Speaker
Description
The exploration of drivers behind space provision, particularly public space, and the extent to which they are influenced by past (often colonial) ideas and concepts is an area of great interest to Global North and South scholars (Webster, 2007; Carmona et al, 2008; Lara-Valencia & García-Pérez, 2013; Rigolon et al, 2018; Low & Iveson, 2019). This presentation looks at processes of land reclamation, identity, experience and stakeholder roles on several case studies located in Bahrain, Mumbai, Pretoria, Indonesia. Focus is placed on the tensions between the conception and spatial transformations of such spaces through formal planning, and confrontation with local people’s needs, knowledge and practices.
In Bahrain, investigation of historical land reclamation practices shows transformations in coastal public ownership together with present day opportunities to include public participation in coastal planning methodologies. In Mumbai, India, empirical research with the coastal communities of fisherwomen reveals the impact of mega infrastructural projects on their socio-spatial exclusion. In Pretoria, South Africa, an experiential study of public space users using research diaries, spatial analysis, and semi-structured interviews, uncovers the everyday realities of urban life in two sets of public spaces, exploring tensions in public spaces shaped by inequality, informality, and socio-political legacies. Finally, an analysis of the roles of various stakeholders in temporary markets in Indonesia reveals the importance of multi-level stakeholder engagement in sustaining such markets as nexus between urban and rural areas.
These contributions emphasize the ways in which public space is central to everyday life and experience having economic, sociocultural and, often, environmental implications on livelihoods. However, reflections on urban history show how spatial injustice have been embedded in political practices, influenced by colonial pasts. Therefore, how the lack of public and local involvement has disempowered those that have been already marginalised or excluded.
A common idea that arises along these cases is that public spaces, their history and evolution, are a clear reflection of power dynamics behind each of the specific contexts. Nevertheless, these examples, in particular the investigations on Bahrain and Indonesia, highlight the importance of inclusion and participation of all the different stakeholders involved so the production of social life (Lefebvre, 1991) can prevail over exclusive top-down planning responses and actions.
Finally, these examples illustrate that a universal approach falls short to capture the complexities of the very diverse existing cities with their specific political, economic, social and cultural contexts. As Landman and Mady (2022) put it, “context specificities are related to the historical evolution of cities and implications for the ownership, provision, and regulation of public space”. In this sense, pluriversality (Escobar, 2018) with a much broader ontological perspective that “refers to the human capacity to build worlds differently” (Leitão, 2023, 17) might be a more appropriate approach to heterogeneity and a world facing several crises.
References
Carmona, M., de Magalhaes, C. & Hammond, L. (2008). Public Space. The Management Dimension. London: Routledge.
Escobar, A. (2018) Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy, and the Making of Worlds. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.
Landman, K. and Mady, C. (eds) (2022) Uncovering Different Faces of Public Space in the Global North and South, editorial. Built Environment 48(2), pp. 148 https://www.alexandrinepress.co.uk/built-environment/uncovering-different-faces-public-space-global-north-and-south
Lara-Valencia, F., & García-Pérez, H. (2013). Space for equity: socioeconomic variations in the provision of public parks in Hermosillo, Mexico. Local Environment, 20(3), 350–368. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.857647
Lefebvre, H., 1991. The production of space (Vol. 142). Blackwell: Oxford.
Leitão, R., and L. Noel. 2023. "Pluriversal design as a paradigm - Call for Papers." DRS2024: Resistance - Reflection - Recovery - Reimagination. Boston.
Low, S. & Iveson, K. (2019) Propositions for More Just Urban Public Spaces. In The Routledge Handbook of People and Place in the 21st-Century City. Routledge.
Rigolon, A., Browning, M. H. E. M., Lee, K., & Shin, S. (2018). Access to Urban Green Space in Cities of the Global South: A Systematic Literature Review. Urban Science, 2(3), 67. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci2030067
Webster, C. (2007). Property rights, public space and urban design. Town Planning Review, 78(1), https://doi.org/10.3828/tpr.78.1.6
| Keywords | Global South; planning; public space; everyday practices; inequality |
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