CHETAN VAIDYA

damage (which include floods, droughts and heat waves) are widely discussed, the social outcomes receive less attention. Commons represent those rare spaces in increasingly segregated cities where the rich and the poor can still meet, children of all classes play together and collaborations for conservation can occur.

However, smart city plans and restoration projects take an approach that de-commonises the commons by evicting people who depend on them most. Beach sides, river fronts, lakes and parks become gated spaces, accessible only to those who can pay, and available only for recreational use, often coupled with “entertainment” in the form of flashing lights, loud music and food courts that evict wildlife. Our cities can hold out any promise of a better future only if the commons play a central role in urban planning.

Former director, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, and the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi

the urban commons at any time without any restriction, it becomes difficult to finance them through private sector. Cooperative or community funding also becomes difficult as most urban commons do not have clearly defined, limited and stable pool of appropriators. This is the reason, financing of the urban commons by the private sector or by communities is confined to development and maintenance of traffic islands, parks, stadiums, streets or footpaths, that too in a limited number.

So, urban commons are mainly dependent on governments, particularly local governments that are more often than not financially weak. The result is inadequate or no financing of the urban commons. There is an urgent need to come out with clear-cut policies, regulations and financing frameworks or mechanisms for urban commons so that their development, maintenance and regulation can take place through investment by private and social sectors.

As cities re-emerge as capitalist utopia for investors and consumers, the “commons” get converted into “commodities”. This loss of urban

“commons” and “communing” among larger public have a direct impact on the way a city and its society are structured. Today, what can be considered as the “commons” is no more limited to the traditional understanding of shared natural resources but include a wide spectrum of urban elements, from ecological commons such as water bodies, air and landfills, to civic commons such as markets, parks, gardens, public transportation and sanitation systems. It also includes intangible aspects, such as sociocultural commons that consist of various forms of art and customs, collective practices, equitable value generation and collaborative digital platforms. The concept of communing, however, has been largely confined to guerrilla actions to co-produce and self-manage community gardens or reclaim derelict spaces and turn them into community hubs, like pop-up plazas and parklets in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

However, the big question is how can the public or community govern and design the areas they share in common. Traditionally, the commons were governed by customary rights of communities. For commoning to once again become mainstream,