Claire Colomb describes possibilities how to use vacant city spaces. If a building or area become
empty, i tis expected to be re-planned and used by a variety of actors and transformed into many
ways. Colomb describes an example of Berlin and she says, that vacant sites are not dead at all.
They are just waiting to be re-used. They can become beach bars, open air theaters, community
gardens etc. The article wants to answer a question, how vacant areas were utilized in economic and
urban city marketing in Berlin, which was meant to be promoted as a „creative city“. She describes
an example of Berlin, but this is not unique phenomenon. Many city marketers, planners and
politicians think, vacant unused places represent failure of urban economy, but we cant forget,
these are places of alternative cultures, youth, artists or marginalized social groups.

There are five different types of temporary users: start-ups (people who want to integrate these
places to mainstream, for example investors), migrants, system refugees (alternative artists,
individuals or groups), drop-outs (junkies, homeless people), part-time activists. Users can use it
for free, rent it for all year or just for summer.

In a case of Berlin, policy-makers realized that they can make cities characteristic to attract
young creatives. There is question, why Berlin´s Senate decided to support such uses of vacant
urban spaces. They wanted to avoid vandalism and next reason was economic development and
contribution to social objectives through the creation of new spaces at no costs for public. People
who trip to unknown territories and prepare it for later settle are called „urban pionners“. Place
marketing is organized proces of construction of an images of city to attract tourists and
investors and residents also. Unused spaces can be place, where many subcultures activities take
place. But now these aren´t understood as attack against the maintream.

We can´t forget some conflicts and dilemmas. There is problem with gentrification – wealthier
people rent the lower class residents spaces for high prices. Some temporary users don´t have any
perpission to occupy a site – problem with squating.


Colomb, Claire. 2012. Pushing hte urban frontier: temporary uses of space, city marketing, and the
crative city discourse in 2000s Berlin. Journal of Urban Affairs. London.