“Commoning” as Placemaking: An Exploration Through Eating-together Practices

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in “placemaking” activities. A “good place” is not simply a physical environment but is jointly constructed through communication. I have been promoting the practice of placemaking through food. Through a series of eating-together practices, I have learned that it is possible to improvise and temporarily create a time and space of “commonness” that exists between “public” and “private.” Such experiences led me to examine how to develop relationships with people, be together (eat together), and communicate through exchange and giving. The present paper attempts to conceptually explore “time and space that belongs to everyone and belongs to no one” based on cases and reexamine the notion of “commoning,” mainly from the perspective of communication studies.