In 2016, the Grand Paris Metropolis (FR), in partnership with the government and the public body responsible for building the new automatic Metro, launched the “Let's reinvent the Grand Paris Metropolis” challenge for its municipalities and for the private sector (companies, designers, promoters, investors). 
The challenge included two phases. First, mayors proposed public land and sites in need of transformation. Following visits to these sites and consultations with locals, private sector companies submitted innovative projects for the sites’ economic, social and environmental transformation. 
In March 2017, 164 projects out of 420 were successful, focusing on 57 sites, 27 of which are around future Metro stations. These projects are made up of more than 326 innovative startups, associations and SMEs. In total, 6.4 billion euros will be injected by the companies acquiring the sites in the coming years.

The implemented solutions have brought together elected representatives and professionals. The sites were proposed by the relevant mayor or territorial president, who presented them to the President of the Grand Paris Metropolis. Where appropriate, the site developer was included in a letter of intent addressed to the Grand Paris president. An advisory elected representative–technician pair has been appointed and a fact sheet has been drawn up with: • Information on the site location; • Its surface area; • Guidelines on the provisional programme and the developer; • Whether they have already been selected; • The type of innovation expected (intermodality, energy efficiency, urban services, digital technology, construction, culture, etc.); • The town planning restrictions. The devised solutions also aimed to cater to new city dweller habits, with shared services proposed in half of the successful projects (co-living, co-working, etc.). The decision to launch a call for projects has revamped the city's production methods by creating public/private partnerships, as the projects are led by professionals who assume the risks in return for land development potential. Given the scale of the experiment, the territorial impact can be measured, as it is led at metropolitan level. Finally, as all metropolitan territories were free to participate in the call for projects, the small towns with limited resources were able to optimise land in the same way as the larger towns.

The Let's reinvent the Grand Paris Metropolis call for projects illustrates both the process and the purposes – reinventing the city differently – of the integrated sustainable urban development drive. And while the organisers have given the team substantial freedom in terms of the programming, the economic and social model for their project and the urban or architectural styles, they have nonetheless set out a number of URBACT principles, including: • Involving the projects in the search for an innovative, sustainable, united and intelligent metropolis with a view to sustainable urban development; • Devising projects within an integrated strategy in order to: - boost economic vitality and job opportunities in the metropolis; - respond to residents’ housing and service needs; - set an example in terms of energy and the environment; - contribute to the artistic, cultural and social reach of the metropolis; - suggest new concepts, new locations, new uses and new services with a focus on functional diversity and reversibility; - suggest models to ensure efficiency in the projects and the residents' association. To ensure the integrated approach of the projects, they must be led by groups offering a range of skills, with designers, promoters, developers, investors, companies and even citizen communities or associations, in a bottom-up approach.

As France’s largest metropolis, with a population of seven million inhabitants and an entrepreneurial pull, the Grand Paris Metropolis wanted this call for projects to be an example of co-constructing the metropolitan project. To ensure extensive professional participation in the call for projects, the organisational committee – co-chaired by the Grand Paris Metropolis President and the Regional Prefect for Ile-de-France, responsible for the political management of the process – organised the call-up as early as possible in the process. In October 2016, an event was organised for all potential company candidates in order to present the 59 sites chosen by the organisational committee and invite them to respond to the consultation. Site visits were organised in October and November 2016 alongside national and international communications campaigns. The consulting website went online during the property show in December 2016, coinciding with the start of the official application submission process. A large-scale citizen debate took place in conjunction with the call for projects in order to bring residents together and make this good practice a founding act for the metropolis and a badge of its identity. The winners were chosen by a panel for each site chaired by the President, who had the option to delegate this responsibility to the mayor of the town or territory in question in order to ensure control of the site’s future.

