Voor de middelgrote stad Mechelen was URBACT een unieke gelegenheid om zich te laten inspireren door goede praktijken en lokale en internationale partnerschappen te versterken, terwijl de bestaande stedelijke uitdagingen werden aangepakt. De publieke en politieke wil om de stadsparken te verbeteren was reeds aanwezig, UrbSecurity zorgde enkel voor de nodige randvoorwaarden voor verandering.

Deze reis vereiste het verzamelen van gegevens en vervolgens het toevoegen van wat "wetenschap" aan het project. Sinds 2018 verzamelde de stad al consistente gegevens over frequenties, klachten en netheid in openbare parken. Dit werd gedaan om de inspanningen beter te sturen en de effecten van het bestaande beleid te beoordelen. Verder werden studies uitgevoerd om haalbaarheidstests te toetsen om overlast te verminderen, naast pogingen om de besluitvorming te beïnvloeden op basis van gedragswetenschappelijke experimenten door nudging.

Deze methoden zijn in verschillende contexten nuttig gebleken en zijn goed gedocumenteerd. Speciaal om de plaatselijke bevolking aan te sporen heeft de gemeente in samenwerking met naburige cafés verschillende borden en spandoeken gemaakt. Het idee was om mensen de weg te wijzen naar openbare toiletten en asbakken en om zwerfvuil te voorkomen. Tevreden met deze ervaringen maakte de stad Mechelen gebruik van de UrbSecurity-partnervergadering die ter plaatse plaatsvond om deze ideeën te delen met de andere steden. 

Tijdens deze bijeenkomst werden ook lokale belanghebbenden uit Mechelen - die ook lid waren van de URBACT Local Group - uitgenodigd voor een "nudging voor dummies"-sessie. Pieter Raymaekers van de universiteit van Leuven, die wordt beschouwd als een nationale autoriteit op dit gebied, gaf deze training. Het idee was om deze methoden te testen in een park waar gegevens, informatie en lopende projecten zouden helpen om de geproduceerde effecten te beoordelen. Dit was een van de eerste lokale verwezenlijkingen van UrbSecurity.

"De eerste pilot die we in het kader van het Netwerk Actieplanning als kleinschalige actie uitvoerden, was de installatie van hard-& software waardoor we een duidelijk zicht en bruikbare gegevens kregen over wanneer en hoeveel mensen het park bezochten. Het telsysteem werd in januari 2021 geïnstalleerd", zegt Coeman Erwin, communicatiemedewerker van de gemeente Mechelen. Zodra dit apparaat geïnstalleerd was, werd het Hofke Park de perfecte plaats om experimenten uit te voeren.

Bovendien had een andere stadsdienst al een herinrichting opgepakt voor de revitalisering van dit park, een tijdige interventie voor de UrbSecutiy partners om een veiligere omgeving te creëren. Er werden weloverwogen beslissingen genomen om het voormalige voetbalveld te vervangen door een kleiner, beter uitgerust veld met een zachter oppervlak, waardoor er meer ruimte ontstond voor een nieuwe avontuurlijke speelplek - met onder meer een klimwand, een te volgen parcours en natuurlijke spelelementen voor kinderen van verschillende leeftijden. Bij de speeltuin, de boomhut en een fantasiehoek met een buitenkeuken zijn ook schaduwrijke en holle banken geplaatst.

Met de inbreng van deskundigen en de bevindingen van de actieplanning zullen geleidelijk aan nudging-elementen in het park worden opgenomen. Evenzo zullen onderhoud en beheer worden georganiseerd in samenwerking met jongerenorganisaties en preventiewerkers om het gevoel van mede-eigendom van dit park te stimuleren. Het creëren van een gemeenschapsgevoel is de meest doeltreffende manier om vandalisme terug te dringen. Het UrbSecurity Network heeft trouwens ook duurzame slimme banken op zonne-energie geïnstalleerd, met wi-fi verbinding en de mogelijkheid om telefoons en tablets op te laden, wat voor de plaatselijke bevolking nog meer redenen geeft om voor deze plek te zorgen.

