About

The quality of urban places in cities is typically not the product of a single intervention but results from the accumulation over time of a complex combination of factors, behaviours, and decisions from multiple stakeholders. Through this action, UN-Habitat, University College London (UCL) and the Brussels Bouwmeester Maître Architecte aim to explore innovative ways European cities are being designed and financed. URBAN MAESTRO will focus on those approaches where public authorities act in a semi-formal or informal capacity as enablers or brokers rather than through regulatory or direct investment powers.

The launch event will provide an overview of consortium partners’ activity in the field of urban design governance, will seek feedback from urban practitioners, and will identify synergies with relevant urban policies implemented by the Member States and related institutions.

Agenda

14th February, 2019

10.00
Introduction and presentations

• EU Research & Innovation Actions on Sustainable Urbanisation
  Javier Peinado Lebrero, Head of Sector EASME B.2.3., Natural Resources, Ecosystems & Cultural Heritage, Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises (EASME), European Commission
• Design Governance
  Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning and Urban Design, University College London – The Bartlett School of Planning
• BOUWMEESTERMAITREARCHITECTE
  Kristiaan Borret, Brussels Bouwmeester Maître Architecte
• Why Urban Design Governance matters in the quest for equity, sustainability and peace?
  Dr. Shipra Narang Suri, Coordinator, Urban Planning and Design, UN-Habitat
• URBAN MAESTRO in a few questions
  Frédéric Saliez, Human Settlements Officer, UN-Habitat Europe

11.20

• How can Urban MAESTRO contribute to better European cities?
  Users’ and practitioners’ perspective. Dialogue with urban practitioners, NGOs, real estate sector, local authorities and universities.

11.50

• Member States and EU institutions’ perspective
  Looking for synergies with Member States’ and European Commission coordinated initiatives in urban research (JPI Urban Europe, H2020, JRC), urban policies (Urban Development Group, European Urban Agenda), architectural policies (European Forum for Architectural Policies, Creative Europe), cultural, environmental, development cooperation and related policies.

12.20
Questions & Answers
Conclusions

Event details

Location

United Nations House
37-40 Boulevard du Régent
1000 Brussels
Belgium

About

Agenda

13th June, Thursday

15.00 – 17.00
SOFT POWER IN URBAN DESIGN GOVERNANCE: WHY, WHO AND HOW?

• ​Introduction to the Urban Maestro project
  Frederic Saliez, UN-Habitat Europe
• Urban design governance and the informal tools
  Matthew Carmona, University College London
• ​Surveying informal urban design governance across Europe
  Joao Bento, University College London
• Baukultur approach: informal urban design governance tools at the national level (presentation) (interview)
  Christina Haas, Swiss Federal Office of Culture
• Informal tools at the city scale (presentation)
  Sandor Finta, Former Budapest City architect
• Externalising design governance in Nantes (presentation) (interview)
  Aurélien Delchet, co-founder of Atelier Georges
• Round table discussion and debate
  – When are informal tools preferable to formal ones?
  – At what scale is urban design governance best delivered?
  – How should governmental and non-governmental actors interact to deliver urban design governance?​​​
• Introduction to EC research agenda
  Maria Lina Yeroyanni, Senior Expert on Innovating Cities at DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission

Conclusions

​

14th June, Friday

8.30 – 10.00
URBAN MAESTRO SUPPORT & ADVISORY GROUP MEETING
(by invitation only)

​15.00 – 17.00
THE CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES OF THE INFORMAL TOOLS OF URBAN DESIGN GOVERNANCE

• Reviewing design review (presentation)
  Matthew Carmona, University College London
• Achieving political support
  Frederik Serroen, team of Brussels Bouwmeester Maître Architecte
• Valencia waterfront, entrepreneurial design governance (presentation)
  Amparo Adelaida Tarazona Vento, University of Sheffield
• Incentivising design quality with financial tools (presentation)
  Tommaso Gabrieli, University College London
• Translating ideas between contexts, learning from Toronto (presentation) (interview)
  James White, University of Glasgow
• Round table discussion and debate
  – Bottom up or top down, how can a culture of high quality urban design be secured?
  – Can financial and design governance tools be compatible?
  – How contextually specific are the tools of informal urban design governance?

