Aiming to implement mobility solutions developed by the people for the people, Cities-4-People taps into participatory practices of social innovation and neighbourhood governance and builds on three main pillars:

Citizens' participation
Community empowerment
Sustainable urban planning

The piloting area in Budapest is set on the riverbanks of the Danube River and the adjacent public spaces.

The communities and neighbourhoods around the potential locations (Szechenyi Square, Kolosy Square, Germamus Gyula Park, Bem Jozsef Square, Batthyany Square, Dobrentei Square, Műegyetem Quay, Goldmann Gyorgy Square) have been invited to collaborate and co-create urban solutions to create a more liveable urban environment.

Civic engagement is quite a new approach in Hungary. A few districts of Budapest have started civic engagement already.

Decision makers at the Municipality of Budapest, while forming the Smart City Vision and following the long-term Budapest 2030 Strategy, believe in the unique power of community engagement. Community place creation in the Citizen Mobility Lab at the pilot sites will be discussed openly and our project team will involve locals to the co-creation process.

As culture shift takes time, changes may require at least 2 or 3 years. Chances are that engaged followers of the new bottom-up approach face a long journey in Budapest.

C4P Budapest team is eager to find out if the community-centred bottom-up approach proves to be successful in finding solutions to Budapest’s mobility challenges.

Source: 
www.cities4people.eu