Abstract: This article examines the method of spatial multi-criteria assessment of road network for determining the qualitative index of the level of comfort of bicycle ride in urban environment within the framework of development of city-planning information system of designing the urban cycling transport infrastructure. The object of research is the urban environment from the perspective of bike riders’ needs. The subject is the principles of establishment of cycling transport infrastructure, the importance of each principle for the users. The author suggest the use of geoinformation systems for the comprehensive assessment of the existing situation and further formulation of city-planning propositions. The segments of road network should be assessed in accordance with the following criteria: safety, alignment, provision of amenities, functional saturation, connectedness, correlation with traffic infrastructure, and correlation with natural carcass. For determination of the level of importance of each criterion, the author uses the results of author’s sociological survey among the active bike riders. The author introduces the concept of the bike ride’s comfort level coefficient based on assessment of the segments of road network on the determined criteria and rating of each criteria. The high-grade correlation between the results and the data about the activeness of bicycle traffic is revealed. Based on the results of the research, the author arranges the chart of the bicycle ride’s level of comfort that is proposed within the framework of city-planning information system of the designing of urban cycling transport infrastructure.

Keywords: sustainable development, metropolis, transport system, geoinformation system, urban environment, cycling transport infrastructure, cycle route, ecology, cycle map, urbanistics

Abstract: The subject of this research is the results of sociological survey of the Toponymy of Irkutsk in perception of its residents. The article discusses the key problems related to renaming of the streets of historical city and associated with it socio-cultural and routine transformation of the conditions and peculiarities of life of the Irkutsk residents. The author generalizes the existing inconsistencies and suggests the alternatives for alleviating the social tension and discontent. The solution methods of toponymic inconsistencies through the binomial names of streets and squares of the city. Methodology contains the standardized interview of the city residents, conducted with the help of quota sampling: based on the gender and age. The scientific novelty in indication of the major problems in streets renaming, determination of the moral-ethnical and routine difficulties that are faced by the residents of renamed streets in Irkutsk. The author demonstrates the options of the sociopolitical modelling and pressure that can be understood vaguely by the city population, and thus have ambiguous consequences.  

Keywords: historical memory, social development, social reproduction, social memory, social identity, social attitudes, streets and squares, city, toponymy, collective memory

Abstract: The object of this research is the architectural color didactics – the theory of systems and methods of professional coloristic training in the architecture universities. The goal of the article consists in presentation of the unique course of coloristic training of the architects, developed in the Technical University of Dresden (Germany). The authors meticulously reviews the stages of approbation and improvement of the proposed didactical model. Particular attention is given to analysis of content of the course, as well as determination of the key technological conditions, regarding the formation of a set of competences and skills in working with the color in terms of designing the environmental objects by architects. Methodological foundation for the conclusions and generalizations consists in the system-structural consideration of the conceptual and technological peculiarities of implementation of the intensive weeks of color into the professional training of architects. The scientific novelty consists in expansion of the framework of scientific-methodological substantiation of the comprehensive system of exercises in development of perception of the color alongside its application in the design of environment. The results of analysis carry practical and theoretical value, and will contribute to the further comprehension of architectural education in the world.

Keywords: colour design, higher professional education, education program, didactic concept, architecture, education of architects, teaching colour, colour didactics, colour, teaching methods

Abstract: The goal of this research consists in determination of the specificity of urban identity through the analysis of representations in urban space. The subject of the article is the contemporary public art of Vladivostok in the context of communication practices. The term “public art” is viewed as a form of street art within the social space of the city. Urban identity manifests as a construct and simultaneously – as a result of communication actions held within. The research is dedicated to the assessment of representations of the urban identity through public art. The authors conduct a pragmatic analysis of the objects of public art in urban environment: sculptures, murals, mosaics, reliefs, and others. Among the objects of public art are determined the markers of urban identity (distinctness of the city), classified by the type, theme, and disposition. The authors reveal the unique objects – sculptures and murals of the walls that resemble an image of tiger. The “tiger” art objects also enjoy most popularity within urban environment of Vladivostok. Using the methods of observation and interview, the authors clarify the specificity of perception of such symbols by the city dwellers. As a result, a contradiction is determined pertinent to the semantics of the image, which simultaneously resembles the city brand (for the government authorities), is a rare predator (for environmental organizations), and corresponds with the cultural code of the totem (for city dwellers).

Keywords: representation, Amur tiger, local identity, Vladivostok identity, public art, city identity markers, interaction practices, street art, identity representation, constructivism

Abstract: The objects of this work is the gender peculiarities of city dwellers in perception, evaluation, and realization of socioeconomic pretensions. The author demonstrates the traditional values and models of social interaction, as well as egalitarian strategies of social adaptation and modelling of personal behavior under the influence of external factors. Relevance of the article is expressed in determination of gender discrepancies within urban environment to socioeconomic pretensions. Particular attention is given to the outside environment of the emergence of socioeconomic pretensions and existing socio-cultural orientations dominant in urban environment. The method of research is the questionnaire survey (random sample of 2,200 people), as well as the non-structured expert interview (22 people). The main conclusion is substantiated by the fact that the socioeconomic pretension of men and women form differently in urban environment, depending on the traditional foundations and external conditions of socialization and life in a particular city. Though not a complete rejection of the traditional values, the research determined a substantial modelling (deviation) in the male and female behavior from the traditionally assigned scenario. 

Keywords: living conditions, ideals, modern society, traditional values, gengender singularities, urban development, urban environment, social claims, economic claims, the quality of life

Abstract: The subject of this research is the processes of transformation of  forms of permitted use of land plots. The Town-Planning Code of Russia set a goal to “create circumstances for attracting the investments, including through providing the options for the most effective forms of permitted use of land lots”. The article examines the economic aspect of the set task. The authors provide the results of annual monitoring of the replacement of forms of permitted use of land lots in the city of Yekaterinburg. Monitoring was conducted in accordance with the results of public hearing. The most in-demand types of activity that require land lots are determined. The preferential ways for coordination of the replacement of types of permitted use of various types of owners are revealed. The risks of receiving an unfavorable decision are assessed. It is demonstrated that the data of similar monitoring can be viewed as an element of the urban development management system. The monitoring materials can be valuable for the information support system of city-development activity and establishment of the investment policy of a municipal formation. The scientific novelty consists in examination of the economic (investment) and management aspects of the process of coordination and replacement of the forms of permitted use of land lots.

Keywords: Land Use and Building Regulations, information systems for urban development, investment policy, monitoring of, restrictions on permitted use, urban-planning regulations, Urban planning, investments, investment climate, regulation of urban-planning activity

Abstract: This article reviews the possibility of application of nonlinear deformation model in studying the nagel effect. The nagel effect is the ability of armature to transmit the force perpendicular to its axis. This effect occurs in terms of the phenomenon of slip of the two edges of an inclined crack. And this slip is impeded, along with the force of engagement along theadges of the crack, by the intersected by this crack longitudinal reinforcement. And as a result, nagel’s deformation can be defined as the difference in deformations of two blocks separated by an inclined crack. The phenomenon of nagel effect is quite complicated and requires the introduction in the algorithm of its description of the nonlinear parameters of the environment of its formation and development. The nonlinear deformation model is optimally suited for determining the nature of the distribution of forces in the zone of transverse bending of the reinforced concrete element. The stress-strain state (SSS) of the oblique section requires more computational dependencies due to the complexity of describing the biaxial stress state in this zone. Modern regulatory techniques for the calculation of sloping sections have in their composition many empirical and semi-empirical dependences, which do not allow to fully estimate the SSS of the oblique section. The provisions proposed in this article represent a new perspective of the development of nonlinear deformation model and will allow making a contribution to the development of normative algorithms for calculating the cross sections in the zone of transverse bending.

Keywords: stress-strain state, inclined crack, strength, concrete, reinforced concrete element, inclined section, deformation model, nagel effect, transverse bending, normal section

Abstract: The object of this research is the architectural city-planning competitions held in Saint Petersburg in the time after 1991. The indicated competitions are viewed as a part of a broader concept of competitive practices; seven of the most significant areas of their application are described. Based on the analysis of feasibility of the results of studied competitions, the author conducts an assessment of the effectiveness of competitive method as a way of adopting decisions in the field of architecture and city-planning. A need is substantiated for creating the normative-legal mechanism for regulation of holding the competitive procedures for increasing the efficiency of the competitive method. The assessment of efficiency of competitive method is carries out on the basis of specially compiled database that includes over sixty design contests. The main conclusion consists in the proof of the extremely low effectiveness of competitive method of adoption of the architectural and city-planning decisions in post-Soviet Saint Petersburg, as well as a list of the probable causes of the established situation. For the first time is submitted the systematization of various field of application of the competitive methods: the author determines the “strategic”, “developer”, “advertising” contests, as well as the competitions of ideas and foresights, nonpublic design contests (tenders), review and educational contests.

Keywords: Saint Petersburg, city-planning, competitive practice, competitive method, architectural and city-planning competition, foresight, ideas competition, tender, review-competition, efficiency

Abstract:   The object of this research is the principle of environmental safety, while the subject is the separate aspects of application of this principle in “green building”. The work analyze the volume and content of the aforementioned concept, as well as the content and volume of the concept of “sustainability”. The author determines the correlation between the environmental safety and sustainability, considers the examples of implementation of the principles of sustainability and environmental safety in urban development and production of construction materials. The author reviews the contribution of national and foreign companies that operate in the national construction market into the creation of “green architecture”. The article takes into account the method of environmental monitoring conducted in the capital metropolis and Moscow Region. One of the key methods is the retrospective analysis of the sources on “green architecture” and publications on the problems of environmentally safe construction. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the issues of biosphere-compatible construction are viewed from the perspective of social needs of the groups of urban population. Another novelty is the research of ecologically safe materials in national practice of erecting the buildings and constructs. The analysis of consequences of implementation of the international environmental standards DGNB into the construction practice for safety purposes has not been previously conducted. The goal of this article lied in filling this gap.  

Keywords: social ecology, construction company, construction, green architecture, security management, environmental safety, architecture, security, Knauf, town

Abstract: This article analyzes the city-development experience of the countries that implemented in practice the principles of ecological urbanism. The object of research is the planning structure and landscape layout of the territory of low-rise residential construction. The author examines the planning methods that conduce the mitigation of anthropogenic effect upon the urban environment. The subject of research is the principles and methods of city-planning organization of territory aimed at formation of the comfortable microclimate of residential housing under the conditions of climate change. The article considers the practical experience of the following countries: United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, Netherlands, and Germany. The satellite images of the fragments of urban territories are examined. The author analyzed the normative documentation in the area of urban-environmental approach, as well as the requirements: LID, SuDS, BMPs, SCMs, etc. As a result of scientific work, the author proposed the ways for integration of the ecologically safe landscapes into the structure of low-rise residential construction. The article also suggests the systematization of urban landscape by the types of regulatory practices of the hydrologic cycle: cumulative, absorbing, water-reducing, and directive. The city-planning and architectural components with regards to regulation of the hydrologic cycle of urban landscapes are determined.

Keywords: drainage, water-leaching, absorption, meso-spaces, urban landscape, hydrological cycle, ecological urbanism, ecological framework, ecological landscape, Low Impact Design