is democratic

Introductions

• Share your name, organization, and the reason why you are attending today’s session.

Workshop Goals

• Have a practical discussion about the future of African cities, and architects’ role in their success

• Share the value of democratic urbanism to that process

• Build shared understanding of how these concepts might apply in an African context

Educating the Trainers: African Urbanism

• What are the key challenges facing African cities over the next 30 years?

• What role can architects play in solutions?

Basic Visioning Exercise

• Nairobi is…• In 15 years, Nairobi will be…• Headline exercise

The Challenge

Global urbanization

Rising Inequality

Climate Change

Crisis in Governance

Our Urban Reality: Cities Matter• By 2030, 6 in 10 people will live in cities.• There are currently one billion people living in slums and

squatter settlements and that number is expected to double by 2030 and reach 3 billion by 2050 – UNHABITAT

Example: Pearl River Delta – China

Urban Growth in Africa is Unprecedented

The Urban Imperative

“The continent’s population of roughly 1.1 billion is expected to double by 2050. More than 80% of that growth will occur in cities, especially slums.”

Fragile Cities

Housing Crisis

• Based on current trends in urban migration and income growth, we estimate that by 2025, about 440 million urban households around the world—at least 1.6 billion people—would occupy crowded, inadequate, and unsafe housing or will be financially stretched. – McKinsey Global

• To replace today’s substandard housing and build additional units needed by 2025 would require an investment of $9 trillion to $11 trillion for construction; with land, the total cost could be $16 trillion.– McKinsey Global

“According to UN Habitat, the key target of Goal 11 is to ensure that all people access adequate, safe and affordable housing. However, data shows that more than 70 per cent of Nairobi residents live in slums.”

“Young people are excluded from decision-making and are among the most impacted by economic crises.”

Climate Change – It’s Science

• 2 degrees Celsius is a given. How much more is unknown.

• "Present temperature targets may commit Earth to at least six meters sea level rise“-scientists

• According to the International Energy Agency, the world needs $1 trillion a year between 2012 and 2050 to finance a low-emissions transition.

“The Earth is so hot this year that a limit for global warming agreed by world leaders at a climate summit

in Paris just a few months ago is in danger of being breached.” - Reuters

• To adapt to a world 2 degrees Celsius warmer, developing countries will require an estimated $75–100 billion per year over the next 40 years to build resilience to these changes, and mitigation costs are expected to be in the range of $140–175 billion per year by 2030. – World Bank

-National Geographic

“Experts warn that the failure of planning, which has resulted in Nairobi’s massive urban housing crisis, is a ticking time bomb that could sow instability.”

The other global warming

Our democracy is…disappearing

• Just 13% of Americans say the government can be trusted to do what is right always or most of the time. (10% say NEVER)

• Only 17% of Americans believe that big business can be trusted to do what is right always or most of the time

Our trust is…disappearing

It’s about people. It’s not sustainable unless it involves the community!

“Civilizations rise and fall-and sometimes if they are lucky-

they renew themselves” –John W. Gardner

The Global Context

The Limits of International Frameworks

“The SDGs, the New Urban Agenda, the Paris Agreement — these are really important policy bricks that we’re going to use to build the cities of the 21st century. But ultimately it’s going to be local people, local governments and local

ecosystems that are the cement that bind them together in a lasting way.” - Debra Roberts,

Durban’s Chief Resilience Officer

“The biggest problem is the understanding of what urban design is… the urban community has become lost in strategic planning, masterplanning, zoning and landscaping … All these have their own purposes, of course – but they don’t address the principal question, which is the relationship in a city between public space and buildable space. This is the art and science of building cities – and until we recover this basic knowledge, we will continue to make huge mistakes … Huge mistakes.” – Joan Clos, UNHABITAT

The Urban Paradigm

• As Josep Roig, Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments, argues, “the changing paradigm of an urbanizing world calls for further steps to enhance the partnership between local governments and the international community, based on inclusive participation and decision-making.”

Key Components to Success

Devolution Inclusion Participation Integration

The New Urban Agenda cannot be achieved without democratic urbanism. Solving the urban paradigm is the central task of this century, and democratic urbanism is the best methodology to

achieve it.

