The Right to the City
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Published:
Dec 28, 2019
Keywords:
the Right to the City critical urban theory neoliberalism Henry Lefebvre David Harvey
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Abstract
This article reviews and synthesizes the concept of “the Right to the City.” It is a sociological concept which is widely referred by urban scholars aboard from several disciplines. Moreover, this concept also influences policy makers in different countries and vision statements of international conferences. The concept claims for creating just cities for all urban inhabitants, not only for earning profit from the city. However, Thai scholars and policy makers have known this concept limitedly. Therefore this review article derived from document research aims to introduce this concept to Thai academic circle so as to apply this concept to analyze urban development. The contribution of this concept is to broaden analytical frameworks to go beyond physical and infrastructure aspects and concern urban social justice. The article traces the roots of the Right to the City concept from Marxist theorists, and then, synthesizes the interpretations and applications of the concept to academic research and policy making. The article includes several comments on this concept, particular from a legal perspective that this concept is weak in terms of the concept of right, because it does not clarify who has the right, and how to exercise this right. At the end, the author emphasizes the strengths of this concept for being applied both to academic and social movement purposes.
Article Details
How to Cite
Visetpricha, B. (2019). The Right to the City. CMU Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 12(2), 85–122. retrieved from https://so01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/CMUJLSS/article/view/213280
Section
Academic Article
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Any opinions expressed in the CMU Journal of Law and Social Sciences are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board.
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The editorial board of the CMU Journal of Law and Social Sciences does not claim copyright. However, proper citation of the source is required.
References
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Apiwat Ratanawaraha (Interviewed). “ไปให้ไกลกว่า ‘รถตู้มหาภัย’” [ Going beyond ‘ the dangerous van]. Accessed Nov. 10, 2019. https://prachatai.com/journal/2017/01/ 69676. (in Thai)
Attoh, Kafui A. “What kind of right is the right to the city?.” Progress in human geography 35, no. 5 (2011): 669-685.
Boonlert Visetpricha. “เครือข่ายสลัม 4 ภาค: ประวัติศาสตร์และบทเรียน” [Four Regions Slum Network: History and lessons. Fadeawkan 1, no.3 (Jul. – Dec. 2003): 68-92.
Boonlert Visetpricha. “บทบาทภาคประชาชนในการผ่าทางตันปัญหาชุมชนแออัด” [The roles of people movement in dissolving slum community problems]. Romphruek Journal 26, no.2 (Feb. - May. 2008): 36-68.
Brenner, Neil, Peter Marcuse, and Margit Mayer, eds. Cities for people, not for profit: Critical urban theory and the right to the city. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Budds Jessica, Paulo Teixeira, and SEHAB. “Ensuring the right to the city: pro-poor housing, urban development and tenure legalization in Sao Paulo, Brazil.” Environment and Urbanization 17, no. 1 (2005): 89-114.
Davis, Mike. “Planet of slums.” New Perspectives Quarterly 23, no. 2 (2006): 6-11.
De Angelis, Massimo. The beginning of history: Value struggles and global capital. London: Pluto Press, 2007.
De Soto, Hernando. The other path. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
De Souza, Marcelo Lopes. “Which right to which city? In defence of political-strategic clarity.” Interface 2, no. 1 (2010): 315-333.
Earle, Lucy. “Citizenship, the ‘right to the city’ and state fragility’.” Cities and Fragile States Working Paper, no. 87 (2011).
Fainstein, Susan S. The just city. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010.
Glass, Michael R., Rachael Woldoff, and Lisa Morrison, “Does the middle class have rights to the city? Contingent rights and the struggle to inhabit Stuyvesant Town, New York.” International Journal of Housing Policy 14, no. 3 (2014): 214-235.
Harvey, David. “The right to the city.” International journal of urban and regional research 27, no. 4 (2003): 939-941.
Harvey, David. A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Harvey, David. “The right to the city.” New Left Review 53 (2008): 23-40.
Harvey, David. Rebel cities: From the Right to the City to the urban revolution. London and New York: Verso books, 2012.
