"Cities Can Save The Earth"

Urban Ecological Foundations for Climate Solutions

Get the city right and everything else has a chance. It's big. It's basic. If our built environment is well organized and well designed, we can go a long way toward solving transport, energy, biodiversity, agricultural and climate problems. This is a rare insight in today's economic and environmental debate. It is crucial and this conference is putting it forward at a time of historic necessity.

PROGRAM

DAY 1: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
Cevahir Convention Center

Welcoming Ceremonies, Opening Statements

State of Nature and the Long View

The International Ecocity Conference Series has taken both the international view embracing peoples and urban solutions from every continent but also has looked at the implications of the way we build cities throughout the ages. We also look deep into the future in search of healthy ideas, designs and policies. Istanbul, with its long history, where roads and navigation routes converge, where East meets West and water meets land is the perfect place to imagine cities for a better future.

Welcome statements:

Prof. Dr. Ahmet SAMSUNLU, Former Public Works & Settlement Minister, Turkey

Mr. Richard REGISTER, President, Ecocity Builders and keeper of the International Ecocity Conference Series, USA

Dr. Kadir TOPBAS, Mayor of Istanbul

Hikmet Çakmak, Vice Governor of Istanbul

Keynote speech: Mr. Veysel EROGLU, Minister of Environment and Forestry, Turkey. "Cities and the challenge presented by climate change"line

Session 1

The City and Shape of the Future

“The city is an invention for maximizing exchange and minimizing travel” said Australian urban theorist David Engwicht. To function it needs a physical form that brings things close together and to which our technologies and lifestyles and livelihoods can be successfully attached and integrated. How the city should be laid out and designed, and how urban policies should be designed can give order to our future. Our speakers in this session are among those who know as well as any the best visions for such a healthy future.

Mr. Parris GLENDENING, Former Governor of Maryland, USA, President, Smart Growth Leadership Institute

Suleyman VARLIBAS, Varlibas Holding CEO, Turkey

Orhan TURAN, Imsad CEO, Turkey

Session 2

Policy, Theory and the World Context

The most basic and important thinking we can do regarding our lives in cities and into a future of growing crises is to take the world-view with a sustainability perspective. From there we need to move on with a good assessment of our resources and the best clarity we can summons from basic life principles – that is, ecological principles – to polices that help us shape our cities for a much healthier future than present cities seem to be pushing us toward. This is a session for theory that can be successfully applied.

Mr. Buyukelcl Bozkurt ARAN, Ambassador to the World Trade Organization from Turkey

Dr. Rusong WANG, Member of Congress, Peoples Republic of China, Chinese Academy of Science

Ms. Janet LARSEN, Director of Research, Earth Policy Institute, USA

Discussion

Session 3

Architecture and Urban Design - 1

Land use and architecture taken together and arranged by landscape architecture and urban design are the physical bones of the city and determines much else that is possible or impossible in the functioning of the city. As goes the physical design of the city, so goes energy and transportation systems and the great waste or savings of land and energy that also imply impacts on biodiversity and climate world-wide as well as locally.

Dr. Ken YEANG, Eco-Architect, Malaysia and United Kingdom

Mr. Walter HOOD, landscape architect, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

Bengü ATUM, Cedbik, Director, Turkey

Session 4

Biology and Urban Wildlife

We are supported by the living biosphere for food and “ecological services” such as plants purifying the air and decomposer bacteria giving us soil for agriculture, bees providing pollination, birds distributing seeds and keeping down insect infestations by simply eating them. That other living things have value unto themselves (certainly in their own opinion!) we should also not lose track of. But how the city impacts nature is powerful and today very destructive. How to change that into a healthy future through design, policy and life ways of work and lifestyles?

