Cultural commons and urban dynamics: a multidisciplinary perspective

Today, cities are being intensively reshaped by unexpected dynamics. The rise and growth of the digital economy have fundamentally changed the relationship between the urban fabric and its resident community, overcoming the conventional hierarchy based on production priorities. Moreover, contemporary society discovers new labour conditions and ways of satisfying needs and desires by developing new synergies and links. This book examines cultural and urban commons from a multidisciplinary perspective. Economists, architects, urban planners, sociologists, designers, political scientists, and artists explore the impact and implications of cultural commons on urban change. The contributions discuss both cases of successful urban participation and cases of strong social conflict, while also addressing a host of institutional contradictions and dilemmas. The first part of the book examines urban commons in response to institutional constraints from a theoretical point of view. The second and third parts apply the theories to case studies and discuss various practices of sustainable planning and re-appropriation in the urban context. In closing, the fourth part develops a new urban agenda as artists imagine it. This book will appeal to scholars interested in the social, economic and institutional implications of cultural and urban commons, and provide useful insights and tools to help local governments and policymakers manage social, cultural and economic change.

Part I: Urban Commons As A Response To Institutional Constraints -- Chapter 1. From Goods To Orders And Rules Of Governance: A Preliminary Exploration -- Chapter 2. Towards A Policy For The Cultural Commons -- Chapter 3. Urban Heritage As Cultural Capital, District And Commons: An Economic Perspective -- Chapter 4. Power In Networks And The Urban Space -- Chapter 5. Communing The Stage: The Complex Semantics Of The Theatre Commons -- Chapter 6. Public Art Today. How Art In Public Space Sheds Light On The Future Of The Theory Of Commons -- Part Ii: Art And The City: Dialogues Between Space And Community -- Chapter 7. The Rocking Cradle Of Creativity. Tales Of Inertia And Frictions, Cultural And Urban Transformations, Creative Actions -- Chapter 8. Public Space: Mapping The Physical, Social And Cultural Accessibility For The Creation Of Urban Commons -- Chapter 9. Enhancing Human And Urban Capital: A Value-Oriented Approach -- Chapter 10. The Social Aesthetics Of Cultural Commons -- Chapter 11. From Digitalization To Crowdfunding Platforms: Fomenting The Cultural Commons.