IN-PERSON Manchester Livable Cities

Abstract

In the past few decades many European inner cities have shown a remarkable revival. However, what about the residential areas outside the historic town centres, where most people live? Although in some cases the spatial quality has improved thanks to urban renewal, there are concerns about gentrification and the decline of former inclusive meeting places. How does urban planning deal with these questions? The paper shows the method and first results of a new planning approach, applied by the city of Maastricht, based on the theoretical work of Richard Sennett. He distinguishes the ‘Ville’, the built city, and the ‘Cité’, the living city, stating that the coherence between both has been lost in post war planning. The paper 1) describes the driving forces behind the current erosion of neighbourhood centres and ‘high streets’. 2) shows the long term vision of Maastricht in two mutually coherent maps, one giving a vision of the future ‘built’ city, and second, an image of the ‘living’ city, in the form of a ‘social heat’ map, showing the desired programming of amenities in the future hearts of neighbourhoods, and along lively main streets. As this vision was implemented about a decade ago, the paper indicates in what measure the new approach was leading in practice and shows in text and images the first built results. Additionally, it shows the tension and discussion between this ‘top down’ planning approach and ‘bottom up’ initiatives.