2011

“It’s inspiring when we learn and work with each other.”

Right after arriving in Amsterdam and before giving a presentation at the COST TUD Exploratory Workshop on Urban Development and Mobility I get the opportunity to interview Antonio Borghi. At local level Borghi is a practicing architect in Milan, Italy. At a European level he is engaged with the Architects Council of Europe (ACE). “In the last 6 years I have been coordinating the Work Group Urban Issues of ACE, which is why I am invited at this COST TUD conference. My task within ACE is to track the developments of European urban policies and to try to promote the physical dimension, meaning the morphological and design aspect, as the creative synthesis between the complexity of a context and a building programme. Sustainable urban development includes economic, social and environmental issues but we should not forget the physical presence of urban fabrics and buildings, their cultural identity, how they affect interpersonal relationships, which are crucial to building a sustainable community.”

Accrediting the success of Bilbao’s urban regeneration to the Guggenheim Museum is misguided

“Do you expect me to be proud because somebody from Tampa knows where Bilbao is because of the Guggenheim Museum?”. She’s a proud Basque, Arantxa Rodriguez says of herself, but it also becomes apparent during her presentation at the Urbact Multilevel Urban Governance Conference in Liege, Belgium. Rodriguez tells a room full of participants about the real Guggenheim effect and how it cannot be accredited fully for the success that is Bilbao. She explains that Bilbao used to be very rich then there was a crisis and then there was the Guggenheim, according to many. Not Rodriguez. “Bilbao, beautiful and attractive! But for who?” is the name of her presentation. “What I have been arguing for the last 15 years is that urban regeneration in Bilbao is a multidimensional process involving a series of dynamics at various scales (not necessarily always strategically coordinated or integrated) that extend well beyond the simplistic reduction of “the Guggenheim effect””.

The bourgeoisie, the proletariat and the Communist as superhero’s and villains in a comic book

When you get an email about the Communist Manifesto signed with V. you are directly drawn to it. In the days following I learned more about German political scientist, Volker Eick, who is currently working on the German version of the comic book of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. “What we wanted to do is to bring this historical text into the context of current capitalism. We want to bring back a text that has been all but forgotten but that has played a significant role in the development of human history. Some right-wingers have already started to claim that we are heading for a new round of Stalinism but that's just crude nonsense. There is and has been no need to hide our names or our intentions for this comic book version of the Manifesto.”

The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe: rich in theory and data

“Our aim was to produce an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the ‘state of play’ of subnational democracy in the 27 member states of the EU plus Norway and Switzerland. We also wished to advance reflection on the theory of democracy itself as this is practiced at the subnational level.” Being interviewed is Professor John Loughlin about his newest book (also edited by Frank Hendriks and Anders Lidström). The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe. “I think we have succeeded in doing this and the book is a unique text both theoretically and in the wealth of data it contains.”

School truancy and drop out in France is visible to outside observers but not always within the school

“I am trying to find the factors leading to drop out and I also make recommendations for prevention and support for young people in these situations.” Maryse Esterle is a Sociology Professor at the University of Artois. She teaches at l’Institut universitaire de formation des maîtres (IUFM) d’Arras (IUFM is now part of the University of Artois). “I teach part time and I am researcher the other part of my time. My teaching is primarily to train future teachers - who work with children from 3 to 12 years in primary school and sometimes secondary school pupils. My research focuses on school dropouts and student absenteeism/truancy. My last research has focused on prevention of truancy and school dropout in general and vocational high schools and colleges in Paris. My previous researches took place in Northern France.”

What would New York city be without Central Park?

“I chose the topic of open green spaces because I believe that the theme of urban parks is a vital issue for the quality of the urban environment. Therefore I come with a simple question: “What would New York city be without Central Park?””. Isabella M. Mambretti describes this by means of landscape visualisation in her book ‘Urban Parks between Safety and Aesthetics’. “I started a PhD research at the ETH Zürich in collaboration with the Greenspace Project research (European Commission 5th Framework Programme and BBW). The focus of my dissertation was to deepen the knowledge in data based on high detailed visualisation for landscape planning.”

“Native Dutch people benefit more from restructuring neighborhoods”

"It is quite remarkable that when restructuring neighborhoods native Dutch people are much more likely to move from the neighborhood being tackled to a ‘non-concentrated’ area where there is lots of diversity. Non-natives/immigrants also benefit, but natives gain more. " Being interviewed is Wenda Doff, who got her PhD on October 19, 2010 for her thesis on ‘Puzzling neighborhood effects’. In her study she shows how social inequality is maintained or created on the housing market.

“There are some very successful projects out there, so cities need to learn from one another.”

