URBAN DESIGN International

https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-024-00253-4

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

Matthew Carmona1 · João Bento2

Accepted: 10 June 2024

© The Author(s) 2024

Abstract
This paper, in two parts, explores the styles and application of urban design leadership as a dimension of urban design
governance. This second part takes the theoretical framework for understanding urban design leadership developed in Part
1 and applies the theory to the varied practices of public architects across Europe. Based on interviews with protagonists
involved in the delivery of these roles, the paper teases out how these functions can be understood in terms of leadership.
Ultimately, urban design leadership is not a simple thing that should be replicated according to a standard formula from
place to place. Instead, as the case of public architects demonstrates, in different ways that relate to opportunities provided
by local governance and political traditions, such roles demonstrate the value of urban design as a form of design leadership
at the urban scale. Their analysis also demonstrates the value of the framework advanced in Part 1, which proves to be a
robust means to interrogate forms and episodes of urban design leadership. It provides a starting point for a research agenda
that is ripe for further investigation.

Keywords Urban design leadership · Urban design governance · Public architects · Styles of leadership

Introduction, the Public Architect In attempting to theorise leadership in urban design, a

framework was developed based on the essential integra-
Frederik and Mehta (2018, p. 100) note that while urban tive nature of the discipline. The framework first sought to
designers may be nominally leading an urban design pro- theorise the relation of urban design leadership to differ-
cess, “our contributions may be more impressionistic than ent places and situations, and second, to classify the styles
specific, more suggesting than prescriptive. An outcome is of urban design leadership to which that gives rise. Urban
rarely, if ever, in the precise form a designer envisions. Most design leadership concerns both process and outcomes,
schemes and drawings a designer creates serve to facilitate ‘influencing across’ professional, sectorial, and power struc-
discussion rather than represent a final answer”. Leadership tures, and ‘delivering through’ vertical, horizontal, and tem-
in urban design, in this sense, is often diffuse and its true poral integration. The types of leadership were classified
impact difficult to trace, but as Part 1 of this paper suggested, into seven types, loosely categorised as either top-down or
leadership can manifest itself in multiple ways reflecting the bottom-up in their delivery. The result is summarised in the
local political economic circumstances to shape profoundly diagram included here as Fig. 1.
different processes and outcomes. Moving on from the theory, in this second part of the
paper the urban design leadership framework is applied to
leadership practices in Europe. Given, however, that leader-
ship in urban design takes many forms and has wide ranging
* Matthew Carmona influences and impacts, it would be almost impossible to
[email protected] examine the multifarious different approaches in a single
João Bento paper. Consequently, the discussion that follows focusses
[email protected] on exploring the work of one type of urban design leader,
1
The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London,
the ‘public architect’.
14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK There is a well-documented gap in urban design lead-
2
Lisbon School of Architecture, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua
ership at the local level in many parts of the world, and
Sá Nogueira, Pólo Univ. do Alto da Ajuda, 1349‑055 Lisbon, this absence creates a void that is too often filled by
Portugal

Vol.:(0123456789)
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

Fig. 1  Urban design leadership

(image: Matthew Carmona)

uncoordinated project building in a manner that fails to pri- brought together incumbents from Argentina, Bangladesh,
oritise place quality (Shane 2011, p. 211). Increasingly, this Nigeria, Peru, and South Korea, in addition to the countries
gap is being addressed in urban design governance practices already listed (City of Copenhagen 2023).
by the formalisation across governmental tiers of roles that These positions place urbanists in a clearly defined design
go by different names, and may not be manifest in a single leadership role and utilise urban design as a leadership tool
person, but which are most often referred to (in English) as to positively influence the decision-making environment
‘city’, ‘state’, ‘principal’, ‘government’, or ‘chief’ architects. within which others practice (Carmona 2021, p. 477). This
These roles are collectively referred to as public architects second part of the paper focusses on the role of public archi-
in this paper. They can be defined as senior public servants tects in Europe as a means to test out the urban design lead-
charged with providing leadership and direction on urban, ership framework and further explore the styles and applica-
landscape, and architectural design quality for governments tion of urban design leadership.
at different scales, local to national and in the public interest.
While much of the work of these individuals and their
teams focusses on urban design rather than architecture, in Research methods
continental Europe and China where these roles are most
common, urban design tends to be viewed as a sub-set of The empirical phase of the research included desk-based
architecture. Consequently, while other terms with more research and semi-structured interviews with key stakehold-
urbanistic connotations are sometimes used – for example ers representing different cases from around Europe. A first
chief urbanist in Glasgow, Bouwmeester (master builder) desktop phase sought to take stock of the existing design
in Belgium, and chief urban designer in Denver – the noun governance landscape (Carmona et al. 2023a, p. 59) in each
‘architect’ is favoured here, preceded by the adjective ‘pub- of seven European countries, regions, or cities to identify
lic’, denoting service in the public interest. This does not relevant stakeholders, existing policies, informal design gov-
prohibit non-architects filling such roles, although typically ernance tools, and so on.
they are undertaken by architects, and notably often by The cases eventually covered three European nation
women (Holden and Volz 2023). states: Ireland, the Netherlands, and Sweden, plus Scot-
The role of public architect has been on the rise glob- land, as a devolved administration of the UK and Flan-
ally (City of Copenhagen 2023). Europe leads the way with ders, a regional level administration of Belgium. In each,
examples in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Latvia, a public architect was located in the central administration,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Ser- three of which had been established posts for more than
bia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. China now 20 years – Flanders, The Netherlands, and Scotland – one,
requires that its cities appoint a chief architect while many Ireland, since 2009 and Sweden, only since 2018. In addi-
territories/states in Australia and the United States of Amer- tion, two capital cities were included: Copenhagen, which
ica support state or government architects. Elsewhere such has a city architect, and Vienna, where a dedicated architec-
roles are more intermittent but a global meeting in 2023 tural department is run by a Head of Department. Four of the
Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

cases exist within a system of unitary government (Ireland, through a series of semi-structured interviews with the
Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden) and three within a key players in each of the case studies. In total, 23 online
federal or devolved system (Austria, Belgium, and Scotland). semi-structured interviews were conducted between 2018
Table 1 summarises the case studies. and 2022 (Table 2), with the case studies chosen to repre-
The desktop phase informed a second phase, which sent a range of spatial scales, administrative circumstances,
sought to collect different views on the work and limita- longevities (of the positions studied), status (whether inter-
tions of public architects in their different contexts and on nal – within government – or independent) and willingness
the range of tools available and their impact. This occurred to engage with the research.

