City Space Architecture meets the VIII Biennial of Public Space in Rome
18-20 September 2025
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We are excited to announce our participation in the Biennial of Public Space taking place in Rome on 18-20 September 2025 at the University of Roma Tre. Address: Largo Giovanni Battista Marzi 10, Rome - https://maps.app.goo.gl/ihWybBeh1KSJUkMN9
The Biennial of Public Space is a biennial event for the discussion and dissemination of research and initiatives on urban public spaces, giving voice to local administrations and city makers, universities, associations, committees, professionals, experts from various disciplines and in general to all those who work concretely to improve the quality, renew and explore issues related to public spaces understood as common goods. Consistent with its nature as a public space, the Biennial has always guaranteed free access to its activities.
During the 2013 edition, the Charter of Public Space was developed and approved , which "aims to be a document for all those who believe in the city and its extraordinary capacity for hospitality, solidarity, conviviality, and sharing; in its inimitable virtue in fostering sociability, encounter, coexistence, freedom, and democracy; and in its vocation to express and realize these values through public space."
For this 8th edition of the Biennale, developed around the main title "Together", we have organized a special international session titled "Reclaiming Tomorrow. Community-Led Innovation for Public Space Futures" scheduled on Friday 19 September from 9am to 1pm in Room Montuori. This session will be an opportunity to share knowledge with scholars and practitioners from Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Greece, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, India, Japan, Palestine, South Africa, Australia, and to engage participants in a foresight visioning workshop.
Our President Dr Luisa Bravo will also participate as moderator in the opening plenary session on "Together in Public Space with UN-Habitat: Global Perspectives", she will co-moderate the session "Together to protect public spaces and common goods", and she will join as a speaker the session on "Temporary use as a tool for transforming socially complex areas: strategies, methods and lessons learned".
The full programme of the VIII Biennial of Public Space is available here.
RECLAIMING TOMORROW.
Community-Led Innovation for Public Space Futures
Special session promoted by City Space Architecture
Friday 19 September 2025, 9am – 1pm
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Abstract: In an era where public spaces face unprecedented pressures from privatisation, climate change, and social fragmentation, communities worldwide are developing innovative entrepreneurial models to reclaim their collective spatial rights. How do policymakers move beyond traditional top-down planning to create community-driven models that secure long-term public space futures while addressing urgent urban challenges? What entrepreneurial approaches can communities adopt to ensure their visions of future cities become reality rather than remaining utopian dreams?
The event will comprise two interactive sessions focusing on entrepreneurial models for urban transformation. The first part will be in hybrid mode and will be dedicated to presenting new ideas, case studies and reflections on implemented projects and policies. The second part will be in-person only and will involve a comprehensive deep dive into the foresight methodology for human-centred visioning of urban developments.
This special session is linked to the main theme “Together” of the BiSP 2025 and is addressing Session 3 (together in proximity), Session 4 (together in protecting the public city and public goods) and Session 5 (together in professional practices).
Participants will:
- Examine successful community entrepreneurship models for public space transformation
- Explore how different urban mobility paradigms shape entirely different urban futures
- Engage in hands-on scenario planning to envision alternative public space futures
- Develop actionable strategies for implementing community-led spatial innovation
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Part 1 (hybrid): Knowledge Exchange & Innovation Showcase
2 hours and 15 minutes
This opening session creates a dynamic platform for sharing cutting-edge ideas, proven case studies, and critical reflections on implemented projects and policies. Designed to accommodate both physical and virtual attendees, this segment fosters global knowledge exchange and cross-pollination of innovative approaches.
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Speakers in person:
Luisa Bravo, City Space Architecture, Italy (moderator)
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Ethan Kent, PlacemakingX, United States
Building from the Global Placemaking Movement for Community-Powered Public Spaces
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Robin Abad Ocubillo, City of Oakland, United States
Public Space as Storytelling & Pedagogy
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Shradha Chandan, Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany
Technology-Enabled Participation for Inclusive Urban Placemaking
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Fae Sarshoghi, City Space Architecture, Australia
Carving Public Space Between the Numbers: A Place-Based Approach to NSW Transit-Oriented Development
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Javier Otero Peña, Public Space Research Group, Spain
Street Rituals and Resistance: Community Identity in the Festa Major de Gràcia
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Letizia Montalbano, Il Giardino del Guasto, Italy
“Salus Space”: A History of excellence, abandonment and rebirth in the outskirts of Bologna
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Guillermo Bernal, The Place Institute, Mexico
Cookbook for Cities: A Model of Place and Urbanism
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Razan Abu Dalu, Palestinian Placemaking Network, Palestine
From Practice to Presence: Regional Voices in Public Space Activation
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Camila Obniski, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil
From Drawing to Civic Awakening – the case of the CEI Coração de Maria playground renovation
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Speakers online:
Jacek Ludwig Scarso, London Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Public Art Practices: recommendations for the future
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Kathyrn Ewing, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Informal strategies and place-making in Southern Africa
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Oscar Perrilla, Um-Welt, Colombia
Mapped Crowd Sourced Story Telling (MCSST) as a new method for empathizing with young city dwellers
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Krity Gera, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom
MyCity: Mapping socio-spatial experiences of teenage girls in urban public spaces
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Round table discussion with the participation of City Space Architecture members: Paulina Lis-Meldner (Poland), Rozina Spinnoy (Belgium), Renelle Sarjeant (India), Francesca Mazza (Italy), Stavroula Georgiou (Greece), Deryk Cameron Bliss (Japan), Tharaa Kirresh (Palestine).
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Break: 15 minutes
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Part 2 (in person only): Foresight Visioning Workshop
1 hour and 30 minutes
This hands-on session transitions from knowledge sharing to future-making, bringing together physical participants in an intensive collaborative environment designed to develop human-centred visions of urban development trajectories. The foresight visioning process requires the full spectrum of human interaction - spatial awareness, non-verbal communication, collaborative sketching, and the kind of creative energy that emerges when people work together in shared physical space. This session leverages the unique affordances of co-presence to generate insights impossible in virtual environments.
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Coordinated by:
Luisa Bravo, City Space Architecture, Italy
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Eliesh SD, IMREDD (Institut Méditerranéen du Risque, de l'Environnement et du Développement Durable), Université Côte d'Azur, France
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