Tale VIII: Back Of House

Theory

Production Space

Lefebvre argues that in modern societies, when space as a whole enters into a modern, capitalist mode of production, it is used to produce surplus value. Land, underground resources, air and light above ground are all part of the productive forces and the products they produce.

Urban constructions where space has multiple networks of intercourse and exchange are likewise part of the means of production. The town and its various facilities (post offices, railway stations - warehouses, transport systems and services of all kinds) are all fixed capital. At the same time, the division of labour affects the spatial whole - and not just the ‘workspace’, nor the factory floor. The space as a whole becomes an object of productive consumption, as do the plants, factories, machines, raw materials and labour itself. He points out that the history of capitalism is one in which the bourgeoisie has constantly reinvented and exploited space; and that space, as an implicit element, has actually participated in the process of capitalist expansion and reproduction as a means of production.

The constitution of the urban environment is a product of historical notions of space, layered on top of each other to create the unique environment that contemporary inhabitants face.

keyword: Hierarchy/boundary/hidden production