The seminar addresses the challenges and dilemmas of the contemporary metropolis, focusing on two areas of reflection and knowledge:
1. Urban ecology and the pursuit of a sustainable city with high environmental quality. In particular, the aim is to explore the importance of large green spaces and parks at the urban and metropolitan scales, as well as the ecological approach to the design of neighborhoods, buildings, and infrastructure.
2. The relationship between sustainable mobility and the polycentric city. Sustainable mobility prioritizes public transportation and active modes of travel (walking, cycling), which are linked to the concept of the polycentric city—a model that promotes higher housing density and a greater variety of land uses around transportation corridors and hubs, while creating walkable neighborhoods that prioritize pedestrian space.
Agenda
Day 1. Wednesday, September 9, 2020, at 4:30 p.m.
José Luis Infanzón (Spain)
Day 2. Wednesday, September 16, 2020
7:30 p.m. | Architect Alvaro Uribe. Panama City: A Dispersed City and Public Transportation
He holds a degree in architecture from the University of Panama, a master’s degree in land use planning from the University of Paris, and a postgraduate degree in geographic information systems from the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies in Rotterdam. He is a professor at the University of Panama and a research associate at the International Center for Sustainable Development (CIDES) in Panama and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, USA.
He has served as an urban planning advisor to the Panama Metro since its inception in 2009. Author of the 1989 essay “Fragmented City,” on the urban structure of Panama.
9:00 p.m. | Elías Rubinstein: Is public transportation a driver of urban development?
He holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of the Republic in Uruguay and a Master of Science in Transportation from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. For over a decade, he has worked in the field of international financing for development projects in various Latin American countries. He currently serves as an Infrastructure Project Specialist at FONPLATA Development Bank and previously worked for the IDB in the transportation sector. Previously, he worked as a traffic and transportation consultant in Uruguay. He is a professor in the School of Engineering at the University of the Republic, where he teaches the Urban Transportation course. From 2010 to 2014, he served as Vice President of the Uruguayan Road Association and was a member of the organizing or technical affairs committee for the Uruguayan Road Congress on several occasions.
Day 3. Thursday, September 24, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. 700
Fernando de Mello Franco, Architect (Brazil). Ecological urban planning and green infrastructure in the city.
Architect and Urban Planner, Ph.D. from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of São Paulo (Brazil). Professor at FAU Mackenzie. Researcher and consultant in urban planning, with projects carried out in Latin America and Africa for governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector, and companies. He served as Secretary of Urban Development for the Municipality of São Paulo (2013–2016), responsible for revising the city’s urban policy regulatory framework and structuring Urban Intervention Projects. Director of the Institute of Urbanism and Studies for the Metropolis, URBEM (2011–2012 and 2017–2019). Founding Partner of the MMBB Architects firm (1990–2012) and collaborator of Architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha (1996–2012)
Day 4. Wednesday, September 30, 2020, at 4:30 p.m.
Martin Hoelscher (Germany). The Fourth Landscape: Developing the Green System of the Ruhr Region, Germany.
Urban planner. Associate Dean and Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Development, School of Architecture, Technische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Detmold, Germany. Visiting Professor, School of Habitat Sciences, La Salle University, Bogotá, Colombia. Independent professional in design, planning, urban development, and regional
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