- 1.ATLANTIS #22.1 April 2011Paul Stouten 04 Justina Muliuolyte
08Wouter Vanstiphout 14MAGAZINE BY POLIS | PLATFORM FOR URBANISMMSc
Urbanism TU Delft 22Hui Xiao-xi 26 The Why Factory 30 Luuk Boelens
34 Ekim Tan 40Rietveld Landscape 44MSc Landscape Architecture
48Gabriele Rendn 50BVR 55Henco Bekkering 60URBAN SOCIETY 1
2. 2 3. EditorialSince urbanism is a practical science, and
therefore draws from different disci- The outline for Atlantis
volume 22.plines, the challenge for the student urbanist is to
construct a meaningful wholeIf you have ideas and would like toout
of this input. In order to fulfill this, perspectives from
different communities contribute, please do not hesitate tohave to
be judged. contact us at [email protected] the TU Delft
department of Urbanism these different perspectives are made #22.1
Urban Societyexplicit in eleven chairs. Four chairs are organized
around what are consideredKeywords: society, regeneration,to be the
fundamentals of the discipline, which are: Urban Compositions,
Land- politics, housing, neighborhood.scape Architecture, Spatial
Planning & Strategy and Environmental Technology.Alongside
these chairs there are some practically orientated or thematic
chairs,ATLANTISMAGAZINE BY POLIS | PLATFORM FOR UBANISM #22.1 April
2011concerned with the topical aspects of the discipline. They are
Urban Design,Regional and Metropolitan Design, Environmental
Design, Cultural History andDesign, Strategic Planning, The Why
Factory and, the latest addition, Design asPolitics. URBAN SOCIETY
1These different chairs each provide, apart from the research side
of matters,#22.2 Urban Forminput for the education of students.
Because the chairs represent different worldKeywords: form,
density, typolo-views, the challenge for the student is to deduct a
narrative out of this. Thatgies, design, public space, urbanmeans
finding relations but also question certain ideas. This
synthesizing is, totechniques.my mind, the most important academic
and professional quality one must have.The noun synthesis refers to
compiling information together in a different wayATLANTIS #22.1
April 2011MAGAZINE BY POLIS | PLATFORM FOR UBANISMby combining
elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions.The
purpose of Atlantis volume 22, published in 4 issues, is
contributing to thischallenge by exposing different, maybe
sometimes opposing perspectives on URBAN SOCIETY 1urbanism. It will
be organized by setting up four frames. Within each frame
dif-ferent ideas, methods and techniques will be shown. This is
done by means of #22.3 Urban Economyarticles, essays, interviews,
designs, photos and models obtained from students, Keywords:
globalization, urbanacademics and practitioners. Finally, at
Atlantis #22.4 a carton bookbinder will economy, competitiveness,
brand-be provided to literally tie up all the issues. Hopefully
this combination will form ing, foreign direct investment.a more
coherent whole than a mere collection of isolated issues would have
done.ATLANTIS #22.1 April 2011MAGAZINE BY POLIS | PLATFORM FOR
UBANISMEvery issue will have a similar set-up. Paul Stouten will
open this issue of UrbanSociety by providing a historical framework
on the topic of regeneration. Jus-tina Muliuolyte shows her recent
graduation work on the regeneration of social-ist neighborhoods in
Lithuania. Hui Xiao Xi explains the urban renewal in URBAN SOCIETY
1Beijing and its existing challenges and The Why Factory proposes
an inspiringalternative to these challenges. Wouter Vanstiphout
introduces the new chair of#22.4 Urban LandscapeDesign as Politics.
Luuk Boelens, BVR and Rietveld Landscape present inter-Keywords:
landscape, metropolitan,esting ideas and insights derived from
practice, while Ekim Tan and Gabriela urban-rural, biodiversity,
borderRendon give us an insight into their current academic
research. Finally, Henco conditions.Bekkering will reflect on the
topics discussed in this issue. Along these lines, thework of
students will be exhibited.ATLANTIS #22.1 April 2011 MAGAZINE BY
POLIS | PLATFORM FOR UBANISMOn behalf of the editorial team, I want
to thank all contributors, since it is theirwork that makes this
issue of Atlantis possible! URBAN SOCIETY1Jasper Nijveldt2 4. From
the boardA new Atlantis, a new board and five wildly
enthusiasticCommittees 2011new committees! First we have to start
with thanking the2010 board for putting Polis back on track. By
organizing a Atlantisgreat amount of activities they made Polis
visible again andJan Breukelman, Edwin Hans, Jasper Nijveldt &
Janby that they gave the board of 2011 great opportu ities to
nWilbersbring Polis again a step further. These ambitions we
havesummarized in our renewed mission statement: OurLecturesgoal is
to construct a network for intellectual transmissionThe lecture
committee of Polis will organise lectureswithin the Department of
Urbanism and beyond. Connect-throughout the year, and a symposium
later this year.ing students, researchers and practitioners, by
exposing andThe goal is to explore, and get new insights from
fields ofinvestigating contemporary affairs and academic ideology.
Urbanism that are not part of the traditional curriculum.We will do
this by means of a magazine, organizing excur- The first lecture
theme will be Digital Urbanism, consisions, lectures, debates,
expositions and other activities. sting of two lectures, of which
the first will be about theThe current activities play an important
role in this, but we role of serious gaming in contemporary urban
planning.want to strengthen our goal with the use of two
pillars.Remmelt Oosterhuis, Sylke Koumans & Thomas PaulThe
Polis board 2011 would like to dedicate more effort Small
Excursionto the monitoring of the quality of education. We aim
toThis years small excursion committee started with a sur-do this
by organizing for example an evaluation meeting plus of ideas, and
has already had their first excursion towith the students and
coordinators after every quarter. Antwerp. Now the team, consisting
of five enthusiasticBesides that we would like to focus more on the
workstudents is looking for even more exciting places to go,field:
connecting students to practitioners working atwhich would ideally
match up with the changing themesdesign offices &
municipalities by means of lectures, within the current urbanism
stream.workshops and case studies. In doing so, Polis will Hannah
Cremers, Gijs Briet, Andre Kroese, Verena Roell &become more
than only the study association for stu-Wieke Villeriusdents.
Through the mentioned activities and the Atlantismagazine Polis
aims to become an interesting medium for Big Excursionacademics and
professionals.Polis Big Excursion committee has been
organisingexcursions since 2008. A group of Urbanism and Archi-Of
course Polis is more than that. Polis organizes a com- tecture
enthusiasts strive to combine the educational withbination of
valuable and enjoyable activities. Not only the fun, having visited
Paris, the city of light, and Ham-excursions, lectures and case
studies, but we would alsoburg, the city of trade. This year we
will go and explorelike to organize a Polis Urbanism Week in
autumn. Fur-Vienna, the city of Sachertorte!thermore, we would like
to plan small workshops for the Maike Warmerdam, Alicia Schoo &
Liselotte van der Abachelor students to get a bit more in touch
with urban-ism and landscape architecture. BorrelThe Polis Borrel
committee is a newly found group ofFor all members we proudly
present our new websitestudents which organizes social events for
the students ofwhich is launched this month. On this website well
informthe Master tracks Urbanism and Landscape Architecture.you
about all kinds of events coming up inside and out- After the
stress of a presentation you can count the Borrelside the TU Delft
, let you browse through the Atlantiscommittee for some hard earned
relaxation and funArchive, filter interesting internships and give
you the pos- times! Keep checking the POLIS website and the
Polissibility to sign up for Polis activities. Bookmark our
newFacebook events for more party information!website
(www.polistudelft.nl) and keep in touch!Maaike Zwart, Nazanin
Hemmati, Ani Skachokova &Laurens de LangeUrban greetings from
the Polis board 2011,Jorick Beijer, Karien Hofhuis, Vera Konings,
Tim Ruijs &Noor Scheltema 3 5. Changing Contexts in
UrbanRegeneration paul stoutenThe need to combat decay of obsolete
housing and ser-Urban renewal, urban regeneration and
sustainablevices in urban renewal areas has been recognized
bydevelopmentevery major country in Western Europe, including the
The 1970s saw a fundamental change in policy on urbanNetherlands
(Couch et al., 2003). Urban regeneration inrenewal. Besides placing
a greater emphasis on rehabili-general can be considered as
developing an approach in tation and improvement rather than
demolition of exist-a complex urban context that includes a variety
of spa-ing building stock, the approach called for
participationtial scales, sectors, actors and disciplines. Urban
regen- of present residents in the renewal process and
decentral-eration needs to respond to changing contexts with new
ized control. The approach involved the decentralizedeconomic
concentrations in cities that are accompanied direction of the
entire process by local authorities andby new markets for new
population groups within thetenant groups working in cooperation.
The fact that pri-current urban population (Sassen, 1991). This
situa- ority access to new or modernized housing was given totion
is sometimes in conflict with the living conditions the lower paid
made the aims of building-for-the-neigh-of specific groups in the
urban population trapped inborhood (bouwen voor de buurt) unique in
the historyeconomic difficulties, excluded from opportunities and
of social housing. Building-for-the-neighborhood meantrights. The
other side of the same coin and with as thethat the then present
tenants got priority with regard tocommon underlying factor a
change in economic struc- the improvement of their housing and
living conditions.ture caused by global competition and
technologicalinnovation (Drewe et al. 2008). Urban regeneration By
the end of the 1980s a market oriented approach andneeds to respond
to new conditions and can therefore the recognition of new sets of
problems and challenges hadnot be a static phenomenon. Two basic
concerns havebecome dominant in much of Europe. What was new
inbecome part of the agenda in all new strategies for urbanthis
approach was the acceptance of the need to take intoregeneration,
namely the search for lasting solutionsaccount environmental
objectives related to sustainableand an integrated approach to
physical, environmental, development. In the Netherlands urban
renewal becamesocial and economic programs.more or less part of a
more comprehensive form of urban regeneration of a city or region.
