Conflict, Exclusion, Relocation: Skateboarding and Public Space

• Autores: Jeremy Németh
• Localización: Journal of urban design, ISSN 1357-4809, ISSN-e 1469-9664, Nº. 11, 3, 2006, págs. 297-318
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Policy makers often mark groups of young people in public spaces as threats to public order. As a result, spaces are produced in which teens must show deference to adult definitions of appropriate behaviour. One group experiencing such forms of control and regulation is the street skateboarding culture. This paper discusses this phenomenon in the context of a 2002 skateboarding ban in Philadelphia's LOVE Park, a world-famous "skatespot" adjacent to City Hall. Through a variety of methods, the paper shows how powerful City interests defined this group as deviant, unruly and worthy of removal. It argues that the skateboarders� exclusion from Center City denies their fundamental right to a space for performance, identity formation and representation in the public forum.