What does the sequence of the project look like?

The project was divided in two phases:
Phase 1: Between October 2015 and March 2016 the network established a baseline study, which also served as an application for the second phase.

Phase 2: Based on the baseline study, the partner cities of the network had started developing local action plans (LAPs). These LAPs were a prerequisite for the participation in URBACT III. The local action plan of each city was developed by a local action group including stakeholders.

What is the purpose of the network "sub>urban.reinventing the fringe"?

The network concentrated on current important questions on European level. How can cities guide changes, so that the outskirts (the urban fringe) profits from it? These areas offer potential, which in turn could lead to a positive development of the whole city. Through realizing  these local action plans and finding new innovative solutions the network aims to enhance both the monofunctional and multilayered periphery of cities.

Right now Düsseldorf is facing the challenge to provide enough living space for a growing population and demographic change. This process of growth must be used to create attractive, high quality urban areas for existing and future societies. Topics of the transnational workshops were “transforming planning”, ”transforming for intensifying use”, "transforming private space”, “transforming the relationship with the region” and “transforming for social inclusion”.

Düsseldorf’s focus as a network partner lays on the collaboration with Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Both cities worked on the topic of “transforming for social inclusion”. Transformation processes in an existing area will always affect the citizens living there. Renewing processes in the fringe therefore need to consider the interests of the citizens who are affected. A current challenge for urban planning is to equally deploy the benefits of growth and renewal over the urban area and to provide affordable living space. Good quality in public space, jobs and job opportunities for everyone are further important aspects of urban quarters.

Transnational Meetings

Important aspects in this project were the transnational meetings, which allowed the experts of the network partner cities to work together, exchange knowledge, ideas, best practice projects and discuss challenges. Below you can find short reports about the transnational meetings and their benefits.

The exhibition of the network’s results informed international guests at the conference. During a field trip in Hospitalet de Llobregat we visited the music school and arts centre, where a unique social inclusion project is using arts as an instrument for cohesion, social mix and increasing academic achievement.

The next field trip took us to Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a highly populated city in the northern fringe of AMB. The street Carrer Pirineus is a pilot of a successful transformation of private space. This regeneration project enabled private owners to improve buildings with the architectural advice and financial support of the municipality. In return the owners had to agree to do the refurbishment themselves. Nowadays Carrer Pirineus is a very colorful and lovely street. Although there were initial concerns, following this success, the people from neighbouring areas want to become part of the regeneration area.

At AMB headquarters we conferred with experts about the future cohesion policy of 2021 – 2027 and the urban dimension of European development funding. Finally, in Badia del Vallès, AMB’S pilot action site, our last transnational meeting ended with a splendid open air festival for young and old. Badia del Vallès, a municipality in the northern fringe of AMB, was built in the late 60s to allocate new inhabitants to the suburbs. It is an exemplary case with following features:

• barriers such as highways, railways and topography hinder the physical integration with the surrounding urban tissue;
• mono-functional and mono-typological housing structure with lack of urbanity and functional mix;
• ageing and decreasing population;
• unused open space; negative image.

AMB’s local action plan aims at improving living conditions by transforming Badia del Vallès with a variety of measures such as new streets, street layouts and ground floors into a connected, healthy and inclusive city.

We are very grateful to have been part of the URBACT community and have very much enjoyed the transnational European knowledge exchange. We will miss the unique experience to discuss urgent urban planning topics with practitioners and the very inspiring transfer of good practice on European expert level. Our thanks go to the lead partner, the city of Antwerp, Mieke Belmans, Isabel Michelsen, Michael Fleurbay and Isabelle Verheart, who made it all happen, to our lead expert, Maarten van Tuijl, for his endless knowledge and patience, the URBACT secretariat in Paris for the ever friendly and super fast support, the national URBACT point in Brussels with Jonas Scholze (Deutscher Verband für Wohnungswesen) and last but not least to all partner cities’ dedicated urban planners for their tireless work, caring hospitality and great inspiration. We will stay in contact.

Fair and transparent urban development contracts are key tools for a successful public-private partnership. The calculation of urban development costs is a very crucial part of the agreement which differs widely between countries and even between cities within the same legal framework.

We also discussed in workshop sessions each partner city’s local action plan. How to summarize a long planning process in a concise and gripping way was one of the main questions. We opted for a similar table of contents to make it easy to compare the partner cities’ results.

