Topos 105 – Mayors

to po s. no 105

2018

Mayors

GAME CHANGERS – Robert Muggah on city mayors and how they define our collective fates.

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POLITICS OUT OF THE ORDINARY – Is Ada Colau the new Superwoman with regard to Barcelona’s problems?

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MOSCOW’S NEW CLOTHES – The beauty of the Russian capital’s urban space could come at the expense of democracy.

ISBN 978-3-7667-2423-6

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to po s. no 105

2018

Mayors

T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E V I E W O F L A N D S CA P E A R C H I T E CT U R E A N D URB A N DE S I G N

Contents

THE BIG PICTURE

CURATED PRODUCTS

Page 8

Page 102

OPINION

REFERENCE

Page 10

Page 106

TALE NT VS. MASTERMIND

E DITOR’S PICK

Page 12

Page 108

METROPOLIS EXPLAINED

Page 14 IN THE FAST LANE

Page 40

BACKFLIP

Page 110 SY NERGY EF F ECT S

How creativity fuels city development Page 18

“I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW THE MODEL OF A SUSTAINABLE CITY TO THE WORLD”

Interview with Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike Page 62

GAME CHANGERS

The power of city leaders to face global threats Page 26

ESCAPE PLAN

Page 112 FROM THE EDGES

Page 114 THE THREE CHALLENGES OF CLAUDIA S.

Mexico City's new mayor: a story of hope and misgivings Page 66

IMPRINT

Page 113

POLITICS OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Political activist turned establishment politician: Barcelona's Ada Colau Page 32

MOSCOW'S NEW CLOTHES

The (in)visible transformation of Russia's capital under Sergei Sobyanin Page 70

IN THE FAST LANE

Between economy and ecology: Anne Hidalgo, Paris Page 40 THE MAYORS OF LONDON

A portrait of three office-holders Page 46 WHY WE NEED WOMEN MAYORS

A plea Page 54

THRESHOLDS TOWARDS RESILIENCE

How LaToya Cantrell fights the consequences of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans Page 78 CITY UNDER SHADOWS

Barbara Ludwig, mayor of Chemnitz, and her attempt to protect urban space from right-wing extremists Page 84 WALK OF P LAST I C

MAYORS: FACTS AND FIGURES

Page 56 DEAR MR. BARBER

A letter written by OMA partner Reinier de Graaf Page 58 THE ZERO CITY

Tokyo challenges energy waste and climate change Page 60

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Troy Bodden, mayor of Utila Island, Honduras, paves the way for clean beaches Page 88 LOOKI NG AF T E R T HE NI GHT HAWKS

The night mayor of Amsterdam: Shamiro van der Geld Page 94 CONTRIBUTORS

IN CONVERSATION WITH YURIKO KOIKE

Page 100

Page 62

Mayors

Politics out of Starting as an activist, Ada Colau became the mayor of Barcelona and suddenly found herself sitting behind the doors she used to knock on – but with less power.

High on her political agenda is the fight against mass tourism, criminality, traffic and for better infrastructure.

But her antagonists are waiting for her to fail.

STEPHEN BURGEN

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Photo: TvBoy, TvBoy.it

Before her political career started Ada Colau was an activist, who dressed up as a superhero to fight for affordable housing.

Based on her past, the street artist TvBoy made these artworks.

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Anne Hidalgo, left, and President of Greater Paris Metropolis Patrick Ollier ride a new "VĂŠlib' MĂŠtropole" bicycle during a media presentation in Paris in 2017.

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In the

Photo: picture alliance / AP Images, Kamil Zihnioglu

In 2014 Anne Hidalgo became the first woman to be elected mayor of Paris. She has since pursued a vigorous political agenda of reducing the number of cars on the streets of the French capital. Measures include the creation of pedestrian zones on the lower quays of the Seine River, calming traffic on symbolic squares, and building networks of protected bicycle lanes. But not everybody is happy with her programme of transforming Parisian urbanism. Criticisms range from her political style to the fact that her plans for battling climate change and protecting the environment are aligned with rather liberal economic policies.

CYRILLE VÉRAN

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Mayors

This year, the London Mayoralty turned 18 years old.

Following a referendum, it was established in April 2000 alongside the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the London Assembly to promote the economic and social development and the environmental improvement of the area covering 32 boroughs and the City of London.

This marked the end of a fourteen-year interregnum without strategic leadership, during which national government effectively turned its back onto the metropolitan regions of the United Kingdom. Since then, three very different personalities have held this office, using the limited levers at their disposal to improve the city.

TIM RETTLER

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Photos: picture-alliance/Šdpa – Report/Ian Nicholson; WENN Ltd/Alamy Stock Foto; picture alliance/REUTERS/Toby Melville

The Mayors

Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan (from top): Three very different personalities have held the office of the Mayor of London since 2000 and influenced the city's development each in his own way.

