Who Built this City?
"The right to the city is like a cry and a demand . . . [it] cannot be con-ceived of as a simple visiting right or as a return to traditional cities. It can only be formulated as a transformed and renewed right to urban life . . . as long as the "urban [is the] place of encounter, priority of use value, inscription in a space of a time promoted to the rank of a supreme resource among all resources."
- Lefebvre (1996: 158)
The city has always been a battle ground. It is a fight to who belongs, when the truth of the matter is that everyone belongs. I have always found it incredibly interesting the different demographics of people that inhabit the most interconnected portions of the city.
There always seems to be a minority being pushed out that had the original roots established in the city. This is followed by the richer folks who swoop in and think they have some authority over the existing cityscape (cue the developers) There is a right to urban life that seems to be pushed under the rug.
This is where I have a hard time with gentrification, modernity versus vernacular, and politics in general.
If everyone has a right to the city, how can we create a set of parameters so everyone gets along, we respect the past, and we pave the future expansions and developments for the benefit of the citizens? There is always going to be a continual cycle of city ownership that architects need to be more thoughtful towards.
Thanks for putting Starship on loop in my head Jess. The quote you used is thought provoking, especially the inscription of time. Just as Starship is on loop, it seems that the cycle of rights to the city will be present: simply it is more recognizable in some instances of time compared to others.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I came for the mullets but stayed for the content and was not disappointed! It is really interesting the amount of different demographics that all seem to congregate in cities. It is the epitome of the "United States Melting Pot" analogy from so long ago. But there does need to be so much more attention brought to the restoration of cities and the pushing out of the lower class. I refuse to believe that these need to be synonymous.
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