Everyday Urbanism and the Role of Civil Society in the Production of Public Spaces in Mexico Regina Orvañanos Murguía Wie Mexikos Zivilgesellschaft heute mit Alltagspraktiken des 'Everyday Urbanism' neue öffentliche Räume produziert Öffentliche Stadträume fabrizieren die Stadt und strukturieren diese. Ihre Produktion wird politisch und ideologisch vermittelt, sozial umkämpft und daher formbar. Die Schaffung und Unterhaltung öffentlicher Plätze sind Gelegenheiten um Zivilgesellschaft zu produzieren. In Mexiko bedrohen Gewalt und zügellose Stadtentwicklung den öffentlichen Raum. Die Krise hat in vielen Städten eine Bürgerbewegung hervorgebracht die bereit ist den öffentlichen Raum zu verteidigen. Der folgende Artikel reflektiert den Ursprung der Bewegung und ihren modus operandi. Er schildert die Ansprengungen gängige Stadtmodelle der Segregation, Privatisierung und Gewalt zu transformieren. Im Vordergrund steht die Strategie urbaner Alltagspraktiken (Everyday Urbanism). Diese sind in der Gesamtsumme vieler kleiner Eingriffe in der Lage, schier hoffnungslose Situationen umzuwandeln. Indem die Bürger so engagiert auf die Krise reagieren und ihre alltäglichen Räume gestalten, praktizieren sie sehr greifbar ihr Recht auf Stadt. Die Eingriffe haben nicht nur viele Städte verändert, sondern auch die Bürger. Mexikanische Stadträume fassen Aktionen und Reaktionen, (re-)politisieren den öffentlichen Raum und erzeugen geradeso Urbanität. Short summary Public spaces are elements that make up the city and give it a structure. Their production is politically and ideologically mediated, socially contested, and therefore malleable. The construction and management of public spaces create opportunities to produce citizenship. In Mexico, a crisis threatening public space caused by urban violence and unrestrained urban development, has generated civic movement willing to defend the public domain. The following article explores how the organized civil society in Mexican cities has become actively involved in the production of urban space and how this space operates. It describes the struggle of citizens to transform the current urban model. Through the approach of everyday urbanism, minute interventions accumulate to transform dreadful urban conditions. Citizens reconfiguring their everyday urban spaces practice their the right to the city, critically responding to a complex urban crisis. This activism has not only reshaped the city, but also citizens. Indeed in Mexican cities public space has become the articulator of actions and re-actions, re-politicizing public space and hence, through this act, creating urbanity.
Introduction Jordi Borja, a Catalonian urban sociologist, defines public spaces as the "elements that construct and structure the city". Another definition by UN-Habitat identifies them as spaces that are open and accessible to all people regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. These are public gathering spaces such as plazas, squares, and parks, as well as connecting spaces such as sidewalks and streets. Urban public spaces are back in the global urban agenda, nourished by movements such as New Urbanism and promoted by institutions like UN-Habitat. Mexico is also part of this debate, and while menaces such as insecurity and uncontrolled urban development threaten public space, social movements are willing to defend them. This article explores how civil society in Mexico is actively involved in the production of urban space and how small activities accumulate to transform the urban condition through the approach of everyday urbanism. It describes the struggle of civic groups to transform the current
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mainstream urban model, and its relevance for Mexico’s social climate.
Conceptual Background The theories of the social production of public spaces have been determined by critical urban theory, which emphasizes that the character of urban space is "politically and ideologically mediated, socially contested and therefore malleable". Henri Lefebvre defines three types of space: the perceived space (perçu), conceived space (conçu) and lived space (vécu). Perceived space relates to the passive experience of daily life, conceived space is the thought out domain of planning and order, and lived space is the "combination between perceived and conceived space"– a space that is creatively appropriated and thus worth living. Everyday Urbanism involves the right to change lived space and requires a permanent commitment from citizens. Producing urban space, for Lefebvre, involves the reproduction of the social relations within it, and Borja also
References • 8-80 Cities. (n.d.). Via RecreActiva Guadalajara. Retrieved 02 01, 2012, from 8-80 Cities: http://www.880cities.org/free_sun_cities_guadalajara.html • Borja, J. (1998, September). Ciudadanía y espacio público. Ambiente y Desarrollo , Vol. XIV. No. 3. pp. 13-22. • Brenner, N. (2009). What is critical urban theory? City. Vol 13 , 198-207. • Chase, J. (1999). Everyday Urbanism. The Monacelli Press. • CITA. (2012, 02 12). Camina Guadalajra V, Zurciendo la calzada. Retrieved 02 15, 2012, from camina Guadalajara: http://caminagdl.org/
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