Abstract
The editorial discusses the status and prospects of the commons of developed industrialized countries, based on the literature. For the traditional commons, one key variable for long-term development prospects of the commons is found in the way ownership to the commons is structured. A second key variable is the way increasing knowledge, including scientific environmental knowledge, has affected our perception of what a resource is within a commons and its value. The way these two variables characterizing commons: “structure of ownership” and “knowledge of valuable resources” are related is illustrated in a process referred to as “the withering away” with potential for widely diverging outcomes. Also new emerging urban commons are commented on and a more indepth study of both traditional and new urban commons is called for.