Urban Planning for Social Resilience –
Learn to Build Impact from the Ground Up

Urban Planning for Social Resilience – Learn to Build Impact from the Ground Up

KomshiLOOK

KomshiLook, a self-organized civic festival launched in 2024 in Skopje’s Železara neighbourhood, revives komšiluk—the sense of neighbourly closeness—by turning overlooked spaces like balconies, staircases, and entrances into stages for exhibitions, food, and performances. Run by a small civic group, it reclaims communal space as a site of connection, care, and shared urban imagination.

About The Case Study

KomshiLook is a civic festival initiated in 2024 in the Skopje neighbourhood of Železara, aiming to restore the fading sense of komšiluk—the everyday feeling of neighbourhood closeness and care. The project highlights the importance of living together and sharing responsibility for the spaces we inhabit. It activates often-overlooked architectural elements—balconies, staircases, entrances, and garages—treating them as everyday stages for gathering, exchange, and creative expression. These spaces hosted exhibitions, installations, food prepared by residents, and small-scale concerts and performances. The initiative was self-organized by a small civic group of 4–5 people, self-funded with some minor local support, and operated as a mediator between neighbours and guest artists. Members of the group wanted to elevate the local, the familiar, and the informal on a higher level by fostering belonging and reminding us that small acts of participation and kindness can shift how we relate to each other and to our neighbourhoods. Through this localised and collaborative activation, the festival reclaims communal space as a site of connection, care, and shared urban imagination.

Topics:

Community Hubs & Cultural Activities
Public Space Development & Management
Urban Regeneration & Rehabilitation

Resilience Challenges:

Economic & livelihood resilience
Social and cultural resilience

Type of Civic Engagement Supporting Neighborhood Resilience:

Advocacy and capacity building
Art- and culture-based civic engagement
Short-term, more flexible project-based engagement
Volunteer and community service projects

Level of Civic Participation:

Collaboration or co-operation
Empowerment or co-production
Involvement or participation

Stakeholders Involved:

Community members
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
Private Sector