SITTARD Towards a Slow City
SLOW CITY
WHAT IS SLOW CITY? Città slow (Italian for Slow City) is a movement started in Italy. Slow city’s philosophy is inspired from the slow food concept. Slow cities promote high-quality healthy living with maintaining identity, humanity, environment and history. It’s about a different and sustainable way of development.
PRINCIPLES & VALUES I. Look for the best knowledge of the past with the best possibilties ofthe future. 2. Maintain the local identity and increase the value of what is truly local (customs, unique food, handmade productions). 3. Planning for strong communities and urban resilience. 4. Healthy connection between the people and the place.
SITTARD
UNDERSTANDING SITTARD Sittard is a city which has rich history, culture, food. In order to play a perfect role, it has certain problems need to be addressed. We propose the slow city idea as a goal of the urban renewal. Our proposal is an invitation and manual for Sittard to become a slow city.
WHY SLOW? Sittard, as numerous other cities, has been negatively affected by globalization and large urbanization. Setting the slow city as a goal aims to develop Sittard in a localized way based on what it has. The city enjoys rich history, culture, food that can be refreshed and promoted in new ways and that can be a reference for urban renewal. It also has vast green landscapes and less than 50.000 inhabitants which are few of the requirements to become a slow city.
P2P +
INCREMENTAL URBANISM
P2P URBANISM Peer to Peer urbanism is a recent movement alternative to modernist, large scale, central planning. It is an open source urbanism and a bottom-up process based on crowdsourcing ideas. P2P urbanism is meant to allow free exchanging between individuals without referring to a central party. It will allow Sittarders to network in order to make collective brainstorming and will let them choose from alternatives. Eventually, they will shape their city in a collaborative way.
INCREMENTAL URBANISM Small scale actions and development that do not financial and bureaucratic obligations. It is: instant, less risky, flexible, low-budget, community-minded. Sittard, as well as the world, is in constant change. Incremental urbanism opens opportunities for experimentation and entrepreneurships and it turns the city into a living lab for new business models. It will lead to long-term and strategic urbanism as people will be able, with time, to identify what will shine from their experiences and ideas.
A SHARED SPACE STREET
In order for Sittard to work on its full performance and maintain a strong community, it has to be connected and the Rijksweg wound should be stitched . Rather than completely pedestrianize, we propose to absorb Rijksweg and convert it to a shared space street (woonerf/slow corridor), that is, by integrating all users (cars, pedestrians, bikers), reduce its transit role for vehicles and generate activities. The street then will turn into a vibrant connector for the city with playing a social and economical role. The street will turn into one level surface, one pavement, kerb-free. This will increase drivers attention and they will reduce speed autonomously.
OUTREACH
Our proposal is addressed to the people as much as the city. We are proposing ideas to be adapted by people and reflected, by them, on Sittard. In order to be acheived, the slow philosophy, P2P culture, have to be promoted and disseminated among people at two different levels: Education in schools and Campaigns.
PHYSICAL CATALIST
To announce renewaI and change the atmosphere • Urban furniture and lighting: to improve the comfort of the city, enhance the common spaces and to create a link through urban objects. • Artworks on the facades of vacant premises and empty areas to invite people to occupy them and participate in shaping their city. • Brand: Installation of the city’s name. The installation will have a mirror instead of the second (T) and the letter will be reflected on the mirror, so the whole word can be read. Our choice of the mirror is because it implies meanings such as: “pause, slow down, look around you (what you have), look behind you (your past)”. The mirror can motivate people to approach, interact and take photos.
LAB
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