2013 Strategies For the Post-Speculative City

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A different perspective on architectural design: bottom-up participative experiences
(AESOP, 2013) Cimadomo, Guido
The weight of the financial and real estate components in the present crisis, and their impact on millions of people give a renewed importance to the right to housing and the wider right to the city. The paper of architects in planning the city is also changing due to new social relations and the empowerment of citizens, and we have not to forget that scarcity is a great impulse for social and technical innovation, among them architecture. Henry Lefebvre’s “The right to the city” (Lefebvre 1968), can be considered the starting point for the understanding and reconnaissance of the right to urban life, transformed and renewed (Paquot 2012). At the present moment, the idea is growing that to change the life would be necessary to change the city, and the same concept of “right to the city” should be filled with new contents. The right to the city can be related with the right to freedom, to the individualization of sociability, the right to habitat and to live. The right to the work and to the appropriation, the right for inhabitants to meet, and also the right to reject be quitted from urban space by a social and economic organization moving to segregation and discrimination. It has been developing for almost 40 years, with a renewed interest at the beginning of this century, evolving to the more contemporary “right to configure the city”.
Open Access
A long view on the European Urban Summer School in Madrid in 2013
(AESOP, 2013) Ryser, Judith
Taking a long view from inception of the European Urban Summer Schools, EUSS in Madrid marked a natural progression along a steep learning curve. Initiated through AESOP - with Izabela Mironowicz as the creative driving force - EUSS took off in 2010 with very high goals. In Wroclaw Poland, nine projects on ‘Urban change’ were tackling the city as a whole, conceptually transforming specific districts and making fine grain urban design proposals. A state-of-the-art publication supported by UN Habitat put EUSS on the global professional map. The theme of ‘Urban change’ ran through all the subsequent summer schools. They all focused on concrete sites while relating to time- and location-specific, often complex planning issues. They addressed ‘quality of space – quality of life’ in Lisbon, ‘times of scarcity – reclaiming the possibility of making’ in London, and ‘strategies for the post-speculative city’ in Madrid. Each EUSS took place in a large city, often a capital. Each had selected sites as a challenge to current planning wisdom which stretched the imagination of the participant young professionals. They delivered, in the very short time available, also in Madrid. A purpose of the EUSS publication series is to document these very rich and original contributions to pressing urban issues by young professionals from all over the world. Madrid after the property market collapse was a great opportunity for young professionals to think about alternative urban futures while making concrete proposals for the given sites within realistic constraints. They came up with innovative ideas for acity unknown to most of them. The three adjacent sites, starting from the heart of Madrid and reaching the southeast fringe with progressively increasing scales confronted the participants with a large range of issues. They benefited from well balanced formal contributions from academics as well as practitioners and were tutored by academics with both practical experience and local knowledge.
Open Access
About the workshops
(AESOP, 2013)
Aiming to bring young professionals together to discuss and work on planning issues, the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) launched the European Urban Summer School (EUSS) in 2010. From a great variety of backgrounds and countries, encompassing North and South America as well as Europe, a total of 15 young professionals started their work in Madrid, Spain, on 8 September 2013. This was not a random day; it was a Sunday, which showed how motivated and interested the group was on this course. Getting to know about the programme and its purpose the students had to register themselves, following the instructions, which were clearly stated on the official AESOP website. The event consisted of field work, lectures and team work, which after 7 days was transformed into a presentation of clearly identified problems and solutions. After one site visit and the theoretical part, at which local problems were critically presented, together with some background requests, the professionals were divided into 3 groups of 5 students, which the organisers divided according to the professionals’ formation to create diverse as well as balanced teams. During the week, it was not just the comprehension about the topic that got clearer, but also its complexity and the necessity to link the sustainable triad: social, economic and environmental. The groups were expected to articulate their life experiences with each other. It required time and an open mind when seeking to fill the gap that existed between individuals and their approaches. (Extracted from Delicias Group final report) The selected working areas encompassed three different urban circumstances: the Delicias Axis, a void of 23 hectares located in the inner city, requiring new ideas for its proper inclusion in the existing urban fabric; the Vallecas neighbourhood, a large development built during the last decade, when the sustainable principles specified at the end of the past century were mandatory; and the areas encompassed in the Southeast Strategies, the largest urban expansion ever planned for the city of Madrid which were facing a new meaning in the present period of stagnation. After a week working on their respective sites and hours discussing the situation they were involved in, the three groups produced fresh, stimulating and innovative proposals which are presented in the following pages.
