NEWSLETTERISSUE No. 2

NOVEMBER 2014

CEP ACTIVITIES

CEPADMINISTRATIVEISSUES

“FUTURE OF CITIES” PROGRAM

“FROM IDEAS TO ACTION” PROGRAM

RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONS

PROGRAM

“ASURED” PROGRAM

“FUTURE OF CITIES” PROGRAM

• The Center of Excellence in Planning (CEP) �nalized the opportunity study “Bucharest Central Station – Flagship Project for Romania” in August and started promoting it to decision makers and international organizations and looking for partners in the private business sector.

• A 1:2000 scale model of the proposed urban regeneration and multi-modal node area was made and presented with the opportunity study (White Paper) and Executive Summary to the Mayor of Bucharest and the Chief Architect, to the Ministry of Transportation (the Minister and the Secretary of State for railways), and to several advisors to the Prime Minister.

• The support for the CEP initiative is universal, but more work and more pre-feasibility analysis are necessary before moving to project adoption by government and full feasibility studies.

• Pledges for feasibility studies �nancing have been made by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Bucharest, European Investment Bank (EIB), U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) in Washington and on a more limited scale by the World Bank Mission in Bucharest. The CEP visits to the international donor organizations was facilitated by Director Mariana Ionita of the Ministry of Trans-portation (railways department). • They are connecting with CEP in an informal public-partnership capacity, which targets a broader spectrum of critical studies for the Romanian Railways System, long neglected, and currently coming back in focus in a change of urban mobility paradigm. Another CEP private partner is the Railways Club (Clubul Feroviar), represented by Octavian Udriste and Stefan Roseanu, who are actively promoting the railways revival concept.

Front page of the opportunity study

2/07

“FROM IDEAS TO ACTION” PROGRAM

• In the period of June 22-27, CEP held the 44th IUFA (International Urban Fellows Association of Johns Hopkins University) Conference in Sibiu and Brasov. The conference theme was “Urban Governance in Smaller Cities: Conservation and Development”. The Conference Proceedings will be published in CEP’s “Applied Research Series”.

• In October 2014, CEP participated in the BUCHAREST FORUM 2014, the annual event organized by ASPEN INSTITUTE ROMANIA. Dr. Enache gave a brief presenta-tion of the opportunity study “Bucharest Central Station – Flagship Project for Romania”.

• The Center is currently developing a tentative FUTURE OF CITIES program of conferences and events for the period 2015-2016, in partnership with ASPEN INSTITUTE ROMANIA.

44th IUFA Conference participants

ASURED PROGRAM (Advanced Studies in Urbanism and

Real Estate Development)

• The opportunity study was presented to the Urban Mobility Group of the Bucharest City Hall on September 30, in Moxa 3-5, in a joint meeting of CEP and the Urban Mobility Group. A major meeting on the Bucharest Master Plan held at CEP on October 22 con�rmed the compatibility of the initiative with the general strategy and the ideas in the proposed Master Plan.

• An intense campaign of dissemination and promotion of the Bucharest Central Station initiative started in August, in order to �nd partners in the urban development world. CEP targeted large construction companies, developers, real estate �rms, real estate investment funds, urban design companies, banks, law �rms, and multinational consulting companies with o�ces in Bucharest. The result of this campaign will be presented in the March issue of CEP Newsletter.

• The purpose of the campaign is multifold: awareness, promotion, PR, partnerships and alliances, and raising private funds for a critical pre-feasibility study as a follow-up to the opportunity study developed under the CEP umbrella. The timeframe for the pre-feasibility study is January-June 2015 and it should be followed in 2015-2016 by full feasibility studies by project component.

• So far, the Center of Excellence in Planning (CEP) received pledges of support and cooperation from CBRE-Romania, INTERGRAPH-Romania, Cli�ord Chance Badea, ALLTROM Group, BOGART, AECOM-Romania, ARNAIZ Consultores and EMI Invest s.r.l..

• The program of Advanced Studies in Urbanism and Real Estate Development (ASURED) started in October 2013 with a class of 12 students, with various backgrounds: architecture, urban planning, real estate, economics, engineering and political science. Two of the students are interna-tional, from Spain and USA.

