37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

October 26, 9 h 30–10 h 00 (Room 0)Courtesy: Colegio Oficial deArquitectos de CantabriaPresentation: Decano D. Ignacio PeredaPROF. JOSÉ Mª EZQUIAGA DOMÍNGUEZPhD in Architecture (1990), Architecture degree (1979) and Degree inSociology and Political Sciences (1981).He has been linked to the city and the urban project from the very beginning ofhis professional career, taking on diverse urban responsabilities in Local andRegional Administrations in Madrid: Head of the Planning Department of theGerencia Municipal de Urbanismo of Madrid (1985-88), General Director ofUrbanism of the Madrid Region (1988-91) and General Director of UrbanPlanning and Concertation of the Madrid Region (1991-95).At present, as an independent professional, he manages the office of EzquiagaArquitectura Sociedad y Territorio. CONFIRMADONational Award for Urbanism 2005 and Gubbio European Award granted by the “Associazione NazionaleCentri Storico-Artistici de Italia”, 2006. Madrid Townhall Urbanism Award in the years 1986, 1989, 1995 and1997; Research Award from the Madrid Townhall (1990) and Urbanism Award granted by the “ColegioOficial de Arquitectos de Madrid” (1986).In the academic sphere, he is Professor of Urbanism of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura(Madrid) from 1995. Visiting Professor in the universities of Turin, Rome (La Sapienza), InstitutoUniversitario di Architettura di Venezia, TU Delft, Dortmund, Oxford Brooks, Brasilia, Nacional de Colombia(Bogotá and Medellín), Los Andes y Pontificia Universdad Javeriana (Bogotá), Buenos Aires andMontevideo. Faculty Associate of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (Cambridge, USA). Collaborator innumerous Master Degrees and Postgraduate Courses, including the Master in Territorial Policy andUrbanism of the Carlos III University of Madrid, and the Master of Urban Projects of the UniversidadPolitécnica de Cataluña. He has published one hundred essays and research papers in books andspecialised magazines in Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Spain and LatinAmerica.Has been President of the Urbanism Commission and member of the Board of the Colegio Oficial deArquitectos of Madrid (1999-2004) and formed part of the National Commission of Experts in Urbanism,constituted by the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Environment in 1995. Member of the AdvisoryBoard of Urbanism of the Madrid Townhall (2005-07).In the professional sphere, he has been Director of the Bases of the Regional Plan of the TerritorialStrategy of Madrid (1995) and Director of `Madrid Centro´ Strategic Project 2008-10. Furthermore, he isauthor and director of a lot of Regional Plans in Spain.Within the international scope, he has been Consultant of the European Commission (G.D. XVI) for thedevelopment of the “Terra” Program, has participated as an expert in “URB-AL” Programmes, V FrameworkProgramme for Research and Development and Interreg III- South Zone.Has been International Advisor inthe ellaboration of the “Ley de Ordenamiento Territorial” of Colombia and in the Master Plans for the citiesof Bogotá and Medellín; and consultant of the Inter-American Development Bank IDB in the development ofthe Territorial Strategy for the Metropolitan Region of Buenos Aires (2006-07).ABSTRACT: THE PLANNING CRISIS AND NEW PLANNING PARADIGMSIn the Europe of the industrial revolution, modern urban planning emerged from the practical need ofensuring quality of life in cities and stable land markets, at a time when urban growth was seriouslydeteriorating life conditions in the traditional city and threatening the very efficiency of the economic system.Planning was born as an instrument to ensure citizen rights, and should exist insofar as it is today a tool todefend such rights. Two of these are essential: the right to enjoy, and to pass on to future generations, an‘inhabitable’ environment; and the right to housing. The regulations that limit land development, residentialdensity or land uses are not justified by an obsession about regulations; rather, they are useful to ensure airand sunshine for houses, sustainable mobility, citizens’ access to facilities and services, and the balancebetween an offer of developed land that is enough to meet residential needs, and environmentalpreservation.Town planning and management have been useful tools to reach high standards of urban quality that canbe approved, and even remarkable, in the European context. However, they have not been able to preventthe serious distortions that have affected Spanish cities in the past decade: squandered natural or culturalresources; declining traditional centres; higher environmental and infrastructural costs due to the new formsof scattered land occupation; the higher price of property products, particularly dwellings; socialfragmentation; or difficulties to adapt to a context of growing financial volatility.The key issue is to determine whether urban planning will be able to give an effective answer to the newproblems resulting from the new organisation of the post-metropolitan territory and the issue ofenvironmental limits. In my opinion, it is necessary to refound the social validity and legitimacy of urbanplanning on new principles if we want to achieve this goal. Two essential tasks emerge: theoretical work toreformulate the conventional concepts of town planning, and practical work to strengthen the ethicsassociated to the defence of public goods.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 19