The 4th day of the summerschool David Dooghe, architect_urban designer, gave a presentation about how city events can unite communties within a city. A example he gave was about the city of Ghent in Belgium, the Ghentse feesten (parties of the city Ghent). The tradion of these parties goes back to the middle-ages and unites people from all over Belgium.
The other example he gave was about the summercarnival in Rotterdam and how it unites the Carribean citizins of the city because of a common goal. The festival is also used as a way the promote the city of Rotterdam in the rest of the Netherlands.
David Doohge has created a new urban design for the coolsingel, it has not been approved by the local goverment but serves as inspiration for the city to use events as a tool to unite its inhabitants and market the city outside of Rotterdam.
The presentation was very interesting because it gave a new perspective on sustainability. Sustainability is more than just 'green' it's also about creating strong communities and branding a city.