R E C OM M E N DAT I O N S FOR INTERVENTIONS IN PUBLIC AREAS
URBANBAT
Recommendations for interventions in public areas. Bilbao, 2016 -2017 Directors: URBANBAT Design, coordination and facilitation of the laboratory: ColaBoraBora URBANBAT Civersity UPV/EHU Layout and design: Carlos Muñoz Sánchez, cAnicca [a+d+u] URBANBAT The fonts used are free to use: Josefín Sans - Regular, Italic and SemiBold (by Typemade) Neutra Text Alt - Book and Bold (free option) Three - Regular (by Jack Harvatt) Map of dots: Created by Freepik The icons used are in the public domain, except the following Creative Commons license: page 10 - by Felipe Flórez page 11 - by Gregor Cresnar page 17 - by Claire Jones page 22 - by arjuazka page 24 - by Yu luck page 26 - by Magicon page 27 - by Thomas Helbig page 30 - by Symbolon page 31 - by Creative Stall page 33 - by Antonio Vicién Faure
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WORK GROUP The recommendations included in this document were drawn up during the citizen participation laboratory ¡HACIENDO LA CALLE! [WALKING THE STREETS!], with the participation of the following people, organisations and groups: Javi Nevado _ Anti bookshop Zigor Iturbe _ Architect Arrate Presilla _ Architecture student Maialen Intxausti _ BEAZ Bizkaia, Public company María Asís Fernández _ BilbaoHistoriko-Expogela Irantzu Ibáñez _ Citizen participation and community development student Amaia Izaola _ Civersity (City and Diversity Research Group UPV-EHU) Ekhi Atutxa _ Civersity (City and Diversity Research Group UPV-EHU) Patricia Campelo _ Civersity (City and Diversity Research Group UPV-EHU) Idoia Azkorra _ ColaBoraBora (Design of collaborative practices) Txelu Balboa _ ColaBoraBora (Design of collaborative practices) Beatriz Silva _ Coordinator of groups in Bilbao la Vieja, San Francisco and Zabala Paula Castro _ Doctors of the World Euskadi Begoña González _ Galtzagorri-Feminist group Isabel Urkijo _ Kamaraka-Coexistence and equality policies Marie-Lucia Monsheneke _ Pan-African movement Iñigo Varona _ Pedro Tejada creative space Maria Ptqk _ Researcher and cultural producer Carlos Muñoz _ RIEbilbao (Space Exchange Network) Marina Urrutikoetxea _ Sarean, Cultural Association in San Francisco Gorka Rodriguez _ URBANBAT (Territorial planning and social innovation) Itxaso Bengoetxea _ URBANBAT (Territorial planning and social innovation) Maria Arana _ URBANBAT (Territorial planning and social innovation) Pilar Líbano _ Urban garden of San Francisco Patxi Ramos _ Uribarri Auzolanean, Neighbourhood association Olga Ruiz _ Zinema Pop-Cultural Association
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RECRECOMMENDATIONS FOR INTERVENTIONS IN PUBLIC AREAS
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¥HACIENDO LA CALLE! (WALKING THE STREETS!) took place between 14 October and 5 November 2016, a citizen participation laboratory devised as a training and participation space for socio-cultural agents in the local neighbourhoods of Bilbao La Vieja, San Francisco and Zabala, the neighbourhoods known collectively as Barrios Altos. An opportunity to get to know each other (or re-acquaint ourselves), share experiences and work on the design of joint strategies to contribute to the improvement of our surroundings in the most sustainable manner possible. It was the perfect time to take a closer look at some of the needs and demands detected during the strategic workshops carried out by the Coordinator of groups in Barrios Altos in relation to the City Council’s agenda of actions which will establish the guidelines for the transformation of the area between the period 2016-2019. The laboratory took place within the programming of the 5th Cultural Festival of Town Planning and Social Innovation URBANBAT, in collaboration with Human Cities, a European project that promotes the design of urban spaces based on people. As part of the objectives of this laboratory, we set out to bring together all of the lessons, comments, aspects and suggestions of the participants. Based on all of the above, we have devised a kind of strategic framework for future urban interventions in our neighbourhoods. A framework that, ultimately, represents a series of recommendations to guide future interventions, which has been presented to Bilbao City Council for its consideration in the 2016-2019 strategic agenda of actions. Recommendations are grouped into the most relevant and priority points or conflicts, and they all seek to answer the following question:
What do we have to take into account when defining necessary interventions in public areas? Each of the recommendations is accompanied by a practical example located in a specific city in the world. These examples can serve as inspiration for future interventions and demonstrate that the type of proposals included in this guide are possible.
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0 1 _ Urban intervention must contribute to building a more resilient territory
0 6 _ Cross the line between cultural entities and socio-political entities
0 2 _ Those involved must derive the maximum possible benefit from the action implemented
0 7 _ Use urban voids
0 3 _ Each intervention must have multiple functions
0 8 _ (Re-) activating resources, capturing and storing energy
0 4 _ Implement interventions from the ground up
0 9 _ Do not forget about the neighbourhood’s past
0 5 _ Introduce the gender perspective
1 0 _ Having a blast. If I can’t dance, it’s not my transition
1 1 _ Do not do more, but rather take advantage of what is being done by others (or what has already been done)
1 6 _ Establish collaborative networks with other neighbourhoods
1 2 _ Take to the streets, take groups and activities onto the streets (giving visibility to women is extremely important)
17 _ The first strategy is to spread and generate relationships and awareness
1 3 _ Ensure the diversity of actions
1 8 _ Ensure that interventions (in terms of content and objectives or in the manner of implementation) contribute to personal development (beyond the direct recipients)
14 _ All initiatives should include a “participation gradient” (ability to take part based on the particular availability of residents)
1 9 _ People as a mesure of the neighbourhood, by them and for them
1 5 _ Contribute to educating citizens as prosumers
2 0 _ Get used to “strangeness”
1. Neighbourhoods in Transition: Casería de Montijo, Granada 2. PASaPAS, Sant Cugat del Vallés 17 3. Dispositivo de la Cebada, Madrid 4. Despacio Galileo, Madrid 5. Frauen-Werk-Stad I, Vienna 6. Park Fiction, Hamburg 7. Build on empty spaces, discover the invisible, San Miguel de Tucumán 8. RecycLab, Colombes 9. Portraits of Fado, Lisbon 10. Juegodromo, Caracas 11. Public Space Tools, Europe 12. El Casc, Villena 13. Superkilen Park, Copenhagen 14. Re New Town, Velenje 15. Lucie!, Bremen 16. The European Live the City network 17. Zoning It In, New York 10 18. Baldomer Solà, Badalona 19. Pedestrian urban model, Pontevedra 20. On the moon, Hénin-Beaumont
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URBAN INTERVENTION MUST CONTRIBUTE BUILDING A MORE RESILIENT TERRITORY
TO
A resilient territory is a territory that can adapt with greater ease to the changes that take place within it. This is the highest priority of territories in transition and it is a characteristic that we want to incorporate into our neighbourhoods.
Recommendations:
| Take into account the local market (resources, professionals, | suppliers, etc.) in the design of projects. | Take into account recycling and the reuse of existing resour| ces when designing and implementing projects. | The Public Administration could provide an area for the ma| nagement/recovery and reuse of reusable waste.
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EXAMPLE 01
Author of the image: torreonarquitectura.es
Neighbourhoods in Transition: Casería de Montijo Casería de Montijo (Granada), 2013 The area of intervention, which covers 21 hectares, is considered a vulnerable area due to the presence of several different factors such as a high rate of unemployment, a high percentage of temporary employment, a high number of the population without studies, etc. Furthermore, the residential area requires full refurbishment. The absence of lifts represents a serious obstacle to the independence and quality of life of older people. The intervention, which involved citizen participation throughout the whole process, has contributed to the improvement of the public area and of access to investments. In addition, 12 of the 93 blocks of flats were rehabilitated and improved in terms of energy efficiency, thus reducing CO2 emissions from the buildings. Likewise, with the collaboration of the neighbourhood’s Association of the Unemployed, the lands surrounding the River Beiro were improved and adapted as a public area for agricultural use.
Promoters:
Carmen Fayos, José María López, ADICI and Torreón Arquitectura
Collaborators:
Government of Andalusia, European Fund, Association of Unemployed
Web: www.torreonarquitectura.es
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THOSE INVOLVED MUST DERIVE THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE BENEFIT FROM THE ACTION IMPLEMENTED Always act with a collective vision and a common perspective.
Recommendations: actions implemented in the neighbourhood must provide | The the maximum benefit for those who inhabit it (those | who live, workpossible and enjoy the neighbourhood): | • Address the needs raised by residents. • Quantify the direct impact on the population. • Recruit the neighbourhood’s professionals and/or unemployed for the works and services carried out.
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EXAMPLE 02
Author of the image: Andrés Flajszer, pasapaslesplanes.cat
PASaPAS Sant Cugat del Vallés (Catalonia), 2014 This Research and Action platform was created to promote the self-regeneration of the Les Planes neighbourhood, with the objective of improving its urban metabolism, recovering cooperative and identity values. At present, the neighbourhood has low economic activity and a high rate of unemployment. Four projects have been implemented by PASaPAS: REC (to address the problem of energy poverty), Espai(e)co (area of exchange for students, residents and companies), Ruta Ringo Rango (refurbishment of the pedestrian route) and Ámbito Pere Grau (a participative process regarding the neighbourhood’s transformation). The different projects serve to promote collaborations with companies, activating employment plans for the neighbourhood’s unemployed residents and building bonds of trust.
Promoters: Arqbag
Collaborators:
Community of the Les Planes neighbourhood, Sant Cugat del Vallés Town Council, ETSAV-UPC and Local Companies
Web: www.pasapaslesplanes.cat
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EACH INTERVENTION FUNCTIONS
MUST
HAVE
MULTIPLE
This means that interventions must address more than one need (a real need that has been identified within the neighbourhood) when implemented.
