REINVENT PUBLIC SPACE: AUTOCOSTRUZIONE DI SPAZI PUBBLICI

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YES WE
CANREINVENT
PUBLICSPACES!

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This activity has been supported by
Foreword
By IFHP CEO Anette Galskjøt
The Yes we can! Reinvent public space is IFHP’s participation to the third Biennale of Public
Space in Rome 2015. Two initiatives combined have formed this cooperation: The International
Laboratory on Self-Built Community Spaces and the Exhibition “Co-creation of Public Spaces”.
These interventions form an important part of the IFHP Community activities for 2015 and we
have been thrilled with the engagement and enthusiasm of our partners during the development
of both interventions.
In our minds co-creation and community engagement are key words to the success of future city
development and we hope that you will find inspiring to read about the findings of these actions .

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Co-creation of public spaces
The Biennale of Public Space 2015
IFHP at the Biennale
Yes, we can! ...Towards a new model of governance?
The Exhibition “Co-creation of public spaces”
International Laboratory “Yes we can! Reinvent Public Spaces”
LAB Sessions
Speakers & Partners
From Rome to Porto Alegre
contents
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8-9
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14-62
63-66
67-100
101-102
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Co-creation of public space
by Giulia Maci, IFHP
Can we make our own public space? It is the question that lingers in
the institutional vacuum, in the silence of urban planning. Of course, we
reply, we can. Can we make it cheap? And we reply, yes we can. Can we
make it adaptable? Yes we can. And it continues.
This typical “yes we can” culture is showing great vitality and creativity
in the times of unclear urban policies and economic instability, but still
the potentials of this energy are not being fully utilised, partly because
of a lack of a strong platform to showcase local knowledge and offer
support in finding the common ground with the institutions.
Cities do not rise all by themselves. No, they are created by virtue of
the fact that opposites coinverge; that is what leads to the emergence
of new qualities of urban spaces. Accordingly, an interdisciplinary
approachtourbanplanningisneededtoenhancediversity.Mostplaces
really do contain an interesting and relevant story and we believe that
the less-known spaces in the city can be inspiring.
The Yes we can! Reinvent public spaces lab aims to compare different
experiences of neglected neighbourhoods’ reactivation to underline
potentials and limites to these approaches and encourage a full range
of stakeholders (resident citizens, international professionals policy

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makers etc.) to engage in the process
of shaping interventions in their cities.
It is strange. Never have we experienced
so much interest in public space
as today. In times of spread and
changeable needs, fluid and light human
relations, there is, maybe as a reaction,
an increasing demand for public spaces
where we can re-discover and re-create
a democratic and social dimension in
our often impersonal cities. On the one
hand, we assist to the standardization,
‘museumification’, privatization and
homologation of public space as a result
of the decline of public engagement and
common actions.
On the other hand new individuals, new
creative groups, and new collaborative
networks get organized to “reconquer”
public spaces – spatially, physically and
politically.
These initiatives can be temporary
or permanent, physical or immaterial,
spontaneous or organized.
A factor of importance is that they are
initiated by actors who are not part
of the institutions, but are trying to
invent, experiment, stimulate certain
processes, programmes, usages, and
social interactions within public spaces.
Co-created projects could be
considered an immediate answer to the
loss of sense of open spaces, defining
itself as a process of identification
between the people and the place
where they live.
Self-built projects are practices by
means of which the users can modify
and interact with the environment and
re-appropriate urban spaces through
direct and common actions.

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The Biennale of Public Space 2015
21-23 May 2015
Rome, Italy
As with its previous editions, the Bienniale
ofPublicSpacehasdrawninspirationfrom
dozens of local, national and internation-
al events promoted by local authorities,
universities, citizens’ associations, pro-
fessional and cultural organizations, and
international organizations to share chal-
lenges, experiences and good practices.
Their outcomes, together with paral-
lel laboratories and plenary sessions,
formed a concluding event hosted by the
School of Architecture of Roma Tre Uni-
versity (located in the ex-mattatoio (abat-
toir) in Testaccio) in Rome, Italy.
Over 2000 people attended the
third edition of the Bienniale of Pub-
lic Space that ended on May 23.
45 seminars and workshops involving
representatives of municipalities, univer-
sities, cultural associations, profession-
als of various disciplines, citizens, college
students and primary school pupils, who
have created a interdisciplinary and inter-
generational event.
The main focus of this year’s Bien-
nale is the regeneration of exist-
ing urban fabric, with a particular at-
tention to city inequalities and social
imbalancebetweencenterandperiphery.
More than 700 speakers from Asia, Latin
America and Africa.
The three day event has built its success
on the capacity to engage and commit all
the actors around the search of under-
standing and innovative practices of use
and valorization of the Public Space.

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Interaction, participation, co-design, and
interdisciplinary creativity have been the
key words of all the workshops.
On this occasion UN-Habitat also
launched the Public Space Toolkit, a text
that serves as a toolbox at disposal of
governments and local authorities in view
of the forthcoming conference Habitat III.
The hope is that the network that has
been built in Rome, thanks to the oppor-
tunities offered by the Biennale, will be
strengthened with the view to sustain and
develop, within the IFHP community, the
reflection on the role and the function of
public spaces as places of democratic in-
teraction and entry point for shaping sus-
tainable and inclusive communities.

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IFHP at the 3rd Biennale of Public Space in Rome
TheYeswecan! Reinventpublic spaceistheIFHPparticipationtothethirdBiennale
of Public Space. Two interventions combined have formed this cooperation: The
international laboratory on self-built community spaces and the Exhibition “co-
creation of public spaces”.
EXHIBITION “CO-CREATION OF PUBLIC SPACES”
The panel exhibition gathered 5 experiences covering the globe: from Latin
America, to the Balkans, Western Europe and Kenya. All these experiences
suggest a reflection on the role of the co-creation of public space through the
valuable reactivation of the community’s engagement, redefining the sense of
belonging of residents to their neighbourhoods and reinventing their relationship
with the cities they are part of.
INTERNATIONAL LABORATORY ON SELF-BUILT COMMUNITY SPACES
The international laboratory on self-built community spaces aimed at comparing
different experiences of reactivation of neglected urban neighbourhoods,
underlining the potentials and limits of these approaches and encouraging a full
range of local stakeholders (resident citizens, international professionals, policy
makers etc.) to engage in the process of shaping interventions in their cities.
How can public spaces become part of the urban society and turn these local and
spontaneous initiatives into long term policies bridging the gap between informal
and formal development? What do self-organizing networks need to get their
ideas realized? And vice versa: how can institutions use this cultural phenomenon
as a legitimate and valuable city making instrument?

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YES WE CAN!...Towards a new model of governance?
New individuals, new creative groups, and new collaborative networks get
organized to “reconquer” public spaces – spatially, physically and politically.
They can be temporary or p ermanent, physical or immaterial, spontaneous or
organized. A factor of importance is that they are initiated by non-institutional
actors who are trying to invent, experiment, stimulate processes, programmes,
uses, and social interactions within public spaces. These co-created projects
could be considered an answer to the loss of identification between the people
and the place where they live. Through self-built projects users can modify and
interact with the environment and re-appropriate urban spaces through direct
and common actions. The workshop addressed the question of whether co-
creation can represent a method for creating better public spaces. Co-design is
an alternative to involve all the stakeholders in the design discussion and to make
sure that the final product will meet the public’s needs according to the values, the
history of the place and the time of the day it is used. At the same time co-design
actions pose questions about long-term sustainability and the effects of the shift
of roles that the actors are used to play. We discovered various experiences of
projects that are quite different in term of setting and time span but all focus on
fostering community participation, transforming urban spaces and involving
different stakeholders and improving the links between citizens and their city. The
objective is to identify the common steps in the process in the form of key words
and key Placemaking challenges.
Definitely this work has given the opportunity to rethink the city as a work in
progress made of spontaneous and virtuous processes of transformation , where
local resources and needs are combined and brought together to trigger virtuous
processes of renewal and enhance the reconquer and re-appropriation of urban
territories all over the world.

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I. EXHIBITION
II. LABORATORY

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Can co-creation represent a
method for creating better
public spaces?

