The Gdańsk participatory budgeting initiative, inaugurated in 2011, exemplifies a transformative approach to civic participation in urban development. This program allocates a specific portion of
The Laboratori di Quartiere (Neighbourhood labs) is a shared governance model promoted by the Municipality of Bologna, with the coordination of Fondazione Innovazione Urbana and
In the Bartók Cultural Quarter of Budapest’s Újbuda district – characterised by universities, cultural institutions, art galleries, tech companies, and restaurants – an important experimental
In the global pursuit of sustainable urban development, Barcelona has emerged as a pioneering city, leading the way in fostering a sustainable and healthy food
Yourspace.Sutton is more than a community garden. It provides workshops to kids, supports social therapeutic activities, and hosts local sustainable businesses in a horticultural environment.
Urban Lab Torino is an independent association that tells the story of the large-scale transformation of Turin and its metropolitan area. Working closely with the
Like other major European cities, Barcelona has a great industrial heritage that can now be re-used for a new and different development of its urban
In the past decades, Gdańsk has followed a well-defined strategic path. Building one initiative on another, the city used European projects to strengthen the innovation
Rome’s transformative journey towards developing a comprehensive food policy reflects the profound influence of food on the city and its inhabitants. Inspired by international research
“A new way to live” states the website of the revolutionary SällBo co-housing project where young people between the ages of 18 and 25, including
It is difficult to measure the cultural vitality of a neighbourhood. We can browse through a city’s event calendar and assess the concentration of activities
Free Riga is an organisation promoting the temporary use of vacant and underused buildings across the city of Riga. Founded in 2013, Free Riga gained
In the past years, Milan has become a model city in public space regeneration. The Piazze Aperte (“Open Squares”) programme, launched in 2018 has become
wohnbund:consult is an independent office working in the field of social and sustainable urban developments with a focus on housing. Its interdisciplinary team focuses on
The Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava (MIB) is a new urban centre that aims to bring fresh, dynamic, participatory and data driven urban developments to the
How to conceive a new cultural institution in an area already known for its strong cultural scene? How can a new venue integrate into an
Solidarity Everyday Space is a co-governed space inside the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk. The aim of the Solidarity Everyday Space builds on the mission
A Pact of collaboration is a negotiation between the city administration and civil subjects through which the regeneration, care and co–management of urban commons is
In 2018, the Croatian Ministry of Culture announced a project tender for the development of social-cultural centres in Croatia, based on participatory governance and public-civil
The right to bid for Assets of Community Value was defined in the Localism Act, introduced as an act of UK Parliament in 2011 by
The blog presents an initial reflection on emerging challenges that the influx of refugees from Ukraine – about 7 million people since 24 February 2022
Vienna is the largest municipal housing owner in Europe. About half of the city’s population lives in subsidised housing, while only around 30% of the
CUP4Creativity is a project of the Budapest district of Újbuda, funded by the EU’s Urban Innovative Actions programme. The project builds on the district’s current
Prato Urban Jungle (PUJ), a project launched by the city of Prato, funded by the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) programme, will regenerate selected districts of
Xavier Matilla, Barcelona’s chief architect and Silvia Casorran Martos, deputy chief architect, visited Budapest at the invitation of Eutropian, the Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre –
Article by Levente Polyak for publicspace.org, a project by the CCCB. In 1748, the Italian architect Giambattista Nolli published an ichnographic plan of Rome, documenting
Polyák Levente írása eredetileg a budapesti alternatív kulturális szcénát feltérképező ALT.BP platformon jelent meg. Az elmúlt két évtized jelentős részét töltöttem különböző városok alternatív kulturális
Local communities and their local governments have two possible ways to cooperate. One is centred upon the use of public procurement for social purposes. The
The city of Naples (Italy)[1] is an exemplary case study of how a city can co-design legal and sustainable urban commons governance mechanisms and enable
In the year 2000, the Art Workshop Lazareti, one of the most significant Croatian organisations in the field of contemporary arts and culture, signed a
In 2021, Europe is facing a number of challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought to surface many structural problems in European societies, from climate change
Medialab Prado is a citizen laboratory that functions as a meeting place for the production of open cultural projects. It is a cultural space and
Collaborative housing can be conceived as an approach to complement state- or municipality-led public housing schemes with bottom-up, self-organised housing projects. It has been the
Right in the centre of Warsaw, where there once was the summer residence of royals, now lies a one-of-a-kind symbol of resistance, rebirth and civil
Cascina Roccafranca is a multi-functional community centre operating in a building owned by the City of Turin. The centre is managed through a cooperation between public and civic actors: a scheme that offers a valuable governance model while providing a wide range of social and cultural activities.
Abbiamo incontrato a Napoli gli attivisti del Centro Sociale Ex OPG Occupato – Je so’ pazzo, un ex ospedale psichiatrico che è stato sottratto all’abbandono,
FRIEDA 23 is a venue for art and media production. Located in Rostock, Northern Germany, it was opened as a result of the cooperation of
Ex OPG Occupato Je so’ pazzo (Neapolitan for “I am crazy”) is a former criminal asylum. The building was saved from abandonment and returned to
How can a complicated, abandoned parcel of land in a dense urban tissue gain new life through gardening and housing? Ferme du Rail is an
Poveglia per Tutti is an association whose aim is to reclaim Poveglia, one of the many islands scattered across the Venetian lagoon, and make it
The extractive nature of mass tourism is made possible by tourist behaviour, missing regulations and lacking alternatives. There has been very little work done to
Cascina Roccafranca is a multi-functional community center located in a former farmstead in Turin’s outskirts. After 30 years of vacancy, Cascina Roccafranca was bought by the Municipality of Turin and requalified with the support of the European Union Urban II program. Today, Cascina Roccafranca is a public asset managed through a cooperation between public and civic actors and it provides a wide range of social and cultural activities. Since 2012, Cascina Roccafranca has been part of a network of similar community centers in Turin which was formalized in 2017, and today collaborates with the City Council in the management and the regeneration of urban commons.
Polis is a platform developed by Martha Giannakopoulou and her studio, If- untitled, to enhances collaboration between architects and the Municipality of Athens. It aims
Largo Residências is a hostel, hotel, artist-in-residence and café in Lisbon’s fast-changing Intendente neighbourhood. Largo Residências, run by a cooperative, uses its revenue from tourism and events to develop projects to support the cultural and social inclusion of the most vulnerable groups. In the past years, Largo has become a social net for many of the area’s residents and a community as well as a community hub, leading the discussion about Lisbon’s touristification and gentrification. Endangered by the tourism-driven real estate development transforming the city’s historical areas, Largo has been working on opening new spaces for its activities.
The cooperative L’Olivera manages agriculture projects with social impact in the countryside outside Barcelona. Last autumn we visited Masia Can Calopa, where L’Olivera has cultivated
ShareTown is a fictional town populated by a cast of characters, which sets out to create a positive vision of what a preferred future for cities
Mercato Sonato is a project to requalify an unused market hall in Bologna. It was developed by an association of musicians in need of a
In the early 2000s, La Marina de Valencia hosted editions the America’s Cup and the F1 Grand Prix Race. These events attracted investment and fueled
NEST is a temporary use project in the former City Library of Ghent awaiting refurbishment and a new use. The 7,000 m2 building, was given
De Pastory was created in 2015 in an old presbytery building and the garden on Ghent’s Heilig Hartplein. Born from a movement of local residents
Nel 2014 il Comune di Milano e Fondazione Cariplo hanno siglato un accordo per la definizione e l’adozione della Food Policy: la strategia alimentare di
ÖkoKauf (Eco-Purchase) is an initiative of the City of Vienna, part of the Eco-Business Plan of the City, that was started in 1998 to purchase
In the early 2000s, some cities in the Central Eastern European region began to introduce new mechanisms for citizen participation in urban development. These attempts
Plateau Urbain is a temporary use organisation in Paris. Established in 2013, it examines the possibilities of vacant spaces in the city, bringing together property
MAR Movilidad is the mobility hub of the Mares Madrid project, an initiative by the city of Madrid, co-funded by the European Union’s Urban Innovative
Toestand is a temporary use organisation in Brussels, helping citizen activities and community groups access spaces at an affordable rent or for free. While the
Communication between citizens and local administrations is a key element of well-functioning services. The rise of digital platforms and smartphone applications created new interfaces for
The Jurányi Incubator House brings together dozens of theatre groups, associations and creative companies in a former school building owned by the Budapest Municipality. The
Civic initiatives regenerating urban areas emerged all over Europe as an answer to the crisis of traditional urban policies. Often they share a conflicting attitude
Laituri is an urban information centre in Helsinki established in 2008. Attached to the Helsinki Municipality’s city planning department, Laituri helps disseminating information about the
The international debate on the commons has a long history but only in recent years has it started gearing towards the definition of Urban Commons
Spacehive is a civic crowdfunding platform based in London. The platform, established in 2012, supports projects aimed at improving local civic and community spaces. Besides
De Besturing was founded in 2006 in an industrial area of The Hague and over the years it has been transformed from a temporary studio complex into a sustainable collective of artists and designers. Initially rented out for free on a temporary basis from the municipality, the community nevertheless collected the rent from tenants, constituting a capital that made possible the building’s purchase in 2017.
In the last decades, ownership has become a key factor of our societies and economies. As Thomas Piketty demonstrated in his recent book Capital in
Bottega Artistico Musicale is an experimental centre of independent cultural production in Sapri, Southern Italy. BAM’s space encourages open sharing of uses, resources and skills, in order to promote mutualistic, cooperative and supportive production. The building was offered by the municipality for free and was renovated by students, temporary employees, unemployed people, graduates, musicians, activists, artists.
BIP/ZIP is a pioneering strategy by the Lisbon Municipality’s Body of Housing and Local Development, promoting partnerships in the city’s priority neighbourhoods. Besides establishing local
Cascina Roccafranca is a multi-functional community centre operating in a building owned by the City of Turin. Partly financed by the municipal budget, the centre is
Interazioni Urbane is an association based in Rome. Addressing the deterioration and gradual abandonment of Rome’s Primavalle market, together with Banco e sto, they have brought together market vendors, local residents and municipal officers to help turning the market into a community hub.
Vivero de Iniciativas Ciudadanas is a platform to support citizen projects in Madrid. Initiated by the architecture office Estudio SIC, the platform maps and brings together citizen initiatives that shape the city’s various neighbourhoods. Based on this mapping process and the related research, VIC teamed up with the Madrid Municipality and 6 more partners and made a successful bid in the European Union’s Urban Innovative Actions competition with the Mares Madrid project.
Temporary use is a learning process of accommodating innovation and adapting needs and capacities to available resources. It offers benefits to owners and users, in
European cities are still in the wake of the economic crisis. Public administrations are struggling with urban maintenance and the delivery of local services. Driven
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