• The Class of 2013-2015 of the ASURED Program completed all four sessions (October 2013, February, June and October 2014) and will sustain their �nal dissertations in February 2015, in order to receive their Program Certi�cations accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS, London 1868), the University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest (UAUIM), and the Center of Excellence in Planning (CEP).

• On June 18, CEP received the visit of RICS Accreditation Panel, which recommended the RICS accreditation for the ASURED Program. The o�cial RICS accreditation for �ve years was received by CEP on July 18, 2014. ASURED is currently the only RICS accredited educational program in Eastern Europe.

• Two lawyers from Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații, Raluca Mişu and Alexandra Pereşheld a Workshop on the Legal Aspects of Large Urban Projects for the Class of2013-2015.

1:2000 scale model of the project

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION

OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS

Arts and Antiques Building Control

Building Surveying Business Valuation

Commercial Property Practice Environment

Facilities Management Geomatics (incl. hydrographic)

Housing Management and Development Infrastructure

Management Consultancy Minerals and Waste Management

Planning and Development Project Management

Property Finance and Investment Quantity Surveying and Construction

Research Residential

Rural Taxation Allowances

Valuation

RICS is pleased to recognise that:

Course/programme:

International Postgraduate Program of Advanced Studies and Real Estate Development (ASURED)

delivered by:

Center of Excellence in Planning (CEP), in partnership with “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism (UAUIM)

has satisfied RICS’ academic requirements and is awarded with an accreditation for the following intakes:

2013 to 2017 inclusive

Anna Galiano BA(Hons) MA Team Manager – Accreditation RICS Europe

The ASURED Class of 2013-2015

Official RICS acreditaion of the ASURED Program

3/07

• On June 20, the ASURED Program received the visit of Marcel Rommerts, head mobility o�cer at the European Commission in Brussels, in charge with the Commission innovation program, who delivered a lecture and engaged the ASURED students in a professional dialogue.

• The duration of the ASURED Program was reduced to 16 months, with four 2-week course sessions in October, February, June and October, and the �nal dissertation in February of the next year. The student assignments were simpli�ed and streamlined, and made more practical and structured. The two projects were consolidated in one project, which will incorporate lessons and skills developed in the valuation and RE investment analysis classes. The project can be linked to the �nal dissertation. The improved curricula will be presented in the March 2015 issue of CEP Newsletter. The RE investment analysis classes were actually given by a specialized trainer from Cambridge, UK, Maria Wiedner.

• The ASURED Class of 2014-2016 started their program in October 2014, with the courses given by Edgar Kiviet (Associate Director of RTKL in London), Gabor Sooki-Toth from Budapest, Mircea Enache from Washington (the Director of CEP) and a new professor, Kerem Arslanli from Istanbul.

• Continuous feedback from the ASURED faculty and students has been sought in order to constantly improve the program and provide the right information and education for its students. Following the RICS Accreditation Panel visit in June, several changes have been operated in the program, in order to make it more dynamic and more e�cient.

• A shift in the weight of various �elds in the ASURED Program is currently being designed, which will roughly make the program be 40% urban planning and 60% real estate development, in order to better respond to the current and future market needs. Special classes on �nancial planning, legal issues and practical implementation of large urban development projects (mega-projects) are being designed.

• Celeste Roche, ASURED student from Connecticut, USA designed a public education program in urban development and real estate for the population of her city – in English, Spanish and Polish. Celeste presented papers on U.S. experience with public participation and urban planning issues at the Johns Hopkins IUFA Conference in Sibiu and Brasov, and at the ERES Conference in Bucharest, at the Academy for Economic Studies.

• In May 2014, Dietmar Wiegand, the head of the real estate program at the Technische Universitat Wien (TUW), and ASURED Professor, hired Simona Serban, an ASURED student, as a research assistant in his research programs at TUW.

• CEP is currently working on ful�lling RICS requirements for the RICS-accredited ASURED program. Two independent external examiners have been identi�ed: Ioannis Ganos, the President of RICS-Greece, and Ioan Ianos, the Director of CICADIT and Geography Professor at the Bucharest University.