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The answer advocated by IFHP is an
unequivocal yes. We are convinced
that it is time to experiment, to share,
to engage and initiate.
Co-design is an alternative to involve
all the stakeholders in the design
discussion and to make sure that the
final product will meet the public’s
needs according to the values, the
history of the place and the time of
the day it is used. At the same time
co-design actions pose questions
about long term sustainability and
the effects of the shift of roles
that the actors are used to play.
With the exhibition “Co-creation of
public spaces” IFHP, together with its
partners and working groups, shares
recent projects and researches on the
topic of co-creation of public space
showing possibilities, limits and effects
of this approach.
The exhibition has been an occasion to
rethink the city as an open laboratory
where, from local initiatives of
transformation of the public spaces,
needs and resources are shared
to catalyse processes to enhance
the territory at different scales.
Projects included :
1 Avenida Tronco workshop –PURCS,
Spontaneous City
2 Urban Pockets I Urbego
3 Youth Engagement Index I Urbego
4 Making cities together: planners
becoming placemakers in Nairobi I
IFHP, INTI and Placemakers
5 Urban Incubator I Belgrade

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Porto Alegre is the capital city of the state Rio Grande do Sul, located in the eastern margin of Guaíba Lake,
in the very south of Brazil. Its population counts approximately 1,5 million inhabitants. The city presents
an enormous contrast of urbanity and nature, clearly visible because of the city centre built opposite the
extensive and almost untouched river delta. Compared to most other Brazilian cities, Porto Alegre has a
longer planning tradition. It was the first Brazilian city establishing a master plan in 1914, with mobility and
sanitary conditions as main objectives. The city also has pursued relatively strong zoning policies, including
norms for functions and urbanistic rules. A very distinctive characteristic of Porto Alegre’s policies is the
invention of Participatory Budgeting processes, since the end of the 1980’s.
In 2014 the city was also one of the hosts of the World Cup. The event was the motor for a series of vital
structural and sustainable improvements of the city such as a better accessibility for public transport and
for social and economical prosperity. Among the projects initiated due to the World Cup, the Avenida
Tronco had been indicated as a social intervention with opportunities for improving living quality of the
environment. It is a long awaited project of enlargement and connection of a sequence of existing streets
across many informal neighbourhoods of the Grande Cruzeiro region, in order to create one of the most
important trajectories in the City. The transformation of the Avenida of 5,3 km long would facilitate the
urban mobility between the center-northeast and the beginning of the south part of the city. The secretary
of governance of Porto Alegre has set up an initiative with the purpose to define projects and flagship
actions for urban and social improvement that express expectations of the residents about their future, and
face the impact of the widening of the road and relocation in the region of about 1,400 families who have
their residences located on the bed of the future road.
The technical housing relocation plan by the municipality has been up and running since a few years.
However, the social and economic impact for the ones who are left in the area had not been defined yet.
The inhabitants were questioning the Municipality how they could profit of the new infrastrucure in a way
that their entire region, Grande Cruzeiro, could benefit of it. The Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of
the Pontificial University of Rio Grande Do Sul and SPcitI organized, with the help of IFHP, a first workshop
which brought technicians and employees of the municipality, inhabitants’representatives and architecture
students together. Thanks to the workshop they have jointly formed and committed to a development
strategy for the impact of the new avenida and the first concrete projects related to it.
AVENIDATRONCO-PORTOALEGRE,BRAZIL
5,3KM
NOS SOMOS A AVENIDA TRONCO - A DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR GRANDE CRUZEIRO BIENNALE OF PUBLIC SPACE 21-25 MAY 2015, ROMEAVENIDA TRONCO, PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL 1/6

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... while the project will have to integrate with a rich existing fabric and its inhabitants!
THEREALITY
INCLUDINGTHEECONOMICALANDSOCIALIMPACTASWELLASTHEQUALITYOFTHERESULTINGPUBLICSPACES
This part of the avenida has already
been implemented since it was
the only part that did not require
demolition. The other sides along
the street will be demolished
creating broken edges and left
over plots for which a plan is
needed.
People are informally adapting
and transforming their ground
floor into a shop, taking advantage
of opportunities the new avenida
can bring them. In the internal area
the legalization of land ownership
is needed.
The new accessibility will
counteract criminal activities
that now spoil the quality of
life and image of the area,
the city is here.
The public space has to be fine tuned
in order to slow down traffic and
avoid a “run-through” corridor that
divides the communities on the two
sides, and would not allow other
traffic to go inside the
neighbourhoods.
Inhabitants expectations and
willingness to be included as
part of the city are high.

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How will the new street
front be organized and what
will its quality be? How will the
land be redistributed and with
which legal compensation?
It looked as if the new avenida would pass through a remote area far from the city, ...
OFFICIALVISION
TECHNICALINFRASTRUCTUREPLANBYTHEMUNICIPALITY
How can the avenida
influence the social and
economical network and the local
livelihood? What will the new
qualities for public space be?
How distant is the city?
Thanks to the avenida, the
informal neighbourhoods can
reach a new status as integral
part of Porto Alegre.
What about the
speed of traffic flows and the safety
of pedestrians? The avenida should
not create a barrier between the
neighbourhoods that surround it.
Does this avenida cross
an empty suburban area? The
surrounding informal neighbourhoods
are inhabited by thousands of people
and their livelihood will be impacted
by the new avenida.

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NEW AVENIDA PROFILE
Claudete
Michael
Rosa Maria
Oscar
Regina
Samara
Guilhermo
Camila
NEIGHBOURHOODS
Bia
Paulo Jorge
Andréa
Denise
Regina
Ana
Taiane
Danielle
Luciana
HUMAN CAPITAL
Antonio Daniel
GessiBernardete
Paulo Roberto
Sergio
João
Paola
Maíra
INVESTMENT
Adelia
José L. Cogo
Denise
Ernani
Carolina
Franthesco
INHABITANTS
Adelia Azeredo Maciel Vila Tronco Postão
Antonio Daniel de Oliveira BecodoLago/VilaPantanal
Malvina Beatriz de Souza Vila Cruzeiro
Gessi B. Fagundes Dornelles Vila Cristal-Cruzeiro
Ivonete Valente Vila Cruzeiro
Maria Claudete Melo Santo Vila Tronco Neves
Michael Santos Vila Tronco Postão
Paulo Jorge Cardoso Vila Tronco Neves
Paulo Roberto da Silvo Vila Silva Paes
Sergio Bueno Amaral Vila Cristal- Divisa
Ozzi Escarcel Vila Prisma
Rosa Maria Silvestre Vila Cruzeiro
Luciano Soares Cardoso Vila Tronco Neves
STUDENTS
Carolina Biolchi Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Paola Maia Fagundes Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Maíra Bento Saraiva Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Samara Fonseca Januario Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Guilhermo Dexheimer Gil Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Camila Bergmann Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Franthesco Spautz Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Taiane Beduschi Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Danielle Guarda Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
Luciana Probst de Castro Arq. e Urb. - PUCRS
MUNICIPALITY
Eng. José Luiz Cogo SMURB
Arq. Andréa Oberrather SMURB
Arq. DenisePachecoTillCampos DEMHAB
Soc. Denise de Menezes Ferreira DEMHAB
Soc. Regina Martins DEMHAB
Arq. Ernani Feil Borges SECOPA
Biol. João Roberto Meira SMAM
Arq. Oscar Carlson SMAM
Arq. Maria Regina Steinert DEMHAB
Arq. Ana Zart Bonilha METROPOA
SPECIFIC THEMES
PARTICIPANTS
ANDREA
COGO
DENISE
EDUARDO
MARCIO
CAROLINA
LUCIANA
PAULO JORGE
DENISE
MALVINA
MICHAEL
ANTONIO DANIEL
TAIANE
WORKSHOPFORMAT

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WORKING GROUPS
NEW
AVENIDA
PROFILE
NEIGH-
BOUR-
HOODS
INVESTMENT
HUMAN
CAPITAL
AMBITION
CONDITIONS
SPECIFIC THEMES
OPEN SESSIONS COMMITMENT
DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY
PROJECTS
+
FINANCIAL
FIRST
CONCRETE
MODEL
WORKSHOPMETHOD

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Construction of the avenida
Relocation
REALITY
Construçao da a avenida
Relocaçao
AMBITIONS
PERMANÉNCIAKeep living here, become a legitimate part of Porto Alegre
Continue and improve the collaboration among communities
Achieve a better image that expresses the local identity
Development of local economy
DESENVOLVIMENTO CONJUNTO
QUALIFICAÇÃO
ECONOMIA AUTO-SUSTENTAVEL
Construçao da a avenida
Relocaçao
AVENIDA TRONCOCONDITIONS
Treatment of the first row, metropolitan image of Grande Cruzeiro, Acessibility>Visibility
Regularize along the Avenida as well as inside the adjacent neighbourhoods
REGULARIZAÇÃO
KEEP ON WITH COMMUNITY ASSEMBLIES
AVENIDA TRONCO EXPO
DETAILED SURVEY DOCUMENT
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION CENTRE
LEARNING CENTRE
temporary
building
FIRST
CONCRETE
PROJECTS
SEWAGE....CENTRE PROF. BARACAO
WORKING SPACES
SAMBA SCHOOL LIBRARY
OTHER PROJECTS ....
MORE PUBLIC SPACE
MORE PUBLIC SERVICES
RUBBISH COLLECTION ENHANCEMENT BIO MASSA
2014 2015 2016 2017 ....Today
SPcitI workshop workshop workshop workshop
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
NÓSSOMOS A AVENIDA TRONCO !

