IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v12y2023i9p1697-d1228623.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Power of Radical Place-Making Practices: Lessons Learned from ufaFabrik in Berlin

Author

Listed:
  • Sara Le Xuan

    (Architecture Department, Roma Tre University, Via Aldo Manuzio, 68L, 00153 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

This article investigates ufaFabrik’s practice within Berlin’s urban context, which emerged from an occupation of an abandoned site and evolved into a long-term experiment in radical place-making. Through this case study analysis, it explores the role of radical place-making in shaping urban policy, focusing on the dimensions of decision, place and policy. Drawing on an expanded conceptualisation of place-making that embraces a radical perspective, the study is based on a Ph.D. programme and on extensive field research. ufaFabrik has given place-making a political meaning, challenging conventional urban planning in relation to ‘undecided’ spaces. This paradigm of place-making represents grassroots activism and insurgent action and it can catalyse both local and urban transformations. Through a critical analysis of the limits and possibilities of radical place-making practice, the article argues that the ufaFabrik offers valuable insights into the potential of participatory and community-led approaches to reshape urban spaces and promote more inclusive and sustainable forms of urban governance. The study highlights how the re-politicisation of urban issues emerges from conflict and challenges established power dynamics. It highlights the interconnection between ‘place’ and ‘making’, weaving experiential and generative elements into the urban discourse, highlighting its transformative potential and reconfiguration of decision-making dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Le Xuan, 2023. "The Power of Radical Place-Making Practices: Lessons Learned from ufaFabrik in Berlin," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:9:p:1697-:d:1228623
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1697/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/9/1697/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Friederike Landau, 2021. "Agonistic failures: Following policy conflicts in Berlin’s urban cultural politics," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(12), pages 2531-2548, September.
    2. Federico Savini & Luca Bertolini, 2019. "Urban experimentation as a politics of niches," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 51(4), pages 831-848, June.
    3. Hilary Silver & Alan Scott & Yuri Kazepov, 2010. "Participation in Urban Contention and Deliberation," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 453-477, September.
    4. Rucht, Dieter, 1991. "The study of social movements in West Germany: between activism and social science," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 175-202.
    5. Sarah Elwood & Victoria Lawson & Samuel Nowak, 2015. "Middle-Class Poverty Politics: Making Place, Making People," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 105(1), pages 123-143, January.
    6. Andrej Holm & Armin Kuhn, 2011. "Squatting and Urban Renewal: The Interaction of Squatter Movements and Strategies of Urban Restructuring in Berlin," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 644-658, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adriana Kemp & Henrik Lebuhn & Galia Rattner, 2015. "Between Neoliberal Governance and the Right to the City: Participatory politics in Berlin and Tel Aviv," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 704-725, July.
    2. Federico Cuomo & Stefania Ravazzi & Federico Savini & Luca Bertolini, 2020. "Transformative Urban Living Labs: Towards a Circular Economy in Amsterdam and Turin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    3. Miguel Angel Martínez López, 2017. "Squatters and migrants in Madrid: Interactions, contexts and cycles," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(11), pages 2472-2489, August.
    4. Cecilie Sachs Olsen & Merlijn van Hulst, 2024. "Reimagining Urban Living Labs: Enter the Urban Drama Lab," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(6), pages 991-1012, May.
    5. Devon McAslan & Farah Najar Arevalo & David A. King & Thaddeus R. Miller, 2021. "Pilot project purgatory? Assessing automated vehicle pilot projects in U.S. cities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Carrie Chennault & Laura Klavitter & Lynn Sutton, 2019. "Visceral Encounters: A Political Ecology of Urban Land, Food, and Housing in Dubuque, Iowa," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-25, April.
    7. Beatrice Maria Bellè, 2023. "Background Conditions for Revitalisation Processes in the Case of Unused Public Buildings in Italy: An Ostromian Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Esther Hernández‐Medina, 2010. "Social Inclusion through Participation: the Case of the Participatory Budget in São Paulo," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 512-532, September.
    9. Aidan H While & Simon Marvin & Mateja Kovacic, 2021. "Urban robotic experimentation: San Francisco, Tokyo and Dubai," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(4), pages 769-786, March.
    10. Giada Casarin & Julie MacLeavy & David Manley, 2023. "Rethinking urban utopianism: The fallacy of social mix in the 15-minute city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(16), pages 3167-3186, December.
    11. RUTH McALISTER, 2010. "Putting the ‘Community’ into Community Planning: Assessing Community Inclusion in Northern Ireland," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 533-547, September.
    12. Helena Sustar & Miloš N. Mladenović & Moshe Givoni, 2020. "The Landscape of Envisioning and Speculative Design Methods for Sustainable Mobility Futures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-24, March.
    13. Janet Merkel, 2024. "Spatial Politics of Cultural Production: Negotiating Workspaces and Resisting Displacement at Industrial Heritage Sites in Berlin," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9.
    14. Byeongsun Ahn, 2024. "The politics of living-with-difference: Local perception of diversity and coexistence around participatory place-making in a multiethnic neighbourhood," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 42(3), pages 458-475, May.
    15. Joost de Moor, 2016. "Practicing Openness: Investigating the Role of Everyday Decision Making in the Production of Squatted Space," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 410-424, March.
    16. Henning Füller & Boris Michel, 2014. "‘Stop Being a Tourist!’ New Dynamics of Urban Tourism in Berlin-Kreuzberg," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1304-1318, July.
    17. Jonathan Metzger & Linda Soneryd & Sebastian Linke, 2017. "The legitimization of concern: A flexible framework for investigating the enactment of stakeholders in environmental planning and governance processes," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(11), pages 2517-2535, November.
    18. Marit Rosol, 2010. "Public Participation in Post‐Fordist Urban Green Space Governance: The Case of Community Gardens in Berlin," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 548-563, September.
    19. Ferreira, António & Oliveira, Fernanda Paula & von Schönfeld, Kim Carlotta, 2022. "Planning cities beyond digital colonization? Insights from the periphery," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    20. Stephen Leitheiser & Alexander Follmann, 2020. "The social innovation–(re)politicisation nexus: Unlocking the political in actually existing smart city campaigns? The case of SmartCity Cologne, Germany," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(4), pages 894-915, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:9:p:1697-:d:1228623. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.