Social Initiatives As a Means of Participation in The

Annals of Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW Horticulture and Landscape Architecture No 36, 2015: 57–69 (Ann. Warsaw Univ. Life Sci. – SGGW, Horticult. Landsc. Architect. 36, 2015) Social initiatives as a means of participation in the transformation of city space MONIKA DOMANOWSKA* Mazovian Branch of the Polish Landscape Architects Association, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW Abstract: Social initiatives as a means of par- current social needs in recreating city ticipation in the transformation of city space. space. We may regard these initiatives as A review is made of selected social interventions something of a “¿ rst-aid kit” for urban having the goal of improving the quality of the landscape in Warsaw. The chosen case studies problems – in many cases social initia- also illustrate a typology of social activities car- tives are the ¿ rst step towards transform- ried out to improve city public spaces and green- ing city spaces in need of modernization. ery. The initiatives have taken place during the We can see that organized initiatives take past several years, starting from 2007 (the year place mainly in two kinds of city spaces: of the ¿ rst known social action to improve the landscape: “Dotleniacz/Oxygenator”, created by ¿ rstly in the most degraded city areas, Joanna Rajkowska). Since that time there has including residential neighbourhoods, been a noticeable increase in social expectations and secondly in the most representative in many areas of life, including the creation of city public spaces. This gives an indi- public city space. From the second half of the ¿ rst cation of what is important to citizens: decade of the 21st century we can observe more ¿ rstly a pleasant place to live, followed and more social initiatives which may be considered a reaction to the low quality of Polish city by space to spend time outside the home. space. The presented examples illustrate a trend It can also be clearly observed that many for the transformation of city space by means of of these actions include the moderniza- actions organized by nongovernmental organiza- tion of existing green areas and planting tions and non-associated activists. of new greenery1. These small-scale in- Key words: city landscape, social activities in the public space, social activities for landscaping, so- 1 These need basic knowledge about ecosystem cial participation, urban gardening services and green infrastructure theory – the two most contemporary theories on how greenery INTRODUCTION (and ecosystems on a larger scale) are perceived in human life. Ecosystem services are the bene¿ ts Nongovernmental organizations and provided by ecosystems that contribute to making foundations, which are the main organ- human life both possible and worth living. Ac- izers of various social activities in cit- cording to the European Commission’s de¿ nition ies, show through their actions the most of green infrastructure, greenery in the city is also a tool to increase the quality of life. Social bene¿ ts of green infrastructure include, for example: bet- ter health and human well-being, more attractive, * e-mail: [email protected] greener cities, higher property values and local 58 M. Domanowska terventions, of which the main idea is to 2014]. The selected examples indicate recreate city space with greenery, shows the needs and expectations of citizens how important for residents (on the basic concerning the modernization of degrad- level of needs) is contact with nature2. ed areas. They also show that increasing Observation of spontaneous actions in the amount and quality of greenery in the city space can provide an excellent the city is seen as one of the best tools to opportunity to obtain knowledge on improve the city space. how to create smarter and more pleas- The political backdrop to the problem ant cities. According to the New Charter is that since the ¿ rst decade of the 21st of Athens 2003 we can distinguish four century there has been a rapid increase main trends in changes in the city: so- in the interest of city inhabitants in trans- cial and political changes, economic and forming and improving their own place technological changes, environmental of living. There are several reasons why changes, and urban changes. Under each local activism has begun to gain popu- of these categories, the expected inÀ u- larity in Polish cities. First, Polish acces- ence on cities is considered – both for sion to the European Union has opened citizens and planners. These trends are a new period of social participation. also seen in social city interventions. The new political situation and opening We consider here selected social inter- of borders gave Poles a sense of equal ventions carried out since 2004 of which opportunity with the countries of West- the goal was to improve the landscape of ern Europe, and the end of the period Warsaw. The presented examples of so- of Poland’s association with the coun- cial initiatives show how great is the im- tries of Eastern Europe. Another reason