INCLUSIVE URBANISM How top-down development can work with and even fund the bottom-up OPPORTUNISTIC URBANISM 2018 MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE STUDIO D THOMAS McLAUGHLIN
_ Slowing the rate of change Thomas McLaughlin
What happens when you combat profit led development with a slow urbanism which considers all? How can the cross-subsidy of top-down development directly contribute and give priority to bottom-up development?
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CENTRAAL STATION
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CONTRIBUTORS
UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE MELBOURNE SCHOOL OF DESIGN Master of Architecture Studio D STUDIO LEADERS Katherine Sundermann- MGS Architects Andy Fergus- City of Melbourne STUDENT Thomas McLaughlin
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Contents
Introduction 7 1. Thesis statement 2. Research
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Literature
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Precedents
3. Travel weeks
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The Netherlands TU Delft Workshops
4. Site
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Site conditions
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ZOHO Citizens
5. Neighbourhood 46 Vision 54 6. Project 7.Appendix
What is ‘slow urbanism’? Brief
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Mid-semester Presentation
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Interim Presentation
8. Conclusion
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Bibliography
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_ Introduction
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Opportunistic Urbanism has been an exercise in understanding the needs of a city within its wider context. Using architecture as an agent, we have explored a wider scope of what kind of architectural results come from what kind of economic and/or social climates. The studio explores a brief unique to The Netherlands set by the Deltrametrapool Association with a focused component on housing. Population is growing The Netherlands and the country is putting in place plans to become one large metropolis. Densification has become a priority and financial crisis has forced urban designers to re-think how we live and how we might want to live in the future. In times of financiasl crisis alternative housing models have emerged and asserted themselves as viable options. In understanding this we can start to think holistically and put in place systems that benefit not only market driven (top-down) development but also the socially geared (bottom-up) development. In building density, creating a diverse outcome within in a local city plot seems to have become a new standard in building new urban areas. Sources such as ‘De Stad van Toekomst’ and ‘The Flexible City’ lay out a visual explanation of how these ideas might work and be implemented into European cities. Such sources have been the focus of our research. Brief: Within the Netherlands, four sites were analysed- Zoho, Alexander, The Hague and Feijenoord. My chosen site, Zoho, is one of the older sites, having been affected by the likes of war, migration, and financial crisis. It has undergone a a severe indentity change since the war and has only recently stabilised itself as a new creative business district. Having regenerated itself from harder times the land is now valuable and developers have their hands on it. Being an inner-city area, this kind of market-driven development is inevitable, so what happens next for Zoho? My thesis statement aims to answer this question through a design proposal wihich engages in experimentation, flexibility, social and developmental inclusivity.
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CROSS FUNDING THE BOTTOM-UP WITH THE TOP-DOWN THESIS STATEMENT
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Thesis statement In a global context, cities are having to reimagine their urban spaces and dwellings as factors such as climate, demographic and economic growth affect how they are used. This means that re-establishing a theoretical planning framework for a flexible city that can facilitate a range of different possibilities of urbanization. The area of Zoho has undergone many changes within its lifetime. Due to its central location in the city of Rotterdam it has been affected by the likes of war, economic struggle, demographic change and climate change. In the last decade the abandoned business district of Zoho has been revived due to a unique collaboration effort between the Haventeder, Stipo and the municipality of Rotterdam. They have come up with their own brand of ‘slow urbanism’ to regenerate the area without the need of developers. Although this has happened purely out of circumstance and necessity, it has allowed for consideration of public spaces, climate adaptive mechanisms and the cohesion of local residents and business. The problem now is that the area of ZOHO is back on the map and its land is increasing in value. This is attracting the attention of traditional urban developers who want to develop the land further. At what point will this rate of urbanism speed up and become a profit-based venture and disregard social and climatic issues? Assuming that traditional development is inevitable for an urban zone like Zoho, perhaps the cooperation and co-habitation of these different approaches to development could make for an interesting framework for sustainable urbanization in the future. In an area which is in a constant state of change, we need to setup a planning framework which allows for incremental change in a way that the users still have some control of development. To ensure that the bottom-up approach intersects with the top-down approach, how can we establish a theoretical and practical framework to allow for the cooperation of both user-led development as well as traditional development to encourage a diverse outcome urbanization in a dynamic urban area?
