Overview of cross cultural influences in city development, Contemporary culture - the metropolitan experience, Introduction to the exploration of the interface between the built environment & human behavior, Changing attitude towards urban space at global level & Special emphasis on urban space as contested domain – public private, Concept and production of everyday space

1. Socio-Economic-Cultural Aspects of
Urban Realm
Moksha Bhatia

2. Contents
1. Overview of Cross-cultural influences in city development
2. Contemporary culture – the metropolitan experience
3. Introduction to the exploration of the interface between the
built environment & human behavior
4. Changing attitude towards urban space at global level &
Special emphasis on urban space as contested domain –
public private, Concept and production of everyday space

3. Overview of Cross-cultural influences in
city development

4. Introduction
• Cities are living systems, made,
transformed and experienced by
people.
• Urban forms and functions are
produced and managed by the
interaction between space and
society, that is by the historical
relationship between human
consciousness, matter, energy
and information.
• The search for spatial
meaningfulness and cultural
identity, the demands for social
goods and services, have
triggered in the last decade.

5. Cross – Cultural Influence on City Development
• Cross-cultural is a how cultural factors influence human behavior.
• While many aspects of human thought and behavior are universal, cultural
differences can lead to often surprising differences in how people think,
feel, and act.
• Cross-cultural is also emerging as an increasingly important topic as
researchers strive to understand both the differences and similarities
among people of various cultures throughout the world.

6. • In some cities you can study and understand the culture of a city from
its buildings.
• Behind all the buildings below, there was a culture of the city that
because of which they distinguish from each other.
• For Example : The magnificent temple of Athens was The birth place of
democracy
• “In this building the Greeks incorporated a fundamental principle of
their culture: arête.
• To the Greeks, arête meant excellence and reaching ones full potential.
Arete now means “excellence of any kind” or “moral virtue”.
Why Culture is important in city?

8. • With increasing globalization and international
trade, it is unavoidable that different cultures will
meet, conflict, and blend together.
• People from different culture find it is difficult to
communicate not only due to language barriers,
but also are affected by culture styles.
• Changing the cultural and social attitudes in
communities has the greatest impact on the
architecture. Therefore, the role of culture in
promoting architectural identity seems essential
• But as Phil Wood said in his book, the
Intercultural City, that, a culture cannot develop
without diversity.
• Every society on globe struggles with the
emerging diversity.
• Those that are different suffer discrimination and
in turn social and economic disadvantage.
• There are many states that choose to ignore
diversity or even encourages inter-communal
antagonism.
• The cross-cultural city contains core beliefs to
govern relations between people and it allows to

9. How cities and people are influenced?
• Cities around the world have marked differences in spatial form and structure.
• To some extent this can be attributed to cultural differences.
• However, the impact spatial form has on the interactions within and between
residents of different neighborhoods is unclear.
• A growing body of knowledge shows that cities in different parts of the world exhibit
different spatial characteristics .
• They vary in terms of morphological and urban form characteristics such as
neighbourhood layouts, density, block sizes, land use patterns and building form.
• For example, many European cities have smaller block sizes in comparison with
those in the US, while many Asian cities show a more intricate mix of land uses
when compared with European or North American cities .
• There is, however, a gap in knowledge when examining cities at a more micro scale
and attempting to account for the cultural and spatial differences at play within the
same locality.
• Many cities today are home to people from a variety of cultural, ethnic and social
backgrounds who are often spatially concentrated in specific locations within a city.
• While some spatial concentration can be economically and culturally beneficial to
the city as a whole .
• Urban segregation of different communities can occur within a given locality
(Vaughan, 2007) which may seriously affect the long-term sustainability, equity and
mobility of residents within the city and may degenerate into communal tension and
violence.

10. Contemporary culture – the
metropolitan experience

11. Definition of
Contemporary Culture
• “Contemporary culture” is the
culture of a specific society or
people in modern times.
• For example, contemporary
Malay culture is a bit like how it
was 200 years ago (from art to
cuisine and language, with
Arab and Indian influences),
but with additional influences
from Britain and America.
• Contemporary culture is like
pop-culture. It's dynamic,
changing all the time. It comes
and goes.
• Contemporary culture refers
to the common themes of art,
music, architecture and
literature that are popular at

12. Contemporary Culture as the Metropolitan
Experience
• With the increasing urbanization and modernization, cities become
centers of innovations – the key indicator of economic growth.
• Cities are centers of social and cultural life as well and culture is the
key to what makes cities attractive, creative and sustainable.
• culture is at the heart of urban development, evidenced through
cultural landmarks, heritage and traditions.
• Speaking about culture in the future cities, our thoughts are based
on globalization trend, intercultural city communications and
technological introductions into city life.

