Urban Planning Processes in Peripheral Cities of Metropolitan Areas
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NeT-TOPIC New Tools and approaches for managing urban Transformation Processes in Intermediate Cities (URBACT Programme) FINAL PUBLICATION Learnings, conclusions and guidelines for carrying out urban planning processes in peripheral cities of metropolitan areas. Salford Nanterre Kladno Sacele Sesto San Giovanni Barakaldo L’Hospitalet de Llobregat Haidari TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 1. INTRODUCTION TO NeT-TOPIC & URBACT II 5 1.1 Net-TOPIC thematic network 6 1.2. The URBACT programme 7 2. OBJECTIVES OF THIS REPORT 8 3. THE THEMES OF NET-TOPIC. MAIN CHALLENGES. 8 3.1. Urban fragmentation and obsolete and abandoned industrial areas 8 3.2. Identity and multifunctionality 10 3.3. Metropolitan Governance 11 4. MAIN FINDINGS AND LEARNING’S 11 4.1. Becoming a “new” city: consolidating identity and centrality 17 Key ideas - becoming a “new” city: building identity and centrality 17 4.2 renovating the physical space and the urban fabric inherited from the past 21 Key ideas – renovating the physical space and the urban fabric inherited from the past 22 4.3. How to deal with the metropolitan context from the perspective of the Periphery 29 Key ideas – how to deal the metropolitan context from the perspective of the periphery 30 5. SOME CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL GUIDELINES 32 6. NET-TOPIC AT LOCAL LEVEL: HOW LOCAL ACTION PLANS REACH NET-TOPIC THEMES AND ISSUES 32 L’Hospitalet de Llobregat 33 Nanterre 34 Sesto San Giovanni 35 Salford 36 Haidari Publication Coordinator: 37 Barakaldo Fernando Barreiro (Lead Expert) 39 Kladno 39 Sacele Graphic design: www.infinitgrafic.com 41 7. APPENDIXES 1. INTRODUCTION TO NET-TOPIC 5 & URBACT II 1.1 NeT-TOPIC thematic network major city and/or inside a metropolitan area. As a result of their location within the metropolitan area NeT-TOPIC is one of the thematic networks within next to a central city, and the urban and territorial the URBACT programme. The network comprises systems in which these cities are embedded, they are a group of 8 European cities in transformation, with faced with several common problems. One of these shared problems including industrial decline, territorial is the fact that land belonging to the intermediate fragmentation and social polarisation. Located near cities has been used for the industrial sector to major cities, NeT-TOPIC partners are carrying out (sectors which are now in recession/decline), a transformation process to turn themselves into for infrastructures (which split up the city) and more attractive urban areas. Focusing on their own for residential areas (which need integrated urban identity, offering a better quality of life, and rehabilitation). We must bear in mind that these improving citizen integration and social cohesion so urban areas are often configured as suburbs with that they can fulfil new roles within their metropolitan no internal cohesion, urbanised in a way based areas, are some of the common objectives. exclusively on central city logic. Faced with this situation, the cities need to adapt their land uses The network, led by L’Hospitalet de Llobregat to their socio-economic and territorial area trends, (metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain), also and they must therefore develop models for city includes Nanterre (metropolitan area of Paris, change process. The network cities are managing France), Salford (metropolitan area of Manchester, to change themselves in a way that increases the United Kingdom), Sesto San Giovanni (metropolitan strategic value of their territory, in order to make area of Milan), Haidari (metropolitan area of Athens, it more attractive and offer a better quality of life Greece), Barakaldo (metropolitan area of Bilbao, and better citizen coexistence. This means that Spain), Sacele (metropolitan area of Brasov, they are changing from peripheral cities to central Romania) and Kladno (metropolitan area of Prague, cities, from residential to daytime cities (university, Czech Republic). administrative or business centres), from industrial cities to technological/knowledge/service cities — from monofunctional to multifunctional. Apart from some of the common problems that these cities face, such as industrial decline and territorial fragmentation caused by infrastructures, there are further factors that have influenced their urban transformation and that need to be highlighted. On one hand, these have been of a social nature: demo graphic changes and social dynamics, specifically high immigration; a fall in the predominantly young population; and social polarisation. These are closely linked to factors of an economic nature: changes in the labour market, delocalisation of jobs towards the big city, economic diversification and