Citizens of Bonn with disabilities should be fully included in city life in every circumstance, just like everyone else: That is the goal of the Federal City of Bonn. To this end, it has developed the “Disability Policy Participation Plan for the Federal City of Bonn” – participatory and inclusive.
Category: Public space
Guadalajara: Revisiting Public Space Interventions through the Via RecreActiva
"Every Sunday, Guadalajara closes more than 60 kilometers of streets to car traffic, opening them up for public use by pedestrians, cyclists and performers. Since starting the "Via RecreActiva," Guadalajara has more open space for recreation, a new collective image of public space and a revitalized movement for transit equity.
The Via RecreActiva has had a clear “before” and “after” effect on the surrounding community. It marks the consolidation of both political and economic power around the importance of and investment in public space. The momentum created by civil society groups that advocated for the Via RecreActiva shifted demand for basic public infrastructure leading to new political commitments. This has increased transparency, created new roles for public space activists in municipal institutions, and institutionalized participatory processes."
Cleverly threaded
The industrial wasteland around Bocholt’s old spinning mills was almost exclusively used as a warehouse and was considered a “forbidden city”. Bocholt envisioned its conversion into a lively residential and cultural quarter. Now the first construction phase for urban living and working has started with private investment.
Safety and public space
Around the world, troubling levels of violence against women result in a restricted or complete lack of rights and opportunities for women and girls. For a majority of the world’s population, who is increasingly concentrated in large cities, this violence takes place in public spaces which are not restricted by jurisdictional borders, i.e., the metropolitan territories that to a great extent are managed by the members of Metropolis.
This report addresses the lack of safety that women and girls face in public spaces, and presents the findings of a review of the policies and programmes that metropolitan governments have established to proactively respond to these concerns. It sheds light on the involvement of Metropolis members to ensure that women and girls have the right to the metropolitan city, by mapping policies, strategies and instruments that foster safer and more accessible streets, squares, parks, neighborhoods and eventually the totality of metropolitan public spaces.
Culture in City Reconstruction and Recovery
Tackling the impact of destructions – whether they stem from natural hazards, armed conflict, or acute urban distress – requires responses that consider the needs of all social groups and provides opportunities for social inclusion and economic development, while also acknowledging the specific needs, priorities, and identities of communities.
For this reason, culture – including tangible and intangible cultural heritage and creativity – is essential both as an asset and as a tool for city reconstruction and recovery. Placing culture at the heart of urban reconstruction and recovery strategies and processes is critical to effectively restoring the physical and social fabrics of cities.
Culture – an often overlooked and underestimated framework and value – is the foundation upon which cities are built. Cities are not just a collection of buildings but are people, their stories, and how they interact with each other through their cultural identity and sense of place.
Investing in cultural institutions, spaces, and heritage can help build bridges between sparring communities in post-conflict urban areas and make disaster recovery quick, sustainable, and more effective.
This joint Position Paper of World Bank and UNESCO serves as a guide for urban practitioners, operating on the ground, as well as national and local authorities, to integrate culture, both as an asset and as a tool, in all phases of city reconstruction and recovery.
Festivals as Integrative Sites Valuing Tangible and Intangible Heritage for Sustainable Development
The city is always suspended as a case of ‘heres’ and ‘elsewheres’, connected … and that is why artists may be doing a better job than southern, or northern, theorists in ‘painting’, ‘composing’, ‘dancing’ and ‘writing’ cities into being.
Festivals provide a window onto practices which integrate tangible and intangible heritage in the context of wider sustainable development challenges.
This report presents an anthology of festivals, collated by researchers and practitioners, which reveals the possibilities, promise and pitfalls of planning for culture and sustainable development.
Solutions for gender fair cities
"This report is the product of the Womanability research-action project. It reveals the numerous, and sometimes unexpected, obstacles to the equal access and enjoyment of public spaces by women, from a lack of green spaces, accessible public transportation, and public toilets, to persistent harassment and outright violence. Building on these experiences and observations, the report offers a series of recommendations and best practices, many developed by women themselves, for creating the gender equal cities of the future. […]"
Regional Peer-Learning and Action Planning Workshop
Together with UCLG World Secretariat and UCLG Asia-Pacific, Connective Cities organised the Regional Peer-Learning and Action Planning Workshop on “Urban Renewal in Historic Town Centres and Public Space Improvement” in Jakarta, Indonesia from 17 – 19 July 2017.
During the three-day workshop urban heritage specialists and planners from the Asian region and Germany discussed and advised the ongoing urban renewal of Jakarta’s Historic Town Centre Kota Tua as well as supported the proccess of drafting the application for UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This short report provides summary of the workshop, describing particular challenges faced in Kota Tua, featuring good practices presented at the event and summarising the recommendations developed in a joint work of experts.
Taller de Proyecto de Connective Cities en América Latina
Ante la creciente urbanización en América Latina, las ciudades se ven enfrentadas a grandes desafíos de la movilidad urbana. También las ciudades de municipios alemanes, en muchos casos se ven frente a desafíos similares. Estos desafíos se refieren a temas como la integración de barrios menos privilegiados, al transporte eficiente entre vivienda y trabajo para los ciudadanos o al aseguramiento de un sistema de transporte en favor de un desarrollo económico local. Al mismo tiempo se busca garantizar una buena calidad del aire, mejorando así la salud de los ciudadanos y el clima urbano.
En respuesta a la demanda por parte de expertos de la práctica municipal latinoamericana y alemana, Connective Cities organizó en 2015 un evento en Bogotá Colombia acerca del tema Movilidad Urbana. Durante ese evento, se expresó la necesidad para la realización de otro taller con el enfoque en los sistemas integrados de movilidad y sus relaciones con inclusión social y mitigación del cambio climático. Ante esto, Connective Cities ofrece en mayo de 2016 un taller referente a Sistemas Integrados de Movilidad para Ciudades Inclusivas y Amables con el Clima. El presente documento resume los resultados de dicho taller.