Conclusions

Event details

Location

La Marina de València
Carrer del Moll de la Duana, s/n
46024 València
Spain

In partnership with

STIPO
European Placemaking Network
La Marina de València

About

How can we set up the right conditions for future high-quality developments?​
What tools might influence urban design processes before formal procedures?​
How to improve the culture of the decision-making environment?​
How can design competitions, meanwhile uses, quality audits, public-private partnerships, and other like-minded tools incentivize the quality of urban design?

​​Through analyzing different approaches and experiences, we can find better ways to respond to the challenges in the governance of urban design. Join URBAN MAESTRO for generating ideas, sharing knowledge, and trying to figure out an action plan for improving the built environment.

Agenda

29th January, Wednesday

8.30
Registration & Welcome

9.00
URBAN MAESTRO. New Governance Strategies for Urban Design

9.30
Session 1. DESIGN ENVIRONMENT

• IBA Heidelberg (presentation) (interview)
  Michael Braum, director of IBA Heidelberg
• Place Standard tool (presentation) (interview)
  John Howie, NHS Scotland, chair of Place Standard Implementation group
• Collective housing in Switzerland (presentation) (interview)
  Claudia Thiesen, architect at Thiesen & Wolf

12.00 – 13.30
Lunch Break

13.30
Session 2. ENABLING THE CHANGE

• Independent city architect position (presentation)
  Kristiaan Borret, Brussels bouwmeester maitre architecte
• Grenoble public spaces regeneration program (presentation) (interview)
  Stephane Durand, Grenoble-Alpes Metropole
• Panorama lokaal (presentation) (interview)
  Daan Zandbelt, College van Rijksadviseurs
• Les Grands Voisins (presentation) (interview)
  Marie Guilguet and Fanny Cottet, Plateau Urban

15.00 – 15.30
Coffee Break

17.00
Conclusions
Laura Petrella, UN-Habitat

19.30 – 22.00
Evening reception at the The Portuguese Council of Architects – Northern Chapter (OA-SRN)

30th January, Thursday

9.00
Walking tour. Visiting recent urban renewal objects and sites

10.00 – 12.00
Session 3. Portuguese Case Studies

• Porto urban strategies and visions
  Pedro Baganha, Alderman of Urbanism, Public Space and Heritage, City Council of Porto
• Ilhas do Porto
  Teresa Calix, Vice-president of the Faculty of Architecture – University of Porto
• BipZip program in Lisbon (interview)
  Ana Catarino, AtelierMob
  

Conclusions

31st January, Friday

9.00 – 11.30
URBAN MAESTRO SUPPORT & ADVISORY GROUP MEETING
(by invitation only)

Event details

Location

DAY 1:
Faculty of Architecture, Via Panorâmica Edgar Cardoso 215, 4150-564 Porto
DAY 2:
Casa do Infante, R. da Alfândega 9, 4050-270 Porto

In partnership with

Câmara Municipal do Porto
Faculdade de Arquitectura, Universidade do Porto
Ordem dos Arquitectos Secção Regional Norte

About

Good urban design is a crucial ingredient to promote quality of life in cities, economic prosperity, social cohesion, environmental responsibility and cultural values.

The session “Soft-power in the governance of urban design: a new approach for achieving quality in cities” of URBAN MAESTRO project has explored innovative ways of generating urban spatial quality by focusing on the “soft power” modalities of urban design governance: those approaches where public authorities act in a semi-formal or informal capacity as enablers or brokers rather than through regulatory or direct investment powers. It showcased examples of applied soft-power strategies in countries of the European Union, Colombia, Rwanda and South Africa, and engaged a structured dialogue with the audience, questioning the effectiveness of informal urban design governance tools in shaping urban places through enhancing a collective culture of good urban design.