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Urban
Pockets
Reclaiming the public
in left-over open spaces
URBEGO

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Where
Cities with no resources and unclear urban policies
The program acts in different cities where cost cutting policies
do not guarantee enough resources for the intervention
on urban open space. Many cities are seeing their budget
shrinking, and strong incentives to focus on strategic cost-
effective interventions. At the same time, bottom-up projects
often lack of resources, visibility and effectiveness. Urban
Pockets is an interesting model to operate in these contexts, by
proposing a strategy that optimises the result by establishing
new partnerships within residents, public and private sector.
Cities with community problems
By improving the quality of the open space Urban Pockets not
only affects the individual life of people, but above all their
sense of community. Even cities with a strong background
in public realm management and good financial resources
are sometimes facing issues related to sense of exclusion and
isolation in particular areasv, and this might lead to anti-social
behaviours,safetyissuesandconflicts.TheCo-Creationstrategy
developed by Urbego can offer a way to tackle these issues by
answering properly to community needs, by redefining the
sense of belonging of residents to their neighbourhoods and
reinventing their relationship with the cities they are part of.
Innovative cities
Urban Pockets is offered as a tool to every community in every
city that wants to develop new strategies of intervention in
the open space. It promotes a new way to work on the public
realm, with citizens taking direct action in transforming and
taking care of the cities where they live.
AviewofthecourtyardinTiranawherethefirstintervention
has taken place: the project started in September 2014,
with the first work completed in the spring 2015.

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Identification and involvement of a local partner
An NGO, a public or private institution, a design practice,
having a rooted experience in intervention in the open spaces
in the cities where they operate.
Mapping spatial potentials
The mapping focuses on vacant lots or forgotten spaces at the
very small scale, often in a state of decay, dumping sites for
trash and building rubble, and unsafe public space.
Prioritizing site interventions
Prioritization of the interventions is based on their location
within the city, their current uses, their ownership status and
the interest of an engaged and self-established community.
Assessing motivation and needs of the community
A door-to-door survey in the neighbourhood assessing the
needs, perceptions and wishes of the local community, is also a
communication tool informing people of the ongoing process.
Involving the potential users
Theresultsarepresentedanddiscussedduringin-situmeetings
with the local community. Simple visualizations help the
residents to understand the possibilities offered by the site.
Co-design phase
In the co-design meetings a scale model is used to engage the
local community, allowing them to select and locate desired
elements and new functions by discussing and negotiating.
Co-finance
Three sources of funding support the implementation:
1. Local funds, provided by local business and institutions.
2. International funds collected by Urbego
3. Community self-help and volunteer work.
Self-building
Residents are involved directly in the construction phase
working on a voluntary base or according to time-sharing
schemes, engaging the users in the transformation of the space.
Planning site maintenance
A year plan for the maintenance and management of the space
is defined by all the actors involved in the process, with the
eventual support of the municipality.
How
1
2
3
4
5
7
6
9
8
A simplified scale model was used in Tirana during the co-
design sessions helping the residents to visualize their ideas
about the future of their space.

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What
Reclaiming the public in left-over open spaces
Urbego believes that neglected public spaces can be transformed
into key places where the city beats on the rhythm of the
community and neighbourhood activism.
Together with local institutional partners and residents, we
have undertaken a series of actions in 2014 that address the
role and function of public space.
So far, Urbego has sparked interest in the re-establishment of
public space as a relevant arena in Belgrade, Tirana and Skopje,
mapping, surveying, gaming, creating and working with
citizens on their visions of what public space ought to be. The
experiment was successful, marked by the implementation of
a community pocket park in the Albanian capital in January
2015.
Following the IAAU research that URBEGO carried on in the
Balkans, Urban Pockets has already started transforming
urban residual spaces with a first intervention in Albania.

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Who
Citizens
The project involves the local community of residents in each
of its phases, and self-established communities can apply di-
rectly to the program. If an envisioned potentially successful
intervention is not supported yet by a self-established com-
munity, local residents are engaged and, if interested in the
project, they are helped to set up an action team.
Local partners
The local partner (an NGO, a public or private institution, a
design practice) has a rooted experience in intervention in the
open spaces in the cities where it operates.
ItactsasalinkbetweenUrbegoandthelocalcommunity,andis
responsible for monitoring the implementation and promoting
locally the program. The local partner is also responsible to
engage local institutions and organizations that can contribute
to the project.
Internationalpartnership
A key component of the program are the international links
createdbyUrbego,thatactsasanetworkingagentforpartnerships
and funding. Local communities and organization can rely on
the know-how of the international expertise members of the
Urbego network, sharing experience and developing strategies
for coordinated interventions with alike groups in different
countries.One of the several activities organized by Urbego together
with the local partner Co-Plan, in order to engage the local
residents in the program.

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Why
“It will never rain
roses: when we
want to have
more roses,
we must plant
more roses.”
– George Elliot
Reclaiming the open space
By creating new community public places (gardens, pocket
parks, shared yards) in redundant outdoor areas, spaces in
between buildings, promoting mixed use of car parking,
Urban Pockets enhances the existing public and open space to
meet the need of the local community users, with a bottom-up
approach that produces urban quality revival.
Enforcing communities
Urban Pockets promotes the interaction within neighbours,
empowering them and offering a chance to relate to public
institutions/ internationals/ other communities. In the urban
environment often neighbours have very limited interaction
among each other. The co-design process fosters the social
interaction between citizens.
Building the sense of place
Aims of the project is to build a sense of place by shaping
the identity of the local public realm and the character of a
neighbourhood. The creation-construction process allows
the appropriation by the communityof their public space,
enforcing their sense of belonging and satisfaction.
Regenerating cities vibration
When successful, the first intervention becomes a model
for similar projects in the same city, promoting urban
regeneration in an incremental developmentinvolving
different neighbourhoods in the same city, or different cities
in the same region.
While the first intervention is carried on, URBEGO together
with the local partner is engaging new communities for
further interventions in the city.

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Next Steps
Urbego is developing contacts with several organisations in
different cities to transfer and adapt the methodology to new
contexts, starting with Bucharest, Ploeisti and Athens.
Bucharest
The fall of the communism led to the degradation of open
spaces. Leftover spaces hold the promise of fostering small
communities from the ground up.
Ploiesti
Ploiesti suffers from a depopulation phenomena of young
people. Reclaiming collective courtyards and other underused
transitional spaces will help to grow a sense of community.
Athens
The so-called financial crisis has shifted the attitude towards the
city,withmanyinitiatives,groupsandinformalorganisationsthat
reclaim the life in public space in an engaged and conscious way.
A Maintained Presence: Tirana
The program is already active inTirana, with the first inter-
vention being implemented and the local partner working on
engaging new communities for new interventions in the city.
Education and promotion: Cairo and Rome
As a complementary activity to the program, Urbego keeps
working on education and training. Urbego is now organizing
of a summer school in Cairo, together with Berlin University.
Strongly relying on constant in-situ assessment, the
program has started with little interventions and now is
incrementally being reproposed in different contexts.

