Strategies for Integrating Community Engagement in City Planning: Timing, Locations, and Methods
Urban development deserves more than just constructing buildings; it's about enhancing the quality of life for people living in the city. And who better to consult than those right under our noses? We chatted with Caren Ohrhallinger from nonconform on all things city planning and participation.
Urban development is like a complex surgery on a living patient, with the potential for a lot of fear and opposition. But when you involve the patients (the residents) from the get-go and ensure the evolution of the city benefits the neighborhood and the existing population, people can better accept the changes.
nonconform has offices sprawling across Germany and Austria, known for their unique participatory approach to urban planning projects. Caren Ohrhallinger, their key architect, gives us some insights on participation, starting points, best practices, and challenges.
What is nonconform?
Growing out of an architecture company, nonconform now offers services beyond the classic architectural services. They work closely with public commissioning authorities and private clients, aiming to help facilitate the participatory urban planning process from inception to execution.
The Little Details of nonconform's Approach
Most participatory processes don't purely revolve around declaring a statement on a piece of paper for people to vote for or against. Instead, nonconform values dialogue and exchange as their participatory approach. Their process often starts with idea workshops, which encourage people to share their opinions, needs, concerns, and interests.
Different Faces of Participation
There are various levels of participation, such as conscious decision-making, being heard and included, to simply being informed, but it's not always guaranteed to satisfy everyone. Nonetheless, when people are involved, they understand the results better.
The Challenges:
Integrating the ongoing commitment that public spaces belong to the citizens can be challenging, especially when public spaces are commercialized. Bureaucracy may also pose difficulties in the implementation process. Lastly, working digitally can lack the intimate, in-person interactions essential for complete participation.
Best Practices:
- Foster a caretaker who will oversee the whole process.
- Don't hesitate; take action, no matter how small.
- Utilize available materials for sensible, low-cost initial changes.
- Make public alterations apparent and immediately noticeable to create excitement.
- Encourage networking and communication for opportunities to arise, merging potentials together.
City revitalization in a small Austrian town, Trofaiach, offers a great example of how nonconform's participatory approach can bring a dying town center back to life by revitalizing the community through strategic involvement, communication, and attraction.
Nonconform's approach to urban planning extends beyond architecture, focusing on participation and dialogue with residents from the very beginning. The participatory process includes idea workshops where people can share their opinions, needs, concerns, and interests about their home-and-garden lifestyle within the city.
In the journey of city revitalization, nonconform's participatory approach can breathe new life into a struggling town center, like in Trofaiach, Austria, where this method effectively transformed the community by fostering involvement, communication, and strategic planning.