Harvey, David and David Waxhsmuth, “What is to be done? And who the hell is going to do it.” In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcus, and Margit Mayer, 264-274. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Kadi, Justin, and Richard Ronald, “Market-based housing reforms and the ‘right to the city’: the variegated experiences of New York, Amsterdam and Tokyo.” International Journal of Housing Policy 14, no. 3 (2014): 268-292.
Lefebvre, Henri. Writings on cities. Edited and translated by Kofman, Eleomore, and Elizabeth Lebas. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
Liss, Jon. “The Right to the city: From theory to grassroots alliance. In Cities for people, not for profit, In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcuse and Margit Mayer, 250-263. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Weinstein, Liza, and Xuefei Ren, “The changing right to the city: Urban renewal and housing rights in globalizing Shanghai and Mumbai.” City & Community 8, no. 4 (2009): 407-432.
Marcuse, Peter. “From critical urban theory to the right to the city.” City 13, no. 2-3 (2009): 185-197.
Marcuse, Peter. “Whose right (s) to what city?.” In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcus, and Margit Mayer, 24-41. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Marcuse, Peter. “Reading the right to the city.” City 18, no. 1 (2014): 4-9.
Mayer, Margit. “The ‘Right to the City’ in the context of shifting mottos of urban social movements.” City 13, no.2-3 (2009): 362-374.
Mitchell, Don. The right to the city: Social justice and the fight for public space. New York: Guilford Press, 2003.
Montgomery, Charles. Happy city: Transforming our lives through urban design. Translated by Phinda Phisitbut. Bangkok: broccoli, 2019.
Nattapon Sang-arun. “สิทธิที่จะอยู่ในเมือง: ภาพสะท้อนการเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อสิทธิการอยู่อาศัยของชุมชนบางบัว” [The Right to the City: The housing rights movement of Bangbua Community]. Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies (JARS) 9, no.2 (2012): 1-22. (in Thai)
Nattawut Usavagovitwong, Kwanporn Bunnag and Napas Vatanopas. "ความเหลื่อมล้ำในเมืองมหานคร: บทปริทรรศน์ความรู้ในบริบทประเทศไทย" [Urban inequality in mega-urban region: The synoptic review from Thai’s context] Built Environment Inquiry Journal Faculty of Architecture Khon Kaen University 17, no. 12 (Jul. -Dec. 2018): 157-178. (in Thai)
Pattillo, Mary. “Housing: Commodity versus right.” Annual Review of Sociology 39, (2013): 509-531.
Pitch Pongsawat. “สิทธิที่จะมีอำนาจกำหนดชีวิตและความเปลี่ยนแปลงของเมือง” [The Right to power to make decisions on life and urban change / The Right to the City). Accessed Nov. 6, 2019. https://www.matichon.co.th/columnists/news_1738940. (in Thai)
Prachachat Business. “ซี.พี. ทุ่ม 1.4 แสนล้านสร้างเมือง ปั้น “มักกะสัน” โกลบอล เกตเวย์”[ C.P. invests 140 Billion to build Makkasan Global Gateway]. Accessed Nov 10, 2019. https://www.prachachat.net/property/news-332604. (in Thai)
Purcell, Mark. “Excavating Lefebvre: The Right to the City and its urban politics of the inhabitant.” GeoJournal 58, no. 2-3 (2002): 99-108.
Purcell, Mark. “To inhabit well: Counterhegemonic movements and the Right to the City”, Urban geography 34, no.4 (2013): 560-574.
Purcell, Mark. “Possible worlds: Henry Lefebvre and the Right to the City”, Journal of Urban Affairs 36, no.1 (2014): 146-147.
Schmid, Christian. “Henry Lefebvre, the right to the city, and the new metropolitan mainstream.” In Cities for people, not for profit, In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcuse and Margit Mayer, 42-62. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Shin, Hyun Bang. “The Right to the City and critical reflections on China's property rights activism.” Antipode 45, no. 5 (2013): 1167-1189.
Thairath. “ปิดตำนานตลาดเวิ้ง หมุนไปตามนายทุน” [Ending the legend of Werng Nakhon Gasem Market: Following Capitalists]. Accessed Nov. 10, 2019. https://www.thairath.co.th/content/187190. (in Thai)
Uitermark, Justus. “An in memoriam for the just city of Amsterdam.” City 13, no. 2-3 (2009): 347-361.
