26th – 29th

September, 2022

Creating better
cities together

Hosting city

Strasbourg is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the European Parliament. Located at the border with Germany in the historic region of Alsace, it is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin department. Over the centuries, Strasbourg has forged an identity founded on the dual influences of both France and Germany. This specificity has made it a surprisingly diverse metropolis.

This edition was amazing!

The themes

Placemaking Europe explores transversal topics like gender, multigenerational places, place-based economic development, technology and smart cities, inclusive prosperity, creative bureaucracy, arts and culture, and more. This year’s festival will explore 4 overarching themes that correlate with these approaches to placemaking, as well as with the city of Strasbourg’s distinct goals. We aim to bring together knowledge and perspectives from around the world to explore:

Placemaking can play a role in creating awareness for and addressing systemic inequalities within urban communities and spaces, and creating opportunities for all sectors of urban life and culture. How can we leverage a placemaking approach to help citizens to achieve their fullest potential while celebrating their humanity – no matter where they are from, who they are, what their beliefs and interests are, and what they have lived through.

How can placemaking help to achieve a much needed balance between human culture and the natural environment? A transformation that catalyzes climate adaptation & resilience; green mobility; renewable energy transition (i.e. lowering the dependency on fossil fuels) and an increase in biodiversity is crucial to be able prevent or recover from climate-related disasters.

Innovative approaches, like place-led development, take the principles of placemaking and use them as the fundament for real estate or area development. By integrating the soul of place, social life, culture, management of a diversified ground floor use and public space with the design of the area right from the start, these approaches tend to lead to vibrant, creative, and innovative inclusive communities with long lasting value and the capacity to survive, adapt and thrive.

A fundamental aspect of placemaking is the importance of a bottom-up approach. Placemaking for Civic Engagement involves communities working together in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns, resolve conflicts between groups, and promote the quality of the community, stemming from the real concerns and desires of the citizens themselves.

Equity
  • How can placemaking play a role in creating awareness and addressing systemic inequalities within urban communities?
  • How can we leverage a placemaking approach to help create better and more equitable communities – livable environments in which residents are given the opportunities and support to achieve their fullest potential while celebrating their humanity – no matter where they are from, who they are, or what they have lived through.
  • Placemaking for Soft Transport
    Placemaking for Soft transport looks into converting spaces that are predominantly shaped for cars instead into places more conducive to human-centric forms of transport. This includes making places that allow for ease of transit via foot, bike, skate, and other non-motorized means.
    Placemaking for Civic Engagement
  • A fundamental aspect of placemaking is the importance of a bottom-up approach. Placemaking for Civic Engagement involves communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community, stemming from the real concerns and desires of the citizens themselves.
  • Place-led Development for Vibrant, Inclusive Communities
  • What role do municipalities, housing corporations and property developers have in ensuring good cities for all? Innovative approaches, like place-led development, take the principles of placemaking and use them as the fundament for real estate or area development. By integrating the soul of place, social life, management of a diversified ground floor use and public space with the design of the area right from the start, these approaches tend to lead to vibrant, inclusive communities with long lasting value and the capacity to survive, adapt and thrive.
  • What mechanisms come into play for real estate developers, housing corporations, municipalities and placemakers while striving for this? Why is place-led development crucial for smooth inner city restructuring and urban regeneration? And how can we move away from short-term business cases to long-term value creation?
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    Placemaking for Equity
    Placemaking for Equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. Equity at its essence is the state or quality of being fair.
    Placemaking for Soft Transport
    Placemaking for Soft transport looks into converting spaces that are predominantly shaped for cars instead into places more conducive to human-centric forms of transport. This includes making places that allow for ease of transit via foot, bike, skate, and other non-motorized means.
    Placemaking for Climate Action
    Placemaking for Climate Action refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments and so forth that aim to reduce the severity of human induced climate change and its impacts. Placemaking from this perspective addresses issues of sustainability and greener choices when it comes to urban design that not only works to reduce negative impacts on the environment, but also ones that actively create positive impacts.
    Placemaking for Civic Engagement
    A fundamental aspect of placemaking is the importance of a bottom-up approach. Placemaking for Civic Engagement involves communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community, stemming from the real concerns and desires of the citizens themselves.
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    Read the report

    Wanna know what happened? What the festival was like, the sessions, the attendees, the city. Read all about it in the Official Report.

    The programme

    This year’s festival will feature 7 keynotes, 50+ interactive workshops and sessions, as well as outdoor activities, site visits, performances, and more!

    The city

    Strasbourg is among the few cities in the world that is not a state capital that hosts international organisations of the first order. It is the second city in France in terms of international congress and symposia, after Paris. Thanks to its exceptional historical heritage, the city also has the distinction of boasting a dual UNESCO World Heritage listing: Grande-Ile in 1988, then the Neustadt district in 2017.

    Strasbourg is a very walkable city! The best way to discover the city is on foot or via bike, especially since most of its architectural and cultural heritage can be visited within a small area. There are plenty of picturesque spots where you can take a break without leaving a big carbon footprint behind.


    In addition to its rich history, Strasbourg is a city that makes much effort to address modern-day issues. At this year’s festival, we look forward to a number of site visits and hands-on workshops where we can not only learn from the city’s previous efforts, but also help them move forward gracefully into the future, and also take our learnings and inspiration back with us to our own home towns after our time together there.

    Do you want to be part of our 2023 programme?

     We will be curating our programme to include submissions to our Open Call. If you have a session to contribute that falls under one of this year’s themes, we would love for you to share it with us! 

    Submit your proposal to help us co-create our 2023 programme. Open Call closes on June 23.

     

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