Open Access
Accessing quality of life through physical parameters
(AESOP, 2013) Lourenço, Júlia M.
As cities keep growing in size, it becomes more and more important that urban expansion takes place a planned way, so that cities can satisfy the needs of its population. Unplanned growth or planned growth with scarce implementation lead to environmental degradation, traffic jams, urban sprawl, pollution, low access to basic services and equipments, loss of identity, communities’ disintegration, pockets of poverty, etc. Urban planning is the set of tools through which interventions attempt to create urban spaces that contribute to the quality of life of citizens in the context of urban design. This can be defined as the relationship of inhabitants with the different elements that constitute urban space. Urban design determines, directly, the physical component of urban space, and indirectly, its socio-economic, political and cultural elements, influencing the relationship between the urban environment and its components.
Open Access
An addicted view on the European Urban Summer Schools
(AESOP, 2013) Lourenço, Júlia
Taking an addicted view from a former participant in 1994 at a Young Planning Professional Workshop (YPP), to an organiser of a YPP in 2009, from a lecturer at European Urban Summer Schools (EUSS) in Wroclaw and Lisbon to a tutor at EUSS in Madrid, I can recall some memorable moments in all of these. Nevertheless, this last EUSS experience makes for one of the best. Reasons for this may lie, at the start, in the previous knowledge all tutors of Madrid had and the long-time connections they partially shared. For most tutors it was through being lecturers at CEU, for others through ISOCARP, where they shared joint meetings or creative happenings at least since the late nineties. Therefore, the tutors were at ease under the coordination of Teresa Franchini who made things even easier by allowing choices of the site where the tutors thought they could perform best. The same applied to the participants who chose the site they would work on, provided the right mix of specialities was guaranteed. Further reasons derive of course from the participants who shared an enthusiastic motivation that matched the vibes of central Madrid and the excitingly modern topic of post-speculative cities. Going through their specific personal motivations, for several of them EUSS came as a break-through in their studies and a turning point to decide on further avenues of expertise in their professional careers. For that reason they may have lacked some knowledge in urban planning, but they had an extra-abundant thirst for learning and understanding when this topic was the right choice to follow in their future careers.
Open Access
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.
Open Access
Après nous le déluge? Climate adaptation and urban development in Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam
(AESOP, 2013) Kustermans, Clenn
Fear of water is embedded in our human minds. This natural reaction (based on the indisputable knowledge that we cannot survive in water) has been portrayed in many forms of classic and modern culture. Although Biblical examples and Hushpuppy lived as nomads in an ever-changing world, the majority of the world consists of permanent urban structures. Cities are normally perceived as strongholds of culture and prosperity, and must therefore be protected against external threats such as water. Despite a growing consciousness of shortening production chains and reducing energy consumption, port cities are still the turning wheels in national and international economies. While their economic importance remains unscathed and local populations are growing, port cities are increasingly challenged by major climate changes. Port cities have always intertwined with water, and they therefore encounter the advantages and the disadvantages of water. Of all climate implications, water level rise is perceived as the most important one for port cities. Besides the rise of the general sea level, the unpredictable occurrence and implications of storms have increased too. Longer and more intense periods of drought and heavy rainfall inland lead to flooding of the main rivers on their way to the sea. These climate changes necessitate new water protection measures.
Open Access
Digital society and smart territories
(AESOP, 2013) Manuel, Jorge; García, Martín
At present, the massive use of information and communication technologies (often called ICTs) is changing everything faster than ever. We are living in a new revolution era that will bring us from the industrial society, characterised by the intensive consumption of energy to the digital society which uses information as a power to transform. These changes will affect every single aspect of our lives and, in the near future, no matter what our profession will be, we will need to understand, deeply, how to adopt and use these technologies. Our ability for adopting digital services will be crucial in the path to a successful professional career, even if our personal way of life is not very “digital” we will work, with and for digital citizens, and digital companies. It is not an option. We need to digitalise as much as we had to mechanise in the past, because it will help us to build a better world, and improve people’s living conditions. It is important, therefore, for everyone to understand what lies beyond this technology, and have a good understanding of what to do, and how to do it to incorporate these technologies in our field of expertise. As we will look forward, collaboration between professionals will be key for creating value in the future. For a better collaboration, a closer look at the ICTs and a better knowledge of the digital world could be useful.