Uitermark, Justus. “An actually existing just city? The fight for the Right to the City in Amsterdam.” In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcuse and Margit Mayer, 197-214. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Uitermark, Justus, Walter Nicholls, and Maarten Loopmans. “Cities and social movements: theorizing beyond the right to the city.” Environment and Planning A 44, (2012): 2546-2554.
Weinstein, Liza, and Xuefei Ren. “The changing right to the city: Urban renewal and housing rights in globalizing Shanghai and Mumbai.” City & Community 8, no. 4 (2009): 407-432.
Apiwat Ratanawaraha (Interviewed). “ไปให้ไกลกว่า ‘รถตู้มหาภัย’” [ Going beyond ‘ the dangerous van]. Accessed Nov. 10, 2019. https://prachatai.com/journal/2017/01/ 69676. (in Thai)
Attoh, Kafui A. “What kind of right is the right to the city?.” Progress in human geography 35, no. 5 (2011): 669-685.
Boonlert Visetpricha. “เครือข่ายสลัม 4 ภาค: ประวัติศาสตร์และบทเรียน” [Four Regions Slum Network: History and lessons. Fadeawkan 1, no.3 (Jul. – Dec. 2003): 68-92.
Boonlert Visetpricha. “บทบาทภาคประชาชนในการผ่าทางตันปัญหาชุมชนแออัด” [The roles of people movement in dissolving slum community problems]. Romphruek Journal 26, no.2 (Feb. - May. 2008): 36-68.
Brenner, Neil, Peter Marcuse, and Margit Mayer, eds. Cities for people, not for profit: Critical urban theory and the right to the city. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Budds Jessica, Paulo Teixeira, and SEHAB. “Ensuring the right to the city: pro-poor housing, urban development and tenure legalization in Sao Paulo, Brazil.” Environment and Urbanization 17, no. 1 (2005): 89-114.
Davis, Mike. “Planet of slums.” New Perspectives Quarterly 23, no. 2 (2006): 6-11.
De Angelis, Massimo. The beginning of history: Value struggles and global capital. London: Pluto Press, 2007.
De Soto, Hernando. The other path. New York: Harper & Row, 1989.
De Souza, Marcelo Lopes. “Which right to which city? In defence of political-strategic clarity.” Interface 2, no. 1 (2010): 315-333.
Earle, Lucy. “Citizenship, the ‘right to the city’ and state fragility’.” Cities and Fragile States Working Paper, no. 87 (2011).
Fainstein, Susan S. The just city. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010.
Glass, Michael R., Rachael Woldoff, and Lisa Morrison, “Does the middle class have rights to the city? Contingent rights and the struggle to inhabit Stuyvesant Town, New York.” International Journal of Housing Policy 14, no. 3 (2014): 214-235.
Harvey, David. “The right to the city.” International journal of urban and regional research 27, no. 4 (2003): 939-941.
Harvey, David. A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Harvey, David. “The right to the city.” New Left Review 53 (2008): 23-40.
Harvey, David. Rebel cities: From the Right to the City to the urban revolution. London and New York: Verso books, 2012.
Harvey, David and David Waxhsmuth, “What is to be done? And who the hell is going to do it.” In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcus, and Margit Mayer, 264-274. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Kadi, Justin, and Richard Ronald, “Market-based housing reforms and the ‘right to the city’: the variegated experiences of New York, Amsterdam and Tokyo.” International Journal of Housing Policy 14, no. 3 (2014): 268-292.
Lefebvre, Henri. Writings on cities. Edited and translated by Kofman, Eleomore, and Elizabeth Lebas. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.
Liss, Jon. “The Right to the city: From theory to grassroots alliance. In Cities for people, not for profit, In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcuse and Margit Mayer, 250-263. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Weinstein, Liza, and Xuefei Ren, “The changing right to the city: Urban renewal and housing rights in globalizing Shanghai and Mumbai.” City & Community 8, no. 4 (2009): 407-432.
