Such comments were made during the event Stories of Placemaking. The effort to make places more pleasant doesn’t stop at benches; it just begins there.
Often, we try to find complex solutions to problems that trouble us in cities. Sometimes, the simplest changes are the best. As Michal Mazánik from Doprava na Považí said, “Children don’t know how to ride a bus if they’ve never sat in one. That’s why we enabled them to do so during an event we organized in collaboration with the city. The children were thrilled to see how modern city buses are. They loved being able to charge their phones or connect to wifi on their way to school.”
Children are a great indicator of city safety. Data from the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava showed that, for example, a grandfather born in 1927 could safely move 6 km from home in Bratislava, while a daughter born in 1986 could only move 300 m from home. Today’s urban children are constantly under parental supervision, and independent play outside or walking to school is unimaginable for them.
It’s not just about nice ideas, but also about a positive economic impact. Illah van Oijen, who co-organizes the DOBRÝ TRH (Good market) in Bratislava, told us more about this. The market can bring around 1.2 million EUR in revenue to its neighborhood. Opening up spaces for people is not only beautiful but also beneficial.
