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Global Crises, Local Impacts: Strengthening Social Cohesion through Urban Design

Publication Date:

29/01/2025

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Event Reports

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Global Crises Local ImpactsSocial Cohesionurban designurban planning

— 8 minutes reading time

Strengthening Social Cohesion through Urban Design

This report provides a summary of discussions during the webinar and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Summary

On 29 January, the Strong Cities Network continued its series of webinars on Global Crises, Local Impacts: Threats to Social Cohesion and How Cities Can Respond with a session on Strengthening Social Cohesion through Urban Design. The webinar focused on the role that urban planning and design can play in a whole-of-city effort to both prevent hate and extremism from taking root in communities and mitigate their impact on social cohesion when they do.

The webinar featured presentations from Dr. Sara C. Bronin, Professor at Cornell University, and author of Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes our World, and Felix Munger, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Safer Communities. Eric Rosand, Executive Director, Strong Cities Network, then facilitated a city panel discussion on how urban planning can serve as a tool for fostering social cohesion and violence prevention in cities. Panellists included Ryan Tefertiller, Urban Planning Manager, Colorado Springs (Colorado, USA); Sreoshy Banerjea, Executive Director, Public Design Commission, City of New York (New York, USA); and Eric Poinsot, Policy Officer for the Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism, City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg (France).

The webinar builds on a Strong Cities’ policy brief, published in December 2024, with ten considerations for mayors and local governments looking for guidance on mitigating immediate urban growth challenges while laying the groundwork for resilient and cohesive urban environments in the long term. It also follows a dedicated session during the Strong Cities Fifth Global Summit in Cape Town (South Africa) in December, focused on how cities can promote social cohesion – and contribute to the prevention of hate, extremism and polarisation – through inclusive and participatory urban planning, development and management approaches. Strong Cities recognises the valuable work that various national, regional and international partners continue to deliver to support urban planning and design for sustainable and resilient cities. Rather than duplicating these efforts, Strong Cities is focusing its efforts on helping cities leverage urban planning and design as a tool to enhance social cohesion, reduce polarisation and alleviate some of the conditions that can create fertile ground for hate and extremism to take root in communities.

Key Themes

1. Traditional urban design processes do not sufficiently consider the needs of the community. A lack of resident feedback and failure to include input from all communities are two key ways that urban development can fail in participatory design.
2. In urban planning, no detail is too small. Large projects (e.g., buildings, parks) are typically associated with urban design. However, even smaller details, from lighting to fences, are integral to the planning process, especially when one of the objectives it to enhance community safety and cohesion.
3. Technology needs to be utilised more effectively to properly plan urban developments, avoid disaster and ensure happy residents and safe cities. With the use of modern tools, including artificial intelligence and augmented reality, cities can consider more variables than ever before to build safe, cohesive cities.
4. The myriad challenges facing cities, from natural disasters to violent attacks, can all be addressed in part through urban design. Whether it be the recent Los Angeles wildfires that decimated huge swaths of the city or the violent extremist attack in New Orleans on New Years Eve that killed 14 and injured 57, recent events have exposed the need for urban planning to take such contingencies into account when designing and building urban developments.

Traditional urban design processes do not sufficiently consider the needs of the community

Urban design processes have historically failed to adequately consider the needs of the communities they serve, often prioritising top-down planning over inclusive engagement. Sreoshy Banerjea, Executive Director, Public Design Commission, City of New York (New York, USA), highlighted the importance of community-driven design, emphasising that transforming streetscapes into safer and more inclusive spaces requires direct input from residents. For example, in New York, the City involves local communities in shaping their neighborhoods, which are then published in case studies that showcase these resident-led proposals for safety and accessibility improvements.

Sreoshy also underscored the importance of incorporating diverse voices, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Traditional engagement methods often fail to reach youth, unhoused populations and marginalised communities. As such, it is essential to actively seek their perspectives to ensure equitable urban development.

Ryan Tefertiller, Urban Planning Manager, Colorado Springs (Colorado, USA),expanded on the importance of broader planning efforts, highlighting how public engagement shapes entire neighborhoods. From pedestrian-friendly streets to green spaces and transit corridors, community input is essential in designing urban environments that serve all residents. He emphasised the need to collaborate with city officials to ensure that urban design decisions reflect the needs of historically excluded populations, reinforcing the idea that effective urban planning must be both inclusive and comprehensive.

Methods of collecting community feedback can also be improved, with traditional methods – like town halls – not able to fully capture the spectrum of community concerns. Felix Munger, Executive Director, Canadian Centre for Safer Communities, shared how his organisation addresses this gap by partnering with local groups with strong ties to underrepresented populations, ensuring that those most affected by urban safety issues have a platform to share their experiences and influence design decisions.

