Urban scanning symposium. manu + futuring

In the 20th century, our cities were built to organize life, work, and leisure spatially separated from each other - all with the aim of making cities more efficient, rational, and hygienic. Today, we can see the effects of this separation when we have to leave our "bedroom" neighborhoods, passing through huge (post)industrial zones to get to the city center for office or entertainment.‍

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Today, both city dwellers and businesses are rediscovering the benefits of integrated production facilities in the city. By connecting production, life and leisure, we make routes shorter and goods, services and cultural events closer. This proximity creates new opportunities for knowledge sharing, as well as for collaboration, production and innovation - though sometimes these synergies are lost because we fail to find the right balance. This proximity leads to the growth of socially-oriented practices aimed at engaging communities - although these practices can, however, be used to legitimize toxic hierarchies.‍

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We invite you to engage in a joint honest and critical conversation about the future of the city, the future of its production, and the future of its inclusiveness - because these topics are complex, because they are timely, because they are exciting.

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We invite you to think about the following questions together:
- Is there an alternative to the trend of outsourcing?
- What are the consequences of moving production out of the city, related to the loss of skills for creating innovations in industry?
- How can architecture, design and art contribute to the development of a circular economy in the city, and how can this help to integrate the revitalization project of an old factory into the surrounding space?

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About the program:
- The discussions during the Urban Scanning Symposium will be organized around the following aspects:
(1) Manufacturing in the city
(2) Circular economy (closed-loop economy)
(3) (Post)revitalization.
(4) Decentralization in the city
(5) Community involvement
(6) Common spaces ‍The Urban Scanning Symposium will include 6 panel discussions with practitioners and experts in these areas, as well as further discussion and reflection sessions. The final day will be devoted to networking, establishing working relationships, and joint reflections in the format of a city picnic.