Neighbourhood events and the visibilisation of everyday life: The cases of Turro (Milan) and Norra Fäladen (Lund)

Abstract

While scholars agree on the reasons behind the current proliferation of urban, small-scale, pre-organised events, the implication of these events for public life is more controversial, and involves polarised debates between enthusiasts and critics. This paper develops an international comparison between one city district in Milan (Italy) and one in Lund (Sweden), in order to explore how the variety of events that took place there between 2013 and 2015 possibly affected the local and on-going everyday public life. In both cases, the observed events aimed to de-stigmatise the broader urban districts in which they were staged, as well as to enhance a vibrant urban life in relatively disadvantaged areas. In the study, we identify three different ways in which these events make the public character of everyday life visible, and even redefine patterns of urban civility. The main argument deriving from our comparative ethnography is that the salience of events in the everyday life that they supposedly disrupt can be analytically addressed by developing a pragmatist approach to public space, discussing it in terms of territorial complexity.

Justifying and resisting public park commercialisation: The battle for Battersea Park

“…Struggles over events generate debate in the public sphere about what and who parks are for -'visibilising the nature of the territorial complexity' (Citroni and Karrholm, 2017). It is easy to argue that large-scale, ticketed events inherently compromise the publicness of parks, but following Citroni and Karrhom's (2017: 12) argument, their publicness can be reaffirmed through such violations.…”

“…This study also revealed some more progressive justifications: challenging traditional conceptions of parks, widening participation, enhancing their relevance and socialising them. These arguments reflect an alternative conception of event outcomes -as 'eventalisation' -that deviates from the dominant narrative of events as vehicles for appropriation (Citroni and Karrholm, 2017).…”

“…Whilst it is hard to ignore the rather depressing implications of the rise of commercial events in city parks, Citroni and Karrholm (2017) highlight the possibility of a more positive outcome. In a paper which deviates from the dominant narrative of events as 'appropriation', these authors suggest that events affect public parks by visibilising the nature of their territorial complexity and argue that events can help to reaffirm the publicness of urban parks, a trait which they believe is 'confirmed through its violation'.…”

“…The Battersea Park Formula E races staged in 2015 and 2016 were definitely a violation, but the disruptive closures reaffirmed the symbolic and functional importance of this space and generated important debate in the public sphere about what and who public parks are for. Park events are part of perpetual de and re-territorialisation processes where the identity of park space is constantly negotiated and renegotiated (Citroni and Karrholm , 2017). Therefore, rather than trying to work out whether they are justified or not, it is perhaps more helpful to consider commercial events as part of the struggle for parks that ultimately produces public space (Mitchell, 2017).…”

“…2010) and to change the meaning of established places (Smith, 2014). They can make the public character of public spaces more visible (Citroni and Karrholm , 2017), create temporary 'assemblages' of people and materials (Sendra, 2015), and encourage different users and uses once they have ended (Lehtovuori, 2010). Drawing on Simmel's work, Pløger (2010) uses the term 'eventalisation' to refer to instances where temporary events highlight the potential for heterotopic use of urban space.…”