The format of an Urban Lab, described as a rapid urban planning workshop, is more and more often used as a tool by international organisations to respond to growing urbanisation in the Global South.
In these labs, international and local professionals from different urban disciplines are brought together to find innovative and convincing solutions for pressing urban planning issues. Within a limited amount of time, ideas and strategies are assembled that address rapid urbanization at the concerned location so as to lead new developments in the desirable direction.
Through the Urban Labs organised by INTI and the Urban Design & Planning Labs by UN Habitat, Dutch professionals have become closely involved with challenges concerning urbanization in Africa, Asia and South America.
With this session we aim to
UN Habitat has already set the first step in creating a network of all performed Labs, ‘The Network of Urban Planning and Design Labs’, that intends to formulate a common Urban Labs method that can be used by urban planning stakeholders. After short presentations on the INTI New Town Labs and UN-Habitat Labs and Network, we will draw first lessons from the Labs as well as compare their approaches and point towards the need for a
In addition, we want to discuss and highlight the possibility of Urban Labs as means to combine the aspects of development aid, the promotion of the Dutch Creative Design and match making; and investigate the bold question if the New Town Labs, that up until now has only been used in the Global South, could be an appropriate tool to be used by Dutch cities as well.
In addition, for the first time in the Netherlands, the film Urban Labs: The movie by Alexander Valeton will be screened. The film provides insight on how to use the tool of an Urban Lab by UN Habitat at different locations in the Global South.
