The document describes a study visit program for students in Bucharest, Romania from June 21-27, 2015. The program includes conferences, field trips, and workshops for students to get to know Bucharest and develop concepts for public spaces in the city. It provides an itinerary for the week with details of activities each day, including tours of historical sites, discussions on urban planning, and a workshop for students to collaboratively design proposals for improving public spaces in Bucharest.

1. STUDY VISITS
BUCHAREST
21- 27 JUNE 2015
During the study visit week a group of students
will have the opportunity to get to know the city of
Bucharest from different points of view, and use it in
designing new concepts for public space in the city.
The week will consist of Conferences, Field trips, and
work sessions along side Romanian urban planning
students.

3. Organising team
dr urb Pietro Elisei Nicoleta Silvia
Ioana
Sabina
Dimitriu
Wendy Laura
Cinta
With the support of
Matei Cocheci Livia Morega
URBASOFIA arose in response to the need for a better
cooperation between practitioners, researchers,
industry/private investors and developers, and other
professionals involved in town planning in Europe
providing services in:
• Strategic urban and regional planning
• Social inclusion and urban regeneration,
• Strategies for smart cities
• Communication, dissemination and networking.
We offer knowledge in EU projects, participatory planning
processes and stakeholders involvement and in developing
cultural heritage projects.
VAST EXPERIENCE IN :
• EU-funded projects
• projects connected to territorial cohesion and social inclusion
• landscape and environmental planning
• design and coordination of integrated projects in urban
renewal
ABOUT US

4. dr urb Pietro Elisei
phone no: 0731 159 785
Nicoleta Silvia Ioana
phone no: 0730 710 298
Livia Morega
phone no: 0741 23 2128
CONTACT & ADRESSES
Accommodation: Antique hostel, Splaiul Independentei, Nr. 2A, Sector 3
Confrence venue: Ion Mincu Univesity of Urban Planning and Architecture, 15-
17 Academiei street
Workshop venue: Centre o Excellence o Planning 3-5 Mihail Moxa street
Organizers
LEGEND
Location hostel
Route day 1
Route day 3
Route day 4
Venues

5. 1 Ion Mincu
University,
Academiei 17
2 Centre of
Excellence in
Planning, Mihail
Moxa 3-5
Office
district of
the city
NEW
RESIDENTIAL
DEVELOPMENT
DAY 0 Sunday, June 21st
15:25 - 16:05
17:30 - 18: 45
19:00 - 21:00
Arrival on Otopeni airport, transfer to hostel by bus
Get together and informal walk through the city center
Dinner
DAY 1 Monday, June 22nd
9:30
13:00
14:30 - 17: 00
20:00
Gathering in Lobby to start tour of the historical center
Lunch @ La mama restaurant
Opening conference
Dinner @Trattoria Buongiorno
DAY 2 Tuesday, June 23rd
9 30 - 12 45
13:00 - 13 45
14:00 - 17 00
18 00
Guided tour - Communism and Socialist architecture
Lunch @ La Mama Restaurant
SWISS - RO workshop : Part 1 Understanding the city
Free evening
DAY 3 Wednesday June 24th
9 30 - 19 45
20 00
Field trip by minibus: Flows of Bucharest & city region
Dinner @ SUBURBIA
DAY 4 Thursday, June 25th
9 30 - 19 00
19 00
Work day @ CEP, Moxa 3-5
Free evening
DAY 5 Friday, June 26th
9.00
12.30
14 00
20.00
Joint Swiss-RomanianWorkshop: Proposals & concepts
End of conference buffet lunch
YPLAN LAUNCH CONFERENCE / Free afternoon for Swiss students
Farewell Dinner @ Caru cu bere
DAY 6 Saturday, June 27th
Transfer to Bucharest Otopeni Airport
PROGRAMME 21-27 JUNE

6. DAY 0 SATURDAY JUNE 21
Arrival

7. 15:25 - 16:05
18:30 - 19: 45
Antique Hostel, Splaiul
independentei
19:00 - 21:00
City Grill, 19 Covaci street
Arrival on Otopeni airport
Get together and informal walk
through the city center
Dinner

8. DAY 1 MONDAY JUNE 22
getting to know the context

9. Main sites of the historical tour
Bucharest has a rich history, full of hidden stories and
secrets.During this Monday morning I will accompanny you
on a walk through the city center and discover all of them.
We will go through the evelopemnt of the city from 15th to
20th century, and see how the city transformed and survived
wars, fires earthquakes, communism ... and how it is slowly
developing its new identity: From Little Paris to Little Berlin
and finally, just Bucharest.
More importantly you will have the opportunity to get
background information to fundament the concepts you will
develop by understanding the mixture and contrasting traits
of Bucharest.
Can you guess what are the main sites in the photos?

