Flourishing Liveability
At the heart of the Network of Liveable Cities lies a simple vision: cities that flourish with liveability — places where people, communities, and nature thrive together.
To achieve this, cities need both a clear sense of direction and a collaborative mindset. Through its focus on cooperation, empathy, and iterative problem-solving, the Liveability Design Approach (LDA) bridges the gap between visionary aspirations and practical action.
The Liveability Design Approach is symbolised by the image of a flower — each part representing a key element of the approach. You can explore these elements below and in the accompanying video.
The LDA is a capacity-building programme made up of three interlinked components, developed, tested, and shared across the partner cities:
Urban Practices from Living Laboratories
The Liveability Design Approach creates spaces for dialogue, experimentation, and learning, ensuring that urban solutions are both innovative and rooted in community needs.
Across the partner cities, ideas are being developed, tested, and refined in real-world settings — the project’s living laboratories. These environments allow municipalities to try out new methods, evaluate what works, and adapt their approaches to local contexts.
Lessons learned from these initiatives are transformed into replicable tools, helping cities to scale successful strategies and adapt them across different contexts.
Read more about these Urban Practices in our Inspiration-section.
The Liveability Design Approach flower
The Roots - The City’s Unique Identity:
Beneath the surface, the roots embody what makes a city unique — its DNA, culture, and authentic qualities.
They anchor the city, providing stability and nourishment for growth.
Recognising and nurturing these roots is essential to strengthening liveability and resilience.
Just as plants draw life from their roots, cities flourish when they build on their identity and authenticity.
The Flower’s Trunk - The Charter for Designing Liveable Cities:
The trunk represents the Charter for Designing Liveable Cities — the central framework that supports the entire structure.
It helps cities commit to becoming more liveable, outlining a shared vision expressed through eight key liveability characteristics and six guiding principles.
Like a trunk that holds up leaves and flowers, the Charter supports the city’s liveability efforts and connects vision to action.
The Leaves - Liveability Principles:
Branching from the trunk, the leaves represent the six liveability principles — values such as curiosity, empathy, trust, transparency, and collaboration.
These principles guide how city staff, partners, and communities work together to create thriving urban environments.
Just as leaves turn sunlight into nourishment, these principles convert vision into daily practice — feeding the growth of liveable cities.
The Flower Stamp - Training Programme:
At the heart of the flower lies the Liveability Training Programme.
This element equips cities with practical tools and design methods to apply the liveability principles through Public Interest Design — a socially responsible and community-centred approach.
Developed with input from city officials, researchers, and practitioners, the training strengthens the skills and knowledge needed to help cities grow — and to share that learning with others.
The Petals - Liveability Characteristics:
The petals symbolise the qualities that define a liveable city — such as green infrastructure, creativity, inclusion, emotional well-being, and civic participation.
These characteristics shape how a city feels and functions, making it enjoyable, sustainable, and resilient.
While every city expresses them differently, the petals together create the city’s unique bloom of liveability.
The Seeds - Inspirational Examples:
Finally, the seeds represent the innovative examples of co-creation and local action emerging from the partner cities.
These are the pilot projects, initiatives, and collaborations that address real urban challenges — the living proof of liveability in motion.
Through the Liveability Practice Guide, these examples are cultivated and shared, helping other cities plant their own seeds of change.
We are proud to showcase these growing examples of collaboration, creativity, and care — our seeds of liveability.