Christopher Choa, Founder of Outcomist chaired the first Cities for Citizens debate of MIPIM 2022, joined by an expert panel which included Kim Herforth Nielsen, Founder and Creative Director of 3XN/GXN Architects; Gregory Doucet, Mayor of Lyon; Pascal Smet, Secretary of State of the Brussels-Capital Region; Guillemette Colombe, head of consultations at Make.org and Begoña VIllacís Sanchéz, deputy mayor of Madrid.
Kim Herforth Nielsen, 3XN/GXN began the discussion by emphasising the importance of nature in cities: “People are moving to cities more and more. By 2050 most people will be living in cities - outside of nature. This is why we must bring nature into cities.”
Begoña Villacís Sanchéz echoed this point, as she said: “We are living in the century of cities… local authorities have never been more important – we hear the problems first, we see the problems first.” The deputy mayor also spoke about Madrid’s plans to surround the city with a forest of trees native to Madrid, and how she plans for residents of Madrid to have a personal connection to this forest.
Pascal Smet of Brussels Capital Region made a passionate point on making people happy, saying; “People were against it [making car-free zones] but we’ve improved air quality, quality of life and city life… we made people dream and we listened to the people who weren’t speaking.”
Participation was a key element of this discussion, with Guillemette Colombearguing that “If you include citizens in plans you make better decisions – they will be more practical and better adopted.” She also shared some best practice, which included:
- Break down barriers for participation and consultation – make it easier for those you don’t always hear to contribute
- Be impact driven and highly transparent
The Mayor of Lyon, Gregory Doucet, ended the session by providing insights into the first participatory budget scheme launched yesterday in Lyon. The participatory budget will allow citizens to propose any plans for the benefit of their locality – green spaces, parks, car parks… Crucially, Doucet emphasized that: "Building cities for citizens requires building cities with citizens"
