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

12.00 – 13.30
Lunch Break

13.30
Session 2. ENABLING THE CHANGE

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

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)
Josef Morkus – Senior Ministerial Counsellor, Head of Conception a Methodical Unit, Ministry of Regional Development

• Concept tendering procedures (DE)
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
Michael Mehaffy – KTH Royal Institute for Technology Stockholm

• Stadmakers Fonds, Club Rhijnhuizen (NL)
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)
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)
Sandra van Assen & José van Campen – Researchers and Urban planners at TU Delft

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

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

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

Register for the event here:

Register

Event details

Location

online webinar

About

We are currently inviting applications for the Urban Maestro masterclass, a series of online workshops and seminars that will take place in September/October 2020. The masterclass will conclude with a final presentation in Brussels in early 2021, taking place alongside the Urban Maestro final conference. This will be combined with visits to a selection of architectural and urban projects in and around the city, and the chance to meet with and learn firsthand about the role of the Brussels Bouwmeester Maître Architecte.*

• join a multidisciplinary group of international students from a variety of backgrounds
• work together with the Urban Maestro team and a range of academics, practitioners and other invited experts
• gain an insight into the range of skills and roles involved in creating good quality urban spaces, and an understanding of the political, social and economic environment in which you will be practising
• examine real-life case studies as a way to explore issues surrounding the topic of urban design governance
• engage with real-world academic research and professional practice
• investigate, debate, critique, persuade and propose
• contribute to our online knowledge base on the Urban Maestro website
• present your findings during the Urban Maestro final conference in early 2021

The masterclass is open to graduate students or recent graduates in the disciplines of architecture, urban design, environmental studies, political science, public governance, economics, real estate and related disciplines, as well as anyone with an interest in learning more about urban design governance. Participation is free.**

Apply now for a chance to join our masterclass!

Applications should be emailed to Colm mac Aoidh, cmacaoidh@perspective.brussels. Please include a brief CV and a short text outlining your background and your motivation for joining the masterclass.

The deadline for receipt of applications is Friday 7th August 2020.
The selection of participants will be confirmed soon after.

* Due to the ongoing uncertainty around COVID-19, this component will be confirmed closer to the time.

** Participants will need to organise and pay for their own travel to and accommodation in Brussels for the final conference.

Event details

Location

online / final event in Brussels

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.

More information coming soon!

Event details

Location

TBC

About

More information coming soon!

Event details

Location

Brussels, BE (TBD)

In partnership with

TBD