10. XVth Century XVIIth Century XXth Century

11. 1 Ion Mincu
University,
Academiei 18-20
2 Centre of
Excellence in
Planning, Mihail
Moxa 3-5 9:30
Antique Hostel, Splaiul
Independentei
13:00
La Mama, Lipscani str
14:30 - 16:30
“Ion Mincu” University
of Architecture and
Urban Planning , 18 - 20
Academiei
20:00
Trattoria Buongiorno
Gathering in lobby
Start tour of the historical center
Lunch
Opening conference - understanding the
context: Urban planning in Romania
• Welcome word from Prof.Tiberiu
Florescu, dean of the Faculty of Urban
Planning - “Ion Mincu” University of
Architecture and Urban Planning
• Presentation of Hochschule fürTechnik
Rapperswil – Dirk Engelke.
• The Romanian Planning System – Assoc.
Prof. Gabriel Pascariu, President of the
Romanian Professional Association of
Urban Planners
• Bucharest’s Dynamic Master Plan -
urban planning and large scale projects in
the city - tbd
• Discussion
Dinner

12. DAY 2 TUESDAY JUNE 23
Recent history and its consequences

13. Romania has been a communist state for 25 yeas of its history.
This period has left many marks in the minds of the people but
also in the cities. Bucharest, the crown jewel of the Communist
dictator, has been trnsformed in spectacular ways, usually at the
expense of important historical and architectural heritage.
During the tour you will have the opportunty of accessing
uncharted territory, go behind the monumental fronts of the
main boulevard, learn information about this recent piece of
history and have a deeper understanding of the reasons behind
recent changes of how te community uses and interacts with
public space in the city.

14. Socialist architecture in Bucharest

15. 1 Ion Mincu
University,
Academiei 17
2 Centre of
Excellence in
Planning, Mihail
Moxa 3-5
9 30 - 12 45
Antique Hostel, Splaiul
Independentei
13:00 - 13 45
La mama, Lipscani
14:00 - 17 00
Center of Excellence in
Planning, 3-5 Mihai Moxa
18 00
Guided tour - Communism and
Socialist architecture
Lunch
SWISS - RO workshop : Part 1
Understanding the city
Programme conference
• Introduction
• Comparison Romania - Switzerland
• Case study Bucharest - University
Square
• Defining structre - Dirk Engelke
• Free afternoon or site visit
Free evening

16. DAY 3 WEDNESDAY JUNE 24
from North to South: flows of the city

17. For the past 10 years Bucharest has developed immensely. High
input of investments and large scale infrastructure projects have
changed the face of our city.
The Northern part developed into a corporate hub, but how is the
commuting infrastructure serving this increasing flow of people?
The Southern outskirts is in full development. New housing
complexes are popping up over night without proper, and much
needed, long term planning.Yet more and more people are
moving to these areas. Is the infrastructure and services holding
up to this constant increase in use?
During the trip we will see:
- Pipera and the Promenada mall area
- Housing areas: low rise and high rise
- Largescale infrasctructure: Basarab overpass
- One of the more successful mall area developments: Sun plaza
- New housing developments in the outskirts: Popesti Leordeni

19. Office
district of
the city
NEW
RESIDENTIAL
DEVELOPMENT
9 30 - 19 45
Antique Hostel, Splaiul
Independentei
20 00
Field trip by minibus: Flows of Bucharest
and city region
Route
• Start in Union Square
• Follow main boulevards eading North:
Recent office building development,flow
of people, cars, public transportation
• Continue through the upscale
residential areas of Bucarest: Pipera,
Floreasca
• Communist residential neigborhoods:
Titan,Vitan, Berceni
• Outskirts of Bucharest: urban spawl in
last 5 years
Lunch on the road
Dinner @ SUBURBIA - tbd

20. DAY 4 THURSDAY JUNE 25
Designing public space in Bucharest

21. After the 3 days of seeing and experiencing the city, the swiss
students together with a group of Romanian urban planning
students will work together to define new concepts of design for
public space in the city.
The input from experts during the conference through
presentations, context anlysis offered by the romanian students
and on site visits will form the basis of the proposals,which will be
presented in their final form during the final event on Friday.

