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The present social and environmental challenges, the impact of climate change and the pandemic, revealed the urgency and the opportunity to rethink urban design through its renewed spaces and temporalities. The pandemic offered a ‘natural experiment’ to explore and develop new perspectives, making public spaces more resilient. Contributing towards a rethink of these spaces, the present paper explores adaptive architecture with responsive technologies and their capability of shaping public spaces to constitute a conversation piece with the surrounding environment. This approach combines and reflects different disciplinary fields: architecture, civic interaction and urban design. The exploration works around a speculative design case – produced as part of broader research at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science in collaboration with the Master in Digital Design.

The Covid-19 pandemic triggered governments and designers to revalue and redesign public spaces. This paper focuses on the various design responses to Covid-19 proposed and implemented in public spaces. In particular, we identify the kinds of challenges that such design responses address and the strategies that they use. We selected 56 design examples, largely collected from internet sources. By analyzing the design examples we identified five Covid-related challenges that were addressed in public space: sustaining amenities, keeping a distance, feeling connected, staying mentally healthy, and expanding health infrastructures. For each challenge, we articulated 2 to 6 design strategies. The challenges highlight the potential of public space to contribute to more resilient cities during times of pandemic, also in the future. The design strategies show the possible ways in which this potential can be fulfilled. In our next steps, we will use our findings to develop a program of possibilities; this program will contain a wide range of design strategies for responding to future pandemics and will be made publically accessible in an online database. The program contributes to more resilient post-Covid cities, by offering a variety of possibilities for coping with, and adapting to, pandemic-related shocks and stressors.

This collection of articles contains contributions to the research project ‘From Prevention to Resilience’ (FPtP). In this project, the research team has generated insights and tools for designers, policymakers, and other professionals to contribute to more resilient cities and neighborhoods. The point of departure was public space as a site for intervention, while learning from the ongoing developments revolving around the Covid-19 pandemic. During the early phases of the pandemic, governments initially focused on preventing the virus from spreading. Public spaces came to be seen as potential places for contamination. In response, fences, markings, and barrier tapes were put into place to orchestrate people’s movement and promote physical distance. With our research project, we explored the role that public space could play besides such often ad hoc preventive measures. What other challenges can public space tackle with regard to the various shocks and stressors that hit cities and neighborhoods, now and in the future? And how to tackle these challenges in an integral way? An integral approach to designing public spaces involves many disciplines, and it is to a great extent dependent on local governments’ take on public spaces. To this end, we asked relevant experts to share their disciplinary reflections on a design perspective we have developed in the FPtP project, called Human / Non-Human Public Spaces. An earlier version of this design perspective was handed over to experts to provide feedback from an urban climate adaptation perspective and from a governance and cultural change perspective. Stephanie Erwin and Jeroen Kluck provide concrete feedback on the design perspective and offer a discussion in relation to the field of urban climate resilience. Alex Straathof offers an essayistic text in which he reflects on some of the key notions of the design perspective, reflecting on some of the key notions of the design perspective based on cultural theory and his experience with interventions on the neighborhood level. In parallel, we commissioned two independent experts in the field of spatial development and governance to make a preliminary analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the government perspectives on public spaces. Both experts were given the same question, but they applied different methods. Hugo Verschoor Plug conducted an analysis on two national policy documents and six ‘omgevingsvisies’ – i.e., strategies on spatial planning and the environment – of large and middle-sized cities: Amsterdam, Breda, The Hague, Groningen, Rotterdam and Zwolle. Denise Vrolijk was asked to interview professionals from a cross-section of Dutch Cities in order to obtain their perspectives on how local governments viewed the role of public spaces in relation to resilience. Together, these analyses provide an overview of the current state of affairs in public space and urban resilience. We thank the authors for sharing their expertise and insights and thereby contribute to the FPtR project. This project is funded by The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), part of the subsidy round ‘COVID 19: Maatschappelijke Dynamiek’, project nr. 10430032010029.

