Political platform

Introduction

Soko is dedicated to promoting sustainable and fair urban planning, resilience against upcoming climate and military crises and fostering inclusive, resilient and diverse communities through a wide range of projects. Our mission is to empower urban civil society, and through them the wider public, to drive transformative change through community-centred approaches. This document outlines our political vision of the perfect cities and the values guiding our work.

The Right to the City

The right to the city is the cornerstone of critical urbanism - it entails in it the rights to accessing, using and shaping the space around us and political decisions in the city. 

• We believe that the progressive cities should implement policies to ensure accessible, affordable housing for all urban residents, preventing homelessness and displacement. When needed, it should be the city who is building and providing housing for the population, especially the most marginalised, as well as put the price caps for the properties and fight the airbnbnisation of the parts, especially the central ones, of their cities.
• We believe that the progressive cities should guarantee free access to parks, libraries, cultural, sports and recreational facilities for all. The space is the city belongs to everyone and it should be divided in a just and sustainable way.
• We believe that the progressive cities should establish frameworks for meaningful community participation in urban planning and decision-making processes from the very beginning of each project that affects a given community. Moreover, the dwellers should be participating in the brainstorming of the ideas for projects and only those benefiting the local community should be implemented.
• We believe that the progressive cities should enforce regulations to prevent gentrification and protect low-income residents and small businesses from displacement. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should expand and improve free or affordable, timely, well connected, safe and green public transportation systems to ensure the right to mobility for all. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should ensure that each resident is within 15 minutes walking distance from their home to basic ammenities, such as shops, clinics, pharmacies, etc.

The Role of the Community in the City

Communities are the heart of urban life. We support community-led initiatives and participatory governance models that empower residents to influence decisions affecting their neighborhoods, as well as the city as a whole.

• We believe that the progressive cities should implement participatory budgeting processes allowing residents to decide how the city planning budget is spent.
• We believe that the progressive cities should establish regular community assemblies to ensure direct and democratic involvement in local decision-making. We believe that the progressive cities should promote the use of direct democracy tools such as referenda and initiatives on key local issues. We believe that the progressive cities should establish and empower neighbourhood councils to address local issues and represent community interests.
• We believe that the progressive cities should ensure transparency in all governmental activities and decisions with easy, user-friendly and live public access to information. The information should be available in all the local languages of the city. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should create inclusive policy-making frameworks that involve marginalised and underrepresented groups, especially for the policies that directly tackle the given group.
• We believe that the progressive cities should invest in civic education programs to inform and empower citizens about their rights and responsibilities. We believe that the progressive cities should protect and promote the right to protest and engage in activism, ensuring that civic participation is safe and effective. We believe that the progressive cities should develop and maintain digital platforms to facilitate citizen engagement and feedback on urban policies and infrastructure.

Climate Crisis and Urban Mitigation Solutions

Cities are at the forefront of the climate crisis. We advocate for radical climate action plans that prioritise sustainable urban planning, renewable energy, green infrastructure and extensive recycling and upcycling. 

• We believe that the progressive cities should promote sustainable urban design, planning and prioritise green spaces in all areas. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should implement green infrastructure projects, including green roofs, urban forests and gardens and rain gardens, to enhance urban climate resilience.
• We believe that the progressive cities should commit to achieving carbon neutrality through comprehensive urban climate action plans.
• We believe that the progressive cities should invest in renewable energy sources like solar, wind, tide and geothermal for all municipal operations and infrastructure, as well as the private housing and businesses. The green transition should be incentivised and the maximum of the rooftop space should be used for energy production, avoiding building energy farms in the fields. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should enforce strict energy efficiency standards for new buildings and ensure retrofitting of existing ones.
• We believe that the progressive cities should fight the growth of urban sprawl and redesign them into compact, walkable communities.
• We believe that the progressive cities should prioritise the expansion of affordable, efficient and sustainable public transportation systems  that minimise the usage of private motorised vehicles and thus, the carbon emissions.
• We believe that the progressive cities should implement comprehensive waste reduction, recycling, upcycing and composting programs. This can be done through a mandatory recycling for households, businesses and institutions, that should be paid for their waste, which is later recycled, upcycled or composted and used or sold by the local businesses, that are also mandated to use the local recycled materials as the first option.
• We believe that the progressive cities should develop and enforce water conservation measures to protect and sustain urban water supplies. All the city residents should have drinking water in their apartments, as well as in the public spaces, the greywater should be reused for technical usages, such as flushing and the wastewater should be treated using the natural methods. For water preservation, especially in the era of Climate Crisis, creating large amounts of decentralised reservoirs is crucial. The water desalination should be used only in the cases when filling up the reservoirs is required. The leftover salt should be used and not discarded back to the oceans, to avoid the salinity level change that affects the local biodiversity negatively. The rain and stormwaters should be also harvested through green roofs, permeable pavements, retention basins and other, and managed through building flood defence systems.
• We believe that the progressive cities should invest in community education programs on climate change, resilience and sustainable living practices - otherwise some parts of the dwellers might not understand the reasons behind the change.

Resilient Cities

Urban resilience is crucial in the face of climate change, natural disasters and military threats. We support the development of resilient infrastructure and emergency preparedness plans. This includes enhancing building and living standards, investing in disaster readiness and preparing the rapid recovery plans.

Climate and Environmental Catastrophes:

• We believe that the progressive cities should invest in the adaptive infrastructure, build and upgrade the city to withstand extreme weather events like droughts, heavy precipitation and landslides.
• We believe that the progressive cities should implement nature-based solutions, such as restoring wetlands, fields and forests, to buffer against environmental disasters, not only within the inhabited neighbourhoods of the city, but on every available space.
• We believe that the progressive cities should establish comprehensive early warning  and evacuation systems for environmental hazards, ensuring timely and effective communication and evacuation, if needed.

Natural Disasters:

• We believe that the progressive cities should enforce strict building codes and audits of existing buildings and city infrastructure to ensure they can withstand earthquakes and minimise the damage of tsunamis. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should provide regular training for residents on how to respond to natural disasters like tsunamis, avalanches, tornadoes and volcanic eruptions.
• We believe that the progressive cities should develop and maintain comprehensive disaster response and recovery plans, involving community input and ensuring swift action.
• We believe that the progressive cities should advocate for prevention of further mineral and fossil exploitation, both on the land and in the sea, to prevent the stimulation of the shift of tectonic plates.
• We believe that the progressive cities should ensure fire safety and responding tools availability on each floor of every building, as well as equip the city dwellers with clear instructions and training on using them.

Military Perspective:

• We believe that the progressive cities should promote urban design and community programs that enhance safety and reduce the impacts of military attacks. This can be done through strengthening the civil defence programs to prepare for and respond to potential military threats and blockade, as well as the local production of food and good mechanisms of resource preservation. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should support global and simultaneous disarmament initiatives and advocate for the reduction of militarization all over the world, we believe that only the simultaneous global demilitarisation and prohibition of producing arms will be effective. We believe that all arms, including bio and nuclear, should be destroyed or disassembled, when possible.

Inclusion in the City

Inclusivity is a fundamental principle of the right to the city. Only by ensuring the rights of the most marginalised, the city can achieve its biggest potential. Intersectional approach is to be applied.

SOGIESC (Sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics):

• We believe that the progressive cities should implement policies and infrastructure - lights, wide enough passages and reflective surfaces for people of marginalised SOGIESC. Street safety should also be stimulated with neighbourhood function and density regulation.
• We believe that the progressive cities should provide resources and safe spaces for people of the marginalised SOGIESC, including shelters and healthcare. No WC should be gender divided, just as we don’t have race divided bathrooms in the 21st century. Each public WC should have a space with urinals, sit and squat toilets, baby changing station and hand wash basins.
• We believe that the progressive cities should implement anti-Discrimination education among public servants, as well as prioritise the people of marginalised SOGIESC when hiring.

Age:

• We believe that the progressive cities should build and update infrastructure to ensure the healthy physical and mental development of children and teenagers. The schools within each neighbourhood should have free food for the students and staff. This can be supported through building urban gardens in the yards of the school. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should develop programs that empower youth and ensure their active participation in community decision-making, prepare them for the entrance level jobs, provide sports and cultural facilities and educational exchange opportunities.
• We believe that the progressive cities should enhance accessibility and support services for seniors, ensuring their active involvement in city life. This should be done through developing both online and analog city services and building walkable infrastructure nearby every house. The building of high standard, municipality owned retirement homes contributes to the social life of the seniors as well as positively affects the housing market.

Mental and Physical Ability:

• We believe that the progressive cities should implement universal design principles in all public spaces and transportation to accommodate people with diverse abilities and benefit people with carriages, non-motorised vehicles and others. Tactile lines should be installed on both sides of each street and around all public places. The city should ensure that the newly built housing projects should have at least some percentage of adopted apartments or houses for people of diverse abilities. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should build governmental, accessible mental health clinics and promote mental health friendly infrastructure and design in the city. This relates to the colours and textures used in the building, surfaces and furniture, access to nature and water, density and noise levels of the neighbourhood. It is important to note that the economic state of the city dwellers also contribute enormously to their mental health.

