The Metropolitan Field Trips explore and showcase innovations in urban development in European cities. True innovation emerges from an inventive coalition of top-down institutions and private initiative. We therefore study the relation between bottom-up City Makers, planning agencies, local government and other institutions.

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[Metropolitan Field Trips] | MFT Boekarest – MFT Rome – MFT Budapest – MFT Copenhagen MFT Athens – MFT Lisbon – MFT Brussels – MFT Turin – MFT Thessaloniki
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Within the Metropolitan Field Trips we seek innovation in urban development. Following the economical and ecological crises of the past decade, linear blueprint modes of action - long taken for granted - have lost their legitimacy as the exclusive way to go. Private initiative is on the rise in cities around Europe, whether it takes shape as active citizens interfering in welfare related issues, community engagement in urban planning and area development, the growing amount of (tech-) start-ups, independent artists and designers affecting the labour market and (social) tissue of cities today, or residents co-designing public space. Local municipalities, educational institutions, urban planning agencies and large corporations are aware of this shifting trend in society, where the small-scale, local and informal is often given preference over the development schemes we were so used to, and are in search of a constructive redefinition of their own role.
Showcasing innovations in urban development in the EU
True innovation emerges from an inventive coalition of top-down institutions and private initiative. In the Metropolitan Field Trips we therefore study the relation between bottom-up City Makers, planning agencies, local government and other institutions. In practice these worlds seem difficult to unite, more from one local context to another. The Metropolitan Field Trips aim for a better understanding of the challenges faced in this coalition, and study the role of urban professionals and designers in the process. To what extend can they play a role in mediating between top-down institutions and bottom-up initiatives? Partners Deltametropolis Association, Stipo, Inspiring Cities, Architecture Institute Rotterdam (AIR) and Pakhuis de Zwijger bring experience in this field from the Netherlands to other European Cities. The Metropolitan Field Trip is meant to connect the partners and participants to colleagues in other European cities, and exchange knowledge and practice among them.
Results
The Metropolitan Field Trips are part of the project New Europe – Cities in Transition. Through the Field Trips we build a sustainable European network of City Makers (active citizens and engaged professionals) to better the understanding of the future challenges our cities face. This network – among the 28 capitals of the European Union - will be the vehicle through which we exchange knowledge and practice, both on- and offline. The results of the Metropolitan Field Trips (City Reports, photo blogs, interviews with City Makers) will be posted on the online platform Citiesintransition.eu. Furthermore articles will appear in the magazine New Europe, and the partners will explore the possibility to produce a publication.
Programme (subject to change)
When | Destination | Topic | Partner |
12/2013 | Berlin | bottom-up area development | PdZ |
05/2014 | Bucharest | new roles in city planning | PdZ, Brainville |
09/2014 | Rome | culture and economy | PdZ |
11/2014 | Budapest | new urban governance | PdZ |
11/2014 | Copenhagen | cycling management and new vibrant urban space | Deltametropolis |
12/2014 | Athens | co-creating the city, revitilization | PdZ |
03/2015 | Lisbon | active citizenship, reuse of vacant buildings | PdZ |
05/2015 | Brussels | platform role in social innovations, metropolitan strategies | Deltametropolis |
06/2015 | London | social innovation and Big Society | PdZ |
06/2015 | Turin | metropolitan identity, mobilising society | Deltametropolis |
09/2015 | Stockholm | smart and walkable city | Stipo |
10/2015 | Berlin | circularity and sustainability | PdZ |
11/2015 | Paris | participatory budgetting, placemaking | PdZ |
10/2016 | Thessaloniki | local youth and city development, global Resilient Cities programme | Stipo / Deltametropolis |
Focus towards 2016
During the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union the results of the Metropolitan Field Trips will be included in the events (Citizen/City Makers Conference) organized by Pakhuis de Zwijger. The partners and participants will be sharing their experiences with the local partners of the cities that are visited throughout 2013 – 2015. In order to understand the transition that the European cities face today, and to eventually allow for a comparative study, during each Metropolitan Field Trip we aim to address the following: dynamics, drivers, quality of life and massive changes (energy and technological innovation and digitization).
Practical information
The costs for Field trip are appriximately € 700,- per person (depending on the destination). Reservations can be made on the invividual Field Trip pages.
- Including: hotel, breakfast, lunch and diner, local transport, tours and presentations.
- Excluding: transportation to and from the destination city.
More information via 010 - 737 0340 or | oploop@deltametropool.nl |.
Partners
| Brainville |
The New Planning is a collaborative research project between Deltametropolis Association and TU Delft. A consortium of academic, civil society, government and market sectors is being created to meet the urgent need for a new model of strategic spatial planning that will keep the Netherlands at the forefront of territorial governance.