Joris M.J. Scheers

Spatial Planner and Sociologist (PhD, MSc) - Visiting Professor at KU Leuven - Honorary President ECTP-CEU - Project Manager Flanders Government

Joris is professionally active in the field of urban development, spatial planning, architecture & heritage and public governance. For the last three decades he has been working as...
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Joris M.J. Scheers

Joris is professionally active in the field of urban development, spatial planning, architecture & heritage and public governance. For the last three decades he has been working as academic, as consultant and as civil servant. He obtained his PhD on the theme of exponentially growing cities in Latin America at the KU Leuven University (Belgium), where he is currently visiting professor. As former deputy Government Architect and Manager of creative and sustainable cities, he is involved in various urban and regional policy issues within the Flanders Government of Belgium..

Over the past decades, he performed as international consultant for spatial policy projects and programs in cities and countries in Latin-America, Africa and Asia. He has been UN-Habitat expert for the elaboration of International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning (2012-2014) and has been President and Secretary General of the European Council of Spatial Planners (ECTP-CEU).

Joris drafted several papers on strategic planning issues and chaired numerous jury’s in the field of spatial planning and architecture. He has been president of the Association for Spatial Planning in Flanders (VRP)
Joris is recognized for exploring strategic approaches within the public governance field, including cross level integration of local, regional, national and international agendas. He combines conceptual thinking with a pragmatic - project driven - problem solving attitude, keeping close touch with planning practice as the chair of the Municipal Spatial Planning Advisory Board of the city of Leuven.

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Evaluation UN-HABITAT/UNEP’s Sustainable Cities Programme in Cuba (cities of Bayamo,Holguin and Santa Clara).

UN-HABITAT/UNEP commissioned a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of Phases 2 of the Global Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP) and Localising Agenda 21 (LA21) (2003-2007). Bayamo, Holguin and Santa Clara were selected for such review and on-site evaluation in Cuba. These cities had been supported by the LA21, a capacity-building programme started as response to chapter 28 of Agenda 21, calling on local authorities to consult, develop and implement a local Agenda 21 for their communities.

The programme promotes urban governance by supporting the broad-based environmental action plans, focusing on specific aspects of municipal planning and management. A tangible impact is achieved for low-income communities, leading to more sustainable urban development. The Mid Term Review of the LA21 experiences in Cuba aims at assessing its relevance to the country, its progress and effectiveness in meeting its objectives and delivering project outputs as planned in the project documents and to depict lessons that might be useful for the global programme as a whole.

The review was conducted from 15 to 21st January 2006, Joris Scheers being a MTR team member together with Claudio Acioly. The visit of the review team was preceded by the preparation of a Self-Assessment Report by Salvador Gomila, national Cuban consultant. The Habitat Programme Manager-HPM, Concepcion Alvarez Cancedo, and the technical advisor of the National Office in Support to LA21-GEO City Projects, Armando Muniz also joined the evaluation team.

Within the context of his teaching assignment at KULeuven’s Master’s programmes in Civil Engeneering-Architecture, Human Settlements and Strategic Planning, Joris Scheers assisted several Master’s theses on urban planning issues in Bayamo (Cuba). Entre allii those of Gertjan Dekrem, Julien Delmotte, Martin Noyez, Karen Schuermans and Hans Vanassche.


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