On 2 December 2019 the Turin City Council approved the Regulation on Governing the Urban Commons in the City of Turin (entered into force on 16 January 2020), as an improvement of the previous Regulation dated 2016 - after 4 years' implementation and on the basis of the Co-City project  experience.

What are Urban Commons?

The nearby flowerbed, the neighbourhood garden, the square, the school yard, abandoned places – as well ad intangible assets: they become Urban Commons when citizens and the public administration recognize them and take action to regenerate, co-manage and take care of them.
The basics of the governance of Urban Commons are accessibility, shared management and participation in decision-making processes.

Civic subjects                                  

All citizens - even gathered in associations or in other formal or informal groups, can actively take care and manage a Urban Common. Collective civic subjects are to operate on a democratic basis in the collective decision-making processes, foreseeing inclusive debates and procedures which respond to anti-sexism, anti-fascism and anti-racism principles. 

Civic negotiations

By means of a civic negotiation – whose purpose is to design the governance of Urban Commons, the City of Torino and the civic subjects define and regulate the care, management and regeneration of a Urban Common. The main distinction is that between shared governance and self-governance:

• in shared governance the care, management and regeneration of a Urban Common are implemented jointly by the civic subjects and the Administration, through a civic negotiation called Pact of collaboration. In this case, the initiative for the presentation of project proposals can be taken both by the City (via a public call) and the proponents; after a proper assessment of the proposals, a co-design phase allows the City and the civic subjects to define the program for the co-management of the Urban Common and the model of shared governance, whose content depends on the complexity and duration of the collaboration;
• in self-governance the care, management and regeneration of a Urban Common are implemented independently by the civic subjects.

Three are the possible forms of self-governance civic negotiation:

i. collective civic urban use: initiative is taken by the City, which provides and oversees a Urban Common. The community of reference prepares a self-governance document, which is meant to guarantee the implementation of activities, the respect of accessibility and impartiality principle in the use of the Urban Common;   

ii. collective civic management: initiative is taken by the Community of reference, which provides the City with a project proposal and a self-governance document. The City assesses the proposal and its feasability and can identify the relevant City Depts. to define the contents of the civic negotiation;

iii. Urban Commons Foundation: after having identified the presence and availability of a Community of reference or after having received a proposal from the Community of reference, the City can give a pre-determined Urban Common in short-term usufruct to a specific Urban Commons Foundation. The Urban Common remains property of the City until the end of the short period of usufruct; at the end - after a proper assessment, the City can decide to definitely confer it to the Foundation.

Permanent Board on Urban Commons and Register of Guarantors

Every 3 years a permanent Board on Urban Commons is appointed by the City, with advisory and/or arbitration functions in case of disputes arising on the evaluation of shared and self-government proposals. The Board is made up of 11 members drawn from the Register of Guarantors (issued by the City though a public call addressed to experts on legal, economic, urbanistic, environmental and social issues and citizens particularly sensitive and interested in urban commons).

The Permanent Board is therefore a place of permanent confrontation both within the City institution and in the city as a whole, aiming to facilitate shared visions on methodologies and practices for reactivating citizenship in a democratic and horizontal sense.

Training on Urban Commons

Training on issues regarding Urban Commons is recognized as a social Common able to transform needs (which generate shared activities between the City and civic subjects) into opportunities for change.

Training and self-training for civic subjects and City officers aims to an overall improvement in applying the correct procedures of intervention in regeneration and care actions; the acknowledgement and consequent conscious use of the appropriate forms of civic shared platforms; the acquisition and use of methodologies for participatory planning and community engagement/development; the promotion of Urban Commons as collectively accessible areas, where to fight against discrimination and any forms of gender-based violence.