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Take a closer look at the individual projects here, or download our full portfolio for more information.
Year
2022
Status
completed
Collaboration
various european experts on metropolitan planning
Funding
Business Agency Vienna
Publisher
Tools
Today’s cities are growing rapidly, creating heterogeneous urban fabrics that cross administrative and political borders. To meet the challenges of out time, a new cross-sectoral, multi-level and people-centered planning approach is needed. Metropolitan planning is therefore essential to contemporary planning practice and culture and must take into account the potential of both urban and rural spaces.
This publication introduces the new discipline of metropolitan design by sharing innovative and international knowledge of interconnected mobility, balanced growth, resilient landscapes and integrated programming of metropolitan regions. Through collaboration and active participation, MetroLab provides tools to develop future proof and highly liveable city regions.
Year
2019
Status
completed
Location
Vienna metropolitan area, Austria, Slovakia
Publisher
Tools
The SuperWien Metropole concept envisions the city-region Vienna–Bratislava–Wiener Neustadt as a new capital for Europe. In the context of Europe, it acts as a tool for the creation of a strong metropolitan area, while at the same time dealing with Europe’s expansion, the region’s global status, managing its growth and defining its image and social concept. This publication develops new ideas for the city-region that will guide further spatial planning. It also addresses the need for more regional governance. Considering its history and location in the centre of Europe, new opportunities are emerging that will allow the SuperWien Metropole to regain its international status, lost during the 20th century, and to define its new role in the future.
Year
2005
Status
completed
Location
Northern Tyrol, Austria
Collaboration
YEAN – Young European Architects Network
Funding
State Secretary for Arts and Media of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, the Netherlands Architecture Fund with HGIS-subsidies of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Art Department of the Provincial Government of Tyrol.
Price
Margarthe Schütze-Lihotzky Price
Publisher
Tools
The study shows the Austrian province of Tyrol from an unusual perspective: as a city. In contrast to the image and self-perception of the inhabitants, the Inn valley and its tributary valleys in particular are described as a space that has all the characteristics of urban agglomerations: dense settlement, complex traffic and economic structures and high functional differentiation.
A radically changed picture emerges from a compilation of texts, photos, maps and graphically prepared information. The change of perspective and the abandonment of cultural-critical evaluation to a large extent offers the chance to solve urgent problems. The merging of the seven urban regions into one big agglomeration is one result of imagining Tyrol’s new urbanity.
YEAN is an internationally active network of architects that has been dealing with the topic of regional development and urbanisation in an unconventional way for several years.
Year
2019
Status
International Ideas Competition
Location
Berlin, Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany
Client
Berlin 2020 GmbH
Collaboration
BASE – Paysage et Urbanisme
Tools
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of „Great Berlin“, the ideas competition „Berlin-Brandenburg 2070” was organized. The key objective was not to create a completely different, new metropolitan region on top of the existing one, but rather to further develop the existing metropolitan region based on its special features, strengths and characteristics. The respective metropolitan region has ideal conditions for the future, but these must be recognised, maintained and developed further. The contribution builds on the existing structure of the „settlement star“ and the ring line of the city and expands it to the metropolitan area. The region is perceived as a continuous urban landscape with productive centers that are well connected through the metropolitan and green ring and the water metro.
Year
2007
Status
International Ideas Competition
Location
Greater Helsinki, Finland
Client
14 municipalities of Greater Helsinki & State of Finland
Collaboration
YEAN – Young European Architects Network
Tools
Helsinki 360° is a response to the International Ideas Competition „Greater Helsinki Vision 2050“. The proposal aims to guide the Greater Helsinki municipalities along their common path into a bright urban future. With the objective to develop a well-balanced Region in terms of a functionally mixed and sustainable urban network structure in which various lively centers are interconnected Helsinki 360° does not propose a blueprint. Facing a complex set of very diverse and interrelated challenges, greater Helsinki needs not only a planning concept that offers guidance, but also one that is able to adapt to future circumstances that are impossible to foresee in detail. One of the main strengths of the ring-shaped network that Helsinki 360° proposes is the system’s built-in flexibility.
Year
2007
Status
completed
Location
Bangkok, Thailand
Client
National Housing Authorities in Thailand
Collaboration
Kasetsart University (Th) / Bordeaux School of Architecture (Fr)
Tools
In 1997 the Asian economic crisis hit the city of Bangkok hard and the government as well as private investors had to stop their infrastructure development projects. Some 300 sites scattered in central Bangkok were abandoned during their construction. These sites represent a considerable number of vacant hectares in the form of empty stacked plateaus. Considering their immensity and their impact on the scale of the city, they are qualified as as „new territories“. Fifteen of them were visited during the project, which aims to make their full potential visible and develop ideas on the implementation of mixed programs. The project approach was to use an example to think about flexible strategies that could be applied to other areas. This project was the subject of a global reflection on the city of Bangkok.
Year
2008
Status
completed
Location
Bangkok, Thailand
Client
National Housing Authorities in Thailand
Funding
Fondation EDF Diversiterre
Tools
BKK 2600 studies the flooding phenomenon in densely populated regions of South East Asia, using the city of Bangkok as a case study. Considering the phenomenon of floods, erosion and sinking of ground, the type of development chosen by the city of Bangkok seems increasingly to be out of step with the idea of a sustainable development.
As part of a funded project different possibilities of reintroducing water in the future city development were identified to promote innovations in accordance with the environmental and natural DNA of the site. How could the city of Bangkok reconnect with the origins of an amphibious city? How to propose a modern development model in accordance with local culture and geographical conditions? These were leading questions of proposing a futuristic vision of the urban agglomeration.
