EFFECT OF COMMONS EMRGENCE ON URAN SPACES IN TURIN AND GHENT AND THEIR ENABLING TOOLS.
THEORY ESSAY TMA1895-1920: Advanced Architecture: Theory and Practice Tutors: Hazem Ziada & Ioanni Delsante Master of Architecture Year 2 Kamila Kudlata U1972616
\\ TABLE OF CONTENT.
01. Introduction 02. Commons 03. Urban Commons 04. Case Study 1 - Turin, Italy 04.1 - Experimentalism 04.2 - Tech Justice
05. Case Study 2 - Ghent, Belgium 05.1 - Experimentalism 05.2 - Tech Justice
06. Conclusion 07. References
01. INTRODUCTION
The topic of commons has become more popular within the last decade, this appears to be due to the realisation of ongoing market struggles and the need for change. In a summary of the A Commons Transition Plan for the City of Ghent, Michel Bauwens talks about the vast increase in the emerging “commonsorientated civic initiatives” (Bauwens 2017) which have been confirmed by the study of Homo Cooperans by Tine De Moor in his inaugural lecture for Utrecht University (August 30th, 2013). According to their explanations, the rise of the civic initiatives correlates to citizen’s awareness of need for social and ecological transition, ensuing the market failures as well as the great economic crisis of 2008. These falls seem to be the driving factor for the creation of commons infrastructure. Amongst many locations, Turin(Italy) and Ghent(Belgium), in recent years have become more successful in the growth and spread of commons in urban environments. This essay will explore the tools that enabled commons to grow in those locations, the importance of them in the modern age and how they reshape the urban environments. More importantly, will look at ways in which Turin and Ghent apply the principles of “Experimentalism” and “Tech Justice” within urban commons and why those two principles are important in regeneration of urban spaces.
02. COMMONS Dr. Ioanni Delsante, during his lecture on Architecture and Democracy. Commons (space) and its negotiations (Delsante, 2020) explained that the commons are formed of three key elements: the people, the resource and the rules. The people also known as commoners, are the ones involved in production and maintenance of the commons. The common resources can be material or non-material meaning that they can be physical, such as empty buildings or non-physical, such as knowledge or information. The rules are set in place by the commoners and used to manage the commons in a non-profit way through collective negotiation. Based on David Bollier’s explanation in his brief overview The commons, Short and Sweet (Bollier, 2011) the commons is a system for the governance of resource which shares and maintains values as well as community identity, without being completely dependent on the market or the state. Bollier also states that wealth which is created through the commons must be passed on.
Elinor Ostrom, a political economist, through many years of research into the commons has identified key design principles which are essential to the creation and function of commons. These are presented by Sheila Foster and Chistian Iaoine (Foster, Iaoine 2017) as:
1.
The resource boundaries must be clearly defined.
2.
Use and provision of the resource is adapted to community circumstances.
3.
Rules and decisions are made through collective-choice arrangements.
4.
Rules are enforced through effective monitoring.
5.
Violation of community rules are punished with graduated sanctions.
6. Conflicts are resolved through low cost and accessible conflict resolution mechanisms. 7. The right of resource users to self-govern is recognised by higher level authorities. 8.
In the case of larger common-pool resource,rules are organised through multiple layers of nested enterprises.
and enforced
03. URBAN COMMONS Urban commons derive from the traditional commons and have been transferred into an urban environment. Shelia Foster’s and Christian Iaione explain in their article Ostrom in the City: Design Principles for the Urban Commons (2017) the adaptation of Elinor Ostrom’s design principles into ones which are more suitable for urban setting. They point out that Ostrom focuses on small communities which should manage and own the process of governing shared urban resources, however in cities this becomes harder as they struggle to avoid dealing with the state and the market. Through studying over 100 urban commons case studies, they conclude with 5 principles which are key for the making of these projects:
1. Collective governance. 2. Enabling State. 3. Social and Economic Pooling. 4. Experimentalism. 5. Tech Justice.
04.1 CASE STUDY 1
Turin, Italy
EXPERIMENTALISM “... is the presence of an adaptive and iterative approach to designing the legal processes and institutions that govern urban commons.” (S.F and C.I, 2017)
In the process of Turin launching the co-city movement, many of the design principles for urban commons have been followed. The significant part in this, has been the “Experimentalism”, where adaptive approach of the city has led to the approval of new regulations which allow for change in governance of the city and more importantly, the urban commons. In 2016, the City of Turin has approved a regulation which allows for public collaboration on the urban commons, using Bologna as a model. As a result of this change, Turin proposed Co-City project which has strong relationship with the Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) program. The Co-City project is a collective of urban commons working together to form a sustainable ecosystem. It involves several forms of co-governance at different scales and a wide range of commons but all following the same regulation which aims at collaboration between citizens and the administration for the care and regeneration of the urban commons.
Figure1 - House in the Park: Neighbours Party (Citta’ di Torino,2013)
Figure2 - Cascina Roccafranca: 10 year Anniversary (Citta’ di Torino, n.d)
Figure3 - House of Vallette District: Courtyard (Casa del Quartiere, n.d)
04.2 CASE STUDY 1
Turin, Italy
TECH JUSTICE
“... highlights access to technology, the presence of digital infrastructure, and open data protocols as an enabling driver of collaboration and the creation of urban commons.� (S.F and C.I, 2017)
As well as many other platforms, Neighbourhood Houses network in Turin, uses internet as a tool to advertise what they do, spread knowledge and encourage public interest. The network is formed from 8 houses located in various parts of the city. The properties vary in size and function, some serve as meeting rooms, classrooms and workshops whereas others are used as concert halls, theatres and cinemas. They follow a manifesto which states that they do not focus on any target or field of activity and are open to everybody. The network website informs about each house and has direct links to the individual houses page with more information regarding events and space available at each location. Another network which uses internet as an enabler is Firstlife; a social network platform for cities, which has been developed by the University of Turin. The idea emerged from the desire to encourage participatory planning on a local scale, stimulate self-organization initiatives and develop collaborative practices between public and private territorial actors. Firstlife allows for digital mapping of events such as Terra Madre food festival as well as mapping of interactive personalized routes for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) using the Personalized Interactive Urban Maps for Autism(PIUMA) project.
Figure4 - Plan and list of the 8 Neighbourhood Houses (Neighbourhood Houses, n.d)
05.1 CASE STUDY 2
Ghent, Belgium
EXPERIMENTALISM “... is the presence of an adaptive and iterative approach to designing the legal processes and institutions that govern urban commons.” (S.F and C.I, 2017) The city of Ghent has around 500 different commons-related projects which has become apparent as a result of Michel Bauwens’ research in collaboration with many others. The research was commissioned and financed by the city officials and was done to establish a transition plan for Ghent to become ‘The city of commons’ in order to create a sustainable and ethical economy. Bauwens says the fastgrowing success in the number of commons in Ghent “is quite exemplary precisely because it covers an ecosystem in an area that requires a lot of capital and must overcome a lot of commons-antagonistic regulation.”(Bauwens, 2017) Ghent showcases a large range of commons which cover the ideaology of ‘Experimentalism’ through the constant public initiative of setting up new commons. Some of the most popular and successful examples are: Wooncoop1, Gent en Garde2, Driemasterpark3, EnerGent and REScoop4 which focus on matters such as housing, food, neighbourhood restoration and energy.
Figure5 - Driemasterpark, Ghent (Plus2POP, 2017)
1
- Wooncoop is a housing cooperative that buys, refurbishes, and mutualizes buildings. Once someone buys a share, they can rent a house or apartment in one of their properties owned by the co-op. They are guaranteed a house there for a lifetime while paying reasonable rent for a well-maintained residence. 2 - Gent en Garde focus on developing political support and citizen involvement for fair, organic, local food. 3 - Driemasterpark is a park located in a poor neighbourhood on an old industrial site and is completely managed by residents. As well as a playground the park has areas allocated for vegetable plots and chickens.
4 - EnerGent with REScoop is a cooperative that invests money from the partners in projects of energy saving and renewable energy.