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LITERATURE AND ARTICLE REVIEW
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Self Made City
The Flexible City
An insightful understanding into what ‘self-build’ architecture is and how it can be economically viable. It goes into the history of the Baugruppen and co-operative housing modelas and explains how bottom-up thinking and development could be the way of the future in the housing market. It basically outlines an alternative housing strategy which gives owndership to the user and creates a more flexible approach to how we might live. Precedents and diagrams proved useful in understand the layouts of these socially rich arrangements in housing.
Dealing specifically with the decline of growth in Europe, The flexible City mitigates how we can re-design our cities to be more efficient and sustainable with the built environment we already have. Rather than having the growth mentality of building outwards- it sets up the assignment of how to think about reconstructing our cities to deal with future urban scenarios. Bergevoet and Van Tuijl “present a toolbox” to the reader of how one might ‘do, or even ‘think’ about this issue.
Notes Taken:
Notes Taken:
-Understanding the funding model for such an outcome -Effective use of axo drawings - understanding economic factors that shape the brief
-Staged development and thinking through simple cartoons. -Effective use of axo drawings - understanding economic factors that shape the brief
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The Flexible City Dealing specifically with the decline of growth in Europe, The flexible City mitigates how we can re-design our cities to be more efficient and sustainable with the built environment we already have. Rather than having the growth mentality of building outwards- it sets up the assignment of how to think about reconstructing our cities to deal with future urban scenarios. Bergevoet and Van Tuijl “present a toolbox” to the reader of how one might ‘do, or even ‘think’ about this issue. Notes Taken: -Staged development and thinking through simple cartoons. -Effective use of axo drawings - understanding economic factors that shape the brief
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Image: Superlofts
PRECEDENTS STUDIES Flexibility and diversity
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SUPERLOFTS MARC KOEHLER
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GEWORTELD WONEN, risjwijk
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PAKT, antwerp
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PRECEDENT STUDIES BUILDING TALL
Image: B’Tower
B’ TOWER, rotterdam WIEL ARETS ARCHITECTS
In order to understand the difference in planning and general design between top-down and bottom-up architecture it was neccessary to research top-down, market- driven design of residential towers. In order to combat this market-driven development, perhaps working with it was a way of mitigating the problem. Floor plans were studied heavily to understand how the living arrangement differed from the bottom-up designs.
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TER MEULEN BUILDING, rotterdam The Ter Meulen building in the heart of Rotterdam was an ideal study of how to build on top of an existing building of a different program. Ter Meulen is a residential building which builds density in an effective way. The section shows the intersection of program between the buildings.
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TRAVEL WEEKS
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The Netherlands
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WORKSHOPS AT TU DELFT
TU Delft Part of our time in the Netherlands was taking part in some workshops at TU Delft whcih dealt with some of the major topics of urban design. Based on ‘De Stad van Toekomst’, these workshops were focused around topics such as circular economy and automation Notes Taken: -Thinking at the urban scale -Becoming more familiar with concepts from
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SITE
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KATSHOEK
The katshoek building, designed by Hugh Maaskant is an icon of Zoho and hosts a range of larger offices including Rem Koolhas’ OMA. I see this building having some kind of importance to the site- giving it a strong character. If the site is to be redeveloped, where does the Katshoek fit into the program?
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HET GELE GEBOUW THE YELLOW BUILDING
The yellow building is another building of significance on the Zoho site. Holding a range of smaller practices, it boasts a creative collection of workers who take care of the space around them and take an interest into what’s going on in Zoho. Some of these offices are responsible for the well-known rooftop cinema. The yellow building also hosts the famous club, Mono, which has an identity much different to that of the Katshoek. Is this the cultural hub of the site? How can that influence what kind of development happens here?
