Networks and cities' news

“The Sea Starts Here” – Urban Art raising awareness for Environmental Preservation

The artistic interpretation of an aquarium is the subject of an urban art display in the centre of Agueda, in support of the campaign “O Mar começa aqui” (“The sea starts here”). The aim of the instillation is to increase the community awareness and importnace of environment preservation. The piece of art was inaugurated on the November 19^th, to mark World Sanitation Day.

The “Green Line” project for a “green” Bistrița city

Over the last 10 years, congestion in the city of Bistrița has continued to worsen with an increase in the number of cars on the roads and an intensification of road traffic. This has led to the rise in air pollution caused by transport and an overcrowding of parking areas. Nevertheless, urban public transport still has an important role in the development of cities, facilitating the population's access to jobs and services

Carry out a pilot renovation diagnosis to help owners initiate their refurbishment project

Following the good practice of Chemnitz, the city of Seraing will soon open a housing agency to support owners in their renovation project. Bénédicte Borckmans reports on a pilot study whose results will be very helpful for the work of the future agency. 

Transfer Story: Zagreb "Block Badel" challenge

“Indeed, the move to connect public subsidy and private compliance must be understood in the context of the post-war history of urban redevelopment initiatives, most of which have been considered failures. A thorough history of these programs is beyond this chapter, but the litany of criticisms is familiar: Urban redevelopment has relied too heavily on private-side investment; it has emphasized displacement and gentrification over reinvestment; it has lacked citizen participation or neighbourhood input; and it has been riddled with patronage, incompetence, and distribution to favoured groups. Mostly, however, urban redevelopment policy has been unsuccessful.” ― Richard Schragger

Exit from the city centre. What was recently built in Varaždin, HR?

Being very very proud of their neat and preserved historical city, the people of Varaždin love stories about the pink facades of baroque palaces in the historic city centre. But they rarely or never notice buildings from the twentieth century and ask themselves about their story.

Ostrava plan to reduce anonymity and strengthen communities in priority neighbourhoods

 Czech word „Sídliště“ [seed:lish:tje] is primarily used to define neighbourhoods with high-rise or large housing estates built during the communist era between 1940s and 1990s as an important part of building plans. The goal was to provide large quantities of fast and affordable housing and to slash costs by using uniform designs of prefabricated concrete blocks over the whole country. 

Housing estates bear the legacy of socialist housing policy in terms of the social composition of the population and therefore a mix of different professions and social groups is preserved in housing estates. And even though, they are often said to be "mere dormitory communities with a few conveniences and even less character”, it is yet a common form of living for nearly 3 million Czechs.