The present social and environmental challenges, the impact of climate change andthe pandemic, revealed the urgency and the opportunity to rethink urban designthrough its renewed spaces and temporalities. The pandemic offered a ‘natural exper-iment’ to explore and develop new perspectives, making public spaces more resilient.Contributing towards a rethink of these spaces, the present paper explores adaptivearchitecture with responsive technologies and their capability of shaping public spacesto constitute a conversation piece with the surrounding environment. This approachcombines and reflects different disciplinary fields: architecture, civic interaction and ur-ban design. The exploration works around a speculative design case – produced aspart of broader research at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science in collabora-tion with the Master in Digital Design.

The current Covid-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of urban public spaces in achieving health and social well-being (Dobson, 2021; Poortinga et al., 2021), prompting policymakers and urban planners to rethink their approach to the design of these spaces. They now propagate adapting urban public spaces more directly to human needs (Suurenbroek et al., 2019), often at a neighbourhood level, while also embracing a more-than-human perspective that includes the well-being of the natural ecosystem at large (Maller, 2020; Houston et al., 2018). The latter becomes imperative as other shocks and stressors, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, are impending, straining urban spaces and their residents to show resilience in times of complex challenges. “Learning from Covid-19”, a need emerged for new design approaches for public spaces, contributing both to social and ecological resilience. This paper presents results from the research project "From Prevention to Resilience". It moves beyond merely responding to the pandemic by designing social and physical barriers in public space to prevent the virus from spreading. Instead, it seizes the opportunity to explore how an integrated design approach to public space could contribute to social and ecological resilience (Boon et al., 2021). The project, funded by the Dutch organization for health research and care innovation, is a collaboration between the chairs of Spatial Urban Transformation and Civic Interaction Design (AUAS) and an international partner consortium. This paper builds on our compiled database of design strategies addressing the Covid-crisis, expert sessions with a Community of Practitioners, and interviews with Dutch spatial design firms and municipalities. It first introduces a "Design Framework for Neighbourhood Resilience" and its core concepts. Next, it validates this framework through a research-by-design approach. Spatial and social design agencies applied the framework in real-life design cases in Amsterdam and allowed for its empirical grounding and practice-based development. Ultimately, the paper defines a design framework that builds resilience for the well-being of all urban inhabitants and initiates a dialogue between disciplines to address resilience integrally when designing public spaces and forms of civic engagement. References Boon, B., Nirschl, M., Gualtieri, G., Suurenbroek, F., & de Waal, M. (2021). Generating and disseminating intermediate-level knowledge on multiple levels of abstraction: An exploratory case in media architecture. Media Architecture Biennale 20, 189–193. https://doi.org/10.1145/3469410.3469430 Dobson, J. (2021). Wellbeing and blue‐green space in post‐pandemic cities: Drivers, debates and departures. Geography Compass, 15. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12593 Houston, D., Hillier, J., MacCallum, D., Steele, W., & Byrne, J. (2018). Make kin, not cities! Multispecies entanglements and ‘becoming-world’ in planning theory. Planning Theory, 17(2), 190–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473095216688042 Maller, C. (2020). Healthy Urban Environments: More-than-Human Theories (1st ed.). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. https://www.routledge.com/Healthy-Urban-Environments-More-than-Human-Theories/Maller/p/book/9780367459031 Poortinga, W., Bird, N., Hallingberg, B., Phillips, R., & Williams, D. (2021). The role of perceived public and private green space in subjective health and wellbeing during and after the first peak of the COVID-19 outbreak. Landscape and Urban Planning, 211, 104092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104092 Suurenbroek, F., Nio, I., & de Waal, M. (2019). Responsive public spaces: exploring the use of interactive technology in the design of public spaces. Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Urban Technology. https://research.hva.nl/en/publications/responsive-public-spaces-exploring-the-use-of-interactive-technol-2

The concept of intermediate-level knowledge is increasingly used in interaction design research and media architecture. Recently it has been proposed that intermediate-level knowledge is better actionable to designers when it is conveyed on multiple levels of abstraction. This paper shares an approach-in-the-making to generate and disseminate knowledge in line with this proposition. We describe an ongoing exploratory case in which the aim is to generate actionable insights with regards to promoting neighborhood resilience through media architecture. In our approach we explicate knowledge on three levels of abstraction: design examples (most concrete), a framework (most abstract) and design strategies (in between design examples and framework). We discuss how the roles of these levels of abstraction are distinct when either generating or disseminating knowledge. We conclude our paper by looking ahead. As our research team will start to engage with partners in social design, architecture and urban planning, we will explore how our multi-level approach to intermediate-level knowledge is fruitful in generating actionable insights for a more interdisciplinary audience.

