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ECTP-CEU Newsletter n° 3
June 2012
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All info contained in this Newsletter as well as a lot of other information is available on ECTP-CEU website.
Please consult our website at www.ectp-ceu.eu where you will also find an agenda of worldwide planning events.
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The ECTP-CEU, with Joao Teixeira, opened the Decade of Urban Planning 2011 2021, proposing to all national and international associations of Spatial Planners to come together and bring to light to the general public the highlights, the striking facts and outstanding works produced by our profession over the past century and our shared vision to improve the cities and territories in the early twenty-first century.
A century has passed since planners created their first organisations to address the emergency health and welfare of European cities: since their origin, these organizations have demonstrated that planning associated the skills of Engineers, Architects, Geographers, Landscapers, Surveyors, and of Economists.
They guided and accompanied the setting up of urban policies regulating the excesses of the industrial capitalist city; provide better living conditions for housing, transportation, natural spaces and city gardens, health improvement, access to sports and recreation, along with the labor organisation.
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A century later, January 28 2012 in Dortmund, AESOP celebrated its 25th anniversary. And as part of the Decade of Planning, invited all international planners associations to gather and create more synergies between them.
Klaus Kuntzman, the first AESOP President, invited planners to publicly take position on the current situation.
I suggest to open this newsletter in line with that invitation: Spatial Planners need to publicly take position and show what is best for the development of cities and territories, and also to denounce what sometimes makes it worse.
This decade of planning is an opportunity for all our associations to come forward and show the work we drive that builds the city of tomorrow.
A first exhibition was held in Paris in November 2011 and is now available to be used and developed in different European places.
A book is in preparation for publication bringing together texts from major European Spatial Planners.
A shared calendar is open on our website offering the possibility to each of our associations to display their events.
The New Charter of Athens is a document recognised by all our schools and universities as well as among political authorities. Let’s place it on the frontispiece of our organisations and pursue its enrichment to meet the challenges of our cities and territories.
This year’s European Urban and Regional Planning Awards is driven with the support of the Committee of Regions: this will be an opportunity to bring our best work to the Summit of Europe's Regions and Cities in Copenhagen, and celebrate them in Brussels on December 7 2012.
Let’s grasp the opportunity to use this decade to create the desire of Spatial Planning and urbanity in all our territories and lay the foundations for a genuine European territorial cohesion.
In particular, I express the wish that this decade will enable all young planners from Europe to find in our professional organisations the required support to develop the best training, open to recognised qualifications and contribute to the construction European territory.
Work on the qualification recognition continues in this direction with all of your associations and we are moving forward to the establishment of a European Spatial Planners status.
The opening to young planners from our associations, with specific workshops, opportunities for academic exchanges between countries, between our professional structures is for me a priority that I wish to share with all associations; regional, national and International.
Sincerely Yours.
Dominique Lancrenon
ECTP-CEU President
June 2012
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- Editorial by Dominique Lancrenon, ECTP-CEU President
- ECTP-CEU General Assembly June 2012 in Istanbul
- ECTP-CEU - AESOP Summer School deadline extended
- World Town Planning Day 2012
- European urban summer course - young planners event - quality of space-quality of life
- Soil Sealing: effects on urban flooding and temperatures explored in new report
- Intelligent Energy - Europe (IEE)
- New ECTP-CEU Corresponding Members
- Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits
- RTPI: New Website
- Global Planners Network
- Rio +20 conference
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Our Spring 2012 General Assembly took place in Istanbul 7-10 June 2012 in Istanbul, hosted by the Sehir Plancilari Odasi (SPO).
All guests were welcomed at the Y?ld?z Technical University on the Thursday for an enjoyable cocktail.
The Academic day of Friday 8 took place at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, where ECTP-CEU delegates followed presentaions from Dr. Umit Ozcan, Doc.Dr.Murat Cemal Yalcintan, Doc.Dr.Arzu Kocabas Diren, Doc. Dr. Asuman Turkun, Prof.Dr.Gulsen Ozaydin, Prof.Dr.Fatma Unsal, Dr. Azime Tezer & Tayfun Kahraman.
The Academic day was concluded with the screening of Ecumenopolis, a Documentary film about Istanbul (see article here below).
Extract (trailer) from the movie Ecumenopolis
Friday evening was a priveledged moment - a boat & dinner trip on the Bosphorus!
The Saturday was devoted the ECTP-CEU business matters.
The Sunday concluded this very successful General Assembly with a bus tour.
The ECTP-CEU wishes to thank Dr. Umit Ozcan and the SPO for hosting ECTP-CEU; with warm thanks also to all the local team lead by Akif Burak Atlar.
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2012 World Town Planning Day : November 6th -7th Conference
World Town Planning Day is the annual celebration of town planning. This year is the fourth year of this initiative. An international online conference in celebration of World Town Planning Day is used each year as an appropriate way to honour the spirit of this important annual occasion while also building our knowledge of best practices and emerging issues within the planning profession.
This year the WTP Day online conference is being planned on the theme ‘Smart Communities Connect. It will be held on 6th – 7th November. The detailed programme is still being finalised but the draft is attached. The Conference is organised around virtual sessions (via the internet) and no travel is required to attend.
>>> Read More <<<
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Science for Environment Policy
Soil Sealing: effects on urban flooding and temperatures explored in new report
A report exploring the effects of covering the land with artificial surfaces has just been published online by Science for Environment Policy.
It is free to download from:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/indepth_reports.htm
Sealing natural land with paving, housing, car parks and other impenetrable surfaces prevents soil from performing its vital services for society, and can lead to increased flood risk and elevated city temperatures.
This In-depth Report summarises and collates current research on ‘Soil Sealing’. It highlights major issues and concerns, particularly for urban temperatures and the water cycle, as well as outlining existing responses and possible strategies for the future.
In-depth Reports are a new series of publications from Science for Environment Policy, a service from the European Commission, which comprehensively report on the latest research concerning key policy issues.
Science for Environment Policy also publishes a free weekly News Alert which rounds up the latest policy-relevant research. To subscribe:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/subscribe.htm
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Intelligent Energy – Europe (IEE) offers a helping hand to organisations willing to improve energy sustainability. Launched in 2003 by the European Commission, the programme is part of a broad push to create an energy-intelligent future for us all. It supports EU energy efficiency and renewable energy policies, with a view to reaching the EU 2020 targets (20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions, 20% improvement in energy efficiency and 20% of renewables in EU energy consumption).
Intelligent Energy – Europe creates better conditions for a more sustainable energy future in areas as varied as renewable energy, energy-efficient buildings, industry, consumer products and transport.
The expectation is that by doing this, Europe will also boost its competitiveness, security of energy supply, and innovation standing for the years to come.
Running until 2013, the programme is open to all EU Member States, plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A budget of € 730 million is available to fund projects and put into place a range of European portals, facilities and initiatives.
IEE project funding
A large part of the programme budget is made available through annual calls for proposals to support projects putting the concept of 'intelligent energy' in practice. Carried out by public, private or non-governmental European organisations, they support three main objectives - more energy efficiency, more renewables, and better transport and mobility. This covers for instance new training schemes, promotion campaigns, or the transfer of good practices between EU countries.
The 'Funding areas' section explains which types of actions are eligible for funding.
To find out how to apply please refer to the 'Getting funds' section of this website.
The 'In action' section shows how IEE is making real changes to our daily lives.
IEE portals, financing facilities and special initiatives
In addition to funding projects which are selected through calls for proposals, the IEE programme includes a wide range of additional mechanisms to convert EU policy objectives into action and trigger tangible results on the ground. These can be grouped into European portals, the ELENA financing facilities andspecial initiatives.
Who runs the programme?
Most parts of the IEE programme are run by the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation(EACI) on behalf of the European Commission. The ELENA financing facilities are run by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the KfW Group.
The programme is a pillar of the EU's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP).
Check out the Intelligent Energy – Europe at a glance  [240 KB] [240 KB] document for more information.
At the last ECTP-CEU General Assembly, two new Corresponding members were welcomed:
Downey Hynes
Downey Hynes Partnership (DHP) is a vibrant and diverse urban and regional planning, development and economic consultancy based at the conveniently located offices of 11 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland and with associated offices in London, England.
Formed by John Downey (MIPI, MRTPI) and Dr. William Hynes (MIPI, MRTPI), with an additional compliment of qualified planning staff, the practice boasts an extensive skill-base with decades of experience. DHP is thus perfectly suited to delivering a high-quality, assured and professional service on every occasion.
See http://www.dhp.ie
Collectif National? des Jeunes Urbanistes (CNJU)
En fédérant 1 300 urbanistes, le Collectif National? des Jeunes Urbanistes (CNJU) est devenu le premier réseau français d'urbanistes en exercice ou en devenir.
Constitué en février 2010, le CNJU regroupe 20 associations d’étudiants et/ou de diplômés en urbanisme affiliées à des instituts d’urbanisme et des établissements délivrant des formations supérieures en urbanisme (de niveau Master).
Le Collectif repose sur un modèle associatif intégré en offrant la possibilité aux jeunes urbanistes d'adhérer directement par la voie individuelle ou via l'une de ses associations membres.
See http://www.cnju.fr/
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Synopsis:
Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits.
Ecumenopolis is a word invented in 1967 by the Greek city planner Constantinos Doxiadis to represent the idea that in the future urban areas and megalopolises would eventually fuse and there would be a single continuous worldwide city as a progression from the current urbanization and population growth trends.
The neoliberal transformation that swept through the world economy during the 1980’s, and along with it the globalization process that picked up speed, brought with it a deep transformation in cities all over the world. For this new finance-centered economic structure, urban land became a tool for capital accumulation, which had deep effects on major cities of developing countries. In Istanbul, which already lacked a tradition of principled planning, the administrators of the city blindly adopted the neoliberal approach that put financial gain ahead of people’s needs; everyone fought to get a piece of the loot; and the result is a megashantytown of 15 million struggling with mesh of life-threatening problems.
