Valeria Fedeli: Science and practice should jointly shape urban development policy

New forms of cooperation between science, practice and urban governance are necessary to solve the problems of modern agglomerations.

Report informs that Valeria Fedeli, professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan, said this during discussions held as part of WUF13.

According to her, universities and research centers should take a more active part in policymaking and create a space where research, expertise and urban governance practice come together.

"In recent years, there has been growing awareness of the need for closer ties between cities and the scientific community, especially in issues of housing policy and agglomeration management. At the same time, existing urban governance models are not sufficiently adapted to the scale and challenges of large agglomerations," Fedeli said.

She noted that attempts to apply classical urban governance structures at the agglomeration level lead not to the elimination of institutional weakness, but to its growth.

According to her, large urban agglomerations require more flexible, dynamic and innovative governance models that take into account their constant development.