Brno’s urban planners introduced a new communication tool: gamification. Teamed up in groups we explored the pilot action site “Red Hill” in the fringe while playing an adventure game. It took us to very different locations: allotment gardens, sport fields, archeological sites and housing estates. The urban planning game helped us to develop a mental map of the site in a playful and entertaining way. At the same time we became aware of the various topics of the local action plan site. The urban planning team of Brno showed us their temporary interventions to make the site more popular to the public. In a discussion we focused on various aspects of temporary use: laboratory, implementation, management and evaluation.

During a second field trip we had the unique chance to talk to the Mayor of the city quarter Nový Lískovec which is a huge housing estate from the communist area. While walking through the neighborhood we discussed many aspects such as the link between affordability and sustainability (e.g. energy efficiency lowers the utility cost which is crucial for residents with lower income), public green and parking space. Nový Lískovec is a superb example of a successful urban regeneration programme initiated by local politicians and supported by local community.

During the planning process and the implementation phase it became obvious that the demolition of tower blocks is essential to build new roads and to construct modern and small-scale residential projects. New housing typologies are essential for social diversity.

The stakeholder management is one of the most important features for further developments. In Kallisté, a neighborhood in the north of Marseille, we discussed methods of participation with Mr Nidal Abdelkrim, social expert from the Association Accueil et Rencontres, that supports local residents with various services. We visited a very innovative initiative of French physicians that is opening a new health centre in a refurbished building, the former center of Kallisté. This young team of doctors radiates hope and confidence. This new facility will improve the situation in Kallisté tremendously.

Ms Amandine Pupat, urban planner of the Urban Planning and Housing Office, gave as a thoughtful tour through the inner city neighborhood, la Belle de Mai -Saint Charles. Next to the central station, is one of Marseille's poorest neighbourhoods. Refurbishment of old buildings is necessary to preserve the typical urban tissue and at the same time it is important to prevent large scale gentrification.

The multi-layered and ambitious French urban assistance program is a very enlightening planning approach to reunite the city of Marseille.

Mayor Thomas Geisel and Alderwoman Cornelia Zuschke welcomed the international guests to the Garath Leisure Centre. After the first workshop on identifying challenges with a "Problem Tree" method, there were urban planning tours. Participants discussed challenges and were actively involved in finding creative solutions.

The second day of the workshop took place in the Family Centre in Rath. After a warm welcome from Ruth Orzessek-Kruppa, Head of the Düsseldorf Urban Planning Office, the topic of transforming social inclusion was worked on further, in several workshops. On this second day, the ‘OPERA’ method was employed to explore the findings more deeply. There followed two interactive guided urban planning tours through Rath revealing current challenges and demanding the expertise of the European participants. Afterwards the results were presented in a "Graphical Recording", summarizing the content developed within the workshop sessions in a sketch-like form, showing results in a concise and vivid way.

The evening event was the highlight of the second workshop day. With the kind support of the artistic director Stefan Fischer-Fels of the Junges Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf, the play "Digital Natives" was performed for the network participants. The theme of this Young Drama fitted very well to the workshop content.

After two days in the fringe, the participants moved to the middle of town to the Central Theatre. The results and ideas of the previous two days were gathered and evaluated in large group discussions. The final task of all cities, was to anchor the relevant ideas and solutions developed in the course of the meeting, in city posters prepared by the city of Düsseldorf. These city posters were taken home as a graphic documentation and record of results achieved on the topic of Social Inclusion.

- The exchange with international experts proved to be fruitful, inspiring and very productive.
- Photos of the meeting by Dirk Krüll, Panama Fotoproduktion
- Video of day 2 of the meeting by Merle Forchmann.

The organizers prepared a varied and intense programme for three days. On Tuesday there where study visits while the evening was dedicated to the award ceremony. As one of the 97 URBACT Good Practice Cities our lead partner Antwerp, was presented a certificate. Wednesday was all about discovery.

After a welcome from Jaanus Juss, founder and CEO of Telliviski, the working sessions “Meeting the Cities”, “Cities on Spotlight” and “Speed Networking” started. In these sessions, the good practice cities either presented the most important issues of their project or answered questions.

The last day focused on thematic discussions such as housing, jobs, skills, migrants and refugees, environmental factors and also Estonian advanced digital infrastructures in more depth.

