In this article a planning approach is proposed to accommodate different paces of urbanisation. Instead of responding to a single problem with a Pavlov-type of response, analysis shows that the transformational tempi of different urban landscapes require multiple deployment strategies to develop urban environments that are sustainable and resilient. The application of nature-based solutions, enhancing both human and natural health in cities, is used as the foundation for the design of deployment strategies that respond to different paces of urban change. The results show that urban characteristics, such as population density and built space is, partly, dependent on the underlying landscape characteristics, therefore show specific development pathways. To create liveable and sustainable urban areas that can deal holistically with a range of intertwined problems, specific deployment strategies should be used in each specific urban context. This benefits the city-precinct as a whole and at the local scale. Even small nature-based solutions, applied as the right deployment strategy in the right context, have profound impact as the starting point of a far-reaching urban transformation. The case-study for Oimachi in Japan illustrates how this planning approach can be applied, how the different urban rhythms are identified, and to which results this leads.@en

As climate change develops, with most of the world population living in urban areas, decarbonisation of cities is among the greatest challenges of the coming decades. In the framework of the EU City-zen project, a number of so-called Roadshows has been organised in ten cities within and outside Europe in order to plan and kick-off their transition towards an energy- and climate-neutral economy. During the Roadshows, a group of experts is engaged to perform co-working activities and participative labs involving local stakeholders. These activities support cities in identifying their own decarbonisation pathways, mainly by combining three mutual processes, i.e. energy design, urban design and carbon accounting. The latter, in particular, has been used to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions of cities and neighbourhoods and to estimate the mitigation effect of a combination of measures towards the desirable condition of carbon neutrality. This exploratory and proactive design process has been successfully demonstrated through intensive workshops and can be potentially replicated in other cities. This paper provides a schematic overview of the main results achieved in the Belgian town of Roeselare, but more significantly it describes the techniques needed to make that cooperative process understandable, impactful and implementable. It is likely that 2050 European goals will drastically change urban environments and socio-economic dynamics in cities, due to the fragmentation of energy sources. Hence, from this standpoint there is a vital need for integrated technologies and infrastructures, a circular economy and community-based processes such as food production, sharing of facilities and valorisation of ecosystem services.

The City-zen Roeselare Roadshow brought over 300 stakeholders into the process of re-imagining and visualising their 2050 future city with these solutions. Stakeholders, with no particular expertise in carbon accounting or sustainability, would now have the capability of understanding and applying these solutions in a combined effort to meet the zero-carbon challenge. The approach is generally replicable elsewhere being highly visual, impactful, transferable, and multi-stakeholder friendly. Given that data are made locally available, the combination of this general approach, site-specific assessments and the involvement of both experts and local stakeholders (i.e. policy makers, citizens, etc) allow the transition to start by referring to any real city or neighbourhood.@en

To base urbanization on nature, inspiring ecologies are necessary. The concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) could be helpful in achieving this goal. State of the art urban planning starts from the aim to realize a (part of) a city, not to improve natural quality or increase biodiversity. The aim of this article is to introduce a planning approach that puts the ecological landscape first, before embedding urban development. This ambition is explored using three NBS frameworks as the input for a series of design workshops, which conceived a regional plan for the Western Sydney Parklands in Australia. From these frameworks, elements were derived at three abstraction levels as the input for the design process: envisioning a long-term future (scanning the opportunities), evaluating the benefits and disadvantages, and identifying a common direction for the design (determining directions), and implementing concrete spatial cross-cutting solutions (creating inspiring ecologies), ultimately resulting in a regional landscape-based plan. The findings of this research demonstrate that, at every abstraction, a specific outcome is found: a mapped ecological landscape showing the options for urbanization, formulating a food-forest strategy as the commonly found direction for the design, and a regional plan that builds from the landscape ecologies adding layers of productive ecologies and urban synergies. By using NBS-frameworks, the potentials of putting the ecological landscape first in the planning process is illuminated, and urbanization can become resilient and nature-inclusive. Future research should emphasize the balance that should be established between the NBS-frameworks and the design approach, as an overly technocratic and all-encompassing framework prevents the freedom of thought that is needed to come to fruitful design propositions.@en

The natural ecotone between people, community and carbon reduction is the zero-carbon community. Over recent decades, the design of zero-carbon communities has focussed too greatly on carbon emissions and not enough on building communities. Anthropogenic climate change is a human problem, yet people are seldom placed at the centre of design solutions. The City-zen Roadshow is an intensive co-creational approach to creating zero-carbon communities, which places stakeholders at the very centre of the design process. The methodology uses an ‘urban-first’ approach and champions urban design as the main driver to deliver change. Carbon accounting and energy analysis sit in adjacency with the urban design proposals to deliver interventions that are net zero-carbon, low energy, low waste, socially rich, ecologically diverse, economically robust, resilient, fit for purpose and engaging. The paper describes this novel approach using one roadshow as a case study to illustrate the urban interventions proposed. Living in zero-carbon communities is not just about photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. It is, instead, about thinking differently about the way in which people live and the decisions they make, to provide people with alternative ways of living that are more desirable than those currently available.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The overall aim of the Roadshow team is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and citizens. The Roadshow normally spends 5 days in each hosting city (in Amersfoort they were a compressed 3 days) to deliver energy and urban design fun-shops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes, outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the City-zen Amersfoort Roadshow that took place in the Netherlands from the 16th to the 18th of October 2019.@en

The Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The overall aim of the Roadshow team is towork closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architects, professionals, academics, students and citizens. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design fun-shops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes, outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’.The following report describes the activities and outcomes of the City-zen Preston Roadshow that took place in Lancashire (United Kingdom) between the 12th & 16th of November 2018.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The Roadshow visited 9 cities in total over a 5-year period who sort expert guidance on how to become more sustainable and wish to move towards energy neutrality. The overall aim of the Roadshow team was to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and citizens. In Nicosia, the Roadshow spent 8 days delivering energy and urban design fun-shops to local stakeholders in order to encourage city participation and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report describes the activities and outcomes of the City-zen Nicosia Roadshow that took place in Cyprus between the 8th to 15th of May 2019. @en

The function of an architectural facade ranges from very basic tasks such as shielding inhabitants from wind and rain through to more advanced processes that include active solar shading, energy capture and air management. Due to the role of facades-i.e. to separate the interior from the exterior-it is clear they will play a critical role in reducing building energy use in the future. In addition to this, architectural facades also offer an opportunity for urban inhabitants to engage with and benefit from ecosystem services. With the development of soilless food systems, it is now within the realms of possibility to integrate lightweight agricultural systems within and upon existing buildings. This is of particular interest when considering double-skin facades, which not only create conditions very similar to that of a greenhouse but also provide a cavity in which to grow food. It is believed the presence of crops within a double skin facade will result in a net reduction in building energy use, due to the presence of foliage and growing channels. The following paper aims to quantify the impact of facade-farms on building energy use as a result of crop growth within double-skinned facades.@en

IIn the challenge for a sustainable society, carbon-neutrality is a critical objective for all cities in the coming decades. In the EU City-zen project, academic partners collaborate to develop an urban energy transition methodology, which supports cities in making the energy transition to sustainable lifestyles and carbon neutrality. As part of the project, so-called Roadshows are organised in cities that wish to take the first step toward zero-energy living. Each Roadshow is methodologically composed to allow sustainability experts from across Europe to co-create designs, strategies and timelines with local stakeholders in order to reach this vital goal. Following a precursory investigative student workshop (the SWAT Studio), Dubrovnik was the third city to host the Roadshow in November 2016. During these events the characteristics of Dubrovnik, and the district of Gruž in particular, were systematically analysed, leading to useful insights into the current problems and potentials of the city. In close collaboration with local stakeholders, the team proposed a series of interventions, validated by the calculation of carbon emission, to help make Gruž, and in its wake the whole city of Dubrovnik, net zero energy and zero carbon. The vision presented to the inhabitants and its key city decision makers encompassed a path towards an attainable sustainable future. The strategies and solutions proposed for the Dubrovnik district of Gruž were able to reduce the current carbon sequestration compensation of 1200 hectares of forestland to only 67 hectares, an area achievable by urban reforestation projects. This paper presents the City-zen methodology of urban energy transition and that of the City-zen Roadshow, the analysis of the city of Dubrovnik, proposed interventions and the carbon impact, as calculated by means of the carbon accounting method discussed in the paper.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. It will visit 9 cities in total over a 5-year period who are seeking expert guidance on how to become more sustainable and wish to move towards energy neutrality. The overall aim of the Roadshow team is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and citizens. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design fun-shops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’.  The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roeselare Roadshow that took place in Roeselare (Belgium), between the 23rd & 27th of April 2018.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The Roadshow team work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow typically spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roadshow (Sustainable Island Menorca ‘Roadshow’) that took place at the Institut Menorquí d'Estudis (IME) in Mahón on the island of Menorca, between the 24th & 28th of April 2017.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The Roadshow team work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architects, professionals, academics, students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the City-zen ‘Sevilla’ Roadshow that took place in Sevilla, between the 20th & 24th of November 2017.@en

Sustainability needs professionals and methodologies that can bring the architecturally qualitative and scientifically quantitative together to reveal the latent potential of our cities and people. These experts must have the necessary communication skills, personalities and backgrounds to firmly place city stakeholders at the heart of this local and global challenge. This approach, developed during the City-zen Project ‘Roadshow’ (a European Union FP7 funded initiative to develop and demonstrate Zero Energy Cities), began life as a powerful but over simplistic idea. It has since developed into a realizable, mobile, intense, creative, amenable and proven approach that supports cities in their efforts toward carbon descent. The methodology continues to evolve ‘city-by-city‘ by embracing diverse climates, cultures, economies, existing urban morphologies and building typologies. It has been successfully applied in Amsterdam, Belfast, Izmir, Dubrovnik and Menorca. Upcoming destinations will be Sevilla (Spain), Roeselare (Belgium) and Klaipeda (Lithuania). A team of internationally recognized experts in sustainable urbanism & architecture, carbon accounting, energy potential mapping and advanced technologies travel with the City-zen Roadshow to facilitate this approach. This paper will describe the Societal Impact Methodology with reference to previous outcomes, activities, experiences and a detailed explanation of two mutually dependent and inspirational parallel workshops.@en

