Those are the 10 principles I ideally like to use.

10 urban principles

1. Welcome every kind of initiator

Let’s do welcome and support all kind of ideas givers and initiators. It matters not that the person doesn’t have the right qualifications or the right network. According to me, everyone should have the right to take the initiative to improve her/his place. By creating enthusiasm and awareness around her/his idea and by making local actors aware of the situation, it is possible to mobilise enough resources to move mountains! There are also now good crowdfunding platforms and other means to allow us to work in a more horizontal and democratic way.

2. Think integral/holistic

What does a good place possess? Nice buildings? Lively public spaces? Attractive shops? Beautiful parks and flowerbeds? Original cultural and sportive events? Welcoming citizens? Or… a combination of all? Yes, a place is a whole. And if we want to improve one space or to create a new one in a successful and qualitative way on the long-term, it is necessary to work within an integral approach as well. It is of course useful to decompose the project to realise is in an easier way.

3. Let’s create a place, not a piece of art

As seen above, a place is not just a smart combination of buildings or a beautiful masterplan. Design reviews give awards to projects that they consider the best designs. Yet rarely do these award-winning designs turn out to be good “places”.  Why is that? Because design cannot do everything but mostly because those projects are not designed in collaboration with the future users. They are sometimes only nice projects to look at and to take in picture, but not to experience and to live in.

4. See community and time and as precious partners

Think of a nice old city you have visited and you had the idea it would be nice to live there. Were there unexpected public spaces embellished by surprising elements, diverse buildings with rich details, traditional products and events? Surely yes. Was that city made in once and by just a few persons? Surely not. A good place is the unique result of the work of its community over the years. People who live or work near a place know from experience, where the qualities to emphasise are, what the problems to resolve are but they also have a lot of ideas about solutions and possible improvements, etc. Moreover they, their non-profit or their company might want to invest time, money and knowledge in the improvement of their living or working area if they get the chance to do so.

5. Create an essential public/private partnership

Many actors of both private and public sectors have an interest in the improvement  of a place or the development of a project, for different reasons: higher property or renting value, more customers and revenues, a better image and visibility, a healthier and safer living environment, a better access and a larger choice of activities, more comfortable places to meet and socialize, etc. That is why it is important to include them at the most to urban development processes so they have the choice to work together as partners and co-invest in time, money, knowledge or material resources to be able to achieve their shared goals.

6. Care for quality everywhere, at every scale

A sustainable project should be qualitative in every of its aspects and scales: from the infrastructure to the companies signs and storefronts, the customers service in the local shops, the renovation of the houses façades or the species of trees and plants. It is thus important to involve relevant specialists in the process but everyone should also be a creator of quality. By offering guidelines booklets and trainings, it is possible to make from every individual an autonomous partner of the project.

7. Develop a common and positive vision first

We have seen there are enough partners to work with! But where are we going together? All the best companies have a clear vision of their “destination” and it should be the same of the best places!  To reach sustainability and integral quality, it is essential to develop a common vision that will lead everyone to the same shared goal. Everyone involved in the visioning process becomes co-owner of the project and in the same time a precious partner for the successful (re)development of your living space. Focusing on a positive vision instead of perpetual problems to resolve is the secret to drive everyone!

8. Capitalise on local existing assets

We have to focus on the assets and the essence of a place that make it unique. Every place has special qualities, such as distinctive buildings, typical shops, traditional products, a famous festival, a special landscape, an active non-profit, exceptional heritage and history, etc. These local assets must serve as the foundation of a project and wanting, for instance, to attract new big businesses or to build new extra structures, is not the first strategy to follow. Strengthening existing qualities and reusing what there is, is a sign of sustainable development and makes a place authentic.

9. Start small, cheap and visible

Have you noticed almost all large urban projects have been frozen last years? And before that, have you also noticed that they were always delayed or even outdated before the realisation? Having a grand vision is good but having a too big and expensive plan is not handy. That is why I like to start with small projects or quick wins, very early in the process. They are small but also cheap, well visible and even sometimes temporally. That way, investors get quick a first return-on-investment, future users start to appropriate the place, partners and volunteers keep enthusiastic and credible, consulted people get confident that their ideas matter and that change is occurring! Let’s start in function of the resources there are, instead of waiting for a better moment or a better budget. This is called organic, tactical or acupuncture urbanism.

10. Think of a fun journey rather than a goal

It is estimated that about 80% of the success of any urban project can usually be attributed to the management of the created space. Places are not static. They are like ecosystems and change daily, weekly, seasonally. Good management maintains the needed flexibility to deal with those changes. Therefore it is essential to think of a good management system, administered by volunteers or professionals, depending of the nature of the place. And of course, to maintain enthusiasm and motivation, it is important to also promote the project!