Summer School: Dense and Green Cities: Exploring New Models of Integrated Urban Development

Abstract

The summer school is based on the work of the Dense and Green Cities: Emerging Models of Integrated Urban Development module of the Future Cities Laboratory (FCL) Global research programme in Singapore and Zurich. It introduces interdisciplinary approaches to urban development and translates research outcomes into collaborative urban planning and design strategies.

Objective

The summer school is open to students as well as researchers with a background in architecture, urban design, urban planning, and landscape design in ETH Zurich, FCL Global and the partner institutions of FCL Global. It includes presentations on the work of Dense and Green Cities, training on ArcGIS urban planning and design tools and seminars with collaborating stakeholders in Singapore and Zurich. The summer school uses Altstetten as a case to study for urban transformation scenarios and includes a collaboration with the Immersive Design Lab (IDL) to enhance the participants’ experience and understanding of urban transformation and densification. We expect students to achieve the following objectives at the end of the course: • Obtain interdisciplinary knowledge regarding sustainable integrated urban development and transformation in terms of urban planning and design, architecture, as well as social, environmental, and economic performance and governance. • Use ArcGIS Urban as a web-based tool to visualise urban planning and design in 2- and 3D and analyse results. • Provide real-world scenarios and solutions for Altstetten, Zurich. • Collaborate effectively with stakeholders from many disciplines.

Content

Contemporary urban planning and design practice is increasingly exploring the development of sustainable integrated districts (SIDs) as a model for high-density high-liveability in future cities. SIDs aim to fully realise the potential of urban innovations and systems solutions by deploying and integrating them at the district scale. In addition, SIDs often serve as a test bed for examining a place-based approach to governance arrangements. The place-based approach focuses on strengthening local human capacity – through collaboration and mutual learning – among the diverse stakeholders involved in planning and implementing the SIDs. The Dense and Green Cities research module investigates and evaluates currently ongoing and planned examples of such developments through case studies in Europe and Asia. The research systematically captures important aspects of the urban planning and design, architectural, social, environmental, economic and governance systems performance of the selected cases through work packages led by an interdisciplinary team of architects, engineers and scientists and close collaboration with competent stakeholders from government agencies and industry. Supported by advanced visualisation, communication, and collaboration technologies, the summer school addresses research outcomes in Singapore and Zurich and provides interdisciplinary knowledge on urban planning and design in engaging and immersive ways. Students are grouped according to their backgrounds to encourage mutual learning, communication, and collaboration across disciplines. They actively participate in analysing and formulating urban transformation and densification strategies in Altstetten. The school includes presentations by various stakeholders, research input talks, ArcGIS Urban training workshops, and field trips. Students receive feedback through daily discussions and mid-term reviews led by the instructors. The final presentation and peer review occur in the Immersive Design Lab (IDL) to enhance the experience of proposed urban planning and design solutions.

Resources