Initiatives and responsibilities: civic activity in Trakiya residential neighbourhood (part of a large- scale interdisciplinary research conducted within one Architecture week 2016) Текст научной статьи по специальности «Строительство и архитектура»

Научни трудове на Съюза на учените в България-Пловдив Серия A. Обществени науки, изкуство и култура том IV, ISSN 1311-9400 (Print); ISSN 2534-9368 (On-line), 2017, Scientific works of the Union of Scientists in Bulgaria-Plovdiv, seriesA. Public sciences, art and culture, Vol. IV, ISSN 1311-9400 (Print); ISSN 2534-9368 (On-line), 2017.

INITIATIVES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: CIVIC ACTIVITY IN TRAKIYA RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBOURHOOD (PART OF A LARGE-SCALE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CONDUCTED WITHIN ONE ARCHITECTURE WEEK 2016) Nina Toleva-Nowak1, Wiktor Nowak2 4JACEG - Sofia, 2AMDFA - Plovdiv

Abstract

The research focuses on "Trakiya", a plattenbau residential neighborhood, constructed between the late 1970s and early 1980s. Built for predominantly young families, today it houses more than 60 000 people. The aim of this paper is to explore the activity in the area in terms of involvement of the residents in civic causes and initiatives, their interrelations with the local Municipal administration, and to provide an in-depth look at the local civic practices of the inhabitants. The gathered information is part of a large-scale interdisciplinary study, including field surveys, quasi-representative sociological survey of 477 respondents, meetings with residents and representatives of the local Municipality. As results, the main issues in the civic microclimate in the neighborhood are derived and conclusions are drawn about the potential for civil engagement in the process of urban and socio-cultural development (based on meetings with the local citizens, the produced statistical data, and map materials). Key words: bottom-up processes; urban development; working with communities; civic engagement

Trakiya is a plattenbau neighborhood, planned during the early and mid-1970s and implemented in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. Built predominantly for young families and workers, in accordance to the social engineering practices of that time, the complex was planned with lots of open spaces, green areas and parks, schools, kindergartens. The intended administrative centre with the social, cultural and commercial facilities was never built, due to the changed political and economic situation after 1989. Today Trakiya is the third biggest plattenbau neighborhood in Bulgaria and houses more than 60,000 people, representing 1/6th of the population in Plovdiv. The aim of this paper is to explore the activity in the area in terms of involvement of the residents in civic causes and initiatives, their interrelations with the local Municipal administration, and to provide a background for an in-depth look at the local civic practices of the inhabitants. Among the objectives are: mapping the results of the civic activities of the district; exploring the residents' interrelations; their satisfaction with some aspects of the neighborhood environment and their assessment of the quality of communication within the community; identifying the civic practices they are willing to join in; exploring the residents' communication with the Municipality; identifying key aspects of the civic activity and the potential of the civic engagement. Materials and methods

The vast interdisciplinary research of "Trakiya" continued from February until October 2016, including desk research, online research, field surveys, interviews with locals and administration, meetings with locals and administration, quasi-representative sociological study among 477 residents. The research included more than 60 people: specialists, professionals, students, volunteers from a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The results were analyzed with SPSS v.23 software. 234

Demography

Today more than 1/6th of the population of Plovdiv lives in Trakiya (9328 people 0-17 years of age, 39405 residents in working age (females up to 59 years old and males up to 62 years old), and 10884 residents in retirement [1]. During the quasi-representative sociological survey 477 people answered the questionnaire - 48% males and 52% females with the following age distribution: 19% between 18-24 years, 67% between 25-59 years and 14% over 60 years. According to the marital status 33% are single, 51% are married or living together, 8% are divorced (or separated) and 6% are widowed. According to their education, 1% are with elementary education, 4% with primary education, 54% with secondary education (29% - general secondary education and 25% special secondary education) and 41% with higher education. In accordance to their work status, 51.2% have a full-time job, 13.8% a part-time job, 13.30% are people in retirement, 12.9% are students, 5% are unemployed, 2.80% are in maternity leave and 0.9% are housewives. Thus the socio-demographic profile of the region is formed by predominantly active people with a mean age of 39.3 years, which is a good prerequisite for an active urban microclimate. During the last 28 years the district has undergone a huge transformation - from the sterile modernist environment of the typical plattenbau residential area into a lively integral part of the urban organism, filled with numerous functions and activities. This transformation can be traced into every aspect of the urban life - economics, technical and transport infrastructure, green spaces and informal paths, reconstructions and renovations (installing benches and tables, transforming apartments on the ground floor and basements into cabinets, studios and shops, equipped with external stairs, transforming the trash-chutes into groceries mini-shops, hair-dresser salons, etc.), etc. Huge part of these activities are related to rehabilitation and development of the adjacent environment and the green spaces between the buildings - creating flower or vegetable gardens, planting fruit trees, building alcoves, benches, etc. Primary results: Communication as the key to being active

