Re:Permissioning the City — Unlocking cities’ growing underutilised spatial assets for an emergent civic economy

In recent years, various macro-level shifts, including public health crises, demographic changes, and climate risks, have had cascading effects that compelled us to reconsider how we govern, plan, and operate our cities. These changes have prompted us to question the prevailing notion of space as a mere real estate asset defined by ownership and rental agreements, urging us to explore alternative perspectives on urban space.

• What if we could foster reciprocal, stewardship-based agreements and perceive space as a foundational ‘civic’ asset capable of generating positive outcomes for the entire city?
• How might we harness the capabilities of citizens to shape our urban environments and create opportunities for emergent uses that have the potential to revitalise our cities?

In this article, we attempt to explore these questions of urban governance and planning as we outline our work on “Re:Permissioning the City”. This experiment in urban spatial governance is something that we have been developing in the past two years, in collaboration with Daegu Metropolitan City in South Korea, along with other collaborators around the world.

• Part 1 — Context: In this part, we describe the broader context of the experiment and attempt to locate the significance of Re:Permissioning the City as a resident-led urban governance system
• In Part 2 — Proposal: In part 2, we dig deeper into the different layers of the proposal, elaborating on what we call a “protocols-driven permissions system”
• In Part 3 — Pilot: In the last part, we close with our plans for a pilot project in Daegu, and an open invitation to cities and organisations around the world to develop this new type of civic infrastructure with us

PART 1 — Context

City as an emergent ecosystem

Jane Jacobs (1961) believed cities should function like ecosystems, prioritising diversity as a core value for urban planners. She advocated for multiple choices, opportunities, and encounters that would allow people to satisfy their diverse desires and interests. More than half a century later, in Tokyo, Japan, Jorge Almazán and Studiolab (2022) explored the concept of a ‘human-scale urban ecosystem’, which emphasises light-touch urban planning that allows spontaneous and emergent spaces to develop.

Mixed-use neighbourhoods in Tokyo

Situated in the interstices of top-down modernist grids and corporate-led urbanism of the 1980s, Tokyo’s emergent spaces (located in alleyways and underneath overground train tracks) represent a dynamic urban environment of order and functionality built from the bottom-up. The conditions for emergent urbanism include urban planning and design that makes intentional allowances for organic growth, as well as affordances for micro-level interactions and relationality — think of urban residents and the spaces that they create as birds in a flock that, over time, builds coherence and order by simply responding to the movements of their neighbours.

However, current bureaucracies aren’t allowing that full emergence to occur.

Commercial buildings under threat of increasing vacancy rates

Planning for emergence in the post-pandemic city

During the COVID-19 pandemic, cities worldwide underwent a silent but significant transformation to adapt to the changing needs of their residents. The explosion of remote work, mixed with often higher interest rates, single-use zoning and other contributing factors, has seen a reduction in commercial space use, leaving a massive trail of empty shops, restaurants and offices in inner urban areas. Montreal has seen its office-vacancy rates double from 2019 figures, and the change is even more pronounced in megacities like New York City, where the equivalent of 26 Empire State Buildings could fit into Manhattan’s empty office spaces or 74,582,671 square feet. With similar trends around the world, including in Hong Kong, Sweden and South Korea, the commercial real estate market is approaching a perilous precipice that requires radical reimaginings.

The office as we know it shows no sign of returning to pre-pandemic reality. Researchers are calling this phenomenon a “shift from vocation to recreation” and that the economic futures of cities rely on embracing the opportunities opening with this transition.

At the same time, the public health risks of indoor spaces during the pandemic provoked a need for more open-air public spaces, which were used for COVID testing, vaccine distribution and emergency medical care, as well as permitted small-scale civic activities. With strict social distancing rules in place, cycling, walking and personal mobility devices replaced public transportation. Several cities in Europe saw the expansion of cycling and pedestrian infrastructures, which became permanent after the pandemic and outdoor seating areas in restaurants and cafes became a common feature. During this time, concepts such as ‘15-minute cities’ emphasising the all-inclusive, walkable, healthy, sustainable and pleasantly dense neighbourhoods were embraced by mayors around the world from Daegu to Paris.

As cities implemented measures to limit inbound travellers and in-person social interaction, life in the city underwent a dramatic change. In Barcelona, the quiet streets of COVID-19 — devoid of tourists, offered a glimpse of what had been overlooked in the business-as-usual mode of the city. Shortly after pandemic measures began, citizens published an open letter to the mayor called the “Manifesto for the reorganisation of the city after the COVID-19”, which included new demands for (re)naturalising the city, decommodifying housing, reorganisation of mobility, and degrowth.

