new urban spaces of interaction knowledge society romeirop

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New urban spaces of interaction in the knowledge based society

Fellowship from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência e Ensino Superior (Portugal)

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Patrícia ROMEIRO

Learning Cities in the Knowledge Based SocietyMilan, 9-10-11 October 2008

CCHS - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain)

Faculdade Letras –Universidade do Porto (Portugal)

The “Century of Knowledge”(Taichi Sakaya, 1991; Peter Drucker, 1994,..)

XXI Century

CONTEXT

“… is a city that aims at a knowledge based development, by encouraging the continuous

creation, sharing, evaluation, renewal and update of knowledge” (…) “this can be achieved

though the continuous interaction between its citizens” (Ergazakis et al., 2004:7).

At the territorial (urban) context …. Knowledge City (Van Winden & Van den Berg, 2004; Ergazakis et al., 2004;..)

This requires intentionality and planning…..The city’s appropriate design, ICT networks and physical spaces that support these interactions (Ergazakis et al., 2004).

MAIN QUESTION

i) What kind of innovative urban spaces have been planned, to stimulate a higher density of the interactions among the urban actors (in a broader sense).

… in addition …

ii) What are the main challenges for urban planning in the Knowledge Society (KS)

• STUDY: i) theoretical study, ii) Spanish examples

STRUCTURE

1. New values and urban functions

2. New (and renew) urban spaces of interaction

3. Challenges for urban planning in the KS

4. Main conclusions and issues for reflection

PRELIMINARY REMARKS AND TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. NEW VALUES AND URBAN FUNCTIONS

Cities

Competition strategies based on the attraction of:

i) New activities (new specialized services – informatics, design, cultural production, …)

ii) New functions (territories of production … but also territories of consumption )

iii) New residents (attraction of “creative” and “high skilled” workers)

Preferential cores of the territorial competition in the KS (Gordon & Buck, 2007;

Sassen, 2002; Knight, 1995)

“places to live, work, learn and play”

“places of interaction”CITIES

2. NEW (AND RENEW) URBAN SPACES OF INTERACTION

Interaction spaces always have been important to cities (Agora, Forum, …)

But nowadays … they gain a renew protagonism and new characteristics

Industrial Society:

Knowledge = Science&Technology

Urban Planning = Functional Logic

Spaces of intense knowledge circulation:

i) Out of the inner city

ii) Apart from other urban functions (residential, commercial, etc.)

Knowledge Society:

Knowledge = not only Science&Technology

Urban Planning = Multifunctional Logic

Regeneration of the core urban areas with production activities and “formal knowledge production” organizations

i) Renewing and re-shaping urban landscapes

ii) Altering the city’s spatial organisation and structure.

iii) Social impacts (new residents with new demands)

2. (cont.)

New (and renew) urban spaces of (intense) interaction … some categories

i) iHubs

ii) Living labs

iii) Cultural and leisure clusters/quarters

iv) Science shops

v) Squares

vi) Libraries

vii) …

i) Scale of intervention (small, large)

ii) Dominant activity (economic, residential, cultural, …)

iii) Promoter (public, private, mixed partnership)

Main differences

2. (cont.)

Some Examples (Spain)N

BARCELONA

MADRID

2. (cont.)i) Large scale intervention

Eje Prado-Recoletos (Madrid) Urban reconversion

Promoter: Public (partnership)

Main activity: cultural, leisure

Planning elements:

green space creation, traffic restrictions and new cultural infrastructures.

Other cultural organizations . . .

CaixaForum

Reina Sofía

Prado

Thyssen

2. (cont.)

N

Urban regeneration

Promoter: Public (in partnership)

Main activity: residential, economical, leisure, etc.

Planning elements: houses (some socialhouses), sustainable mobility, cultural&socialcentres, research centres, etc.) – 75 ha

La Marina Quarter (Barcelona)i) Large scale intervention

2. (cont.)ii) Small scale interventionPlaza Santo Domingo (Madrid) Urban regeneration

Promoter: Public

Main activity: leisure

Planning elements: new square

2. (cont.)ii) Small scale interventionPlaza Santo Domingo (Madrid) Urban regeneration

Promoter: Public

Main activity: leisure

Planning elements: new square

Challenges to urban planning

XIX century → significantly different urban environment

iv) urban functionsv) “ingredients” to competitiveness

i) territorial complexity (economic, social, cultural, etc.)ii) diversity of urban actorsiii) diversity of activities

High …

New …

3. CHALENDGES FOR URBAN PLANNING IN THE KS

3. (cont.)

Humanism

Communication

Interactivity

Sustainability

Distinctiveness

Urban planning practices can be renewed through:

i) the articulation of a new set of political-ethical ideals (Borja, 2003)

Culture

Knowledge

Creativity

ICT

ii) implementation of a new type of intervention projects

4. MAIN CONCLUSIONS AND ISSUES FOR RELFECTION

Significantly different urban environment (higher territorial complexity and new elements for territorial competitiveness)

Knowledge Society – creation of dense and multifunctional urban spaces in the city

It is earlier to evaluate with precision the repercussions of these new

spaces of interaction, but it is important be attentive…

4. (cont.) … some reflections …..

Cities as core centres in the KS, but also places of (knowledge)

exclusion

Urban planning - integrate new values and practices in the KS

Planning as part of the political process rather than a technical activity

(mediator role of urban planners)

BOUNDARIES, COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKS IN PLANNING PRACTICES

PROMOTIONSUPPORT

REDUCTION

Patrícia ROMEIRO (patricia.romeiro@cchs.csic.es)

PhD student at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain) and Oporto

University (Portugal)

Learning Cities in the Knowledge Based SocietyMilan, 9-10-11 October 2008

Thank you.