From legal and administrative point of view the interventions in public space are very complicated procedures which refer to numerous legal departments and their expertise. In the municipality of Sofia the major body that coordinates the urban development is called Architecture and Urban Spatial Development Service (AUSDS). There are no plans from single architectural projects to masterplans of the whole municipality that can be executed without the approval of AUSDS. The agency’s structure is formed by three main directorates and thirteen departments. Directorate ‘Territorial Planning’ and its five departments (incl. urban design and advertisement) are mostly engaged with the issues of public space.

 

Legal Definitions

Concerning the physical interventions in the public space the first key distinction is made by material footprint of the intervention. This defines the interventions into permanent or temporary and respectively separates the path of their legal procedure from the very beginning. The interventions with permanent character require construction permission and follow the procedures by the national Spatial Planning Act. On the other side, the interventions with temporal character on the territory of Sofia’s municipality follow the procedures defined the local ordinance for “movable objects for advertising, information and monumental decorative elements for promotional activities in the territory of Sofia Municipality” (MOAIMDEOATSM). Mounting of any kind urban furniture on the basis of ‘action’ or seasonal placement in Sofia refer to the latter ordinance.

Zoning

In order to give more detailed framework regarding the possibilities for temporary interventions within public space the MOAIMDEOATSM ordinance contains a zoning plan for the whole territory of Sofia. This plan takes in consideration every piece of the city’s public space and separates it in different zone on the base of its location, monumental, functional or cultural importance in order to give better indications where temporal interventions are favoured and where they are rather restricted with rare exclusions.

• Zone I includes the very central part of Sofia’s street network and monumental squares;
• Zone II includes the street and boulevards which are limited by the first city ring and the adjacent squares;
• Zone III includes the public space within the city ring which does not belong to Zone I, II or VI;
• Zone IV includes the prime streets (classes II and III), located between first and second city ring as well as the boulevards and the streets from the first city ring;
• Zone V includes the prime streets (classes I, II and III), which do not belong to Zone I, II, III or IV as well as the boulevards and the streets from the second city ring;
• Zone VI includes the territory which is part of Sofia’s green system;
• Zone VII includes the rest of the public space on the territory within the municipality of Sofia.

Concrete Locations

The approval for placement of temporary objects within public space has always to be authorised by the head architect of Sofia’s Municipality. In order to ease the process of defining concrete locations for potential organisers / initiators of interventions the Architecture and Urban Spatial Development Service provides a free, online access to schemes which are indicating the concrete locations and dimensions where temporal objects can be placed or official socio-cultural activities can be accommodated.

Required Documents

The required documents regarding the placement authorisation, from Architecture and Urban Spatial Development Service is defined by two local normative documents – MOAIMDEOATSM Ordinance and municipality of Sofia’s Order RD-09-09-91, dated 18 December 2012.

Documents required by Appendix №4 to article 28, paragraph 3 from MOAIMDEOATSM Ordinance:

• Architectural project proposal;
• Design project proposal;
• Engineering project proposal.

Documents required by Order RD-09-09-91, dated 18 December 2012, from the municipality of Sofia:

• Application form;
• Identification documents of the company / person organizing the event;
• Approval by the director of “Security and Safety” department (the municipality of Sofia);
• Motivated proposal for a scheme to place movable objects;
• Project documentation;
• Agreement with the specialised supervisory and coordinating bodies;
• Declaration for execution of construction works; the approved plans in parts architecture, electricity and construction should be signed and stamped by the authors of the project in accordance to the Bulgarian Chamber of Architects and the Bulgarian Chamber of Engineers.

Approval Procedure

There are six main steps for the approval of a temporary intervention in the public space. They are:

1. Determining the type of object according to project documentation and compliance with the definitions in MOAIMDEOATSM Ordinance;

2. Verification of compliance of the project documentation according to Appendix №4 to article 28, paragraph 3 from MOAIMDEOATSM Ordinance;

3. Approval by the departments within the structure of Architecture and Urban Spatial Development Service including:

• Legal Department
• Department “Control investment planning and coordination in construction”
• Department “Public Works and Natural Resources”

4. Examination of the project documentation of the CEAS;

5. Approval of project documentation and authorisation for placement;

6. Announcing the placement authorisation.

Related Legal Acts and Ordinances

There are multiple acts and ordinances which are related to the authorisation of temporary placement intervention.

