Ágora network of local councils aimed at regaining public space for people
Ágora is an institutional cooperation network of local councils, promoted and coordinated by the Provincial Council of Pontevedra (Deputación de Pontevedra), aimed at claiming public space as a fundamental right of citizenship, where people are a priority.
The local councils that are members of this network are committed to implementing policies to regain their public spaces for people promoting active mobility, by following the 10 principles established by the Ágora Network.
Regional
Spain
57 out of 61 munipalities of the Pronvince of Pontevedra
Mainly rural
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-12-31
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Provincial Council of Pontevedra (Deputación de Pontevedra) Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local) First name of representative: Uxío Last name of representative: Benítez Fernández Gender: Male Nationality: Spain Function: Deputy Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Montero Ríos, s/n Town: Pontevedra Postal code: 36071 Country: Spain Direct Tel:+34 986 80 41 00 E-mail:agora@depo.es Website:https://redeagora.gal/es/
In the last years, the Deputación de Pontevedra has been a benchmark for public administrations in Spain in regaining public space for people.
The Ágora Network strengthens and redefines the existing collaboration between the Deputación de Pontevedra and its local councils, creating a permanent working structure, on this part, the Ágora School becomes a place for exchanging and generating knowledge about public spaces
Currently, 54 municipalities are members of Ágora (>88% of the total number)
Thus, for almost two years now, this network has provided local councils with several permanent services that have supported decision-making throughout all stages involved in the transformation of public spaces.
Its objective is that before 2023 the Ágora local councils substantially increase the public space intended for people and create walkable and cyclable paths. Moreover, these councils are committed to:
- Being represented in this network by a technician and a politician
- Developing a sustainable mobility plan (9 out of 10 them have already drafted one)
- Complying with the Ágora principles:
1.Public spaces as a right
2.People first
3.Inclusive mobility
4.Children’s autonomy
5.Alternative mobility
6.Safe spaces
7.Healthy environment
8.Friendly and high-quality spaces
9.Local economic activities
10. Alternative mobility
The local councils that are members of Ágora have already included the services provided by Ágora in their work dynamics:
>210 people attended the Ágora School (both technicians and politicians)
They have received more than 30grants for drafting projects aimed at regaining public space for people
>200 consultancy services
3guides and manuals were specifically designed and adapted to our geographical area
12grants for creating safe school routes
They have attended 15 forums and congresses
They have applied for European funding and other financial sources
The Ágora Network has an observatory (provides quantitative indicators)
Right to public space
People first
Universal accessibility and social inclusion
Everyday safe autonomy
Sustainable mobility - Healthy environment
The Ágora Network will be committed to reducing the use of motor vehicles, so as to build high quality-public spaces, free from environmental pollution. Moreover, it will be aimed at reducing energy in transport and greenhouse gas emissions.
There are countless design elements aimed at increasing the use of public spaces and reducing the use of cars: creation of green areas, implementation of traffic calming measures, creation of safe school routes and friendly spaces or development of inclusive design measures (some examples are leisure and recreation areas), among others. In this sense, Ágora provides support to improve the quality of projects aimed at transforming public spaces.
Ágora also promotes the use of bicycles in everyday mobility as an alternative form of transport. More than 50% of car journeys are less than 5 km long; therefore, the Ágora Network encourages the use of bicycles by improving road infrastructures, applying traffic calming measures, raising awareness among citizens, introducing bike registers and organising relearning courses.
Two major objectives for the sustainable transformation of our territory are based on combining high-quality public spaces and suitable infrastructures to promote active mobility. Agora’s concept of sustainability comprises economic aspects, such as the promotion of economic activities in neighbourhoods by creating pedestrian route networks, areas restricted to traffic and infrastructures for active mobility, so as to improve access to these shopping areas by active means within a 15-20-minute radius from our homes.
Aesthetics have an effect on sensations; a simple joint in a pavement can create an undesirable hierarchy between users; it can also induce drivers to slow down or to intuitively give priority to pedestrians.
