The Spatial Social and Experiential Dimension of Sharing: An Urban Experiment of Participatory Urbanism in Spain

According to a model focusing on the human, social, economic, environmental and technological urban components, the sharing paradigm is considered an opportunity to face contemporary challenges. Based on these assumptions, the paper adopts a place-based approach, deepening the socio-spatial and experiential dimensions of sharing that still need to be sufficiently investigated. The paper analyses some tactical and reuse urban practices promoted by local communities in neglected spaces and their medium and long-term effects. It refers to temporariness as an opportunity to give life to short-term actions and long-term change. Temporary actions are included in the so-called “open urbanism”, considered an alternative way of designing cities with different possibilities for constructing new relationships with the city. To analyse this trend, the paper explores the El Campo de la Cebada case study, an example of open urbanism, an urban experiment of temporarily occupying a vacant space that engaged people in a collaborative design to create a vibrant public space. Citizens, supported by local associations and in agreement with the municipality, turned the historic market in the heart of Madrid into a making practice, an area for citizen social and cultural initiatives. The analysis of this case study focuses on the often conflictual processes of co-creation and co-management. It investigates to what extent the involved partners contribute and get a share of the created value. Finally, the paper critically evaluates these practices’ impact on urban policy’s theoretical and practical issues, supporting the emerging need for participatory planning.