communities that inhabit the divided island are characterised by differences in language, religion and origin. Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have been initially separated in 1963 and have been living in a completely divided island since 1974. The opening of the Lockmaci/Ledra Street checkpoint in the old section of Nicosia in 2003 resulted in subtle manifestations of temporal activities and interventions within the urban fabric. Appreciating the alienation between the two communities and the development of separate identities involves understanding two urban impediments. First, the failure of the city as a political institution to ensure that the diversity will still continue upon a solution of the Cyprus conflict and second, the mismanagement of ethnic diversity as a large socio-spatial concern. This chapter investigates the political, social and cultural parameters in the urban context as manifested through symbols and artefacts that enhance this obsession with preserving the national self. By performing a thorough investigation of Nicosia’s multi-faceted environment, this chapter attempts to understand the current cultural structure between the two communities as the result of conflict. The quotidian reality of the inhabitants suggests that the enforcing, manipulation, moulding and alteration of cognitive memories shape the perception of ‘the other’. The chapter will consequently explain the role of the urban environment as a vessel for structuring the identities of Turkish-Cypriots and Greek-Cypriots in the future as we speculate a reunification scenario.
The Urban Book Series
The chapter is in three parts. It starts with an introduction to urban morphology, as the science... more The chapter is in three parts. It starts with an introduction to urban morphology, as the science that studies the physical form of cities, as well as the main agents and processes shaping it over time. It then moves to the topic of teaching urban morphology, framing the debate on the way we, urban morphologists, are teaching the main morphological theories, concepts and techniques to our students, future researchers of, and practitioners on, the urban landscape. Finally, it describes the contents of the book, structured in three parts: (i) why teaching urban morphology (?), (ii) what to teach in an urban morphology course (?) and (iii) how to teach urban morphology (?).
Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Public participation in the decision-making processes that shape the urban environments we inhabi... more Public participation in the decision-making processes that shape the urban environments we inhabit is an imperative aspect of a democratic society. Recent developments in the fields of Information Visualization, Gamification and Immersive Technologies (AR/VR/MR) offer novel opportunities for civic engagement in the planning process that remain largely unexplored. This SIG aims to identify ways in which these technologies can be used to tackle the public participation challenges identified by the European Commission, the UN Habitat and the World Bank and experienced by citizens across the world. The overarching goal of this SIG is to define methods and processes where technology can facilitate public participation in the planning process for the inclusive and democratic development of our cities. The overarching goal of this SIG is to bring together an interdisciplinary group of practitioners, academics and policy makers from the CHI communities (Design, User Experience, HCI for Development (HCI4D), Sustainability and Games & Entertainment) and beyond, to discuss innovative ways to increase the transparency, accountability and democratic legitimacy of this innately political process.
Planning for Transition. Proceedings of the AESOP Annual Congress, 2019
Urban Design and Planning worldwide have long been criticized for their lack of meaningful public... more Urban Design and Planning worldwide have long been criticized for their lack of meaningful public consultation and participation in the process of shaping our built environment. Currently, the existing practices of consultation and participation are within the confines of council meetings, complex form filling and survey reports that often carry little weight towards the decisions made by the planning authorities; the latter are increasingly seeking for ways to encourage meaningful public participation in urban development decisions. This paper presents a systematic literature review on sustainable urban governance visa -vis participatory planning, in an effort to consolidate, evaluate and critique the various approaches on involving the public in decision-making process in relation to urban form in general and public space in particular. The literature/case studies presented are referenced across a scale of degrees of participation, referring to a range of influence that participants have in the decision-making. In its two extremes it can be viewed as no participation, where designers make assumptions of users' needs and requirements, and full participation, based on user-defined criteria of quality. The evaluation of many participatory research practices is somewhere in between the two extremes, focusing more on design with the users. However, the given theoretical process, might provide an insufficient degree of realism that designers need to cope with, due to time and budget constraints. If it is to remain grounded to the practice of design, literature should be able to cope with barriers, and seek understanding beyond its conceptual approaches.
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Article Publications by Andreas Papallas
Conference Presentations by Andreas Papallas
Thesis Chapters by Andreas Papallas
Talks by Andreas Papallas
This third Round Table of the EPUM project builds upon previous discussions of the benefits and challenges of applying the different morphological approaches to the same case study of the historical centre of Porto during EPUM's first intensive summer workshop in Portugal in September 2018. The first two Round Tables addressed the possibility and desirability of combining the approaches, their complementarity in the understanding of the urban form, common threads and concepts, as well as the potential of building a common structure and systematizing the knowledge of urban morphology to expand existing methodologies, without radically altering the background theories which support them.
This debate focuses on the implications of teaching a multiplicity of approaches for the future of design practice. The discussion will address issues such as: i. the benefits and challenges of teaching multiple approaches within the time and resource constraints of existing urban morphology courses; ii. balancing broad knowledge and understanding of concepts with the need for teaching specific skills and practice of methods ; iii. the potential of urban morphological knowledge for future professionals and for design practice.
Papers by Andreas Papallas
This third Round Table of the EPUM project builds upon previous discussions of the benefits and challenges of applying the different morphological approaches to the same case study of the historical centre of Porto during EPUM's first intensive summer workshop in Portugal in September 2018. The first two Round Tables addressed the possibility and desirability of combining the approaches, their complementarity in the understanding of the urban form, common threads and concepts, as well as the potential of building a common structure and systematizing the knowledge of urban morphology to expand existing methodologies, without radically altering the background theories which support them.
This debate focuses on the implications of teaching a multiplicity of approaches for the future of design practice. The discussion will address issues such as: i. the benefits and challenges of teaching multiple approaches within the time and resource constraints of existing urban morphology courses; ii. balancing broad knowledge and understanding of concepts with the need for teaching specific skills and practice of methods ; iii. the potential of urban morphological knowledge for future professionals and for design practice.