Results from Barcelona 2010 on the topic

Urban Transformation

The following are the results of the GAP at the Degrowth Conference 2010 in Barcelona that are particularly relevant for this working group.

The document first presents a summary, including links to other working groups (in bold & italic), and then the complete results of those Barcelona working groups with some relations the current one.

Summary

Cities should be reshaped and reformed on the basis of smaller scale and distance (indicators), and building new (eco)cities and (eco)neighbourhoods limited. Reduce urban sprawl. Car-based infrastructure should be converted to walking, cycling and open common spaces.

Urban life should be relocalized keeping or developing its multifunctionality and its public spaces. Foster proximity relationships through urban redesign-re-organization (trade) and the use of regional materials and bio-climatic design (infrastructure). Make ecocities for all, rather than for a gentrified minority. Build local social and ecological resilience in cities, use zoning to bring back nature in the city and keep neighbourhoods compact.

Degrowth challenges centralized decisions for mono-functional use and the involvement of urban dwellers in transforming the social, political and economic relations in urban spaces. Ecological degrowth neighbourhood plans (what areas to remove, to recycle, preserve, etc) need to be decided and implemented through collective decision-making. (democracy)

Awareness on the need for a shift to degrowth cities is needed (education).


Working Groups from 2010 GAP in Barcelona with some connections:

Cities and degrowth

Key research proposals

• How does the decentralisation of political power in the city relate to bottom-up processes and the degrowth agenda? (address concerns of concentration of power and democracy)

• How does the ‘right to the city’ (Henri Lefebvre) connect to the degrowth agenda? (the right of all urban dwellers to take part in the production of the city, transforming social, political and economic relations in urban spaces)

Key political proposals

• Reshape and reform current cities instead of building (eco)cities and (eco)neighbourhoods from scratch.

• Relocalise urban life with multifunctionality (public space as a commons) in mind

Other research proposals

• Why isn’t there planning by people vs. planning for people? How do you get people to plan for themselves? Barriers, preconditions and counterforces to encourage planning by people (users) and not only for people (consumers)

• How do we degrade the car as an urban transportation mode through taxes?

• How / what is the relationship between ecological urban development and gentrification?

• How to build local social and ecological resilience in cities / bioregions

Other political proposals

• Raise awareness on the need for the shift to degrowth cities

• Develop and implement an ecological degrowth neighbourhood plan using a bottom up process (collectively decide what areas to remove, to recycle to preserve…)

• Scale and distance as planning parameters

• Make initiatives in the city that are already working on paradigm change visible to understand potential of cities as social-political space

Reusing empty houses and co-housing

Research proposals

• Encourage architectural research on alternative housing, such as collaborative design of reused / empty buildings into co-housing with residents, material reuse, etc.

• What is the ‘overconsumption of space’? Is it better to talk about ecological footprint?

Political proposals

• Impose a large tax on unoccupied housing

• Stop urban sprawl

• State purchases houses that would be repossessed and turns them into public co-housing, empowering people

Contested proposals

• Find instruments to stimulate the reduction of living space for households that overconsume space

• Strengthen squatter rights

• Strengthen association

In rooted in social fabric with institutional backup to match empty houses with people living in poor conditions (i.e. homeless) who would care for the properties (i.e. self-management)