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The Spatial Features and Temporality of Urban Alternatives

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Enabling Urban Alternatives

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Abstract

The chapter uses the physical features of urban space and the temporalities of their ‘life cycles’ as a lens to analyse two cases from Milan where spatiotemporal gaps have been used for reappropriation and reinvention by self-organised actors and subsequently institutionalised. Following the work of Bernardo Secchi, the contemporary city is seen as a palimpsest on which uses and practices are continually grafted in complex and mutual relations, creating an irreducible ensemble of contingent processes, relations, and materialities. The differentiated tempos and rhythms implied by these processes mean that the material city changes more slowly than the ways in which it is used. The spatiotemporal gaps thus created give rise to occasions for the reinvention of urban possibilities and hence for the creation of urban alternatives.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    There are three types of space: pre-ordered, determined by history and social culture; semi-ordered, in which we can intervene, modifying its organisation according to our needs; and informal, for which the human sense of space and distance is not static but dynamic because it is connected to action (Hall, 1966).

  2. 2.

    Hall codifies three types of distance: intimate, personal, and social and public (Hall, 1966).

  3. 3.

    Jan Gehl is an architect, professor of urban design, Director of the Centre for Public Space Research at the Architecture School of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, and founding member of Gehl Architects—Urban Quality Consultants.

  4. 4.

    The effects can be seen of the height of a balcony on long-distance relationships, the dimensions of a wall, or the spatial organisation of a piazza. Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space (1980–1987) is a methodical analysis of observations of social activities in the urban public space, based on research conducted in the 1970s.

  5. 5.

    For in-depth discussion of the city, practices, and populations, see Pasqui (2008).

  6. 6.

    See Brenner, Marcuse, and Mayer (2009).

  7. 7.

    This topic has been reprised in Oswalt, Overmeyer, and Misselwitz (2013).

  8. 8.

    Discussion of this case study can be found in Bruzzese (2010a).

  9. 9.

    In 1997, the Vinex programme was initiated, which envisaged the construction of 30,000 new homes in Leidsche Rijn, near Utrecht. The intervention of huge proportions targets an increase of 80,000 inhabitants by 2025 in a city of about 300,000 and keeps with the long Dutch tradition of large-scale housing projects. The Master Plan by the firm Max Wan, in collaboration with Michelle Provoost and Wouter Vanstiphout from the firm Crimson, was completed in 1995 and is known for its innovative content. It was accompanied by a project, in collaboration with institutions and the artistic sphere, to develop a public art programme that would construct “places” and give a particular sense and meaning to public space.

  10. 10.

    The pedestrianisation process in New York is recounted in the video The Metamorphosis of New York Streets, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osn0QmGBcrw

  11. 11.

    Social Streets in Italy were born in 2013 from the experiences of the Facebook group “Residents of Via Fondazza—Bologna”. “The objective of Social Street is to socialise with neighbours on your own street in order to establish connections, share needs, exchange professional skills and knowledge, advance collective projects of common interest, and enjoy all the benefits of increased social interaction” (www.socialstreet.it). In little more than a year, there were more than 300 Social Streets in Italy.

  12. 12.

    Industries in Lambrate include: Innocenti, which produced the historic Lambretta from 1947 to 1971; the manufacturing of Richard Ginori, known for the production of porcelain and ceramics; Colombo and the Dropsa lubricant factory, both of which treated special steel; the pharmaceutical company Bracco; and Faema, specialist in the production of coffee machines that had 96 branches throughout Italy.

  13. 13.

    The surface area occupied by the industry is equal to 12.8% of the urbanised territory and 5% of the average countryside (Piano di Governo del Territorio del Comune di Milano, 2012. Piano dei Servizi. Allegato 3. Le 88 Schede NIL).

  14. 14.

    In 1977, the brand Faema, after merging with the Cimbali Group, moved its production factories outside Milan, thus liberating the spaces in via Ventura; Innocenti, in crisis since the mid-1970s after fluctuating fortunes, sales, and mergers, closed its establishments in Lambrate in 1993.

  15. 15.

    Fuorisalone is a set of initiatives, events, trade fairs, and creative activities that occur in the city during Milan’s annual International Furniture Fair (Salone del Mobile), which takes place at the fairgrounds. At the beginning of the 1980s, this was a spontaneous phenomenon involving only young and emerging designers, seeking alternative locations around the city. Year after year the trend gradually expanded, giving birth in the 1990s to the “Fuorisalone” as it is now called: a large number of events that take place in industrial spaces, streets, showrooms, and galleries in several districts of Milan. In 2017, it attracted more than 350,000 visitors.

  16. 16.

    These are an association of retirees, an association experimenting with beekeeping and new forms of design, a cooperative that works with the disabled, and an Italian-Chinese cooperation association. For more information, visit: https://giardinosanfaustino.com.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Antonella Bruzzese

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  1. Antonella Bruzzese
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Correspondence to Antonella Bruzzese .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Danish Centre for Rural Research, University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg, Denmark

    Jens Kaae Fisker

  2. Urban Studies URBEUR, University of Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy

    Letizia Chiappini

  3. University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW, Australia

    Lee Pugalis

  4. Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Antonella Bruzzese

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Bruzzese, A. (2019). The Spatial Features and Temporality of Urban Alternatives. In: Fisker, J., Chiappini, L., Pugalis, L., Bruzzese, A. (eds) Enabling Urban Alternatives. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1531-2_10

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