The Public Playground Paradox: "Child’s Joy" or Heterotopia of Fear?

Literature depicts children of the Global North withdrawing from public space to“acceptable islands”. Driven by fears both of and for children, the publicplayground – one such island – provides clear-cut distinctions between childhoodand adulthood. Extending this argument, this paper takes the original approach oftheoretically framing the playground as a heterotopia of deviance, examining –for the first time – three Greek public playground sites in relation to adjacentpublic space. Drawing on an ethnographic study in Athens, findings show fear tounderpin surveillance, control and playground boundary porosity. Normativeclassification as “children’s space” discourages adult engagement. However, in anovel and significant finding, a paradoxical phenomenon sees the playground’spresence simultaneously legitimizing playful behaviour in adjacent public spacefor children and adults. Extended playground play creates alternate orderings andnegotiates norms and hierarchies, suggesting significant wider potential toreconceptualise playground-urban design for an intergenerational public realm

Electric vehicle production and advanced-transportation systems: prospects for the development of an industrial district in Southern California

In this paper I question the likely development trajectory of electric vehicle (EV) manufacture and related advanced-transportation systems in Southern California. The large base of labor skills, technical expertise, and research and development organizations that are found in the region in the aerospace, electronics, and metalworking industries provide a solid foundation for the EV industry. These sectors also provide a legacy of industrial organization that is oriented more towards flexible production than mass production. The technological immaturity of the EV and the uncertain market it faces, combined with the existing industrial atmosphere in Southern California, suggest that early production of EVs will be organized flexibly in an industrial district uniting firms and technologies in the production of components for an advanced ground-transportation industry.