John Higson from Wasted Space in front of an empty and “forgotten” tower in the centre of Stockholm. Photo: Wasted Space.
We have gotten used to leaving aluminium cans, glass bottles and plastic packs in the recycling bins. But most people haven’t thought about recycling spaces.
In a city there’s always a tough competition over space. Therefore it’s a bit strange that in most cities there are also quite a lot of houses that nobody uses.
The people behind Wasted Space want to take care of these forgotten spaces.
“ Empty or undeveloped premises, property or public spaces are not just a waste of money, they also decay faster and are more often exposed to damage. By developing these places, accesability and the felling of security will increase both for locals and visitors”, writes Wasted Space on their web page.
Apart from the benefits of taking care of existing resources of a city instead of just focusing on constructing new buildings, it’s also an interesting way to engage people in their city’s development.
Wasted Space invite people to send in their observations of forgotten buildings and spaces in Stockholm. On their web page there are lots of ideas on what to do of empty house roofs, the possibilities to set up more allotment gardens or why not a “sunshelf” at what’s now a good-for-nothing steep slope, where people could sit to get a nice tan?
When Wasted Space has got the possibility and means to take on a new space, they invite people from the area. local businesses and associations to take part in the planning. Then entrepreneurs interested in using the premises are contacted and get the opportunity to rent some space.
One space that has been taken care of like this is a house roof in the Hornstull area. Next week it will be inaugurated and filled with an experimental city garden, conference rooms, a restaurant and a greentech exhibition. I’ll get back to that!
Another forgotten space, the Flaten beach just outside Stockholm. Photo: Wasted Space.