At the heart of this request is a collective desire for communities to be able to shape the city they are a part of and prioritise other indicators of well-being and sustainability over economic interests. One of the suggestions in the manifesto, the reappropriation of streets for children’s play as opposed to “artificially organising dedicated play areas”, is a good example of bottom-up, light-touch planning that allows for emergence. It reflects a growing desire for a radically different utilisation of the city — one that privileges ‘play’ over ‘work’.

In the context of the post-pandemic (and mid-pandemic) reorganisation of urban space outlined above, we began an experiment called “Re:Permissioning the City” in collaboration with Daegu Metropolitan City in South Korea. Developed initially as a proposal for the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge in 2021, the concept has since developed further in conversations with various cities around the world. In short, Re:Permissioning the City is a citizen-led governance and permissions system which interrogates how we use, manage and share urban space.

It takes as a starting point the numerous vacant and underutilised spaces that opened up due to the pandemic and larger demographic and industrial restructuring, with the intention to aggregate and unlock them for civic uses. Core to this concept is the light-touch, flexible, and multi-use planning approach by the local government that permits citizen-driven, creative appropriation of space. Enabling this new capacity of the city is a new governance model operated through a digital system that facilitates autonomous decision-making around when and how a space can be used, for what and by whom. In the following parts, we will describe in detail how this system would be organised in terms of functions and design principles, and illustrate its significance as it attempts to build upon the existing legacy of experiments in temporary use, meanwhile spaces and tactical urbanism.

PART 2 — Proposal

Protocols-driven permissions system

When we first began exploring the concept of a not-for-profit ‘Airbnb-like platform’ for publicly owned space in Daegu with the local government, municipal administrators were very keen on the idea of digitising and automating the permission process. In the case of Daegu, leasing a (publicly-owned) space involved lengthy bureaucratic processes that involved multiple departments across neighbourhoods, districts and city levels. In other words, procedures for temporarily renting a space in a public park differed from a room in a community centre or a stage in a traditional market, and streamlining the process required a new kind of central authority.

Our challenge was then to push the thinking further from a centralised, government-operated permission system to envisioning distributed, community-driven permissions. After a series of workshops with civil servants and communities to design the blueprint of the permissions system, we have identified the following design questions to take forward as we develop and test further.

Protocols for a self-governing space: How can the system facilitate new governance of urban space that is based on discursive (as opposed to coercive) practices of collaborative rule-making and trust-based compliance? How can we encourage a culture of stewardship towards shared urban assets that goes beyond traditional rental or ownership agreements?

• Spatial protocols for governing the use of spaces
• The permissioning space
• Human-machine feedback loops
• Towards a protocols-driven governance

Measuring spatial outcomes: How can the system encourage the repurposing of spaces to drive positive (neighbourhood/city) outcomes? Specifically, how can we develop the tools to measure, monitor and aggregate the spatial impact of civic activities in the city — impact that is aligned with the city’s larger objectives?

• Linking spatial data to city-wide strategies
• Potential use cases

Protocols for a self-governing space

A common practice regarding the management of publicly-owned spaces is that they are ‘governed’ by public authorities and ‘managed’ by local entities, which can range from district or neighbourhood-level government entities to non-profit organisations entrusted with the responsibility. This means that the purpose of such spaces is pre-determined by certain policies or mandates of the government, and often through a lengthy public procurement process, an entity will be assigned to operate and manage the space for a specific period of time. This was a significant pain point in the case of Daegu, as it posed a barrier to aggregating available spaces and centralising their permissions. Also, on the part of the local entity, the selective procurement process carried significant ethical and administrative burdens.

The idea of a self-governing, demand-driven space enabled by flexible planning regulations (mixed-use, light-touch) appealed to civil servants and citizens alike. It allowed civil servants to be unburdened by the responsibility to select who gets to manage and operate the space and citizens the ability to shape the use of spaces based on their changing needs. However, for such a concept to be used in practice, many layers of standards and mechanisms need to be put in place to ensure accountability, transparency, safety, and fairness. Below we describe how these layers can be defined and organised.

