Urban design governancewithin the context of the global urban agenda

Frédéric Saliez

UN-Habitat Office for Europe and European InstitutionsUnited Nations Human Settlements Programme

PLACE ALLIANCE Big Meet 9: Leadership in place-making: beyond beautyUniversity College London, 2 April 2019

1945

Creative commons icons by Rockiconby ghufronagustianBy Gabriel Figueiredo,

Places

Integrative & transformative

power of

Places

Places

Goal 11 : “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,

resilient and sustainable”

2015 Agenda 2030

P, P, P, P, P…& P

WHAT?

HOW? WHO?

URBAN DIMENSION

SUSTAINABLEURBAN

DEVELOPMENT

URBANISATIONa distinct

THEME/SECTOR of sustainable development

A CROSS-CUTTING DIMENSION of sustainable development:

Urban Population – Per Region

Source: UN

Fastest urbanization currently in Africa and Asia

39.98

42.175

72.779

79.633

82.126

70.224

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Percent

Africa

Asia

Europe

Latin Americaand theCaribbean

NorthernAmerica

Oceania

Developing principles and global norms

Capacity building

• Basic training

• Rapid planning studio

• Planning charrette

• Planning laboratory

• Continuous technical and advisory support

• Coaching and mentoring of planning officials

• City to city knowledge sharing and exchange

Urban Design LAB: Creating space for stakeholders engagement

Hargeisa, Somalia

Medellin, ColumbiaJohannesburg, South Africa

Guangzhou, China

[Urban MAESTRO]Urban Design Governance

Exploring formal and informal means of improving spatial quality in cities across Europe and beyond

- Urban design matters, for people, for planet, for prosperity

- It is not politically neutral

- It is governed by “hard” and “soft-power” instruments

➢ How can city leaders make better use of soft-power

instruments to steer cities to better urban design?

➢ Is it a relevant approach in non-EU contexts?

➢ How can it contribute to global urban debate?

Urban MAESTRO is funded by the European Commission DG RESEARCH & INNOVATION / Horizon2020 Programme

• To provide an overview of the European urban design governance landscape, by

taking stock of the dominant tools and processes used across the continent, including revealing the range of

innovative practices that focus on the spatial quality of the urban built environment (place quality) and the

financial mechanisms needed for its realization. The emphasis will be primarily on the informal (soft) tools of

urban design governance and associated innovative financing tools that help to deliver urban quality.

• To drill down into the practices that are most effective at positively shaping the

quality of places, by sharing knowledge, experiences and outcomes between practitioners across Europe.

Learning will extend from the practicalities of particular tools, to the political, financial, wider governance,

development, and community engagement processes within which they are used

• To establish a peer-to-peer collaboration and learning network among the multi-

stakeholders that support the range of innovative design tools and processes, and in so doing provide the

opportunity for participants to contribute to the development of a European community of practice with a focus

on the governance of urban design.

• To encourage and enable public authorities to adopt an enhanced policy agenda

of urban design governance, based on a full understanding of the range of urban design governance

tools and processes, proven successful stories and lessons learnt from failure, and the innovation made possible

through better understanding and collaboration.

[Urban MAESTRO]Objectives

SCOPING

LEARNING

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Feb.2019

June 2019 Jan. 2020 May 2020 Oct. 2020 Jan. 2021

Thank you