In-between, landscape in the network city

May 25^th 2007

PART 1: Introductions

Opening Speech

Manita Koop, deputy of spatial planning for the Province of South Holland

South Holland is a heavily urbanized province with a variety of different landscapes like dunes, the delta and meadowland. The main issue here is the relation between urbanized areas and the landscape. As prosperity grows the need for recreation and mobility grows with it, which makes it necessary to make open space an intrinsic part of the urban environment. Open areas are often viewed as left over space, as a worthless part of urban agglomeration. We feel however that open space is a vital part of the metropolitan network and that it needs to be intertwined with urban areas in a polycentric landscape. This new comprehensive kind of urban landscape will also help to solve water issues and will support socio-economic development.

We must make extra investments in landscape and we cannot do that alone. We will need public and private parties to play an active role and we need the involvement of the inhabitants of our province. Also it is necessary to exchange ideas and experiences with other (European) areas, like we do today.

In the South Wing of the Randstad Holland we are looking for a strategy that will bring all the parties concerned together in achieving a common goal. For this the regional dimension is fundamental. Atelier South Wing offers a platform for all representatives and stakeholders concerned. It aims to explore the opportunities and exchange experiences. This international symposium will offer inspiration and will bring new opportunities into view.

Paul Gerretsen, head of the Atelier South Wing introduces the Atelier

‘From in-between space to metropolitan landscape'

The Atelier South Wing deals with planning issues that are not (yet) part of the official planning agenda. We want to explore the possibilities to make landscape the spatial and programmatic carrier of the metropolitan region of the South Wing. But what exactly is the South Wing? It is basically the Southern part of the Randstad in which we find the cities of Dordrecht, The Hague, Gouda and Leiden. The relationship between cities like these and their surroundings has changed fundamentally in the last 50 years. The situation evolved from cities situated in an open landscape into a network city.

In this urban field everything revolves around accessibility and mobility. Also the quality of living and working environments becomes more and more important. Landscape must be valued as a vital part of the metropolitan network. A change of perception is needed in which landscape evolves from something that lies ‘outside' into something that lies ‘within'. The landscape needs a New Deal.

Landscape seems to no longer have the intrinsic power to withstand developments and make a spatial claim; fragmentation is the result. It seems landscape within the urban context no longer has value. But the way we view our landscape has a lot to do with the way we experience it from the infrastructure. Often it is invisible or inaccessible. Therefore it is not realized that the landscape of the South Wing has many qualities. It is diverse with peat, meadow and sand grounds, higher on the coastline and lower in the middle. Agriculture takes up 60% of the surface. It is however getting increasingly hard to maintain a fruitful agrarian business in the area; space is limited and habitation is spreading. Also the Rhine delta which is mainly under sea level, offers a lot of challenges for suitable water management.

There is a large demand for housing, working space and recreational areas in the South Wing and there are many political layers involved: the state, the province, municipalities, regional authorities. The present political cycle started in 1980 and will end in 2013. In this cycle the management of green landscape has taken shape in a large amount of scattered small projects. The new policy needs to aim at a larger scale, no longer viewing the open landscape as a series of spaces in-between urban areas but as part of a metropolitan landscape in which open space is an integral part with equal importance as urban areas. In this new situation urban and open space will be one landscape without contradicting needs, aimed at a high quality living environment. For this, sectoral divisions need to be overcome and the building blocks for this new comprehensive type of landscape need to be outlined. All work needs to be done on a regional scale but involving existing structures and plans. Sharing knowledge on an international level will be very useful.