Thus, particular attention should be given to materials, finishes, furniture and plants, which are crucial when designing the aesthetics of public spaces; depending on the way these elements are combined, the space can be integrated in or separated from its surroundings.
The size of the elements, including vertical road traffic sings, litter bins or the bars of a railing, define the dimension of the space we want to achieve. With the aim to improve and increase the knowledge of both technicians and decision-makers in this subject, the first Ágora School was organised, where, among many other topics, the aesthetic dimension was included.
Ágora has trained the technicians who provide advice to local authorities whenever required. The Deputación de Pontevedra is committed to accomplishing high-quality detailed projects.
The local councils belonging to Ágora carry out a large number of projects, many of them having very low budgets and intended for temporary transformations, as long as no redevelopment/repaving work is carried out. The network tries to ensure that even small actions, such as painting the horizontal signage, are done with care, since it is precisely in the minor details where only "calligraphy" can show users that this space conveys care, attention to detail and that it is not in an improvised space where something unforeseen could happen to it.
Ágora has published a guide for action in public spaces and is currently developing new manuals. Moreover, the second edition of the Ágora school is being organised.
Ágora encourages the transformation of public spaces to create large traffic-free zones, networks of pedestrian paths and bicycle lanes with an inclusive design. The local councils that are members of the network are carrying out this type of projects. This has allowed us to affirm that the Ágora Network is having a positive impact on the transformation of the spaces where people carry out their daily activities:
-Many more citizens are using them
-Physical and cognitive accessibility has been achieved
-Gender urban planning criteria have been applied...
Thanks to Ágora, the inhabitants of villages, towns and cities in the province can carry out their daily activities without having to commute outside their neighbourhoods and without needing a car.
All of this is socially equitable, because pedestrian-friendly, high-quality urban spaces give more autonomy to the most vulnerable groups of people, such as children or the elderly, who otherwise would be forced to stay at home. It is clear that a safe and comfortable environment, in a cohesive neighbourhood, reduces caregiving needs. Public space should serve as a catalyst for this.
It has been an informative, educational and participative process, in which all citizens have been informed and trained, and have participated jointly in the drafting of all projects through their local councils and their political representatives. In the first stage, these projects are shared with all local agents and citizens so that they can learn about the different proposals and projects that will be carried out in their own towns, so that they can actively participate in their development.
As said before, this project is aimed at training both technicians and politicians from local councils. Ágora is aimed at regaining public space for people not only as an end in itself, but also as a means to build community-based towns, plenty of local businesses and bustling streets.
This project is aimed at training both technical and political staff from the local councils. It is an informative, educational and participative process, in which all citizens are informed and trained, and participate jointly in the drafting of all projects through their local councils and their political representatives.
Ágora’s objective is achieving sustainability, fighting against road violence, regaining public space for people, promoting local economic activities... Most local councils share this aim, but sometimes they do not have the means to carry them out. Thus, the Ágora Network was created in order to help them achieve these goals and lead the way. This is why the lines of action have been designed considering the interests and needs of local councils.
Subsidies for the drafting of plans and projects for the execution of works do not significantly increase the workload of local councils; on the contrary, it is often reduced. Ágora analyses the needs of the local councils and tries to ease their pending tasks by:
1. Helping them to tender for (and finance) sustainable urban mobility plans
2. Calling for subsidies to contract out the drafting of projects (including calling for tenders)
3. More complex projects have also been financed, involving many actors and different stages, such as the creation of safe school routes (a year earlier the Deputación de Pontevedra conducted a pilot experience in order to gain experience)
4. A quarterly meeting, attended both by technical and political staff from the local councils, is held. There, they speak about their problems and needs. So far, neither of the local councils have left the Ágora Network.
This project is aimed at training both technical and political staff from the local councils. It is an informative, educational and participative process, in which all citizens are informed and trained, and participate jointly in the drafting of all projects through their local councils and their political representatives.
Ágora’s objective is achieving sustainability, fighting against road violence, regaining public space for people, promoting local economic activities... Most local councils share this aim, but sometimes they do not have the means to carry them out. Thus, the Ágora Network was created in order to help them achieve these goals and lead the way. This is why the lines of action have been designed considering the interests and needs of local councils.