One of its core activitiesUrban renewal was and is an important
issue in the relates to the functional obsolescence of buildings
andNetherlands and particularly renewal of the city of Rot- the
changing requirements of their users. Roberts (2000)terdam was an
interesting example nationally and inter-summarized the essential
features of urban regenerationnationally in the period 1975-1993
(Stouten, 2010). Dueby defining it as: comprehensive and integrated
visionto large investments from financial and social capital,and
action aimed at the resolution of urban problems andlarge parts of
old neighborhoods have been modernized. seeking to bring about a
lasting improvement in the eco-Fundamental changes on the labour
and housing market nomic, physical, social and environmental
condition of anput the housing question of the constructed
buildings, area that has been subjected to change. The main
compo-environments and living conditions on the agenda again.nents
put forward as relevant to the regeneration of citiesSince mid
1990s approaches led to a degree of integrationare essentially a
strategic activity, including economicof social, economic and
building policies. Most of these regeneration and funding, physical
and environmentalprograms of social renewal, subsequent Big City
poli-aspects, social and community issues, employment andcies
(Grote Stedenbeleid) and neighborhood approacheseducation
(including training), and housing.started in Rotterdam and were
later adopted by the cen-In 1987 the report of the Brundtland
Committeetral government. Against this background, an
evaluation(WCED, 1987) introduced sustainable development inof the
results is very worthwhile, particularly becausea worldwide policy
guideline. The committee pleadedurban renewal policy has to deal
with a new context in for sustainable development to ensure that
develop-the last decades, in which privatization and being
marketment meets the needs of the present generation withoutdriven
are the main topics.compromising the ability of future generations
to meet4 6. their own needs. The point here is that besides its
con-sible for much of the deterioration. Because these
ownerssequences for the here and now, the way of developinghad made
no investment or too little investment to main-affects the
long-term prospects of the earth and its inhab-tain their
properties, an attempt was made to bring theiritants. In this
tradition sustainable development involves properties into the
social sector by the use of compulsoryreaching a new balance
between rich and poor, today andor voluntary purchase.tomorrow,
mankind and nature. For our research into sustainable urban
regeneration At the end of the 1980s greater emphasis was put on
thewe have chosen a dynamic concept directed at the inte- status of
the urban renewal areas in the city as a whole.gration of physical,
economic and social factors (Stouten, Preparation of urban
development plans started consider-2010). Sustainability will
therefore be interpreted here asing the functioning of the citys
housing market and thethe quality of a residential situation and
human urban relationships with adjacent areas and boroughs.
Futureenvironment which is suitable for continued use by its
res-production should match the heterogeneity of the popu-idents
and permits improvement in their physical, social lation in a
better way by increasing the differentiationand economic conditions
including an overall strategic within the housing stock by more
variation in housingframework for city-wide development. typology,
housing size, price class and type of financing. Developing new
types of human environment includingUrban renewal and urban
regeneration in Rotterdam: residential environments e.g. on the
former harbor areas1974-1993became a great challenge.In the course
of the 1970s, residents in urban renewalareas of Rotterdam, like
residents in such areas in otherReflections on the building for the
neighborhood periodcities, became actively involved in actions
pressing for the Nearly 72.000 dwellings (60% of the total housing
stockimprovement of their housing situation. The post-war in the
old areas) were radically improved by new housingpolicies with
their mass model of housing provision were and the modernization of
pre-war housing estates. Addi-no longer able to meet the special
needs and requirementstionally, 45 primary schools and a large
number of newof tenants in old city areas. Their poor housing
conditionswelfare provisions (community centers, medical aid
cent-were an important reason for the change in policy that ers and
so on) were built in the old areas. Moreover, urbantook place in
1974. Apart from the poor quality of housing renewal included the
realization of 220,000m2 of retailand the residential environment,
other important factors and commercial space. In 1976, 54% of the
housing stockincluded the possibility (or impossibility) of
improving the was structurally in a poor quality, whereas after
urbanhousing situation and reducing social and economic dep-renewal
this proportion fell to no more than 8%. Afterrivation. A
cooperative planning and housing model was 1993 poor quality
dwellings were mainly concentrateddeveloped to manage this
improvement.in the housing stock supplied by private landlords. The
The special attention for the lowest paid meant forfindings of
urban renewal in other Dutch cities revealedexample providing
affordable new housing for residents the same poor conditions in
the private rental sector (ABFof the old areas including brown
field areas. The purchase research, 2002).of private properties was
an important instrument in the For reflections on the building for
the neighborhoodurban renewal strategy. It meant that almost 69% of
allperiod, a distinction should be made between changesprivate
properties became social rented properties.in conditions for urban
renewal brought about through external developments and those which
could be tracedThe principles underlying the urban renewal strategy
back more or less directly to the urban renewal policywere:itself,
i.e. the building of social housing for the neighbor-- Building for
the neighborhood, i.e. working in line hood population and
purchasing housing from privatewith the needs and requirements of
the population of landlords by the local government.the areas
subject to urban renewal, thus avoiding forced External
developments are implemented to includeremoval and displacement.the
economic recession, long-term unemployment and-Decentralization and
democratization, meaning that changes in the structure of
employment, the affordabilitydecisions about renewal measures
should not simply beof housing costs, changing ratios of immigrants
to natives,taken centrally by municipal departments, but should
social and cultural changes and new relationships betweentake
account of input from and participation by the resi-central
government, municipalities, housing associationsdents of the area
involved.and residential groups.- Socialization of the housing
provision, resulting from Economic developments in the 1980s
including an eco-the city councils view that private landlords were
respon-nomic recession had a radical effect on urban renewal.5 7.
Area-based activities declined in the wake of national was mainly
concerned with privatization. Urban housingdevelopments. A number
of large industries and service policy was characterized by a
decrease in the resourcescompanies moved to the edge of the city or
beyond. About made available by government and a greater
dependence18% of the loss of employment can be ascribed to exter-on
private initiatives. The combination of urban renewalnal
developments, i.e. the economic recession, and not toand decreased
priority for inner-city regeneration led tourban renewal itself
with its priority on housing. increased pressure on economic
aspects. At the beginning The second point regards the
affordability of hous-of this millennium the integral approach
returned to theing costs, particularly for tenants. Unemployment in
scene in the former urban renewal areas through the rein-the urban
renewal areas led to a large proportion of troduction of the area
approach, the designation of prior-the residents suffering a severe
reduction in income.ity areas and the designation of prize areas
(prachtwij-The affordability of urban renewal for tenants on
lowken) in 2007.incomes was threatened. Another point of reflection
arises if the changes incomposition of the population led to
changes in the social "It is an illusion that withinfrastructure
and social networks. New urban lifestyles,not based on the
traditional family, clashed with more design one can change
thetraditional lifestyles. Many urban renewal areas had for-merly
occupied a position on the housing market as parturban fabric over
10-15of a transitional zone, in which accommodation was
partlyoccupied by recently arrived house-seekers such as
stu-years."dents and immigrants. In the meantime a highly
heterogeneous area, but nonetheless an area where movinghouse
became less frequent, was coming into being. InSustainable urban
regeneration requires more than tra-these areas residents of old
and new urbanites several ditional land use plans have to offer.
There was a needof which practiced new forms of cohabitation, were
betterto improve planning and develop new methods to dealeducated
and lived a more luxurious life were housed with new problems.
Strategic planning was no longerand lived next to one another. With
regard to the partici- only concerned with so-called flagship
projects, butpation of residents: by and large participation had
worked helped to give shape to the renewal. The general strate-well
for native residents of the area, but not so well for gies were
based on the use of specific features of the city,immigrants. The
new situation, which could be classedsuch as the river, the
harbors, the canals and so on. Theseas one of stable heterogeneity,
required those involved to strategies concentrated on the
intensification of the exist-reshape social relationships.ing urban
area in combination with high-quality public transport and
services. Residential environments wereFrom the 1990s onwards:
Urban regeneration developed for specific lifestyles, taking into
account anBetween 1975 and 1993, urban renewal and social
housingincrease in the flexibility of labour and the
consequenceshad a major effect on urban planning in the
Netherlands, of internationalization and migration. All this under
theparticularly in its major cities. In this respect it should be
expectation that phenomena as the home as workplacenoted that the
Netherlands has the highest proportion of (teleworking), as school
(tele-education) and as shop (tele-social housing in the EU, about
33% of the housing stock,shopping) were still capable of
spectacular growth. Theand in the current large Dutch cities this
percentage cancontent of the area-based strategy was different for
thebe as high as 50%. From the mid 1980s onwards the poli-centre
than for other urban areas. To increase the vital-cies of different
ministries defined objectives creating a ity and attrac iveness of
the centre the aim was to increase treal patchwork of urban
policies and problems. Socialthe number of residents to achieve a
ratio of 1:1 betweenmeasures were brought under the problem
accumula- jobs and dwellings. At the time only 28,000 people
livedtion areas policy. This policy was concerned with socialin the
Rotterdams city centre, while the number of jobsrenewal and urban
problems. Furthermore it is character- was 80,000. According to
central government, a great dealized by an increase of the
opportunities available to theof investment will be necessary in
coming years to makelong-term unemployed and poorly educated, by
improv- cities attractive to middle-income and higher-incomeing
quality of life and social security and by measures to groups by
increasing the number of owner-occupiedstimulate the integration of
minorities. properties. This objective attracting higher-income The
beginning of the 1990s saw an increase in socio- groups could to a
considerable extent already be foundeconomic problems in the larger
cities. Policy however in the policy of the city of Rotterdam.6 8.
