Publications

Urban Commons Research Collective presents the Urban Commons Handbook

The commons are regarded as a means to generate social processes that can maintain, reproduce, and reinvent our lives in times of uncertainty. This handbook is a compilation of definitions, experiences and references around some of the key questions that arise when thinking about commoning the city. It aims to contribute to an emerging field of practice, help to recognise the work of existing experiences, and provide material to support a variety of learning environments that operate between practice and research, dissemination and pedagogy, production and reproduction, concepts and artefacts, resources and desires, present possibilities and future needs.

The handbook was curated by the Urban Commons Research Collective comprised of Emre Akbil, Alex Axinte, Esra Can, Beatrice De Carli, Melissa Harrison, Ana Mendez De Andes Aldama, Katharina Moebus, Thomas Moore and Doina Petrescu, with the contribution of Eleni Katrini and Julia Udall.

The handbook was made possible with support and funding from institutions sharing the ambitions of the group. We acknowledge the generous support from the Sheffield School of Architecture for providing the space for gatherings of such diverse people and practices and for their research support that funded the design and copy-editing of the handbook. We also acknowledge contributions from the School of Art, Architecture and Design of London Metropolitan University for hosting the research seminar On the Commons and contributing with funding to the publication.

Collectives and Practices who contributed to the handbook with their stories include: Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée (aaa) and Constantin Petcou for R-Urban; The Association for Accessibility in Art, in Everyday Life, in Mind and Gabu Heindl for the Intersektionales Stadhaus project; Imaginary Famagusta members Chrysanthe Constantinou, Lara Anna Scharf, Münevver Özgur Özersay, and Socrates Stratis for the Hands-on Famagusta project; l’Asilo Filangieri Assembly members, including Ana Sofia, Fabrizio, Gregorio, and Maria Francesca for ex-Asilo Filangeri; and Fabio Franz, Bianca Elzenbaumer, Flora Mammana, Angelica Cianflone, and other members for La Foresta.

The book is published by dpr-barcelona in partnership with University of Sheffield.

Please cite as: Urban Commons Research Collective, Urban Commons Handbook, (Barcelona: dpr-barcelona, 2022)

You can view the electronic version of the publication from this link