Most of the Festival took place in the special setting of Telliskivi Creative City. In 2009 the old industrial territory turned into an independent business hub with over 200 businesses, companies, NGOs but also rehearsal spaces, bars and restaurants. It is completely based on private ownership and the tenants are fully responsible for the design of their spaces.

Telliskiviis is a shining example of a successful transformation from an industrial wasteland into a lively quarter. Hence the location of the URBACT City Festival is also a Good Practice Project itself which inspired us during the whole festival.

As time was limited for all 97 good practice cities there was a preselection on which projects to focus on, mainly projects on integrated urban development and inclusion. After two intense days of information, exchanging ideas and connection, the following good practice cities seem to offer the most inspiring ideas for the topic of our network: "sub>urban.reinventing the fringe".

Aalborg: Holistic method for urban regeneration
#Governance #City Branding #Participation #Urban Planning

Kranj: Community building and neighbourhood renewal
#Integrated Urban Development #Urban planning #Urban Renewal

Munich: Bright mobility management
#Environment #Air quality #Energy efficiency #Low carbon #Urban mobility

Murcia: Integrated and participative urban regeneration
#Integrated Urban Development #Urban Renewal

Pforzheim: The power of arts and green
#Integrated Urban Development #Culture & Heritage #Participation #Urban Renewal

Torino: Areas of commercial coverage
#Economy #Food #Local Economic Development #Waste

Zagreb: Revitalisation of public space
#Integrated Urban Development #Participation #Urban Renewal

Further information

By emphasizing the transformation of Telliskivi the City of Casoria won the 'social media competition' with the tweet "MAKE INDUSTRIAL WASTELAND GREAT AGAIN". The price was awarded during the Festival Finale at the Vaba lava theatre in Telliskivi.

Our workshops took place in an empty office building in the city center. We were urban pioneers exploring the advantages and challenges of reusing an abandoned building. The urban planners from perspective Brussels showed us the Canal Plan. The Canal Plan is a very ambitious urban planning project that operates as a multi-disciplinary planning tool. The Canal Plan aims to develop central areas in Brussels while considering main socio-economic and environmental issues. In 2016, the Canal Plan won ISOCARP’S 1st Grand Prize for Excellence in Urban Planning.

On the second day, the cities of Antwerp and Oslo hosted an international symposium in the Norway House where our URBACT network, the EUROCITIES Edge-of-Center transformation project and European stakeholder discussed the advantages of European cohesion policy. The Vice Mayor of Antwerp, Rob Van de Velde, and the Vice Mayor of Oslo, Hanna E. Marcussen, emphasized the relevance and importance of the city-fringe areas, innovative ideas and cross-sectoral working for place-based solutions. They recommended full commitment and support from the EU and national as well as regional levels for transforming the city-fringes.

Matthias Herding, head of the urban renewal and environmental section of Düsseldorf’s urban planning office, presented a residential project in Garath: the solar- and climate settlements developed by the Rheinwohnungsbau. This housing project is an excellent example of the successful involvement of tenants, densification with new green spaces and new buildings of a higher living standard and refurbishment of old buildings.

You could learn a lot about the URBACT programmes and about the next call for new transfer networks that will start in September.

German and Austrian URBACT cities exchanged experiences and discussed challenges in their networks at an internal workshop.

Ruth Orzessek-Kruppa, head of urban planning office, presented the project Garath 2.0 – citizens are mapping the change at a symposium about the Leipzig-Charter – 10 years on. Garath 2.0 is the integrated neighbourhood development testlab in the URBACT project sub>urban.

Czech network partner Brno also presented their integrated urban plan for a disadvantaged neighbourhood.

A key development area is Hovinbyen at the eastern fringe of Oslo. Hovinbyen is as big as the entire city center, but not at all present in the mind of Oslo’s population. One important task is to make Hovinbyen popular in order to promote the future development. The long-term goal is to establish 100,000 new work places and 40,000 new housing units. Hovinbyen will be home for around 100,000 new inhabitants, which will increase even more the need for new social facilities such as schools, kindergartens, play grounds etc.

We visited four pilot areas. During inspiring workshops, mind-opening lectures and eventful field trips we explored various strategies to intensify the use of the fringe:

In Kjelsrud the urban design reclaims the pre-industrial landscape. The green belt connects different sites and different types of housing. It also works as place maker and changes the industrial image. Many tools are used to create a vibrant neighborhood: Green and smart mobility ensures that every function can be reached on food or by bicycle. All ground floors will be open and welcoming to support the walkability of the new quarter. A mix of functions such as housing, small scale industries, sports, shops and cafés is a necessary part of the project.

