Type

blogs

Kota Kita’s Notes from the World Urban Forum 11

Vanesha Manuturi
Thu, 18 Aug 2022

From the 26th to the 30th of June 2022, the Kota Kita team attended the 11th session of the World Urban Forum in the city of Katowice, Poland. During the five-day event, together with partners, we joined several networking events and other activities. The opportunity to reconnect with the global urban network to discuss critical issues and innovative solutions from various cities around the world certainly gave us a lot of inspiration to reflect on what we have been doing at home and what can be further developed in Indonesia and Asia. Here are some notes from Vanesha Manuturi and Fildzah Husna, who just returned from Poland to represent Kota Kita at WUF 11.

 

Key Strategic Issue: Inclusive Public Space

One of our key agendas this year is to promote, advocate for, and address critical questions surrounding citizens' meaningful participation in the city's design and maintenance of public spaces. Public space is a vital urban feature that can advance mutual trust, cooperation, and solidarity among individuals, groups, and communities while contributing to significant economic and environmental benefits. Kota Kita believes in the notion of an inclusive public space that is accessible, safe, and comfortable for all and possesses a multipurpose function that can accommodate various community activities and lead to multiple benefits for the common good. We believe this can be achieved through a community-centric design process that cultivates the active participation of under-resourced communities to improve their living spaces. We were proud to bring this key agenda to WUF 11 through our involvement in various events and also by connecting with experts and practitioners related to public spaces practices from all around the world.

 

Our Highlights

How do we create cities that are safe for children and vulnerable groups? Let’s involve them!

  • Kota Kita announced the publication of an article titled "What Do the Students Want? Reflections from a Participatory Approach to Creating Safe and Inclusive School Zones in Banjarmasin, Indonesia" Iain McKinnon from GDI Hub announcing the publication of a special edition of the Journal of Public Spaces.in a special edition of the Journal of Public Space at a press conference at WUF 11. The article details our experiences and key takeaways from our work with elementary and middle school kids in Banjarmasin in 2019. Read the journal here.
  • We joined a session organized by the Real Play Coalition and heard from many organizations about their experiences creating play places for kids. The main message of the session — that spaces are meant not only for play but also designed to enable children’s participation in learning about their surroundings and contribute to environmental sustainability —  certainly serves as a valuable lesson for Kota Kita's ongoing and future work.

 

Public space and its relation to broader ecological problems and solutions

We highlighted our experiences developing inclusive public spaces in Sungai Jingah (Banjarmasin) and Kali Pepe (Solo) in a session discussing PEARLS, or People Centred and Resilient Spaces Related to Urban Rivers. The session provided an excellent opportunity for us to share stories and learn from initiatives in Nairobi (Kenya), Oslo (Norway), and Barranquilla (Colombia). It also inspired further reflection on how more holistic design, which considers ecological balance on a greater scale, can ensure meaningful citizen participation in the process.

 


Promoting the democratization of public funds to create inclusive public places

Using more participatory approaches in developing public infrastructure can encourage openness in the use of funds and development implementation. On a broader scale, it could also foster a strong sense of ownership over the programs and spaces that come from it.

In a networking event hosted by ENDA Ecopop, we discussed the practice of Musrenbang (the participatory planning and budgeting system in Indonesia) and its promise amid stagnation in participation in Indonesia. Inspired by such diverse practices and pilot projects utilizing participatory methods highlighted in various sessions at WUF 11, we reflect on the strategies used to ensure that more city governments can adopt these initiatives as alternative forms of infrastructure implementation.