Citizen participation process, Esch-sur-Alzette (L)

Project: Revitalisation of the Rue de l'Alzette, Esch-sur-Alzette (L), principal: Municipal Administration of Esch-sur-Alzette (L), target group: Residents and visitors, project management: WW + Esch-sur-Alzette (L), services for the launch of and support for the public consultation process for the revitalisation of the city centre of Esch-sur-Alzette, start of planning 01/2018, realisation 05 to 12/2018, implementation from 2019 -2024

COURSE OF THE PROJECT

The consultation and dialogue process has three main phases: it has already started with the invitation for the local public to get involved, followed by the implementation of the consultation, and will be concluded with the publication of information on the results.

The consultation was carried out in an intensive phase between the beginning of May and mid-July 2018. This phase consisted of a series of consultation building blocks that formed a consultation loop and served to identify the interests and needs of people using Rue de l'Alzette and the adjacent streets in the city centre. Building on this, a common vision for the future of the city centre is to be produced and appropriate fields of action developed. No specific measures have yet been defined at this stage.

CONSULTATION MODULES

The various building blocks of the process are mutually complementary and consist partly of moderated and partly of open formats. Open formats are workshops and actions carried out independently by persons and organisations interested in the revitalisation of the city centre. These diverse formats address and involve the various interest groups in different ways.

EVENTS AND FORMATS

KICK-OFF EVENT

• Over 90 participants

DISTRICT WALKS

• More than 40 participants each
• With tradesmen, associations, departments of the city administration, players from the private sector and the university
• Approx. 80 participants

QUESTIONNAIRE CAMPAIGN

• Approx. 1300 participants

FUTURE CONFERENCES

• Approx. 20 - 40 participants each

OPEN FORMATS

• Commissions of the City of Esch (2X), organisations

CURRENT STATUS

The interests and needs brought to light by the various consultation modules as well as the developed fields of action must not end up "in the drawer" at the end of the dialogue and consultation process. Instead, they will be handed over to the City of Esch-sur-Alzette in the form of a "civic opinion" and serve as normative guidelines for future planning, measures and decisions concerning the Rue de l'Alzette and the adjacent areas. The first measures for 2019 are already being initiated.

FINAL DOCUMENT ON THE CIVIC OPINION

The evaluation of the results of the various consultation modules as well as the measures developed are the subject matter of the civic opinion, which is currently being prepared. Together with the steering group on "Revitalisation of the City Centre", consisting of politicians, administrators and planners, possible measures are currently being developed to respond to comments from the public. Measures that can be implemented at short notice for 2019 are currently being defined in order to immediately launch the revitalisation process. In parallel to the short-term measures, an integrated urban development plan is being drafted to revitalise the centre, including long-term opportunities for improvement. Private initiatives will also be encouraged.

RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE CAMPAIGN

The questionnaire contains 19 questions in a total of 6 subject blocks:  Security and cleanliness, mobility, quality of presence and design, quality of the sectoral mix, quality as a residential location, demographics and society. Socio-demographic evaluation of the questionnaire campaign:

• Attendees: approx. 1300 persons took part in the survey, of whom approx. 60% were female and approx. 40% male
• Age group: the people taking part mainly come from the two age groups 31-40 and 41-50.
• Nationality: 73% of the respondents had Luxembourg nationality, followed by 9% with French nationality and 8% with Portuguese nationality.
• Place of residence: 76% of respondents said that they live in Esch/Alzette
• Breakdown by role: most of the respondents indicated that they are residents, customers and visitors.
• Involvement: the majority of respondents considered it important or very important to participate in the future development of the City Centre.