How do you assess the interrelations with How do you asssess the quality of

your neighbours? communication?

-38% 45.10% 50% -35.40%

■ ■ 0% 7% 10.70%

/

47%

50.00% -

4.70% 12.20%

What is particularly interesting is the difference in the mean age of the people rating their interrelations and communication with their neighbors as either poor or good (32.9/38.8/35.1/42 years and 31.9/40.4/37.9/40.9 years). On average the younger people rated their interrelations and the quality of communication as worse. This observation has also been reaffirmed during the meetings with the residents - most of the middle age and elder people stated that the younger people are less communicative (probably due to their busy daily routine), that the neighbor interrelations are now different, that they miss the "afternoon coffee with pleasant neighbor company", etc. They claimed that the younger people are more isolated - closed in their own shells, neglectful of the local practices of the micro-community and the adjacent urban environment.

The overall assessments of the urban micro-climate and the municipal services providing its maintenance are quite positive. Yet, the mean age of the unsatisfied from the urban environment respondents is higher than the mean age of the respondents that are not satisfied with the municipal environmental maintenance services, which may lead to the conclusion, that the younger respondents identified the municipality as responsible for maintaining the needed quality of the urban environment.

Assc^ing. ¿lkoj fcipecti of Ihc a: ban raviroozKiil ■uoiqf dv

cteuiiuu -<i "i* Li-iftt-.-i ¡-f+rti n.TLUiica a! UK-

17JHH 1 JVltH

is«*

I'far*

«tit*. |

IL№l 1 lunt ajLim

Mudnu&cr tfdiw'nHi

. 20. W* s

■!'--.. I.

bad ■ iiautii£ftrai

The identified key common problems for the neighborhood include the untended spaces between the buildings, the lack of enough parking spaces, the poor quality of the roads and the pavements, the lack of drinking fountains and toilets, and the lack of sufficient amount of cultural events. On the other hand, the mean age of the respondents who believe that the leading role in the process of managing the neighborhood should be attributed entirely to the citizens is 36.1 years (while the mean age for the residents in the region is 39.6years). The respondents who believe that the citizens should have either leading role or at least 50/50 shared responsibility with the Municipality in the decision-making and problem solving processes is 41.7. Those who consider the Municipality should have the leading role is 38.7 years (less than the mean age for the region). We may conclude that the middle-aged and elder people are ready to take their civil responsibility for the development of the area. Even though most of the respondents consider the Municipality should take leading role in the decision-making and problem-solving processes (this opinion is shared by both the eldest and the youngest respondents), a tendency for the emergence of a civically active core of youngsters is observed. Also, the people with lower education status tend to avoid taking responsibility. Overall, most active in terms of citizen participation are the people between 25-34 and 5564 years old.

Among the people who consider the Municipality should have leading role, the highest percentage is of unemployed, or people with a part-time job, or students. Among the people who believe the citizens should either have the leading role or be a concurrent partner, major part are the people with a full-time job, the people in retirement and the women in maternity leave. Speaking of citizen causes and initiatives, 34.3% of the respondents haven't participated in any causes and initiatives, 29.9% haven't participated either, but are willing to join, 28.4% have taken part in some kind of activity and 7.4% cannot recall. The mean age of the respondents who are not

willing to join any citizen causes and initiatives 35.7 years, which is lower compared with the mean age of the region. Among the preferred causes and initiatives, preferred by the respondents are charity fundraising (which is quite a passive citizen activity), cleaning and maintaining the space between the buildings, planting trees and flowers (a big part of the planting events are organized by the Municipality), renovating and development of the entrance of the residential buildings and their surrounding area, collecting food and clothes for deprived and the people in need, cleaning the public parks, and others.

