There’s something special about attending transnational meetings during the World Cup. It’s a stress-free experience if you’re Scottish, as we are never in the finals! So, in the evening after a recent My Generation at Work meeting I enjoyed watching the games with colleagues from the partner cities. The meeting was held in Tampere, Finland, […]
Archives for 2014
Give space! A “Placemaking” Project in Hungary in 4 questions
In january 2014, URBACT kick-started 6 pilot transfer network. We’ve introduced the Placemaking Fo(u)r Cities project on this blog only a few weeks ago, presenting how the network approaches Placemaking and the challenge of transfering a practice. How does it work on the receiving side of the transfer? How does the Placemaking practice translate, not […]
Rotterdam Links Creative Sector to Local Economy
In the past decades, urban gurus such as Richard Florida and Charles Landry enthusiastically pointed at the many benefits of the creative sector, and of having a creative class. Therefore, cities tried to attract more creative knowledge workers for a long time. Nowadays, the hype of Florida and Landry seems to have passed. The creative […]
Italian Students and the Suburbs: Tackling Urban Issues at School
Urbanism is rarely at the core of the public opinion’s debate in Italy but the presence among the final high-school exam essays of an article written by the italian-born architect Renzo Piano on the “mending of suburbs” to be commented by the students, represents an important signal on how urban policies can be interesting if […]
How to Create ‘Exercise-friendly’ Environments (Spoiler: Network!)
That is not what we’d call a news: exercise is important for public health. That is why it is particularly interesting for cities to think about how they can create ‘exercise-friendly’ environments. Between 2011 and 2013, 9 Dutch cities were involved in a pilot study into the creation of exercise friendly public space, including: Almere, […]
Placemaking: Kick-starting a Social Process
Placemaking connects communities, engenders public debate, promotes social inclusion and enhances the quality of life. The growing interest in placemaking as a social process calls for new approaches to urban design, planning and governance. URBACT’s Placemaking Four Cities (P4C) project focuses on the engagement of communities and the empowerment of citizens to take the lead […]
FIFA World Cup, a Web Revue
Those last few weeks and days, signs popped out on European streets, announcing the Fédération Internationale de Football Assocation (FIFA) world cup opening in Brazil tomorrow. In Europe, those are rather festive signs – mostly, adds for public viewing spaces and for food or drinks that go well with football, summer, and friendly company. But […]
Measuring the URBACT Interference Effect
What does what we discussed in last tuesday’s post: Indicators – Curse or Blessing? tell us about urban policies? First, that framing the objective is the key to good implementation. When we frame the objective in terms of being healthy we open up more options than when we focus on measuring losing weight. Second, that […]
Indicators, Curse or Blessing? Part I
What is it about indicators that makes people wince when you mention the term and opt for root canal treatment in preference? Why is measurement so unpopular? Is it psychological because they are so binary, you either achieve or fail? Is it because they box you in and pin you down? Indicators are beloved of technocrats because […]
Becoming an Attractive Technical University City
According to new scientific research, universities play a central role in the current knowledge economy. That’s why it is probably not surprising that many cities and regions cherish their universities and institutions for higher education. A growing number of cities has started to cooperate with universities intensively. The City of Delft took the initiative to […]
Authors
Aidan Cerar
Aldo Vargas
Alice Ferguson
Alina Andreea Băileşteanu
Alison Partridge
Amy Labarrière
Ana Resende
Anais de Muret- ALL AUTHORS
