Spatial development and urban planning have throughout the past decades become largely driven by a focus on economic growth. As already put forward by the Club of Rome in their well-known report 'The Limits to Growth' in 1972, this focus on growth lays a huge claim on the available land, the earth’s raw materials, and the production of energy - pushing the planet out of balance.
This one-week studio starts from the premise that we can only work towards a sustainable and just city if economic growth is no longer the starting point, and that we must move towards a different way of organizing our cities. We need a new urban paradigm, that respects our planetary boundaries and that is based on stabilization, degrowth or a completely different definition of growth (such as increase of well-being). Within this studio we aim to come up with alternative models for an urban development that is not aimed at economic growth, but which considers a better balance between people, animals and nature. A model that focuses on a habitable and just living environment, on the sustainable use of food, water, energy, and materials, and on meaningful work for as many people as possible. Such a new paradigm or model requires a major economic, social, and cultural turnaround.
Participation fee: 200 euros.