BETTER PUBLIC SPACES FOR OUR CITIES A PRESENTATION BY THE ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI URBANISTICA OF ITALY (INU)

ANNOUNCING THE 2013 SECOND BIENNAL ON PUBLIC SPACE

Piazza del Popolo, Rome photo credits: Eugenio Monti

The Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica (INU), the National Planning Institute of Italy is a non-profit cultural institution founded in 1930 to promote and co-ordinate studies, principles and policies on urbanism and the built environment nationally and internationally.

INU’s Campania chapter is leading preparations for the next national congress, to be next year in the city of Salerno.

Post 2013 INU National Congress:3° Regional Urban Planning Exhibition“The Urban Planning Culture”Salerno, September-October 2013

Structure

Website

Exhibitions

Multimedia Exhibitions

Conferences, Workshops, Seminars

Topics

«Traditional» Plans«New» Plans (Unesco, waterfront regenerations, etc..)Planning Culture in Schools of PlanningNew PoliciesHousing

WUF side event panelists

• Marichela Sepe, INU Campania, National Research Council, Universita’ Federico II, Naples

• Pietro Garau, INU Lazio, international curator, Biennial on Public Space

• Martti Lujianen, former Director-General, Ministry of the Environment of Finland

• Paul Farmer, CEO, American Planning Association

PUBLIC SPACE:A WORKING DEFINITION

Public space is every publicly owned and serviced area or buildingmade available to allat no direct cost for the user and at no profit gain for the provider.

So, like it or not, this photograph taken in Naples captures a veritable public space- a small square converted into a one-goal football pitch.Of course, self-made public space is only part of the story.

Public spaces are important because:

They are vital to a well-functioning urban system (streets, sidewalks, parking spaces);

They offer precious opportunities for affordable loisir, exercise and recreation (parks, gardens);

They help promote culture (eg public libraries); They promote conviviality, encounter, freedom. PUBLIC SPACE EMBODIES THE MAGIC OF THE CITY.

problems

• Commercialization of urban sociality (malls, shopping centers)

• Decreasing public resources for development and maintenance of public spaces

• Apathy (accepting things as they are)• Architecture, design and planning at the

service of maximum profitability• Rising costs connected to corrupt practices

INU and the Biennial on Public Space

INU and BISP

In recognition of the importance of public space, INU launched in 2009 the “Biennale dello Spazio Pubblico” initiative (BISP) with the goal of supporting the theory and practice of public space design and planning and involve administrations, professionals, academia and civil society in the promotion of better public spaces and in the establishment of principles and policies leading to their quantitative and qualitative improvement.

THE FIRST BISP, 2011

The first Biennale took place in Rome in May 2011. It registered more than 1,000 participants, including distinguished foreign guests, and hosted three competitions and one international exhibit, in addition to dozens of workshops and seminars.

BISP #2, May 2013

• The 2013 edition of the Biennial on Public Space will take place on 17-18-19 May, once again in Rome. It will retain a similar format (competitions, exhibits, workshops and seminars). A new feature of its preparatory process will be “thematic labs”, real-life processes of participatory planning and design for public space hosted by civic administrations.

A CHARTER OF PUBLIC SPACE

• An additional goal for BISP 2013 is the adoption of a “Charter of Public Space” drafted with the participation of all participants in the preparatory process.

Charter of Public Space

• Definition of public space• Place Identity• Policies• Modalities of Design/Regeneration/Maintainance• Resources• Management• Fruition

THE BISP 2013 ROADMAP

Public Space and the Contemporary CityMarichela SepeInu Campania, Irat CNR- DPUU University of Naples Federico II

Post-seismic reconstruction and public space

Mass Tourism, Cultural Heritage and public space

Mono-functional use, traffic pollution and public space

Disuse of historic function, regeneration and public space

Topics

“Urban Design is the art of making places for people. It includes the way places work and matters such as community safety, as well as how they look. It concerns the connections between people and places, movement and urban form, nature and the built fabric”

CABE, DETR, 2000

WE WANT YOU AS PARTNERS

Participation in the preparatory process, as well as the Biennale, is open to old and new international partners of the BISP.SIGNAL YOUR INTEREST BY WRITING TO:

segr@biennalespaziopubblico.itf FOLLOW THE PREPARATORY PROCESS ON: http://www.biennalespaziopubblico.it Thank You.