• CO-CITY

    Italy
    Turin

    The collaborative management of urban commons to counteract poverty and socio-spatial polarisation

    Copy linkFacebookXLinkedInEmail
    886 837
    • Adapted by cities from
    • In partnership with

    Summary

    CO-CITY addresses the challenge of poverty in distressed neighbourhoods through the regeneration of under-utilised public spaces and assets, turned into places able to trigger a process of sustainable development. The regeneration projects are co-designed by the City and residents. Co-City counteracts social-spatial polarisation through spaces/assets’ regeneration, creating public-community partnerships, mutual trust, cooperation at the neighbourhood level.

    CO-CITY implements “pacts of collaboration” according to the Regulation for the Governance of urban commons, co-designed with city inhabitants’ organisations. They stimulate organisation and define co-governance schemes for the regeneration of spaces hosting activities varying from community gardens; creative placemaking; capacity building processes; community hubs. These pacts are one of the most important co-governance tools increasingly adopted by Italian cities since 2014 to promote and enable the urban commons.

    CUMIANA15 pact foresees the transformation of a former car-manufacturing factory requiring significant physical renovation into a hybrid indoor-outdoor space functioning as a cultural-creative activities community hub. The implementation of a new administrative model rooted in the “pacts of collaboration” and the “Regulation for the Governance of Urban Commons” aiming at empowering inhabitants in the care of urban spaces fostering reciprocal commitment to urban justice.

    The innovative solution

    CO-CITY addresses urban poverty turning dismissed infrastructures and public land into hubs of neighbourhoods inhabitants’ collective action. It turns them into “urban commons”, contributing to the establishment of civic and entrepreneurial activities leveraging inhabitants’ participation stimulated by the City and facilitated by the Neighbourhood Houses acting as local co-governance units.

    Main solutions implemented include: co-design and co-governance innovative process. The city created an integrated administrative structure to ensure an integrated approach; building and management of the pact of collaboration to accelerate inhabitants’ organisations empowerment in turning public spaces into engines of neighbourhood revitalisation; diversified tools, no one size fits all solution. Resources allocated through a call for proposal foreseeing three measures:

    a) peripheries and urban cultures;

    b) under-utilised infrastructure, with a focus on schools;

    c) civic care of public spaces. 
     

    A collaborative and participative work

    The project partnership is composed by: the network of Neighbourhood Houses, local community hubs that took care of community building activities; the University of Turin, contributing to the project’s research and theoretical framework; the National Association of Italian Municipalities, in charge of communication and networking.

    50 pacts of collaboration between the City Administration and citizens’ organisations have been signed. The pacts regulate caring for public spaces and many socio-cultural activities. The participative process is focused on two moments:

    1. Co-design. All the feasibility issues are fine tuned and finalised.
    2. Co-management. The City and the involved organisations share decision-making and responsibilities. 
       

    The impact and results

    The most important project challenge has been the use of a totally new juridical tool (the pact of collaboration) that resulted in a collective learning effort by all the stakeholders involved. This relied on a solid local background and tradition of community engagement which is mainly represented by the local network of Neighbourhood Houses. 
    The project’s implementation has contributed to the development of mutual trust and social inclusion.

    Both public officers (24 city departments, 90 officers) and active citizens (more than 214 organisations) involved in the project implementation consider positively the enabling role of CO-CITY as a way to innovate policies and practices, unlocking the potential of urban development.
    Among the different pacts, the one of CUMIANA15 can be mentioned - a hybrid space (half renewed industrial building, half covered square), now co-managed to become a new socio-cultural hub. 

    Why this good practices should be transferred to other cities?

    Cities and citizens play a pivotal role in the EU policy framework tackling climate change and mission-oriented innovation. The European Green Deal and the linked H2020 EGD call both stress the importance of public-community cooperation. The Horizon Europe cities mission foresees a climate neutral city contract. The JRC City Science Initiative considers public-community partnerships a cross-cutting policy tool.

    CO-CITY pacts enable inhabitants’ organisations to work closely together and with City officials, reinforcing trust in institutions, social cohesion, long-term commitment of the entire administrative machine. They were critical in keeping urban spaces safe and alive during the pandemic. Social bonds created by the pacts helped preserve the social interaction. 
    CO-CITY pacts are able to bring together city communities, governments, knowledge institutions, social and private operators. The so-called quintuple helix urban co-governance approach aims at stimulating neighbourhood cooperation. CO-CITY is a good guidance for policymakers and social actors wishing to build public-community cooperation.
    Each civic deal sanctioned in the CO-CITY pacts could be implemented in every neighbourhood. Several EU cities are already building on similar institutional design principles and co-design methodologies their own urban co-governance policy. Regenerated spaces like CUMIANA15 show how these forms of self-organisation could be self-sustainable.
     

    Ref nid
    17063
  • Ljubljanski sporazum stavlja fokus na male i srednje gradove

    Slovensko predsjedanje Vijećem Europske unije iznjedrilo je Ljubljanski sporazum kao posljednju dopunu o provedbi Urbane agende za EU koja je započela Amsterdamskim paktom 2016. godine.

    emarko

    See more
  • Visions from the City Representatives - Enzo Lattuca, Mayor of Cesena by lead expert Miguel Rivas

    Heritage-led urban regeneration involves major urban projects, requiring significant investment and stakeholder mobilisation. In this endeavour, political backing and direction are key. The KAIRÓS interview series, conducted by the network lead expert Miguel Rivas, targets Mayors and Elected Representatives from the KAIRÓS partner cities.

    Dorothee Fischer

    See more
  • The Neighbourhood Councils of Agen : a Citizen public service delegation

    In 2008, in order to provide answers in terms of participatory democracy and to improve on all questions of local works, the City of Agen decided to create Neighborhood Councils, even though there is no legal framework for it compelled to do so.

    [[{"fid":"47506","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_author[und][0][value]":""},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_author[und][0][value]":""}},"attributes":{"style":"float: right; width: 150px; height: 149px;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]The idea was to bring out representatives in each district, having for the inhabitants the legitimacy to act.

    « Finally, those who know their neighborhoods best are the people who live there. »

    Jean DIONIS DU SEJOUR
    Mayor of Agen

    admin_import

    See more
  • Τα Δίκτυα URBACT και η "Δίκαιη Μετάβαση"

    Πράσινη, οικονομικά προσιτή ενέργεια και μεταφορές, στήριξη των μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων και της καινοτομίας. Οι πόλεις μας αναλαμβάνουν δράση για το κλίμα και την κοινωνική δικαιοσύνη.

    mpapoutsi

    See more
  • URBACT lansează e-Universitatea de succes despre implementarea și finanțarea Planurilor de Acțiune ale orașelor

    Noua focalizare pe consolidarea capacităților va ajuta orașele să planifice – și să finanțeze – acțiuni locale transversale pentru a îmbunătăți viața rezidenților.

    Irina Panait

    See more
  • Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area

    Our partner Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area (OMG-G-S) fosters the cooperation between the tri-city and its surrounding municipalities. Home to the main port in Poland and a vibrant economy, it is the fastest growing area of the country, posing new challenges for mobility and urban development.

     

    Mikel Berra-Sandín

    See more
  • Vilawatt Scorecard: όταν μια εικόνα αξίζει όσο χίλιες λέξεις

    Τον Μάϊο του 2021, στην πρώτη διακρατική συνάντηση (TM1) με όλες τις πόλεις-εταίρους του έργου Vilawatt, παρουσιάστηκε ένα βασικό στοιχείο που θα βοηθήσει στην καθοδήγηση της διαδικασίας μεταφοράς της καινοτόμου πρακτικής Vilawatt.

    mpapoutsi

    See more
  • BEING PART OF THE ULG: A REAL EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPATION

    The "Active Citizens -citizens participation in small and medium EU cities" project in which the Municipality of Cento is taking part, aims at giving voice to citizens and possibility for intervention in decision-making processes concerning their own city, through the use of new methodologies and new digital tools. Never before in this URBACT project has it been important to set up the Urbact Local Group (ULG), a group of stakeholders that, from the very beginning supports the Municipal Administration in the project’s operative steps, offering their own contribution and point of view in a continuous exchange with the representatives of the Municipality.

    Through meetings and workshop activities, sometimes with a somewhat "alternative" approach, the members of the group tackle together the issues at the center of the project, each bringing the added value of their own background. If there is no doubt that in a path lasting over two years it is a hard challenge to keep the attention and motivation of the group members alive, it is equally true that being part of the group is a demanding choice requiring time, effort and ability to get involved. Nevertheless, actively participating in the ULG, however demanding it may be, can also represent an enriching opportunity at a civic and above all personal level.

    This is what Michele Novi, one of the "historical" members of the ULG, tells us in this interview. He has enthusiastically joined since the beginning of the project and here he reports his personal experience.

    admin_import

    See more
  • URBACT launches successful e-University on implementation and funding of city action plans

    New capacity-building focus will help cities plan – and fund – cross-cutting local actions to improve residents’ lives.

    Sally Kneeshaw

    See more
Subscribe to