The Politics and Aesthetics of the Urban Commons: Navigating the Gaze of the City, the State, the Market

Abstract

This thematic issue puts “urban commoning” centre stage. Urban commoning constitutes the practice of sharing urban resources (space, streets, energy, and more) through principles of inclusion and cooperation. Whilst generally defined as an autonomous, bottom‐up, and most of all cooperative practice, the sphere of the commons necessarily stands in interaction with two other spheres: the state/city (“provision”) and the market (“competition”). Yet, the various interlinkages between the commons, the state/city, and the market are underexplored. Hence the rationale for this thematic issue: How does the relation between commons, states/cities, and markets play out in the urban realm? What are the possibilities and pitfalls of linking commons with states/cities and markets? In the first section of this editorial, we provide a substantiated introduction to the concept of the commons, its history, and its urban applications. In the second part, we give an overview of the issue’s contributions. Scholars, activists, and practitioners from the disciplines of urban studies, cultural studies, planning, sustainability, sociology, architecture, and philosophy delve into the uncharted territory between commons, states/cities, and markets, through case studies from the Global North and South. The first three articles delve into the politics of urban commoning while the last three articles illuminate the practice’s aesthetic dimension.

The Rise of the Common City

“…As has been widely acknowledged, the literature on the common(s) consists of various strands, each with their own assumptions and critical potential (e.g., Dardot & Laval, 2019;Volont, 2020). In this chapter, we are especially interested in one relatively recent strand in this literature that presents commoning as a third way of social organising, next to the state and market and which highlights its potential to "reassert participatory control over the urban commonwealth" (Volont & Smets, 2022). In recent years, this literature has payed increased attention to 'cultural commoning' as well (e.g., Borchi, 2018;Dockx & Gielen, 2018;Mollona, 2021;Sollfrank et.…”

Editorial: Social movements and sustainable urban commons governance

“…Scholars from a Marxist perspective broadened the perspective on commons governance by conceptualizing the commons as a system that regulates itself autonomously, yet in ongoing exchange with its environment, often broadly conceived of as "the state, " on the one side, and "the market, " on the other (Caffentzis and Federici, 2014;Kratzwald, 2015;De Angelis, 2017). While a real-existing interdependence has been acknowledged, research from this perspective has tended to emphasize the antagonistic character of the commons with state and markets, and the risk of co-optation through buying into state support (but see also Volont and Smets, 2022).…”