Scholarly and public debate on the urban commons is burgeoning, but building exteriors and the cityscape these constitute are surprisingly absent from it, despite their considerable significance for and impact on residents and visitors. After reflecting on the cityscape as a commons, the article turns to Kyoto, the former capital of Japan and acclaimed stronghold of history and tradition. Decades of conflict about the built environment led to a new building code in 2007 that continues to enjoy broad support. Details of building design, however, are now left to ‘local cityscape councils’, volunteer bodies that discuss construction plans with developers. Officially, local amateurs meet non‐local professionals here, but ethnographic fieldwork in 2019/20 revealed that both technical expertise and Kyoto ties are present on both sides. State representatives are also less absent than officially proclaimed. This case demonstrates that mixed management of the urban commons by the state and civil society can lead to amicable solutions that rise above vested interests, so that state involvement and ‘commoning’ should not be posited as mutually exclusive.

中文翻译：

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从私人到公共再回来？京都的城市景观委员会和城市公共空间


关于城市公共空间的学术和公众辩论正在兴起，但令人惊讶的是，建筑外观和城市景观却没有出现在其中，尽管它们对居民和游客具有相当大的意义和影响。在反思了作为公共场所的城市景观后，本文转向京都，日本的前首都和著名的历史和传统据点。数十年有关建筑环境的冲突导致 2007 年制定了新的建筑规范，该规范继续受到广泛支持。然而，建筑设计的细节现在留给“当地城市景观委员会”，即与开发商讨论施工计划的志愿者机构。按官方说法，当地业余爱好者在这里与非本地专业人士会面，但 2019/20 年的民族志实地考察显示，双方都存在技术专长和京都联系。国家代表的缺席情况也比官方宣布的要少。这个案例表明，国家和民间社会对城市公地的混合管理可以带来超越既得利益的友好解决方案，因此国家参与和“公地”不应被视为相互排斥。