Housing + Homes

Workshop

WE04 - New Urban Grounds: Smart Grassroots Development in Boston

Moderator(s)

• 

  Lindsay Woodson

  Program Coordinator, Innovation Field Lab New York
  Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center for Democratic Governance & Innovation

Panelist(s)

• 

  Matthijs Bouw

  Founding Principal
  One Architecture & Urbanism (ONE)
• 

  Sebastian Mariscal

  Founder
  Sebastian Mariscal Studio
• 

  Courtney Porcella

  Director of Marketing
  coUrbanize

What could a bottom-up development model look like in Boston? How can local actors become leaders in the process? How does the concept of the “circular economy” fare under the real estate and industrial pressures of a forward-thinking city? In this panel, Dutch urbanist and architect Matthijs Bouw will engage municipal leaders and players in discussion about people-focused technology, tools, and development models applicable in the Boston context.

This discussion builds off a case study of Buiksloterham, a remediated brownfield in Amsterdam-Noord. After the Dutch economy crashed in 2008, an informal collective of urbanists and planners proposed to use the area as a living test site for the circular economy, a process designed and driven by local agents and residents.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain insight into unique development and financing strategies for grassroots housing
• Preliminary understanding of how collective-led planning can become a driving force in the Boston context, with applicable examples
• Preliminary understanding of how ‘smart city’ technologies can be applied in grassroots urban development
• Learn of the City of Boston’s current initiatives in ‘smart city-making’ and how they might be further democratized