Interview with Vincent Babeş of Posad Maxwan by Fleur Groeneveld
In 2018, two bureaus, Posad and Maxwan, merged into one, leading to the creation of Posad Maxwan, now forming an international bureau committed to creating healthy and sustainable cities for everyone. TOPOS editor Fleur Groeneveld went to the bureau to talk to Vincent Babeş, urban designer at Posad Maxwan, to see how this bureau faces rising challenges such as climate change, health, and mobility.
Figure 1: Image of a street in Paris, where greenery breaks up the petrification environment. (Source: Fleur Groeneveld)
Background
Posad Maxwan is made up of a diverse team, with many different backgrounds, of more than 50 urban planners, researchers, and data specialists. Babeş notes how health and well-being form the main themes for most of Posad Maxwan’s projects. During and after the industrial era, there was a lot of urbanization, which had its advantages, but also its disadvantages. Problems started to rise physically as well as mentally, such as an increase in obesity and stress. In this prospect Posad Maxwan saw that the landscapes of the future, should focus on promoting a healthy living environment.
The healthy vs industrial city
A healthy living environment is of course a nice idea to work towards, but what would this exactly entail? Babeş explains that this transformation can be achieved in various ways, for example, by constructing cycling paths/routes to stimulate (outdoor) movement and places for recreation to lower stress. But, also by ensuring enough community spaces (schools, supermarkets) for people to socialize and to stimulate walking and biking by reduction of travel distances and enough green structures to provide shade and improve general health. Babeş notes that small aspects can have a big impact in how a landscape is perceived.
There are various spatial aspects that can be worked on to move towards healthier cities. The main way to do so, is by seeing ‘health’ as a concept intertwined through all scales used in city development. What is evident in today’s world, is that there is a lot of petrification surrounding us, with an insufficient level of green. This is partly the result of the car-centric planning trend that developed during the industrial era. However, due to this, a lot of necessities are not planned to be on walking or biking distance. Discouraging people from walking or biking towards work, shops, or recreation centers. Next to this, the car-centric cities often lead to a large amount of pollution.
Moving towards a better future
The negative effects of the industrial city are gaining more (media) attention to this day, raising awareness among all that change is needed to move to a more sustainable and healthy way of city planning. The past few decades, extensive research has been done on how this can be achieved. This has led to a change in perspective on what a city should look like. This has led to increasing the promotion of more green and blue structures, walkability in the city, and enhancing the attractiveness of streets. Improving these aspects could have positive effects on the local economy and human well-being.
One idea that Babeş showed to have a prominent stance in multiple of Posad Maxwan’s and other bureaus’ projects, is the residential street-concept. This concept’s value lies mainly in creating a space containing a social character and shared spaces. These streets are often based on one or more shared gardens, which function as a social gathering space. Here, social interactions are stimulated between the inhabitants of the street/neighborhood. The residential street-concept provides various functions, like recreation, social, and enjoyment, to come together in one space, to be experienced by all who share the garden.
Figure 2: Example of a shared city garden in Amsterdam. (Source: Fleur Groeneveld)
Ingredients of the healthy city
Posad Maxwan perceives the healthy city as a sort of recipe being made up of various ingredients. These ingredients enhance and lean on each other. First inclusivity, meaning that a design should be accessible for all. Posad Maxwan does this to start their design with a focus on the people that need the most, such as children and the elderly. Because, if the design works for these people, then often it will also work for others. Second active mobility, which means that there are enough possibilities for people to move. This can be done by applying the third ingredient of having shops and facilities within a walkable distance. Fourth is enough green and blue structures, reducing heat stress and increasing aesthetics and cooling spaces. This is also interlinked with the fifth ingredient of healthy air. The sixth is having affordable housing possibilities, as this makes it possible for all to benefit from the healthy city, and not just the rich. Lastly, is to offer healthy food where possible. This can for example be done in allotments and pick-your-own forests.
Babeş showed various ways of how this could be achieved. For example, the transformation of a square which first was car-free but not inclusive, to a square with a variation of high and low vegetation, integrated functions, and space for livability. This creates a more open atmosphere for people to enjoy and it also tackles various rising issues as climate change and limited mobility.
From theory to practice
However, ideas often look better in theory than in practice. Babeş notes that if a plan wants to work, observation plays a key role. For example, there needs to be done research on the movement of the sun and shade; where do you have sun at what time of the day, and where is the shadow? For a design to work, it is important, for example, that sitting spaces are not constantly covered by the shade, but the space should also offer enough cooling. Observation will also lead to valuable statistics about peak moments. For example, in the morning it might be busier due to people going to work, while during the afternoon it might be calmer. Later in the evening, another peak appears due to everyone coming home. These statistics can then be used to adjust the program of the space; to create a design that fits the movement of people. Leading to a third aspect that Posad Maxwan values, bottom-up initiatives. This means designing with the inhabitants, rather than for the inhabitants. It’s often proved that this leads to better perceived designs, which have the support of inhabitants.
Babeş also showed how digital measure systems play a big role in the development of a design. Posad Maxwan uses, for example, a GIS tool to measure the potential ecological value. In this tool, different scenarios can be put in, to research the difference in ecological value. This ecological value is created via the measurement of various aspects, such as the amount of green, trees, and variation in species. This helps to evaluate how a design could work out in practice and offers a concrete way of measuring biodiversity.
Figure 3: The healthy city searches for a place where various functions are integrated. The image above shows how human recreation, mobility, housing, and nature can be integrated in an urban environment. (Source: José Voogt)
The landscapes of the future
In the future, a lot will change and challenges in the field of city planning will continue to grow. However, Posad Maxwan believes that cities have the capability and capacity to develop in a way which can tackle these changes and challenges. By striving towards healthy cities, a positive leap can be made for human well-being and the fight against climate change. As we are not certain of what the future holds, it is important to stay flexible and keep adapting towards change. As an international bureau, Posad Maxwan commits itself towards the development of a healthy living environment that can be enjoyed by all.
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