The Need for Democratic Urbanism

“Nor will meaningful urban development occur spontaneously. Smart, inclusive, long-range planning is required. New forms of devolved governance are warranted, including greater power for mayors and municipal governments, and more participative involvement of civil society groups and city populations. A continental conversation is needed about the state of Africa’s cities.” – World Economic Forum on Africa, 2016

“nothing for us without us,” said Rose Molokoane, South Africa coordinator of Slum/Shack Dwellers International and

co-chair of a Habitat III grouping of grass-roots organizations. “We want to know more about the

governance of the cities, because we want to be part of how cities are governed.”

The Nairobi Challenge

• Population – 3.1 million. 60 percent of its residents currently living in informal settlements.

• There are 158 overcrowded informal settlements dotting Nairobi. They host the majority of the city’s population, but take up just 1.6 percent of the city’s land area.

• “informal settlements [have] been cut out of the development plans” of the Nairobi City Council.-Shadrack Mbaka, of Slum Dwellers International

Kibera

“Nairobi is a tale of two cities. For the connected few, it is the best of times; for the disconnected many, it is the worst of times. It is the richest county, capital’s capital, but it is also among the most unequal, with grinding levels of poverty. It is where inequality is distilled and concentrated and most visible; where the haves are having more and the have nots are not, and both exist in close quarters. Nairobi is home to both the richest and some of the poorest locations in the country.” – The Daily Nation

Makuru

We are all faced with a series of historic opportunities, brilliantly disguised as insoluble

problems. – John W. Gardner

The Urban Challenge• As the World Economic Forum has noted, “Cities are

evolving faster than at any point in our history, putting them on the cusp of major transformation which, if managed well, could lead to unprecedented economic growth and prosperity for all, but if managed in an uncoordinated manner could drive social, economic and environmental decline.”

The citizen architect “To get to the future from where we are now, we must make room for, and nurture, what I call the “citizen architect.” What does this citizen architect look like? This person is committed to universal enfranchisement, and works to see that everyone in the community is given a meaningful stake in, and a part in directing, the future. The citizen architect is committed to seeing that, at the drafting table, the public’s hand exerts at least as much force as the developer’s or banker’s. The practice of architecture must no longer be seen as a luxury that only the wealthy can afford. The public must be a vital part of the process. Architecture is the most public of the arts. It should be collaborative.” - Ted Pappas, President of the AIA, 1988, at the Remaking Cities Conference

It’s a simple truth, and this is so important: The world needs design leadership, now more than ever. The world needs architects. Your time is

now.

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Today, we need them both

+

If you want to know the future, ask the kids

Fremont Troll, Seattle

When urban democracy expands, cities flourish. The placemaking outcomes – and the impact on people –

are nothing short of remarkable.

The Highline: New York City

Cities & the Power of Aggregation

Including Nairobi

The US in African Context

• When it comes to our cities, we face some surprisingly similar challenges.

Shared Connections

In Manhattan, the top-fifth earned nearly $400,000,

versus less than $10,000 for those in the bottom fifth —

meaning the wealthiest residents now make more than 40 times as much as

those on the bottom rung.OUCH!

from The New York Post

"the wealthiest fifth of Manhattanites made more than 40 times what the lowest fifth reported, a widening gap (it was 38 times, the year before) surpassed by only a few developing countries, including Namibia and Sierra Leone.“ –NY Times

Informal settlements

“On any given night in Los Angeles County, 47,000 people live in utter squalor, many of them sleeping on sidewalks and park benches, in cars or under bridges, not only on Skid Row but also in suburban neighborhoods.”

“A global study of adolescents from low-income neighborhoods revealed that teenagers from Baltimore, a city located just 40 miles from the US capital, are faring worse than their counterparts in Nigeria…. Teens from Baltimore and Johannesburg, South Africa, viewed their communities more negatively than the other locations in the study. “

“The survey assessed health challenges faced by 2,400 15- to 19-year-olds from impoverished areas in Baltimore, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Ibadan and New Delhi, as well as their perceptions of their environments. Overall, teenagers in Baltimore and Johannesburg, despite being located in comparably wealthy countries, had far worse health outcomes and tended to perceive their communities more negatively.”

Public Participation & Democracy

What is Public Participation?• ‘Public participation’ means to

involve those who are affected by a decision in the decision-making process. It promotes sustainable decisions by providing participants with the information they need to be involved in a meaningful way, and it communicates to participants how their input affects the decision.

• “What is the purpose? Why should I be involved? How will my involvement matter?”

Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only

because, and only when, they are created by everybody

-- Jane Jacobs

The civil rights movement taught us to listen, and to hear those whose

voices had gone unheard for generations. R/UDAT has taught us

how to turn the aspirations of citizens, and their descriptions of urban value, into action.-- David

Lewis/Peter Batchelor

Behind all the current buzz about collaboration is a discipline. And with all due respect to the ancient arts of governing and diplomacy, the more

recent art of collaboration does represent something new -- maybe Copernican. If it contained a silicon

chip, we’d all be excited.-- John Gardner

1990s

1960s

Brief History of a Movement

1980s

P2 Frameworks…

• National League of Cities survey of U.S. Cities (2010) - 81 percent use public engagement processes "often" (60 percent) or "sometimes" (21 percent)

• American Planning Association (2012) – “More than 50 percent want to personally be involved in community planning efforts, including more than half of Democrats, Republicans, and independents as well as majorities of urban, suburban, and rural respondents.”

• Center for Public Interest Design (2013) – 75% of AIA members think that architects should advocate for underrepresented groups, engage local stakeholders in decision-making, and conserve resources.

The Data: 3 Compelling Points

Jim Fishkin & P2 Science• Deliberative Polling® is an attempt to use television and public opinion

research in a new and constructive way. A random, representative sample is first polled on the targeted issues. After this baseline poll, members of the sample are invited to gather at a single place for a weekend in order to discuss the issues. Carefully balanced briefing materials are sent to the participants and are also made publicly available. The participants engage in dialogue with competing experts and political leaders based on questions they develop in small group discussions with trained moderators. Parts of the weekend events are broadcast on television, either live or in taped and edited form. After the deliberations, the sample is again asked the original questions. The resulting changes in opinion represent the conclusions the public would reach, if people had opportunity to become more informed and more engaged by the issues.

Disproves Polarization

Including in Africa

Deliberative polling on natural gas policy, Tanzania, 2015

The IAP2

• Federated network with chapters all over the world, including

Universal Values of P2

IAP2 Core Values for the Practice of Public Participation• Public participation is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision

have a right to be involved in the decision-making process.• Public participation includes the promise that the public’s contribution will influence

the decision.• Public participation promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and

communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.• Public participation seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially

affected by or interested in a decision.• Public participation seeks input from participants in designing how they participate.• Public participation provides participants with the information they need to

participate in a meaningful way.• Public participation communicates to participants how their input affected the

decision.

The engagement ‘gap’

What Government/Organizations Want

What the Public Wants

Feb 2014 Survey on IAP2 Spectrum

“Artificial” polarization

2014 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Survey

The flaws of Traditional Public Participation

Public HearingPublic Meeting

Public Opinion Poll

What institutional sclerosis and hundreds-year old governance processes do to us…

Don’t Marginalize Yourself. Never Stand Alone

Analysis Exercise: Case Study

Inform/Consult = Insult

The Fight for Urban Democracy

autocrats: Public Relations• Sponsors decide on a course of

action and then attempt to sell it to the public.

• people can feel manipulated and suspicious

• often hinders them from thinking effectively about problems and challenges because it avoids exposing them to the full dialogue.

• PR seeks “buy-in”

democrats: Public Participation• Sponsors engage public on the

front end in dialogue to help understand the pros and cons of different actions and seek input, consultation, involvement, collaboration

• Builds common understanding of the issue and decision by hearing and understanding all viewpoints and information

• P2 seeks meaningful involvement

“Paradoxically, what is most needed to achieve Jane Jacobs’s vision is to deploy a Robert Moses strategy—redesigning our streets quickly and decisively for an increasingly urban age, this time committed to accommodating population growth and offering residents more options for getting around without a car.”

Example – NYC World Trade Center

• Listening to the City brought more than 4,300 people together on July 2, 2002

• Key problem: Sponsoring agencies (Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Port Authority)wanted feedback on designs, and public wanted input on design. (Consult vs. Collaborate) Outcome: Public rejected all of existing designs and sent the entire initiative back to the drawing board.

Grassroots gamechanger: Broadmoor

Neighborhood Call to Action

The Difference Community Makes

• 13,000 volunteers mobilized

• Revitalization Plan• Formed CDC• Charter School• Education Corridor• Passed Improvement

District• In 7 years, 85% of the

2,400 homes were rebuilt and occupied

The Difference

Community Processes Are Vehicles to Leadership

General Rule-of-thumb Guide for a Process

1) Gain Commitment (“sponsors” or decision makers, understand outcome/decision)

2) Learn from Public (engage stakeholders, identify values, issue dynamics, scope of outcomes)

3) Determine Appropriate Level of P24) Process Design (P2 goals for each component,

technique selection)5) Planning for Implementation, Refinement,

Execution, Evaluation

Exercise: Create a Flying Object

Key Process Points• There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Everything must be

customized to the context you are working in, the goals and needs present, and the corresponding promise to the public.

