Résumés
Abstract
Amid crisis and austerity, spatial planning in Southern European countries has been used as a ‘prototype’ for new rounds of neoliberalization and a political space that continuously develops through top-down/bottom-up dialectic conflicts. Within this context, planning practice and legislative framework in Greece has focused on attracting direct foreign investments by privatizing big parcels of public property. Despite these restrictive conditions, new partnerships between urban commons and local authorities emerge and highlight the urban commons’ potential as a stakeholder in the planning process. We study the history and interview the key actors of an initially informal community of citizens, who created and manage a space of urban gardening in an urban void, in a former military camp in the metropolitan area of Thessaloniki. They set forth an eco-friendly model of space management based on inclusion and participation. This informal community participated in a network of initiatives and associations, which defended the former military camp area from privatization and demanded its conversion to a green area. A partnership between municipal authorities and urban commons was established and after a long struggle, in December 2020, this partnership achieved a decisive victory against current central government policies: The formal master plan of the area, designating the space as a public green area, was approved by the ministry. Starting from this case study, we discuss the potential of such partnerships in the planning process and how they can change the physical, social and political landscapes surrounding them.
Keywords:
- Commons,
- State,
- Public space,
- Military urbanism,
- Urban space,
- Community,
- Greece,
- Civic uses,
- Private/public
Résumé
Au cœur de la crise et de l’austérité, l’aménagement du territoire dans les pays du sud de l’Europe a été utilisé comme un « prototype » pour de nouveaux cycles de néolibéralisation et un espace politique qui se développe continuellement à travers des conflits dialectiques descendants/ascendants. Dans ce contexte, la pratique de la planification et le cadre législatif en Grèce se sont concentrés sur l’attraction d’investissements étrangers directs en privatisant de grandes parcelles de biens publics. Malgré ces conditions contraignantes, de nouveaux partenariats entre biens communs urbains et collectivités émergent et mettent en lumière le potentiel des biens communs urbains en tant qu’acteur du processus d’aménagement. Nous étudions l’histoire et interrogeons les acteurs clés d’une communauté initialement informelle de citoyens, qui ont créé et qui gèrent un espace de jardinage urbain dans un vide urbain, dans un ancien camp militaire de la zone métropolitaine de Thessalonique. Ils ont proposé un modèle de gestion de l’espace respectueux de l’environnement basé sur l’inclusion et la participation. Cette communauté informelle a participé à un réseau d’initiatives et d’associations, qui ont défendu l’ancien camp militaire contre la privatisation et exigé sa conversion en espace vert. Un partenariat entre les autorités municipales et les biens communs urbains a été établi et après une longue lutte, en décembre 2020, ce partenariat a remporté une victoire décisive contre les politiques actuelles du gouvernement central : le plan directeur formel de la zone, désignant l’espace comme espace vert public, a été approuvé par le ministère. À partir de cette étude de cas, nous discutons du potentiel de tels partenariats dans le processus de planification et de la manière dont ils peuvent modifier les paysages physiques, sociaux et politiques qui les entourent.
Mots-clés :
- Biens communs,
- Espace public,
- Espace urbain,
- Communauté,
- Grèce,
- État,
- Urbanisme militaire,
- Privé/public,
- Usage civique
Parties annexes
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