Cooperative City brings to readers the stories of collaborative urban development processes in different areas of Europe. By focusing on the experiences of those who make, transform and enhance our cities, the magazine addresses their relationships, their challenges and their successes in bringing forward more inclusive and resilient cities.

Eutropian is a planning, policy and research organisation helping urban regeneration processes. We offer assistance to municipalities, NGOs and community groups in participatory planning, policy development as well as in fundraising, cooperations and communication. We are specialised in urban regeneration, cultural development, community participation, local economic development and social innovation, with a special focus on building development scenarios on existing resources.http://eutropian.org

As a founding member of the KÉK - Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre, I have organized conferences, festivals, exhibitions, edited publications and conducted research projects and policy advocacy campaigns dealing with various contemporary urban and architectural phenomena. I have been been curator of the Budapest Architecture Film Days since 2007. Currently, I have been working on Lakatlan, a research program examining policies and methods of temporary use and revitalization of abandoned urban properties. My recent projects are published at http://polyaklevente.net/

Workshops, events, publications.http://www.wonderland.cx/index.php?idcat=45

In Civic City, the Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre’s aim is to empower civil society by creating a framework for the use of vacant properties through temporarily discounted lease. Besides the large number of long-term vacant properties many groups with social and art activities lack a space. Connecting them will likely serve as a catalyst. We elaborate and demonstrate through managing our partners a legal and economic framework for renting and operating spaces. This can open perspectives for civil society as well as real estate owners in creating new uses for properties.The program includes activities such as identifying community organizations in need of space; developing their projects, mapping empty properties and the current state of rental legislation; elaborating models of sustainable use; negotiating with owners; organizing professional and public events and campaigns. See details at http://lakatlan.kek.org.hu/en/

A KÉK Adaptív Város című workshop-sorozatában az üres ingatlanok potenciálját kihasználó kezdeményezéseket, modelleket vizsgálunk nemzetközi és hazai várostervezők, építészek, önkormányzati szakemberek, ingatlanszakértők, civil aktivisták és a kulturális élet kiemelkedő szereplői segítségével.http://lakatlan.kek.org.hu/en/events/

Project coordinator (with Daniela Patti) of the URBACT Pilot Network "Temporary Use as a Tool for Urban Regeneration" with the participation of the municipalities of Rome, Bremen and Alba Iulia

ADAPTABLE CITYTHE PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF VACANT PROPERTIESDecember 10, 2013 ‒ April 30, 2014Date: December 10, 2013, 6pmVenue: Coming Soon! Project Gallery, V. Kossuth Lajos utca 14-16.The Adaptable City exhibition is an introduction to the logic of in-between use, showing the basic questions, architectural, economic and legal conditions of the temporary reuse of empty urban properties. Through examples and case studies, the exhibition discusses the difficulties and opportunities of bottom-up initiatives, property owners or the public administration. The show is conceived as a process: the content structure displayed at the opening will be continuously complemented and enriched with the findings and materials of the workshops organized in the gallery to test international best practices within the Budapest context.http://lakatlan.kek.org.hu/en/adaptable-city-exhibition-opening-december-10-2013

Contribution to the Budapest Territorial Development Strategy: Best practices, new methodologies.

The Vacant Central Europe project aims to address the problem of vacancy by mapping empty properties, by researching planning instruments, architectural tools and by exchanging experiences and strategies of intervention that make the temporary use of empty properties and their conversion for another use possible. The project’s objective is to turn the negative effects of the economic crisis and post-industrial economic restructuring into opportunities, by offering available space for various social and cultural initiatives, start-up companies and social enterprises. See details at http://lakatlan.kek.org.hu/en/vacant-central-europe/

The LAKATLAN (VACANCY) lecture and workshop series organized by the KÉK - Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre examine the transformation of Central European cities after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The series focuses on the phenomena of abandoned properties: their emergence, opportunities, limitations. The lectures held by various international and local lecturers approach these vacant properties from a diversity of perspectives and at a variety of scales: from mapping, classifying and cataloguing these spaces, through architectural and functional conversions, to spontaneous and temporary uses in fields of cultural and social work, the series attempts at developing a set of city-wide policy proposals concerning abandoned properties. See details at http://lakatlan.kek.org.hu/en/

Processing Form – Retroactive investigations from a Compact CityAs part of the 4AM Gallery's Compact City exhibitionProcessing Form looks at inner contradictions and key dilemmas of the Compact City paradigm: does the built form determine social and individual behavior (and thus sustainability, for instance) and what is the role of choice, lifestyle and urban processes in this deterministic relationship?

KÉK – Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre in collaboration with Trafó – House of Contemporary Arts, Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art and the French Institute of Budapest is organizing a conference aiming to contextualize Yona Friedman’s work in today’s social, urban and architectural context by bringing together architects, urbanists, artists, scholars and activists to give critical interpretations of his legacy and to introduce projects inspired by his work.The ambition of the conference is to analyze Yona Friedman’s ideas on art, architecture, urbanism, social work and technology, and their relevance in these fields then and today, especially in the context of the current economic crisis. The lectures will position his early work within the context of urban renewal theories of the sixties; revisit key notions of his thinking such as mobility, infrastructure or participation with respect to their current applicability; and assess his impact on contemporary architecture and art and the critical implications of his work’s presentation in a visual art (aesthetic) context.

http://www.anatomyofastreet.org