Urban Future Initiative, Los Angeles, CA

posted by Ismail Farouk at Saturday, September 13, 2008

Greetings from Los Angeles! I am here as part of the MAK Center Urban Future Initiative (UFI), a visionary fellowship program for research of urban phenomenon hosted at the Fitzpatrick-Leland House.

I will be staying in Los Angeles for the next 2 months, realising my proposal to map patterns of spatial injustice, informed by a comparative analysis of the social, political, economic and geographic landscapes of Los Angeles and Johannesburg. The basis for my work is the common nature of exclusion experienced as a result of the dominant neo-liberal urban planning policies being implemented in cities globally.

In both Johannesburg and Los Angeles, the expanding privatised urban environment, characterised by the formation of Business Improvement Districts (BIDS), seem to support the perception of cleanliness and safety. BIDS concentrate power for the property owners only, who benefit as a result is the surge in property prices in the area. However, they also suppress the varied expression of human interaction and limit the capacity of small businesses to stay afloat. Ultimately, BIDS have no benefits for poorer residents and often result in the end of a livelihood. My proposal at the UFI, is an attempt to understand the patterns of poverty and injustice as it relates to the privatisation of public space.

Please feel free to follow my progress on the official UFI blog.

Labels: Ismail Farouk, Mak Center, Projects, UFI, Urban Future Initiative, urban research