This article describes the TU Delft's 2020 experiences during the pandemic in teaching and learning urban design and planning for (post-)COVID-19 times. The article presents the view why, that and how the themes of spatial resilience
and governance resilience should be emphasized in urbanism curriculums. Additionally, it discusses the value of creating well-organized and empathetic online design studios as an inspiring learning environment for both student
and teacher.@en

The impact of COVID-19 on urban life and cities has been increasingly discussed over the last months. Academics, civil society organisations, policy makers and journalists have reflected on how this exceptional situation impacts cities, urban life, and people’s lives in general. A wide range of perspectives emerged in these contributions in the popular media. Almost all of these pieces point at the current shortcomings of our cities and discuss possibilities for improvement, and the role of policy makers in realising greener cities and adequate housing. When discussing the impact of COVID-19 on people’s housing preferences it is often assumed that a growing number of people will (prefer to) leave the dense urban cities and move to the country side or the more rural areas where the qualitative living environment rejoices their heart and where they can enjoy their own private gardens. At least two points of critique need to be raised in relation to these opinion pieces: First, the suggestions and findings are old wines in new barrels. Sufficient green and open spaces, qualitative housing options, the need for mixed area developments and proximity to amenities etc. are indeed important if we want to have cities that provide a good life for all. We have known this for years and the literature on this is substantial. Second – and central in this contribution – is the observation that these opinion pieces are exactly that: opinions... They reflect the ideas, beliefs and the gut feelings of the authors, but are not grounded in research on the effects of COVID-19. We aim for a more nuanced debate about the urban context, grounded in empirical insights and research findings.@en

In this article, we introduce a dissensual knowledge production mechanism for the creation and governance of the commons. Rather than seeking a singular truth which is a social construct, producing a bricolage of truths by citizen associations or communities opens up new perspectives for the commons and democracy. Taking an online community as a case study, we analyze knowledge production and sharing mechanisms, and conflict generation and resolution processes, using simple statistics, text mining, disagreement hierarchy, community guidelines, and group rules. We use the conclusions drawn from these techniques in the Institutional Analysis and Development framework. Superposing our findings and critical reading of current best practices, we define the four main principles as the operational framework for an online community based on the commons, dissensus, and shared knowledge: distributed versioning, layering, inclusion, and self-determination.@en

Circulaire economie moet dé pijler worden van een bloeiend en veerkrachtig Vlaanderen. De omslag naar een circulaire economie is sinds enkele jaren een prioriteit van de Vlaamse regering. De aandacht neemt niet af. De Europese, gewestelijke en federale politieke agenda's zullen de komende jaren dankbaar gebruik blijven maken van het adjectief 'circulair' om nieuw beleid voor te stellen, of bestaand beleid te updaten. @en

This chapter explores challenges and opportunities pertaining to networked learning in architecture and urban design studio education. Today, ‘Starchitects’ have taken centre stage on the global design platform, playing the role of individual geniuses. The spotlight of attention has been on the design and the designer, but the society in which these projects are realised is often left in the dark. The chapter recognises that such imbalance is also present in the design studio pedagogy as it is being employed in most schools of architecture. Through technological evolutions and the developments of online and virtual realms, however, networked learning opens new opportunities to implement critical pedagogy and reinvigorate the social tasks of the architect during the educational trajectory. In this contribution we connect the social turn in architecture practice and education with the innovative possibilities that emerge from the integration of networked learning in design education. We demonstrate the current challenges for architectural education and argue that a critical design attitude will be imperative to tackle the future challenges in architecture. Finally, we claim that critical thinking can be stimulated using networked learning pedagogy that connects back to Schön’s conceptualisations and theorised possibilities of studio-based learning.

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Eversion can be briefly defined as the outflow of the virtual into the real. It is an emergent and open-ended process through which "life-as-we-know" is transformed into "life-as-it-could-be." In this study, we will use eversion as a generative metaphor and illustrate how virtual concepts, worlds, and processes can resonate back (or everse) into the real world. Since virtual worlds and environments are artificial constructs it is possible to have complete knowledge of their properties; however, we don't have the complete knowledge of their capacities yet. In this sense, creating and discussing alternative strategies, tools, and use case scenarios are crucial for the future development of virtual worlds and their integration into other fields. Therefore, based on our study of eversive processes and educational experiences, we will propose alternative strategies and scenarios for integrating virtual worlds into architectural education. Furthermore, we will introduce relevant "eversive" design studio configurations and map the necessary and optional student/coordinator competences.

