Summary

Once again, the Villes en développement newsletter is devoting an issue to the commons, a subject that has been studied a great deal in recent years. Indeed, we have already dealt with it in November 2016, with the theme of collaborative cities and commons (No. 104), and then in October 2019, in No. 112, devoted to the city from below. This subject holds out many hopes for innovation in response to the many urban challenges to which national governments are struggling to respond. At the same time, its understanding is not always effective. From common space or service to public space or service, or even from participatory to common, the subject covers different realities.

A new feature is that, in addition to the theme chosen, the bulletin opens its columns to the free speech of its partners. Thus, AFD, along with ADEME and the EIB, is dealing with the circular economy and its contribution to the ecological transition. It resonates with the common good, which is eminently linked to the preservation of natural resources. The diversity of the articles in this issue testifies to the very broad field of commons, which we wanted to visit in all geographies.