ABSTRACT
Urban regeneration often results in the creation of new public spaces. Interestingly, the character of such spaces can vary greatly from highly regulated, exclusionary and controlled to more inclusionary, when citizens can create different uses for them, not expected by planners. The first type of space, more regulated, may form part of what may be called an urban ‘spectacularization’ process and the second, less planned, is related to what may be called urban ‘improvisation’ (the informal and spontaneous use of public space). Such informal spaces (and the processes which create them) are also known as insurgent or resistance spaces and are important for several reasons. However, this raises a number of questions, including: how can policy makers, practitioners and communities integrate informal or spontaneous use of public space with the formal processes and aspirations of mainstream urban regeneration? Can the practice of urban regeneration be improved in terms of resistance, difference and social participation? An interesting possibility in this context is the encouragement of improvised activities in the already ‘spectacularized’ spaces, with a focus on the uses and practices of ordinary lives which have clear links with popular culture. This chapter argues that lessons may be learned in this context from the presence of such activities in the more popular parts of Brazilian cities, which are acknowledged as exhibiting a creditable degree of vitality and intensity of public life based on the informal use of spaces. If informal activities create public spaces, it is through the actions, appropriations and occupations of spaces that it becomes really public, so what can we learn from one of the most informal types of space in Brazilian cities, the favelas? And what can we learn from their urban actions of everyday resistance?
