Global cities, gentrification and creative practices
In this first RGS-IBG podcast, Dr Mould discusses creativity under the rubric of gentrification and how creative practices may be subsumed under, or subvert capitalism. We asked Dr Mould about his work with the Long Live Southbank campaign which successfully saved the oldest recognised skateboarding space in the world from destruction and displacement under redevelopment schemes.
Southbank Skatepark © La Citte Vlta, Flickr.
Save the Southbank: a graffiti protest against the closure of the skateboard park © Garry Knight
Lesson Ideas
Pupils research in more detail, the history of the Southbank Skateboard Park and the proposed development plans for the Southbank centre. In groups discuss the proposed plans and arguments for and against their development. As a whole, class should debate: who are the winners and losers of gentrification?
Considering your local urban area think about the ways that creative practices (public art, graffiti, skateboarding, busking, light festivals etc.) have been put to use in these places. Who takes part in these practices? What are their motivations? How do local authorities employ these practices to give space a certain atmosphere? Do certain creative practices go against these authorities?
Links
-
Mould, O (2015) The Southbank and the Skaters: The Cultural Politics of Subversion, Antipode
-
London mayor calls for Southbank skatepark to remain, BBC (2013)
-
Southbank development: 60,000-strong petition handed in, BBC (2014)
-
The South Bank skateboarders shouldn’t veto our community dreams, The Guardian (2013)
-
Gentrification and what can be done to stop it, Ted Talk, Professor Loretta Lees (2014)
Key Words
Capitalism
An economic and political system in which trade and industry are controlled by private ownership for profit
Commodification
The transformation of goods, services, ideas into objects of trade and economic value known as commodities.
Planetary Gentrification
The understanding of gentrification at a planetary scale, unfolding across the global north and south, from slum gentrification to mega-displacement.
Subculture
A cultural group within a larger culture that display different beliefs to the mainstream. Subcultural studies often study the symbolism attached to clothing, fashion, and music within these groups
Oli was interviewed in May 2016.
- Lecture
High street regeneration: place-making and changing spaces - Dr Steve Millington
School Member Lecture, 24 January 2018
- Overview
Changing Place; Changing Places
Written by Richard Phillips, Professor of Human geography, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield
- Podcast
Art and the representation of place with Francesca Sanders
Francesca Sanders is a wildlife and landscape artist and conservationist