Lessons from Oslo. How to intensify the use of your cities public space, vacant and underused buildings. Available now in a new Book of Ideas.

Click on the image to read the Book of Ideas. Enjoy!

How can you brand  a suburb in the fringe like Hovinbyen, when even a taxidriver wouldn’t know where to drive you? Where do you get the conversation started on an area with multiple stakeholders – owners, inhabitants, industry partners, local government, architects, students and European networkpartners  – when the stakes are high and very different for all partners? What can you learn from new kind of sustainable developers, realizing mixed use in an area? And how does this change your role as a government? These and other questions are all answered in a brand new Book of Ideas.

More of a watcher than a reader? Click on the image above to see our network partners at work.

Geert Vielfont, Coordinator Energy & target Groups. Click on the picture to read the full article. 

Reinventing the fringe is not an easy task. During the international site visits we see challenges more clearly because of the European context and solutions present themselves in comparing one city to another. One of the challenges in the Transnational Meeting on Private Space is how you deal with post-war apartment buildings and neighbourhoods in need of renovation? Does each owner only cover their own apartment or is there a union between inhabitants? And what gives the best result?

In Antwerp this challenge is answered by the position of the renovation coach. We talked with Geert Vielfont on how coaching can render sustainable solutions for future developments in the ever densifying fringes of our cities. This project is realised with the support of Interreg North-West Europe ACE-Retrofitting.

Between the 9th and 11th of october 2017, the city of Düsseldorf will be hosting the next Transnational Meeting (TNM) on the theme of ‘social inclusion’. Düsseldorf invites all URBACT partner cities to partake in this meeting and contribute from their own specific experiences and expertises.

Rheinuferpromenade. Copyright: City of Düsseldorf.

Social inclusion is a widely debated issue, not in the least among urban planners. Since it affects society as a whole, it is important to take a closer look at how aspects of social inclusion can be influenced through various aspects. 

We will get back to you with the conclusions from the meeting in the newsletter's next edition. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter (@suburbanfringe) to stay up-to-date with the meeting's outcomes!

You can find the program here.

Our partners in Casoria are happy to announce that the Michelangelo Park opened in April 2017 for the event 'Make It Happen', after the first phase of works had been concluded (entrance renovation, making the buildings safe, path definition, ploughing, etc.).The event was sponsored by Public Space Biennale (BSP2017) of Rome. To no small measure was this event a great succes because of the involvement of schools.

Fun fact for all of you who joined planting trees during the transnational meeting in Casoria: in this event they've also continued planting new trees: poplars, citrus and fruits trees!

Newly planted trees in Michelangelo Park, Casoria. Courtesy of Francesca Avitabile.

Hearthwarming is the observation that both citizens and the administration are starting to see the park as a common good.
Next week, on the 6th of October, another important ULG Meeting will take place in the park with the aim of developing different strategies to realize equipment and services for the park in co-financing.

This meeting is going to be facilitated by a community psychologist with a participatory design method and coordinated by scientific consultants of University of Naples - Federico II (DiARC).

After this meeting, the 2nd phase of works in the park will kick-off with another public tender aimed to define the accessibility of the park.

How did we set up the URBACT network? What is the added value for our partners. We gave a presentation our sub>urban network in Brussels in the Infoday URBACT Belgium.

Click on the movie to start the introduction video on Lab XX.