Title: REuse of vacant spaces as driving Force for Innovation on Local Level
Acronym: REFILL
Funding: URBACT III | Action Planning Networks
Lead Applicant: Municipality of Ghent
Project partner: Cluj Metropolitan Area Intercommunity Development Association (URBASOFIA subcontractor)
Duration: 30 month
Website: https://refillthecity.wordpress.com/
REFILL aims to upscale and diffuse the urban practice of temporary use of vacant buildings and land and intensify the temporary experiences by investigating the various action beyond temporality. As such, the REFILL network’s objective is to go one step beyond what has been achieved previously and to contribute to a wider quest for new governance models to support temporary use:
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1) exchange and evaluate local supporting instruments: to upscale and distribute temporary use through good practices;
2) ensure long lasting effects of temporality; and
3) build a more flexible, collaborative public administration
One of the latest meetings organized within REFILL Network was a 2-days Deep Dive Study Visit in Nantes (May, 29th-31st), particularly Ile-de-Nantes, an inspiring example where temporary use was settled (by intention) as a tool to fill in urban areas during a long-term re-development process. Hosts’ enthusiasm and engagement in the meeting preparation resulted in fruitful conversations and with local stakeholders, which eventually led to certain conclusions that: „urban space needs creativity”, but administrations and citizens should also understand that it is essential to „give the city time to breathe”. For more information related to the DDSV in Nantes, we would like to invite you to take a look at some inspiring pictures:
