THE FRIENDLY CITY [LA CIUDAD AMABLE]. Andalusian Public Space Programme Awareness raising, training and interventions regarding cities, public space and sustainable mobility

Summary

The Friendly City is an initiative promoted by the Andalusian Ministry of Public Works and Housing which aims to create a new approach in government policies on intervention in public space. In fulfilment of this aim, The Friendly City has carried out awareness-raising and training actions to spread the values and methods associated with intervention in public space as a collective place, sustainable mobility in the modern city.

Background and Objective

Situation Before the Initiative Began: Confusion and chaos in public spaces in towns and cities due to the dominant mobility system and a lack of criteria regarding sustainability, public participation, social integration and improving the quality of the environment and public health. Establishment of Priorities: To create a new approach in government policies on intervention in public space, involving public participation and implementing actions designed to create spaces of social interaction. To raise awareness about the value of public space as a collective place in the modern city in order to improve the quality of urban space and reactivate it socially, culturally and economically. To help towns and cities create a friendlier living environment, involving the general public in a debate about sustainable urban mobility policies (traffic calming, reduction of pollution, etc.). Formulation of Objectives And Strategies: To carry out interventions in public space based on sustainable environmental and social criteria, with a view to developing good practices that can be transferred and mainstreamed in other towns and cities, not only in Andalusia but outside the region as well. To facilitate and support social empowerment by creating room for public decision making and participation in interventions in public space (identifying needs, lifestyles, design, use and maintenance). All of this will be accompanied by the ongoing provision of incentives for social structures in order to guarantee diversity, equality and social integration across the towns and cities of Andalusia. Mobilisation of Resources: 1. Administrative resources The Regional Ministry of Public Works and Housing administers all the resources through the Rehabilitation and Architecture Division, in partnership with the Mobility and Infrastructure Divisions. The municipal councils analyse citizens’ needs and submit intervention proposals to The Friendly City. 2. Technical resources Technicians of the Regional Ministry of Public Works and Housing coordinate the various actions and monitor the execution time frames. Friendly City trainers, a multi-disciplinary team, carry out awareness-raising actions and provides training for managers and technicians in sustainable intervention in urban space. Technical teams of the municipal councils analyse technical solutions for intervention in public space in order to respond to citizens’ demands. Friendly City technicians provide support to municipal councils that do not have their own technicians. Citizen collectives and associations provide support for participatory actions carried out to identify citizens’ needs. 3. Financial resources Friendly City interventions are jointly financed by municipal councils and the Regional Ministry of Public Works and Housing. The regional ministry’s resources are obtained from the European Regional Development Fund when the interventions match ERDF priorities. In all other cases, the regional ministry uses its own funds. The municipal councils finance their contributions through their own funds.

Actions and Implementation

The precedent for The Friendly City is the Andalusian Public Space Programme which was first launched in June 1998 and since 2012 has promoted a series of interventions in public space that have incorporated sustainable urban development, citizen empowerment and transferability criteria and served as pilot experiences and references for defining the Friendly City initiative. The Friendly City initiative was created in 2013 to complement the Andalusian Public Space Programme and is structured around three different but complementary lines of action. The first line consists in training municipal technicians, professionals, teachers, university students and the public in general. The second line focuses on creation and promotes municipal projects on public space and sustainable mobility; these reinforce the regional ministry’s urban intervention programmes. The final line revolves around dissemination and actions designed to reactivate urban space; a website provides citizens with access to the lectures delivered as part of the training line, while a digital platform guarantees that the parties involved in the initiative can remain in contact at all times. The municipal projects promoted by the creation line aim to respond to the demands formulated through the following categories: 01. Environmental Islands Projects on a delimited urban sector aimed at reinforcing sustainable urban mobility and road hierarchy and recovering public space for collective use. 02. Habitable spaces Projects concerned with reactivating and improving the environmental and landscape quality of a public space or specific urban pattern. 03. Sustainable lanes Bike lanes in urban areas to connect residential areas with workplaces, shops and miscellaneous activities, addressing the growing social demand arising from citizens’ changing mobility habits. In addition to the aforementioned actions, the social integration and public participation aspects of the initiative are articulated by creating training spaces to provide technicians (municipal and those responsible for formulating proposals) with the appropriate methodologies and participatory skills. Interventions in public space are also supported by creating participatory spaces in the various towns and cities to guarantee the social sustainability of the actions undertaken. All of this is complemented by awareness-raising activities and the promotion of sustainability and environmental improvement values to encourage better habits and urban maintenance.

Outcomes and Impacts

The entire initiative has focused on promoting: 01. Urban and environmental quality The improvement of the environmental quality of towns and cities and the health of citizens by mitigating the effects of urban heat islands, creating living areas, reducing noise and the impact of direct sunlight, protecting biodiversity, etc. 02. Reactivation of public space Proposals for alternative uses, collective activities that promote reactivation and the use of public space by citizens. 03. Sustainable mobility. Accessibility and connectivity The generation of pedestrian areas and the promotion of non-motorised travel to ensure greater safety for the most vulnerable uses (children, the elderly, people with reduced mobility, etc.); the limitation of motorised traffic and parking spaces; traffic calming; non-discriminatory access and use of public spaces, schools, facilities and housing. 04. Public participation and social integration The capacity to channel citizens’ needs and demands through mechanisms that encourage them to participate in drawing up and implementing the proposals; the use of public space to encourage the integration of social sectors at risk of exclusion; a role for the most disadvantaged sectors of society by actively involving them in the collective life of their neighbourhoods and the design and reactivation of public space; the elimination of physical barriers that lead to the marginalisation and social exclusion of specific urban sectors. 05. Employment The capacity to mobilise local labour in the construction, maintenance and reactivation of public spaces; urban reactivation through the creation of jobs in sectors like tourism, retail, culture and the new information and communication technologies. 06. Energy efficiency Energy efficiency measures in using and maintaining public spaces and urban services (materials, lighting, water cycle, waste collection, public transport, etc.).

Gender and Social Inclusivity

01. Experience of other practices Although there are references for the initiative, it is nevertheless an innovative initiative. Consequently, the idea and concepts are not based on the political strategies, mechanisms or specific materials of any previous experiences. 02. Replication of the initiative The initiative can be replicated on different scales, even on a larger one than the region of Andalusia, as the strategy and materials can easily be adapted to the scale of the area in question. It can also be replicated outside Spain as its approach to the use of public space is based on adapting it to the intrinsic nature of human beings. a. Territorial replication, by creating analogous strategies and materials for other Spanish regions or areas outside Spain. b. Replication through the creation of specific, detailed materials on smaller scales (districts, municipalities, groups of municipalities, etc.)

Innovative Initiative

01. It is important that the parties involved in participatory processes are able to recognise the effectiveness of their work throughout the entire intervention in the public space. The results of participatory processes should therefore be carefully analysed and the conclusions drawn transferred to and shared with citizens. 02. To ensure a robust project, enormous effort must be invested in: a. Clear, robust leadership; b. Solidarity and cooperation between the actors involved in the project; coordination of the various actors involved in the public space and the integration of public-private partnerships at both the local and regional level to create co-management frameworks; c. Inter and intra-governmental cooperation; d. Integrated, comprehensive approach to include public participation practices in the development of interventions to improve public space.