Door het voorafgaande werk en de acties tijdens het proces hebben de medewerkers van Mechelen UrbSecurity een grote leercurve doorgemaakt. Als nieuwkomers in URBACT moesten ze een inhaalslag maken ten opzichte van andere deelnemers die al vertrouwd waren met het programma en de URBACT-methode. Met de steun van de stad Leiria leverde de experimenteerperiode die volgde echter belangrijke resultaten op.

Terwijl stedelijke veiligheid en beveiliging in openbare parken al op de politieke agenda van de gemeente Mechelen stond vóór de laatste URBACT-oproep voor actieplanningsnetwerken in 2019, bood UrbSecurity een coherent kader om kennis en mensen te verzamelen en nieuwe oplossingen te testen. Het gaf een echte impuls aan het lokale initiatief en stelde de gemeente in staat om verder te gaan met nieuwe projecten, terwijl er proefacties werden uitgeprobeerd.

De kleinschalige acties bleken inderdaad een echt succes te zijn: de banden tussen alle betrokken organisaties werden versterkt en de mensen werden geëngageerd om het hele proces te volgen. Het hielp ook de aandacht van lokale politici te vestigen op de uitdagingen waarvoor de stad staat en het belang van verticale en horizontale samenwerking. Nudging gaf de stadsbeoefenaars goedkope, snelle en speelse instrumenten, wat het belang bevestigt van contacten met deskundigen en academici die deze techniek kennen.

Gegevens hebben duidelijk een rol gespeeld in dit hele verhaal en het blijft een must voor Mechelen. Zoals een deelnemer aan het project zei: "we kunnen veel veronderstellen, maar de enige manier om zeker te zijn van een conclusie met argumenten is om gegevens te hebben".

Pour la ville de Malines, URBACT a été une occasion unique de s'inspirer des bonnes pratiques et de renforcer les partenariats locaux et internationaux, tout en relevant les défis urbains existants. La volonté publique et politique d'améliorer les parcs municipaux était déjà présente, UrbSecurity a simplement permis de créer l'environnement favorable nécessaire au changement.

L’idée initiale était d’ajouter un peu de « science » au projet par la collecte de données. Depuis 2018, la ville recueillait déjà des données sur la fréquentation, les plaintes et la propreté dans les parcs publics. Cela a été fait pour mieux orienter les efforts et évaluer les effets des politiques existantes. En outre, des études ont été menées pour vérifier les tests de faisabilité pour réduire les nuisances, en plus des tentatives d'influencer la prise de décision en se basant sur des expériences de science comportementale par nudging.

Ces méthodes se sont avérées utiles dans plusieurs contextes et ont été bien documentées. Pour guider les habitants, la municipalité a créé différents panneaux et bannières en collaboration avec les bars voisins. L'idée était de conduire les gens vers les toilettes publiques, les cendriers publics et d'éviter les dépôts sauvages. Satisfaite de ces expériences, la ville de Malines a profité de la réunion des partenaires UrbSecurity qui s'est tenue chez elle pour partager ses idées avec les autres villes. 

Au cours de cette réunion, les acteurs locaux de Malines - qui étaient également membres du Groupe local URBACT - ont également été invités à une session "nudging for dummies". Pieter Raymaekers, de l'Université de Louvain, considéré comme une autorité nationale dans ce domaine, a dispensé cette formation. L'idée était de mettre ces méthodes à l'épreuve dans un parc où les données, les informations et les projets en cours permettraient d'évaluer les effets produits.

"Le premier projet pilote que nous avons mené dans le cadre du réseau de planification d’actions, en tant qu'action à petite échelle, était l'installation d'un logiciel hard-& nous permettant d'avoir une vue claire et des données utilisables sur quand et combien de personnes ont visité le parc. Le système de comptage a été installé en janvier 2021", explique Coeman Erwin, responsable de la communication de ville de Malines. Une fois ce dispositif installé, le parc Hofke est devenu l'endroit idéal pour mener des expériences.

