Abstract
Abstract This paper examines images of desirable postgrowth communities pursued by activist architects in Bologna and Tokyo. Their visions are differently shaped by the distinct architectural and cultural environments in their respective cities. Nonetheless, they share an anti-growth, "beautifully poor" aesthetic that seems to challenge the dominant political values of liberal nations in the post-World War II era, redefining the democratic public in terms of spontaneity and conviviality. Conceptions of successful communities in rich countries have been shaped around the presumption that they must sustain citizens' material wellbeing by sustaining economic growth. But given the global environmental and social justice problems that have resulted from a single-minded focus on growth, we need new imaginaries of communities that can thrive without economic growth, especially in the global north. Decades of low to zero growth and demographic decline in Italy and Japan are forcing community stakeholders from elected officials to urban planners to confront the question of how to maintain good communities even where material affluence is irrevocably diminished. Keywords: degrowth, public space, urban planning, architecture, political ecology
Highlights
This paper examines images of desirable postgrowth communities pursued by activist architects in Bologna and Tokyo
Sometimes the degrowth aim is manifested as environmentally conscious campaigns to stop the expansion of "highways, airports, high speed trains and other infrastructures," the development of "decentralized, small scale and participatory alternatives" such as "cycling...co-housing, agro-ecology, eco-villages...[or] solidarity economy[ies]" (Demaria et al 2013: 201-202)
Since the 1990s, both Italy and Japan have endured more than twenty years of nearly stagnant economic growth, political paralysis and corruption at the national level leading to widespread cynicism among citizens
Summary
In the introduction to her book Eco-Republic, political philosopher Melissa Lane points out that even citizens and policymakers who accept scientific claims that the earth's climate is undergoing potentially devastating change are paralyzed when it comes to making effective choices about what action to take. Sometimes the degrowth aim is manifested as environmentally conscious campaigns to stop the expansion of "highways, airports, high speed trains and other infrastructures," the development of "decentralized, small scale and participatory alternatives" such as "cycling...co-housing, agro-ecology, eco-villages...[or] solidarity economy[ies]" (Demaria et al 2013: 201-202) Sometimes it is a scholarly "attempt to challenge...the growth-based roots of the social imaginary" The Bologna and Tokyo architects offer us a distinct perspective, in the sense that they are speaking from societies where the lengthy absence of meaningful economic growth means that a postgrowth future (whether desirable or disastrous) is already seen as the most likely outcome They assume, that any vision of the future they might offer must wrestle with degrowth; the questions they raise are not really about how to convince the public that degrowth is the proper aim. As I will detail in my account of the future communities they propose to me, I think these architects' imaginaries do not completely succeed in escaping the neoliberal value system they decry, but, even in the problematic limits of their visions, we may find ideas for moving toward a post-sacrifice degrowth future
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
