Abstract
Cities today face a context in which traditional politics and policies struggle to cope with increasing urbanisation rates and growing inequalities. Meanwhile, social movements and political activists are rising up and inhabiting urban spaces as sites of contestation. However, through their practices, urban activists do more than just occupy spaces; they are fundamental drivers of urban transformation as they constantly face—and contest—spatial manifestations of power. This article aims to contribute to ongoing discussions on the role of activism in the field of urban design, by engaging with two concepts coming from the Global South: <em>insurgency</em> and <em>autonomy</em>. Through a historical account of the building of the Potosí-Jerusalén neighbourhood in Bogotá in the 1980s, it illustrates how both concepts can provide new insight into urban change by activism. On the one hand, the concept of insurgency helps unpack a mode of bottom-up action that inaugurates political spaces of contestation with the state; autonomy, on the other hand, helps reveal the complex nature of political action and the visions of urban transformation it entails. Although they were developed at the margins of conventional design theory and practice, both concepts are instrumental in advancing our understanding of how cities are shaped by activist practices. Thus, this article is part of a broader effort to (re)locate political activism in discussions about urban transformation, and rethink activism as a form of urban design practice.
Highlights
The formal sector in cities across the world has strug‐ gled to respond to needs and crises in urban popula‐ tions
Relocating political activism in discussions about urban change helps rethink current design practices rising from below and suggests a shift from urbanist activism to activist urbanism; from activist agendas born out of design practices to design prac‐ tice emerging from activist agendas
The case of Potosí is an illustrative example of an activist design practice, it still needs to be brought into conversation with different experiences in other cities
Summary
The formal sector in cities across the world has strug‐ gled to respond to needs and crises in urban popula‐ tions. In 1983, a group of radical educators moved into the area and became part of the local community to mobilise peo‐ ple to obtain services and infrastructure Most of their activities focused on addressing local needs, their insurgent modes of political engagement with the state and other actors extended beyond the area and were instrumental in defining an autonomous form of urban design practice that brought significant changes to the wider district and the city. These concepts will be illustrated through the historical account of the building of Potosí‐Jerusalén in Bogotá Lessons from this case will be drawn to argue how insurgency and autonomy can shed new light on the way we understand activism as a driver of urban transfor‐ mation (or an urban design practice), and how Potosí is not an isolated example but part of a larger narrative of urban change based on informal practices that tend to be marginalised by those in power
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