Water as the Source of Urban Public Space

Have you ever wondered how to give nature a voice in urban development? The City of Mechelen in Belgium does exactly that while reimagining the connection between water, public spaces, animals, plants and people. In two episodes of the Cities Reimagined Podcast we zoom in to reshape your understanding of how the interests of more-than-human inhabitants can be taken up in urban transformation projects. This is part one out of two exploring the work done by the WATSUPS project. Click here for part two (coming soon) where we talk about the voices of nature and the experiences of the citizen panel in WATSUPS.

More and more cities are reimagining their connection to their rivers, ponds and other water bodies. Whereas historically, cities have turned their back to the water as it was used primarily for economic purposes, in the 21st century, this perception has significantly shifted: Water in cities is a source of livability and sustainability.

The City of Mechelen has been taking a groundbreaking approach to reconnect its inhabitants (humans, animals and plants) to the water. As part of the “Water as the Source of Urban Public Spaces” (in short: WATSUPS - funded by the European Urban Initiative and running from 2024 to 2027) Mechelen is going to radically reshape the face of the city along the River Dijle while ensuring everyone has access to the water while making the more-than-human perspective a leading principle of the transformation. WATSUPS demonstrates how the spirit and principles of the New European Bauhaus can be translated into local, innovative actions.

Listen in to the two Cities Reimagined episodes where we explore how Mechelen is giving back the River Dijle to all inhabitants: human and more-than-human.

In this episode

· How the City of Mechelen is giving back the River Dijle to its inhabitants...

· How public administration needs to seek compromises between interests...

· Why being a civil servant is the most difficult job there is...

· How including artists in co-creation/participation processes might lead to a cultural shift...

· How fun and a positive energy are key to innovation...

More information and materials mentioned in the podcast:

· European Urban Initiative: https://www.urban-initiative.eu/

· Portico - The Gateway to Urban Learning: https://portico.urban-initiative.eu

· WATSUPS - Article: Beautiful, Sustainable, Together: Reimagining Mechelen’s Relationship with Water, Biodiversity in Urban Public Space while Tackling Gentrification

Here it is, the finale of the first season of the Cities Reimagined podcast and it is nothing shy of (plot) twists, secrets coming to light and what is to be expected for the way forward for the show, me personally and for Anthropocene.City: an idea I developed with today’s guest Jonas Bylund which is taking shape. Besides being a good friend and former year-long colleague, Jonas a researcher at KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Tune into this episode to hear about…

🕵️ Unravelling Urban Mysteries in all corners of urban life with Anthropocene.City: From Godzilla friendships to reimagining cityscapes for all.

🔧 Embrace Do It Yourself Urbanism and how a 'naive' stance leads to groundbreaking urban insights. We're talking DIY empowerment, the wisdom of action, and the art of reflection.

🦖 The Journey to Urban Wisdom: What are urban transitions with a dose of love and care and what does it have to do with Godzilla or a dusty mountain bike?

🐉 Preview of Season 2: As we close this season, we tease the next chapter: a blend of mysteries, inspiration, and innovative urban connections.

🪕 A special Godzilla remix of the Cities Reimagined intro music.

When I started developing the first concept for Cities Reimagined 10 months ago, I did not imagine the feedback I received until now. Thanks to everyone who reached out, listened to the show, gave feedback and helped me along the journey! Honestly, thank you. It is what makes this work worthwhile.

For saying hello, reaching out with (cooperation) requests and anything at all, please send me an email: johannes@anthropocene.city .

Cities Reimagined will take a break from here and is planned to return in September/October 2024. In the meantime, I will be busy working with the City of Mechelen (Belgium) on a European Urban Initiative project alongside the blue-green corridor river Dyle which will connect people, water and nature, kicking-off Anthropocene.City and my ‘regular’ job working with the Management Board of the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership.

As the importance of city foods is growing, this episode of Cities Reimagined is all about the transformative potential of healthy and delicious (urban) cuisine We are jumping back and forth between the favelas of the metropolis of Sāo Paulo, Brazil 🇧🇷 and the allotment gardens in Leeds, in the UK 🇬🇧 and will explore how cities are redefining their foodscapes for a sustainable future.

