Watch again Colin Koop’s speech at COIMA Real Estate Forum XII
“I see the world’s cities through a designer’s eyes.” A perspective that allows us to grasp the unique opportunities that each city faces in a contemporary world unbalanced in ways never seen before, because of the urban and planning choices of recent decades. Colin Koop, Design Partner at SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) in New York and guest speaker at the 12th COIMA Real Estate Forum, provides a fresh and inspiring perspective on the future of cities, and a deep understanding of the global changes and urban challenges of the coming years.
Colin Koop, Design Partner at SOM – Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill
Koop said: “Future cities must move away from some of the mantras that have guided the recent past, especially continuous growth,” because the urban agglomerations of the late 20th century evolved in unpredictable ways, growing ever larger at the expense of natural space. Today, this expectation of unceasing growth no longer exists, economically, as witnessed by the crises experienced in the first decades of the 20th century, and demographically, because only a few countries in Central Africa maintain a positive growth rate.
Read also: A new urban planning era
The moment is crucial to impose a change of course and a new approach to the way we build cities. “Cities are not a problem, but solve many of the typical difficulties of the contemporary world, starting with reducing our ecological footprint.” The SOM team has identified ten qualities that will shape the cities of the future.
“The last century has left us with several city models based on an idea of limitless development. These models show their weak points - they are often not particularly resilient cities and cannot manage climate change. Inequalities and differences between social classes widen.” The time is ripe for a new urban planning approach that creates dynamic, stratified cities, rooted in the region and its culture, regenerative and inclusive, providing support to their citizens in a situation of social uncertainty, which has to deal with climate change.
Density is complexity and has a cost
In Colin Koop’s approach, two recurring themes are the densification of cities and their humanisation. “Consolidating the human footprint into smaller spaces is a design challenge, and a way to preserve spaces for nature and agriculture.” This is demonstrated by some of the data presented at the Forum: “the carbon footprint of a New Yorker is 14.2 acres per person, while a Virginian’s is 24.6 acres. Living in the city is the best individual contribution we can make to combating climate change. This is because every modern city can be planned, organised and optimised so that the footprint of its population is less than the sum of that of its individual citizens.
Read also: Connectivity and measurable results for sustainable real estate
“Contemporary cities need clear boundaries, so they grow in density and not in size. Instead of working on growth, it is necessary to work on balances and harmonies within cities, which will become denser but fairer.” Koop cited the example of Detroit, which underwent a radical transformation between 1950 and 2002, and Toronto, which introduced a “green belt” to limit land expansion around the city.
This concept highlighted one of the cornerstones of Koop’s approach to urban planning - by sharing services and spaces, by interacting with the framework in which cities are located, it is possible to implement sustainable policies that involve more people.
“This is another of the 20th century town planning biases - the idea that a project could be developed anywhere, regardless of the location’s features.” But every country and region has unique features that were ignored. Cities like Jakarta developed uncontrollably, are in trouble today because they are unable to withstand constant flooding.
Placing limits on urban development by encouraging the densification of cities is a difficult process - density means complexity and comes at a cost. “As a planner it is necessary to see things in layers, and not moving things or taking things away. There are cities that have come together over thousands of years and others that have done so quickly and recently.” Koop said.
