Temporary use is a learning process of accommodating innovation and adapting needs and capacities to available resources. It offers benefits to owners and users, in terms of security, maintenance, anchor tenants and social vibe on the one side, and affordable rents and spaces on the other. And it can help shaping new forms of cooperation between public administrations, private property owners and citizen initiatives. This article, based on the authors’ work in the URBACT knowledge transfer program Temporary Use as a Tool for Urban Regeneration and other initiatives and research, looks at a few examples to explore the conditions and potentials of temporary use in regenerating European cities and giving communities better access to urban spaces. Our article on temporary use at the URBACT website.
