Rebel cities: the citizen platforms in power

Article originally published in Red Pepper Magazine. Barcelona’s new mayor, former housing rights activist Ada Colau, has compared the experience of winning the city election this spring to giving birth for the first time. As she explained at a public meeting in the Raval neighbourhood, shortly after taking office: ‘Everyone talks about the day of…

From ‘Smart City’ to ‘collective intelligence’: radical change in Barcelona

Originally published on June 1 on Sustainable Cities Collective On May 24, Barcelona went to the polls and, by a narrow margin, elected the radical new citizen platform, Barcelona en Comú (Barcelona in Common) to form the new government. Its leader, former housing rights activist Ada Colau will be the city's first female mayor. Launched…

Beyond Ada Colau: the common people of Barcelona en Comú

Originally published in Open Democracy on 27 May 2015 "This victory is thanks to the hard work of thousands of people who've shown politics can be done differently" Ada Colau, 24 May 2015 Ada Colau has been making headlines across the world since the shock triumph of the radical municipal platform, Barcelona en Comú, in…