Making Better Cities Together
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Making Better Cities Together Municipal Spatial Planning Support Programme (MuSPP) Issue No. 03/07 • June 2007 EDEditorialITORIAL This issue of the newsletter focus- has been approved. This is an impor- cal players more closely. The key word es on visioning. A long-term vision for tant milestone. Peja/Pec has also cre- is ‘integrated planning’. We will discuss the future of a city is a crucial element ated a long-term vision, which is incor- more on this topic in future newslet- in planning for sustainable development porated in their plan. However, the plan ters. and improving the life of its citizens. is not the end and a plan as such will Similar to the motto of the programme not make things happen. It is now plan- ‘Making Better Cities Together’, a ‘bet- ning (for implementation) that matters, ter’ vision is about producing a vision rather than the plan. People are the im- together. A vision is not just a future portant factor in planning and the ca- dream, but a long-term perspective that talyser or implementers of change and takes into account the municipality’s as- development. Political will and support sets, opportunities and doesn’t ignore are crucial for real change to happen. its problems and challenges. And of Also recently UN-HABITAT and UITP, course, dreaming is part of it too. While various informal peer learning ac- the International Association for Public tivities are initiated among municipali- Transport, have signed a Memorandum ties and prove encouraging, this edition of Understanding. Both organisations offers a window on one of the formal aim at strengthening cooperation for peer-to-peer fora such as the Kosovo- support to sustainable urban transport wide Conference on the State of Play for urban areas in general and to public of Municipal and Urban Development transport in particular. In addition, the Plans. 21st UN-HABITAT Governing Council led to various resolutions reflecting a most These aspects are witnessed by stake- needed support to engaging urban holders from our counterpart munici- youth in development and strengthen- palities. Articles by CEOs, planners and ing local authorities and decentralisa- civil society representatives are insight- tion among other. ful contributions reflecting different angles on the very diverse 4-day vision- I hope that this newsletter provides ing experiences. A special feature was inspiration for all Kosovo municipalities the participation of citizens through the At the time of writing, the EU has ad- and that it will lead to the advancement informal councils of civil society, estab- opted the ‘Leipzig Charter’. For the first of envisioning events, both in informal lished as part of the planning process. time, ministers at the Informal Coun- as well as formal fora and become an We thank all the authors for their valu- cil of Ministers for Urban Development integral part of their municipal develop- able contributions. and Territorial Cohesion have signed a ment process. text laying down guiding principles for The municipal development plan of urban development. This goes hand in Elisabeth Belpaire, Peja/Pec is the first one in Kosovo that hand with new governance involving lo- CTA/Programme Manager PEJA /PEC HAS MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN (MDP) AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT PLAN (UDP) On May 14th 2007, Peja/Pec Municipal received the consent from the Ministry ral Planning and all the participants who Assembly approved the MDP and UDP of Environment and Spatial Planning and contributed to the successful completion for 2006-2025.“These plans have vital are regarded to be in accordance with the of these plans, while emphasizing that importance for the economic develop- Kosovo Spatial Plan. Peja/Pec was the first municipality to ment and protection of the environment finalise these development plans and and the cultural-historical heritage of the On this occasion, Ali Lajçi, the Mayor, ac- would be a model for the other Koso- municipality”, it was said in the Municipal knowledged the work of the Directorate van municipalities. Assembly. The above mentioned plans of the Environment and Urban and Ru- Source: www.peja-komuna.org 2 MuSPP NEWSLETTER 3/07 • June 2007 IN FOCUS A CITY NEEDS A VISION A tolerant, contemporary, prosper- and succeeded at bringing together ous, clean, green, and accessible riv- civil society and government represen- erside city that provides economic, tatives. However the approaches, use, educational and cultural opportunities outcomes and results were diverse. and an environment attractive to all. They reflected those involved, the spe- cific municipal planning and political An attractive place with dynamic de- context, the stage of the planning pro- velopment; Regional terminal; An cess and the conducive environment open city with perspective; Bridge and openness of various actors. The