Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Planning and urban citizenship: suggestions from the thoughts of Henri Lefebvre

2013; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 28; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02665433.2013.800717

1466-4518

Francesco Chiodelli,

French Urban and Social Studies

Abstract The paper focuses on Henri Lefebvre's reflections on the city; it is argued that from these reflections it is possible to derive a particular notion of citizenship that is relevant for urban planning and design (theory and practice). In the first part of the paper, several of Lefebvre's key topics are analysed (in particular the concept of city-oeuvre). In the second part of the paper, the characteristics of Lefebvre's notion of citizenship are clarified and their implications for urban planning and design are discussed. Keywords: Lefebvrecitizenshipplanningcityspace Notes Garnier, "La vision urbaine de Henri Lefebvre: des prévisions aux révisions," 123–45. For instance, in Italy he experienced some success in the 1970s, but later he was quickly (and almost completely) forgotten. Kofman and Lebas, "Lost in Transposition," 42–52. In the last two decades, many of Lefebvre's works have been translated into English. Moreover, many monographs have recently appeared as well as collective books: e.g. Merrifield, Henri Lefebvre: A Critical Introduction; Elden, Understanding Henri Lefebvre; Goonewardena et al., Space, Difference, Everyday Life; Stanek, Henri Lefebvre on Space; and Butler, Henri Lefebvre. With reference to the French-speaking world, see, for instance, Hess, Henri Lefebvre et la pensée du possible; Costes, Henri Lefebvre. Le droit à la ville; Deulceux and Hess, Henri Lefebvre. Vie, œuvres, Concepts; Ajzenberg, Lethierry, and Bazinek, Maintenant Henri Lefebvre. See Costes, Henri Lefebvre. Le droit à la ville. Lefebvre, "Ouverture. Du pacte social au contrat de citoyenneté," 17–37. See, for instance, Purcell, "Excavating Lefebvre," 99–108; Purcell, "Citizenship and the Right to the Global City," 564–90; and Gilbert and Dikeç, "Right to the City," 250–63. Lefebvre, Writings on Cities, 66. Oeuvre and produit are often used by Lefebvre as synonyms of use value and exchange value. The dualistic thinking characterizes a large part of Lefebvre's works (it is worth noting that a number of authors – in particular feminist authors – have pointed out many problems inherent in such a dualistic thinking. See, for instance, Grosz, Architecture from the Outside). Some of the concepts I consider here (for instance, centrality and simultaneity, right to the city and festival) are coupled to emphasize their analytical relation; they are not opposing dichotomies. Lefebvre, Production of Space. See also Kouvélakis, "L'espace entre philosophie de l'histoire et pratique politique," 101–2. Lefebvre, Production of Space, 115. See Lefebvre, Everyday Life in the Modern World, 119. In Lefebvre's Marxist vision, the 'dominant groups' are constituted by the capitalists (the people holding economic and political power), the 'dominated groups' are constituted by the working class. Lefebvre, Production of Space, 116. Ibid., 220. Lefebvre, Urban Revolution. See also Lefebvre, Writings on Cities, 67. Lefebvre, Writings on Cities, 78. Lefebvre, Urban Revolution, 14. See also Lefebvre, Espace et politique, 75. See also Lefebvre, Pyrénées, with reference to industrial cities such as Mourenx. Lefebvre, Writings on Cities. It should be noted that Lefebvre's reflections on the city refer always to the European context. Lefebvre, Urban Revolution, 117. Ibid., 117–8. Ibid., 118. It is worth specifying that, according to Lefebvre, the space generates opportunity for differences, but it does not create these differences. See Lefebvre, Production of Space, 358. Lefebvre, Espace et politique, 151. See Lefebvre, Writings on Cities and Lefebvre, Espace et politique. Costes, Henri Lefebvre. Le droit à la ville. For a definition of the right to the city, see Lefebvre, Writings on Cities, 179, 193–4. Lefebvre, Critique of Everyday Life and Lefebvre, Everyday Life in the Modern World. Wander, "Introduction to the Transaction Edition," vii. Lefebvre, Everyday Life in the Modern World. Lefebvre, Writings on Cities, 185. Lefebvre, Everyday Life in the Modern World. For some criticisms, see Gunder, "Production of Desirous Space," 173–99. Hess, Henri Lefebvre et l'aventure du siècle, 302. Ibid. Ibid. Lefebvre, Everyday Life in the Modern World, 60. See Lefebvre, Espace et politique. Actually, 'to exclude the urban from groups, classes, individuals, is also to exclude them from civilization, if from not society itself' (Lefebvre, Writings on Cities, 193). See Marshall, Citizenship and Social Class and Marshall, Class, Citizenship and Social Development. Lefebvre, "Ouverture. Du pacte social au contrat de citoyenneté," 29. See Gilbert and Dikeç, "Right to the City." Lefebvre, Du contrat de citoyenneté, 13. About the Lefebvre's criticism against the state, see Lefebvre, De l'Etat. Les contradictions de l'Etat moderne. La dialectique et/de l'Etat. See, for instance, Locke, Two Treatises of Government and Rawls, Theory of Justice. See, for instance, the works of Seyla Benhabib – e.g. Benhabib, Democracy and Difference and Benhabib, Claims of Culture. See Purcell, "Excavating Lefebvre." Reade, British Town and Country Planning, 8. Bellicini and Ingersoll, Periferia italiana. Martinotti, Metropoli: La nuova morfologia sociale della citta. See, for instance, the case of Milan: Chiappero, Moroni, and Nuvolati, Gli spazi della povertà. '[Planning] has above all a political end: a (re)designing of citizenship that welds strategies of social and spatial control into a single process. […] The (re)designing of citizenship is, wittingly or unwittingly, the true aim of the plan' (Mazza, "Plan and Constitution," 125).