Fu Iklpiliuli it («too and iuidj| ai i-i.rdin u H i Hftr

LjIK I lUHt UK i I.H

UH I UIH u™

HIH Mt% a

HUUMi HL

HjSii". tj

UH IH A»«

IM ■ l-fK 4

IUM tllK J s

1UM B

U9*

_

№ ]»*i PilLlLjpiLl«ll 11(1141 JK3 illlhulntv J^L^IaJuR I" Hj*Cit№D

i.71i

j»

j*

I'lrili'lfiElan in cau\K iiuj Jnlllaliniv ircordlnp * urk mill

yo

iki, hilt I vl\-uI.3 join

tujuml Ill.III

What makes an impression is the fact that the widowed respondents are among the most active in terms of citizen causes and initiatives. A possible explanation for this could be the process of overcoming the feelings of grief and loneliness by addressing common issues and feeling as a helpful part of the local micro-community. Not surprisingly, the people with higher educational status are more active and are willing to take part in citizen activities, yet among the most inactive respondents are the youngsters and the singles.

I'artifipjtiDK ¡Kxum idU ■iliilkifh; .Hitofidiiit Go mrun^JbiliJ!) pmpliM

Kjf^jldUlik^: MiMitflvt r.. pirlKl^FM li LilK! d«jy>^nr

№

D£ kr- M|UIT . ijjctti

wiW>or>tK

E

EE-

HJ1X

J*. I

We may conclude, that the respondents that recognize the Municipality as a leading partner in the problem-solving and decision-making processes are more inactive and reluctant to join any type of

citizen activity. On the contrary, the most active are the respondents that consider the responsibility should be equally shared between citizens and authorities.

Complaints and communication with the Municipality as a major part of the citizen activity:

Overall, more that 80% of the respondents have never filed a complaint in the Municipality. The same amount of people either believe there is no problem in the communication process between the citizens and the local authorities, or have no opinion. Thus, the people that have actually filed a complaint, state that that there are problems in the communication with the authorities. Among most of the filed complaints, according to an administrator at the Municipality, refer to fallen trees, contaminated and abandoned green spaces, leaks, loud noise, stray dogs, etc.

tiling (UBipllinCV l^'HlhlR 1» IRC Rffcup

Hlins^iikpljinlh: imlaTrmik

Sï*%

TO № W»

Mil*.

IHIUMI I IliHH

| | SJM

1 I 7ÍS

MJTH

IH4PW WJJ%

I djDf oonapliiAth. j«ordti]|i luirilik itilut

EBB |

lTj»i 71J*

■ yti ■ |H

Eilig complin*»: jccoiillftiL lo

m»

H|'llllln. I

KTt

If laid <!■

i i i m m

E 1 I 1 m

¡ESE

Wli I

Overall, the profile of those who filed complaints is similar to the one of the active citizen community. The results of the cross-reference showed that from the respondents who rater their neighbor interrelations and neighbor communication higher, is the bigger part of the respondents who filed a complaint in the Municipality. Thus we may consider that the complaints are more related to common problems for the local micro-communities, rather than to interpersonal conflicts. Proof for this we may also find in the chart showing the cross-reference between the filing of complaints and the assessment of the municipal services maintaining the local urban environment.

h ilmt fninfiljInlM |h m.if il»HY ii ilh IhF [wrr^ilU« i.f III- inpvMHItlr

hilinp*n*iplplni* Il ■çrurf'ïKT In chr pmrplKi or tvtnimpk ilkjp pruhlfn*

I III": l>." LL.l.'1 J

:E vl =1* mjiMj/jIfr k» vf

I lir:r ur [Tiiilr llir LUBJIIIJIK dlMJd d J" I i-T l' '[lll>J-

llr^ir-lll^h-jll.C -l!l ibf M jr... .rjl.:v

3 Hi OR f .IIT]lljIlKlh *írílTllIDfF

mili (buHLwp inhttr

Í1. № «i W, №

Two following charts serve as further proof. The first one shows the relation between the respondents rating as problematic the communication with the Municipality and the filing complaints. The second one shows the relation of the people who have actively taken part in citizen causes and initiatives to those who have filed a complaint. Virtually, almost 80% of the respondents who have filed a complaint have been actively communicating with the Municipality and believe this communication is problematic. We may also consider, that the respondents who believe that the citizens should be either the leading, or equal partner, have filed more complaints. And even though the Municipality have been trying to communicate very actively with the citizens (mostly in the

