Homeless people are increasing in all European countries except one: Finland. The most extreme form of poverty is becoming ever more urgent to tackle. Cities are struggling with understanding the numbers they deal with, define their specific problem and finally find innovative solutions to work with. A time of crisis calls for radical answers and a shift in mind-set. Can the collaboration between 9 European cities lead towards the end of an era?
“I see this lady, just outside the centre where they distribute methadone. Every morning she stands there. She is old and not in a good shape. I have been walking past her every day for the last year; -a whole year, every day. Now we wave hello to each other. She reminds me of why I do my job”. Says Steven as we walk away from the MSOC in Ghent, a medical centre where people can get methadone and support. Steven Vanden Broucke has been working for the Belgian city of Ghent since 2018 and is working on a local action plan to end chronic homelessness. 200 people arrive at the MSOC every day suffering from drug dependency and often mental disease. About half of them are homeless. “Not all of them are without a roof,” tells us one of the project medical doctors “but many live in insecure, inappropriate housing or couch surf.”
The city of Ghent (BE) has the challenging role of leading the new Action Planning Network ROOF in the URBACT program. ROOF is focusing on ending homelessness through innovative housing solutions. The project is a partnership between 9 cities: Ghent (Lead partner), Braga (PT), Glasgow (UK), Gothenburg (SE), Liège (BE), Naples (IT), Timisoara (RO), Thessaloniki (EL) and Toulouse (FR). The cities will compare best and worst practices, learn from one another and grow together with two main objectives: 1. gather accurate data about homelessness in their own city 2. make the shift from managing to the actual ending of homelessness, with Housing First and Housing Led as guidance model.
Room in a homeless shelter in Naples (Italy)
To measure is to know
Homelessness does not have one single definition, and this lack of definition is also part of the problem. While the common image of a homeless person is a person living in the streets, many homeless people are sleeping with friends or relatives, in their cars or in unsuitable conditions. Homeless people often do not want to be seen. When visiting one of the day shelters for the homeless in Liège, the director explained: “The people coming to our service to get a meal and a bed, may remain anonymous. We only ask them to maintain the same identity for the whole season.” Patricia Vanderbauwhede who works for the Housing Department of the city of Ghent and ROOF project leader, is certain that an accurate data collection on homelessness is a crucial step towards solving the problem. “It is very convenient for a city to think the numbers are smaller than they really are. We have to work together in order to make this problem visible and reveal the real numbers”.
Even though the numbers are difficult to collect and compare, studies show that more than 4 million people are affected by homelessness each year in Europe. "Only crisis -actual or perceived- produces real change" said Milton Friedman. And for homelessness, the multiple crisis level is evident: the Global Financial Crisis brought higher levels of poverty; the Housing Crisis today makes the housing market become highly inaccessible for most vulnerable people and the European migrant crisis causes difficulty for migrants in finding affordable housing and a homelessness risk, due to their complex situation (such as lack of finances, language barriers, cultural differences, (mental) health issues.
Street art in Sanità neighbourhood in Naples (Italy)
The house as a human right, not a reward.
The ROOF project will not stop at understanding the problem but will explore innovative housing solutions, and especially “Housing First”. The reasons for that come from the observation of, -the only European country showing positive trends on homelessness. It is the only country with a long and successful experience with “Housing First”. The traditional model is a staircase model, where people have to go through several steps before they can get a house, for example by curing their addiction first. In “Housing First”, to be given a home is a first step. Once one has a home, other problems are taken care of, with freedom of choice and flexibility. This puts the house as a human right and not as a reward. Temporary solutions in housing are often unsuccessful for people with complex needs. I met three young adults in Queens Cross housing association in Glasgow during my city visit. “I am very easily influenced,” one of them shared, “going back to an institution or a temporary housing solution, and living with other people that have similar problems would have meant going back to drugs, losing my job… I needed my own space, I needed to put my life together, on my own.” The three young adults now live in small and independent apartments, and have 24/7 support from the housing association if needed.
Study visit to Glasgow (Scotland)
The URBACT framework is perfect for this network, it facilitates exchange and learning on transnational and local level, it offers capacity building, it provides cities with guidance to make a local action plan together with their stakeholders and puts focus on communication and dissemination. These four aspects make a great opportunity for the cities to act. “URBACT allows each city to have a spotlight on a desired topic, to bring it to the political agenda and to the citizens’ attention,” says Ariana Tabaku, from the coordination team of the City of Ghent. “All cities should use this opportunity strategically.”
Professor Eoin O'Sullivan (Trinity College, Dublin) speaks at ROOF kick-off meeting
The ROOF network is determined to influence the European strategies on the topic. Europe does not have a specific policy for homelessness. During the network Kick-off Meeting in Naples this October, Professor Eoin O’Sullivan spoke about the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with one of its aims to reduce homelessness to functional zero (meaning homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurrent) in all member states by 2030. Action plans of 9 cities and small scale solutions in the next two years, may well serve the ambitious aim to end homelessness.
Ten European cities join forces in the new ‘Thriving Streets’ network. Their approach: transform streets to create people-friendly places, encourage walking and cycling, and reduce car-dependency. In this way they work on a more healthy, attractive, accessible, inclusive and thriving future of their cities.
On September 14th, a remarkable transformation takes place in the Via della Salute in Parma, Italy. For one day, citizens clear the street from the cars that usually dominate the space. Their place is taken instead by huge tables, set for a dinner to host about 200 people from the neighbourhood. As the neighbours start to prepare the event, kids come out of their houses, and started using the street as their playground. Like birds that feel as if spring is coming, the kids just feel it is their time to claim the space.
Two weeks later, Patrizia Marani introduces an international delegation to the street and the wider neighbourhood. The visit is part of the kick-off meeting of the Thriving Streets network, of which Patrizia (working for the Municipality of Parma) is the coordinator. To her, the dinner event is a clear example how the use of streets can encourage social cohesion, create a positive dynamic and increase attractiveness. The next two years, Parma will commit to work together with citizens, shop owners and local organizations to spark a similar dynamic in the whole neighbourhood of Oltretorrente.
PHOTO 1: Neighbourhood Dinner in Via della Salute, Parma. Photo by Annarita Melegari
Thriving streets: Thriving Local Economy and Thriving Communities
Each of the partners in the Thriving Streets is exploring how sustainable mobility can lead to local economic and social benefits, by putting people central in the design and use of streets. All these 10 European cities have their own, yet related, challenge as focus. For Parma, the issue can be illustrated with a picture of a street with many empty shops. A depressing sight, but a reality in many cities across Europe. The local shops are challenged by the development of shopping malls and more recently online shopping. By making the streets attractive for people, the (economic) activity can prosper again.
How to strengthen the local economy in city centres and neighbourhoods, and increase their attractivity? This question is key also for other partners. The cities of Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Radom (Poland) are focussing for this question on the historic city centres. The cities of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Antwerp (Belgium) instead focus on off-centre neighbourhoods.
Questions of inclusivity also arise when creating thriving streets, for example about how the public space could lessen gender-inequality or how to overcome transport poverty. The cities of Igoumenitsa (Greece) and Santo Tirso (Portugal) identified youth as a vulnerable and underrepresented group. Together with schools, they will work on child-friendly school environments and safe commuting. This means overcoming cultural barriers for the acceptance of walking and cycling by both children and their parents, as well as playing into the health benefits of active mobility.
For the district of Southwark, London (UK), the target is also inclusivity, but focussed on local businesses. Planned developments in the area will bring about 27,000 new homes and 26,000 new jobs. The traffic flowing through a strategic route, Lower Road, competes with the needs of the local neighbourhood. Communities are left disjointed with poor active travel access to local shops. How to make sure the ‘old’ local businesses and communities will not be left out?
Starting point in all cities is a specific street or neighbourhood. The impact of the interventions developed at such place goes beyond its limited spatial scale. The local changes give rise to changing mobility flows in the city, can shake up engrained behaviour patterns, and go hand in hand with improvement of public transport on city level. Two partners in the Thriving Streets network focus on the relation between pedestrianization of the city centre and the related changes in mobility patterns. Not surprisingly, these are both metropolitan authorities, from Debrecen and Oradea.
PHOTO 2: Cycling classes in Santo Tirso – photo by Municipality of Santo Tirso
Working together to make Thriving Streets happen
How attractive the ambition of turning streets into thriving streets might seem, the process is not an easy matter, of course. So… how?
