ABSTRACT

This chapter aims at understanding how the official discourse of laws, acts, plans and development strategies work in creating the preconditions for the formation of East London's public space. It is divided into two parts. Starting from Hannah Arendt's discussion on politics, the first elaborates on the notion of democratic public space. The second part focuses on the discourse presented in a number of key texts that have provided the framework for policy making in London: the Greater London Authority (GLA) Act 1999, the London Plan 2011, the London Implementation Plan 2011, the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994, the CH 2 M Hill, Laing O' Rourke and Mace (CLM)-Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) contract and the Mayor's cultural strategy. The chapter addresses the extent to which the idea of publicness that is construed by contemporary official discourse differs/corresponds to an interpretation of the public sphere based on the idea of plurality: Arendt's precondition for democracy.