The objective of this Action was the development and diffusion of knowledge about the establishment of major urban projects with the proper interaction with economic and social actors. The Action’s approach to the definition of “urban quality“ led to a set of case studies, which might give an appropriate response in different situations. It was a successful strategy, as it allowed the Action to have considerable freedom in accepting a wide variety of issues without having an artificially contrived ‘straight jacket’ within which they had to be fitted. The quality of the urban environments substantially reflects the unique set of circumstances with which they exist. Any definition of this kind would be a degree of conflict between those who preferred a more physical, design-orientated approach as opposed to those with a more process, socio/economic/political approach. One conclusion of the Action was that quality therefore becomes a negotiated element, where the interests of all those concerned are taken into consideration and the inevitable result will be exactly what might be expected, a compromise which incorporates something of everyone’s wishes, but no-one gets all they wish for. Public administrations as well as architects, planners and engineers are aware that in order to achieve quality of environmental and living conditions in large new urban projects, the traditional planning tools need to be reconsidered, particularly using: new methods of interdisciplinary work and interaction amongst sectors within the public administration, innovative models of cooperation between the public and private sector, new ways of involving the stakeholders in the process, flexible ways for adapting process and project to the ever-changing context.
