Learning in urban renewal - PhD project Janneke van Bemmel OTB Delft
the process design is tested. Ideally, the process design is introduced and used in the actual field in
question to test and refine it. Unfortunately, that is infeasible for this research project.
Technological rules must, in addition to field-tested, also be grounded which means that there
is understanding of why the rule works or why the solution concept (X) produces a certain
performance (Y). If it is understood why and how the rule works, indications and contra-indications
can be given concerning the application of the rule in its specific field (Van Aken, 2005). In this
research project, the grounding of the rule will be done through discussion with professionals in the
field.
Besides the use of knowledge in decision-making, there are many more aspects that
determine the quality of urban renewal processes. Examples are costs-effectiveness, satisfaction of all
the stakeholders involved and timeliness. And there are many more influences on the quality of urban
renewal processes than the amount of learning that takes place; such as the housing market, power-
relations, and personal qualities of the people involved. However, as Van Aken states, testing on one
specific performance indicator may give sooner insight than testing on a broad multidimensional one.
A way to control for some of the other influences is to study several cases in extreme conditions,
because in these conditions strength and weaknesses may show up more clearly.
TOWARDS A PROCESS DESIGN FOR LEARNING IN URBAN RENEWAL
In this paragraph, concepts from literature on knowledge management, organisational learning and
policy learning are introduced. These concepts form important building blocks for the process design
for enhancing learning in the early stages of urban renewal. A model that pictures learning as a
cyclical process provides the backbone of the process design. A first version of a process design is
presented for enhancing learning in the early stages of urban renewal, aiming at increased knowledge
use during decision making. The model of learning as a cyclical process is supplemented with factors
that have been found to enhance and factors that limit learning, based on a review of studies on
organisational learning and on learning in policy networks. This first process design will be
complemented and refined through future empirical research.
The author has already written a theoretical review of several strands in organisational
learning theory such as policy-oriented learning, social learning theory, and knowledge management
(Van Bemmel, forthcoming). This paper builds further on the insights resulting from that literature
study, thus refining the theoretical framework. Here, the discussion of knowledge and learning is
confined to the brief description of the main terms.
Knowledge can be defined as the - partly unconscious - capacity that enables a person to
execute a certain task (Weggeman, 2000). Following Weggeman, knowledge is seen as a function of
information, experience, skills and attitude. Information is created when data is given meaning, and
data are symbolic representations of amounts, quantities, facts and opinions. Depending on a person’s
experience, skills and attitude, this person is able to create new knowledge when he or she comes
across new information. Two types of knowledge can be distinguished: explicit or codified knowledge
and implicit or tacit knowledge. Explicit knowledge can be expressed in formal language and can be