108 <strong>Sp<strong>at</strong>ial</strong> <strong>Planning</strong> & Str<strong>at</strong>egy On the importance of <strong>Sp<strong>at</strong>ial</strong> <strong>Planning</strong> Case Neighbourhood Regener<strong>at</strong>ion EDWARD D. HULSBERGEN, FORMER ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR SPATIAL PLANNING Fig. 69: Street in Rotterdam. Photo <strong>by</strong> R. <strong>Rocco</strong>. In brief, <strong>Sp<strong>at</strong>ial</strong> <strong>Planning</strong> – very rightly a core field in the <strong>TU</strong> <strong>Delft</strong> Department of Urbanism – is the art and knowledge of the technical understanding and intervening in the urban and regional living environment and living conditions. There is an extensive scientific body of knowledge about sp<strong>at</strong>ial planning, so for this personal st<strong>at</strong>ement I look beyond the discipline to stress its significance in urbanism. My almost lifelong interest has been the neighbourhood: in my professional and volunteering work, on the one hand, and on the other, in my hob<strong>by</strong> of archaeology, this combin<strong>at</strong>ion has led me to fruitful reflections on the planning of settlement regener<strong>at</strong>ion. A difference between sp<strong>at</strong>ial planning and archaeology is th<strong>at</strong> in the planning of regener<strong>at</strong>ion the aim is to build and renew, while archaeological fieldwork usually leads to the destruction of the site. During the excav<strong>at</strong>ion, layer after layer is examined, registered in a d<strong>at</strong>abase, the artefacts are handled with gre<strong>at</strong> care, after which the layer is actually destroyed, to investig<strong>at</strong>e the next. The d<strong>at</strong>abase of findings allows virtual reconstruction of the settlement. For sp<strong>at</strong>ial planning this is, <strong>at</strong> one and the same time, a lesson and a warning. Both sp<strong>at</strong>ial planning and archaeology are, amongst other things, concerned with the quality of daily life. Archaeology with the reconstruction of wh<strong>at</strong> once was, through time; sp<strong>at</strong>ial planning within the context of future daily life, short and long term. During the excav<strong>at</strong>ion process it is necessary to keep an open mind. Ideas about how to understand the sp<strong>at</strong>ial and functional structure of the site may change drastically. In archaeological fieldwork, destruction is a tool to acquire knowledge; in sp<strong>at</strong>ial planning destruction a risky tool. In archaeological fieldwork one finds stone found<strong>at</strong>ions, remnants of pavement, and artefacts like pottery, metals, organic remains. The sp<strong>at</strong>ial structure may seem a familiar p<strong>at</strong>tern, the functional structure may be a kind of riddle, but the social structure – in the absence of written documents, or even when they exist – may be a m<strong>at</strong>ter of specul<strong>at</strong>ion. In neighbourhood regener<strong>at</strong>ion, sp<strong>at</strong>ial and functional points of departure, and sp<strong>at</strong>ial-social interests, can be examined. But also, in urban renewal and regener<strong>at</strong>ion, the truth is: wh<strong>at</strong> is destroyed is gone. Each urban and neighbourhood regener<strong>at</strong>ion project starts with promises and poetry, and too often ends with real est<strong>at</strong>e logic.* An important task for sp<strong>at</strong>ial planners – in close cooper<strong>at</strong>ion with urban designers and other concerned disciplines – is to counteract too optimistic (and actually destructive) interventions. Good regener<strong>at</strong>ion from the urbanism point of view is the substantial, not to say utmost integr<strong>at</strong>ion of (sp<strong>at</strong>ial) design and (sp<strong>at</strong>ial-social) planning, through sp<strong>at</strong>ial scales from dwelling to region, and back. In urban regener<strong>at</strong>ion, the meaning and importance of sp<strong>at</strong>ial and social rel<strong>at</strong>ions and their problems can be evalu<strong>at</strong>ed. Wh<strong>at</strong> a blessing these possibilities are, compared to archaeology. Th<strong>at</strong> is, if those in power take an interest. Urbanism is an optimistic discipline, cre<strong>at</strong>ing visons of improved living conditions. Nothing wrong with optimism, as long as one stays aware of the many pitfalls. Here, <strong>by</strong> their research and practice, sp<strong>at</strong>ial planners can adopt a pioneering and guardian role – ex ante, ante, and ex post – to the well-being of vulnerable users as well as to the benefit of other investors. *A loose reference to Klaus Kunzmann <strong>at</strong> the Intereg III B mid-term conference in Lille, 2004.
Urbanism . <strong>TU</strong> <strong>Delft</strong> 109 Fig. 70: Summer school students discuss a vision for the city of <strong>Delft</strong>. Photo <strong>by</strong> R. <strong>Rocco</strong>.