Till 2008, the central government expected an increase erogeneous
social fabric. This situation could be threat-of the demand for the
owner-occupied sector. As it was ened due to the development of a
more homogeneousargued in a period of economic growth but also
duringvulnerable social fabric. This development is caused by anthe
current crisis policies are driven on stimulating this increase of
households becoming dependent on social ben-tenure at the expense
of the social sector. Since mid 1990sefits, decrease of purchasing
power and new Europeanthe construction of 100.000 dwellings per
year were fore-regulations on limited access to social housing for
onlycasted but this number was never reached. At the sameincomes
below 33.000 euro per year.time the waiting lists for tenants
looking for new homeswere not cleared and prices in the
owner-occupied sector Conclusionsincreased. Due to new European
regulations, in the nearThe approaches of urban renewal areas
fluctuate betweenfuture, middle class households will run into
trouble in inward and outward looking strategies. The first is
morefinding a decent home. They get sandwiched between driven by an
area-based strategy while the second is driventhe social and
owner-occupied sector. When they earn by developments beyond this
level of scale e.g. changes onmore than 33.000 euro a year, they
become excluded fromthe housing and labour market of the city or
region. It isthe social sector and will have hardly any chance in
get-important to develop strategies that connect these inwardting a
mortgage. Moreover a lack of training and a low and outward looking
approaches as seen complemen-level of education mean that a number
of young peopletary. The determining condition for strategic
planning inentering the housing market as starters will be in no
posi-urban renewal areas is the heterogeneous character of thetion
to buy. social fabric. This presumes to take account of the strong
mix-use of housing, shops, amenities and services that
isSustainable Urban Regeneration connected with the multi-cultural
characteristics of theLast decade there have been a lot of critics
on urbanpopulation. Strategies based on the so-called social
climb-regeneration about failing measurement against socialers are
recommended. That means to take a middle classdeterioration e.g.
social safety and criminality. The posi-including different
minority ethnic groups seriously intive results of urban renewal
were mostly ignored whiledevelopment of planning strategies. It is
an illusion thatpolicies contributed to vast improvements of the
build-with design one can change the urban fabric over 10-15ing
stock, services and amenities (see also ABF research,years. The
population and her requirements will change.2002). According to my
research (Stouten, 2010) floorFlexibility in use of the urban
fabric is an instrument toplans of newly built housing were highly
appreciated byadapt to eventual new requirements.the residents. The
appreciation of tenants and profession-als of modernization of old
housing is sometimes less posi-tive. The current residents rated
houses flexible in use ofReferencesthe floor plan and specific
dwellings for elderly highly.ABF research (2002); Stadsvernieuwing
gemeten: Basisanalyse KWR Solving structural problems, e.g.
unemployment and 2000. Delft: ABF research.income division, goes
beyond the area level. In the period Couch, C., C. Fraser and S.
Percy (2003); Urban Regeneration in1975-1993 urban renewal was part
of welfare strategies Europe. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.with
opportunities for low-income groups and minor- Drewe, P., J. Klein
and E. Hulsbergen (eds.) (2008); The Challengeity ethnic groups to
improve their living conditions.of Social Innovation in Urban
Revitalization. Amsterdam: TechneDue to urban renewal strategies
including a broad soci-Press.etal orientation of housing
associations the development Roberts, P. (2000); The Evolution,
Definition and Purpose of Ur-of ghettos was avoided. One of the
important aims that ban Regeneration. In: Roberts, P and H. Sykes
(eds.): Urban Regen-were reached is to prevent displacement.
Residents of theeration: A handbook. London, Thousand Oaks and New
Delhi: SageOude Noorden area did not want to move house
fromPublications, 9-37.their newly-built or modernized housing
(Stouten, 2010). Sassen, S. (1991); The Global City; New York,
London, Tokyo.Also, middle class households did want to continue
their Princeton and New Jersey: Princeton University Press.housing
career in this urban renewal area. The quality of Stouten, P.
(2010); Changing Contexts in Urban Regeneration; 30the services and
facilities is well appreciated but concern- years of modernisation
in Rotterdam. Amsterdam: Techne Press.ing social safety, drugs and
crime the balance is still shaky. WCED (World Commission on
Environment and Development)Despite these negative experiences most
of the tenants (1987); Our Common Future. New York: Oxford
University Press.wanted to stay living in the area and a small
majority saidthat people live together in a pleasant way though
theyhardly know each other. Urban renewal areas have a het- 7 9.
City, catch the time!Rediscovering socialist neighborhoods in a new
capitalist society.Study case - Vilnius, Lithuania justina
muliuolyteThe graduation project City, catch the time!
Rediscovering socialist neighbor-hoods in a new capitalist society
focuses on the regeneration of large scale hous-ing estates in post
socialist cities. The case study is Vilnius, the capital city
ofLithuania. The combined research, planning and design project
which was car-ried out in the graduation year intends to offer
alternatives on how to develophousing estates in post-socialist
micro districts by overtaking coming threatsand satisfying current
city needs. Since the restructuring of socialist neighbour-hoods is
an important topic in all post socialist cities, the proposed
strategy anddesign could become a pilot project for other similar
sized cities in Lithuania, inthe Baltic States, or even in all of
Eastern Europe.In 1970s western European cities have recognised the
problems of modernist hous-ing and started regeneration strategies.
Contrary to this, the former USSR contin-ued the construction of
modernist blocks up until the 1990s and on a much largerscale.
Currently huge housing estates in the peripheries of post socialist
cities showtheir first signs of decline. If revitalisation
strategies are not started soon, mostcities in the entire Eastern
Europe will face serious urban problems. After the analysis of
Vilnius, it was found that the city has more problemsthan the
housing estates alone. There is a big threat of urban sprawl and
envi-ronmentally unsustainable developments. Currently, housing
estates are popu-lar among citizens for their public
transportation, green spaces and room fordevelopment and changes.
All in all, Vilnius needs to search for a more sustain-able vision
of future development.The graduation project focuses on two scales:
city and neighbourhood. Theadvantages of socialist housing will
contribute to the new structure of the city,while the new city
structure will be the way to revitalise neighbourhoods. The project
can be explained in three main parts: vision for the city (1),
regen-eration strategy for the housing estates (2), and design of
the public space systemin the new centrality (3).Vision for the
city Polycentric city with network of centralitiesVilnius has the
characteristics of a compact European city, as well as featuresof a
modern socialist city. Its development can be defined in three main
phases(image 1). In the beginning Vilnius was a compact European
city with a busy oldFigure 1. Vilnius development and vision8 10.
Figure 2. Qualities of the siteJustina Muliuolyte
(www.justinamuliuolyte.eu)town, diverse functions, houses and
neighbourhoods. During the rule of the socialist regime, Vilnius
was developed as a modern city, with the separation ofGraduated
June 2010, Urbanism, functions and the development of huge housing
estates in the peripheries of the Complex Cities studio.city
centre. Currently the city is sprawling and losing its boundaries,
whereasMentors: Roberto Rocco, John Westrik, Qu Lei all the
functions are concentrated in the centre and housing estates are
declin- ing. What could be the future structure of Vilnius? The
graduation project suggests a development of the city utilising the
qualities of all the past phases: to learn from the old town
structure and apply these features to the modernist nucleus.
Consequently the city should be developed into a compact city with
a network of centralities connected by better public transport
links. The sub cen- tres could be those same modernist estates but
enhanced with extra functions, diversity and connections. The area
selected for the proposal is a huge socialist housing estate in the
north of the city, which is supposed to become one of the new
centres. Regeneration strategy From the periphery into the
centrality Currently the estate has 150.000 residents and covers an
area comparable in size to Delft. It has only one dominating
function which is residential, just one type of housing, and the
same open modern space everywhere. The goal of the strat- egy for
the housing estate is to change the monotonous periphery into a
diverse and compact centrality.The revitalisation strategy was
designed according to local site qualities (image 2), TOD
principles and general planning rules on how to change a 9 11.