First of all, it is about getting different perspectives and domains on board in the development. Creating thriving streets is not just about mobility or spatial planning, but also very much about health, local economy, social cohesion, equal opportunities, etc. It can help to make benefits of such transformation explicit, by empowering the people who will benefit to raise their voice. It can also be worth trying to translate benefits into ‘hard’ indicators, such as growth in customers or increase in social contacts in a street.
Equally, to get many people to contribute to and support the transformation, a lot of effort will go to co-creation. This helps overcome resistance. Too often, politicians and other decision makers drop their support to ambitious transformations as soon as they are confronted with angry and vocative local business-owners or car-users, who feel passed over. Most importantly, co-creative methods help to create better solutions by tapping into local knowledge and linking to the ambitions and energy of different stakeholders. The example of the dinner-activity in Parma is just one of many.
Join our learning journey
In the coming years, the ten cities involved will work together with local stakeholders on their respective ambitions, sharing a common base: creating thriving streets for a thriving city. The cities will go on a learning journey together, exchanging experiences and inspiration. We don’t start from scratch, but build on the existing experiences of cities around Europe, and take inspiration from other projects such as Living Streets and Happy Streets.
If you want to stay up to date or share your own experiences, please join our learning journey. You can express your interest and subscribe for updates by sending an e-mail to p.marani@comune.parma.it.
PHOTO 3: The city teams involved in Thriving Streets – photo by Municipality of Parma
This URBACT III project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Thanks to Nena Bode (DRIFT) for contributing to this article, and the partner cities for their inputs.
Integration is a weasel word. Hard to pin down, it means different things to different people. The 3rd URBACT City Lab brought city practitioners and policy makers together in Warsaw to explore this tricky principle. What does it mean for cities and what do we mean by an integrated approach to sustainable urban development?
The Lab findings will feed into the German EU presidency’s refresh of the Leipzig Charter in 2020. So, what did we learn? Here are five headlines.
1. Re-state our values and find new ways to measure success
The world now looks very different to 2007, when the Leipzig Charter appeared. Since then we’ve witnessed a global financial crisis, the digital revolution and increasing globalisation. We’ve also seen the rise of populism and the fragmentation of trust between the public and politicians. Many European cities struggle with widening inequalities.
Going forward into the 2020s, do we expect our cities to adopt a ‘business as usual’ approach or, instead, are we at a fork in the road? New economic thinkers like Kate Raworth are creating an alternative economic framework that challenges the old assumptions. Her "Doughnut Economics" approach bounds our economic activity within the scope of the environment, raising questions that every city should consider.
Kate sets out seven ways to think like a 21st century economist. The first is to change the goal. Across Europe cities including Stockholm (SE), Amsterdam (NL) and Berlin (DE) are exploring these new ideas, looking to reshape our idea of successful integrated cities.
2. Become bilingual and free range
Lab participants spoke about the factors driving mistrust between citizens and government. They include the use of official language which alienates people as well as the impersonalisation of services through the use of technology. The net effect is a barrier between the people and the services which their taxes fund.
Cities are exploring ways to address these challenges. In a previous URBACT network, the Mayor of Amersfoort (NL) encouraged City Hall staff to get out from behind their desks in order to engage directly with citizens. He spoke about free range civil servants, who are comfortable out in the community. In fact they are part of the community; parents, neighbours and citizens like everyone else. But this requires a shift in mindset for some municipal officials, which requires support and encouragement.
The city of Łodz (PL) has embraced this concept in its regeneration approach to a 6.5 hectare site characterised by residential buildings constructed in the late 19th century. As part of this sensitive work, the city recruited and trained a large team of local mediators, literally go-betweens linking the neighbourhood with the municipality. This element of their good practice is one of the components being transferred to cities in the Urban Regeneration Mix network, includes Zagreb (HR), Braga (PT) and Toulouse (FR). Too often, city authorities outsource this engagement activity to third parties, and in doing so, miss the opportunity to build capacity and experience in house.
3. Harness the power of public spending
Making Spend Matter is an URBACT Transfer network focused on mobilising the significant power of public spending to achieve local impact. The starting point is recognising the significant scale of public budgets, and their importance to local economies. The approach, which started in Preston (UK) has involved getting a better snapshot of what is spent, where and with whom.
During this initial phase, the city saw the proportion of its public spend with Preston based suppliers increase from 5% to 18%, and the proportion spent with regional based suppliers increase from 39% to 79%. The model starts with a local spend analysis, and seven other cities are currently transferring the approach through this network. By definition, the approach requires public partners to collaborate, through the mobilisation of anchor institutions across all sectors. This is integration in action!
4. Revisit approaches to tackling poverty
Although welfare models are complex and varied across Europe, there’s a general consensus that they are failing. At the same time, we see that investment in physical revitalisation can often lead to gentrification and the displacement of the most vulnerable.
Many city authorities are looking at new and innovative ways to address this. One example is Aarhus (DK) which is successfully personalising budgets designed to support people back to work. Another is Barcelona (ES), which has an Urban Innovative Actions project, B-MINCOM aimed at breaking cycles of deprivation in Besos, one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods. There, average household income is around 50% of the city rate.
The approach provides a guaranteed minimum income level to 1,000 households on a trial basis. It combines the income guarantee with an active programme of employment support and enterprise development. As the pilot concludes in autumn 2019, it will have important lessons to share across Europe.
5. Embrace the integrated approach!
The Leipzig Charter was one of the earliest documents to promote an integrated approach to urban development. Almost 13 years later, many still struggle to understand what this means in practice. Many barriers stand in the way - including the departmental silos we find in City Hall.
In response to this, URBACT has recently conducted detailed research exploring integrated working in practice. This identifies examples from cities working this way across Europe, and sets out practical tips to follow. Stories from Strasbourg (FR), Cluj-Napoca (RO) and Antwerp (BE) provide guidance and inspiration.
A key message is that this isn’t as hard as it sounds, and city practitioners can break things into manageable chunks to help take them forward. The watchword is letting go of perfection. Perhaps that’s the first stage to adopting a more integrated approach.
The key principles of the original Leipzig Charter provided the focus for each URBACT City Lab.
By recognising its complexity and breaking it down into its component concepts cities can better manage integrated urban development. One of the findings of the recent study of URBACT cities’ Integrated Action Plans (IAP Study) was that cities need to fully understand, but also break down, the complexity of ‘integrated urban development’ in order to better take on the challenge of systematically improving their approaches.
Integrated Urban Development: a challenging concept
Previous efforts by URBACT to communicate what 'integrated urban development' means have typically focused on the ideas of ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ integration. These are useful concepts for enabling a general understanding of the topic, but the IAP Study found that practical efforts to both improve and assess the integration of an urban action plan require more detailed definitions.
‘Horizontal integration’ potentially incorporates: diverse policy areas/sectors; different locations and spatial relationships; the diversity of local stakeholder groups; and the balancing of economic, social and environmental objectives. Thus, the apparently simple question “is this action plan horizontally integrated?” becomes extremely difficult and complex to answer in practice. The various dimensions mean that a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ is not enough.
Meanwhile, ‘vertical integration’ between levels of governance can refer variously to the engagement of decision-makers and stakeholders, the alignment of strategies and the mobilisation of funds from different levels. Once again, the question of whether an action plan is vertically integrated or not becomes complex and nuanced and does not lend itself to a simple answer.
In this context, it is perhaps unsurprising that the IAP Study found that cities were often struggling to process and communicate the complexity they were dealing with in trying to deliver integrated approaches to urban development.
The Integrated Action Plan of Medina del Campo (ES) from the CityCentreDoctor network describes the revitalisation of the city centre “as an integrated process. Integrated because it includes social, economic, environmental, cultural and institutional areas.” This definition does not really do justice to the level of integration demonstrated. In fact, the IAP shows coordination between sectors, across locations and spatial relationships, between levels of governance and with stakeholder groups, as well as between economic, social and environmental aspects.
The need for a clear and detailed definition
For some IAPs then, the lack of a clear and detailed definition of ‘integration’ affected their ability to fully communicate the complexity of their plans. However, for many, the lack of such a definition also increased the risks that certain aspects of integration would be missed.
In conducting its analysis, the IAP Study found that the picture was extremely varied across and within the IAPs. Sometimes aspects of integration were clearly addressed. Sometimes they were addressed, but not clearly or not fully. Sometimes they did not seem to be addressed at all. And when they were missing, it was not clear if this was an oversight or an intentional decision not to focus on an aspect not considered to be of importance.