Year
2019
Status
completed
Location
Bangkok, Thailand
Client
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Collaboration
Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID), government of the Dominican Republic
Tools
The Urban Design Lab in Santo Domingo called “Plan Triangulo – a metropolitan strategy for Ciudad Juan Bosch” is an integrated metropolitan development project. The project proposes to integrate the surrounding informal communities into Santo Domingos new satellite city. With the “5 minutes city” concept we aim to create accessible public spaces at least every five minutes walkable distance. By this, we recreate an inclusive city system that invites all neighbours to enjoy their city with new jobs and recreational areas.
New public transport nodes, such as train and metro stations function as new metropolitan centers with a high concentation of activities and high quality public spaces. Between these nodes, main axes of development with active ground floor areas are created. Place-based solutions offer adapted and specific development perspectives for each neighborhood.
Year
2019
Status
completed
Location
more than 20 cities in Latin America
Client
Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID)
Collaboration
Tools
Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the most urbanised regions in the world, and cities continue to grow enormously. Long-term strategies must be developed in order to respond to the challenges involved. How do you expand a growing city without losing its urbanity? How can urban growth be linked to social, environmental, cultural and economic issues?
Urban Design Lab (UDL) has worked in more than 20 cities in Latin America and the Caribbean – developing planning tools that trigger transformation processes by involving and supporting local neighbourhoods. This handbook explains the context and challenges of these cities and offers solutions to the problems of urban agglomerations. It encourages readers to make use of the toolbox, tailor it to their needs and start similar processes in their own cities.
Year
2020
Status
ongoing cooperative planning project
Location
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Client
Stadtplanungsamt – Stadt Frankfurt am Main
Collaboration
Siri Frech – Raum + Strategie, DnD Landschaftsplanung ZT KG
Tools
Within the framework of the dialogue-oriented planning procedure „Frankfurt-Nordwerst – Neuer Stadtteil der Quartiere“, a new district for 30,000 residents is to be created, which in part ties in with existing urban structures on the outskirts of the city. The „Supergreen!“ concept makes the two factors that clearly reduce quality – high-voltage lines and the motorway – unimportant. We are developing a plan that will test new ways for sustainable and livable urban development – courageous, diverse and with the available resources.
Nowhere else does the city of Frankfurt come so close to the Taunus nature reserve. The dense urban fabric, the open region and the green Taunus follow one another closely here, making it a special experience. The natural and landscape spaces that meet here offer great potential for urban development and landscape planning.
Year
2019-2021
Status
ongoing
Location
Vienna, Austria
Collaboration AT
AT: City of Vienna – MA 18 Urban Development and Planning / Smart City Wien Unit / University of Applied Arts Vienna – Social Design – Arts as Urban Innovation
Collaboration NL, NO, BEL
STIPO Rotterdam, City of Oslo, Nabolagshager, BIDs Belgium, Placemaking Europe
Tools
PlaceCity – Placemaking for Sustainable, Thriving Cities
PlaceCity is an international project aiming at permanently and noticeably improving the quality of life in urban areas. Placemaking means joint, visible activities with the local neighbourhood, businesses and other local actors. Among the main topics addressed by PlaceCity are the design and upgrade of public space and plinth zones, possibilities for long-term functional and utilisation concepts as well as interim and multiple uses. In addition to the Norwegian capital Oslo, Vienna provides the second of two pilot areas.
PlaceCity Floridsdorf
The Viennese pilot area covers the central area of Floridsdorf in the 21st district. The Floridsdorf center is characterized by an active population that is already involved in numerous initiatives to develop its neighborhood. PlaceCity builds on this existing commitment and provides the impetus for new activities in the urban area, which are created through networking and new synergies.
Year
2015-2017
Status
completed
Location
Vienna, Austria
Client
City of Vienna – MA 18 Urban Development and Planning
Tools
Vienna and the surrounding area are growing rapidly: by 2025 the metropolis of Vienna is expected to increase by 400,000 people. Especially the transformation of the existing housing stock into liveable, intensively used districts is an important challenge for Vienna. On the administrative borders, the City of Vienna wants to define so-called ‚regional cooperation areas‘ together with the neighbouring municipalities. On the initiative of the City and Region Management (SUM), the City of Vienna and the municipality of Vösendorf are working together on solutions for the transformation and design of the growing city.
Within the framework of the URBACT III project ‚SUB>URBAN. Reinventing the fringe‘ there is the chance to develop the first Regional Cooperation Area in Vienna-Liesing and Vösendorf as a pilot project in a learning network with eight other European cities.
Year
2020-ongoing
Status
completed
Location
Barcelona, Spain; Porto, Portugal; Gdansk, Poland; Krakow, Poland; Tessaloniki, Greece; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Paris, France; Manchester, Great Britain
Client
URBACT
Collaboration
European Union, European Regional Development Fund; URBACT Driving change for better cities; RiCONNECT Rethinking Infrastructure
Tools
European urban areas face significant challenges that can only be solved on a metropolitan scale. Facing some of those challenges leads to making decisions that affect the entire population of an urban area; both its centre and suburbs. Improvements to achieve a more egalitarian metropolis require solutions derived from a metropolitan scope.
RiConnect is a network of eight metropolises whose aim is to rethink, transform and integrate mobility infrastructures in order to reconnect people, neighbourhoods, cities and natural spaces. We will develop planning strategies, processes, instruments and partnerships to foster public transport and active mobility, reduce externalities and social segregation and unlock opportunities for urban regeneration. Our longterm vision is a more sustainable, equitable and attractive metropolis for all. RiConnect is an URBACT III Action Planning Network (APN) consisting of six metropolitan entities and two transport authorities.
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