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Country
Geolocation
POINT (20.26728 39.50342)

  • Thriving Streets

    Summary

    Lead Partner : Parma - Italy
    • Antwerp - Belgium
    • Igoumenitsa - Greece
    • EDC Debrecen - Hungary
    • Klaipèda - Lithuania
    • Nova Gorica - Slovenia
    • Oradea - Romania
    • Radom - Poland
    • Santo Tirso - Portugal
    • London Borough of Southwark

    Timeline

     

     

    • October 1: Kick-Off Meeting Phase I, Parma









       

     

    • June 9-10: Kick-off meeting Phase II
    • June 25: Online coordination meeting
    • September 11: Online coordination meeting
    • October 26, 28: Online coordination meeting
    • November 25: Thematic learning event “Active mobility vs car dependency”
    • November 26: Transnational meeting, Antwerp
    • December 15: Thematic learning event “Co-creating Thriving Streets”
    • February 26: Thematic learning event “Thriving local economy”
    • April 14-15: Transnational meeting, Nova Gorica
    • May 7: Thematic learning event “Places for people”
    • June 21-22: Transnational meeting, Santo Tirso
    • July 20: Masterclass “Placemaking for recovery”
    • July 22: Thematic learning event “Streets for all”
    • September 30-October 1: Transnational meeting, Southwark
    • December 10: IAP Peer review meeting
       

     

    • March 30: Thriving Communities, digital learning event
    • April 26-28:Transnational meeting in Santo Tirso (Portugal) and study visit in Pontevedra (Spain)
    • May 24, 25: Transnational meeting in Nova Gorica and study visit in Ljubljana (Slovenia)
    • June 14-16: URBACT City Festival, Pantin / Greater Paris (France)
    • July 5-8: Walk and Roll Cities Final Event, Barcelona (Spain)
    • July 14: Masterclasses on Urban Freight and Parking Management

    Outputs

    Integrated Action Plan

    Integrated Action Plan for sustainable mobility in Oltretorrente

    Read more here !

    Parma - Italy
    Igoumenitsa Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Igoumenitsa - Greece
    Klaipèda Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Klaipèda - Lithuania
    Oradea Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Oradea - Romania
    Southwark Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    London Borough of Southwark - United Kingdom
    Toward live and attractive Solkan’s historical core

    Read more here !

    Nova Gorica - Slovenia
    Towards a dynamic center for Deurne

    Read more here ! 

    Antwerp - Belgium
    Debrecen Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here ! 

    Debrecen - Hungary
    Increase attractivity and decrease car-dependency in Santo Tirso

    Read more here !

    Santo Tirso - Portugal
    Closed

    Transforming streets to create people-friendly places. The ambition of Thriving Streets is to improve sustainable mobility in urban areas from an economic and social perspective. The premise of the Thriving Streets network is that break-troughs in sustainable urban mobility can be established when mobility is no longer framed as just going from A to B but rather as a means for social-economic development of the city. The key question Thriving Streets network intends to answer is the following: “How can mobility become a motor for urban health, inclusivity, economy and social cohesion?”

    Thriving Streets
    Designing mobility for attractive cities
    URBACT III

    Mobility

    See more
    Ref nid
    13423

  • 23 Action Planning Networks ready for Phase 2!

    Copy linkFacebookXLinkedInEmail
    15/11/2022

    On 7 May, URBACT's Monitoring Committee has officially approved all Action Planning Networks to proceed to Phase 2.

    News
    News

     

    The main objective of Action Planning Networks is to bring together between 7 and 10 cities across Europe to exchange their experience in a particular thematic urban development challenge and to share their ideas about possible solutions, during a period of over 2 years. The Phase 1 (from late June 2019 to February 2020) focused on the development of baseline studies, city profiles and the production of the Application Form for Phase 2.