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Mayors

The Zero City Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike intends to turn the Japanese capital into a “Zero Emission City” – a challenging undertaking, given the fact that this one metropolis consumes as much energy as the country of Norway. Furthermore, Tokyo is under pressure to prepare for major environmental disasters, as the biggest urban agglomeration in the world is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. How can Koike handle these daunting challenges?

Yuriko Koike was elected Governor of Tokyo in 2016, becoming the first woman ever to take over as leader of the Japanese capital. Since her election victory, Koike has come to be seen as a political hopeful and possible future candidate for the role of Prime Minister of Japan. She previously served as a Member of Parliament and, for a brief interlude in 2007, as Minister of Defence. Koike is a journalist by training; she studied at the American University in Cairo in the 1970s and began a career as a foreign correspondent. In 2002, she joined the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan's current prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Last year she launched her own political movement, the “Tomin First no Kai”, which promptly won a majority of votes in the Prefecture of Tokyo. While Koike is primarily known as a pro-business, pro-emancipation, pro-privatisation politician, environmental topics are also on her agenda. Among her initiatives are the “Cool Biz and Warm Biz” campaign, the introduction of a carbon tax and the "Mottainai Furoshiki" campaign for the abolishment of plastic

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bags. She also initiated the “Jisa Biz” campaign to promote telecommuting and staggered work hours. Unlike Prime Minister Abe she opposes nuclear energy. As Governor, she serves the 13 million inhabitants of Tokyo. The residents of the Japanese capital live in building stock that is notorious for its poor insulation; how to guarantee thermal comfort and yet reduce the level of energy consumption are major issues. The city actually consumes as much energy as the entire country of Norway.

Following the Fukushima disaster of March 2011, the era of seemingly cheap electricity generated by nuclear power came to a grinding halt. The city as well as the nation as a whole had to quickly find alternative sources for satisfying their high energy needs. In response to this issue, Tokyo launched an innovative emissions-trading system, a global first. In order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from office towers, the city introduced a strict energy-saving scheme. Considering that commercial buildings consume 40 percent of all energy in Tokyo, 1,400 buildings were

Photo: Ulf Meyer

ULF MEYER

An urban giant: Tokyo Metropolis is the biggest agglomeration in the world: 13.8 million people live here. One of the most important challenges is to reduce the high energy consumption of the city's residents.

identified as the biggest energy guzzlers. The city told the building owners to reduce emissions – or face fines. Users who don't meet the emission reduction goals have to buy emission rights from other real estate owners.

However, this cap-and-trade system for emissions is threatening to become a market place for the right to pollute the environment. To be sure, the identified high energy consumption buildings in Tokyo have reduced their energy consumption by an average of 23 percent since introduction of the program.

In addition, a Green Building program was put into place, mandatory for any new construction comprising more than 5,000 square meters of floor area. In order to obtain a building permit, applicants need to submit an environmental plan that highlights twelve aspects. The energy consumption simulations that are part of such a plan are published online by the city. The twelve rating categories cover four policy fields: efficient energy use, use of resources, preservation of the natural

environment and mitigation of heat-island effects. Since 2002 these new norms have been enforced in 1,300 building projects, and since 2010 an Energy Performance Certificate is required for any purchase or sale of real estate. Green buildings can obtain a height bonus if they reach a certain level in Japan’s Green Building program.

Tokyo is better prepared for environmental disasters such as floods or storms than most large or megacities, even in wealthy and technologically advanced countries. Giant locks and sea walls, for example, have been built to prevent tsunamis from impacting the capital. Due to the fact that Japan faces such disasters on average more than once a year, Japanese coastal cities have a long tradition of protecting themselves against excessive rainfall and tidal floods. Accelerating climate change, however, may lead to an increase in the intensity and frequency of such events.

Tokyo, too, is called upon to do more. To adequately address these challenges, cooperation between cities seems key for Koike.

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Moscow’s Under the administration of Sergei Sobyanin, the third Mayor of Moscow since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russian capital has gone through a drastic transformation of its urbanism. In recent years, the inner city was rebuilt and turned into to what seems to be a contemporary city at its best – a city for people. But the appearances are deceiving. The Muscovites are paying a high price for a more liveable urban environment: As the city’s public space has lost its political relevance, the citizens have further forfeited their political rights and influence.

KIRIL ASS

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Photo: Iwan Baan, Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfo

Zaryadye Park, a 35-acre park, urban plaza, social space, cultural amenity, and recreational amenity, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Hargreaves Associates and Citymakers, was opened in 2017.

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Thresholds LaToya Cantrell is the first female Mayor of New Orleans. She led the recovery of one of the city's neighborhoods after Hurricane Katrina.

Can she facilitate the coordination, cooperation and funding that are critical for achieving the city's resilience towards future disasters?

MARK KAMMERBAUER

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Photo: picture alliance / AP Photo / Gerald Herbert

On May 7th, 2018 LaToya Cantrell was sworn into office as the first female Mayor of New Orleans.

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