De plus, un autre département de la ville avait déjà envisagé un réaménagement pour revitaliser ce parc, le contexte était dès lors opportun pour les partenaires d'UrbSecutiy afin de créer un environnement plus sûr. Par ailleurs, des décisions ont été prises pour remplacer l'ancien terrain de football par un terrain plus petit et mieux équipé, avec une surface plus douce, créant ainsi plus d'espace pour une nouvelle aire de jeu aventureuse - comprenant un mur d'escalade, un sentier à suivre et des éléments de jeu naturels pour les enfants de différents âges. Des bancs creux et ombragés ont également été installés près de l'aire de jeux, ainsi qu’une cabane dans les arbres et un coin fantaisie avec une cuisine extérieure.

Grâce à la contribution d'experts et aux conclusions du réseau de planification des actions, des éléments de nudging seront progressivement intégrés au parc. De plus, l'entretien et la gestion seront organisés en collaboration avec les organisations de jeunesse et les agents de prévention afin de stimuler le sentiment de propriété de ce parc. Créer un sentiment d’appartenance est le moyen le plus efficace de réduire le vandalisme. Dans ce même ordre d’idée, Malines a également installé des bancs intelligents et durables fonctionnant à l'énergie solaire, avec une connexion wi-fi et la possibilité de recharger des téléphones et des tablettes, ce qui donne une raison supplémentaire aux habitants de prendre soin de cet endroit.

Grâce au travail effectué en amont et aux actions entreprises au cours du processus, les membres de l'équipe de Malines UrbSecurity ont beaucoup appris. En tant que nouveaux venus dans le programme URBACT, ils ont dû rattraper les autres participants qui étaient déjà familiarisés avec le programme et la Méthode URBACT. Néanmoins, avec le soutien de la ville de Leiria, la période d'expérimentation qui a suivi a donné des résultats significatifs.

Alors que la sûreté et la sécurité urbaines dans les parcs publics figuraient déjà dans l'agenda politique de la municipalité de Malines avant le dernier appel URBACT pour les Réseaux de planification d'action en 2019, UrbSecurity a offert un cadre cohérent pour rassembler les connaissances, les personnes et tester de nouvelles solutions. Il a donné un véritable coup de pouce à l'initiative locale et a permis à la municipalité d'aller de l'avant avec de nouveaux projets, tout en essayant des actions pilotes.

En effet, les actions à petite échelle se sont avérées être un véritable succès, renforçant les liens entre toutes les organisations impliquées et incitant les gens à suivre l'ensemble du processus. Elles ont également permis d'attirer l'attention des politiciens locaux sur les défis auxquels la ville est confrontée et sur l'importance de la collaboration verticale et horizontale. Le nudging a fourni des outils bon marché, rapides et ludiques aux praticiens de la ville, ce qui confirme l'importance de la liaison avec les experts et les universitaires qui connaissent bien cette technique.

Les données ont clairement joué un rôle dans toute cette histoire et elles restent une nécessité pour Malines. Comme l'a dit un participant au projet, "nous pouvons spéculer sur beaucoup de choses, mais la seule façon de s'assurer d'une conclusion avec des arguments est de disposer de données".

Every evening city wardens pass along the 18 public parks of Mechelen (BE) to close their gates. No entry is allowed until the next morning. This ritual is an attempt to prevent the well-known nuisance, vandalism and even litter, which so often affect parks. Even if annoying, unpleasant or obnoxious behaviour can persist throughout the day, the municipality has decided to tackle the roots of the problem.

City practitioners soon realised they needed to take a closer look at the issue by improving knowledge on why, what, where and how does the nuisance occur. Only then, they could reflect on how to transform such information into actions. During this process they have explored a wide range of possible angles – the design of the park, the type and location of its furniture, the means to influence behaviour, among other aspects.

