The success of the cities of the future depends on the extent to which the existing professions, or more precisely the professionals working in them, are able to transcend the boundaries of their disciplines and ways of thinking.

What makes urban space accessible? What are the keys to ensuring that residents and visitors alike make it their own and use it? How can green infrastructure promote the greatest possible openness of public space? And finally, what can technological innovations do to transform cities into truly inclusive places? The Cities Initiative Forum Connective Spaces, hosted by Topos, German architecture magazine Baumeister and lighting specialist Schréder, explored these crucial questions and sparked lively debates between four participants from very different backgrounds: landscape architect Leonard Grosch, architect Jan Liesegang, academic expert Undine Giseke and Schréder top manager Ernst Smolka. However, they all agreed on one point: the success of the cities of the future depends on the extent to which the existing professions, or more precisely the professionals working in them, are able to transcend the boundaries of their disciplines and ways of thinking.

The forum, which took place as part of this year’s Metropolitan Solutions Conference in Berlin, is part of the “Baumeister Topos Cities Initiative”: launched in 2015, it highlights a variety of aspects of urban design, planning and development in events and publications. In 2016, the focus of the initiative is on connectivity. When it comes to connecting spaces and networking people, the first thing that comes to mind is technical infrastructure. Dr. Ernst Smolka, Managing Director of Schréder GmbH, showed how new modular technologies such as Schréder’s “Shuffle” can trigger a change in the perception of lighting solutions in an urban context: The luminaire no longer functions merely as a tool for illuminating a space. Instead, it becomes a complex interactive instrument that integrates a variety of different functions that meet the demands that today’s citizens will increasingly place on public spaces and their infrastructure. Access to public WLAN, the provision of electricity and availability as a security device are just three examples. It is therefore not surprising that great attention is being paid to the beacons of the future and their ability to provide the resources and services demanded by city dwellers.

Indeed, infrastructure is only one aspect from which the concept of connectivity can be viewed. Leonard Grosch, Partner at Atelier Loidl Landschaftsarchitektur, Berlin, explained how modern urban parks such as the Park am Gleisdreieck in Berlin by Atelier Loidl aim to bring people of different cultures and backgrounds together in a subtle, modern and contemporary way – and how this central goal influences a designer when planning. He emphasized that the elaborate participatory process that preceded and accompanied the planning phase for Gleisdreieck enabled the landscape architects to better understand what this space, which was to become a park, actually means to people. Even if the discussions easily frayed into questions of detail and many of those involved clung to the romantic railroad scenarios that once characterized the Gleisdreieck, Grosch emphasized that the participation of citizens and other stakeholders can significantly change the design of a place for the better. In this process, designers and landscape architects have to reconcile the demands of the citizens, the aesthetic qualities of the space and its potential for urban connections and the surrounding area.

Removing boundaries between professions

Jan Liesegang, architect at Raumlabor Berlin, would certainly agree. Together with Undine Giseke, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Open Space Planning at TU Berlin, he discussed the question of when exactly participation should be incorporated into the planning process. Both emphasized that an early start promotes mutual understanding and trust between planners and future users. When asked whether citizens today are willing to actively support and influence spatial change processes, Giseke and Liesegang came to the same conclusion: the willingness of citizens to participate is greater than ever before. In fact, Liesegang and Giseke believe that architects and landscape architects should work as closely as possible with manufacturers and construction companies that develop connective solutions. Not only to find adequate products for such solutions, but also to assess their impact on urban culture in the short and long term. Liesegang, Giseke, Grosch and Smolka share the conviction that the more experts break down the boundaries between their professional fields and instead clear the way for new combinations of expertise and creativity, the more inclusive the city of the future will become. And the more people will benefit from this development.

You can find out more about the Cities Initiative Forum Connective Spaces here.