//An Urban Anthropological Quest to Rotterdam: exploring the arrival city & urban planning after the crisis
April 26-27, 2012 You are invited to an urban anthropological field trip to see and experience the insides of Rotterdam. Inspiring Cities, Stipo, and Deltrametropolis Association invite you on this trip to Rotterdam—the third in a series of Inspiring Cities field trips, during which we search for methods and ideas of urban planning after the economic crisis. In 2011, we conducted two extraordinary, jam-packed exchanges in Dublin and London, UK. Reports from those visits can be found here and here. Just as in Dublin and London, we have a variety of partners for this trip. Premier Rotterdam-based architecture and planning organizations such as KEI, SEV, and AIR will be joining us as well as representatives from cultural institutions such as the Rotterdamse Schouwburg and Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam. Urban thinkers from a variety of backgrounds and representatives from the municipality will offer their original perspectives. Leading architecture and planning firms will also organize workshops. All the partners involved will be present to learn and to share the knowledge in their city—including you! Furthermore, the opening weeks of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and the related Architecture Festival Rotterdam will concurrently run with the programme, and we plan to connect with these festivals and mingle with the crowds. //Urban planning during the crisis These are interesting times for urban planning. With the recent economic crisis, we see traditional investors in planning (developers, government, housing corporations) losing investment power and we see new emerging investors in niche fields from sectors outside of planning, such as healthcare, energy, education, and food. This transition demonstrates a major shift in planning: the shift from ‗making a city‘ – an emphasis on new urban areas – to ‗being a city,‘ where the focus lies on improving what the city already is. The ‗making‘ involves urban professionals, like us, and how we observe and physically change the built environment. The ‗being‘ is how people experience the urban environment. Rotterdam is a preeminent example of how the tension between the ‗making‘ and ‗being‘ can provide us with new insights and lessons. During our trip we will use applied anthropological tools to investigate Rotterdam‘s ‗making‘ and ‗being.‘ //Rotterdam & ‘Being a City’ In Rotterdam, you quickly see that the city is constantly changing. Since it‘s epic World War II destruction, this city‘s physical shape and infrastructure have been dramatically recreated, but what about the social side? In many ways Rotterdam represents this transformation: modern skyscrapers, a diverse and multi-cultural population, an important financial and education center. The recent crisis, though, spurred a shift from the ‗making‘ to the ‗being‘—from the physical to the social—raising the question: Who is Rotterdam? What is this city‘s identity? //Rotterdam: ‘The Arrival City’ Referring to Doug Saunders, you can define Rotterdam as an ‗arrival city.‘ As Europe‘s largest port, immigration has an important role in Rotterdam‘s history. Nowadays over 50% of the city population descends from first- or second-generation immigrants. This flux of new groups brings opportunities and challenges. Education, housing, and jobs are primary challenges for new migrants and the municipality. On the other hand, these new groups bring energy, ideas, identity and soul to the city of Rotterdam. The city of arrival not only represents the chance for a better life for the newcomers, but it ensures the future of the whole city.
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//A selection of excursions
EDBR Rotterdam and the transformation of Katendrecht Arts & public space on the South Bank Jane Jacobs walk through the Old North Rotterdam‘s places of the City of Arrival Bike ride under the River Maas Home visits and ethnographic interviews with residents Social cohesion and the secret of Graafflorisstraat Flat-flipping: Klushuizen and the creative class Place-making with the Creative Class: Visits to several case studies (Hofbogen, Schieblock, and others) Do the ―Zig-Zag Route‖ of the Architecture Festival Rotterdam Self organization in neighborhood transformations Discussions and debates Sessions with representatives from local government, leading architecture and planning firms, and other professionals.
ROTTERDAM & THE ARRIVAL CITY WHEN A two-day programme. Thursday and Friday, April 26th and 27th, 2012, plus Wednesday-evening startup session WHO A core group of ±25 professionals from various countries, networks, friends, colleagues, professionals, who will participate in the full programme. We will select this group from the registrants. A broader group will join in for parts of the programme. OBJECTIVES Bring home new lessons for planning after the crisis. Apply working knowledge from Doug Saunders’ book Arrival City to the story of Rotterdam. Work as a team to enhance your experience and understanding of the ‘making and ‘being’ a city. PREPARE This field trip is an exchange of information; that is, a two-way experience. To learn as much as possible, please be prepared to actively participate in the working sessions and bring all your knowledge and experience to the table. Prior to the trip, we recommend reviewing Doug Saunders’ book Arrival City: the final migration and our next world (2011) and his website arrivalcity.net. EXTRA OPTIONS Introductory session on the evening 25th and a guided city tour on Saturday 28th COST Full 2 day programme + Wednesday evening startup session: €250 ex VAT. It is also possible to participate for part of the programme. WHAT’S INCLUDED all sessions; lunch & dinner on both days; transport during the programme; reader EXTRA OPTION hotel; extra Saturday programme
DEADLINE TO REGISTER:
MARCH 15, 2012 REGISTER VIA MAIL AT: DIANA.DINIS@STIPO.NL
www.stipo.info | www.deltametropool.nl | www.inspiringcities.org