Participation as an Urban Common: How Commoning a Process Could Change Participation

Date: Wednesday, May 25, 2022 | 16:00-17:00 CET

Abstract: Citizen participation has been a key aspect for contemporary urban planning. Despite the general recognition of its importance, many challenges are presented when developing a participation plan. Traditional forms of citizen participation, for example having a general open consultation, often replicate structural inequalities and perpetuate the exclusion of underrepresented groups. This study started investigating urban common practices as an alternative governance strategy to foster a just participation through community engagement. The initial research focus was on the participation process of the implementation of the Energy transition in Amsterdam. Nevertheless, it became clear in the fieldwork phase that the debate between commons and commodity was present not only related to energy as a fundamental community resource, but also the participation process. In this exploratory and speculative presentation, we aim to discuss some preliminary insights of how framing a process as an urban common could change the way we understand participation and how this could develop in the future.

Speaker Biography: Dr. Igor Pessoa is an urban researcher and spatial planner with a PhD from the Delft University of Technology. His research focuses on commoning practices, community engagement and participatory processes, and he has extensive experience with innovative educational practices. Since 2021, dr. Pessoa works with the CUS to broaden the Centre’s research on the threats and opportunities that major socio-cultural, economic, political, environmental and technological changes pose to the maintenance and enhancement of the Urban Commons.