Recommendations:
| Make it compulsory for the design guidelines of an intervention | to address a minimum of two functions which, in turn, must | address the needs raised by residents.
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EXAMPLE 03
Author of the image: todoporlapraxis.es
Dispositivo de la Cebada Distrito Centro (Madrid), 2011 The objective of this intervention is the self-management of temporary sports facilities. It is located on Plaza de la Cebada, an area which was previously closed off and abandoned. The strategic and historic location of this area within the city made it an interesting point of urban regeneration. The mobile facilities include a multipurpose court, a storage room, a social centre, a summer cinema, stands and a sustainable garden. The parasitic structure, which is built on different forms and incorporates new facilities as and when they become necessary, is an effective tool, not only in terms of architecture, but also in terms of all social aspects of vulnerability which can be largely modified through the promotion of social cooperation.
Promoters:
Todo por la praxis
Collaborators:
FRAVM, neighbourhood associations of Avecla and La Corrala, different groups and residents and IDensitat in collaboration with the Sports Council
Web: www.todoporlapraxis.es
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IMPLEMENT INTERVENTIONS FROM THE GROUND UP We have often seen comprehensive and large-scale projects that are difficult to implement due to the needs and circumstances involved. Such projects require extremely large interventions that jeopardise the use of the space (and its refurbishment).
Recommendations:
| Design an action plan with scalable launch and development. | Each action, stage, process should have its own specific iden| tity while being included within a large strategy | The different actions and stages should serve as a basis for | influence and action, and also to analyse and evaluate the actual action plan.
| Test the actions and stages on a temporary basis through | Placemaking, with the objective of verifying the suitability of | proposals in collaboration with official experts, users and re| sidents. This methodology makes it possible to devise more | detailed designs for future urban interventions, which have | been previously tested through an open and prolonged parti| cipation channel, among residents/users and urban managers. | Small actions can be coordinated with, added to or benefit | from aspects or projects that have already been implemented.
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EXAMPLE 04
Author of the image: somoschamberri.es
Despacio Galileo Chamberí (Madrid), 2017 This reversible intervention, which is part of the project Chamberí Zona 30 and is a proposal included within the Plan A for Air Quality and Climate Change, entails the pedestrianisation of 60 metres of Calle Galileo. A single traffic lane has been established on this stretch for bicycles, emergency vehicles and urban services. Furthermore, a new public area has been created opposite the Galileo Cultural Centre. For the implementation of this intervention tactical town planning tools have been used: vertical and horizontal signposting, special paint for pavements and street furniture and landscaped areas, among others. The trial period (estimated to last one year), will serve to evaluate how the space actually runs, along with the effects traffic restrictions have on mobility in the area. Continuous evaluation with residents and traders will be carried out throughout the process.
Promoters:
Madrid City Council
Collaborators:
Hécate Ingeniería, SL
Web: www.madrid.es
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INTRODUCE THE GENDER PERSPECTIVE Public areas in Barrios Altos are mainly used by men. But we are not only concerned about the use made of streets and squares. Their design has not been conceived from a gender perspective. In other words, such areas have not been designed so that they can be used freely and safely by everybody.
Recommendations:
| Ensure that | women:
public areas are safe and habitable for all
• Bright areas (with no black spots). • Wide areas. • Adapted areas.
| Provide high-quality gender training to all professionals invol| ved with the urban intervention. | Ensure that women are involved with all urban interventions. | Equip all public facilities (buildings, services) with childcare | services and support services for those who are dependent | on women. | Rename women.
streets and squares with the names of famous
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EXAMPLE 05
Author of the image: tlraum, picssr.com
Frauen-Werk-Stad I Vienna (Austria), 1997 This project of 350 social houses, which takes as key design factor the needs of women and of daily life, has been designed by female town planners and architects. The process involved the participation of women pertaining to social movements and the future users. The design principles were based on: flexible areas for the different stages of life, the opportunity for interaction through meeting areas, connections between the houses establishing links between the exterior and interior of the building, community services (nursery, health centre, etc.), the importance of play taking into account the needs of minors, taking safety into account through the creation of well-lit and open spaces and storage areas for children’s bicycles or pushchairs. Today it is known as Margarethe Schutte-Lihotzky Hof, after one of Austria’s most important architectural theorists.
Promoters:
Frauenbüro, Franziska Ullmann, Elsa Prochazka, Gisela Prodeka and Liselotte Peretti
Web: www.wien.gv.at
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CROSS THE LINE BETWEEN CULTURAL ENTITIES AND SOCIO-POLITICAL ENTITIES Working together from different fields or positions can only improve and enrich processes. Although, unfortunately, we are not used to doing so, we can draw inspiration from certain examples, and there are methodologies that we can implement and professionals to support us along the way.
Recommendations:
| Promote cultural and business projects connected to social | matters.