Luckily, back in 2019, the city of Mechelen has found the perfect opportunity to further work on this matter by joining the URBACT UrbSecurity Network. This Action Planning Network aimed at designing solutions and measures to prevent segregation and anti-social behaviour, and, consequently, to improve citizens’ quality of life. The overall goal was to increase the inhabitant’s perception of urban security and safety.

Through this adventure, Mechelen was accompanied by eight cities: the city of Pella (EL), the municipality of Madrid (ES), the Szabolcs 05 (HU), the city of Lonford (IE), the municipality of Parma (IT), the Union of Romagna Faentina (IT) and the city of Michalovce (SK). The municipality of Leiria (PT) led all these partners through this journey.

For the medium-sized city of Mechelen, URBACT was a unique occasion to be inspired by good practices and strengthen local and international partnerships, while tackling existing urban challenges. The public and political will to enhance the municipal parks was already there, UrbSecurity merely allowed the necessary enabling environment for change.

This journey required data collection and, then, adding some “science” to the project. Since 2018, the city had already been gathering consistent data about frequentation, complaints and cleanliness in public parks. This has been done to better direct efforts and to assess the effects of existing policies. Furthermore, studies were carried out to check feasibility tests to reduce nuisance, in addition to attempts to influence decision-making based on behavioural science experiments by nudging.

These methods have proven to useful in several contexts and have been well documented. Particularly for nudging locals, the municipality created different signs and banners in collaboration with neighbouring pubs. The idea was to guide people to public toilets, public ashtrays and to avoid littering. Satisfied with these experiences, the city of Mechelen took advantage of the UrbSecurity partners meeting that took place in-site to share these ideas with the other cities.

During this meeting, local stakeholders from Mechelen – who were also member of the URBACT Local Group – were also invited to a “nudging for dummies” session. Pieter Raymaekers, from the University of Leuven, who is considered a national authority in this field, delivered this training. The idea was to put into test these methods in a park where data, information and ongoing projects would help to assess the produced effects. This was one of the first local achievements from UrbSecurity.

“The first pilot we ran under the Action Planning Network, as a small-scale action, was the installation of hard-& software allowing us to have a clear view and useable data on when and how many people visited the park. The counting system was setup in January 2021” says Coeman Erwin, Communication Officer for the municipality of Mechelen. Once this device was installed, the Hofke Park became the perfect place to run experiments.

Furthermore, another city department already picked up a redevelopment for the revitalisation of this park, a timely intervention for the UrbSecutiy partners to create a safer environment. Informed decisions were taken to replace the former football field by a smaller better equipped one with a softer surface, thus, creating more space for a new adventurous playing area – including a climbing wall, a trail to follow and natural game elements for kids of different ages. Shaded and hollow benches have also been installed near the playground, the tree hut and a fantasy corner with an outdoor kitchen.

With inputs from experts and the findings from the action-planning journey, nudging elements will be gradually incorporated to the park. Likewise, maintenance and management will be organised in participation with youth organisations and prevention workers to stimulate the co-ownership feeling of this park. Creating a sense of commons is the most effective way to reduce vandalism. As a matter of fact, the UrbSecurity Network has also installed sustainable solar-powered smart benches, with wi-fi connection and the possibility to charge phones and tablets, which gives more reasons for locals to care for this place.

Through the work done upstream and the actions taken during the process, the Mechelen UrbSecurity’s staff embraced a great learning curve. As newcomers to URBACT, they had to catch up with other participants who were already familiar to the programme and the URBACT Method. Nevertheless, with the support from the city of Leiria, the experimenting period that followed brought significant results.

While urban safety and security in public parks was already in the political agenda of the municipality of Mechelen before the last URBACT call for Action Planning Networks in 2019, UrbSecurity offered a coherent framework to gather knowledge, people, and test new solutions. It gave a real boost to the local initiative and enabled the municipality to move forward with new projects, while trying out pilot actions.