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SITE CONDITIONS
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ZOHO CITIZENS
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ZOHO Citizens When we were on site, visiting ZOHO, we were able to meet some of the members of ‘ZOHO Citizens’. One of the members, Raymond, was happy to answer any questions we had for him. We were given the opportunity to visit inside the ZOHO studio where we found preliminary designs and ideas for the new prospoective development due to take over in the next ten years. Raymond was also part of making a kind of ‘brief’ for the new owners and developers. The brief was to inform what kind of identity Zoho has created for itself and emphasizing why this is important in the consideration of new development. The citizens had based their ideas upon ‘5 points’ they created themselves. The ZOHO 5 points is the reference point for what ZOHO has become and what it plans to be in the future, according to the citizens.
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ZOHO is MIXED “ A district that is planned and built on the principles of circular building. A place where the car is a guest.”
ZOHO is INVOLVED “ Users... take responsibilities for maintenance and management and are able to co-decide”
ZOHO is CONNECTED “ZOHO connects the city centre with the north of the city”
ZOHO is SUSTAINABLE “ A district that is planned and built on the principles of circular building. A place where the car is a guest.”
ZOHO is EXPERIMENTAL “There is space for companies, who can experiment and innovate in their field.” - emphasis on the retaining the creative offices which were highly involved in the creation of ‘slow Zoho’ 43
NEIGHBOURHOOD VISION
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What is ‘slow urbanism’? The character of ZOHO has been built on the back of residents and people who work in the area who have re-claimed ownership of office spaces and the public spaces around it. After being a neglected business district in the past years it has had several parties involved in the regeneration of the area. The solution they came up with became coined as a kind of ‘slow urbanism’. A brief history of zoho: The Havensteder originally inherited the area after the development of office blocks after the war. The area had been bombed during WWII so some kind of development was neccessary. This development ultimately failed and left approximately 12,000 sqare metres of unused office space. The Havenstader (housing corporation), Gemeente Rotterdam (City council) and Stipo (urban design bureau) came together to discuss alternative solutions of how to revive an abandoned inner-city area. The solution they came up with involved providing incentives for small business to move back on site with the attraction of cheap rent. With this they wanted to re-brand the site as a ‘maker precinct’. Along with the cheap overheads these offices in return had to help regenerate the public spaces around the site. This sparked a culture of small bottom-up projects which recieved a lot of attention and support from the community and brought in members of the wider public to get involved with the projects. Since then, land value has gone up considerably and the Havenstader now has to sell the site on to prospective developers.
So what happens now? Can ZOHO continue this brand of ‘slow urbanism’ or will market driven development change this completely? 47
UTILISING UN-USED SPACE
ZOHO is...
COMMUNITY LED
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
COMMUNITY SPACE
BRIEF
WHO?
SLOW URBANISM GEMEENTE ROTTERDAM
HAVENSTEDER
STAKEHOLDERS
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TACTICAL GENTRIFICATION
FINDING THE MONEY
TO PAY FOR...
A NEW MIXED PRECINCT WHICH SUPPORTS BOTTOM-UP; CITIZEN LED
THE COMMUNITY GROWTH CORPORATIION (CGC)
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FINANCIAL CAPITAL
SOCIAL CAPITAL
Existing site plan context
SITE PL
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LAN SITE
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Existing program 1. ZOMERHOFSTRAAT 76-90 -Mono -Mesh Print Club -Old School -Roffa mon Amour -Studio Bas Salsa -Emma’s Ontwerpen -Soltine Jewelry -Achitectuur Film Festival Rotterdam -Inspiring Cities -Joose van Geest -Bird Invest -Masters that Matter -STIPO
2. KATSHOEK
-Gemeente -Yaguti Systems -Alexander Calder -Capabel VVS/ SBMO -IMKO -Capabel Onderwijs Groep -Havensteder
3. ZOMERHOFSTRAAT -Hollan Harbour Productions
4. ZOMERHOFSTRAAT -Fit for free -Ruthless Fightcompany -Gemeente Rotterdam
5. CARPARK 6. SOCIAL HOUSING
Havensteder
PRIVATE OWNER Existing Zoho- Building use
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DEMOLITION STRATEGY: SUSTAINING ZO
KATSHOEK
OHO
MONO
GYM
“I can’t believe it’s not slow urbanism!”