“In Hungary there is a big problem concerning demographic change. To solve this we have to think about what we can do at local level. Sometimes the solution to help for example elderly people is quite simple.” Being interviewed is Dr Péter Szaló, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior in Hungary. From January until June 2011 Hungary is EU President. On May 2nd 2011 the Budapest Communiqué was made public during the Directors General meeting. The focus of this document is on demographic and climate challenges. “For Hungary it was a practical choice to focus on these issues. But we know that they play a big role in other European cities as well.”

Szaló Péter.jpg

SzalóPéter 003.jpg

Getting residents involved in neighbourhood safety: Are you doing things right or are you doing the right things?

“You will often hear professionals say: I have reached my goals, my project has affected many young people (or another target group). But do neighbourhoods benefit from this kind of attitude? The fact that you are doing well on a project does not mean that you are doing the right things.” Being interviewed are Erik van Marissing (Verwey-Jonker Institute) and Inge van der Beijl (TNO Research Institute), both researchers in the project area of neighbourhood safety. By doing research within this area the researchers would like to develop a method for municipalities to get residents involved for a long term in neighbourhood safety. The pilot in the neighbourhood Transvaal in The Hague, the Netherlands, is almost completed. In this interview the researchers explain how the pilot has worked up to now.

Good Governance in ‘The West’ – Institutional and social constraints of good governance in the Caribbean parts of the Dutch Kingdom

“Even when democracy is custom made in accordance with the national cultural characteristics, differences in level of good governance will occur between countries within Europe. These differences are related, among others, to the level of wealth and political historic tracks.” Being interviewed is Dr. Oberon Nauta, criminologist and independent social scientist specialist in the public administration of Caribbean part of the Dutch Kingdom. In the latter capacity Nauta was assigned in 2006 by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdomrelations to carry out a research project on good governance in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. This resulted in a PhD dissertation titled ‘Good Governance in ‘The West’ – Institutional and social constraints of good governance in the Caribbean parts of the Dutch Kingdom’. “Despite similarities between the Dutch and the Caribbean system of checks-and-balances there is a huge difference in governance within the Dutch Kingdom. The Netherlands is known as one of the best, whereas the Caribbean counterparts perform far worst.”

Getting young and old together is a social and political concern

“We need to make clear the significance of the topic, namely housing and architecture, throughout society. And it is not only about money. Getting young and old together is a social and political concern. We need to care for each other, helping in informal ways and in different kind of communities. Remember: architecture can support but not solve social problems.” Being interviewed are Eckhard Feddersen and Insa Lüdtke, authors of ‘A Design Manual, Living for the Elderly’. “The big change is still to come, the process is irreversible. The number of elderly will grow, but that does not mean, they all are alike and have the same needs. This will make the difference.”

“The housing market, in my opinion, is not less important than the food market, but you have nowhere as many choices as you have in that case.”

“If you look at the food market, you will notice that it is capable of providing an amazing variety of products, with a great range in costs, from the cheapest to the most expensive. All have one thing in common: their quality is guaranteed, which means that if you eat them your health will be safe. Furthermore, as a potential buyer you are given access to a lot of information, like where the meat was processed, where the fish was caught or where the vegetables were grown. As a consumer, you are empowered to use these information to decide what you will buy, clearly also in relation to your budget.” Being interviewed is Dr. Federico De Matteis, an architect teaching architectural design at "Sapienza" University of Rome since 2006. “The housing market, in my opinion, is not less important than the food market, but you have nowhere as many choices as you have in that case. On the contrary, if your budget is constrained, you may not have any choice at all: like going to a supermarket where all is sold is one type of bread.”

“We do not need to wait for governments or large organizations, we can contribute ourselves in time, money, knowledge, and ideas to protect our biodiversity.”

“The lifestyle in Europe and the urban culture influence youth’s behaviour in particular in the developing countries. Among Ecofund’s registered users, there are users from Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Burundi and the Ivory Coast. They aspire to the same level of development as their European counterparts. But what kind of development? And at what price for our natural environment?”. Being interviewed is Markus Faschina, co-founder of Ecofund, a platform that allows people to fund or initiate an ecoproject and discuss our biodiversity for a greener world. “When we started, we thought of only supporting the Casamance Ecoparc in Senegal. But as we went on with the idea, other projects approached us for support. So we opted for a platform where people can interact, and “invest” in green projects instead of creating a website for a single project.”

