City Space Architecture has been selected to be part as an exhibitor of the 11th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF11), taking place on 26-30 June 2022 in Katowice, Poland, convened by UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, under the theme “Transforming our Cities for a Better Urban Future“, focusing on sustainable housing, urban planning, crisis recovery (like in Ukraine), innovation, and greener futures. The Forum brought together 17,000+ attendees to advance the New Urban Agenda and SDGs through dialogue, networking, and policy commitment, including the launch of the World Cities Report 2022.
City Space Architecture was the only Italian exhibitor participating at the WUF11, with over 90 exhibitors from 43 countries. The exhibition was developed under the theme PUBLIC SPACES FOR ALL for a Just, Resilient and Flourishing Urban Future, in cooperation with the Global Platform for the Right to the City (Brazil), Healthbridge (Canada), Inhabit Place (Australia), the Public Space Research Group (USA), KDI (Kenya), Sustasis Foundation (USA), World Blind Union (Canada), CAPS – Centre on African Public Spaces (South Africa), the School of Architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong), PlacemakingX (USA). The exhibition was organised in collaboration with the Global Public Space Programme at UN-Habitat, and it was intended to celebrate 10 years of activities of the programme.
During the 11th World Urban Forum in Katowice, City Space Architecture launched the Public Space Academy, the first, free, interdisciplinary educational programme dedicated entirely to public space knowledge for the design and implementation of effective solutions with community impact. The Academy has been developed in cooperation with the Ove Arup Foundation, and with the generous support of UN-Habitat.
The concept idea of the Public Space Academy was presented one year ealier at the 10th World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi (2020), as it was included in the Local Project Challenge (LPC), a project promoted in 2019 by the Earth Institute, Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbia University in New York and the Faculty of Architecture, Federal University in Rio de Janeiro, intended to increase awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals of the Agenda 2030 and of the New Urban Agenda adopted at Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development that took place in Quito in 2016.
The Public Space Academy was one of the 110 projects from 39 countries included in the Local Project Challenge, under the section ‘Education’. Read more here.
At the 11th World Urban Forum in Katowice (2022), our President Dr Luisa Bravo launched the special issue of The Journal of Public Space “Universally Accessible Public Spaces for All” developed in collaboration with World Blind Union during an event at the UN Press Conference Centre, with Hannes J. Lagrelius (World Blind Union) and Elizabeth Ombati (Africa Disability Forum).
At the 10th World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi (2020) the World Blind Union and City Space Architecture committed to develop, publish, and launch such an issue at the 11th World Urban Forum in Katowice (Poland, 2022). This was captured in the Abu Dhabi Declared Actions. The aim of this special issue is to encourage the sharing of knowledge, evidence-based practices and innovative solutions adopted by cities and practitioners to ensure that public spaces are inclusive and accessible for all. This will support the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other human rights instruments, as well as core development and humanitarian frameworks.
The Journal of Public Space, Vol 7, n 2 (2022)
Special issue: Universally Accessible Public Spaces for All
Editors: Hannes J. Lagrelius and Luisa Bravo
Guest Editor: Victor S. Pineda
developed in collaboration with World Blind Union
Finally, City Space Architecture co-organised, with Eastern Mediterranean University, Urban Research and Development Center, the special hybrid session on “Power of Public Space for Post-conflict Reconstruction in Contested Cities“, moderated by our President Dr Luisa Bravo and our Senior Advisor Dr Sebnem Hoskara. This session was included in the Urban Crises Track, a series of events focusing on how cities can better prepare for, respond to, and recover from major challenges like climate change, conflict (especially the war in Ukraine), inequality, and pandemics, aiming to build more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable urban futures by sharing best practices and coordinating action.
The event began with a keynote address from Wendy Pullan, Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies, and Director of the Centre for Urban Conflict Research at the University of Cambridge, and from Wael Sinno, UN-Habitat Lebanon Country Programme, Urban Governance Unit. Speakers then presented their reflections on the situation in Berlin, Sarajevo, Nicosia, Famagusta, Johannesburg, East Jerusalem, Prishtina and Mogadishu.
