The document describes various community initiatives around the world that transform public spaces. In The Hague, residents maintain neighborhood gardens and streets. In Buenos Aires, a street games summit brings the community together through recreation in public areas. In Helsinki, elderly citizens participate in maintaining their surroundings through the Bearpark Sponsors group.

1. Transforming
Public Space

2. Neighborhood
Shares
The Hague, The Netherlands
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3. Residents have decided to
take responsibility from local
authorities for maintenance
tasks in their neighborhood’s
public areas.

5. By tending gardens and tidying
streets, the project has made
this section of The Hague a
more pleasant place to live and
enhanced residents’ awareness
of their environment.

7. Cumbre de Juegos
Callejeros
Street Games Summit
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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9. Residents have created a place
where the community can
experience social bonding in
public spaces through games
and recreation.

12. Cumbre de Juegos Callejeros takes
over streets, where traditional
games are played and transmitted
to new generations.

14. The whole community is invited
to play, offer ideas, organize,
and enjoy.

17. The Bearpark
Sponsors
Helsinki, Finland
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19. The Bearpark Sponsors group
encourages the participation
of local residents, mainly
elderly citizens, to maintain
and care for their surroundings.

22. This initiative stimulates senior
citizens to stay active while
energizing the neighborhood.

24. Orti del Parco Nord
Parco Nord Vegetable Gardens
Milan, Italy
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26. Participants can rent space
where they grow their own fruits,
vegetables, and herbs close to
residential areas.

29. Gardens provide a source of
enjoyment for members, while
improving finances, thanks to
the production of their own
vegetables, and offering the
opportunity for participants to
be active and useful.

31. Social advantages of the gardens
include revitalization of the city by
introducing daily healthy activities
and the regeneration of public
space through vegetable gardens.

35. Isola Casa Teatro
Milan, Italy
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37. This project turns a private
apartment with a terrace
into a public theatre inside
an urban courtyard.

39. Isola Casa Teatro provides a
public space for young artists
who can’t afford to perform in
real theaters and offers a quick
way to connect with people in
the art and theatre business.

43. Loan Gardens
Utrecht, The Netherlands
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45. Loan Gardens focuses on the
maintenance of public green
areas by the neighborhood’s
residents.

47. Gardening activities provide
opportunities for people of
different backgrounds to meet
each other. This initiative has
helped people feel more
accepted and has improved
the community’s daily life.

52. Clan du Nèon
Paris, France
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54. Members of Clan du Nèon wander
the streets at night and switch off
unnecessary lights in order to save
energy, while enhancing Paris’s
nighttime look.

57. As one member said, “Saving
energy is not the only concern, it’s
also because Paris is a pretty city
and I think that publicities or signs
can interfere with the Parisians or
the tourists who want to enjoy the
city at night.”

58. Barrios de Verdad
Para Vivir
con Dignidad
La Paz, Bolivia
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60. This program encourages the
mobilization of underserved
communities to improve their
neighborhoods.

62. Better living conditions for the low-
income population and integration
into La Paz’s neighborhoods
provide a safer environment for
all citizens.

68. Stickkontakt
Guerilla Knitting
Stockholm, Sweden
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70. Stickkontakt presents knitted
graffiti as street art and friendly
political statements.

72. The four women use public space
as their show room. The artists’
aim is to affect people passing
by — by expressing political
statements, showing beautiful
pieces of knitted art, asking
friendly questions, or providing
functional works.

75. SkipWaste
London, United Kingdom
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77. This project encourages new
uses for dumpsters by converting
empty skips into public spaces
such as skate parks, swimming
pools, and gardens.

83. Peti Park
The Fifth Park
Belgrade, Serbia
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85. This project provides park space
for people living in semi-urban
areas and enables socializing
during activities, such as sports,
concerts, and playgrounds.

90. Siloé Visible
Cali, Colombia
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92. Siloe Visible aims to paint the
entire neighborhood white —
the symbol of peace, cleanliness,
and goodness — to change the
face of a violent district into a
district with dreams and hopes.