At the beginning of 2024, I conducted a secondment at the Department of housing policies at Lisbon City Council. Since I was carrying out research on collaborative housing and innovation, I searched for an experiment in the field of housing to compare with the case I studied in Bologna. The Italian case (co-housing Porto15) had been developed through a public intervention that aimed to build a community of residents that shared spaces and promoted a more sustainable lifestyle in the neighbourhood. My colleagues from the housing policies department where I was based piqued my interest by telling me about an innovative rehabilitation project that experimented with Tetris to avoid relocating residents into temporary housing. Thus, it aimed to protect the community living there. The construction site was confined to a part of the building while residents continued to live in the remaining part, with the living place and the building site switching in the subsequent phases of the project. This is Vila Romão, an old workers' villa owned by the Municipality of Lisbon, which was undergoing rehabilitation during my secondment due to the precarious conditions of the building. The municipality of Lisbon and the construction team took on the challenge of integrating residents into the retrofitting project, considering this the most suitable approach to the residents’ needs and life conditions. What was even more interesting was that this challenge concealed another one: the integration of a vulnerable resident population into a retrofitting project. The municipality faced this challenge by successfully involving individuals with special social skills in the renovation works. The building company carrying on the renovation was unique in agreeing to work under conditions that required extra workload for temporary connections of electricity, gas, and energy, and their maintenance, along with continuous efforts to interact with residents. Additionally, the municipal coordinator of the rehabilitation was explicitly chosen by the municipality for her profile and attitude. She was favourable to working in an environment of close proximity with residents and appreciated human contact. Upon arriving for my first site visit, it became clear that the project activated unusual dynamics of collaboration and housing coexistence. I wouldn’t thought the municipality’s staff together with the building company would have been fulfilling some kind of locally-based social assistance. In fact, the integration of residents was not only physical but also social and relational. The residents and the construction team crossed each other’s space trajectories, had continuous daily interactions and developed a singular urban coexistence. I surprisingly observed effective neighborhood ties between the team of construction workers, the municipal services overseeing the on-site work, and the residents of the building. The residents were predominantly elderly individuals, part of a historical working-class community. Most residents were significantly frail and supported by a social worker due to mental, social, or physical challenges that obstructed their daily life. Indeed, the continuous presence of civil servants, engineers, construction workers, and the entire building team created opportunities for residents to seek for practical and social help. R. (86 years old, F) said that they are "all good kids" and she could ask several times for practical tasks like moving furniture or retrieving a cat stuck behind an armchair. E. (82 years old, M) said that it now feels like being back with family, just like when he was a child. What I found particularly valuable was that in this unusual situation of living on a building site, with noise, confusion, dust, and waste storage, residents had the opportunity to be heard, to talk to someone, and to receive a kind of social assistance  for different unmet needs, including administrative and digital ones. I was very enthusiastic to see that help relations were reciprocal: residents played an important role in the progress of the construction works. They acted as proper guardians and controlled the site, providing significant help against risks such as theft of building materials or the access of unauthorized persons. In this way, they gained a different role than merely being beneficiaries of a renovation project and passively receiving a service. Integrating vulnerable residents into a retrofitting project, which seemed to be a hidden challenge, finally appeared to have a huge potential. The environment I perceived was one of genuine mutual help and intense neighbourhood relations, where actors seized the opportunity not to be bound to social positions and to develop capacities to switch roles   Actors engaged in a kind of role-playing that allowed professionals from the design and building fields to learn how to interact with a frail population, playing the role of social workers, while residents assumed roles of responsibility, becoming guardians and social controllers. A hidden challenge potentiality on the field At the beginning of 2024, I conducted a secondment at the Department of housing policies at Lisbon City Council. Since I was carrying out research on collaborative housing and innovation, I searched for an experiment in the field of housing to compare with the case I studied in Bologna. The Italian case (co-housing Porto15) had been developed through a public intervention that aimed to build a community of residents that shared spaces and promoted a more sustainable lifestyle in the neighbourhood. My colleagues from the housing policies department where I was based piqued my interest by telling me about an innovative rehabilitation project that experimented with Tetris to avoid relocating residents into temporary housing. Thus, it aimed to protect the community living there. The construction site was confined to a part of the building while residents continued to live in the remaining part, with the living place and the building site switching in the subsequent phases of the project. This is Vila Romão, an old workers' villa owned by the Municipality of Lisbon, which was undergoing rehabilitation during my secondment due to the precarious conditions of the building. The municipality