As part of the International Planning module in the Master's degree programme in Urban Planning, a high-profile guest lecture will take place, to which all faculty members are cordially invited in addition to students.
Initiator: Prof. Iris Belle
Naomi Hanakata will present comparative research undertaken at the multidisciplinary ETH Future Cities Laboratory over the past four years on the making and impact of urban megaprojects. The work draws from the analysis of eight urban megaproject case studies in Asia, Europe and from the perspectives of a broad range of stakeholders. Following their presentation there will be opportunities for questions.
About the lecture
Rising above our cities, often with iconic architecture like the Shanghai Tower in Lujiazui or La Grande Arche in Paris La Défense, urban megaprojects provide more than additional programmes to their existing built environments. They frequently create a new image for their cities and a link to global networks tied to the ground within their sites. Grands Projets are carefully laid-out urban developments; in many cases, they are the direct translation of a city’s political and/or economic objectives into an urban layout and morphology. They are comprehensively planned, hosting a variety of uses, and are realised and/or operated under the authority of a single or concerted governing body, often composed of complex combinations of stakeholders. Grands Projets absorb primary local and global investment capital, enable new or exceptional practices and host programmes and tenants of acclaimed global relevance and have a transformative effect on the urban condition. This lecture presents insights from a research project at the Future Cities Laboratory of the Singapore-ETH Centre. It takes a comparative look at mega-project development globally and delves into selected case studies and their planning practices.
Learn more in the book that Naomi C. Hanakata and K. Christiaanse and A. Gasco have published: „The Grand Projet“, ISBN 9789462084803
Naomi C. Hanakata is Assistant Professor fo Architecture and Urban Design at the College for Design and Environment at the National University of Singapore. She is also Co-Founder and consultant of HANAKATA, a research and planning practice based in Singapore.
Her work focuses on the research and development of adaptive planning strategies to deal with uncertainties and dynamic urban futures in urban development and planning. Addressing challenges of planetary urbanization, decarbonization, decentralization of resources and digitalization in planning practice are central in her work towards sustainable and equitable urban futures. She has practiced in Zurich, Tokyo, New York and Singapore as planner and consultant. She has taught at Rice University and ETH Zurich and was educated at ETH, Tokyo University and LSE, and holds a Ph.D. from ETH Zurich. She is currently a Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar.
Date and venue
21. June 2022 from 14:00 – 15:30, building 8, room 8/1.41
