4 UCLG PUBLIC SPACE POLICY FRAMEWORK
FOREWORD: PUBLIC SPACES MATTER FOR UCLG JOSÉ FORTUNATI Mayor Porto Alegre
ZANDILE GUMEDE Mayor Ethekwini Municipality (Durban)
WE AS LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD find ourselves at very interesting times, whilst we face severe challenges and crises, we also are energised by the prospect of the New Urban Agenda and the critical role that local governments would play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. As local governments, we have a clear responsibility for promoting development that is sustainable and an urban future that is brighter and prosperous for all. As we move ahead, it is apparent that the immediate surrounding environment influences the well-being of all citizens, including vulnerable groups. Public spaces are a common good, a public asset of high value with a direct impact on the quality of life of citizens. Building on our responsibility, urban policies should be developed at the local government level to address people’s needs. As part of our commitment as co-presidents of the UCLG Committee on Urban Strategic Planning, we have always strived to connect the global urban agenda to our cities’ realities and engage in dialogues and campaigns in our cities across our networks. Public spaces provide an immediate opportunity for local government leaders to share and learn from others. • PORTO ALEGRE: Our extensive experience in participatory practices, mostly in the areas of public space development, allows us to testify to the value of promoting democratic interactions in our city. Transparency is a key principle in the city’s management model, accounting for the strategic and transversal role of public spaces in urban policies and our recent strategy around
city resilience. Our streets have been gradually changing over time from spaces dedicated to mobility to areas used for people to gather and interact. Communities organize markets, fairs, and activities such as cycling events, to name a few.
•DURBAN: The Durban experience on public space varies across the different departments that we have. One of the experiences that we share with our international counterparts is the policy for street vending which reflects a continuous process of negotiations between the public and private interest in the use of our public spaces. The city has a clear strategy that promotes and encourages local economic development opportunities in public spaces which is based on an appropriate mix of policy, planning and regulations. The city has also recently embarked on an ambitious and very successful program of developing seven new parks in seven days. Public spaces in our city is seen to be a catalyst for social cohesion, which is one of the city’s long term strategic priority. The Committee on Urban Strategic Planning has been actively involved over the past 6 years influencing the development of the New Urban Agenda. For the coming years, we hope to consolidate all the progress achieved, be open to new challenges and possible solutions, and keep on sharing our experiences in an ongoing learning process worldwide. We would also like to encourage cities to actively use this policy framework to inform the development, review and/or the amendment of their localized public space policies or other policies which can have a public space component (e.g. climate change action plan can have a public space component, etc.). Our cities have benefitted immensely through the development of the policy framework and we would like this framework to energize local governments globally in order to develop policies that promote people centred public spaces.