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INSTITUCION ARSIMOR JOPUBLIK
S L J A N O
Who
URBEGO
Urbego is a multidisciplinary platform of young, motivated
and skilled professionals from all around the globe. Urbego
wants to provide rapid responses for specific challenges in
cities by applying an in situ approach collaborating with local
partners, ranging from civil society representatives to research
institutions and decision makers.
Urbego’s members have a wide range of expertise, going
from urban governance, planning, economics, architecture
and culture to communication and engagement. Through
workshops, these skills are combined with local knowledge
from citizens, students and decision makers to find the best
solution for the individual case.
www.urbego.org | team@urbego.org
Urban Pockets
Concept by Urbego
with the collaboration of
Urban Pockets partners
IAAU partners
Graphic designer
Giulia Maci, urban planner, Copenhagen
Farah Makki, architect, Paris
Simone Gobber, architect, London
Filipa Pajevic, economist, Montreal
Deutschzentrum
Siljano High School
Silvi Jano, urban planner, Tirana
Micromega Architecture
Mara Papavasileiou, architect, Athens
Alexandros Zomas, architect, Athens
Mkbt
Catalina Ionita, architect, Bucharest
Mihai Alexandru, urban planner, Bucharest
ARTA in dialog
Monica Sebestyen, architect, Bucharest
Artangle, Balkan Art Culture Fund
Coalition for Sustainable Development
Co-Plan
Mikser Festival
School of Urban Practice
B74
Carla Felicetti

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Every Generation
Needs a
New Revolution
www.urbegoyei.com

33
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Urbego believes that in the light of the recent events in the
Arab States, Turkey, Brazil, India, Romania and other parts of
the world the missing link in the governance process across the
worldistheyounggenerationofurban dwellers. Urbego is work-
ing on developing an index of young generation’s involvement
in urban governance and is collecting case studies all across
the globe.
The methodology has been developed in collaborations with
universities across the world and looks at civic, politic and eco-
nomic engagement as well as at discrepancies between expecta-
tions from the various actors involved in governance and what
these discrepancies lead to. In recent cases, covered by the
international media, these discrepancies have led to protests
by young people that felt let down by the inability of their gov-
ernments to be transparent and forward looking. Nevertheless
protests are not the only way to show involvement and in many
cases municipalities themselves lead the engagement efforts.
Urbego believes that by bringing to the table municipalities across
the world that have been facing the pressure of young gen-
erations together with other municipalities that have already
managed to establish good communication and gain the trust of
their young citizens will encourage leaders of urban centres to
share knowledge and bring back home new ideas to act on.
YEIresearch

34
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#1
Measurement/
city profile
The first level of analysis looks at finding the appro-
priate proxy indicators to reflect the involvement
of young generations at the civic, politic and eco-
nomic level. This first stage of the methodology will
allow for a general understanding of involvement in
these spheres and also for a preliminary ranking to
be made.
This stage is based on the methodology developed by
UN Global Compact Cities Programme for the Circles
of Sustainability -Urban Profile Process.
Local, national and international databases will be re-
searched for appropriate indicators that are relevant
at the city scale. The local insight of municipalities and
local partners will be crucial in identifying and obtain-
ing access to all possible sources of data.
#2
Measurement/
questionnaires
The second stage of the preliminary city profiling will in-
volve testing the perception regarding involvement at
the local level.
At this stage we should be able to highlight initial dis-
crepancies in expectations and perception as well as
capturing any trust issues between the municipalities
and their young urban dwellers.
Extensive questionnaires are conducted with the sup-
port of Urbego’s partners that will circulate the ques-
tionnaires in their networks and collect responses into
a common database.
#3
Interpretation
Using the profiling exercise as a basis, the third step
consists in scaling the results based on a collaborative
workshop approach.
During this workshop, participants are asked to evalu-
ate from 1 (critical) to 9 (vibrant) each perspective of
the profile components.
#4
Knowledge sharing
The third level of the analysis will use specific case stud-
ies to understand different ways in which the general
picture laid out in the previous two stages has trans-
lated into engagement/disengagement.
The cases are “how-to/not to” examples to help other
municipalities explore and learn from others’ experienc-
es.They should have some elements of flexibility that
enables context sensitivity.
The selected cases focus on local level issues in the
spheres defined previously and will be mainly pro-
posed by partner cities or organizations. They will be
reviewed by the Urbego team and international ex-
perts involved in the project to ensure coherency and
high quality. They will be used as part of a learning
process to test and, if necessary, reshape the previous
two phases of the research.
methodology
critical
highly
unsatisfactory
bad
-satisfactory
satisfactory
+satisfactory
highly
satisfactory
good
vibrant

35
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workshops Collaborative workshops are organized over two daysin
different cities , applying the methodology across as many
geographies, economic and political systems as possible.
Participants from relevant local institutions and orga-
nizations, areaskedtoevaluatefrom1(critical)to9(vibrant)
the economic, politic-institutional and civic-cultural aspects
of the participation in their cities.
Wider questions that are addressed during the workshops
relate to the concept of city for life for the young, what
makes young people feel part of/disconnected from their
urban communities, what is the added value of young
people’s involvement and how can urban leaders encourage
the young to invest hope and energy in their urban future.

36
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Valencia March2014
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
insatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
insatisfactory
good
vibrant
Preconditions
Safety
Tolerance
Living conditions
Trust
Mobility
Technology
Cultural and civic
engagement
Cultural policies
Education and knowledge
Community based organizations
Audiences & users
Cultural amenities
Public | free | third spaces
Economic engagement
Economic independence
Entrepreneurship
Careers
Policies
Funding opportunities
Training
Political and institutional
engagement
Participatory policies
Networks of collective action
Consultation and permeability
Civil society
Decision making
Democratic vitality
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
unsatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
satisfactory
good
vibrant

37
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Medellin April2014
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
insatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
insatisfactory
good
vibrant
Preconditions
Safety
Tolerance
Living conditions
Trust
Mobility
Technology
Cultural and civic
engagement
Cultural policies
Audiences & users
Cultural amenities
Economic engagement
Entrepreneurship
Careers
Policies
Training
engagement
Civil society
Decision making
Democratic vitality
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
unsatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
satisfactory
good
vibrant

38
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Bucharest May2014
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
insatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
insatisfactory
good
vibrant
Preconditions
Safety
Tolerance
Living conditions
Trust
Mobility
Technology
Cultural and civic
engagement
Cultural policies
Audiences & users
Cultural amenities
Economic engagement
Entrepreneurship
Careers
Policies
Training
engagement
Civil society
Decision making
Democratic vitality
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
unsatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
satisfactory
good
vibrant

39
www.ifhp.org
London October2014
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
insatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
insatisfactory
good
vibrant
Preconditions
Safety
Tolerance
Living conditions
Trust
Mobility
Technology
Cultural and civic
engagement
Cultural policies
Audiences & users
Cultural amenities
Economic engagement
Entrepreneurship
Careers
Policies
Training
engagement
Civil society
Decision making
Democratic vitality
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
unsatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
satisfactory
good
vibrant

40
www.ifhp.org
Rome 2015
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
insatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
insatisfactory
good
vibrant
Preconditions
Safety
Tolerance
Living conditions
Trust
Mobility
Technology
Cultural and civic
engagement
Cultural policies
Audiences & users
Cultural amenities
Economic engagement
Entrepreneurship
Careers
Policies
Training
engagement
Civil society
Decision making
Democratic vitality
critical
- satisfactory
bad
highly
unsatisfactory
satisfactory
+ satisfactory
highly
satisfactory
good
vibrant

41
www.ifhp.org
Urbego was founded in 2012 by a group of members from
IFHP. Urbego means city-metropolis in Esperanto and was
established on the basis of a desire for a common platform
for young planning professionals.
ThepurposeofUrbegoistocreateopportunitiesfordiscussion
and research on urban issues, give young planners a
voice in the planning debate and engage new generations
as agents of change in the field of planning.
An important goal is to provoke a reflection on the future
role of planners in the changing global order and develop
a common direction for the profession.
Urbegohasevolvedfromaninitiativebringingtogetherartists,
architects,designers,economists,sociologistsandplanners
with a passion for cities, into an organization with a core
team representing Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France,
Germany, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Netherlands, Romania,
Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.
visit us at www.urbego.org
aboutURBEGO

42
www.ifhp.org
ourpartners Coalition for
Sustainable
Development
“Ion Mincu”
Facultatea
de Urbanism

43
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ournetwork
members:
Adelaida Salces Spain
Agathe Maurel France
Alessandra Lualdi Italy
Alex Zomas Greece
Alexandru Seltea Romania
Alicja Baranowska Poland
Angelo D’Antiga Italy
Annie Breton Denmark
Barbara Roosen Belgium
Beatriz Asensio Rubio Spain
Ben Harvey UK
Blanca Franco Cordón Spain
Brigela Noka Albania
Carla Felicetti Italy
Carlo Piantoni Italy
Caroline Guillet France
Chiara Fantin Italy
Claudia Cominelli Italy
Clenn Custermans The Netherlands
Dimostenis Houpas Greece
Djaiwd Tahery The Netherlands
Elena Kasselouri Greece
Elisa Grifan Italy
Ellen M. Schwaller US
Farah Makki Lebanon/France
Femke Haccou The Netherlands
Filipa Pajevic Serbia/Canada
Frida Anna Kristin Skarp Sweden
Gerjan Streng The Netherlands
Giacomo Bettio Italy
Giacomo Magnani Italy
Giordano Onorati Italy
Giovanni Ottaviano Italy
Giulia Maci Italy/Denmark
Hilda Hallen Sweden
Irina Angelova Bulgaria
Jens Denissen Germany
Josefina Söderberg Sweden
Juan Carlos Aristizabal Colombia
Kaj Fischer Germany
Kathrine Sumati Neve Brekke Denmark
Katja Majcen Croatia
Kerli Kirsimaa Estonia
Manoe Ruhe The Netherlands
Manuel Bosello Italy
Manuel Brusco Italy
Mara Papavasileiou Greece
Mara Pellizzari Italy/The Netherlands
Marco Miccichè Italy
Marta Pabel The Netherlands
Matthew Newby UK
Mette Kelle The Netherlands
Michela Guerini Italy
Mustafa Hasanov Bulgaria
Nathan De Groot The Netherlands
Nicola Thomas Austria
Nonjabulo Zondi South Africa
Olivier Woeffray Switzerland
Petter Frid Sweden
Pim de Leew The Netherlands
Ramon Marrades Spain
Regina Smirnova Russia
Renata Jardim Brazil
René van Poppel Belgium
Salma Khamis Egypt
Seppe de Blust Belgium
Simona Dobrescu Romania/UK
Simone Gobber Italy/UK
Sravan Singh India
Stefano Quaglia Italy
Tamara Trumbic Croatia
Thomas Reinwald Denmark
Thomas Todesco Italy
Tom Cole US
Ulrik Lassen Denmark
Yana Golubeva Belarus
Yun Mei China
Zsuzsanna Posfai Hungary

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MAKING
CITIES
TOGETHER
INTERNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE PROGRAM & PLATFORM
Participatory design & program strategies [Placemaking] to improve public spaces and communities
What are potential initiatives
to develop new strategies for?
Placemaking strategies
collected in replicable
model (local/city scale)
What placemaking strategies
improve public spaces?
Working plan for an
intervention in 3 public
spaces / initiatives
RESEARCH LAB INTERVENTION PLATFORM
LOCATION RESEARCH
PREPCOM / GC25
RESEARCH LAB SHOWCASE WORKSHOP ONLINE PLATFORM
PROF NETWORK EVENT TRANSFER WORKSHOP
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS PUBLIC OPENING LOCAL PLATFORM
BIENNALE ROME
Apr‘15 May 4-8 ‘15 Aug‘15
INVENTORY
PUBLIC KICK-OFF EVENT
IDENTIFICATION
CONFERENCE N-AERUS
Nov‘14
Why Making Cities Together?
17 local Placemaking
initiatives
Participatory urban
planning is acknowledged
as a priority (local/int.)
Mapping public life/space
Selection 3 initiatives
How can we build a long-
term urban spaces network?
International network &
local platform
Dissemination at
conferences and via
(social) media
How can we showcase the
benefits of placemaking?
Program / Design
created in public space
(1 of the Initiatives)
Maintencance plan
#Nairobi, Kenya

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www.ifhp.org
IT STARTS WITH A SINGLE DROP
Out of 17 Placemaking initiatives 3 public spaces were selected to study at
the Placemaking Design Lab. Together with international and local urban
professionals and grass roots organisations new Placemaking strategies
collected in a replicable model were developed to improve public spaces
on local and city scale. The Lab was held from the 4th-8th of MAY at the UN
Compound and at the August 7th Memorial Park in Nairobi.
PLACEMAKING DESIGN LAB
Study 3 Public Spaces Together
Jeevanjee Gardens
Park in City Centre
Korogocho
Street in informal settlement
Dandora
Court yards in Neighourhood
Hoperaisers
Community sports, arts and
music initiative
Mustard Seeds
Community based
organisation
Friends of Jeevanjee
Nairobi City County,
UN-Habitat & PPS
1 2 3

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PUBLIC SPACE: NEIGHBOURHOOD
Mustard Seeds in Dandora
Government
Private
sector NGO’s
How can MSO upscale the youth groups competition to
improve their court yards? What are possibilities for linkages
among these court yards that could -collectively- transform
the reputations of some less popular neighbourhoods?
From semi-public court yards
to streets with gatewaysUpscaling & linking
Neighbourhood network

48
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Think and do tank for young cities
Placemaking & Design Studio
Making space together
www.newtowninstitute.orgwww.ifhp.org www.placemakers.nl
CO-SUPPORTED BY:
THANKS TO
KUWA
Avanti Architecture
CAVE
Boogertman&Partners
Citilinks
Ma3Route
INTERNATIONAL URBAN EXPERTS
KENYAN URBAN EXPERTS
Rodeo Architects (Norway)
METASITU (Austria)
Urban Codes (The Netherlands)
Paul Currion (Serbia)
Land + Civilization Compositions
(the Netherlands)
Bantu Studio (South Africa)
Nairobi City County Government
UN-Habitat
University of Nairobi
Technical University of Kenya
The Centre for Urban Research
and innovation
Projects for Public Spaces
Naipolitans
KUWA
Urbanicity
Mark Ojal
Kounkuey Design Initiative
All Placemaking initiatives

49
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PLACEMAKING DESIGN LAB
Urban Planners becoming Placemakers
FIELD VISITS
POWER BREAKS
STUDENTS’ RESEARCH
BUSINESS EVENT PRESENTATION
WORKSHOPS POWER!
DIALOGUE
PLACEMAKERS!
By bringing all actors and stakeholders together in a workshop to share
experiences, challenges and solutions, it is possible to create more impact in
making successful and inclusive public spaces. The urban professionals were
very engaged and thoughtful and became real Place-makers!

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PUBLIC SPACE: CITY CENTRE
Jeevanjee - Responsive city
How can we program a city park in rehabilitation to create
a more inclusive public space? How can testing grounds
gain trust and enhancing griots (community storytelling)?
Tactical urbanism:
Undesign, testing of strategy,participatory processes
Griots
Tactic 2
AFTER...
Testing: open up to griots by
WIFI, remove fences and
temporary pedestrianization
Permanent pedestrianization
to create an economic impuls
for surrounding shops
Linkages: University, other
city griots on streets and
public spaces
Oral culture

51
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10
12
14 13
15
16
4
2 6
11
17
3
9
7
8 5
1
Street Soccer Huruma
Hope Raisers
Huruma Town Youth Group
Mathare Community Resource Centre
Kayole Njiru Youth Group
NaiNiWho (Go Down Arts Centre)
Kilimani Project
Change Mtaani
Friends of City Park
Jeevanjee Gardens
Green Belt Movement
Shangilia mtoto wa Africa (skate park)
PLACEMAKING IN NAIROBI
What is Placemaking?
“The practice of Placemaking aims to improve the quality
of a public place and the lives of its community in tandem.
Put into practice, Placemaking seeks to build or improve
public space, spark public discourse, create beauty and
delight, engender civic pride, connect neighbourhoods,
support community health and safety, grow social justice,
catalyse economic development, promote environmental
sustainability and of course nurture an authentic ‘sense
of place’.”
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Department of Urban Studies and planning,
2013 “Places in the Making: how Placemaking builds places and communities” p.2,3
Imagining co-creation process involving people
and organisations through research, design and
programming public spaces to create ownership and
responsibility for their own environment using the
existing qualities as local knowledge, assets and
ideas. After capacity building programs we transfer
responsibility of stewardship to local team to create a
sustainably used place.
Placemakers method
AC
T
IO
N
CO-C
REATION
research and education
LOCATION
RE
SEARCH
TRANSF
ER

52
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mathare river
community lane
nairobi river
Phase 1
PUBLIC SPACE: INFORMAL SETTLEMENT
Korogocho’s Hoperaisers
Phase 1
Expanding street participation
Phase 2
street reclamation
Phase 3
Entering the alleyways
mathare river
community lane
nairobi river
Phase 2
mathare river
community lane
nairobi river
Phase 3
COMMUNITY HOUSES
COMMUNITY LANETEMPORARY PERMANENTSEMI - PERMANENT
PHASE I
EXPANDING STREET PARTICIPATION
COMMUNITY HOUSESCOMMUNITY HOUSES
1
1
3
23
2
4
4
COMMUNITY HOUSES COMMUNITY HOUSES
COMMUNITY LANE
PHASE II
STREET RECLAMATION
PHASE III
ENTERING THE ALLEYWAYS
How can the Hoperaisers initiative in sports, arts and music
upscale their active streetscapes into a replicable model
for safer and inclusive informal settlements?
Mobilizing community
Engaging individuals in community
Partnering local government
Coordinating with exterior actors
Landlords, UN-Habitat,
Slum upgrading project
Hoperaisers, Koch FM,
Miss Koch, Chamas,
Elders
Households,
Individuals,
Cartels
Nairobi City County,
Police Station, Chief
Center

