Publications

Contractual arrangements and entrepreneurial governance: Flexibility and leeway in urban regeneration projects Urban regeneration projects involve complex contractual deals between public- and private-sector actors. Critics contend that contracts hamper opportunities for flexibility and change in these projects due to strict provisions that are incorporated in legal agreements. This article by Martijn van den Hurk and Tuna Tasan-Hok offers contrary empirical insights based on a study of contractual arrangements for urban regeneration projects in the Netherlands, including an analysis of interviews and confidential documents.

Anthropocenic Limitations to Climate Engineering Oomen, J (2019)

Experimental Governance On October 4th 2019, the Urban Futures Studio launched its new book ‘Experimental Governance. From the Possible, to the Doable, to the New Mainstream’. Experimentation is hot but still hardly systematic: countless experiments are started with an intention to work in new ways, but often without a clear idea on how experimentation works and how small experiments can lead to greater system effects. The book argues we can do this differently. Based on countless examples from the Netherlands and other places in the world, the book shows how we can systematically experiment and learn in the public domain.

Imagination for change: The Post-Fossil City Contest Following the Post-Fossil City Contest in 2018, Wytske Versteeg and Peter Pelzer made an analysis of this international design contest that called on artists and designers to visualize a post-fossil era. This paper is titled "Imagination for change: The Post-Fossil City Contest" and was published in the scientific journal Futures.

2050—An Energetic Odyssey: Understanding ‘Techniques of Futuring’ in the transition towards renewable energy This article by Maarten Hajer and Peter Pelzer is based on the Energetic Odyssey: a process centred around an elaborate multimedia installation, introducing large scale exploitation of the North Sea for harvesting off shore wind energy taking place in 2015 and 2016. The article examines the Energetic Odyssey as example of a Technique of Futuring and concludes with a reflection what the Odyssey teaches us about effective Techniques of Futuring to further the sustainability transition.

Learning to Experiment - Realising the potential of the Urban Agenda for the EU This paper by Suzanne Potjer and Maarten Hajer discusses the potential for cities to experiment within and between cities.

Imagining the post-fossil city: why is it so difficult to think of new possible worlds? The phenomenon of climate change requires a rethinking of existing socio-geographical arrangements. This paper, written by Maarten Hajer and Wytske Versteeg, argues that the transition to ‘post-fossil urbanization’ is hampered by the lack of positive imaginations of alternative possible urban futures and post-fossil city life.

Citizen-generated open data: An explorative analysis of 25 cases Albert Meijer and Suzanne Potjer conducted an explorative comparative case study research of 25 cases in different countries. This paper tries to enhance our understanding of this multi-actor collaboration and mapped the variation in citizen motivations to generate data, the organization of data intermediaries and influence on public governance.

The roles of new foresight methods in urban sustainability transformations This paper by Joost Vervoort and Astrid Mangnus outlines a new conceptual approach for increasing understanding of how new foresight processes impact efforts toward urban sustainability transformations.

"How do you know?": Everyday negotiations of expert authority News headlines often argue that science has become just another opinion, that truth has died or that we have given up on facts. Wytske Versteeg employed Conversation Analysis in order to investigate this claim in "How do you know?": Everyday negotiations of expert authority".

Learning with Cities, Learning for Cities "Learning with Cities, Learning for Cities" by Suzanne Potjer and Maarten Hajer analyses the experimental potential of the Urban Agenda for the EU. The essay presents the central principles of this innovative working method (local, horizontal, and vertical) and calls for these principles to be synthesised into a comprehensive system of experimental learning.

Inaugural Lecture 'The Power of the Imagination' On March 17 2017, Maarten Hajer delivered his inaugural lecture as Professor of Urban Futures at the Faculty of Geosciences (English).

Inaugural Lecture 'De Macht van Verbeelding' On March 17 2017, Maarten Hajer delivered his inaugural lecture as Professor of Urban Futures at the Faculty of Geosciences (Dutch).

Dies Natalis Lecture 'Seeing Eye to Eye: On Castles and Cities' On March 27 2017, Maarten Hajer delivered the Dies Natalis lecture. The theme of the Dies celebration was "Town and Gown".

Publication Post-Fossil City Contest How can we use artistic imagination to stimulate our thinking about post-fossil futures? This is the central question in our publication 'De Post-Fossiele Stad; Een zoektocht door verbeelding'. We show the journey of the Post-Fossil City Contest. The booklet includes double interviews with BreukersGodrie (winners), and Ivo Schot (finalist) and his father Johan Schot (Professor in Sustainability Transitions). In two essays, we explore the promises and pitfalls of using artistic imagination to shape post-fossil futures.