ICLEI member city Augsburg (Germany) is in the process of establishing a new development plan, Augsburg entwickeln! (Developing Augsburg!), with the assistance of its citizen via an online platform. The participatory website gives citizens the opportunity to draw attention to issues of importance, from traffic congestion to economic viability, and contribute to the content of the new urban development concept.

The multi-year endeavour will analyse the city’s strengths and weaknesses, identify opportunities and threats, and bring together a number of local stakeholders to define the city’s future. Specifically, Augsburg’s new urban development plan will be based on a set of sustainability guidelines, the Future Guidelines, which are an outcome of the Local Agenda 21 process the city has been running over the last 18 years. These guidelines are currently reviewed by a range of regional actors involving local government, non-government organisations, local business and civil society representatives.

On 5 November, Lord Mayor Kurt Gribl launched the online portal both for the revision of the Future Guidelines and consultation on the urban development plan, in front of 200 citizens in Augsburg’s town hall. ICLEI Europe’s Deputy Regional Director Stefan Kuhn highlighted how integrated planning and sustainability management can work together for a better city: “Both instruments foster connections between issues, between processes and between people, and help overcome traditional silo thinking.”

For more information, visit the Augsburg Entwickeln website [in German].