Waking up the sleeping giants. A 2nd chance

The multidisciplinary network Urbact 2nd Chance has been working in the last two years to define solutions and practices to reactivate abandoned spaces in our European cities with a focus on larger buildings and complexes. Rehabilitating these sleeping giants means to improve energy efficiency, providing spaces for what is needed in the city due to their size and supporting the appropriation by users, not only in favour of private interests, but also as urban commons. In this direction, the project aimed at developing processes in different cities whereby people start taking over the building with more suitable uses, promoting co- design activities to define the framework of the reuse and sustain it for the benefit of the community. In the general belief that it is necessary to co-build the city with communities, reinforcing local democracy, the network implemented tools coming from the design culture, such as social innovation design, that can contribute to the cities’ transformation by socializing the dimension of the project and developing a collaborative approach as key factor to ensuring successful reactivation projects. Participation improves feelings of ownership, and builds a strong base for intervention in the community. The action plans developed by the local support groups in the network converged upon one point: time must be taken into account when designing the process, as a lever of quality of life and active citizenship, to involve resources and people from the beginning in the reactivation process. The project becomes a process, adapting itself to the circumstances. The key activities and main challenges, displayed as results at a network level, help us address an issue increasingly widespread in our cities, and also explore new tools, as proto-type events, to generate awareness among citizens and give real practical, albeit temporary, experience of reactivation, proved to be extremely effective.