    Following the Monitoring Committee's approval of the networks, cities are now ready to focus on the exchange and learning activities using a range of learning tools and approaches in line with the URBACT Method. Every partner city will consolidate an URBACT Local Group, which will co-design Integrated Action Plans for future implementation. The Phase 2 also presents a novelty for the projects, from now on cities are encouraged to undertake pilot actions (Small Scale Actions), to experiment with new ideas for projects gained from other network exchanges and in line with the cities’ network topic.

    As a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the URBACT Secretariat will follow up with a series of adapted activities to support these networks and their partners, including the delivery of trainings using online formats and a 3 months extension of the network life-cycle, meaning that projects will run until August 2022. Thus, networks will respect the following calendar:

     

    • Activation Stage (May - December 2020): putting together an Integrated Action Plan roadmap
    • Planning Actions (December 2020 - December 2021): drafting the Integrated Action Plan
    • Planning Implementation (December 2021 - June 2022): finalising the Integrated Action Plan
    • Integrated Action Plans Finale (June - August 2022): sharing knowledge

     

    You can find all approved networks in the table below, the Lead Partner city is indicated is bold. To find out more about each one of the projects, check the network's webpages.
    Congratulations to the 23 approved projects!

     

    NETWORK

    PARTNERS

    DESCRIPTION

    Research, technological development and innovation

    UrbSecurity

    Leiria (PT)
    - Longford (IE)
    - Madrid (ES)
    - Mechelen (BE)
    - Michalovce (SK)
    - Parma (IT)
    - Pella (EL)
    - Unione della Romagna Faentina (IT)
    - Szabolcs 05 Regional Development Association of Municipalities (HU)

    Security and safety are two common goods and fundamental components of European democracy. This network intends to analyse strategies and concepts of urban design and planning, which could contribute to prevent segregation and anti-social behaviour. Additionally, this network wishes to co-create an integrated approach towards urban security focusing on improving citizens’ quality of life and the city’s smart, sustainable and inclusive growth towards a good living environment.

    Find your Greatness

    Alba Iulia (RO)
    - Bragança (PT)
    - Candelaria (ES)
    - Perugia (IT)
    - Wroclaw (PL)
    - Võru (EE)
    - Limerick (IE)
    - Budafok-Tétény 22nd district of Budapest (HU)

    The challenge is to build on the cities' opportunities. The partners of the project need to identify locally a strength, which was built as a sustainable mechanism generating urban development. The goal of this network is to explore and enhance the potential of the city, combining strategic marketing approach with innovative smart city tools.

    Access to and use of ICT

    DigiPlace
    (previously DI4C)

    Messina (IT)
    - Botosani (RO)
    - Oulu (FI)
    - Portalegre (PT)
    - Roquetas de Mar (ES)
    - Saint- Quentin (FR)
    - Trikala (EL)
    - Ventspils Digital Centre (LV)

    This network aims to set up an acceleration mechanism to enable cities to catch up the digitalisation opportunities in hard & soft infrastructure. Remove all the obstacles encountered by mid-sized cities in their digital journey: lack of strategic & global vision lack of technical and engineering capacities difficulties in incorporating the digital innovation. Municipalities need to guaranty the uptake of digital innovation by the local stakeholders: citizen and entrepreneurs.

    IoTxChange

    Fundão (PT)
    - Dodoni (EL)
    - Jelgava (LV)
    - Nevers Agglomeration (FR)
    - Razlog (BG)
    - Ånge (SE)
    - Kežmarok (SK)
    - Åbo Akademi University (FI)

    The objective is to encourage the creation of a network of European cities committed to the design of digitalization plans based on Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to increase the quality of life in small and medium sized EU cities, guiding us through a new age of digital transformation.

    Competitiveness of SMEs

    iPlace

    Amarante (PT)
    - Balbriggan (IE)
    - Pori (FI)
    - Pärnu (EE)
    - Grosseto (IT)
    - Gabrovo (BG)
    - Heerlen (NL)
    - Kočevje (SI)
    - Medina del Campo
    (ES)
    - Saldus (LV)

    This network aim to produce 10 different and unique robust economic development strategies, targeting their own genuine niches, and generating urban innovation ecosystems. City partners will focus on deepening the understanding of their own local economic strengths and establish strategic methods to revitalise their economy, adapt their city to the next economy and to future economic changes, establishing methodological bases for generate resilient cities.

