THE HORIZONTAL METROPOLIS: A RADICAL PROJECT

VIII INTERNATIONAL PHD SEMINAR URBANISM & URBANIZATION | SYMPOSIUM LATSIS EPFL 2015

LAUSANNE | 12, 13, 14 OCTOBER 2015

Conference Proceedings

THE HORIZONTAL METROPOLIS: A RADICAL PROJECT

VIII INTERNATIONAL PHD SEMINAR URBANISM & URBANIZATION | SYMPOSIUM LATSIS EPFL 2015

UU2015
ISBN 978-2-8399-1747-6
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.ch

EDITORS
Martina Barcelloni, EPFL Lausanne
Chiara Cavalieri, EPFL Lausanne

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Paola Vigan, EPFL, Universit IUAV, Venezia (chair)
Cristina Bianchetti, Politecnico Torino
Stephen Cairns, Future Cities Lab, Singapore
Elena Cogato Lanza, EPFL
Michiel Dehaene, U-Gent
Bruno de Meulder, KU Leuven
Alberto Ferlenga, Doctorate School, Universit IUAV, Venezia
Vincent Kaufmann, EDAR, EPFL
Sbastien Marot, Paris Marne-la-Valle
Brian McGrath, Parsons The New School for Design
Han Meyer, TU Delft
Dominique Rouillard, ENSA Paris-Malaquais
Joaquim Sabat, UPC Barcelona
Saskia Sassen, Columbia University
Kelly Shannon, University of Southern California
Charles Waldheim, GSD Harvard

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Farzaneh Bahrami
Martina Barcelloni Corte
Chiara Cavalieri
Marine Durand
Valrie Pahud
Roberto Sega
Matthew Skjonsberg

CONTACT
EPFL, ENAC, IA, LAB-U
Station 16
CH-1015 Lausanne

DISCUSSANTS
Tom Avermaete, TU Delft
Peter Baccini, ETH Zurich
Martina Barcelloni, EPFL Lausanne
Cristina Bianchetti, POLITO Torino
Mary Cadenasso, Universiy of California, Davis
Stephen Cairns, ETH Zurich, Future Cities Lab
Chiara Cavalieri, EPFl Lausanne
Kees Christaanse, ETH Zurich
Elena Cogato Lanza, EPFl Lausanne
Olivier Coutard, ENPC, Paris
Michiel Dehaene, U-Gent
Gioacchino Garofoli, Universit degli Studi Insubria
Christophe Girot, ETH Zurich
Grosejan Bndicte, ENSAP Lille
Kaufmann Vincent, EPFL Lausanne
George Lin, University of Hong Kong
Panos Mantziaras, Fondation Braillard Architectes Genve
Sbastien Marot, EPFL Lausanne
Catherine Maumi, Grenouble
Brian Mc Grath, Parsons The New School for Design, New York
Vincent Nadin, TU Delft
Luca Pattaroni, EPFL Lausanne
Yves Pedrazzini, EPFL Lausanne
Jason Rebillot, Woodbury University Los Angeles, USA
Dominique Rouillard, ENSA Paris-Malaquais
Thomas Sieverts, Technical University Darmstadt
Adolf Sotoca, UPC Barcelona
Maria Chiara Tosi, Iuav Venice
Els Verbakel, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Gerusalem
Paola Vigan, EPFL Lausanne - IUAV Venice
Charles Waldheim, GSD Harvard, Cambridge

The Horizontal Metropolis: a radical project

The general theme for the 2015 U&U1 Seminar is The Horizontal Metropolis: a radical project. Horizontal Metropolis is
both an image and a concept, it is a lens through which to view the form of the contemporary city, conceptualizing it
and constructing it as a project. It refers to a specific spatial condition characterized by a horizontality of infrastructure,
urbanity, relationships, and by closely interlinked, co-penetrating rural/urban realms, communication, transport and
economic systems. Contemporary urban figures such as Citt diffusa in Northern Italy, Desakota in Asia or ville horizontale
in Africa, fine grained settlement dispersion in Flanders, or Zwischenstadt in Germany are just some of the examples able
to effectively describe this emergent urban condition, increasingly related to the dispersion of the urban fabric within
the agricultural landscape. The Horizontal Metropolis concept considers these figures as beyond a simplistic
center/periphery opposition, revealing the dispersed condition as a potential asset, rather than a limit, to the
construction of a sustainable and innovative urban dimension.
Historically this specific spatial condition has provided test cases for the elaboration of original urban theories. Today
the radical nature of the change underway is forcing these territorial constructions to face new challenges, paradoxes
and crises, from a social, economical and environmental point of view.
The fundamental hypothesis of both the Seminar and of the Symposium is that the Horizontal Metropolis, as spatial
capital and agent of transformation, may be supportive of a radically innovative urban and territorial project - and thus
considered as an original urban ecology.
The U&U International PhD Seminars and the 2015 Latsis Symposium will investigate the Horizontal Metropolis,
its space, its traditions, and its contemporary relevance as an energetic, ecological and social design framework. The
dual aim of the event is to connect the specific questions arising in different urban contexts to larger international
reflections and processes, and to valorize a multidisciplinary approach in discussing the Horizontal Metropolis.
- Three Sessions
The symposium intends to investigate the Horizontal Metropolis through three main fields of research:
1 The Horizontal Metropolis: spatial and natural capital
Different types of urbanity can be analyzed and compared starting from their measures, which are often the expression
of deeply embedded rationalities. The session will concern those rationalities, such as: water management (natural
systems, irrigation, drainage, drinkable water supply, waste water, energy); the productive landscape (qualities of soil,
parcels and property size, presence of biodiversity, types of agriculture, mix of functions); accessibility (mobility
networks, permeability and connectivity, exchange nodes, social infrastructures and amenities), potential and abilities
of individuals and firms to move and to locate. The session will critically reflect upon the horizontal metropolis as a
city-territory; the relation between natural and artificial rationalities; hybrid urban-territorial figures in relation to
conditions of spatial and social justice. The objective of the session is to understand the different rationalization
processes of the city-territory through an investigation of its measures, patterns and elements of coexistence. This
session will focus on mapping, comparisons, typological reading, and environmental, social and urban analyses.
2 The Horizontal Metropolis: issues and challenges of a new urban ecology
In recent decades the city-territory has become a recognized and explicit object of policies and design: in academic
research, but also in broader contexts where the awareness of this spatial, economic and social configuration is more
mature. This session will critically reflect upon the radical nature of the changes underway and the emergence of new
urban paradigms; scenarios and design strategies for re-cycling and upgrading the city-territory. The Horizontal
1 The 8th edition of the U&U International PhD Seminar will be managed under the scientific direction of the Laboratory of Urbanism (Lab-U,
EPFL) with the support of EDAR, EPFLs Doctorate School and Latsis Foundation.
Since 2004, the biannual U&U seminar has been inviting PhD candidates working on theory, history and practice of urbanism to present,
confront and discuss themes and approaches coming from different PhD programs. The first seminar was organized by OSA-KU Leuven in
February 2004 and was followed by others organized by UPC Barcelona, IUAV Venice, TU Delft and Ecole Nationale Suprieure
dArchitecture Paris-Malaquais. U&U International PhD Seminars seek to promote the exchange of ideas, provoke debate amongst researchers,
invite comparisons, cross-pollinate different disciplines and highlight the latest ongoing research topics. It is a rare opportunity offered to
young researchers to meet with prominent scientists and build a critical argument.


Metropolis as a renewable resource will be the main hypothesis of the session. Proposals that investigate forms of
order strengthening horizontal relations, as distinct from standard hierarchical forms, will be supported. In a space
where polarization and hierarchization processes are weakening horizontal networks disconnecting or marginalizing
territories and populations - the Horizontal Metropolis challenges dominant paradigms. This session will focus on
scenarios, concepts and prototypes.
3 The Horizontal Metropolis: a transcultural tradition
The Horizontal Metropolis has come to the fore at different times throughout the history of city and territorial design.
A thick legacy of concepts and of interpretations of urban phenomena through projects has been accumulated. This
legacy is also the result of influences and exchanges among the main authors and among situations and interpretations
in very distant parts of the world. The final session of the symposium intends to elaborate and investigate the role of
exchanges and references in constructing, by integration or differentiation, various conceptions of these urban
phenomena. This session will focus on theories, images, and archives.
With the help of ongoing research and contributions from the participating universities, the Seminar and the
Symposium aim at documenting and discussing the changes underway in urbanism and the urban condition. A wide
variety of research forms and interdisciplinary approaches such as urban analysis, design research, case studies and
theoretical elaborations, are expected to nurture and to critically develop the theme.

Session1_The.Horizontal Metropolis: spatial and natural capital

Hidden forest figures in the Horizontal Metropolis: from placeholders to micro-biotopes.
The case of Liedekerkebos.
Wim Wambecq, KU Leuven .9

Another use of agricultural soil in the Horizontal Metropolis A micro-story of soil from the
Russian Chernozem to the Valley Section
Marine Durand, Laboratory of Urbanism, EPFL..26

Subsurface Mining and Surface Urbanization: Disturbed Ecologies requiring Rebalancing

Patrycja Perkiewicz, Oslo School of Architecture & Design, Norway...35

From Paradise to desert Reclaiming the role of garden in Isfahans New Towns interplay with
energy drivers
Azadeh Badiee, KU Leuven..41

Retracing Water Flows in Southern Italy

Irene Toselli, Universit IUAV Venice..55

The maipos canals as a revealed urban matrix for Santiago de Chile

Sandra Iturriaga Del Campo, Universidad Catlica de Chile..66

Section across the horizontal field: a case study of the asymmetrical condition of Bogots
periphery
Claudia Lucia Rojas, KU Leuven ..73

Challenging the paradigm of garden suburbs in Argentina: the urban micro-densification as

emergent revitalization process in the suburbs of Crdoba
Sara Maria Boccolini, Bauhaus Universitt-Weimar / Universidad Nacional de Crdoba (SECyT) ...86

Daily journeys within the Metropolitan territories. Reflections on the experience lived by the
suburban transport networks users in Paris and Milan.

Priscillia Jorge, LabUrba, Ecole dUrbanisme de Paris Universit Paris-Est DAStU

Facolt di architettura e societ - Politecnico di Milano ...........................................................................100

Innovation and Urban Mobility. European Industrys Technical

Experimentation and Transformation of Cities: 1963/1973 2001 2008 2020/2030
Marika Rupeka, Laboratoire Infrastructure Architecture Territoire, ENSA Paris-Malaquais .. 108

The analysis of highway objects: a new way to explore the city-territory.

Francois Bruneau, Laboratoire Architecture Anthropologie, LAA, Paris ... 112

Preliminary analysis of the structural properties of the global roads network and its scaling with
Gross Domestic Product for all countries.

Emanuele Strano, Saray Shai, Laboratory of Geography Information Systems (LaSig), EPFL ... 117

The Impact of Road Ecosystem upon Soils Qualities and Functions:

Preliminary Observations on the French Normative Framework of Road Design
Antoine Vialle, Laboratory of Urbanism, EPFL... ... ...... 121

Horizontal Metropolis structured by the nature

Josu Ochoa Paredes, UPC-BarcelonaTECH....................................................................................... 128

Limits, between product and project of the territory

Guillaume Vanneste, UCLouvain (universit catholique de Louvain) Faculty of Architecture, Architectural

Engineering and Urbanism - LOCI..........................................................................................................146

Territory: a Common Home. Inventing a common ground

Nuno Travasso, CEAU-FAUP Centre for Studies on Architecture and Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture, University
of Porto..153

Urbanisation and the Provincial Projects of Electrification in Belgium

Dieter Bruggeman, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ghent University166

Urban fissures as the outcome of enclaved condominiums, artificial topographies and represa
formation: the case of Pampulha, Belo Horizonte

Patricia Capanema Alvares Fernandes, KU Leuven 178

Interplays of Infrastructure1 and Space - Metamorphoses as urban architecture in the megacity of

So Paulo

Sarah Hartmann, Department of Urban Design and Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, Leibniz
Universitt Hannover, DE..192

Horizontality reconsidered. Contesting (re)densification from Guadalajaras edge

Luis Angel Flores, KU Leuven ..200

Abundance of interplays delivered by scattered patterns of occupation.

San Joaquin in Cuenca, a case of study in the southern highlands of
Ecuador
Monica Rivera Muoz, KU Leuven ..210

The urban nodes of the horizontal metropolis: an empirical account from Mumbais
incrementally developing neighbourhoods
Tobias Baitsch, LASUR, EPFL ..224

Is Vertical Agglomeration the New Horizontal Urbanity of Asian Megacities? Mapping the
Morphological Consequences of Proliferating Private Enclaves Shaping the Urban Landscape of
Seoul
Soe Won Hwang, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Department of Environmental Planning,
Seoul National University ...232

Elements in Desakota

Qinyi Zhang, IUAV Venice ....243

Reaching the sea: Guangzhou southern expansion from rural industrialization to polarized
strategical planning
Edoardo Bruno, Polytechnic of Turin ....256

Volumetric Moments of the Horizontal: What is the Potential of Dispersion?

Michael Doyle, Laboratory of Urban and Environmental Economics, EPFL .268

Session 2_The Horizontal Metropolis: issues and challenges of a new

urban ecology
Curated Routes: the notion of routes as a design tool for the conception of urban environments in
Belgium
Maximi Papathanasiou, Department of Architecture & Urban Planning, Ghent University.278

Walkability After the Car; looking into low-density urbanity

Farzaneh Bahrami, Laboratory of Urbanism, EPFL ...283

The verticalization of the transport system in Veneto metropolitan area

Alvise Pagnacco, IUAV Venice .......291

Infrastructure as a renewable resource: re-cycling artificial rationalities in Limburg

Matteo Motti, DASTU Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano 298

Centralization, decentralization, and metropolization: cultural attractors in Brussels metropolitan

area
Yannick Vanhaelen, ULB, Faculty of Architecture La Cambre-Horta, Laboratory for Urbanism, Infrastructures and
Ecologies (LoUIsE), Brussels......308

From the district to the city. Back to Sassuolo Actions for a Changing Industrial Territory
Cristiana Mattioli, DAStU, Politecnico di Milano ...320

Productive ecologies: Redefining the centrality and marginality of the city-territory

Roberto Sega, Laboratory of Urbanism, EPFL ...331

What is happening to Industrial Districts?

Michele Cerruti But, IUAV Venice .....340

After tomorrow, A design approach to revaluate wastelands in the city-territory: the case of
Charleroi and Veneto region
Cecilia Furlan, IUAV Venice / KU Leuven ...345
RE-CYCLES. Transnational revitalization of dismissed industrial brownfields in post-socialist cities along
the Danube
Alberto Verde, University of Ferrara, Department of Architecture Polis University in Tirana 356

Understanding the city as home-made: mapping 2nd and 3rd generation perspectives on urban
consolidation in fragmented urban dwelling landscapes in Guayaquil, Ecuador
Olga Peek, KU Leuven ......368

Tracing the horizontal structure of Athens. From the horizontal structure to the imposed rational
modernization and the new claims for a social and productive reconstruction
Olga Balaoura, IUAV Venice .....377

A Neighborhood Welfare: the example of Case di Quartiere in Turin

Simone Devoti, IUAV Venice ....380

Affect as Spatial Affordance of Urban Difference

Dario Negueruela, Atelier de la conception de lespace, EPFL ...389

Transition and scales Enhancing horizontality for a bottom-up/top-down scalar integration.

The case of the Estero Salado in Guayaquil, Ecuador
Giulia Testori, IUAV Venice ......396

Session 3_The Horizontal Metropolis: a transcultural tradition

METRICS OF UTOPIA Optionality, Aesthetics and Patrick Geddes Ideal of Synoptic Utopia
Matthew Skjonsberg, Laboratory of Urbanism, EPFL.....409

Adieu compact city The Dutch case study and the discovery of the patchwork metropolis

Carlo Pisano, University of Cagliari DICAAR Architettura ...416

Re-orienting the horizontal. Welfare figures and discourses around Brussels (1960-2015)
Verena Lenna, IUAV Venice, KU Leuven ......426

Unlocking the potential of collective spaces in the peri-urban condition.

Defining a theoretical framework and exploring intervention strategies for the horizontal
metropolis: the case of South-West Flanders

Gheysen Maarten, KU Leuven .. .. .. ...433

Berlin dispersed: a genealogy of ideas

Laura Veronese, IUAV Venice .. .. .. ...443

Spatial Practices and Aesthetics. The Example of Switzerland

Mirza Tursic, Chros Laboratory, EPFL .. ......452

Typologies That Made Us: Modernization and Horizontality in the Case of Vojvodina

Aleksandar Bede, IUAV Venice .. ...459

The other horizontal metropolis: Exploring the operational landscapes of planetary

urbanization
Nikos Katsikis, Harvard Graduate School of Design .. ...467

Unbounded urbanization and the Horizontal Metropolis: the pragmatic program of August
Mennes in the Antwerp agglomeration
Tom Broes, Michiel Dehaene, University of Ghent.. ..483

Doomsday Urbanism: Planned Dispersion and Nuclear Threat in Postwar America

Ludovico Centis, IUAV Venice.......496

Session 1_The Horizontal Metropolis: spa

tural capital

Hidden forest figures in the Horizontal Metropolis: from placeholders

to micro-biotopes. The case of Liedekerkebos.
Wim Wambecq
OSA researcher - PhD Student
Supervisor: Prof. Bruno de Meulder
Expected thesis defense: November 2016
wim.wambecq@asro.kuleuven.be
This paper explores the power of the forest remnants in the Flemish nebulous city by looking at one specific case, the
Liedekerke forest. This forest reduced significantly since the time of the Ferraris map, which is taken as a reference
moment, but continues to influence life in the nebulous city due to its hidden interference with the dispersion. Five
narratives are introduced that form the project definition of an intermediate forest figure. The hypothesis of this paper is
that through these narratives the hidden, former Ferraris forest can become a sustainable urban figure in the nebulous
city.

Introduction
This paper investigates the future of the Flemish dispersion through the hidden forest figure of
Liedekerkebos, i.e. the specific urban realm that has developed in the former Ferraris forest. It has been
established that there is a need for a transition towards a more sustainable Flemish dispersion. (Vlaamse
Overheid, 2011) The regional and national deliberate housing policies and the hyper-individualism of the
house with a garden dream of the last decades have resulted in a housing stock that is quasi evenly spread
over the territory in a continuous patchwork of ribbon developments and open allotments. (Ryckewaert et al.,
2012) This has left no room for change, for a transition to a different urban condition that can accompany
the contemporary demands.
With the increasing ecological awareness in the twenty-first century the suburban development
found itself in an ambiguous situation. On the one hand it was criticised for its large ecological footprint, on
the other hand the sprawl as urban development continued to be the ultimate dream. The criticism of urban
sprawl in the United States (Berger, 2006) opened a wide debate on sustainability of the suburban condition
from which Flanders did not escape. In addition the 2007 financial crisis raised even more questions since the
suburbanisation showed its unadaptness to cope with increasing social differences (Dedecker et al., 1997)
and changing societal configurations. (Ryckewaert et al., 2012) Some people are no longer able to pay their
energy bills, cannot afford and hardly use (all of) the oversized houses and regulation does not easily allow
reconversion into more flexible housing typologies and innovative collective living structures. On top of this
social and ecological crisis, the Flemish suburbanisation also faces a mobility crisis. On Wednesday 10th of
February 2010 the largest traffic congestion ever was recorded due to a 5cm thick layer of snow. Almost
1.000 km traffic jam on the highways (Touring Mobilis) led to an even more astonishing 2.000 km on
secondary roads (Social Media and GPS systems e.g. TomTom). People were stuck in traffic on their own
driveway.
The once considered Flemish dream is turning into a nightmare and the current urban practice and
policy lacks the capacity to deal with suburban Flanders. Where urban planning in the compact city builds
strongly on the idea of important strategic projects, the requalification of suburbia will rather be one of slow
(or fast if possible) transformation creating a transition to a more sustainable territory.
The former and current housing policies created a territory that is largely monotonous. (De
Meulder and Dehaene, 2001) It is a carpet of ribbon development and allotments where specificity and sense
of direction (isotropic territory) (Pellegrini and Vigan, 2006) are missing on the small scale and where one
homogeneous urban condition is legible on the large scale, e.g the scale of the Spatial Policy Plan. Such a
reading implies that all different places and localities in suburbia are equal to one and other. In reality, there is
a lot of hidden diversity on an intermediate scale that is not immediately readable from the urban form, but
are potential agents for urban practice: there are wet valleys and forested higher ridges, dry and wet
agriculture landscapes, proximity to urban centres; there are monofunctional, low scale ribbons and
multifunctional ribbons; there are urban developments with very large typologies and worker housing
neighbourhoods. Various conditions make that no point in suburbia is equal to one another. This suggests
that there is no generic but rather a multitude of conditions that nevertheless on the whole lack quality and
raise a lot of economic as well as ecological and sustainability issues. The qualities of this multitude of
conditions are indeed not valorised in the current legal structure.
This paper hypothesizes that these qualities can be realised by an intermediate field of action
mediating between individual needs and sustainable collective. This intermediate is spatial, in this case
specifically the hidden forest figures in the nebulous city, but also temporal, organizational It continuously

bridges different and diverging needs and necessities to steer suburbia towards a more sustainable
environment. In order to do that, a tailor made transition management has to be generated.
Finally this paper explores Liedekerkebos the forest of Liedekerke - as one possible contribution
to the transition of the nebulous city through the intermediate of a hidden forest figure. An analysis of the
urban form that invaded the Ferraris forests forests present on the 1775 Ferraris map (Lammens, 2011) in
[Fig. 1] shows that the nebulous city did not develop the same way in and around this former forest than in
other places of the territory. A certain resistance against urbanization brings a moment of otherness inside the
monotonous nebula that can be the pretext for a sustainable future. A forest figure that hides in the nebulous
city.

[Fig. 1] Aerial image of the area with the former Ferraris forest perimeter indicated. Although subtle, the urban realm
within the Ferraris forest perimeter is different. Source: elaborated by the author, image base from Google Earth, 2015.

The forest (and the city).

Liedekerke is a small municipality on the Dender river between Ninove and Denderleeuw and about 25
kilometers west of Brussels. It held a crucial location as bridge town over the Dender river, one of the large
south-north flowing rivers of the Scheldt basin. The town developed mainly on the east shore in between the
river and the somewhat higher lying Liedekerke forest. The oldest accounts of the Liedekerke forest go back
to the end of the Early Middle Ages. The first clear representation of its extent is the famous Ferraris map of
1775 a time in which the dispersed urbanization was already readable, but far from consolidated. This map

10

[Fig. 2] is considered important because it might represent the last recorded spatial organization of a preindustrial dispersed, yet quite sustainable territory that laid the base for current Flemish dispersion.

[Fig. 2] Ferraris map of 1775. The forest as one big mass. It forms a figure that is equal in size and strength as the Dender
river. Liedekerke lies in between. This representation is important since it shows the earliest, precise geography of the
forest in a moment where city and hinterland are still clearly defined entities, but where the base of the nebulous city is
already existent. Source: (Lammens, 2011).

Although the Ferraris maps represent the forest as one continuous patch, it was never owned
completely by a single person or entity. Different owners defined the faith and size of the forest over time
and in space. The historic ownership dynamic is important to understand the forests current situation. The
forest knew a fractal ownership fragmentation comparable to Flanders current ownership structure: from
few owners with large surfaces to many owners that possess small surfaces. (Tack et al., 1993, Konijnendijk
Van den Bossch et al., 2005, 12-14)
A first major division was the forests location on the edge between the two regions, Flanders and
Brabant. Although the borders between them were still shifting, they cut the forest administratively in two by
the small stream Hollebeek, or hollow creek - running south to north. Historically the lords of Liedekerke
owned most of the Flanders part of the forest. Over time they donated pieces of the forest to the abbey of
Ninove and had a cloister constructed in the southern piece called Monnikbos monk forest. Later they
founded the cloister of Liedekerke in the northern part of the forest. (De Keersmaeker et al., 2011, 22-23)
Because these religious establishments depended on the forests products, they were either given pieces of the

11

forest, or it was planted to generate this necessary life provision. Around 1790 the forest consisted of 220ha
possessed by the lords of Liedekerke, around 134ha by the cloister of Liedekerke and unknown surfaces by
the cloister of Ninove (Monniken forest), and by the lords of Brabant (Hertighem forest) summing up to
880ha registered on the Ferraris maps. (Lammens, 2011, 25, De Keersmaeker et al., 2011, 25) In [Fig. 3] the
forest names are geographically suggested. In his diary of 1815 the English General Mercer stationed in
Strijtem mentioned how remarkable the persistence of the forest was in an area that was so densely inhabited.
He immediately added that with the large scale hop growing and its continuous need for wooden poles, it was
in fact not so remarkable that the forest played a fundamental role in the urban and rural life. (Heemkring
Liedekerke, 2013, Cordemans, s.d.)
A number of events and laws proofed to be disastrous for the forest: the French Revolution in 1789
and the annexation of Flanders by France in 1795 resulted in the destruction and abandonment of the
cloisters and the appropriation of their forests as royal domains. Unfortunately many were harvested for
paying of, mostly military, debts in the turbulent succession from French to Dutch ruling and Belgian
independency in 1830. In addition the ordinances on Wasted Lands from the Austrian Maria Theresia in 1772
(D'Alviella and Flix, 1927, 165) and the law on Wasted Lands from 1847 (Van Dijck, 2008, 161) stimulated
the agricultural exploitation of land to counteract the famine. In the period from 1815 till 1880 the
Liedekerke forest, as many other forests, was reduced to about a quarter of its size. The parcel plans from
1842 show how this systematic exploitation was organized. (Popp, 1842) A rational, orthogonal infrastructure
grid grew from the surrounding streets into the forest and divided it in sellable parcels. This conjunction of
orthogonal grids became the base for future urban development. The only piece of the forest that remained
untouched was the privately owned Liedekerke forest between the small streams as shown in [Fig. 3].1

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 In 1775 the forst was 880ha; in 1847 about 410ha; in 1930 about 120ha; in 2001 175ha (boskartering). (De Keersmaeker et al., 2011, 25).
In 1980 the forests reached its smalles surface with 77ha forested surface. (Zwamvlok. Natuurpunt Denderstreek, 2015)

12

[Fig. 3] Topographic map from 1884 and 1891 edited together. The infrastructural grids used to harvest the forest are
clearly readable in dotted line. These grids are skewed to connect to the surroundings and to follow the easiest
topographic path possible. Source: elaborated by the author from (Militair Cartografisch Instituut, 1884) and (Militair
Cartografisch Instituut, 1891).

In 1926 a part of the remaining forest was sold to the Radio and Television company abbreviated
R.T.T., current Belgacom - who installed a short wave for long range radio tower. For broadcasting purposes
the forest was mostly kept low until its closure in 1972 after which maintenance was seized. In 1998 the
Agency of Nature and Forest bought most of the land to establish a wild forest reserve. (De Keersmaeker et
al., 2011, 24) The remaining piece of the original Liedekerke forest was acquired by a real estate company that
intended to subdivide the forest into an allotment, yet was unsuccessful because of the completion of the
land-use plan in 1975 fixing it as nature reserve destination. The land was finally sold to the Flemish
Government giving the Liedekerke forest its current day existence. In [Fig. 4] a recapitulation of the
deforestation phases is shown.

13

[Fig. 4] Deforestation succession over time and space. Legend: black, thick contour = Ferraris forest outline; thin, white,
dotted line = harvesting grids on topography; thick, white, dotted line = 23ha of former R.T.T. site, now forest reserve;
bright aerial with white F = always has been, and still is, Ferraris forest (+- 60ha); deforestation phases: a. earliest harvests
before 1815; b. harvest mainly from cloister demolition between 1815-1840; c. harvests around 1840-1850, became the
spatial frame around which later the allotments of the 1970s where built, d. harvests from 1850-1900 reaching absolute
minimum, e. piece harvested and afforested between 1850-1900. Source: elaborated by the author on Google Earth, 2015
map.

The forest talks about city.

This history of afforestation and deforestation reflected changing ownerships and interests in the forest, but
in this evolution many influences on the urban structures go unnoticed. Abstractly one could describe the
forest as the ultimate collector of ambiguities: the forest is the counter-figure the ultimate nature of the
city, but glued around it are socially diverse urban classes in different housing typologies, making it highly
urban itself; the forest is structured by natural streams and artificial orthogonal deforestation patches, but it is
inside the artificial infrastructure, including the nature reserve in the former R.T.T. site, that the forests
ecology is rebuilt; the forest was highly embedded in the regions metabolism since it served the noble lords
and clerks for peace, wood, hunting, currency etcetera, but also the poorest farmers collected fire wood and
poles from the forest to cultivate hop on every square meter of their garden; finally the forest seems like a
persistent, static entity, but it rather has been a continuously changing patchwork of land-uses that responded
to the owners necessities and the forests opportunities.
The identity of the forest as collector of ambiguities is being lost ever since urban planning fixed the
land-uses. It is very unlikely that the forest could regain its original size, dynamism, ecology and identity

14

under these legal conditions, yet the forests with that we mean the at the time of Ferraris sized forest particular spatial impact in the territory of dispersion can become the subject of five sustainable narratives.
These do not attempt to rebuild the Ferraris forest in a miss-placed nostalgia for historic reconstruction, but
search for the hidden potentials in the urban-forest realm to re-explore the multitude of meanings of the
forest itself, and produce the nebulous city in its transition to a more sustainable future.
Narrative 1: the multi-modal landscape
One of the most fantastic aspects of the hidden Ferraris forest is its resistance against the
infrastructuralization of the nebulous city. In the decades following the Second World War, the
reconstruction wave changed the original city versus hinterland relation. The extremely isotropic road
network reduces the amount of places that are not reachable by car to just a few while the new ecological
awareness and traffic congestion tragedy call for new spaces where the car is abandoned, so called no-car
spaces. Yet in some pieces of the nebulous city the road network was never completed making these spaces
authentic and automatically appropriate for a no-car vision. Namely in flood prone areas, steep slopes,
valuable nature domains etcetera and also in the (former) Ferraris forests.
An analysis of current day infrastructure in Liedekerke forest, shown in [Fig. 5], learns that the roads
have not completely penetrated the original forest as in other places of the nebulous city. As one draws closer
to the former forest perimeter the roads turn narrower, less formal, un-serviced no lighting or sewage and
finally unpaved and inaccessible. This gradual deconstruction of the nebulous citys base of existence
introduces another living space and overall connectivity, and for the nature lovers a potential area of
silence2 . The isotropic network dissolves into irrational, incomplete hierarchic branches with between them
a well-composed intermediate figure: the set of orthogonal grids that rationally connect to the surrounding
existing tissue, accommodated Liedekerke forests piecemeal deforestation by selling the forest off in
rectangular, sellable parcels. Pieces of the grid were then colonized by the 1970s allotments. [Fig. 6] shows the
parcel plan illustrating its history. In the other places the grids provide the frame for the dynamic existence of
agricultural activities - the kouters or undulating agricultural fields - and forest. One of the examples is the
replanting of Hertigem forest on the agricultural lands or through agroforestry as explored in the Plantage
workshop by Steunpunt Ruimte (Dehaene et al., 2015). It is important that these grid dynamics between
forest, agriculture and the urban become more systemic.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2

Stiltegebied

15

[Fig. 5] A piece of the nebulous citys road network between Aalst and Brussels. Where the forest used to be, the biggest
gaps exist in the isotropic network. In this ArcGIS analysis polygons were made of the road network. The size (from
small in blue, to large in red) is represented on the map. The red, orange and yellow areas are significant gaps and can be
potential silent areas.
The rail network in thicker black lines show the connectivity through Liedekerke station (left one touching the Ferraris
forest) and Essene-Lombeek (right touching Ferraris forest). These will become part of the RER network of Brussels.
Source: elaborated by the author

16

[Fig. 6] The parcel plan reflects the history of the site: the different forest harvesting grids in red coincide with the main
parcel layout. Within the Ferraris forest outline the parcels are relatively large. Source: elaborated by the author

The hidden forest figure can become truly a sustainable example in the nebulous city. Where the car
is left behind, other modes of transport take over. Biking and walking are now mainly associated with leisure
activities, but the hidden forest figure should also be considered as an already established no-car figure - as
in the vision for Brussels 2040 of Bernardo Secchi and Paola Vigan. (Studio Associato Bernardo Secchi Paola Vigan, 2012) - where biking, walking and public transport (and horse-riding?) is the fundament of
functional movements. The proximity of Liedekerke and Denderleeuw3 as urban cores with a certain density
and presence of urban amenities, makes a soft mobility lifestyle perfectly possible. For long distance
movements the stations of Liedekerke and Essene-Lombeek (and also Denderleeuw) hook directly onto the
old forest perimeter and should be integrated much better within the forest lifestyle illustrated in [Fig. 5]
The hidden forest figure can be considered a hidden multi-modal landscape. The ambitions that the
nebulous city aspires regarding soft mobility are all at hand. An intelligent recalibration of the exchanges and
multi-modal systems that builds on a natural capital as a unique lifestyle and biotope4 could quickly meet the
sustainable ambitions of the nebulous city.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 The furthest distance from a forest edge location to Liedekerke is about 4 kilometre by bike or foot, and almost 50% more by car
(circling the forest)
4

More on the specific ecological biotope in story 2: the seed bank and DNA of the nebulous landscape

17

Narrative 2: the seed bank and DNA of the nebulous landscape

Liedekerke forests ecology is highly related to its history of changing land-uses. Four sub-ecologies are
currently present in the forest: small patches and linear stripes along the streams have always been forest and
show an ancient biotope; one 23ha piece where ecological succession is tested by leaving it to natures will;
some of the orthogonal grids, as the former Hertigem forest, are being replanted with a well-intended
afforestation program; finally some pieces have been deforested and used for agricultural purposes.
The Liedekerke forest is alleged to be part of the so called coal forest covering a large part of
western Europe. (Zwamvlok. Natuurpunt Denderstreek, 2015) Indeed some, although very few pieces of the
current forest have been forest for many centuries, but the forest stock has rotated many times. Where the
forest has disappeared and agricultural practices were introduced, the soils were worked, turned over,
exploited and fertilized over and over again. Almost none of the forests original soils survived there. Where
the forest persisted, or cut pieces were left as wasted lands, the ancient-old seeds remain hidden in the soil.
The seeds exemplify the true ecology of the nebulous city since they represent a sample of what the territory
inevitably would look like if left to natures forces, also called the Potential Natural Vegetation, (Cornelis et
al., 2009) but they also hold many rare species that are only visible in century-old soils as in Liedekerke forest.
Along the Kruisbeek and Hollebeek streams some old-forest species indicate the forests continuous
presence: the golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium), the bluebell5 (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and the wild garlic (or
buckrams, ramsons; Allium ursinum). (De Keersmaeker et al., 2009)
Contradictorily the piece of forest where nature is completely left alone is where an urban
installation fell into disuse allowing natures return. The former R.T.T. site, intensively maintained during its
usage, is reclaimed by nature since 1972. The Agency of Nature and Forest acquired the lands in 1998 and
since then a none-maintenance policy is installed. These technics allow to observe how the pioneer birchdominated forest gradually evolves into more shadow tolerant species. (De Keersmaeker et al., 2011) Also on
the former Hertigem forest, the completely harvested piece in Flemish-Brabant, a new afforestation program
was installed. Following the orthogonal infrastructure the forest is rebuilt through a number of social
initiatives. Gradually different pieces of the original Ferraris forest are restored and made dynamic. In 2011
the forest even received the FSC label. (Schauvliege, 2012, 5)
Aside these public forest managements, the private owners also contribute largely to the
establishment of the forest ecology. (Tack et al., 1993) A dialogue between the different forest owners,
including the public sector, would allow for re-envisioning and re-invigorating the former forest ecology. It is
absolutely critical to protect and build upon the nebulous citys seed banks so that its seeds can start
migrating and not allow more ancient forest destruction as happened in Wilrijk in 2013.6 (Belga, 2013) An
alternative approach to dealing with the land-use plan, imagining land exchanges and land banks, allows for
an intelligent construction of a unique, sizeable ecological biotope. The biotope realizes a new rich living
environment for species fauna, flora, but also for people by using the lack of an established urban realm
as demonstrated in the first storyline - to introduce a large place dedicated to a wide variety of nature values.
Narratives 3: to see and not to be seen7
The forest possesses a bizarre range of intimacy and collectivity. In the same spatial frame of the forest one
can choose to be completely isolated and alone, join together with others in intimate, collective moments
organized by a clearing in the forest or a strategic spacing of the trees or choose the public activities
organized by the competent governments. These qualities are exploited by functions in the nebulous city that
need this context: the municipal cemetery Kruisbeekveld allows for introvert moments of peace; the mange
t Lindeken, a departure point for horse-riding, the ultimate return to a slower pace society; the Roosdaal
camping site on the edge of the former Ferraris forest forms the dead-end where camp is set as a base to
explore the forest landscape; the public forest entrances and play areas inside the forest; the hidden remnant
of the cloister Ter Muilen that lies hidden between two majestic linden trees as protected heritage that serves
for personal and more public pilgrimages (Erfgoed, 2015); etcetera as programs presented in [Fig. 7]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5

this is the flower that makes the Hallerbos (forest of Halle) so famous.

In 2013 1,74ha Ferraris forest was destroyed for the construction of a logistical enterprise. This piece of forest would be compensated,
but can never reach the richness that the destroyed Ferraris forest had.

In analogy to the art installation the Gemeentelijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunst Liedekerke organised in the Liedekerke forest in
2012 called Transparant. To see through (the lens of, as a way of seeing) and the see through (as in literally seeing through something).

LIEDEKERKE, G. 2012. Transparant. Kijken door - Doorkijken [Online]. Liedekerke. Available:

http://www.liedekerke.be/content/content/record.php?ID=2399&s_navID=642 [Accessed 29/08/2015 2015].

18

Unfortunately this richness of public, collective and intimate functions in the hidden forest figure
often lie torn away from their context. The forest no longer embraces them. Their intimacy is only partially
achieved by the relative remote location and small road accessibility. In addition the Agency of Nature and
Forest promotes the most central piece of the existing forest as public playing ground, making most of the
forest visible and public. On the other hand there are also pieces that are completely left to nature. The policy
polarization - the choice between pure, uninterrupted nature or the ultimate leisure experience - makes the
difference nuances of the forest difficult to achieve and causes a certain reduction in the diversity of
atmospheres. The ambition of the hidden forest figure is to re-establish this bizarre range of seeing and not
being seen, of visibility and transparency, of intimacy and collectivity.

[Fig. 7] Programs in and around the former Liedekerke Ferraris forest. Legend: green = leisure functions; yellow =
castles, religious installations; orange = health and public importance; red = education and culture. The leisure functions
are more evenly spread and present. Source: elaborated by the author

Narratives 4: finally, that Flemish dream

Historically the forest was not the place for housing except for large mansions for the noblemen and the
cloisters, abbeys and other religious installations. Only the poorest amongst the poor often searched the edge
of the forest to enjoy whatever the forest owner could spare. (Tack et al., 1993) In Liedekerke one road
crossed straight through the middle of the Ferraris Liedekerke forest. The opperstraat originally called
brusselstreate indicating the route to Brussels, the street changed name due to the hop that was cultivated
abundantly on the street (Heemkring Liedekerke, 2013) was one of the only East-West road that didnt
follow the Denders North-South logic and proved to be most dynamic and mixed. In the 18th Century the
local population were given authority to collect deadwood. To avoid long distances the poorest would settle
at the edge of the forest along the East-West street that extended towards the forest. With time the small
houses grew deeper away from the street resulting in a system of kasjkes or small perpendicular streets that
brought together collectives of people and families. (Smet, 2013) This micro-urbanism narrow streets, small
and chaotic, eclectic buildings allowed the successive appropriation by the poorest people. During the
Industrial Revolution the wood houses were upgraded to stone worker houses and afterwards they followed

19

the different style periods. These streets, or rather paths, bundle Flanders eclectic built patrimony in one eye
catcher, captured in [Fig. 8]. The fattening ribbon development finally detached from the regressing forest
and lost its original, geographic rationality.

[Fig. 8] Foto of one of the kasjkes in Liedekerke. Notice the narrow street and eclectic architecture. Source: (Regionaal
Landschap Pajottenland en Zennevallei, 2014)

Yet, another fundamental change in attitude towards the forest arose in the spirit of the early 20th Century.
The forest became appropriated with leisure, health and education infrastructure as a reaction to the
suffocating city. Mainly during the Interbellum, 8 the forest started to be systematically colonized by
temporarily inhabited holiday houses that quickly turned permanent. This fundamental urban colonization
brought a mental change. The forest was no longer the counter-figure of the city, but rather an interesting,
and more healthy alternative.
Where this colonization was still prude before the Second World War, afterwards the speculative
nature of the real estate market, the stimulation of the ultimate dream of owning your house with a garden
in the hinterland and the lack of planning regulation lead to an allotment boom. Many forests were partially
eaten by the profit driven developers and their monotonous allotments. It probably was the most disastrous
housing boom of Belgium due to its complete lack of typological innovation, its scale in the 1950s, 1960s
and 1970s the building speed was the highest ever (Belgian Federal Government, 2013) and the lack of
urban quality. They deliberately searched nature, but their invasion into it was apathic, disrespectful and
destructive. The forest was one of their main victims. Ironically many of these allotments carry names of
trees, flowers, birds9
Today the spatial frame of Liedekerke is more or less consolidated and soon the housing reserve
areas will be opened for development. After a number of forest related developments, a new moment of
convergence between urban and forest development is needed. Different opportunities and tendencies direct
towards it. Firstly all the housing expansion areas of the municipalities, and some of the surrounding
municipalities, are located within or on the edge of the former Ferraris forest, as shown in [Fig. 9]. Through
these expansion areas building houses and planting forest should go hand in hand to recreate a rich forest-

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8

Period between the two World Wars, 1920s and 1930s.

9 Amongst the street names of the allotments in Liedekerke are: Populierenlaan, Begonialaan, Eikenlaan, Zwaluwenlaan, Beikenelaan,
Dennenlaan, Notelarenlaan, Wilgenlaan, Fazantenlaan, Meeuwenlaan...

20

urban interface. The time that urban development disconnects completely from its territorial base is over.
Secondly, the hidden forest figure contains a varied social composition, as (partially) illustrated in [Fig. 10].
The forest therefore contains an intrinsic capacity to allow a high urban integration and build a housing stock
that serves the new societal configuration. (Winters and De Decker, 2009) Finally as stated in the previous
stories, the hidden forest figure holds the immediate potential to become a sustainable nebulous figure. It is
here that new innovative housing initiatives, and even densification, could grow based on soft mobility,
public transport and an intense density of high quality of life programs in an incredible forest landscape
setting. Together they potentially stage the perfect atmosphere for a fantastic new urban realm. Finally, that
Flemish dream.

[Fig. 9] Housing expansion areas and the hidden forest figure. The land-use is very fragmented with actually very few true
forest (dark green). The current Liedekerke forest is nature area. The housing expansion areas (squared red with white
background) are all located along or in the former Ferraris forest. Source: elaborated by the author from (Ministerie van
openbare, 1972)

21

[Fig. 10] This double figure shows the Liedekerke forest in black outline. On the left the average income of the statistical
zone from blue (high) to red (low). On the right the relative amount of foreigners per statistical zone from red (high) to
blue (low). White values are too low to be statistically relevant. In both cases Liedekerke forest shows a certain degree of
mixity. Source: elaborated by the author from data from the Nationaal Geografisch Instituut, 2015, consulted on 31st of
August.

Story 5: a hidden forest practice

The 1970s land-use plans (Ministerie van openbare, 1972) fixed the destination of the hidden forest figure
resulting in the reduction of flexibility and variation, shown in [Fig. 9]. The ecosystem of a forest is a
continuous carpet of diverse conditions: wet to dry, sand to clay, high to low vegetation, dens to open
vegetation The forest contains a multitude of landscape gradients that allow a multitude of life styles. This
diverse forest architecture has to be built just as the different functions that the forest houses. And so beyond
the untouchable ecology and public leisure function of the remaining Ferraris forest, there is space for
designing the forest for a multitude of urban appropriations. Nowadays the Agency of Nature and Forest
orients the forest design largely towards establishing an authentic forest ecology and, with merit, they slowly
succeed in recovering some of the ecology that was lost over the decades of nebulous city development.
Unfortunately their effectiveness often depends on the Agency acquiring the land while this technic is outdated. In a spread urban condition where land prices are exuberantly high, it is fair to say they will not be able
to establish nearly as much nature as they need to by applying their land acquiring policy.
To be able to exploit the potential richness of the forest more actors need to be involved in forest
building. This will prove much more efficient in realizing the forest and its ecosystem (including fauna, flora,
people). The hidden forest figure - the 1775 Ferraris forest border - could serve as an intermediate area of
collaboration. Based on the history of Liedekerke and its forest it is fair to say that a fundamental different,
sustainable piece of nebulous city can be built when reconsidering how projects within this hidden figure are
realized. A central committee could be installed that represents the most important actors within the hidden
figure: the Agency of Nature and Forest, the urbanism departments of the municipalities Liedekerke and
Ternat, a representative of the Flemish government concerning urbanism and soft mobility All projects
that are realized should be discussed and negotiated by the committee so that they can streamline new urbanforest interfaces. Liedekerke forest would then be co-produced as an integrated ecosystem where forest can
co-exist with its users. This approach potentially annihilates the historic inversed urban-forest relation
where urban grows, the forest disappears but established them as inseparable entities.
Conclusion: forest urbanism in the nebulous city
The case of Liedekerke forest and its five stories presents a discourse on how to actually advance with the
transition of the nebulous city towards a more sustainable model. Intermediate (landscape) figures can be
strong operators that allow a unique co-produced urban realm. The strength of this approach is the relative
evident quality that the forest possesses, but that remains completely underused due to structure of sectorial
competences. Looking at the exchanges between urban and forest in their historic evolution, it is fair to say
that establishing nature is not only possible through an Agency of Nature and Forest. Vice versa the urban

22

realm can no longer be produced only by urban administrations since it resulted in detached, grey,
monotonous living conditions.
The hidden forest figure holds an intrinsic capacity to build pieces of unique urban realm in the
nebulous city. The Liedekerke forest is one of many forests that remain hidden in the nebulous citys web of
streets, as [Fig. 11] shows. Its strategic location between Gent, Aalst and Brussels could make this case
exemplary for other forest figures. Together they can become a practice of a new (forest) urbanism that
significantly contributes to the nebulous citys transition to a more sustainable model.

[Fig. 11] Hidden forest figures: Liedekerke forest; Buggenhout forest in Buggenhout; Moerbeke forest in
Geeraardsbergen.
White background shows the 1775 Ferraris forest, dark grey current forest. Source: (Vanderfaille, 2015, 82-83)

23

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Another use of agricultural soil in the Horizontal Metropolis

A micro-story of soil from the Russian Chernozem to the Valley Section
Marine Durand
Laboratory of Urbanism lab-U, EPFL
Paola Vigan
March, 2018
marine.durand@epfl.ch
In the perspective of stress of soil as a resource, the ongoing research intends to re-conceptualize the relation between the
diffuse city and the soil in order to imagine another possible and sustainable future for the Horizontal Metropolis, starting
precisely from its marginal agricultural soil, often fragmented and threatened by urbanization, and borrowing from
Possibilism its theoretical openness to possible future scenarios. Based on the hypothesis that the agricultural soil should
no longer be considered only as a simple functional support for production, but rather as a dynamic environment, the
research aims at reactivating a dual scale of the soil: its close pedological reading and the understanding of its regional role
and possibilities similary, adressing some innovative ideas on the relations between Man and in its environment that
emerged in the beginning of the twentieth century. The paper will tend to demonstrate this assumption through a
historiographic excursion on the works of three protagonists, Patrick Geddes, Elise Reclus and V.V. Dokuchaev, who
each participated in the Exposition Universelle de Paris of 1900 and shared a holistic conception of science.

Agricultural soil as a fundamental resource in the Horizontal Metropolis

"Nature proposes, man disposes" (Febvre 1922): This Vidalian possibilistic idea of a relationship between
man and his environment, supported by French geographers in the early twentieth century, integrates a
prospective vision. The transformative aim is assumed: on the one hand, the Earth, although a finite world,
had not been conquered in its entirety, and transformative conquest through colonization was at the heart of
many geographers reflections (Robic 1992); on the other hand, man can not "borrow [from nature] all the
elements of its civilization: it must transform them" (Febvre 1922). The act of transformation that introduces
the notion of civilization, in its geographical meaning, as the " enhancement by societies of the resources the
natural environment offers" is the problem we are focusing on here, that of mankind's use of natural
resources. "For a given environment, nature presents itself as a potential reservoir, with its limitations and its
own economy": Febvres definition of Vidal de la Blache (1845-1918) Possibilisme does not only focus on the
"potential reservoir" that would allow a utilitarian idea of nature without any restrictions, but it also
introduces the idea of limits. These limits are embodied by the finite characteristic of resources nature offers.
The resource is not limited as understood today, in the sense of non-renewable in the finite Earth absolute,
but the limit lies in the unequal distribution of resources in amount and in relation to their disposal on land in
a given place. However, some geographers were already sensitive to the scarcity of resources, especially
resources used in production and consumption processes: Jean Brunhes in his Gographie humaine (1910)
introduces the danger of the use of non-renewable resources with his categorization in destructive
economies Facts describing some activities such as industry but also extremely aggressive harvesting and
hunting as "destructive of natural resources that do not renew and preventing it from being sure of its
future". But agricultural production is still spared by this reasoning: "Agriculture controls its future because it
relies on the forces which, far from destroying themselves through use, get more and more vigorous as their
role is clarified. This optimism concerning the agricultural soil as a resource was understandable at the
beginning of the twentieth century. Today, this optimism toward agricultural land is still present while the
conditions of agriculture have been radically transformed and deteriorated. The value of agricultural land,
which is measured not only in quantity (utilized agricultural area) but also in quality of soil (organic material,
fertility, structure), is continually diminishing. Agricultural lands as one of the last non-urbanized elements
of our livable territories can provide services to the urban ecosystem (Chenu, Lorenz, Morel, 2014), to the
city and its surroundings, but due to urbanization its surfaces are reducing: this paradox led to the collective
awareness, in the best cases, about the scarcity of agricultural land in the urbanized areas, which has allowed
its classification as non-building land in planning regulations. But the soil itself must deal with internal battles:
the modernization of intensive agriculture (green revolution), through technical and chemical caused
pollution, erosion, depletion of agricultural soil, and it contributes to global warming with the CO2 emissions
of this industrialized activity, [dissimulating] fossil energy uses in its productive success, without giving
anything back to the soil (Bevilacqua 2015).
Thus, from the perspective of stress on resources, and, in particular, in this vast theme of soil as a resource,
the ongoing research focuses on the marginal situations of agricultural land and soil, often fragmented and
threatened by urbanization, as observed in diffuse cities or thr Horizontal Metropolis, this layered territorial
construction where agriculture and non-agriculture economic activities create an original mix (Secchi,
Vigan 2010). The research aims to re-conceptualize the relation between the diffuse city and the soil, in

26

order to imagine another possible and sustainable future for the Horizontal Metropolis, starting precisely
from its soils, and this, according to two principal hypotheses.
First, agricultural soils, among other unbuilt soils, has a history that is as long as the city itself, and our
hypothesis is that the study and attentive reading of this long-term history must reveal some of the
rationalities of the city-territory, of the relationship between the transformation and artificalization of
agriculture, and the construction of Horizontal Metropolis by stratification. Secondly, the research supports
the hypothesis that agricultural soils should no longer only be seen as a support for the productive function,
but as a dynamic milieu. This paradigm shift marking the transition from agronomy to agrology
understanding laws of soil dynamics (Altieri 1995, Bourguignon 2009) gives us a very stimulating
methodological approach to re-conceptualize the soil as a dynamic media by crossing two scales: the closest
with the pedological profile revealing the nature of soils and their evolution in time, and the larger territorial
scale of an ecosystem where soils take part, an urban ecosystem in our case. The research proposes to
investigate this holistic approach that focuses on the scientific object of soil but only considering it as part of
a whole, through the production of an atlas and the exploration of strategies that investigate the possibilities
of diffuse cities around the capacity of agricultural soils, borrowing from Possibilisme its theoretical openness
to possible future scenarios.
To begin, the research proposes to rebuild a genealogy of ideas around the relationship between Men and
their environment focusing on the question of soils, a history of ideas made of chosen pieces, that does not
aim at being exhaustive but rather at revealing affiliations between some enlightened protagonists scientific
breakthroughs, adopting a micro-story approach that allows us to recognize some moments of contact in
space and time, but especially in ideas.
Building a genealogy of soil through the micro-story
This article takes part in this oriented genealogy on soil, starting from the micro-story of three protagonists at
the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris, a moment of contact that found Elise Reclus, Patrick Geddes and
Vassily V. Dokuchaev together in space and time, as well as in ideas. The following explicates the affiliation
of approaches to the soil that we recognized in them, and that we found particularly enlightening for our
research, since each addresses in its own way our two hypotheses of long-term historic rationalities and a dual
scale approach to the soil.
Starting from the emergence of soil as a scientific object, with the appearance of soil in the third dimension at
the Exposition Universelle, we will see how the prospective approach of our three protagonists integrated the
regional scale as the valid object through which to think new relationships between the city and its
surrounding, blurring the limits between them, a very innovative and early thinking of the relationship
between rural and urban realms. Finally, we will invoke a long-term history of civilization based on the
relationship between the agricultural soils and the city to imagine new tools for the reading and design of the
Horizontal Metropolis rationalities through its soil.

[fig.1] Portraits (from left to right): the French anarchist geographer Elise Reclus (1830-1905), the Russian father of soil
science Vassily Vasilievitch Dokuchaev (1846-1903) and the Scottish biologist-sociologist-anthropologist Patrick Geddes
(1854-1932).

27

The third dimension of soil in the Exposition Universelle of 1900: the Globe, the Valley Section and
the cube of Chernozem
We are in Paris, 1900, the Exposition Universelle aims at presenting the Legacy of a century. Our protagonists
participate to this intellectual legacy, in their own way: Elise Reclus has been working on his project of
Globe at the 1:100 000 since 1895, a sphere-building that would perfectly represent the unity of the Earth in
its exact structure; Patrick Geddes has highly supported the project of his colleague and is responsible for the
representation of the Scottish territory in relief. The project will be aborted for lack of finance, but Geddes
will organize his summer school in Paris at the Exposition. The filiation between Reclus and Geddes is well
known (Steele 1999), but still has a lot to tell if interrogated through the lens of soils. Then, Dokuchaev will
present his scientific advances in the Russian pavilion where he exposes soil samples from its exhibitions,
maps and an exceptional cubic meter of the famous Chernozem, the Ukranian fertile soil that led him to the
understanding of soil formation, its scientifically breakthrough1. While the soil is Dokuchaevs scientific
object, with Reclus and Geddes, the innovation stands in their attention to earth relief that reveals another
consideration of soil.
The relief on the Globe, the Valley Section and the cube of Russian Chernozem: the third dimension of soil.
Reclus Globe project was a 160m-large and 195m-high spherical temple of the Earth-Mother according to
Geddes (quoted in: Meller 1990), of geographical knowledge and experience, but more than an unbuilt
project, its a statement. The power of project made Reclus innovation tangible and communicable even
today. When he started to imagine his Globe and contextualizing it in the Exposition Universelle, he was fighting
against the only representation of the world through two-dimensional maps that are always adapting reality
and transforming it, claiming that the advantage of globe over map representation is that the same scale can
be applied to the three dimensions, at the condition that the sphere is big enough (this condition determined
the scale of 1:100 000 that makes the relief visible). The accuracy of curvature and of the relief is necessary,
no exaggeration in the relief is needed, neither mountains nor low relief, because the Globe must serve to
others than just the merely curious people, and the mathematicians must be able to report on it their geodetic
calculations with perfect rigor (Reclus 1895). Not only did he aim at a radical shift from the past in the
representation of reality of Nature, but he believed that this shift would also imply a revolution in the
cartographic industry: once the globe is perfectly representative of the earth, there is no need to reproduce
new measures and calculation to produce new maps, one can use the perfect model through its photography,
a model that would be completed year after year with all the new discoveries.
Patrick Geddes participates to Reclus Globe pedagogical project with enthusiasm, he believed in Reclus
approach of superiority of three-dimensional representations, the most active exponent of the need for
advancing beyond maps to relief-models (Geddes 1925a). The topographic model at the 1: 4000 that
conserves the same scale in all the three dimensions (Faure 1910) of the region of Edinburgh in his Outlook
Tower reveals it, and of course, his famous Valley Section diagram [fig. 4] represents this attention to the
relief with topographic consideration. The section actually illustrates the Valley plan of civilization: more
than a real topographic section, it is a metaphorical representation of civilization evolution of that general
slope form mountains to sea which we find everywhere in the world that can be adapted to any scale. It
integrates the topography and its climatic and natural specificity: each human activity is related to its specific
and physical contest, to what the environment can provide to mankind, to what the soil can produce. With
Reclus and Geddes, the third dimension has appeared, with the relief of the earth, the topography of the
geographical region. But for the soil itself to be thought in three dimensions and not only as the support for
human activities, we need Dokuchaevs discovery on soil formation to enrich our story.
In 1900, Dokuchaev and his scientific team participated to the Exposition Universelle in Paris for the second
time. While in 1889 they presented their first collection related to the study of soils, in 1900 the new-born soil
science, the pedology, had its owns methods and literature, the Russian team was even considered as the
most innovative from the cartographical point of view (dAlmeida 1904). In fact, Dokuchaev installed, among
his soil samples, the first pedological map of Russia, accompanied by a relief model of the Poltava
Government2where the height was exaggerated compared to the reality produced by crossing Dokuchaevs
map of soil and a hypsometric map of Russia. These instruments represented three major keystones of
Dokuchaev scientific discoveries (Boulaine 1989). First, the formation of soil or pedogenesis (1883): the soil
is the result of mutual activity of five agents or factors of differentiation: living and dead organisms, bedrock,
climate, relief and time available for pedogenesis to operate. Secondly, the soils zonation (1892-96): a
simplified explanation is that the factors of soil depend on the climatic zones, so the soil itself is zonal. And
Dokuchaev discovered the formation of this type of soil because he had to explain the disastrous consequences on agricultural
production of an exceptional drought that happened in 1873 and 1875 in the Ukrainian Chernozem steppes the very fertile and
productive lands of Russia which soil is very rich in organic material while not covered by forest. Dokuchaev discovered that the
Chernozem was almost independent of its bedrock but highly depended on the climate, one of the five factors of pedogenesis.
2 Poltava is situated in the vast region of Chernozem steppes, in Ukraine.
1

28

finally, based on these two ideas, he created the first classification of soil. We understand now why the
material produced for the exhibition was so innovative: topography and climate had to be represented to
reveal to the world that they were part of the formation of soil. The Russian team put a lot of effort for their
scientific breakthrough to be recognized in western Europe, various articles were written in French and
English (for the 1893 Exposition Universelle in Chicago), and this attention on communication around the
importance of the soil is entirely tangible in the Central Soil Science Museum that Dokuchaev founded in
Saint-Petersburg in 1904.
The Globe, the Outlook Tower and the Central soil Science Museum: monuments for a social and pedological project
The Central Soil Science Museum was a part of the Soil Institute it contained and still contains today the
first collection of monoliths coming from Dokuchaev expeditions and the different maps of soil but it was
also a real museum open to the public, it aimed at educating by showing the soil formation, the soil diversity
in process and to reflect the interrelations of soils with other elements of ecosystems. The same scientific and
pedological idea is contained in Reclus Globe: in fact, the understanding of the plan-relief is immediate for
everybody, while the reading of a map with its legend and color grammar needs experience or efforts. The
Globe was not only a perfectible and exact representation of the Earth, it was a metaphor of cosmic unity of
human life and universal ties that this implies. Beyond his museum, Dokuchaev organized another event that
reflected the attention he brought to the participation of citizens into the construction common knowledge
around soil science: while he was working on a research for the development of Saint-Petersburg and its
region, he organized the first public scientific promenade in the region. We are in 1892, the exact same year
Patrick Geddes opens the Outlook Tower to the public in Edinburgh. Among numerous authors that have
written about Geddes Outlook Tower, Pierre Chabards description of the Outlook Tower as a world
anamorphosis, a projection of an idea of the world that uses all the different views that the visitor was
solicited to engage in the Tower, reveals that all this efforts made by Geddes on the different ways to show
and for the visitors to observe its environment on the different scale reflect the prospective and progressive
goal of this pedagogical experience: Observe to reform (Chabard 2001). The affiliation of Reclus and
Geddes toward popular education has been finely re-constructed (Steele 1999). Not only Geddes, Reclus, and
even Dokuchaev in a less politically assumed way share the idea of social progress through the implication
of knowledge acquisition by the citizens, but they all assumed a prospective approach: understanding the laws
of nature and the relationship between Man and its natural environment in order to improve this relationship
through this understanding of physical characteristic of Nature.
We have seen that the soil has emerged with our protagonists: first, as a new discipline, the soil science, that
was actually born thanks to a climatic and agricultural catastrophe, secondly, through the claim for
importance of relief in the representation and the observation of the earth and men surrounding
environment and through the idea of civilization evolution based on the different use of soil in time and in
space, and finally relief, geography and soil found their dedicated temples where they where shared in a
pedological and social project.

[fig.2] The social monuments of geographical and soil knowledge (from left to right):
The Outlook Tower in Edinburgh, inaugurated in 1892. Schematic Elevation with the geographical scale corresponding
to each level (a); Reclus Globe project designed by Louis Bonnier in 1897-98 for the Trocadro platform (b); The Central
Soil Science Museum created by Dokuchaev (1904), museum exhibition since it was elaborated by the Director Boris
Aparin in 1976 (c).
From: (a) Geddes, P., 1915. Cities in Evolution. London: Williams; (b) Projet de Globe terrestre au 100.000e, Elise Reclus,
edition B2, 2011; (c) Saint-Petersburg Central Museum of Soil, Photography elaborated by the author, 2015.

29

The holistic approach to the environment and the appearance of Regionalism

Dokuchaevs holistic approach to soil science: the dual scale of soil
When Dokuchaev opposed the old idea of soil only based on the geology (bedrock) to explain the nature of
the soil, he revealed that the soil formation takes place in the coupling, through the soil, between the mineral
world and the living world. With him, the soil itself received the gift of life: the soil is a living body of
nature, such as plants, animals, minerals, rocks, it was born, it grows, it lives in various ways and it can die
(quoted in: Boukharaeva, Marloie 2013). This conception of soil as a living body, with its own rules,
depending on natural factors, in a world that is a unique and indivisible ensemble is a very early ecological
conception: each and every element has a role in the natural ensemble. We understand that if the soil dies, the
ecosystem dies. Not only this definition integrated the idea of soil as a dynamic environment on the close
scale the laws of soil that agroecology aspires to come back to but it opened to the idea that the soil, as
the fourth reign of nature after the ligneous-vegetable, animal and mineral reigns, is an independent
organism that plays a role on a larger scale, since it interacts with other natural factor, evoking the notion of
ecosystem.
From the soil and its environment, to the city and its region.
The holistic approach to soil science that is attributed to Dokuchaev (Boulaine 1989) crosses the holistic
methodological and conceptual approach of Geddes and Reclus among the relationship between Men and the
environment, in which, every physical, natural and social fact is a scientific object that needs to be precisely
and finely observed and represented, but always considering its existence and role as a whole, belonging to a
larger system, as unique and complete object, the world. We can draw an interesting parallel between the
holistic approach to science and the holistic approach of our protagonists to the study of the cities. In fact,
for Dokuchaev, the prospective research for Saint-Petersburg development requires an understanding of the
natural characteristics of the environment that is not only the city, but all its surrounding: the limit that
Dokuchaev defines for this research is the watershed of the Neva river [fig. 3]. We believe that it is one of the
first urban projects that define its spatial limits on the watershed, the natural limit of the region.

[fig.3] Map with the limits (in blue) of the River Basin Neva, 1890 conducted at the request of VV Dokuchaev, for the
project "Detailed Search natural history, physical, geographical, agricultural, hygienic and veterinary St. Petersburg and its
environs." Source: Central Soil Museum of St. Petersburg. Photography elaborated by the author, 2015.

Geddes and Reclus also claim for the consideration of the natural region, the natural limits of the watershed
and valley, to define the regional limit. And this natural limit will be considered as the new object of reference
to understand the city: It takes the whole region to make the city (Geddes 1905). This was the first
paradigm shift from the city to the city inside its region. When Reclus and Geddes anticipated the urban
dispersion by putting words on this phenomenon at its earliest age with the idea of conurbation (Geddes
1915) and the image of octopus (Reclus 1895) they still referred to the idea of the city that grows form the
center to the countryside; Reclus already evoked the idea that the city needs a larger territory to run, when he
stated that the urban organism cannot be made to carry on its provisioning, [], the repair of its forces and
the expulsion of its waste. Geddes with the Regional Survey but especially Reclus in the last part of his
article The evolution of cities dedicated to the present time and the future imagined a straighter relationship
between the city and the countryside. They were both animated by sanitary issues such as bad-air quality in
the unhealthy city-centers: while Geddes developed the idea of reparative surgery to deal with the existing
in the future, Reclus considered the countryside as the healthy place where to live while the city-center

30

becomes the common good, the the patrimony of all where to work, study, run the society, but not the
place to live in. This vision defers from Howards idea of satellite with his garden cities, because it assumed
that the existing signals of people leaving the city to live in the countryside would evolve in that sense and
that this phenomenon would change the limits of the city by itself: By virtue of its very growth, the modern
town loses its isolated existence and tends to merge itself with other towns, and to recover the original
relation that united the rising market-place with the country from which it sprang. Here the limits between
the city and its natural or agricultural surroundings are disappearing, the natural region, the city and its
countryside, become the new object organizing civilization on a given place: Reclus delivers an early intuition
of our possibilistic vision of diffuse cities and territories that recognize, in the heterogeneity caused by
dispersion, the possibility, the capacity to imagine another future.
Reading the Horizontal Metropolis through the lens of its long-term history with agricultural soil
When the fields build the city: a long-term history of civilization
Most of long-term urbanized territories share a long-term history with agricultural lands: the nature of soil
among others conditions like climate and topography finds itself to be the primary influential condition for
the spontaneous choice of settlement of men in a given territory (Reclus 1895). This choice is based on the
ability of this territory to produce food from the soil through agriculture: Where the blade cannot grow the
town cannot grow either. This affirmation is verified for the long-term and uneventful history of civilization,
the quiet, decent, constructive, agricultural and village civilization that Geddes focused on with his concept
of the Valley Plan of Civilization and evoked in his article Cities, and the soil they grow from (Geddes
1925a) referring to remote times but aiming to understand the normal life-processes (Geddes 1925b). The
metaphor of the evolution of civilization was already present in Reclus Nouvelle Gographie Universelle (1876)
and Histoire dun Ruisseau (1869), through the same image of the Valley and its watershed. But Geddes has left
a very strong image of evolution with the section: by cutting the surface of the earth, he clearly links the form
of the settlements and the lifestyle of its inhabitant to the use of soil through the nature-occupation of land
in time. In fact, the first form of regrouped settlements is related to agricultural activity: here in the isolated
hamlet lives the poor peasant because of a poorer soil than the agricultural lands that surround the village or
town where the rich peasant with its richer soil lives. The soil is a resource for the cities just like the flints for
the miner, the wood for the woodman, the game for the hunter, or the sea for the fisherman.

[fig.4] Diagram illustrating the Valley Plan of Civilization (drawn by Hendrick Willem Van Loon).
From: Geddes, P., 1925b. The Valley Plan of Civilization. The Survey, 54, p. 288.

Of course, this description of the evolution of cities is not valid in every part of the world. Reclus reminds
us in the article The evolution of cities he wrote during Geddes summer school in 1895 that the foundation of
the new cities relied less on physical advantages than on a despotic decision that brought the civilization
to build cities in a spot where it could never have sprung up of itself, requiring a tremendous waste of
living force. Saint-Petersburg for which Dokuchaev made the development project through its soils is a
perfect example, since Peter the First decided in 1703, after his victory on the Swedish, to found his city on
the conquered wetlands that required to bring in until four meters of new surface soil to be upon the sea-level
rise, producing very young anthropogenic soils (Aparin, Sukhacheva 2014).
According to Reclus, this relationship based on agriculture has stably structured the territory if we look at it
on a larger scale: one may discerned beneath the apparent disorder a real order of distribution, which was
evidently regulated long ago by the step of the traveller, he proposed to read the apparent disorder of
cities form and distribution through this lens of agricultural structure rationality. This long-term history of the
evolution of the city since its foundation on the most fertile lands but safe from natural risks and these
rationalities between towns and fields, between human settlement and the quality of soil, often considered ahistoric (Geddes 1925a), can seem to be too far from us today. However, we believe that this reflection on
the evolution of cities has a lot to tell us about the contemporary condition of diffuse urbanization.

31

[fig.4] Examples of three diffuse cities in Western Europe that tie a particular bound to the soil and agricultural land.
From left to right: 1) The Swiss alpine city-territory (Corboz 1990) with the urbanized Rhne river plain: the soil
draining that enabled a stable agriculture structure in the plain was the first condition to the habitability of the territory; 2)
The French rurban territories (Bauer, Roux 1976) where the small villages near a central city grow at the expenses of
the agricultural surrounding lands; 3) The Northern Italian citt diffusa (Indovina ed al. 1990), a denser urban dispersion
where the agricultural soil, fragmented in an urban carpet, is exactly the negative of the built soils.

The physical and natural rationalities and the relationship with agriculture lands have structured the territories
of diffused cities, their evolution, from their foundation to the phenomenon of dispersion. That is what
Reclus remind us measuring the growth of the city through its physical and stable characteristics, through its
natural advantages, its resource and its capacity to use them: Given the same environment and the same
stage of evolution, the size of the cities is measured exactly by the sum of their natural privileges. The
diffuse city is often criticized as a city of individual decisions that evolved chaotically without powerful urban
planning: in one word, an uneventful evolution. This does not make the lecture of the territory and its
rationalities easier, it is difficult to understand and spatially read a history that is apparently a-historic, that
evolves by slow stratifications. But the soil is actually challenged today by its disappearance and by its
decreasing quality, a phenomenon that can be compared as an event in this long quiet history. These are the
reasons why the rationalities related to the soil can provide us an excellent lens through which to read these
territories in order to understand the stratification of the metropolis, its past, and to be able to imagine its
future. This approach of the fine lecture of soil and other natural rationalities of a territory was already
present in Dokuchaevs proposal for the Detailed project of development for Saint-Petersburg and its
surrounding. In fact, as he considered Men and their environment as a unique and indivisible ensemble,
Dokuchaev believed that it was impossible to improve social wellness or quality of life without a detailed
study of natural history of the environment where Men evolve (Dokuchaev ed al. 1892).
Conclusions
By crossing the Valley section the metaphorical evolution of civilization and Dokuchaevs soil profile the
dynamic understanding of soil in space and through very long times this historiographic shortcut inspired us
different methodological tools to be tested in the research that aims not only at reading and studying but also
at imagining the future of the Horizontal Metropolis, starting from the project for its soil. Indeed, we have
found stimulating parallels between our first hypothesis of research around soil and the approach of our three
multi-disciplinary protagonists toward the concept of soil.
The soil is actually the principal protagonist of our story: although partially present at the Exposition Universelle
in 1900, the soil was omnipresent in our protagonists conception of the civilization revealed by the different
representations that they used to explicit their theories and visions. Above all, the Museum was a powerful
representation able to express the holistic approach by itself: it was the public monument from which all the
society could observe, learn, experiment and imagine the geographical facts of civilization. To imagine
another future starting from its threatened agricultural soil, the Horizontal Metropolis could need its own
monument, an Horizontal Soil Study Museum maybe, a function that the Expo Milan 2015 could have
embodied but which has actually revealed that, more than one century after Paris Exposition Universelle, the
universal knowledge of soil as a fundamental resource vanished, an unfortunate step backward that this
research hopes to adress.

32

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34

Subsurface Mining and Surface Urbanization: Disturbed Ecologies

requiring Rebalancing
Patrycja Perkiewicz
Institute of Urbanism & Landscape, Oslo School of Architecture & Design, Norway
Supervisors: Kelly Shannon, Tim Anstey
Expected thesis defence: September 2017
Email: patrycja.i.perkiewicz@aho.no

The collapse of socialism in Poland, in 1989, was accompanied with a dramatic change from a command to marketorientated economy. The democratic system significantly influenced the demographic and spatial structure of Lower
Silesia. Although many industrial towns throughout the country were exposed to a process of deindustrialization, resulting
in urban shrinkage and economic decline, Lower Silesias urbanism expanded due to its rich unseen layer of mineral
resources located below the surface of the earth. Lower Silesia is Polands fastest growing and continuously transforming
region. Until the discovery of what is considered as one of the worlds largest deposits of copper, the southwest territory
was largely regarded as underdeveloped and with poor infrastructure; the region was known for and specialized in smallscale agriculture and textiles. The area was left handicapped by its low density and devastation brought on by the
extensive bombing during WWII, which destroyed settlements, industries, and most of its cultivated landscape. The
discovery of subsurface copper stratum, not only triggered a vast transformation of the territory, but also began the
process of modernization and industrialization, followed by urbanization.

!
Transformation from agricultural to Legnicko-Gogowski Copper Belt
Lower Silesia is located within the Oder Rivers watershed, in the southwestern part of Poland. The
hydrological network played an important role in formulating the regions landscape, influencing the location
and development of settlements (Niedwiecka-Filipiak, Serafin 2015). In order to enable urban growth, based
on agriculture and industrial activity, the Oder River was historically a subject of control (Blackbourn
2006). The Oder Rivers floodplain was exposed to a series of engineering works, resulting in the reclamation
of marshy, alluvial lands ideal for cultivation in order to create an extremely productive agricultural landscape
and efficient transport corridor. The re-enforced riverbanks resulted in the further expansion of development
processes (Mller 2008). Lower Silesia lies at the axis of several historical routes linking east and west, as well
as north and south. Changes within the Oder River Valley has resulted in the creation of towns specialized in
trade. The close access to water resources and rich soil located on a relatively flat territory intensified its
agricultural use. In the past, the region witnessed numerous territorial disputes and conflicts resulting in
damage of economy on various levels, however the World War II brought upon the Lower Silesia never
experienced before dimension of catastrophe and backwardness in the development. The intensification of
territorial transformation was again triggered soon after copper ore deposits were discovered in 1957 in area
of Lubin and Sieraszowice. The unseen layer of mineral resources located below the surface of the earth
brought dramatic change upon the Lower Silesian landscape, transforming it from a mostly agriculture use a
region of into mining operations. Rapid industrialization influenced not only the scale, but also the direction
of urbanization and migration movements (Padziora 2011). The dynamic transformation of the settlement
structure began the moment construction of the first mines and industrial plants were initiated, which was
considered the beginnings of the industrial region (Zagodon 1988). As the mining industry became a driver
of the Polish economy, a considerable economic potential in the Lower Silesia was initiated LegnickoGogowski Okrg Miedziowy (LGOM) 1, which is today one of the major industrial belts in the country.
Until then, the region was considered underdeveloped and handicapped by its low density, as a consequence
of vast damages obtained during World War II. During the war, extensive bombing destroyed households,
cultivated land, and industry and the majority of towns lost their urban status. Before the rapid evolution of
mining settlements, the region suffered vastly. Old cities were demolished, leaving the reaming architecture in
a terrible condition. However, the process of industrialization triggered a social transformation, together with
a restructuring of infrastructure and settlements systems, resulting in an overall economic reactivation of the
region. These great changes transpired during the socialistic era and the majority of cities redeveloped within
the region happened on the basis of the mining industrial revolution that took place (Ciok 1994). Rapid
growth caused changes a population redistribution and creation of new workplaces, followed by strong
migration movements (Zagodon 1988). The presence of copper deposits and its associated
processing plants determined the location of newly established jobs (Litwiska 2004). The expansion of

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Legnicko-Gogowski Okrg Miedziowy (LGOM) is considered to be an industrial and administrative area in the northwestern part of
Lower Silesia, dedicated to copper mining operations. The area covers approx. 461,9 km2

35

industry was supported by development of technical infrastructure, road systems, along with railways, sewage,
water service systems and energy. New infrastructure ripped through the local landscape, replacing outdated
or damaged existing roads, simultaneously improving the quality of lives of the local population (Tyszkiewicz
2012). Constructed infrastructure connected copper mining operations scattered within the area of mineral
extraction. The growth of the households, new neighborhoods, districts and services dedicated to mining
operations was focused in several major centers, including Legnica, Lubin, Gogw and Polkowice, creating
an interlinked strong relationship. Each center was essential in order to properly maintain the full functional
capacity for the entire mining operation. The industry transformed the spatial structure of the LGOM region
and reformulated the framework for urban expansion, to a large extent conditioned by the linear arrangement
of copper deposits. However, the topographical conditions played a significant role in formulation of the
Copper Industrial Belt (Litwiska 2004, Zagodon 1988).

!
A Landscape managed by KGHM Polish Copper
The copper mining industry is managed by KGHM Polish Copper (KGHM-Kombinat Grniczo-Hutniczy
Miedzi). KGHM was founded in 1961 and holds an important position as one of the worlds largest
producers of copper and silver; it has a monopoly on the mineral resource extraction from Lower Silesia. As
a major industry, it is the largest employer and main driver for the local economy. KGHM Polish Copper has,
through the extraction of mineral resources lying deep below the surface of the earth, radically transformed
Legnicko-Gogowski region. This transformation has occurred not only by triggering urbanization and
migration movements, but also by having an impact on larger landscape systems. As the mining operations
began, vast territories of local forests and cultivated fields were modified for the purposes of mineral
extraction. As the framework for housing, social infrastructure and roads developed by the Polish Copper
started to make an appearance at a local level, a series of complex infrastructure systems were carved into the
subsurface landscape layer. Underneath the town of Polkowice, there can found over 3,000 km of roads and
railways, a system traversed on a daily basis by thousands of miners and support crew (Rg 2013). KGHMs
documented and recognized ore deposits in the area between Lubin and Gogw are in arrears to 552 km2 to
a depth of 1500m, and 333km2 to 1200m below the surface (Padziora 2011). As the stretch between Lubin
to Gogw, was blended into KGHMs Polish Copper expansion vision, local territories gained a new layer to
its already multilayered and complex identity. The previous development was a result of rural colonization
and trade exchange, which was significantly damaged during World War II. Causing struggle, unemployment,
and low prospects of agricultural orientated production were turned around by copper extraction and offered
a number of jobs and the possibility to learn new skills, that could be used in the prospecting industry.
KGHMs Polish Copper headquarters was established in the town of Lubin, followed by activation of their
mining operations and a series of industries supporting cooper extraction. New jobs brought a dramatic
change in the population, from barely counting 3,500 inhabitants in the beginning of 1960 to 85,000 in
1994. The town of Polkowice was built almost from scratch with very few residents to approximately 22,000
residents when the mining operation began (Kijewski 2008). In the early 1990s, following Polands collapse of
socialism, LGOM experienced rapid growth. The nation and region was witnessing a dramatic change from a
command to market-orientated economy. The democratic system significantly influenced the demographic
and spatial structure of Lower Silesia region, including changes in rural and urban migration patterns.
Although many industrial towns throughout the country were exposed to a process of deindustrialization,
resulting in urban shrinkage and economic decline, Lower Silesias urban region expanded due to its rich
unseen layer of mineral resources located below the surface of the earth. Facing a lack of alternatives for
economic growth, while simultaneously having experienced the booming industry and the growth it brought,
local municipalities increased their reliance and involvement in the mining sector. The strategy programs
established by local authorities followed very closely the directions taken by KGHM Polish Copper. Any
proposed investments supporting expansion of the industry were treated as a mutually beneficial. Thanks to
this unspoken agreement, municipalities gained new roads, sewage, water service systems, improving the
quality of lives of the local population, while the Polish Copper managed to construct necessary technical
infrastructure, which allowed for further growth (Kaleta et.al.1997). The nature of mineral extraction involves
the exploitation of the landscape on a large scale, which is regulated by law, simultaneously obligating KGHM
to repay local authorities for exposing the population to possible environmental or health
hazards. Considerable amounts of reimbursements made local municipalities amongst wealthiest in the
country, creating a paradoxical acceptance of landscape exploitation as a form additional income, and
economic health. This duality strengthened the municipalities dependency on the continuation of well
prospecting mining operation within their borders. The main source of economic and urban growth was to
be found below the surface, on occasion going 1.5 kilometers into the ground. During a year, up to 30 million
tons of copper is being extracted and processed in local refineries and smelters (Padziora 2011); all of the
stages along the process were managed and operated by KGHM Polish Copper involving a large percentage
of the LGOMs population in the KGHM Polish Copper mining operations. The mono-industrial nature of

36

local settlements exposes the urban fabric to the consequences of temporality of the industry, such as
vulnerability to changes and fluctuations on global market, bringing into question LGOMs future. For a long
time, KGHMs development strategy was considered to go hand-in-hand with the interests of local
municipalities. It created a strong relationship between the two, putting needs of the environment to the side.
However, such a radical interference into larger systems does not come without consequences. The strong
relationship with the mining industry and need for economic growth has exposed local territories to the
consequences of disturbed ecologies. Soil conditions have deteriorated; the threat of seismic vibrations
affecting the urban fabric located within radios of mining operations risen; taking form of visible
deformation, such as subsidence, which is reflected in the bad condition of local housing (Kaszowska 2007,
Pachla, Tatara 2008). The disturbances enhance the vulnerability of mining towns, but also proved the
complexity of the structural problems within the region. The hunger for more income made it that
municipalities were caught in a vicious cycle. By agreeing to industrys terms of the nature of copper
operations, the intensification of alterations within larger systems takes its stand, causing more extensive
landscape degradation. At the same time, minimizing chances to break out from the reliance. Simultaneously,
there is the reality of an ageing and decreasing population, high levels of unemployment and poverty in other
parts of the region, which creates a set of challenging problems for the larger contemporary Lower Silesian
region.

!
Lubisko-Gogowski Cupriferous Basin in need of rebalancing
The rapid development of LGOM's Copper Belt and exploitation of the naturally rich resources of Lower
Silesia has altered vast territories of the Silesian landscape. The copper industry relies on the logics of larger
landscape systems, making environmental changes unavoidable. The Oders River watershed and geological
conditions defined the location and quality of ore. Mining and smelting activities include disturbance in
landscape systems, often causing changes in hydrological, geochemical, and ecological conditions. The
hydrological system of the mighty Oder River is an important element in mining activity. The current
hydrographical regime of the Oder is a result of natural geographical conditions, but also human activity. Its
groundwater is used directly in mining operations, local streams channelized for processing purposes. Mining
operations within the Lubisko-Gogowski Cupriferous Basin 2 significantly affected hydrogeological
conditions, having its impact on dewatering of the ore deposits or deformation of the surface (Bocheska,
et.al 2000). Due to long-term mining drainage3, with the result of depletion of the groundwater tables (850950m deeper), causing higher pollution levels, and from aquifers taking the form of depression cones, with a
radius near 55km, and overall depletion of resources, covering the surface of about 2200km2 (Gurwin 1977,
Gurwin, Poprawski 1988, Koodziejczyk 2010). Dewatering of the deposits within the LGOM activity area,
results in the permanent water drainage on the surface (Bocheska, et.al 2000). The areas close to Legnica
experienced disappearance of ponds (Walczak 1970). The disturbances within hydrological systems have a
significant effect on the quality of local woodlands (Kaszowska 2007). The forests within mining area have
questionable quality, and visible damage can be seen in its makeup. The cause however goes beyond industrial
operation; lack of proper environmental agency up to the mid-1990s is certainly a contributing factor. This as
a consequence of the previous political regime, during which time supervision was commissioned to
interested parties (Nita, Myga-Pitek 2006). Urban and industrial waste has been historically, and still is to a
certain extent, directly discharged into the Oder River, creating a dramatic decrease in the regions water
quality, and gas emissions during the industrial production processes adversely affects air quality. In the end,
Lower Silesia ranks amongst the most polluted region in Europe (GIO 2010). The interference with logics
of larger landscape systems brought about consequences in the form of declining soil fertility, erosion and a
high level of soil and water salinity. Further landscape fragmentation and biodiversity loss causes the creation
of landless and vast unproductive landscapes (Ostrowski 1995). The improvement of the regions economics,
due to its naturally rich resources, has radically altered the landscape and created disturbances in local
environments.

!
Managing the waste
KGHM Polish Coppers so-called Iron Bridge (elazny Most, which recently changed its name to Obiekt
Unieszkodliwiania Odpadw Wydobywczych (OUOW)) is Europes largest post flotation pond. It is located
in close vicinity to urban and rural settlements, which distinguishes the structure from Canadas (biggest) dam
built on top of vast undeveloped land. elazny Most OUOW is situated in a natural depression within the
Dalkowskie Hills and Rudna River catchment Valley. Its location was chosen on the basis its ideal

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lubisko-Gogowski Cupriferous Basin is an area of intensive mining exploitation, with boundaries beyond the borders of copper
deposits; territories affected by mine drainage (Bocheska 1984).
3 Long-term mining drainage until 2010 carried away 550 million m3 of water. The expected amount of water yet to be discharged until
the closure of mining operation in the LGOM area is another 1 billion m3.
2

37

topographical and geological conditions. It is in close distance to all active mining operations, and ideally
located in order to minimize construction of necessary hydrological infrastructure. Disruptive effects on the
local environment has become more visible with time and with the predicted climatic changes and challenges,
it is of great importance to decrease the impact of KGHMs Polish Copper mining activities on the
territories. The company claims that it uses technologically advanced solutions, based on the expertise of a
nationwide group of scholars in their operations, including its tailing collections (Caa 2013, EIB 2014). A
flotation pond (tailings dam) is the end process in copper mining where the last small particles are separated
from other invaluable materials by treatment with chemicals in water (copper particles are made to adhere to
air bubbles and rise to the surface for removal while others remain in water). The process uses large quantities
of water; 4-5 m3/t of enriched ore is sent to flotation and the tailings generated by this process is in the form
of a liquid slime substance, which then is transported from associated mines through pipelines (Wickowska
2014, Krasuka 2013). The water 4used is in constant circulation; being used in ore processing, as well as in
tailings transportation towards the dam (Bocheska, et.al 2000). The pipes, which cut through the Lower
Silesian landscapes for kilometers to deliver the tailings to flotation disposal site, include 13.4 kilometers from
Lubin mine, 13.7 kilometers from Rudna mine and 11.2 kilometers from Polkowice mine, being a visible
feature within local landscapes. Hydraulically transported waste, after being deposited, is partially
reclaimed. The thickest of the tailing particles were used for the construction of the ponds embankments.
The water previously used in flotation processes, is returned back to enrichment plants. The overflow is
piped away and discharged to the Oder River (Bocheska, et.al 2000). The overflow water is comprised of
salty water, and poses a significant threat to the quality of the rivers hydrological system; including increased
levels of groundwater pollution. elazny Most OUOW is an important part of mining operations. As long as
the mining operation continues to stay active, so does the process of tailing dumping, causing a constant
enlargement of the dump, and changes of ponds basic parameters. Due to topographic conditions each of
four dam divisions are of different heights. elazny Most OUOW has been active since the mid 1970s,
handling 20-26 million tones of waste in a year (which is approximately 80,000 tones of sludge a day) (Caa
2013). Post flotation ponds are regarded as one of the largest hydro technical structures. elazny Most
OUOW, due to its size and vicinity of underground mining operations, has become a potential hazard to the
local population and environment. However, the area of LGOM depends on the underground operations.
Recent discovery of more deposits gives an opportunity to continue with business as usual in the region for
next 30-45 years. New mining ventures are due to be operational imminently, as the construction of the
deepest mineshaft is nearly completed. What the continuation of the mineral extraction means for the region
its towns and inhabitants means that the region is keeping its workplaces alive and additionally offering new
workplaces and new skills. With advanced technological solutions required in order to go deeper than 1.5km
below the surface, comes new requirements and opportunity of gaining new skills for the mineworkers. As
extraction of ore from beneath the surface will continue, so will the interlinked the flow of additional revenue
to local municipalities, allowing the continuation of economic growth and further urbanization. LGOM will
add additional infrastructure, another mineshaft within the landscape and the continuation of the regions
future lies in a relative economic safety. The extraction will continue, and with it production of waste,
requiring the expansion of existing facility. The proposed expansion of elazny Most OUOW will consume
609ha, affecting the villages of Tarnwek, elazny Most, Dbrowa and Pieszkowice i Komorniki (Caa 2013,
KGHM 2015). At the same time, the importance of the pond goes at this moment far beyond the regional
borders. The number of studies, considering various factors including topographical, geological, and
hydrological conditions, were made to find the most optional location for the new construction, deciding to
extend South Division of existing structure. The set of law regulations5 had been established in order to
minimize the possible impact, and to protect local environments, however with the structure that is design to
contain large amount of tailing waste from active mines, the multi scale impact on local territories is
unavoidable. After decades of rapid industrialization, the role KGHM Polish Copper within the region
remains strong, and the reality is that mining industry will not go away.

!
Reconstructing a lost balance
The Lower Silesian landscapes are undergoing transformation, resulting in disturbances within the local
ecologies. There is a need to develop strategies and to address ways to mitigate the inevitable polluting aftereffects of not only the sludge, but also the entire topographical, soil, habitat, and hydrological systems. The

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Technological water has come directly from mine drianage
Law regulations demanding that the tailing pond to have a natural geological barrier, in order to seal the foundation, and sidewalls. The
barrier should be horizontal and beyond the boundaries of the proposed structure. The regulations include the need for system of
drainage around proposed extension similar to an already existing part in order to cut the access of surface and ground water into the
reservoir, to minimize possible loss of stability additionally drainage system, is required to continue to function 30 years after the shut
down of operation. The law regulations for hydro technical structure such as elazny Most OUOW also indicate necessary of green belt
surrounding the pond to minimize the contamination of local environments. !

4
5

38

horizontal substrata of the copper resources effects the aquifer below it and the entire ground plane and
inhabited territory above it. Economies and ecologies need to be intelligently married while civil engineering
needs to become a part-and-parcel of civic infrastructure. The elazny Mosts OUOW impact on the local
territories limits the productivity of local landscapes; however, with advanced technological solutions and
understanding of the larger system logics, this situation could be turn around. KGHM Polish Copper is in
involved in the development of technologies that would minimize the pollution, simultaneously improving
their operations. As mining operations will continue, so will further regional growth, which depend on
expansion of the post flotation tailings storage facility. At the moment, it is imperative for the region to have
its mining. However, a long-term perspective it is just as important that there is a plan to phase it out, and
remediate the lost landscape logics that allows other industries and growths to live in its fractured landscape.
Landscape architecture has a possibility to not only help in mitigation of inevitable pollution, but also to
involve larger landscape structures in the design process. Last decades of rapid industrialization brought
dramatic changes within regional identity, in the same time leaving a mark on the quality of the regions
landscapes. The region under the influence and at the mercy of the mining industry has a future yet to be
defined. Perhaps the answer lies in a better and more thorough understanding of reciprocal relationship
between landscape mining, cultivation, and urbanization.
!
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From Paradise to desert Reclaiming the role of garden in Isfahans

New Towns interplay with energy drivers
Azadeh Badiee
Affiliation: KU Leuven
Supervisor: Bruno De Meulder
Expected thesis defence: November, 2017
azadeh.badiee@student.kuleuven.be

The presence of gardens as the structuring element in shaping the Iranian indigenous cities had an important
role in the territorial organization. They shaped the interrelation between infrastructural networks, settlements
and agricultural tissue and made the relationship between the culture and nature possible. Indigenous
landscape organization in the semi-arid climate of the Iranian plateau shows the necessary role of energy
management at different scales of urbanization. In the past, gardens as complex landscape entities, were
identified as sustainable energy systems. (Behbahani, 2011) They were associated with trans-cultural tradition
and landscape mechanisms, combining energy drivers and the spatial development in the cities. Energy
drivers are the essential forces and motions in different layers of a territory which influence changes in stable
spatial developments. (Jakob, 2001) However, due to fast urban growth and the introduction of new drivers
into the territory, the new urbanization model forgot the indigenous practices, and caused an over-utilization
of land and resources. It is a landscape of transportation, accumulation, production and construction where
successive energy drivers are making the cities, regions and urbanized locations. (Ghosn, 2009) Today this
model faces a challenging problem of scarcity (mainly water) and therefore, integrating the energy flows into
the study of the Iranian territory is essential to understanding future development.
In order to study this issue, the paper focuses on the dispersed city territory consisting of a network of New
Towns around the city of Isfahan, which was also the cultural and economic capital of Safavid dynasty during
the 17th and 18th century. The radical change in the territory is largely the result of a newly industrialized
region with different energy consumption centers (as oil refinery and steel Mill Company). In the evolution of
Persian garden history, Isfahan is the first post-medieval example where the city is open towards landscape
without any fortification (Faghih, 2012), and in which the geographical condition was tamed by involving
drivers such as the river, canals and vernacular underground water structure called Qanat. The garden worked
as a starting point for spatial configuration which also formed the basis for resource management for the city.
(Khosravi, 2014) Access to water was the necessary and sufficient condition for the garden as driver of
development, therefore the existence of Zayandeh River (life giving river) as the biggest river in the Irans
central plateau, was an important element in construction of Isfahan city. In addition, technically advanced
water management structures were designed in order to direct the citys development and productivity by
integrating it into the larger regional systems.
This article targets the shift in perspective of Isfahans New Town developments through the lens of the
Garden as a regulator of energy drivers. The New Towns original plans show a dominance of the garden
form in the conception of the plan while a closer look at the actual construction shows that the gardens no
longer follow the structure of the traditional Iranian system but merely serve as ornaments to the city. The
existence of the garden no longer targets resource management at any scale of development. From garden to
greenery and beautiful scenery to residual cores on one hand, and the water management and city growth on
the other hand do not follow the Chaharbaghs (traditional Persian system) managing principles. In this
reading the garden concept is a multi-scalar component which unravels the inconsistency in the interrelation
between the nexus of energy drivers from the scale of one New Town neighborhood to the dispersed
territorial scale of Isfahan. Recognition of the problematic processes will be a starting point for projecting
new sustainable agendas for the on-going and future development of New Towns and the larger region.
In the first part, the paper studies the value of indigenous landscape management in the Isfahan region. This
is valued beyond its celebratory character, emphasizing the infrastructural significance. Furthermore, the
reading helps to re-work this indigenous landscape management projectively. The article targets this gap in
reading Isfahans recent growth in order to highlight the shift in the role of the garden in New Town
development and investigates the relationship between resources and new settlements.
The second part the paper selects three New Towns and analyses them in comparison with Isfahan city. To
approach the issue descriptively, the principles of landscape urbanism based on interpretive cartography have
been selected as a methodology. The landscape characteristics and the accessibility to energy drivers are
different in each case of study, therefore mapping is a way to observe and unfold these complexities.
Historical maps and archival documents support the projective mapping of the cases from the regional scale
into the meso scale of the New Town to the neighborhood scale, unraveling the relationship between garden
and the city.

41

Introduction
Recognition of the Persian garden as the structuring element in shaping Iranian indigenous cities has been
explored in their territorial organization. Throughout history, the application of certain strategies for
increasing land productivity always results in changes in territorial landscapes and settlements. Water, as the
basic necessity and life giving element in the semi-arid climate of Iran played an important role in managing
the territorial and city development. However, due to fast urban growth and introduction of new drivers into
the territory, the new urbanization model forgot the indigenous practices creating an enormous overutilization of land and resources. It is a landscape of transportation, accumulation, production and
construction where successive energy drivers are making the cities regions and urbanized locations. (Ghosn,
2009) Today this model faces a challenging problem of scarcity (mainly water) and therefore, integrating the
energy flows in the study of the Iranian territory is essential to understand future development.
Here the energy drivers are explained as the essential forces and motions in different layers of a territory
which influence the changes in the stable spatial developments. (Jakob, 2001) Jakob describes cities regions
and inhabited and urbanized locations are palimpsests of successive energy drivers. (Jakob, 2001) In the
indigenous city of Isfahan water was the primary energy driver and the Zayandeh River (life giving in Persian)
as the biggest river in the Iran central plateau, was an important element in construction of Isfahan city.
Rapid urbanization and the rural-urban migration during Iran's modernization forced the government and
urban decision makers to offer an array of solutions for housing and infrastructure provision at each
paradigm shift. From construction based on political-security and industrial growth to regional
decentralization in order to control the overflow of population in large cities, these strategies have all been
considered in Iran's New Town development. These constructions both before and after the revolution1 were
in relation to the newly industrialized region with different energy consumption centers (such as oil refineries
and steel mills). In addition to climate change which is causing a massive water scarcity in the semi-arid
central plateau of Iran since the last 8 years, the construction of a mass housing project called Mehr housing2
in addition to planned population of Isfahan New Towns (for instance, construction of 32000 unit in an area
of 500 ha3 in the Fuladshahr New Town) has made the Zayandeh River, a source of strong cultural practices,
dry out during the dry seasons for the last 8 consecutive summers. The glorious city of Isfahan which was
famous for its orchards and beautiful bridges over the river is challenged with lack of even basic drinking
water.
The research is based on the will to cut through the scientific debates and the practical demands of new
directions for ongoing developments in order to reveal the connection between the development strategies
and the landscape characteristics which acted as a support for past Iranian urban developments, and that are
no longer relied upon while developing New Towns. In the twentieth century, the industrialization and major
infrastructural works, from the highway systems to the dam construction on rivers, enabled new settlements
to spread to the farthest and most unlikely parts of the territory. In the twenty-first century, the continuous
proliferation of dispersed mass housing sites represents the transformation of the Iranian landscape into an
energy-consuming machine. Here, first the indigenous landscape management in the Isfahan region will be
explored in order to highlight the shift in the role of garden in New Town development. Later, the idea of
New Towns in the territorial scale of Isfahan region will be explored through the lens of garden concept as
the multi scalar component which unravels the inconsistency in the interrelation of the energy driver nexus.
What is paradise? The fundamental idea of paradise
All over the world examples of early Islamic cities are known for promoting a unique style of living in which
the city life was inspired from and sustained by the life described in the holy book Quran. The promised land
heaven - for the believers was described in detail by prophet Muhammad with descriptions of its physical
form. In the multiple times that heaven is described in Quran, only two times has the highest level of heaven
been described as paradise. As Muhammad described in Dar al Manthur, Heaven has hundred levels and
among these ranks between the earth and the sky, Paradise is the most prosperous place (Khosravi, 2014) It
is the place where the prophets and the most truthful people will dwell. The terrestrial descriptions by
Muhammad in the Quran gives a spatial visualization of paradise. However, it is not the first time that
paradise is mentioned in the holy books- in the Old and New Testaments the idea and the word occurs long
before the arrival of Islam.

The Islamic revolution of 1975 was in part a conservative backlash against the westernization and secularization efforts of the Westernbacked Shah. (Del Giudice, 2008).
2 Mehr Housing which is the 99 years leasing housing on the governmental lands outside of the major city limit. New Towns, due to their
unfulfillment in attracting the population could provide a number of available lands for developing the Mehr Housing project.
3 http://www.omranfooladshahr.com/VisitorPages/Show.aspx?ItemID=633,0!
1

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The idea of Paradise and its description in the holy books accompany the image of a celestial garden which
matches the spatial configuration of the gardens in the Iranian plateau. The described nature and topography
along with the detailed image of four rivers coming together in these gardens reminds one of the cruciform
water channels of the typical Persian garden. (Khosravi, 2014) Indeed the particular condition of Persian
garden where the micro-climate was transformed by the specific organization of space was an ideal place for
living. Just as Lincoln described paradise as a space of re-creation in the most precise and intelligent way,
Persians aimed to look at the garden as a place for creation. (Lincoln, 2003)
In the semi-arid landscape of Iranian plateau the idea of overcoming the severe climatic conditions
encouraged the rulers to attempt to build paradise on earth. According to Faghih the Persian garden had the
ability to not only source and direct water and irrigate the land in hostile environment, but then to transform
it into a manmade paradise. (Faghih, Sadeghy, 2012) The word pairi-daeza or paradise is an Old Persian
name, which was used during the Achaemenid Dynasty, means enclosed state, a name that they called their
urban entities. The city of Pasargadae (600 BC), the most complete vestige of an Achaemenid garden city,
covered an immense area and was divided into four distinct sections (based on the Zoroastrian division of the
universe in four parts, four seasons or four elements: water, wind, soil and fire) separated by two main
watercourses. (Faghih, Sadeghy, 2012) Indeed the world chaharbagh which in Persian means four gardens is an
abstract explanation for the original walled human settlements in the Achaemenids period as the first
examples of urban garden.
Garden and its pavilion were not considered fixed territories or unchangeable monuments. Instead, they
were living organisms that could be developed in order to accommodate the needs of the inhabitants.
(Gharipour, 2011) Irrigation systems, orchards and agricultural fields are the infrastructural links between the
resources outside the walled city and the garden inside. The economic activities and natural structure of the
walled city beside the social activities were projected in the garden city more than a royal garden. In this way
the ideological beliefs received a spatial character where the garden can be seen as a sustainable entity that
links a cultural activity to nature. This relationship is the most valuable characteristic of Persian gardens where
valuable resources in the harsh conditions of desert-like landscape were organized and managed by advanced
engineering skills in order to be available for the different social and cultural activities.
Water as the most important resource in the Iranian landscape played an essential role in the building of
Persian gardens. Water as a driver of development had the power to create a connection between nature and
culture. Latour gives a definition to energy as the ability to make nature do work. Energy is natures capital, a
nature that has been interpreted as a domain governed by the assumption of scarcity. (Latour, 2004)
Therefore water in the case of Persian gardens act as a working engine in which the natural physical space
gets value in terms of economical and socio-cultural production.
The history of Persian gardens shows a dominance of water as organizer of different activities. Inside the
walled city, royal palaces, schools madrasah and residential quarters, each had a portion of water through
the irrigation channels entering the enclosed city. Therefore the main elements of the Persian cities consist of
natural elements where life was protected and managed by grid systems and walls. But water, apart from
having an ecological dimension, added religious and philosophical dimensions to the city. The water is itself a
framework defined by the life-world of the people and their needs, within which the city reads and uses water.
(Falahat, 2014)
Pre-Isfahan city and the role of garden in the indigenous city
The city of Isfahan before the Safavid Dynasty during the 17 century was a walled city and one of the richest
cities of the country. Before Isfahan, palace gardens included residences, commerce, public buildings,
orchards and vegetable prairies, but they were always enclosed. (Faghih, Sadeghy, 2012) Isfahan was famous
for its orchards and beautiful resorts outside the city walls. Naser Khosro, in his trip passed through Isfahan
in 1053 and described it so: in the city, the streams flow, the great and tall building inside the city beside the
great mosque without any ruined inside buildings. I saw lots of markets bazar with two hundred bankers
working in itI also passed one street full of caravanserais (Sayaghi, 1966)
Construction of walls around the city and an inner wall separating the royal quarter from the residential
restrict. (Cresswell, 1940) The first sign of the city going over the walled city starts in the 11th century with
the design of four gardens each the size of twenty hectare outside of the city walls. (Habibi, Ahari 2013) The
most important one was the Karan garden with two palaces facing the great river of Isfahan flowing in the
south. This shows that the idea of a territorial city was developing even in this era where the city is no longer
limited to its walls and the rulers had interests in accessing the nature outside the governmental palace. Inside,
the walled city consisted of seven communes of which some were connected at strategic locations.
The Zayandeh River to the south of the city didnt have any direct connection with the inner city and some
water channels bringing the water from the river, but the main source of water was the qanats. Qanat is a
series of hydro-infrastructure vertical shafts connecting human settlements or agricultural fields through a
sloping underground horizontal channel to the aquifer water under the hills or mountains at distances

43

between 2 to 80 kilometers. All activities, from farming to other social and economical practices, in the semiarid condition of Isfahan city was related to the amount of water received through these channels. Therefore
the Qanat structure during the pre Safavid period organized the citys morphology, increased the lands
carrying capacity and altered the socio-cultural and political relationship between the city and the nature
(Spooner, 1974)

[Fig. 1] Qanat structure and civilization (Source: Fan-e Abyari Dar Iran-e Bastan, 1975)

Mazhar (outlet) - the last leg of the Qanat system4- is the populated part of the system, where nature finally
appears in the city. The royal palaces, mosques and community centers are built over or close to a mazhar
beside the reservoirs, water mills and ponds. In this way the water after passing the first destination would
enter into the open irrigation channels in the city in order to reach the next destination which was normally
the agricultural fields in the outside walls. In order to be equitable the water had to be sourced and divided in
a way that all the users can have their portion of it. By looking at the spiritual and practical perspective it is
clear that the qanats in a climate like Isfahan were the key to urban life. (De Meulder, Khorramirad, 2013) As
it is shown in the fig. 2 the location of mazhars and the city structure shows the dominance of water power
in shaping the inner city like a big garden. From the walled orchard and gardens above and through the
settlement, the pathways followed the water, defined the spatial skeleton that evidently became the trunk
lines, full of social activity. (De Meulder, Khorramirad, 2013)

4 The Qanat most rudimentarily consists of three elements: the mother well (madar chah), the gently sloping horizontal water channel
(kar) and a series of vertical shafts (chah). The mother well depth varies from 50 to 100 m according to the location of the aquifer,
occasionally reaching 200 m. this mother well and all the vertical shafts are attached to the water channel, which is shaped as an elliptical
horizontal gallery approximately 50-100 cm wide and 90-150 cm hight, with a downward gradient that varies between 1:1000 and 1:1500
for short qanats (in longer qanats it may be almost horizontal). (De Meulder, Khorramirad, 2013)

44

[Fig. 2] The network of Madis and its integration into city fabric bottom image, source: modified from Ahari, 2000.
City development pattern (neighborhood structure) and productive agriculture fields were following the designed and
natural water system, top image, source: Falahat, 2014.

The Isfahan city of Safavid dynasty City as garden

By the end of the 17th century Isfahan got selected for the second time as the cultural, economic and political
capital of Iran by shah Abbas the king of Safavid Dynasty. Due to the spread out structure of old Isfahan
consisting of a walled garden city with the multiple royal gardens around it, a new structure was designed by
Sheikh Bahai5. A structure had to be designed in order to connect the different centers of the old walled city
such as commercial center bazar with the residential neighborhoods of Jews6 and royal palaces and
religious centers (mosque and madrasa). The new city structure followed the main idea of a Persian garden.
Division of the city into four districts was by a central avenue which connected all the city elements together.
This avenue which is a north-south axis and connecting all the royal gardens and palaces, old and new
neighborhoods is the first time that a street gets this importance in the scheme of city development.(Habibi,
Ahari 2010). The avenue is called Chaharbagh, the same name as the typical spatial configuration of the Iranian
was a scholar, philosopher, architect, mathematician, astronomer and poet who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Iran
The pre Safavid region of Isfahan was consist of two main neighborhood of jay and Yahodie (the Jewish neighborhood) which the
walled city shaped around the Yahodie.

45

garden. Chaharbagh Avenue connects the governmental center through a sequence of gardens and other city
activities to the Zayandeh River in the south and passes it and reaches the resort gardens on the other bank of
the river [fig.3] (Hezar Jaib). The avenue was full of trees and the irrigation channels flowed in the paved
avenue as a direct connection with nature outside the former walled city. Isfahan is probably the first postmedieval example of an open city, with no fortifications, deliberately orientated towards the landscape.
(Faghih, N. Sadeghy, A. 2012) As Habibi argues, Isfahan owes its life to Zayandeh River since the citys
multi-layered, palimpsest-like nature has become one of its most salient characteristics. (Falahat, 2014)

[Fig. 3] Isfahan Safavid dynasty Zayandeh River and the Madi channels as city structure, Chaharbagh garden spine and
historical city center, source: Persian Garden, 1998.

The garden city of Isfahan as a vast model of a Persian garden is dependent on the water flow in different
activities as the organizer of city elements. The madi-s are a dendritic network of water channels which are
another component of Safavid Isfahan, expanded and designed to deliver the water from the Zayandeh River
to the city and transformed it into one of the major elements of urban organization. (Ahahri 2000) In this
period the madi-s imposed special order to the city structure and influenced the citys spatial geometry.
The water from the river to the madi-s contributed to the formation of the city in the neighborhood
morphology, location of royal palaces, gardens, mosques, city baths, and city edges and also as a natural
boundary in the religious segregation of residential quarters.7 The spatial quality of water in the city occurred
in different ways and according to the character of related activity the madi or its sub-branches gained
different configurations and qualities. (Falahat, 2014) Topographical conditions were not the only condition
which shaped the course of water but different interactions with city elements defined the pattern for madi-s.
Water as the necessary and sufficient element of Isfahan garden city, made the infrastructural quality of
garden a sustainable entity. The water of madi-s manifested in city networks such as neighborhood patterns
and path shapes, urban spaces such as mosques and Yakhchal-s (ice/water reservoir), walls and borders in the
urban and agricultural fields and at the small scale of buildings orientation. Indeed the management of water
as the main resource and driver of development in the Safavid Isfahan emphasized the socio-economic
condition of the city, however the selection of the city as Irans capital gave it a more power. Isfahans plan
announces the beginning of a new century with no fear of the exterior world and with no rejection of an
unpredictable nature. Nature is controlled, irrigated, made fertile, and therefore becomes beautiful. (Nasrine
Faghih, Amin Sadeghy 2012) Therefore a succession of economic social and natural elements all came
together under the specific condition of water management.
The Isfahan city of 20 and 21century Territorial scale
Pre-revolutionary Iran's economic development was rapid. A traditionally agrarian society had achieved
significant industrialization and economic modernization by the 1970s, largely aided by the growing
worldwide demand for oil. Booming population growth and extensive rural to urban migration all resulted in
''The Zayanda-rud separates Isfahan from its southem suburbs, which include Julfa and what in afavid times was the Zoroastrian
settlement of Guebrislan" (Blunt, 1966: 73)

46

the growth of the major cities and an increase in the number of cities in those years, as well as their size.
Demographic growth in major cities such as Tehran, Mashahd, Isfahan and Tabriz outsized by far other
settlements in the country. (Badiee, 2014)
Due to Isfahans strategic location, which is at the intersection of the main north-south and east-west arterial
road network and also its accessibility to main natural resources, rapid urbanization outside of consolidated
metropolitan areas and high demographic growth is very evident. The population grew from 375000 in 1956
to 1800968 in 2010 (Sabteahval, 2011) and resulted in expansion of Isfahans territory towards the agricultural
fields and orchards in all the directions. Although the speed and scale of this transformation is remarkable,
the relationship between new developments and availability of natural resources has a long history that
positioned Isfahan city as the main industrial and manufacturing city in the country. The discovery of large
quantities of iron ore, copper and natural gas beside the oil reservoirs at a close distance from Isfahan
province, gave way to the largest cultural, economic, social and territorial organization in the region and in the
countrys history.
The shift from agriculture to newly emerging urban culture had a big influence on the territorial development
of Isfahan city. The government, in order to control the over-population of Isfahan city in different stage of
expansions introduced a number of New Towns in order to sweep the migration from the hinterlands to
existing and newly planned New Towns. This shift in urbanization is also evident in the expansion of existing
villages close to natural resources which were previously focused on agricultural activities and subsequently
became new hubs for industrial workers and experts from nearby industrial sites.
A look at the current organization of Isfahan territory [fig.4], can open up the idea of seeing the territory, not
just as patterns and forms in space, but as relationships between organisms, energy flows and the
environment. (McGrath, 2013) The natural resources as the drivers of development in the territory of Isfahan
are the energy drivers, as Jakob elaborated it as the essential forces and motions in different layers of a
territory which influence the changes in the stable spatial developments. Thanks to the Zayandeh River and
its flow from west to east, most of the industries in the region followed their consumption, accumulation and
production processes with its support as a necessary element in their function and exploitation of space. The
main industries such as oil refinery and steel companies had created secondary and informal economies that
were rapidly metabolizing the mostly rural areas around these sites and company camps. Development
drivers, which in the Isfahan city of the 17th century was, water, to re-assemble the idea of paradise and
Persian garden, now has shifted to a new large-scale energy driver.

[Fig. 4] The relation of energy drivers with New Town developments - relationship and complexity, source: by
author.

Isfahan metropolitan area, the second largest urban region in the country, accounted for more than 67
percent of its population in the late 70s and 80s. (Sabteahval, 2011) The city which was once known for its
flowing river in the middle of a semi-arid territory and therefore its fertile lands, orchards and vast gardens,
was now experiencing a new activator for the contemporary scale, population and climatic conditions. For
centuries, the rivers water and the madi structure glued the garden city of Isfahan together. The water
worked as necessary and sufficient condition to organize and manage the city economic and socio cultural
activities. But discovery of the rich mineral deposits, iron ore and copper, became a key driver to advance
industrial production. In addition, the abundant flow of the Zayandeh River from its source outside the city
territory at 145km distance from the city itself raised the idea of building hydroelectric infrastructure over the
river [fig. 5]. The industrial orientation of the city territory created a new territorial landscape with new
productive hubs which no longer depended on the indigenous water management systems were organized at
another scale and rate of metabolism.

47

[Fig. 5] Chadegan dam over the Zayandeh River and the resort city in the north, source: by author.

Furthermore, urbanization within the Isfahan territory eventually happened through a period of new
developments. This was more dispersed and was related to a previously rural quarter or accessibility to natural
resources as motions of development. As it has already been elaborated, the indigenous water management
and its structure had a direct influence on the scale of garden city, therefore the new energy drivers in the
territory influenced the territory at a different scale and dimension. Ghosn and Jazairy explain this idea by
talking about the production of new spatial configurations by the resources as an essentially spatial
production. They continue developing the idea by emphasizing on the ability of natural resource systems in a
process that can materialize a territory simultaneously epistemological and geographical- that harnesses its
own geography of places and relations. (Ghosn, Jazairy, 2014) In the case of Isfahan territory and the system
of its resources, horizontal regulations and infrastructural arrangement is the palimpsest to be discovered [fig.
6]. This is the same structure as the Iranian garden city framework where the water was the main resource
managed the spatial relation and technical procedure of the whole city.

[Fig. 6] The horizontal regulation and infrastructural arrangement of the new developments in relation to
different natural resources, source: by author.

As the management of Isfahan city of 17th century and therefore the water, mediated and enabled through the
fixation of power over nature through the idea of Persian garden, political authority managed the territorial
scale of Isfahan and its resources. During the expansion of Isfahan in the late 20 and early 21 century the idea
of designation of New Towns in different locations got approved by the political powers. The New Towns in
different timeframes were located close to the center of production, consumption or accumulation of natural
resources in order to control the development of driving power of resources by accommodating the workers
and absorbing the future related developers. New Towns around Isfahan were designed to be the places
where the natural resources related spatial developments and population settlements. Since the energy drivers
are defined by motion and are there to trigger development, and population settlements need fixity the New
Town should be a combination of flows and fixity [fig. 7].

48

[Fig. 7] A map showing the combination of flows and fixity in the Isfahan territory, source: by author.

The 3 New Towns brief introduction and the relation to resources

Construction of New Towns in Isfahan territory spans different timeframes with different natural resources
as the first driving force of their development. The three case studies in this paper are analyzed to
demonstrate how the territorial idea of natural resources as motion and driver of development are translated
into design and later on into actual construction of the New Towns. The concept of the garden as regulator
of natural resources as drivers of development in the regional scale can be checked in the New Towns as the
essential points where the motion and fixity of a territorial garden come to existence.
Shahin Shahr New Town
The fertile land to the north of Isfahan city with easy access to Qanats from the north and a canal branched
from the river in the south, was marked as preserved lands for agricultural purposes. But the private owners
of these lands in 1953 with the help of an American architect started the design and implementation of the
Shahin Shahr New Town. This is the first New Town outside the city limits where there is no initial nucleus
village. Here the owners power defined the need for the new housing and the American-Iranian designers
designed a masterplan for the site. On the other hand, searching oil by the end of nineteenth century
strengthened Britains impact on the institutional structure of the Iranian government and therefore the
planning decisions focused on development of new cities located at short distances from the oil wells to
provide housing for British employees. . Existence of oil wells in the central plateau of Iran, close to Isfahan
province, resulted as an added value to make the semi-arid landscape habitable with a new physical and social
patterns and therefore new cultural aspects. Shahin Shahr company town was the best location to fulfill the
need of accommodation for the employers and engineers of Isfahan Oil Refinery Company during the end of
sixties and beginning of seventies. The designs of some neighborhoods in this town are also done by British
architects.
The immediate impact of existence of water structures in Shahin Shahr is reminiscent of the Persian gardens
main structuring element. By a close look at the city structure [fig. 8] water as the main north south axis and a
green boulevard as an east west axis the dominance of garden comes to the mind. Although the New Town
was designed in that way, the initial need was to accommodate the workers of Helicopter Company and later
on the oil refinery company. The role of the water structure is no more in defining economic and socio
cultural activities, but the existing structure became the means to irrigate the main city network and in some
neighborhoods the Qanat structure disappeared under the construction of housing units. The Qanat structure
in some neighborhoods [fig. 9] was considered as a design limiting element which only defined the orientation
of buildings and their private green plots in front. The next phase of development which was after the
opening of oil Refinery Company, completely ignores the former structures and follows the whims of the
designer.

49

[Fig. 8] Left The main structures in the Shahin Shahr New Town, Canal, and the green boulevard as the main
axis, source: by author.
[Fig. 9] Right Shahin Shahr current neighborhood pattern and the impact of Qanats over the city structure,
source: by author.

The water structure which once was used to structure the city by irrigating the main elements and giving it
quality and meaning, in Shahin Shahr turned out different. The first look at the city plan and the implemented
neighborhoods reminds one of the structure of the Persian garden, while this structure doesnt have anything
with management the whole city. It is the one reaction that the Persian gardens form is the only ideology that
been brought to construction of Shahin shahr where the form in the indigenous cases was the last outcome
after all the organizational character of the garden structure. Although the new economic activator and
development driver for the New Town is the oil refinery company in close neighborhood, but the landscape
of the New Town is not influenced by this potential factor as the motion for designing the fixed settlement of
the New Town.
Fuladshahr New Town
In the case of Fuladshahr New Town, the motion and driver for the new development is the iron ore mines
and the steel mill complex. Fuladshahr Company Town is located 40 kilometers west of Isfahan and 15
kilometers east of the steel mill complex and at a short distance from the iron ore and coal deposits. This
town was planned by Giprogor Company of the former Soviet Union in 1968 under a master plan for the
accommodation of the workers of large steel mills. (Art and Architecture, 1975) The dedicated land to the
New Town is a linear unfertile stretch between the western mountains of Dasht and the agricultural fields in
the east. One of the main water canals transporting the water from Zayandeh River to northern agricultural
villages such as Khomeini Shahr and Najafabad, is in the location of Fuladshahr New Town. This area
doesnt have a good network of the underground water structure of Qanats, but a number of them ended at
the northern edge of the new development.
Fuladshahr master plan has been designed with a unique plan consisting of two main axis one circular and the
other one linear ending at the center of the circle. The proposed master plan divided the development of
Fuladshahr into two phases, first one with the proposed population of 50,000 people in the south. A
dominance of linear green structure in the master plan shows the idea of having a strong emphasis of the
green structure and garden city. The New Town neighborhoods, according to the first master plan, consisted
of different typologies of houses and apartments with connections to the neighborhood centers with an easy
access. A network of irrigation channels called joob was designed and overlapped with other infrastructural
networks of streets and electricity [fig. 10]. These irrigation channels had different reservoirs in the city and a
pump to collect it afterwards. These reservoirs are normally deep wells and only one of those receives water
from the existing channel which passes through the city.

50

[Fig. 10] Right The network of irrigation channels and the location of reservoirs in relation to green pockets
in Fuladshahr, source: by author.
[Fig. 11] Left Fuladshahr main axis and the two phases of development. The dominance of green structure in
both phases, source: by author.

The presence of irrigation channels, as well as green structures in the design of Fuladshahr shows the
intention of designers to create another garden city in the territory. Although a chaharbagh structure hadnt
been repeated this time and the attempt was to have a more modern view of the indigenous concept, the idea
of activating a non-productive land by the means of water as driver of development is quite evident. Overall,
although the main energy driver here is the iron ore and steel mill complex, water as a necessary element of
giving birth to the land of production plays an important role.
Baharestan New Town
Baharestan New Town is one of the first New Towns designed by the order of the National New Town
Company after the revolution of 1975. Baharestan is one of the 18 New Towns designed to absorb the over
population of the mega cities in the country. This New Town is located 20kilometers in the south-west of
Isfahan and in the direction of main highway towards Shiraz city in the south of Laashtar Mountain. The
Master plan of the New Town was approved in 1993 and targeted a population of 320.000 by the year 2016 in
its agenda. The famous Iranian architect, Hadi Mirmiran, designed and developed the master plan of
Baharestan city with organic principles. (Mirmiran, 2006) These organic principles in the design are
translated to taking the topographical, hydrological, and climatic conditions of the site into account for the
design. In this regard, Mirmiran re-used the concept of Chaharbagh as the main structuring element in the
city.
The master plan shows the dominance of two perpendicular axes dividing the city into four main districts fig
9. The north-south boulevard is along the lines of the Chaharbagh Avenue in the mother city of Isfahan.
This boulevard connects the city to the nature around it, from one side to the Zayande River and to the south
to the mountain side. The New Town center is designated at the intersection of the two main axes where an
old mosque of the Baharan Village is located. Each neighborhood is designed to have a community center
which is designed to be green and in the center of accessibility for the inhabitants.
Baharestan from the end of the eighteenth century was known in the region as a fertile land around the village
with the same name which was irrigated by the Zayandeh River in the north and the number of Qanat
structures in the south of this area [fig. 12]. Although Baharestan master plan shows the emphasis on the
landscape design and green and blue structure in the city, the current situation of the constructed New Town

51

after 22 years, only shows the building slabs with very little green features while the natural and artificial water
structures that were planned for the city such as lakes and Qanat lanes eventually dried out and disappeared
[fig.13]. While the location of this New Town was selected due to its accessibility to several main industrial
centers such as Mobarakeh steel mill complex and Sepahan Cement factory, the driving motion for the
development of the New Town is borrowed from the water. The two main industries of this area are utilizing
a tremendous amount of water for their production and this has influenced the climate in the area and has
created a lack of water for Baharestan inhabitants.

[Fig. 12] Top Baharestan New Town master plan, the chaharbagh structure, source: Mirmiran, 1989.
[Fig. 13] Bottom Baharestan current level of development, the green and blue elements has failed in compare
to the designed plan, source: by author.

Conclusion
The discussion highlights that the water scarcity and climate change in the region is mainly in relation to
excessive consumption of water from the small and big size of industries in the region. The growth of wet
agriculture (rice fields mainly) alongside the Zayandeh River is also another reason for this scarcity.8 It is also
to be noted that the application of Mehr mass housing project as a solution for accommodating the lowmiddle class families in the New Towns around big cities, is going to add to this problem. The poor resource
management and related new developments in the region is demonstrating a necessity for designing resource
management and structure in the scale of the city-territory and each New Towns.
The concept of the garden as a structuring element for the region and as a regulator for the energy driver was
explored and tested in the development of New Towns. The New Towns are, where the motion of
8

Also transferring water to other big cities in the central plateau of Iran is another reason behind the water scarcity

52

development are- as are the natural resources- come to action and begins to develop settlements for the
regions inhabitants. Two ideas are missing in these three case studies. One is the repetition of Persian garden
form in construction of New Towns, while the concept has to be adapted to the current situation. The
formalistic approach toward the idea of Persian garden has changed the region that has been known for its
fertility and paradise of the region, now a desert while all the content and meaning of the concept has been
forgotten.
The other missing point is in the idea of productivity in economic and cultural aspects of the New Towns.
While the Indigenous garden was a concept to manage the economic social and cultural activities of the city
in relation by managing the energy drivers, the New Towns of today have no spatial relation with the energy
drivers which were the initial drivers for their construction in the territory. Water is still the element which is
controlling the flow and circulation of the designed New Town, while the general idea behind designation of
the New Towns in Isfahan region was because of controlling the other natural resources as the driving force
of development of the territory. The current condition Isfahan New Towns are not only in the shadow of
the mother city, but also in the shadow of the energy drivers center of production, consumption or
extraction. (Ghosn, Jazairy, 2014) The form of territorial construction which happened through development
of New Towns in relation to the energy drivers, needs to be in a dialog with the processes of new
development in the territory.
References
ATASH, F. 1998. New Towns and their practical challenges, Habitat Intl, 22(1), 1-13.
ART AND ARCHITECTURE, 1975. No. 39-40, pp. 52-72, Tehran.
CORREA, F., FOLCH, T. 2014. Resource Extraction urbanism and the post-oil landscape of Venezuela, New
Geographies vol.6, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
ETZLER, J. 1836. The Paradise within the Reach of All Men, without Labor, by Powers of Nature and Machinery:
An Address to All Intelligent Men, London: John Brooks, 1836.
FAGHIH, F. SADEGHY, A. 2012. Architectural Design Magazine, Volume 82, Issue 3, pages 3851, May.
FALAHAT, S. 2014. Re-imaging the city. Berlin: Springer.
GHOSN, R. 2009. New Geographies, 2: Landscape of Energy. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
GHOSN, R, JAZAIRY, E, Hassi Messaoud, 2014. Oil Urbanism, New Geographies 6, Grounding metabolism.
Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
GHOSN, R. 2007. Where are the missing spaces? The geography of some uncommon interests
HABIBI, S., AHARI, Z., 2012. The Language of urban design in historic cities, Isfahan School, Culture and
Architecture Center, Tehran.
IRANI BEHBAHANI, H. KHOSRAVI, F. 2004. Iranian Garden: A Place of Coexistence: City-NatureLandscape, Case Study: Tehran Gardens in 19th century, Environmental Sciences, No. 13, pp. 79-87.
JAKOB, M. 2001. Architecture and Energy or History of an Invisible Presence. 2G international Architecture
Review, 18.
KARIMI, K. 1997. The spatial logic of organic cities in Iran and in the United Kingdom in Proc. 1st International
Space Syntax Symposium, M. Major, L. Amorim, F. Dufaux (eds), University College London, London, 1, 05.105.17.
KHOSRAVI, H. 2014. Geopolitics of tabula rasa: Persian garden and the idea of city. Journal of Architecture and
Urbanism, 38:1, 39-53.
MIRMIRAN, S. 1989. New Towns in Iran, Human settlement conference, Ministry of Housing, Tehran.
ORFF, K. 2012. Petrochemical America. New York: Aperture Foundation.
SHANNON, K. DE MEULDER, B. 2013. Persian Qanats. Water urbanism 2 East. UFO: Explorations of
Urbanism.
SABTEAHVAL, 2011. Population statistics of Iran, Bureau of Statistics and Demographics, Tehran.
TABRIZIAN, P., 2010. From city-hill to metropolis, the origins and dilemmas of landscape urbanism in Iran. NAERUS XI.

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54

Retracing Water Flows in Southern Italy

Irene Toselli

Universit IUAV Venezia

Paola Vigan (coordinator)
Expected thesis defence: April, 2017
i.toselli@stud.iuav.it
Water has become one of the fundamental elements that reveal the changing significance of technological networks in
urbanization processes (Gandy 2004). Modern water management has progressively expanded from the nineteenth
century city to comprise resource planning as well as rural development and the production of energy at the scale of the
region (Swyngedow 1999). The Apulian peninsula, here proposed as a case study, has seen, over the last century, a
complete reengineering of its hydrology in the attempt to rationalize nature. As hydraulic infrastructures centralized
supplies and linearized flows to provide drinking water and facilitate irrigation, water consumption intensified greatly.
Today, Puglia is facing new challenges in terms of water availability. The paper will reflect upon the role of water
infrastructures, representing these devices and the processes they activate across scales, describing their measures and
material qualities on the ground and retracing water flows through the city-territory. In particular, it will focus on two
irrigation consortia: one located in southern Puglia, where irrigation and part of the drinking water supply rely on the
karst aquifer and the other in central Puglia, where the largest rural aqueduct in Europe was constructed in the 1980s.

Big plans
The Apulian territory has historically been supported by a diffused layer of small scale infrastructures linked
to agricultural practices and, especially in the southernmost part of the peninsula, to a long tradition of urban
diffusion. It has thus been conceptualized as a sponge, a fine grain porous territory, imagining it as a territory
of a new modernity (Vigan 2001). But the implementation of large scale water infrastructure, which started
in 1906 with the construction of the aqueduct, and the concurrent land reforms, followed a different
infrastructural rationality. The completion of the Canale Principale (Main Canal) in 1939 coincided with the
assessment by the Board that the Aqueduct was no longer sufficient to satisfy the needs of a growing
population (Masella 1995), perpetuating a cyclical discourse of self-sufficiency, water abundance and scarcity,
which has accompanied the expansion of the infrastructure and its resource base until today1.
In the 1950s four large water systems were planned to expand irrigation in Puglia (Fortore, Ofanto, IonicoSinni, Basento-Bradano-Ofanto) 2, funded by the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno or CasMez (Fund for the South),
which would be fed by dams for the most part located outside regional boundaries [fig.1]. However, the
construction of the aqueducts has paradoxically laid the basis for future conditions of water scarcity. Hence a
number of projects to expand water resources were discussed, as illustrated by the proposal to build a transadriatic aqueduct in the 90s or the desalination plants that were planned in the last 15 years3. Following the
same logic, after the drought of 2002 the former governor promised farmers to build the Piano dei Limiti
dam, which was not built as it was strongly opposed by local communities, already living in the proximity of
the Occhito basin.

[fig.1] Monte Cotugno dam (PZ), Sinni aqueduct (SS653,MT) Source: elaborated by the author, October 2014.

Transitioning from a diffused system of traditional water collection and storage to a 19th century model of
centralized distribution dependent on far-flung resources, this semi-arid territory has seen the emergence of a
new decentralized system of water extraction, made of private wells, with very different premises and effects.
As a consequence, Puglia is traversed by the flows of two waters: it is dependent on flows originating
elsewhere and it is exhausting waters that saturate the aquifers. These flows are enabled through pipes and
wells. Their repercussions are superimposed and amplified, as centralized infrastructures for irrigation are
underutilized, while most irrigated crops in the region are sustained by private wells.

1 Before the Acquedotto Pugliese was constructed, water allocation per capita was estimated at 15-20 liters, reduced to only 5 liters
during the summer, while today it has increased to 250-300 liters (Perretta 2001).
2 Piano Generale dellIrrigazione in Puglia e Lucania, Ente per lo Sviluppo dellIrrigazione e la Trasformazione Fondiaria in Puglia,
Lucania, Irpinia (EIPLI),1950.
3 See the Water Authority plans: Piano dAmbito 2002, 2008, 2010, ATO Puglia.

55

[fig.2] Piano Generale dell Irrigazioni (General Irrigation Plan). Source: EIPLI, 1988.

Territorial transformations
In southern Italy the plains had to be literally invented (Bevilacqua, Doria 1984). Water was the starting point
of a modernization process that involved soil, energy, water and waste (Corvaglia, Scionti 1985). In response
to extensive deforestation - that had been carried out in the mountains and hills in the XVIII and XIX
century to expand arable land - and in the attempt to drain swamps to fight malaria (DAntone 1990), land
reclamation, reforestation and soil stabilization were part of a massive territorial reform, aiming to remedy
the disorder of water (Barca 2010).
In the debate that accompanied the development of the projects for the Aqueduct and the infrastructures
linked to the bonifica integrale4 and to rural electrification in the 1900s, two infrastructural hypotheses, one
centralized and one diffused, were pursued. While the project of modernization imagined large infrastructure
for irrigation, the relationship between the development of hydroelectric power, land reclamation and
agricultural transformation in the 1920s, pushed towards the model of small scale irrigation, which would
serve small plots and a large number of diffused masserie (farms) through wells and minor river diversions
(Corvaglia, Scionti 1985). But large scale irrigation schemes would not be realized until the projects of the
Cassa, and similarly the diffusion of wells, which was the basis of the small irrigation project, would not occur
immediately after the experimental phase of electrified irrigation5.
Land improvements and the projects funded by CasMez transformed agriculture, seeking to physically
construct and unify the territory through infrastructural networks and material flows. While the improvement
project has later supported urbanization processes that did not follow the centralized logic of the aqueduct,
the increase in available water has facilitated the expansion of water intensive crops, and led to the irrigation
of traditional dryland farming to increase production. These plans were ambitious: the General Irrigation
Scheme, drafted in 1967 by the Irrigation Authority (Ente Irrigazione EIPLI), aimed to extend the 298.000
ha of irrigated land of the previous plan to 850.000 ha, thus covering an area that would equal 25% of the
entire forested and agricultural lands of Puglia, Basilicata, Alta Irpinia and part of Calabria (EIPLI 1988)
[fig.2].
These transformations were supported by a narrative that saw the ephemeral character of surface waters as
the cause for underdevelopment and sustained the idea that nature had to be thoroughly redesigned by the
production of new technonatures, through which water flows were constructed and controlled
(Swyngedow 2007). In the 1980s irrigation was still defined as the key to any economic development in the
south, while the solution to the question of maximum exploitation of water resources provided
economic growth and social development, eliminating the main limiting factor to any chance of progress in
this territory: the lack of water and precipitation (EIPLI 1988:49).

4 Integral improvement rather than narrowly agricultural improvement. See the following laws: 1929 Legge sulla bonifica integrale; 1933, n.
1775 Testo unico delle disposizioni di legge sulle acque e impianti elettrici.
5 With reference to the experimental farms of Santa Chiara in Capitanata, and Monteruga in the Arneo area (Barca 2001).

56

But the completion of this massive infrastructure has established other forms of crises, such as the
dependency on water collected in adjacent regions, conflicts over competing land uses at sites of extraction6,
frequent service interruptions due to maintenance, conflicts around wastewater treatment and discharge,
preoccupations linked specifically to water quality and safety, as shown by the discussion around toxicity of
cyanobacteria blooms in constructed basins, such as the spectacular Planktothrix rubescens bloom that
turned the Occhito reservoir red in 2008 and 2011. Moreover, it has enabled transformations in served
territories, as well as at sites of extraction, transferring impacts at great distances (Spilotro et. al. 2013). Large
dams have radically changed local hydrology, triggered landslides, downstream flooding and coastal erosion7,
modified microclimates creating frequent fog, and have forced local communities of farmers out of the
flooded valleys (Rienzo 2013).
Constructed flows
The case study of Puglia shows a process of construction of water flows through the expansion of
infrastructural networks which re-drew the entire natural water cycle (Caruso 1976: 262). The projects of
the CasMez period followed an idea of radical transformation and invented, through irrigation plans until the
1980s, a new territory where irrigation was almost tripled (EIPLI 1988). Consequently, the process of
modernization mobilized the aquifer through constructed flows and imagined to establish a new equilibrium
between local resources and social needs (EIPLI 1988: 49). As a result of these interventions, today Puglia
imports over 590 Mm3 of water per year from adjacent regions (AdB Appennino Meridionale 2010).
However, surface water satisfies only about 40% of the yearly demand8 [fig.3].

[fig.3] Puglia, constructed flows. Source: elaborated by the author, from: AdBP, 2011; Maggiore e Pagliaruolo, 2004;
Regione Puglia DTM 2008.

Water infrastructure in these territories is very complex. Even if one looks at drinking water only, the overlay
of water supply systems with different rationalities, centralized and diffused, becomes evident. The province
of Lecce is a clear example, being simultaneously served by the Sele-Calore scheme through the Sifone
Leccese, by the Agri-Sinni scheme through the Pertusillo aqueduct and by numerous minor networks fed by
wells. Similarly, the rural aqueduct in Murgia (Acquedotto Rurale delle Murge ARM), built between 1976
and 1985, supplies drinking water to rural population, including both residents and tourists, livestock and
industrial activities linked to agriculture9. In Puglia, the ARM is connected to the Sele-Calore and Pertusillo
aqueducts and to wells located along the network. If one considers irrigation, a high degree of
interconnection between different networks is apparent. In fact, the majority of dams, aqueducts and
pumping stations have been designed for multiple uses. While most irrigation networks in the region are
managed by consortia10, over 75% of irrigated agriculture in Puglia is sustained by private wells (AdB
Nazionale dei fiumi LiriGarigliano Volturno 2010) [fig.4].
As land reforms and the bonifica made new settlements possible, the number of wells increased. In fact,
numerous wells were drilled since 1950s to satisfy an increasing water demand for domestic use as well as for
irrigation. In the lonian coastal plain, following the completion of dams from the 1960s to the 1980s, the
wells were almost completely substituted by surface water supplied by the new aqueducts. But since the 80s
6 Such as conflicts between water accumulation in the Pertusillo basin and oil extraction within its drainage basin, in Val dAgri, conflicts
between land uses (for agriculture as well as for waste disposal) in areas of groundwater extraction for potable water provision, as in
Corigliano (LE).
7 The construction of the Pertusillo dam has resulted in severe coastal erosion, reaching 500m at the mouth of the Sinni River, where the
coastline is retreating 2 m/year on average (Spilotro, Pizzo, Leandro 2008).
8 Figure calculation based on: Studio di fattibilit Bilancio Idrico Potabile, Autorita di Bacino della Puglia e Regione Puglia, 2011.
9 Examples are food processing or the production of animal feed or dairy.
10 Consortia are defined as private entities of public law, that provide services for land protection and water resources management,
for soil conservation, for irrigation, for the preservation of the natural environment and for ensuring an adequate technical and
administrative assistance to farmers. A few additional networks are managed by ARIF, Regional Agency for Irrigation and Forestry.

57

frequent dry spells have periodically lowered the level of artificial basins and have reduced groundwater
recharge, leading to the construction of new wells and the reactivation of old ones (Polemio, Dragone, Mitolo
2003).
Moreover, increased efficiency and reduced dimensions of pumping systems have decreased drilling costs11,
making greater depths easier to reach. Hence this territory has recently witnessed a new season of
unauthorized drilling. Paradoxically, technological advancements12 and optimization have led to an increase in
water consumption. The wells, estimated at around 800 public wells and over 200.000 private wells, have
lowered the water table and increased salinity levels through aquifer overdraft, while strengthening the waterenergy nexus. In particular, in the Salento peninsula groundwater demand, which started to increase in the
1960s mainly due to agriculture, has caused the progressive salinization of karts aquifers. In fact,
hydrogeologists indicate that, since the groundwater stress of the 1990s, the aquifer has undergone a critical
transition and it will not be able to return to the previous state in terms of water quality, since current
anthropogenic drivers are not expected to decline (Fidelibus forthcoming).
Histories of the aqueducts have described in detail their construction in relation to centers of consumption,
but less attention has been given to the transformations that this process has facilitated in sites of extraction.
The projects behind these extensive transformations have externalized sites of water accumulation in distant
places. In fact, the invisibility of servant territories has obscured the dynamics sustained by hydraulic
infrastructures. In the same way, the invisibility of groundwater has obscured the direct interrelationship that
exists between sites that, although not contiguous, are materially linked through hydrological processes and
through the process of water commodification enabled by pipes and wells.

[fig.4] Aqueducts and wells. The green areas highlight the two consortia considered: Terre dApulia (NW) and Ugento li
Foggi (SE). Source: elaborated by the author, from: Regione Puglia, PPTR 2013, DTM 2008, PTA 2005; Acquedotto
Pugliese; Consorzio di Bonifica Ugento Li Foggi Piano di Classifica 2012; Consorzio di Bonifica Terre dApulia Piano di
Classifica 2012; AdBP Carta Idrogeomorfologica 2007.

11 Well costs in Murge can amount to 50.000 for drilling and 15.000 to purchase the pumping systems due to the considerable depth
of the aquifer. In parts of Salento drilling costs vary between 3.000 and 8.000 , while pumps are estimated to cost less than 10.000 .
Pumping costs vary a maximum of 0.35-0.55/m3 in Murgia to a minimum of 0-0.02/m3 in coastal areas of Salento. The average
lifespan of a drilled well is 30 years (IRSA-CNR 2010).
12 Such as nucleus destruction drilling.

58

Fragile territories
In this context, climate change presents urgent and pressing questions (IPCC 2014), which will have to be
addressed both in hydrological and in spatial terms13. In the face of the projected decrease in available water,
the wells, the aqueduct and its attendant infrastructures emerge as a site of conflict.
Technological fixes that aim to maintain current practices and minimize impacts appear to be insufficient to
significantly reduce water consumption and vulnerability to drought. In fact, irrigation systems in the region
are already relatively efficient14, but these infrastructures are designed for a Holocene climate. As a
consequence of climate change, hydrant failures in pressurized irrigation systems are projected to more than
double by 2050. Moreover, system costs will increase by 20-27% when designed with larger pipes in response
to future irrigation requirements and increased peak demand (Daccache, Lamaddalena 2010). In addition, if
water available to collective irrigation systems decreases in response to low levels of precipitation, more
farmers will probably go back to groundwater for irrigation.
According to IAMB15 projections, irrigation requirements are expected to increase in response to climate
change for crops to maintain current levels of productivity, and total agricultural land is projected to decrease
by 8.5%, while irrigated land will have to shrink to 2/3 of its current extent. In particular, the province of
Lecce is expected to change radically from high value crops such as vegetables and vineyards to less water
demanding crops, decreasing its water requirements for irrigation by almost 51%. Moreover, due to reduced
precipitation, groundwater recharge is expected to decrease by 27% (DAgostino, Scardigno, Lamaddalena, El
Chani 2014). The projected decrease of cultivated areas and the following radical change in land use might
go well beyond previous shifts in agricultural land use, such as the decrease of vineyards that occurred
between 1960 and 1990 as a result of an intense process of economic and social development that
characterized the second half of the XX century (Vigan 2001).
Other processes at play are already changing these landscapes significantly. The current spread of OQDS
(Olive Quick Decline Syndrome), which emerged in 2013 and whose causes have not been clearly identified,
has been addressed by a regional plan to cut down over 800.000 olive trees in Salento to prevent the
syndrome from spreading north16, and could have an even greater impact on the agricultural landscape if
more trees were affected. In addition, processes of agricultural land abandonment which are already occurring
will most likely increase in response to rural aging in the region, where about 67% of farmers is age 55 or
over and only 4 % is below 35 (CBTA, Piano di Classifica 2012).
So far, public administration has not been able to effectively counterbalance increasing water consumption, as
top down strategies have been difficult to tailor to daily practices. In 2009 the Regional Authority developed
the Regional Water Resource Protection Plan which called for severe constraints on groundwater
exploitation. However, its implementation was marked by conflicts between the Regional Authority and
farmers affected by the plan, limiting its efficacy. Similarly, the attempts of irrigation consortia to limit water
use through volumetric rates17 have induced farmers to withdraw more groundwater form private wells,
which are not controlled. European agricultural policies have also had negative impacts on water
consumption. In the past, the CAP has been a key driver of farming practices that in many cases increased
irrigated areas and pressures on groundwater, especially when incentives were associated with the production
of water intensive crops.
Thus, both current dynamics and projected scenarios pose serious questions in terms of the future of these
fragile territories, which will have to be re-imagined, raising issues of profound social, environmental and
political relevance. Under these terms, reduced rainfall, the degradation of groundwater resources and the
future increase in disputes over water will put into question existing measures and vocabularies that make up
the discourse on water scarcity.
Situating flows
This territory is situated between two constructed water systems: the centralized infrastructures of the
aqueducts respond to the paradigm of concentration and dependency; wells, for the most part privately
owned, relate to diffusion, decentralization and the promise of self-sufficiency. This paper considers sites
where the infrastructure built by consortia intersects or reproduces the two models.

13 Approximately 71 % of the region is occupied by agriculture, which is a primary resource for local economy. Olive trees and
vineyards dominate the central and southern parts of the region, where irrigated crops rely almost entirely on groundwater.
14 Specifically, 60-80 % efficiency for sprinkler irrigation and 75-90 % for dripping irrigation (Daccache, Lamaddalena 2010).
15 Istituto Agronomico Mediterraneo di Bari, part of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies,
CIHEAM.
16 While the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa, which is thought to have arrived in Puglia through imported nursery plants and is transmitted via
insect vectors, is considered to be the cause of OQDS, agronomists indicate that the syndrome is the result of multiple factors, such as
chemical fertilizers and the widespread use of Roundup in olive groves and uncultivated land, which has been found to make plants
more vulnerable to pathogens and fungi (Perrino 2015).
17 Volumetric water rates are applied by block, and the lowest average net irrigation requirements have the lowest tariffs.

59

Since the 1930s18, consortia have been implementing the project of modernization of the bonifica integrale.
During their first years of existence, they have constructed roads, implemented rural electrification,
reforestation, watercourse management and drainage of coastal wetlands, and have then concentrated on
expanding water supply relying on both accumulated surface water delivered through aqueducts and tapping
the aquifers through wells.
The incremental construction of water infrastructure in this territory has seen promethean projects (Kaika
2005) such as the aqueducts Canale Principale followed by the other pipelines, dams and constructed basins
built in the attempt to quench the thirst of the region. But the diffused devices that serve these landscapes
for irrigation and for drinking water, which have sustained great transformations through flows of water, as
well as the manifestation of large networks such as the ARM on the ground, are rather inconspicuous.
The structures utilized by consortia to deliver water to houses or farms and to pump water from the aquifer
are composed of wells that are either directly connected to the irrigation network, convey water through
pumps to reservoirs which are linked to the network, or include all of these elements plus a water tower, with
small pipes buried alongside roads or running along stone walls.
A provisional selection of sites situates the elements of infrastructure within the water flows that move
through them, not only focusing on the material flows but also explicitly on their spatial repercussions,
beyond a merely quantitative perspective19.
While planimetric drawings compile a map of existing infrastructures20, each site identifies a section type
which describes, through diagramming and photography, water flows, the devices that enable them and the
territory they support, investigating the relationship between infrastructure and landscape across scales. The
sites are drawn on 2.5x2.5 km rectangular pieces, selected according to local hydrologies and types of
engineering intervention constructed by consortia. They sample areas of dispersion and fragmented land uses
both inland (Galatina, Putignano [fig.5]) and along the coast (Ugento), and within expansive olive
monocultures (Scorrano [fig.7], Bitonto) and they begin to represent the paradoxical superimposition of
networked and discrete water infrastructure in the city-territory.
Murgia Barese
The Consorzio di Bonifica Terre dApulia CBTA has constructed, since the 1920s, over 900 km of
roads, planted over 3000 ha of forest and , from 1977 to 1985, has built the largest rural aqueduct in Europe,
the Acquedotto Rurale delle Murge ARM. Its network is made of underground pipes: 700 km of primary
feeders, for the most part steel and cast iron, which bring water to 17 reservoirs and 900 km of secondary
feeders, made of steel or PVC.
Designed in 1976, the ARM was in fact composed of two independent networks, conceived to be both
temporarily fed by AqP through pumping stations, the northern network being connected to the Sele channel
at Spinazzola and the southern network being connected to the Pertusillo pipeline at Massafra. The projects
responded to the need to serve rural population, which had not been considered in previous aqueduct
projects in the region. It was quite ambitious: 1100km of pipes would distribute 8Mm3 per year to satisfy the
requirements of 50000 residents and 250000 cattle, sheep and horses in Puglia and Basilicata. After the rural
aqueduct was constructed, yearly water consumption increased significantly, almost doubling in less than 20
years21. Since the connection to the Locone dam was never completed, 26 deep wells were drilled. Today,
about 50% of all water delivered by the ARM is pumped from the aquifer.
Until 1984, rural population in the central areas of Alta Murgia relied on water supplied by the aqueduct in
city centers or extracted from isolated wells and transported via tanker trucks, while livestock relied on
rainwater collected in traditional cisterns. Pools, wells and cisterns, which were built following karst
topography, responding to subsidence and the presence of sinkholes and canyons, to harvest rain before it
percolated through the fissured limestone, were then rendered useless by the aqueduct (Quartulli et al. 2007).
As with the Acquedotto Pugliese, the promise of the ARM has facilitated a process of urban diffusion.
Specifically, the southern area served by the rural aqueduct has seen, 10 years after the completion of the
network, a significant expansion of housing and tourism22, especially in the Itria Valley, as well as a 50%
increase in livestock23. Despite the extension of the infrastructure, the implementation of the ARM has not
been able to keep up with the demand, possibly contributing to the increase in the number of private wells.
18 Their role was specified in the law: Testo unico sulla bonifica integrale (Law n. 215 del 13 February 1933)
19 Functionalist perspectives of urban metabolic processes have been criticized because, while they represent city limits as arbitrary lines
drawn within a wider system of flows, they tend to overlook the spatial implications these have in cities and territories on the ground
(Gandy 2004).
20 Currently, there is no available database that collects all existing water infrastructure in the region, partially due to the fragmentation
of administrative bodies, some of which have not yet transferred archival data into digital format, and due to widespread illegal drilling.
Part of the research is therefore trying to create a schematic map of all infrastructures at play.
21 The consortium reports 1.6 Mm3\year in 1998 and about 3 Mm3\year in 2012.
22 About 70% of all water delivered by the rural aqueduct today is for domestic use (Piano di Classifica 2012).
23 Water requirements in the ARM project for cattle were estimated at 80l/day per animal.

60

[fig.5] Sites: Putignano, CBTA. Source: elaborated by the author, from: Regione Puglia, CTR 2008, PPTR 2013, DTM
2008, PTA 2005; Acquedotto Pugliese; Consorzio di Bonifica Terre dApulia Piano di Classifica 2012; IAMB 2008; AdBP
Carta Idrogeomorfologica 2007; site visit 06/2015; Google Earth 2015; IGM 1945.

Salento
If we consider Puglia through the lens of landscape ecology, the peninsula appears as the meeting point of
multiple conflicting flows, both parallel and transversal, which do not stop at the water edge, but move across
it (Forman 2010). When seen in cross-sectional depth, sitting on top of superficial aquifers and deep karst

61

aquifers, connected through infiltration occurring on faults and porosity and floating above 15.000 years old
fossil saltwater, the demarcation of the coastline as dividing line between land and water is blurred by the
exchange of fresh and salt water that occurs through it.

[fig.6] Deep and superficial aquifers. Source: elaborated by the author, from: Regione Puglia, DTM 2008, PTA 2005;
AdBP Carta Idrogeomorfologica 2007.

In Salento, deep aquifers flow through porous fractured karst, infiltrating the ground through sinkholes and
vore (vertical caves) and, in endorheic drainage basins, they never reach the coast. Although surface water is
scarce, clayey soils and coastal dune barriers formed a number of wetlands, which were drained or connected
to the sea to increase salinity [fig.6]. After the creation of the irrigation consortium along the Ionian coast in
1927, efforts to drain coastal wetlands accelerated until the 1930s project by Attilio Biasco drew roads,
drainage channels, power lines and agricultural fabrics24.
Today, the expansion of impervious surfaces, which have more than doubled in the last 50 years, and the
partial erasure of drainage ditches are reducing infiltration to the aquifers and increasing runoff which, being
drained through artificial channels built between 1950 and 1980, results in more frequent flooding (Consorzio
di Bonifica Ugento 2012). The Consorzio di Bonifica Ugento li Foggi has expanded until the 1980s, reaching
its current extent of 189.494 ha. However, only 11.000 ha are irrigated by the consortium (ADBP 2015) and
over 70% of all delivered water is withdrawn from the deep aquifer through 90 wells, while treated
wastewater provides the remaining percentage. Private wells, which have been increasing due to the diffusion
of mini-wells, sustain most irrigated land.
Groundwater demand in Salento has increased since the 1960s especially due to agriculture, which has raised
production levels by irrigating dry-land crops such as olive groves25. In addition, recurring dry spells have
increase peak demand, causing the consortium to turn wells that are otherwise not active, responding to
drought by increasing withdrawals (IRSA-CNR 2010). The attempt to increase the reuse of treated effluent
represents a possible solution for the discharge of wastewater treatment plants, since the construction of
marine outfalls has often been controversial26, but it has not always been successful due to the lack of
confidence in the effectiveness of treatment plants. Moreover, the request for treated wastewater appears to
be lacking, due to the diffusion of wells and agricultural land abandonment. But while wastewater reuse could

24 The wetlands of Ugento had been the object of studies, projects, and technical reports since the XVIII century under the House of
Bourbon.
25 Agricultural land in the province of Lecce is occupied mainly by olive groves (58.2%), cereals (24,%), vineyards (9,2%) and vegetables
( 2.6%). Within the consortium olive groves occupy 62.901 ha olive groves, vineyards 2300 ha, durum wheat 13.800.
26 With reference for instance to the recent opposition to the wastewater treatment plant in Manduria (TA) and to the discharge of
treated effluent from the Carovigno treatment plant in the marine reserve of Torre Guaceto (BR).

62

be a way to decrease groundwater withdrawals and increase recharge27, it also raises the question of whether it
could just become an additional water source, if land use and agricultural practices remain unchanged.

[fig.7] Sites: Scorrano, CBULF. Source: elaborated by the author, from: Regione Puglia, CTR 2008, PPTR 2013, DTM
2008, PTA 2005; Consorzio di Bonifica Ugento Li Foggi, Piano di Classifica 2012; IAMB 2008; AdBP Carta
Idrogeomorfologica 2007; site visit 06/2015; Google Earth 2015.

27 Current national regulations do not allow treated wastewater to be used directly for groundwater recharge, see DLgs.n.152/99.

63

Conclusion
The case study shows a process that radically transformed the territory through flows of modern water
(Linton 2013), building a new landscape via large-scale infrastructure. But the promise of abundant water held
by networks of pipelines supported the diffusion of discrete devices throughout the city-territory. In this
territory, water circulation has been shaped by institutions and practices as well as by hydrology, being both
physically produced and socially constructed (Bakker 2003). These projects have linearized flows and
displaced externalities, disregarding the hydrocomplexity and timescales of the aquifers. But beyond
watershed boundaries, the sites connected through these constructed flows need to be reconsidered
simultaneously.
Moving away from arguments of water scarcity and related technological fixes, the analysis of hydrological
networks has the potential to redirect attention towards biophysical processes that underpin cities and
territories, discussing the spatial and material aspects of the transformations facilitated by infrastructures,
through histories and social practices, theories and ideologies (Secchi, 2014). The representation of water
sites and systems, of processes and measures that are for the most part difficult to see and deferred in time
ad space, might therefore be the first step towards re-thinking and re-designing these flows, constructing
alternative hydrologic imaginaries.
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The maipos canals as a revealed urban matrix for Santiago de Chile

Sandra Iturriaga del Campo
Affiliation: Universidad Catlica de Chile
Supervisor: Rossana Forray Claps
Expected thesis defence: August, 2017
siturria@uc.cl
The relationship between the watercourses natural and artificial and the consolidation of the cities within their territory
has been a constant process in history. There are many good examples where this relationship has persisted in time, as the
soil where they develop. In the case of Santiago, Chile, this relationship can be comprehended as part of an oasis culture:
a semi-deserted valley with dry climate that was early modified by a network of watercourses and irrigation canals, which
cross and outline the territory on an effort to nourish it. This singular strategy of order has fused along time with the
frame of urban facts, process in which they change from those indelible and continuous elements, to become outcast and
invisible traces of the urban landscape both physically and as part of the urban imaginary. The appreciation of the value
of these artificial traces as potential urban generators, in relationship with their territory, consists in the main starting
point of the investigation.