Indeed, the small scale actions turned out to be a real success, strengthening the bonds between all involved organisations and engaging people to follow the entire process. It also helped to draw local politicians' attention on the challenges the city face and the importance of vertical and horizontal collaboration. Nudging gave cheap, quick and playful tools to the city practitioners, which confirms the importance of liaising with experts and academia who are knowledgeable on this technique.

Data has clearly played a role in this whole story and it remains a must for Mechelen. As one participant from the project said, “we can assume a lot but the only way to make sure of a conclusion with arguments is to have data”.

During this meeting, local stakeholders from Mechelen – who were also member of the URBACT Local Group – were also invited to a “nudging for dummies” session. Pieter Raymaekers, from the University of Leuven, who is considered a national authority in this field, delivered this training. The idea was to put into test these methods in a park where data, information and ongoing projects would help to assess the produced effects. This was one of the first local achievements from UrbSecurity.

“The first pilot we ran under the Action Planning Network, as a small-scale action, was the installation of hard-& software allowing us to have a clear view and useable data on when and how many people visited the park. The counting system was setup in January 2021” says Coeman Erwin, Communication Officer for the municipality of Mechelen. Once this device was installed, the Hofke Park became the perfect place to run experiments.

Furthermore, another city department already picked up a redevelopment for the revitalisation of this park, a timely intervention for the UrbSecutiy partners to create a safer environment. Informed decisions were taken to replace the former football field by a smaller better equipped one with a softer surface, thus, creating more space for a new adventurous playing area – including a climbing wall, a trail to follow and natural game elements for kids of different ages. Shaded and hollow benches have also been installed near the playground, the tree hut and a fantasy corner with an outdoor kitchen.

With inputs from experts and the findings from the action-planning journey, nudging elements will be gradually incorporated to the park. Likewise, maintenance and management will be organised in participation with youth organisations and prevention workers to stimulate the co-ownership feeling of this park. Creating a sense of commons is the most effective way to reduce vandalism. As a matter of fact, the UrbSecurity Network has also installed sustainable solar-powered smart benches, with wi-fi connection and the possibility to charge phones and tablets, which gives more reasons for locals to care for this place.

Through the work done upstream and the actions taken during the process, the Mechelen UrbSecurity’s staff embraced a great learning curve. As newcomers to URBACT, they had to catch up with other participants who were already familiar to the programme and the URBACT Method. Nevertheless, with the support from the city of Leiria, the experimenting period that followed brought significant results.

While urban safety and security in public parks was already in the political agenda of the municipality of Mechelen before the last URBACT call for Action Planning Networks in 2019, UrbSecurity offered a coherent framework to gather knowledge, people, and test new solutions. It gave a real boost to the local initiative and enabled the municipality to move forward with new projects, while trying out pilot actions.

Indeed, the small scale actions turned out to be a real success, strengthening the bonds between all involved organisations and engaging people to follow the entire process. It also helped to draw local politicians' attention on the challenges the city face and the importance of vertical and horizontal collaboration. Nudging gave cheap, quick and playful tools to the city practitioners, which confirms the importance of liaising with experts and academia who are knowledgeable on this technique. Data has clearly played a role in this whole story and it remains a must for Mechelen. As one participant from the project said, “we can assume a lot but the only way to make sure of a conclusion with arguments is to have data”.

Whether you are already familiar to URBACT or a new-comer city, follow Mechelen's steps and apply for the next call for Action Planning Networks!

You can already start looking for city partners in the Partner Search Tool

Small Scale Actions (SSA) have added a new dynamic to URBACT networks. Carried out with the support of EU partners and URBACT experts, these ‘trial runs’ enable cities to prototype local solutions and de-risk future actions, while engaging local stakeholders in ‘doing’ as well as ‘thinking’ together to tackle urban challenges. URBACT Programme Expert Sally Kneeshaw investigates…

The latest round of 23 URBACT Action Planning Networks, launched in 2019, have benefited from the introduction of a new feature – Small Scale Actions. For the first time, a budget of EUR 10 000 was made available to each partner city to carry out experimentation that could inform their so-called Integrated Action Plan, or IAP. This final document is co-produced in each city to encapsulate planned actions tackling a specific urban challenge, with diverse topics ranging from digitalisation to waste management.