Figure 4-00. Design route and program4-01. Design urban centre
4-02. Create urban street and add program4-03. Define closed and
calm courtyardsFigure 4-04 Add new housing typology10 12. modern
city into a compact one while keeping its existingqualities not
through demolition, but by addition. Thestrategy promotes the
development of a mixed use districtcentre according to transit
oriented development (TOD)principles: where the highest density is
in the most acces-sible point, decreasing to the edges of the
neighbourhood.The centre will be in the triangle where three main
roadsare crossing, the tram is passing and a transport inter-change
hub is planned. The road structure of the cen-trality is changed
from a branching modern tree into anetwork, by adding extra links
and connections. A con-tinuous urban area is created to replace the
existing frag-mented neighbourhoods. The new centrality will
containa diverse set of functions, housing typologies, densities
andopen spaces. This new system of public space would con-nect the
socialist neighbourhoods with the new sub centre,surrounding
landscapes and other neighbourhoods. In thedesign phase one of the
routes linking the housing areaswith the centre was
elaborated.Design of the route from the housing estate to
thecentreThe project presented here is a route that covers all
inter-vention areas: the transformation of the centre, the
revi-talisation of housing estates and park design. The route asa
connection to the centre is a tool to revitalise neighbour-hoods by
changing their public space system and addingfunctions to the
nodes. The goal of this project is to create Figure 3. Design
toolboxa mixed use environment in a vital urban artery. Currently
the open space on the route has two main project is to have less
open space but of higher quality andcharacters: in the housing
areas it is very empty and to create spaces for new low rise
housing. The result ofunmaintained, whereas in the planned centre
it is these interventions is a combination of lively,
integratedunfriendly to pedestrians, dominated by roads and car
housing areas, centralisation, and a polycentric city.parks. Before
designing the route observations were madeabout common open space
problems and based on theseobservations principles were suggested
on how to make Evaluationpublic space more attractive. Public space
problems withAll in all the revitalisation strategy demonstrates a
new,their suggestions for improvement are collected into acreative
and feasible approach on how to transform dulldesign toolbox (image
3). socialist estates into lively and attractive sub centres. The
route project (image 4-00) is split into a few phases. The
modernist city is changed, but by keeping its exist-Firstly the
mixed use district centre is designed (imageing qualities,
diversity in housing is created, functions are4-01), with a high
density, a multitude of functions, urban added, a higher density is
generated and the public spacestreets and squares. Subsequently the
centre is linked with becomes dedicated to pedestrians instead of
cars. Thethe neighbourhoods and parks by a main street - form-
fragmented periphery becomes an integrated centrality.ing the route
(image 4-02). The proposal provides missing The effect of this
strategy could have an influence on theconnections and added
functions along the nodes, whilecity as a whole, since it focuses
on compact developments,some functions are replaced entirely.
Finally, a distinctionon low rise housing within the city and not
in suburbia.will be made between private and public spaces.
ModernThe proposal opens opportunities for real estate in theblocks
will be closed by creating private courtyardsmodernist housing
areas through its emphasis on public(image 4-03). The empty plots
are developed into a newtransport and mix of uses. The approach is
realisticallytype of housing (image 4-04). All of these
interventionsapplicable and can contribute to new town
developmentwere made using the design toolbox. The approach of the
and regeneration at the same time.11 13. adaptationaging airport
architecture barrierbloccivil-engineering climate coast
communicationcommunitydepthmapdesigndevelopment disaster
diversityformfragmentation gardengentrification glassglobhousing
identityindustryinformal infrastructure intemapping
marketmasterplanmetropolis migrationmixenetwork nodenomadic
olympicpark parpoliticspost-warpoverty
problemprogrampubrecreationregenerationregionrenewalresearch
restsport sprawlsquarestakeholderstationstratheorythird-world
transforma- transportTU typotionvinex virtual vitalitywaste-land
waterwind 14. ck businesscampuscemetery centrechild
compactcomplexity connectionculturedelta density economy
energyenvironment exclusionflexibility forestbalization harbour
heat-island helofytenfilterheritagehistoryegration
interventionknowledge landscapeleisure liveabilityed-use
mobilitymorphologymovement multimodalneighbour-hoodrticipationpatio
pedestrianplaceplanningpolderblic
public-spacepublic-transportqualityrailrandstadtructure
revitalizationrural
segregationsocialspaceategystreetsuburbansustainabletemporality
territoryologyuniversityurban-designurbanism urbanizationvillage
This datavisual shows the most used keywords from master theses,
books, dissertations and articles which are digitally published in
thedrepository by the Urbanism department of the TU Delft. A total
of 206 entries of the last five years are used. 15. Design as
PoliticsInterview with Wouter VanstiphoutIn this recurring segment,
we zoom in on one of the in formulating a description of society in
which certainchairs within the department of Urbanism in Delft, to
get interests are consciously given higher values than others,a
more detailed overview of the background, the current and the
skilled use of a toolset to physically enforce thisstatus, and the
future plans of the chairs, with particular descriptive
approach.focus on the views on education and current events. The
chair of Design & Politics does not consider design For this
edition we approached the relatively new chair and politics to be
two separated worlds, but rather con-of Design as Politics, led by
Prof. Dr. Wouter Vanstiphout. siders politics to be an important
dimension of designIn this interview he explains the role of the
chair withinand, simultaneously, design an equally important tool
forthe Faculty of Architecture, and within the current politi-
political action. An alternative name for the chair couldcal
climate. Furthermore he gives his views on education, thus be
Design as Politics. This means that the toolsetthe chairs work for
the IABR (International Architec-of the designer will be renewed by
looking at the realmture Biennale Rotterdam) and a must read list
of booksof politics, while the spatial perspective of
developmentsthat are related to his work approach.in society will
be considered to enrich the existing set ofpolitical instruments.
The chair is explicitly looking forAbout the chair alternatives for
classical top-down planning methods andInitiated by the ministry of
Housing, Spatial Planning andcontrol mechanisms, through which
governments havethe Environment (Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke
Orden- manifested themselves in the 20th century.1ing en Milieu) of
the Netherlands and housed within thefaculty of architecture at the
Delft University of Tech-Background of the Chairnology, the chair
of Design as Politics will be exploring,There is a longer running
project called Design and Poli-researching and defining the
boundaries, commonalitiestics which is run by the Department of
Planning at whatand tensions between the fields of politics and
design. used to be the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and
The chair understands politics in the widest sense pos- the
Environment. This project resulted in a number ofsible: it defines
it as that level in society on which con- books, four by now, and
in the creation of a chair at theflicting interests of groups of
people become visible and Technical University of Delft.are being
solved, oftentimes through debate and nego- The idea behind the
whole program and the chair is totiation, but possibly by exerting
power or using physical bridge the gap between planning,
architecture and poli-violence. The political consequently implies
succeeding tics. This means that designers should know more
aboutDrawing by Yu Zhang, In the Ghetto studio14 16. politics and
should involve the political process and agendas more into
theirWouter Vanstiphout graduated in 1991work. The other way
around, which was maybe more specifically aimed at,in Art and
Architectural History and Ar-there could be a revival within the
political world of the interest in planning andchaeology at the
University of Groningen.architecture as real tools to get what they
want.He is currently a member of the research When I started with
the chair, one of the very first things that we did wascollective
Crimson Architectural Histo-to change the title from Design and
Politics into Design as Politics, because Irians, which he founded
in 1994 togetherwanted to avoid the idea that you would see design
and politics as two sepa- with Michelle Provoost.rate entities.
What I found much more important to stress is the fact that design
Crimson Architectural Historians car-beyond a certain scale, beyond
the interior, is always political by definition. Theries out
historical research, creates cultural-other way around politics has
nearly always had a spatial dimension to it. Thishistorical value
assessments and developsis because its about a lot of things
happening at the same time in a limited space, visions on the
organisation of exhibitions.forcing people to make choices. If
everything would happen with no spatial orThe collective also
focuses on issues relat-temporal relation to each other no one
would have to make choices. But it is ing to regional development
and deliversbecause of the fact that things influence each other
that you have to. keen observations and interpretations of current
design and planning issues. Van-Therefore politics is always
spatial and planning and architecture is always stiphout also give
lectures and fulfils guestpolitical, because youre always spending
other peoples money and yourelectureships at various educational
insti-always doing something that has an effect on people that you
do not know.tutes at home and abroad, and is ProfessorIf you make
that effect happen you better have a good explanation for it, so
itof Architectural and Urban Design at thehas to be legitimate in
some way. You can either enforce that legitimacy or thereTechnische
Universitt Berlin.is a real legitimacy, but its always an issue.
For me these things are more fun- For the Akademie der Bildende
Kn-damental than the instrumental definition, which is that
architects need politi- ste in Vienna, he developed the new
his-cians, and politicians can use architects. But without those
instrumental aspectstory and theory of architecture curriculum,the
chair would have never been launched. which focuses on the social
embedding of architecture and urban development. AsCurrent and
future projectsProfessor of Politics and Design, he willThe first
year we were up and running mostly based on a autonomous
defini-again focus on this social embedding oftion of the chair, we
needed that to create our own identity that students could
architecture and urban development, buthook up to, or stay far away
from. This is why we did the In the Ghetto gradua-with the emphasis
on the political-admin-tion studio and the Blame the Architect
lecture series on the relationship between istrational aspect.