Figure6 - Tinkstraat, Co-op Inhabited Property (Wooncoop, 2018)
05.2 CASE STUDY 2
Ghent, Belgium
TECH JUSTICE “... highlights access to technology, the presence of digital infrastructure, and open data protocols as an enabling driver of collaboration and the creation of urban commons.” (S.F and C.I, 2017) Similarly to Turin, Ghent uses modern technology as an enabler to collaboration between the many commons. It offers several platforms from which commoners can receive support in terms of expansion, survival and even setup. One of these platforms is “Assembly of the Commons” which aspire to unite, support and represent the commons in Ghent. They do this by introducing the commons initiators and uniting them through their shared values and help to articulate them into something productive, trough the use of online resources. The support is mainly provided with regards to governance which is one of the key elements for the survival of commons. Tools and information such as car sharing platforms, administrative plug-ins and legal advice are all shared between the commons. Some information on the available support is provided on the blog named “New Commons” (https://new-commons.blogspot.com/) which is regularly updated.
Figure7 - Ghent an Garde: Lighthouse Activity (UNCC, 2019)
07. CONCLUSION
According to David Bollier (2011) there is no commons without commoning; both cities are an applaud-able example of the continued public initiative. However, in order to achieve such scale of the commons within a city, they must be able to connect, grow and spread. The two principles explored in this essay have indicated the importance of their role in development of commons. Experimentalism allows for adaptive and iterative approach to the legal process, but also to the design and regeneration of urban spaces. The urban spaces emerged as a result of commoning are often spaces which are multi-purpose, flexible and on many occasions temporary. This is clearly demonstrated in the Neighbourhood Houses in Turin, the network promotes the saying “houses are to be lived in, not to be looked at�. They believe in creation of spaces which are driven by function and are easily adaptable to suit the next activity. Similarly, tech justice enables the digital infrastructure to share and spread the knowledge through online resources.
07. REFERENCES
Bauwens, M., (2017). A Commons Transition Plan for the City of Ghent. Retrieved from http://commonstransition.org/commons-transition-plan-city-ghent/ Bollier, D., (2011). The Commons, Short and Sweet. Retrieved from http://www. bollier.org/commons-short-and-sweet Dellenbaugh, M., Schwegmann, M., & Kip, M. (Eds.). (2015). Urban commons: Beyond state and market. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com Casa del Quartiere. (n.d). House of Vallette District: Courtyard [Online image]. Retrieved from http://www.casadelquartiere.it/spazi/ Citta’ di Torino. (2013). House in the Park: Neighbours Party [Online image]. Retrieved from http://www.comune.torino.it/festadeivicini/edizioni/casa-nelparco-2013.shtml Citta’ di Torino. (n.d). Cascina Roccafranca: 10 year Anniversary [Online image]. Retrieved from http://www.spaziotorino.it/scatto/?p=6969 Delsante, I., (February 2020). Architecture and Democracy. Commons (space) and its negotiations. Retrieved from https://brightspace.hud.ac.uk/d2l/le/ content/58395/viewContent/508034/View. Foster, S. & Iaoine, C., (2017). Ostrom in the City: Design Principles for the Urban Commons. Retrieved from https://www.thenatureofcities.com/2017/08/20/ ostrom-city-design-principles-urban-commons/ Moor, T.D., Utrecht University. (August 30th, 2013). Homo Cooperans. Retrieved from https://issuu.com/humanitiesuu/docs/gw_moor-tine_de_oratie_en_definitie. Neighbourhood Houses. (n.d). Plan and list of the 8 Neighbourhood Houses, Turin [Online image]. Retrieved from http://www.retecasedelquartiere.org/ Plus2POP. (2017). Driemasterpark, Ghent [Online image]. Retrieved from https:// twitter.com/Plus2POP/status/932631123087233024 United Nations Climate Change(UNCC). (2019). Ghent en Garde: Lighthouse Activity [Online image]. Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/climate-action/momentum-forchange/planetary-health/ghent-en-garde Wooncoop. (2018). Tinkstraat, Co-op Inhabited Property [Online image]. Retrieved from https://www.wooncoop.be/tinkstraat/