Today’s guests are

• Marcella Arruda, an urbanist and permaculture designer and CEO of The City Needs You Institute [Instituto A Cidade Precisa de Você] from Sāo Paulo.
• Chiara Tornaghi. a critical human geographer and scholar-activist at Coventry University, with a focus on Political ecology, agroecology and politics of spaces from Leeds,

Be prepared to hear aspects of urban food you might have not considered before:

🍌 What stroganoff made of banana peals has to do with the favelas of São Paulo

🔍 Why the invisible production of food in cities is a reflection of a broken relationship to the planet

🥬 How agroecological inspires us to integrate aspects of sustainability, biodiversity, ecological balance and community resilience on the topic of food.

🇧🇷 How Marcella’s NGO A Cicade Precisa De Você works with farmers on informal land in the favela of Brasilandia.

🍲 How urban food can contribute to addressing the rising food poverty and what the difference between the UK and Brazil is

More information:

• Marcella’s NGO Instituto A Cidade Precisa de Você: https://www.acidadeprecisa.org/english
• The Urbanising in Place Project we talk about: http://urbanisinginplace.org
• Video on ECOCIDADES in São Paulo: https://youtu.be/_d4DvOWw5f8?si=-IuVUQx1kxM7JHmK
• Agroecological Urbanism: https://www.agroecologicalurbanism.org
• Landed Community Kitchen: https://www.agroecologicalurbanism.org/building-blocks/landed-community-kitchen

This is the last thematic episode of season 1 of Cities Reimagined. Up next is the season finale, where the truth comes out, cliffhangers are being built for season 2 and… and… where Jonas Bylund and I will have a good time summing up what happened so far and bringing that into a 🦖 godzilla context. Stay tuned.

If you like the content of Cities Reimagined, please consider subscribing to the channel, rate the show, follow us on Instagram for background stories or get connected to Johannes via LinkedIn or email (johannes@anthropocene.city).

This week’s guest on Cities Reimagined is Tiffany Fukuma, Managing Director of Trans Europe Halles, a network of over 160 alternative cultural centres across 40 countries which all have one in common: they reinterpret neglected and underused spaces such as factory and military buildings, commercial spaces, parking lots etc. for grassroots cultural activities.

In this episode, we talk about...

🏭… how alternative cultural centres are creating new usages and identities of buildings and spaces

✨… why the trust of local administrations in the creativity of the residents will generate more exciting cities.

🪙… how city administration increasingly recognises that small-scale funding of resident-driven initiatives leads to more robust long-term transformation.

🌳… how repurposing existing buildings is essential for making cities sustainable and livable.

🗺️ … how Tiffany’s background in organising punk rock shows in squats, working in embassies and city administration in Japan, Canada and France led to managing Trans Europe Halles. Cultural centres and initiatives repurposing abandoned spaces are crucial for reimagining cities. They are dynamic spaces that foster creativity, community engagement, and social cohesion. They are experimental spaces, reinterpreting buildings and shifting the function of spaces. They develop new identities by reinterpreting the built environment and cultural heritage of cities and neighbourhoods.

More info:

• Johannes on LinkedIn
• Cities Reimagined: www.anthropocene.city/podcast
• Trans Europe Halles: https://teh.net

This week, Cities Reimagined takes us to Peru and Vienna to discuss skateboarding.

My guests this week, Christian Fischer and Johannes Wimmeder stayed in Cerrito de le Virgen in northern Peru for a while to work with the NGO Concrete Jungle Foundation. Cerrito de le Virgen is a neighbourhood characterized by displacement and replacement of residents due to extreme weather events and archaeological finds. In this delicate environment, the Concrete Jungle Foundation teamed up with the local community to design and build a skatepark, to plant the seed with capacity and to create a shared and safe place for everyone. Concrete Jungle Foundation is an innovative non-profit that works to empower individuals and communities worldwide through fostering and sustaining the positive values inherent to skateboarding. Christian followed the project with his camera and produced the documentary “El Cerrito” which is out now and you want to see, believe me

It was time for me to sit down with Christian and Johannes to talk kick-flips and….

🛹 What skateboarding has to do with the appropriation, safety and production of urban space

🪴How the work of Concrete Jungle Foundation is building capacities in local communities to improve the quality of life for everyone

📚 What life skills skateboarding teach the young, and not-so-young ones.

🦽How skaters (.. but also the elderly and people with special mobility needs) perceive urban space differently

🌃 How local administrations increasingly take into account the perspectives of skaters in urban design

…. and a lot more background stories on El Cerrito.

Watch Christian’s documentary El Cerrito on Youtube.

