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Dissertation Information for Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

NAME:
- Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- [No Discipline Recorded]

SCHOOL:
- University of Southern California (USA) (1988)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Private production of public open space: The downtown Los Angeles experience

Abstract: "The central argument of the dissertation is that privatization of life--the extreme dependence on individual and private, rather than communal and public means--has dramatically affected the use and consumption of public space. But also the trend of public space privatization--the shifting of responsibilities of production, management, and control from the public to the private sector--has brought structural changes in the characteristics and quality of new public settings.

The study assesses the effects of the two interrelated phenomena--the privatization of urban life and the privatization of public space--at four different levels: (1) consumption and use; (2) provision and production; (3) design and physical representation; (4) management and control of public open space.

In the first part of the dissertation the privatization of life and space phenomena are set in their broader social, political, and economic perspective. The spatial manifestation of social forces, such as increased urban complexity and population mobility, suburbanization, technological advances, changes in the family structure, and professionalization are examined. Also the recent trend of private production of public space is analyzed and its effects are evaluated.

It is argued that a number of design cues and physical attributes, along with stringent control practices, are utilized in the new public settings to promote the purposes and goals of private enterprise. Characteristics, such as introversion, enclosure, protection, escapism, commercialism, social filtering, and exclusivity, are seen as resulting in environments that are congruent to private interests but not beneficial to the general public.

The arguments promoted in the first part of the dissertation are validated by three case studies of public open spaces, presented in the second part. All three spaces are located in downtown Los Angeles and are owned, managed, and controlled by the private sector. A detailed analysis focuses on the process of development, the uses, functions, and socio-physical characteristics of each space.

The empirical inquiry adds some new insights to the arguments of the first part. It is found that privatization represents: (1) form of dependency of the public on the private sector; (2) changing public service ethos in regards to open space; (3) form of inequity against the part of the population that mostly needs and uses public open spaces. "

MPACT Scores for Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

A = 0
C = 2
A+C = 2
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2009-05-25 19:33:49

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