Why wait for the city council to develop a future vision when engaged citizens can come together to take the time to reflect on where we are, where we come from and where we want to go as a city. Initiated by ‘Centrum management Maastricht’ various perspectives from academia, retail, culture and hospitality were brought together to create their collective outlook for Maastricht. People like the young entrepreneur Natalia Westermann, originally from Groningen, who lives in a property guardianship (anti-kraak) and runs a vintage shop, but also Ton Harmes on behalf of the city centre entrepreneurs and Leontien Mees of Marketing Maastricht, to name just a few.
The brainstorming group characterises present-day Maastricht as a small, tarted-up town, with a proud reputation to uphold. “A bit posh, conventional with a splash of Napoleon. Maastricht would benefit from an identity that is a bit more modern, has a smaller ego, is more facilitating and open to change. A modern-day Maxima would be a nice personification of what Maastricht could be in 2040” says Damien Nunes. Nunes, originally from the Eindhoven region, is no stranger to innovative thinking and co-creation. He is involved in education for professionals in UMIO’s Service Science Factory. “Maastricht is a beautiful city to live in but for many outsiders such as tourists and students, it is a place to visit rather than to stay. They don’t have or take the opportunity to invest in building a long personal relationship with the city which is a shame because the city has so much potential to become the city you want to settle in. So what should the next step be, the focus for 2040?”
Rethinking Maastricht
Damien describes the initiative: “it was a think tank initially focused on the city of Maastricht Post-Corona. But instead of worrying too much about the ‘damage’ that corona and lockdowns brought to the city, we saw it more as a wake-up call that showed us certain dependencies the city has. With travel being suspended, the city was empty as important ‘streams of people’ such as tourists and students were not coming here. Furthermore, we saw many people who were living in Maastricht had a new kind of appreciation for the city.”
Maastricht’s identity
The group identified a gap between those people visiting, but not necessarily connected to the city, and those who live here and have a deep appreciation for the city. The discussions concluded that the city needed to expand its identity from a city that is too dependent on temporary visitors (students & tourists). Maastricht should be a city where you want to live even when you don’t know it. In comparison, Eindhoven for instance reimagined itself and although it might not be the prettiest city, it was able to create a new strong economic heart, which everybody knows is about ‘innovation, design and technology’. So what is Maastricht’s new identity?
City of health?
Where Eindhoven has its own characteristics which are ‘harder’ and more technical in nature, Maastricht is ‘softer’ and has a strong cultural aspect. Its academic hospital, Brightlands Maastricht Health Campus and its accolade of being the 3rd healthiest city in the Netherlands according to the Health City Index 2020, can be the perfect petri dish to nurture a new ambition. This can drive economic development to not only create jobs, but also an environment where people want to live. Having a strong new identity binds existing initiatives and creates synergies, but can also be the source of new initiatives and a way of attracting outsiders to engage with the city.
Co-creative approach
This co-creative approach and the desire to involve the different perspectives within the think tank resonate with the co-creative approach at the forefront of the Service Science Factory (SSF) at UMIO. Creating a people-orientated mindset and reflecting on the different perspectives, which exist within Maastricht’s communities, taps into the speculative design practices at the core of SSF. Looking at situations from different perspectives and keeping an open mind, asking ‘what if’ questions encourages creativity and nurtures innovative solutions.
What if…?
The ‘What if’ question is a powerful tool to contemplate the future and speculate about what could be (reactive/responsive) and what should be (pro-active). Damien reflected that within this trajectory, the think tank “moved from a reactive to a more pro-active perspective and speculated about what the city could be and what social, cultural and economic aspect this could encompass. Having a strong vision where you determine a potential identity can be a driving force for change.”
This approach engages other perspectives in the discussion and considers how they can contribute to this identity. Some questions the group discussed were: what does a healthy city or city of vitality mean for the current mobility? What is the role of tourism? Is it only about attracting new businesses? What part does the MECC conference centre play? What role does retail play within the city? What are the relationships like between various groups in the city? What is the mix of cultures within a city?
Maastricht is a city with a rich past and strong cultural traditions. It should look beyond what it is and explore what it could be. Sometimes this means letting go of old values and exploring new ones.
Speculative Design and Design Thinking
These kinds of challenges are complex in nature and there are many things to consider and a lot of uncertainty. This means that traditional ways of dealing with these issues are not always adequate. Speculative Design and Design Thinking are practical methodologies to equip city planners, business leaders and policy makers to imagine their future and turn it into a reality.
The ability to look at a situation holistically is crucial. A Design Thinking approach facilities this. Understanding complex relationships and developing innovative interventions to inform the decision-making process can provide a successful business model. Using insights acquired from experiments to pivot the future direction towards that which is desirable, feasible and economically viable, is a positive step in the right direction.
