On 14th of February, back-to-back with JPI Urban Europe’s policy conference, Making Cities Work kick-off and several other activities, UrbanMAESTRO – Urban Design Governance in European Cities (funded by the European Commission) was kicked-off in the newly opened House of United Nations in Brussels. The launch provided an overview of the project’s activities, aimed at building synergies with other initiatives, policies and projects and asked participants for their feedback.
The quality of urban places in cities is typically not the product of a single intervention but results from the accumulation over time of a complex combination of factors, behaviours and decisions from multiple stakeholders. Through this action, UN-Habitat, University College of London (UCL) and the Brussels Bouwmeester Maître Architecte aim to explore innovative ways European cities are being designed and financed. Urban MAESTRO will focus on those approaches where public authorities act in a semi-formal or informal capacity as enablers or brokers rather than through regulatory or direct investment powers.
The thematic focus and the approach of Urban Maestro resonates very well with JPI Urban Europe’s Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda 2.0 in terms of building urban transformation capacities. Additionally, the focus on urban governance design labs and financing links well with the Urban Living Lab approach of many of JPI Urban Europe’s projects, particularly those funded under the Making Cities Work call. JPI Urban Europe is represented in the Advisory Board of the project and will as such ensure the link between various activities, projects and initiatives with UrbanMAESTRO.
Read more about UrbanMAESTRO here.