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.
Highlights
66% of the urban population today live in slums or informal settlements
The literature indicates that temporary appropriation (TA) is a key concept related to the informal use of public space
Intended as multi-disciplinary and multi-scalar research, the present paper explores the way in which TA could be interpreted as an emergence assemblage product of other assemblages such as the cultural, the legal and urban design landscape of what DeLanda (2016) describes as a highly coded city
Summary
66% of the urban population today live in slums or informal settlements This proportion is expected to increase to 70% by 2050, whilst the total urban population will include 80% of the world population (United Nations, 2014). It is claimed that TA of the urban landscape plays a decisive role in sustainability in its social dimension (Seghezzo, 2009; Ramírez Kuri, 2010; Devlin, 2017; Lara-Hernandez and Melis, 2018; Marx and Kelling, 2018) Consistent with this premise, its relevance will grow in conjunction with the dramatic growth of the informal part of the urban population
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