Subsidies for the drafting of plans and projects for the execution of works do not significantly increase the workload of local councils; on the contrary, it is often reduced. Ágora analyses the needs of the local councils and tries to ease their pending tasks by:
1. Helping them to tender for (and finance) sustainable urban mobility plans
2. Calling for subsidies to contract out the drafting of projects (including calling for tenders)
3. More complex projects have also been financed, involving many actors and different stages, such as the creation of safe school routes (a year earlier the Deputación de Pontevedra conducted a pilot experience in order to gain experience)
4. A quarterly meeting, attended both by technical and political staff from the local councils, is held. There, they speak about their problems and needs. So far, neither of the local councils have left the Ágora Network.
Traditionally, public space has been a relatively forgotten area of the urban project. Architects focus on the space that the building occupies and engineers give prominence to cars in their designs. People and their heterogeneous needs must be the object of multidisciplinary attention and care.
Ágora gives prominence, first of all, to the users of the public space and to all the professional profiles with influence in the design of the public space. This is evident in the projects, but to be able to appreciate in a concrete way the importance of all the visions, we must observe the qualifications of the professors of the Ágora Faculty: from doctors and economists, to educators, biologists or police officers to a total of 12 different degrees.
This transformation of the way in which Ágora approaches projects (through a transdisciplinary vision) fosters a diverse, complex and ultimately more complete design.
A very common approach in public space transformation projects has been left behind, which was the one in which the constructive aspects monopolized all the prominence, this made it difficult for other profiles that did not have constructive knowledge to participate. Currently, the discussion of the spatial needs of all groups of users represents a fundamental and inalienable step on the road to the material execution of these transformations.
Ágora has successfully guided the actions of many of the local councils that are members of the network. Now, their actions are focused on inclusion in terms of public space and mobility, giving priority to the people and the places that need it most.
By undertaking the commitments of the Ágora Network, a new framework has been achieved. Thanks to it, public actions are considering the most vulnerable citizens and groups of people (the traditional approach was to seek more spaces reserved for cars as well as parking spaces).
The Ágora Network offers training, representation, advice and funds to the smallest municipalities in the province, which are precisely those with the highest rate of car use and the fewest square meters intended for friendly public spaces, so these are the places that are most in need.
As regards quality processes, Ágora has three active lines of action:
- A " pilot" line, implemented in one or two local councils, including new actions (before turning them into a subsidy line). This was done with safe school routes, mobility plans, etc.
- Another line "in progress", which consists of drawing conclusions from the pilot lines, devising subsidy lines and supervising their implementation.
- The third line, “training”, implies transferring and exchanging knowledge (providing advice and participating in training and knowledge exchange activities).
The Ágora Observatory has recorded more than 140,000m² of public pedestrian space, which represents an increase of 6.2%. Increases in number of children going to school using active mobility, and bicycle use have been reported.
Ágora is a cooperation network of local councils aimed at promoting and claiming public space as a natural setting of collective life and a fundamental right of citizenship, on a par with health and culture.
In order to achieve this key objective, the existing governance model was redesigned. This network is a toolbox that serves to overcome all the barriers that make it difficult for local councils to manage more and better the processes aimed at recovering public spaces. How can this be achieved?
- By financing the drafting of mobility plans, so that local councils have this subject on their agenda
- By micro-granting countless actions (more than 100 projects have been funded)
- By providing spaces where local councils can meet, discuss their problems and needs, and exchange their experiences (such as the Ágora meeting)
- By financing processes such as the creation of safe school routes, including not only the drafting of construction work projects, but also collaborating with the educational community in space design
- By developing a specific course on regaining friendly public spaces intended for technicians and political representatives, the Ágora School, which has been recently held. Speakers were world-renowned experts on ten different areas of expertise. Moreover, local speakers, who presented examples of good practice, also took part in the event. This course, which lasted 10 months, was attended by more than 200 students
- By providing local councils with specialised technical staff in order to given them guidance and advice
Being part of the Ágora Network has enabled small and medium-sized local councils to access services that they could not otherwise afford or undertake alone, and that are crucial for improving our environments and making them more sustainable at all levels: economically, ecologically and socially.
