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Apartment houses in Japan now face many serious problems. Japanese society is aging, resulting in 1 or 2 elderly people now living in houses built for larger households consisting of 3 or more people. This has distorted the structure of the population residing in apartments, so they do not function as district communities. To ensure the future effective utilization of our housing stock, we must tackle one fundamental challenge, namely developing methods of flexibly upgrading the existing housing stock to respond to change of the makeup of the population of regional societies and to changing life styles. Housing production and supply systems that enable residents to personally plan and decide specifications must be introduced to establish infill upgrading as an effectively functioning part of the future housing market.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the introduction of three specific fiscal flexible mechanisms such as VAT surcharges/discounts, surcharges on import/manufacture of risk substances and maturity land tax to implement a new environmental fiscal reform that aims to reduce pollutions and emissions and avoid a regressive impact on low-income households using a feedback system.

The idea behind this article is to explore alternative environmental taxation system that aims to foster the transition to social-ecological sustainability without affect negatively poor and low-income households. It looks at the potential of environmental fiscal reform in terms of environmental benefits and present in the first section, evidence of some economic regressive impact caused by environmental fiscal reform in European Union from previous empirical studies. The article then introduces of a feedback mechanism to create a repayment system, such as rebate or cash transfer to compensate the regressive effect of the levy being added to the consumer price affecting low-income households in a very short period and push consumers to buy alternative eco-friendly products and services and to stimulate the market to offer them.

Lowering VAT rate for green products and services has the potential to increase demand for sustainable products and services and stimulate green jobs. Surcharges on import and manufacture of risk substances play a significant role to discourage the import of hazardous and pollutant substances by putting price on them and push the industrial sector towards a medium and long-term transition. Lowering taxes rates for buildings in inner cities encourage improvements and renovations, while raising tax on peri-urban areas discourage land speculation in areas with higher grade of biodiversity. This fiscal mechanism indirectly will reduce private and public transport emissions caused by urban sprawling and travel costs, reduce public infrastructure costs for connecting suburban area to the inner city and reduce the loss of urban-edge farmland area that are vital for smart urban growth.

The previous studies on the economic impact of the on environmental fiscal reform analysis, have focused on environmental aspects, economic growth and employment, but little on the regressive impact in short and medium terms on least wealthy sections of society. The proposed feedback mechanism aims to reduce distortion and inequalities caused by surcharges on existing taxation to low-income using monetary repayment measures, especially for products and services with elastic demand and no substitutes.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the historical, cultural, and social significance and the role in landscapes of Lithuanian villages with churches and to formulate the hypothetical framework for their revitalization and consequent sustainable development of country's rural landscape.

The methodology of the research encompassed the desktop study (analysis of literature, archival data, maps, and statistical data) and the analyses on site (observation, measurements, and recording in photographs of buildings and urban structures).

The findings of the research include the analysis of the historical development of country's rural settlements with the religious function, formulation of the notion of the contemporary village with church, identification of the contemporary network of country's villages with churches and analysis of their current socioeconomic and sociocultural situation and the role in rural landscape. The results of the analyses were used formulating the hypothetical framework for the revitalization of the villages with churches and the sustainable development of the rural landscape.

The analysis of literature demonstrated that Lithuanian villages with churches and their significance for the sustainable development of country's rural landscape are paradoxically neglected subjects. Meanwhile, the foreign experience has demonstrated that historic rural settlements, including the settlements with the religious function, are important not only as separate cultural assets but also can play an important role in the identity, viability, and the sustainable development of rural landscapes. Thus the findings of the research demonstrating the peculiarities and potential of Lithuanian villages with churches can be used in the fields of heritage preservation, landscape management, and rural development.

The purpose of this article is to provide organized, synthesized information related to initiatives throughout the world based on knowledge‐based development (KBD) such as knowledge cities (KCs), knowledge regions, and knowledge countries. A first search was conducted using the Internet and specialized databases under the keywords “knowledge cities”. The information compiled led to other related keywords which branched out the search. All resulting information was then collated and integrated into a number of categories all unified under the field of knowledge‐based development. A compilation of information on the topic “knowledge cities” and other topics related to knowledge‐based development. The information is presented in eight sections: a glossary of KC‐related terms, a list of knowledge‐based development initiatives, a list of associations and organizations related to the topic, a list of urban KBD‐related value dimensions and their indicators, a list of international rankings, a list of special editions on KCs, a bibliography, and a directory of related sites on the Internet. This effort resulted in a public service available at the World Wide Web. The information included in this compilation is limited mainly to public domain information available throughout Internet in both English and Spanish, as well as in selected databases.

Renovation philosophy and residential construction mode are key problems encountered in the renovation of urban villages in China. Existing research fruits on renovation philosophy, and policies consider fairness and efficiency and cover-sharing research consensus. However, research on residential construction mode in renovation still faces challenges, such as weak relevant policy pertinence, insufficient objective references, and poor universality. In this study, the changes of the architectural spaces of a typical urban village community in Xi'an City from the beginning to the end of the renovation were discussed. The space requirements of different user groups were analyzed and summarized, and then adapted to the different types of building spaces. In addition, the residential construction model applicable to the inclusive renovation philosophy was established. Research results corroborated that the renovation of urban village should refer to its functional orientations in the community. The community-centered renovation residential district should also meet the requirements of different user groups in the community, including residential, living, and entertainment functions. Community-subcentered residential district should meet the space demands of residential and living functions. Community-subordinated residential district meets space demands of internal residents for residential and living. Moreover, residential district space is relieved by combining practical and certain spatial factors. In this research, the building space compositions of different user groups were reviewed and refined in the “bottom-up” pattern. Research conclusions provide design references for the practical renovation of urban villages.