pact of small-scale interventions on the is the increase in knowledge about the quality of living in the city. Nongovern- Polish spatial planning system, partly mental organizations, through their ac- because of educational social initiatives. tions, highlight the most pressing issues The next step to increasing opportuni- for urban residents. It has been observed ties for public participation in shaping that one of the causes of social activa- the landscape of the city was the creation of the city’s residents is a reaction tion in 2009 of a Commission for Social to the gradual degradation of Warsaw’s Dialogue at various of¿ ces of the City of urban spaces in four areas: physical, so- Warsaw (as well as in other Polish cit- cial, aesthetic and natural [Domanowska ies, for example Kraków and àódĨ). This is an advisory body for the city authori- distinctiveness, enhanced tourism and recreation ties, and may include individual residents opportunities (from the European Commission and representatives of nongovernmental brochure “Building a Green Infrastructure for organizations and foundations (during Europe”, European Union, 2013). meetings, a given range of current issues 2 For basic information about the psychologi- cal impact of greenery on city residents, see relating to the commission’s area of inter- A. Baum, P. Bell, T. Greene, 2004, “Environmen- est are discussed). The Commission for tal Psychology”, GdaĔskie Wydawnictwo Psy- Social Dialogue is one of the ¿ rst steps in chologiczne, GdaĔsk. Social initiatives as a means of participation in the transformation... 59 the creation of a civic society. Public par- Only a few of the mapped interven- ticipation in the urban planning decision- tions were selected for inclusion in this -making process, respected by the author- article. All of them took place in Warsaw ities, forms part of the broader concept of over the past eight years. The interven- democracy [SiemiĔski 2007]. tions described here were chosen because of their diversity, the goal being to MATERIALS AND METHODS illustrate the full range of participatory The materials which were used to pre- activities for landscaping. The material pare a review of social activities having analyzed consisted of inventoried social an impact on city landscape quality were initiatives which took place in: collected by the author through her work Ɣ city parks – 23 social initiatives; for nongovernmental organizations in Ɣ green private gardens and terraces – 2007–2013. The starting point of the – 32 social initiatives; period of study is de¿ ned by the ¿ rst Ɣ green streets and city squares – 45 so- known social action to improve the land- cial initiatives. scape: “Dotleniacz/Oxygenator”, created The cities with most inventoried ini- by Joanna Rajkowska. tiatives were Warsaw (33 initiatives), Basic materials for the article were Kraków (9 initiatives), GdaĔsk (8 ini- gathered by the author by mapping and tiatives), àódĨ (13 initiatives), PoznaĔ describing (based on the same question- (12 initiatives), and Zielona Góra, Wro- naire) more than one hundred social cáaw, Olsztyn, Opole, Lublin and Biaáy- interventions on the Map of Social In- stok (a total of 27 initiatives). terventions3. The mapped interventions were required to ful¿ ll several conditions RESULTS – A TYPOLOGY OF (Appendix): PARTICIPATORY ACTIVITIES FOR Ɣ they took place in Polish city public LANDSCAPING space or in city parks or squares (so- On the basis of the Map of Social In- -called activities for landscaping); terventions described in the previous Ɣ they were a social response to city section, it was possible to construct space degradation (activities such as a typology of participatory activities for city space modernization, creation of landscaping. Types of participatory ac- new public green areas, increasing of tivities for landscaping were also iden- the amount of greenery in the city); ti¿ ed on the basis of the most popular Ɣ they took place after 2004; theory in social participation: the ladder 4 Ɣ they involved the participation of lo- of social participation [Arnstein 1969] . cal inhabitants. 4 In the typology, social participation is divided 3 The map was prepared by Monika Domanowska into 8 levels, in three groups. The levels are ar- for the Sendzimir Foundation and is published on ranged from the lowest social participation up to the Foundation’s webpage: http://www.uslugie- the 8 level, called citizens’ control. Every level kosystemow.pl/?q=mapa. shows how great an impact citizens can have in 60 M. Domanowska Landscaping activities carried out by and an educational impact (im- nongovernmental organizations are of pact on the creation of a civic so- two main types: those with short-term ciety); impact and those with long-term impact Ɣ modernization of public spaces for local citizens. We can also distin- such as green spaces, housing guish actions which relate to a speci¿ c estates, residential courtyards, location in city space from those that do parks, green spaces and cemeter- not, as in the case of many education- ies – such actions can inÀ uence al activities.

Load more