13. • Modern cities are the centers of economic
development, the concentration of innovations in all
spheres of life.
• They also turn out to be centers of social and cultural
life.
• Today we can observe a paradigm shift in the city
development: “office-city”, “machine-city’ and “industrial
city” are replaced by the “cultural city’, "city for life", "a
city that promotes a healthy life-style" model.
• Historically cities were built around factories, now the
industry has changed and we need less work force.
• The social system has also adjusted to this mode, so
the new philosophy of urbanism is focused on the
theory of a creative cultural city.
• The city of the future will be characterized as
- a place that fosters the implementation of innovative
initiatives involving as many people as possible,
- a place where they approach the solution of socio-
economic problems in a new way,
- the place of collective creativity of inhabitants -
representatives of various cultural and social strata.
CULTURAL CITY

14. • Modern globalizing world creates
many new opportunities for urban
development.
• Megapolises are considered to
be the most innovative hubs,
where the technological and
scientific progress, the economic,
social and cultural development
is concentrated.
• Cities have served the function of reducing the distance between people
and thus enabling them to get together to easily exchange messages, ideas
and goods, to engage in communal and common activities.
• Urban form and settlement patterns have been shaped by the means of
communication and transport, and continuing changes in settlement forms
will largely be a function of how communications technology changes.
Affect on urban form
these days due to new
technology :

15. Contemporary Culture in Metropolitan can be
experienced through
1. Cultural vitality - Cultural viability and vitality concerns the
maintenance, respect and celebration of what a city and its
population is. It involves identity, memory, tradition, community
celebration and the production of products, artefacts, and symbols,
which express a city’s distinctive nature.
2. Cultural identity - Local cultural identity and pride are essential
elements in achieving economic, community and environmental
regeneration and action
3. Cultural heritage - Cultural Heritage, as a broad concept includes
the natural as well as the built environment.
4. Cultural diversity - The city brings together people of different
origins and cultural patterns.
5. Culture of public urban spaces
6. Urban Design and Cultural Planning

16. • To outline the cultural potential of future cities, we should remember that
monuments of history and culture of world or state importance are concentrated in
cities.
• It is necessary to implement projects in the field of digitalization of tourist and
cultural spaces of the city, including a navigation system, mobile Internet for
tourists and personalized online services, updating Internet sites of museums with
the possibility of virtual tours on them.
• Museums and cultural centers of the world will often use the technology of virtual
reality

17. Interface between the built
environment and human behavior

18. Introduction
• This interface analyses the effects of a particular physical environment on
the different aspects of the lives of its people as well as their interactive
influence and changes of the features of the environment within which
they are living.

20. • The built environment should adapt to people’s different needs in this
rapidly changing era of technological revolution in order to understand
how does that old urban fabric, which was originally formed as a
reflection and translation to a past culture, emphasizes the importance of
utilizing the knowledge of human behavior while designing built
environments.
• It also discusses the role of architects in the psychological space design
and formation of appropriate and inappropriate behavioral patterns

21. Why this Interface is important?
• Because the needs of humans
are vast and ever changing, it is
vital that designers be informed
about the relationship of the
people with their built
environment .
• The understanding of this mutual
relationship between people and
their surroundings is the major
concern of behavioral sciences.
• Human behaviors, attitudes and
values become significant in order
to create enabling environments
for the diverse needs of people in
the contemporary society.
• In this respect, the main aim of
this paper is to emphasize the
importance of utilizing the
knowledge of human behavior

22. • Nowadays, it is quite a necessity to use the behavioral sciences and
environmental psychology findings in the field of architecture.
• Theoretical knowledge in the field of architecture has always been in need
of some frameworks in order to facilitate theory development, criteria
preparation and review of architectural products and process.
• Behavioral science is one of the disciplines that can provide the framework
and theoretical background for architecture.

23. • The interaction between the physical environment and health has been of interest
to epidemiologists.
• However, until recently, psychologists have tended to define the role of the
environment in the determination of behavior and the psychological and
physiological effects of these concepts on the behavior of an individual.
• Naturally, knowledge and understanding of these concepts is of vital importance to
the designers.

24. The relationship of the physical environment on human
behavior:
• In this context, knowing and understanding of everyday lives plays an
important role while designing the physical environments.
• Gifford (2002) explained this importance with the key words of
perception and cognition.
• Cognition and place attachment are important factors changing the
framework of environmental psychology as well as of architecture and
planning while designing built environments and relating everyday
environment to the human behaviors.
• Environmental perception is related to the reinterpretation of the
gathered data by users in the way that they store, transform, organize,
forget, and recall knowledge.
• The behavioral sciences can help us to understand the present and what
the trends in society are, they can help us to predict the outcomes of our
design proposals for the future better than we do now.
• It is possible to improve designs by taking account the environmental
research results and incorporating the findings to the design proposals.

