(Urban) Form follows (urban) function - (Urban) Function follows (urban) form. The "soft" gating of Vienna's Historic City Center

Autor(en)

Gerhard Hatz

Abstrakt

The ongoing discussion on the privatization of cities primarily focuses on the controlled spaces of gated communities in the outskirts just as in inner city neighborhoods. However, the physical gating of neighborhoods is increasingly being replaced by other, soft forms of inclusion and exclusion. Not being physically gated or walled has become one of the Unique Selling Points of communities designed according to the concepts of new urbanism. The production of hegemonic urban spaces in these areas is accomplished by tight regulations on the physical environment and ¿declarations of covenants¿, stretching beyond the public governmental realm and into the control of personal lives. More subtle forms of control have evolved and have been transferred to privatized public spaces of inner city areas.

The paper puts the discussion forward by extending the discursive context of soft urbanism to the strengthening strategic role of urban governments. The Historic City Center of Vienna serves as an example of converging policies set in effect by private actors and the city administration. In contrast to a privatization of the public realm, in the Historic City Center of Vienna power relations are continuously shifting towards the institutional networks of the municipality, becoming the major player, developer and investor in the production of the meaning, the narrative and the affects attached to the Historic City Center. The tightening regulations for the Historic City Center indicate a programmatic convergence between the concepts of new urbanism and regulations, enacted by the urban government. Empirical analyses, presented in the paper, reveal how power and control are increasingly exerted over residents, private entrepreneurs and private developers alike.

The analysis is based on different multi‐scaled approaches. The introductory section examines the accelerating deployment of regulations and control. General codes and directives are increasingly supplemented by more detailed, small‐scale guidelines just as their objectives are shifting towards the production of ambience based on the thematic production of the city¿s narrative. Akin to privatized urban spaces, power is exerted by the cultural reproduction of the Historic City Center, reducing the discrepancy between the imagined and the real city. The mediated translation of power is examined in the second section, critically dissecting the conceptualization of downtown redevelopment projects. Social control and control of social interaction are becoming unfolded by the continuous negotiations of the urban stakeholders. The incremental closing down of options in the public realm is supported by empirical data on the changing economic, social, cultural and institutional assets attached to the Historic City Center of Vienna. The urban functions of the city center follow the new urban form. The third section refers back to the broader conceptual framework of urban renaissance. The re‐definition of the strategic function and power of the municipality in the context of urban renaissance is scrutinized in terms of power enacted by constraints of economy and globalization and raises the question of alternate solutions.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung

Anzahl der Seiten

15

Publikationsdatum

2009

ÖFOS 2012

507019 Stadtentwicklungsplanung, 1054 Physische Geographie

Link zum Portal

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/urban-form-follows-urban-function--urban-function-follows-urban-form-the-soft-gating-of-viennas-historic-city-center(118d014a-9597-4104-abf4-047e0becd467).html