Race, Religious and Ethnic Background and the rights of migrants:

• We believe that the progressive cities should be welcoming to both legal and illegal migrants. In the crisis situation, the illegal migrant communities should be housed in the empty houses and apartments that are abundant in the privileged countries and cities. Placing people from the same country in the same building block will promote creation of neo-ghettos and should be avoided at all costs. The migrants should be provided with language courses, civic education and basic job opportunities both in the city and rural areas. 
• We believe that the progressive cities should train city institutions’ staff in cultural competency to better serve diverse communities. Information on all the migrant languages should be accessible and free.
• We believe that the progressive cities should develop and support anti-racism initiatives and policies that promote racial equality. All the staff of municipal institutions should go through anti racist training.
• We believe that the progressive cities should allow the establishment of places of worship of diverse and not only predominant religions.
• We believe that the progressive cities should implement cultural exchange events, to prevent the bias and negative attitudes from forming. 

Technology and AI in the City

Technological innovation and AI have the potential to transform urban living, but they might possess a threat. We advocate for the ethical use of technology to improve city services, improve mobility and promote digital inclusion. 

• We believe that the progressive cities should ensure all residents have access to affordable, fast internet and digital literacy programs, bridging the digital divide.
• We believe that the progressive cities should oblige parties, placing the communications (billboards, posters, advertisements, etc.) in the public spaces to disclose, if they were created using AI.
• We believe that the progressive cities should not collect personal data on the citizens. All the data collection should be encrypted and anonymised. This way, citizens’ personal information will be shielded from misuse and exploitation. The city data should be open and accessible to the public.
• We believe that the progressive cities should use smart city technologies to enhance efficiency of the systems and quality of life in the city, while being socially and environmentally responsible. The technology should be used for public health, safety and welfare, education, mobility, risk prevention, reporting systems and community organising, ensuring it serves the neighbourhoods’ needs. The tech companies should be prevented from building whole neighbourhoods and cities. These are the prerogatives of the local and national governments.
• We believe that the progressive cities should engage the public in decision-making processes about the use of technology in their neighbourhoods, as well as invest in community education programs to help residents understand the technology, their rights and effectively use the new technologies around them.

Economy in the City

A thriving urban economy is essential for sustainable development. We support economic policies that promote green job creation, fair wages and local businesses. This includes fostering green transition of the industries, incentivising small businesses and ensuring economic opportunities are accessible to all urban residents.

• The crucial services of the city infrastructure should belong to the city and not private actors. These are: transport, water, heating, etc. basic services cannot be profit oriented.
• We believe that the progressive cities should stimulate degrowth and the doughnut economy, upcycle all the resources available and fight food deserts, and hence poverty with extensive urban gardening projects.
• The city should ensure the living wages and workers’ rights on all the levels of the city institutions. The difference between the smallest and the highest salary should not be more than x5.
• We believe that the progressive cities should ensure creation of enough offline jobs, outside the service sector.

Aesthetics and culture

The physical shape of the city affects its inhabitants and their relations. However the most aesthetically pleasing city can become lifeless without culture.

• We believe that the progressive cities should fund public art projects that reflect the diverse cultures and histories of local communities, as well as provide grants and resources for local artists to thrive and contribute to the city’s cultural landscape. To take it one step forward, the cities could support creative placemaking initiatives that use arts and culture to strengthen the social fabric of neighbourhoods and designate public spaces for free cultural expression and performance, encouraging community participation and engagement.
• We believe that the progressive cities should create and preserve cultural spaces like museums, theatres and community centres. They should be accessible to all. The cities should also protect and celebrate historical sites and cultural heritage, ensuring they are preserved, maintained and accessible. The progressive city also organises and supports community events, festivals and markets that foster cultural exchange and community bonding.
• The progressive city develops cultural policies that promote the inclusion of marginalised and underrepresented groups, ensures that arts education is affordable and accessible to all residents and promotes cultural equity by ensuring all communities have access to culture.

Vision for the future

In the ideal world there are only city states that govern over the whole world together, but decide on the local issues individually. The citizens have a decent life, feel fulfilled and safe. Science in humanity is centred and art is cherished and respected. No member of the society is discriminated against and we are living not to survive, but to thrive. We truly believe and hope that one day human civilization will achieve this and will do our best to contribute.