Have you ever wondered why some city spaces are working out well for people, and others are not? Why do some spaces, and even newly designed ones, remain empty most of the time? What makes a good public space for people? These are some of the questions that American urbanist, journalist and sociologist William H. …
William H. Whyte’s recipe for good public spaces Read More »
As we saw in this article, public participation is not for everyone, as it often attracts the same profiles again and again, and fails at involving people whose voice is heard the least. Is it possible to escape this recurring pattern? Should everyone really participate? Who is everyone, at the end of the day? In …
Making the city together: who should participate? Read More »
Those of you who are interested in personal development may have heard about the enneagram. The enneagram is a very old approach that finds its roots in antiquity. It is a powerful tool for understanding yourself and improving your relationships with others. When I discovered the enneagram, it really felt like if I had put …
What we can learn from the enneagram to make better cities Read More »
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were in the middle of talking to someone and you suddenly felt an urge to use the restrooms? Do you remember having troubles to follow the conversation perhaps? And you focus on your bladder instead? Well, this is kind of what happens at the start …
Quick wins: why you should start with the low hanging fruits Read More »
When I was 12 years old, my family and I visited my aunt and uncle in the United States during the summer holidays. We rented cars and visited lots of great places, thanks to my aunt who had nicely planned the whole itinerary. However, not everything went as planned. One night, as we were driving …
A small guide to finding your way in urban environments Read More »
There is a growing recognition that the making of the city should not be reserved to the experts only. After decades of exclusion, residents and users of the city finally start to be more and more involved. However, the involvement of different stakeholders in urban planning and design brings its very own share of questions. …
Last week was the 105th birth anniversary of Jane Jacobs, one of the most influential urbanists of the 20th century. Today, I would like to pay tribute to this incredible woman with a short comic strip about how much she changed the way we look at cities. Jane Jacobs thought that cities were for people, …
In recent years, we have observed a growing number of participatory democratic mechanisms in cities. Participatory budgets, consultation workshops, or citizen committees are different approaches that all aim to involve citizens in the making of the city. Even the political programmes during the last French municipal elections demonstrated a growing concern around “citizen participation”. However, …
In the traditional practices of urbanism, the power has always been held by the same actors. The making of the city has long been a closed technical and political discipline reserved to “experts” only. Excluded from this process, citizens were unable to voice their points of view and visions in an official way. Participatory practices …
Tactical urbanism, new urbanism, sustainable urbanism, circular urbanism, DIY urbanism, collaborative urbanism, landscape urbanism, re-urbanism… There are a thousand urbanisms! What lies behind these -ism names? And what is urbanism, at the end of the day? Cities offer a lot of opportunities, but they also concentrate many environmental, societal and economic challenges. Since the age …