Temporary Appropriation of Public Space As an Emergence Assemblage for the Future Urban Landscape: The Case of Mexico City

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5334/fce.53

Keywords:

Assemblage theory, temporary appropriation, urbanism, social sustainability, Mexico City

Abstract

Temporary appropriation (TA) is a re-emerging concept which occurs in the urban social landscape as a multidimensional phenomenon. Intended as multi-disciplinary and multi-scalar research, the present paper explores the way in which temporary appropriation could be interpreted as an assemblage product of other assemblages within the urban landscape. It, therefore, seeks to unravel and to re-think the nature of temporary appropriation through interconnected theoretical frameworks such as assemblage theory. Derived from the seminal work of Deleuze and Guattari (1989) and developed further by Manuel DeLanda (2016), assemblage theory focuses on the relations produced by the components of a whole rather than the components themselves. Thus, in the present paper, a diverse range of theories is combined together to conceptualise temporary appropriation as part of the urban landscape and as an emerging product of other assemblages such as culture, legal framework and urban design. These approaches are drawn together by illustrating Mexico City Centre as an example of a highly coded city in which these assemblages emerge. A representative sample street was selected as a case-study to analyse TA in relation to the streetscape design through participant observation and image analysis of the visual complexity of the streetscape. The paper concludes that assemblage theory could be used as a theoretical framework investigating urban-social phenomena. In addition, the study identified the visual complexity of the assemblage of the urban landscape that supports the greater diversity of TA.

Author Biographies

Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, University of Portsmouth

Mr J. Antonio Lara-Hernandez is a researcher at the University of Portsmouth focusing on urban social sustainability in cities and public space. Antonio contributes to the coordination of the Competition Unit that involves the Project Office and the Media Hub of the School of Architecture. He combines academic research with the practice working on architectural/urban design projects in heritage city centres with more than 5 years of experience. His research interests are focused on urban sustainability, resilience and urban metabolism.

Alessandro Melis, University of Portsmouth

Dr Alessandro Melis is a Senior Lecturer in the Portsmouth School of Architecture. He bridges sustainable urban development practice with academia. Previously, at the University of Auckland, he was Director of Postgraduate Engagement. He has been a guest professor in Vienna and in Germany. He has supervised PhD candidates for the last 6 years.

Steffen Lehmann, University of Portsmouth

Dr Steffen Lehmann is Senior Research Professor (permanent position) and Director of the Cluster for Sustainable Cities, leading the University-wide research theme Sustainable Urban Futures. He supervises PhD and post-doctoral research projects. He has been a full professor and Chair holder since December 2002 and has held senior leadership positions at universities in Australia and Europe; he was a Visiting Professor at UC Berkeley, TU-Munich, TU-Berlin and at Tongji and Tianjin universities in China.

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Published

2019-02-06

Issue

Vol. 5 (2019)

Section

Technical Articles

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