Periodic Reporting for period 1 - COMMONCITY (A new frontier in EU urban policy-making: commons-inspired co-production arrangements)
Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-08-31
A new trend is emerging in EU urban policymaking: the adoption of co-production arrangements to support the emergence and development of urban commons. Some pioneering cases stand out, such as the Urban Commons Regulation in Bologna (2014), the Commons Transition Plan in Ghent (2017) and the Citizen Assets Programme in Barcelona (2017). These cities have been joined by others that have either adopted similar arrangements, such as Turin (2016), Madrid (2018) and Milan (2019), or are currently considering them, such as Grenoble and Brussels. Broadly speaking, these arrangements, also referred to as public-common partnerships in recent literature, aim to redistribute decision-making power to citizens over services and resources considered essential for the collective well-being of cities (e.g. public buildings and spaces, energy and water utilities) by promoting community self-management. COMMONCITY will comparatively analyse the models, challenges and democratic implications of recently adopted co-production arrangements in support of urban commons in three EU cities: Barcelona, Bologna and Brussels. The research will provide unique empirical data on the diversity, effective functioning and democratising effects of these arrangements. This data will feed into the policymaking of EU cities in line with the UN SDGs (11 and 16), the EU 2019-2024 policy priorities and the EU Leipzig Charter. It will be carried out with the Urban Studies Institute (USI) of the University of Antwerp (UAntwerp), where the researcher will be embedded in the Research Centre of Environmental and Social Change (CRESC). The researcher will also undertake a non-academic secondment to the Fondazione per l'Innovazione Urbana (FIU) in Bologna.
The COMMONCITY project ended prematurely after one year due to the researcher being offered a tenure-track position. In addition, the researcher was on maternity leave during this period, which had a significant impact on the work of the project and required a restructuring of the planned activities.
During the course of the grant, a comprehensive literature review on new municipalism, public-common partnerships and co-production was conducted, but no data collection was undertaken. Instead, the analysis focused on data previously collected during the MSCA Seal of Excellence project, COMMOCRACY, which also ended before schedule and aimed exclusively to assess the democratic impact of commons-based co-production arrangements.
The results of these efforts - the literature review and analysis of data from the COMMOCRACY project - have led to the following research outputs:
A research article entitled "The Democratising Capacity of New Municipalism: Beyond Direct Democracy in Public-Common Partnerships" published in Policy & Politics journal.
A co-edited book entitled 'Radical Municipalism: The Politics of the Common and the Democratisation of Public Services, which provides a theoretical framework and empirical cases of public-common partnerships. This book has been commissioned by Bristol University Press and is expected to be published in 2025.
A monograph entitled 'Barcelona, Urban Commons and Local State Assemblages', which extends the researcher's doctoral thesis by analysing the relationship between commons initiatives and local government in Barcelona, incorporating additional research conducted during her postdoctoral positions, including the MSCA. This monograph has been commissioned by Routledge and is expected to be published in 2025.
In addition, through the delivery of the Urban Studies Foundation's seminar series 'New Municipalism, Democratic Public Ownership, and the Politics of the Common', the project has played a crucial role in building a network of scholars and practitioners focused on commons-based co-production arrangements and public-common partnerships at the local level and beyond.
During the course of the grant, a comprehensive literature review on new municipalism, public-common partnerships and co-production was conducted, but no data collection was undertaken. Instead, the analysis focused on data previously collected during the MSCA Seal of Excellence project, COMMOCRACY, which also ended before schedule and aimed exclusively to assess the democratic impact of commons-based co-production arrangements.
The results of these efforts - the literature review and analysis of data from the COMMOCRACY project - have led to the following research outputs:
A research article entitled "The Democratising Capacity of New Municipalism: Beyond Direct Democracy in Public-Common Partnerships" published in Policy & Politics journal.
A co-edited book entitled 'Radical Municipalism: The Politics of the Common and the Democratisation of Public Services, which provides a theoretical framework and empirical cases of public-common partnerships. This book has been commissioned by Bristol University Press and is expected to be published in 2025.
A monograph entitled 'Barcelona, Urban Commons and Local State Assemblages', which extends the researcher's doctoral thesis by analysing the relationship between commons initiatives and local government in Barcelona, incorporating additional research conducted during her postdoctoral positions, including the MSCA. This monograph has been commissioned by Routledge and is expected to be published in 2025.
In addition, through the delivery of the Urban Studies Foundation's seminar series 'New Municipalism, Democratic Public Ownership, and the Politics of the Common', the project has played a crucial role in building a network of scholars and practitioners focused on commons-based co-production arrangements and public-common partnerships at the local level and beyond.
The results of the short-term implementation of the COMMONCITY project have been summarised in an article published in Policy & Politics, entitled "The Democratising Capacity of New Municipalism: Beyond Direct Democracy in Public-Common Partnerships"
In this article, the researcher explores the emerging phenomenon of 'new municipalism,' a movement that is increasingly recognized as a transformative force in local politics and policy-making. Central to the democratisation strategy of new municipalism is the concept of public-common partnerships —strategic alliances between civil society organisations dedicated to social justice and local public institutions. The primary objective of these partnerships is to empower these groups to take over and self-manage public goods and services. This approach is championed by proponents of new municipalism, who view these partnerships as having a democratising potential, aligning with ideologies inspired by Marx and others, suggesting that self-management equates to the practice of direct democracy. However, the research offers a critical examination of this perspective, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between self-management and direct democracy.
Through an in-depth analysis of the Citizen Assets programme in Barcelona, led by the government of Barcelona en Comú, the research reveals the complexities inherent in the democratisation process within public-common partnerships. The programme aimed to grant non-profit community organisations the autonomy to self-manage public assets. However, the findings indicate that self-management alone does not necessarily lead to democratisation, as it is not synonymous with direct democracy. Instead, self-management functions as a form of non-electoral representation, where these organisations act on behalf of their broader community. This representative nature of self-management can create tensions between inclusivity and exclusivity, resulting in varying degrees of success in democratisation efforts across different initiatives.
To address these challenges, and drawing on the experiences of the Citizen Assets programme, the article proposes an integrated approach to democratisation within public-common partnerships. This approach expands the scope of democratisation beyond the self-management phase, advocating for a model that encompasses the entire policy cycle. In practical terms, this means ensuring that decision-making within non-profit community organisations is transparent and inclusive, and that additional democratic practices, such as co-production in policy design and democratic scrutiny, are embedded throughout the policy process.
The article makes a significant contribution to democratic theory by introducing the concept of 'non-appropriable' policy-making—a process in which all stakeholders share ownership of the policy process and collectively resist the centralisation of control, thereby fostering a more robust democratic ethos.
As new municipalism continues to develop, its potential to reshape urban policy landscapes is substantial. However, realising this potential requires a pragmatic approach to democratisation—one that moves beyond idealised visions and carefully considers the practicalities and impacts of democratising practices throughout the policy cycle.
In this article, the researcher explores the emerging phenomenon of 'new municipalism,' a movement that is increasingly recognized as a transformative force in local politics and policy-making. Central to the democratisation strategy of new municipalism is the concept of public-common partnerships —strategic alliances between civil society organisations dedicated to social justice and local public institutions. The primary objective of these partnerships is to empower these groups to take over and self-manage public goods and services. This approach is championed by proponents of new municipalism, who view these partnerships as having a democratising potential, aligning with ideologies inspired by Marx and others, suggesting that self-management equates to the practice of direct democracy. However, the research offers a critical examination of this perspective, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between self-management and direct democracy.
Through an in-depth analysis of the Citizen Assets programme in Barcelona, led by the government of Barcelona en Comú, the research reveals the complexities inherent in the democratisation process within public-common partnerships. The programme aimed to grant non-profit community organisations the autonomy to self-manage public assets. However, the findings indicate that self-management alone does not necessarily lead to democratisation, as it is not synonymous with direct democracy. Instead, self-management functions as a form of non-electoral representation, where these organisations act on behalf of their broader community. This representative nature of self-management can create tensions between inclusivity and exclusivity, resulting in varying degrees of success in democratisation efforts across different initiatives.
To address these challenges, and drawing on the experiences of the Citizen Assets programme, the article proposes an integrated approach to democratisation within public-common partnerships. This approach expands the scope of democratisation beyond the self-management phase, advocating for a model that encompasses the entire policy cycle. In practical terms, this means ensuring that decision-making within non-profit community organisations is transparent and inclusive, and that additional democratic practices, such as co-production in policy design and democratic scrutiny, are embedded throughout the policy process.
The article makes a significant contribution to democratic theory by introducing the concept of 'non-appropriable' policy-making—a process in which all stakeholders share ownership of the policy process and collectively resist the centralisation of control, thereby fostering a more robust democratic ethos.
As new municipalism continues to develop, its potential to reshape urban policy landscapes is substantial. However, realising this potential requires a pragmatic approach to democratisation—one that moves beyond idealised visions and carefully considers the practicalities and impacts of democratising practices throughout the policy cycle.