Chances for social interaction in public space through a practice of commoning: Reports of a first experimental approach in the area of boeckinger strasse in Stuttgart-Rot

Abstract

The architect Jan Gehl (2011) has advocated for lively cities to offer possibilities for undemanding social interaction. This interaction, facilitated by chance encounters in public space, requires certain social and physical features. While Francis et al. (2012) could demonstrate that high-quality public space can be associated with a sense of community, and various architects and researchers have investigated what kind of spatial features enhances interaction (Farida 2013; Francis et al. 2012; Gehl 2011; Jacobs 1963), this article concerns initial programmatic changes fostering exchange within the neighbourhood. In a first experimental approach, a practice of commoning in public spaces was utilised as an interaction pretext, as defined by Henriksen and Tjora (2014). During the IBA Summer School 2019, a team of international and interdisciplinary students designed and tested tools together with local actors in order to activate urban spaces and intensify neighbourly relations in Boeckinger Strasse in Stuttgart-Rot, one of the IBA’27 development sites in the metropolitan region. The article reports on first results of the intervention and a qualitative study, and places them up for discussion.