trends towards to the tertiary sector. On the other hand, there are also problems deriving from urban morphology and infrastructures: territorial disordering, lack of housing adapted to the new demand, industrial 76% of the European population lives in medium areas in disuse and lack of building land. and small sized cities of less than half a million inhabitants (according to the United Nations report The URBACT Programme has provided these cities “State of World Population 2007”). This situation with a platform to reflect on a new city model to needs to be analysed in greater detail, as the increase the strategic value of their territory. Within studies main targets tend to be large cities. this framework, and with the support of the URBACT expert, Fernando Barreiro, NeT-TOPIC cities have The NeT-TOPIC project is aimed at medium sized carried out a knowledge and best practices exchange (intermediate) cities that are located close to a process, and have learnt some lessons that might 2. 6 OBJECTIVES 7 OF THIS REPORT Thematic Seminar 1 - Sesto San Giovanni, May 2009. help them in the future transformation of their cities. purpose, including seminars, workshops and working Participation in the network, and the exchange and The following are the themes that have been analysed meetings, and a number of documents have been sharing of urban transformation practices related and developed within the project life (April 2008-July produced, such as the publications “DRIVING FORCES to NeT-TOPIC themes by project partners entails a 2011): FOR URBAN COHESION: Recovering abandoned and learning process. It requires a method of “learning by obsolete industrial areas and avoiding fragmentation networking”. This report aims to summarise the main Core theme: and urban division in peripheral cities of metropolitan conclusions arising from this process, which may be • Building new models of urban development in areas”; “BUILDING NEW URBAN IDENTITIES: from useful not only for the network partners, but also for peripheral cities within metropolitan areas. monofunctional to multifunctional cities”; “Enhancing new any other European city that shares similar problems forms of URBAN AND METROPOLITAN GOVERNANCE”; and challenges. Sub-themes: the “Bank of Urban Transformation Processes”, as well • The first issue is to develop and consolidate an as the so-called “Local Action Plans” and the present NeT-TOPIC strategic themes and issues have mainly urban identity for these cities by the application of document (for further information, please refer to been tackled through the analysis and comparison a new city model. Peripheral cities are still thought Appendices 1, 3 & 4). of the network partners’ projects and experiences in of as the suburbs of the central metropolitan city. each of the themes, as well as through the contribution Thematic Seminar 2 - Salford, October 2009. of expert practitioners and academicians invited to • The second issue relates to enhancing new 1.2 The URBACT programme Thematic Seminars related to: forms of urban and metropolitan governance. The restructuration of the metropolitan areas, the URBACT is a European exchange and learning 1. Urban planning projects to recover abandoned emergence of new poles within the metropolis, programme that promotes sustainable development. It areas new mobilities and changes in the use of the enables cities to work together to develop solutions to territory, require new processes of negotiation and major urban challenges, reaffirming the key role they play 2. Urban planning projects to avoid fragmentation coordination between territorial and local actors, in confronting increasingly complex societal changes. due to infrastructures both public and private. Several themes and URBACT helps cities to develop pragmatic solutions that subjects require the agreements and initiatives of are new and sustainable, and that integrate economic, 3. Practices to promote the urban identity of the city these different actors to find new solutions to new social and environmental aspects. It enables cities problems. Urban transport, housing, location of to share good practices and lessons learned with all 4. Projects that increase the diversification of the city new firms, sustainability and social cohesion are those professionals involved in urban policy throughout (a more multifunctional city) some examples. Europe. URBACT comprises 300 cities, 29 countries and 5,000 active participants. URBACT is jointly financed by 5. New ways and new models of governance to The third issue is urban fragmentation due to ERDF and the Member States. improve the position of the metropolitan peripheries • Thematic Seminar 3 - Nanterre, October 2010. roads and communication infrastructures that within the metropolitan area. are obstacles to urban integration and cohesion URBACT specifically aims to: within these peripheral