Urban Commons and Diverse Economic Practices

The concept of the urban commons encompasses collectively managed resources and spaces within cities, sustained through collaborative governance and shared stewardship. It challenges conventional market and state‐centred provision by foregrounding practices of commoning—social processes whereby communities create, maintain and adapt resources through negotiated norms, mutual trust and plural value systems. Diverse economic practices within urban commons range from non-profit cooperatives and mutual aid networks to circular material exchanges and informal sharing economies. These practices often blend monetary and non-monetary logics, re-emphasising use value, communal stewardship and socio-ecological resilience. Research highlights the importance of polycentric governance, adaptive institutions and equitable access rules for sustaining urban commons. In an era of rapid urbanisation and socio-environmental stress, understanding how diverse economic practices intersect within urban commons is vital for fostering inclusive, resilient and sustainable cities.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Urban Commons and Diverse Economic Practices publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in urban commons and diverse economic practices across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Urban commons: Shared urban resources or spaces managed collectively by a community according to agreed norms and governance structures.

Diverse economies: An analytical framework recognising the coexistence of multiple economic activities—market, non-market and informal—within a given context.

Commoning: The social processes and practices through which communities create, govern and reproduce shared resources.

Use value: The direct utility or benefit derived from a good or service, distinct from its market exchange value.

Circular commoning: A practice combining principles of circular economy and commons governance to close resource loops through community-led design, reuse and redistribution.

References

1. Untangling alternative organising within and beyond capitalist relations: The case of a free food store. Human Relations (2023).
2. Circular Commons: Exploring Innate Spatial Tactics as Pathways toward a Circular Built Environment. Circular Economy and Sustainability (2024).
3. Diversity and Challenges of the Urban Commons: A Comprehensive Review. International Journal of the Commons (2021).