    Tourism Friendly Cities

    Genoa (IT)
    - Braga (PT)
    - Rovaniemi (FI)
    - Venice (IT)
    - Utrecht (NL)
    - Krakow (PL)
    - Cáceres (ES)
    - Druskininkai (LT)
    - Dún Laoghaire Rathdown (IE)
    - Dubrovnik Development Agency (HR)

    This network aims to explore how tourism can be sustainable in medium-sized cities, reducing the negative impact on neighbourhoods and areas interested by different types of tourism to reach this ambitious aim, the project will create integrated and inclusive strategies which can keep a balance between the needs of the local community, in terms of quality of life and of services available, and the promotion of sustainable urban development at environmental, social and economic level.

    Low carbon economy in all sectors

    Urb-En Pact

    Clermont Auvergne Metropole (FR)
    - Bialystok Association of the Functional Area (PL)
    - CIM Alto Minho (PT)
    - Rouen Normandie Metropole (FR)
    - Elefsina (EL)
    - Galati (RO)
    - Palma di Montechiaro (IT)
    - Tampere EcoFellows (FI)

    Local authorities embrace the ambitious goal to become a zero-net energy territory within the next 30 years. Thus, the aim is to define the local action plans to become zero-net (ZNE) territory by producing and delivering local, renewable and regulated sources of energy by the implementation of an energy loop which gathers all the stakeholders of this circular economy, especially the consumers included in this fair trade business in and around the metropolitan area.

    Zero Carbon Cities
    (previously ZCC)

    Manchester (UK)
    - Bistrita (RO)
    - Zadar (HR)
    - Modena (IT)
    - Frankfurt am Main (DE)
    - Tartu (EE)
    - Vilvoorde (BE)

    The network will support capacity building of cities to establish science-based carbon reduction targets and their Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) aligned to Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Working with 7cities to adopt different approaches to carbon budgeting and science-based targets, the network will undertake a programme of capacity building in order to support their local activities and integrated action plan and influence Covenant of Mayors' signatory cities.

    Environmental protection and resource efficiency

    RiConnect

    Barcelona Metropolitan Area (ES)
    - Porto Metropolitan Area (PT)
    - Krakow Metropole Association (PL)
    - Paris Metropolitan Area (FR)
    - Gdansk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area (PL)
    - Amsterdam Region (NL)
    - Transport for Greater Manchester (UK)
    - Thessaloniki Major Development Agency (EL)

    The overall goal is to rethink, transform and integrate mobility infrastructure aiming at reconnecting people, neighbourhoods, cities and natural spaces. The project will develop planning strategies, processes, instruments and partnerships, fostering public transport and active mobility, reducing externalities and unlocking opportunities of urban regeneration with the objectives of structuring the territory, and achieving a more sustainable, equitable and attractive metropolis.

    URGE

    Utrecht (NL)
    - Riga (LV)
    - Oeste CIM (PT)
    - Copenhagen (DK)
    - Granada (ES)
    - Munich (DE)
    - Kavala (EL)
    - Prato (IT)
    - Nigrad (SI)

    URGE (circUlaR buildinG citiEs) aims to design integrated urban policies on circularity in the building sector – a major consumer of raw materials – as there is a gap in knowledge on this topic. The result is an in-depth understanding of this theme and a first plan for a tailor-made methodology that allows the circular dimension to be widely integrated in the large construction tasks the URGE partnership is facing. URGE thus accelerates the transition towards a circular economy.

