Citizen-centered and mobile: The Tiny Town Hall – or as in German “Tiny Rathaus” – is inspired by the common tiny houses and rolls out onto the streets of the city and region of Kiel in Northern Germany. It brings the city administration to the citizens in their neighbourhood, inviting them to talk at eye level. On-site, the Tiny Rathaus is a test area for participation and public innovation: It is a stage to present projects and plans, it is an open space for workshops and campaigns, and it offers a room for citizens and the city administration to listen to each other.
The core idea is that the path to liveable cities and regions requires new spaces where communication and cooperation can be tested, experienced, and learned – accessible for everyone. Thus, the idea of a mobile town has been around since 2019. The Tiny Rathaus was developed by the city capital of Kiel, the Smarte Kiel Region, and the Anscharcampus, undergoing several learning loops throughout a co-creative process: First, there was the requirement to understand the specific challenges the city administration was facing as well as the collection of suggestions. The initial concept was tested with citizens at various locations over three weeks. Further, the project team invited city administrations from Denmark to exchange experiences. In the final development phase of the project, all learnings were put together to build the Tiny Rathaus according to the needs and ideas of the city administration and citizens. After all, the Tiny Rathaus not only benefits citizens but also makes it easier for the city administration to deal with complex challenges.
So far, it has been used for finding answers to the Smart Kiel Region's questions about mobility, neighbourhood development, and coastal and marine protection. For district-focused child and youth participation, and for the city's climate protection team. Previous experience has shown that citizens welcome the concept of a Tiny Rathaus.
The Tiny Rathaus is funded by Schleswig-Holstein’s state capital Kiel and the budget of the Kiel Region, based on the state’s economic agenda and the programme “Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur“ ("Improvement of the regional economic structure") jointly supported by state and federal government. Fun fact: the Danish experience not only influenced the concept of a city hall ojn wheels, but the Tiny Rathaus is also Danish Design and was produced in Aarhus.
You can read more about the Tiny Rathaus here.
(FG)