Water traces as shapes of the Territory

If we consider that the territorial signs generate culture and vice versa, (Astaburuaga, 2004, 68), in the
particular case of dry climate cities, the importance of the irrigation systems as shapers of their territory and
structural elements of the city results in one of the main subjects for their understanding.
The city of Santiago, Chile, settles over a watershed irrigated by two main watercourses: the Mapocho River
and the Maipo River, which limit the valley on its northern and southern ends.Their most prominent
characteristic being an elevated position within the rest of the watershed. This allowed the development, on
the first settlements, of an irrigation system of a watercourse network and irrigation canals that cross and
limit the land starting from the logic of the water distribution, on an effort to fertilize an extended semi
deserted valley with dry climate.
This artificial water trace system manages to configure a single strategy of order in the scale of the territory,
becoming an extension of most part of it along time, not only in the valley of Santiago, but also in the whole
central area of Chile (Prez, 2005).
This way it is possible to recognize, on the condition of these hydric traces, the first elements of territorial
colonization, that since the first years accompany the morphology of Santiagos urban grid. Their persistence
as relevant facts in the shape of the city still exists: the transmission of the water by the irrigation canals and
ditches has been an indelible mark on the landscape and also on the urban trace that the agricultural territory
has slowly changed into, printing a new order that underlies in the morphology of the city. (Moreno, Eliash,
1999, 50).

[fig.1] Irrigation Canal El Carmen, Image by the author

But nevertheless, this important role has been diminished by the growth of the city, to a point where its
starting to show a growing fragility on its actual relation with the urban grid. In the time period of one

66

century, with the change of a rural agricultural economy into a mostly tertiary and highly urbanized economy,
this water grid is knitted with the own grid of urban facts, process in which many times they change from
indelible and continuous traces of the territory to become outcast and invisible elements of the urban
landscape both physically and as part of the urban imaginary.
If the landscape is, on a good measure, the result of our relation with the physical space where the
individuals give shape to the places that at the same time give shape to them, through the practices that occur
within them (Nogu, 2007,1) and this is built as a visible sign of the collective identity of a town (Maderuelo,
2005). The irrigation canals belong, without any doubt, to a territory culture that shows a process in time
whose main survey would allow us to understand it as essential pieces of the urban landscape of Santiago.
Description of an Urban Palimpsest
Even though metropolitan irrigation canals are primal and structural elements of the territory in which the
urban morphology is sustained, they have been, paradoxically, deprived of representation: their principal role
has been technical, but not as a mean of representation of a phenomenon that allows to comprehend them as
a territorial scale fact in permanent dialog and interaction with the process of consolidation of the urban
morphology1. This means the territory should be considered as a palimpsest, where the collective
relationship lived between a topographic surface and a population established in its folds allows to conclude
that there is no territory without its own imaginary and that every territory is a process, therefore is the
subject of a construction (Corboz, 2004, 27).
On the other hand, if we consider that Representing a reality is to begin shaping it(Guallart, 2002, 103), it is
postulated that the object of study should be approached in tune with its representation. This way, along with
the comprehension of this territory as palimpsest where its different strata show up, it also appears the
possibility to reveal the inner attributes of a grid of great potential as an urban matrix for Santiago in direct
relationship with its geographical order, that even though it has an extension of over a thousand kilometres it
is neglected within the citys planning.
From the proposed methodology, the goal is to illuminate the postulated field of investigation starting with
the lecture of existing cartography and the development of new ways to map the territory, revealing a new
look over the metropolitan irrigation canals. It is not about exaltation through tracing, but more like a
rhizome, an experimentation that acts over reality (Deleuze et Al, 2002).

[fig.2] Description of the irrigation canals as urban pieces_ elaborated by the author

Beginning from the notion of the palimpsest, the structure of investigation proposes 4 temporal and spatial
strata to reveal:
- Description of the water network at territorial scale
- Description of the water traces as urban morphology persistence
- Description of the irrigation canals as a fabric between private and public
- Description of the network of irrigation canals as a potential matrix of urban and green corridors

1 Even important cartographic efforts such as the ones made on the mid XIX century like those of Amadeo Pissis that
allowed to unveil most part of the knowledge in the central valley, seem oblivious to the network of artificial irrigation
canals that had been vastly built.

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[fig.3] Plain of Maipo Plan_c.1760, Antonio Lozada

The backhand of a network: a territory stretched between two watercourses

From the recognition of the water traces in different cartographic sources that exist since the mid XVIII
century till the mid XIX century, the recognition of the scale that these infrastructures propose within the
territory is postulated, starting from the first artificial traces that cross the valley to form an extensive network
with the potential they still have as elements of territorial order.
Even though the city of Santiago settles along the borders of Mapocho River, it is the relationship with
Maipo River as the main hydric resource to nourish the valley and to provide drinking water on the long
periods of drought the Mapocho River has that stretches on the most part of its urban morphology.
Despite the fact that the Maipo River presents till today a physical and social situation that can be described
as facing backwards the city, on the Plains of Maipo Plan drawn back in 1786, the city of Santiago is
described as settled in an unusual way, facing the south, in direction to Maipo River. The position of the city
appears represented clearly depending on the borders of Mapocho River a thing that most part of the
historic urban cartography has highlighted, but only this scale image of the territory emphasizes a manifested
tension with the Maipo River that comes from the proposed frame, representing it with a gravitational
presence towards the valley, and leaving, in a less hierarchical place, the presence of Mapocho River. In
contrast with this one its borders are drawn porous, which seems to be the reflection of the silt and
sediment it drags with its runoff, and that is still nowadays its primal input to help turning a dry valley into an
irrigation culture. This gravitational tension reaffirms with the presence of a group of traces that irradiate
from the city towards south, and that open in the shape of a fan crossing the plain through seven roads, as a
counterpart of two water traces described as irrigation ditches, that cross the territory on opposite direction.
These seem to be Pre-Hispanic traces of irrigation canals very appreciated by the conquerors when they
divided the lands within the valleys of Santiago and Aconcagua, and whose traces were most exploited by the
Jesuits (Villalobos, 1997).

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[fig.4] Plan of "Santiago and its surroundings", SCM Society, A.Rengifo,1902

[fig.5] Description of the Maipo River irrigation canals network_ elaborated by the author

The water traces: from irrigated mosaic to underground network

Its about identifying the persistence of these traces as structural events of the city, that follow a period of 50
years since their initial condition as continuous limits of an extensive territory characterized for the agriculture
and its vineyards, to a condition of traces that intercept with the highway and urban network, motivating its
progressive movement to the underground.
The irrigation canals unlike the ditches that depend on an existing urban trace work as elements of order
and rationalisation of the landscape, the same way the chessboard grid work on the city: they outline
exploitable agriculture fields that start to define a trace that becomes inherent to the functioning of the
watercourses (Villalobos, 1997). Beginning with the first topographic mappings developed within the
watershed of Santiago in the first decades of the XX century, it is possible to verify that this trace is
consolidated throughout the whole valley, allowing it to rise as a defining factor in the territorial order from
the mosaic of agricultural fields that surpass the limits of Mapocho River, irrigating all of the north area. This
expansive situation is favoured by the economic bonanza of the later years, consolidating a network that will
start to shape as an element of increasing dominance within the morphology the city acquires every time it
grows. This way it will give a more natural character and more complexity to the peripheral urban fabric, which
every time will be more and more a result of the subdivision of agricultural properties (PEREZ, 1995:xx).
Even so, in a period of 30 years since the change from an agricultural economy to a highly urbanized tertiary
economy where the value of the agricultural land is replaced with the urban rent, the water trace presents
some frictions and discontinuities on its course within the city. This motivates the burial of a large proportion
of this irrigation canal network, for the most effective exploit of its water2, something that blurs this
network in an evident paradox: while they are elements that radically outline the territory through their course
alongside it, they also become an invisible strata within the urban grid. But at the same time manifest living
traces that hide behind a big heterogeneity of situations and that surface from the empty spots the city leaves.

2 The norm favours the tubing of the canals when they interact with the urban network, establishing that the canal will
be protected, covered or sealed when it crosses populated areas and when it could cause damage or its water may produce
uncomfortable or harmful fumes to the population (Article 87, Water Code)

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[fig.6] Description of the Maipo River irrigation canals as underground network_ elaborated by the author

The irrigation canals network as a fabric between private and public

A third aspect that is interesting to tackle for the comprehension of the irrigation canals and their urban
potential, is that the tuition and management of these infrastructures have been since the beginning on
private hands, something that shows once more that despite the important role these elements play as
configurators, there has been till today a dissociation with the urban dynamics, with its planning and
construction. It is significant that since the end of the first and most important irrigation infrastructure in
Santiago on the beginning of the XIX century as it was the San Carlos Canal it implied that the State
handed the control, administration and maintenance of this project over private tuition, with the subsequent
right of use of its water, giving birth to an association model between privates that lasts till this day,
supported on a strong legislation. This allowed that a rising State could count with an extensive network of
irrigation canals sustained with private resources, but at the same time settled the basis for a permanent and
infructuous negotiation on the territory with the public dimension of the city, and that is evidenced on the
current regulations.
The legislation defined between other things that the irrigation canals should count with safeguard strips for
their maintenance, which because of their own nature turn into privileged corridors that allow connecting a
heterogenic territory in a continuous way. Despite this, the owners of said servitudes are the ones that benefit
from the rights of use endorsed to those irrigation canals and the ones that can oppose to any intervention of
any new project or tree plantation along the servitude of the canal 3. With the growth of the city this
dissociation appears brighter, and one of its main consequences is the loss of structuring potential that these
water traces have inside the urban grid, from the public domain.

Articles 82 , 83 of the Water Code

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The network of the irrigation canals: towards a matrix of urban and green corridors
Based on the 3 topics pointed out before, it is proposed the characterisation of this network of irrigation
canals as a potential matrix of corridors for the city, where its main components are defined by:
The first aspect is related with the recognition of the condition of these artificial water traces as pieces of
great value for the landscape and patrimony. They are the first elements of colonization of the territory in its
attempt to irrigate a semi-deserted valley, that from its beginnings accompany the configuration of the urban
grid of Santiago. While this irrigation canals have been constructed with simple technologies of scarce
material value, they are nevertheless the main arteries of the city since its early days which link it to the
territory.
The second aspect is related with the fact that the artificial water traces present conditions to establish a
potential network of green natural corridors and ecosystems, which conceived as Environmental goods
(Girling et al., 2000) represent key structural components of the urban landscape. This condition has grown
in time because they are irrigation structures that link and sustain till today an important group of parks
public and private within the city forming a network of great landscape and environmental potential. This
contrasts radically with the underground logic, whose principal consequence is the decline of the urban
ecosystem. From an urban and social point of view, the disappearance of the watercourses consists on the
loss of its landscape potential, identity and narrative in the configuration of public space.
A third and last aspect is related with the safeguard strips that these infrastructures of the water consider.
They present because of their own characteristics low slope, continuous flow, etc a high potential to
consolidate in a low mobility network in direct association with the surrounding landscape, considering that
only the irrigation canal network of the metropolitan city counts with an extension of more than one
thousand kilometres.

[fig.7] Description of the matrix of irrigation canals as potential green corridors_ elaborated by the author

71

Bibliography
Astaburuaga, Ricardo., 2004. El agua en las zonas ridas de Chile, Rev ARQ N 57, pp 68-72
Corboz, Andre.,2004. El Territorio como Palimpsesto, en: AAVV, Lo Urbano en 20 autores contemporneos, Ediciones
UPC, Barcelona, p.25-34
Deleuze, Gilles, Guattari Felix.,2002. Mil Mesetas. Capitalismo y Esquizofrenia, Ed. Pre-textos, Valencia, 523 pp.
Guallart, Vicente et al.,2002. Diccionario Metpolis de Arquitectura avanzada, Ed. ACTAR; Barcelona, 623 pp.
Moreno, M.; Eliash, H..,1999. Santiago y el Agua: Irrupciones y Ausencias , en: Rev ARQ N 34, Ediciones ARQ,
Santiago, Chile, Pgs. 50-51
Nogu, Joan., 2007. Territorios sin discurso. Paisajes sn imaginario, Revista cuatrimestral de Geografa ERIA N 73-74,
Universidad de Oviedo
Perez O.F.,Rosas, J.,Valenzuela,L.(2005) Las aguas del centenario, Rev ARQ N60, Santiago de Chile pp. 72-74
Maderuelo, Javier.,2005. El Paisaje: Gnesis de un Concepto. Madrid: Abada Editores
Villalobos, Sergio et al.,1997. Historia de la Ingeniera en Chile, en: 170 aos, Sociedad del canal de Maipo, Santiago de
Chile, pp.30.

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Section across the horizontal field:

A case study of the asymmetrical condition of Bogots periphery
Claudia Lucia Rojas Bernal

Department of Architecture KU Leuven

Supervisors. Bruno de Meulder, Kelly Shannon
Expected thesis defence: April, 2017
claudia.rojasbernal@student.kuleuven.be
The Sabana de Bogot is facing an increased contradiction between development (urban, agriculture, flower production
or any or kind) and a saturated water management system. Heavy pollution, subsidence, flooding, drinkable water
demand, and a loss of biodiversity are some of the most pressing issues. In order to develop an alternative vision for the
ongoing unsustainable urbanization of the territory, in which the river, rather than being denied or just seen as an
obstacle, is read as the backbone of the territory. This paper presents an interpretative mapping exercise that proposes the
section as a system of mediation to analyse contemporary conditions of peripheral urban formation along the Bogot
River, and the rationalities of its correlative water system. The section also reveals the often contradictory conditions that
shape the landscape of the Sabana (urban/rural, local/global, and formal/informal), especially between fragile ecosystems
and the complex infrastructural network in which water is harvested, redistributed, recycled and transformed. It also
incorporates the potential to develop a constructive interplay between water management and settlement development.

Framing the landscape. A fragile ecological system vs an infrastructural machine

[fig.1] Geographical inscription of the Sabana de Bogot. Urbanization depends on large regional ecosystems and hidden
networks of water supply. Elaborated by the author.

The Bogot River flows from its headwaters in the Pramo de Guacheneque at 3.300 m.a.s.l. (meters above
sea level) to the Magdalena River at 280 m.a.s.l.. Along its 308 kilometers, the river crosses 25 municipalities
and four altitudinal zones. In the Pramo, moist soil (3/4 composed by water), wet vegetation and
temperatures between 3 to 6are the basis for an ecosystem with a very large water-storage capacity. At its
mouth in the Magdalena River, the vegetation is tropical forest and temperatures are above 24 C (Paz
2010). This vertical sequence of ecosystems reflects a variety of environmental conditions and sustains a high
biodiversity
In the middle basin, the river crosses the Sabana de Bogot, a plateau located at 2,600 m.a.s.l. (fig. 1). The
plateau comes from the deposition of volcanic sediments in a preexisting lake. This generated very fertile soil
that has allowed a highly concentrated population since pre-hispanic times. The hydrogeologic floor is not
uniform. There are permeable formations composed of sand and gravel (aquifers) inside the geological plate
(Van Der Hammen 1998). Due to its formation, the water table is close to the surface, and initially wetlands
covered a larger part of the plateau. Originally, the river ran through the Sabana, creating an extensive alluvial
floodplain. The floodplain widens (1-10 km) southward as it receives the flows from tributary rivers. The
plateau landscape seems homogeneous. However, rainfall and evapotranspiration patterns and variations in
the floodplain width, define subtle changes in vegetation and causes gradients of fertility. Rainfall from the
north east to the south west varies from 1000 to 500 millimeters. The south part of the Sabana, prone to
flood during the rainy season, suffers from scarcity of water during most of the year (Paz 2010).

73

[fig.2] Geographical inscription of the Sabana de Bogot. Urbanization depends on large regional ecosystems and hidden
networks of water supply. Elaborated by the author.

The native vegetation almost completely disappeared as it was systematically replaced by imported species
[fig. 2]. Originally, floodable forest of mainly Alders (Alnus glutinosa) covered the seasonally flooded areas,
and bordered the open wetlands. While aquatic vegetation and different species of bulrush and cattails
covered the wetlands (Van Der Hammen 1998). Most of the wetlands in the eastern side of the Bogot River
were lost due to urbanization. In contrast, the wetlands in the western side preserve an important ecological
and hydrological value, they are the habitats for endangered native species and they regulate seasonal floods,
sediment retention, and recharge of aquifers, erosion control, and microclimate stabilization (CAR 2004). The
river, the floodplain and the wetlands formed an ecosystem that, working with the vegetation, was able to
cope with cyclical periods of overflow and supported a unique ecology adapted to fluctuations of water and
sediments.
The daily water demand of domestic use for Bogot and nine surrounding municipalities is around 1.45
million m3 (16,8m3/s). Currently more than 80% of this volume (14m3/s) is derived from the Pramo de
Chingaza in the Orinoco watershed (IEU, 2015). An artificial network of reservoirs with a capacity of 894
million of m3 and gigantic tunnels and pipes transfer the water to urban areas, creating an enormous stress on
external ecosystems, but also adding a significant amount of water to the base flow of the river [fig. 1].
Climate change predictions estimate an increase of 2-4 C for the end of the century. This situation will cause
an upward altitudinal shift of the vegetation zones, as altitudinal zonation is partly temperature driven
(IDEAM et al. 2014). This shift is critical for the Pramos, as its special vegetation would be unable to adapt
to higher temperatures.
Underground water is used by domestic, agricultural (especially flower faming) and industrial activities.
However the underlying system of aquifers has a low rate of recharge and overexploitation is leading to the
drop of the water table. In some areas of the Sabana, studies recorded that the water table has dropped
almost 5 meters per year, which is also causing subsidence (Barrera 2010). The treatment capacity in the
whole watershed is around 20% of total produced waste water (CAR 2006). Polluted water is reused by
agriculture. The concentration of heavy metals and bacterial coliforms in the vegetables and milk produced
are above the standard limits established. A studied perform by the Universidad Nacional found high counts
and concentrations of arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium in celery, lettuce, cabbage and broccoli (Paz
2009). After being used by households, industries, flower farming and agriculture, the polluted water is
pumped in the reservoir Mua to generate electricity at the Alicachn hydropower station. The retention of
102.7 million m3 of polluted water creates a huge public health problem in the surrounding area. The river
plunges off at the Tequendama Falls. The polluted water is used to load the complete energy network.
Deep sections
In this framework, this paper explores the section as a system of mediation by which the often
contradictory social, cultural and natural factors can be translated as a tool to exchange knowledge (Hight
2014). The reading of the ground also intends to contribute to the construction of the hybrid approach by
representing the performative ordering of the landscape and juxtaposing the flows and processes (Kipper,
Pevzner 2012). Addressing issues of climate change and integrated water management requires an extension

74

of the scope of the design question to the ground. It is not surprising that deep sections have become an
essential tool to address these questions. New explorations of thickened surfaces are based on the visual
techniques originally devised by Ian McHarg in the sectional explorations of dynamic landscapes (Kipper,
Pevzner 2012). His extensive use of the section as a methodology that opened up the idea of the
interconnectedness between cities suburbs and the natural world (Reed, Lister 2014). Thick sections expand
the scope of the question to the significant biochemical, geological, hydrological or ecological complexity of
the ground (Kipper and Pevzner 2012). The innovative sections developed by Alexander Von Humboldt in
the late-eighteenth century, that illustrate the dynamics and spatial inter-relations between climate,
topography and vegetation, are also an important precedent for new practices (Acciavatti 2015). The
horizontal condition of Bogot was well understood in the profile of the journey from Cartagena to Bogots
plateau drawn by Humboldt in 1801. Since then, however, only the geologist and palaeo-ecologist Thomas
Van der Hammen used sections as an analytical tool in the formulation of the environmental plan for
Bogots River upper basin of 1999.
The sections presented in this paper deal with floodplain changes in relation to asymmetrical urban/rural
conditions. The sections have a twofold purpose. Firstly, as an analytical tool that critically describes the
contemporary conditions of the periphery while revealing the natural, (agri-)cultural and socio-economic
processes that have and are shaping urban form. Secondly, as a projective tool that defines an elastic water
land interface in view of climate change effects. The interpretative/ projective mapping exercise is
complemented by a literature review to disclose the human, social and political forces shaping decisions on
urbanization and water management. Sequential sections are presented at the scale of the Sabana and after
three sections are develop in detail to illustrate the different processes that have domesticated the floodplain
and at strategic points were infrastructure catalyzes the extension of the horizontal metropolis. They also
embed the potential to develop a constructive interplay between water management and settlement
development.
The horizontal expansion and asymmetrical distribution
The original high degree of wetness defined, to a certain extent, the asymmetrical distribution of urbanization
in the plateau, which is concentrated mostly in the east. Until recently, urbanization across the river was
restricted mainly by technical constrains, but also by political and social forces. On the eastern side the
development is dense and concentrated. On the western side, the town centers of surrounding municipalities
grew slowly in a compact pattern, while industries, green houses and suburban houses for the high-income
population were scattered across the agricultural landscape, following regional infrastructures and water
availability [fig. 3]. Demands for new housing increase daily, while Bogotas overall deficit remains
unresolved. In 2011, the quantitative housing deficit for the city reached 258,046 dwelling units (Secretaria
Distrital del Habitat, 2011).
In 1953, six surrounding municipalities, Bosa, Fontibon, Usaquen, Engativa, Suba, and part of Usme, were
included in Bogots administrative. Rapid urban growth was exacerbated by the phenomenon of internal
displacement as a result of the internal conflict in the country. The process of horizontal urban expansion
after the 1960s transformed the landscape of the Sabana, from a productive rural landscape with a network of
compact urban centers to a large urban area with fragments of productive fields and nature. At the end of the
1970s, commercial agriculture and intensive livestock were evident. The countryside was able to provide the
growing city and even generate surpluses for exportation. However, as the process of expansion advanced,
land became an attractive object of speculation. In the last decades, traditional agriculture production shifted
to a specialized agro-industrial production (mainly flower farming) intended for the global market.
Agricultural production was preserved by expanding the ecological frontier, between 1960 and 2000, 78.000
hectares of agriculture were incorporated. While the flat topography attractted investors that took advantages
of the economies of scale, road infrastructure, water availability, and connection to the airport, small scale
farmers were displaced to the mountain areas (Montaez et al. 1992). The macroeconomic policies of past
governments, in favor of industry, importation of agricultural products and production for export, coupled
with land speculation explain why the agricultural identity of the Sabana is disappearing.

75

[fig.3] Urbanization in the plateau. Landscape is the most important element framing urbanization. Eastern mountains
and alluvial created natural barriers for urbanization. Fragile soils are mostly occupied by informal settlements. Elaborated
by the author.

Modernization and redefinition of the wet & dry interface

The domestication of this landscape started twelve centuries ago when the Muiscas developed a sophisticated
system of ridged fields as an adaptation strategy to specific soil conditions and natural cycles of flooding.
After the Spanish colonization water management was more rudimentary. It consisted mainly of the
construction of canals and ditches to deal with the excess of water and the high water table, redefining the
wet and dry interface, in order to appropriate the floodplain for agricultural and later urban uses. As in many
other cities, the need to urbanize and domesticate nature was parallel to the necessity to push the
ecological frontier outward as the city expanded (Swyngedouw et al. 2006). In the urban area the tributary
rivers were canalized and buried in an attempt to create a hygienic city following the European examples of
the nineteenth century (Gandy 2004).
Today, the middle section of the Bogot River is designed as a flood control system and for a larger extend
reduced to a waste water collector [fig. 4]. It is mainly a canal defined by the volume of water flows (a base
flow of 22m3/s at the beginning and 27m3/s after receiving urban waste water) and the meandering
geometry. The complete water system is highly confined between engineered lines as a result of parallel dikes
that narrow the floodplain to a regulatory dimension (50 to 270 meters). The hydraulic capacity of the river is
80 100 m3/s. The ongoing project Bogot Rivers environmental recovery and flood control intends to
increase this capacity to 100 200 m3/s (CAR 2013). The increased conversion of the city surface into roads
and housing blocks increases the impact of sudden flash floods, by directing runoff straight into the network

76

of simplified and rectified canals. In addition, heavy pollution from industrial, agricultural and domestic uses
and poor waste water treatment convert the river in a dead fragment of nature. In the Sabana, dissolved
oxygen concentration falls to values below 1.0mg/liter. This water quality is insufficient to support life (CAR
2006). This situation is also critical for the poorest communities that inhabit the reclaimed floodplain. Those
that deal daily with the polluted landscapes and the risk of floods seem disconnected from the rest of the city.

[fig.4] Engineered construction of the Bogot River. Three profiles are defined according with the volume of water flow.
Elaborated by the author.

It is already recognized that control engineering strategies need to be replaced by more flexible, adaptive
approaches to managing human activities and designing within the systems that sustain us (Reed, Lister
2014). In terms of water management, it is clear that the cycles of urban/storm water/waste water have to be
reconsidered and ecological and hydrological functioning landscapes should be promoted (Novotny 2009). In
the context of the Sabana de Bogot, a landscape urbanism approach, understood as working with, rather
than against, the forces of nature (De Meulder, Shannon 2010) offers a framework of mediation and
assemblage (Hight 2014) which can be the basis for a hybrid approach able to negotiate the challenges of the

77

existing conflicts between any development (urban, agriculture, flower production or any or kind) with the
(saturated) water management system.

[fig.5] Rural/urban interface. The three sections above illustrate different conditions of the rural/urban interface along
the river. Each section also shows representative examples of the housing production trends in the Sabana. Section 1
shows the interface between informal settlements and industrial development along the Calle 80. Section 2 presents the
urban sprawl in the western side of the river and the expansion of the flower farming. Section 3 presents the macroprojects of social housing and the agricultural district La Ramada. Elaborated by the author.

Section 1. Minimal grids versus large industrial platforms

Informal housing has occupied the fragile floodplain of the river since 1960s. To give way to a large part of
this development, wetlands were gradually transformed into dry land. Suba-Tibabuyes is one of the most
critical areas in the management of the river. Here informal developments built after the 1960s over
reclaimed wetlands have completely sealed the surface and narrow the floodplain to its minimal dimension.
The informal settlements barrios were partly legalized in 1990s, but some areas are still considered informal
because they occupy the normative floodplain and, according to different studies it is impossible to protect
the area against flood (Alcalda Mayor de Bogot 2013). Legalization processes include the construction of
proper water infrastructure, a mechanized systems of pumps is needed to discharge the storm and waste
water because the level of land is lower than the level of the river. In this area, the minimal grid has reached
its maximum expression. Density is around 600 inhabitants per hectare and nature is completely absent from
the urban landscape. The dike create a physical barrier that breaks the continuity of the tissue.
In contrast to the minimal grid, industrial development in the left side is structured by a functional mega-grid
that provides regional and international connectivity though the road Calle 80 and US21 and the airport. The
displacement of industrial activities is the result of the speculation process and the congestion in Bogot city.

78

[fig.6] Section 1. This section illustrates the informal urbanization processes in conflict with the water system in the right
riverbank and the Zona Franca a Metropolitana, a large Industrial and Logistics Park in the left. Elaborated by the author.

Section 2. Intensive flower faming and sub-urbanization

Displacement of the housing problem to the region
Urban expansion, land speculation and environmental conflicts have displaced the housing problem to the
Sabana region. The section shows the characteristic growth of Mosquera and Funza, neighboring
municipalities that grew significantly after 1990. They provide either social housing for the poor or housing
for middle-income people that seek the advantages of a more natural environment (Escallon, Quioes
2010). The expansion of these municipalities have raised serious concerns over the necessity of a regional
integrated approach to water management and housing. Discontinuous growth creates a fragmented tissue.
The popular neighborhoods that correspond to the first expansion of the municipalities were constructed
plot by plot. After 1990, projects for social housing started to fill the gaps within this tissue, the size of the
block increased while the size of the plot decreased. Middle income housing was developed in gated
communities, creating islands that break the continuity of the streets and the tissues.

79

[fig.7] Section 2. This section illustrates the current trend of expansion over agricultural lands and protected wetlands and
the large extension of the flower farming industry. Elaborated by the author.

Flower farming: Controlled conditions and artificial ecologies.

Undoubtedly, flower farming is a major economic activity in the region and has displaced the traditional
agricultural production of the plateau. Worldwide, Colombia is the second producer of flowers, 73% of this
production is concentrated in the Sabana. 95% of the flower crops are exported (Montaez et al. 1996). The
environmental qualities of the Sabana, weather, luminosity, water table, and altitude are considered ideal for
flower farming. In addition to these agronomic conditions, cheap labor and tax reduction policies promoted
by the Plan Vallejo in order to increase exportation products, provide favorable economic conditions.
Colombia was also one of the showcase countries of the Alliance for Progress. This strategy that started
during the Kennedy Administration (1961) enhanced economic cooperation between the United States and
Latin American countries to combat communism through modernization and development. In order to
support the modernization of this alliance, USAID developed projects with a major focus in agriculture,
established missions through consortiums with universities. Small scale flower fields were already introduced
in 1964 in the former La Dehesa. However, in 1967 the master thesis of David Cheever, a graduate student
from Colorado State University became the catalyst for the development of the booming flower industry. In
the thesis Bogot, Colombia as a Cut-Flower Exporter for World Markets he emphasized the potential of
the Sabana for flower production due to the environmental conditions and its connection with an
international airport. In 1969, he proved his hypothesis by founding the successful company Floramerica
(Conlon 2015).
The first flower farms were located in the west, close to the international airport. As the water table dropss,
deep wells increase the cost of harvesting water. Flower farming has moved according to the availability of
cheap water (Montaez et al. 1996). Today, huge plastic greenhouses cover an area of 5,168 hectares,
landscape laboratories that strictly control the environmental conditions. The high demand for low-skill labor
generates flows from urban to rural areas. Each hectare requires 10.300m3 of water and 20 to 35 workers,
mainly females that inhabit the low-income areas surrounding Bogot and surrounding municipalities
(McQuaid 2011). In contrast to this local flow, an impressive network of logistics collects and distributes the
flowers worldwide. During this process the flowers are maintained in suspended animation using cold chains.
It takes only 48 hours to transport a flower from a farm in Colombia to a warehouse in United States. And
two more days to be distributed to the stores (McQuaid 2011).

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Section 3. Intensive agriculture and macro-projects of social housing

[fig.8] Section 3. This section illustrates large scale projects that reclaimed the south part of the floodplain. In the left La
Ramada agricultural district and in the right the macro-project for social housing Ciudadela El Recreo. It also illustrates
the dense urbanization along the Tunjuelo River. Mining activities and its effects on the water landscape are also evident.
Elaborated by the author.

Agriculture: the technical construction of the Sabana as a productive landscape

One of the major domestication works of the floodplain was the construction of La Ramada irrigation district
covering an area of 6,500 hectares, of which approximately 70% corresponds with the river floodplain. As the
city expanded, the necessity to tame the seasonal dynamics of the river increased. At the beginning of the
1920s different engineering studies pointed out the potential of the area to address the problems related to
seasonal dynamics of the Bogot River, as water covered a large extension of estates and farms. 1922 report
La solucin que conviene dar al problema de las inundaciones y riegos en la Sabana de Bogot (the solution
for the flooding and irrigation problems in the Sabana de Bogot) proposed to use the excess of water to
irrigate an agriculture district increasing productivity in areas with deficit of water (Condori 2007). Other
reports also proposed this strategy in 1926 and 1931 in combination with the construction of dams for fresh
water provision.
The construction of the irrigation district started in 1922 and it was operational in 1934. Until now the
infrastructure has changed little. Water from the Bogot River is conducted through a canal to the wetlands
El Gual and Tres Esquinas that serve as natural storage structures. There is a system of main canals A, B,
Tibaitata, C and San Jose, that take the water from the wetlands through slide sluices and a complementary
system of secondary canals, Venecia, Normandia and La Victoria. The system is complemented by pumps
that improve drainage during the rainy season and feed the system during the dry season. Due to the low
quality of the Bogot River water, in 1998 a new canal of 8700 meters was built to relocate the catchment
point upstream to El Chicu in Cota (Condori 2007).
Currently, there is an expansion plan of 5,700 hectares that requires 5 additional pumping stations and dikes
to make the wetlands work at different levels. Another requirement is the construction of 4,300 meters of
secondary canals and 5,100 meters of tertiary canals as well as the installation of locks (IEU 2015). The
expansion is part of the plan Rio Bogota Environmental Recuperation and Flood Control. This plan projects
to increase El Salitre WWTP treatment capacity from 4 to 8 m3 per second and the reuse of the treated
water in the expanded irrigation district.
Macro-projects of social housing
The interest to urbanize the southeast area of the floodplain dated back to the 1960s where this was included
inside Bogots urban perimeter. Most of the studies for Bogot River flood control and environmental

81

recovery aim to guarantee drainage in the area, in order to provide land for development, considering that
this area is actually below the level of the river. Only after 2000 was the Plan Maestro de Alcantarillado de la
Cuenca El Tintal (wastewater and stormwater management plan) s implemented. The system consists of the
huge dam-canal Cundinamarca parallel to the Bogot River that receives runoff from 10 perpendicular canals,
with a morphology based on the pre-existing drainage structure (Hidroestudios 1999). There is also a separate
sewer system that in the future will be connected to the Interceptor Tunjuelo-Canoas. A huge sewer pipe
with a diameter 4.2 meters and 11 kilometers long will direct the water to the projected Canoas treatment
plan. The system depends on pump stations to elevate and discharge into the Bogot River. The engineered
network reclaimed an area of 247 hectares for the construction of macro-projects of low-income housing and
also provided flood protection to pre-existing informal settlements.
The macro-projects of low-income housing represent the main current tool of Colombian government to
deal with the increasing housing deficit. Three main conditions allowed the development of these projects.
First, the national Law 377 of 1997 defined the figure of Plan Parcial (Partial Plan) as an intermediate
planning tool that shapes the conditions for design, planning, management and financing of projects with
areas larger than 10 hectares. The POTs (land use plans) of each municipality delimitated the areas for which
a Partial Plan should be developed. The second condition is the current national housing policies which are
based on the major shift towards neoliberal thinking that is reflected in the introduction of the ABC policy by
Cesar Gaviria in 1990. This policy established housing funding on basis of three elements: saving, subsidy and
credit. This implied the shift from a supply-side approach to a demand-led system which provided a boost to
the construction industry. The introduction of the subsidy would be, since then, the main instrument to
guarantee access to housing property rights (Gilbert 2009). The third condition was the creation of
Metrovivienda in 1999 as an agency that operates as public land bank, it provides serviced land on which
private builders could construct legal and affordable housing. The land bank would cut the cost of serviced
land by capturing betterment and land price increases (Gilbert 2009). The poor could then buy social housing
from private companies using the national housing subsidies and associated credit facilities.
During the first years of Metrovivienda (1999-2012) the agency planned the development of 4 Partial Plans:
Ciudadela El Recreo (show in section 3), Ciudadela El Porvenir, Ciudadela Campo Verde and Usme. The first
three are located in the floodplain. The site selection was based on the existing Bogots POT of 1997. The
different projects emphasized the design of the public areas combined with public facilities as an
organizational strategy (Metrovivienda 2011). Different design schemes were developed in order to provide a
green structure.
Towards and hybrid approach
Can we challenge the rooted perception of the contradiction between the city and the natural Sabana and
replace by the reading of an urban figure diluted into the productive landscape? Charles Waldheim illustrated
the potential role of agriculture in determining the economic, ecological and spatial order of the city by
studying the suburban landscapes in the work of Wright, Hilberseimer and Branzi (Waldheim 2010). Water
and soil are the main natural resources in the Sabana. It is already clear that the main issues regarding the
future sustainability of the region are the supply of potable water and social housing. It is questionable how
long the exportation of water can continue without being in conflict with human needs and without affecting
the limits of stability in the landscape. Productive and economic activities need to be reconsidered and the
agricultural identity need to be preserved. This is especially clear when we consider that expanding world
population is leading to a food crisis and local food production as an important factor for ecological
sustainability, biodiversity and environmental health. In addition, there is a need for an overall strategy social
housing provision that considers the particular conditions of the territory.
The ecology of the Bogot River is related to the natural fragile ecosystems as much as it is to the
infrastructure networks that redistribute water guarantee the metabolism of the metropolis. However, today
the river is a dead water body. To return the river to a natural state is a nave objective. Design has a crucial
role in developing hybrid assemblages that respond to the contradictory challenges embedded in the
landscape of the Sabana. In order to test this approach, a first set of design investigations to explore the
structuring capacity of the water network was proposed for section 3 [fig. 9]. The strategies focuses on the
need to increase the space for water and housing based on existing and proposed infrastructure.

82

[fig.9] Design strategies for section 3. Elaborated by the author.

The first strategy, Sponge Edge, addresses the conservation and restoration of the wetlands in order to create
new ecologies at the river edge and increase the water retention capacity. The design started by retracing the
historical extension of the wetlands and overlapping it with the available open space, creating a blue figure
along the river that is envisioned as a broad multifunctional floodplain. Re-profiling the river section creates a
dynamic gradient of wet and dry that gives space for the wetlands, agriculture and recreation activities. This
strategy goes in line the current project Bogot Rivers environmental recovery and flood control which
attempts to create a lineal park along the river but fails to interpret the subtle landscape variations of the
floodplain.
The purpose the second strategy, Flood Pockets, is to triple the water retention capacity of the La Ramada
irrigation district by re-profiling the section of the existing canals. The current plan to extend the irrigation
district to the north is fundamental to reinforce the agricultural character of the area and restrict urban
sprawl. The water network creates a robust frame that can guide urbanization and create resilience.
Furthermore, the stress over underground water resources can be reduce by recycling the treated waste water.
The topographical manipulations along the canals can be coupled with a soft mobility network, that
reinforces the existing mode of transport but at the same time creates a recreational circuit that interconnects
the protected wetland El Gual - Tres Esquinas with the agricultural landscape. In addition, it can give space
for rural housing which is an important unattended necessity, considering the large rural population displaced
by the internal conflict.
The third strategy, Hybrid Dike, transforms the unavoidable dyke system in a resource. The continuous
heightening and strengthening of the dykes created a barrier that breaks physical and visual continuity. This
infrastructural barrier can be transformed and coupled with other programs by varying the width of the dike.
Part of the dike can be converted in the proposed highway Avenida Longitudinal de Occidente A.L.O, which
is necessary to reduce mobility issues. In other parts the dike serves as a platform for social housing or social
infrastructure. By providing connectivity and visual access, a reading of the river as a neglected backside is
radically transformed.
Finally, an alternative vision for the development of social housing is proposed in Urban Islands. The
traditional expansion of urbanization in this area depends on mechanized water systems and reduces
significantly the permeability of soil. Using cut-and-fill techniques new areas for development can be
intertwined with productive fields and decentralized water management. This operation creates islands

83

anchored to main infrastructure lines that are design by extending the existing road grid. In this way the
urban figure that is interweaved with the landscape.

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Challenging the paradigm of garden suburbs in Argentina:

The urban micro-densification as emergent revitalization process
in the suburbs of Crdoba.
Sara M. Boccolini
Bauhaus Universitt-Weimar / Universidad Nacional de Crdoba (SECyT)
Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Phil. Habil. Max Welch Guerra / Dr. Phil. Beatriz Giobellina
Expected thesis defence: May, 2017
sara_boccolini@gmail.com
This research studies the micro-densification phenomenon as strategy to promote urban revitalization processes on
suburban neighborhoods, and upgrade its potential as a sustainable and efficient response to urban growth.
The micro-densification takes place in neighborhoods located around city core in Crdoba, Argentina, which have
restrictions on land use regulation that perpetuates them as low-density, mono-functional, residential areas. There, the
inhabitants carry out spontaneous/emergent microdensification processes, increasing the number of functional units per
lot. They incorporate complementary uses that enrich the mono-functional structure and rebuild the community network,
preventing the expulsion of the population to the periphery, while offering attractive products to new residents.
This article focus on the spatial dimension of this phenomenon, and the transformations of the suburban fabric, noting
their strengths and weaknesses that allow a revaluation of this phenomenon within the citys structure.

Introduction.
This article presents a stage of a doctoral thesis on the emerging revitalization by micro-densification that is
taking place in pericentral neighborhoods in the city of Cordoba, Argentina. The thesis as a whole explores
the potential of micro-densification as an innovative strategy to revitalize these neighbourhoods; although
focused on a particular case study, the research seeks to develop a reflection on the processes of revitalization
of mono-functional low-density suburbs (MF/LD/S) that make numerous suburban areas of Argentine and
Latin American cities, with conclusions applicable to a wide range of regional studies.
After many other increasingly distant suburban expansions, nowadays the MF/LD/S neighbourhoods are
consolidated as the connecting space between the current periphery and the hiper-densified city center. This
privileged location within the urban structure and their urban and environmental quality are opposed to a
process of functional obsolescence of their buildings, that no longer meet the current demands of the
housing market, causing a gradual population drain and impoverishment of the built heritage. Any renewal
intervention is hampered by land use regulations, perpetuating the model of low-density residential area.
However, the tension between the scenario brought by land use regulations and the strategic potential of this
neighbourhoods is solved through spontaneous (and informal) micro-densification processes carried out by
the landowners, middle-class inhabitants of the neighbourhood: Recycling obsolete buildings or taking
advantage of vacant buildable area of each plot, the number of functional units per plot is increased,
maintaining the scale of existing fabric. Complementary uses are incorporated enriching the urban structure,
increasing profitability through individual micro-investments. Ultimately, they rebuild the social fabric,
preventing population drain and offering attractive products for new inhabitants. Access to housing is
provided to socio-economic groups that have been left out of public housing policies and housing market:
the middle-class young adults.
While the thesis studied the phenomenon as part of the complex urban system, with multiple scales and
analytical dimensions (social, economic, political, territorial), on this occasion, we analyze the spatial and
functional changes that the micro-densification performed in the spatial fabric of these neighborhoods. First,
we caracterize the structure and patterns of fabric generation of MF/ML/S. Subsequently, we analyze
changes and mutations of urban fabric in MF/ML/S neighbourhoods. Specifically, the micro-densification
processes are studied in Maip, Crisol Sur, and Nueva Crdoba anexo neighborhoods. Finally, we reflect on
the opportunities these changes means to overcome the paradigm of MF/ML/S neighborhoods, increasing
its sustainability, efficiency and resilience within the urban structure through emergent processes of selfregulation.
The city of Cordoba.
Cordoba is located in the central region of Argentina. Founded in 1573 during the Spanish colonization, it is
the second most populated city of Argentina after Buenos Aires and the fifth largest in the country 1; it is an
important cultural, economic, educational, financial and entertainment center in the region.
Like all Argentine urban centers of first and second order, Crdoba is characterized by forming a macrocephalic system. This situation consolidates a structure in constant tension between an hiper1 Population of Cordoba: 1.329.604 inhabitants; metropolitan area population (Gran Crdoba): 1.466.823 inhabitants (INDEC, 2010)
City area: 576km.

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densified/collapsed center and the functionally-stunted periphery that spreads on the territory but depends
on the city center to function at all. This research focuses on the current situation of the first suburban
expansion in the city of Crdoba [fig.1]. These neighborhoods originated (and consolidated) as peripheral
developments in 1940-1970, when Cordoba has become the second center of industrial production in the
country. The population migrating from Europe and from rural areas who settled in urban centers is mainly
responsible for the city's population grow by 210% between 1947 and 1970. (Foglia, 1989)

[fig.1a] Urban development of Crdoba. (left to right) years 1573, 1890, 1930, 1940, 2010. (elaborated by the author with
data from Direccin de Planeamiento urbano) In the image corresponding to 2010 it is marked -by red- MF/ML/S
neighborhoods. The study area is located in the southeast sector of the city.
[fig.1b] Southeast sector of Cordoba. On the left, the central area. On the right, metropolitan highways. The study area is
located between the central area and the urban periphery -noted with red-. (data from www.googlemaps.com)

Suburbia Rising.
In this period, the urban periphery is consolidated according to new models of occupation: pericentral
neighborhoods of the city appear as result of rural landowners transformed into "urban developers". The
assumptions that guided this process were the zoning in mono-functional areas, its articulation with the city
center and the periphery through highways, the private car as exclusionary transportation system, and the
model of suburban residential neighborhoods, inspired by the American and British models of the time as a
habitat paradigm for the middle and upper classes.
The grid is imposed over the territory in successive extension operations, without solution of continuity
among themselves or with the territory. Small farms located in urban periphery are converted to urban land
and loteados into individual plots. These loteos 2 are designed individually; in the best case, the border between
different loteos is articulated by an avenue or boulevard, but usually, the layout of streets and blocks is
interrupted, or it switches its pattern without apparent reason. (Panerai et al., 1986: 27) Each small farm is
fractionated in order to get as much profitable area (private use as individual plots) as possible. Abstract
layout defined in the surveyor board is governed only by maximum profitability and to ease real estate
negotiations. (Goytia, 2015) [fig. 2b] A pattern is designed in which public-use area -no profitable, and witch
maintenance costs are faced by the State- is reduced to the minimum required to circulate. (La Padula, 1957c)
The minimum-width streets (14m including 1.5m pedestrian paths) defines the blocks (manzanas 3) of
approximately 100m side. Those blocks group individual plots, that are plotted maintaining a constant front
(10m) and only varying the depth of the plot (25 a 50m) [fig. 2c].
A pattern of occupation of the territory in which the logic of extreme rationality leaves no room for multihierarchical and multi-scale structure of the urban fabric is generated. The spaces for schools, squares and
other urban facilities are distributed haphazardly, only to meet a minimum strength required by the relevant
regulations. The same bland condition is confirmed by the mono-functional occupation program -exclusively
houses-. This is enhanced by the consolidation process under financing by the Banco Hipotecario Nacional (a
mortgage state institution) with its suburban-homes catalog (Liernur, Ballent, 2014).
2 Argentine
3

term for a split of a small farm in individual plots for urban use, called lotes.
See Cerd, 1867.

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The development was performed with increasingly dispersed fabric, and with increasingly low densities. From
this moment, the processes of urban expansion would prevail over those of consolidation or renewal in the
city.

[fig.2] The layout and the urban fabric in MF/ML/S neighborhoods: (2a) Satelital image of the study area (year 2010).
(2b) Layout. (2c) Layout of the plots within each block. (2d) Nolli plan of the typical block; the built area is indicated in
black, while the open spaces are left blanck. (elaborated by the author with data from www.googlemaps.com and
Direccin de Planeamiento urbano).

The zoning city.

Hygienists zoning principles, though implemented from a positivist approach that prioritized paternalistic
humanist values, served to more narrow interests. In fact, since its inception, zoning gained currency due to
be useful to ensure the value of urban land and ensure investments of the owners, rather than to achieve a
true "urban welfare" (Tella, 2012; Harvey, 2010).
In the case of the city of Cordoba, zoning regulations imposed not only the separation of incompatible
activities (residential and industrial, for example), but also consolidated the socio-economic segregation in
urban space:The white-collar sectors ("residential housing") were located close to the central area, unlike the
blue-collar sectors ("working-class housing"), which were away from central services but near or in industrial
areas -source work of the working class (Carrasco, 1927). This established the bourgeois residential zones in
areas with better qualities within the urban structure, and consolidated industrial peripheral areas -with poor
urban and environmental quality - as a residence for the working classes. On the other hand, it sets different
minimum standards for layouts depending on whether they are meant to be bourgeois or proletarian suburbs:
Bourgeois areas should have larger plots, with very low percentage of total occupancy - larger area for parks
and gardens-; the construction of any type of social housing, even grouped or collective housing, is
prohibited. The workers' districts, however, have smaller plots and less area devoted to gardens. They are also
the only places where it can build social housing in the city (Carrasco, 1927; La Padula, 1957c; Direccin de
Planeamiento Urbano, 1985, 1986).
The occupation model imposed by the zoning in the sector of study (according to the size of the plots, the
permitted building area, the expulsion of productive activities -market gardens, workshops-, etc.- also defined
the character of the people who settled in the neighborhood. The immigrants 4 and their children, who,
thanks to social mobility at the time, now belonged to the working and professional middle-class. This has
the effect of an overwhelming socioeconomic homogeneity, as factories, workshops, and blue-collar workers
4

Mostly Italian, Spanish and Armenian.

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were located in other areas, where due to the occupation models defined by the zoning the land prices suited
to their income.
The city is set as a sum of functional and socio-economically homogeneous enclaves. And beyond the social,
economic and cultural context of Argentina during the twentieth century was the positive action of the state
as regulator that drives and deepens this process of exclusion.
Individual housing as social panacea.
The preponderance of suburban model -individual plots with detached houses to occupy the spaceconsolidated in this period, has a fundamental background. In Argentine urban context, collective housing
had its origins in the nineteenth century conventillos, which housed immigrants with limited economic
resources coming to cities. The conventillos were overcrowded, promiscuous, and had unhygienic conditions;
they were seen as sources of infection that spread to the middle-classes, or sources of social and political
upheaval (Boixads, 2000; Cravino, 2009a). The conventillos became the exclusive symbol of multifamily
housing at that time, and served to stereotype collective housing as the cause of many social conflicts,
unsanitary living conditions and the deterioration of the urban structure.
Add to that the criteria that wanted to link the worker to the land, to "populate the vast territory" and, of
course, very good opportunities offered to landowners by the urbanization of the periphery of towns and
cities. Hence most conservative sectors enable individual housing (despite their greater social cost 5) to the
detriment of collective housing, and the rapid success of the model of "garden urbanization".
This idea has a negligible influence on the design of the first suburbs, thanks to the development of this
thesis in Germany by Wilhelm Emanuel von Vogelsang and in England by Patrick Geddes and Raymond
Unwin. (Gravagnuolo, 1998: 70) The detached house on a private plot was then conceived not as an
alternative but as a basic right of the population to "clean air, pure water, tranquility and beautiful
countryside."
Regarding the city of Cordoba, Benito Carrasco said that, although it might not be totally avoided the
construction of collective housing buildings in central city areas, the authorities should strive to minimize its
number, and encourage as many individual houses in neighborhoods garden, which solved "each and every
one of the issues that relate to the technology, hygiene, economy and education" and where the valuation of
land and rents reaches "a very high level". (1927: 47-50)
The occupation of the plots.
This model imposes exclusively housing, and the one family-one house-one plot model put into the spanishcolony type grid: In a bland layout defined by the grid, the residential model -that repeats occupation of the
plots with houses between party walls, with a front garden and a backyard- was enshrined. The grain 6 result
of this process is small and almost uniform. the streets widen visually with the front gardens, while the
facades form a continuous closure, with buildings of one or two plants (between 150 to 300m). The interior
of the blocks is destined to individual patios, forming corazones de manzana that -although fragmented by party
walls- serve as green spaces of the sector 7 [fig. 3].
Furthermore, while each of the plots that make up a block have an explicit connection to public streets, the
relationship of the plots with each other is limited to sharing a limit of compulsory construction 8; any
relationship through these limits is strongly hindered by land-use regulations. This implies that each plot
should be disconnected from the other plots of the block, preventing the exchange of any type of
information (visual, aural, olfactory, interpersonal, etc.). Any connection between plots should be performed
using the street as interface [fig. 4]. In addition, This link between each plot with the street is filtered, carefully
controlled and measured. Each plot builds a more-or-less perforated facade that allows total control over
access to its interior. The public space is completely separate from the private area, and public activities are
completely separate from domestic activities -more intimate- that develop within each plot.
The resulting fabric is characteristic of Argentine suburbia: garden suburbs but with strong mudejar 9 influence.
This produces a compact fabric, where the separation between public space -the street, the square, the

5 The concept refers to the cost that is not supported by the landowner, nor by final users but by the state and society as a whole. It
includes costs such as the extension of the road infrastructure and services, subsidies to public transport, loss of natural reserve areas or
vegetable farm (for providing the city), modification of runoff rainwater, etc.
6 Grain urban fabric refers to the particle size, or blocks forming the fabric area. According to its composition, it can be small or large,
compact, broken, homogeneous, heterogeneous, etc., referring to the relationship of the buildings and the gap between them.
7An important difference is presented regarding the condition of this corazn de manzana cases within the European context, where the
corazn de manzana can play a role of articulation of public space and household. (see Sennett, 1997: 209-214; Panerai et al., 1986: 40-41)
8Mandatory existence of walls on the edges of plots (dividing walls) has legal, interpersonal, technical and economic implications that
have not been completed after an analysis that in Argentina it can be traced back to Roman law treaties over 20 centuries old.
9Mudjar denotes a style of Iberian architecture, urban space and decoration, particularly of Aragon and Castile strongly influenced by
Moorish taste.

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market- and private space is well defined, embodying a continuous limit that defines the blocks into the grid,
creating a concrete boundary between the street and the core of every block.

[fig. 3] The urban fabric; the built volume within the individual plot. (3a) An individual plot, showing the typical built
volume, front garden and backyard. (3b) The individual plot, the access from the street and the mandatory party walls.
(3c) The block fabric, with the built volume concentrated in the borders and the fragmented interior of the block.
(elaborated by the author)

[fig.4] The urban fabric and the party walls. In this photography, the party walls are noted in red, in order to stand out the
amount of this kind of surfaces within the fabric. (elaborated by the author)

The MF/ML/S neighborhoods. From urban periphery to strategic area around the city core.
The urban fabric of MF/ML/S neighborhoods has been built on a bland and abstract layout without spatial
nor symbolic hierarchies. It is highly homogeneous, both functionally (single family residential dwellings of
one or two floors) and spatially, being a reflection of the social and economic homogeneity of its population.
This situation configured them as enclaves within the city -segregated from lower or higher socio-economic
sectors-, however it depends largely on the areas of services to urban and regional scale located in central
areas.
However, their role as suburban areas cannot be sustained over time: after decades of urban growth over the
surrounding territory, they have become strategic sectors that articulate the central area with the new suburbs.
However, as it was advanced in the introduction to this work, without exploiting this potential, these
neighborhoods are in the middle of a process of population drain, and obsolescence of the built heritage. The
causes of this process are many:
At first, the built heritage of the neighborhood - though of great material and spatial quality- is functionally
obsolete (it is more than 50 years old housing) and lose competitiveness to the models offered in the current
housing market (concentrated in houses in new suburban areas, sold as more "new and innovative"). The
functional competitiveness is also reduced, because it means to respond to an ideal family life in the 50s 10.
In addition, the land-use regulations perpetuate the MF/ML/S model which generated the neighborhood,
and do not allow renewing, densification nor change of use of the built fabric, which forces urban
development to focus in other areas from the city.
The situation of the BR/MF/BD neighborhoods in terms of its economic dimension, its relationship with the urban land market,
housing finance, etc. will be discussed in depth later in the thesis.

10

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Young people are no longer interested in the neighborhood, and the cycle of life of the population is not
renewed: The original population (families with young children from the 40s-50s, with 5 or 6 members) has
evolved into a population consisting of a majority of adults and seniors; homes are occupied only by 1 or 2
people, while young are installed in other urban areas when become independent of their parents. The empty
and abandoned buildings are constantly increasing, despite the privileged position of the sector within the
urban structure. The population decline in this neighborhood contrasts to the demographic growth of the city
of Cordoba and its metropolitan area [fig. 5].

[fig.5] Variation of the population according to Census 1991, 2001 and 2010 (listed in each curve with a point). The
numbers correspond to the number of inhabitants, while the numbers in parentheses indicate the population density
according to the surface belonging to each unit of analysis. Curves are not equivalent to each other in the scale of the
ordinate axis. Only shown for trends indicative of growth, decline or stabilization of the population over time. (elaborated
by the author with data from www.indec.gob.ar).

Pericentral neighbourhoods micro-densification. Challenging the paradigm of garden suburbs.

The micro-densification process is carried out individually by neighborhood landowners. Using different
strategies, the land-use restrictions are overcome and, informally, the number of functional units by plot is
increased. The main objective is to increase the profitability of real estate and urban land creating new
products with better positioning into the housing market.

[fig.6] The micro-densification cases. From left to right (5a) The cases of micro-densification -in grey colour- detected in
the study sector. (5b) Visualization of the urban fabric after micro-densification takes place. (5c) An individual block, after
microdensification. (elaborated by the author)

91

The most basic transformation consists on housing recycling to suit new programs: division or extension of
the original construction, which incorporates new more-or-less independent activities and programs. Besides
that, the area occupied by a house on each plot has left a vacant buildable area. That vacant area is harnessed
in different ways. The courtyards (patios) are occupied by new functional units, aligned or stacked together.
Flat roofs are used for building new units stacked on the original housing [fig. 8].

[fig.7] New ways to intervene the plot. Above (7a) the new conections between plots. Below (7b) New ways to occupy the
plot surface. (elaborated by the author)

Far from producing an increase in fabric density, This phenomenon produces "fabric fluffing" [fig. 6 y 7].
The "roughness" of the fabric increases while the built area not only increases, but vacant surfaces are
exploited with new uses, permanent or temporary, more-or-less independent of new functional units.
Continuous closure between the street and interior of the plot dissolves to allow access to the units located
within the block. The floor area is no longer organized as a compact block on the front of the plot, but is
distributed over its entire surface. The public space penetrates to the core of the block itself, allowing access
to the new functional units: a new public space in domestic scale, a functional hybrid is generated dissolving
the filter between the public and private space; it becomes a micro-scale meeting and exchange place [fig. 9 y
10]. New facades appear inside the plot; existing party walls begin to take on new roles as closing a semipublic space. The corazn de manzana is no longer a residual negative space, (Alexander, 1987) but is organized
with new functions and meanings.

[fig.8] The vacant builtable area: In this photography, the flat roofs are noted in red, in order to stand out the amount of
this kind of surfaces within the fabric. (elaborated by the author)

But the micro-densification process is not restricted to the interior of the plot -that also includes plot
subdivisions-: After successive fabric processing operations, by necessity or desirability, the barriers imposed

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by the layout are overcome. Some plots are joined, allowing passage between them and from one street to
another in the block. [fig. 7] The connection between plots is no longer limited to the street: party walls
between contiguous functionally linked plots, are becoming a nuisance and are perforated to allow the
passage or the unification of courtyards and gardens [fig. 5c]. The phenomenon of micro-densification is not
only an inwards compaction of the plot, but generates relationships to scale the block. Informally, the
condition of the individual plot is overcome; use intensification within the plot is reflected in the
intensification of inter-plots relationships, creating new interfaces.
The intensification of use is also reflected in the new program / functional proposals that appear by
interventions of micro-densification. This is due to the need to generate new housing products that meet the
new family structures that go beyond the two-parent family with three or four children, and that reflect
complex socio-cultural transformations. New family structures that also no longer have prolonged stability,
but evolve over time (Mux, 2010; Sarquis, 2006; Echeverra, 2005) By expanding the space offer, diversified
social, economic and by age the population that makes use of these interventions.
It is also a process that allows the inclusion of new purposes that complement the residential one. Hybrid
types, home-working, and services of small and medium scale that take advantage of lower relative costs of
pericentral location and complement the residential function (Boccolini, 2013; Echeverra, 2005; Guallard,
2005; Montaner, 2011; Mux, 2010) The new features not only involve services to neighbourhood level, but
they attract citizens from other areas of the city, increasing the social and functional diversity even more.
The fabric increases its intensity of use, and the bland layout reveals one of its strengths: The scale of streets
and blocks, with the number of plots per block (the possibility of multiple individual situations happening in
an area that can easily be covered on foot) resembles the paths of the cities considered pedestrian-friendly,
and likely to generate frequent and various meetings and exchanges (Rueda, 2014; Gehl, 2011; Jacobs, 1961;
Alexander, 1987) The scale of individual plots, with different owners - which, in turn, they have different
criteria for intervention and resources to do so- It has the potential to regenerate a bland fabric, producing in
many situations a relatively small area.

[fig.9] The public space penetrates into the block. (elaborated by the author)

The micro-densification means a radical change of the MF/LD/S model, but in a really subtle way: In this
case, the context only triggers structural changes, it do not specified or leade them. The inhabitants are the
drivers of change, transforming the urban fabric to solve the tensions generated by the conflict between the
different elements of the urban structure -land-use regulations, housing demand, economic conditions -. They
have the resources to do so - economic financing and land ownership-, along with the explicit intention to
exploit the positive context situation, keeping or increasing its property assets without leaving their residence

93

in the area. Apart from its informal nature - outside the legal/regulatory framework and without any master
plan-, it is done without any consultation between neighbors.
It is a fragmented process the sum of individual actions - which sets the trend of emergent micro-densification. The process is slow,
progressive, and each intervention may suffer continuous adjustments and modifications that will improve
their functional or spatial context adaptation. Interventions by micro-densification offer products with the
comparative advantages of a strategic location (near the central area and urban amenities) with the
environmental quality of a residential neighborhood garden, and the possibility of living in a home or
workspace that meets the current functional needs of a wide variety of personal and professional situations.
The new urban land is created without replacing the original fabric, but densifying and compacting respecting
the existing urban scale and grain. In fact, the vacant surface in these plots is up to 60% permitted by landuse regulations. It is exploited to include new functional units of housing or other uses. The transgression lies
in including more than one functional unit per plot, and non-residential uses, rather than over-saturate the
built fabric.

[fig.10] The public space penetrates into the block. (elaborated by the author)

In fact, we can get a first approximation to the vacant capacity of a MF/LD/S neighborhood, that allows us
to identify the amount of population and built area that can be incorporated into the fabric without reaching
its collapse:
With a number of 28 plots/Ha (1 block=1Ha) residential neighborhood destination was determined in a time
when each family of professional urban middle-class (in Cordoba) had an average of 5 or 6 members. For
two homes per plot (a main house and other accessory) gives an expected average density of 336
inhabitants/Ha. The current density is only 71 inhabitants/Ha, so the population could increase by 373%

94

without the collapse of the urban structure 11. The number of homes per plot could be increased to 4,
considering that the current households are made up of 3.2 people on average (INDEC 2010) 12
Estimate the amount of buildable area is more complicated, because to the vacant area (60% average per plot,
just over 200m / plot 13) must be added the floor area that can be adapted to suit new uses. But the finding
of this amount of vacant buildable area, available in strategic areas of the city, and its possibilities is a crucial
point of this research, to deepen later stages of the investigation.
Final conclusions.
Cities are systems with organized complexity, where the variables are constantly changing, simultaneously and
in an interrelated way. (Jacobs, 1967: 453) The urban system is understood as a dynamic phenomenon, "a
complex system far from equilibrium" (Prigogine, Stengers, 1994a) The dynamic condition that derives from
this interaction between its components -not only internally but also with the environment- generates a
dialectical process of adaptation and evolution - self-organization -, away definitively urban systems of
deterministic systems such as machines. " The essence of cities lies in their internal processes " (Jacobs, 1967:
460)
As part of a complex system, the understanding of the phenomenon of micro-densification changes as more
connections are discovered. The multiplicity of actors and their multiple connections define the
phenomenon, but the evolving nature of these connections -that requalifies / quantifies the phenomenonmakes the phenomenon can only be understood from an approach that includes a dynamic and flexible
condition. We have to discover the variables that are capable of transforming the direction of development of
the phenomenon (Prigogine, Stengers, 1994b: 53), both internal and external, and which transform urban
system behavior as a whole.
The study of emergent processes gives the opportunity to develop new methods of intervention and
revitalization of these neighborhoods based on their potential. The inclusion of diversity on the micro-scale
contribute to increase complexity and resilience of the system, enabling more efficient and sustainable
development of the city.
This emergent process of revitalization increases the functional and socio-economic resilience, both within
the neighborhood and the city itself: The resilience of the urban structure increases with decentralization,
increasing the efficiency of each one of the urban sectors, and redistributing the charges in the structure. The
tension between different city areas -the center, the periphery-, is reduced by allowing the consolidation of
intermediate sectors that articulate the urban fragments together.
At the same time, it brings to consideration several relevant issues:
The dynamic condition of the urban system, the changing role of urban areas over time and the
tension generated within the system through this process.
Small producers of habitat, that even with little weight in the decision-making system, have great
potential to transform the city.
Processes outside the traditional housing market that can transform the territory.
Emergent processes as self-regulation tools of the urban city.
Considering that here is only one aspect developed (urban space and fabric) of a complex phenomenon, and
that this analysis is intended to be a starting point for a study of the complex interrelationships that frame the
micro-densification phenomenon, new research questions are raised instead of conclusions.
How much is the vacant land in MF/ML/ S neighborhoods? What are the variables to calculate it, preventing
the collapse of the urban structure?
What are the possibilities of creating housing projects that complement those that already exist in the market,
while having comparative advantages? What groups of people would use them?
How can the land-use regulations adapt to this situation, and regulate the phenomenon? How can the microscale of operation remain, avoiding the total renovation by hiper-densification that occurs in other areas of
Cordoba?
How would a financing program for owners who want to make this type of intervention work? What if a
tenants-support program is implemented?
Finally, the questions that guide the complete investigation of this thesis:
What potential does the micro-densification have to achieve sustainable revitalization and a more efficient use
of urban structure built of pericentral neighborhoods?
How can urban planning contribute to the study and understanding of emergent phenomena? Can these be
included in the planning tools?

Fuente: www.indec.gov.ar (Instituto Nacional de Estadsticas y Censos), y Direccin de Estadsticas y Censos de Crdoba.
Por supuesto, todos estos clculos son una primera aproximacin, para dar cuenta del potencial construible del barrio. Se ajustarn en
etapas posteriores del trabajo.
13 Correspondiente a la superficie construible total permitida por las ordenanzas de ocupacin y uso del suelo vigentes.
11
12

95

Emergent and informal micro-densification processes could be seen as a symptom of crisis within the city, or
as an attempt by the system to regulate itself and adapt to new situations. Urban planners can choose to
recognize this process as an anomaly given its informality or as a response against a scenario of unsolved
tension; a form of self-organization seeking a new equilibrium and the definition of a new paradigm of order
from the periphery.
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Daily journeys within the Metropolitan territories.

Reflections on the experience lived by the suburban transport networks
users in Paris and Milan.
Priscillia Jorge

Affiliation: LabUrba (Ecole dUrbanisme de Paris Universit Paris-Est) DAStU (Facolt di architettura e societ Politecnico di Milano)
Supervisors: Marie-Hlne Massot (LabUrba Ecole dUrbanisme de Paris Universit Paris-Est); Paola Pucci (DAStU
- Facolt di architettura e societ - Politecnico di Milano)
Co-supervisor : Anne Jarrigeon (LVMT Ecole dUrbanisme de Paris Universit Paris-Est)
Expected thesis defence: Octobre 2017
priscillia.jorge@gmail.com
Abstract: The research fits into the study of the contemporary urban realities and aims at creating an interpretation by
tensioning two major fields: the metropolitan model and the daily mobility, through the concept of lived space. The
theoretical reasoning resonates with the current questionings in two European urban regions, Paris and Milan.
If the notion of metropolis, vast and polysemous, entered by now the common language, its institutionalisation as an
administrative territory should be considered. The institutional reform which is made in Paris and in Milan through the
definition of new governances perimeters the Mtropole du Grand Paris and the Citt Metropolitana di Milano justifies the
questioning of the sense attributed to these extended and heterogeneous territorial frames by considering the inhabitants
representations and appropriation of the metropolitan spaces.
Beside, the increased mobility led to question how the users experience is integrated in the planning of urban transport
infrastructure. The Grand Paris Express project which would complete the armature of the Rseau Express Rgional (RER) in
the Paris region but also the recent development of the Milanese Servizio Ferroviario Suburbano (SFS) are many reasons for
questioning the way practices of daily mobility on the existing infrastructures allow the metropolitan territories to make
sense for the inhabitants.
The approach of the lived space, developed with the emergence of social geography, and reinvested today in new ways in
urban planning, represents the base to the study of the relationship the inhabitants form with the horizontal metropolises
fragmented territories, in which they live and daily travel in.
The research therefore propounds exploring the way the daily routes on suburban transport networks the RER and the
SFS , which are located at the interface between the urban areas and the inhabitants who regularly use these
transportation modes participate in the making of Parisian and Milanese metropolises representations.
Given the exploratory character of this approach, the article offers to develop a methodological reflection on the
elaboration of processes abling to interpret the metropolitan inhabitants lived space, with a general focus on the Milanese
case. The crossing between the theoretical postulates and the analysis strategies claims to report, through various
collection methods and transcription tools, the multi-scalar, procedural and subjective nature of socio-spatial
representations.
The researchs ambition is to take part in setting up a template for the understanding of the metropolitan phenomenon
and the experience of daily mobility. In an operational perspective, it is integrated in the more global objective to foster
the citizens inclusion on the territorial definition processes and in the transportation plannings field.

The research fits into the study of the contemporary urban realities and aims at creating an interpretation by
confronting two major fields: the metropolitan model and the daily mobility, through the question of the
lived space.
The secret areas to be discovered, they were there, under his eyes []: incomprehensible dislocated spaces
of what was not anymore a geography and that it would be necessary to try to rewrite. (Maspro, 1990, p.14)
It is consistent with the current questionings in two of the main European city-regions, Paris and Milan
(DATAR, 2012). Its ambition is to enrich the reflection by offering a reading of the relationship that the
inhabitants of these urban regions maintain with the metropolitan territories and to bring to the foreground
the representations which result from their daily mobility practices on the suburban transport networks.
Beyond the theoretical questioning, it is also on the methodological dimension on the construction of
collection and transcription tools adapted to analyse the socio-spatial representations that this article
suggests to develop, with a general focus on the Milanese case.
The metropolitan construction and the daily mobility
The theoretical questioning consists of, on the one hand, examining the metropolitan paradigm, mobilized
first by the academics before being used in the operational field and of entering the common language.
Indeed, the metropolis concept being relatively wide and polysemous (Ascher, 1995; Soja, 2000), its
institutionalisation needs to be questioned (Lefevre et al., 2013).
The complexity of the definition process for new governance perimeters in Paris the Mtropole du Grand Paris
(Gilli, 2014), as in Milan the Citt Metropolitana di Milano (Balducci, 2003), essentially supported by the
politico-institutional spheres, demonstrates the difficulty of determining the legitimate territories of the

100

metropolis (Lvy, 1994). The objective is to examine the sense attributed to these vast and heterogeneous
territorial frames, by considering the fact that the administrative limits do not correspond inevitably to the
inhabitants uses and imaginations (Bourdin, 2005).
On the other hand, it is about studying the mobility paradigm (Urry, 2000) by questioning the impact of daily
mobility on metropolitan lifestyles (Allemand et al., 2005; Massot, 2010) and on the relationship between
people and places (Kaufmann, 2008 ; Veltz, 2007). The interdependence between infrastructural development
and metropolisation processes being collectively admitted (Graham, Marvin, 2011; Mangin, 2004; Prelorenzo,
Rouillard, 2009), the way daily mobility practices progressively deconstruct the administrative territories
relevance rebuilding new territorial frameworks should be considered (Estebe, 2008).
The topic, updated by the Grand Paris Express, incites to reconsider the role of the existing transport
infrastructures in the territorial construction of the Paris region and more specifically that of the Rseau
Express Rgional (RER) backbone of the first regional plan (SDAURP of 1965) (Grondeau, 2003); whereas
in Milan, the recent implementation of the Servizio Ferroviario Suburbano (SFS) justifies to wonder about its
impact within the Milanese region (Pucci, 2010). The purpose is to overtake the functionalist considerations
of mobility spaces as non-lieux (Aug, 1992) by studying to what extent the daily mobility practices can
contribute to giving a sense to the metropolitan territories.
The understanding of the lived space
The research question leans on a constructivist conception of the space, appealing to the notion of lived
space. Defined as the space such as it is perceived and practiced by the people living there (Lvy, Lussault,
2003, p.340), it was conceptualized by Armand Frmont (1976) during the cultural turn of the 1970s. While,
the term progressively went out of use, due to the absence of explicit and methodological frame, this
attention paid to the individuals interaction with the space however echoes in diverse geographys streams1
and urban studies.
The criticism most frequently addressed to this approach is to give way to two major pitfalls by focusing on
the abstract representations, that of the psychologism which leads to the denial of the material space and
that of the subjective individualism which means to neglect the strengths which condition the individuals
relationship with the space (Di Mo, 1990, p.360). On the contrary, the pionnering works of Kevin Lynch
(1960) were blamed for having granted a dominating place to the material space at the expense of the social
and subjective dimensions of the space.
It is thus necessary, not to underestimate the complexity of this concept, not to omit the complementary
dimensions which intervene in the formation of the lived space2; and to enrich it by various fundamental
contributions stemming from other disciplinary fields.
Recently, the topic is revisited in the urban disciplines through the concepts of habiter 3 living and
ambiances architecturales et urbaines4 architectural and urban ambiences. If few studies had taken so far as
a study object the perception of urban space through the travel (Desportes, 2005; Lynch, 1964), the mobilities
increases led indeed to renew the apprehension of the interrelation modalities between the inhabitants and
the territories (Stock, 2006) and to consider the role of urban transports in the experience of the space
(Masson, 2009).
The journey s experience on suburban transport networks
The question is to determine how those who live and travel daily in the Parisian and Milanese urban area
represent to themselves the metropolitan territories, and to estimate to what extent their daily mobility
practices participate in the construction of these representations.
The assumption thus consists of considering that the lived space is situated in the interaction between the
spatial object the territories of the urban area without formal demarcation and the subject the
inhabitants who live there through a socio-spatial practice the daily mobility, so the regular travels which
are realised there for varied reasons.
The analysis focuses on the suburban transport networks infrastructures of public transport, heiresses of
the railroads of the XIXth century located at the intermediate level between local and global scales. Today
widely used for daily mobility practices, they actually played an important role in the development of the
socio-spatial structure of the studied urban regions, and continue to do so [fig.1].
1 This approach gave birth to the Geography of perception whereas some streams developed in parallel assuming more explicitly a
kinship with the phenomenological philosophy in France and in Anglo-Saxon countries with the Humanistic geography.
2 According to Armand Frmont, the living space and the social space are part of the lived space (1976). This conceptualization is
reminiscent of the space trilogy from Henri Lefebvre (1974), recently resumed by Edward Soja (1996).
3 See the works of Thierry Paquot (Paquot et al., 2007), Olivier Lazarotti (Lazarotti, 2006) and Andr-Frdric Hoyaux (Hoyaux, 2002).
4 See the works of the laboratory Ambiances architecturales et urbaines in Grenoble (Augoyard, 1995; Amphoux et al., 2004).

101

The research is therefore based on the hypothesis that the daily routes on these transport networks constitute
particularly powerful vectors in the elaboration of metropolis representations and thus to its territorial
construction.

[fig.1] Growth of the Milanese urban area and development of the railway network. Source : elaborated by the author,
from : CORINE Land Cover 2000; Regione Lombardia; Istituto Geografico Militare; Cornolo, 1979; Vermi, 1970.

The Parisian regional express network and the Milanese suburban railway service
Whereas the Rseau Express Rgional of the Paris region, born in the 1960s, includes a set of lines dedicated to
the suburban trains traffic, the Servizio Ferroviario Suburbano, implemented in Milan after the opening of the
Passante Ferroviarios galerie in 2004, works as a fast service on railways shared between transport of people
and goods, between suburban, regional and national trains !on the model of the S-Bahn from the German
and Swiss agglomerations [fig.2].

102

[fig. 2] The relationship between the superficie of the Milanese urban region and the Servizio Ferroviario Suburbano in
2015. Source : elaborated by the author, from : CORINE land cover 2006; Regione Lombardia.

The collective imagination of the suburban transport networks

Often called trains de banlieue or commuter trains, they are generally associated to the image of the urban
outskirts and to the commuters daily life.
The most common objectal representation, the map of the transport operators [fig.3], offers an a-spatial
image entirely focused on the functional dimension, this apparent poverty [] of the graphical
representation of networks [being] all the more disturbing as we often attribute a certain cognitive power to
the map.!(Offner, 1990, p.62)
For their part, the media often spread information related to the networks dysfunctions (delay, cancellation,
maintenance and saturation), contributing to the reinforcing of these transportation modes negative image.

103

[fig. 3] The Milanese Servizio Ferroviario Suburbanos map. Source : Regione Lombardia

How to report the lived space and make the representations emerge?
The research includes an essential methodological dimension because of its exploratory character, the
challenge being to report the strongly interiorised socio-spatial representations and thereby the complexity of
the inhabitantsrelationship to space. The triangulation procedure (Apostolidis, 2005) induction and
materials multiplication should allow to express their multi-scalar, procedural and subjective nature.
The landscape, meeting point between the multiple scales
This relationship is above all conditioned by what Wolfgang Schivelbusch calls!the machinic set!(1990,
p.31) !the train and the network !which establishes the two reference space-time articulating the scales of
the closeness and the faraway (Moles, Rhomer, 1972). The interpretation is made by the mobilisation of the
classical graphical representation tools of the design disciplines, around which is engaged a reflexive discourse
(Sderstrom, 1996).
At the networks space-times scale, a cartographic analysis highlights each lines own characteristics within
the network system. The crossed territories specificities as well and their various attendance levels induce a
differentiated interaction between the traveler and the space. In Milan, the research focuses on two lines,
representative, by the diverse situations they allow to observe, of the urban regions dynamics: S5 !
connecting Varese and Treviglio via Milan !and S13 connecting Pavia to Milan.
At the compartments space-times scale, the spatial analysis underlines the way the physical organisation
determines the travelers relationship with the internal space !spaces division and seats arrangement !as well
as the outside space !the multiplicity of viewpoints and the framing operated by the window. Besides, it
allows us to study how the space occupation, variable during the day, interferes on the way the inhabitants
live the journey (Hall, 1966; Jarrigeon, 2008).
The regular route, in the interface between these two spatio-temporal scales, is situated on the everyday lifes
domain (De Certeau, 1990). It would allow the traveler, by the movement and the repetitiveness, to make the
link between the two worlds, thanks to his immediate perception, his memory and his imagination, through

104

the landscapes mediation (Berque, 1994). This relations potential is thus estimated through a landscape
analysis, reporting a double perceptive frame (Pailhous, 1970). The perceptive cartography !on the view
maps! principles! ! relates to the exo-centered frame ! and the sequential analysis, representative of the
movement (Berthoz, 1997) transcribes !by the chrono-photography !the travels experience according to
the ego-centered frame5.
A process between practices, perceptions and representations
The social representation is considered to be the product and the process of a mental activity by which an
individual or a group reconstitutes the reality to which he is confronted to and to which he attributes a
specific meaning !(Jodelet, 1989, p. 205). Studied through the individual representations analysis, it induces
besides the consideration of the process which correlates the spatial practice, perception and representation.
To transcribe the metropolitan representations of the inhabitants-travelers, the survey will thus be developed
in several stages evolving from methods more related to the sensibility towards the most pragmatic ones
with a population selected for its expressiveness rather than for its statistical representativeness.
The first stage, realised in situ during one of the inhabitants ordinary journeys, refers to the method of the
commented routes, aiming to obtain reports of the perception in movement (Thibaud, 2001, p.81). It
allows to take into account the environmental context and the action while mobilising the reflexive resources
of the subject according to the assumption that the language informs about perception structures. The
purpose is to identify the landmarks and visual sequences in the travelers perception.
The second stage is based on the method of mental maps, implemented outside of the transport context.
First introduced by the psychologists before being used by the geographers (Cauvin, 1999; Gould, White,
1974), mental maps correspond to a material objectification of the cognitive configurations. The
interpretation of the drawings made by the inhabitants allows to bring to light the characteristic elements
which help to describe their global representations of the metropolitan space, in connection with their daily
routes.
The third stage, built around inhabitants narratives, is realised by means of in situ semi-directive interviews,
made in the opposite direction of the first stages journey. The analysis of the speeches allows to qualify the
inhabitants daily mobility practices and the ways they are included in the space and time of his daily life. This
method, if it concerns the qualitative and subjective dimension of the space, does not however allow to reach
the complexity of spatial representations (Abric, 2005), what justifies to be completed with the other
techniques.
The individual representations and the construction of a shared image
Considering that the social representation is also a form of knowledge socially elaborated and shared having
a practical aim and contributing to the construction of a reality common to a social group!(Jodelet, 1989,
p.36), the issue is finally to develop a method !on the principle of the central core!theory 6!!which will
allow us to confront the representations developed by the different inhabitants and to bring to the
foreground the recurring elements which attest the existence of shared representations of the metropolitan
territories.
It is supposed indeed that the social characteristics that determine a group membership, the standards and
values systems and the cultural frame, play an intrinsic role in the construction of the inhabitants
representations, and participate in elaborating a collective image filled by the meaning attributed to the space.
The results obtained will then be discussed with Parisian and Milanese agglomerations! statistical and
institutional definitions.
The purpose is to build a reflection on the inhabitants images of Paris and Milan metropolises, the
complexity of which arising from the richness of cognitive and social processes, but also from the
inhabitants diversity and the urban territories multiplicity.
It should be underlined, as a conclusion, that these theoretical and methodological stakes could participate by
being transposed in an operational perspective, to reach the more general objectives to replace the inhabitants
in the center of the planning issues at the metropolitan scale and to appreciate the role of the transport
infrastructures not only in the material but also social and symbolic construction of the contemporary urban
spaces.
5 The

ego-centered frame corresponds to the spatial conception built around the subject whereas the exo-centered frame corresponds to
a codification of the space independent from the subject, placing the spatial elements in relation to a metric conception of the context.
6 The central core theory (Abric, 2011) establishes that the social representations are structured around a central core which assures
their stability participating in the definition of standards and values for the individuals and the groups, and peripheral elements which
vary from a person to the other one.

105

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Innovation and Urban Mobility. European Industrys Technical

Experimentation and Transformation of Cities: 1963/1973 2001 2008
2020/2030.
Marika Rupeka
Affiliation: Laboratoire Infrastructure Architecture Territoire, ENSA Paris-Malaquais
Universit Paris-Est, doctoral school Ville, Transports et Territoires
Supervisor: Dominique Rouillard, Architect, Doctor of Art History, Professor at ENSA Paris-Malaquais
Expected thesis defence: April, 2018
marika.rupeka@gmail.com
This research paper briefly introduces the theoretical framework of my doctoral thesis project in view to formulate, from a
historical perspective, the main research question the complex relationship between technological novelty diffusion and
the development of spatial mobility in cities. A case study of several life-size experiments led by European companies and
institutions is a starting point for a research that looks at the long-term experience that cities have lived by cooperating with
industrial players around the concept of innovation. Yet, the problem of evaluating experiment results and assessing the
effects of innovation is a sensitive matter because of the complex nature of urban innovation as a process. Therefore,
explaining some of the methodological tools that have been identified is another aim of this research paper. To include
additional perspectives, I wish to discuss these with the respondents and participants of the Urbanism & Urbanization
seminar.

The urban pattern of innovation

Cities seem to have found themselves caught in a struggle for innovation as a result of different factors that
have converged during the second half of the past century, particularly the consolidation of environment as a
category for political action (Mahrane et al. 2012) and the growing hegemony of the energy sector. But why do
some cities become frontrunners and continue to be such while others tend to hesitate or continuously fail
governmental competitions aimed at financing innovative technology implementation? The research question
this doctoral thesis project concerns itself with is the effect that this struggle has on the city and the
transformations it entails from a theoretical point of view. It hopes to do so by conducting a study on the
relationship between industrial innovation and urban spatial mobility.
This research question and, more generally, the subject of this doctoral thesis project has emerged from my
participation in the research units Laboratoire Infrastructure Architecture Territoire (Architecture School
ENSA Paris-Malaquais) recent work, carried out from October 2013 to November 2015, titled The Future of
the Vehicle. The Future of our Cities. Urban Life in the Era of Auto-mobility. As did the LIATs research,
this thesis project finds its place in a vast field of works that draw an interface between architectural research
and urban studies by focusing on the subject of mobility of people, goods and information. In European and
American contexts, we can speak of a number of studies that have investigated the conception, life and death
of infrastructural projects and their role in urban and territorial development. Whereas, from a more general
perspective, this field of research observes the diffusion of new ideas and objects in view of revealing a process
of social and spatial transformation of cities.
Therefore, another general aspect of this doctoral thesis project is that it follows a tradition of interest in the
concept of innovation. The idea of technological novelty has been addressed by many authors in order to
communicate on its structuring and de-structuring role in the history of architecture, its impacts on the
evolution of conceptual methods, construction techniques, and disciplinary approaches that alter architectures
field of competence. Yet, the concept of innovation has been demonstrated to be a particularly ambiguous
subject in architectural theory1, and therefore the mobilization of other disciplinary fields, even though constant
in architectural research, can be seen as a means to reconcile with this problem issue. Historiographical research
gives some clues to the reasons of this ambiguity. Some interesting recent works should be taken into account,
and we should specifically point out the contribution of Canadian historian Benoit Godin: the fields of his
epistemological study range from theories of idea association in philosophy to explanations of the growing
hegemony of economic sciences in regard to general interpretations of the innovation concept (Godin 2015).

In recent past, several interesting contributions have been made to the debate on innovation in architectural theory. Early t heoretical
references as Quatremre de Quincys On Imitation would be brought about in the 1980s as if to remind that innovation was n ot always
a natural subject for architectural theory when reflection on origins of architecture had primed. De Quincys essay was republished in
Architectural Designs September issue in 1988 (Profile: Imitation and Innovation. 9-10). Meanwhile, others would argue that architecture as
a discipline had, in the context of liberal capitalism of the 1990s and 2000s, been brought to a certain state of crisis in innovation (Woods
1988). Meanwhile, the development of complex geometrical-calculation-based graphic software has enabled the birth and evolution of a
colourful palette of formal research on structural, spatial and material issues. And this reminds that innovation has been a less conflictual
subject to those who focus more on material-performance-related problems, constraints of static and mechanic nature, and, at least to a
certain extent, problems of representation.

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While this research project follows an established framework, it hopes to offer an original perspective by taking
interest in activities through which industrial companies have projected images of future life in the city. This is
also a heritage from LIATs research project, which has shown that these future scenarios seem to appear with
particular clarity in the case of life-size experiments that industrial companies have carried out in several
European mid-sized cities. Imagining the future can be seen, from a citys perspective, as an opportunity to
ensure coherence between development strategies and assure others of the quality of life the city can offer
(Rouillard 2009). For companies in the transport field, however, discourses on the future seem mostly intended
to demonstrate the multiplicity of a new products advantages for the city. But even if life-size
experimentations seem to provide the necessary framework for idea validation, models are a form of work in
progress that cannot be considered as a product fit for a specific market. Meanwhile, in architectural research
and urban studies, the question of prototype is a subject that reveals the distance between a virtual
representation, a materialized modle lchelle un, and a piece of construction according to the blueprint. In both
fields modelling is an important aspect of the innovation process; what is different, however, is the interest and
attention that architectural research devotes to failed, partially failed or modestly successful projects, while
transportation science and economy, for instance, find it more appropriate to draw ready-to-use learnings from
either remarkably successful experiments or spectacular failures (Flichy 1995).
Thus we come to another general trait that this thesis project shares with other research efforts its interest in
the methodological approaches set for evaluation of innovative activity. One of the most important conclusions
to which researchers have come to is the recognition of the complex phenomena that appear when studying
innovation; and this is particularly true in regard to the subject of movement and communication in the urban
realm (Lepetit, Hoock 1984). In our field of interest, statistical tools have been used in historiographical
research for the observation of dynamics of technological novelty diffusion over long periods in time.
Sociologists have turned to enquiries and surveys in order to depict the behavioural changes seemingly caused
by the introduction of new means to organize daily activities. Researchers in urban studies have focused on the
players involved in the innovation process as well as on their reciprocal relationships in order to draw new
conclusions from results that other parties have often already communicated (Offner 2000). In light of these
efforts, an emerging discipline, the history of mobility, has tried to combine several approaches in view of
observing novelty diffusion in the short and long term (Flonneau, Guigueno 2009). Because the said disciplinary
framework seems to provide pertinent guidance, I have chosen the approach consisting of a transition between
history of mobility, urban studies and history of architecture in view to reframe the question of innovation.
Spatial mobility and quality of life
The interchange of terms between transport and mobility corresponds to a theoretical framework which, in
this doctoral research, is based on a combination of two major references. A first reference corresponds to
ideas put forward by a researcher milieu that outlines history of mobility as a disciplinary branch of transport
history2, stressing that it looks more closely at conflicts among players in the realm of urban public space
(Flonneau, Guigueno 2009). A second reference is Swiss sociologist Vincent Kaufmanns contribution to
understanding the city through analysis of individual and collective mobility patterns by means of differentiating
movement from motility a concept he defines by elucidating on the conditional aspects of social and spatial
state change (Kaufmann 2011). The author argues and empirically demonstrates (2011) that the study of
individual motility patterns can give knowledge on the city and its population that is an indispensable addition
to the interpretation of collective statistical data. He thus offers clear and pertinent categories for analysis.
Ideas developed by these authors and reflections harvested from other sources reveal another aspect that
interpretation of the mobility concept entails: the link between innovation, spatial mobility3 and urban living
conditions. The said linkage appears through such notions as environment and public health (air quality, noise
levels), comfort (visual, acoustic, thermal) and security (OCDE 1975), and the latter seem to have gradually
become measurable constituents of a more general idea of urban living conditions or urban quality of life
(Marans, Stimson 2011). Institutionalized since the 1970s4, today, in a worldwide context of growing
competition among cities, this has become a current trait of cities aspirations, closely tied to their capacity to
change (Kaufmann 2011). But, from a wider perspective, this linkage could be yet another testimony to the
convergence of multiple and various geo-political and economic factors that lead cities to rethink what they
can offer.
The preface to Flonneau and Guiguenos book, written by French sociologist and philosopher Bruno Latour, is an important theoretical
source because it introduces a subject that is central to research on mobility: the relation between the mobile and immobi le components
that make movement possible, respectively the means of displacement and the underlying infrastructure. Here, one should also mention
Latours empirical and theoretical contribution to research on innovation as a process that involves various players and the success of
which depends as much on the technological perfection as it does on the players relationships that e volve over time (Latour 1992).
3 Here, spatial mobility is understood as the means put into action in order to ensure the co-presence necessary for social interaction
(Wiel 2002, p.24).
4 In 1974, the Social Indicators Research. An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality of Life Measurement is first
published, and the French Ministry of Quality of Life is created, which, among other sectors, would deal with urban transport issues.
2

109

This phenomenon of convergence has appeared in the research I have carried out thus far, and has led to
distinguish several moments in the proposed history of the relationship between industrial innovation and
urban spatial mobility.
1963-1973-1978-2001. A first moment coincides with the recognition of a state of crisis with regard to urban
life and culture (Roncayolo 1985) and, from a global perspective, with a plea for reasonable natural resource
management. Articulated by the publication of Sir Colin Buchanans report Traffic in Towns in 1963, this
moment is characterized by trends of cooperation between different urban players in view of developing
alternatives to personal automobile-ensured mobility. Electrification of existing public transport modes,
invention of new modes and mobility services, promotion of walking and cycling were some of the strategies
that gradually gained attention, peaked and decelerated after the oil crisis of 1973/1974. Cities founded
associations motivated by their interest in specific technologies and energy perspectives5 and important efforts
at national and European levels were consecrated to investment in industrial research and development in line
with urban development strategies.
2001-2008. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development, founded in view of representing the
interests of industrial companies at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, published in 2001 a memorable
report stating the industrys determination to work in accordance with strategies of responsible natural resource
management, air, water and noise pollution control, public-health issues and well-being in the city (WBCSD
2001). Shortly after the 2008 crisis a general funding programme was launched by the European Commission;
among other sectors, it aimed specifically at the automobile industry, thus underlining its weight in the
European economy and workplace market.
These recent developments show that the transport industry has gradually converted the sustainability paradigm
into an opportunity for the development of new markets ready to buy their twenty-first-century mobility
products. From this point of view, the most recent period, 2008-2020/2030, can be characterized by attempts
to industrialize and commercialize such mobility products and services, harvested from various ideas
elaborated during the past fifty years. According to the WBCSDs discourse (2001), the 2030 horizon appears
as a reference upon which major international industrial players have set goals for the development of
sustainable solutions to urban mobility needs.
Many researchers and specialists in the field of transport seem to conclude, however, that only an adoption of
systems that entail both technological advance and behavioural changes will help to resolve the conflict between
the desire of mobility and its devastating effects in terms of social inequality and urban living conditions
(Pharoah, Apel 1995). But does this mean we actually hope to materialize the saint-simonian belief in mobility
as a path towards democratization6 ?
Reconstructing possible urban futures
In light of these interrogations, the evaluation of innovations effects on the city has gained more attention
from public institutions, industrial companies and municipal authorities who finance and host research and
development efforts. This underlines the topical character of the research question identified, but it also points
at the need to put the issue of evaluation into historical perspective. By looking at the link between industrial
innovation and urban mobility, questioning its historical weight, the aim is to learn more about the city both as
a player and a socially-morphological, constantly changing entity.
I have chosen to look specifically at a line of transport services, envisioned since 1951 (DWelles), which
negotiate between individual and collective movement and respond to specifically urban issues, involving
reflection on energy resources and size and weight matters. On the one hand, this restrained choice is necessary
to ensure comparability of cities experiences, and on the other, it combines many ideas that industrial
companies have developed in order to compensate for the negative image of personal mobility as a factor
causing misbalance in urban development and deterioration of life quality (Hoogma et al. 2002). Because this
is a comparative study, yet aware of the critical arguments expressed against this method, I have chosen the
general inductive approach for work with data and drawing the first conclusions. My proposition is to start
from a restitution of experiments, their impact assessment methods and projection frameworks which reveal
relationships between players, and then to look at the citys experience from a long-term perspective in view of
reconstructing the extent to which these and other related innovations could or couldnt have changed local
conditions for mobility, if they had been built to completion and if their follow-ups had been carried out. From
this point of view, failed projects and small successes are of particular interest because they just might reveal
some of the reasons for differences between current motility patterns of cities. While most of the experiments
identified date back to the 1970s or 1990s, some are still to be carried out in the near future and therefore this
study will entail analysis and debate on prospection. The case study cities are: La Rochelle, Saint-Quentin-enYvelines, the Rugen Island, Berlin, Gothenburg, and Milton Keynes.

5
6

For instance, the Conference for Cities Users of Electric Vehicles in Bruges, 9 September 1989.
Another subject of interest for the disciplinary circle of history of mobility (Flonneau, Guigueno 2007).

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The analysis of highway objects:

a new way to explore the city-territory.
Franois Bruneau, Susan Dunne
Laboratoire Architecture Anthropologie, LAA, Paris
Alessia de Biase
Expected thesis defence: January, 2017
bruneau.f@gmail.com
The highway infrastructure contributes to the emergence of new centralities drawing people and uses away from the
historic urban centres. Shopping centres, businesses and residences are often relocated in areas closer to transportation
networks. The structure of a territory changes with the arrival of a highway, creating new issues for the city and for the
inhabitants. The main questions we raise in this article are: How to understand these changes and how to describe them?
What kinds of situations arise next to the highway and what are the living conditions? Can highways redefine territorial
limits?

Territories of mobility
Highways, like many transport infrastructures, are built to connect urban centres and to integrate territories
into a network. How does a geographical area, crossed by a highway and other interurban transportation
infrastructures evolve over time? Following the decentralization of activities outside the cities, leading
amongst other phenomena to the consequent migration of people, transport networks structure new
territories re-questioning the nature and definition of rurality and urbanity. The organization of the territory
and the city changes with the increasing number of transport networks. The city is no longer just about a
rooted urban experience, The architecture of systems has definitively replaced systematic architecture and
urbanism (Virilio, 1993, 161). Beyond its functional aspects, the highway network creates new situations for
people in relation to each other and another way to apprehend a territory. It affects the position of the
individual towards a social context, others forms of urbanity emerge isolated and far from urban settlements,
but connected to transport infrastructures. Highways could be considered an anthropological concern
particularly if we agree that mobility has come to define the contemporary human condition (Dalakoglou,
Harvey, 2012, 460).
Field work
The analysis of a highway network leads one to look at the territory and its transformations beyond the cities
and to investigate the city-territory and its growth processes. This research piece focuses on a geographical
area in France bordered by three highways, the A10, the A71 and the A85, a linear system of 300 km of
infrastructure built between 1973 and 2007. As the highways did not appear at the same time across the
territory, the resulting transformations and the relationship between the inhabitants and the environment are
not uniform or similar. Hence, the highway design and the building of the infrastructure have evolved in
relation to their context and over time. The three highway infrastructures are operated by a private company
Vinci Autoroutes. The case study corresponds to a selected portion of the French highway network and
encloses a specific territory, which for the purpose of this analysis we name a region. In this area or region,
the urban space is not only considered in terms of the city limits. The scale of the study area and its limits, in
fact, go beyond the urban areas of Tours and Orlans, the two main cities inscribed within this network.
The development of industrial or commercial zones around the highway access is not systematic; it depends
on many phenomena such as political, economic, social and environmental. The presence of a highway is not
sufficient on its own to create economic activities and urban areas. Despite strong political will, local realities
can be decisive too, like the presence of digital networks or the economic and social context. However the
highway plays a major role in the construction of the city-territory, as it provides accessibility and continuities
between what is rural and what is conceived as urban. Hence, some people and activities are organized
around transport infrastructures where accessibility is for them a qualitative value, a criteria determining their
choice of location. In this case, the area is measured in terms of time and cost, rather than distance. Physical
proximity is no longer the essential factor; the link is created by the conditions of mobility allowing one to
reside or settle outside the cities without being excluded. A typology of services, equipment and stores, follow
the movement and are built outside urban centres, next to the nearest flows. The working hours are linked
to the rhythms and temporalities of mobility as well as those of the cities. In this way the temporality of the
territory and city is changing, and the urban way of life. However, if the highway crosses municipalities,
departments and regions, it does not necessarily build links with all the people who live there. It may be nonexistent in their daily lives despite its physical omnipresence, or on the contrary create uses and situations that
did not exist before and thus new issues arise.
The increase of freight transport on the French roads has considerably impacted the role of the highway, it is
not only a major area of mobility for goods, but it is also a structure for economic and urban developments

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across territories. Today, freight transport by road in France represents 85% of the total cargo transport
figure1. Thus highways are associated with an urban typology built around transport flows of goods and a
global economic system. The territory is conceived as a network. Having access to the highway becomes for
local and regional authorities a way to exist in a competitive economical system where being connected is
necessary to attract businesses of all natures, commercial, industrial or touristic activities. Public authorities
consider the highway, most of the time, a tool for territorial development. Accordingly, the highway
contributes to a process where human and territorial activities are structured in a different way, at other
scales, in new locations and with different actors. Previously private companies were just operating national
transport infrastructures; they are currently becoming a territorial actor at several scales. In one case that we
encountered, a high school was relocated next to the highway access in an area under construction at the edge
of the city, surrounded by an industrial zone with heavy truck and car traffic. A bridge was built to cross the
highway and to restore the pre-existing roads continuity. With the urban development, this simple bridge
designed for road traffic principally, became a cycle way and the main pedestrian access to the school. The
bridge, which was constructed as part of the highway infrastructure, is now faced with unforeseen urban
practices with complex uses and cohabitation conflicts. Obviously, its size and shape need to be revised to
cater for its new uses. The question is not only about the materiality of the bridge but also about the actors
involved and their interests. The highway operator maintains the concrete structure of the bridge, while its
asphalt surface is part of the domain of the public roads administration. Since the beginning, this object
concerned both private and public actors but only the local public authority was officially responsible for its
urban development. In this situation the private operator becomes an actor in the urban domain.
Methodology
This research began at the territorial scale with the construction of an atlas where we collected and
represented both quantitative and qualitative data concerning the highway and the territory. The
infrastructure in each municipality was quantified by listing all of its elements or objects bridge, parking lot,
interchange, service area, etc. and by numbering the amount of users passing or stopping on it. At the
municipal scale the investigation led to the accumulation of similar data along the highway network studied
each municipality is represented with its administrative limits and its portion of highway. The data collected in
the municipalities covers the number of inhabitants and the population increase since the construction of the
highway as well as the spatial organisation of the urban fabric. This systematic accumulation of data covers
the 86 municipalities crossed by the highway. As a first overview, one inhabitant was interviewed in each
municipality and asked to talk about his experiences of living in that particular place and the relationship he
had or had not with the highway. Also, the atlas is illustrated with images that show different stages of
territorial transformation. The aim is to identify situations that can highlight the reciprocity of influence
between the highway and the territory, the articulation of territorial and architectural scales, the movements
of centralities around the flow of goods and people their lives and social practices and reveal the territorial
highway process.
The highway experience is all about driving on it, but it is also about its physical presence in places. It passes
through diverse and varied environments and produces multiple territorial situations. Beyond being a traffic
route that is part of an infrastructure network, the highway, in its interface with the territory and in its
operation, leads to the building of objects to cross it, access it, to rest, stop or consume on it. The amenities
and highway equipment along the network, that could be defined as highway objects service areas, rest
areas, bridges rail, road works, wildlife, waterways, carpool parking, exchange nodes highway junctions,
interchanges, bus stops on highways, tolls, services contribute to the internal workings of the highway or
physical continuity of the territory. These new highways objects change the use of the highway and the
territory, they catalyse people in places and sometimes their co-presence creates conflicts of use or interest.
The actors are not only anymore the highway operators but are also the public actors, inhabitants, users or
other private companies. Territorial and social issues emerge as a result of these objects. The highway is not
only concerned with the management of car and truck flows. Thus highway objects are changing the nature
of the infrastructure and its links with the surrounding areas. The observable phenomena of the highway
objects are an amplification of similar issues found elsewhere in the territory, at other scales. Through an
investigation of such details, some issues of the city-territory can be explored such as the management of
flows of goods, their distribution and their programmatic scale. The transport modes, the mobility of people
and their interaction with the inhabitants are also factors to be taken into account.
The mobilization of private and public actors in a common action, the consideration of existing spaces and
their evolution, the status of administrative boundaries and governance and environmental considerations, are
the many local issues that are amplified in the management of the highway area and its objects.
For the investigation, the highway is conceived at first, as an entity separate from the territory, an

Source: SOeS, CCTN 2014

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environment for its users in which people organize themselves and produce links or not and porosity or
exchanges with the region. We therefore consider on the one hand what is part of the highway, its objects,
its actors, its temporalities and spaces; and on the other hand, which is the region related to the highway.
During the construction of the atlas produced at the beginning of the research, we identified 6 highway
objects a bridge, a motel, a service area, an interchange, a carpool parking and a toll area. They were
analysed in more detail with on-site observation leading to the production of maps, diagrams, interviews,
pictures and drawings of each object in its environment. These highway objects have been chosen because
of their territorial situations; they are always part of the living spaces of the region. They are also part of a
process of transformation of themselves or their environments.
The highway object
The first object studied was a service area with a gas station built in 1973 on the A10, next to a rural town of
874 inhabitants, called Messas. This area of the highway is sub-operated by different private petrol and food
service companies. As well as being connected directly to the highway, the service station named Beaugency
service area is also accessible by a communal road; which is a secondary access for the staff that lives nearby
and a route used for operational and maintenance services. This old communal road was cut in two during
the construction of the highway and as a result became the secondary access route for the service area. About
600 meters long, it is surrounded by fields and connects the centre of the village to a parking lot, located at
the edge of the highway area. The operational area of the highway is fenced in, but a gate provides access for
pedestrians from the car park originally planned only for staff.
The pedestrian access to this area from outside the highway was not regulated until a recent safety campaign.
Following a robbery, a night closure regulation and permanent video surveillance was set up at the request of
the service station staff. The regulation of the service station is organized by the employees who decide what
hours to open and close the access to the outside, depending on the work teams shifts, their arrival and
departure times.
Rhythms
One of the first steps in this case study, was to understand what are the rhythms and temporalities of this
highway object, its uses and its accesses, which are the ones serving the nearby towns or the highway or
both and how each of them work together. The shops and restaurants in the villages around the highway
synchronize their working day with the inhabitants meal times as well as with the hours of the market places,
creating rhythms related to the local culture. The temporalities of the Beaugency service area are directly
linked to the highway and its rhythms of mobility and it is known for its irregular hours, varying peak times
and continuous operations. But the highway services are also used by some of the inhabitants of the
surrounding areas, particularly after the closing times of the local shops and restaurants. In this way the
highway rhythms operate a transformation on the daily rhythms of the local inhabitants. Initially the highway
infrastructure service area was exclusively intended for the purpose of the highway users but it has become a
place that is also frequented by some local residents who consider it partially their territory. Can we therefore
say that the highway object has become a territorial object and that the highway infrastructure, including
the objects that are within its territory, form a whole new territory? Or is it a part of an even larger territorial
process?
Other exchange phenomena between the two spheres also became obvious during the onsite observations,
but they were more isolated. Carlos, an inhabitant of Messas town, regularly recovers a food package sent by
his family from Portugal, which is transported by a truck driver friend who takes the A10 highway for his
work. This moment of exchange is also an opportunity for Carlos to discuss with his compatriot in
Portuguese and to keep up with the news from home. Some international bus lines travelling around Europe
on the highway make a break at this service area also. Some of the passengers leave the buses to join cars that
are waiting for them on the staff parking lot, outside the boundary of the highway. In this particular instant
the highway service area becomes a temporary bus station. In this way new or parallel activities emerge
occasionally in the service area and change the relation and the role of the highway object within its
environment.
Actors and issues
We will now look at the highway object and how it has changed since its construction. The service offer has
been diversified over the last 10 years, with greater choice and the restaurant stays open continuously from
morning to night. The most remarkable change though is undeniably the continuous increase in the number
of parking places for truck drivers.
Truck parking was almost non-existent when the highway Beaugency service area was constructed, today it
hosts between 80 and 100 trucks per night. New national driving regulations for trucks together with the
evolution of the European-wide market have spurred on the creation of dedicated waiting areas on highways

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for transport professionals. These parking spaces are reserved and sized specifically for trucks; they are
equipped with street lighting and garbage bins, maintained by the sub-contractors who operate the service
areas.
Truck drivers, like any other highway user, have free access to the toilets, showers and services areas.
Increasingly, truck drivers occupy these premises without buying or consuming what is on offer and conflicts
arrive thus with the management companies. In general the drivers organize their daily routines, in
accordance with truck driving regulations which impose a number of compulsory breaks, driving times,
delivery times, distances and places to stop. National legislation has forced the truck drivers to take regular
breaks ranging from 45 minutes to 45 hours. Driving times per day may vary between 9 and 10 hours,
punctuated by a 45 minute break, a complete halt though must be scheduled for 24 hours during weekends
and bank holidays, except in special cases. After 6 consecutive days of work, drivers must stop for 45 hours.
Consequently, these regulations make the highway object become a place that is occupied temporarily, but
continuously. Thus, individuals spend many hours or even days in the service area and organize a daily
routine there. The living conditions are precarious but none the less real, the highway object takes on some
of the characteristics of a residential site, which makes us question its role within the territory. This example
also suggests how the highway actors could interact with the local life. The city-territory process can be easily
identified in this situation, where new actors inhabit the territory according to the temporalities of mobility.
The individual is in this case a temporary inhabitant, but the group of individuals who occupy the site do so
continuously and for a long time.
Micro-spaces
Despite the immensity of the highway, its infrastructure and its large landscapes, the living conditions for
humans are very restricted, reduced and organized primarily around a number of micro-spaces. For example,
the truck cabs could be compared to a private housing unit: its a space where a sort of everyday life takes
place including sleeping, eating, cooking, relaxing, sitting or lying down. It is the dwelling unit for truck
drivers during their break time. However other parts of the truck that open onto the outside are diverted
from their primary function, for example the truck bonnet on the front of the cabin and the interior of the
trailer at the rear also provide shelter. In addition to using the truck for shelter it is also used to house
personal goods, like clothes or food. Additional objects are also transported for seating, cooking and eating
outdoors, such as folding tables and chairs, barbecues, gas stoves, and also bikes to get around. However the
living space is often limited near the trucks. Food supplies can be stored on the lower sides of the trailer, in
storage boxes, which can also be transformed into a kitchen table fig.1. The concrete curb sides in the
parking lots are sometimes used for seating, when the truck is next to it. The cabins are also like a pantry
equipped with refrigerators and storage space. Water containers are used for washing, for dishes, clothes,
cooking and drinking but also to maintain the truck. In this way, many drivers are autonomous and live
around their truck. Some of them even travel with family members or in couples. They organize their
everyday life in a time and a space regulated by the temporalities of mobility. The parking lot becomes an
inhabited or residential place for them. Bearing this in mind, we may ask the question of how this changes
our way of understanding and perception of the highway object and its relation to the region? Similar
forms of appropriation of the spaces are constantly repeated even if people change. Can the highway actually
offer all the services and needs for people to live comfortably there for several days? The living conditions for
people in transit need to be rethought out in relation to the territory. This approach would necessitate the
establishment of a new definition of the term highway with a new perimeter designed to cater for different
types of porosity and exchanges with the surrounding area.
We observed on site several dynamics and processes at play between the highway object and the region like
for instance the installation of fences in the Beaugency service area for security and legal reasons as well as
the modification of opening times in accordance with the new lifestyles and the local services. Thus, we could
categorise the service area as an inhabited place, which has its own social issues. The highway objects
therefore must be considered to be part of the region and not just to be within the highway jurisdiction,
otherwise living is only reduced to matters of shelter, security and waiting in the confined space of a parking
lot. The choice of location to park the trucks is rarely random; it depends on break times and the organization
of other trucks in the area at that particular moment. Communities of truck drivers, often linked to
nationalities or transport companies, can be seen forming a spatial organisation of the trucks on the parking
lot. Depending of the duration of the stop overs, some of the drivers prefer to park far away from the
activities of the highway service area while others settle next to the gas station. The organisation in the
parking lot is established according to specific criteria related to common temporalities and kinship.

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[fig.1] Living spaces. Source: elaborated by the author.

Space-time
To understand the various occupation patterns and their issues, during our research we established different
categories per person depending on their break times. Indeed, each category was associated with singular
issues related to specific activities and special needs. Thus the drivers work schedules became essential data
to help us think about the situation of the highway object and its functions in relation to the region. Time
and space were considered concomitantly as the spatial and social configurations depend on the time spent in
the area. If the service area remains exclusively attached to the highway network the drivers living conditions
wont change or be improved for commercial reasons. The infrastructure network is driven by a quest for
profits, while the territory is more concerned with living conditions and settlement and does not need to be
part of a market economy to the same degree. An object and its users can exist physically in a territory but at
the same time be excluded from it. The highway object could be part of a dual economy where the
inhabitants of the region could integrate the service area and the users of the highway could contribute to
the local life. This requires thinking about how this object could be part of the urban fabric where the two
spheres are working together on common issues.
Conclusion
This study is about understanding the city-territory as a process and not just as a fixed or established object.
Accordingly, the horizontal metropolis partially exists; it is built with continuities and ruptures that can be
read through the highway objects. The research shows how the complexity of the highway may be regarded
as a structure linking a variety of objects, with variable scales and issues and how these highway objects
produce new ways of acting and thinking about the territory beyond the networks and the cities. The case
study also points to new territorial centralities where people and uses are located outside the historic urban
settlements. These new locations are redefining the limits of territories at different scales and questioning
established urban forms regions, cities and towns. What is the role of the highway if it is no longer
considered solely a network? This leads us to another way of thinking about connections and limits and about
what is conceived or designed, for moving and what is for living.
Bibliography
Biase, A. de, 2014. Hriter de la ville, pour une anthropologie de la transformation urbaine. Paris : Donner lieu.
Dalakoglou, D. and Harvey, P., 2012. Roads and Anthropology: Ethnographic Perspectives on Space, Time and
(Im)Mobility. Mobilities. 7(4). p. 459-465.
Besse, J-M., 2013. Habiter : Un monde mon image. Paris : Flammarion.
Geddes, P., 1915. City in evolution: an introduction to the town planning movement and to the study of civics. London : Williams.
Virilio, P., 1993. Lespace critique. Paris : Choix essais.
Wirth, L., 1938. Urbanism as a Way of Life. The American Journal of Sociology. 44 (1). p. 1-24.

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Preliminary analysis of the structural properties of the global roads

network and its scaling with Gross Domestic Product for all countries.
Emanuele Strano*, Saray Shai **
* Laboratory of Geography Information Systems (LaSig), Polytechnic School Of Lausanne (EPFL), Losan, Ch.
** Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Supervisor: Prof. Francois Golay, Prof. Andrea Rinaldo
Expected thesis defence: March 2016
emanuele.strano@gmail.com
Road networks patterns are a mirror of the urban complexity, however their spatial structure is very simple. We propose a
study of the network made of all roads on earth. We demonstrate that regardless of the location, all road networks are
similar each other. We argue that such universality is given by the spatial constraints governing their evolution, and in
order to understand the specific and local nature of different processes of urbanization, we need to discriminate universal
features from local effects. As local feature analysis, we propose a correlation analysis between the Gross Domestic
Product of a country and its major roads provision. A simple correlation analysis proves the non-universal relationships.
We believe that the understanding of the global road network structure is of fundamental importance in the debate of
global urbanization.

Intro:
Cities and urbanization patterns are mostly represented by land use classification: densities, surfaces and filled
up land. It is basically a two-dimensional coloured sheet covering the free land (non urban) that tells us the
dimension and the shape of urbanization patterns.
From urbanism to urban geography, the use of such approach is wide. In this approach, the roads have been
mostly unconsidered as a constitutive part of the urbanized landscape. Roads and transportation networks
have often been seen as an accessory of the land use, a pattern of lines belonging to it. On the other hand
transportation engineering looks at roads just as pipelines in which nothing happens apart from flows in it.
But urbanization processes are ultimately a complex spatial event and a more mature vision of it can easily
deny these limited visions. A more realistic figure is necessary, a vision in which in a continuous feedback,
roads evolution follows land-use change and vice versa. This gap is more evident in the panorama of global
urbanization studies in which the analyses of roads patterns at large scale are totally missing. As a result we
know very few things about the structure of roads networks and its implication to the process of global
urbanization. In this short paper we present some preliminary results from the first study ever of the
structural proprieties of the network made by all roads on earth. This study represents an attempt to
understand I) the state of roads development on earth, II) the fundamental physical nature of their complex
structure and, III) explore their relationships with population, urbanization and economy of all countries. Our
hypothesis moves from the observation that the evolution of road networks is governed by a few simple rules
(Strano et al. 2102, Strano et al. 2013). These rules give a limited set of possibilities in which urban street
patterns can occur. These rules also make all roads systems similar to each other (not self-similar), at in the
case of river networks. We argue then that the claimed universality of urban systems structure is not a
signature of any universal urban-causality, but rather the signature of the existence of common physical
constraints. (An analogy can be made with people, they are all different from each other while they all share
the same body structure). We prove the universality of such structural features, testing them at global scale
and for all countries. We also provide preliminary results on the relationships between the economic
performance of countries (Gross Domestic Product) and roads network. We believe that understanding the
structure of the global road network is of importance in the debate around the shape of global urbanization.
Data:
The global road network is composed of four hierarchies of roads. Primary (H1), secondary (H2), major (H3)
and urban roads (H4). For this analysis we don't include local roads such as short and dense roads in urban
environment. The data covers a total length of 10,057,123 Km and the entire earth. Figure 1a reports a
general overview of the data in which it is possible to see the different roads' classes. The data is not publicly
available since is has been produced for GPS navigation systems. Global land surface has been divided by
country boundaries and for larger countries such as China, US, India, Russia and Brazil we used the state
boundaries, at the end we partied the global surface in 403 large regions. Data on national and state gross
domestic product and the total population has been collected for each region by national census bureaus. It
is important to stress the fact that this network is a single and unique connected infrastructure that represents
the actual state of roads on earth.

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Results:
First, we show the total length of roads of a given hierarchy divided by the total length of all roads, see fig1b.
Relationships between different normalized road classes give an idea of the maturity of a system. Observing
for example South America, we note a disproportion of H3 road while in West Europe we can see a constant
increasing from H1 to H4. In general, it is possible to observe that among all locations the proportion of road
hierarchy is different. This kind of observation might point to define different road structures.
However it has been proved that in any planar network, including road systems, the allometric ratio e = N/E,
where N is the number of roads intersections and E the number of links, lies between 1 (for a tree like
network) and 3 (for a lattice network). This implies the same average number of junctions per roads at any
scale of observation. We proved this simple argument by plotting the number of nodes vs. the number of
roads for all countries. The obtained slope is 1.24 +- 0.08 as expected. This simple test makes universal
previous assumption. It also starts to show a possible universal structure shared by all countries.
Another universal feature is given by the probability distribution of roads length. Though simple, the
observation of probability distribution can say a lot about the organization of the observed system. It has
been speculated that the probability distribution of urban roads follows a power-law of shape f(x)= a*x^beta, with beta around 2 (Masucci et al. 2009, Chan et al. 2011). The meaning of a power law distribution in
spatial phenomena is that at any scale of observation, the relationship between smaller or bigger classes is the
same. For road networks it might imply a perfectly nested spider-net like street pattern. Perfectly nested
systems, such as river networks, have special characteristics. For example in the regime of 1< beta <2 is the
absence of meaningful average length. But simple observation of any road maps can clearly deny this easy
speculation, and we also failed to find a power-law distribution in our global sample.
Figure 1c shows the probability distribution of the global sample and macro area in semi-log plot. It is evident
that the roads' lengths are not distributed as a power law but rather following a stretched exponential one.
The importance of such a distribution stays in two main factors: I) the global surface is more evenly
fragmented than previously supposed and II) that there is a defined average road length.
Another important observation is that all the distributions of all macro regions show a similar trend.
Interpretation of such results immediately points to a physical process constrained by the planarity of the
network system and not driven by a specific characteristic of human made networks.
A natural question is how and if such spatial universality is also mirrored in any other urban measurable. Our
simple test makes use of the gross domestic product of all countries plotted against the raw length of major
roads systems (H1+H2). Figure 1d shows the plot and the linear regression test for the macro regions. It is
important to note here that the correlation is made in logarithmic scale so that the slope m indicates the
multiplicative factors between variables. Interpretations of fig.1d are certainly wide. We can first see that the
total GDP has a scaling relationship with the amount of road and not the GDP per-capita. This implies that
agglomeration economies are in action. A more important information is given by the different scaling factors
among macro-regions. Even if is clear that a more accurate analysis is needed, differences among regions are
arising. Of great interests is the super-linear scaling (m = 1.58+-0.25) of West Europe comparing to other
macro-regions. Super-linear scaling, in simple terms, indicates a regime in which being bigger (in this case
having more streets) is more convenient. In this case European roads are far more efficient than North
American ones in which m = 0.544+-0.251.
The full sample indicates m = 0.8+-0.09, meaning that in general regions with more road infrastructure need
to invest more to gain the same percentage of GDP than smaller region. For example if Germany and South
Africa want to increase the GDP by 0.5% Germany has to grow more (in percentage) than South Africa. This
simple results remind recent results on urban scaling reminiscent of allometric approach in natural systems
(Bettencourt et al. 2007). An explanation of different scaling can also be done by observing the bar plot in
fig.1a. It seems that more efficient regions are those with the more nested structure as in the case of Europe.
More analysis is needed to confirm this hypothesis.
The relevance of GDP scaling in urbanization debate might be on the ability to infer transportation
development given GDP projections. Another suggestion is given by observing that different scaling regimes
might depend by the proportion of different hierarchies, this can be of interest in planning process in which
conversion of existent road might be better than building new ones.
Conclusion:
Summarizing we demonstrated that the global roads network have universal spatial structure, but they do not
mirror local features, in particular they do not mirror GDP of a country. Several conclusion might arise from
this analysis: I) Urbanization is a global phenomena that must be studied in single shot. This vision also
makes possible a comparative analysis and the understanding of local realities. II) Statistical and physical
approaches to urban environment must taken with care, however, III) a deeper understanding of the
implications of such approaches will be vital for the development of a mature debate on global urbanization.

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We believe that this study moves on these tracks providing an important example for an interdisciplinary
approach to urbanization studies.
Bibliography
Strano, E. et al. 2012. Elementary processes governing the evolution of road networks. Sci. Rep. 2 296.
Strano, E. et al. 2013. Urban street networks, a comparative analysis of ten European cities. Environ. Plann. B
40 1071-1086.
Masucci, A. P., Smith, D., Crooks, A. & Batty, M. 2009 Random planar graphs and the London street
network. Eur. Phys. J. B 71, 259271.
Chan, S. H. Y., Donner, R. V., & Lammer, S. 2011. Urban road networks- spatial networks with universal
geometric features? Eur. Phys. J. B 84, 563577.
Bettencourt, L. M. A. Lobo, J. Helbing, D. Khnert,C. West, G. B. 2007 Growth, innovation, scaling, and
the pace of life in cities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 104, no. 17, pp. 73017306.

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The Impact of Road Ecosystem upon Soils Qualities and Functions:

Preliminary Observations on the French Normative Framework of
Road Design
Antoine Vialle

EPFL / EDAR
Paola Vigan
Expected thesis defence: September, 2019
antoine.vialle@epfl.ch
This paper seeks to investigate the processes through which modern roads are conceived and realized. This approach can
not only contribute to identify some of the main spatial characteristics of the non-dense urban territories, but also enables
to understand better how small scale elements impact of upon environment and urban fabric at large scale.

RESEARCH FRAME: RE-CONCEPTUALIZING THE RELATION BETWEEN

URBANIZATION AND SOILS
The Road as part of the Horizontal Metropolis soils
This paper presents a series of observations made in the course of the preliminary stage of a doctoral work.
This PhD is based on a broader research project dedicated to the study of soils composing non-dense urban
territories characterized by mesh with agriculture and infrastructural sites. This research aims at analyzing
urban soils in relation to their functions and to the ecosystem services they provide (CHENU, LORENZ,
MOREL 2014), in order to consider how urban planning and design can contribute to the development of a
more sustainable urban ecosystem.
Within this framework, the PhD research will focus on infrastructural soils dedicated to mobility networks,
and more specifically on surfaces affected by automobile use. It will consider the whole ecosystem of roads,
including not only the modern typology of roads and urban apparatuses related to intensive use of motor
vehicle from highway to service road, and roundabouts, traffic islands, dedicated lanes, etc. but also the
open outdoor spaces surrounding them from vegetated road shoulders and earth mounds, to minerals
roadsides, parking areas, etc.
Re-describing the Road Ecosystem
Recent studies, combining a reticular approach of infrastructures and an area-based approach of urbanized
territories, have revealed that the road network and its interfaces are particularly representative of the new
kind of physical and functional relations between the components of the non-dense territory (BELANGER
2006) (MANGIN 2004) (GRAHAM, MARVIN 2001) (POPE A 1996). A fine observation of the impact of
road upon urban ground and soils may contribute to identify some potential evolutionary trends in
urbanization.
In a first documentary step, the PhD research will therefore consist in producing a series of atlases of
automobile surfaces in European non-dense urban territories. Dimensions, typologies and evolution
processes will be analyzed according to emerging concerns about two- and three-dimensional quality of soils
as an environmental agent. The road ecosystem will be re-described from new points of view such as that of
the pedestrian, the animal or the plant.
Towards Recycling Scenarios
The road ecosystem is a key lever for the sustainability of the city, since it addresses some major challenges
of proliferation (and aging) of infrastructures in a globalized context, and increasing aspirations such as
improvement and diversification of transport modes, control and efficiency of infrastructures, preservation or
even valorization of soils as a resource.
In a second prospective step, the PhD research will therefore also envisage the potential transformation and
recycling of road network surfaces under different scenarios depending on the evolution of automobile
mobility (FABIAN 2013). The three considered scenarios are: (1) No Car: what road surfaces recycling
opportunities open up if private automobile use disappears or drastically decreases? (2) New Green An Gray
Deal or CO2 Neutral: concomitantly to car use decrease, what are the opportunities for compensation and
new balances between vegetated and mineral surfaces alongside the road? (3) Smart And Soft Cars:
Reduction of automobile pollution and development of safer and smarter vehicles can they drive to establish
more direct and interactive relationship between the road and its context?
Beyond mobility issues in themselves, this research agenda aims at identifying potentials, or wild cards
(EASTERLING 1999), regarding the overall use of land and soil in non-dense urban territories. In this
respect, various research hypotheses rises: (1) shifting and redefining the concept of public space according
to a new environmental consciousness, (2) evolving from perceptual, spatial, social and biologic discontinuity

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towards a notion of right distance (SECCHI 2013), (3) evolving from segregation and monofunctionality
towards synergies and sharing of ground uses and functions.
NORMING, DESIGNING, BUILDING THE ROAD ECOSYSTEM
Three Lenses
In order to investigate the processes through which the road ecosystem is conceived and realized, and how
it could evolve, this paper will focus on a preliminary step consisting in observing the relationship between
the normative frame of the road-making, the practices of urban planners-designers and what is effectively
built. Which laws and technical rules apply to alignment and profile of the road? What are their stated
objectives and from which explicit or implicit doctrines do they derive? How are they interpreted into design
discourses and practices? How does it impact upon its surrounding environment?
Theses three different lenses, can not only contribute to identify some of the main spatial characteristics of
non-dense urban territories, but also enables to understand better how small scale elements of the road have
a broader impact upon landscape and urban fabric at large scale. The objectives and constraints that combine
to shape unintentionally the horizontal metropolis do not derives from a clear aestheticized vision of the city
and countryside, nor always from an explicit urban theory. However distinguishable logics are at work and
they do have tangibles effects. Indeed, in the non-dense territories, the making of the road network from
the establishment of the legal frame to its construction is specific in term of both rationality, materiality and
process. Reviewing the current dynamics and trends that structure the road ecosystem and its context will
not always lead to breaking news, but this is a necessary step to build up a causal idea of agency regarding the
spatial development of contemporary metropolises.
The Primacy of Norms
In Europe, the legal, economical and methodological framework in which modern roads have been
developed is very specific. Especially regarding design practices, the knowledge and know-how strongly differ
from those of the traditional city. At least in the past decades, the global notion of project tended to loose
importance in favor of standards conveyed by geometric formulas and reproduction of ready-made solutions.
At least in the French case on which this paper will focus , normative frame and design practices maintain
an extremely close relationship. Indeed, an interministerial organization involving several State departments
dedicated to spatial planning and infrastructural facilities (recently restructured as Centre dtudes et dexpertise sur
les risques, lenvironnement, la mobilit et lamnagement) is in charge of the synthesis and update of road norms and
laws (Documentation des Techniques Routires Franaises DTRF). The actual design of the road is essentially
based on this corpus that serves both as a reference for developers, and as technical guide for designers. The
prescriptive nature of this database varies by road type and domaniality. As regards to major projects
commissioned by the State, laws, decrees and ministerial circulars confer to these norms a mandatory value,
whereas, for local authorities, they have usually a recommendation value as rgles de lart.
Since it allows to observe different versions of a given norm over time, the critical reading of this corpus also
assumes a dynamic aspect: it provides information not only on the evolution of design practices, but also on
the evolution of discourses and doctrines that justify these practices.
A Critical Reading
In order to have a preliminary insight into the making of the road, this paper proposes a critical reading of
the corpus of French norms (DTRF). The aims of this critical reading are: (1) making hypotheses regarding
the agency of road norms upon urban territories and soils that will have to be verified on the field, (2)
establishing comparisons with other European normative framework, especially in Switzerland, (3) analyzing
interactions between road norms and other normative frameworks such as town planning, construction and
land use regulations, (4) identifying the limits and loopholes of road norms to consider alternative
approaches.
To determine what does a norm recognize, consider and describe or overlook , and what does a norm do
or does not do , we examined a selection of norms (for justification of the corpus of norms, see bellow
The Structure of Norms), in which we systematically tried to identify the following elements: (1) final goal of
the norm, ei. the spirit of the law, (2) direct goal of the norm, ei. the letter of the law, (3) variables
envisaged as means to achieve this objective, ie. features that can be varied in order to achieve a goal, (4)
invariants, ie. features considered as given facts or fixed data. Then we compared the features explicitly
mentioned by norms with those we have induced from our own research hypotheses and scenarios stated
above.

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HOW AND WHAT DO NORMS SAY?

The Structure of Norms
As mentioned before, norms derive from laws, decrees and ministerial circulars. They include three main
different types of documents. First, technical hanbooks such as instructions, recommandations or guides techniques
define the main design and implementation principles for a given type of road or intersection. Second,
technical sheets such as fiches and notes dinformation are much shorter document only a few pages long
which develop specific issues appeared over the evolution of doctrines and felt-needs regarding road design.
Third, some methodological guides guides mthodologiques have recently been published. They synthesize a
fuller reflection on themes of growing concern, such as landscape or environment. The degree of precision of
these documents generally varies according to what is described. In instructions, recommandations and guides
techniques, precise calculation rules and sizing thresholds are given for the geometry of the roadway itself.
Simple rules are given for junctions and accesses to the road, according various typologies of road devices.
Information about the design of all the other components of the right-of-way is limited to succinct good
practices. Finally, instructions, recommandations and guides techniques merely briefly mention objectives regarding
landscape integration or environmental impact of the road, without any further detail.
These structural elements of norms give a first insight on what is considered as a priority in the road design.
However, the most decisive factor of norms is the road typology on which they are based. The legal and
normative classification of different types of road differs from the one users spontaneously refer to. Road
users get a rough idea of the type of road they have to deal with according to its domaniality: they distinguish
autoroutes, routes nationales, routes dpartementales, and the petites routes managed by municipalities. In fact, this
traditional classification does not exactly correspond to the reality of road management any more. The legal
and normative classification is more complex. A first level of this classification distinguishes urban and nonurban or inter-urban roads qualified until recently as rase campagne. Second and third level of this
classification are given according to road functions and determines both speed and morphologic
characteristics of the road {table1}. It is also interesting to note that inter-urban roads have a significantly
more precise normative framework than most of the urban roads. For this critical reading we choose to start
from the Amnagement de routes principales Recommandations techniques pour la conception gnrale et la gomtrie de la
route (ARP). This technical handbook corresponds to the most basic inter-urban road type, which is
probably also the most common in non-dense urban territories. Then we made comparisons with other
technical handbooks, technical sheets and methodological guides according to the criteria determined by our
research hypotheses and scenarios.
Safety and speed
The most striking aspect that emerges from the critical reading is that the overwhelming majority of the items
of the French normative framework mention safety as final goal without ever explicitly specifying if the
safety issue includes only road users or if it has a wider involvement. In the ARP, only few items are stated
according to other objectives such as users comfort, durability and maintenance of the roadbed.
Another striking aspect is that, regarding the all-pervading safety issue, the speed of vehicles is not considered
as a variable, but as a given fact. Indeed, except for the design of intersections, the ARP recommends to
design the road profile according to the maximum average speed at which 85% of motorists actually drives
(aka. V85), even if it is higher than the legal speed limit. Therefore, there is no direct interaction between the
legal speed limit and the design process of the road, since, except in critical points, the speed limit is fixed
before the design project and is determined by the choice of road type, based on political, economic and
technical assessment of the existing and future needs the road while have to fulfill. In most of the cases, other
constraints or invariants considered for the road design are construction costs and technical difficulties, as
well as topography and rarely climate of the road site. Conversely, the geometry of the road and its
surface coating and, to a lesser extent, the degree of user comfort are considered as variables.
Geometry and Context
If safety and speed are respectively the main goal and the major constraint envisaged bay the ARP, geometry
is considered as the primary mean to achieve this objective. As for most of other technical handbooks, ARP
structures the morphological description of the road according to three main geometrical features, namely
transversal profile, longitudinal profile and horizontal plan.
The horizontal plan profile of the road is designed in order to ensure visibility clearance and legibility of the
road trajectory, according to minimum and maximum curve radius, homogenous and expectable curves and
straight lines sequences, etc. In coordination with the horizontal plan profile, the longitudinal profile is also
designed in order to ensure visibility and, to a lesser extant, to facilitate ease of use and discharging of
rainwater.

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As regards the transversal profile, the roadbed characteristics ie. number of lanes, with or without central
reserve are determined before the design project according to the choice of road type. The lateral limits of
the road are designed almost exclusively to prevent risks of a run off the road. Norms provide both a
recovery zone and a larger security zone. The recovery zone includes a hard shoulder and a vegetated verge.
Beyond issues regarding durability and maintenance of the roadbed or discharging of rainwater, the texture of
the recovery zone must be clearly distinguishable for the one of the carriageway ie. the asphalted path
where automobiles normally drive but stabilized enough and with no level difference to allow emergency
use. In addition to the recovery zone, the security zone includes benches, ditches and slopes, in which any
obstacle such as trees, road signs, significant difference, etc. must be avoided, weakened or isolated by a
safety barrier.
The ARP mention that, in the case of existing roads, the security zone should not be less than 4m wide,
whereas a new road must be a minimum of 7.5m wide including a recovery zone minimum 1,75m wide
and up to 8,5m wide including a recovery zone 2,5m wide in case of high speed roads. Considering both
sides of the road and an average lane width of 3,5m for a four-lane new inter-urban road , the surface
occupied by the security zone is thus equal, or even superior, to the carriageway itself.
Consequently, although the French normative framework of road design is basically limited to safety
objectives, we can assume that it does impact upon the various other issues it overlooks. Beyond what norms
explicitly consider, declare and do, we can now try to identify its indirect agency on the issues determined by
our research hypotheses regarding the road ecosystem.
THE AGENCY OF NORMS
The Logic of Urban Limits
Last but not least, we can observe that French normative framework obviously ignore the horizontal
metropolis urban condition as a non-dense urban territory co-penetrating rural realm. Since the road
typology on which technical handbooks are based only conceders the traditional cleavage between urban
and non-urban conditions, the overall relation between road design and urbanization is only considered
previously to the design phase. On one hand, municipalities have the prerogative to delimit the official urban
perimeter that frames roads status. Specified in land use plan and indicated alongside the road by specific
road signs, this urban perimeter is defined by the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic
Studies as the area in with buildings are grouped or adjacent, without interruption superior to 200 meters. On
the other hand, the impact of roads design upon urban settlement is also induced by the choice of road type
during the preliminary programming study.
Technical handbooks dedicated to inter-urban road types only mention the interaction between the road and
its built environment insofar as it disturbs the main road function ei. long distance travel or local transit
and creates a safety problem. However, the ARP safety main objective induce various measures regarding
road access and transversal profile in order to neutralize existing urban dissemination and prevent its
expansion. For inter-urban road types, norms aims at preventing as much as possible direct access from
isolated private properties, sometimes generating an additional separated lane for local accesses. For some
high-speed inter-urban road categories, planar intersections with perpendicular minor roads are prohibited, to
the benefits of minor road derivation or roads overlap, with or without vertical interchange. These measures
contribute to increase significantly the soil surface dedicated to automobile use. In addition some high-speed
inter-urban road categories induce bypass road strategies in order to avoid confrontation to urban areas,
accentuating territorial hierarchies and zoning effect.
The logic of urban limits deriving from road norms has therefore an indirect effect on the emergence of
distinct functional areas surrounded by vegetal margins and accessible through complex road interfaces and
parking areas. Even if formal patterns of the road impact upon distribution logics, arrangements of programs
and layouts of buildings alongside the road in a way that strongly contrast with dense and vertical urbanity
or traditional rural context , no mention is maid in the ARP of the technical, formal and legal interactions
between the road and other tangible and intangible components of the territory. Paradoxically, the normative
approach thereby accelerates spatial deconcentration and reinforces the development of a metropolis that is
not only horizontal but also discontinuous.
A Shape without Contours
Contrary to one of the most common critics (DESPORTES 2005), the design of the road is not conceived as
a bi-dimensional network, but actually derives from a three-dimensional approach considering transversal
profile, longitudinal profile and horizontal plan. However, this exhaustive geometrical description is almost
limited to the roadbed profile and does not consider the whole right-of-way. When defining the road
morphology, the ARP conceders essentially the carriageway and, to a lesser extent, the roadbed including
hard shoulders and vegetated verges dedicated to emergency use. It also mentions some characteristics of the

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benches, ditches and slopes included within the construction limits of the road. But, beyond safety zone
requirements, nothing is said regarding the significant area covered by the full right-of-way including other
natural or pseudo-natural surfaces. As legally and normatively defined, the road has limits that fade into
vagueness.
Besides, the overall spatial dimension of the road cannot be reduced to the geometry of the road itself. The
three-dimensional conception of the road determined in safety purposes does not constitute a genuine
design approach of the overall space traversed and altered by the road. The geometrical blueprint of the road
cannot be considered as a plan or a vertical section, since it only considers the form of the road itself and not
its interactions with other contextual elements. For example, road profile adaptation to site topography is
only envisaged as regard to critical contexts such as mountainous areas and concerns only visibility issues
and readability of the road trajectory. In the ARP, other issues regarding landscape visual integration or
environmental impact are mentioned as basic principles, but they do not induce any concrete goal of the
norm. No mention is made of energy topics. More specifically, the road impact on soils quality is only taken
into account as regard to driving safety, durability of the roadbed or discharging of rainwater.
Nevertheless, the disregard to any contextual elements such as topography, parcel boundaries, building
alignments or natural environment not only increases territorial discontinuity but also contributes to
generate urban or natural dlaisss, in and out the right-of-way. Building technics such as soil compaction or
cut and fill , maintenance services and materials of modern roads are very specific and do impact upon soils
ecosystem services such as support for biodiversity. In other words, norms contributes to modify the
relation between the road and the natural elements, either productive or not such as ornamental green
spaces, agricultural fields, tiers paysage or natural reserve , whose use and symbolic value is shifted.
Monofunctional Pipes
As mentioned before, the ARP considers the legibility of the road as a mean to achieve safety purpose. The
legibility concerns both the visual aspect of the road itself and the haptic characteristics of its texture, but it
only considers the relation to the surrounding environment in terms of contrast, in order to avoid any
ambiguity regarding the road perimeter and trajectory. Although it implies that the road design must be as
simple as possible avoiding over complex traffic islands and interchanges , the legibility principle also
induce that the automobile path must be clearly channeled and as isolated as possible. Issues regarding
pedestrians, bicycles, public transport, as well as other activities that could take place along side the road are
considered only insofar as they affect automobile traffic and create a safety problem. The ARP only mention
that pedestrians and bicycles can circulate on the hard shoulder and vegetated verge, that is to say in the
automobile recovery zone! Similarly, the presence of animals is only referred to in terms of potential collision
with vehicles and vegetation growth is strictly limited in the security zone trees must be isolated or cutdown.
The fact that the large area of the right-of-way that is frozen by the security zone is disregarded or, at least,
underestimated in terms of potential human and non-human multi-functionality accentuates the
fragmentation effect. In sum, as currently defined by technical handbooks, the geometric design of the road
and the imprecise or restrictive approach to its limits doesnt allow to asses the status of the lateral portions
of the right-of-way as interstitial spaces, neither to envisage their potential roles as interfaces.
The impact of the road upon landscape, ecosystem and urban activities is much better taken into account in
the recently published methodological guides. However, the importance given to these new concerns in these
documents attests existing gaps in practices. Besides, these new concerns are still considered of secondary
importance since they are not integrated to technical manuals, which should synthetize them with the
geometrical approach of the road.
THE POTENTIAL OF ROADS
From Speed to Sharing
Theses emerging concerns regarding the roads agency on urban ecosystem, as well as the wild cards
offered by the norms loopholes as regard to lateral portions of the road, open possibilities for the potential
transformation and recycling of road network surfaces under the different scenarios and hypotheses stated
above.
First, regarding the No Car scenario, we have observed that the impact of road on automobile traffic is only
considered during the programming study, preliminary to the design stage, whereas an innovative approach to
the geometry of the road itself, according to new typologies, could contribute to mitigate or drastically reduce
the car traffic flow. Second, regarding the New Green An Gray Deal or CO2 Neutral scenario, a more
defined design of the large area occupied by the right-of-way could contribute to optimize soils ecosystem
services. Third, regarding the Smart And Soft Cars scenario, we have observed that considering vehicle
effective speed (V85) as a given fact and not as a variable has a huge impact upon safety oriented design

125

of the road. A more proactive management of vehicle speed could offer a key lever in order to conciliate the
safety issue to the other challenges of the road ecosystem.
In this respect, we are currently witnessing an evolution regarding the speed paradigm. During the twentieth
century, speed used to be associated with mobility ie. facilitating speed in order to increase the ability to
move , whereas it has been associated to safety in the last decades ie. controlling the speed in order to
reduce risks related to the automobile use. In the perspective of the twenty-first century, (moderate) speed
may still be considered as the main paradigm of road design, but it may be associated with the notion of
participation in terms of adapting speed in order to share the various human and non-human functions of
road soils. If sharing strategies have already been developed in the urban context according to the Dutch
woonerf concept, the English home zone concept and French zones de rencontre, zone 30 and zone
pitonne concepts (LOISEAU, 2005), the challenges now concern the suburban roads.
Reactivating the progetto di suolo
From this perspective, the PhD reaserch will envisage to implement the normative approach of the road
design with a more comprehensive approach of the ground design, as an updating of Bernardo Secchis
concept of progetto di suolo (SECCHI 1986) according to new concerns regarding soils qualities and
functions. The notion of ground design allows to go beyond the technical solution and restrictive action,
through the articulation of urban, infrastructural and environmental uses of ground and soils at different
scales.
Bibliography
Chenu, C., Lorenz, K., Morel, JL., 2014. Ecosystem services provided by soils of urban, industrial, traffic, mining,
and military areas (SUITMAs). J Soils Sediments, Special Issue: Suitma 7
Secchi, B., 2013. La nuova questione Urbana. In Fabian, L., ed. 2013. New Urban Question Ricerche sulla citt
contemporanea 2009-2014. Universit Iuav di Venezia, Quaderni della ricerca. Rome : ARACNE editrice
Fabian, L., 2013. Verso il No Auto. Nuovi paradigmi della mobilit per riciclare la citt diffusa. In Fabian, L., ed.
2013. New Urban Question Ricerche sulla citt contemporanea 2009-2014. Universit Iuav di Venezia,
Quaderni della ricerca. Rome : ARACNE editrice
Belanger, P., 2006. Synthetic Surfaces. In Waldheim, C., ed. 2006. The Landscape Urbanism Reader. New York :
Princeton Architectural Press
Loiseau, F., 2005. EVOLUTION DES "RUES A VIVRE" DANS QUELQUES VILLES EUROPEENES.
Confrence "Childstreet2005" - Delft Pays-Bas, aot 2005, Compte rendu. Lyon : Certu
Desportes, M., 2005. Paysages en mouvement: Transports et perception de lespace XVIIIe-XXe sicles. Paris:
Gallimard
Mangin, D., 2004. La Ville franchise. Formes et structures de la ville contemporaine. Paris: La Villette
Graham, S., Marvin, S., 2001. Splintering urbanism: networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and the
urban condition. London: Routledge
Easterling, K., 1999. Organization Space: Landscape, Highways and Houses in America. Cambrige, Mass.: MIT
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Horizontal Metropolis structured by the nature.

Josu Ochoa Paredes.
M.Sc Urbanism student at UPC-BarcelonaTECH. Doctoral candidate
PhD. Adolf Sotoca Garca
Expected thesis defence: September, 2018
josuochoa@yahoo.com
The accelerated urban growth in Latin-American is a phenomenon that, though overall assumed asks for a contextual
consideration and a local scope. In the specific case of the Republic of Ecuador, it is estimated that its population will rise
from 16 million inhabitants in 2010 to around 18.6 million inhabitants in 2025. The majority of the population will inhabit
in urban areas - ESTRATEGIA TERRITORIAL NACIONAL, PLAN NACIONAL DEL BUEN VIVIR - . It seems
obvious that this projection anticipates a huge challenge in the planning of urban growth over the next ten years.
All along the twentieth century, the urban extension in Ecuador consumed land in a chaotic manner, thus leading to both
environmental and social conflicts as well as plundering natural assets. However, we are faced today with a new scenario
that might enable a better harmonization between urban growth and environmental values. The implementation of
renewable and distributive energy on one hand, and the availability of new technologies for a decentralized management
of resources on the other, will allow in less than a decade a drastic reduction of the marginal cost in urban extensions and
renewal (Rifkin Solanas, 2015). It should be feasible, now more than ever, a more equitable planning, respectful towards
the environment and able to guarantee the population's access to basic resources in urban environments.
This opportunity requires, however, a thoughtful reconsideration of the methodologies and instruments with which the
territory has been ordered. Regulations and criteria so far based on the vertical and centralized integration of resources
must be adapted to a much more horizontal and collaborative network structure. The assignment of burdens and benefits,
so characteristic of the XXth century redistributive urbanism, to give way a new code that addresses self-sufficient urban
models based on decentralized production and on site consumption of resources.
The analysis and tentative proposals of such methodologies and instruments on the Ecuadorian context is the main goal
of the URVAMED project, a research funded by the Prometheus program and framed within the objectives of territorial
harmonization established in the Plan Nacional del Buen Vivir
URVAMEDD assumes the current paradigm shift to urban growth. The crisis of the late-centralized industrial model has
given way to a new vision of the production, processing and distribution of urban resources, especially of water cycle and
energy. At the light of this new urban metabolism, we are compelled to rethink concepts such as city boundaries,
centrality, periphery or marginal cost associated with urban growth. Starting from such critic, and using the three major
metropolises of Ecuador - Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca - the research launches the three following questions:
-What are the morphological characteristics of the incipient urban developments and their potential planning layout
according to criteria of horizontal and decentralized infrastructure in Ecuador?
-What guidelines and regulations must be implemented in the intervention for the regeneration or development of these
areas?
-Are these generic criteria replicable for all cases? Which are the critical components that would suggest particular
guidelines or solutions for each concept?
The paper will show the first hypothesis, case-study framing and initial outcomes of a research that will be developed
starting in 2015 until 2017.

Introduction
Does really exist a compact city? Does really exist city?
It aims to question the existence of the object of care preferred by most of the researchers of the last century,
it has generated an enormous amount of information based on an object that is isolated, as if it had been
extracted for analysis in a laboratory, and as a consequence approaches emphasize the importance of city size,
density, floor area, and infrastructure. This way of measuring the city is based on a binary logic that leads to
the urban/non-urban, urban/ rural, cultural/ natural, centre/ periphery dichotomies. (Angelo, Wachsmuth
2013)
However, researchers have questioned this approach, they considered crucial to rethink the urbanization
process and understand the territory in a global urban condition. "A new understanding of urbanization is
needed that explicitly theorizes the evolving, mutually recursive relations between agglomeration processes
and their operational landscapes." (Brenner, 2013.7), the change of approach seeks to emphasize the
importance of interaction between the traditionally known as urban and territorial larger scales. "Never before

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have regional approaches been more important in urban research, and urban emphases more influential in
regional development theory and planning" (Soja 2015)
The common core of these approaches may be in urban political ecology - UPE - (Blaikie, Brookfield 1987),
which helped to rethink the city as a metabolic process product of socionatural transformation (Angelo,
Wachsmuth 2013) also allowed to place the Lefebvre thought in a theoretical framework and break the
dichotomy between what is and what is not city, and thus explore the development as a global process.
(Angelo, Wachsmuth 2013)
Part of the metabolism imply the management of resources. Population growth, mushrooming of settlements
and consumption of resources to undertake productive activities generate a messy urban fabric, food
insecurity and shortages of coverage, quantity and quality of basic services.
Information based on the analysis of the interaction of urban mesh and distribution mesh has found in
Bogota (De Meulder et al. 2015), Lima, Delhi (Criqui 2015), Nakuru (De Meulder et. Al. 2005) case studies
that can cast important clues at the relationship between these elements, for example, basic services could be
useful for physical planning and better governance of informal settlements. (Criqui 2015)
electricity

crop fills (food supply)

water

!!

[fig.2] Supply grids. Does really exist a compact city? Source: elaborated by the author, from: city council of Cuenca,
Phone Water and Sewer Company and National System of Information of Ecuador. http://sni.gob.ec/coberturas.

16.9 %

14.07%

21.11%

4.12%

8.62 %

7%

[fig.3] Roads percentage. Top. Urban forms of the official city. Bottom. Urban forms of the study cases. Source:
elaborated by the author, from: Citycouncil of Cuenca

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In this way, is born URVA_MEDD group acronym for Urban Resilience Versatile Architecture,
Metabolism and Enhanced Distributive Design as a research project, sponsored by the Catholic University
of Cuenca and the Prometheus Program SENESCYT of Ecuador, it aim to understand the ratio of
distribution networks and urban morphology. We ask what would happen if the resources consumed are
distributed in a decentralized way, What if we make our own food, how this situation would be reflected in
the territory?
Thus, the project began in July 2015, it aims to analyse the cities of Cuenca, Quito and Guayaquil. To do this,
[fig.1] shows what has been done in each city, it has identified three quadrants of 2 kilometres and within
them it has demarcated four quadrants of 400 meters for more detailed information.
It seeks to demonstrate that: management and decentralized production and local distribution of resources
creates a different urban morphology of the city centre - periphery. For this, it was considered appropriate to
reveal the interaction between resources - soil, water, energy - and the urban morphology - plot, urbanization,
and construction - through processing of georeferenced information. Geodata comes from public enterprises
ETAPA, EERCS, SENAGUA, Municipality, and fieldwork.

[fig.1] Ubication. Case study quadrants of 2 km and little quadrants of 400 m. with plot data. Source: elaborated by the
author, from: Citycouncil of Cuenca.

Soil. County
The soil is the support of most human activities, it is a shared resource by people around the world with
different needs and interests, each country or region has created legal instruments to prioritize and regulate
their consumption.
In Ecuador there are different laws Constitucin de la Repblica del Ecuador; Cdigo Orgnico de Organizacin
Territorial, Autonoma y Descentralizacin; Cdigo Orgnico de Planificacin y Finanzas Pblicas; Proyecto de Ley Orgnica
de Ordenamiento Territorial, Uso y Gestin del Suelo and management tools Plan Nacional del Buen Vivir 2013 2017 that intend to use this resource efficient and sustainable strategic way. Ecuadorian legal framework
proposes to avoid the privatization of natural resources and public spaces, also establishes strategies to
achieve the goal of food sovereignty based on family farming, decentralized agricultural production and
marketing, reducing the ecological footprint generated for transportation of goods and services, strengthening
communities and prevent the formation of smallholding and land degradation. However, it seems that is
intended to contain urban growth through laws that promote rural agriculture but discourage building in these
same areas while failing to consider the alternative of urban agriculture, it would seem that the role of the city
is only consumer of natural resources.
These laws are the result of previous analysis using statistical information has been generated indicators that
reveal the national situation, however, indicators, diagnostics and laws are based on a binary logic that makes
a distinction between the countryside and the city. For example, according to CEPAL 80.9% of the
population of Latin America is urban and is expected to be 85.4% by 2050, however, it stressed that the
definition of the urban term corresponds to that used in each country, so the question is actually What is
urban? What is rural? Are there limits actually define what is camp and what is city? Or it is an abstraction of
the phenomenon that seeks to circumscribe the territory to facilitate or simplify analysis. Neil Brenner and
Christian Schmid question the dichotomy between urban and rural and analysis of the concentration of the

130

population in an arbitrarily defined territory (Brenner, Schmid 2013). Furthermore they consider appropriate
the generation of a new approach and new tools to analyse the processes of urbanization, considering the
object of study as a single territory with different intensities.

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The urbanization process shown in [fig.4] area that has been used since 1991 to the present, the official
boundary of the city - seen in the above image corresponding to 2000 that remains in effect disappears for
the years 2010 and 2015. Urbanization process moves forward at a greater speed spatial planning. As a result,
the area of forests, moors and pastures has decreased crop coverage also presents a significant detriment. The
anthropic processes deployed on the territory question the city as delimited entity, and demonstrates the need
to understand the process of urbanization on a global scale that relates to natural resources.

1991

2000

2010

[fig.4] Top. Urbanization process in white between forest, crop, moorland, grass and water. Bottom. Crop coverage in
green.

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Quadrant of 2 kilometres
The quadrants of study are outside the official city limits. In several research, the peripheral areas of municipal
boundary have been referred to as peri-urban (Wehrhahn 2000) (Mougeot 2006) (Simon 2013) (Connor,
Simon 2013) (IDB 2014), however the ordinance regulating the use and occupation of the ground in the
Cuenca County recognizes the urban and rural land, there is no law relating to peri-urban areas. This is a
problem, as the term is simply a technicalpolitical convention that is legally undetermined. It causes
confusion when defining what kind of taxes should be raised furthermore building projects that are
performed in the city must, according to law, provide with a percentage of 10% - 20% of land to construct
works of public interest, such as parks, plazas, walkways or other equipment (COOTAD 2010), in the rural
area this law is not compulsory and the absence of the peri-urban term in the ordinance allows that areas near
the edge of the city neither are required, ie, the surrounding areas that will surely be considered as a city by the
new management plan starts with serious troubles of organization and a deficit of public areas due to the
dichotomy centre - periphery country - city. The soil cover in these quadrants generally corresponds to the
natural and agricultural areas with less agglomeration of buildings, it has the characteristics of soils that are
between 2500 and 2700 meters. Most are crops, pastures, forests, scattered urbanization process and the road
that connects them.
These territories far from being seen as a problem should be considered as the ideal place for rethinking
urbanism and the indicators currently used to determine if a place is or not urban . The current vegetative
cover of these sites has the potential to generate territories with food sovereignty, where it is produced and
consumed, but it is likely that these quadrants with 2000 hectares adjacent to the city, be part of the new
official limit of Cuenca with the density, occupation and uses which are considered urban, pushing thus
further food supplies and nature. It would seem appropriate to question whether is convenient to put an
imaginary barrier every 20, or 30 years or if is the time to see all the territory and its sources of supply.

eroded lands

133

crops & grass crop & forest water forest population

crops & grass

water

crop & forest

Y crops & grass crop & forest water crops & grass

crop & forest

[fig.5] Left. Quadrant of 2 kilometres. Right, Top and Bottom. Section x, Section y. Different type of land. The height
values were distorted about 1.5 times. Source: elaborated by the author, from: City council of Cuenca.

Quadrant of 400 meters

The quadrants of 400 meters have more detailed information, the approach relies on three elements which
function as a common fund to grasp better the analysed resources, in eleven case studies is present interaction
between soil, roads and houses, that is, the relationship between fragmentation, urbanization and construction
(Sola Morales 1997).
It is analysed [fig.6] three quadrants by a graphic matrix in which the direct relationship between number of
buildings and land cover is evident, the inverse relationship between number of buildings and free space is
observed. those quadrants with more avenues have the highest number of properties, also in those quadrants
with fewer roads are the biggest plots, that is, where is located an agglomeration of houses, there is a greater
number of routes and less amount of free area in each plot, and in contrast to a lesser agglomeration of
houses, there are fewer roads and biggest plots have more open area.
This and other information that is generated with the advancement of research serve to explore the topic of
agroecology, permaculture, urban agriculture, community gardens, as alternatives to alleviate poverty, fight
climate change, reduce food supplies footprint and achieve food sovereignty. (Mollison and Holmgren 1978)
(Holmgren 2004) (Ghose, Pettygrove 2014) (Simon, Connors 2015). It is about recognizing the territory and
its urbanization as a global entity, where relationship urban - natural is not a dichotomy but nuanced and
complementary realities of the same territory. For as added (Peiser, 1989) dispersed urban development in the
edge is a temporary phenomenon and eventually the cities will be completed, as more and more vacant floor
is built.(Angel, 2008)
About this relationship between city and nature exists different practical and theoretical approaches (Loeckx,
De Meulder, Essho 2004) in their research in an African city - Nakuru - address the problem under the
approach to structure the urban nature and recognize the importance of promoting green urban fabric that is
dedicated to agriculture, command and control intensity growth and intensity, as well as research on
appropriate standards of subdivision and construction to ensure the sustainability of urban agriculture and
gardening.

