Final Reflection MCD Module International Urban Development UK

Erwin Heurkens, Master City Developer, Module 6, Birmingham UK, 1 July 2022 In the last week of June we travelled to London and Birmingham for the Master City Developer MCD module International Urban Development to study and visit UK urban regeneration projects, related to research themes 1) planning in a neoliberal context. 2) private-led public places, and 3) inclusive resilient neighbourhoods. All in all, UK’s urban regeneration practice gave me the impression that it…

Leren van buitenlandse steden: Het doen van comparatief onderzoek

Erwin Heurkens, 17 December 2020, Master City Developer, Module 7 In order to draw lessons from foreign practices of urban planning and development one needs to comprehend the methodological issues related to international comparative studies and lesson-drawing. Institutional comparisons between cultures, systems and practices making use of institutional models assist in understanding and explaining context-specific…

Buitenlandse inspiratie voor privaat-georganiseerde participatie: New York & Londen

Erwin Heurkens, 11 November 2020, Online Themasessie Stedelijke Transformatie Het vormgeven van participatie bij gebiedsontwikkelingen is complex. Bijvoorbeeld door de belangen van bewoners, bedrijven en andere gebiedsgebruikers. Maar ook omdat ontwikkelaars steeds vaker initiatief nemen om een gebied te transformeren. De nieuwe Omgevingswet biedt meer ruimte voor het organiseren van participatie door private initiatiefnemers. In…

De rol van private partijen in duurzame stedelijke ontwikkeling

Private partijen spelen een steeds belangrijkere rol in stedelijke ontwikkeling (Heurkens, 2012,  Andersson & Moroni, 2014). Niet alleen omdat overheden minder (actief) risicovol grondbeleid voeren en participeren in joint ventures, maar ook omdat de ontwikkeling van stedelijke gebieden en vastgoed stabiele investeringsmogelijkheden biedt voor allerlei soorten marktpartijen. Denk daarbij zowel aan projectontwikkelaars als ontwikkelende beleggers,…

Private-led urban development: Studying city building in NYC

Erwin Heurkens, 30 October 2019, Master City Developer, Module 6, Erasmus University Rotterdam For the Urban International Development module from the Master City Developer (MCD) course (as the module’s co-coordinator) I held a presentation on the US/NYC way of development and planning. For the course’s professional students, this presentation provides ground for conducting their New…

Changing Planning and Development Institutions in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is faced with the challenge to accommodate the on-going process of urbanization, global investment flows, and increasing environmental concerns on its scarce developable land putting the city’s sustainable growth and livability at risk. This brings forward the need to effectively govern and manage sustainable urban development, which requires the alignment of planning and…

The socially responsible real estate investor

Although publication of a vast amount of socially responsible investment policies suggests that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a common feature in today’s global real estate industry, in practice and research, the meaning and implementation of CSR principles remains largely unclear. Therefore, this study examines the use of CSR by comparing real estate investment…

Implementing energy policies in urban development projects

Governing climate mitigation is complex, as the recurring gap between policy intentions and actions exhibits. Interventions at the urban scale represent an opportunity to implement energy policy targets. Urban development projects can function as carrier to implement innovative energy solutions as ‘by-product’. To do so, planners must proactively and strategically deploy planning instruments to influence…