    Healthy Cities

    Vic (ES)
    - Anyksciai (LT)
    - Bradford (UK)
    - Alphen aan den Rijn (NL)
    - Falerna (IT)
    - Farkadona (EL)
    - Loulé (PT)
    - Pärnu (EE)
    - Malta Planning Authority (MT)

    This network aims to deepen the relationship between health and the urban environment, planning actions that focus on improving the population’s health, while developing a rigorous health impact assessment methodology around it. Urban Planning can become a health generator on many grounds, and this network of cities reflects the multiplicity of possible approaches to tackle the issue: green areas, mobility, social cohesion or promotion of sports are some examples.

    KAIRÓS

    Mula (ES)
    - Belene (BG)
    - Cesena (IT)
    - Malbork (PL)
    - Roskilde (DK)
    - Heraklion (EL)
    - Šibenik (HR)
    - Ukmergè (LT)

     

    The ultimate goal is to represent a moment of change, improving the urban environment of cities involved, developing heritage-led urban regeneration. It will enhance the potential of heritage in small and medium cities developing strategies for economic and social cohesion, inclusion and sustainable urban development. This network fosters the transnational exchange of experiences to test an innovative policy framework, combining a sound integrated approach with a real transformation purpose.

     

    Resourceful Cities
    (previously UrbReC)

    The Hague (NL)
    - Bucharest 3rd district (RO)
    - Ciudad Real (ES)
    - Mechelen (BE)
    - Cáceres (ES)
    - Patras (EL)
    - Oslo (NO)
    - Opole (PL)
    - Vila Nova Famalicão (PT)
    - Zagreb (HR)

     

    This network seeks to develop the next generation of urban resource centers to promote the positive economic, environmental and social impacts for the circular economy. They facilitate waste prevention, reuse, repair and recycling. The centers also work as connection points for citizens, new businesses, researchers and the public sector to co-create new ways to close resource loops at the local level.

    FOOD CORRIDORS
    (previously Rurban Food)

    Coimbra Region (PT)
    - Alba Iulia (RO)
    - Córdoba (ES)
    - Larissa (EL)
    - Szécsény (HU)
    - Bassa Romagna Union (IT)
    - Tartu Tartumaa Arendusselts (EE)
    - BSC Kranj and Gorenjska (SI)

    Recent experience suggests that it is necessary to promote a transition towards regional food systems. This network encourage the creation of a network of European cities committed to the design of food plans that extend from the urban and periurban areas through a corridor that facilitates urban-rural re-connection. This approach enhances production and consumption environments founded on a base of economic, social and environmental sustainability, integrated into development policies.

    Health&Greenspace

    Hegyvidék 12th district of Budapest (HU)
    - Espoo (FI)
    - Limerick (IE)
    - Messina (IT)
    - Breda (NL)
    - Poznań (PL)
    - Santa Pola (ES)
    - Suceava (RO)
    - Tartu (EE)

    As a response to the various health risks related to rapid urbanization and the densification of cities, this network project promotes health-responsive planning and management of urban green infrastructure with an overall aim to bring health and wellbeing benefits for citizens across Europe. The network applies a holistic approach that addresses the main functions provided by urban green infrastructure that deliver health and social benefits.

    Sustainable transport

    Space4People

    Bielefeld (DE)
    - Arad (RO)
    - Badalona (ES)
    - Nazaré (PT)
    - Turku (FI)
    - Guía de Isora (ES)
    - Panevèžys (LT)
    - Saint-Germain-en-Laye (FR)
    - Sérres (EL)
    - Valga (EE)

    This network improves quantity and quality of attractive public spaces in urban areas. For this, it tackles the main public space use being transportation in 3 aspects: improving user experience and adding space to pedestrian networks and (semi) pedestrianised places, upscaling intermodal hubs to urban centres of mixed use as well as reducing and optimising parking in public space. The project takes a user-centric approach by users assessing and creating future use and design of public space.

