Developing Quality of Life and Urban- Rural Interactions in BSR

Transcription

1 Developing Quality of Life and Urban- Rural Interactions in BSR Sakari Saarinen Union of the Baltic Cities, Commission on Environment Seminar on Quality of Life in Small Communities, 27 May 2010, Kärdla, Estonia

2 Content - NEW BRIDGES project bacground, approach and proceedings - What is Quality of Life - Sustainable urban-rural development and interactions in BSR

3 Strengthening of Quality of Life through Improved Management of Urban Rural Interaction. Three-year project (1/2009 1/2012) in the Baltic Sea Region Total budget 2,7 MEUR, part-financed by the BSR Programme partners, of which 8 are city-regional partners. Coordinated by the UBC Commission on Environment. Other core partners: Nordregio and ECAT- Lithuania.

4 UBC Commission on Environment and the UBC Sustainability Action Programme Issues to work more on with... New more efficient types of actions & cooperation Improved internal cooperation Measurable goals for our activities Strengthening UBC profile as a good partner Bringing attractivity and Quality of Life in BSR cities and cityregions

5 The project s key objective is the promotion of the better management of quality of life issues in respect of city-regional planning practices.

6 Objectives Link together the individual perspective and the planning and policymaking =better meet the needs of the people living and working in the particular region Introduce the concept of quality of life in urban-rural planning and management = going beyond the standard of living Focus on new potentials, not only on solving urban-rural problems Build up new urban-rural partnerships in the city-regions Implement pilot actions Systematically involve different stakeholder groups in the planning and management of urban-rural interactions Identify new ways for cooperation, partnerships and lessons for bestpractices Thus literally: to build NEW BRIDGES

7 Approach in the NEW BRIDGES Conceptualisation of the Quality of Life approach Positioning macro (planning) level and micro (individual) level Comparison of individual preferences of Quality of Life to existing policies and strategies and their implementation Meaningful definitions and approaches of Quality of Life in various urban-rural contexts Key elements linking urban-rural and quality of life: - residential preferences - provision of services - mobility and accessibility

8 Social and physical environments influence on the wellbeing of people residing in the region. Who forms the environments? Implications of the project - Individuals = People living and working in the region - Planners and policy makers = People responsible for planning, implementation and management of regional and urban-rural development Concept of Quality of Life (and the three central elements) shall help to bridge the gap between individual level and the political goals to make the city-region more attractive Project aims specifically to include the voices of concerned individuals i.e. to integrate their views to planning processes in order to develop attractive city-regions.

9 Central challenge of the project is to bring political level and individual level together!

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11 Project structure

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13 Priority challenges in partner city-regions - Diversified approaches between urban and rural areas, in some cases may be opposing - Provision of public services in general (especially in Baltic States) and long-term public/private cooperation in rural areas - Provision of jobs especially in rural areas - Public (and private) transport systems between urban and rural more efficient urban-rural connections needed - Typical lacks: integrated strategies, common policies, communication and cooperation in order to tackle problems

14 Project outputs Handbook on how to approach concepts of quality of life and its 3 elements when planning attractive cities and regions Report on potentials for strenghtening the quality of life when planning attractive cities and regions Implemented Pilot actions and Report on the implementation of the pilot actions in the partner city-regions Integrated management plans for urban-rural interactions by the partner city-regions Methodological guide (training package) for city-regions throughout the BSR on better management of urban-rural interactions Set of policy and practice recommendations on coherent planning, implementation and management of urban-rural interactions in BSR

15 What is Quality of Life? Provision of services Residential preferencies Mobility A conceptual model of factors that contribute to community quality of life from a human ecological perspective (Shafer et al., 2000)

16 What is Quality of Life? Quality of life has three characteristics (e.g. Shucksmith et al. 2009; Fahey et al. 2004) QL is a micro concept, i.e. focuses on individual life situation and perception QL is multi-faceted concept, i.e. comprises multiple life domains and relationships between them QL is subjective concept, i.e. includes individual goals and orientations as objective perceptions are related to living conditions

