U r b a n r o o m s o f S a r a j e v o : Tr a n s f o r m i n g u r b a n p u b l i c s p a c e s u s i n g i n t e r i o r d e s i g n t o o l s
The transition from socialism to capitalism
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“(Social) space is a (social) product” (Lefebvre, 1974)
Public space is highly dependent on the society or social formation within which it is located (Castells, 1977). Consequently, shifts from one socioeconomic system to another strongly influence the creation and further transformation of public spaces that are already in use. A number of scholars (Zukin, 1995), (Harvey, 1990), (Soja, 1989) have addressed the consequences of the shift to a neo-liberal economy, or hyper-capitalism (Piven, 2007), for urban space from the Western or Eurocentric perspective. In the West, the shift to a neoliberal economy resulted in a change in the methods of production in urban areas. Large scale industries have been replaced with small-scale production, characterised by clean and advanced technology. For economic reasons, heavy industry was moved to Third World countries, leaving behind vacant lots in strategic positions within the urban fabric. Production sites have been transformed into consumption sites: shopping malls, entertainment parks or high-density housing (such as Docklands in London, or HafenCity in Hamburg). Lefebvre critically assessed the measurement and control of space as a specific expression of the capitalist method of production, which results in abstract and fragmented spaces, highly developed exploitation, and carefully monitored passivity (Lefebvre, 2003). In the Western world, the shift to neo-liberalism coincided with a transition from the modernist to postmodernist conception of space. This change was visible in the city’s architectural styles, functional distribution, and scale. To summarise the complex subject of postmodern urbanism: large-scale modernist master planning was substituted with small-scale, 135
