In cities and villages, streets and squares welcome spontaneous meetings between locals and people passing by. A square is due to its location – surrounded by buildings – a safe harbour, a beacon in the city or village. A square can even develop into a public living space where it is nice to be. Elderly people, playing children, artists, market vendors, commuters, shopping mothers, students; all have to feel safe and at home.

Make cities more attractive
Over recent years, numerous cities have seen investments in the improvement of the general quality of life to halt young families leaving the cities and to stop the decreasing social network. This evolution on all scale levels, ranging from local initiatives to restore the social mix in vulnerable areas to large-scale redevelopment of station neighbourhoods, abandoned industrial sites and city centres. Urban renewal goes further than pure physical improvement of the build environment, but acts as a catalyst for various processes of change, such as the return of the dwelling function, the local facilities and increasing social safety and involvement. The stimulation and management of these processes of change are in our opinion an essential element of our job .

Space for all
A redevelopment of a public space is only meaningful if it meets the traffic safety standards and if it takes into account is environmental, spatial and functional integration. This goes for big cities, but certainly also for smaller municipalities. In the past, too often, priority was given to the flow of (road) traffic. With witticism, they used to say: “The centre?... That is at the traffic lights, Sir!” Since then, we try to get turn back the clock and focus our designs around people. An example of this intention is the European Shared Space project.