For example, we can consider the IAP of Södertälje (SE) from the AGRI-URBAN network. This is generally an excellent example of an integrated action plan, which is presented extremely clearly and demonstrates various aspects of integration as well as good practice in stakeholder engagement and transnational exchange. However, unlike some other IAPs, it does not mention cooperation with neighbouring municipalities in developing actions. It is not totally clear if this potential aspect of a fully integrated approach to food policy was not considered or not deemed relevant.
Meanwhile, the IAP of Strasbourg (FR) from the BoostINNO network does not set out actions that are integrated across sectors or that address different locations or spatial relationships within the city. This might seem like a major omission. However, given that its whole approach is to foster social innovation across all aspects of work and across the whole of the city, it is perhaps both understandable and legitimate that its actions are focused on governance aspects that lack sectorial and spatial dimensions.
What these two examples show is that it is not enough to simply observe the presence or omission of one of the aspects of integration in order to assess the quality of the integration. It is important to also have an understanding of whether this aspect of integration is relevant and/or a priority in the specific case being addressed. Integrated action plans should ideally explain their choices clearly.
Six aspects of integrated urban development
The IAP Study strongly advocates that cities carry out a more systematic approach to developing their approaches to integrated urban development. This will not only enable cities to build a fuller picture of the complexity of integrated urban development, but also to do so in a way that is manageable in practice – by dealing with each of its component parts in turn.
The IAP Study identified six aspects of ‘integrated urban development’ that all towns and cities should consider when working to improve the integration of their approaches in practice. These six aspects were mainly identified by separating out the various dimensions of horizontal and vertical integration demonstrated by cities. They also include the overarching elements of: the need for sustainable approaches and the involvement of stakeholders in implementation (in addition to consultation in the planning).
Six aspects of integrated urban development
Sustainable urban development - actions address all three pillars of sustainable development in terms of economic, social and environmental objectives
Sectorial integration – addressing the full range of policies/sectors of activity, including infrastructure, transport, employment, education, green spaces, housing, culture…
Local spatial integration – coherence of actions in different locations within the city and considering overall spatial coherence within and across locations and neighbourhoods
Territorial integration – coherence and complementarity of actions and policies implemented by neighbouring municipalities
Multi-level governance – actions are planned coherently at different levels of governance, covering local (district, city), regional and national levels
Stakeholder involvement in implementation - the full range of relevant stakeholders are engaged in the implementation of planned actions
Systematically addressing this list can help ensure that cities do not forget to give environment and social objectives equal billing in their plans and to demonstrate this clearly. It can encourage them to think about spatial dimensions within their city and integration beyond the scope of their municipality – whether with neighbouring municipalities or different levels of governance. The list can also ensure that cities do not forget to include stakeholders in the implementation of their plans – beyond a simply consultative role.
Practical differences in applying integrated approaches
Working systematically through the aspects of integrated urban development does not mean that each city has to plan actions on each or become somehow formulaic in its response. The systematic approach means only that cities need to consider improving their integration in each aspect and make a conscious decision on how to address it. This is why a quality planning process is such a crucial pre-requisite to effective integrated urban development and also why no two integrated action plans will ever be the same.
For example, in the IAP of Szombathely (HU) from the MAPS network, the actions show a good level of integration of sectorial and spatial dimensions focused within the city limits, principally on the site of the former military barracks that is targeted. The plan balances economic, social and environmental aspects and engages stakeholders well. However, the study found no evidence of coordination with neighbouring municipalities and little evidence of multi-level governance. This might be justifiable, but the plan might be stronger if it explicitly addressed such potential.
A very different example is provided by the IAP of Cluj Napoca (RO) from the REFILL network. The focus of the network on vacant spaces leads the city to prioritise governance aspects that will facilitate temporary use. This focus on governance rather than physical interventions leads to very different strategic choices in developing its integrated action plan. For example, there is no particular sectorial dimension to the actions planned – rather, such aspects will need to be considered in the actual implementation of temporary use that the action plan seeks to facilitate.
A final example here is the IAP of Antwerp (BE) from the sub>urban network. The plan presents actions across multiple relevant sectors, with a strong spatial dimension and specific actions to collaborate with neighbouring municipalities. This fits quite logically with the focus of the network on the urban fringe. However, the IAP is less clear about its specific approach to multi-level governance and what potential this might have to improve the approaches developed.
What seems clear from the IAP Study is that there are no objectively right or wrong answers when it comes to developing more integrated approaches. The topic addressed has a major impact on the aspects of integration that cities need to prioritise, with the strongest difference being between topics that are focused on a specific physical space (e.g. revitalisation of a city centre or former military site) and topics that address a way of working (e.g. supporting social innovation or promoting temporary use). However, a more systematic approach to addressing each aspect of integration can ensure that no dimensions are missed and that cities are able to show and justify their strategic choices.
Focusing on the journey towards more integrated approaches
A concluding message for cities and those that work with them is that this approach to integrated urban development is relevant and can be applied to all cities, no matter their starting point and previous experience with integrated approaches.
When addressing any topic or challenge, every city can reflect on the six aspects of integrated urban development and ask itself where it can improve the integration of its approach and add value. For cities that are new to integrated approaches or new to a topic, this might mean choosing some limited priority areas of action rather than attempting to do everything at once.
The IAP of Klaipeda (LT) from the Gen-Y City network shows an approach where such clear strategic choices were made. It states that “ULG Group members decided to narrow the initial version of the Integrated Action Plan and to focus on the main objective and related measures for attracting and retaining talents in Klaipeda”. The strong focus of its actions on supporting freelancers aims to fill a particular gap identified in the existing service provision. The ongoing challenge for the city will be to add additional dimensions to make the approach ever more integrated over time.
More experienced cities can still look at their existing approaches and identify areas where the integration can be improved. Maybe they have missed one dimension in their plans so far. Maybe some aspects could be dealt with in more depth, integrating yet more stakeholders or additional sectors or improving the multi-level governance. Most action plans could improve the rigour with which they show the balance between economic, social and environmental objectives.
There is no such thing as a perfectly integrated action plan. The important thing, wherever a city is on its own pathway, is to be constantly seeking improvement and reflecting with stakeholders on where it can still further improve the integration of its approaches, using the six aspects of integrated urban development as a guide.
In the Welcoming International Talent project, seven cities aim at sharing knowledge, improving policies and implementing best practice projects in their international student cities. But why are these specific cities participating in the WIT project? Each city will explain what they can contribute and what they would like to learn from this knowledge exchange. This time: Zlín, Czech Republic.
Globalisation has offered us many opportunities but it also caused many challenges that have not existed before. Travelling has never been easier thanks to new technologies and transport availability. People are more and more willing to travel in order to get a better job opportunity and this trend has a huge impact on smaller cities and less attractive regions. Talented workers tend to move to bigger cities where they can find higher demand for workers and higher salaries. That situation results in population decline in the small cities such as Zlín. Big cities like Prague are opened to talented people from around the world. The city itself is adjusted to foreigner’s needs since the citizens of Prague are used to the presence of many foreign tourists and workers. However, in case foreigners decides to move to a smaller city in the Czech Republic, they will have to face many challenges related to everyday life.
Zlín is a medium-sized city in south-eastern Moravia. The city is famous as the birthplace of Tomas Bata, the founder of the colossal Bata Shoe Empire. The company flourished in the first half of the 20th century and since then Zlín became a centre of business, new technologies, research and culture. In 1939 Bata Shoe Company has been doing business in 42 fields of manufacturing, trade, and services and there were factories and subsidiaries in 39 countries around the world. However, the World War II and the following communist regime had a very negative effect on the company. Many people left the city and Zlín lost its significance. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the fall of the Communist regime, the entrepreneurial spirit of the city returned again. Business activities in Zlín are well above the national average. The unemployment rate is around 2% and the city wants to follow the tradition of Tomas Bata and attract talented foreigners to Zlín. The city is interested in internationals that would remain economically active and become full-fledged inhabitants of the city. Zlín is open to highly skilled workers and foreign students, as well as low skilled workers who can find employment in local industry or services.
One of the key success factors of Tomas Bata Company and city development was the ability of Tomas Bata and later his step brother Jan Antonin Bata to attract the most talented and hard-working people from around the world. The main goal of Zlín’s participation in the Welcoming International Talent project is the vision of restoration of this tradition. The City of Zlín would like to develop an effective strategy how to attract and retain talented people and make their experience and life in Zlín as enjoyable and easy as possible. The main intention is to develop a new welcome culture and to improve the integration of the international workers and students in the city life. Zlín offers an attractive place to live and the potential of a growing city with plenty of opportunities. Openness to foreigners will attract new businesses and investors, which will lead to the development of the entire Zlín Region.
The best way to get where we want is to learn from those who are already there and therefore learn from the most competent ones. The project's leading city is the Dutch city of Groningen, which already has extensive experience in this area and has thus become a holder of good practice. The partner cities share common problems and challenges in services for international citizens, housing, communication, integration, economic participation and language skills especially sufficient knowledge of English. The aim of the project is to make it easier for international talents to settle down in Zlín and have a full and happy life. Zlín welcomes the opportunity to share ideas on internationalization and talent attraction with other project partners and we believe that our cooperation will be very beneficial. Mutual cooperation and meetings are an extraordinary opportunity to learn from each other, to inspire and to learn from each other´s mistakes, while also adapting successful methods to the needs of the City of Zlín.
On a local basis, the project involved representatives of the public sector, businesses, organizations and educational institutions such as Tomas Bata University in Zlín. Local foreigners are also key members who know best what challenges they had to face when they arrived and what would make integration and life in the city easier. URBACT Local Group is a key player in the whole URBACT project and it helps to define challenges and find solutions. All international meetings are a great inspiration and the outputs are always carefully analyzed. The first step is going to be a website for foreigners in order to help them get the most basic and most important information. However, there are more plans in place and there is strong believe that Zlín will become once more an international city.
Who hasn't tried to get rid of old habits, whether in relation to the way we eat, sleep, interact with each other, work, travel, or do sports? Who hasn't ever faced the difficulty of moving away from anchored routines to newly adopted ones? Who has ever struggled to unravel the complexity of the psychological but also social, technological and infrastructure-related mechanisms that make it difficult to transition?
Changing is, indeed, difficult. Adopting new consumption practices in order to support transition towards a low-carbon society is even more difficult in this “Consumer Society”. As Zygmunt Baumann detailed in the 2007 “Consuming Life”, our space is an entangled web where social life politics and democracy, social divisions and stratification, communities and partnerships, identity building, the production and use of knowledge, and value preferences are entangled. Yet, it is crucial that we now, as citizens, change the way we consume according to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 and as recently emphasised in the IPCC Special report on Global Warming of 1.5 ºC.
Supporting citizens in their consumption transition has been at the core of public policies for decades and is a constant challenge - as well as a realm for experimentation. 3 European initiatives: URBACT, UIA and the Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy give an insight into key approaches in the way European cities are frontrunners, supporting citizens in their transition towards more sustainable consumption practices.
Identifying a key topical entry: a food story
Mouans-Sartoux (FR) is the lead partner of the BioCanteens URBACT network, transferring its practice of a 100% organic canteen. One key element for this shift is behavioural change and the education of children, as well as of their parents. This is done thanks to food education which includes making choices between portion sizes at the canteen (to empower them in identifying the right amount of food they require), tasting and cooking classes, gardening activities and visits to the municipal farm, as well as a special food and health program aimed at shifting families’ habits to eating local and organic food. With the support of a survey of consumers’ habits, it is part of a more integrated method.
“By focusing on school canteens, we are trying to develop a comprehensive approach to support new food habits of the children of Mouans-Sartoux, as well as for their parents: combining fighting foodwaste, training of kitchen staff, reducing costs, developing local economy, supporting sustainable urban planning and agricultural land use, and with a complete governance system composed of a food territorial management - as well as the creation of the Centre for Sustainable Food and Education (MEAD)”, says Gilles Pérole, elected representative of Mouans-Sartoux.
Let’s play! Using gamification as an incentive for new ways of consuming
Making recycling and re-use fun but also rewarding is the approach Santiago de Compostela (ES) is developing in its Tropa Verde URBACT transfer network. Citizens recycle and receive tokens (green points, civic and social centres, recovery points, etc.), they can exchange for sustainable – non production intensive – gifts, such as public transport tickets, haircuts, or meals. Partner shops are integrated in the daily lives of citizens, making participation easy, interactive and fun. A multimedia platform enables them to identify local shops in which the exchange can take place: it is the central point for interaction, easily accessible, but also transferrable to other cities to adapt to their local circumstances. Finally, this practice is making citizens responsible in their recycling habits, but also in a move towards more circular attitudes in other areas of their lives.
Combining online and offline activities
In Antwerp (BE), the City Administration took the opportunity of the development of a newly created district, the New South district, to position circularity as a community challenge. The plan? To engage its new residents in co-creating both online and offline initiatives to change their behaviours, in relation to energy and water consumption as well as to waste management. The UIA Antwerp Circular South project has enabled developing technical solutions such as photovoltaics, storage batteries, smart grids, smart meters and individual dashboards too. Local inhabitants experiment behavioural nudging, while receiving cues to adapt their consumption behaviour of energy, water and waste in the most ideal circular way. Circular behaviours will be automatically rewarded by an alternative online currency, the “circular coin”, through a blockchain - based reward and exchange system. Some of the most engaged Circular South participants will form a local energy community co-owning an innovative collective energy system. In addition, a Circular South community centre – the so-called CIRCUIT, has been set up to host a number of initiatives related to sharing, repairing and reusing activities. As Gabriëlle Van Zoeren, former project coordinator, said “nothing of what we do is new: our innovation is to bring it together and especially to combine the online and offline activities!”.
Developing new ecosystems
The city of Oslo (NO) has led the work on the Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy including a series of meetings and projects within the frame of the multi-level governance, as well as a catalogue mapping existing Urban Resource Centres: the “local approaches to waste prevention, re-use, repair and recycling in a circular economy” (to be published and shared before the Summer 2019).
The catalogue presents and reviews critical success factors and transferrable qualities, of the resource centres. Their functions can be social (job creation, engaging the community in responsible consumption and disposal, or improved quality of life), economic (transformation of industrial sectors, entrepreneurship and new business models or co-creation in a circular economy) or environmental (waste prevention, waste management or boosting the market for secondary raw materials). They can be public, private or public-private. Creating such resource centres entails developing new ecosystems that can be useful for citizens. Yet, they are facing barriers such as access to space, legislation, waste quality, communication, reporting or funding. At the same time, they benefit from technology, stakeholder engagement, co-location, political support and strong links to the social economy. The city of Oslo is currently seeking to take this work forward with a follow-up network of peer-learning and exchange.
Is a circular economy approach the way forward?
Grassroots initiatives, market-based solutions and research are the bases for the above-mentioned cases. Yet, public authorities are steering these processes by experimenting new approaches, bringing them together, and supporting learning across the EU. As such, local public authorities have a key role to play in ensuring that an increasing number of projects are developed and evaluated for the concrete and operational change of consumer practices.
All 3 cases also show the need to adopt integrated approaches: in terms of topics, methodology, governance, stakeholders and territories. Circular economy is more than a buzzword. It is an overall encompassing approach. It could help cities develop projects, which support citizens to adopt new consumption habits and which encourage transition towards a new economic ecosystem, with the potential to offer long-lasting economic, environmental and social benefits.
Maarten van Tuijl takes a look at the “sub>urban, re-inventing the fringe" network, across 9 cities, re-thinking city fringes over the past 2,5 years and working on the implementation of local action plans on pilot sites. So, he asks: what did we learn and what are our recommendations for working on the fringe?
The fringe is the post war urban area in between the inner city and the suburbs. Besides being an unsustainable fragmented belt of often sub-optimal and mono-functional land usage cut by big infrastructure with pockets of social deprivation, the fringe also holds the promise of combining the best of both worlds. It has more amenities and is closer to the city centre than the low density suburbs, but also offers more space and green space than the city centre. To both face its challenges and to fulfil its promises, the renewal of the fringe demands a new approach to urban planning. Because most of the property in the fringe is privately owned and administrations have limited powers there, a new approach to urban renewal is needed.
1. DUSSELDORF (DE) IS TRANSFORMING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION
Located in the southern part of Düsseldorf’s fringe, Garath is a typical housing project district of the 1960s and ’70s. Garath faces specific challenges: the district is home to 18,730 inhabitants, of whom 11% are unemployed, a higher proportion compared to Düsseldorf as a whole. Rents are below the city average and the living space is often not adequate for today’s demands, which sometimes leads to a concentration of social problems. In addition, there are other urban deficits such as a patchy retail supply and a lack of attractive green and open spaces.
To develop a strategy for Garath, process management has been implemented focu¬sing on participation of different stakeholders, especially the residents. The process has been developed within a year: Defining the roles of expert skills and knowledge:
- a high level steering committee (mayor, aldermen, head of offices)
- a working team (offices, external expertise),
- a local team (offices, stakeholders)
- and an advisory board (members of local council, stakeholders).
A special feature of the Garath 2.0 project is the comprehensive participation of citizens, with different formats integrated into each planning step. Managing the transformation is only possible if the inhabitants are involved and support the change. Therefore, the residents have been included in the planning process right from the start. The participation formats aim at gaining the active cooperation of different sections of the population and different age groups and to involve them in the
planning phases. This intensive participation fosters the network of initiatives already there and supports a better exchange.
Neighbourhood Branding
Particularly noteworthy is Neighbourhood Branding, a project aimed at mapping a shared perception of the future of the neighbourhood. The residents specified what they saw as needs for action and development. To gain this information different kinds of participation tools were used: a kick-off meeting, a community festival, neighbourhood talks, interviews with the mayor, aldermen, administration and stakeholders, a branding session, workshops and a future conference. Children and young people were also invited and involved. Based on this input 50 measures have been planned in total. Some are already being put into action, while others are still being planned.
RECOMMENDATION 1: EMBRACE EXISTING QUALITIES
Start with a careful analysis of what is already there. Know your fringe: the buildings and the people. What are the characteristics of the present fringe? How does it function at the moment?
What are its assets?
Who is living and working there?
Who are the owners of the land and buildings?
Who should be involved (participation)?
What exactly should be done for whom?
These are questions that all cities must reflect on when planning for the fringe. It is not only about analysis, it is about recognizing and reinforcing these qualities. Go from tabula rasa to tabula scripta.
Because of Solin’s rapid growth, the public domain is fragmented and is generally underused. In the past few years, citizens have noticed this and expressed the need to reconnect with the waterfront. Large physical infrastructural barriers are not easily removed, however, especially not for a small municipality in Croatia. Building a large tunnel or reducing the number of lanes or the speed limit is not possible at this moment. Instead of being paralysed by these problems, Solin focused on making the mental barriers smaller. By making small, inexpensive and innovative interventions in the segregated urban space, the barriers themselves
were put in the spotlight and treated as an opportunity. Solin has realized several specific projects aimed at creating new connections and uses.
The first project is a pedestrian underpass beneath a street with heavy traffic, which children use daily on their way to and from school. To avoid the danger of making it an unattractive and dark space that ends up underused, the walls were painted with site-specific graffiti. The underpass area is larger than its primary function requires, making it more of a space and less of a passageway. There is even scope for small-scale sporting activities. Thus, the underpass has become a new public space and a new tourist attraction because the artists are internationally known.
A second project concerns the refurbishment of the beach. This beach had been used for generations, but because of industrial expansion during the 20th century and regional infrastructural networks, it had become isolated and abandoned. The city decided to adopt a participatory approach to activate its underused areas, involving the local citizens in the design process. Together they have started with a clean-up of the beach and seabed. Currently, they are in the process of site-development and landscape works. Even with these small improvements, citizens have started to use the beach again, reclaiming the public space.
For this site, nearby industrial companies and the County were persuaded to provide funding as a sponsorship of the public space.
RECOMMENDATION 2: ADAPT PARTS WITH LESSER QUALITIES
Many parts of the fringe have been neglected for too long.
The buildings and public space in the fringe need to be upgraded.
Increase the sustainability of existing buildings.
Stimulate more sustainable, less car-based, mobility.
Improve conditions for existing communities.
Make better use of underused areas and buildings.
Diversify mono-functional areas.
Open up fenced-off areas.
Find new, interesting typologies for housing.
Integrate social infrastructure, jobs and production.
Turn this unloved outcast into a loved part of the city.
The Lageweg area is locked in a status quo. It is a hybrid building block, where different zoning areas (indus¬try and housing) are touching each other. Almost all the land is privately owned, there is almost no public land position. There is no real social connection between inhabitants and users of the place. It is in need of transformation lest it continue to deteriorate or be developed plot-wise without added public value. It was paramount that the city should break through this local status quo. The aim for the city is to create an integrated development. Therefore, the city planned 5 discussion moments around a table with the landowners:
- Mind Opening Dialogues & Ambition Levels - A kick-off based on possibilities
- Design Table & Interactive Scale Model - To create trust in the collectivity
- Safari on Site & Brochure with future prospect - Linking imagination to the experience of the group
- Declaration of Engagement & Personal Assistance - From best content to best possible content. - From receptive involvement to active involvement
- Spatial & Financial Calculation Model - From a linear to an iterative process
Starting with mind-opening dialogues and an exploratory kick-off discussion, collective ambitions for the area were defined. The first idea of a multi-plot development was born. Each owner started looking beyond his/her own plot, enlarging the spatial opportunities. Another instrument was a safari tour of the site in the form of a guided walk with all the stakeholders. The brochure made for the walk showed the soil contamination and possible future development scenarios in one, five and twenty years’ time. On the one hand, this information made the owners aware that the current land use plan needed to be changed in order to realize the long-term plan. On the other hand, it became clear that soil decontamination was an issue for more than one owner. One of the owners demanded that the land use plan (RUP) be altered or he would withdraw from the co-creation project on this site. At this point, the role of the
city evolved from facilitating to regulating, denying the owner’s demand in order to stress the importance of a joint plan and a common urban vision.
A second step was co-creating a design plan for the area and making it more visual by using an interactive scale model. This prompted one of the private partners to ask: “What is my financial gain?” In a classic process, providing the answer to that question would delay the entire process. In the Lageweg process, however, we started to work simultaneously on the financial aspect of the multi-plot development. Working on parallel tracks speeds up the process instead of blocking and delaying it. The financial question demonstrated the benefits of the collective process used in Lageweg.
The Lageweg pilot project is a learning process, both for the city and for the owners concerned. The government has to assume the role of facilitator to get all stakeholders to support a co-creative vision and ensure that the owners make it happen. At the same time, it is necessary to guard the common interest. This balance is a continuous challenge.
RECOMMENDATION 3: INTRODUCE A COLLECTIVE LAYER
The fringe is the manifestation of individualism and consumerism.
To have any impact here it is necessary to create incentives that make it appealing to go beyond individual interests.
Link people and projects to one another.
Deploy temporary use and place-making as tools to create stronger communities.
Stimulate private owners to work together in their own interest.
Make collective spaces more attractive. Encourage multifunctional use of spaces and interaction.
4. VIENNA (AT) IS TRANSFORMING THE RELATION WITH THE REGION
The Viennese municipality boundaries are very tight around the historical city, leaving Vienna no choice but to work together with neighbouring communities to provide houses, amenities and jobs for its growing population. Vösendorf, a small neighbouring community of 7,000 habitants in the south-west, built large retail and shopping centres on the boundary with Vienna during the 1960s and ’80s, which proved to be very profitable but has put strain on its relationship with Vienna. Today, however, both municipalities need each other. A large part of the retail area in Vösendorf is decaying and in need of transformation while Vienna is actively looking for new neighbourhoods to absorb their growth in a connected and sustainable way. The two municipalities decided to work together in the URBACT network to imagine a future for a part of Vösendorf and Liesing, bordering the 23rd district of Vienna.
According to Austrian constitutional law, the municipality – the lowest administrative entity – is responsible for land use planning. Each of the nine Austrian provinces has its own planning law, and the municipalities are obliged to apply it in their own spatial plans. Vienna is a province and a municipality at the same time. While our neighbouring municipality Vösendorf applies the Lower Austrian Planning law, Vienna uses its own. Thus, there is no formal authority that coordinates and regulates planning across provincial borders in a formally binding way.
As there is not much likelihood of any change in the near future, Vienna is trying to work together in a more ‘informal’ way. The Stadt-Umland-Management acts as an intermediary to help us manage such processes. Generally, institutions act within their own competences and hierarchies. When elaborating the Integrated Action Plan, Vienna tried to overcome this hurdle and asked all relevant stakeholders to contribute to the discussion by thinking very freely about ideas for the cross-border project area.
The stakeholders were invited to a series of workshops, walks and bilateral talks and followed the principle that any event should take place on the spot, for example in a local discotheque. The various participants drafted a vision, which led to four scenarios: the so-called Stories from the fringe. They act as the basis for implementation projects we want to initiate. The structure provided by the URBACT sub>urban network allowed us to establish a more sustainable working routine. At the beginning of the project, we reached a formal agreement between Lower Austria, Vösendorf and Vienna on personnel and financial contributions. We got to know our neighbours, their perception and visions. We contributed to a better climate of trustfully working together. The project acted as a broker for cross-administrative relationships. We reached the most relevant institutions and players on an administrative and political level, and some of the landowners. As one outcome of the Integrated Action Plan we are going to tackle five implementation projects. As a second step – in line with the topic of each project – we would like to involve the people who work or live in the respective area. We are starting to notice an increase in awareness. Cooperation between all administrative bodies in a metropolitan region seems to be essential for prosperity and a sound settlement development.
RECOMMENDATION 4: WORKS ON DIFFERENT LEVELS
Planning for the fringe can’t be done from a fixed and single perspective.
Work on the level of the city´s urban strategy and test this strategy in one or more pilot projects at the same time.
Complement concrete findings on the local level with the ambitions of the strategic plan, and vice versa.
Integrate interaction and reflection on both levels.
Today, the formerly booming industrial town Casoria, next to Naples, is in crisis. Several industries have relocated their factories, many shopping centres are struggling, and there are a lot of vacant office spaces while services have been cut back. In addition, the population is in decline, unemployment stands at 30%, and citizens are generally distrustful of public policies. The urban settlements were built in a dense and illogical way and there is a lack of public space. Too many challenges to tackle all at once, therefore Casoria has launched the step by step lab as its new urban plan, addressing short term, midterm and long term goals in an intelligent and interconnected way.
The first Operational Program focuses on the abandoned, underutilized and degraded areas – the so-called ‘wastescapes’ – flanking the major infrastructures that cross the territory. The strategy uses wastescapes to push the urban transformation. In this case a large open park (forest, playground, additional facilities) – whose extension in 2025 will amount to a quarter of the entire municipal territory – will change the urban structure of Casoria, especially the perception of inhabitants and stakeholders. The current brown-grey settlement will be progressively converted into a living green city.
Real and executed transformation projects are essential for the success of the planned activities. That is why the strategy starts with small-scale actions: temporary public uses of abandoned lands, massive planting of trees and hedges, and steady redesign of pedestrian, cycling and ecological paths. This first steps show direct results which builds the trust of citizens in the local government. At the same time it is a learning experience for the city offices, the politicians and the participating citizens. Gradually the step-by-step strategy moves forward to more complex transformations: the redevelopment of brownfields,
the renewal of high-density urban areas and the restoration of historical settlements.
As a first step Casoria has transformed and opened a formerly fenced off Military base as a public park in this dense city lacking public space. During its first URBACT local Group meeting the stakeholders present were asked why public space in the city was taking care of so badly. This has lead to awareness that each citizen has a responsibility towards the public space and its maintenance and eventually to citizens the co-management of the park. ). A wide participation process has been facilitated by a massive information campaign, conducted on social media. Thus, many citizens and local stakeholders are now involved in the co-creation and co-construction of the public Michelangelo Park (about 3.5 ha, the largest in Casoria).
RECOMMENDATION 5: PLAN, IMPLEMENT AND ORGANIZES MANAGEMENT SIMULTANEOUSLY
Work with a flexible plan and integrate learning moments.
Work today on short, intermediate and long term plans.
Plan for the fringe based on the full life cycle of an area.
Work with the current context, learn from it and anticipate the new operational phase by organizing management.
Each step can feed the learning process and can help the strategic plan grow to achieve a more sustainable and inclusive fringe.
The activities of Pop-up-to-Date pivot around the conversion of vacant commercial properties into springboards for creative entrepreneurship. Supporting pop-up shops is not an innovative solution for transforming run-down neighbourhoods into vibrant city districts. Many local authorities experiment with pop-up policies. Very few, however, have an encompassing approach such as Antwerp (BE), for linking creative entrepreneurs to vacant retail units, which has been proven to work and produces lasting effects on both district and city level. The integrated multi-stakeholder approach displayed in Antwerp's Oud Berchem neighbourhood has proven to be an effective as well as inspiring methodology to transform a depreciated shopping area into a lively axis of creativity. The success ratio for the conversion of vacant retail units stands at 70%, with 60% of the units being long-term rented, and 10% being sold to entrepreneurs.
The solutions offered by the good practice
The activities of Pop-up-to-Date pivot around the conversion of vacant commercial properties into springboards for creative entrepreneurship. However, what’s most essential is the radical choice for a collaborative multi-stakeholder approach, which brings together different government levels, entrepreneurs, non-profit actors and local inhabitants. In this project, the local government takes up a role as enabler and funder. Non-profit organisations build on their close links with local communities and property owners to match vacant properties with creative entrepreneurial spirits. The approach starts with identifying the owners of vacant retail units on the one hand, and creative entrepreneurs on the other hand. The vacant retail unit is rented by a non-profit organisation on behalf of the local authority. Because the focus lies on decayed properties, it is lightly refurbished by means of local government funding prior to the rental period. During a fixed time frame of two months, it is then provided at a reduced tariff to starting creative entrepreneurs to try out their business in a real-life environment. After the project period, the profitability of the business and further ambitions of the starting entrepreneurs are evaluated, and customised coaching and counselling are made available.
Building on the sustainable and integrated approach
Supporting pop-up shops is far from being an innovative solution for transforming run-down neighbourhoods into vibrant city districts. Many local authorities experiment with pop-up policies. Very few, however, have an encompassing approach in linking creative entrepreneurs to vacant retail units, which has been proven to work and produces lasting effects on both district and city level. The integrated approach of the project in Oud Berchem is exemplary for the horizontal and vertical integrated approach championed by URBACT. Horizontal integration results from multiple stakeholders joining forces to provide a mix of policy measures, ranging from financial stimuli, direct support by refurbishing retail units, coaching and matchmaking activities, aftercare through mediation between entrepreneurs and property owners to local community building activities (e.g. a quarterly neighbourhood newspapers, workshops etc.) and neighbourhood marketing. The soft measures in this project fit into a broader neighbourhood oriented strategy, involving ‘hard’ ERDF investments to increase the attractiveness of the shopping area in Oud Berchem and stimulate owners to renovate their commercial properties. Vertical integration is found in the expanding cooperation between the local authority, intermediary non-profit organisations, the Regional Government Agency for Entrepreneurial Education and different local stakeholders at the neighbourhood level.
Based on a participatory approach
In the original set-up, the local government worked in collaboration with and funded, LCB vzw (a local government non-profit organisation for local cultural policy) to match entrepreneurs and owners. The original funding scheme was elaborated in close cooperation with the local shopkeeper association. At any stage of the process, very close relationships were established with the involved creatives. Inspired by the results during the first editions of the biennial project, a new non-profit organisation, Creative Cities vzw, was created by local entrepreneurs. Creative Cities vzw has gradually developed complementary activities by providing starter coaching and mediation between owners and creatives following the two-month rental period. Due to their involvement, the impact of the project in terms of the number of retail units and entrepreneurs involved has increased. LCB vzw and Creative Cities vzw have concluded a cooperation agreement to further fine-tune their partnership and maximise their collaborative impact towards Oud Berchem. Also, the involvement of Creative Cities vzw has taken the project to a new level by creating structural partnerships with SYNTRA (the regional Flemish Government Agency for Entrepreneurial Training) and UNIZO (Organisation for the Self-Employed and SMEs). A next step is the approved ESF Transnational funded project “The Suburb Start-up Guide”, in which a higher education institute is involved by analysing the policy measures.
What difference has it made?
After three successful editions, the results are remarkable: • The success ratio for the conversion of vacant retail units stands at 70%, with 60% long-term rented units and 10% of units sold to entrepreneurs. • The streetscape has visually improved due to the refurbishment of the commercial properties, which has raised the districts' appeal. • A majority of the entrepreneurs involved (18 so far, and 10 newcomers in 2017) have reported having either started a permanent shop in the city or are continuing their activities on a freelance basis or through web shops. Networks among the entrepreneurs involved outlive the project periods. • New qualitative retailers are opting for long-time residence in the refurbished units. • Native middle-class consumers are starting to visit traditional migrant shops, while local migrant property owners are renting out their properties to young creative multicultural entrepreneurs. • The commercial success of flourishing pop-ups has also inspired owners not involved in the project, to refurbish their own retail units and/or try out new innovative business concepts. • Other city districts and cities in Flanders are interested in or have already adopted, the project’s ideas. • The project has been displayed by the local and supralocal press, thus contributing to a positive image of the neighbourhood. • The neighbourhood now functions as an incubator for spilling over new retail entrepreneurs to other city districts.
Why should other European cities use it?
Creative placemaking is applied by many European cities as a method to both tackle building vacancy and foster entrepreneurship. Similar suburbs often harbour an equivalent of the creativity and diversity found in Oud Berchem. The power of the approach presented here lies in the win-win situation in which owners, creative entrepreneurs, local residents and local traders all benefit from the pop-up activities. This coalition of the winning provides a fertile ground on which the involved creative entrepreneurs can flourish. An important success factor is the involvement of a local cultural stakeholder like an arts centre, a community centre or local cultural or arts organisations. Its role is to monitor the artistic quality of the project, which largely determines its attractiveness for potential creatives. The project will work particularly well in urban or suburban areas with a pronounced neighbourhood character and easy access to public transport. The local authority needs to ensure local anchorage through close cooperation with all involved stakeholders. Likewise, it needs to develop a ‘feeling’ of how the area functions. To succeed, the organising city needs to build on its knowledge of the creative economy to generate qualitative commercial concepts that are able to attract visitors across neighbourhood/district boundaries.
Cities are always evolving, as are the variety and availability of urban data. Antwerp (BE) invests in a smart city strategy and strives to be a “walkable city” with mixed, high-quality neighbourhoods. To do so, for nearly a decade Antwerp has been using an “urban data scan” which maps out specific needs, problems and opportunities. Multitudes of geo- and statistical data are structured around different themes to provide a clear overview of the most relevant data. This allows policymakers to develop substantiated visions and make informed spatial decisions. Progress can be monitored for all kinds of projects and developments. Two online platforms share these data and maps with city employees, citizens, companies, project developers and other cities. The urban scan is all about optimising and sharing data, preparing good spatial decisions, and building a better city for all our citizens and partners.
The solutions offered by the good practice
Urban data scans provide a method to map out needs and shortages specifically for local amenities (e.g. schools, sport, green spaces, culture, commerce, well-being, youth). First, the capacity is gauged by analysing the number or area of amenities per target group. Next, the reach, or relative proximity and distribution of these amenities, are determined based on walking distances. Local amenities differ in reach, functioning either at the level of the neighbourhood (400 metres), a residential quarter (800 meters) or urban quarter (1 600 metres). This twofold approach creates a clear picture of needs and shortage zones, allowing policymakers to balance the distribution of amenities, based on walking distances and target groups. Simulations also allow us to take into account future residents in project areas and to calculate effects in terms of new needs or required new amenities. This enables informed policy decisions and provides a strong base for financial and strategic negotiations with all the parties involved.
For example, an urban scan has led to the decision to provide a 17-hectare park (Park Spoor Noord) in the densely populated Antwerpen-Noord quarter. New green spaces, but also schools, nurseries and sports facilities were incorporated in projects such as Nieuw Zuid, Groen Kwartier and Eilandje after thorough urban scans. The urban quarters outside of the inner city, across the Singel and Ring roads, are mapped out extensively as well.
Building on the sustainable and integrated approach
The urban scan enables a horizontally integrated approach. It involves structuring large sets of data according to a multitude of themes and provides insight into socio-demographics, economy, housing, the legal context, mobility, environment, well-being and built and unbuilt amenities. As such, urban scans form a strong base for sustainable and integrated policies, not only in the field of spatial planning, but for other policy domains as well. The right amounts of green and open spaces, schools, sport, culture, children’s and youth’s amenities, commerce and well-being are crucial in promoting attractive urban environments. Moreover, walking and cycling distances stimulate sustainable urban mobility. The city has user-friendly tools to help make all these data and maps available for its own employees, citizens, entrepreneurs, research agencies, project developers, other cities and higher-level governments. The latter enables a vertically integrated approach. The integrated use of statistics and maps further increases the importance of data sharing.
Based on a participatory approach
The urban scan is a participatory and flexible instrument that has developed organically in close consultation with several partners. Fifteen years ago, the main goal was to analyse the city’s green structure. Evolving insights, amenities, data and users’ experiences have ensured that the urban scan is still an innovative tool today. Air and noise pollution, for instance, have become important themes and are now included in the scan. The platforms that share the maps and data with citizens, companies, research agencies, project developers and other cities and governments are important communication and sensitisation tools. City neighbourhoods and even cities can be compared, knowledge is shared, ambitions and goals are monitored and other governments and partners are stimulated to analyse and share their own data.
Stad in cijfers (“city statistics”) is Antwerp’s interactive online data platform. Since 2009, it has amassed more than 5,000 layers of data, structured according to themes, scales and dates. The data can be presented in tables, charts and maps and can be consulted, analysed and compared in space and time. Other Flemish and Dutch cities use the same system. Since 2013, the city also has an intranet platform for geo-data, a GIS-viewer with more than 1,000 data layers. Stad in Kaart (“city maps”) allows city employees to request information and to perform simple spatial analyses. Combinations of geo-data often provide more insight than data organised in tables.
What difference has it made?
Urban scans increase policymakers’ awareness of shortages and needs in terms of green spaces, nurseries, sport, culture, commerce, well-being and youth. Statistical data and maps indicate areas to invest in and enable the right choices. This method is used for up to 90% of urban development projects in Antwerp. Apart from amenities, the scan also sheds light on the demographic, social and economic dynamics in residential quarters. Environmental quality, mobility and housing are taken into consideration as well. And because the scan has existed for a number of years, evolutions can be traced.
In the district of Hoboken, for example, a project for low-skilled employment targeted residential areas with many unemployed citizens. Likewise, measures in the Ring Road area are focused on reducing air and noise pollution. In former port area Eilandje a new tram line brings public transport within walking distance for residents. And urban scans also lead to the development of new green spaces. The importance of the scan has even increased in the past year because it has become mandatory for large private developments. The desired programme needs to be negotiated and must be implemented or financially compensated. The urban scan thus has an important potential impact on the choices that are made within projects.
Why should other European cities use it?
Because cities are continuously evolving, they are always first to face new challenges and problems, such as demographic evolutions, urban mobility, air and noise pollution, inclusion of migrants and refugees, housing, urban poverty and the digital transition. Throughout these evolutions, it is crucial to strive for optimal functional mixes (living, working and recreation) and mixed neighbourhoods with local amenities within walking distance of citizens. Because the urban scan touches upon all the relevant themes for the ambition of a walkable city with liveable and healthy neighbourhoods, it forms a perfect tool for sustainable urban projects. Urban scans consistently take into account new insights and data, making them a flexible instrument for evolving and complex cities. The systematic method of the urban scan enables policymakers to make the right choices and brings order in the increasing amounts and availability of data.
The online data platforms enable comparisons with other cities of similar sizes. Those cities can exchange relevant data and knowledge. Most cities already have a platform or collection method for data about city quarters and neighbourhoods. The urban scan can help broaden European instruments such as the Urban Audit, substantially as well as in terms of their scope (city quarters and neighbourhoods). If the required competencies and political support are present, the method is certainly applicable in other cities.
Densification of urban areas beyond the core of the cities is not an easy task but it is a challenge worth taking to fight against urban sprawl.. City centres, which are usually already dense and mostly regenerated, are surronded by transitional belts (sometimes called fringe areas) which have diverse urban functions with lower density, offering in principle good opportunities for densifying interventions towards the aim of compact city development. However, the task is not easy at all: physical interventions to achieve environmental benefits have high risks of negative social externalities; moreover they require substantial financial means in a period when the public sector suffers from the consequences of the financial crisis.
The challenges of densification are first discussed from a theoretical point of view and illustrated by city examples. Then the approach of the URBACT Action Plannig Network sub>urban is highlighted, showing innovative approaches in four of the project partner cities. Finally a snapshot is given about the dynamic way in which sub>urban is dealing with this challenging topic in transnational meetings.