Table 1  The seven case studies

Case Position Scale Ministry/institution Unit/office Staff Status

Ireland State ArchitectNation state Office of Public Works Architectural Services 90 Internal department
(OPW)
The Netherlands Government Architect Nation state Central Government Real Board of Government 40 Inside agency
Estate Agency (RVB) Advisers
Sweden State Architect Nation state National Board of Housing, State Architect 2a Inside division
Building and Planning
Scotland Chief Architect Devolved Local Government and Architecture and Place 8 Inside directorate
adminis- Housing Directorate Division
tration
Flanders Government Architect Region Presidency of Ministers Flemish Government Archi- 22 Independent office
tect Team
Copenhagen City Architect City City Council City Architect Office 2 Independent office
Vienna Director City City Council Department for Architec- 65 Internal department
ture and Urban Design
(DAUD)
a
Additional staff can be assigned for specific projects/initiatives

Table 2  List of interviews

Case Interviewee

Ireland Ciarán O’Connor, Office of Public Works/State Architect

Kathryn Meghen, Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI)/CEO
The Netherlands Saskia Naafs, Chief Government Architect’s Office/Advisor
Milou Joosten, Chief Government Architect’s Office/Advisor
Freek Ingen Housz, Ministry of Education, Culture and Science/Senior official
Cilly Jansen, Architectuur Lokaal/Director
Sweden Helena Bjarnegard, National State Architect of Sweden
Christer Larsson, former National State Architect of Sweden
Kieran Long, National Architecture Centre and Design (ArkDes)/Director
Scotland Ian Gilzean, Scottish Government/Chief Architect
Karen Anderson, Architecture and Design Scotland (A&DS)/(former CEO)
John Howie, NHS Health Scotland/Senior Official
Flanders Leo Van Broeck, Flemish Government Architect/(former State Architect)
Olivier Bastin, Royal Federation of Belgian Architects' Associations/CEO
Sofie de Caigny, Flanders Architecture Institute (VAI)/Director
Copenhagen Birgitte Jahn, Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces/Ministry of Culture (former advisor)
Tinna Saaby, Gladsaxe City Council/City architect
Tine Weisshappel Holmboe, Danish Association of Architectural Firms/Chief Officer
Camila van Deurs, Copenhagen City Council/City Architect
Katrine Østergaard Bang, Danish Architects Association/Senior official
Vienna Barbara Feller, Austrian Architectural Foundation/(former Director)
Franz Kobermaier, Vienna Architecture and Urban Design Department/Director
Gerhard Jagersberger, Federal Chancellery / Department for Visual Arts, Architecture,
Design, Fashion, Photography and Media Arts / Senior official
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

As well as securing interviews with the public archi- Public architects in Europe
tects themselves, interviews were also conducted with
senior actors in a series of allied organisations in each Although the specific skills and areas of responsibility
territory to obtain an external viewpoint on the role and of public architects vary according to the national and
impact of the public architects, notably, with representa- local context, they range from, at one end of a spectrum,
tives of architecture centres and professional bodies. In the design and/or construction of public buildings to, at
total, two to four interviews were conducted per case with the other, promotional and advisory work. In the former
interviews loosely following a pre-agreed upon structure role, public architects are directly supported by and head
and format, suitably informed by the earlier desktop work. up large technical teams or otherwise work closely with
While this provided structure to the interview process, allied technical (engineering, surveying, planning, etc.)
the approach was essentially inductive in nature in that and financial, property, and law departments within their
no preconceived categories of response were envisaged municipalities. In the latter role, public architects can be
and the resulting content was coded in a latent manner more independent and are typically supported by a rela-
with interpretations drawn from an understanding of the tively small team composed of a group of specialist and
larger narrative that each case presented, based on the administrative staff focussed on engaging with other public
sequence of interviews and the pre-existing policies and and private actors to influence their practices.
tools. This provided the basis for writing up each case In both cases, even when leadership is vested in the
study separately and later analysing them comparatively. hands of an identified individual, leadership will in fact be
While direct quotes used in this paper are not directly shared across a team and will be heavily impacted by the
attributed, all participants agreed to an open and pub- socio-political, development, and governance norms of the
licly available interview process and to their names and jurisdiction (Sutherland et al. 2022). Therefore, despite the
roles being published once they had been provided with use of the singular term – public architect – the research
an opportunity to comment on and correct any errors in focussed on the function rather than the individuals.
the analysis. This reflected both their seniority and the The five cases offer different approaches to leadership
clearly identifiable nature of their public-facing roles equating broadly to the paternal (Ireland), democratic
and rendered anonymisation both redundant and inap- (the Netherlands), laissez-faire (Scotland), transactional
propriate. The work was classified as low risk for ethics (Flemish), and transformative (Copenhagen) leadership
approval. approaches discussed in Part 1 of this paper. The clas-
Every effort was made to ensure a balanced account sification of cases against the leadership typology there-
of the practices investigated, but time and resource limi- fore emerged as part of the inductive research process
tations dictated that interviews were largely conducted and cases were not pre-selected based on a preconceived
remotely (via Zoom) and it was not possible to visit all of notion of how they might fit into the typology. They are
the locations discussed to secure a comprehensive picture illustrative of dominant approaches rather than definitively
of the scope of the roles or their full impact. Space does always of a particular style.
not permit a full discussion of the cases which can instead
be found at Bento 2022, including the cases that are not
selected for discussion here. Instead, in this paper, five of Paternalistic leadership from the State Architect
the cases are used in an illustrative capacity to interrogate of Ireland
the framework advanced in Part 1 and as representations
of the different leadership approaches taken within the The first is a unique case amongst the five examined
remit of a public architect. because it captures a role that is now rare in the neo-liberal
Discussion begins with a short overview of these roles era in which increasingly public-sector works are being
before the five cases are unpacked. The paper culminates commissioned from and often funded and even managed
by using the framework outlined above to compare the by the private sector. By contrast, the State Achitect of
cases to each other and to draw out some conclusions. Ireland maintains a staff of 90 within the Office of Public
In the discussion that follows, the Swedish and Viennese Works as a department responsible for the management of
cases are situated in the typology but given that they a huge portfolio of public buildings.
duplicate a type already covered, they are not discussed in The appointment is for 7 years and follows a rigorous
any depth. Their analysis nevertheless helped to confirm and open recruitment process. The State Architect is then
the leadership typology and, alongside the other cases, in charge of the architectural design, construction, and
informed the conclusions. support services for most public facilities except schools,
hospitals, and military buildings, and develops a wide
Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

range of projects, including major restoration and refur- programme managed through the office means this role
bishment projects for historic properties and cultural insti- dominates, the title – State Architect for Ireland – gives
tutions, office accommodation for government departments the post a weight inside the government machine that has
and other agencies, police stations, prisons, social welfare been helpful in persuading other departments to raise the
offices, and so forth. In addition, the State Architect: design quality of their projects. As one interviewee noted,
“if they do not [agree to] raise design standards he can go
• advises on the implementation of actions in the national to the office of the prime minister and complain that they
policy on architecture; are not cooperating”.
• contributes to the development of procurement and con- This position – within government rather than external
tracting policies for state-funded projects; and acting as an independent advisor to government – is
• advises on legislation and regulations affecting architec- considered vital by the current incumbent because it gets
ture and the built environment (see Fig. 2); and him a seat at the table of policy making. In this position,
• provides design advice on national infrastructure pro- he can use the ‘soft powers’ of persuasion (usually through
jects. informal talks) to argue the case for design quality. As a
civil service appointment, however, the role is non-polit-
Places for People, the National Policy on Architecture ical, helping to ensure consistency across governmental
(DHLGH 2022, p. 41) notes that the office should “act as changes while acting “as an acknowledgement by govern-
a champion and advocate for high architectural, conserva- ment that they value what architects have to contribute”.
tion and landscape standards in the public sector, with a Consequently, the role is largely non-public facing and
focus on information exchange and consistency in respect can best be described as a paternalistic top-down profes-
of standards and quality criteria within architecture and sional role within government. This sets its own limita-
the built environment”. In this sense, the State Architect tions on what can be achieved as state architects are unable
assumes a multi-faceted role leading the Architectural Ser- to openly challenge policy or speak out as and when nec-
vices of the Office for Public Works while also attempting essary, against their political masters. In one of his few
to promote a culture of design quality in the country and public interviews, the incumbent concludes that the Irish
advising the government on architectural policy. In deliv- need to be more like the Dutch in taking a longer-term
ering on this agenda, while the scale of the construction view of cities, including “having more public discussion
about architecture” (McDonald 2020).

Fig. 2  The Office of the State

Architect has participated in
an advisory role on significant
public infrastructural projects
including the Irish Central
Bank headquarters (seen here
in its Dublin Docklands setting)
(image: Matthew Carmona)
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

Democratic leadership from the Chief Government is actioned through a range of informal design governance
Architect and the Board of Government Advisors tools including research studies, awareness-raising campaigns,
of the Netherlands design competitions, research by design, design awards, ena-
bling activities (Quality Teams), and other initiatives and
The Netherlands has had a Chief Government Architect events.
since the beginning of the 19th century, although responsi- Recent examples of the work include an investigation into
bilities have varied over time. Today, the position is located Dutch densification history through a touring map of the Neth-
within the Central Government Real Estate Agency (RVB) erlands setting out the neighbourhoods and villages that were
that is part of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom substantially densified between 2005–2020 and elucidated
Relations. The position is supported by a dedicated office to in three stories based on fieldwork and interviews in specific
provide independent (solicited and unsolicited) advice osten- locations. In 2018, the board also launched the national cam-
sibly on spatial planning issues, policy relating to the design paign Panorama Nederland that aimed to promote a debate
of the built environment, and on the quality of government about the future of spatial planning in the Netherlands by
buildings. These roles include: addressing “how the major social issues of today can be the
key to welcome structural improvements in the future”. An
• selecting architects who will design or renovate state- integral part of this initiative was the development of a hypo-
owned properties; thetical future landscape in the form of a circular panorama
• advising on the redesignation of buildings and lands that intended to promote a debate about how the main social and
the state no longer requires; spatial challenges for the Netherlands could be envisaged
• selecting artists to produce works for new buildings; across the Dutch landscape (Fig. 3).
• overseeing the training and professional competences of To further encourage national debate, the board has pro-
architects within the context of the Architects Title Act; moted a range of design competitions that deliberately address
and challenging issues including: housing refugees (2015), new
• safeguarding the design quality of government buildings forms of care and support for the elderly (2017), reconcil-
and how they fit into their urban context. ing farmer and citizen interests (2018), and reimagining the
urban–rural fringes (2019). The board also utilises ‘research
As well as these formal roles, the Chief Government Archi- by design’ to reach out beyond their core clients. The 3-year
tect also fulfils a figurehead function, maintaining contacts Future Atelier NL2100, for example, commissioned design
with all relevant stakeholders including design professional offices to apply design thinking to a range of spatial challenges,
organisations, schools of architecture, the national register of before subjecting the thinking to scientific analysis and a 3-day
architects, and supporting the network of local bouwmeesters Future Atelier workshop that brought designers, experts, art-
(Schipper and Jansen 2021). Reflecting these tasks, increas- ists, and ultimately the public together to critique the results.
ingly the position has become more outwardly focussed with A key challenge is the complexity of the stakeholders
a goal to stimulate a culture of design quality across the that the Board of Government Advisors needs to engage
Netherlands, utilizing a range of informal design governance with, including governmental departments, local authorities,
tools such as the biennial Golden Pyramid Awards, which non-governmental bodies, and a wide range of other organi-
focus on inspiring enlightened commissioning of anything sations. To address this, many initiatives engage a coali-
from single buildings to public spaces, to nature reserves. tion of partners in order to gather support, garner resources,
Assisting this re-orientation and the general volume of and extend the otherwise-limited reach and influence of the
work, since 2004 the Chief Government Architect has been board (Stegmeijer et al. 2012). Along with its commitment
assisted by two advisors, one focused on landscape policy and to lead a country-wide conversation and engage the wider
the other on urban planning issues. Together, the three roles public in its activities, this reinforces the idea of a demo-
constitute the Board of Government Advisors (College van cratic leadership philosophy in which design quality is not
Rijksadviseurs), each appointed in a part-time capacity for a seen as a technical or elitist concern but instead one that
fixed term of 4 years. The board offers an independent mul- impacts on all citizens who should be given the opportunity
tidisciplinary design support service to different governmen- to engage with emerging policy and practice. The approach
tal departments and pursues a larger cultural agenda through stands in stark contrast to the Scottish case.
a 4-year outwardly focussed plan of work. The 2021–2024
agenda – The Twenty-Second Century Starts Now – proposed Laissez‑faire leadership from the Chief Architect
to reflect on the future of the Netherlands by looking a cen- of Scotland
tury ahead and using “long-term design studios to develop a
shared picture of the strategic choices required for a future- In Scotland, Architecture & Place is a third-tier responsibil-
proofed Netherlands” (College van Rijksadviseurs 2021). This ity of government, sitting under Planning and Architecture,
Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

Fig. 3  A Panorama Nederland

public event (image: College
van Rijksadviseurs)

within the Local Government and Housing Directorate of exhibitions, events, and an education programme for the
the Scottish Government. It is headed by the Chief Architect public as well as through advice, resources, and support to
of Scotland in a position that pre-dates the devolution pro- practitioners in the built environment sector. In 2017–2018,
cess of 1997. The division’s main role is to promote quality it received £1,670,000 for the role, reporting to the Chief
in design and the built environment by advising ministers Architect within government who agrees to their rolling pro-
on design aspects of planning and on the development and gramme of work. As one interviewee commented, A&DS
implementation of policies on design for the built environ- is therefore “a voice that has an independence, but not an
ment. The Chief Architect also leads programmes that link entirely separate view from the government”.
good design in the built environment to the goals and objec- The Chief Architect also oversees a programme of design
tives of the larger directorate with a view to tackling the awards, notably for Quality in Planning, Best Building in
barriers to achieving high-quality development and better Scotland, Client of the Year, best student design work, and
public buildings as a component of delivering thriving and several thematic awards, including for housing design and
sustainable communities. positive impact on local communities. Finally, the division
While the Chief Architect has a cross-cutting role within has involved itself, alongside other organisations, in vari-
government, much of the delivery of the role is done else- ous ad hoc promotional initiatives, including the Year of
where, and not all of the role has an explicit design qual- Architecture and Design in 2016, the Scottish Scenic Routes
ity focus. A major role of the Chief Architect, for example, pilot programme, and the development of the Place Standard
involves assessing the performance of Scottish local authori- (Fig. 4), a formative evaluation tool designed to facilitate
ties through the planning performance framework via the and structure conversations around the quality of places,
publication of quarterly statistics on timescales and approval developed in partnership with NHS Scotland and A&DS.
rates for planning applications. This role marks a classic Those involved in delivering the Chief Architect’s pro-
neo-liberal tool of public-sector performance management, grammes believe the position is important to encourage dif-
but like others of its ilk (Carmona and Sieh 2004), is largely ferent state actors to get involved in policy formulation to
quantitative and process-related with little direct relation to monitor policy progress and to improve inter-departmental
outcome quality. co-ordination directed towards promoting design quality as
Instead, and reflecting a further characteristic of the neo- a corporate aim. The desired goal is a model where “the
liberal state that government should ‘steer’ rather than ‘row’ departments don’t really matter as much as what the out-
(Osbourne and Gaebler 1992), much of the engagement of comes are”, but the position is largely an internal and admin-
the Scottish government with improving quality is devolved istrative one rather than an externally focused and delivery-
to an arm-length non-departmental public body (NDPB), oriented one, making the Scottish case an example of a more
Architecture and Design Scotland. In turn, A&DS promotes laissez-faire approach than others, or at least one set within a
the value of good architecture and sustainable places through neo-liberal governance framework and therefore deliberately
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

and assisted by an expert group, the postholder delivers

this mission through a variety of informal design govern-
ance tools with a particular emphasis on the use of design
competitions, thereby “assisting clients of public and pub-
lic–private projects in the field of designing and realizing
buildings, public space, landscape and infrastructure”
(Flemish government 2020). According to an interviewee,
this should be done in order “to improve the quality of
building projects and plans within their budgetary mar-
gins, and to search for an optimal price–quality ratio for
public design assignments”. The role is therefore focused
on assisting clients to become better without attempting
to substitute for them.
Reflecting the cross-cutting nature of architecture and
the built environment, the Government Architect’s office
is envisaged as a “transversal taskforce” located within the
Chancellery, Public Governance and Foreign Affairs Depart-
ment, under the responsibility of the Minister-President of
Flanders. In this location, the role constitutes three separate
but related entities:
Fig. 4  Place Standard final spider diagram (image: www.​place​stand​
ard.​scot) • Flemish Government Architect: who is appointed on a
fixed 5-year term to provide both solicited and unsolic-
ited independent design advice to the different depart-
arms-length from where the action is. The Chief Architect is ments and agencies of the public sector. This is described
not assisted by the position being a mid-level post within the by the incumbent as “the right to speak freely and give
governmental structure. This means that, despite the title and opinions on what is better, without having the power to
the small team that supports the activities, inter-departmen- decide”.
tal barriers continue to be difficult unless the Chief Architect • Expert group: composed of a maximum of four experts
can garner enough political support for initiative. That is not from different fields that may provide input and substan-
always possible. tive support to the work of the Government Architect.
The case sits in contrast to that of the Swedish state archi- • The Flemish Government Architect team: made up of 15
tect. Located within the Swedish National Board of Housing, people to assist with the implementation of the mandate.
Building and Planning (Boverket), the post reflects a similar The team contributes expertise in public commissioning
role, focussed largely on internal coordination and advocacy and contributes a broad experience on the delivery of
across government and its agencies. In that case, however, architecture and urban development.
despite a staff of just two and no dedicated resources, the
culture of collaboration across the Swedish government and Working within this structure, by far the most important
the role’s responsibility to chair a few key governmental of the tools used by the Government Architect is the Open
committees including the Council for Sustainable Cities, Call (Schreurs 2000, p. 63; Ibelings 2009, p. 64). The Open
offers the necessary leverage and influence to move beyond Call represents an innovative way of selecting designers for
the laissez-faire model. Both Scotland and Sweden neverthe- public commissions and in the process supporting public cli-
less share some of the transactional qualities that mark the ents to raise the quality of public developments. Based on a
next case, Flanders. two-phase design competition that complies with public pro-
curement law and with the European competition rules, the
Transactional leadership from the Flemish process is divided into ten phases, beginning with the team
Government Architect assisting public clients with drawing up a project definition
before bringing them into contact with a range of designers
Flanders is the Dutch-speaking semi-autonomous northern via a 6-month call for public commissions. Each Open Call
region of Belgium. The Flemish Government Architect includes a wide range of urban and architectural projects
(Vlaams Bouwmeester) is an independent expert appointed in various fields (education, culture, housing, etc.) across
by the regional government as a public official to promote different scales, from social housing and public buildings
a high-quality-built environment. Leading a small team to infrastructure projects such as bridges and roads (Fig. 5).
Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

