When abandoned buildings are transformed into ?✨ inspiring, resilient platforms for co-creation and sustainability, there is a power at play!
New Kera is a prominent illustration of this rapidly expanding phenomenon.
A project from the Finnish city of Espoo aims to create a circular, carbon-neutral area and an innovative urban platform. A place for co-creation, experiments, urban culture, festivals, green solutions, urban farming, and 5G smart poles ♻?
The idea is one of many submitted for the New European Bauhaus award prizes in the category of "Regenerated urban and rural spaces."
In 2019, Espoo, one of the four municipalities that comprise the Helsinki metropolitan area, decided to shift the confines of an old, industrial, slightly declined area consisting of factories, storage halls and office buildings into a place for urban regeneration. A testbed for green and digital solutions and innovations that are highly transferable to other cities.
Kera's principal idea is to convert the area into an urban oasis of experimentation, collaboration, and shared experiences, resulting in more sustainable and communal urban living opportunities. One of the city's key goals for this project is to attain carbon neutrality by 2030 — paving the way to a sustainable future and regenerative urban environments.
The initiative exemplifies how individuals, local businesses, researchers, and the governmental sector can work together to create remarkable change. ?
According to its creators, redeveloping and opening up the old industrial has been "a once-in-a-lifetime chance at a time when the use of public space has been restricted due to COVID-19."
The values that have guided the transformation of New Kera are:
?♀️ Broad participation
? Equal voices
? Trust
Living up to these values has resulted in experimentation and open dialogue, with New Kera being a demonstrative and bold example of Urban Regeneration and revival.
? © European Union
#EUGreenDeal #Repurpose #UrbanDevelopment #SustainableLiving #equality
- Reference
- Prizes 2021, Other Applications
- Project locations
- Espoo, Finland