Ms. Agni VLAVIANOS, Biopolitics International Organization, Greece

Ambika SHUKLA, People for Animals, India

Discussion

Session 1

Energy, Economy and Innovation

Energy, and the machines it powers, homes it heats, communications it facilitates has delivered immense benefit to humanity with immense problems as well. It’s nexus with the built environment, however, is far from clear in popular understanding. We hope to advance that understanding here. What kinds of energy systems and how tuned to the city, town, village, nature and future – that is the question.

Dr. Nilufer EGRICAN, Yeditepe University, Vice President, Turkey

Mr. Arnold GOLDMAN, solar energy pioneer, founder BrightSource Energy, Israel and USA

Levent GULBAHAR, Gensed CEO, Turkey

Discussion

Session 2

Legacy, Equity and Design

What to choose from culture and past successes in city design and human relations that benefits the city’s citizens and nature at the same time is a crucial challenge. We need to look deeply into equity between people and opportunity for all people’s flourishing. We need to look deeply into equity between people and other species. Cities are of, by and for people, but historically when they’ve violated either human rights or nature’s they have turned into instruments of overexploitation. With the perspective of time can we learn many of the most important lessons for the future of cities, society and nature?

Prof. Sudarshan TIWARI, architect and city historian, Nepal

Mr. Marcel DIALLO, artist, community developer, Black Dot Artists, Inc., USA     

Luc ROBIN, Ecocity 2001 Montreal, CANADA  

Session 3

Sustainable City Design, Layout and Planning

Architectural design is getting more interesting and “sustainable” every day and the arrangement of buildings is shifting gradually toward ecocity land uses. But that requires governments, zoning, public participation, taxing, planning. Whether or not that shift and associated open space, transport and energy policy and design come together well and whether it will be fast enough to help greatly with climate change and avert real catastrophe depends a great deal on our thinking about the way cities are laid out and planned and about how our official city planners function.

Mr. Wulf DASEKING, Planning Director, City of Freiburg, Germany

Discussion

Mr. Brent TODERIAN, Planning Director, City of Vancouver, Canada

Session 4

Ecocity Architecture and Urban Design II

In the ecocity world, as in others on any frontier of science, geographical exploration or art pioneers explore worlds for the first time. What they discover is what’s there. In our case, that’s basic ecocity principles or details to be built and lived in and with.  They may describe their world of exploration accurately or not, provide new inventions based on what they discover and take off on tangents up box canyons. But if there is to be a discovery, their exploration is necessary. Reflections on that path provided.

Richard REGISTER, urban ecologist and author, President, Ecocity Builders, USA

Prof. Dr. Nuran Zeren GULERSOY, Turkey

Prof. Dr. Zerrin YILMAZ, Istanbul Technical University, School of Architecture, Turkey

Discussion

Session 5

Planning Tools and Strategies for Sustainability

Information technology products and sheer ideas can be powerful tools to increase understanding and proceed toward successful implementation of healthy change. Herein we need whole systems clarity and the accurate scientific assessments of the conditions we face and knowledge of the resources we have available for our task of building an enduring civilization.

Colin GRANT, Founder and CEO, Visible Strategies, Vancouver, CANADA

Prof. Dr. Bilsen Beler BAYKAL, Istanbul Technical University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Turkey

Engin AYAZ and Jake LEVITAS, Consultants, Arup, San Francisco, USA

Discussion

Sessions 1 and 2

The Ecocity Challenge – Metrics, Guidelines, Criteria, Principles of Ecocities

This is a special double session leading toward more consensus on the question,“What is an ecocity?” and may lead to an international certification process and institution at a later conference. It features serious contemporary ecocity projects.

