The impact of the car restrictions implemented in the city centre on the public space quality

Chapter 4 discusses Mayor Frank Jordan’s (1992–1995) revanchist Matrix Quality of Life Program, which sought to enforce a broken-windows policing system in San Francisco. The impact of the policy was felt largely by the visible homeless in downtown San Francisco, who were regularly harassed and arrested by the police and forced out of the city. Because quality-of-life policing desires to sanitize the public space of disruptive and asocial behaviour, the public meals of Food Not Bombs near City Hall resisted the city’s attempt to criminalize homelessness. This chapter argues that the city attempted to construct the homeless as anti-citizens and exclude them from the political and physical spaces of the city.

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A Comparison of the Impact of Protective and Preservative Video Surveillance on Urban Territoriality: the case of Switzerland

Surveillance & Society ◽

10.24908/ss.v2i2/3.3371 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 2 (2/3) ◽

Author(s):

Francisco Klauser

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Video Surveillance ◽

Social Behaviour ◽

Fundamental Difference ◽

City Centre ◽

Public Order ◽

Spatial Logic ◽

The Impact ◽

The City ◽

Inherent Part

This paper focuses on a comparison between two forms of video-surveillance and their consequences for the territoriality of public space users: the preservative, which aims to preserve public order and to prevent 'anti-social' behaviour; and the protective, which protect specific risk-points like buildings or objects. The fundamental difference between preservative and protective surveillance is linked to the spatial logic of its functioning, that can be deduced both from the position of the cameras and the general orientation of its view. Following Lefebvre and Raffestin, it argues that these socio-spatial relationships of social players may be considered as an inherent part of public space. In consequence, their transformation directly affects the qualities of public space. These theoretical explored are illustrated with a cartographical study of the cameras within the city centre of Geneva and a study of public sensitivity and perception of video surveillance in the Swiss city of Olten.

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Policing the City

10.1093/oso/9780198797845.003.0005 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

David Churchill

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Public Space ◽

Structural Constraints ◽

Local Perceptions ◽

Urban Public Space ◽

The Public ◽

Exercise Of Discretion ◽

The Impact ◽

The City ◽

Large Sections

This chapter assesses the impact of policing on urban order. It argues that the nineteenth-century police forces were especially attentive to local perceptions of nuisance and improvement in their efforts to tame urban popular culture and to sanitize urban public space. Police efforts to impose public order were modified by structural constraints, exercise of discretion in law enforcement, and resistance on the part of the public. And yet, the psychological repercussions of street order policing were profound, as large sections of the urban population came under an unprecedented level of official scrutiny. Hence, this chapter argues that—faced with a highly officious and, at times, repressive form of police authority—the urban public became ‘police-conscious’ in the nineteenth century.

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A economia urbana e os artistas de rua: performance, mobilidades e conflitos em um espaço público turistificado