(bk.tudelft.nl)riots and planning. These courses do not have a
direct instrumental relation-ship with any of the agendas of the
ministry, for instance segregation or problem1)
designaspolitics.wordpress.com/about/areas. Of course these things
are hugely important to the ministry and to localpoliticians, but
this was a very autonomous content-based way to deal with it. This
year the Biennale has become our main focus, in which we deal with
15 17. things in a very instrumental way. Apart from the
collaboration with theBiennale organisation, partly run by the
ministry, we are also working directlywith people from the ministry
on projects that are instrumentally important tothem. These are for
instance the new infrastructure through the green heart,planning
the edges of the green heart, dealing with vacancy in office
buildingsin central cities, the role of finance, etc. This year we
hope to be useful in themost direct possible way.One of these
instrumental projects the chair will be working on is a study for
theA3 highway through the Green Heart.The highway is a direct
result of the new government, and the only reason itson the agenda
is because of the PVV, the freedom party. What we found
inter-esting is that a highway which has been out of the question
since the late 60s,early 70s is now on the agenda again. Its a
combination of everything for high-ways, and everything for cars, a
populist right wing obsession. The other thingis resentment against
environmental protection, against an open green heart assome sort
of fetish of environmental protectionism. So the party wants a
high-way through it in a straight line from Amsterdam to Rotterdam.
We will start agraduation studio on it coming September.Rotterdam
Biennale 2012The chair is also working on the TU Delft contribution
of next years Biennalein Rotterdam. Themed Making City, it explores
the relation between planning,design, and politics.The whole point
of the Biennale is to study similar projects in entirely dif-ferent
contexts, in order to learn about them, and to expand the range
ofpossibilities that we can see for these projects. One example, we
are goingto study a new highway around Sao Paulo and a new highway
through thegreen heart. We will study them in parallel and propose
solutions in parallel.Sao Paulo was given as one of the locations
for the Biennale, we created theequivalent in the Netherlands and
as a saviour Geert Wilders came and pro-posed this new A3 highway.
The interesting idea is that whereas in Sao Paulo you would say
everythingis different than in the Netherlands, it is often the
conservative liberal rightwing agenda or institution that push
large scale infrastructure to deal withthe city. The left wing
progressive institutions push for more planning, moreenvironmental
protection, and more social housing. You see the same role andthe
same interaction, or no interaction between infrastructure,
planning anddesigning in a place like Brazil as in the Netherlands.
The problem is thatwith a more progressive definition of planning,
highways always land on theground as UFOs. Nobody has anything to
do with their design except engi-neers, and then it is up to
planners and landscape architects to mitigate. This isalso
happening in Sao Paulo.If a highway like this is coming anyway
lets, instead of being passively againstit, completely embrace it
and see what happens if we would be able to designit. Can we design
a highway that is the biggest, most brutal insult to decades
ofDutch planning and nearly a direct molestation of the green
heart, and is there away to deal with it? One of the things I am
interested in is this head-on confron-tation with something that
comes from another part of the spectrum. Another thing of course,
is that politics is the art of the compromise, not just16 18. One
of the things I am interested in is this head-onconfrontation with
something that comes from another part ofthe spectrum.in the
Netherlands but everywhere. Bismarck once saidthat politics is like
sausage; you do not want to know howChanging planning cultureit is
made. It is always a dirty compromising business in With the
formation of the new government, the plan-which two parties try to
keep hold of their side of the ide-ning culture has also changed,
with most projects noology for as long as possible. So in that
sense the designlonger being on a national level, but on a
provincial andstudio should not just be about designing exactly the
thing municipal level, which will have an effect on planningthat
you want, in the sense of purifying everything that is culture in
the Netherlands.bad. Rather, it should be about a confrontation. Of
course There are different ways of speculating about this.there are
loads of architects in Delft who love highways, The realistic,
slightly fatalistic view about it is that noth-so, that will be the
big problem.ing will change, because this is the Netherlands,
wherenothing ever changes. There will be ways in which theWith the
new government in place, the ministry of infra-system and its
institutions absorb any change that isstructure and the ministry of
spatial planning have beenforged on them from above into a kind of
stasis. But letsmerged into one.not go on that road. In that sense
it is a very instrumental studio, its a direct Another way of
speculating is that it will create a sit-translation of the new
challenges for this ministry into auation of action is reaction.
The government has saidgraduation studio. The infrastructure people
and planning there are certain things that will be planned and
exe-people didnt even speak to each other for the last 40 years,
cuted nationally. They will plan things like infrastruc-they didnt
know each other. And now they are forced into ture, power plants or
airports, and locally, provinces andone building, literally, to do
projects together. Now theymunicipalities will have to mitigate
that and embed ithave also been forced to study this highway
proposal, and into the area. Within these provinces and
municipalitiesthey dont know what to do with it. So everyone is
push-there is less and less money and professionalism, and lessing
it around, and in the end we said: we will study it. money for
professionalism, so they are getting an extratask, but they are not
getting the extra means. This willcreate a situation in which
officially these provinces haveto embed, mitigate, absorb, and plan
whatever comes atthem. The Ministry now says they do not want to do
allthat planning and all those details, but I think in the endit
will come back like a boomerang. It will mean, I hopethat once they
start laying out highways they will have totake in account all
these contextual things, and they willhave to start designing
anyway. At least then they will notbe designing on the abstract
planning scale that they havebeen used to for the last fifty years,
because they will haveto design much more in context. So I think
design willmake its comeback within national institutions in a
cer-tain way.Im not even so negative about what is happening
rightnow on that level, because I think that the whole tradi-tion
of spatial planning in the Netherlands, with hugebills for spatial
planning for the entire country, and a veryabstract, extremely
bureaucratic, map based way of plan-ning, was already completely
bankrupt for fifteen yearsanyway. Therefore this more realistic
action is reaction 17 19. based practice has a lot of potential.
even deal with the whole idea of architecture being about One other
thing to speculate on is a more extreme sce-professionalism,
because then I would have no place innario. If you think through
the idea of letting provincesteaching it at the school in the first
place.make their own planning policies on a more fundamental One of
the ways to deal with politics right now is tolevel, in which it
would be regionalised on a deep legal make young architects and
planners understand thatlevel, then it would be interesting. It
would be more like the business that they are in is deeply
political. It is notAmerica, where the planning is up to the states
and onejust internally political, like the politics of getting a
job,state has no planning at all, nothing, and another state or
getting a commission, but it is undistinguishable fromplans
everything.politics in general, it is politics in its most concrete
form. In places like the Randstad, because of their tradition, I am
not from the school that says you can have righttheir density,
their history and their culture, planning iswing architecture or
left wing architecture as a result,still very dominant. Everybody
accepts that their neigh- but I think architecture is political
during the wholebour cannot just do anything he wants in his
backyardprocess. Where do you get the money? Where do youbecause
planning has a big acceptance here. In places like get your
legitimacy? Which parts of the program do youBrabant there is a
more Belgian culture of do-it-yourself, implicitly or explicitly
see as more important than otherit is much more autonomous and
anti-planning. There is parts of the program? In that sense, for
each buildingmore illegal stuff going on, and much more
informality.that is bigger than the interior, these questions are
beingSo you could even speculate on every region of the Neth-
answered every day, even if they are never being posed.erlands
having a completely, really utterly different idea That is, I think
the school of thought about the relation-of planning. I find that
interesting because on the Euro-ship between architecture and
politics that I would some-pean scale, you notice that these things
are much more how like to describe and get across.regionally and
culturally bound, rather than by national-ity or within national
borders. It would mean that someSomething that I find increasingly
interesting in Delft isregions make a structural plan while others
make a realthe fact that more than 50 per cent of the master
studentsmaster plan, and a third group does nothing at all. That
isin Delft are, as the Dutch would say niet westerse
alloch-something that could be interesting.toon, meaning they come
from outside of Europe. Delft is always worrying about having an
international repu-Education and politics tation, but I think that
it should be turned around. ThePolitics does not play a big role in
education at the Facultyinternationalism within Delft is something
that shouldof Architecture at the TU Delft, but perhaps it should
be used in a much more concrete and direct, and morebecome a more
integral part of education.expressive way than it is now. Having
come from teaching I think there are three dominant schools in
Delft. in Vienna and Berlin, especially Vienna is the most
terri-Theres one that is all about a quality, professionalism,fying
provincial city in the world. The most exotic peoplecraftsmanship,
and it is mostly apolitical. Then theres you could find there are
Czechs, who live 60 km away.the school of for instance the Why
Factory, which is In Delft its the other way round and it creates
an enor-about architects and politics being wound up, or joining
mous opportunity to study other situations and otheron a kind of
visionary ray. Its about building the future cities in depth, and
to do that in a kind of no-budget orand visionary thinking, so it
is political, but also apoliti-low-budget way. We can do amazing
things by usingcal, because it doesnt talk about it exactly. In
that vision- the master student body in a much more pragmatic
andary sense of architecture, politics plays an important
roleprofessional way, by having them work much more withbecause
politics is power, and you need power to makethe knowledge and the
networks of the students them-this architecture. Then there is the
third school, which selves, which I think you can expect from a
student inis the activists school. Its wound up with this
anti-glo-the master phase.balist, left wing, bottom up, outside of
the system alter- Our instrumental studies for the Randstad are
nownative or independent position.embedded in a very wide research
in which we study All of them more or less avoid the issue and go
around cities all over the world and we try to understand
thempolitics, and I think that is the niche where our chairon an
equal basis. In all these cities we try to understandcomes into,
because we try to deal with politics in a politi-the relationship
between the political situation, econom-cal way. We do not try to
keep our hands clean by just ics, the size of the city, the
fairness of the city, the way thestaying in an activist enclave. We
are not obsessed with city is built, the way it is designed,
planned, by whom thepower as a tool to make visions because I am
really notchoices are being made, and we try to understand cities
asinterested in visions, and of course as a historian I cannot
political entities. There are cities that are extremely politi-18
20. cal, that are on the political headlines too; cities like
Teheran, Cairo or AmericanSelected readingscities like Detroit. In
a ridiculously easy way we are able to find people who areA book
that I really like is Seeing like afrom there, and are doing their
PhD on those cities, have lived there forever and State by James
Scott. Its a book by a socialknow everybody there. This is
something I am trying to mobilize, much morescientist who writes
about how big plansstrongly now. that were made with the best
intentions toreform entire countries have resulted inViews on
regeneration terrible failures. Its an interesting book,The funny
thing with regeneration is that it assumes the death, or at
leastnot that you have to completely agreethe near death of an
area, and that is rarely the case. So one of the first ques- with
the author, but to see how the outsidetions you could ask is: what
are motives behind it? The motives are of course world looks at the
visionary planning thatintimately connected to the parties
involved. Its often very predictable which architects love so
much.motives a party has. For example, when we (Crimson
Architectural Historians) worked inHoogvliet, we actually came in
because of a huge regeneration project thatwas being started by
three parties; two housing corporations and the localmunicipality.
They had a very simple motive, which was to destroy two fifthsof
the housing stock, thereby creating a new housing stock that would
bringin more money and that would exclude the most difficult
inhabitants, eitherbecause they were too poor, too criminal, or too
ethnic. We rode in piggybackon that agenda, and then once we were
in we jumped off, and we created ourown regeneration agenda. Their
agenda was in a way generic, it said thereis some sort of spread
sheet of quantitative criteria to check the housing areaon, and
when it didnt respond, it didnt comply. So they started changing
thehousing area until it did comply with the spread sheet. That is,
you could saythe modernist way of doing regeneration. We tried to
do it the other way around, and I hesitate to use the term
bottomup, because we were both top down and bottom up. We tried to
do it from anunderstanding of this specific place, but then as a
whole, instead of the mostAnother book that I found a
breathlessinstitutionalised way of looking at a very limited number
of elements or crite- experience to read is Bombay Maximumria; like
the size of the housing, the price of the housing, or the ethnic
make-City by Suketu Mehta. Hes an Indianup. This is very housing
based approach, which is logical because these days thejournalist
from Mumbai, and he writesentire initiative for regeneration lies
in the hands of the housing corporations, about daily life in the
city. Its an incred-and no longer in the hands of the planners, or
the city. The city planners wouldibly busy book, like the city, in
which heby definition have a more integral view.describes for
instance the way in which theIndian mafia or the Bollywood
industryThese corporations look at a very limited number of
elements, but they look atworks. Basically he writes about the
lifethese elements in a universal way. In a way you could say they
are more limited in the city, the climate, and the impos-and
smaller than what we do. We look at the entire community,
everything, and sible density in this city. In a sense it isnot
just everything now, but also everything in the past and everything
in thecomparable to the TV-series the Wire,future. So in a way we
are much more megalomaniac and more modernist than because it peals
open a part of the city as anthese corporations. We try to wring a
narrative out of that, and use that narra-interlocking system;
school system, drugstive as the legitimisation of the interventions
that we propose.system, the port system, the police system, Its
like the whole modernist project has split in two directions, in
which weetc., but it does this from an extremelywould look at
everything, but then just for one place, and they would look at a
subjective and personal point of view.small selection, but then for
all cities. I think our way is the best way, to look atthe whole
thing as one unique thing. (JW)Lastly, my personal biggest hero as
an ar-chitectural historian is Reyner Banhman.A personal favourite
is his book on LosAngeles; Los Angeles; The Architecture ofFour
Ecologies, a book from 1971.19 21. Blame the ArchitectRiots in Riga
Viktorija PrilenskaThis project is a follow up on the BlameLe
Corbusier called houses machines for living. Frances housing
projects, asthe Architect lecture series given by Wout- we now
know, became machines for alienation.er Vanstiphout at the Faculty
of Architec-Christopher Caldwell, New York Times, November 25,
2005ture, TU Delft on the relation betweenlarge scale housing
projects and riots. ThisAs a hot spot for Blame the Architect
research by design I have chosen the citystudy explores the
possibilities for riots to of Riga (Latvia). In this view, Riga
does not have components for an urban riot,occur in other,
imaginative situations, insince there are no compact areas where
people of certain ethnicity or incomethis case the city of Riga.
live. Besides that protests and strikes are usually well-organized
and go off withno incidents. The only time when a peaceful
demonstration resulted into anThis visual essay by Viktorija
Prilenska, outbreak of violence followed by looting and hooliganism
happened on 13 Janu-gives the background to these riots, the ac-ary
2009 during the hardest phase of the financial crisis. Back then
the policetual riots, and the results of the riots from troops
suppressed the riot in several hours, property damage was
negligible anddifferent angles, including different forms there
were no casualties. However, if there had been a strong political
party orof media. The full poster presentation cantrade union
behind the riot, the march might have had severe consequences.
As,be found at polistudelft.nl/atlantis/archive/ for instance, in
1991 during the collapse of the Soviet Union when the peopleerected
barricades all over the old town and blocked major governmental
andmedia centers protecting the legal government from the
militaries. (figure 1)In my doom scenario for the city of Riga the
riot begins as a protest againstthe state policy. Demonstrators
demand from the president that he dissolvethe parliament and sets a
date for the new elections and introduces a fair andtransparent
governance (figure 2). However, the dominant coalition does
notreact to these demands and the people lay a siege to the
building of parliament.Further on the events develop rapidly, the
city core with all the governmentalinstitutions, the entrances to
the city and the bridges are blocked by improvisedbarricades and
heavy machinery (figure 3). The president and the
ministersintroduce the state of emergency and give an order to the
army to put down theuprising. (figure 4, 5, 6) During the clashes
between the military and the rebelsthe first casualties occur and
the army splits up. Anarchy spreads all around thecountry, mass
disorders are stopped by foreign peacekeepers who intervene inthe
country. A new president and parliament are erected. Latvia turns
from theparliamentary republic into a presidential.TV and radio
provide a full live coverage of the riot. There are mass
discussionson internet forums, blogs and social networks. (figure
7, 8) Although media doesnot give any appraisal of the events or
involved parties, the rioters are supportedby the people and thus
depicted as national heroes. Afterwards some independ-However, the
described riot is a fiction and ent journalists reveal some
unwanted truths about the riots, but the informationcannot be used
as a case study. In my opin- does not spread out into masses.ion,
urban conditions have little influence The new coalition launches
big infrastructure projects, such as bridges andon urban violence,
it is the modern society,roads, in order to prevent the city from
being blocked in case of a new riot. Thethe gaming, movie and music
industry that governmental buildings are secretly connected via a
network of undergroundcelebrate violence and encourage youth to
escape tunnels. Despite of an economic recession architects, urban
planners andcommit crimes. developers receive big governmental
commissions.20 22. Figure 1. Blocking goverment centers in Riga,
1991 Figure 2. Demonstrators hit the streetsFigure 3. Improvised
Barricades blocking goverment buildings Figure 4. Results of the
riotsFigure 5. Results of the riots Figure 6. Results of the
riotsFigure 7. Online video coverage of the riots Figure 8. TV News
coverage on the riots 21 23. MSc 1 UrbanismQ1 - Analysis and Design
of City Fall 2010Figure 1. Plan drawing of the new city
centerZwolle in the WetlandsA. Skachokova, R. van Dijk,
W.VilleriusAlthough Zwolle is located in a delta this is not
tangiblein the city. Our masterplan consists of four
interconnectedprojects aiming to reconnect Zwolle with its
waterscapes.A new promenade will connect the center with the
canalsand its surrounding areas. A new residential area
inte-grating water storage and housing and the reopening ofthe
Willemsvaart will make new connections betweenZwolle and its
surrounding rivers. To deal with futurewater level rise we proposed
a `bypass` combined with acity extension. We used the designs made
for the existingcity as a toolbox (Figure 2).Detail - City
RingFigure 2. Masterplan for ZwolleR. van DijkThe borders
surrounding the city center will be designedas a promenade. The
promenade defines the character ofthe connection between the city
center and the area sur-rounding the city center. It also connects
the surroundingareas with each other. The northern part of the
prome-nade will be defined as a quay area, the southern part asa
singel area. New program will function as a steppingstone to the
surrounding areas. The north mixed-use areawill be a wharf area,
connected to the quay typology. Thenew residential area in the
south east will be an avenuearea, connected to the singel typology
(Figure 1, 3).Figure 3. Plans for the city center22 24. Figure 4.
Public spaces behind residential buildings Apeldoorn Day Trip City
E. Machedon, J. Berg, T. Galesloot, A. Stobbe Apeldoorn is a Dutch
mid-size city located on the east- ern borders of the Veluwe. The
city faces the danger of shrinking partly because of its young
inhabitants emigra- tion. Our main aim is to ensure the population
continu- ity, on a regional scale by better positioning Apeldoorn
in its city network and on a city scale by improvingt hous- ing
supplies and amenities for young people. We defined the citys
profile as a Day Trip City thanks to its existing recreational
features which should be further on strength- ened and better
connected in order to increase the citys attractiveness (Figure 5).
The detailed projects focus on a new city window along the rail
tracks, a new residential area for starters and two public space
interventions. Detail - Backgarden E. MachedonFigure 5. Masterplan
for Apeldoorn The main goal for Apeldoorns city centre is
structuring a higher quality public space. This will not only serve
the citys day trip visitors which have little time to explore along
their way but also the citys inhabitants which need a wider set of
activities for spending their free time. The distinct quality of
this detail project is its use of public spaces situated behind
collective residential buildings, now used under their potential as
parking lots (Figure 4, 6). The projects ambition is to integrate
these spaces in the citys public space network by using soft urban
design interventions. This green pedestrian path will connect
theFigure 6. View on the public spaces from the street. train
station to the city hall plaza.23 25. MSc 1 UrbanismQ2 -
Socio-spatial processes in urban societiesBoulevard as a
windowLiang WeiNijmegen is facing a challenge. A plan has been made
toconnect the two parts of the city segregated by De WaalRiver by
means of a city ring with an extra bridge. Thisprovides opportunity
for the development of Citadel andLent. This new city ring will
integrate the urban contextand become an interesting route with a
diversity of urbanactivities (Figure 1). The River Park with the
boulevardis a strategic spot within this city ring (Figure 2).
Insteadof being an edge of the city, the River Park will becomean
important place where people meet as a recreation areainside of the
city. Eventually, River Park will be incor-porated in the mental
map of Nijmegen citizens andbecomes a booming place. The boulevard
is the centre of the River Park is facing Figure 1. Diversity along
the ring roadNijmegens historical window, namely the waterfront
ofthe old city centre. The goal of this project is
triggeringdevelopment at the boulevard in order it be the best
spotwhere people could see the beautiful panorama of oldcentre of
Nijmegen and the Waal (Figure 5, 6). Mean-while, the opposite view
to this Boulevard could be attrac-tive as well. A variety of space,
interesting program, andcollective activities represent spatial,
social quality of thisplace to become a new window for Nijmegen.
Therefore two strategies are applied. The first strategyis adding
new programs of recreation and events. Thiscould be the
Wandelvierdaagse as an international eventto catalyze activities on
the boulevard. The second strat-egy is making the area well
accessible. At present mostcity activity happens in the old centre
of Nijmegen. Whenthe Citadel plan is executed there will be a lot
of socialmovement between the old centre and the new Citadel Figure
2. Orientation of the River Parkcentre. In this way, the Boulevard
could be a hub for theflow between the two centres and one of to
the island aswell. (Figure 3, 4). In the end the Boulevard will
become adestination from both sides of Nijmegens river.Figure 3.
Section towards the water front24 26. Figure 4. Model of the River
Park developementsFigure 5. View on the new boulevard along the
water front See more projects? Go to http://polistudelft.nl/
atlantis/archive/Figure 6. View towards the bridge and old centre
of Nijmegen 25 27. Urban Renewal in Beijing:Its Transition and
Existing ChallengeHui Xiao-xi, SebastianAs with many other cities,
urban renewal is a critical question in the urbanIr. MSc. HUI
Xiao-xi, Sebastiandevelopment of Beijing. The idea of large-scale
urban reconstruction can be Director, Beijing Institute of
Sustainabletraced back to the dream of modernization in the 1950s,
but the pro-growthHousing and Urban Renewal (BiSHUR),engine within
market-oriented economic reform has also accelerated its reali-
Beijing University of Technologyzation. While urban reconstruction
has significantly changed the cityscapeand promoted urban
development, it has also resulted in the destruction ofthe citys
historical urban morphology and led to an increase in social
conflicts.Since 2004, many urban renewal projects have started to
come to a standstill.Although some new strategies of urban renewal
were developed in recent years,the urban renewal of Beijing is
facing a dilemma. In this short essay, I wouldlike to briefly
review the transition of urban renewal in Beijing and reveal
thechallenges it faces at present.The history of urban renewal in
Beijing 1) Under the planned socialistic system,In Beijing, urban
renewal was first proposed under the ambition to fundamen-the
housing provision was thought a basictally reconstruct the old city
in the 1950s. But under the planned economic system, welfare for
Chinese urban residents andin which either urban development or
housing construction is highly dependent the responsibility of the
government.on public investment, large-scale urban renewal was
never really implementedThe socialistic public housing was
largelydue to a lack of funding. From the 1950s to the 1980s, urban
renewal only con-developed in Beijing and other Chinesesisted of a
few reconstruction projects for the development of public buildings
orcities. But till the 1990s, many public hous-infrastructure, with
housing renewal considered a non-priority for the govern-ing areas
that were developed in the 1950sment. Until the middle of the
1980s, many of the older housing areas had dete-immediately after
the Peoples Republicriorated considerably, and thus urban renewal
became a key issue in the plan of was founded also started to be
aged andurban development.outdated. After the success of several
pilot projects in the late 1980s, the municipal gov-ernment decided
to launch the large-scale urban renewal of decrepit and oldhousing
areas at the beginning of the 1990s. Many historical Hutong areas
inthe old city, as well as the earlier developed socialistic public
housing areas,were earmarked for demolition and reconstruction (see
figure 1). In the transi-tion from the planned economy to the
market economy it has been proposedto combine large-scale urban
reconstruction with real estate development inorder to solve the
funding problem of urban renewal. Several years later, theradical
housing reform in 1998 fundamentally changed the urban housing
pro-vision system and the approach of urban renewal. After 1998,
the era of socialis-tic public housing finally ended, with the
majority of public housing becomingprivatized, and the task of
solving the housing problem in the city was com-missioned to the
market. In Beijing, the policy of Urban Renewal by Hous-ing Reform,
which intends to promote urban reconstruction through
housingprivatization and monetized rehousing, further boosted the
market-orientedurban reconstruction. However, the urban
reconstruction combined with for- Figure 1) The presently most
popular ap-profit real estate investment caused an inevitable
series of new urban problems: proach of urban renewal in
Beijing:many historical neighborhoods were demolished completely
and with this cameWholesale demolition and reconstruction26 28. 2)
According to the policy of Urbanthe displacement of local
residents, as many could not afford the newly con-Renewal by
Housing Reform, the publicstructed dwellings.housing tenants in the
urban renewal Along with the increasingly potent argument for
private property, the con-areas are asked to buy the subsidized
stitutional amendment in 2004 and the promulgation of Property Law
in 2007resettlement dwellings. The rehousing inlegally confirmed
the protection of private property for the first time in the
his-the urban reconstruction is defined as atory of the Peoples
Republic. As a result of the legalization of private
property,marketized and monetized process. housing speculation and
the conflict between different actors and social groupsThe original
tenants are impelled toincreased. During the same period,
historical conservation was emphasized forbecome the homeowners.the
first time. After 2004, disagreements with residents and
difficulties in bal-ancing investments led to the suspension of a
large number of urban renewalprojects.The latest attemptsWith the
current dilemma of urban renewal in Beijing, new solutions need
tobe explored. As of 2007, social housing development has been
re-emphasized inChina. Among the new social housing policies, the
renewal of old housing areasis listed as an important theme by the
government. In Beijing, some new strate-gies for urban renewal have
been tested. These latest attempts include:The rehabilitation of
historical Hutong areasIn the historical conservation areas of the
old city, the municipal government ofBeijing has finally abandoned
the ambition for wholesale reconstruction. Thesmall-scale and
gradual rehabilitation of historical Hutong areas was initiatedin
2008 with the aims of Renovation, Improvement and Evacuation. The
newapproach combines housing renovation and reconstruction and is
planned toimprove living conditions (see figure 2). In order to
decrease the residential den-sity of these populous areas, the
government has provided attractive rehousingconditions to encourage
the relocation of residents. At the same time, the pri-vate
purchase and restoration of courtyard houses are promoted.Pinggaipo
project - a renovation program in the former public housing
areasFor the later developed former public housing areas4, which
are absent from the reconstruction plan, the government supports
urban renovation. TheseFigure 2) The housing renovationrenovation
projects are mostly identified by the replacement of flat roofs
within a historical Hutong area pitched roofs (for the purpose of
aesthetics and improved insulation) and areoften referred to as
Pinggaipo (flat to pitched) projects. In Beijing, Ping-gaipo
projects were largely initiated after 2007 and often publicly
funded. Aswell as roof replacements, these projects would also
usually consist of repaintedfacades, the repair or replacement of
building components, landscaping andimproved communal facilities
(see figure 3).The new rehousing strategy for urban
reconstructionThe latest proposal for urban reconstruction focuses
on the modification of Bei-3) If a household involved the
rehabilita-jings rehousing strategy. In 2009, a new municipal
decree on rehousing wastion chooses to relocate in
resettlementannounced with two creative emphases: the
prioritization of eligible householdshousing out of the old city,
the replaced to apply for newly developed social housing, and
compensation for housinghousing area will be equivalent to at
expropriation in accordance with market price. Some pilot projects
for theleast 1.75 (for public housing) 1.85 (for reconstruction of
decrepit housing areas have been launched according to these
private house) times of its original hous-new strategies. In
January 2011, new national legislation was introduced thating floor
area. demands all property expropriations to be sentenced in court,
thus reducing thegovernments influence.27 29. 4) Since most of
socialistic public housinghas been privatized via the radical
hous-ing reform, those housing areas have to benamed as former
socialistic public housingareas.Figure 3) The implementation of
aPinggaipo projectPublic participation in urban renewalThe current
renewal strategy has also caused an increaseof the market-oriented
rehousing in whatever the recon-in public participation as well as
a more transparent deci- struction or rehabilitation will not avoid
the displacementsion-making process. Residents are beginning to
haveof low-income residents but induce socio-spatial segre-more
opportunities to influence decision-making. Nego-gation. In
general, the urban renewal of Beijing is stilltiations for
rehousing have changed from black-boxbound to the capitalized and
speculative housing stockdiscussions to public announcements. At
the same time,and therefore cannot get away from conflicts of
interest.residents now have more input into the design
process.Public participation is now an integral part of the urban
The existing challengerenewal process.The dilemma of urban renewal
in Beijing is not just an Although the new urban renewal strategy
in Beijing issue of urban planning but of society as a whole.
