The importance of public spaces have increased enormously since the virus struck our societies. The main issue is the distance between policy makers and locals in the process of city making. Stakeholders are often isolated and so urban changes don’t reflect the needs of its citizens. We would like to change this view and attitude with the involvement of locals and policy makers in urban space development, to enhance community-based projects with municipalities.

Our aim is to support the public sector in five different V4+ countries in their work with citizens. Municipalities start to embrace participatory projects, but the know-how is still not widespread and exercised. We would like to bring communities together, test practices, search for new methods, exchange with partners to help municipalities create local best practices and an inventory of experiences and tools.

Community-based urban planning in V4 countries has only a few practices. The public is usually confronted with finished projects, this way they can not bring a substantial quality change to the city. There have been initiatives from local governments that aim to involve local communities. Often, there are no established communities, so there is a real need to focus on community building before planning begins. It is important to have facilitation in the process to ensure efficiency, fluidity. The trend shows that more and more municipalities are open for a paradigm shift to transform the city according to the real needs of its citizens and to use new forms of participation.

Partners

Mindspace (Hungary) | Stará tržnica (Slovakia) | Agora Central Europe (Czech) | Napraw Sobie Miasto (Poland) | Association of Belgrade Architects (Serbia)

Timeline

01/10/2020-26/10/2020 Preparation

26/10/2020-27/10/2020 Kick-off meeting in Bratislava

27/10/2020-31/03/2021 Creation of local neighbourhood website framework + local content

27/10/2020-30/09/2021 Pilot participatory planning process in HU, SK, CZ, RS, PL

21/01/2021-22/01/2021 Partner meeting in Katowice

25/03/2021-26/03/2021 Partner meeting in Prague

26/05/2021-30/05/2021 Partner meeting + Study visit - Participation at Placemaking Week Europe 2021

06/09/2021-07/09/2021 Partner meeting in Belgrade

07/09/2021-30/11/2021 Creation of the common study on community planning practices and experiences

07/09/2021-30/11/2021 Creation of the common creative zine on community planning practices and experiences

21/01/2022-22/01/2022 Final Partner meeting and closure event in Budapest

22/01/2022-28/02/2022 Administrative closure of the project

Supported by

Photo: megujuloderiutca.hu