Best Practices Around the World: Some Suggestions for European Cities

Abstract

In addition to European experiences, which are often trapped within consolidated paths, in other parts of the world, some cities are opening up to welcoming experimental forms of small-scale bottom-up urban planning. Questions related to social sustainability are in many cases the bearers of innovation outside of conventional urban planning and design paths. The examples of North American cities rely a lot on experimentation through close involvement with civil society, which assumes responsibility for the city’s living spaces, becoming a promoter of health-based initiatives, even from the economic point of view. Experimentation in the field is frequently accompanied by guidelines and tools charged with providing technical offices and designers with orientations rather than rigid rules. In addition, the impression is that it is the context that guides the interventions, avoiding simplistic, ineffective generalizations. With all the differences among the situations, health and urban planning are also themes addressed by South American cities. In many cases, they deal with approaches that are specifically health related and aimed at guaranteeing a minimum level of services, especially in the very diffuse areas of contemporary urban “informality” (vilas, favelas, etc.).