Byens rum 2 - OM BYENS RUM

english Summary
urban space as a Catalyst for Change
The project
‘Urban Space as a Catalyst for Change’ is a Realdania
financed research project focusing on how urban
spaces act as catalysts for urban development. The
project is anchored at JUUL | FROST Architects -
an interdisciplinary practice organized in three different
units: CITY + SPACE + LANDSCAPE, HOU-
SING + BUILDING and RESEARCH + COMMU-
NICATION.
The purpose of ‘Urban Space as a Catalyst for
Change’ is to question the assumptions dominating
present discussions regarding urban space, urbanity
and urban development. With ‘Urban Space as A
Catalyst for Change’ we wish to broaden and put
the discussion of urban space into perspective by
bringing new knowledge and strategic tools to the
profession.
The project identifies how urban spaces can be seen
as catalysts for the development of “the good city”
– socially, culturally and architecturally. The project
takes its point of departure in theoretical studies
and analytic methods. We look at urban spaces as
parameters for change in relation to culture, life
forms, gentrification and as attractors for different
segments of citizens. ‘Urban Space as a Catalyst
for Change’ is an interdisciplinary project, since
urban spaces do not only consist of buildings but
also people, moods and relations. By combining an
architectural understanding of form with a sociological
understanding of human behavior, we are able
to analyze urban spaces holistically. Our aim is to
194 / ENGLISH SUMMARY
develop a strategic approach where values are prioritized,
thus not only anchoring the urban spaces in
the realm of the city but also in the realm of a value
oriented society.
The book urban space II
urban space in a value oriented framework
Due to a change of perspective regarding city life,
we need new methods and frameworks for understanding
the city and its inherent multiplicity of experiences
and transformations.
The city has become more global, more multicultural
and more orientated towards tourism. This results
in new requirements for specific urban qualities.
City people have developed new life patterns
with a more active use of the cities. Thus, the demand
for meeting places and new urban scenes for
interchange of perspectives, for learning and for the
forming of life are vital qualities of the future development
of the urban realm. The disposition of
public spaces as passages, recreational settings and
buildings have great impact on the activities and the
experience of the city. Informal communities and
affective, performative spaces can therefore be used
to attract inhabitants. Open and inclusive spaces
can attract a wide range of life forms and enable
people to meet across and despite differences. In
other words urban spaces have all the potentials for
creating vital cities where affective spaces produce
new flows and experiences. Thus, new experiences
and unplanned situations emerge all the time.
The project ‘Urban Space as a Catalyst for Chan-
ge’ proposes a new approach to planning and urban
development taking the present conditions of the
knowledge based city into considerations by suggest-
ing new value oriented strategies and approaches to
urban space.
strategic Tools
By applying well-known urban theories from the
20th Century to the contemporary city, we constitute
a hybrid of urban theories - a fusion of
ten theoretical approaches from diverse fields
such as urban studies, sociology and aesthetics.
While the urban sociologist Richard Sennett calls
for meeting places to reinstall the public sphere,
Zygmunt Baumann shows that the fluid modernity,
with its inherent feelings of anxiety and fears,
may be better captured through the development
of temporary spaces and flexible, informal meeting
places.
Similarily, Umberto Eco, Kevin Lynch and Jane
Jacobs focus on the means by which the citizens can
feel included and welcome while they identify and
engage themselves in the city.
On this theoretical background we propose strategic
tools such as mnemonics, parallel strategies,
acupuncture, zoning and performativity to be integrated
into the future development and planning of
urban space.
Analytic approach
Our case studies are analytically structured around
four levels: city /space / life forming / body.
These four levels function as the methodical and
analytical framework for all case studies produced
in relation to the project. A given case is therefore
analyzed in relation to the four levels and across. In
this way we are able to follow the holism of a strategy
and/or the deviation of the same.
All levels include strategic considerations. A given
municipality’s overall strategy influences the city
and thereby frames individual possibilities, while
vice versa the everyday use of the city affects public
plan strategies. An interrelated strategic exchange
is unfolded influencing the city, the physical urban
spaces, the life forming, and the body. In other
words our four analytic levels offer a consistent and
holistic approach to urban space and give the op-
portunity to go deeper into the subject matter of
urban space as a catalyst for change.
A new approach to planning – from functionality
to urban potentials
This brings us to a new understanding of urban
planning. The use of urban architecture and design
is in a strategic perspective dealing with processes
beyond material development.
Planning is no longer a form imposed upon urban
matter, but rather a strategic tool to be used in the
broader perspective of urban transformation processes.
It points towards a new role of the planner who
no longer is the administrator of physical development,
but one looking for potentials and connections
in the urban realm as well as strategically guid-
ing processes between various stakeholders.
Thus the volume proposes alternative and innova-
tive tools for the future development of urban space.
The aim is to help the planner to initiate urban processes,
as well as defining the planner in a new role.
The planner has become the holistic, proactive and
strategic coordinator of urban processes.
The project has been carried out as a cross-disciplinary
research platform for discussions of urban
space. Activities range from seminars, inspirational
meetings for developers and planners, to think tank
meetings, newsletters, articles, presentations and
publications.
For more information on these activities please
visit www.byensrum.dk. On this webpage you can
study the showroom, a platform for Danish municipalities
where they can submit their most successful
urban spaces. Furthermore the homepage offers
download of articles, order books or see presentations.
ENGLISH SUMMARY / 195