In terms of impact on the Metropolis (the Grand Paris Metropolis was created in January 2016, see the video), the “Let's reinvent the Metropolis” call for projects has raised its profile and substantially increased its attractiveness among investors, thus enhancing the diversity and quality of projects. In terms of results, 164 company groups were selected from 420 candidates to acquire the 57 sites involved in the call for projects. The innovation goal was well reached as the groups of property and development professionals (architects, promoters and investors) place huge emphasis on urban innovation companies and a strong local presence, with more than 326 innovative start-ups, associations and SMEs. If we consider the method, the 420 applications received proposed exceptional innovative ideas with a view to transforming the Metropolis into a real “sustainable and smart city laboratory”. The “Let's reinvent the Grand Paris Metropolis” consultation has thus established itself as the urban innovation pioneer and Europe's largest smart city consultation process. In terms of governance, the call for projects method, bringing mayors and territorial presidents into contact with teams of professionals to work on the projects, has helped create synergies between towns and territories.

This good practice may be of interest to other cities as they are all faced with the two-pronged challenge of finding solutions for land development and attracting investors. The success of phase one of “Let's reinvent the Grand Paris Metropolis” is fully in line with the very substance of this consultation: innovation, in all its guises. For the most part, the 420 applications that were received captured this quality, transforming this consultation into a call for projects targeting environmental excellence. Of the key topics, the issue of mobility to simplify metropolitan connections is also relevant to other European cities, with connected mobility, soft mobility and smart parking. A logistics review is another area for consideration, proposed at metropolitan level. The methods of dialogue with residents are also central to this good practice, which aims to integrate them from the very early project planning stages. Indeed, the relevance of the projects is reliant on continual input from the user. An experience exchange with other European counties would only boost the process. Furthermore, involving local elected representatives in the choice of sites and teams strengthens governance at various metropolitan and local levels. The Metropolis does not impose its projects on the communities. Instead, it instigates the process and promotes territories and know-how. The call for projects attracted young agencies, big names in architecture and start-ups.

Heerlen (NL) is marked by a number of degenerated areas due to the collapse of the mining industry in the Limburg region. To foster social and urban regeneration in these areas the municipality uses community art as a tool to engage with communities and improve the image of depressed neighbourhoods. By capturing the potentials of a bottom-up mural art movement being developed in Heerlen over the last few years, the city facilitates its further development. All murals have been created through community engagement, in which citizens, entrepreneurs and artists co-created and took co-ownership in the works. This builds long-lasting and reciprocal social engagement. Moreover, the movement contributes to Heerlen’s positive city image both inside and outside: The city is now able to attract more and more visitors.

Heerlen Murals is a community art form that is based on the creation of mural artworks in the city through community involvement to counter social and urban degradation. Heerlen Murals’ success is in line with and based on the spreading urban trend of place making. People care about public places they use when they are emotionally connected to them, and this can contribute to sustainable use of public spaces. Community art, especially murals, is a strong and effective tool to inject life into abandoned public spaces. Artists create the murals on raw walls and derelict buildings selected with their owners. The murals reflect on local contexts of people, neighbourhoods and the city’s history. Murals are created in cooperation with citizens, local businesses and schools, as well as community organisations through a process of co-creation. By doing so, the local identity is increased, leading to an improved sense of well-being. The mural street art movement nurtured by the city of Heerlen serves as a spark for additional activities such as workshops, community events, as well as projects about green development. Moreover, the Street Art Foundation, which is an important link between mural arts and urban redevelopment, develops mural walking routes for tourist. By attracting tourists and increasing local attractiveness, Heerlen is also able to increase its economic performance.

It is well known that when culture is used for urban development, social issues are being touched upon automatically, as culture makes dynamic use of the internal energies of communities that automatically evokes social dialogues and linkages. Boosting creativity in a city can lead to leapfrogging in terms of social and economic development in small and mid-size towns. As each mural is created following a bottom-up initiative and through a co-creation process, by bringing local entrepreneurs, citizens, schools and community organisations together to co-create, the Heerlen Murals ultimately aim to create stronger local communities. By doing so they contribute to the social integration. Underlined by various bottom-up spin-offs, such as local events and workshops, community building is indeed characterised by sustainability. By increasing the attractiveness and liveability of neighbourhoods, Heerlen Murals have a positive influence on businesses as well. Visitors are attracted by the development of mural walking tours that increase the potentials of the tourism industry. Murals are also used in the process of redesigning public spaces and add to their economic value by attracting new businesses. Environmental integration is backed by experiments with the re-use of materials and the creation of murals that use green patches, this leads to an increased environmental consciousness.

