Urban Future

If a city is growing, what happens to the agricultural land around it? Where would our food come from then? That's the conundrum facing many peri-urban districts. Another questions is: if we sacrifice open space for urban growth, what are the social consequences for those farming communities? 🤔 Zukunftshof - or ‘Future Farm’ - is a collective of farmers and residents outside Vienna, Austria, that saved space in a housing development to show how agriculture can be integrated into urban development. Incorporating circular farming practices, it's cutting waste and growing fresh produce for local people. 🥬🍓🥕 Furthermore, the space they saved can be used for cultural events, social gatherings, and new food businesses too. “The concept is to share,” says snail farmer, Andreas Gugumuck. "We share infrastructure, we share people, and we share energy and expertise.” 🫱🏼🫲🏾 👉🏾 Catch the full CityChangers.org story - and some super snaps of snails - at https://lnkd.in/dFWKwpDa

🚦 🏎 When will we finally be ready to reconsider how we design and use our streets?   While overall casualties on Austria’s roads 🚗 🚲 🛴 🛵 have been on a consistent decline, the first half of 2024 saw another sad record as STATISTICS AUSTRIA Austria reports the highest number of killed and severely injured 👫 children on its streets in 15 years (+16% from 2023). This comes as they also recorded an increase of injured pedestrians, up 14% from 2023. Director General of Statistics Austria, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Tobias Thomas, noted that street environments are not made for the most vulnerable users - and instead of creating "traffic-proof children" we should focus on creating "children-proof traffic". Couldn't have said it better 👍 👍👍   #UrbanOctober #RoadSafety #StreetsForAll

The Foodprint LAB believes it's time to bring agriculture back to the city! 🌱✊🏼   As Sweden’s only architecture office specialised in designing food systems, they're unlocking urban spaces suitable for farming and greenery, and getting the city growing again.   "Architects and planners have to take a leading role in the food system and co-creating it with the inhabitants," says co-founder, Jonathan Naraine. How?  💚 By designing local farms that respond to citizen's needs, 💚 consulting with landlords on space availability, and  💚 connecting local farmers with green-fingered volunteers. Check out the Foodprint Lab app, where anyone in the world can offer and find urban spaces for cultivating crops locally! Jonathan told CityChangers.org about what makes a good space for farming, why stakeholder engagement is essential, and what the first steps are to get farms going where you are.    👉🏾 Read all about it at https://lnkd.in/d3DVGg5C

Missed our latest episode? 🎧 https://lnkd.in/e2Kf2B2p In Episode #94, we’re joined by Ilaria De Altin, Project Coordinator for Freiburger Wahlkreis 100% & Former Climate Protection Manager of Stadt Freiburg, and Josephine Yilan Liu, Co-Founder of the Urban Future global conference, to discuss the art of climate communication and citizen empowerment. Together, they reveal how community engagement and effective messaging can turn climate awareness into meaningful action. 💬 As Ilaria explains, “The more data you give on climate change, the more difficult it is for people to become active. Rather than inspiring action, it can make people feel as though the problem is insurmountable.” 💬 Josephine highlights the collective impact of small changes, saying, “Individual actions are crucial because together they can create larger cultural shifts. It’s not about choosing between individual and systemic change. They’re interconnected.” Tune in to learn how they’re breaking down psychological barriers to climate action and empowering communities to drive sustainable change. 🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe and turn on notifications on your favourite listening platform to stay updated with all episodes! #ClimateAction #CommunityEngagement #UrbanSustainability #ClimateCommunication #SmartCities

About one garbage truck worth of plastic is released into the sea every minute - it's choking the planet! 🚛🌎   Food packaging represents more than just a receptacle; it's an advertisement, source of information, and tool for protecting what's inside.    That makes it so hard to replace. But we should. 🔄   In our latest article, we delve into what can be - and is being - done to improve food packaging, including:  🔹 how removing labelling can cut food waste 🔹 the agro-food residues replacing plastic, and  🔹 what businesses have to gain by switching to sustainable (or refillable) alternatives.   Check out this CityChangers.org story here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dWxFYzgz

