| In the last thirty years, cities around the world have changed dramatically as a result of the restructuring of the capitalist economy. Along with those changes, a new interpretation of urban spaces has become hegemonic; one that considers the city as an addition of fragmented spaces made up of defended enclaves. Different scholars hold this interpretation, but it may be epitomized in the so called L.A. school of urban studies.; Using case studies coming from the city of Santiago in Chile, and secondary data collected from various sources, this dissertation attempts to contest three core assumptions of the L.A. school: (1) the new spaces of the city, what I call post-public spaces, are been subjected to authoritarian modes of control that make resistance nearly impossible; (2) that these new spaces are only expressions of the globalized economy and, thus, tend to be similar around the world; (3) that the proliferation of enclaves is increasing the spatial and social segregation of the city.; The dissertation is divided upon four parts. The first part is a theoretical discussion, aimed at clarifying the concept of post-public space. Second and third parts are mainly empirical studies using malls and gated communities as examples of post-public fragmented spaces. Finally, the fourth and last section is a conclusion regarding not just the nature of post-public spaces, but also of the influence and effects post-public spaces have on the rest of the city and over the democratic process. |