The Open Call is free of charge for all public and • the Master's Test, which challenges public clients to pro-
semi-public organisations in Flanders with half of the vide young designers and artists with the opportunity to
commissions originating from local authorities (city and carry out their first public contract under the guidance of
municipal authorities) and the other half from the Flemish a project director appointed by the Government Archi-
government including regional public services, housing tect;
agencies and not-for-profit organisations in the care sector • pilot projects, that since 2011 have linked research by
(Liefooghe and van den Driessche 2019, p. 16). After the design processes to the implementation of concrete pilot
process is concluded and the contract between the designer projects developed in collaboration with different stake-
and the public client is signed, the draft design of the holders, with the intention of delivering new insights for
winning proposal is developed according to the specified urgent spatial and social challenges;
terms of the contract, with the option for the public client • Lab space, which delivers research and critical analysis
to ask for further advice and expertise from the govern- relevant to design-based problems; and
ment architect to help ensure that design quality is actually • generally being active in debates, publications, the media,
delivered. and international conferences, all designed to raise the
While the very visible nature of the Open Call means profile and significance of good urbanism in Flanders.
that it is the tool that gives the Government Architect a key
purpose and legitimacy, a range of other informal tools are Each of these activities broadens the work and impact of
also used. These include: the Flanders Government Architect, as “powerful means of
stimulating a critical climate”, but it is the Open Call that
• direct design advice to public and semi-public clients dominates the work of the office. It is a tool fundamentally
(although not to the private sector); predicated on the transactional leadership goal of signing
• the Bouwmeester Scan, which maps out the strengths and contracts to deliver great design using the means of the lim-
weaknesses in the spatial policies of municipalities and ited design competition to ensure that contracts are based on
develops a proactive agenda of interventions required for a design ambition that factors quality into the process from
a transition towards a high-quality living environment; the start. Yet this is all done in an advisory capacity as the
• the Wivina Demeester Prize for Excellent Commission- post-holder does not have any formal powers, either to sign
ing, a biennial award intended to recognise exemplary contracts and commission work or to regulate the results.
commissioning processes; The post is also ultimately political because government

Fig. 5  Distribution of the Open Call projects between 2000 and 2013 (image: Vlaams Bouwmeester)
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

architects need to get their programmes agreed by minis- In undertaking this role, the City Architect is expected
ters, and to do that need to be aware of political sensitivities to provide nonpartisan advice, although with views typi-
while being careful to focus on technical and professional cally communicated internally (not made public) so as not
issues and avoid politics. This is particularly obvious dur- to undermine trust in the role. Externally, the City Architect
ing the recruitment process where applicants can feel con- assumes a “loyal position” and does not comment on politi-
strained in what they can say and propose. Despite this, once cal decisions; although this does not mean the role is apoliti-
in post, the role offers an independence from the sponsoring cal. As one interviewee observed, “it requires an ability to
administration that many other public architects, including navigate in stormy weather, requires clear argumentation,
in Copenhagen, do not possess – “the right to contradict and requires an ability to quickly create, overview, and pri-
the government, because the job involves speaking from a oritise what is important”. This extends to promoting the
professional perspective” and from a position of political involvement of citizens in debates about urban quality and
neutrality. representing the mayor in a wide range of events as a city
ambassador.
Transformative leadership from the City Architect The City Architect also has an important role in oversee-
of Copenhagen ing the quality dimension of municipal agencies, notably By
& Havn (City and Port), a municipal company that delivers
Copenhagen has a reputation as one of the most liveable cit- long-term urban development across Copenhagen. The City
ies in the world. As one of 98 local government authorities Architect meets regularly with By & Havn’s planning direc-
in Denmark it aims to keep that reputation, in part through tor to discuss ongoing projects, and ultimately is required to
the aspirations set out in the city’s architecture policy, Archi- approve the quality of projects before By & Havn can sell its
tecture for People (City Council of Copenhagen 2017), and plots for development. Only after this approval can develop-
through the work of its City Architect. ers buy plots and apply for a building permit.
The City Architect is appointed to help drive a proac- The City Architect also chairs the funding board for pub-
tive design quality agenda while the policy lays down the lic housing, which reviews projects from the Public Housing
general principles relating to how the city council intends Agency, and sits on the jury for awarding municipal fund-
to achieve better-quality environments. For administrative ing programmes designed to support local projects aimed
purposes, the City Architect sits within the Department at improving public spaces and city life in Copenhagen.
of Planning, Analysis, Resources and C ­ O2 reduction. The This includes the Sharing Copenhagen initiative, which
position dates back to the late 19th century and until 1999 involves citizens in the improvement of the city by invit-
headed up a large municipal building programme that is now ing innovative ideas to create new ways of using streets and
outsourced with the post re-focusing on its current strategic open spaces, including identifying temporary uses for urban
mission of providing design leadership across the council. spaces (Fig. 6). Finally, the City Architect sits on the jury
The City Architect: for design competitions promoted by council departments
and agencies (a requirement set out in the city’s architecture
• advises all the municipality's administrations and politi- policy for all major projects); coordinates the City Council
cal committees; Building Award, which dates to 1903; and works with the
• provides advice on the quality of local plans and projects; planning authority to optimise the impact of regulations on
and design, helping to draw up specific design guidance as and
• exerts influence by, for example, taking part in depart- when required.
mental meetings, sitting on design review panels, and Notwithstanding, the breadth and depth of the role’s influ-
conducting inspection trips to local areas. ence across the city’s programmes and the gateway func-
tion it provides in relation to transformative projects from
All this helps to ensure that quality design infuses the work massive regeneration programmes to local public spaces
of the authority with the City Architect seen as the leader projects, the role only attracts a tiny team of two people,
on architectural matters with an important part to play in an architectural assistant and an administrator. Incumbents
developing the city’s urban strategies and local district plans, therefore rely on their status and position at the centre of an
and in shaping its mobility, parking, climate adaption, and ongoing transformation to deliver on their ambitions through
other transformative projects. Indeed, being allowed to work “clear argumentation … and being able to prioritise what is
across the city administration, the City Architect operates important” utilising constructive critique as well as persua-
primarily as a change agent, helping to foster an organisa- sion and ongoing dialogue. This is something more easily
tional culture that values and prioritises design quality as a achieved at the local level, rather than at the national or
corporative aim. regional scale encompassed in the previous examples, where
Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