of Lisbon and the construction team took on the challenge of integrating residents into the retrofitting project, considering this the most suitable approach to the residents’ needs and life conditions. What was even more interesting was that this challenge concealed another one: the integration of a vulnerable resident population into a retrofitting project. The municipality faced this challenge by successfully involving individuals with special social skills in the renovation works. The building company carrying on the renovation was unique in agreeing to work under conditions that required extra workload for temporary connections of electricity, gas, and energy, and their maintenance, along with continuous efforts to interact with residents. Additionally, the municipal coordinator of the rehabilitation was explicitly chosen by the municipality for her profile and attitude. She was favourable to working in an environment of close proximity with residents and appreciated human contact. Upon arriving for my first site visit, it became clear that the project activated unusual dynamics of collaboration and housing coexistence. I wouldn’t thought the municipality’s staff together with the building company would have been fulfilling some kind of locally-based social assistance. In fact, the integration of residents was not only physical but also social and relational. The residents and the construction team crossed each other’s space trajectories, had continuous daily interactions and developed a singular urban coexistence. I surprisingly observed effective neighborhood ties between the team of construction workers, the municipal services overseeing the on-site work, and the residents of the building. The residents were predominantly elderly individuals, part of a historical working-class community. Most residents were significantly frail and supported by a social worker due to mental, social, or physical challenges that obstructed their daily life. Indeed, the continuous presence of civil servants, engineers, construction workers, and the entire building team created opportunities for residents to seek for practical and social help. R. (86 years old, F) said that they are "all good kids" and she could ask several times for practical tasks like moving furniture or retrieving a cat stuck behind an armchair. E. (82 years old, M) said that it now feels like being back with family, just like when he was a child. What I found particularly valuable was that in this unusual situation of living on a building site, with noise, confusion, dust, and waste storage, residents had the opportunity to be heard, to talk to someone, and to receive a kind of social assistance  for different unmet needs, including administrative and digital ones. I was very enthusiastic to see that help relations were reciprocal: residents played an important role in the progress of the construction works. They acted as proper guardians and controlled the site, providing significant help against risks such as theft of building materials or the access of unauthorized persons. In this way, they gained a different role than merely being beneficiaries of a renovation project and passively receiving a service. Integrating vulnerable residents into a retrofitting project, which seemed to be a hidden challenge, finally appeared to have a huge potential. The environment I perceived was one of genuine mutual help and intense neighbourhood relations, where actors seized the opportunity not to be bound to social positions and to develop capacities to switch roles   Actors engaged in a kind of role-playing that allowed professionals from the design and building fields to learn how to interact with a frail population, playing the role of social workers, while residents assumed roles of responsibility, becoming guardians and social controllers.  

The two-month secondment to the Technische Universiteit in Delft (TU Delft) was an important step in my doctoral journey as I had a chance to interview leading professors and national experts in the field of affordable housing governance. Compared to my research findings on housing affordability in post-socialist countries struggling with the specific challenges of path dependency from the socialist period, the Netherlands is considered a good example of a rich tradition and a good practise example when it comes to organising affordable housing governance.   Historically, housing associations in the Netherlands originated in the 1850s as a response to the housing crisis of the time. They were originally founded as a philanthropic endeavour by wealthy citizens to provide affordable housing for their workers and prevent the diseases that were spreading at the time. Today, housing associations are private and not-for-profit real-estate companies that operate as third sector organisations and pursue a social agenda by providing affordable housing to those in need.   This long history and knowledge of organising affordable housing through housing associations has made the Netherlands a leading country in Europe when it comes to the proportion of affordable rental housing. What I have learnt is that this model cannot be “copied” to other countries, especially not to post-socialist countries where other solutions need to be sought.   I was impressed by the long tradition of the role of housing associations in the Dutch welfare system, but also by the intensity with which they campaign and fight for affordable housing. During my work at TU Delft, a demonstration against high housing prices took place in The Hague, with hundreds of people standing up and demanding more affordable housing. Although housing prices in Croatia are quite high, both for renting and buying, there have not yet been any protests and demands from citizens against the high prices.   The valuable experience and knowledge gained during the secondment will now be translated into a research paper. Together with prof. Haffner and p.rof van Bortel, we want to understand the position of Dutch housing associations in the new economic and regulatory environment, i.e. the abolition of the Landlord Levy, and find out how important they are for achieving the national goals of building and maintaining the social rental housing sector by 2030.  