17 What is Quality of Life? Development and economic growth Level of wealthy that individuals have achieved Standard of living Comprise products and services obtainable in daily environment Quality of life Contains the well-being of people Possibility (ability) to make individual choices

18 Increasing interest to Quality of Life Quality of Life is not directly related to material wealth Awareness of the other factors influencing individual well-being Relationship between individuals and everyday living environment Individual perceptions and appraisals in the centre of debate

19 Quality of Life and Policy Making Broadly used by general public and policy makers Important dimension in various policy fields Requirement to pay closer attention to Quality of Life Approaches to better managing Quality of Life in the frameworks of urban-rural interaction have been rather limited.

20 Individual Aspects and Policy Making Quality of Life reflects the public interest strengthening by involvement of individuals (urban - rural) Individual aspects tend to be drowned in regional plans and strategies Planning machine does not contain coherence modes of policies (urban rural) Effects of relative vulnerability of Quality of Life - on the well-being of the people (as being consumers, entrepreneurs etc.) living in these city-regions - on the attractiveness of the city-region as such to e.g. attract further inhabitants, business, capital

21 Making Quality of Life as a Policy Choices are reflections of Quality Life Choices are based on interpretations and preferences Challenge is to enable people to make right choices Choosing own individual lifestyle

22 Crucial questions Vital is to map and understand different dimensions of Quality of Life Addressing the combination of factors effecting Quality of Life Investments in Quality of Life will improve the prerequisities for economic growth New urban-rural lifestyles Comprehensive Quality of Life of city-regions

23 Sustainable urban and rural development in BSR The project has contributed to the new strategy of CBSS Expert Group on Sustainable Development Baltic 21 within the sector of sustainable urban and rural development. The project has the CBSS Baltic 21 Lighthouse Project Status. The project has also been identified as one of the cornerstones for overcoming urban-rural divide in BSR in VASAB s Long-Term Territorial Development Perspective of the BSR until 2030.

24 Urban-rural interactions Generally referring to the growing flow of public and private capital, people (migration and commuting) and goods (trade) between urban and rural areas. In addition; flow of ideas, flow of information and flow of diffusion of innovation. Adequate infrastructure; transportation, communication, energy and basic services as backbone for urban-rural development Important to recognize the potentials of urban-rural linkages, f.e. for the sustainable development

25 Urban and rural in BSR Majority of people in BSR live in mid-sized cities, small towns and in rural areas. The interactions of the two types of territorial qualities are becoming more and more complex. Cities are working more and more closely with their surrounding rural areas, building new urban-rural partnerships and forming city-regions. City-region relationship can be mutually beneficial if there are positive partnerships that can capture the full benefits for both the city and the region.

26 Urban-rural challenges in BSR Migration (of young people) from rural to urban areas Provision of services in rural areas Mobility choices in rural areas Urban use of rural areas, valuation of (ecosystem) services in rural landscapes Municipalities not communicating with each other and therefore competing instead of co-operating Urban sprawl and development of adaptive spatial planning

27 Opportunities for urban-rural interactions in BSR Promotion of quality of life (both in urban and rural areas) New functions of farmers New rural lifestyles and co-operation Developing integrated systems Sharing on existing good practices on different urban-rural related developments

28 Conclusions Ensuring high quality of life is a key element in the development of attractive city-regions in the BSR. Improving quality of life demands both active involvement of the inhabitants and good governance of local local and regional authorities. Well managed urban-rural interactions allow cityregions to better coordinate sustainable development, to create critical mass, to develop integrated transports and to attract new investments and inhabitants.

29 When planning quality of life for an urban-rural area one has to think more deeply about the role and ambitions of development planning itself What is planning? For whom? What is quality of life? For whom? Jussi S. Jauhiainen

30 THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

31 Sakari Saarinen, Project Coordinator , Contact information Lauri Hooli, Communication Coordinator , NEW BRIDGES project website: UBC Commission on Environment and Sustainable Development Secretariat website: