Seminar Participatory planning and land-use conflict mediation

A seminar on the rapid urbanization of cities like Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Lubumbashi, DR Congo. And on the role of formal and traditional planning institutions in managing and planning with land-use conflicts resulting from this urbanization.

HK PHOTOS 9305 HK PHOTOS 9305

With our partners Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Ardhi University (Tanzania) and Faculté d'Architecture, Université de Lubumbashi (DR Congo) we are organizing a seminar on the rapid urbanization of cities like Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Lubumbashi, DR Congo. And on the role of formal and traditional planning institutions in managing and planning with land-use conflicts resulting from this urbanization.

The seminar is divided in 6 sessions which are free to join.

Session 1: Practices in Participatory Planning and Land-Use Conflict Mediation

PhD students from Ardhi University (Tanzania) and Université de Lubumbashi (DR Congo)  present their case studies. All cases address the phenomenon of rapid urbanization.

The focus lies on the strategies that spatial planners use to steer these urbanization processes, the land-use conflicts that these strategies generate and the role of local politics in mediating these conflicts.

  • Monday 24th April 2023
  • Location: Faculty of Architecture and Arts, UHasselt, Campus Diepenbeek, room E-C03
  • Online Google Meet
  • Timing: 11h00 - 12h30

Session 2: Theories of Participatory Planning

Spatial planning processes intervene in the everyday space of people. As such they inevitably  generate conflicts. Civic participation is seen as a strategy to resolve, and if possible, avoid these conflicts.

During this session we will discuss three texts that propose to instead embrace conflicts and that explore strategies to make conflicts productive: a text by Chantal Mouffe; by Carl Disalvo; and by Liisa Horelli et al.

  • Monday 08th May 2023
  • Location: Faculty of Architecture and Arts, UHasselt, Campus Diepenbeek, room E-C03
  • Online Google Meet
  • Timing: 11h00 - 12h30

Session 3: Methods of Participatory Planning

The research cluster Spatial Capacity Building (Hasselt University) conducts research into how we can support collectives of citizens, local organizations and local and supra-local governments in jointly reflecting on spatial transformation processes that take place in their everyday environment in order to then start working on these processes with them.

We do this mainly through action research, commissioned by local, regional and European governments. During this session, researchers from Spatial Capacity Building will present some of their research approaches, methods and tools.

  • Monday 15th May 2023
  • Location: Faculty of Architecture and Arts, UHasselt, Campus Diepenbeek, room E-C03
  • Online Google Meet
  • Timing: 11h00 - 12h30

Session 4: Models of Land-Use Conflict Mediation

Land-use conflict mediation is a sub-field of land-use planning dealing with the management of land-use conflicts generated by spatial transformation processes such as rapid urbanization and the subsequent attempts to improve the livelihoods of its residents.

During this session we will discuss texts that present models to structure land-use conflict mediation processes: a text by Terje Holsen; by Michiel Stapper; and Sarah Katz-Lavigne.

  • Monday 22nd May 2023
  • Location: Faculty of Architecture and Arts, UHasselt, Campus Diepenbeek, room E-C03
  • Online Google Meet
  • Timing: 11h00 - 12h30

Session 5: Participatory Planning & Policy making

Discussion of planning instruments such as structure plans, policy plans, ‘wijkstructuurschets’,  complex projects, … during a site visit to Ghent

  • Wednesday 31st April 2023
  • This is an excursion

Session 6: Participatory Planning & ICT

ICT can be a tool that enables the communicative transactions among all the actors involved in a participatory process.

During this session Tree Company will reflect on the role of ICT in participatory planning processes and will present some of the applications that they developed to support these processes.

  • Monday 12th June 2023
  • Location: Faculty of Architecture and Arts, UHasselt, Campus Diepenbeek, room E-C03
  • Online Google Meet
  • Timing: 11h00 - 12h30

This seminar is developed in the framework of the VLIR UOS IUC partnerships with Université de Lubumbashi (DR Congo) and Ardhi University (Tanzania).