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For the Andean region - where it belongs Cuenca - there is a strong spiritual philosophical component that
governs all actions of the indigenous people - which is the population along with other sits in these areas contemplate the love and respect of the land and water, grateful for being the elements that give life, provide
shelter and food. Indigenous practices regard a community land use based on support among all members to
get collective needs. Food sovereignty is based on the complementarity of crops in different ecological floors
that are exchanged between communities. (Rhoades 2006) there is also the garden as an element of support
for each family group, there is a variety of crops and medicinal plants in an area ranging from 20m - 300 m,
interesting is the fact that research suggests that the smaller is the garden has more variety. (Rhoades 2006).
roads + construction + plots

Chilcapamba

San Jos

San Antonio

135

ratio of constructed surface and plot

land without construction

plots + population

Chilcapamba

San Jos

San Antonio
[fig.6] Graphic Matrix. Columns show morphology, occupation, open space percentage and population. Source:
elaborated by the author, from: City council of Cuenca.

Water. County
Water is essential for the development of any form of life, it is expected that by 2030, the world will face a
global deficit of 40% (2030 WRG 2009). Ecuador has a water availability of 20,700 m / person / year
through two drainage areas: Pacific and Amazon, however, 88% of the total population of the country is
supplied from the Pacific coast and 12% of the Amazon. (SENAGUA 2012).
In addition it is recorded that the Andean region of the country has a high dependence on ecosystem moor
for water supply, so it is worrying that in the period 1990-2008 are extinguished 70,000 hectares of this
ecosystem (MAE 2012). The national government acknowledges the lack of an updated water inventory that
allows to know the actual flow of the sources, therefore, it is difficult to determine the minimum ecological
flow required and know if concessions are depleting the resource in shortest time. Every action in the nature
have their cost and there is no free circulation of waste. (Georgescu 1971)
In the County Cuenca 1265 concessions for water are recorded since 1973, these are awarded by the National
Secretariat for Water - SENAGUA- which by law prioritizes water use for human consumption, then
irrigation water to ensure sovereignty food, later to maintain the ecological flow of water sources and finally
to productive activities. The [fig.7] shows that historically the largest number of concessions have been for
residential. And also it evidenced that agricultural use has been declining, it clearly samples that Cuenca does
not end at the city limits, but is a dynamic entity that occupies and is related the whole territory.

136

1988 2001

17

2002 - 2015

Agrarian uses 1973 - 1987

41

Industrial uses 1973 - 1987

21

54

54

Residential uses 1973 - 1987

274

384

414

[fig.7] Water grants. Grants for water management for agrarian, industrial or residential uses from 1973 to 2015. Source:
elaborated by URVA_MEDD, from: Water National Secretary.

Quadrant of 2 kilometres
Within the study quadrant of 2 kilometres, the [fig.8] shows the mapping of the territory, two systems are
explicated, the first natural origin and the second - sewer and water - anthropogenic origin also the figure
visualizes relationship of these with the road. Also, physical characteristics such as transverse length of the
elements and the diameter of the pipes that serve the area is determined.
Urbanization process - building roads, parcels, construction of dwellers, canals, potable water and sewerage alter the natural flows of water and this phenomenon has an important impact on the hydrological and
ecosystem functions, resulting in pollution and It affects the ecological flow and groundwater. (Jankowfsky
2013)
These indicators and others that evolve with research seek to understand the relationship of the water cycle in
areas with urbanization process, to further inquiry the field of mitigation strategies, being these crucial issues
for hydrologists, planners and managers of systems water. (Braud, Fletcher, Andrieu 2013) to move towards
new decentralized approaches to water management, understanding the hydrological behaviour and their
relationship with humans.

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natural system + roads

sewer grid + roads

drinkable water grid + roads

[fig.8] Water sewer and roads in 2 Km. quadrant. Source: elaborated by the author, from: City council of Cuenca, Phone
Sewer and Water Company.

Quadrant of 400 meters

The display of 400 meters water sources are analysed, the potable water and sewerage, with the plots,
buildings and road, the approach tries to grasp distribution grids of basic services in the territory and
comparing with the meshes generated by urbanization process, also relations between service coverage and
number of dwellings are investigated; land use; amount of track and space.
In the [fig.9] natural and man-made grid interact with lots, roads and housing, is distinguished as in some
cases this grids do not match, thus some networks of water distribution and sewage pass through of the plots,
perhaps it is caused by land fragmentation and heritage, the new owners needed that their properties had the
services. However is reinforced the idea that basic services are developers and catalysts of the urban fabric
(Marvin, Guy 1997), similar phenomena - albeit older and more explicit - evidenced in other cities like Lima
and Delhi, the road network of the pueblos jovenes or illegal settlements are not consistent with the distribution
of basic services. (Criqui 2015)
In the case of Cuenca, it is likely that the first homes have been built around an ancient road axis, and that
after a period of consolidation where this first buildings were equipped with drinking water, a new process
urbanization begin, starting again with the construction of buildings, the installation of basic services and the
subsequent legalization of land that defines the limits of the properties.
They can give clues to the veracity of this statement that the companies Phone, Water Supply and Sewerage
ETAPA - Electric Company and Southern Regional Centre -EECRS- have better - although still incomplete geographic information that the municipality of Cuenca, they have recording areas that are not considered
urban by the Municipality, this fact stands out because now - in August 2015 - this institution municipality is completing the elaboration of the Land Use Plan of the city.

138

natural system

Sewer grid

Chilcapamba

San Jose

San Antonio
drinkable grid

grid + plots + dwelling

Chilcapamba

San Jose

San Antonio
[fig.9] Graphic Matrix. Columns show water sewer and the interplay between grids plots and dwellings. Source: elaborated
by the author, from: citycouncil of Cuenca, Phone Sewer and Water Company.

139

Electricity. County
The electrification system of Ecuador is in a crucial moment, because it is committed to changing the
productive matrix, for it, in an effort to achieve energy sovereignty, avoid excessive consumption of fossil
fuels, promote the use of renewable energy and satisfy energy demand is expected to require new and
diversified industrial sector, it is considered strategic to invest in the quality and capacity of the country's
electricity system in three stages: production, transmission, distribution or marketing. (MEER 2012)
The diagnosis of the country on the issue of electricity states that one of the problems of the current network
is the transmission loss at the national level has reached 16%, and the companies that supply the coastal
region Guayaquil, Manab, El Oro Esmeraldas have the highest percentage recorded losses. (MEER 2012)
and the company that supplies Cuenca - EECRS is one that loses less energy - 7% In the [fig.10] is observed the degree of urbanization of the surrounding territory to the official city. It is
compared the distribution network of electric service to the forecast area of the Urban Plan of Cuenca based
on population growth expected to 2050, which is almost twice the current population (IDB 2014). Besides a
quadrant of Ejido - consolidated part of the official city - it has been likened to a study Quadrant of 2
kilometres. This time the items collated are measurement points of the electrical service. It is sampled that in
an area of 400 Ha. the difference between urban and suburban officially is about a little over 1000 measure
points - 3487 Ejido in contrast 2459 Miraflores

Case
2459

study

quadrant

Official city quadrant 3489

[fig.10] Electricity supply in 2 kilometres-quadrant. Source: elaborated by the author, from: City council of Cuenca.
Electric
Company of Cuenca.

Quadrant of 2 kilometres
In quadrant 2 kilometres. It has made the analysis of supply structures and their interaction with the
morphology of roads and buildings. It is noted in [fig.11] that there are networks that are not aligned to the
tracks, crossing fields and buildings in a disorderly manner.
This situation is common to the vast majority of unplanned settlements, whether in Buenos Aires, Lima,
Delhi, Bogota, Guayaquil, however, it would not be far treat this settlements as a defect, here is a potential of
the territory, this logic fabric construction urban, that recent research has called infrastructure urbanism is a
way to urbanize through the appropriation of space by installing basic services. (Criqui 2015) and also it could
be a key to rethink urban planning in informal settlements and obtaining an important tool for the
management and governance of these places.

140

high voltage

low voltage

Measure points

[fig.11] Electricity supply in 2 kilometres-quadrant. Source: elaborated by the author, from: City council of Cuenca.
Electric Company of Cuenca.

Quadrant of 400 meters

In the 400 meter quadrant [fig.12] extends the analysis, besides identifying the mismatch mesh, problems that
might be generalizable are highlighted, for example, the high-voltage grid should have by law a respect zone
states - 15 m section in the case of Cuenca - yet there are buildings within the protected area, this fact can be
extrapolated to other restrictions as geological faults, landslides, floods, topography or other constraint that is
well detailed in the ordinances of the county. However, buildings are being built and companies continuing
granting basic services in these areas that should not be urbanized.
Another aspect to consider is the susceptibility of both the structure and the operation of the distribution
system due to the installation of other basic services. The sequence of events in the process of urbanization in
these territories describes a logic that begins with the construction of the building, continuing with the
installation of energy services, then, to a lesser extent with water and sewer service occasionally - according to
INEC figures which indicate the percentage of rural coverage in Ecuador - then what happens when the
service of power and water exists, but the sewer must be installed, or when you think widen or pave a road.
(Criqui 2015)

141

electric grid

grid + plots + dwellings

Chilcapamba

San Jose

San Antonio
Measure points + dwellings

Chilcapamba

San Jose

San Antonio

142

Measure points + plots + dwellings

[fig.12] Graphic Matrix. The figure shows the relation between electricity supply and 400 meters quadrant-morphology.
Source: elaborated by the author, from: Electric Company of Cuenca

Conclusions

The approach of the article shows us a reality that goes beyond the official limits of a city, evidenced that
imagination of compactness exists only if we are determined to ignore the relationships, flows and
interdependence with other parts of the country although physically even if they places are not closely. If we
broaden the vision we can interpret soil metabolism and understand that urbanization process include the
operation of a number of territories often distant but socially and ecologically interconnected. (Ibaez,
Katsikis 2014). This leads us to question the current urban thinking and the tools used, the binary logic of
rural / urban, urban / peri-urban, centre / periphery. Because is just a matter of time that the intensities of
use change and areas change of condition too.
It has been observed as centralized distribution is a problem, the hierarchical structure used to supply
resources to the people has physical, functional and administrative difficulties oversubscribed services
challenges the ability of the supplier companies. Since some parts of the world as Bogota (De Meulder 2015),
Lima, Delhi (Criqui 2015) Sub-Saharan Africa (Azoumah et. Al. 2010) proposes rethink centralized
distribution and try to generate more related to the local area alternatives.
In the same vein, it is recognized in these areas a great potential to think a different way of supply, it goes
beyond fulfilling the mission of supplying to a population, is that basic services play a key role in spatial
planning, contemplating the idea of consuming resources that are largely self-managed and produced in their
own territory, could be the start of a more just and efficient society.
The sprawl of these settlements is really great potential, so it is necessary to continue researching the available
free area, its characteristics and the feasibility of introducing a culture of consumption, food sovereignty and
the generation of productive public space, then, this issue is also a contradiction with the traditional city,
much of the scientific discourse overestimates the high density and buildable as main characteristics of an
efficient city that consumes its resources properly, however, if instead of thinking about plots and buildings,
we thought self-sufficient production units, it is likely that the argument so appreciated of high density, is at
least slightly challenged.
density + grid

Chilcapamba

San Jose

San Antonio
143

Roads + plots

Plot without construction

Plot + use of land

[fig.13] Different features for each quadrant, free plots and use of land for construction. Source: elaborated by the author,
from: City council of Cuenca.

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145

Limits, between product and project of the territory

Guillaume Vanneste

UCLouvain (universit catholique de Louvain) Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urbanism - LOCI
Christian Gilot (UCL) and Paola Vigan (EPFL)
Expected thesis defence: 2020
guillaume.vanneste@uclouvain.be
Limits are shaping our territories and are defining our culture of space. In a context where the human being has almost
artificialized its entire territory, there is no more relevance in seeking to distinguish urban from natural. However, the
question of limits between elements of territory summarizes the relationships and forces between the actors who inhabit
this territory and its ecology. Indeed, cities see globally a reduction in open spaces and reflect on the management of this
space as a resource. The interface between lands materials is a challenge of increasing importance and for which it is
already important to consider its ability to be transformed. We will seek to describe the form of limits in their physical
reality, as product, and in their conceptual and transdisciplinary uses, as a project, under the assumption that
understanding the concept can improve and transform the tools attached to it in the practice of urbanism. In
contemporary territories, limits are places of potentialities.

Product, project and form

Andr Corboz (2001) speaks of the territory as a product, a project and a form 1. This territory is built by the
relations between the actors, in a broad meaning (any entity that can produce an action), and the ecology, in a
first meaning (the relations of individuals to their environments) in which they coexist. They produce and
design the marks that are shaping the land, those multiples traces that constantly rewrite it as a palimpsest.
Through those marks, the territory shows the social and spatial relationships that are being organized on its
ground and inside its soil. This text is the introduction and the structure plan to a doctoral research started
part time for a year, which will investigate the concept of limit in urbanism.
Territories are made of limits. Physical realities, edges, plots, fences, thresholds, recognizable or invisible
features; the limits as 'products' are the place of relations, of confrontations and of contrasts between
materials of the territory. But the human being travels and lives on earth inside a specific area, in a place,
inside a there, in tension with an elsewhere. The Man, by various means, manipulates, creates, installs,
transforms the limits like as many 'projects' which organize its relations with its own. The designing, the
planning of territories proceeds today by the delimitation of spaces and the setting of their relations.
Therefore, the topic of limits is constantly swinging between a situation rooted in the physical and material
reality of the territories and a highly conceptual and projectual concept. This is what makes its ambiguity and
its richness.
In this sense, the limit can be represented as an object, discrete, a place which can be read not only as a result
but as an element, an artefact, which can take different forms or configurations and can support a collective
sense. Indeed, 'the territory is the subject of a construction' says Andr Corboz: a formal construction whose
limits are shaping the territory. When a human settles on a land, he takes possession of it and starts to draw,
to plant or to build its edges. He appropriates the land, he makes it his property as Romulus traces the pomerio,
the furrow of the future city of Rome. The land is appropriate socially by its physical limits and its
representations.
The figure of the fragment
The construction of the contemporary city is characterized by the heterogeneity of its constitutive materials
and paradoxically by an impoverishment of the relationships of those materials among themselves,
particularly through public space but also regarding the shape of the territory (Marot, 1995). The diffuse city,
among others, is a city that has seen increase in the variety of urban materials, reinforcing the figure of the
fragment, often in an individualistic, capitalist or private logic. The growth of these 'pieces of cities' has been
made with little or no regard to issues of public spaces and relations to the context. The private plot is then a
1
But it is not enough to state, as it is shown by the enumeration of these operations, that the territory is the result of a set of more or
less coordinated processes. It cannot be simply broken down into a certain number of dynamic phenomena of a geoclimatic type. As
soon as a group of people occupy it (either in a light manner by gathering, or heavily, by extraction mining), they establish a kind of
developmental or planning relation with it , and the reciprocal effect of this coexistence can be observed. In other words, the land
becomes the object of construction. It is a type of artifact. From then on, it becomes a 'product' as well. [...]
If the territorial entity is to be perceived as such, it is necessary that the properties assigned to it be admitted by those
concerned. The dynamism of the phenomena of formation and production is continued in the idea of a continuous perfecting of the
results until everything is combined: more efficient grasp of what is possible, more judicious distribution of goods and services, more
adequate management, innovation in institutions. Consequently the land is a 'project'. This necessity for a collective relation to be
experienced between a topographic surface and a population established in its folds permits drawing the conclusion that there is no land
without imagining a land. A land can be expressed in statistical terms (expanse, altitude, average temperature, gross production, etc.), but
it cannot be reduced to the quantitative. As a project, the territory is semanticized. It can be parsed. It bears a name. Projections of all
kinds are attached to it, transforming it into a subject. [...] These various translations of a land into figures refer to an undeniable reality:
the land has a a form. Better still, it is a form(Corboz, 2001, p.213)

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place centered on the self-interest of its owner or on the function it hosts, indifferent to its surroundings and
its context: house, shopping center, gated communities, industrial park, campus. However, the fragmentation
of contemporary space generates a specific urban structure presenting rich or unusual situations and which
brought to the fore concepts and tools depending on the question of limits in different disciplines, namely
the spatial ones, such as porosity, network, isotropy, ecotone or gradient.
Anthropocene or a hybrid status
The context of the contemporary city is new. It comes on the heels of industrial and modern city and occurs
through mechanisms and speeds which we barely start to know. The tendency to agree on a new paradigm,
the one of the Anthropocene as environmental and social conditions for humans, invalidates the relation city
countryside inherited from the classical and modern city and tends to reconsider the tools and design
methods, as pointed out, for instance, by the theme of the last Biennale Rotterdam, 'Urban by Nature'.
Nature, among other human artifact no longer claims to have a pristine character. The urban fact, now global,
is a new environment, a second nature, a frame for the development and the relationship between humans
(Gugger and Macaes e Costa, 2015). In this hybrid condition, the issue of limits doesnt necessarily arise
anymore as an antagonism but mainly as a relationship between elements. The renewed interest in the
metabolism as a metaphor of the city also allows to question the notion of limit in a new way. In a postdiffused city, almost entirely artificialized and which assumes its dispersed form, the concern of the open
spaces quality in the contemporary city and ecology no longer resides in the city countryside confrontation
but in the mutual vicinity of territorys materials and in their collective readability through the imaginary
developed in the territory2 (Corboz, 1999).
Today, edge and limit issues are more than ever up to date. Indeed, cities see globally a reduction in open
spaces and reflect on the management of this resource. The interface between lands materials is a challenge
of increasing importance and for which it is already important to consider its ability to be transformed.
In a 'post-diffuse city' territory, almost entirely anthropogenic and which assumes a dispersed form, the
relation built-unbuilt stemming from antagonism between city and country welcomes the challenges which
will ensure the quality and the shared meaning of our collective living spaces inside the project of the
contemporary city and of the contemporary ecology.
Through the lens
By looking territories through the lens of the concept of limit, our attention is more directed towards the
relations of the things to one another than towards the things themselves. The precise description of these
relationships will help us on the one hand to understand what constitutes the land in its ordinary parts, in its
banality in a general meaning and to understand the disciplinary contributions, conflicts and enrichment,
conveyed, built or argued through the concept of limit, on the other hand. The limit serves as a decoder of
the territory.
Reading the limits
To try to understand them, we first have to agree on the limits we are talking about, try to inventory them,
describe them, in some ways, to do their geography. A first attempt is made to group items that share similar
limits or which have the same properties. Their forms, their dimensions, their characteristics, their nature,
their geometry or their value: a mapping exercise will test the following hypotheses.
A first set of limits is the edges of the elements of the territory, the physical limits, materialized and visible,
heterogeneous elements distinguishable at 'small scale' that come into contact: the edge of a forest, the
closure of a field, the facade of a house or building, the back of a parking lot or a highway ramp. If elements
and agents can be identified in the city and territory, their limits would be the place of their relationships.
What are these materials and how do they coexist? In their combination, what role is given to their interface?
We could question the physical construction of these limits, their size and shape as well as for instance certain
criteria for definitions of continuous areas of habitat (Van Hecke 2009, Grosjean 2010). The history of urban
planning has dedicated a large range of analyzes and readings of urban morphologies, where the focus is put
on compositions of these elements together. The works of Rossi, Maffei and Caniggia or Panerai tell us
2
The goals and means of this use of the land suppose in turn coherence and continuity in the social group which decides and executes
the exploitation selected. For the protion of the earth's surface which can be called land is generally the object of a relation of
appropriation which is not solely physical in nature, but which involves a variety of mythological or political intentions as well. The
circumstance, which forbids the definition of a land by a single ciretrion (e.g. Geographic, that of the famous natural boundaries or
ethnic, in terms of the resident or even the majority or simply the dominant population), indicates that the motion is not objective.
Such a declaration would in no way signify that the concept was arbitrary, but only that it involves a considerable number of factors
whose importance varies from case to case and which have generally been combined, and even consecrated, by history. This necessity for
a collective relation to be experienced between a topographic surface and a population established in its folds permits drawing the
conclusion that there is no land without imagining a land. A land can be expressed in statistical terms (expanse, altitude, average
temperature, gross production, etc.), but it cannot be reduced to the quantitative. As a project, the territory is semanticized. It can be
parsed. It bears a name. Projections of all kinds are attached to it, transforming it into a subject (Corboz, 2001,pp.214-215)

147

about these assemblies.

Administrative boundaries are defined ensembles within which certain rules of relationships apply. They are
under the management of a certain authority. We could say that these limits are operative. They include tools
which are allowing operations, or which are causing an action on the land. Most plans and planning
regulations are of this nature, they seek to organize the layout of the space through operating rules that affect
an area contained within a limit. We find an embedded structure from small scale to large scale, the skills of
one prevalent to one another in case of contradiction: national, regional, provincial, municipal, statistic
sectors. Here, we should nevertheless distinguish the operative plan from the vision or the scheme. The vision
shows a project, the plan makes it valid.
Natural or ecological limits usually have dimensions that go beyond the visual perception of humans.
Watershed, ecological continuity, geological continuity unfold on scales of hundreds or even thousands of
kilometers. These large natural entities are rather governed by figures of continuity regarding their size. The
dichotomy between these dimensions and the operating tools makes these ensembles difficult to assimilate
into the territories management processes.
Limits, beyond their undeniably physical and material nature, also have an imaginary field. Our practices in
spaces are set by limits and everyone's experience confronts us with different, invisible, spaces and cities. The
notions of proximity, comfort or security in public spaces may be strongly linked to it. Walking is a medium
that allows their understanding or their experimentation in situ. On a daily basis, walking defines a living area,
a space more or less local, non-visible, in which one lives. We would refer here to the experiences of the
situationists, the psycho-geography, the stalker or more recently the practice of parkour as a series of
attempts to experiment or describe relations between elements of the territory through movement.
In time, the limits are both persistent or inertial and fragile or poorly formed. Some mechanisms are at work
which manipulate them, erase them, transform them. The agricultural land consolidation is one of the
transformation forces acting on agrarian plots and it participate to the erasing of certain limits (Marot, 1995).
The merging of administrative units also leads to reshaping and disappearance of certain limits. Limits
temporality shows their transformable feature. Some disciplines are committed to design those
transformations.
Disciplines
The concept of limit3 is intrinsic to the disciplines of architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture, urban
planning, geography and any spatial discipline. The disciplines in charge of space, which we will call spatial
disciplines, do adopt different postures facing the limits definition in their methods and concepts. An
elementarist approach to these new territories is frequent (Vigan 1999) and seeks to manipulate elements
that are usually defined by their circumscription, by their edges, by their eschata (Thom 1999) in their relations
among themselves and with the whole. The different territorys elements are discretized and individuated and
then can be recognized and classified by family of similar objects. The history of the city explains us devices,
tools and construction elements of our society spaces which are proceeding from the notion of limit 4. The
modern city and urbanism bequeathed us a legacy still based on a country town antagonism applying figures
on a background. This western legacy can be found now at the base of most practices such as land use,
planning regulations or zoning5.
Intellectual nomadism
Therefore it is sought to travel and to move from one discipline to another to establish a transdisciplinarian
knowledge (or interdisciplinarian). We could then possibly make parallels with intellectual nomadism (White
1987). The concept of limit is conceptualized and represented differently depending on the subject area, the
place and the time, in summary, on the conditions that have seen this concept being developed. The history
of a concept does not always follow a path leading it to be more refined and to achieve a certain level of
abstraction; rather it consists in defining its different fields of validity, in the rules of uses which follow each
other, according to the multiple theoretical climates where its development was conducted and concluded
3
Limit. [...] Fully-geographical objects, limits present various contents and styles. This opens a wide range of realities that are the
manifestation and the instrument of the interface. Besides the topological metrics (the sudden discontinuity of the boundary and the
border), other situations (thresholds, borders, gradients) are highlighting continuities and insensible changes. ( Levy and Lussault, 2003,
p.617)
4
Spatial separation. [...] The separation is one of the dominant devices of contemporary spatial organization, whose importance may
be surprising, as it appears at first counter-intuitive. Indeed, it contradicts the dominant model of globalized and unbundled urban, which
promotes the idea of a smooth space, uninterrupted, offering the free circulation of goods, flows, and above all individuals. Or an
observation, even a quick one, of the spatial forms of the World shows the multiplication of barriers, boundaries, walls, sas, which are
building up de facto, unlike the above model, a fragmented space, marked by the inflation of limits and a (very powerful) imaginary of
separation as the principle of globalization, which works it, in tension with mobility. ( Levy and Lussault, 2003, p.911)
5
Functional and social separation has become a true standard. The legitimation of this spatial deployment mode does appear with the
birth of the industrial city of scientific urbanism, which theorizes the zoning gradually from the late nineteenth century. Conceptions of
the modern movement in architecture are partly based on this under the species of the four universal functions promoted by the Athens
Charter and the recommendation to separate and specialize the related spaces.. (Levy and Lussault, 2003, p.911)

148

(Secchi, 2006, p.118). To better rethink the use of limits as a concept in urbanism, we will try to understand
the conditions of development of this concept in other disciplines.
Tracing the history of the making of the city teaches us about the tools of limitation6 which are today still
remaining the basis for the spatial definition of private property. Establishing cadaster allows these properties
and these land lots to be organized and managed. Gromatic, the art of survey, is responsible for measuring
the land. These limits, often firstly agrarian (we think in particular to the bocage mainly in France and the
descriptions of Paul Vidal de la Blache), were easily readable in rural landscapes. Rurality has seen the
landscape shaped by peasants. The scale of the involved changes was tangible. The result of the relations
between people and their environment could still be clearly readable. Today however, these territories are no
longer only rural and are engaged in territorial dynamics that increase the levels of complexity and
interactions.
Geography at all time has sought to accurately describe the characteristics of the territory. The contemporary
developments in photogrammetry, in aerial photography or geomatics, are rapidly changing the way of
perceiving the Earth and of treating a large amount of data. Cartography, because it works on the
representation of the earth, teach us how boundaries between places, geological layers, countries are
transposed into communicable drawings promoting the city to a scientific object7 status (Chapel, 2010).
In the artistic field, land art uses the territory and the landscape as raw materials of work. As such, it uses
tools similar to the one of urbanism but in an artistic and critical purpose. The works of Robert Smithson,
Richard Long and Hamish Fulton question our experience of landscape and its limits through very large
artworks in situ, walking diary, documented promenades or through revelation of a hybrid or peripheral
situation. Here, it directly manipulates the traces of the territory, its matter.
The mathematical field is also an important contributor to models and concepts on the limits. The study of
fractals does not seem relevant to us for this essay, on the contrary of topology which deals with spatial
distortions by continuous transformations. Ren Thom, in his text Aristotle the topologist (1999, p.39),
studies the properties that can be assigned to any place, and defines the question of its edges, the question
of the extremities.
Agronomy (more specifically agroforestry) and ecology have given to the concept of limit a declension
strongly transposed into urbanism in the past 50 years with the concept of the edge: the french lisire or
ecotone. The lisire is an ecological transition area between two ecosystems, often richer than the systems
themselves.
Urbanism
This short parallel reading of the limits concept, its theoretical construction and its use in the non-exhaustive
list of mentioned fields here above lead us below to a better understanding and criticism of the same concept
in urbanism.
Through management strategies based on functional separation, modernism has implemented a zone-based
urbanism stating specific function at specific places. By placing these figures clearly identifiable on an
undefined background, at the back, a tabula rasa, modernism has prepared the foundation of a heavy legacy.
Post modernism by its critical reconsideration of modernist discourses will tend to the emergence of new
school of thought which will gradually recast the relationship between artificial spaces and natural areas.
A reading of the natural and human systems as interdependent rather than opposed began to emerge in
urbanism field in the early 1960s when the environmental movement began to exert a growing influence on
public opinion in North America. Ian MacHarg (1969), in its iconic book, Design with Nature, defined the
concept of physiographic determinism. Influenced by the work of Patrick Geddes and Lewis Mumford, he
proposed a new way to look at the interactions between human settlements and natural processes. His
approach, though criticized as too deterministic, will generate huge reactions and consequences in
professional and academic circles of the time and an understanding of the ecological and urban challenges,
advocating a development non-exclusively based on human needs. This will influence the landscape ecology
and in particular the american planning that will identify the urban region or urban areas as the measurable
and observable entities to work with in an integrated perspective of urban and ecological phenomena.
Later, the anthology, The Landscape Urbanism Reader, edited by Charles Waldheim (1997), brings together
different reading of several contributors about the emergence of a movement, the landscape urbanism, which
build his approach around landscape as the project's main medium and which find some of its roots in
postmodernism. Claiming from the writings of Patrick Geddes, Lewis Mumford, Ian MacHarg or from the
competition of the Parc de la Villette in Paris as an iconic and manifesto project, it expresses a conceptual
Limitation [...] allows us to designate all forms of regular division of a territory with parallel straight lines, which the Romans called
Rigores at the very moment of the survey, and limites, plural of limes, therefore the name of limitatio, "limitation". We see it as a generic
term that can encompass in a convenient way various forms of division of the land mentioned by the Roman gromatic sources
(centuriatio, scamnatio, strigatio) and agrarian forms of division practiced by Greek cities (division in klroi). (Chouquer et al., n.d.)
7
Our hope is to prove that the statistical map is involved in efforts to promote the city to the status of scientific object in a field, the
urban planning, which often prevailed artistic approaches and intuitive approaches, as well as short-term views. . (Chapel, 2010, p.13)
6

149

shift in design tools from built architectural elements toward open landscaped elements. The landscape has
become the place, the locus of the discussion. Furthermore, still in The Landscape Urbanism Reader,
James Corner criticizes the overly rigid categorization of disciplines and advocates a more open exchange
between the underlying disciplines of the two terms landscape and urbanism. The landscape urbanism
therefore seeks to rethink the conceptual boundaries between landscape and urbanism.
Today in Europe, design strategies are directly using the limit in metropolitan emblematic projects. In a
context of increasing urban population, these strategies seek to question the limits of the metropolis. Various
conceptual notions are then proposed to set up an inhabited edge: the buffer, the foreshore, the antiparc by
Studio Secchi Vigan, the thick edge by Desvignes, the limit as concept, the Orion and Orismos8 by Reichen
(Vanbutsele and Declve, 2015). These projects are intrinsically the critics of an operating mode still base on
functional zoning for which they seek conceptual alternatives.
A geography of the diffuse city
The incorporation within itself of this urban nature previously discussed makes the diffuse city particular
regarding limits concern, in the way that the diffusion "abolishes the boundaries between town and country"
(Novarina, 2003). In doing so, it leverages the relationships between elements of the territory and multiplies
their linear contact making relevant their studies seen in this perspective.
European Territories of dispersion began with the creation of dwellings, of production areas and their
communication networks, most often in the fertile lower plains. In Belgium yet during the Middle Ages then
during the industrial period dispersion occurs with the development of railways and tramways infrastructures
and of some policies on commuting displacement in social laws which have been sustaining the building up
of a dispersed territory by individual housing (Seebohm Rowntree, 1910). Afterward, during the postwar
period, supported by a law encouraging access to property, an arcadian image of individual housing was
forged in the collective imaginary : each family aspired to build its own detached house on its property, in a
welfare state context described in the text la banlieue radieuse (Smets, 1986).
In Patching up the Belgian landscape, Bruno Demeulder (1999) speaks of Belgium as [...] a land of
laissez-faire, where the cacophonic juxtaposition of designs delivers surprise after surprise, where an intense
poetry lurks side by side with a nauseating banality behind the common place of everyday habitation. The
term juxtaposition refers here to the setting of project side by side, unconnected to each other. Indeed, lands
privatization and the strong tendency to wanting to be owner, is building a disparate landscape, based on
suburban villas or fermettes. In Urbanization Without Urbanism, Bndicte Grosjean (2010) describes the
fine process of construction of the diffusion based among other on transportation networks and on worker
or cheap-housing estate in so-called rural areas. In Brussels 2040, a prospective study on the future of the
Brussels metropolis published in 2012, the linear of contact is developed by Studio as a measuring index, in
linear meter, of the contact between built and open areas per inhabitant (Studio Secchi Vigan, 2012). The
value of this index is then compared to the one of other metropolis showing its special feature through the
relation of this metropolis with its open space. Brusselian would actually be more in contact with the open
space that Parisian. In addition, the mismatch between the physical limits and administrative boundaries in
Brussels makes its case paradigmatic. The landscape ecology which underlies the territories oversteps
managements tools and policy of the capital region (Roland, 2013). Notably in Belgium, in Flanders, building
plots are saturated and new conditions of dwelling are being defined in order to preserve open space. In
Wallonia, space is still a resource but management could be enhanced. Current urban mechanisms are
supporting a way of conceiving limits which share responsibility in the constitution of a low quality interface
between different allocation areas. These specific findings are making clear the need to reconsider some of
the tools of urbanism more widely and to question the limits on this specific territory.
Conclusions
It was shown that the limits are both a representation and a physical phenomenon. They are the tangible
testimony of operations, relations and constructions of the past, both natural and artificial. They govern the
relationship between the elements and the inhabitants of an ecology. As representation and transdisciplinary
or projectual tools, they are levers of the territorys changes and designs. We have seen how the concept of
limitation is implicit in many tools, methods and cultural devices that form together the conceptual basis for
western planning and urbanism. Finally, the detailed description of the limits forms is a prerequisite for the
understanding and the acquisition of a proper knowledge on a specific study area.
The transdisciplinarian approach also allows us to combine the perspectives and theoretical contexts that have
built the concept of limit polysemantically to then turn to its use in the urban field, in planning and especially
8
The limit as a project. In the Greek language two words are defining the limit. Orion, the line that delineate and Orismos meaning
definition, because one can delineate only what one can name. Urban planning has become accustomed to borders, to limits designed as
prohibitions between areas of competence, functional area, the development and sanctuarisation, etc. Now it is the limit as a concept
which need to be developed even more when the question is to mend relations between city and nature. A process seen as a plausible
alternative to the proliferating sprawl. (Masboungi, 2005)

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in design.
Understanding this paradigm of the limit within the spatial disciplines can lead to two divergent reactions:
continue to work with them or seek to dissolve them9. One can think the concept of limit in the organization
of our society spaces as coercive and seek to eliminate or erase these limits. Diversity and metabolism are
witnesses of this trend. In this tendency, we no longer seek to identify the shape or to produce it but we seek
to define the processes at work in the fabrication of the city. Relationships between built and unbuilt is then
related to design challenges and their comprehension tends towards the development of a living together
that meets the urban and ecological challenges.
A contrario, spatial limits and social injustices bound to these are increasing in our contemporary societies.
Some limitations seem more solid than ever or even strengthened, building a city cleaved between poor
people and people with high income and strong purchasing power, not without the urban planner to have a
responsibility in it10 (Secchi, 2013). These trends are drawing very marked limits seeking to give a clear shape
to the intervention whatsoever.
We believe that among the specificities of the contemporary city, the place of the limits is a space of
potentialities, especially in the post-diffused city territories, territories which assume their diffuse condition,
no longer seeking to 'solve' a 'city nature' relation but aware of their hybrid and rich condition. A space of
meaning thanks to the complexity which it conveys. Its dual feature, both representative and substantial,
allows new projects to be thought or designed for a refound collectivity in the horizontal metropolis.
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10
I argue here a slightly different hypothesis, namely that the planning has strong and specific responsibilities in the worsening
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Territory: a Common Home. Inventing a common ground

Nuno Travasso
CEAU-FAUP Centre for Studies on Architecture and Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture, University of Porto
lvaro Domingues
Expected thesis defence: March, 2017
ntravasso@arq.up.pt
Territory: a Common Home is the title of an exhibition recently opened to the public. The exhibition seeks to trigger
awareness and discussion on the territory of the Ave Valley (northwest of Portugal) and to stimulate the collective
invention of a new imagery on this region.
The Ave Valley region is covered by an extensive diffuse settlement, presenting a complex urban structure of difficult
reading, many times pointed out as chaotic and unintelligible. Here, spatial planning practices and urban design
interventions seem to fail repeatedly. It is argued that such failure is not mainly due to the characteristics of the urban
structure itself, nor is it justified by the lack of technical quality of involved actors. It derives essentially from the absence
of a shared image of that territory; a conception of place common to all the actors that could guide and coordinate their
actions. And, if we want this imagery of the territory to be widely shared and, in this way, actively shape urban space, then
it must arise from a broad, open and continuous debate involving all citizens.
The exhibition presented in this paper aims to participate and stimulate such collective process.
Cette ncessit d'un rapport collectif vcu entre une surface topographique et la population tablie dans ses plis permet de conclure qu'il n'y a
pas de territoire sans imaginaire du territoire. Le territoire peut s'exprimer en termes statistiques [...], mais il ne saurait se rduire au
quantitatif. tant un projet, le territoire est smantis. Il est discourable. Il porte un nom. (Corboz, 1983)

Introduction
The diffuse extensive settlement of the Ave Valley region, in the northwest of Portugal, presents complex
urban structures of difficult reading, and where planning practices and urban design interventions seem to fail
repeatedly.
The PhD research to which this paper is related, takes this area as a case-study (namely the municipality of
Famalico) to study how ordinary urbanisation processes shape this territory. The aim is to seek more
adequate practices for both public administration, responsible for spatial planning and management, and
designers, responsible for urban interventions design. The research is pointing towards two hypotheses. First,
difficulties and incoherences result less from the lack of technical quality of the involved actors and more
from the procedures themselves planning system, regulations, relation between actors, etc. Second, the
inadequacy of both those procedures and the design or planning proposals derive, to a great extent, from the
absence of a shared view of what that territory is and what such actors want it to be, able to give coherence to
their actions. Hence, the need to develop a shared view of the Ave Valley territory a common ground that
can only be constructed by the citizens themselves.
This paper takes from this last hypothesis. In a first part, it presents the theoretical argument that supports
the belief that a broad process of collective construction of a shared territorial representation is necessary as a
basis for more adequate spatial planning practices involving multiple actors. In the second part, it presents
and describes a recent exhibition design project developed as a part and as a stimulus to such collective
construction process.
The need for the collective construct of a common home
The diffuse pattern of the Ave Valley region
The Ave Valley region is covered by a continuous, extensive and diffuse urban settlement where different
building types, different times and different functions (housing, industry, commerce and small services,
agriculture) are mixed, defying any canonical urban model or traditional dichotomy city/countryside;
urban/rural.
This diffuse urban pattern finds its roots in ancient times. In 1762, the region was already described as a
continuous city (Castro, 1762, I, 48), and it has been progressively intensified ever since by the continued
colonisation of its dense path network. Such growth was mainly steamed by its industrialization that began in
the 19th century (cf. Alves 2002) and, more recently, by a broad infrastructure (roads, energy, water supply,
sewage, IT) and public facilities programme enabled by EU funding (cf. Domingues 2006; Mateus 2013), as
well as by profound changes in the national economic and financial system, and its relation to real estate
business (Travasso 2015; Santos, Teles, Serra 2014).
The result appears as a complex urban structure one struggles to read and understand, and where
architectonic and urban design interventions, as well as planning strategies, seem to have limited success. To a
great extent, this happens because the models and tools in which architects and planners base their analysis
and interventions are inadequate to this context.

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Urban models
According to Ungers, a model is something who poses as a prototype representing an ideal form (1982,
11). It meets a double function. On the one hand, it is an apparatus for reading reality, providing it meaning
by the way it gives an order and place to each one of its components, inserting it into a coherent and logic
system. On the other hand, ideal models guide our actions, setting targets for our creative activities, and
acting as a structure, a pattern, along the line of which things are shaped (idem, ibid.).
As Franois Choay (1980) explains, models are at the basis of urban theory discourse. Despite its apparent
scientific language, the texts that have shaped urban theory and practice base their propositions on utopian
models1, which are presented as axiomatic truths. Their argument pits two opposed city images: one negative,
critically analysing the existing reality; other positive, describing a non-existent ideal model. However, the
critique of the existing city does not follow any systematic analysis of its characteristics, or any will to
understand their own logics. On the contrary, it is essentially done by comparing reality with the ideal model,
measuring the distances between the two images2. The prescribed therapy3 which correct administration
should be able to cure all the problems of urban space and, with it, the illnesses of the society itself is the
one that seeks to bring reality closer to the utopian model, from which all principles, procedures, rules and
examples are drawn. This medicinal power of the model turns the intervention principles derived from it into
undisputable technical rules, dissolving the political aspect of the decisions related to urban design and spatial
planning.
The diffuse urban pattern of the Ave Valley is far from the models established by the canonical texts of urban
theory. Hence, the analysis of this territory, based on such models, often results in harsh critiques, pointing it
as fragmented, chaotic, illegible, predatory, anti-social or unsustainable. Similarly, interventions, regulations
and planning practices, derived from those same models, fail repeatedly in their aim to transform this reality,
increasing its incoherence. It is then possible to argue that the source of such problems may not be in the
concrete urban space itself, but in the disciplinary apparatus through which it is observed. In the words of
Nuno Portas, facing the evident mismatch, it was needed to put aside the idea typical of planning
technicians that the world is wrong when compared to abstract models which are right; instead of thinking
that the problem may be that our theoretical and technical tools are not adapted to reality. (1986, 8)
Note on the Portuguese research on diffuse urbanisation
The need was, then, for an attentive analysis of the Ave Valley territory in order to understand it and extract
from its own logics new ways of reading and intervening. Such a research has been conducted since 1982
resulting in several contributes from different disciplines, both in the theoretical field (Magalhes 1984;
Marques 1985; Portas 1986; Domingues 1986; S 1986; S, Babo 1986; Oliveira 1986; Domingues, Marques
1987; Ferreira 1988) and in the practice domain, with several municipal and inter-municipal plans being
developed for this region, namely by the teams coordinated by Nuno Portas and Manuel Fernandes de S.
This research accompanied the international debate on the diffuse urbanisation namely the one surrounding
the case of Third Italy (Bagnasco 1977) and offered an extensive description of this territorys urban
pattern, explaining its physical, social and economic structure, its functioning logics, its history and growth,
mainly based on a multidisciplinary systemic approach. More recently, this research has shift towards a closer
and more detailed look, mainly in the field of urban morphology, analysing urbanisation processes, and
proposing new ways of reading urban space (Portas, Domingues, 1996; Portas, Domingues, Cabral 2003; idem
2011; Domingues 2009; idem 2012; Sucena 2010; Calix 2013; Labastida 2013; Oliveira 2015).
The need for a shared image of the territory
Despite the fundamental contribute of such research, the problem remains, as it is not only an academic or
disciplinary one. The territory is a product resulting from the actions of multiple actors. For their actions to
have a coherent outcome they must be grounded on a shared view of what that territory is and of what it
should be.
In the Ave Valley region, this view seems to be absent, or at least based on negative identities of what this
territory is not (Domingues 2008) there is no clear political identity of the region as a whole; there is no
coincidence between the readings different actors make of the territory in which they live and operate; there
are no shared goals or a shared vision for its future.
This absence becomes clear on the daily procedures of the urbanisation process. An on-going systematic
analysis of licensing processes of private urban developments in the municipality of Famalico (Ave Valley
Choay (1980) compares these characteristics of urban theory texts with the utopian discourse initiated by Thomas Moore.
As De Rossi puts it: The work of interpretation aimed at the construction of the problems is increasingly infrequent. On the contrary,
it is the pre-established images and rhetorics that define the problems. (2009, 20)
3 As Choay (1980) underlines, the analogy between medicine and urbanism is common in many urban theory texts, namely in Cerd and
Le Corbusier.
1
2

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region), complemented with interviews to some of the main stakeholders involved, is revealing precisely that4.
The negotiation between different actors namely between public administration and developers or
landowners becomes extremely difficult, as there is no common ground, no minimum agreement, on which
a discussion can be based. As a consequence, the only relation between the different actions is the one
provided by an extensive and contradictory list of generic national regulations, and by abstract quantitative
municipal masterplans with limited relation to local contexts, both derived to a great extent from urban
models opposed to the Ave Valleys diffuse urbanisation. The result is the proliferation of incoherences and
disfunctionalities.
Such conclusions confirm the need to develop a new planning and territory culture (Ferro 2011) able to
support planning practices more adapted to the local contexts and capable of involving and coordinating
multiple actors. And these require the creation of shared images or ideas of the territory conceptions of
space in the definition of Patsy Healey (2002).
These images outline a territorial entity and provide it a recognizable identity to which people can relate and
identify with. In the same move, they define a political body, and the social collective associated with it
(Thierstein, Frster 2008). They also offer a way to see and understand the territory, revealing its logics and
giving meaning to the way its components relate to each other, creating, to certain extent, a new model which
is not foreign to this territory but, instead, derives from it. In this manner, such images give meaning to the
territory and frame a project (Corboz 1983) able to guide future actions. As Healey (2002) explains,
conceptions of space are, then, able to mobilize, involve and coordinate multiple actors participating in the
production of the territory, as well as fostering a shared culture of intervention.
Understanding perception: the double nature of space production
Reality is what our imagination perceives it to be (Ungers, 1982, 10). Space is a subjective mental construct
resulting from the interpretation of the perceived physical domain that provides it a meaning to which the
subject can relate. This interpretation of reality derives from daily spatial practices and is shaped not only by
the concrete physical characteristics of space, but also by the relation the subject establishes with it through
use, routine, feeling of belonging, social interactions, memories, etc. It is equally determined by the subjects
cultural background, beliefs and prejudices mainly derived from the social structure of which he is part of
as well as visual, social and symbolic representations of such space, to which he has been exposed5.
Nowadays, this reading of space is becoming increasingly complex moreover when referring to extensive
urban phenomena, where the regional scale, the lack of identifiable borders, the discontinuity and
heterogeneity of physical structures, the absence of a clear political identity or even a name, largely elude the
possibility of a perception of this territory as a whole or the emergence of single images able to symbolize it.
Present social structures, increasingly based on the individual its personal projects, its social mobility, its
ability to belong to multiple social groups (cf. Rmy, Voy 1992; Ascher 1995) as well as the continuous
and profound transformations on the modes of transport and communication of the last century, have
definitely dissolved the idea of a stable and confined social and physical unity as the one described by Augs
anthropological place (1992). Today, the urban experience is, to a great extent, based on different separate
urban entities connected by the subject himself through his daily practices and movements. Also, the
proliferation of apparatus that mediate our reading of reality television, car, GPS, smartphone, Internet, etc.
as well as the abundance of new sources and types of information, generate much more layered, complex
and unstable representations of space.
Accordingly, several authors have compared the urban phenomena with hypertextual structures (Corboz
2000; Kolb 2008; Domingues) opposing, in this way, to the traditional analogy between urban space and text
(Lynch 1960; Certeau 1980). Along the same line, Gausa (2010) sees the contemporary subject, in the way he
perceives space, as an active explorer, contrasting with the modern flneur and with the classic observer.
It is, then, possible to understand space as a construct based on two poles: the concrete physical object, and
an immaterial space corresponding to the mental image or synthesized spatial model created by the subject
(Petrin 2008). In this sense, to act upon space in order to make it more intelligible (Sieverts 1997) implies not
only intervening directly on the physical reality, but also working on the observer. It is about elaborating
pertinent and precise descriptions of the territory (Secchi 1992) through maps, images, narratives able to
influence the way it is represented, perceived and appropriated6. These are not quantitative analysis. They are
Conducted as part of the PhD research.
About the mechanisms of perception of space and meaning production, cf. Bollnow 1963; Lynch 1960; idem 1981; Lefebvre 1974;
Certeau 1980; among others.
6 Dematteis shows, in an eloquent way, the potential of narratives in the shaping of space: Paris, London, Florence, San Remo, etc.
would surely be different without Zola, Dickens, Pratolini, Calvino, etc. To this symbolic construction we must add the contribution of a
few geographical and literary texts that do not limit themselves to reproducing reality; they prefer to interpret it, unveiling its unlimited
generative possibilities and hidden potentialities. It would be nonetheless misleading to consider literary texts as only operating on a
symbolic level, and works of architecture as only affecting material reality. On the one hand we must keep in mind that symbolic
representations are potentially performative, which means they can act upon the material form of places. On the other hand everyone
4
5

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products of imagination, they choose and select what to show, they offer an interpretation, an imagery
which is never neutral and, in the same move, they also guide future material action that will be developed
according to such view. As Sol-Morales puts it, the search is for a territory which, more than literal, is
literary (1979, 32).
A collective construct
If we want this imagery of the territory to be widely shared by its inhabitants, and in this way actively shape
urban space, then it cannot be either the result of a technical decision nor imposed by political power.
Modern planning tradition, based on the principles of predictability and common good, has shown to be
incapable of adapting to the uncertainty that determines urbanisation processes and to the multiplicity and
complexity of legit needs, visions and objectives that characterize contemporary society. This leads to a
profound change on public administrations role: it loses both the ability and the authority to decide and
design by itself how future urban space should be. At the same time, due to the continuous narrowing of the
welfare state, it also loses the means to directly transform physical space at a broad scale.
Today, the daily shaping of the territory, as well as the decision-making process related to its evolution, is
increasingly seen as a collective action, involving multiple actors: public administration, planners, architects,
developers, inhabitants, etc. In this sense, new representations of the territory will necessarily be a collective
construct, arising from a broad, open and continuous debate involving all citizens.
This does not mean that place conceptions resulting from such processes should be unitary, expressing a
single identity. Different actors will have different readings of the same territory, and different opinions on its
future, according to their own personal backgrounds, interests and institutional filiations. More than imposing
a single view, these images and narratives should become instruments for mediation and argumentative
reasoning among different actors (Healey 2002; Antonelli et al. 2009): they make conflicts visible by
associating them to concrete spaces and images; they frame and expose different positions; they set a
common language that enables the debate.
The collective construction of territorial representations is the construction of the territory itself as a political
entity and as a common domain. It is also the construction of the social collective formed by those who
inhabit that same space, and find in the image of their territory an arena for negotiating their identity,
interests, goals and representation. The collective imagining of a territory is the invention of a common
home.
Territory: a Common Home an exhibition
Recently we have been given the opportunity to engage in the process of collective invention of a territory.
Following the on-going PhD research, the Municipality of Famalico has commissioned the group Territory
Dynamics and Morphologies of the Center for Studies in Architecture and Urbanism of the University of
Porto the design of an exhibition destined to a broad public. The project was coordinated by lvaro
Domingues and Nuno Travasso.
The exhibition is named Territory: Common Home. Common in the double meaning of the word:
common as a shared and collectively constructed and appropriated domain; common as ordinary, because
here the most banal spaces are exhibited and analysed, opposing the idea that only exceptional landscapes
deserve such attention, which eludes any possibility of the development of positive identities based on
everyday normal urban spaces.
Along the lines of the previously presented argument, the exhibition aims to offer tools for reading the Ave
Valley territory, by presenting narratives and images exploring some of its structural logics, as well as
exposing the complexity of its urbanisation processes. Also, it seeks to stimulate the civic awareness of a
shared identity and sense of belonging, and the recognition of what is common in that space. Territory, then,
as a political entity, understood as an apparatus for negotiation, framing of matters and conflicts, outlining of
rules, and creation of common goals.
The exhibition is divided in three sections. The first is an introductory one, where the main principles and
aims of the exhibition are presented. The second section is an analytical one. More than a comprehensive
description of the territory, it offers tools for future readings of the morphological aspects of the Ave Valley
landscape and the complex processes of its daily production. The third section creates the space and
opportunity for a collective construction of an imagery of this territory, which is, in fact, the main goal of the
exhibition project.

knows that architectural forms provide the places with strong symbolic charge; thus it is a manifestation of a geo-poetic. (Dematteis,
2009, 305)

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[fig.1] Exhibition general view. Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

Section 1 presenting the territory as a Common Home

In the first room, a text presenting the main ideas and goals underlying the exhibition and a diagram of its
structure are presented. Next to them, a cloud of photos, words and links creates an assembled landscape of
Famalico, highlighting the fragmented and hypertextual nature of the perception of this territory. It becomes
clear, from the beginning, that no single, unitary or neutral image is possible.

[fig.2] Exhibition introductory section. Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

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Section 2 describing the Continuous City

The second section starts by describing the extensive diffuse urban pattern of the north of Portugal, and by
identifying Famalico as part of it. Exiting the introductory section, the path towards the main exhibition hall
follows a 13m ramp, along which a single black and white map representing all the buildings footprints of a
77km strip, at the scale 1:6000, is displayed. Here, the location of the exhibition is pinpointed, and an area
afterwards used as a case study is outlined. This image so distant from the more usual maps made of circles
representing cities renders evident the continuity of the building pattern, as well as its densification in the
central area of the Ave Valley, revealing what seems to be a continuous city.
Continuous City following the already mentioned text of 1762 by Joo Baptista Castro is the metaphor
used to help us read this urban context. Under this title, the big map is complemented by a text describing
this urban pattern: its origins and evolution, its differences from the more conventional urban models, and
thence the need to recognize and analyse it. This first part is completed by a population map showing the Ave
Valley region as part of a broader extensive metapolitan (Ascher 1995) system, and by a landscape photo
offering a concrete image of this continuously diffused settlement.

[fig.3] Exhibition map along the ramp (seen from the introductory section). Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

Following, a morphological analysis is presented as a way to decode the apparent complexity of this
landscape. A segment of the valley of the River Pele (tributary of the River Ave) was chosen as a case-study
as it gathers some of the main characteristics of this territory valley structure, main road, diffuse settlement,
mixed uses and typologies, the importance of the factories and because, in this fragment, such features
become clearer the main road is a straight line, the river and the hill foot appear as two lines almost parallel
to the road.
In this Anatomy of the Pele Valley, the analysis is made through a dissection process: starting from the
ortophotomap, only some elements are selected and cut, corresponding to specific themes able to reveal
some of the main logics underlying this landscape. Six maps are displayed: Basis reveals the orographic and
hydrographical structures in which the settlement is grounded; Agricultural Mosaic shows the pattern
created by all the growing plots, from the smallest garden to the bigger maize and vineyard fields; Filigree
presents the delicate structures resulting from a slow sedimentation process (path network, single houses, plot
division); Dissonances show bigger and more recent elements designed by autonomous logics (factories,
commerce buildings, real estate developments); Time reveals the evolution of the settlement since 1958 until
the present, through a slide show; Structures present the main structuring elements of this area the hill
covered in forest, the road, the river and the agriculture fields that surround it. All maps have a reading key
and a small text supporting its interpretation. On top of each map, three photos of the represented area, and
related to each thematic layer, enable the visitant to make a more clear connection between the representation
of the map and the way in which those same features appear to him in everyday life.

158

[fig.4] Agricultural Mosaic. One of the maps of Anatomy of the Pele Valley. Source: MDT-CEAU-FAUP.

159

[fig.5] Exhibition The Anatomy of the Pele Valley. Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

As a complement to the morphological analysis, four boxes tell four stories aiming to illustrate the
multiplicity and complexity of procedures, regulations, actors and conflicts that produce this territory on a
daily basis. The Factory of Landscape looks at the fundamental role of factories for the Ave Valley since the
19th century, and explains how the recent changes in the modes of production, transport and communication
are profoundly changing the way factories relate with the territory. A Territory of Homeowners describes
the complex mechanisms of the real estate market and its evolution until the recent crash, showing how it has
determined this territory production. In The Landscape of the Cow the description of the milks production
chain drives the analysis of the way agriculture has changed during time, and how it has shaped this
landscape. The last story takes a highly complex and intensively industrialised area in the south of the
municipality as a case-study, in order to study the conflicts arising from intensity and overlapping uses and
logics, and how are they challenging spatial planning practices.

[fig.6] Exhibition - The Factory of the Landscape. Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

160

Completing the room, a final 6x2m map seeks a synthesis of those two readings of the territory through
morphology and through dynamics.
The map presents an orthophoto of the same area of the thematic maps, at the same scale, with the same
alignment and the same height. However, it is much wider, covering a region of more than 13km, enabling us
to see the previously analysed Pele Valley as part of a broader readable structure: if the first maps presented a
clear valley, here one can see three parallel valleys. In this way, the valley appears as a primary building block,
offering a readable logic to this territory. This does not mean that the whole Ave Valley region is ordered by
parallel valleys even if it is partially so. It means that it is possible to find, in this apparently chaotic
landscape, simple structures able to explain and relate several complex and multi-scale facts terrain form,
use of water, agriculture systems, roads network, location of factories and facilities, housing proliferation.
The map design aims to highlight such structure: the area selection and the way it is rotated, the slightly
darkened forest areas that underline the division between the valleys, the rivers designed in black and the
main roads in white, all seeks to render that structure easily readable. On top of the map, a section of that
same area makes the sequence of valleys even more evident.
However, perception changes as the observer moves through the room, as if he was zooming in and out in
Googlemaps. The scale of the map 1:2000, approximately enables the same image to represent both a
territorial structure and the detailed urban space. Closer to the map, the big structure disappears, and one can
observe the complex space which results from the different logics previously analysed separately, in the six
thematic layers. On this image, several data related to the four told stories are mapped: number of employees
and annual turnover of each company, number of households in each real estate development, number of
cows in each dairy farm, burned area in forest fires in the last 15 years, light and heavy traffic in the main
roads. In this way, by overlaying those two types of information aereal photo and quantitative data the
map seeks a descriptive synthesis between form and processes both essential in the production of the
territory.

[fig.7] Fragment of the synthesis map.The Factory of the Landscape. Source: MDT-CEAU-FAUP.

161

[fig.8] Exhibition the synthesis map.The Factory of the Landscape. Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

Fifty postcards the visitors are invited to take home complete this descriptive section. The postcards present
pairs of photograph and short text, offering multiple fragmentary narratives that further complement the
already presented analysis and open new viewpoints. Also, the postcards relate to a certain affective mode, to
the idea of sending a postcard of a desirable landscape to someone with whom one would like to share that
same view. Here, these desirable images one would love to share are the ones of an ordinary landscape: a
common territory.

[fig.7] Exhibition the synthesis map.The Factory of the Landscape. Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

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Section 3 constructing the Common Home

The third section creates a space destined for the collective construction of a shared imagery of the territory.
It is a production area: a space for conferences, discussions, workshops, or simply for the visitors to sit,
discuss, and write or draw their contributes for this collective project. The set is made of a number of chairs
and worktables enabling different layouts and by twelve panels, which are free to receive the
contributions that will be progressively added to the exhibition during the eight months it will be open to the
public.
Through the exhibition texts and space, through the local media, and through direct contact with schools and
other entities, people are being challenged to put a group together and reclaim their wright to actively
participate in this collective construction. The space is open to all who want to offer their own view of this
territory.
A number of initiatives seek to further stimulate this process. Once a month, the cycle Walks and Talks
offers a thematic guided tour through the municipality, followed by a debate with local stakeholders on that
same subject; and in February a one-day conference will be held.
In the end of the exhibition, the material displayed in the twelve panels will be the real exhibition, as they
correspond to the collective construction process which is the final aim of this project. Obviously, these
results cannot be taken as a conclusion of the collective invention of a space conception that is here argued to
be necessary. As mentioned, that must be a slow and continuous process involving all willing citizens. It can,
however, be seen as a part of that process, which will always be made of partial and fragmentary initiatives,
and as a stimulus to its future continuity. In the context of the exhibition, it is certainly a symbol of the
needed collective construction of a common home.

[fig.7] Constructing the vommon home. Workshop by a group of architects and planners from the Municipality planning
office. Photo: Alexandre Delmar.

Final note: on research

This paper argues that a collective construction of a space conception is necessary as a basis for more
adequate spatial production actions involving multiple actors; moreover in contexts of diffuse urbanisation,
where positive territorial representations, able to support and give coherence to planning practices and urban
design interventions, seem to be absent. Following, it presents and describes an exhibition design project
which aim is to join and stimulate such construction process.
Further conclusions may only be taken after the end of the exhibition, when it will be possible to analyse how
will it be received by local citizens, and what kind of discussions and production will it induce. However, this
exhibition raises two topics related to research practices deserving discussion.
First, in the context of this PhD research, this exhibition is an experiment. It is a test to the presented
hypothesis. Instead of analysing only passed or already on-going experiences, the research actively acts on its
object. The pertinence of such action may be questioned, as it may also be questioned the relevance of the
results of an experiment with such limited scale and short duration, as well as the ability to draw impartial
conclusions from it.

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A second topic concerns the role of the Academy in relation to society. Underlying this exhibition project
there is the will and the established practice of this research group to develop its work in direct
partnership with local stakeholders mainly local public administration and to try to directly apply its
knowledge to common planning practices, or simply to share it with non-specialist audiences. This position is
difficult to frame in the present scientific institutional and funding structures. However, we think it is part of
our responsibility towards the society we are part of.
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Urbanisation and the Provincial Projects of Electrification in Belgium

Dieter Bruggeman

Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Ghent University

supervisor: prof. Michiel Dehaene
expected thesis defence: April 2017
dieter.bruggeman@ugent.be
In this paper the emergence through history of the Belgian nebular city is researched from a perspective of urbanisation,
which is understood as the organisation of the (nation-states) territory in order to accommodate a wide range of
processes such as those of industrialisation or of control. As such urbanisation is essential in reproducing the conditions
in which the nation-state is able to function. The policies developed to support the electrification of three Belgian
provinces will be analysed as an example of the organisation of collective consumption. Although Castells framed this as
the urban question, this case study shows that the challenges it poses are not only dealt with in the city, but at the same
time as well in villages in the countryside, where it produced specific dynamics of development. This brings sharply into
view the ambiguity of the Belgian policy of dispersion, which, despite its anti-urban motivations, seems in time to
produce urban structures of accumulation.

electrifying the nebular city

In this study we trace the process of electrification of the Belgian nebular city (De Meulder et al., 1999, De
Meulder and Dehaene, 2002, Ryckewaert, 2002, Grosjean, 2010) as a way to shed light on the process of
urbanisation, problematizing the territorial basis of its associated question of collective consumption. The
process of electrification from the onset takes place in the city and the countryside alike, but it cannot be seen
as a main driver of development. Rather, it marks the various ways in which urban questions that emerge
from the process of urbanisation are socialised and accommodated, producing both renewed investment in
some of the sites that used to be known as cities as well as distributed logics of urbanisation in what used to
be known as countryside. This simultaneously produced what the Belgian sociologist Jean Remy (1992) has
termed la ville et le rural urbanis(e). The Belgian urbanism is seen as the result of various process of de- and reterritorialisation processes that in time relate differently to each other (see also: Dehaene, 2013, 2015,
Uyttenhove et al., 2015, Secchi and Vigan, 2009). These processes do not necessarily arise out of spatial
motives, but rather reflect the new and rescaled territorial purview of state, city, village or hamlet, within a
renewed political-economic arrangement (Brenner, 2013, Brenner and Schmid, 2014, 2015). They are not
mutually exclusive and tend to influence each other; their concurrence opens up possible future pathways or,
inversely, closes them off.
When viewed from the side of the driving forces, such as the well documented development of transport
systems (De Block, 2011, Van Acker, 2014, Peleman, 2013), housing policies (Van Herck and Avermaete,
2006, De Caigny, 2010, Flor, 2010, De Vos, 2012) or economic policies (Ryckewaert, 2011) there may be
little reason to define these processes in terms of urbanisation. In particular, the processes taking place
outside the boundaries of the historical city, may at first be described as part of the industrialisation and
modernisation of the countryside rather than as its urbanisation per se. Over time, however, the anti-urban
distributive development policies started to produce its own breed of urban challenges, of urban questions in
the countryside.
There are a number of reasons that lead us to believe that the process of electrification might be an
interesting way to study the process of extended urbanisation in Belgium and trace the crafting of policies
that would secure its reproduction. First, the supply of electricity for public lighting, domestic use or the
industry is one of the oldest modern and industrial utility systems. This makes it possible to follow a singular
perspective of the service as an example of collective consumption throughout its history.
Second, the infrastructure needed for the distribution of electricity quickly took the form of a network.
Because of this topology, the required capacity to organise a collective service can be accumulated over a
larger area and no longer only by concentration in a single place, read the city. Certainly the rise of the ACgrids enlarged the operative area of the electrical networks. Furthermore, its infrastructure is relatively light
and inexpensive, in contrast to other examples of collective consumption such as roads, tap water networks
or sewage systems. This made the electrification of the countryside feasible in the first place.
Third, electricity rapidly became an indispensable instance of collective consumption essential in exporting
and distributing an urban lifestyle. The way in which its supply is territorialised heavily affects the economic
role of electricity as well as its cultural significance. This makes the territorialisation of this utility network a
matter of political contention (Kaika, 2005, Heynen et al., 2005).
Finally, many different actors can be found in the history of the electrification, due to this importance of
electricity. More so than in the case of other utility networks, we find in the Belgian context a mixture of
local, regional, national and international players; parties from the public and the private sector along with
social movements and individuals or small groups taking care for their own need for electricity.

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This last point makes possible a rich understanding of the electrification in terms of the urban question.
Following Castells (1972), this question is understood as the collective challenge imposed on society in light
of the reproductive crisis faced by society as the gap widens between the economic motivations that produce
development and the continued procurement of those circumstances and services necessary to maintain that
economic development. Castells introduces the notion of collective consumption to discuss the way in which
the public sector steps in in order to bridge this growing gap between use and exchange value. In his wake,
Saunders (1986) and Dunleavy (1980) also analyse this question of reproduction, but frame it more broadly,
as part of a triangular balance struck between the access to state service, the ability of people to pay for
market services and the remaining capacity of self-provision.
provincial adventures in the electrification in the interwar period
The operationalisation and commercialisation of electricity, is generally agreed to have started with the
manufacturing of the incandescent lamp, around the beginning of the 1880s. Also in Belgium, as one of the
leading industrial nations, early experiments with the supply of electricity were set up. Although these first
networks appeared at the end of the nineteenth century in the main cities such as Brussels, Liege and
Antwerp, also several smaller towns and villages set up an electricity distribution service. Two main logics
prevailed: either to organise the electricity as a public service of which all installations and infrastructure were
fully owned and managed by the municipality or to grant a concession to a private firm that operated the
service and netted almost all of the profits.
While in the cities the debate raged which one of the two was the better option, outside of the big cities a
hybrid arrangement took shape that probably could be described best as a form of self-provision on a
community basis. A factory, a cooperation or a local enthusiast would typically manage a small production
facility and a limited network with the aid of the municipality and some of its inhabitants. The success of this
formula depended on the ease with which different interests could be combined, something that was more
self-evident in the tight-knitted village communities than in the cities. This arrangement is a good example of
what generally motivated the national government in its spatial and economic policy of dispersion: costs were
taken over by small communities, without an actual negotiation between the private and public sides which
made that the urban question had not to be fully dealt with.
At the dawn of the First World War the electricity sector in Belgium thus consisted of some larger private
companies that serviced the more populous areas, some cities that organised the electricity supply as a public
service by and only for themselves and some local communities that could be seen as self-sufficient actors.
Municipalities that could not afford to invest in an electricity network, on the one hand, and a group of
private firms that felt constrained by the strict application of the concessionary system, on the other, tried to
put an end to this situation (De Jonge, 1985). Furthermore, the national government realised that within the
existing constellation not all areas would be provided with electricity in the near future. This would be a
major economical setback for these regions, all the worse since some of them had high ambitions and were
rapidly developing programmes of industrialisation. A lack of electricity would in these cases undoubtedly be
a failure of, and a threat to the nations politics of dispersion. These policies were aimed at a nationwide land
and labour market that safeguarded the political stability and the economic development of the nation state
(Seebohm Rowntree, 1910, De Meulder et al., 1999). To prevent the disruption of these politics, the
government issued a law on the distribution of electricity in 1925 and led to the active involvement of public
actors who did not only operate on the basis of community interests in the electricity sector and this also
outside of the cities.
One of the main actors that emerged once the hostilities of the First World War ceased, were the Belgian
provinces, all nine of which developed an explicit policy to encourage the electrification of their territory. The
provincial policies of which the key principles were worked out in the beginning of the 1920s would be
crucial in the establishment of the general availability of electricity in Belgium. In comparison with the other
public actors, the provinces had a distinct approach that was often very technical and practical, but at the
same time expressed a vision that exceeded the scope of a single project. Furthermore, they could address the
electricity supply on a regional scale, claiming a position in between that of the municipalities and the national
government, and, particularly important, closer to that of the private electricity companies that dominated the
market.
Interesting for our purposes is that, although the electricity supply in these provinces had been territorialised
differently, all provinces had to intervene in order to provide the more remote or economically less important
regions with electricity. Just as the spatio-historical context in which their electrification processes took place
differed, so did the policies they developed. However, all shared the willingness to take care of the residual
fraction, and push the dispersion of services to the point of full territorial inclusion. This raises the question
regarding the exact reason for these administrations to take up a role as protagonists in the dispersive policies.
In what follows, we try to build an understanding of the institutional mechanisms the provinces created in

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order to take up this intermediary role and whether, despite all the context-specific elements, some parallels
can be drawn between the different provincial programmes.
To answer these questions we will sketch the policies of three different provinces and their results. This
exploration will provide us with the necessary material to shed light on the motives and accompanying
strategies of the provinces. To document the policies several sources are used. A first group of sources is
literature on the technical history of electricity in the Belgian context which are able to provide a description
of the background in which the provinces operate can be found. Another source, are texts on the legal
framework surrounding the electricity sector, mainly work of Rudolf Maes (1967), who documented the
actions and legislative initiatives of the state concerning electricity supply until the 1960s. Through a third
cluster of sources we try to cover the specific territorial choices. We were able to find some primary sources
in the archives of municipalities, provinces and companies but also relied on grey literature that is produced
within the sphere of local history societies and on specific histories commemorating the activities of some of
the electricity producers and network providers.
We focus on three provinces in particular: Oost-Vlaanderen, or East Flanders, the province of Antwerp and
Limburg which form a continuous area in the north of Belgium. The provinces will be discussed
consecutively, following a similar structure. First, the geographical background and the development pattern
within the province are sketched out. Second, the state of electrification before the involvement of the
provinces is presented. Finally, the policy of the province is explained in relation to this situation. Table 1
summarizes the most basic features of each province within this structure and can serve as a starting point to
compare the different cases.
geographical context
prior situation of the
electrification
provincial strategy

East Flanders
Christallerlike network of small
towns
a loose patchwork formed by
the territories of different
private companies
filling up the holes in this
patchwork by making sectors of
several
municipalities
that
increased the efficiency for
private electrification ;
subsidies

Antwerp
a
metropolitan
structure
surrounding the capital ; a less
productive area in the east
an electrified area that followed
the radial logic of the
metropolitan structure
extending the radius of the
existing, electrified area by the
construction of provincial hightension lines

Limburg
dominated by an unproductive
and little inhabited region ;
coal mines (since 1901)
little private interest
the construction of a provincial
high-tension grid that had to
structure
the
further
electrification

table 1 - Overview of the main characteristics of the electrification of the three provinces discussed

the loose patchwork of East Flanders

East Flanders is the only province of the three that did not construct its own electricity infrastructure, but
managed to electrify its territory through private partners. A main factor in the history of its electricity
distribution is the influence of the dense network of medieval merchant towns. This dense network is present
throughout Belgium, but is most prominent in East Flanders. The provincial capital Ghent industrialised very
early and quickly grew to become one of Belgiums leading centres of production. Since the Middle Ages,
overland trading routes and waterways connected the city to an array of smaller towns, each located about 20
kilometres from each other. All of these towns were the centre of their own hinterland, functioning within a
Christaller-like pattern (Christaller, 1933). Rural villages could be found in between and along the trading
routes, that over time turned into national thoroughfares. The private electricity companies active in East
Flanders made advantageous use of the densities that were created along these major roads. Usually, they
tried to obtain a concession of one or more centres and enlarged their sphere of action by following these
main lines of communication [fig. 1].
Not all the cities were part of this dominant dynamic. The provincial capital Ghent had granted in 1904 a
concession to the German AEG. Five years later it would cancel this concession, founding a municipal
company to take care of its electricity supply. The private company interested in supplying electricity to the
wider area around Ghent could not include the delivery of electricity to the dense urban core of the
agglomeration in their business plans. To set up business the company would initially focus on the industrial
harbour and the crowded villages right outside the city. Furthermore, the company would incorporated some
already electrified, self-supporting villages located further away from its existing network. In this way, it was
able to build up the necessary critical mass for its activities.
Also some of the secondary towns were not in a position to be part of the dominant corridor-like mode of
electrification. Not because they chose for the system of the municipal company, but because they were tied
down by prior engagements. Such engagements could be large investments in a municipal gas company or a
concession with a gas company that in most cases included a monopoly on (public) lighting or on the
groundwork for all kinds of subterranean mains. This made that the hinterland was at times electrified earlier
than the towns themselves. When freed from these obligations the towns had no other choice then to
associate with the company that was already supplying electricity to these hinterlands.

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fig 1. the growth of the biggest electricity company in East Flanders, the Centrales Electriques des Flandres, by year. map
made by author, based on the archives of the CEF

Hence, East Flanders was one of the provinces in which the electrification had evolved the furthest when the
provincial administration started to be actively involved (Maes, 1967). Right after the war, it entrusted a
consulting firm with the task of developing a strategy to provide electricity to the villages that were still not
connected to the grid. A special committee was established to assure the execution of this scheme
(Commission pour lElectrification, 1922/3(?), 1924). As can be understood from the strategies of the private
companies, most of the non-electrified areas were places that fell between the mazes of the roads, were
sparsely populated and had only little industrial activity. The province did not choose to electrify those places
by itself, but tried to make these places more interesting for the private companies. It divided the nonelectrified areas in different zones [fig. 2] and convened the majors of each zone to a special meeting. At
these meetings the most evident company, in the eyes of the province, was asked to inform the municipalities
about the benefits and conditions of a connection to the grid (at times backed up by a provincial functionary).
The majors of each zone could then more or less simultaneously grant a concession to the electricity
company and this under similar conditions. Both the economies of scale of these package deals and the
uniformity of the concessions served the commercial interests of these companies, while the villages could
become electrified more easily. In addition, the province subsidized certain of these extensions and started
campaigns to homogenise the contractual arrangements in villages that had been electrified prior to the
provincial intervention (Centrales Electriques des Flandres, 1925). The strategy of the province of East
Flanders could be marked as a success. In 1930, every centre in its territory would at least be electrified
partially, making it the first of the Belgian provinces to bring electricity to all its municipalities (Maes, 1967).

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fig 2. the zones used by East Flanders in the electrification of the province. In some zones prior arrangements had been
made between the provincial administration and the private companies (hatched). map made by author, based on the
archives of the provincial committee for the electrification.

metropolitan Antwerp
The province of Antwerp was more affected by the metropolitan structure surrounding the city of Antwerp,
which is reflected in the organisation of its electricity distribution. The port of Antwerp flourished and was
one of the leading ports in the world, making the city the most important economic hub of Belgium. The
designation of Antwerp as the national reduit (the national safe haven in case of war) by the state, produced
major investment in two fortification belts that were connected by a network of roads, establishing a regional
network that would make the citys territorial impact be felt much farther then was the case with the earlier
mentioned merchant towns of East Flanders. In a sense, the city of Antwerp could be seen as a classic
metropolitan structure that had, with the help of the emerging nation state, been placed on top of the old
urban grid.
South of the city, several bustling and populous villages were located. Apart from an advantageous
environmental context, these communities not only profited from the vicinity of Antwerp, but were also well
positioned on the economical backbone of Belgium that connects Antwerp with Brussels and further south
with the industrially important coal basin around Charleroi. However, the small villages of the Campine
region, in the eastern part of the province, were by and large not part of this national dynamic. Due to the
sandy, unfertile soil of the Campine, these places had historically been less populated and were of marginal
significance to the Belgian economy.
Around the turn of the century, the remnants of older, largely unsuccessful, attempts to electrify the city had
been transformed into a proper functioning network that serviced the city centre and some of the
neighbouring municipalities. The demand for electricity quickly soared, also further afield, but the electricity

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company was unable to answer to all needs. A breakthrough to this situation was achieved when the tramway
companies of Antwerp united into a single enterprise agreed to lend its financial and technical support to a
project for the electrification of the city. With its help, a second electricity company was established that had
as its objective to electrify the citys hinterland (Terlinden and Zehnl, 2001).
This coalition between the tram companies, the urban and the regional electricity company made sense. Both
were soliciting the same group of investors, such as investment banks or industrialists, but there were also
technical and commercial advantages. The electrification of a station or of an entire tramway or vicinal
railroad route could for example be an occasion for the electricity companies to start negotiations with a
municipal administration. Moreover, the rapid expansion of the grid had boosted the consumption of
electricity which made that problems about its production emerged. To deal with the ever smaller backup in
production capacity, or to bridge the period to a new or improved production unit, the companies made a
deal of mutual assistance. Because of this agreement they could sustain the spectacular growth of the
network.
Electrification initially spread out radially from the city centre (Kerckhaert and De Vleeschauwer, 1993). As in
East Flanders, the main directions were indicated by population density and industrial activity. This explains
why the south of Antwerp, in the direction of Brussels, electrified first. In this lucrative area several electricity
companies were active, each occupying a well-defined area. Towards the east and north, where urban
densities were significantly lower and less industrial activity occurred, no such competition occurred. The
process of electrification in these regions developed slowly but steadily. To the west, the Scheldt acted as a
natural and as an institutional boundary. The river formed the actual provincial border until 1923 which
slowed down the expansion of the Antwerp electricity company in that direction.
Nonetheless the rather successful and steady expansion of the grid from Antwerp outwards had its limits. To
the south, the grid was delimited as contractually agreed with the other electricity companies. To the other
sides, the expansion of the network came to a halt when the company no longer considered it profitable.
Further extensions of the network could only be made when combined with an expansion in production
capacity. The electricity distribution had radially spread out of Antwerp and had been accommodated in line
with the general structure of the metropolitan area. Large parts in the north and east of the province were still
without electricity supply. This caused the provincial administration to unfold its programme for the
electrification of these areas.
The provinces main goal was to extend the radius of the existing network. This could be done in several
ways. A first method that was examined, was to produce electricity in a provincial power plant to transport
and sell it to the dedicated municipalities. As the construction of a power plant required a long-term
investment of a large amount of capital that could only be recovered after some time certainly in a region
that was of only little economic importance and without the support of the investment banks that financed
the electricity companies this plan was quickly abandoned. Afterwards, the province decided to buy
electricity from a company, invest itself in the construction and management of a single high-tension line and
then sell the electricity to the municipalities. As the province was willing to guarantee the purchase of a large
amount of electric power over a longer period of time, this turned out to be also worthwhile for the private
company it approached (Kerckhaert and De Vleeschauwer, 1993).
Although the outlying municipalities now had possible access to high-voltage electricity, they had to make
arrangements for the distribution and sale of the electricity. Many of the local administrations could not
afford the construction costs of a small-scale, low-voltage grid, and lacked the technical knowledge to operate
one. The latter was resolved by a specific service at the provinces technical department, a service that was
available in most of the provinces. To overcome the former problem, the villages had to contract loans. Many
of the municipalities borrowed from banks, though some of them chose to fund the establishment of their
grid in an alternative way. By borrowing (partially) from their own inhabitants they hoped to be able to
borrow money at lower rates and tried to maintain the control over their project, assuming that the
involvement of villagers reduced the risks of the venture (Kerckhaert and De Vleeschauwer, 1993).
at the threshold of industrialisation
Also in Limburg, the province started to build its own high-tension lines, but, somewhat differently than in
Antwerp, there was no dominant pre-existing network to expand. The general condition resembled the
desolate situation of the Campine region, in the eastern part of the province of Antwerp, to which it borders
in the west. Only in the valley of the Meuse, which is its most eastern part, and in its hilly southern region, the
soils are more fertile and were used for cultivation. Historically, Limburg is a very sparsely populated area of
Belgium, with no cities the size of Ghent or Antwerp and with limited economic activity. The proactive
construction of railways and cannels brought some economic prospects (Van Acker, 2014). The biggest
change to this situation, however, came in 1901 with the discovery of coal in the subsoil which launched the
province on a very specific, industrial development path.

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What followed was a process that could be described as the industrial colonisation of the province. In
opposition to the other coal basins of the country. There was almost no prior infrastructure nor a capable
labour force to support the mining industry. Factories and housing development projects were erected within
a pristine landscape, barely hindered by historical precedents, the industrial structures grafted itself in the
territory, bypassing the existing pattern of villages to which they had little affinity (Stynen et al., 1991).
For the big mining companies electricity had a dual importance. On the one hand, a large amount of the coals
they delved served as the fuel needed for the production of electricity; On the other, the mining companies
were themselves large consumers of electricity. As such it was very reasonable for the companies to build
their own electrical production plants, a practice that was also common in other coal basins and with other
examples of heavy industry such as the metallurgy. To do this, the different mining companies assembled in
three large consortia that would each provide electricity for the use of their affiliated partners (Kerckhaert
and De Vleeschauwer, 1991). Electricity was already used during the construction of the mining sites, a
process that took each of the firms more than a decade. Therefore, the electrical installations were
functioning long before the mining companies became operational. In the meantime, the surplus of electricity
was sold to neighbouring villages and factories who, attracted by the mining activities, started to settle in
Limburg.
The attitude of the electricity branches of the mining companies towards its commercial activities always
remained rather ambiguous. The commercial supply of electricity was always seen as a by-product of the
mining activities. Certainly in the beginning, it was unsure for how long this activity could be continued. As a
result the electricity companies were reluctant to offer long-term agreements and gave preference to the
industrial customers or big institutions such as military bases. The half-hearted approach of the electricity
companies brought little structure to the provinces process of electrification and offered only limited
prospects for the villages. This made that Limburg would, in 1916, be the first of the Belgian provinces to
establish a committee for its electrification.
One of the first acts of this committee was to manoeuvre itself in a very central position: In two circular
letters to all the mayors it was announced that the province would no longer approve concessions the
municipalities granted to any private firm that had not been previously discussed with the committee.
Furthermore the committee demanded to be kept informed about every step taken by the municipalities
related to the distribution of electricity. This measure would be in force as long as the war continued and as
long as the committee needed to set out a strategy for the electrification of the entire area of the province.
After the war, the committee decided to build a high-tension network that covered the whole province.
Initially, the committee had wanted to construct this network by public means to hand it over to a private
company that would both deliver electricity and maintain the network. No private enterprise showed
interested in this task. Hence, the province decided in 1920 to construct and operate the network by a public,
provincial company. Like in the case Antwerp, electricity would be bought from private firms, in this case
mainly from the electrical branches of the mining companies (Kerckhaert and De Vleeschauwer, 1991).
Again, as in the Antwerp case, the municipalities had to provide the necessary funding for their own
distribution network. The provincial committee suggested that these networks should be administered by
municipal companies, but this recommendation was beyond the financial capacity of most of the villages. As
this problem lingered, the villages risked to become deprived of electricity or to lose control over the supply
that had been taken care of by the province. Once more, the administration stepped in and in 1930
established a public company that would manage the distribution networks of all the villages that participated
(Maes, 1967). This company could rely on economies of scale and was able to offer a high level of technical
expertise. Its creation would prove to be the last crucial step in the provinces electrification.

East Flanders

Antwerp

Limburg

fig. 3-5 schematic representations of the mode of electrification in the three provinces discussed. illustrations by author.

172

why taking care of the residual fraction?

Whether it took form as the filling up of voids in a loose patchwork as in East Flanders [fig. 3], the extension
of a metropolitan network as in Antwerp [fig. 4], or the setting up of a full blown structure as in Limburg [fig.
5], the respective provincial administrations made considerable efforts in order to bring electricity to every
village under its jurisdiction. Although the methods differed, as did the economic and geographic
circumstances, the cause seems to have been subject of a broad consensus. This consensus is only partially in
alignment with the general distributive policies of the state which supported the distribution of industrial
activities. The public institutions mainly complemented existing, private systems of electricity supply. In most
cases this came down to providing electricity to regions that were economically not interesting for private
enterprises. The provinces thus had to accommodate the margins of the market.
Why were the provinces willing to organise the electricity supply of this residual fraction? The answer might
be found by placing the provinces in the tension field that can be found around an individuals access to
collective consumption. According to Saunders (1986), this field is determined by the three basic factors that,
taken together, shape an individuals consumption capacity: the ability to earn, the right to state services
and the capacity to self-provision. In general, the poles of this tension field can be understood as the terrain
of respectively the private companies, the public institutions and the individual or the household, which in
some circumstances might be extended to the local communities. Let us review the relation of the provincial
policies to each of these modes of provision.
The relation of the provincial programmes to the private enterprises is the most straightforward of the three.
Seen from the side of the companies, areas that were not electrified usually required too high investments or
offered too small profit margins. Hence, many of the provincial initiatives were meant to make those villages
more advantageous. This could be done in several ways, such as by virtually scaling-up the areas of the
concessions, as happened in East Flanders, or by constructing or subsidising a number of specific network
extensions.
The provinces actively solicited the cooperation of these private firms, yet would take care that public
investment were justified and would not only yield profits for the companies. The administration of Limburg
for example, was convinced that through extensive inter-municipal collaboration the private companies were
trying to pass all risk to the public side. For that reason it tried to minimise such cooperation. On the other
hand the provinces, and Limburg in particular, had to find a way to keep a finger on the pulse of the
industrialisation that was reshaping the mining region. The electricity supply seemed to be a lever within the
reach of the provinces that could influence this process and spread its benefits over the region. On that
account, public investments in this utility network could be considered.
The provinces themselves are of course part of the public sphere in the organisation of collective
consumption, next to the municipalities and the national government. They take a specific position in
between both. In comparison to the municipalities, the provinces were able to work on a scale that was more
adjusted to the characteristics of the electricity technologies of the interbellum. At that time, the scale of a
single municipality only permitted an inefficient set-up of a grid. This hardly changed when in 1922 the
national government allowed the municipalities to form inter-municipal collaborations. The combination of a
lack of capital and an inadequate level of technical knowledge made that many of the municipalities did not
have a strong position to negotiate with the electricity companies. The province turned out to be a more
efficient public partner in these negotiations, because of their scale that made it feasible to employ experts,
they could spend their funding more thoughtfully.
In comparison to the national government, the provinces were much more active and practically involved.
Although the national government was aware of the tensions in the electricity sector between the public and
the internally divided private partners, it chose not to interact. Only in 1922, it made intermunicipal
collaboration possible under strict conditions and in 1925, it enacted a law on the electricity distribution. This
act should, however, mainly be understood as a way of opening up the electricity sector to new private
players by weakening the concessionary monopolies. The national government de facto left it to the
provinces to structure the process of electrification.
Often, the capacity to self-provision is perceived as an aspect of independence or as a sign of aversion to a
superimposed system (Lopez, 2014). Instead of a mode of consumption that is in opposition to the other
parts of the consumption capacity, it can, however, also be seen as a way in which the organisation of
collective consumption has not to be dealt with by the private or public actors. If addressed well, selfprovision might be at the heart of a strategy that creates beneficial economic circumstances and does not
need large investments by the public sector. The provinces role in the electrification as part of the national
policy of dispersion seem to be an attempt to maximally beak into this ability to organise an alternative mode
of providing collective services.
A prime example of this practice are the occasions where village communities were asked to assist their
municipal administrations in the execution of the provincial projects, as happened in Antwerp and Limburg.

173

These situations resemble the earlier arrangements in which the electricity supply was established as a form of
self-provision on a community basis and can be considered as the incorporation of such dynamics.
More importantly, the projects of the provinces itself should be understood as a large-scale effort to
operationalise the capacity to self-provision of the communities. By territorialising the landscape with fairly
homogeneous conditions such as the general availability of electricity, people and enterprises could locate
almost everywhere, which they did. This dispersion was often framed in light of the equally spreading of
opportunities for industrialisation (and its benefits) and did limit the need for collective investment. The
relative low densities of these distributed developments made it possible to rely on the available infrastructure
and on the services provided by local authorities, even when often very small in size. Therefore these projects
should not only be perceived as the dispersion of the benefits of the industrialisation and modernisation, but
also as the dispersion of its costs. The electrification of the residue by the provinces was a way to push this
latter logic as far as possible. By bringing services such as electricity to the village, other conditions necessary
for the proper functioning of industrial production such as the supply and control of food, land or labour
could be left to the self-provision of the communities.
It is within this light, that the significance of the generalised electricity supply as a crucial element for the
preservation of the economic, political and socio-cultural base of the nations favoured mode of reproduction
becomes clear. Within Belgiums broad policy of dispersion, including measures such as the extended
electrification of the territory, are directed at the sustenance of the exploitability of these alternative modes of
collective consumption. Once a village would not be fully equipped with modern provisions such as
electricity, its capacity to set up a community-based mode of collective consumption could no longer be
included in the processes that redistributed the costs associated with the operationalisation of the territory. As
a result, the pressure on parallel, alternative arrangements for collective consumption in other regions would
increase until their limits were reached. From then on, those places that were initially included as part of these
cost-saving policies, would need larger investments to grow further, exposing the overall inefficiency of these
distributed logics. Similar considerations in the policy of dispersion can as well be found in the organisation
or regulation of other utility services, transport infrastructures, housing policies and the location of schools,
facilities for sports, culture or leisure activities.
Over a very long period of time, the communities hardly ever reach the limits of their capacity to selfprovision. Albeit it was spread out over a large number of little communities. This is a sign of the immense
potential opened up by the policy of dispersion. Moreover, precisely the scattered availability of this potential
made that a high level of resilience was built into the system. To secure this already resilient potential further
an imagery was developed in which the village and the countryside were at the heart of the nations identity.
This embedded the isotropic context of the nebular city in the everyday life and helped to reproduce the
conditions by which the Belgian economy functioned.
urbanisation by avoidance
The distribution over the entire territory of the benefits and the costs associated with the processes of
modernisation makes that the policy of dispersion also tempers the effects of this far-reaching
transformation. In addition, this dispersion reduces the chance on the emergence of external dynamics in the
interplay of these effects. The urban is, however, often understood as exactly the environment in which these
externalities can take shape (Rmy, 1968, Dupuy, 2008). In this view, it can be argued that the policy of
dispersion is the squandering, or even the explicit avoidance of the possibility for the nebular city to become
truly urban. A territory is created that is equipped with urban facilities, but lacks some of the qualities and
benefits that are usually attributed to the urban.
The approach to collective consumption that was developed in this paper to discuss the process of dispersed
urbanisation highlights this ambiguity. On the one hand, the territory of this type of distributed urbanism
becomes organised to accommodate the various processes that support a modern economy and society. On
the other hand, the formation of an urban condition is delayed by circumventing the investment in localised,
place based arrangements to deal with the urban question, actively deconstruction the possible concentration
of urban dynamics. This leads to the question if, in the end, we should understand Belgiums policy of
dispersion as a project to avoid the formation of a fully fledged urbanity or as a large-scale, however delayed,
project of urbanisation (Dehaene 2013).
The case of the provincial initiatives for the electrification shows that question is ultimately undecidable. One
is only able, with hindsight to notice that after a long period of maintaining these distributive policies,
structures can be discerned that are able to capitalize on the accumulated effects of these long lasting policies.
Together with other evolutions that undermine the ability of the communities to self-organise, such as the
enduring advances in transport and information systems, these structures brought the governments strategy
to depend on the residual capacity available in the territory to its limits. The only viable option that rests is to
finally bring a selection of these structures of accumulation into a more urban state of aggregation. As the
accumulated cost of dispersion is rising in those areas were the intensity of sprawl has reached critical levels,

174

former rural communities are facing truly urban questions, ranging from traffic congestion over flooding,
energy provision, public safety etc. Perhaps, after 100 years of spreading, these selected territories are in a
position to make the necessary collective investments that may bring them collective urban benefits collective investments that were endlessly delayed through the persistent historical spreading policies.
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177

Urban fissures as the outcome of enclaved condominiums, artificial

topographies and represa formation: the case of Pampulha, Belo
Horizonte
Patricia Capanema Alvares Fernandes
Affiliation: KU Leuven
Supervisor: Viviana dAuria
Expected thesis defence: March, 2019
patricia.capanemaalvaresfernandes@asro.kuleuven.be
In the Latin American context the idea and practice of the horizontal metropolis is strongly related to the application of
the urban grid and its promises of isotropic distribution of resources, density and demography upon a given territory.
Belo Horizonte, a city built from scratch at the tail end of the 19th Century, is no exception. To found the capital city of
the Minas Gerais state, the plan of 1895 by Aaro Reis proposed a symmetrical array of perpendicular and diagonal
streets. Rapidly outgrowing the 20th Century plan to become a large metropolis, Belo Horizonte is today the 6th largest
city in the country and the 14 municipalities that constituted the metropolitan region created in the 1970s have today
expanded to 34, hosting a total population of almost 5 million people.
The man-made mesh employed to construct Belo Horizonte at its inception would be quickly confronted with the
territorys significant topographical features on the one hand, and abundance of minerals on the other. Rich in gold and
iron ore, additional topographical manipulations related to the extraction of these prime resources have rapidly
accumulated in Belo Horizontes surroundings. These processes have created a landscape of addition and subtraction,
where extraction becomes entwined with the creation of new urban fragments. Over time, extreme manipulations of
ground-surface conditions have not limited themselves to mining activities, but in the last three decades of metropolitan
expansion, have been performed to allow urbanization to take place in the form of high-rise heterotopic housing entities.
The resulting terrain is a creviced one, where spatial and social horizontality is increasingly difficult to practice.
Belo Horizontes urbanization process appears therefore to match the dominant descriptions in current studies on the
increasing urban divide and social segregation of metropolitan areas in the Latin American continent. In Brazilian
scholarship on this topic, the use of fissure as a metaphor to discuss the mismatch of two different urban systems and the
(conflicting) encounter of discordant materialities has recently been adopted to emphasize the subversion of preestablished uses of space within a context of socio-spatial segregation (Montenegro Castelo, 2008). This broader
discussion on the emergence of urban fissures in the making of new cities in Brazil finds echo in the identification of
topographical amnesias in Belo Horizonte (Teixeira and Ganz), where extreme manipulation of land is advanced to
enable urbanization and overcome the natural features that would otherwise hinder its horizontal expansion.
Adopting a more projective take on fissures as a leading metaphor to describe a territory, this contribution considers the
spatial conditions that have fostered a fragmented urbanization by focusing on the relationship between natural and
artificial topographies, residential enclaves and leisure complexes which are representative of Belo Horizontes staggered
urban development. Characterized by the transformation of land far away from the more concentrated core, the
metropolis features a checkered urbanism (De Meulder & Kasaweh, 2014) where artificial water reservoirs (represas) have
either acted as urban catalysts for state-planned satellite towns and high-end condominiums, or are the visible testimony
of a post-mining landscape.
The case of Pampulha is exemplary of the critical entwinement between enclaved settlement processes, artificial ground
operations and water storage production in Belo Horizonte. Pampulha forms the first episode of the dissertation and the
core of this paper. Archival documentation of the 1940 cornerstone intervention will be combined with an interpretative
sectional investigation of its shifting topographies, underscoring the areas participation in the wider challenge of equitable
urbanization and resource (re)distribution. As a first fundamental fissure in the citys development, the satellite settlement
planned along the lake offers an inspiring terrain for re-imagining projectively the conflicts between human settlement
and ecological cycles.
Pampulha is recounted as Belo Horizontes first big dam and artificial lake realized while Belo Horizonte was vigorously
transforming under mayor Juscelino Kubitscheks energetic guidance. Located to the north of the city centre, its
realization not only served the purpose of reducing flooding in the downstream areas but also secured fresh water for the
expanding city. The resulting shoreline was expected to combine high-end residential tissue and leisure landmarks
designed by Oscar Niemeyer and Roberto Burle Marx before Brasilia had even been considered under Kubitscheks
presidency.
The case of Pampulha differs from that of other represas (artificial reservoirs) by virtue of the state-planned relationship
between urban fabric, landscapes of leisure and water supply. Far from the speculative shoreline developments in
protected natural areas or the creation of lakes for marketing new condominium complexes, Pampulha nonetheless is a
spearhead of enclaved urbanism that is currently a dominant form of urbanization in Brazil.
By combining archival material with descriptive and interpretative mappings, this paper will address Pampulhas
emergence as one of Belo Horizontes primary urban fissures. By focusing on the relation between natural and artificial
rationalities, it will further an understanding of the urban fabrics horizontal dispersion in the form of enclavecondominiums among the artificial topographies of iron ore mining and a landscape of represas for the supply and the
storage of water.

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Introduction
Belo Horizonte, born by decree to be the capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, is exemplary the Latin
American construction of the horizontal metropolis in which the planned city has been used as the object
through which modernity is achieved (Gorelik, 1999). Since its foundation, at the tail end of the XIX century,
the application of the urban grid and its promises of isotropic distribution of resources, density and
demography upon a given territory have failed to acknowledge preexistences, resulting in a anomalous
modernity. (Martins, 2000).
This paper proposes a investigation Belo Horizonte s horizontal development overtime, by focusing on two
important moments - its foundation and its first enclaved outpost - both connected with the idea and practice
of the inauguration of new towns as means to construct a new society. This territorial construction was
marked by intense topographical manipulation and socio-spatial segregation as a consequence showcase
formations with the state as the main actor. By enquiring into the implementation of the foundational grid
and the formation of the Pampulha dam along with its satellite town this contribution is interested in the
mismatches between the planned city, its inhabitation, and the geographical conditions that played a role in
determining (or not) particular patterns of urbanization. Such discordances will be here treated as urban
fissures.
The use of fissure as a metaphor to discuss the mismatch of two different urban systems and the (conflicting)
encounter of discordant materialities has recently been adopted to emphasize the subversion of preestablished uses of space within a context of socio-spatial segregation in the well known Brazilian new town
of Brasilia (Montenegro and Castelo, 2008). This broader discussion on the emergence of urban fissures in
the making of new cities in Brazil finds echo in the identification of topographical amnesias in Belo
Horizonte (Teixeira and Ganz, 2008) where extreme manipulation of land is advanced to enable urbanization
and overcome the natural features that hinder horizontal expansion.
Adopting a more projective take on fissures as a leading metaphor to describe a territory, this paper considers
the spatial conditions that have fostered a fragmented urbanization by focusing on the relationship between
natural and artificial topographies, residential enclaves and leisure complexes which are representative of Belo
Horizonte s uneven urban development. Characterized by the transformation of land far away from the more
concentrated core, the metropolis features a checkered urbanism (De Meulder & Kasaweh, 2014) where
artificial water reservoirs (represas) have either acted as urban catalysts for state-planned satellite towns and
high-end condominiums, or are the visible testimony of a post-mining landscape. The impressive
maneuvering of Belo Horizonte s terrain has reached its extreme in the last two decades, where enclaved
condominiums, as a prime form of expansion, have resulted from the assemblage of regulatory derogations,
landscape manipulations and resource-demanding processes of transformation. Understanding the lead-up to
these changes is therefore crucial to lie out a broader understanding of Belo Horizonte as a territory.
In the short life of Belo Horizonte and its metropolitan region it is possible to identify three key moments in
which great leaps of urbanization are characterized by a combination of topographical amnesias - since the
undulated terrain seemingly presented no obstacle for the city expansion - and of a checkered urbanism ,
typical of a young nation with abundant land, always in search for a new beginning. These moments are: the
foundation of the city at the tail end of the XIX century, the inauguration of the leisure complex of
Pampulha, in the first half of the last century and finally the city s most recent expansion in a post-mining
landscape in the form of high-end enclaved condominiums. The first section of this paper will describe the
context and motivations for the construction of Belo Horizonte s inaugural grid, followed by a discussion of
Pampulha, the vanguard satellite town that negates the rigidity of such grid and inaugurates new urbanization
patterns.

The inaugurated capital

The creation of a new capital, a recurrent idea since the end of the 18th century, is institutionalized by the
Constituio Mineira - the state constitution - of 18911 in substitution of the old, 17th century colonial Ouro
Preto. In order to determine the location of the new city a commission headed by the Haussmannian
engineer Aaro Reis performed a an extensive survey with Washington D.C and La Plata as important
1

The state constitution follows the inauguration of the Brazilian Republic in 1889.

179

references. Following positivists ideals of rationality and hygiene, the survey carefully examined the
topographical, climatic and geological conditions of each potential site. Besides offering the best physical
conditions, the location was expected to make the new capital a gravitational pole in the state, centrally
located to facilitate regional exchange between regions. According to Reis report, Belo Horizonte didn t
represent the most economically favorable choice due to its difficult geography but was nevertheless selected.
The deliberation in favor of a more costly location is due to regional political interests (Salgueiro, 2001). The
topography described as difficult in the survey, would later be portrayed as picturesque (ibid). Belo
Horizonte sits at the border of a mountain ridge - Serra do Curral - and is surrounded by a land rich in gold,
diamond and iron ore intensively explored since the 17th century. Therefore, the construction and expansion
of the new town entailed an intense manipulation of topography, water bodies and mineral resources.
The survey s careful examination and representation of the site s topography, geography and social context of
the site is in stark contrast with the Aaro Reis Plan presented by Aaro Reis: a symmetrical array of
perpendicular streets superimposed by a diagonal mesh. The proposed grid is similar to the plan of
Washington D.C., which presents, according to Gandelsonas (2000), a combination of the American grid and
the European baroque. While the grid embeds the idea of movement, circulation and distribution of people
and goods, the baroque is present in the diagonal mesh along with the strategic placement of monumental
architecture. The rigidity of the plan is justified not only by the current critiques of the medieval - or in the
Brazilian case, the colonial - cities with their tortuous and narrow streets, resulting from chance rather than
consciousness, but also as by the modern confidence in regularity. The ordering of the territory and the city
was conflated with the end of social disorder.
The mismatches between an orthogonal grid and an undulated topography (further manipulated because of
extractive activities) implied intense water management works, the addition and subtraction of soil, along with
the complete demolition of preexisting settlements. Its completion took several decades despite its prompt
inauguration after only four years of construction. Belo Horizontes ringstrasse, the perimetral boulevard that
encloses the planned core, would only be completed in the 1930s when a great portion of the south-west
sector remained unoccupied partly due to the reservation of land for the university, partly because
topographical leveling were still taking place. Meanwhile, sesveral settlements in the form of patches were
emerging in the outskirts of the city core, to house a great number of immigrants, workers and farmers, for
whom the city core was prohibited2, and continuing Belo Horizontes unusual growth from the periphery to
the centre (Plambel, 1979; Tonnuci, 2002).
By the 1930 s Belo Horizonte s inhabitants - a combination of immigrants from the old capital of Ouro
Preto, all parts of Minas Gerais and Europe - were still facing difficulties to adapt to the new city with its
large avenues filled with trees and dust. A chronicle named Ruas sem histria - translated as Streets without
history - published in Revista Bello Horizonte in 19343 criticizes the city for the lack of old and modern streets:
what is found here are only long lines of trees . In the same account the first neighborhood constructed for
state employees from Ouro Preto, the Bairro dos Funcionrios was considered as old-fashioned. Historian Thais
Pimentel explained how what emerges in Belo Horizonte as radically new, be it in terms of ideas, postures, or
achievements, appears to become old in the next moment, when its substitution is advocated (1997:61). It
would be in this context that the image of the inaugural neighborhood and leisure complex of Pampulha
emerged as a new modern beginning for the city.
In contrast with the workers neighborhoods that had emerged in the outskirts of the planned core as a result
of spontaneous developments the occupation of Pampulha, a locality 12 kilometers from the centre, was a
result of state interventions associated with artificial topographies and the formation of new enclaves,
resonating with the capital s fabrication and its foundational grid.

2
3

Besides the high prices of land, the formal requirements were many, including a formal employment and good behaviour.
Revista Bello Horizonte was a weekly magazine published in the capital and distributed in the main cities of the state.

180

[fig.1] Plan for Belo Horizonte by Aaro Reis. 1895 Source: Arquivo Pblico Mineiro

[fig.2] Survey map of the village prior to the construction of Belo Horizonte. 1894. Source: Arquivo Pblico Mineiro

181

[fig.3] Sections comparing the original topography and the current highlighting addition and subtractions. Note: the
vertical scale has been augmented five times for better visualization.

[fig.4] Cadastre map of 1928. Source: Arquivo Publico Mineiro

The Pampulha dam

In the decade preceding the inauguration of Pampulha one of the main concerns of Belo Horizonte s
administration office was the excessive number of villas 4, extending the populated area of the city and
creating serious problems for its administration (PBH, 1937). Despite the many efforts in populating the
already built city5 the horizontal expansion in the outskirts of the city core was out of control. This expansion
occurred in the form of villas, consisting of the (legal or illegal) plot subdivision of privately-owned farmland
placed on the market. These new urban patches, detached from the core, would be later urbanized and
Villa or Vila, in Portuguese refers to village, evidencing the small connections this areas held to the city core.
At the moment of the citys inauguration, about one third of the urban plots were conceded to the functionaries of the State,
transferred from Ouro Preto. If the owners failed at initiating the constructing of houses within 60 days, they would loose their
properties, according to the Law 44/1910.

4
5

182

connected to the city. During the 1930s many laws and decrees would be launched in the attempt of
breaking urban sprawl and avoiding land speculation, ultimately a lost battle.
Acknowledging the physical-demographical growth of Belo Horizonte as well as the need for extending its
water supply the administration decided to dam the Pampulha River in 1936. The solution was presented as
necessary for the citys expansion and economically appealing in comparison to damning the Arrudas River,
adjacent to the city core, but already occupied by industry and railway in its surrounding valley.
Since the XVIII century, an agrarian community had been forming around the Pampulha River s eponymous
farm, established by Portuguese immigrants. The first signs of urbanization date from the XX century in
Santo Antonio da Pampulha, a village part of the important agricultural greenbelt of Belo Horizonte.
In the 1936 map of the municipality of Belo Horizonte the urbanized areas are represented by gridded
patches in uncountable sizes, scales and orientations, but without further details of the built objects. The grid
is alternatively representated in full line or dotted lines, leaving ambiguous interpretations between the real
city and its imagined future: a rough comparision with the latter map reveals a number of unrealized
aspirations. In comparison with the cadastral map of 1928, this map shows considerable expansions towards
the north beyond the Arrudas valley. Interestingly, the representation of 1936 displays the projection of
Bairro So Luiz, the first neighbourhood to be constructed in Pampulha, at the inception of the dam s
construction. Naturally, the map shows only the antecedent to the dam, the creek that would later originate
Lagoa da Pampulha. The map of 1940 presents the completed dam, inaugurated two years before, and a
much similar pattern of grid of the previous map [fig.8]6. However, the limits of the suburban zone were
extended as to include Pampulha Lake and surroundings previously belonging to Belo Horizontes outer rural
belt.
In October 1940, Juscelino Kubitschek made the Pampulha project a priority during his five years of
energetic administration as hurricane mayor of Belo Horizonte. His 1940 report celebrates the opening of
radial avenues in order to facilitate traffic flow, acknowledging the city s horizontal growth in all directions, in
contrast with the previous administrators who tried to halt expansion at all costs. It is significant to highlight
here the works on Avenida da Pampulha , the construction of a wide avenue built over the footprints of an
old road, connecting the city centre to the recently constructed dam, facilitating access to the neighborhood
in formation which would, soon, become one of the most enchanting of the capital (Kubitschek, 1941:22).
A strip of 125 meters was expropriated from which only 25 would be for the avenue leaving two lateral 50metre strips, reserved for future land evaluation as a source of income for the municipality (apud: 22). It
becomes clear that the municipality not only promoted private land speculation but was actually the main
promoter itself. The opening of Avenida Pampulha furthered the formation and growth of a great number of
new villas along its margins in the following decades.
A whole new chapter of the same report is dedicated to Pampulha, defending it as a necessary expansion to
the city which was becoming denser as the old houses were being replaced by skyscrapers. Rather than a real
densification Kubitschek s impression of a denser city is a reaction to the beginning of a typological
substitution from the dominant residential use to office towers. Moreover, he defends the necessity for
creating a series of touristic attractions as a profitable industry, similarly to other great cities. In the mayor s
words: .... Pampulha is being built in a plan entirely diverse from the tracing of the capital, launching the
basis for a residential district with completely different molds, but in accordance with the landscape offered
by the lake and the constructions undertaken by the municipality with support from the governor.
Therefore, the desire of inaugurating a new enclave is much stronger than the real needs and, contrary to the
privately constructed villas, it was by large extend undertaken by the state.

Besides the yet unbuild Bairro So Luiz, the patch of Villa Recreio appears on both, however its grid would only be officially approved
in 1977, as part of Bairro Ouro Preto.

183

[fig.6] Aerial photos of 1940 and 1962. Source: APCBH Coleo Jos Goes

Before Brasilia had even been conceived the project for Pampulha included a series of architectural
landmarks commissioned to the architect Oscar Niemeyer and the landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx.
As soon as Kubitschek assumed the lead in October 1940 one of his first actions was to enlarge the capacity
of the Pampulha dam, already envisioning a majestic future for this location. By that time, Pampulha had
received the visit of the French urbanist Alfred Agache, in Brazil for a consultancy in Rio de Janeiro.
Preoccupied by the social disparities in the city, Agache proposed the creation of a Satellite City for housing
workers in the vicinities of the lake (Segre, 1998). However, Kubitschek had different objectives for
Pampulha, where he imagined a luxurious shoreline neighborhood that would not only perpetuate the image
of a grandiose modern city but also guarantee enough taxes and tourism revenues.
Although no records of a holistic urban plan for Pampulha can be found, the urban parameters that
guaranteed the materialization of Kubitschek s most ambitious aspirations were rightfully determined by law.
The exceptionality of Pampulha s urban materialization was secured by decree 55 of April 1st, 1939 which
marks it as an extraordinary case, standing out from the current rules guiding private land subdivision since
1935. The decree determined that the Municipality will perform the projects, measurements and
topographical leveling of the land subdivision marginal to the Pampulha reservoir within a five hundred
meters offset from the shoreline by request and with the payment - of the owners. According to the same,
the minimum plot measurements in the delimited area were expanded to 20-meter fronts and an area of 1000
square meters, almost three-fold the rest of the city. In addition, the owners were obliged to respect the
zoning imposed by the municipality with regard to housing, commerce, etc., while industrial use within the
strip was forbidden. It is important to notice that the city didn t launch its first land use zoning law until
1976.
This decree is signed by the mayor J.O. de Arajo in Abril 1939, the year before the administration of
Juscelino Kubitschek commences, illustration how the idea of an exceptional occupation around the reservoir
cannot be solely attributed to Kubitschek only. The previous mayor Negro de Lima, who initiated the
construction of the dam, had already foreseen in 1936 the edification of a new and picturesque leisure
neighborhood. 7 However, Kubitschek s strong commitment to promote Pampulha would be fundamental
for its future, since it was taken as his personal mission.
As intended, Pampulha plays the role of playground of Belo Horizonte 8 since its birth not solely for the
landscape and possibilities offered by the large water body in a city distant 400 kilometers from the sea, but
mainly due to constant public investments undertaken in the name of leisure. The efforts to portray
Pampulha s picture as paradise on earth through means of privileged leisure can be interpreted as Foucaults
heterotopias of illusion which are typical of Grahame Shanes Telle Citt, the post-industrial city (Shane,
2008). The architectural landmarks commissioned to Oscar Niemeyer included a Casino, a ballroom (Casa do
Baile), a Yacht Club, a church (Igreja So Francisco de Assis), a hotel and a golf club (the last two never built).
The buildings were inaugurated in 1943 marking the start of a well-entangled Brazilian modern architecture,
resulting from the trans-culturation of typologies with a regional twist.

7
8

Anais da Cmara Municipal de Belo Horizonte, 1936 cited by Ferreira, 2007

expression used by one of the interviewees.

184

However, the desired social life of Niemeyer s buildings would not be as lasting as their architectural legacy.
Due to its audacious forms, the clergy did not consecrate the church until 1959, though it was preventively
listed as architectural heritage since 1947. After causing a revolution in local customs and attracting many
people to the region, the Casino was closed in 1946, only three years after its inauguration, when President
Dutra forbid gambling in the country. With its closure, Casa do Baile also lost attention. Although Pampulha
had become a leisure destination, not many houses were built in the first decades since its residents were still
unsure of its success, in spite of Kubitschek having set the example by commissioning his own weekend
home to Niemeyer and Burle Marx. With the rupture of the dam by 1954 all aspirations seemed to have come
to have been cuirtailed, leading to a great mobilization of efforts for recovering the area. In the second half of
the decade the dam was repaired, the church was restored and consecrated, a modern art museum was
installed in the Casino, and the Federal University started to be constructed to the south of the lake. Already
in its first decade of existence, Pampulha presents its first physical and conceptual fissures, when its success is
halted by programmatic and engineering cracks.

[fig.7] Satellite photo samples of Pampulha s neighborhoods. Source: Google earth

185

In accordance with the decree of 1939 that determined the exceptional parameters for urban development
around the lake, the first approved neighborhoods were Bairro So Luiz, Bairro Bandeirantes and Jardim
Atlntico. Although the allotment plans are presented in fragments, according to each landowner, all were
approved by Kubitschek in 1943 and each presents its own unified urban design. While the older and more
consolidated enclave of Bairro So Luiz is clearly divided in fourth sections, Bairro Bandeirantes is divided in
many discordant fragments, with some pieces left out and many overlapping subdivision plans approved over
time. The map of 1953 evidences that at this time only a portion of the streets in Bandeirantes was
implemented, housing about 5 houses at the margins of the lake. The confusion in land property and
subdivision regulations combined with a slow urbanization left their marks in this sleepy rich enclave, sparsely
occupied and hosting no any other function than housing. It has been reported by interviewees that by the
early 1980s there was nothing there9 . With extremely generous plots and exclusive lake views, these
enclaves were directed to the higher-income sectors.
With regard to Pampulha s inclusion in the life of Belo Horizonte, it becomes interesting to notice that the
whole Pampulha region is not included in the detailed cadastre map of 1942, commissioned by Kubitschek.
In 1953, the mapped area is extended and Pampulha s new luxurious neighborhoods, as well as other
preexisting areas more distant to the lake, such as Villa Recreio, are considered as part of the city.10
However, it would be only after the 1976 zoning law that Pampulhas second peripheral ring (with the lake at
the centre) begins to be acknowledged, instigating a progressive concentrical occupation by, unpredicted by
the initial project. With 360 square meters plots in contrast with almost thrice around the shore these areas
were occupied by lower income groups11
Successive urban regulations have reinforced the model of single family housing around this shoreline by
being more permissive in the more peripheral neighborhoods. As noted by Carsalade
under the aegis of
environmental protection, highly restricted use and occupation in the neighborhoods bordering the lake
reinforced the urban enclave of large plots and high value
(2007: 69) However, successive state
interventions at the shoreline such as the construction of a massive football stadium (1965), a zoo (1957) and
a park (2005) alongside with the gradual improvement of the marginal footpaths have resulted in a great
popularization of uses bordering the lake (Alvares, 2010).

[fig.8] Scheme showing urban form evolution from 1936-1975. Source: Elaborated by the author

this description of Bairro Bandeirantes by Mrs. Pedrosa and Mr. Nogueira in separate interviews done in July/August, 2015.
Curiously, Villa Recreio disappears again in the map of 1957, while the yet non occupied Bairro Bandeirantes is featured. In 1977 it
became part of Bairro Ouro Preto.
11 The decade of 1970 is know in the Brazilian history as the miracle years under military dictatorship due to its economic growth based
external debts and direct intervention of the State in the economy, translated in the creation of urban and regional infra-structure such as
highways and telecommunications. However, it was all pursued without the political participation of the masses and without distribution
of wealth. During the miracle years the militarys discourse was about growing first before distributing the cake (Caldeira, 2000: 46)
9

10

186

[fig.9] Aerial photos over Pampulha of 1948 and 1962. Source: APCBH Coleo Jos Goes

Archival documentation and secondary sources reveal that the sleepy period experienced by Pampulha from
its euphoric beginning to the mid 1970s, during which its architectural landmarks were forgotten and
urbanization stalled. It was only by the end of the miracle decade of 1970 that Pampulha began to
consolidate not only as a leisure destination but also as a site for residing. The elite enclaves transitioned from
a weekend destination to permanent inhabitation, while middle class neighborhoods emerged along with a
large number of informal settlements, urbanization not only around the lake and to the north until the
bordering municipalities of Contagem and Venda Nova. The intense occupation along the valley resulted in
severe pollution and silting in the lake, a critical issue by 1980s and a enduring challenge today. The map of
1979 already showed a great expansion beyond the dam s northern margin, though large areas between the
lake and the city core remain unoccupied since the patch inaugurated by the dam had not yet grown to meet
with the expanded city core. The resulting pattern approximates to a checkered urbanism .
Despite physical and demographic growth, the enclaves of Pampulha and its peripheral settlements have
long lacked of a centre that would meet Grahame Shane s descriptions of the peri-urban Telle Citt. The
majority of interviewees have revealed that it was only in the last decade that Pampulha has improved a lot .
For the inhabitants of the first - and partially second - ring around the lake, this improvement means
becoming now (almost) completely independent from the city core, housing banks, larger supermarkets,
health clinics, clothes shops and other services. This life that has been injected in Pampulha occurs mainly in
the spontaneously formed neighborhoods of the second ring with emerged from more permissive uses.
For the dwellers of the third - and partially second - peripheral ring around the lake, the improvements
perceived differ substantially, noted in the most elementary infrastructure such as water, sewage and asphalt.
Although belonging officially to the sub-prefecture of Pampulha, many are obliged to use the commerce and
service facilities of city centre to which public transport is facilitated.
Although Pampulha has popularized in the last decade with the implementation of a great number of lakeside sport and leisure programs attracting therefore a diverse population from that of the rich enclaves it has
not yet been able to fully consolidate as a second centrality nor to bring development to the north vector of
growth, traditionally impoverished.

187

[fig.10] Scheme of Belo Horizonte patched horizontal expansion overtime. Elaborated by the author.

[fig.11] Timeline of Pampulhas maps. Elaborated by the author using diverse maps provided by Prodabel.

188

[fig.12] Plan assembling land subdivision approvals by date. Elaborated by the author over data provided by Prodabel.

Concluding remarks: Leftover spaces as potential fissures

The resulting urban morphology of Pampulha is a patchwork combining large-scale state interventions,
private-led residential neighborhood formations from high to low-end, leisure enclaves, canalized creeks,
favelas and large voids. While some areas present an overlapping of subsequent subdivision plans, such as
Bairro Bandeirantes, others don t belong to the usual plot subdivision of large patches, but are leftovers in
between. [fig. 12] These areas are characterized, from above, by the absence of a grid-like street layout in
contrast with its surrounding areas. On the ground they are comprise oversized plots to host larger programs
not foreseen by the conventional mono-functional and privately-led land subdivision. In the transition
between So Luiz and Ouro Preto - from the first to the second ring - a sort of buffer zone accommodates
sports activities, schools and differentiated housing typologies such as vertical and horizontal condominiums,
an impossible enterprise in both 360 square and 1000 square meters plots. Pampulha is this way able to
continue fulfilling its vocation as an urban playground by accommodating new uses, users and typologies
within these fissures.
The most evident example is the strip along Avenida Fleming [fig.7], constructed over a canalized creek
between So Luiz, Bandeirantes and Ouro Preto, where one can find a combination of recently built high-rise
residential condominiums togheter with large empty lands, bars, restaurants and commercial centers. Another
is found in Bairro Ouro Preto, where three out of the four existing public open spaces coincide with the
borders of different allotments, in the spaces leftovers between different plot subdivisions.
The diversity and independence that Pampulha has managed to achieve in the last decade was only possible
due to the presence of such fissures that are able to erode the enclaves initially formatted around the lake.
The opportunities present in the fissures of Pampulha can inform us about the potential of residual spaces
that result from this patched urbanization including as the advantages and disadvantages of functional
subversion.

189

When Reis plan was placed at the edge of the Arrudas River and later the railway was laid in its valley, it
created a clear separation between the areas close to the center and what was to the other side of the water.
This would determine that high-income groups would occupy a privileged southern location, while lowincome groups would settle in the north12. (Villaa, 2001). Pampulha is an exception to this logic. The gradual
popularization of the North Vector - as a consequence of spontaneous occupation combined with state
actions - meant that the preferred vector of growth for high-income groups was from the centre to the
Sough.
Horizontality continues therefore to express itself through new forms, where the presence of mining a
landscape had previously hindered expansion. The formation of high-rise heterotopic entities in the South is
taking shape in a much similar way to Pampulha, albeit as sparse amalgam of patches. Pampulha has shown
how, over time, the creation of artificial topographies and water landscapes combined with the
implementation of isolated condominiums is subjected to the emergence of a number of socio-spatial
fissures. These are not only inevitable but are an open invitation to spatially reconsidere the checkered
urbanism of Belo Horizonte and its current patterns of urbanization in the form of bounded enclaves.
Since the 1990s Brazilian scholars have been debating the increasing enclave formation present in great cities
mainly for their typical socio-spatial segregation (Caldeira, 2000; Villa a, 2001; Mendona, Andrade and
Diniz, 2005). In Belo Horizonte the concerns include the environmental impacts produced by the
combination of condominiums and iron ore mining. Recently, important milestones in Belo Horizonte s
urban development scholarship have been launched going beyond the current abstract socio-demographic
debates by presenting a well entangled spatialised reading of Belo Horizonte (ETH, 2005; Rena and Miranda,
2014). The reading of Pampulha s enclave and represa formation through its specialized history becomes
fundamental to understand Belo Horizonte s uneven horizontal urban development in order to inform its
future transformation in face of the advancing patched urbanization observed.

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Interplays of Infrastructure1 and Space Metamorphoses as urban architecture in the megacity of So Paulo
Sarah Hartmann

Affiliation: Department of Urban Design and Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, Leibniz Universitt Hannover, DE
Supervisor: Prof. Jrg Schrder
Expected thesis defence: April 2017
Email: hartmann@staedtebau.uni-hannover.de
The Paper discusses the hypothesis, that spatial situations which are shaped by infrastructures are becoming increasingly
important in constituting the physical structure of the city and qualifying interactive urban public spaces. Interplays of
infrastructure and urban spaces generate, due to their specific appearance, form and function, architectural qualities in a human
related scale. These situations and their metamorphoses are not yet systematically investigated. The work aims to develop a
theoretical frame for the situative scales of infrastructure and their inherent capacity.

Background
The contemporary metropolis functions more like a spreading rhizome, dispersed and diffuse, but at the same time
infinitely enabling. Hence familiar urban typologies of square, park, district and so on, are of less use or significance
than are the infrastructure, network flows, ambiguous spaces and other polymorphous conditions (WALL, 2005,
234). Due to the enormous urbanization and transformation processes, urban spaces - as a field of action of
architecture and urbanism are closely linked to transport infrastructure in contemporary urban landscapes, such as
the Megacity So Paulo. Nevertheless, it is so far questionable which role architecture, as art to to articulate space
(ECO, 1968, 326), can contribute to infrastructural dominated spatial situations. In 1999 Stan Allen called for a
renewed practice of architecture based on infrastructural ambition, a practice that would allow architecture to turn
away from the dead end it had reached as a discursive practice, returning into its status as a discipline concerned with
material. (ALLEN, 1999, 48) Still it is not clear, in which way the discipline of architecture is able to live this
infrastructural ambition and how to shape the omnipresent phenomena of infrastructural situations. Varnelis
believes, that: too frequently, contemporary infrastructural urbanism consist mainly of modern infrastructure
retrofitted for the purposes of tourism. Take the highline in New york City, for example, which opened up in 2009
and is perhaps the most celebrated instance of infrastructural urbanism to date. [...] This sort of strategy seems to be
more and more common these days as we try to find a way to live with the ruins of the recent past, a modernity that,
in T.J. Clarks words, has become our antiquity, a crucial reference point for us, no longer directly comprehendible.
The city of So Paulo is, conceptually and physically, strongly rooted within an infrastructural pattern, generated by
modern approaches. The traces are clearly visible all over - a giant number of infrastructural artifacts: Fly Overs,
Bridges, Highways, Tunnels, etc., that run parallel or superimposed, and are characterizing the expanded center
(Centro Expandido) essentially. In contrast to their ubiquitous presence und important function, the majority of
spaces connected to it, play an obscure role in the urban public realm. Varnelis states: More than ever, architecture
treats infrastructure as its object of desire. But, as is always the case with such affairs, we find that this intensity
obscures both infrastructure and architectures relationship to it. (VARNELIS, 2011, 1) Architecture in So Paulo
seems to confirm this statement. Their relation - manifested in a human scale - is until now unclear, and has only
scarcely been addressed as a potential field. Even tough, as said before, the city holds an enormous quantity of
situations, characterized by the presence of infrastructure, only few of them are so far considered as collective public
space. Nevertheless, by field research also a number of fruitful interplays of infrastructure and urban space could be
traced. The connection to infrastructure is not always visible at first glance, but when looking closer, it gets apparent,
that the very specific spatial situations derived conceptually or spatially from infrastructure. Those spatial situations
have not been retrofitted for tourism purpose, instead, they experienced intense metamorphic processes triggered
by the interplay of infrastructure and urban space in a human scale. These metamorphoses are seen as ongoing
processes, that create the possibility to consciously construct spatial qualities within situations formed by and
forming infrastructure. The process of those metamorphoses as well as their physical phenomena in an human
related scale are object of research.
Against this background, the work is based on the interest in the interface of architecture and city. The city at
stake in this book - is understood as architecture." (ROSSI, 1973, 11) The term architecture refers in the present
study, as well as Rossi formulates: "not only to the visible image of the city and the interplay of their architectures
"(ibid.), but architecture is moreover understood as a consciously articulated combination of material, usage and
function-related, and semantic aspects. The relation of aspects changes over time and they do affect the human
related scale.
The work follows the hypothesis that spatial quality in urban spaces is not necessarily linked to material qualities or
spectacular buildings. Object of research are rather spatial qualities, that appear in everyday, often mono-functional

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1) Within the present work, the focus of the complex infrastructures of So Paulo will be set on the road network; due to the highly important
role of the automobile, which coined especially the exponential growth of the city in the 20th century, the traces of this transformation are
currently ubiquitous and strongly anchored in the tangible and intangible aspects of the urban fabric. At

the same time they represent potential areas for future transformations in the high-density megacity.

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used, almost randomly seeming situations. Due to the own expertise, those spatial qualities are defined and analyzed
by means of an architectonical approach. Therefore they are called architectonical qualities.
Besides the investigation of the topic for the specific case of So Paulo, an overall objective of this work is
furthermore, to reflect and discuss the topic of metamorphoses for the discipline of architecture. It aims to develop a
theoretical framework for the topic, in order to open up a contemporary approach to the city. In this context, the
Phd performs two discourses, which are closely intertwined. On the one hand it is about the declining role of
architecture for the city (megacity) and on the other hand, it is about new opportunities of infrastructure for the
discipline of architecture.

[fig.1]. Starting point of the Research:

Spatial Situations in the expanded Centre of So Paulo, that are highly characterized by
transport infrastructure and not yet addressed as potential spaces in an architectural scale; field research, not completed,
elaborated by the author.

Structure of the paper

The paper is organized to start from the specific and end with the general. The first part introduces therefore the
spectrum of the Case Studies and explains their selection and their relevance for the topic. Two case studies are
portrayed as examples, briefly (1). The second part explains the interconnections of the topic within the local context
of the megacity of So Paulo, Brazil (2). Here it is made clear why specifically So Paulo is suitable for such a study.
Subsequently, the topic is lastly assigned to the two folded scientific discourse of urban space and infrastructure in
the discipline of architecture.
1 Explanation and selection of the Case Studies
The case studies show spatial situations, that have undergone a metamorphosis, which was triggered and
characterized by the interplay of urban space and infrastructure. In course of the metamorphosis, modified spatial
qualities, different meanings and new uses evoked. Those changing processes and qualities will be researched based
on an architectural approach. Therefore, the material and the structural related aspects of the selected situations will
be examined first hand. But the investigation places as well the non-material, the use-related and the semantic
aspects, that manifest themselves as architectural qualities in their interaction, to the forefront. (eg qualities, caused
by situational aspects, temporary use, short-term uses, improvised interventions, etc.). The examples were therefore
not primarily selected by the similarity of actors of the metamorphoses, its achievements, the intensity of use or their
immediate relevance in the city. Instead the work aims to investigate and to raise awareness for architectural qualities,
that evolved through the metamorphoses, in the infrastructural characterized situations. All metamorphoses inherent
to a certain degree an as found2 approach and a sociocultural scope. Those situations have the power to contribute
positively to the collective life of the city. Six different Case Studies will be investigated throughout the Phd. By
means of their diversity, the case studies are supposed to display a range of different metamorphic processes and
phenomena, and open up a systematic framework for the role of infrastructural situations in So Paulo.
Overview of the case studies:

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2) As Found: The Discovery of the Ordinary: British Architecture and Art of the 1950s
Book (2001) from Claude Liechtenstein about the Independent Group which included artists such as the architects Alison and
Peter Smithson, James Stirling and the Photographer Nigel Henderson.

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[fig.2] Overview of the case studies (f.l.t.r): cultural Centre: Centro Centro Cultural So Paulo, Viewpoint Trianon Terrace und
Museu Arte Moderna So Paulo, Fly-Over Highway Minhocao, Busterminal and Square Praa Bandeira, temporary sportsclub
Garrido.

Case Study : Centro Cultural So Paulo (CCSP)

Keywords: Building, professional Design and Planning, permanent, public use

[fig.3,4,5] Map expanded Centre, Overiew Map of the Area, View from above, Sketches and Maps elaborated by the author,
Picture from Arch + 190. Jens Brinkmann und Arno Lbekke.

Due to the construction of a new subway line, as well as the widening of the North-South corridor a well-connected,
but spatially difficult plot arose. The slightly convex flexure of the surrounding streets created a 500 meter long but
very narrow area in the form of a needle eye. In addition, a height difference of 20 meters dominates the terrain.
Nevertheless, exactly this difficult location of the plot interplaying with the infrastructural system, has been
acknowledged in two ways: firstly because the city administration released this unusual plot for a public building.
And on the other hand by the architects Prado and Lopes, that valued this existing condition and draw their design
out of the logic of the place. The newly set building does not only accept the infrastructural context, instead it
radically "incorporates" it, up to the interior of the building. By the interplay of infrastructure and space, a public
building has been created, whose architecture sets further the logic of the place so consistently that it can be only
experienced as a part of the whole situation.

[fig.6] Section of the Centro Cultural So Paulo (CCSP) and adjacent Street, from Arch + 190. Jens Brinkmann und Arno
Lbekke

A similar attitude towards the existing and the ordinary was already propagated by the Smithson in the 50s with their
As Found approach. They explain: As Found is the astute recognition of reality, [...] a new look at the ordinary and
an openness to the effect that very prosaic things can revitalize our ingenuity newly (SMITHSON, 1990, 201). This
attitude is visible manifold in the situation of the CCSP. It draws its aesthetic and its peculiarities from the
characteristics of the place and develops thus something specific and meaningful. The design understands the
limitations of the situation not as narrowing of possibilities, but as an opportunity to develop positive qualities from
the found situation. The building pulls new aspects of the existing and is "thus spanning a background, which adds
meaning to the things and to the people who make it" (LIECHTENSTEIN, 2006, 9). Architecture is seen in this
example, as part of the whole situation:
The character of the street displays openness for any kind of appropriation. The street appears as straightforward,
open and flexible pattern and is, as a concept, interwoven into the whole building, up to the materiality. The shape of

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the building leaves space for dynamic movements, back and forth strolling, exploring, observing and circulating.
Places with wide views are arising repeatedly. Since there is no fixed space program, or use allocations, a "degree of
structured improvisation" results (DELL, 2007). This maintains a form of indeterminacy within the permanent
volume built. This openness enables the ability to transform the building, depending on the needs and demands of
its users.. "Rather than emphasizing the structural form or giving the impression of monumentality, only the way of
use within the space expresses the public nature of the building." (BRINKMANN, 2009, 50) The building shows
respect for what is existing, and reflects the interest of what is reality. The interconnection between urban space,
which is strongly associated with infrastructure, and the discovery of non-obvious qualities constitute a
metamorphosis. The space created, obtains due to its recognizable basic attitude, a relevance and role in the city,
which goes far beyond the mere building.
Case Study: Elevated Highway Minhoco
Keywords: Flyover Highway, Appropriation, temporary, public use, street art, bottom up

[fig.7,8,9] Location in Expanded Centre, Section Flyover, view from above, elaborated by the author.

The Minhoco is a 3,5 kilometers, 4 track express elevated Highway that crosses three central and highly
verticalized neighborhoods of So Paulo. It is constructed over a existing avenue, in which high rise buildings were
already built. Thus, it passes only 5 meters distant from some of the facades. Due to its size and profound impact on
the urban landscape, it calls the attention of the public ever since its construction in 1970, during the military
dictatorship. Already in 1980 the Highway was closed due to noise and air pollution at night and on Sundays.
The current situation is experiencing an entire transformation by force of the temporary appropriation of the
residents. This metamorphosis is hardly visible in the material aspects, nevertheless the highway is providing specific
architectural qualities by its change of articulation. On Sundays the space upon and even underneath the Highway is
transformed by situational and minimally invasive interventions into a multiple linear urban open space. The various
interventions, that are bearing the metamorphosis of the entire artifact are located at the intersection of architecture,
art and city. Although this metamorphosis was not professionally planned, and the highway was not designed for
such use, it performs nevertheless a public and democratically urban open space, with spatial qualities that are unique
in the city.

[fig.10] Sunday at the Minhoco, elaborated by the author

[fig.11] Under the Minhoco, from Daniel Teixeira, Estado

On the flyover, for instance, the viewer's perspective towards the city changes into an elevated view, like from a stage
to the audience. There is a wide, calm and clear sense noticeably, which is otherwise hard to find in the congested
city. Due to the time limit on Sundays, it is also strongly influenced by various situational and performative aspects.
The openness and rawness of the material basis, and the time limit, caused a metamorphosis that arose primarily
through the creative (new)-interpretation of the space by users. Also below the flyover (see fig.11), where space is
protected from sun and rain, new uses and places of collective interests are created. Actors have reinterpreted these
limitations into specific qualities and characteristics of the place. Though not professionally planned, also this case
study is an example for the basic attitude of radically accepting the existing, that appears firstly as a mere functional
space. Acknowledging the reality and attributing values to the existing (which include both tangible and soft qualities)
open up the possibility to light on and articulate architectural qualities. This open space was not obvious for
transformation at first, but after it was found, it developed into an idea and into materiality that emits a character.

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(LIECHTENSTEIN, 2006, 14). The mixture of specific spatial qualities, different social groups and a huge variety of
pro active usages turn the Minhoco into a highly meaningful and identity creating place in the city. Meanwhile, the
Highway as public place with specific spatial qualities, is recognized in the city and even internationally 3. The
example of the highway shows a temporary metamorphosis, which has not undergone any professional design, but
which holds notwithstanding very special architectural qualities, that bring in new meanings and appreciations for
this specific place in the city.
2 Relevance of the topic for So Paulo
This second paragraph discusses the specific relevance for the investigation of interplays of infrastructure and
architecture in the city of So Paulo.
So Paulo belongs to the list of global megacities (UN definition, 2011). It is the most populous and most recent,
and thus the most explosive grown megacity of South America. Nonetheless it is currently no longer one of the
extremely booming cities of the Global South, such as Lagos or Mumbai. At least in terms of population and
economic development So Paulo is in a relatively stable state. The peak phase of the boom has already taken place
in the 70s and 80s (UN, 2011).4 Still So Paulo is a city in tension. [...] Various interests and agendas wrestle for preeminence in a climate of revitalized democracy and deep interest in the limits and possibilities of citizenship and the
right to the city (UN HABITAT, 2010, 12).
Vicente Del Rio explains that the practice of contemporary urbanism and urban design in Brazil have yet to be
more systematically studied and their advances remain largely ignored by international researchers(DEL RIO, 2008,
34). Carlos Leite construed in his article "Sustainable Megacity Visions from So Paulo" the importance of operating
at the interface of architecture and city in So Paulo as follows: within this extremely complex situation, architecture
continues to be a fundamental alternative for the transformation of the territory: an essential instrument of spatial
intervention. The challenge to contemporary architecture is its confrontation with the existing city, beginning with its
infrastructure, without negating it. [...] So Paulo constitutes a territorial palimpsest, where successive generations
built over what existed, making the city mutable and poly-nucleated (LEITE, 2013, 196). So Paulo had been built
and reconstructed three times within only one century (TOLEDO, 1983). The interdependence of the settlement
area and the infrastructure, both on a regional and local scale, has been an important issue of transformation
processes since the founding of the Vila So Paulo (1554), in the geographically strategic position on a plateau. The
economic motors of coffee production and coffee trade presupposed since the beginning a very well functioning
infrastructure system. Due to the enormous economic growth and the explosive population growth, means of
strategic spatial and urban planning, that went beyond the planning of infrastructure, were applied only from the 60s.
But still, "urban development and transport planning have almost become synonyms in So Paulo in the
past"(ANELLI, 2009, 17). "In the 60s, the individual traffic swelled in So Paulo [...] parallel with the number of
inhabitants. The inefficiency of the transport networks and the ongoing congestion seemed insurmountable and
effected the economic development of the city negatively. As a consequence gigantic road projects have been
launched. A subsequent separation of the highways and streets from the city fabric had clearly destructive effects on
the adjacent neighborhoods"(cf. Case Study Minhoco) (ROLNIK, 2009, 12).
The infrastructural constructions were even planned oversized, because they represented important prestige objects
for the political elite. The construction of infrastructural artifacts was declared as effective action in order to deal
with the serious functional and social problems of the growing metropolis. A first master plan, that was passed in the
early 70s, elucidates this focus on infrastructure projects. These measures were put forward on the one hand, in
order to control the growth of public development and to counteract to the chaotic road conditions, that were
caused by the lack of investment in public transport; and on the other hand paradoxically, given the urgent
transport infrastructural problems to further stimulate the automobile industry. It was the most important
economic sector of the entire region. Due to this rapid industrialization and the concomitant technological
developments, a new functional order of the city was created, that caused also spatial and structural transformations
especially an intense intertwining of infrastructure and urban space. Rainer Hehl explained that within this pursuit
of fast renewal and progress, requirements of sustainable urban development could hardly be taken into account.
The development and the design of public spaces has been neglected, as the insufficient infrastructure was
considered as a more urgent problem "(HEHL, 2009, 75).
While many other cities are represented by their historic center or by historic buildings, that are also holders of
memory and identity, they play in So Paulo, due to the intense transformations of the urban body, only a minor
role. The real asset of the city is the infrastructure (FRANCO, 2005). Fernando de Mello Franco, the current head of
the department of urban planning of Sao Paulo, researched this interdependence in his dissertation ("Construindo o
Caminho") already in 2005 at a territorial level. But as an architectural approach to the city, this connection has been
largely unexplored until now. In the course of historical research of public spaces in So Paulo it becomes significant,
that a striking number of urban spaces, which today include the best known and most popular public places in the
city, conceptually and or spatially are closely connected to infrastructure. Starting from an intense field research, it

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3) The design of its future presence won the first prize of the 7 International Architecture Biennal of So Paulo in 2007, and was
shown in the 10th Venice Biennale of 2006.
4) 1970: ca. 5,5 Mio Inhabitants ; 1980: ca, 8,5 Mio Inhabitants
(Zentrum fr politische Bildung: http://www.bpb.de/internationales/weltweit/megastaedte/64665/sao-paulo?p=all)

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got also significant that the entire city fabric is not only historically, but also currently strongly influenced by a variety
of spatial situations, that are closely related to infrastructure and used as multidimensional urban spaces: bridges,
viaducts, flyovers, heterogeneous and fragmented residual areas (caused by the construction of urban highways or
subway lines), spaces that are structurally and pictorially determined by infrastructures, up to entire infrastructure
artifacts that are reused.
Apart from the infrastructure network itself, there a few other aspects, that make the city interesting for such a study:
Currently running transformation processes:
As the city is not anymore in a state of extreme rapid transformation, a series of uncertain mega transformation are
planned (Arco do Futuro, Nova Luz, Av. Faria Lima), and are imminent in the expanded center in the coming
decades. They include, among others, also the transformation of large-scale infrastructure areas. The planned
changes (tabula rasa approaches) on the macro level, are supposed to improve as well the micro level. But which
measures and tools are intended to induce a qualification of the urban space is uncertain; as well as the time horizon
for planning and the chances for concrete implementation. Against this background, the work starts from the
opposite direction: it focuses the investigation of the small scale transformations of the selected infrastructural
situations, that have arisen from the inherent logic of the place.
The city of So Paulo as a breeding ground for art and architecture:
So Paulo posses a number of architectural phenomena which cleverly and productively articulate the interface of
city and architecture. Those masterpieces of the Brazilian Modernity appear like single islands within the dense fabric
of the metropolis. Architects such as Oscar Niemeyer, Lina Bo Bardi, Joo Vilanova Artigas, up to Paulo Mendes da
Rocha have affected the architecture and socio-critical attitude of the city and its urban spaces until today
significantly. The strong interest for social opportunities and situational aspects of architecture, as well as the interest
for the existing and its further development, can be strongly perceived in their works. Representative for many other
examples, the housing project "Copan" by Oscar Niemeyer, the cultural center SESC Pompeia by Lina BoBardi, or
the Faculty of Architecture of the Unversity So Paulo (FAU USP) of Joo Vilanova Artigas can be for instance
mentioned here. These buildings and their architects influenced the era of Brazilian Modernity essentially until toady.
Nucleus of their innovative creations and way of thinking was the metropolis of So Paulo. 5 "The ability to
incorporate the unfamiliar and to transform it at the same time, is an essential characteristic of Brazilian culture,
postulated the Brazilian intellectual Oswald de Andrade in 1928 in his" Manifesto Anthropophagic ". [...] Indeed,
Brazil appears to have incorporated the architectural modernity so much, that in contrast to China and India it
serves our longing for a renewal of modernity perfectly. An modernity that goes far beyond its European origins. In
their best examples, it has generated a civil, ethical and urban architecture that transcends the dream of European
modernity (ARCH+ 2008: 2). The role of So Paulo as the nucleus of the Brazilian Modernism and until today as a
cultural engine of whole Brazil (Biennale, museums, etc.), makes the city particularly interesting for a study at the
interface of infrastructure, architecture, art and urban space.
3 Relevance of the topic for the theoretical framework
It is by now doubtless that the question of infrastructure will dominate the concerns of architects, landscape
architects, urbanists and planners for the foreseeable future, both as field of research and analysis and as a field of
potential intervention. The participation of design intelligence within this area is urgent: not only is the current stock
of traditional infrastructure in a state of physical decay, it is in many cases inadequate to meet the needs of
contemporary urbanization and of social and ecological urgencies. The concept of infrastructure is currently
undergoing a re-evaluation and shifting form its being understood as an organizational and logistical construct in
support of urbanization (BELANGER, 2009, 82). For significant amounts of the contemporary population,
infrastructure has also become the prevalent form of urbanism itself, serving as primary locus of public life and
social space (see for example Lars Lerup, Aron Betsky; Making ourselves at home in Sprawl in Pst Ex Sub dis:
Urban Fragmentations and Constructions 2002, as well as the seminal text by Reyner Banham, Los Angeles: The
architecture of four Ecologies, 1971, and Kazys Varnelis (ed.) the infrastructural City, 2009. (BELANGER, 2009,
87). Particularly in this context, a stronger role and redefinition of the scope of architecture, as the art of articulating
space, is necessary to contribute favorably to the ongoing urbanization of infrastructural spaces in the city. The
process of construction itself, as well as the design of the spaces, that are linked to infrastructure, are in the past and
and in the present, only marginally part of the remit of architecture. Although paradoxically city per se and Urban
Studies as an interdisciplinary field of action, are currently gaining enormous attention from inside and outside the
discipline. Sophie Wolfrum writes, that "society builds its spaces also without architects, and without spatial qualities,
that architecture can contribute. Urbanism has lost the competence to articulate space"(WOLFRUM, 2008, 2).
Wolfrum puts the idea of Eco forward (Architecture is the art of articulating space; ECO, 1972, 326) and concludes:
if one thinks architecture, very basically, as an expression and artifact of space, it is a loss, to reduce architecture only
to some specific types of spaces6 (WOLFRUM, 2008, 1). Hence it is absolutely necessary, to integrate this unique

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5) The Issue Arch + 190, 2008 is titled Stadtarchitekturen So Paulo (city architectures in So Paulo) and gives an overview of
various social space concepts of different times
6) Architecture is superficially equated with buildings and built objects, while the landscape architect cares about the design of the
environment, as well as connective areas between buildings and environment. Urbanism remains in contrast within the
description and analysis of urban phenomena and developments. It is part of Applied Cultural Studies and the spatial aspect is

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expertise of architecture, namely the articulation of space, again into the process of the production of urban spaces
[this includes to a certain extend also the field of infrastructures] (WOLFRUM, 2008, 2).
What can architecture, as the art of articulating space, thus contribute to situations in the city, that do not correspond
to the traditional concept (street, square, park) of urban spaces?
The work follows the hypothesis that the competence to articulate spaces goes far beyond an understanding for the
ensemble and for materiality. The main interest lies not in detecting traditional architectural perfection7, it focuses
rather on the spatial forms of improvisation and situational aspects. Contemporary architectural qualities are
consequently understood as a multifaceted interplay of material and non-material aspects. This components require
an extension of the scope of architecture: everyday situations, vague qualities of the existing, improvised, unfinished,
short-term and compromise solutions are, like the professional planned and designed spaces, essentials of the urban
public realm. Above that, they characterize the city, especially in So Paulo, strongly. Still, these spatial realities are
considered only indistinctly as field of action and as spatial opportunities that could be articulated by architects until
now.
The idea of looking at infrastructure in the urban space, as an extended field of architecture, is based on an attitude,
that does not draw attention to the fancy signal architectures, but on one, that is interested in the ordinary qualities,
that come up with the second glance. A major hypothesis of the thesis is therefore, that an approach, which radically
accepts the reality, the specific context and which values the ordinary, is especially relevant, when dealing with the
brutalism, the modified dimensions and the functional aspects of infrastructure. What is considered in a
conventional sense as unspectacular, banal or not worth mentioning, can now be seen different: as appropriate,
fascinating and substantial (LICHTENSTEIN, 2006, 10). The Smithson declare: "'As Found' is the astute
recognition of the reality, [...] a new look at the ordinary and an openness towards the effect, that very prosaic things
can revitalize our ingenuity newly"(SMITHSON, 1990, 201). In this respect, the work concentrates on the everyday
situations, seen as the interface between architecture, infrastructure and city. It aims to discover a layer of spatial
situations in So Paulo, which are strongly influenced by the interplay of infrastructure and urban space, but which
are not yet properly addressed. The work will reveal this layer to determine the individual "spirit" of the selected
spatial situations and their capacity for the city. Using, reading and designing spatial situations, which are dominated
by infrastructure, is thus be generally worked out as a subject. It can be discussed as a connective field of action, in
the sense of the decoupling of architecture and urbanism. Moreover it is also about the search for finding ways to
represent and capture the qualities of this interplays. By investigating the articulation of public used infrastructural
spaces of the city, the research aims to respond to the inherent spatial complexity of the transformation of urban
spaces in megacities, within the discipline of architecture.

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therefore just one of many. As applied science, i.e. urban planning or spatial planning, it then focuses on political controlling and
ordering layers in which the conscious articulation of spaces play a minor role. (WOLFRUM 2008: 3)
7) Perfection is not an aim a statement of the Free Cinema Movement, 1956
So-called deficiencies are integrated, they are included into the image, they are accepted as part of the whole. They are the
ingredients of the "image" created by them. (AS FOUND: 10)

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Horizontality reconsidered. Contesting (re)densification from

Guadalajaras edge.
Luis Angel Flores Hernandez.
Affiliation: OSA, Department of Architecture, KU Leuven
Supervisor: Bruno De Meulder
Expected thesis defence: October, 2018
luisangel.floreshernandez@student.kuleuven.be
This paper elaborates a critical case study of Huentitn district located at the northeast edge of Guadalajara, Mexico, where
the city meets the natural landscape of the Oblatos Canyon to unfold the conflicts and contradictions of recent redensification plans pushed by national and local authorities in close cooperation with private developers. Huentitn is an
exemplary site entangling polarized relations between bottom-up and top-down agencies. In its grounds, market-driven
production of space encounters direct opposition from the neighbours who have been systematically excluded from the
decision making over their city and environment. In this case, the struggles revolve around privatization of public space,
the lack of urban amenities paradoxically coupled with the existence of large urban voids, and the environmental
degradation of the canyons surroundings; demands which are not simply circumscribed in a popular resistance towards a
post-political discourse on re-densification, but could be the starting points for articulating wider strategies across varied
territorial scales. The study draws upon intensive fieldwork and mapping that brings together different views of the urban
space by measuring its physical, social and economic features. Combining in-depth participant observation of the actors
in dispute with morpho-typological urban analyses and interpretative cartographies. This allows to accurately identify
contested spaces and to reveal the conflicting interplay between state policies, market agents and civil society.
Furthermore, I suggest that Huentitn could be a testing ground where citizens counterclaims could be assembled into
new urban paradigms that transcend the current dichotomy of low-rise sprawl versus concentrated verticalization in
favour of hybrid configurations between built environment and nature. Ultimately addressing social justice in the city, and
opening up new possibilities for a radical horizontal redistribution of power; a scenario that could shape inclusive forms
of urbanity within the hierarchical constellation of Guadalajaras Metropolitan Area.

Built and political landscapes

Urbanization background, introduction to the horizontality of Guadalajara
Historically, asymmetrical development processes closely related to housing production have determined the
urbanization in Mexico (Ortiz Struck 2014). Carried out either by the private sectors search for profits or by
the urgency of the dispossessed, the outskirts of Mexican cities have witnessed a tremendous horizontal
expansion during the last three decades (Eibenschutz & Goya 2009). According to official data from the
Secretariat of Social Development (Secretara de Desarrollo Social SEDESOL), from 1980 to 2010 the surface of
Mexican cities expanded at a rate of 9.7% per year, which is almost three times the population growth rate,
situated at 3.4% yearly. This continuing growth generates a fragmented low-density urban model reigned by
dispersion and isolation of the population (Eibenschutz & Goya 2009), perpetuating and intensifying sociospatial segregations in the whole country (Sohn 2011). Moreover, it has being argued that such impaired
urban expansion triggers either directly or indirectly an important displacement phenomenon of middle to
low-income population towards the urban fringes (Janoschka et al. 2014). The case of Guadalajara is no
exception. The development of the second largest city in Mexico followed the same transformation pattern of
many Latin American cities: an emptying core, combined with an ever, horizontally and monotonously
extending periphery (Cruz Sols 2012). The rapid pace of both formal and informal suburbanization has
exceeded the capacity of governments to cope with the demand of needed infrastructure and services in such
a way that sustainability is evidently jeopardized (Eibenschutz & Carrillo 2011). As can be expected, the ongoing process reproduces and it is not strengthening the spatial differentiations in the city, creating places of
exclusion, fracturing the social fabric, and generating numerous urban voids (Fausto & Rbago 2001).
Abandonment, vacancy and neglect seem to be at the order of the day in the core of the metropolis, while the
gentry concentrate in luxury enclaves, adding more unconnected pieces to the already fragmented
metropolitan area (Cabrales 2001). This phenomenon denotes the uneven power relations steering
urbanization in the GMA; the wealthy settlements occupy privileged locations within the Atemajac Valley1,
close to natural territorial figures such as the Primavera forest, and benefit from all basic services by
municipalities, while basic infrastructure takes years to reach the informal settlements (Fausto Brito 2012).
Urban amenities such as public spaces, schools, hospitals and workplaces are also missing in formal
fraccionamientos2, obliging its dwellers to travel greater distances and pay higher transportation costs to fulfil
their every-day needs, and remaining spatially isolated in an ever more unsafe environment (Eibenschutz &
Carrillo 2011). This panorama accounts for a deep restructuring of the political agencies in the contemporary
city, where governance has been steered mostly by private interest groups and powerful politico-economic
1 Name of the geographical position where the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area is situated
2 Common name for recently-built, social-interest housing developments

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networks with little regard for the social (Sohn 2011, p.79). From clientelist practices, to the market-led
development of today, urbanization in Mexico has been defined by the conflicting interaction between the
State in the form of urban and economic policy, civil society through social movements or collective
actors and market forces through the private sector. The urban landscape of Guadalajara clearly reflects
these different political ideologies and its contestations through time. Since the massive rural-urban migration
during the 1950s and 1960s, until the neoliberal pro sprawl policies of the 1990s and 2000s, the city staged
varied struggles for the production and appropriation of space. It is in the intersection between these
different actors and in light of a new phase of negotiations in the urban arena where this contribution is
situated.
(post)Political materializations. Verticalization of Guadalajara
Today, the on-going transformation of Guadalajara points towards a new phenomenon of centralization
through verticalization. This is anyways promoted by top-down approaches, aiming to restrain city sprawl and
geographically shift the arena of (re)development onto the existing urban fabric of the core. Cleaning up and
renewing vacant areas also, so is understood, augmenting securitization of urban spaces, rescuing them from
the all-together dangerous and unproductive metropolis (Becker & Mller 2013). The National Program of
Urban Development and the National Housing Program 2014-2018 announced by president Pea-Nieto
are crucial. Such policies seek to curb the unsustainable way in which cities have unfolded; resulting in official
plans that promote restraining city sprawl, encouraging the compact city, and the pursuit of a smart and
sustainable urban model (DOF 2014:2) supported by federal subsidies and grants3. This national back-tothe-city policy has been well received by Guadalajaras local authorities. The Ramiro Hernandezs
administration4 has adopted an urban redensification strategy with the goal of re-populating the central
municipality after losing more than 151,000 inhabitants since the 1990s (Cruz Solis 2012), and to revert its
negative taxation index5. This is translated in consensual re-development operations, which materialize in the
form of strategic urban projects, new commercial complexes, and especially, new vertical housing [fig.1].
Within this setting, the central space of Guadalajara with its voids amidst a horizontally organized low-rise
urban fabric is conceived by the real estate sector as a unique opportunity for profit making through
redevelopment operations. However, fundamental questions arise, as to whom are directed these new
developments? In which way these transformations are implemented? To which goals and needs do the
strategies respond? What would be the effects of such urban transformations?

[fig.1] Verticalization of Guadalajara. The central municipality of Guadalajara and the location of new,
on-going and planned vertical projects as of 2015. Source: elaborated by the author.

