ABSTRACT
This chapter explores possible new forms of urban commons and its implementations. When in 2009 the political economist Elinor Ostrom received the Nobel Prize for her research on the commons, the world was in the midst of an unprecedented global financial crisis. Returning to the theoretical work of Danish architect Jan Gehl, his approaches do seem comparable to selected aspects of the commons. Considerations about new forms of commons are, as has been said, nothing new. With regard to cities and urban regions, they are often declared as urban commons. For possible implementation of the “life between buildings”, as well as the commons theory, a revised understanding of urban commons might therefore represent a strategy. Especially from the point of view of a legal scholar, the aforementioned “right to the city” might provide a good starting point from which to further develop ideas of urban commons.
