People want different streets
Moderators:
Hubert Barański, the Normal City-Phenomenon Foundation,
Katarzyna Mikołajczyk the Normal City-Phenomenon Foundation
Time: 2. Day (Friday, May 29.), hrs 09:30-10:30
Location: II floor, zone G
Format: breakfast meeting
What do people want? We will not know unless we ask them.
In the city of Lodz a couple of times citizens were encouraged to join the talks about well-adjusted public transportation. Contrary to what was promoted by the media, it turned out that not everybody drives a car or wants to park in front of their door. During the session we will recall the stories about 6 Sierpnia (the famous ‘woonerf’ which is a civic courtyard) and Sienkiewicza street.
Huber will be speaking about the first ‘woonerf’ in Lodz:
“We decided that our idea how to transform the street should be demonstrated to the citizens of Lodz. 6 Sierpnia street that had been so far associated with legal highs, broader television audience might know it only from the broadcast of the arrest of the Polish king of legal highs. A short sector of this street that intersects Piotrkowska Street seemed to be the best place to demonstrate an idea of a ‘woonerf’.
This Dutch technique of transforming streets has been known in many cities worldwide. The basic principle is to re-shape the existing area filled with parked cars into a space in which pedestrians will have priority over cars. The transformation of the street was divided into a few phases: starting from organizing an outdoor party, engaging the citizens and tenants, to demonstrating the plan for the transformation. They liked the idea so much they submitted it to participatory budgeting and they have won one of the most beautiful streets in the whole city!”
Kasia will be speaking about the talks with citizens about Sienkiewicza Street (and not only):
“First I will show how not to talk to citizens – using the example of activities conducted by the local government. I will show how we should inquiry about needs and motivation of the citizens and how to implement new ideas and solutions effectively. In the case of transportation and space the emphasis is put on the informational materials and word choice. Are there any ‘forbidden’ words? Yes, they are. And because they are forbidden, those will be given out only during the session.”
We invite you to a case-study breakfast when you will stand a chance to ask questions regarding participation in spatial and transport planning.