GLOBAL EXPERTS GROUP MEETING
Urban Labs: “A tool for integrated and participative urban planning”
Barcelona, 2nd-3rd February 2016
´As a result of the global trend of rapid urbanization, contemporary cities are facing many increasingly complex issues, such as sprawled peripheries and the destruction of natural resources, urban decay and gentrification, informal settlements and difficult access to basic services, deserted city centers and segregated gated communities. These challenges are further increased by the growing problem of climate change and the need to integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation into city planning and development. Moreover, urban planning and development do not only influence the physical dimension of urban and natural areas, but also the socio-economic wellbeing of citizens, as unsustainable patterns of urbanization increase both spatial and social inequality, segregation, ghettoization and poverty, both in developed and developing countries.
Embedding a vast number of problems, challenges and affected groups, city leaders and local governments bear the heavy responsibility to provide conditions for sustainable urban development and a high standard of living, while responding to the specific needs of different groups of stakeholders, namely – the citizens and community groups, including vulnerable groups, the private sector, the governmental and international agencies etc.
Balancing a wide array of needs and desires of different stakeholders is what makes urban planning a political process and the local governments the facilitators of this process. In order to ensure the smooth and efficient implementation of urban development projects, local governments need to facilitate an integrated work across sectors and departments, and a collaborative relationship with the private sector, the non-government sector and the communities. At the same time they need to device tools for the financing of urban development projects and for their legal and technical implementation.
Urban Planning and Design LABs are vehicles that guide the urban planning and development in a multi-stakeholder institutional setting, facilitating political and participatory processes through design. LABs are integrative platforms whose aim is to work across sectors and departments, engaging different stakeholders through advanced participatory processes and tools. The LABs promote an integrated approach that combines spatial, legal, financial, social and environmental strategies to deliver holistic plans through an iterative and participatory process.
Urban Planning and Design LABs are tools that can be used for a wide array of context-specific needs, agendas and strategies, ranging from city-wide planning strategies, to urban regeneration and infill, planned city extensions, planning tools, policies and guidelines or smaller scale pilot-projects. Furthermore, they can be of great use when dealing with specific pressing issues or areas, such as climate change, gender equality rights or land conflict resolution.
The Urban Planning and Design LAB (the LAB) is an initiative from UN-Habitat to promptly respond to the request of national and local governments to support sustainable urban development. The EGM will seek to discuss the working methods and tools of different planning and design labs, aiming to exchange different knowledge, experiences and approaches and reach collaborative conclusions for the potential future progress of planning and design labs. The EGM will aim at understanding the strengths and the opportunities, as well as the weaknesses and threats of the Planning Labs, in order to maximize their effectiveness for the implementation of the principles of the New Urban Agenda.´