Hasle, an important sports area, is another pilot area and also part of the green belt. The main aim of the project is to explore how to mix sports facilities and housing. The hilly landscape is also an issue.

In Kabelgaten, an industrial company is transforming its own commercial site into a new neighborhood with housing and workshops for creatives. Huge parts of the company’s real estates are protected buildings and have to be integrated in the urban design. Kabelgaten is a test lab for temporary events. These events open the area for the public and create general interest.

In Vollebekk the urban planners are starting the design process. In creative sessions we got in touch with influential stakeholders of Hovinbyen. Vice Mayor Hanne E. Marcussen and the Head of Plan and Building Agency Ellen S. de Vibe joined the workshop sessions and discussed the results.

At the Vulkan site, we had the chance to talk to the developer Sverre Landmark. He successfully turned a former industrial site into a vibrant multi-functional part of the city. He advised us to stay open-minded and give new ideas a chance. Flexibility is vital to be able to experiment with new concepts. Vulkan’s success in the inner city is an inspiration for transforming parts of the fringe to attractive urban areas.

One essential lesson learned from all the projects is to focus on the positive aspects of each area. The new development can adapt to the identity of each area and in the end create something new and unique. It also became evident that it will be crucial to balance the need for new housing with the existing commercial areas and the work places. The development of mixed areas could be a good solution for some areas in the fringe.

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The workshop started with an in depth urban planning tour through the city of Casoria. The field trip showed the difference between the city center and the fringe, allthough they are close to each other. The city center is densely built up mostly with smaller buildings, while the fringe is even more densely built up with huge housing blocks from the sixties. It creates the impact of a visual but also functional barrier. Casoria’s main goal is the revitalization of the vast areas of brownfields by creating a citywide network of green spaces as leisure areas for the local community. The visit (open for the public) of an ex-industrial site – abandoned since 30 years - pointed out the challenges of transformation processes.After these inspiring field trips the network interacted with group discussions and talks regarding the topic transforming private space. Each partner city gave a brief overview of the current stages of their work and issues. The opening of an exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art by the mayor of Casoria offered typical photographic views of the fringes in the partner cities. Düsseldorf showed pictures of two Social City areas, Garath 2.0 and a general map of the fringe.

A special highlight was a public urban gardening event. Local pupils and politicians together with the network partners created the first part of a new park under the supervision of the French landscape bureau Coloco. Planting trees set a basis for the new park and the new green space gave open access for the public for the first time. Young people participated actively in designing the public park making the project a huge success.

The program includet many informative talks. The presentation by Iván Tosics was about the historical and current developments of the Eastern and Western European housing market. Two representatives of the URBACT network 2nd Chance talked about their network’s objective to refurbish abandoned buildings which are still important for the urban tissue. Solin and Baia Mare gave insights into their work with multi-structured ownership and how they are planning to transform private space.

The network "sub>urban.reinventing the fringe" aims at developing new methods by creating a toolkit. The kit will provide tools for project managers to design a tailored process with the best possible outcome. Nowadays, urban planners need new skills and tools to manage the complex multi-stakeholder processes involved in improving existing urban areas. The challenges of planning in build-up areas vary in different European countries e.g. the fragmented ownership, the lack of investments and insufficient legal scope. A very interesting project using a great number of innovative planning tools is Antwerp Lageweg. The urban planners in Antwerp applied five tools:

• mind-opening dialogue,
• design table,
• safari on site,
• declaration of engagement and
• spatial & financial calculation model.

In this approach urban planning plays the role of a facilitator of knowledge, a creator of a flexible urban design and a negotiator between different private and public interests. Oslo, Barcelona Metropolitan Area and Düsseldorf introduced also enlightening and encouraging projects. The Oslo Model offers new possibilities for informal planning processes. In the project area in Santa Coloma de Gramenet the Barcelona Metropolitan Area supports private owners with designs and financial models to improve a quarter’s street. The pilot project Garath 2.0 in Düsseldorf develops new forms of participation to gain a sustainable strategy aiming at updating a large residential quarter. For further information please read the article Transforming Planning the Urban Fringe – Expert Opinion written by Maarten van Tuijl published on the official URBACT website. Maarten van Tuijl is the lead expert of the "sub>urban.reinventing the fringe" network.