Open Access
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.
Open Access
From dream to nightmare: Madrid Eastern Strategy "mending or pushing through"
(AESOP, 2013) Ynzenga Acha, Bernardo
The present paper deals with the rise, fall and possible futures of the Madrid Eastern Strategy, arguably the largest urban operation undertaken in Spain in the last decades; probably the largest in Europe. The Eastern Strategy is the name given to a development proposal extending over close to 60 km2. (5.865 Has. 14.492 acres) on the southeastern fringe of Madrid. It was part of the 1997 General Master Plan of Madrid (Plan General de Ordenación Urbana de Madrid -PGOUM). It was designated for 158,000 dwellings and an expected population of about 450,000 people. The Plan also included other, smaller but not minor operations elsewhere which were supposed to attract their share of future population and push additional potential growth significantly. However and in dire contrast, when those decisions were made the total population of Madrid was less than three million people, and declining2. These numbers depict a panorama of unbounded development optimism, remote from demographic and urban realities.
Open Access
Housing in The Netherlands
(AESOP, 2013) Martin, Derek
Housing policy in the Netherlands is an interesting example of how a traditionally (especially post World War Two) well-organised national structure of providing affordable and adequate housing has dealt with the transformations brought about by the neo-liberal wind of the past two decades. It has to be said at the outset that, because of this strong structure, speculation has almost totally been eliminated in the Dutch system. So this paper is not about housing in a post-speculative society but about how the Netherlands has continued to avoid speculation in housing even after the quite radical withdrawal of the public sector from this structure since the 90’s. The totality of the housing system has withstood these quite profound changes and the recent financial crisis reasonably well, the social housing sector more than the owner-occupancy sector, which has felt the impact not only of the gross irresponsibility of the financial sector but also of the shortsightedness of the major political parties who put short-term electoral gain before sensible policies.
Open Access
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.
Open Access
Landscape oriented urban strategies
(AESOP, 2013) del Pozo, Cristina
This presentation is set into the contemporary discourse of landscape which has shifted during the twentieth century from being considered as just a scene to a dynamic system undergoing processes. Landscape evolves from the pictorial to the instrumental, operational and strategic. This dynamic condition gives it the ability to create itself and can be introduced into the basis of landscape design. This shift emphasises the interactions between natural, cultural, economic and social processes, and landscape can be characterised both spatially and temporally. The transformation of these processes is an inspiration and a model for the new urban condition. Projects that reflect the emerging trend of orienting urban form through the landscape will be reviewed. We will also look at urban expansion and renewal projects that incorporate this approach and become instigators of a set of interrelated dynamics between the social, the economic, the ecological and the cultural. This specificity enables the landscape to articulate with the urban, and through its dynamic to understand how cities are formed, are revitalised and evolve over time.
Open Access
List of participants of the EUSS 2013 Strategies for the Post-Speculative City
(AESOP, 2013)
Open Access
Madrid Think Tank
(AESOP, 2013) Lahoz, Carlos
It is crucial to begin this article by making a reference to an undeniable reality: We are in a time of CRISIS. Having this word on mind, if we think about the nature of the term crisis itself, it is curious to see that while the Greek word (κρίσις) from which crisis is derived stands for a situation dominated by change, other cultures, older than the occidental ones, have come to deepen its meaning and implications. This is the case of China, where the ideogram for crisis is composed of two characters, one means danger and the other opportunity. This philosophy, this way of approaching reality, is what has driven the creation of the MADRID THINK TANK. Depending on how we face dangers or take advantage of new opportunities will be our future. However, we lack the tools to predict the future. Therefore, our only option is to propose bold solutions capable of addressing and providing answers to the different challenges and work for society to understand and endorse them.
