Unpacking and Challenging Habitus: An Approach to Temporary Urbanism as a Socially Engaged Practice

Abstract

Temporary urbanism is attracting worldwide attention and has been praised for its capacity to transform socio-political and physical spaces, while at the same time it has been criticized for its tacit instrumentality as vehicle for the progressive gentrification of the urban environment. A closer look at temporary urbanism reveals a myriad of practices, initiated by a great variety of actors with diverse ways of operating and taking place in a wide range of environments. Rooted in assemblage theory, we situate our design practice in the specificity of an underused space surrounding social housing blocks in Gateshead, explore manifestations of habitus and the capacity of temporary urbanism to reveal and engage with socio-spatial struggles.

Notes

^1. Video recordings of the actions are accessible online: Gateshead Action October 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = hOkTkEVGVdQ. Gateshead Action March 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = dXmK1n35bac. Gateshead Action November 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v = ukCvnVlK1jw.

^2. SPINDUS is initiated by the research units P&O (Planning and Development) and OSA (Urbanity and Architecture) at the Department in Architecture, Urban Development and Spatial Planning at KU Leuven (Belgium) in partnership with GURU (Global Urban Research Unit) at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University (UK) and ITER in the Dipartimento di Sociologia, Università Frederico II (Italy).

^3. Source: Office for National Statistics. The 2010 Indices of Deprivation can be consulted at: http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/NeighbourhoodSummary.do?a = 7&b = 276795&c = NE8+3JJ&g = 366624&i = 1001x1012&j = 292534&m = 1&p = 1&q = 1&r = 0&s = 1352652245363&enc = 1&tab = 1&inWales = false (Accessed 1 November 2012).

^4. Bingo (a form of lottery) is a popular game played in the UK, which consists of marking off numbers on a card as they are drawn randomly by a caller.

^5. The underlying research materials for this article can be accessed at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/apl/gallery/documents/ActionGateshead.pdf /Engagement page of the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape at Newcastle University, ‘Working with Communities’.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology, IWT-SBO grant SPINDUS: Spatial Innovation, Planning, Design and User Involvement (Project IWT 090080). Additional support was provided by the Engagement Committee at the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University.