Urban manufacturing versus Housing
From Central Business to Central (Re)Manufacturing District?
K.B.J. Van den Berghe (TU Delft - Urban Development Management)
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
Manufacturing and housing in urban areas are related. The aim of this chapter is to critically contextualize the causality of why we need housing in cities. Causality describes the relationship between cause and effect. In this context, living in the city is seen as an effect of a certain cause, but this cause evolves over time and with geographic development. This chapter proposes that we are at the beginning of a new era where the cause for needing housing in the city is changing. This shift could be particularly significant for Dutch cities. The central message of this chapter is that it is necessary to both acknowledge this potential change and understand its implications for transforming buildings and areas into housing in practice. This leads to the central research question of this essay: What is the role of urban transformation today for the future development of cities?
To answer this question, a brief description will first be provided of how the city can be seen as a causal result of a societal need for added value. This explains why certain cities emerged, disappeared, or adapted for specific reasons. Next, the industrial city will be discussed as a significant turning point for the role of cities in modern society. Following the description of the post-industrial city, it will be explained that the heyday of this era is likely over, suggesting that the reasons for needing to live in the city may change. The chapter will conclude with an answer to the research question.
help_outline