The Politics of Public Space

Setha Low, Neil Smith, Setha Low, Neil Smith

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136081309
• Subtopic: City Planning & Urban Development
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Why is public space disappearing? Why is this disappearance important to democratic politics and how has it become an international phenomenon? Public spaces are no longer democratic spaces, but instead centres of private commerce and consumption, and even surveillance and police control. "The Politics of Public Space" extends the focus of current work on public space to include a consideration of the transnational - in the sense of moving people and transformations in the nation or state - to expand our definition of the 'public' and public space. Ultimately, public spaces are one of the last democratic forums for public dissent in a civil society. Without these significant central public spaces, individuals cannot directly participate in conflict resolution. "The Politics of Public Space" assembles a superb list of contributors to explore the important political dimensions of public space as a place where conflicts over cultural and political objectives become concrete.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 Introduction: The Imperative of Public Space
• 2 The Political Economy of Public Space
• 3 Building the American Way: Public Subsidy, Private Space
• 4 Appropriating “the Commons”: The Tragedy of Property Rights Discourse
• 5 How Private Interests Take Over Public Space: Zoning, Taxes, and Incorporation of Gated Communities
• 6 Power, Space, and Terror: Social Reproduction and the Public Environment
• 7 Geography of Fear: Crime and the Transformation of Public Space in Post-apartheid South Africa
• 8 Clean and Safe? Property Redevelopment, Public Space, and Homelessness in Downtown San Diego
• Index