The City of Ghent, which acts here as a client of its own partial assignments and as a purchasing centre for third-party procurers, wishes to conclude a framework agreement for urban design assignments and this for two lots; lot 1 – Design research and layout sketches and lot 2 – Complex urban planning processes and master plans. Contracts awarded by third parties can only be awarded via the framework agreement if the subject-matter of the contract is located on the territory of Ghent. Contracts from procurers that are part of Groep Gent can also invoke the framework agreement for projects on lots owned by the Ghent Group that are located outside the territory of Ghent.

For the duration of the framework agreement (4 years), the City of Ghent designates eight (lot 1) and five (lot 2) service providers on the basis of the award criteria set out below.

The concrete partial contracts (from the City of Ghent or third-party procurers) are then awarded per lot as a result of a mini-competition between the highest ranked three of the eight (lot 1) or five (lot 2) selected service providers on the basis of a "slim rotation" (see below for the description). The duration of the partial contracts may exceed the duration of the framework agreement.

The two plots in terms of content:

Lot 1 - Design research and design sketches

These are sub-assignments for urban design and design research sensu lato (feasibility study, location research, thematic research, etc.), for projects that are limited in size or complexity. The end result of these sub-assignments can, but does not have to, be a design plan. The emphasis in these sub-assignments is on the urban spatial design, and not so much on the process of the planning and design process. These are projects that do not include a significant share of stakeholder management, and whose multidisciplinary character is rather limited; a broad design team is not systematically needed to bring these sub-assignments to a successful conclusion.

Lot 2 - Complex urban planning processes and master plans.

These are sub-assignments with an essential process complexity and a greater substantive complexity with substantial input across disciplinary boundaries. The emphasis is therefore not only on urban design, but also on research from other disciplines. In addition, stakeholder management and litigation (whether or not including participation) also form a component of these sub-assignments. A multidisciplinary and process-oriented design team is therefore necessary.

For both lots, the first partial contract is already known and constitutes the case to which the award criteria for assessing the tenders for the framework agreement are applied. Therefore, this first partial contract will be awarded immediately together with the framework agreement to the first ranked tenderer who submitted the most economically advantageous tender for the framework agreement.

The maximum purchase per lot is set at 30 sub-assignments for lot 1, and 20 sub-orders for lot 2.

These are sub-assignments for urban design and design research sensu lato (feasibility study, location research, thematic research, etc.), for projects that are limited in size or complexity. The end result of these sub-assignments can, but does not have to, be a design plan. The emphasis in these sub-assignments is on the urban spatial design, and not so much on the process of the planning and design process. These are projects that do not include a significant share of stakeholder management, and whose multidisciplinary character is rather limited; a broad design team is not systematically needed to bring these sub-assignments to a successful conclusion.

These are sub-assignments with an essential process complexity and a greater substantive complexity with substantial input across disciplinary boundaries. The emphasis is therefore not only on urban design, but also on research from other disciplines. In addition, stakeholder management and litigation (whether or not including participation) also form a component of these sub-assignments. A multidisciplinary and process-oriented design team is therefore necessary.