Urban commoning: An assessment of its aesthetic dimension

The practice of urban commoning continues to tickle the imagination of activists and academics alike. Urban commoning’s aesthetic dimension, however, has not been fully understood. This contribution fills such a gap by approaching aesthetics in the literal sense: that which presents itself to sense perception. Taking its cue from Jacques Rancière’s theory of aesthetics, the commoning experiment of Pension Almonde (a commons‐based social housing complex in Rotterdam) is analysed. The article finally develops the distinction between a particular‐aesthetic dimension (making unheard voices merely perceptible) and a universal‐aesthetic dimension (shifting power relations) of urban commoning.

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https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/4716