HOW SPATIAL DESIGN CAN CHALLENGE A NEW IMPETUS FOR EUROPEAN CITY-REGIONS? REVITALISATION BY RECONCILIATION
Wednesday, 12th October 2016, 14:30 – 17:00 h
Committee of the Regions
Bâtiment Jacques Delors, Rue Belliard, Brussels
(Room JDE 63)
Chaired by Joost van Iersel, President of the ECO Section, EESC
Moderated by Rob Docter, Iba Academy
Faced with the inadequacy of usual top down solutions in city planning, new urban strategies are invented and tested on a European level to revitalise depressed areas. Prof. Jo Coenen, renowned urban planner and formal Dutch Government Architect, questions old processes and investigates new procedures in the cross-border IBA Parkstad Region, to tackle economic, social inclusion, ecological and cultural issues raised by civil society, aiming to bring a new economical boost and new élan.
Pierre Mansat, General Inspector of the City of Paris and President of the AIGP -Greater Paris, is implementing processes from co-creation between departments to co-governance with citizens making digital technology a performance driver for innovative public politics in favour of its economic development and attractiveness. Prof. Saskia Sassen during the Urban Age programme of the London School of Economics stressed the fact that nowadays, sharp shifts in the ownership or urban land make a cross-border geography. It confronts a growing number of large cities to a new type of urban politics.
Which new forms of governance can we develop to give new impetus to City-regions? How public Authorities and the civil society can create conditions of inclusive investment, preserving public domain, ensuring an organic evolution of cities, urban diversity, and quality of life?
The interactive workshop invites participants to discuss how the Pact of Amsterdam could be the political translation and support of such a phenomenon, developing new replicable methods for Europe?
14.30-14.40 Welcome introduction
Joost van Iersel, Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, President of the Section Eco.
14.40-15.00 From local to transnational strategies
Jo Coenen, Curator-Director IBA Parkstad, former Chief Government Architect of the Netherlands
IBA Parkstad can be seen as a transnational experience, as being part of the Euroregio Meuse-Rhine, and the future Grünmetropole, located between Netherlands-Germany-Belgium.
In complex and rapidly changing urban environments such as Europe’s City-Regions, the cross border project of IBA Parkstad can be a powerful framework to reflect on overcoming constraints of the crisis, thinking beyond the dichotomy of top-down and bottom-up solutions inside national borders. A new narrative is made by composing with fragmented urban landscape, reconciling over layered urban frames to give a new impetus and meaningful unity.
15.30-15.50 Overcoming our social and economic frontiers
Pierre Mansat, President of the Atelier International du Grand Paris.
How to create commons for inhabitants in a Greater Paris? How to support relocation of production of goods? What is an innovative private-public approach to re-invent attractiveness in Paris? The City Council and Greater Paris Projects are experimenting inspiring international consultations rules and smart tools with the aim to revitalize and open the city to people, giving the public Authorities a leading role in urban development.
16.00- 16.30 Panel discussion
Emmanuel Moulin, Head of URBACT, Mart Grisel, Director of EUKN, Dorthe Nielsen, Policy Director of EUROCITIES, Charlina Vitcheva, Minister Plenipotentiary, Deputy Director General of JRC
Respondents: Committee of the Region (Theo Bovens, tbc), European Commission: Member of the Parliament (Agnès Jongerius, tbc).
16.30-16.45 Open Discussion
Audience. The invited audience will be composed of urban policymakers, public Authorities, European Instances, designers, academics, researchers.
16.45-17.00 Operational Conclusions
Joost van Iersel
Networking session