scholarly journals The city as a common good

Author(s):  
Camila Marques Paes da Cunha ◽  
Luciana Márcia Gonçalves

The contemporary urbanization process in Brazil is directly related to the dynamics of the capitalist production mode. In this production mode the urban land, as well as habitation, become commodities – individual or collective consumer goods. With the increase in municipal autonomy back in the 1990s, along with the approval of the Statue of Cities in 2001, new tools for organization of urban territory and production of habitations were created. This work makes a brief analysis of the right to city’s trajectory, since the creation of such concept by Henri Lefebvre in the 1960s, until the concept’s appropriation by Brazilian legislation. Through bibliographical review, it relates the social role of property as means to grant the right to the city.

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Zieleniec

Henri Lefebvre is now established as one of the most important social theorists of the 20th century. Over a long life (b. 1901–d. 1991) he wrote and published prodigiously more than sixty books and several hundred articles on a range of issues and themes. His legacy and lasting impact not only includes being the most influential and seminal theorist on the reprioritization of space in social and critical analysis but also recognition for his contribution to the analysis of everyday life, modernity, the Right to the City, and the urban. He continues to influence and inspire research across a number of disciplines and fields; these include rural and regional studies, sociology, geography, politics, philosophy, and urban studies. Lefebvre’s commitment Marxism; his nondogmatic and humanist approach to the definition, discussion, extension, and application of key concepts; and his integration of those concepts into his various analyses of the rural and the city, of the state, of space and politics, and of modernity and everyday life led him to a conflicted relationship and at times marginalization within the structuralist-influenced French Academy and the Communist Party of France in which he was a member for thirty years. His anti-Stalinist stance and nonconformist opposition to the structural determinism prevalent within the party led to his expulsion, but throughout the 1960s, as professor of sociology at the University of Strasbourg and latterly at the new university at Nanterre, he became one of the most respected teachers and intellectuals inspiring and influencing the May 1968 student revolt. Lefebvre’s work after that, still influenced and committed to Marxist dialectics and critique, increasingly focused on the urban, the social production of space, everyday life, modernity, and the survival of capitalism. Of these his introduction of the concept of the right to the city and the social production of space have been immensely influential for a range of urban scholars and theorists and his work as a whole is being increasingly adopted, adapted, and extended by a variety of researchers of the city in a range of disciplines. The works selected below reflect Lefebvre’s long career and extensive corpus of work. However, only those books and articles that have been translated into English are included here. They represent his exegesis of Marxism and its application to a range of themes that were applied or are important for urban analysis. The secondary literature cited is organized thematically and while not comprehensive provides an overview of the expanding literature on, about, and applying Lefebvrian analysis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail Friendly

There has been considerable attention on Brazil’s experience in applying the right to the city, influencing the urban reform movement and subsequent legislation including the 1988 Constitution and the 2001 Statute of the City. While much is known about Brazil’s urban transformations, this article views this trajectory within debates on social citizenship, expanding the focus to show that property is integral to this debate. Through the lens of social citizenship, property rights and insurgency, this article traces Brazil’s right to the city debate through a focus on three issues: (1) the rights dimension of such debates; (2) the role of the social function of property in urban legislation; and (3) the role of insurgent planning evident in urban social movements. While property rights and land rights are often distanced from debates on social citizenship, the Brazil case provides evidence in which the two are clearly intertwined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Nazzal ◽  
Samer Chinder

In Lebanon, the social connections are undeniable and crucial. However, meeting places remain private such as houses, restaurants, malls, and beach resorts. This is mainly due to the shortage of public spaces in Lebanon resulting from lack of planning, regulations and awareness around the right to the city and the importance of public spaces. In main cities where land prices are so expensive, common practice has prioritized the use of land in real estate development, thus trumping other uses such as public and communal spaces.In the late 1990s, Lebanon saw the emergence of malls, which have arguably acted as alternatives to public spaces. Malls, with their wealth of food courts, restaurants, cinemas, and play areas, have become the new downtown for a portion of the Lebanese population. They are also considered safe, which is another important factor.In 2015, the percentage of green spaces in Lebanon has decreased to less than 13%. While the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of 9m2 of green space per capita (UN-HABITAT, 2016), Beirut has only 0.8m2.