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More than twenty years after the repeal of the Group Areas Act, South Africa is facing a number of challenges with regards to housing, spatial planning and urban development. Government institutions, scholars, NGO's and local communities have been looking for innovative ways to improve the housing conditions of all South Africans. With this special issue, we aim to demonstrate that international insights cannot only be relevant to understand and enrich South African cases, but that an in-depth analysis of the South African experiments can also be meaningful for academic analyses and political decisions in other parts of the world. In order to stimulate such a cross-fertilization, this article will briefly summarize the current situation in South Africa in the public housing sector, the private housing sector and the self-help approach. We will also introduce the eight papers of this special issue.

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This paper introduces the PHP (People's Housing Process) approach to housing provision in South-Africa as a noteworthy third way that allows housing provision for the urban poor. In this contribution we will illustrate how, in an assisted approach of self-help housing, the government can play an important role in safeguarding the production of homes rather than merely providing dwellings. In doing so taking into account the more intangible and symbolic meaning of the house and home, which we argue is a central factor for a sustainable housing strategy. This assisted self-help housing scheme was approved in 1998 and was inspired by the work of the homeless people's federation and saving and housing schemes from around the globe. The further development of the scheme has been a challenging process but we argue that the PHP programme deserves more attention as a housing provision mechanism. Additionally, one of the strengths of the PHP approach is its applicability in a wider area of project types, from township upgrading to hostel redevelopment projects, and illustrated in this contribution by introducing the hostel redevelopment poject Ilinge Labahlali in Cape Town. In what follows, the PHP approach is introduced, and the increasing interest of the government illustrated. Then, using two case studies, the importance of the assistance of the government and NGOs is elaborated upon. In conclusion the challenges that still need to be met are highlighted.

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This study introduces a conceptual analysis, a typological framework which aims to map a wide array of possible virtual worlds into a larger frame and explore their significance for architectural education. Using this analysis, we discuss the properties of virtual worlds in four groups: “the real virtual, virtual augmented real, real augmented virtual and fantastic virtual”. Based on these, we propose four different strategies for integrating virtual worlds into architectural education. Overall, this contribution can be seen as a small step towards the revitalization of the architectural design curriculum.

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During the 1990s, a small group of women constructed 148 houses near the townships of Gugulethu and Nyanga in Cape Town. The small neighbourhood became the flagship project of the South African Homeless People's Federation (SAHPF), and the government used the insights of these women to develop their People's Housing Process (PHP) housing framework. In this contribution, their story is told, and in explaining why these women were so successful, we use the theoretical concepts of Pierre Bourdieu and pay specific attention to the changed meaning of power. The paper argues that the coinciding of a "vacuum" in the planning field, the transition in South Africa to a democratic state and the personal motivation of the women of Victoria Mxenge created a momentum that enabled them to influence governmental policies on a national scale.@en

Immediately after WW2 numerous large-scale housing estates began to spring up. More often than not they consisted of high-rises. Merely 50 years later a great number of these developments are in the process of demolition or are seriously undergoing restructuring. The Modernistic thoughts, inspired by the CIAM (Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne) movement and Le Corbusier seem to have lost the appeal they once held. In this contribution we look into this evolution and more specifically, we focus on the misinterpretation of the importance of the (symbolic) meaning of housing by the Modernist movement. A misjudgement, that eventually resulted in the speedy dismantling of these estates.

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This paper aims to show the reverse side of the (football) medal. The N2 gateway project in Cape Town is presented, by government and media, as a 'flagship' project of the new Breaking New Ground strategy, to fight the housing backlog of 400,000 houses in the city. But I want to argue that the fast-tracking of the project has to be understood as a beautification strategy to prepare the city for 2010. Massive slum eradication and the construction of 'beautiful formal housing opportunities' between the airport and the mother city are becoming a painful reminder of the forced removals under the apartheid regime.

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