• Use a P2 Framework. All of your process choices are defined and driven by the desired outcomes and what you learn from your public in initial conversations.

• P2 “Sniff Test”: Who’s at the Table, and more importantly, who isn’t that should be? What is the quality of the process?

• Base your process in Values. Match it to expectations.• Keep it Clear and Simple.

Exercise: Telephone Tree

• Rules:– Rule 1: You must WHISPER the statement.– Rule 2: You can only share it ONCE.

Actual Message

• “The life-saving medication for Mariana is located in the second drawer in the kitchen cabinet and she should receive 4 tablets and 3 glasses of water per day”

• Lesson: Mistakes in clear communication are easy to make, and can be deadly to an initiative.

Example: A ‘deadly’ mistake

Example– DHS Threat Advisory System

• a "comprehensive and effective means to disseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to federal, state, and local authorities and to the American people.“

Parody

Process Communication

• It’s imprecise.• Ongoing.• Irreversible.• Contextual.• Iterative.• Multi-faceted.

BREAK

Design Assistance Teams: Since 1967, the DAT program, a public service of the AIA, represents over 1000 professionals from more than 30 disciplines providing millions of dollars in professional pro bono services to more than 200 communities across the country.

What is a DAT?The DAT program brings together multidisciplinary teams of professionals to work with community stakeholders and decision-makers in an intensive 3-5 day planning process.

R/UDATs & SDATs

“We’re not going to rebuild our cities from the top down. We must build them from the bottom UP!” – David Lewis, FAIA

South Africa-US-UK Connection

“Thanks in part to your superb efforts, we have concrete proof that group facilitation and group process methodologies yield significant, measurable results”

“inspiring”…”exceptional”

“A replicable set of values and a process that can be broadly applied to urban design and sustainable communities; and the development of a participatory culture and applied values that explicitly recognize the central place of the public in the design of the built environment.”

Endorsed by even the toughest critics

“They had ideas that we will incorporate on the waterfront and the park. We give them credit for working hard and diligently on the site. We’re going to look at it strongly and we think the job will be a tremendous success.” –Donald Trump, 1990s, following a NYC project

• We ARE:– Public Service in the Public

Interest• “Consultants work for

somebody. Design Assistance Teams work for everybody.”

– Action-Oriented – Community-focused– Holistic, Customized

• “It’s about the space between the buildings, and the people that inhabit that space”

• We are NOT:– Another Consultant Team– A process to produce a

planning document• “Please don’t give us

another plan. We have plenty – they all sit on the shelves. We need implementation strategies.” – Almost Every community

– Government-focused– “Green”-focused– Building-focused

What distinguishes a DAT?

• Holistic, Interdisciplinary Approach to Community Design (Customized multi-disciplinary team)

• Neutral Outsiders (Pro Bono Public Service)• COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION (Citizen Experts, Authentic

Community Process, meaningful participation)

Principles

Design Assistance Process

Objectivity

Multi-disciplinary Expertise

Community Participation

Community Tours

Stakeholder Meetings

Community Meetings

Team Working Sessions

Team Working Sessions

Final Presentation

Day 1Welcome/Briefing OverviewTourLunchStakeholder SessionsStakeholder SessionsTeam MeetingPublic WorkshopTeam Dinner

Team MeetingFollow Up Site VisitsFollow Up MeetingsLunchStudio Work(Local Volunteers)Studio WorkTeam Check-in

Day 2Team MeetingReport ProductionGraphics ProductionLunchStudio WorkTeam Check-insDinnerWork Late

Team MeetingReport ProductionLunchPresentation DesignTeam Check-insPublic PresentationCelebration Dinner

Day 3 Day 4

ARRI

VAL

Wel

com

e Ev

ent

Kick

Off

DEPA

RTUR

E

Typical Process Schedule

Authentic Community Processes “We aren’t like other communities. What

works other places will not work here.” “We don’t need another plan. We have plenty

of plans – they all sit on the shelves. We need implementation strategies.”