social media) by answering questions and comments, the elder people consider this type of communication as insufficient, as they have problems using the new technologies and digitals methods of communication. During the meetings with the "Trakiya" residents, the elder ones point as problematic the fact that there are no announcements, no paper posters, or information leaflets for an upcoming events, public discussions, etc. Overall, in terms of problematic communication between the residents and the Municipality (and its representatives), 17.5% of the respondents consider there are problems in that communication, 40.2% state there are no problems and 42.3% have no opinion of that matter.

m* In rtmmankjIlQH: prrve^iMQii

*fr«hl|*È I* ¿1 III

J'iuMuir iu mumiDKilmH:

pnc^fNDl III J lr EtBÉÉl*

liij ' kl.SS

UH ' JIJS mtt

lyti Inn ■ no opinion

hiolrirrat !■ remninakirltn: |>M*r|jikj[l IffAlïJllL^ 4ll IIj.iIiIbL

AlU

a.Tt H JI.D7H

I UilH IUIH

](«'> 1 mm jmnt

CS3 4CJ№14

IE 4L4№ 4T.1H

inn Ali'H M.WH

hnbfcmlH n.nmmnirxihik- pvrcLplh.n ■ rruidj^ I» nJui jIpmi

wthiA | :: :i 'F HB

d.TIIElJ | ttJMt Ifjth 4UH

I ■ I .I »! ■

"1* IH SI-HM

14» ISJ-M RH iljh

PIS I 4HH Jii*

—» . 1

Iprtun 11. i'l l).l%

cm ItH

Citizen activity: causes and initiatives:

From those who have taken part in citizen causes and initiatives is the biggest part of the respondents who claim problematic communication between the residents and the Municipality. Similar is the distribution in sharing the responsibility in decision-making and problem-solving processes -from the respondents who believe the citizens should have the leading role is the biggest percentage of people who reported problematic communication with the Municipality and its representatives.

Pi'rctplitii ii f pniE»h' mv in I'ummuDKrtliuD in ¡m'ontamv lu ilit L'ili/»n pmliiiftnlhjll

remember

n<>. l*rt [ ™nohl

lï.SIWfc 32^4 Î0.MÎ4

6MÉH

1 .5 41,40%

41.09% is.wm

■ hi«i«tK4d ■ ne ■ no opinion

Not surprisingly, the lower the assessment of the municipal environmental maintenance services, the more the problematic is the communication with the Municipality and its representatives.

■ ¿ ■■■mfa'glU* kM lb \Untl|uin. ■ ib |nWffft-taf^ripçM—r ..•»»»ill..

j «im Bi s-

m m il

S I'- Q ii-fPS |

ll MJ0.H Bi

i »f«wu {jfjnfelpitlii Id rriid» m fb# iwiuhh -A tow aaikl^ii imi ten

<-_l'. ¡Uli .

H SS OB

■ S. B .

An interesting inversion is observed: the better the neighbor interrelations and communication, the greater the proportion of respondents reporting problematic communication with the Municipality.

■ ■ — — _

^^H IUM1 W***

— E —

mm _J

IU ------'--

A relation between the attitude towards the municpal environmental maintenance services and the willingness of joining citizen causes and initiatives is observed: the respondents who gave the lowest assessment are the most passive. This may serve as a proof that the more the citizens render in account the commitment and the activity of the Municipality, the more they themselves are willing to contribute to the development of the environment in which they live. Also, the better the assessment of the neighbor communication, the more active the citizens are in the local initiatives.

