Performing Urban Violence: Protest Theatre and Semi-Public Space in London and Cape Town

This article offers an account of two case studies of theatrical performance from London and Cape Town, both of which raise and interrogate the inter-related concepts of protest theatre and public space. A production of Tunde Euba’s play Brothers, by the Greenwich and Lewisham Young People’s Theater (GLYPT) in London (2013/14), and the contemporaneous theatrical work and awareness-raising campaigns of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) in Cape Town, both use theatrical performance to question, diagnose and protest multiple forms of violence perpetrated against marginalized urban populations, often at the hands of the state. In twenty-first-century neoliberal cities such as London and Cape Town, government and private forces collude to privatize their once public spaces, thus encroaching upon—if not entirely disappearing—venues that might be used for protesting against such forms of violence (see Garrett).i Meanwhile, those public spaces that do remain are, in the ongoing era of the “War on Terror,” increasingly subject to militarized policing strategies that place increased restrictions on large assemblies and free movement within cities, “particularly for members of darker-skinned groups” (Marcuse 264)

A Community-Based Participatory Action Research for Roma Health Justice in a Deprived District in Spain

Addressing health disparities and promoting health equity for Roma has been a challenge. The Roma are the largest disadvantaged ethnic minority population in Europe and have been the victims of deep social and economic injustices, institutional discrimination, and structural antigypsyism over many centuries. This has resulted in a much worse health status than their non-Roma counterparts. Current strategies based on ameliorative and top-down approaches to service delivery have resulted in paradoxical e_ects that solidify health disparities, since they do not e_ectively address the problems of vulnerable Roma groups. Following a health justice approach, we present a community-based participatory action research case study generated by a community and university partnership intended to address power imbalances and build collaboration among local stakeholders. This case study involved a group of health providers, Roma residents, researchers, Roma community organizations, and other stakeholders in the Poligono Sur, a neighborhood of Seville, Spain. The case study comprises four phases: (1) identifying Roma health assets, (2) empowering Roma community through sociopolitical awareness, (3) promoting alliances between Roma and community resources/institutions, and (4) building a common agenda for promoting Roma health justice. We highlighted best practices for developing processes to influence Roma health equity in local health policy agendas

Wspieranie pedagogiki demokratycznej? Budżet partycypacyjny w Lizbonie

Social participation is a tool to strengthen peoples’ autonomy and ability to decide upon public issues. It is also an educational and learning tool. In recent times, new forms of social participation have emerged such as the participatory budgets. These foster democratic participation and contribute to more transparent and efficient ways of governing. The participatory budget of Lisbon is an interesting example of municipal social organisation and participation involving learning. The main research question of this article is as follows: how is the participatory budget of Lisbon fostering social learning? Data collected by the use of semi-directed interviews and documental analysis showed that social learning occurred through peoples’ commitment and involvement in local public political issues. However it did not boost the development of an effective democratic participatory experienceU czestnictwo społeczne jest narzędziem wzmacniającym autonomię i zdolność decydowania o kwestiach publicznych. Jest to także narzędzie uczenia innych i uczenia się. W ostatnim czasie pojawiły się nowe formy partycypacji społecznej, takie jak budżety partycypacyjne. Wspierają one demokratyczny udział i przyczyniają się do bardziej przejrzystych i skutecznych sposobów rządzenia. Udział w budżecie w Lizbonie jest interesującym przykładem miejskiej organizacji społecznej i uczestnictwa w takiej edukacji. Główne pytanie badawcze tego artykułu przedstawia się następująco: jak budżet partycypacyjny w Lizbonie wspiera społeczne uczenie się? Dane zebrane przy użyciu częściowo ustrukturyzowanych wywiadów i analizy dokumentacji wykazały, że społeczne uczenie się pojawiło się dzięki zaangażowaniu ludzi w lokalne kwestie polityczne. Nie zwiększyło jednak znacząco doświadczenia w zakresie skuteczności demokratycznego uczestnictwa

