Inclusive cities? Theories and concepts – literature
Week 1
Marcuse, P. (2009). From Critical Theory to the Right to the City.
City,
13(2-3), 185-197
Main Arguments
Marcuse argues that critical urban theory's ultimate purpose is to promote
the demand for the Right to the City—a transformative social and moral
claim rather than a simple legal right. This right belongs primarily to those
deprived of basic material needs (the homeless, poor, oppressed) and
those alienated by societal structures (artists, youth, discontented middle
classes) who aspire to fuller, creative lives. The Right to the City means
more than access to urban resources; it signifies collective control over
urban life and a fundamental reshaping of society and space. The existing
fragmented rights to housing, transport, or public space must be viewed
as parts of a whole, not isolated privileges.
Historical Context
Marcuse contrasts the crisis and protest of 1968, which produced the Right
to the City slogan through the actions of workers and alienated youth, with
the then-current global economic crisis (2008-2009). The 1968 protests
were emblematic of frustrations with unrealized societal potential despite
economic prosperity. In contrast, by 2009, systemic inequalities and
insecurities had deepened due to financial capitalism, yet popular
movements for change remained subdued. The article highlights that
history offers a spectrum of crisis outcomes from revolution to fascism,
indicating possibilities for both radical change and reactionary backlash.
Whose Right and What City?
Marcuse stresses that the Right to the City concerns those excluded and
alienated by current capitalist urbanization—not the elites who currently
dominate real estate, finance, and political power. He also distinguishes
between "the right in the city" (specific services and rights) and "the right
to the city" (a claim to reshape urban society as a whole). Quoting
Lefebvre, he notes the Right to the City demands not access to the
existing city but a future city free of hierarchical divisions, where urban
and rural distinctions dissolve into a just social order.
Examples from the Article
, The homeless person in Los Angeles allowed to sleep in a park bench
does not have the Right to the City; they lack collective rights and
comprehensive urban inclusion.
The broad social movements of 1968 combined the demands of
materially exploited workers with the aspirations of alienated youth,
but a full alliance was never achieved.
The 2008 financial crisis is described as a manifestation of deeper
contradictions in capitalism, reflected by high unemployment,
foreclosures affecting millions, and widened inequality.
The election of Barack Obama is used as an example of apparent
change that did not fundamentally alter the entrenched economic
and political elites' control.
Solutions and Strategy
Marcuse proposes critical urban theory take a three-step approach to
realize the Right to the City:
1. Expose the root causes of urban inequality and systemic injustice.
2. Propose well-founded responses crafted with those affected.
3. Politicize by motivating and organizing collective action aimed at
comprehensive social change.
Ultimate Vision
The goal is a transformed, democratic urban society that promotes justice,
equity, sustainability, diversity, and fulfillment of human capabilities.
While the concrete details of this future city are unpredictable, the process
must be democratic and inclusive. Marcuse acknowledges the immense
difficulty in challenging capitalism's entrenched power but holds critical
urban theory as essential in illuminating possibilities and guiding action.
In summary, Marcuse's article reinvigorates the radical call for the Right to
the City by connecting it to critical theory's emancipatory project,
emphasizing collective rights, social justice, and systemic transformation
through theory-informed activism.
Apostolopoulou, E., & Kotsila, P. (2021). Community gardening in
Hellinikon as a resistance struggle against neoliberal urbanism:
spatial
autogestion and the right to the city in post-crisis Athens, Greece.
Urban Geography, 43(2), 293–319.
, Apostolopoulou and Kotsila’s article analyzes community gardening in
Hellinikon, Athens, as a powerful instance of resistance against neoliberal
urbanism during Greece’s post-crisis era. The authors argue that the
Hellinikon self-organized garden—established on the grounds of the former
Athens International Airport—serves as a grassroots response to top-down
urban regeneration plans that sought privatization and green
gentrification, threatening to displace residents while promoting
unsustainable development.
Central to the article is the concept of spatial autogestion, meaning self-
management of urban space by the community, which emerges as a form
of prefigurative politics: the garden creates and rehearses radically
different social and ecological relationships from those dominant in
neoliberal urban development. Hellinikon’s community gardening
challenges dispossession and exclusion by reclaiming public space,
fostering collective agency, and modelling alternative urban futures that
integrate democratic participation, ecological sustainability, and social
solidarity.
The article illustrates this argument through the example of guerrilla
gardening in Hellinikon, where activists and residents collaborated to
transform disused airport land into productive communal gardens,
resisting privatization and state-led redevelopment plans. Their struggle
became a focal point in broader urban movements for the right to the city,
linking demands for re-appropriation of urban land with wider struggles for
environmental justice and access to urban nature. The authors note that
these practices not only contest crisis-driven austerity and inequality, but
also articulate new possibilities for inclusive, ecologically mindful urban
politics.
The Hellinikon case, therefore, demonstrates how community gardens can
function as radical spaces for grassroots activism, enabling inhabitants to
collectively claim urban space, resist neoliberal policies, and envision
alternative, just urban futures. Apostolopoulou and Kotsila’s article
examines how community gardening in Hellinikon, Athens, became a
radical act of resistance against neoliberal urbanism following Greece’s
financial crisis. The authors focus on the self-organized garden that
emerged on the grounds of the decommissioned Athens International
Airport, challenging the state and developers’ plans for privatization and
“green” gentrification that threatened to displace local residents and
facilitate unsustainable urban development.
At the heart of their analysis is the concept of spatial autogestion—
collective management and democratic self-organization of urban space
by residents and activists. The Hellinikon garden exemplifies how
Week 1
Marcuse, P. (2009). From Critical Theory to the Right to the City.