2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-62
Author(s):  
Jacek Gądecki

This text addresses the significance and potential of municipal libraries. The author considers the results of research conducted to evaluate the network of municipal libraries in Kraków (a UNESCO City of Literature) and to prepare a strategy for a new cultural institution, the Kraków Library. He considers libraries in terms of “place.” The notion of “place” here involves both the urban dimension of a library (that is, its role and location in the city space) and the architectural sense (its interior and attractiveness). He attaches great importance to a library’s city-forming and culture-forming roles, and to the social role of the library as a “third place,” a place that is neither home nor work and in which diverse participants can undertake joint activities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter KUMER ◽  

Despite extensive research on the role arts districts play in the economic development of cities, little is known about the dynamics of social interactions within those districts and their impact on society. Drawing on 26 interviews with actors and stakeholders of arts districts in Ljubljana, this paper explores the role of arts districts in creating a just city. Four dimensions of such districts, which represent the meaningful themes that emerged from the data, are examined. The first dimension is the interrelationship of artists, cultural workers and activists. The second dimension encompasses mutual support and forms of self-governance, whereas the third dimension investigates the role arts districts play in the neighbourhood. The fourth dimension seeks to define the role of arts districts as part of urban development generally driven by capital. The results show that arts districts are important in the struggle for the right to the city. Actors from these districts are committed to addressing the causes of social inequality at their root via artist-led civic engagement activities.


GEOgraphia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (42) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Pedro Henrique de Mendonça Resende

Resumo: As três primeiras partes deste artigo apresentam três elementos que perpassam a sociedade brasileira contemporânea: os limites irreversíveis alcançados pela reprodução social do capital, as formas rentistas de acumulação capitalista da riqueza social e os obstáculos à realização do direito à cidade. Na quarta parte deste artigo os três elementos anteriormente apresentados são brevemente articulados por meio de apontamentos acerca de fenômenos e processos relacionados aos conflitos presentes na região das ocupações da Izidora, localizada na periferia norte da metrópole de Belo Horizonte.Palavras-chave: Crise de reprodução do capital. Rentismo. Direito à cidade. Conflito fundiário urbano. Ocupações da Izidora (Belo Horizonte/MG). CRISIS, RENTISM AND THE LIMITS TO THE RIGHT TO THE CITY TODAY IN BRAZILAbstract: The first three parts of this article present three elements that permeate contemporary Brazilian society: the irreversible limits currently achieved by the social reproduction of capital; the rentier forms of accumulation of capitalist social wealth; and the obstacles to the realization of the right to the city. In the fourth part of this article the three elements previously presented are briefly articulated by means of notes about phenomena and processes related to the conflicts in the region of occupations Izidora, located on the northern periphery of the metropolis of Belo Horizonte.Keywords: Crisis of capital reproduction. Rentierism. The right to the city. Urban land conflict. Region of occupations Izidora (Belo Horizonte/MG). CRISE, RENTISME ET LES LIMITES DU DROIT À LA VILLE AUJOURD’HUI AU BRÉSILRésumé: Les trois premières parties de cet article présentent trois éléments qui imprègnent la société brésilienne contemporaine: les limites irréversibles actuellement atteintes par la reproduction sociale du capital; les formes rentières de l’accumulation de la richesse sociale capitaliste; et les obstacles à la réalisation du droit à la ville. Dans la quatrième partie de cet article, les trois éléments précédemment présentés sont brièvement articulés à travers des notes sur les phénomènes et les processus liés aux conflits dans la région des occupations Izidora, situé à la périphérie nord de la métropole de Belo Horizonte.Mots-clés: Crise de la reproduction du capital. Rentisme. Le droit à la ville. Conflit foncier urbain. Région d’occupation Izidora (Belo Horizonte/MG). 