Fig. 6  Citizen-inspired public

space experiments in the city
centre (image: Matthew Car-
mona)

the range of stakeholders and their interests are so much in the research (see Table 2), nine key distinct roles pre-
more diverse. dominated and are represented in Fig. 7 (see also City of
At any scale, such influence is far from guaranteed and Copenhagen 2023, p. 14). These move progressively from
requires a long-term commitment and ongoing political sup- more delivery-oriented functions, utilizing the harder powers
port. In Vienna, for example, the presence of a Department of the state, to those more focused on supporting a culture
of Architecture and Urban Design with a director, rather than change at the softer end of the power spectrum (Carmona
a cross-cutting City Architect, has tended to lead to a more et al. 2023a):
siloed leadership style and the absence of a clear city-wide How these functions were delivered across the different
champion to make the case for quality across the authority. cases confirmed the essential qualities and practices repre-
This, in turn, has led to a more limited role as design advisor sented in the theoretical framework; albeit that they are illus-
rather than leader of change (Tiesdell 2011). trative in the sense that while they illustrate examples of five
of the seven types of leadership captured in the framework,
none are absolute, or rather not absolutely always utilised
From theory to practice in any of the organisations examined. This is because all
the public architect roles employed multiple practices and
This paper, in two parts, has theorised urban design leader- tools, and so while it may be possible to detect a ‘dominant’
ship (in Part 1) and used the result as a lens through which leadership style through their chosen tool(s) and means of
to examine the roles of public architects in Europe (in Part delivering urban design governance, these inevitably varied,
2). This penultimate section of the paper returns to the the- along with the styles of leadership, even in the same organi-
oretical framework summarised in Fig. 1 to ask what the sation. Beyond the realm of urban design, this confirms the
experience of public architects says about the styles and assertions of Goleman (2000), Hersey et al. (2012), and oth-
application of urban design leadership as a dimension of ers who argue that leadership styles should be situational,
urban design governance. used in the right measure at just the right time to get the right
results; in this case, better design quality and a culture that
Styles of urban design leadership routinely delivers it.
With these provisos, the five public architect cases
Through the lens of public architects in Europe, the diverse discussed in this paper provide illustrations of different
practices explored through the cases previously discussed approaches to leadership. The focus on a public building
help to illustrate the range of leadership approaches utilised programme shapes a paternalistic approach in Ireland;
in the governance of urban design in administrations that strongly outward-looking and engaging programmes in the
have prioritised design quality sufficiently to establish and Netherlands characterise a democratic leadership style; in
maintain such a position. Across the seven cases examined Scotland, the performance management preoccupation of
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

Fig. 7  Nine roles of public architects

the Scottish government (including of other organisation) of change by ‘influencing across’ the range of development
indicates a more hands-off and laissez-faire style; in Flan- professionals, the sectors (public and private) and the web
ders, the strong emphasis on managing an open competition of power, engaged in shaping places. This is fundamentally
process reveals a transactional leadership approach; while concerned with ‘connecting through’ the vertical, horizon-
in Copenhagen the approach to urban design leadership tal, and temporal integration of urbanisms as represented
continues on a transformative path, not least through the in left and right sides of the theoretical framework (Fig. 1).
key decision-making role of the City Architect in catalytic On these issues, the case studies also revealed key insights.
regeneration and development projects.
Perhaps understandably, the focus on the work of public Influencing across
architects in Western Europe did not reveal any examples
of autocratic urban design leadership or any places where Public architects had both a symbolic and direct impact on
there was a complete absence of leadership. That is not to the culture of design across the scales, from national to local,
say that these styles do not exist in Europe, undoubtedly “leading and encouraging central and local governments to
they do, just as they exist elsewhere. It does show, however, aim for better places” and “to make connections with other
that within democratic Western governments there is almost departments and stakeholders”. In most cases, public archi-
always some focus on design (even if crude) and almost tects use soft powers with a focus on coordinating, persuad-
always some accountable governance mechanism through ing, and advising to lead a process of participation and
which it is mediated (Carmona et al. 2023b). negotiation across different policy and development actors
(public and private), and this was seen as crucial to improv-
Application of urban design leadership ing decision-making processes in policymaking as well as in
relation to major public and private projects. However, the
Turning from the styles of urban design leadership, the extent to which they act as a publicly facing and authorita-
theory advanced in the first half of this paper also sug- tive design champion (more-or-less independently leading
gested that urban design needs to shape and lead a process from the front), or alternatively as an internally facing policy
Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

or process manger (concerned with fine tuning the govern- the quality of the designed environment. This is a role played
ment machine), varied considerably. It limits how these with more-or-less enthusiasm depending on the personality,
actors are perceived and the sorts of impacts they can have. communication skills, and vision of the post-holder, as well
Some public architects are pro-active agents of change, as the tools and resources at their disposal.
promoting new concepts and ideas with local stakeholders While many traceable outcomes from the work of public
and the wider society, while others play a more advisory architects are likely to be long term, diffuse, and difficult to
and technical role within their respective public adminis- trace, the outputs of those that engage directly in develop-
trations. These different models of public architect can be ment offer an opportunity to set standards and to lead by
classified as either ‘independent’ or ‘integrated’ and both are doing, promoting good practice as owner, developer, com-
important (City of Copenhagen 2023, p. 14), but they are not missioner, and user of public buildings. Examples of this
necessarily compatible. This is because the former requires type were seen in Ireland and the Netherlands where public
a certain freedom and detachment to optimise the role while architects maintain a key role in respective public building
the latter, by its nature, is more constrained and integrated programmes. Public architects are also perceived to play a
within existing bureaucracies. Both types ultimately operate critical role in delivering design advice on the quality of
within a political setting and all public architects, to greater key national and local projects (depending on the context),
or lesser degrees are constrained by that, just as they use selecting design teams, monitoring, and proposing amend-
it to advance their agendas and draw their legitimacy. The ments to policy and regulations to improve decision-making,
degree to which they are constrained depends on the style of and generally acting as an ambassador for the cause of more
leadership that they adopt and into which they fit, and this is integrated and sustainable places.
determined by the larger political-economy and governance Reflecting the collective experience of the interviewees
traditions within which they work. engaged in the case studies, the role played by public archi-
Despite the differences, public architects have generally tects is widely perceived to have led to better processes of
been effective at building bridges across professional, secto- urban design governance, with better coordination between
rial, and power divides, by using their authority and prestige different development stakeholders and higher-quality, more
(rather than necessarily any formal powers) to overcome silo sustainable design outcomes. A good part of this impact is
thinking and to challenge actors to operate in a more joined- not expressed in visible outcomes, but instead as invisible
up fashion. They nevertheless use a wide range of tools of drivers of design governance processes by raising ambi-
urban design governance to achieve their goals, depending tion and the time, skills, and resources devoted to achieving
on their administrative positions and level of resourcing, design quality. However, there are also limitations to what
from very soft analysis, influencing and encouragement tools can be achieved.
to harder regulatory tools and even direct project delivery.

