Picture by Ruben Mendez, globalproject and Corrala de vecinas La Utopía
The practice of occupying movements can have various forms. It has increased in some countries particularly affected by the housing crisis, such as Spain, where thousands of families and individuals have been evicted due to non-payment of mortgages. Some of these movements are organised in Corralas. Although some experiences of occupation are initially considered as being "outside of the law", they can eventually be legalised, for instance through negotiations between the occupants and the public authorities.
One example is that of certain social centres in Italy, like Rivolta in Marghera. These actions of "risk" create spaces for social experimentation, and may facilitate in the identification of creative solutions that enable access to housing and contribute to the development of innovative "norms" concerning social matters.
Examples
Meanwhile Space
Publié le : 2013-06-13 12:07 -|
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Meanwhile Space are a community interest company working all over the UK to activate vacant property and sites with uses that benefit the community, while something else is waiting to happen or being planned. |
Corrala La Utopía
Publié le : 2013-04-29 14:56 -|
A collective project of a self-organised group of families - in urgent need of housing - who have occupied a building owned by a bank partly responsible for the crisis. |
Givrum.nu ("give room now")
Publié le : 2013-04-26 07:36 -|
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Givrum.nu is an organisation that works with user-driven urban development. Using extensive knowledge about citizen-participatory processes in the city, Givrum.nu has among other things created life in empty buildings for a temporary period and created awareness-raising events where innovative ways (cultural, social, etc.) of developing cities are put on the agenda. |
Rivolta Social Centre
Publié le : 2013-04-03 10:20 -|
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A self-managed social center built in an occupied abandoned factory that has lead to several initiatives : new forms of welfare for Italian and migrant population, innovative types of co-production of renewable energy, collective solutions to produce income for young temporary workers, and new practices of democratic management of resources on the base of a common pool of knowledge and competences. |
Links
Corrala La Utopia, Spain: http://corralautopia.blogspot.fr/ Movimiento 15M Sevilla, Spain: http://15mviviendasevilla.blogspot.com.es Rivolta pvc, Italy: http://rivoltapvc.blogspot.fr/
Please note: The experience of Occupying abandoned buildings is discussed on another section of this website under the category Avoiding waste (Use of public spaces) and more specifically, Empty/abandoned buildings.