Differ-is a welcome improvement, it has not overcome many of ent
from western civilized society, traditional Chinesethe existing
issues, and, to a certain degree, has broughtsociety was identified
by its centralized, hierarchicalnew problems. The Pingaipo projects
in many cases structure, of which the collective comes before the
indi-have only beautified the urban environment rather thanvidual.
The centrally controlled, planned socialism in afundamentally
improved living conditions. Furthermore,sense inherited this
top-down tradition, which in manypublic participation is often
manipulated for private ben-aspects still influences the present
social, economic andefit. In an urban housing stock where the
property owner- political mechanisms of China. But through the
transi-ship is the priority over the housing right, the emphasis
tion from the planned economic system to the socialisticmarket
economic system, China has been involved inthe process of
globalization, and thus is undergoing theThe Pingaipo projects
radical social diversification, stratification and polariza-tion
that comes parcel with it. In this modernizationin many cases have
only (which to a certain extent means westernization) process,the
traditionally top-down mode of public interventionbeautified the
urbaninevitably has to change in order to adapt to an increas-ingly
diversified urban society. However, the misunder-environment rather
than standing and superstition of the term free market,which is
visible in the over-privatization and capitali-fundamentally
improvedzation of housing stock, did not contribute to a balancebut
rather intensified social polarization and conflict.living
conditions.Without the tradition of bottom-up collectivism, the28
30. The capitalized private interests in urban renewal have
beenunprecedentedly exaggerated.rising, sometimes unlimited sense
of individualism is challenging traditionalnations of authority,
but is increasingly manipulated by capital. The distinc-tion
between the public and the private, as well as the collective and
the indi-vidual, has been further blurred. In this transitional
society, there are not onlysocial, economic and political
considerations but also ethical and moral ones.In comparison with
western modern society, which can be summarized to beestablished
under a hybrid ethos, the contemporary Chinese society is
identi-fied by the hybrid of ethos.The dilemma of urban renewal
precisely presents this hybrid situation. On theone hand, there are
individualized, diversified, but to a certain extent
social-oriented requests; and on the other hand, it is the dominant
approach of top-down, unitary, and often market-driven urban
reconstruction. The conflict ofinterest is thus inevitable. In
particular since the housing privatization and mar-ketization,
urban renewal has become a means to accelerate GDP growth, andthe
capital and the political power increasingly tie up. The so-called
residentsshould not be regarded as one group who are only fighting
for their housingright, but have differentiated into different
interest groups the occupiedhomeowners, the non-occupied landlords
and the new tenants of private-rentedhousing, the latter of which
are still largely neglected in the existing mecha-nism of urban
renewal. The capitalized private interests in urban renewal
havebeen unprecedentedly exaggerated, whatever in the form of
profit-hungry realestate investment or individual housing
speculation. But preceding the seriousconflicts between private
interests, the public interests of urban renewal, suchas social
integration, economic sustainability, historical conservation,
environ-mental effect, and, most importantly, the housing rights of
people, are ironi-cally ignored. The originally proposed, social
objective of urban renewal, whichmeans to solve the urban housing
problem and to improve the integrated urbandevelopment, has been
distorted and alienated. Therefore, the most criticalchallenge for
the urban renewal in Beijing is to answer a key question: Howto
balance the differentiated and conflicting interests on the one
hand, and torecover the social objective of urban renewal on the
other? In order to answerthis question, the alternative urban
renewal strategies instead of the unitaryapproach of
market-oriented reconstruction, such as social housing
interven-tion, socio-economic revitalization, social and
programmatic mixture, commu-nity participation, as well as physical
renovation/rehabilitation, are still awaitingto be explored.29 31.
Vertical Villagethe why factoryUrban villages are a common typology
in many Asian cities. The densequarters VerticalVillage project by
The Whyin Shenzhen, the hutongs in Beijing or the kampungs in
Jakarta all are part of Factory i.s.m. MVRDVthis urban phenomenon.
Where Asian cities grow and become more dense, theWiny Maas,
Hui-Hsin Liao, Ulf Hackaufurban villages are under pressure. They
are being demolished at an increasingpace. To replace them, large
fields of repetitive, monotonous blocks are being Workshop
VillageMaker by The Why Fac-built. The new blocks may answer the
need of comfortable apartment space, buttory, TU Delft, Berlage
Institutethey lack the social coherence, spatial diversity and
flexibility that the complexurban villages can provide.Tutors: Winy
Maas, Daliana Suryawinata, Ulf Hackauf, Jeroen Zuidgeest,The
VerticalVillage project proposes an alternative. Dense urban
villages,Participants: Alfred Ho, Eduard Lepp,stacked to allow for
the necessary height, informal and flexible, individual and Zhiwei
Lu, Chao Yue, Lingxiao Zhang,evolutionary. The vertical village
allows for flexible use. It includes open publicUlrich Gradenegger,
Magnus Jrgenson,spaces, organized by tenant communities. It growths
evolutionary, reacting to theTimur Karimullin, Hyun Soo Kim,
Rie-needs of its inhabitants. Individual units can shrink or extend
over time or changemer Postma, Yushang Zhang, Juan Carlostheir
function. It combines the quality of a village with the density of
the city. Aristizabal, Maria Iglesias Martinez, The concept of the
VerticalVillage has been develop in various studios,Sangbo Park,
Giorgio Ponzo, Yuichiworkshops and individual research projects.
The outcome is currently com-Watanabe, Maarten Filius, Karel van
derbined and edited, leading to a mayor exhibition in Taipei in
August 2011.Kaaij, Gretha Kuurstra, Pei-Lin Hsieh, Chu Liu,
Neslihan Parmaksizoglu, SijmeIn the MSc program of the Why Factory,
a studio and a workshop were held van Jaarsveld, Vesna Jovanovic,
Wannesunder the topic of the VerticalVillage. Peeters, Rajiv
Sewtahal, Ji Hyun Woo, Tzu-Hua Wu, Chien-Ting Chen, BarbaraWorkshop
VillageMakerCostantino, Chun-Yu Hsu, Ivan Kur-In the workshop, the
challenge of evolutionary vertical urbanism was testedniawan
Nasution, Christy Sze, Zhouerwith a game-like set up. Six groups
worked for six days on a plot of 50 x 50 Wang, Na An, Raquel
Drummond,metres, arranging pixilated housing units in an optimized
spatial configuration. Andreas Faoro, Sebastian Haufe, SamiaThe
designs were build in physical models, scale 1/100. Each group
aimed atHenni, Taiwan Kim, Sarah Nichols,optimizing one parameter:
Access, Energy, Economy, Structure, Climate, Com-Stefano Pendini,
Eliot Rosenberg, Kubamunity. Within one day, each group planned 200
units, simulating the growthSkalimowski, Jung Hyun Wooof a village
over the course of two to three years. The next day, the models
wererotated and each group added 200 more units to the previous
design. The spa- Studio 5 Villages by The Why Factory,tial
challenges were translated into rules and guidelines, forming the
base of anTU Delftplanning software. Tutors: Winy Maas, Alexander
SverdelovStudio 5 VillagesParticipants: Alfred Ho, Eduard Lepp,In
the studio, five villages were planned on the scale 1/500. The
designs are less Riemer Postma, Yushang Zhang, Maartenabstract and
show possible real versions of vertical villages. Each design is
basedFilius, Karel van der Kaaij, Grethaon a different hypothesis,
related to lifestyle cycles, rural romanticism, multipleKuurstra,
Neslihan Parmaksizoglu, Sijmenatural environments, a collective
void or 3-dimensional diffusion. Each designvan Jaarsveld, Eliot
Rosenberg, Kubaillustrates the unpredictable results of
evolutionary vertical growth. The designs Skalimowski, , Sebastian
Haufe, Rajivpropose different growth protocols and structural
principles. The diversity of Sewtahal, Christy Sze, Timur
Karimullinthe designs lie both in the overall configuration and in
the detailed living spaces.The Why Factory, March 2011Photography
by: Frans Parthesius Netherlands30 32. 31 33. 32 34. 33 35. A
Changing Attitude towards UrbanismInterview Luuk BoelensThis
interview is about the work Luuk Boelens has doneThe problem we
have to deal with in the Dutch context iswith his office Urban
Unlimited on transformation topicsthe need of an annual realization
of 80.000 houses becauseand how this relates to current events.
Furthermore, we otherwise the whole building sector will collapse.
Thisget to know more about their innovative mapping meth- sector is
organized completely different in other Europeanods, which lie at
the basis of the offices philosophy. Com-countries. In Belgium just
as in Nordrhein-Westfalen orbined, these insights provide a basis
for the argument of a England they build up to 35.000 houses a
year.new attitude towards urbanism.This situation is due to the
historical development Urban Unlimi