Culturally Relevant• Survey• Website• Multi-media films• Flyers• Banners• Student Book• Press• Utility Mailers• Door Contest• Event kick-off

‘Sugar on Snow’ Event Kickoff – Newport, VT

East Bayside, Portland, ME

Coral Bay, St. John, USVI

Sipaulovi Village, Hopi Mesa

Kauai – Baby Lu’au

Contests/Competitions – Newport, VT

Primary students

University Students

Civic Branding

IMPACT

Most Communities Today

“If we can just get that one, big, transformational investment done, it will change everything for us.”

[years of effort…no visual progress during this time…loss of excitement…bottom falls out.]

The Snowball Effect“a figurative term for a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger and faster at every stage”

Applied to a community, this is a transformational principle…

Communities with trust issues require more intensive

engagement, higher levels of involvement

Lessons Learned: Common Challenges

Myth: People are Apathetic

Truth: People are hungry for meaningful involvement

Indianapolis

Outcomes

We are…designersactivistsurbanistsvolunteers

The Power of Citizen Architects

organized byyoung professionalsWe are Grassroots

Urban Charrette can seem like a guerrilla movement in its approach to influencing urban development, compared to the usual process of meetings, hearings and deals between politicians, officials and developers that often take place in paneled and upholstered chambers.  -83 Degrees

Creative Conversations to change the dialogue

Mobility Market

Street Design Festival

Raising the Visibility of Design

Tampa SDAT

‘gallery’ of accomplishments

Bikeshare

From Parking Lots to Parks

Re-connecting to the Waterfront

The Value of design

$820 million development

Could the next Mayor be an architect?

San Francisco - 1984

Today: Iconic Place

“You gave us hope. Back in 1992, your ideas seemed like dreams. Now we are living those dreams.” – Rick Smith, San Angelo Times-Standard, 2012

Portland Pearl District R/UDAT (1983)

“Viewed from today, it is hard to believe the sense of risk that the first developers in the Northwest Triangle felt as they challenged a complete lack of interest in downtown living when the R/UDAT came to town in 1983. The R/UDAT team had demonstrated sound opportunity. Daring developers, good planning and a favorable economy turned opportunity to reality and ushered in metropolitan living in the Pearl District on a scale unimaginable in 1983.” –Paddy Tillett, FAIA

Austin R/UDAT (1991)

“When looking back on how far downtown Austin has come in the last 20 years, many newcomers to Austin would be surprised by the state of downtown in 1993. Few people resided in downtown and retail in the urban core was nearly non-existent. Needless to say, Austin was faced with a fairly dormant downtown…. From the plan came a number of recommendations that began the wheels of transformation to create the vibrant downtown we all know today.” – Charles Betts, Downtown Austin Magazine

Santa Fe Railyard R/UDAT (1997)

“It was an experiment in deep democracy. That is the beauty of it –a true community effort, we were all in it together. It was not created through a hierarchy of controlling leadership.” – Steve Robinson, Santa Fe Railyard Community Corporation

Port Angeles, WA SDAT (2009)

“This opportunity for our community was a catalyst for action, implementation and improvement. A primary outcome has been that the process awakened community pride and inspired a “together we can” attitude.” – Nathan West, Community Development Director

“For all its fury in tearing things apart, the tornado — for the first time in many decades — built a bridge across the Cumberland and brought our entire city together.” – Mayor

Community Narrative: From the “wrong side of the river” to…..1998 Tornado disaster to…..catalytic R/UDAT bringing over 1,000 people together from across the city into East Nashville for the first time….to transformation.

Transformative Vision: Five Points

“One of the coolest neighborhoods in the nation” - Thrillist

R/UDAT sketches became prophetic visions for their reality today

The bottom line

These are not communities that just experienced terrible events and recovered. They have and are transforming into something that is an incredible manifestation of community. That is a profound illustration of the power of architecture in today’s world….and these community experiences are building citizen architects who can lead the future!

This is how leadership traditions are built…

This is how leadership traditions are built…

Nashville Civic Design Center Urban Design Curriculum Pilot last summer

Your Challenge

When urban democracy flourishes, cities flourish. What will you do to revitalize your city?

Last Exercise: Plan a Nairobi Process

• What area would your project focus on?• What institutions would need to be on your

steering committee?• How would you engage the community?

Limits of Special Interest Urban Area – Portuary Zone

Source: IPP – Armazém de dados - 2000

Region Characteristics:

Total Area: ~5 million sqm

Population: ~22k inhabitants

IDH: 0,775 – One of the smallest of Rio, 24th place in the ranking of 32 Administrative Regions

IDH – Human Development Index

Cape Town

Thank You!