Frequently Asked Questions

There is no such thing as a dumb question!

This section aims to answer all your doubts about Fab City Hubs. What they are and are not, who is involved, how could you join the network.

What is a Fab City Hub

Fab City Hubs are open spaces for city making. They work as a physical interface to connect actors within a Fab City Prototype (usually a neighborhood) and foster collaboration and exchange of skills and knowledge between local communities in a given territory. Fab City Hubs can also be considered Creative and Productive Hubs: they are third places and meeting points for neighbors, citizens, makers, organizations and businesses, connecting these different local stakeholders with the city and its political power and institutions (e.g., the City Council). These spaces are able to integrate and orchestrate different local agendas in urban areas and regions, such as circular economy, smart cities, digital transformation, urban manufacturing and agriculture, as well as connect them with global networks of innovation in these areas. The Hubs expand the role of Fab Labs and Makerspaces, as they expand their reach, and can connect with other local manufacturers within a neighborhood, city or region. They are the operational enablers of the Fab City vision, and vehicles to implement the Fab City Full Stack approach at the local level.

Who are the main participants involved in a Fab City Hub?

Fab City Hubs are bottom-up and community-driven initiatives, emerging from local communities (citizens, makers, neighborhood leaders, schools, libraries, NGOs, associations, etc.) which aim to integrate with top-down approaches coming from local government and economic forces. This is the reason why the involvement of specific partners from the public sector (representatives of the municipality, City Council, and policymakers) and the private one (local entrepreneurs, start-ups, small and medium enterprises, private investors, etc.) are key for their launch, operations and impact.

Is a Fab City Hub a physical space?

Yes, it is. A Fab City Hub is the local, physical embodiment of a global distributed initiative. While a prominent physical presence, Fab City Hubs are considered as multi-layered hybrid spaces, intertwining and bridging the physical and digital dimensions of our environments. The scale of its physical dimension is largely variable, ranging from 50 to 5000 sqm.

Is a Fab Lab a Fab City Hub?

No, a Fab City Hub plays a complementary role to a Fab Lab. The Fab City Full Stack implementation is enabled by two different third places: Fab Labs and Fab City Hubs. While Fab Labs provide the technological infrastructure to make local production possible, Fab City Hubs go beyond technology and machines, being more open to different communities, acting as connectors between local stakeholders and as open spaces of trans-disciplinary collaboration. While both Fab Labs and Fab City Hubs have a spatial dimension and have four walls, Fab Labs direct their focus inwards in the development of technology, building skills, and supporting open innovation; Fab City Hubs look outward, towards the neighborhood, city and/or region and connect with a global network of knowledge within the Fab City Network. Hence, Fab City Hubs scale of action goes beyond its four walls.

How can I convert my Fab Lab into a Fab City Hub?

While sometimes your space and activities may adapt and evolve into a Fab City Hub, converting a Fab Lab into a Fab City Hub is not the right approach, since they are not mutually exclusive but complementary. It is recommended instead to create a Fab City Hub while keeping the local Fab Labs operational. Fab City Foundation can facilitate educational programs and connections with technical partners that may support you and your city in setting a Fab City Hub.

Are Fab City Hubs spaces of ‘material’ production? Is it compulsory for a Fab City Hub to have a production facility within, such as Fab Lab?

It is not compulsory, as Fab City Hubs are gateways to connect with the local ecosystem of production facilities and communities (using tools such as Make Works) rather than concentrating everything in a unique location. At the same time, Fab City Hubs might often include production facilities (e.g. Fab Labs) that complement or expand the already existing facilities in the territory.

Are Fab City Hubs privately owned but publicly accessible? Or, instead, are they public spaces?

Both options are possible, while the standard case is that Fab City Hubs are privately owned spaces, but publicly accessible. In any case, Fab City Hubs always include activities and services that are designed for and accessible to a large public (socially inclusive practices).

Can a Municipality initiate a Fab City Hub?

Yes, a Fab City Hub can be promoted and sustained by a specific department of a municipality. It can also be implemented as part of a regional or national initiative to promote local, inclusive and sustainable production. Nevertheless, it is important to stress that for sustainability and impact purposes, we recommend the Municipality to initiate a Fab City Hub project with the objective of leaving its management to local NGOs and associations. Once the governance of the hub is solid and established enough to be independent, the City Council (or a representative from the Municipality) can become one of the stakeholders of the hub, for example sitting on its strategic board. Fab City Foundation and its technical partners provide a service that supports municipalities to work toward this process. Furthermore, a Fab City Hub can also be started by a private initiative (for profit and non for profit), in which case the Municipality will be able to join as a partner.

Do I need permission to open a Fab City Hub in my city?

Fab City is a registered trademark protected by Fab City Foundation. As our philosophy is inspired by open-source culture, we do not like using the word “permission”. Instead, we expect for cities to get in touch with Fab City Foundation before launching a Fab City Hub project, preferably while still in the design phase. Fab City Foundation can provide you guidance and share guidelines in order for you to initiate your Fab City Hub and use the trademark.

Is a Fab City Hub needed to join the Fab City Network?

No, it is not needed. A city, region or country can pledge to join the Fab City Network without having a Fab City Hub up and running. Still, in this case, we recommend that a clear roadmap to establish a Fab City Hub exists. In case you want to start a Fab City movement in your locality, setting up a Fab City Hub could be a powerful way to initiate it. If you have doubts on how to set up a Fab City Hub and/or how to join the Fab City Network, feel free to contact the Fab City Foundation for guidance. You can also find some preliminary information in the Fab City Handbook.

What are the advantages of a hub joining the Fab City network? In other words, why should I join this network?

Joining the Fab City Network will grant access to a thriving and inspiring global network of cities, regions and countries that are setting up or already running Fab City Hubs. The benefits of being part of this network include access to resources, tools, methods, training formats and contents, knowledge exchange, administrative support, and experts that are working on a common challenge.

Do the Fab City Hubs apply to rural areas?

Yes, they can be set up in rural areas. The Fab City Global Initiative considers cities as anchor points to move territories and regions towards a more circular, locally productive model. Thus, Fab City Hubs can also play an important role in small cities or rural areas. In this case, Fab City Hubs are especially interesting for their capacity to aggregate stakeholders that are distributed/dispersed at a regional/territorial scale and to create the required momentum to generate change.

Can a Fab City Hub be distributed or itinerant?

By definition, a Fab City Hub has a unique physical address in each city and it allows the creation of a connection with the local productive ecosystem and communities. Some experiences of multiple-location or itinerant models (in which Fab City Hubs change location in the city depending on a predefined time span) are currently being tested, but the baseline is a single location model.

Where can you find more information about Fab City and the global initiative?

Fab City has gathered over the years several resources that will support you to understand the mission of the initiative, how it is organized, and which global challenges it addresses. Some of the key resources are:

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