In parallel and as a reaction to such urban renewal, there is a rising advocacy for alternative urban realities by
local social movements, who have demonstrated their capacity to produce change by tactically intervening in
the city (Morfn 2011, 2012, Castan Reyes 2014). Responding to inhabitants real needs and coherence with
the everyday practices of the people are placed at the very core of their agenda. No wonder why they contrast
with urban projects that solely apply the logics of capital accumulation (Harvey 2012, Smith 2012). In
For example, the implementation of government schemes such as PROCURHA Programa de Consolidacin Urbana y Rescate Habitacional
[Urban consolidation and housing rescue program] amongst others, which offer a series of subsidies to renew the urban fabric of
Mexican cities.
4 Mayor of Guadalajara since 2012 until September 2015.
5 By May of 2015, Guadalajara was the second most indebted municipality of Mexico. See: El Financiero., 2015. Guadalajara y Ecatepec
lideran deuda. [online] Available at: <http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/economia/guadalajara-y-ecatepec-lideran-deuda.html>
[Accessed August 22 2015].
3

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Guadalajara the practices and citizens movements have been widely studied (Shefner 2012, Shefner 2001,
Morfin 2012, Ceja & Czares 2011, Alatorre-Rodrguez 2013, Gonzlez Aguirre 2013). Past and curent
examples include associations with very specific goals, varying from issues of urban violence and security, to
bicycle mobility, environmental activism, and bottom-up ways of managing the city by confronting
government corruption and institutional weakness (Alatorre-Rodrguez 2013, Jimenez & Garca 2014). Today
in Guadalajara, however, we can find several examples of contestations triggered by municipal redensification
plans, which has led to the emergence of new collective actors. This renewed contestation over the future
urbanization calls for a deeper understanding of the embedded rationalities of the territory in order to
negotiate or mediate between these antagonistic urban visions and practices (De Meulder et al. 2008) and to
subsequently devise alternative scenarios. The following section addresses the Huentitn district, an exemplary
site entangling the polarized relations between bottom-up and top-down agencies. In its grounds, consensual
market-driven production of space encounters direct opposition from one organization, the Frente Unido por
Huentitn (FUH) or Huentitn United Front, composed of neighbors who have been systematically excluded
from the decision making over their city and environment; making it an ideal case study to unfold the
conflicts and contradictions in the sketched redensification process. This section elaborates an urban analysis
of Huentitn, combining top-down and bottom-up mapping, visualizing physical characteristics of the site
and reflecting its spatiality with socio-political and environmental aspects. This is presented in parallel with
interviews and testimonies of the FUH collected through fieldwork conducted in the spring of 2015.
Contesting re-densification from Huentitn.
Morpho-typological analysis of Guadalajaras edge
Huentitn rests at the edge of the Oblatos canyon (also known as Oblatos-Huentitn or simply Huentitn canyon)
in the northeast of Guadalajara within the municipal limits of Tonala, Zapotlanejo, Ixtlahuacn River and
Zapopan in Guadalajara metropolitan area. Here the city abruptly comes to an end against the stunning
beauty of the canyons landscape [fig.2]. The Oblatos-Huentitn canyon has a depth of 600 meters
approximately, and its surroundings have been catalogued as a protected natural area by the municipality in
1997, for it represents the major green space of Guadalajara, and for its important bio-diversity and
ecological heritage (Ayto. C. de Guadalajara 1997). The original Huentitn settlement is as old as Guadalajara,
but it remained remote, as just another surrounding village, until the 20th century when the horizontal
expansion of the city overtook it. The extension of the central Calzada Independencia and Belisario Dominguez
avenues during the 1960s had important implications for its urbanization. Then, during the 1970s and 1980,
the Huentitn ejidos6 where subject to land invasions, giving way to the emergence of large informal
settlements. By looking at the groundlayer map [fig.2] we realize that although Huentitn district possesses
numerous and vast open spaces, most of them are partially or completely inaccessible, and others are simply
abandoned. These spaces include the Guadalajara Zoo, permanent fairgrounds called Selva Mgica and the
abandoned site of the former Science and Technology Centre Planetario, closed in 2009. Different sized
urban voids exist within the many neighbourhoods of Huentitn and this contributes to create an image of
spatial degradation and fragmentation. It should be noted that there is a great lack of proper green spaces in
the city, whether for leisure or sport. Although the Huentitn Canyon is considered the biggest green space of
the metropolis, it acts more as counter-figure, an outside of difficult access flanked by a hard edge of
extreme topography, rather than a truly incorporated green space.

The ejido is a communally held land. This land tenure scheme was established after the Mexican revolution in 1917.

202

[fig.2]
Groundlayer.
Aerial
views
of
the
Huentitn
Canyon.
Source:
El
Informador
http://issuu.com/el_informador/docs/barranca. Map showing a characterization of the open spaces. Source: map
elaborated by the author.

[fig.3] Urban tissues of Huentitn. Source: elaborated by the author.

As the majority of the city, Huentitns urban fabric is composed mostly of low-rise buildings, although we
can find examples of vertical housing, breaking the horizontal homogeneity of the built landscape. Its
urbanization unfolded in various stages in time under different (political) conditions. Figure 3 shows an
interpretative approach to the different urban tissues that compose Huentitn in order to problematize its
specific features. The farthest tissue located at the edge of the canyon rests on lands formerly owned by the
University of Guadalajara, which subsequently were fractioned and sold for urbanization purposes. Here the
urban form is composed of a clear grid of streets [fig.3], following the main Calzada Independencia axis. The
majority of architectural typologies found in this tissue correspond to middle class single housing, although in
the eastern part it is possible to find luxury villas and in the northern edge rests the faculty of arts,
architecture and design of the University of Guadalajara. The settlements adjacent to the ring road anillo
perifrico are composed of originally informal settlements, which most of them already have been regularized.
Its morphology follows a subdivision of land carried out without clear patterns [fig.3]. This part of Huentitn
presents chronic problems of accessibility [fig.3] also pointed out by residents, the sloping topography and
the ring road act as an infrastructural barrier isolating and disconnecting these tissues from the rest of the
city. The Calzada Independencia becomes the only direct connection to the city centre by public transport. Self-

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built housing, typical of the consolidated colonias populares7 mainly composes the architectural typologies of
these tissues [fig.3]. As previously outlined, various vertical housing developments exist in the area. The
majority of them are common-interest developments, built during the 1990s for workers affiliated to the
biggest housing institution of the country, INFONAVIT. Although the general condition of the built
environment is horizontal, the actual population density ranges from 90 to 150 inhabitants per hectare
(INEGI 2010), making this locality denser than the average of the city. This condition is well known by the
long-time residents, who mock the redensification discourse by asserting that there has been barely any
displacement of people, there is no abandonment like in the centre and there is no one to bring back here.
Nevertheless, there is dramatic non-uniform occupation of land as we can see in the built environment map
[fig.4] and the general condition of the dwellings is not optimal, evidencing the need for urban consolidation.
A series of gated communities scattered around also can be found, nevertheless, their genesis responds to
marketing strategies rather than real security issues. Huentitn El Bajo is not considered a dangerous
neighbourhood, and many inhabitants of these gated communities are also active within the FUH.

[fig.4] Built environment. Visualization of every building in Guadalajara according to its height. Source: elaborated by the
author from cadastre data courtesy of Direccin de Catastro. H. Ayuntamiento de Guadalajara.

By looking at the marginalization index map [fig.5] based on the methodology of CONAPO (National
Population Council) it is possible to realize Huentitns socio-economical diversity. This index takes into
account different variables for its calculation, such as the household income, educational level, school
attendance, employment, the availability of welfare services and finally, the quality of the dwellings. Huentitn
is known as a popular barrio, and certainly, the majority of its population belongs to the working class.
Nevertheless, different social strata coexist in a relatively small area, and this spatial characteristic is also
visible in the United Front of Huentitn; members from different settlers associations banded together in a
coalition representing most of Huentitn neighbourhoods. Nevertheless, spatial issues like the lack of urban
services, schools, and healthcare facilities, coupled with the imminent privatization of public spaces and
verticalization have probed to transcend class differences and conform a counter-hegemonic movement. The
actual welfare facilities are also pointed out in the map [fig.5]. On the other hand, according to data provided
by the cadastre office of Guadalajara, the land values in Huentitn district are listed slightly below the average
price range in comparison with the rest of the municipality [fig. 5]. This suggest that, due to the relatively
cheap land prices and its central location within the metropolis, it is logical that Huentitn is subject to real
estate pressures for development.

7 Colonias populares is the given name to (post)informal settlements built during the 1970s and 1980s that possess similar socio-economic
and morphological characteristics. See: Jimnez Huerta, E. & Cruz Sols, H. (eds.) 2012. Superada la informalidad, nuevos desafos: polticas para
las colonias populares consolidadas. Guadalajara: Editorial Universitaria.

204

[fig.5] Land values and marginalization index. Source: elaborated by the author from cadaster data and CONAPO.

Huentitns United Front and its contested spaces

The new strategies for redensification are embodied in official planning instruments that have become the
bone of contention between citizens, real estate developers and authorities. The Partial Urban Development
Plans [Planes Parciales de Desarrollo Urbano (PPDU)] are one of a wide range of urban planning tools that the
municipality of Guadalajara possesses. These plans went through a public consultation process, where the
top-down proposals advocating for higher population density were closely discussed with neighbours. For
this reason, in September 2014, scattered neighbourhood groups of Huentitn came together. Their main
concern was attracting the attention of the settlers to encourage participation in the government initiative.
Empowered by their actions, they decided to follow the consultation process until the end, and they even
asked the organizers of the consultancy to do a second meeting, to compare the final results. After all, the
final versions of the PPDUs did not reflect the results of such participative process, polarizing the
stakeholders positions by allowing new building heights up to 20 floors in Huentitn, what most of the
people consulted determinedly opposed. Such radical modification of the zoning plans evidenced the intricate
relationship between corporate interests and local authorities8, due to the various mega projects latent in
Huentitn grounds that had not been able to materialize due to lack of legal underpinnings such as zoning
and density regulations. This literal translation of corporate agendas into public policy (in this case the
PPDUs) through close formal and informal cooperation with [real estate] business networks mutes proper
urban politics, where not just the economy but also the production of the city itself is increasingly insulated
from even the most limited forms of democratic accountability (Swyngedouw & Wilson 2014:9). This
accounts for the emergence of a post political condition in the city, where the ability to steer urban
transformation via political, social or economic endeavours disappears (Kaminer et al. 2011:15) in favour of
the current market hegemony and its related practices. Subsequently, the neighbourhood groups met again to
conform a united front of resistance towards what they called rigged partial plans. However, by conforming
the neighborhoods coalition, their goals expanded. Now their demands are not simply circumscribed in a
popular resistance towards the post-political nature of the PPDUs and their advocacy for re-densification, but
address other urban issues underlying in their community, such as the privatization of more than the half of
Mirador park by a private association that promotes a contemporary art museum designed by Herzog & De
Meuron, the lack of urban amenities paradoxically coupled with the existence of large urban voids, inefficient
public transportation, and the environmental degradation of not just the canyon surroundings but the whole
metropolitan area. Urban social movements dealing with urbanization-related issues in Guadalajara and
Mexico have traditionally been formed around land and housing access struggles, and their capacity to exert
8 In the local media they call it the real estate cartel, referring to the close links between private developers and public servers. See:
http://lajornadajalisco.com.mx/2015/07/parlamento-de-colonias-denuncia-un-cartel-inmobiliario-en-guadalajara/

205

change was defined by political partisanship and clientelistic activities (Shefner 2001, Ward 1998). However, it
can be argued that contemporary urban movements in Guadalajara such as the FUH have shifted their claims
from the right to dwell focused on satisfying the urgency of material needs (Shefner 2001) towards the
right to the city (Alatorre-Rodrguez 2013), consequently adopting different approaches and strategies for
action. Mobilizing not just for the accomplishment of individual rights, but also for goals that imply a rearticulation of social and cultural dynamics shaping the production of lived space as a whole (Lefebvre 1991).
After interviewing and observing various community events and attending meetings of the FUH, it was
possible to map the contested spaces where they are active [fig.6].

[fig.6] Contested spaces. 1- Huentitn Natural Park remained partially closed due a concession to the Directorate of Parks
and Gardens of the municipality for the construction of municipal greenhouses, today the government has plans of
ceding the park to another private association. 2- Mirador Park partially closed due to construction of Barranca Museum. 3Puerta Barranca Park, currently appropriated by the municipal workers union. 4- Voltea a la Barranca project of luxury
towers. 5- Huevito housing.

The conflicts within Huentitn basically revolve around two main issues: privatization of public space and
redensification through verticalization. Regarding the latter, it is pertinent to mention that the dominant form
of residence in the Mexican neoliberal city is given through formal common-interest developments locally
known as fraccionamientos (Sohn 2011 p.76). And as such, the actual redensification strategies of developers,
attempt to vertically transfer that excel-spreadsheet urbanization of the peripheries into Huentitn, through
the construction of what is colloquially known as huevito housing9. This was publicly announced by the
mayor Ramiro Hernandez in one of the urban voids known as Los Cueros [fig.6]. Other example is a former
sports club currently abandoned, where private developers plan to build 1800 new vertical dwellings [fig. 6].
In this regard, the views of FUH members are diverse. Some claim that huevito housing should be illegal, due
to its minimal and inhuman design, around 36 m2 each dwelling tiny little houses, with bedrooms
where you can barely enter, like the ones they built in Tlajomulco, referring to the aforementioned minimal
typology. For some, this is reason enough to oppose to their construction. Others are simply against the
densification of their neighbourhood, stating that the streets and public transport will collapse; they take
away our sport spaces and also there is not even the capacity of potable water, drainage and electricity to put
thousands of new people in here. Nonetheless, most of them are not against redensification per se, as one
FUH member mentions: We do not oppose vertical constructions. I know that vertical housing has its
benefits, but we need urban facilities first!. After a deep observation of the actors in dispute, it is possible to
argue that the conflict over redensification through verticalization has been assimilated as a dichotomy: either
vertical or nothing, limiting the future imaginaries and shaping divergent urban scenarios between the
stakeholders. Regarding the privatization of public spaces, the cases abound in Huentitn. One of the most
notable is the Iconia (formerly called Puerta Guadalajara), a commercial and luxury apartment complex
projected in one of the scarce land reserves of the municipality [fig.6] catalogued as a public green area in the
zoning plans. In line with the logic and discipline of capitalist development and market-led urban growth
(Brenner & Theodore 2005) this public land was ceded to Spanish real estate developers in 2008 in exchange
of their foreign investment, creation of temporal jobs and building one school and healthcare facilities. Apart
9

Literally meaning little egg or small egg housing

206

from the modest benefits it would bring, such investments only respond to economic inter-urban
competition dynamics (Harvey 2001) rather than giving answers to, for example, chronic urban issues such as
the huge deficit of green spaces or the highly inefficient water management of the city10. This is especially
evident within a free market context such as the Mexican, where cities are increasingly dependent upon their
own revenue-generating capacity (Becker & Mller 2013, p.81), often neglecting the social and
environmental spheres in favour of creating welcoming business environments (Wilson & Swyngedouw
2014). The financial crisis coupled with institutional incompetence in order to recover the land, cause that
until today, the site continues to be abandoned. Just beside, the derelict Technology Centre Planetario and the
partially accessible Parque Natural Huentitn (Huentitn Natural Park) are subject to imminent privatization
and construction of new fairgrounds and a music forum called Fiestas de Octubre. This development operations
are however, exerted in exclusionary top-down manner through public-private partnerships, excluding the
ordinary citizens from the discussions regarding the future of the park, and ultimately enforcing Eurocentric
urban production systems such as the neoliberal project (Harvey 2005, Quijano 2000). In this case, one of the
tactics used by the FUH is direct action on site. The association has been regularly organizing sportive and
cultural events, literally occupying the fenced park [fig.7], and at the same time organizing reforestation and
rehabilitation actions. By confronting and activating those places, the FUH is actually expanding the public
realm, creating spaces where a dialog with authorities could occur and effectively re-programming urban
space through collective activities.

[fig.7] Community race organized by the FUH in the contested future fairgrounds. Source: FUH Facebook page.

Moreover, what distinguishes the United Front of Huentitn from other collective actors opposing
redensification in Guadalajara, is its capacity for organizing resistance not just on a local and tactical level, but
utilizing both, formal and informal channels. While some members are engaged in activities of reforestation,
public space regeneration and other community-led actions, at the same time, their battle is being fought
through legal means. Members of the united front won a legal appeal towards the new urban plans that
regulate Huentitn district. This signified the suspension of every new urban development project, including
huevito housing and the new fairgrounds. Though this is a temporal measure to gain some respite and
formulate counterproposals, as well as it serves symbolic goals (Decreus et al. 2014). As one of the members
of FUH states: We need to make known our struggle and the victory we obtained: the writ of amparo11. It is
an unprecedented event; nobody had ever defeated the government in this regard (urban planning). They
even sent a legal adviser from the federation to counter our amparo."
Horizontality reconsidered
As we have seen in Guadalajara, the basic neoliberal imperative of mobilizing city space as an arena for
growth and market discipline remained the dominant municipal project (Mayer 2011:51). Neoliberalisms
The poor water management of the city and out-dated infrastructure causes that 40% of the water supply is lost, and the current m2 of
green spaces per inhabitant is close to 3m2.
11 The Mexican Amparo is a legal protection recourse invoked when individuals or a set of persons believe their constitutional rights have
been violated.
10

207

inability to take into account the long term (Gleason 2012) and its emphasis on individual freedom (Harvey
2005) is reflected in the lack of a city project, understood as a failure to create a vision of the physical,
social and economic dimensions of a sustainable future (Eibenschutz & Carrillo 2011:89). This is evident in
the case of Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, resulting in a horizontal, fragmented, but nevertheless hierarchic
centre-periphery urban structure. As we have seen through the case study, a meaningful redistribution of the
stakes within urban processes is the ultimate goal of the United Front of Huentitn, coinciding with many
cases across Latin America (Gleason 2011). This brewing transformation of the agencies shaping the city is a
call for horizontality; rather than illustrating a historical morphological condition, accounts for a radical
redistribution -or what Quijano (2000) calls socialization- of power. Such redistribution invoked by citizens
through the United Front of Huentitn, could shape horizontal forms of organization between institutions
formal and informal and contribute to the search of alternative urban futures in the contemporary Latin
American city. The main challenge for Huentitns collective actors is to move beyond protest and ephemeral
tactics and formulate concrete, coherent and viable proposals bound to the socio-spatial specificities of the
context in order to counteract the capitalist logic of place commodification (Logan & Molotch 1987) that has
co-opted their few public spaces. On this point, urbanist professionals play a central role, contributing to the
struggle by devising re-distributive strategies for the territory in close cooperation with citizens; strategies
flexible enough to be adapted in wider metropolitan-regional scales, aiming at the radical equalization of the
material and political instrumentalities (Purcell 2008). Designerly explorations in this case could function as
eye openers (De Meulder et al. 2004) to reveal hidden potentials in these contested spaces and re-articulate
the conflicting stakeholders standpoints. Design as a medium of reflection and negotiation is not passive,
but serves as an active and evolving instrument through which suggestions are absorbed, processed and
incorporated, alternatives generated, and conflicts resolved (Ibid: 194). Through the previous analysis,
Huentitn becomes a testing ground where citizens counterclaims could be assembled into new urban
paradigms that transcend the current dichotomy of low-rise sprawl versus concentrated verticalization in
favour of hybrid configurations between built environment and nature. Ultimately addressing social justice in
the city, and opening up new possibilities for a radical horizontal redistribution of power; a scenario that
could shape inclusive forms of urbanity within the hierarchical constellation of Guadalajaras Metropolitan
Area.
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Abundance of interplays delivered by scattered patterns of occupation.

San Joaquin in Cuenca, a case of study in the southern highlands of
Ecuador
Name of Author: Monica Rivera-Muoz

Affiliation: Department of Architecture, KU Leuven

Supervisor: Prof. Bruno De Meulder
Expected thesis defense: February 2018
Email: monicariveraec@hotmail.com
The problematizing of generic dispersion as a general evil of growing cities, has led to a too-easy diagnosis with the same
illness to rural territories surrounding and under the influence of middle size cities in the central and southern
Ecuadorian Andes. As a consequence of such diagnosis, development plans for these proto-urban territories show a
widespread tendency to propose densification as an antidote to battle dispersion. Very commonly, these plans neglect
strategies that consider the rationalities behind those rural lands sprinkled with emerging urbanity, or their complementary
roles in the broader context of their territory.
During pre-colonial times, the scattered distribution of the groups in the Andean region were based on the desire to use
and control diverse ecological units. This allowed them to ensure the alimentary autonomy of the different groups of
population in the Caari territory, in the southern part of today Ecuador. During colonial times, the heterarchical quality of
productive complementarity between diverse groups in the territory was transformed and acquired a hierarchical
character. In this new schema, Cuenca, the Spanish-founded city established on the lands of Caari and Inca preexistences, was meant to be at the top, as an instrumental center of territorial and population control. However, even
after the city became that fundamental space, its meaningfulness and survival couldnt stand alone. Cuenca was highly
dependent of the resources and work in the hinterland, remaining closely related to the population of the constellation of
rural settlements that surrounded it. Besides being able to endure the rule of the city, this population learnt to interact
with the multi folded conditions of a city that attracted as much as it repelled them, that offered as much as it consumed
from them, that opened opportunities as much as it closed spaces for them.
It is clear that scattered patterns of occupation are characteristic of rural agricultural territory in the studied context, and
that subdivision of land is more intensive in zones closer to urban centers. However, a careful reading of the territory, in
combination with interpretation of the structuring elements of its landscape, might shed light on the interaction between
spatial, social and cultural factors that have contributed to render the present conditions of occupation in the southern
Ecuadorian highlands.
In Ecuador, the study of urban development of cities has mostly been addressed from a historical and chronological
perspective, and it has constrained itself to the analysis of the consolidated zones of urban fabrics. These studies,
regarded exclusively as historical narratives, have not been able to effectively contribute to a spatial understanding of the
territory. It becomes clear that a new approach that undertakes the spatial analysis of landscape is needed in order to
unveil its logics, relations, processes and elements. Such a wider understanding of the context is essential to envision
possible futures, underpinned in its own characteristics and potentialities, and as a way to counteract the homogenizing
forces of market-driven urban expansion and lack of culturally sensitive approaches from local planning bodies.
Departing from a combined historical and spatial analysis on the processes that developed into the scattered patterns of
settlement present in the southern highlands of Ecuador, this paper undertakes the reading and interpreting one of the
rural parishes of Cuenca, San Joaquin. The case study constitutes on of the last pieces of flat productive landscape of
intensive use on the valley of Cuenca. This is a context where migration has emptied the population of the rural areas
population, and most flat and fertile soils have been already consumed by urbanization, resulting in increasing food
dependency on trade with other regions and countries.
The closeness of San Joaquin to the city in combination with ethnic-segregationist land grants during early colonial times
and influence of roads, have shaped the character of its territory and population: its double nature as agricultural and
urbanized land; its patterns of settlement as scattered and linear; their people activities as peasants, artisans, merchants,
laborers and most recently as professionals that work in the city; the practices of its population as simultaneously urban
and rural.
This study analyses the rationalities behind the landscape of scattered occupation in the southern highlands of Ecuador,
through the construction of a spatial narrative of the proposed specific landscape. The interplay between its natural
systems such as abundance of water, rich soils, flat topography and irrigation systems, and the less obvious socio cultural
constructions are explored. The changing nature of the landscape and its population is also explored, and esential for a
full understanding of the territory.
Scattered patterns of occupation can also be sustainable ways of inhabiting the territory, due to a quality of
complementarity, and multitude of interplays delivered in the pattern. Because landscapes incremental capacity of
building social and economic networks for their inhabitants, the present study is understood as a tool to envision and
explore future possibilities of integration between the pressuring processes of urbanization in San Joaquin and its
productive landscape, which can be account as an available resource for their population.
Mapping of the elements of the landscape, comparative analysis and interpretation of historical maps and orthophotography, in combination with scrutiny of historic narratives is the methodology to be undertaken. Multiple sources
of information nourish this case study, however, performed fieldwork (direct observations, sketches and interviews) is
essential in understanding the subtle and many times, invisible relations existent between places and people. J.B .
Jacksons work on vernacular landscape becomes a lens to study the landscape for the proposed case study. Conzens

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studies on urban morphology and its vocabulary, are visited as a tool to interpret the case study, as well as for their utility
to express contents in a less ambiguous manner.

Introduction
Cuenca is a city in the southern highlands of Ecuador. With 500.000 inhabitants, it is the third largest city in
in the country. Its urban area houses two thirds of its population, while the remaining are dispersed in the
rural parishes that surround Cuenca. Cuenca is located in the centre of the Paute river watershed [fig.1],
enclosed by mountains and crossed by four rivers. As other Andean cities, it was founded during the colonial
period. The Spanish city superimposed itself over the ruins of Tomebamba, a ceremonial Inca city which
was, in turn, built on Guapondelig, the center of a Caari cacicazgo1.

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1 Cacicazgo was a regional unit of socio-political organization in the Andes. It was comprised by several family based units (Ayllus). Ayllus
were grouped around a Llajta, which was a symbolic nucleus where the ethnic authority had seat, and worked as a center of cohesion and
organization.

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[fig.1] Paute river watershed. Source: elaborated by the author, from GIS information, Senplades (Ecuadorian National
Secretary of Planning).

Cuenca is surrounded by a constellation of small and medium-sized rural centralities, whose space of
occupation often dates back to pre-colonial times. During the colonial era, existing and newly-created villages
were used to concentrate indigenous population. These Indio towns2 became fixed and were restrained to the
mountainous and other secondary peripheral spaces. Main and secondary towns were articulated into
parishes3, with the objective of accomplishing several objectives at stake: gaining control over indigenous
labour, freeing land for land concessions to settlers and/or facilitate evangelization of indigenous people. In
practice, indigenous population didnt concentrated as it was intended by Spanish authorities. Until no more
than forty years ago, an Indio town was from a conventional definition of what is urban, no more than a small
nucleus conformed by a church, an earthen plaza and some houses around it. Even today, while most of the
towns have developed, these nuclei are still the symbolic centres for the parish. As most of these settlements,
they dont translate into compact urban conformations. The rest of the population lives scattered across the
parishs rural territory. Evidently subdivision of land is more intensive in zones closer to these nuclei,
although tiny proto-urban concentrations can appear here and there across the whole parish. The success
and permanence of a town since the colony era is depending on their closeness to the city, with which they
weaved strong ties of dependency and complementarity. As the city increased its influence over the territory,
new villages emerged in its proximities. However, their conformation and logics, often repeated those of the
Indio towns.
Read through the lens of urban expansion, the disperse occupation patterns in the parishes are conventionally
problematized as urban sprawl. Consequently, development plans for these proto-urban territories show a
widespread tendency to propose generic densification as an antidote to battle dispersion. Frequently, these
plans neglect the rationalities behind those rural lands sprinkled with emerging urbanity, their complementary
roles in the broader context of their territory, the system values of these constellation of centralities and its
contribution to the conformation of the cultural, social, economic and demographic identity of Cuenca.
This paper analyses one of the rural parishes of Cuenca, San Joaquin. The case study is one of the last pieces
of intensively used flat productive landscape in the valley of Cuenca. It is mostly surrounded by urbanization,
and this condition puts enormous pressure over this territory. Problematized as a pocket that impedes
communication between north and south in the expanding western part of the city, the local Planning
Department has recently approved a road-based spatial planning for the sector, which would result into a
drastic end to the current agriculture-based activities in the area. The importance of qualifying the productive
landscapes that surround Cuenca are related to the sustainability of the city. Migration has emptied rural
population and most flat and fertile soils are consumed by urbanization, resulting in increasing food
dependency of Cuenca on trade with other regions and countries.
The ejido4 lands: a multidimensional and long term condition of In-betweenness
Matadero River (Tomebamba) is between Cuenca and el Ejido. () Seen from the upper terrace of
Cuenca, El Ejido looks fascinating, so much for its extension and perpetual greenery, as much as for
it resembles a second city, divided in numerous quarters with houses, gardens, orchards and
beautiful groves which makes from all a charming combination. () Beyond the Ejido are the
quintas5 and then, the vast plain of Tarqui, which ends in the knot of Portete. This wonderful plain
is watered by numerous rivers, which provide great number of irrigation channels for the ejido,
quintas and plains (Manuel Villavicencio (1858) quoted in Leon, 1983, 76)6.
Intensive division of land, houses, gardens, orchards, groves, flat topography, and a system of irrigation
channels all in relation to the rivers that crosses the valley seem to be main elements that defined this
landscape that is so vividly described by Villavicencio in the middle of nineteenth century. The fragment by
Villavicencio, written around the time San Joaquin appears as a rural centrality, well could be describing its
condition: privileged by its flat topography and abundance of water, and located only 5 kilometers away from
the colonial core.

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2 The Spanish called them pueblos de Indios. Since the 1990, there have been a series of indigenous political movements in Ecuador
which have reivindicated the word indio. This has gained popularity among indigenous groups and it is now used as a manner of
expressing their pride for their community. For that reason, I have chosen to use the term indio instead of a translation of it.
3 The parish was originally a territorial unit of ecclesiastical and royal administration, which after independence continued to be used as
a territorial unit of state administration.
4 Land reserved for common and shared use. Ejido lands were property of the city, and managed by the city Council. Usually they were
rented on the basis of long-term contracts that could be renewed from one to the following generation in the same
5 Land property of medium scale, used for cultivation and bred of animals for the domestic consume.
6 Original text in Spanish. Translation by the author.

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The proto urban quality of the ejidos morphology seems to have been generated at a very early stage during
colony, by the attraction that the city effectively had7 over the newcomers as much as over the indigenous
people, and by a land market, started by the very City Council. Insufficient funds to cover all the expenses of
the new city, had driven the Council to sell the plots inside the urban grid, and to rent and sell land in the
ejidos as a way to fund its treasury (Chacn Zhapn , 1990, 379).
There must be, more than four thousand souls of both sexes, most of them mestizos. However,
despite they are so close to the city, they are the ones most lacking, in the whole jurisdiction, of the
Christian doctrine (de Merisalde y Santisteban [1765], 1894)8
The dynamic space that emerged on the other side of the Tomebamba, was populated by a very diverse
stratum of people, that can be conceptualized as peripheral in several senses. The above fragment by
Merisalde alludes simultaneously to a condition of immediacy and remoteness of what was considered to be
good: city and religion. A certain quality of openness seems to have been inherent to these lands.
Peripheries were not under strict control of the city, because they were outside of it, but also sufficiently far
from the Indio towns to be part of them. This indeterminate status, this gap, may lead us to think of these
spaces as a sort of a no-mans land of freedom and opportunity.
The higher tributes that the members of indigenous communities had to pay in relation to the ones who had
decided to abandon them, had triggered intensive migratory movements of indigenous population across the
whole territory, fragmenting their communities during early colony (Simard, 1997; Chacn Zhapn, 1990;
Achig, 2012). Lands in the peripheries meant a huge asset for indio fugitives9 escaping from their burdens, but
also for poor whites with no chances for buying land in the city. It could be said that this was the place of the
outcasts. With relatively little or no restrictions, the peripheries became very dynamic places of rich cultural
blending, where diverse population interacted and mixed. Over time, solidarities reappeared, population
identity was forged as peasant and the communities were able to reconstitute[fig.3].
Located in farer ejidos of Baos, between the Yanuncay and Tomebamba rivers, San Joaquin area come to be
known as the land of indios libres10. It was close to medium size haciendas as sources of seasonal work; to
communal lands of indigenous occupation for having seasonal workers; and to the city the place where
opportunities could be exploited to obtain income11 [fig.2].

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Cuenca had been founded in 1557 with only 18 neighbors (heads of family). By 1570 they are calculated to have been 60; by 1574, 80;
by 1582, 150. See (Poloni-Simard, 2006,73)
8 Original text in Spanish. Translation by the author.
9 They were called forasteros, which means foreign, stranger. Belonging to a community was essential to the identity of indigenous peoples,
the decision of abandon their communities implied the uprooting of their identity, to stop being.
10 Indios libres translation to English is free natives
11 Tribute, that during precolonial times was in kind and related to the communal work capacity of production, was monetized during
colony era. Tribute was an obligation that the community had to face together as community, then that monetary compensation was not
an individual objective but a communal one. Spanish colony didnt enslave indigenous population, however, the obligation of a
monetary tribute served well the purpose of exploiting indigenous labor force.
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[fig.2] The condition of land tenure around mid XIX century in San Joaquin parish. Source: elaborated by the author,
from GIS information, Senplades and Juan Loyola, 2012.

The heyday of exportations of toquilla hat during XIX century, a highly labor demanding product, kept busy
the rural as much as to the urban population of the valley of Cuenca, and accentuated its attractiveness.
Almost every rural center in the proximity of Cuenca, among them San Joaquin, became a center of hat
weaving, an activity alternated with domestic agriculture. The peripheries became active spaces, with a
population that regularly came to the city, either for buying raw material, or for selling finished hats (Chacon
et al, 1982; Palomeque, 1990). It was out of this in-between condition that Cuenca and its parishes built
their identity, from a strong interplay and coexistence of its urban and rural practices, its creole, indigenous
and peasant population; but also from its attachment to traditions and simultaneous aspirations for
modernization.

[fig.3] Initial alimentary dependence on indigenous people production was fought through concessions of land in the
ejidos, especially those to the east of the road to Loja. Ejido lands close to mountainous space remained as spaces with less
restrictions. Source: elaborated by the author, from GIS information, Senplades and lithograph by Salvador Mora, 1878

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Dynamic interplays in the territory

San Joaquin is not in the mountains, and it was not an Indio town. Strictly speaking, San Joaquin is an
exception to the rural parishes that surround Cuenca. At the same time, San Joaquin exemplifies several
common issues to their dispersed ways of occupying the territory: the mostly small and medium size of
landholdings, the diversified nature of the economic activities of their population, the in-between condition
of a population that merges challenges and advantages of two worlds, the rural and the urban. It is also
common to these territories to have an elevated migration rate and the impact of remittances in the
transformation of their landscape is often structural. Nowadays they also face the poor esteem for
agricultural activities, and the rapid transformation of these territories under the high urbanizing pressure
combined with a weakening peasant culture, especially in the proximities to the city [fig.4].

[fig.4] Current condition of San Joaquin in relation to the dense urban tissue. Source: elaborated by the author, from GIS
information, Senplades.

San Joaquin is strongly defined by its favorable topography, fertile soils, abundance of fresh water, closeness
to the city and very importantly by the resilience of its population. In the course of time, they have been able
to adapt and educate themselves, reacting to the changing economic realities of the region. Simultaneously, in
a very active manner they have networked their territory with paths, water channels and cercos12 towards the
continuation of agriculture, an activity of cultural and economic relevance for them13. [fig.5]

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12
13

cercos are garden walls built with stone from the site resulting from the clearing of land for agriculture.
Mas explaining the different networks will be presented during the Seminar.

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[fig.5] Diffuse and meandering boundaries are a characteristic of San Joaquin landscape. The clearing of land for
cultivation results in an endless construction and thickening of cercos. Some have grown so robust that they have turned
into elevated pathways. At crossroads they become nodes, spaces with substance, thickness, and height where people
can meet. Two simultaneous roles are now performed, the most basic of separating what is yours of what is mine, and
another, opposite, yet complementary, of bringing us together again. Source: Author

For a long time, San Joaquin has profited from this advantageous in-betweenness that shaped its territory and
population: its double nature as agricultural and urbanized land; its patterns of settlement as scattered and
linear; its peoples activities as peasants, artisans, merchants, laborers and most recently as professionals that
work in the city. The practices of its population are simultaneously urban and rural, dependent and
nondependent, fixed and flexible. The cycles of their activities continuously alternate between those activities
that rely on land, and those that have to be accomplished far from it.
Official data shows that agriculture is no longer the number one economic contributor for the parish
(Municipality of Cuenca, 2011). However, official data might not reflect the real economic impact of
agriculture in the households of San Joaquin. Commercialization of agricultural products is mostly
performed in the wholesale market, where commerce is performed spontaneously, and the charges of state
taxes are rather unusual. Consequently, these transactions are not traced by the S.R.I. (System of Internal
Revenue) or officially reported. Additionally, fieldwork made evident that other activities such as commerce
and transport services are possible because of agriculture or they are directly related to it.
Peoples appreciation for agriculture is ambivalent. As inhabitants of the parish, they express their pride for
the fertility of the soils, quality of the products, agricultural activities and their peasant culture. However, at a
personal level, a sort of shame was outspokenly or timidly expressed by most of interviewed farmers,
especially among men. It is as if practicing agriculture was not a question of free election, but what is left to
those who have not learned a trade.
Still deeply embedded in the local culture, agriculture is nevertheless a continuous struggle they have been
ready to engage (Carrillo & Carrillo, 2015). On the one hand, the spaces of direct commercialization for the
producer have been continuously reduced in the city. On the other hand, the spatial and use regulations
imposed by the local government over this territory doesnt answer to the needs or aspirations of its

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inhabitants. Planning is still implemented from the city point of view, then that these territories continue to
be seen as places to be controlled through generic urbanization.
Markets and Informality
Formalization and concretion14 of markets started during the city modernization at midcentury. A
continuous reduction of the spaces of direct commercialization for producers followed, and also a certain
degree of specialization in their activities. Having to choose between remaining producers or fully becoming
merchants, the accomplishment of both roles became a continuous struggle, especially for small producers,
for whom the higher prices that direct sale consumers can contribute is critical. The temporal character of
the farmers commercial activities has never been thoroughly understood in its crucial role within the
productive cycle, whose completion ensures its further reproduction. The complementary role and
contribution to the city of the multiplicity of small scale producers also remains unqualified. Instead, their
small scale commercialization has been demonized because of its informality and generalized as an urban
problem, remaining neglected of effective and specific answers to its condition.
Informality is indeed just another dimension of the in-between condition that indigenous and peasant
population has faced and still faces in performing their activities. During colony, two Indio Parishes, San Blas
and San Sebastian had been created soon after its foundation, to perform as eastern and western limits of the
city. Their location had a double purpose: to act as control centers for the indigenous population of the
territory, and to exclude them from the city by defining the closest points to which they could reside.
However, the settlers need of labor work, combined with the monetization of the indigenous tribute during
colony era, forced the native population into the market system, by selling their products or labor force in the
city. Since then, their presence was both required and contested15. In-betweenness is not an exception but
the very condition in which indigenous and peasant population have forged their own worlds, and the
informality to which we refer today, is only reproducing this long-term condition.
The wholesale market Feria Libre [fig.6] was created in the early seventies, and located close to the
productive lands in order to support the farmers activities. It was meant to be a market of free and temporal
use by the farmer. However, its very success and the growing political power of the diverse merchant
organizations that emerged, transformed it into a formalized market of fixed and allocated posts. Over time,
the space for direct commercialization by local farmers has been reduced so much that currently it doesnt
account for more than the 1.5% of the total area of commercialization in the market.

[fig.6] Sales start at 3am in Feria Libre wholesale market. Producers can only sell their products until 9am. Source: Author

Agriculture as family-based [re]production

Agriculture production in San Joaquin can still be understood as family-based production. The participation
of the members of the household and the multiple roles they perform, are crucial in the construction of their
local and regional networks of commercialization, and in the retention of their claimed spaces in the city. The
case of Doa Julia, a flower seller in the Colonial Center of Cuenca, will help to illustrate several conditions
regarding family based production and its transformations in San Joaquin.
Native from another parish, she arrived to San Joaquin almost 50 years ago, brought by an aunt who knew
about the labor opportunities that San Joaquin offered in agriculture, even before the intensification of
commercial horticulture. After marrying a local farmer, she became part of an extended family, with his

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concretion refers to the building of permanent structures replacing temporal ones. In Alnwick, Northumberland: A Study in Town-Plan
Analysis, Cozen describes a slow process of replacement of old structures in the market by new ones. In the present text the term helps
to describe the process by which the market not only is formalized, but becomes fixed to a building. See also: Larkman and Jones,
Glossary of Urban form, 1991.
15 See J. C. Chacn Zhapn 1990, pp 379
14

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parents and one brother. While all performed agricultural shores, her parents in law were the ones in charge
of traveling weekly to Duran, a coastal town, to sell the bulk of their flowers production. She and her mother
in law were the ones in charge of the commercialization of the remaining production on the local market.
The market was then and still is a space dominated by women, both as buyers and sellers. Later, when her
parents in law became old, it was she and her husband that traveled, while her mother in law stayed in charge
of local commercialization in the colonial center. By then, she started to take also some vegetables together
with the flowers, as a complementary product. (Narvaez, 2015)
The degree of involvement of the family members in the shores of labor and commercialization is diverse.
Variables such as the structure of the family, levels of formal education, aspirations of its youngest members,
in combination with the impact of agricultural activities on the family economy are fundamental in defining
the intensity of their participation in the productive cycle. Eventually, the interplay of these variables will
define the continuity of the agricultural activity or not in a family group.
The raise of a money driven economy has reduced solidarity-based family economies. The trend has moved
towards single family as production unit, and rapidly towards adults being the only ones working the land.
Differently than Doa Julia, when her children got married, they conformed nuclear families. Doa Julia, has
five daughters, four dedicated to agriculture and commerce, and one who emigrated 14 years ago to United
States, after having worked also in agriculture for some time. The simplification of the family structure has
reduced their spatial capacity of action, from multiple market niches to the conservation of only one market
niche in the city, abandoning the commerce trips to the coast, as their production also decreased. Rosa sells
next to her mother in the Flowers Market during weekends and holydays. Fanny, has a stall in the wholesale
market of Cuenca Feria Libre, where she sells not only her production, but also some of Rosas
vegetables.(Guaman,F., 2015) Rosario, the most entrepreneurial, opened a new market niche, selling to one
of the biggest supermarkets in the city, with daily deliveries. The land that Rosario already received from her
parents as inheritance some years ago, is not enough to sustain her family, so she rents multiple plots in San
Joaquin and in neighboring parishes to increase her production and cover her sales. (Guaman,R., 2015 )
For others, their land will remain uncultivated as consequence of migration, old age, lack of time or simply
lack of interest due to other higher sources of income. A uncultivated plot, however, constitutes an
opportunity for those still farming or willing to do so.
Transitional economies
Some farmers in San Joaquin do not own land. People like Silvia Pindo, native from Quingeo, have come
because San Joaquin offered them work, very scarce in her place. Silvia and her husband came eight years
ago, initially working as day laborers. Over time, her husband became a construction worker in the city and
she started to rent plots and buy the production of other farmers for selling it at the wholesale market.
(Pindo, 2015)
The fragmented character of land in San Joaquin allows to accommodate this kind of
transitional family economies [fig.7] Owning land is improbable for Silvia due to its high cost in the area.
Eventually, she will return to Quingeo, where she has bought a plot of land for her house, and where she
thinks she would dedicate herself to raise small animals instead of cultivating.
Like Silvia, many others have come and have stayed in San Joaquin, where besides being day laborers, they
also offer a whole palette of agriculture-related services such as: plowing and preparation of soil, weeding,
harvest and post-harvest services.(Villacis, 2015) Verbal agreement over a determined amount of work and
with a fixed payment is a very common way of commitment between the parties, and can be used for diverse
scales of work with flexibility. Silvia values very much this advantage of living in San Joaquin. They always
ask for my help, she says referring to her neighbors, and they always pay me something, then I can get
something extra for my kids. (Pindo, 2015)
According to several women interviewed during field work, (Pindo, 2015; Chabla, 2015; Barros, 2015;
Wishco, 2015) agriculture offers flexibility for raising their small children: to me is better to rent and work
on my own, says Silvia Pindo, in this way my kids are not neglected. I wait for them after school and they
are with me all the time.(Pindo, 2015) This is an asset that a formal wage work would not offer to her
family. For many interviewed women, agriculture, specially cultivation, is an activity they would be willing to
abandon after their kids grow up. Other interviewee, Maria, works today as a maid in the city. Having
inherited a small plot enough only for her house, she used to work as day laborer for other farmers until her
kids finished elementary school. (Barros, 2015)
With access to better quality education, because its
immediacy to the city, and having never cultivated, it is most probable that her kids will never work the land.
Non-Agricultural income
Complementary activities increasingly contribute to the domestic economy. More often than not, it is the
father rather than the mother who tries to suplement the monetary income for the family through another
activity. Skills and education define his employability, however, landownership can determine the outcome:
laborer, immigrant or independent worker. A plot of land is very often mortgaged to endorse the purchase of

218

a vehicle for taxi or transportation services, an activity very appreciated and with a certain status between men
in the parishes.
Even though paying a smuggler does not guarantee entry into the United States, sometimes a plot will be put
at risk to get a fast cash loan for paying such a risky business. A chain of threats from kidnapping to
extortion, from sexual violence to death, await those who dare to attempt such crossing. Carmita, another
seller in the Flowers market native of San Joaquin, lost her husband 10 years ago, when he decided to
emigrate. The couple worked together in the production of vegetables and flowers, but his desire to finish
the house they were building made him venture into attempting to cross into the United States. Carmita
never heard from him again, she presumes he died in the journey.(Narvaez, 2015) The dream of improving
their living conditions vanished, her family is broken, and she was left with debts that she had to face alone.
Reinventing traditions: agro-ecological production
Higher levels of education amongst farmers children can work in both ways, drawing them away from the
fields, but also tying them more strongly. Luis Villacis is the son of a well-known farmer and leader in San
Joaquin. He is an agricultural engineer with almost 15 years of experience in horticulture with an innovative
approach. He combines agro-ecological practices while reducing commercial chains, in order to maximize
profits. Rejecting the still prevalent use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, he produces organic and bio
fertilizers with fungicide properties to improve and protect his crops. As a community leader and member of
an agro-ecologic network, he is also engaged in the dissemination of these practices amongst farmers of other
parishes, either as an instructor or by using his own farm for teaching. He cultivates approximately 0,4 ha
between owned and rented land. (Villacis, 2015) His system can be described as intensive. To increase the use
of land, he associates different crops with different cycles of production. This allows him to reduce costs,
transforming his production from extensive to intensive use of land, an appropriate answer to the specific
condition of the fragmented lands in San Joaquin. In his land, he also raises small animals like rabbits and
guinea pigs, which he consumes and sells. At the same time, he has worked to reduce his chain of
commercialization, which allows him to reach a higher selling prices by avoiding intermediaries. He delivers
daily to a big supermarket in the city, and to one restaurant. Other part of his production is sold to
consumers who visit his parcel and for whom he harvests on the spot. Only the remaining production is
commercialized at Feria Libre, where prices are lower.
Territorial Transformations I. Infrastructure and agriculture
The decline in the exportations of toquilla hat during the first half of twentieth century, was followed by
important migratory movements from the highlands towards the coast of the country, where export-oriented
agricultural production had started and needed high quantity of labor workers.(Acosta, Lopez & Villamar,
2006) Interregional networks built by seasonal work migration to the coast, were partially transformed or
complemented with commercial ones16, when during the fifties the construction of a national road system
finally connected Cuenca to fast-growing cities such as Guayaquil and Machala. Initially used for
commercializing traditional products such as flowers, vegetables and basketry in small scale, the new road
infrastructure boosted agricultural production to a commercial scale, transforming the productive landscape
of San Joaquin. Small and medium landholders progressively turned their chacras17 into vegetable crops, while
they were building, branching and expanding systems of irrigation into their lands. (Loyola, 2013; Villacis,
2015)
Territorial Transformations II. Infrastructure and urbanization
At the same time that in San Joaquin commercial agriculture consolidated, Cuenca started a process of
modernization and expansion from the fifties onwards. The middle and higher classes progressively took the
flat lands of El Ejido at the southern side of Tomebamba river. (Rivera & Moyano, 2002) In the early
seventies, the construction of the north and western part a ring road oriented urbanization towards those
areas. First on the cheaper and steeper lands of the northern side, and later towards the flat and productive
western lands the valley. New roads were created and existing were expanded towards the new avenue,
conforming an irregular grid based mainly on the parcels pattern.
Local farmers have continuously fought urbanizing attempts, mostly put forward by wealthy people, who
inherited or purchased lands in the horticultural area, (Loyola, 2013; Villacis, 2015) and for whom these lands
do not represent an agricultural asset but an economic investment. In 1995, the Medio Ejido motorway was
built, crossing the productive lands of San Joaquin, and bordering the above mentioned properties, in despite
of strong opposition from farmers, generally small and medium landowners. The construction was justified in

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!

16 Commerce with the coast had been practiced since pre-colonial times, through routes intermittently reactivated during the colony and
in a more continuous manner during the heyday of toquilla hats exportation.
17 Traditional crop of the Andean highlands. The chacra is a system of associated crops consisting mostly of maize, in combination with
one or two types of legumes and a type of tuberculum.

219

releasing traffic pressure from Ordoez Lazo Avenue, the main exit of the city towards the coast. A special
land regulation (Municipal Council of Cuenca, 2001) was enacted in 2001 in order to prevent San Joaquin
from being urbanized. The ordinance stablished low densities of occupation as method to prevent
urbanization, but at the same time, it incorporated lands of intense agricultural use inside the urban
demarcation of the city. Lands of rural use and urban demarcation are specially hunted by developers. This
added to the raising property taxes on urban land, hardens the economic situation of farmers, who often end
up selling their properties.
A reform made in 2010 (Municipal Council of Cuenca, 2010) revoked the one of 2001, reducing the
minimum size of plots, and laying out a grid of streets that basically follows the pattern of cercos in areas of
agricultural production.[fig.7] That is the ordinance currently at work and the one guiding the opening of
streets in the agricultural lands. Incongruously, among the listed reasons and motivations to reform the
previous ordinance were the recognition of the contribution of agricultural activities to food self-sufficiency
of the city and to the parish economy; the necessity of supporting the local initiative for undertaking agroecological practices, and the acknowledgement of the landscape qualities of the sector and the importance of
its protection. In some sectors of San Joaquin, a profusion of minor roads and disperse urbanization is the
result, partially encouraged by the very ordinance. The areas of medium and big landownerships have
consolidated as high income neighborhoods and gated communities are already under construction next to
the exclusive tennis and golf club in the farthest western ejidos between the Tomembamba and Yanuncay. At
the same time, the last pockets of agriculture remain productive in a highly fragmented land laying behind
walls of urbanization along the access roads to San Joaquin.

[fig.7] Planning for the Lower area of Balzay (Sector 2). While recognizing the existence and importance of agriculture in
the sector, the Plan of Territorial Development of San Joaquin proposes to frame the agricultural lands by means of
roads. Sector 1 corresponds to the head of the Parish, the most urban consolidated sector. Source: Municipality of
Cuenca.

Conclusion: Further transformations and opportunities

Roads are ideologically very related to the idea of progress in the Ecuadorian context, therefore they are the
preferred way of politicians to show voters that work has been done. The engineering studies for the
construction of a new ring road are ready since 2008 in the Municipality of Cuenca, and the current mayor of
Cuenca wants this to be his emblematic project. The proposed layout for the new motorway would
transverse both, Tomebamba and Yanuncay rivers at the border of the flat topography in San Joaquin. It is
easy to predict, that fast urbanization of the remaining flat lands would follow.

220

Despite the increasingly dominant role that road infrastructure has today in the transformation of the
landscape of San Joaquin, the structuring elements that make this landscape unique are still present. They can
be read as a collective creation, a system composed of natural and cultural elements. Jackson (1986) has
powerfully defined landscape not as a natural feature of the environment but as a synthetic space. Landscape
is, a man-made system of spaces superimposed on the face of the land, functioning and evolving not
according to natural laws but to serve a community for the collective character of the landscape is one thing
that all generations and all points of view have agreed upon. (Jackson, 1986,8)
Defined in this manner, Landscape stresses the incremental capacity of building networks hosted by inhabited
landscapes, which in its turn can be considered as an available resource to be accounted for in envisioning
possible futures of our territories. Scattered patterns of occupation can also be sustainable ways of inhabiting
the territory, due to qualities of complementarity and a multitude of interplays delivered in the pattern.
Under this light, the disperse type of occupation in the surrounding parishes of Cuenca should not be battled,
but firstly properly qualified, and the elements of their landscape, which comprises the physical and the
cultural, understood as a primary territorial resource.
It is necessary and possible to structure the undergoing processes of urbanization in San Joaquin, allowing for
gradual transition and a certain degree of flexibility. This would allow the diverse population that inhabits
San Joaquin, especially those whose activities are anchored in the territory and its qualities, to make a
transition at their own pace. On the other hand, structuring the territory in relation to its existing elements,
would mean to profit from spatial resources that are available and which are embedded in its territorial
rationalities.
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223

The urban nodes of the horizontal metropolis:

An empirical account from Mumbais incrementally developing
neighbourhoods
Tobias Baitsch

Affiliation: EPFL-ENAC-IA-LASUR
Supervisor: Luca Pattaroni, EPFLLASUR
Expected thesis defence: September, 2016
tobias.baitsch@epfl.ch
The discovery of often peripheral territories that gave raise to urban concepts such as the Horizontal City or Desakota
regions, challenged fundamental categories of urban studies the distinction between urban and rural. Against that
backdrop, this paper examines to what extend these novel conceptions can be made fruitful to better understand classical
locations of urban studies i.e. dense inner-city neighbourhoods. Focusing on the urban destinations of circular
migration, empirical evidences from Mumbais informal neighbourhoods hint at the persistence of intimate links between
village and city and the reciprocal support they offer to multi-residential households. Moreover and against the wide
spread assumption, that foremost rural spaces are urbanized, this article makes a point, that urban destinations are socially
and physically transformed by circular migration.

Prelude
When speaking with residents in Mumbais informal settlements, the conversation rather sooner then later
turns towards questions of origin. In order to assert ones own identity and belonging to a community and
place usually a village or town either close by in the hinterlands of Mumbai or across the country is
referenced. This link to an often far-a-way place of origin is upheld whether the person you speak with settled
in Mumbai recently or long ago. The identity even of second or third generation hinges on those places they
have sometimes rarely visited. I am by far not the first noticing this fact. In the Indian context, the village is of
undisputed importance, reference for everyday discourse and identity, structuring the society (Mines and
Yazgi, 2010).
At the first glance, finding the former rural population in the city is not surprising and seems to underpin the
widespread narrative of development and urbanization. In that dominant perspective migration is seen as
one-directional which might well take several generations leading to the assimilation of the rural into the
urban population. In the same process their settlements whatever their name slums, informal settlements or
any local term are perceived as either transitory habitats of poor rural migrants on their way towards urban
citizens or transitional built phenomena, which given the right condition will develop into viable parts of the
proper cities.
But longer talks with the presumable ex-farmers reveal a different picture. Most of them regularly return to
their place of origin and many still engage in agricultural practices. These realities are more in line with
literature form migration studies and in particular with what has been coined circulatory migration. Some of
them return on a weekly or monthly basis for family visits, others seasonally for several months once a year
to support their families in farming activities such as sowing or harvesting and yet other just a few days a year
for religious purpose, festivals or marriages. The village is in fact not only a place of identity but also of work
and a second (or first) home. As a lived space it plays and an important part in the live of much of Mumbais
population. The seasonal agriculture occupation turns the urban service provider into a farmer, the visiting
family member into an urban villager, and the construction wage laborer into a landlord. Moreover such
multi-residence is not a transitional phenomenon but is upheld for generations (Schmidt-Kallert, 2009).
Towards a renewed understanding of urban transformation
While stories of circular migration are told many times, the distinction between permanent and nonpermanent migration is needless. In the realm of urban studies such migration and occupational patterns call
into question the urban-rural dichotomy. Describing hybrid urban-rural habitats in extended regions between
or beyond large metropolises in Southeast Asia, McGee (1991) coined the term Desakota, a compound noun
which literally means village-city in Indonesian. These regions mostly emerged in areas, where labor intensive
monsoon-reliant wet-rice agriculture required seasonal shifts between rural and urban occupation.
The Indian census, like many, is systematically blind to such hybrids that cross categories of occupation and
residence and largely fails to reflect these intricate realities (Gupta, 2012). This is important, because on the
basis of census data and categories boundaries such as those between urban and rural are drawn. The
definition of what is urban is a necessity for the state to administer its territory and determines policies and

224

state intervention and not at least influencing imaginaries of development. Thus Mcgee asserts: If we are
dealing with urban we are not looking at the reality but at the states definition of what is urban (McGee,
2014).
The urban village or the industrial forests are just two of the conceptual hybrids that emerged on the quest to
understand and describe habitats that escaped clear-cut definitions (Echanove and Srivastrava, 2015). But we
have to be carful, not to understand these kinds of hybrids as transitional forms, temporal exceptions on the
way to a fully developed city. All to often terms like urban village are used to belittle such settlements and
open doors for their redevelopment. Rather we have to acknowledge their uniqueness and alternative mode
of development in their own right1.
In their study on the Konkan railway and Mumbais circulatory urbanism, Echanove and Srivastrava (2013)
refer to Anthony Leeds urban system (Leeds, 1994), to make sense of the intricate relationships between the
city and the village. Connecting diverse places along Indias west coast, the transportation infrastructure is the
fundament of a large urban system, in which Mumbai is just a node although a major one. Rather then
constructing another rural-urban hybrid, for them the rural is a subcategory of the urban and always was. In
that reading, the relatively newly constructed Konkan railway only accelerated already well-established
migration routes and amplifies previous existing transport networks with ancient roots. They point out that
circulatory urbanism is not a new phenomenon. But rather it has long been obscured by dominant urban
theories, which focused on contrasts and clear-cut territorially and morphologically delimited entities.
Such interpretations draw from what is referred to in international literature as post-colonial approaches
or subaltern urbanism , which argue that urban planning and theory throughout the world remain under
Western influence and its associated notions of modernity and development (Robinson, 2006). Hence,
derived conceptualizations such as the opposition of the city and the village (Echanove and Srivastrava,
2015), appear unfit to tackle the multiple challenges faced by cities in the Global South. This is more than a
mere epistemological question. Normative and dominant visions of urban development deny and actively
reduce the diversity of patterns and pathways to urbanization constitutive of the complex contemporary
urban fabric (Brenner and Schmid, 2015). In order to tackle these difficulties we have to approached the
different paths to urbanisation symmetrically (Robinson, 2006; Pattaroni and Baitsch, 2015).
But it is not only in distant places where new discovered realities do not match (anymore) with
conventional understandings of the city and the related oppositions of centre and periphery or urban and
rural. Todays spatial fragmentation and diffuse urban condition in the Brussles region and beyond inspired
the conception of the horizontal metropolis (Vigano, 2012). In opposition to the European metropolis with a
continuous decrease of urbanity from the centre to its periphery and preferably a clear defined boundary
between urban and rural, the horizontal city questions the idea and the form of the city. It postulates nonhierarchical relationships between its different parts as well as osmotic relationships between built and open
space, between mobility infrastructure and dwelling places (Vigano, 2012, p.96). As a new urban principle it
bears the potential to change the perception of its residents and planners towards a more sustainable future.
While McGee emphasises the climatic conditions and related agriculture that lay the foundations, which
allowed for the development of the new habitat of Desakota, Vigano points to a continuous evolving history
of ideas about the city and urbanisation processes, and Echanove and Srivatrava stress the historic continuity
of the current urban system, which is characterized by a high level of exchange of people, goods and ideas.
Common to all, however, is the non-homogeneity and differences but also interdependencies and mutual
influences between different parts of the horizontal city, Desakota or urban system. Although their
conceptualisations originate from different places around the globe they all aim at a more relational and
procedural understanding of urbanisation.
Apparently quite close to the ambition of considering spaces non-hierarchically, is the circular migrating
population of South Asia (Bertuzzo, 2015). Focusing on the perception of migrants in respect to their place
of dwelling, Bertuzzo notices the dissolving of the city and the village as closed systems in a hierarchy-free
space, where individuals live the in-between-ness of a space-time continuum. Territorial references are less
relevance but the time needed to switch between different places becomes important. The city and the village
do not dissolve as such, but become objects of reference for expectations and ambitions rather then places in
a territory.

In the case of Desakota it might help that this literal hybrid hides its hybrid character in a language, which is not familiar to most
academics of urban studies.

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Migration studies customarily focus on rural areas and populations, and the consequence of circular
migration on their habitats. Indeed the transformative effect in villages usually is eye-catching2. While
Deshingkar and Farrington point to social change at both destinations of circular migration (Deshingkar and
Farrington, 2009), urban nodes of circular migration usually are less regarded neither as point of departure for
migratory studies nor as habitats that develop in conjuncture with distant places.
Equally it is the urban condition in peripheries and beyond as well as territories between metropolis inspired
novel theories in urban studies such as the Desakota region or the horizontal metropolis (McGee, 1991;
Vigano, 2012). To what extend can these concepts made fruitful for classical places of urban studies i.e.
dense urban settlements of the poor? Understood as analytical tools, they incite to ask about the urban
transformation that develops in conjuncture with far-away places. It is not the question of how far the
horizontal metropolis stretches to the hinterland of Mumbai or across the country but rather what makes
these connections possible beyond the obvious transport and communication infrastructure (Srivastrava and
Echanove, 2013)? Then, questions of moving in, establishing and moving out become important. How do
people arrive and settle maybe for generations and how do they move on? What social and spatial
characteristics of a neighbourhood do support these movements? And how circular migration contributes to
the making, maintenance and transformation these habitats.
This paper draws on extended interviews with residents of Mumbais informal neighbourhoods, which
focused on the way of life, spatial everyday practices, house and place making and how they contribute to the
transformation of their habitat. As part of a larger research on the social and spatial production of informal
settlements in Mumbai, this paper investigates in the ways of live that render possible such multi residence
possible. The focus lies on the relation of tenant and landlord and the transformative potential in the
production of rental spaces and how this allows people to establish or not at the urban destination of
circular migration.
The transformation of the urban node
Obviously, infrastructure and particularly communication technology and transportation systems at the first
place make possible circulatory urbanism. But where people and practices touch the ground, is where change
takes place. While some spaces compel people to take permanent residence and become sedentary, others
encourage the transfer of people and practices. How has a habitat to be made and which characteristics
should it offer to allow nomadism at least sporadic shift of home?
For that, we need a short introduction of the neighbourhood we talk about, of its origin and of its residents.
Originally a resettlement colony, Shivaji Nagar was planned in the mid-seventies for slum dwellers evicted
from their settlements in south Mumbai. Planned as a gridded settlement on marshy land it lies just south of
Mumbais largest dumping ground and in the vicinity to its main slaughterhouse. Even though the settlement
is a legitimately planned housing colony, it is referred to as slum by the public as well as officials and is
represented as such in current planning documents. Estimated somewhere over 300000, its population is
majority Muslim with a minority of Hindu, Jain and Buddhists. While the settlement showcases an economic
gradient, descending towards the dumping ground, the different religious groups concentrate in different
parts and the Hindu and Jain communities predominate in the affluent corner. Situated in the M-East Ward
Shivaji Nagar together with its adjacent neighbourhoods, some planned some not, is strategically located just
north of the highway and railway connection between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. Attracting a great influx of
migrants, which together with the massive housing shortage results in high construction activity, fuelling a
thriving local small-scale construction industry.
Shivaji Nagar can be seen as the flip side or in the words of Matias Echanove the unintended consequence of the
big rational city building projects of Mumbai: The Back Bay Reclamation and the Bandra Curla Komplex,
due to which many slums dwellers were relocated. Nowadays the majority of the residents are not the
originally resettled families. Many of them never move or abandoned their plots in the mosquito infested
swamp area. Among the twenty interviewed families only two were resettled. All the others came during later
periods. The few original resettled inhabitants still living in Shivaji Nagar indicate that there is a high turn
over of residents. How did the current residents end up in Shivaji Nagar? Where do they come from, and
what are their ways of moving into the city? In other words, what allows a family to establish at this urban
destination of their circular migration?

Adding to this perception is probably the urban background of most researchers.

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Settling in the city

In the search for work Dinesh3 arrived in Mumbai presumably in 1997 together with his uncles. They hail
from a village in the Gonda district, Uttar Pradesh. Located north of Lucknow this district is considered one
of Indias most backward regions, reflected in a low level of public health and a literacy rate of little above
60% (Census 2011). Dinesh must have been nearby ten at that time and ever since he has been working as a
cobbler. In Mumbai he lived with his uncles in the neighbourhood of Kurla. And that is where his wife
Begum, whos family also originates from Uttar Pradesh was born and grew up. Due to some financial crisis
the young family including two sons had to shift to Dineshs village soon after the marriage. Only Dinesh
returned to earn money and after about three years saved enough to reunite his family. But instead of
returning to Kurla they stayed for some months with Begums brother in Shivaji Nagar until they found a
house for rent with the help of an agent and future neighbour. Nowadays the family visits their village when
money and school holydays allow, usually for about twenty days a year over Diwali holidays. As the trip is
expensive they sometimes decide to stay back in Mumbai.
The entry with the help from sometime distant family members or people from the same community to a
neighbourhood in Mumbai is the most common way to settle in the city for the poor. Unsurprisingly almost
all of my interviewees had some familial ties within Shivaji Nagar through which they found their way here4.
For example marriage opens such a way. Another is squatting with (extended) family members, as did Dinesh
and Begum. And in fact they are now hosting further family members themselves. Even tough Begums two
nephews live with them, they do not contribute to the household expenses but support their mother, which
stays back in her village. Because of Dineshs fluctuating income as an employee paid on a piecework basis,
they nevertheless are asked for financial support in time of need. Similar to the re-entry of Dinesh and
Begum, their start in the city depends on family support and kinship. This allows to life for less, reducing the
cost of living in the city and increases the support for family members in the village. As people share
knowledge, economic and spatial resources, family ties and community networks literally open doors.
But it is not only that knowledge and relationships of relatives and friends is leveraged to settle in a particular
neighbourhood, it is also in everyday life where familial and community ties play an important role. Visits at
homes of siblings or in-laws are frequent and mutual help in particular for childcare is a common practice,
which preconditions proximity. Home is not just the house or room, which is occupied by members of a
nucleus family, but encompasses houses of family members within Shivaji Nagar and ultimately their place of
dwelling reaches to the village. As Bertuzzo notes, migrants refer to both places as home (Bertuzzo, 2015).
Given the importance of kin networks, several researchers proposed to consider rather the household then
the individual (or nucleus family) as the local survival unit (Schmidt-Kallert, 2009, p.321; Srivastrava and
Echanove, 2013)5. While pooling of income from different sources agriculture and service and different
locations rural and urban within families is statistically relevant in the Indian context (Denis and Zrah,
2014) migration as livelihood strategy and multi-local households do not necessarily lead to higher income
but spreads risk better then single residence households (Schmidt-Kallert, 2009).
On being tenant
Despite family and community networks, middlemen can make a fortune from brokering rental spaces as in
the case of Dinesh and Begum. Neither are such networks always able to mitigate local conditions, such as
their yearlong tenancy agreement, which gets renewed and more expensive every year. At the current growth
rate, they estimate to be able to pay the rent for another five year and then would have to move. They assume
that most probably they would shift to another area within Shivaji Nagar because life here is affordable.
While they established a second time a foothold in the city their situation still seems precarious. Different
then others they were not able to secure an own property and remain at the bottom of the food chain,
pushed around by landlords and forced to move to a next cheap rented home.
In that perspective, the story of Dinesh and Begum is quite telling, as they partially returned to the village for
some time to make a second attempt to establish in Mumbai. For them and many others the village is not
only a reference point for identity but also a mean to keep open economic opportunities offered in the city
through strategically shifting between the two places. Destinations of circular migration are seen in the
perspective of the opportunities they reciprocally offer. The initially low rent allowed them to stay and to
All names changed.
As the research was not directed towards this end, this is not representative and residents in other corners may have different
biographies and reasons to live in Shivaji Nagar.
5 A side effect of such an approach towards the basic statistical unit, is the challenge of the the notion of household itself (SchmidtKallert, 2009).
3
4

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support their family in the village, and the village allowed managing a temporary financial crisis. Such
reciprocal support of village and city residence stands in strong contrast to one-directional perception of
migration as formulated for example by Mosse, Gupta and Shah: seasonal labour migration to urban
construction sites has become the means - perhaps the only means - to reproduce valued agricultural
livelihoods. (Mosse, Gupta and Shah, 2005, p.3028).
The transformative potential of rental spaces
While it is widely acknowledged that cheap rental spaces are essential for much of the circular migrating
population, the production of rental spaces in neighbourhoods like Shivaji Nagar is an often-underestimated
driver of spatial transformation and incremental development. According to an overview study roughly twothirds of households own their houses in Indian slums (Nakamura, 2013). In inversion of the argument, we
can assume that many households relay on income through rents.
Owning a house and renting out additional space is not forcefully leading to a settled way of life. Rather the
landlord is likely to share with his tenant a circular migrating lifestyle. But as a source of income, renting a
room secures the livelihood of many. As is the case for example of an elderly couple, which for a living sells
vegetables on the local street market in Shivaji Nagar. The transformation of the upper floor of their twostory house into a rental space allowed them to retain the house and stay in the neighbourhood.
That the model of rental spaces is fare more transformative then just adding to the landlords income, I came
to learn when interviewing Naushad. His house showcases at least for me the surprising fact that almost an
entire alley or six out of nine houses were built at the same time by one contractor. But there was more
behind those houses then the obvious intention of the owners to save money by coordinating construction.
The six houses must have been in a very bad condition, when the owners approached the contractor to
improve their houses. But they hand not enough money to improve their situation. Luckily for them, the
contractor was urgently looking for work. So he offered to chip in some money and re-build the houses but
instead of single-story as two-story houses. In exchange for his engagement he would take the upper floor of
each house and rent the rooms out himself.
To understand this, we have to know that there are two common ways of rent payments in Shivaji Nagar. On
one side we have the regular rent system, where tenants pay a deposit and a monthly amount and on the
other side there is the so-called heavy deposit. In the later the tenant pays a lump sum to the owner and then
lives free of cost in the house. When he moves out, the same amount must be reimbursed. We could say the
tenant occupies a room on his interest. The heavy deposit allows not only building houses and improving the
living conditions of inhabitants, where there is little money, but for example also to bridge a financial crisis.
Those with the luck of early arrival, which succeeded to secure a house, make possible a start for following
migrants by building rental spaces and at the same time capitalize on them. Given a certain security of tenure,
investment in real estate is a major way out of poverty. Investment and improvement in houses, such as extra
floors for rental purpose secures additional income. Such livelihood diversification of multi-locational
household leads to social change in both destinations of temporary migrants (Deshingkar and Farrington,
2009) and goes along with physical transformation of their habitats. In contrast, uncertainty leads to return to
the rural destination and prevents from investment in urban homes.
Strategic investments
Originating from a village near Pandharpur in Maharashtra, Omkar at the age of 14 moved to New Mumbai
in 2001. He could rent an apartment from his uncle in Kamothe Village, which despite its name is a
residential sector in the fast growing city of New Mumbai. This tween city was planned in the 60ies with the
goal to unburden Mumbai form population growth. With its booming development in the last twenty years,
New Mumbai became the dream destination for many residents of Mumbai. Through the help of a friend he
found a work in Bandra at a gas company for which he delivers gas cylinder. He commuted to work everyday
by public transport, which took him about two hours each way. Six years after his arrival Omkar married
Amisha, a girl from his native village. Both the parents are in their native village and they regularly visit them
twice a year on religious or familial occasion and if needed also support during harvest. His fathers brother at
that time lived in Shivaji Nagar on the ground floor of a two-story house and his other nephew stayed on the
first floor. As the uncles family grew bigger and reached six members, the one room of 150 square feet
(almost 14sqm) became to small. So in 2010 they swapped their place of residence with Omkar and Amisha.
With that exchange of home the young family moved closer to his workplace reducing the commute by half.
More over they moved from an apartment style home to a so-called slum where they live in a ground floor
room that opens directly to the alley. When asked about her preferences Amisha, with whom most of the

228

interview was made, is undecided and several times shifted from pointing out the advantages of the Kamothe
Village apartment to the benefits of Shivaji Nagar and back.
Such reasoning is not entirely hypothetical as they bought an apartment themselves in Kamothe Village one
year ago. They took a loan and bought a 1BHK6 apartment close to his uncle place. So why are they still in
Shivaji Nagar? Are they unable to decide where to live? It is most probably not the higher living expenses in
Navi Mumbai and the longer commute that make them take this choice. As of know they remain staying in
Shivaji Nagar because it works out better in their budget to stay and repay the loan. They are hopping to
move next year. Meanwhile they rent out their apartment in Kamothe Village, which makes economically
sense as they pay less for the rent in Shivaji Nagar.
As tenants of his uncle they profited from a low rent. But lately the uncle decided to sell his house. Taking
care of his nephews, he sold under the condition that they remain tenants. The neighbour, a chai vendor and
good friend of the uncle, didnt hesitate long. At the time of the interview the two nephews could stay
although the new landlord raised the rent by 30% to market level. Moreover only two month later the new
owner decided to rebuild the house and subsequently raised the rent even higher. Now that there is a toilet
inside, a higher plinth protects from flooding and the ceiling height is increased, the house is considered
much better. Even with the increased rent, Omkar and Amisha still make a profit from renting their own
apartment.
Omkar and Amisha are at the same point, where as his uncle was some years ago: renouncing and saving for
a better future and investing in real estate for a better future. For that they strategically plan ahead and take
advantage from the varying conditions in the housing market at different locations. Here property in the
formal development of Grater Mumbais boom area seems to offer a good opportunity. They count on the
apartment in the formal city as complementary income as well as a potential future place of living7. In order
to achieve this goal, they depend in the mean time on the economical advantages, such as low rents and
cheap living conditions of Shivaji Nagar.
Multi-locational household has been primarily seen as a livelihood strategy of the poor. More recently there
are attempts to differentiate between coping and accumulative types of circular migration (Schmidt-Kallert,
2009; Deshingkar and Farrington, 2009). In Shivaji Nagar we can notice that these types life side-by-side or
even in the same house as tenant and landlord. Moreover, there seems to be a smooth transition or at least a
fuzzy boundary between the two types. In that real estate and particularly the potential of houses in
settlements like Shivaji Nagar to adapt in small increments plays a major role.
Conclusion
At the beginning, I asked myself, how are urban places of touch down of circular urbanism transformed and
how these transformations sustain circulatory migration? Tracing the live of residents from their place of
origin to their current urban residence and back, reveals that rural-urban inter-linkages reach deep into the
core of a city and persist even in a (former) housing colony with a rectangular grid seemingly void of any rural
activity. It turned out that settlements like Shivaji Nagar are important places, as they allow migrants not only
to keep up their circulatory way of life, but also to improve it. In order to understand the processes that drive
these changes, the household or the extended family is a key concept. Residents in Shivaji Nagar often endure
hardships and privation in aspiration for a better future, if not for themselves then for their children. The dire
conditions of life in Mumbais informal settlements can only be survived physically and mentally because
there is an elsewhere (Echanove and Srivastrava, 2014). Similar coping strategy can be observed all over the
world (Saunders, 2010). Investments for change are made with a long time horizon the better future is a
generational project.
The resident driven transformation manifests at rural and urban destinations of circular migration and
changes both habitats socially and physically. While such change, and particularly the production of rental
spaces at urban destinations, might support additional relatives or newcomers to enter circular migration, it
primarily improves the situation of the owner. However due to the small size of plots with individual
ownership in Shivaji Nagar many families can profit from these opportunities and hence different stages of
BHK is the abbreviation for Bedroom Hall Kitchen referring to the apartments spatial arrangement used equally in professional as in
everyday language. Obviously the prefix indicates the number of bedrooms. In Mumbai everyday language is infused by real-estate slang.
7 In her arguments, Amisha points to increasing tensions in Shivaji Nagar. The Hindu community fears that the neighbourhood is
taken over by the Muslim community. Although Shivaji Nagar is a Muslim dominated neighbourhood, the better of were the Hindu
communities. But recently the Hindu residents seem to be bought out notably by returning migrants from the golf area, which heavily
invest in property and housing. As a result many from the Hindu community left or made provisions to do so. New Mumbai and there
particularly Kamothe Village seems to be desired destination.
6

229

development exist side by side. The transformative character of Shivaji Nagar allows families to shift
efficiently from a stage where migration is essential for survival to migrating as a strategy for accumulating
assets, savings and investments. And real estate often paves the way for this move. In this process the
individual migration modality might change number, lengths of and reasons for visits but the connections
between the village and the city remain intact, upheld maybe by a different family member.
While the house is usually a familys biggest asset, it plays rarely a passive role but is leveraged in different
ways to improve living condition. The malleability of its built form and adaptability of houses to the changing
social and economical condition of residents migrating or not makes settlements like Shivaji Nagar to
places of social upward mobility. Not for all but particularly for those with access to property.
Taking into account the above-mentioned issues, we definitely have to rethink our conception of the urban
and of urban transformation. What matters is how people and places are connected and how people,
information and capital flows from one to the other transforming both people and places (Echanove and
Srivastrava, 2014, p.36). In the light of the horizontal metropolis and similar conceptions of urban
transformation it becomes clear, that we can only understand the development of urban settlements like
Shivaji Nagar, when we understand how they are connected to far away places through multi-local residence
of its circular migrating population. Distant places are intimately connected and inter-dependent and they
ultimately only make sense by reciprocally refereeing each other not as antagonists but as parts of the same
urbanisation process. This is certainly true for the residents but also for those who think about urban
transformation.

230

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Is Vertical Agglomeration the New Horizontal Urbanity of Asian Megacities?

Mapping the Morphological Consequences of Proliferating Private Enclaves
Shaping the Urban Landscape of Seoul
Soe Won Hwang

Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Department of Environmental Planning, Seoul National University
Supervisor: Kim Kwang-Joong (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University)
Expected thesis defence: June, 2016
soehwang@gmail.com

Asian megacities are increasingly manifesting the rapid transformation of the urban form and Seoul
exemplifies these distinctive morphological characteristics, such as regional homogeneity, consecutive
clustering, disconnectedness, radical contrast, gated exclusiveness and radical contrast, throughout the urban
landscape. The massive provision of apartment complexes has been the major contributor to this indigenous
ubanicity. Through documenting a generative typology by the development method, and locational and
aggregation patterns, along with an empirical case analysis regarding spatial and morphological consequences,
some of the key features of urbanicity are analyzed in multi-scalar approaches. Interpretive inquiries include
the unit of change in urban transformation that has been growing over time and has impacted both the urban
fabric and landscape. Moreover, when agglomerated high-rise apartment complexes take over a massive
territory within the existing fine-grained urban site, it causes disconnectedness and discontinuity. As the
enclosed communities become more homogeneous, the degree of sociospatial segregation intensifies,
consequentially resulting in urban fragmentation.
Introduction
Urban fragmentation is a term that has mainly emerged in urban sociospatial discourse. It is associated with
concepts such as segregation, marginalization, disintegration, and relegation and it is raising extensive
challenges to urban planning (Farah & Teller, 2012; Michelutti, 2010).
on urban fragmentation, todays city is a loose agglomeration of quasi-autonomous sociospatial entities, each evolving independently of others, relying on its own resources and on
exchange within networks involving territories and actors on supra-city levels, like the regional
or the global levels (Farah & Teller, 2012, p93).
The proliferation of enclosed private residential communities, which can be denominated as gated
communities or quasi-autonomous sociospatial entities, is a conspicuous global phenomenon that is closely
affiliated with the issue of urban fragmentation in multitudinous ways (Coy, 2006; Farah & Teller, 2012).
Spatially, the agglomerations of private enclaves are changing road structures to match their preferences,
creating archipelagoes that interrupt the reciprocity of the existing urban fabric (Landman, 2006). Physically,
large-scale private territories with walled boundaries diminish accesseses to various public realms and create
inefficiencies, such as detours. The privatization of urban space leads to social issues concerning the publics
right to access the city and, as entrance to private enclaves is only allowed to residents, this may affect
communal solidarity among different social groups (Banerjee, 2001; Kirby, 2008).
Asian megacities are increasingly manifesting the rapid transformation of the urban form and Seoul
exemplifies, although in an idiosyncratic way, its distinctive morphological characteristics, such as
fragmentation, disconnectedness, disorder, abruptness, radical contrast, and random juxtaposition throughout
the urban landscape. The massive provision of apartment complexes has been the major contributor to this
indigenous ubanicity. In Seoul, which experienced rapid urbanization and intense development, the supply of
housing has been the prime concern, resulting in extensive construction of apartment complexes.
Accordingly, the residential environment shows evidence of extremely contrasting forms of development
between individual plot units and large-scale assembled properties, such as apartment complexes. The
proliferation of apartment complexes involves aggregating individual properties into large, collectively owned
parcels developed with high-rise, high-density buildings with distinctive configurations and designs. This
situation has been increasing mostly under public renewal policies and is transforming the existing urban
residential spatial configuration that was once intricately connected.
This research is a manifestation of Korean urbanism, particularly focusing on the historical transformation of
urban residential environments and the increasing proliferation of large-scale apartment complexes as private
enclaves in Korea. Are agglomerations of vertical apartment complexes becoming the new horizontal
urbanity that represents the urban landscape of Seoul? Theoretical perspectives on the increase in private,
enclosed residential communities will be examined in international and indigenous contexts. This paper will
also examine the accumulated urban landscape shaped through typological analysis and multi-scalar mapping

232

followed by a comprehensive interpretation. The study will attempt to trace the spatial and morphological
consequences to provide a foundational understanding in order to further evaluate the phenomenon in terms
of the intensifying physical and social polarization in Seoul and plan for building communal sustainability and
orienting toward an authentic horizontal metropolis.
2. Global Discourse on Various Forms of Enclosed Private Residential Enclaves
Neighborhood privatizations have increased globally over the past half-decade. Scholars recognize the
universally increasing gated features of settlements as a reappearance of the fortified, enclaved ancient urban
forms of the late 20th century (Blakely & Snyder, 1997; Judd, 1991; Morris, 2013). The causes of this
worldwide phenomenon are neo-liberal and capitalist principles of privatization, policies that progressively
accept private capital interests, and desires to pursue a privileged lifestyle (Blakely & Snyder, 1997; Coy,
2006). In particular, the modernization process of urban development led by public-private partnerships or
primarily driven by private companies has resulted in gated and access-restricted residential communities
targeting the upper and middle class. Also, Grant and Mittelsteadt raise individual concerns with property
values, personal safety, and communal amenities, which provoke the layering of gates and barriers to protect
ones territory (2004).
Increasing privatization of territory raises complicated issues and concerns in spatial, physical, and social
dimensions. Banjeree points out that the deferred substitution of private participation for the governments
role has resulted in commodification of urban space and public good, and a constant decline in the quality
and supply of public spaces (Banjeree, 2001, p12). This results in extensive privatization of public spaces and
expanding privately controlled spaces (Blakely & Snyder, 1997; Kirby, 2008). Continuous propagation of
walled boundaries leads to diminishing access to streets and former public spaces and amenities, causing
inefficiencies; income and social status also come into play in denying entry. These concerns regarding spatial
justice or social exclusion are acknowledged as ones right to the city(Mitchell, 2003).
gated communities deepen the fragmentation of urban society and urban space. Due to their
totally privatized organization, they form new extraterritorial spaces beyond public management
and control and, consequently, they render the boundaries between public and private space
increasingly irreconcilable. (Coy, 2006, p.122)
Enclosed private residential communities are becoming more exclusive and segregated, and the proliferation
of this condition is generating sociospatial differentiation, leading to discontinuity and fragmentation of urban
spaces (Coy, 2006; Vesselinov et al, 2007). Aggravating social polarization further instigates a desire for a
more homogeneous lifestyle and surrounding environment, which decreases solidarity between different
social groups, as Janoscha and Borsdorf mention (Janoschka & Borsdorf, 2004).
Lately there has been increased academic evaluation of these private residential developments in various
regions, which has considered the disparate historical context, socioeconomic background, and policy factors
that produced different evolutionary processes and urban forms (Grant & Mittelsteadt, 2004; Townshend,
2006). This research on the proliferation of apartment complexes is obviously focused on aggregated
settlement patterns of enclosed, private residential developments, which is congruent with the worldwide
issue of increasing gated private enclaves; however, discrepancies exist as the subject does not fall exactly
within the westernized perspectives such as gated communities, modernist urban planning, developmental
urbanization, and so forth (Blakely & Snyder, 1997). The previously mentioned processes of placeprivatization and the spatial manifestation of private enclaves show diversified configurations (Townshend,
2006). According to several scholars, empirical evidence that conveys the physical and spatial relationship of
residential segregation is limited and contradictory. This is because of differing geographical conditions,
methodologies, and data, all of which are inevitable, or even reasonable, at a certain level (Le Goix, 2005).
Therefore, instead of subclassifying or establishing a premise, for instance, labeling apartment complexes as
gated communities, the study will make an effort to embrace coinciding aspects and issues from multiple
facets of the literature and simultaneously diagnose the indigenous spatial and morphological consequences
that have shaped the urban fabric, form, and landscape.
3. Generative History and Evolution of Apartment Complex Development in Seoul
Socioeconomic Background and Policy
In Seoul, the residential development of apartments began in the 1970s as the national economy achieved a
high level of growth, the middle-class expanded, and foundational housing construction enactments,
especially for apartments, were established (Kim, 2001). The first apartment complexes developed were based
on Perrys Neighborhood Unit Plan, which established enclosed communities that are self-contained and
include housing, internal roads, open spaces, and communal facilities (Kim & Choi, 2012). Policies such as
the Apartment District allowed high-rise apartments to dominate the extensive provision of housing over

233

detached houses [fig.1]. Intensive concentration of the city of Seoul in the 1980s resulted in constant
shortages of housing stock, which led to the development of exceptionally large-scale Newtown-In-Towns
(NIT) in several outskirt regions under the Land Development Plan. In this process, the publics role
considerably diminished as the apartment complexes were developed mainly by private developers. As a
consequence, enhanced infrastructure and public, yet privatized spaces were delivered by private construction
companies. In the 1990s, the government encountered a financial crisis and the construction business went
through a period of contraction. As all the available land was occupied, residential development also shifted
toward renewing extant built-up areas. Redevelopment Projects for reforming obsolete urban infrastructure
and building sites, and Reconstruction Projects for improving deteriorating buildings, became widespread
from the 1990s and still show continuous momentum (Park, 2009). As a derivative, the New Town Project
emerged in the 2000s, where the public consolidated several redevelopment and reconstruction projects into
a uniform regional development. However, a large portion of supply has depended on individual housing
construction and small-scale reconstruction projects (Koh, 2014). Also in this era, branded apartment
complexes appeared from major construction companies, providing distinctive, upgraded spatial qualities, and
images of prestige through marketing. The provision of apartments has been constantly increasing compared
to other types of housing and now constitutes over half of the housing industry. How is this dominant type
of apartment complex proliferating spatially and how are they coming together to represent prevailing
landscape patterns?

Fig.1. Generative Typology and Locational Patterns

Generative Typology, and Location and Aggregation Patterns

As referenced in an earlier section, generative typologies can be classified into five categories: superblocks
and their aggregations from the 1970s; large-scale NIT en bloc developments in the 1980s; and redevelopment
projects, reconstruction projects, and small-scale reconstruction projects from the 2000s. Superblock
apartment complexes were planned along the Han River from the 1970s under the Apartment District
policy. Their aggregation generates a continuous urban fabric of inclusive, self-sufficient communities. NIT
projects were intended to develop agricultural lands in urban-suburban regions on a large-scale. A few
Newtown projects from the 2000s also shares similar aspects, and are included in this category.
Redevelopment projects are located around the periphery of the old city or substandard residential areas.
Reconstruction projects appear primarily as replacements for existing apartments districts that are obsolete.
Lastly, small-scale reconstruction projects are widespread due to the transformation of several individual
parcels into a collective property within the existing urban fabric that mostly constitutes detached housing
areas.
The aggregation pattern can be divided largely into planned and spontaneous settlements. Within the planned
category, the master-planned en bloc type includes NIT and some of the New Town projects. The superblock
type is composed of large-scale, entire urban blocks as individual apartment complexes that are consecutively
aggregated, and form a continuous fabric. Medium- to large-scale redevelopment and reconstruction projects
are independently planned, yet exemplify a spontaneous configuration within the urban landscape. The
spontaneity is again classified into a more conformed clustering that respects the existing road structure,
geography, and surrounding urban context, while irregular clustering occurs within the existing fine-grain

234

fabric, with its territorial boundaries not necessarily conforming to the site. The small-scale projects are also
subdivided into relatively conformed developments within the neighborhood blocks and the sporadically
scattered type that does not conform to the surroundings.
4. Extracting Characteristics of Urbanicity through Empirical Analysis
Based on the former discussion, some prevalent characteristics of urbanicity can be extracted: homogeneity,
consecutive clustering, disconnectedness, gated exclusiveness and radical contrast. These spatial and
morphological characteristics may not be all-encompassing, but they are certainly some of the most
representative and idiosyncratic conditions that Seoul is coping with at present. Likewise, multiple
characteristics may emerge, converge, and coexist in one area; however, sites were selected where the
conditions are particularly conspicuous [fig.2].
Four scales will be used: a city scale, in which the former generative typologies, and location and aggregation
pattern, were illustrated. A regional scale is used for examining homogeneity among the large-scale NIT. A
district scale is applied to conveying consecutive clustering patterns and disconnected areas. The
neighborhood dimension includes selected apartment complexes to convey the phenomenon of gated
exclusiveness and radical contrast.

Fig.2. Type of Urbanicity and Location of Case Areas

Homogeneity
Once a certain scale of aggregation evolves into a continuous consequence, or a region is developed en bloc
under a master-plan, homogeneity becomes obvious in the urban fabric and form. Several large regions in
Seoul have been developed under the Land Development Project of the 1980s, as mentioned earlier, and
Sanggye and Joonggye are exceptional cases where the scale has expanded, creating an NIT within Seoul. An
overall projection of the region displays an aggregation of similarly sized apartment complexes that are
planned so as to conform to the road structure. The internal building groups within each complex generally
show a uniform vertical orientation and analogous physical features. To acquire an evidence-based
understanding, 50 apartment complexes were selected for in-depth analysis: 23 apartment complexes that
were developed under the Sanggye Land Development Project and each 11 and 16 complexes constructed
under the Joonggye Land Development Project 1 and Project 2 were studied to convey their homogeneity
[fig.3].

235

Fig.3. Apartment Complexes in NIT Development

Site
Areas

Complex
Size

Household
Density

Stories

Number
of Bldgs.

Bldg.
Style*

A
(N=23)

Mean:
63458m2
Median:
66760m2

Mean:
2.51

Max:
25
Min:
4

Mean:
15.7
Median:
17

F: 30.4%
M: 8.7%
F+M:
60.9%

B
(N=11)

Mean:
54312m2
Median:
60655m2

Mean:
3

Max:
15
Min:
7

Mean:
12.2
Median:
12

F: 54.4%
M: 36.4%
F+M:
9.1%

C
(N=16)

Mean:
35750m2
Median:
29195m2

Mean:
2.32

Mean:
8.3
Median:
6.5

F: 93.8%
M: 6.2%
F+M: 0%

Total
(N=50)

Mean:
52923m2
Median:
40819m2

Mean:
2.56

Mean:
12.5
Median:
11.5

F: 56%
M: 14%
F+M:
30%

Max:
15
Min:
10
Max:
14.6
Min:
11.6

Bldg.
Arrangements**
1: 69.6%
2: 4.3%
3: 4.3%
4: 13%
5: 8.7%
1: 63.6%
2: 27.3%
3: 9.1%
4: 0%
5: 0%
1: 81.2%
2: 6.2%
3: 0%
4: 0%
5: 12.5%
1: 72%
2: 10%
3: 4%
4: 6%
5: 8%

Orientation***
SW: 82.6%
SE: 17.4%
S: 0%
SW: 100%
SE: 0%
S: 0%
SW: 18.8%
SE: 6.2%
S: 75%
SW: 66%
SE: 10%
S: 24%

Table 1. Homogeneity Analysis of the Case Areas

*The criteria for Architectural Style is based on three categories in which F= Flat, M= Modified and F+M= Flat & Modified type
mixed.
**The criteria for Building Arrangement is based on five categories, where 1= regular, 2= regular attached & perpendicular, 3= regular
detached & perpendicular, 4= regular and irregular array mixed and 5= irregular array.
***The criteria for Directionality/ Orientation is based in three categories in which SW= Southern-West, SE= Southern-East and S=
Southern direction.

As the area was developed consecutively over different periods (A, B and C), there are some distinctive
aspects regarding planning in terms of complex size, household density, height of the building groups, and
architectural style [tab.1]. The total complex size in the Sanggye area (A) is approximately 250300 x 300350
m, which has become smaller as time has passed. The Joonggye-1(B) area has approximately 200 m x 250 msized apartment blocks and Joongye-2 (C) is composed mostly of 150 m x 150 m-sized blocks. The density
increases in B, which was developed soon after A, but decreases to a certain extent in C. The A area has some
low-rise apartments mixed in with the majority of 15-story high-rise buildings. Overall, the architectural style
is quite similar, based on simple linear shapes, with a moderate degree of alteration in width, and sometimes a
perpendicular bend forming a right-angled building. As the apartment complexes in A were planned on a
relatively large-scale, variations of the flat-type apartment seem dominant, while the B and C area are
composed of smaller complexes, where flat-type apartments are preferable for providing more housing that
has a southern exposure. Building arrangements within each complex also show a similar tendency, favoring a

236

regular array. Almost all of the directionality of the buildings orients to the southern exposure. A slight tilt
toward the south-west or south-east happens at times owing to an attempt to conform to the road structure,
which adds cohesiveness throughout the region. Despite some size differences and a small portion of low-rise
buildings mixed in, because of the huge number of aggregated apartment buildings they have a nearly
congruent architectural style and regular array with identical directionality; thus the region exemplifies a
strongly homogeneous urbanicity.
Consecutive Aggregation
Proliferations of individual apartment complexes have also been a major contributing factor, showing various
occupation and aggregation patterns consecutively within the existing urban fabric. Two distinctive forms of
urban fabric were paired up and comparatively analyzed in various dimensions: medium- to large-sized
apartment complexes that cluster and adjoin respectively were classified into conformed clustering types in
Banghak and Chang-dong (A) and irregular clustering types in Dohwa and Gongdeok-dong (B) [fig.4]. How
do individual apartment complexes aggregate over time? What is the intrinsic nature of the proliferating
apartment complexes, and the relationship between other apartment complexes considering geography and
the existing urban fabric?

Fig.4. Conformed and Irregular Clustering Case Areas

In the A area there are three dominant concentrations of apartment complexes. The initial agglomeration of
apartment complexes in the A1 area was built in the late 1980s, and individual complexes were built
consecutively throughout the 1990s, filling in the gaps between or around the existing complexes that border
each other. In the case of A2, one side was developed a phase earlier and the other side later, across some
railroad tracks. The majority of complexes in the A3 area were built in the 2000s, occupying the entirety or a
portion of the existing neighborhood-scale block. All three clusters show a consecutive aggregation over time
that conforms to the urban infrastructure and road system. Compared to the detached housing areas, the sites
with the apartment complexes tend to take advantage of the surrounding geography: A1 is enclosed by hills
and park areas; A2 is adjacent to two subway lines and a large-scale municipal sports complex; and A3 is
situated by a linear public space along the Joong-Lang streamlet and the surrounding hills, which contain a
park and various public sports facilities.
The B area appears to embody strong irregularity. Individual apartment complexes do not necessarily
conform to the road network or surrounding building context within the existing residential fabric, which
mainly consists of detached housing. However, as time has passed, there has been an aggregation tendency
between apartment complexes, and in this case there are again three strong concentration areas: B1 and the
lower portion of B2 developed sequentially from the 1980s to the early and mid-2000s. As the existing
detached housing area has been facing obsolescence, redevelopment plans for large apartment complexes are
taking over the upper part of B2. The B3 area shows redeveloped apartment complexes from the 2000s that
have a linear directionality along the road. While the A area shows a decline in apartment complexes being
built, B territory is constantly being replaced by apartment complexes.
Disconnectedness
The Mokdong area was developed under the Land Development Plan in the 1980s. As a consequence, the
area shows a continuous, homogeneous urban fabric of aggregated apartment blocks, demonstrating a strong
contrast among the bordering detached housing districts. By inserting massive apartment blocks, this
transfiguration has also altered the road network, changing traffic patterns on public streets [fig.5].

237

Fig.5. Analysis of Two Colliding Urban Fabrics

Criteria for (Dis)Connectivity
Division
Road
Length*
Points of
Access

Road
Attribute

Wide-width
Middle-width
Narrow-width
Total Length
Wide-width
Middle-width
Narrow-width
Total Access Points
Through Traffic
Entrance or Alley Ways into
Detached Housing Area
Roads leading into
Residential Area
Controlled Entrance into
Apartment Complex
Number of Bordering Urban Block
Number of Parcel

B
1.4 km
1.6 km
1 km
4 km

4
4
38
46
10

5
4
12
21
9

36

43
115

10
44

Table 2. Analysis of Two Colliding Urban Fabrics

*The criteria for Division Road Length are defined as; wide-width= 8~10lanes, 40~42m in width, middle-width= 4~6 lanes, 20~24m
in width and narrow width= 2 lanes, 4~10m in width.

Disconnectedness is evaluated in terms of traffic and accessibility through a major division road in the
selected area [tab.2]. The total length of the division road is 4 km and the majority of it medium to wide in
width, which creates a distinct separation between the two bordering areas. While there are 46 access points
within the detached housing area, the apartment complex part has half this number. Moreover, access points
to the apartment complex fabric indicate that 9 out of 21 are controlled and restricted.
The detached housing area is based on a grid pattern, containing quite a number of urban blocks and narrow
streets or alleys on both sides of each block. Multiple throughways are allowed, providing numerous points of
intersection and accessibility. On the other hand, the apartment complex fabric is composed of nearly
continuous, large-scale parcels and accessibility is only possible through complex entranceways; only a little
traffic is allowed to pass through. Once an intricately connected street in a different scale has been cut off,
alleyways and small neighborhood intersections decline. As Landman pointed out, by closing the lower-order
streets, vehicles and pedestrians have been displaced and forced to make use of only the main arterials
(2006, p139). Encroachment of private, enclosed residential developments is leading to blockages and
discontinuity of traffic flow from one side to the other, resulting in a certain degree of inefficiency or
discomfort in daily use, as accessibility is reduced or restricted, thus generating detours (Grant & Mittelsteadt,
2004).
Gated Exclusiveness
Many scholars and practitioners, including Gelzeau, have noticed signs of growing sociospatial segregation;
this is especially obvious among the apartment complexes that emerged in the 1990s as gated communitystyle residential developments (Gelzeau, 2008). Apartment complexes constructed earlier were developed
based on the Neighborhood Unit Plan, and fulfilled basic conditions for self-containment. The entire
complex property is privately owned and no through traffic is allowed. There are only a few points of entry

238

and exit, intended for residents only, and the boundary is marked by physical barriers such as gates, walls, and
fences. Since the 1990s these barriers have diversified, and now incorporate exclusive landscapes and
environmental designs; furthermore, there has been increasing use of closed-circuit televisions for video
surveillance and vehicle controlling security systems.

Fig.6. Selected Cases of Gated Apartment Complexes

Complex
(year built)
A (2005)
E (2001)
F (2000)
G (2001)
B (2012)
C (2012)
D (2012)
Total

Surrounding Vertical Border Condition

Other Function as Buffer

Control of Access

Low
wall

Low
landscape

High
Landscape

High
Fence

High
wall

Public
facility

Commercial
facility

Private
facility

Vehicle
control

Security
system

Gate

!
!
!
!
"
"
"
3

!
"
!
"
!
"
!
3

"
"
"
"
!
"
!
5

"
!
"
!
!
!
!
2

!
"
"
"
!
"
"
5

!
!
!
!
"
"
"
3

!
"
!
"
"
!
!
3

!
"
"
"
"
"
"
6

"
!
!
"
"
"
"
5

"
"
"
"
"
"
"
7

!
!
!
!
"
"
"
3

Table 3. Boundary Condition and Access Control of Gated Complexes

The case of the Geumho area reveals that the gating condition has been aggravated within apartment
complexes [fig.6 & tab.3]. This segregation trend became relatively apparent in the late 1990s, but can also be
seen in seven apartment complexes that were built from the early 2000s until recently. There is a noticeable
difference between the four apartment complexes built in the early 2000s and the three built in 2012:
complexes 5, 6, and 7 are surrounded mostly by high walls and intentionally high landscaping, whereas the
recently built 2, 3, and 4 implement low fences or walls, and tend to avoid tall vertical elements. Instead,
other functional buffering elements are deliberately placed along the peripheral boundary. Public parks or
commercial programs can be public to semi-public, whereas placing private communal buildings or parking
towers is another way to deny access. Complexes 2 and 3 show a condition where the entrance gate has been
intentionally placed on a secondary road, requiring a detour from the main road, and this is typical. This
circumstance creates an explicit privatization of public roads that are only used by the two adjacent
apartments residents. In order to control access, recent complexes have been adding vehicle control systems
and erecting prominent, aggrandized entrance gates; this is in addition to the use of security guards, who have
been employed since an earlier period. Further studies on expanded cases should be executed to generalize
the increasingly prevalent gating phenomenon; however, there is a meaningful implication for how the private
enclaves are marking their borders intentionally in various ways and layering control systems to deepen the
degree of segregation. This shows a lack of consideration for adhering to the existing urban context and
deprivation of positive interaction and a shared sense of community (Vesselinov et al., 2007).
Radical Contrast
Jamsil area exemplifies the aggregation of apartment superblocks, forming a continuous fabric that recently
went through redevelopment. However, in order to achieve a profit, increase housing prices, and allow for
sufficient green open spaces, the redeveloped apartments were built as high-rises, with a distinctive
configuration and uniform architectural design. The issue lies with the coexistence of adjacent areas that were

239

planned in the 1970s under the Land Readjustment Projects; they are composed of small plots with
individual low-rise buildings. The large, collectively owned parcels of each apartment complex exhibit
extremely contrasting aspects compared to the surrounding urban context.

Fig.7. Radically Contrasting Urban Context Case Area

Com
plex
A1
A2
A3
A4
B1
B2
B3
B4

Year
Built
2008
2008
2007
2006
1980s
1970s
1980s
1980s

Block area
approx. size
276280m2
284230m2
181850m2
145380m2
474685m2
269818m2
279446m2
404555m2

Block dimension
approx. length
600*480m
580*550m
640!350!130!570m
450*330m
540!770!660!660!600m
400*750m
430*670m
430*910m

Total
Households
5678
5563
3696
2678
7757
4311
5626
8076

Total Residential
Buildings
72
65
46
35
5178
2004
3425
5481

Stories
17~34
21~33
19~32
19~32
3~5
3~5
3~5
3~5

Table 4. Character of Contrasting Urban Blocks

Figure 6 shows the extreme difference in parcel size, street layout within the urban block, buildings and
building arrangement, and the amount of green open space [fig.6]. A hidden layer of underground level which
is not shown only applies to the apartment complex superblocks (A1~A4) that accommodates approximately
135% of the household number, where shortage is parking space in the low-rise surrounding area (B1~B4) is
constantly a critical problem. The number of total households seems similar; however, the B1B4 area is also
composed of a linear pattern of commercial buildings along the major roads that may add up to a much larger
portion of components [tab.4]. An extreme contrast can be detected in the number of total residential
buildings per block area. In addition, the number of stories, which represents the height of the buildings,
indicates a severe disparity. This has a huge influence in shaping the urban landscape and also generates
overpowering physical, visual, and emotional disproportion within the urban experience on the human scale.
Discussion and Conclusion
Agglomeration is defined as the clustering of similar as well as dissimilar economic, social, cultural and
governmental activities in a given location(p139), and Richter has noted that this agglomeration theory can
be utilized to explain spatial clustering (Kaplan et al, 2004). It may also be applicable in the case of the
increasing spread of high-rise, high-density, and highly privatized apartment complexes, which propagate
within the existing heterogeneous urban fabric and locational context. However, vertical agglomeration is
increasingly dominating and producing complexity within its aggregation patterns; these are shaping the
indigenous landscape and becoming perceived as a new horizontal datum that overrides most of the benefits
of urban living.
Through documenting spatial and morphological consequences of proliferating private enclaves, some of the
key features of urbanicity can be deduced. They are: homogeneity, conforming and irregular consecutive
clustering, disconnectedness, gated exclusiveness and radical contrast. From these characteristics, there are
several points that should be addressed by further interpretive inquiries.
First, as apartment complexes are based on collective, joint parcel development, from the small-scale to the
NIT-regional-scale, the unit of change in urban transformation has been growing over time. In the Jamsil

240

area, the disparate size of units through different development processes has resulted in an extreme contrast
in architectural buildings, accessible green open spaces, amenities, parking spaces and other urban
infrastructure, density, skyline, and the extension of the sociodemographic characteristics of residential
community members. The juxtaposition of the two profoundly different contexts presents an abruptness
with no intermediate buffering. Urban scholars have been pointing out that large-scale complexes are less
flexible in adapting to future urban transformation compared to detached, semi-detached or multi-plex
housing that is replaced through incremental change by parcel-by-parcel infill development (Kim, 2001;
Park, 2013a; Park, 2013b).
Second, when an apartment complex takes over a massive territory within the existing fine-grained urban site,
it inevitably causes disconnectedness and discontinuity. The large complexes sometimes alter traffic patterns
or obstruct access to public spaces that were once an intricately connected fabric. Moreover, the total length
of physical barriers is increasing, as well as the differentiation and discrepancy in infrastructural resources
between internal complex environments and their vicinity, which promotes a sense of incompatibility and
disconnects the two neighboring spatial systems (Le Goix, 2005). Moreover, the gating and access restrictions
have been progressively reinforced by each apartment complex, especially in the past decade. A simple way of
marking a boundary, such as installing a low wall or fence and placing a safety guard, was the default setting
since the initial apartment construction era in the 1970s. However, Gelzeau argues that the neo-liberal
transformation of Korean housing construction since the mid-1990s has led to the emergence of gated
community-style residential environments (Gelzeau, 2008). The border condition has evolved into a
complicated layering of various barriers, and access control has become excessively fortified. This has
ushered in not only a steady decline in overall public spaces, but also an increase in privatized, privileged
quality spaces for the internal community. These communities are comprised of families with similar social
status, making the private enclaves more homogeneous and intensifying the degree of sociospatial
segregation, consequentially resulting in spatial stratification and urban fragmentation (Gelzeau, 2008; Ha,
2004; Kirby, 2008; Low, 2003; Shin, 2009).
The expansion of large-scale complexes with high-rise, high-density apartment buildings is producing another
level of horizontality in the metropolis of Seoul. This particular type of living is constantly proliferating in
various forms and the yearning to live in private, enclosed complexes with refurbished resources does not
seem likely to disappear, as land is limited, the quality or quantity of public infrastructure is insufficient, and
the private sector is dominating the field of housing construction.
Urban issues regarding private enclaves involve not only spatial and physical issues, but most importantly, the
social aspects associated with urban residents. As spatial and social polarization is intensifying along with the
continual agglomeration of private enclaves, it is imperative to approach this issue from both sides: to
reconsider and reconfigure the isolating gated exclusiveness of apartment complexes in alternative ways to
connect yet maintain a certain degree of privacy. From the perspective of the existing urban fabric, the public
should be responsible for proposing a master plan for the area that is less deconstructive or fragmentary, but
instead is an overall, integrated vision. For instance, well-connected passageways and various public or
buffering spaces should be provided (Park, 2009). The alternative horizontality may be accomplished by
accepting the aggregating fragmentation as a foundational condition and working to find resolutions for
building communal sustainability that conveys multiple level of congruence.
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Elements in Desakota
Qinyi Zhang
Affiliation: IUAV Venezia
Supervisor: Paola Vigan
Expected thesis defence: February, 2017
Zhangqinyi0203@gmail.com
This paper has two parts. The first part tries to present a process of different urbanization in Yangtze River Delta and the
different production models implemented in this process. This process depicts an alternative tradition of thinking and
practice of city-in-the-fields in China next to the city-centered urbanization. The second part observes the vast space in
between big cities in Yangtze River Delta that is built through this urbanization process, a space with a mixed character of
both urban and rural. It tries to exam this space from an elementary point of view, as a starting point to imagine a
fundamental transformation of the territory.

Part I
1.1 The agricultural economy
Karl Wittfogel describes in his Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power published in 1957 the
society of China as a combination of an apparatus state, an agricultural economy, insignificant businessman
and craftsman class, and, different from other hydraulic empires, a huge peasant class each of whom owns
very small piece of land. This reality has never been fundamentally reformed1, and it urges a mixture of
agricultural and non-agricultural activities from the beginning.
A huge peasant class with small land for each means a dense population. The dense and growing population
offsets the high productivity of the land. In 1991, the agricultural productivity index of land reached almost 3
times of the world average (1422 to 515), but the productivity per labor was less than half of the world
average (422 to 1080).
Yangtze River Delta is an extreme case of regions with this agricultural economy. The delta slightly inclines
from the north to the south, from the east to the west. The periphery of the delta is 3-5 meter above the sea
level while most part of the center, where the Tai Lake is located, is lower than 3 meter above the sea level.
The main agricultural product is rice because of the climate: a 300-days-a-year season suitable for agriculture,
and a precipitation around 1200mm a year. Fei explains the mechanism between this type of agriculture and
the dense settlements with a specific case study on Kaixiangong village: each labor was capable to cultivate a
field of 0.4 ha (Fei, 1939, page 152), which directly defined a precise density of population (around 800/km2).
In order to manage the water, the field has to be organized in wei (a piece of land surrounded by water)
subdivided into jin. The irrigation and drainage of each jin calls for a collective work among families. It
assembles an incredibly dense network of villages 20 min walking-distance from each other.
The small land that each family owns produces the food just enough for the family to consume. The working
season of the rice field is from June to the beginning of December, with a vacation from July to September in
between, and it involves neither the women nor the children. The redundant labor is spent on silk production
and inter-village trading to gain extra income for other necessary family expenses. Fortunately, the bowlshaped topography and rich precipitation of the delta pushed the inhabitants to build one of the densest
systems of rivers, canals and lakes in the world -- an extreme fine water transport system able to collect and
exchange the products among all the villages.
A delicate but stable balance is built between the density of population, the productivity of the rice
agriculture, and the water-network-based business system. The saturated land productivity does not demand
more labors to be invested in it, which leaves the redundant labor no choice but constant struggle to look for
other source of income to survive. Philip Huang defines this situation as involution2, a fundamental
challenge through the history of China: to relocate the enormous surplus labor in agriculture.
The constant attempt of this relocation starts from the inside the rural area. In 19th century, Marx pointed out
that the base of Chinese economy was a integration of small scale agriculture and family-based industry.
(Marx, 1890-94, III, part 1, page 318) Fei witnessed the fall of silk craft during the 30s when the machinemade product from Japan entered the international market, and the villagers desperately tried to raise pigs and
1 The arable land in China was 0.21 ha/capita around 1900s, 0.2 ha/capita in 1930s, 0.25 ha/capita in 1950s, 0.1 ha/capita in 2013, which
is less than half of the world average. In 1999, the arable land per labor was 0.29 ha in China, while it was 1.1 ha in Japan, 17 ha in
France, and 52.7 in United States.
(source: Wen, 2009, page 26-32)

It is a term originally used by Clifford Geertz on Indonesia as a situation in which the income per labor drops as more labors are
invested, a growth without development.

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sheep; after the war, this endogenous3 motivation found its outlet in the process of industrialization and
urbanization.
1.2 Forms of urbanization
Friedmann compares the development of cities in Flanders described by Fernand Braudel in the middle of
11th century to the one in the lower course of the Yangtze River in the same period -- a flouring, rapidly
urbanizing economy.4 Since then, a peasants life in Yangtze River Delta has been a mixture of agricultural
and non-agricultural activities. This tradition of diverse production and expanded markets on the fertile rice
fields is feeding contemporary rural industrialization in costal China.(Friedmann, 2005, page 43) However,
such a diffused family-based production could not be collected by high mobility: although the ShanghaiHangzhou railway was already built in 1909, huge number of villages and towns relies on the diffuse water
network. According to Feis observation first village-ship factory took place in the 30s Kaixiangong Village
a village far from the railways.
After the establishment of the New China, three stages of urbanization could be recognized, and now we are
at the edge of the 3rd stage. Through those three stages, one could discover a continuous and dispersed
urbanization in the countryside next to the eye-catching urbanization in Chinese cities.
1.2.1 The Maoist era
A radical land reform took place in the beginning of the 50s. In 1953, basically every peasant in China had
his own land, which did not relocate the surplus agricultural population but exuberated the scattering of the
labors. Although the industrial sector was booming in the cities during the first five-year plan (1953-1957),
Poverty rose in countryside, bankrupted peasants ran into cities, and the increase of jobs in cities could not
fulfill the growth of urban population.
Mao perceived and was excited by the endogenous power in the countryside. In his report About the Rural
Collectivization in 1955 he predicted, A national socialistic reform will arrive soon in the countryside, which is
inevitable. He had no doubt that a different approach had to be taken other than the Stalinist one that over
exploits the countryside for the development of the industry and cities. 5In 1961, he stated:
If the redundant rural population rush into the city and over inflate the urban population, it will not be
good. To avoid it, the life standard in the countryside has to be the same of the one in the city, or better.
This problem could be solved with commune. Every commune will have an economic center, and greatly
develop industry according to a united plan, to transform peasants to works in situ. The communes shall have
their universities and cultivate the intellectuals they need. If so, the rural population will not blindly flow to
the cities. (Mao, 1959-1960, page 389-390)

3 John Friedmann explains the urbanization process of china: instead of globalizationan evolutionary process that is driven from
within, as a form of endogenous development. (Friedmann, 2005, page XVI)
4 One of the most important products in Yangtze River Delta is texture, which also happens to be the one in Flanders. From 1862 to
1937, 40 new cities and towns were born in Shanghai district, 24 of them were due to the establishment of factories and markets of
texture (both silk and cotton), only 6 of them were adjunct to the city center of Shanghai. 28 towns were prosperous, 22 of which were
texture related (Huang, 1992, page 244).
5 Before 1958, he spoke several times, the Soviet collective farms develops no industry, only agriculture , in the past (we) thought
only to have industry by the local government, not by the (agricultural) collective, was a residue of Stalinism. (Zhang, 1994, page 177).

244

[fig.1] The people's communes are good by Guangting Rui, 1958

Published by Shanghai educational publishing house
Size: 77.5x108.5 cm

According to Meisner, this direction basically was implemented during the Cultural Revolution, despite of
many constrains. Although the urbanization seems declined on numbers6, the growing rural industries
employed more than 20 million rural labors and established many communes to be the center of knowledge
and technology. He considers the rural industrialization plan as the most successful part of Maos vision of
self-sufficient countryside and rural-urban equivalence. 7

6 During
7

the Maoist era, the rate of urbanization went up to 19.75% in 1960, and declined to 17.55% in 1977.
See Social Results of the Cultural Revolution (Meisner, 1977, page 352)

245

Maos idea of agricultural communes coincides with many utopian thinking at that time. In 1930s, Okhitovich
and Ginzburg presented the idea of disurbanization through the competition entry for Green Moscow and
Magnitogorsk. Its radical elimination of the different between urban and rural area were deeply rooted in
communist thinking by Lenin, Marx and Engels.8 The Maoist communes, especially their light industry
focusing on local condition and targeting on domestic needs, the internal exchange of merchandise, and their
scale in size and population, are very similar to the Agripolitan District that Friedmann proposed in the 70s, as
cityin-the-fields(Friedmann, 1978). Many aspects of the life in the commune that Mao imagined are almost
identical to what Frank Lloyd Wright described in his Broadacre City: for example the idea that one should be
educated in the factories and agricultural fields by working, and the usual expert should be abandoned. In
the end, Friedmann put Mao into this group of tradition:
Although many would come to accept it as a face of nature, the rural-urban divide did not remain
unchallenged. Beginning with Peter Kropotkin and Ebenezer Howard, both with roots in anarchist thinking,
a line of utopians, reformers and revolutionaries that included Lewis Mumford, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mao
Ze Dong had visions of a city in the countryside. (Friedmann, 1996)
The industries, infrastructure, medical services, schools and other facilities were developed rapidly in the
countryside. Together they founded the base of future urbanization and industrialization in China. Today
many traces from that time could be recognized in space: roads with tall trees along them, first schools built
in the countryside, and recently privatized factories that were built in the communes.
1.2.2 Rural industrialization and in-situ urbanization
The economic reform that started in 1978 opened the lid for rural - industrialization. Enterprises owned
collectively by the towns and villages began to mushroom especially in the rural area of the deltas. Small cities
and towns started to grow rapidly, while the growth in of the cities were intentionally limited. The town and
village enterprises were absorbing huge number of local surplus labors from agriculture sector -- most of the
employees of those enterprises were from nearby. Together with the policy of urbanization focused on small
cities and towns, the new model of production brought a dispersed urbanization 9 , or, in the word of
Friedmann, a multi-centric urban field (Friedmann, 2005, page 50). The gap between the urban and the rural
incomes were reduced: the average income in urban area were 2.6 times of the one in rural area in 1978,
and1.5 by the end of the 80s. In fact, this rural urbanization is, instead of a spin-off, a parallel development to
the growing of cities. Friedmann states:
It is true that rural urbanization has been occurring chiefly in the vicinity of large cities, in regions with good
and constantly improving transport connections and commercial linkages. But urban proximity is not, in
my view, primary explanation of why, out of all the developing countries in the world, China is the only
one (with the possible exception of communist Vietnam) where rural industrialization has been truly
transformative. (Friedmann, 2005, page38)
Although the rural industry slowed down its growing pace after the 90s, it still plays a significant role in the
economy of China today. In 2007, the rural enterprises employed more than 150 million labors, which
consist 29.3% of the rural labors; the added value of rural industry is 46.5% of the total industry (Feng, 2008).
In 3006, 34.6% of peasants income was from rural enterprises; especially in Yangtze River Delta, more than
80% of the peasants income was from industrial and service sector (Source: Chinas Agriculture Year Book,
2007).
1.2.3 The city-centered urbanization
From the 90s, the development policy turned to be city-centered together with the introduction of the
industrial parks to house private companies. As McGee suggests:
In places like Kunshan since 1998 this has resulted in an increase in the number of people living in
expanded built-up areas and designated special zones in and around key central towns. It is possible to
suggest that the pattern of urbanization in coastal China is beginning to exhibit tendencies for urban

In the letter from Ginzburg to Le Corbusier in 1930 (Sovremennaia arkhitektura 1930), he quote some of the lines from communists:
A resettlement of mankind is necessary, with the elimination of rural neglect and isolation and the unnatural crowding of huge masses
into the big cities.
Lenin
The separation of town and country has condemned the rural population to millennia of backwardness and the urban population to
being mere wage slaves; it has destroyed the basis for the spiritual development of the former and the physical development of the latter.
Engels
The contradiction between town and country is the coarsest expression of the subjection of the personality to the division of labor,
which transforms the individual into a limited urban animal, on the one hand, and a limited rural animal, on the other.
Marx
9 From 1983 to 1988, the number of towns increased for 1,704 each year (from 2,968 to 11,481), while from 1988 to 2005 it increased for
only 473 a year (from 11,481 to 19,522).

246

concentration in which economies of scale and agglomeration are playing a more important role in urban
formation. (McGee, 2007, page 143).
In Yangtze River Delta, large infrastructures usually in the form of a regular grid are often imposed on top of
the existing pattern of the field. Vast concentrated industrial campuses together with multi-level residential
neighborhoods are expanding in rural area adjacent to central cities and towns. The labors often come from
less developed parts of China and locate themselves into the surrounding villages of the industrial parks. This
model, despite the great economic growth it brings, confronts many critics and challenges: the unemployment
rate has been growing sharply in the cities10; massive waste of space contradicts to the concentration brings
efficiency theory; severe pollution is caused by the concentration of industry. At the same time, the ratio
between the income in urban and rural area rose from less than 2 during the 1980s to more than 3 during the
2010s. Social conflicts emerge while the great number of new incomers from other part of China arrives at
the cities and villages in the light of the city-making movement.
1.2.4 A turning point and a need for a new paradigm
In 2014, The National Plan of New Type of Urbanization (2014-2020) was published, which presents a clear shift
in the focus of development from large cities to small cities and towns. However, this plan presents a new
system of cities extending to the hinterland of China an obsolete tool for the new challenge. It reflects the
mainstream idea on research and planning in China, which centers the role of cities as engines of growth
and leaves the countryside practically out of the scope. Take the official Regional Planning of The Yangtze
River Delta as an example: the regional plan defines Shanghai as the core and plans other nine urban belts;
the cities are categorized into six scales, structured by railways and highways; the different types of industry
are located in different zones. On one hand, the result of this type of projects is almost never as it was
planned: the targeted population in certain cities could be easily out of control; on the other hand, those
studies do not intend to reflect on how the development projects are designed and realized.
At the same time, another group of studies focuses on some villages and deal with the emerging challenges in
rural area: empty villages, aging population, poverty, degraded environment, low quality of housing Called
as rural construction movement, those researches and projects often concentrate on specific villages where
the landscape is relatively qualitative and the rural character is present. They search for new types of program
such as restaurants, home hotels, and nursing homes, and imagine the rural area as the complementary part of
the urban.
Either of the two paradigms neglects the long process of in-situ urbanization taking place on most populated
territories like Yangtze River Delta, and fail to recognize the urgency and potentials there for new
transformation.
The third group of researches recognizes the extensive area with a mixed character of rural and urban. The
most significant one of them is the concept of desakota by Terry McGee, which are regions of an intense
mixture of agricultural and nonagricultural activities that often stretch along corridors between large city
cores.(McGee, 1991, page7) It recognizes several types of spaces on the territory: the major cities, the periurban, Desakota, densely populated rural, and the sparsely populated frontier. While in the peri-urban area
people commute to the city core on a daily base, Desakota implies a more independent and in-situ
development. At the same time, John Friedmann, who has been studying Asia and China for decades,
considers the in-situ urbanization in the rural area as true transformative. Their thesis has been followed
and also challenged by comparable concepts by both Western and Chinese scholars, for instance
interlocking regions by Yixing Zhou (Zhou, 1991), peri-urbanizaiton by Douglas Webster (Webster,
2002) among many others.
Those researches represent another paradigm, which discovers a territory beyond the rural-urban dualism, a
different form of space a mixture of urban and rural space. It has gone beyond the administrative division
of urban and rural areas. If one takes a train from one side of the Yangtze River Delta to another, he/she
would see a continuous space with dispersed housing, factories, infrastructure, farmland, vegetable fields,
water pondsin the rural area, a city-in-the-fields, a result of the long process of in-situ urbanization. Could
it, with new projects and improvement, be the solution towards an ultimate elimination of the urban-rural
dualism, and towards truly socialist (by Ginzburg) and truly democratic(by Frank Wright) cities?

According to the reseach by Feng, Hu and Moffitt, the rate averaged 3.9% in 1988-1995, but rose sharply during the period of mass
layoff from 1995- 2002, reaching an average of 10.9% in the sub period from 2002 to 2009. Source: Shuaizhang Feng, Yingyao Hu,
Robert Moffitt, NBER Working Paper No. 21460, Issued in August 2015, NBER Program(s): PE.

10

247

Part II
2.1 Elements of desakota
On one hand, in many ways, those areas are already cities. Tangqi, an ordinary town in Yangtze River
Delta, has a population density of 1258 inhab/m2 in 2011. The density in many of its villages are higher 1200
inhab/m211, which is much higher than many European city-territories (e.g., Flanders, Ranstad) and also
the utopian Broadacre City. The infrastructure and facilities listed in Friedmanns Agropolis including hardsurface roads, bus services, different types of schools, and health services (Friedmann, 1978, page 185) have
been dispersedly delivered. On the other hand, the quality of the physical environment tremendously
compromises the livability: some fitness instruments put on building wastes makes a dot on the map of
services, but hardly bring any improvement of life for its users. The urban condition is not only presented by
its standard in income, services, infrastructure, energy supply, etc., but also by the quality of space, by its
articulation. As Bernardo Secchi claims:
Each urban part, if observed from the point of view of the constitution of the urban ground, can be
identified through the articulation of the different collective and private spaces: the way and the frequency
with which roads recur and juxtapose, or interact without necessarily following a hierarchical disposition.
What connotes the historical city, and in an opposite sense also the periphery, is a great articulation of the
spaces. The peripheries represent a dramatic reduction of all this; the street becomes uniquely a traffic
channel: a channel from our house to the factory, another channel from the house to the shop. (Secchi,
2001)
When Friedmann imagines that to transform the countryside by introducing and adapting elements of
urbanism to specific rural setting (Friedmann, 1978, page 182), he has in mind the space in rural area in
Europe,12 where the section of the roads, the material of the bike path, the treesthe rural spatial elements
shares a similar standard, function and even form as the ones in the cities.
As a result, a detailed investigation of spatial elements in desakota is needed. It is not new to create a
description or a project of a complex territory through the close reading of its elements. This notion is shared
by a line of great thoughts and researches including Learning from Las Vegas by Brown, Venturi, and Izenour,
The Form of the Territory by Gregotti, The Elementary City by Paola Vigan, and many others. Today, elements of
desakota are under transformation: the dominant rice field has been replaced by a variety of agriculture
including fishing, nursery fields, vegetable fields, etc.; the earth roads are mostly replaced by the concrete
ones, leaving few space for trees; great number of houses are being rebuilt for housing activities and
immigrants All these phenomenon calls for an examination of elements to understand the transformation
of the territory. As a starting point of the research, the following chapters present three of the elements in the
south part of Tangqi town, an exemplary area of the desakota in Yangtze River Delta where one can recognize
a dispersed yet dense population, a mix of rice, fruits, and fish agriculture, developing industries both in the
form of platform and scattered village buildings. The current condition of those elements could provoke new
design themes of those elements, which could change the whole territory through repetition and integration.
2.1.1 Roads
In between the plots of industrial parks, roads are built identically to the ones in the cities: orthogonal grid,
asphalt surface, gutters, more than four vehicle lanes, bike lanes as a separated line or an extra space besides
the vehicle lanes, and sidewalks in concrete bricks. Camphor trees, planted universally in the cities but not
usual in the rural area, are planted on the sidewalks. Those roads render a strong urban character contrasting
to its immediate rural surroundings.
There is almost no detailed regulations for village roads except those: the material should be concrete or
asphalt; the roads linking towns should be wider than 6m, and the roads linking villages should be wider than
3.5m. Concrete is used as the most common material covering the entire section of the village road, because
of its cheapness, low requirement of maintenance, simple technic to build which allows the peasants to
participate, and long life span. Sidewalks could be barely seen. The front space of each peasant house is also
built in concrete, which forms a continuous surface with the road. When a road passes a village or a small
town, this concrete space is often enlarged for parking, car washing, shops and informal open-air markets.
The rainwater is sent to the ditches for irrigation, together with pollution and rubbish.

Densities in 2011 (calculated according to the official data):

Mojiaqiao village: 1230 inhab./km2; Hexidai village: 1587 inhab./km2; Hongpan village: 2160 inhab./km2; ingshanhe village: 1330
inhab./km2

11

12 He wrote in the footnote: Under a capitalist framework, it has already been achieved in countries such as Switzerland and Germany,
where the contrast between rural and urban has virtually disappeared. Rural, or rather agropolitan life there has become simply another
life style. (Friedmann, 1978, page 183)

248

In the 30s, the roads connecting the villages and town were used mainly for towing the boats during the head
wind or counter current. In 1945, there were only few hard-surface roads connects the big cities, the rest were
loose-surface tracks and trails. During the commune era many roads were upgraded for tractors (even they were
called tractor-ploughing roads), and also fir trees where planted along the roads. The planting of fir trees was
seen as a celebration of collectiveness. The slim and tall fir tree gave a strong identity of the rural area. Some
of these roads are kept and become appealing public space. In 2003 in Zhejiang Province, only 14.5% of
village roads were hard-surfaced, and a province-wide operation of concretization was launched due to the
abundant production of concrete in the province. The trees are either cut or limited in very small space along
the road because of the new standard of road width. New vegetation such as pine trees and fruit trees are
planted without a grammar. The monotonous use of concrete and the general lack of street vegetation create
a pale and dusty atmosphere in the villages, and a feeling of lack of intention and collectiveness.
2.1.2 Vegetable gardens/fields
The rapid urbanization generates an incredible need of vegetable. In Zhejiang Province, from 1978 to 2013,
the surface dedicated to vegetable production increased from 126,800 ha to 619,000ha, while the surface for
grain, oil vegetation and cotton all decreased. The share of surface for vegetable in agricultural land also rose
from 2.7% to 25.3%. However, the consumption of vegetable in rural area reduced from 79.5kg/capita to
70.0kg/capita from 2007 to 2013, while the one in the urban area remains around 91kg/capita. The price of
vegetable has increased for more than 22% from 2011 to 2013, which is the fastest growth among all kinds of
food (source: Agriculture Yearbook 2014 of Zhejiang Province).

[fig.2]: a typical village concrete roads in Yangtze River Delta.

Photo by author

249

[fig.3]: continuous concrete space: the road and the frontcourts.

Photo by author

250

[fig.5]: concrete and asphalt surface, south of Tangqi.

Elaborated by the author

Vegetable gardens/fields are typical in desakota. The vegetables could not be stored for long time, therefore
around dense and non-agricultural population large amount of vegetables are planned. In the 40s, there were
villages devoted to vegetable production around cities (Huang, 1992, page 50). In the mid of the 90s, 60% of
the vegetable fields in Beijing were located in its close suburbs. In Yangtze River Delta, the peasants have the
tradition to grow their own vegetables. Fei described that in the 30s, each house has a limited open surface in
front or behind the house. It was used for work, for people to pass, for storage or for vegetable gardens.
Vegetables were also planted under the mulberries. Nevertheless, villages were not self-sufficient in vegetable
they relied on the villages that were specialized in vegetable production around the Tai Lake through water
network. (Fei, 1939, page 117)
Today, the vegetables are planned on any available land. The space and garden in front the houses are today
more and more concretized for the use of vehicles but vegetables are planted when there is a small piece of
earth. In the field, the vegetables are planted on the small ridge/dikes and under fruit trees. When peasants
are given the citizenship and lost their land and live in high-density housing district, they still keep this
tradition of planting vegetables; the dispersed vegetable fields often replace the standard greening in
many new village. They are also planted in small open spaces between houses in the villages, along the road
replacing the grass, and on abandoned industrial land. However, the vegetable gardens are never considered
an element to compose a landscape or community space, a design theme.

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2.1.3 Houses
A traditional one-floor peasant house in Yangtze River Delta is made of five parts, one parallel to the other: a
front court, a living room, a courtyard, a row of bed rooms, and a back yard with toilet. Today, the land in
rural area is owned collectively by the villages, and each peasant family is allowed to occupy a small piece of
land to build. 13In Tangqi, the first modern peasant houses were built in 80s, and rebuilt from 2-floors to 3
floors with extra small buildings for storage and activities in the back.
Recently, five-floor large buildings are replacing many of those three-floor buildings. Due to the enlargement
of the house, the courtyard disappears. Many of those five-floor houses have multiple entrances. The ground
floor is for commerce and other activities with an independent entrance; the first floor and the second floor
are for the family of the owner, with external and monumental stairs entering the main living room on the
first floor; the upper floors, served by an additional independent staircase, are often rented out to immigrants
brought by the industrial parks developed nearby.14 There is no circulation in-between those parts. Behind
the house, additional buildings are built with various functions and qualities: small factories, workshops,
storages, etc. In front of the buildings, high walls as fences start to appear, which is unusual for the buildings
in the 80s and 90s. It could be a sign of a new society in the desakota with a more complex population,
accumulation of private wealth and a need for security.
Incredible housing surfaces are built and wasted to store abandoned materials due to the remarkable
compensation, in form of cash and/or new socialistic village villas, that is expected when those peasant
houses will be demolished during the expansion of the city: the more one built, the higher the compensation.
The huge waste of material and labor is not yet considered as a design theme.

[fig.5]: informal vegetable garden on a dike

Photo by the author

This quota varies from village to village. In Tangqi, a family with four members could have a land of 128m2 to build their own house.
But usually the buildings go beyond that in different forms.

13

14

A small portion of the immigrants is employed in the village industries.

252

[fig.6]: rebuilding the houses: houses built in 90s (right) and new buildings in 2010s.
Photo by the author

253

[fig7]: industrial buildings (red) and residential buildings, south of Tangqi.

Elaborated by the author

2.2 Conclusion: from elements to a territorial construction

Instead of the abstract concepts as urban belts, axes, nodes and networks on a territorial scale, a thinking
from the elements could offer a more radical and clear statement of what kind of society and space we could
go towards. The construction of the Broadacre City, a utopia generates a new American culture and society,
was through a constant writing and modeling on elements: how a family house should be, how could a
crossing on the highway should be, how a school could be, even how a personal vehicle should be. The form
of the territory starts to emerge from those elements: the multi-layered intersection of the highway, the
elimination of lights and ditches along the roads, and the tree lines perpendicular to instead of alongside the
roads generates an incredible fluid territorial surface for the movement of each individual; the rivers, lakes,
streams, hills and other nature elements, together with public functions including schools, county seats, circus,
hotels, physical club and so on, create a continuous and structural figure on top of the acreage grid. The
accumulation and integration of the elements manifest a common social value and a coherent form of the
territory.
The Broadacre City concluded with the book The Living City in 1958, a book explained the Broadacre
elements with text and a few illustrations without drawing much attention on the overview of the physical
model or its masterplan. To an extend, although different urban forms are proposed by Wright, the
disurbanists, Friedmann and Mao, the similar even identical intentions in the construction of many elements
threads their thoughts to a tradition.

254

As mentioned above, a new paradigm is needed for the inevitable future urbanization in China. It is needed
due to the current bottleneck of the city-centered development that enlarges the gap between rural and urban
area; it is needed also for the long process of in-situ urbanization happening in the rural area with a constant
thinking and practicing on that. It has to be a paradigm following the long tradition of city-in-the-fields
where the age-old conflict between town and countryside can be transcended. (Friedmann, 1978, page 183)
After the Broadacre City, disurbanism and the communes, it has to be a new manifesto to demonstrate in
detail the fundamental transformation in how one could live, study, and work in this new city, through the
imagination of its elements.
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255

Reaching the sea: Guangzhou southern expansion from rural

industrialization to polarized strategical planning
Bruno Edoardo

Polytechnic of Turin
Prof. Michele Bonino, Prof.ssa Francesca Frassoldati
Expected thesis defence: January 2017
edoardo.bruno@polito.it
At the turning point of the new century Chinese urban growth has arrived to a new challenge: the improvement of its
urban space after the astonishing development of the late Eighties and Nineties. At that time many scholars, impressed
by the great urban sprawl occurring in China and other Asian regions, tried to conceptualize models in order to explain
that particular phenomenon of the peri-urban dispersion. The paper wants to explore, selecting the city of Guangzhou
as case study, capitol of Guangdong Province, which are the most influential passages that could demonstrate how
much policy has influenced the management of the urban spatial growth. Analysing a system of driving forces, derived
from the market but managed by the political system, and comparing them with the mapping of the city growth in a
temporal dynamic selection, its possible to understand that South China cities had to change their planning from
agglomeration to strategical organization in order to survive. In this way Guangzhou has achieved the possibility to
redefine its leading role inside the Pearl River Metropolis, improving urban space from dispersion to a multi-polar and
specialized system.

Introduction
The Chinese urban growth has become in the last thirty years a more and more fundamental field of
research for many scholars coming from various discipline concerning urban issues. Its fast acceleration,
the huge amount of land converted from rural to urban purposes, completely changed the scape of the
Chinese city environment.
The Chinese population reached at the end of 2014 the number of 1,36 billion people, which 54,77% of
them are living in areas that administratively could be defined urban (NBSC) 1 . The 1982 Census
conducted by the Central Government showed a total different country, where only 25,8% of the people
where living into urban context (CSY 1996). These data explains the rapid change in demographic
composition that occurred in China since Deng Xiaping open-door policies, changing the socialistic
Maoist State into capitalism with Chinese characteristic (Wu 2007a).
The last three decades population growth, despite maintaining the rigid hukou system that control internal
flows (Miller 2012), describes a total new type of country with urban areas generated by a great expansion,
creatiing on one side an extraordinary economic double digit GDP growth but on the other social (Guldin
2001) and environment diseases (Ren 2013).
Certainly the conversion of the land-use is the most physical effect that attracted scholar attention,
regarding the progressive erosion of the rural areas by new construction activities (Yeh, Wu 1996),
debating which are the main driving-forces that carried on the transformation (Wu 2007b) and which are
the best morphological concepts that could explain the new territorial transaction (McGee 1991).
Since the end of the Seventies China has based its economy under two distinctive policy strategies fully
controlled by the Central Government: financing industrial key-project for the whole country, as much as
possible far away from the border and coastal areas, and maintaining immutable urban areas in order to
avoid expensive welfare intervention not sustainable for the socialistic state (Lin 1997). This means that the
pre-reform Chinese country could be defined based on a low urbanized level.
The economic reforms announced by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, were promulgated in order to contrast a
long decade of stagnation and incorporate market principles inside Chinese planned economy (Harvey,
2005). Deng focused on four modernizations: science and defence, industry, education, and agriculture.
Seems absurd that cities didnt compare among the path of the reform, but this could be explained with
the idea that cities in the history of PRC, has always represented an hard difficulty to be centrally
controlled (Walder 2015). At the same time the open-door policies has to be interpret as planned and
progressive injection, where the location choice was a primary principle, in order to maintain caution and
strong resistance to capitalist ideology (Wong, Tang 2005).
In 1980 were established in South China four Special Economic Zones (Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou in
Guangdong Province, and Xiamen in Fujian Province) allowing them to move one-step ahead the nation
and develop a market economy taking advantage of the proximity with Hong Kong and Macao investors
(Vogel, 1990). Deng reborn the traditional glorious past in trade market of a region historically known as
the South gateway of China, and trusted on the Foreign Direct Investement (FDI) that could be absorbed

For a comprehensive view of the Chinese Administration System, where urban and rural are not merely designed by the population
number but by the Party Organization at the local level, refers to Frassoldati (2008).

256

from the Hong Kong and Macao colonies, that have maintained strong relationships with many overseas
Chinese during the Maoist era.
Together with foreign investment and Special Economic Zones introduction, the other element was the
establishment of the rural reforms at first. The idea derived from the progressive abandon of the Peoples
Communes under the central planning, with the introduction of the decentralised Household Production
Responsibility System (HPRS) in the early 1980 (Kung 1995) and Land Shareholding Cooperatives (LSCs)
in the 1990s (Fu, Davis 1998). The shifting from the communes and brigade systems to a medium size
ownership, not transferable and based on rents and subcontracted labourers, substantially brought
competitiveness and profit oriented behaviour among areas before less improved. If on one site agriculture
passed to a progressive mechanization phase, on the other size the openness towards foreign investments,
the cheap labour and land cost, created a phenomenon of rural industrialization, describing the emergence
of non-rural activities into the countryside, with less developed and export oriented industrial entities that
absorbed the rural surplus labour force.
This kind of activities, called Township and Village Enteprises (TVEs), that progressive replaced the State
Owned Activities (SOAs), is the key-factor to understand the pattern transformation around urban
agglomeration in Eighties and first Nineties Chinese cities.
The morphological concept of the desakota system, exposed by the urban researcher Terry Mcgee in 1991,
in order to describe the spatial changes occurring in different Asian region under fast industrial and
economical development, found a systemic redefinition of the peri-urban interface. The model, that
seemed to be adaptive also to explain the South China rural transition, allocated a new dynamic area in
which occurred a mix of social and industrial activities with different upgrades in infrastructures. Its
important to underline that inside the volume The Extended Metropolis: Settlement Transition in Asia
edited by Norton Ginzburg, Bruce Koppel and Terry McGee, the Chinese authors invited to give their
personal perspective on their context, were in difficulties to describe and conceptualize the agglomeration
gradients in quantities, and were more concerning about interlocking relationship between urban sprawl
and local administration boundaries [fig.1], population distribution or employment and rural
industrialization.

[fig.1] The Hong Kong-Gunagzhou-Macao metropolitan interlocking region with population graph (left) and
administrative division in the 1991 (right).
Source: Zhou, Y. (1991)

This means to underline that the basement for Chinese metropolitan development was first of all a political,
economical and social driven phenomenon than a planned and morphological spatial agglomeration.
The success of the South China experience, overturning the underdevelopment imposed by the Maoist era,
encouraged the Central Government to pursue the increase of the number of the Economical
Development Zones around China, and in particular creating in Guangdong in 1994 the Pearl River Delta
Economic Region, shifting the governance issues from the city to the province level (Sanjuan, 2008).
Between 1990 and 2010 the population in Pearl River Delta (therefore named PRD) passed from 6,4
million to 47 million of people2 generating a new uninterrupted rural-urban Metropolis3.

2 The data showed in tab.2 doesnt take into consideration the number of people of the two cities of Dongguan and Zhongshan in
1990, lacking inside the official statistics.
3 Its necessary to take into account that the population census data reported into each Chinese urban Statistics, refer only to
registered individuals and dont consider the sizable number of floating people that escape the hukou system.

257

The World Bank has recently recognize the Pearl River Delta Metropolis as the most populated on Earth,
surpassing Tokyo Metropolitan Area (World Bank 2015), but meanwhile the built-up area has surpassed
the local administration boundaries, divisions are fully maintained.
This paper wants to explore the political and economical role of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong
Province and one of the key-city of the PRD, that used its spatial management in order to confirm its
leading role among the cities composing the vast PRD Metropolis. Thanks to this specific case study will
be possible to understand that the sprawl in this area was not caused by a simple repetitive core-periphery
agglomeration, but by specific shifts in political and economical framework.
Pearl River Delta and competitiveness
In order to understand that spatial management has become more and more essential in the PRD region,
its foundamental to observe the LandSat images accentuating the built-up area of the region between 1994,
2001 and 2010 [Fig.2], obtained with ESA LEOWorks software and based on the Normalized Difference
Built-up Index (NDBI) formula (Xu 2007).
The growth phase in PRD during the Nineties could be defined shocking considering any socioeconomical proxy as population, GDP or FDI [tab 1].

[fig.2] Pearl River Delta landsat images processed by Normalized Difference Built-up Index for the years 1994, 2000
and 2010.
Source: elaborated by the author.
PRD - 1985

PRD - 2003

% of China - 1985

% of China - 2003

Population (million)

1.76

23.99

1.7

1.9

GDP (billion yuan)

41.8

1134.1

4.9

9.7

Investment in fixed
assets (billion yuan)

1.7

374

0.7

6.7

Exports (US$ billion)

0.6

145.1

22.8

33.1

FDI (US$ billion)

0.1

17

6.1

31.8

[tab.1] Main indicators in PRD economical growth between 1985-2003. Source: Lu et al. 2007

But what its really important is the actual spatial management necessity of an unpredictable metropolitan
area that, until now, has no official recognizable in the Chinese Administrative system. The key-point is to
understand what kind of Megalopolis it is, despite any possible spatial prefiguration.
What is namely defined Pearl River Delta Area by many scholars, had different meaning, historical reasons
and geographical location. Its boundaries were blurred depending the convenience political relationship
between the main actors (Lin 1997). Now PRD its internationally conceived as a 9+2 economic region
(OECD) that resembled nine cities (two of them are SEZs), Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Foshan, Zhaoqing,
Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, plus the two Special Administrative Region of
Hong Kong and Macao [fig. 3].

258

Thanks to the control of the most important political and economical passages, its possible to recap the
phases that describe the formation of the PRD Metropolis and its spatial development.
After the introduction of the 1978 reforms, Guangdong hosted two of the four Special Economical Zones
indicated by the Central Government for testing the openness to the market. Geographically they were set
up in proximity to Macao and Hong Kong in order to perceived the amount of the Foreign Direct
Investment that could be driven into Mainland. They were areas of greater autonomy included finance and
fiscal matters, foreign trade and investment, commerce and distribution, allocation of materials and
resources, labour, and prices. Only after 1988 Guangdong Province was designated to host a
comprehensive economic reform area, establishing for example a Stock Exchange in Shenzhen for
boosting the penetration of external investment inside the Mainland China, and giving the municipalities
the possibility to improve their industrial export-oriented market.
The progressive passage from State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) of the late Maoist Era to the Town and
Village Enterprises (TVEs) that characterized the Eighties, detecting the policy of leaving the land but not
the villages, entering the factories but not the cities, absorbed the surplus of the rural labour and didnt
radically affected urban cores. TVEs were at that time the most important economical actors in China and
reproduced what was expressed in the National Planning Law of the 1989 controlling the big cities,
moderating development of medium-size cities, encouraging growth of small cities (Kamal-Chaoui et al
2009).

[fig.3] The Pearl River Delta 9+2 concept collocation and administrative division inside Guangdong Province.
Source: elaborated by the author starting from OECD 2008.

This phase that characterized the Eighties first urban improvement, was not a real urban sprawl, but a
more focused urbanization of the rural areas, thanks to a mixture of reform and foreign capital penetration.
PRD Metropolis started from its rural landscape and not as a peri-urban phenomenon that expanded the
old city canters, driven by step by step free trade rules that forced the market flows.
What happened during the Nineties, and recognizable in the comparison of the Landsat image processed,
was a completely different phase, seeing the local municipality as the main character of what we can call as
a real estate fever. The promulgation in 1979, and last revised in 1986, of the Law of the Local Peoples
Congresses and Locals People Governments, despite its content didnt define a precise functional
responsibilities for local governments, its fundamental to understand the progressive devolution to local
authorities: after the reform they could discipline autonomously fiscal revenues and state-owned land longterm rentals. The possibility at the local level to dispose huge amount of land and keep the surplus from

259

the local fiscal system (Peterson, Annez 2007), with the stronger investing relationship with Hong Kong
and Macao (Cheung 2012), let the PRD to improve during the Nineties its spatial pattern, investing in
important infrastructures, services, real estate building construction and industrial parks (Wuttke 2011). In
this way we can observe that the main driving force of the strong urbanization in PRD was due to a
combination of decentralization of the central power to local sphere, progressive marketization and
capability to intercept foreign capitals (Eng 1997) presenting a more and more improved marketplace.
At the beginning of the new century the market competition inside PRD reached a so high level that ere
necessary new political instrument. Local authorities promoted new cooperation agreements in order to
improve their collaboration over the administration boundaries of the cities composing PRD.
The signature in 2003 of the two Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) both with Hong
Kong and Macau (Cheung 2015), the formal establishment in 2004 of the Pearl River Economic Region
and the Plan for the Reform and Development of the PRD, 2008-2020 (the Outline Plan) in 2008, seems
arriving late after a 12.1% GDP growth rate between 1980 and 2008 inside the 9+2 PRD formula.
The reason has to be seen in the double faced economical and political framework of the PRD: maintain
the inner competition between the local municipalities, focus on municipality economical success for
higher careers to local politicians (Zhu 2004), and not lose the competition against the Yantze River Delta
Economic Zone (therefore named YRD).
The rise of the YRD leaded by the Municipality of Shanghai, the second city in China after Beijing, its
undermining the PRD Metropolis economic role inside China, bringing the competiveness concept to a
national stage. The economical surpass occurred around 2003 [fig.4], symbolizes that the testing phase of
the Eithies and Nineties has finished, pushing all the coastal side of China to improve their global demand
attractiveness. PRD, and Guangzhou itself, have to find their position in this new geopolitical panorama,
and manage the future urban expansion.
Thanks to this holistic perspective, pointing out the main political passages occurred in the regional
context, we can observe that opening to the market, inserting competition logics at local administration
level, means to rapidly improve the urban space and create a totally new landscape. The driving forces of
the transformation thus appear in a multiscalar perspective, local/national/global, and the urban-rural
space dichotomy is not fully useful for explaining where transformation will occur.

[fig.4] Change of Share in Chinas External Trade 1995-2007. Source: OECD 2008.

260

Guangzhou as selected case study: repositioning through polarization

The city of Guangzhou has a long history of more than 2100 years. Many of its nicknames, the Flower City,
the Goat City and the Rice-ear City, admit its ancient origins (Xu, Yeh 2003).
Its geographical strategical position, just between the Bayun Mountain on the North Side and the end of
the Pearl River Delta on the South part, gave it during the century the possibility to develop overseas trade
and become the southern gate to Chinese market. Its long trading tradition, especially well known for the
silk export, gave it great economical power in what before was called Lignan Province (Marks 2004). The
intense relationships with the Western countries during the centuries, despite the Opium War crash,
reinforced the idea of Guangzhou (Canton in the French pronunciation) as a fundamental harbour in East
Asia market.
This brief historical background is useful to explain the base upon which Guangzhou is continuing to
develop its role inside the Pearl River Delta Metropolis. Its central position, its fundamental political role
in South China and its trading tradition with foreigner investors, are still the main concept on which
Guangzhou has worked since the reform era.
Observing the growth rate index of the population inside the PRD cities between 1990-2010 [tab.2], its
possible to underline two distinctive phases. The first reveals the urgent growth happened almost
everywhere in the PRD, meanwhile during the second period 2000-2010 the value felt down almost in
every city (exemplar is the case of Foshan passing from 1143% to 34,78%). Guangzhou has experimented
a continuous and better balanced growth in the last 2 decades, but at the same time just after year 2000 the
urban panorama in PRD was completely changed. This meant that despite its strong and historical
political role, has to face many different new competitors working in the same market area (Cheung 2015).

Guangzhou
Shenzhen
Dongguan
Foshan
Zhongshan
Huizhou
Jiangmen
Zhuhai
Zhaoqing

1990
Population
3.918.010
875.176
429.410
274.689
284.935
331.065
348.857

2000
Population
8.524.826
7.008.831
6.445.777
5.337.709
2.363.322
1.454.508
1.468.742
1.235.437
1.132.959

2010
Population
11.071.424
10.358.381
8.220.207
7.194.311
3.121.275
2.344.634
1.822.614
1.562.530
1.397.152

1990-2000
growth index
117,58
700,85
1143,03
429,51
415,47
273,17
224,76

2000-2010
growth index
29,87
47,79
27,53
34,78
32,07
61,20
24,09
26,48
23,32

[tab.2] Population growth in PRD divided by cities in 1990, 2000, 2010. Source: National Bureau of Statistics, China
and Statistics Bureau of Guangdong Province.

The Stock Exchange Market present in Shenzhen and the powerful Hong Kong harbour, were some of the
elements that in 2000 put to the corner one of the region milestone disappearing among a totally new
metropolitan entity.
All the cities inside PRD had experienced an exceptional urban growth thanks to the huge cheap land
disposal that could be rapidly converted, given to developers and return to the local government public
fund. The political and economical reforms of the Eighties had hard physical consequences that has to face
their sustainability, and at the turning point of the century seemed to be necessary for Guangzhou to
restart directly from a new vision for its urban space (Wu 2007c).
A survey conducted in 1997 (Xu, Yeh 2005) showed that almost 73% of the residents where dissatisfied
about Guangzhous built environment: traffic jams, air pollution and low quality of crowded areas were the
consequences of the rapid growth carried on by the real estate fever, without a robust planning supervision
and strategical regional vision.
The Party Secretary of Guangzhou, Lin Shusen, said it is a really risky time for Guangzhou: since the city
has long been proud of being the central city for more than two thousand years; if this status disappeared,
Guangzhou would be doomned eternally (Guangzhou Daily, 2002).
The shift to a strategical development plans occurred in China at the beginning of the new century and the
city of Guangzhou was the first to start a process in order to adopt one. In 2000 the Guangzhou Urban
Planning Bureau invited five planning design institutes4 to submit a big for the Guangzhou Urban Strategic
Development Plan.
Without any specification for what the plan in the future will have formally managed in the planning
regulatory, the five proposals were independently submitted and after evaluated by the Guangzhou
Municipal Government and other invited experts.

4 Including the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning and Design, the Institute of Urban Planning and Design of Qinghua University,
the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University, the Centre of Urban and Regional Research of Zhongshan
University, and the Guangzhou Academy of Urban Planning, Survey and Design. Cfr. Wu (2007) p. 384.

261

[fig.5] Concept for the strategical plan of Guangzhou. Source: Studies on strategies planning for Guangzhou city
(2002).

The strategy coming out proposed a spatial restructuring [fig.5] with the advise of advancement in the east,
linkage in the west, optimization in the north, expansion in the south (Lu & McCarthy 2008).
A spatial organization based on precise geopolitical targets. The emergent idea was to re-declare the central
role of the city inside PRD, expressing its geographical position as the key-value from which rethink a
more balanced future development of the city. Advancement in the east promoted the historical transition
from the old city centre along the river in order to relocate industrial and commercial areas until the
crossbreeding with the nearby city of Dongguan. One example of this strategy was the empowerment and
reorganization of the role of the Guangzhou Economical Development Zone (Wong, Tang 2005) creating
a dedicated industrial district. The linkage with the west was pointed out in order to recognize
morphologically the two city of Guangzhou and Foshan as a double-core unit, that we can call GuangFo
(OECD 2008). The optimization in the north regarded the idea to manage the big green belt represented
by the Bayun Mountain, with its big pure waters reserves, that could counterweight the large built-up areas
of the metropolis. But what its central for the discussion, its the last strategical concept of the South
expansion, where are localized most of the available land and where the city of Guangzhou could
symbolically connect the mountain with the sea (Wang 2002). In reality by this way Guangzhou wanted
to escape from isolation and face directly to the intercontinental ocean trades.
A necessary passage to interpret the application of the plan is the enlargement by Guangzhou Municipality
of its boundaries occurred in 2000, absorbing two county level district, Huadu in the North side and Panyu
in the South, and transforming them into urban district under the direct control of the local government.
Beside the strategical position of the two new district, and especially the remote area of Nansha in Panyu
district for the control of the East-West infrastructure (Lin 1999), its important to remember that the
creation of new possible expansion areas its not only a morphological balance and management, but
means to have the possibility to control in the future an important market asset represented by a low landuse development.
The realization of the plan followed the slogan minor change in a year, medium change in three and
major change in 2010. The first two phases brought the Municipal Government to invest more that
US$ 7.25 billion between 1999 and 2002, working for key project inside the city, networking improvement
and elimination of illegal construction. The results were the receiving in 2002 of the United Nations Best
Improvement of Human Settlement Award and the complete overturning of the 1997 poll, with 96% of
the people satisfied by the new urban improvement.
Its important to consider that fixed assets investments in infrastructure was also an important Chinese
answer to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, where public intervention was used in order to improve both
internal labour demand both remodelling the disaggregate urban space [fig.6].

262

[fig.6] Changing landscape due to Gunagzhou urban development strategy: (a) Bayun Road before (a) and after (b)
change. Hunashi road before (c) and after (d) change. Source: Xu, Yeh 2003.

The third long phase of the program has to be connected with the possibility for Guangzhou to host the
2010 Asian Games (Shin 2014). The promotion of key-project, also spanning out the merely sport activities,
was the excuse for the Municipal Government to renegotiate its position inside the PRD thanks to its
political connection with Beijing and, collecting great financial support, restructure its urban spatial
management.

[fig.7] Distribution of built land in 2000 (grey) and in 2010 (red) derived from Puma World Bank Project (left) and
location of the main infrastructure project in Guangzhou city since year 2000 (right). Source: elaborated by the author
starting from Puma Project Data (http://puma.worldbank.org) and Xu, Yeh 2005.