Introduction: The Netherlands has been known as one of the pioneers in the sharing economy. At the beginning of the 2010s, many local initiatives such as Peerby (borrow tools and other things from your neighbours), SnappCar (p2p car-sharing), and Thuisafgehaald (cook for your neighbours) launched that enabled consumers to share underused resources or provide services to each other. This was accompanied by a wide interest from the Dutch media, zooming in on the perceived social and environmental benefits of these platforms. Commercial platforms such as Uber, UberPop and Airbnb followed soon after. After their entrance to the market, the societal debate about the impact of these platforms also started to include the negative consequences. Early on, universities and national research and policy institutes took part in these discussions by providing definitions, frameworks, and analyses. In the last few years, the attention has shifted from the sharing economy to the much broader defined platform economy.

This chapter explores the use of “responsive” or “interactive” urban media technologies as a tool or “building block” in the (re)design of urban public spaces. This is especially relevant as in the last two decades, urban development and digital technologies have brought out new types of urban typologies and practices often referred to as “networked urbanism.” These typologies and practices bring out specific challenges with regard to their functioning as public space. We argue that responsive technologies could reinforce qualities of public space in this condition of “networked urbanism”; however, their implementation demands new strategies and above all new forms of cooperation between disciplines such as architecture, urban design, and urban interaction design. To aid such an approach, this chapter introduces a heuristic of five mechanisms of responsive media. These are meant to function as a shared vocabulary aiding designers of various backgrounds to collaborate in an interdisciplinary design process for public spaces in a broader development of networked urbanism.

Hoe kom je van data naar informatie en participatie? Visualisatie is een middel om complexe informatie inzichtelijk te maken, deze gemeenschappelijk te duiden en verschillende doelgroepen bij het gesprek erover te betrekken. Visualisaties zijn namelijk niet de mooie plaatjes achteraf, maar beelden die het proces kunnen helpen. Op die manier betrek je bewoners bij kwesties die spelen in de buurt en kun je komen tot onverwachte inzichten en een gedeeld beeld.

Data-gebruik is voor projectmanagers in het sociale en ruimtelijke domein onontkoombaar. Data zijn niet alleen voorradig en beschikbaar, het zijn er ook steeds meer. Tegelijk weten projectmanagers niet goed hoe ze data kunnen gebruiken in hun werk. Aan de hand de voorbeelden van vuilnisophaaldiensten (halen) en bezorgdiensten (brengen) lees je in dit artikel hoe je als stad met data om kunt gaan en hoe je deze services efficiënter kunt laten verlopen. Weten wat je wilt weten is daarbij wel een keiharde voorwaarde.

Discussies over de ‘Smart City’ draaien vaak om technologieën die de stad efficiënter moeten maken. Naast deze ‘control-room’-visie staan twee minder bekende benaderingen: ‘Smart Citizens’ zet technologie in om burgers meer zeggenschap te geven, terwijl de ‘Creative City’ de stad beziet als ‘living lab’. Alle drie deze versies van de smart city bieden kansen om het werken aan de stad op nieuwe manieren vorm te geven, maar roepen ook vragen op.

