Inclusive and sustainable urban regeneration projects

Levente Polyák, urban planner from Budapest, within the Kultura Nova Foundation's project about participatory governance in culture, met with representatives of Split and Dubrovnik municipalities and City Of Dubrovnik Development Agency and presented numerous European examples of inclusive and sustainable projects of urban regeneration and revitalization of existing buildings for culture, art and social entrepreneurship purposes.

After the presentation, Polyák and the representatives of the City of Split discussed the challenges in further development and governance of the Youth home in Split as well as the possibilities of fostering local development through sustainable ecological, social and economic models. In Dubrovnik the discussion included the topics of the plan and model of governance in Lazareti space and the challenges of touristification and role of innovative cultural practices and their contribution to the diversification of the cultural offer for the local community and sustainable city development.

Meetings between European experts and representatives of the local self-governments in Dubrovnik, Čakovec, Karlovac, Pula, Rijeka, Split and Zagreb which Kultura Nova Foundation is organizing within the project "Approaches to the Participatory Governance in Culture" enabled knowledge and experience exchange about the role of culture in the processes of urban regeneration. These meetings  also serve as enticement for the local municipalities to proceed with the initiated projects of revitalization and usage of the vacant city spaces and locations for culture and art.

Polyák is founder of the international organization Eutropian that deals with urban planning, politics and research for improvement of urban regeneration processes.