    Thriving Streets

    Parma (IT)
    - Antwerp (BE)
    - Igoumenitsa (EL)
    - Klaipèda (LT)
    - Nova Gorica (SI)
    - Oradea (RO)
    - Santo Tirso (PT)
    - Radom (PL)
    - Southwark London Borough (UK)
    - Debrecen Economic Development Centre (HU)

    This is a network that addresses the bottlenecks in sustainable urban mobility. The project will focus on the economic and social benefits of sustainable mobility, rather than on the widely demonstrated environmental effects. The network argues that working with local amenities and social networks at neighbourhood level could unlock the hidden demand for active mobility in cities, and thus act as enabler of behaviour change towards more resilient and liveable neighbourhoods.

    Employment protection and resource efficiency

    SIBdev

    Heerlen (NL)
    - Aarhus (DK)
    - Baia Mare (RO)
    - Fundão (PT)
    - Kecskemét (HU)
    - Pordenone (IT)
    - Zaragoza (ES)
    - Võru Development Centre (EE)

    This network aims to explore how social impact bonds can be used to improve public service delivery in areas such as employment, ageing, and immigration. Often, the delivery of services is hindered by fragmented and siloed agencies and budgets, financial and political shorttermism, and an aversion to risk and difficulty creating change. The social impact bond is a promising model that ameliorates these issues by increasing collaboration, prevention, and innovation.

    Social inclusion and poverty

    ROOF

    Ghent (BE)
    - Braga (PT)
    - Glasgow (UK)
    - Thessaloniki (EL)
    - Liège (BE)
    - Odense (DK)
    - Poznań (PL)
    - Toulouse Metropole (FR)
    - Timisoara Department of Social Assistance (RO)

    This project aims to eradicate homelessness through innovative housing solutions at city level. It will exchange knowledge on how to gather accurate data and make the conceptual shift from the symptomatic management to the actual ending of homelessness, with Housing First and Housing Led as guidance model. This network will guide the partner cities towards integrated local action plans linked to the long-term strategic goal of Functional Zero (no structural homelessness).

    ActiveCitizens

    Agen (FR)
    - Bistrita (RO)
    - Cento (IT)
    - Dinslaken (DE)
    - Hradec Králové (CZ)
    - Santa Maria da Feira (PT)
    - Saint-Quentin (FR)
    - Tartu (EE)

    The aim of this network is to rethink the place of the citizens in the local governance by finding a balance between representative democracy and participatory democracy. This network of European small and medium-sized cities, with the same expectations and similar challenges, will notably take into account, to do this, new digital tools while integrating the issue of citizens away or not comfortable with digital tools.

    Access

    Amsterdam (NL)
    - Dublin (IE)
    - Lisbon (PT)
    - Riga (LV)
    - Sofia (BG)
    - Tallinn (EE)
    - Vilnius (LT)
    - London Greater Authority (UK)

    This network addresses the importance of inclusive cultural policies. A challenge all cities in this project face is that culture does not enrich or empower all people equally. We need to gain a better understanding of our communities in order to engage all citizens in our cities. We have identified four topics to work on that will enable us to gain that understanding and support us in reaching all population groups in the participating cities from the west, east and south of Europe.

    Genderedlandscape

    Umeå (SE)
    - Frankfurt am Main (DE)
    - Panevèžys (LT)
    - Trikala (EL)
    - La Rochelle (FR)
    - Barcelona Activa SA (ES)
    - Celje JZ Socio (SI)

    Creating conditions for gender equality through a holistic understanding of how gender inequality is created in the specific place. This network creates an exchange on challenges faced by cities with an understanding of gender inequality that is globally understood but locally contextualised.

    Education, skills and lifelong learning

    Cities4CSR

    Milan (IT)
    - Bratislava (SK)
    - Budaörs (HU)
    - Guimarães (PT)
    - Molina de Segura (ES)
    - Nantes Metropole (FR)
    - Rijeka (HR)
    - Kekava (LV)
    - Sofia (BG)
    -Vratsa (BG)

    Through intensive capacity building of local actors, the network will increase collaboration among municipalities, businesses and the civic society in order to promote sustainable, inclusive & innovative urban change. The project aims at increasing the role and added value of companies’ CSR activities at local level, towards urban regeneration and social innovation, with a special emphasis on education, in order to better address emerging and unmet local needs.