22. public space 1
public space 2

23. 9 30 - 12 45
Center of Excellence in
Planning, 3-5 Mihai Moxa
13 00
14 00 - 19 00
19 00
Work morning
• Impressions of students regarding
the first workshop day.
• Best practices regarding public
spaces in Switzerland.
• Presentation by Swiss students.
• Division of students into four
teams.
• Develop ideas for two public spaces
in Bucharest (long term concept and
temporary intervention)
• Work on the concept
Lunch - tbd
SWISS - RO workshop : Part 2
Concept and design
Free evening
2 Centre of
Excellence in
Planning, Mihail
Moxa 3-5

24. DAY 5 FRIDAY JUNE 26
Solutions and concepts developed

25. 9.00
Center of Excellence in
Planning, 3-5 Mihai Moxa
12.30
14 00
20.00
Caru cu bere,
Stavropoleos street
Joint Swiss-RomanianWorkshop
Proposals and Concepts
Content
• Finalizing presentation of concepts and
ideas for two public spaces in Bucharest
• Presentation of the project proposals
developed
• Conclusions. Discussions
End of conference buffet
YPLAN LAUNCH CONFERENCE
Farewell Dinner
Saturday, June 27th
Transfer to Bucharest Otopeni Airport

26. Y PLAN LAUNCH CONFERENCE
13:30 – 14:00
14:00 – 14:10
14:10 – 14:25
14:25 – 14:45
14:45 – 15:30
15:30 – 16:00
16:00 – 16:20
16:20 – 16:40
16:20 – 17:00
17:00 – 17:30
17:30 – 17:45
Welcome and participant registration
Keynote speakers
Representative of the Foundation for Civil Society Development (FDSC)
Foreword:YPLAN, a project for public spaces in Bucharest
Dr. Pietro ELISEI, Project manager and research coordinator, Urban2020 Association
Partnership rationale and implementation team: Asociația Urban2020; Centrul de Excelență în Urbanism
(CEP); HSR Institut für Raumentwicklung (HSR IRAP)
YPLAN –Young Placemakers Initative: Project presentation
Project team, Urban2020 Association and CEP
Coffee Break
Swiss good practice: “Youth room - appropriation of public spaces by youth” & Swiss initiatives for youth
involvement in urban planning - Dirk Engelke, HSR IRAP
The Swiss perspective: results of the study visit workshops on urban space redesign
Dirk Engelke, HSR IRAP
Capitalization related initiatives “Urban Laboratory” (2014), Urban_Dream_Scape (2014) and “Something
cool happens in my school” (2013) – Andreea Lipan, Komunitas Association project coordinator
Interactive Q&A session, discussions and feedback
Conclusions and closing
Center of Excellence in Planning, 3-5 Mihai Moxa

27. Photo sources:
Bucuresti optimist: https://www.facebook.com/BucurestiOptimist?fref=ts
TheYPLAN project aims to raise awareness on public space issues in Romanian cities, given the fact that public space quality
greatly influences social, economic and environmental quality in urban areas.The lack of participatory planning culture in
post-communist problems is clear in the case of Romania, whereas countries highly advanced in involving ample target
groups in planning, such as Switzerland, can offer much-needed expertise. As a result, theYPLAN project seeks to enhance
civic engagement among young people and socially empower them through different educational and design activities – all
this through extending a long-standing partnership in planning research between experts of URBAN 2020 and IRAP.
The project’s main scope is to facilitate the transition towards sustainable participatory planning and civil empowerment in
Romanian cities through innovative best practice transfer of Swiss youth involvement experience and an applied public space
co-design process .The specific objectives seek to heighten the awareness towards the importance of social public spaces,
planning and civic involvement among 7,000 high-school students in Bucharest, build capacity in participatory planning and
design processes among a pilot group of 30 students and assure the on-site implementation of two of the student projects, as
well as the possibility to replicate theYPLAN experience in other cities and ensure a lasting impact of the initiative.
The project’s main target group is the young generation of high-school students who have the opportunity to be formed as
pro-active citizens through the transfer of knowledge assured within the project. However, university students, community
members, Universities and the Municipality of Bucharest are also direct or indirect beneficiaries of the project’s activities.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION