ABSTRACT
Aware of the inseparable relationship between public space and commercial space, this paper aims at reading Lefebvre’s concept of a “right to the city” through a survey of urban places for commerce.
Commerce and the city have always been complementing and constituting one other, generating spaces that are built up on the complex synergy between social practices, physical space and its modes of use. However, this centuries-long ability of commerce to contribute to the “making of the city” began to be questioned when commercial settlements started to close in upon themselves, turning into structures that are no longer open and permeable to urban life. Lately, though, we are witnessing different transient urban phenomena, such as “temporary” commercial occupancy of space: ordinary people producing space – not necessarily physically, sometimes just transfiguring its meaning and value – through the pursuit of their own needs, transgressing the formal spatial and temporal boundaries of the lived spaces of everyday life.
In some way, temporary commercial spaces celebrate Lefebvre’s idea of a city that is accessible to everybody, making it possible for inhabitants to regain control of the city’s decision-making and space creating processes.
