Self-organisation and the City

Andrew Kelly (red.) (2024)

Mutual Aid, Everyday Anarchy: Essays on Colin Ward

Five Leaves Publications, Nottingham ISBN 978-1-915434-22-7 £10

Sometimes one realises that a thinker and writer has been entirely overlooked. In my case, this is Colin Ward (1924–2010), a thinker influential in the United Kingdom on anarchism, spatial development and social organisation. It is likely that many professionals in the Netherlands and abroad are unfamiliar with his work, which is unfortunate, as his thinking offers valuable insights that remain highly relevant for spatial professionals in the Dutch context – particularly now that municipalities are reshaping participation processes, as required under the new Act to Strengthen Local Participation.

Ward advocated a mild form of anarchism, centred on self-organisation outside the formal structures of state and capitalism. Among his most notable works are Anarchy in Action (1973), a collection of essays showing how anarchist principles such as self-organisation, voluntary association and mutual aid are already embedded in everyday life (in schools, allotments, housing projects, etc.), and The Child in the City (1978), which explores the relationship between children and the urban environment and argues for greater freedom, space to play and autonomy for children in the city. Another key work is Cotters and Squatters: Housing’s Hidden History (2002), which traces the history of informal settlements, squatting and self-build, and underlines the importance of self-reliance and community initiatives in addressing housing challenges.

The essay collection Mutual Aid, Everyday Anarchy: Essays on Colin Ward was published in 2024 to mark the centenary of Ward’s birth. It brings together twenty essays, written by authors who either knew and worked with Ward personally or engaged with him only through his writings. The essays address different aspects of his work, from learning processes and society’s capacity to organise itself, to the ways in which formal planning systems can stifle promising initiatives. They also highlight how Ward’s ideas influenced the authors’ own thinking and practice. Central themes include self-organisation, grassroots power, land ownership, housing rights and their translation into the spatial domain. The collection invites readers to explore Ward’s own writings further.

In Take Ten: Paid Educational Leave and the Art of Citizenship, Catharine Burk reflects on current approaches to education and how they might be reimagined: “learning through the city, learning about the city, learning to use the city, to control the city or to change the city” (The Child in the City, 1978). She argues that the city itself can be a learning environment, harnessing children’s creativity and natural curiosity. This requires conscious effort to design and manage the urban environment as an accessible, safe, diverse and participatory landscape for learning, thereby optimising the city’s potential for children’s development and engagement.

In A Different Kind of Planning: Learning from Colin Ward, Ron Cowan discusses, among other things, the Theory of Loose Parts. This theory suggests that “the degree of inventiveness and the possibility of discovery in an environment are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it”, emphasising the importance of unstructured, bottom-up development. In the spatial domain, this implies that facilitating such development requires creating flexible spaces with diverse, adaptable elements that encourage interaction, experimentation and personalisation – a genuine form of planning by invitation.

Paul Dobraszczyk , in A Seed beneath the Snow: Everyday Anarchism, illustrates that forms of anarchism are already present all around us, rather than existing only in a utopian future. As Simon Springer noted in The Anarchist Roots of Geography: Towards Spatial Emancipation (2016): “every time you have ever invited friends over to dinner, jaywalked, mowed your neighbour’s lawn, skipped a day at work, looked after your brother’s kids, questioned your professor, borrowed your mother-in-law’s car, disregarded a posted sign, or returned a favour, you have – perhaps unknowingly – engaged in anarchist principles.” Recognising this is crucial to understanding how society functions and how such dynamics can be harnessed. It urges us to look beyond formal planning and to appreciate how everyday, unplanned practices often determine whether an area functions well or poorly.

Alice Ferguson , in her essay, draws attention to the role of “Spaces Left Over After Planning” (SLOAP) for children: places where they can play, discover and be creative – a theme closely connected to Ward’s The Child in the City. She also stresses the profound impact that the rise of the car has had on children’s freedom in the city. Ward once observed: “the failure of an urban environment can be measured in direct proportion to the number of playgrounds.”

Each essay is worth reading in its own right and sparks curiosity not only to revisit Ward’s own works but also to explore the many other references discussed throughout. Colin Ward’s ideas offer refreshing perspectives for contemporary Dutch spatial development, particularly in the context of the Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet). By embracing principles of self-organisation, grassroots initiatives and the facilitation of flexible spaces, we can create environments more closely aligned with societal needs. This also requires a greater recognition of the value of everyday practices, and the systematic integration of children’s needs into urban planning.