Emerging design practices are based on sharing assets and bottom-up processes, nurturing social innovation and experimenting forms of dialogue between citizens and policymakers. Recently we are observing to an exponential growth of empty spaces in our cities, triggered by the economic crisis and changes. an agreement with Genoa’s Municipality has allowed to monitor experiences implemented by active citizens, managing policies and procedures for temporary reuse. This is an opportunity to prove design as a tool for enhancing territory, as political advantage, and as way of making research on projects. Designers are involved and committed to the public patrimony and welfare, ideologically differing by the most commercial aspects of product design, outlining the field of action of social design. It “highlights design-based practices towards collective and social ends, rather than predominantly commercial or consumer-oriented objectives. It operates across many fields of application including local and central government, as well as policy areas such as healthcare and international development.”