Vrienden van Cobbenhagen Lecture 2020 Urban Society

Urban Society

Vrienden van Cobbenhagen Lecture 2020: Urban Society

Date: Time: 12:00 Location: Cobbenhagen building

The fourth Vrienden van Cobbenhagen Lecture will take place on Thursday 23 January 2020. The theme this year is Urban Society, with a keynote by Harvard professor Edward Glaeser on 'The pros and cons of urbanization'. Alderman of the Municipality of Tilburg, Berend de Vries, then discusses the theme from within the Municipality. The program of the day will start with various sessions in which Tilburg University professors discuss the theme from different points of view.

Edward Glaeser

Edward Glaeser is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, where he has been working since 1992. He is a regular lecturer on microeconomics, complemented by urban and public economics. He was director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and director of the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. He has published dozens of articles on economic growth, the law and the economy of cities. His work focused in particular on the determinants of urban growth and the role of cities as centres of idea transfer. He obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1992. His books include Cities, Agglomeration, and Spatial Equilibrium (Oxford University Press, 2008), Rethinking Federal Housing Policy (American Enterprise Institute Press, 2008) and Triumph of the City (Penguin Press, 2011).

I am very honored about giving this lecture. I look forward to being once again amidst the great urban environment of the Netherlands.

Edward Glaeser

Berend de Vries

Berend de Vries grew up in the Achterhoek, but has lived in Tilburg since 1995. After studying Dutch Law at Tilburg University, he worked there for several years as a researcher. He then became senior policy advisor at the Ministry of Economic Affairs in The Hague. Since 2010 he has been alderman of Tilburg for D66. He is responsible for Economy, Circular Economy, Spatial Planning, Energy Transition, City Marketing, BrabantCity and the projects: Spoorzone, Piushaven and Stappegoor. He is also a district alderman for Groenewoud, Noordhoek and Koningshaven.  Since October 2010, at the request of the national climate ambassador, he has been taking part in the ambassadors' consultations of local authorities and the national government in that capacity.

Urban Society Sessions

Smart Urban Intermediaries - Dr. Merlijn van Hulst

Recent research in four northern European cities has revealed the crucial role played by ‘socially smart’ individuals working to improve life for the residents of challenging, but vibrant, neighborhoods. These ‘smart urban intermediaries’ work with communities to devise ‘win-win’ strategies that tackle problems that public authorities and private market forces find difficult to address. The research team worked closely with forty individuals over two years. The project compared experiences in similar neighborhoods and found remarkable overlaps between how the smart urban intermediaries operate and what drives their commitment to social progress. In the workshop, Dr. Merlijn van Hulst, Associate Professor at Tilburg Law School,  shares the results of the project.

This session is in English.

Buying or selling first in the Dutch housing market - Dr. Florian Sniekers

You are a homeowner with a desire to move. Should you buy first or sell first? In this session you will get an answer to this question, and learn what this answer means for the Dutch housing market. Dr. Florian Sniekers is Assistant Professor at Tilburg School of Economics and Management. His research is about the coordination, dynamics and organization of economic activity in labor, goods and housing markets.

This session is in English.

Historic Atlas of Tilburg - Pieter Siebers and Rob van Putten

Recently the Historical Atlas of Tilburg was published, which deals with the history of the city of Tilburg by means of maps, aerial photographs and images of characteristic buildings and locations. The atlas of university city of Tilburg also contains an appendix with the history of the campus. This session is presented by two of the three compilers of the atlas. Pieter Siebers is an art historian and responsible for the academic heritage at Tilburg University. Rob van Putten is chairman of the Foundation for the Preservation of Tilburg's Cultural Heritage.

This session is in Dutch.

Program

12:00 Welcome for Vrienden van Cobbenhagen and special guests* Faculty Club
13:30

Urban Society Sessions

  • Smart Urban Intermediaries
  • Historic Atlas of Tilburg 
  • Buying or selling first in the Dutch housing market

Location:

  • Blackbox (Esplanade Building)
  • Portrait Room (Cobbenhagen Building)
  • CUBE16 (CUBE)
14:30

Welcome guests Lecture

Break for participants of the Sessions

Foyer Cobbenhagen Building
15:00 Vrienden van Cobbenhagen Lecture Auditorium Cobbenhagen Building
  Welcome by professor Klaas Sijtsma,  Rector Magnificus Tilburg University  
  Welcome by Piet-Hein Roorda, Treasurer Vrienden van Cobbenhagen  
 

Keynote The Pros and Cons of Urbanization, by professor Edward Glaeser

 
  Berend de Vries, Alderman of Tilburg  
  Q&A  
17:00 Networking drinks Foyer Cobbenhagen Building
17:50 Dinner Vrienden van Cobbenhagen* Faculty Club

* On invitation only

Photo: Freddie de Roeck

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