Political Elites, “Broken Windows”, and the Commodification of Urban Space

Abstract

This article seeks to uncover the reasons for acceptance of the “broken windows” hypothesis amongst New York City’s political elite. Previous critical approaches have generally sought to challenge broken windows by showing that it is empirically suspect. While such approaches are indispensable, they tend to avoid addressing the problem of why, despite its lack of empirical support, political elites continually endorse the broken windows hypothesis as if it were an indisputable, scientifically established truth. In order to address this problem and extend the critical literature, I utilize an interpretive approach based on political memos, press releases, and other political documents from the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations. Through an analysis of the official response to graffiti, unruly individuals and noise, I argue that broken windows is embraced by political elites insofar as it serves the interests of growth machines, which essentially seek to commodify and exploit urban spaces.