Hoi Mun Yee's Urban Planning Portfolio

Hoi Mun Yee Urban Planning Portfolio

Introduction A human-centric urban planning postgraduate who combines a love for the social sciences with a fascination of urban environments we live in. My current interests are on how immigrant communities negotiate spaces in their new host environments on a day-to-day basis, utilizing micro,qualitative methods.

As an anthropologist, I have always been most curious with the different layers of human identities that influence our relationships with cities. I am especially fascinated by Henri Lefebvre’s concept of the “right to the city,” seeing as urban environments are where opportunities lie, yet different communities do not have equal rights to engage, negotiate, and use urban space. Pertaining to immigrant groups, it includes a right to difference, which at times go against established norms of a host city. I believe with my social science background I can better unveil the complexities and different layers of different groups of city users, particularly more marginalized communities. By being able to see human beings as more complex beings both individually or as a group, we can better plan and create more just cities that serve a wider community.

On top of Urban Planning projects, I have completed a master thesis based on urban ethnography. I combined my anthropological expertise with my urbanist side and studied how the Filipino population in Milan negotiated the city’s spaces. Outside of university coursework, I was involved in a more conceptual design process for the Catalonia collatarel event for the 2023 Architectural Biennale in Venice, with a focus on creating spaces of decolonization and community-building.

Introduction Extract from motivation essay

Urban Ethnography (Master Thesis) “Because There are Other Filipinos There” - Collective Negotiations for Spaces in Milan Spaces of Decolonization Espai Esmanar Urban Planning Projects Bella Ma Non Ci Vivrei Social Inclusion in the 15-minute City Leisure Network

Urban Ethnography With a background in social science and an interest and prior experience in ethnographic observation. I decided to utilize the method to learn about spatial behaviours of the Filipino community in Milan, a large but understudied group that negotiates their right to difference in the city in ways that are not obvious.

My master thesis, titled “Because There are Other Filipinos There”- Collective Negotiations for Spaces in Milan was a study that focused on spatial practices and specific spaces as a method of unveiling spatial patterns and behaviours.

“Because There Are Other Filipinos There” - Collective Negotiations for Space in Milan

I used my background as an anthropologist to conduct an ethnographic study about the spatial negotiations by one of Milan’s largest immigrant groups- the Filipinos.

Type: Master Academic Thesis Date: January - October 2023 Location: Milan, Italy Academic Supervisors: Prof. Massimo Bricocoli, Dr. Martina Bovo

I conducted interviews and ethnographic observations of spaces with visible presence of Filipinos in and around the city. By applying a transnational framework to the spatial behaviours of the Filipino, I follow the adaptations the community make to feel at home in Milan, either by recreating similar situations back in the Philippines, or repurposing spaces, while navigating the norms and gaze of other users, the locals, and the administration.

I broke down important elements to spaces used by the Filipinos and analyzed the meanings behind each behaviour, as exemplified by the map shown on this page.

My fieldnotes consisted mostly of photographs, and first hand accounts from my senses.

They were used to develop ethnographic maps, along with interview accounts that helped create visualizations of spatial behaviours and patterns of the Filipino community

Spaces of Decolonization I was privileged to be part of the Following the Fish workshop as part of the Catalonian Collatarel Event of the Venice Architectural Biennale. From fieldwork in Barcelona and neighbourhood analyses, we proposed conceptual communal spaces inspired by decolonization.

The project intends to address the challenges of decolonization and decarbonization that are having an impact around the world from the perspective of the African diaspora in Catalonia through through urban planning and architecture. Along with 2 teammates, we created lenticular posters of drawings for ground floor spaces envisioning uses that connect people and foster communities, displayed at the Catalonia Collateral Event at the 2023 Archicture Biennale in Venice

Espai Esmanar-Catalonia in Venice_Following the Fish / Collateral Event of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023/ Reparations Workshop. African proposals for decolonization and decarbonization Type: Inter-University Project Date: January - July 2023 Location: Barcelona, Catalonia & Venice, Italy Partners: Alba Marcela Britez, Sophie Lena Heuser Workshop Coordinators: Leve, Institut Ramon Llull

ESPAI ESMANAR– is a community project situated between the distinct neighborhoods of Poblenou and Diagonal Mar in Barcelona facing struggles of community activation. In Poblenou, it is triggered by gentrification whereas Diagonal Mar is a very recent development that cannot draw on a strong neighborhood identity. The project seeks to connect neighborhoods through restoration and reparation by using an old store as the base for a dynamic space that promotes sustainability and community engagement. The crux of ESPAI ESMANAR– is its dual-function workshops – a ground-floor wood workshop/repair café and a second-floor sewing workshop that facilitate skill-sharing. Modular and flexible design ensures that tools stay concealed when not needed, allowing the venue to transform seamlessly into different spaces. Conceptually, ESPAI ESMANAR– also aims to immerse itself in the history and ethos of Barcelona’s Topmanta collective, striving to address past injustices borne of colonization.

The work was presented in the form of a lenticular poster and was presented and displayed at the 2023 Venice Architectural Biennale as part of the Catalonia in Venice Collatoral Event.

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We built our project based on an analysis on Poblenou and Diagonal Mar, taking inspiration from post-colonial discourse among Senegalese manteros Barcelona. We attempted to form a space of bridging a rather disconnected community

Photos and plan of the lot we envisaged our project for in Barcelona

Urban Planning Projects In this section, I display 3 projects I was involved in during my 2-year master’s programme at Politecnico di Milano in Urban Planning and Policy Design.

