URBAN MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

The development of urban agglomerations is not shaped by anonymous or invisible forces, but by deliberate decisions and actions of a multiplicity of actors. But how can we determine the critical success factors (shaping key performance indicators – KPIs) that are responsible for an extraordinary performance in terms of socio-economic, technological, environmental or well-being results? How can we trace urban and regional growth champions and which are their drivers?

CITY LOVE

The growth potential of cities and regions depends on a positive and dynamic synergy between basic critical success factors (KPIs). To trace and examine the constituents of these KPIs in such a multi-scalar complex system of settlement patterns, we will employ in our study the notion of ‘city love’.

CITIES DO IT THEIR WAY

Cities are evolutionary organisms which despite different morphological and functional appearances exist due to a multiplicity of agglomeration advantages. Such advantages are usually interpreted as centripetal geographical forces, but in reality, there are also centrifugal forces which transmit urban advantages and disadvantages to the outer world thus reinforcing the position of cities in a spatial network. In other words, the through flow of people, goods and ideas is essential for the ‘raison d’être’ of urban agglomerations. Emission and immission – material and immaterial – make up for the power of the urban force field or arena. This is called here the principle of confluence. Confluence is a generic determinant of the genesis and growth of cities. The confluence principle is a dynamic structuring principle, which has both strong internal and external connectivity linkages.

RESEARCH AGENDA ON CITIES

The design and study of the city of confluence can be summarised as follows in the form of five confluence methodologies:

• Conceptualisation: what is the city?
• Architecture + design: what is a good city?
• Statistical mapping: how to quantify a city?
• Urban modelling: mathematical and econometric images on: how to model the city?
• Digital visualisation: geodesign, digital twins and imagineering & metaverses on: how to imagine the city?

URBAN CHALLENGES

• Does urban smartness lead to better cities?
• If cities are ‘data engines’, who controls and understands the outcomes?
• Will AI (including robotics) drastically change the functioning of cities?
• Is mobility for all still a valid paradigm or should it be replaced by accessibility for citizens?
• Can a city play the key role of a magician in times of climate crises and energy crises, or will it aggravate such crises?
• Cities attract new inhabitants without a limit, but when does the ‘urban sky become the limit’?
• If cities are the ‘home of man’, how can they than produce affordable and sufficient housing supply?
• Is the 15-minute city a viable concept, or does it obscure the need for an actionable strategy for a livable city?
• The New Economic Geography advocates the role of agglomeration advantages in city formation, but where are the disadvantages of clustering?