The UN-Habitat Urban Lab has published “My Neighborhood,” a publication that offers a checklist of urban design principles aimed at creating more sustainable and resilient cities. Containing actions that are applicable at the neighborhood scale, the guide strives to present an integrated approach that responds to key sectors such as transportation, local urban initiatives, housing, public spaces, utilities, and more.
UN-Habitat’s publication is divided into five themes, each highlighting desirable aspects of urban life: Compact City, Connected City, Inclusive City, Vibrant City, and Resilient City. It offers actionable principles to help key urban actors collaborate and design solutions at a local scale. The ultimate goal of the publication is to help create good neighborhoods, understood as those areas that provide an enabling environment for an improved quality of life for everyone. The neighborhood scale ensures a maximum impact of these strategies, without losing perspective of the city-wide systems that feed into the neighborhood.
Together, these chapters cover a diversity of spatial indicators such as form, distribution proximity, diversity, intensity, and connectivity. Instead of creating a linear approach that divides the subjects into siloed categories, the handbook aims to connect the spatial dimensions of neighborhoods, streets, open spaces, and building units, and to highlight how these desirable characteristics work at all scales and are dependent on one another.
The guide is meant to be used as a shared bank of principles, also offering an interactive digital matrix to serve as the basis for conversations. It is addressed to planning professionals, urban designers, sector experts, civil society groups, academics and government representatives, and NGOs. It can be used to initiate cross-disciplinary initiatives that engage community groups and create accountability for all actors involved.
Urban areas confront a multitude of intersecting challenges, including inadequate and substandard basic services, social and public facilities, mobility constraints, urban sprawl, uncoordinated and unplanned development patterns, and the escalating threats posed by climate hazards. Addressing these challenges calls for an integrated approach to planning, one that can be embraced by government bodies, private planning practices, and communities alike. […] I hope that MY Neighbourhood will empower stakeholders to actively participate in the transition towards sustainable development, ultimately leading to a better urban environment for all. - Rafael Tuts, Director, Global Solutions Division, United Nations Human Settlements Programme
Several other similar initiatives strive to come in aid for community leaders who work to create more balanced, inclusive, and resilient spaces, with diverse programs aimed at reconsidering appropriate street design, creating new models for collective housing, or rethinking public spaces to welcome overlooked population categories. Similarly, in collaboration with the National Heath Services Association, Heatherwick Studio has launched the Heath Street initiative, a guidebook for rethinking traditional clinical settings and reimagining how we look at well-being and holistic health aspects of urban life. Other more subversive tactics for protecting local community can include disruptive forms of public art such as street graffiti and the protection of spaces for protest.