How do cities with restricted natural resources provide food security? 🌿💧   The island of Singapore peaks at just 734.3km². With a 100% urbanised citizenship and very little room for agricultural land, it relies heavily on imported food.    Always a precarious position to be in, concerns for food shortages heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We definitely faced some food supply chain challenges," says Christopher Leow. "It was a wake-up call for us.”    The city has been quick to mobilise, even funding innovative new ways to grow locally, like circular food systems. But Chris represents a significant ground-up movement from hobbyists, community gardens, and schools.    Question is, how? 🤔   Chris set up the Freestyle Farmer to help newcomers develop the knowledge and confidence to grow solo. Not only as a means to put food on the table, but cutting household costs - which for imported food are considerable.    His advice for anyone interested in urban farming in general, is simple: just start.  👉🏾 Learn how now at https://lnkd.in/duYQWqjc

What happens when cars are banned for a day? 🚫 Every week, Colombia's capital city of Bogotá closes 75 miles of streets to cars from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm on Sundays and holidays throughout the year. This bold move aims to give space back to cyclists, pedestrians, and skaters through its iconic Ciclovía. Since a one-day protest in 1974 against cars, the car free day continued with over 1.5 million people participating every Sunday. Not only has it promoted more active travel amongst people in the city, but also improves air quality and brings down noise pollution. During Ciclovía, the number of tiny, harmful particles in the city's air is 13 times lower than on a regular weekday and in line with WHO recommendations. Plus, noise levels are seven times lower. This is the power of local action 💪 Join us at #WUF12 to drive more local actions and initiatives for a sustainable urban future. 🔗 wuf.unhabitat.org/wuf12 👉 World Urban Forum (source: https://loom.ly/y0zXRB8 - Instituto Distrital de Recreación y Deporte) #SustainableCities #SustainableDevelopment #SDG11

How truly public are our public spaces? 🏙️ In this episode, we take a look at the rise of ‘defensive urbanism’ in our cities and ask what it would take to stop designing people out of public space and start designing them back in. Take Folkets Park in Copenhagen, for example. Instead of resorting to hostile architecture, they designed a welcoming space for their diverse community.    It’s not just about ordering a swing or benches on the internet; it’s about a deep commitment to connecting with the people who call the area home. As Kenneth A. Balfelt, the visual artist behind the project, puts it: "We defined that we took the job to create more love and community. And not for the commercial aspect of it.“ 💬 Curious to learn more? 🎧 Tune in to the CityChangers.org Podcast: 🩷 https://lnkd.in/dbsuThYi 💚

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✨UNVEILING ✨ 4 TRACKS FOR EUROPE'S BETTER-CITIES EVENT! Let us give you a taste of what Urban Future in Łódź has to offer. Between May 21-23, 2025, we’ll share countless inspiring stories on transforming cities for the better. They will be based on the following four main themes 👇 🩷 1. Urban Regeneration 🩷 2. Sustainable Business 🩷 3. Retrofitting Buildings 🩷 4. Driving Change ➡ https://lnkd.in/d98xBf9A DO YOU 🫵 WANT TO BE PART OF IT? Awesome! Share with us: 💛 projects, places or people to highlight, 💛 experiences or great stories to tell, 💛 networks of change-makers to get involved, 💛 events to be combined as a side events or field trips. Reach out to hello@urban-future.org or use this form: ➡ https://lnkd.in/dSsdquSF Let’s collaborate for a massive impact in Łódź in May! 💪🏽 Are you in? #UF25 | The Better-Cities Event 🇵🇱 Łódź, Poland 📅 May 21-23, 2025 Anna Wierzbicka, PhD, Maciej Riemer, Adam Pustelnik, Daria Woszczyk, Jakub Paduch, Magdalena Martin - Walczak, Invest in Lodz (Central Poland). OFF Piotrkowska Center, Design Lab Group Eurocities, C40 Cities, All Things Urban, BABLE Smart Cities, CITIES FORUM, Cities Northern Netherlands, CityChangers.org, Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance, Deutscher Städtetag, ICLEI Europe, oikos International, RMIT Europe, Solar Impulse Foundation, Zuko - Reclaim the streets, Łódź Design Festival, PLGBC Polish Green Building Council, Inner Development Goals Sendzimir Foundation, Gerald Babel-Sutter, Mathis Hampel, Cornelia Forsthuber, Noémi Volkmar, Elke Babel-Sutter, Jacqueline Laure, Lisa Marie Gatterbauer, Karl Dickinson