Privatisation

Sassen (1997): “Deregulation and privatisation have become key elements in the global economy. (…) Privatisation is not simply a change in property regime; it also entails a shift of governance functions from the public to the private sector. And deregulation is not simply the absence of regulations; it also entails a shift of governance functions to the private sector. We see then a shift of such functions from the government world of Washington to the corporate world of New York, Chicago, etc.”.

“I’m not in favor of abolishing the government. I just want to shrink it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub” – goes a widely quoted saying by conservative US political activist Grover Norquist from 2004. Caldeira (2000), referring to the Brazilian society: “…which is marked by vast social inequality and a tendency to explicitly devalue the public sphere”.

Despite the imprecise definition of this term, it shall be used here as a shorthand for the political condition characterised by deregulation and privatisation – in its most accentuated form from 1991 (the demise of the Soviet Union) to 2008 (the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which triggered a global financial crisis). For a good analysis of neoliberalism and architecture, see Jeinic and Wagner (2013).

Hobsbawm (1994).

In 2010, an estimated 12.4 million US households were located in communities governed by homeowner associations and other planned communities (source: Community Associations Institute). This number represented 11 % of all occupied households (US Census 2010).

Beauregard and Haila (2000): “Simultaneously, real estate has become more deeply commodified (that is, further separated from its social functions) and valued more and more for its performance as a financial asset”.

Crawford (2003).

Davis (1990), referring to Los Angeles.

As was attempted in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, the idea of re-erecting a historical building with a commercial use sparked a popular uprising in May 2013, which turned into a nationwide antigovernment protest seriously challenging Prime Minister Recep Erdogan who had promoted the project.

Caldeira (2000).

Klein (1998): “In buildings, spaces are arranged as in a camera trip. What is being perceived and what is not, from what angle surfaces are seen. How people orient themselves within the compound, what is being remembered, etc. – all this is subject to scripting. Accordingly, only the surfaces which play a role in this cast are being designed – all the rest is support infrastructure”.

Foucault (1975).

To counter this problem, the instrument of trashing is applied: a picture is placed at an angle or materials are awkwardly combined (Klein 1998).

Appearance and use are regulated by private-law codes. Excerpt from the Celebration Covenant, 1998: “1. General: The Properties shall be used for residential, recreational, and related purposes (which may, without limitation, include an information office and/or sales office for any real estate broker retained by the Celebration Company….); 2. Restricted activities: (a) parking of vehicles on any portion of a unit other than I garage, carport or driveway…; (c) any activity that or condition ….that detracts from the overall appearance of the Properties (f) occupancy of the Unit by more than two persons per bedroom. (h) conducting, participating in, or holding of any events…that involve games of chance, raffles, gambling,…. (i) Any business or trade,….except that an Owner or occupant residing in a Unit may conduct “discrete business activities” within the Unit so long as the existence or operation of the business activity is not detectable by sight, sound, or smell from outside the unit…; (j) Any modifications of the exterior of existing improvements or landscaping, or permanent placing of decorations, sports or play equipment…; (i) A reasonable number of holiday and religious decorations may be displayed on a Unit for up to 30 days prior to the holiday….; (ii) one sign, not exceeding 9”x12” in size, may be mounted in a window….to identify the Unit as being equipped with a security system… (k) conversion of any garage to a use which precludes the parking therein of the number of vehicles for which it was originally designed. 4. Prohibited Conditions: (b) Flags of any kind placed on a Unit so as to be visible from outside the dwelling…except one country flag not exceeding 48” x 72” in size…. 6. Signs: (c) one sign not exceeding 18” x 24” containing political or similar endorsements may be posted on a Unit. Such sign may only be posted for 45 days prior to an election or vote or a referendum and for two days thereafter. 8. Window coverings: …..the only window coverings that may be affixed to the interior of any windows visible from any street, alley or other portion of the Properties are drapes, blinds, shades, shutters or curtains. The side of such window coverings that is visible must be white or off-white in color....”

The designation for the staff serving customers at Disney’s venues.

Austrian Forstgesetz (Forest Law) stipulates: § 33. (1) Jedermann darf, … Wald zu Erholungszwecken betreten und sich dort aufhalten. (Everybody is permitted to…access and remain in forests for recreational purposes.)

Ross (1999).

The logic of compounds is often described in “island” terms. Angelíl (2006) identifies them in the Dubai developments as well as in suburban retail centres in Switzerland. Referring to Dubai, he says: “The demand for reclusiveness seems to be taken for granted, to the extent that urban design is producing nothing but inward-oriented realms. Eventually, all that the island-dweller can do is roam from island to island, from one interior to the other.” (translation by the author).

Foucault (1984): “There are also, probably in every culture, in every civilization, real places – places that do exist and that are formed in the very founding of society – which are something like counter-sites, a kind of effectively enacted utopia….”

Ancient Greek: “other places” – suggesting that “other rules” apply in these spaces.

Areas like the Long Grove (Chicago) or the North Carolina Piedmont give an impression of what such landscapes could be like (Bruegmann 1996).

Poor countries’ tax revenues are primarily derived from transfers, consumption and import taxes.

Marcuse (1997): “A citadel is a spatially concentrated area in which members of a particular population group, defined by its position of superiority, in power, wealth, or status, relation to its neighbors, congregate as a means of protecting or enhancing that position”.