Because of globalization, rolling-back of the nation-state, and the policy of decentralization, what happens at the local level has become over the past two decades ever more important. Still, eyes of the public opinion are often fixed on politics at the national-level. Because of that many of the crucial decisions—that are now being taken at the local level— have escaped public attention. Our goal is to challenge that.

National-level politics have increasingly become symbolic and no wonder people have grown increasingly alienated from them. We have discovered that spatial issues and conflicts muster enormous interest of people representing vast swathes of worldviews, and who might otherwise have little in common. Our goal is therefore to reformulate terms of public debate so spatial issues, and not symbolic politics, become central.

The right to the city is universal, and claiming it generates completely novel alliances that would be impossible from the point of view of national politics. Our vision of public politics hinges upon bringing people together, rather than separating them.