Open Streets Cape Town, despite its short existence, has succeeded in capturing the imagination of many local residents.
With origins in Bogota Colombia in the mid 1970s, “Open Streets” has become a global movement with increased growth in the past five years. Tactics to explore and reclaim public space are central to the Open Streets philosophy. However, tactics must be shifted and changed given the location and context. It is in this spirit that this talk will discuss the nature of Open Streets in other cities, what has been possible in Cape Town to date, future visions for the Cape Town Open Streets, and what type of impact the programme, and similar programmes, can aim to have in terms of social development, urban planning and economic opportunity.
The discussion will be reflective in nature addressing critical questions such as how can a powerful event translate into a lifestyle? how can it address conflicting uses of the street? and how can it genuinely bridge the spatial divide of our city?
About the Speakers
Marcela Guerrero Casas was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, Marcela Guerrero Casas is passionate about cities and public space. Marcela holds a Masters in Public Administration and International Affairs from Syracuse University and has worked in policy and advocacy for almost ten years. Marcela moved to Johannesburg in 2006 and worked in Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Kenya before moving permanently to Cape Town in 2011. In 2012, Marcela co-founded Open Streets, a citizen-led organization working to transform how streets are perceived, utilized and experienced. Marcela is also a co-founder of SUR Collective, a platform for cultural exchange between Latin American and Sub-Saharan African countries and is currently a contributor to the African Centre for Cities’ Serious Fun.
Diana Sanchez-Betancourt is a senior researcher at the HSRC. She holds an MA in social sciences from Uppsala Universitet in Sweden and a BA degree in political science and international relations from Universidad Externado in Colombia. She is currently a World Social Sciences Fellow on Sustainable Urbanisation (2013-2015).Her research is trans-disciplinary and her main areas of interest include sustainable urbanisation, citizen engagement, social cohesion and collaborative work with Latin America. Amongst other projects Diana coordinates a cross-regional Learning Alliance on citizen engagement and oversight under the international ELLA (Evidence and Lessons from Latin America) programme, and a study on citizen engagement in the sphere of local government within the Cities Support Programme led by National Treasury. Her most recent work, to be published, explores the relationship between public spaces, social integration and sustainable urbanisation in Cape Town, where she is also an activist and volunteer around these issues.