PART 2:  Presentations by international guests

Presentations Ruhrgebiet, Emscher Landschaftspark

by Frank Bothmann, Ulrike Beuter and Frank Lohrberg

Management
The Emscherpark is one of the oldest regional parks in Europe. Development started around the 1980's/early 1990's when the area became an IBA project (International Building Exposition). It was set up as an integrated planning development involving both economic and social issues and the landscape. Several policy levels were involved: the municipalities, the state, the organisation of Emscher Park and the regional organisation. In 1999 200 projects were realized in intermunicipal working groups. The funding for this came from the state of North-Rhine West-Phalen, some European funds and the environmental program Emscher-Lippe.
Now the project for Emscher Park is in its second phase, the Masterplan Emscherpark 2010. A regional alliance Ruhr-RVR is taking care of planning and implementation. Important issues are: dealing with investments and maintaining an infrastructure of open spaces. In 2004 a new law was passed which made planning and development a main task of the organization. December 2006 another law passed which meant a treaty between the state, RVR and the municipalities involved: the RVR Emscher Society. Main tasks are coordination and planning which means taking care of funding, planning new projects and organizing competitions. Another important task is taking care of public relations. Park management needs to meet the criteria as set by RVR. For maintenance two extra stations will be set up in the central and the eastern part of the park. Financial compensation is offered by the State and the region growing from 210 mio Euro in 2007 to 215 mio between 2010-2016. Evaluations occur every three years.
Plans for the new Emscher Valley encompass the changing of the open sewer system of the Emscher and the Rhine-Herme Canal. The Emscher will evolve into a clean river in a green area with Emscher Island as an important part. 1,9 billion already have been invested and 4,4 billion Euro's will be invested on top of that. The RVR-Emscher society will work on: Regional development of the urban landscape, landscape design, preparations for European Cultural Capital 2010, real estate management, maintenance and management of open spaces and construction sites. For this new phase the park management and the funding are now secured.

Landscape
The Ruhr-Emscher district lies hidden behind a green curtain. The area is a post-industrial landscape in transition with its industrial landmarks that can be seen from the highway sticking out of the green. With its 460 km2 Emscher landscape park is the largest regional park in Europe. It started as a project by engineers in the 1920's from which the Duisburg mining furnace plant remains as a monument. Newer landmarks are the sculpture by Serra and the Tetra-eder.
The open space that becomes increasingly available, offers structural opportunities but needs sharper contours. Management, Development and Vegetation is a pilot project that deals with this issue. In it the Technical University of Darmstadt, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and RVR are working together to devise methods of sustainable and extensive use of land combined with urban and economic development. An important question is how to combine design, use and maintenance. Extensive zones in the eastern part of the park are increasingly used for agriculture. Overall there is a lot of new woodland which offers opportunities for the outdoor life of the inhabitants.
For Management Development and Vegetation there are four project classes:
a. industrial landscape - core projects
b. industrial landscape - green corridors
c. multifunctional landscape - agriculture/forestry/green corridors
d. nature conservacy
In the area of IBA Emscher park there are seven cities which select their sites based on the product classes. Goal is to make the Emscher Landscape Park ecologically and economically sustainable by, for example, rainwater harvesting, solving the sewage problem and producing biomass. Zollverein is a pilot project that is perhaps transferable to other regional parks in Europe.

Site specific
In this new phase of the Emscher Landscape Park maintenance is of great importance. Therefore the specifics of the area need to be taken into account. In the Ruhr area there is a shrinking population and dynamics are low. In Germany, especially in the eastern part, a lot of cities are shrinking. The Emscher Park area has lost 1 mio inhabitants since the start of the IBA project. For this situation suitable solutions are needed. In the Ruhr area, in contradiction to the South Wing, there is a surplus of open space. It started with 4.600 ha of landscape park, now 9.500 ha has been added.
For this area new development models are needed. Low dynamics are not popular. Areas with shrinking populations are viewed as retarded and unsuitable for investments. A possible scenario is Industrial Nature/Wilderniss. The areas can be planted with forests but this needs to be recognized as a quality. Nearly 50% of the population are immigrants who generally tend to see the wilderness as a dump. This view on nature can be altered with the help of artists. Also economic growth is needed to make wild nature more of a contrast with well functioning businesses. New forms of land use need to be invented. They need to have the charisma of care for natural surroundings. A transformation is needed from wasteland to public space with:
- clear boundaries: one consciously chooses to go in
- appropriation: organizing neighbourhood projects like crosstracks
- plug-in horticulture: glass houses offering opportunities for agricultural production on unusable soil
- biomass harvesting: offering opportunities for clear contrasts between park and plantation
- lines and structures: defining and structuring the forests

In Dinslaken (in the nort-west part of the area) a pilot project is started in the coal dump of a coal mine area, combining biomass production with place making. Here a biomass plantation is suited with a grid of sites. With future investments, later on for example housing can be introduced in the grid. Also the central axis of the project in Dinslaken can be continued towards other former mines, which will be made accessible that way. A black coalmine is made into a low cost park that combines agriculture and recreation.