• The Commission for the ASURED dissertations was nominated. Its members are: Dietmar Wiegand and Evelyn Ernst from Austria, Liviu Ianasi (UAUIM) and Mircea Enache from U.S. All four members are ASURED professors.

4/07

The ASURED Class of 2014-2016

2014 Group socialising during breaks

2014 Group having a debade

The RICS Accreditation Panel recommended the set up of an Advisory Board consisting of independent academics, practitioners, representative of executive education and one member from outside Romania.

The members of the CEP-ASURED Advisory Board who con�rmed so far, are:1. Radu Boitan, RICS Romania2. Razvan Iorgu, Managing Director, CBRE Romania3. Mihaela Geoana (architect), Aspen Institute Romania4. Uwe Brandes, Exec.Director, Urban & Regional Program, Georgetown University5. Anca Ginavar, Urban Planning Director, Ministry of Development, Romania6. Raul Doicescu, President, BOGART Construction Company, Romania7. Marcel Foca, President, INTERGRAPH-Romania8. Vladimir Arsene, President, Westfourth Architecture

5/07

• CEP applied for a small grant from GMF-BST (German Marshall Fund – Black Sea Trust) in order to support its ASURED educational program and to bring more participants from the Blak Sea Region. Currently, there are two ASURED students from the region, Georgia and Moldova, repectively, and two professors: Kerem Arslanli from Istanbul and Vesselina Troeva from So�a.

Mr. Edgar Kiviet on the second day

“Get-to-know-the-others” dinner

• In the period April-June 2013 CEP was invited to bid on European-funded research projects as part of international consortia from EU member countries. In spite of high marks and very good evalua-tions, neither SCENE (a FP7 project proposed by a consortium lead by TECNALIA, Spain) nor HIPPODAMUS (a SUMP – Sustainable Urban Mobility Project proposed by a consortium led by Rupprecht Consultants in Koln) quali�ed for �nancing, mainly for insu�cient funds.

• The same thing happened with a partnership project for UEFISCDI (national �nancing), proposed in partnership with CICADIT – University Bucharest and a group from the Romanian Academy, and an international Exploratory Workshop.

• CEP is cooperating with KCMC (Khalid Inayeh), a �rm with a good track-record in receiving European-fund grants. The target is POSDRU calls.

• Octavia Stepan, of the University of Architecture and Urbanism (UAUIM) is working with CEP to develop opportunities for EU-funded research projects, on urban mobility and other issues.

• In October 2014, the Center of Excellence in Planning (CEP) joined URBAN-INCERC initiative for establish-ing a CLUSTER on Sustainable Territorial Development (STD) and talked to severalpotential partners. The tentative list includes:1. URBAN-INCERC (Vasile Meita)2. CEP, University of Architecture & Urbanism (Mircea Enache)3. CICADIT, Bucharest University (Ioan Ianos)

RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS PROGRAM

6/07

4. Aspen Institute Romania - AIR (Mihaela Geoana)5. Institute for the Quality of Life – Romanian Academy (C. Zam�r)6. URBASOFIA (Pietro Elisei)7. Association for Urban Transition - ATU (Vera Marin)8. CARPATI PROIECT (Radu Calota)9. Crisan Architecture (Alexandru Crisan)10. EMI Invest, s.r.l. (Marius Plescan)11. INTERGRAPH-Romania (Marcel Foca)12. CLIFFORD, CHANCE, BADEA – law �rm (Daniel Badea, Andreea Sisman)13. REGATTA – real estate (Eduard Uzunov)14. COLLIERS – real estate (I. Paun)Discussions with the members will be held in Bucharest in December 2014.

• In December 2013, CEP published the �rst book in the “Applied Research Series”: Mircea Enache, “Strate-gic Planning and Decision: Modeling and Intuition”, available in kindle format on Amazon.com.

• The second book in the series was published in august 2014. It is entitled: “Bucharest Central Station – Flagship Project for Romania” and it is an opportunity study and White Paper on the urban regeneration area surrounding the Gara de Nord (Central Station).

• The third book will be a collection of papers from the Hopkins IUFA Conference in Sibiu and Brasov (June 22-27). The book will be printed in 2014.

• The �rst issue of the CEP-ASURED on-line Journal was issued in June 2014 and included the best ASURED students papers. The second issue was uploaded in November 2014. The thirs issue will be uploaded in March 2016, and will present the best �nal dissertations of the class of 2014-2016.

