Commodification and conversion of pedestrian zone functions by residents of the Surabaya City

According to Lefebvre & Harvey, the concept of the right to the city is suitable to frame the reality  of street vendors’ struggle to gain their right to access public pedestrian spaces. Street vendors uses  the pedestrian zone as an area to place their stalls to sell food and drinks, sell used goods, and more.  In this case, street vendors were unable to fight against the dominant power of the city government.  Therefore, street vendors have become a subordinate class that is unable to participate inclusively in  the political process, especially in planning the pedestrian spaces development. The street vendors’  struggle to gain access to pedestrian zones cannot be achieved through revolution. However, capitalism,  which is embedded in the life of street vendors, is a method for them to get their rights over the city. 

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The circumstances influenced the government to design a sophisticated pedestrian zone with supporting  facilities, which causes these to become an exclusive space and no longer multi-functional for people  in urban areas. Studies in various countries show pedestrian zones as public spaces face various challenges because of  their various functions, which are not solely for pedestrian mobility but also other public means. As a  public space, the pedestrian zone becomes a meeting area for interaction between residents. There are  public rights, political space, and habitable space in the pedestrian zone, and a space for trade (Agyeman  & Zavetovski 2015; Madanipour et al. 2013). Ehrenfeucht and Sideris (2007) studied pedestrian zones  in five cities in the United States: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Seattle. In pedestrian  zones, there is confusion arises because of the characteristics of them as public spaces. With these  characteristics, pedestrian zones carry ambiguous boundaries on their public status, competition for  particular uses from street vendors, and government control. Pedestrian zone as a public space is in the  dynamics of negotiation and conflict between users and potential users. Lefebvre (1991) addressed that  society’s spatial practice in urban space is the right of citizens to the city.

This study shows that pedestrianization gives the impression of environmentally friendly and pedestrian friendly space from the bright city perspective. The existing pedestrian zones in public facilities such  as hospitals, offices, shops, schools show spatial practices that support the relationship between social  groups and environmental aspects. However, social groups from low-income populations will use the  pedestrian zone as space to trade and fulfill their daily needs. This spatial practice was attacked by  neoliberal groups who requested the city government to control the pedestrian zone’s economic activities.  Thus, they are no longer functioned as trading places to meet the working class’s needs but are designed  and constructed to be clear from street vendors. In Harvey’s logic, this kind of pedestrianization proves  the government’s strength in practicing predatory politics and depriving the public of groups of the  urban poor who use the pedestrian zones to earn money.

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