Luján de Cuyo: Hagamos Plaza (“Let’s Make the Public Square”)

Hagamos Plaza is a public policy promoted in Luján de Cuyo aimed at transforming the municipality’s squares into key spaces for community gathering, connection, and citizen decision-making. The program promotes an innovative model for managing public space that actively involves residents, social organizations, and local institutions in all stages of the process. Its approach begins by recognizing the square as a central space of community life, from which relationships can be strengthened, participation encouraged, and community built at the neighborhood level.

Through this initiative, public space becomes an arena for collective construction, where an organizational culture based on collaborative work, recognition of local actors, harmonious coexistence, strengthening of the sense of belonging, and sustainable use of shared spaces is encouraged. In this way, Hagamos Plaza not only intervenes in urban infrastructure but also promotes social processes that aim to be sustained over time.

Historically, decisions regarding the design and functioning of public squares were made unilaterally by the State. Hagamos Plaza introduces a paradigm shift by giving the community a voice and effective participation from the initial diagnosis to the inauguration and continued use of the space. This approach recognizes the territorial knowledge of neighborhood residents and incorporates it into the development of more legitimate and community-oriented public policies.

The program is structured in four phases. The first is Co-design, which includes technical and social assessments, stakeholder mapping, and participatory workshops to identify needs and proposals. The second phase is Validation, during which the community reviews and adjusts the project before implementation. The third phase is the Inauguration, conceived as a moment of collective celebration. Finally, the Appropriation phase promotes co-managed sociocultural activities that consolidate the active use of the space.

In this way, Hagamos Plaza does more than renovate public squares: it builds citizenship, strengthens neighborhood identities, and consolidates a sustainable and replicable culture of participation throughout the territory of Luján de Cuyo.

More information:
https://lujandecuyo.gob.ar/cercania/
https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc1891.pdf