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EXAMPLE 06
Author of the image: park-fiction.net
Park Fiction Hamburg (Germany), 1995 The plot, located in a beautiful location overlooking the port, was sold by the city’s regional government to private investors for the construction of luxury residential buildings. In opposition to this urban development, the community called for a public park in this highly populated area with serious social problems. In line with Joseph Beuys’ concept of Social Sculpture, local artists, squatters and families aesthetically channelled their demands into the Park Fiction project. A town planning process was organised in parallel with the intention of involving as many people and ideas as possible, approaching the brainstorming process as a game. To that end, a portable “action kit” planning office was opened, along with talks, exhibitions and other activities in preparation for the park. The project took 10 years to complete and formed part of documenta 11 (one of the world’s main contemporary art exhibitions).
Promoters:
Artists, activists and families from the St. Pauli district.
Web: www.park-fiction.net
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USE URBAN VOIDS Although efforts have been made in recent years to take action in relation to empty spaces in our neighbourhoods, there are still empty plots, markets, flats, corners etc. We believe that making the most of such spaces is not only an opportunity, but also contributes to bringing neighbourhoods together urbanistically, using existing elements.
Recommendations:
| Identify urban voids on a map. | Use and benefit from the activation guides for spaces/ | plots offered by the Network of Collective Architec| tures, an international network that works for the co| llaborative construction of the urban environment. | Learn about and implement the experiences and ways | of working developed by the Provincial Council of Barce| lona, promoting local policies to activate the temporary | use of empty spaces, through the project Espais Bluilts. | Share/learn about other experiences to find out about the details | surrounding transfer, intervention and negotiation processes with institutions.
| Identify groups, agents and projects that require plots to ac| tivate projects. | Invite social and cultural groups/programmes to use and par| ticipate in the activation of plots. | Introduce adaptive town planning or the “in the meantime� | model to activate spaces on an occasional basis. 24
EXAMPLE 07
Author of the image: Andru Lopez, plataformaurbana.cl
Build on empty spaces, discover the invisible San Miguel de Tucumรกn (Argentina), 2014 The intervention is part of a project devised by students and academics at the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning of the National University of Tucumรกn, in which 100 empty areas have been identified in the city. The recovery of these abandoned spaces contirbutes to improve environmental quality of the area, how the surroundings are perceived, the social identity of the neighbourhood and prevents problems of insecurity and deterioration. Based on this idea, the corner between the streets Crisostomo ร lvarez and Moreno is designed as a meeting and play area, inviting residents to spend time there and improve the local landscape. The furniture has been created by reusing materials, seeking three characteristics: adaptability, lightness and mutability.
Promoters:
Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning of the National University of Tucumรกn.
Web: www.facebook.com/construirelvacio/
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(RE-)ACTIVATING RESOURCES, STORING ENERGY
CAPTURING
AND
Reconsider the use of the resources available in the neighbourhood and how they can be used to generate other new uses, and also think about how to improve the energy efficiency of all such resources.
Recomnendations:
| Use and adapt existing elements: • Opening the Civic Centre and providing activities at weekends. • Extend and adapt pavements.. • Free the street of parking spaces. • Improve public transport connections.
| Eliminate non-useful elements and strengthen those that are most productive:
• Use and install clean energy systems at any public works. • Promote garbage collection in small, non-polluting vehicles. • Improve the recycling system. • Set up composting places.
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EXAMPLE 08
Author of the image: r-urban.net
RecycLab Colombes (France), 2012 RecycLab, located in an economically depressed area of Colombes, is one of four facilities that form part of R-Urban (a bottom-up initiative exploring the possibility of improved capacity for urban resilience through self-managed community facilities, focused on the social, economic and ecological transformation of the neighbourhood). This facility is a 400 m² wooden pavilion, which contains storerooms to collect recycled materials and workshops where such materials can be transformed into constructive elements. It is estimated that around one hundred tonnes of debris are recycled and reused every year, all collected from the surrounding areas. The pavilion also includes co-working rooms for local designers and craftsmen, who offer repair, collaborative design and DIY workshops that are open to local people.
Promoters:
AAA, Colombes City Council and the European Union
Collaborators:
Public Works, Haus-de-seine, Ile de France, Maison Forest, Logica Bois, CAPSA, Etamine, Oregon and Aquatiris.
Web: www.r-urban.net 27
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DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE NEIGHBOURHOOD’S PAST We believe that it is important to gather and remember the neighbourhood’s history. We must not forget about the neighbourhood’s past and we must place value on this past. A neighbourhood’s identity is built on its past, and we consider it is important to recover and maintain the presence of this past, in order to continue moving forward.