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77
Author(s):  
Ran Hirschl

Extensive urbanization and the consequent rise of megacities are among the most significant demographic phenomena of our time. Our constitutional institutions and constitutional imagination, however, have not even begun to catch up with the new reality. In this article, I address four dimensions of the great constitutional silence concerning the metropolis: ( a) the tremendous interest in cities throughout much of the social sciences, as contrasted with the meager attention to the subject in constitutional theory and practice; ( b) the right to the city in theory and practice; ( c) a brief account of what national constitutions actually say about cities, and more significantly what they do not; and ( d) the dominant statist stance embedded in national constitutional orders, in particular as it addresses the sovereignty and spatial governance of the polity, as a main explanatory factor for the lack of vibrant constitutional discourse concerning urbanization in general and the metropolis in particular.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-212
Author(s):  
Kirsten Campbell

AbstractThere is now a well-established ‘spatial turn in law’. However, it remains oriented towards notions of space rather than law. How, then, to capture both the spatiality of law and the legality of space? This article draws on Bruno Latour's concept of the legal construction of the ‘social’ to explore the assemblage of the city of law. It shows how law functions as a particular form of association in urban life by tracing two key forms of urban legal association in London, the city of law. The first form is ‘legal ordering’. This seeks to order urban life through domination, and includes citadel law, police law and laws of exception. The second is ‘legal consociations’, which build new forms of urban life, such as urban rights, the rights of the city and the right to the city. Finally, the article explores the creation of a spatial justice that can build more just legal associations.


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.


Author(s):  
Fernanda da Silva de Andrade Moreira ◽  
Karen de Nazareth Santos Nogueira

ANALYSIS OF URBAN PUBLIC SPACE: the case of Mangal das Garças ParkANÁLISIS DEL ESPACIO PÚBLICO URBANO: el caso del Parque Mangal das GarçasOs espaços públicos urbanos têm sido objeto de estudos frequentes, pois, são nesses espaços que ocorre a produção social da cidade. Entendem-se como espaços públicos, em seu sentido físico, a praça, a rua, os parques entre outros. O presente estudo tem como objetivo central analisar o espaço do Parque Mangal das Garças, investigando os conceitos de espaços públicos e suas novas formas de exteriorização, no intuito de perceber de que maneira a população de Belém o percebe como espaço público no seu sentido mais amplo: o de instrumento para a promoção do direito à cidade. A metodologia utilizada foi a de entrevista orientada com 20 transeuntes no dia 18 de setembro de 2017 aplicada sob o suporte teórico de estudiosos da área.Palavras-chave: Urbanização; Espaços Públicos; Produção Social; Acessibilidade.ABSTRACTThe urban public spaces have been the object of frequent study, since it is in these spaces that the social production of the city occurs. They are understood as public spaces, in their physical sense, the square, the street, the parks among others. This study aims to analyze the space of Mangal das Garças Park, investigating the concepts of public spaces, and their new forms of exteriorization, in order to understand how the population of Belém perceives it as a public space in its broadest sense the instrument for the promotion of the right to the city. The methodology used was an interview with 20 passers-by on September 18, 2017 applied to the theoretical support of scholars in the area.Keywords: Urbanization; Public Spaces; Social Production; Accessibility.RESUMENLos espacios públicos urbanos han sido objeto de estudio frecuente, pues, son en esos espacios que ocurre la producción social de la ciudad. Se entiende como espacios públicos, en su sentido físico, la plaza, la calle, los parques entre otros. Este estudio tiene como objetivo central analizar el espacio del Parque Mangal das Garças, investigando los conceptos de espacios públicos, y sus nuevas formas de exteriorización, con el fin de percibir de qué manera la población de Belén lo percibe como espacio público en su sentido más amplio : el de instrumento para la promoción del derecho a la ciudad. La metodología utilizada fue la de entrevista orientada con 20 transeúntes el día 18 de septiembre de 2017 aplicada al soporte teórico de estudiosos del área.Palabras clave: Urbanización; Espacios Públicos; Producción Social; Accesibilidad.


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