HrhiiimhllMlriiM id Erlaliuii Id ibr irulil- ai m h iddime jI hid

R^I-...¿mil» la iHiulm h lb iil'rr'HiH

4T.TV* 4UI/H 1 H 4ÎJÎS

J9J4H E JSOfH 1*1*

UWi H IUH 1 | 11Ü*, |üh

1 if»*. iiJt^

MuM*h | ™ 1 MLM#*

**.ai-H, 1 jjiTt. | 11 l.-.i«!

L! UM inn IUI*»

B mm uni ML».'*.

The people with bad assessment of neighbor relations and quality of neighbor communication are also the most convinced that the responsibility lies entirely with the citizens. It should be noted that most of the neighbors consider the communication to be satisfactory. The elder people rate their interrelations and neighbor communication better, thus we may assume that the younger generations are the more passive ones. On the other hand, the more satisfied people are in with their inter-neighborly relations and quality of neighbor communication, the less they think all the responsibilities for development of the district should be entirely taken over by the municipality. That is to say, from the respondents with poor neighbor relations and quality of communication, a major part is unwilling to join in community initiatives.

Kiumkmik'jil kiJi/JlarikLJ|)a [urn

prod

ilium uficlory

M

SLlfA №.t№

JtLMil ■M.7.H4 4UtK UK

IUM 14JH IUM

J: I?-- un

]ijilki|>;illuii''<|irilLL_h irri-i>niinuii iuuLi'in

JPoJ I

SO*

of, nv «s loos

Conclusions:

Overall, we may conclude that usually the people are willing participate in initiatives in two cases - when they are very happy with the environment they live in and they want to perfect it; or when they are not completely satisfied but still render in account the Municipality's actions in bettering the neighborhood and want to help and be active part of the development process. On the other hand the people who are strongly dissatisfied, lack the stimulus, as they believe they will put their effort in causes doomed to fail. People also tend to be inactive or reluctant to join any initiative in cases when they are generally satisfied and would rather make a compromise their degree of satisfaction rather than to step out of their comfort zone and put some effort in bettering their immediate environment.

As a conclusions, in terms of weaknesses and threats, the presence of an unhappy yet inactive younger generation with poor intra-neighbor relations and communication - a worrying trend on the back of an influx of new, young inhabitants 48% have settled there in the last 9 years, with a mean age under 30. Thus, there is a clear need of integrating the new tenants into the social life of the micro-regions. Also, most of the inactive citizens have reached adolescence during or right after the so-called 'transitional period' in the 1990s, which might explain their immense skepticism. Most respondents who have filed complaints rate their experience of dealing with the municipality as negative. Also, most respondents who rated their neighbor interrelations and communication as bad or unsatisfactory, are also passive in terms of joining local micro-communal citizen activities. Another pressing issue, is the fact that the Municipality is keen to offload responsibilities, yet less inclined to do so when it comes to rights.

On the positive side, in terms of strengths and opportunities, the assessments of both the neighborhood relations and the interrelations with the Municipality are quite satisfactory. The most acute problems are the ones that can only be solved by active cooperation between the residents and the local authorities. Surprisingly, the middle aged and the seniors are the main drivers of transformation of the region, yet a small core-group of youngsters is emerging with radical and active approach towards citizen participation. Most of the active citizens have a balanced view of responsibilities, as shared between citizens and municipality. And even though, the technologies are changing the way we socialize, they have the potential to develop as an opportunity for integrating newcomers and improving communication with the municipality. Or to stimulate and empower a more active bottom-up approach will involving more and more people to join in. It is important to note that it is precisely the shared initiatives between citizens and the municipality that enjoy the greatest success and have the potential to attract more and more active inhabitants and activate the passive. In short, the strengthening the local communities, by improving the communication between the residents is the key to active citizen participation and sustainable development.

About the authors: Nina Toleva-Nowak (ntoleva@gmail.com) is an architect, PhD candidate in "History and Theory of Architecture" at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy. After her grant at The University of Tokyo, Japan, she was invited as Research Coordinator for One Architecture Week festival 2016. Currently she is working full-time as Chief Expert in the "Culture and Cultural Heritage" Department at the Municipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Wiktor Nowak (vik.nowak@gmail.com) is a graphic designer with Master degree in Artmanagement and a special interest in local communities. During the One Architecture Weekn 2016 festival he was involved in the work and the organization of the meetings with the local communities. He is co-editor and designer of the graphic layout of the "Almanac of Prefab Trakiya".