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I. EXHIBITION
II. LABORATORY

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The meeting explored how people
construct and redefine places through
self-organization in urban spaces
elevating at the public debate the main
issues emerging from these initiatives
and inviting the participants to share
insights and possible answers.
How the logic of self-organizing
systems can be integrated into long
term urban policies becoming part of
the process of city making?
How this hidden energy can support
and be better used to (re-)vitalize
neglected urban public spaces?
In a context rich in complexity,
contradictions and inspirations, the
IFHP lab has proposed a wide range
of perspectives on the role played by
public spaces today.
From the space of protest and civic
engagement of young people’s impact
in their urban community across the
world to an overview of international
experiences where the positive impact
of the local self-organisation networks
when it comes to cultural, economic,
social and spatial revitalization of the
neglected (and sometimes vacant)
inner-city urban public spaces, has
made or is still making real and tangible
changes within the community.
And more, from placemaking intitiative
sthatengagecitizensandpolicymakers
to reshape neglected open spaces to
experimental and creative governance
process that engage different
stakeholders in the creation of new
public spaces, the lab has been the
opportunityfortheactorscommittedin
making public spaces the democratic
representation of urban life, to look at
the way forward starting from sharing
each other’s experiences and debating
results and expectations, failures and
challenges they have met along the
way.

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AGENDA
01. Opening and setting the stage
Giulia Maci, IFHP
02. Panel discussions 1 and 2: “The State of Play”
Moderator: Giulia Maci, Architect, project Manager at IFHP
PANEL 1: Dynamic urban spaces: how to transform neglected
areas in new community spaces
1. Urban Pockets, 2. “Dinamicittà”: co-design for urban renewal,
3. “Community and re-cycling of left-over micro spaces
PANEL 2: Who believes in goverment anymore? Finding a balance
between spontaneous actions and a comprehensive strategic
approach to public spaces
1. “Urban Incubator in Belgrade”, 2. Avenida Tronco
Workshop, 3. “Micro-design of public spaces in a shrinking city”
03. Panel discussions 3 and 4: Evolving practice and road ahead
Moderator: Giulia Maci, Architect, project Manager at IFHP
PANEL 3: From activism to civic engagement: how self-built
projects shape sense of commons
1. YEI_Youth Engagement Index, 2. Suburbia as new frontier: a laboratory
of self-built spaces in Viareggio”, 3. Urban care/Piazze Gioco/Forme di Spazi
PANEL 4: The governance of the process: new scenarios
1. “The creation of urban furnitures with recycled materials”,
2. “Making cities together:planners becoming placemakers”,
3. “The experience of Plovdiv Architecture Week”
04. Conclusions: pulling together ideas and way forward
Giulia Maci, Architect, project Manager at IFHP

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DYNAMIC
URBAN
SPACE
HOW TO TRANSFORM NEGLECTED AREAS IN NEW COMMUNITY SPACES

68
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Walkthroughanymajorcityandyouwillseevacantland.Indenselypopulatedcitieswith
sometimes few opportunities for new park or public area development, small vacant
lots could provide a shared area of common life. These spaces, as potential threshold
spaces, are to be appropriated through practices of communing, practices that rein-
vent common spaces as a new form of social relations, communing practices. In some
cases, neighbors have organized to transform these spaces into community amenities
such as shared gardens or meeting places, in other cases the reactivation of empty
spaces involves different local and international actors. The mainstream proliferation of
ideas and practices of bottom-up initiatives urgently demands a shared understanding
of notions of low-budget urbanism, urban flexibility, temporariness and ‘creativity’, and
their implications for imagining cities to come.

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Urban Pockets
Speaker: Farah Makki
Architect, PhD candidate at EHESS in Paris, Urbego Co-founder
Team
URBEGO
Urbego means city-metropolis in Esperanto, and it is a multidisciplinary platform of
young, motivated and skilled professionals from all around the globe. The Urban Pocket
program was launched by Urbego in 2014, with the aim of developing a co-creation
strategyforreclaimingpublicspacesindifferentcitiesallaroundtheworld.Thefirstphase
of the program saw Urbego interacting with local partners and communities in different
Balkan cities, with the first community pocket park implemented in Tirana in 2015.
In the program, Urbego operates contemporary at different scales. At a local
level, it engages local communities of residents, helping them to take control
of the open spaces around/between the places where they live. At a global
scale, it provides a platform for sharing knowledge and expertises, acting as an
intermediary between small organizations and international funders, as well as
providing visibility in international contexts such as conferences and exhibitions.
UrbanPocketsactsatamicroscaleinplacessuchascourtyards,neglectedcommunal
spaces, backyards, parking lots, or wherever dysfunctional design, lack of resources
or interest have produced redundant open spaces. Rather than replicating a fixed
set of spatial solutions, Urban Pockets provides a methodology and tools for the

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implementation of each intervention, with Urbego expertises active on helping local
communities in designing, financing, implementing and maintaining their projects. This
extended program of micro interventions not only offers a cost-effective strategy of
implementing and maintaining public open spaces, but due to its community based co-
creation approach, it represents an effective way to address some of the problems of
urban living, such as isolation and social exclusion, by enhancing local identities and
sense of community.
More info at www.urbego.org

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“Dinamicittà”: co-design for urban renewal
Speaker: Giuseppe Roccasalva
School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Polytechnic of Turin
Team
Students of the Polytechnic of Turin
Project designed by Politecnico di Torino in collaboration with several municipalities
of Piemonte Region. The project “dynamicity” started in September 2014 conducting
actions of co-design of urban public spaces to be transformed. The project creates
synergies and connections between academic research centers, schools, local
associations and entrepreneurial and citizens with the aim to design strategies for
regenerating public spaces. Different co-design projects have been successfully
designed and implemented in Piemonte region and are now under the executive phase
by local municipalities. The project design a specific process which try to embody
innovative tools and assessment both in the analytic phase of a regeneration process
and in the participation phase. This tool put together insight from the sociological field,
the negotiation approaches and the design strategies in order to see simultaneously
pro and cons of a public decisio.
More info at More info: https://www.facebook.com
wsdinamicitta?v=info&expand=1&nearby

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Community and re-cycling of leftover micro spaces
Speaker: Antonia di Lauro
Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria
Team
Rizemulab
The Mediterrean University of Reggio Calabria, the Municipality of Condofuri and its
inhabitants (schools, associations, artists and artisans) are collaborating to reactivate a
neglected area. A design proposal has been selected
A design proposal has been selected through a students’ competition. A participatory
laboratory has been organized for the implementation of this proposal and the
management of the area. The RizemuL@b is an occasion for inhabitants and local
actors to take action and collaborate to improve the quality of places. The result is a
garden that is a reinterpretation of some traditional elements, such as totems with local
decorations, sitting places realized by local artisans or characteristic thatched roofs.
The aim of this project is to engage the inhabitants, use recycled materials, engage the
residents and unveil the local identity.
More info at https://www.facebook.com/Rizemulab-803763783000980/timeline/

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WHO BELIEVES
IN
GOVERNMENT
ANY
MORE?
FINDING A BALANCE BETWEEN SPONTANEOUS ACTIONS
AND A COMPREHENSIVE, STRATEGIC APPROACH TO PUBLIC
SPACES

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Most development in cities occurs without any central planning yet cities continue to
function, often quite effectively without any top-down control. Cities develop by filling
the space available to them in different ways, at different densities and using different
patterns to deliver the energy in terms of people and materials which enable their con-
stituent parts to function. Plans and regulations are perceived almost as obstacles to
reinvention. Today there is a collective realization that we need to accelerate processes
and simplify the laws of urban planning. At the same time bottom up initiatives cannot
provide long term, and comprehensive answers to cities’ complex needs. Laissez-faire
thinking has resulted in unbalanced and exclusive urban environment. Small actions,
big picture. We are still trying to find the balance.