Agenda

Welcome & introduction
Cecilia Bertozzi, UN-Habitat

Urban Maestro: new governance strategies for urban design in Europe
How do cities generate urban spatial quality by using the “soft power” modalities of urban design governance?
• Kristiaan Borret, Brussels bouwmeester maitre architecte(BMA) – BE
• Matthew Carmona, University College of London (UCL) – UK
• Tommaso Gabrieli, University College of London (UCL) – UK

Exploring urban design governance approach in other contexts
• Evolving public space in South Africa-Karina Landman, University of Pretoria, South Africa
• The Green Kigali experience-Liliane Uwanziga Mupende, Kigali, Rwanda
• The Medellin model – Alejandro Restrepo Montoya, former City Architect, Medellín, Colombia
• The SDG project assessment tool in Asian cities-Pinar Caglin, UN-Habitat

Panel debate with speakers and audience
How relevant is urban design governance to emerging economies, developing countries and humanitarian crisis areas, with which tools (formal or informal) and which means of finance?
• Moderated by Frédéric Saliez, UN-Habitat

Urban Design Governance from the perspective of the European Commission
• Arnoldas Milukas, Head of Unit “Horizon 2020 Environment & Resources” Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), European Commission
• Philippe Froissard, deputy head of Unit, European Commission, DG Research & Innovation, Unit RTD D2. “Future urban and mobility systems”

Event details

Location

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

More information

https://wuf.unhabitat.org/

About

Workshop #3 webinar sessions will focus on the actions that support quality outreach in the formal urban development processes. It will analyze the tools that aim to improve the spatial quality through such practices as quality chambers, land value capture, and which engage most directly with formal regulatory processes, financial needs, financial instruments, and innovative financing tools.

9th June, 10-12am (CEST)

Financial incentives for architecture competitions
How to set up architecture competition schemes and how do they contribute to higher-quality living environment ?

• EUROPAN (EU)
Didier Rebois – General secretary of Europan, Architect and Urbanist

• National subsidies for setting up architecture competitions (CZ) (presentation)
Josef Morkus – Senior Ministerial Counsellor, Head of Conception a Methodical Unit, Ministry of Regional Development

• Concept tendering procedures (DE) (presentation)
Robert Temel – Architecture and Urban planning researcher, Spokesman of Plattform Baukulturpolitik, Member of the Beirat für Baukultur in the Austrian Federal Chancellery, Co-founder and chairman of the supervisory board of WoGen Wohnprojekte-Genossenschaft e.Gen

With the expert interventions of:
• Fuensanta Nieto – co-founder and partner of Nieto Sobejano architects
• Leo van Broeck – Vlaams Bouwmeester, Architect at Bogdan & Van Broeck
• Georg Pendl – President of Architects’ Council of Europe, Architect at Pendl Architects

16th June, 10-12am (CEST)

Innovative urban development strategies
How to manage public and private interests and assure positive long-term results?

• Emerging tools and strategies for public-private collaboration (presentation)
Michael Mehaffy – KTH Royal Institute for Technology Stockholm

• Stadmakers Fonds, Club Rhijnhuizen (NL) (presentation)
Hans Karssenberg – founding partner of STIPO, public developer, placemaker, advisor and trainer, co-initiator of The City at Eye Level

• Belval developments (LU)
Vincent Delwiche – General Manager at Agora s.à r.l. & Cie

• Samoa île de Nantes (FR) (presentation)
Marika Frenette – Founder of Wigwam Consulting and Engineering

With the expert interventions of:
• Tony Mulhall – Associate director of RICS
• Marlena Happach – Warsaw city architect
• Giovanni Ferrero – City of Torino, Co-City project

23rd June, 10-12am (CEST)

Tools for supervising the place quality across different contexts
Can independent design review methods and support schemes unlock the negotiations on the quality of urban design?

• Q-teams (NL) (presentation)
Sandra van Assen & José van Campen – Researchers and Urban planners at TU Delft

• Design advisory boards in Austria (AU) (presentation)
Daniel Fügenschuh – Architect, Director of Austrian Chamber of Architects

• Design for London (UK) (presentation)
Esther Kurland – Director of Urban Design London

With the expert interventions of:
• Gvido Princis – Riga City Architect

Event details

Location

online webinar

About

Urban Maestro Masterclass brought together a group of 40 international students from a variety of disciplines to work with a range of academics, practitioners and other invited experts, examining real-life case studies as a way to explore issues surrounding the topic of urban governance.

