Great reading! Above is a picture I took at one of our jobs in Fisher Island, Florida. It's amazing how accustomed we get to what we think is the norm. My thoughts on the article of "Outside, in the presence of Strangers" is that perhaps the public realm has not been lost, but it has evolved to a different plateau or different shape. We no longer have to be out of the heaven of our homes to be exposed. This blog for example out of the security of my home is allowing me to be part of the public realm. Virtual spaces like "You Tube or My space", etc. are creating a different type of experiences. They lack touch, smell, interaction. This exposure creates a mask of unending experiences. Companies like Bacardi and Apple are paying as well as users to be on spaces such as "Second life".As I read thru "Inside, policing boundaries" I concurred on the existence of the three general types of gated communities (Lifestyle, Elite and Security Zone), but I could think of a fourth one (The Real Estate). The Real Estate type of gated community is very similar to the Security Zone, except that it could occur within existing good neighborhoods. This Real Estate gated community is typically the result of an area located within a City Hub where it was abandoned or allowed to deteriorate due to economic shifts or industrial moves. Realtors as well as Citizens have organized to create physical boundaries and limit the economic market to boost the sales price of the dwellings. Ultimately, the end result is to recuperate what was once lost to the local economy.
The creation of gated communities is also the result of social migration to this Nation. Miami has a fairly recent municipality (El Doral) created as a result of families immigrating from economic and political challenges in Central and South America. Developers utilize marketing tactics to take advantage of buyers by claiming land scarcity. McKenzie's analysis of developments reacting to land scarcity is an item that developers have exploited to get the best Bang for your Buck!
"The City-Shaping Category" "Both old downtowns that have been revitalized and new edge cities display the qualities of increasingly policed versions of Public space". Cities such as London with their CCTV monitoring makes me feel like the citizens don't have permission to freely participate in the public realm. What if I wanted to stand on top of a bench? I probably couldn't because of Prickly space, and if I was able to, the little camera will have me running away from the black hats! Regardless, it's a Great City, if you haven't been, try to see it in this lifetime.
The Private and The Public - "The putatively private realm of the home often affords less privacy to women than to men" and "The prevalence of black women's employment as domestics, where the norm was the public place of employment". I would tend to disagree with this comment, perhaps half a century ago I think it would be a valid point. The dwellings of today have changed so contracted domestics maids are no longer part of the middle or upper class, only the super rich. Perhaps if you live in one of the countries of the Americas, the possibility for maid service still affordable. I think that we could all see this in the way the floor plan for new dwellings have changed, our floor spaces and kitchens have been reorganized to plans of open flow.
Page 364 "describes the notion of privacy as a simple screen for oppression. The statement of home is idealized as a place of nurturance and Safety". As I mentioned on my opening paragraph, people or citizens exposed themselves within the security of their homes to virtual space. This is a revert of what we think the norm is. We are living the public realm on a virtual world, products like MP3 players, cell phones, etc. are actually making us create portable private spaces on what is considered the public life. This is further impeding us from interacting as a society.
IV. Theorizing Change. this section should include diagrams or a few Glenlivet! for now I could tell you all that as "Metropolitanist Critique" suggests, regional decision making by small municipalities and neighborhood assemblies are more empowering by far. As a result of their involvement and up keeping of the neighborhood, the community is emotionally encouraged to come out and do their yards, chat with their neighbors, attend regularly scheduled events, exercise and casual conversation with walking strangers.
4 comments:
The "real estate" walled community is an interesting addition. Boston's Back Bay certainly has no physical barriers around it (except its adjacency to the Charles River and Storrow Drive), but you certainly know when you're "in it," and also to some extent when you're welcome in it. Newbury Street is a major boutique and restaurant row, and is home to tens of thousands of people every day. But go two blocks over to Commonwealth or Marlborough, and you know who belongs there and who doesn't.
Gentrification is a remarkable force. A community lies on the verge of death, but is healed, primarily by evicting or pricing out all of its original residents.
Excellent point! No physical barriers are required to experience segregation. The Geodemography of Boston is quite interesting. Even Newbury street, from Mass Ave. to the Boston Common is a walk that quickly reveals where you belong. If we think about the socio economic pockets that exist in Cities, then we should also not forget about the ethnic neighborhoods. The Chinatowns, Little Italys. What's also interesting to me about these settlements (if I may call it that) is that they don't pop up just in every region. Somehow their chosen location resemble their original terrain, climate and Architecture. Do they choose geographycal familiarity and Architecture to feel safe? or to easily make it recognizable? Like MacDonalds or the Pizza Huts of the world.
Well, like you said there are new “electronic” realms but sure thing I am fighting with the “impersonality” of i; I just don't get use to it. I still need the eye contact, the face gestures, the body language (witch is very much what Bickford was referring to a public realm….so I am hesitant of the electronic one!
I tend to partially agree that there is not need for “fiscal” barrier to delimitate a space. But you guys know that when we design a shopping center or a retail store, just the design of the floors have such an impact in how people will shop! So my tendency is to believe that there is always a “fiscal” barrier that limits / confines a space. It can be the graphic design, the color in a restaurant, or the presence of an “empty” police car. (reason for which I agree with Bickford in her theory of how certain policies might be creating social problems!).
Gus
I agree! The only thing I do in the virtual world is order things that will be too far to get. I am happily married and met my wife in College through a mutual friend. My best friend met his wife online in another country and got engaged over the web. I thought he was crazy! How could you know what's at the other end of the virtual link. Frank Lloyd Wright wrote he was moved to see that a little kid hugged an architectural element he used on one of his designs. Materials and human scale are a big hospitable factor in design. Good Architecture does not need to be expensive or for the super rich. Urban elements such as parks are great places for interactions without concern of each others social status.
Post a Comment