Open Access
Madrid urban panorama: big projects for an expansive era
(AESOP, 2013) Cueva, Covadonga Lorenzo
Caused by the economic expansion that put Spain among the European leading countries, Madrid could overcome its historic deficiencies, and was able to renew its potentiality during the last decade until the economic crash by turning itself into an economic and cultural capital of international stature. While urban development has been appropriating peripheral territories, defining a new structural organisation, the city took advantage of economic buoyancy to improve its infrastructure. Flagship projects were the treatment of the M-30 highway to recover the banks of the Manzanares River as civil space, and new urban services, such as the Terminal 4 of Barajas airport. Besides, big companies built new headquarters, economic fortresses in the form of autonomous cities on the urban fringe, or spectacular skyscrapers along the Castellana axis in the centre of Madrid. The current economic crisis in Spain is an opportunity to analyse all those projects and try to understand the present situation to rethink new ways of improving the urban panorama of Madrid. In 2007, the structure of the city broke up to be reconfigured through multiple interventions. The growth of the Spanish economy surpassed that of Germany fourfold according an article published in the Financial Times. A study of rating agencies placed Madrid among the five first economic countries of the world according to a criterion that considers political, social and demographic factors, including development potential. The nine Spanish companies placed among the world’s 500 largest have their headquarters in Madrid, putting it into the sixth position in one of the rankings of global cities.
Open Access
Madrid, the Southeast Developments. The sun also rises
(AESOP, 2013) Maia, Camila; Kovacsova, Veronika; Kustermans, Clenn; Poulizac, Morgan; Sartori, Eleonora; Arana, Juan; Perea, Luis
The workshop aims to look at the landscape of the vacant and deserted territories on the city limits and think through what the nature of the actual situation is and venture into what the next steps forward could be. Within the socio economic context and with the framework of the revision of the Madrid Master Plan, the south-eastern fringe of the city presents a huge question mark. It is a place where planning is paralysed and poses a number of questions. What are the real problems that need to be solved once the speculative forces have faded away? What would be the role of the planner and the designer in such a territory? Should anything be done at all? Objectives: Research and development of possible strategies for a large area located in the city limits. Devising ways to approach this territory from different viewpoints. The objective is not so much to come up with a design but to think through possible strategies after grasping the complexity of the problems.
Open Access
Madrid’s urban planning background. Some anti-speculative measures. The1985 Master Plan
(AESOP, 2013) Leira, Eduardo
The European Urban Summer School deal mainly with the consequences of the latest Madrid dealt planning decisions. Their consequences are what B. Ynzenga calls the “nightmare”. The students took a trip around the no-man’s land to see them. The EUSS course worked on what may be done with them. The situation will be difficult to mend. Those decisions were taken in the Madrid 1997 Plan. They were more than a “dream”, more properly a delirium. Those decisions emerged as a result of a previous evolution. Madrid, in respect to other major European metropolises is perhaps the youngest one. It has grown at the rate of developing countries, what Spain was, in fact, in the middle of the 20th century. It is therefore convenient to have at least some glimpses at the history of Madrid or, in a more colloquial sense, Madrid’s Story.
Open Access
Methods of measuring and assessing the sustainability of urban developments
(AESOP, 2013) Ryser, Judith
Sustainability, discussed in the sister paper in the context of regeneration and gentrification, is a very broad concept and goes way beyond the rescue of the planet. In its broadest sense it implies an equitably shared environment which becomes increasingly urbanised. There are tensions, exacerbated in cities, between the diverse needs and wants of those who use them, residents (citizens, voters), the working population, visitors, transient people, etc., compounded by subjective perceptions of such needs and wants. Sustainable development, management, maintenance and use of the city would require a system of government capable of upholding the principles of social and spatial justice to secure an equitable use of cities by all. It would require custodians of the collective good and the public interest, a method of holding decision makers to account, a public participation process which guarantees citizens a say, and third party vetted procedures to share out finite public assets equitably between all stakeholders while keeping the city open to all.
Open Access
Spanish coastal landscapes after the speculative tsunami
(AESOP, 2013) García García, Miriam
During 1997-2006, Spain led the European real estate explosion. This stage has been seen as the largest increase of urbanised space throughout Spanish history, transforming the landscape as no other natural or artificial phenomenon had done before, especially in coastal areas. That is why many authors called it the speculative tsunami. The construction fever ended when the real state bubble burst in 2008 and now is the time to analyse the causes and effects of an economic and social model organised around brick and mortar, without any respect for environmental, urban or landscape aspects. It is necessary to show the logistics that have fuelled real estate speculation to reach these limits and also the resulting spatial effects, with the aim to offer some possible ways of intervention to restore its territorial outcomes.