Acts:

• Spatial Planning Act;
• Spatial Planning Act and Development of Sofia Municipality;
• Local Government and Administration Act;
• Local Taxes and Fees Act;
• Cadastre and Property Register Act;
• Municipal Property Act.

Ordinances:

• Ordinance № V-12-707, dated 15 November 2013, concerning the terms and conditions for safety and technical requirements in respect to equipment placed in amusement facilities;
• Ordinance № 1, dated 12 January 2009, concerning the terms and conditions for the spatial arrangement and safety of playgrounds;
• Ordinance on the terms and procedure for executing tenders and competitions;
• Ordinance for the maintenance and protection of the green system within the Sofia Municipality;
• Ordinance concerning the transport organisation within the territory of Sofia Municipality;
• Ordinance concerning naming and renaming of municipal sites, placement, relocation and removal of monuments and artistic elements within the territory of Sofia Municipality;
• Ordinance concerning the terms and conditions for executing commercial activities on the territory of Sofia Municipality;
• Ordinance concerning the determination and administration of local taxes and prices for services provided by Sofia Municipality.

Tips

If you would like to execute the whole procedure from having an idea until the actual placement of a movable object within the public space in Sofia there are three main things that you should consider as tips while dealing with the institutional bodies responsible for the authorisation:

• Plan enough time since the process is related to the coordination between multiple departments and follows strictly defined procedures;
• Get familiar in details with the normative ordinance for “movable objects for advertising, information and monumental decorative elements for promotional activities in the territory of Sofia Municipality” (MOAIMDEOATSM);
• Be careful with the normative definition(s) regarding your proposal and the content of the project documentation.

Architecture and Urban Spatial Development Service (AUSDS)

Website: www.sofia-agk.com

Address: Sofia, Serdika Street №5

Website of Sofia Municipality: www.sofia.bg

Website of Sofia Municipal Council: www.sofiacouncil.bg

POdLEZNO is a voluntary organization which deals with the quality of the urban underpasses in the city of Sofia; lots of them being in a terrible condition with lack of light during night. In the last two years the team has been dedicated to improve the physical quality of these underpasses by also adding additional cultural value. In this way they manifest their motto “Do not be kept in the dark”, which can be interpreted both literally and figuratively- art, music, interactive installations and historical galleries that fill the underground urban spaces. This concept aims not only to make the underpasses safer and more pleasing to the eye but also to get the average passer involved in the process of change which the Bulgarian society so desperately needs.

Despite the short period since the organisation have ben founded it succeeded to revitalise three underpasses in Sofia. These projects were realised through different frameworks including multiple actors during the processes. Although each project developed through its individual path the team of POdLEZNO managed to synthesise practical how-to recommendations based on its own experiences, which they share on the PublicSpace.tools Workshop at Sofia (31^st October – 1^st November).

Results from POdLEZNO’s Projects

The nature of their projects is through collaboratively bottom-up perspective to include simultaneously the structural body of the city’s administration and the citizens considering a scarcity of resources. An effective way to this is to work extensively for the institutional support and try your best to gather volunteers by diverse means for the actual intervention.

Working with Institutions

The administrative body and legal frameworks can be extremely difficult to deal with, especially when we speak for a city such as Sofia where there are tremendous amount of departments responsible for different elements within the urban environment. According to POdLEZNO it is decisive to equip yourself with patience and energy to go through the rather slow process. However, the institutions seem to be the only partners in respect to certain aspects of the urban interventions. They represent the only actor which is absolutely necessary to involve in any public space transformation. Before approaching any institution it is essential to understand its structure and who is responsible for what – knowledge that can ease the process.

Working with Volunteers

When you work with limited financial budget one of the crucial challenges is to actually execute the physical intervention(s). Depending on the project this can demand a serious amount of physical work and people involved. A method that POdLEZNO utilised to overcome this challenge is to make substantial efforts of inspiring citizens and volunteers to support them. From their experiences they have relied on five means to collect voluntary workforce:

• Crazy friends and relatives;
• Social media including Facebook, Google+ etc.;
• Online platforms for volunteering such as timeheroes.org;
• Institutions offering voluntary support such as Bulgarian Youth Red Cross;
• Involving local citizens.

In the long term the team of POdLEZNO believe that incorporating volunteers does not have only have financial benefits by saving money but also enhances the relationship between urban environment and its users i.e. the citizens.

