EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - SAUL and SAUL Plus projects: towards Sustainable and Accessible Urban Landscapes

SAUL and SAUL Plus projects: towards Sustainable and Accessible Urban Landscapes

Introduction

Over the past twenty years, the urban landscape has changed radically, not only physically, but also socially and economically. New spatial solutions are needed for sustainable urban development, including innovative approaches to creating socially inclusive open spaces. The projects SAUL and SAUL Plus brought together six European city regions wanting to take on the challenge of creating accessible spaces that citizens perceive as belonging to everyone. The added value of SAUL lies in its transnational approach. The city regions did not solely work on their own projects, but were actively involved in the other projects as well. This has unlocked both individual and institutional learning, transferable knowledge and greater understanding.

Problem

The urban environment has seen radical change in the last twenty years. Traditional city areas have spread into peri-urban sprawl. Suburbs have been developed for housing, new businesses and light industry. The countryside has become part of the city. Globalisation of trade and greater international movement of people have brought rapid social change to cities. Metropolitan societies are now multicultural. Generation gaps within all cultures now have more profound impacts on changing lifestyles, leisure and recreation activities. The new urban landscape no longer corresponds to our previous understanding of the European city. Different spatial solutions are needed to develop and manage the new kinds of open spaces that city regions have become.

Description

In creating socially inclusive spaces, the SAUL partnership addressed two issues:

regional identity & the importance of regional spatial planning
planning through partnership

Each of the city regions implemented a regional strategy project, many of which with the concept of new regional parks as their focus. As the projects transcended the scope and jurisdiction of single local authorities, working in partnership with other stakeholders (especially citizens) was essential to make the projects a success.

The following city regions participated in SAUL and SAUL Plus:

Greater London (United Kingdom)
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Frankfurt Rhein-Main (Germany)
Luxemburg (Luxemburg)
Rhein-Ruhr (Germany)
Saarland (Germany)

Approach

SAUL evolved from an earlier research project carried out by the same city regions, under the name of New Urban Landscapes. This concluded that spatial planning needs to respond to the changing patterns of land use that are emerging across Europe. From a social perspective, they identified:

new planning concepts – proactive design of new urban landscapes
new methods – socially compatible management of space
new processes – planning in partnership

SAUL was designed to test these concepts, methods and processes via a series of demonstration projects, involving all partners.

The SAUL partners each managed a regional project, which was designed and delivered with local stakeholders. The projects were developed, monitored and supported by all partners through the Transnational Planning Laboratory (TransLabPlan). TransLabPlan is a framework which enables the exchange of knowledge at local, regional and European level. Joint Planning Groups (JPGs) are an important tool in TransLabPlan. The JPGs bring together urban practitioners from the different city regions to discuss the progress made in a specific project or region. The JPGs also visit the project sites.

Another tool is the SAUL website, which functions as an interactive discussion forum and an information source. The website has a ‘members-only’ section, where the partners can access the on-line project management tool. This enables the partners to manage complex budgets for all regions continuously, creating instant reports and claims.

Results

SAUL’s focus on the regional dimensions and working in partnership has led to stronger integration between the city regions in project planning and development. The cooperation between the main partner organisations, regional practitioners and local players has visibly improved. As a result the projects have had a greater public impact than initially expected. The city regions have made significant progress on the road to socially inclusive open spaces.

Lessons from SAUL

A sense of regional identity is a pre-requisite for a regional approach to spatial planning. Strategies need to respond to people’s shared sense of place at local level and should be designed to join up several localities.
Inclusive and community-based partnerships must grow organically. They need a carefully structured and managed process, with good leadership, guided by facilitators with the necessary experience of partnership building. Flexibility is essential since the composition of partnership will change over time. On-going commitment from all partners is also needed.
A transnational partnership requires the capability to efficiently manage large and complex investment programmes. It must be built with partners who share a common understanding of the main issues and who are determined to find solutions together.

EU involvement

SAUL and SAUL Plus were co-funded by the INTERREG IIIB North West Europe Programme. The total budget was 22 million euros. Thanks to the successful finalisation of SAUL and SAUL Plus, the SAUL partnership has secured additional funding from the European Regional Development Fund to extend the SAUL Plus project till June 2008. The main aims of SAUL 2 EXT are to:

demonstrate the significance of new urban landscapes to the economic vitality of city regions
demonstrate the importance of engaging businesses in partnerships with public authorities, employees and citizens
show that involving citizens of all age groups in developing new urban landscapes can empower them to take responsibility for their future environment and lead to greater social cohesion

Contact info

Groundwork UK
Rhiannon Lewis, tel. +44 20 79602674

Project start date

/06/2003

Links

Visit the SAUL project website Visit the Groundwork UK website

Download a copy of ‘Vital urban landscapes – Final report of the SAUL Partnership’ (PDF, Eng, 2.8 MB)

Download a copy of ‘New methods of socially compatible development of urban landscapes – Final report of the New Urban Landscapes partnership’ (PDF, Eng, 4.1 MB)

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords

Social inclusion & integration, Transport and infrastructure