Abstract
The EcoCity concept presented here has been designed in Finland and improved through collaboration with local partners and stakeholders to adapt to varying contexts while trying to provide solutions for the improvement of human settlements around the world, particularly in the Global South. Supported by specific methodologies and effective facilitation processes and skills, also developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. (VTT), it provides a structured yet flexible framework for conducting the complex dialogue leading to ecocity implementation, the importance of which is typically overlooked. This article discusses the theoretical underpinnings of the concept in relation to the general ecocity debate, as well as its main historical influences linked to the Finnish urban development tradition. The process thus enabled is illustrated by a Libyan case study.
Highlights
According to the United Nations Population Division, 54.5 per cent of the world’s population were living in urban settlements in 2016, whereas by 2030 it is expected that 60 per cent of people globally will live in urban areas with one in every three people living in cities of at least half a million inhabitants [1]
As shown by Antuña-Rozado et al [8], during the EcoMedellín project VTT’s EcoCity facilitation enabled on the one hand the articulation of the “grey” and the “green” components, and on the other the change of scale by moving from national and regional policies to a specific local project [8]. In this sense the EcoCity concept, methodologies and facilitation can help to bridge the gap identified in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA)
It is for such process, in its early stages that VTT’s EcoCity concept provides a structured yet flexible framework for conducting the complex dialogue leading to ecocity implementation, which may be its main differentiating factor
Summary
According to the United Nations Population Division, 54.5 per cent of the world’s population were living in urban settlements in 2016, whereas by 2030 it is expected that 60 per cent of people globally will live in urban areas with one in every three people living in cities of at least half a million inhabitants [1]. As shown by Antuña-Rozado et al [8], during the EcoMedellín project VTT’s EcoCity facilitation enabled on the one hand the articulation of the “grey” and the “green” components, and on the other the change of scale by moving from national and regional policies to a specific local project [8] In this sense the EcoCity concept, methodologies and facilitation can help to bridge the gap identified in the implementation of the NUA. The in-depth critical analysis of concrete case studies carried out by some authors like e.g., Caprotti or Cugurullo, has contributed to expose the multi-faceted reality of ecocities and the challenges of the ecocity development process [16,17], both relevant issues not sufficiently covered by the literature It is for such process, in its early stages that VTT’s EcoCity concept provides a structured yet flexible framework for conducting the complex dialogue leading to ecocity implementation, which may be its main differentiating factor. The concept is enriched and strengthened with each case study, and in turn, the concept improved benefits subsequent case studies, resulting in a sort of “continuous improvement feedback loop” which is another novel aspect
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