Towards a sustainable community-supported green space system for Budapest

The idea of social justice as being intrinsic to landscape architecture can be traced back to Frederick Law Olmsted, who perceived urban parks as sites of egalitarian mingling of the classes, and fresh air and green space as a basic human right. Olmsted’s ideas were radical for his time; in the 21st century, in an increasingly urbanized world with a growing rich-poor gap, they are nothing short of urgent. The presence of accessible, safe, quality green space offers people the opportunity for active recreation, for enjoying clean air in an oasis far from city noise and traffic, and for outdoor socializing. Because property values and quality/quantity of green space are invariably strongly linked, shortage of green space is most frequently an issue in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Thus, shortage of green space means restricted opportunities for healthy outdoor recreation or social interaction, which means a lower quality of life for those who cannot afford neighbourhoods with significant private or public green space. Therefore, the question of how to increase the quantity and quality of green space in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods becomes, by nature, a social justice issue. The ownership and control of urban green space falls into three categories: private, public (municipal) and semi-private. This third category refers to shared urban green spaces, such as community gardens and courtyard commons. While these spaces may be designed with professional assistance, the initiative, sustainability and longterm maintenance are the responsibility of the residents who use the space. These spaces are semi-public in the sense that multiple families or groups use them, but semi-private in the sense that the user group is restricted either to the members of the organization who started the garden, or in the case of a courtyard common, the residents of the building. We can refer to this category as community-supported green spaces (CSGS), and they supply specific and important benefits to the urban population that are not provided by private or public green spaces. These include stronger social capital, improved health as a result of more time spent outside in active garden work, reduced crime, a higher level of stewardship and responsibility on the part of residents towards their environment, and more stable urban neighborhoods. Because of the interactive, participatory nature of both their planning and their ongoing maintenance and use, the gardens present a unique opportunity for citizens’ participation and democracy. CSGS can also be an innovative way of increasing the quantity of green space in neighbourhoods such as some of Budapest’s inner districts where per –person green space can be as low as half a square meter. My work since 2005, has been focused on making communitysupported green spaces not only an integral part of Budapest’s green space system but also a core element of landscape architecture education. The three key theories: By employing methods of participatory planning and community-based design, landscape architects are in a unique position to significantly improve the quality of life in disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods. Given the increasing gap between wealthy and poor and the rapid urbanization affecting the world’s population, addressing the significant difference in green space quantity/quality between rich and poor neighbourhoods is critical. Community-supported green spaces, such as community gardens, are inherently sustainable because their creators and users have a strong sense of ownership and responsibility towards them that they would not have for a public green space designed and built in the traditional top-down manner. CSGS have lower incidence of vandalism and also offer active ongoing uses – for instance, urban agriculture – not traditionally available in public parks. Participatory planning also gives a voice to populations not traditionally part of the decision-making process, and further contributes to building a democratic, transparent society. Implementing community design projects and theories of social justice in landscape architecture at the university level sensitizes the students at an early stage to contemporary urban planning and social issues, and enhances their planning skills. Learning participatory planning techniques, participating in real fieldwork involving community-based design and/or working with minorities, the economically disadvantaged or populations with various disabilities enhances their communications skills, strengthens their sensitivity as designers, builds critical thinking skills, and improves the quality of spaces they produce. Participatory planning then becomes a natural, seamlessly-integrated mainstream element of their approach as landscape architects, instead of an experimental, alternative methodology. The added social dimension also contributes to the profession’s overall value. Social justice as a dimension of landscape architecture education is slowly becoming part of many landscape architecture programs in the U.S., most notably the University of Washington’s design-build program and the University of Colorado Denver’s Learning Landscapes program. Many European landscape architecture faculties begin to take this approach as well, including the International Master’s of Landscape Architecture carried out jointly by Weihenstephan University of Applied Sciences and other institutes. In summer 2009, for example, the IMLA students carried out fieldwork at a Roma community in Slovakia. Connecting the three above theories: Landscape architecture education that includes participatory, community-based curriculum and fieldwork improves the quality of design and enhances the landscape architecture profession itself. It elevates the significance of the landscape architect’s role in the community, as well as improving the health, environmental quality and livability of our urban neighbourhoods through community-supported green spaces

Regulating and resisting queer creativity: community-engaged arts practice in the neoliberal city

This article draws from and advances urban studies literature on ‘creative city’ policies by exploring the contradictory role of queer arts practice in contemporary placemarketing strategies. Here I reflect on the fraught politics surrounding Radiodress’s each hand as they are called project, a deeply personal exploration of radical Jewish history programmed within Luminato, a Toronto-based international festival of creativity. Specifically, I explore how Luminato and the Koffler Centre, a Jewish organisation promoting contemporary art, regulated Radiodress’s work in order to stage marketable notions of ethnic and queer diversity. I also examine how and why the Koffler Centre eventually blacklisted Radiodress and her project. However, I also consider the ways Radiodress and Toronto artists creatively and collectively responded to these tensions. I maintain that bringing queer arts practice into discussions about contemporary creative city policies uncovers sites of queer arts activism that scale up to shape broader policies and debates. Such disidentificatory interventions, acts of co-opting and re-working discourses which exclude minoritarian subjects, challenge violent processes of colonisation and commodification on multiple fronts, as well as fostering more collective and relational ways of being

