Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction

Shanghai, April 18 –21, 2007Ho

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“The battle for a sustainable society will be won or lost in cities.”Klaus Töpfer

For the first time in history, more people live in citiesthan in rural settlements. Worldwide, the urbanpopulation is currently growing by approximatelyone million people per week. Cities today are notonly economic and political centers, but laboratoriesfor democracy, social innovation, and ecologicaldevelopment.

How can cities fulfill their diverse functions as sus-tainably as possible – today, and also in the future?What are the challenges they face with respect tourban transformation?

This was the topic of discussion at the second Holcim Forum, which took place at Tongji Universityin Shanghai, and was attended by more than 250 professionals from over 40 countries – architects, engineers, city planners, scientists, and representa-tives from business and govern-ment.

Participants collaborated in work-ing groups, panel discussions,and technical presentations –together seeking solutions forurbanization in the 21st century.

The Forum also promoted inten-sive personal exchange amongspecialists: The challenge ofurbanization requires particu-larly close interdisciplinary col-laboration.

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Urban_Trans_Formation

Megacity Shanghai

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The Holcim Foundation collaborates closely with leading technical uni-versities around the world. The partner in Asia is Tongji University,whose main campus in Shanghai was the venue for the Forum (seepage 7). This relationship was not the only reason for choosing Shang-hai as the location for the Forum. Shanghai – the name means “city on the sea” – is a vibrant megalopolis in which the challenges of urban transformation are brought into focus.

Nearly 19 million citizensShanghai exerts enormous pull. Today 9.5 million people live in the cityitself. The entire metropolitan area of Shanghai is home to nearly 19 million people. Over four million people are considered temporarycitizens belonging to the so-called floating population, who hold limitedworking and residency permits. Another three million live unregisteredin the city, which is under the direct authority of the Chinese centralgovernment. Precise population figures are difficult to ascertain due to the city’s dynamic growth and the vast area that falls under its administration. Measuring 6,340 square kilometers, Shanghai is eighttimes bigger than Berlin. Here one finds cutting edge urban fabric withskyscrapers, urban freeways, and a population density that exceedsthat of New York City by 70 percent, as well as anonymous suburbs andthinly-populated rural areas – for instance the enormous islandChongming (see page 54).

Shanghai was the ideal venue for the Holcim Forum on Urban_Trans_Formation. The Chinese city is a unique laboratory for urban development. In no other city in the world is the speed of development so dizzying – and the urban forms so diverse.

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Modernization versus identity?The rate of population growth in Shanghai has dramatically increasedin recent years. Vacant residential space is extremely scarce, eventhough net residential space is just nine square meters per person; inSwitzerland, the density is five times lower. The influx of people fromacross China has led to booming construction activity in Shanghai.Entire neighborhoods are being redeveloped simultaneously to makeroom for higher-density housing, offices and infrastructure.

Growth is also an agent of social change: community networks andurban city identity evolve in the context of large-scale urban transition.Especially noteworthy is the development of Pudong, a district thattoday presents an extensive shimmering evening skyline. In the 1980s,the Chinese government decided to establish a special business zonehere. Not long ago, this was a semi-rural neighborhood; today some ofthe world’s tallest buildings stand in Pudong (see page 56).

Better city, better lifeShanghai faces challenges of population density, labor and capital engage-ment, accumulation and environmental degradation. These issues have beenrecognized and are currently being tackled with the rapidity that is normalfor Shanghai – under the motto “Better City, Better Life,” created for WorldExpo 2010. The Expo will take place on expansive grounds in Shanghai, andhas triggered enormous investment in the urban infrastructure; environmen-tal protection is a tenet that the Chinese government earnestly respects. Holcim Ltd is participating as a main sponsor of the Swiss Pavilion for the Expo.

Messages on large banners welcomed the visitors fromaround the globe to Tongji Uni-versity and the Holcim Forum:Tongji is celebrating the 100th

anniversary of its foundation. Theuniversity, among the oldest andmost prestigious in China, wasestablished in 1907 by Germanphysicist Erich Paulun. A sur-prising number of faculty mem-bers and students speak excel-lent German, because Tongji stillmaintains fruitful relations withGerman universities and the ETH Zurich. Hence, international andinterdisciplinary collaboration isa special strength of the uni-versity, which lives up to its name – “Tongji” means “cooper-ating by riding in the same boat.”Today, roughly 41,000 peoplestudy at the university and 530professors teach in more than a dozen schools with numerousdepartments.

Welcome

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For the opening ceremony of the Forum one could hardlyimagine a more fitting venue than the Shanghai UrbanPlanning Exhibition Center on People’s Square. In thisimpressive building is a huge, three-dimensional model that shows how Shanghai might develop.

Welcome ceremony at the Shanghai Urban Planning ExhibitionCenter with the huge model showing Shanghai in 2020 (top right): Xiong Yang, Vice Mayor, Municipal Government ofShanghai (opposite page); Zhiqiang Wu, Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University, ChiefPlanner of World Expo 2010 and Member of the Technical Com-petence Center of the Holcim Foundation (top left); Rolf Soiron,Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation andof Holcim Ltd (above left); and Dante Martinelli, Swiss Ambas-sador to China (above right).

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Today in the virtual world, experts can exchange information anytime and anyplace. Why thenshould international meetings such as the Holcim Forum be held?

Exchanging knowledge and experience without personal contact is simply not enough. I see also in my own work that the use of video conferences is declining; direct face-to-face exchange remains irreplaceable.

Interview with Hans-RudolfSchalcher, member of the Management Board, head of theTechnical Competence Center(TCC) of the Holcim Foundation,and Professor for Planning andConstruction Management at ETH Zurich, who moderated the2007 Holcim Forum.

“Strengthening and expanding the network”

Power in the face of change

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Why was Shanghai chosen as the Forum location?First, of course, because of the close connection to Tongji University,which is a partner university of the Holcim Foundation and contributesto the TCC. In addition, Shanghai is a unique laboratory for urban devel- opment. I believe that the rate of change here is matched by no other city in the world. In Shanghai, we are witnessing urban transformationin fast forward, so to speak. And finally, it seems to me that the aware-ness of the issue of megacities is greater here than elsewhere Shanghai.is earnestly tackling the problems that massive population growth entails.

What were your expectations before the Forum?Primarily, we wanted to strengthen the network of academics andpractitioners. Regarding urban development, it is really important thatall stakeholders contribute to the exchange. The second Holcim Forumwas also intended to strengthen the bonds that formed among thegroup that attended the Forum in Zurich in 2004. We must expand thisnetwork still further – and activate it even more.

How practice-related is such a Forum? Urban development is subject to countless contextual conditions. Can theoretical discussion lead to anything useful at all?

Urban transformation is not unplanned, rampant development. We are not powerless in the face of change! Urban development is shaped by building codes, zoning ordinances, communal needs, investors andgovernments. Everywhere there are great opportunities to exert influence.

You have spent several months in Shanghai. What is it about this megacity that interests you?

The will of the people to change things – and at the same time theirfriendliness. For someone from Switzerland, where the wheels usually turn at slower pace, it is fascinating to see here how much movementcan be achieved. In record time, skyscrapers are raised, bridgesbuilt, plans realized. That is, in spite of the downside that such development of course can have, simply fascinating.

Signal to end abreak in classicSwiss style.

Student posters were exhibitedthroughout theforum in the lobby of the main audi-torium (see page 60).

Sustainable architecture

From trees to networks

Hierarchical, or tree-like urban pat-terns are an indication that citiesare losing their openness, observedKees Christiaanse. He fears that the typical city is becoming a patchwork of disjointed, sterile,and partially inaccessible sectors,and argued for an understanding of the city as an open system.

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In medieval times, most European towns and cities were closed entities.Ruling authorities determined who was allowed to enter, and merchantswere forced to pay at the toll gate and customs house. In the early mod-ern period, with the advent of industrialization, the situation fundamen-tally changed. Factories required more workers than cities could provide,forcing urban entities to become more open. This shift was often sym-bolically expressed by tearing down the old fortified city walls. But inpractice, it enabled citizens as well as outsiders to move about freely inan ever-expanding network of public streets and squares.

Gated enclaves are becoming the normChristiaanse is convinced that we are once again on the brink of such afundamental shift: The openness of the modern city has peaked, andthe tide is turning. “Someday our grandchildren may tell their grand-children that between 1820 and 2080, there was a period when citieswere open.” In particular, a heightened demand for security has pro-moted restricted access to increasingly larger urban spaces, which areopen only to certain people or during certain times of the day or night.“This is the modern global city – campus, gated communities, shop-ping malls, and business parks exist as islands linked together by majortransportation arteries. Circulation within the city increasingly meanstraveling along a main transportation axis, and turning off only for thepurpose of entering gated or enclosed sectors.”

The city has become a treeIn 1965, architect and urban theorist Christopher Alexander wrote aclassic essay called “A City is not a Tree,” expressing his fear that cities

Walled citiesformed a coherententity; contempo-rary agglomera-tions have multipleand dispersedzones of limitedaccess.

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would become increasingly sterile and less inviting if this tendencyprevailed. Christiaanse believes that Alexander’s fears have in themeantime become reality: “The city has become a tree!” Instead of anopen grid, the network of city streets increasingly resembles a thick“trunk” with “branches” that are only tangentially connected to oneanother. “This development pattern can be seen everywhere in theworld. It is a common denominator, regardless of the wealth of thecountry.”

No genuine interaction in public spaceThe consequences of this development for the social structure of a cityare fatal, according to Christiaanse. “In the old European cities, publicspaces and the network of streets were places for the exchange ofinformation and goods until the 19th century. Historic centers mightstill look the same today, but their social role has radically changed.People on the streets are almost exclusively of one type: consumers.”There is no genuine social interaction in public space, and thus the cityis becoming a patchwork of sterile and disjointed sectors with limitedaccessibility.

