London's housing crisis and its activisms

Watt, Paul; Minton, Anna

doi:10.1080/13604813.2016.1151707

Cited by 103 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Within the uneven geographies of housing in the UK, the cardinal significance of London cannot be sufficiently stressed, both as an experimental testing site for emerging semi‐legal housing practices, such as the so‐called ‘bed in sheds’ phenomenon (London Councils ) and as a policy powerhouse (see Edwards ; Watt and Minton ).…”

Section: Urban Precaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Living precariously: property guardianship and the flexible city

Ferreri

Dawson

Vasudevan

2016

Trans Inst British Geog

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In this paper we examine the precarious everyday geographies of property guardianship in the United Kingdom. Temporary property guardianship is a relatively new form of insecure urban dwelling existing in the grey area between informal occupation, the security industry and housing. Young individuals, usually in precarious employment, apply to intermediary companies to become temporary 'guardians' in metropolitan centres, most notably in London. The scheme allows guardians to pay below market rent to live in unusual locations while 'performing' live-in security arrangements that are not considered as a form of 'work'. The experiences of becoming and living as a property guardian can be ambivalent and contradictory: guardians express economic and social advantages to being temporary, while also exposing underlying anxieties with 'flexible living'. In this paper we offer a detailed description of the various practices of property guardianship and how they must be understood, on the one hand, in light of recent geographical scholarship on housing insecurity and, on the other hand, as an example of a precarious subjectivity that has become normalised in recent decades in cities of the global North. Drawing on in-depth interviews with long-term property guardians in London, we unpack the narratives and rationales of university-educated and highly skilled individuals for whom the city is a site of intensified insecurity and flexible negotiation. In the end, we conclude that the form of permanent temporariness experienced by property guardians needs to be understood as a symptom of wider dynamics of work and life precarisation in urban centres and argue that it is imperative to extend recent geographical debates around work and life insecurity to include new housing practices and their role in co-constituting urban precarity.

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Section: Urban Precaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Living precariously: property guardianship and the flexible city

Ferreri

Dawson

Vasudevan

2016

Trans Inst British Geog

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“…There has been an increase in anti-migration movements and in hate crime, specifically with respect to people of Muslim faith (Ministry of Justice 2013). These stress points are exacerbated by wider contexts of austerity measures, overcrowded housing and the increase of insecure employment experienced by both low-and middle-income groups (Peck 2012, Watt andMinton 2016). Since most of this research was undertaken, mass movements of migrants from Syria and North Africa have led to an increase in both anti-immigrant rhetoric and multiple acts of collective support (Darling 2016).…”

Section: Uk Contexts Relating To Superdiversity and Urban Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are structural inequalities that frame the timeliness of this, and shape the specific focus of this paper on ethnic diversity in public open space. Wolch et al (2014), acknowledging intersections of ethnicity, race and class, set out the extent by which ethnic background shapes environmental injustices with relation to spatial equity in access to greenspace (see also Agyeman 2013), and these patterns are reflected more broadly in the exclusionary impacts of regeneration (Watt and Minton 2016). These infrastructures are grounded in the local; in reported differences in recreational use of greenspace relating to ethnicity, and how personal experiences of being outdoors are informed by racisms as well as convivial multiculture (Wise and Noble 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnographic understandings of ethnically diverse neighbourhoods to inform urban design practice

2017

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The aim of this paper is to inform urban design practice through deeper understanding and analysis of the social dynamics of public outdoor space in ethnically diverse neighbourhoods. We hypothesise that findings from ethnographic research can provide a resource that improves cultural literacy and supports social justice in professional practice. The primary method is a meta-synthesis literature review of 24 ethnographic research papers, all of which explore some dimensions of public open space use and values in UK urban contexts characterised by ethnic and racial diversity. We summarise thematic understandings and significance of neighbourhood places of shared activity, parks, spaces of passing-by and of retreat. We evaluate the implications for intercultural social dynamics, exploring the spatial and temporal dimensions of conviviality and racism in public open space. We then argue that it is possible to develop principles for urban design practice informed by this work, and propose four for discussion: maximising straightforward participation, legitimising diversity of activity, designing in micro-retreats of nearby quietness and addressing structural inequalities of open space provision. We conclude that ethnographic research can provide detailed insights into the use of the public realm and also inform a more nuanced understanding of outdoor sociality relevant for an increasingly diverse society. The challenge is two-fold: for ethnographers to become less cautious in engaging with decisions and priorities regarding how cities change, and for urban designers to explicitly embed informed understandings of difference into their broad desire for inclusive public space. ARTICLE HISTORY

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“…The communal context defies this, always requiring a return not only to the interaction between individual bodies and “everyone else”, but also to the multiple temporalities and subjectivities of urban publics. Even as corporate developers seek high rent‐payers to increase their profits in the longer term, for now, during the early years of redevelopment, Woolwich centre continues to be used by all, including people who are likely to be pushed out later by the pincer movement of gentrification, spiralling housing costs and benefit cuts (Peck et al., ; Watt & Minton, ). As such, our findings have implications for policy and public space practice (Bynon & Rishbeth, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sitting outside: Conviviality, self‐care and the design of benches in urban public space

Rishbeth

Rogaly

2017

Trans Inst British Geog

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The urban bench has been romanticised as a location of intimacy and benign social serendipity, and problematised with regard to perceptions of unwelcome loitering. In this paper we explore embodied practices of sitting on benches within an urban context characterised by corporate‐led regeneration and impacted by austerity urbanism, imperial history and ongoing racisms. Our schizocartographic methodology enables us to attend to the differentiated and shifting subjectivities and temporalities of bench users, and to emerging counter histories of space. The research is based on the case study of a central square in Woolwich, south‐east London. This involved an eclectic combination of methods, including film‐making, ethnography and interviews, and a cross‐sectoral team of activists, academics and an artist. The paper starts by conceptualising public space with respect to lived experiences of marginalisation, arguing that architectural design is intrinsic to understanding micro‐geographies of conviviality and care. The case study material is used first to provide a visual sketch of sitting and watching others in the square and then to address conviviality and the value of visibility and relative proximity in framing a mostly un‐panicked multiculture. Third, we discuss agentic, yet critically aware, acts of self‐care. Finally, our focus shifts to the design of the benches and the “touching experiences” of bodies sat in various ways, impacted by structural inequalities, yet differentiated by the particularities of individual or collective priorities. In conclusion we argue that attending to the precision of sitting on a bench can illuminate multiple temporalities of urban change in relation to both individual subjectivities and hegemonic structures. Further, the counter histories that emerge can inform policy and practice for inclusive urban design.

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London's housing crisis and its activisms

Cited by 103 publications

References 40 publications

Living precariously: property guardianship and the flexible city

Living precariously: property guardianship and the flexible city

Ethnographic understandings of ethnically diverse neighbourhoods to inform urban design practice

Sitting outside: Conviviality, self‐care and the design of benches in urban public space

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