WORKROOM REŞIȚA

A PRACTICE OF CARE AGAINST POST-INDUSTRIAL BLUES

Challenges and Imperatives
Reșița is the exciting as well as challenging result of many layers of planning and construction – rather than outcome of an ongoing orderly process of urban growth. This has many reasons. Some of them dating back to the past, some of them in recent years when the need has been felt to “catch up” and adapt to the times, burning out stages of development. The visible result is a fragmented, somewhat worn patchwork that follows forgotten logics. People have written 250 years of industrial history. All along, the region stood for technological progress and a pioneering spirit - it was stable, not much used to unprecedented challenges. Then structural crises hit and damaged the former pride. From this many questions arise: How to remain self-confident as a city when many people decide to leave? How can the city again become the city of choice for its residents? How does a city plan for degrowth instead of growth, or rather adapt for a flexible, unforeseen size? Or: Who will take further the ongoing projects, initiated by the administration and NGOs (especially concerning the immense industrial heritage), and make sure they live on?

The Path Forward
Re-definition of possible futures starts with re-connecting to shared memories. It is key to re-evaluate the urban heritage beyond monetary values, evolve community narratives and boldly accept, that future plans are always dithering. There is the need to re-think the term “success” - is there such a thing as a minimum, viable town size, allowing for cultural and community vibrancy? - and create an intergenerational perspective on the existing industrial heritage. Projects of adaptive reuse and the connection between the built - industrial- natural environment are presented and discussed in the workroom. They are questioned, reflected and build upon for the benefit of an idea of self-organised entities that can be built around them in order to foster a heritage that is vivid and used.

Facing Reșița
A lot has been done – but it is still a challenge to re-define the spirit in Reșița and strengthen the human infrastructure for an alternative development model. Instead of a traditional understanding of unrestrained growth a positive model of “green shrinking” may come from the values that are already there - extremely rich industrial heritage, good infrastructure, excellent educational institutions, spectacular nature, good climate, and, most importantly, the human infrastructure - when understanding them as a basis for responsible and non-extractive development. Another need is to move beyond the classical categories of NGOs, public institutions, private companies and encourage self-organized agencies, that imply a self-assumed mission and represent a decentralized, bottom up, initiation.

Outcomes
The report from the workroom can be used as a reference for stabilizing strategies, tools and encouraging practice in an environment of de-population. It can advise and support action in other mid-sized peripheral cities with similar backgrounds. We initiate the discussion on: informal and formal tools that build on, infiltrate, subvert or capitalize on conditions in Eastern Europe and systemic thinking models at micro regional level as opposed to project-based thinking.

WORKROOM REŞIȚA

A PRACTICE OF CARE AGAINST POST-INDUSTRIAL BLUES

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