The Ecocity Challenge, I

Tianjin Ecocity, China, joint project of China and Singapore in early construction phase presented by: Beng Lee ONG, Director of the Eco-city Project Office in the Ministry of National Development, Singapore

Kucukcekmece Project, Turkey, presented by Aziz YENIAY

Eco 2 Cities, a program for financial loans to developing countries for sustainable ecological and economic development presented by: Hiroaki SUZUKI, project head for the World Bank, international in scope

NewVista, a community in planning featuring novel spatial arrangements and energy and structural technologies presented by: David HALL, industrialist, planner, USA

Discussion

The Ecocity Challenge, continued

A panel of all the presenters plus several more long term advocates for ecocities to be determined

Session 3

Social Responsibility

Citizenship, it has been said since the time of the Greeks, differentiates cities from live in villages with their less complex specialization of work and personal contribution to society. Not just rights, but responsibilities for building a better society and world is more than implied by citizenship and ecocities. Today’s citizenship is “green” and “socially just” or we will likely see material civilization spiral down several layers or all the way to ecological and cultural collapse. We’d better get social responsibility right.

Provincial Bank representative

Hakan GULEY, Ada Atik Yonetimi San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti.

Ismail Hakki KARACA, Solimpeks A.S.

Discussion

15:15-15:30

Session 4

Ecocity Future of Istanbul – Building the Future at the Crossroads of Civilizations

Once upon a time and for almost 1,000 years there was only one building like the  spectacular Hagia Sophia. In all the world, it stood alone for that long with its immense and ancient dome until St. Peters in Rome was built; then there were two. The city itself, Istanbul, stands alone similarly with its unique history going back far before the Ayasofya. Welcome to its future. Can Istanbul lead the way toward a world of ecocity civilization in harmony with nature? What will it become?

Dr. Kadir TOPBAS, Mayor of Istanbul (invited)

Prof. Dr. Rusong WANG, Member of Congress, Chinese Peoples Republic and convener of Ecocity 5 in China

Dr. Ken YEANG, architect, Malaysia and United Kingdom

Ms. Janet LARSEN, Earth Policy Institute, Washington, D.C., USA

Mr. Richard REGISTER, President, Ecocity Builders, USA

Prof. Dr. Fulin BOLEN, Istanbul Technical University, Department of City and Regional Planning, Turkey

Session 5

Closing Remarks and Ceremony

Closing remarks, hopes, dedication

Presentation of Minister’s declaration

Announcement of next host city and organization - Montreal, Canada, 2011

Close, Mayor of Istanbul

PAPER PRESENTATION PROGRAM - CONCURRENT TO MAIN PROGRAM

01 - Sustainable Resource Management and Social Implications - Sunday (11:30 AM - 12:30 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. CAIRO'S CONTESTED GARBAGE: SUSTAINABLE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AND ZABALEEN'S RIGHT TO THE CITY - 40
Wael Fahmi, Helwan University (Egypt)

2. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL FACILITY AT THE RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT OF ANTALYA TURKEY - 28
Ercan Dagli, (Germany)
Selcuk Sayan, Akdeniz Üniversitesi Peyzaj Mimarl1­1 Bölümü (Turkey)

3. SEMICENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT OF FLOWS - SOLUTIONS FOR THE DYNAMIC URBAN REGION OF HANOI, VIETNAM - 8
Sophie Schramm, TU-Darmstadt, Institut WAR (Germany)

02 - Green Building, Materials and Methods - Sunday (1:45 PM - 3:15 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. Heat resistant polymer based ceramic filled roof coating for construction industries. - 47
Faizal Wan Ishak, ump (MALAYSIA)
Rokiah Othman, UMP ()    

2. IMPACT OF GLAZED LOGGIA ON THERMAL COMFORT IN CONSTANTINE, ALGERIA - 38
mounira badeche, laboratory of bioclimatic and environment architecture () 

3. THERMAL PERFORMANCE OF GREEN WALL AS A PASSIVE PROCESS IN A SEMI ARID CLIMATE OF ALGERIA - 14
Karima Benhalilou, university (Algeria)
Saliha Abdou, université mentouri ()

03 - Urban Planning for Sustainable Development - Sunday (3:30 PM - 5:00 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1          

1. URBAN PLANNING EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS TO LAST - 24
Elena Dimitrova, University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy (Bulgaria)

