THEMATIC GROUPS

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Resilience and Risks Mitigation Strategies

Published: 07 December 2020

Maarten van Aalst, Director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre will present and discuss the key messages of the recent World Disasters Report, 2020.

Register for this online event here: Link

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: French and British planning studies

Published: 22 October 2020

Many European countries are undergoing "metropolitan reform" which aims to endow urban territories with new modes of government. Examples, of these institutional innovations include the so-called Combined Authorities in England, the citta metropolitane in Italy, or the métropoles in France. This book addresses this theme and emerged from a two day seminar held by members of the AESOP Thematic Group on French and British Planning Studies in Tours, Val-de-Loire, in 2019. It approaches the phenomenon of metropolitan governance from a comparative perspective that mobilizes the international literature and case studies in Europe. It explores questions including: do these reforms follow the same initial objectives in different European countries? On which boundaries are new metropolitan institutions being established? What competences and capacity do new metropolitan institutions possess to address metropolitan issues? What are the relationships of new metropolitan institutions with existing municipal power? Do new metropolitan institutions manage to build inter-territoriality with the spaces that surround them?

These questions are explored in different contexts throughout the book which is likely to be of interest to researchers in town and regional planning, but also to local decision-makers (both within and beyond metropolitan areas). It also speaks to the international urban agenda and goals of sustainable and resilient cities under which large cities and their periurban rings are often seen simultaneously as a "problem" and a "solution" to the challenges of contemporary economic, environmental and social development.

The book is published in French and available at: http://www.urbanisme-puca.gouv.fr/a-paraitre-la-gouvernance-des-metropoles-et-des-a2075.html Demazière

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Planning and Complexity

Published: 13 October 2020

The event in a nutshell

• Informal, open, and online event promoted by University of Florence [Critical Planning and Design Lab] with University of Groningen and Tallinn University of Technology
• Targeted at scholars and practitioners integrating complexity theories in analyzing cities and urban planning
• Keynotes by Prof. Richard Sennett and Prof Helen Couclelis, Speed talks, Panel discussions and Open spaces

Central questions:

• How and in which ways does the Covid-19 pandemic expose the complexity of urban systems?
• Which reactions and innovations in response to Covid-19 may advance urban planning in addressing urban complexity?
• Which lessons can be gained from Covid-19 on how can planning support urban societies in facing sudden global crises? 

When: 27th of November, 2020
Where: Online, 14:00 - 18:30 hrs

Submit your contribution now!

Get ready for an afternoon of energetic, thought-provoking talks and debates on 27th November, 2020.

Global social disruption

What if the social habitant cities offer is challenged by unexpected break down of urban systems at a planetary scale? This question has taken the centre stage since the Covid-19 outbreak and the associated pandemic. “Flesh and stones”, as Richard Sennett introduced back in time in 1994, immediately become the ingredients of deeply private lives instead of the ones of the public life, outside. The social disruptions that came with Covid-19 make uncertainty and complexity tangible for each and every one in many ways. 

1. We knew a pandemic is possible, but could not expect its widespread consequences

Throughout the history, pandemics have disturbed humans and their communities and challenged the established socio-institutional arrangements. The COVID-19 breakout is certainly playing this role, challenging us more than ever by situations we never thought we would face in such a way. We have been forced to witness the reorganization of the sphere of our social life and shaking of the economies – both locally and globally, exacerbating all aspects of life particularly in the poor countries. Furthermore, dichotomy between those able to isolate and those who go to work to survive has become tangible on the scale of the globe and individual societies. We are facing a condition of profound uncertainty, irreducible to risk and therefore neither calculable nor insurable without an efficient and effective public; without institutions, the market forces are unable to guarantee the health and safety of citizens, nor to produce fundamental public goods, including space.

2. We have learnt again that linearity and predictability is a fallacy

The pandemic shows how urban systems can be exposed to unbalances and unexpected stresses at any moment. It underscores the fallacy of theories that take stability and predictability as a starting point, while these very same theories still seem to inspire the institutional frameworks and planning strategies of many of today’s cities. There is a need for rethinking the (self)organisation of urban societies.