Projects’ Description

Looking in more details back on their work POdLEZNO outlined two practical aspects which they found crucial while trying to proceed with their own projects – secure funding and deal with paperwork.

POdLEZNO

Website: www.podlezno.com

Email: podlezno@gmail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/podlezno

The Open Flat is a public square in front of the Minsitry of Culture department building that is being used as a parking space. Several years ago, Oberliht built a replica of a Soviet communal apartment in the square and this apartment became an important space for independent art in Chisinau. The Open Flat provided numerous local and international artists with a space to perform and to organise concerts, exhibitions, movie screenings etc. Now they are working on a project to reclaim the whole square for art and create some public space for the community, to in fact remove the cars and to organise the square into a cultural zone. The ironic factor in this action plan is the main opponent of the development of the cultural square is the Ministry of Culture as they can park their cars easily.

Scroll for ES

———————-

EN

This project has its roots in the framework of the European project SPACES, and the history of Oberliht engagement in Zaikin park starts from the “Mapping the Public Space in Chisinau” workshop organized in collaboration with Eugen Panescu from Planwerk(Cluj, Romania) in July 2012. As a result of this workshop were identified 10 abandoned public spaces, but which are still keeping the potential of an opening or reactivation, located along the imaginary axis of the Cantemir Boulevard and it’s red lines. For each of this spaces was elaborated a descriptive card about the state of the space, its problems and potentialities for future, Zaikin Park was one of this spaces.

cantemir Boulevard appears in general plans of the development of the city, immediately after the second world war, the reason for building the boulevard, according to Sciusev (The architect of Chisinau between 1945-1947), was to connect the “bottom” of the city with the “top” part of the Chisinau. Nowadays the topic is still intense discussed. The construction of this boulevard would destroy the street and the social network of the city center and would include the lose of some important infrastructure for the identity of the city.
Following this short background description, the objectives of the project are:
1) Preventing the construction of the artery
2) Revitalization and rehibilitation of the park
3) Building a comunity around the park by involving the inhabitants in the activities organized in the park

—————————

ES

Este proyecto surge dentro del proyecto Europeo SPACES, y del compromiso de la asociación Oberliht en el Parque Zaikin que se inició en el taller ”Mapping the Public Space in Chisinau”, organizado con la colaboración de Eugen Panescu de Planwerk (Cluj, Romania) en Julio de 2012. Como resultado de este taller se descubrieron 10 espacios públicos abandonados pero que mantienen el potencial de poder ser abiertos o reactivados, situado a lo largo del eje imaginario del Bulevar Cantemir y sus líneas rojas.Para cada uno de estos espacios se elaboró una tarjeta descriptiva sobre el estado del espacio, sobre sus problemas y potenciales para el futuro, el Parque Zaikin fue uno de estos espacios. El Bulevar Cantemir aparece en los planes generales del desarrollo de la ciudad inmediatamente después de la segunda guerra mundial, la razón fué para la construcción del bulevar, según Sciusev (arquitecto de Chisinau entre 1945-1947) con la idea de conectar el ”fondo” de la ciudad con la parte ”superior de Chisinau. Hoy en día sigue siendo un intenso debate. La construcción de este bulevar destruiría la calle y red social del centro de la ciudad e incluiría la pérdida de algunas de sus importantes infraestructuras de la identidad de la ciudad. Tras esta pequeña descripción los objetivos del proyecto son:

1) Prevenir la construcción de la arteria

2) Revitalización y rehabilitación

3) Construir una comunidad alrededor del parque mediante la participación de los habitantes en las actividades organizadas en este.

The fountain stayed untouched since the 1980’s. This blocks of flats area is situated across the industrial area of Tecuci now almost totally distroyed. Between the buildings there are large common land areas. Very recently city of Tecuci installed a playground for children and started to build roads in order to connect the buildings. Pictures from 9th of November 2015.

 

This abondened place has stayed untouched since years. It is located in a very nice geographical location on the south bank of Danube river. However, the general condition of the wider area is quite bad. This suggests that improvement of the area and transformation into a vital place it will be quite costly.

On the other hand, Silistra is town where there is a high degree of scarcity in regards to public amentities so a hypothetical intervention can cause a substantial enhancement of the public space in the town. The unfinished spatial forms assume that the area is suitable to be adapted for a public pool something that can be combined with an improvised urban beach on the bank of the river.