The Help-Yourself City

Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-0-19-069133-2
Verlag: ACADEMIC

Buch, Englisch, 264 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 567 g

When cash-strapped local governments fail to provide adequate services, and planning policies prioritize economic development over community needs, how do concerned citizens respond? In The Help-Yourself City, Gordon Douglas looks closely at the people who take urban planning into their own hands, dubbed "do-it-yourself urban design." Through in-depth interviews with do-it-yourselfers, professional planners, and community members, as well as participant observation, photography, media, and policy analysis, Douglas demonstrates that many do-it-yourselfers employ professional techniques and expertise to enable and inspire their actions. He argues that many unauthorized interventions are created from a position of privilege, where legal repercussions are unlikely, while people from disadvantaged communities where improvements may be most needed face disincentives to taking such actions themselves. Presenting a needed social analysis of this growing trend, while connecting it to debates on inequality, citizenship, and contemporary urban political economy, The Help-Yourself City tells a street-level story of people's relationships to their surroundings and the individualization of democratic responsibility.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Douglas

Douglas, Gordon C.C.

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Acknowledgements

- Chapter 1. Introduction

- Chapter 2. Constructive Deviance: What is DIY Urban Design? And What is it Not?

- Chapter 3. Individualizing Civic Responsibility: DIY Urban Design in the Help-Yourself City

- Chapter 4. "I'm an Expert on Public Space": Professional and Scholarly Knowledge at Work in DIY Urbanism

- Chapter 5. The Spatial Reproduction of Inequality: Social Privilege and Disadvantage in Creative Transgression

- Chapter 6. Pop-Up Planning: From Park(ing) Day to Parklet Dining, DIY Goes Official

- Chapter 7. Conclusions

- Appendix 1: Table of Projects

- Appendix 2: Postface: Methods and Research Design

- Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Gordon Douglas is Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at San José State University in California, where he is Director of the Institute for Metropolitan Studies. Born in England and raised in Northern California, he has also lived in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, and New York.