Density is one of the central issues in the recent debates about the urban future. The reason for that lies in the contradiction between the private and public interests in relation to the density of urban living: most actors (households, developers, businesses, etc.) strive to increase their individual, private benefits which, however, can only be satisfied at the expense of public interests. For example, most families prefer less dense urban forms, and their dreams result in sprawling suburbs which are very harmful from the perspective of sustainable urban development.
This contradiction between individual interests and their disastrous collective consequences is described as the ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ (Hardin, 1968). The problem lies in the fact that the gains (returns) and the costs are neither accrued to nor born by the same actors. Moreover, the gains are often abstract and lie in the future while the costs are concrete and fall due in the present. This is a big challenge of the future: how can the – in the long run – more sustainable forms of (compact) urban development get more accepted by households, against their own immediate preferences.
This challenge is further complicated by the fact that density is not the only aspect of sustainable urban development. Sustainability in a broader sense should mean a dynamic balance between economic, environmental and social considerations. Therefore, in the end it is not density in itself that is interesting, but the relationship between the economic, environmental and social outcomes produced by different density levels. However, the environmental and social aspects of densification get often in contradiction with each other. Transitional areas are usually dominated by lower income residents, who are endangered by densification, at the risk of being pushed much further away from the central areas, and therefore with lower chances (and higher costs) to access inner city jobs. In that way the environmentally positive densification usually leads to negative social externalities, combined with the often occurring gentrification effects which decrease social mix.
Pictures 1-2. Suburb in the making close to Madrid in 2009; A typical transitional area in Rotterdam in 2016
The challenges of urban development – and among them densification, as one of the tools – are present in all growing cities. In a recent seminar (Amsterdam, 2016) the case of the dynamically expanding Amsterdam was presented, which has to build 300 thousand new units by 2040. All traditional reserve areas (hospitals, military, etc) have already been used. Some reserve still exists in empty office and factory buildings and through densification, which would allow for 40 thousand additional housing units. For the other 260 thousand units only quite inconvenient options exist: super densification, demolishing 19th century areas in good shape; constructing on the green wedges (fingers), protected since many decades; or densifying Almere and the other new towns, outside the administrative borders of the city. Thus in the (extreme) case of Amsterdam the ‘normal’ practices of densification would not even be sufficient to answer the challenge of dynamic growth. Even so, densification (and keeping the already existing dense areas liveable) is unavoidable.
The sub>urban approach
The URBACT Sub>urban network, led by the city of Antwerp, followed by the Lead Expert Maarten van Tuijl, concentrates on the urban fringe. This is defined as the often non glorious post war area surrounding the historic city, encompassing a mix of large modernist housing estates, low-density private housing, malls, logistical companies, recreational areas, businesses and industrial zones (van Tuilj, 2016). The aim of the network is to explore and compare the options to densify the urban fringe in an integrated way, taking both the physical and social characteristics into account. Densification through the „Regeneration in the urban fringe should be aimed toward mixed cultural and ethnic backgrounds and people of different incomes, education levels and ages. Therefore, the challenge also lies in spreading the benefits of growth and of regeneration equally and in providing affordable housing, jobs and facilities for all.” (ibid)
The conditions for densification of the fringe areas in the partner cities of sub>urban are not optimal, to say the least: the financial position of the municipalities is bad, the once dynamic public actors (e.g. housing associations) are in financial troubles, the banks are very cautious to invest in anything. On the top of all these in most cities properties in the fringe area are privately owned, both by big corporations and private households, thus the planning influence of the municipalities can only be indirect and limited.
Under such circumstances cities have to find new, innovative approaches to achieve their strategic aim, the densification of the urban fringe in an integrated way, i.e. avoiding negative social and environmental externalities. The general approach of sub>urban is described here.
Below, I describe how 4 of the sub>urban cities try to engage all potential stakeholders, such as owners of land and buildings, investors, developers, residents, workers and potential newcomers in their strategies.
Antwerp experiences a strong population growth outside the inner city. It has selected 7 action planning areas from the large territory of the urban fringe, with very different challenges and identities. Lageweg, a formal industrial site, is one of them. The area is characterised by a high number of owners with small plot sizes. There, the municipality applies specific pilot measures to speed up the development process (van Tuilj, 2016). It organises activities such as mind opening dialogues and kick-off discussions to explore collective ambitions for the area, co-creative design tables involving an interactive scale model of different scenarios in order to build collective trust, guided walks with all stakeholders with a brochure showing possible future scenarios, adaptable spatial and financial calculation models to test the feasibility of several options. Thanks to these tools most of the land owners were gradually convinced and decided to sign a declaration of engagement to work and invest together in the project. The success of the initiative was that it allows to work across property borders and to make an effective plan for the whole area, for a step-by-step development.
Oslo wants to solve the conflict of dynamic growth versus spatially limited urban area (the city is surrounded by highly valued green belt which can not be touched) by densifying former monofunctional industrial areas, within the city border but outside the city core. 5 pilot project areas are selected to test a new process, with the objective to make transformation more flexible. The city focuses on the essentials and leaves room for private parties to come up with their own ideas. A Planning Program defines general guidelines, urban development principles and rough parameters for land use, height and utilization (van Tuilj, 2016). This is extended by a Principle Plan for the Public Space, which defines the boundary, size and desired qualities of public spaces, identifies and describes public projects and builds in a certain flexiblity, so that market parties can fill in the rest.
Brno has been characterized by heavy suburbanization in the last two decades. To mitigate that, the city is looking for opportunities of densification within the city border. Two action areas have been selected. They are relatively close to the city centre (10 minutes by tram). A dynamic university campus has been built in the area, which is still surrounded by little gardens. Some of the gardens are already abandoned as the owners know that the area will change: the future use will be housing – although no infrastructure and transport links exist yet. Brno municipality decided for an experimental approach instead of the usual top-down decision-making. As a first step links have been created between the relevant municipal departments, the mayor and the 3 affected district mayors. Nearby residents were waiting for the municipality’s ideas (e.g. immediate re-zoning) and were prepared to oppose these. To their greatest surprise they were approached by the municipality and asked about their ideas. This new type of planning process is unusual in post-socialist cities, it has to be explained not only to the different units of the city and district administrations but also to the politicians. The URBACT project and the need to create Local Support Group was a good occasion to start this journey towards an uncharted territory in policy-making.
Casoria is the largest municipality in the northern Naples area, only 10 km away from Naples. The population (around 78 000) has been decreasing in the last two decades. From the late 1970s on, Casoria has lost its role as major industrial centre: production activities stopped, factories and industrial sites were abandoned. The city developed a strong services sector but today even the services sector finds itself in crisis. Local residents are leaving the area due to traffic congestion, unemployment, low quality settlements, poor quality housing, inadequate infrastructures (roads, facilities) and lack of public green space (see Sub-urban Baseline Study, 2016:95). In Casoria, the need for densification comes not from urban growth or suburbanization but from the high number of underused areas and buildings from the industrial and services sectors and from the plans of the municipality to create large suburban public parks. The city promotes flexible planning in transparent arenas, testing tactical urbanism. Instead of top-down decisions, the public administration wants to work with private owners and city users (associations). Cooperation with other municipalities is planned towards a strategic plan beyond the municipal borders.
The four cases show the different circumstances and reasons under which densification of the urban fringe might become an important aim towards more sustainable urban development: not only in dynamically growing cities (Antwerp, Oslo) but also in stagnating (Brno) or even shrinking (Casoria) cities. These cases also illustrate that cities have to start dealing with their transition areas even before having completed the regeneration of their inner cities. Even if inner city renewal is unfinished, to continue it might be very costly and cities may decide to change priorities towards cheaper interventions in the transitional belt, where more flexible approaches are possible.
Sub>urban in action: Messages for the Future of Casoria
The Casoria transnational meeting of the sub>urban network included discovery walks of the city in small groups and provided the opportunity for partners of the network from other cities to leave their messages for the future of Casoria. Have a look!
Pictures 3-4. The urban walk in Casoria: the map and the group underway.
Pictures 5-6. The sub>urban group in Casoria’s largest brownfield area.
The walk was followed next day by an urban gardening action in the course of which all partner cities got the opportunity to plant a tree and leave in this way their message for the future development of Casoria.
Pictures 7-8. Urban gardening and peer review discussion about the Local Action Plans in the Contemporary Art Museum
