2013 Strategies For the Post-Speculative City

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Browsing 2013 Strategies For the Post-Speculative City by Author "Franchini, Teresa"

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    An example in Delicia’s axis, Madrid
    (AESOP, 2013) Perepichka, Anzhela; Villamor, Jose Miguel; Lihtmaa, Lauri; Mathews, Mary; Pletsch, Mikhaela A. J. S.; Ryser, Judith; Franchini, Teresa
    Measuring approximately 23 hectares, the Delicias Axis is an area of Madrid with great potential. It is connected by metro and train stations, and is not far from the central museum district. Furthermore, several businesses, such as Repsol, Spain’s major oil company, are moving into the neighbourhood, and there are several attractions such as the Planetarium and the Train Museum on the site. People from Madrid use the park for flea markets and social activities like dance. However, the Delicias axis does not currently garner the attention it deserves. The Delicias working group of the 4th European Urban Summer School made several proposals to improve access and connectivity of the area into the larger fabric of Madrid. Improved urban design features were envisaged to revitalise the area and make it a real destination for locals and tourists. Through field work and discussions, the group produced a development plan focusing on the goals of attracting tertiary activities and linking the area with the adjacent Tierno Galván Park, the largest green open space in south Madrid.
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    EUSS 2013 Outlook : What has been done and what is needed for future times
    (AESOP, 2013) Franchini, Teresa
    On September 20, 2013, exactly after 10 days of intense coexistence in Madrid centred on planning strategies for the post-speculative city, the participants of the EUSS presented the results of their respective workshops. Their proposals for the selected areas - Delicias, Vallecas and Southeast Developments - were the result of the visions and the methodologies that the different working groups had generated in order to articulate coherent planning outcomes in a very short time. And they did it, producing outstanding propositions followed by a fruitful final discussion. And once again I enjoyed the plasticity of those young planners to cope with a given problem all together, no matter the difference of languages, their academic profiles and backgrounds, and even the way of understanding reality. But at the very end of the session one of the students raised a question which was unanimously supported: the need to understand their professional role in the uncertain context of today’s cities, exposed to multidimensional processes in constant change. Two aspects were added that increase the lack of perception of their own role: the difficulty of apprehending these dynamics in a holistic way due to the partial vision derived from their academic degrees, as well as the lack of knowledge of the planning tools needed to address the current urban complexity.
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    Introduction. Concept and issues of the EUSS 2013
    (AESOP, 2013) Franchini, Teresa; Arana, Juan
    At a time of abrupt changes, when the old urban models are quickly becoming obsolete and inefficient, there is an opportunity to look into the future to envisage new strategies. We intend to work on the wounds inflicted on the city by speculative urbanism: there is a need to bring into question the existing model of urban growth, working from the present situation towards new visions to recycle our cities. This is the opportunity to put forward proposals to challenge uncontrolled urban growth; to review the situation of the new suburban territories, and to regenerate the consolidated fabric of the inner city. Conversely to speculative planning, new strategies may consider how to enhance citizen participation in the making of the city. Would a bottom-up urbanism be possible that deals in a more responsible manner with people’s needs? Instead of simplistic speculative solutions we need a multiple and diverse urbanism, capable of adapting to complex situations. New strategies may include reusing the city, rethinking the territory, generating activity, diversity, complexity and density. The 4th European Urban Summer School (EUSS), hosted by the Polytechnic School at the CEU San Pablo University in September 2013, has been an invitation to develop new ways of thinking of, and tools to respond to emerging issues about the future of post speculative cities. It aims to bring together postgraduate students, emerging and experienced academics and young and established design and planning professionals from all over Europe (and further away) to develop a better understanding of some of the most pressing contemporary issues related to the built environment and to amplify and strengthen the links between planning, design-relevant research and professional practice.
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    Strategies For the Post-Speculative City : Proceedings of the 4th AESOP European Urban Summer School, Madrid, Spain, September 2013
    (AESOP, 2013) Arana, Juan; Franchini, Teresa
    At this 3rd EUSS, an initiative from the Netherlands government, which challenged young planners to find solutions to contemporary spatial planning problems, was integrated into the School: the Young Planning Professionals Award (YPPA). This is an annual, 3-year international competition (2012-2014) funded by the Directorate responsible for planning at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment (mI&M). Its aim is to stimulate thinking and promote innovative ideas on how spatial planning in Europe can adapt its form and methodologies to take on the present-day challenges and transformations facing our human settlements. The underlying thinking is that it is largely the younger generation (< 35) of planning professionals who will have to come up with the answers, as it is they who will have the responsibility to plan and develop those settlements in the near future. The winners get free participation at the EUSS and present their papers at a special YPPA session. The papers of winners and runners-up of YPPA form part of the EUSS publication which is also generously supported by the mI&M grant. The theme of the Award is related to the theme of the EUSS, so for 2012 it was ‘Adapting cities to scarcity: new ideas for action. Trends, perspectives and challenges of spatial development in a phase of de-growth and decline in Europe’. This is the publication of the fourth EUSS held in September 2013 at the Universidad CEU San Pablo Polytechnic School, in Boadilla, Madrid, Spain on the theme ’Strategies for Post-Speculative Cities”. It includes the papers of the two winners of the 2013 YPPA – Clenn Kustermans and Veronika Kovacsova - on the topic ‘Ensuring climate resilient cities: innovative ideas for effective measures in a low-level investment environment’.
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    Urban design and quality of life. Lessons to be learnt from Madrid’s periphery
    (AESOP, 2013) Franchini, Teresa
    Academics and practitioners have elaborated a number of planning and urban design tools to understand the built environment and to provide guidance for physical-spatial interventions. Both tools are aimed to contribute to the improvement of the quality of urban space and the quality of life of those who use it. After so many years of trying to get well designed and sustainable neighbourhoods, it is possible to assume that there exist tool kits ready to be applied to practice. However, the existence of wide avenues, large green spaces, collective housing to achieve compactness, and dynamic commercial areas, does not ensure by itself the creation of urban spaces which provide quality of life. Practice shows that, in fact, there is a wide gap between theory and practice. Facing this situation, planners and urban designers face several questions when trying to realise their potential professional powers. Which urban design and planning criteria may lead to better urban places? What are the relations between physical form, functional structure and social aspiration to improve quality of life? Which spaces are contributing to urban quality: public, private or the links between them?