Sample from the book: How to Design a Fair Shared City? (Illustration: Andrea Safarikova)
What is a Fair Shared City?
In Central Europe, the architectural and urban planning practice usually serves well those who are healthy and economically active. But when we consider demographics, working and economically active people only make up just over half of urban population. Senior citizens and young people under 18 years of age complete the whole. Trends also show that our population is ageing and when we overlay gender and ethnicity, the user groups significantly diverge. Each of them has different needs.
How do we ensure a city that offers a fair-share to everyone?
Maria Vassilakou, a popular deputy mayor of Vienna, says that social sensitivity is essential in ensuring quality of urban living for the future. We have to create resilient urban structures that provide open-ended possibilities and scope for action in inner cities and new urban development zones. 1
The first publication of WPS Prague, How to Design a Fair Shared City? offers 8 simple and captivating stories of different heroes representing wider user groups of our population. Stories of a girl, a mother, an elderly woman or a couple, kids or common visitors using high profile urban areas remind us of daily situations when design by default can be a significant obstacle. On the other hand, it offers solutions on how thoughtful design can significantly improve the quality of urban life - with no extra costs necessary.
This publication has been developed in close cooperation with Heinrich Boll Foundation in Prague and is dedicated to architects, urban planners, politicians, anthropologists and a wider public with an interest in urban design. We hope it will spark a deeper understanding of design impacts in our everyday lives. We also hope that while reading it you will have fun, find an interest and pass it on. Get your free copy of the book here: