AGORA Session on the Placemaking Week in Pontevedra, 27-30th of September

What kinds of urban areas do we want to live in by 2050 and beyond. Decisions today will determine how human society will be able to cope with increasing anthropogenic events. Regenerative urbanism has an important role to play to address these huge challenges. During the Placemaking Week Europe in Pontevedra in late September we gathered 15 participants from around the world to explore and build a vision for a 2050 street scape by using fictional city typologies as point of departure. The workshop seek to bring together disciplines and topics such as: placemaking, nature-based solutions, urban planning, biophilic design, vernacular and indegineous design, ecosystem restoration, regenerative urbanism, multispecies urbanism, urban agriculture etc. Together with urban planners, economists and social scientists, many interesting questions were addressed , not only about space and how it should look and feel but also about other aspects that need to be part of the transformation process. Some key messages from the discussions were:

1) It’s all in the process: The process to arrive at radically regenerative urban futures matters: combining new business models with community transformation driven by residents
2) Breaking up the sealing: these spaces should be designed to accommodate more green space and reduce soil sealing
3) Rethink the function: the uses and functions of urban public spaces need to be rethought and should serve at least three regenerative purposes / principles
4) Local production: Vertical farming and energy communities are integral part of a radical regenerative urban future 

So what is needed to make these visions a reality? Participants highlighted the need for radical community involvement, building partnerships, measuring and understanding impacts from the beginning, and supporting municipalities in their efforts. Participants also underlined that changing the way we live will be necessary to adapt to new realities, such as using local resources, developing new ways of working, and building smaller communities in larger cities that can be self-sufficient and organised by the community themselves.

This AGORA session is part of a sequence of activities, workshops and discussions on radically regenerative public spaces.