All projects were done as a group pertaining to design strategies and policy changes for neighbourhoods on a local level or in the case of BELLA MA NON CI VIVREI, on a city scale.

BELLA MA NON CI VIVREI From a known issue to possible solutions to repopulate Venice Island/ Housing and Neighbourhood Studio/ HOW TO ORGANIZE A(N AFFORDABLE) ROOF OVER PEOPLE’S HEAD IN AN ATTRACTIVE CITY? Type: Student Project Date: September 2022 – January 2023 Location: Venice, Italy Partners: Arianna Verga, Matteo Previato, Ayman al-Jeitani, Bingnan Shang, Brett Allen Slack Course Coordinators: Prof. Massimo Bricocoli, Prof Stefania Sabatinelli

In a proposal to address Venice’s population shrinkage as well as its lack of affordable housing on the island.

With design solutions being impractical for an already dense space, we targeted policy enactments aiming at reducing the influence of Airbnb in the Venice real estate market.

Our site visit and interviews with experts helped us come to a conclusion that an ideal Venice would lie somewhere between two dystopias of complete touristification and zero-tolerance for tourism. Shortterm rentals for tourists would be concentrated outside the island, keeping housing stock on the island for permanent residents.

New streams of economic sectors can be derived by focusing on the two universities on the island, by providing empty ground floors in a low cost for offices of new firms.

We focused on policy enactments and changes in order to reduce the influence of short term rentals in the centre of Venice.

There would also need to be new opportunities in order to increase Venice’s attractiveness as a place to live in.

Corvetto-Omero : Social Inclusion in the 15-minute City/ Urban Policies Design Studio/ NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANS FOR THE 15-MINUTE CITY

We worked on the accessibility of a problematic neighbourhood in Milan- Corvetto in the southeastern peripheries with the goal of creating a neighbourhood plan for a 15-minute neighbourhood, in line with Carlos Moreno’s vision.

Type: Student Project Date: February – June 2022 Location: Corvetto, Milan, Italy Partners: Aliaksandra Rameika, Facundo Nahuel Escudero Acosta, Larissa Rodrigues Brouco, Sara Ghebregzabher Course Coordinators: Prof. Alessandro Coppola, Prof. Maria Antonella Bruzzese

We did not limit our definition of accessibility to simply physical mobility, but also to access to housing, opportunities, and livelihood, in an area of marginalisation. The lack of such opportunities is also a barrier to the participation of any city, much less a 15-minute city.

We proposed the implementation of coop-managed housing stock to alleviate the lack of funding from Milan’s public housing managements MM and ALER to tackle the issue of housing informality in the neighbourhood.

In addition, we proposed the activation of some underused and suspended spaces in order to make them viable connectors and attractive spaces in their own right to encourage use.

We proposed to convert suspended spaces in Corvetto into spaces where local expertise is activated and a familiar city space is created, promoting a sense of comfort and belonging.

The empty courtyards of various apartment buildings and the existence of cultural centres for the creation of new spaces for events.

Suspended open spaces could also benefit from new amenities for identified communities in the neighbourhood.

In other streets and zones, the focus was on increasing permeability and connectivity, particularly between the green heritage of the neighbourhood and its surrounding residences.

We wanted to connect the urban fabric and green fabric that creates an interconnected system, instead of separate parks and urban spaces.

Main strategies would include improving existing paths and creating new ones.

The public-private relationship proposal (left) would tackle the issue of informality, namely informal camps and informal occupation of residences in the neighbourhood. Social cooperatives would make more public housing stock available and fit for use.

Meanwhile a campaign to formalize the informal (right) would create the first steps for disadvantaged groups to access basic services. The long term goal is to restore the campsite in a natural reserve to its beauty and for it to host cultural events and artist residencies.

LEISURE NETWORK Interconnecting recreational space through active mobility/ Spatial Planning and Infrastructure Design Studio/ The Concept of Accessibility by Proximity in the Crescenzago District of Milan Type: Student Project Date: September 2021 – January 2022 Location: Crescenzago, Milan, Italy Partners: Luh Saraswati Pandyaningrum, Giulia Galbiati, Giulia Viletti, Bhavesh Parshotam Wadhani Course Coordinators: Prof. Paola Pucci, Prof. Luca Velo

A project to stitch up a fragmented area of Milan containing barriers to accessibility. We drew up plans to improve walkability and bikeability in the area, as well as to improve existing passages and paths that may provide mental barriers to users of the area.

With a number of attractive green and recreational areas in the district, such as the Lambro Park and the Martesana Canal, we decided to draw our main paths around the connectivity of these recreational spaces to create a network.

For our primary focus project, we decided to pedestrianize a small stretch of road along our network to create a space solely for pedestrians and cyclists. Equipped with a roof, food stalls and a multipurpose space, the area would become an area of encounter and rest, where people can recuperate and socialize.

A summarized map about our planned interventions to activate the recreational potential of the neighbourhood, highlighting the various parks in the area

The end goal of the combined strategies is to create smooth routes connecting the main recreational spaces in Crescenzago. The connections themselves have to provide an enjoyable experience for users

Our produced masterplan. The exploded diagram shows our intervention in the area as divided into multiple phases, all with the aim of improving accessibility both physically and mentally

The focus project of this project was a proposed pedestrian-cyclist recharge zone. It features green spaces, furniture, a roofed multipurpose space, and food stalls.

The zones involved would also go through street designs and pedestrianization between two important parks in the neighbourhood.