Investigating the democratic potential of temporary uses in urban redevelopment projects

• In this chapter we shed light on enabling urban alternatives that arise through novel ways of governance and collaboration, observed in current urban redevelopment projects in Europe. Often instated on left-over industrial, commercial or infrastructural areas and premises, the projects we are concerned with are driven by municipal authorities, public or private developers who offer parts of the spaces under redevelopment for temporary appropriation by users who conventionally play a secondary if not marginal role in the formation of new urban districts: youngsters, freelancers, small businesses, start-ups, associations, groups representing subcultures. These processes seem to empower novel constellations of actors in urban development. However, there is already a substantial body of research pointing out how temporary uses may provide a means of normalizing precarious forms of rental and are exploited for gentrification and branding purposes. A starting point of the chapter is therefore that these initiatives are ambiguous.We argue that it is important to consider democratic implications of temporary use as this practice becomes increasingly accepted and enabled by public sector actors. The chapter then brings together research on spatial aspects of democracy with theory on radical participation in order to develop a heuristic framework for assessing democratic potentials of temporary use and briefly illustrates this in relation to two examples. We contend that such a framework will enable an informed approach to temporary use by activists, professional designers and authorities. The overarching purpose is to enable this kind of informed approach and thereby make it possible for more people to experience democracy in urban development and create more varied urban alternatives.

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Lantbruksvetenskap, skogsbruk och fiske -- Landskapsarkitektur (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries -- Landscape Architecture (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

temporary use

democracy

urban redevelopment

design

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kap (ämneskategori)