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Urban incubator
Speaker: Maja Popovic
Architech, designer, researcher at Failed Architecture
Team
Urban Incubator
Urban Incubator Belgrade (UIB) is a project, which contributes culturally to the re-
development of a neglected Belgrade neighbourhood called Savamala. It was initiated
by the Goethe Institute in Belgrade as a part of a larger international platform Weltstadt
- Who Creates The City? UIB invited more than 10 local and international projects from
the fields of art, architecture, urbanism and social engagement, to be active for one
year in Savamala. The project’ ambition was to improve the quality of life of the local
residents, arguing strongly in favour of a city at a human scale, and aiming to encourage
the residents of Savamala to take charge of their neighbourhood and its revitalisation.
In order to achieve this ambition the project employed various bottom-up techniques,
whichwereallmeanttostimulatecitizen’sparticipation.Thestimuliforthisparticipation
came in the form of “injected” projects, which included different crowd sourcing
initiatives, diverse creative practices and new forms of informal collaboration. This
processofinvolvementofthelocalcitizensinthetransformationoftheirneighbourhood
was intended to have a long-lasting effect.
When UIB approached Savamala in 2012, the area was known for its continuos traffic,
for the apparent lack of local communities, for the prostitution and its busy night life.
Many buildings were vacated and in a state of dilapidation. The streets served mainly as

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transport connections used by heavy trucks –a constant source of noise and pollution.
In the last couple of years the area has been gradually transformed into a vibrant
neighbourhood, gaining the reputation of a cultural and night life hub where empty
warehouses and derelict art nouveau buildings were being converted into cultural
centres, creative industries, galleries and nightlife venues.
Despite the recent dynamic development of the area, the lack of an active local
community persists. Benefiting from this apathy in public activism, the current
local government, in collaboration with an investor from Abu Dhabi, initiated a large
scale development called Belgrade Waterfront. In an unusually short time, the local
government adopted the necessary legislation with the intention of facilitating this large
scaledevelopment.Consequencesoftheseactionswerestronglyfeltbythecommunity
and the UIB initiatives in Savamala.
At the moment the focus of the Association for the future falls on creating a sustainable
environmentforcommunicationbetweencitizens.Animportantpartoftheparticipatory
process would be the creation of stronger bonds between different citizens, who would
become more conscious of the need for cooperation for achieving an improved urban
environment. In this environment citizens would be active and would form collectives
on specific topics, while authorities would become conscious facilitators of the civic
actions. This process would be unthinkable without the participation of a new type of
planning and design professionals who value engagement.
More info at http://www.goethe.de/ins/cs/bel/prj/uic/enindex.htm

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Beyond ruins: self-building after the earthquake
Speakers: Prof. Moccia University of Naples, “Federico the 2nd”
Arch. Salvatore Carbone, phd student
Team
sa.und.sa architetti + Paolo Mestriner
In collaboration with DiARC, Università Federico II di Napoli
In the town of Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, all around the Church of Santa Maria, the time
has crystallized impeding the regular process of “urban healing”: in November 23rd
1980 the collapse of the structure, which occurred during a celebration, has swept 40
people; since then the area has been gradually reabsorbed by nature.
Beyond Ruins is an urban workshop with the aim to explore new prospects for recovery,
seeing the temporary like a precious opportunity for a resilient existence and in the
landscape care a unique opportunity to rediscover the territorial identity.
The workshop consisted in planning and in self-construction of an intervention through
the adoption of simple, repeatable and sustainable technologies and processes, able
to develop and convey social cohesion by “doing architecture”. It has been divided into
two stages: one analytical with group meetings aimed to ensuring the global coherence
of the project and one other focused on the realization of the project.

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Making Cities together: planners becoming placemakers
Speaker: Naomi Hoogervorst
Architect at FREEM open architecture and Placemakers
Team
Placemakers, IFHP , INTI
In May 2015 the Placemaking Design Lab took place to develop new strategies for
the public spaces in Nairobi, Kenya. The Lab is part of the ‘Making Cities Together’
project that is initiated by the International Federation of Housing and Planning (DK),
the International New Town Institute (NL) and Placemakers (NL). Fast growing cities,
like Nairobi, face serious challenges in developing into an inclusive and prosperous
environment. The ‘Making Cities Together’ project aims to develop a sustainable,
viable and long-term agenda for Nairobi’s public spaces as an entry point to urban
development.
The inventory phase, which was conducted in partnership with the Technical University
of Kenya depicted Nairobi as a pioneer in participatory urban development. The
inventory identified 17 socio-spatial initiatives across the city. The research was
conducted together with an interdisciplinary group of students of the University of
Nairobi(UoN)andguidedbyKUWA,alocalurbanplanningoffice.Theinitiativesinpublic
spaces represent different zones in the city; Centre Business District, Neighborhoods
and Informal Settlements and they represent different kinds of public spaces: streets,

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parks and court yards. These formed the basis for the Placemaking Design Lab. During
the Lab, organised in partnership with UN-Habitat and DASUDA and supported by the
DutchEmbassy,threeexpertteamsincollaborationwithlocalinitiatorswerechallenged
to develop placemaking intervention strategies for three specific public spaces:
Jeevanjee gardens; Korogocho street; Dandora court yards. The winning concept for
Dandora will be implemented to serve as a benchmark for participatory urban design
for public spaces.
More info at http://makingcitiestogether.strikingly.com/

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FROM
ACTIVISM
TO
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
HOW SELF-BUILT PROJECTS DO SHAPE SENSE OF COMMONS

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A shift from activism to civic engagement. The following actions have as a main result
the creation of physical spaces but also the creation of communities, new values and
a reconquered sense of belonging. They shape a renewed identity of the place re-
connecting the citizens to the urban environment they belong to. The real challenge
is “how to involve the people and keep them involved thoughout the process”.

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YEI_ Youth Engagement index
Speaker: Simona Dobrescu
Urbego Co-founder
Team
URBEGO
Youth Engagement Index is a collaborative method to analyze in a consensual manner
the participation of young people (18-34 years of age) in city affairs where they live. The
method combines a series of quantitative and qualitative elements in collaboration with
local actors. The three spheres analyzed look at the economic, politic-institutional and
civic-culturalaspects.Theresearchtakesplaceinthreephases:evaluation(workshop),
validation (through case studies and questionnaires) and knowledge exchange in terms
ofpolicyformulationandpractice.ThemethodhasbeenappliedinValencia(Spain)and
Medellin (Colombia), Bucharest (Romania) and London (United Kingdom). By bringing
to the table municipalities across the world that have been facing the pressure of young
generations together with other municipalities that have already managed to establish
good communication and gain the trust of their young citizens will encourage leaders of
urban centres to share knowledge and bring back home new ideas to act on.
More info at www.urbegoyei.com

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“The area was considered a ‘place of diversity’ and was rejected by the citizens of its
borough”.
The revitalization project of the “Fenice Park” arises from a common type of social
commitment between the District of Varignano, in Viareggio, Italy and the Associati-
one Araba Fenice with the aim to reintegrate marginalised people through social re-
habilitation projects and community involvement. This intervention wanted to reveal
new ways of understanding public space: rethink and reutilize a neglected space and
open it to the public. The revitalization process has been approached as a therapeutic
tool that allowed the start of a recovery process for the disadvantaged people going
hand in hand with that of the green space. The energy invested by those marginalized
people was oriented towards the actualization of a ‘meeting place’, where the old area
could be restored and enjoyed through the interaction with the rest of the neighbour-
hood. Therefore, this project was meant to turn a marginalizing space – a “non-place”,
as Marc Augé would put it – into a significant place, symbol of rebirth for the whole
borough.
Through the creative process of territorial self-building, the extreme life conditions ,im-
posed by the everyday difficulties, were creating new forces and energies, which were
then projected onto the territory itself.
More info at www.arabafeniceonlus.it/
Esperience of urban revitalization: the self planned
Speaker: Emma A. Viviani
Sociologist
Team
Araba Fenice Association

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Urban care/Piazze Gioco/Forme Spazi
Speaker: Silvia Cama
Architect at Zerozone
Team
Zerozone
The idea of the project is aimed at increasing the aesthetic quality, that is the beauty,
and the values of the area in question, making it useful and usable by different types of
people: children, youth, schools, families, the elderly, associations; with the times and in
different ways depending on the seasons, times and the prospects for use according to
new coordinates that interpretation. This intervention does not want to be merely a res-
toration of the area, but action demonstration that the best strandard of urban comfort
and use of resources with a set of experimental measures to aesthetic and functional
value. The project would also trigger a regeneration process that has a attention across
the spaces of the territory Genovese that at present are in fact virtual and unused.
Objective of the project is to give the opportunity to share experiences
through a live aware of public spaces. The project involved direct and indirect benefi-
ciaries that in various forms and ways contributed to the design experience.
More info at www.zerozoone.it/

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THE GOVERNANCE
OF THE PROCESS
NEW SCENARIOS

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How smal bottom up intiatives can define a new model of democracy, participation
and contribution to the city making processes in the vacuum of governance in the ur-
ban planning agenda? Urban policies are questioned by the emergence of new urban
actors, small private companies, NGOs, collectives, local associations whose ambi-
tion is to enhance the awarness and understanding of urbanity’s issues and poten-
tials.
How do they act? They intiate concrete actions and become leaders of change. They
adopt new approaches, they invent, engage diffent actors, stressing on the impor-
tance of making everyone responsible towards the city.