Other opportunities exist“If we cannot establish good pedestrian networks, we are lost,” Chris-tiaanse asserted. He believes the basic trends are driven by the forcesof government and economics. “We can’t plan completely new cities,”he acknowledges, but other opportunities exist: “We can create publicspaces and circulation networks that dissolve the borders betweenopen and closed parts.”

Diagrams compar-ing open andclosed urban pat-terns, as describedby Albert Pope inLadders (1996).

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Considering this to be one of the most urgent challenges for city plan-ners today, Christiaanse presented two successful examples: A former-ly fenced-off part of the port district of Hamburg, Germany, which wasopened to the city and designated as the site of the new HafenCity University (HCU), now features a carefully structured network of circu-lation paths. Similarly, in Istanbul, the new Santral campus of Bilgi University has been designed on an open plan to include a multi-func-tional park for the general public, as well as Turkey’s first contempo-rary art museum, which will be housed in a historic power station.

Urban design as simultaneous chess There is hope that, in the future, we will not have to live in gatedenclaves, connected to each other by choked highways, but rather openand vital urban patterns will persist. However, open cities require anopen approach by city planners, as Christiaanse pointed out. Urbandevelopment projects have traditionally been realized in phases that fol-low a prescribed plan. In the future, he suggests, we must approachurban planning like simultaneous chess: “Analyze, communicate, design,and develop concepts – all at the same time!”

Kees Christiaanse is Chair ofArchitecture and Urbanism atthe Institute for Urban Designat the Swiss Federal Instituteof Technology (ETH Zurich). Heis an architect, lecturer, andresearcher, and was previouslyProfessor of Architecture andUrbanism at the Berlin Univer-sity of Technology (TU). Hiswork focuses on the interfaceof architecture and urbanism.Between 1980 and 1989,Christiaanse worked for theOffice for Metropolitan Archi-tecture (OMA) in Rotterdam,becoming a partner in 1983. In1989, he started his own firmin Rotterdam, renamed KCAPArchitects & Planners in 2002.In 1990 he founded ASTOCArchitects & Planners inCologne.

For the new HafenCity University (HCU)in Hamburg, Germany, Holcim sponsoredone of the main auditoriums as a contri-bution focused on sustainable develop-ment.

Upgrading the city, grafting the existing

Tabula non rasa asa radical strategy

With their PLUS project, Jean-Philippe Vassal and Anne Lacaton, in collaboration withFrédéric Druot, are transformingdrab apartment buildings intoliveable structures that enableinteraction and improve qualityof life. They believe every building has its own unique history, and advocate a strategyof adding chapters instead ofstarting a new book.

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French architect Jean-Philippe Vassal speaks deliberately, with longpauses between statements, describing the work of Lacaton & Vassalusing words like “graceful,” “delicate,” and “generous.” What does thismean in terms of architecture and the city?

Continuity – not conservatismWhen Vassal was commissioned to propose an architectural interven-tion in for plain-looking neighborhood square at the periphery of Bor-deaux, he conducted careful research and reported to the municipality:“We have a project. The project is to do nothing, to leave everything asit is. We find that everything is there, the place has charm, people liketo play soccer there with their children, and there are good benches. Werecommend simply cleaning the square more often.” Vassal believesthat any intervention must be well considered and carried out withgreat care and precision. That he shuns the tabula rasa approach is notto be misconstrued as conservatism: it has more to do with maintain-ing continuity in the urban realm. “We accept history and continue it,”Vassal commented. “We should not always begin anew.”

PLUS creates value with an economy of meansHow this conviction can be put into practice is revealed by Lacaton &Vassal’s projects in the suburbs of several major cities in France whichare full of apartment buildings – the grands ensembles erected in the1950s and 1960s. Though they originally offered a good living stan-dard, with 50 years of neglect, they gradually fell into miserable condi-tion. “Living in these buildings is difficult,” admits Vassal. “Not long agowe saw serious social disturbances in the French suburbs, which led to

Identity destroyedat the push of abutton: tabula rasain the banlieues.

Exploiting thepotential of exist-ing buildings –adding light, balconies, and communal spaces.

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extensive public debate. Some claimed that these apartment buildingsmust be demolished because they are inhumane.”

Vassal points to the unique paradox that in France, where 1.5 millionsocial housing units are lacking and funding is severely limited, build-ings are being torn down instead of being reused. Lacaton & Vassalhave proposed a way out of this paradox with PLUS, their concept forrevitalizing and expanding existing buildings. “It gives you more build-ing for your money,” Vassal concludes.

Rethink housing from withinVassal believes that the call for tabula rasa stems from a wrong way oflooking at things. “If you look at these buildings from far away, youthink they are ugly – and you think they create social problems, the ori-gins of which we don’t want to study.” But one must go inside thesebuildings to assess them. “We want to create new histories of thesebuildings from the inside. These new histories originate from eachbedroom, each kitchen, each living room. We use what we have,improve it, develop it.” Vassal proposes that it is possible to transformevery apartment into a luxury villa in a certain sense. “Luxury is notgilded materials – luxury is pleasure, happiness, comfort, and a goodrapport with the outside world.”

Identity destroyed at the push of a buttonTo create this “luxury,” Lacaton & Vassal first meet with residents tofind out what was important to them and what they were lacking. “Allthe people who live in these buildings are sad when their building gets

Existing buildings,and their transfor-mation by Lacaton& Vassal.

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torn down. Even when living conditions are poor, their apartment ispart of their identity – and it is lost at the push of a button when thebuilding is demolished.”

For a project in Paris, Lacaton & Vassal began by talking with all 100resident families. Then they went to work. They let light into the apart-ments, created new outdoor spaces, added additional rooms and evenentire apartments. Where 30 families once lived, 60 live now – inbrighter, larger apartments, with more social spaces and opportunitiesfor interaction. After undergoing a “gentle” renovation by Lacaton &Vassal, the buildings are hardly recognizable from the outside. But thepeople who live inside still recognize their apartments, which havebeen revitalized without any loss of identity.

Legal constraints as a force for positive changeWhy does this concept work so well? And why is the doctrine behind itnot common currency? Housing in France is strictly regulated by law. Ifa social housing block is demolished, the same number of units mustbe built in its place. Residents must be relocated temporarily, and giventhe current housing shortage, it can easily happen that they must beput up in a hotel. Although it is by far cheaper to renovate buildingsthan to replace them, it takes an architect like Jean-Philippe Vassal anda novel concept like PLUS to ensure the best results. Lacaton & Vassalsee themselves as stewards of the architecture designed by their pre-decessors, and their goal is to gracefully develop the built environmentfor the next generation of architects.

Jean-Philippe Vassal gradu-ated from the School ofArchitecture, Bordeaux in1980, and spent the follow-ing five years in Niger as anarchitect and town planner.He lectured at the School of Architecture, Bordeaux(1992–1999) and at theSchool of Architecture, Ver-sailles in 2002. In 1987, hefounded the architecturalpractice Lacaton & Vassal inBordeaux with Anne Lacaton.They renovation of the Palaisde Tokyo contemporary artgallery in Paris was com-pleted in 2001. Openlydeclaring their commitmentto architectural economy, thework undertaken by Lacatonand Vassal focuses on low-budget renovation and con-struction, promoting dia-logue with the buildingindustry.

The Shanghai case

Redirected power and capital as forces for change

Saskia Sassen argues that theconsolidation of knowledge inurban centers has the potentialto spur the political action that will be required to attain a more sustainable world.

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“Architects and engineers today know a great deal about sustainable con-struction,” asserts sociologist and economist Saskia Sassen, “in any case,they know much more than can be discerned from the material evidenceof cities. The day when this potential is realized and new building patternsbecome widespread could come soon. If we look back in history, for ex-ample to the Middle Ages in Europe, we see that epochal transformationswere never the result of political majorities. Decisive change never oc-curred just because it was wished by over 50 percent of the people. Rather,the convergence of various factors has always led to change and shapedhistory. And today, we are in a situation in which the various drivingforces could amplify one another. On one hand, we know that about 60 percent of the building fabric worldwide must be renewed in the nextdecades, and on the other, we have climate change. This creates great con-flict. I would not be surprised if it causes the whole body of knowledgeabout sustainability – an unexploited resource – to become activated.”

The power of cities“Today the way forward is not being led by the computer or the factory, butby the city. Urban settlements bring everything together. There is hardlyanything that is not present in cities or connected with them.” Sassen coinedthe operative term in her book The Global City (1991). She proposed that

Satellite image ofthe world show-ing the predomi-nance of globalurbanization.

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the more global the economy becomes, the more crucial functions will become concentrated in relatively few places. Global economic patternsand economic policies are being determined by a handful of urban centers today. In effect, nation states are losing importance to powerful global cities.This can also be seen in the worldwide tendency to strengthen the powersof the municipality. The greater the power of a city, the greater its respon-sibility, and the greater its significance in terms of global developments.

“I love the image conjured up by Rolf Soiron in his introduction, of Romenot being built in a day. Shanghai was. The example of this city shows uswhat central planning can do. Within a few years, 5,000 high-rise build-ings were built here, as well as first-class infrastructure. But Shanghai isalso an example of how potential can be squandered. If so much is built insuch a short time without incorporating new technologies, it results in a serious waste of opportunity.” Shanghai has also come to stand for alearning curve, “because in the meantime, the city leaders have decidedthat ‘things cannot continue like this; we must strive for zero emissions.’Shanghai may have missed certain opportunities, but it has learned fromits own experience. That’s better than always claiming that everything isjust fine – as is done so willingly in the United States.”