Presentation Barcelona, Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat

by Sonia Callau Berenguer
The Parc Agrari du Baix Llobregat lies in the province of Barcelona. It is a peri-urban agricultural area with specific characteristics. Here agricultural activities are undertaken by professional farmers who focus on producing and at the same time respect biodiversity. The landscape in this park is a changing entity.
Peri-urban means the agriculture is conditioned by the urban area and is heterogeneous and dynamic in nature. It is agriculture with special problems and opportunities that revolves around more than just economical gain. With 1300 inhabitants/km2 the Barcelona region is one of the most densely populated areas. Around 70% of the population of Catalunya lives in this area. Growth is expected as the general tendencies are that large cities will become larger and people will migrate from the inlands to the coasts.
Agricultural areas in peri-urban situations are hard to protect because they are not defined in the law. We have to decide if it is worthwhile to maintain these areas and how we can do this. Do farmers always have to offer justification for the existence of these areas or can this also be offered by housing or other functions like recreation?
Peri-urban agricultural areas need four elements: (1) a political system, (2) a territorial basis, (3) the support of farmers and (4) specific strategies. Political support means that a widely shared commitment, energy and stubbornness are neccessary. A territorial basis can be obtained by judicially protecting areas. There are already twelve of these reserves in the province of Barcelona. As the peri-urban agricultural areas are mainly private property the collaboration of farmers needs to be actively sought. Also the support of farmers is of crucial importance to deal with the values of production, ecology and culture and the economical, environmental and social functions. A sustainable management of the agro-ecological system means a holistic kind of management in which production, commercialisation, resources and environment are taken into account. Farmers, public bodies and society need to collaborate in a creative utopia.
Finally plans have been developed concerning land planning and legislation. The goal was to create a system or network of protected areas, corridors and locations with natural and agricultural values. In 2002 the agrarian park management plan was approved.

Founding the Parc Agrari means having a management tool, following five strategic lines: consolidating the territory, facilitating agrarian activity, promoting specific programs to preserve the values and develop functions in agrarian spaces, commitment to the future and technological innovation and coordinating between public administration and the agrarian community. In day to day management this means things like: rural patrol, water management, road management, specific training for farmers, support of experimental fields (ecological production) etc.
To connect the urban consumers to the peri-urban agrarian territory new local quality marks are introduced, highlighting the local origin and freshness of the products. Also educational activities are undertaken for approximately 2000 children a year. And every two years a new working plan is drawn up for the collaboration of farmers and public bodies.
For 2006-2007 the working plan is about cooperation (1), sustainability(2), production(3) and information/knowledge(4).
The cooperation needs to take place between public bodies, agricultural bodies, research and training bodies and the European network. Sustainability can for example be obtained by dealing with the water scarcity, which is a great problem in this area. Commercialization means for example promoting biological and integrated production methods and selling regional products for their quality and freshness.
Sharing information and obtaining knowledge will help using the regional park as a tool for preservation, management, development and cooperation. This means honouring the history of all those who have been farming, opening the doors to future farmers, creating stability by good management and lying a firm basis for the future so the park will be an economically viable, environmentally healthy and socially excepted phenomenon.
 

Presentation East London, East London Green Grid

by Jamie Dean

The organisation Design for London has recently been set up to develop an integrated coherent strategy from London of which the Eastern London Green Grid is an important part.  It was initiated by the major with architect Rogers as his chief advisor. After a peak in 1939 and a low point in 1991, London will in the next 20 years grow again with approx. 1 mio inhabitants. Also there is a strong wish to establish a sustainable community.

The London Plan shows a clear choice not to build on green areas and to establish a network of green spaces. Also there is a hierarchy of green spaces established in which every inhabitant needs to have a local park in the direct vicinity (400 m.), a district park within 800 m. a metropolitan park within 2 km and a regional park at a maximum distance of 3.2 km.

