How to make #spaceforwork in the existing city weave is just one of the crucial issues in urban development today. And sometimes you just have to go to see for yourself how others do that. I am grateful to Koert-Jan Van Hees and Marc den Hertog for co-organizing a study trip to some of the most published projects on stacking work and housing: #NovaCity and #CityCampus, both developed by citydev.brussels.
It was fantastic to visit these urbanistic projects on site from the inside and outside, accompanied by explanations of the experts Oana Bogdan of &bogdan architects and Somesh Barot of citydev.brussels. But not enough, director Nathalie Renneboog, took time to explain the goals, strategies and lessons learned at CityDev in the past years, next to welcoming us at the inspiring #CityFab and BRUSSELS GREENBIZZ.
And the best thing is: Our trip to study how to work on growth with quality in Gemeente Zaanstad attracted a much larger group then expected. We traveled with a truly integral selection of experts from #projectdevelopment, #economy, #housing, #publicspace and #socialdevelopment. To top it all off, colleagues from befriended cities in The Netherlands joined our group to acquire knowledge in realtime and on site, together with us.