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PROJECT
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MASTERPLAN
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KATSHOEK is CONNECTED “ZOHO connects the city centre with the north of the city. ZOHO connects residents and businesses and ZOHO connects the cultures of Rotterdam.”
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-from ZUS site
Connectivity of neighbourhood In our group work we discussed how we would like to reconnect the site in itself but also to it’s surrounding neighbourhoods. This process informed which sites we would individually select and what kind of development we would propose. This connection strategy heavily influenced my proposal based on public access and the kind of public program I wanted in my site. It also helped me think about how it would fit into my proposed economic model.
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Existing connections and site
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Disconnected, isolated...
Connected
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CONNECTING the city The Luchtsingel
My proposal starts with a bottom-up strategy that aims to connect Zoho with the city. Based on existing Luchtsingel (the first ever crowd-funded piece of public infrastructure) I plan to extend it further out along the Hofbogen and into the Katshoek building. Running adjacent will be another path running directly into the Technikon building. This will connect these two precincts of the future into one. After connecting back to the ground, the pedestrian pathways lead a direct route into the northern suburbs. This link is important not only for Zoho but for further connectivity of the city to the further out development.
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ROTTERDAM CENTRAL
LuchtSingel connection plan 1:5
PRISON
or redevelopment)
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ZOHO
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LUCHTSINGEL
Stairs Sky path Ground path 79
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INCLUSIVE URBANISM
PROPOSAL
Raymond -Zoho Citizens
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6 MAIN POINTS of
INCLUSIVE URBANISM
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1. Continue ‘slow urbanism’ 2. Connect to the city 3. Sell out the Katshoek! 4. Fund a new housing model and public infrastructure 5. Build diversity with different housing typologies 6. Build more affordable housing
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Phase 1
Phase 2
Carpark: Bottom-up
Katshoek: Top-down
Phase 3
Phase 4
Baugruppen & Luchtsingel: Bottom-up
Superlofts: diversity
CARPARK
AN EXTENSION OF KATSHOEK THAT ENCOURAGES SLOW URBANISM
ZOHO is MIXED
“ZOHO is a mixed area of medium-sized buildings and green spaces. Its medium grain ensures connection and cooperation, flexible development that can be adjusted over time. It ensures an area with a mix of medium and small buildings, old and new buildings, living spaces and workplaces, low and high incomes, from medium and small businesses. ZOHO is a lively area where everything is possible.” -ZOHO Citizens
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Phase 1
From De Urbanisten The carpark rooftop acts as an informal extension of the Katshoek building as well as an anchor point for the Luchtsingel. It is a public space which puts emphasis on bottom-up development which is clearly visible and open to everyone.
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Exploded axonometric drawing showing the re-use of the carpark. The lower-level consists of parking spaces for car-share/ rentals. The first level has been re-appropriated for flexible office use, encouraging more young creatives to be a part of the bottom-up development. This embodies the character of Zoho.
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Car Pedestrian 99
KATSHOEK ZOHO is EXPERIMENTAL
SELLING OUT OR GIVING IT NEW LIFE?
“...there is room for experiment. There is space for companies, who can experiment and innovate in their field. There are test locations for varying spatial experiments. And there is room for experiment in the development of the area and buildings themselves, both in the process and development. In ZOHO we learn from the experiments and we use the lessons for an even better next step.� -ZOHO Citizens
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Building on top of the Katshoek building gives a new insight into how the citizens of Zoho can benefit from the likes of market-driven development. Not only does this tower satiisfy the needs of developers and stakeholders, it also provides revenue for the future development of bottom-up projects that Zoho has become famous for. The Katshoek building is the appropriate site for doing this kind of experimentation.