263

Project like the Bayun International Airport, the University Town or the International Convention and
Exhibition Center, demonstrate not only the shift for a new balanced development, but also the creation
step by step of a multipolar city, where the big mono-functions areas are connected by important
infrastructures projects.
Observing the image showing the urban growth of Guangzhou between 2000 and 2010, derived from the
focus made by the World Bank Project Puma5, and comparing it with the location of the key-project of the
strategical plan [fig. 7], its possible to recognize the attempt by Guangzhou Local Government to connect
and rationalize the space, densify areas around important infrastructures or key-project and manage the
urban sprawl reducing dispersion.
This last phase demonstrate how the Eighties and Nineties spatial growth was completely unsustainable in
the new competitive challenges of the new century. Connecting dispersed and low improved areas could
not be successful in a long-term vision in the PRD context. This is an answer to the possibility that
desakota concept could be useful for explaining the specific marketization initial phase of the Chinese
cities, but not be responsive in a long-term sustainable political vision.
Enhancing a polycentric planning: Nansha New City
At the end of the Pearl River Delta, facing directly to the sea, in the southern part of the District of Panyu,
there is Nansha, a territory historically depending on the relationship established between land and water.
Although the Delta landscape has to face with its flooding dilemma, it didnt stop in the past the
constitution of many communes and brigades working for land reclamation in this Siberia of Panyu (Fok
2006). Fragile environment is one of the key value for better understanding Nansha district, but its
position in the Delta brought the State Council to designated it in 1993 as an Economical and
Technological Development Zone and upgraded in 1996 to establish a national Trial Supporting Base and
High-Tech Industrialization, gaining popularity despite its remote location (Ho 2006).
In 1997 was allowed to host a deep-water port, thinking about the possibility to undermine the competitive
scheme of the intercontinental hub exchange inside the PRD (Hou, Li 2011).
What is really interesting is that the site for the deep-water port was not best one due to the sedimentation
of the sandy material coming from the Pearl River. Otherwise the expected revenues of this port, with
great expanding possibilities, that could overturn in the future the role of the Shenzhen or Hong Kong hub
containers, could be so high that the site expensive could be easily covered in the future6.
Despite an ecological perspective7, Nansha grew its GDP between 2001 and 2011 at an average rate of
28%, higher than the average result of 17,8% in the total area of Guangzhou.
In September 2012 the Chinese Central Government upgraded the district among the national strategic
projects, mapping out a new blueprint for the Nansha New Area of Guangzhou (Yu 2015). The project
appears essential for the entire economical stability of the Delta, and so became fundamental in the Party
vision putting Guangzhou facing directly to the sea and connecting its productivity to the global demand.
While Nansha was elevated to a state-level area of interest, in 2012 the Nansha Planning Bureau has
launched its strategical plan for 2012-2025. The observation of the maps [Fig. 8], despite representing only
future logic opportunities, shows the construction of a completely new urban entity, following more the
model of the Chinese New Town and bringing Guangzhou spatial management from dispersion to a fully
planned polarization inside its boundaries.
Nansha New City will supply all the necessary infrastructure and services of a modern city: welfare,
education, industrial parks, agriculture, residential areas, and port infrastructure. The new zoning seems to
give to the PRD Metropolis its new economical and political core, outside the old city centres of the local
municipalities. The construction of the Nansha New City, around its port as a new Hong Kong, represent
a new stage in the PRD Metropolis spatial development, demonstrating the end phase of the
multinucleated process started around 2000 in Guangzhou Municipality.

5 PUMA, or Platform for Urban Management and Analysis, is developed by the East Asia and Pacific Urban Development and
Disaster Risk Management unit of the World Banks Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice (GPSURR) Source:
http://puma.worldbank.org
6 The reflection comes from an interview with Professor Shifu Wang from the Department of Urban Planning of South China
University of Technology obtained in July 2015. He has spent many years as invited expert in urban planning for the Nansha Planning
Commitee.
7
A controversy arose in Guangzhou when the city wanted to develop there a heavy industrial zone, with a 5-billion- dollar refinery,
with a joint venture between Sinopec and Kuwait Oil Company (Xu 2015). In 2012 was decided opting for creating a new modern
CBD, services, high-tech business and logistics outsourcing, considering the fragile environment of Nansha (Guangzhou Yearbook
2014).

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[fig.8] Strategical Concept for Nansha (left) actual situation (center) and project (right). Source: Nansha New Area
Master Plan 2012-2025.

Although the proposed urban settlement, in the future there will remain challenges like the relationship
with theexisting fragile environment and the sustainability with the planned building stock-asset. The
phenomenon of the ghost town in China (World Bank 2015) or the slower Chinese GDP indexes that are
occurring in this 2015 summer, has to been verify in a so remote big project that could hardly transform
the southern image of the PRD Metropolis [Fig.9].

[fig. 9] Transformation of the PRD morphology due to Nansha New City Plan. Source: elaborated by the author.

Nansha represent otherwise the idea that, in the name of a progressive marketization based on land values
and intercity competitiveness, also the landscape connoted by environment issues could be easily
transformed in order to serve the purpose of the big Metropolis8.
Taking in example the saturation of the areas today hosting the Baoan Shenzhen port between 1979 and
2015, seems to underline that the access to intercontinental container transport its becoming a so hard
driving force that industry will not halt in redesign also unlikely locations [Fig.10].

[fig.10] Land use transformation in the area of Baoan Shenzhen Port selecting years 1979, 1990, 2000 and 2015.
Source: Google Earth Digital Landsat Images.

Concept discussed during an interview with Professor Liming Tang of South China University of Technology, chief urban planner
at the Guangzhou Urban Planning Bureau from 1992 to 1997.

265

Conclusion
A systematic view of the complexes driving forces that has managed the formation of what is
internationally called the Pearl River Metropolis, demonstrates that the theorization of a unique urban
concept that can keep together three decades of urban growth its quite an impossible operation. The
continuous interchange of the different variables like land value, national/local policies, infra urban
competiveness, foreign investment attractiveness, define different stages and spatial layers inside the city.
Passing from dispersion to saturation and then from polarization to city specialization, its possible to trace
deeper reasons of the spatial transition of the Pearl River Delta, that couldnt be explained just by the
contraposition of an urban rural dichotomy and all its possible gradients (Lin 2007).
Tracing the most influential passages that brought for example Guangzhou to expand itself until Nansha
district, we can assure that local government planning and institutional modifications are the first driving
force into Chinese urban spatial growth, event thought the marketization or the renovated social behaviour
occurred after the reform era (Ke et al 2009).
Inside PRD Metropolis local urban policies reveals its powers thanks to the peculiar Chinese land
ownership system, based more on government interest than powerful private group like in Western
Countries. In this vision all the land area is acting simultaneously a global-local role responding to policies
and market benefit.
These analyses could affirm another way of observing the Chinese urban spatial management, not focused
on the rural-urban or open-close contraposition, but to an equilibrium-based system of analyses, defining
stable, unstable or indifferent situations.
In this way the spatial commutation will follow strategies beyond morphology, surpassing the shock against
the Metropolis scale, and easily incorporating strategies and historical changes in decision-making as
important passages that could strictly redesign gradient agglomeration.

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Volumetric Moments of the Horizontal: What is the Potential of

Dispersion?
Michael R. Doyle
Deep City Project Laboratory of Urban and Environmental Economics EPFL
Supervisors: Philippe Thalmann, prof. of Economics, Aurle Parriaux, prof. emeritus of Geology
Expected thesis defence: June, 2016
michael.doyle@epfl.ch
The underground provides an opportunity to volumetrically articulate the urban, countering urban sprawl and harnessing
alternative forms of energy or sources of drinking water and construction materials. But its expansion of the boundary of
the urban raises questions about the ecological processes with which it engages. The concept of dispersion, as proposed
by this colloquium, is an opportunity to explore the potential of the underground in articulating the thickness of the
horizontal metropolis. The ecological definition of dispersion refers to patterns in a habitat. The doctoral research
presented here uses mapping to establish a volumetric potential of the urban, by combining the dispersive patterns of the
surface morphology with those of the geological formations and aquifer systems. The paper first works through the
theoretical framework of the project and its specific performative reading of the urban and then presents the mapping
process using the city of San Antonio, Texas as an example.

The horizontal dispersion of the urban is increasingly problematic. In the face of the rapid consumption of
agricultural land, natural resources and the strain it places on the ability to effectively connect and enrol urban
dwellers in a collective call to action, cities are called upon to draw their boundaries and to stick within them.
If there is on the one hand a challenge to balance reasonable densities with a desire to protect open spaces
and the character of the existing urban form, there is on the other a demand to engage with local resources in
such as a manner as to ensure their availability for future generations (sustainability) and their ability to
quickly adapt to the unexpected (resilience). This entanglement of anthropic practices with natural ones has
raised a renewed interest in reading the city as an ecology and along with it a more pronounced effort by
geologists, geotechnical engineers and some urban planners and architects to raise awareness about the
potential conflicts and synergies urban areas have with their underground resources.
The call to increase the thicknesses of the urban raises questions about the legitimacy of dispersive
practices in a century where the majority of people will be living in urban areas. But the boundaries of the
urban will always be subject (both politically and figuratively) to renegotiation, leaving dispersion as perhaps
an integral part of city evolution. I would like to explore in this paper the potential of dispersion in the
context of my own doctoral research on the role of underground resources in planning and the volumetric
articulation of the urban. The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that dispersion can be understood
ecologically as patterns in a habitat. If we are, as urban planners and designers, to remain within an
ecological rationality (Vigan, 2013), then the question is what patterns for what habitats? What is the role of
the thicknesses of the urban in reconfiguring the potential of dispersion and in troubling the typically planar
conception of horizontality?
Attempting to respond to these questions requires first disclosing some of the theoretical claims of
my research before moving into its empirical investigations. In light of the polysemic nature of the concept
of the urban underground, we must first look at what constitutes the underground as a constantly redefined
category and how it can be understood as participating in a larger volumetricity of the city. Because the
category city is no less subject to multiple meanings, I then provide the definition that I am working with
using complexity theory (Portugali, 2011). This latters borrowing of the concepts of entanglement and
indeterminacy from quantum theory is particularly useful in shifting our attention to the performative nature
of the urban (Vigan, 2013), which can be understood as a particular material-discursive practice (Barad,
2007). Patterns emerge and are instantiated in such practices (Rouse, 2002), which form a sort of
informational spectrum, the reading (and playing back) from which I discuss briefly as media archaeological
(Ernst, 2013) and contractual (Bhlmann, 2014). The entanglement of planning practices and the
indeterminacy of their outcomes repositions the planners agency in articulating patterns spatially and
temporally (as dispersion), but also richly explored in landscape urbanism (Corner, 2002). The paper will
then present how my own research seeks to use mapping to disclose latent possibilities and conclude by
arguing for a horizontal city attentive to its volumetric potential.
Onto-epistemologies of the urban underground
The urban underground has been of interest to urban planners and engineers since the early 20th century
when Eugne Hnard proposed his section drawing of the Paris street of the future (Hnard, 1982). Of
course the underground had been a source of fascination in other ways. The early investigations in the
previous century of geological strata imagined that the unpeeling of the layers of the earth would reveal the
earths past. Many people thought the investigations would turn up the skeletons of figures in Biblical stories

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(Williams, 2008), but the impact of the discovery of the remains of creatures (and some strangely human)
beyond anything anyone had imagined before inspired a series of speculative imaginings of which Jules
Vernes Voyage to the Center of the Earth is but one example. Although there is still some of this mythical
dimension of the underground today, the geological strata beneath our cities is today often addressed legally
and technically using the horizon as datum. Much of the research on underground space has been conducted
by geotechnical or civil engineers and has therefore tended toward a technical-rational approach to the
underground, with the founding by douard Utudjian in the early 20th century of the Groupe dtudes et de
coordination de lurbanisme souterrain (Utudjian, 1952) as its point of departure. For many architects, the
underground still holds poetic potential. The work of Tadao Ando (Pollock, 2005) or Dominique Perrault
(a+u, 2009), for instance, is often approached as an opportunity to creatively blur the horizon line (question
the datum) and explore the perceptual and phenomenal potentials of light and volume. It is less about the
creation of new infrastructures as about the articulation of new spatial experiences.
This is not to say that there is a striking difference in disciplinary approaches to the underground,
but rather the overall conversation seems to turn around highly pragmatic and quantitative (legal, technical,
economic and political) aspects on the one hand and the speculative and qualitative (perceptual, artistic and
poetic) ones on the other. Each contributes to common (if sometimes competing) categorizations of the
underground and provides various ways that the urban is articulated volumetrically. Engineers have focused
to a greater extent on the underground itself (albeit more instrumentally), but architects and urban designers
have paid particular attention to the emergence of volumetricity in urban form. Rem Koolhaas Delirious New
York (Koolhaas, 1994) raised awareness of what intense forms of densification could lead to in terms of
programmatic invention. Later work (Fenton, 1985; Fernndez Per et al., 2011) has since revealed the
different degrees to which building forms and human activities are decoupled and reconfigured. These
studies, although remaining limited mostly to formal aspects and to programs only within single buildings, are
useful in revealing the possible heterogeneity of the urban thickness.
Landscape urbanism is likely the design discipline to have made the greatest strides in integrating
natural processes into the volumetric articulation of the urban. Ian McHargs Design with Nature (McHarg,
1969) sought to embrace the diagnostic and prescriptive power of a rudimentary ecology (p.55) and argued
for an urban planning inspired by a rigorous analysis of local ecologies. His successor at the University of
Pennsylvania, James Corner (2006), promotes an investigative process driven less by form and more by an
understanding of how things operate in space and time. This performative conception of urban ecology,
according to Corners student Charles Waldheim, sees processes as engender[ing] the very ordering
mechanisms of the urban field itself (2006, p. 38). For all its theoretical strength, the sectorial approach to
planning and pervading project management practices leave many landscape urbanism projects unbuilt or
lackluster. Urban theorist David Shane (2006) regrets that much of landscape urbanisms articulation of
natural and urban processes remains scenographic and gives almost too much agency to ecologies in which
the human is absent. Indeed, many of the projects address an ecology situated within only the first few
meters. In order to fully account for a volumetricity of the urban, landscape must be thought deeper (at the
scales of geological) and the practices of city (from urban morphologies to the various temporal-spatial scales
of urban activities) may need to be embraced as integral parts of larger human-nonhuman ecologies.
When trying to (re)imagine the agencies of the urban, it is important to be clear what we mean by
the urban and what we mean by city. In examining what he sees as two cultures of city models, Juval
Portugali (2011) remarks that many of the twentieth-century conceptions of the city were divided along the
lines of qualitative and quantitative approaches, with either side fully rejecting the methods and concepts of
the other. He argues that complexity theory can bridge the gap between the desire to quantify certain aspects
of the city while accounting for the intentionality of individuals and groups. Complex phenomena are
generally seen as self-organizing and open to their environment (receiving information from the outside),
comprised of interacting elements whose causal relationships are non linear (therefore indeterminate), and
driving towards entropy (chaos), while being nevertheless characterized by certain patterns of regularity. Due
to the planning behavior of individuals, each agent operating in the city is a local, cognitive self-organizing
system (p.211), making the city a dual-self-organizing complex system. This means that all agents of the city
are fully entangled with the performance, the outcomes of which can be addressed probabilistically but not
causallythe performance is indeterminate and not fully predictable.
The performative nature of the urban (Vigan, 2013) challenges us to work out what is meant by
entanglement and indeterminacy in the urban as a complex system. The former is understood in quantum
physics as the inseparability of phenomena and the observerthere is in fact unambiguous way to
differentiate between the object and the agencies of observation (Barad, 2007, chap. 7). In this sense,
knowing is neither situated in the observer (as something purely subjective) nor entirely in the apparatus (as
something purely objective), but rather at their nexus. The indeterminacy of the outcome of measurement is
only resolved at the moment of measurement itself. Theoretical physicist Karen Barad argues that within a
performative ontology of phenomena, measurement practices are material configurations or reconfigurings

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of the world (chap. 4) and can be understood as material-discursive practices, which for my purposes here are the
boundary-drawing practices of the urban itself. It is a non-anthropocentric approach in that in some
instances, nonhumans [] emerge as partaking in the worlds active engagement in practices of knowing
(chap. 6). What matter then with issues of entanglement and indeterminacy are the intra-actions that establish
the boundaries of phenomena, which [constrain] and [enable] what can be said (chap. 3) and done.
Engaging with the constant material-discursive reconfigurings of the boundaries of the urban from a
theoretical and practical standpoint is less daunting than it may seem. Complexity theory of cities maintains
that certain patterns of stability emerge from the apparent chaos of the urban, giving the examples of Hilliers
(2007) investigations of the syntactical structures of urban morphology and Torsten Hgerstrands analyses of
temporal-spatial urban rhythms (Portugali, 2011). Maps, seen properly as acts of bounding and making
visible rather than mere indisputable mirrors of reality (Corner, 2002, p. 222)), is also a material-discursive
practice familiar to planning and design. Certain maps (or mappings) tend to dominate, which is suggestive
of the mechanisms at play. Philosopher of science Joseph Rouse (2002) argues that certain discursive
practices achieve their normativity through situated communicative (but not only linguistic) acts that draw
from inherited norms and certain commitments to playing by the rules. Importantly, these rules (which are
often renegotiated) are not only established by humans but also by the world itselffrom groundwater
systems to topography to climate.
Infrastructure is an example of a material-discursive agency familiar to urban planners and
architects. Keller Easterling (2014) offers a performative ontology of infrastructure, which she refers to as
active forms, arguing against the tendency to treat space and urban organizations as collections of objects or
volumes (chap. 2). On the contrary, we must attend to the relationships between components and to the
tendencies of forms to multiply, to switch (redirect), to wire (relate) or to govern (as protocols) certain
performances. Their constraining and enabling mechanisms frame that which is possible. The indeterminacy
of such performances is crucial because, for Easterling (2014), the disposition, that is, the unfolding
relationship between potentials can always be hacked by uncovering accidental, covert or stubborn forms
of power [] hiding in the folds of infrastructure space (chap. 2).
Overlapping dispositions of material-discursive practices create an informational spectrum from
which Kellers active forms emerge as particular performative congealings. According to complexity theory,
they emerge from a state of entropy as negentropies (Portugali, 2011), which is akin to picking out a voice in
a noisy crowd (Serres, 1982). Measurement apparatuses, as media, allow us to listen unsemantically to that
which has been recorded (Ernst, 2013). They is the key to Wolfgang Ernsts media archaeologythe ability to
play back certain technical configurations and allow them to speak. In this sense, the agencies of
measurement that allow us to interact with the urban do not always do so on our termstheir dispositions
become only partially apparent to us when they are operating. Michel Serres (2014) reminds us that
everything to some degree engages in the basic acts of thinking (receiving, emitting, processing and storing)
and we may hear their noise but can only partially make sense of it. Rhythm and repetition allow us to make
connections within certain emergent stabilities (negentropies) as phenomena and to characterize their spatial
and temporal boundaries.
What I am describing here is a weaving (as Greek tekton) of loci of normativity according to certain
regularities or invariants (Greek arhke, governing rules), which is nothing less than the basic materialdiscursive practice of architecture itself (arkhe-tekton). The meaning of architectonics is here extended to
encompass rules of weaving or the contracts into which man engages with the Earth (Bhlmann, 2014). Vera
Bhlmann fleshes out the idea of the contract, which she borrows from Michel Serres, as something which
binds humanity to its environment. To be knowledgeable of this contract and diligent towards it, she argues,
is to be cosmoliterate. In this sense, Easterling and Ernst present different mechanisms of cosmoliteracy.
The former listens semantically to what the forms instantiate (and the contract entails) and the latter
unsemantically (the contract as a media-archaeological recording, whose original meaning is absent). To be
diligent then is to not impose a general order, whose failure is evident in the discord that leads to
environmental pollution, but rather to remain attentive to how the earth speaks to us (no page) and in a
sense to remain true to our side of the bargain.
Mapping volumetric agencies
To briefly summarize, the urban is a complex system in which the agencies of the human and non-human are
entangled and whose outcomes are indeterminate. The crux of the matter is the nature of the resolution of
the indeterminacy itselfin the precise interactions that bound and constitute particular phenomenal
stabilities. These stabilities are pattern-like in that they are rhythmic and repeating, which helps to establish
and maintain their normative grip on the material-discursivity of the world. We are of course entangled with
this world, but are not the sole agenciesboth infrastructure and the Earth are informational and
communicative in that they constrain and enable action. To be attentive to the agencies of which we are a
part and to hold ourselves accountable for that which we include and exclude provides the conditions for our

270

diligence towards our contractual relationship to our planetto the ecological rationalities in which we
participate.
My research uses mapping to attempt to establish volumetric potential that emerges from an
overlaying of agencies that act at multiple spatial and temporal scales. The project is ongoing, but I will
attempt to briefly outline the mapping process using one of my case studies, San Antonio (Texas, USA). San
Antonio is a sprawling American city whose urban volume as experienced directly by city residents and
visitors is limited to mostly surface development with a couple underground parking garages and a two-level
outdoor pedestrian tourist network in the downtown (the Riverwalk). The material-discursive extent of the
citys volumetric articulation is much larger, engaging legally and physically with a regional aquifer system (the
Edwards) that underlies the city and provides the majority of its drinking water [fig.1]. The mapping process
seeks to establish volumetric potential that combines the scale of the urban morphology and distribution of
activities with the latent potential of the geology understood as encompassing four resources: space
(excavation), geothermal energy (for cooling and heating), groundwater (for drinking) and geomaterials (such
as aggregate for concrete or fill).

[fig.1] The Edwards Aquifer region traversing South Central Texas. San Antonio is located in Bexar County. Source:
(Thomas et al., 2012, p. 1).

The mapping method lays out the process by which different practices (e.g. legal, geological,
socioeconomic) are accounted for (measured) and combined [fig.2]. The Deep City project at the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne has adopted the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Order
Weighted Averaging (OWA) (Blunier, 2009) as a framework for handling multi-criteria decision-making. One
of the challenges is translating geological potentials into a form easy to understand for planners. The
evaluation of geological formations is conducted by first grouping the geological formations into categories,
called geotypes (Parriaux and Turberg, 2007), and then carrying out pairwise comparisons between each of
the geotypes in terms of their relative suitability (e.g. from much more suitable to much less suitable) for a
particular resource. The comparisons are compiled in a matrix, normalized and then solved to calculate the
priority vector, within which each geotypes suitability is situated between 0 and 1 (Saaty, 1980). The use of
AHP has three advantages: first, it can keep track of many pairwise comparisons that a simple ranking
procedure would be cognitively difficult to do. Second, it situates alternative geotypes in relationship to one
another on a relative scale, rather than an (often difficult to compute) absolute one. Third, it is able to verify

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the consistency of the matrix. In Figure 2, the values in each of the columns of the geotypes-resources table
are the solution vectors for each resource.

[fig.2] Mapping logic of layer combination using the Analytical Hierarchy Process. Source: elaborated by the author.

AHP is an important agency in this type of mapping and some additional remarks will clarify some
of the stakes in its implementation. First of all, the relativity of its weighting is useful when the resource
potentials have not been quantified in any other way. If information exists on the very specific geotechnical
specifications of each resource, then it may be possible to quantify, for instance, the space potential of each
geotype or family of geological formations. In reality, however, this is still quite approximate, given the very
heterogeneous nature of geological formations and their site specific characteristics. The objective here then
is to develop a mapping method that can adapt to the amount and quality of information available in
different contexts (whether in different cities or different areas of a city). Second, the decision to prioritize
one potential over another may not be decided upon in advance. Order-Weighted Averaging (OWA)
incorporates a criteria of Orness, which reorders the criteria dynamically for each location (parcel or
neighborhood) from highest to lowest allowing overall potential to be dynamically recalculated and for site
specific potentials to emerge from the global analysis (Yager and Kelman, 1999). Third, the AHP-OWA
framework generally produces a global view of resource potential [fig.3] so that two parts of the city (or of
the analysis area) are compared as if they were equal alternatives, which tends to mask a locally, but not
globally, high potential. To take this into consideration, researchers (Malczewski and Liu, 2014) have recently
proposed a method for calculating suitability within particular radii around each location. This latter method
is still being implemented and tested in the calculating of volumetric potential by the Deep City project.
In addition to testing it on different cities, my research seeks to advance the mapping methodology
by adding an analysis of the existing urban morphology. Economic analysis of alternative forms of
surface/subsurface buildings (Maire, 2011) revealed that the locations most likely to justify the additional cost
of underground development would be those where land value was relatively high (within its local market)
and which were highly central, easily accessible locations. Because urban morphology and the distribution of
activities is arguably an emergent process of the city as a complex system (Hillier, 2012), the potential of the
urban morphology depends upon an analysis of the metric, geometrical and topological characteristics of the

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buildings, street segments or parcels, depending on the available data. Centrality is actually a multiscalar and
pervasive property of the urban environment (Hillier, 2009) which means that a particular location may be
central at multiple scales or only at very local or very global scales. In the case of San Antonio, parcels
weighted according to the average per square foot value or the approximate number of residents are analyzed
(using the UNA plug-in1 in ArcGIS) at radii of 400 to 5400 meters. It is important to underline the fact that
radii here are calculated on the network, rather than as Euclidean distances around parcels, which allows the
analysis to be conducted on any urban form (from concentric to linear or polycentric or no apparent form at
all). The parcels were then grouped into clusters according to their level of pervasive centrality (using cluster
analysis in SPSS) and compared pairwise for their level of preference according to the desire to prefer very
central locations, rather than peripheral ones. The centrality metrics could be weighted in another way
depending on whether a particular question is being asked or weighted dynamically as an exploratory process
(using OWA as mentioned earlier).
In the case of San Antonio, the overall development potential score is calculated by combining the
geotype suitability for the four resources at 0-15 meters and 16-30 meters deep with the amount of
groundwater likely present at that location, with known flood zones and with the protected recharge zones of
the Edwards aquifer to produce an overall environmental score. This is then combined with an urban sociospatial score produced using the centrality analyses of the urban morphology. The final map for this
particular combination of criteria [fig.3] illustrates a global development score for each parcel in the inner ring
road of the city. The analysis has been used (Doyle, Forthcoming) to discuss the relationship of underground
potential to the current plans by the city to expand their surface public transportation network. In fact,
certain parts of the network could benefit from being underground, but would likely need to be accompanied
by densification strategies around the transit nodes both above and below ground in order to ensure a
volumetric articulation of the station surroundings. The citys current experimentation with form-based
coding may prove to be useful for volumetrically planning these areas of high potential, provided the
underground conditions are fully incorporated into them.

http://cityform.mit.edu/projects/urban-network-analysis.html, consulted on September 1st 2015.

273

[fig.3] Underground/Volumetric development potential of the San Antonio inner city (within the 410 loop). Source:
elaborated by the author, from real estate parcel data, geological formation maps, flood data, and protected aquifer
recharge areas.

The map highlights the latent possibilities stored within the various interactions between urban
form, natural resources and planning laws. These possibilities are dispersed over the territory and emerge
from the logics that the mapping articulates. The potential here of dispersion lies in its ability to engender
new patterns of performance within a spectrum of possibilities afforded within existing material-discursive
practices. It opens up the potential for new phenomena (new performances) to emerge. Dispersion is
architectonic in that it weaves spatially and temporally according to a set of rules while also being responsible
for challenging those rules and offering alternative patterns of performances. The dispersive potential of a
volumetric articulation of the urban can be illustrated taking the two approaches mentioned previously. The
instrumental-quantitative approach is particularly attentive to the technical and legal potential of the city to
support underground development: the static capacities of the geology, the value of excavated material on the
market, the ease of excavation, the behaviour of groundwater and aquifer systems, the depth of ownership
and zoning ordinances. The perceptual-qualitative approach works more on spatial perception and
experience, the interactions between adjacent overlapping activities: the characteristics that make multi-level
spaces attractive, the types of activities that are compatible volumetrically, the formal and constructive
constraints.

274

Conclusion: An architectonics of dispersion?

The urban underground enrols many agencies with which the volumetric articulation of urban life can seek to
be more compact, pedestrian but also responsive to the practices that ensures the stability and adaptability of
the urban fabric. Within a rationality of the ecological, the boundary of the urban, even as it evolves outward
towards the horizon experiences moments of verticality and volumetricity. The horizon itself is troubled and
creative forms of spatial experiences can emerge. No particular order is imposed. They locally emerge and
are disclosed by the very agencies that constitute them. To embrace this as indeterminate, unable to be fully
predicted, is to not only embrace the very nature of the cosmos as we understand it today, but to also leave
possibilities open and avoid mechanisms of control. Real, significant, possibilities emerge (in a present always
in a state of becoming) from the patterns received, emitted, processed and stored from that which was
unsemantically heard in the playing back of agencies, the operations of infrastructure. Volumetric moments
are not pre-packaged, waiting to be found, they must be heard in the noise of all that is possible. They are
woven into existing relations and existing performances, as an architectonics of dispersion.
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276

Session 2_The Horizontal Metropolis: issues and challenges of a new

urban ecology

277

Curated Routes: the notion of routes as a design tool for the conception
of urban environments in Belgium
Maximi Papathanasiou

PhD candidate, Department of Architecture & Urban Planning, Ghent University

Supervisor Prof. Dr. Pieter Uyttenhove
Expected thesis defence: May, 2018
maximi.papathanasiou@ugent.be
The paper discusses the starting point for the conceptualization of the curated routes design tool. By investigating
different applications of the design tool, we seek to contribute to the general discussion on the user approach in design
theory. The project limits its research to urbanized environments that have been developed in the geographical area of
Belgium from the World War II till the current times. In this frame the Horizontal Metropolis is approached as an
urbanization concept rather than a definite image. From this point of view a breeding ground for discussion is provided
on the spatial patterns and socio-cultural logics that different urban paradigms introduce.

The curated routes design tool

The scope of the paper is to present a first outline of how we would like to proceed on the analysis of a
design tool. Starting point on researching the notion of curated routes in urban design was a priori interest
on the way urbanized environments are perceived by the users along a route of movement. A certain group
of studies (Augoyard 1979, Ingold 2000, Offenhuber 2003, Desportes 2005, Cresswell 2010) relates the
perception of the environment to its spatial attributes, and the transportation medium one could use. These
scholars stress that the effects-results of the itinerary are defined by the way the environment unfolds along a
route of movement. By dissecting urban environments into routes we aim to gain insight on the terrestrial
and successive experience of space, and thus to reveal interesting information on the user approach in design
theory.
The curated routes is a research on design project. In general terms research on design investigates
methodologies that translate concepts into designed forms. By doing so it bridges two research fields: the
historical-theoretical research and the design research (Van Der Voordt and De Jong 2002). Our project is a
critical analysis on theory and history of urbanism. The methodology that we follow is a reflexive work on
selected design methods and approaches (test-cases). By researching why and how the curated routes have
been used as a design tool in a range of test-cases we wish to come on critical conclusions on the users
approach in design theory. Studies that analyze urbanized environments by examining their relation to
exterior fields of knowledge (e.g. transportation systems, supply networks, state policies, etc.) could be useful
methodological references for our research.
The title curated routes reflects on the one hand on the intellectual function of curation, and on the other on
the notion of routes as it has been applied by certain designers. While routes are commonly used in urban
design as a way to apply organization and hierarchy in space, curation is rather a new term in the field.
Etymologically, curate, in the sense of the Latin curare, is the activity of taking care. Today specialists curate
collections mainly on an interpretational level and less from a conservation point of view. In this frame the
verb curate refers to the intellectual practice of arranging the material of a collection, in a way that a new
understanding of the world is revealed. In our case curate assigns to the interpretation of the historicocultural information that is contained in urban environments. As Bunschoten puts it, with the help of
players any actors and agents active in an urban environment the curator animates games that reshape
these trends into scenarios (Bunschoten, 2001, 39).
By the new term curated route we aim to introduce a common ground between different patterns and logics
that urban designers have applied. In other words, the research picks up the cupola term of curated route to
interpret the history of a design tool which has been used by urbanists in different circumstances and
contexts. Each one of the spatial patterns organizes urban space by pointing towards a different worldview.
Our aim is to examine urbanized environments that have been developed in the geographical area of Belgium
from the end of the Word War II till the current times. In this frame the research project could be helpful on
analyzing historical examples such as historical city centers and industrialized districts, but intention of ours is
to enter as well in current debates oriented to new urban extensions and the Horizontal Metropolis. The
selected test-cases will be analyzed in depth by focusing on the design method, the user approach and the
broader historico-cultural trends of the period. Our readings will include history books, periodicals and
manuals in the fields of urban design history and theory, anthropology, and cultural geography.
The curated routes in relation to different urbanization concepts
Over the second half of the 21st century a number of important shifts occurred in the urban design theory

278

both internationally (Taylor 1998) and nationally (Albrechts 1999, Ryckewaert 2011) with each one of them
leading to different terrestrial models, styles of living and valued ideas. Secchi argues respectively that The
reality of the urban landscape is not one of an eternal continuity but is subject to a continuous transition,
resulting in an on-going fragmentation. (Secchi, 2006, 21-36). Marcel Smets has formulated a critical
hypothesis for the relationship between the economic development and modes of operation (modus operanti)
that led the urbanization practice in Belgium (Smets 1990). More precisely, he divided the timeline in three
characteristic periods: time of confidence (1951-1959), time of casualness (1960-1973) and time of
hesitation and challenge (1974-1991).
In our project we are particularly interested to explore how the different historico-cultural periods could be
linked to urban design patterns with a particular user approach. The research hypothesis is that different
expressions of the curated routes tool (e.g. normative routes, horizontal systems, routes that celebrate free
choice, etc.) might be able to interpret significant shifts that occurred in the post-war urbanization of Belgium
[tab. 1]. In the context of this paper we would like to briefly refer to two exemplary test-cases. Our intention
is not to present these test-cases as a definite study, but rather as a work in progress that initiates an
interesting discussion on the design tool and its relation to spatial patterns and socio-cultural logics.

Table 1: Illustration of the conceptual process we followed to study three exemplary test-cases. In each test-case (vertical
columns), design concepts of the curated routes (bottom line) appear in relation to urbanization concepts that the
designers were studying (middle line) and the urban conditions (upper line) of that period. Source: elaborated by the
author.

Normative routes: The productive and residential pattern of the linear industrial city in Campine.
In the 1950s, with the end of the post-war political instability and the gradually development of a greater
political constancy, a coherent urbanization regime emerged in Belgium. During this period large-scale
operations occurred primarily in the peripheral regions of the country, such as the coastal areas and the
heavy-industry basins in the mainland. At this period a significant evolution in the urban design theory
generally occurred with the shift from an exercise in physical design to a rational process that was examining
the city in social and economic terms (McLoughlin 1969, Taylor 1998, Hanocq 2011).
The linear industrial city was a model that was shared by many in the modernist planning circles in Belgium as
a guiding image to the emergent urbanization needs. The modernization of the waterways in the Campine
region went hand in hand with the establishment of heavy industries and companies along the Albert Canal.
A basic pattern of parallel water and high-way infrastructure was considered as the working zone for a set of
adjacent urban zones [fig.1]. Social housing for the working force was built by the industries in ribbons or
aligned to roads transversal to the canal (Van Acker 2014). Ryckewaert states that the emergence of linear
settlement patterns in the post-war years is due to the mutual reinforcement of two models a territorial
model for organizing production, and the urban model of the linear city (Ryckewaert, 2011, 168). The
modernization of the waterways not only aimed to provide the industries with process-water and connection
between points of production, but encouraged as well the accommodation of new points of production in
areas where any urban fabric was absent (Delmer 1952).

279

[fig.1]Distribution of cement factories (white) and dwellings (bright white rectangles) along the Campine Canal. Source:
from Van Acker, 2014, 96.

One could argue that in the test-case of the linear industrial city the curated routes tool has been applied in
the form of normative routes. The reception of this model could be interpreted in different ways. To a
broader perspective the normative routes pattern reveals a rather clear emphasis on changing the existing
society. It appears that the agglomeration of industry along the waterways was related to Paul Otlets vision
for a national plan for Belgium (Otlet 1935). An ideological vision linked to the models of Victor Bourgeois
and Renaat Braem who perceived the whole territory of the country as a long production corridor between
main cities (Braem 1971, Strauven 2005). By having a closer look at the developments on the sides of the
canal one begins to realize the characteristics of the normative routes pattern. The linear industrial cities
were a new realm that has started to shape the everyday experience of an increasing number of people. The
strings of fuming chimneys, the adjacent brick dwellings of the working force and the larger units of the
directors, were emitting a specific communicative image of an autarkic and coherent urban fabric. This
image was primarily advertising the economic development and welfare of the area. It was perhaps admired
by the prospective investors and passing-by visitors, but had most probably different value for the everyday
users of the territory.
Routes of free choice: Park SpoorNoord Antwerp, Secchi and Vigano
Smets refers to the urbanization practice of the years 1974-1991 as the time of hesitation and challenge
(Smets 1990). Looking at the broader reality we could assume that it was the general rise of social awareness
in the 1960s that rattled the approach of the designers. Consequently, urban design has shifted from an
educational-normative activity to a horizontal process that was reinforcing the subjective consumption of the
environment (Taylor 1998). As far as Belgium is concerned, Smets relates the shift in the urbanization
practice to the crisis years of the 1970s-80s and the transition to a Post-Fordist regime. In this frame the
horizontal city could be studied as a structure of knowledge which is opposed to hierarchical urbanization
attempts. Accordingly, forms of spatial order that were strengthening the horizontal relations were employed
in order to foster the free choice in urban environments (Harvey 1989, Sandercock 1998). Secchi and Vigano
elaborate on this ideological shift by enumerating two cognitive strategies that lately captured the attention of
many researchers and urban planners (Secchi and Vigano, 2009, 9). The first consists in a return to experience
as a primary source of knowledge, in the place of the common sense. The second strategy refers to the
projects fundamental capacity to produce new expertise. In other words, the use of the project not so much
as application of a priori knowledge but as a producer of new knowledge.
At this point we would like to refer to the park SpoorNoord as a test-case that could shed light on another
possible application of the curated routes design tool, the routes that celebrate free choice in urban space.
The field of SpoorNoord, located to the north of the Antwerps city center, does not really belong to the
body of the city where everyone is daily living. In general, the area is a patchwork of several neighborhoods
and communities (Uyttenhove 2003). Main points of the proposal elaborated by the team of Secchi and
1
Vigano were connectivity and the realization of a collective topos. The park was re-designed as an open space
that interweaves with paths the internal areas to the adjacent neighborhoods [fig.2]. Numerous enclosures
(e.g. street facades, side walls of buildings, fences, etc.) and openings were handled in a special way. Some
enclosures stayed fixed while others remained flexible depending on the hour of the day, the season, the
activity or the event (Palmboom 2003).

Studio 03, Buro Kromwijk, Meertens & Steffens and Iris Consulting

280

[fig.2] Allocation of paths in park SpoorNoord based on the design proposal of Secchi and Vigano. Source: from
Antwerpen Stad, 2005. BPA Stedelijk Park Spoor Noord. [online] and De Wever, 2003, 86.

One could observe that in this test-case there might have been a couple of different reasons-why the
implementation of the curated routes tool was a favorable choice for re-designing the area. The concept of
routes of free-choice was well related both to the architectural program of the project and the general
concerns of the urbanists of that period. The main scopes of the program were the design of a green
recreational area and the gentle connection of the east-west and north-south areas (Geerts et al. 2003).
Therefore we could advocate that the use of routes of free-choice in the form of paths was a favorable
interpretation of the program. A second reason might have been the general ideological shift in the
urbanization practice towards the subjective consumption of the environment. In this context, a design
proposal that was aiming to cover the needs and aspirations of the people living in the vicinity of the park
was ideologically welcome by the research community.
With the introduction of the projects framework one begins to realize the opportunities that the design tool
could offer to the general discussion on the user approach in design theory. The overall research project
might assist us as well to broaden our understanding on the logics that guide the design of urban space in
general. The test-cases will allow us to investigate to what degree the design tool has been used and what
opportunities could offer to designers in the future. Design concepts such as the normative routes and the
routes of free choice are prominent test-cases, but they are certainly not the only ones. Further research is
required in order to broaden our understanding on the design tool and the cases-circumstances where it has
been used.
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282

Walkability After the Car; looking into low-density urbanity

Farzaneh Bahrami
Laboratory of Urbanism, EPFL
Elena Cogato Lanza
2017
farzaneh.bahrami@epfl.ch
Taking the recent decline in automobilities as a departure point, in this article, we reconstruct the constant opposition of
pedestrian and car that marked the theoretical debates as well as the urban projects throughout the last century to better
understand the implications and potentials of a possible inversion towards a post-car era, where gradually a mobility based
on corporeal capacities takes primacy. We will trace the inversion through a historical path from car as an instrument of
democracy democratization of freedom of movement (Sheller and Urry 2000) to current visions for democracy on
foot (Geipel and Andi 2009). Questioning the status of walk, its metrics, and its capacities we focus specifically on lowdensity urbanity. Taking the case of Leman region in Switzerland, we will show that the territories of dispersed density,
although slowly but progressively participate in the transition from car dominance where an extensive network of public
transport provided. We will finally introduce and evaluate the potentials relevance a system of Accelerated Moving
Walkway as an extension of the notion of walkability within low density.

Introduction
Walking has recently attracted increasing scientific interest within different disciplines, in sociological studies,
urban literature, as well as health and well being; from walk as experience of the world through feet, its
techniques and its rhythms (Ingold 2004, Edensor 2010, Vergunst 2008), technologies and gadgets facilitating
it (Michael 2000, Lavandinho and Winkin 2006) to walk as an essential part of the urban way of life and as a
significant social activity (Demerath and Levinger 2003). The increasing centrality of walk and the figure of
pedestrian in mobility and urban discourses follows the strategies of modal shift and discourses of sustainable
and soft mobility as a response to energetic and environmental imperatives calling for an urgency to reduce
car mobility and contributes, among other factors, to a phenomenon often described as car peak. Car peak
marks a transition in mobility practices, mostly in cities that attract a growing population whose travel needs
are increasingly met by investment in public transport (Metz 2013). Therefore car mobility, measured in terms
of drivers licenses and household car ownership as well as average daily car travel distance has significantly
decreased (Kuhnimhof et al. 2012).
This article proposes to reconstruct critically the constant tension between pedestrian and car that marked the
theoretical debates as well as the urban projects throughout the century of the car, to better understand the
implications and potentials theoretical and in terms of projects of a possible inversion towards a post-car
era, where gradually a mobility based on corporeal capacities takes primacy. Questioning the status of walk,
its metrics, its capacities and its characteristics we focus specifically on low-density urbanity.
Many cities experience an observable rise of walking in their modal share, coupled with measures of public
transport. Households increasingly abandon their cars in favor of pedestrian metrics. This trend, however,
turns out to be much more modest when it comes to territories in between cities. Walkability in low-density
urbanity and in the contemporary fragmentary urban condition remains a challenge. Considerations for
pedestrians in the cities wrote Jane Jacobs in 1961, are inseparable from considerations for city diversity,
vitality and concentration of use. She reminds the reader in the absence of city diversity and in large
settlements people are probably better off in cars than on foot. While a Zwicschenstadt landscape could
perfectly host an aesthetic promenade, it cannot easily accommodate the pedestrian as a vehicular unit
(Goffman, 1971), which functions by integrating into a larger system of mobility.
In the first part we will trace a historical-critical path from emergence of car, when the opposition
pedestrian/car was formulated as the opposition of body and machine, slowness and speed, to following
decades when the boundaries of the two were theorized in a more complex and overlapping way, sociability
versus efficiency, active versus passive. Over the time the opposition blurs and the notions move from one
side to other as in a recent approach to mobility speed is redefined in terms of accessibility and connectivity
related to flexibility inherent to pedestrian movement. Thus the individual freedom (of movement) once
associated directly with democratization of car, is today sought through connectivity and porosity of the
urban network.
In the second part, in the framework of an ongoing project on Leman region in Switzerland, envisioning a
transition in mobility towards a post-car world1, we focus on pedestrian mobility in low-density urban areas.
We take the Leman region in Switzerland, the area between Lausanne and Geneva, as a relevant case with a
high supply of public transport, despite which it remains highly car dependent. Challenging the absolute
values of what is considered as walking distance, we introduce and evaluate the efficiency and relevance of a
1 Post-Car World is an on-going interdisciplinary project between three federal universities in Switzerland: EPFL (Lausanne) ETH
(Zurich) and USI(Lugano), see http://postcarworld.epfl.ch/.

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system of Accelerated Moving Walkways2 as an extension of the notion of walkability. What potentials and
what horizons of efficiency and sociability?
Car versus Pedestrian: A Tug of War
Critiques of Car and Emergence of Public Space
While the twentieth century witnessed the decisive triumph of car as principal means of personal mobility and
consequently the fervent development of its infrastructure, reorganizing spatially and socially the city, that
very triumph ironically generated critiques of the car and quests for alternatives that continue to this day. The
car dominance was first questioned through spatial concerns, for its colonization of the space of everyday
life by the invasive character of its object and its accompanying infrastructure and for its territorial
consequences, contributing, as it does, to a system of inhabiting that lowers the level of urbanity by reducing
density and diversity (Lvy 2011). The space produced by car and the observation of the pedestrian
cheerfully suffering the loss of all his amenities (Buchanan 1958, p.89) led to a quest for the qualities of
traditional urban space and critiques of the proliferation of fast roads (Mumford 1958, Jacobs 1961, Lefebvre
1968). These observations and critiques, we would argue, triggered the theoretical reflections on the notion of
public space, its elaboration within urban discourses and marked the beginning of a series of
pedestrianization projects and car-free schemes both in Europe and in U.S.
One of the earliest efforts to discuss the issue of urban public space in the transformed circumstances of
modern architecture after the war was CIAM 8 held in Hoddesdon, England, on The Heart of the City in 1951.
(Mumford 2002, p.215) Centered on the notion of human scale and the figure of pedestrian, it acknowledged
the right of the individual over the tyranny of mechanical tools (Tyrwhitt 1952). The core was discussed as
a civic landscape, secure from traffic to provide opportunities for spontaneous manifestations of social life
(Tyrwhitt 1952).
Public space characterized as space of pedestrian becomes central to urban discourses and animates urban
projects. It appears in this period in publications on urbanism as well as in interdisciplinary reflections on
cities. (Jane Jacobs 1963, Jan Gehl 19711987 English translation, Lyn Lofland 1973, Richard Sennett 1977,
William H. Whyte 1980, Appleyard 1981, Lyn Lofland 1998) However, these publications discern the subject
differently; from lamenting the end of public space as it becomes a function of motion and losing any
independent experiential meaning of its own (Sennett 1977, p.12), to setting theoretical grounds and
identifying the characteristics and attributes of it through history (Lofland 1985, 1998) and further, to
analysis and proposal of criterions and rules of thumb for a human centered approach to projects of urban
public spaces (Gehl 1971). The studies and proposals of the material and typologies of space of pedestrian
were later transformed into a political reflection on the relation of the body to the space of the city. It is
important to note the relevance and influence of publications in political theory such as Arendts notion of
polis as space of appearance; where I appear to others as others appear to me, where men exist ...to make
their appearance explicitly (Arendt 1958, p.198), as well as various social movements of this period in
reinforcing the idea of public space as corporeal space of citizenship, the space of the pedestrian.
Pedestrian as Vehicular Unit
During the 20th century, la rgne de la vitesse, man was down looked as slowest of all species as the biped
creature so ill-constructed for speed and it was the advent of car that finally enabled man to overcome this
deplorable condition (Moos 2009). The speed is a criterion of comparison of pedestrian and car on the basis
of an absolute measuring unit, and guided a significant part of the functionalist planning (e.g. projects of
expressways in cities). As mentioned earlier, however, following the aggressive space produced by car and
against the absolute value of the speed, with the critiques of hyper mobility (e.g. Virilio, Vitesse et politique,
1977, Sloterdijk, Eurotaoismus: zur Kritik der politischen Kinetik, 1989), coinciding with oil crisis (1973) and social
and energetic concerns of fast transportations (Illich 1974) pedestrian gained attention.
The search for a criteria that allows direct comparability of car and pedestrian (and all other transport modes),
gave rise to conceptual innovations particularly fertile in the long term. Including the notion of vehicular
unit, developed by Erwing Goffman (1971). Goffman, sociologist and interested in interaction order and
behavior in public, tended to consider car/pedestrian as two commensurable modalities of transport within
the spectrum of all the variety of existing means of transport. In his book Relations in public (1971), he
considers the pedestrian as a vehicular unit, to be able to sketch out the similarities and differences between
car and foot traffic that can be objectively measured and compared.
A vehicular unit, he explained, is a shell of some kind controlled (usually from within) by a human. Vehicular
units vary according to the thickness of their skins. There are trains, and cars, all of which have thick skins,
being guided by men who are well hidden and in some ways well protected. There are buggies, open cars,
sedan chairs, rickshaws, and bicycles [...], which leave the navigator relatively, exposed. Viewed in this
2 The system is being developed as a part of our on-going research PostCarWorld by Transportation and Mobility Laboratory (TRANSPOR, EPFL). They address specifically the technological challenges, such as energetic efficiency, network optimization and safety.

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perspective, the individual himself can be considered a pilot encased in a soft and exposing shell, namely his
clothes and skin. Thus the shell for Goffman is the most characteristic feature of any vehicular unit that
defines a distance and provides a protection from the environment and from the other vehicular units within
it. He contrasts the soft skin of pedestrian with the cars hard iron shell. It is interesting to observe that, in the
more qualitative aspects of the comparison, the pedestrian as well as other vehicles are analyzed using an
organic metaphor blurring the previous, intuitive oppositions as body and machine.
Considering a vehicular unit from the point of view of speed, Goffman analyses the consequent sociability of
different paces. Thus the speed of vehicular units and the material qualities of their shells afford or constrain
interaction with others as well as the surrounding environment. Goffman also underlines the importance of
the relation vehicular units establish with the infrastructure facilitating them, the more the relation between
the vehicle and its infrastructure is exclusive, for example train with the rail and car with the road, the less it is
flexible and accessible.
This approach has been further developed into what Demerath & Levinger (2003) called pausability, the
quality that makes it possible to quickly switch from unfocused interactions to focused face-to-face ones. The
flexibility and opportunistic character of movement has been described by Amar (1993) as adherence that is at
its maximum in a walk as opposed to an origin-destination movement with no grip or adherence to the
environment it passes through. In case of car movement, it could vary from fast roads and highways with
very little longitudinal grips to more capillary roads with opportunities to stop by along their sidewalks.
Thus the neutrality of the notion of vehicular unit resulted in articulating and fine-tuning in a qualitative
manner the specificities of different transport modes beyond the previous preconceptions and dichotomies
such as speed and slowness.
The Importance of Being Active
As already mentioned from 1970s-80s, walkability and its attributes became an important entry of the modal
shift strategies and projects, driven first by social and spatial concerns and further by environmental and
energetic ones. Sustainability was searched through soft mobility, promoting, valorizing, and encouraging
slowness. A first inversion of value from speed to slowness, not confined to the mobility domain; slow zones,
familial zones, zone de rencontre, slowing down the traffic and road diet technics. The vocabulary nevertheless
has recently shifted from soft to active, with a re-aknowledgement of body and metabolic energy. Walking
is increasingly associated with well being, active mobility replaces that of soft mobility. Several studies have
pointed out the contribution of walking (and cycling) to the challenge of insufficiency of physical activity in
adults and that encouraging active travel could be a promising way of meeting this challenge.
Today many researches and strategic plans, focus on increasing share of active mobility in cities. For
instance, Alfred Peter (2014), landscape designer and architect, proposes in collaboration with physicians and
the city of Strasbourg, medical prescriptions of precise urban walks for obese patients. Such initiatives (See
also Vision 2030 in UK, developing visions for reducing car mobility to 5% of its current modal share by
focusing on 'active travel', or Hamburgs Grnes Netz, planning to create an extensive 70 kilometer network of
bike and pedestrian greenways to link the green areas of the city to the outskirts without relying on car) are
grounded on the fact that today physical activity and the notion of effort take extra value.
Coming back again to pedestrian versus car, as we can see we have moved away from Lynchs approach to
the car and its quality of effortless moving, and its visual approach to the landscape that launched a series of
explorations on the relation between sight and motion. The value of walking as an exercise emphasizes more
tactile and atmospheric aspects of landscape, walking as a multisensory experience.
The daily activity today is measured, registered and even shared through social networks by fitness trackers,
smartphones and accessories (e.g. fitbit, iwatch, apple health applications, etc.). Smartphones that are
considered as significant rival of car culture (see Thompson 2012, Weissmann 2012) measure and value the
effort of the individual. As an important personal possessed object, smartphones provide invaluable real time
information on travel trajectories and transport connections and modalities that is susceptible to compete
with the cars uninterrupted connectivity. Smartphones and other mobile technologies not only render the
trip reliable and the trajectory imaginable, but also provide a connection to an outer world, family, work and
friends network that changes the experience of the trip. The notion of active mobility thus could be
interpreted beyond mere physical activity, sport and effort and can be defined as a new a relation to time of
travel; active use of travel time, both in short trajectories as well as long distances and within mobile life
styles. Thus we move from an obsession with speed to a mastering of time (Reichen 2015).
The active individual, the pedestrian, with its capacity to move between different scales becomes the
protagonist of city, breaking from rhetorics of slowness, and rather focusing on inherent characteristics of
pedestrian movement, its agility and pausability, contrasting with cars coercive freedom (Sheller and Urry
2000). Agility implies speed but in a smart way, it is the quality to move quickly and while having a
resourceful and adaptable character and pausability enables opportunities for connections and interactions.
In this frame, the political dimension of active mobility becomes clear. Not surprisingly, reversing the

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traditional quality of car as an instrument of democracy democratization of freedom of movement (Sheller

and Urry 2000), today urbanists envision democracy on foot (Geipel and Andi 2009) and the theme of
porosity becomes fundamentally political besides technical.
Towards the speeds that matter
Amar (2010) introduces the notion of Reliance as the new value of mobility that goes beyond the
distance/time relation of the transport realm. In this perspective mobility is increasingly understood as
creation of links, opportunities and synergies rather than overcoming distances. New conceptions of mobility
redefine the notion of speed. In Ville pdestre, ville rapide (2008) Lvy proposes the idea of Contextual Speed
that is access to people, places and social realities rather than movement through space in time asserting that
a pedestrian in a dense and diverse city that favors pedestrian metrics is faster than for example a driver
speeding up in a highway, that is to say the pedestrian has access to more relevant social realities. In a
contextual approach therefore, the urban masses, linked by mobile elements become a variant of their
velocity (Lvy 2008).
It is important to note that this transition in mobility is happening within the context of a more profound
evolution that is the emergence of mobile life-styles (Amar 2010), people whose daily life is extended over a
large territory, commuting long distances for work reasons or family or couple dynamics polytopic lifestyles
(Stock 2006) are more reluctant to use the car. High-speed trains and low cost flights enable them to travel
fast and active, moving between different scales and different means of transport, their mobility is above all
their competence. Thus individual as trans-scalar fundamental component of mobility, placed at the center of
different modes, becomes co-producer of its own mobility and constitutes a fundamental component of the
increasing multi-modality of cities. In the transition from car dominance and automobilities, to emergence of
different modes, individual, collective and shared vehicular units, heteromobilites, the pedestrian, augmented by
seamless information and by his Seven-league boots (bicycle, metro, etc.) (Amar 2010) becomes itself the
infrastructure of the city of today; in this perspective speeding up the city is conceiving it for the pedestrian.
Walking in between
The Strength of Weak Signs
Within multiple aspects of walk as the subject of research, an important body is dedicated to environmental
qualities and correlates of walk, how the built environment and neighborhood characteristics influence the
willingness or reluctance to walk. A general consensus can be traced through the results of these studies both
in transportation and urban planning literature as well as health and behavioral science literature that
consistently correlate walking rates with higher levels of densities and economic activities (Cervero 2002,
Saelens et al. 2003, Ravalet et al. 2013). This proves to be important particularly concerning the walk as a
means of transport and as a part of the daily trajectory rather than recreational promenades or brisk walks
(McCormack & Shiell, 2011).
Low-density urbanity considered, with some historical exceptions, to be the consequence of the car
continues to be strongly associated with car dependency both for those who inhabit these territories as well as
visitors from compact city whose leisure activities involve car travels (Orfeuil and Soleyret 2002). Masboungi
(2015) addressing the question of car in the context of La Ville Territoire, announces a lack of reflection,
projects, methods and governance on the evolution of the car dependency in large territories (Masboungi
2015, p.150).
In the following section we will look into walking trends versus that of car in the Leman metropolitan region
in Switzerland, the territories between two cities of Lausanne and Geneva. In the context of Leman region, in
two cities of Lausanne and Geneva, shows a national mobility survey3, families are increasingly abandoning
cars, with an 11% increase during the last decade; four families out of ten now move around without a private
car. However, in the extended territories between the two cities, stretching to the Jura Mountains with mixed
urban and agricultural landscapes, individual houses, farms and small villages, this number drops to less than
a household out of ten (7% in Vaud and 9% in Geneva in typologies classified as peri-urban) while the rest
have one and often more than one car per family. The number of car per household, as expected is strongly
related to the typology of place of residence, increasing by moving away from dense urban areas. However,
despite the prevalence of car ownership, the modal split of car in these territories has decreased in the last ten
years, therefore car ownership does not necessarily equal its constant use, walking increased within the same
areas from 16% to 28% in canton of Geneva and from %21 to 27% in canton of Vaud. It is interesting to
note that while modal split of car is reduced in peri-urban zones, the time of car mobility has increased.
Given the decrease in the kilometers covered by car in general, the increase in time of car mobility could be
interpreted a reduction in speed of car.

3 Micro-recensement Mobilit et Transports; La mobilit des Genevois et des Vaudois, EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique fdrale de
Lausanne) Transportation, Center and Observatoire Universitaire de la Mobilit UNIGE (2012).

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[fig. 1]: Walking vs. car mobility, trends in cities and in peri-urban areas with Canton of Geneva between 2000 and 2010:
Source: Micro-recensement Mobilit et Transports 2012

From this brief overview we can see that the territories of dispersed density in Leman region, although slowly
but progressively participate in what we can call a transition in mobility practices. The question is whether
these weak signs of change could be symptomatic of a thorough transition from car dominance, an inversion
in use and place of car especially within low-density urbanity. If so, what kind of walkability would emerge
from the long tension car/pedestrian that has consistently defined one mode in relation to the other? What
would be the place of public space, as concentration of density and diversity, and as space predominantly
defined by pedestrian within the context of dispersion? What could encourage walk if the low density is the
quality to be maintained? What would be the value of reliance in the context of dispersion? How would the
polarities efficiency/spontaneity, machine/body, active/passive be re-articulated?
While in the context of density and diversity (city), a project of walkability entails a re-programming of the
surface to facilitate the walk, in the territories that extend in between, it demands new spatial configurations,
e.g. rethinking large architectural volumes, creation of small centralities, intensification of services (increasing
the contextual speed), as well as new infrastructural supports in terms of mobility (increasing the absolute
speed).
In the last of part we propose to explore the potential relevance of the application of a system of
Accelerating Moving Walkways, as an extension of notion of walkability within these territories, as a possible
instrument of overcoming the challenge of long, repetitive, walks in the absence of serendipity and
spontaneity offered by an intense public space that renders the same trajectory a different experience every
time. We hypothesize that by increasing the absolute speed of the pedestrian within low density areas we can,
beside decreasing the time-distance, intensify the experience of the public space thus overcome its paradox in
lower densities, beyond machine/body opposition and by displacing the boundaries of active and passive
mobility.
We retake a particular field of experimentation, where capacity of walking has been augmented to compete
with car. With the conviction that people will use automobiles as long as nothing better is available (Gruen
1964) a series of explorations started in 1960s proposing new innovative possibilities for the future that will

287

give even more delight and convenience to the user. Given the considerable amount of studies and
experiments on mechanical means of moving people prior to the mass motorization era, up to 1920s, urban
projects in this period reemployed many of the historical schemes and examples to develop the future with
the objective of reducing the role of the private car (Richards 1966). Among many transport systems
imagined, such as minirail, self-driven mini taxis, automatic people mover, and other non-stop moving
systems, MWs were a promising recurrent scheme. Applied mostly within the transportations hubs and
shopping malls, it was also imagined to be a viable transport means for intra-city movements, especially
within the new developments. MWs, also called Pedestrian Conveyors, were thought not only as an aid to
pedestrian movement but also providing a new experience, with a view over the city at a different speed, not
necessarily faster than that of the pedestrian. Such effortless, immobile walk of the Pedestrian Conveyors
offered another vision of the city without regrets for the car; the city as a permanent Exposition Universelle.
(Rouillard 2013).
Accelerating Moving Walkway; an extension of walk
The use of Moving Walkways (MW) is a concept present in the history of transportation since the late 19th
century, and it has fascinated science-fiction writers, urban planners and engineers ever since. Around the
1900s, already the use of impossibly fast (more than 100 km/h) and massive moving walkways as the
transport system of future megalopolis was described in several science-fiction novels (e.g. A Story of the Days
To Come, H. G. Wells, 1897; The Roads Must Roll, Robert A. Heinlein, 1940; The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov,
1954) while their real implementations were also presented in exhibition events (e.g. World's Columbian
Exposition, Chicago - USA, 1893; Exposition Universelle, Paris - France, 1900; 42nd street, New York - USA,
1923). Contrary to what was presumed in different moments of the history, today MWs are not used as a
means of transport for a city network, but only on individual links with high demand, usually in large
transportation hubs such as airports and metro stations and in few cases they are used in hilly city centers to
facilitate the access to elevated parts (e.g. Hong Kong, Medellin Colombia, Perugia Italy) (Scarinci et al.
2015)
In the contextual approach, as discussed earlier, the access of the moving element, pedestrian or car, to
people, places, services and social realities and not the distance it covers in a given time determines its
speed. However, the experience of density itself is also closely related to the speed of movement through a
given environment (Ourednik 2010) therefore, the absolute speed in this sense becomes a variable of density
or the perception of density; if the density is to be understood as the number of encounters with people,
places, and social realities in a given time. We can therefore hypothesize that increasing the speed increases
the intensity of public space, provided the means of increasing speed, does not de-densify the context by its
very metrics. Thus the ideal would be a vehicular unit with higher speed than pedestrian that nevertheless
maintains a high level of adherence to the immediate environment without de-densifying the context with its
accompanying infrastructure, as does car.
An interesting technological development is the Accelerating Moving Walkway (AMW), installed at Toronto
Airport (Canada) and Paris Montparnasse metro station (France). Unlike the traditional moving walkways,
AMWs have an acceleration section at the embarking areas that accelerates pedestrians to a speed close to 12
km/h, adding up to the velocity of normal walk, which is possible on top of the walkway, it can reach 18
km/h. This technological improvement could allow the use of AMWs as an urban means of transport given
that their speed is comparable to the current commercial speed in dense city centers, which is approximately
15 km/h ) (Scarinci et al. 2015).
In a synergic approach within the framework of Post Car World research, as Scarinci et al. (2014) focus on
technical aspects of the AMW, comfort, efficiency and the network design within the context of the city, we
hypothesize, building on their technical reflections, that in a radical scenario of inversion of the place of car
and pedestrian in the system of mobility, AMW could particularly be of interest in generating new urbanities
within lower densities. However, as an infrastructure, although not very imposing in its visual and physical
imprint, AMW has still the fundamental drawback of creating barriers and reducing the permeability of the
network and spontaneity of flows. Therefore in the city center where spontaneity is a constitutive value, the
utility of AMW becomes questionable whereas in the low-density urbanity, along the existing limits, within
long segments of the fragmented urbanity, a network could be imagined. The pedestrian leaving the system of
MWs is liberated from the means of transport, i.e. he doesnt have to park the mobility device nor return
back to it at the end of a journey. The experience of movement of the body and the exposure to the
surrounding environment is close to that of pedestrian. Running in an ongoing fashion, it eliminates the
waiting time and therefore generates a feeling of continuous flow particular to the pedestrian experience of
space, creating a space of continuous and unconstrained flow of social interactions.

288

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The verticalization of the transport system in Veneto metropolitan

area
Alvise Pagnacco
Affiliation: IUAV
Supervisor: Paola Vigan
Expected thesis defence: March, 2016
alpagnac@stud.iuav.it
Mobility, as a concept, defines the ability to move within a territory. Private cars are and have been the perfect way to
commute in the last 60 years. Those who cannot afford to own a car or are unfit to drive, should count on a public
transport system.
The citt diffusa in Veneto region is the case study. This low intensity urbanization is characterized by high connection between the different parts of the territory. It is, namely, an area that presents multiple connections of the horizontal type (infrastructure), such as to ensure the possibility of a high-mobility. The dissertation analyses the early
stage of urbanization in this region to discover how it worked before the diffusion of cars. Then it seeks to investigate
the infrastructure project that the region is realizing, using the concept of horizontality. The thesis proposes to reflect
on an appropriate scenario, which could help the citt diffusa to solve its addiction to cars.

Certain territories are car addicted. In 1989 a comparison among 32 cities (Newman & Kenworthy, 1989)
demonstrates that there is, indeed, a strong relation between urban development densities and petroleum consumption.
The territory object of my research is the central part of the Veneto region, characterized by housing dispersion and a germ metropolitan spirit. In fact a number of metropolitan level functions have, over time, been
installed in the large portion of land between Padua, Venice and Treviso.
Besides some signs of metropolitan functions, the typical polycentrism has been the constitutive element of
the relationship enterprise - local community; this symbiosis has been important as a support for production
and for social rewards. Today new models of behaviour determine the tendency to break this union, a break
that cannot be masked even by the localist ideology. (Anastasia & Cor , 1996)
The historic, geographic and socio-cultural environment of the north-east has built a factor of great importance in bringing out a specific form of economic organization - the industrial district - and has favoured the
creation of an infrastructure capable of connecting the social and productive fabric in an area through a specific organization of the settlements - the citt diffusa. The citt diffusa and industrial districts have not only
given a specific shape to the landscape of the north-east, but they have established a principle of economic and
social organization.
So it seems that today economic and social organization is based on the use of massive passenger vehicles and
trucks.
The relationship between the car and such spatial organization has become increasingly close, almost becoming unforgettable in the daily practices of citizenship. The landscape of this polycentric area could be described by words Bruno De Meulder used to describe Belgium: a land of laissez-faire, where the cacophonic
juxtaposition of designs delivers surprise after surprise, where an intense poetry lurks side by side with a nauseating banality behind the commonplace of everyday habitation. This incredibly chaotic urban landscape
seems to lack any coherence whatsoever. [ ] In the absence of typically metropolitan problems, Belgium never really worked out a real urban policy for itself (including town planning, the development of an infrastructure of public facilities and the associated administrative institutions). On the contrary, a new form of urbanization developed everywhere, even in the tiniest villages. (De Meulder, 1999)
Still in Belgium, Bernardo Secchi and Paola Vigan have invented the concept of horizontal metropolis: it describes contemporary diffuse urbanity in Brussels, Flanders and the North-Western Metropolitan Area as a
support for an innovative urban project in both political and spatial terms (Vigan, 2012).
The concept of the horizontal metropolis is a radical project for a metropolis that establishes both non-hierarchical relationships between its different parts as well as osmotic relationships between built and open space,
between mobility infrastructure and dwelling places (Vigan, 2012).
This concept is useful to read the projects which are transforming Veneto metropolitan area.
The horizontality may be obtained through an isotropic system of roads, used by private vehicles (in fact what
is happening in Veneto, and as we shall see, the goal of the regional development plan). To ensure a sufficient

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degree of horizontality in this configuration, every citizen should be able to afford an automobile (or any other vehicle able to guarantee high performances); the level of road congestion is expected to remain low, otherwise the horizontality would be undermined by the system itself. To overcome the natural congestion that
such a system brings, the infrastructure would be organized according to the hierarchy of different speeds
(Buchanan, 1963). But people on their feet are more or less equal . (Illich 1974)
An improvement on this native degree of mobility by new transport technology should be expected to safeguard these values and to add some new ones, such as greater range, time economies, comfort, or more opportunities for the disabled; [ ] while the growth of the transportation industry has had the reverse effect everywhere. From the moment greater horsepower was created for drivers, this industry has reduced equality
among men, restricted their mobility to a system of industrially defined routes, and created time scarcity of
unprecedented severity. As the speed of their vehicles crosses a threshold, citizens become transportation consumers on the daily loop that brings them back to their home (Illich 1974)
Hence the horizontality may be provided by a different transportation system, based on both an extensive
public transportation system and cycling.
My Ph.D. dissertation then reconstructs how Veneto worked before the massive expansion of the car; then it
shows how Veneto today suffers from a heavy dependence and analyzes how the sum of infrastructure projects
move this region towards a strong hierarchy based on motorway production and it tries to outline a scenario,
based on technological configurations and specific regulations, able to overcome the car addiction.
The interest of this thesis lies in the potential spaces that this scenario would build. In fact urban spaces take
shape linked to transport choices and practices. A six lane road full of traffic is less attractive to a pedestrian
than a same width road with two lanes and a linear park (10 meters wide).
During a campaign of interviews I conducted in the Camposampierese1, the lack of imagination of the inhabitants trying to conceive an alternative model to the one provided by private car emerges strongly: three
decades of dependence on the automobile industry have stolen imagination.
The problem, related to the Camposampierese for example, is the total lack, in most of its territory, of spaces
dedicated to pedestrians. Those spaces may be strategic in connecting metropolitan functions. I refer to strategic links thinking of the extensive network of unpaved road, which could provide pleasant walks for pedestrians. This network, however, is now seen as the backyard of the city, and does not touch any of those functions
that generate moving in the citt diffusa. A simple example to illustrate the poor quality of pedestrian spaces is
that of the smaller railway stations spread throughout the territory: almost none of these stations is reachable
by foot because of the lack of pavements. Who would happily walk on the edge of a road where cars race
along at 70 kilometres per hour?
The car dependence level therefore defines the stage of an urban situation. But a high degree of horizontality
is a result of a specific political project, where the main purpose is to open the city to all citizens, and achieve
high levels of sustainability.
It s also true that as more and more countries develop an automobility culture (Urry 2004) and automobile
travel has gained prestige and alternative modes such as walking, cycling and public transit have lost prestige,
and indeed, are often stigmatized. The slang way to define public transport - a loser cruiser - becomes key to
read the growing social inequalities that a transport system based only (or mostly) on the car creates: those
who use public transportation are losers, and this attitude is clearly visible in the sprawling city, where personal status coincides with the model of car owned: it is like going back to the film 2 shot in Veneto in 1965
by Pietro Germi, where the characters were characterized by the car they owned.
In the 1990 study (Indovina et al. 1990) on central Veneto agglomeration, Francesco Indovina underlines
how such a territorial phenomenon was generated by a low level of hierarchy on infrastructures.
In his study the goal was to define a new governance geometry. A car was, according to his study, the element
which generated the citt diffusa, and a fundamental tool for living in it.
If one walks towards the Camposampierese, one immediately realizes that it is a different type of city compared to a compact one. It contains most of the functions you would expect to find in a city: dwellers,
commercial and leisure facilities, parks, monuments. In fact a quasi metropolitan facility set. What makes this
city peculiar is a remarkable amount of agriculture, insufficient facilities for pedestrians, an incoherent web of
1This area is a relevant case study because it is not a recognized as a city. It gravitates between the centres of Padua, Mestre and
Treviso, but the authority (state, region and provinces) not recognize it as independent administrative body.
The Camposampierese, from the administrative point of view, is the union of eleven municipalities. This merger, organized to reduce the costs of individual municipalities, has enabled us to imagine a new kind of city, where in fact there is no polarity
or most important centrality.
2Signore & signori

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bike lanes (the multitude of administrative unit plots do not allow a proper coordination of pedestrian and
bike networks) and the base level of public transport.
Mobility, considered as a broad concept encompassing the mere transportation system, plays a strategic role in
shaping the form of an urban situation.
Mobility, in a contemporary European city, could fix the discrepancy between urban reality and prevailing
ideologies of what a European city should be. (Sieverts 2003)
The rail network enhances accessibility to city centres, symbolic places of historical identity of this area, oriented towards tourism, university and representative functions; the motorway network, instead, promotes the
new tertiary-commercial edge city, the most dynamic areas which provide the interface in relations to the cityterritory and good accessibility. The role of cities as centres of services, characterized by different profiles and
specializations, attracts different groups and require a consistent articulation of accessibility. This is used to
configure the entire system not as the sum of the individual autonomous units, but as a unified network of
major and minor nodes, maintaining individuality and different vocations, increasing their complementarity
thanks to a web of relations and of access opportunities.
Despite the density, industrial and social structure were totally different, I use the historical reconstruction of
this region before the spread of the automobile to see how the car was not the generative factor of this citt
diffusa, but the element that changed the order of the size of the phenomenon.
Pre car
I analyzed how the mobility system functioned before the appearance of the car. Three significant elements
derived from this pre-car analysis: the space of the railway and tramway system; the hydrological system; the
network of the unpaved roads which were the support for a generalized mobility by bike.
The result of this survey reveals a territory based on an open structure. From the second half of the twentieth
century this open structure has undergone a major process of densification. When the phenomenon became
relevant, many studies analyzed the characteristics and the premise that the car was the basis of this type of urban fabric. Looking back at the period before the spread of the car can, on the one hand minimize the dependency on the individual means of transport, and on the other demonstrate how the synergy of a public transport capillary and an intense use of the bicycle makes a territory livable even without the car. Today it seems
impossible that in the near future, a territory like Camposampierese will be able to find a formula to work
without cars.
In the early stage of suburbanization the railway and tramway systems were the backbone of this city.
Through the reconstruction of the operation principles of the ancient system of mobility present in this region
until the first half of the twentieth century, we learn that even a widespread city could count on an efficient
synergy of public transport and sustainable mobility.
This part of the dissertation has the goal of underlining the relation between laws, policy, rail production and
industrial system.
This history starts in 1866 when the Veneto region was annexed to the kingdom of Italy.
Just before the annexation, the main rail network had already been built. The road network offered a relatively
high potential of connectivity, but it took a long time to cover short distances. In 1870 a group of congressmen started lobbying in parliament to obtain more rail infrastructures in Veneto.
The histogram shows the infrastructure production in
Veneto region. The black bars are rail and tramway production; the red bars are motorways production. The intense
rail production, during the decade 1870 - 1880, is part of
an industrial steel based system.
In 1879 a law [Baccarini] was passed for the construction
of new lines to complete the rail network of the Kingdom.
The promotors of this law were all of the steel production
lobby. The societ Veneta, founded in 1872, is a private
company which realized almost all the complementary rail
networks in Italy and was owned by Vincenzo Breda. He made a plan that revolved around the steel mill he
had created in a strategic position in the heart of Italy, in Terni. This factory provided steel to its companies
specialized in railway construction. In 1885 a law was passed on the rail agreement between the kingdom and
private companies; it tried to bring order to the market after a period of disruptions and malfunctions. In
1885 a new type of rail line appeared: the territorial tramways were an infrastructure which enabled a capillary
connection .

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In 1906 the railway network passed from the private to the public sector through a process of nationalization.
1941 was the year of major network development. After that date many lines were gradually abandoned,
while in this portion of the territory and in many parts of the world the car had arrived.
This map shows the disaffected lines (in red). Many reflections could be made about this massive removal of infrastructures: the stage at which these facilities were abandoned represents a huge loss of embedded energy: every
abandoned rail line in fact has required financial investments and workforce. Also those lines created geographies
of proximity and of social and economic relations. Besides
that, since the lines were abandoned, this region has witnessed a significant reduction in the level of connectivity
provided by mass transit.
The history of the former tramway that ran along the Riviera del Brenta, realized by the Societ VenetaI is able to
relate a principle of the working of an infrastructure and I
will try to tell the story of this palimpsest through it.

The above image reports the different layers of the infrastructural palimpsest.
For many centuries the navigable network was the most used way to move freight and people, from Venice to
the mainland. This territory was organized on an east-west direction principle.
In 1842 the Austrians built the railway which linked Milan to Venice. The logic behind this line was to connect the two capitals of the Austria-hungarian kingdom in a faster way. Its straight path never interacts with
the territory.
The stops were placed away from the villages, which historically stood along the Brenta riviera .
The blue hatches are the chemical factories which appeared thanks to the railways. The yellow lines are all the
interruptions of the local roads.
In the 1885 the new tramway line along the Riviera del Brenta was inaugurated. It is a good example to test
the standard elements used by the Societ Veneta to build all the lines in Veneto and in Italy.
It connected Padua with Mestre in a capillary manner. The bigger circles are the stops dedicated to trams. The
red squares are the freight deposits. The tramway had some special goods coaches. The coaches were parked in

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the deposits of final destination, and from there the goods were delivered by bike or by carts in a capillary
manner.
In the 1913 the SV also built a line from the south; this line allowed the development of a candle, soap and
detergent factory, a private rail line was built to link this factory to the network.
In the 1933 the first motorway appeared. This was the first signal of the death of the transit system mostly developed by the Societ Veneta. An integrated system allowed a linear part of the citt diffusa to be linked in a
more efficient way than today. The partial conclusion we can glean from this part of the research is that a territory, nowadays car based, functioned in the past thanks to the synergy between a great web of streets (for
bikes) and an efficient public network. The involvement of the private sector with interests pushed the infrastructural production phase.
Scenario Zero
The zero scenario is the reconstruction of all the on-going projects. What would have happened if all the
projects discussed by relevant infrastructure stakeholders had been realized?
Therefore if the transport system in Veneto in 1913 was horizontal ensuring a good degree of permeability
and accessibility, observing the present strong phenomena of hierarchization of road network, we cannot see
the same degree of horizontality.

First Veneto

Second Veneto

Third Veneto

In fact the PTRC s3 project proposes a very clear picture, strongly hierarchical. According to the region, the
citt diffusa must first prioritize the east west corridor, which crosses the city of Mestre, Padua, Vicenza and
Verona. The history and the present day of this region could be told though the relation between infrastructures and the productive system. In the plan for the regional development, made in 2007 by the region, a new
net of motorways has been proposed as a backbone for the future industrial and commercial development. In
the document this new vision has been called the third Veneto to oppose the past two Veneto projects.
This vision is indeed opposed to the myth of the past. The text of the regional plan, to legitimize its spacial
project, speaks of the first Veneto, as the one of the pioneers. This phase coincides with the pre car period.
This spacial structure, as we saw, could be read as the first support of the diffusion. The central Veneto was a
diffuse area even before the appearance of the car. The study of this phase allows us to remember not only that
it was possible to move within this territory without a car, but also to create a genealogy of diffusion that goes
far beyond the invention of the car.
The plan also speaks of the second Veneto, which is a citt diffusa structure. The second Veneto exploited the
high quantity of roads for the spread of industry and home in a vast territory, creating the idea of isotropy.
Through the analysis of the strategic plan, a clear intention to benefit the development of the motorway network emerges. The plan proposes some solutions for public mobility. Since the seventies, institutional participants have started to discuss the reorganization of rail transport. The project began to be realized in the early
nineties. Funded by only half of its complete budget, the project SFMR also proposed a massive reorganization of the bus network. Today, every province has the task of designing the bus network to cover the area of
its jurisdiction. The SFMR project was supposed to draw bus routes starting from rail stations.
3

295

regional territorial plan of coordination

There is no credible plan for the interventions of the phases following

the first due to difficulties in obtaining necessary funding.
The interconnection with bus transport has remained on paper. The absence of a single company capable of
managing the new system with a unified fare system (train-bus) was the
most important shortcoming of the
project.
The result of the analysis of the current projects involving the infrastructural system declares a tendency towards a verticalization.
Conclusion
The regional plans4 have always failed
to imagine a future different from the
present; they take automobile dependence as an indisputable fact.
Through this paper I want to show
that the only way to create an alternative to car dependance is to focus on
the three pictures of the mobility
project that emerge from the pre car
analysis: the space for rails, the space
for water and the space for cycling
and walking.
In the next few decades it will seem
inconceivable that individualized mobility will be based upon the nineteenth century technologies of steel bodied cars and petroleum engines. A
tipping point (or series of turning points) will occur during the twenty-first century when the steel and petroleum car system will finally be seen as a dinosaur.
The development towards trans-local orientation could be somewhat slowed down by a decrease in the expansion of the road network and through a sharp increase in the cost of car travel, thereby giving spatial proximity a greater value. (Sieverts 2003)
It is also true that a recent shift in the suburbs from automobile dependence to transit accessibility, walking,
and bicycling is occurring nationwide. (Cervero, Gorham 1995).
The system of auto-mobility stems from the path-dependent pattern laid down in the 1890s. Once economies
and societies were locked in to the steel and petrol car, massive increasing returns resulted for those producing and selling those cars and its associated infrastructures, products and services (Arthur 1994)
The scenario that envisions this kind of territory without cars has solid foundations considering some important economic data: the citizens of the Veneto region alone each year spend about two billion Euros in the
purchase of new cars. Moreover, only in this region, the cost of maintaining this fleet of cars is worth 12 billion. Then we can assume that a shift towards an economy that is not based on car ownership could see these
14 billion Eurosinvested in the construction of an effective public transport system integrated in an extensive
cycle network.
Paris, Berlin, Milan, and in general the compact European style metropolis, no longer represent traditional
urban fabric of the continent. Rhurgebeit, Randstadt, Flemish Diamond, Veneto region, are cases of the new
contemporary production of space where no longer simply a city but increasingly large conurbations made
up of a number of development clusters, linked by transport routes.
From this point of view conceiving an efficient transit system is the most important way to guarantee a high
degree of social integration and a sustainable future. Valorise the three figures emerged from the analysis of
the pre/car phase are a sure way to achieve this goal.
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296

Piano regionale di sviluppo, piano regionale dei trasporti, piano regionale di coordinamento

Bibliography
Anastasia, B. & Cor, G., 1996. Evoluzione di uneconomia regionale: il Nordest dopo il successo, Portogruaro, Ve., Italy: Ediciclo.
Buchanan, C, 1963. Traffic in towns: a study of the long term problems of traffic in urban areas!; reports of the
Steering Group and Working Group appointed by the Minister of Transport, London: Her Majestys Stationery
Office.
Cervero, R. & Gorham, R., 1995. Commuting in transit versus automobile neighborhoods. Journal of the
American Planning Association., 61(2).
De Meulder, B. et al., 1999. Sleutelen aan het Belgische stadslandschap / Patching up the Belgian urban landscape. OASE, 52, pagg.78113.
Illich, I., 1974. Energy and equity, New York: Harper & Row.
Indovina, F., Istituto universitario di architettura di Venezia & Dipartimento di Analisi Economica e Sociale
del Territorio, 1990. La Citt diffusa, Venezia: Istituto universitario di architettura di Venezia. Dipartimento
di analisi economica e sociale del territorio.
Newman, P. & Kenworthy, J.R., 1989. Cities and automobile dependence: a sourcebook, Aldershot, Hants.,
England; Brookfield, Vt., USA: Gower Technical.
Sieverts, T., 2003. Cities without cities: an interpretation of the Zwischenstadt, London; New York: Spon
Press.
Urry, J., 2004. The System of Automobility. Theory, Culture and Society, 21, pp.2539.
Vigano P, 2012. De horizontale metropool en de diagrammen van Gloeden twee parallelle verhalen. Oase
Oase, 89(1), pp.94111.

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Infrastructure as a renewable resource: re-cycling artificial

rationalities in Limburg
Matteo Motti
Affiliation: Politecnico di Milano, PhD candidate XXIX cycle U.P.D.P. DASTU Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi
Urbani
Supervisors: Marialessandra Secchi, Bruno De Meulder
Expected thesis defense: December 2016
matteo.motti@gmail.com
The phenomenon of the diffused urbanization in Europe is context-specific (De Geyter, 2002). Nevertheless, it is still
possible to recognize some common aspects: in recent research evidence has emerged of the city-territorys ability to be
adaptable and resilient. These aspects are often related to the metamorphosis of its infrastructural assets (Macchi Cassia et
al., 2004; Secchi, 1999). This paper aims to contribute to the description of the contemporary conditions of diffused
urbanization and to the development of urban design tools for imagining new (life)cycles for resilient urbanized territories
of the future. Mapping the level of waste and disruption in relation to infrastructural assets will contribute to the
reclamation of infrastructure design as a strategic point of intervention for governments to tackle territorial issues by
recycling and up-cycling dispersed territories.
As a palimpsest (Corboz, 1998), the European city-territory is constantly overwrittenits condition today is the result of
different waves of urbanization that belong both to slow and fast engines. What the role of infrastructural assets is today,
and how we can interpret their contemporary role, is the starting point of the design exploration. The following paper
considers and tests these considerations within the context of the Campine region of northeast Flanders [Fig. 1]. Diverse
productive colonization processes, with their specific infrastructure, have shaped the current condition of the region.
Each of these periods left traces at different scales. Such traces are linked to specific infrastructure, urban patterns, and
landscapes. The urbanization of the Campine region clearly shows how infrastructural operations and urbanization are
closely interwoven.
The hypothesis is that European territories could reinvent themselves by way of critical evaluation and by means of a
strategic manipulation of their existing materials and leftovers. By rethinking infrastructural layers and by adding,
removing, and connecting artificial and natural rationalities, the city-territory might achieve a more sustainable future. Is it
therefore possible to consider the existing infrastructurewith all of its complexity in terms of scales and materials,
technicalities and dimensionsas constituting a part of the city-territorys renewable resources? This implies a deep
comprehension of the current global paradigm shift that is imposing a change on the organization of society in space.
Recycling is mandatory, but how to go about it is an open question, and it changes according to the scales we are referring
to. How can we evolve from urbanization in which we accumulate materials and in which we consume resourcesin a
linear waytoward a different scenario where infrastructural synergies might activate cyclic interactions with the
environment?

[Fig. 1] The Campine city-territory. A constellation of medium to small towns is present between the Scheldt River and
the Meuse River. Different types of infrastructure connect living and productive environments crossing different types of
landscape and soil conditions. Source: elaborated by the author.

298

Accumulation
The case study proposed is the Campine region in Flanders, covering the outskirts of Antwerp and the central
part of the province of Limburg until Liege and the Meuse River. The Campine region, a mist of spread-out
settlements, productive landscapes, and urbanized areas in northern Belgium, serves as a sample to rethink
the functioning of diffused urbanization patterns. This context is an interesting sample because of its double
condition: firstly, it is part of the well-known Flemish nebulous (Nolf, 2014), while secondly, it represents the
eastern boarder of Belgium with the Netherlands, as well. This double condition is well represented by
different urban and infrastructural patterns. On the one hand, it features the typical bottomup ribbon
developmenturbanization along roads on both sidesand the intensification of density due to the
nineteenth-century implementation of railway and mobility networks in the country (Van Acker, 2012). On
the other hand, big infrastructural operations financed by the government took place during the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries in order to colonize the Campine for productive purposes (agriculture and coal
extraction) due to its wilderness and its poor soil conditions 1. Later in the 20th century further infrastructural
development was used as a desperate tool to combat economic crisis.
Consumption
Today the Campine region consumes a lot of land and resources and necessitates expensive and wasteful
infrastructural systems. In the region of 4.200 km 2 and 1.6 million people inhabit 1/3 of this area (1.400 km2).2
If we compare the number of inhabitants with a compact city, we clearly understand the mismatch between
land occupancy and population density. Just to make an example of a well known compact city, Barcelon has
the same population 1.6 million but within a fifth of the region. In the Campine 9% of the land is
consumed by road infrastructure [Fig. 2].

[Fig. 2] Occupation/consumption of the Campine. Source: elaborated by the author, together with Julie Marin, from
geopunt.be and geofabrik.be.

Palimpsest
The portrait of the region is basically the result of different waves of urbanization with specific meanings.
This reading is useful to understand todays status quo. Firstly, settlements were few in number and
strategically positioned on the higher elevations in between river valleys. This phase has been incremental and
it follows the natural logic of the water systemrivers run northeast to southwest from the Campine Plateau
toward the Demer River.
Secondly a system of canalsCampine canalswas designed in order to fertilize the poor soil condition and
to create productive land. Secondary irrigation branches became both landscape and urban structures in order
to irrigate the fields and to accommodate the colonies 3 for the new farmers. Due to the agricultural
colonizations failure and due to the implementation of the railway system, both the railway and canals
triggered the first wave of industrialization, which was a combined system that produced new urban patterns.
During the first decades of the twentieth century, coal was discovered in the province of Limburg and carbon
colonization took over.
A third infrastructural layer has been added: the railway that connects seven mines and the Albert Canal 4 in
order to bring water to the mines machinery. These lines run more or less parallel for a distance of 4 km and
In his recent PhD dissertation, Martin van Acker deeply explains how this infrastructural colonization triggered different types of
urbanization. From Flux to Frame covers the entire Campine region and offers a rich historical reading of its development.
2
Source: www.vlaanderen.be.
3
In this period the government financed a program of mobilization of poor families looking for new opportunities. The goal of turning
the poor sandy soil into fertile agricultural land failed and these colonies for farmers became colonies for re-education programs (Van
Acker, 2013).
4
The Albert Canal is a huge concrete infrastructure with an average width of 80 metres.
1

299

run in opposition to the natural water flow cutting through the river valleys. Finally, between 1945 and 1970
highway systems and ring-roads arrived throughout the country. First the E313 (which is almost attached to
the Albert Canal) and then the E314 became, with the canal system itself, the support for further urbanization
processes related to demographic growth and further industrialization processes (Van Acker, 2013).
Infrastructural crisis
Recently Serge Latouche demonstrated that our ecological footprint, in order keep a balance within the
environment, should be 1,8 hectare pro capite. As ecological footprint is considered the territorial surface and
the bio-productive space that contemporary societies needs to sustain daily life. But the average of the
ecological footprint used today is 2,2 hectares, already far beyond the sustainable average. Then he revealed
how this average is far to be applied everywhere: In Europe our ecological footprint is almost two times and a
half bigger that 1,8 hectare (Latouche 2008). From this perspective it could be relevant to understand how
our ecological footprint could be optimize gradually. It is our hypothesis that a critical reading of the
infrastructural assets could open up trajectories towards a lighter ecological footprint.
From the case study it emerges how nineteenth- and twentieth-century infrastructure are the elements that
represent the linear wave of urbanization typical of European development. Another important aspect is the
amount of leftover from the last two centurys urbanization processes. Not only relicts remain, but also
vacant spaces waiting for projects that might never come.
What emerges as well is a latent infrastructure crisis. Government cutbacks on infrastructure maintenance,
public services, and the distribution of resources to the most remote areas of Flanders are emblematic of this
economic and ecological crisis. It is evident that what is needed is a precise description of the regions present
condition in order to understand which re-cycling and up-cycling strategies are relevant. For this reason this
paper proposes revealing the status quo of this territory as well as how artificial rationalities relate to natural
elements such as rivers, soils, and topography. This operation is considered a crucial step in the research, as it
highlights a geography of wasted and wasteful infrastructure and resources. What will the next role of these
artifacts be? Could they be considered primary elements (Rossi 1990) for a city-territory to enable it to
accommodate new life-cycles (Vigan 2012)?
A hidden geography
In order to evaluate the hypothesis that todays city-territories might be re-cycled and up-cycled toward a
strategic manipulation of their components (natural and artificial rationalities) and that infrastructure can be
considered as a renewable resource, the research focuses on a critical reading of the existing condition. It
looks at this condition with two different lenses. The first lens is the level of disruption and negative
interaction that infrastructure often establishes in and with natural environments. The second lens is waste: to
this end, the paper proposes mapping the level of waste in different infrastructural assets in terms of what is
wasted (abandoned) and what is wasteful (functioning under potential: oversized, under-used, vacant).
The research incorporates two scales: the entire Campine region and a 30 30 km sample [Fig. 3]. The
sample has been strategically chosen because it contains all the types of infrastructural settings and urban
morphologies5 present in the Campine. The goal of the map is to set up a reading of the territory which
reveals problems and opportunities related to the infrastructural systems that are embedded in the territory. It
represents a new reading that assembles different types of data from various sources, revealing a critical
geography of waste and disruption. This reading sheds a new light on the territorys assets and identifies the
strategic spaces for up-cycling dispersion in the Campine region. The choice of the 30 30 km sample is in
order to portray the phenomena at an intermediatespatial and governancescale in between the province
and the municipalities.
Mapping disruptions
The way in which hard engineering practices of the nineteenth and twentieth century often worked in
opposition to natural rationalities is widely known. Superimposition on natural logic is revealed by these
infrastructural operations. For example, the Albert Canal can be considered a barrier for ecologyin the
region, 22 rivers of 39 in total are cut by this massive hard infrastructure, some of which are even redirected
into the Canal. The disruptive effect of the Albert Canal is doubled by the presence of highway E313, which
runs close and parallel to it. The E314 also disrupts ecological continuity along the river valleys. The
phenomenon of the eastwest disruption is not only caused by pipes but also by sponges, 6 by the small-scale
infrastructure that belongs to the widely spread settlements of the region. Many of the eastwest connections
The urban morphologies present in the Campine are the following: typical compact smallmedium town such as Hasselt, twentiethcentury town such as Genk (low dense embedded in the landscape with 1980 civic centre recently renovated), typical Flemish ribbon
development and garden citys neighbourhood such as the mines cits.
6
Pipes and sponges are metaphors used by Bernardo Secchi in order to explain the difference between high speed infrastructure that
crosses territories as pipes speeding up flows and the small grain infrastructure that, as a sponge, absorb flows.
5

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from the settlements cross river valleys. This phenomenon is relevant because of spontaneous ribbon
development: the presence of a street provides the right to build along it.
The coal track, with its own profile and materiality, highly manipulates the existing topography: it crosses the
territory from east to west, connecting the different mines. The almost horizontal coal track manipulates in
different ways its relation to the topography: often runs as an embankmentbeing upon the natural
topographyit runs on the same level and it runs as a trench. One side effect of the coals extraction is the
phenomenon of subsidence. Today in Limburg many areas are affected by this phenomenon. It is caused by
the collapsing of systems of underground tunnels. The soil above the collapsed coal extraction tunnels begins
to sink, and slowly the ground level decreases. The sinking phenomenon is not the only problem, as ground
water emerges and needs to be pumped away in order to avoid floods. Another aspect to consider is the
alteration of the water table: the Albert Canal takes water from the Meuse River and brings it toward the
Scheldt River into the sea; when the water level of the river is low, salinification arises (from sea water).
Over time, the natural flow of water through the Campine has been highly manipulated. Starting with the
construction of the Campine Canals in order to make the dry soil more fertile, water usage in the Campine
has always highly depended on the Meuse River. The water from the Albert Canal is used for drinking water
production, industry, agriculture, and energy production. Another phenomenon related to the water table is
the above-mentioned subsidence related to the collapsing of coal mines underground structures, due to
which water from the ground rises and a system of pumping is needed to bring the ground water to the rivers
[Fig. 3, Fig. 5].

[Fig. 3] Disruptive infrastructure. Underground tunnels from the coal mine activity have given rise to subsidence (on the
left), and the doubled system of extra large eastwest infrastructure (the Albert Canal and the E113) cuts and disconnects
many of the Campines rivers (on the right). Source: elaborated by the author, together with Julie Marin, from geopunt.be
and AGIV.

Mapping waste
Waste is a characteristic of the consumption modality typical of late modernity and Western societies (Lynch,
1990). Looking at wasted and wasteful aspects brings attention to a gradient of infrastructural systems that are
no longer in daily use and operational modes or simply those which are expensive and inefficient. Under the
category of wasted we can consider infrastructure that is abandoned 7. In the region there are different types
of abandoned infrastructure: a series of bridges crossing the Albert Canal, such as the cable bridge in Genk,
or branches of railway lines, such as the partially abandoned Coal-track in Limburg. Another level of waste is
infrastructure that is oversized and underused: the Albert Canal, a huge concrete structure, requires a width of
60 meters for current and future operations. Big parts of the Canal are much wider, sometimes even more
than three times the required width. By mapping all the superfluos space of the Albert Canal it was found that
an area that could host 7.400 housing units was available.
Other types of oversized infrastructure include mobility infrastructure such as ring-roads for relatively small
towns. There is another phenomenon in the region that could be considered part of the wasteful sphere:
over-infrastructurizationalmost 9% of the region is covered by the road mobility network, i.e., road
infrastructure that requires expensive maintenance operations. For example, in Genk there are two parallel
supra-local northsouth connections between the two highways, E313 and E314. And what about reservation
areas? This category is defined by vacant land that is waiting for infrastructural projects that might come or
might not. Just as a reference, 110.000 household could be placed on the total surface area of the Campines
reservations. Other inefficient infrastructural systems are the current high-voltage lines, with 802.6 GWh of
electricity lost along the high-tension network between the production plant and the electricity station, which
is equal to the yearly electricity usage of 230 households. Regarding the phenomenon of subsidence, in 2013
18.5 million m3 of water was pumped out of mining subsidence areas to prevent them from flooding. [Fig. 4,
Fig. 5].
7
David Lynch, in his last unfinished book Wasting Away, started to question our negative connotation of waste. In chapter three, The
Waste of Place, he describes waste by revealing all the possible meanings of the term in contemporary cities and landscapes. Under the
category of derelict land, he pointed out the relevance of abandoned transportation infrastructure, as it can be re-used for other
purposes.

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[Fig. 4] Wasteful and wasted infrastructure. From left to right: oversized infrastructure, abandoned infrastructure,
reservation areas, and the high-tension network. Source: elaborated by the author, together with Julie Marin, from
geopunt.be and AGIV.

1:1 performance
It is notable that these findings confirm, with regard to the European context, what Pierre Blanger wrote about the
influence of civil engineering and urban planning on the last two centuries of infrastructure 8. He defines three main
aspects generated by the two disciplines: standardization, mono-functionality, and permanence. According to the
author, the first term refers to efficiency and economy as the main factors in the design of infrastructure, after which
standards are embedded in maintenance and self-preservation. The second term is a consequence of the land-use plans
that segregate economic, ecological, and social spheres. Permanence is a consequence of the interplay between
standardized infrastructure and mono-functional land use (Blanger, 2013). The Albert Canal and the coal track, as well as
the mobility infrastructure in the Campine, seem to suffer similarly. This infrastructure has always had a 1:1 relation
between its own spatial configuration and function. What if this 1:1 relation were to change into 1:3 or even 1:5? The
crisis of contemporary infrastructure might be solved by the different performance of infrastructural assets, toward a
scenario where multiple functions are hosted in infrastructural footprints. This scenario proposes an engagement between
nineteenth- and twentieth-century infrastructure and the territory in order to achieve an active exchange with local urban
patterns and natural logics. Notwithstanding the scale of their influence, civil engineering and urban planning have
respectively formed the functional architecture and regulatory framework that underlie the legislative governance and
physical construction of cities today. Yet, over time, the implementation of legal controls and standards of efficiency has
gradually contributed to the rigid, inflexible, and detached nature of cities from greater landscape ecologies and regional
climates. (Blanger 2013).

[Fig. 5] 30 30 km sample. The left map shows the hidden geography of waste and ruptures in relation to the urbanized
area. The right map has natural water structures added. Source: elaborated by the author, together with Julie Marin, from
geopunt.be, Ruimte Vlaanderen, and AGIV.

Engines for re-cycling

Every once in a while, cities are confronted with a period of transition. Over the last 200 years, we
experienced at least two of those transitions... Now we are on the verge of a new transition. We must find a
way to make cities eco-efficient, with renewable energy, recycling of waste and environmentally friendly
traffic management, and fewer CO2 emissions. Eco-efficiency is no longer merely nice to have; it has
Belanger defines infrastructure, in a broad sense, as the horizontal surfaces used for daily human activities.

302

become a necessity. Cities that do not respond run great risks, both financially and in terms of operational
liability (UNEP, 2013a)(Martin Haijer, 2015).
If CO2 is the main cause of global warming, it is therefore necessary to decrease energy production based on
CO2 emissions. We need to pass from an energy supply based on high CO 2 emissions to one with low CO 2
emissions. The phenomena accompanying the energy transition will strongly affect the morphology of our
territories. Not all renewable energy practices can be applied everywhere; territories can support some
methods of energy production rather than others (Sijmons et al., 2014). Therefore, is fundamental to
understand the scale we are referring to for the city territory.
Recently, the Italian economist Indovina defines three models representative of contemporary urban patterns
in Europe [Fig. 6]. What is the role of energy transition for urban conditions that are detached from a big
metropolis but still connected to the network of services (i.e., in a centralized model)?

[Fig. 6] Schemes of different contemporary urban forms. Author: Francesco Indovina. Source: Trasformazioni della
citta e del territorio allinizio del xxi secolo: larcipelago metropolitan. This is a synthesis of the essay: La
metropolizzazione del territorio. Nuove gerarchie territoriali, in Economia e Societ regionale Oltre il Ponte, n. 3-4, 2003.

The phenomenon of decentralization has already been occurring for the last two decades. Transformations in
the energy sector are already affecting the urban sphere. For example, business parks that are self-sufficient in
terms of energy and are not connected to the grid anymore, or housing units that are starting to be 70% selfsufficient. Yet even more example of how the energy transition can re-edit our territories can be imagined: A
new paradigm of a sustainable urban eco-cycle. Largely as a consequence of this, socio-technical alternatives
to large-scale networked systems have been actively promoted. So-called decentralized systems have
flourished. Challenges to incumbent networks come in four main forms: off-grid developments; local loopclosing systems; the preservation of unequipped spaces; feed-in to networks by independent suppliers.
Transformations in the energy sector entail all of these forms of challenges to networked systems (Coutard,
2011). Coutard goes on to define different possible transitions: From linear metabolism: extraction, supply,
evacuation to circular metabolism: recycling, reuse, retrieval. From large-scale equipment, centrally managed
to small-scale, unitary equipment, dispersed, decentralized management. From irreversibility, momentum,
inflexibility to reversibility, adaptability.(Coutard, 2011) The ways in which these concepts can be shaped will
be tested by the design exploration in the last part of this paper.
Current agenda
The Flemish governments spatial planning department initiated a strategic project 9 for the province of
Limburg with VLM (Flemish Land Agency) and the province of Limburg and its municipalities. The project
is called TOP Limburg.10 The proposal aims to revive the region toward the concept of circular economies.
The ambition is to apply this concept at different scales, going beyond the current application in single
companies. Parallel research through design activities has been launched in order to test the concept on
different scales, sites, and topics. The research is focused on the mapping of geothermal sources in the region,
in order to obtain a local sustainable energy supply. Other research is focused on three narratives based on
the coal track as a backbone for sustainable development: the coal track as a slow track, the coal track as a
fast track, and the coal track as a smart track. Three different research topics aim to achieve a coherent
territorial project that is able to consider the perspective of the stakeholders involved, including NMBS and
Lijn as the public transport companies, VITO as the sustainable energy company, the municipalities, and
private companies. The three narratives correspond to: slow mobility, urban development, and clean energy.
The research proposed tryes to respond to the current agenda by mapping unlocked potentials in terms of
space and resources in order to sustain the proposed scenario by TOP Limburg.

The strategic project is a new tool that the Ruimte Vlaanderen (Spatial Planning Department of the Flemish government) is adopting in
order to promote design explorations at both the province and municipality level. For the moment, Ruimte Vlaanderen invested in two
strategic projects: Brussels province and Limburg province.
10
Source: http://www.ruimtelijkeordening.be/.
9

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[Fig. 7] 30 30 km sample. The left image shows all the areas that can be built in the future according to each
municipality. The right map shows all the available/untapped resources for renewable energy production. Source:
elaborated by the author, together with Julie Marin, from geopunt.be, Ruimte Vlaanderen, AGIV, and VITO.

Re.cycling and Up-cycling Limburg

The untapped resources map [Fig. 7] reveals the presence of multiple sources of energy, such as geothermal
sources,11 the available biomass that is present along the river valleys 12, and former landfills. Another potential
resource that is mapped is the excess heat produced by the industrial platformsfeed-in to networks by
independent supplierswhich could be reused for households. Next to the resource map there is a map that
shows the current areas that can be built on according to each municipality. These data reveal the further
consumption of land. Both the maps begin to show how the critical geography of infrastructural spaces might
play a crucial role in diverting further development and in re-directing resource flows.
By zooming in, it is possible to understand how this reading of the critical infrastructure components open
up multiple interventions in order to re-engage a balanced system with the environment, as well as to break
down the linearity and mono-functionality typical of nineteenth- and twentieth-century infrastructure.
Different types of actions are envisioned according to each infrastructural asset. As mobility infrastructure is
overabundant, municipalities, hand-in-hand with the provinces and their inhabitants, can rethink their uses.
For example, some of the transversal local roads that cross river valleys [Fig.8, see disruptive infrastructure]
can be closed to hard mobility and transformed into water treatment infrastructure in order to work as a
decentrilized systemlocal loop-closingfor grey water purification. Another example is the condition of
doubled supra-local roads might be transformed, down-sized into urban boulevards that create space for
further urban development without consuming more agricultural land. With regard to the vacant
infrastructural spaces, such as buffer zones and reservation, can host temporary storage for biomass, or
productive landscapes, such as green houses. Concerning abandoned railways, such as the coal track, due to
their specific sections and components it is possible to imagine multiple appropriations, from acting as a new
geothermal energy spineoff grid developmentconnecting all the dispersed urbanization patterns, to
acting as a new electric bicycle path that provides charging stations and small-scale hubs. These are only
examples of the possible recombination of uses among the infrastructural assets that sustain the Campine
city-territory and where recycling activate horizontal relationship among different urban materials.

The Campine soil has great geothermal energy potential. Decentralized electricity networks could support 1 million households.
The waste from the grasslands of conservation areas and roadsides in Flanders can be converted to biogas which could provide
electricity for 4,300 households.
11
12

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[Fig. 8] Zoom of the 30 30 km sample. Source: elaborated by the author, together with Julie Marin, from geopunt.be,
Ruimte Vlaanderen, AGIV, and VITO.

Systemic thinking
The scenario proposed aims to create a geography in which wasteful infrastructure and resources are recycled and optimized. Re-cycling as a re-composition in time of latent infrastructural rationalities, in order to
explore new horizontal spatial configurations. A systemic transect13 [Fig. 9] has been explored as a tool to
incorporate aspects of time and process when envisioning new cycles of energy, mobility, water, etc. as a way
to discard the mono-functional and segregating nature of contemporary infrastructure and as a way to
enhance horizontal relationships in the territory which go beyond conventional political and functional
boundaries. Aside from revealing prior and subsequent conditions, this systemic transect shows the
intermediate scale of new transversal relationships between different environments, toward a systemic
recycling of the territory and its available assets. The intermediate space is used to show the
interdependencies between scales in order to achieve the systemic thinking, where Larger scale logic is
embedded in smaller scale proposal (Berger, 2013) in order to bundle flows and relationships at different
scales. The design tool aims to identify new concepts for the recycling approach by proposing the instigation
of synergies among different parts hand-in-hand with the rethinking of certain wasted and wasteful
infrastructure. The reading of the systemic transect multiplies: from top to bottom it is possible to understand
how each single element that belongs to the hidden geography map has been transformed or partially
modified. Then from, left to right, it is envisioned as the system of horizontal relationships among the
different environments.
Horizontal relationships
Instead of the contemporary segregation of function and the lack of synergies within the Campine, it is rather
proposed that a metamorphosis be envisioned, while rethinking the existing infrastructure as magnets. As
magnets, they can intensify existing relationships, but they might disconnect and cut current contiguities, as
well. For example, in the simulation the main idea is to implement alternative energy systemsaccording to
the government and provinces trajectoriesand to redirect housing expansion. The REMO landfill is being
re-mined. A new economy based on waste mining has been tested in Houtalen: in the coming decades waste
will be converted to sustainable energy as well as raw materials such as potable water and construction
materials. Construction materials generated by REMO might be used for future construction in the region.
The underused coal track could be upgraded to energy infrastructure as well as a mobility spine for goods.
The systemic transect has been developed as a design tool together with Julie Marin during the spring studio at the Mahs-Mausp and
Emu program from K.U. Leuven.: Landscape Urbanism Studio: Waste(d). Connecting cycles, re-thinking infrastructures Studio staff:
Matteo Motti, Julie Marin, Prof. Bruno De Meulder.

13

305

A circular metabolism (Coutard, 2011) start to be activated by feeding the coal-track with the local
geothermal energy source; according to a recent research one of the three geothermal sources is placed in
Houtalen [Fig.8]. Furthermore as a new north south connection is being implemented parallel to the Grote
Baan, the old connection could be requalified. The Grote Baan, that used to be the historical north-south
connection with Eindhoven, can be transformed into an urban boulevard with only 1 way for each direction;
toady there are three lanes for each direction. The available space can be used to intensify and reqaulify
existing housing units, the re-profiled baan could be connected to the local energy loop of the coal-track
feeding the new urban development. Extra heath produced in the industrial area of Houtalen can play a role
in the local loop proposed in the systemic transect.
Adaptability and reversibility (Coutard, 2011) are achieved by a different approach towards the subsidence's
phenomena. Instead of pumping away excess water in the subsidence areas, a water ecology could be created.
Specific waterproof housing typologies could take advantage of this area to offer a unique living experience,
disconnected from centralized grids. The water table will be reconnected by diverting water form the
subsidences towards river valleys, as well the industrial platforms of Houtalen will start to play a role in the
water system by intoriducing a water resilient landscape in between factories. The proposed systemic transect
is only a simulation of a possible set of actions able to up-cycle and re-cycle a context by interpeting the
energy transiton and the decentalization processes. The results reveal a different recycle approach towards
infrastructures where horizantility break down infrastructure's segregation and mono-functionality.

[Fig. 9] Systemic transect. Source: elaborated by the author together with Julie Marin, Alvin Chua (data) and Stephanie
Specht (graphic designer). Parts of the drawing belong to Sven Mertens and Irina Costantinescu (students of the Spring
2015 Landscape Urbanism Studio at K.U.L.).

Conclusions
What emerges from these cartographic analyses and design explorations is a different perspective on our
inhabited territories. These urban realms are not fixed and static. There is a way to interpret, from the
perspective of Urbanism, the contemporary cultural shift of re-cycling. The transition from a society of
consumption and disruption toward a society of re-use and re-distribution should not only be achieved
through the application of the latest technologies, but can also be achieved through the orchestration of
existing infrastructure. Our discipline might play a crucial role in orienting the spatial upgrading and upcycling required. As Corner already said some time ago, mapping is a way to reveal issues that have the power
to orient discourses and design (Corner, 1999).
The case study demonstrates how natural rationalities should re-engage the metabolism of its territory. Water,
renewable energies, and productive landscapes should find more and more of a primary role in such regions
that present a large extension in terms of territorial occupation. It additionally revealed the loss of efficiency
and the limits of artificial rationalities such as infrastructure. It demonstrate how infrastructural synergies
might be recreated on the existing infrastructural assets by interpreting 21 st century's transitions towards
decentralization processes .

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The research finally aims to find design tools capable of combining these artificial and natural rationalities in
order to envision the transition toward concrete actions that can start tomorrow. The systemic transect is a
first attempt to envision the transition toward a complex representation in order to avoid blueprint proposals.
The intermediate space is a field of possibilities where multiple scenarios should be integrated in a timeline
able to portray the idea that not all proposed actions can be achieved at the same time.
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Centralization, decentralization, and metropolization: cultural attractors

in Brussels metropolitan area
Yannick Vanhaelen
F.R.S.-F.N.R.S. Research Fellow at ULB, Faculty of Architecture La Cambre-Horta, Laboratory for Urbanism,
Infrastructures and Ecologies (LoUIsE), Brussels
Judith le Maire, Jean-Michel Decroly (ULB)
Expected thesis defence: October, 2017
yannick.vanhaelen@ulb.ac.be
This paper question the presence, accessibility and localization of cultural infrastructures which can be seen as part of a
territorys cultural capital of the Horizontal Metropolis. Focusing on the case of the metropolitan area of Brussels,
which can be considered as a case study of the Horizontal Metropolis. Based on an extensive mapping of cultural
infrastructures and mobility systems, it shows that the cultural infrastructures of the Horizontal Metropolis, inherited
from welfare state policies, are increasingly challenged in their ability to contribute to construct the cultural, social and
public aspects of the city-territory by current processes of metropolization and their lack of public transport accessibility.
It then proposes scenario for upgrading horizontal cultural attractors in the framework of the Horizontal Metropolis,
focusing on the mobility challenges of the cultural center of Dilbeek. The paper aims to demonstrate the need to consider
the potential role of cultural infrastructure to contribute to a renewal of the Horizontal Metropolis, in a context of urban
policies driven by connectivity and cultural attractiveness.

Introduction
In our on-going thesis, cultural attractors and mobility in Brussels metropolitan region, we investigate the
role of cultural infrastructures in the structuration and formalization of the metropolitan landscape. The
research aims to contribute to an in-depth debate across research fields regarding the relationship between
culture and city, by focusing on the architectural and urban expression of the places of cultural diffusion and
on the evolving rationalities that saw to their implementation. A specific focus is put in our research on
mobility, and its influence on the territorialization of cultural infrastructures. Indeed, their accessibility defines
more often than not their ability to be spaces of convergence and to contribute to construct the cultural,
social and public aspects of the metropolis. Analyzing the accessibility of cultural infrastructures, and its
evolution, thus prove to be revealing of their embedded rationalities.
With this mind-set, we would like to question in this paper the presence, accessibility and localization of
cultural infrastructures which can be seen as part of a territorys cultural capital of the Horizontal
Metropolis and the challenges it faces.
This question follows a two-fold reasoning. First, culture has been commonly perceived through time as the
distinctive mark of urbanity and of the city. Historians like Lewis Mumford (Mumford 1961), or sociologists
like Jean Remy (Remy 1998) for example, use culture as a mean to understand the specific externally
produced added value that is urbanity (Dehaene 2012). Which such reasoning and in order to be considered a
true city-territory, one could argue that the Horizontal Metropolis should therefore accommodate culture in
a specific manner, different from other forms of metropolises. Secondly, the advent of a context of
international competitiveness between cities has seen culture being used as a strategy to reposition the city on
a global scale, attract flows and drive urban regeneration (Bianchini, Parkinson 1993). In this context, the
building of cultural infrastructures with iconic architecture (Rodrigues-Malta 2009), but also the organization
of global cultural events (Quinn 2005), allow the city to stand out and attract external flows (Harvey 1989).
Cultural infrastructures thus progressively become nodes of attraction in a global network which inscribes a
logistic structure on the territory (Rouillard 2012). This raises a more prospective question: to whether the
cultural capital of the Horizontal Metropolis could be the basis of a territorial, culture-led regeneration or
could at least be inscribed in such an interconnected global network and generate attraction on a larger scale.
The Horizontal Metropolis, between isotropy and centralization of cultural infrastructures
Since 2012 and Secchi-Vigans long term vision for Brussels, the metropolitan area of the Belgian capital is
commonly seen as a case-study of the Horizontal Metropolis. Integrated in the larger North West
Metropolitan Area (Secchi 2005), it is described as a city with evenly distributed characteristics (Dehaene
2012) and defined by a dense network of public transport infrastructure and a dispersed urban fabric with
various typologies and public facilities, articulated by several territorial figures, like parks, forest or historical
city centers (Secchi, Vigan 2012). Through there has been much research on several territorial systems and
their influence in the formalization of this particular isotropic urban development, there has been few
research considering the territorialization of cultural infrastructures, with the notable exception of
Architectuur voor vrijetijdscultuur: Culturele centra, zwembaden en recreatiedomeinen, a research project which
considered the post-war dispersion of leisure infrastructures among which cultural centers in Flanders
(Heynen, Loeckx, Gosseye, Van Molle 2011).

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In line with other western European welfare state policies, Gosseye (2012) shows that the research of a more
egalitarian society in Belgium led to processes of democratization, which included cultural offerings. Making
culture accessible to everyone cultural activities were until then a prerogative of urban upper classes
translated into the provision of a new type of infrastructures meant to bring culture to the people. Since
urban centers were already well equipped in cultural infrastructures - especially Brussels, where a process of
centralization saw the implementation of national cultural institutions in the capital , cultural centers were
decentralized across the territory, following the growing dispersion of the population. The focus on Brussels
as the center for cultural activities thus shifted to its peripheral municipalities, where the predilection for a
bundle de-concentration created several larger nodes [] that cluster together an array of leisure
infrastructures (Gosseye 2012, p.279). The dispersed urban landscape saw thus the implementation of a
horizontal network of cultural infrastructures out of urban centers. This development tended towards an
isotropic distribution on the territory [fig.1].

[fig.1] Map of Flanders, indicating all cultural centers, swimming pools, and sport halls that were built beteen 1958
and 1985, with the financial support of the government. Source: Gosseye, J., 2012. Leisure politics: the
construction of social infrastructure and Flemish cultural identity in Belgium, 1950s to 1970s. Journal of Urban
History, vol.38, no. 12, p. 276.

However, the research only considers the territory of the Flemish Region. The Brussels Capital Region, which
is spatially surrounded by the Flemish Region, was not included in the study, nor was the Walloon Region.
While the horizontal network of cultural infrastructures in Flanders would suggest a somewhat isotropic
distribution of cultural infrastructures across the overall territory of the Horizontal Metropolis, the reading is
biased. First by not considering all of its territory the Brussels metropolitan area encompasses not only the
Brussels Capital Region, but also large area of both the Flemish and Walloon regions and secondly, by only
referencing publicly-funded cultural infrastructures.
When considering the localization of both public and private contemporary cultural infrastructures on the
overall metropolitan region, the isotropic dispersion of post-war cultural infrastructures revealed earlier is
clearly challenged by the polarity represented by Brussels [fig.2]. Considering their seating capacity illustrates
it even more, as well as the diversity of its cultural offerings [fig.3]. While historical precedence, density and
cosmopolitanism can easily explain the cultural polarity of the city core; it is not without effect on the current
and even future territorialization of cultural infrastructures in the dispersed urban fabric of the Horizontal
Metropolis. This is mainly related to the accessibility of these cultural infrastructures. When analyzing the
urbanization process of the Brussels metropolitan region, Grosjean (2010) shows that while earlier public
transport networks like light railways (De Block, Polasky 2011) tended towards an isotropic and
horizontal distribution of the territory, their current development and exploitation model is increasingly
radio-concentric, mainly focusing on rapidly linking Brussels with other important polarities. Grosjean further
indicates that the Brussels metropolitan area is undergoing a process of metropolization. Cultural
infrastructures in the urban core of the Horizontal Metropolis, generally well connected to urban mobility
system, therefore see their global accessibility improve and their catchment area expand. Cultural
infrastructures of the dispersion, on the other hand, mainly relied on car accessibility: They were
implemented were space was available, and were the growth of traffic flows could be easily managed. They

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are therefore situated out of pre-existing centralities(Heynen, Loeckx, Gosseye, Van Molle 2011). Cultural
centers are therefor difficult to access by efficient public transport [fig.4]. The dispersed urban landscape is
thus doubly marginalized in terms of its cultural offerings: first by the problematic connectivity of its cultural
infrastructures to public transports, secondly by the growing polarization of its transport networks, which
makes it easier to access Brussels and its rich cultural offerings than to travel horizontally to a local cultural
infrastructure.

[fig.2] 50 x 50km map of the Brussels metropolitan area, indicating all contemporary cultural centers in red, and all
other contemporary cultural infrastructures in blue. Built area is in light grey. Source: elaborated by the author.

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[fig.3] 50 x 50km map of the Brussels metropolitan area, indicating cultural centers in red, theatres in yellow,
cinema in green, music in brown, and multi-purpose infrastructures in blue. The symbol size is proportional to
the public capacity of each infrastructure. Built area is in light grey. Source: elaborated by the author.

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[fig.4] 50 x 50km map of the Brussels metropolitan area and its public transport networks, indicating in blue,
cultural infrastructures accessible by one or more of the following transport networks: train, metro and tramlines.
Red cross indicate cultural centers only accessible by car or bus, while blue cross indicate cultural centers also
accessible by other means of transportation. Built area is in light grey. Source: elaborated by the author.

Challenge and scenario: spaces of culture and the Horizontal Metropolis

While the above suggests a form of cultural marginalization of the dispersed urban landscape and its
inhabitants, it is also more significantly the public articulation of the dispersed urban landscape that is at
stake. Cultural centers had indeed a broader role than just the one of cultural diffusion. They were not only
designed to bring culture to the people, but also to encourage encounters and public gatherings (Gosseye
2012) and can be considered as social infrastructural assets for the city-territory. As such these cultural
infrastructures are clear examples of welfare spaces (Munarin, Tosi 2014). Initially aiming at contributing to
construct the cultural, social and public aspects of the dispersed urban landscape, their role is increasingly
challenged by their lack of public accessibility. One of the challenges for a renewed Horizontal Metropolis is
therefore also to be able to redefine (and expand) its cultural capital currently represented in these inherited
infrastructures in a context of urban policies driven by connectivity and cultural attractiveness. In light of
the above, upgrading their accessibility on multiple scales seems a necessary action to undertake, so that they
might become nodes of attraction, both at a local scale reclaiming their status of convergent spaces in the
dispersed urban landscape and on the scale of the city-territory balancing the current centralization of
cultural offerings and promoting a city with evenly distributed characteristics .
Scenario: upgrading horizontal cultural attractors in the framework of the Horizontal Metropolis, case-study on the Westrand,
Dilbeek

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In this final part of this paper, we will illustrate two scenarios for upgrading the accessibility of one of the
cultural center of the dispersed urban landscape, the Westrand. Situated in Dilbeek, a municipality on the
western edge of Brussels urban core, the Westrand has been well documented by Gosseye (2012). One of the
biggest cultural center in terms of capacity of the dispersed urban landscape, it is also the less accessible
by public transport the first bus stops being several hundreds meters away and is therefore well suited to
illustrate our scenario. Further more, Dilbeek is crossed by two important transport infrastructures: first, a
railway line that is to be part of the future RER network centered on Brussels, with a station in the north of
the municipality, secondly by an important road axis, the Ninove Steeenweg, linking Brussels with Ninove a
city situated 30 km on the west were several regional bus line pass through. The cultural center is situated in
between those two east-west important transport axis, on the edge of the preserved Wolfsputten valley, part
of a belt of emerald a green belt policy aiming to limit the urban expansion of Brussels , and at walking
distance from the historical urban core of Dilbeek. However, the Westrand does not profit from these
transport axes and its accessibility relies mainly on the car, as its frontal hundred-spaces parking area and
drive-in illustrates [fig.5]. There is thus an unrealized potential of connectivity that can be activated with light
interventions.
The first scenario considers the local accessibility of the cultural center. It aims at upgrading horizontal
relations and improving connectivity with complementary existing means of transportation (bus lines, RER
station, bike lines). Existing bus lines are slightly redirected to offer a direct connection with the Westrand,
while the Wolfsputten valley and its landscape are reconfigured as a landscaped biking-and-waling connection
with the RER station further north, expanding the already existing park to the historic centre of Dilbeek.
Biking lines are also proposed to link Dilbeek with Brussels, passing under the Ring a circular motorway
around the capital and joining existing biking lines set in the Scheutbos Park. The 100 parking space in
front of the cultural center is envisioned as a time-shared qualitative public space, encouraging encounters
and public gatherings and activities during the day while being used for parking in the evening of cultural
representations [fig.6].
Regional light rail lines are currently being considered to improve public transportation in this currently caroriented area. However, their strategic potential to influence the renewal and the role of existing public
facilities in the city-territory seems not to be considered. In this more ambitious scenario, their trajectories are
opportunistically redirected to upgrade the metropolitan accessibility of the Westrand. Two lines, one light
rail and one tramline, are envisioned to pass through Dilbeek, both at several hundred meters from the
cultural center. The first line links Brussels with Ninove in a straight line, passing and stopping in Dilbeek on
the Ninove Steenweg. The second line is an offset of the Ring and aims at providing a link between the
different municipalities on the West of Brussels. It is currently envisioned on the west of the Wolfsputten
valley, one kilometer away from the Westrand [fig.7]. Moving this second line on the right-side of the valley,
passing through the core of Dilbeek and finally closer to the cultural infrastructure, not only helps to connect
the Westrand with the larger west side dispersed territory of Brussels, but might also proves to be strategic as
an urbanism tool to redefine public spaces in a more pedestrian-friendly way. The tramline gives further
connection with the RER station on the north and passes along the newly redefined valley park. The
trajectory of the light rail is not changed, as its straightness allow fast connections, but its stop would benefit
by being situated at the crossing with the tramline, and directly on a renewed pedestrian public space,
bringing the cultural center at a mere 10mn walk [fig.8].

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[fig.5] 5 x 5km map of Dilbeek indicating the Westrand is in red, public transport lines, RER stations and the
Wolfsputten valley. Source: elaborated by the author.

314

[fig.6] 5 x 5km map of Dilbeek illustrating the improvement of the local accessibility of the Westrand. Source:
elaborated by the author.

315

[fig.7] 5 x 5km map of Dilbeek indicating the current trajectories of the light rail and tramline. Source:
elaborated by the author.

316

[fig.8] 5 x 5km map of Dilbeek illustrating the upgrading of the metropolitan accessibility of the Westrand as
well as the public space requalification of the core of Dilbeek. Source: elaborated by the author.
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From the district to the city.

Back to Sassuolo Actions for a Changing Industrial Territory.
Cristiana Mattioli
PhD in Territorial Design and Government DAStU, Politecnico di Milano
Professor Arturo Lanzani
Expected thesis defence: December, 2015
cristiana.mattioli@polimi.it
Globalization and the world recession have revived the debate on the relevance of manufacture and local production
systems in industrialized countries. In Italy, this means to look back to industrial districts (IDs). According to economists,
Italian IDs have radically changed in the last fifteen years. As socio-economic systems, they underwent processes of
diversification and hierarchization. However, since territory has become a main competitive factor for Made in Italy
production, urban studies are required to deal with territorial changes as well.
Recent changes have forced us to provide a new definition for IDs, able to guide their future development. Starting from
the fieldwork conducted in the Sassuolo ceramic district, the present paper suggests the use of the city-district notion to
focus the supra-local nature of ID territorial configuration and its major challenges. In this sense, IDs are considered
testbeds for both administrative reorganization and diffused territories reconfiguration. Some experimental actions will
show how territorial capital enhancement is today crucial for the improvement of both ID competitiveness and
habitability.

Introduction: a renewed focus on manufacture and industrial districts

The recent economic crisis fuelled the debate on the importance of manufacture, especially in those countries
that underwent processes of industrial offshoring. In her last book Making in America, Susan Berger (2013)
says that proximity between research and production is essential for innovation and, consequently,
competitiveness. After decades of disinvestment, indeed, President Obama has launched an important
political and fiscal campaign to attract in-home industrial investments. An increasing number of economists
are now discussing about back reshoring, namely the phenomenon of production inshore put in place by
some multinational companies. However, fiscal incentives are not sufficient to attract companies. In fact,
Berger highlights that even when firms decide to reinvest in their country of origin, they have to face the
general loss of local industrial networks. They are practically alone, detached from local contests. In order to
stress American weakness, Berger refers to the German case study where, on the contrary, local industrial
networks are still in place. Bergers and other (few) studies show that territories of production are still
relevant, as innovation is not only produced in central service hubs (Moretti 2012).
Therefore it is not surprising that in Italy many economists are now speaking about the industrial district
renaissance (Mosconi 2012). After decades spent complaining about its backwardness, they are now
reconsidering ID. Sufficient to say that Made in Italy products come mainly from IDs, whose firms still
sustain national employment and give an important contribution to Italian GDP. As for their territorial
relevance, Italian IDs extend on 20,6% of national surface (Pertoldi 2007).
While foreign scholars were engaged in studying Italian systems of integrated SMEs, considered models of
flexible specialization (Piore & Sabel 1984) and integration (Porter 1989), Italian economists mostly ratified
their irreversible decline. Although Marshallian ID described in the 70s and 80s (Becattini et al. 2009) seem
to be disappeared (De Marchi & Grandinetti 2014) and some IDs entered periods of decline, the majority of
them evolved and revealed big capacities of resiliency and adaptability while facing globalization and external
challenges (Cor & Micelli 2006).
Moving from these premises, the present paper will use the Sassuolo ceramic district as a fertile case study.
Whereas in the 60s it became well known for its high growth-rates, today it is again relevant to understand
present ID transformations, highlight emerging urban planning issues and reflect on their possible treatment.
The 2015 industrial district: an open, polarized, and diversified local system
Two major shifts enhanced IDs change: the transition from industrial to post-industrial era; the entering of
Italian economy into European and international market.
Through the transition to knowledge economy, immaterial production acquires importance on
manufacturing. In fact, consumers become much more diversified and sophisticated. They not only demand
qualitative and distinctive products, but also require experiences and services (Rullani 2009).
Thanks to IDs productions, Italy has always been able to provide customized and valued goods to middleclass consumers. However, the tacit, contextual knowledge that historically characterized IDs soon revealed
its limits. Firms could not face international competition without investing in R&D, design and marketing
activities, as well as in customer care. Obviously, the small (financial) dimension of IDs firms represented a
major weakness. But IDs found their way out. On the one hand, the horizontal relations within IDs played a
key role, by allowing collective innovation and knowledge production (Moulaert & Sekia 2003). In this sense,
IDs have been interpreted as learning systems (Grandinetti 2010). On the other, major emerging firms

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consolidated their structure thanks to merge and acquisition operations. As a matter of fact, the most
competitive and innovative companies are today medium-sized firms (Colli 2002). Even if these reach an
international dimension, they tend to maintain the same traditional familiar control as smaller ones. They still
focus on production but, at the same time, they implement upstream and downstream industrial phases, such
as creation, communication, commercial, logistics, etc., in order to offer a complete service to the client.
They often have multi-located production premises with branches the world over. Nonetheless, the brain
tends to stay in the ID of origin, where it is easier to find complementary activities and knowhow.
Then IDs are likely to experiment processes of hierarchization. They become similar to the hub-and-spoke
district theorized by Ann Markusen (1996). This shift is particularly evident in the Sassuolo ceramic district,
where few world-leading companies control the market. They have mostly a multi-plant organization, which
is the spatial result of local acquisition processes. The production chain is thus fragmented in a number of big
factories at the local level specialized in few tiles formats in order to optimize costly technical investments.
Recent world recession and production downsizing1 have fostered spatial changes. Major firms are now
intervening on system rationalization in order to optimize space use and reduce fixed costs. Therefore, many
companies are implementing important projects of concentration and insourcing. Within a single group,
strategies of implementation and dismantlement coexist. The dimension of some industrial plants increase,
especially for logistic purposes, while others are disused, sold or rented. A relation among the size of the firm,
the dimension of the factory and its localization can be then detected. Investments normally concentrate in
central, big plants, while abandonment involves smaller ones, whose marginality can limit accessibility.
However, vacant workspaces represent an opportunity for firms willing to relocate or increase their business.
Even in a period of crisis, industrial reuse is quite common in the ceramic ID and is particularly related to
logistics, the new local driving sector. Haulage companies rapidly fill empty warehouses. Their dispersion
creates a sort of diffused storage, which contributes to lack of urban quality. Production reuse processes are
not easy to detect, as they dont require particular forms of building renewal (Zanfi 2013). Major changes
happen inside industrial plants and they are mostly related to changes in the use of space.
On the contrary, middle-sized firms increasingly rely on corporate architecture as a way to enhance brand
visibility and offer comfortable workspaces to their employees (Pavia 2012). Even if these interventions are
mostly limited to industrial parcel, they are often able to improve urban image [fig.1]. The most active
companies are even engaged in urban interventions outside their area. As an example, one of the most
embedded firms located in the ceramic ID has started collaboration with international archistars in order to
make its factory surroundings more attractive. Actually, ceramic firms are now working on their image to
become recognizable among architects, which are their major clients. Companies host thousands of
international buyers and organize daily tours inside their plants. In this sense, the factory becomes a mixture
of cultural, ritual and productive site (Stehel 2015).

[fig.1] Made in Italy architecture. Two examples of architectural qualification in the ceramic district. Source: companies
websites.

While some companies are consolidating their structure, others are subjected to downsizing or exposed to
precariousness. New forms of unofficial economies or exploitation emerged (Hadjimichalis 2006); hundreds
of activities closed down leaving abandoned spaces on the ground [fig.2]; spatial underuse characterizes many
workspaces. As Bonomi (2013) highlighted in his latest book, the polarization between winner firms and
those trying to survive is growing. Few big, robust, innovative and shining firms stay in a host of declining
activities, having more selective relationships with them.
Failure and abandonment episodes are related also to offshore processes. Whereas delocalization has been
particularly extensive in other IDs (such as, Montebelluna shoes ID, Manzano chair ID, etc.), it marginally hit

While in 2001 the Sassuolo ID produced more than 600 million square meters of ceramic tiles per year, its production has halved in
recent years. Even if Italy participates only for the 3% to world ceramic production, it is the third most important exporter country after
China and Spain. Ceramic industry local employees have decreased from 21.176 in 2002 to 15.240 in 2013. In 2015, more than 6.000
people were in search for a job.

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the Sassuolo ceramic district. Except for chemical activities that, in search for less strict environmental laws,
were transferred to Spain during the 80s, manufacture remained in place. However, in the last ten years,
major company groups have created branches in foreign countries, such as Spain, Portugal, France, the USA,
Russia. Through internationalization, they aim to reach new markets and clients, by providing them with
better and faster services (Markusen et al. 1996).

[fig.2] Post-Fordist industrial abandonment in the ceramic district. Source: photos by the author.

Polarization, hierarchization, internationalization All these processes have weakened internal ID networks.
Relational and production flows now extend on a wider scale and connect different territories: IDs, middlesized cities located nearby, global cities where advances services concentrate (Bonomi & Abruzzese 2004). In
this sense, IDs have entered regional competitive production platforms made by complementary functions
and places (Scott 2001). Middle-sized firms are the leading figures of this continuous movement between the
global dimension and the local one. Indeed, they can become hub for local innovation and upgrading (Cor
2012); otherwise, they can work as islands disconnected from the surrounding context and linked to distant
places.
Looking back at the original notion of ID, however, production network is no other than one of its main
elements. In Becattini definition (1975), indeed, ID is firstly a community embedded in a specific territory. In
order to understand its changes, it is so important to consider society and territory as well.
ID society is now more plural and diversified than before (Calafati 2012). Young people are more and more
educated, while the elderly are increasing. Entrepreneur generational change represents a major problem,
while young unemployed people and foreign immigrants form the most fragile social fringes, in whose regard
public administrations are developing specific services and programs. Indeed, the 2009 Muslims protests held
in Sassuolo revealed that labour market is no longer able to foster social integration by its own. Also, it
showed how the original social homogeneity of ID has been replaced by multiculturalism2.
Speaking about territory, ID endogenous and spontaneous processes of settlement largely demonstrated to be
unsustainable: traffic congestion is a constant and pollution is still a problem, despite important recovering
interventions (Savino 2005). Further planned forms of urbanization also revealed their limits. In particular,
sectorial strategies, which detached from the traditional reuse and valorization of social fixed capital by being
organized through zoning instruments, led to territorial homologation and fragmentation (Merlini 2009).
People find it harder and harder to live close to industry and decide to move to nearby municipalities, where
quality of life is higher and house-prices are lower. In this regard, local administrations attitude is
contradictory: on the one hand, they invest in projects of central areas regeneration in order to improve
compact urban systems; on the other, they foster suburbanization by allowing the construction of new urban
monofunctional areas.

In Sassuolo, foreign people represent the 13,8% of the total population. Major communities come from Morocco, Tunisia, Ukraine and
Ghana. Immigration has basically been driven by low skill intensive job local demand.

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[fig.3] Territorial system. The ID urban conurbation structures along the Pedemontana road and extends on the plain.
Source: Progettazione Urbanistica studio led by Lanzani, Merlini, Zanfi (2013-2014).

Industrial district as a project | Industrial district as a city

All the transformations discussed above radically changed the nature of IDs. If ID was traditionally
interpreted as a given condition, it now becomes a project. Indeed, recent regional industrial laws have
shifted from territorial to sectorial paradigm, by introducing the meta-district concept and thus sustaining
supra-local production networks voluntarily put in place by firms. This way, ID is no longer geographically
defined, whereas it is a system that needs to be built. Then it risks to become more similar to generic cluster
(Porter 1998), by weakening the relationships among production, society and territory. In the last fifteen
years, economists have been more and more engaged in understanding how to artificially reproduce ID
(Viesti 2001), or how to apply it, albeit often a-critically, to other economic sectors, like tourism or agriculture
(Dematteis 2005). Furthermore scholars studied how to foster traditional Italian IDs innovation, by
transforming it into a technological cluster (Quadrio Curtis & Fortis 2002).
In approaching IDs, economic discipline showed great interest in the territory. However, it has been intended
mostly as a reservoir of local traditions and knowhow; a natural environment, towards which industrialization
has to be more compatible; a sum of equipment.
Little attention has been addressed to its physical dimension. Nonetheless, never before has territory been so
important for business and local competition and, at the same time, so inhospitable for firms, especially for
the most innovative ones.
Today territory is required to be coherent with qualitative local production. As stated, consumers look for
authentic and differentiated experiences, and, in this sense, territory can be played on the global arena as a
distinctive non-transferable element. Moreover, innovative firms require more high-skilled workers for nonroutinely tasks. For these educated and mostly mobile people, the quality of everyday life is crucial. They
demand efficient diversified services, accessible and well-equipped open spaces, etc.
Eventually, territories themselves are nowadays exposed to competition. They need to attract people and
enterprises. To do this, the quality of landscape and facilities is of paramount importance; hence, existing
resources need to be valorized.
Hardly to say where the balance between a new exploitation of territorial capital and the improvement of
present conditions stands. For sure, if we want to sustain IDs improvement, we have to address resources to
their territories and foster collective actions towards their qualification.
To these purposes, it is primarily necessary to go beyond IDs productive nature and to consider local systems
as cities, or, by quoting Calafati (2009), as urban conurbations formed by processes of territorial coalescence
[fig.3] that practically work as a city and are in search for appropriate institutional frameworks able to tackle
and managing the new supra-local issues. If we consider the Sassuolo ceramic district as a city, we can easily
recognize its regional relevance in terms of population and economy3.
3 Sassuolo ID is today governed by several municipalities, two municipal unions and two provinces (Reggio Emilia and Modena). The
entire territory counts more than 180.000 inhabitants and local GDP production is one of the most relevant of the entire Emilia-

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However, its current administrative fragmentation is not only inefficient for daily management, but also
inadequate to challenge major transformations that are investing economy, society and territory.
Recent national policies have addressed the issue by abolishing the provincial level and fostering the creation
of wider metropolitan structures, basically in two ways. On the one hand, they ratified the existence of few
metropolitan cities; on the other, they subsidize municipal unions and merges in order to make territorial
administration more efficient. However, municipal unions have been manly intended as instruments for the
rationalization of public services, while few voluntary fusions were put in place by marginal micromunicipalities to benefit of fiscal advantages. A more incisive guidance is needed; in particular if we want to
combine administrative reorganization with territorial reconfiguration. In this sense, IDs can be considered as
testbeds for alternative territorial arrangements.
Indeed, some scholars have recently proposed different national configurations by analyzing economic and
urban systems. The Italian Geographical Society-CAIRE (2014) suggests reorganizing national territory
through the recognition of 350 communities; Lanzani (2015) proposes a more thin vision by increasing the
number of the so-called new municipalities up to 500/1000. Nonetheless, to be effective, the process of
reorganization has to combine top-down and bottom-up levels. For this reason, Lanzani suggests taking into
account existing cohesive structures, already recognized by laws and citizens. Together with mountain
communities, IDs are appropriate examples as they have already experimented, even if with little success, the
comprensorio supra-local instrument. As a matter of fact, some of them, such as the Sassuolo ID, have already
undertaken processes of administrative restructuring.
The economic crisis, continuous cut in state transfers, the pressure of multi-located entrepreneurs, people
extensive use of the territory have advocated for a change. Indeed, local administrations recently proposed
the creation of a unique city-district, not merely intended as an exit strategy to present contingencies, rather
than a long-term vision for territorial development.
The path towards the city-district creation started in 2010, when local left wing party (Partito Democratico)
spokespeople started a collective reflection about the new ID configuration and its challenges. During the
same year, a participatory project called La fabbrica delle idee (The Ideas Factory) has by presented in order to
gather bottom-up proposals for the future of the ceramic ID. Clear enough that ceramic industry will not be
able to guarantee a bright future for the local system.
The turning point of the process is related to 2014 municipal elections. Left wing candidates in running for
major offices included the city-district proposal in their campaign and organized a public meeting to discuss
the idea with non-local experts4 and citizens. The victory of all the eight candidates ratified the political
launch of the project, coordinated by a dedicated department. Meanwhile, administrations have started a
dialogue with local stakeholders. In particular, with the economic and logistic support of Confindustria
Ceramica, the national ceramic entrepreneurs delegation, some events and projects have been rapidly put in
place. These pioneering experiences aim to recreate a communal territorial identity, while testing forms of
possible economic diversification. In particular, a project of territorial marketing has been presented and
included in the Expo2015 provincial touristic offer.
Actually, the definition of a more comprehensive common strategic plan is the main objective of the citydistrict project. However, the process progresses quite slowly. The collective agreement signature has been
postponed, while single municipalities are still working on individual bases, particularly in urban planning
field. Apparently, local Councils follow two different timetables. One is related to present, urgent decisions,
such as the approval of a convention aimed to accelerate private real-estate investments on the biggest
redevelopment area of the territory; the latter concerns the general administrative reconfiguration that will be
hardly implemented without a clear local leadership or specific urban projects.
A territorial project for the city-district5
Despite current difficulties, all local actors agree with the necessity of considering the ID as a unitary urban
system. Indeed, the city-district has to develop a unique, albeit multiscalar, strategy. Unity is required for
solving major supra-local issues and positioning the city-district inside a wider regional, metropolitan, even
global, configuration. Also, the unitary plan must select few development areas, whereas major attention has
to be focused on existing urban materials recycle in order to arrest land consumption; in particular,
densification and rarefaction areas can regulate general territorial reorganization.
At the same time, the common vision has to enhance local specificities and identities by fostering their
cooperation and assembling them around few clear projects [fig. 8]. Local specificities suggest considering
each ID in its internal diversity, by exploring different possibilities in relation to existent resources
Romagna region. Geographically speaking, Sassuolo conurbation (325 km2) represents the only big urban system in the piedmont area
[fig.3].
4 Aldo Bonomi, who took part in the public meeting, wrote a short article in Il Sole 24 Ore economic newspaper where he suggested
taking Sassuolo as an example of necessary IDs supra-local organization.
5 The presented proposals are the result of a collective reflection conducted with professors Lanzani, Merlini and Zanfi (Politecnico di
Milano) and with students (Progettazione Urbanistica studio, 2013-2014 and 2014-2015). Following representations have been taken from
students final works.

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(Torbianelli 2012) and working on the inspired coincidences (Vigan 2011) of functional integration given
by the urban settlement mesh of these territories.
Firstly, it is necessary to recognize these kinds of opportunities and the emerging geographies spontaneously
created by local actors. Then, through territorial planning, public administrations have to foster, guide or
readdress existing processes of transformation, by imagining innovative urban projects.
On the foreground, a balance between habitability and attractiveness has to be found. In this sense, the
intensive territorial development has to guide the whole process. Old discourses on big infrastructural
interventions or ID quantitative growth have to be abandoned in favour of qualitative objectives that citizens
require and innovative firms have already started to explore.
A territorial project for the city-district needs thus to start from present conditions. It needs to enhance the
dynamism of the most innovative firms, while addressing also the opposite situations of industrial fragility. It
needs to integrate industrial activity with other economies (and related spaces), which are already visible in
few uncertain local experiences or in more consolidated excellences, such as the agro-industrial production.
That is to say the slow territories of soft economy, where agro-tourism, innovative manufacturing and
multifunctional agriculture stay together, can represent an interesting source of inspiration (Lancerini 2005).
Local socio-economic networks that still characterized IDs have to be strengthened by promoting feasible
shared visions for the future of the territory. In fact, although firms strategies tend to be more and more
diversified and unpredictable, local industrial context is still cohesive and embedded.
In the Sassuolo ID, local entrepreneurs are more aware of the necessity to improve territorial quality.
Actually, they have already initiated this process inside their factories. However, individual efforts are not able
to reach systemic relevance. The localization of major firms, which concentrate today on the plain, especially
along the main highroad, suggests considering this linear system as a major place for intervention. The
highroad can thus become the showcase of the entire ID by representing its most innovative companies. In
order to create a new qualified industrial landscape, it is necessary to elaborate a collective image, whose
implementation requires also the active involvement of industrial companies [fig.4]. The project can thus
focus on the private parcels sides. In exchange for extensions, for instance, firms would be asked to intervene
on their open spaces and fences, which can be used for corporate communication purposes. At the same
time, public intervention has to be addressed to the street landscape. Indeed, it will concern street section,
panels, service zones, etc.

[fig.4] The showcase-road. Industrial fences become a device for urban tidiness and corporate communication. Source:
Progettazione Urbanistica studio led by Lanzani, Merlini, Zanfi (2014-2015).

In parallel, a completely different system structured along the ancient road that connects urban centres and
led the first ID growth. Here, we can find historic city centres, important cultural heritage, redeveloped
former industrial areas, excellent public facilities, middle-sized supermarkets, and also some residual

325

production spaces. In order to consolidate the urban core, the linear system can be interpreted as an extended
and intense urban centre. The project hence works on public transport facilities, by completing the
fragmented bicycle paths and providing a new subway system. The extension of the exiting railway line
which connects the ID to Reggio Emilia and potentially to the new Mediopadana TAV station allows the
definition of a hybrid tram-train system passing by the different, already well-equipped urban centres.
Mobility project has to be intended then as an opportunity for urban qualification. Bicycle paths and tram
stations can create a qualified system of public spaces, intended as the physical support for future
redevelopment interventions. In particular, mobility services and public spaces can allow the redevelopment
of a number of abandoned production areas that, despite urban planning previsions, are still vacant.
Even if major resources have to be concentrated in the two previous densification areas the industrial and
the urban one , territorial project has to extend to the whole conurbation. Moreover, it has to enhance here
urban reuse and requalification, by imagining low cost interventions and public-private partnerships.
The city-district territory is characterized by a porous urban tissue, where individual and collective houses,
warehouses, commercial boxes and residual open spaces are mixed and form quite a compact urban buffer
located between the countryside and the hills.
Ordinary production areas are nowadays affected by diffused underuse and general decay. To foster their
multifunctional, intensive use, public interventions have to provide efficient networks and to concentrate on
public space qualification. They have to avoid improper and non useful interventions of decoration and
rather assure more confortable spaces for workers and inhabitants. In compact production areas, the creation
of industrial condos [fig.5] can sustain collective energetic improvement for instance, transforming roofs
into photovoltaic plants , while allowing economies of scale (and financial savings) for small enterprises.
Through cooperation, they could indeed benefit of common and more efficient services (related to logistics,
security, office activities, etc.). Furthermore, collective uses can enhance spatial flexibility and optimization,
thus limiting unproductive underuse. The privatization of some public areas, such as streets, would be
compensate by the general higher efficiency of industrial neighborhoods and by the provision of semi-public
facilities, open to nearby local community. In this sense, proximity can foster the creation of multifunctional
hubs, which operate as urban interfaces. A workspace canteen can be open to external people or becoming a
restaurant in evening hours; a company kindergarten can be used also by local community; a shared office
space can host a small fab-lab available for local technical schools and local companies labs; etc.

[fig.5] Industrial condo. An efficient, flexible and equipped production space. Source: Progettazione Urbanistica studio
led by Lanzani, Merlini, Zanfi (2014-2015).

Urban integration can involve also big companies. Some firms have already created welfare facilities open to
citizens; however, this tendency could be implemented through fiscal incentives. This way, industrial areas
would effectively become parts of the whole city; meanwhile, companies could benefit of additional revenues,
as Salewa has already experimented with the realization of the biggest Italian climbing rock inside its
headquarters in Bolzano.
Possibilities of functional integration can also be found in rural heritage reuse. A local firm has already
renewed an historical rural house located on the limit of its plot with the aim to transform it in a company
archive and event location [fig.1]. On the territory these kinds of proximity are quite common as ceramic
companies were often created by local farmers on their lands. Thus, the general rural abandonment can
become an opportunity for industrial firms equipment and qualification [fig.6], allowing also a less conflicting
confrontation with agricultural landscape.

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[fig.6] Territorial welfare. Rural houses as integrated interfaces between industrial, agricultural and urban landscapes.
Source: Progettazione Urbanistica studio led by Lanzani, Merlini, Zanfi (2013-2014).

In order to allow collective use, all these semi-public places need to be easily connected. Slow mobility system
has to be particularly designed, in conjunction to open green spaces. As a matter of fact, after decades spent
consuming agricultural land in the name of individual interest (Bianchetti 2004), open spaces need to acquire
new centrality. Likely, IDs can still count on a relevant amount of open spaces, which need to be preserved
and used by citizens as well. Open spaces (countryside, hills, riversides, natural reserves, etc.) must not be
intended only as spaces for leisure. Their ecological, productive and ecosystemic qualities have to be
potentiated through multifunctional projects. In this sense, open spaces form a diffused infrastructure that is
essential for the increase of life quality and territorial attractiveness, as well as for hydrogeological risk
prevention.

[fig.7] New life centres. The qualification and valorization of residual open spaces locally create equipped public spaces
for workers and inhabitants. Source: Progettazione Urbanistica studio led by Lanzani, Merlini, Zanfi (2013-2014).

In Sassuolo, blue infrastructures can become the backbone of transversal territorial relationships. Rivers and
channels, fundamental for pre-industrial activities and agriculture, can and partially already do support
bicycle paths and thus connect hilly, urban and rural landscapes. Parks low cost in term of both realization
and maintenance , as well as spaces dedicated to urban agriculture and sport [fig.7] would become starting
points for contextual urban regeneration and functional diversification.
As for industrial abandonment, which concerns today fragmented, diffused and small-scale spaces, new
approaches have to be tested. In particular, its necessary to go beyond reuse. Vacant spaces are indeed too

327

many to imagine their entire redevelopment (Bianchetti 2011). Even if it is difficult to precisely quantify the
phenomenon, empirical surveys speak about 80.000-100.000 vacant, unused warehouses in Italy. How to deal
with this huge amount of scraps?
First of all, we must admit that some areas wont probably meet market demand, at least in forthcoming times
(Lanzani et al. 2014). We have thus to figure out different trajectories for them, by addressing the issue of
vacancy manage. Prior buildings demolitions [fig.2] can be seen as a major waste as they prevent future
possible (and unpredictable) reuse and do not consider the embodied energy of existing urban materials
(Fabian et al. 2014)6. Better to foster, through fiscal incentives and easy bureaucratic procedures, soft and
temporary uses for buildings that are in good condition (Oswalt et al. 2013) or to envisage processes of longterm renaturalization of residual and marginal areas (Corner & Tiberghien 2009). Indeed, the territorial
landscape project has to identify areas of rarefaction that can eventually guide demolition, remediation and
regreening projects. Nevertheless, in order to be feasible, shrinkage must be related to volumes transfer. We
can imagine, for example, allowing the contiguous expansion of innovative middle-sized firms only if
entrepreneurs take on responsibility of former industrial areas located on the territory.

[fig.8] Main territorial systems that need to be potentiated: linear urban center and redevelopment areas (red); collective
mobility system and tram-train stops (black); slow mobility main axis (red dots); industrial landscape (grey); open spaces
(green); blue infrastructure (light blue). Source: elaborated by the author.

Despite the specificity of the proposals, the case study of Sassuolo ceramic district shows that ID territories
are today required to be more urban and multifunctional, more competitive, more efficient and more
attractive. If we aim to strengthen local systems competitiveness and, at the same time, recreate conditions of
habitability for local communities, then we must go back to the territory. Since, IDs improvement is basically
a territorial question. For this reason, whereas economics has studied ID mutation focusing on flows, urban
planning discipline is required to pay attention to materials stocks. As the present paper show, urban
disciplines have to study on-going spatial transformations and then enhance actions for the reuse and recycle
of the rich ID social fixed capital. Indeed, territorial valorization can trigger differentiated processes: of
economic diversification by working on urban proximity and functional integration; of urban efficiency by
enhancing energetic sustainability and collective services; of social inequality reduction by potentiating welfare
6 In some cases demolitions are still required. For example, when abandoned buildings are made by toxic materials, or located in marginal
areas, or are in bad conditions. Demolition can thus represent an extreme form of valorisation if building materials are wisely recycled.

328

facilities and improving collective mobility; of territorial remediation and qualification by focusing on open
spaces treatment; etc. To be effective and systemic, these actions require to be coordinated and inserted in a
general supra-local plan, which defines few major guiding-lines for the future development of the territory
[fig.8]. In this sense, municipal cooperation is crucial. The notion of city-district has indeed been proposed
to stress the new institutional and political role of IDs.
As Secchi (2014) stated, up to now, the potentiality and richness of such a diffused productive structure has
not been well understood and, therefore, valorized. The present paper tries to offer some elements of
reflection to this debate: ID territories deserve more attention and care, because of their relevance.
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Productive ecologies:
Redefining the centrality and marginality of the city-territory
Roberto Sega
Affiliation: EPFL - Ecole polytechnique fdrale de Lausanne, Lab-U - Laboratoire dUrbanisme
Supervisor: Paola Vigan
Expected thesis defence: February, 2018
roberto.sega@epfl.ch
With the aim of identifying different perspectives for the future of territory starting from the dimension of production
in the context of urban sprawl this PhD research intends opening a critical reflections on the dynamics of territorial
polarization, specialization and marginalization underway in Europe. According to the last European Competitiveness
Report drawn up by the European Commission, production is still to be considered as an engine of prosperity linked to
the real economy and to the development of the territory; thus the need for a new re-industrialization program for
Europe. In recent decades production has been one of the territorial elements exposed to more extensive changes in
Europe, while at the same time it has become one of the elements least subject to reflection in terms of spatial
construction and rationalisation of the territory. Production is today becoming incompatible with the common idea of
European traditional city. In order to avoid the risk of a dualistic model of development, that opposes urban areas to
productive and secondary territories, this article claims the need to include production in the debate on the structural
specificity and potentialities of the European city-territory as one of its constituent elements.

