ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the emerging approaches entrepreneurs and communities are taking toward protecting or creating commons which are neither private nor government initiatives. In recent years, there has been a growing critique of the perceived privatization of cities through selling of city land to private developers, the growing use of public-private partnership models for managing infrastructure and services frequently thought to be a common good, and the growth of the smart cities movement. Farmers' markets and artisanal fairs are types of commercial commons that are growing in communities around the globe. In the United States, there are more than 8,000 active farmers' markets, up from just a few hundred in the 1990s. The concept of open software is a natural starting point for thinking about the commons and new forms of post-capitalist entrepreneurship. Embracing commons thinking, post-capitalist entrepreneurs have participated in the creation and support of a growing number of open standards designed to facilitate information sharing of creative projects.
