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Inclusive City

Rethinking placemaking and the 15-minute concept through the lens of social inclusion, diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals

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Why InclusiveCity? 

In the past decade, placemaking has become an appealing and widely used tool to implement the 15-minute city and improve the quality of life in cities and make places more attractive. However, placemaking is often driven by the private sector and entrepreneurs, and it is still hardly used as a tool for urban generation by the public sector. Furthermore, placemaking and private sector-led public space activation might have adverse effects for the public in the long run; they often contribute to the commercialization and gentrification of the very places they intend to upgrade, while overlooking under-represented groups of society. 

Aims of InclusiveCity 

InclusiveCity aims at expanding placemaking strategies to activate public places in the framework of the 15-minute city concept by evaluating current practices of placemaking and by adding a strong inclusion dimension. Building on a previous JPI Urban Europe project PlaceCity in which an inclusive approach to placemaking was tested in selected neighbourhoods in Vienna and Oslo, the goal of InclusiveCity is to develop a set of innovative methods, tools and policies for multi-generational and inclusive spatial production, granting access to natural assets (urban waterfronts) while protecting vulnerable groups from adverse effects (such as gentrification, touristification and commercialisation). 

To support the toolbox development and test methods with concrete field experiences, five Urban Living Labs (ULL) will be established in five European cities: Budapest, Oslo, Rome, Rotterdam and Vienna. 

What is the role of SINTEF?  

SINTEF Community leads WP8 Exchange network of the InclusiveCity, critical placemaking and knowledge transfer. Based on the approach of critical placemaking and local development championed by each ULL, the five pilots will be connected by a shared methodological framework informed by the tools and methods developed by the consortium, thus creating a circular research and innovation logic that connects research, policy design and toolbox development. 

Partners 

  • Superwien urbanism, Austria 
  • Eutropian GmbH, Austria 
  • University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria 
  • Stichting Placemaking Europe 
  • Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands 
  • Fragment, Norway 
  • Natural State, Norway 
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway 
  • SINTEF, Norway 
  • Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre, Hungary 
  • Urban Development and Rehabilitation Company, City Municipality, Hungary 
  • Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary 
  • Nuove Ri-Generazioni Lazio, NGO, Italy 
  • ASD Bastogi, NGO, Italy 
  • Nonna Roma, Italy 
  • Centre for Urban Ecology, Bykuben, Oslo Municipality, Norway 
  • BIDs (NGO), Belgium 

Key facts

Project start

2024