Slovenský jazyk

    Some 75% of the population of the Central Europe region lives in urban areas, a figure which is likely to continue to grow. Towns and cities are perceived as engines of regional development, offering a broad range of services and economic and cultural opportunities.

Urban development is not only about planning buildings and activities, but also about creating places having a positive impact on their surroundings.

 

Informations about project (pdf)

Newsletter 01 (pdf)

    The origins of the UrbSpace project lie in REC's work on the urban environment and spatial planning along with practical experiences of Ekopolis (Slovakia) and Nadace Partnerstvi (Czech Republic). The latter organisations succesfully developed a programme called "Spaces",based on good practice in European cities. The idea of the project is to build further upon this experience. REC Slovakia decided to offer to take on the Lead Partner role for the new project and together with the Ekopolis Foundation, the Nadace Partnerství (Czech republic) began the process of extended European partner search. The aim was to find partners with a range of interests, cultures, experiences and needs.

 

    The project will address the issue of the improvement of environmental quality in smaller urban centres. The project seeks to address the issue of urban planning by focussing specifically on urban landscapes and open spaces in small towns.The European Landscape Convention specifically recognises the value of urban and peri-urban landscapes for the quality of life of the urban population which require a mix of larger and smaller urban areas to operate. The project will take a strategic approach to the promotion of active and informed involvement of a range of stakeholders - local authorities, urban planning experts and local businesses - in the process of shaping and revitalization of urban open spaces important for public life of communities from an early stage in the process. In this way UrbSpace will also address the prevention of socio-pathogenic phenomenon and criminality issues in urban open spaces.
    These objectives will be achieved by realisation of the following activities:

• state of art analyses in the participating countries of the principles of sustainable urban development and planning and benchmarking
• definition of relevant criteria and principles for public space design in smaller urban areas with regard to all aspects of sustainable development (environmental, social and economic)
• development of a joint strategies and tools for sustainable urban spaces involving relevant stakeholders to improve the planning process with respect to accessibility for all
• development and realisation of pilot actions in different central space urban areas - designed and worked out through a participatory process by communities
• ensuring a sound scientific approach and output quality through an international Scientific and Technical Committee
• dissemination of results according to the project Communication Plan throughout the project lifetime at different levels (from local to European) and targeting different actors.

    The partnership of the project comprises a variety of multi-sectoral organizations (local and regional authorities, uni versities, NGOs etc.) ensuring a multi-actors approach. The complexity of the poly centricism and urban spaces issues needs to be solved through transnational cooperation and the exchange of experiences, benchmarking and formulating common strategies. The pilot actions in different central target areas (urban, coastal and cross border) will examine the implementation of the joint strategy for sustainable urban spaces. The project duration is from November 2008 till October 2011.

Results and Outputs

joint strategy , tools and guidelines for sustainable design of urban spaces, 19 pilot actions, 15 renewed urban spaces, exchange platform on knowledge and expertise on urban open space (web page, meetings, conferences), e-learning
   

•    REC Slovakia, The Regional Environmental Centrer for Central and Eastern Europe, Slovakia
•    Nadace Partnerstvi, Czech Republic
•    Municipality of Brno, Czech Republic
•    Municipality of Sopot, Poland
•    Municipality of Brzeg Dolny, Poland
•    Municipality of Nagykallo, Hungary
•    Vienna University of technology department of Urban design and Landscape Architecture, Austria
•    Subregionla development agency Karst - Brkini, Slovenia
•    Fachhochschule Erfurt - University of Applied Sciences, Germany
•    Legambiente Lombardia onlus, Italy
•    Research Centre on Security and Crime, Italy

CENTRAL EUROPE is a European Union programme that encourages cooperation among the countries of Central Europe to improve innovation, accessibility and the environment and to enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of their cities and regions. CENTRAL EUROPE invests €231 million to provide funding to transnational cooperation projects involving public and private organisations from Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
The programme is financed by the European Regional Development Fund and runs from 2007 to 2013.