Full Title: Mapping the Commons of Athens and Istanbul

Abstract: Can the commons be mapped? Which is the new common wealth of the contemporary metropolis and how can it be located? What are the advantages and the risks of such a cartography in times of crisis? The paper will aim to present and discuss the concept, the process and the results of the workshops “Mapping the Commons of Athens” and “Mapping the Commons of Istanbul” which were organized in 2010 and 2012 respectively.

The two cartographies were conceptualized and supervised by Hackitectura.net, and were developed in order to offer a form of collective study, a contemporary reading and an online mapping tool for the cities and their special dynamics. In a period that the contemporary metropolis seem restless and vulnerable at the same time, the workshops teams seeked for, examined and studied areas where alternative practices to capitalism are being developed.

Seeing beyond the “public” and the “private”, different types of commons were mapped based on collectivity, sociability, open and free access, gift and peer to peer economy. Online collaborative maps were created presenting an emerging image of today’s metropolis, formed by the potentialities of its inhabitants which however is still fluid and unstable.

Keywords: commons, city, crisis, mapping, video

Authors: DE SOTO, P., DELINIKOLAS, D., DRAGONA, D., PÉREZ DE LAMA, J., SENEL, A.

Published at Paratactic Commons book.