A progressive sense of place and the open city: Micro-spatialities and micro-conflicts on a north London council estate

Steve Pile; Edanur Yazici; Susannah Cramer-Greenbaum; Michael Keith; Karim Murji; John Solomos

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103810

A progressive sense of place and the open city: Micro-spatialities and micro-conflicts on a north London council estate

Steve Pile, Edanur Yazici, Susannah Cramer-Greenbaum, Michael Keith, Karim Murji, John Solomos

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Doreen Massey’s progressive sense of place (2005) and Richard Sennett’s ethical case for the open city (2018) rely on seeing space as open. It is openness that guarantees an open future, an openness to others, and the possibility of a progressive politics. Curiously, the Garden City, for both, becomes a test case for a progressive sense of the open city. For Massey, her lived experience of growing up in Wythenshawe reveals both the possibility of, and also the undermining of, the possibility of creating a progressive sense of place. In contrast, Sennett sees the Garden City, for all its progressive elements, as ultimately blocking new ways of dwelling in the city. The Garden City, for him, is too closed to provide a progressive sense of place. In north London, we discover a hidden Garden City, with secret gardens. Its micro-spatialities – and its micro-conflicts – enable us to rethink both these accounts of a progressive sense of place and of the open city. Rather than seeing openness in a physical infrastructure of space and place, we wish to emphasize the openness and closedness that emerges from the ways the people encounter, manage and dispute the microspatialities of everyday life on the estate.

Original language	English
Article number	103810
Journal	Geoforum
Volume	144
Early online date	26 Jun 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103810
Publication status	Published - 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This paper is an output of the Open City project, funded by the ESRC: Project Reference ES/T009454/1. We would like to thank all our participants for their time and engagement with the research, and also Camden Council, Hampstead Theatre and The Winch for their cooperation and support throughout. The Editors and Referees critical engagement with early drafts of the paper have undoubtedly focused and improved its content and argument. We have also presented variations of this paper at the annual conferences of the Association of American Geographers and the Royal Geographical Society as well as at seminars within the Open University. We would like to thank the audiences for their comments and questions.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s)

Keywords

Progressive sense of place
Open city
Micro-spatialities
Micro-conflicts
Social housing
Garden cities

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103810Licence: CC BY

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718523001367

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Cite this

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title = "A progressive sense of place and the open city: Micro-spatialities and micro-conflicts on a north London council estate",

abstract = "Doreen Massey{\textquoteright}s progressive sense of place (2005) and Richard Sennett{\textquoteright}s ethical case for the open city (2018) rely on seeing space as open. It is openness that guarantees an open future, an openness to others, and the possibility of a progressive politics. Curiously, the Garden City, for both, becomes a test case for a progressive sense of the open city. For Massey, her lived experience of growing up in Wythenshawe reveals both the possibility of, and also the undermining of, the possibility of creating a progressive sense of place. In contrast, Sennett sees the Garden City, for all its progressive elements, as ultimately blocking new ways of dwelling in the city. The Garden City, for him, is too closed to provide a progressive sense of place. In north London, we discover a hidden Garden City, with secret gardens. Its micro-spatialities – and its micro-conflicts – enable us to rethink both these accounts of a progressive sense of place and of the open city. Rather than seeing openness in a physical infrastructure of space and place, we wish to emphasize the openness and closedness that emerges from the ways the people encounter, manage and dispute the microspatialities of everyday life on the estate.",

keywords = "Progressive sense of place, Open city, Micro-spatialities, Micro-conflicts, Social housing, Garden cities",

author = "Steve Pile and Edanur Yazici and Susannah Cramer-Greenbaum and Michael Keith and Karim Murji and John Solomos",

note = "Funding Information: This paper is an output of the Open City project, funded by the ESRC: Project Reference ES/T009454/1. We would like to thank all our participants for their time and engagement with the research, and also Camden Council, Hampstead Theatre and The Winch for their cooperation and support throughout. The Editors and Referees critical engagement with early drafts of the paper have undoubtedly focused and improved its content and argument. We have also presented variations of this paper at the annual conferences of the Association of American Geographers and the Royal Geographical Society as well as at seminars within the Open University. We would like to thank the audiences for their comments and questions. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s)",

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AU - Keith, Michael

AU - Murji, Karim

AU - Solomos, John

N1 - Funding Information: This paper is an output of the Open City project, funded by the ESRC: Project Reference ES/T009454/1. We would like to thank all our participants for their time and engagement with the research, and also Camden Council, Hampstead Theatre and The Winch for their cooperation and support throughout. The Editors and Referees critical engagement with early drafts of the paper have undoubtedly focused and improved its content and argument. We have also presented variations of this paper at the annual conferences of the Association of American Geographers and the Royal Geographical Society as well as at seminars within the Open University. We would like to thank the audiences for their comments and questions. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)

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N2 - Doreen Massey’s progressive sense of place (2005) and Richard Sennett’s ethical case for the open city (2018) rely on seeing space as open. It is openness that guarantees an open future, an openness to others, and the possibility of a progressive politics. Curiously, the Garden City, for both, becomes a test case for a progressive sense of the open city. For Massey, her lived experience of growing up in Wythenshawe reveals both the possibility of, and also the undermining of, the possibility of creating a progressive sense of place. In contrast, Sennett sees the Garden City, for all its progressive elements, as ultimately blocking new ways of dwelling in the city. The Garden City, for him, is too closed to provide a progressive sense of place. In north London, we discover a hidden Garden City, with secret gardens. Its micro-spatialities – and its micro-conflicts – enable us to rethink both these accounts of a progressive sense of place and of the open city. Rather than seeing openness in a physical infrastructure of space and place, we wish to emphasize the openness and closedness that emerges from the ways the people encounter, manage and dispute the microspatialities of everyday life on the estate.

AB - Doreen Massey’s progressive sense of place (2005) and Richard Sennett’s ethical case for the open city (2018) rely on seeing space as open. It is openness that guarantees an open future, an openness to others, and the possibility of a progressive politics. Curiously, the Garden City, for both, becomes a test case for a progressive sense of the open city. For Massey, her lived experience of growing up in Wythenshawe reveals both the possibility of, and also the undermining of, the possibility of creating a progressive sense of place. In contrast, Sennett sees the Garden City, for all its progressive elements, as ultimately blocking new ways of dwelling in the city. The Garden City, for him, is too closed to provide a progressive sense of place. In north London, we discover a hidden Garden City, with secret gardens. Its micro-spatialities – and its micro-conflicts – enable us to rethink both these accounts of a progressive sense of place and of the open city. Rather than seeing openness in a physical infrastructure of space and place, we wish to emphasize the openness and closedness that emerges from the ways the people encounter, manage and dispute the microspatialities of everyday life on the estate.

KW - Progressive sense of place

KW - Open city

KW - Micro-spatialities

KW - Micro-conflicts

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DO - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103810

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

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VL - 144

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M1 - 103810

ER -

A progressive sense of place and the open city: Micro-spatialities and micro-conflicts on a north London council estate

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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