Power and knowledgeClimate change makes it clear that we are all sitting in a sinking boat. Wemust make changes now – and we must make them as fast as possible,Sassen asserted. For a recent UNESCO project on sustainable human settlement, she assembled a network of researchers and activists in over50 countries to gather information from people who could neither read

Saskia Sassen inShanghai: “In cities,we can implementall the things thatwe already know –not to mention thethings we have yetto discover!”

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nor write. “The project involved bringing together knowledge about build-ing and farming, and it turned out to be a great challenge to collate thisunusual, widely dispersed information.” Given the billions of householdsand small businesses represented by their findings, it wasn’t possible tonegotiate with each one about the future: “We don’t have enough time forthat,” Sassen acknowledges, suggesting that it is more efficient to nego-tiate with key strategic players. The concentration of power we are wit-nessing today is ironically an advantage at a time when dramatic changeis needed. In many industries that have great impact on sustainability, ahandful of global companies are dominant. “There are perhaps six majormining companies, a handful of super-large construction companies. Herepolitics comes into play.”

“We must interact with these players and gain their commitment.” Tenyears ago it was virtually impossible “to talk with these people. Today, it’sa bit different – change has been significant and rapid.” Holcim, a globalplayer in the construction materials industry, for example, established itsFoundation for Sustainable Construction just a few years ago. Sassenconcluded that “these global companies don’t just leave things up to themarket. They are always looking for ways to meet the needs of over 150countries, which, for instance, all have their own environmental stan-dards. And then there is international law, which is continually gaining im-portance and can also be invoked.” The headquarters of the powerfulcompanies that have the capacity to instigate change are located in cities.Thus, connections between industry and policy makers will also be estab-lished in urban centers. “In cities, we can implement all the things that wealready know – not to mention the things we have yet to discover!”

Saskia Sassen is the RalphLewis Professor of Sociologyat the University of Chicago,and Centennial Visiting Pro-fessor at the London School of Economics (LSE). She is an internationally renownedsociologist and economist,noted for her analyses ofglobalization and interna-tional human migration. Herbooks, which include TheGlobal City, have been trans-lated into 16 languages. Sheis a member of the Council onForeign Relations, the Club ofRome, and the National Acad-emy of Sciences Panel onCities, and chairs the Informa-tion Technology and Interna-tional Cooperation Commit-tee of the Social ScienceResearch Council (USA).

A more socially and environmentally sustainable city

People want to walk

As mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosademonstrated that it is possible tomake cities livable for everyone.Pedestrians and cyclists must be givenpriority over cars, he believes. “Goodpublic spaces also help to reducecrime and enhance the quality of life.”

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“I don’t hate cars!” exclaims Enrique Peñalosa, a man who travelsaround the world lobbying for better cities. Still, Peñalosa considers thecar largely responsible for the fact that “the 20th century will beremembered as a disastrous one in urban history.” We seem to haveforgotten that cities should serve people, not cars.

Cities must fulfill three needsWhat kind of cities do we need? Peñalosa’s answer is as simple as it isinspiring: “A city in which children, old people and handicapped peoplecan feel comfortable is what most people would probably call a good city.Today automobiles are to children what wolves were in the Middle Ages.Is this really all we have to offer after 5,000 years of urbanization?” asksPeñalosa rhetorically. “Cities today must fulfill three needs in order tooffer citizens genuine quality of life: the need to move about by foot, theneed for interaction with other people, and the need to feel equal to others.”

In a good city, nobody wants to go home The most vital urban spaces are those that are free from cars – pedestrianzones. “The things that most strongly influence the quality of life in citiesare usually related to the car,” claims Peñalosa. “And the part of the citythat offers the most enjoyment is the pedestrian zone.” People love tostroll from store to store, sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee somewhere,and watch other people walking by. “A good city is one in which peoplewant to be outside of their homes,” to quote Danish urban planner JanGeh. “In a good city, nobody wants to go home. For centuries, streets havebeen the meeting place, the platform for social exchange. Even today, no

People must makeway for cars – an inhumane situation.

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tourist thinks of driving through a historic city center in a car. Peoplewant to feel the atmosphere.”

The potential of Asian citiesThe automobile is what forced people to the side of the street – orindoors. Peñalosa sees shopping malls as symptomatic of “a sick city inwhich people have been driven out of the public domain.” Cities mustrespect human dignity, which was threatened when public space becamechoked with cars and people were forced to walk along the walls of build-ings. “Imagine how wonderful it would be to have at your front door apedestrian zone with a network of over a hundred kilometers!” In thebooming Asian cities, where whole districts spring up virtually overnight,we have the chance to develop completely new concepts. “In the next 50years, Asian cities will double in developed area,” notes Peñalosa. “Thequestion remains: Will we simply see more of the same? If new citieswere to be built from scratch, they would certainly be different than ourcities today.”

More roads create more trafficWhile the crucial issue in affluent countries is how to reduce automobileuse, “in developing countries and cities, people are seeking ways to facili-tate automobile use,” and building more and more urban freeways.“That’s no solution,” Enrique Peñalosa is convinced. “More roads createmore traffic.” In spite of building giant highways, Atlanta has more traf-fic jams than ever. Montréal has been continuously expanding its high-way infrastructure, yet the drive into the city center now takes longerthan ever. “It is a flat-out lie that more streets ease traffic,” concludes

Democratic urbandevelopment: a street in Bogotá that wasredesigned sopedestrians andcyclists would no longer feel like second-classcitizens.

Peñalosa. Building more and more streets is merely a service to the affluent: “They hardly use the city, driving from their private garages towork and then to the parking lot of their country club. The only wish ofthe rich is: no crime and no traffic jams!”

It pays to invest in quality of lifeDuring his tenure as mayor of Bogotá, Peñalosa invested in creating morespace for pedestrians and cyclists. “We should always build two parallelstreet systems: one for pedestrians and one for cars,” he believes.Peñalosa is convinced that this investment pays off in every regard:“Cities that give less room to cars are the winners in international loca-tion marketing. Highly qualified people no longer move to where thecompanies are; the companies must go where the people want to live,where the quality of life is especially high.” No one has promoted build-ing highways through cities such as Paris, London, New York, or Zurich.“People in these cities use public transportation, not for environmentalreasons, but because it’s the only way to move efficiently through thecity. If there were more streets in Paris, there would also be more traffic.But at some point these cities decided not to build more streets – fortu-nately!”

Mayor of Bogotá, Columbia,from 1998 to 2001, EnriquePeñalosa led massive effortsrelated to transportation,land use, housing for thepoor, pollution abatement,and the creation of more pub-lic space. He implementedimprovements to Bogotá’smarginal neighborhoodsthrough citizen participation;planted more than 100,000trees; created a new, highlysuccessful bus-based transitsystem; and turned a deterio-rated downtown avenue intoa dynamic public space forpedestrians. Peñalosa is cur-rently researching and writ-ing a book on a new urban-development model for theThird World.

Waterfront areas should never fall intoprivate hands; using the example ofSeoul, Peñalosa argues for giving water-front space back to pedestrians.

Urban transformation in the policy context

Conflict negotiation

For Peter Head, cities are “large and compli-cated entities full of conflict and contradiction.”In order to negotiate differences, urban designrequires collaboration among professionals,balancing the needs and interests of both thepublic domain and the private sector.

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“Urban design no longer exists!” claims Peter Head – but in the samebreath, he tones down this provocative statement: “Today we speak ofintegrated urbanism that goes far beyond design.” By we he means thepeople of Arup. Founded in 1946, Arup has long been a leader in theindustry. From the start, the firm made integrated thinking central toits extremely diverse activities in the fields of engineering, design,planning, project management, and construction consulting. Amongthe most famous projects on which Arup has collaborated are the Sydney Opera House, the Pompidou Center in Paris, the MillenniumBridge in London, and the Allianz Arena in Munich. Today, Arup isinvolved in about 10,000 projects on all continents. The focus of thefirm’s activities is Asia, with a quarter of their 9,000 employees working in Hong Kong and China. Arup is currently playing a leadingrole in the development of Dongtan City on Shanghai’s eco-island,Chongming (see page 54), for example.

In cities, everything is linked to everything elsePeter Head is responsible for Arup’s activities in Dongtan. “On my proj-ect team of 400 people, we have transportation engineers, economists,urban planners, master planners, cost experts, and others. This diver-sity poses great challenges regarding communication. Engineers musttalk with analysts and jointly develop solutions. One can scarcely imag-ine how hard it is sometimes to find a common language.” Arup con-siders exchange among people from different cultural and profession-al backgrounds to be a prerequisite for successfully advancing sustain-able development. According to Peter Head, a fundamental tenet ofthe firm is that “systems are linked even if we don’t yet see all the link-

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ages.” In cities, everything is linked to everything else. A great manyfactors must be studied in the planning process: human and environ-mental health, economic vitality and individual prosperity, energy,housing, nutrition, urban-rural connections, mobility and access, com-munication, education, culture, governance, civic engagement, water,materials, waste, and of course a city’s ecological footprint.

Sustainable solutions can be found if we accept the givens“If one of these aspects is ignored, then quality of life is at risk,” accord-ing to Head, who uses the example of Chongming to illustrate theinterplay among various factors. “Because there are large nature pre-serves there, we must minimize air pollution. Cars with heavy exhaustemissions have no place on the island, only electric vehicles. They arenot only cleaner, but fortunately also quieter, so residents can leavetheir windows open, which reduces energy loads for air conditioning.”Fuel-guzzling, noisy, and foul-smelling cars cause windows to remainclosed and air conditioning to be installed – and thus more energy tobe consumed. It’s a vicious circle. Because Arup encourages holisticthinking, they avoid simply imposing a ban on cars. “People want todrive cars,” Head realizes. “Mobility is part of lifestyle. Sustainablesolutions can be found only when we accept such givens.” The greencity Arup is designing on Chongming is laid out for people on foot, andeverywhere there are car clubs and kiosks where one can rent sleekelectric vehicles for a quick trip to Pudong.