Delivering through Endemic challenges

If public architects act to positively narrow professional, sec- Although the appointment of a public architect reveals an
torial, and power divides, as the interviews suggested they awareness in political circles of the value of design quality,
do, then the ultimate test of their impact will be observed this recognition may not be enough to substantially drive a
in the vertical, horizontal, and temporal integration of the culture change. Alongside setting up a dedicated support and
resulting urbanisms. In the long term, this means shaping a delivery infrastructure – aka the public architect – govern-
culture in which the system of norms and values consistently ments also need to consider the larger context within which
prioritises high-quality urban design. As one interviewee these roles operate. Public architects need to have strong
noted, “We don’t have a state engineer, we don’t have a state political backing, enough resources to mobilise appropri-
surveyor, we don’t have a state builder, but we do have a ate design governance tools, and the long-term support to
state architect – and I think that has been an acknowledge- deliver cultural change. Three key barriers to achieving this
ment by government that the quality of what we are building, were apparent in the case studies.
the quality of places and how we protect our architectural
heritage requires an architect at senior level”.
Arguably the establishment of such a position (in which- Interdepartmental barriers
ever form it takes) represents a key moment in time when
such as culture change is officially backed and prioritised, First, because the built environment interfaces with almost
and by fostering awareness about the importance of design every other policy remit, a complex array of political and
quality, public architects can help promote a change in executive decision-makers become sucked into its orbit. To
mindset among both public and private actors concerning promote a holistic perspective on design quality therefore
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

requires that public architects interface with a wide range A contested and complex arena
of departments and agencies, many of whom are not cen-
trally engaged in shaping places, for example education, The interviewed public architects almost always aspired
health, delivery of social services, and so on. This has to build such a design-quality culture, but the case studies
become ever more complex, as the state fragments and suggested that this is a long-term goal and very difficult to
outsources key functions, including the wholesale delivery achieve rapidly. The dominant reasons for the replication of
of spatial planning and design, as has occurred in Sweden. poor-quality developments are themselves complex and var-
The cases had attempted to deal with these barriers in ied between case studies, but always involved a wide range
various ways: through internal performance management of actors in the production and management of urban space.
arrangements (e.g. Scotland); by establishing a small nim- Such challenges, with the possible exception of regimes
ble public architect function able to reach across differ- where autocratic leadership is the norm, are inevitable as the
ent remits from a position outside or bureaucracies (e.g. built environment is a contested space and how it is shaped
Flanders); by building in quality gatekeeper functionality is at the heart of this, as, therefore, are public architects. The
into the public architect role (e.g. Copenhagen); through result, as the Brussels Bouwmeester has confirmed, is the
building genuine and wide-ranging partnerships that even need for public architects to be tightrope walkers (criticizing
reached out to the general public (e.g. the Netherlands); when necessary but avoiding becoming the “perpetual voice
and by ignoring the challenge altogether and situating the of opposition”); coalition builders (between public, private,
public architect function in a single narrow arm of govern- and civil society voices); creative bureaucrats (encourag-
ment (e.g. Ireland). Despite the differences, interdepart- ing public actors to be less siloed); more transparent (about
mental barriers remained a hinderance across the board to the logic behind key decisions); while choosing their battle
the implementation of such a cross-cutting public policy wisely (Carmona et al. 2023a, p. 244).
function as the delivery of urban design quality. This was Most are sanguine that only by enabling a culture change
despite public architect functions being set up precisely to in relation to the built environment will it be possible to
deal with these challenges in the first place. routinely achieve more integrated and sustainable places.
Some public architects, notably those in Copenhagen and
Vienna, were already working within a quality culture that
Absence of power is widely recognised as such, internationally. Consequently,
however they deliver their urban design leadership, they are
Second, since most tools at the disposal of public archi- pushing on an open door. Elsewhere, the door is still shut or
tects fall into the informal tools category, or “tools without only partly ajar and the role of the public architect is part of
teeth” (Carmona et al. 2023a, p. 62), post holders largely the response to prying it open.
remain in an influencing and advocacy mode, rather than
being able to ‘require’ that certain actions happen, for
example that poor-quality developers are not employed. Conclusions
Although this is not always the case, and some positions
come with direct responsibilities for projects (e.g. Ireland) Ultimately, as this paper has shown, urban design leader-
and commissioning processes (e.g. Flanders), where that ship is not a simple thing that should be replicated accord-
does not occur, public architects are aware that they are ing to a standard formula from place to place. Instead, as
working within a context where development is still mostly the case studies suggest, the specific way in which govern-
a profit-driven process and commercial pressures often act ments exercise urban design leadership will vary from place
against long-term investment in design quality. In such to place, according to the local political, governance, and
cases, public exhortations to the contrary can all too often development contexts and traditions. These different styles
fall on deaf ears. were shown theoretically in Part 1 of this paper as part of an
Even where project delivery powers are in place, this urban design leadership typology. Part 2 demonstrates that
limitation extends to procurement processes in the public despite the similar political-economic circumstances of the
sector which remain defined by EU and local regulations different cases, most urban design leadership styles exist in
that do not always recognise the value of quality beyond Western democratic contexts, and there is a clear choice to
lowest price criteria. Public architects continue to struggle be made between them.
with such processes and their lack of formal tools and a It is also clear from the growth of public architect posi-
relatively low status in the final decision-making pecking tions across Europe and elsewhere that governments across
order does not help. Influence is at the core of these roles the scales are increasingly perceiving the value and poten-
but ultimately it will only go so far unless and until a more tial of more hands-on and persuasive forms of urban design
fundamental culture change is facilitated. leadership. Today, this is widely perceived to be necessary to
Urban design leadership: Part 2, the case of public architects

