Urban Parameters For The Rescue Of Residual And Abandoned Spaces From A Sustainable Perspective

The purpose of this study was to explain the effect of urban parameters in urban planning in Venezuela on the existence of residual and/or abandoned spaces in the Ciudad Tiuna urban development in the city of Caracas.It consists of non-experimental explanatory research,with a concurrent mixed design,whose epistemological support of this mixed methodology is pragmatism and is based on "ontological realism",implying three dashes of realism: subjective realism,objective realism,and intersubjective realism.This design made it possible to collect simultaneously the criteria of the actors and to explain comprehensively the characteristics of the urban and its incidence on the residual and/or abandoned spaces found in such urbanism,taking into account the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the phenomenon studied.The analysis and interpretation were carried out separately;and the data integration phase was performed by combining the data of both quantitative and qualitative aspects,formulating a meta-inference,where the findings,inferences,and conclusions of both methods were integrated,to fulfill the main mixed objective "Explain the relevance of the urban parameters used in urban planning for Ciudad Tiuna,Caracas-Venezuela and their possible relationship with the existing residual spaces in this urbanization".The study comprised three aspects:For the quantitative aspect,the treatment of residual spaces was related to the normative legislation and urban parameters of the Caracas area.The questionnaire instrument was used with the Survey technique,structured in 17 questions based on the Likert Scale,dichotomous closed questions of single answer and mixed questions.The Descriptive Statistics method was used to obtain an overview of the distribution of the responses of the random sample of100 inhabitants of the place,which allowed quantifying the error that could have been made in estimation,the data processing was done through the SPSS statistical software.The graphical representation of the data was through a histogram of relative frequencies,to measure discrete quantitative variables,representing qualitative or categorical characteristics,visualized in each of the bar shapes,where the surface of each bar is proportional to the frequency of the values represented.In this sense,the variable represented(residual spaces)on the horizontal axis does not represent a continuous spectrum of values,but specific quantitative values.Then,the quantitative data was converted into qualitative data,to relate the information to the qualitative aspect,this data transformation was done through the identification of categorical variables found in the questions and answers of the survey questionnaire.For the qualitative aspect,the terms and concepts of urban parameters and the treatment of residual spaces in urban normative instruments and international legislation were described from a sustainable approach.The interview script instrument was used with the semistructured interview technique,organized in three parts: one introductory and two divided by themes with a total of 22 closed,open,and follow-up questions,in an expert sample of 5architects’ inhabitants of the study site.Content analysis was used,understood as a research technique that allows the formulation of reproducible and valid inferences that can be applied to their context.It was carried out by combining the analysis process with Atlas.ti software,for the storage,systematization,and analysis of information(data),by extracting,categorizing,and inter-linking segments of data from various documents(interviews).The qualitative data were transformed into quantitative data,to relate them to the quantitative data,by quantifying them as a percentage.This qualitative aspect also used six diagnostic maps for urban analysis prepared by the author and the seventh map with data from the original design of the urban planning case study.The process with Atlas.ti was carried out in four phases(Varguillas,2006): a)Primary contact with the document(organization,classification,and reading of the information).b)Preparation of the document.c)Analysis(construction,naming,and definition of first and second-order categories [selection of the units of analysis,assignment of codes,relation of codes] and creation of networks).d)Analytical interpretation(description of findings or theorization).For the mixed aspect,an Integration Matrix was prepared,combining the data from the quantitative and qualitative aspects.It was found that the seven categories that emerged from the qualitative data(Urban Planning in Caracas,Design,Institutional Management System,Residual Spaces,Standard Occupation System,Urban Parameters,and Urban Planning),and the two variables that emerged from the quantitative data(Spaces of Public Interest,and Inadequate Use of Spaces),it was found that two of these combinations shown in the Matrix reveal the need for participatory design planning,because in the unique case study urbanism in the alliance of two sectors,the civic and the military,discrepancies arose in the places that border both once the urbanism had been inhabited,part of the unilateral decisions of the military sector caused some of the residual spaces that are deteriorating,a situation that is not subject to control and follow-up by the governmental entity in charge,and is detrimental to the relationship of the key elements of the sustainable paradigm,such as,ecological-socialeconomic.It was also found in the analysis that the urban parameters of Caracas have to be updated and resized throughout the urban planning process.