Where the Grass is Greener: Managing Public Spaces
Green space is scarce in Ploiesti, Romania. One of the aims of city officials, therefore, has been to increase the number and quality of green public spaces, especially in neighborhoods dominated by blocks of apartments. This new green space, however, had only been identified as a priority by urban planners and officials. Citizens had not been asked about their perception of the problem, nor their responsibility in helping to solve it. The plan was seen as exclusively the responsibility of local authorities.
Partners-Romania collaborated with the Agency for Economic Development (EURODEC) in conducting a survey to identify citizen perceptions about the primary problems in Ploiesti. The poor maintenance of public spaces surrounding blocks of apartments and the scarcity of green areas within Ploiesti were found to be main concerns. Partners-Romania and EURODEC then launched a project aimed at creating a dialogue and partnership framework between citizens and local government representatives, focusing on the creation, rehabilitation and maintenance of green space in Ploiesti.
A media campaign disseminated the survey results and advertised the campaign to improve Ploiesti. A group of citizens living in the Ienachita Vacarescu neighborhood contacted the project and expressed their interest in bringing the project to their community. Ienachita Vacarescu, a residential area with 18 percent of Ploiesti inhabitants, includes many young families with children. The area was built in the 1980s, with high blocks of residential apartments. Since 1989, construction plans including landscaping, new parking places, playgrounds for children, and green spaces between buildings had been allowed to lapse.
Partners-Romania designed and conducted two training-for-trainers programs, one on managing conflicts and differences and the other on participatory planning, for local NGOs working on the project. Partners-Romania facilitated an exchange between NGOs, representatives of relevant city departments, the Environment Protection Inspectorate, the Union of Landlords Association, schools, and the media, and provided technical and financial support throughout the project’s implementation.
In the first stage of the project, citizen representatives worked to identify what inhabitants felt to be the main problems and to assess citizens’ availability and willingness to be involved in the improvement and maintenance of green space. As a result of this consultation process the local government was enlisted in the effort.
Partners-Romania then organized a series of working meetings, first with only neighborhood inhabitants and then including local authorities. There was a great deal of tension between the two groups at first, and the process highlighted a number of complex unsolved issues and the lack of communication between local authority and citizens. Each group held stereotypes about the others’ intentions and behavior. Citizens felt their requests and complaints had always been ignored, while local officials were reluctant to have their authority challenged. But despite these obstacles, the meetings resulted in an agreement between the two groups, outlining the role each would play in the landscape improvement plan.
The local government allocated funds to help build a playground for children and issued all the required building permits. Citizens, very pleased with the local authorities’ reaction to their needs, got involved in building the playground and maintaining the green space in their neighborhood. Future plans call for involving neighborhood schools in maintaining and improving playgrounds, so that younger inhabitants will gain a commitment to maintaining their neighborhood.
Our Network