• CEP continues to be present and active in the Urban Mobility Group of the Bucharest City Hall, headed by Ion Dedu, the Director of the Tra�c Department. CEP is developing parking and mobility projects for European funding in the 2014-2020 funding cycle.

• On June 5, 2014, Alexandra Coltos participated in the REALTY 2014 Conference in Bucharest, organized by BUSINESS REVIEW, and presented the CEP initiative on the Central Station. The book and the initiative were praised by Kurt Puchinger, who managed the Vienna Railways Station mega-project.

• In October 2014, Mircea Enache participated in a group of four experts on mobility in Brussels, in charge with developing recommendations for the European Commission on SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans). The meeting in Brussels is part of a project by Rupprecht Consultants, and the four experts will meet three more times to deliver their recommendations by mid-2015.

CEP ACTIVITIES

REALTY 2014 Conference - Bucharest

7/07

• In October 2014 Arina Dordea was hired by CEP as Executive Assistant to the CEP Director. She is working closely with Alexandra Coltos, who is now the ASURED Program Manager. Arina is in charge of the FUTURE OF CITIES Program at CEP.

• CEP is bene�tting from the contributions of Sorin Manea, who works a number of hours a week for the Center, and from two interns, Vlad Pirvu and Roxana Pana.

CEP ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES

• On October 15-16, Dr. Enache participated in a CODCR – CONSUERD Conference in Bucharest, about the Danube Strategy. He made a presentation regarding Mega-Projects and CEP’s initiatives and networked with the �rms and groups interested in the priority areas for the Danube initiative and for the Magurele Smart City and Laser Valley proposals.

• On November 7, Alexandra Coltos and Arina Dordea attended a round table on Global and Local Challenges in Urbanism, held at the Center for Architectural Culture in Bucharest, with participants from the main pro�esional associations and organisations in the �eld. The aim of the debate was agreeing upon a series of crucial present challenges that are being faced in the planning �eld with the outcome of a common declaration of the parties involved.

Biroul Strategia UE pentru Regiunea Dunării

Consiliul Consultativ SUERD Romania – Secretariat General Adresa: Strada Nicolae Iorga, nr. 1-3, Sector 1, Bucuresti Email: office@codcr.com; Tel : 0312293311

Bucureşti, 10 octombrie 2014

REF: Reuniunea Consiliului Consultativ al Strategiei Uniunii Europene pentru Regiunea Dunării România (CONSUERD) din 15 octombrie 2014, Bucureşti – Casa Dunării – Palatul Ghica

Stimate doamne, Stimaţi domni, parteneri ai Strategiei Dunării,

Comitetul de Coordonare şi Secretariatul General CONSUERD, în numele celor doi co-preşedinţi, împreună cu Ministerul Afacerilor Externe, sub patronajul Biroului “Strategia UE pentru Regiunea Dunării” şi cu sprijinul Consiliului Oraşelor şi a Regiunilor Dunărene (CoDCR) şi al Academiei Române, are plăcerea şi onoarea de a vă invita la cea de-a 7-a reuniune a Consiliului Consultativ CONSUERD, care va avea loc între 15 şi 16 octombrie 2014, la Casa Dunării – Palatul Ghica, din Strada Nicolae Iorga, nr. 1-3, sector 1, Bucureşti.

În deschiderea perioadei financiare 2014 - 2020, reuniunea CONSUERD din 15 şi 16 octombrie 2014 de la Bucureşti îşi propune stabilirea unui roadmap şi a unui plan de acţiune pentru elaborarea de programe şi proiecte de succes care să conduca la atragerea de fonduri pentru toţi actorii societăţii civile.

Vă rugăm consultaţi agenda evenimentului ataşată acestui convocator. Apreciem confirmarea prezenţei Dvs. la coordonatele Secretariatului General.

Mulţumindu-vă anticipat pentru participarea şi contribuţia dumneavoastră,

Comitetul de Coordonare al Consilului Consultativ CONSUERD, impreuna cu Secretariatul General,

Eric Bartha

Secretar General

CONSUERD Reunion Invitation