The role of production in constructing the city

Over time production has abandoned the city. There are many spatial reasons why this has occurred: for
instance because of the transport congestion due to an incompatibility between goods traffic and urban
traffic, the given dangers and drawbacks underlying particular production processes (pollution, coaling
systems, noise etc.), or due to economic logic tied to land value. Hence, we have witnessed the conversion of
factory buildings into lofts, museums, and universities or more simply into office blocks and new residential
plots subsequent to demolition. These seem the only economic operations in which policy-makers are able to
deal with the cumbersome physical legacy of areas of production and factory districts. One of the issues of
the change in strategy is raised by great scale of the plots, the presence of heavy constructive materials or of
dedicated infrastructure like rail and technical networks, or indeed the possible pollution of the soil. Recycling projects destined for public use, or programs of mixit between residence and production, remain
exemplary and not everywhere feasible. At any rate, it is clear today that productive and manufacturing
activity is seen to be incompatible with the traditional idea of the compact city.
If we look back through history, the relationship between production and construction of the city has always
been fundamental and constitutes one of the primary reasons behind the organisation of human settlements.
Some authors have described the relationship between production and development of territory down
through history. First Geddes and then Mumford proposed to divide human civilization into three distinct
epochs: the eotechnic, the paleotechnic and the neotechnic, respectively characterized by the dominance of
different energy sources: water - wind, coal and electricity1. Each of these macro technological periods had
different influences on the productive systems and consequently in shaping the spatial organization of human
settlements. In the eotecnic age (AD 1000 to 1800) production and manufacturing sites were initially located
along rivers or where wind allowed mills to convert wind power into mechanical power. During the
paleotechnic age (approximately running from 1700 to 1900) the localisation of production was freed from
geographical restrictions associated with energy production, and industrial concerns began to be set up near
ports, mines, and infrastructural junctions, enabling the efficient provision of raw materials and coal. Indeed
though thus began the sacrifice of parts of territory in the name of progress: an up-thrust into barbarism,
aided by the very forces and interests which originally had been directed toward the conquest of the
environment and the perfection of human nature (Mumford 1934). The neotechnic age (from about 1900 to
Mumford's present, 1930) provides an additional degree of freedom in terms of the territorialisation of
production and human settlements thanks to the possibility of the transportation of energy.
According to these different phases of progress, European countries responded in different way and in
different time overlaps (Samon 1959). As is known the setting up of production and manufacturing facilities
in the outskirts of existing cities or within the limits of new industrial cities drew workers from the
countryside, leading to the consequent abandonment of marginal territories. On the other hand, the
decentralisation of production in peripheral, outlying places - due to the cheap offer of labour - led to
different phenomena of urbanization. Today, in a Post-Fordist economy, comprehending the construction of
1 Mumford inside his book Technics and Civilization wrote in 1934 took the definition of prof. Patrick Geddes to divide the industrial
process of civilisation into two different phases (the paleotechnic and the neotechnic), adding a third precedent phase (the eotechnic)
that helps us to understand the state of preparation to industrialization, describing the differences between different geographical
contexts, showing the resistance to change and their impact on the speed of urban development in different areas.

331

city in relation to production is more difficult then in the past. One of the major reasons is precisely the loss
of relevance of the real economy within society (Harvey 2002). Both, urban growth and production, have
become evermore hostage of financial and fiscal rules tending towards a marked detachment from the
physicality of territory2.
The question of the location of production and manufacturing
The need to solve in a hygienist way the large imbalances produced by the cities of the industrial
revolution, led to the devising of urbanism based on zoning (CIAM), leading to the recognition and
separation of the different materials that compose the city. In 1918, between Lyon and St Etienne, Tony
Garnier devised his idea of the ville industrielle, where he shows how different functions (including
manufacturing and production), [...] give rise to different principles of settlement and different relations with
the topography and the main infrastructures. Thus zoning became a design tool of urban planning, not only
an attempt to separate and adequately distance the different functions according to their degree of
compatibility or incompatibility (Secchi 2005). Despite the ambitions of spatial continuity and balance,
zoning quickly became a planning instrument for fragmenting the territory and isolating those activities that
are incompatible with residential dwelling (such as the industrial zones), in actual fact depriving production
and manufacture from the key role it had hitherto played in constructing the city up until that moment in
time.
Production has the capacity to bind itself to the territory, drawing strength from it, at the same time ensuring
its economic development. The relationship between city and production - that today appears to have lost its
spatial aspect is on the contrary still present and indeed essential in terms of economic and social issues.
The concept of a new form of growth driven also by the concept of wellness, has introduced new standards
regarding the territorialisation of enterprises and the capacity of a site to attract certain forms of investment.
As an introduction to the debate to be developed later on, two examples are proposed here regarding the
localization of production processes, which reverse the perspective, offering examples of the ways in which a
productive manufacturing activity could bind to the territory today.
The territorialisation of production and manufacture
The territorialisation of the investment now depends both on the (economic) relational context of the
enterprise and on the (social) relational context of individuals working for that company (Calafati 2009).
This means that for a territory, in order to increase its capacity to attract businesses the provision of modern
services and efficient technological infrastructure, or provide tax incentives and deregulation on production
processes no longer suffices. On top of this there is an important social aspect related to the quality of
workers' life. According to Calafati, enterprises and workers, moving more freely within the area we define as
Europe, are more stimulated in seeking efficient cities and territories in order to set up and start their
economic activity. Calafati named this phenomenon as economies in search of cities3.
The vertical dis-integration of production processes
The vertical disintegration of production process has offered the possibility of new strategies for locating
enterprises. There is no reason to assume that the entire production chain of a product should be established
and located in the same place. At the same time we must distinguish whether an industry produces parts of its
product abroad (outsourcing) in countries for example where labour costs are lower, or whether, in respect of
territorial loyalty it delegates part of its production process to specialized enterprises within Europe,
triggering other positive business cycles. An industrial policy of solidarity within the EU could for example
encourage interplay between similar stages of the production process, associating them more efficiently to
specific territories within the area of the European Union.
Production and manufacture within the European city-territory
The phenomenon of urban dispersion was condemned in Europe as immoral because different from the
traditional idea of the compact city. As it is known, in the urban debate, the phenomena of urban sprawl has
been severely attacked from the point of view of social, spatial, ecologic and economic sustainability (the
greatest criticism has concerned the morphological dissolution of the city, the increase of individualism within
society, land use and the waste of resources). These criticisms have contributed to the refusal this also
institutional to seriously deal with the phenomenon of dispersion (Indovina 2014). The result is that in
most of European states the diffuse city has grown in the absence of any explicit plan or policy. At the same
time as it is clear by observing the map of [fig.1] the extensive shape of the European city-territory has
gone beyond the stages of constituting a mere phenomenon and now demands full recognition in terms of
urban policy.
2
3

In the Era of globalization, companies are no longer ingrained but anchored in a territory (P. Veltz).
Calafati A. G. (2009) Economie in cerca di citt, La questione urbana in Italia. Roma: Donzelli Editore.

332

[fig.1] Urban Areas in Europe.

The red shows the residential dwellings.
Elaborated by the author. Data: Corine Land Cover 2006, EEA.

If today it seems that production is no longer part of the traditional cityscape, it is on the contrary one of the
constituent elements of the European city-territory. Looking at the map, it is evident that most of European
productive or manufacturing sites are located in the outskirts of cities or in urbanized territories between the
same. Production can be both active element in constructing urban dispersion (Indovina 2014) or a passive
element when, over time, it has found itself surrounded by urban sprawl.
This chapter tackles the different productive territorialisation processes in Europe offering conceptualised
examples of the same. The outcome has been an initial catalogue of the spatial consequences of the various
different industrial policies. In might help to show the consequences today between a centralized as opposed
to a decentralized system of production and manufacture. The aim of the research is to offer an atlas of the
heterogeneity of European productive-manufacturing territories described in relation to: the spatial
dimensions of production, the different stages of development and the temporal generation of economic
development. The construction of this atlas will lead to the identification of some specific European
territories that will be taken as case studies in the later stages of this PhD research study.

[fig.2] Industry in Europe.

The productive activities are marked in black.
Elaborated by the author. Data: Corine Land Cover 2006, EEA.

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The effort made up to now is the isolation of the layer of production at a European scale [fig.2]. By analysing
closely this map the first attempt was to recognize different type of territorialisation of production readable at
regional scale: four prime categories can be identified that are followingly observed and detailed [fig.3].
-1- Industrial suburbs serving city-centres
-2- Industrial corridors between city-centres
-3- One-factory cities
-4- Productive diffuse territories

-1-

-2-

-3-

-4-

[fig.3] Territorialisation of production in Europe. Drawn up by the author.

Industrial suburbs serving city-centres

The localization of production complies with the traditional model of land value. Activities tend to locate
where land costs are lower, or devalued by the presence of heavy infrastructures or by the proximity to low
quality urban material. Depending on the growth of the city, production activities tend to be located in
peripheral areas increasingly far away from the city-centre, occupying agricultural areas. For logistical reasons
these are located close to efficient motorway junctions, thus allowing them to be less affected by urban traffic
congestion. Their relationship with the city is sometimes conflicting, anonymous but at the same time
indispensable.
Examples of this category are the large and medium-sized cities isolated in the territory and having a precise,
concentric shape (Ile de France).
Industrial corridors between city-centres
Production grows along the main interlinking routes between existing cities. It is one of the constituent
elements of a particular pattern of settlement. Its structure is linked to the presence of a strong linear road
infrastructure (seen as pipes). It may also be tied to a particular morphology (for instance the presence of
valleys, canals or rivers). Production and manufacture takes advantage of the visibility deriving from its
location along the infrastructural corridor to advertise its business. It is in fact essential for the economy of
the territory where it is located. It is often subject to tax and legislative concessions by the local government
to ensure his presence.
Examples of this category are the territories of: Valais, Via Emilia, the territory along the Rhone river
between Lyon and Avignon.
One-factory cities
Cities reached a crisis together with their factories. Cities forced to transform their economies following the
crisis in the economic groundbase. The massive closure of production and manufacture has left important
traces in the structure of these cities. Infrastructures, buildings and whole parts of the city have been
redesigned and rationalized following the drop in production and manufacturing facilities. There are
experiments of functional mixit and re-cycling projects made possible by a strong political will for urban
renewal.
Examples of this category are the cities of: Barcelona, Bilbao, Manchester, Lyon, Karlsruhe, and Turin4.
Productive diffuse territories
This category refers to diffusely urbanized territories. Where production and manufacturing facilities are
present alongside other materials that comprise the territory. This is accompanied by considerable road
network and by the presence of a high level of access to services. In some Italian cases, production even
became the reason for the urban sprawl in the first place. In these spaces, each act of territorialisation of
production at the same time leads to the redesign of the self same city, constituting a step towards the
construction of a territorial figure denoted as city-territory.
Examples of this category are the territories of: Veneto, the area around Milan, Flanders.
4

This category One factory cities and cities listed as examples are drawn from Calafati, from his book Economie in cerca di citt.

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Polarisation and polycentrism: different visions for the European city-territory

The purpose of the various economic and geographical studies carried out over these last decades has been to
capture both urban growth and economic development on a single European map [fig.4]. Two of them
designate a precise set of largescale metropolises comprising Europes economic heartland: notably the case
of the Blu Banana (maps -1-) a continuous and intensive urban pattern reaching from London to Milan
(which corresponds to the economic and financial axis of Central Europe), and Red Octopus (maps -4-) a
linear metropolis that combines, in a physically continuous way, the most important European centres. Both
visions give an image of a polarised European territory, drawing a rigid and hierarchical structure over the
same. However, nothing is said about the blank space of the map, which actually becomes marginal territory.
Other studies have attempted to give broader dimension for growth in the European urban space: this is the
case of the House with seven apartments (maps -2-) focused on the productivity dynamics of each
European area, and the Green Grape (maps -3-) a polycentric vision which aims at an open and broader
growth of all European areas and wherever specific areas may potentially operate competitively with other
areas (Metaxas, Tsavdaridou 2013).

-1-

-2-

-3-

-4-

[fig.4] Visions of urban and economic development in Europe.

-1- Blue Banana. Source: Reclus-Datar (1989);
-2- Europe of 7 apartments. Source: Lutzky (1990);
-3- Green Grape. Source: Kunzmann and Wegener (1991);
-4- Red Octopus. Source: Van den Meer (1998).

At a national level the state by its very nature promotes and pushes the development of capital cities
before investing in medium-sized cities or in territory between cities. Normally a dualistic policy of
development increases spatial injustice and contributes to exacerbating the contraposition between marginal
territory and urban developed area rather than resolving it. The idea of a more horizontal European territory,
offering a solution to spatial injustice, and where local stakeholders might organise themselves by valorising
the specificity of territory, lies at the basis of the intentions of different programs of cohesion proposed by
the European Union. With the aim of achieving territorial cohesion, European policy-makers have replaced
the hierarchical core-periphery model with the concept of polycentrism. [] The concept of polycentric
development has to be pursued, to ensure regionally balanced development, because the EU is becoming
fully integrated in the global economy. Pursuit of this concept will help to avoid further excessive economic
and demographic concentration in the core area of the EU. The economic potential of all regions of the EU
can only be utilized through the further development of a more polycentric European settlement structure.
The greater competitiveness of the EU on a global scale demands a stronger integration of the European
regions into the global economy (Committee on Spatial Development 1999). The aim of the policy of
polycentrism is therefore to spread the benefits of good social and economic performance across the
continent, while at the same time strengthening Europes global competitive position as a whole. The concept
of polycentrism marks a shift in thinking on Europes spatial and economic structure (Falletti 2011). For this
reason, the image of the Green Grape was chosen in 2013 by EPSON as the concept for the Vision for
the European territory towards 20505. The vision presents an open and polycentric development,
however, beyond the purpose of territorial cohesion, the conclusive maps still present a rigid and hierarchical
structure, not representing in the different scales of project the specificities and roles of the territories
between the cities.
A territory is considered polycentric when it features the presence of many urban centres, autonomous
though interconnected at the same time. A polycentric territory has to be uniform, equally accessible and non
polarised. The structure of European city-territory, if preserved by polarization phenomena, begin to
5

Studio EPSON: Making Europe Open and Polycentric: Vision and Scenarios for the European Territory towards 2050

335

resemble a polycentric model of organization. The city-territory is not today as accessible and as well-served
as the compact city, but it could become so [fig.5]. A project of territorial cohesion for the European cityterritory should head in the direction of filling the policy gap between the diffuse city and urban areas. The
questions now are: How to reach the same standard of urbanity without debasing the quality and
heterogeneity of territories? Does an alternative way to the banal strategy of densification of marginal
territories, that will turn them into traditional compact metropolises, actually exist? Could production and
manufacture play a key role in the construction of a new idea of competitive and functional city-territory? If
the purpose is to maintain and encourage the presence of manufacturing in Europe, the relationship between
production and a new condition of urbanity should be studied and designed. Otherwise the risk will be that,
as has occurred in the compact city, the traditional growth model will gradually exclude production and
manufacture from European territory too.

-1-

-2-

[fig.5] Different concept of polycentric relationship inside city-territory.

In the diagram on the left, centres interact with each other, but peripheral areas and territory between poles still depend
on the city-pole, to which they refer in order to access a larger scale of relations. Secondary territories are isolated and
suffer from a social and economic marginalization. In the diagram on the right, a lower hierarchy between elements is
ensured by a complex pattern of overlapping relationships. The heterogeneous elements work in balance and spatial
continuity without internal contradictions.

The on-going polarization of European manufacturing

With the aim of drawing up an atlas of production inside the European city-territory, one need first
understand the current economic situation and the more extensive changes in production and manufacturing
involving different European nations. If we look at manufacturing trends over the last fifteen years under
the last two major recessions it becomes clear that the on-going economic imbalances between the different
states are persisting. The graph in [Fig.6] illustrates the results of a study drawn up by Nomisma6, basically
shows the broadening structural economic gap between the states of northern and southern Europe
(expressed in terms of potential production per person).

[fig.6] Polarization in manufacturing.

The two graphs on the left: Manufacturing potential per capita (million euros in 2010 per 1,000 inhabitants)
North European countries: Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, and Finland;
Mediterranean European countries: Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece.
Source: Nomisma, elaboration from EUROSTAT data.
On the right: the number of manufacturing companies in Italy
Source: Nomisma, elaboration from ISTAT data.

6 The quoted document "potential manufacturing" is dated February 2015. Its author, Nomisma, is an independent Italian company that
carries out economic research and consulting for businesses, associations and public administrations at national and international levels.

336

According to the Nomisma report, not all countries are reacting to the crisis in the same way: the
deindustrialisation of the southern part of Europe corresponds in fact to the re-industrialization of the
northern part. Indeed strong interdependencies associated with national economic growth are clearly evident.
And political egoisms of certain nations have a heavy responsibility in the ongoing industrial desertification of
the southern part of Europe. For example, the graph on the right shows at one point how Italy was more
industrialised than Germany (Italy had a higher manufacturing capacity per inhabitant than Germany in
2001). Now the opposite is the case. This has come about because over the last fifteen years Italy has
decreased its manufacturing potential by as many as 18 percentage points: this has entailed a drop in both
productivity and the number of industrial concerns, France on the other hand has only reduced its
productivity, without closing down factories. Spain has actually increased productivity, but has closed down a
sizeable number of enterprises. Germany for its part, (the example among northern European nations), has
increased both its productivity and number of industrial concerns.
These figures give a brief idea how spatially European production and manufacture has changed during the
last crises, showing how, in the absence of structural measures, or a policy of solidarity between European
national economies, Europe is moving towards polarized growth. The widening gap between the different
states is also relevant because this gives the measure of how different the potential economic recovery
between the northern and southern parts of Europe might finally be.
How might Europe take action to avoid the drawing of a new map of an EU split in two by two markedly
different growthrates?
Re-manufacturing Europe: a project for the Horizontal Metropolis
The city after the economic crisis will be radically different from the city as we know it today (Secchi).
Today, Jeremy Rifkin introduces the advent of the Third Industrial Revolution: a democratization of
manufacturing, based on renewable energy resources, characterized by the presence of new ways to use,
exchange and store energy. The possibility of storing energy and exchange it, using it at different times of day
and year would in fact have a considerable spatial impact on the organisation of territory. Without trying to
rely on technical solutions to solve all our problems, it becomes central to reflect on new scenarios of
production in areas of diffuse urbanisation, using the energy crisis and climate change as stressors for
interpreting new trends in production, transport infrastructure, and from the possibility offered by a
delocalized energy production.
In a moment in time when technological progress is ushering in changes in manufacturing and production
processes, all those involved in planning the city-territory, in order to recover the spatial role of production in
constructing city, need to go back to closely looking at the spatial relations between production and other
urban materials nearby.
Towards a productive mesh of the European city-territory
The relationship between production and others materials that make up the city-territory is, quite often, the
result of coincidences and necessity rather than deliberate planning. The hypothesis, corresponding to the
question posed by this research study, is that production affects, or may affect, the functioning of a cityterritory. Hence, planning and designing its relation with the urban areas and the territory in general could be
a way of intervening on the specific structure of each single city-territory. In a period where latching onto the
economic recovery becomes essential, an opportune growth strategy, capable of enhancing the endogenous
potential of the territory through the design of a European productive mesh, would be desirable, rather than
that the indiscriminate increase of the density in rural and suburban areas. We are referring here to a new
physical support of development that allows inhabitants of the European city-territory to enjoy all the
heterogeneous elements comprised in the same, without suffering the differences of not living in a compact
traditional city. In this scenario the condition of marginality of the city-territory would hence no longer be
superseded via logics of polarisation and densification, but thanks to the implementation of a productive
support capable of resolving by way of prototypes of complementarity between urban elements and
production the functional incoherencies that the project of the compact city has failed to solve. A point
which in actual fact has caused and led to the exclusion of productive and manufacturing activities from the
landscape of the traditional compact city.
Conclusions
The paper initially gives a description of how the role of production in constructing the city has changed over
time, and how the question of the localization of production and manufacturing has had and may still have
consequences on the structuring of human settlements. Secondly, the document introduces as a case study
the European territory and in particular the research object of the European city-territory, of which
production and manufacturing are recognized as key constituent elements. The European city-territory, as an
example of horizontal metropolis, is constituted by [] closely interlinked, compenetrating rural/urban

337

realms, communication, transport and economic systems. It is a layered territorial construction where
agricultural and non-agricultural economic activities create an original mix (Secchi, Vigan 2013).
The purpose of re-conceptualizing the relationship between urban elements and production, in order to
redefine the centrality and marginality of the city-territory, obliges us to examine the different visions of
European development proposed in the past, and to understand the current dynamics of production and
workings of the economies of the different nations in the light of the changes introduced consequent to the
economic crisis.
A strategy of spatial reorganization can thus be identified: a productive mesh, interpreting in spatial terms
the policies of cohesion and re-industrialization, which Europe has taken upon itself. This physical
territorial support cannot be dissociated from the idea of a productive society that has an active role in
structuring the city-territory. The company is not only a place of production, it is also the main driver of
economic and social development and as such it has a responsibility towards the community and the
territory (Olivetti).
The article has been entitled productive ecologies in order to emphasize the strong interactions between
manufacturing and its environment, given its supporting functions towards the other elements that make up
the city territory. Production and manufacturing depend on rational-functional logic: they have the capacity to
bind themselves to the territory, drawing strength from or even changing the same, adapting the territory to
their function. Reading and describing the different elements that interact, or that could interact with those
activities of production and manufacturing, allows planners to propose original hypotheses of new possible
complementarities that might enhance the quality and the functioning of the future city-territory. A possible
project for the city-territory is here bound to the will primarily civic before being economic to remanufacturing Europe. In this hypothesis the transformations of the city territory follow a particular model
of industrialization, close to the NEC model described by Fu in the 80s, characterized by a diffusion over
the territory corresponding to a logic of development that exalts the pre-existent and minimizes growth
fractures.
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What is happening to Industrial Districts?

Michele Cerruti But
IUAV, Venezia. Department of Architecture and Arts. PhD of Architecture, city and design. Curriculum in Urbanism.!!
Supervisor: Cristina Bianchetti
Expected thesis defence: 2017
michele.cerrutibut@gmail.com

Industrial Districts are one of the most important specifically Italian economic model which has built Italian
Economy during the 80s and 90s. Crisis and regeneration which affected these in the last 15 years highlight a
really large variety of the ways of transforming territories. It is finally possible to draw a new geography of
productive industrial territories pointing out those models of transformation.
Introduction
Looking at Industrial Districts (ID) from a territorial point of view means studying one of the most
important specifically Italian economic model which has built Italian Economy as a fundamental
basis(Alberti 2009). Despite all the cases worldwide, ID have typically characterized Italy since the 1970s,
becoming a peculiar trait of its economy and a relevant source of socio-economic development and growth.
() According to ISTAT, Italy comprises 199 ID, mainly in fashion, furniture and food industries, that is,
those industries which are conventionally labeled as the made in Italy. In particular, ID located in northerneastern Italy are considered models of economic efficiency, innovative output, and high employment levels
(). The relevance of the model of ID for the Italian economy and society has also engendered an intense
research production on the topic, contributing most in what has been addressed as the Italianate variant of
the Marshallian industrial district (Markusen 1996)(Alberti 2009).
According to Giacomo Becattini definition, an industrial district is a socio-territorial entity characterized by
the active presence of both a community of people and a population of firms in one naturally and historically
bounded area(Becattini 1990). Nevertheless the Industrial District is also known as a dissipating model
because of its inclination in wasting territories (Becattini 1973 says campagna urbanizzata; Indovina 1990;
Boeri, Lanzani, Marini 1993). These features generated many different situations according to origin, history,
placement, types of production, way of soil consumption (Becattini, Bellandi, De Propris 2009).
The Industrial Districts manifold transformation
Crisis status (Bauman and Bordoni 2015) and regeneration which affected industrial districts in the last 15
years highlight a really large variety of the ways of transforming territories (Bellandi and Caloffi 2014).
Because of this multifaceted way of coping with change it is finally possible to draw a completely new
geography of productive industrial territories pointing out those models of transformation.
The aim of the paper is to study this variety and draw attention to the main issues each case is facing. As
starting point of the research, the contribute will explore four main Italian industrial districts. Biella, Matera,
Pistoia and Veneto are the case-studies, chosen according to two parameters: (i) each case has to face
relevant and very specific issues; (ii) each case has to be supported by a quite deep literature (both urbanistic
and economic). The hypothesis the work implies is that it is possible to observe reindustrialization processes
focusing on a specific economic model transformation. Biella is a northwest Italian district which was the
cradle of Italian Industrial revolution which has been a model in the XIX and XX century. Matera is instead a
district in the South of Italy which has been a model in the 90s. Whilst Pistoia has a strong relation with its
delimited territory the Veneto Food Meta-district goes beyond local limits and suggests a more broaden idea
of territory.
Four Case-studies
Biella, the surplus district and the minor vivacities
Biella Wool District is one of the most ancient Italian districts and its born can be dated in 1816 when a
special loom was spread in this territory and changed the way of producing textiles (Maitte 2009). This event
was able to carry the Industrial Revolution and Italy and it became soon a model of local economy together
with Schio in Veneto and Prato in Tuscany (ibidem).
Since 2001 Biella lost the 50% of its economic weight. Its a radical change because the enterprises decrease
from 3.000 to 1.000 and the district operators from 30.000 to 15.000 (Maggioni 2008). Together with the
economy the demography and the welfare system changed a lot: the aging society is a real social problem and
all the villages in the mountainous territory around the main city are aging as well generating many social
problems and needs (Sulis 2009). The welfare system is not able anymore to cope with all the needs: big
distances, bad streets and roads, healthcare needs and education are just few of the big challenges Biella is
facing (ibidem).

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Nevertheless the stalemate generated the strengthening of the survivors. The active firms are stronger than
before and the district is shrinking around them leaving a large amount of overstock space (urban surplus)
and infrastructural surplus which doesnt seem it could be recycled anymore (Cerruti But 2015).
Notwithstanding a stuck situation the district generated an inner net of minor vivacities (Cerruti But 2014)
which are trying to deal with the social problem. Its a minor welfare system created by many little
associations, private institutions and groups of people who are reorganizing the territory and trying to give an
answer to social demands. An interesting company welfare system recovery is also part of this new minor
welfare structure.
Two main issues can be observed in Biella: from one side the district is shrinking around a surplus territory.
The shrinking process leaves behind surplus space and surplus infrastructure. Even though this space and
infrastructure could be the frame for a new growth, the crisis seems to paralyze projects and policies. From
the other sides the minor vivacities are restructuring the welfare system: while the territory is losing parts, the
society seems to be stronger and active.

[fig.1] Diagram of Biella Industrial District elaborated by the author. Crosses and dots show the density of
bankrupt firms and active enterprises.
Matera, the weak district
The Upholstered Sofas Industrial District is a quite interesting district model in the South of Italy. According
to Gianfranco Viesti, this quite large district which is collocated in between the two regions Puglia and
Basilicata is born in the 50s thanks to some local enterpreneurs which started industrializing some artisanal
processes (Viesti 2000). A key-role in the growth of the district is played by Pasquale Natuzzi who powered
up a real industrial process in the70s and 80s(Viesti, Luongo 2013). The best performances of the district are
during the second half of the 90s when the amount of export is one of the highest in Italy (ibidem).
The crisis of the beginning of the century completely reorganized the districts with big processes of
delocalization and a change in the production system. Nevertheless there have been a lot of negative
implications: export decreased by a ratio of 65% from 1.272.000 in 2002 to 421.000.000 in 2011 (Greco
2012). This negative effects affected small and medium local enterprises together with the two main firms of
the districts: Natuzzi remarkably decreased its production and Nicoletti went bankrupt (Viesti, Luongo 2013).
The main causes seem to be found in a so called individualistic temptation (Greco 2012) together with a
territorial dissimilarity1. Here the industrial system reorganization has generated a territorial dissimilarity
which is leading towards a separation of the district in two different territorial entities (with different policies).
This feature which was once one of the main keys of the district it is now a weakness point. Almost without
policies the district is finally at the mercy of single companies evolution and collapse.
In a context of reshaping the transition seems to be difficult because of the individualistic temptation of
some of the biggest firms and the collective requests which seem to crush (Greco 2012).
The main issue is that the really strong and well-connected Industrial District has become a weak District.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 This is one of the weaknesses the analysis of the Osservatorio Nazionale dei Distretti Italiani is pointing out.
<http://www.osservatoriodistretti.org/node/345/distretto-industriale-del-mobile-imbottito-di-matera>

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[fig.2] Diagram of Matera Industrial District elaborated by the author.

Veneto, an horizontal district without territory
During the last years in Italy a new concept of Industrial District has been defined and it has been called
meta-distretto or thematic district. Lombardy defined it first in 2001 as thematic areas of horizontal
policies, without a territorial bound and with a strong multisectorial integration. The main feature is
transferring knowledges into the scope of application (Giunta Regionale 5/10/2001 n. 7/6356). Its a
completely different idea of ID because in this case there is not a strong relation with the territory and its
classification is made according to main themes. A territorial net is linking places and enterprises which can
be really far away. Nevertheless a meta-district is quite different from an industrial district, their performances
are evaluated at the same way of ID and what it is interesting from this point of view is that some MetaDistricts have the best economic performances in Italy (Unioncamere 2014).
Even though the definition excludes the territory (and this is at least unexpected compared to Becattini
definition) the main issue is that in the Meta-district the territory is interpreted as horizontal. Whilst Industrial
Districts maintain a vertical interpretation of the territory because of it local economic structure (Becattini
1990), in this case policies and relations are totally horizontal.
In Veneto Food Meta-district, which is the best performing industrial district in Italy in 2014, the territory is
however disappearing. The district is formed by a collection of companies which have subscribed. Single
subscriptions replace the proximity, which was one of the most important feature of Industrial District. This
Meta-District is an example of horizontality from the point of view of policies and nets. But an example of a
territory which is spotted with enterprises and firms not well physically connected. Its an horizontal
metropolis asking for infrastructures.

[fig.3] Diagram of Veneto Food Meta-District elaborated by the author.

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Pistoia, the janus faced district

Pistoia Flower and Garden District is one of the largest in Europe. While at the beginning of the XX Century
only 50 ha were cultivated, in the 60s it was already 3000 ha and more than 5000 today, with 1200 enterprises
and more than 5500 operators and workers. The 55% of the production is exported.
Crisis, international market competition and natural disasters provoked many problems to the district which
has been reorganized in the last years. The territory is actually divided into two parts. From one side big and
strong stakeholders which run alone and own the most part of the territory (one firm owns almost the 10%
of all the cultivated area). From the other side a producers association which collect very small companies.
The separation is well highlighted by research and innovation as well: the big firm is doing research and
innovation by itself with areas designed for didactic activities as well, while the consortium has built its own
center of research (Cespevi). The division is more and more clear and it changed completely the shape of the
territory. The consortium and the big firm have of course a very different economic status together with very
different goals, tools, ideas for the future and needs. This is highlighting a two-face district with two different
relations between economics and territory, which means a totally different definition of district.

[fig.4] Diagram of Pistoia District elaborated by the author.

The reindustrialization of the Horizontal Metropolis
Transition and Reindustrialization pressure is leading the Italian Industrial District system to a complete
reorganization. New district models are sometimes weak as in Matera, some other times are divided in parts
as in Pistoia. Somewhere the territory is missing and individuals are emerging, like in Veneto. Somewhere else
the district is supported by a dense net of welfare system supplied by companies and associations, as in Biella.
Local economy structure is less cogent and the territory seems to play a minor role in economic growth. Even
though the Industrial District model is re-described, re-defined, re-regulated and seems to reach a distinct
conceptualization2, the territories are instead a multifaceted collection of very different situations and show
off a noteworthy complexity (Bianchetti 2015). While in the 80s and 90s IDs have been one of the keys of
the horizontal metropolis in Italy because of their unique features and the common way of cope with
territories (Indovina 1990: Boeri, Lanzani and Marini 1993), nowadays the large variety of answers to
transformation makes the IDs more and more dissimilar one to each other. In the absence of policies, the
reindustrialization processes makes the horizontal metropolis more vertical.
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Entrepreneurial Growth in Industrial Districts. Four Italian Cases. Northampton: Edgar.
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Donzelli.
Bauman, Z., Bordoni, C., 2015. Stato di crisi. Torino: Einaudi.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See i.e.: Bellandi, Caloffi 2012; Brancati 2012; Calafati 2012; Davezies 2012; Arrighetti, Tra 2013; Bronzini, Cannari and Staderini 2013;
Rullani 2013; De Marchi, Grandinetti 2014.

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Becattini, G. ed., 1973. Lo sviluppo economico della Toscana, con particolare riferimento all'industrializzazione leggera. Firenze:
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Becattini, G., 1990. The Marshallian industrial district as a socioeconomic notion. In: Pyke, F., Becattini G.,
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Labour Studies.
Becattini, G., Bellandi, M., De Propris, L. eds. 2009. A Handbook of Industrial Districts. Northampton: Elgar.
Bellandi, M., Caloffi, A. eds., 2012. La prospettiva dei sistemi di produzione locale italiani. Bologna: Il Mulino.
Bellandi, M., Caloffi, A., 2014. I nuovi distretti industriali. Rapporto di Artimino sullo sviluppo locale 2012-2013. Bologna: Il
Mulino.
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l'Italia. Roma: Donzelli, pp.27-40.
Boeri, S., Lanzani, A., Marini, E., 1993. Il territorio che cambia. Milano: Segesta.
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politiche pubbliche. Roma: Donzelli.
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the italian experience. Competion & change, 18(1), pp.70-87.
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contesto di ridimensionamento. Bari: Mimeo, Dipartimento di Scienze politiche, Universit degli Studi di Bari.
Indovina, F. ed., 1990. La citt diffusa. Quaderno Daest , 1, Venezia: IUAV.
Maitte 2009. Flexibility and adaptations in the formation of three Italian industrial districts. In: Becattini, G.,
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Markusen, A., 1996. Sticky places in slippery space: a typology of industrial districts. Economic Geography 72, 293
313.
Marshall, A., 1920. Principles of Economics. London: Macmillan.
Rullani, E., 2013. Territori in transizione: nuove reti e nuove identit per le economie e le societ locali. Sinergie, 91,
pp.141-166.
Sulis, E. 2011. Il futuro e le sue sfide. Rivista Biellese 1(2011).
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Viesti, G., 2000. Perch le regioni crescono? Sviluppo locale e distretti industriali nel Mezzogiorno. Stato e Mercato,2.
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le sue regioni (1945-2011). Volume I. Roma: Treccani, pp.179-193.

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After tomorrow
A design approach to revaluate wastelands in the city-territory: the case of Charleroi and Veneto
region.
Cecilia Furlan
Affiliation IUAV Venice/ KU Leuven University
Supervisor Prof. Bruno De Meulder and Prof. Paola Vigan
Expected thesis defence: 2016
Email ceci.furlan@gmail.com
The contemporary European territories are the result of a long period of transition. The dispersed configurations and
transformations of some European regions have been widely studied since the late 80s. Their distinctive spatial features
of agricultural land and non-agricultural economic activities create an original mix: the city-territory (Vigan, 2014).
However, over the last decades this urban condition has changed, distressed by the consequences of economic and
productive changes. These transformations have coincided with the extended and extensive presence of abandoned and
underused areas and infrastructures related to the spaces of production that are becoming paradoxical in most of the
different city-territory models. In fact, several forms of wasteland have appeared, creating a challenging scattered landscape
of different unused spaces: these problematic areas embody distinctive characteristics and potentialities that can be
considered a possible starting point to encourage and test innovative spatial concepts in a productive landscape, featuring
hybrid living/working environments.
Regeneration of urban wastelands can contribute to revitalization and rethinking of some portions of the contemporary
European city-territory (Lapris & Luking & Rein, 2014) and to preserving fertile land (Di Simine & Pileri & Ronchi 2013).
A growing number of urban wasteland regeneration schemes are now being promoted under diverse territorial measures,
however, it must be recognized that they mostly focus on remediation itself especially from the ecological perspective,
leaving aside holistic aspects of the entire vision of the future of territory. Most of the reclamation strategies have a
timeline of at least fifty years; therefore, especially in this moment of uncertainty, they must be integrated into the
territorial vision. The goal to be achieved depends upon a proactive search for global quality, integrated into the project
dynamics, and a continuous assessment of attributing new value to these sites (Lapris&Luking&Rein2014). In order to
address this issue, the aim of this article is to reflect on the revaluation of wasteland as one of the spatial elements for the
future visions of the city-territory.
Therefore the paper has been structured into three main sections. In the first part, by observing two different territories
(the Veneto and the Charleroi region), the paper will analyse the spatial characteristics of wasteland following the
conclusion of several productive cycles. Next, reflecting on several regeneration methods, the research questions the
different design approaches used up to now, proposing the superseding of market driven decisions. Finally, assuming the
importance of preserving the spatial heterogeneous condition of the city territory, the article proposes the reintegration of
wasteland revaluation, not only within a regional systemic perspective, but as a necessarily broader vision of the entire
territory.

Excess in scarcity
Across the world a different urban form is arising. Due to human population growth and urbanization
demands the European urban tissue has continued to grow exponentially over the past several decades,
between 1990 and 2006 the area subject to impermeabilization and soil surface sealing increased by 8.8%, and
in 2006 2.3% of Europes land surface was covered by artificial surfaces of one type or another (Ispra 2014).
According to the European Environmental Agency (EEA) Europe has one of the worlds highest densities of
urban settlement, with over 75% of the population living in urban areas. There continues to be an uneven
expansion of urban areas across the continent. Nowadays there are signs that this trend is slowing down and,
as a result, the demand for land around cities is becoming a critical issue in many areas (EEA, 2006).
More precisely, since 1965 the European population living in a non urban and non rural condition increased
by 113% (EEA 2006). This original urban form has been widely described since the late eighties. Its
distinctive spatial features of agricultural land and non agricultural economic activities create an original mix:
the city-territory (Vigan 2014). Its heterogeneous character and its isotropic nature reveal liveable features,
obliging a reflection on heterogeneity as a value, in which different elements can find synergies, and to
envision a successful future of this distinctive model of spatial economical and social organization.
Nevertheless, compared to other areas in the world, every kind of European city-territory has to deal with a
three main challenges: land resources are finite; the territory is under the pressure of climate change dynamics
and energy requirements and is subject to the exponential impermeabilization of fertile land. Hence there is a
consequent risk of losing the richness of the diffuse model for a more compact one. For this reason isotropy
cannot just be registered as a condition but as project, dealing with future dynamics in a highly urbanized
territory that on the physical side requires an approach towards recycling existing element and on the other
hand a more radical vision for its future.

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In this context wastelands represent a resource. A considerable number of sites built in the nineteenth and
twentieth-century, namely former military installations, out-dated infrastructures, warehouses, now lie empty
(Secchi, 2007). They naturally result from the conclusion and termination of different productive cycles and
waves of horizontal urbanisation (Berger, 2006, Lynch, 1990). Architects, designers and theorist described
this spatial condition in various ways, as unused space (Lynch, 1990), as space of vagueness and uncertainty
(De Sola Morales, 1995), as dross, out of the structure, space to be purposefully incorporated within
systems. The current moment of transition raises two main issues. It requires a rethinking of the territory,
which will surely function differently, and the protection of the green and agricultural environment, reusing
previously developed landscapes instead of consuming new ones (Vigan 2014; Di Simine & Pileri & Ronchi,
2013). This is especially true for former developed areas that are now abandoned or underused. Wasteland
can indeed be revaluated and given new life, achieving a more sustainable urban setting (Loures, 2015; De
Sousa, 2003; Portney, 2003). Considering the heterogeneous character of the city-territory, the abandoned
and underused spaces can be perceived as the starting point for future territorial projects, as an essential part
of environmental and ecological reflections, and technological and energy developments (EEA, 2015).
Nonetheless, questions such as: What is the character of the wasteland? How is it to be transformed? What
functions may these areas acquire in the future? What obstacles and barriers keep these landscapes from
being transformed? Who is best qualified to do so? still need to be answered. Moreover, the absence of a
clear and comprehensive vision of the future of the city territory has also led to incoherent choices about
wasteland. Today these choices are largely dictated by specific interests and express the conflict between
values (Secchi, 2007). Based on these assumptions this article aims to reflect on the possibilities of wasteland
as a spatial driver for future visions for the city-territory, reflecting that scenario construction and urban
design strategies are ways of integrating wasteland in the urban planning processes. And what if we consider
wasteland as a kind of land bank to be re-valued?
Research approach
One of the main challenges of this goal is to devise original reflections and produce innovative alternatives
while respecting vaster theories and the globally developed project.
To access the previous questions a multi- disciplinary study has been developed and tested on two case
studies of 30 by 30 km each: the diffuse central area of the Veneto (PA-TRE-VE)1 and the scattered region of
Charleroi2. Hence the study firstly identifies the main connotations of wastelands in diffused contexts in
Europe; secondly it clarifies things by looking at the literature already developed by the spatial remediation
strategies and lastly it tries to envision future scenario for wastelands and the city-territory.
Each case study will be developed resorting to the following procedure:
- Integrated definition of what is waste landscape in a European diffuse territory.
- Problem formulation of a wasteland issue (based on mapping, documentation, problem analysis, direct
observation in the field).
- Evaluation of the potential re-structuring role of the wasteland in the diffuse urban pattern.
Two case studies
Europe has experienced different waves of industrialisation: concentrated, decentralised and dispersed
(Waldeheim & Berger, 2008). Each of them has produced distinct spatial organisations and pattern shaped in
a particular way. Therefore the proposed case studies look at wasteland as the result of two different, and
even quite opposite, processes: the massive and heavy industrialisation in the Charleroi area during the last
century, and the weak and diffuse industrialisation in the Veneto Central region over the last fifty years.
Object
According to Bradshaw, anyone who sets about repairing any object, whether it is a very old engine, or a
space, soon realizes that in order to do a good job you need to know something about that object, the nature
of its parts, perhaps its history, how it was put together in the first place and how the whole thing works.
There is nothing over-subtle about this. Even the simplest repair demands some basic understanding, and the
successful repair of a complex object may indeed require a very detailed understanding. Therefore, technical
repair or spatial remediation has two stages. The first is to discover and understand what is wrong. The
second is to revaluate the subject at hand (Bradshaw, 1987:53).

For Veneto Central area, the research defines the portion of the territory, located north-east part of Italy, included between the Treviso,
Castelfranco, Padua and Venice provinces. It occupies a surface of approximately 30 by 30 km, with roughly 2,6 million inhabitants.
2 Charleroi territory is located at the centre of the Walloon region, Belgium. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone,
covers an area of 1,462 square kilometres (564 sq. m) with a total population of 522,522.
1

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The contemporary city-territory is a dynamic entity whose spatial features are permanently emerging and
subject to constant modification (De Meulder, 2008). It is important to assume that the processes of
wasteland generation are grounded in space in ways that are both geographically and historically specific.
Observing things via two case studies helped significantly in comprehending the problem of waste, that
would normally not be seen, due to its scale, or even considered, because it appears to us as invisible
(Allen, 1996). Therefore the study briefly unfurls the complexity of the waste(d) elements that comprise the
two landscapes under study.
Macro-forms of wasteland: Charleroi Region
Once at the centre of Belgiums pays noir coal and industry belt, Charleroi is surrounded by a postindustrial landscape of slagheaps and derelict factories. It faces the latest global recession having never
recovered from the last two.(Telegraph, 2009)
The exploitation of the European coal industry mainly developed in the centre of Europe, in the territory
between Lille (FR), Liege (BE), and Dortmund (GE). The Charleroi metropolitan area, situated in the centre
of Belgium, developed around the coal-mines and the textile and steel industries. Because of its
morphological configuration, the presence of the river infrastructure, and its geological conformation
characterised by three coal veins, Charleroi was the perfect setting for heavy industrial production. Large
infrastructural elements and industrial platforms, underground corridors and coal hills shaped this territory.
Until the 1930s this region was driven by an economic dynamism. Then, due to the exhaustion of the natural
resources, the development of technological production and the stiff competition from the eastern European
countries, the region destabilised. Finally the oil crisis and recession of the late 1970s and early 80s delivered
the final blow to the once-thriving region. Since that time, for decades, the great Walloon industrial machine
has been cast into social and economic disorganisation. As a result, an omni-sizes form of wasteland has
emerged. Still today, abandoned sites, coal hills, relicts of factories and large-scale infrastructure mark the
landscape of la Sambre valley.
Dispersed micro -forms of wastelands: Veneto Central area (PA TRE VE)
For fifty years the Veneto Region in Italy was a thriving productive area. The economic and territorial
dynamics of the area has been destabilised by the crisis of 2007. In fact this decline has deeper roots in the
industrial process of renovation, which started at the end of the 1990s (Cor, 2013). Accordingly a plurality
of spatial situations coexists in the same area: forms and cycles of abandonment and underused, combine
with the process of re-qualification both on an industrial and an agricultural level.
The combination of this process of abandonment and the dispersed urban condition has generated a
constellation of dispersed micro wastelands, apparently randomly distributed (Vigan, 2013). Their tiny
conformations permit a more resilient metamorphosis, in which the forms of abandonment and underused
spaces are blurred.
Wasteland
The heterogeneous collection of waste(d) space has become visible via the elaboration of different scale
analyses from a series of measured spaces of 1 by 1km, to a construction of interpretative maps on a
territorial scale (a portion of 30 by 30km), based on direct observations and surveying. Even if diverse in
location, material and form, they all fit within a similar wasteland concept. This issue imposes a different
classification. Consequently the research-study developed a specific taxonomy in order to elaborate original
cartographies. Wasteland was mapped according to two main categories: Underused spaces (marginal wastelands
and de-programmed areas) and waste(d) spaces (polluted sites, abandoned areas)(De Carli, 2012).
According to this urban waste code, two series of maps, one for each territory, were produced [fig.1]. Thus
the two following maps emphasise the macro-forms and the micro-forms of wastelands recognisable in
Europe: The large industrial platforms and the minute fragments of infrastructures and heavy industry of the
Charleroi region and the tiny dispersed elements of the Veneto region.

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Finally, the intrinsic nature and the territorial distribution of the revealed waste landscapes demanded that the
possibilities of different reclamation approaches be considered in the study. (Thayer, 1994, in Tymoff, 2001)
Reclamation strategies
Wastelands arouse mixed feelings. To some people, they seem ugly and unpleasant (Armstrong, 2006), who
wish them to be wiped away and redeveloped. For others, their vague character may provoke a sense of
wilderness, representing the absent presences of the past and an imaging of stories of the future (Edensor,
2008), or a rich playful environment, evoking a desire for temporary occupation (Edensor, 2005; Franck and
Stevens 2007; Untetal, 2013). Generally situated in advantageous locations near city centres or along
waterfronts and supported by existing infrastructure, wastelands constitute environmentally impaired
resources that need to be revaluated but not necessary reintegrated into the surrounding community (Curulli
2007). The question about the different values of such spaces becomes of interest when discussions over
their future use arise. However, the complexity of wasteland remediation is evident, in fact the variety of ways
in which they are described, both in the literature and by designers and developers who work and/or analyse
these landscapes, make wasteland revaluation difficult to accomplish. The radical and fascinating nature of
wastelands lies in their variable reuse (Way, 2013). Depending on the context and specific characteristic one
wants to stress, the studied literature uses a wide range of theories and spatial strategies generated by
architects and designers, nearly every significant new landscape designed in recent years occupies a site that has been
reinvented and reclaimed from obsolescence or degradation, as cities in post-industrial era remake and redefine their outdoor
spaces (Reed (2005: 15).
The research identifies three principal families of urban design approaches to (re)valuate wastelands: a
celebrative attitude, an ecological attitude and a systemic attitude.
Their enigmatic emptiness signals great potential. The celebrative approach assumes a certain indeterminacy
of function, program and design, as a primary characteristic of wastelands. These are territories of transition,
whose meaning is derived from association (Curulli, 2007). From Robert Smithson to Guido Guidi, passing
via David Hanson, several photographers have celebrated the poetry of the forgotten lands, revealing the
peculiar materiality of the passage of time, the nostalgic beauty of each space. The peculiar physical condition
and the in-between characteristic inspired designers and not only to a temporary re-appropriation of these
spaces. Going beyond the concept of property, and revitalising the historical connotation of wasteland as
place of commons (Gidwani, 2012) where several forms of minimal reversible innervation appear.
Temporary projects have allowed a formal and sometimes informal revitalisation of green areas, industrial
buildings, warehouses or infrastructure. Different forms of temporary intervention feature; from those
adopted by the urban pioneers and urban catalysts in Berlin, to the new approach to Detroit presented by

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Interboro, they all have the goal of creating spaces that reflect the nature and the social cultural material of
the land.
The ecological approach recognizes the central relevance of ecological dynamics and it offers substantial
knowledge of some of the environmental effects of wastelands (Pickett et al., 2008,2011). Therefore, in the
eyes of the scientific community it legitimates the positive roles performed by the patterns and flows of
vacant urban land (Ramalho & Hobbs, 2011;Ryan, 2012). Nevertheless, any discussion about ecology in an
urban context would be incomplete without citing the ecological value (or that of the vegetation) that
increases in an urban condition. Hence it is not just a biological issue but it reflects deliberate decisions of
economic, ornamental and conservation value of the society (Del Tredici, 2014).
Any ecosystem development described by the ecologist Bradshaw can be qualified into two dimensions:
structure and function. When several anthropological agents depredate an ecosystem there is reduction in
both dimensions. The first tactic with such degraded and derelict ecosystem is to do nothing, in which case it
may recover slowly by natural processes. The second option is aims to reconstruct the former system, if the
operation is successful it can be termed restoration, while in case of partially successful achievement it can
be possibly called rehabilitation. In the case of the construction of an alternative ecosystem the process is
called replacement (Bradshaw, 1987). For instance, Gill Clement, analysing the natural rehabilitation of
wasteland ecosystem, defined wastelands as third landscape, and not as a neglected territory.
Other urban designers, such as J. Corner, P. Latz, and M. Desvigne, experimented with different forms of
ecosystem replacement, by adapting urban design strategies to more technical soil reclamation ones and projecting
them through time, they transformed injured lands into various kinds of publics spaces.
Other designers aim to transform wasteland into a different form of productive ecology (Reed, 2014).
Since the 1970s Systems Theory and Complexity or simply the systemic approach has been explored in the
sciences to provide a new framework for non linear decision making and planning. Some of the most
interesting research-studies, especially those developed in the American context, are based on this approach.
The famous studies in regional planning of Ian McHarg, the field operations landscape architecture projects
and the research of Alan Berger on Drosscape owe much of their pedigree to the systemic approach.
Nevertheless, this thinking has often been adopted superficially in the urban practice (Berger, 2009).
For instance, an original systemic method, proposed by Alan Berger, entails that large-scale territorial
dynamics, if properly understood, could guide urban projects and strategies, going beyond the traditional
schemes. According to him, systemic design merges the existing territorial dynamics with multi-layer
strategies and historical transformations, enabling the understanding of how natural and artificial systems
dynamically operate on a regional and local scale, and how their interrelation is the basis for an innovative
design (Berger, 2009). Similarly, the Ecosystem services attitude considering the direct and indirect
contributions of ecosystems to human well-being are relevant in observing and spearheading urban design
projects on wasteland. They directly or indirectly affect and support our survival and quality of life3 (BISE
2010).
Other systemic approach, like cradle to cradle, consider that every artificial element comprised in a wasteland
can be decomposed almost down to its original form, and recycled or reused for another purpose (Braungart
and McDonough, 2010).
Each of the approaches has elements of strength and weakness. For instance, in the last two attitudes,
wasteland dynamics strongly interact with environmental complexity. Projecting them requires temporal
perspectives, it compels a reflection made on different scales, the scale of the neighbourhood, the city and the
landscape. Nevertheless rarely are these projects inserted in a broader vision for the territory, nor do they
suppose the effect of new technological reclamation methods in the urban design. However, every renovatio
urbis faces the problem of its legitimacy. Why this intervention and not another? Why there and not
elsewhere? Why now and not at a different time, or within a different sequence? Since the 1980s market
forces have defined the answer to these questions (Secchi, 2007). Such a pragmatic approach is perfectly
consistent with the contemporary emphasis on uncertainty, and on the laws of demand, where supply is
According to the Biodiversity Information System for Europe, ecosystem services can be categorized in four main types:
1) Provisioning services are the products obtained from ecosystems such as food, fresh water, wood, fiber, genetic resources and
medicines. 2) Regulating services are defined as the benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes such as climate
regulation, natural hazard regulation, water purification and waste management, pollination or pest control. 3) Habitat services highlight
the importance of ecosystems to provide habitat for migratory species and to maintain the viability of gene-pools. 4) Cultural services
include non-material benefits that people obtain from ecosystems such as spiritual enrichment, intellectual development, recreation and
aesthetic values.
3

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directed by concepts like Form follows Fiction (Secchi, 2007). Therefore, the actual uncertain condition of
our territories demands that designers act as bricoleur, who dont only re-use or put together existing
elements, but who are capable of looking at an object and seeing something else (Rowe, 1983), to imagine
with them different visions of the words (Cavalieri, 2013; Vigan, 2013).
Contrast of three alternative futures
The vast legacy about the concept of wasteland, the different strategies of reclamation and reuse emphasize
the existences of different position, confirming the assumption that the waste issue is a question of value
(Thompson, 1981). So, what if wasteland dynamics were to be the starting point in the reflection on the
future of the city territory, instead of being one of the last issues to be solved? Therefore this research study
does not propose a project, but it highlights three different alternatives, each of them drawn from a family of
different scenarios and referring to the aspect of wasteland, ecology, energy and temporary reuse (Well, 2013).
Visioning means imagining, at first generally and then with increasing specificity, what you really want
(Meadows & Meadows & Randers 1992). It signifies taking off all the constraints of assumed feasibility, of
doubt and past disappointments, allowing your mind to consider the most uplifting imaginations, balancing
them with scepticism. Based on the three principal wasteland revaluation approaches, and on a tradition of
territorial scenarios the research proposes three strategies: up-cycle (Braungart and McDonough, 2013),
deep ecology (Naess, 1973) and small is beautiful. Each group enables you to learn something about the
future possibilities concerning the relation between city-territory and wasteland dynamics.
Before exploring the three approaches for the city-territory, the research identifies five parameters that
influenced the construction of the visions. By looking at other researches, especially to the Prelude model4
proposed by the EEA agency, five major driving agents condition many long-term territorial visions, namely
Environmental agent, social aspect, governance intervention, productivity and technology optimisation (EEA, 2015).
As environmental agent the research is associated with latent biological and ecological values of the space (flora
and fauna), water issues and the environmental features also related with climate change dynamics. While, the
social agent enables the considering of the value or the potential of the wasteland in itself to achieve social
cohesion/inclusion of the inhabitants. The governance intervention vision includes the different aspects of spatial
policies addressing land use and spatial planning at territorial and local scale that can affect in the wasteland in
different ways and in different periods. Moreover, considered as a productivity agent the study considers the
hypothetical degree to which wasted space can generate high efficiency and maximize profitability
(agricultural and industrial production, food self-sufficiency). Lastly, the technological innovation vision enables
the definition of the significance of future investment in the technological progress and energy productions
that can be sustained and tolerated by the space. The interplay between the different intensity levels (Low,
Medium, High) of the five factors guides the construction of the three visions proposed.
Inspired by the up-cycle approach, the first strategy assumed that if wasteland definition is based on the level
of non productivity of the land, everything can be turned to productiveness. Therefore, any kind of land,
building or object that is successfully adaptively reused, with the improvement of the use and performance of
the same, is effectively being upcycled. This vision imagines how technological innovation can reuse any
kind of material and optimises the energy, water, waste and food flows of the existing spaces, presenting the
possibility of a future regional self-sufficiency. Therefore, the territorial dimension is the only realistic scale
for this scenario. Depending on their materiality every single space becomes highly productive, supporting a
territorial self-sufficiency.
Wastelands, because of their unused feature and their latent status, are the first lands to be reactivated and
reprogrammed. This image inspires and legitimizes specific urban design test projects.
In projecting wastelands as a productive model for the future, the strategy consists of working on the
strongpoints and the needs of the territory, and the potential of the wasteland and its materials. The case
studies5 were selected according to their paradigmatic role for the system in which they exist. In this paper,
we propose the example of the design approaches applied at Camposampiero, situated at the centre of the
Veneto region. The design experiment case study deals with an abandoned/underused industrial area located
between two heavy infrastructures in a floodable zone. Consequently water becomes the primary element
shaping the project; therefore urban and industrial settlements should be adapted in order to work with water
and to contribute to energy production. The first strategy was to transform green fields in-between industrial
Prelude model, propose by the EEA agency, explores how the European landscape may look in 30 years from now and beyond.
Instead of making prediction it tackles the vast uncertainties of the distant future by analysing a range of plausible development. It
developed five constructing the future depicted in a set of coherent scenario.
4

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buildings into open water basins. Secondly, a system of slopes and ditches was created to collect the water
flows from the oversized parking lots into the new basins. In this way, the collected water could be used
during the dry season for irrigation purposes [fig.2]. The project area is being studied on two scales; on the
territorial scale, defining a water management strategy for the vast agricultural lands, and on a local scale,
where residential and industrial settlements form synergies towards a sustainable economy and energy
production system. Hence the roofs of vacant buildings and underused asphalt surfaces were to be reused to
host solar panels in order to produce green energy. Oversized parking lots were transformed into small public
space in order to promote the social interaction between the workers.

[insert figure 2: Design strategies. Elaboration made by Emu Students, Fall semester, 2013, guided by Secchi B, Vigan P.,
Cecilia F., Andrea C.]

[insert figure 3: Design strategies. Elaboration made by Emu Students, Fall semester, 2013, guided by Secchi B, Vigan P.,
Cecilia F., Andrea C.]

The second strategy follows the ecological systemic approach; identifying the environmental issue as the

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crucial point for future visions. Considering the scarcity of wild green areas, and the need of space for the
water in horizontal urbanization, the strategy aims at giving the priorities for re-organising the city-territory
to ecological and water infiltration. It requires a radical change in the perspective of the diffuse territory. For
instance land use should not be classified according to its productive value, but referring to that of the
ecosystem (Cavalieri 2013). Moreover, urbanisation should adapt to the environmental condition (flooding,
soil erosions...), the agricultural land is to be designated for a less intense use and non dependent on chemical
fertilisers and pesticides and is to provide more space for water in-between the urbanisation. Starting form
theses considerations and from the assumption that every space has to be necessarily reused, wastelands can
be seen as place in which the land is at rest, a porousness in which a new landscape can infiltrate. Wasteland
can be really seen as a sort of land bank with a high ecosystem value. Furthermore, spontaneous rehabilitation
of the waste(d) spaces can also be programmed through phases, enabling the imagination of a metamorphosis
of the landscape based on natural processes.
This tactic has been tested in both territories. In Camposampiero for instance, the first recognizable system is
related to the floodable landscape and its conditions for the urban fabric. It is located between the upstream
forest and the downstream floodplain, a point of interaction with regional infrastructure, urban fabric and
underused green field. The project constructs alternative strategies for the water drainage system that is now
mainly piped. By creating retention areas on underused plots, the project provides more floodable spaces to
stored for a longer time and to slow down floods in the long run. The room for the water permits a future
infiltration of green systems, ecological corridors and a series of public space along the river [fig.3].

[insert figure 4: Ecological Design strategies at the territorial scale. Elaboration made by Emu Students, Fall semester,
2013, guided by Secchi B, Vigan P., Cecilia F., Andrea C.]

The last approach is the softer model of the three proposed. Due to this moment of uncertainty the greatest
caution is required. Hence the vision aims to propose an alternative adaptable development for the cityterritory, using only existing economic and social networks and underused and abandoned areas as its basis.
Moreover, it assumes a reduction of land use and excessive tapping. This can lead to the revitalisation of big
parking lots, turning abandoned structures into public areas; or the creation of small densifications around
warehouses or next to infrastructure, abandoned buildings could be adapted to host the new functions, such
us market spaces, storage spaces, especially in the rural buildings; the reopening of a soft mobility network
may restore the accessibility of marginal green areas.

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[insert figure 5: Temporary Design strategies in Camposampiero. Elaboration made by the author and Emu Students,
Fall semester, 2013, guided by Secchi B, Vigan P., Cecilia F., Andrea C.]

Towards the Future, towards the Past

Reflecting on wasteland dynamics, with the awareness of the on-going change in contemporary European
city-territories, this paper reflects upon wasteland and waste in general as a cultural construction. Firstly, the
cartographical study shows the contemporary forms of wastelands, considering them as natural results of
irreversible processes. Secondly, the paper points out how several design approaches can image a new
lifecycle for waste landscape, avoiding speculative appropriation by considering the territorial dynamics in
their entirety.
There is no simple solution to defining how to recycle these spaces or this system of spaces.
Perhaps the way lies in a constant search, continually questioning the territories under observation and
continually applying our interdisciplinary tools of knowledge. What clearly emerged is the opportunity for
design (Desimini, 2013). An anti-nostalgic, critical evaluation of existing fabric and urbanised land is
necessary and a future vision is fundamental. With all the approaches, what remains key is their sustained
emphasis on legibility and civic function, on pushing transformation and on understanding the urban design
and landscape architecture potential of a necessary infrastructural overhaul. Nevertheless, visioning is useless
if it does not lead to an action. Wasteland revaluation entails a whole series of actions - new reclamation
methods have to be worked out, land has to be restored, agricultural fields and forests protected, energy
systems transformed, agreements reached.
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RE-CYCLES. Transnational revitalization of dismissed industrial

brownfields in post-socialist cities along the Danube
Alberto Verde
Affiliation: University of Ferrara, Department of Architecture Polis University in Tirana
Supervisor: Prof. Arch. Alessandro Massarente (Unife), Prof. Sherif Lushaj (Polis)
Expected thesis defence: March, 2018
alberto.verde@unife.it
Since industrial brownfields represent a sturdy problem for post-industrial territorial restructuring, this PhD research is
meant to find new strategies able to define a multi-scalar action plan, by means of a landscape perspective, so as to recycle
a transnational mesh of industrial brownfields within the Horizontal Metropolis. The chosen territory is represented by a
network of post-socialist cities along the Danube. These historically hybrid cities are the result of both the European city
structure and the Socialist city one, now submitted to the current capitalist homogenization of urban landscapes. The
recent awareness about the lack of a strategic territorial vision for a smart growth of young post-socialist cities has given
a start to search for a new sustainable growth model, maintaining the citys cultural identity. Landscape Urbanism will be
here introduced as a resistant medium to capitalist homogenization and an innovative discipline for territorial
restructuring.

Urban planning shifting in socialist cities

Most likely Wednesday, 13th April 1988 does not remind any historical occurrence of international relevance.
Nevertheless it is worthwhile remembering that on that day a first soothing event in front of Western Block
took place just in territories belonging to the Warsaw Pact: the first McDonalds fast food was opened in
Budapest. Thinking of the further historical occurrences which led to the fall of Berlins Wall, the
introduction of a Western brand in the Soviet Block stood as a signal of openness to dialogue:
- 19th August 1989, Pan-European Picnic: 3-hours of free passage between Austria and Hungary borders
- 23th August 1989: dismantling of restrictions on the Austro-Hungarian Border (first breach in the Iron
Curtain);
- 9th November 1989: Berlins Wall fall;
- 1st July 1991, dissolution of the Warsaw Pact.
Successively, McDonalds fast food, as a symbol of globalization, spread all around (Moscow 1990, Warsaw
1992, Prague 1992, Sofia 1994, Bucharest 1995).
Thus, for 25 years post-socialist territories have been submitted to cultural and social transformations which
have been resulting in radical urban and territorial changes.
Two are the key-elements which have upset the totalitarian, socialist system of territorial growth: the
introduction of private property and the deindustrialization of Eastern Europe, caused by the lack of
competitiveness in communist industrial districts, and by the more recent global transition towards a new
productive city model that of the informational city (Farinelli 2003, p.190-191).
The socialist model city is recognized through some different territorial aspects which can be summarized as
follows (Bertaud 2004, p.2):
- historic centre, built out of economic logics, whose functioning is strictly imposed by a rigid socialist
perspective
- presence in the suburbs of highly dense residential buildings [fig.1]
- presence of mostly obsolete industrial areas, occupying more than 10% of the built areas, near the city
centre (Bertaud, 2004, pp.10-12 ; Bergatt Jackson, Bergatt, 2012, pp.31-33)
- obvious undersizing in the city core of commercial facilities and of public equipments for the community
- weak infrastructural network, not adequate to the huge quantity of people of the suburbs
- difficult definition of private properties hindering any process of urban requalification
- overabundance of public urban voids, in some cases stretching for more than 30% of urban territory, which
expressed the communist ideology and the strong presence of the centralized government (Prokoplijevic
2013, p.89) [fig.2].

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[fig.1] High density residential buildings in Budapest periphery, Hungary, from Jeremy Bassetti, 2004
[fig.2] The Peoples House: Totalitarian ideology of communist public spaces in Bucharest, Romania, from
https://cult.is/casa-poporului-the-story-of-the-worlds-heaviest-building/

All the above socialist territorial characteristics were also generated by the application of the modernist urban
planning quantitative approach, using urban parameters independent from the specific context where to be
applied and by the socialist land allocation system, below summarized (Bertaud 2004, pp.3-4):
- land was a States property and was allocated in relation to the foreseen uses and needs, avoiding any
quantitative differences between areas in the city centre or in the suburbs
- land devoted to industrial uses was identified in rings around the historical core
- land allocated to industrial enterprises could not be sold, so it was impossible for them to relocate in order
to implement production and technologies
- lands to be used for services and retail have resulted undersized if compared with necessities, since banks,
insurances etc. were not present in a socialist city, while health and didactic facilities were annexed to
productive unities
- lands for housing had no different density parameters referred to their locations, while the perfectioning of
building technologies granted the possibility of constructing higher buildings
- increasing density was consequent to the larger distance from the city centre.
After 1989, free market has generated new economic dynamics concerning land use and infrastructures:
- increasing of the real estate value in the city core
- increasing presence of offices and services in the city centre
- great depreciation of real estate built in the suburbs
- widespread use of cars with consequent generation of congestion and pollution because of infrastructural
weakness
- reconversion of industrial brownfields, due to a site-based approach, into western-shaped shopping malls,
encouraging individual transports.
The importance of industrial brownfields for the redefinition of territorial competitiveness in postsocialist cities
The dismission of the Central Eastern European productive districts, as the result of the process of
deindustrialization of the Soviet Block countries with the advent of capitalist market, represents one of the
main current problems of these territories, where abandonment was due to:
- backwardness of communist productive systems
- non-adaptability of industrial districts to the more rigid western norms as to pollution and environmental
protection
- complex procedures for the definition of property rights.
In addition to these factors, some other worldwide events contributed to weaken the situation of the
industrial socialist districts, in particular the transition from a Fordist economic model to a cognitive
capitalism and the more recent financial world crisis.
For urban planners dismissed industrial brownfields could become the most desirable areas for thinking an
innovative territorial restructuring of the Horizontal Metropolis (Secchi, Vigan 2012) because of their:
- strategic location near city cores
- easy accessibility through national or international multi-modal infrastructures

357

- huge scale and constructions

- historical and cultural values.
Horizontal Metropolis stands for a territory without any administrative boundaries, with uncertain and
evolving limits, defined on different scales, which can establish non-hierarchical relationships between built
and open space, between mobility infrastructure and dwelling places, so that layered urban and rural realms
co-exist and interact. The Horizontal Metropolis shows a strong link between natural dynamics and urban
frames and enhances multiple ecologies where biodiversity and agricultural production are concentrated
(Secchi, Vigan 2012). Thus, Horizontal Metropolis becomes an energetic, ecological and social renewable
resource.
Since brownfields are a land use problem caused by a failure of our historical land management strategies
(CABERNET 2006, p.10) which needs innovative strategies for getting a more sustainable territorial
planning, we think of using them as key-elements to reposition the role of post-socialist cities.
Not all dismissed industrial areas are desirable for a hypothetic revitalization the same way, so following the
A-B-C Model (CABERNET 2006, p.43-44), it is possible to identify different categories according to their
costs for reconversion, land monetary values, pollution, location and accessibility etc. [fig.3-4]:
- type A: very desirable sites which can be reconverted with private funds
- type B: these projects can be financed through the partnership between public and private funds
- type C: only the intervention of public sector can start up reconversion plans through public funds or
specific legislative instruments.

[fig. 3] A-B-C Model: The economic components of the A-B-C Model, from Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration:

CABERNET Network Report, 2006

[fig. 4] The A-B-C Model, from Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: CABERNET Network Report, 2006
The introduction of the free western market in those dismissed territories has permitted the sudden private
intervention on type A sites, transformed into shopping malls and hypermarkets following a site based
approach. The limits of a site based approach invite the planners to use a wide area approach for drawing
up strategic plans, based on political cohesion and territorial cooperation, as suggested by European Union.
Reshaping of larger transnational territories made up of dismissed industrial sites becomes necessary, since
almost the whole world will coexist in a single global urban network, driven by worldwide competition
(Friedmann 2002, p.XV).
The Danube: an axis shaping a polycentric territory of post-socialist cities
Abolishing the concept of borders as administrative ones, it is now necessary to identify a macro-region
where our analysis will focus on. Thus geographic, economic and territorial criteria of similarity have guided
our choice on the basis of the most recent suggestions from European Union, referring to the territorial,
transnational policies of cohesion and cooperation foreseen for the objective EU 2020: Strategy for smart,
sustainable and inclusive growth (European Commission 2010). On examining the financial instruments in
European Union programs (2014-2020), aimed at creating a transnational cooperation and promotion of
stability and competitiveness, it has resulted a strong interest on the part of the European Commission for
two specific macro-regions in South-Eastern Europe: the Ionio-Adriatic zone and the Danube region. Just
for the Danube territory, the European Commission in 2010 adopted the most significant action plan
(European Union Strategy for the Danube Region) for the macro-regional cooperation of the countries in
this hydrographical basin (CESCI 2014).
Our choice of the Danube basin has also been supported by other reasons, such as (CESCI 2014):
- Danube basin is central referring to the fluxes which cross Europe from North to South and from East to
West, comprehensive of 19 countries
- Trans-European axis Rhine-Danube represents a relevant water infrastructure and belongs to TEN-T
- GDP growth in this area is higher than the average, although with big internal differences

358

- most important industrial districts connected with cars, high-tech, chemistry, steel and oil lie there, together
with some of the most polluted dismissed industrial areas [fig.5]
- Danube connects lots of eco-regions rich in landscapes and bio-diversities [fig.6]
- along the Danube lots of sites are natural and cultural heritage.

[fig.5] Old contaminated sites in potentially flooded Area in Danube Macro region, from ICPDR, Danube Basin
AnalysisMaps

[fig.6] Protected Areas (Natura 2000 and others), from ICPDR, Danube Basin AnalysisMaps

Now we will even more limit our area of interest, by considering the inter-regional, polycentric agglomeration
in Central-Eastern Europe consisting of 5 major capital cities (Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague, Wien)
while starting from the elaboration of the results obtained from the POLYCE Metropolisation and
Polycentric Development in Central Europe research, which enhances the concepts of metropolisation and
polycentricity. The latter better define the potential competitiveness and territorial cooperation within the
mutual relations of the inter-regional context of those five capital cities for which POLYCE has drawn up a
comparative analysis resulting in useful tools for our research.
By metropolisation is meant a process of comprehensive urban restructuring definable by specific aspects
(POLYCE 2012):
- spatial concentration of economic functions and of population
- possession of important command and control functions and well-developed connectivity
- economic restructuring due to an increase of knowledge intensive activities
- specialized functions unequally allocated within a polycentric agglomeration.
Polycentricity describes the existence of more than one node within a certain territory differently linked
[fig.7-8]:
- Morphological polycentricity: hierarchies and structures of nodes according to their size and significance
- Relational polycentricity: flows and interaction between nodes
- Polycentricity in governance: mutual interests, collaboration, complementarity in decision-making in and
between the various nodes.

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[fig.7] Theoretical hinterlands of the main-subcenters of the Danube Region, from CESCI. Regional Analysis of the
Danube Region. Part II: Territorial Cohesion
[fig.8] Metropolitan Territory of the POLYCE Capital Cities, from ESPON POLYCE, 2012

In the Central-Eastern European territories, stakeholders expectancies are located in the identification of
new economic opportunities generated by European Union process of integration, in the perspective of
opening new potential markets and creating new mobility models of labour forces.
But in the ex-socialist countries, no growth territorial planning was adopted until the beginning of the XXI
century, allowing an unruly and sudden intervention of free market, which hindered a larger, long-termed
vision of growth planning.
The POLYCE research does not directly deals with the problems and consequent strategies related to
brownfields areas, anyhow it is possible for us to extrapolate from it some interesting transversal and
interdisciplinary aspects useful for the development of strategies inside post-socialist territories, since it drew
up a comparative analysis for each capital city enhancing five fundamental categories (economy, population,
mobility, environment and quality of life) intersecting our domain [fig.9].
The European Union particular interest in experiencing territorial planning modifications in sight of a
transnational synergetic reshaping of Central-Eastern European territories makes us think that our proposal
of a transnational action plan for the recycling of a network of dismissed industrial areas in post-socialist
cities could impact successfully on the debate for a smart metropolitan development.

[fig.9] Profiles of the 5 POLYCE Metropolises, from ESPON POLYCE, 2012

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Homeostasis: Landscape cycles as a strategy for territorial restructuring

Both for Graham Shane (2006, pp.57-58) and Franco Farinelli (2003, pp.186-187), the industrial introduction
of the assembly line in the productive system of XIX century corresponds to a logic urban organization,
based on the principle of city as a machine with a hierarchical, internal and ordered location of functions.
At the beginning of the XX century, the urban growth models, such as the concentric zone by Burgess
(1925), the multiple nuclei by Mackenzie (1933) or the radiant sectors by Hoyt (1939), though very
different between them, represent the application in urban planning of the principle which subsides the
assembly line, where the single unit of labour forces corresponds to the single function within the massproduction line (Marazzi 1994, p.17).
The transition from the fordist city of production to the keynesian city of consuming (Farinelli 2003, p.188)
led to the affirmation of a decentralized, post-modern urban model, which culminated in the 90s with the
proliferation of sprawl (Shane 2006, p.58) and the consequent enormous growth of suburbs, to make it
necessary to consume the produce of the main multinational oil industries, cars brands and wheels. The
diffusion of this model fueled the rapid decompression of urban industrial cities and the decentralization of
both mass production and mass consumption (Rogner & Schumacher 2001 cited in Shane 2006, p.58). To
shortly conclude this excursus which showed the peculiar correspondence between economic growth models
and urban ones, it is necessary to focus our attention on the present model, which has appeared between the
70s and 80s, identified as the informational city model, where that city is no longer functionally located in a
national or regional context, but on a worldwide scale, and where production is no longer represented by
material goods, but by information. These dynamics disjoint every local structures, not only spatially but also
socially speaking (Farinelli 2003, pp.190-191).
Being those dynamics unpredictable and non-comprehensible within a rational model, it is necessary to
propose a more horizontal device capable to allow the territory to find continuous adjustments.
In this context the discipline of landscape is proposed as a valuable alternative to modernist urban planning,
since its intrinsic multi-scalar and interdisciplinary approach enable planners to use it as a model capable to
understand present urban conditions and their scale of influence.
Starting from the concept of layering, as emerged in Horizontal Metropolis perspective, landscape, with its
intrinsic capability of organizing horizontal surfaces (Allen 2001 cited in Waldheim 2006, p.37), can become a
useful and flexible instrument for redesigning post-industrial territories by intervening in the complex
relationships among open spaces, built environment, infrastructures or natural ecologies.
Thus in the USA, at the end of the 90s, Landscape Urbanism officially became an interstitial planning
discipline which operates in that domain comprised among architecture, infrastructure and natural ecologies
(Waldheim 2006, pp.38-39) to solve the problems of contemporary city-territory, as a counterpart of
modernist urban planning, which has proved to be insufficient because of its definite and little inclusive scale
of intervention. Landscape, with its ecological component, results in a potential structuring tool for the
reshaping of post-industrial territories, being capable of soothing the social and ecologic disasters caused by
de-industrialization.
After Tzonis and Lefaivres (1981) and Framptons (1983) critical regionalism, which criticized modernist
architecture and stressed the necessity to fund any intervention on a renewed sense of place (Shannon
2006, p.143), we think it indispensable to start our territorial restructuring from the analysis and valorisation
of the identities of the site, to make them the material and the horizon of the project (Marot 2003). In
Marots Sub-Urbanism theory, sites prevail on planning programs, not to lose the specific qualities of sites in
the process of adaptation to new economies and to make their landscape a reserve of public space. At the
same time, in Framptons point of view, landscape has also remedial potentials, capable of playing a critical
and compensatory role in relation to the ongoing, destructive commodifications of our man-made world
(Frampton 1994 cited in Shannon 2006, p.144).
In Eastern European territories, common aspects of socialist territorial management are easily recognizable,
mixed with territorial and urban identities drawn from their historical past. In the European panorama these
territories represent a particular, almost unique hybrid situation from which it would be interesting to start
defining smart territorial development and competitiveness based on Landscape Urbanism strategies,
valorising the enriching and diversifying cross-over between the European city model and the Socialist one.
Competitiveness, in terms of territorial, economic and social cohesion, allows us to measure territorial health
and its role within the Horizontal Metropolis.
In the last decades, resilience approach examined and evaluated territorial health only when exceptional
events occurred (floods, climate changes, droughts, earthquakes etc.) to measure the ability of a system and its
constituents in anticipating, absorbing, adapting or successfully recovering from negative effects (IPCC 2012).
In our opinion, territorial restructuring of XXI century has to evaluate territorial health in a temporal
continuity rather than on specific external shocks, by measuring the internal stability of the system due to the
achievement of an internal balance, however maintained by continuous auto-regulatory adjustments.

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For this reason it is worthwhile borrow from biology the concept of Homeostasis, which describes the
necessary series of actions for an organism to search its own internal stability, by little adjustments, which can
grant both its health and integrity. Thus balance is not only the right measure in quantitative terms but also
the right mixture of qualities (Mumford, 1974).
Since the process of reconversion of industrial brownfields consists of various phases of intervention, we
think it is now appropriate to propose our Landscape cycles as an instrument to create multi-scalar positive
relationships, new multi-functional landscapes for territorial health monitoring and new sustainable business
plans generated by permanent or temporary land uses, differently attractive for stakeholders. To conclude
with Mumford, the economic model for business plans is not that of quantitative pursuit of power but that
of plenitude, based on qualitative abundance, variety and diversity (Mumford 1974).
Landscape cycles as space-time articulators
The notion of time has been at the centre of philosophical debate since classical period. Three are the
principal attitudes as regards the representation of time in the arc of history. The first, dating back to the
Greek and Roman civilizations, proposes time as a circular notion which considers the Universe as a
continuous, eternal making and unmaking. Time becomes a rhythmic succession of the phases of nature.
Every instant is unique but not unrepeatable. The second conception comes from monotheist religions which
conceived time as a linear notion with its beginning and its definitive ending, so that every instant is unique
and unrepeatable. Thirdly, time is conceived as a spiral notion, where phases are in progress and
consequently different from the preceding ones. The time representation as a spiral, which links the idea of
uniqueness together with that of cyclicality, allows us to introduce that three-dimensional dynamism and the
importance for each occurrence of the spatial bond with the preceding situation. We can think of this spatialtemporal model as representative of our Landscape cycles. Some possible strategies of intervention can be
now stressed as drawn from study cases realized or not in European context, funding their conception in a
temporal spiral evolution.
Strategy 1: Memory for ecological stabilization
The Rhine-Ruhr region is historically the most important territory in Germany for its economic
achievements. In particular Northern Ruhr represented the European centre of steel and coal industries. At
the end of the 80s the de-industrialization of the area left a high ecologically damaged territory, meanwhile
the cities were reconverted into specialized nodes for high-tech, finance, insurance and communications.
In the 90s, an integrated perfectly coordinated program at a regional scale for the reconversion of
brownfields reinforced the ecological corridor along the Emscher river and its affluents through the
constitution of a park (Emscher Landscape Park), making the corridor the physical bond for 17 important
regional centers [fig.10].

[fig.10]
Overview
of
Emscher
Landscape
Park,
Ruhr
metropolis,
http://www.emscherkunst.de/riverscape-emscher/emscher-landscape-park.html?L=1

Germany,

from

The reshaping strategies were identified into two different concepts: industrial memory and ecological
stabilization.
One of the most interesting project is Duisburg-Nord Park realized by Latz & Partners. Those landscape
architects wished to find an answer to this question: do industrial cultural landscapes have to be restored by
means of a natural romantic approach or do they have to accept their present physical qualities, with their
damages too, to maintain their historical features and interpret them with a new syntax (Latz 2011, p.150)?

362

Latzs position is very obvious: revitalizing a damaged industrial area by redefining and connecting existing
industrial patterns. So the industrial memory of this site was enhanced by:
- symbolic valorization of the previous manufactured produce, by using the principal open space as a memory
of steel production [fig.11]
- innovative recycling of the existing industrial structures, with no added new constructions, addressed to
leisure and sports activities (diving silos, climbing chimneys etc.)
- radical treatment of 230 hectares of open spaces.
In particular Latz realized an ecological stabilization of contaminated open spaces avoiding a total
reclamation of the huge areas through layers of clay, not only because of the high costs, but to give their own
values to the unique biodiversities and typical landscapes generated by the contamination of steel productive
lines. If these polluted areas cannot foresee a risky permanent presence of human activities, they can be used
for soft activities such as cycling and walking. Meanwhile, these areas will be submitted to a light cleaning up
by a slight gas diffusion over the course of several years with a slow reduction of contamination, thus
applying a sort of landscape cycle [fig.12].

[fig.11-12] Duisburg Nord Landscape Park, Ruhr metropolis, Germany, Latz & Partners Architects, from
http://www.latzundpartner.de/fr/projekte/postindustrielle-landschaften/landschaftspark-duisburg-nord-de/

Strategy 2: Evolving carpets

Florian Beigel Architects studied the Halle-Leipzig-Dresden area in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany after its deindustrialization and closure of its opencast mining for brown coal. The uncertainty of the economic
development which characterises our times induced those architects to foresee temporary activities for initial,
intermediate and long-term programs based on the concept of spatial-temporal cycles. So the site has been
rethought as a series of activities fields or carpets potentially evolving in time and capable of adapting to
different kind of future urban growths. These carpets may remain gardens but they were planned and sized in
order to admit different functional programs (housing, retail, services, industries, etc.) [fig.13-14].

[fig.13-14] Regeneration Design of the Brikettfactory Witznitz, Borna, Germany, Architecture Research Unit (Florian
Beigel + Philip Christou), from http://aru.londonmet.ac.uk/works/witznitz/

Strategy 3: Pre-landscape
In 1995 Dominique Perrault at Caen experimented a new approach for the reconversion of Unimetal steel
production site along the Orle river. Since a possible future development for its dimension and its location is
possible but not yet foreseen, Perrault proposes a pre-landscape strategy that is the preparation of the
territory for a possible future development by creating a green infrastructural backbone which connects both
the river banks with the city core, and the rural suburbs with the site itself. There a new grid of green axes will
guide the future urbanization process [fig.15-16].

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[fig.15-16] Recoversion of Unimetal site, Caen, France, Dominique Perrault

http://www.perraultarchitecte.com/fr/projets/2521-reamenagement_du_site_unimetal.html

Architecture,

from

Even Michel Desvigne, to recover the industrial le Seguin area in Paris, proposes a prefiguration garden, a
temporary cheap intervention where future green infrastructures and public spaces are clearly implanted to
convey a temporary use as a park on the part of the citizens, while metabolizing the new open spaces in their
daily life and waiting for the future urban growth [fig.17-18].

[fig.17-18] Seguin Island Gardens, Paris, France, Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, from http://www.developpementdurable.gouv.fr/Je-crois-a-la-puissance-de-la.html

Strategy 4: Agricultural metaphor

On his part, Michel Desvigne planned the reconversion of the Confluence in Lyon through a system of
dispersed and mobile parks which, in their lifetime, can admit different programs. In the foreseen 30 years
for urban transformation of the area, every lot is to be part of the park (temporary or long term) so to make
up a sort of moving map, like that of crop rotation (Desvigne 2001 cited in Shannon 2006, p.156). In
addition, the project reckons on the evolution of a two-speed landscape system which integrates temporary
elements for a sudden improvement of public spaces perception (meadows of flowers, tree nurseries, etc.)
with perennial elements such as lines and clusters of trees, infrastructures and buildings, defining the
projected spatial configuration [fig.19-20].

364

[fig.19-20] Lyon Confluence dispersed parks, Lyon, France, Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, from
http://www.projetsdepaysage.fr/analyse_interpretative_du_discours_du_landscape_urbanism_et_impact_sur_le_develop
pement_des_pratiques_des_paysagistes_dans_le_contexte_francais

Conclusion
The paper first examined the historical process of transition from a socialist territorial planning to a global
free market land use management in Central-Eastern European territories when two key-elements, such as
private property and de-industrialization, sudden made their apparition after the fall of the Iron Curtain. New
economic dynamics generated by this transition induce planners to find strategies for a cohesive developing
which can valorize both the identity of the European city model and of the Socialist one. In the second
part of the paper, we tried to prove the importance of industrial brownfields in the context of a territorial
restructuring of the Horizontal Metropolis conceived as a layered structure. Thus, brownfields have become
fundamental areas to be reshaped by means of innovative strategies able to bring benefits to the community,
while preserving the historical and cultural identity of the site. Since many of the dismissed sites have sudden
been transformed through a site based approach into shopping malls and hypermarkets, the research wishes
to think of a strategic action plan based on a wide area approach and on cohesive and cooperative policies as
suggested by European Union able to refigure the territorial competitiveness of the inter-regional context.
In the third part, we chose a macro-region with no administrative borders but by means of geographic,
economic and territorial criteria of similarity identified in the Danube region. Then the argument of the
research was restricted to an inter-regional agglomeration of five capital cities in Central-Eastern Europe
(Bratislava, Budapest, Ljubljana, Prague and Wien) where the concepts of metropolisation and
polycentricity have been enhanced to describe the present dynamics of European Horizontal Metropolis.
The comparative analysis of the five capital cities will enable us to find potential mutual relations among them
that could create a basis on which a strategic transnational planning for brownfields reconversion will be
drawn up. In the fourth paragraph, the research looks through historical productive and economic models
while proving a correspondence with parallel urban growth models until our days.
Since the dynamics of informational city result to be unpredictable and non-comprehensible within a
rational model, landscape represents for us a more horizontal device capable to allow the territory to find
continuous adjustments thanks to its multi-scalar and interdisciplinary nature. As critical regionalism and
then Landscape Urbanism propose, landscape is a resistant medium to the homogenization of territories,
thus site represents the material and the horizon of the project for territorial restructuring. In our research,
the unique hybrid identity of post-socialist territories is the potential key-element from which to start for a
smart territorial development which has to reach a homeostatic balance to protect health and integrity of
territories themselves.
So we think that our landscape cycles may become those auto-regulatory actions to grant an internal stability
of the territories in question.
In the fifth paragraph, the conception of time as a spiral, which includes progress and cyclicality, is assumed
as the spatial-temporal model on which our landscape cycles fund their temporary or permanent strategies
when reshaping brownfields. To this purpose, four landscape cycles strategies have been presented at the
end of the paper.
After these premises, with the introduction of landscape cycles, the major challenge of the research will be
that of defining possible development scenarios of transnational reconversion of industrial brownfield

365

networks in the polycentric territory of Central-Eastern Europe along the Danube, always preserving
territorial identity to face their adaptation to new economies.
The scientificity of our future scenarios formulation can be supported by Vigan (2011) when asserting that
planning practice is to be considered a cognitive activity and for this reason knowledge producer and not
only a mere practical collection of solutions for a series of problems since the operation for formulating
future scenarios is a project process of potential situations based on different hypothesis and the evaluation
of the results from different experiences gives sense to knowledge.
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367

Understanding the city as home-made: mapping 2nd and 3rd

generation perspectives on urban consolidation in fragmented urban
dwelling landscapes in Guayaquil, Ecuador
Olga Peek [Session 2: issues and challenges of a new urban ecology]

Teaching assistant Universidad de Guayaquil | PhD Candidate Arenberg doctoral school KU Leuven (2015-2019)
Supervisor: Viviana dAuria Assistant Professor in International Urbanism, OSA research group
Expected thesis defence: January 2019
olgapeek@gmail.com

Introduction
Stemming from a concern for the growing inequality in Latin American cities (UN Habitat, 2014) in which
social inequality is strongly linked with access to housing for young urban dwellers and the lack thereof
(Rolnik, 2014), this paper reflects upon new emerging housing inequality trends vis--vis urbanization and
urban consolidation in the city of Guayaquil and in the Latin American context more general. The study
interrogates into the mismatch between two narratives of urbanism that are contradictory in its nature and
produce and reproduce fragmented urban conditions in contemporary urban dwelling landscapes within a
more and more social exclusionary setting. This is particularly true for Guayaquil, where the gini factor is on
the rise and the highest of the country and where, despite national declining poverty trends, the urban
poverty rate is augmenting (INEC, 2013).
The first narrative of urban development responds to forms of bottom-up city-making in which selforganized settlements incrementally consolidate over various decades through mutual and individual efforts
in the long process of home and neighbourhood improvement. In the majority of Latin American cities,
former urban peripheries (mainly established between the 1960s - 1980s) have altered into continuous urban
tissues that are to a large extent integrated into inner city districts comprising high densities and
accommodating major parts of the urban population. Limits to urban consolidation through bottom-up city
making have also been identified (Jimnez & Cruz Sols, 2012). Space is becoming an increasingly limited
resource, likewise the competition over use of space is intensifying in which for new generations access to
adequate accommodation and finding a place of their own within the city is becoming extremely challenging
(Hordijk & dAuria, 2014; Peek, 2015).
Much in contrast with the gradual consolidation of the urban realm, current modes of city production
radically shifted in the direction of top-down housing delivery now following a demand-led approach
inscribed in neo-liberal reforms (Moser & Stein, 2014). Since the 1990s private developers became
increasingly involved in the citys housing delivery giving rise to an array of large-scale residential programmes
that have drastically reshaped urban edges and dwelling landscapes across various Latin American cities
(Harner et al., 2009; Klink & Denaldi, 2014)1. Though the formal housing supply may have expanded
significantly, mass-housing schemes fail to provide housing in a sustainable and equitable way because of
their socio-economic constraints as well as in the physical boundaries and lacking proximity to urban
opportunities (Monkkonen, 2011).
Urban consolidation through bottom-up city-making and top-down urban planning have prevailed in the
Latin American city at all times (Holston, 2008). Yet, the coexistence of both forms is currently unbalanced,
engendering urban development mainly from above through private entrepreneurship (Rolnik, 1999; Strauch
et al., 2015). Borders between settlements and urban spaces are hardening due the shifting land markets and
changing land appropriations by low-income groups (Ward, 2009). As a result, the increasing duality in the
city-territory has profound implications for the functioning of the city in terms of its urban form and social
justice, disconnecting spaces and people.
The fragmented urban dwelling landscape of Guayaquil
Ecuadors main port and largest city Guayaquil is an exemplary site in which the mismatch between topdown and bottom-up city-making unfolds. Guayaquil is one of these cities appreciated as a site for
progressive city-making, as it has been the key arena for longitudinal studies showcasing the potential of
informal housing as a basic asset that allowed the urban poor to accumulate other assets over time (Moser,
1982; Moser, 2010). However, in its recent transformations, the city still fails to recognize incremental modes
of urban consolidation by privileging top-down mass-housing delivery. Moreover, forced displacement and
resettlement policies of the past years epitomise a definite abandonment of bottom-up approaches in the
citys coproduction, further augmenting the unequal urban landscape.

First in Chile after extending to other countries. Mexico is a well-know example of radical urban transformations marked by exurbia
developments that set off North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992. (Harner et al. 2009)

368

The last generation of forced housing resettlement policies handled by the Ecuadorian government is
concretized in the waterfront redevelopment project Guayaquil Ecolgico (2010-present). Marked by the term
ecological, the project aims to quantitatively increase the green area per inhabitant to reach international
indicated standards (WHO, 2010) by the construction of a 40-kilometer-long linear park. It involves forced
relocation targeting vulnerable communities who have lived in the estuarine landscape for over 3 to 5 decades
to the government housing project Socio Vivienda II, located in the remote urban periphery. Placing great
emphasis on city beautification, a common phenomenon in Guayaquil (Alln, 2011), the Guayaquil Ecolgico
project exemplifies how design that lacks an integrated approach to urban transformation fails to respect the
social-cultural dynamics of a site.
Multi-dimensional reading of housing projects as a tool for understanding altering urbanisms
Within the setting of Buen Vivir2 ecological mega-projects, this paper examines the city territorys dual
conditions and spatial injustice such as displacement pondering to what extent the question of
horizontality and fragmentation can be turned into one of inclusion and qualitative densification. It does so
through the multi-dimensional reading of two dwelling environments, (i) The dense urban tissues under
eviction in the conflicting estuarine landscape of the city district Suburbio Oeste and (ii) the government
relocation housing project Socio Vivienda II. The paper is grounded in the findings of preliminary fieldwork
in the first year of PhD research.
Understanding the city as home-made as an inverted exercise of urbanism (Sez et al., 2010), the study is
framed as inductive research and starts from the home space (Andersen & Sollien, 2012). Home space is grounded
in a multi-disciplinary perspective of city-making from the small to the large scale, that allows us to reflect
upon broader processes of urban consolidation and new emerging urbanisms through the eyes of the
majority of city makers (dAuria, 2013; Jenkins, 2013).
Ruptures, juxtapositions and interlinkages in the two tissue samples are reviewed on the micro and meso scale
that will allow for developing a more profound understanding of the dual forms of urbanism and the ways in
which social and physical borders are shaped through top-down and bottom-up dwelling practices vis--vis
the extent in which cross-sectional relations in the city can still coexist in these margins. The building and
rebuilding of livelihoods of displaced and dispersed extended families is documented in the two tissues,
representative for bottom-up and top-down narratives of urbanism. As interplay of spatial and social realities,
the in-depth cases expose how space is both creatively used and contested by young urban dwellers. The final
aim of this paper is to critically reflect upon the mismatches that prevail in contemporary urban development.
In the search for alternatives to current horizontal and fragmented city development that lack an integrated
approach, new insights on emerging trends and urbanisms serve as a basis for other possible urban scenarios
of qualitative densification and incremental growth (by means of both housing and public space provision).
Looking beyond mono-dimensional modes of city-making, the study instead urges the cultivation of a variety
of choices (Hamdi, 2008) that foster inclusive urban transformations and a more just city.
Two narratives of urbanism in Guayaquil
In the following section two narratives of urbanism portray the way in which the larger parts of the city of
Guayaquil are shaped. The two sites, Suburbio Oeste and Socio Vivienda are embedded within these larger
areas. As snapshots of key modes of city-making they position the two episodes in the timeline of urban
consolidation. This diachronic reading reflects upon spatial and social configurations of each narrative
through the eyes of different generations of city makers.

[Fig.1] Expansion of the metropolitan area of Guayaquil. Source: elaborated by the author.
The first suburbs (1960s-1980s): Suburbio Oeste
The Ecuadorian government under president Rafael Correa (2007-present) introduced La Revolucin Urbana (Urban Revolution) as a
component of La Revolucin Ciudadana (Citizens Revolution) with the ambition to gradually achieve the socialist reconstruction of
Ecuadorian society. These ambitions are formulated in the national plan of Buen Vivir, Good Living (SENPLADES, 2013).

369

Based in a fragile estuarine landscape, Guayaquils urban area originally expanded on the municipal
swamplands west of the city where pioneer urban dwellers, attempting to escape from overcrowded rooms
(conventillos) in the city centre, settled in search for a home of ones own (Moser, 2010). As a process of
spontaneous city-making, urban fabric was built up gradually by different generations and subsequently given
structured and serviced in the course of a long process of collective action and popular struggles. Since the
1960s, the city district Suburbio Oeste as the citys first suburb transformed almost unrecognizably, bamboo
homes on stilts and catwalks progressively transformed into a highly dense urban tissue, now
accommodating three to four generations and a total population close to half a million people (INEC, 2010).
This appearance, clearly visible in the transformation of the built environment from water-based to asphaltbased, likewise changed in the peoples mind-set, as the residents express son 40 aos, no somos invasores (it
has been 40 years, we are not invaders). Younger generations are born in the neighbourhood and only now
the stories of invasion of their grandparents and their parents who where children when they came to the
neighbourhood.
As in many other Latin American cities, extended families often share their home space (Jimnez, 2014; Ward et
al., 2015) making spatial arrangement by virtue of home appropriations, subdivisions and extensions in order
to accommodate succeeding generations. In Guayaquil many 2nd generations were yet fortunate to acquire
plots nearby their parents and realized the dream of becoming a homeowner. As a result extended families
frequently live in the same street. However, new generations are more likely to remain home-sharers. Space is
a non-renewable resource and hence limited, meaning that accessing a proper dwelling space in the traditional
layout is currently a mayor challenge for young urban dwellers.
Most commonly pioneer dwellers have remained living in these innerburbs, as well as many of their
offspring (Ward et al., 2015). Within the urban fabric, shaped through the gradual densification and
transformation of built and open spaces (in this case for over almost half a century), access to and exclusion
from certain urban opportunities have always coexisted in a unique way (De Meulder & Heynen, 2006).
Moreover, the exercise of bottom-up city making has generated an array of self-built dwelling schemes, block
typologies and larger tissue types that offer certain flexibility and hold openings in which opportunities for
employment and housing can subsist.

[Fig.2] From water to asphalt: urban consolidation in Guayaquil. Left: Suburbio Oeste in early 1970s. Source: Patrick
Crooke in Moser (2010). Right: Suburbio Oeste in 2015. Source: elaborated by the author.
New urban peripheries (1997-present) and Socio Vivienda (2010-present)
The narrative of urbanism of top-down housing provision in Guayaquil is characterized by a strong partaking
of public-private interests. The term urbanizacin is generally understood as the work of a private developer
who builds a housing project from scratch, and starts from a clean slate of land to develop engineering work
that ends with the construction of dwelling units ready-made for habitation.
After the turning point 1997, when El Nio impacted the country triggering migration and raising concerns
and urgency for shelter, the city expanded extensively through housing schemes delivered from above. A
reform made it possible for the municipality to initiate large-scale expropriation and procedures for land
legalization within the formal housing provision processes. By the turn of the century the first municipal mass
housing scheme Mucho Lote I (2002-2005) appeared in the fashion of sites and services (lotes con servicios),
whereas the housing rather than self-built or assisted, was sold by private developers. Following the path of
neo-liberal arrangements, variations of municipal-led lotes con servicios where implemented in northern
Guayaquil (Mucho Lote II 2010, Mi Lote, 2011) (Delgado, 2009). Since 2009 ministry-led mass housing
programmes reappeared, including the latest trend of forced housing resettlement bringing eviction are back
on the urban agenda.

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Since 2009 ministry-led mass housing programmes reappeared, including the latest trend of forced housing
resettlement bringing eviction are back on the urban agenda, with Socio Vivienda II as an exemplary case. To
prepare the ground for the construction of Socio Vivienda II, a large area of woodlands was deforested and
part of the land was acquired through buy-outs. Another 240 hectares for the construction of Socio
Vivienda I and II was purchased by MIDUVI in a controversial procurement from ISSFA3, that caused
uproar amongst the cooperative organization Francisco Jcome who claimed to be the owners. The conflict
over the territory in this self-evident example of land grabbing continues, making the present owner unclear.
For the residents in Socio Vivienda II, living on top of this land mediation struggle, this could have serious
consequences for title regulation of the house they are paying for and that they got in return for a home with
individual property title.
These trends have had major impact on the citys form and functioning, and various parallel processes (e.g.
people moving to gated communities, displacements triggered by eviction and resettlement) have hardened
the boundaries between different spaces in the city. The spaces that are produced through the top-down
delivery of housing are initially homogeneous spaces and are in much contrast at what the city stands for,
namely variety and a density of differences, people, spaces and activities (Loeckx & Shannon, 2004).
Furthermore the far locations in newly formed peripheries require a larger effort for providing the entire
infrastructure needed. While in Ecuadors official discourse, this practice is praised as the successful citymaking that ensures a quality of living (SENPLADES, 2013). These expectations did not always held.
In recent developments the top-down spaces are increasingly topic for contestation from below, questioning
the quality of such normative spaces as well as the inclusion and exclusion of its inhabitants in decision
making processes as well as their direct participation in space (El Universo, 2015).
Spaces of interaction, spaces of fragmentation
As has been mentioned previous, spaces of interactions and fragmentation have always coexisted in the cityterritory (Holston, 2008). Likewise inclusions and exclusions are conjointly embedded within smaller urban
fabrics in which tissues that are built-up over various decades and generations are generally more persistent
than recently formed normative ones (De Meulder & Heynen, 2006).
Interpretations of profound divisions within the contemporary city-territory are articulated in a synchronic
reading of two contradictory dwelling practices. Diachronic and synchronic readings based upon on-site
fieldwork, together allow for a grounded critical reflection upon complex urban issues over time and in time
(Shannon & Gosseye, 2009). As such, a multi-scalar reading shows how peoples interaction with space is
different in informal and formal dwelling practices (Cerise et al., 2010). Suburbio Oeste emerged from selfconstructed tissues that gradually upgraded and integrated into the city. Socio Vivienda is representative of
the state-model of recent forced housing resettlement policies in which the user afterwards appropriates the
ready-made structure. In-depth case studies4 express the impact on the ground that the latest narrative of
urban development is bringing forth in the estuarine living space of Guayaquil in which social injustice occurs
through displacement.
Displaced families
Returning to the initial point, social inequality in Guayaquil unfolds in the concretization of the currently
being implemented project Guayaquil Ecolgico involving forced relocation of families from Suburbio Oeste to
Socio Vivienda II. Despite important goals such as the creation of public space and green areas for the city,
alternatives offered from above through re-development of Guayaquils waterfront radically change the
inhabited estuarine landscape. This leaded to different forms of popular resistance as well as various patterns
of direct and indirect displacement: intrinsic components of urban mega-project development (Gellert &
Lynch, 2003). As organized communities, most families remained living in their home in Suburbio Oeste
resisting the mega-project. On other occasions original homes were demolished and over 3000 families were
relocated in the housing programme Socio Vivienda II between December 2013 and May 2014 (MIDUVI,
2013). The threat for eviction could furthermore be a topic of conflict within multi-generational households
when different home sharers did not agree on a common solution: staying or leaving. As a consequence part
of the extended family refused to leave and stayed behind, other family members left to Socio Vivienda II,
mostly commonly younger generations. Furthermore, already within a year after the first families were
relocated, people abandoned the state-model houses most frequently returning to the suburbios. In the
forerunner Socio Vivienda I built in 2010, the same trend occurred shown in the 200 vacant buildings (7%)
and 400 rented out dwelling units (14%) (El Universo, 2015).

The reclaim for the lost land of the cooperation Francisco Jcome was backed by the newspaper Diario Expreso, recognizing several
institutional and juridical failures in the purchase. Tierras del plan Socio Vivienda en disputa legal. 20 de marzo de 2011.
4 The in-depth case studies are based upon various interviews and site visits in and build furthermore upon observations made during the
summer school Designing Inclusion: Coproducing ecological urbanism for inclusive housing transformation (July 2015)
3

371

The range of strategies that people living under the threat of eviction develop is voiced in their home space. The
cases reveal how the displaced adapt differently to their new dwelling environment and how they maintain
distinct relations with their previous home environment. Furthermore, the non-displaced who remained
living in Suburbio Oeste equally interact differently with their living environment after the ruptures of
eviction. The following section presents main research findings of the ways in which people appropriate or
contest space is across scales (micro, meso towards macro level). These outcomes inform us on new
emerging urbanisms and gives insight in how the larger city is structured.
Micro scale: the home and the family
The first level of study analyses the direct home space referring to the house and the family and how they
interrelate (Andersen & Sollien, 2012). As a self-organized practice of city making densification of the
population and the tissue occurred in an incremental manner in Suburbio Oeste. In the range of 3 to 5
decades people resourcefully demonstrated the competence of accommodating themselves. Families were
initially concerned with the gradual infill of their solar above the water on which incipient stilted bamboo
homes arose. Subsequently dwellings gradually consolidated and inhabited waterscapes changed into an urban
landscape of stone and asphalt.
Within a shifting border, an interplay between land and water, many children of pioneer dwellers successfully
gained access to a piece of land (or water) and realized the dream of obtaining the home of ones own. After
the 1980s this became more challenging considering the equally shifting spatial and political realities. Hence
younger generations often sought a living quarter within their parents home. Their new struggle for
independence is pronounced in the transformations of homes from single-family to multi-family ones. To
keep up with the new demand for a multitude of home-sharers independent living spaces are detached from
the pioneer homes through adding individual entrances and external staircases. Limited by spatial and socioeconomic realities, not all young urban dwellers are equally successful in housing themselves. Home sharing is
an increasingly common phenomenon in which 2nd and 3rd generations now live in rooms, or share rooms
with other members of the family (see fig. 3). Appropriations made by families in the dwelling environment
were abruptly interfered by the notification of forced resettlement. The uncertainty of peoples dwelling
situation (to be evicted or not to be evicted) has frozen all kind of activities in the home improvement
process for almost two years now.
Furthermore, whereas younger generations often lived in more precarious situations than their parents (being
a home-sharer instead of homeowner, living in a room), among the displaced were many 2nd and 3rd
generation dwellers. The dislocation was also more directly contested by older generations, often families
stayed but one or more younger members of the household left to Socio Vivienda II. The displaced who
exchanged their dwelling space (either the room in the parents home to fully built-out homes) in the
estuarine landscape for a 39-square-meter home in the government relocation-housing programme have
adapted to their new environment in many distinctive ways. These differences become evident in the way in
which they have made spatial adjustments in the home space (see fig. 4). The dwelling typology of Socio
Vivienda as an imposed model of low-rise back-to-back row housing is both a negotiated and contested
model. Many users might have escaped an overcrowded room in the suburbios with the expectation to
acquire a proper home (as Carlos did see fig. 3)5, the very small layout of the dwelling in Socio Vivienda and
average household sizes that lie above 5 persons per dwelling make that users remain living in similar
conditions, and often worse in terms of overpopulation. Hence Socio Vivienda has a considerable high
density of population within a low-density low-rise setting. Authorities originally strictly prohibited any form
of transformation to the dwelling that above that hardly allows expansion in terms of its layout, reduced plot
size and the bad quality of its physical structure. Transformations of course occurred anyhow, as a
consequence of need for more room (on occasion people removed the whole front faade to extent 1.8
meters into the street), security, privacy, intimacy, productive and economic activities and so forth.

5 Nevertheless, land titles are still not given out. Accordingly to the Ministry of housing, and urban development, they will be in 5 years,
when users finish paying their monthly contribution of 15USD. See section new urban peripheries.

372

[Fig.3] Home space of Carlos (25). Carlos lived in Socio Vivienda for 8 months with his girlfriend. He then came back to
continue to share a room with his parents and sisters, because the suburbio is where his friends are and where he grew up.
Source: elaborated by the author.

[Fig.4] Appropriations in home space. Left: Shared patio of Freddy (35) and Melissa (32). Freddy and Melissa came to
Socio Vivienda together with Melissas two sisters, their aunt and various friends who used to live in the same street. In
Socio Vivienda they were all relocated in the same block. Their dad and grandfather still live in the suburbios in front of
where they used to live. Freddy and Melissa share the patio (as originally planned in the state-housing model) with sister
Candy who lives at the back. Source: elaborated by the author. Right: The house of don Felix (48) and doa Lucia (46).
Felix and Lucia lived on the waterfront in fully constructed two-storey home. One of their three children came to live
with them in Socio Vivienda. Their daughter is now renting a place in northern Guayaquil with her husband and newborn child and their son moved in with his grandmother who lives in front of Felix and Lucias original home in the
suburbios. Lucia does not leave the house much and does not know her neighbours well. Felix therefor closed the patio
that used to be shared. Source: elaborated by the author.

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Meso scale: streets and public space

Streets are increasingly recognized as drivers for urban transformation (UN Habitat, 2013). As such, the street
is understood as both a connecting element and a social fabric. In Suburbio Oeste the street as an extension
of the home is used for a wide range of activities and play a significant role in community activities
representing strong social cohesive networks as people express Aqui todos somos familia, a space
constructed over various decades. For many displaced families, who gave up their home in the suburbio,
these spaces keep playing a significant role, hence many often return. The neighbourhood, for many of the
displaced, continues to have a high symbolical value, as a place where they grew up, a place where they
established social relations and networks, a place for work opportunities and an array of other activities (see
fig. 5). In Socio Vivienda as an imposed structure, qualitative density in terms of a variety of people, spaces
and activities is severely lacking in an initial phase. Though, people themselves appropriate and transform
space in order to create this varieties, differences and opportunities (see fig. 6).

[Fig.5] Public space in Suburbio Oeste: streets and water. Source: elaborated by the author.

[Fig.6] Public space in Socio Vivienda and initial appropriations by its users. Source: elaborated by the author.

Conclusion
Densification and optimal use of existing housing stock are currently highlighted as one of the most urgent
emergent challenges for sustainable urban development and inclusiveness of cities (Ward et al, 2015; Garland,
2015). Yet, opportunities that lie within the existing urban tissue are rarely truly benefitted. As was put
forward at the beginning of this paper, the question of the extent in which horizontality and fragmentation
can be turned into one of inclusion and qualitative densification hence matters. The exemplary sites in
Guayaquil showed the impact on the ground as a result of the still lacking integrated approaches to complex
urban issues, resulting in displacement. Urban fabric in the Suburbio Oeste gradually consolidated by
different generations in the exercise of bottom-up city making and continues to have an important role
symbolically (as a place where people grew up) and physically (as a place that absorbs new generations).
Suburbios tissue consists of a variety of spaces where different scenarios for incremental growth could
happen as alternative for displacement: oversized streets, the large plot variety, interior spaces, patios, vacant
buildings and plots, just to name a few in thinking about a inversed and qualitative densification. The
challenge is to what extent, within densification scenarios, incremental growth can still happen in forms that
are socially acceptable and can be negotiated. Furthermore a challenging question is how the intensive use
and the great significance of streets and public spaces as spaces of interaction can be extended to the future.
First attempts have been made and first ideas and alternative scenarios have been tested during the
international summer school Designing Inclusion: Co-producing ecological urbanism for inclusive housing

374

transformations in Guayaquil6 (July 2015) that clearly attested how design is as a powerful tool for
negotiation in contested territories (De Meulder et al. 2004). The outcomes showed that tacit forms of
representation, on-site observations, fieldwork and scenario building are powerful guide towards tangible
formulation of alternatives.
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Tracing the horizontal structure of Athens. From the horizontal

structure to the imposed rational modernization and the new claims
for a social and productive reconstruction.
Balaoura Olga
PhD Candidate at the Doctoral program in Urbanism of IUAV di Venezia in collaboration with the Department of
Urban and Regional Planning in the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).
Thesis supervisor: Paola Vigano
Date of thesis defense: June 2017
e- mail: o.balaoura@gmail.com
Although Athens cannot structurally characterized as a horizontal metropolis, is intertwined by local socio-spatial
realities that performed in the past as distinct from standard hierarchical forms, strengthening at the same time
horizontal functions, practices and relations. Despite the efforts for socio-spatial restructuring via land dispossession
and structural readjustments initiated in pre 2000 conditions to take extreme dimensions during the financial debt
crisis, Athens still embodies a hybrid horizontality embedded in the city s roots. This paper tries to reveal the historical
horizontal trajectories into the urban context and stress the need for a social and productive reconstruction developed
over horizontal relations in the crisis-ridden Athens.

Athens is an archetype of South European piecemeal urbanization. Its post- war growth was not driven
by industrial development, which specialized in building materials and housing-related consumer goods
(Economou 1987) and followed rather than led the citys growth. Industry never became the main
employer in the citys labor market and was mostly made up of traditional small-scale commodity
production units, rather than of large modern industrial plants.
One could compare the social dimension of Athens to old medieval cities in which merchants and
craftsmen, rich and poor, young and old necessarily had to live and work side by side. Such cities embodied
the advantages and disadvantages of an integration- oriented city structure.
The necessity to meet the housing requirements of large sections of the population in the city led, during
the 20th century, to an increase in the density of urban areas, creating favorable conditions for the
cohabitation and intermingling of different social groups. The relatively weak community segregation
becomes obvious by the vertical social differentiation of Athens. (Maloutas, Karadimitriou 2001). The
dominance of two housing provision systems lead to the unintended consequence of the combined
influence of a relatively non-polarized occupational structure with a long history of high social mobility
that had an ambivalent impact on both class and ethno-racial segregation. The two housing systems of selfpromotion, especially in the western working class part of the city and of Polykatoikia, horizontal high- rise
condominiums in the municipality of Athens, developed as parts of the family centered welfare model that,
as in the rest of southern Europe, has grown to depend on family solidarity networks, reducing both
residential mobility and segregation. In Greece, like the rest of Southern Europe, the weak welfare state
has rendered home ownership an important asset across all class lines, especially due to deficient provision
of social rented housing (Allen et al., 2004). Although, access to housing has been increasingly socially
differentiated, not only in terms of tenure, but also in terms of housing age, space per capita, floor, quality
and comfort, especially for immigrants, the construction system proved the accidental accumulation of a
diffused class mixture defining the city of Athens, by completely covering the urban landscape, from the
centre to the periphery.
The social and geographical diffusion of land rents, constitutive part of the states clientelist/populist
political system relied on defending both high social mobility rates and massive access to homeownership
for its reproduction, often at the expense of the free function of market mechanisms that could put them
under threat (Maloutas 2012), proved a particular functional regime of social reproduction for a very long
period. An other important parameter of the Greek reality, as well as in other SE regions, is the informal
sector, which provided buffer solutions via extended family and friends, production for self-consumption,
in which house and land ownership in urban and rural areas have play a major role increasing selfefficiency and kinship networks. Moreover, the mosaic of dispersed mixed uses composed by the massive
expansion of manufacture in small units - the relationships of production depended largely over the small
property into the means of production-, housing and other functions, the limited city planning and the
spontaneous development became characteristic features in the city s evolution.
Although Athens cannot structurally characterized as a horizontal metropolis, is intertwined by local sociospatial realities that performed in the past as distinct from standard hierarchical forms, strengthening at the
same time horizontal functions, practices and relations. The mode of socially mixed living along with the
productive structures and labour markets that were based on the performance of small and medium
enterprises, the combination of the diffused small industrialization, cultural tourism, central services and
small trade led to an increase in socioeconomic diversity and urban multifunctionality. Whereas, the local

377

production used to depend on activities related to small trade, the economic and urban policies after 90s
dictated the elimination of the manufacturing sector and the shrinkage of privately owned corporations.
Since 2010, Greece became the epicenter of the global crisis. The implementation of extreme unpopular
austerity measures lead to the deterioration of working conditions and the massive privatization of public
and social assets. Greece along with other countries of the Southern Europe is facing rather unprecedented
socio-political, economic and thus spatial transformations due to the uneven geographical development
initiated in pre-2000 conditions, to become eventually the crisis-driven dramatic socio-spatial restructuring
we face today.
Land dispossession and structural readjustments against Southern European horizontal
trajectories.
The Greek crisis became the vehicle for massive vigorous and speculative capital accumulation. The
previous neoliberal narrative is currently articulated around the debt repayment project and the promise
of a proper development as the ultimate national target. Consequently, the new notion of debt repayment
justified any kind of institutional adjustments and direct interventions of the Troika and the domestic and
international economic interests in the restructuring of the spatial process imposing at the same time a
(neo) colonial status upon the country. The debt repayment as a governing strategy of the current crisis has
been a catalyst for massive land dispossession and the exacerbation of socio- spatial- ecological problems
and conflicts. At the same time, austerity, as part of the project, has been implemented not as an irrational
policy repertoire but as a receipt to facilitate capital accumulation over labour cost with specific spatial
implications.
Since 2011, the key role to the readjusted institutional system and massive land dispossession processes
was held by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF- TAIPED). In Athens, a major part
of its cultural and economic heritage is situated in TAIPED s asset clearance program in order to comply
the fiscal targets of the adjustment programs as repayment of the national debt. TAIPED s portfolio
includes important building stock (listed buildings, ministries, public tax agencies, the general laboratory of
the state and police headquarters, buildings of great architectural and historical importance).
Yet, whatever the intensity and scale of land dispossession in the urban and rural space, the process will
take extreme dimensions especially after the latest agreement between the Greek government and ESM
which legitimizes further land privatizations and land dispossession mechanisms driven from both the
public and private debt. The new fund will include a portfolio of over 80,000 properties of the public
sector, various ministries, buildings, entire uninhabited islands, camps, churches, large areas of church
property and highways as the guarantee for the repayment of the new loan from the European Stability
Mechanism (ESM).
The above are combined with the forthcoming opening-up of auctions of private houses and shops,
increase of taxation and selling off of the rights of red mortgages from banks to third parties (to
specialized international hedge funds). The explosive mix is formed with unforeseen social and political
consequences through the dispossession of land, of public property and of small ownership alike
(Hadjimichalis 2014).
Except from land dispossession, the crisis also engulfs broader cultural transformations, which include a
fierce offense against Southern cultures and ways of life (Leontidou 2012). Adopting a quasi- Orientalist
discourse from the standpoint of neoliberalism the historical urban trajectories of Southern Europe
undergo a destructive critique in accordance to an obligatory modernization. According to the neoliberal
rationality1, Greece experiences some delayed mobility of land values when compared to the rest of
Europeand a normalization of the Greek exception is therefore required. Land and real estate must
therefore follow the path of what has happened in the rest of Europe: privatization of large public areas,
land ownership centralization and curtailing of small ownerships, an obligatory capitalist modernization
(Hadjimichalis, 2014). Thus, land is no longer perceived as a social relation in which class, social and
political dynamics define their relationship within. Under Capitalisms rentier phase and the violent
enclosures of common land, land became a fictitious commodity not used for production but speculation
and financialisation. Land dispossession along with the new phenomenon of mass decrease of land pricesland and housing lost 20-35% of their commercial value since 2008- will probably lead to further
speculation, especially in the deprived areas, that may trigger extreme gentrification processes in the future.
The financial debt crisis resulted in an increase of the abandoned productive spaces but also to major
changes with regards to uses in areas that the last years used to depend on the consumption-led model of
1

A direct analogy can be drawn here with the de-turkization of nineteenth-century Greece via orthogonal grids in cities to replace

378

urban development like leisure and tourism. At the same time the housing issue emerges as pivotal issue
for a broad range of social groups (via foreclosures or increase taxation) and public services have been
pushed away towards the periphery, contributing to the increase of vacant spaces in the city center. Along
with the massive privatization of assets and the readjusted institutional system the neoliberal agenda
triggered the last years numerous state- led attempts for the inner- city s regeneration. These attempts took
place during the imposition of a vast austerity policy, promoting a beautification of the city, at the time that
the uneven spatial developments created inequalities regarding the exclusion of the most valuable social
groups. Meanwhile, the urban planning policies dismissed various activities that were once vital for the city.
These developments have caused the decline of integrated communal participation and the corrosion of
social cohesion.
In Athens, the previous pattern of spontaneity evident in informal housing, the socially and geographically
diffused land rent, the vibrant petty economic activity and production, has to get in order under the
demand of an imposed rational development where public land, buildings, infrastructures and services are
privatized. Along with the public land, the structural readjustments are targeting especially small-scale land
ownership, private housing, family enterprises that have been proved as preconditions for the urban
development for a long period. These developments raise important questions about the future effects
over the previous pattern of the horizontal structures inherent into the urban fabric.
However, new issues and novel social claims are emerging by various social actors counter-proposing new
social formations and paradigms of horizontal practices bringing to the surface instances of creativity of
the urban grassroots like a new cooperative and solidarity economy that has been widely emerged the last
five years. Nevertheless, networks of creative social resistance that contribute to local development
through solidarity-cooperative economy among other, will remain limited without a social and productive
reconstruction prospect that has to get organized over specific spatial, socio- economical and political
preconditions taking into account the still excising horizontality deeply embedded in the city s roots.
The fact that Athens is suitable for small production, trade and other activities of the former secondary
sector can provide the spatial- productive infrastructure for the reconstruction and redevelopment of
public and private spaces. Moreover, the empty building stock permits development for low-income
population, housing, micro business, trade, crafts and manufacture.
Hence, the long continuity in the citys developmental trajectory that can be understood in terms of
evolutionary and institutional concepts could also be reinforced by the varying engagement of the state
with issues of socio-economic development and change. Not least, a new strategic approach is needed to
boost economic and social organizational practices produced by alternative spatial prototypes and social
infrastructure to create alternative sites of horizontality.
Bibliography
Allen, J., Barlow J., Leal, J., Maloutas, T., Padovani. L., 2004. Housing and welfare in Southern Europe.
Blackwell, Oxford.
Economou, D., 1987. Housing policy in post war Greece. The Greek Review of Social Research 64, 56129 (in
Greek).
Hadjimichalis, C., 2014. Crisis and land dispossession in Greece as part of the global land fever, City, 18:4-5,
502-508.
Hudson, M., 2010. The Transition from Industrial Capitalism to a Financialized Bubble Economy. Working
paper, Levy Economics Institute 627.
Leontidou, L ., 2012. The reconstruction of the European South in post-colonial Europe: from class conflict
to cultural identities in Afouxenidis, A., ed Inequality in the Period of the Crisis: Theoretical and Empirical
Investigations Propobos, Athens 2542 (in Greek).
Leontidou, L., 2013. Mediterranean cultural identities seen through the Western gaze: shifting geographical
imaginations of Athens, New Geographies 5 111122.
Maloutas, T., Karadimitriou, N., 2001. Vertical Social Differentiation in Athens: Alternative or Complement to
Community Segregation? , International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 25, Is. 4.
Maloutas, T., 2012, Residential segregation in Comparative perspective, making sense of Contextual diversity,
Cities and society, Ashgate Publishing Company, p.27.

379

A Neighborhood Welfare: the example of Case di Quartiere in Turin

Simone Devoti
Urbanism Department - IUAV Venice
Supervisor: Sampieri A., Politecnico di Torino
Expected thesis defence: April, 2016
simone.devoti@gmail.com
The increasing aporia of the welfare state and the contraction of individual capability to produce wellbeing, have moved
people toward cooperative and inclusive practices: sharing forms that offer an opportunity to implement open and
protean communities where kinship and neighbourhood connect individuals. A chance for groups and individuals to
interact in collective practices according to their sensibilities, propensities and interests. A complexity and variety of forms
that can hardly be inscribed in traditional categories frequently used to describe the city. Such examples, widely observed
by several researches, shape intermediate spaces in which the relationship between private, public and collective is
continuously negotiated. It is not really a third sphere but rather a new way to promote a local governance where the
welfare and the wellbeing are mixed and looked for together. Experiences where local resources suggest the path to
realize a new social and spatial organization. This paper would suggest the relevance of these social organizations within
same specific forms that have rooted in several European cities. In Turin, actually, they have taken place in the Case di
Quartiere.
.

Shared forms of welfare. An emerging phenomenon between innovation and tradition

Nowadays, we can see a changing settlement of value assigned to urban quality. A mix of old needs,
coming from the second part of last century (safety, individual independence etc.), and new attentions
(sustainability, ecology etc.) that have changed the social requirements. The self-consciousness, selfdetermination, self-realization process itself (Habermas, 1987) would seem to move forward concertative
actions more and more (Bobbio L., 2003). Furthermore, several hexogen features have changed the social
organization on which the welfare state was based on: the process of globalization, the financialisation of the
economy, the aging of the population. This changed situation has been moved the production of healthcare
and the looking for wellbeing toward cooperative and inclusive practices. Already at the end of the last
century, Andersen (1999) emphasized the co-responsibility of public and private spheres in the production of
wealth. However, the regimes that he had identified were based mainly on state intervention, family and free
market opportunities; the influence of the third sector1 did not have the same relevance. Now we are seeing
a more comprehensive changing direction in the welfare arrangement. Indeed the protean and more complex
support demand, mixed with the shifting settlement of social organization, opens to light, informal and
shared actions. Experimentation that in several countries offers proximity services and helps in creation of
narrow communities leaning on local resources (Bagnasco A., 2003).
Several cities in Europe host an increasing number of such experiences that leave, on the urban
ground, signs, more or less evident, of changing habits in using the space: a constellation of sharing
experiences, sometime informal, rarely organized in an urban network, closely related to territory and its
inhabitants. Overall, they are tests of new land uses, or better reuses that range from cohousing to coworking, to new shared mobility forms, to auto production spaces, to new loisir forms and collective
purchasing groups [fig.1]. They are a multiplicity of creative reactions to contemporary development that
promotes alternative governance settlements: new micro-economies that weave underground cultures and
traditional crafts2; cultural and educational activities to raise awareness of social responsibility and
environmental protection3; anti urban practices of appropriation, occupation and self-production4; partial and

The associations, the voluntary, the non-profit entrepreneurship

There are many examples of this new production practices based on the interaction and interweaving of productive
with the territory: in Bruxelles (Micro March) or in Eindhoven (C Fabriek) or else in Sesto San Giovanni (Made in
Mage). Experiences of space conversions of outdated production in new forms: former glassware rethought as
cooperative market and to promote social and cultural; or a re-use of old stores in creative atelier. A lot of these examples
were collected in several research like Territori della Condivisione (.territoridellacondivisione.wordpress) or pulished also
in Bianchetti C. (2015), Territories partags. Une nouvelle ville, Metisspresses, Geneve otherwise Bianchetti C., Sampieri A.
(2014) Can shared practices build a new city?, JOURNAL OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM, Routledge Tuylor &
Francis Group, pp 7, pages 73-79
3 In Berlin the Blankfelde village tells about a long process of restructuring, not yet completed, of urban space in favor of
places for environmental and cultural mindfulness. The initiative born thanks to the commitment of Natur&Kultur
LaSaal-Lubars association. Now it offers workshops, recreational activities and the opportunity to experience work and
community life with some shared apartments.
4
Sampieri A. (2015) Anti urbanisme contemporain, in Bianchetti C., Territori parg, Metis Presses, pp 23, pagine 37-59

380

mutual overlapping and permeations of individual space in the collective one5. Experiences looking for a
balance between inclusive practices and competitiveness, amid intimate and collective spheres too. They are
not only idiorhytmic (Barthes R., 1998) or elitist forms but rather suggestions that capture additional value in
their repetition and rooting in the space. Despite what several sociologist suggest these are real practices, not
digital (Morozov E., 2014) neither liquid (Bauman Z., 2001) useful to create social and spatial connections
and to produce facilities too.

[fig.1] Formal experiences of collective welfare in Turin. Elaborated by the author.

Case di Quartiere
The Turin Case di Quartiere or neighbourhood houses if we would give an English version6 are
significant experiences of this phenomenon: nine experiences, located on eight out of ten districts of the
municipality, especially in peripheral areas. They offer spaces for cultural activities and promote paths of
active citizenship. Spaces where citizens can have meeting, do shared hobbies, but also where they can
improve territorial and individual conditions triggering reciprocity forms (Polanyi, 1944). Unlike other
experiences, available in Europe and in the world, they are formalized experiences, inserted in an urban
network. Anyhow, they offer interesting suggestions about this, growing, phenomenon.

5
In Les Grottes, Geneva, the conviviality is expressed within forms of occupation of open spaces that tell of a total
freedom to stand in its own way within the intimate as well as in exposed, common spaces. Cogato Lanza E., Pattaroni
L., Piraud M., Tirone B. (2013), De la difference urbaine. Le Quartier des grottes / Geneve, Metis presses, Geneva
6
This is an auto-definition created for the application for an Italian national call to promote social and cultural
innovation. Their proposal Di Casa in Casa was the winning project in the 2014 and it was an occasion to identify
common features and to create connections among them.

381

[fig.2] Cascina Roccafranca opening. Image published on https://bando.che-fare.com/

This experience was officially born in 2014 when seven structures, promoters of local empowerment, to
participate in a national competition for social and cultural innovation. They were practices, placed in Turin
boundaries, rooted in their respective territories, which until then had led their cultural activities
independently. The call che fare 2, promoted by Doppiozero, supported by several foundations, proposed
to allocate a contribution of 100,000 euro to a cultural project, potentially reproducible, that placed itself in
the logic of encouraging positive dynamics as response to the crisis. The presented, and then the winner,
proposal "Di Casa in Casa" was set out to coordinate the activities of the houses of the Municipality. The
goal was to develop, and gradually consolidate a network between these realities, weaving knowledge,
experiences and projects. A network based on the activities that already individual houses carried on:
practices that can drive forms of social inclusion built on informal, vicinal, familiar and friendship ties.
Actually, the participation itself to this call was an opportunity for self-determination and mutual recognition
of each institutions at the municipal scale. Some of them had already enjoyed, for fortunate coincidences
related to their birth, a relief boosted at the city level, while others had a more local and limited one. This
resonance opens to some question about the definition and the role of such experiences in the urban tissue.
Indeed although they were described easily as common areas, social experimentations where people and
cultural activities are mixed together7 the realties were more heterogeneous.
Initially the projects involved were Cascina Roccafranca8, The Casa di Quartiere in San Salvario9,
La Casa nel Parco10, the public bathrooms in via Agli11, the Barrito12, +Spazio413, the Cecchi Point14
and, after a few months, also Bossoli 8315 and the casa delle Vallette16 joined the group. Despite the

They organize and host conferences, exhibitions, festivals, courses (theater, art, music), workshops of all kinds; coffee
shops, popular restaurants, time banks, purchasing groups.
8 It was inaugurated in 2007 as the result of the regeneration work financed by Urban2. The Foundation that coordinates
activities has had the ability to take up the legacy of the European project bringing together associations, born on that
occasion, and stimulating new sociocultural initiatives. It has a popular restaurant, a baby parking, a coffee and offer
spaces to several local groups to promote workshops, courses, counseling activities or events.
9 It has occupied the former public baths of the district. The Local Development Agency, born in a regeneration
initiative, played a key role in its foundation. Nowadays the house host a popular caf, a cycle-repair shop, a co-working
space, several artistic workshop, a time bank and has a strong relationship with the cultural district activities.
10 It was built on municipal initiative and is the headquarters of the Community Foundation of Mirafiori; an institution
that already at the end of the last century have coordinated initiatives to trigger local empowerment. Besides promoting
leisure activities or workshops for citizenship, it offers space for work and musical and theater events. It also promoted
initiatives including cohabitation solidarity and experiences of urban farming.
11 Initially they were re-opened for several homeless people in the neighborhood and now a space full of artistic and
cultural initiatives with a strong multicultural component.
12
It was inaugurated in 2011 to revive the public toilets in the hospital area of Turin. Today, as well as hosting the public
showers, it has a multipurpose space, a hostel and a food court where it hosts culinary, musical and cultural initiatives.
13 It was realized as part of a project coordinated by the municipality with the region and the San Paolo foundation with
the aim of encouraging and accompanying the sense of belonging to the territory. It is hosted in unused spaces of the
local administration. There it coordinates a package of initiatives to hold together people of different ethnic groups, the
local associations and the traders.
14
The structure has been active since 2001 as a youth educational center. In 2009 started a restoration work of the entire
block. The goal was to improve and enlarge the spaces for educational and cultural activities. Nowadays the proposed
activities rang from art courses to design workshops without losing the educational youth prerogative.
15
The experience was born originally as a cultural association for the promotion of musical event. The association
Hiroshima Mon Amour already active in Turin since 1987 has today decided to renew its cultural offer opening to the
territory with participated courses, seminars and workshops.

382

differences and the initial autonomy, the activities involved in 2014 more than 9000 habitual citizens and over
40,000 passers. About 200 annual courses, 420 events open to the territory, 33 branches of consultancy
theme, carried out by more than 120 associations or informal groups, weere promoted. Overall houses deal,
and take care, of about 12,000 mq of public ownership spaces, used to socio cultural aims, of wich 5,000 of
open space.
They take place mostly in peripheral and marginal areas, where the discomfort was, and in some
places still is, an expression of a lack of cultural integration, poverty and weakness of the welfare system.
There the neighbourhood houses become devices able to listen to inhabitants needs and to promote
engagement initiatives. Each of these has different spaces, services, community reference according to local
social humus. In addition, the organizational structure changes home to home: in some cases, there is an in
participation foundation, in other cases a consortium of cooperatives or second level association but anyway
the role of these institutions has become to address the initiative of associations and informal groups.
To sum up the Neighbourhood Houses are examples of a new system of welfare devices where the sharing
intermittence is organized within more structured forms. There the interaction between individuals, groups
and associations creates synergies for mutual welfare activities. I think these experiences are significant in
observing the social organization offered by in this wide structure of supportive forms. Their recent, but with
ten-years behind, histories offers some interesting remarks about the horizon of this new system
organization.
A collaborative/proximity welfare
As I have just said the starting point on which these experiences are based, is the local community it is on one
hand the resource helpful to understand local needs and on the other one the supportive reserve on which
the actions are based. Indeed the sharing is not only the attempt to gather people and listen to their needs,
but it is also the tool for promoting services. The putting common becomes more and more an irrepressible
expression of civil society (Polanyi K., ibidem) by voluntary actions that drive collective actions mainly pleased
by the satisfaction of needs. A phenomenon that on one hand describes a difficulty to weave durable ties
(Sennett R., 2002 or Bauman Z., ibidem) but on the other hand opens to light interactions linked to proximity,
elective, or post-modern (Amobrosini, 2005), affinities. However, the reiterated meetings and the sharing
spaces encourages thickening of horizontal relations and stimulates the interaction between people and
territory. A community of conviviality and of subjectivity where the exitimit17 operates, not only as an
expression of individual freedom in public space but also as a complex balance research between collective
safety and individual autonomy (Paci M., 2005). In these places, for sure, individuals realize open and protean
communities where people are connected by kinship and neighbourhood matters. An occurrence based, on
one hand, on intermittent relationships and, on the other one, on the continuity of their presence. An
alternation that allows flexibility and adaptability of the community and its activities to local needs.
Furthermore, this concertative revolution (Bobbio ibidem) toward cooperative and inclusive actions allows a
dialogue between strong instances and diffuse needs. A happening simplified more and more by a friendship
and personal relationship that take place, around shared interests, in smaller groups: temporal workshop, local
buying group or associations etc. The neighbourhood houses, above other examples, offers the opportunity
to mix different clusters and to realize a wide community consisting of smaller bunches. Certainly is not an
elusion of exclusions processes and only sometimes redefinition of them but rather a social and spatial
inclusive exclusion (Agamben, 1995) process that rediscovers the value of proximity, weaves ties in the city
and provides services to local communities.
The proximity is certainly one of the values that these experiences bring back to light. It facilitates
the meeting, encourages the relationship and promotes collective actions based on shared needs. Having a
connection with the spatial closeness allows moreover to feed the mixit and to enrich the local humus too. A
cultural, social, and occasionally economical, connection between space and its inhabitants. Overall, we can
say that the success of these experiences is strongly connected their ability to fit in the neighbourhood, relying
on local capital.
It is indeed confirmed the relation between the birth of these practices and a supportive
background. These experiences take place more frequently where the social and spatial inequities create
distress and marginality: residential suburbs, discharged production places or abandoned relics18 etc. These
structures actually offers the opportunity to activate latent local resources and to return to citizenship
Even in this case an intervention of renewal of a cultural experience has been running since 2001. Former parish
oratory, which had been mainly devoted to theatrical activities, today it is shaped to propose cultural, expressive and
aggregation activities for the local community
17
Bianchetti C. (2015), Intimit, extimit, public. Riletture dello spazio pubblico, in Territorio, Franco Angeli pp 11, pages 7-17
16

18

Places where the industrial drop, the administrative contraction, or the previous shift of agricultural activities have left
unused spaces in urban context.

383

underutilized portions of the city. Actually, some of them have settled in unused public buildings, other times
they have taken place in abandoned buildings into the urban fabric, according to local availability and needs
[fig.3].
This condition occurs sometimes as forms of space defence from real estate transactions19 other
times pursuing its use by adapting activities to places availability, and not vice versa. It is not so unusual a
cooperation between local associations and municipality to create a helpful background for these experiences.
Sometimes the connection is direct20 but other times the creation of this supportive context has remote roots,
in regeneration activities of the last century21 [fig.4].
The aptitude to produce services is expressed on the territory as flexible, sometimes porous22, other
times changing, spaces. These experiences, even within apparently homogenous groups such as
neighbourhood houses, are highly heterogeneous in terms of services offered, administrative forms and
spaces. The differences came from the various availabilities of spaces but, above all, from the strong
connection of each experiences with local needs and resources.
The neighbourhood houses in this way, although they constitute a formal urban network and have
common objectives, are boxes able to accommodate different associations, groups, individuals but each one
offers different activities. The adaptability occurs sometimes using vacant spaces or other times alternating
practices in the same place. Sometimes, instead, the situation is reversed: the importance of doing a specific
activity in a particular space moves toward an adjustment of it according to the availability. A difference that
today is expressed in different forms of relationship between each house and its context: sometimes the
houses act as nodes on a social network of empowerment initiatives, other times they are boxes hosting local
activities or, other times, the initiatives are created there and distributed on the territory.
Anyway, both the care of the territory and the construction of a local community are pursued by
thickening the horizontal relations, based on the pooling of individual needs and wishes. For these reasons
they should be considered real territorial devices able to keep the urban system alive by taking care of local
resources (economic, social and spatial capitals) through a trading of rules that define the game of conviviality
(Laurent, 1994) starting from the sharing of individual needs.

19

Same significant experiences should be the Cavallerizza Reale in Turin or the, aforementioned, Blankefelde village.

20

In Bruxelles, for example, the citymine association, thanks to PRECARE program has started up, between the 2000
and the 2010, about 10 projects of temporal conversion of abandoned spaces in the Jeux de Balle neighborhood.
21
At the end of the last century public intervention in the suburbs stimulated the regeneration of spaces and a
community empowerment. The last part of Urban II resources, for example, were used in Turin to set up a permanent
garrison for local strengthening: the Cascina Roccafranca, one of the neighbourhood houses. In other parts of the same
city, the suburb project promotes participated agencies for local development that in many cases, have promoted such
experiences.
22
A large availability of spaces, although fragmented and dispersed, helps in creating various opportunities: the
conversion of ex mental hospital Paolo Pini, in Milan, is a significant experience in that way.

384

[fig.3] Previous functions of each Casa di Quartiere structure. Elaborated by the

author.

[fig.4] Location of Case di Quartiere in relation to the urban regeneration projects of

XX sec. Elaborated by the author.

385

An evolutive welfare
The public welfare state have characterized the social organization for over a century. Since the introduction
of compulsory social security to date, the government has been the supplier institution and the collective
responsibility warrantor. This social path has moved the society in the direction to protect workers and to
attribute value to the public sphere: assuming as collective and universal right the agreement of mutual
dependence and recognition of the roles between administration and citizens. This policy has, on the other
hand, structured the process of identification and promotion of commons (Ostrom E., 1990).
Gradually the social demand of wellbeing has been opened to different other facilities that in the
previous period had been delegated to other social structures, the family for example23, or goods not deemed
necessary to guarantee the right to citizenship24. This expansion of welfare state has progressed toward a
different society not only in term of rights granted but also more broadly in its organization. Indeed the
increase of services offered initially opened to forms of privatization of welfare and today it pushes towards
self-produced forms. This approach on one hand opens to outside-marked activities (Paci M., ibidem) and on
the other one underlines the changing balance of relationship between the private and the public sphere.
This new organization creates a separation between collective and statehood dimensions, actually suggesting a
redefinition of public and communal roles in both promotion of wellbeing and creation of commons. A new
balance that alternate autonomy and dependence relationships between individual, collective and public.
These sharing experiences, indeed, offer the opportunity to observe a local governance, apparently
autonomous, that produces wellbeing. I am not saying they are actually real alternatives to public organization
or to welfare state but they offer some ideas about the relation between citizens, administration and spaces.
In the Case di Quartiere, the plurality, voluntariness and intermittency are factors that ensure both
continuity and flexibility of action while the formalization, the recognition and the participation values show
the compromise of mutual dependence among actors involved. Indeed the roles - user, implementer and
guarantor are mixed and together contribute to the initiatives promotion and in taking care of the space.
Furthermore there is a multiplicity of associations and groups involved which alternate in the production of
the services.
The organization realizes actually a social, spatial and cultural governance able, thanks to the interdependence
and no preponderance of one side on the other, to regulate and protect the collectivity. It is however, still to
be verified the ability of self-regulation, especially in the long run, as well as the role of the public, which is
the common good as the organizational and administrative structure. They, indeed, combine a public
ownership of the host structure with the promotion and management of activities based on local needs and
on the willingness of citizens who take the lead. The municipality is represented but does not have a direct
control on the proposed initiatives and even on the government of space. The administration is delegated to
the participants themselves and to the organizer who is in charge of collecting and sewing up the common
needs.
The neighbourhood houses suggest a new urban ecology to live and control the territory, based on proximity,
neighbourhood and availability of the citizens to pool in order to face common instances: a relationship of
autonomy and dependence among different actors and between them and the space where they live.
A welfare that on one-hand keeps the not discretionary and universal features but on the other one,
bring back to the local community the responsibility of the mutual assistance. In that way, it combine the
traditional system access model with the pre modern organization25. We must keep in mind that although the
location of responsibility helps in proximity to population and its needs, it also opens more and more to the
risk of not territorial uniformity (Saraceno C., 2013). The urban network should help the neighbourhood
houses in countering this risk although it is still too early to evaluate the real influence of the web both at the
city level and at the local one.
These experiences show overall an alternative welfare system made of uncontrolled, flexible and temporary
practices. The space has a key-role in accommodating the ever-changing activities also because it is the direct
link with the urban context. For these reasons they should be considered real territorial devices able to keep
the urban system alive by taking care of local resources (economic, social and spatial capitals) starting from
the sharing of individual needs.

23

Some educational or welfare activities indeed were delegated to families, particularly on the role of women as the
children tutors and the elderly keepers.
24
The support for groups in difficulty, the health care, the education, the social security but also the loisir etc.
25

Actually, at least in Europe, the public action bring back to the municipality hands the management of the social
security system, which, until then, was based on a system of mutual aid, made up of workers associations, cooperatives,
cases of resistance, educational programs supported mainly by trade unions, private or collective institutions.

386

[fig.5] Painting exhibition inside the former public showers inside the
Bagni Pubblici di Via Aglie. From public profile on Facebook.

[fig.6] A social dinner in Cascina Roccafranca. Photo realized by the

author.

[fig.7] A musical workshop in Cascina Roccafranca. Photo from web

http://www.cascinaroccafranca.it/

387

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388

Affect as Spatial Affordance of Urban Difference

Dario Negueruela del Castillo

Atelier de la conception de lespace. AI, ENAC, EPFL.

Supervisor: Dieter Dietz and Elena Cogato Lanza
Expected thesis defence: March, 2017
dario.negueruela@epfl.ch
In this paper I discuss the role of affect as a dimension pertaining to collective agency, which is capable of reproducing
the isotropy of urbanity understood as meaningful accessibility against contexts of temporal deprivation. As such, I argue
that affect is a constituent part of urbanity as a lived and spatially embodied reality. In order to do so, I present a study of
emotional engagement and whether has an impact on socio-spatial cognition; exploring affect as measurable dimension of
spatial affordances over the examples of urban social movements of solidarity in Madrid.

The city and the territory: between concentration and dispersion.

Traditionally, the study of our ways of inhabiting the territory and the logics behind has moved between two
opposite models or paradigmatic images: Concentration or dispersion. On the one hand there is the
consideration of urbanisation and cities as responding to a fundamental question of concentration of
resources and capital, following a sort gravitational effect that entails that the accumulation provides with a
shift in and brings about novel activities. This image is seen as the reason for the origin of labour
specialisation, and facilitating the move from an economy solely based on agriculture of survival. On the
other end of the pendulum we have models that have recently vindicated the benefits of a more isotropic
image of territorial inhabitation, placing emphasis on decentralized resource management. These Isotropic
models of territorial settlement and infrastructural organization stand as proponents of optimal spatial
distributive scheme which would result in more resilient, efficient and socially sustainable mode in inhabiting
the territory (Vigan 2012). Such isotropic images have populated enlightened proposals for territory that
unlike much of the imagery attached to ideal city projects does not rely on highly centralised core as driver or
focus of economic activity and planning attention.
This seems to align with diverse schools of thought that tackle the question of urbanity from a stance on
accessibility, (Netto 2014, Marcus 2010), which override an image of maximum concentration and density as
proxy for urbanity. In fact, behind the rationalizing effort nurturing the different models of city lays a
question of articulation of resources which is conjugated in diverse visions of the role of spatial distribution
and its combination with mobility of goods and people. It is a declination of a balance between the
organizational hierarchical concepts of concentration and the access to a set of resources distributed spatially
throughout the territory. Regarding this matter, we should also re-question the specific understanding of the
category of resource. A very dense and concurred discussion about resources, infrastructure and support has
accompanied the development of urban research in the last years. From diverse strands of urban related
disciplines and in particular from urban sociology and urban studies we learn that, in fact, one of the
pervading aspects of this consideration is that given physical structures can play different roles depending on
the nature of the social organization which are entangled their use and practice. This coupling between the
social and the environment does not only entail questions of social order, but also fundamental issues of
human cognition. One of the main claims of this article is that the city and the territory as artefacts and as
environment are not only either the effects nor the conditioning of human action, but they constitute active
parts of our social cognition as integral elements of a new continuum that does not reproduces previous
boundaries between environment, the social and the individual. Before we advance in this aspect, let me
recall few instances in the spatialised aspect of social relations and the social aspects of space.
Space-society continuum.
One of the fundamental aspects social science and which has recently revolutionized current research
involves the study of the networked essence of our sociality (ref). This has actually applied not only to the
strands of network analysis, but to other issues such as social capacities.
Accessibility considered in a broad sense as the capacity of individuals to reach resources can be easily
coupled with the expansion of the idea of capital that has come from the theories of Bourdieu (ref). If an
individual is entangled in her social and physical reality by a set of these can be defined as capitals applying to
each of those categorized segments of reality.
For instance, Bourdieu distinguishes between three main social spaces and their corresponding capitals as
defined by the availability of structural resources: (i) the economic space and economic capital, (ii)the space
pertaining to qualifications and education and cultural capital, and (iii) the space of social contacts and
networks and thus social capital. The disposition and structure of these capitals define positions within the
social space of power relations (Bourdieu 1986). Putnam (Robert D. Putnam, 2000)) expanded the notion of
social capital to a more encompassing notion of all the connections that allow for the mobilization of
resources. Such instantiation of social centrality has, with the advent of new social media, boosted into a

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multi-scalar status reconciling the very local scale of neighbourhood acquaintances with connectivity at a
global scale (Castells 2005).
The spatialisation of or what came to be known as the spatial turn in social sciences basically came to
acknowledge the non-trivial relation between society and space, and came to reinforce the idea that we
cannot address the territory as an object of study without paying attention to its social dynamics. In other
words, as Antonio Calafatti puts it, it is the conditions of the usage of the territory that determine the
urbanity of a given place and not the conditions of its physicalities alone. A much-expected new social turn
in spatial disciplines might be now coming along the new developments allowing for a convergence of
cognitive science and previous insights from social sciences.
Following network science, quantitative approaches to spatial analysis (Hillier 1996) have proved successful at
showing that the very structure of built space cannot always be bent by social conventions. On the other end
of the spectrum, the more qualitative critical urban theory has explored the diverse formulations of
Lefebvres notion of the right to the city (Harvey 2012) as its own variation on the issue of centrality,
accessibility and distribution from an integrative perspective relative to a persons experience. The
distribution of resources and the role of spatial items as either common goods, public goods, and their
implications of spatial justice (Soja 2009) bring us back to the notion of rights and their practice. Rights are
intimately linked to the development of civilized systems and also strongly related to the history and
development of cities as their first built environments. Lefebvran right to the city in its original formulation
can be conjured up to the right to be at the intersection of the possibilities that characterized urban centres.
In other words, the right to access the opportunities, right to social centrality as conditioned by built
environment.
A fundamental difference, however, stands between both approaches. Each of these two approaches
considers urbanity either as a category of the object or as a perceptual category describing the experiential
quality of the subjects experience in a particular moment and setting. In other words, urbanity as either
something objective, stable and measurable; or, on the contrary, as something temporary, relative and,
apparently, intangible in nature. Recently, debates on the nature of urbanity as atmosphere and ambiance
have nurtured a renewed interest in the phenomenal aspect of urbanity, reviving not only the situational
aspect already present in the ecologies of Chicago School, as notably in the work of Goffman, but pointing
also at the aesthetics of urbanity as potential sources of useful information for a research into the humanurban continuum. However, the study of urbanity solely based on the conditions of, say, urban form, perhaps
miss out one of the fundamental.
The expansion and difference of the urban
Within assist thus, to a recent expansion of the category of the urban. Brenner and Schmidt pretend to revive
Lefebvres elevation of the urban to a theoretical category able to do more than to simply address processes
of urbanization at a planetary scale, but to capture the essence of our contemporary frame of life (Brenner
and Schmidt 2015).
Within this debate, the concept of difference (Lefebvre, Brenner, Schmid) casts a necessary analytical nuance
capable of capturing the anisotropy of the urban within such a stretched category. However, this differential
nature of urbanity needs to be found in the encounter of spatial and their collective cognition through the
notion of affordance (Gibson 1979, Pflieger et al. 2010) as applied to the spatial condition of heterogeneity.
What becomes key in surpassing the opposition between the rural and urban dichotomy, or even between
natural and artificial environments is the (re)introduction of what is common, or to be more precise, what is
urban in both. Arguably and at the same time, the key question in urban and territorial evolution is that of
non-homogeneity, thought to be either necessary or undesirable depending on its diverse declinations. From
inequality, segregation and marginality to diversity, variety and difference, the value of non-similarity acquires
either a good and necessary condition or a disruptive and inharmonious nuisance. The relationship between
that first ideal figure of isotropy applied to the territory and that of heterogeneity needs to be looked at
attentively as particular and distinct phenomena seem to require both aspects to a certain degree.
The concept of difference has therefore many declinations, from more ecological consideration under the
rubrique of diversity (bio-diversity) to the more trivial of variety, and diversity that have pervaded urban
discourse during the last decades (Donzelot 1998). This unevenness, this difference does not need to be
simply framed within the already policed form of diversity of content in terms of mixit which addresses
perhaps one of the main motors behind the conflicts within urban forms: the avoidance of others through
urban segregation, or, more directly, the colonization of their space through gentrification and displacement
(Cogato Lanza, Pattaroni, Piraud. Tirone 2013).
However, as directly opposed to the isotropic images addressed earlier, difference in spatial distribution from
a material perspective, is actually claimed to be central to the very economic dynamics that are behind the
development of urban centres in a capitalistic economic system, as the concept of agglomeration economies
points at. As Smith argues spatial unevenness remains endemic to the contemporary global capitalist

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(dis)order (1997). Brenner argues that his problem of geographical difference has been confronted in a
systematic, theoretically reflexive way through the revival of the concept of uneven spatial development from
Marxs (1976).
But what would then be this difference if not the very tissue of this socio-spatial entanglement?
This brings us back to the main consideration of integration and accessibility as question is that diversity and
difference must be accessible, they must be integrated but not homogenized if their contents are to remain
distinct. Returning to a debate on the specific material articulation of the city, this can definitely be facilitated
by particular disposition of physical structures, but the ultimate does depend on what logics of both social
organization is there to seize its potentials and on if the perception of this differences makes it
acknowledgeable and potentially useable.
The assumption that particular social patterns of organization correlate with given physical spatial structure
has also generated a great deal of research in space syntax and Hilliers work. While this analyses assign
primary importance to the structure of street network to many diverse social issues. Such studies usually rely
on statistical analysis of empirical evidence. However, correlation cannot in this case stand for coupling or for
simple univocal linear causation as many studies on different uses of space show. As we will see later, it is
necessary to study cases in which reveal that this correlation is neither as linear nor simple as we might think.
Collective action and space.
A parallel line of enquiry is derived from behavioural studies on either crowd psychology (contagion and
irrationality) or social interaction. Within the study not only of collective behaviour, but of sociology as such,
the concept of co-presence, has had an often concealed but enduringly pervasive presence. Not only
Durkheim but also later Goffman (1963) ascribed particular importance to the modes of social interaction. In
the work of Goffman, who developed a typology describing the contours of interaction, the concept of the
situation at large renders tangible the modes of social interaction. The situation is described as the full
spatial environment anywhere within which an entering person becomes a member of the gathering that is (or
does then become) present (Goffman 1963, pag 18). He considers co-presence1 as the very basic
prerequisite of any kind of communication, in the form of either unfocused interaction or fully focused
interaction. Through co-presence persons function as communicative instruments. Goffman acknowledges
that physical space plays a role in this context but its consequences are not fully explored.
One of the fundamental and perhaps more intriguing concepts in human sociology is the origin and social
role of the links of solidarity. Durkheim (1997) notoriously correlated the kinds of solidarity to the types of
society. According to him, mechanical solidarity corresponds to simpler and smaller societies and is based on
resemblance and kinship, with low level of interdependence and usually univocal, unitary and highly punitive.
As societies evolve, adding to the labour specialization and social differentiation, these links of mechanical
solidarity are gradually substituted by what he called organic solidarity, based on complementarity, bidirectionality and based on a moral rule based on exemplary behaviour. Therefore, we could speculate if more
urban societies, with more accessible diversity, are to develop more organic solidarity. Interestingly enough,
Durkheim linked this theory of solidarity with the development of collective consciousness. Burns, T.R.
Engdahl, E. (1998) assign agential capabilities to a collective that has development this particular reflective
capacity.
More recently, diverse studies into the nature of urbanity as a particular feel of cities, arguably behind the
effect of attraction that certain cities and urban life exert upon people, considers this urban buzz (Arribas-Bel
2010) to be a phenomenal quality which emergent from the interaction of all its parts. Just as the stress on the
research on ambiances stresses the ephemeral and phenomenal as the real substrate on which to read the urban
and, I would argue, also its politics. Such renewed efforts come back upon the concerns of the great thinkers
of the city such as Simmel or Wirth on the role of the city in the life of its inhabitants as a sort of mental
environment.
This ties in with the importance of affect as the basis for the development, on the one hand, of a collective
cognition of space, and, on the other, the articulation of a collective governance of space. Without links of
solidarity simply there is no urban. My claim is that space is constitutive of this coming into being. The
definition of space cannot any longer reproduce that Durkheimian notion of location, nor of merely
geometrical description of distances between physical structures. Space must also be the social articulation of
degrees of affect and social connectivity.
However, collective agency in the form of social movements has not been explored as active forms of
distributed urban cognition and as instantiation of affective territorial affordances. If cities have shaped our
civilization and cultures, they seem to propose particular modes of cohabitation. If their influence does not

1 co presence as defined by Goffman [. . .] implies that persons must sense that they are close enough to be perceived in whatever
they are doing, including their experiencing of others, and close enough to be perceived in this sensing of being perceived (Goffman
1963, pag 17).

