Commoning stimuli: Sensory approaches to urban commons

Abstract

Urban environment is a diverse and dynamic one, made up of multiple places, policies and activities. Over time, different actors and societal forces shaped it, using novel practices and creating new spaces, trajectories and experiences. It is precisely experience which value we want to emphasize - the importance of senses, memories and life-worlds in production of social space. This paper elaborates on two urban phenomena, both of which contest the notion of commons and witness its changing nature and possibilities - community space that comprises large housing estates and urban squats. Different by nature - inclusive outdoor communal spaces as opposed to the wary exclusivity of closed squatted buildings - these two phenomena embody the capacity for social engagement, permitting the occurrence of practices of commoning. Considering the dynamic nature of these urban commons, sensory approaches promise a significant contribution to their understanding. In order to capture the ephemeral quality of urban commons and lived experiences of its wayfarers, we rely on sensobiographic walking, sensory mapping, collaborative performing, and object elicitation, using research data collected in Belgrade and Poznań. This way, we suggest how existing knowledge on urban commons can be expanded by incorporating bodily and emotional experiences, everyday practices and personal memories, often neglected by social theory.