Popdistrict #1 The Shared City with Roberto Rocco
We invite you to join us for PopSession #1, the first edition, taking place on the rooftop of De Helena.
During Pop Sessions, we come together to explore the questions that concern us. One of these questions is how we collectively organise space in our city. Who has access? Who decides? What collective models can we apply? And who holds the power?
Each Pop Session consists of a lecture, conversation, and short workshop. Afterwards, there will be space to continue the discussion informally.
Our guest speaker for this edition is Roberto Rocco of the Centre for the Just City. Roberto is an Associate Professor of Spatial Planning and Strategy at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU Delft. Trained as both an architect and spatial planner, he earned his Master’s degree in Planning from the University of São Paulo and completed his PhD at TU Delft.
His research focuses primarily on governance for sustainability transitions, regional planning, and spatial design, with particular attention to spatial justice as a crucial component of these transitions. He has extensively researched and published on informal urbanisation in the Global South, specifically investigating how informal institutions shape and influence planning practices at the local level. This work has resulted in two major publications: The Routledge Handbook on Informal Urbanisation (2019) and Insurgent Planning Practice (2024).
Together with Caroline Newton, he co-directs the TU Delft Centre for the Just City, an initiative dedicated to promoting spatial justice in the built environment through education, research, and consultancy.
> We ask for a small contribution on a Pay What You Want basis.
> Please note that our events operate a no-show policy: registering means attending. Of course, if you can no longer make it, you can always send us a cancellation so we know whether we can count on you.
Sign up: https://event.energiekas.nl/energiekas/reserve/46
About StadsLab
At our brand new StadsLab we reimagine the existing city. How do we design regenerative, climate-adaptive and just ways of living together, from street to region and from civic initiative to institutional policy? StadsLab is a collaboration between EnergieKas and Popdistrict.
About Popdistrict
Pop Sessions are initiated by the Popdistrict Foundation. Popdistrict is a 25,000 m² cultural institution with a tramline running straight through its centre. The district’s public space connects dozens of locations housing creative entrepreneurs and cultural organisations, while also providing a stage for numerous music festivals, including Sniester, Grauzone, and Rewire.