SUGGESTED READINGS
A walk through the commons in New York City….
Baldwin, James 1960. Fifth avenue, uptown: A letter from Harlem. Esquire.
White, E.B. 1949. Here is New York.
Anderson, Elijah 2004. The cosmopolitan canopy. Annals of the American Academy of Political
and Social Science.
What is the urban?
Lefebvre, H. “Philosophy and the city”; and “The right to the city”. In Henri Lefebvre:
Writings on the cities.
Merrifield, A. 2006. Urbanity. In Henri Lefebvre a critical introduction. London: Routledge.
What is the commons?
Linebaugh, Peter 2014. Some principles of the commons. In Stop thief! The commons,
enclosures and resistance. Oakland, CA: PM Press.
Thompson, E.P. 1993. Custom, law and common right. In Customs in common.
London:Penguin.
What is the urban commons?
Gidwani, Vinay 2013: Six theses on waste, value, and commons, Social & Cultural Geography.
Iaione, Christian 2015. Governing the urban commons. Italian Journal of Public Law, 7-1:170-221.
OTHER RESOURCES
Commons Transition
http://commonstransition.org
The Commons Transition Platform is a database of practical experiences and policy proposals aimed
toward achieving a more humane and environmentally grounded mode of societal organization.
Commons Transition and P2P: a primer
https://www.tni.org/files/publication-downloads/commons_transition_and_p2p_primer_v9.pdf
This short primer explains the Commons and P2P, how they interrelate, their movements and trends,
and how a Commons transition is poised to reinvigorate work, politics, production, and care,
both interpersonal and environmental.
David Bollier
http://www.bollier.org
David Bollier is author, activist, blogger and consultant who spends a lot of time exploring
the commons as a new paradigm of economics, politics and culture,
Designing the Urban Commons
designingtheurbancommons.org
Designing the Urban Commons was an ideas competition calling for new ways to
stimulate public and collective life.
Five Practical Guidelines for Achieving a Commons Transition
https://medium.com/@TNInstitute/five-practical-guidelines-for-achieving-a-commons-transition-539f9546adef
How do we bring about a Commons transition?
IASC
http://www.iasc-commons.org
The International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) is devoted to bringing
together multi-disciplinary researchers, practitioners and policymakers for the purpose of
improving governance and management, advancing understanding, and creating
sustainable solutions for commons, common-pool resources, or any other form of
shared resource.
LabGov
http://www.labgov.it
LabGov is a clinic for social, economic, institutional and legal innovators that carry out
empirical work to implement innovations in public policy based on collaborative governance
and public collaboration for the commons, subsidiarity, active citizenship, sharing economy,
collaborative consumption, shared value, and collective impact.
Mapping the Commons
http://mappingthecommons.net
A network of researchers & activists in several cities from Istambul to Belo Horizonte, from
Athens to São Paulo, from Sevilla to Rio de Janeiro.
NYCommons
https://nycommons.org
NYCommons helps New Yorkers impact decisions about public land and buildings in their
neighborhoods. It is a collaboration between Common Cause/NY, the Community
Development Project at the Urban Justice Center, and 596 Acres, Inc.
Participatory Budgeting Scoping Toolkit
https://www.participatorybudgeting.org/how-to-start-pb/plan-a-pb-process/
Participatory budgeting is a better way to manage public money. It is a democratic
process in which community members decide how to spend part of a public budget.
This toolkit is for officials and staff of governments and institutions that are
interested in launching a participatory budgeting process.
P2P Foundation
http://p2pfoundation.net
The P2P Foundation is a global network of researchers, activists, and citizens monitoring
and promoting actions geared towards a transition to a Commons-based society.
Reimagining the Civic Commons
http://civiccommons.us/about
Through projects in five U.S. cities, Reimagining the Civic Commons intends to be the first
comprehensive demonstration of how a connected set of civic assets – a civic commons – can
connect people of all backgrounds and yield increased and more equitably shared
prosperity for cities and neighborhoods.
Shareable
http://www.shareable.net/news/commons
Shareable is a nonprofit media outlet and action network that empowers people to share
for a more resilient, equitable, and joyful world.
