The Help-yourself City: Legitimacy and Inequality in DIY Urbanism

The Help-yourself City: Legitimacy and Inequality in DIY Urbanism
ISBN-10
0190691336
ISBN-13
9780190691332
Category
Social Science
Pages
248
Language
English
Published
2018
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Author
Gordon C. C. Douglas

Description

When cash-strapped local governments fail to provide adequate services, and planning policies prioritize economic development over community needs, how do concerned citizens respond? In The Help-Yourself City, Gordon Douglas looks closely at the people who take urban planning into their ownhands, dubbed "do-it-yourself urban design." Through in-depth interviews with do-it-yourselfers, professional planners, and community members, as well as participant observation, photography, media, and policy analysis, Douglas demonstrates that many do-it-yourselfers employ professional techniquesand expertise to enable and inspire their actions. He argues that many unauthorized interventions are created from a position of privilege, where legal repercussions are unlikely, while people from disadvantaged communities where improvements may be most needed face disincentives to taking suchactions themselves.Presenting a needed social analysis of this growing trend, while connecting it to debates on inequality, citizenship, and contemporary urban political economy, The Help-Yourself City tells a street-level story of people's relationships to their surroundings and the individualization of democraticresponsibility.

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