Ágora has made it possible to transform the environments and improve their quality following the German concept of baukultur.
Ágora is a toolbox, a set of instruments to intervene and transform public space in favor of people. In this sense, the methodologies and approaches used in each case are different.
From a global perspective, it can be said that Ágora functions as a catalyst for a certain type of urban transformation. Ágora constitutes a toolbox that facilitates a very specific type of work: the return of public space to people.
Ágora is a package of updates for the local governance system to which municipalities have voluntary access.
Ágora is the toolbox made available to municipalities, which do not have sufficient technical and economic means to transform their public space in the way cities are doing.
Ágora is causing change in the production processes of the most everyday spaces of our habitat, regardless of the size of the municipality, a catalyst to achieve the transformation of healthy and sustainable lifestyles and daily practices, throughout the territory from the public space .
Ágora is not a concrete intervention, but rather a governance project that is triggering hundreds of projects in the same direction: returning people to the center of public space.
Everything is based on ten principles, reducible to two:
-The right to public space of all people.
-People are at the center of public space design.
Ágora is already been replicated in different ways!. 5 provinces have already invited the Deputación de Pontevedra to visit their territories and share our experience.
Recently, the Cádiz Provincial Council has visited Pontevedra, to inquire about the way in which Ágora is pushing city councils to undertake decisive policies in favor of the recovery of public space for people.
Ágora has participated in more than 30 forums throughout Spain, including internationally, and constitutes a great capital (know-how) accumulated around a fundamental aspect of public space management. Many aspects of this Institutional Work Network can be replicated (and are already being done).
-Agora’s technicians accumulate thousands of hours of practice in urban design, traffic calming, strategic planning, construction management, materials... this allows us to offer our advice or assistance to other administrations.
-The lines of aid (subsidies) for the drafting of projects are being a success, they have led to an incredible increase in the number of public space recovery projects as well as the implementation of this type of project.
-The guides, manuals and decalogues published by the Provincial Council could/should be adapted to the specific reality of other territories, but they are already an extremely valuable starting point.
-The experience in the elaboration of ordinances, orders, instructions, etc. are making it easier for city councils to transform their public space and daily mobility practices from legally secure positions.
-Numerous complementary actions, such as photography prizes, projects for safe school routes, or subsidies for Sustainable Mobility Plans are strategies that can be replicated easily.
-Regarding the field of Training and pedagogy, Ágora has carried out workshops, derivations, theoretical classes and also with practical exercises that represent a milestone in local political action; These actions can be perfectly adapted to other territories.
Public space, just as sustainability, is a cross-cutting issue; it has an impact on many aspects of our lives and therefore on the planet. The design and layout of our cities, towns and villages determine to a large extent our mobility patterns, the time we spend in public spaces, the type of places where we do our daily shopping, and so on.
The main reasons to create this network and transform public spaces and mobility were: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, economic inequality and unequal opportunities, and social conflicts; improving the environment where we live; stopping environmental degradation and the negative effects of climate change. This network is also aimed at solving the development problems caused in children due to their lack of autonomy or the loneliness that many of the elderly people and others suffer.
In order to achieve these goals, a myriad of small actions is needed; a single institution cannot do it alone. This is why a governance tool, the Ágora Network, has been designed to encourage and support local councils in the processes of their great transformation aimed at giving priority to people.
Ágora finances their mobility plans, the drafting of projects and the consultancy services with specialised technicians, and it also offers training courses for political agents. Thanks to these actions, the Deputación de Pontevedra is leading the way and boosting hundreds of projects so that local councils can concentrate on implementing them or informing their residents.
Ágora has managed to transform dozens of squares, countless alternative mobility routes or safe school routes that are being used. In these new environments, there are more small businesses, better air quality, more smiles and more greetings.
