Learning from temporary use and the making of on-demand communities in London’s Olympic “fringes”

Community-oriented temporary uses are a subset of interim use in vacant urban spaces, alongside creative and commercial practices. Its proponents argue that they can inform more incremental and residents-led local urban development. Under urban austerity, however, temporary uses can become vehicles for the short-term?and conditional delivery of social benefits. In this paper, I?analyse a?community-oriented?interim use project commissioned by a public development body as part of the London 2012 Olympic Games urban regeneration program. Drawing upon policy analysis and interviews with planners, policymakers, architects and community members, I?unravel competing discourses, positions, power dynamics and temporalities, and their relationship to the Games? legacy. The paper contributes to debates about the normalization of temporary urbanism and pop-up geographies in times of urban austerity, shedding light on the potential long-term?implications of the logic of ?on-demand?communities? in urban development and planning.