The needs for transport, growth and sustainability make a compact network necessary, which will be combined with a green grid, a supportive network of green spaces. This will result in developing housing, public and commercial building with a network of sustainable transport modes like walking and cycling paths and public transport hubs. This will make a sustainable growth for London possible.

In the light of climate change, London is very vulnerable. The London's Urban Heat Island Effect causes a direct threat for floods and a lot of (expensive) damage. To reverse the Heat Island Effect green areas are needed. The East London Green Grid offers an interlinked system of multifunctional green spaces, which will make the Gateway greener, more healthy and safer.

Realizing this Green Grid means thinking and operating on a larger scale than usual. It means integrated planning of parks and landscapes and collaboration with partners outside London. The way of planning and working is multifunctional, concerning strategic investments and benefits of different kinds. There are various kinds of landscapes involved like productive agrarian areas, marshes with canals and nature reserves.

With the Eastern London Green Grid the image of this area will be upgraded from an ugly, unkept, post-industrial zone to an attractive and healthy green area. In the future green needs to be of the same importance as the other parts of planning for the eastern London aria. There are already great examples like Sutcliffe Park in Greenwich, which is part of a wider flood alleviation scheme. The River Quaggy, which used to be under the park in a concrete channe,l was opened up and reintroduced in meanders.  The surface of the park has been lowered and shaped to provide an enhanced natural floodplain, where floodwater will be retained during severe storms. A range of natural habitat is now flourishing. Access for the public and people with disabilities has been increased.

Analyses have been done of the East London area in which baseline benefits lead to a strategy based on locations with the most interesting and profitable investment possibilities. Large parts of the area have a residual flood risk 2 (which means a risk of flooding one time every 100 years). The Thames Barrier doesn't offer enough protection for these risks, so new solutions are needed. Green infrastructure can offer space for flood alleviation that will make building in these areas possible. It is important to make this green infrastructure beneficial for all inhabitants so they can withstand the pressure of development

To obtain the objectives of the Eastern London Green Grid Plan it is necessary to develop a supportive policy framework at strategic and local levels (1), to work with existing local structures to promote integrated, cross agency working - set up 6 areas groups (2), to support the development of 6 Area Projects Frameworks (3) and to define, prioritise, develop and deliver strategic open space projects including land acquisition(4).

There are 400-500 projects planned in the six areas. Additional funding will be necessary. The fase 1 projects will be executed in 3-5 years. The big three are the Thames Gateway, the Cross River Park and the London Preservation Park. The Thames Gateway offers 95 housing location with additional employment and green. Here the Greenway project (which is part of the Olympic Area) will offer a green infrastructure on top of the sewer network. Housing debris is used for construction. The Cross River Park will need a lot of political support. It combines an existing landscape plan with a bridge in a masterplanning process combining green, building and transport system with a station square and flood parks. The London Preservation Park offers flooding alleviation and a park that combines six links to the Thames in a green structure. With this the river will again be visible and sensible.

The Eastern London Green Grid offers a clear concept that can be clearly communicated to London investors.

Milano, Parco Agrarico Sud:

Vito Redaelli (in cooperation with Matteo Mai)

Ugo Targetti

Maria Pia Sparla

Alessandro Ferrari.

Summaries of these presentations will be online soon.

PART 3:  Workshops

A. The role of peri-urban agriculture

Led by Frank Lohrberg and Jack Hoogeboom

A compact sketch of the SWOT characteristics offered some interesting topics. Water management is a very locally defined issue in the South Wing as is glass house horticulture. The South Wing wants to get rid of it and Emscherpark on the other hand wants to initiate it. The development of large recreational areas, by buying 3000 ha of ground in the South Wing and converting it into recreational green, highly surprised participants from Italy and Spain.

The possibilities for peri-urban agriculture in the South Wing were also discussed. This kind of agriculture is very different form the ordinary kind of agriculture and classical laws don't apply. Peri-urban agriculture is site specific and is facilitated and supported financially and otherwise by the community. There is a direct relationship between the agricultural and urban areas for example by school projects. The awareness of local production is very important.

