Building the Future of Health

What does a city need to allow sport and physical activity? How can a city and sport be spatially integrated? In Copenhagen and Valencia novel sport cultures have emerged by design: activity and space. For more than 20 years, the spatial integration of sport and city is naturally combined. What makes sport facilities in Denmark unique, what is the role of the Institute for Sports & Architecture? And what were the key factors that allowed the city of Valencia to be a great city of sport and physical activity. A public conversation and debate with René Kural of KADK (The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation, Copenhagen) and Enrique Orts (Fundación Deportiva Municipal – Servicio de Infraestructuras, Valencia municipality), and with Daniel Casas Valle and Vincent Kompier, revealed the essence of long term commitment of municipality policy in order to plan sport in a broad sence, as well of key persons that were involved in this. Issues about the factors of success and failure of spatial and social sport policy were discussed. The debate included also two short presentations were interesting and inspiring examples of both cities were showed and explained.

 

Project: reflection | Client: Healthy Ageing Network Northern Netherlands (HANNN), the Thomassen a Thuessink Foundation; and UMCG, TNO, the Thomassen a Theussink chair of Architecture, Urbanism and Health at the University of Groningen | Team: in collaboration with Vincent Kompier | Year: 2016 | Link