Cluj-Napoca has been confronted with a lot of vacant and abandoned industrial sites and buildings. As a response to this problem, the city started to implement temporary use interventions, encouraging new activities on these lands in order to test community response toward this initiative. The projects were very successful and the community became more and more interested in co-designing public space, rebuilding and adapting public spaces to their own necessities.
There are some interventions that became emblematic for the city and nationally recognized (Somes Delivery Annual Event, Fabrica de Pensule – former name Paintbrush Factory, Cluj Makerspace, Day 15-events f.e. in Firemen’s Tower) and could become an example of best practices in terms of temporary use of public space.
In the latest years, due to the brand of Cluj European Capital of Youth, there has been an important increase in terms of bottom-up youth initiatives toward adaptive reuse of abandoned or underused spaces, transforming them in multiuse cultural and social places for artists and co-working areas. Cluj is also running for European Cultural Capital 2021, where temporary use could play a role.
The Lead Expert and Lead Partner visitied Cluj Napoca on February 11-12th.
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