All murals are created through local participation. Several examples can be mentioned: citizens and school children provide city stories and names to the murals, local businesses provide financial contributions. Several housing corporations and businesses started to provide space for murals on their properties and financially support the creation of these murals, as well as cooperating with their tenants and the Street Art Foundation. Moreover, the national trade union FNV donated a mural dedicated to the mining history of the city, inviting former miners to related ceremonies to build cohesion between citizens and Heerlen’s history. A number of murals have been realised along with the refurbishment of public areas to increase livability. The Street Art Foundation cooperates closely with the Tourist Information Centre in the creation of mural walking routes and maps for visitors. A number of murals have been realised through community financing. The cardiology department at the local hospital worked on the creation of a mural in the hospital, with the aim of strengthening its connection with the city. Weller, a local housing corporation, donated one of its properties to create an urban gallery of mural. For the mural “Heerlen Herlon”, an initiative by several creative entrepreneurs, a separate crowd-funding campaign has raised 13 000 euros in a few weeks’ time.

The Heerlen Murals project has led to the development of a total number of 67 artworks spread out over Heerlen, all co-created by artists, local citizens and businesses. It has also led to a significant increase in public and private engagement in Heerlen, as well as an increased sense of well-being. Moreover, Heerlen Murals clearly increased the attractiveness and image of the city. In 2016, the city won the Dutch Street Art Award, confirming it the “mural capital” of the Netherlands, creating the image of an innovative cultural city also on international level, known for its street art scene. Therefore, the city is developing its reputation as an internationally recognised laboratory for the development of a street art genre. Also, the Parkstad Region won the Tourist Tomorrow Award in 2016, in which Heerlen Murals played an important part. These all result in an increase of visitors coming to Heerlen. Based on estimates of the Tourist Information Centre in Heerlen, it amounts to a few thousand more visitors in 2016 compared to 2013. Public figures from the liveability statistics provided by ABF research for the city of Heerlen for 2012-2014 show that the local perception of the physical surroundings in Heerlen turned more positive in the majority of the city’s districts. Although there are no later statistics available, it shows a sign of an increased positive perception of liveability in the city. Heerlen Murals contributed to the process.

Many European cities have recently started mural-painting activities (e.g. Belgrade, Kaunas, Gdansk, Antwerp, Ostend, Bristol, Malmo, Reykjavik, Budapest, Waterford). One of the most important motivations of these cities is to make neighbourhoods more attractive. Many of these cities also deal with problems of deprivation in neighbourhoods often characterised by high-rise apartment blocks, or open spaces and raw walls in between historical buildings. However, to connect and engage local communities, to inject life into depressed neighbourhoods and to foster social and urban renewal, so to maximise the potential impact community art-based mural paintings can generate is often missing. Also, in the majority of cases, a clear city-wide effort to facilitate the process is missing. Moreover, Heerlen is engaging with other cities in the Euregio, such as Liège. These cities are highly interested in the manner by which Heerlen was able to rapidly use street art to formulate answers to issues of social and urban deprivation. It is also worth mentioning that hundreds of cities in former Communist countries are painting high-rise blocks in the frame of isolating projects, but without any concepts behind colouring and targeting community engagement. This could create great interest for Heerlen’s good practice.

Throughout history, trade has played a significant role in the birth and development of cities. The city of Lisbon (PT) developed the programme Loja com História, “Shops with a History”, to recognise trade as a distinctive element of the city. The Shops with a History label is awarded to places such as shops, restaurants and cafes that have helped foster the city's identity and play a role in preserving its historical and cultural heritage. The municipality's goal is also to promote local shops, mainly in the historic town centre, as part of Lisbon's rehabilitation strategy for revitalising the city's economic and social fabric. Thanks to a multi-disciplinary team following predefined selection criteria, a first selection of 63 shops, including restaurants and patisseries, were distinguished in July 2016. A further 19 were highlighted in March 2017. A municipal fund has also been created to support the selected stores.

