What do we mean today by "inclusive" urban policies? How does "inclusion" relate to other principles of social development such as "cohesion", "integration" or "solidarity"? How can political, technical and civil society actors translate their will of inclusion into hospitable spaces? What exactly makes the inclusive or hospitable quality of a place (be it a building, a square, an avenue, a neighborhood, a city)? These questions have been the core of the collective reflections during the MasterClass, conference and evening lecture.
They have been explored by internationally renowned scholars and practitioners as well as students in architecture, urban planning, geography, sociology, political science, law and philosophy.
MasterClass 23|01|2017 - 3|02|2017
The MasterClass is a two-week process of pedagogical and scientific experimentation, including fieldwork, workshops as well as three public events: evening lectures and a conference day. Focused on urban situations taken from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) program for 2014-2020, this collective work will lead to a set of detailed practical propositions, put together in a publication.
50 people from the New School (NYC, USA), Sheffield University (UK), IUAV (Venice, Italie), 4Cities Master Programme, UCL and ULB (Belgium) will gather to address the issues of urban inclusion and the questions they raise for urban design(ers).
During these two weeks, we tryed to elaborate this notion of urban inclusion, both as a theoretical concept and as a design practice. When it comes to design so-called ‘inclusive’ spaces, we have to understand precisely what are these social qualities that urban environments should provide to their users or inhabitants. Accessibility, equity, freedom, comfort, protection: these are some of interrelated dimensions that make the hospitality of urban spaces and that need to be taken into account in the design practice.
To know more about the MasterClass experience you can read the Guide Book.
The work produced during the MasterClass as well as practical and theoretical insights from the team and master tutors are now gathered in Metrolab first publication " Designing Urban Inclusion" available to read here.
Conference 27|01|2017
This conference day is organised at the occasion of metrolab.brussels' 2017 MasterClass, an intensive pedagogical and practical experimentation on how to design more inclusive urban spaces. With more than 180 registered participants and incredible speakers, the "In/Out : Designing urban inclusion" conference has been a success!
You can download the full conference programme here.
All the speakers presentations can be found here.
Evening Lecture 24 & 31 |01|2017
Two evening lectures were organised for participants on two topics: "Polarization, division and difference in urban life" and "Building hospitality 4 FEDER projects by 4 architects" . Speakers gathered local praticioners involved in the ERDF projects and academics working on inclusion and hospitality.