25. The impact of the urban environment on human
behavior
• The physical environment (physical) can affect the human and can
change according to the needs and behavior , hence the importance of
the functional considerations of the activities and behavioral patterns
within the place and the importance of the behavior of individuals and
users within the vacuum.
• This includes studying and analyzing the urban spaces and the
surrounding physical environment and examining the possibility of
change in accordance with the requirements of the users in light of the
diversity of behavioral patterns of users as the full awareness of the
nature of the activity comes from the determination of the surface that
contains this activity functionally.
• Lynch 1960 also states that designers make the environment so that the
user can do what he really wants or give him other opportunities for
actions and reactions.
• There should also be a well understanding of behavioral patterns either
through direct observations or indirect questioning.
• Building spaces and buildings cannot be viewed as mere contents of
human activities but are integrated within human behavioral patterns so

27. Changing attitude towards urban space at
global level and special emphasis on urban
space as contested domain – public private,
concept and production of everyday space

28. Changing Attitude Sustainable Development
• Urban development has been
recognized as a major cause of
environmental problems, with a
diversity of approaches and
principles having been
proposed to increase its
sustainability.
• Despite the inconsistent and
debated literature definitions of
sustainable urban development,
it has become a generally
accepted goal for urban
planning
• Current debates about urban
sustainability tend to focus on
technical issues, such as
carbon emissions, energy
consumption and waste

29. • The term “sustainable
development” has become
widely used to stress the need
for simultaneous achievement of
economic, social and
environmental development
goals.
• Governments or international
agencies have published many
documents of policies, plans,
and programs to implement
sustainable development.
• The most commonly cited
definition of sustainable
development is probably that of
the World Commission on
Environment and Development.
• It defines sustainable
development as that which
“meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability

30. • However, debate on the
meaning of sustainability and
how it should be achieved
continues.
• To achieve the goals of urban
sustainability, international
efforts mainly focus on man-
made and built components of
the urban environment.
• However, less attention has
been focused on parks and
green spaces of the urban
structure.
• Ample empirical evidence from
researches indicates that urban
parks and green spaces support
a wide array of species, have a
large range of functions for the
human population and
contribute to social, economic
and environmental sustainability

31. Emphasis on Urban Space…
• Urban parks and green spaces play an important role for environmental
services such as air and water purification, wind and noise filtering, and
microclimate stabilization.
• They also provide social and psychological services, which are important
for public well being.
• The use of parks and green spaces can
- reduce stress,
- provide a sense of peacefulness and tranquility,
- enhance psychological and mental health, and
- promote the development of social ties.
• The functions of urban parks and green spaces can provide economic
benefits as well as the aforementioned social and psychological benefits.
• The aesthetic, historical and recreational values of urban parks and green
spaces increase the attractiveness of the city and promote its tourism
potential, thus generating employment and revenues.

32. • Modern cities have developed their own sustainability indicators to
measure quality of life issues, which are central to all the various
definitions of sustainability in cities.
• Urban parks and green spaces can provide social services for quality of
life and are considered a key component of sustainability.
• Public attitudes must be understood and accounted for in natural
resource management, and can help guide management strategies.
Selection of sustainability indicators for planning

33. • Parks, gardens and other green areas improve the quality of urban
environment, provide opportunities for relaxation, recreation, association
and social interaction and they help communities to shape their identity
and to strengthen their social fabric.
• In addition, by providing clear air, water and soil and by helping to stabilize
urban temperatures and the urban climate, they support the development
of a healthy environment in harmony with the natural word.
• Alongside these social and environmental effects, however, there are also
economic benefits.

34. Conclusion
• Culture is a key ingredient of post-industrial, information-intensive
economic activity.
• A culture-oriented economic development is one that integrates the
symbolic and creative elements into any aspect of the urban economy,
pursuing distinction, innovativeness, and a higher level of interaction
between localized individual and social knowledge and globalizing
markets.
• Cities spend more and more in cultural programmes as well as large
infrastructure projects, which are supposed to be drivers of sustainable
development: urban landmarks influencing the image and the
attractiveness of the city for private investments, but also platforms for
the “new creative class” and stimuli to social integration through self-
reflection and cultural inclusion.
• Cultural clusters have become – to varying extents, according to the
characteristics, location and governance structures of such clusters –
catalysts of a wholesome creative economy, involving a higher
attractiveness for tourists, skilled talents, and ultimately for knowledge- 4
intensive enterprises in search of an innovative climate and high levels
of quality of life

35. Thank You