Transcript Ljubljana – a World City

Ljubljana – a World City…?
Ljubljana – a World City
•The first FCG played in Slovenia.
•Connected to the Royal Visit as a part of its programme.
Background:
Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.
The parliamentary elections showed the voting split between
Ljubljana and the rest of the coutry. So, how is Ljubljana
related to Slovenia? What is its role? Should this be its
primary concern or should the city rather look at raising its
profile in a wider context?
Can Ljubljana, therefore, cope with the future and keep up the
pace with other cities? Can it become…
…a world city??
Purpose
The Future City Game focused on Ljubljana a whole.
Teams were challenged to come up with ideas that would in
ten year’s time make Ljubljana a better place to live and work
in and help it to become a world city.
Partners
The game was co-organised with the Department for Urban
Planning at Ljubljana Municipality and Institute for Spatial
Planning Policies.
Success Indicators:
- enabling city administration to gain an interesting insight into the
residents’ views, wishes, and ideas about improving the quality of life in
the city;
- changing mindset of involved Ljubljana community members in ways
of promoting public participation in decision making
- learning to have to come to a winning idea in a team
Location:
Ljubljana – initially Ljubljana Castle with a top view of the city,
later moved to the centrally positioned venue, for
convenience of the RC.
Players:
22 players –urban planners, players from CI sector –
architects, designers, artists, advertisers, new media
editors…, awa university departments’ staff, sociologists,
NGOs, cultural institutions… businessmen and young
politicians.
Winning idea: Do - Undo
Cities evolve; buildings stay the same and mark the cities for a long time.
What can the residents do, if the decision to build something was not a
good one? Even though the team’s idea of a democratically implemented
destruction of buildings seems to be a bit anarchistic, it poses questions
of responsibility, city’s evolvement, etc. The idea is that all the above
mentioned involved parties decide which buildings no longer serve their
purpose and can be demolished; they are then put to a vote. The one that
receives the most votes goes down in a spectacular way, making space
for something better..
-
A case for a greater inclusion of city residents into decision-making by
establishing an online collaboration space, bringing together residents,
city reps, architects, planners, investors, city visitors, etc. The idea
encourages civic actions by engaging the residents in urban interventions.
Challenges
•
The future of co-operation with LJ City Municipality depended on success
of the FCG.
•
Balancing FCG goals with the hype around RV.
•
Additional organisational pressure and compromises due to RV.
Opportunities
•
Utilise the media interest (local and the UK) for promotion of FCG and
Creative Cities project.
•
Attracted high profile players, jury members and other participants.
•
Put FCG on a map with a bang.
Quote of Janez Koželj, Ljubljana Vice-Mayor
"The Future City game is a welcome tool that comes in time. I see its
special strength in two things.
One is changing mindset of us, as well as Ljubljana community members in
ways of promoting public participation in decision making .
The second is that we Slovenes are strong individuals and the way we 'do'
ideas is that everyone comes to the table with their own already developed
idea, saying 'This is it!' and then doesn't move an inch from it. So learning to
have to come to a winning idea in a team, through a well managed method
and a process, surely felt a surprise, or even a shock to some people. But it
is good for them."
Thank you!