The purpose of this paper is to establish measurable factors that can be used as early indicators of which neighborhoods are most likely to undergo a process of gentrification in a reasonably near future.

Using 1990 data on key demographic variables for 128 neighborhoods in Stockholm, Sweden a model that allows both for testing of spatial clustering and for spatial spillovers between neighborhoods is estimated. It is hypothesized not only that gentrification depends on inter-neighborhood characteristics but also that gentrified neighborhoods will cluster and preferably be located in proximity to existing high income neighborhoods.

The findings confirm the stated hypotheses. Among the results, it is shown that neighborhoods that gentrified between 1990 and 2012 were more likely to have been poor in 1990 and located closer to the CBD, they were also more likely to be close to neighborhoods with lower proportions of low income residents. It is also found that gentrified neighborhoods tend to cluster over space.

Much of the previous literature on gentrification has concerned the actual driving forces behind gentrifying neighborhoods. This paper is more concerned with indicators that can be used to spot neighborhoods that are likely to undergo a gentrification process in the future. Such information can be valuable for real estate developers in the private sector, as it may lead to more successful investments. It may also be useful for city developers at the municipal organization.

Built heritage is one of the biggest assets that Lisbon's central downtown has accumulated since eighteenth century. The efficient use of these assets is a challenge for both the owners of individual buildings and society as a whole. Recently, a new regeneration initiative was announced for Lisbon's historic district. This paper aims to address the urban problems of old Lisbon's downtown, to discuss the existing public intervention framework and to present an integrated information management system aimed at providing technical and economic information needed to improve co‐ordination between public sector and private agents.

The research methodology of the study is an interpretative case study method. The case study approach is one of the most commonly used research designs in qualitative research. The contents and conclusions from the research were obtained by means of: a review of publications and current practices related to urban regeneration; a review of data and information on urban regeneration studies; a survey conducted throughout the duration of the study; and a case study.

The integrated information management system presented in this paper is a tool that allows the management agency of the Lisbon's historic district to the take full advantage of the potentialities of the area, namely the strategic location and the historic and architectonic heritage.

A great number of buildings in the historic district are classified as buildings of “public heritage”. The findings suggest that property and economic activity can be the driving forces for revitalising Lisbon's historic district.

This paper is aim to understand the key features of old Lisbon's downtown and to analyse existing practice in managing built heritage on the historic district. It also seek to identify how an information management system could improve the current intervention practices, in the area, that agency follows.

This study aims to question the fact that density has been considered only as an instrument of calculation to be used on regulation mechanisms, without taking into consideration other variables related to density. The paper proposes a framework consisting of four determining factors for urban analysis that have to be considered before starting a densification process: connectivity and permeability of network, mixture of uses, relation to urban morphology and public spaces for each district. The methodological analysis was carried out for the case of the district of Gruta de Lourdes, Quinta Normal, located in northwest Santiago, which has started a densification process the recent years.

The present discussion aims to obtain objective parameters to determine if urban development allows livability and a balanced relationship with actual urban form and diversity. There appear to be four determining factors of urban analysis: connectivity and network permeability, the mixture of uses, public spaces and urban form development. The district of Gruta de Lourdes will be used to delve into these parameters to place the debate around density in objective terms. To look in depth at each of the criteria for evaluating densification processes, various methods were selected for quantifying the observed variables: to evaluate connectivity and integration of a neighborhood with the rest of the city, the spatial configuration analysis “Space Syntax” will be used; to evaluate mix of uses, mixed-use index, or ratio of non-residential use will be used; urban morphology, plot size, housing density (dw/ha), lot coverage and floor area ratio will be used; public spaces, the percentage dedicated to each of these in m²/inhab.

The results allow us to conclude that it is necessary to plan densification processes via an analysis that promotes connectivity, mixture of uses, urban morphology and the available public spaces to understand density as a multivariable phenomenon. In addition, we conclude that the case study district, Gruta de Lourdes, can withstand greater demand for housing as long as the context is taken into account. A possible option to asset the densification potential could be the “infill” strategy, which aims to be a type of intervention that does not change the structure of the neighborhood as new buildings are positioned among existing ones, maintaining the form of the streets and the structure of plot divisions.

The value of the paper is to contribute to the discussion on how to renovate central areas in Latin American cities looking at variables such as connectivity, mixture of uses, urban morphology and public spaces, which are directly related to density. Moreover, the paper contributes to discuss new ways to analyze and measure densification, toward planning a district’s renovation. In addition, the quantitative methodological approach to the densification processes gives a new understanding of how to determine density. Finally, the paper reveals an opportunity to rethink the inner city toward new approaches to renovation developments.

The renovation of the Hedebygade urban block started in 1994. With a total of 150 apartments, this project was the largest environmentally sustainable urban renovation project in Denmark or northern Europe. The total cost was €50 million (US$62 million). In addition, the Danish government provided funding for the restoration to be used as an ecological demonstration and experiment project, including 12 individual sub-projects highlighting different aspects of environmentally sustainable renovation.

In recent years, China has accelerated the modernization and renovation of the sports facilities, which greatly promoted the development of sports in China. However, adaptability and renovation experience in our country is lacking, moreover, the reconstruction of the stadium has certain blindness. In this study, the adaptability of the external and internal spaces of the stadium were analyzed and studied separately. The external transformation transformed the stadium into an open space to be combined with the surrounding environment. The internal transformation mainly expands and functions richly. The stadium can enhance the level of competition and the opening of the transformation through the case study of the adaptability of the Z stadium.