The Mapping the Commons project has been recognized with the “Elinor Ostrom Award” for research and social intervention linked to the Commons, on the category “Conceptual Approaches on the commons” with the paper “Mapping the Urban Commons: A parametric & audiovisual method“.
Coordinated by Pablo De Soto (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) in collaboration with Daphne Dragona and Demitri Delinikolas (University of Athens), Aslihan Senel (Istanbul Technical University) and José Pérez de Lama (University of Seville), the paper presents the hypothesis, method and results of the temporary urban laboratory which invited architects, activists, artists, social scientists and students from different disciplines to join the research on the commons of their cities.
Starting an own method, urban commons are parameterized, represented in short video documentaries and published in an online mapping platform. The first two editions of the laboratory were conducted in Athens and Istanbul in 2010 and 2012 respectively. A third edition takes place today in the rebel city of Rio de Janeiro. The aim of the project is that a new representation system of cities will emerge as a result of the process, and in the long run a software to map the common goods of the contemporary metropolis.
The debate on the commons has achieved great interest in recent years due to the economic and political crisis that the neo-liberal capitalism is creating, with the increasing pressure of privatization and government control over the commons and communities. Management which can be considered as the common wealth or common goods needs to be reconsidered, as the old distinction between private and public does not seem to be able to satisfy the need to understand collective property or to respond to the fundamental question of how share vital resources. It is no coincidence that 15M movement, Greek indignados, Occupy, or #Diren Gezi, have pointed to the urban commons as both the object of struggle and a form of organization.
The award is part of the “I International seminar on Commons and Common Goods” by the Program on Democracy, Society and New Economies (PIDESONE) of University of Buenos Aires which attracted undergraduate students, professionals and researchers. The award was presented on the 29th November at the Faculty of Economics.
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Download PDF paper from Academida.edu.
Publicación completa sobre el Seminario Internacional de Bienes Comunes y Bien Común.