GeoTextos ◽

10.9771/geo.v17i1.44684 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

António Cláudio do Nascimento Silva ◽

Daniel Paiva

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Urban Space ◽

Urban Economy ◽

The Public ◽

Sensory Experiences ◽

Historic Centre ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship ◽

The City

Este artigo pretende refletir sobre a complexa relação entre os artistas de rua, as suas performances e o espaço urbano. Para esta reflexão, baseamo-nos num estudo desenvolvido na Baixa lisboeta, localizada no centro histórico da cidade de Lisboa, Portugal. Metodologicamente, o estudo implicou observação sombreada com recurso a caminhadas e à videografia entre 2016 e 2021, bem como um conjunto de 15 entrevistas realizadas a artistas de rua em 2018. Conceptualmente, o estudo recorre ao crescente corpo de bibliografia no âmbito da geografia sensorial e da etnomusicologia, nomeadamente em relação aos artistas de rua e às suas performances, e a sua intersecção com questões económicas, os aspetos da urbanidade, a influência do turismo e as experiências sensoriais. Os nossos resultados desvendam o processo de territorialização dos locais de performance na Baixa lisboeta, o impacto das performances artísticas no espaço público, e a relação dos artistas de rua com os agentes formais da economia urbana. Concluímos o artigo com uma breve reflexão sobre a importância do turismo para a expansão do busking.AbstractURBAN ECONOMY AND STREET ARTISTS: PERFORMANCE, MOBILITY, AND CONFLICT IN A TOURISTIFIED PUBLIC SPACEThis article reflects on the complex relationship between street artists, their performances and urban space. For this reflection, we draw upon a study conducted in the Baixa, located in the historic centre of the city of Lisbon, Portugal. Methodologically, the study involved shadowed observation, including walks and videography, which took place between 2016 and 2021, as well as a set of 15 interviews with street artists which were conducted in 2018. Conceptually, the study draws upon the growing body of works within the scope of sensory geography and ethnomusicology, namely regarding street artists and their performances, and their intersection with economic issues, aspects of urbanity, the influence of tourism and sensory experiences. Our results reveal the process of territorialization of performance sites in Lisbon’s Baixa, the impact of artistic performances in the public space, and the relationship of street artists with the formal agents of the urban economy. We conclude the article with a brief reflection on the significance of tourism for the expansion of busking.

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Drinking and Public Space in Leningrad/St. Petersburg and Helsinki in the Interwar Period

Contemporary Drug Problems ◽

10.1177/009145090503200106 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 57-91

Author(s):

Jussi Wacklin

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Open Spaces ◽

Total Consumption ◽

The Public ◽

Public Drinking ◽

Drinking Places ◽

Police Control ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

Public drinking has aroused long-lasting debates in St. Petersburg/Leningrad and Helsinki. Taverns, pubs, restaurants but also streets and parks as well as workplaces in the city have been the main arenas of public drinking. My central concern is the impact of policy and police regimes on public drinking. The state was heavily involved in controlling public drinking in both cities; it simultaneously monopolized and regulated the alcohol trade and condemned drunkenness. The suppression of public drinking places was common for both cities. Still, the high number of arrests for public drunkenness in open spaces and the growth of total consumption indicate that drinkers moved to open urban spaces or to private places. Police control of the public spaces and the weakening role of the licensed drinking facilities as a place for neighborhood clientele affected the sociability of drinking and the uses of public space in general.

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Social differentiation in the area of Prague subcentres

Geografie ◽

10.37040/geografie2007112030266 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 112 (3) ◽

pp. 266-291

Author(s):

Jan Polívka

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Local Environment ◽

Active Role ◽

Urban Society ◽

City Centre ◽

The Public ◽

The Social ◽

The City ◽

City Centres

On the example of three Prague subcentres Budějovická, Pankrác and Smíchov this paper analyses the structure of socially stratified environment of secondary city centres in Prague. The development is discussed within the context of requirements upon the public space in the stage of tertiarization and post-socialist transformation of the urban society. The influx of investments into the local environment of city centres is changing the space patterns and causes changes in the social structure of users. As result, the area of centres is split into functional entities with different social constituency. An active role of public administration is important for preservation of city-centre functionality for most inhabitants of the city.

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‘Tearing itself apart over showpiece projects’: Planning-led Local Elections in Aberdeen, 2002–2012

Northern Scotland ◽

10.3366/nor.2019.0169 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 68-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

William Walton

Keyword(s):

Electoral Politics ◽

Coalition Building ◽

City Centre ◽

Local Elections ◽

The Public ◽

New City ◽

Bridge Crossing ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

Members of the public wanting to influence the determination of a controversial development proposal will usually rely upon the direct measure of writing to the council to express their opinions. But where the arithmetic of the council is finely balanced, and notwithstanding the restrictions placed on councillors from declaring a definitive position on a live planning application, voters may be able to influence the outcome of the project indirectly via the ballot box. This paper examines the impact which a series of controversial development projects had on the outcome of local elections in Aberdeen between 2002 and 2012. During this period, the city moved from Labour domination to two- and three-way coalition control. In each of the three local elections, two or more of the major parties adopted clear positions on these highly charged proposals. These positions probably impacted upon voting behaviour and certainly influenced post-election coalition-building. Proposals for a new bridge crossing and a new football stadium were narrowly approved, whilst that for a new city centre square was narrowly rejected. In each case, councillors voted predominantly along party lines. The paper demonstrates the significant influence which planning had on the city's electoral politics over the decade.

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Public space of the trustworthiness of sociological knowledge: The case of electoral research

Sociology: Theory, Methods, Marketing ◽

10.15407/sociology2020.03.013 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 13-22

Author(s):

OLEKSANDR STEGNII

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Research Process ◽

Negative Influence ◽

Election Campaign ◽

Sociological Research ◽

Good Tool ◽

Sociological Knowledge ◽

The Public ◽

Approval Ratings ◽

The Impact

The paper analyses specific features of sociological data circulation in a public space during an election campaign. The basic components of this kind of space with regard to sociological research are political actors (who put themselves up for the election), voters and agents. The latter refer to professional groups whose corporate interests are directly related to the impact on the election process. Sociologists can also be seen as agents of the electoral process when experts in the field of electoral sociology are becoming intermingled with manipulators without a proper professional background and publications in this field. In a public space where an electoral race is unfolding, empirical sociological research becomes the main form of obtaining sociological knowledge, and it is primarily conducted to measure approval ratings. Electoral research serves as an example of combining the theoretical and empirical components of sociological knowledge, as well as its professional and public dimensions. Provided that sociologists meet all the professional requirements, electoral research can be used as a good tool for evaluating the trustworthiness of results reflecting the people’s expression of will. Being producers of sociological knowledge, sociologists act in two different capacities during an election campaign: as analysts and as pollsters. Therefore, it is essential that the duties and areas of responsibility for professional sociologists should be separated from those of pollsters. Another thing that needs to be noted is the negative influence that political strategists exert on the trustworthiness of survey findings which are going to be released to the public. Using the case of approval ratings as an illustration, the author analyses the most common techniques aimed at misrepresenting and distorting sociological data in the public space. Particular attention is given to the markers that can detect bogus polling companies, systemic violations during the research process and data falsification.

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Conclusion

10.1093/oso/9780199392469.003.0016 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Llano

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Public Space ◽

Social Conflict ◽

Musical Performance ◽

The Public ◽

Political Interests ◽

Musical Practices ◽

The Media ◽

The City

As is described in this conclusion, more than the media and culture, Madrid’s public space constituted the primary arena where reactions and attitudes toward social conflict and inequalities were negotiated. Social conflict in the public space found expression through musical performance, as well as through the rise of noise that came with the expansion and modernization of the city. Through their impact on public health and morality, noise and unwelcomed musical practices contributed to the refinement of Madrid’s city code and the modernization of society. The interference of vested political interests, however, made the refining of legislation in these areas particularly difficult. Analysis of three musical practices, namely, flamenco, organilleros, and workhouse bands, has shown how difficult it was to adopt consistent policies and approaches to tackling the forms of social conflict that were associated with musical performance.

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Conquering the Public Space

10.1093/oso/9780199392469.003.0014 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Llano

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Social Services ◽

Social Groups ◽

Public Image ◽

Working Classes ◽

The Public ◽

San Bernardino ◽

The City

This chapter presents an account of the San Bernardino band as the public facade of that workhouse. The image of children who had been picked up from the streets, disciplined, and taught to play an instrument as they marched across the city in uniform helped broadcast the message that the municipal institutions of social aid were contributing to the regeneration of society. This image contrasted with the regime of discipline and punishment inside the workhouse and thus helped to legitimize the workhouse’s public image. The privatization of social aid from the 1850s meant that the San Bernardino band engaged with a growing range of institutions and social groups and carried out an equally broad range of social services. It was thus able to serve as the extension through which Madrid’s authorities could gain greater intimacy with certain population sectors, particularly with the working classes.

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