Negroni Talks #53 - Mean-while…. cyclical change or cynical claims in the city?

The city continually changes despite its perceived permanence as a place; centuries of temporary inhabitation by all kinds of people passing through a built environment seemingly fixed, yet in continual flux. Buildings go up, buildings come down, buildings get repurposed for different uses and short-lived gaps appear in the landscape, whilst a more persistent emptiness can sometimes inexplicably lie dormant behind hoarding for years on end.

Vacancy has long been an opportunity to take advantage of disused space and the on-going trend is for “meanwhile use”. The familiar cycle unfolds: pop-ups, creatives and artisans briefly occupy spaces, ticking policy boxes for local councils while property investment waits in the wings. But, for how long and on what terms? Is “meanwhile” itself just more gentrification; profiting from land that’s in limbo while bigger plans take shape? When a site is always considered valuable, no matter its size or state, as a stopgap before inevitable redevelopment, is there an inherent meanness behind meanwhile?

When every square foot of the city seems to be in the service of finance, what of ‘the subversive’ ever-present throughout its history? Street markets disrupting standard retail prices, hidden workshops, cash-in-hand services in railway arches, squatted buildings, which have been the urban lifeblood. What are we to make of today’s craft beer under-crofts, the colourful timber boxes of the instagram-able food fair, the sameness of the stalls and the converted workplace shipping containers? Do they offer genuine alternatives to the business of property development and architecture? Do they foster a genuine diversity of people, incomes, pursuits, interests and culture or simply repackage consumerism to further boost land value?

Across Europe, temporary use seems more deeply woven into civic life; it appears to respond to historical, cultural and social fractures in ways that feel organic and community-driven. In the UK, it’s often a strategic tool of economic cycles. But what if we flipped the script? What if slowing down regeneration could lead to a richer, more diverse landscape for not only working or eating out, but also living? Could we see new forms of dwelling and tenure emerge from this liminal state? Could more transient living solutions offer something more radical that addresses our most pressing problems like homelessness and temporary accommodation and in doing so develop a more worthwhile meanwhile?

There exists a tension between fast and slow, permanent and transient. How might we reclaim the use of the ‘empty’ urban space as something more than just a prelude to profit? How might culture (not capital) shape the city of the future?

Speakers:

Steve Sinclair & Rob Fiehn (chair)
Jan Kattein, Jan Kattein Architects
Rumi Bose, Urban Design and Placeshaping Consultant
Eric Reynolds, Urban Space Management
Tim Lowe, The Lowe Group and all others who want to contribute…..