Institutional stakeholder participation in urban redevelopment in Tehran: An evaluation of decisions and actions

Experimentation with citizen participation in urban redevelopments is increasing worldwide. This paper aims to scrutinise this trend through an in-depth case study of the decisions and actions taken by the institutional stakeholders involved in participatory urban redevelopment in Tehran, Iran. The discussion is based around two contrasting urban redevelopment areas which set out to adopt a participatory approach involving various stakeholders including institutions (the Municipality of Tehran and the Heritage Organisation) and local owner-occupiers, developing new knowledge, understanding, and clarity about the concept and application of participation in urban redevelopments in developing countries. In both areas, the institutions invited owners to participate in the physical and economic improvements of their places through land assemblage or sharing redevelopment costs. In this study a range of qualitative methods are used including photo-elicitation techniques (PEI) and semi-structured interviews with locals, officials and professionals. The results show the vulnerability of the process. This was revealed when one institution did not maintain their role and when some owner-occupiers acted as free-riders. This highlights the challenge of building an enduring collaboration between institutional stakeholders from the planning to in-use stages, in particular the difficulties that arise as different institutions become involved in the process. This issue is more problematic when resources are limited and/or intermittent. As the results show, the institutional collaboration was smoother when fewer stakeholders were involved in decision making. In the commercial case, there were more complaints about overdue completion in the projects due to poor institutional collaboration. We recommend the need for an agreed mechanism prior to such initiatives where the role of the various stakeholders and their responsibilities are clearly cited, and where all different impact scenarios from the planning to in-use stage are set out

The challenges of participatory research with 'tech-savvy' youth

This paper focuses on participatory research and how it can be understood and employed when researching children and youth. The aim of this paper is to provide a theoretically and empirically grounded discussion of participatory research methodologies with respect to investigating the dynamic and evolving phenomenon of young people growing up in networked societies. Initially, we review the nature of participatory research and how other researchers have endeavoured to involve young people (children and youth) in their research projects. Our review of these approaches aims to elucidate what we see as recurring and emerging issues with respect to the methodological design of involving young people as co-researchers. In the light of these issues and in keeping with our aim, we offer a case study of our own research project that seeks to understand the ways in which high school students use new media and network ICT systems (Internet, mobile phone applications, social networking sites) to construct identities, form social relations, and engage in creative practices as part of their everyday lives. The article concludes by offering an assessment of our tripartite model of participatory research that may benefit other researchers who share a similar interest in youth and new media

From skepticism to mutual support: towards a structural change in the relations between participatory budgeting and the information and communication technologies?

Until three years ago, ICT Technologies represented a main “subordinate clause” within the “grammar” of Participatory Budgeting (PB), the tool made famous by the experience of Porto Alegre and today expanded to more than 1400 cities across the planet. In fact, PB – born to enhance deliberation and exchanges among citizens and local institutions – has long looked at ICTS as a sort of “pollution factor” which could be useful to foster transparency and to support the spreading of information but could also lead to a lowering in quality of public discussion, turning its “instantaneity” into “immediatism,” and its “time-saving accessibility” into “reductionism” and laziness in facing the complexity of public decision-making through citizens’ participation. At the same time, ICTs often regarded Participatory Budgeting as a tool that was too-complex and too-charged with ideology to cooperate with. But in the last three years, the barriers which prevented ICTs and Participatory Budgeting to establish a constructive dialogue started to shrink thanks to several experiences which demonstrated that technologies can help overcome some “cognitive injustices” if not just used as a means to “make simpler” the organization of participatory processes and to bring “larger numbers” of intervenients to the process. In fact, ICTs could be valorized as a space adding “diversity” to the processes and increasing outreach capacity. Paradoxically, the experiences helping to overcome the mutual skepticism between ICTs and PB did not come from the centre of the Global North, but were implemented in peripheral or semiperipheral countries (Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Portugal in Europe), sometimes in cities where the “digital divide” is still high (at least in terms of Internet connections) and a significant part of the population lives in informal settlements and/or areas with low indicators of “connection.” Somehow, these experiences were able to demystify the “scary monolithicism” of ICTs, showing that some instruments (like mobile phones, and especially the use of SMS text messaging) could grant a higher degree of connectivity, diffusion and accountability, while other dimensions (which could risk jeopardizing social inclusion) could be minimized through creativity. The paper tries to depict a possible panorama of collaboration for the near future, starting from descriptions of some of the above mentioned “turning-point” experiences – both in the Global North as well as in the Global South