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PlacemakingX was excited to have its global launch at the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, along with many regional placemaking network leaders and global placemaking thought leaders.
Building on a rich history of public space action and advocacy, Placemaking leaders have spent the last ten years collaborating with UN-Habitat on projects, publications, trainings and many global conferences to make public spaces, public markets, and placemaking a fundamental part of the New Urban Agenda—all topics which had been underrepresented in the global development dialogue until introduced in the 2011 resolution on Public Spaces and the subsequent launch of UN-Habitat’s global public space program.
With recent “Placemaking Weeks” occurring in many corners of the world, regional networks are stepping up to help lead the placemaking movement. As the conversation focuses on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, placemaking is being seen as an indispensable tool to bring together the many causes and disciplines necessary to making our cities safer (especially for women and girls), more sustainable, more resilient, and more just.
Sunday, 9 February 2020, 4:30 – 6:30 PM (GST)
Networking Event 29, Hall 2, Room 9
Abu Dhabi Exhibition Center, Abu Dhabi
Introduction to the Placemaking Movement and PlacemakingX
Ethan Kent, Co-director, PlacemakingX, New York, USA
Placemaking Latinoamerica
Mariana Alegre, Lima Como Vamos, Lima Peru
Placemaking India
Phaeba Thomas, South Asia at HealthBridge Foundation of Canada
Amaken Placemaking Network(MENA)
Galal Abada, Humanizing Cities
Placemakers ASEAN
Jia Ping, Think CITY, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Placemaking Australasia
Dyan Currie, Chief of Planning, Brisbane, UN Habitat Stakeholder Advisory Group, Chair of Commonwealth Planners Association, Brisbane, Australia
Placemaking Europe
Maciej Zacher, Skawina, Poland
Placemaking Africa
Mark Ojal, UN Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya
Moderated discussion by Guillermo Bernal, PlacemakingX, Placemaking Latino America, Lugares Publicos, Mexico City, Mexico
The Power of Placemaking — Muna Mustafa Eltahir, Ph.D., Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering Sciences Omdurman Islamic University, Khartoum, Sudan
Placemaking for Academia
Emily Silverman, PlacemakingX
Streets as Places
Kristie Daniels, Health Bridge Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Market Cities
Steve Davies, Project for Public Spaces, New York, USA
Place Led Governance for Arab Cities
Nadine Bitar Chahine - Placemaking, ME, Dubai, UAE
Place Management
Jon Kher Kaw, Urbanscapes Group, World Bank, Washington, DC
Placemaking for the New Urban Agenda
Michael Mehaffey, Future of Places, Stockholm, Sweden
Placemaking for and by Children
Jens Aerts - Bureau for Urbanism, Belgium
Moderated discussion by Emily Silverman, PlacemakingX
Events that PlacemakingX Co-director, Ethan Kent, is participating in
Launching a Market Cities Network: Linking government, market leaders and NGOs to preserve food cultures, traditions, and economies
Healthbridge Foundation of Canada
Networking Event 4, Hall 2: Room 4
14:00 - 16:00
International Launch of PlacemakingX: Expanding the Global Network for People-Powered Public Spaces
PlacemakingX, USA; and Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan
Networking Event 29, Hall 2: Room 9
16:30 - 18:30
International dialogue — Open megacity. Culture as the foundation of sustainable urban development
Moscow Urban Forum, Moscow Stand
11:35 – 12:15
The Public Realm: from the Classical to the Digital
Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization (CSU), USA; and City Space Architecture, Italy; and Center for Sustainable Urban Development The Earth Institute, Columbia University, USA
Side Event 49, Hall 2: Room 9
12:30 - 13:30
Towards child friendly public spaces in Sharjah, UAE
Sharjah Urban Planning Council, United Arab Emirates
Networking Event 99, Hall 3: Room 19
14:00 - 16:00
The Hidden Wealth of Cities: Creating, Financing, and Managing Public Spaces
The World Bank; and UN-Habitat; and Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements; and Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore
ONE UN room 13
16:00 - 17:30
Public Space in the New Urban Agenda: New Research Findings, Strategies, and Tools
Ax:son Johnson Foundation, Sweden; and Centre for the Future of Places at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
Networking Event 104, Hall 2: Room 4
16:30 - 18:30
Let’s start with streets: A step-by-step guide for cities
UN-Habitat
Networking Event 148, Hall 2: Room 8
16:30 - 18:30
PlacemakingX is a global network of leaders who together accelerate the transformation of public spaces into places of culture and innovation, places for healthy, inclusive, resilient and beloved communities. Placemaking creates the places where people gather and discover all they share in common, the bedrock of a culture of tolerance and democracy. It provides spaces where people exchange ideas and take action together, essential for tackling the climate emergency and economic inequity.
PlacemakingX is powered by a group of 100-plus global pioneering leaders that include our start-up team, senior advisors, and key regional network and thought leaders, together with a fast-growing network of more than 600 advocates from over sixty countries around the world. “X” signifies the multiplier effect that a global network can provide. We convene thought leaders—virtually and in-person— to develop plans of action that cement ties between their work and the overall mission of public health, sustainability, local identity, culture and innovation, and social justice.
This WUF 10 Networking Event will be the global PlacemakingX launch, following 2019 regional launches in Europe (Valencia, June), Latin America (Lima, July), Canada (Halifax, September), the United States (Chattanooga, October) and South East Asia (Kuala Lumpur, November), Australia (Sydney, December), and India (Chinchwad, December). It is a remarkable opportunity to expand the network of public space leadership, with leaders from cities and regions not yet actively involved.