The first step forevery project Arupundertakes is toorganize work-shops with stake-holders: collabo-rative planninghelps define thegoals and courseof action.

Informed leadershipAccording to Head, establishing functional and sustainable systemsrequires above all leadership: “Leadership is fundamental. The highestauthorities must be involved and support the concept.” The Chinesegovernment is convinced that the country is undergoing “a transfor-mation directly from the industrial age into the environmental age.”Such an attitude gives projects like Chongming the backing it requiresto succeed. Leadership is not only the obligation of the small minorityof powerful forces in government and industry, says Head: “In a certainway, we should all become leaders; everyone must feel empowered toassume responsibility in this matter.”

Success is a collective ideaOne of Arup’s basic principles is that success is a collective idea. “Aboveall, we must not forget that many people must first develop respect forothers and for the environment in order for leadership to work. Wecannot assume that this respect already exists.” Sustainability is anextremely complex proposition, requiring that conflicting forces beheld in balance. Peter Head cautions that “the interplay betweenresearch and practice must be intensified,” and believes that politi-cians, scientists, architects, property owners, and the public all belongat the table in debates about urban development.

Peter Head is Director of Plan-ning and Sustainability, Arup(UK), a leading global firm pro-viding design, engineering,planning and business ser-vices, and the creative forcebehind many of the world’smost innovative and sustain-able buildings and transportand civil engineering projects.Head graduated in civil engi-neering from Imperial College,London, in 1969, and hasbecome a recognized worldleader in bridge construction(he received an OBE for suc-cessfully delivering the SecondSevern Crossing as Govern-ment Agent), advanced com-posite technology, consultingengineering management,and now sustainable develop-ment of cities. In 2002, he wasappointed Independent Com-missioner on the London Sus-tainable Development Com-mission.

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A Forum of encounters

“Direct face-to-face exchange remains irreplaceable,”acknowledged moderator Hans-Rudolf Schalcher in the interview on page 10. Rich opportunity for intensiveinterchange across all national and professional borderswas offered by the working groups, breaks and mobileworkshops of the Forum.

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AAdam Hubertus, SwitzerlandAguilar Carolyn, MexicoAispuro Arturo, MexicoAkmal Imelda, IndonesiaAlbisser Philipp, SwitzerlandAlcazaren Paulo, PhilippinesAldana Miguel, MexicoAllard Pablo, ChileAlmaraz Miguel, MexicoAndrag Bettina, South AfricaAngélil Marc, SwitzerlandAnnecke Eve, South AfricaAtalay Franck Oya, SwitzerlandAulicino Patricia, Brazil

BBalibrea Mari Paz, UKBanchini Silvia, SpainBarbosa de Moraes Odair, BrazilBarth Lawrence, ChinaBates Donald, AustraliaBenmokhtar Rachid, MoroccoBidault Mónica, MexicoBieri Urs, SwitzerlandBiner Alexander, SwitzerlandBordás András, HungaryBraendstrup Ida, SwitzerlandBratton Denise, USABüchi Alex, IndonesiaBührer Stephan, SwitzerlandBurbidge Tom, UK

CCabane Philippe, SwitzerlandCai Yongjie, ChinaCampos Cândido M., BrazilCapozzi Simone, BrazilCastello Lineu, BrazilCastillo Oléa José, MexicoCattan Elias, MexicoCentola Luigi, ItalyChandrangsu Karoon, ThailandChang Qing, ChinaChang Yung Ho, USA Chen Hao, ChinaCheung Teresa, UKCho Minsuk, South KoreaChristiaanse Kees, SwitzerlandChungu Gerald, South AfricaClough Tom, SwitzerlandColla Cristina, ItalyCordero Jorge A., MexicoCortés José Luis, MexicoCortesi Marco, ItalyCruz Teddy, USACuperus Brigitte, SwitzerlandCymbalista Renato, Brazil

DDalkmann Holger, Germanyde Barros Cibele, Brazilde Leo Carlos, Mexicode Schiller Silvia, Argentinade Villafranca Luis, Mexicode Villafranca Raúl, MexicoDeplazes Andrea, SwitzerlandDerungs Claudio, SwitzerlandDias Priyan, Sri LankaDiez Fernando, ArgentinaDing Wowo, ChinaDominguez Mercedes, MexicoDu Juan, Hong KongDukui Li, ChinaDuong Hong Hien, Vietnam

EEisinger Angelus, LiechtensteinElsheshtawy Yasser, UAEEpp Eduard, CanadaEvans John Martin, Argentina

FFajardo Martha, ColombiaFarajzade Nazim, AzerbaijanFegyverneky Sándor, HungaryFiori Jorge, ChinaFrei William, ChinaFriedrich Jan, GermanyFunk McKenzie, USAFussler Claude, France

Over 250 participants from more than 40 countries

Marcos Liberman, Costa Rica; Martha Fajardo and Luz Stella Perdomo, Colombia.

Nu Peng and Jianguo Wang, China. Karoon Chandrangsu, ThongchaiRoachanakanan and Pichai Nimityongskul, Thailand.

Paulo Alcazaren and Doreen Yu, Philippines.

Xiangning Li, China; Albert S. Wei, USA. Edna Shaviv, Mattithiahu Kones andGiora Shaviv, Israel.

IIacobelli Andrés, ChileIrurah Daniel, South Africa

JJanviroj Pana, ThailandJayasundera Hemantha, Sri LankaJia He, ChinaJohn Vanderley M., BrazilJohnson Cassidy, UKJones Kevin, AustraliaJovanovic Weiss Srdjan, SerbiaJusczyk Thaddeus, USA

KKarakat Pushkaraj, IndiaKawakita Cristina, BrazilKelsey Jennifer, South AfricaKim Min, UKKlauser Tobias, SwitzerlandKnechtli Mia, SwitzerlandKoco Klevis, AlbaniaKones Mattithiahu, IsraelKrank Sabrina, SwitzerlandKroloff Reed, USA

GGanchala Ximena, EcuadorGanz Louise, BrazilGonzález Amélia, BrazilGonzález Isaura, MexicoGoven Gita, South AfricaGraham James D., USAGysin Bob, Switzerland

HHan Feng, ChinaHannurkar Snehal, IndiaHavelka Nils E., SwitzerlandHead Peter, UKHebel Dirk, SwitzerlandHertig Hans-Peter, ChinaHerz Manuel, GermanyHingsley Hugo, ChinaHoffman Andy, USAHu Chenchen, ChinaHu Huiqin, ChinaHua Ying, USAHuang Zhengli, ChinaHubacher Simon, GermanyHvistendahl Mara, China

LLall Ashok B., IndiaLan Sisel, MexicoLares Jaime A., MexicoLe Roux Marguerite, South AfricaLeCavalier Jesse, SwitzerlandLedergerber Elmar, SwitzerlandLee Mark, USALeibundgut Hansjürg, SwitzerlandLekagul Apichoke, ThailandLeutenegger Marius, SwitzerlandLi Xiangning, ChinaLi Yeqing, ChinaLi Zhenyu, ChinaLiberman Marcos, Costa RicaLichtenberg Alexandra, BrazilLiu Binyi, ChinaLiu Ke Cheng, ChinaLou Yongqi, ChinaLu Wenyu, ChinaLu Yongyi, China

Fernando Diez, Eleonora Kreimer andSilvina Povarchik, Argentina.

Hansjürg Leibundgut and Roland Walker,Switzerland.

Mark Swilling and Eve Annecke, SouthAfrica; Lei Pang, China.

Ronald Wall, Netherlands; Mark Robbins,USA.

Thomas Wagner and Sacha Menz,Switzerland.

Deane Simpson, Switzerland; AngelusEisinger, Liechtenstein; Stephan Bührer,Switzerland.

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MMarcondes Fábia, BrazilMehrotra Rahul, IndiaMendoza Carla, MexicoMenz Sacha, SwitzerlandMilton Konrad, SwitzerlandMoellers Christoph, ChinaMontaner Josep M., SpainMontiel Rozana, MexicoMouline Saïd, MoroccoMoustafa Amer, United Arab EmiratesMurillo Fernando, ArgentinaMuxí Zaida, Spain

NNavarro Fernando, SpainNguyen Chi Vinh, VietnamNguyen Thanh Nghi, VietnamNguyen Trong Hoa, VietnamNimityongskul Pichai, ThailandNxumalo S’phelele, South Africa

OO’Meara Sheehan Molly, USAOmenya Alfred, KenyaOrtiz Arturo, Mexico

PPang Lei, ChinaPearl Daniel, CanadaPeñalosa Enrique, ColombiaPeng Nu, ChinaPerdomo Luz Stella, ColombiaPerdue Stephen A., USAPérez Aurélio, SpainPham Tu, VietnamPhromyothi Jed, ThailandPovarchik Silvina, ArgentinaPradhana Abimantra, IndonesiaPrändl-Zika Veronika, Austria

QQu Cuisong, ChinaQuinn David, USA

RRadu Alina, RomaniaRepiso Luciana, ArgentinaRiedi Janine, SwitzerlandRoachanakanan Thongchai, ThailandRobbins Mark, USARobinson Darren, SwitzerlandRosas José, ChileRuby Andreas, GermanyRuby Ilka, Germany

SSage Sebastian, GermanySaiu Valeria, ItalySalmon Guy, New ZealandSassen Saskia, USASchalcher Hans-Rudolf, SwitzerlandSchifferes Steve, UKSchwartzman Karina, MexicoSchwarz Edward, SwitzerlandScott Andrew, USASerapião Fernando, BrazilSevtsuk Andres, USAShaviv Edna, IsraelShaviv Giora, IsraelShinzato Paula, BrazilSimon Roberto, BrazilSimpson Deane, SwitzerlandSoiron Rolf, SwitzerlandSomol Bob, USASoriano Manuel A., SpainSorkin Michael, USASpangenberg Jörg, Brazil Spier Steven, GermanySpiess Basil, SwitzerlandStaub Peter, UKStollmann Jörg, SwitzerlandSwilling Mark, South Africa

Denise Bratton, USA; Ines Weizman, UK;Manuel Herz, Germany; Alex Büchi,Indonesia.

Hien Hong Duong, Vinh Chi Nguyen andNghi Thanh Nguyen, Vietnam.

Holger Dalkmann, Germany; Holger Wallbaum, Switzerland.

Bob Gysin and Janine Riedi, Switzerland.Jaime A. Lares and Jorge A. Cordero, Mexico.

Feng Han, China; Noboru Kawashima,Colombia.

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TTaipale Kaarin, FinlandTato Belinda, SpainTehrani Nader, USATöpfer Klaus, GermanyTorréns Marta, SpainTorres Gustavo, MexicoTuralba Cristina, Philippines

Vvan Damme Henri, Francevan der Knaap Bert, NetherlandsVandeyar Preshanta, South AfricaVassal Jean-Philippe, FranceVillaseca Andrés, Chile

WWagner Thomas, SwitzerlandWalker Mark, USAWalker Roland, SwitzerlandWall Ronald, NetherlandsWallbaum Holger, SwitzerlandWang Jianguo, ChinaWang Lu, ChinaWang Shu, ChinaWang Weiqiang, ChinaWang Wenjun, ChinaWang Yan, ChinaWang Zhu, ChinaWei Albert S., USAWeizman Eyal, UKWeizman Ines, UKWellauer Peter, SwitzerlandWenger Kaspar E.A., SwitzerlandWhiting Sarah, USAWilkins Gretchen, USAWittmer Roman, GermanyWu Chengzhao, ChinaWu Zhiqiang, China

XXiao Jianli, China

YYang Yan, ChinaYu Doreen, PhilippinesYuguo Wang, China

ZZapata Juan Alfonso, Dominican RepublicZhang Meng, ChinaZhang Xiaochun, ChinaZhi Wenjun, ChinaZhou Jianjia, ChinaZhou Xiangpin, ChinaZhu Xiacun, ChinaZhu Xiaoling, ChinaZhu Ye, ChinaZimmermann Nicolas, SwitzerlandZöch Peter, GermanyZumstein Philip, Switzerland

Ximena Ganchala, Ecuador; Mark Walker,USA.

Daniel Irurah, Gerald Chungu and Marguerite Le Roux, South Africa.

Imelda Akmal, Indonesia; Cristina Turalba, Philippines.

Vanderley M. John, Brazil; Hans-RudolfSchalcher, Switzerland; José Luis Cortés,Mexico.

Roman Wittmer, Germany; Peter Staub,UK.

Simon Hubacher, Germany; SaskiaSassen, USA.

Urban transformation: Narrowing the field

In the context of a three-day confer-ence, the broad theme of urban trans-formation had to be narrowed so asnot to become lost in generalities. The focus of the program was the five working groups in which contem-porary urban challenges were handledin depth over a two-day period. Professionals from a number of fieldspresented and discussed their paperswith colleagues from around theworld. Each group was led by twomoderators who addressed the entireforum at the outset to introduce the session theme, and at the end, to summarize the findings of the participants.

Five working groups

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Architect Mark Lee introduced this session with a focus on the hiddenpotential of norms. The papers presented covered topics ranging from“Towards a Sustainable World City System” to “Sustainable Difference”and “Urban Metamorphosis” in residential development. “Architectshate norms because norms limit their expressive possibilities,” sum-marized architecture critic Andreas Ruby. “But they also love norms,because norms present challenges.” City planners and architects of theearly modern movement advocated a new norm for cities, but alreadyby the second half of the 20th century, the limitations of this concept

Norms and Normative urbanism

Mark Lee, USA.

Ida Braendstrup, Switzerland; Abimantra Pradhana, Indonesia; Miguel Almaraz,Mexico; Ronald Wall, Netherlands; JohnMartin Evans, Argentina; Jaime A. Lares,Mexico.

Normative urbanism working group.

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had become apparent. Social and cultural diversity defied thisapproach and led to the rise of postmodernism, which not only valorized difference, but also tended to advocate individualism. Inresponse, architecture cultivated uniqueness, according to Ruby, andthis has produced a situation in which there are “a zillion prototypesand not enough compatibility.” The Normative working group postu-lated a return to emphasis on standards, on the grounds that compat-ibility can be an antidote to divergent design practices which seemunable to engender urban systems.

difference

Andreas Ruby,Germany.

Veronika Prändl-Zika, Austria. Bert van der Knaap, Netherlands; AndrésIacobelli, Chile.

Minsuk Cho, South Korea.

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Both bottom up and top down

Informal urbanism

Andres Sevtsuk and Gretchen Wilkins,USA; Alfred Omenya, Kenya.

Yung Ho Chang, USA; Bettina Andrag,South Africa; Steven Spier, Germany.

Philippe Cabane, Switzerland; Juan Du,Hong Kong; Louise Ganz, Brazil.

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Yung Ho Chang,USA; Rahul Mehrotra,India.

Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss, Serbia. Informal urbanism working group. Gretchen Wilkins, USA.

Architect and urban theorist Rahul Mehrotra moderated the Informalworking group, which dealt with all imaginable forms of urban transfor-mation that occur in the absence of regulation, from sprawling slums inKenya, to illegally occupied houses in Switzerland and micro-urbanismin Japan. “We can learn from informal urbanism,” concluded architectYung Ho Chang in his summary of the workshop. Chang touched onsome of the traits that characterize informal urbanism: “It is innovativeand integrative because it must always relate to other systems. And itinvolves extremely interesting information flows.” But above all, infor-mal urbanism reacts with inspiration and vitality to conditions in whichresources are limited. “One uses what one has, and looks for simple solu-tions. In many cases we can learn a great deal about sustainable con-struction by looking at informal urbanism.”

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The spectrum of presentations on Green urbanism was introduced by architect and theorist Fernando Diez, who reminded that greenurbanism has long been considered more than just ecology. “We hadspeakers from London, Santiago de Chile, Cape Town, New Delhi, NewYork, Vienna, Quito, Lausanne, Barcelona, and Wokingham,” summa-rized Kaarin Taipale, whose work focuses on urban sustainability andthe globalization of cities. “When you hear the names of these cities,you can imagine the diversity of perspectives and concerns brought

Every color of Green urbanism

Kaarin Taipale, Finland.

Ashok B. Lall, India. Green urbanism working group.

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together in our workshop.” There was an acknowledgment of the basicfact that all cities face the same challenges: “They must all provide citi-zens with energy, residential space, water supply, and access to educa-tion.” The discussion among participants ran from infrastructure solu-tions to energy, mobility, computer models of cities to study variousproblems, public space, and transparency of political decisions.” Taipaleconcluded that “green urbanism is for us perhaps a starting point – buttoday urban development includes every color of the rainbow!”

the rainbow

Fernando Diez,Argentina.

Mark Walker, USA; Claude Fussler, France;Mattithiahu Kones, Israel; Gita Goven,South Africa; Min Kim, UK; Darren Robinson, Switzerland.

Paula Shinzato and Cristina Kawakita,Brazil.

Veronika Prändl-Zika, Austria; Luigi Centola, Italy; Daniel Pearl, Canada; Andy Hoffman, USA; Saïd Mouline,Morocco; Cristina Colla, Italy; Giora Shaviv, Israel.

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The tourism industry is currently considered the fastest-growing globalbusiness sector. Rachid Benmokhtar Benabdellah, who currently headsa university in Morocco, expressed the agenda for this working groupargued in his opening statement that the potential influence of tourismon urban transformation is enormous. As architect and urbanist AmerMoustafa noted in his summary, “tourism has changed completely. Ear-lier, travelers wanted to discover unknown places; today they want tovisit the famous places. People go where there are no big surprises.”This has also changed the nature of destinations, “because tourismforces us more and more to meet the expectations of tourists. In manyplaces, citizens assume the identity that is expected of them.” This canlead to a loss of authenticity. On the other hand, tourism valorizesauthenticity, as various papers demonstrated, insofar as it provides agood argument for maintaining social structures, historic buildings,and received traditions. Moustafa concluded that “tourism canstrengthen movements from the middle segment of the population.”

Tourism can Touristic urbanism

Rachid Benmokhtar Benabdellah,Morocco.

Amer Moustafa,United Arab Emirates.

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build identity

Marco Cortesi, Italy; Carolyn Aguilar,Mexico.

Apichoke Lekagul, Thailand. Carlos de Leo, Mexico; Cristina Turalba,Philippines; Carolyn Aguilar, Mexico.

Touristic urbanism working group. Donald Bates, Australia. Luciana Repiso, Argentina; Lineu Castello,Brazil; Philipp Albisser, Switzerland;Roberto Simon, Brazil.

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Architect and theorist Eyal Weizman, and architect and critic Reed Kroloffcollaborated on introducing the Temporary urbanism working group. Theyframed the agenda by observing that a few thousand years ago, peoplestayed put, but today, nomadic behavior is on the rise: larger and larger tem-porary cities are being created increasingly often. Today, the United Nationsand a large number of non-governmental organizations are the world’slargest providers of shelter, operating giant tent cities in areas stricken bydisaster. Kroloff and Weizman stressed in their summary how importantit is to accept such temporary settlements as genuine urban forms. “Even

Tent cities are also citiesTemporary urbanism

Tobias Klauser, Switzerland; Manuel Herzand Steven Spier, Germany; Teddy Cruz,USA; Eduard Epp, Canada.

Temporary urbanism working group. David Quinn, USA; Ida Braendstrup,Switzerland.