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follow any deterministic nature but results, in fact, on an active coupling with our human nature; Does the
environment, and cities in particular, play an active role in our cognitive processes?
Can the city be a tool for feeling? As the preliminary results of this research show, the answer is certainly yes.
Affordance, cognition and affect.
Following an alternative genealogy in materialistic thought that has considered affect at the core of the
material functioning of our reality (Spinoza, Deleuze, Thrift), we are invited to expand our notion of affect to
something not simply related to a simplistic and circumscribed human preference but pertaining to a more
fundamental and transversal category. Affect, as a fundamentally human capacity (I stress the word capacity
as opposed to condition since it not only performs but it does so in ways that can qualitatively change human
reality) is deployed spatially responding to changing social and physical conditions and contexts. I my
research I argue that affect can and does play a role in rendering diversity and difference accessible, as it
enacts or prevents forms of sociality that render particular distribution of resources available. Basically,
people do not only perceive their environment emotionally, but they also connect with each other
emotionally in order to seize the potentials of space.
The often cited work of Gibson on affordances (ref in footnote) provide a good basis to argue to what extent
the non-trivial study of spatial and territorial phenomena should be attentively looked at through the glass of
the interactions between the physical substrate of material structures and their social use. However, I would
argue that the cognition of the built or natural environment cannot solely be analysed through the vision of a
rational assessment of the environmental aids. Affordance as a conceptual tool becomes useful since it
stresses the functionalistic view on the , allowing for a different. Thus the concept of affordances allows for a
non-deterministic view of the spatial social relationship by adapting to what is relevant to each person or
groups in terms of embodied cognition. This is a crucial point, by referring to relevance we arrive at the
salient characteristic of affect and emotional cognition. Cognitive science and related disciplines such as
geography and psychology are in the last two decades incorporating affective and emotional aspects as fully
constitutive of cognition. From considering emotions a simple taint of irrationality intoxicating the behaviour
of crowds (Le Bon) to the consideration of emotion as one of the roots of self-awareness; cognition of self,
of others and of space cannot pass without taking affect into account. In this respect emotions are defined as
particular mechanisms of organisms to detect information, which is highly relevant for their well-being. We
can then argue that any cognition of the urban and in social environments is necessarily also emotional.
The city as extended cognitive emotional process.
In this paper I discuss the role of affect as a dimension pertaining to collective agency, which is capable of
reproducing the isotropy of urbanity understood as meaningful accessibility. As such, I argue that affect is a
constituent part of urbanity as a lived and spatially embodied reality. In order to do so, I present a study of
emotional engagement and whether has an impact on socio-spatial cognition; exploring affect as measurable
dimension of spatial affordances over the examples of urban social movements of solidarity in Madrid
Against traditional models of cognition based on the computation of external inputs and centralized
processing of information people like Hutchins and Clark suggest that our minds are actually embedded in
external forms of problem solving, with the aids of the environment, culture and society. These diverse forms
of scaffolding (ref in footnote) imply that the mind and other cognitive processes are not but constrained to
our brains but are actively distributed in our environment. The idea behind this principle would be to
dissipate reasoning and reduce the cognitive load as enhancement of our capacities. In fact our minds are as
much built by the physical and social environment as they are embedded in them.
For the last two decades we have seen convincing research on the role of the built environment as tools for
thinking, including insightful works on the role of architecture (Tribble 2005).
This seems related to early sociological theories that explore the effects of the city on the human mind such
as Simmel (1950; 1969), Wirth (1969), and Durkheim (1964; 1979[) who mostly emphasized and researched
the negative impacts of cities in people and society and who always though the city as an externality. What is
relatively more recent is the consideration of the environment as tools for feeling (Slaby 2014), which could
be constitutive parts of human and social emotions. This new perspective of external embeddedness,
according to Griffiths and Scaratino presents emotions as (i) Designed to function in a social context: an
emotion is often an act of relationship reconfiguration brought about by delivering a social signal. (ii) forms
of skillful engagement with the world, which need not be mediated by conceptual thought; (iii) scaffolded by
the environment, both synchronically in the unfolding of a particular emotional performance and
diachronically, in the acquisition of an emotional repertoire.;(iv) dynamically coupled to an environment
which both influences and is influenced by the unfolding of the emotion (Griffiths and Scaratino 2005).
The cases

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The analysis of the diverse and pungent social movements emerged and developed in Madrid since 2011
proves an interesting research case. As I have argued previously (Negueruela del Castillo 2015 in press)
particular instances of emergence of new thick tissue of social engagement in the context of the 15M events
starting in May 2011 have articulated further into more structured movements and platforms. These
movements take an active stance in the modification and reclaiming of the urban space. The Stop-desahucios
(stop-evictions) campaign and the mareas ciudadanas (citizens tides) have progressed from mere acts of protest
and gathering to direct actions in defence of rights to access housing and against in the first case, and in
defence of infrastructures and public services in the second. In this case collective emotions enacted spatially
in a context of a response to a compromising if the levels of urbanity do provoke in the medium term a
feedback on the systemic cognition at the higher level of the municipal institutions. Put otherwise, the very
social movements that came about unexpectedly and spontaneously in the context of crisis restore and even
enhance levels of social capital in the form of the constitution of active and dense layers of associative tissue.
These associations have, to a relevant degree, intercepted and even crossed the official channels of
governance. Moreover, after having constituted a new sovereign subject, these movements have come to
perform main social cognitive functions at the level of the city, constantly gathering information about its
state and integrating it in intelligible forms of dialogue and public information.

[fig.1]. Stop desahucios campaign actions and occupied social centres in Madrid. Years 2011-2014.elaborated by the
author

I have argued that the spatial practices of these movements were constitutive of their coming into being
(Negueruela del Castillo 2014) as their identity was somewhat coupled to the creation of a new space. This
newly created social space came along the performance of an act of political fiction as outlined by Jacques
Rancire2. It did so in ways in which pre-conscious and emotional behaviour facilitated the convergence of
heterogeneous individuals, previously non-affiliated, on the basis on recognition and empathy.
Such reflections on the importance and relevance of these movements and events for a broader
understanding of the urban dynamics of contemporary European cities are further based on the preliminary
results of a pilot survey and interviews conducted in Madrid during the year 2015. The main question was
how particular events of social mobilization were linked to an emotional practice of space. The more
bounded focus and aim of the study is to assess whether particular emotional engagement is linked to an
2 According to Rancire, a political fiction performs three simultaneous operations: it creates a name or collective character, it produces
a new reality, it interrupts the existing reality. (Rancire

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enhancement of spatial cognition through an activation of a more proactive attitude towards space. This
process is understood to happen in a socially embodied manner, with spatial practices as a main utensil. The
study measured the emotional engagement through three parameters: valence, intensity and goal
conduciveness, based on a model of emotions3 by Scherer (2008).

[fig.2]. Results of pilot emosurvey along spatial practice Y. 2015.elaborated by the author

The study has shown preliminary results aiming at the confirmation of the hypothesis, as the levels of
emotional engagement, seems to correlate to an enhanced spatial awareness. The spatial practices of gathering
provided for the chance for a co-presence that in seemed to have provoked an emotional transition in the
participants, inducing a higher goal conduciveness and proactive attitude. Such transition is behind the
implementation of an active use of the space in practices of manipulation and construction. Also, the results
show a change of perspective towards a more positive (higher valence) view on the situation, corresponding
with the active practice of space in the frame of the social movements. However, the exact role of spaces as
external embodied representations through accessibility is not yet clarified and will be the subject of next
phases.
One of the potential consequences of the issues exposed and discussed above is the chance for a reunion of
two polarities, concentration and distribution, that could be seen as opposed in principle. With the purpose
of further unveiling underlying principles governing this overlap beyond one representative case, we should
ask ourselves questions. What are the conditions that allow for the enactment of a particular level of human
interaction fuelled by diverse declinations of urban affect? What is the distinct role of urban form in
facilitating or enacting more active and engaged ways of the cognition at both individual and collective level?
If porosity is acknowledged to play a role, its forms and types are not only those of formal composition. The
figure of the sponge proposed in different publications around isotropy (Vigan 2012, Fabian 2011) can
already depict a potential richness in a communicative overlay, but it does not quite capture logics of
accumulation and exacerbation behind certain emotion arousing social dynamics.
Discussion.
When seeking to consider affect as tangible dimension of inhabited territories that pervades social uses of
space a series of guiding questions open up: Could we talk about an urban cognition which occurs in a
spatialised manner and at the level of the urban system? And more importantly, could we consider embarking
in a study of those kinds of urban cognition, which are drawing on the immediate, on the homeostatic, on the
emotional?
To extend the reflection to previously uncharted territories I finish this article with an open reflection upon
the possibility of the extensive and isotropic urbanized model of the Swiss territory to foster instances of
concentrated heterogeneity as operative urban differentiation. Switzerland has experienced a population
growth along an extensive urbanization process in the last 50 years. A tightly integrated transportation
network and the widely distributed and thriving productive economy -one of the most industrialised
countries in the world- ensure that the potential for implementing an isotropic urban distribution are there.
Perhaps the places of temporary concentrations and intensities that allow for a fertile co-presence are the new
environments where to start to find tentative external representations that modulate the response individually
and coordinate collective behaviours. Among those places, dense, highly varied and well-connected areas
closed to transportation hubs seem the obvious candidates. However, even if emotional affordances seem to
inhabit the realm of the immediate and the ephemeral, the modes of inhabitations and the spatial practices
3 In the framework of Scherers component process model, emotion is defined as an episode of interrelated, synchronized changes in the
states of all or most of the five organismic subsystems in response to the evaluation of an external or internal stimulus event as relevant
to major concerns of the organism (Scherer, 1987, 2001)

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giving identity to those places are more often than not, highly dependent on history. If we take seriously a
sociality which is entangled with the urban, the dilemmas facing such horizontal urbanization are to actively
allow for enough critical mass to bring about qualitative changes while assuring a well distributed urbanity in
the form of accessible diversity.

References and Bibliography

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Burns, T.R. Engdahl, E. (1998) The Social Construction of Consciousness. Part 1: Collective Consciousness and its SocioCultural Foundations,
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Cogato Lanza, Elena. Pattaroni, Luca, Pachoud, Mischa, Tirone, Barabara. 2013 De la difference urbaine.
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Durkheim, Emile. The Division of Labor in Society. Trans. W. D. Halls, intro. Lewis A. Coser. New York: Free Press,
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Fantasia, Rick 1988. Cultures of Solidarity: Consciousness Action and Contemporary American Workers. Berkeley and Los
Angeles: University of California Press
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D. Negueruela Del Castillo. Social Movements And The Evolution Of The City: The Practice Of Social Innovation As
Emotional Cognition Of Urban Space. Upe 11 Conducir las Transformaciones Urbanas: un debate sobre direcciones,
orientaciones, estrategias y polticas que modelan la ciudad futura, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina,
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Transition and scales

Enhancing horizontality for a bottom-up/top-down scalar integration.
The case of the Estero Salado in Guayaquil, Ecuador
Giulia Testori

Affiliation: IUAV University of Venice

Supervisor: Paola Vigan
Expected thesis defence: November 2017
g.testori@stud.iuav.it
Political geographers tell us that scales cannot be seen as a dichotomy, or a binary discourse between global and local, but
better a juxtaposition that "compares or relates phenomena in space and time" (Howitt 2000, p.145). This paper focuses
on horizontality, as a way to picture alternative urban design models, where the mobilization of networks, citizens and
political institutions, economical power and territorial rights, help rethink opportunities that can grow thanks to the active
engagement of inter-scalar power relations. Learning hence from a bottom-up perspective to envision also larger-scale
and horizontal alternatives.
The Ecuadorian case study here presented, the park Guayaquil Ecologico, is currently going to an opposite direction, where
top-down and bottom-up relations don't seem to touch. Illustrating the methodology and the outcome of the summer
school, Designing Inclusion held in Guayaquil, a deep reflection on a possible role of urban design in contested spaces,
as a political act (Boano and Talocci, 2014), negotiation tool and integrating discipline, is given.

Introduction
This paper interrogates on some aspects that urbanism as a discipline and urbanists as practitioners are
challenged by; referring specifically on the lack of horizontality in urban development processes that give way
to inequality and uneven growth. It's an attempt to rethink spatial practice in times of globalization, not just
an alternative to a big speculative masterplan scarcely related to its actual socio-spatial context (De Meulder et
al. 2004), but takes as well distances from sporadic participatory processes, that by flying over the surface,
pretend to find salvific replicable solutions, killing the power of the social-role of urban design1 (Boano and
Talocci 2014). Although, agreeing with the evidence that cities must be rethought differently from a car-based
perspective (Gaehl and Svarre 2013), that temporary and cheap interventions can positively change some
aspect of the urban life (Lydon and Garcia 2015) and concurring with the fact that building community can
endeavor organizational capacity (Mathie and Cunningham 2003); it is here though that many urban
disciplines, by defending few very specific general goals - without deeply engaging with the society from a
multidisciplinary and ground based approach - risk to end in what Scotts defines 'cognitive-cultural capitalism'
(Scott, 2014), falling hence back in the trap widely criticized of the neoliberal city (Kaminer 2011).
By talking of an horizontal urban approach, this contribution will investigate on a different relation between
top-down and bottom-up, where the mediation and negotiation between scales and power focuses on
horizontality rather than hierarchy; where social, political and overall spatial scales recognize a mutual
accountability and acceptance (Howitt 2000). This mediation is entertained in order to become a meaningful
vehicle for engaging and encouraging transformations, envisioning a transition process of inclusion (ibid.,
Haxeltine and Seyfang 2009).
Looking at a specific conflictive Ecuadorian case, the park Guayaquil Ecologico, this contribution will focus on
a kind of urban practice that has been developed during the summer school Designing Inclusion, an
intensive workshop organized in Guayaquil this July 2015 by the university KU Leuven and the University of
Guayaquil.2 This experience, peculiar case not alone in its both spatial and strongly social intents, as various
examples that can be richly find in the collection Spatial Agency (Awan et all 2011); with its unique
methodology, will precisely serve to reflect on positive and contradictive alternative narratives for a more
horizontal urban design.

Some examples can the ephemeral tactical-urbanism experience of the Parking Day in Quito in may 2014, quickly forget after a couple
of days. Or the ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development) methodology largely applied in the USA, but also used by a municipal
group of architects in Quito called Mecanica Urbana, where exclusive artistic participatory processes were pretending to be exemplary
processes of citizens inclusion. To quote one more, but the list could be very long, lets think about De-Voider in Improve your Lot
project in New York by Interboro Architects, to make re-live abandoned plots with Home Depot supplies under the misinterpreted
slogan of Advocacy planning.
2 deeper explanation will follow
1

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[fig.1] Parking Day in Quito

from: http://www.clave.com.ec/
author: Juan Diego Donoso

[fig.2] Mecanica Urban in La Floresta neighbourhood

from: http://mecanicosurbanosuio.wordpress.com

The case study

The promotion of the 40 kilometres-long park Guayaquil Ecologico, denotes a substantial change for the city of
Guayaquil3: a renovated image for a degraded water-front, an innovative water management against flooding
and pollution reduction, where a modern recuperation of public spaces and the generation of touristic
alternatives for leisure, will have the power to re-shape the Estero Salado4. The objective is also to see this as a
reference project that will improve the quality of life of thousands of citizens, diminishing at the same time
the deficit of green square meters per inhabitant. (Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment 2013, 2014). This
park envisions an inversion of more than 221 million dollars and will be supposedly finished in 2017. (ibid.)
By studying deeper this case and visiting its first implementations5, it can be noticed that there is almost no
shadow of an ecological public space, no shrewdness that considers climate change, no integration with the
existing urban tissue, but rather strong physical and social barriers, along the lines of the Playita del Guasmo6
one, characterized by militarized gates, restricted accesses (forbidden to street vendors, gay couples,
suspected gangs,) and extended paved surfaces (Allan 2013).

[fig.3] President Correa showing the Guayaquil

Ecologico project
from: http://andes.info.ec

[fig.4] on the left a part of the implemented project

from: http://skyscapercity.com

While walking through the Socio-vivienda2 (the last project of social housing implemented by the ministry of
housing (MIDUVI) to re-locate, 20 km away, thousands and thousands7 of evicted families that lived along
the Estero Salado) the air is heavy, its extremely hot, there is no shadow, there are no public spaces, no jobplaces, houses are 40 square meters and are generally shared between 3 and 11 members. People are angry,
furious for what they forcedly lost and for what they sadly have. In the Estero they owned a house that cost
them generally more than 30 years of sacrifice, not only for the construction process, but also for the
the biggest city of Ecuador, located in the south west of the country
the tributary river along which the 40 kilometres-long project will be implemented.
5 Tramo 2 implemented in 2014 and visited in July 2015
6 Playita del Guasmo is an older project in Guayaquil implemented in 2004 to reconvert a sector of river-side, strongly criticized by
authors as Henrry Allan and Luis Alfonso Saltos Espinoza
7 a total of 25 thousands families to be evicted (Ecuadorian Ministry of Environment, 2013)
3
4

397

achievement of the legal land tenure. From being constructed on precarious suspended cane sticks on tiny
pillars above the water of the Estero Salado, now, if its not demolished yet, the abandoned house lies on the
ground, its generally made of concrete, its big and has normally a patio, moreover embedded in a tissue of
strong social relations, that in the Socio-vivienda, between the many other things, got lost. As one of the
neighbours says: all for a park that well never enjoy.

[fig.5] Socio-vivienda 2
source: elaborated by the author

[fig.6] Socio-vivienda 2
source: elaborated by the author

This example inserts in a circle of not exceptional contemporary practices, where a strong combination of
urban designs and political will, under big slogans - as in this case the supposed ecology of sustainability-,
creates exclusion and reproduces patrons of domination (DiVirgilio et al. 2011). Lets banally think about the
evictions in Brazil for the stadiums of the World Cup, or the segregated social-housing settlements located in
the far periphery of almost all mid to big-scale Mexican cities (Flores and Testori 2014), both brutally
enriching public-private partnerships in spite of unheard lower income people (Harvey 2012).
The mega-framework
As mentioned at the beginning, this case in Guayaquil has been chosen as a suitable occasion to discuss about
broader issues, as the urban practice in global times. The fact that Designing Inclusion was done in a specific
context though, makes addressing some aspects under a lens calibrated on its specific political panorama,
therefore a short overview on main national aspects its here proposed.
It has to be considered that big projects like the Guayaquil Ecologico, that Ecuador is going through, are
embedded in a comprehensive and innovative institutional setting, such as the recent National Plan and its
Constitution amended both in 2008. The conceptual philosophy that inspired these national treaties is that of
the Buen Vivir (literally translated as "Well Living") that derives from the Sumak Kawsay, an indigenous
concept that is currently harnessed to envision alternatives to the capitalist model, promote respect for
nature, overcome poverty and increase citizens participation.
For the geographer David Harvey, who since two years runs a research group in Quito, called CENEDET8,
Buen Vivir it's about the value that it's given to things, reflects the relationship between time value and
monetary value (Harvey 2014). It offers a different direction to construct alternatives to the material progress
(Gudynas and Acosta 2011), it envisions great listening to the citizens and considers the urban space as
scenario of chance for a more inclusive, shared, worthy, right, pacific and solidary city (Marques Osorio
2008).
What makes this institutional framework particularly interesting and relevant for the urban practice it selves,
are probably three main aspects: the radical economical direction, the citizens participation and the article 31
of the Constitution specific on the city.
In the National Plan its indeed said that the will of the Ecuadorian government its to construct a
plurinational state that safeguards citizens interests despite the capitalist domination, constructing a popular
organization that stops the domain of the particular interests. (National Plan 2013-2017, p.24) Referring then
to the participative democratic justice its underlined that, all citizens must count with a shared power to
participate with a collective control on political decisions that affect the common destiny; accentuating that
the socialism of the Buen Vivir implies a deep democracy with a permanent popular participation in the public
life of the country. (ibid.) The article 31, finally, its dedicated to social justice, equilibrium between urban and
rural and the 'right to the city'. Principles that by appearing in such a high protocol and rarely demarcated into
8

CENEDET: Centro Nacional de Estrategias para el Derecho al Territorio (National Strategic Center for the Right to the Territory)

398

more specific agendas, make its implementation a result of an interpretation, which is what is currently
happening with the Lefebvrian right to the city, freely interpreted depending on the needs and contexts.
Radical axes, that as well see next, are largely not been respect in the project of the long guayaquilean park
and that in general terms, at the Ecuadorian scale, are very scarcely into practice realities. Aspect indeed that
can be dangerous if more detailed regulations are not specified, but on the contrary, due to their potentialities,
can be of great support for the inter-scalar relations that this paper is envisioning, as the enticed closer
interchange between bottom-up realities and the broader institutional framework.
The Estero Salado, a fragile environment, two different approaches
Existing approach:
Back to our case study, the fact that the project Guayaquil Ecologico in the first instance has been here so hardly
criticized, doesnt signify that there is no need of urgent interventions in the Estero Salado and that the idea of
a big park is to avert. Aside the fact that there is a high amount of consolidated housing and a strong layer of
social relationships, the problems and the shortcomings in the different tramos (sectors) are many. The
scarcity of public spaces is a fact, the flooding issue for some areas is a constant threat, the levels of pollution
in the water are extremely high and the necessity of improving the quality of some buildings its an inevitable
matter.

[fig.7-8-9] The Estero Salado in Guayaquil source: elaborated by the author

Therefore, what is being here challenged, are not the main objectives of the Guayaquil Ecologico, but its the
way in which this urban project is been conceived and implemented. It has to be underlined that, apart from
the very harsh expropriation process, - so violent to call the attention of the UNHCR who made a shocking
report about all the human rights that have been violated (UNHCR report, 2015) - what has been and still is
completely lacking, is the citizens involvement at any phase of the project. The fact that the inhabitants of
the Estero Salado have never been welcomed at any kind of participatory process, as their convening in the
explanation of the plan, or a dialogue concerning the re-location issue, or neither an honest act of listening
their opinions, its very relevant to understand the exclusion and discontent of the inhabitant about the
Guayaquil Ecologico project and also their detachment to the already developed sectors.
Nevertheless, not everyone in the Estero Salado that lives close to the river, even under blackmailing and
violent actions, accepted the keys of the social housing. Those who remained and resist under a constant
pressure, were exactly the main interlocutors of the Designing Inclusion summer school.

399

[fig.10] Resistance of the citizens

author: Olga Peek

[fig.11] a partially demolished houses still used as common

space
source: elaborated by the author

Not just a design practice:

This experience that took place in Guayaquil from the 11th to the 24th of July of this year, organized by the
University KU Leuven and the Universidad de Guayaquil, had the goal to propose alternatives to the
Guayaquil Ecologico project, however it was not simply focused on a final design result, but rather on the
envision of some alternative processes and on the role that design can have in such problematic contexts,
such as an interface between institutions and communities (Cruz, 2015).
From a conceptual perspective, the approach started from the will to answer some questions that publications
such as Urban Trialogues posed some years ago. In the chapter "Urban development by co-production" it
was said indeed that: "there is a need for a more inclusive forum, a feasible framing structure where actors
can discuss, negotiate and decide""taking into account the demands by civil society for more direct and
meaningful involvement and responsibility" "it is also not clear what the role of the planner should be in
these circumstances""the critical issues here is how to find the appropriate and contextual language to
communicate in a specific situation" "planners and urbanistsshould facilitate learning about each othera
store of mutual understanding of 'social and intellectual' capital" (Jef Van Den Broeck 2004, p.209-210)
Here is argued that this summer school had various characteristics that led the possibility to start answering,
in a way, to some of the over mentioned questions. Beginning from the fact that the group of participants
was composed of 40 professionals, coming from different fields and different countries. There were
architects, urbanists, sociologists, ecologists, lawyers, planners, from Ecuador, India, Belgium, Colombia,
Germany, etc. A multi-disciplinary team that brought on table different approaches, perspectives and
experiences, working with distinctive and sometimes divergent expertise on: policies, economy, ecology, risk
management, design, etc.
For most of the members was the first time working on an Ecuadorian case study. Is this for sure a positive
aspect? Not for sure, but definitely brought very intriguing discussions on how to approach the issue, how to
do the fieldwork, what to propose, what should be considered and what not. This multidisciplinary aspect
though, could possibly be ruinous if the second two werent part of the process.

[fig.12] during the fieldwork in Sociovivienda

source: elaborated by the author

[fig.13] mid-presentation of the designing progress

source: elaborated by the author

One of these two aspects is that Designing Inclusion was inserted inside a research that started various
years ago by professors and researchers from both universities, KUL and UG9. Besides, before the school
started, each member received a rich documentation of articles and investigations about the specific Guayaquil
Ecologico project, including also broader relevant issues: as housing and water management in Ecuador and
both, some political and economical contributions, to start getting familiar with the topic. This is a very
relevant aspect underlined as well by Ward, Huerta and Di Virgilio in their chapter called Training,
Preparation and Application of the Methods and Instruments (Ward et al. 2014).
Secondly, it has to be mentioned that for all the duration of the event, a series of keynote lectures connected
to the Guayaquil Ecologico was planned10, which opened up strong moments of dialogue and discussion
Olga Peek and Nelson Carofilis are two of the main researchers who started following the issue since October 2013 and are still actively
involved in the negotiation process between the affected citizens and the municipality; they where as well two of the main organizers of
the summer school.
10 For example a class dedicated to similar experiences in Lima by Liliana Miranda, or one by professor Kelly Shannon about the role of
Landscape Urbanism and ecology in variegated urban projects. Inclusive transformation for self-help housing by Edith Jimenez Huerta
and Peter Ward was also part of this formative moments, but obviously as well, deep attention to Ecuadorian aspects was given, such as
9

400

between the summer school participants, the many students and professors of the University of Guayaquil
and the keynote speakers.
A third point, probably the most relevant, has been the effective investigation on site & the citizens
involvement process. The filedwork was perhaps the most consistent aspect of the broadly used Participatory
Action-Research Methodology (Whyte,1991). Each group of participants, composed more or less by ten
members, had a different site along the Estero Salado. A set of multiple visits were planned, each professional
had a map of the area and after collecting the set of data that were decided to be objectively11 compiled, such
as: building typologies, existing green structure, street sections, relation with the water systems, etc. an
integration to those, through the interaction with the population, was put on practice. A constant
methodological reference for the mapping process has been the one developed by Caminos and Turner in
Urban Dwelling Environment (Caminos et al. 1968).

[fig.14] process of mapping and dialogue with the citizens in the sector 10b

author : Francisco Bulos

About the dialogue with the citizens, two different approaches were used: one first general talk on the quality
living conditions and a second deeper one such as a more precise inquiry on specific aspects of each family.
The methodology used for the interviews, was a combination between luminaries theories on case study
analyses, as the Oscar Lewis urban analyses for a Mexican case studies or the Slum Culture case (Lewis,
1961, 1968), but also more recent ones, as the Deep Case Study Methodology developed by the LAHN
(Latin American Housing Network) www.lahn.utexas.org.
In the case of the summer school, first inquiries were mostly dedicated to data collection, as the amount of
members living in each building, the sketching of the plan of the house to understand the use of the covered
and open-air spaces, the time spending to reach their job or the childrens school, etc. While, in a second
moment, when specific proposals were starting to take shape, more precise questions were posed; some of
which were: are you planning to extend your house to a second floor? Would you agree to rent a second floor
to a family that is in risk to be evicted from the riverside? Would you dedicate a part of your patio to the
construction of a water pond for the collection of water-surplus during heavy rains or the Fenomeno del Nio12?
And like this many others. These different kinds of surveys led the reconstruction of a series of microstories,
extremely useful to recognize a set or relevant cases, relevant as realistic reference point also for the designing
part. (Secchi 1996) (Secchi and Vigan 2009)

[fig.15] settlements mappin

from: Francisco Bulos

[fig.16] conceptual diagrams

source: elaborated by the author

Henry Allan on the Revolucion Ciudadana and the neoliberal development model in Guayaquil and the presentation by architect Jorge
Alvarado director of the GE from the MIDUVI (Ministry of Urban Development and Housing)- over the main aspects of the effective
Guayaquil Ecologico project.
11 aspect that could be observed without the citizens involvement
12 El Nio is a cyclic climatic phenomenon related to the warming of the eastern equatorial Pacific, one of its many consequences is the
sudden sea level rise (Glantz, 1996)

401

Has to be mentioned that the greater amount of interviewed people were women, mostly because men were
at work, so even if in most cases were offering their opinion, many were underlying that, in order to give a
final answer, they had to talk first with their husband. This to say that, how it was done, was not an extremely
detailed methodological inquiry; in order to be reliable it should have been more systematic and for longer
periods, but definitely anthropologists and sociologists had a great role on concentrating the collection in a
respectful and steady way, helping the other participants to conceive a general overview.
Photographs as well, without any doubt, were a great tool to study the environment; a collection that was
done through slow steps, in order not to appear arrogant or indiscreet.
Finally, about this investigation on-site, its relevant to mention that some members of each group were
focusing also on broader scales out of the neighbourhood area, such to have bigger perspectives of the over
mentioned issues and rise, on the table of the animated discussion13, not only spatial questions. In the next
chapter, referring to the design process, the interscalar dimension will be deeper recalled as an essential
aspect, both spatial and political. (Swyngedouw, 2001, Howitt, 2000)

[fig.17] looking at the bigger scale, the Estero Salado1

from: http://skyscapercity.com

[fig.18] looking at the bigger scale, the Estero Salado2

from: http://skyscapercity.com

At last, still concerning this investigation part, particular relevance has been given to the way in which the
data collected has been sort out. Was decided that such deep fieldwork couldnt have been simply described
in words or synthesized in diagrams (as post-it, arrows and question marks, etc.), but it finally had to be
translated into urban drawings with all their power; a way indeed to sort things out, reformulate issues, select
priorities and deal with conflicts. (De Meulder et al., 2004) The graphic of those though, was selfexplanatory and comprehensible, because as mentioned at the beginning, the specific goal was not to make a
shining survey, but rather offer clear and understandable tools to accompany the discussion, between
citizens and members of the municipality14.

[fig.19] a section to explain a possible strategy

author : Astrid Van Kerckhoven

some conflictive moments were part of the discussions, the fact that groups were multidisciplinary brought as well to strong
contradictions between the various disciplines, as between planners and urbanists - without any doubt various papers could be written
about this dualities like: should we design? or should we look at policies? were a common argument. Exactly this made this
experience challenging and powerful.
14 if at first the expropriations where very rigid, since the critics to the Socio-vivienda became more spread
(http://lahistoria.ec/2014/08/20/socio-vivienda-loteria-pobres/), the municipality expressed the availability to start a dialogue about the
Guayaquil Ecologico and overall the housing issue, still though the contacts with the governmental level look very distant. (Peek, 2015).
13

402

The design as a transition to enhance horizontality

After this penetrating reading of the site (De Meulder 2004, p. 193), constraints and potentials
identification, a process of formulation of vision and scenarios was initiated. (ibid., Gabellini 2007, Lenoci
2003, Secchi 2002)
As Bernardo Secchi describes them, scenarios as possible points of escape from the present (Secchi 2002), or
as Gabellini writes in the publication called Scenari Strategici (Magnaghi, 2007): a way to establish a bridge
between the future and the past (Gabellini 2007).
Some groups indeed worked exactly with the methodology of envisioning alternatives through the question
of what if. For example what if the houses along the river would be elevated on pillars? or what if the
existing houses where moved of some meters to leave the space of an alternated linear park? This also to
help envisioning the neighborhood in some decades, thinking on: how it will be for the citizens' children and
nephews?

[fig.20] an existing front side

source: elaborated by the author

[fig.21] a photomontage of a green infill

source: elaborated by the author

The strategies that came out from the various groups, were starting from the considerations that, in order to
implement the realization of a park along the Estero Salado with all the previously mentioned ecological and
qualitative standards, first of all, it had to consider finding alternatives to do not displace the various
interested families. In the imagination of this alternative park, practitioners have been working with the
community and in a case, for example, the park was not a straight long line15, but better an alternated green
structure constantly intertwined with the built tissue. Was hard to talk about housing modifications with the
landlords, but after many proposals, some of the more unexpected strategies where felt acceptable. An
example can be the case in which was raised the idea of a recessing of the building of some meters from the
water line, in order to leave a public passage, while reducing the street section on the other side [fig.22]. A
neighbour in this occasion said: if you let me leave in the same spot, I dont mind demolishing a part of the
house on the front, to re-build it on the back. In other cases, where water rises more frequently, an elevation
of the house on pillars was envisioned; engineers in this situation, after mapping the different buildings,
established if the existing structure could hold a second floor, or, for example, the configuration had to be
reinforced. At a bigger scale other strategies have been developed, as mangrove plantation, sediment reutilization to build small dykes or an indigenous flora selections to set a phytoremediation process. Proposals
where then also focusing on possible strategies to empower the community, as the construction of a bamboo
structure for various uses: a market for selling local products as fish and fruits, or a stage for the
neighbourhood celebration at the Fiesta de Guayaquil, or the school recital at the end of the year. Obviously in
contradiction with the shops and restaurants proposed by the Guayaquil Ecologico, but certainly more useful for
the local community.
Another aspect to be mentioned, is the fact of visualizing the existing, as mention in the previous chapter and
proposing alternatives using the same graphic language, was of extreme facilitation for the dialogue with the
citizens.

15

As the Guayaquil Ecologico proposes

403

[fig.22] explaining the recessing strategy

source: elaborated by the author

[fig.23] a second scenario how could it look in 5 years

source: elaborated by the author

Each step of the design process was indeed presented to the communities, they were either coming to the
university, or professionals where going to their neighbourhood. In order to have feedbacks on the various
proposals was extremely important to have a general dialogue with all the interested persons, all together, but
also trying to establish a personal interchange with individual member. This because was notices that, as there
are stronger personalities in the various sectors, the risk that the voice of few could be misinterpreted as a
collective idea, was an easy trap.
Further innovative aspects that this summer school brought, are an alternative use of the scenario
methodology. Scenarios indeed were not only been argued path for suggestions to the community (Secchi
2002, p.3), but also a combination of aspirations proposed by the citizens, going then beyond the blind faith
in the expert knowledge (Boano and Talocci 2014, p. 702). For example the very specific vision of Sector 8
of the Estero Salado, was imagining the reconfiguration of their neighbourhood as a Pequea Venecia (little
Venice). This to say that citizens of the barrio already know which kind of neighborhood they want, which is a
strong ingredient to be considered for the negotiation process (dAuria 2015).

[fig.20] dialogue with the community in the university

author: Sara Maria Sanchez Ortiz

[fig.21] reinterpretinc citizens ideas

author: Shuberth

The group of practitioners that were working on this site, started indeed exactly from this aspiration,
understanding what they were imagining and worked on how those ideas could be shaped in order to be
implemented. Differently from the ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) methodology though,
where there is a place for professionals in this process, but it's important for them to remember that
ultimately the decisions are up to the residents http://www.xavier.edu/communitybuilding/asset-basedprinciple.cfm, was felt needed a process of filtration of citizens visions, by giving also relevance to the
expertise of the various members of the Summer school. Therefore not a simple grant of citizens wishes, but
rather urban designs coming from the combination of different angles: their aspirations, trans-scalar territorial
considerations, building technologies alternatives, actors and resources involved, institutional framework
contemplation,just to mention some. It is here considered that exactly this combination allowed some first
attempts of authentic horizontal design.

404

The design results were indeed not final ended proposals, rather a definition of empowering malleable tools
to increase the communities quality of life (Ward, 2015). Was a first experiment to start envisioning
alternatives, mechanisms for negotiation, a way to overpass the block of the cannot be done for major
forces (laws, policies, resources), but substantially the Design act as a Political Act (Boano and Talocci 2014,
Kaminer 2011). An urban design not relegated to a commodifying instrument (ibid., Harvey 2013), that goes
beyond the spatial transformation and mainstream production of space, beyond the designer-client
relationship (Boano and Talocci, 2014), findings its motivations outside of the capital (Awan et al. 2011). By
shifting closer to the user, this alternative narrative of urban design looks attentively toward a recalibration
of power relations (Boano and Talocci 2014, p. 703). Finally, another richness of this project is that its not
an ended experience, overall because exactly now, the negotiations with the municipality are starting.
Moreover, one of the main aspirations seems already to be taking shape; while there, what was felt very
missing, in order to have a stronger impact in the fight against evictions and better living conditions, was the
urgency of cooperation between the citizens that shared the same problematic but in different sectors. Just
some weeks ago, the researchers that are still on site and are continuing to work on the cause16, referred that
one lawyer from Sector 8, really involved in the cause since the beginning, after coming to the university
during the summer school and meeting other citizens of other sectors of the Estero Salado, started visiting
them in order to start a cooperation; a big step considering the amount of distrust and stigmatization that
characterized the entire area.
Where the metropolis lays in these punctual horizontal processes?
This contribution challenges some aspects of the urban discipline, by talking of a great discontent with an
urban solution that is excluding a larger part of a population. Continues considers the many innovative and
potential aspects of the recent Ecuadorian institutional framework and concludes by gives some insights on a
methodology in which the role of urban design can cover in improving these kinds of situations.
By talking about this experience in Guayaquil, a set of tools has been specifically described, showing how an
urban project could be more inclusive and how the urban design can be a strong support for a community in
need of involvement in the decision-making of its context. A transitional process and not an ended product
composed by different elements as: a multi-disciplinary team, a deep fieldwork, self-explanatory drawings, the
use of the scenarios in a more balanced manner and the distance taken from the idea of proposing urban
solutions relegated to capital constrictions, are some of the aspects that made it significant.
Here is thought that designing inclusion has been touching some of the many possibilities of working with
both bottom-up and top-down approaches, trying to constantly discover points of connections. Design has
been seen as a tool for fighting exclusion, where, with its malleability, forges its potentials in a dance between
poles of attraction: citizens and political institutions, economical power and territorial rights.
A constant zooms in and out at different scales, not only spatial, but also economical and social ones, led the
construction of an example, where the mobilization of networks helps rethinking opportunities that can grow
thanks to the active engagement of inter-scalar power relations.
In conclusion, the idea of horizontality interprets these various points of view through a process of balanced
transition; from local to global and vice versa, but its also horizontal because doesnt see each case
independently. Its here considered that its by getting towards and away to these punctual experiences, that a
larger vision can be articulated.
Therefore, the biggest challenge is probably to see the metropolis as a conglomeration of a multitude of
micro-dynamics, where even if the design outcomes will probably be very different, what should unify them,
are not-homogeneous practices of inclusion that favour the creation of new alliances (Boano and Talocci,
2014, p. 702). The richness of the urbanist in this multi-disciplinar and trans-scalar process, its probably the
potential he/she has to articulate these variety from a multi-faceted spatial awareness. Finally, urbanism as a
discipline has a tacit potential, which is the capability of integrating knowledge. Maybe compared to others,
can be seen as a weak discipline, but it is one that has the chance to be reinforced by taking in insight from
other expertises, being indeed able to synthesise them through spatial reconfigurations; and it is with local
communities, especially in a context of self-build and long-standing auto-construction, that this indirect
potential comes out with strength.

16

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METRICS OF UTOPIA
Optionality, Aesthetics and Patrick Geddes Ideal of Synoptic Utopia
Matthew Skjonsberg
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology-Lausanne, Laboratory of Urbanism
Dr. Elena Cogato Lanza, Thesis Supervisor
Expected thesis defense: February 2017
matthew.skjonsberg@epfl.ch
My dissertation, Periodicity and Rural Urban Dynamics, hypothesizes that the simultaneous experience of strongly contrasting
sensations is pleasurable, and that abrupt urbanism can enhance both rural and urban experience. This article investigates the dual
dimension of Geddes survey, physical and social, highlighting the importance of the principles of synoptic vision and
vital budget introduced in his Cities in Evolution, and their relation to the concept of Utopia to which Geddes gives an
original and effective meaning as evolutionary and deeply contextual. Both the notions of synoptic vision and vital budget
are based on an organic dimension, addressing body-related metrics in town and country as tools for design and, finally,
for establishing democracy. In order to reanimate Geddes for Horizontal Metropolis, the article considers these two
concepts and their metrics by inscribing Geddes theory and statements into a wider chronological trajectory, looking at
his legacy as evidenced by his relations with contemporaries, and more recent affirmations of his proposed associations
between the body, energy, mobility, metrics and democracy.

UTOPIAN LEGACIES
While the word utopia has more recently come to be understood as rather nave, meaning an imagined place
or state of things in which everything is perfect, Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932) Scottish biologist,
sociologist, and geographer characterized his own interest in the evolution of cities as frankly eutopian.
Geddes conceived of the current state of cities as transitional and as susceptible to improvement by the use
of alternative metrics commensurate with his ideal of synoptic utopias. Thomas Mores Utopia, published in
Latin in 1516, is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and
political customs (More 1516). The book introduced the term Utopia both as the books title and as the
name of the invented nation described therein. In the preface to his first book, The Story of Utopias, (1922)
Lewis Mumford who was then Patrick Geddes protg attributes to Geddes the observation that Sir
Thomas More was a punster, and asserts that in coining the term Utopia he was playing on the implications
between the Greek terms outopia no place and eutopia the good place. (Mumford 1922, 1) But in
considering this play between meanings we can see another virtue in the term utopia as a potential synthesis
of the two implications. Mumford writes of one-sided utopias, asserting that both the initial attraction and
the perceived failure of utopian ideals are attributable to their tendency toward authoritarianism, uniformity,
conformity, homogeneity and the exclusion of alternative modes of life. He observes that the most striking
commonality of historic utopian visions is a kind of technological determinism, the implicit ideal of
conquering nature. Together these characteristics of one-sided utopias, while generally forwarded as an
expedient of security and control, have the cumulative tendency of diminishing attentive observation,
isolating individuals from one another and from their environments.
Indeed, in Cities in Evolution Geddes himself writes, In our present phase, town-planning schemes
are apt to be one-sided, at any rate too few-sided. One is all for communications, another for industrial
developments. Others are more healthily domestic in character, with provision for parks and gardens; even,
by rare hap, for playgrounds, that prime necessity of civic survival: but too manyplans mingle both
exaggerations and omissions with their efficiency: in their too exclusive devotion to material interests they
dramatically present the very converse of those oldcities, which seem almost composed of churches and
monasteries. To avoid such exaggeration, yet incompleteness, what is the remedy? Clearly it awaits the
advance of our incipient study of cities. For each and every city we need a systematic survey, of its
development and origins, its history and its present. This survey is required not merely for material buildings,
but also for the city's life and its institutions, for of these the builded city is but the external shell. (Geddes
1915, 255) Indeed, the systematic social and physical surveys referred to here were actively developed and
subsequent actions taken in his own city, Edinburgh, and then in various cities, great and small, British and
Continental.
Mumford acknowledges that The Story of Utopias is in large part the result of his interpretation of
Geddes ideas, and was written in consultation with him. Indeed, Geddes work is dense, and requires some
interpretation. As regards Geddes written work Michael Batty opines: In fact, Geddes major problem was
that he was not a clear communicator. His book Cities in Evolutionis much more focused on ideas of
regionalism, ecology, civics and participation as well as the longstanding notion of survey before plan, but not
on evolution per se. As it was, Geddes failed to spell out explicitly his application of evolution. (Batty 2009,
557) A large part of the extensive correspondence between Geddes and his protg Mumford pertains to the
elder scholars hope that Mumford would become his close collaborator, organizing his material and assisting

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him in producing his Opus Syntheticum. (Novak 1995) This did not come to pass, but as Batty writes,
Despite Geddes failings, he can nevertheless be regarded as the first to imprint the analogy with evolution
on our study of cities, and in his early years developed many insights into the biology of cities which resonate
strongly with current developments. In fact, in his concern for morphology summarized in his massive and
learned entry to the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1883), he articulated the view he held all
his life that physical form held the major key to evolution. (Batty 2009, 557-558) He goes on to cite a
particularly prescient section in Cities in Evolution where Geddes asserts, towns must cease to spread like
expanding inkspots and grease stains: once in true development, they will repeat the star-like opening of the
flower, with green leaves set in alternation with its golden rays. (Geddes 1915, 97) Geddes precedes this
formal description with the statement, we, with our converse perspective, coming in from country towards
town, have to see to it that these growing suburbs no longer grow together, as past ones have too much
done, and these are illustrated in the book with a diagram titled Town>Country: Country>Town. [fig.1]

[fig.1] This diagram, originally labeled Town>Country: Country>Town (Geddes 1915, 96) reflects Patrick Geddes
conception of the expansive tendency of cities, and the reciprocal tendency of the countryside to push back, these two
tendencies resulting in an articulated and elongated edge condition of directly adjacent, opposite qualities that imply a
positive condition I refer to as abrupt urbanism.

The diagram reflects Patrick Geddes conception of the expansive tendency of cities, and the reciprocal
tendency of the countryside to push back, these two tendencies resulting in an articulated and elongated edge
condition of directly adjacent, opposite qualities of rural and urban territories. The diagram appears in chapter
5, Ways to the Neotechnic City, which opens with a summary describing some deeper implications of what the
diagram illustrates: The cleansing of the city; starting from its mountain and moorland water-supply area,
and proceeding inwards to meet townplanning extensions. These extend naturally star-wise along main
thoroughfares, leaving unbuilt rustic areas between. These kept from growing together by here placing
schools, playgrounds, allotments, gardens, etc. Value of opportunities of activity for youth, and for
citizenship: civic volunteeringSuch minor changes prepare for greater. (Geddes 1915, 84) It is interesting
that among the fifty-eight illustrations in Cities in Evolution, this is the only diagram the rest are photographs
or plans. Certainly the first sentence of this description, starting from its mountain and moorland, perfectly
describes another of Geddes diagrams, his famous Valley Section. [fig.2]

[fig.2] Valley Section, illustrating Geddes notion that cities evolve through an idealized valley section that is both a
geographic cross-section and a temporal sequence. Note: ambiguity of initial publication date, generally referred to as
1909, while Geddes archives hold an undated watercolor matching the description in Civics, and the first verifiable
publication date Ive found is 1925, also note legacy vis Smithsons, etc. Source: The Valley Plan of Civilization, in The
Survey magazine, New York (Geddes 1925a)

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Viewed side by side these two diagrams reinforce one another the valley section could be taken from any
of the star-wise thoroughfares verifying the consistency of Geddes ambitious formal conception of
regional dynamics in plan and section, as in space and in time. These two diagrams, stable images indicating
explicit dynamics, effectively illustrate the citys formal imageability, and provide an aid even an armature
for design. (Lynch 1960) Such a synthetic reading of the city can provide the spark of contextual formal
design design having to do with conceptual coherence, as distinct from planning, which is focused on
implementation and logistics. Geddes diagrams make an important point about the horizontal metropolis:
having low or medium population densities it is somehow more difficult to conceptualize, and design is about
the mental image it is about the initial stage of conceiving and outlining the main features of a plan.
(Terzidas 2011, 18) Geddes helps us not to lose wholeness, and uses diagrams to memorably illustrate such
rules-of-thumb. By embodying abrupt dualities, strong contrasts, Geddes diagrams emphasize these polarities
of the small town and rural countryside together, side by side. Again, Geddes valley section inspired
subsequent generations, notably including Alison Smithson (1928-93), to see rural and urban as polarities in
situ. This is crucial because neither Geddes synoptic utopia nor horizontal metropolis are produced by remote
planning, per se, but rather by the diverse aspirations of actors physically present relating to the collective
dimension again highlighting the fundamentally democratic nature of this ideal. To this end, both Geddes
vital budget and synoptic vision function as transverse notions relevant to horizontal metropolis for the democratic
design of the city, from a collective point of view.
SYNOPTIC VISION
Citing Aristotle as the founder of civic studies, Geddes reflects on his insistence upon seeing our city with
our own eyes. He urged that our view be synoptic, a seeing of the city, and this as a wholeLarge views in
the abstractdepend on large views in the concrete. (Geddes 1915, 13-15) Synoptic, meaning seen
together, implies simultaneity, but also suggests the situated experience, rather than an abstract or
disembodied concept. Geddes synoptic vision emphasizes the collective, civic dimension of rural and urban
as complementary polarities, and is explicitly temporal evolutionary as well as formal. Synoptic vision is a
way of seeing the city and its relationship to the region with an eye to the whole: thereby relating both open
spaces (or no places) and urban spaces (or good places). As he writes:
Despite our contemporary difficulties industrial, social, and political, there are available around us the elements of a civic uplift,
and with this, of general advance to a higher planecivic awakening and the constructive effort are fully beginning, in healthy
upgrowth, capable not only of survival but of fuller cultivation also, towards varied flower and fruit flower in regional and civic
literature and history, art, and science; fruit in social renewal of towns and cities, small and great. Such renewal involves everincreasing domestic and individual well-beingart may again vitalise and orchestrate the industries, as of old. Nor is this merely
utopian, though frankly eutopian. In matters civic, as in simpler fields of science, it is from facts surveyed and interpreted that we
gain our general ideas of the direction of Evolution, and even see how to further this; since from the best growths selected we may
rear yet better ones. (Geddes 1915 v-vi)
Geddes optimistically relies upon his frankly eutopian synoptic ideal, as instrumentalized through the
metrics of his physical and social surveys, to bring about the evolution of synoptic utopias consisting of rural
and urban districts in abrupt proximity to one another. Thus synoptic vision is the culmination of the
perceptual and rational act together.
VITAL BUDGET
Patrick Geddes asserted that in order to transcend the ills of industrial era cities, and to enable cities to evolve
into humane places, another new set of metrics must be developed: vital budget. The notion of a vital
budget is one of the key ideas presented in Cities in Evolution, and it provides fundamental insight into the
metrics he has in mind for the progressive evolution of cities. His first use of the term appears in the
introductory summary of chapter 4, Paleotechnic and Neotechnic: The Industrial Age as Twofold, in which Geddes
reflects on dualism and Utopia. He argues that the conception of Utopia is indispensible to social thought,
providing as it does the means to escape arguing that society must transition from money wages, which
tend to dissipate energies toward individual gains at the expense of both natural and cultural qualities, to a
vital budget which facilitates conserving energies and organizing [the] environment towards the
maintenance and evolution of life, social and individual, civic and eugenic. (Geddes 1915, 60)
His second use of the term is preceded by a reflection on the meanness of the gains resulting from
traditional economic efforts, contrasting actual natural resources - again, taking the example of trees (see also
Geddes 1925b) and financial credit as pertains to quality of life in the evolving, aristo-democratized city:

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But when these fine results come to be realized - in the material sense as distinguished from the financial sense - what are they?
What is there to show beyond the aforesaid too mean streets, mean houses, and stunted lives? Chiefly documentary claims upon
other people's mean streets elsewhere, and upon their labour in the future. Debts all round rather than stores, in short, a minus
wealth rather than a plus. Per contra, the neotechnic economist, beginning with his careful economisation of national resources, his
care, for instance, to plant trees to replace those that are cut down, and if possible a few more, is occupied with real savings. His
forest is a true Bank, one very different from Messrs Rothschild's credit- that is, in every ultimate issue, our own, as taxpayers.
Again, under the paleotechnic order the working man, misdirected as he is, like all the rest of us, by his traditional education
towards money wages instead of Vital Budget, has never yet had an adequate house, seldom more than half of what might make
a decent one. But as the neotechnic order comes in its skill directed by life towards life, and for life - he, the working man, as in
all true cities of the past, aristo-democratised into productive citizen he will set his mind towards house building and town
planning, even towards city design; and all these upon a scale to rival - nay, surpass - the past glories of history. He will demand
and create noble streets of noble houses, gardens, and parks; and before long monuments, temples of his renewed ideals, surpassing
those of old. (Geddes 1915, 69-71)
In chapter 6, The Homes of the People, Geddes elaborates his concept of vital budget in the opening summary
by situating it in relation to the conventional economic metrics that he argues it is to displace: The Biological
View of Economics There is no Wealth but Life. Contemporary transition from money wages, through
minimum wage, to family budget, and thence to Vital Budget. (Geddes 1915, 109)
Physics is thus not the only science which criticizes the traditional paleotechnic economy into its essential resultants of dissipated
energies, of dust and ashes, however veiled in glittering gossamers of money statistics. Biology too has its word to say: and just as
for the physicist there is no wealth save in realised and conserved energies and materials, so for the evolutionary biologist, exactly
as for Ruskin before him, "there is no Wealth but Life." Is it replied, "We have all to live as best we can"? That is a
characteristic phrase of pseudo-economics, which misleads capital and labour alike into its acceptance, its repetition everywhere.
But taking it biologically, as normal evolutionists, resolute not to be deteriorisers, our problem is to live at the best we can, as well
as we can, through our twenty-four hours a day in the first place, and for as many days as we can in the second. Our full normal
expectation of life should be in advance therefore of that of the past simple industries not falling short of it, as ill housed and
underfed (when not overfed) paleotechnic communities have done, and are still doing. Towards thus living out our days, certain
conditions are fundamental; and first, a certain lifemaintaining minimum of real wages, experimentally determined by
physiologists. Their experimental results have lately been coming into application in everyday life in this country, as notably to the
working folk of York, by its eminent neotect, and corresponding neoeconomist, Mr Seebohm Rowntree. His achievement has been
to get definitely below the money terms of paleotechnic wages, and to define clearly for the first time, as "primary poverty," that
line of real poverty, physiological poverty, below which organic efficiency cannot be maintained.
This stage of biological economics once reached, this concrete way acquired of looking below "wages" to budget, below
"wealth" to weal, there is of course no harm, but immediate convenience and advantage, in comparing the physiologist's minimum
ration the proteids, fats, and amyloids, which the labourer and his family require, and its real and permanent statistical
notation of heat and work units, "calories" with the fluctuating money notation of the trader and his economist. For this
notation will now also serve us, instead of mastering them; it can no longer go on blinding us all to the physical and physiological
facts behind it. We are getting, in fact, towards our "minimum wage": yet the moment this fascinating and handy cash sum begins
again to be thought of as being "for practical purposes" the goal of the workman, instead of as a mere book-keeping notation
recording the details of how he may have got the said rations, then of course prices will begin to be worked up again by the
commercial interest; and this until he is in deeper primary poverty than ever. (Geddes 1915, 109-111)
It is interesting that Geddes takes the extraordinary step of citing Seebohm Rowntrees book Poverty: A Study
of Town Life (1901) as a footnote. Indeed, it is the only reference treated this way in the entire book. When
researching Poverty, still considered a seminal work of empirical sociology and the first use of a poverty line in
sociological research, Rowntree and his assistants studied in detail the lives of over 46,000 residents of York
(over two-thirds of the population). At the time of its publication, poverty was considered largely an urban
problem, particular to major cities like London, and Rowntrees survey revealed that even in a relatively small
city like York, 28% of people lived in absolute poverty (defined as the inability to acquire even basic
necessities such as food, fuel and clothing). Given his detailed research, one could no longer claim that it was
poor peoples fault that they were poor, and Rowntrees research helped change attitudes towards poverty,
culminating in the British Liberal reforms of 1906-1912. (Fawcett 2014)
Geddes proposal that metrics ought to evolve from economic budget to vital budget was clearly
informed by Rowntrees own survey metrics in Poverty, which proceed from those associated with the former
addressing average weekly earning and expenditure, etc. to those associated with the latter finally
addressing dietary and caloric requirements. (Rowntree 1901)

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FROM METRICS TO HEURISTICS

Lets try to deal with current urban discourses and trends, considered through the same lenses as Geddes.
Some sixty years after Geddes Cities In Evolution, Ivan Illich develops the idea of alternative metrics in Energy
and Equity (1973 incidentally first published with some fanfare in serial form on the front page of the
French journal Le Monde, based in Paris: arguably the home of the great flneur tradition), emphasizing the
relation between low energy use and increased social and environmental quality: A low energy policy allows
for a wide choice of lifestyles and culturesParticipatory democracy postulates low energy technology.
(Illich 1973, 4) Conversely, he states, I argue that beyond a certain median per capita energy level, the
political system and cultural context of any society must decay. (Illich 1973, 6) Echoing Geddes proposal
for a vital budget, he frames his argument according to energy use, A people can be just as dangerously
overpowered by the wattage of its tools as by the caloric content of its foods, but it is much harder to confess
to a national overindulgence in wattage than to a sickening diet. (Illich 1973, 7-8) As Geddes emphasized
how a vital budget could address poverty and social mobility, Illich emphasizes how a time budget can be
used to improve physical mobility arguing that cities prioritizing motorized transit, uncritically regarded as
advantageous, have been conceived of as too one-sided, overemphasizing speed: Once some public utility
went faster than 15 mph, equity declined and the scarcity of both time and space increased. Motorized
transportation monopolized traffic and blocked self-powered transit. (Illich 1973, 11) Expanding on the
industrialization of traffic, he writes: Enforced dependence on auto-mobile machines then denies a
community of self-propelled people just those values supposedly procured by improved transportation.
(Illich 1973, 16) Illich then elaborates the practical implications of this idea of a time budget, pointing out
that model Americans put in 1,600 hours to get 7,500 miles: less than five miles per hour. In countries
deprived of a transportation industry, people manage to do the same, walking wherever they want to go, and
they allocate only three to eight per cent of their society's time budget to traffic instead of 28 per cent. (Illich
1973, 19) It is vital that he come to see that the acceleration he demands is self-defeating, and that it must
result in a further decline of equity, leisure and autonomy.(Illich 1973, 26) Illich argues public transit alone is
not the solution:
Imagine what would happen if the transportation industry could somehow distribute its output more adequately: a traffic Utopia
of free rapid transportation for all would inevitably lead to a further expansion of traffic's domain over human life. What could
such a Utopia look like? Traffic would be organized exclusively around public transportation systems. It would be financed by a
progressive tax calculated on income and on the proximity of one's residence to the next terminal and to the job. It would be
designed so that everybody could occupy any seat on a first come, first-served basis: the doctor, the vacationer and the President
would not be assigned any priority of person. In this fool's paradise, all passengers would be equal, but they would be just as
equally captive consumers of transport. Each citizen of a motorized Utopia would be deprived of the use of his feet and drafted
into the servitude of proliferating networks of transportation. (Illich 1973, 48)
The essence of his argument is a statement that is memorable and evocative: High speed is the critical factor
which makes transportation socially destructive. A true choice among political systems and of desirable social
relations is possible only where speed is restrained. (Illich 1973, 12) As with the metric of speed, other
conventional metrics are demonstrably, and often radically, decontextualized. Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), for example, measures net outcomes of unaccounted for resource exchanges between nations, while
financial industries externalize risks, effectively institutionalizing risk, monitoring and cultivating certain risks
over others. (Constanza 2009) The insurance and legal industries corroborate such cultivation of risk by
attributing the term force majeure or acts of God to human induced crises, such as earthquakes and landslides
faith is, in this way, used as a pretense by which to further externalize culpability. (Skjonsberg 2011, 234)
In contrast to the propensity for high-risk abstraction inherent in such one-sided metrics, Nassim
Nicholas Taleb forwards the use of heuristics. Heuristics are relational, even analogical analogy coming from
the Greek for proportion. Taleb, formerly a career quantitative analyst, specializing in the application of
mathematical and statistical methods to financial and risk management problems, writes in Antifragile: How to
live in a world we dont understand, In institutional research, one can selectively report facts that confirm ones
story, without revealing facts that disprove it or dont apply to itso the public perception of science is
biased into believing in the necessity of highly conceptualized, crisp, and purifiedmethods. And statistical
research tends to be marred with this one-sidedness. (Taleb 2012, 217) He goes on, This one-sidedness
brings both underestimation of randomness and underestimation of harm, since one is more exposed to
harm than benefit from error. (Taleb 2012, 311) [A fundamental] heuristic is that we need to build
redundancy, a margin of safety, avoiding optimization, mitigating (even removing) asymmetries in our
sensitivity to risk. (Taleb 2012, 397) A practical precedent validating the heuristic value of this observation
can be found in the regeneration guidelines proposed by Wolfgang Sachs, et al, in Greening the North-A PostIndustrial Blueprint for Ecology and Equity (1997): No more of a renewable resource should be utilized than can
regenerate in the same period. Only that amount of materials should be released into the environment as can

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be absorbed there. The heuristic for throughput guidelines is similarly concise: Throughputs of energy and
materials must be reduced to a low-risk level. (Sachs 1998)
Taleb singlehandedly recapitulates each of the themes weve covered from Geddes to Lvy to Illich,
including his use of diagrams and heuristics, and he is the last figure well consider in light of Geddes utopian
legacy. What I propose is a road map to modify our man-made systems to let the simpleand naturaltake
their course, Taleb concludes. Heuristics are simplified rules of thumb that make things simple and easy to
implement. But their main advantage is that the user knows that they are not perfect, just expedient, and is
therefore less fooled by their powers. They become dangerous when we forget that. (Taleb 2012, 11) There
is a limit to the threshold of utility in heuristics, analogous to the limits of verbal meaning itself, in describing
these phenomena less is more, but only when more is too much. Regarding this threshold between less and
more in relating metrics and heuristics, Taleb writes, So here is something to use. The technique, a simple
heuristic called the fragility (and antifragility) detection heuristic, works as follows. Lets say you want to check
whether a town is over-optimized. Say you measure that when traffic increases by ten thousand cars, travel
time grows by ten minutes. But if traffic increases by ten thousand more cars, travel time now extends by an
extra thirty minutes. Such acceleration of traffic time shows that traffic is fragile and you have too many cars
and need to reduce traffic until the acceleration becomes mild (Taleb 2012, 310)
Under the heading Where Simple Is More Sophisticated, Taleb writes: A complex system, contrary to
what people believe, does not require complicated systems and regulations and intricate policies. The simpler,
the better. (Taleb 2012, 11) As an example, he reflects, I realized that there existed a simple definition of
fragility, hence a straightforward and practical testing heuristic: the simpler and more obvious the discovery,
the less equipped we are to figure it out by complicated methods. The key is that the significant can only be
revealed through practice. (Taleb 2012, 208) This statement points to the strength of Geddes identification
of synoptic vision and vital budget as significant metrics informed and qualified by first-hand experience and the value of their hermeneutic interpretation as heuristics. (Norberg-Schulz 1980) The strength of moving
from metrics to heuristics is to learn operable, flexible, low-risk rules-of-thumb, as Taleb writes, a small
number of tricks, directives, and interdictshow to live in a world we dont understand, or, rather, how to
not be afraid to work with things we patently dont understand, and, more principally, in what manner we
should work with these. Or, even better, how to dare to look our ignorance in the face and not be ashamed
of being humanBut that may require some structural changes. The first of these changes implied by the
importance of first-hand experience is a renewed significance for the aesthetic dimension of design.
AESTHETICS OF UTOPIA
Paralleling utopias contemporary connotation of naivet, in recent times the term aesthetics has come to carry
the connotation of being superficial, or for appearances only. The Greek root of the term, aisthesis (),
points to the cumulative effects of sensory perception and intuition, along with the logical or cognitive
knowledge gained from that which is sensed. Aisthesis deals not only with the anatomic composition of our
five sensory organs, but also with our cognitive sensibilities, which are of great significance in the evolution
of our social structures, built environments and artifacts. These sensibilities in turn are shaped by the
experience of ones environment largely the second nature environment we inhabit through physical
infrastructures and social institutions, which themselves exert a reciprocal influence on the development of
our sensibilities. Over time, these exchanges based in direct bodily perception come to define our very
attitudes toward life. In short, sensibilities inform our ethics: our expectations of propriety, integrity,
wellbeing and justice. (Skjonsberg 2011, 227) As Geddes wrote, The beauty of cities is of no mere
sentimental interest: the aesthetic factor is recognised in war, in medicine, as at once a symptom of efficiency
and health, and an aid to them. (Geddes 1915, 84)
Jacques Lvys proposal for virtuality has an affinity with Geddes synoptic vision, sharing a similar
concern for the first-hand experience of contextual plurality, but through walking, not only through seeing
thus broadening the aesthetic experience. (Lvy 1999 2001) Lvy relates this to the idea of contextual speed,
noting a shift in urban attitudes towards pedestrianism, asserting that formerly walking was considered less
dignified than to be transported by mechanical, animal or water power, whereas now walking has regained a
kind of prestige. (Lvy 2008 2014) This isnt the first time pedestrianism has been rediscovered; one need
only consider the 19th century image of the urban flneur. Indeed, both then and now the renewed
appreciation of the act of walking has been related to an acknowledgment of urban qualities and the pleasures
obtained by taking the time to observe ones surroundings as well as those attendant to the parallel activity
of people-watching, an activity that satisfies a primal social drive. Of course, walking in nature as an activity
facilitating well-being through reflection, even meditation, has been long acknowledged in many cultures and
philosophies.
Lvys notion of virtuality, the desirability of which has to do with the ability to choose between a
known variety of experiences and spaces accessible within a certain proximity is a concept also closely
related to Talebs notion of optionality, which he states is derived from Aristotle, as he describes, This ability

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to switch from a course of action is an option to changeat the core, an option is whatallows you to
benefit from the positive side of uncertainty, without a corresponding serious harm from the negative side.
(Taleb 2012, 189) He also makes the explicit connection with the flneur, which he defines as someone
whomakes a decision opportunistically at every step to revise his schedule (or his destination)...being a
flneur islooking for optionality. (Taleb 2012, 440) Expanding on this, he relates the rational flneur to
rational optionality which he defines as, Not being locked into a given program, so one can change his
mind as he goes along based on discovery or new information. (Taleb 2012, 444)
Geddes, like Taleb, often developed heuristics, rules-of-thumb which characterized a principle, and
his heuristic dictum survey then plan was among his most famous. Again, it is worth emphasizing that for
Geddes a complete survey was both geographical and social. Such contextual knowledge, enhanced by firsthand aesthetic experience, thus fundamentally enhances optionality. When complemented with modes of
mobility at speeds that matter (Lvy 2008) it promotes individual and community well-being and enjoyment,
directly contributing to the evolution of more humane, more frankly utopian, cities. Further verification of
this can be seen in two recent characterizations of individual modes of mobility. One of these is soft
mobility, which is generally associated with ecological corridors and wildlife habitats, the other is active
mobility, which emphasizes human health and safety. Both soft mobility and active mobility focus on
replacing motorized, carbon-dependent modes of mobility with individual physical activity, whether walking
or cycling, as a means of accessing everyday destinations. The correlation echoes Geddes statement
championing the value of opportunities of activity for youth, and for citizenship. It is interesting that this
tendency is consistent with contemporary research that demonstrates a strong correlation between economic
wealth and the presence of trees in urban areas. (De Chant 2012) Indeed, the metrics of active and soft
mobility abrupt spaces relating rural and urban areas while providing for first-hand aesthetic experiences
that enhance well-being are proving to be rather utopian. As Illich wrote, in a statement apropos of a
genuinely Utopian ideal, Participatory democracy demands low energy technology, and free people must
travel the road to productive social relations at the speed of a bicycle. (Illich 1973, 12)

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Constanza, Robert; et al (2009) Beyond GDP: The Need for New Measures of Progress, Boston University, Cambridge
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Geddes, Patrick; (1915) Cities in Evolution, Williams and Norgate, London
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Geddes, Patrick;; (1925b) Cities, and the Soils They Grow From, in The Survey magazine, New York
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the City, in Change and Stability in Urban Europe: Form, Quality, and Governance, ed. Andersson, et.al.,Farnham:
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Novak, Frank G.; (1995) Lewis Mumford and Patrick Geddes: The Correspondence, Routledge, London
Rowntree, B. Seebohm; (1901) Poverty: A Study of Town Life, Macmillan, London
Sachs, Wolfgang; et al (1998) Greening the North: A Post-Industial Blueprint for Ecology and Equity, Zed Books, London
Skjonsberg, Matthew (2011) Magic Inc. Reframing the City, in Aesthetics of Sustainable Architecture, ed. Sang Lee,
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Taleb, Nassim Nicholas; (2012) Antifragile: How to live in a world we dont understand, Allen Lane, London
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Adieu compact city1

The Dutch case study and the discovery of the patchwork metropolis
Carlo Pisano
Affiliation University of Cagliari DICAAR -Architettura;
Supervisor Paola Vigan, Giorgio Peghin
Expected thesis defence: June, 2016
pisano.carlo@gmail.com
In 1989 the young Dutch architect Willem Jan Neutelings, who had just left the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, was
called to develop a project for the area in between Rotterdam and the Hague that was going to face, in the next years, a
huge increment of population and activities. This part of the Dutch territory is located in between two urban areas but,
on the same time, it is located in the middle of another construction kwon as the Randstad, in which the explosive growth
of urban or suburban phenomena has led to a singular blurring of the distinction between the city and the countryside.
In this context Neutelings proposed his reinterpretation of the urban form called De Tapijtmetropool or Patchwork
Metropolis.
Starting from a six pages long article published in the 1991, this paper will try to deconstruct the work of Neutelings,
analysing the context and the sketches and reconstruct them in a more comprehensive model of urbanisation. Moreover a
reinterpretation of the territory will try to understand if the Neutelings prevision has found a real effect in the
contemporary Randstad territorial configuration.

The Patchwork Metropolis of Willem Jan Neutelings

The Patchwork Metropolis was published in 1991, in a small monograph that the 010 Publishers2 dedicated
each year to the winner of the Maaskant prize for the young Dutch architect of the year. In 1989 the young
Enlightened prince of suburbia, as Neutelings was appointed in the jury report, got commissioned by the
Department of Housing development of the Municipality of the Hague to study and design the area of the
Zuidrand in between The Hague and Delft that afterwards faced a huge increment of population and
activities becoming internationally known as the Ypenburg neighbourhood. From this typical peripheral zone,
Neutelings enlarged his focus point describing the area in between The Hague and Rotterdam as a
continuous field of patches reaching from the North Sea to the Nieuwe Maas river.
In order to correctly interpret the work of Neutelings is important to clarify that the discussion about the
urbanisation in the Netherlands, since the eighties and the content of the various parts of the Third
Memorandum on Spatial Planning3, is characterised by the concept of the city region and by the fear of the
phenomenon of dispersion. Huge planning efforts are spent to maintain the city regions compact and
manageable by setting always-new boundaries between what were the ancient cities that compose the
Randstad and the portion of territory called Green Hearth. So the doctrine underlying the Dutch policy at
this governmental level is based on the objective to separate red functions from green function.
In this overruled context the fortune of the Neutelings proposal was immediately very large, able to influence
a generation of young Dutch designers, especially for the capacity of the patchwork model to criticize the
planning practices of the late eighties and to give a structure to what was thought as a just fragmented
condition, turning the Randstad lack of coherence in contrast to what official planners though the existing
structure of the Randstad looked like into its planning solution, into a breeding ground of prospective
projects
It is possible to distinguish in the work of Neutelings two sets of drawings which synthetize both the two
scales and the two objectives of the work. From one side, a thirty-by-thirty kilometres frame4 consisting of
the area in between Rotterdam, The Hague and Leiden allowed Neutelings to personally reinterpret the
large-scale condition of the South Wing province of the Randstad and to introduce the metaphor of the
Patchwork. From the other, at the scale of the patches coinciding with the area of Ypenburg he
presented his design exercise trough the definition of a catalogue of solutions and design possibilities.
At the patchwork scale Neutelings represented the territory through two pen sketches [fig.1]. The first
interprets the area in between the Hague and Rotterdam as a series of black urban figures on top of a white
background, highlighting the conceptual simplification behind the common way to understand the urban
condition in which the absurd notion of a romantic polarity between a paradisal Arcadia and a
megalomaniac metropolis, a red stain sprawling in an endless expanse of green. [] has long been inadequate
for interpreting the reality of the situation (Neutelings, 1991). The second sketch reconsiders the same area
through a critical reinterpretation. The territory is presented as a composition of patches, each one with a
The title of this essay is referred to the title of a chapter of the book: Bosma K. and Hellings H., 1998. Mastering the City: North European
City Planning, 1900-2000. Rotterdam: Nai Uitgevers
2 Neutelings, WJ 1991, Willem Jan Neutelings Architect, Uitgeverij 010, Rotterdam.
3 In Dutch Derde Nota voor de Ruimtelijke Ordening published in four parts from 1973 to 1983.
4 That in the rest of this essay will be called the patchwork scale.
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specific functional program and a specific physical structure. If we take a close look at the image we can
notice that not only the periphery the area usually labelled as such is a composition of patches but also
the inner cities and agricultural areas ranging from rural to greenhouse complexes are transformed into a
series of patterns. The maps present a drastic new interpretation of the territory, in which the juxtaposition
of shifting fragments seems to define the structures single element of consistency (Beelen, 2010).

Figure 1: The Patchwork Metropolis. On the left: the urbanisation as a figure on a white background. On the right: the Neutelings
reinterpretation.

At the patches scale Neutelings designed the area of the Zuidrand through the use of several analytical
sketches, diagrams [fig.2] and a large maquette that clarified the scale and the conditions of the future
development of the area. A series of collages [fig.3] synthetize the results of the design. New commercial
boulevard displaced along a motorway, socio-bungalows with a wide range of accessories, a linear park
crowned by duplexes and roof garden dwellings, a square for events arranged below a motorway spaghetti
node, dwellings for retired people positioned close to a golf course represent the abacus of new patches that
are carefully inserted in the patchwork according to some parameters of proximity and accessibility.
Highways, secondary streets, tram lines are then superposed creating a framework able to mesh the new and
pre-existing patches into a coherent system. It is important to notice that if in the thirty-by-thirty kilometers
drawing the infrastructure, that are displaced in between the patches, are not directly considered probably
for the sake of the clarity and the expressive power of the drawing in the design of the patches the street
and rail networks are the fundamental tool used to connect the patches in between them and with the overall
system.

Figure 2: The design of the Zuidrand

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The operation of rescaling of the design focus, from the large scale of the patchwork to the single elements
of the patches, produced an interesting and singular urban model able to consider both the enlarged urban
condition in which the new metropolis is in the scale of the region and in the form of a field and a
vocabulary of design solutions detectable from the authors point of view5 just at the scale of the
patches. Therefore the Neutelings project is not simply the analytical description of the Dutch territorial
configuration in 1989, but should be interpreted as a radical project able to indicate the coordinates at which,
in the future, the design should take place.

Figure 3: The design of the Zuidrand - Collages

Each bastard gets his own genealogical tree6

The Patchwork Metropolis deserves to be inserted in the list of the so-called site-specific manifestos. As
other similar examples7 it is a composition of theoretical constructions based into a specific territory. In the
following paragraphs I will try to unravel the theoretical metaphor of the patchwork by displacing both the
element of the patch and the structure of the patchwork in a theoretical perspective. This operation will allow
not only to understand the similarities and differences between urban models, but also to clarify each time the
peculiarities of the patchwork with the aim return a specific and precise urban model.
The Patch, the Part and the Fragment
Paola Vigan in her research about elementarism indicated that Wittgenstein has pointed out how
complicated is to define the simple constituent parts of which reality consists; What are the simple
constituents parts of a chair? he asks. The pieces of wood from which it is made? Its molecules? Its atoms?
Simple means: not composite. And this is the point: composite in what sense? (Wittgenstein, 1952) (Vigan,
1999). The selection of the elements that compose the reality is a complex operation that requires a designbased procedure of reduction of complexity. The interpretative operation intrinsic to the construction of
urban models and metaphors is intimately linked with a process of selection of the right scale8 at which a
territory should be looked, of the elements that should be drawn and that one that are unnecessary or even
misleading, of the categories, or the different nuances of colours, through which the reality can be reduced.
It is interesting to see how Neutelings looked at kind of medium grain, in between the oversimplification of
the planning maps and the complexity presented in the topographical maps, deciding that, for him, the best
scale at which it is possible to understand this part of the Randstad was a the patch scale.
The patch as conceptual and theoretical entity has been used in many disciplines. In landscape ecology for
instance this term indicates a wide relatively homogeneous areas that differs from their surroundings
(Forman, 1995), a composed ecosystem or habitat that is physically discernible from the others.
Part, fragment, cell, zone are just some of the conceptual construction used, during the last century in
urbanism, sociology, ecology and spatial planning, to understand and design this intermediate scale. Even if

At this regard is relevant to quote an extract of an interview carried by the Author to Willem Jan Neuteling the 21st of June 2011: CP Do you think that it is possible to guide the evolution of the patchwork metropolis? WJN - We stated that it was impossible to guide the
territory at the Randstad scale. The only way in which we can guide the territory is at the patch level. You can replace the old patches
with new ones, you can fragment the existing ones, but in the neo-liberal and market oriented society you cannot still think that it is
possible to guide the Randstad as a whole.
6 Rem Koolhaas, The terrifying beauty of the 20th Century (1985), in S,M,L,XL (Rotterdam, 1995), 208.
7 Examples of site-specific manifesto include: Learning from las vegas (Venturi, Scot-Brown, Izenour, 1972), Chicago la Carte (Alvin
Boyarsky, 1970), Los angeles: the Architecture of four ecologies (Rayner Banham, 1971), Collage city (Colin Rowe, 1978) Berlin as a green Archipelago
(Ungers, Koolhaas, 1977). See: Hertweck F., Marot S., 2013. The City in the City: Berlin: A Green Archipelago. Ennetbaden: Lars Muller.
8 Here scale is intended both as resolution, so the level of detail of the representation, and as frame, so the boundary at which the
drawing can be cropped.
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the transition between them is often quite fuzzy, the patch as a theoretical figure maintains some
specificities that could be highlighted through a series of comparisons.
The concept of patch, for instance, is opposed to the idea of fragment9, which always involves some form of
nostalgia. As inherent parts of modernity, the notion of metropolis and fragmentation have been closely
connected from the first10. From Georg Simmel, who intended the metropolis in terms of flux and
fragmentation, to Adorno that highlighted the distance between the modernity and the idea of harmonic
aesthetic completion11 the juxtaposition, accumulation, or succession of fragments has been intended as an
intimate quality of the modern metropolis able to interpret its complex and chaotic composition.
Antony Vidler pointed out the double connotation of the fragment: In the History of modern art and
aesthetics, the fragment has had a double signification. As a reminder of the past once whole but now
fractured and broken, as a demonstration of the implacable effects of time and the revenge of nature, it has
taken on the connotation of nostalgia and melancholy, even of history itself. As an incomplete piece of a
potentially complete whole, it has pointed toward a possible world of harmony in the future, a utopia
perhaps, that it both represents and constructs (Vidler, 2000). Moving away from the concept of fragment,
the Neutelings patches represent the Vidlers research of harmony, of an utopia built on semi-autonomous
cells, each with its own logic and interested actors (Shane, 2005), planned and designed as such and
displaced across the landscape.
One of the drawings that Neutelings used to accompany his text was a reinterpretation of the Naked City of
Debord in which several urban and rural patterns were connected and related through lines and arrows. As
Dirk van den Heuvel noticed12, the Patchwork should be inserted inside the long wave of the Dutch
situationists that goes from Constant to Rem Koolhaas. As Guy Debord wanted to transform the known
geography through the mapping of the situations with the attempt to transform the spectators into
participants Neutelings drawn the patches as the representation of the variegate forms of living or
lifestyles13 of the Netherlands. In the series of black and white montages [fig.3], that visually express the new
designed patches, Neutelings displayed the new lifestyles that can take place in the area of the Zuidrand.
Therefore the thirty-by-thirty kilometres frame is not populated just by urban patterns or morphological parts
formally completed14 but by living environments in which the internal consistency is defined by the situations
and the activities that can be developed. As Karl Beelen sharply noted, the unsteady style of the drawing also
suggest that what Neutelings wanted to address was not a precise and detailed definition of borders and
entities but rather the description of a shifting and unstable condition15. Living in a detached house along a
canal or in a cauliflower estate immersed in a wild nature, working in a business park along the A4 or in an
warehouses complex along the Mass and relaxing in a park alongside a lake are the new categories proposed
to increase the nuances of this part of the Dutch periphery.
The Patchwork, the Archipelago and the Carpet
The passage from a series of singular elements to the construction of a complex system implies to reason
around the rationality that guide the process of insertion, arrangement and assemblage16 of several patches
displaced apparently randomly along the mobility network. If we want to understand the patchwork as a
theoretical metaphor, we have to start from the Appalachian woman that sew the patchworks starting their
work without a real pre-set plan, but just with a set of guidelines declined according to the raw material that
they have. The work is guided by their own taste in juxtaposing patches of different sizes and colours. In the
urban field we can compare this process with the attribute of compatibility of visual, functional and scalar
characters of the patches17.
Moving from the metaphor to the real territorial configuration, the process of assemblage can be engaged in
two ways. From one side it is possible to easily justify the rationalities that guide the displacement of patches
along the transport network and the administrative boundaries. A business park, for instance, needs a fast
For a more accurate analyses of the concept of fragment in urbanism see: Secchi, B., 2007. Prima lezione di urbanistica. Roma: Laterza.
And Jacobs, S. 2012. Shreds of Boring Postcards: Toward a Posturban Aestetics of the Generic and the Everyday. In: Ghent Urban
Studies Team (Eds), 2012. Post Ex Sub Dis.: Urban Fragmentations and Constructions. Rotterdam: 010 Uitgeverij.
10 see Berman, M., 1982. All that is solid Melts into Air: The experience of modernity. New York: Simon & Schuster.
11 see Adorno, T.W., 1970. Gesammelte Schhriften, Vol. 7:Aestetische Theorie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
12 Heuvel, D. Occupation of Desires: Concerning the Sudden Topicality of Situationism. Archies 1992/2, pp.72-78
13 Lifestyle is used as the way to define the prevalent behavior of a specific social group. See Weber, M.,1978. Economy and Society,
Oakland: University of California Press.
14 With part of city formally completed I am referring to the italian tradition of urban morphologists founded by Muratori and Caniggia during
the sixties and leaded by Rossi and Aymonino between sixties and seventies.
15 See Beelen, K., 2010. Imag(en)ing the Real. The Region as a Project of Cartographic Re-Configuration. In: Meijsmans, N., 2010.
Designing for a Region. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij SUN.
16 On that regard Paola Vigan has compared the images of patchwork, collage-city, domino and puzzle for their capacity to focus
attention on process of assembling individual pieces and defining weak or loose criteria that enable them to be positioned in relation to
one another. See Vigan P., 1999. La citt elementare. Milano: Skira.
17 This paragraph is an excerpt of the discussions between the author and Bernardo Secchi and is inserted in the authors post master
thesis. See Pisano, C., 2011 Colouring the patchwork metropolis (TU Delft repository).
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access to the highway, a marina or a dockland has to be connected with the course of a main river, an urban
development has to be displaced within the municipality boundary and connected with a tramline to a service
centre. On the other side, when the patchwork is crossed with a car or a train, a weak understanding of the
combination and proximity of functions replaces these rationalities. Indeed the physical proximity of
activities, crowds and signs assembled in an seemingly chaotic way, has moved Neutelings to state, with a
peculiar and paratactic language, that a twenty-minute drive takes the Randstad-dweller past sculptural oil
refineries, colourful bulb-fields, intimate garden cities, medieval rings of canals, eight-lane motorways,
hypermarkets, functional high-rise estates, lakes for recreation, old Dutch windmills, university campuses,
tourist beaches, protected dune landscapes, glass roofs of greenhouses, reflecting business parks, motels and
furniture megastores, rubbish tips and golf courses, airfields, markets, squares and mosques. (Neutelings,
1991) The Patchwork is then a composition of a series of entities arranged together, in which a superior unity
or comprehensive plan is missing. It does not contemplate any explicit syntax18, but just a vocabulary of
patches. The parataxis19 technique in literature, the note by note organisation of pieces of musical syntax
and the collages of the Dadaists and Robert Rauschenberg art works seem prolific fields of analyses, and
comparison of the patchwork metaphor in urbanism.
The Patchwork Metropolis can be inserted into the prolific field of urban metaphors that have tried to define
the contemporary enlarged urban condition by overcoming the stagnant contraposition between urban and
rural. Some of the highlighted characteristics like the rhythmic and looming assemblage method or the
grain of the territorial representation sign the distance between the patchwork and other horizontal
models like the archipelago or the carpet.
The title Patchwork Metropolis was intended as the English translation of Tapijtmetropool, literally carpet
metropolis. The carpet is a metaphor broadly used and differently declined to interpret the phenomena of
dispersion from the Flemish to the Veneto region. Synthetically, in the carpet, a dense and isotropic network
of infrastructure is gradually urbanised through a process based on individual or familiar decisions. In the
Patchwork, instead, each patch is fixed from top to bottom []; any further development is impossible. The
whole forms a system of inert fragments that are unable to admit any further dynamic in time (Neutelings,
2000). If the carpet can be seen as a piece of fabric in which step-by-step new details can be added, new
stitches can be sewed, the patches are portions of ready made tissues stitched once and for all to the main
work. In this sense the gap in between the two models is related not only on the scale or the grain of the
representation in fact the patches can indistinctly be large or small but especially on the dynamic level
and on the political and social environments in which these two models can take place.
Another interesting image, often used to interpret an enlarged urban condition is the Archipelago. The
Archipelago model is based, according to Massimo Cacciari, on a space of coexistence, the sea, and of
absence, the lost or never achieved unity (Cacciari, 1997). In the patchwork this element of separation
the sea tends towards zero or should be seen as a space that is waiting to be developed. What Ungers and
Koolhaas reduced to the status of a green grid a catalogue of types that range from suburb to parkland to
dense forests and even to urban farmland (Hertweck and Marot, 2013), for Neutelings are thick elements
that have the dignity of patches, exactly as the historical centres. Nevertheless the concepts of the island and
the patch share the peculiarity of being intolerant of any subordination and hierarchical organisation [] in
constant tension between the need to engage in dialogue and its own individualities (Cacciari, 1997). This
anti-hierarchical character that links the islands, the patches, but also the cells in the Gloeden metropolis is
one of the fundamental peculiarity of the field and horizontal conditions. The presence of dominant centres
or nodes typical of the urban metaphor translated from mobility models such as the polycentric or
network cities is replaced by the juxtaposition of several equal elements20 in which also the historical
centres have to be considered as primus inter parens (first among equals)21.
Finally, another distinctive character of the patchwork should be highlighted. The Neutelings model shares
many similarities perhaps just by chance with the work of the American landscape ecologist Richard
TT Forman. Similarly to the Formans Land Mosaics (1995) and to other, more recent, Landscape Character
Assessment methods22, the Patchwork is able to mesh natural and human systems into a single model23.
Quite explicitly Neutelings stated Holland is, to be sure, made up of individual chunks of city, but there's virtually no network, all told
only one railway and one motorway stitch the fragments together. 'Corridor' - another official concept suggesting cohesion - is a
misleading word if ever there was one. All it boils down to here is a succession of enclaves along a motorway slip road that will never
develop into true urban axes. (Neutelings, 2000)
19 The parataxis (from Greek for 'act of placing side by side') is a literary technique that favours short sentences with the use of
coordinating rather than subordinating conjunctions. Fish, S., 2012. How to write a sentence: And how to read one. New York: Harpercollins.
20 At this regard see the brilliant way in which Stan Allen (1985) defined the field condition: any formal or spatial matrix capable of
identifying diverse elements while respecting the identity of each.
21 See the description of Paola Vigan of the Gloedens Diagram in Vigan, P., 2013. The Horizonthal Metropolis and Gloedens
Diagrams. Two Parallel Stories. Oase, 89, pp. 94-111.
22 At this regard see the research that Alexandra Tiesma et al. have developed about the different Landscape Character Assesment
methods in Tisma, A., van der Velde, R., Nijhuis, S., & Pouderoijen, M. (2013). A method for metropolitan landscape characterization;
case study Rotterdam. SPOOL, 1(1). doi:10.7480/spool.2013.1.637
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Figure 4: The genealogy of the patchwork. a-b-c: The relation between infrastructure and the part (a) the fragment (b) and the patch
(c); d: The patchwork; e: The carpet; f: The archipelago; g-h-i: The network system connected with the patchwork (g) the carpet (h) and
the archipelago. Source: Author own 2015.

The Patchwork, a Dutch story?24

In 1985 Dutt and Costa opened their study on Dutch planning as follows: The Netherlands is decidedly the
most planned country among the European nations. Only a few democracies of the world can match the
planning apparatus of the Dutch governments. Such a state of affairs is a product of circumstances created by
harsh environmental constraints, a challenging history, sociocultural forces, hard economic necessities, and
the size of the country (Dutt and Costa 1985). With this statement Dutt and Costa highlighted how the
Netherlands is an exceptional case study, barely comparable with any other reality. In this part of the paper I
will briefly pick some of the geographical and political peculiarities that influenced the territorial
configuration, shaping according to Neutelings the Patchwork Metropolis. Furthermore I will explain
how the Neutelingss intuition can be seen as a wider paradigmatic project, able to interpret some of the
transformations that the neoliberal revolution have produced, from the nineties on, in the European urban
environment.
From a patched geography to a segmented25 urbanisation
From a geographical and topographical point of view, the long and laborious struggle with the water wolf
bequeathed the country with more than dry feet. It became a source of moral inspiration throughout ages, a
fair body of lessons for life (Schama, 1988). The so depicted moral geography is inextricably bound to the
Dutch culture, society and territory and it is clearly represented with the peculiar geometrical pattern and
straight lines that compose the complex polder machine. The subdivision of the territory into several
hydrological entities is one of the first characteristics that can justify the creation of a patched urbanisation.
Firstly due to the fact that the operation of the territorial modification couldnt be handled by individual
23 It is important however to notice the distance between the sophisticated construction of the Formans Land Mosaic in which the
patches are combined with corridors and the unifying element of the matrix and the Patchwork metropolis, at least in its first conception.
If the first can be considered a paradigmatic construction able to interpret and guide the territorial transformation, the latter seems more
a lucid understanding of a condition, free from any will to improve it.
24 Some parts of this article, especially of the following chapter, have been developed thanks to the active contribution of Prof. Wil
Zonneveld, Chair of Urban and Regional Development, Department of Urbanism, TU Delft.
25 The term segmented is used by Van Der Cammen, et al. to indicate the post-war Dutch urbanisation composed by different districts
each with their own character and mutually separated by routes, city parks or a green belt. (Van Der Cammen, et al., 2012).

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activities the collective dimension, collaboration and democratic discussion are fundamental properties to
deal with a complex and unstable delta landscape. Secondly the new urbanisation often followed the polder
structure with a kind of flip-flop process, similar that described by Graham Shane in the transformation of
some former estates in London26.
Moreover the story and the evolution of the Dutch planning reveal that each stage has produced its own
planning theories and constructions, but also that some basic questions are constant and continuously
declined in different ways. Trough the many planning documents and policies the urban discussion in the
Netherlands has always been based on two fears. From one side the fear for the creation of a proper
metropolis is related with the problems of congestion and the banishment of the proximity between the
citizens and the natural environment that the production of large urban areas always involves. From the other
the sub-urbanisation has always been seen as a phenomenon to be prevented in order to safeguard the
blessed openness of the Dutch landscape.
Many schemes and policies have tried to find a balance between these two fears, from the J.P. Thijesse jr.s
linear city, proposed in 1957, to many national and provincial policy documents. In particular the Second
National Policy Document, developed in 1966 represents a kind of milestone in the explicit definition of the
direction that the Dutch planning would undertake in the following decades. Through the use of
diagrammatic schemes [fig.5], three possible urbanisation patterns were developed. The first two clarified, like
negative scenarios, the two fears expressed before: the urban concentration and the radical de-concentration.
In between, the clustered suburbanisation within the city regions became the leitmotif to promote the
creation of always mid-size green living environments.

Figure 5: The three national urbanisation patterns, according to the Second National Policy Document (1966). From left: urban
concentration, radical de-concentration, and the preferred solution: the clustered suburbanisation. Source: Van Der Cammen, et als.,
2012.

The clustered suburbanisation policy together with the concept of the neighbourhood units, that became
fashionable from the late forties with the Alexander Bos book The city of the Future, the Future of the
city27, gave the starting shape to a segmented urbanised territory, able to create an efficient arranged urban
fabric, offering easy spatial references to its inhabitants. Other national and provincial policies have
substantially slightly shifted the balance proposed by the Second Nota, but the foundation stone of the
patchwork was already laid.
After the Patchwork
The international relevance of the Patchwork project that will be clarified in the conclusions is
associated with a process that started in the late seventies with the second oil crises which is generally
regarded as the watershed moment that signalled the end of the centre-left Keynesian politics and the coming
of the age of the neo-liberal market concept (Van Der Cammen, et al., 2012). The national authority
program Bestek 81 with the slogan more market and less government28 and the 1982 first Lubbers cabinet
can be read as the official starting point of a process of deregulation, privatisation and public-private relations
that seems not jet finished. Also the Dutch pillarised29 society, in these years, started a process of complete
reorganisation: Central to this were not the big demographic categories such as the average family, the aged
or the singles, but the lifestyle of the consumers of space (Van Der Cammen, et al., 2012).
In such a social, cultural and economical environment Neutelings developed the project of the Patchwork
Metropolis in which he accepted the social, economic and physical limits and within them establish his own
margins (Vermuelen, 1991) starting to embrace and to foster the underlying premises of neoliberalism.
In order to understand the anticipatory capacity of the Patchwork project is necessary to look which policies
and transformations take place in Netherlands after the 1990. The supplement of the 4th policy of spatial
planning, released in 1991, proposed the creation of new housing developments called as the mother policy

See Rowe, C., 1978. Collage city. Chambridge: Mit Press

Bos, A., 1946. De stad der toekomst, de toekomst der stad: een stedebouwkundige en sociaal-culturele studie over de groeiende
stadsgemeenschap. Amsterdam: A. Voorhoeve
28 See Van Der Cammen, H., De Klerk, L., Dekker, G. and Witsen, P.P., 2012. The Selfmade Land. Culture and evolution of urban and
regional planning in The Netherlands. Antwerpen: Spectrum
29 The pillarisation is a term used to describe the organisation of the citizens according to the different religious and political identities.
26
27

422

 vinex30. The new neighbourhood, planned close to the main dense centre were meant to strengthen the
position and the economy of the main cities and were developed in the form of new patches isolated within
the network of infrastructure. For the decentralisation processes many responsibilities moved, for the first
time, to the local governments that, unable to deal with this responsibility, usually started long term contracts
with developers. This process, that produced more than 800.000 new dwellings in a decade, improved
tremendously the patched structure of the Randstad [fig.6] including not only new neighbourhoods, but also
peri-urban parks, business and commercial centres.
Drawn in 1989, the Patchwork Metropolis was able to reveal something that was not yet evident, showing the
constituent elements of the neoliberalism model. The way and the scale at which Neutelings looked and
represent the territory is extremely similar to the way in which big companies and big real estate enterprises
have also looked at it. The patches described by Neutelings as fixed entities, designed and constructed
once and for all have then become the standard formula to implements the urbanisation in a process that
cannot be limited just to the Netherlands. Clusters, islands, enclaves, gated communities or theme parks are
just some of the well-known expressions used to depict the process of creation of new patches all over the
world.

Figure 6: After the patchwork. The Patchwork Metropolis (Neutelings, 1989) and the change of inhabitant density between 2000 and
2014 (in red increase and in ciano decrease of the density). Source: CBS, Kaat met statistieken per vierkant van 100 bij 100 meter, 2014.
Author own 2015.

30 Acronym of Vierde Nota over de Ruimtelijke Ordening Extra published in 1991 as a completion of the Fourth Memorandum on Physical
Planning published in 1988

423

Conclusions
What is the point to study today a six pages long article developed in 1989 by a 30 years old architect? This
question obsessed the research since the beginning and periodically came back mining the stability and the
balance of the over whole work. To this question I will try to give here a brief answer:
Firstly the Neutelings project is a rich urban manifesto that worth to be inserted within the tradition of urban
models and metaphors that range from the Russian and American dis-urbanists to the Italian and English
radicals to the site-specific project of the sixties and seventies. The drawings and the montages are
expressive and fresh, the text is sharp and ironic, the attitude of the author is provocative and anti-rethoric.
All these characteristics build a fascinating object rich of explicit and implicit cross-references with many
important episodes of the history of urbanism.
Travelling through Holland after an absence of some months, one gets the feeling it's been touched by a
magic wand. Out of the blue theres a new wood here, a romantic district there, a gleaming business park
down the road. Dutch urbanism occurs in fits and starts, and in large chunks: entire areas are transformed
and fixed forever in one fell swoop (Neutelings, 2000). The second relevant aspect of the Patchwork
Metropolis is that was able to hit with a clear a synthetic language one of the crucial aspects to
understand the process that has guided the Dutch urbanisation. At least from the fifties, what have been
designed and produced in the Netherlands are mainly patches. Therefore the history of the Dutch planning
can be explained as the story of the creation of different patches and the art to arrange them into the multicoloured patchwork displayed by Neutelings.
The third point, connected with the previous one, is that the patchwork soon became a very influential figure
and a reference point for a generation of young architects and public servants accustomed to see the Dutch
urbanisation as a series of dense urban centres displaced into a rural land. Indeed Neutelings was one of the
first to display the more complex condition of the Dutch territory overcoming one of the dogmas that have
guided and apparently is still guiding the official planning practice. This point is testified by the fact
that even in 2014 25 years after its development one of the atelier of the IABR 201431 was entitled
Tapijtmetropool quoting and explicitly referring to the 1989 project.
Neutelings manages to approach the task he is set with an open mind. He accepts the social, economic and
physical limits and within them establish his own margins. (Rodermond et als., 1991) This passage of the
Maaskants prize jury report subsumed the last reason, maybe the most relevant, to study the Patchwork
Metropolis today. The Netherlands during the late eighties faced a process of important shifts, passing from
being one of the most planned (Dutt and Costa, 1985) and one of the most advance welfare state of Europe
to a neoliberal and market oriented country. Even if this passage was not as dramatic as other realities, the
results are visible in the nowadays planning infrastructure and in the territorial configuration. Within this
context, Neutelings started to embrace the underlying premises of neoliberalism, defining the scale and the
procedure at which the urbanisation would take place, not only in the Netherlands.
According to what just stated it is possible to pose a final hypothesis. If it is true that the neoliberalism is a
global phenomena and that large part of the planning discussion is still attached to the concept of the
compact city in which the last piece of open territory can be sacrificed for the sake of a sustainable and
compact new development it is possible to conclude that the parts of cities and territories that we are
building today32 at least in Europe can be can be interpreted as new patches and that The Netherlands
due to various geographic, historical and planning reasons appeared in 1989 just few steps ahead in this
process.
Should the patchwork then be interpreted as a paradigm, as a sophisticated and coherent system of thinking?
The answer to this question should be no, or not yet. The author was lucidly able to depict a changing
process that invested the urban practice in between the end of the XX and the beginning of the XXI
centuries and he did nothing more than to develop this simple intuition to its extreme consequence avoiding
any moralistic outlet. Here two different research directions can be opened. From one side the studies of the
Metropolitan archipelagos33 and large scale urban projects34 are becoming always more popular in the
European scientific literature fostering the research of the process and dimension of the neoliberal urbanism
of which Neutelings should be identified as a pioneer. From the other the already mentioned connection
between the patchwork and the landscape ecology can offer the possibility to implement the structure
depicted by Neutelings paving the way to a more complete and sophisticated urban paradigm.
I am referring to the IABR Project Atelier BrabantStad, set up in 2013 by the IABR in alliance with the Province of North Brabant,
BrabantStad (the municipalities of s-Hertogenbosch, Eindhoven, Tilburg, Breda, and Helmond) and the water boards of North Brabant,
to look for the opportunities that lie hidden in Brabants urban tapestry. The design research was carried out by Architecture Workroom
Brussels, Floris Alkemade Architect and LOLA Landscape Architects.
32 Actually after the financial crises of 2008 the neoliberal thinking has been openly and strongly criticised and the process of large urban
project has been subjected to a remarkable slowdown. However at the moment the creation of new patches seems to the author still a
very relevant practice of urbanisation in the European reality.
33 See Indovina, F., 2009. Dalla citt diffusa all'arcipelago metropolitano. Milano: Franco Angeli
34 See Carmona, M., 2009. Planning through Projects: Moving from Master Planning to Strategic Planning - 30 Cities. Amsterdam: Techne Press.
31

424

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Re-orienting the horizontal.

Welfare figures and discourses around Brussels (1960-2015).
Verena Lenna

IUAV + KU Leuven
Promoters: Prof. Paola Vigan, Prof. Bruno De Meulder
Expected thesis defence: March, 2017
verenalenna@hotmail.com
The welfare state has been one of the machineries through which horizontality had the possibility to shape our societies
and the space of our cities. In principle welfare state is in fact the result of a negotiation between labour and the capital
with the main purpose of redistributing richness and making the reproduction-production balance possible. Based on the
premise of a fully employed society, it promised the eradication of poverty and disaffiliation, more for shame than for an
ideal of social justice.
In Belgium the purpose of horizontality was in a sense literally expressed also in spatial terms: the quest for a different
form of living, perceived as a right and as the minimum reward in exchange of the amount of labour time led to the
horizontal expansion of an industrial centre as Brussels. Owning a single family house became part of the grammar of
living. But if on the one hand this represented a conquest for the working classes, on the other hand it responded to
purposes of control and of political legitimation of catholic, socialist and liberal elites, afraid of the increasing
concentration of working classes in the cities. It was expression of an anti-urban attitude which in parallel fuelled the
organization of a society of consumption and an urbanism mainly grabbed on to the infrastructural development.
The progressive dismantlement of the waged society started at the beginning of the 80s revealed the false premises at the
origin of the welfare state and their consequences. The spatial horizontality generated in the years of the golden age,
resulted in isolated homogeneous neighborhoods and in the functionalisation of the city. At the center of the urban
movements of the end of 60s and 70s were in fact homologation and the loss of urbanity.
At present, while the welfare state is increasingly being dismantled, the current economic situation prompts criticism but
also a number of experiments addressing alternative economic logics and socio-spatial configurations. The forms of
welfare thus elaborated -not yet welfare state- seem to articulate a different interpretation of the concept of horizontality.
The Community Land Trust developed in Brussels (CLTB) is one of these experiments. As it is clear that the housing
question is a false question, in a sense embedding and mirroring this consideration it can be argued that the CLT projects
do not simply provide new dwelling units. This case study reveals and confirms the emergence of new values and the
related spatiality at the core of a new welfare and the urbanity which could correspond to that. They could eventually lead
to a radical critique of the premises of the welfare state machinery implemented by western society: work as the
fundamental, exclusive requirement to access to the system of rights and protections.
The first and second part of the paper describe the spatial transformations of Brussels as a result of the economic
ambitions of the city, already clear by the end of the 50s and supported at political level. From the golden age to the
financial turn of capitalism: through the years, the shifting attention and the camouflaging of the housing, the social and
the urban questions -clearly rooted in the welfare strategy- and their continuous elaboration, as a result of debates, urban
actions and movements, will give a glimpse of the prevailing discourses, their manipulations as well as the dominant
figures which anyhow made power and counter-power dialogue and confront. This resulted in more or less shared
processes of transformation of the city, dealing with urgent urban issues, but has also distracted from other fundamental
issues concerning the loss of urbanity, the increasing inaccessibility of opportunities as a condition of an increasingly
polarized city.
The third paragraph will introduce the case study of the Community Land Trust of Brussels. Far from being
homogeneous their projects actually are implemented and successful in relation to very specific groups of users, thus
encouraging a pluralistic approach. Besides, differently from other contemporary anti-urban situations, the CLTB
approach affirms a pro-urban attitude, aiming at (re)making pieces of city and not merely contributing to solve the
housing issue of exclusive communities. In the fourth paragraph, the process of making places is introduced as the core
of this case study, fundamental as the condition empowering social mobility and the movement of social change,
eventually re-orienting the horizontal axis of the welfare and welfare state.

The golden cage of the waged society

In the industrialized countries of western Europe it is by the 60s that the welfare state reached an almost
utopic equilibrium: the redistribution of resources and opportunities was possible as sustained by the postwar
growing economies. From that peak its limits could have been foreshadowed, unless blurred by the faith in an
greater good of an internationalizing project and in the stability of a territorialized compromise between
productive and reproductive forces.
In those years, in Brussels the industrial engine was still fueling urbanization in the form of extensive and
intensive solutions to the housing question: a growing number of inhabitants was encouraged to move to the
greener periphery, where garden cities were progressively surrounded by the allotments of single family
dwellings especially conceived for the middle class 1. All around (Swenarton, Avermaete, Van den Heuvel
2015): schools, hospitals and recreative centers were realized according to the programs of a pillarised
1 From 1955 and aspecially in the late 60s social housing projects were increasingly embedded in rough, low quality interventions of
urban renovation, mostly concerning the poorest parts of the city center. Mostly high rise buildings were realized after the end of 50s.
Though the years however social housing interventions were realized also in the first crown, in consideration of the increasing cost of the
land. (Vandermotten 1986)

426

political system, thus organizing the biorhythms of thousands of people, seduced by the access to a still
rudimental though booming world of consumption and by the beauty of their gardens.
Hence, the transformations happening in the city center were not attracting the attention of these citizens. In
a society increasingly educated and spatially convinced to individualism urbanity was being increasingly
deprived of any spatial reference, of any social not to say political drive. Those transformations were a
problem for a minority, for the low income families evicted in order to make room to the future: more than
the tertiarization, the marketization of the city
The Manhattan Plan presented in 1963 was not even the first step of such process, which could be dated
back to 1958 when, after the Treaties of Rome, Belgium committed to provide a full range of new buildings
for the installation of the administrative departments of the European Institutions (Elmhorn 2001). The
reaction of civil society involving citizens, activists and intellectuals to the brutal transformation of the
neighborhood of Gare du Nord was not strong enough and the concerned inhabitants were paying a too
small amount of taxes to have an influence. Their voice was anyhow too weak to put into discussion a system
undeniably able to provide security to the greatest number. A consistent number of families was obliged to
leave their house and the new promised dwellings were never realized.
The social question and the housing question as part of it seemed in fact to have been considerably
contained, almost disappeared in the regime of protections established during the so called Golden Age. And
in fact at the center of the movements and contestations which started to proliferate by the end of the 60s
and continued during the 70s there was the refusal of the mechanical functionalisation of the city and its
inhabitants to the pure economic reason of capitalism. The main issue was the instrumentalization of the city,
the manipulation of the process of urbanization and the related loss of urbanity. It became clear that control
and homologation were the prices to pay in addition to work to have access to the state provided forms
of protection and security. Nevertheless, the welfare state machinery was criticized not for its role or, in other
words, for the necessary liberation from traditional forms of protection and injustice inherited from the past:
it was attacked for the technocratic approach and for the depoliticisation of society this produced. The 60s
were concluded by the vigorous movements claiming for an increased responsabilization of the social actors
anesthetized by the bureaucratic forms of management of the welfare state (Castel 1995).
Despite in a few years the fundamental issues would have been revealed to be of economical and social
nature, the urban uneasiness of those years were conceptualised by the debates of the 60 and 70s as an urban
question 2 not a social question especially focusing on the cadre de vie, which was supposed to present the
required qualities for the social and the political life to unfold. Main forms of manifestation were the fights of
civil society against functional urbanism; but also ecological attitudes 3, developed in many forms and
addressing many different scales of the urban development. The inadequacy of the cadre de vie and the related
environmental issues in 1971 motivated a small group of inhabitants to formulate the Enteinte pour la qualit de
l'environment, at the origin of the urban platform Interenvironnment from which three years later, in 1974
Interenvironment Bruxelles was created 4.
It necessarily had to be an urban question, the social and housing questions having been substantially
minimized by the machinery of a fully employed society, without poverty, vagabonds and inutiles
contradicting the validity of the system. What appeared as most urgent and inacceptable was the disruption of
the political character of the city, dismantled by demolitions, evictions, functionalist allotments, speculation,
meaningless participation, segregation 5. The seductive promises of single family house, by concentrating the
middle class in homogeneous neighborhoods far from the city centers, contributed to this process: in 1974
the exodus towards the periphery was continuing at the pace of 10.000 inhabitants per year (Vandermotten
1986).
The deeper reasons at the basis of the processes of urban disruption the same at the origin of the housing
question still in the second half of the seventies were not perceived as structural or urgent enough to
articulate a more radical critique to capitalism, obfuscated by the inertial persistence of a whole system of
guarantees and protections 6.

2 "Cette irruption du qualitatif a travers le theme de la ville posait done la question du statut des luttes urbaines au regard des luttes
syndicales (sontelles secondaires, illusoires, associees ... ?), mais, plus generalement, du phenomene urbain par rapport a la theorie de
!'exploitation et de la lutte des classes, ce dont les geniteurs n'avaient pas dit grandchose si l'on excepte un petit opuscule d'Engels sur la
'question du logement'". Donzelot 1999
3 Thus shifting the problem towards the middle class, responsibilizing it for the ecological consequences of their lifestyles gave the
possibility to the political class to create a solvable problem thus replacing other unsolvable problems and to undertake feasible
programs, thus legitimizing their role and empowering their credibility.
4 "Bruxelles est alors appele 'la ville aux 100 comits de quartiers'. De nombreux habitants se mobilisent localement pour dfendre leur
ville face linvasion des bureaux et des parkings, la construction des tours, aux travaux lourds des routes et des mtros" (Nalpas,
2015)
5 When in 1969 ARAU (Atelier de Recherche et action Urbaine) was created in Brussels their Manifesto claimed : "La ville est le symbole
de la vie collective. Cest un lieu o doit vivre la dmocratie, cestdire o doivent exister dautres relations que celle de la
subordination". (Nalpas, 2015)
6 "les dispositifs paritaires de garantie engageant la responsabilit de l'Etat permettaient encore de penser qu'il existait un quasi droit
l'emploi, au moment mme o la situation commenait se dgrader". (Castel 1995)

427

While the State was especially investing in the construction of big infrastructures and in the realization of
building offices, the residential neighborhoods of the first crown were quickly decaying 7. So, when the dream
started to fade away it revealed a declined city center, deprived of healthy social dynamics and resources,
where restorations were claimed especially by the growing urban movements of contestation and comits
d'habitants 8originated already by the end of the 60s 9.
The illusion of a fully employed society giving access to a redistribution of resources and opportunities, made
true by the unique synergy of factors converging in the years of the golden age lasted a short period of time.
Certainly enough for the waged society to improve the condition of the working class and expand the range
of protections and rights 10, though perhaps only partially. Or better: what was painfully gained was no more
than an unavoidable compromise with what at that time represented the main labour force, thus necessarily
obliging to recognize rights and share a portion of an increasing richness. But that compromise was organized
in a way to control social mobility and to prevent the organization of urban movements, fueling the
reasonable doubt that ultimate purpose of the negotiations was more fear then sense of justice: it was the
need to keep under control thousands of workers (Vandermotten 1986) needing a dream in order to fully
embrace their condition.
A period of time long enough. though, for the unfolding of the necessary spatial orchestrations: the
materialization of a golden cage from which it became clear what urbanity means, what is at stake for
society and for individuals and what could be lost, even or especially when in a dystopic or utopic
projection the housing and social questions are depicted and perceived as solved or not urgent, hiding the
fragility of the system, the deeper motivations of change. The capacity of the city to make society, to fuel
movement and social mobility, to engender critique and resistance, to empower people at a social and at an
individual level was being progressively dismantled by installing individualism and consumerism as facets of
the same religion. Urban space was a too dangerous occasion for the subversive organization of the citizens,
a too precious resource for the plans of tertiarization of the city.
The day after its achievement, the fragile equilibrium of the waged society was already history, blurred by the
oil crisis of 1973 and the rising number of unemployed people again in the streets to menace the stability of
the system, again, as vagabonds in the society of middle ages, manifesting the return of the old irreducible
problem of desaffilis (Castel 1995).
Deterritorialisation, detachment, disaffiliation
From the beginning of the 80s the neoliberal system started to gain ground, blowing away the miraculous
socio-economic equilibrium reached in the 60s: "le dynamiques de production et reproduction commencent a
ne plus correspondre au domaine territorial de la ville. Qui au mme temps, est utilis dans sa totalit comme
support des dynamiques d'une nouvelle economie speculative" (Donzelot 1999).
In Brussels, determined to become a world city, this process manifested as an increasing tertiarization and
internationalization. The fragility of the premises and of the compromise on which the welfare system was
funded was certainly laid bare by the changing economic profile but that was not the only test bed: "the
restructuring of the State (including a redistribution of responsibilities between the federal level and the
regions) and the severe financial problems of the State led to a housing crisis that dominated the 1980s. The
decrease in investments concerned both public and private sector. There was a spectacular decrease in new
construction (private as well as public), a rapid rise in rents and the revival of slum landlordism" (De Decker
2004).
In the capital the situation was further dramatized by the unbalanced distribution of social housing, the 64%
being concentrated in the second crown where the land became increasingly cheaper , while the demand
was especially high in the city center. The availability of low cost houses was additionally reduced by the
renovation interventions, fostered by different decrees with the result of increasing the costs of land and
dwelling units. Forms of segregation and poverty, despite having in the housing question the most blatant
manifestation, were mostly emerging as the result of the progressive shrinking of the industrial activity and
the consequent growing unemployment, clearly related to the economical shift in course. This was particularly
tangible in the city center where the paradox of poverty and increasing tertiarization deprived neighborhoods
of their social liveliness.
Once the promise of full employment and the protections of the welfare state were dismantled by the
territorial fragmentation of production, by the atomization of work forces and their capacities, the social
question necessarily reemerged. The crisis of the waged society fueled by the neoliberal turn of economy
in fact was and is at the core and at the origin of the crisis of the welfare state, mining labour as the premise
of the social compromise required to safeguard the economical machinery. The poorest neighborhoods of the

Secrtariat rgional au dveloppement urbain, 2007.

Inhabitants were especially encouraging only light forms of interventions, in order to prevent rents from increasing. (Noel)
9 The social tensions this situation was creating were addressed only in 1977, with the first royal decree rnovation dlots (especially
conceived for Brussels Capital region).
10 though, as Castel highlights salaries never raised enough. Despite the promises, in the case of France "l'evolution des salaries de 1950
1975 montre que les disparities sont restes peu pres constants , avec plutot une tendence se creuser ". (Castel 1995)
7
8

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city became easy objects of stigmatization and the discourses on ghettoisation and segregation were often
politically manipulated to authorize urban renovations, which should have led to greater mixit.
Despite a well defined economical trajectory was at the origin of this social and spatial uneasiness, of course
that was never under discussion still substantiated by the creed in an indefinite growth and the promises of
redistribution; despite the crisis of 1979 and 1987 11, still in 1989 the year in which the regional structure was
finally achieved, asking for a redefinition of responsibilities and policies the housing question was on the
agenda, once again. But the approach being proposed was clearly fostering the strategy of urban development
pursued by the newborn capital region, in other words the continuation of the internationalization ambitions
dating back to the 50s (Zimmer 2002). Actually, given the ambition to shift from the regional to the
European level the city needed to perform at the best of its possibilities simultaneously on many different
fronts, balancing the economical extroversion with the quality of the urban space 12. So in 1993 while Contracts
de Quartier were being launched with the purpose of reclaiming neighborhoods as devices to address and
contain the social issues, the demolition works for a new Quartier Midi started despite the protests on the
inhabitants 13.
The rising attention towards the social issues generated by situations of spatial degradation, marginality or
concentration of poverty changed the quality of the debates and of the forms of activation of civil society,
which more than abandoning the critique of the big urban projects, started to tackle their complexity in
relation to new emerging themes, such as: the disappearance of the industrial production, particularly visible
in the city center; the urgency of urban renovation; the growing unemployment and poverty with the related
forms of exclusion these generated.
The urban fights of the 60s and 70s lost their pregnancy both for the disappearance of the class question and
for the territorial disruption that the postfordist economy was engendering, in fact invalidating any discourse
about the functionalisation of the city for economical reason.
At their place the so called urban disorders or emeutes urbains multiplied, isolated gestures dictated by rage,
distrust and insecurity happening in the peripheries of the cities and in its most marginalized situations.
According to Donzelot this phenomenon is not in fact totally unrelated from the emergence of what he
defines urbanisme affinitaire (Donzelot, 1999), with this expression meaning the urbanism of gated communities
and of all those urban configurations which result from the choice of living within kindred and/or
homogeneous groups of citizens, not from a predetermined functionalisation of urban space. At the origin of
both, some form of urban secession has to be recognized, the refusal of the condition of uselessness of a
growing number of individuals, which the hegemonic system always feared for its destabilizing power. Refusal
of those who do not want to belong and refusal of those who do not want to see.
In Brussels around the half of the 90s the debate of civil society was thus polarized between environmental
and urban topics, between periphery and city center. In addition to the usual thematic and community based
associations, a militant attitude emerged: concerned by the urban condition and involved in a new wave of
actions, are not only specialist but also non affiliated, common citizens 14. This originated a new generation of
urban movements, coexisting with and influencing some of the most contemporary forms of urban activation
in Brussels. Working as platforms to facilitate the cooperation and the encounter of different actors, these
collectives somehow questioned the distance between the different forms of expertise required in the making
of the city, confusing the roles of the client and the technician.
The progression of tertiarization and the demographic evolution of the city in the last years worsened both
social and spatial emergencies. Despite from 1989 the housing question, employment and patterns of
economical development are treated as three strictly connected issues and represent a main political node for
the Region of Brussels (Zimmer 2002), the financial system seems unable to correctly ponder the economic
dynamism of the region with the difficulties deriving from its territorial limitations and the growing
concentration of a fragile population.
In an increasingly polarized city, magnet of poverty in Belgium (Kesteloot 2009) still today the urgency of
housing is not only about the mismatch between offer and demand, but reveals in fact the state of inequality
of a growing number of citizens, whose rights and opportunities at an individual and social level continue

After the financial crack of 19 October 1987, the main form of investments was on real estates and housing units became object of a
speculative market, which resulted in a reduced availability or in an unsustainable increase of prices, especially for the housing units
located in the city center, given the fact that their value could have been increased by renovation interventions, at that time multiplying in
the city center. Besides, the acquisition of a house unit was strongly encouraged by the low cost or higher accessibility of loans. (Bruxelles
en Mouvement, Octobre 1989).
12 The latter being necessary for the former anyhow, according to the research on reflexivity by Elmhorn.
13 Concerning the production of social housing, from the financial point of view, Brussels was certainly penalised by the federal
configuration of power and competencies, especially in consideration of the actual wealth and the positive externalities its attractiveness
created (and creates) for the rest of the country. And this did not help to increase housing availability, nor to recover the debt situation
created in the 80s. But it is also true that investments continued to privilege the projection of the city on the international stage more
than new housing projects.
14 Among the first cases, exemplary was the occupation of Hotel Central, squatted and transformed in a cultural/recreational center ,
emulating many similar cases in other European cities. Militant initiatives have often obtained the support of two main associative
institutions, BRAL and IEB, which in this way partially reclaimed a counterhegemonic role restricted by the forms of collaboration with
the regional institutions. (Nalpas 2015)
11

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to be strictly related to the validation of precarity as a category for the confirmation of the hegemonic
configuration of power.
Making places
It is on the background of these conditions that in one of the poorest municipalities of Brussels the
experiment of a cooperative housing formula has been developed. After the success of the project Espoir, a
cooperative housing project for 14 numerous families with financial difficulties, inaugurated in Molenbeek in
2010 15, a few members of the Maison de Quartier Bonnevie decided to further develop the experiment by
implementing a community land trust. A community land trust is a no profit organization with the mission to
acquire and to manage the land in ownership towards the improvement of the social, economical and
environmental interests of a local community. The land and the built units are made available to realize and to
provide affordable housing to low income households, both by selling or by renting them 16.
The formula has been successfully implemented in the United States: the Champlain Hosing Trust (created
in 1984 in Burlington), in 2009 had 1,500 apartments, 440 owner-occupied homes and 15 commercial
buildings. In Europe, the CLT formula is well-known in United Kingdom, London in particular. The CLTB
of Brussels represents the first case of the continental Europe. Constituted in 2013, the CLTB is a no profit
association supported by Brussels Capital Region whose purpose is to help low to lowmiddle income
families to access home ownership.
The first project of the CLT will be realized in rue Verheyden, in a three storey building which will be
renovated to create 7 apartments, differently designed according to the needs of the households, an urban
kitchen garden, a childrens playground, a space for offices and other neighbourhood activities.
The possibility to finally become owners of their own house is probably the most important factor pushing
these families to engage in a cooperative formula. This is not only the echo of a long lasting, deeply installed
dream, reinforced by the memory of its not too far, actual materialization. It is especially the basic condition
for whole life projects to become true. A condition paradoxically made possible by a collective effort: the
single apartments are cheaper because the land is owned by the whole community, it cannot be bought, nor
sold. The house ownership is made possible by the constitution of a commons and of a community:
individuals are thus empowered by the collective character of the project.
A condition unlocking mobility as the possibility of individuals to change their status, to build their lives, to
feel and act as citizens. A whole set of values is actually related to the concept of homeownership, which
explains the strength of this dream at a cultural and unconscious level. It is mainly about the relationship
between rootedness and mobility: the more strong links individuals have the possibility to build, the more
their weak links could multiply and provide them with opportunities and occasions to realize their projects
and to become part of the social fabric. Perhaps as the essence of a truly horizontal society, the ownership of
a house empowers action and movement at an individual and social level, being based on a sense of
belonging; it motivates to care about the whole neighborhood and, from that local dimension of
empowerment, to act as citizens, independently from the right to vote. Additionally, for many low income
families owning a house is also a way to secure the future of their children, especially in times of frozen
economical growth (Piketty 2013)
The risk of an urban secession inherent to this sort of experiments could easily be avoided by revisiting the
paradigm of mixit, often too quickly condemned in the name of gentrification and the consequent urban
displacements. In the medium-long term, Community Land Trusts could evolve towards larger scales,
bringing together families belonging to different income thresholds, which not only would increase the
financial sustainability of the projects, but would also encourage the inclusion of the most fragile individuals.
Immediately, mixit could be activated simply by the porous use of the space, challenging urban design to
provide the occasion for the sharing of activities, the encounter of differences, the unfolding of conflicts.
Despite their small scales, the projects of the Community Land Trust already tend to materialize the ambition
to intersect private, collective and public rhythms, making places out of space, thus reclaiming that sense of
urbanity which is quintessentially about movement - social and individual- as the possibility of (continuous)
change, so difficult to recreate in many segregating or elective peripheries of the European city, resulting from
clear antimovement purposes.

Politeia

As it is clear that the housing question is a false question, in a sense learning from and mirroring this
consideration it can be argued that the CLT projects do not simply provide new dwelling units. The case
study of the CLT reveal and confirm the emergence of new values and the related spatiality at the core of a
new welfare and the urbanity which could correspond to that. Eventually they could lead to a radical critique
of the premises of the welfare state machinery implemented by western society: work as the fundamental,
exclusive requirement to access to the system of rights and protections.

15
16

http://espoirmolenbeek.blogspot.it/search/label/habitants%20%7C%20bewoners
http://www.cltb.be/

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Social mobility and the movement of social change: it is in these strictly related directions that two main
contributions of these projects can be seized. As mentioned, the first is made possible thanks to the unique
combination of property formula, spatial organization and the process of implementation which, by
empowering strong and weak links, supports the development of individual projects, but also their
embedding in larger social movements.
By nourishing the roots of citizenship, by engendering the refusal of homologation and isolation, social
mobility is at the origin of the emergence of a state of plurality, of the multiplication of initiatives and urban
experiments. The real value of the CLT projects could not be appreciated without enlarging the view, without
observing at a larger scale the proliferation of these initiatives everywhere, their variety and necessarily their
specificity. It is the entirety of this mosaic of civic activations to suggest the form of the next welfare: plural
and collective, a collage made possible by the inherent, unorganized organicism of its parts to coexist, to
conflict, to complement each other 17.
After the fights of the 60s and 70s, concerned with the quality of the cadre de vie; after the disorders of the 80s
and 90s denouncing the progressive loss of the capacity of the city to make society; in the last ten to fifteen
years a plethora of renewed forms of spontaneous, unmediated appropriations are reclaiming the space of
the city as generator of opportunities, thus reaffirming the quintessential nature of urban environments.
Different from what we knew as urban movements, different from disorders, often activated by the civil
society, sometimes able to involve institutions: these initiatives perhaps simply represent the necessary
unfolding of change as a basic form and the result of an healthy political activity; prompted by the
spontaneous activation of citizens as individuals empowered and enabled to create the specific conditions of
living they need to evolve and grow at best of their potentialities. The state could intervene with an
infrastructural, supportive role, in order to organize the synergy of the different projects and the
redistribution of resources.
At the center of these projects, beyond the material reclamation of space, places need to be constituted,
through processes of appropriation that require time and relational investment; processes that incarnate
horizontality as a condition of accessibility to opportunities, of continuous change for both individuals and
society, where cohesion is created through the encounter of diversities.
At the core of a new tat social , horizontality is perhaps an utopic condition, by definition needing to be an
unreachable order, so to make possible the continuous re-articulation of power configurations. It would thus
assume the form of the undefined and unstable combination of experiments and actions of any kind, those
failing and those succeeding, those finishing and disappearing and those just at their beginning. Politeia could
be an interesting concept to be explored in order to recover this state of active citizenship (Balibar 2012),
suffocated by the false dream of an horizontal society based on control, on biopolitical devices -as the
categories of welfare state are- on the compensation of inequalities- instead than on the empowerment of
equality, on the disruption of the spatial and political premises of urbanity.
Almost paradoxically, precarity, by coming back after or perhaps thanks to the dismantlement of the waged
society and the welfare state, is reactivating this lost state of molecular activation of society.
So while the obligation to solidarity is increasingly weak the labour class having lost the power of
negotiation an equal access to opportunities is not only reclaimed, but still, again, imposed by the neoliberal
game of competition (Donzelot 2008), by the need to impede the installation of any radical alternative.
But places, at the center of the projects for social cohesion, almost by definition fuel the encounter and the
synergy between diversities; by definition they engender alternative and complementary forms of
productivity, alternative ways of making the world. The manipulation of the social question and of the
discourse on inclusion and exclusion nowadays needs to be then irresistibly, dangerously connivent with the
generation of alternatives, as the ultimate strategy of inclusion, camouflaged by the empowerment of
individuals. The radical shift these alternatives are called to generate, taking advantage of the condition of
experimentation and self improvement preached by the religion of competition, is the installation of different
systems of values, leading to the refusal of work as the only, exclusive condition for the establishment of a
system of protection and rights; the refusal of precarity as the device created to legitimize that system and de
facto to immobilize and to control millions of individuals.

A wider research should actually focus on this variable proliferation, with the purpose of learning about the relations and
complementarities these experiments could establish and could create with each other. The fear to seize the signs of an urban secession
would be compensated by the possibility to speculate and start to envision new forms of redistribution of resources, new ecologies, new
forms of knowledge.

17

431

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Unlocking the potential of collective spaces in the peri-urban condition.

Defining a theoretical framework and exploring intervention strategies
for the horizontal metropolis: the case of South-West Flanders.
Gheysen Maarten

Faculty of architecture, KU Leuven, Belgium

Prof Dr Kris Scheerlinck, supervisor, kris.scheerlinck@kuleuven.be
Expected thesis defence: June 2019
maarten.gheysen@kuleuven.be
In the understanding of (Western) urbanization patterns, collective space is essential. Collective spaces are not strictly
public or private, but both simultaneously. These are public spaces that are used for private activities, or private spaces
that allow for collective use, and they include the whole spectrum in between. Collective spaces form a key element in
urban design and planning.
The notion of Western urbanity in urban design and planning changed radically over the last decades, shifting from a
dichotomous urban-rural model towards the paradigm of the horizontal metropolis. This horizontal metropolis has
particular assets, contrasting with the traditional urban models.
However, when analysing the theoretical frameworks and reference projects of peri-urbanity or the horizontal metropolis,
one can notice the absence of an adapted reflection on the specificity of collective space.
This research aims to define a framework and strategies to articulate spatially the constituent collective spaces and add
value to the peri-urban condition.

The overwhelming daily of collective spaces in the horizontal metropolis

Spiere is situated in South-West Flanders and contains a set of typical Flemish elements: a crossing of two
main roads, a church, various typologies of individual ground based houses and some smaller businesses.
Housing 1162 inhabitants, this small settlement was formed on a sandy hump in-between the river Scheldt
and a small creek called Spierebeek. The first settlement traces date back to 4400 AC. However, Spiere is not
an exception: the spatial development of (South-West) Flanders was not limited by topographical or
hydrological restraints and the combination with a fertile soil made it possible to open up the territory early in
history (De Meulder & Dehaene, 2001). This resulted in strong sprawled patchwork pattern combining small
towns and municipalities, farms, housing, factories in a seemingly random configuration. This refers to the so
called horizontal metropolis (Secchi, 2013) or peri-urban (INSEE Premire, 2009) condition that
characterizes the region. Although strongly contradicting the model of a compact and dense city, the
sprawled patchwork pattern offers high living qualities and proximity but also mobility problems and
environmental issues.
Spiere merged with Helkijn in 1977 and as a result of this, a new centrality (nieuw centrum) was developed,
combining all governmental/public functions on a site adjunct to the buildup tissue of Spiere but already inbetween the 2 municipalities. On this site a town hall, sports hall, crche and primary school with 400
scholars is organized.

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Figure 1: Aerial of Spiere showing (1) the old centrum', (2) Robeceynplein, (3) the nieuw centrum , (4) the creek, (5) the
river Scheldt, (6) the castle, Mid-scaled Orthophotomosaic, AGIV 2014

When describing the collective spaces Spiere includes (de Sol-Morales, 1992) (Bijlsma & Groenland, 2006)
(Scheerlinck, 2013), one is overwhelmed by the ordinary character of these environments. The historical
center is formed by the crossing of two roads, nowadays a mixture of heavy traffic, over-dimensioned parking
areas, an empty grocery and an overload of traffic signs and marks.
!

Figure 2: The historical centrum of Spiere, a space dedicated to mobility, Maarten Gheysen 2015

!
In the 1990s the creek next to the church was covered to create a square called Robeceynplein. In contrast
with one would assume at first hand, the square hardly functions as collective space but rather as a functional
commodity, in this case a bus terminal.

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Figure 3: Robeceynplein, a vast surface of cobblestone used a bus terminal, Studio 015 2015

Also the nieuw centrum is a context, defined by purely functional motives and is exclusively car-oriented.
The central axis in the plan is organized as a car parking, the area is not accessible for pedestrians. The
collection of buildings surrounding the central axis is placed without any relationship among each other and
with the public domain.

Figure 4: the 'nieuw centrum', a car oriented environment surrounded by public functions, Maarten Gheysen 2015

Redundant infrastructures
Throughout its history, Spiere underwent a series of infrastructural adaptations: the canalization of the
Zwarte Spierebeek (1840), the canalization of the river Scheldt and the construction of different locks (18731892-1920-1974), a new main street (1905), re-arrangement of the creek (1960), a new bridge over the canal
(1974) and finally the covering of the creek and the construction of the Robeceynplein (1990). The constant
rewriting, adapting and constructing of these infrastructures left traces in the territory. A range of redundant
infrastructures is literally visible on site. These redundant infrastructures include the former trace of the main
road, the dry valley of the creek or the abandoned road to the vanished bridge. The redundant infrastructures
are afterwards incorporated in the pavement, reworked as farmland or adapted as car parking. In [figure 2]
one clearly sees on the left hand side the former trace and on the right hand side the new trace of the main
road. Nevertheless they all lack a satisfactory answer to their new status and give expression of a state of
uneasiness.

435

Figure 5: the former canal crossing (r) now ending abruptly and the new canal crossing (l) resulting in a redundant
infrastructure, Maarten Gheysen 2015

The lack of an updated discours

In recent discourses on transformation of contemporary cities in a European context, the dichotomy between
urban and rural has been replaced by a new paradigm of peri-urbanity or the horizontal metropolis.
However, if urban growth models, that were based on the design and use of collective space as its main
organizing principle, have been replaced by models of growth and transformation as part of a horizontal
metropolis, how has this affected the way we perceive, design and use collective spaces?
Since the horizontal metropolis occupies large parts of the Flemish territory the relevance of this question is
meaningful.
When analyzing the theoretical frameworks and reference projects of peri-urbanity one can notice the
absence of an adapted reflection on the specificity of collective space in the horizontal metropolis.
Nolli and the particilarity of collective spaces in a horizontal metropolis
Since Nolli (Nolli, 1692-1756) drew his well-known map of Rome, this drawing technique has been widely
used to represent public-private and built-unbuilt relationships. When making a Nolli Map of Spiere,
immediately one of the particularities of the horizontal metropolis is showcased: a limit in mass and the
absence of articulated spaces.
Only at the historical cross-section of the roads a minor articulated space can be found. The rest of the
territory (including the new centrality) is completely without mass or articulated spaces. It is clear that in our
way of reading the horizontal metropolis or peri-urban condition the known vocabulary is not applicable.

436

Figure 6: Map of Spiere after Nolli, Maarten Gheysen 2015

The horizontal metropolis has particular assets: a lack of density, reduced budgets for intervention, no clear
need for program, a reduced pedestrian use of space, which are very particular conditions defining a possible
intervention. These conditions confront us, as designers, with the limits of a traditional collective space
vocabulary.
In Patchwork Metropolis (De tapijtmetropool, patchwork metropolis, 1989) W.J. Neutelings proposes the
transformation of the South Wing of The Hague. Embracing the conditions of a sprawled city, he creates a
reference work in the debate on peri-urbanity. However, collective space appears only once in his
proposition, called square 1999. Square 1999 is a residual left-over below a highway. It is the only place in
the patchwork metropolis that touches different programs and is described in terms of spatial transition.
Square 1999 is the downside of the city where skaters and demonstrators do their thing. (Borret, 1997)
Between 1993 and 1998 Bernardo Secchi and Paola Vigano designed and executed a series of public spaces in
the city of Kortrijk (B). Next to the Grote Markt, some public spaces (called galettes) in Hoog-Kortrijk
were realized. The galettes were conceptualized and executed as three urban objects with a flat surface
capable of penetrating the terrain and sitting next to new or existing buildings (Secchi, 1990). Secchi refers to
them as a new collective urban space: a new articulated urban center(idem p.43).
Studying the galettes in Kortrijk, it became clear that the conceptualization used for collective spaces in the
city is no more suitable for the horizontal metropolis. Two decades after their realization, the galettes are
almost forgotten. The ambitious new collective urban spaces are not acting as urban centers at all.
Moreover, some of them have been neglected or even destroyed.
In their editorial in Architectural Design, Segal and Verbakel pinpoint out perfectly this lack: Many previous
approaches to public space in sprawled conditions have attempted to impose traditional urban models rather
than seek new types of spaces, forms and programs. They have seldom led to innovative work and have often
contradicted contemporary notions of scale, diversity and flexibility. (Segal & Verbakel, 2008)
!
The research on the theoretical framework of collective spaces in the horizontal metropolis needs further
elaboration and has to be pushed forward in order to enrich the current debate on the relation between

437

public and private properties, models of accessibility and permeability, the level of programming and resulting
adjacencies, the level of integration and spatial qualities of the peri-urban landscape.
A poverty in vocabularium
The absence of an updated theoretical framework for collective spaces is not only reflected in the academic
context but also in the daily practice. Recently, numerous infrastructural investments have been done in the
Flemish territory adapting the road crossings (doortochten), sewage systems or enhancing the public
infrastructures of municipalities. These projects were most of the time financed by the Flemish governmental
level in order to improve the mobility and safety, water quality and vivacity in the non-urban areas.
As a result, numerous Flemish municipalities renewed their village and center streets in the last ten years.
A small sample of these dorpskernvernieuwingen showcases a similar approach in the design of collective
spaces throughout the Flemish territory. When observing these renewals in detail it is striking to see how
different municipalities have the same kind of project. There seems to be an omnipresent use of large
surfaces of cobblestone, the consequent use of Spanish urban furniture and numerous small trees. Although
clean and functional, these interventions have no relation or reflection with the context of the horizontal
metropolis. Instead the intervention result in large dimensioned paved areas resembling an urban square but
without the pedestrians and urban surroundings.

Figure 7: Renewal of different town centers, collage 2015 Maarten Gheysen

!
Urban concepts?
A recent design competition for the center of Spiere revealed another missing part of a critical discourse and
coherent design approach. One of the competitors made a project in which large cobblestone sidewalks are
used thus reducing the impact of through going traffic. In the visualization, an urban ambiance is created with
pedestrians, a small grocery with a fine selection of fruits and in the back a kind of festivity attracting people;
all referring to an urban context. However, reality in this part of the horizontal metropolis is different: the
grocery store closed down 7 years ago, there are not that many pedestrians in a context completely based on
car-use and the urban ambiance is non-existing. An attempt in 2010 by the municipality to create a beachcafe
with sand on the Robeceynplein failed because of a lack of interest by the inhabitants.

dorpskernvernieuwingen is an investment project to upgrade a combination of public infrastructures. It includes the renewal of the
public domain, sewage system, improvement of the mobility issues, refurbishment of the public buildings, and so on.

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Designing collective spaces in the horizontal metropolis needs other concepts and strategies then those used
in an urban context.

Figure 8: visualization of the main road through Spiere, Winvorm competition 2015
(Mis)use of historical references
An evident option to deal with the uncertainties of the horizontal metropolis could be again in citing on
historical references. In 1993 a competition was held to build a new town hall for the merged municipality of
Spiere-Helkijn. Instead of developing a new or adopted typology the designers came up with a historical
reference for the building: the farm with a thatch. .

Figure 9: The town hall (1993) as historical artefact, Nieuw Centrum Spiere , Maarten Gheysen 2015

Simular attempts to re-use traditional forms of (public) space have resulted in the use of urban plazas and
commercial main street as fragments in the peri-urban condition. But these these forms only flourish in a
context and (a historical) way of living that rely on pedestrian movements, discourages long-distance
commuting and limits social diversity. All of these are contrasting the essence of the horizontal metropolis.
Interventions and transformations in the horizontal metropolis can thus not be based on copying or the
introduction of external elements like strictly historic simulacra or functional programming.
We definitely are in need of building a theoretical framework, vocabulary, concepts and strategies on
collective spaces.
One of the causes of this lack could be found in the lack of capacity building in the peri-urban condition.
Although confronted with the same challenges as urban areas (aging population, a retreating government,

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environmental challenges, mobility problems, unadapted housing conditions,) the majority of (public)
resources is at current directed towards Flanders centrumsteden . The peri-urban condition is confronted
with low-quality investments, maladjusted policy making and understaffed public services. (Gheysen &
Lattr, 2014)
Conclusions: guidelines for interventions
Collective spaces in the horizontal metropolis can not be read with the urban instrumentarium. The
parameters used to trace and map in urban contexts are not the ones of the horizontal metropolis. ( Borret,
2001)
Colletive spaces in the horizontal metropolis can not be designed using urban or historical concepts and
references. They act as misplaced or anachronisms.
The need and the language for the intervention lays within the horizontal metropolis itself. The following
guidelines could be used as the start in defining interventions on collective spaces in the horizontal
metropolis.
Changing programs
In the sprawled pattern of the horizontal metropolis, different episodes in the equipment of the territory have
been written. Both state and church applied an equity in the distribution of their infrastructures. Since WOII
literally every municipality has been building a church, school, sports hall, theater, swimming pool, library,
Nowadays these infrastructures are questioned. The necessity to equally equip the territory is no longer
evident. Increased mobility, an aging population, the changed position of church, renovation costs, all
question the need and nature of collective programs in the horizontal metropolis. The redefinition of these
programs is a first guideline for intervention.
New referencepoints
The horizontal metropolis is not a homogeneous territory. Throughout its development, varieties in centrality
where developed. In addition to the market, station en square, new centralities are formed and expressed
around infrastructural nodes and splits (Devoldere, 2003). They act as reference points in the horizontal
metropolis but are shaped as daily environments. There centrality is not expressed in forms and shapes but
rather in the number of terminals/services, parking spots and accessibility.

Figure 10: an ordinary parking lot functioning on Sundays as meeting point and warming up for runners, Anzegem
station, Maarten Gheysen 2015

The acknowledgement, localization and development of a spatial expression for these new reference points is
a second theme of intervention.
Collective and vivacity
2 Centrumsteden indicates 13 Flemish cities that have an catchment area larger than the city itself in terms of employment, education,
healthcare, leisure,

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The livability of municipalities in the horizontal metropolis as a major concern for government. Due to the
increased mobility, different kind of services delocalize from small municipalities to small towns. The absence
of daily services and by consequence the vivacity of peri-urban municipalities has therefore become a policy
issue.
However, research by Frans Thissen (Thissen & Loopmans, 2013) revealed there is no correlation between
the absence of daily services and the vivacity of municipalities. Rather than the number of inhabitants and
services, the importance of a qualitative surrounding and the degree of social cohesion is important. The
correct use of collective spaces to create opportunities for social cohesion and a focus on qualitative housing
and context are therefore the third guideline for intervention.
Momentum of investment
When working on collective spaces in the horizontal metropolis one is often confronted with a lack of
investment capacity. The capacity to generate enough means to invest in large scale collective spaces is limited
or non-existing. The presence of redundant infrastructures in Spiere can be lead back both to an absence of
programmatic necessity for redevelopment of the redundant but also to an absence of means of investments
in the redundant.
To be able to realize collective spaces two momenta of investment are detected: the vertical project and the
micro public space.
The vertical project are those projects created by a higher governmental level and executed on the local scale.
They include sewage projects, Flemish road crossings, riverworks, Each of these projects are designed and
financed by a supralocal governmental level but open the possibility to invest in collective spaces on the local
level. The importance of the relation between the infrastructural project and its influence on the context is
highlighted several times by Marcel Smets: So from the beginning it is essential that any kind of
transportation project is not seen as just an amenity but as an urban project and includes in its design thinking
an area larger than just the transport amenity. The gains will be much larger and spread through multiple
parties. (Kagner, 2013)
A second momentum of investment is the micro public space (MPS). As defined by Atelier Bow-Wow, a
MPS is the opposite of the vertical project: The quality of public space is up to the peoples' participation. If
all the participants are just a customer it is not a real public space. For example, in a shopping mall there
are many people gathering and talking. It looks like public space, but they are just customers. They are all
guests. They don't have any responsibilities to maintain the space. I think that just being in a gathering
space is different from participating in the shared space with someone. We have our own programs of
what public space is within our body. In the projects on micro public space we try to turn on this program
by which individuals can participate in certain contexts. This might be around furniture or a mobile
structure which we have produced. So micro means small, but at the same time individual . The smallest
public space might be a public space for just one person. (Tsukamoto, 2007)

The detection, definition and

intervention.

application of the momentum of investment is the forth guideline of

Although our knowledge and insights on the horizontal metropolis have grown over time, we still struggle to
define and design collective spaces in it. The ordinary character of many of these collective spaces conflicts
with the unlocked potential they have in resolving the challenges the horizontal metropolis faces in terms of
changing programs, reference, vivacity or investment capacity. It is therefore essential to reveal the
mechanisms of influence between the peri-urban condition and its collective spaces.

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Borret, K., 2001. On Domains: the public, the private and the collective. OASE, Issue 54, pp. 50-61.
Bijlsma, L. & Groenland, J., 2006. De tussenmaat: een handboek voor het collectieve woongebouw = The
intermediate size : a handbook for collective dwellings. Amsterdam: SUN.
Borret, K., 1997. De zuivere stad: gated communities en destructieve stadsbeelden. Andere Cinema, Issue 138, pp.
9-12.
De Meulder, B. & Dehaene, M., 2001. Atlas Zuidelijk West-Vlaanderen, Fascikel 0. Kortrijk: Anno '02 & CaD.
de Sol-Morales, M., 1992. Public and collective space: the urbanisation of the private domain as a new challenge.
OASE, Issue 33, pp. 3-8.
De tapijtmetropool, patchwork metropolis (1989) Willem-Jan Neutelings.
Devoldere, S., 2003. Parkeren op het dorpsplein, Nieuwe stedelijke referentiepunten in een (post)suburbaan
landschap. Agora, 19(3), pp. 13-16.

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Gheysen, M. & Lattr, B., 2014. Waar een klein dorp groots in kan zijn. Brussels, Steunpunt straten, pp. 88-91.
INSEE Premire, 2009. La croissance priurbaine depuis 45 ans. Extension et densification. June.Volume N 1240.
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Available at: http://scenariojournal.com/article/contemporary-infrastructure-an-interview-with-marcel-smets/
[Accessed 25 08 2015].
Nolli, G., 1692-1756. La nuova topografia di Roma Comasco. [Online]
Available at: http://vm136.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/maps/nolli.html
[Accessed 20 08 2015].
Scheerlinck, K., 2013. Collective spaces streetscape territories notebook. Brussels: LUCA school of arts.
Secchi, B., 1990. Hoog Kortrijk - multiple urban develeopment commision. Kortrijk: Intercommunale Leiedal.
Secchi, B., 2013. De vorm van de metropool. Kortrijk: s.n.
Segal, R. & Verbakel, E., 2008. Urbanism without density. Architectural Design, 78(1), p. 8.
Thissen, F. & Loopmans, M., 2013. Dorpen in verandering. Rooilijn, 46(2), pp. 80-89.
Tsukamoto, Y., 2007. Atelier Bow-Wow: Tokyo Anatomy [Interview] (07 05 2007).

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Berlin dispersed: a genealogy of ideas

Laura Veronese
Universit IUAV di Venezia, dCP - Dipartimento di Culture del Progetto
Thesis Supervisor: Paola Vigan
Date of thesis defence: March 2016

Email: laverone@stud.iuav.it

The image of Berlin as a horizontal metropolis, placed on a continuous green surface is the result of a long tradition of
projects and concepts that is worth reconsidering. In particular today, in a time where this prolific and peculiar tradition
appears to fail with the risk of being forgotten. In this article the juxtaposition of theories and projects emerging from the
German tradition serves to provide an understanding of the peculiar condition of Berlins urban landscape and it may lead
to a reappraisal of notion of the contemporary horizontal metropolis. I will focus on three theoretical positions, laid out
in three different publications: Die Inflation Der Grossstdte (Erich Gloeden), Berlin Das Grne Stadtarchipel (Oswald Mathias
Ungers) and Zwischenstadt (Thomas Sieverts). These three books were written in different cultural and temporal contexts,
(respectively in 1923, 1977, 1997) and are concerned with the concept of the horizontal metropolis. The hypothesis is that
the primary arguments of each converge in a common theme, with several shared features. Although it is important to
take into account the dissimilarities, the juxtaposition of these text makes a fundamental contribution to the
understanding of the contemporary horizontal metropolis in Germany.

Archipelago, fragment, cell

In Germany special consideration has always been given to the design of the open space, despite the
indifference to the shape of the territory by most modern architects and urbanists. Lereberecht Migge
proposed an urban development for a city shot through with open spaces designed for several activities and
in 1918 in his grnes Manifest he demanded that the disused hectares of the city would be replace by public
gardens, allotments, farms and community gardens. Migges vision of open space was very forward-thinking,
he believed that the greenery or urban landscape should provide space for agriculture and for
recreation/leisure and acting simultaneously as a catalyst for urban waste prevention.
The picturesque tradition with well-established sense of nature and a deeply anti-urban sensibility, traced the
ideological and cultural bases as well as the premises for complex thinking, imagining and drawing the open
space. Particularly in Germany, several concepts and diagrams regarding the unbuilt space (or voids) have
been produced, from the green-belt to the cellular metropolis, to the archipelago and the zwischenstadt.
In the first part of the essay I will outline an introduction with some relevant theoretical positions on the
concerns of the project of open space in Germany which, in my opinion, support the second part of the
article, in which the emphasis will be placed on three contributions from three different moments in history:
Inflation der Gross-Stdte, 1927, Berlin as a Stadtarchipel, 1978, Zwischenstadt, 1997. These three books deal with the
open space and the relationship between built-up areas and open space, and despite the dissimilarities, there
are consonances and elements of convergence.
Gloedens sequence of diagrams is maybe the most radical representation of the cellular project. The organic
metaphor is very clear: indeed Gloeden used the word Zelle, cell, to express the core (nexus) of the
settlements.
His work might not had the impact and the circulation that it deserves in my opinion. In literature it is not
often cited despite the value of his contribution. Hilberseimer in his book New City 1944 defined Gloedens
work as a new city type, but he did not go further in the interpretation of Gloedens diagrams. The
background and context of Gloedens book identifies the problematic of the dramatic and rapid growth of
cities. Inflation der Gross-Stdte delineates a city model for liberating the city from miserable conditions and
outlines a theory for a better-functioning metropolis. The diagrams outlines an alternative model to change
dramatically overcrowded urban conditions. Gloeden advances a general proposal, he does not referring
explicitly to Berlin in the text, even if it is clear that he used Berlin as a model.
Indeed, Berlin in the 1920s was an overpopulated city, with not enough infrastructure to support the mass of
people living in the capital. The living conditions were terrible due to a lack of space, air and light.
By the turn of the 20th Century, the theoretical construction of the metropolis opened the debate about
internal occupation (innere Ansiedlung), a model which was meant to improve living conditions in large cities,
in contrast to the migration to America, which was defined as the only possible solution to the devastating
urban living conditions1 in Germany.
The first diagram in Gloedens book concerns territorial scale and it is constructed on two conceptual planes.
The first expresses the real territory and the second its geometry. The territory is an abstract surface, no
topographic information is given but a river is visible. The grid is the implied geometry, which serves as a

Hegemann cited in Vigan, p. 83 recall that the migration to America was considered by Goethe in his work Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre
to be the only possible solution to get out of the enormous crisis that cities ware facing.

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background for the cellular project. This geometry leads to an isotropic association of cells with no dominant
centre, not even the historic centre that becomes a primus inter pares. (Gloeden, 1923)
Ludwig Hilberseimer compares Gloedens diagrams to Raymond Unwins for Greater London. According to
Hilberseimer Unwins proposal (inspired by Sir Ebenezer Howard) does not clearly solve the problem of the
rapid growth. Instead, Gloedens diagram, by not supposing a primary city in the territory, suggests that the
growth can be potentially infinite around the initial cell. The cells in Gloedens project are closer to each
other, thus composing a more compact schema than Unwins.
A remarkable aspect about Gloedens work is that the void, i. e. the space between the cells, defines the scale
of the metropolis in which a hierarchically organised street-network does not exist. The entire territory is
isotropically organised and only preferred ways are indicated by the railway or tram. This aspect could be seen
as an omission of information, but it is actually a very relevant point of the work: Gloedens proposal for a
large city can be interpreted as a no-car metropolis.2 In the second chapter of the book he stresses the
importance of locating work and study environments no further than the ten to fifteen minutes walk from
residential areas. For this reason Gloeden proposes a return to the decentralised rural settlement system,
indeed the close proximity of home and work would solve the enormous problem of the overloaded
transport system. Thus, his books first chapter starts with a remarkable quotation: Jede grostdtische
Verbindung ist unbequem im Verhltnis zu den Verkehrsmitteln der Kleinstadt, dem Gehen zu Fu ber
kurze Strecken3 (Cornelius Gurlitt in Gleden, E. 1923)
In Gloedens model the mobility is optimised, freed from heavy traffic. His metropolis is a well-organised,
horizontal metropolis, potentially infinite.
The mobility attracts particular attention as it improves the quality of the system: indeed by moving in the
city-model one experiences the multitude of green spaces such as forests, meadows and only from far away
can one glimpse the silhouettes of the buildings and recognise eventually landmarks of specific locations or a
factory in the city-cell (die Stadtzelle). Every element is united by the green belt, which conceptually functions
as an ancient city wall. Gloeden effectively defined a new urban condition.

[fig. 1] Gloedens territorial plan. (Redrawn by the author)

In real contemporary territories, such as the Ruhr region among others, one finds evidence of Gloedens
cellular hypothesis. The urban-units are extremely heterogeneous and consequently they are interpreted as
fragments instead of cells (Vigan 2011:204) With this term fragments Sieverts describes the condition of

2
3

see Gloeden E., chapter II paragrah I

Each large city connection is inconvenient in relation to the transport needs in small cities, where walking for short distances is feasible.

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the Zwischenstadt. Conceptually, if the cells in an urban tissue are interpreted as fragments, then it become
necessary to dig deeper and investigate the relationship between them.

[fig. 2] Fragmented condition of the Ruhr Region, in black are built areas. (data: CORINE Land Cover, elaborated by the
author)

The relationship between urban fragments implies the expression of the multiple as a whole and introduces
the idea of the archipelago. The idea of the archipelago, instead of the cellular tissue, relates fragments to
each other, yet leaves intact the singularities. Indeed, the archipelago collates the dissimilarities of the
fragments and sets a ground for coexistence.
The metaphor of Berlin as a green archipelago, the grn Stadtarchipel (as coined in German in its first
appearance in 1977) is without doubt, one of the most fascinating metaphors in the history of urbanism.
This city model was developed in eleven theses during the Summer Academy in 1977 and was contained in a
very modest publication called Berlin das grne Stadtarchipel. Certainly the simplicity of the publication explains
why its circulation was quite limited at the time. It contained an urban design concept for the future
development of Berlin and was presented by Oswald Mathias Ungers. This idea took form in the context of
his teaching at Cornell University.
For about twenty years now, the notion of the archipelago has started appearing frequently and it is no
coincidence that the Archipelago Manifesto was relaunched in 2013. As Sbastien Marot writes in the
introduction, republishing the collective manifesto that introduced this concept into the contemporary
urban design debate, and unraveling the circumstances in which it was written, our intention is to set off and
amplify its delayed effect.
Before delving deeper into the archipelago concept, it is important to reflect briefly on the theoretical
background of this model. Indeed, Berlin composed of heterogeneous islands fragments in a way, even
though after an accurate observation of Ungerss drawings, one can see that those islands left are actually
compact units with an very clear and identifiable identity dispersed in a diffuse green lagoon, is to be
considered part of a long tradition. The genealogy includes among other theories, the English garden design,
Schinkels concept of landscape, the garden city concept. (Hertweck, Marot 2013:14)
Jansens plan for the Gross-Berlin (Greater-Berlin) presented to the public in 1910 is also to be considered
part of this background. In addition, it has been an important point of reference for Ungers. This is the
reason why it deserves close attention in order to provide an, as exhaustive as possible, understanding of the
Archipelago manifesto in juxtaposition with the cellular project and Zwischenstadt.
Jansens plan for the Gross-Berlin presented on the occasion of the competition Gross-Stadt Berlin includes
a complex design concept for open space. The large corridor traced by the river engages a set of green spaces

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organised in a ring. The corridor not only represents the continuity between the green spaces, but imposes
the issue of the transition to the absence of sharp edges between one open space and another. In the map
Wald und Wiesengrtel colours are enriched by nuances which indicate the transition from forests to agricultural
fields to parks, expressing the actual transition between different ecosystems. What appears here, although
not yet explicitly, is the concept of ecotone.4 (Vigan, 2011)
A quite remarkable fact about the competition is that the area is extended even beyond Potsdam. This
considerable leap in scale was due to dramatic population growth around the turn of the century and its
effects on the polycentric arrangement of Berlins urban areas: it had led to the various urban entities each
developing their own economic and social dynamic. This has created a situation of functional and social
dissociation that could be no longer be countered with an urban plan restricted to the old Berlin.
In the map Wald-und Wiesegrtel the green layer is more than a strip or a band (the translation in English is
woodland and meadow strip): it appears as a green network.

[fig. 3] Wald- und Wiesegrtel, in the proposed plan for the competition Gross-Berlin, In den Grenzen der Mglichkeit
Hermann Jansen, 1910.

The stream of ideas that calls for the dispersion of the metropolis in the landscape culminates with maybe
the most radical of this history of ideas Scharouns concept for an extensively greened Stadtlandschaft. The
plan was the first to be proposed right after the Second World War in an exhibition in Berlin in 1946 called
Berlin plant-erster Bericht.
The Collective Plan (Kollektivplan) is the result of the collaboration of a group of architects (Wils Ebert,
Peter Friedrich, Ludmilla Herzenstein, Reinhold Lingner, Luise Seitz, Selman Selmanagic and Herbert
Weinberg) under the supervision of Hans Scharoun. It calls for a decentralised, green urban landscape
composed of islands and connected by a system (or a network) of freeways. The plan breaks radically with
the citys structure, with the metaphor of stony Berlin and with the concentric form of the city. Scharoun
and his team envisioned a dispersed city with modern architecture in a permeable green space. In this vision
the only named monuments are the one Museum Island, Brandenburg Gate and the Charlottenburg Palace.
4 With this word it is intended the transitory area between different biomes and a the integration of two communities is supposed. This
implied a in-depth understanding of the landscape and its ecology.

