IFHP together with INTI and Placemakers is pleased to announce an Open Call for participation in a public-space making research lab in Nairobi, Kenya. The “Making Cities Together - planners becoming placemakers” project is looking for dynamic international urbanists- - ranging from urban designers, planners and social scientists to architects and other creatives with experience in co-designing public spaces to join the lab from the 4th to the 8th of May 2015 in Nairobi.

Making Cities Together is a think and action-tank initiative by Placemakers, INTI and IFHP.  Each partner brings specialized knowledge and different insights to the table with a shared commitment to more integrated and just public space in Nairobi.

 Placemaking in Nairobi

In Nairobi, public spaces suffer from degradation, overcrowding, and insecurity, thereby denying city residents access to much-needed community, recreation and leisure facilities.

Last year, Placemakers and the Technical University of Kenya conducted a citywide inventory of socio-spatial participatory planning initiatives in Nairobi. The outcome indicated that Nairobi’s citizens are leaders in participatory urban development and using the Placemaking approach to solve this public space crisis. The initiatives explored during this inventory phase are building truly inspiring public places. However, these efforts face multiple challenges and often lack access to local expertise.

How can we improve these spaces? And how can we empower communities and organizations to improve the quality of their environments? For the project ‘Making Cities Together’ we invite you to co-create inclusive spaces in Nairobi. The ultimate goal of the research lab is to create a framework for practical Placemaking strategies at the city scale. These strategies will then be actualized on one site to act as a case for benchmarking. http://us6.campaign-archive1.com/?u=7fda38539ba4f22023f658bb4&id=753d30e64d