A CITY WITHOUT STRANGERS : SHOPPING MALL AS A SEMI-PUBLIC SPACE
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | CITY : VARIABLE NOT/OBVIOUS |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Sociology, demography |
| Keywords | public space; stranger; privatization; shopping mall |
| Description | This paper is a contribution to the contemporary debate on the changing nature of city public space. A theoretical assumption about the decline of traditional public space and the rise of the privatized space is examined using the example of a shopping mall, a place which has become nearly synonymous to the concept of a privatized public space. Three forms of social control are identified when examinig the rules of conduct in these spaces: social control by direct surveillance, social control by architecture and social control by normalization. It is argued that these forms together give rise to a new kind of city space, one that is free of otherness and strangers. |