2. MATRIPOLIS: A COMMUNITY CENTERED ECOCITY SYSTEM - 4
David Dobereiner, Newcastle University (UK)

3. SUSTAINABLE URBANIZATION, AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT; GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES - 3
Ayman Afify, Helwan University (Egypt)

05 - Vernacular Architecture, Sustainable Housing and Local Climate Change Impacts - Sunday (5:15 PM - 6:15 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. IMPACTS OF CLIMATE GLOBAL CHANGES IN THE CITIES - 51
MAGDA ADELAIDE LOMBARDO, UNIVERSITY OF SAO PAULO (Brazil

2. Consideration of Vernacular Architecture Adapted to Environment Yazd: a case study of ecological city - 46
Karim Vahdat, (Iran)

3. SUSTAINABLE HOUSING IN IRAN a socitechnical approach to sustainable habitat in the city of Yazd - 39
Reza SHAKOURI, Yazd University (Iran)

 

MONDAY

06 - Masterplanning: Benefits and Complexities - Monday (9:00 AM - 10:45 AM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. BEYOND MASTERPLANNING - 36
Johannes Fiedler, fiedler.tornquist (Austria) 

2. Eco-City Belgrade - 27
Predrag Milosevic, Union University Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro) 

3. ENGINEERING SUSTAINABLE LIVING: MASTERPLANNED ECO-CITIES AND THE POWER OF DESIGN - 23
Elizabeth Rapoport, University College London (UK)

08 - Ethics, Property Rights, Barriers to Action - Monday (11:00 AM - 12:30 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. THINKING NEO-LIVING STYLE IN ACTION: THE SELF-SUSTAINING SYSTEM IN COMMUNITY-BASED PROCESS AND PRACTICE - 56
Liwen Li, National Taiwan University, Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, (Taiwan)

2. THE GREENING OF JOHN LOCKE: BALANCING PROPERTY RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILTY - 31
Edward Proctor, (USA)

3. THE CLUES OF NEVRUZ IN THE ECO-ETHICAL CONTEXT - 30
Ahmet Mutlu, Hitit University (Turkey)
Derya Altunbas, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University (Turkey)

10 - Energy and Air Quality, Sustainable Construction Issues - Monday (1:45 PM - 3:15 PM)

Room: Breakout Room

1. Sustainable Construction as Approach for Housing Affordability in Rural Areas in Developing Countries - 62
Ayman Afify, Helwan University (Egypt)

2. The Feasibility of Nuclear Power Development in the Arab World - 50
Anouar Boukhars, Wilberforce University (USA) 

3.Air Pollution from Fossil Fuels in Factories - 2
EBRAHIM SAFA, ISLAMIC AZAD UNIVERSITY SOUTH TEHRAN BRANCH (Iran)

12 - Tools for Ecocity Planning and Development - Monday (3:30 PM - 4:45 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. NEWVISTAS: MASSIVELY SCALABLE SUSTAINABILITY - 58
David Hall, Novatek, Inc. (USA)
Carl Belliston, (USA)
Joel Pomije, Novatek, Inc. (USA)
Lawrence Switzer, (USA)

2. GIS INFRASTRUCTURE INTERDEPENDENCY MODELLING WITH FUZZY INFERENCE SYSTEMS (FIS) FOR PREDICTING THE DISTRIBUTION OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES - 42
Heru Sutomo, Management of Infrastructure and Community Development, Graduate School of Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)
Prof. Dr. Ir. M.F.A.M. van Maarseveen, ITC International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (Netherlands)
Mark Brussel, ITC International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (Netherlands)
Arif Wismadi, Management of Infrastructure and Community Development (MICD), Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)

3. ADAPTATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE - A NEW CHALLENGE FOR LANDSCAPE AND SPATIAL PLANNING IN GERMANY - 34
Dietwald Gruehn, Dortmund University of Technology, Chair of Landscape Ecology and Landscape Planning (Germany)

 

