Empty/abandoned buildings

Auteur : Lorna Muddiman - Publié le : 2013-05-22 16:07 -

Since the economic crisis in Europe first began, the numbers of empty/abandoned buildings have multiplied. It is not uncommon to see vacant shops and other properties displaying "to let" signs in many towns and cities across the continent; processes of dereliction and ghettoisation are occuring as a result. This in turn affects the morale and well-being of local populations, possibly leading to anti-social behaviour, vandalism, etc. This particular section considers some solutions or "remedies" to alleviate the present situation.

Picture by Ellie O. Photography, Creative Commons

In response to the effects that empty/abandoned buildings can have on local communities in Europe, various initiatives have emerged that seek to make (often temporary) use of these spaces, thus avoiding the waste of such a resource. This section will consider the types of movements currently in play, which, as we shall see, can bring numerous benefits to a community and its citizens.

Before looking at the examples below, consider the following statistics which aim to give a real sense of the scale of the problem of abandoned property in Europe:

18% of the office buildings in Amsterdam are vacant, despite the fact that they are perfectly usable office buildings or other spaces ... these vacant buildings are anything between 10 and 350 years old, and could remain empty for up to 10 years! (urbantimes.co).
According to Michele Hanson (The Guardian) ”Empty office space in the City of London almost doubled to 10% between 2008 and 2009, while 17% of offices in Birmingham are empty, a fun area for vandals and arsonists.”
In Paris, France more than 2 million properties were vacant in 2012 (CSMonitor.com).
In Ireland, as many as one in five shops are now vacant (independent.ie).

As a result of these growing figures, an increased enthusiasm in temporary architecture or letting of spaces, carefully tuned interventions, and solutions for those who can’t afford the usual inner city square metre prices is becoming more clearly noticeable. The examples provided below are evidence of this.

Examples

ACTIONS (in orange) and POLICIES (in green)

Click HERE for the Examples

Givrum.nu ("give room now")

Auteur : Lorna Muddiman - Publié le : 2013-04-26 07:36 -

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.

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Rivolta Social Centre

Auteur : alessandra sciurba - Publié le : 2013-04-03 10:20 -

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.

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Links and other sources

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 Empty/abandoned buildings is also discussed on another section of this website under the category Housing (Reusing abandoned buildings).