scholarly journals The right to the virtual city: Rural retreatism in open-world video games

2020 ◽  
pp. 146144482091711
Author(s):  
Jack Denham ◽  
Matthew Spokes
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Virtual World ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Virtual Spaces ◽  
Open World ◽  
Virtual City ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

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.

Placemaking and the right to the city of urban poor: a case studyin Sanandaj, Iran

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-528
Author(s):  
Kayoumars Irandoost ◽  
Milad Doostvandi ◽  
Todd Litman ◽  
Mohammad Azami
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Social Production ◽  
Production Of Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

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.

Identifying path-breaking transitions for Kenya’s marginalised communities in water and sanitation provision

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-699
Author(s):  
Wairimu Maina ◽  
Andre van Graan
Keyword(s):  
Pathway Analysis ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Case Study Design ◽  
Government Institutions ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

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.

scholarly journals Pedaleando con Lefebvre por el carril-bici de Sevilla. Por qué no debemos presuponer que las infraestructuras públicas restringen por defecto el derecho a la ciudad.

2021 ◽  
pp. 263-286
Author(s):  
Pedro Malpica
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Public Works ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Urban Intervention ◽  
Urban Cycling ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The One ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

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.

scholarly journals PESQUISA QUALITATIVA: REFLEXÕES GEOGRÁFICAS A PARTIR DE UM ESTUDO DE CASO SOBRE AS CONTRADIÇÕES URBANAS DA CIDADE DE SOROCABA – SP / Qualitative Research: Geographic Considerations from a Case Study on Urban Contradictions of the City of Sorocaba - SP

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 145
Author(s):  
Rosalina Burgos
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

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

scholarly journals Accessibility and mobility deficiencies of line 2 RUTA, case of San Ramón, Puebla

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Elizabeth PÉREZ-UROZA ◽  
María Lourdes GUEVARA-ROMERO ◽  
Stephanie Scherezada SALGADO-MONTES
Keyword(s):  
Public Transport ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Participatory Management ◽  
Transport Services ◽  
Neighbourhood Level ◽  
Urban Accessibility ◽  
Pedestrian Infrastructure ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

Deficient accessibility and mobility conditions can create exclusion, which is why, when planning a mass transport system, it is necessary to analyse them at the neighbourhood level in order to guarantee the right to the city and access to public transport. The objective of this article is to show how the deficiencies of urban accessibility in line 2 of the RUTA system, in the case study of the San Ramón colony, Puebla, since the necessary pedestrian infrastructure conditions were not considered, which causes difficulties in pedestrian mobility to access public transport. This situation was confirmed by the disappearance of the urban routes that provided transport services in the colony. The action-research methodology was implemented through successive approaches in the theoretical, physical-spatial and legal spheres. The analysis was carried out through the application of a diagnostic instrument to evaluate urban accessibility, workshops with focus groups to identify the perception of inhabitants and users, interviews with key actors and multilevel matrices of legal instruments, with the aim of making recommendations that include participatory management.

Social Power and the Urbanization of Water

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Swyngedouw
Keyword(s):  
Potable Water ◽  
Social Power ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Social Struggle ◽  
Metabolic Transformation ◽  
The Right ◽  
And Control ◽  
The City

Taking as his case-study the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, where 600,000 people lack easy access to potable water, Erik Swyngedouw aims to reconstruct, theoretically and empirically, the political, social, and economic conduits through which water flows, and to identify how power relations infuse the metabolic transformation of water as it becomes urban. These flows of water which are simultaneously physical and social carry in their currents the embodiment of myriad social struggles and conflicts. The excavation of these flows narrates stories about the city's structure and development. Yet these flows also carry the potential for an improved, more just, and more equitable right to the city and its water. The flows of power that are captured by urban water circulation also suggest that the question of urban sustainability is not just about achieving sound ecological and environmental conditions, but first and foremost about a social struggle for access and control; a struggle not just for the right to water, but for the right to the city itself.

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