In May 2018, COurban hosted a masterclass for the city of Bellingham. For five days in Copenhagen and Malmö, we experienced guest lectures, talks and hosted bike tours with a focus on urban regeneration and connectivity to the waterfront. The class included lectures from Copenhagen policymakers and city staff from the City of Malmö, who are involved in current city initiatives and visits to various governmental agencies, NGOs, sustainable waterfront developments and public spaces. The delegation consisted of seven city staff from among others, departments of planning, community and economic development and parks and recreation; two staff from The Port of Bellingham, and one representative from non-profit Downtown Bellingham Partnerships. Read more about Bellingham and the areas they are working with for the masterclass here.

The goal of this Masterclass is to help the City of Bellingham move forward in their development of a new set of urban design guidelines for the Downtown Bellingham Waterfront District. After the five-day class, in which we have examined best infrastructure practices of cities and neighbourhoods that increase connectivity with a focus on vibrant and healthy downtowns and waterfronts, the outcome was a preliminary set of ‘Design Principles for Urban Liveability’ relevant to the City of Bellingham. The masterclass program also consisted of a follow-up process with a presentation by COurban for the rest of the city staff in Bellingham in June, and a design charrette with community members and stakeholders in September.

The outcome of the Masterclass program is 14 Design Principles to promote urban liveability and placemaking strategies for the new Bellingham Waterfront District development.

The masterclass programme is generously supported by ScanDesign Foundation.