Avoiding the Looming University Crisis in Europe

“Universities in Europe are highly regarded in some parts of societies but are increasingly looked at with suspicion by others and within politics. This has resulted in more supervision by the government and also in less finance. That in itself is a downward spiral because it leaves universities with less possibilities to do well and to improve their educational system. In the end it will be the graduates from universities which will be the driving force behind future economic growth but also social cohesion.” Being interviewed is Jo Ritzen, author of ‘A Chance for European Universities’. Europe’s universities are very well represented among the world’s top 200 universities, but almost absent in the top 50. They are economically, culturally and socially underexploited. There is an urgent need to alter the context for European universities to strengthen the European competitive position through economic innovation, increased social cohesion and a more vibrant cultural dynamism. The unbalanced demographics in the world – with a virtually constant supply of graduates in the developed West and a potentially fast increase in the number of graduates in developing countries – pose both new threats and new opportunities for European universities.

“You can’t just stick up cameras and expect everything to change for the better.”

“I think there is often a tendency in security technology procurement – and military procurement too – where the thinking starts with, ‘we’ve got this amazing new technology, what can we use it for?’. And certainly in the early days, people were commenting upon CCTV as ‘a cure looking for an illness’. Instead, I think we’ve got to begin with an effective problem analysis. What problems are our priorities and how can we go about solving them?” Being interviewed is Professor of Criminology and Public Policy at the University of Brighton (UK), Peter Squires. “As far as CCTV goes, I think the introduction of it in town centres was very much influenced by major retail, banking and insurance priorities, who were only too pleased to take the CCTV subsidies paid by the British government to promote safer town centres – effectively ‘safer shopping, safer consumerism’. So it was also a question of urban reinvestment and renewal, but the policy was often dressed up as crime control but it’s always much more than that.”

Safer Drinking Scenes throughout Europe, learning from each other in order to prevent binge and heavy drinking

Massive alcohol consumption by young people in public spaces, often referred to as “binge drinking”, is a growing phenomenon in most European cities. It has therefore become a focus of attention and is now mentioned frequently as a priority of local policy. This type of consumption must be taken into account on three levels: sanitary risks, potential anti-social behaviour and an increased risk of victimisation. Being interviewed is Mark Burton Page, who works for the European Forum for Urban Security (EFUS) on the project “Safer Drinking Scenes”: The Binge Drinking phenomenon (2011 – 2013). “This research will focus on the culture behind binge or heavy drinking within 10 European cities. We want to look into prevention but also look at repression of heavy alcohol consumption within Europe.”

"Social inclusion is all about making synergies"

Yuri Kazepov is Professor of Urban Sociology and Compared Welfare Systems at the University of Urbino in Italy. He is a founding member of the Network for European Social Policy Analysis and the president of RC21, the research committee on urban and regional development of the international sociological association. In this interview he was asked a few questions about creating effective social cohesion policies. He gave a lot of useful examples of practices in cities.

China's new megacities, a look at the interior of the country where everything seems to be happening

“We started off in Zhengzhou. We thought that it would be interesting to write an article about this city. What we saw over there was so interesting and worth telling, that we decided to write a book and include more cities.” Being interviewed is Michiel Hulshof, a Dutch journalist. Four years ago he decided to move to the country where everything seems to be happening at the moment, namely China. He worked as a correspondent and discovered that he was interested in topics that other people don’t write about. “We often hear about the coastal cities of China, Shanghai and Beijing to name a few, but what happens within China is often untold.” At a party in China, Hulshof met a Dutch architect named Daan Roggeveen. He also had an interest in cities. “So we decided to start a research on how the cities in the hinterland of China look like, how they are built, the urban design, the people living within the cities and the story behind them and their city.” This resulted in the book ‘How the city moved to Mr. Sun – China’s new megacities’.

Decoding Design Coding: urban planning, urban design and delivering a more human, coherent and sustainable public realm

“Good design and planning should not necessarily cost more. If anything it should save money in the long run.” Being interviewed is Matthew Carmona, Professor of Planning and Urban Design at The Bartlett School of Planning, UCL and Lead Expert of URBACT’s HOPUS project. For example during a visit to Rome Carmona visited a suburban extension dominated by roads and parking. “All in all there was a lack of vitality and the sorts of social spaces that you expect in an Italian city. But all of those things can be provided by just thinking differently about the reorientation of buildings, how to integrate the highways within the plan and so forth. This does not cost more to deliver, it just requires a different way of thinking and designing. It’s about having a place based view of the outcomes.”

The Danube Foundation: stories, dreams and ideas

The Danube Foundation is a network of young Europeans that aims to contribute to the exchange of ideas between people in Central, East and Western Europe. We talked to Sophie Bloemen about the vision and mission of the Danube Foundation.

Youth Employment Bureau in Catalunya: stimulating entrepreneurship among youth

Currently it is very hard for Spanish youth to find a job. We asked the Youth Employment Bureau for the region Catalunya, based in Barcelona, what they do to help these young people to find a job. Do they notice more young people leave the country to find a job abroad and what is it they do to stimulate them to remain in Catalunya?