Re:Permissioning the City
Re:Permissioning the City is a community-led system for governing and negotiating the use of urban spaces. Through a new open permissions architecture, it aims to unlock the city's spatial assets for diverse civic uses.
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Context
A metropolitan city with a population of 2.4 million, Daegu is the second largest city located in the southeastern region of South Korea. Known as the “economic motor” of Korea during the 1960s - 80s, Daegu has a rich industrial history, centred on textiles and electronics manufacturing. It is also the birthplace of the global company ‘Samsung’.
Challenge
Like many post-industrial, ‘shrinking cities’, Daegu is facing a set of chronic problems ranging from economic stagnation to population decline. A symptom of this chronic problem manifests in the rising rate of vacant and underutilized spaces in the city. Due to rigid, centralized governance and restrictive regulation that do not reflect the needs of local communities, many spaces are left underutilized, creating missed opportunities for economic and social regeneration.
Idea
Our idea is to bring people, and life, back to the city through an open permissions system called ‘Re:Permissioning the City’. This digital platform will open up the city for all kinds of civic activities by granting citizens convenient access to one of the city’s most vital assets — space. Anyone can start running pop-up restaurants, communal libraries, host community auctions, evening lectures and more.
For the first time, citizens will be able to take an active role in co-creating the city’s landscape and restoring its vitality, while the city can benefit from gathering crucial data (around spatial use and human activities) that can be used to develop dynamic regulations and efficient, people-centric urban governance.
Impact
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Re:Permissioning the City will develop and implement protocols that change how institutions and communities interact with urban spaces. By shifting from a centralized governance model to a community-led approach, it will foster habits that prioritize collective stewardship and active participation in urban governance.
The concept promotes democratic digitalization by leveraging digital tools to enable community-driven governance. This will ensure that decisions about urban space usage are made democratically, reflecting the diverse needs and interests of the community. Through digital tools, citizens will have the opportunity to participate in and influence decision-making processes directly.
DESIGN BRIEF
Unlocking assets
What kind of identity, liability, incentive mechanisms do we need to design to enable decentralized governance of spatial assets?
Layered permission system
How can a layered permission system co-designed with citizens, unlock flexible and diverse uses of space?
Feedback and negotiation
How can we measure new types of data, create new feedback mechanisms and activate peer to peer negotiation?
Use cases
What are the typologies of spaces and contexts that could be activated through this permissions system, what are the use cases?
Compliance and accountability
How can we build new compliance mechanisms that enable agency and autonomy rather than enforcing control?
Data informed governance
How could cities use open data collected through this system to imagine new public services and methods of urban planning and governance?
about us
We are an interdisciplinary, cross-organisational team composed of Dark Matter Labs and Daegu Metropolitan City. In 2021, we began developing the 'Re-permissioning the City' prototype and proposal as part of the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge. In 2024, we received a grant from the National IT Industry Promotion Agency to continue developing the technology prototype.
To learn more about the project, read our latest blog:
Re:Permissioning the City — Unlocking cities’ growing underutilised spatial assets for an emergent civic economy
