Performing gaps - (re)turning perspectives on Urbanism?

Keywords: Performativity, Alternatives, Urban Planning, Sustainability, Participation
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 76

Abstract

Facing sustainable transitions, urban planning should be guided by well-being of people, protection of the environment, and degrowth. While investors and other elites walk a crossroad between illegality and legality, in Germany we observe a more subtle way of governing a capitalist city. Therefore, we discuss how limits of privilege are reproduced invisibly in city planning and what this implies for the access to participation.

With this contribution the nexus between alternative practices and the bodies of planning discloses how the power of urbanism is solidified by discursive effects. Activities of degrowth-coalitions or niches of sustainability depend on municipal spaces, consequently on urban planning authorities. Conceptually, we explore a ‘performing gap’ that is responsible for the inability to contest capitalist urbanism and furthermore for a marginalization of alternative coalitions. The hegemonic (a growth-oriented) defined characterization of what alternative initiatives should be, and the self-performativity of the alternatives, lead to a mutually experience of divergence and hence an inaccessibility to urban planning. Finally, this illuminates the veil behind that from both sides hegemonic, consensual positions are strengthened and differences are weakened.

In our talk, we discuss how this gap masks neoliberal urbanism and unsustainability in the end. We argue how these findings allow us a new perspective on urban planning, discursive shifts and thus dealing with antagonisms. What does it mean for future challenges and crises, what lessons do we learn for entire new concepts of (radical) spatial planning to contest the reproduction of capitalism?