Additionally, Eric Poinsot, Policy Officer for the Prevention of Radicalization and Violent Extremism, City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg (France), also flagged challenges around ensuring community participation, citing an example of a new tram infrastructure project that was defeated by residents from wealthier areas, even though the project was meant to serve disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This, he explained, highlighted the potential drawbacks of public consultation processes, where the voices of more affluent residents were able to drown out those of the underserved populations who would benefit most from the improvements.

Felix echoed this concern, noting that in some cases, the loudest voices at town halls or public meetings are often those with the least to lose, while those most affected by issues like violence or housing insecurity are not adequately represented. He emphasised the need to create more inclusive platforms for community engagement that actively reach those who are often excluded from traditional consultation processes.

In Urban Planning, No Detail Is Too Small

Urban design strategies operate on both large and small scales, with even minor interventions significantly impacting public safety and community well-being. Sreoshy illustrated this by discussing the placement of bollards in New York City’s urban spaces, which must balance pedestrian and cyclist safety with accessibility and aesthetics. These seemingly small details, such as bollards and fences, are integral to creating safer cities, particularly in high-traffic areas where various modes of transportation intersect.

Technology Needs to be Utilised More Effectively to Properly Plan Urban Developments, Avoid Disaster and Ensure Happy Residents and Safe Cities

New forms of technology and ways of manipulating data are shaping the future of urban planning. Dr. Sara C. Bronin, author and Professor at Cornell University, shared howZoning Atlas maps zoning laws and their impact on urban resilience, particularly in the context of wildfires and other natural disasters by analysing zoning codes and land-use policies. This technology allows for identifying areas at high risk of catastrophic events, including flooding and wildfires. Cities can use these kinds of technology and gather more data about their areas to advocate for smarter zoning that takes these risks into account, as well as to promote more sustainable, equitable development patterns.

Cities Face Challenges on Every Level, From Natural Disasters to Violent Attacks, That Can Be Addressed –in Part – Through Urban Design

In recent years the environmental risks facing cities have expanded in scale. Sara explained that her work has revealed that current zoning practices often exacerbate environmental risks, as cities continue to develop in ways that ignore ecosystems. However, addressing these risks requires a shift in planning at a regional level, rather than leaving it solely to individual cities. Cities can coordinate efforts with their counties, states and larger governing areas to manage development in vulnerable areas, especially in relation to watersheds and wildland-urban interfaces. The panellists all agreed that better zoning, proactive strategies and stronger political will are necessary to ensure cities are prepared for future challenges.

A challenge Eric shared from Strasbourg was convincing urban planners that they had a role to play in building socially cohesive cities. When he originally reached out to urban planners in his city, they were non-responsive. Eric explained that “it’s not that they didn’t want to talk to me, but they had no idea on what their role could be in the prevention of radicalization … they thought they didn’t have a role to play”. The conversation concluded with a call for more holistic thinking in urban planning – one that integrates social, environmental and physical safety considerations. Panellists also emphasised the importance of designing spaces not only with violence prevention and safety in mind but to ensure that these spaces reflect the diverse needs of the people who inhabit them.

Next Steps

The next Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative webinar will focus on restarting dialogue between divided communities. We will be joined by two peacemakers who will share their personal stories and a series of practical steps cities can take to support the process of restarting dialogue, and in doing so, foster trust and create inclusive spaces for meaningful conversations that promote civil discourse, empathy and understanding. Please sign up to the Strong Cities’ mailing list to receive invitations for upcoming webinars and other events.

Additional Resources

• Creating Safe, Cohesive and Resilient Cities through Urban Planning & Design: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network (December 2024) 
• Fifth Global Summit: Urban Design Planning — Strengthening Social Cohesion, Strong Cities Network (December 2024) 

• Urbanization, Peace and Security, Peace in Our Cities and Global Initiative on Against Transnational Organized Crime (September 2024) 
• Urban Safety Monitor: The Bigger Picture, United Nations Habitat, European Forum for Urban Security (2024) 
• Cities and Regions Shaping the Built Environment for Everyone: A Catalogue of 30 Good Practices, Eurocities (2023)  
• Her Cities: A Guide for Cities to Sustainable and Inclusive Urban Planning and Design Together with Girls, United Nations Habitat & Shared City Foundation (2022) 
• The ’15-Minutes City: What They Are and How to Build Them, Forbes (October 2022)  
• Architect’s Role in Creating Equitable Communities, The American Institute of Architects (September 2022) 
• Inclusive Cities Urban Area Guidelines, Asian Development Bank (March 2022) 
• Placemaking: Making Thriving Cities Through Place-Led Development, World Bank (2021) 
• Security by Design: How to Render Public Spaces Both Safe and Open to All, European Forum for Urban Security (March 2021)

Contact Information 

For more information on this event, the webinar series, the or Strong Cities Transatlantic Dialogue or Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiatives, please contact Allison Curtis, Deputy Executive Director, at [email protected]. 

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