The candidate stores are visited and inspected by a multi-disciplinary working group set up for that purpose. This group consists of a mixed team of the municipality and the Faculty of Fine Arts that recommends the shop (or restaurant) which meets most of the criteria to be awarded with the distinction. The distinction is awarded on the basis of the cumulative assessment of various factors such as commercial activity, as well as the existence and preservation of architectural heritage or cultural and historical materials. Afterwards, the working group proposes the distinction, which will be validated by an advisory board and finally confirmed by the mayor or the deputy mayor concerned. The distinguished stores will be listed in a database with the documentary and photographic record that testifies to its current repository as well as the authenticity of its history. Each distinguished store is awarded a plaque with the insignia (Loja com História) to be placed on the façade of its building. With the distinction awarded by the municipality, the stores benefit from greater public visibility, being a stimulus for updating their processes and methods to reach the market. This justifies the creation of a municipal fund as an integral part of the same program. This fund is intended to contribute to the costs carried out by stores in three areas: maintenance or restoration of façades or architectural and decorative elements, business dynamism or cultural initiatives.

The Shops with a History programme aims to support and promote the traditional local trade as a symbol of Lisbon, as well as to safeguard the remaining retail stores with unique and differentiating characteristics of commercial activity, and whose history is intertwined with that of the city. The concern with the retail shops (and restaurants) is recognised by the municipality with the reduction or exemption of municipal urban taxes. The City Council is committed to protecting historic shops by combating property speculation and the unrestrained increase of retail rents.

Civic participation has been encouraged by the initial meetings. Starting in February 2015, the City Council began talks with shopkeepers and representative trade and restaurant associations to reverse the commercial crisis situation and maintain business and lifestyle in the city. From these meetings some basic ideas emerged, with the formal start to happen with the probation of the criteria in February 2016 and constitution of a working group to realise the project in May 2016. Furthermore, both the distinction and the fund were subject to their own regulations and submitted to a public consultation, before being ratified by the Municipal Assembly, the deliberative body of the city. All the distinctions were submitted for approval by the Advisory Board. This board is constituted by individual retailers and representative associations of trade and catering, as well as personalities with strong links to the history or the commercial life of the city.

The act of distinguishing a store is prestigious for commerce, but also for the city and for the owner of the store, which is not usually the shopkeeper. In some cases, having the Shop with a History/Loja com História distinction could help a store avoid eviction, displacement or forced compensation.

At the national level, the programme has already had repercussions in the country’s second largest city, Porto. Porto has held meetings with Lisbon officials in order to launch a similar initiative, called Porto with Tradition/Porto com Tradição. Furthermore, our project manager is invited to a regional meeting to be held in Algarve, next April, organised by DG Cutura of Algarve/Ministry of Culture under the theme “Shops with a History/Encontro Lojas com História”. It will be an opportunity to present the Lisbon experience. This programme is easily transferable to other European cities, considering that the EU itself intends to improve trade and quality of life in cities, for example through funding under Horizon 2020. For instance, a well-known blogger from Antwerp has already shown interest in publicising these ideas in her city. A meeting was scheduled with the Vice President's office.

When the Politecnico of Torino analysed the traditional markets of Torino (IT) in 2014, it discovered that 10 of the city’s 42 open markets were low economic performers and risked being closed. But the City of Torino, in charge of markets management, saw that even non-competitive markets were valuable for promoting social aggregation and healthy and eco-friendly habits, preventing degradation in outer neighbourhoods, and providing local services to the elderly and people with low mobility.
So to help them stay open, the Municipality designed a new model for local markets. ACC – Areas of Commercial Coverage – define small markets (two to six stalls) that feature food (meat, fish, or vegetables) and involve a lighter management system (self-waste management). In this way, the City reduced its maintenance costs for these markets, and secured a local service for the community, boosting commercial activities and social cohesion.

The solution offered by the ACC is beneficial for the local community and for the administration since it reduces the management costs for a service without removing it. The City of Torino has acknowledged the low performance of a number of markets, as well as their being essential for the local communities. Since the main task of the administration is not economic profit, but the provision of services with particular attention to the most disadvantaged citizens, the solution adopted by Torino aimed at reaching a number of beneficial goals:

1. Avoiding the risk of unemployment for stall operators, mostly immigrants, by giving them the possibility to remain in the ACC or to move to another market;
2. Keeping the public space alive and used by local citizens, including both the marketplace and neighbouring green spaces, leisure areas, etc.;
3. Keeping outer districts active from a commercial and social point of view (both markets and local shops, cafés, etc);
4. Granting the daily provision of fresh food in all city areas by having a widespread market network;
5. Giving the responsibility to each stall to dispose of its own waste, meaning less cleaning costs for the municipality;
6. Avoiding trips to distant commercial places, thus reducing traffic and CO2 emissions;
7. Improving the commercial attractiveness of the ACCs by rationalising the former stalls distribution;
8. Avoiding depriving the elderly and low mobility people from their gathering place.

The ACC experience combines many aspects connected to the sustainable and integrated urban development approach, since it deals with jobs protection, sustainability measures and the smart use of the public space, giving positive externalities to the surrounding urban tissue. The low performance of a number of markets in Torino represented a risk to all the small companies working in those markets, as well as to the commercial activities/retailers based in the concerned areas. The decision to reshape the markets according to actual customer requests and to give them a lighter management structure was the solution to avoid job loss and urban and social degradation. An important reason to create an ACC instead of closing up a market was the environmental impact that would have been generated by forcing people to move from their neighbourhood to do their basic daily shopping. The compulsory presence within each ACC of vegetables and other foods represents the provision of a basic service for people with fewer possibilities. Moreover, this measure is particularly attentive to raising the environmental and public responsibility of the stall operators so that they are required to dispose of their own waste by bringing it to a specific collection point.

The whole process has been developed according to Art. 47 of City Council Regulation no. 305 of 21 February 2005 regulating retail in public areas. The concerned article sets up the “Forms of representations for the market operators” by establishing Market Committees and a Technical Advisory Committee. The latter is formed by the Deputy Mayor in charge of Commerce, a representative of the local police, the head of the Markets Department of the City of Torino, the representatives of the trade associations and the representatives of the consumer associations. Paragraph 4 of Art. 47 states that the Technical Advisory Committee must be summoned to take decisions concerning retail in public areas. That is why the decision not to close down low performing markets, but to establish ACCs instead, has been taken with the involvement and agreement of all the relevant stakeholders represented in the committee. The involvement of all relevant associations is also established in the Protocol of Intent signed on 20 January 2015 between the City of Torino and the main associations. Moreover, the process was also shared with the concerned city district local governments (Circoscrizioni). In each city district a public meeting was organised to present the project and each assembly voted to approve the initiative. Finally, each stall operator has been given the choice to join the ACC or to move to the nearest market area.

The main reason for undertaking such an initiative is the preservation of the role of community markets as places of identity and social gathering. This initiative has prevented negative effects from the suppression of a local service which might have caused the degradation of the public space previously devoted to markets, the generation of more trips to reach other commercial areas, the decline of the shops and commercial activities located in the market area. Moreover, the stall operators have been granted the possibility to keep their own regular customers, since fidelity is one of the main drivers of the seller-customer relationship. Finally, the users of the concerned markets/ACCs have perceived the role of the public administration as the “keeper” of the common good, regardless of the economic priorities. The first result that can be documented concerns the savings by the city administration connected to the waste management costs of the ACCs, calculated at more than €100,000 for 2016, and €340,000 per year when at full power.

The good practice implemented by the City of Torino might be very interesting for many types of cities. Mediterranean cities are particularly concerned by the phenomenon of open-air urban markets and might face the same challenges as Torino in terms of commercial competition and loss of purchasing power of a remarkable portion of citizens. They might be interested in developing the model of ACCs by adapting it to their local and national regulations, public spaces, commercial and social habits. Moreover, ACCs can be implemented in cities of various sizes since they are very locally based, and are not affected by the overall dimension of the city. City administrations might consider ACCs as a good instrument to reinforce their relationship and dialogue with those citizens living in peripheral and/or more disadvantages areas, by committing to a project that unites the administration and its citizens around the challenges of common issues: employment, affordability and proximity of services, environmental protection.