Temporary urbanism has recently gained great scholarly attention and has made its way into planning practice within the last couple of years. This paper analyses interim use as a form of temporary urbanism and discusses the governance structures of this practice in the cities of Vienna and Leipzig. It addresses actor involvement, forms of relations as well as means and motivations of different stakeholders. Additionally, the recent dynamic around temporality as urban strategy is being explored through document analysis. The paper argues that historic events are crucial for establishing collaborative governance structures and shows how overregulation and intense administration can lead to an instrumentalisation of bottom-up, creative and informal actions. Also the recent interest of private developers in informal temporary projects is addressed and critically reflected. The paper concludes with policy recommendations concerning urban informalities and their integration into urban development processes.

She has a background in spatial planning and spatial research, and her research focuses on temporary urbanism, bottomup urban development and selforganisation.

The effects of shrinkage can be manifold. Vacant green areas are a typical manifestation of shrinkage in deindustrialized cities, such as Heerlen, Netherlands. Such challenges are usually managed by the municipality which, due to financial reasons, often has to turn to citizens to aid in accommodating those effects. The example of Gebrookerbos in Heerlen shows how an adaptation of governance processes can take place in order to facilitate the involvement of citizens in reusing vacant spaces. The introduction of the position of account manager as well as brooker are being regarded as essential for shortening the distance between municipality and citizens as well as contributing to replacing the mistrust towards the municipality, which is in line with existing research on depopulating areas. Further, making a plethora of funding options and projects available for civic initiatives ensures the longevity of civic involvement. Finally, the findings show how working on the “hardware”, the visible vacancy and deterioration of the land—by adapting the “software”, the institutional set up and focusing on civic empowerment—of a shrinking city can go hand in hand.

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