The GoverDENSE team met with planners of the City of Utrecht to discuss current challenges and trends in relation to planning for and governing densification in the city. Among others, planners presented the current spatial strategy of Utrecht which integrates the 10-minutes city concept based on a barcode of uses and amenities, and ideas of polycentricity. Finn van Leeuwen presented the large inner-city brownfield development of Merwede and its many challenges in relation to mobility, housing affordability, and land speculation. Hilco van der Wal discussed with us the city’s current densifications strategy and its renewed interest in active land policy. We thank both for a very fruitful exchange.