Recommendations:
| Map important past buildings and places. | Create informative facilities to display the different historical | periods. | Use work materials to collect information in relation to the | neighbourhood’s past and place it in visible areas | Include materials/facilities that include part of the | neighbourhood’s history in future improvement and urban | rehabilitation interventions (widening of pavements, replace| ment of paving, etc.). | Include a law to preserve the neighbourhood’s identity and | history. | Include the gender perspective and the recovery of the his| tory of the neighbourhood’s women. | Carry out prior work with associations that work with women. 28
EXAMPLE 09
Author of the image: lisbonbylight.com
Portraits of Fado Lisbon (Portugal), 2013 Mouraria is one of Lisbon’s five neighbourhoods, formed by narrow streets and with no cars. Its name says it all: it was in Mouraria where the Mouros who ruled the city found their final stronghold, where they settled and lived for four centuries. It was then mainly inhabited by fishermen. The pain and melancholy reflected in their songs may, according to the theories of certain historians, be the origin of fado. The intervention Fado Portraits, Retratos do Fado, is a tribute to the neighbourhood’s people and their passion for fado. The neighbourhood’s streets have been turned into a photo gallery, recounting, among other things, where some of the first fado singers used to live, such as Severa, a local prostitute who tried to attract clients with melodies full of longing.
Promoters:
Camilla Watson
Collaborators:
Lisbon City Council, Socorro Parish Board and Fado Museum
Web: www.camillawatsonphotography.net
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HAVING A BLAST. IF I CAN’T DANCE, IT’S NOT MY TRANSITION Include recreational and playful aspects as a tool to facilitate education and coexistence. If recreational aspects are not included in our (public) spaces, they will not be used.
Recommendations:
| Consider recreational and intercultural uses of spaces in all | urban interventions.
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EXAMPLE 10
Author of the image: picocolectivo.org.ve
Juegodromo Caracas (Venezuela), 2015 Intervention carried out by the children of the community of Los Frailes and Canaima on the street “La Yaritagua”, as a result of the cultural activation process within the framework of the project La Ceiba Community Facilities System. It occupies an area of 80 square metres on one of the neighbourhood’s self-activated squares, where 5 recreational uses are defined in paint, namely table football, hopscotch, the popular local rubber ball game, spinning tops and tag. It is a reduced space where colour is used to define the different areas: yellow to mark out the dynamics, orange and blue for areas of attention and salmon for neutral areas. To design the space, the children reinvented the pavement as a playground, and, using their imagination, they initiated a process in which they transformed the use of the space, generating interaction based on recreational coexistence.
Promoters:
Pico Colectivo
Collaborators:
Children of the community of Los Frailes and Canaima
Web: www.picocolectivo.org.ve/juegodromo/
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DON’T DO MORE, BUT RATHER TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT IS BEING DONE BY OTHERS (OR WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE) There is a great deal of work already done in the neighbourhood and there are many agents that have worked, and continue to work, for the neighbourhood in different spheres. Certain projects and initiatives have already been set in motion, meeting demands and needs for the neighbourhood. Place value on all of the resources that already exist before considering new proposals.
Recommendations:
| Promote and highlight the work of the | Network and of the Group coordinator.
Space Exchange
| Promote actions by creating a common schedule of action | both on paper (door-to-door) and digitally. | | Give neighbourhood agents visibility in the public area via | a physical medium. For example, erect street billboards pre| senting the agents intervening on those particular streets and | explaining their activity.
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EXAMPLE 11
Author of the image: encajesurbanos.com
Public Space Tools Europe, 2015 Public Space Tools (PST) is a digital tool developed in several languages (Spanish, English and Greek), created to promote citizen empowerment for critical, creative or unconventional uses of public space. PST is an interactive platform based on free software, which includes a map with entries created by users with information regarding legal regulations relating to public highways, best practices, formulas and tips and reports of abuse, among others. The platform is a continuation of the work that began with the Guide for the Activation of the Public Space published by Arquitecturas Colectivas, the objective of which is to disseminate and support the efforts of the different groups and organisations committed to fighting for the public space as common property, and are willing to work for it and enjoy it in the company of others.
Promoters:
Straddle3 and WWB
Collaborators:
LaFรกbrikadetodalavida and European Cultural Foundation
Web: www.publicspace.tools
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TAKE TO THE STREETS. TAKE GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES ONTO THE STREETS (GIVING VISIBILITY TO WOMEN IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT) Our neighbourhoods have the greatest percentage of groups, associations and initiatives in the city, but they often go unnoticed in public areas, losing effectiveness and potential.
Recommendations:
| Promote projects that take place in public areas. | Make it easier to request authorisation to carry out cultural/ | social actions in public areas. | Free up spaces with a high level of activities (contrasted | with acoustically saturated zones [ZAS]) to differentiate and | promote underused spaces.
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EXAMPLE 12
Author of the image: alicantepechakucha.org
El Casc Villena (Valencia), 2014 The objective of this festival is to coordinate and involve all town planning agents and become a comprehensive, participative and academic testing ground to complement town planning processes, bridging the gap between official tools and social reality. It entails a series of multidisciplinary workshops that see the city as a game board. It is an ongoing participation process that seeks to bring out the affection of citizens for their city and its history, promoting dialogue and the necessary collaboration to coordinate all of the agents involved in urban regeneration. It is also serving to change the way those who live in Villena perceive the old town, where the festival takes place.
Promoters:
Villena City Council, the University of Alicante and the Architects’ Cooperative “El Fabricante de Espheras�
Collaborators: Neighbourhood and cultural associations and private sponsors
Web: www.elcasc.com 35
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ENSURE THE DIVERSITY OF ACTIONS The concept of ensuring diversity, being inclusive, etc. is part of the role of any public intervention. We would like to stress that this does not only refer to diversity in terms of ethnic origin, but also in terms of age, gender, economic and cultural level etc.