3. Complexity science became suddenly very timely school of thought

Classical issues of in theories of complex adaptive theories such as chaos, network theories, phase transitions and even catastrophe theory became tangible. The extreme connectedness and vulnerability of global societies of the 21stcentury became visible. Robust social norms were suddenly abandoned and replaced by new ones, and urban economies pushed to a serious turbulence were forced to find ways to reinvent themselves.

New avenues of urban life emerge while old challenges remain 

Conversations, meetings, even personal and confidential exchanges have been transferred to the ether, so that the digital sphere has replaced incredibly fast the physical one. The materiality of the space (with its potentiality and limitations) has been replaced by the smartness of the digital platforms (with its hazard and facilitations). The later having as primary effect the rapid multiplying of connections across a social system that is generating unpredictable and unintended consequences. 

Our digital lifestyle also massively transforms urban logistics. While on-demand services were already available prior to the start of the pandemic, the general public fully discovered their potential during the lockdown. A swarm of vans, delivery bikes and scooters ensured that goods, meals, and services were instantly available, at the price of increasing traffic and pollution. Meanwhile our desire and appreciation for human-scale public space increased. During the most stringent lockdown period, dog walking and a stroll to the grocery store became highlights of the day. But during the ongoing requirement for social distancing, outdoor public spaces to do exercises, play and meet friends have become a major factor in the quality of urban areas.

What of all this will stick if we get Covid-19 under control? This is difficult if not impossible to predict. However, due to the length of this pandemic perhaps it is reasonable to assume that the new habits by citizens will be developed and that worldviews might flip. What is largely certain, is that the fundamental challenges for cities in the 21st century will remain: We still have to find solutions to climate change, loss of biodiversity and overpopulation.  We might learn about the experiences with Covid-19 of how to respond to these still open, fundamental challenges. 

Essential questions on the progress of planning

What does Covid-19 pandemic and the social disruptions coupled with it teach us about the organization of cities? What should we learn from this pandemic for urban planning when unpacking it regarding the uncertainties and complexities? 

The event aims to discuss three essential questions on the progress of planning considering the pandemic:

1. How and in which ways does the Covid-19 pandemic expose the complexity of urban systems? 
2. Which reactions and innovations in response to Covid-19 may advance urban planning in addressing urban complexity?
3. Which lessons can be gained from Covid-19 on how planning can support urban societies in facing sudden global crises? (whether it’s is pandemic, the climate, a financial, or any other type of crisis)

Start the dialogue: share your research and your ideas!

This event on social disruption and urban complexity aspires to open an intergenerational dialogue among scholars and across fields and topics. Our aim is to improve the understanding of the factors influencing the ability of a city to react to the effects of the pandemic (and its discontents) at a very large extent. 

Insights from complexity theory of cities will be shared to explore and debate on the consequences of the epidemic break out and implications for planning. The inspirational kick-off of this call is the idea to look at what we are living in as a “case-study” to push forward the debate on complexity and planning and think about the future in new ways. 

Contributions

The event aims to foster an intergenerational dialogue among scholars and across fields and topics. We call for contributions that can improve our understanding of the factors influencing the ability of a city to react to the effects of the pandemic (and its discontents).

Three types of contributions are welcomed: 

• Paper presentation (10 min) combined with Q&A discussions
  • Traditional presentation of fully develop papers 
  • Submit a full paper
• Speed Talks / pre-recorded video-pitches (5 min) combined with Q&A discussions
  • Provoking thoughts, personal reflections, initial research findings
  • Submit a 100 word abstract
• Thematic paper / panel sessions (60 min) 
  • Proposal of thematic sessions under own moderation are also welcome. 
  • Submit a 200 word description and a list of expected contributors. 

13th November – Deadline thematic session

20th November - Deadline Full papers and abstracts for speed-talks

Submissions can be done at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
 

Registation until the 20th November

Participation in the event is free, but registration is required. You might be asked to take a small organizational task, such as moderating a session. Please, also register in advance if you are not a presenter.

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Parent Category: THEMATIC GROUPS

Category: Transboundary Planning and Governance

Published: 04 October 2020

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR

Policy transfer, diffusion and translation in territorial governance and spatial planning in the Global South

Convenors: Francesca Blanc, Giancarlo Cotella, Marcin Dąbrowski

 Date: 26th October 2020

Organized under the patronage of the AESOP Thematic Group Transboundary Spaces, Policy Diffusion, Planning Cultures

http://www.spatialplanningtudelft.org/seminar/online-seminar-policy-transfer-diffusion-and-translation-in-territorial-governance-and-spatial-planning-in-the-global-south-26-october-1430-cet/

Direct link to registration: https://forms.gle/cqoToqsVmYaDCQcH9



National and local territorial governance, spatial policies and planning are the results of the cross-fertilisation through domestic and external inputs. The travelling of planning ideas, concepts, and policy solutions across cities is commonplace, facilitated by international platforms, globally operating institutions, bilateral inter-city relations and study visits or transnational city networks. While being ubiquitous, this process of transnational learning remains problematic. It tends to be biased towards export of Western ideas to the Global South, is underpinned by uncertainty about the suitability of foreign solutions to the local context (Rose, 1993; Dolowitz & Marsh, 2010), doubts about the scope for learning from ‘sanitised’ and uncritical best practice examples (Stead, 2012) and by asymmetries of power and political agendas (Temenos & McCann, 2013; McCann & Ward, 2012). The processes of formulation of urban planning practices and policies assimilate and translate best practices coming from different cities and countries results in a ‘bricolage’ (Stone, 2017) that especially in the Global South echoes the mestizo culture of many countries.

Against this background, this seminar invites scholars - in planning, urban and regional studies, geography and related disciplines - to reflect on the cross-fertilisation and adaptation of spatial planning policies in the process of transfer in the Global South. In particular, we welcome contributions that inquire South-South and South-North transfers, in order to contribute to a growing literature body that sheds light on how Global South countries shift ‘from import to export’ of policies for cities and regions (Porto de Oliveira, Osorio Gonnet, Montero, Leite, 2019).

There are several knowledge gaps on that topic that call for a critical investigation. First, while it is recognised that cities or states from the Global South are now a source of planning and territorial governance ideas and practices ‘travelling’ to the Global North, as illustrated by the spread of participatory budgeting from Brazil to Europe and beyond (Sintomer et al. 2008), we still know little about how solutions from the Global South travel and are adapted to the local contexts in which they land, how the knowledge is transferred and who is involved in this process. Second, there is a need for a critical investigation of how ‘urban solutionism’ (Montero, 2018) driven by the mainstream international urban agencies (UN-Habitat, World Bank, etc.) impacts the planning and territorial governance practice on the ground in the cities of the Global South. Does it actually make a difference? Do the solutions imported that way achieve the expected results when confronted with the local institutional, social, or spatial conditions? For instance, the 2030 Agenda and its implementation through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially the SDG 11, offer an interesting framework to inquire the international influences in the field of urban development and spatial planning. Influences of the ‘global philanthropy’ have progressively shaped local and national policies and the ‘urban solutionism’ (Montero, 2018) could be seen as a new form of colonialism. Thus, there is a need for a critical reflection on the transfer of knowledge and/or policies through this channel that may involve hidden power relations.

Thirdly, while there is a growing literature on transnational city networks (e.g. Kern et al. 2009), there is limited research on the flow of knowledge through formalised or informal inter-city networks and how this knowledge is ‘translated’ locally (see Stone, 2012) to drive change in planning and territorial governance. Finally, focusing our attention to South-South and South-North transfer also means bringing into question the hegemonic Western theoretical models and paradigms and opening to a wider range of ‘experimentalism’ in policy transfer (Stone, 2017), where informal practices could also be the content of the transfer.

This seminar will seek to bridge the above-mentioned research gaps and provide a space for debating policy transfer in planning and territorial governance from the perspective of the Global South.