Follow and support Concrete Jungle Foundation: https://concretejunglefoundation.org // Instagram

Follow Johannes’ Skateboard Club Vienna: https://skateboardclubvienna.at // Instagram

Follow Cities Reimagined on Instagram or say hello to Johannes on LinkedIn or via email johannes@anthropocene.city .

As we are wrapping up Season 1 of Cities Reimagined, we are looking into partnerships for future episodes. Please do get in touch if you are interested in being on the show and being part of the Cities Reimagined Podcast.

Hold tight: This episode of Cities Reimagined is PACKED with condensed knowledge on cities and urbanism in (post-war) Ukraine . In a 60 minute conversation with Oleksandr Anisimov, we upack:

🇺🇦 … why the ignorance of NOT knowing about Ukraine(ian urbanism) has to stop

🏙️ … reforming land-use rules and governance modes are essential for rebuilding Ukrainian cities

🧰 … why rebuilding “social cities” after the destruction is essential for attracting people back after the war

⏳ … why it feels like the Russian Federation is stealing time from Ukrainians

⛔ … why the overcoming the ‘post-socialist’ label is crucial for reimagining cities

🌱 … how the war and land destruction increases pressures on the land in the Western parts of Ukraine

💲 … why neoliberalism and defunding local administrations creates a crises of imagination of what Ukrainian cities could be

In February 2022, what many from outside of Ukraine thought of as unthinkable happened: a large scale military attack and occupation of Ukrainian land by the Russian Federation. Now, in December 2023, an end of the war in Ukraine is not in sight. Thousands of civilian Ukrainians were killed. Entire cities put to rubble, 1.4 millions homes destroyed or damaged, infrastructures and historic monuments are destroyed each day. I had many questions on where Ukrainian cities and urbanism goes from here, Oleksandr Anisimov helped me to understand and place current events into a larger context.

Get in touch with Oleksandr Anisimov on LinkedIn.

Books mentioned in the episode:

• Anna Reid - Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine - Click here for more.
• Timothy Snyder - The Road to Unfreedom - Click here for more.

On episode 6 of Cities Reimagined, Gerfried Ambrosch and I talked about the importance of wildlife habitats in urban areas. Besides being very active in reimagining places for amphibians, Gerfried plays and played in a ridicelous amount of punk/hardcore bands since the 1990s and he has some stories to tell. Tune into this bonus episode to find out…

🎸 … how DIY punk rock ethics shapes Gerfried’s ambitions and motivations today

🇧🇾 … about sneaking into Belarus in 2005 to play a show just to find yourself in the midst of local right-wing vs. left-wing wars

🏫 … the role of unlearning for societal change

🐸 … why the sounds of frogs and toads are the soundtrack to change the world to

I am very happy to have my good friend Gerfried Ambrosch on Cities Reimagined this week. Besides being a really cool person how plays in a ton of cool bands (you need to wait until the end of the show to hear a sample), Gerfried has an amazing track record of doing volunteer work for regenerating and improving the habitats of (sub-) urban wildlife, particularly amphibian populations with some astonishing results.

Listen in to find out…

🐸 Why taking non-human perspectives into account in urbanism is essential

🚂 How brownfields provide natural habitats for highly specified species

🦎 Why personal connections to a certain space / region help to do biodiversity projects

🌆Why increasing the density of urban areas in current urbanism threatens biodiversity (hello, wicked issue!)

🌿Why the connotation of activism might hinder getting stuff done (in Austria / Europe)

With the prime focus on being put on the climate collapse, other crises caused by human activities are often overlooked. One of the most significant ones is the biodiversity crises. Toads, frogs and other amphibians are an indicator for local biodiversity and ecosystem health. But they are increasingly threatened by forms of urbanization which do not take natural processes and a balanced human-nature connection into account. But… there is hope on the horizont from the European policy level, down to the very local areas where Gerfried is regularly digging…

While you are here you might want to check out:

• Gerfried on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gerfried-ambrosch-9038bb219/
• Gerfried's book "The Poetry of Punk" out on Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/The-Poetry-of-Punk-The-Meaning-Behind-Punk-Rock-and-Hardcore-Lyrics/Ambrosch/p/book/9781138502345
• Gerfried's active bands:
  • Morrow: https://morrowpunx.bandcamp.com
  • Archivist: https://archivistmusic.bandcamp.com
• Cities Reimagined on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/citiesreimagined/

If you like the show, please subscribe to the channel, leave a rating and a review and get connected on Instagram for background and making-off content.