Struggle for everyday and the construction of a neighbourhood

Thinking on parks, revitalization processes and local agency, the publication STRUGGLE FOR EVERYDAY - THE EXAMPLE OF FIFTH PARK comes to mind. 

The book is a reflective look on the 5 years of local struggle regarding the Fifth Park in Belgrade, including  texts among others  by Dubravka Sekulić  - residency artist in Unmaking The Netherlands. 

Apart from an elaborate mapping of tactics used by the neighborhood to defend Fifth Park, there is also a brief mention on the ideas and desires that formed this temporary collective – namely a common cause against  corporate forces that sought to build a business complex on top of the park. 

There was a local agency emerging out of an eminent ‘catastrophe’ (distraction of the park) that mobilised the residents but it has proven( as the publication briefly describes) most challenging to maintain that collective drive once the park was secured. 

On the frame of Ferenc tér it is interesting to think on ways to activate local agency, especially where the concept of the ‘catastrophe’ is not evidently present. 

As in most cases it is much easier to know what we don’t want and much much more complex to figure out and act upon collectively on an alternative – a counter narrative of what already exists. Maybe the idea of the ‘catastrophe’ – a possible or even impossible dystopia could function as a driving force for local collective and sustainable re-activation of the park. 

Check HERE the publication and watch bellow Dubravka’s talk on our Unmaking The Netherlands program.