Tag Archives: sustainability

Beyond Modern Values

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Conflicts and Discoveries in the Design of Public Space

This lecture has been part of a course for Ph.D. candidates in philosophy, co-organised by The Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW), and the 4TU Center for Ethics and Technology. The course discusses approaches like value-sensitive design and ethics-by-design, becoming popular over the last decade to integrate values, and other moral considerations in design. The lecture follows upon other presentations which have introduced some of the critical underlying philosophical foundations and issues of such approaches. It discusses what values are, and have been navigating in the urban design thinking on public space and whether, and to what extent, these values have been, and still are dynamic in terms of ‘value change’. The lecture also discusses in more detail the ‘value conflicts’ which go along with the value dynamics in the design of public space, and, philosophically as well as in terms of their design application, it questions the values in themselves.

The Dutch Research School of Philosophy (OZSW) – Design for Values 2022

5 – 16 September 2022, with the keynote on 9 September.

See also: Matter Space Change

Creating Value through Public Space

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The United Nations just launched the ‘UN-Habitat State of the World Cities Report 2020 on the Value of Sustainable Urbanization‘. “COVID-19 has transformed our urban world. However, it does not signify the end of cities. Urban areas hold the key to resilient, green recovery, and building back better!”, Victor Kisob, th assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN-Habitat states. The United Nations emphasises that we create “value through public space”. This includes interior public spaces, which were closed due to COVID19-induced lockdowns recently. In this case, “local governments must work to provide sanitation infrastructure in all public spaces in order to mitigate the health risk”. Yet, also, “when designed with climate adaptation, mitigation and resiliency, components of cities from buildings to public spaces can create communities that enhance environmental values”. They also enhance social and economic values. “Cities can unlock the intangible value of sustainable urbanization by creating public spaces and opportunities for democratic participation and social inclusion that allow the cultural fabric of urban life to flourish”. And, public space can offer a livelihood for people to be entrepreneurial and take part of labour work. Equality plays a huge role in sustainable urbanisation. “Diversity contributes to the social, economic and environmental value of urbanization through tolerance, integration, and coming together in public spaces.” This includes for instance the representation of the urban poor, migrants, and cultural minorities, hence this should lead to prioritising “their needs in any decision-making process, be it about the urban commons, atmospheric commons, public spaces or resource use”. And, “engage a wider audience – e.g. children and youth – in urban planning and design processes for safe, inclusive and accessible public space.” Everyone should “understand their rights to access public spaces and services”. I would like to add: Our challenge is to contribute to the design of public spaces for everyone.


World Cities Report 2020

The Future of the Netherlands

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In a special event Chief Government Architect Floris Alkemade gives a glimpse into his new essay “The Future of the Netherlands” and urban designer and architect Maurice Harteveld will explain how the city of the future can continue to offer everyone a place. Discussion is open to the public.


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Public Space in the Entrepreneurial City

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New public spaces have emerged in the entrepreneurial city. Their existence relates to entrepreneurial action of public governments, of the people, inhabitants of the city, and of entrepreneurial alliances of civic actors. The entrepreneurial way of governmental action led particularly to new spatial conditions and typologies as governments delegated the responsibilities for the production and management of public space to private actors. This extended the debate to the city’s public space in its ubiquitous shopping malls and private residential estates. Secondly, the opportunities which the city offers for the entrepreneurial contributions of general citizens, migrants, and refugees, relate to its public spaces too. Characterised by the proximity of mixed land-uses and flexible building typologies, as well as a well-connected street network and high density, the new urban typologies, effecting public space in their socio-economic nature, are found in many places, using the same models concerning citizens initiatives and popular action. Lastly, new emerging alliances of actors form the relationship of the ‘entrepreneurial city’ and public spaces. These alliances of civil society groups comprise old and new NGO’s, academics and activists, and start-ups of social enterprises launch own initiatives to co-designs alternative community spaces, more affordable and communicative workspaces, and build capacities. Such trends can be seen in cities worldwide too and start to create new forms of public spaces, which facilitate social interaction while creating more micro-economic opportunities.

Read full editorial online:
Maurice Harteveld and Hendrik Tieben (eds) (2019) ‘Public Space in the Entrepreneurial City’, In: The Journal of Public Space (Special Issue), 2019, Volume 4, Number 2, pp. 1-8
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Integrated Mobility Challenges

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Exploring Sustainable Urban Integration Approaches
in Future Metropolitan Areas

The Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS), the Delft Deltas, Infrastructures & Mobility Initiative (DIMI), the University of Paris-Est and ARENA Architectural Research Network join Delft University of Technology in the organisation of the interdisciplinary 2018 Summer School: Integrated Mobility Challenges in Future Metropolitan Areas. This is a follow up of Making the Metropolis edition held in Amsterdam in August 2017 and the Stations of the Future event held in Paris in March 2018.

Integrated Mobility Challenges will explore interdisciplinary approaches towards a sustainable urban integration of rail-metro stations. At the main point of intersection between the railway and the city, stations are key elements of the organization of the intermodal transport but also catalysts of urban developments. The main question will be: which approaches and scenarios can be tested and applied to these intermodal nodes, particularly when dealing with lack of space and growing number of users? By using Amsterdam (case of Sloterdijk station area) as test-bed and design location you will exchange knowledge and apply different strategies of sustainable solutions.

When
From 21st to 28th August 2018

Where
Delft University of Technology (NL) with fieldwork in Amsterdam (NL)

Target Group
60 researchers or young professionals and master students in Architecture, Urban Design and Planning, Environmental Design and Sciences, Landscape Architecture, Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics, and related disciplines.

More information can be found here: Summer School Integrated Mobility Challenges

UPDATE: See also Metropolitan Stations and Stations as Nodes

City of the Future Competition

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Making Cities in Times of Major Transitions

On January 10, 2018, our research ‘The City of the Future’ has starts. This study explores new ways of city making by using five test locations of 1 x 1 km in the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven (five most populated cities in The Netherlands). We question how we can interrelate urban development, whilst urban design, planning and engineering, to upcoming challenges like shifts in transport, energy transition, circular economy and other system and network innovations, in times of the next generation of densification.
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Exploring Metropolitan Design

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The Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS), the Delft Deltas, Infrastructures & Mobility Initiative (DIMI), and the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU) joined Delft University of Technology in the organisation of the interdisciplinary 2017 Summer School:‘Making the Metropolis: Exploring Interdisciplinary approaches in Metropolitan Design Engineering’.


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Joining Design for Values Institute

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Today an exiting new institute has opened: The Delft Design for Values (DD4V) institute! The DD4V institute brings together practices and expertise in the field of design for values. It integrates my modest work with those of many others, and expand the existing. As such in the new institute we provide mechanism for the incorporation of moral and social values in technologies through their design processes. Research activities of DD4V will be organised along four themes: Value operationalisation, value assessment, value dynamics, and value conflict.
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