Why cities need spaces for co-creation

Of course a thriving city requires political leadership, an efficient administration, and a dynamic economy. But if you really want to make it a better place to live in, you also need spaces where diverse communities can meet, collaborate and experiment with new ideas, launch meaningful projects or design better services for their fellow citizens. That is because designing a city and its services is a social process as well as a place-based process.

I will take you through an exploration of such spaces in my city of Lyon and show you how they work, what they produce and why we need them so much. You will see they are very diverse: some are institutional while others are more grassroots, some are business oriented and others are focused on social issues, some gather a broad community while others or more specialized, but they all share some common values and processes.

I hope this tour of Lyon will help you shed a different light on what is going on in your own city; or perhaps inspire you to create a new spaces, bring together different people, and tackle together some issues that are meaningful to you.