Marcuse, Peter. “From critical urban theory to the right to the city.” City 13, no. 2-3 (2009): 185-197.
Marcuse, Peter. “Whose right (s) to what city?.” In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcus, and Margit Mayer, 24-41. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Marcuse, Peter. “Reading the right to the city.” City 18, no. 1 (2014): 4-9.
Mayer, Margit. “The ‘Right to the City’ in the context of shifting mottos of urban social movements.” City 13, no.2-3 (2009): 362-374.
Mitchell, Don. The right to the city: Social justice and the fight for public space. New York: Guilford Press, 2003.
Montgomery, Charles. Happy city: Transforming our lives through urban design. Translated by Phinda Phisitbut. Bangkok: broccoli, 2019.
Nattapon Sang-arun. “สิทธิที่จะอยู่ในเมือง: ภาพสะท้อนการเคลื่อนไหวเพื่อสิทธิการอยู่อาศัยของชุมชนบางบัว” [The Right to the City: The housing rights movement of Bangbua Community]. Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies (JARS) 9, no.2 (2012): 1-22. (in Thai)
Nattawut Usavagovitwong, Kwanporn Bunnag and Napas Vatanopas. "ความเหลื่อมล้ำในเมืองมหานคร: บทปริทรรศน์ความรู้ในบริบทประเทศไทย" [Urban inequality in mega-urban region: The synoptic review from Thai’s context] Built Environment Inquiry Journal Faculty of Architecture Khon Kaen University 17, no. 12 (Jul. -Dec. 2018): 157-178. (in Thai)
Pattillo, Mary. “Housing: Commodity versus right.” Annual Review of Sociology 39, (2013): 509-531.
Pitch Pongsawat. “สิทธิที่จะมีอำนาจกำหนดชีวิตและความเปลี่ยนแปลงของเมือง” [The Right to power to make decisions on life and urban change / The Right to the City). Accessed Nov. 6, 2019. https://www.matichon.co.th/columnists/news_1738940. (in Thai)
Prachachat Business. “ซี.พี. ทุ่ม 1.4 แสนล้านสร้างเมือง ปั้น “มักกะสัน” โกลบอล เกตเวย์”[ C.P. invests 140 Billion to build Makkasan Global Gateway]. Accessed Nov 10, 2019. https://www.prachachat.net/property/news-332604. (in Thai)
Purcell, Mark. “Excavating Lefebvre: The Right to the City and its urban politics of the inhabitant.” GeoJournal 58, no. 2-3 (2002): 99-108.
Purcell, Mark. “To inhabit well: Counterhegemonic movements and the Right to the City”, Urban geography 34, no.4 (2013): 560-574.
Purcell, Mark. “Possible worlds: Henry Lefebvre and the Right to the City”, Journal of Urban Affairs 36, no.1 (2014): 146-147.
Schmid, Christian. “Henry Lefebvre, the right to the city, and the new metropolitan mainstream.” In Cities for people, not for profit, In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcuse and Margit Mayer, 42-62. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Shin, Hyun Bang. “The Right to the City and critical reflections on China's property rights activism.” Antipode 45, no. 5 (2013): 1167-1189.
Thairath. “ปิดตำนานตลาดเวิ้ง หมุนไปตามนายทุน” [Ending the legend of Werng Nakhon Gasem Market: Following Capitalists]. Accessed Nov. 10, 2019. https://www.thairath.co.th/content/187190. (in Thai)
Uitermark, Justus. “An in memoriam for the just city of Amsterdam.” City 13, no. 2-3 (2009): 347-361.
Uitermark, Justus. “An actually existing just city? The fight for the Right to the City in Amsterdam.” In Cities for people, not for profit, edited by Neil Brenner, Peter Marcuse and Margit Mayer, 197-214. London and New York: Routledge, 2012.
Uitermark, Justus, Walter Nicholls, and Maarten Loopmans. “Cities and social movements: theorizing beyond the right to the city.” Environment and Planning A 44, (2012): 2546-2554.
Weinstein, Liza, and Xuefei Ren. “The changing right to the city: Urban renewal and housing rights in globalizing Shanghai and Mumbai.” City & Community 8, no. 4 (2009): 407-432.