     

    -

     

    Interested in finding more about the approved networks and what they will do? Watch the URBACT Method video and check out the Action Planning Network's infographic!

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  • Thriving Streets: Designing mobility for attractive cities

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    15/11/2022

    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.

    Articles

    Bringing streets to life

    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.

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  • Re-grow City: turning disadvantage into opportunity

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    15/11/2022

    Regeneration practitioner and academic, Dr Hans Schlappa is the lead expert on Re-growCity. This network focuses on small and medium sized towns facing urban decline and shrinkage following Altena (DE)’s successes including starting an NGO such as the Stellwerk with minimal funding.

    The challenge urban shrinkage

    Articles

    An increasing number of urban settlements in Europe and elsewhere is losing out in the fight for investment and growth, finding themselves on the sidelines of global shifts in production and consumption. Comparative assessments of urban shrinkage undertaken by the OECD and the UN show that large cities continue to grow, even in adverse economic conditions, while increasing numbers of smaller towns are beginning to shrink and quickly get locked in decline. By some estimates 40% of urban settlements in Europe are shrinking, with most of them being the small and medium sized urban areas where close to one third of the European population lives. In those towns and cites the control of decline, rather than the facilitation of economic growth, has become a strategic objective.

    The dynamics of long term decline are characterised by complex interactions between demographic change, economic contraction, sub-urbanisation and migration. There is a hotly contested debate about what constitutes urban shrinkage: is it significant population loss, reductions in jobs, collapsing property prices, an ageing population? Which of these are the most important indicators and to what extent do they need to be present to signify long term decline? Local and national governments struggle to respond to urban shrinkage, in part because these dynamics point to a ‘wicked problem’ of urban development, but also because decision makers realise that established approaches to encourage economic development have failed in urban areas that struggle with shrinkage. 

    Altena’s expertise in tackling long term decline

     

    The town of Altena (DE), which leads the Re-grow City network, has a track record of widely recognised good practices that facilitate the development of sustainable initiatives to tackle the causes and consequences of urban shrinkage. Many of these practices were created with a minimum of external resource input. This means that Altena provides examples where the response to decline is rooted in local resources and expertise. The experience of Altena shows that activating often dormant resources and opportunities requires a frank debate about the future direction of the town. Altena also shows how difficult this can be: a municipality that struggles for decades to reverse decline, closing nurseries, day centres, libraries, and sports facilities contributes, albeit unintentionally, to a discourse tainted by a sense of resignation about the state of affairs in the town. To initiate a debate about a sustainable future for the town, and to activate the resources a town holds, those in leadership roles need to initiate a conversation that builds a shared interest around the need to tackle problems with the limited resources that are available. Focusing on two specific practices, Altena supports Re-grow City partners in beginning such a dialogue with their URBACT Local Groups.

    Partners of the Re-grow City network transfer practices in relation to two broad themes that are central to any strategy concerned with tackling long term decline, namely economic revitalisation and developing civil society. After analysing the needs and capacity of Re-grow City partners two thematic packages were identified for transfer: one concerned with utilising vacant premises in town centres and the other with harnessing the resources, skills and networks of the town’s inhabitants. Within the thematic package of utilising vacant premises the transfer will focus on practices concerned with pop-up shops. The other thematic package will focus on transferring practices associated with the establishment of an NGO platform.

