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Velo Parking: co-designing bicycle infrastructure in Skopje

Velo Parking: co-designing bicycle infrastructure in Skopje

Overview

In 2020, SmartUp led a participatory process, supported by GIZ and the City of Skopje, to design and build a bicycle-parking area at Skopje's Transport Centre. It followed a cycling-policy audit (BYPAD) by a City working group, which picked a bicycle rack at the Transport Centre as the best pilot measure.

We ran the whole process end to end as an open design competition: a co-design workshop to shape the call, an open call that drew 22 applications, a briefing workshop and design phase for 11 selected multidisciplinary teams, public pitching to a jury, and finally the construction of the winning design together with the City's public enterprises.

The challenge

Designing with the people who use it

Public institutions, architects, and citizens' initiatives had to shape the call together, so that the result would meet real needs.

Running a competition during Covid-19

With field visits not allowed in spring 2020, site work was replaced by ready-made data and an online briefing workshop.

Building in a public space

The winning design had to be built while coordinating public institutions and contractors, with extra funding and in-kind support for finishing touches.

Activities and methods

The project moved from idea to finished space in five steps:

  • Co-design workshop – 19 participants from City of Skopje departments, the Municipality of Centre, GIZ, the #NaTochak initiative, a private architect, and Skopje Urban Living Lab defined who the call should reach, how entries would be selected and judged, the application process, and possible locations.
  • Open call – the call for a bicycle-parking prototype ran from 17 March to 6 April 2020. We received 22 applications (13 teams and 9 individuals) and selected 11 teams, favouring team applications and multidisciplinarity.
  • Briefing workshop – held online, it aligned teams on the goals and expected results, discussed the site, and answered questions. Teams received data from the Transport Centre, the railways, the public transport enterprise, and urban plans.
  • Design and pitching – teams had four weeks to develop designs. Each presented for 5 minutes, with 3 minutes of Q&A, at a public final presentation streamed online. A multidisciplinary jury covering design, construction, and user needs awarded three designs.
  • Implementation – the winning design was built with the City of Skopje's public enterprises, which gave in-kind support for the reconstruction of the area and greenery.

Throughout, we promoted the process through a dedicated web page and regular social media updates, keeping the community informed about the new bicycle infrastructure.

Impact and learning

The open competition produced 11 competing designs and three awarded winners, and the winning design was built. The project delivered the following urban equipment:

  • 4 closed and 13 open bicycle parking spaces
  • 1 changing room, 8 benches, and 1 trash box

Additional financing allowed us to add a mural, surface cleaning, a water fountain, a bicycle service station, and instructional boards.

Outputs

Open call for designing a bicycle parking

The call, assessment criteria, and requirements of the design competition (in Macedonian).

View Open call

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