Enabling urban commons

Abstract

An increasing interest in commons has generated a rich literature related to co- and participatory design (PD). Besides providing examples, cases and methods, this literature often displays interpretations that are recognisably engaged and political in which commons have acquired an additional symbolic value. In some cases this symbolic value propels more ambitious narratives in which other, post-industrial/post-collapse futures or utopian societal forms are prototyped or infrastructured. Although this literature highlights an important connection between collaborative design and collaborative governance, we hold that the conception of commons underpinning some of these efforts is not fully relevant in contemporary urban contexts. In the following article we describe the practical and normative issues raised by transferring the concept of commons to a contemporary urban setting. We critique aspects of how the concept has been invoked in Co-Design and PD but also seek to demonstrate how it may be applied constructively, paying due attention to both network and subtractive effects of shared resources and acknowledging interrelations with the public sector.

Keywords:

• Urban commons
• public sector
• network effects
• conflict resolution
• facilitation
• co- and participatory design

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the support from the School of Arts and Communication, K3, at Malmö University throughout the initial years of Plantparken, and the support that enabled the co-writing of this article.