Urban augmentation: [code]ifying socially constructed space in the urban realm

Date
2012
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Abstract
For many cities around the world, the urban context remains the location that produces social and cultural identities of a city. However, as a victim of various controls and neutralized urban spaces, the public urban realm is increasingly underutilized. Public spaces no longer offer a stage of social opportunity but "render the individual as a passive body within urban space, rather than an active creator or participant" (Shaw, 2009, p. 1). This method of social cleansing is problematic in that it negatively affects the overall capacity of a city to be inclusive. The true democratic nature of the public urban realm relies on several factors including social inclusion. As a landscape of possibility and open-endedness, inclusive public infrastructure encourages a diverse social mix that transforms the lifeless quality of the public urban realm into a stage for social and cultural activity. This quality to the public urban realm ensures that a climate of multiple social and cultural identities is encouraged. This Master's Degree Project (MOP), codifies socially constructed space within the contemporary city, and highlights a framework of socially inclusive, public infrastructure that redefines the public urban realm. This project serves a larger investigation into the complexities of the public urban realm and offers a broader understanding into this network. Furthermore, this research confirms that the suppression of healthy social and cultural interaction within public space lays culprit to an abandonment of a city's sense of place and identity.
Description
Bibliography: p. 67-68
Thesis is in colour.
Missing signature page.
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Citation
Auch, K. (2012). Urban augmentation: [code]ifying socially constructed space in the urban realm (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/4854
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