2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

Let's Make a Square involves the community of Luján de Cuyo in the recovery and appropriation of its public spaces, transforming squares into citizen meeting points through an innovative model of co-design, validation, management, and community ownership. Its approach aims to establish territorialization processes, where various territorialities coexist harmoniously, promoting a sense of belonging and the sustainable use of public space.

The practice emerged with the goal of strengthening the social fabric of Luján, promoting an effective appropriation of the repurposed spaces. The aim is to transform squares into central hubs for social connection, involving the community in decisions regarding their design, care, and use, fostering an organizational culture based on collective work and the appreciation of local stakeholders.

Historically, decisions regarding squares in Luján were unilateral. Hagamos Plaza breaks with this paradigm by giving residents a voice and a vote at every step: from diagnostic and participatory planning to inauguration and appropriation, ensuring the sustained use of the squares through co-managed sociocultural activities and initiatives executed by local actors, workshops, and dialogue tables to generate consensus on best practices for using and caring for these common spaces.

The model is implemented in four phases that enable a proper co-construction of citizenship from the square to the neighborhood:

• Co-design: Technical and social survey, mapping of key stakeholders, and planning workshops where the design of the space is collectively developed
• Validation: Presentation of the design to the community, allowing for adjustments before execution
• Inauguration: Community event with cultural presentations, inviting citizens to participate in the next phase
• Appropriation: For one month, the squares become spaces for active participation with co-managed sociocultural activities executed by local partners, and improve the prestige of neighbors and entrepreneurs. The Directorate provides material resources, territorial and digital dissemination, while applying participatory observation, workshops, and dialogue tables on best practices.

Hagamos Plaza is a sustainable and replicable model across the territory that not only repurposes squares but also strengthens the social fabric, neighborhood identity, and a culture of participation.

• https://lujandecuyo.gob.ar/cercania/ (External link)
• video (External link)
• More information (External link)