Co-producing temporary use of vacant spaces and buildings: co-creating sustainable outcomes?

In co-production, regular service producers collaborate with citizens to provide public services. Nowadays, coproduction is often seen as a way to innovate service delivery. One such example of local government and citizens... [ view full abstract ]

In co-production, regular service producers collaborate with citizens to provide public services. Nowadays, coproduction is often seen as a way to innovate service delivery. One such example of local government and citizens collaborating is in the temporary use of abandoned spaces and buildings. This is by many cities all over Europe (Jégou et al., 2016) as a way to effectively solve problems of vacant spaces sites in urban areas (Ustavarjalnosti, 2016, Moore-Cherry & Mccarthy 2016), and to co-produce services with citizens. Yet, temporary use also poses some challenges that have to do with its temporary character. In this article we study the sustainability of the public outcomes created through co-production in the temporary use of vacant spaces and building. First, we look into the literature to design a theoretical framework that defines sustainable co-production. Second, we use this framework to study if co-production in temporary use leads to outcomes that are co-created in a sustainable way. To do so we build on an in-depth qualitative case study of eight temporary use initiatives set in a large city in Flanders.