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La Titaranya, urban space for civic revitalization | Civic Europe
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La Titaranya, urban space for civic revitalization

A comprehensive strategy for community intervention in the most degraded neighborhood of Valls (Catalonia)

Creators

Who is behind this?

Gerard Nogués

La Titaranya SCCL

http://www.latitaranya.coop

Spain

Who is joining forces?

Fundació Privada La Dinamo

http://www.ladinamofundació.org

Spain


L'Economat SCCL

http://www.leconomatdelcamp.coop

Spain


Associació Cultural L'Aleta (Casal Popular La Turba)

http://www.laturba.cat

Spain


This is a project with other partner organizations, for instance, Coop57 (financial services - www.coop57.coop) or Old Quarter Neighbourhood Association

Idea

Idea pitch

La Titaranya SCCL is a cooperative housing and social facilities in cession of use.
La Titaranya is a community intervention strategy in a neighborhood where neither the market nor the public institutions has been able to reverse the degradation that is experienced.
La Titaranya is a cívic alliance between the sociocultural entities of the historic center of Valls and cooperativism (a democratic and participatory way of generate economy), to gnerate projects of high transformative content

Where will your project idea take place?

Valls is a small town of 25,000 inhabitants in south Catalonia, with a degraded historic center

What is the specific societal challenge faced by this region?

The historic center of Valls (also known as the Old Quarter) suffers a severe social, urban and economic degradation, impossible to reverse if there are no singular and exemplary civic initiatives that become a turning point to avoid the serious disarticulation of the neighborhood. For the past two decades, neither the local government nor the capitalist market have intervened to reverse this situation. The result has been an urban space that has lost its associative network, its economic activity, where the existing housing has been degraded and where the most precarious and vulnerable population of the town has been concentrated, mainly migrants with little political or associative capacity.
This is a project to recover the community life through the creation of a new urban space

Who are you doing it for?

The historic center has experienced a widespread replacement of its inhabitants, only low-class families and the elderly with few resources have remained, and have joined the neighborhood a high number of migrant families. It is currently a neighborhood with great cultural diversity, but with an almost hegemonic presence of vulnerable people. La Titaranya wants to incorporate excluded sectors from associative relationships: firstly, through the Association of Neighbors of the Old Quarter that will have a room of acts, spaces for meetings, workshops and open activities, currently do not have any space to generate community activity. Secondly, through access to decent and below-market housing is the way to incorporate excluded people into a comprehensive community living project.

How do you plan to get there?

Titaranya is an ongoing project that has already passed the definition phase of the project (purchase of properties, definition and constitution of the cooperative, previous architectural study, campaign to attract people and partner entities, elaboration of the previous viability plan, obtaining públic grants)
Steps we need to take from now on
-Preparation of the final Economic and Financing Viability Plan
-Search for funding. The obstacle of the project is the difficulty of civic, cultural and third sector entities to deal with the contributions to the cooperative social capital that give them the right to the premises.
-Elaboration of the final Architectural and Urbanization Project
-Planning community revitalization projects with all entities in La Titaranya
-Construction works

What are the expected results?

- 23 affordable homes. The first housing development in the historic center after 15 years without any development. Attract young families to live in the historic center.
- 6/9 social or commercial premises for cooperatives or associations. Facilitate the location of companies and entities in a neighborhood that does not currently have commercial premises in good condition
- Spaces (event’s hall, meeting room and warehouse) shared by associations, for activities aimed at the citizens of the neighborhood . Location of the Old Quarter Residents Association, as an engine of civic revitalization
- Opening of a new urban space for the use of the neighborhood: opening of a new street and a public square of 300m2
- Incorporation of tutelaged housing aimed at third social sector institutions

How does your idea strengthen active citizenship at a local and community level?

Democracy and the active participation of citizens is an inherent feature of La Titaranya, for this reason we chose the cooperative formula that brings together resident families , social and cultural organizations and the work cooperatives that will have their spaces there. All these people and entities are legal partners of La Titaranya cooperative, and therefore participate democratically in the management and decision-making, as established in the bylaws of La Titaranya. The democratic governance of La Titaranya is strengthened with the participation of the Barri Antic residents' association, which also works in the assembly with residents in the neighborhood, a key element to ensure that the citizens participate in debates, actions and programs which will take place at La Titaranya.

Why is this idea important to you?

For us, Titaranya is a source of hope in the face of an unsustainable situation. The people and entities that are part of La Titaranya love the Old Quarter and for many years we have decided to fight for it. La Titaranya is an innovative urban, social and economic transformation project in Catalonia, as it unites under the same cooperative, the cession of use of houses and social or cooperative premises. At the same time, it brings a new transformative dimension, demercantilizing, democratizing and communitizing land ownership. We have been able to forge an alliance between a large number of organizations (cultural and civic associations, third sector institutions, labor cooperatives, ...) with a common goal: to empower the citizens of the neighborhood to build our own solutions

€ 90000,-

Total budget

€ 45000,-

Funding requested from Civic Europe

Major expenses

This budget is only focused on the whole of contributions to the share capital necessary to make the participation of the entities viable

Share capital of La Titaranya for the right to use the premises:
L’Economat: € 15000
L’Aleta Cultural Association: € 15000
Other entities: € 25000 (funding request Civic Europe

Other sources of external funding (public grants): € 15000

Share capital for the right to use a flat by a Third Sector Institution: 20000€ (funding request Civic Europe

What do you need from the Civic Europe community?

The Titaranya has an extensive network of organizations and entities. This network is a huge opportunity to open a direct channel with the citizens, but we need advice on how to promote the democratic participation of citizens in aspects such as the neighborhood economy, housing in the neighborhood.

Team

Gerard Nogués

Idea created on May 26, 2020
Last edit on May 27, 2020

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