City,
13(2-3), 185-197
Main Arguments
Marcuse argues that critical urban theory's ultimate purpose is to promote
the demand for the Right to the City—a transformative social and moral
claim rather than a simple legal right. This right belongs primarily to those
deprived of basic material needs (the homeless, poor, oppressed) and
those alienated by societal structures (artists, youth, discontented middle
classes) who aspire to fuller, creative lives. The Right to the City means
more than access to urban resources; it signifies collective control over
urban life and a fundamental reshaping of society and space. The existing
fragmented rights to housing, transport, or public space must be viewed
as parts of a whole, not isolated privileges.
Historical Context
Marcuse contrasts the crisis and protest of 1968, which produced the Right
to the City slogan through the actions of workers and alienated youth, with
the then-current global economic crisis (2008-2009). The 1968 protests
were emblematic of frustrations with unrealized societal potential despite
economic prosperity. In contrast, by 2009, systemic inequalities and
insecurities had deepened due to financial capitalism, yet popular
movements for change remained subdued. The article highlights that
history offers a spectrum of crisis outcomes from revolution to fascism,
indicating possibilities for both radical change and reactionary backlash.
Whose Right and What City?
Marcuse stresses that the Right to the City concerns those excluded and
alienated by current capitalist urbanization—not the elites who currently
dominate real estate, finance, and political power. He also distinguishes
between "the right in the city" (specific services and rights) and "the right
to the city" (a claim to reshape urban society as a whole). Quoting
Lefebvre, he notes the Right to the City demands not access to the
existing city but a future city free of hierarchical divisions, where urban
and rural distinctions dissolve into a just social order.
Examples from the Article
, The homeless person in Los Angeles allowed to sleep in a park bench
does not have the Right to the City; they lack collective rights and
comprehensive urban inclusion.
The broad social movements of 1968 combined the demands of
materially exploited workers with the aspirations of alienated youth,
but a full alliance was never achieved.
The 2008 financial crisis is described as a manifestation of deeper
contradictions in capitalism, reflected by high unemployment,
foreclosures affecting millions, and widened inequality.
The election of Barack Obama is used as an example of apparent
change that did not fundamentally alter the entrenched economic
and political elites' control.
Solutions and Strategy
Marcuse proposes critical urban theory take a three-step approach to
realize the Right to the City:
1. Expose the root causes of urban inequality and systemic injustice.
2. Propose well-founded responses crafted with those affected.
3. Politicize by motivating and organizing collective action aimed at
comprehensive social change.
Ultimate Vision
The goal is a transformed, democratic urban society that promotes justice,
equity, sustainability, diversity, and fulfillment of human capabilities.
While the concrete details of this future city are unpredictable, the process
must be democratic and inclusive. Marcuse acknowledges the immense
difficulty in challenging capitalism's entrenched power but holds critical
urban theory as essential in illuminating possibilities and guiding action.
In summary, Marcuse's article reinvigorates the radical call for the Right to
the City by connecting it to critical theory's emancipatory project,
emphasizing collective rights, social justice, and systemic transformation
through theory-informed activism.
Apostolopoulou, E., & Kotsila, P. (2021). Community gardening in
Hellinikon as a resistance struggle against neoliberal urbanism:
spatial
autogestion and the right to the city in post-crisis Athens, Greece.
Urban Geography, 43(2), 293–319.
, Apostolopoulou and Kotsila’s article analyzes community gardening in
Hellinikon, Athens, as a powerful instance of resistance against neoliberal
urbanism during Greece’s post-crisis era. The authors argue that the
Hellinikon self-organized garden—established on the grounds of the former
Athens International Airport—serves as a grassroots response to top-down
urban regeneration plans that sought privatization and green
gentrification, threatening to displace residents while promoting
unsustainable development.
Central to the article is the concept of spatial autogestion, meaning self-
management of urban space by the community, which emerges as a form
of prefigurative politics: the garden creates and rehearses radically
different social and ecological relationships from those dominant in
neoliberal urban development. Hellinikon’s community gardening
challenges dispossession and exclusion by reclaiming public space,
fostering collective agency, and modelling alternative urban futures that
integrate democratic participation, ecological sustainability, and social
solidarity.
The article illustrates this argument through the example of guerrilla
gardening in Hellinikon, where activists and residents collaborated to
transform disused airport land into productive communal gardens,
resisting privatization and state-led redevelopment plans. Their struggle
became a focal point in broader urban movements for the right to the city,
linking demands for re-appropriation of urban land with wider struggles for
environmental justice and access to urban nature. The authors note that
these practices not only contest crisis-driven austerity and inequality, but
also articulate new possibilities for inclusive, ecologically mindful urban
politics.
The Hellinikon case, therefore, demonstrates how community gardens can
function as radical spaces for grassroots activism, enabling inhabitants to
collectively claim urban space, resist neoliberal policies, and envision
alternative, just urban futures. Apostolopoulou and Kotsila’s article
examines how community gardening in Hellinikon, Athens, became a
radical act of resistance against neoliberal urbanism following Greece’s
financial crisis. The authors focus on the self-organized garden that
emerged on the grounds of the decommissioned Athens International
Airport, challenging the state and developers’ plans for privatization and
“green” gentrification that threatened to displace local residents and
facilitate unsustainable urban development.
At the heart of their analysis is the concept of spatial autogestion—
collective management and democratic self-organization of urban space
by residents and activists. The Hellinikon garden exemplifies how
