Talocci, Giorgio;
(2020)
The ambivalence of urban obsolescence: questioning emancipatory design practices in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The research draws on the transdisciplinary debate, emerging within urban studies, which highlights the proliferation of fenced environments in the contemporary city. The research considers such environments to be tangible manifestations of dynamics of securitisation, control, privatisation, commodification, exclusion, depoliticisation. The research analyses therefore the production of the fenced city as essentially revolving around two archetypes: the gated community and the camp, as expressions respectively of phenomena of voluntary seclusion and forced confinement. The research interprets such archetypes from a twofold perspective: drawing, on one side, from governmental studies; and on the other side, from urban design studies. Expanding the trans-disciplinary character of the research (drawing from disciplines such as urban history, political economy, gender studies, performative arts), the research constructs a debate on urbanisms characterised by obsolescing phenomena: spaces of abandonment and dereliction, but also apparently leftover spaces, or interstitial and marginal ones. The analysis of such debate highlights a latent ambivalence: on one side, obsolescence is seen to partake into the production of the fenced city, through cycles of ruination, demolition, displacement; on the other side, obsolescence is read as emancipating from such production, creating the conditions for opening up, decommodifying, repoliticising the contemporary fenced city. Do camp-like or gated-community-like dynamics emerge even within obsolescing urbanisms? Or, conversely, do emancipatory practices emerge? The research attempts to answer such questions, challenging both sides of the debate. It does so investigating, at multiple scales, the reality of several obsolescing urbanisms in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The research concludes suggesting an epistemological shift, that would place obsolescence at the centre of the understanding of the current dynamics of urban transformation. In so doing, the research questions the relevance of its (theory-driven) method in framing and guiding urban research; and the relevance of its reflections on emancipatory practices – for the current debate on the social agency of urban design and architecture; and for the current dynamics of transformation in Phnom Penh.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | The ambivalence of urban obsolescence: questioning emancipatory design practices in Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | obsolescence, governmental studies, emancipation, urban design, Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Development Planning Unit |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10090816 |
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