A great example is the collective territorial branding that is applied in Barcelona. This could be suitable for the South Wing as well. In this way products can be connected to their territories and in that way connected to regional society.

In the South Wing all parties concerned are very much focussed on accessibility of the landscape. However connection with the landscape is also possible through other means: for example eating the product of the land means feeling the landscape. For different areas different strategies need to be applied, supported by laws and regulations. In that way cities can be strongly linked to the open space. In the South Wing there are many possibilities for diversification with production of dairy, fruit and vegetables. Biomass can be produced in the wetlands. Farmers must become entrepreneurs that operate individually and not as a herd. The urban farmer will be a special kind of farmer who is well-educated and innovative. What is a farmer? A farmer is someone that works with land.

B.The quest for environmental sustainability,

Led by Bram Mabelis and Dagmar Keim

Between planning and implementation of environmental strategies problems seems to rise due to a lack of communication. An important issue is the way to measure things like biodiversity. Is measuring a target-species suitable to give an indication?

In spatial planning environmental quality is an important issue and for this a good communication between planners, managers and inhabitants is important. Managing environmental quality means keeping biodiversity intact and increasing biodiversity. This can be done by realizing a strong and robust ecological infrastructure which makes a complex of habitat networks possible. For this infrastructure to be more robust than the existing ones, possibilities to include private land must be explored. Combinations of recreation, nature conservation and agriculture can offer win-win situations. For this further analysis is needed. Also nature needs to be made accessible for the public for example with ‘wooden shoe-tracks'.

C. Landscape cultural identities,

Led by Theo Deutinger, Helmut Thoele and Florian Bartholome

In this workshop there was a general discussion about possibilities for branding the landscape. Subject was the landscape of Midden-Delfland in the South Wing, a rural landscape with agriculture and ecological value in between the urban areas of the South Wing. Although not everyone was convinced that finding a suitable slogan was the best way to start, a series of slogans was formulated.

• living and working in the park
• memory landscape
• panorama: painted landscape
• urban agriculture
• moving land

Participants agreed that the area of Midden Delfland should be defined as a park rather than an agricultural area. Like IBA Emscherpark was promoted with atmospherical nightshots, Midden Delfland could be too. Also the area will need extra elements to make it into a park. The perception of this area takes place on different scales: the local, the national and the European scale. To make the park visible you could for example make it temporarily invisible by having it wrapped by Christo. Unpacking it could be an act of uncovering the meaning and importance of the Midden Delfland Park.

D. Planning concepts and strategies for metropolitan landscapes

Led by Pim Uytdewilligen and Michiel Raats

Which are the factors for success or failure? The German delegation is convinced events are needed to create intentions. Physical landmarks will make your project visible on a local scale. A possible failure is to be only concerned with planning without paying attention to the inhabitants and participants. Also it is important not to concentrate on one scale but to vary with regional and local scales.

Central question in this workshop was: develop a great planning concept for Midden-Delfland.

Solution 1. Create the world famous Midden Delfland Park where all the products have the same brand, which offers a strong touristic attraction. Make the park seen from the highway between Rotterdam and The Hague. Surround the park with highrise to clearly define the space and create a Manhattan effect.

Solution 2. Skip the name Midden Delfland and call the area the ‘South Wing Park'. Put a high tech campus of the Universities of Rotterdam and Delft right in the middle of the park: a ‘technopolis' set in green. Put a skyscraper in the middle as a symbol for the park. Make Midden Delfland into an area in which recreation and agriculture are combined.

PART 4:  Closure by Paul Gerretsen

Are strategies on this regional scale relevant? Yes they are. It will however be a long term effort for the South Wing with decades of work and effort. Elsewhere in Europe strategies have already been brought into practice. From these great examples the South Wing can learn.

Also it is important to combine all the existing plans and efforts into one strategy for the South Wing. It turns out there are a lot of interesting hybrid scenarios possible for the landscape of the South Wing. This summer we will produce a publication in which we will cover all these intriguing possibilities. Put together they will offer the critical mass for the blue-green vision of the Province of South Holland to guarantee in the South Wing a quality that lasts.

Chairman of the day was Peter Jonquière

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