The development of autonomous local self-governments is a crucial element of the long-term transition to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union. CDN’s Alternative Urbanisation Working Group decided to open a call for articles on this very topic, with a focus on urban self-management. Rapid and uncontrollable building and massive migrations from rural to urban areas might negatively effect people involved in this process. They can became less connected to each other than before, when they lived in small cities and villages. The quality and frequency of communication between neighbors might decrease due to physical barriers which as a result might effect a common spirit of the local community. This spirit unites the people and increase chances of common care of the neighborhood, community, streets, habitats.
There are more or less successful examples of self-managed communities. The Alter-Urbanisation Working Group believes that all the accumulated experiences from all corners of the world should to be analyzed, widely spread and used by other local communities in order to help and support them in becoming more active in the social, cultural, economical and political life of a city. In addition, it will help not just to improve their own communities and spread the knowledge and good practices, but also to establish the bottom-up participation as well as influence the urban processes and make them more people-friendly.
Do you know any self-governed local communities, practices, stories? Share them with the world! Send your article to gavrilenko.lucy@gmail.com and masha@cdnee.org in CC.
You are free to choose the format – be as creative as you wish (articles, comics, fiction, interviews, etc.). The call for articles is open till 20th of October.
All the works will be edited with the authors and editorial team of the Alternative Urbanisation Working Group and published on the blog alterurbanisation.wordpress.com