The new KATSHOEK The Katshoek building has been designated as testing grounds for the cohabitation of top-down development working to help fund the bottom-up. In these testing grounds we can see a re-shuffle of program within the Katshoek to utilise unused space within the building as well as repurposing it and selling it to prospective developers. The re-shuffle of program within the building will be making way for a new addition to the Katshoek; ‘The Zoho Tower’. The idea for the tower is to let developers build maximum density upon this southern point of the site and build right up to the legal height limit of 70 metres high. By letting these developers build on top of the Katshoek this also provides an opportunity for the property owners to earn a slice of the profit that can be made here. By focusing the density to one specific point on the site, we can make space for other kinds of bottom-up development. The new ‘Zoho Residents’ up top will have 360 degree views all around Rotterdam while the hotel downstairs will have access to a variety of retail strips, event spaces and public walkways to the city in under 10 minutes.
The new KATSHOEK & ZOHO TOWER
HOUSING
BOTTOM-UP DEVELOPMENT CO-HABITATING WITH TOP-DOWN
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SUPERLOFTS
FLEXIBILITY IN LIVING AND WORKING SPACES. IS THE HOME THE NEW WORK PLACE?
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On site arrangement of loft types
Studio
Ground level Full-length Penthouse
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TOP-DOWN DEVELOPMENT WITH A SOCIAL PROMISE. ALLOWING GENTRIFICATION WHICH BUILDS FINANCIAL & SOCIAL CAPITAL.
MIXED HOUSING
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Het Einde?
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APPENDIX
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Time to gr but slow Zoho
SLOW ZOHO
MID- SEMESTER PRESENTATION
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row, w,
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VIJVER
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Get the money! INTERIM PRESENTATION
KALKBREITE (ZURICH)
PAKHUIS DE ZWEIJGER (AMSTERDAM)
PAKT
(ANTWERP)
Precedents
MELKFABRIEK (ZURICH)
GEWORTELD WONEN (RISJWIJK)
R50
(BERLIN)
THE COMMUNITY GROWTH CORPORATIION (CGC) Transferable development rights
The transferable rights idea came from an exhibition from MoMA in New York where the ideas of selling unused land rights to a hypothetical housing corporation could be used to help fund development strategies in staged developments. The idea I was attracted to was to have lower soci-economic housing properties sell their unused land/ air rights, sell them to the housing corporation (for a share of corporation) from which can be then used to build density onto a specific site where developers and stakeholders are ready to build. In return for these ‘donated’ land rights, the said developers and stakeholders are then obliged to return this investment to the social housing areas to help build their planned developments and/or public spaces around them. This idea was never carried forward into my project as it introduced land rights components which convoluted my thesisd statement. The concept, nevertheless, helped me think about how to stage my developments in my proposal and to understand how the money would flow from investment capital to an interestign social outcome.
Housing fopr potential development Density donation points
Lessons learned: -How to propogate ideas of future land value -Strategies in building density in specific areas -Diagramatic explanation of complex ideas
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INCLUSIVE URBANISM
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Conclusion In conclusion to my introductory statement, the proposed development shows how top-down development can co-exist and even help fund bottom-up development. The Zoho site and community has thrived from off its repuation of creating something out of nothing. Now that developers have their hands on the site, big development is now encroaching on the low density site. Instead of rejecting this prospective development, why not welcome it and include it into the ZOHO citizens’ strategy and use it their advantage. Big development is inevitable so let’s include it into the plan. I believe that by including both types of development strategies the community can benefit from both and have a better outcome. The outcome will produce a diverse range of public program, work living spaces which is inclusive for all. This is INCLUSIVE URBANISM.
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Bibliography Books T. Bergovoet & M. van Tuijl (2016) The Flexible City: Sustainable SOlutions for a Europe in Transition K. Ring (2013) Self Made City : Berlin:Urban Design & Living Spaces Created in Self -initiative Online De Urbanisten- www.urbanisten.nl/ ZOHO Citizens- zohorotterdam.nl/ The Cooperative City- https://cooperativecity.org/ The City at The Eye Level- https://thecityateyelevel.com/ ZUS- https://zus.cc/projects/luchtsingel-rotterdam
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Opportunistic Urbanism Studio Designn studio D 2018 Univeristy of Melbourne