Elk jaar organiseert het Leerhuis van het Projectmanagementbureau samen met de Hogeschool van Amsterdam een thematische seminarreeks. De koppeling van de wetenschappelijke theorie met de dagelijkse praktijk biedt een waardevolle verdieping van de kennis van de medewerkers van het Projectmanagementbureau. Centraal staat de toepasbaarheid in ons werk aan complexe en multidisciplinaire opgaven in Amsterdam. In 2018/2019 hebben we gekozen voor het smart city-concept, waarbij big data en tools roepen om toepassingsmogelijkheden in de aanpak van stedelijke problematiek. Wie in de media de discussie over de opkomst van smart cities volgt, krijgt vaak het beeld voorgeschoteld van een grote controlekamer, vol met monitors en schermen. Daarop worden allerhande processen in de stad op de minuut gevolgd: de doorstroming van het verkeer op de hoofdwegen, de weersverwachting en waterstanden, meldingen aan politie en brandweer of samenscholingen van menigtes in de openbare ruimte. Naast deze ‘control room’-visie staan twee minder bekende benaderingen: ‘Smart Citizens’ zet technologie in om burgers meer zeggenschap te geven, terwijl de ‘Creative City’ de stad beziet als ‘living lab’. Alle drie de verschijningsvormen van de smart city bieden kansen om de kwaliteit van leven in de stad te verbeteren, én roepen tegelijkertijd vragen op over hun doelmatigheid en legitimiteit. De verschillende bijdragen aan de seminarreeks over smart cities gingen dieper in op de mogelijkheden en valkuilen van de drie smart city perspectieven. Deze zijn gebundeld in dit magazine en aangevuld met een aantal lessen en handvatten voor de medewerkers van het PMB.

Een responsieve openbare ruimte past zich met behulp van interactieve technologieën aan gebruikers en situaties aan. De kwaliteit van de plek als publiek domein wordt hierdoor versterkt. De vertaling van responsieve technologieën naar het ruimtelijk ontwerp staat echter nog in de kinderschoenen. Wat zijn precies de mogelijkheden van responsieve technologieën om vanuit het ruimtelijk ontwerp bij te dragen aan de versterking van publieke ruimtes? Het boek Responsieve publieke ruimte verkent en ontleedt deze nieuwe ontwerpopgave en toont inspirerende voorbeelden. Onder leiding van het lectoraat Bouwtransformatie van de Hogeschool van Amsterdam verrichtte een consortium van ruimtelijk ontwerpers, interaction-designers en lokale stakeholders een tweejarig praktijkonderzoek naar responsieve publieke ruimtes. De inzichten zijn in dit boek verwerkt tot een praktisch toepasbare aanpak en een roadmap voor het ontwerpproces van responsieve publieke ruimtes. De resultaten van het onderzoek zijn van belang voor verschillende praktijken. Het boek richt zich op opdrachtgevers en stakeholders van publieke openbare ruimtes, ruimtelijk ontwerpers, interactiondesigners en studenten.

How can citizens become active city-makers alongside design professionals, local government institutions and others, by creatively using digital technologies in collaborative processes of urban planning and management? This challenge is particularly daunting in the Buiksloterham, a brownfield area in Amsterdam North, that is assigned as an urban laboratory destined to grow from 200 inhabitants to over 10,000 people. The area was opened to selfbuilders: private individuals and households who build their own home, and collectives of about 15–50 people who build a shared apartment together. The research is based on ethnographic research carried out in the area. It provides a theoretical foundation for understanding the connection between bottom-up city-making processes and institutionalisation. It also proposes a research and design narrative about people-centric hackable smart cities. This contribution results from a long-running research project called The Hackable City (http://thehackablecity.nl), which between 2012 and 2017 in multiple separately funded iterations, investigated new modes of city-making through the notion of ‘hackability’. The project was a collaboration between academics, an architecture and urban design office, and various organisations in the domains of policy, urban services and the cultural field.

Responsive public spaces use interactive technologies to adapt to users and situations. This enhances the quality of the space as a public realm. However, the application of responsive technologies in spatial design is still to be explored. What exactly are the options for incorporating responsive technologies in spatial designs to improve the quality of public spaces? The book Responsive Public Spaces explores and disentangles this new assignment for designers, and presents inspiring examples. A consortium of spatial designers, interaction designers and local stakeholders, headed by the Chair of Spatial Urban Transformation of Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, carried out a two-year practice-based study of responsive public spaces. This book draws on those insights to provide a practical approach and a roadmap for the new design process for responsive public spaces. The study results are of signi¬icance for various professional fields. The book is intended for clients and stakeholders involved in planning and design of public spaces, spatial designers, interaction designers and students.