Filling up Discontinuities in the Urban Landscape: Alternatives and Strategies

The end of the so-called housing bubble with the current economic crisis is having dramatic effects in the urban landscape as construction companies have declared bankruptcy and have left many unfinished buildings and empty lots in the urban space where garbage is being accumulated while no one seems to be responsible and neighbours suffer the consequences. Thus, it is urgent to develop initiatives and alternatives that provide an answer to the deterioration not only of the urban landscape but, more importantly, to the everyday lives of the citizens who suffer the consequences of years of speculation with the urban space.

In this paper I will show the preliminary results of the research project FUTUR (Filling Up Territorial Discontinuities in the Urban Landscape) that has been carried out in the Spanish city of Burgos with the goal of promoting citizens’ participation in the elaboration of proposals and alternatives that activate sustainable forms of participatory engagement for a better living in urban areas. This research is based on ethnographic fieldwork research with neighbours, independent artists  and local authorities (participant observation, interviews, life stories, discussion groups) as well as archival research (year of construction/demolition, name of the constructor, original project).  More specifically, in this paper I will discuss the following issues: (i) how neighbours perceive these empty spaces and abandoned buildings in terms of risks (garbage, physical injuries, gang activity, depreciation) and what alternative projects and uses they proposed; (ii) what are the intended projects developed by the local authorities in order to fill up these discontinuities; (iii) examples of successful projects developed from below.  The presentation will also include a dynamic chart where I have mapped out both these territorial discontinuities or ‘spaces-in-between’ and the alternatives suggested by neighbours and other actors of the civil society (independent artists).