Urban Workshop Plus - Concept of Public-Professional Partnership in Urban Development

摘要

There are a few significant facts about cities and people. In 2007 urban population overtook non-urban population. This is to say, urban matters affect the majority of the world's population. In European countries urban society has never been better educated, generating precise demands concerning the quality of life and spatial solutions. As a consequence we - as professionals and researchers - need to re-define ways for the creation and transformation of urban space. New methods must involve the general public not only as an object of study ('socio-economic background') or even so popular recently as a 'creative participant' but as a real partner. This means that we need to find a proper 'place' for urban society in the planning process and equip it with essential knowledge. This task should define partners and their role in development process. The paper will describe outcomes of 'urban workshops' undertaken recently in Poland and highlight new opportunities of this public partnership.