CITY MAKERS Bologna and Emilia Linear City

City Makers explores current challenges in the urban transformation of the city Bologna and its expanding metropolitan horizon along Via Emilia. As urban research and design studio, City Makers has been developed with students of the University of Hannover, in cooperation with the University of Bologna. The focus on urban design and innovation is linked to actual urban planning and territorial planning processes: Bologna’s Urban Innovation Plan and the setup of Neighbourhood Labs and the Strategic Plan for the Metropolitan City of Bologna. The topic of social innovation for increased citizens’ participation and co-design— leading to new concepts and expertise in urban planning and design—in City Makers is set in dialogue with initiatives and concepts of making in the context of a highly productive and inclusive city and region, a strong university pole, and a rich industrial and artisan tradition. City Makers aims at contributing to discussions about new concepts and models for the sustainable development of metropolitan territories. On the one hand, City Makers addresses the activating role of Neighbourhood Labs in urban peripheries for positive urban change in quarters and urban networks. On the other hand, it proposes a strengthening of mixed and dense settlement poles in the linear network along Via Emilia, towards a vibrant polycentric city based on sustainable mobility, intelligent clusters and social innovation.