From ‘southern’ to ‘ordinary’

Abstract

This article discusses segregation in public space in southern European cities. As well as questioning the appropriateness of associating the concept of segregation with public space, it considers the possibilities and limits of using ‘southern’ and postcolonial urban theory in order to analyze cities in southern Europe. Drawing on long-standing research in Naples, the article reflects upon how two issues of global significance – migration and cultural heritage – have been implicated in the reordering of public spaces in the city’s historic centre. Besides accounting for the nuanced nature of spatial segregation in the city, the article argues that the notion of ‘ordinary’ is a more useful point of departure than ‘southern’, because it alerts us to the different exclusionary dynamics that exist both between and within cities in southern Europe.