SSAs were introduced in response to requests from previous networks to be able to spend resources on testing ideas before deciding if they should, or could, be part of the finalised plan. URBACT defined them as “an experiment. It is an idea or a concept, perhaps already tried in another city, which can be tested to check the relevance, feasibility and added value of its implementation in different local contexts. The Small Scale Actions are limited in time, scale and space and by their nature have the right to fail.”

Daring to fail

Inherent in the process of experimenting is the possibility of failure, and the opportunity to learn from failing. This is often a new departure in policy development for cities. The SSA was therefore also a process to allow public administrations to adopt more agile ways of acting, adapting methods from other sectors such as design and tech, and to be able to test ideas for sustainable change before creating long-term action plans. It can allow cities to design and build better and quicker, to iterate, or provide evidence that something should be discontinued rather than wasting public funds.

Cities take up the SSA challenge

Given the wide variety of urban challenges undertaken by URBACT networks – from the circular economy, to sustainable tourism, to city branding – very different approaches to SSAs emerged. Most networks engaged in a process to identify which action would be most useful for them, in relation to their priorities and information gaps. In the end, events, information campaigns, new tools/methods for implementation, and small infrastructure interventions were the most popular SSAs, overall.

Mini solutions emerge

Here are just a few examples of the scores of local solutions that URBACT cities have trialled in 27 countries this past year, and are now ready to scale up.

To improve inclusion in neighbourhoods with low levels of cultural and community activity, new interventions were tested in Vilnius (LT). They offered different formats and elements of interaction in different neighborhoods, such as musical picnics, open-air libraries, history rooms and ‘Tea & Chats’ inspired by Dublin (IE). Meanwhile, Sofia (BG) experimented with an info campaign on access to culture for 11 to 16 year old students, a group identified as having low levels of participation. The testing included a survey among students, training for teachers, and working with a popular blogger to communicate in ways that resonate with the students. (Find out more about the ACCESS network.) 

In our environmentally focused networks, repair and re-use interventions, citizen engagement and awareness raising were tested. A project on circular textile consumption looked at how to mainstream leasing/renting models for fashion businesses, and start an operational model for the Belgian city of Mechelen. Bucharest 3rd District (RO) tried out a composting unit. (Find out more about the Resourceful Cities network.)

In relation to homelessness, the aim was to try out, evaluate and verify what direction to take on the road towards implementing the ‘Housing First’ approach. Ghent (BE) tested a new form of collaboration between different support agencies by working in a new coordinated approach with three beneficiaries. In Toulouse (FR), a unique campaign to attract private renters through a single communication channel increased affordable private housing offers. This action proved the viability of extending the concept to the wider Métropole area. (See more information on the ROOF network.)

New sensor technology was tested in several cities, for instance to analyse urban air quality data in real time in Razlog (BG) and communicate water temperature in the local bathing lakes in Ange (SE). Very practical lessons were learned, for example, how to avoid damage to sensors measuring rubbish collection. As a result of the testing, it is now easier to cost the amount required for scaling up.
Lead Expert Eurico Neves said: “SSAs have been very successful for us – maybe because it’s a tech-oriented project, around Internet of Things and sensors, and is easy to conceptualise and implement small solutions around a number of sensors that can be later upscaled. All cities in our network are now well advanced into the drafting of IAPs and they’re in the process of planning this upscale of SSA as part of the IAP.”
(Read more about the IoTXchange network.)

