categories

participative development


Why citizens participation in urban planning and building projects?

Empowerment is about people taking control over their lives: setting their own agendas, developing skills, solving problems and increasing their self-confidence. Participative development is an ideal tool to empower individual citizens and communities. Institutions can facilitate this by providing an environment that encourages and appreciates public participation. Public participation is both a means and an end. As a means, it is a process through which citizens and communities cooperate to provide input into programs and projects. As an end, it empowers citizens and communities through the acquisition of skills, knowledge and experience. In itself, involvement in public life is a positive outcome as it contributes to a strong civil society. It also means decision and policy makers can utilize the contributions of citizens.
Participation ranges from the provision of information, to involvement through consultation, collaboration, decision-making and implementation. Citizens who care enough about their community and environment to contribute to the process of decision making are the essence of a more open society.

The CITYMIX foundation is a non-profit project development organization for social urban projects. We develop live-work buildings and business networks for the creative industry and for artists. These collective buildings include community spaces and public services in accordance with the urban vision of the foundation ‘De Vrije Ruimte’ in Amsterdam (www.vrijeruimte.nl). These live-work projects are also positioned as ‘hatch places’ for artists and creatives in accordance with the definition of the ‘Project Management Office Amsterdam’ (www.broedplaatsamsterdam.nl).

VISION AND MISSION
Our vision is to create new cultural values through social urban projects. The CITYMIX mission is to initiate, support, develop and implement group building projects. In particularly building projects for groups of cultural entrepreneurs (artists, designers, traditional businesses, service providers and technical experts), directed on living and working together for synergy effects. Moreover that there is room for groups, that partly constitute a subculture, with their own economy, that is not in the first place directed on commercial success.

The CITYMIX organisation is involved in all stages of the participative development process of group building projects. Our integral approach leads to a flexible project approach. Participative development is all about flexibility by co-creating. The main difference with traditional project development is that we first build a network of future users to participate in the development process. Network development comes first, the building process evolves from that.