create the right conditions under which well-designed places Ministry of Regional Development. https://​www.​uur.​cz/​media/​
can more consistently emerge, although the application of w3opg​xzy/​state_​city_​archi​tects_​20221​004.​pdf.
Carmona, M. 2021. Public place urban spaces, the dimensions of
these roles does not ipso facto solve the challenges that in urban design. New York: Routledge.
the first place gave rise to sub-standard development. They Carmona, M., T. Gabrieli, and J. Bento. 2023a. Urban design govern-
are, however, a proactive step on the way. ance, soft powers and the European experience. London: UCL
Extending this learning to the theory of urban design Press.
Carmona, M., T. Gabrieli, and J. Bento. 2023b. Bridging the design/
leadership conceptualised in the first part of the paper, the finance divide: Adding ‘design strings’ to the finance of urban
framework (Fig. 1) has provided a robust basis from which development. Journal of Urban Design. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1080/​
to interrogate and classify the forms of leadership utilised 13574​809.​2023.​22065​49.
by public architects. While this is just one form of urban Carmona, M., and L. Sieh. 2004. Measuring quality in planning, man-
aging the performance process. London: Spon Press.
design practice and other forms are certainly more preva- City Council of Copenhagen. 2017. Architecture policy for Copen-
lent and potentially influential, we can confidently conclude, hagen (2017–2025): Architecture for people. Copenhagen: City
first, that urban design can be framed as a form of design Council of Copenhagen.
leadership at the urban scale and, second, that the frame- City of Copenhagen. 2023. Global City and State Architects Meeting
UIA23. Copenhagen: The Chief City Architect Office.
work advanced in this paper for understanding it provides College van Rijksadviseurs. 2021. Agenda 2021–2024: de 22e eeuw
a robust means to interrogate other forms and episodes of begint nu. Den Haag: College van Rijksadviseurs.
urban design leadership in the future. Department of Housing, Local Government & Heritage (DHLGH).
This is useful because this study leaves many questions 2022. Places for people – the national policy on architecture.
Dublin: Government of Ireland.
unanswered and for which further studies will inevitably Flemish Government. 2020. Vision note to the Flemish Govern-
be required. These include, but are not limited to: How do ment: Flemish Government Architect (Visienota aan de Vlaamse
the position of leaders within the government hierarchy (or Regering: Vlaams Bouwmeesterschap). Flemish Government.
outside of it) impact their effectiveness? How do attitudes to https://​vlaam​sbouw​meest​er.​be/​sites/​defau​lt/​files/​uploa​ds/​Visie​
nota%​20Vla​ams%​20Bou​wmees​tersc​hap.​pdf.
the formal regulation of design impact the culture and suc- Frederik, M., and V. Mehta. 2018. 101 things I learned in urban
cess of otherwise informal modes of leadership and urban design school. New York: Three Rivers Press.
design governance? Which styles of urban design leadership Goleman, L. 2000. Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business
are ultimately most successful, in which circumstances and Review 78 (2): 78–90.
Hersey, P., K. Blanchard, and D. Johnson. 2012. Management of
why? How do political imperatives and the power wielded organizational behaviour: Leading human resources, 10th ed.
by public and private stakeholders support or undermine dif- London: Pearson.
ferent design leadership styles? And which roles and respon- Holden, S., and K. Volz. 2023. Women and design leadership. A
sibilities of urban design leaders most effectively enhance new era of architects in the public sector. Ngā Pūtahitanga/
Crossings 39: 181–198.
the delivery of urban design governance and its outcomes? Ibelings, H. 2009. Designing for the Public. Flemish Govern-
This article and its pair have begun unpacking urban ment Architect 1999–2009. Amsterdam: SUN Architecture
design leadership, but there is still much to understand. A Publishers.
starting point is offered here on that journey. Liefooghe, M., and M. van den Driessche. 2019. Open call, 20
years of public architecture (visitor’s guide). Brussels: Atelier
Bouwmeester.
McDonald, F. 2020. State architect hopes to push Ireland in Dutch
Data availability Not applicable.Open Access This article is licensed direction, Ciarán O’Connor urges ‘proper dialogue’ on architec-
under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, ture in Ireland. The Irish Times, 25 January. https://​www.​irish​
which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction times.​com/​cultu​re/​art-​and-​design/​state-​archi​tect-​hopes-​to-​push-​
in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the irela​nd-​in-​dutch-​direc​tion-1.​41430​58.
original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Com- Osbourne, D., and T. Gaebler. 1992. Reinventing government: How
mons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector. New
third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative York: Plume Publishing.
Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the Schipper, K., and C. Jansen. 2021. Van Metselaar tot Filosoof. In
material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons Bouwmeesters: van metselaar tot filosoof. Den Haag: College
licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regula- van Rijksadviseurs/Architectuur Lokaal.
tion or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission Schreurs, J. 2000. A look at Flemish architectural policy. An inspec-
directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit torate in the making? Archis 5: 61–65.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Shane, D.G. 2011. Urban design since 1945 – a global perspective.
Chichester: Wiley.
Stegmeijer, E., R. Kloosterman, and T. Lupi. 2012. Bouwen op een
sterk fundament. Een tussenevaluatie van het architectuurbe-
References leid. Den Haag: Nicis Institute/Platform 31.
Sutherland, N., R. Bolden, G. Edwards, and D. Schedlitzki. 2022.
Bento, J. 2022. State and city architects. The role of design leadership Putting leadership in its place: Introduction to the special issue.
in fostering spatial quality and place-making culture. Prague: Leadership 18 (1): 3–12.
 M. Carmona, J. Bento

Tiesdell, S. 2011. Design champions – fostering a place-making Value. Matthew completed his PhD at the University of Nottingham
culture and capacity. In Urban design in the real estate devel- and is a chartered architect and planner.
opment process, ed. S. Tiesdell and D. Adams. Chichester:
Wiley-Blackwell. João Bento is a Research Fellow at the Lisbon School of Architecture,
University of Lisbon. He was awarded his PhD in urbanism by the
Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to Bartlett School of Planning, UCL where he developed a thesis focused
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. on the role and effectiveness of national architectural policies in the
European Union. He is an architect and urbanist.

Matthew Carmona is Professor of Planning & Urban Design at UCL’s

Bartlett School of Planning. His research has focused on Urban Design
Governance, the design and management of Public Space, and Place