Commons Josaphat

Everywhere in the city people come together to experiment with new ways of community living. Food Teams, cohousing projects, self managed nurseries, community land trusts, community gardens, sustainable neighbourhoods, LETS-communities, energy cooperatives, groups of people that consider alternatives and work on various themes such as water management, food production, money, labour, or software. At first sight these themes seem rather disconnected from each other, but we feel there is a connection. And gradually we understand these connections better. The concept of the commons reaches us a good tool for this analysis. These initiatives are developing alongside the market. They emphasize use rather than ownership, common ownership and sharing rather than individual property. They try to handle the limited resources of our planet with care, rather than assuming unlimited growth. They favour more solidarity to further polarization. They sometimes depend on the state, but develop in parallel, because they attach great importance to self-governance. Doing this they do not go against policy, but work together with it and deepen it. We see the connections, we feel the potential. We see how the contours of a new society are being drawn. For about every area of daily life people today are working on concrete alternatives. What if we succeeded in bringing all these alternatives together? Wouldn’t that strengthen our community potential to a big extent? What if we would think together about how the city can be developed based on these principles? The Region of Brussels is the owner of an area of 24 ha, the Josaphat terrain in Schaarbeek. This site is public property, which means it is ours. For a while this terrain was in the running to become the new home of the seat of the European Community. This plan was called off, and for years the terrain has been waiting for a new use. It is very likely that it will work like we’re used to in Brussels: the plans are being made behind closed doors (this is already going on), then the terrain will be sold to the highest bidder, in the best case with here and there a concession to the neighbours, some leftover green and some public housing to appease the conscience. What’s stopping us to elaborate an alternative for this? Why not turn this terrain into a place for the “commons”? A terrain that permits us to bring the concrete initiatives from the last years to a higher level, to step into the lights and take part in making the city.DSC06063 We have juridical models like a Community Land Trust that enable us to possess 24ha as collective ownership. We have financial models that allow us to do urban agriculture. Hundreds of people are already working together within the social economy. The States General of the Water is ready with ideas to give the water back its position as common good in the city. Everything we need now is that this public terrain, which has the size of 32 soccer fields in Schaarbeek, is transferred to the community through a collective decree, instead of being made available for the market. Some concrete ideas can help us to take this road. These are fundamental principles. To make them operational we need to deepen them together and adapt them to the local situation. Shared Added Value The added value created by the terrain can be shared. It can be invested in community projects. The profits of the value don’t end up in the pockets of an agent, but are rightfully shared amongst the individual that invests and builds, and the community that makes this possible. All the activities that create added value on the terrain, like the renting of stores or working spaces, the selling of houses, the renting of public space for markets and terraces, will repay a part of their created added value for the financing of the area. Shared decision The decisions are taken together by – directly involved parties (inhabitants, people working in the area) – other involved parties (neighbours, users of the services, …) – representatives of the public interest like the municipality, regional and federal governments The profits that come forth from what is communal are shared through a participatory budget. All the inhabitants, neighbours and users of the space are invited yearly to jointly determine which investments should be prioritized, to put forward projects and to manage the commons. Redistribution This part of the city should always be accessible to the entire population, by prioritizing the support of the poorest. No-one of the inhabitants can become owner of the ground on which his or her house is built. The houses will always be affordable for the majority of the inhabitants of Brussels. Respect for the environment, which is managed as a commons The roofs and a part of the public space will be made available for urban agriculture. This way locally high quality food is being produced. At the same time green space is created in the city. The water will obtain a position in the public space; water which is cared for and which shapes our everyday environment. An energy neutral building will be built and energy production will happen on location, via a cooperation owned by residents and neighbours. A local, open source economy The economical activities represent the open source principles. The information technology and new forms of material and immaterial value production can be developed together with the local community. The savings of the residents do not end up in the meanders of the financial markets but are invested in projects in the area. A cooperative store, managed by her users, delivers high quality products at a reasonable prize. What keeps us from thinking about this and from strengthening and deepening our ideas thanks to the intelligence of the public debate? We have nothing to lose, and everything to win! On a one hour drive from London you can find the garden city Letchworth, which is managed this way, with more than 750ha of communal property, 100 million pounds fixed capital and more than 8 million which is invested yearly through a participatory budget. Working on this together will help us to get to know each other better, to find ways to coordinate our initiatives and to gain significance in Brussels together. That nobody will be able to take away from us anymore. But if we succeed to elaborate a convincing alternative, designing the city together, then we will definitely also succeed to gain support for our alternative from many. And if we have a good proposal, and if we are with many to defend it, wouldn’t we also be able to realize it? We can take the step to a more sustainable, just and communal city. Josaphat is an area of regional importance. Our region today has an interest, in the first place, in finding a way out from the deadlock in which we have ended up, and in finding an answer to the economical, social and ecological crises with which we are confronted. That is what we think is the regional importance of Josaphat. Right now it still is 24ha of blank slate. Let’s use that slate to draw a blueprint for the city of tomorrow, without fear and without taboos. Let us, full of joy, work on a city of which the wealth it produces benefits the quality of life of all Brussels’ residents.

Documentation

Médias (2)

• In case of emergency make your own city (Texte)
• Josaphat en Commun d'une réserve fonciere a un quartier en bien commun (Texte)

Métadonnées

Média	Fiche

Contributeur(s)	GUTTMANN Alexandre, SULTAN Frédéric
Coordonnées géographiques	50° 51' 50.69" N, 4° 23' 2.94" E

50° 51' 50.69" N, 4° 23' 2.94" E