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Also a general urban concept was presented: an ideal large city composed of agrarian-industrial belts
consisting of parallel sub-belts which contained cells for industry, mobility infrastructure, housing and green
spaces. The belt (das Band) is designed to be infinitely continuous and it connects regions, and countries.
However, the Kollektivplan went far beyond a functional urban plan. Scharoun played with the
Kollektivplans concept, the Stadtlandschaft, which leads to a further debate: the idea of the city as a natural
organism. In the text accompanying the exhibition in 1946, Scharoun used a complex organicist terminology
for an urbanism which legitimised itself thought the analogy to nature. This organic urban structure as general
plan would be intertwined with the concrete landscape and it would define a unique, distinctive Stadt-LandSchaft. (Sohn 2010: 121)
The organic metaphor - such as the city as a biological element or the city as a cellular tissue - finds a
persistence in the German tradition. Baumeister in his manual published in 1876 argues for the natural
growth of cities. Martin Mchler wrote in 1920 about his plan for Berlin using terms from biology, using the
metaphor of the cell speaking about a single architectural unit able to be part of a large architecture a large
organism in a shared cellular tissue. The cultural stratification of the passage of time on this concern is
certainly very common in German literature.
Indeed, urbanists have often worked with naturalists or natural philosophers. Indeed, the numerous
collaborations between urbanists and monists in the garden movements (Gartenbewegung) is noteworthily.
Especially the Monists5 definition of nature, seemed to be inspirational for urban planners and vice versa; a
monist naturist like Raul Heinrich Franc for example, examining the city as a living creature.
All these attempts to decentralise Berlin and to stress the horizontality of the large city on a natural surface
were facing the condition of anticipated growth in population. Instead, the Archipelago manifesto was
dealing with the loss of population. The Archipelago expressed a methodology that would neither preserve
the city and its historical structure, nor reinvent it, but rather the new urban entity would be generated
through a selective tabula rasa, which by selections and eliminations of existing morphologies, would define a
new order. The selection of the fragments to maintain is based on the identification of those areas that
already have a strong existing identity that deserve to be preserved and reinforced. (Hertweck, Marot 2013:
14). Those named fragments are actually architecture with a clear identity, therefore they lose the
significance of fragments to be islands.
The shrinkage in population is intended as an occasion: around the tuned-up and completed enclaves, the
remaining fabric of the city would be allowed to deteriorate and turn slowly into nature (Hertweck, Marot
2013:14). Those city districts that no longer serve a purpose will be returned to nature and will become a
system, a green grid made by a variety of natural spaces, from parkland to young forests or agriculture areas.
This nature grid would isolate the islands and establish the metaphor of a green archipelago (Hertweck,
Marot 2013:14).
The archipelago project was basically demanding that Berlin be made the testing ground for an alternative
model of urbanism and this was a clear position against what was the dominant and popular urban doctrine
of urban renewal, a sort of prototype that could be a model in a zero-growth Europe. The model of the
Archipelago is the antithesis of planning theory rooted until the 1970s, which was based on the idea of the
unitary city, a uniform and clearly recognisable entity.
Ungers recognised in the fragmented urban space in Berlin the properties of a landscape and the model
envisioned therefore the dissolution of the compact urban structure in an archipelagos of urban islands in a
sea of greenery. (Hertweck, Marot 2013)
This was a radical model and the first manifesto project explicitly addressing the negative growth. In Berlins
heterogenous urban space, Ungers saw Berlin as a Coincidentia Oppositorum. (Ungers, 1991)
Indeed, starting with an understanding of Berlin as a conglomeration of diverging city fragments and not a
whole, Urgers developed the figure of the city within the city. The fragmentary urban condition that Ungers
describes is also politically a pluralistic concept in which several ideologies can coexist with a common
ground. The City in the City idea corresponds with the quite contemporary societys structure, which is
made by diversity and heterogeneity, in opposition to the totalitarian meaning of society in which every
individualism would be oppressed. (Ungers, 1991: 214) This is expressing an extremely contemporary
condition as well. Indeed, society is now increasingly based on the idea of the individual as a unique,
therefore customisation is becoming a real doctrine, which pertains the production of open space.
Right after the fall of the Wall, Ungers reintroduced the idea of the archipelago: again he presumed a
shrinkage of the city would occur, which proved to be the case, right up until today. Ungers reaffirmed his
contrary position to the restorative reconstruction of the city.
With regard on this latter, Ungers declared that every future plan for Berlin would have to reflect the citys
history and by doing so not giving the illusion that the city should be repaired in its historical form. (Ungers,
As monist I am referring in particular to personality such as Erst Heackel and Raul Heinrich Franc and to the philosophical idea
according to which every phenomenon it is regulated by one basic principle. Especially Franc appear to be very influent in the urbanist
discussion.

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1991: 214) He underlined the idea of the fragmented urban condition, peculiar in Berlin, and he affirmed that
Berlin should be seen as a gigantic puzzle rather than an ordered and logical whole. (...). Every generation
had passed the city to the next as a collection of fragments, no generation has been capable to come to a valid
end. The city remained - as Ungers wrote gottlob - discontinuous, incomplete and therefore varied and
vital. (Ungers 1991:215).
The conditions of negative growth, depopulation or dispersion and the subsequent creation of alternative
models of urbanism, is the ghost against which the doctrine of the urban renewal or critical reconstruction is
fighting. The doctrine of the reconstruction of the citys ground structure is the negation of the palimpsest
produced due the constant cycle of design followed by destruction and partial reconstruction. Berlins
palimpsest contain fragments of all overall designs and the narration of Berlins landscape is expressed as
much by these absences. The film director Wim Wenders underlined his experience of Berlin in the 1980s
the wide dimensions of the city which bring one back to the desolate expanses of the citys ancient glacial
sand beds. (Wenders, 1991) He noticed that precisely those areas, such as urban void or vacant plots, are
those signs that trace the story of the city better than any words.
Both ideas, archipelago and zwischenstadt, led to a criticism of predominant doctrine in the 1980s and 1990s in
Berlin. Ungers presented his strategy to the committee of the German Social Democratic Party in 1977 ,with
the plea for a reevaluation.
Sievertss book does not deal directly with Berlin and its reconstruction, but it was written in the time when
the predominant thinking was the restorative conception of the city and he was expressing, through the
concept of Zwischenstadt, a contra-thesis. The fragment is the primary element and the first premise in the
concept of the Zwischenstadt. The condition of the zwischenstadt is to found everywhere in the world. The
grain and density of development of the individual urban areas and the degree of penetration with open
spaces and landscapes determine the specific character of each Zwischenstadt. Sievers starts defining this
strange urban form which takes up large areas, and it has both urban and rural characteristics.
As known, the dissolution of the cities (die Auflsung der Stdte) in not a new phenomenon: there are many
examples from the history of ideas of urban development that could be mentioned which demand the
dissolution of the city, rooted in a criticism of the densely composed city. Sieverts in his book Zwischenstadt
and in a recent lecture delivered in Lausanne, remarks that still today, the Old City is the dominant thinking,
even though this is not the condition we experience every day. The search for a term that evokes a peculiar
urban condition with features not quite ascribable to the city, nor to countryside, explains the difficulties even
naming a condition that cannot be expressed by the word city. Zwischenstadt was published in 1997 and the
word Zwischenstadt has become a common term in the discussion of urban morphologies in Germanspeaking countries. In the English edition of the book there is an introduction to this term which reveals the
difficulties of properly naming such an urban morphology. The book deals first of all with the discrepancy
between urban reality and the persistent dominant ideology concerning how the European city should be.
H.G. Wells describes the condition of the dispersion quite early, indeed he predicted the emergence of a new
city-type.6
The precision of his description is remarkable: The city will diffuse itself until it has taken up considerable
areas and many of the characteristics, the greenness, the fresh air, of what is now country, [and this] leads us
to suppose also that the country will take to itself many of the qualities of the city. (Wells 1902)
The reality of our contemporary large cities and agglomerations is described as a continuum of built-up areas
and open spaces, connected by a network of paths of different size and character.
This dichotomy between the city and the countryside is not longer relevant in the condition of the dispersion,
rather it establishes a new dialectic between urban realm, territory and nature.
The concept of centrality also vanishes in the framework of the Zwischenstadt. Indeed, the centre of the old
city is meant to designate a place in which everything important can be found and from which all major
development starts. The existence of a centre implies the existence of an hierarchical order in which the
centre is the primus inter pares.
With the dissolution of the concept of the centre, the concept of the periphery also loses its content, in
particular because the periphery is enriching itself with a wide range of different kinds of centres becoming a
polycentric infrastructured carpet. For a long time cities have not been organised in a hierarchical tree
structure, instead the system should be interpreted as a network with nodes. (Alexander, 1965)
In such a network, all elements can ideally be co-equal, and there is no prioritising hierarchy. The
Zwischenstadt can develop any diversity of settlement and built form, so long as, as a whole, they are
intelligible in their settlement of network and, above all, remain embedded as an archipelago in the sea of an
interconnected landscape. In this way the landscape becomes the glue of the Zwischenstadt. (Sievert 1997)

see Sieverts, ix Foreword to the Einglish version.

448

This aspect of the zwischenstadt brings to mind several interpretation. It recalls the image of archipelagos in
a green sea. The space between the islands the fragments of the zwischenstadt and the cells in Gloedens
model is not a void by significance, instead is an infrastructured layer which serves as a ground.
An interpretation of the models in the contemporary metropolis

[fig. 4] Map of the open space (black) in Berlin, 2014 (data from the Senatsverwaltung fur Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt
2014)

The idea of the Zwischenstadt in juxtaposition to contemporary Berlin morphology, reveals some
extraordinary and unknown convergences. Despite the fact that Berlins morphology diverges with the case
studies described as Zwischenstdte, (the Ruhr region for example), Berlin is historically composed by fragments
and therefore constructed on multiples and never really exists as a whole. Karl Scheffler as early as intuited
1910, what Berlins destiny might be: forever to become and never to be. The polycentric character of the
city has been recognised also before. In 1901 Henry Urban in his book Der Entdeckung Berlins wrote: As a
New Yorker, I find it particularly strange that there is no Berlin, only a mass of village called Berlin. Berlin
has a peculiar relationship with its voids and its density, a feature that is still nowadays uncommon in other
large European cities. Indeed, it seems to have an osmotic relationship with its urban voids and open spaces.
The stratification of events, ideas, projects, bottom-up interventions, have made Berlin a peculiar metropolis
shot through with open spaces.
It appear that Berlin has some features of its morphology which can be attributed to a Zwischenstadt and a
hypothesis is to read and classified Berlin as a type of Zwischenstadt.
The accumulation of events and the stratification of theories, has created a broad cultural deposit. The
mnemotechnical aspect is highly relevant, as it allows one to perceive the city as a product of its complex
history, which creates a project for Berlin. The theoretical proximity of Berlin to a zwischenstadt or an
archipelago in a green lagoon, or even more abstract, as a metropolis composed of cells, underlines precisely
this peculiarity of Berlins urban landscape which is gradually falling apart. This juxtaposition might result
radical or too abstract, but it delineate the image of Berlin through its open spaces as a challenge that should
be protected. It helps to better understand this matter as a value and a cultural heritage of this stream of
theories and ideas.
According to several projects for Berlin, open space should be a large system of natural spaces for many
purposes, such as playgrounds, urban parks, regional parks, meadows and so on. This consideration lead to
further questions. Thus, is this vision still possible, or has the point of no return been crossed and therefore
will this peculiar aspect of Berlins identity vanish and a new identity be established and regulated by market
policies? To use Ungerss words, Berlins future is not in pursuit of a new utopia, but of a design for a better
reality. (Ungers 1991: 215).

449

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451

Spatial Practices and Aesthetics. The Example of Switzerland.

Mirza Tursic
EPFL ENAC IA Chros Laboratory
Supervisor prof. Jacques Lvy
Expected thesis defence: September 2017
mirza.tursic@epfl.ch
The main assumption underlying this article is that there is a connection between aesthetic categories and spatial practices
which are at the hearth of humans struggle for self-determination. This process might be what Michel Foucault called the
search for an aesthetics of existence (Foucault, 1977) which we will understand it here as a social practice determined
spatially and historically. This practice of the self is important because it help us understand the way small actors valorise
their residential environment and how this plays a fundamental role in the structuring of urban space. I have tried to
demonstrate how aesthetic judgment and aesthetic experience can highly influence people's perception of environment
and orientate the urban praxis, i.e. morally-informed actions concerning the inhabited environment. The aesthetic
experience and judgment assume such an importance for their potential to activate the agency of urban actors. If we study
the evolution of the urban space in Switzerland we must notice the high importance assigned by different urban actors to
aesthetic questions. The aesthetic sensibilities in Switzerland have been developing in the particular spatial, social and
historical conditions in which the image of the city plays a pivotal role.

The Success of the Single-Family House

According to the Swiss Federal Statistics Office, today nearly 40 per cent of Swiss residents live neither in a
rural area, nor in a city, but precisely in an agglomeration with mostly detached houses. It is important to
understand what attracts residents to the low-density environment, even at the expense of long daily cartravel for work, shopping or school. A 2003 study on the Swiss spatial practices showed that there's been a
cultural and political polarization between the residents of suburban or peri-urban agglomeration and the
residents of the larger centres - and especially the inner cities (Hermann and Leuthold, 2003). This
polarisation does not coincide with socioeconomic boundaries but reflect opposed lifestyles, which differ in
the way the everyday life is organised and practiced. The two lifestyles, one practiced in the dense and diverse
city and the other in the areas with a lower degree of urbanity1, cannot be understood solely on their own
terms. One is always defined in relation to its rejected opposite.
The city, as it concentrates divers urban actors on a dense territory, generates change trough the intensity of
interactions. The cityscape and streetscape of the modern city is constantly changing, and this stands for the
change of societys values too. The heterogeneity of the urban and architectural styles thus reflects the
complexity of the urban space and social interactions. The point is that pleasurable aesthetic appreciation of
the modern city depends on the acceptance of this plurality. If this is not the case one perceives only chaos
and disorder. Here, I am not referring to the judgments made on a particular work of architecture or a
particular public space although no part of the urban tissue can be judged in the isolation from its
environment. The city is other than the sum of its parts, and thus the aesthetic appreciation of the city cannot
be resumed to the sum of aesthetic appreciations of its separate parts.
Single-family house with exclusively residential character placed in the natural setting is the antithesis of the
city. It represents stability, a community raised on the primacy of private property, a chance for a family to
develop in a restored harmony with nature a way of regaining the paradise lost. The spatial, social and
historical conditions in Switzerland appear to be quite favourable to the development of this particular urban
type. Firstly, Swiss territory is highly fragmented both horizontally and vertically2; secondly, the animosity
towards the cities never ceased to be a sentiment shared by the big part of its population; thirdly, it has been
cultivating the ideal of a closed domesticated nuclear family, and finally its landscapes correspond, or were
adapted during the time, to the romantic aesthetic ideal on which the suburban picturesque image has
developed.
Although the idea of a decentralised urban space has been widely accepted in Switzerland from the beginning
of the 20th century, the phenomenon of the single-family houses has have unprecedented success particularly
from the early 1970s. Studies performed in Switzerland from 1970-1980 indicate that among the first reasons
for moving to the periphery of the city were urban annoyances and a wish to live in the country (Longchamp,
1989). It seems that one side there are dominant aesthetic sensibilities towards the vegetal, towards rural
If we define urbanity as a combination of functional and sociological diversity and multidimensional density (built environment, flows,
people, ideas), the compact city represents the highest gradient of urbanity (Lvy, 1999). In European cities, urbanity is understood as at
its maximum in the center of the city, and declining as we move to suburbs or even hipo-urban districts (areas where interactions with
the city become more difficult). We can thus identify different urban types starting from the one having the highest degree of urbanity:
2 Swiss territory is horizontally fragmented by administrative division into communes, and vertically by different levels in which political
decisions take place communes, cantons, and federation.
1

452

picturesqueness or natural scenes in general, and towards dense and compact cities on another. By 1981 the
single-family house occupied 42% in the sum of total housing production and in only ten years the number
of the single-family houses augmented by 32% (Garnier, 1985, p. 77). The typical peri-urbain landowner has
not changed much; it is a married couple between 30 and 50 years of age with usually 2 children. Occupation,
income and education do not seem to show a significant importance for the moving in the peri-urban zone.
A 2015 study, based on the information of the Swiss Household Panel (SHP), showed that two elements
distinguish the peri-urban dwellers from non peri-urban dwellers: family formation and full-time employment
(Van Den Hende, 2015, p. 274). In other words a search for stability and rooting is the centre of
preoccupation of the peri-urban population. The single-family house away from (the chaos of) the city
represents the aesthetic ideal in which every peri-urban resident sees instantaneously two opposed worlds
together: stability, simplicity and domesticity of the rural house on one side, and all the advantages of the
modern urban civilisation, on another.
If we study the evolution of the urban space in Switzerland we must notice the high importance assigned by
different urban actors to aesthetic questions. The aesthetic sensibilities in Switzerland have been developing
in the particular spatial, social and historical conditions in which the image of the city plays a pivotal role.
Spatial Planning Practices in Switzerland
A strong connection between the characteristics of the spatial planning practices in Switzerland and its antiurban ideologies was demonstrated by many studies (Cavin and Marchand, 2010; Diener et al., 2005; Walter,
1994). Yet, we must remember that before 1900 the urbanism of Paris and Vienna had an important
influence on the way Swiss cities were imagined. Several cities, in the modest terms, made plans for extension
inspired by the two famous examples, particularly that of Paris e.g. plan Dufour for Geneva (1854), extension
of Basel (1850s), Ringstrasse in Zurich or Pichards circle with the Grand Pont in Lausanne (1836) (Walter,
1994, p. 394). At the beginning of twentieth century there was a turning point in this practice a rediscovery
of and old picturesque town. As Romanticism was a rejection of neo-classical ideals which directly influenced
the creation of the Alpine myth3, the revalorisation of an old picturesque town at the end of 19th century was
likewise a reaction to the effects of modernity. The theoretical recognition of this particular sensibility came
from Camillo Sitte, Viennese architect, who published in 1889 a very influential book City Planning
According to Artistic Principles, which was translated in French in 1902 (1986). The glorification of the
gracious curved lines, closed public spaces and aesthetic historicism was turned against the regulatory spatial
practices of which the Haussmanns Paris was a symbol. And this evolved in an unusual direction. The book,
far from being anti-urban itself, inspired many anti-urban tendencies. The Historicism, promoted by Sitte,
proved to be particularly relevant in the creation of the picturesque ideal. The book was a reaction to the
shock of the new to use an expression of the famous art critic Robert Hughes. In a sense Sitte promoted
stability over change i.e. being over becoming a sentiment I believe of a fundamental importance in
understanding spatial and social processes which came with the rise of big cities and the Industrial
Revolution.
The image of a modern metropolis was first of all dismissed for threatening established collective values and
national identity. In the beginning of the twentieth century, we observe a movement in Switzerland, initiated
from the private sphere, having for purpose the protection of historical heritage and preservation of the
landscapes. In 1900 Marguerite Burnat-Provins, Swiss painter and poet, had founded Ligue pour la beaut which
inspired other patriotic organizations such as Ligue pour la conservation de la Suisse pittoresque (Heimatschutz)
(1905), Ligue pour la protection de la nature (1909), and the Alpine museum (1905). In the article entitled Les
cancers from 1905 Burnat-Provins expresses all her shock in front of the changing landscape due to the
growing urbanization of the country. She leaves no doubts on her positions:
Pourquoi cette insulte aux beauts ternelles de la montagne? Pourquoi ce soufflet une nature si noble, dont le rle exclusive
semblait tre de charmer? Que la Suisse rponde. () Sur les terrains, impitoyablement nivels, s'lvent, en grappes pustuleuses,
des btiments informes, l'horreur s'tend ou la grce rgnait. () Pauvre nature, tiquete, prostitue! (Gazette de
Lausanne, 17 March 1905).
Here one should not mistake ecological awareness with the protection of picturesque landscapes. The
western sensibility towards landscapes emerged in the nineteenth-century. At that time the theory of the
picturesque provided an aesthetic ideal, having as a consequence a boost in Alpine tourism and the
appreciation of foreign landscapes. The term picturesque literally means picture-like and the theory of the
3

The cultural construction of the Alps emerged with writings of Romantics who celebrated wild landscapes, (...) empty deserts,
impenetrable forests, frozen ice wastes and, in particular, rugged mountains. (...) Orderliness and regularity were out; untamed wildness
was in. (Beattie, 2006, p. 125). Before the 18th century, the Alps were at the margins of European culture perceived as a wild and
inhospitable land. Aesthetically they were dismissed as freaks of nature, deformities of earth, bubonic protuberances (Senici, 2005, p.
23). Under the influence!of Romantic literature, firstly from England and then from Switzerland, there's been a shift in a perception of
the Alps. The writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau had a particularly profound influence on Western attitudes towards the countryside and
mountain landscapes. From 18th century onward, we can trace how the Swiss have systematically utilized their mountains in political and
ideological purposes, as well for tourism.

453

picturesque advocates aesthetic appreciation in which the natural world is experienced as if divided into artlike scenes, which ideally resemble works of art, especially landscape painting, in both subject matter and
composition (2007). The construction of landscape is a double process, first of separating and framing
distinct elements from within the continuous flow and unbroken unity of nature, and then of creatively
reconfiguring these parts within a new totality endowed with figural, abstract and, above all, emotional
significance (Kemple, n.d., p. 8 quoting G. Simmel). Landscape becomes then a figment of the imagination,
a product of the viewers own cultural, social and psychological constitution (Lothian, 1999, p. 178). In his
essay The Philosophy of Landscape George Simmel reminds us of the common mistake of claiming that an
actual feeling for nature emerged only in modernity: Rather, it is the religions of more primitive epochs that
seem to me to reveal a particularly deep feeling for nature. It is only the sensibility for that particular
formation, a landscape, that emerged quite late; and that is because this creation necessitated a tearing away
from that unitary feeling of the whole of nature. (...) nor Antiquity, nor the Middle Ages, nor the early
Renaissance had any awareness of landscape (Bleicher and Simmel, 2007, p. 23). We observe an interesting
detour here. A detachment of the subject from the unitary whole (announced with the Cartesian split)
opened the path to the western conception of the landscape while at the same time this conception was used
as a tool to reclaim the lost unity.
The reaction of Burnat-Provins to the changes of the landscape is an example of how western individual
understands its environment. As John Murungi, the American philosophy lecturer, puts it: The
transformations of urban and suburban landscape in the West are a western phenomena and so are the
problems that are generated by them. To understand them is to understand the manner in which the western
man understands and practices his self-understanding. His dealing with land is his autobiography. Landscapes
are scapes of self. The landscape transformations are cultural transformation of self (Murungi, 2002, p. 32).
In this sense aesthetic judgment of the inhabited environment is directly connected to the questions of
transformation of both values and built environment. A positive aesthetic judgment is made when the object
in consideration reflects ones way of thinking, when one finds itself reflected in it. The British philosopher
Roger Scruton developed this position. For Scruton any aesthetic experience requires sort of active
participation of the observer, because it is ones imaginative attention what enables one to see a certain object
in one or another way (Scruton et al., 1979). We might than say that pleasure is not so much an effect of its
object, as a mode of understanding it. Ones experience of a building or a city may change as their conception
of it changes. And as their experience changes, so must their taste. For Scruton changes in taste are thus
continuous with, and indeed inseparable from, changes in ones whole outlook on the world, and that taste is
as much a part of ones rational nature as are scientific judgements, social conventions and moral ideals
(Scruton et al., 1979, p. 106).
Consequently it was a celebration of traditional aesthetics, as a symbol of unchangeable identity, which
rapidly became an instrument for a critique of a changing urban society seen as responsible for the crisis
of identity and degeneration of a country (Le Dinh, 1992). Many artists and authors supported this new
anti-modern ideology among others Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Charles Melley, George de Montenach, and
Guillaume Fatio. In the book Ouvrons les yeux! Voyage esthtique travers la Suisse (1904) Fatio is calling for an
action against la laideur et la banalit de toutes le btisses modernes. He opens the book with a preface from
Eugne Burnand, Swiss painter and the president of La nouvelle Socit helvtique:
Notre pays s'enlaidit avec une rapidit stupfiante. L'affreuse btisse envahit la campagne comme un champignon vnneux.
Et il y a des gens qui trouvent cela beau et qui s'enorgueillissent! Vous leur dmontrez, noir sur blanc, que cela est affreux
() vous le dmontrez par comparaison en voquant, en un ensemble infiniment attrayant, parfait mouvant, les types
caractristiques de notre architecture nationale, telle qu'elle tait issue de nos murs, de nos conditions climatriques, de nos
besoins, de notre me elle-mme (1904, p. 7).
Fatio`s book summarised at the time rising aesthetic sensibility towards rural picturesqueness utilized in the
construction of a new architectural and urban paradigm which rejected new architectural models. This
ideology was formally articulated in 1896 during the National Exposition in Geneva. For this purpose a
village was built on a surface of 23,191 square meters to be inhabited by 353 villagers. It contained a
mountain 40 meters high with the artificial waterfall, 56 houses, a church, 3 farms and 18 alpine chalets. For
Bernard Crettaz this 1:1 model of The Swiss village was used as a catalyser of numerous symbolic elements,
with the aim of presenting the nation as a coherent entity (1987). The village was a pure construction, yet it
provided an architectural archetype to be diffused all over the country (Salomon Cavin, 2005, p. 58). The city,
or more precisely the big city, had no importance in the construction of a national identity. It is because the
city lacked the stylistic uniformity on which such an identity could have been constructed. This had a strong
impact on the politics regarding spatial planning practices. Francois Walter affirms that throughout the 1930s
to the 1950s the rural milieu affirmed itself as a principal protagonist in spatial planning specifically in the
sense of protecting the land which urbanization endangers (1994, 1985).
Swiss patriotic organisations were not the only one to condemn the nineteenth-century growing metropolis.
The equally passionate attack came the twentieth-century Modern movement itself. The vitality, diversity and

454

fullness of nineteenth-century street life came to symbolize disorder and tradition everything that the
Modern movement was supposed to leave behind. Thus a new aesthetic sensibility emerged from uncritical
romance of machines but it was primarily based on negation. In the Charter of Athens (1933, CIAM) there is
no aesthetic consideration except in the section on historic heritage (point 70) which says that past historic
styles should not be tolerated (Corbusier, 1973). The aesthetics was discussed in terms of utilitarian
considerations, and aesthetic experience was considered as nothing more than an experience of function - as
if humans were creatures of the moment without past and future, perpetually consumed in the present
activity. Switzerlands urban planners did indeed embrace the modernist aspiration for the functionally
devised environment but they have put it in a backdrop of picturesque nature.
The idea to create an institution on the federal level, which would regulate spatial practices in Switzerland,
came from the politico-cultural movement of the group of elite citizens in the 1930s. A private initiative from
The Federation of Swiss Architects (FSA) in collaboration with The Swiss Society of Engineers and
Architects (SIA), led to the creation of the Commission Suisse pour l'amnagement du territoire in 1937 to become
L'association Suisse pour le plan d'amenagement national (ASPAN) in 1943. Armin Meili, a Zurich architect, is a
central figure in this movement. As director of the National Exposition in 1939 and later director of the
ASPAN, he had a major influence on spatial planning in Switzerland. In his discourse from 1942 he rejects
the dynamic growth of industrializing Swiss cities which he describes as the Babel towers constructed with
the stone, iron and concrete:
Plus dense la population, moins elle est prs de la terre. () Une conception fausse nous conduira une migration accrue, et
la course vers la grande ville. () Nous ne voulons pas d'amas de pierre, de fer et de bton. Les villes doivent avoir vue sur la
nature, une ville doit respirer. () Notre beau pays est prdestin la cration d'une mtropole dcentralise, se droulant comme
un collier de perles du Bodan au Lman (Meili, 1942).
Meili's discourse underlines some very important ideas regarding the way the urban environment would be
imagined by professionals during the following decades. Nearly all the regional proposals from that period
(after WWII) suggested an orderly reduction of the concentration of urban development and encouraging
decentralized, regional centres intended to reduce the pressures of development in the large cities. () The
notion that there was something un-Swiss about a large city () became the dominant axiom of Helvetian
planning (Diener et al., 2005, p. 186). The two parallel processes thus have characterised Swiss urban
practices: preservation of the traditional compact towns constructed before the twentieth century and
preference for a low-density dispersed urban tissue. The aesthetic and ethical ideals for the Meilis urbanism
were highly influenced by the English paradigm of the Garden-City. From the beginning of the twentieth
century it seems that there was a consensus on this question among different urban actors in Switzerland. As
Francois Walter noticed, this model found favour with utopians and progressivists, but also with the socialists
and right-wing liberals. It united the hygienists, urbanists and local authorities and had a very important
influence between 1910 and 1930 (Walter, 1994, p. 412). The Garden-City paradigm in a strange way united
two ideals: nineteenth century utopians dream of the auto-sustainable community and the aspirations of the
English bourgeoisie for a residence in the natural environment away from the city. In the centre of this idea
again was again a paradoxical sentiment of both nostalgia for the pre-industrial age and desire for growth and
progress. From the 1950s, due to tendencies to decentralize Swiss territory the spatial planning discourse
became so abstract and functional that the concepts of city and urbanism were superseded by the concept
of communes categorized by its size and function. The article on spatial planning was incorporated in the
Federal Constitution in 1969 which marked the progressive movement of the auto-regulatory property
market toward the planning tendencies (Walter, 1994, p. 13). Although the responsibility for spatial planning
legislation was transferred to the Confederation, practical planning implementation remained essentially a
mater for cantons, which in turn often delegate a number of tasks to the communal local authorities4. Spatial
planning thus becomes more a tool for the regulation of the urban growth than a way to think the territory
on the metropolitan level. The European Environmental Agency suggests that where unplanned,
decentralised development dominates, sprawl will occur in a mechanistic way (Uhel, 2006). This might be true
but firstly it presupposes the inhabitants desire to live in such an environment and this desire if far from
being a universally shared value.
The presence of many neologisms shows how the low-density environment can generate more complex
spatial configurations e.g. ville-territoire (Corboz, 1990), Zwithenstadt (Sieverts, 2000), ville-diffuse
(Secchi and Ingallina, 2006), ville-campagne (Berque, 2008), or more recent horizontal metropolis (Secchi
and Vigan, n.d.). They all share the same intent to conceptualize and give a meaning to the certain spatial
configuration that emerged as a result of dispersion and decentralization of the urban environment. My
intention was not to discuss the potentials of this particular urban reality but to highlight the major role of
small actors in the formation of this particular urban type and the importance of aesthetics in this process.

Even though communes are responsible for land use planning, they must respect the plans of the higher level (Muggli, 2004).

455

Inhabiting and Aesthetics of Existence

The main assumption underlying this article is that there is a connection between aesthetic categories and
spatial practices which are at the hearth of humans struggle for self-determination. This process might be
what Michel Foucault called the search for an aesthetic of existence (Foucault, 1977) which we will
understand it here as a social practice determined spatially and historically. These practices of the self are
important because they help us understand how the inhabitants valorise their residential environment and the
way this plays a fundamental role in the structuring of urban space. The question of inhabiting occupies thus
a central position. The theoretical recognition of this fact came rather late. Deep changes in society and
environment that took place after the rise of the big cities of nineteenth-century was perhaps the fundamental
reason for the sudden interest in the urban questions. It was a reaction to the change in communities values
and lives different than anything else before. In this new experience, which we have been calling modernity,
the experience of space and time, of the self and others radically changed. Marshal Berman argues that we still
live in the modern era that go on endlessly creating the world anew. Modernity promises us adventure,
power, joy, growth, transformation of ourselves and the world - and, at the same time, that threatens to
destroy everything we have, everything we know, everything we are. Modern environments and experiences
cut across all boundaries of geography and ethnicity, of class and nationality, of religion and ideology: in this
sense, modernity can be said to unite all the mankind. But it is a paradoxical unity, a unity of disunity: it pours
us all into a maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal, of struggle and contradiction, of ambiguity
and anguish. To be modern is to be part of a universe in which, as Marx said, all that is solid melts into air.
People who find themselves in the midst of this maelstrom are apt to feel that they are the first ones, and
maybe the only ones, to be going through it; this feeling has engendered numerous nostalgic myths of premodern Paradise Lost (Berman, 1983, p. 15). Today like in the nineteenth centurys growing cities, one is
faced with a challenge of how to move and live in this ever-changing environment? In this sense Switzerland
is not much different than some other place of the urbanizing world. What is different are particular social,
spatial and historical conditions in which this change takes place.
As we are moving through the twenty-first century many are still guided by the aesthetic ideals that have their
origin in the early nineteenth century England, when many members of the rising bourgeois class started to
reject the idea of living in the city centre. They created a suburban environment that grew on the idea of
exclusion of exclusion of both different styles of living and competing cultural values. As Robert Fishman
has argued, suburbanisation was not automatic fate of the middle class in the mature industrial city or an
inevitable response to the Industrial Revolution or the so-called transport revolution. The equally bourgeois
Parisians and Viennese at the same time followed a very different vision and stayed in the city centre5. To
reject the city as the residential environment was conscious choice based on the economic structure and
cultural values of the Anglo-American bourgeoisie (Fishman, 1987, p. 8). In the origin it was not a project
planned by the government but rather a marginal form intended for a restricted elite, which grew to become
the residence choice for the English middle-class. It is one of the most striking examples of the autoorganisation of the urban space which demonstrates the fundamental role of small actors (Lvy, 2014) in the
structuring of urban space.
An individual is thus in front of a dilemma. On one side we can choose places anchored in a local
environment where everything is expressive of an agreed social order and changeless identity of that order.
The other choice is the maelstrom of the big city characterised by a perpetual disintegration and renewal. The
appeal of the earlier pre-industrial environment is exactly in this apparent unity of the personal and the
general a unity expressed in the consensus in the question of style. The sentiment of the paradise lost is in
fact a reaction to the disintegration of the stylistic uniformity of the pre-modern time. The rise of big cities, as
never before, has offered each individual a choice to either go in the pursuit of individual style or to adopt a
general style of community. In the words of George Simmel one can either become a unity oneself or join a
unity as a serving partner (Simmel, 1991, p. 70). In this sense we must look at the persistence of suburban and
the appeal of the picturesque ideal. The traditional picturesque town symbolize the lost organicity while the
suburban ideal a unity-regained.
Conclusion
The urban environment is not just the product of vast, anonymous forces, but the deliberate creation of
different urban actors inhabitants, landowners, institutions, professionals, companies. On March 11 2012,
Switzerland voted on the Franz Weber`s initiative To put a stop to the invasive spread of second homes.
Its aim was to prevent further urbanization of the Alpine region. Although the initiative had a very influential

During the 1840s the most prosperous French merchants and bankers did leave the crowded center, but not for suburban villas.
Instead, they created a new urban district, called the Chausse d'Antin which embodied the suburban principles of domesticity, privacy,
and class segregation, but in an urban setting (Fishman, 1987, p. 109).

456

and numerous opponents6 it was accepted by 50.6% of the Swiss population. During the campaign, voters
were subjected to very powerful pictures of Matterhorn highly urbanized. Urbanization was presented as a
threat to the rural ideal - the activists, as their strongest arguments for the campaign, utilized images and
romantic discourses evoking the beauty of the Alps. It is among latest examples of how the aesthetic
judgment and aesthetic experience can highly influence people's perception of environment and orientate the
urban praxis, i.e. morally-informed actions concerning the inhabited environment. If the aesthetic experience
and judgment assume such an importance it is for their potential to activate the agency of urban actors. The
inhabited environment plays a fundamental role for it represents a sort of extended self in which residents
seek the confirmation of their whole outlook on the world. To oversight this fact comes always with a
political cost.
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458

Typologies That Made Us: Modernization and Horizontality in the

Case of Vojvodina
Aleksandar Bede

University of IUAV Venice, Dottorato in Urbanistica

Expected thesis defence: April 2017
aleksandar.bede@gmail.com
This paper aims to investigate the case of the region of Vojvodina (in Serbia), with its particularities that make it an
illustration of a horizontal infrastructural and settlement space that has developed and functioned autonomously from the
nearby metropolis of Belgrade, in spite of being the city's hinterland. More importantly, the paper shows show the chosen
set of case studies that represent innovative spatial typologies that have emerged from this peripheral but autonomous
condition, especially focusing on the region's capital, the city of Novi Sad. These case studies are chosen due to their role
in the previously existing project of the Yugoslav socialist state, which in itself included urban and territorial
modernizations as one of the means of constructing the socialist society. Such kind of spatial agenda is non-existent in
today's social or state narratives, and the physical structures that are left behind from the previous socialist period (19451991) have had different destines in adapting to the new conditions.
The context of this research is the autonomous region of Vojvodina, which was founded as one of the constitutive units
of Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Apart from this political autonomy, the region is marked by the particular
way in which its territory has been artificialized and maintained throughout history a condition which makes it quite
different from the rest of the country (then Yugoslavia, today Serbia). Firstly, this region is a major hydrographic node in
Central Europe. The landscape of Vojvodina is defined by the Danube river basin and its tributaries a flat, fertile and
partly swampy alluvial landscape that has always been exposed to the periodic floods and underground waters. In order to
make it arable and inhabitable, it had to be meticulously maintained through constant investments in hydro-engineering
projects. This has ultimately transformed the region into an artificial agricultural and subsequently industrial landscape
with dense network of settlements, where industrial production depended heavily upon the supporting rail and canal
network, and where the soil was kept productive only by controlling the drainage of excessive water. The modern-day
canals date from the systematic construction of the canal network undertaken by the Habsburg court in the 18th century,
but the final and most complex phase of construction has started was undertaking in the socialist Yugoslav times, from
1940s to 1970s, resulting in a total of 960km of canal network, out of which 600km were navigable. This was the
material precondition that gave rise to all other territorial and urban development in the region, further strengthening it as
a coherent network of settlements and industries, contrasting the nearby metropolis.
A particular interest of this paper represents the social component of the projects of territorial modernizations, due to the
easily readable links between social and physical projects that are left as marks in the territory. Therefore this paper will
offer a model of such a reading by choosing specific projects in the territory that have had a key role in societal narrative
in total, and bring them together in one line or a chain of structures of different nature and scale. By lining the different
scales and architectural and urban typologies the new possibilities for redefining geographical imaginations emerge, as well
as new possibilities for mapping the shown projects and phenomena, which would in return bring new order into the
discrepancies between their scales and diversity. We will show, on the chosen case studies of the modernizing projects
from the times of Yugoslav socialism, how the narratives of building the socialist society has materialized on site, into
structures that have since become physical and spatial carriers of that narrative. The innovation of that social project has
resulted in equally innovative architectural and urban typologies that were means of modernization of the urban and
regional space in that time. These include new railway infrastructure, urban recompositions, housing, public spaces and
places of gathering, etc. This list extends further beyond the physical space, as the projects of territorial modernizations
have also had originally unforeseen results in cultural productions, such as the cinematic project of the Neoplanta Film
production house, first started off to document the spatial projects on film. Consequently, today these structures are in
crisis and danger of neglects and disappearance due to the new economic conditions of transition into capitalism. Namely,
they have found themselves without the original societal project which has created them, as well as without a new role in
the today's social, political and economical agendas of the state. Thus they have lost their role in the societal narrative, as
today's society to longer needs territorial modernizations as its integral part.

Introduction
This paper discusses the case of the Serbian region of Vojvodina, specifically the idiosyncrasies of the recent
history of its territorial development that could contribute to the broader discussion on the horizontal
metropolis. The chief characteristics of this territory are: its peripheral position (in national and European
terms), its history of construction of an artificial landscape (dominated by intensive agricultural use with the
accompanying infrastructures) and its political autonomy in the times of socialist Yugoslavia. The interplay of
these factors has created specific conditions for territorial and urban modernizations that should as such be
given attention to. The period of our primary interest here is the age of the political autonomy of Vojvodina
in the socialist Yugoslavia (1945-1991)1, because it was the first time that this region has had the political
means of arranging its specifically arranged territory and decide upon the ways of its further modernization
and management. This condition led to emergence of local architectural and urban typologies that will be
Although the regions autonomy was severely hindered already in 1988 with the rise of power of Slobodan Miloevi as the head in the
Socialist Republic of Serbia, in the last years of the existence of the socialist Yugoslav federation.

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presented here as case studies. Therefore the achievements of this period could contribute to the broader
discussion on horizontality of metropolitan development today, as an alternative to the classical concentrated
notion of the metropolis. In this case this issue can be even more contrasted, since the region of Vojvodina is
practically the hinterland of the metropolis of Belgrade, but has nevertheless had its own ways of political and
consequently spatial management in the times of Yugoslav socialism.
This local specificity also suggests a need of a criteria or a mapping method that enables to establish a
conceptual link between objects, structures and projects of different scales and nature specifically those that
have had a key role in the process of modernization of this peripheral region. By arraying the different scales
and architectural/urban/territorial typologies, the possibilities emerge for the development of new
geographical imaginations. The criteria for choosing the case studies that will be discussed in this paper was
also their present state, since many of them have had a difficult time in the new post-socialist times of
transition into capitalism and nation-statehood, which left many of them devoid of their initial purpose in
regards to influencing the construction of a socialist society through the modernization of the territory. This
led to the dual character of reading/mapping historical and empirical with the current state of each case
study being discussed and contrasted to its initial concept.
Context of Vojvodina
Vojvodina as a territory was considered to be the most artificial and the most intensively used landscape in
Yugoslavia. With vast landscapes of agricultural land, criss-crossed by canals, railroads, industries and
coherent urban networks [fig. 1], this spatial arrangement was inherited from the times of the AustroHungarian period and further developed after its demise. This condition was only further enhanced and
upgraded through the elaborate projects of territorial modernizations in socialist Yugoslavia, where the
notion of modernization of the country was mostly measured in great undertakings of industrial and
infrastructural development. This character of the region was partly the reason why it was founded as a
special political unit in 1945: it was an autonomous region in a federation made up of republics.2 Historically
it was not dominated by any sole ethnicity or nationality; therefore it wasnt founded as a nation-state, but
rather to point out its multicultural character and the common antifascist struggle of all its peoples in the
Second World War a struggle that has preserved this character. As a newly-founded political unit, a lot was
invested in transforming the city of Novi Sad into a functional capital of the region. Therefore the chosen
projects of modernization of urban space in the city of Novi Sad as the new capital will be analyzed here.

[fig. 1] The position of the region of Vojvodina within Serbia today. Note the land use (mostly agricultural) and the
particular settlement network, in contrast with the rest of the country. The regions border is in white. Source: European
Environment Agency (edited by the author).

Moreover, because of the history of the transformation of regions landscape, the very character of region of
Vojvodina as a functional space would be under jeopardy if some components of the built structures stopped
functioning for various reasons, such as neglect, demolition or privatization. This process can be illustrated
through the number of cases that have shared the destiny of many public assets and systems in the Eastern
Europe in the last 25 years. In the case of Vojvodina, a physical malfunction and ultimately decay of a built
infra- or supra-structural system not only has a critical impact on the functionality and productivity of the
territory, but also on the collective imagination of the society, due to the constitutional role of the projects of
2 The new socialist Yugoslav federation consisted of 6 republics, one of which (Serbia) further having two autonomous regions on its
territory: Vojvodina in the north and Kosovo in the south.

460

modernization in the local societal narratives. A common attribute for the case studies illustrated in this paper
is precisely their ongoing disappearance from collective imagination. If such material components leave this
imagination, the question is what will be left of it once we know that this community is defined by and
dependent upon the very builtness of the space it inhabits.
In the following chapters the two main bodies of case studies will be analyzed: one of territorial scale and one
of urban scale. The grand scale case body the construction of the new waterways in the territory will be
contrasted to the projects in urban space of the newly proclaimed regional capital of Novi Sad. These projects
were direct consequence of the new political subjectivity of the region of Vojvodina with the establishment of
socialist Yugoslavia in 1945.
DTD Canal Network
Vojvodina has been an area of intensive hydro-technical interventions since the 18th century, when the
construction of the system of canals in the Danube river basin was set off by the Habsburg court. It has
transformed the once swampy land into a productive landscape of intensive agricultural use, and a destination
for settlement a colonization movement was bringing the populations from various parts of the empire.
Apart from flood protection and regulation of the soils productivity and habitability, the canals also had a
transportational function, so they induced industrial development along its banks. By the times of the Second
World War, Vojvodina had the densest network of rails, canals and industries in the newly established
Yugoslavia. Nevertheless, the final and most complex stage of the construction of the canal system has
started in the times of socialism, in 1947, and was completed 30 years later. Upon its completion, this system,
named DTD (Danube-Tisa-Danube), has had a total of 960 kilometers of canals, out of which 600 were
navigable [fig. 2]. Apart from creating even more favorable conditions for establishing new industries in the
region, it also prompted the construction of new ports the most significant was the Port of Novi Sad, built
on the new canal connection with the Danube River.
In the conditions of the state planning of the economy, the intensification of the agricultural production has
lead to development of other linked sectors: many related branches of industries, higher education,
foundation of international fairs etc. For example, the Novi Sad International Fair, with its agricultural and
industrial editions, has, since its establishment in 1954, become a neutral meeting place for the countries from
the opposed blocks in the times of the Cold War. It was the place where for the first time the USSR has
presented at an international fair alongside with the Western countries. This annual event, more than any
other, has placed the city and the region on the international scene, a position that for example the famous
Belgrade and Zagreb international fairs had long to compete with.3 This same momentum has also led to the
establishment of higher education and scientific research in the region, with the Agricultural Faculty founded
in 1954. It was the first institution that was to become part of the soon to be established University of Novi
Sad, and the first building constructed in the citys new university campus.
Moreover, this process of territorial modernizations has also had more far-fetched consequences in the realm
of cultural production, one of which will be illustrated here. In 1965 the process of the construction of the
canals was endangered by the great Danube floods, and the mechanization was re-directed towards the
construction of the river banks and levees, as a part of the greater mobilization for flood protection. The
regional government of Vojvodina needed a systematic film documentation of these undertakings, in order to
serve later as an illustration of great collective societal deeds in the struggle against nature and for the
modernization of the environment. Even though at the time there hasnt been any professional movie
company in Vojvodina, as in other local capitals of the Yugoslav federation, there was a state praxis of
nurturing the technical education of the population through the official program called Narodna tehnika
[Peoples Technique]. This meant also the support for founding the local amateur cinematic associations. One
such association in Novi Sad has somewhat grown into an independent production group called Neoplanta,
and it was started to be recognized by the authorities as the ones to turn to when there was a need of making
documentaries about the projects of urban and territorial modernizations. It was Neoplanta that was
approached by the authorities to produce the first documentary in 1962, called Nove reke [New Rivers],
about the construction of the canals.4 And again, they were the ones that were shooting the operation of
flood defense in 1965. Because of these good results, the government has initiated the transformation of the
amateur production group Neoplanta into a professional public enterprise for film production named
Neoplanta film. With the accumulated professional experience in the production of the publicly
commissioned documentaries about the construction projects, the workers of Neoplanta film have soon reorientated themselves swiftly towards the production of independent auteur and art movies, both short and
For more on the situation of international fairs in Yugoslavia in: Lovren i , L., 2012. The Zagreb Fair. In: Mrdulja, M., Kuli , V. eds.,
2012. Unfinished Modernizations: Between Utopia and Pragmatism. Zagreb: UHA/CCA. pp.134-143.
4 Examples of other documentaries: Dunave, Dunave (Oh Danube, Oh Danube) 1966; 106 Dana (106 Days) 1966, about the great floods
of 1965; Calor, Caloris 1969, about the central heating system in towns; Sretno (Good Luck) 1969, about the closure of a local coal mine;
Nafotvod (Oil Pipeline) 1969; Gasovod (Gas Pipeline) 1969; etc.
3

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feature. This body of work is where they have immediately gained international recognition and success.5 In
the first 5 years upon the establishment of the company they have produced a body of movies that played a
key role in an avant-garde cinematic movement that became known as the New Yugoslav Film (or the
Black Wave). This independent success has soon led to a tighter grip by the authorities on the creative
freedoms of the company, thus finishing its golden age. For the purpose of this paper, it is important to
underline this example of broader consequences of the projects of territorial modernizations, especially an
unplanned and unforeseen consequence in the form of an independent and avant-garde cultural movement,
democratic and grass-roots in its nature (the authors in Neoplanta film have had their creative freedoms due
to the Yugoslav system of socialist self-management in all public enterprises at that time).6 7
Today, the DTD canal network is partially neglected and run down in some of its sections, with its capacities
vastly underused compared to the originally planned ones. Some sections have been closed to navigation due
to lack of maintenance. Moreover, the Port of Novi Sad, whose aquatorium lies on the canal, has an uncertain
future nowadays due to the threat of privatization and possible subsequent closure. Namely, the state is keen
to start the process of privatization of the port as one of the conditions set by the European Union for Serbia
in the process of joining the union, in spite of the fact that no other member states were asked to privatize
their portal infrastructure as a condition for EU membership. The Port of Novi Sad is the last one out of the
11 ports in Serbia that has still not been privatized. The question here is what it means for a territory that has
been establishing itself for such a long time, both as a habitable and functional landscape and as a political
union, to lose the structures that have played the key role in this project of communal construction of the
functional territory.

[fig. 2] The DTD canal network in Vojvodina. The canals are shown in red. Source: Vode Vojvodine Public Water
Management Company.

Projects of Novi Sad

When the Autonomous Region of Vojvodina was established as one of the units of the Yugoslav socialist
federation, the city of Novi Sad was pronounced as its capital city. Although it was already the seat of the
local regional administrative unit before WWII, the new socialist age had new requests for the city's spatial
setup. The task of making the new regulation plan was given to the Urban Planning Institute of People's
Republic of Serbia in Belgrade.8 The plan was designed in 1950 and accepted and enforced by the local
municipal assembly, as the first General Urban Plan or GUP in the history of the city, as was the name of
this type of plan [fig. 3]. With this terminological innovation a step further from the pre-war regulation plans
was made, and a new process of continuous urban planning of the city was set off. The novelties for the city
and its spatial order that were introduces by this plan were radical on multiple levels. These changes were on
one side deriving from the principles of the Athens Charter, but could also be read from a 19th century
perspective of re-arrangement of the urban space in the Haussmannic manner, due to appearance of new
street axes that cut through the existing urban tissue.
For example, a director from Neoplanta Film, elimir ilnik, won the grand prix in 1968 ath the Oberhausen Film Festival for the film
Nezaposleni ljudi (Unemployed People), as well as the following years special prize for the movie Lipanjska gibanja (June Turmoil), about
the student protests in 1968. Moreover, his first feature film, Rani radovi (Early Works), named after the early period of Karl Marxs
theory, won the Berlin Film Festivals grand prix, the Golden Bear, in 1969.
6 More on this matter in: Kirn, G., Sekuli , D., Testen, . eds., 2012. Surfing the Black. Maastricht: Jan van Eyck Academie.
7 The conditions of management in public enterprises in Yugoslavia explained in: Bokovi , B., Dai , D. eds, 1980. Socialist SelfManagement in Yugoslavia: 1950-1980. Belgrade: Socialist Thought and practice.
8 The author of the plan was architect Dimitrije Marinkovi from that institution.
5

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The 1950 plan is also notable for one methodological innovation: the analysis of the whole space of the
region of Vojvodina, at the times when regional plans did not exist. The plan considered, through its own
efforts, the prospects of the development of the canal, road and rail networks in Vojvodina, arguing that not
only these networks would determine the guidelines of the city's development, but also that the correct
placement of the planning parameters in the citys plan would reciprocally influence the positive development
of surrounding settlements. As the result of that, the biggest innovation that this plan introduced in the urban
space of Novi Sad is re-arrangement of its rail, road and canal networks.
Thus, according to this plan the entire railway network in the city, which dated back to 1893, was to be
translocated to a new corridor in another part of town, in order to create new conditions for relocating the
industries into the periphery and to liberate the terrains towards the river Danube for construction of the new
city quarters. An urban intervention of such scale was unregistered in the praxis of other Yugoslav cities. This
undertaking has opened a new chapter in the spatial conception of the city, and we can proclaim it to be a key
moment in the socialist urbanization of Novi Sad, since all the other main projects in its urban space
unfolded from there, several of which will be presented here.

[fig. 3] The 1950 General Urban Plan of Novi Sad. Source: Urbanisti ki zavod NR Srbije.

The Station
The relocation of the railway in the city meant that a new main station had to be constructed. It was
positioned in the previously unbuilt periphery, away from the city center. The new station was opened in
1964 according to the design of architect Imre Farkas and it became a new focal point in the city [fig. 4]. It
was imagined not only to be a space of transit, but also as a new public space of encounters and leisure. Aside
from a restaurant and a cafe, the most prominent new program of the building was a cinema theater,
designed primarily for the train passengers that had to wait longer times for their transfers, but also to the
local residents. The cinema exists even today with its original interior from the sixties, although without a
public program for several decades now. Today almost no local is aware of the existence of the cinema inside
of the station building. Also, a number of other content of the building from the times of its opening doesn't
function today because the railway traffic in general has significantly declined over time, leaving the originally
designed capacities of the building mostly unused. In spite of the original idea, the building has become a
place of transit full of empty spaces, such as: waiting rooms of the first and the second class, a bar, a
restaurant, a cinema and the administrative wing. As such, these spaces are potentially attractive for
commercialization and privatization, which would result in the destruction of the still surviving original
interiors. This scenario is not unimaginable considering the constantly present official announcements of
privatization of the state railways.
In the status quo situation that the station building has found itself today, between prior use as public space
and future commercialization, the only group of users that takes care about the building are the railway
workers that are employed there. Besides the fact that they are cleaning and somewhat maintaining the
premises and the interior horticulture, they sometimes organize cultural programs in when they, for example,
commemorate their jubilees or press towards the popularization of the railway transport. In one instance they

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have set up a permanent exhibition of the local history of the railways at the former second class waiting
room. In 2014 they've organized an international competition for haiku poetry about trains, and the
submitted work has been displayed in the former first class waiting room, which was not in use for decades.
One can view precisely from this little room, through its glass walls, a sequence of key public spaces that
represented the backbone of the socialist modernization of the urban space in Novi Sad: the station's main
hall, the station square, and a new grand boulevard that led from the station throughout the whole city.9

[fig. 4] Model of the new train station of Novi Sad with the station square, built in 1964. Source: private collection.

Spens
For the occasion of hosting the world table tennis championship, the city of Novi Sad has in 1981 built the
Sports and Business Center Vojvodina.10 This megastructure, that encompasses about 85,000 square meters
in total, was envisioned as a poly-functional center, a social condenser of the city and a new node of its
polycentricism. It soon became known as Spens in the public, which is a mutated acronym of that remained in
usage. The construction of this complex followed the principle established in the citys 1950 plan, which
envisioned the establishment of alternative city centers in order to relax the pressures on the historical core.
Although this idea was primarily of the urban planning scale, with Spens it has gotten its architectural
incarnation as well in the form of a new building typology.
The Spens center includes sporting venues for volleyball, basketball, table tennis, martial arts, as well as a
bowling lane, shooting range, Olympic pool, an ice rink and gym. The main sporting arena can accommodate
different programs of spectacle, and its even today used as the citys main concert venue. These contents of
the center are interlinked with hallways that form the indoor plazas at their crossings, squares and terraces,
around which some commercial functions are formed. Also, the structure hosts a convention centre including
the spaces for meetings, presentations and exhibitions, as well as a smaller theater that is used as a cinema. In
a climatic context that doesnt allow greater concentration of public life outdoors in the winter time, the
Spens has come to life as an alternative indoor city center, as a place of meeting or a destination for the
citizens. Up until recently it was also the location of the main city caf, positioned at the indoor plateau that is
also used for seasonal fairs and Christmas markets. In architectural and urban planning terms, Spens, even
though its the biggest single building in the city, even bigger than the surrounding city blocks, doesnt appear
as a monolithic structure, due to its architectural composition that is based on the principles of horizontal
unfolding of modular elements of the structure, following the main internal communication arteries.
Even though it has been a focal point of public life in the city, Spens has started to lose users and contents in
the post-socialist period. From the local administrations perspective it has primarily become a great
expenditure for the municipal budget, due to the huge expenses the maintenance of this structure creates.
Therefore the prevailing managing solution was to commercialize the spaces inside Spens ever more, which
resulted in an image of a cheap shopping mall, even though the majority of the newly opened shops havent
been managing to stay in business for long, due to the following loss of the overall attractiveness of the
interiors of the structure for the visitors. The new shopping malls in the city were much more appealing to
9 According to the 1950 plan, the Boulevard was meant to be the city's main modernization axis and its new center. It stretches from the
new train station building down to do Danube banks at the other side of the town as a straight line that bisects the city, introducing a
new order in its urban matrix. It has served as a basis from which all the subsequent developments of residential quarters were unfolding.
10 The authors of the design were architects from Sarajevo: ivorad Jankovi and Branko Buli , the winners of the invited competition.

464

citizens as a place for shopping than the ambiguous space of the Spens. On the other side, the sport venues
were still vital and represent a reason one still goes over there. Also, the Spens serves as a corridor for
thousands of people that only pass through it every day, as a kind of short cut to the surrounding
neighborhoods. Regardless of these potentials, the local authorities have long seen the solution in turning the
structure into a shopping mall, without any other concept in mind that would enable the survival of this place
as a key point of the citys urbanity. If this situation continues, its easy to imagine that the unfeasibility of the
maintenance of this megastructure would be the final reason for its sale or closure. In such scenario the city
would lose a unique building that once represented a prototype of an architectural solution to an urban
planning issue (new indoors public center).

[fig. 5] Model of the Spens megastructure. Photo: Aleksandar Bede.

Mieluk
Mieluk is a site on the periphery of Novi Sad, situated on an elevated plateau above the Danube River,
overlooking the city. It was recognized as a strategic zone during the 1960s when the city planners designated
it as a main area for future city expansion, an idea which was hinted by the 1950 plan. Due to its emptiness
and its key position in the topography of the city, the construction of Mieluk was meant to finally balance
out the development of the city on both sides of the river. For that purpose, the plan from 1974 envisaged
Mieluk to become a local centre which would play a key role in the future polycentric development of the
city. Apart from the significance for the emancipation of provincial Novi Sad towards a big polycentric city,
Mieluk was supposed to provide a model for the new socialist city of the 21st century. For the purpose of its
planning, a complex procedure was introduced: detailed residential studies were carried out, a symposium was
organized, proceedings were published and a public competition was held for the ideal design to the site. The
studies envisioned about 14.500 new homes for 50.000 new residents to be built in Mieluk. Three
competition entries have been equally rewarded and taken into further consideration and elaboration by the
local institute for urban planning [fig. 6].
In order to realize the plans for Mieluk, a new bridge across the Danube had to be built, which was in fact
done in 1981 by extending the main city axis the Boulevard stretching from the main Train Station. In that
way the vision of the city envisaged by the 1950 plan was updated for the 21st century, by jumping over the
river and enabling the expansion of the city onto the other river bank. For a time, this direction was even
taken as a starting point of the new highway to Belgrade, and the first section leading from the new bridge
has been constructed. Thus Mieluk had acquired the first pieces of the necessary road infrastructure.
Alongside them, the first object built in Mieluk was the headquarters of the local public TV station TVNS.
Today, the site of Mieluk is dominated by the remnants of Miloevi s reign in Serbia, and plans for the
construction of the residential neighborhoods have never been realized. Namely, as the eighties went by, the
detailed development of the plans for Mieluk witnessed the break-up of Yugoslavia, before the construction
could even begin. The nineties, with Miloevi and the new socio-economic order in rule, have ceased to
provide the necessary conditions for such ambitious projects, since the state gave up on housing
construction. Housing was now a private and individual responsibility. Instead, what emerged on one of the
sites in Mieluk was an illegal settlement of family houses and luxury villas, which were associated the new
criminal and warlords circles in public. Although the construction of Mieluk is still foreseen in the present-

465

day master plan of Novi Sad, it is uncertain whether the city will ever decide to realize such a project in a
capitalist context, even if the housing construction would remain exclusively private.
Apart from that, the only two objects built in Mieluk the bridge and the television were destroyed during
the NATO bombardment of Serbia in 1999. Thus, besides the national circumstances which have
undermined the execution of the ambitious plans for Mieluk, through which the city was supposed to
develop into a true regional center, the international forces have also eliminated the two sole structures ever
realized according to that plan. The citys plans for exiting its provincial and peripheral situation by upgrading
its urban morphology have thus been thwarted and set back by decades, perhaps never to be fully realized.

[fig. 6] Mieluk project. One of the three winning entries at the competition for Mieluk in 1981, by Projektbiro, Belgrade.
Source: Projektbiro.

Conclusion
The thesis that could emerge from this analysis is that the innovativity of the Yugoslav socialist project had
been mirrored onto the innovativity of architectural and urban design typologies i.e. solutions that were put
in place in order to develop urban space and modernize the territory in the Yugoslav socialist system. The
case of the region of Vojvodina could further add to the discussion about the ways of urban and territorial
development of a coherent region in competition with a concentrated metropolis model. However, many of
the projects of this process of autonomous self-modernization of the region are today in crisis and in danger
of decay and destruction, due to neglect, inadequate use, re-programming or privatization. This situation
illustrates the fact that these structures don't have a role in the political and economical order today, especially
not in the societal narrative, as they once did. Such an empirical insight about the destiny of the spatial public
good in the post-socialist context should raise the interest for re-thinking the original concepts of these
projects, since they were meant to emancipate this region from its peripheral situation and to include it into
the modernity, together with other regions of the Yugoslav socialist project. The initial ideas of each of the
analyzed projects is in one way or another compromised today, therefore the consequences of the
abandonment of the original concepts and programs of some of these projects should be of our greatest
interest.
Bibliography
Bokovi , B., Dai , D. eds, 1980. Socialist Self-Management in Yugoslavia: 1950-1980. Belgrade: Socialist Thought and
practice.
Kirn, G., Sekuli , D., Testen, . eds., 2012. Surfing the Black. Maastricht: Jan van Eyck Academie.
Mrdulja, M., Kuli , V. eds., 2012. Unfinished Modernizations: Between Utopia and Pragmatism. Zagreb: UHA/CCA.

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The other horizontal metropolis:

Exploring the operational landscapes of planetary urbanization
Nikos Katsikis

Affiliation: Doctor of Design Candidate, Harvard Graduate School of Design

Supervisor: Neil Brenner
Expected thesis defence: December 2015
nikos@terraurbis.com
This paper aims to expand the theme of the VIII International PhD Seminar Urbanism & Urbanization by challenging the
definition of the horizontal metropolis. It starts with an understanding of urbanization as a process of generalized
geographical organization where variegated forms of agglomerations (from the city to the metropolis and the various forms
of postmetropolitan urbanization patterns) are only the focal points in the utilization of the whole earth by humans. The
paper will try to investigate how the global system of agglomerations, although occupying no more than 5% of the planetary
terrain, is responsible for the (re)organization of most of the 70% of the earths surface currently used. By introducing the
concept of the operational landscapes, as the total system of specialized areas used for primary production, circulation and
waste disposal, upon which dense agglomerations, or agglomeration landscapes, are dependent for their subsistence, the
aim of this contribution is to reframe the dimensions of contemporary urbanization beyond agglomeration, and explore
novel concepts, spatial categories and cartographies. Where does the horizontal metropolis end?

Urbanization as geographical organization

we define the city in the truest sense, supposing to a specialization of activities leading to this specific
feature of all human concentrations: that such concentrations are incapable of sustaining themselves and
require the support of the inhabitants of neighboring regions. This is precisely the distinctive mark of
urbanism (Bairoch, 1988, 95)
Cities are the focal points in the occupation and utilization of the earth by man. Both a product of and an
influence on surrounding regions, they develop in definite patterns in response to economic and social needs
(Harris and Ullman, 1945, 7)
The starting point of this research can be very well reflected upon these two quotes about the essence of
urbanization, coming from two notable 20th century urbanists: Urbanization here is understood as a form of
organization of the human use of the planet, or, as a common notion from early 20th century human geography
would suggest, a particular way of organizing the human occupation of the earth (Philbrick, 1963). Human
occupation is an all-inclusive term that refers both to the generalized patterns of land use, as well as to the
patterns of land cover of the earths surface, and questions their association. These patterns include not only
settlement areas, but also connectivity infrastructures, productive and extractive landscapes, and in general all
structures and infrastructures that equip the earth and all geographic areas accessible and operationalized by
humanity (Gottmann, 1969).
In general, it could be argued that urbanization connects and activates distinct specialized geographies through
the socio-metabolic dependency of agglomeration systems upon complex webs of surrounding or more distant
territories due to their needs in energy, nutrients, water, materials and other resources (Luke, 2003). Until the
late 17th century, these supply areas, these urban hinterlands, remained rather geographically contiguous and
confined at a regional scale (Harvey, 1996). However, consecutive waves of industrial and post-industrial
capitalist urbanization, in combination with the pressures from the growth of agglomerations and their
expanding metabolic needs gradually exploded these boundaries (Billen, Garnier and Barles, 2012).
Technological advancements and reductions in transport and communication costs, the liberalization of trade,
and the increasing integration of emerging markets into the world economy, have led to the creation of
specialized production regions, but also to the consolidation of production systems to a small number of
transnational corporations (Donaghy 2012). As a result, contemporary agglomerations appear largely detached
from their surrounding hinterlands. They are rather thought to share a wide network of extensive, fragmented
global hinterlands (Ibaez and Katsikis 2014).
Building upon the emerging agenda of planetary urbanization introduced by Brenner and Schmid (Brenner
and Schmid, 2011; 2015), the main hypothesis of this research then is that almost the totality of the human
occupation of the planet at the beginning of the 21th century is shaped by globalized, capitalist urbanization
processes. Building upon the work of Henri Lefebvre and his concept of complete urbanization (Lefebvre,
1970), Brenner and Schmid have started elaborating on the structures, contours, dimensions and development
patterns of this planetary condition in which, agglomerations form, expand, shrink, and morph continuously,

467

but always via dense webs of relations to other places, territories, and scales, including to realms that are
traditionally classified as being outside the urban condition. The latter include, for example, small- and
medium- size towns and villages in peripheralized regions and agroindustrial zones, intercontinental
transportation corridors, transoceanic shipping lanes, large- scale energy circuits and communications
infrastructures, underground landscapes of resource extraction, satellite orbits, and even the biosphere itself. As
conceived here, therefore, urbanization involves both concentration and extension: these moments are
dialectically intertwined insofar as they simultaneously presuppose and counteract one another (Brenner, 2012,
21).
This proposition can be summarized though the following visualization [fig.1]: This global map is highlighting
in red the total area of the major agglomeration zones of the planet, plotted against a dark background that
delineates all the used parts of the earths surface. While the delineation of the agglomeration areas poses a
problem in itself that will be discussed below, it is striking to note that the area occupied by the totality of all
densely inhabited agglomeration zones, even according to the most ambitious calculations, covers no more
than 3.5 million km2 most likely in the range of 500,000-600,000 km2 according to more moderate
calculations (Potere and Schneider, 2007). This might sound an impressive number. However compared to the
more than 70 million km2 of used land, it is less than 5% (Kowalski and Haberl, 2007). As it will be discussed,
the composition of this obscure dark pattern is mostly land extensive productive areas of agriculture, grazing,
forestry and mining, as well as transportation networks. Although all these active elements of the human
occupation of the earth are central to the reconfiguration of dense agglomerations, and are essentially coproduced with them, they have rarely been studied as part of the development of urbanization processes.
The scope of this paper then, will be to conceptualize and comprehend how this terra incognita can be
integrated into the study of urbanization. A series of recent trends render this call particularly timely: On the
one hand, social and environmental concerns regarding the geopolitical and ecological implications of
urbanization are urging an investigation of its extended geographical footprints (Seto, 2012). At the same time,
designers are increasingly compelled to shape larger scales and contexts and to address questions related to
infrastructural, economic and ecological systems that transcend the traditional boundaries of the city (Ibanez
and Katsikis, 2014). And while the proliferation of geographic information systems and remote sensing
techniques promises an unprecedented mapping of the planet, these geographies remain inadequately
comprehended and even more inadequately connected, both conceptually and methodologically, to the
processes shaping the dense urban cores (Brenner and Katsikis, 2012). They constitute a contemporary
wilderness waiting to be charted. Returning to Brenner: the conditions and trajectories of agglomerations
(cities, city- regions, etc.) must be connected analytically to larger- scale processes of territorial reorganization,
circulation (of labor, commodities, raw materials, nutrients, and energy), and resource extraction that ultimately
encompass the space of the entire world (Brenner 2012, 21).
The incomplete quest to capture the elusive
At first sight, this approach might appear quite obvious, as well as quite generic. However, it is crucial to
establish such an understanding of urbanization in order to depart from two very pervasive and quite narrow
understandings. Since the conception of the term by Ildefons Cerd in the mid 19th century (Cerd, 1867) and
for most part of the 20th century, urbanization has mostly come to refer to a dual process of population
concentration in dense settlements and the associated areal expansion of the later. One of the clearest and most
abstract statements of this definition can be found in a 1942 text by Hope Tisdale on The process of
urbanization: Urbanization is a process of population concentration. It proceeds in two ways: the
multiplication of points of concentration and the increase in size of individual concentrations []
Urbanization is a process of becoming. It implies a movement, not necessarily direct or steady or
continuous, from a state of non-urbanism toward a state of complete urbanism, or rather from a state of
less concentration toward a state of more concentration. Just as long as cities grow in size or multiply in
number, urbanization is taking place. It can stop, recede or go on at any point in time or space. [] As
soon as population concentration stops, urbanization stops (Tisdale 1942, 312).
This approach is directly reflected on the mainstream understanding of urbanization, as crystalized in the
predominant UN studies on world urbanization and its prospects, as well as the recently very influential Urban
Age discourse (UN 2014; Burdett and Sudjic 2006; 2010). This population-centric view of urbanization is
summarized in [fig.2]: Urbanization proceeds as a factor of the concentration of population in dense
settlements. In the beginning of the 19th century from the 1 billion of global population only around 7% was
estimated to live in cities, dense and large enough settlement areas. By 1900 the total population was above 1.5
billion and almost 15% was living in urban areas, while in 1950 this percentage had risen to 30%. Six decades
later, we were informed that we were officially living in an Urban Age, since more than half of the 7 billion

468

people on the planet were living in cities. By 2100, when the world population is expected to start leveling off
at around 11 billion, it is estimated that more than 70% of it will be settled in dense agglomeration areas.
Within this context, the delineation of the urban area proves essential in order to define the population that
lives within it as urban. According to these approaches, urbanization is largely a question of the size and
structure of densely built up and densely populated areas. The urban fabric, the physical footprint of a city, is
an area that is supposed to be differentiated from its surroundings though its densely artificial landcover.
These efforts have been recently amplified by the proliferation of remote sensing technologies that are able to
monitor the expansion of artificial areas through satellite imagery and construct easily comparable time lapses
that record the relative expansion of urban areas (Potere and Schneider 2007). Within this context, urban
development is often limited to a single directionality: That of expansion. A seminal and perhaps the most
systematic example in this direction has been the attempt of Schlomo Angel and the Urban land Institute to
put together an elaborate Atlas of Urban Expansion that monitors the expansion of the sizes and forms of
agglomerations (Angel, 2012).
Generalizing the two aforementioned paradigms, [fig.3] shows the evolution of urban areas around the world
since the beginning of the 19th century in relation to the associated evolution of population densities within
urban areas: In 1800 the combined areas of cities did not cover more than 30,000 km2 and the average urban
densities were in the range of 2,500 people per km2. By 2000 urban areas were estimated to cover more than
550,000 km2 with an average density of more than 5,500 people per km2. Having said that, and returning to
Tisdales definition, it is rather easy to reconstruct this dual mainstream view of urbanization over the past two
centuries: Indeed, since 1800 the global distribution of population densities has led to the initial multiplication
and subsequent densification of areas of population concentration. This process of course has unfolded
asymmetrically around the world, with the old agglomerations in the West slowly expanding, while the new
agglomerations in the East and global South largely densifying and multiplying in number. Overall, it is striking
to note that the expansion of urban areas has not followed linearly the dynamics of concentration of
population concentration. The result has been that overall population densities have grown faster than the
growth of the population size or in a more simplified way, areas of dense inhabitation have not expanded, or
multiplied as much as they have been densified. Overall densities in agglomerations have reached
unprecedented levels, while even more importantly, densities that were once only met in very limited central
areas, are now to be found in extensive regions.
Within this context, the delineation of urban areas, or cities, has become increasingly challenging with the
diffusion of agglomerations and the overall dissolution of the distinction between the urban and the rural,
the town and the countryside, spatial categories that used to be fundamental for establishing the building
blocks of territorial organization. Already in 1969, the first ever UN report on urbanization recognized the
problems that such a dynamic population reshuffling posed for a fixed definition of urbanization: in a fluid
situation it is doubtful whether any detailed scheme can remain valid over an extended period of time. With the
increase in number of urban attributes and their wider diffusion, it is doubtful that the historic twofold "urban"
and "rural" distinction will retain its relevance much longer (UN, 1969).
It is quite striking then to note that more than fifty years later the urban rural dichotomy has not only
persisted, but has even become the basis of the celebration of an Urban Age (Brenner, 2014). In a paradoxical
way, the age of cities is simultaneously the age where cities become so diffuse into variegated agglomeration
zones that can hardly be defined as such. [Fig.4, 5, 6] show the distribution and intensification of population
densities around the world for the years 1800, 1900 and 2000 respectively. The extended areas of high
population densities in the core of Europe are slowly complemented by the development of dense coastal
gradients in North America and Asia creating the conditions for continuous agglomeration zones that are
impossible to delineate and define as cities. At the same time, while agglomerations are becoming increasingly
elusive to define as spatial patterns, their interdependencies to broader webs of fragmented hinterlands are
exploding through the webs of international trade. Both in terms of spatial morphology, and in terms of sociometabolic function then, contemporary urbanization seems to reject any formal delineation.
In sum, it is argued that the study of urbanization cannot be restricted to the study of agglomerations, not only
because they cannot even be delineated as units of analysis due to their increasingly sprawling configurations,
but most importantly, because this framework would be very incomplete as it excludes the understanding of a
broad set of geographical transformations that are directly connected to urbanization the processes that are
unfolding in the core. Since the proposed framework suggests that urbanization is a process that transcends any
possible boundary of cities, or postmetropolitan formations, the urban as a spatial unit is rendered obsolete. If
we follow the hypothesis of Lefebve and more recently Brenner and Schmid that the whole planet is
completely urbanized, and if the urban rural, or the town countryside distinctions are not valid anymore,
which are the new spatial categories that we could instrumentalize in the study of planetary urbanization?

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Agglomeration landscapes and operational landscapes

Although it is argued that urbanization is indeed a universal condition, this does not imply the existence of a
homogenous, symmetrical landscape. Quite the opposite: Contemporary urbanization incorporates very
different and very asymmetrical geographies and patterns of (both socially and ecologically) uneven
development (Smith 1984; Moore 2014). In order to start grasping these complex configurations, Brenner and
Schmid have recently introduced the dual categories of concentrated and extended urbanization (Brenner 2012;
Brenner and Schmid 2015). These categories do not constitute opposing, or exclusive spatial units, but rather
refer to mutually constructed dialectical processes that connect sociospatial configurations in densely inhabited
and densely built areas of intense economic activity (concentrated urbanization) with sociospatial
configurations in extensive landscapes of production, extraction, disposal and circulation that could include
even very remote areas like deserts or the atmosphere and the oceans themselves (extended urbanization). As
such, they offer a significant starting point, but certainly deserve some elaboration.
Both the concentrated urbanization and extended urbanization categories suggest a certain geographical
configuration that refers to density broadly conceived. However, density or dispersion can occur in different
degrees and for different structural and functional reasons. Associated with the concentration of population,
built space and economic activity, is a double process of specialization reflected upon a broader spatial division
of labor, and the associated regional specialization and eventual geographical interdependence. In a way
urbanization is bound to a broader biogeographical set of constraints: The concentration of population and
infrastructure is advantageous for certain social and economic activities. These activities belong mostly to the
secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy (like manufacturing and services), and are those that can benefit
the most from the externalities associated with agglomeration economies: Benefits from proximity, access to
material inputs, labor pools and consumption markets, information exchange, as well as innovation through
spillover effects etc (Jacobs 1969; Soja 2000). At the same time, the same concentration is not beneficial and in
some cases prohibits certain other activities that are equally fundamental for the continuation of social
production and reproduction (Bunker and Ciccantell, 1998). These activities belong mostly to the primary
sectors of the economy (such as agriculture and resource extraction). Moreover, while there are economic and
social factors that maintain a certain mobility, and can indeed be displaced geographically and become
concentrated, several other categories, such as the later, are bound in specific geographic locations.
Thus elaborating upon the concentrated extended dialectical framework, it is suggested that the way
urbanization structures the human occupation of the earth is through the conjuncture of agglomeration
landscapes, with operational landscapes: Agglomeration landscapes are the geographies where agglomeration
economies, and in general agglomeration externalities and dynamics can unfold: These would normally include
the metropolitan, megalopolitan and postmetropolitan areas of dense settlement, population concentration and
infrastructural intensification. However, with the advent of information technologies and transportation
infrastructures, the necessary density required for the development of agglomeration economies is largely
relativized. Still we can call these landscapes agglomeration landscapes and accept that in most cases they
overlap with landscapes of concentrated urbanization, or the typical understanding of agglomerations. On the
other hand, operational landscapes are the geographies that are connected to land extensive and / or
geographically bound and specific operations that are either not susceptible to, or impossible to cluster. These
geographies include areas of agricultural production, resource extraction, forestry, as well as circulation
infrastructures, energy production systems and grids and in general types of equipment of the earths surface
that are largely point or area bound. While areas of concentration can also characterize operational landscapes,
as for example the concentration of activities around a mining zone, or a logistics or processing hub in an
agricultural area, these types of concentrations do not normally mean the presence of agglomeration
economies. Moreover, in some cases (like for example in Indias Ganges plains) very high population densities
are connected more to labor intensive agricultural operations and do not necessary materialize the potentials
for agglomeration economies. In short, high density of population of infrastructure does not guarantee the
presence of agglomeration economies, while low density does not deny it. On the other hand, primary
production operations are often very much bound not only to particular environmental and climatic conditions,
but also to certain types of equipment in the absence of which they cannot be adequately exercised. In short,
agglomeration landscapes appear much more footloose and flexible in their configuration than operational
landscapes.
At the same time, it should be noted that while indeed the sectorial model of economic functions (primary,
secondary, tertiary) offers a reasonable entry point to grasp the specific functional basis of agglomeration
landscapes and operational landscapes, it does not mean that economic operations taking place in one or the
other are distinct: On the contrary, the dialectical relationship of both is the basis of their mutual

470

transformation as almost all economic functions under the contemporary capitalist production and circulation
system activate several geographies that cut across several agglomeration and operational landscapes. The
food sector for example includes not only agricultural areas, but also processing facilities and distribution
centers, while the construction sector is dependent upon mining operations that source material from often
very remote territories (Knox, 2014; Dicken, 2007). In sum, beyond the horizontal metropolis of diffuse
agglomeration landscapes, lies a much more expanded horizontal metropolis: Hard or soft operational
landscapes, equipped for food, mineral, energy and water production and circulation and orchestrated through
the operations of logistical networks into global commodity chains. Together they constitute the vast majority
of the used part of the planet.
Unfortunately, agglomeration landscapes and operational landscapes have not received equal attention over
the past years, with urban scholars being overly invested into unpacking the complexities of contemporary
agglomerations that have indeed been paramount. On the one hand, since the early 60s when Jean Gottmann
used the term Megalopolis in order to describe the continuous agglomeration form along the East coast of the
United States, numerous concepts and paradigms have been introduced in an effort to grasp agglomeration
patterns that departed significantly from the monocentric, metropolitan model that characterized the early 20th
century and was largely associated with the Chicago school (Gottmann 1961; Soja 2000). Terms like
polycentric, diffuse, regional, corridor or edge cities are indicative of the efforts to grasp these increasingly
continuous, both physically and functionally, agglomeration forms (Hall 2006; Garreau 1991; Indovina 2009;
Soja 2000). As Soja successfully summarizes: Once steep density gradients from the center have begun to level
off as peripheral agglomerations multiply and the dominance of the singular central city weakens () in what
can best be described as a regional urbanization process (Soja 2005). Indeed, as [fig.7] shows, the shift in
density gradients over the past 100 years has been dramatic: In 2000 the average population densities more than
15km around the hypothetical centers of the 500 largest cities in the world were comparable to the densities in
their cores in the beginning of the 20th century. Urban densities then, densities that once characterized the
dense urban cores of metropolitan centers, are now to be found across much more extended zones, which in
some cases blend with each other leading to continuous agglomeration zones.
At the same time, as the traditional urbanized regions in the west were becoming largely de-industrialized and
the whole system of production was becoming increasingly horizontal during the second half of the twentieth
century, the global cities debate highlighted the emerging role of cities or better selected cities as
commanding centers of the world economy (Sassen, 2000; 2011; Taylor 2003; Knox and Taylor, 1995).
According to this influential debate, the flexible globalization of processing and manufacturing industries,
characterized by increased outsourcing, relocation to areas with lower labor costs and the increasing
importance of logistics, was creating the need for increasingly sophisticated centralized management while at
the same time the financialization of the economy offered an additional boost to the tertiary economic sector.
What characterized cities at the beginning of the 20th century then, was not their relation to their immediate
surrounding areas, but rather their rank in this chain of command, a command that was taking place not only in
persisting central business districts but also in new forms of centrality that were reconstituted at a regional
scale through polycentric structures, or even at the global scale over advanced information and communication
technologies (Sassen, 1995).
Overall, it could be argued that the study of cities in globalization emphasized on how agglomeration
economies were constituted either within a certain urbanized region as a polycentric set of nodes, or how this
region operated as a node within a network of other global city regions-nodes (Storper, 1997; Scott, 2001). As
these narratives overemphasized the internal dynamics of agglomerations, and the relation of urbanization to
the global restructuring of the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy, they almost completely ignored a
parallel process that was shaping the majority of the surface of the earth, the other 70% as we already
discussed: A globalization of the primary economic sectors of the economy that constitute the majority of the
operational landscapes of planetary urbanization.
Charting the operational landscapes
This project does not suggest that urbanization is not about the expanding agglomeration areas. It suggests that
it is not only about that. Highlighting only the process of concentration as the essence of urbanization, offers a
limited understanding of the geographical configuration of the broader phenomenon. Complementary to [fig.3]
and [fig. 4, 5, 6] then, a second set of diagrams reveals the expansion of these associated geographies, of the
global hinterland that unfolded from 1800 to 2000: The diagram in [fig.8] plots the evolution of urban areas in
relation to the evolution of agricultural and grazing areas since the beginning of the 19th century. In 1800 when
the combined areas of cities did not cover more than 30,000 km2, agricultural and grazing areas were more than
9,500,000 km2. In 1900, with industrial urbanization taking off, urban areas covered around 130,000 km2, while

471

agricultural and grazing areas almost 20,000,000 km2. Finally in 2000, with agglomeration areas spreading over
more than 550,000 km2, agricultural areas were more than 15,000,000 km2 and pastures more than 30,000,000
km2. It is important to highlight that along the intensification of densities in agglomeration zones that we saw
in [fig.3], a much more extreme intensification has been taking place through the operationalization of
agricultural landscapes. [Fig. 9, 10, 11] show an estimate of the distribution of the operational landscapes of
the world for the years 1800, 1900, 2000, through a combination of agricultural lands and grazing areas. While
between 1900 and 2000 the world population has almost quadrupled, the agricultural areas of the world have
not even doubled. And yet these landscapes have been able to sustain an increasing population through their
continuous industrialization and specialization (Federico, 2009). Since the 1950s continuous mechanization,
fertilizer application, as well as heavy investment in land capital, such as drainage and irrigation systems, have
allowed agricultural yields per km2 to rise substantially and cover demand, creating however very particular
landscapes that did not resemble at all the rural landscapes of the early 17th century. As Jean Gottmann noted
when he was discussing the development of the Megalopolis along the northeastern seaboard of the United
States: The long-accepted opposition between town and country has therefore evolved toward a new
opposition between urban regions, of which Megalopolis is certainly the most obvious and advanced case, and
agricultural regions, the largest and most typical of which is found in the grain-growing Great Plains
(Gottmann 1961, 215)
For Gottmann it was clear that megalopolitan formations, such as the Bosh-Wash corridor, were only one part
of the broader picture of geographical reorganization, the other being the creation of specialized, industrialized
production landscapes, that were very far from operating as part of subsistence economies and were
increasingly integrated into the global system of exchange. [Tab.1] attempts to offer a first sketch of the
operational landscapes at the beginning of the 20th century through a breakdown of the used part of the planet
according to a study of the Institute of Social Ecology at Alpen-Adria University, while [fig.12, 13, 14] offer
additional visualizations of agricultural areas, grazing lands as well as forestry regions. The compilation of these
datasets has been the basis for the construction of the dark, used part of the planet in [fig.2]. Besides the
liberalization of trade, the continuous commodification and the integration of more and more countries into
the global system of exchange (virtually the whole world after the 1990s), what brings this landscapes together
is very much connected to developments in the organization of transportation systems which after the mid-20th
century were not so much characterized by infrastructural expansion, but rather infrastructural integration
that is the increased interconnectivity and intermodality of networks into generic meshworks (Rodrigue, 2013).
These developments however, were not limited to the development of physical infrastructures (such as
innovations in freight systems like containerization and long-haul shipping), but also to the coordination and
management of global distribution through advanced logistics systems (Hall and Hesse, 2012). As a result, only
part of the essence of the global transportation system can be revealed in [fig.15] which shows the major
surface (road and rail), marine as well aviation networks. The extensive equipment of the ground with
infrastructural networks beyond agglomeration areas, is revealed in [tab.2]. This diagram correlates the
distribution of artificially constructed areas with the distribution of population densities around the globe. It is
rather expected that areas of high population density are also characterized by high density of constructed
areas. However what is striking to note is that the majority of built areas in absolute numbers, does not lie in
high density areas - in agglomeration landscapes but rather in very low density or completely uninhabited
areas, which essentially means that most of the constructed areas of the planet equip its operational
landscapes. These landscapes however are still rather close to agglomeration zones: Building upon a global
map of accessibility (Nelson, 2008), [fig.16] shows the distribution of the major primary production operations
in relation to the major agglomeration areas. More than 50% of agricultural areas, and around 30% of grazing
lands, mining and forestry areas lie within 3 hours of the closest agglomeration of considerable size.
The broader aim of this research then, is to cancel the distinction that the map in [fig.2] suggests, a distinction
that has haunted urban studies for quite a while: Agglomerations and these vast extended geographies are two
sides of the same coin. We are not leaving in an Urban Age because more than half of the population lives in
cities; we are living in an urban age (and perhaps have been living for quite a while now), because even the areas
that lie well beyond densely populated areas, are significantly reconfigured as part of urbanization processes.
Almost the whole used part of the planet, is urbanized because it is brought into a condition of direct or
indirect interdependence with the organization of the globalized system of agglomerations. As such
urbanization doesnt stop or reverse itself when the concentration in agglomerations stops, or when
agglomerations stop expanding as Tisdale but also several contemporary scholars suggest (Champion and
Hugo, 20014); it just suggests shifting patterns of geographical organization. As long as agglomeration patterns
construct a state of geographical interdependence of specialized areas of production, circulation, inhabitation,
urbanization prevails. Thus it could be argued that urbanization, as a trend is not characterized by a shift from a

472

condition of less concentration to a condition of more concentration although concentration is definitely part
of the process; it is rather characterized by a shift from a condition of less interdependence to a condition of
complete geographical interdependence. This complete geographical interdependence can be understood as a
shift from a state of relative subsistence, during which settlements were dependent upon a relative limited and
geographically contiguous set of surrounding regions or hinterlands for their subsistence, to a complete
urbanization is not a state of inhabitation in which all population lives in cities; it is a state of geographical
organization in which all the planetary terrain is organized according to urban dynamics.

Land Use
Built Area
Cropland
Pastures
Forestry (potential)
Total Used

Area in km2
1,230,000
15,200,000
48,100,000
37,660,000
102,190,000

% of land surface
0.82
10.2
32.3
25.3
69

% of used land surface

1.2
14.9
47
36.9
100

Table 1: Major land use systems of the world and their respective percentages in relation to the total land area. Source:
elaborated by the author based on data from: Erb, K.-H., Gaube, V., Krausmann, F., Plutzar, C., Bondeau, A., H. Haberl.
(2007). A comprehensive global 5min resolution land-use dataset for the year 2000 consistent with national census data.
Journal of Land Use Science 2(3), 191-224.

Population
Density
(people/ km2)
0-100
100-500
500-1000
1000-2000
2000-5000
5000-10000
10000-15000
15000-30000
30000+

Population

Area
(km2)

Built Area
(km2)

Density of Built
Area %

% of Total
Built Area

% of Total
Population

646390180
959656468
688464048
846753621
1670357241
1361089074
849281129
847583876
485996125

139376705
4426350
962537
610856
386068
131702
40815
30486
10704

305933
95498
45625
50780
50056
26675
12253
12220
6106

0.22
2.12
4.74
8.31
12.97
20.25
30.02
40.08
57.05

50.56
15.78
7.53
8.39
8.27
4.40
2.02
2.01
1.01

9.45
14.03
10.06
12.38
24.42
19.90
12.42
12.391
7.10

Table 2: The spatial relationship of the distribution of population densities with the distribution and density of constructed
surfaces. Source: Spatial analysis by the author based on a combination of data from: LandScan (2012) High Resolution
global Population Data Set copyrighted by UT-Battelle, LLC, operator of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Global Density
of Constructed Impervious Surface Areas (ISA) developed by the Earth Observation Group (EOG), National Geophysical
Data Center (NGCD).

473

Figure 1: Historical and future evolution of urban and rural population of the world. Source: Elaborated by the author
based on data from: United Nations (2014). World urbanization prospects: The 2014 revision. New York: United Nations.

Figure 2: The used part of the planet showing the global distribution of agglomeration landscapes (in red) and operational
landscapes (in black). Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on data from: Erb, K.-H., Gaube, V.,
Krausmann, F., Plutzar, C., Bondeau, A., H. Haberl. (2007). A comprehensive global 5min resolution land-use dataset for
the year 2000 consistent with national census data. Journal of Land Use Science 2(3), 191-224; Global Rural-Urban
Mapping Project, Version 1 (GRUMPv1): Urban Extents Grid developed by the Center for International Earth Science
Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University, International Food Policy Research Institute - IFPRI, The World
Bank, and Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical CIAT.

474

Figure 3: Historical evolution of the spatial relationship between urban areas and urban population densities. Source:
Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on data from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced
land use change over the past 12,000 years developed by Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht
(2011); United Nations (2014). World urbanization prospects: The 2014 revision. New York: United Nations.

Figure 4: Distribution of global population densities in the year 1800. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author
based on data from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years
developed by Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011).

475

Figure 5: Distribution of global population densities in the year 1900. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author
based on data from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years
developed by Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011).

Figure 6: Distribution of global population densities in the year 2000. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author
based on data from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years
developed by Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011).

476

Figure 7: Historical evolution of the population density gradients from 1900 to 2000 around the 500 largest agglomerations
in the year 2000. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on data from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit
database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years developed by Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de
Vos and G. van Drecht (2011); United Nations (2014). World urbanization prospects: The 2014 revision. New York:
United Nations.

Figure 8: Historical evolution of major land use systems of the world from 1900 to 2000. Source: Cartography and spatial
analysis by the author based on data from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the
past 12,000 years developed by Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011); Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAOSTAT. FAOSTAT (Database). (Latest update: 07 Mar 2014)
Accessed (15 Sep 2015). URI: http://data.fao.org/ref/262b79ca-279c-4517-93de-ee3b7c7cb553.html?version=1.0

477

Figure 9: Distribution of global operational landscapes in the year 1800. The intensity gradient represents a weighted
composite of built up areas, cropland and pastures. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on data
from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years developed by
Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011).

Figure 10: Distribution of global operational landscapes in the year 1900. The intensity gradient represents a weighted
composite of built up areas, cropland and pastures. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on data
from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years developed by
Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011).

478

Figure 11: Distribution of global operational landscapes in the year 2000. The intensity gradient represents a weighted
composite of built up areas, cropland and pastures. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on data
from: HYDE 3.1 spatially explicit database of human induced land use change over the past 12,000 years developed by
Klein Goldewijk, K., A. Beusen, M. de Vos and G. van Drecht (2011).

Figure 12: Distribution and intensity of global cropland areas. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based
on data from: Erb, K.-H., Gaube, V., Krausmann, F., Plutzar, C., Bondeau, A., H. Haberl. (2007). A comprehensive global
5min resolution land-use dataset for the year 2000 consistent with national census data. Journal of Land Use Science 2(3),
191-224.

479

Figure 13: Distribution and intensity of global grazing areas. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based
on data from: Erb, K.-H., Gaube, V., Krausmann, F., Plutzar, C., Bondeau, A., H. Haberl. (2007). A comprehensive global
5min resolution land-use dataset for the year 2000 consistent with national census data. Journal of Land Use Science 2(3),
191-224.

Figure 14: Distribution and intensity of global forestry areas. Source: Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based
on data from: Erb, K.-H., Gaube, V., Krausmann, F., Plutzar, C., Bondeau, A., H. Haberl. (2007). A comprehensive global
5min resolution land-use dataset for the year 2000 consistent with national census data. Journal of Land Use Science 2(3),
191-224

480

Figure 15: The global transportation system. A compilation of land (road and rail), marine and air transportation systems.
Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on data from: Vector Map Level 0 (VMap0) dataset released by the
National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) in 1997; Marine routes based on the global commercial activity (shipping)
dataset compiled by The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS).

Figure 16: Geographical accessibility of the distribution of primary production landscapes from major agglomeration zones.
The diagram shows the percentage of land area associated with cropland, pastures, forestry and mining that is within 1 to 12
hours from agglomeration areas with population of 50,000 or more. Cartography and spatial analysis by the author based on
data from: Erb, K.-H., Gaube, V., Krausmann, F., Plutzar, C., Bondeau, A., H. Haberl. (2007). A comprehensive global
5min resolution land-use dataset for the year 2000 consistent with national census data. Journal of Land Use Science 2(3),
191-224; Nelson, A. (2008). Travel time to major cities: A global map of Accessibility.Ispra: European Commission.

481

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Unbounded urbanization and the Horizontal Metropolis: the pragmatic

program of August Mennes in the Antwerp agglomeration.
Tom Broes, Michiel Dehaene

University of Ghent
Michiel Dehaene
Expected thesis defense: September, 2019
Tom.Broes@ugent.be
Parallel to many discussions in other European cities, the debate on a metropolitan Antwerp emerged at the turn of the
20th century, following the decision to tear down the old ramparts around the city in 1904. Once boundless, the old core
became for the first time the subject of a contiguous urban expansion at its very fringes. Soon, however, far more loose
urbanization processes would wash over the land as the urban territories rapidly expanded beyond what was at first
imagined. By consequence, the face of the future Antwerp metropolis would be shaped by a series of interlocking and
unbounded urbanization processes.
Tracing the interrelated endeavors of the key parties that helped shaping these urbanization processes, ranging from
property tycoons, technocrats and architects to key figures in the political world, my PhD research aims at rendering the
contours of a long history of the construction of Antwerps twentieth century belt within which the notions of urbanism
and urbanization are blurred.
Through an eclectic catalogue of five urban questions, this paper investigates the various ways in which the process of
territorial rescaling set in motion in 1904 coproduced the features of todays horizontal metropolis. Based on the activities
of engineer August Mennes, the paper will try to conclude that the Antwerp Horizontal Metropolis surfaced as the result
of a juxtaposition of urbanization techniques that question and transcend the interpretation of urbanization as a process
of random and speculative accumulation.

The unbinding of the city and the emergence of the horizontal metropolis.
Today, urbanization can no longer be seen as a marked-off front that washes over the countryside in
concentric circles and deposits different layers of the city in successive waves. In a highly networked and
globalized world, urbanization can hardly be grasped in terms of circumscribed territorial units anymore. Neil
Brenner leaves no doubt in his latest book Implosions/Explosions. Urbanization has become a planetary
phenomenon. It is boundless, and spans the world like a multilevel relational space. Urbanization is not
happening everywhere, but within the area of spaceship Earth it has no limits, no outside (Dehaene, 2014).
This article will look for the very roots of these actual descriptions of both city and urbanization as
territorially unbounded phenomena. In the context of the Antwerp agglomeration, this search leads all the
way back to the year 1904, when a royal decree to tear down the old ramparts put a definite end to the ageold and relatively autonomous process of vertical accumulation within the old urban core [fig.1]. In the spirit
of a discourse on Greater Urbanism that marked the beginning of the 20 th century, the collective
imagination of a Greater Antwerp would soon be projected way beyond the boundaries of that vertical
core. Quintessential in Antwerps history, is the fact that the administrative boundaries did not disappear
along with the old ramparts1. The city became above all mentally unbounded. From that moment onwards, a
motley collection of mainly rural villages was forced to engage in a new metropolitan alliance, in spite of their
historical territorial boundaries2. For decades, the territory of this sub-urbs would serve as a laboratory for the
development of inter- and transcommunal techniques of urbanization.
Although the unbinding of Antwerp in 1904 initially aimed for a contiguous urban expansion at the citys
very fringes (Ministerie van Landbouw en Openbare Werken. Studiecommissie tot inrichting der
Antwerpsche Agglomeratie,1911), soon a far more extended terrain would become the subject of far more
radical and liquefying processes of urbanization. Through an eclectic catalogue of 5 urban questions
(Castells, 1975) the paper investigates how this instance of territorial rescaling coproduced the features of
todays horizontal metropolis. Each urban question will highlight certain traits of unbounded urbanization.
Based on the activities of engineer August Mennes, the paper will try to show how the Antwerp Horizontal
Metropolis surfaced as the result of a juxtaposition of several urbanization techniques that question and
transcend the interpretation of urbanization as a meaningless process of accumulation.

1 It would take until 1983 before a great merger redefined the administrative boundaries of a metropolitan Antwerp.
2 In retrospect this history can be understood as an example of regional planning and as an early attempt to reinterpret dispersed
patterns of urbanization as a plausible form of urbanity.

483

[fig.1] The vertical core within confined territorial boundaries and the 1904 propaganda to unbind it. Soon, loose
processes of urbanization would wash over the horizontal sub-urban territory. Source: Antwerp City Archives, file
n1369#7072.

Urban question 1: Sewer system as a unifying landscape for the agglomeration.

As soon as 1904, the mentally unbounded city and the imagination of a Greater Antwerp, established a
reciprocal interdependence between the vertical core and the horizontal territory of its mainly rural
surroundings. This territorial rescaling opened new opportunities to cope more structurally with local
aberrations of the urbanization process, at the scale of the entire agglomeration. The design for the General
Sewer System for the Agglomeration (G.S.S.A) from 1921 illustrates this well (Stad Antwerpen, 1966).
Previously, every suburb had dealt with its own wastewater and the sewer system in the agglomeration was
little more than a set of primitive structures that disposed of wastewaters at the edges of each and every
separate municipality. De facto, the entire network of regional waterways had gradually been turned into an
open gutter. These highly unhygienic conditions not only caused structural failings within the different
suburbs. In spite of having its own proper sewer system, the urban core too had to cope with all of the
disposed wastewaters of its entire hinterland. After all, the majority of waterways in the agglomeration the
river Schijn in particular meets the River Scheldt within the citys boundaries (Stad Antwerpen 1966).
These primitive structures were ill-suited to cope with the unfolding urbanization of the suburbs and
continuing to work with them would only exacerbate all problems downstream, within the vertical core. Only
the design of a sewer system at the scale of the entire agglomeration would solve this double crisis. Under the
impetus of the Provincial Authorities, an engineer was appointed that worked for more than 2 years under
the auspices of a technical committee with representatives of the state, the province and the city on an
impressive and multi-layered plan that included 22 municipalities 3 in the Antwerp Agglomeration. Starting
from accurate topographic and pluviographic maps, the territory was subdivided into several sub-basins
(Provincie Antwerpen, 1939). The ultimate goal was to design a robust and economical sewer system with
natural drainage and a minimum of pumping stations and pressure lines. As a result, the conceived system
had the characteristics of a unifying landscape of underground waterways [fig.2]. The impact of future
urbanization was taken into account by matching the capacity of the systems main lines to expected degrees
of densification and subsequent impermeability of the ground surface of each separate municipality [fig.3]. As
these projected collector lines were public utilities, both State and Provincial Authorities each subsidized 1/3
of the total construction costs. The 22 suburbs split the last third of these costs and were enabled to connect
their local and expanding systems as they pleased and at their own expense (Stad Antwerpen, 1966).
To dispose of the wastewaters far enough from the city both up- and downstream, the entire system needed
sufficient length. To this end, the river Schijn was re-routed to meet the river not less than 16km further
upstream. It would become the main underground artery of the entire sewer system. Short-circuiting
numerous waterways in the north of Antwerp and draining a significant polder area, this diversion would turn
out to be vital for the expansion of the harbor [fig.2].

3 It is remarkable that the old core was not part of the initial study, until the results of the G.S.S.A. revealed that the old urban sewer
system would be far less performant than the agglomerations new infrastructure. From 1923 onwards, a similar plan was developed for
the Antwerp urban core. Urbanization then reveals itself as a rhizomatic and reciprocal process in which invention, renewal and
modernization not only simply migrate from the urban core to the countryside.

484

[fig.2] The main infrastructure lines of the sewer system for the Antwerp agglomeration read as an underground synthetic
landscape, following natural topography. In the north, the system detours the harbor. Source: International Water Exhibition
in Lige (Provincie Antwerpen, 1939).

While slumbering urbanization processes initially caused multiple problems both in the city and its suburbs,
the G.S.S.A. seized the new opportunities of unbounded urbanization to take the urban question of the
agglomerations sewer systems towards a decisive tipping point. Being much more than a remedial measure,
the plan created entirely new conditions for a radically horizontal urban and economic expansion of the
agglomeration. The plan redefined the mental map of the region: a collection of primitive hamlets suddenly
became enlisted within a new framework that anticipated the contours of a metropolitan region in the
making.

[fig.3] Excerpt of a G.S.S.A. survey map. Superposing data on expected densification and increasing impermeability on
top of existing and dispersed urbanization patterns that will be recollected into a new metropolitan figure. Source:
Antwerp City Archives, file n533#1.

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Urban question 2: Water supply and collective consumption.

Under the growing pressure of urban expansion, densification and industrialization, it became ever more
difficult to extract clean drinking water from the aquifer and or surface water in the Antwerp agglomeration
(PIDPA, 1963). This problem was most pressing in the rapidly urbanizing territory next to the Antwerp
vertical core. The lack of sufficiently large water-collection areas in the vicinity of the city, necessitated a
search for water much further afield, far beyond the boundaries of traditional city-country relations.
In 1913, the Provincial and Intercommunal Drinking water company of the Province of Antwerp (PIDPA)
was founded by count de Baillet Latour, who was the Provincial Governor at that time (PIDPA, 1963). In
1918, after a first round of study work, a hydraulic engineer was commissioned to design a plan that would
provide 360.000 inhabitants from 35 provincial towns with fresh drinking water (Mennes, 1923).
Although the demand for water was initially centered around Berchem-Deurne-Mortsel-Boechout, the plan
indicated 60.000 ha of heathlands in the plains of Mol-Lommel as water-collection area, about 60 km to the
west of the city and even partially outside of the boundaries of the Antwerp province [fig.4].
The plan first encountered strong local resistance in the region of Mol-Lommel. As is often the case with largescale projects, the public interest conflicted with the many local, private interests. The agricultural sector, for
instance, was concerned about the potential lowering of the water table of fields around the new prise deau
(Mennes, 1923). The principles underlying this discussion were rather fundamental. In a speech to the
provincial government, the author of the plan stated: The average layman in the region of Lommel-Mol might
wonder, yielding to the human nature of selfishness: why are they looking for water here? That water was
given to us by nature; it is our fortune, our property, our possession! If they want water for other villages,
they better go and find it elsewhere! Surely, this kind of reasoning will not find a willing ear in your midst. It
disqualifies every notion of solidarity that undergirds all progress and the entire modern civilization(Mennes,
1922).

[fig.4] The 1922 PIDPA-plan. Although the demand for fresh water originated in the Antwerp sub-urbs, 35 discontinuous
provincial municipalities were involved in a collective arrangement of unbounded scale. Source: Antwerp City Archives,
file n534#11.

The PIDPA-plan clearly illustrates the concept of collective consumption (Castells 1975; Saunders 1981) as
one of the basic challenges faced by an urbanized society4. The transition from a non-urbanized to an
urbanized context presupposes structural collective arrangements (Remy, 1974). In the case of the Antwerp
water supply, this collective arrangement reached far beyond the citys boundaries. Large parts of the
provincial territory were definitively implicated in a new era of unbounded urbanization. Millions of gallons
of water were extracted from the ground water table in Limburg, and on their way to a more urban context
equally provided as yet rural communities with fresh water. As had been the case for the sewer system, both

4 In virtually all Belgian agglomerations, this principle was not strictly attached to the matter of water supply only. For other utilities,
such as electricity and gas, the development of all kinds of collective arrangements were at play (Holvoet, 1937).

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State and Provincial Authorities each subsidized 1/3 of all costs. An average annual subscription rate of 35fr.
per connection sufficed to cover the rest of the construction costs 5.
To the question whether it wouldnt be more efficient to look for smaller water-collection areas closer to the
city, the author of the design replied: It is one of the principle laws of hydraulics that the amount of water
that can run through a pipe with a given section increases gigantically when that section is slightly altered.
That is why the supply of a large amount of water at a long distance can easily be organized without
additional costs compared to the supply of small amounts of water at short distances. That is a reward, given
by nature, for the solidarity of the communities.(Mennes, 1922).
The horizontal metropolis in the Antwerp agglomeration, thus, seems almost literally built on one of the
principle laws of hydraulics. Whats more, the design could easily be extended to 80% of the provincial
municipalities without having to touch the systems main pipelines (Mennes, 1922). The Pidpa-plan, in short,
contained all the germs necessary for a radical project of horizontal urbanization within the Antwerp
agglomeration.
Urban question 3: The industrial city and railway networks.
From its origins in 1830, the Belgian state started to build large-scale infrastructures as the economic
backbone for the industrialization of its territory. The Campine region, for instance, was gradually reclaimed
through the construction of a series of canals that connected the area to the Antwerp harbor (Van Acker,
2014). Next to that, a multilayered railway policy undergirded strongly dispersed urbanization patterns from
the early 19th century onwards (Uyttenhove 2011; Grosjean 2010). Urban cores were recollected into an
incredibly dense network of national and vicinal railroads. Exceptionally high degrees of mobility perpetuated
and stimulated a certain fragmentation and dispersion of both the commuting workforce and the
industrialization process itself (Seebohm Rowntree 1911).
In the Antwerp agglomeration, as soon as 1879 a national railroad ran parallel to the river Scheldt and served
as a backbone for the development of a linear industrial city 6 that ran from Hoboken all the way south to
the age-old, small-scale stone quarries and brickyards in the Rupel Region. In the north, the Old Campine
Canal initiated a similar linear industrial development, with the construction of the Merksem Docklands of
1874 as a climax. Along the canal, a private shunting-yard that was directly connected to the national railway
infrastructure of the Antwerp Harbor by vicinal railroads, was crucial for the rise of a flourishing industry in
Merksem (Heemkundige kring Merksem, c.a. 1997).
The early suburbanization of industrial activity along these infrastructures shows clearly on the Plan Industriel
de la ville dAnvers et des communes environnants from 1914 [fig.5]. The remarkable title and cutout of this map is
exemplary for the collective imagination of a Greater Antwerp that began to take hold of the agglomeration
at that time (Ministerie van Landbouw en Openbare Werken. Studiecommissie tot inrichting der
Antwerpsche Agglomeratie,1911; Schobbens, 1924). Right in the center of the agglomeration, there is a string
absence of industrial activity with the exception of a single enterprise. A new ring-shaped railway was
projected that would interconnect both industrial ribbons along Scheldt and Canal with each other nd with
the expanded harbor. As such, one horizontal industrial complex was shaped. Thanks to new shunting yards,
also smaller municipalities such as Deurne, Wijnegem, Berchem and Borsbeek (Mennes, 1922) would be
incorporated into this horizontal industrial city that stretched all the way from the Rupel Region in the south
to the harbor polders up north.
The unbounded process of urbanization did not only provided new opportunities, but also came with new
problems. Although the plan structurally interconnected dispersed industrial areas at a regional scale,
unwanted side-effects at a local level could no longer be avoided in the ever more complex palimpsest of
ongoing railway works. A reorganization of the harbor infrastructure in the late 1930s for instance,
disconnected all industrial activity in Merksem from the national railways. To regain access to this network as
quickly as possible the Association Industrielle de Merxem hired an engineer with direct contacts in the highest
circles of Belgian politics7.
In the era of unbounded urbanization, political lobbying crossed the communal boundaries and completely
outgrew the sphere of influence of local politics. In this case, an influential engineer functioned as an
intermediate figure between state politics and a local pressure group. A multiplication of this kind of hardly
traceable alliances lay at the root of what could be labeled, following Lewis Mumford and others, an Invisible
City (Mumford, 1938; Remy 1974; Meyers, 1998). The relatively unequivocal links between politics, capital
accumulation and urbanization that had still marked the vertical core [fig.6], had come to a definite end. In
5 This was an average price, based on an expected number of 80.000 clients. Social classes would be subsidized, while high-class
customers were supposed to pay extra. The average price would decrease with a growing number of clients. In this way, access to fresh
water was socialized as much as possible (Mennes, 1923).
6 The idea of the linear industrial city would re-emerge later on, as an explicit model for the construction of the economic backbone for
the Belgian welfare-state (Ryckewaert, 2011).
7 The archives of Merksem speak of direct contacts with the ministry of Internal Affairs and leading political figures such as Hendrik De
Man, who was minister of Public Works at that time (Heemkundige kring Merksem, c.a. 1997).

487

the era of unbounded urbanization, these links would become ever more ambiguous and ever less concrete.
In the Invisible City, a complex whole of obscured interferences in supra-local politics and in all kinds of
financing systems lies at the root of a stratified and in that sense abstract spatiality (Lefebvre, 1974;
Merrifield, 2006).

[fig.5] Plan Industirel DAnvers et des communes environnantes, 1914. Source: Antwerp City Archives, file n12#4068.

[fig.6] Traceable links in the old core between urban politics, capital accumulation, and urbanization. Map of the Antwerp
Authorities in response to Bourgeois complaints about the spending of tax incomes. Source: Antwerp City Archives, file
n12#12546.

488

Urban question 4: Public Parks and horizontal housing patterns

At the turn of the 20th century, the city of Antwerp lacked green areas and parks. The situation in Antwerp
on that matter is far worse than in any other city of the same importance, both in Belgium and abroad. And
we have to hurry to solve this problem, which is becoming more intolerable with todays growing
population. (Schobbens, 1924). The prospect of a Greater Antwerp was offering a unique opportunity to
develop sufficient public parks for the urban agglomeration[fig.7]. This task, however, was not going to be a
walk in the park.

[fig.7] Map that relates mineral public spaces in the vertical core to future public parks in the horizontal agglomeration.
Source: Les parcs publics dans lagglomration Anversoise (Schobbens, 1924).

As stated before, the city was above all mentally unbounded in 1904, as the administrative boundaries were
never questioned or altered. Because most of the strategic lots to build a first new park 8 the Nachtegalenpark
stretched over the territories of Wilrijk, Berchem and Antwerp, some radical forms of political politics were
applied. The terrains targeted as future park were some of the old noble estates around the city. The small
towns of Wilrijk and Berchem were, however, not in a position to raise the funds to buy these estates. In the
end, an intercommunal agreement was reached that redrew the communal boundaries in such a way that a
number of these estates would come to fall within the territorial boundaries of Antwerp, putting the city in a
position to realize a large park.
The city, in other words, had to finance the development of first park for the agglomeration all by itself. But
on its own, the city didnt have enough capital either. That is why a deal was closed with one of the noble
landowners the family Della Failleallowing them to develop a part of their estates as a project for park
living of a high standard in return for a reduced price for the future park lands. The modalities of this
agreement were described in the Convention Della Faille, that would in turn become the forerunner of a
boundless horizontal tract development practice far beyond the agglomerations boundaries.
With this early experiment in mind, the family Della Faille soon understood that in an era of unbounded
urbanization, the commodification of ground would become the ultimate strategy for the further
accumulation of their age-old capital (2005, Degryse). The family founded the firm Extensions et Entreprises
Anversoises (Extensa n.v.). From 1910 onwards, the firm started to buy up all kinds of strategic lots and to
incorporate numerous smaller Socits Immobilires that had been created ever since the royal decree of 1904
had caused a fierce land speculation. In the following decades, the firm managed to assemble a true empire of
estates that reached from the city of Antwerp, over Wilrijk and Edegem all the way down to Kontich. To open
up their estates, and to bring them in reach of the vertical core, the Extensa firm fully financed the Prins
Boudewijnlaan (1933) (Extensa n.v., 1960)[fig.8]. This privately financed metropolitan avenue, that reached
from Kontich to Antwerp, was transferred to the public domain and all involved municipalities largely
8 The noble estates of Middelheim, Vogelenzang and Den Brandt altogether provide 80ha for the new Nachtegalenpark.

489

benefitted from its construction as well. In the end, the whole operation can best be understood as a farreaching public-private arrangement that initiated an urbanization project that re-inscribed several
municipalities in the Antwerp agglomeration. The Extensa n.v. commissioned an engineer to draw a
development scheme for the entire area [fig.8]. Although the majestic trees along the Prins Boudewijnlaan in a
way mimicked the driveways of the old noble estates, the imagination and quality of the royal living parks as
defined in the Convention Della Faille failed to be maintained. With this erosion of the spatial quality also came
a certain democratization of the suburban dream though. Although the Extensa n.v. was born in the citys
lap, its activities soon spread over the entire territory of the emerging horizontal metropolis (Extensa n.v.,
1970).

[fig.8] Left : Extensa estates stretching from Antwerp to Kontich. Right : Opening up the Extensa estates with the
construction of the Prins Boudewijnlaan, that equally serves several municipalities. Source: Private Archives Extensa n.v.

Apart from the initial operation of the Nachtegalenpark, similar urbanization techniques were applied to
develop other parks in the agglomeration, such as the Boeckenbergpark in Borgerhout or Merksem Park
(Schobbens, 1924). The Rivierenhof in Deurne, in turn, was bought and developed as a regional park by the
provincial authorities, due to a lack of resources of the small municipality itself (Schobbens, 1924). The
implementation of parks in the Antwerp agglomeration, in short, necessitated radical and transcommunal
territorial politics that came along with an intense urbanization policy of large-scale public-private registered
tract development schemes.
Urban Question 5: Socializing and equipping a metropolitan grid through property development.
The Prins Boudewijnlaan that was developed by Extensa was far from the only large metropolitan avenue that
was planned during the interwar period. After unbinding the city, the Jan Van Rijswijcklaan became the first of
a series of radial infrastructures that brought the vertical core in reach of the extended horizontal territory of
the metropolitan region9(Broes Dehaene, 2014). Together with a couple of remarkable tangential figures,
these radial boulevards would establish a powerful armature for future urbanization [fig.9]. With the Singel and
the Krijgsbaan two ring-shaped boulevards were constructed on the vestiges of the old military infrastructures.
In between these two recuperated boulevards though, the entirely new avenue Ringlaan emerged that crossed
all of the municipalities that bordered Antwerp. This avenue was introduced in the 1930s, when an engineer
drew alignment plans for all of these local authorities [fig.10] (Van Acker 2014; Heemkundige kring Merksem,
9 In the pre-highway era, the Jan Van Rijswijcklaan became the main road connecting the Antwerp core to the Brussels pentagon.

490

c.a.1997). This figure of the Ringlaan, in other words, was not conceived within a concerted and wellcoordinated operation at the level of the agglomeration, but emerged from below as the sum of several
municipal initiatives. In general, these municipalities didnt really care for the development of a collective and
continuous boulevard that would link up the old centers of the agglomeration, but were mainly attracted to
the individual state subsidies10 that were at play (Theunisse, 1974). The history of the Ringlaan clearly
illustrates how a greater Antwerp emerged in a political void, since no single decision-making authority
represented the agglomeration as a whole. In that context, there was hardly any other option than relying on
the local, albeit intercommunal pragmatics that constituted a soft metropolitan territoriality (Fedeli, 2014).
Nonetheless, this pragmatic collection of boulevards established a metropolitan grid that by and large
transcended the local concerns of each separate municipality. This new grid recollected the old (rural) town
centers and living parks into a new metropolitan composition. This grid connected the different
municipalities with the new public parks and often, its scale proved to be well suited to host all kinds of
cultural programs and large-scale public services.

[fig.9] Several broad avenues introduce supra-local metropolitan scale in the agglomeration. Left: Oosterveldlaan and
hospital in Wilrijk. Middle: Fruithoflaan, future commercial main street and the prospect of large-scale Etrimo development
in Berchem. Right: Bisschoppenhoflaan in Deurne. Different municipalities, but all the same public lighting armatures. Source:
Antwerp City Archives, digital image bank.

[fig.10] Excerpt from Interwar alignment plan for Deurne, introducing large-scale avenues. Source: Antwerp City Archives,
file nMA#65790.

In the post war period, most of these avenues were consolidated through legal development plans that were
produced in the outlines of the 1946 law on the reconstruction of the country [fig.11]. Again, the same
engineer that had drawn the alignment plans in the 1930s was behind the communal drawing
tables11(Heemkundige Kring Merksem, c.a.1997; van Aelst, 1958). The different municipalities built along
these avenues as they pleased, without any preconfigured urban idiom. Nevertheless, at many places, they
became the arena for the activities of property tycoons and a real estate business that had emerged in the
slipstream of the unbounded city (Broes Dehaene, 2015). In the early years of the interwar period already,
these developers had built a remarkable patrimony of art-deco apartments for an impoverished bourgeoisie
(Delhaye, 1946). In the post war period, these tycoons would mainly address the rising middle- and even
social classes as they turned to new forms of standardized mass housing production for the greatest
numbers12 (Broes Dehaene, 2015). Although an ongoing banalization of their activities became the subject of
10 Municipalities were granted state subsidies for the construction of roads of supra-local importance.
11 WWII is often cited as a pertinent break in the history of Belgian and Antwerp planning history because the numerous urbanists that
collaborated with the planning-minded German occupier became persona non grata after the war. (Uyttenhove, 2011; Van Den Broeck,
e.a., 2015). On closer inspection, Ir. August Mennes seems to be a notorious exception to that rule. Both before and after WOII, he was
in the front line as an advocate of a metropolitan Antwerp (Heemkundige Kring Merksem, c.a. 1997).
12 Similar to the industrialists of Merksem, these developers organized themselves after WWII as they founded the UPCL (Union
Professionnel des Constructeurs de Logements) and lobbied their way into the federal Belgian housing policy (Broes, Dehaene 2015).

491

a fierce and pertinent critique, it has to be noticed that they realized a certain socialization of an up and
coming urban milieu (Collin, 1964; Broes Dehaene, 2015). Following in the footsteps of a few giant players
such as Amelinckx n.v., Etrimo n.v., Vooruitzicht n.v., Van den Bogaert n.v. , Van Kerckhove & Gilson n.v
a broad range of local entrepreneurs helped building the Antwerp metropolitan region. Their strategy was not
so much defined by buying as much as land as possible, but by multiplying the land value of strategically
selected plots along the metropolitan grid. In some cases, the scale of these real estate operations enabled
public-private deals that provided enough private capital to develop infrastructure, all kinds of services and
even semi-public parks (Gtzfried, 1980). The construction of private transport (a priori and a posteriori) and
the rise of a broad range of commercial services that served large parts of the suburbs (Gtzfried, 1980)
emerged as positive externalities (Remy, 1966, Dehaene, 2013) of this highly commercial and dense housing
schemes. From its origins onwards, the horizontal grid of metropolitan avenues that ran across the municipal
boundaries, provided local authorities with attractive possibilities of urban condensation. Although Antwerp
and Brussels may be readily seen as the cradles of this kind of project development, soon the activities of
these major tycoons would spread to provincial towns all over the territory. As such, their real estate business
became one of the drivers of metropolitan development in Belgium (Broes Dehaene, 2015).

[fig.11] Excerpt of a postwar legal zoning plan in Berchem, that consolidates a part of the famous Ringlaan, from border to
border. Later, this piece of the Ringlaan would be renamed the Fruithoflaan, which became the ultimate arena for high-rise
housing production.

Conclusion: August Mennes as a one-eyed person in the invisible city.

However eclectic this catalogue of urban questions and horizontal projects in the unbounded metropolis of
Antwerp may seem with a diversity of subjects and commissioners ranging from local municipalities to
provincial or state authorities and even private parties they all have at least one thing in common. One single
engineer was the author of all the plans discussed above: Engineer August Mennes [fig.12].
Mennes graduated as an engineer in mining, construction and electricity in 1906 and started working as the
principal supervisor in the department of internal affairs. He was, in other words, in the front line when a
royal decree decided to install a Study committee for the development of the Antwerp Agglomeration
(S.A.A.) in 1907 in order to tackle some of the most urgent and pertinent urban questions of the recently
unbounded city. Although high ranked representatives of the federal, provincial and local governments
gathered in the S.A.A., its function was purely advisory. There was no room at all for decision-making nor
was it mandated for any direct implementation efforts. In 1911, August Mennes was appointed as the main
technical advisor of a subcommittee that dealt with the questions of drinking water and the sewage system in
the new agglomeration (Van Acker, 2014). It is in this position that August Mennes was able to make his way
in to the highest circles of Belgian politics.
But for a man of action like Mennes, studying and a merely advising role simply werent enough. Leaning on
his extensive network and his strong reputation he founded his private practice in 1919. In line with his
activities for the S.A.A., Mennes was initially mainly involved in long-term projects for higher authorities and
at high planning levels with the G.S.S. and the water supply project as main examples. The many contacts
he maintained with local authorities during these commissions enabled him to collect an impressive portfolio
of local commissions. Lacking any expertise themselves, all of these small municipalities around Antwerp

492

ended up calling upon Mennes as their technical advisor and town planner. In that sense, Mennes greatly
benefitted from the fact that the city was mentally unbounded but not administratively. These events would
bring him in an utterly strategic position. Thanks to a multiplication of local mandates, Mennes was able to
bring his views and concepts towards actual implementation. For more than 40 years, he became one of the
few actors that was readily working towards a plan for the entire agglomeration, albeit from the bottom up.
In the heydays, his Office for a Metropolitan Antwerp employed more than 30 people working on a large
number of projects, an almost boundless source of work13 (Heemkundige Kring Merksem, c.a.1997).

[fig.12] Engineer August Mennes and an overview of his main activities. Source: Archives Heemkundige Kring Merksem.

The text A Greater Antwerp that he wrote in 1922, can be readily interpreted as a general guideline and
would remain his personal manifesto throughout his long career (Mennes, 1922). This text clearly referred to
earlier mission statements of the S.A.A.. In this text Mennes displays far more ambition than that of the
regular technocrat, and casts himself in the role of the many-sided and socially engaged engineer who was
finding his way into the essence of the metropolitan questions of his era via a detour of pipelines and sewers
(Mennes, 1910a; Mennes 1910b; Mennes, 1917; Mennes, 1922; Mennes, 1923). As a registered member of
numerous associations and committees, Mennes became well networked within the social, economic and
cultural circles that altogether set the agenda for a metropolitan Antwerp [fig.11]. In that sense, he can be
considered being part of a tradition of enlightened engineers that in a way defined and produced a particular
kind of urbanism and culture urbaine in Belgium (Peleman, 2014).
These findings, however, dont go without some qualification. Although his influential position enabled him
to interfere with the multiple dimensions of the unbounded process of urbanization, he was never
empowered nor capable to develop a consolidated urban project for the Antwerp agglomeration 14. Mennes
planning ideology developed more and more in a pragmatic and instrumental direction, in particular after the
abolishment of the S.A.A. after the second world war. Mennes was nicknamed the cobblestone huckster
from Quenast15 for a reason (Heemkundige Kring Merksem, c.a.1997). Of the hundreds of characterless
streets he designed and constructed in the agglomeration, few traces can be found in the city archives16 (Stad
13 The amount of projects that August Mennes was involved in and the number of associations and committees he was part of trigger
the imagination to such extent that one might wonder if he was secretly represented by his twin brother Ferdinandus Mennes at some
occasions.
14 As Cerda did for Barcelona, Wagner for Vienna or Berlage for Amsterdam.
15 Quenast is a Belgian quarry that ever since the Middle Ages provided the typical cobble stones (Kinderkopkes) for the construction of
virtually every Belgian street.
16 Under German reign, a Greater Antwerp was administratively defined. Several municipalities were governed by the city of Antwerp at
that time. As such, Mennes was faced with the threat of losing a large number of projects. This resulted in a major trial, for which an all

493

Antwerpen, 1941). They were simply forgotten and subsumed within an anonymous history of urbanization
that was intentional but hardly amounts to a coherent plan.
August Mennes may have understood how to turn urbanization into a craft, but his activities never really led
to a consolidated urban project for the unbounded horizontal metropolis. His efforts to concretize pertinent
urban questions nevertheless undergirded the shaping of a several formative structures in which a somewhat
pragmatic urban program was able to subsequently unfold. Slowly but surely, a new milieu urbain emerged
without any clear destination. Preconfigured spatial considerations hardly played any significant role in
urbanizing the agglomeration. The metropolitan space was, in that sense, not so much the rationalized
product of planning. The urge to define a general image-guide for a Greater Antwerp was not very present and
hardly played a steering role in its construction. Rather, the emphasis would come to lie on the search for
tailor-made (public-private) and collective (intercommunal) constructions to build a metropolitan
environment that could be shared by many 17. In the Antwerp agglomeration, the horizontal metropolis
emerged as a pragmatic but productive juxtaposition of several unbounded urbanization techniques.
Urbanization was practiced as a craft of engineers who developed new techniques in order to transcend the
process of meaningless accumulation.
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Mennes, A., 1910a. De gezondmakingswerken in Vlaamsch-Belgi. Antwerpen: Kiliaan.
Mennes, A., 1910b. Note sur le calcul de la section des gouts. Bruxelles : Goemaere.
Mennes, A., 1917. Lalimentation en eau du canal charbonnier du Limbourg. S.I. : Assiciation charbonnire de la Campine.
Mennes, A., 1922. Het ontwerp der Provinciale en Intercommunale Drinkwatermaatschappij der Provincie Antwerpen.
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Merrifield, A. 2014. The new urban question. London: Pluto Press.
of Mennes projects in the agglomeration were listed. Despite the lack of plans, these extensive lists provide an overview of the
impressive contribution of this engineer to the construction of the Antwerp Agglomeration.
17 State capital was used to socialize sewer systems and water supply. A rich bourgeoisie in their park living areas in a way co-financed
the construction of public parks and metropolitan avenues. The metropolitan grid gave the greatest numbers from middle and social
classes access to an up and coming urban milieu and equally provided room for all kinds of services (commercial apparatus, hospitals,
universities, sports center) of which the higher bourgeoisie benefitted in return. Urbanity emerges as reciprocal surplus value that
results from a juxtaposition of different urbanization techniques.

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Merrifield, A. 2006. Henri Lefebvre: a Critical Introduction. London: Routledge.

Mumford, L. 1938. The culture of cities. San Diego: Harcourt Brace.
Peleman, D., 2013. Les Hommes de la Route: engineering the urban society of the urban road in Belgium,1889-1962. Ph.D.
Ghent University.
PIDPA, 1963. PIDPA 1913-1963. Antwerpen: PIDPA.
Provincie Antwerpen, 1939. Ontwerp van rioleering der Antwerpsche agglomeratie. Luik: Internationale
Watertentoonstelling.
Remy, J., 1966. La ville, phnomne conomique.Bruxelles: Vie Ouvrire.
Remy, J., 1974. La ville et lurbanisation : modalits danalyse sociologique. Gembloux: Duculot.
Seebohm Rowntree, B., 1911. Comment diminuer la misre : tudes sur la Belgique. Paris : Giard et Brire.
Ryckewaert, M., 2011. Building the economic backbone of the Belgian welfare state: infrastructure, planning and architecture 19451973. Rotterdam: 010 publishers.
Saunders P., 1981. Social theory and the urban question. London: Routledge.
Schobbens J., 1924. Les Parcs Publics dans lagglomration Anversoise. Bruxelles: Goemaere.
Secchi, B., 2009. Antwerp, territory of a new modernity ? Amsterdam: Sun.
Stad Antwerpen, 1941. Dossiers Vergoeding der Urbanisten. [classified files]. MA#65790, MA#65791. Antwerpen: SintFelixarchieven.
Stad Antwerpen, 1966. Het nieuwe rioleringsplan van de Antwerpse agglomeratie: een overzicht bij gelegenheid van de plechtige
aanvang van het rioleringswerk van de Zuidersector op maandag 28 maart 1966. Antwerpen: Stad Antwerpen.
Theunisse, H., 1974. De gemeentelijke investeringen en hun financiering in de Antwerpsche agglomeratie. Ph. D. Ghent
University.
Uyttenhove, P., 2011. Stadland Belgi. Hoofdstukken uit de geschiedenis van de stedenbouw. Gent: A&S/books.
Van Aelst, J., 1958. Conferentie van de burgemeesters van de Antwerpse agglomeratie, 1947-1957. Antwerpen: Stadsbestuur
Antwerpen.
Van Acker, M., 2014. From Flux to Frame. Designing infrastructure and shaping urbanization in Belgium. Leuven: Leuven
University Press.
Van Den Broeck, J., e.a., 2015. Antwerpen, herwonnen stad? Maatschappij, ruimtelijk plannen en beleid 1940-2012. Brugge:
Die Keure.
Van Tichelen, T., 2001. Ingenieur August Mennes. De Kijkuit, Merksems Heemkundig Tijdschrijft, (29/114), p.66-69.
Vigan, P., 2012. Les territoires de lurbanisme: le projet comme producteur de connaissance. Genve : Mtis Presses.

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Doomsday Urbanism: Planned Dispersion and Nuclear Threat in

Postwar America
Ludovico Centis
Affiliation: Universit IUAV di Venezia - Dipartimento di Culture del Progetto
Supervisor: Dr. Paola Vigan (Universit IUAV di Venezia). Co-supervisor: Dr. Reinhold Martin (Columbia University)
Expected thesis defense: April 2016
email: ludovico.centis@gmail.com
This essay focuses on the relationship between patterns of urban development and nuclear threat in the U.S. on both the
material and symbolic levels. The perceived nuclear threat is two-pronged: the domestic threat of nuclear research and
tests run by the U.S. Government on American soil, and the foreign one involving doomsday scenarios of thermonuclear
war.

Terror from the Air

According to Sloterdijk (2009, pp.9, 28, 47-48), the 20th century called into question the essential conditions
of being, of man as a Being in breathable space. The German philosopher argues that the period of
modernization was the era of terrorism as a form of exploration of the environment from the perspective of
its destructibility. The target of the terror from the air, in the form of bombs and especially gas, was no
longer just the enemys physical body, but also his environment: annihilation was to be achieved through the
destruction of the basic conditions required for survival. This became immediately clear after World War I,
when gas was frequently employed on the European battlefields. In the 1930s several military experts, as well
as renowned architects such as Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright (Cohen, 2011, pp.130-131), studied the
effects of aerial warfare on densely built cities from different perspectives. One of the main outcomes of this
research was the suggestion that a less dense urban grain, a kind of planned urban dispersion, would be
beneficial in attempting to limit the destructive effects of attacks from the air. In this sense, the towers of the
Ville Radieuse can be read firstly and literally as breathing machines, for Le Corbusier believed that their
form and spacing would allow their inhabitants to survive a gas attack. The atomic bomb, however, which
was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, would prove an even more extreme airborne
weapon than gas. It destroyed the entire living environment, turning the air into a devastating, burning
radioactive wind and obliterating the majority of the buildings and landscape in a vast area, thereby creating a
poisonous wasteland. But more than this, the atomic bomb shifted the focus of environmental consciousness
to the micro and nano dimensions and to invisible radiation and waves, permeating the Cold War years
with the fear of invisible dangers (Sloterdijk, 2009, pp.57-59).

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[Fig. 1] Areas of the continental U.S. crossed by more than one nuclear cloud generated by aboveground detonations.
Original illustration from Carole Gallagher, American Ground Zero: The Secret Nuclear War (1993). Elaborated by the author.

[Fig. 2] What about Aerial Warfare?, from Le Corbusier, La Ville Radieuse (1935).

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Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst

In 1939, shortly before World War II broke out, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt in which he suggested constructing a nuclear bomb before the Nazis did. A few years later,
Roosevelt gave the order to start the Manhattan Project. The program, which lasted from 1942 to 1946,
brought about the development of the first atomic bomb. On September 14, 1942, Arthur Compton, a
physicist who was the head of the Manhattan Project Metallurgical Laboratory at the time, wrote a letter to
Enrico Fermi three months before the Italian scientist generated the first man-made self-sustaining nuclear
chain reaction under the west stands of old Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. Compton expressed his
concern about the tremendous risks involved in this completely new field of research. His exact words were:
We should all dislike trying this experiment within the city. Not by chance, in 1943 all of the research
activities of the team led by Fermi were transferred to a rural setting 25 miles southwest of Chicago, away
from possible spies and avoiding the dreadful scenario of a nuclear meltdown in the heart of the city. Since
then, all of the major National Laboratories (including Argonne, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Brookhaven, to
mention just a few) have been built on deserted or rural land not too far from cities, in order to maintain
contact with the universities that were often the facilities main contractors. As a result of both this policy and
postwar urban growth, and in contrast to those testing areas that have remained in remote areas of the
country, today many of the National Laboratories campuses have been absorbed by urban sprawl, a fact
which partially undermines their initial goals of complete secrecy and safety, and, given the campuses
strategic role, has indirectly turned the suburbs that now surround them into potential targets of nuclear
attack. Following this trend, many of the national strategic facilities devoted to the U.S.s war against
international terrorism established in the recent past have been situated either on military bases or in the
suburbs (Priest and Arkin, 2011, p.218).

[Fig. 3] Arthur Comptons letter to Enrico Fermi (1942). From the exhibition Origins of Argonne hosted at the Argonne
National Laboratory. Courtesy: M. Lopez.

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[Fig. 4] Argonne National Laboratory Site A (now demolished). From the exhibition Origins of Argonne, hosted at the
Argonne National Laboratory.

The Inner Frontier

As Erich Mendelsohn and Le Corbusier had foreseen, the war years established the path of urban
development for decades to come in terms of both building and urban planning while also redefining the way
people would inhabit and experience this landscape1. The American myth of the frontier came back to life
during the construction of the Manhattan Projects secret enclaves such as Oak Ridge and Los Alamos,
developed by the U.S. Government and the city of Richland, which was built by DuPont, the then
contractor of the fenced Hanford plant, to host the companys upper-level employees. If in the 19th century
the frontier was considered the dynamic world in which American democracy and Americans inclination
toward individualism were most powerfully evident, during the Second World War this concept took an
unexpected turn, materializing in what the general public considered mutant communities (Brown, 2013,
p.141) where private property was abolished2, unemployment didnt exist and universal healthcare was
provided. These kinds of communities were, in a word, un-American socialist experiments (Freeman, 2015,
p.21). Yet while they had been built as unique prototypes connected to military activity, these same
communities nonetheless became models for Cold War suburban sprawl, especially from the technological
and urban points of view. For instance, they modeled prefabrication3, as well as a more or less explicit spatial
segregation of classes and races whereby whites were clearly separated from blacks, Latinos, and Native
Americans, something officially justified by education and work-expertise criteria (Freeman, 2015, p.50, and
Brown, 2013, p.148). Both Oak Ridge and Richland were built with prefabricated housing. The layout of the
secret fenced city of Oak Ridge and the design of its different public, residential, and commercial building
typologies had been developed by the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Jung, 2014, and Cohen, 2011,
p.303). In the case of Richland, DuPont executives convinced General Groves, who was then in charge of the
development of the Manhattan Project, to build the city as an open company town that would exert a

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1 Le Corbusier stated in 1940 that Temporary elements can be like models of future enterprises and serve as a first test [] The shacks
of wartime can be thought of as an inclined plane leading with ease and simplicity to social developments in the near future. In 1942,
Erich Mendelsohn foresaw that the world is going to be rebuilt, and America is too, on a greater scale the scale of Americas
highways, parkways, reclaimed areas and power dams but not necessarily in a way that leads to bigger cities. For the full quotes, see
Cohen, 2011, pp.251, 353.
2 This happened in the Government-owned housing at Oak Ridge, while DuPont did the same in Richland. This was considered as a tool
to allow greater control over the residents because they could eventually be relocated or even dismissed, something that would prove
much more difficult if the residents owned their own houses. See Brown, 2013, p.147.
3 The war years proved crucial for the education and formation of many planners and developers who would later become the
protagonists of housing development during the Cold War years. Not by chance, the founder of Levittown, Bill Levitt, gained his
experience in mass-housing production during World War II. See Brown, 2013, p.42.

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measure of psychological pressure to keep people under control. In Los Alamos, ethnic and class diversity
barely existed, given the fact that the population was mainly comprised of white scientists and technicians.
When compared to Oak Ridge and Richland, this secret city built on a mesa in New Mexico thus experienced
a different kind of evolutionary path that involved a sort of code switching(Hunner, 2004), a shift from a
restricted military world to single-family homes and civil defense drills. According to Brown (2013, pp.3-4,
71), in just a few years the Manhattan Projects leaders created new communities and new technologies that
would define new ways of living in postwar America which witnessed citizens voluntarily exchange generous
welfare and economic affluence for a state of constant control and segregation. Even today Oak Ridge
proudly declares itself to be Americas first gated community, and it is not by chance that Jane Jacobs
mentioned the town as a case of self-segregation in her seminal book The Death and Life of Great American
Cities4. But more than this, these suburban militarized landscapes turned Americas citizens into the pioneers
of the nuclear security state [] in which people around the globe have become the subject of surveillance
antiterrorist, financial and medical (Brown, 2013, p.338).

[Fig. 5] Prefabricated house type B-1, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. American Museum of Science & Energy,
Oak Ridge, TN. Argonne National Laboratory. Photograph by the author.

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4 But on the whole, people seem to get used very quickly to living in a Turf with either a figurative or a literal fence, and to wonder how
they got on without it formerly. This phenomenon was described, before the Turf fences came into the city, by the New Yorker, with
reference not to fenced city but to fenced town. It seems that when Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was demilitarized after the war, the prospect
of losing the fence that went with the militarization drew frightened and impassioned protests from many residents and occasioned town
meetings of high excitement. Everyone in Oak Ridge had come, not many years before, from unfenced towns or cities, yet stockade life
had become normal and they feared for their safety without the fence. See Jacobs, 1961, p.49.

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[Fig. 6] Ashley Pond, Los Alamos, NM. Photograph by the author.

An Engineered Life

American society is a post-nuclear society (Boyer, 2009). The Trinity Test, performed on July 16, 1945,
marked a clear rupture that is impossible to ignore. Post-nuclear does not mean that the nuclear age is over;
on the contrary, it means that the U.S. is still in the era of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Even today,
this deeply affects the countrys foreign policy, military strategies, energy production programs, and
environmental management. All of the choices dealing with nuclear issues had, have, and will continue for
centuries to have precise consequences on American soil, from the nations suburban areas to its deserts. The
logic that guided the nuclear program facilities siting and settlement also reflected the clash of two of
American urbanizations most deeply rooted and contrasting ideas: Thomas Jeffersons decentralized model,
based on the autonomy of local communities and the myth of the pioneer, and Alexander Hamiltons
centralized model, according to which power is accumulated in industrial and financial urban nodes.
American suburbs built on the model of Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and Richland in which technologies
developed for wars waged abroad airplanes, bulldozers, Jeeps, chemical agents, and DDT were widely
deployed have become the perfect setting for an engineered life (Brown, 2013, p.224). The lawn, in particular,
became the main stage of this home front (Colomina, 1999). Even the language of architects and planners
reflected this shift: Victor Gruen, one of the most important designers of postwar America and a careful
interpreter of the suburban condition, filled his discourses on urban planning with words such as weapon,
counterattack, and technological blitzkrieg (Gruen, 1955). According to Virilio (2012, pp.45-46), in this
time of relative peace after World War II, fear became an environment in the sense of the fusion of security
(video surveillance, movement control, etc.) and health, a hybridization that led to biopolitics and
metereological politics. The sacrifice of personal freedom in the search for a comfortable engineered life
subsidized by the Government or large contractors reached a paradoxical peak in the Cold War years, with
residents declaring things like Living in Richland is ideal because we breathe only tested air (Brown, 2013,
p.223). In the news, people were told that the atomic bomb had been created to defend the American
lifestyle, the very same lifestyle that in those years was swapping the sense of autonomy and independence
associated with American pioneer culture for social conformity and the praise of organization, as William
Whytes 1956 study The Organization Man underlined (Cullen, 2003, p.153). In the 1950s, General Electric
inherited the management contract for the Hanford nuclear plant from DuPont and filmed TV commercials
in which a hired actor tours the factories including Richland (Brown, 2013, p.221) and praises the glory of
the household electrical appliances being fed by the electric energy the atomic age had given America in
abundance. That actors name was Ronald Reagan.

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[Fig. 7] Residential neighborhood in Oak Ridge, TN. Photograph by the author.

[Fig. 8] Dismissed cocooned nuclear reactor, Hanford Site, WA. Photograph by the author.

From Bugsy to Gasbuggy

It is well known that the American mobster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel was a key figure in the birth of Las
Vegas because he financed many of the original casinos, including the Flamingo Hotel. What is probably less
known is how the Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range, approximately 40 miles north of the city, became
the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and how this, too, influenced the citys growth. After World War II, nuclear
testing in the Pacific became increasingly costly and complicated (Hanson, 2009), so in 1950 President
Truman ordered the National Security Council to start Project Nutmeg, a search for a continental test site.
The Las Vegas Bombing and Gunnery Range (two of the other locations considered were also in the West
Dugway, UT, and White Sands, NM and a third was on the Atlantic coast at Camp Lejeune, NC) was
chosen because of its favorable weather conditions, because very few people lived in the area, and because it
offered a greater degree of safety from radiological hazards due to the mountains surrounding it. Thanks to
the fact that the land was already owned by the federal government and under military control, the NTS
rapidly grew from 680 to 1,375 square miles, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. Doom towns
consisting of housing and office buildings, communications equipment and power systems, radio stations and
fallout shelters were erected on these arid, off-limits Nevada flats to measure the degree of destruction

502

achieved by atomic blasts. The atmospheric nuclear tests carried out at the NTS became an attraction for the
tourists who traveled to Las Vegas even though they produced lethal fallout that was dispersed by air in
variable patterns and became a deadly menace to the so-called downwinders in the West and Midwest
(Gallagher, 1993). Sometimes these tests even generated grimly ironic news: in those years, uranium mining
was considered the new gold rush, so the people of Grant, NM, were terribly disappointed in 1953 when they
discovered that the radioactivity that was driving their Geiger counters crazy was merely caused by fallout
from an NTS test, not a uranium vein (Amundson, 2004). Construction at the NTS and the designation in
1952 of Las Vegas as a critical defense area eligible for federal housing and infrastructure funds led to a
demographic and economic boom in the city, with its residents increasing from 25,000 to 65,000 over the
course of the 1950s5. After the 1963 signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty, which prohibited all but
underground nuclear blasts, a series of tests was carried out to open the way for the civilian use of nuclear
weapons. Military seismic tests were run first on the NTS and then all over the country to distinguish
natural earthquakes from underground nuclear tests. The Plowshare Program, terminated in 1975, foresaw
the use of nuclear weapons for engineering projects, such as digging canals and harbors. The Sedan Crater,
produced in 1962 as part of the Plowshare Program, measures nearly 400 meters in diameter and is 100
meters deep. Together with other craters in the Yucca Flat, it was employed as a training field for the
astronauts who were going to walk on the moon due to its topographic similarities to the moons surface. At
the same time, the fallout generated by the explosion that created the Sedan Crater exposed more than ten
million people to radiation, raising serious doubts about the legitimacy of the program. After decades of
atmospheric tests that dramatically polluted large swathes of American soil with radioactive contaminants, the
1963 treaty could have accidentally served as the basis for underground pollution too. Just imagine what
would have happened if Project Gasbuggy, the first commercial application of nuclear explosions for gas
stimulation (Zavattaro, 2005, p.24), had led the way to nuclear fracking. Luckily, high levels of radioactivity in
the processs final product and the high cost of production halted further experimentation.

[Fig. 9] Hotel Fremont Atomic Lookout. Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, NV. Photograph by the author.

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5

These statistics have been taken from the Atomic Testing Museum exhibition in Las Vegas, NV.

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[Fig. 10] Tourists on the viewing stand overlooking the Sedan Crater. CLUI photo

The Flavius Factor

The idea of a thermonuclear war is something that Americans already began imagining immediately after
World War II. This menace endured throughout the Cold War, and in some specific moments, like the
Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, it almost became a reality. In 1953, the fear of nuclear war served as
the decisive push in launching the development of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE).
SAGE consisted of a network of large computers and associated equipment that collected and processed data
from numerous radar stations in order to generate a single dynamic map of the airspace over a specific area.
SAGE was closely related to NORAD, a system in operation from the 1950s to the 1980s that was designed
to provide a fast response in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack. The introduction of this semi-automated
system initially faced the opposition of air-force traditionalists who supported more conventional military
practices not influenced by artificial intelligence, but these detractors finally surrendered to the combined
pressure of the civilians, technocrats, and scientists who supported SAGE (Edwards, 1996, pp.95-99). While
the appearance of the War Room in Kubricks Doctor Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the
Bomb (1964) owes a clear debt to the enormous computers and screens developed for SAGE, rumor suggests
that the character of Dr. Strangelove was mainly based on the figure of Herman Kahn, a military strategist
and systems theorist who worked for the Rand Corporation. In 1962, a couple of years before Kubricks
movie was released, Kahn published the book Thinking about the Unthinkable in which he imagined the Soviets
and Americans destroying each others major cities through reciprocal thermonuclear attack6. Following the
logic of an eye for an eye, Kahn individuated five types of attack and the damage they could cause when
considering the objectives that would be targeted in this hypothetical war:
-

Countervalue (Population property damage)

Counterforce + Countervalue (Population property military)

Straight Counterforce (Specifically military considerations)

Counterforce + Bonus (Population and property as a bonus)

Counterforce + Avoidance (Population and property actively spared)

This language was cautiously vague and drew the readers attention away from the actual effect these kinds of
attacks would have on the population, landscape, and atmosphere. This operation of normalizing the
consequences and effects of an atomic attack was not unusual in those years. Even if implicit, it remained
obvious that larger and denser cities particularly the ones forming the vast metropolitan cluster on the
Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. that Jean Gottmann baptized as the megalopolis in those very same years
were potentially far more at risk than more remote rural locations. The attempt to reassure the American
population by way of different communicational means was repeatedly made, with such efforts taking the

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In the same movie, several phrases enunciated by the jingoist General Buck Turgidson during the crisis cabinet in the War Room are
taken nearly entirely from sentences in Kahns book.

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form of everything from the production of texts and objects to itinerant exhibitions like the one hosted in the
Atoms for Peace Pavilion sponsored by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in the 1960s. Movies were
another significant means for recounting the epic story of the project that had led to the production of the
atomic bomb and calming peoples fear and paranoia about the nuclear menace. While several Hollywood
productions, including The Beginning or the End (1947), Above and Beyond (1952), The 49th Man (1953), Hell and
High Water (1954), and Port of Hell (1954), addressed these issues (Van Riper, 2013, and Hunter, 2009), a series
of recently declassified documentaries on the same subject were commissioned by such institutions as the Los
Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and featured movie-star narrators like Charlton Heston. Heston, who
had been a gunner aboard a B-25 bomber during World War II, started to collaborate with LANL in 1983
and took part in three documentaries: Project Whitehorse, The Flavius Factor, and Trust, but Verify. In The Flavius
Factor, Heston cites an aphorism attributed to the Roman Flavius Renatus dating back to 375 AD. In
Hestons opinion, one shared by many American Cold War strategists, the aphorism summed up what would
have been a wise American foreign policy: To be always ready for war is the surest way to avoid it.

[Fig. 11] Illustration from The 36-Hour War, Life, November 19, 1945.

[Fig. 12] Charlton Heston in The Flavius Factor (1983).

What Will Happen to Us?

In his book Hiroshima (1946), John Hersey told the story of six real survivors of the Japanese citys bombing.
Instead of showing aerial pictures or speaking in terms of abstract quantities and providing factual
information, Hiroshima was probably the first account of the use of the atomic bomb that made the weapons

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consequences conceptually and emotionally accessible to the American public. As a result, it raised
conspicuous doubts regarding the legitimacy of the use of such destructive weapons. Nearly forty years later,
during Reagans presidency, the mutually-assured-destruction scenario imagined by Kahn in the 1960s was
substituted by one of a limited atomic war coupled with the launch of the Strategic Defense Initiative, also
known as the Star Wars shield. The Strategic Defense Initiative can be seen as the culmination of a
dynamic that from the 1940s on led to an increasingly militarized production of knowledge and the
development of the notion that war was simply about a gathering of information followed by an automatic
response based on the data obtained, a process in which algorithms made the decisions instead of humans7.
The goal was to turn the U.S. into a centrally controlled, automated global power (Edwards, 1996, pp.7, 45,
178). In 1981, Reagan even proposed beginning the production of neutron warheads. The neutron bomb was
originally developed in the 1960s as an evolution of the thermonuclear bomb. It was also called the capitalist
bomb, since a neutron blast would kill living beings but leave buildings and other inanimate structures nearly
untouched (Zeman, 2004). The official and brutally cynical goal of this weapon was to kill Soviet soldiers in
the event of an invasion of Europe, thereby preserving the continents historic cities from collateral damage.
In a dystopian but somehow logical way, a large part of Americas counterculture instead perceived the
neutron bomb as the ultimate capitalist weapon, one that could be used not just on the war front but
especially in the U.S.: it was a weapon that preserved property while exterminating people which could be
employed to eliminate the homeless and the poor8. In response to this cultural and political climate, Kevin
Lynch published two essays related to the nuclear threat: What Will Happen to Us? (1983) was intended as
a guidebook telling citizens how to instruct their community on the effects of nuclear war while Coming
Home: The Urban Environment after Nuclear War (1984) is a tale in which Lynch imagined himself
returning to his home in the suburbs after a nuclear explosion had razed the center of Boston (Banerjee and
Southworth, 1990). Using a narrative angle similar to Herseys, Lynch underlined how two thirds of the
American population lived dangerously close to high-risk targets and systematically depicted the different
stages and effects that would follow a limited or counterforce, to use Kahns word attack, including
maps and an evacuation scenario. Lynch wanted to make the reader understand what would happen in detail.

[Fig. 13] The 380 high risk areas of the U.S. These host about two-thirds of the nations population.
Illustration from Kevin Lynch (with Tunney Lee and Peter Droege), What Will Happen to Us? (1983).

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7 Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968, was a strong supporter of the collection and use of quantitative
information for military use. This strategy proved to be disastrous for the U.S. in the Vietnam War. See Edwards, 1996, p.127.
8 Kill the Poor (1980), a song by the California punk band Dead Kennedys, and Kurt Vonneguts novel Deadeye Dick (1982) are both
dedicated to the potential use of the capitalist bomb on American soil.

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[Fig. 14] Brookhaven National Laboratory (Long Island, NY). Map and details.
Map from the series Mapping the Unthinkable, a project elaborated by the author in the spring of 2014 while a Banham
Fellow at SUNY University at Buffalo with the collaboration of Joseph Swerdlin (research assistant) and the students of
the seminar Monuments of the Manhattan Project in the Empire State.

Nuclear Sublime and Nuclear Pathos

At the beginning of the 1980s when an increasing political and ecological awareness cast disturbing shadows
on military and civilian nuclear plants, the citizens of Richland, WA, were part of a minority that still
unhesitatingly supported the nuclear industry. When Ronald Reagan ran for president, they did not forget the
actor who had visited their city in what was perceived as the Golden Age of the 1950s, and they gave him
their unwavering support. Reagans Star Wars shield, his resurrection of a Cold War atmosphere, and his
push for the resurgence of nuclear-weapons production made them perceive him as a sort of white knight
resurrecting the glory of the past (Brown, 2013, p.280). In that same period, the French philosopher Jean
Baudrillard was traveling across the U.S., and he perceived that in reaction to Reagans politics everyone is
weary of these apocalyptic visions the great scenario of nuclear threat, the theatrical negotiations, Star
Wars [] Nothing has ever been able to make this nuclear scene or obscenity credible. With delicate
matters like this (as with cancer), imagining death has the effect of bringing the fatal event closer. The masses
silent indifference to nuclear pathos (whether it comes from nuclear powers or from antinuclear campaigners)
is therefore a great sign of hope and a political fact of utmost importance (Baudrillard, 1986, p.45). Yet,
Baudrillard underestimated the spiritual and emotional dimension, the rhetoric related to the nuclear age.
Reagan understood that simulations of an atomic war had more influence on public opinion than real atomic
weapons (Edwards, 1996, p.14) and that the quest to develop and control atomic power represented the apex
of the American technological sublime. According to Nye (1994), the American technological sublime is the
shared perception that perceives sublime technological objects and enterprises as a materialization of
democracy, turns natural wonders and mechanical triumphs into moral machines, and binds together a
society that is too plural to have one single religion to do it. Proof of the tremendous significance of these
issues, even in a completely different world scenario, can be found in events that occurred two decades after
the end of Cold War in 1989, further testifying to how deeply the imaginary related to the nuclear age has
penetrated American society. The first White House foreign-policy agenda point of the Obama presidency,
announced one day after the presidents inauguration, stated: The gravest danger to the American people is
the threat of a terrorist attack with a nuclear weapon. A few days later, Robert Gates, the new Secretary of
Defense, added: One of the greatest dangers we continue to face is the toxic mix of rogue nations; terrorist
groups; and nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons (Priest and Arkin, 2011, pp.120-121). In the 21st
century, the U.S. is still in an era in which the pervasive nightmare of terrorism and environmental thinking

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are indissolubly intertwined9, with terrorism being perceived, recalling Sloterdijks statement, as the
exploration of the environment from the perspective of its destructibility.

[Fig. 15] Hanford B Reactor, the first large-scale plutonium nuclear reactor, Hanford Site, WA. Photograph by the author.

[Fig. 16] Emergency Management and Counter Terrorism corner. Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, NV.
Photograph by the author.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 Experts published specialized magazine essays that investigated the effects of a nuclear explosion in a city or attacks on a nuclear
reactor. See Garwin, 2010.

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