The Masterclass gave participants the chance to engage with real-life stakeholders, allowing them to gain an insight into the range of skills and roles involved in creating good quality urban spaces, and a better understanding of the political, social and economic environment in which they will be practicing.

A series of online workshops and seminars spanned over 4 workshop sessions and were guided by these tutors:

• David Bauer (DE) – Habitat Unit, Department of Urbanism – TU Berlin
• Jana Čulek (HR) – PhD researcher, architect, urban planner – Studio Fabula, TU Delft
• Una Daly (IE) – Lecturer, Design review panel member – Design South East, UCC
• Anna Koskinen (FI) – Research Assistant, Department of Urbanism – Tampere University
• Pablo Sendra (ES) – Associate Professor of Planning & Urban Design – UCL Bartlett
• Guillaume Sokal (BE) – Architect and Civil Engineer – SLRB
• Sandra van Assen (NL) – PhD researcher, architect, urban planner – TU Delft
• Paul van der Kuil (NL) – Lecturer in Real Estate Management & Urban Development – TU Berlin

The analysed case studies included:

• IBA Thuringen (DE) (presentation) (paper)
Jan Schultheiß (DE) – Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI) in Germany, co-author of expert paper on IBA
Dr Bertram Schiffers (DE) – IBA Thüringen Project Manager

• Room for the River (NL) (presentation) (paper)
Pieter Schengenga (NL) – Senior Landscape Architect and Director at H+N+S Landscape Architects, involved in the design and implementation of numerous Room for the River projects
Mathieu Schouten (NL) – City of Nijmegen Senior Landscape Architect, involved in the development, implementation and follow-up of the Room for the River projects in the Nijmegen area

• Petite Île – Citygate II development (BE) (presentation) (paper)
Julie Collet (BE) – Team bouwmeester maître architecte, responsible for Research by Design before the initial project competition
Séverine Hermand (BE) – BUUR, member of the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Facilitation team for the Brussels Environment Agency
Yannick Dal (BE) – Brussels-Capital Region Housing Corporation (SLRB) Development Department, project client
Aurélie Hachez (BE) – AHA, Project Architect
Elseline Bazin (FR) – Elseline Bazin Architecte, Project Architect
Elke Schoonen (NL) –NoA architecten, Project Architect

• Co-City Torino (IT) (presentation) (paper)
Giovanni Ferrero (IT) – Comune di Torino, Project Director, Co-City Torino
Loredana Di Nunzio (IT) – Comune di Torino, Architect following the technical aspects related to CUMIANA15 (the Co-City Torino initiative presented)
Riccardo Galetto (IT) – Member of Ideificio Torinese, an active citizens’ association and one of the central proponents of CUMIANA15

During the final online session of the Urban Maestro Masterclass, the students and the tutors presented their findings and suggested ways to promote good urban design governance. A panel of invited experts was there to provide feedback and open up a wider debate on the culture of urban design governance.

Event details

Location

online

About

Workshop #4 will concentrate on the importance of long-term stewardship in the governance of urban design. It will unpack the tools that enlarge and go beyond the traditional scope of urban design towards new thematic fields such as the circular economy, nature-based solutions, long-term management, and others, and which are concerned with the long-term well-being of places and their populations.

19th November, 9.30-12.00 h (Brussels time)

Common ground for Economy & Design
Presenting the findings of expert papers on the informal urban design governance tools and financial mechanisms, addressing key challenges in real estate and architecture, and highlighting the urban development partnerships between public and private sector.

• Key challenges between the real estate sector and the field of urban design (presentation)
Paul van der Kuil – Researcher and Lecturer at TU Berlin

• Milan REFLOW project (presentation)
Lucia Scopelliti – Head of Unit, Economic development, Municipality of Milan – Expert at UIA

• Applying land value capture tools: lessons from Copenhagen and Freiburg (presentation)
Nicholas Falk – Executive Director of The URBED Trust – the founder of URBED (urban and economic development) in London in 1976

 • The Oslo waterfront as an example of restructuring, culture-led redevelopment and negotiation processes (presentation)
Heidi Bergsli – Researcher at Norwegion Institute of Urban and Regional Research

• La Marina da Valencia redevelopment
Amparo Adelaida Tarazona Vento – Lecturer at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield

• Places That Make Us: the balance between public and private interest in real estate (presentation)
Michiel Van Balen – Architect and Partner of Miss Miyagi

External experts:
Ugo Guarnacci– Project Adviser, European Commission, Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)
Herman Pienaar – Human Settlements Officer, Lead Urban Lab at UN-Habitat

26th November, 9.30-12.00 h (Brussels time)

Financial & Quality outreach tools aligned
Peer review of 2 case studies of innovative development approaches on the city scale and the governance tools they employ. Questioning innovation vs. time, private vs. public interest, design vs. economic values, short-term vs. long-term objectives and processes, top-down vs. bottom-up approaches, sustainability aims vs. reality, and exchanging the lessons learned.

• By & Havn, Copenhagen (DK) (presentation)
Camilla van Deurs – Copenhagen city architect
Rita Justesen – By & Havn, Head of Planning and Architecture
Amanda Ziegler Dybbroe – By & Havn, Project Manager

• Community Land Trust (BE) (presentation)
Geert De Pauw – Co-ordinator, CLT Brussels
Joaquín de Santos – Manager CLTB European projects, Project Manager SHICC

External experts:
Heidi Bergsli – Researcher at Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Research
Graham Squires – Associate Head of School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand
Hanna Szemző – OpenHeritage Project Co-ordinator, Managing Director Metropolitan Research Institute

Event details

Location

online

About

After two intense and enriching years, the Final Event of Urban Maestro will take place on the 17th of March 2021, in the form of a Policy Dialogue.

This event will involve discussing the project’s achievements and findings, as well as present key takeaways together with lessons learned for improving quality in the built environment through innovative strategies for the governance of urban design.

High level policy dialogue

10.00
Welcome & Introduction

• Ms. Fernanda do Carmo, Director-General for Territory, Ministry of Environment and Climate Action, Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the EU, Portugal
• Ms. Luisa Prista, Acting Director, EASME, European Commission
• Ms. Shipra Narang, Chief, Urban Practice Branch, UN-Habitat
• Introduction to Project Urban Maestro: Challenge, hypothesis, objectives, activities, European panorama of 100+ tools and practices –
Mr. Kristiaan Borret, Brussels Bouwmeester maître-architecte

10.30
Lessons learned and policy recommendations
Prof. Matthew Carmona, University College London

Project’s main findings, illustrated by concrete examples on the use of soft power in the governance of urban design, presented in dialogue with practitioners and local authorities

11.30
Policy implications for the local, national and EU level
Roundtable moderated by Mr. Paulius Kulikauskas, Chief, UN-Habitat Office for the EU

Ms. Elisa Vilares, Head of Division of Territorial Development and Urban Policy, Portugal
Mr. Oliver Martin, Chief of Section, Federal Office for Culture, Switzerland
Ms. Ana Lisa Boni, Secretary General, Eurocities
Mr. Xavier Troussard, Head of Unit, New EU Bauhaus, EC Joint Research Center (tbc)

12.00
Concluding remarks
• Mr. Philippe Froissard, Head of Unit, Clean Planet – Future Urban & Mobility Systems, European Commission DG Research and Innovation (tbc)

Expert forum

14.30
Introduction to the Expert Forum
Mr. Frédéric Saliez, Project Coordinator, UN-Habitat
• Tools of Urban Design Governance – A European panorama, Mr. Joao Bento, Researcher, University College London

14.45
Meet the experts!
Discussion forum hosted by leading experts and representatives of the 100+ practices identified across Europe by project Urban Maestro, according to the following topics:

• From experimentation and temporary solutions to long-term impact?
• How to use design as a negotiation tool?
• How to build quality culture for children and youth?
• Masterclass conclusions and roundtable: Does mobilizing citizen participation lead to better projects?
• How to mobilize investments motivated by societal values?
• How to measure place quality, and does it lead to better design?
• How to mainstream innovative instruments?
• Towards a common EU approach for architecture competitions?

15.45
The future of urban design governance
Roundtable moderated by Brussels Bouwmeester maître-architecte

16.30
Virtual drink – informal gathering & networking
(via a separate video game platform)

Register for the event here:

Register

Event details

Location

online

In partnership with

Reports