'Making more with less: Low-Cost & High-Value Ideas for Cities, José Carlos Mota

1. 'Making more
with less:
Low-Cost &
High-Value
Ideas for Cities’
9th June, Óbidos
José Carlos Mota
Department of Social, Political and
Territorial Science - University of Aveiro
jcmota@ua.pt

2. INTRODUCTION
• The future… small
steps?
• Creative Clusters
Conference
• Óbidos municiality, a
national reference
• Invitation

3. CONTEXT
Crisis (different dimensions)
• Economic/Finantial
• Political
• Social
• Civic
• Spatial & Economic
Development model
The guilty!
Understanding the problem &
doing something about it!

4. CHALLENGES OF
MODERN SOCIETIES -
ROLE OF CITIES!
• The role of Cities and
citizenship to stimulate
economic ‘recovery’!
• The future of Local
Government regarding
‘Troika memorandum’ (‘a
consolidation plan to
reorganise and
significantly reduce the
number of local
government
administration entities’)

5. NEWS WAYS OF
THINKING ABOUT THE
FUTURE (OF CITIES)
• Fixing the future!
• ‘Transition’ vs ‘Recovery’
• Focused on Cities
• Tactical Planning -
Placemaking
• Bottom-up & Grassroots
• Collaborative Rationality
• ‘Knowledge based’

6. MOVIMENTO
CIDADES PELA RETOMA,
REFORMA E TRANSIÇÃO
• Context & Origins
• Organization
• Activities
• Future?

7. MOVIMENTO ‘CIDADES PELA RETOMA, REFORMA E TRANSIÇÃO’
Context & Origins
• The civic initiative 'NO ECONOMIC RECOVERY
WITHOUT CITIES & CITIZENS' (or ‘CIDADES
PELA RETOMA’), based in Portugal, is a
collective challenge to discuss and promote
the role of cities and citizens in the transition
of ‘economic & social’ paradigms
• It departs from the notion that there is a
specific quality of cities that makes social
change possible. The agglomeration of
people, infrastructure and ideas generates
features of innovation, collective action and
mutual gain that other spatial and social
contexts cannot create.

8. MOVIMENTO ‘CIDADES PELA RETOMA, REFORMA E TRANSIÇÃO’
Organization
CITIZENS
ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL
DECISION MAKERS & RESOURCES TECHNOLOGY CULTURE
PROFESSIONALS ENTREPRENEURS &
CITY CIVIC TASK FORCE MANAGERS
SPATIAL PLANNING MOBILITY
multidisciplinar team with
RESEARCHERS ARCHITECTURE ARTISTS
diferent backgrounds MANAGEMENT
DESIGN SOCIOLOGY ECONOMY
MIGUEL BARBOT | RODRIGO CARDOSO | FRANCISCO FLORIDO | VÍTOR SILVA | JOSÉ CARLOS MOTA |
FERNANDO NOGUEIRA | GONÇALO SANTINHA | SUSANA LOUREIRO | CATARINA RODRIGUES | GIL
RIBEIRO | FREDERICO LUCAS | RUI MATOSO |JOÃO SEIXAS | MÁRIO ALVES | BRUNO LAGE | JORGE REIS
EQUIPA VOLUNTEER PONTOC | REDE ‘GLOBAL CITY 2.0’ (BRASIL, ESPANHA, ARGENTINA, EUA, …)

9. MOVIMENTO ‘CIDADES PELA RETOMA, REFORMA E TRANSIÇÃO’
Organization
2.870 10.000
20 220
CIVIC TASK FORCE
PORTO, AVEIRO, COIMBRA,
GUARDA, COVILHÃ,
TORRES VEDRAS, LISBOA,
FARO

10. MOVIMENTO ‘CIDADES PELA RETOMA, REFORMA E TRANSIÇÃO’
Activities
OPORTO, OCT 2010
LISBON, APR 2011
OPORTO, JUN 2011
FARO, DEC 2010; FEB 2011; APR 2011
2011… TORRES VEDRAS, COIMBRA, FARO, …

11. MOVIMENTO ‘CIDADES PELA RETOMA, REFORMA E TRANSIÇÃO’
MEDIA / IMPACT

12. globalcity.blogs.sapo.pt
LOW-COST &
HIGH-VALUE
URBAN ‘GLOBAL CITY 2.0’ ‘GREAT PLACES’
INITIATIVES NETWORK
http://ideasforcities.blogs.sapo.pt/
http://greatplaces.blogs.sapo.pt/
CIDADES PELA RETOMA, REFORMA E TRANSIÇÃO
noeconomicrecoverywithoutcities.blogs.sapo.pt
www.facebook.com/CidadespelaRetoma
groups.google.com/group/cidadespelaretoma
CITIES CIVIC
‘THINK TANK’
AGENDA REPOSITÓRIO
LOCAL PARA CONHECIMENTO
A RETOMA’
agendalocalpelaretoma.blogs.sapo.pt citiescivicthinktank.blogs.sapo.pt