    Establishing a NGO Platform: first focus of the Good Practice transfer

     

    Municipalities of towns struggling with long term decline tend to suffer from severe budgetary constraint due to falling tax revenues and lack of external investment. At the same time, the high proportion of older, unemployed and vulnerable people in the population requires increasing amounts of often costly services. Fostering the engagement of inhabitants who are not in paid employment but have access to skills and resources to help support those in need builds the capacity of civil society to engage with often complex social problems in a structured way. Altena founded its NGO platform in 2008 and called it Stellwerk, the title implying that its function is about co-ordinating and directing activity. The Stellwerk started without a budget. The municipality made available premises, paid the energy and cleaning bills, provided a minimum of administrative resources. Currently the Stellwerk has 8 volunteer workers who co-ordinate several hundred volunteers providing disability support, arts and music groups, home visiting and home care services, refugee integration and much more. The Stellwerk provides an essential channel of communication between civil society and municipality. Stellwerk does not have a representative function but it reflects the nature of local civil society and is independent from the municipality.

    Establishing pop-up shops: second focus of the Good Practice transfer

     

    Economic decline and outmigration of economically active populations result in an over-supply of retail premises. Town centres are especially affected by this because commercial rents tend to be higher than elsewhere and traders move to cheaper quarters in order to make ends meet. Pop-up shops provide an effective way to populate the town centre with new enterprises. The goal is to support entrepreneurs in testing the viability of their business in that particular location and then facilitate the transition into permanent rental agreement with the property owners. The municipality carries some costs and also risks during this period and needs to be prepared to overcome resistance from existing shops and also the owners of empty premises. Altena experimented with two models, succeeding the second time round in establishing 14 pop-ups of which 5 are now trading as permanent, regular businesses on the high street. Achieving this in a context of long term decline, financial austerity and without external subsidy is an achievement locals are rightly proud of.

    Focus on small and medium size towns

    Re-grow City deliberately focuses on small and medium sized towns, not only because they make up the majority of urban settlements dealing with decline in Europe, but also because they face distinctive challenges in terms of constrained resources and limited technical capabilities when compared to larger cities. These constraints offer opportunities, however, for example robust social networks with high levels of ‘social capital’ and short decision making routes that speed up the adoption of untested or controversial methods. Taken together with the resources and skills local people have, shrinking cities are places of opportunity and can demonstrate considerable resilience even where they face severe constraints. By initiating a process of critical reflection on the opportunities the town can create on its own, Re-grow City assists partners in the development of a strategic approach towards re-envisioning their future, where the complex task of re-growing smaller, and perhaps better, will be continued beyond the duration of the network.

    ***

    Visit the network's page: Re-GrowCity

     
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  • Re-growCity

    Lead Partner : Altena - Germany
    • Aluksne - Latvia
    • Idrija - Slovenia
    • Igoumenitsa - Greece
    • Isernia - Italy
    • Manresa - Spain
    • Melgaço - Portugal
    • Nyírbátor - Hungary

    Timeline

    Kick-off meeting

    Stories

    Highlights

    • Webinar: Shaping our City Stories - how SDGs can be used strategically by cities

      In this first webinar, we will explore how SDGs can be used strategically by cities to foster holistic sustainability, regardless of their starting

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      Karin Luhaäär

    • Shaping our City Stories – an event series by the URBACT Cities for Sustainability Governance network

      Europe and the world rely on dedicated and determined local leaders. Cities of all sizes create inclusive and sustainable future, when planned and

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      Karin Luhaäär

    • "All things, to all people, at all times", the Cities@Heart Baseline Study

      Covering themes from nightlife to the circular economy, the 30 URBACT IV Action Planning Networks began their journey of integrated urban development

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      author image

      Santamaria-Varas Mar

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    Re-growCity Transfer network focuses on the development of interventions that built on local capabilities to arrest and reverse long term social, economic and environmental decline. Altena has a track record of recognised good practices that facilitate the development of sustainable initiatives with a minimum of external resource input. This network will support partners to revitalise public services and the economy, regenerate the urban fabric and develop civil society in a context of long term decline.

     

    Tackling long term decline in smaller cities
    URBACT III

    Finding opportunities in declining cities

    Working with civil society to reverse decline in small and medium sized towns

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