Cities rely upon the provision of imported foods in order to feed their large populations. As a result, the ecological footprint of cities is far greater than their geographical areas. Through the integration of facade and roof‐based food systems, agriculture within urban environments has the ability to grow vast amounts of food upon some of the most underused and undervalued areas of the built environment. Such large‐scale agricultural systems would not only reduce a city’s ecological footprint by reducing the need for imported foods, but they would also engage with the city at an economic and social level. The following paper aims to understand the additional positive impacts of urban agriculture ‐ such as reduce air pollution, decrease depression, promote healthy lifestyles and create jobs ‐ and postulates how such impacts might affect the physical health, mental well‐being and financial security of urban populations. Urban agriculture is a viable driver of environmental change, but it is also a catalyst for social and economic reform.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energyplanning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. It will visit 9 cities in total over a 5-year period who are seeking expert guidance on how to become more sustainable and wish to move towards energy neutrality. The overall aim of the Roadshow team, known as ‘Roadies’, is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architects, professionals, academics, students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’.The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roadshow that took place in Bornova, a municipality of the city of Izmir (Turkey) between the 4th & 8th of April 2016.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The overall aim of the Roadshow is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whetherthey be city leaders, entrepreneurs, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics,students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow devotes 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roadshow that took place at the DURA offices in Dubrovnik, Croatia, between the 31th Oct & 4th Nov 2016.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. It will visit 8 cities in total over a 4-year period who are seeking expert guidance on how to become more sustainable and wish to move towards energy neutrality invite the Roadshow. The overall aim of the Roadshow team, known as ‘Roadies’, is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow will spend 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable city vision. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roadshow that took place in Belfast between the 18th & 22nd of January 2016, in specifically in the neighbourhood of Colin (West Belfast). @en

If cities are to become more sustainable and resilient to change it is likely that they will have to engage with food at increasingly localised levels, in order to reduce their dependency on global systems. With 87 percent of people in developed regions estimated to be living in cities by 2050 it can be assumed that the majority of this localised production will occur in and around cities. As part of a 12 month engagement, Queen’s University Belfast designed and implemented an elevated aquaponic food system spanning the top internal floor and exterior roof space of a disused mill in Manchester, England. The experimental aquaponic system was developed to explore the possibilities and difficulties associated with integrating food production with existing buildings. This paper utilises empirical research regarding crop growth from the elevated aquaponic system and extrapolates the findings across a whole city. The resulting research enables the agricultural productive capacity of today’s cities to be estimated and a framework of implementation to be proposed.@en

If cities are to become more sustainable and resilient to change it is likely that they will have to engage with food at increasingly localised levels, in order to reduce their dependancy on global systems. With 87 percent of developed regions estimated to be living in cities by 2050 it can be assumed that the majority of this localised production will occur in and around cities. As part of a 12 month engagement, Queen’s University Belfast designed and implemented an elevated aquaponic food system spanning the top floor and exterior roof space of a disused mill in Manchester, England. The experimental aquaponic system was developed to explore the possibilities and difficulties associated with containing fish tanks, filtration units, vertical growing systems and roof top growing systems within and upon existing buildings, including the structural considerations needed when undertaking such transformations. Although capable of producing 4000 crops at any one time, the elevated aquaponic system utilised space within the existing building, which could otherwise be used as lettable area, and also located some crop growth within the building where light levels are reduced. The following paper takes the research collected from the elevated aquaponic system and extrapolates the findings across a whole city. The resulting research enables the agricultural productive capacity of todays cities to be determined and a frame work of implementation to be developed for city wide food production. The research focuses specifically on facade and roof based systems, thus elevating the need to utilise lettable area within cities in addition to locating crops where light levels are highest.@en

The Northern European solar city, with its low solar altitude is an oxymoron: buildings close together shade each other. This is particularly true in winter where low sun angles cast long shadows. European cities contain other problems; their early development has left remnants of medieval street plans that have no inherent solar orientation. In England in particular, it seems very unlikely that there will ever be any large-scale urban re-planning of cities on solar principles. In light of this, how will it be possible to develop the city so that each block gains maximum solar exposure, without unduly disadvantaging other blocks to do the same? With initial reference to Ralph Knowles’ ‘Solar Envelope’1 and ‘Interstitium’, this paper creates and uses a mapping of city and forest, in order to develop new methodologies for growing a city using Sernander-type gap dynamics. By recognizing the forest (and city) as an intensified, light stratified system, grown through a sequential process of ‘succession’ this study has identified a flexible sunlight and daylight strategy for the volumetric development of brownfield urban sites. @en