Spatial protocols for governing the use of spaces

1. General standards
   Taking inspiration from London’s Hackney Nights venue accreditation scheme, which sets out a new standard for nighttime spaces based on inclusivity, safety, well-being, and sustainability, and accredits venues that follow these standards, Re:Permissioning the City system will also aim to set certain general standards that govern the listing of spaces in order to lower thresholds to entry. In effect, the system will serve as a verification tool that filters spaces that adhere to certain standards and principles in a given region.
2. Site-specific standards
   Each space is embedded in its unique and relational context — spatial histories and stories, physical conditions, materialities, users, neighbours, historical uses, and possibilities for the future. The unique conditions that make up the characteristics of a space form certain ‘site-specific standards’ that determine how the space can be accessed and used, by whom and for what purpose. These standards act as a kind of profile that is unique to each space. As spatial data accumulates over time, based on activities and its users, it will serve as a form of digital spatial memory that influences the decisions that are made about the space, including permissions for access.
3. Community standards
   As space stewards, citizens agree to community standards, including codes of conduct, shared principles and values that make explicit the behavioural standards and responsibilities of civic actors engaging with the space.

The permissioning space

These three layers of standards form what we call the ‘permissioning space’ or ‘contracting space’. This is both a discursive space where negotiations occur and a decision-making space where micro-contracts are easily signed electronically to enable the use of spaces. Clauses in this micro-contract are formed from the standards described above, but these are continuously evolving through the iterations made through peer-to-peer nudging, negotiation and validation. There are numerous ways to test how this permissioning space can operate. Currently, we are exploring the use of a conversational chatbot that takes on the character of the space and functions as an interface between itself and the users.

Human-machine feedback loops

Standards and shared protocols require an important additional step, which oversees compliance and enforcement of said standards. New developments in sensing and monitoring technology and the ability to record and distribute real-time feedback may enable a different kind of compliance model that is more automated and autonomous, as opposed to top-down, analogue and penalty-based systems. Imagine noise, air, and light sensors in the space, monitoring and auto-adjusting for the optimal well-being of its occupants and neighbours. Peer-to-peer feedback systems, such as digital social ‘nudges’ and ratings, as well as shared incentives for repair and maintenance, can also help with voluntary compliance and collective care/stewardship of spaces. A new type of spatial compliance system that ensures the sustainability of public spaces would need to be balanced and make use of both machine and human capabilities.

Towards a protocols-driven governance

In a nutshell, Re:Permissioning the City is an experiment in technologically assisted collective governance and regulation. We are particularly interested in exploring how ‘rules’ and ‘rule-making’ can evolve and adapt to a complex system that requires flexibility and responsiveness in the design of our societal structures.

• The existing ‘rules-driven’ governance system operates on predefined rules set by a central authority such as the government. Rules are meant to be applied universally, and the system struggles to make allowances for ambiguity and emergent alternatives that fall within the grey areas of regulation.
• The second step in this gradual transformation is what we call ‘parametrics-driven’ governance, which takes advantage of technology to allow more flexibility and adaptability. Instead of a simple yes/no or right/wrong equation, real-time sensing technologies allow us to collect and analyse situational data and thus enable conditional permissions based on a degree/parameter of tolerance. Rules are still predefined and set by a central authority, but they are governed with a higher level of shared risk assessment and tolerance through the aid of technology.
• The third and most ambitious model of governance — one that we hope to test through the system, is a ‘protocols-driven’ model. Here, a set of rules — “protocols” — are defined and iterated in a distributed way by multiple stakeholders, including human and more-than-human agents.

Underpinning this, an expansive tech stack, which includes data registries that document and validate various identities, rights, and provenance, allows us to compute the interdependencies of each agent — be it a human, a stray cat, or a window in a building. Protocols do not function to control or limit the agents but serve to discover optimal conditions of mutual benefit.

A key question in this experiment is how the system can enable a different kind of relationship between spaces and the people using them. Beyond ownership and rental agreements, beyond the capitalist logic of perceiving space as real estate assets holding speculative market value — can we foster reciprocal, stewardship-based agreements and see space as a foundational ‘civic’ asset with the potential to produce positive civic outcomes?

Measuring spatial outcomes

One of the most commonly cited challenges of temporary and transitional uses of vacant spaces is the need for continuity and scalability. The dynamism created through these uses tends to dissipate with the turnover of its users and, ultimately, with the end of the time-limited lease. So for Re:Permissioning the City we posed the question — how can the impact and the values created through civic activities in space be measured, and each legacy of use be archived and built upon?

Linking spatial data to city-wide strategies

Measuring spatial outcomes involves a combination of quantitative and qualitative metrics. Energy consumption, footfall, indoor air quality, noise levels, number of activities hosted and participants attended are some of the easier indicators that can be measured using sensors and platform metrics. Space users’ feedback, social media posts, and a pattern of activities and users can also be fed into the impact analysis. These site-specific data points (informing site-specific standards described above) would be combined with existing social and economic indicators (such as crime rates, and loneliness index) to form part of a larger impact evaluation metric connected to city-wide strategies and objectives.

Imagine if we could better account for the mental health benefits of a particular space, or a cluster of spaces in a neighbourhood. This data could validate the public value of spaces, helping to ensure the sustainability of spaces and encourage further investment. (See more on our thinking on commons-based investment here)

Spatial outcomes and patterns of civic activities aggregated on a neighbourhood level or city level could inform future urban planning as well, serving as a core data set of a city’s urban space and the micro-level activities that take place within it. In effect, this could mean that spatial permissions can be granted based on iterative feedback. In the future, we hope that the data aggregation and analytics provided by the digital system, linking ‘space’, ‘people’ and ‘civic activities’ can become an integral part of the city’s collective intelligence, helping to measure impacts and contribute to developing new types of indicators of wellbeing, resilience, and sustainability of a city. (Read more about our work on developing new community-led indicators here)

Potential use cases

Below is a compilation of potential uses that could be unlocked by Re:Permissioning the City. It is important to note that these examples are merely indicative, as the diverse potential of spaces will emerge through the creativity of people reappropriating the city to their own needs, desires, and hopes.

PART 3 — Pilot

Pilot sites

The Re:Permissioning the City concept can be applied in various contexts of vacancy and underutilisation, and in the case of Daegu, we have found that it aligns well with the City’s existing strategies around urban regeneration. As an attempt to salvage historic buildings in the old inner city from demolition, the City’s Urban Bureau has committed significant funding over the next 20 years to acquire sites of historical significance. Among these buildings is ‘Muyeongdang(무영당)’, the first department store in Daegu, opened by a Korean entrepreneur under the 1930s Japanese colonial government. The place served as a cultural hub for many young intellectuals and artists of the day, selling books, and hosting poetry readings and art exhibitions. In the same neighbourhood is another modernist building that served as a place of refuge for artists and literati fleeing from the Korean War of the 1950s, called ‘Kotzari Dabang(꽃자리다방)’. These two buildings have been selected as potential sites for testing the Re:Permissioning the City concept in the real world. Taking into account the rich cultural history of these sites as a refuge for creative minds, the City hopes to enable more young people to make creative use of these spaces through Re:Permissioning the City. In the upcoming pilot, we will be working with local artists and cultural groups to build and test the foundational parts of the permissions system, including shared protocols and compliance systems.

Next steps

Many areas still require further thinking and development, for instance, defining the boundaries and units of spatial permission — should it be by square metres, or rooms, buildings, or virtual boundaries drawn with geofencing technology? How do we deal with data governance and privacy if we install sensors in spaces and use digital platforms to generate analytics about a space? How can we operationalise and enable self-compliance, deliberation and conflict resolution?

We are also actively exploring ways to ensure that protocols for a self-governing space can reflect the diverse interests of more-than-human agents, such as bees, cats, plants, microbiomes and of course, the space itself. Learning from past experiments in temporary/meanwhile use and tactical urbanism, we also acknowledge the importance of designing for long-term viability, so developing new kinds of civic business models and incentive structures will be a critical area that needs more work.

Despite uncertainties and unknowns, we believe that this is a critical moment for cities to explore and experiment with civic technologies that centre civic capabilities/capacities, democratising the way we plan and use our cities and demonstrating how public space, as one of many civic assets, can be harnessed for an emergent civic economy.

The Re:Permissioning the City project team at Dark Matter Labs is actively looking for new partnerships with organisations and governments with an appetite for exploring and testing the core instruments. While the contexts of each city are unique, we hope that Re:Permissioning the City can serve as a common technological infrastructure that can be shared across cities and enable compound learning and impact.

If you are interested in learning more, supporting the development, and/or doing a system pilot in your city, please contact us:

🇺🇸: Eunji Kang (eunji@darkmatterlabs.org)
🇰🇷: Eunsoo Lee (eunsoo@darkmatterlabs.org)
🇨🇦🇺🇸: Jayne Engle (jayne@darkmatterlabs.org)
🇫🇷: Theo Campbell (theo@darkmatterlabs.org)
🇬🇧: Chloe Treger (chloe@darkmatterlabs.org)
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿: Adam Purvis (adam@darkmatterlabs.org)

This blog is written by Eunji Kang and Eunsoo Lee, with contributions from Jonathan Lapalme, Chloe Treger, Calvin Po, Theo Campbell and Indy Johar.