Inclusive – Participatory – Feminist Urban Planning
We envision a city that includes us all, a city where different needs and desires co-exist, and in which we all feel comfortable and safe. For the city to respond to the variety of needs and desires of its people, we all need to actively participate in its social and spatial development.
Our projects aim to guarantee the right to the city for all. For this, we are utilizing contemporary methods and interdisciplinary approaches, focusing on highlighting gender perspective, inclusion, and participation in the (re)design of the contemporary urban spaces.
URBANA is a Civil Non-Profit Partnership, consisting of architects, engineers, social scientists, and educators, founded in 2019 in Athens, Greece.
Inclusive
In order to regenerate our cities, we have to work together. As URBANA we aim to create an inclusive context where we provide equal opportunities and empower people from different and diverse backgrounds and identities to take action and express their needs and desires from the city.
Participatory
If we want our urban interventions to be socially sustainable, last long, and have a real impact on the everyday lives of people, they have to derive from participatory processes. In URBANA we are designing participatory methodologies and tools in an interdisciplinary way (combining approaches and tools derived by social sciences and architecture/urban planning), inspired by meaningful participatory processes that take place in cities all over the world. Participatory urban planning is a new approach for urban regeneration in the Greek context, this is why we focus a lot on raising awareness about its benefits.
Feminist
Women are still the main providers of caring work (taking care of children, old persons, the household, etc). According to the last national statistic (ELSTAT, 2017), in Greece women dedicate 4 times more time than men for caring work. This kind of work creates differentiated needs and desires in the city. However, the needs and desires of women have not been taken into account when our cities were planned, thereby limiting women’s access to economic and social development (World Bank, 2020). The feminist perspective puts the everyday life of people in the center of urban planning. It also brings into consideration the needs of other sensitive but still marginalized groups, such as children and the elderly.