Placemaking SSAs made a huge difference in engaging stakeholders. Implementing concrete physical changes, such as opening up streets, provoked a mix of positive, negative and unexpected reactions, and the realisation that more communication is needed, for example with shopkeepers. Actions will be modified based on these outcomes. (Find out more about the Thriving Streets network.)

Dubrovnik (HR) was very ambitious and tested a new route to move tourists and residents around. Another city took an open approach to review their accessibility to visitors with reduced mobility, wanting to learn and improve the experience. (Find out more about the TOURISM-FRIENDLY CITIES network.)

What were the challenges and what was learnt?

The short time scale allocated to these local ‘test-runs’ within each URBACT network, combined in some cases with the need for procurement, made it difficult for certain cities to launch their actions as planned. And several found that by implementing pilot actions they had less time available to devote to building Integrated Action Plans.

However, in many cities the SSA succeeded in getting local URBACT groups on board, boosting stakeholder engagement. It provided a great opportunity to act, not just discuss and plan, and for stakeholders to discuss specific tangible changes, not just ideas.

For small cities, who often have less capacity to prototype and pilot, this new process has brought a winning combination of knowledge, skills and trust. For example, thanks to the iPlace network, city partners ran hackathons to generate ideas. As a result, the Latvian town of Saldus will continue to hold hackathons regularly and allocate grants to the winners.

What next?

At local level, each city is now bringing the learning that emerged from the testing into the wider planning process. At programme level, URBACT is monitoring cities closely to see how to refine SSA guidance for the future. It seems the great majority of URBACT partner cities surveyed are convinced that piloting is a helpful tool for implementing their Integrated Action Plans, especially in gathering evidence and establishing proof of concept.

Liat Rogel, Lead Expert of the ROOF network, said: “Failing or succeeding, the Small Scale Actions all help the cities to make more effective action plans. There is a real strength in the opportunity to iterate through one’s own experience and that of others.”

“In many cases SSAs introduced a new dynamic, that should be continued and embedded in future planning and delivery,” said Adele Bucella, Head of Programmes and Projects at URBACT. “Cities took ideas from each other and learned together, for instance how to work with stakeholders, how to measure impacts. This local testing de-risks the intended actions and makes them more investable. The next stage of the process is to make sure that the learning from the SSA is well-integrated into all the IAPs.”

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!

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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!

UrbSecurity proposes to widen the security and safety application in public spaces and city planning and management of the 9 cities in its network. It aims to address public security policies from different perspectives by exploring their relation to other urban policies, thereby promoting socio-economic development. The idea is to bring safety and security to all levels of governance, preventing social exclusion and anti-social behaviour and, ultimately improve citizens’ quality of life.

The development of synergies among several policies is a key aspect in the project as security has so many variables and stakeholders that have a direct or indirect influence. For example shop owners can highly benefit from a secured environment but in fact they become also agents in the process as shops are themselves a major contributor to the perception of a safe environment. The aim of the project is therefore to work with all stakeholders, test small scale solutions, promote citizens participation and, therefore promote changes in the city.

Urban planning is considered a key element to define the cities’ spatial design which has a direct influence in the spatial segregation of society and in citizen’s perception of urban security and safety. Urban security and safety integrates urban crime prevention principles into safety-conscious urban development interventions which aim to reducing urban vulnerability, promote the integration of cross-cutting safety issues and create a transformative approach into urban intervention by city authorities.

In this context, this network intends to provide a series of innovative tools (practical actions, strategies and methodologies) to the involved cities that can be used by local authorities and stakeholders and provide answers to the following concerns:

1. How can urban planning help reduce urban crime and violence?

2. How can urban planners create safe and healthy places?

3. What tools can be used to monitor and evaluate these actions?

4. How should local stakeholders participate in urban planning regarding city’s security and safety?

The main goal of UrbSecurity is therefore to co-create Integrated Action Plans (IAP’s) on safety and security that promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Good practices such as the mix-use of spaces, promotion of activity generators, reliable infrastructures (as proper lightning) or crowdsourcing will be investigated and analysed to assess its transferability into the future IAP of the participating cities.

The partnership

The partnership is led by the Municipality of Leiria and includes eight other cities/regions, namely: Madrid (ES), Parma (IT), Longford (IR), Mechelen (BE), Pella (GR), Michalovce (SK) and the regions of Szabolcs 05 Association of Municipalities (HU) (HR) and Romagna Faentina (IT).

Three of the members of the partnership, Unione della Romagna Faentina, Mechelen and Madrid are also involved in the Urban Agenda on Security in Public Spaces proving a bridge between the Urban Agenda and UrbSecurity.   

The UrbSecurity partnership will look for solutions to tackle the following challenges:

- Improvement of spatial design, urban planning and development of security by design concepts, including better protection of public spaces.

- Improvement of the resilience and efficiency of the public infrastructure;

-  Improvement of public-private cooperation in urban security (public control and private areas), for instance by promoting a wider use of ICT in video surveillance, data exchange, etc.

- Assessment of urban security: building a framework of indicators to assess the evolution of citizens’ perceptions towards safety and security, identifying new and potential vulnerable areas and monitoring changes in their security.

- Creation of effective and easy to use monitoring tools for public safety as a means to establish more information led actions and measurement of their impact;

- Increase citizen participation in security and safety issues – by involving local associations in security policies,  for instance, implementation of crowdsourcing  schemes as the Volunteer Geographic Information (VGI) where users collect and share information voluntarily with the city authorities on safety and security issues using digital platforms.

- Creation of a model for citizen participation and co-creation in the field of crime prevention and building resilience for vulnerable people against criminal involvement;

- Creation of a joint training curriculum for crime prevention officers for setting up the implementation of prevention projects;

- Design and test small-scale interventions on urban design and activity generator to determine their effectiveness;

UrbSecurity and the EU Urban Agenda

Safety is currently seen as one of the aspects that influences the quality of living in the EU. The framework developed by Eurostat proposes different methods of measuring safety, namely income, living conditions, education or health, and, equally important, subjective measures such as an individual’s appreciation of their living environment, whether they can rely on friends/family and how safe citizen’s feel.

Safety is currently seen as one of the aspects that influences the quality of life in the EU. As set in the framework developed by Eurostat, that includes objective measures like income, living conditions, education or health, and subjective measures such as an individual’s appreciation of their living environment, whether they can rely on friends/family, how safe citizens feel is one of the measurements taken into consideration.

The notion of urban security has just recently been introduced in the international political debate and it is now each government’s obligation to integrate this concept within its policies. Protecting public spaces poses particular challenges for the EU due to the “the broad variety of public places that have been or could be targeted, their different characteristics ranging from fully open spaces to areas with some form of protection, the variety of actors involved in the protection of such sites, the risk of mass casualties and, importantly, the imperative to strike a balance between improving security and preserving the open nature of public spaces, ensuring that citizens can continue their daily lives”, as stated in the Communication of the Commission to the EU parliament “Action Plan to improve protection of public spaces” (Brussels, 18.10.2017 COM(2017) 612 final). This Communication highlights the importance of increasing awareness of local urban authorities to the vulnerability of public spaces, enhancing knowledge and the spread of good practices in promoting security by design.

Wrap-up

The design of urban public spaces and urban planning are constantly challenged by how cities are used and how citizens occupy and make use of its spaces. The introduction of new trends and necessities and the increase in problems and conflicts among users brings rapid changes on the local urban authorities’ procedures regarding the design and the management of a city. It is therefore essential that the “user’s experience” is considered as a main input on the analysis of how the spaces are used and what conflicts or are taking place.

Urban safety and security are fundamental components of the modern democracies of the EU. It is therefore urgent that European local urban authorities begin to accept their role in designing and implementing security policies. UrbSecurity intends to make sound contributions to these policies and provide guidelines for other EU cities to pursue their strategies in safety and security in an integrated and participative way.