Human Cities III – Challenging the City Scale

From 2015-2018, Clear Village is participating in a multi-year, pan-European research and action project called Human Cities 3: Challenging the city scale.

The project is the third large research project of the Human Cities Network, initiated by the Belgian design-support organisation Pro Materia in 2006. It is co-funded by the Creative Europe Fund of the European Union and involves partners from 11 countries, including Politecnico di Milano, Aalto University and Cite du Design Saint-Etienne.

Whereas Human Cities 1 focused on “Celebrating public space” and Human Cities 2 on “Reclaiming Public Space”, this project studies what happens when the traditional formula of planning cities (buildings > spaces > life) is being turned around and human life is put central to the development of cities.

Research will be conducted on unplanned initiatives and actions of individuals and collectives. Clear Village has already contributed case studies of London’s Brixton Village Market and Canning Town Caravanserai to this piece of work. Findings from this research will be used to facilitate and implement local initiatives that aim to improve well-being in communities across Europe.

Clear Village’s work includes research into design and urban space, leading experimentation laboratories, and producing material for a travelling exhibition. One of our most exciting contributions focuses on the Machines Room, an East London maker’s space that incubates promising entrepreneurs. We’re also sharing the progress of the Maker Mile, which is one square mile of fabricators, studios and workshops in east London. We organised a conference in September 2015 as part of the London Design Festival as a kicking off point to the work we’re doing.

As this iteration of the Human Cities project comes to a close, we’re co-editing the final publication that will showcase the work this project has accomplished. You can read more about this process here.