for economic, and cultural develop- collective intention from participants ment; a port to the mountains; a to “hand over” their vision to the deci- place with unique bifurcation and rec- sion makers was a common element reation. An integrative city between in all the workshops. It is important capitals; a place with investment po- to note here that developing a vision tentials for its citizens; an ecological and handing over that vision to deci- friendly city where it is worth of living. sion makers, develops and strength- ens the civil society as well as giving These are in a nutshell the vision state- them sense of ownership of that vision. ments, for Mitrovicë/Mitrovica (North and South) and Ferizaj/Urosevac, We also want to put theory into action Once a vision is drafted, a successful drafted by civil society representatives, and learning practices. So far MuSPP communication and pubic debate is in collaboration with city planners. has organised 4 vision workshops, to- necessary for reaching broader com- gether with the municipalities, local mitment within the entire community. Visioning is an activity that brings NGO’s and informal councils of civil This gives the vision wider publicity citizens and stakeholders together to society. Participating municipalities and keeps it alive. Monitoring and re- shape a common vision for the future namely Mitrovica, Ferizaj/Urosevac, porting the achievements regularly to of their community (municipality, city, Gjilan/Gnjilane and Prizren, used the the public is crucial to transforming the town or village). The goal is to derive workshops as an opportunity to under- vision into reality. A Vision for a City is written and visualized statements of a take reconciliatory efforts and to define not static; it should be revised or even community’s long term goals and stra- the local development vision in col- replaced by a new vision, whenever tegic objectives for sustainable urban laboration with civil society organisa- the circumstances of planning have and spatial planning. tions. The workshops provided a train- changed profoundly. ing opportunity for the participants, as Visioning is clearly a work in prog- With a special Leaflet “Visioning of your well as a platform for building trust. It ress to be continued in the other two City”, we want to promote the concept also broadened the participant’s hori- “MuSPP-municipalities” and eventually of Visioning as a crucial element in local zon. These envisioning events were an all over Kosovo. inclusive spatial planning processes, ap- eye- and-mind opener. The workshops plicable to all municipalities in Kosovo. followed a similar structure. All aimed MuSPP Team MuSPP NEWSLETTER 03/ 07 • June 2007 MUNICIPAL CORNER A FLIGHT INTO THE FUTURE OF A TOWN Impressions from the workshop on visioning of Ferizaj/Urosevac involving municipality and civil society representatives “We would be very happy if we could create a new image for our city, we would be very happy if, tomorrow, this image becomes part of the identity of a new Ferizaj/Urosevac” During three days of our stay in Ohrid, we were, perhaps, its weirdest resi- dents. Whereas the people of Ohrid tended to their daily business by the lake, we, a group of people from Fer- izaj/Urosevac, had flown into the fu- ture of our town by creating visions for it. We should have been good pelicans to fill in the imaginary space that opened up in front of us. We knew that it was not going to be easy for us, moreover we felt that questions were being raised, such as:”why are you go- ing to Ohrid“, or “look, look you want to become architects, huh?” But we broke the ice and we opened the memory book of the town, in cor- ners of forgotten memory we started noting the emergence of images of parks, swimming pools, steel bridge, etc. We started identifying distinctive correct enough. Somewhat late in time In fact it did seem to us full of dust, features, we placed the bifurcation of and space, we understood the sense very narrow and noisy. A couple of days the river at the center of the town, and of creating maps, of towns, something later, we made our visions public, they its branches followed the road juncture very futuristic. In fact, we became part covered our town as unknown clouds. and were making space to terminal. of a planning effort, part of a contem Some did not bother, others started Words such as productive, ecological, porary concept of the citizen being par saying “you did great; this town must mobile, modern, jewel, golden, green … ticipant in the construction and plan- have an identity”. We, very humble, to were at the heart of our thoughts in an ning of its town. “Making Better Cities some extent because we took the attempt to create a city identity. Our vi- Together” is the slogan of this concept responsibility, continue to be part of the sions looked like a fog on the lake in the promoted by the UN-HABITAT pro- drafting of the municipal and urban de- early morning hours.