1 CONTEXTUALIZING
1 CONTEXTUALIZING
Phase 1 . Contextualising - Taking one step back
The first phase has a backwards perspective : It is about getting the bigger picture , ‘ sensing ’ what is going on . The task is to let the daily work rest , and reflect upon the messy realities of mobility planning , and asking the question to which extent the working methods are living up to the given challenges . It is about reflecting why things in mobility planning are the way they are and how they came to be . It is also about looking into other cases where something special has been achieved and understanding what has favoured the emergence of those experiments . This can concern both special single experiments , or more overarching living laboratory approaches in other cities . The single tasks are interwoven with evaluating what all of this implies for Nordhavnen .
This phase is - unavoidably - carried out inside the heads of each planner , but is even more enriching when they are taken up in the dialogical setting of workshops and conferences with direct and indirect colleagues in urban planning . Topics to work with could be :
Task 1-1 : Reflect upon the biggest controversies you draw from your daily work and the messy realities of mobility planning . Task 1-2 : Reflect upon why things in mobility planning are the way they are and how they came to be . What does this imply for Nordhavnen ?
Task 1-3 : Identify societal trends , giving indication of the direction in which our environment , economy and society are moving . What trends are visible in your daily work , what are trends you often hear of ? ( this could be trends like e . g . ‘ generation access ’, which prefers access to a service over ownership ; or the increase of young families living in the inner city )
Task 1-4 : Reflect upon to which extent the working methods are living up to the identified challenges and trends . Task 1-5 : Study what the main concerns of key stakeholders are in regard to the development of Nordhavnen .
Task 1-6 : Study cases with innovative urban mobility concepts elsewhere and understand similarities and differences in the context ( here , we might point for instance to documents such as Europe ’ s Vibrant New Low Car ( bon ) Communities by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy , 2011 ).
Task 1-7 : Reflect what has favoured the emergence of those solutions . What are innovative experiments , which might be feasible in Nordhavnen ? What made it possible for them to emerge ?
Task 1-8 : Study cases where living laboratory approaches have been applied . You might want to have a look at chapter 9 “ Living laboratories for sustainability - Exploring the politics and epistemology of urban transition ” by James Evans and Andrew Karvonen in the book “ Cities and Low Carbon Transitions ” ( in there four cases of living laboratories with universities as one strong pillar are introduced : North Desert Village , Arizona , USA ; Oxford Road Corridor , Manchester , UK ; Urban Landscape Lab , New York , USA ; Masdar City , United Arab Emirates )
Task 1-9 : Relate Nordhavnen to other urban developments in Copenhagen , understand the differences , and sharpen what constitutes the uniqueness of the role , process and features in Nordhavnen . What circumstances and relationships have led to promising innovative features of the development ? What outer pressures , relationships , working methods etc . have implied other valuable ideas to be turned down ?
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