Especially in the past 10 years, as the World Bank foresaw in its reports, Istanbul has been changing from an industrial city to a finance and service-centered city, competing with other world cities for investment. Making Istanbul attractive for investors requires not only the abolishment of legal controls that look out for the public good, but also a parallel transformation of the users of the city. This means that the working class who actually built the city as an industrial center no longer have a place in the new consumption-centered finance and service city. So what is planned for these people?
This is where the “urban renewal” projects come into play. Armed with new powers never before imagined, TOKI (State Housing Administration), together with the municipalities and private investors, are trying to reshape the urban landscape in this new vision. With international capital behind them, land plans in their hands, square meters and building coefficients in their minds, they are demolishing neighborhoods, and instead building skyscrapers, highways and shopping malls. But who do these new spaces serve?
The huge gap between the rich and the poor in Istanbul is reflected more and more in the urban landscape, and at the same time feeds on the spatial segregation. While the rich isolate themselves in gated communities, residences and plazas; new poverty cycles born in social housing communities on the prifery of the city designed as human depots continue to push millions to desperation and hopelessness. So who is responsible for this social legacy that we are leaving for future generations?
While billions of dollars are wasted on new road tunnels, junctions, and viaducts with a complete disregard for the scientific fact that all new roads eventually create their own traffic, Istanbul in 2010 has to contend with a single-line eight-station metro “system”. Due to insufficient budget allocations for mass public transportation, rail and other alternative transport systems, millions of people are tormented in traffic, and billions of dollars worth of time go out the exhaust pipe. What do our administrators do? You guessed right: more roads!
Everything changes so fast in this city of 15 million that it is impossible to even take a snap-shot for planning. Plans are outdated even as they are being made. A chronic case of planlessness. Meanwhile, the population keeps increasing and the city expands uncontrollably pushing up against Tekirda? in the east and Kocaeli in the west. But does Istanbul really have a plan?
In 1980 the first plan for Istanbul on a metropolitan scale was produced. In that plan report, it is noted that the topography and the geographic nature of the city would only support a maximum population of 5 million. At the time, Istanbul had 3.5 million people living in it. Now we are 15 million, and in 15 years we will be 23 million. Almost 5 times the sustainable size. Today we bring water to Istanbul from as far away as Bolu, and suck-up the entire water in Thrace, destroying the natural environment there. The northern forest areas disappear at a rapid pace, and the project for a 3rd bridge over the Bosphorous is threatening the remaining forests and water reservoirs giving life to Istanbul. The bridges that connect the two continents are segregating our society through the urban land speculation that they trigger. So what are we, the people of Istanbul, doing against this pillage? If cities are a reflection of the society, what can we say about ourselves by looking at Istanbul? What kind of city are we leaving behind for future generations?
Ecological limits have been surpassed. Economic limits have been surpassed. Population limits have been surpassed. Social cohesion has been lost. Here is the picture of neoliberal urbanism: Ecumenopolis.
Ecumenopolis aims for a holistic approach to Istanbul, questioning not only the transformation, but the dynamics behind it as well. From demolished shantytowns to the tops of skyscrapers, from the depths of Marmaray to the alternative routes of the 3rd bridge, from real estate investors to urban opposition, the film will take us on a long journey in this city without limits. We will speak with experts, academics, writers, investors, city-dwellers, and community leaders; and we will take a look at the city on a macro level through animated maps and graphics. Perhaps you will rediscover the city that you live in and we hope that you will not sit back and watch this transformation but question it. In the end this is what democracy requires of us.
All info is from the film's website: http://www.ekumenopolis.net
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RTPI has launched its new-look site with additional features, new copy and a more modern presentation. The structure is simpler, making key information more prominent and we hope you will find the new site easier to navigate so you find what you are looking for more quickly.
www.rtpi.org.uk
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The Global Planners Network has been successful in its bid to stage a Networking Event at World Urban Forum 6 in Napoli in September.
It is on Monday 3rd September from 14:30 to 16:30 and is entitled Capacity-building for communities: The potential for greater involvement by planning bodies.
Any ECTP-CEU delegate attending WUF6 is welcome!
http://www.globalplannersnetwork.org/
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The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (‘Rio + 20’) attended by 196 countries, ended in Brazil on 22nd June. The document that emerged, The Future We Want, can found here in full. The key points for planners - paragraphs 134-137 inclusive - state the main concerns and commitments on sustainable human settlements. Para 136 emphasises that ‘sustainable urban planning benefits from the involvement of multiple stakeholders as well as from full use of information and sex-disaggregated data, including on demographic trends, income distribution and informal settlements’ and recognises ‘the important role of municipal governments in setting a vision for sustainable cities, from the initiation of city planning through to revitalization of older cities and neighbourhoods, including by adopting energy efficiency programmes in building management and developing sustainable, locally appropriate transport systems.
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All info contained in this Newsletter as well as a lot of other information is available on ECTP-CEU website.
Please consult our website at www.ectp-ceu.eu where you will also find an agenda of worldwide planning events.
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All ECTP-CEU Newsletters are also available on our website with downloadable versions in PDF format.
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