A few days ago, I had the privilege of presenting my study titled "Commoning for social sustainability: exploring the role of institutionally aided practices in the neighborhoods of Lisbon" at the Conference of Urban Affairs in New York. This small section of my PhD research co-authored with my supervisor Dr. Alexandra Paio, delved into pressing questions surrounding commoning processes in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Can these processes thrive through progressive institutional instruments? What is their nature and dynamics, and how do they eventually bolster social sustainability?   The session I presented in was nothing short of invigorating, filled with insightful questions and thought-provoking discussions. I'm especially grateful for the inclusive environment fostered with sign language and sound interpreters, ensuring accessibility for all present attendees. Likewise, the conference exceeded my expectations in its organisation and contextual richness. In approximately 250 sessions, thousands of international researchers and practitioners offered a wealth of knowledge on various manifestations of pressing issues in urban space and housing discourses, such as commodification, gentrification and displacement, activism and social infrastructure, top-down visions and progressive policies, in diverse contexts of the US, Latin America, Asia, the Global South and Europe. It was inspiring to witness the diverse perspectives and groundbreaking research shared by peers globally, while the highlight of my experience was connecting with old and new friends, with whom I look forward to staying connected and following their work in the field.   After the conference I spent (my fortune for) some extra days conducting research and visiting sites to gain firsthand experience of the particularities of the neighbourhoods of New York. I was especially lucky that my last days there coincided with the annual Jane Jacobs Walks Festival, during which I was able to participate in several guided tours on multiple neighbourhoods and streets.   I could write a book about the mixed feelings triggered by the contradictions of New York: the impressive but tourist-filled High Line contrasting with homeless people sleeping underneath it or in adjacent metro stations; the photogenic skyline contrasting with the terrifying populations of rats searching for food in exposed piles of restaurant garbage on the sidewalks at night; the great views from amazingly redeveloped waterfronts, which have caused displacement and gentrification in once working class and immigrant neighbourhoods; the ‘alternative vibe’ of neighbourhoods outside the Manhattan, such as Brooklyn, Harlem and the Bronx, contrasting with stories of people  long suffering from rent rises and displacement; and so on…   Notwithstanding these and many more contradictions, I tried to approach the city through the writings of fundamental scholars for my architectural background, such as Jane Jacobs, Whilliam Whyte and Fred Kent. Thus, linking back to my research interests I will devote the rest of this post on my search of instances of commoning in the city and among them, on three small elements: a toilet, a fridge and a shelf.   A toilet… ..or more specifically the toilet of the Bluestockings Cooperative, which is a “collectively-run activist center, community space and feminist bookstore that offers mutual aid, harm reduction support, non-judgemental resource research and a warming/cooling place that is radically inclusive of all genders, cultures, expansive sexualities and identities”.[1] Based on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Bluestockings has been operating as a worker cooperative (meaning that it is owned and operated by its workers)  for over 21 years, focusing on mutualism, care and volunteering. Its very active and challenging operation aims at empowering marginalised groups, though community organisation, education and skills building, and providing free resources and a space where everyone is welcome.   Among all the cooperative’s significant contributions to the local communities, what makes its toilet noteworthy is a seemingly simple decision to make it open to all. As I witnessed during my short stay in the space, the toilet is a haven for homeless people and marginalised groups who can cover this fundamental need with dignity and respect. As I was told, this decision, although within the legal tenant’s rights of the cooperative, has sometimes caused conflicts with the landlord and parts of the surrounding middle-class neighbourhood. In a period where it is not uncommon to have to pay for accessing toilets in private stores and public stations, -a measure that aims to exclude the very same groups of users that Bluestockings welcomes-, I find it takes great courage to truly keep one’s door open while facing the implications and stereotypes of attracting marginalised people.   A fridge… .. that is placed outside the ‘Los Hermanitos Deli & Grocery’ in Brook Avenue in Bronx. The sign on the fridge invites passersby to take anything from inside it. As I was on my way to a guided tour, I didn’t have time stop and speak with the owners about it. However, although there is nothing novel about solidary offering of food to the ones in need in food pantries, food bags and soup kitchens, I found something particularly inviting in this case: its simplicity. The fridge is placed outside the store and is (according to the store’s opening information) accessible 24 hours a day, without anyone attending it or controlling it. This informality makes it particularly easy for people to stop by, open it and take what they need, without exposure, embarrassment, or stigmatisation. This simplicity can be especially emancipatory considering that poverty and food insecurity is increasingly becoming a next-door issue.   A shelf… … mounted on the fence of ‘La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden’[2], which was founded in 1976 by residents and green activists. The garden is located in Lower East Side, an area highly populated by long-standing and locally defended community gardens. The shelf, placed at the exterior side of the fence to make it accessible even when the garden is closed, operates as book-sharing platform. During my short stay in the garden, I was impressed by the number of people leaving and taking books: some seemingly came specifically to take or leave books; some borrowed a book to read during their stay in the garden and returned it before leaving, some took a book while passing by. Right before leaving, I was also astonished to watch a man returning from his grocery shopping (judging by the shopping bags he was carrying), leave a fresh shield meal on the shelf and walkaway.   I am sure that in a city of 780km2 there are plenty of such community-led initiatives, as there are in other cities around the world. In the three examples, it is worth noticing the spatial decisions that were intentionally or unintentionally made to accommodate these caring and sharing platforms and the implications they carry about their users: placing the fridge outside instead of inside the store allows for an anonymised and unstigmatized way to provide care, respecting the sense of pride of individuals in need; similarly, placing the shelf outside the garden, in a position that is highly visible to not only the garden users but also the passersby, allows for a greater number of users and a function of the shelf as a sharing platform independent of the schedule and operation of the garden; conversely, inviting people, and importantly marginalised groups, inside the cooperative’s space to safely use a toilet to treat their basic needs with dignity, creates a shelter of inclusion and protection. Closing, it is not in my intention to romanticise any of these initiatives, or present them as free from internal conflicts and controversies, nor promote them as a sufficient substitute for the lack of public service provision. In fact, these infrastructures may only treat symptoms rather than addressing the root problems of homelessness, food insecurity, addiction, illiteracy and poverty, which require institutional solutions. Yet, I cannot overlook how these humble and informal decisions embody moments of true solidarity, mutual support and sharing among communities to meet neighbours’ basic needs o with dignity and respect – and to this, I can only celebrate them.   ---------------- [1] https://www.bluestockings.com/about-us/about-us [2] https://www.opencity.com/laplazacultural/history/