13. MOVIMENTO ‘CIDADES PELA
RETOMA, REFORMA E
TRANSIÇÃO’
Activities
‘GLOBAL CITY 2.0’
• world network to think about the
ROLE OF 'CIVIC CITY MOVEMENTS'
and its potential to transform
cities, specially in these hard
economic times
• '2011 European Year of
Volunteering to promote more
active citizenship’
• Network: Brazil, Argentina, Spain,
USA, Australia, UK, Estonia,
Portugal,
• currently producing a list/map
of ’blogs [or sites] of streets,
neighbourhoods, villages or cities’
promoted by citizens or groups of
citizens that whish to think
collectively about the future of the
places they live and/or work

14. ‘LOW-COST & HIGH-
VALUE IDEAS FOR
CITIES’
• Idea/Concept
• Inspiration
• Examples
• Next steps

15. ‘LOW-COST & HIGH-
VALUE IDEAS FOR
CITIES’
Idea/Concept
• New urban ideas for
economic recovery, reform
and transition;
• Discuss the LOW-COST &
HIGH-VALUE FOR CITIES
concept
• Urban initiatives with
potential for economic
growth, employment,
spatial & social
development

16. ‘LOW-COST & HIGH-
VALUE IDEAS FOR CITIES’
Inspiration
• Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper: A
Low-Cost, High-Impact
Approach (PPS, Eric Reynolds,
Founding Director of Urban
Space Management)
• ‘based on taking incremental
steps, using low-cost
experiments, and tapping into
local talents; smaller-scale
projects implemented in a
variety of environments,
including on streets, squares,
waterfronts, and even parking
lots’
• Similar concepts: Tactical
Urbanism, DIY Urbanism, Pop-up
city;

17. A comunidade a pensar o seu futuro (Lisboa, Porto ou NY);

18. Residências Artísticas em lojas devolutas (1/3/6 meses); Oferecer a montra vazia para a valorização de
um talento ou competência local; com troca de pequenas obras/limpezas;

19. Ateliers artísticos aproveitando fábricas devolutas (Seres – Caldas da Rainha);

20. Habitação Low-Cost (Porto) – estimular mercado de arrendamento nas zonas
antigas das cidades; Co-work (espaços de trabalho colaborativo);

21. Fablab – espaços colectivos de prototipagem rápida;

22. http://www.guerrillagardening.org/
Jardinagem de Guerrilha

23. Hortas comunitárias

24. Jardins amovíveis; Park(ing) Day- espaço público temporário

25. Limpezas
performativas
www.c-e-m.org

26. Re-make (ilustração de textos em espaço público – José Luís Peixoto);

27. ‘communal oven also becomes a focus for social life (“focus” is Latin for “hearth”), a place to
gather and gossip and escape the solitude of cooking at home’

28. Vias Recreativas aos domingos;

29. Espaços públicos temporários – NY

30. Espaços públicos temporários – NY

31. ‘LOW-COST & HIGH-
VALUE IDEAS FOR CITIES’
Next steps:
• Mapping ‘low-cost & high-value’
ideas for cities
• Network
• New site: sharing ideas
• International conference
• Crowdfunding

32. Final
• We can’t wait for miracles!
• The crisis can be an
opportunity to think
collectively about the future, a
different future!
• This is not their (politicians)
problem, it’s our problem!
• But we need (new?) local
leadership to engage this
urban / civic / knowledge /
entrepreneurship potential to
answer new challenges!

33. More information:
No economic Recovery without Cities | Cidades pela Retoma
http://noeconomicrecoverywithoutcities.blogs.sapo.pt/
http://groups.google.pt/group/cidadespelaretoma
http://www.facebook.com/CidadespelaRetoma
Global City 2.0 (City Civic Movement Network)
http://globalcity.blogs.sapo.pt/
https://www.facebook.com/GlobalCityTwoPointZero
Low-Cost & High-Value Ideas for Cities
http://ideasforcities.blogs.sapo.pt/
https://www.facebook.com/IdeasforCities
Great Places
http://greatplaces.blogs.sapo.pt/
https://www.facebook.com/CitiesGreatPlaces
email: cidadespelaretoma@gmail.com |
globalcitytwopointzero@gmail.com