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if the city is there just for one day, it is a city, and the citizens have the sameneeds as citizens of permanent cities,” Weizman asserted. They also observedthat many temporary cities become permanent, or at least long-term – for example the settlements in Gaza. Temporary urbanism also arises inmore stable conditions in response to lifestyle choices. In the United States,seniors increasingly choose to live in mobile homes. Sometimes up to ten thousand of them gather, creating overnight whole camper cities withbuilt-in infrastructure. “Those are also cities,” Kroloff concludes: “They arean example of an urban form created by modern nomads.”

Reed Kroloff, USA; Eyal Weizman, UK.

Priyan Dias, Sri Lanka; Pushkaraj Karakatand Snehal Hannurkar, India.

Deane Simpson, Nicolas Zimmermannand Tobias Klauser, Switzerland.

Teddy Cruz, USA; Manuel Herz, Germany;Fernando Murillo, Argentina; Eduard Epp,Canada.

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How to make our world more sustainable?

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The final panel discussion moderated by Rolf Soiron, Chair of the Advi-sory Board of the Holcim Foundation, situated urban design and plan-ning in the context of sustainable development. The panelists includedMolly O’Meara Sheehan of the Worldwatch Institute; former director ofthe United Nations Environment Program, Klaus Töpfer; Elmar Leder-gerber, current Mayor of Zurich; and urban planner and theorist,Michael Sorkin. The group acknowledged the need for drastic measuresto implement the United Nation’s millennium agenda. “But peopletoday are impatient,” cautioned Klaus Töpfer. “I can understand that. Iused to live in Nairobi. I told the people there: ‘It will take a generation

Making decisions today for tomorrow

Drivers, Barriers, and Policy Frameworks for urban transformation

A panel of four experts discussed the potential of politics to shape the fate of cities. Acknowledging the enormity of the task of makingcities around the world more sustainable, they unanimously called foraction, not only on the part politicians, but also on the part of industryand private individuals.

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before life improves here.’ They answered: ‘But we have only this life!’The consequence is often that people leave instead of working toimprove things.”

Can politicians change things?Who has the power to effect positive change? In discussions about thedevelopment of the planet, politicians often become scapegoats whenthey are accused of failing to live up to their responsibilities. “Politi-cians mirror the voice of the people; at least that’s how it is in Switzer-land,” Elmar Ledergerber commented. “If politicians represent posi-tions that the population does not support, they will not be re-elected.”This means that ultimately, we have the politicians – and thus also the

Molly O’Meara Sheehan, USAEvery year, the Worldwatch Institute pub-lishes a new volume in the series State of the World. The 2007 volume investi-gates the topic Our Urban Future. MollyO’Meara Sheehan was project director forthe 2007 volume, which investigates thetopic Our Urban Future. “Politics can beboth a driver and a barrier,” she noted dur-ing the panel discussion. She told the storyof a woman in the South Bronx of NewYork who had four children. One child diedof asthma because the air was so bad.“You can’t find fresh vegetables and it’snot safe to travel by bicycle.” The womanreceived money from the government and founded a community garden in herneighborhood. “That’s the right idea.Money must be made available to theneighborhoods, and they should be able todecide how it will be used. Change comesfrom the bottom up.”

“Change is possible already today.”Molly O’Meara Sheehan

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politics – that we want. Confidence in the ability of government tobring change is generally waning, Klaus Töpfer is convinced: “In Germany, voter turnout is well below 50 percent. Maybe people thinkthey are powerless to influence the forces that drive development.Everything becomes privatized, and suddenly people ask: Why do weneed government anyway?”

Politics creates marketsThe economy governs with increasing force. “Many people are con-vinced that it’s good this way, because the market will regulate every-thing,” Klaus Töpfer suggests. But he himself remains skeptical: “As aneconomist I must say that the market has sway only when there is ademand for goods in limited supply. The right to emit CO2 is for exam-ple not such a limited good, and hence there is no market here. But assoon as we have a political decision to limit CO2 emissions, a marketforms, and perhaps we can indeed leave this market to itself. Politicaldecisions can create markets, and sometimes they have to!”

Elmar Ledergerber, SwitzerlandSix times in a row the international Mercer Study named Zurich the city withthe highest quality of life in the world.Mayor Elmar Ledergerber is convincedthat this achievement has much to dowith dialogue. “In Zurich, all stakeholdersstay in constant contact with each other.We have a system of direct democracy.Every large project must be approved byparliament and in certain cases also bythe general public. Every year we have atleast six popular voting rounds. Our poli-tics, our strategies, our projects are con-tinually assessed by the people.” Zurich’ssuccess is also due to close collaborationamong politicians, planners, and univer-sities. “I won’t say that politicians can’tthink,” says Ledergerber, “but they doneed the support of experts who dealwith certain problems every day.”

Michael Sorkin, USA “Regarding energy consumption, NewYork is the most sustainable city in theUnited States,” argued Michael Sorkin, anarchitect, author, and urban planner whohas received many awards. “Per capitaenergy consumption is far below thenational average.” The reason is relativelysimple, he says: “We use public trans-portation much more than other cities do.Dense cities are energy efficient. Andhouseholds in New York are considerablysmaller than in other American cities.”Architecture is extremely important if wewant a more sustainable world, but archi-tectural answers to the challenges of ourtime are not enough. “It is imperative thatwe change our behavior patterns; theyare simply not sustainable. We mustshape our environment to make do withless. And we can do it!”

“We have the technologies to solvethe problems; now we need the willto apply them.”Elmar Ledergerber

“We must all take moreresponsibility.”Michael Sorkin

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It’s up to each individualMichael Sorkin expressed his conviction that making the world moresustainable is not just the job of decision-makers in government andbusiness. “We must all take more responsibility. We are the ones whoare ultimately responsible to change our lifestyle. If people all over theworld lived like Americans, we would need two additional planets toproduce everything they consumed.” Is humankind as a whole perhapsnot yet ready for such a change? Elmar Ledergerber believes that it is infact urgently necessary to look beyond one’s own borders: “Our politi-cal and economic system poorly anticipates future development. Wemust learn to make the right decisions for tomorrow today, for ex-ample concerning energy prices and consumption.”

Making changes nowIn spite of the complexity of the problem, Molly O’Meara Sheehan isconvinced that we could take many measures already today that wouldlead to a more sustainable world. “Millions in Africa and Asia have noaccess to clean water and sanitation. Millions of people die because ofpolluted water. I am convinced that we can solve this problem duringthis generation.” The other panelists – and the majority of audience,animated to discussion – agreed with Molly O’Meara Sheehan. Eventhough there is no instant recipe for a sustainable world, change is pos-sible, step by step. “But we need more research,” insisted Klaus Töpfer.Elmar Ledergerber added that “we have the technologies it takes tosolve the problems; now we need the will to apply them!”

Klaus Töpfer, Germany “When I was born, 2.6 billion people livedon the earth,” remarked Klaus Töpfer, former Director of the United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP) andfounding member of the Advisory Boardof the Holcim Foundation. “Today thereare 6.6 billion.” The world is changing dra-matically; everything happens at increas-ing speed. It’s taking barely 30 years inChina for development that took 150years in today’s developed countries. Thishas enormous consequences for urbanplanning: “We need flexible structures inorder to react quickly to the fast pace ofchange.” Cities and buildings must bedesigned to be reused in the future underother conditions. “In Berlin, we recycledthe Reichstag,” Töpfer recalled. “And theParliament is also in a renovated oldbuilding. Recycling buildings is not nos-talgic – it’s a step into the future!”

“Political decisions cancreate markets.”Klaus Töpfer

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Measuring over 1000 square kilometers, Chongming is the largest alluvial island in theworld and one of the largest islands in China. It is also one of Shanghai’s five municipaldistricts. With Dongping National Forest Park occupying almost 100 square meters at thecenter of the island, it is the last relatively untouched part of the greater Shanghai munici-pality. The island was formed of silt from the Yangtze River, and its fertile soil encouragedagricultural development. Thus, Chongming has remained relatively unaffected by con-temporary ecological problems.

The soil, air, and water are clean, and should remain that way: The government of Shanghai has developed a comprehensive master plan to transform the island into be anecologically-oriented recreational zone and laboratory for sustainable urban, agricultural,and ecological technologies by the year 2020.

The master plan addresses five distinct zones: Dongtan wetlands to the east will be pre-served in their entirety as a sanctuary for migrating birds. Dongping National Forest Parkwill be expanded and developed as Shanghai’s largest recreational area. In the northernpart of the island, there will be stadiums and theme parks, with some land reserved for

Mobile workshop: Chongming Island

North of the densely populated center of Shanghai, at themouth of the Yangtze River, lies Chongming – the world’slargest alluvial island. Over the next dozen years, it will bedeveloped into a laboratory for sustainable urban, agricul-tural, and ecological practices.

Shangri-la or eco-island?

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ecological agriculture. To the south (today the most densely populated part of the island),residential districts will be developed and clean industries established. Dongtan, theisland’s economic center, will be developed as a green city that depends on renewableenergy, rainwater, and fuel generated from kitchen waste. To the west, a large lake and aninternational exhibition and convention center are in development.

By 2008, the 25.5-kilometer Shanghai-Chongming expressway will be completed, includ-ing a 9-kilometer tunnel and a 10-kilometer bridge. When these are in place, it will takeonly 45 minutes to drive from Shanghai city center to Chongming. There is no plan for anenvironmentally-sound transportation system, and this has been the subject of criticism.

Nevertheless, the strategy for Chongming is progressive for China, a country with 20 ofthe world’s 30 most polluted cities. The project is distinguished not only by the widerange of ecological measures, but by its global partners. The master plan was developedby the American firm of Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), and universities throughoutthe world are working on its various aspects. The green city Dongtan is being designed byArup UK (see page 28).

