“Every town and city should have a physical space where people can go to understand, debate, and get involved in the past, present and future of where they live, work and play.

The purpose of these Urban Rooms is to foster meaningful connections between people and place, using creative methods of engagement to encourage active participation in the future of our buildings, streets, and neighbourhoods.”

An Urban Room is a space where people can come together to help create a future for their local area.

An Urban Room can be:

▪︎ inside a building or outside in public space

▪︎ open for just a few days, a few weeks, or months, or for years
▪︎ many different things: a shop; a market stall, a milk float, a tree house, a clearing in the woods; hosted in a public square, a corner of a public library, a community centre or a supermarket…
▪︎ facilitated by a variety of organisations: community groups, local authorities, arts organisations, universities

Although they can be different in many ways Urban Rooms share the same principles:

1. A focus on our shared built environment - streets, neighbourhoods, and public spaces

2. An open door - all welcome, especially those who are traditionally under-represented in decision making about the future of our towns and cities

3. Exploration through creative activities - to prompt curiosity and fresh thinking

4. To be ‘on-site’, that is, located in the places that are being discussed.

Here you will find all you need to know about setting up an Urban Room. In this Toolkit you can read the Stories, get the Knowhow and discover the Methods that have been tried and tested by the Urban Rooms Network: https://urbanroomstoolkit.org/

If you’d like to find out more information about the Urban Rooms Network, please check out the following link: https://urbanroomsnetwork.org/