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The creation of urban furniture with recycled materials
Speaker: Melissa Capello
Graduate in Science Education at the Institute Project Man
Team
TECHLAB
TechLab is born in Chieri, in the Province of Turin and it is a public workshop where
anyonecanpeekinand“gettheirhandsdirty”,experimentingwiththelatesttechnology,
as well as with the raw material, giving shape to their dreams, with the wood and 3D
printers!
It is a common space where young people can get in touch with the craftsmanship and
traditionofthe“know-how“sorootedinthatterritoryandimportantsymboloftheMade
in Italy brand.
Strong supporters of open-source culture and the open hardware, the founders of
TechLabareinspiredbythemodeloftheFabLab,butwhattheyarebuildingissomething
different.TechLabopeneditsdoorsonApril20of2013tobecomeaplacewhereyoung
people and adults could get a look around and feel free to use the machines for laser
cutting, 3D printers, cutters or tools to work the wood. In line with this approach they
have developed a project of creation of urban furnitures with recycled materials with
the engagement of the inhabitants of a particular disavantaged neighbourhood in the
City of Chieri.
Today the municipality itself recognizes the civic and cultural life of this project, and has
decidedtoaccommodatetheminthespacesofthelibraryandlookatthemasrelevant
interlocutor in the city making process.

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Avenida tronco Workshop
Speaker: Bernardina Borra
Co-founder at SPcitI and partner at MILKTrain.eu
Team
FAU-PUCRS, SPcitI, IFHP
In the informal settlements of Grande Cruzeiro, Porto Alegre, Brazil, live thousand of
people. Since long a new avenue – the Avenida Tronco - has been planned to cross
through all neighbourhoods to join two major arteries of the city. The project lied still
for decades, until during the preparation for football world cup when the city got an
economic injection that revived the Avenida project. The urge of the discussion, the
housingrelocationduetodemolitionforthenewroad,andpoliticalpressurehadopened
a favourable debate to consider how slum areas can become more connected to the
rest of the city. According to the possible negative and positive impacts and benefits it
can cause to its surroundings, the new 5,6 km long Avenida Tronco has been a catalyst
for discussing and deciding upon a new perspective for the whole area it crosses.
At that moment the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Design of PUCRS University and
SPcitI,withthesupportofIFHP,initiatedalong-termprocesstoimprovelivelihoodinthe
area.
A multi-stakeholder workshop was the first step. The main goal was to collectively
outline a transformation strategy and the first concrete projects related to the new
frontage of the avenida but also beyond its edges, claiming legitimacy to the city from
the inside of the slum.

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With this workshop we brought together different groups of stakeholders on location:
local neighbourhood leaders and inhabitants, officials of various city departments
from the municipality, and students of FAU PUCRS University. The inhabitants offered
a room within the community building of AMAVTRON in Grande Cruzeiro. We have
been working there together for 5 days setting up collaboration between participants.
They were all together on equal base as “experts” in their own field assembled in one
big working team. Thus the workshop enabled each participant to feel free to act
as individual member, and in second place as representatives of a specific group or
department. Several additional experts were invited too, for instance to give insights
about grants from public banks as the Brazilian Caixa, or explain legal ins and outs of
landregularizationandlegalizationproceduresthatcanbebroughtaboutbyinhabitants
themselves.
The Development Strategy document is the final agreement among all participants
resulted out of the workshop. It is essentially a road map that defines the collective
commitment for future projects to be pursued together. Especially concerning the
time line, the Development Strategy is a tool for an open process development: further
evolution in time will require new continuous assessments of the roadmap also in
the form of new workshops. For this very reason the strategy has been included in a
Commitmentbookwhichissummarisingtheoutcomeoftheworkshopbutalsooutlining
furtherdevelopmentwithcommitmentsstatementsbyallparticipantsgroups.Recently
the booklet was also officially presented to Mr. J. Fortunati, Porto Alegre’s mayor.
It is just a beginning.
More info at http://thespontaneouscityinternational.org/

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ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK
Speaker: Ljubo Georgiev
architect, director of the One Architecture Week
Team
One Architecture Week
ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK is an yearly festival for contemporary architecture and
the city and it aims at raising the level of awareness about urbanity, at stimulating an
active and responsible behaviour towards the city, as well as at initiating actions for a
positive and visible improvement of the quality of architecture and urban planning of
Bulgarian cities.
ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK started in 2008 as Sofia Architecture Week
and changed its name to ONE due to its moving from Sofia to Plovdiv in 2013.
One Architecture Week is part of the platform for contemporary culture ONE, also
organiser of the festivals ONE DESIGN WEEK and ONE DANCE WEEK.
Foundedin2002asanart,cultureandlifestylemagazine,EDNOhasrealisedmorethan
100 publications, concerts, parties, exhibitions, happenings, the book The Bulgarian
NouvelleVague,variouscompetitions,andthefestivalsSofiaContemporaryandMellow
MusicFestival.AllofthemturnONEintoasignificantandsustainedplatform,whichplays
an important role in popularising contemporary culture, both in Bulgaria and abroad.
More info at http://edno.bg/en/one-architecture-week-2015/the-festival

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Speakers
Moreno Baccichet, Professor at University of Venice (IUAV)
Bernardina Borra, Founder and partner at SPcitI.org and MILKTrain.eu
Silvia Cama, Architect at Zerozone
Francesco Careri, Founder of Stalker/Osservatorio Nomade, Researcher at
DIPSU-Roma Tre
Antonia Di Lauro, Post-doc at Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria
Simona Dobrescu, Urbego Co-founder
Marco Giovannone, Architect and Interior designer
Naomi Hoogervorst, Architect at FREEM open architecture and Placemakers
Paulo Horn Regal, Professor at Pontifical University of Rio Grande
Giulia Maci, Architect, Project manager at IFHP and Urbego founder
Farah Makki, Architect, PhD candidate at EHESS in Paris, Urbego Co-founder
Francesco Moccia, Professor at University of Naples, “Federico the 2nd”
Giuseppe Roccasalva, Research scientist at the School of Architecture and
Urban Planning of Polytechnic of Turin
Marichela Sepe, Professor at University of Naples, “Federico the 2nd”
Emma Viviani, Director at Tuscany Department of ANS (National Association of
Sociologists) and Founder of Araba Fenice

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The International Federation for Housing and Planning is a worldwide Community of
professionals, researchers, academics and civil servants representing the broad
field of housing and planning. The Community organizes a wide range of activities
across the globe with the aim to foster cross-sectorial knowledge
exchanges and “test” new solutions in response to the most pressing urban
development challenges.
As in previous editions, Biennial of Public Space will build on dozens of events
Local, national and international, promoted by Public Administrations, University,
Associations of citizens, Professional organizations and cultural, International
Organizations, with the aim of comparing experiences, problems and good practices.
The results will feed, together with parallel workshops and plenary sessions, in a final
event hosted at the headquarters of Architecture of Rome (former slaughterhouse).

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From Rome to Porto Alegre
The results of this exploration and comparison on the limits and potentials of
actions of co-creation and self-built community spaces, are presented by IFHP at
the 1st International Congress on Public Spaces that will be held in October 2015
in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The Congress is organised by the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism of the
PUCRS University (FAU-PUCRS). Among the main reasons, the dimensions of
Brazilian cities, the great inequalities, car-domination and the strong influence
of the market resulted in poor quality or absence of public spaces. Accessibility,
maintenance, security, and real publicness for all socio-economic layers of the
society, all are important topics of discussion. And of future action. This counts for
cities in the entire world, all with their specific challenges.
The congress aims to collect people and experience from all over the world, to
interchange ideas, knowledge, and experiences. It wants to teach and inspire
academics, policymakers, entrepreneurs and citizens.
More information: http://www.pucrs.br/eventos/espacospublicos/index_eng.php.

REINVENT PUBLIC SPACE: AUTOCOSTRUZIONE DI SPAZI PUBBLICI

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