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Many of the older buildings of Shanghai have vanished as a result of the recent construc-tion boom. In the old city center, some of the small row houses that once typified the cityhave been left standing, but only here and there. Most of them will be replaced by newconstruction sooner or later. Shanghai is thus threatened with the loss of a crucial aspectof its historic identity.

However, it is possible to understand the character of old Shanghai by visiting neighbor-ing Zhujiajiao, the best preserved of Shanghai’s ancient water towns. As an example ofsustainable preservation of cultural and urban heritage, Zhujiajiao exemplifies effectivehandling of the historic architectural and urban fabric.

Over 1,700 years old, the fan-shaped town of Zhujiajiao is criss-crossed by canals whichare spanned by over 30 old bridges of stone, marble, and wood. Thanks to the well-planned water transportation network, a textile industry grew up here. During the Mingdynasty (1368–1644), Zhujiajiao already numbered 1,000 households, reaching its zenithabout 200 years ago, when the flourishing rice trade fueled the economy, and banks andfactories sprang up in great numbers.

Mobile workshop: Qingpu district

Often called “Venice of the Orient,” Zhujiajiao lies in themidst of the completely modernized Qingpu district ofShanghai. Here, old and new complement one another,together forming a surprisingly coherent urban entity.

Integrating old and new?

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In 1993, the Qingpu district was completely replanned. With new hotels, cultural and con-vention centers, and a golf course, the old and the new have been integrated to create amulti-functional recreational zone. In spite of its modernization of Qingpu, Zhujiajiao’sgardens, canals, bridges, and houses from the Ming and Qing periods remain tranquil. Inthis sense, the town stands as an example of how modern urban development can suc-cessfully incorporate a significant historic quarter.

The main commercial street, Beidajie, is 300 meters long and only two to four meterswide. Once the business center of the Yangtze River Delta, today it is the best preservedstreet in the Qingpu district. Seated comfortably at the A-Po Teahouse, one can watchboats go by carrying farmers from their homes to nearby rice paddies, and women wash-ing laundry in the river.

Since water has played such an important role in Zhujiajiao’s history, the workshopincluded a visit to an exhibition on the theme of water.

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China’s rapid economic development is witnessed most impressively in Shanghai’sPudong district. Twenty years ago, this was a poor neighborhood in the east end of thecity. In 1990, the rebuilding of Pudong began, and since then, the gross domestic product(GDP) here has grown by a factor of 12. Today, Pudong is counted among the places in theworld with the greatest number of skyscrapers. Soon, over 1,000 office and residentialtowers will stand in this district, among them the Shanghai World Finance Center – atalmost 500 meters the second highest building in the world.

The development of Pudong has become an international effort. Foreign companies haveinvested over 40 billion dollars in the district over time. Pudong fascinates city plannersbecause here urban development can be observed in fast forward, so to speak. The devel-opment of infrastructure must keep up with China’s economic boom, so Shanghai investsenormous sums in public transportation and sewer systems.

Partly because of the boom in Pudong, the port of Shanghai – one of the largest in theworld – has displayed explosive growth rates in recent years. Within the last decade, the

Mobile workshop: Pudong district and the Yangshan deepwater port

One can almost feel the rapid growth occurring in Shanghai’sPudong district. Skyscrapers seem to pop up overnight. In thetradition of infrastructural projects on the scale of the GreatWall, China’s economic boom has spurred the developmentof a new deepwater port located some 30 miles out to sea.

Limits to growth?

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volume of goods moving in and out has risen by nearly 30 percent per year. The harbor hasnow reached the limit of its capacity, and as container ships grow increasingly larger,many can enter only at high tide. To address these issues, the Chinese government de-cided to build one of the world’s largest deepwater ports, with up to 50 docks.

The new Yangshan deepwater port is located on a tiny rocky outcrop of Qiqu Island in theBay of Hangzhou, at the mouth of the Yangtze River, about 30 kilometers off the coast.Here, the water is deep enough for the largest freighters in the world to dock. The portproject, which has been broken into four phases, is expected to be finished by 2020. Thefirst phase is currently under construction.

An integral part of the project is the 32-kilometer-long six-lane Donghai Bridge, whichconnects the island terminal to the mainland. Recently completed, this is the first trueocean bridge to be built in China. On the mainland near Luchaogang a new port city is alsounder construction, with a port terminal to augment the deepwater terminal on QiquIsland.

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Brave visions for a more sustainable world

Student poster competition

Although the student poster competition was a theme mainlyduring the breaks in the HolcimForum, it was anything but asideshow. The students presenteda number of extremely forward-looking and exciting ideas.

“Ladies and gentlemen – this is the future of sustainable construction,”announced moderator Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, as he called the partici-pants of the student poster competition to the front of the main audi-torium. The scholars kept the Forum participants busy because duringthe coffee breaks they could present their projects – and gain the votesof the Forum participants, all of whom were asked to choose theirfavorite projects.

30 projects from 6 universitiesInvitations to the competition were sent by the Holcim Foundationtogether with its six closely allied universities: the Swiss Federal Insti-tute of Technology (ETH Zurich), Switzerland; Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA; Tongji University, Shanghai,China; Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA), Mexico City, Mexico; Univer-sity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; and Universi-dade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil. Scholars at these universities were

Gretchen Wilkins,USA; Sisel Lan, Mexico.

Cibele de Barros,Brazil; Nazim Farajzade, Azerbaijan.

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asked to develop sustainable construction projects and present themas posters. Each university selected its five best projects. The creatorsof these projects were invited to the Forum in Shanghai, where theycould directly explain their work to the interested viewers.

Ideas instead of finished conceptsIt required full concentration of the Forum participants to absorb theprojects during the breaks. This was not found to be a burden, but apleasure, chiefly because of the high quality of the projects. Most ofthe students did not present finished concepts but intelligent food forthought, stimulating designs that can be fully developed and realized.The intensive discussions between the students and the renownedarchitects and urban planners again and again proved highly fruitful.Visions and utopias crossed with experience and farsightedness; theconceivable confronted the feasible. The future of sustainable con-struction is colorful, multifaceted – and full of ideas!

Albert S. Wei, USA;Holger Wallbaum,Switzerland.

Miguel Aldana,Carolyn Aguilarand MiguelAlmaraz, Mexico.

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First prize: Every step is energyThe competition was won by James Graham and Tad Jusczyk fromMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA. Theirproject “Crowd Farm” presents an original response to energy short-age: a tectonic floor system that absorbs the forces of footsteps andtransforms them into useable energy. The system can be compared toa dynamo. Of course a single human footstep delivers a negligibleamount of energy. But the idea here is to capture the kinetic energy ofa large mass of people, for example commuters at a train station.

James Graham and Tad Jusczyk, USA.

1st

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Second prize: Eco-Oasis in EgyptKonrad Milton from the ETH Zurich won second prize with his project“Creating Egypt’s Seventh Oasis”. In contrast to other topographicdepressions in Egypt – the oases – the depression at Qattara is dry andvacant. Konrad Milton proposes pumping water in an ecological wayinto this inhospitable valley to create a new oasis. It would be sur-rounded by a network of small, densely laid-out villages. All houseswould be equipped with sustainable green infrastructure. Water fromthe Mediterranean could also be used for cooling the buildings.

Rolf Soiron and Konrad Milton, Switzerland.

2nd

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Third prize: Water concept for Mexico CityGustavo Torres from the Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA), MexicoCity, won third prize for his project “Towards a New Rainwater CaptureSystem”. Climate change is extending the rainy season in Mexico City.Torres proposes ways to prevent the potential flooding of whole districts and to use the water. New lakes and reservoirs improve thepublic water supply; photovoltaic cells can be installed on the bottomof the reservoirs to produce electricity. The artificial lakes also enhancethe microclimate.

Gustavo Torres, Mexico.

3rd

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Recognition prize for canister housingThe Chair of the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation, Rolf Soiron, also announcend two highly commended projects. The first is the “Living-House Sustainability Concept” by Nils Havelka andNicolas Zimmermann of the ETH Zurich. The twoarchitecture students designed a flexible building,the core of which can be adapted to suit the chang-ing needs of the residents. The core is enclosed within an envelope of plastic canisters. The canistersare filled with algae and are used for air purification,drinking water treatment and energy recovery.

Nils Havelka and Nicolas Zimmermann, Switzerland.

Recognition prize for “micro-urbanism”Dukui Li, Jia He and Yuguo Wang from Tongji University, Shanghai won a recognition prize for their project “Micro-urbanism”. The projectresponds to a widespread problem in Shanghai.When districts are completely rebuilt, the residentsmust evacuate and move into temporary housinguntil the work is completed. The project team proposes building “migrate megas” – residentialunits that can be expanded as needed, and inte-grated into the urban fabric after the temporaryusers move out.

Jianjia Zhon, China, on behalf of the highly commended team.

First Holcim Research Grants

Contributions for a more sustainable future

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The subject of sustainability always involves tomorrow. What we do today should notcompromise the opportunities of future generations. For the Holcim Foundation it istherefore natural to include in its activities the forthcoming generation of architects,urban planners and engineers. Several scholars were invited to present their projects atthe Forum (see page 60). For the first time, the Foundation also provided funding for Ph.D.research projects involving sustainable construction. At the Forum five such grants werepresented – totaling USD 200,000. The grants went to:

Odair Barbosa de Moraes, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil: “Environmental quality evaluation in informal urban settlements using fuzzy logics”.

Lei Pang, Tongji University, Shanghai, China: “Integrated computer-aided technology forecological evaluation in urban design for historic areas”.

Rozana Montiel and Arturo Ortiz, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City: “Sustainabilityin poverty areas”.

Deane Simpson, ETH Zurich, Switzerland: “Gerontological urbanism: emerging forms ofurbanism for the elderly demographic”.

