Spontaneous City Working Group
The Spontaneous City Working Group evaluates the central question of how we can create – or perhaps more accurately, allow for – small scale, user-defined development in a planning system that traditionally favours certainty and control, frequently in the form of fixed master plans, ready made city extensions, gated communities and other land use regulations.
This topic was chosen in light of IFHP’s institutional orientations, whereby we focus on moving forward in a world that is increasingly unpredictable and complex – one that requires expedience in increasing the resilience of human settlements. The spontaneous city is one that has the flexibility for incremental changes, allowing us to adapt our neighbourhoods over time to shifting needs and in varying economic climates, as well as to utilize more democratic and bottom-up partnerships that focus on community instead of wholesale change.
At the moment the Working Group is primarily operating around five critical issues regarding the Spontaneous City:
- Land Ownership and Informal Settlements
- Dynamic Regulations
- Investment Logic
- Partnership and Governance
- Civic Economy
IFHP is fortunate to have the assistance of Gert Urhahn (Urhahn Urban Design) as our chair for this working group, along with Steef Buijs (Urban Development Advisor) and Bart Cosijn (Urban Dialogue). We are currently working on a number of activities around this topic and welcome participation from (prospective) IFHP members as we continue to formulate a programme of research and discussion. Inquiries can be made to events@ifhp.org.
For more information on the Spontaneous City's principles, please see here or download the manifesto.
