The Living City
After lunch at the Theehuis Cruquius, 27 members joined for Ir Elma van Beek-Vlaanderen Oldenzeel's lecture on The Living City.
Elma van Beek is an urban planner, researcher and author. After studying at TU Delft, she worked at various consultancies. There her need grew to contribute to the new task for the field of spatial planning in which she seeks answers to questions such as:
- To what extent are we working towards a living city?
- how innovative is construction?
- are we realising the right projects?
She argues for a shift in thinking. Meanwhile, she has her own agency and is enthusiastically committed to promoting sustainability in the field.
De Levende Stad is one of the initiatives of the current generation of urban planners to give shape to the new task because a break in trends is visible in spatial planning, urban planning and construction. The era of quantitative building assignments, such as reconstruction, suburbanisation and Vinex districts appears to be finite. Decline in demand is one of the causes of the current crisis. With the economy picking up, that demand will no longer return to its initial level. Rising vacancy rates of office and industrial premises, a stagnant housing market and traffic jams are symptoms of a field that is entering a new phase. There is also the need to plan and build more sustainably from a changing climate and increasing scarcity of fossil fuels and other materials. The new task, working towards a living city is: Building to create value for people and meet their needs. Responding to changes in the future in which the living environment can grow along with people's development. Working towards a healthy city, flexible enough to evolve with changes in climate or lifestyle.
In short, the Living City philosophy boils down to the following. To bring a city to life, it is essential to initiate cyclical processes and abandon the traditional linear approach. Cycles take place in space and time as well as at the organisational level. From a project-oriented approach, the focus then shifts to the process. During this process, all sub-aspects for a design, together with actual use, make it clear how a site functions. Thus, ongoing processes contribute to the evolution of the city and emphasise that our society as a living system is never finished and continues to evolve in the future. The Living City philosophy also brings coherence to sectoral measures on sustainability and links the various environmental aspects. In doing so, it focuses on the needs of people in a living urban system. In order to put theory into practice, the Living City Foundation was set up. It is a network of individuals, professionals, companies and foundations, associations and institutions such as governments and research institutes. Through lectures, workshops, network meetings, excursions and the website, knowledge and experiences are exchanged.
After the lecture, there was ample opportunity for questions.
Description
Building to create value for people and meet their needs.
Responding to changes in the future where the living environment can grow with people's development.
Working towards a healthy city that is flexible enough to evolve with changes in climate or lifestyle. That is the new task. That is working on a living city.
To what extent are we doing that now? How innovative is construction? Are we realising the right projects? What be the right projects?
Ms Van Beek will elaborate on these questions in her lecture. She will explain how the philosophy of the Living City can bring coherence to sectoral measures in the field of sustainability and connect the various environmental aspects.
In addition, putting the theory of the Living City into practice will be discussed. Indeed, in 2011 it set up a network where professionals, institutes, governments and interested parties can exchange knowledge and experiences.
Location
Organiser
Region North-Holland
Name and contact details for information
Virginia Doelwijt