Jörg Spangenberg, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil: “Sustainable and climatically adapted urban transformation”.

Each project will also be supported by the corresponding university. The introduction ofthe projects at the Forum in Shanghai gave a sort of preview of the next Holcim Forum,when the results of these five research projects will be presented.

The Holcim Foundation supports many types of researchpertaining to sustainable construction. At the Forum,Research Grants for doctoral projects were presented.

Lei Pang, China.

Jörg Spangenberg, Brazil; Rolf Soiron, Switzerland.

Rolf Soiron, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation, presented the Research Grants. One ofthe recipients was Odair Barbosa de Moraes, Brazil (left).

Rozana Montieland Arturo Ortiz,Mexico.

Deane Simpson,Switzerland.

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What was involved in the planning of the confer-ence at Tongji University in Shanghai?It was actually a long and winding road that led toShanghai. It all began immediately after the 2004Forum in Zurich, which focused on the subject ofbasic needs. At that time, an academic committeeproposed the theme of urban transformation to theFoundation’s Advisory Board. When we got thegreen light, I met for lunch with a colleague in LosAngeles over a period of several months to hash out

In the spirit of debate

Interview with Marc Angélil, architect and Professor of Architectureand Design at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich),and member of the Management Board of the Holcim Foundation. As head of the Academic Committee for the 2007 Forum, he conceptualized and choreographed the conference themes.

“An esprit nouveau for change”

potential subtopics. We had a list of over 30 of them,which were ultimately narrowed down to five: nor-mative, informal, green, touristic, and temporaryurbanisms. Key to the operation was a doubling ofthe five themes to allow for oppositions to beexpressed and debated. Thus, for example, the workshop on green urbanism addressed conflictsbetween ecological and economic issues. We soughtto involve participants from different cultural andprofessional backgrounds, who occupy a wide range

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of ideological positions, in order to fuel the dialogue– considering that a forum is convened in the spiritof debate.

So the planning and development was extensiveand involve multiple players. Has the 2007 Forumlived up to your expectations?Regarding the level of discourse, the event wasabsolutely a success. It brought people from aroundthe world together to discuss the vital challengesposed by contemporary urban settlements. Ratherthan exclusively focusing on the formal characteris-tics of the city as physical artifact, emphasis wasgiven to an understanding of the city as process. Itwas in this respect that the need for action was rec-ognized, and participants from academia and the

professional world took up the political and eco-nomic ramifications of urban transformations weare witnessing today. But as we can never rest onour laurels, allow me to point out where there wouldbe room for improvement. I would have liked to seemore time devoted to questions of method. Specifi-cally, there was not sufficient discussion of tech-niques and instruments for achieving a more sus-tainable environment. Put simply, the question ishow can we translate our theoretical ideas into livable cities?

What do you consider the highlights of the confer-ence?Above all, the fact that we were in Shanghai. Wewere uprooted from our everyday routines and

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thrust into an entirely different world – that of anAsian megacity which is being transformed atbreathtaking speed, even as we speak. Every presen-tation had exceptional moments, but I was particu-larly impressed by the many intersections amongthe arguments and projects presented: speakersquoted other speakers, one proposition led to thenext, contradictions multiplied as events unfolded.When a conference manages to achieve such con-centration and interrelatedness, then it is outstand-ing. But here again, I would inject one comment:While in principle I like the idea of the mobile work-shops, it would be worth giving more careful consid-eration to their orchestration with respect to theconference themes. In effect, because we never hadthe chance to critically discuss the implications of

the places we visited, the workshops remained inthe realm of the touristic.

How would you characterize the differencesbetween the first Forum on basic needs and thisone, on urban transformation?While the first conference was quite broad andinclusive, the second one was more focused vis à visthe disciplines of architecture, engineering, infra-structural planning, as well as urban and landscapedesign. This allowed us to engage and interrogatetheir basic premises, which is a precondition ofadvancing the state of knowledge within thesefields. Furthermore is the mere fact that the 2007Forum did not take place in the first world, orSwitzerland, of all places, but rather immersed the

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participants in a maelstrom of conflicting realities.This is already a step toward genuinely engaging theurban problems of the world. The conferenceallowed us to consider Shanghai as a relevant casestudy from which we could all learn. I would alsosuggest that the bridge between theory and practicewas much stronger, and interdisciplinary connec-tions among scholars and professionals were muchbetter choreographed. On leaving Shanghai, Isensed that finally, architects and urbanists hadunderstood that their disciplines are highly political.They had heard the call to action.

What about the next Forum, scheduled for 2010?With the next one, we would like to get even closerto the question of sustainability in the field of con-

struction. There is an urgent need to rethink andreinvent construction technology, in terms of thedeployment of materials, logistics, and resources. Icould imagine that the next forum will deal with theprocesses involved in the making of buildings, con-sidering that their global ecological footprint istremendous and has been insufficiently studied.Simply stated, construction must be realigned withthe principles of sustainability, and should this goalbe achieved, we might see an impetus towards anew architecture, or, as Le Corbusier would say, anesprit nouveau for change. And as for the location ofthe conference, it should be a global city that exem-plifies and exposes the very conflicts that arisebetween the building industries and the interna-tional demand for sustainable development.

Joint media conference

Architecture axisChina-Switzerland

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“China and Switzerland have cooperated on urban development andenvironmental protection in the past – and we look forward to moreextensive exchanges in the future,” Dante Martinelli, Swiss Ambassadorto China, told Chinese reporters. “As Shanghai prepares to host WorldExpo 2010 under the theme ‘Better City, Better Life,’ we hope for moreopportunities to discuss ideas and exchange best practices on thesecritically important topics.”

Concerning architecture and city planning, the exchange betweenChina and Switzerland is already vigorous, tells Zhenyu Li, Vice Dean ofthe College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University:“Switzerland has nurtured a lot of outstanding talents in the field ofarchitecture. Tongji University has enjoyed a long-term partnershipwith the Swiss architectural community, which we celebrate duringthe centennial year of Tongji University.”

The architecture axis China-Switzerland has been reinforced by a newbook, published under the editorship of Zhiqiang Wu, Dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at Tongji University, Chief Plan-ner for World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, and member of the Technical Competence Center of the Holcim Foundation. The technical publica-tion presents all 46 projects that received regional or global recognition in the first Holcim Awards competition. It was presented at the media conference and received with the same great interest as the English “original version” (ISBN 978-3-7266-0076-1 English andISBN 978-7-112-09153-9 Chinese).

Together with Tongji University and the SwissEmbassy, the Holcim Foundation used the greatinterest at the Forum for a media conference – at which a Chinese technical publication on the winning projects of the firstHolcim Awards competition was presented.

Marc Angélil, member of the Management BoardHolcim Foundation; Edward Schwarz, General Manager Holcim Foundation; Dante Martinelli, Swiss Ambassador to China; Hans-R.Schalcher, member of the ManagementBoard Holcim Foundation.

Zhenyu Li, Tongji University, presented the Chinese book about the Holcim Awards competition.

The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Constructionpromotes innovative approaches to sustainable con-struction. The objective of the Holcim Foundation isto encourage sustainable responses to the technolo-gical, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural is-sues affecting building and construction, regionallyas well as globally – through a range of initiatives,including Holcim Awards, Holcim Forum, and Holcim Projects. The partner universities of the Holcim Foundation are the Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology (ETH Zurich), Switzerland; MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA;Tongji University, Shanghai, China; Universidad Iberoamericana (UIA), Mexico City, Mexico; and University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SouthAfrica. The Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil, isan associated university of the Holcim Foundation. www.holcimfoundation.org

Regional and global competition cycles for future-oriented and tangible sustainable construction projects and visions.www.holcimawards.org

A series of symposiums for academia and practi-tioners to encourage discourse on the future of thebuilt environment.www.holcimforum.org

Seed funding for building initiatives and grants for research projects to accelerate progress sustainableconstruction.www.holcimprojects.org

The Holcim Awards competition is an initiative of the Holcim Foundation forSustainable Construction. Based inSwitzerland, the foundation is supportedby Holcim Ltd and its Group companiesand affiliates in more than 70 countries.Holcim is one of the world’s leading sup-pliers of cement and aggregates as wellas further activities such as ready-mixconcrete and asphalt including services.

In partnership with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZurich), Switzerland; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Cambridge, USA; Tongji University, Shanghai, China; UniversidadIberoamericana, Mexico City; and the University of the Witwatersrand,Johannesburg, South Africa. The universities define the evaluation criteria and lead the independent juries in five regions of the world.Entries at www.holcimawards.org close 29 February, 2008.

*

Develop new perspectives for ourfuture. Enter the global HolcimAwards competition for projectsin sustainable construction. Prizemoney totals USD two million. Apply at www.holcimawards.org*

Edward Schwarz, Holcim Foundation, SwitzerlandDenise L. Bratton, Los Angeles, USAMarius Leutenegger, Zurich, Switzerland Daniel Wentz, Magden, SwitzerlandSchadegg Grafik, Gockhausen, Switzerland Stäubli AG Zurich, Switzerland Tandy Sean Arnold, Shanghai, ChinaJan Friedrich, Berlin, Germany (page 2)Fabien Gaillard, Shanghai, ChinaMarius Leutenegger, Zurich, SwitzerlandErnst Schadegg, Gockhausen, Switzerland (pages 4 & 6)

Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction Hagenholzstrasse 85 CH-8050 Zurich, SwitzerlandPhone +41 58 858 8292 Fax +41 58 858 8299 info@holcimfoundation.org www.holcimfoundation.org

© 2007 Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, Switzerland Stäubli Verlag AG, Zurich Printed in Switzerland on FSC paper ISBN 978-3-7266-0080-8

This publication can be downloaded entirely or in parts as PDF atwww.holcimforum.org

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