Recommendations:
| Design initiatives based on both internal diversity (heteroge| neous work groups) and external diversity (heterogeneous | target audience). | Consider diversity-based projects that are able to respond to | basic needs such as employment, education, etc.: • Create educational workshops (importance of learning a trade: carpentry, mechanics, etc.) that can respond to the employment, educational and training needs of groups that are at risk of social exclusion or excluded. • Create jobs based on new cooperative models: rehabilitation of public buildings, relocation of workshops or small businesses from a social economy perspective
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| Balance between diversity and specificity: • Take into account the diversity of the series of initiatives. But not every initiative must always be diverse. • Contemplate diversity within diversities.
| Do not base diversity on stereotypes: • Do not reduce diversity to its most commonplace ex pressions (music, dance, food, etc.).
| Right to the neighbourhood. To whom does it belong?: • Inclusive language for all groups: “Recover our neighbourhoods”. Ours, whose? Use culturally inclusive language that recognises “all” of the different cultures, ethnic origins, etc., in the word “our”.
| Create indicators that are adapted to each intervention.
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EXAMPLE 13
Author of the images: big.dk
Superkilen Park Copenhagen (Denmark), 2012 This project is located in the Nørrebro neighbourhood, one of the most ethnically diverse neighbourhoods in the city. The design concept for the park is a kind of global exhibition, encompassing over 50 nationalities. The neighbourhood’s residents have been able to contribute their own ideas and elements of their culture to the project. The park, which is divided into three main areas (the Red Square, the Black Market and the Green Park), has recreational, sports and arts facilities and plant species from around the world. Not only does it respond to the typical demands of having more green spaces or leisure areas, but it also draws on the imagination to shape them into several different identities creating new collective meanings. It is a cosmopolitan celebration of the richness produced by the combination of all our differences.
Promoters:
Copenhagen Municipality, Realdania and BIG
Collaborators: Topotek1, Superflex, Lemming Eriksson and Flemming Borreskov
Web: www.big.dk/#projects-suk
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ALL INITIATIVES SHOULD INCLUDE A “PARTICIPATION GRADIENT” (ABILITY TO TAKE PART BASED ON THE PARTICULAR AVAILABILITY OF RESIDENTS) Great attention should be paid to participation processes: the times or forms conceived for the participation to take place; to whom should we enable such participation; at what times and places are the spaces opened and for what purpose.
Recommendations:
| Participate from the very beginning and in the whole process: • Participation does not come out of thin air. • Carry out a prior investigation and draw up the action plan together.
| Clicking on “Like” is not participating: • Create indicators to measure active participation.
| | “If the Administration’s logo appears there must be remu| neration”: in the case of participative processes launched by | the administration, the participation of residents should also | be remunerated (to establish a more balanced relationship between parties).
• Code of best practices in the relationship between the Public Administration and agents and groups.
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E X A M P L E 14
Author of the image: members of the velenje brigadiers society, publicspace.org
Re New Town Velenje (Slovenia), 2013 The intervention is located in the neighbourhood of Gorica, on a round, unused and deteriorated esplanade, of a little over 3,000 m², which was designed as an outdoor recreational area. The objective of the “ReNewTown” programme is to involve citizens in the renovation of their neighbourhoods. To that end, before work was commenced, residents drew up a maintenance plan for the space and undertook to look after it once the reform was completed. During the process, brigades of voluntary residents took charge of manual operations and spent the night at a temporary camp created for the occasion. Citizen participation has served to make residents feel that the area is theirs, promoting its use and uniting a multicultural community formed by Slovenians, Bosnians, Croatians, Serbs and Romanians. The camp helped to strengthen this effect.
Promoters:
Velenje City Council, adkrajine d.o.o. and Damjan Cerne
Collaborators: Kaja Flis and the neighbourhood’s residents
Web: www.renewtown.eu/renovation-velenje.html 41
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CONTRIBUTE TO EDUCATING CITIZENS AS PROSUMERS prosumer = producer + consumer. This refers to people who give life to their neighbourhood, both by using it, its infrastructures, resources and spaces, and also by building and shaping all of them.
Recommendations: interventions must contemplate actions that contribute | Urban to educating citizens as responsible consumers: | | • Green areas must contain wild, edible or low mainte nance vegetation.
• Promote best practices through incentives such as, for example, installing compost bins and rewarding their use with edible plants.
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EXAMPLE 15
Author of the image: Aintzane del Río, urbanbat.org
Lucie! Bremen (Germany), 2013 Neighbourhood groups decided to create a community garden on empty cement square, of the size of a football field. This is how Lucie! emerged, a meeting area for people of different ages and backgrounds that serves for horticulture and beekeeping and also for concerts and conferences, a flea market and an open-air cafeteria. The objective of the project is to introduce a new economic concept into society, demonstrating the valuable potential of the city to the neighbourhood and turning its actual inhabitants into the city’s producers and consumers. Nowadays, it has about 30 orchards for private use and 10 spaces for public use in which anyone can plant or collect the products that grow in them. In addition, there is a library of exchange books and a container of second-hand clothes.
Promoters:
Nachbar_innen, Senior_innenwohnheim and KiTa
Collaborators:
Neighbourhood Advisory Board, Foundation of the Community of Bremen, Community Action “Spielräume schaffen” and ZZZ.
Web: www.ab-geht-die-lucie.blogspot.com.es
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ESTABLISH COLLABORATIVE NETWORKS WITH OTHER NEIGHBOURHOODS In accordance with the need to connect movements within the neighbourhood, but also those from outside the neighbourhood. We can therefore build the city from its neighbourhoods.
Recommendations: Recommendations for social movements/neighbourhood initiatives:
| Identify similar projects and initiatives in other neighbou| rhoods, cities, countries, etc. at the time of planning and | designing our project. | Present the initiative in the different neighbourhoods: adver| tise, generate networks. | Organise regular meetings between the different neighbou| rhood agents: pooling, sharing experiences, etc. | Identify common ground and common elements (identi| fy the minimum common denominators) between the | different agents. | Recognise and value the initiatives and agents that have | made a positive, transforming and alternative contribution | to the conventional model based on local action.
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Recommendations for the Public Administration and Local Government: consideration should be given to the connection bet| Particular ween neighbourhoods when designing mobility based on the fo| llowing criteria: Efficiency criteria: distribution of stops. Economic criteria: make transfers cheaper and create a single ticket per journey with different public transport. value proposals for initiatives that bring together diffe| Positively rent agents when presented to a public tender. | a line of aid (whether economic or not) for agents that | Establish participate in networks, or those that intend to do so, that do not | have sufficient resources. | and support upcoming initiatives that have very few | Facilitate resources but are in line with, and adapted to, the new context. |
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Author of the image: elcorreoweb.es
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EXAMPLE 16
Author of the image: 20minutos.es
The European Live the City network Europe, 2014 The objective of this neighbourhood platform is to influence local, national and European institutions so that they protect the residents of historic centres. Certain historic centre of many cities are at risk of becoming mere leisure parks as a result of disproportionate tourist exploitation and the privatization of their public spaces, activating processes such as gentrification or tourism. Based on the perverse argument of economic activity and employment, many of the residents of these areas are expelled due to rent increases or the impossibility of resting. At present, the platform boasts the support of neighbourhood associations from more than 50 European city centres affected by similar problems that affect the life of residents. In 2016 an initial document was drawn up: the European Manifesto for the Regulation of Nightlife.
Promoters:
Réseau “Vivre Paris !”
Collaborators: Neighbourhood associations of Europe
Web: www.vivre-la-ville.fr
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THE FIRST STRATEGY IS TO SPREAD AND GENERATE RELATIONSHIPS AND AWARENESS Make all parties in the neighbourhood, and all of the agents, aware that with their practices, they shape and construct the neighbourhood.
Recommendations:
| Communicate and raise awareness of the actions/agents that exist.
| Promote actions and agents that | neighbourhood’s social discourse.
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help to rebuild the
E X A M P L E 17
Author of the image: welcometocup.org
Zoning It In New York (United States), 2017 In 2016, the city council announced that a 73-block stretch of Jerome Avenue in the Bronx was to be rezoned. The CUP, an organization that uses design, art and community participation as tools for the compression of urban policies, the pupils of the School for Law, Government and Justice in the Bronx the following: What is a rezoning and who decides which neighborhoods go through the process? To investigate this matter, the students got out of the classroom to speak with people invested in the future of the Bronx, from community members to government officials. As a result of that process, they created Zoning It In..., as a guide to neighbourhoods rezonings, the impact they have on the city, and how communities can have a voice in the process.
Promoters:
Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)
Collaborators:
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, School for Law, Government and Justice (LGJ).
Web: www.welcometocup.org
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ENSURE THAT INTERVENTIONS (IN TERMS OF CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES OR IN THE MANNER OF IMPLEMENTATION) CONTRIBUTE TO PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT (BEYOND THE DIRECT RECIPIENTS) A neighbourhood that is designed by and for the people must contribute to their personal development. Not only in terms of assistance but also on the whole. This should apply to all initiatives implemented.
Recommendations:
| Include the transformation, for the better, of the areas and | the people who inhabit such areas in the DNA of processes. | Basic indicators for personal development: • Inclusion. • Social relationships. • Mobility. • Respect for diversity.
| The intervention must exceed the intervention in itself by | seeking multiple benefits for people.
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EXAMPLE 18
Author of the image: recetasurbanas.net
Baldomer Solà Badalona (Catalonia), 2014 At the Baldomer Solá School the need arose to create a community garden as a programme geared towards leisure, training and the reintegration of groups with clear social exclusion. The assignment of a back of the school for the construction of this intervention, gave a complete meaning to what is meant by a public equipment, not exclusive to the students of the school but open to different groups in the neighbourhood. The process involved Pakistani girls, gypsy women, mental health users, people on parole and some of the centre’s teachers. During the experience, there were changes in attitudes and relational behaviour, as a result of the cooperation and teamwork with “the other” person. The development of this intervention has strengthened ties and collective synergies, increasing the self-esteem of the group and rebuilding their identity.
Promoters:
Recetas urbanas, Cointegra and Asaupam.
Collaborators:
Baldomer Solà School and the Consortium of Badalona Sur.
Web: www.recetasurbanas.net
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PEOPLE AS A MEASURE OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, BY THEM AND FOR THEM We do not need a neighbourhood that could appear on the front page of a trendy magazine, but cannot be used and enjoyed by the local people. We need a public space that we can all (residents, visitors, people passing through) enjoy, not just be forced to put up with.
Recommendations:
| People first. Before institutional and economic interests | | Participate in social matters and return to social matters. It | must arise from a real need and pre-existing demand. | Promote self-management.
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EXAMPLE 19
Author of the image: Concello de Pontevedra, praza.gal
Pedestrian urban model Pontevedra (Galicia), 1999 Unlike other cities, the urban model in Pontevedra is based on building a city for the people, where the public space is designed as a continuity of the home. The project of pedestrianization of some central streets has led to the pedestrianization of the whole historic center, with the result that more than 70% of urban displacements are done on foot or by bicycle and C02 emissions have been reduced by 88%. In addition, it was opted for local and proximity commerce, avoiding the construction of large shopping centers. Thus, public space has become a place of socialization and certain areas that showed symptoms of degradation have been revitalized. On the other hand, the Metrominuto map has been created, which includes walking distances and travel times between different locations, with the aim of promoting walkability in the city.
Promoters:
Pontevedra City Council
Collaborators:
Ciudad Observatorio
Web: www.pontevedra.eu/movete/
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GET USED TO “STRANGENESS� A curious society is a society that seeks surprise and strangeness. A society that desires something different and that integrates it into day-to-day life. It is a playful, creative and proactive society. Curiosity can be trained and developed, also with/from public spaces.
Recommendations:
| Enjoy strangeness. | Interventions of a temporary nature are also valid | Spontaneity generates surprise and stimulation. | Think like a child.
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EXAMPLE 20
Author of the image: collectifetc.com
On the moon Hénin-Beaumont (France), 2012 This temporary intervention is part of a research and action project regarding the rediscovery and recovery of the public space as a meeting area. The project is located at Terril 85, an artificial landfill site of 15 m height of accumulated waste and with an extension of 1,000 m2. Despite the evident lack of public spaces in the neighbourhood, this odd location has never been used. In order to challenge the role and potential of a space that is located in the very heart of the city, a lunar landscape was created, formed by two geodesic domes, a launching pad and a space rocket. At the same time, the short film “On the moon” was recorded, as a tool to get to know residents and to encourage them to actively participate in this collective creation. Furthermore, it made it possible to recover the traditional festival “La Ducasse”, which was held to present the work carried out, with games and a screening of the film, bringing together a community as the result of a project they were all part of.
Promoters:
Collectif Etc and Les Saprophytes.
Web: www.collectifetc.com/realisation/on-the-moon/
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE LABORATORY ¡HACIENDO LA CALLE! (WALKING THE STREETS!)
+ info regarding the Laboratory: http://5festival.urbanbat.org/haciendo-calle/ Presentations by the laboratory’s guests: https://is.gd/k5kJ3y (On territories in transition, transforming culture, citizen town planning, permaculture and other examples from European cities that participate in the project HUMAN CITIES). Storify. An account on the social networks: https://storify.com/urbanbat/haciendolacalle Photo album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zaramari/sets/72157673976214753 WALKING THE STREETS! summary video: https://youtu.be/IMnCjl4vzgI Download the guide in pdf format https://issuu.com/urbanbat/docs/guia_20de_20recomendaciones_web_eng
Directors
Supporting entities
URBANBAT Laboratory developers URBANBAT
Collaborating entities
This guide of recommendations for future interventions in public areas is the result of the citizen laboratory “WALKING THE STREETS!� developed by URBANBAT together with ColaBoraBora and Civersity between the months of October and November as part of the 5th Festival Town Planning and Social Innovation of Bilbao. It is a partial work, inevitably influenced by the subjectivity of the laboratory participants and by the limited time available for its development. It is, however, a valuable guide, the result of collaborative work and collective intelligence. The document is open to modification and enrichment, making it possible to continue to establish criteria that are more sustainable, and adapted to a human scale, for the transformation of our neighbourhoods.. Each of the recommendations is accompanied by a practical example located in a specific city in the world. These examples can serve as inspiration for future interventions and demonstrate that the type of proposals included in this guide are possible.
URBANBAT is an office offering territorial planning support to groups, communities and local administrations. Based on our work (participative processes, workshops, interventions in public areas, etc.) we promote social innovation and citizen creativity in order to facilitate a participative culture that contributes to caring for and improving our surroundings. URBANBAT
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