FabLand: ‘Making’ digital/analog distributed urban production ecosystems

The recent evolution of production models within urban contexts shows a possible scenario characterized by new interactions between design-driven innovation, making and social innovation. Insourcing and relocation of production in urban areas are two phenomena whose characteristics and properties are here studies under a systemic approach. Our observations are interpreted adopting the perspective of Microproduction Everywhere (Bianchini, Maffei; 2013) that reveals how certain forms of production are developing in cities in an open and diffused way. With this set of assumptions as a starting point, the paper analyses this emerging paradigm combined with the idea of Territorial Capital ‘as a model to study a specific territory’ (EU leader Project; 1999)by looking at three case studies promoted by Politecnico di Milano in the city of Milan and his Province. These three initiatives titled Making@PoliMi, Maker Hub Brianza and Make in Progress explore new models of interaction between creative industries, makers, DIY people, artisans and SMEs within urban areas and industrial districts. These case studies, if observed together, constitute an attempt to configure 'FabLand', a scalable ecosystem of open and distributed design-production-distribution activities that can be replicated and adapted to various territorial contexts.