As Associate Partner and Director at Gehl, Kristian Skovbakke Villadsen operates in the span between political visions and the detailed urban design, which realizes the visions in the everyday life of cities. In the context of the «Salon Basel Next», which will take place on Monday, May 9, 2022 at 20h on the Klybeck, Villadsen will present his ideas of a livable and sustainable city. The question is what this means for the transformation of the Klybeck area.
Architektur Basel: “We need cities where it is easy to do good» you said in an interview two years ago. That sounds simple, almost banal. But it is not. What does it take in concrete terms for urban development to achieve these qualities?
Kristian Skovbakke Villadsen: “Equally banal, one could say that there is always a link between urban life and urban form. However, it stops to being banal when we can extract data on these links to understand how human behavior is influenced by urban design and further use the knowledge to invite for a more sustainable behavior in our cities – making it easy to do good. A good example is the Copenhagen bike culture where 50 percent commute on bike, when asked 2/3 replies they do so because it is the most easy and convenient choice and not because it is healthy, sustainable, or cheap, even though this is true as well. So, in this case the investment in bicycle infrastructure have change the behavior of Copenhagen.”
“Carlsberg in Copenhagen is an area that over the last decade has been transformed from a brewery to a vibrant neighborhood with a strong identity define both by past and present.”
Klybeck Areal in Basel © Roland Schmid
A sustainable transformation of industrial sites must focus as much as possible on the continued use and reuse of existing buildings. This in view of the climate crisis. What are the challenges?
“There are of course challenges linked to topics ranging from pollution to the fact that the industry buildings where design for industry and not housing or offices. On the other hand there is also potential for creating an identity, tactility and of course sustainability in the process. But to me the sustainable angle is also in the potential to transform, enrich, green, and densify our cities without building on greenfield.”
We live in a globalized world. Cities and their offerings are converging increasingly all over the globe – be it in the form of chain shops, coffee houses or hotels. What does it take for a place to retain its specific qualities?
“We work with a number of different elements, from assuring a vision/value program for a area that describes qualities and identity, as well as public space plan and program including ground floor functions and unit sizes, and a retail strategy that has a more holistic economic structure. That combined with early activations which allows startups, retail, and restaurants to test the market on site early in the process.”
Klybeck Areal in Basel © Roland Schmid
Do you know of any examples where the sustainable transformation of a site has been particularly successful?
“Carlsberg in Copenhagen is an area that over the last decade has been transformed from a brewery to a vibrant neighborhood with a strong identity define both by past and present.”
According to current plans, a majority of the existing buildings on Klybeck are to be demolished. How do you assess this?
“I have not yet been to the site or seen the plans, so I am not able to answer.”
“There is no recipe for the right speed, but it is always important to have a process that continues to evaluate – we say measure, test, refine»
The Klybeck is also about economics: the pressure on yields is high. The lettable space has to perform well. Isn’t there a danger that economic interests are prioritised over social and ecological ones?
“Yes, that is a danger in every project, whether it is a transformation of old industry or a new area on greenfield, I think however that we are often better of transforming brownfield than building on greenfield from a sustainable angle, as I mentioned earlier.”
Klybeck Areal in Basel © Roland Schmid
What is your definition of good public space?
“For people to use a public space, we need to feel safe and protected from crime and traffic and it should offer good microclimate. Then it should have a general diverse offering of meeting points, seating, greenery, and active programs for a variety of user groups – or alternative have a specific user group in focus with a main program. Last it should offer something new to the neighborhood or city.”
In Basel, various former industrial sites are currently being transformed in parallel. Be it Lysbüchel, Rosental, Dreispitz, Wolf or Klybeck. This raises the question of growth. So let’s conclude with a fundamental question: How fast can – or should – cities grow so that the social and cultural structures are not overtaxed?
“There is no recipe for the right speed, but it is always important to have a process that continues to evaluate – we say measure, test, refine – and that there is strong platforms for knowledge sharing and a will to implement the feedback from the evaluations in an adaptive process.”
Interview: Lukas Gruntz / Architektur Basel
Kristian Skovbakke Villadsen
As Associate Partner and Director at Gehl, Kristian operates in the span between political visions and the detailed urban design, which realizes the visions in the everyday life of cities. His focus is always on livability and social-, economical- and environmental sustainability, whether the work is on future of mobility, masterplanning, revitalization strategies or urban policies. Kristian has worked with a number of leading cities, developers, organizations and NGO’s, across Europe, North America and China. Kristian has contributed to several books, exhibitions and films and has been connected to the academic world as an external lecture at a number of institutions, as well as being a much-used keynote speaker.
