In this episode of A is for Architecture, I spoke to Álvaro Sevilla-Buitrago, associate professor of urban planning at the School of Architecture, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, about his book Against the Commons: A Radical History of Urban Planning (University of Minnesota Press 2022). Challenging conventional ideas of shared urban space, Alvaro explores how planning has historically been used as a tool of enclosure, dispossession, and control—shaping cities to serve elite interests rather than fostering true commoning.

We discuss the historical and contemporary nature of commons as spaces that represent marginalisation, but its resolution through collective action and solidarity. We discuss how urban development has often restricted collective life, from the privatization of land to the suppression of grassroots alternatives, reflecting on historical and contemporary struggles over public space, offering insights into how radical urbanism can resist enclosure and reclaim the city for all.

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion on the intersection of planning, power, and resistance in the built environment.

Alvaro can be found on X, and on his personal website and on Academia. Against the Commons is linked above.

🎧 Listen now & subscribe for more discussions on architecture and urbanism! #UrbanPlanning #Commons #RightToTheCity #RadicalUrbanism #PublicSpace #PeoplePower

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Music credits: ⁠Bruno Gillick