13 - Sustainability Measurement, Management and Education - Monday (5:15 PM - 6:15 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS IN PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF URBAN GREEN SPACES IN EUROPE - 44
Tüzin Baycan-Levent, Istanbul Technical University (Turkey)
Peter Nijkamp, VU University Amsterdam (Netherlands) 

2. SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT IN URBAN PLANNING PRACTICE - 29
Ilgi Atay, Izmir Institute of Technology (Turkey)
Nursen Kaya, Izmir Institute of Technology (Turkey) 

3. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL FACILITY AT THE RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT OF ANTALYA TURKEY - 25
Ercan Dagli, (Germany)
Selcuk Sayan, Akdeniz Üniversitesi Peyzaj Mimarl1­1 Bölümü (Turkey)

TUESDAY

14 - Eco-Tourism, Eco-Policies and Rural Eco Territories - Tuesday (9:00 AM - 10:30 AM)

Room: Breakout Room 1          

1. Eco Policy Concerning Sustainability and People Participation for Green spaces at Micro Levels - 52
Mohammadreza Pourjafar, Tarbiat Modares University (Iran)
Hanie Okhovat, Tarbiat Modares University (Iran)  

2. CAN TOURISM SUPPORT WILDERNESS - 48
Sedat Kalem, WWF-Turkey (Turkey 

3. 300 MILLION MINUS X  - CREATING ATTRACTIVE RURAL ECO-TERRITORIES TO MANAGE URBANIZATION - ECOLOGICAL AND PROSPEROUS CHINESE COUNTRYSIDE - 45
Stefan Rau, Metropolitan Synergies - Architectural Consultants Shanghai Ltd. (China)

16 - Population Implications, Green Areas and Modeling Future Eco-Cities - Tuesday (10:45 AM - 12:15 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. POPULATION AGGLOMERATIONS AND ITS IMPLICATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A SURVEY OF GREEN AREAS IN THE TURKISH MEGACITY ISTANBUL - 54
Ahmet Samsunlu, ()
Bilsen Beler-Baykal, (Turkey)
Y1ld1z Aksoy, (Turkey)
Ayse D. Allar, Istanbul Technical University (Turkey) 

2. New approaches and methods for facing the under supplied Green spaces in over-urbanized compact cities, with application on Cairo city - Egypt - 21
Nezar Kafafy, Cardiff University (UK)

3. Building the Model for Future Eco-Cities Today - 73
Yedidya Sinclair, Neo-Urbanist ()
Tamar Goldman, Neo-Urbanist (Israel)

17 - Ecocity Perspectives in Turkey - Tuesday (1:45 PM - 3:15 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. BIOETHICAL EVALUATION OF ECOLOGICAL CITY - 41
Nesrin Cobanoglu, Gazi University (Turkey)
Sibel Gazi, Ankara University (Turkey)

2. AN OWERVIEW OF THE TURKISH GREEN BUILDING MOVEMENT AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES - 32
Aysin Sev, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (Turkey)
Nilay Canbay, Entegre Project Management (Turkey)

3. ANALYSIS OF CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING DEPARTMENTS IN TURKEY FOR ECO-CENTRIC EDUCATION - 7
Ozge Ercoskun, Gazi Uni. (Turkey)

19 - Sustainable City Development Best Practices - Tuesday (3:30 PM - 4:45 PM)

Room: Breakout Room 1

1. Towards sustainable city development practice: a case study of Liverpool - 26
Fareea Shahreen, Politecnico di Torino (Italy)

2. Concepts for a Sustainable District in Barcelona: A Focus on Self-sufficiency of Resources - 17
Lluis Grau, DURAN & GRAU Arquitectes i Associats S.L. (Spain)
Ramon Farreny, SosteniPrA Research Group (UAB-IRTA) (Spain)

3. AN INDEXING MODEL FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA - 15
Didem Dizdaroglu, Queensland University of Technology, School of Urban Development (Australia)

"Peace On Earth, Peace With Earth"