Patron Client Relationships and a Right to the City: A Bangladeshi Case Study

Author(s):  
Peter Walters ◽  
A. H. M. Kamrul Ahsan ◽  
M. Adil Khan
2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-104
Author(s):  
Pedro Jiménez-Pacheco

This article is based on the premise that it is possible to apply Henri Lefebvre’s critical-theoretical apparatus to complex urban processes as a pedagogical case study. From previous knowledge of Lefebvrian thought, the article provides an overview of what Lefebvre called “the science of the use of social space”, supported by a transdisciplinary methodological plurality. The starting point is that neoliberal social space is produced, prepared, and led to the imminent urban post-neoliberalism, in the midst of this movement, a sophisticated planning system appears, with the old promise of service tradition, egalitarian ethics and pragmatic orientation. But in practice, it only reproduces the impotence of being inside a wave of localized surplus-benefits that expels human residues, avoiding any reaction. The Lefebvrian apparatus and a part of its theoretical tradition guide the research on Barcelona as a paradigm of global real-estate violence. This urban phenomenon is examined in central Barcelona, in order to rescue it from the pessimism of its own inhabitants, from the harsh perception that urban centrality no longer reproduces life. In this way, the article puts into operation an analytical tool designed to sabotage the real-estate circuit through a renewed right to the production of radical social space.


2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482091711
Author(s):  
Jack Denham ◽  
Matthew Spokes

This article uses Lefebvre’s spatial triad and his concept of The Right to the City to categorise open-world video games as contested virtual spatial experiences, interconnected with the non-virtual spaces in which they are produced and played and replete with the same spatial, capital forces of alienation to be negotiated and maintained. We use qualitative gameplay data ( n = 15), unpacking players’ journeys through Lefebvre’s conceived, lived and perceived spaces, to show, respectively, how open-world games can be (1) fundamentally about space, (2) spaces interconnected with the non-virtual world and (3) disruptive spatial experiences. In utilising The Right to the Virtual City and our players’ tendency to retreat into the wild spaces of our case study game, Red Dead Redemption 2, we evoke the same alienating forces of commodification and capitalism to which Lefebvre spoke, positioning open-world video games as both contested spatial experiences and opportunities to challenge spatialised inequalities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-528
Author(s):  
Kayoumars Irandoost ◽  
Milad Doostvandi ◽  
Todd Litman ◽  
Mohammad Azami

Purpose This paper aims to present a critical analysis of placemaking by the urban poor based on the Right to the City, Henri Lefebvre’s influential theory regarding the production of space and placemaking. Design/methodology/approach This study reflects Lefebvre’s production of space and the right to the city theories and containing three main pillars including holism, the urban and praxis, and the use of spatial dialectics. Also, for collecting information in this research, along with scrutiny of documents and books, residents of the poor settlements of Sanandaj have also been interviewed. Findings In Sanandaj, urban poor who lack formal housing reclaim the Right to City by creating informal settlements. Such settlements, such as Shohada, Baharmast and Tagh Taghan, cover 23% of the city’s area but house 69% of the urban population. Originality/value This research seeks to understand placemaking in urban slums by low-income inhabitants using Henry Lefebvre’s critical theory of social production of space and the Right to the City. This case study examines the city of Sanandaj, Iran, where most residents are poor and live in cooperative informal settlements. It illustrates how the urban poor, as marginalized inhabitants, overcome the constraints of conventional planning and property ownership to creatively and cooperatively develop communities that reflect their needs. This indicates a schism between formal and informal sectors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-699
Author(s):  
Wairimu Maina ◽  
Andre van Graan

Purpose This paper aims to illustrate relationships between stakeholders in the conceptualisation and implementation of water and sanitation services (WSS) projects in marginalised settings of Nairobi and Kiambu Counties. It outlines these relationships in a flow diagram that shows a pathway analysis in which social innovation strategies are used as markers in the program of inclusive water provision. The study’s objective is to map the processes of social innovation in an effort to highlight the role of marginalised communities in their access to the right to water. Design/methodology/approach The paper approached the study using a case study design, and thereafter, constructivist grounded theory was used to further delve into the comparative cases. To map the processes of social innovation, the case study design was seen to be appropriate, as it sequenced activities in a time-series analysis. From these two case studies, four comparative cases were used to pinpoint path-breaking transition in the pathway analysis. The methods used in both phases were, namely, in-depth interviews, observations and document analysis, and these were complemented by field notes. Findings The paper indicates an opportunity to use emergent patterns for a more context-specific analysis of WSS projects in marginalised communities. It advances the role of marginalised communities as vital stakeholders in the approach described as “the right to the city”. The model of spatial appropriation brings to the fore the binary yet separate processes that stakeholders engage in. Research limitations/implications Owing to the use of a grounded theory model, the results may not be transferable to other contexts. Therefore, further testing of the proposed pathway analysis and model is encouraged, as this model suggests ways of ensuring full community engagement which would result in greater success in projects involving marginalised communities. Practical implications The paper has implications for both the government and communities, in that more deliberate roles for the community-based organisation in the conceptualisation of WSS projects can lead to social learning opportunities for government institutions and greater success in implementation. Originality/value The paper justifies the need for government institutions to map and evaluate WSS projects using emergent patterns to highlight the role of marginalised communities as their right to the city.


Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802199470
Author(s):  
Catalina Pollak Williamson

Drawing on the politicised history of Public Conveniences in England since the 19th century, this paper traces the socio-political motives for their provision and for their gradual withdrawal in recent decades. It discusses the effects these developments have had on public mobility, and the socio-political complexity these infrastructures pose to city-making agendas. In particular, the essay highlights the notions of stigma associated with these spaces in relation to gender, body-politics and control, which led to a lack of political interest in their provision and a pattern of closures that began in the Thatcher era and has continued through later times of economic austerity. To unfold these arguments, the essay examines a series of initiatives put forward to reclaim for public use a derelict toilet in the centre of London: from the concept of an interactive site-specific intervention to raise awareness of its closure, to a campaign for its listing as an Asset of Community Value, to contest its privatisation. This case study is used to address the spatial stigma that public toilets carry as a contested locus of public sanitation and, furthermore, to highlight important questions surrounding their provision in the context of contemporary citizen-driven urban agendas. To articulate this argument, the case study exemplifies how critical spatial practices can operate as a form of pedagogical urban praxis for awareness-raising and citizen engagement, advancing a Lefebvrian ‘right to the city’ against hegemonic neoliberal agendas.


2021 ◽  
pp. 263-286
Author(s):  
Pedro Malpica

The notion —clearly inspired by Lefebvre— according to which public works have per se a coercive character that curtails the inhabitants’ right to the city, should not be applied when evaluating certain infrastructures which actually improve the livability of the urban space, such as those promoting urban cycling. Considering this possible error, it is necessary to examine the repeated exceptions that Lefebvre himself enunciates throughout his work when he characterizes some types of urban intervention that, when fulfilling certain conditions, contribute to the resignification and reappropiation of urban space. We here pursue not only to enumerate these notes by Lefebvre, but to illustrate them taking as a model an urban intervention of great repercussion such as the infrastructure for the promotion of urban cycling in the city of Seville in the first decade of the 21st century, and applying such Lefebvrian contributions to its characteristics. In the confrontation of the different space-producing strategies, some infrastructures —such as the one addressed in this case study— guarantee the right to the city, instead of being, as could be argued from a superficial reading of Lefebvre’s analysis, an element that restricts that right.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Rosalina Burgos

Partindo do entendimento acerca da importância dos caminhos metodológicos da pesquisa qualitativa no âmbito da Geografia, e do posicionamento acadêmico e social do pesquisador na definição do tema, método e metodologia de pesquisa, destaca-se a relação intrínseca entre a natureza qualitativa e quantitativa dos fenômenos analisados. Esta reflexão é tecida com base na temática acerca das possibilidades de pensar e agir pelo direito à cidade, tendo como estudo de caso o processo recente de valorização e segregação espacial da cidade de Sorocaba.Palavras chave: pesquisa qualitativa, valorização espacial, segregação espacial, direito à cidade, cidade de Sorocaba. ABSTRACTBased on the understanding of the importance of methodology of qualitative research in Geography, and academic and social position of the researcher in the theme definition, method and research methodology, in the relationship between qualitative and quantitative analysis on the essence of phenomena. This reflection is based on the theme of the possibilities of thinking and acting for the right to the city, taking as a case study the recent process of spatial valorization of the city of Sorocaba.Key words: qualitative research, valorization of the space, spatial segregation, the right to the city, city of Sorocaba


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (30) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
Zulfa Harirah

The basic idea of this article is to examine the policy advocacy process on Winongo settlement arrangement riverbanks in Yogyakarta. Problems settlements along the river Winongo become increasingly critical as more densely populated to cause the symptoms of poverty and slums. This condition is then ignited the presence Arkom and FKWA to show arrangement ideas through policy advocacy process. Therefore, this article will focus on answering two things, there are how the coalition framework was formed and how the coalition manage their belief system, resources and strategies. To answer that questions above, this research was escorted by theory Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) of Sabatier and Jenkins Smith. Through the case study method, this research will explore the case of advocacy of policies Winongo settlement on the riverbanks. The results of the research shows that there are two coalitions in structuring settlements along the river Winongo, they are River coalitions and “Right to the city” coalition. Both are proven to stand on two legs, as a member of the coalition and as a policy broker. This shows that the policy is not just a stage of systemic and technocratic, but the policy is a political process that allows each actor to act politically.


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