Architecture In Context - Neoliberalism by alessandro meroni

Neoliberalism and the dangers of a privatized city

Alessandro Meroni 1

Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University; meroni.a@cardiff.ac.uk, 1915555

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Abstract: Since its conception, Neoliberalism has had a significant impact on every aspect of the city, including its architecture and urban planning. In the last century architecture began to be utilized as a tool for consumption instead of simply a place for consumption. The privatization incentivized by neoliberal ideologies has only enforced this phenomenon, and this much is clear especially when private companies influence extends past the walls of a building and into supposedly public spaces creating privately owned public spaces. The owners, benefitting from governing powers on their premise can manipulate the circulation, the quality of architecture and how/who is allowed to inhabit the space. All in the name of profit maximizing and mass consumption. The urban regeneration which Stratford city underwent, highlights these principles by attracting tourists through the avant-garde architecture of the ArcelorMittal Orbit and redirecting the flow of people subconsciously forcing them to circulate through Westfield shopping center where they will consume its amenities. Furthermore, the exclusion of low social class residents allowed by private spaces and the gentrification caused by increased standards of living have caused a social class divide within Stratford.

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Keywords: Neoliberalism; Privatization; Architecture; POPS; Crowd-modelling; Mallification; Gentrification;

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Neoliberalism refers to an economic school of thought of free market capitalism through the practise of privatization “the act of selling a business or an industry so that it is no longer owned by the government” (Cambridge, n.d.). Originally conceived in the 19th century, it did not gain popularity until after WW2 when the desire to enhance the economic recovery sought privatization and a free market structure for increased profits. Half a century later Neoliberalism has overtaken most aspects of our society and ideologies, making it still extremely present nowadays. While links to business and finance are evident, Neoliberalism has made its way into the architecture of the city and its urban planning, affecting the field in such a way that some practitioners would deem as negative. Rem Koolhaas, a Dutch Architect, has gone so far as to label this new wave of architecture as “Junkspace” (Koolhaas, 2016) in his book ‘Junkspace’ where he critiques contemporary urbanism and city planning under neoliberalist ideologies.

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This essay will therefore determine with what extent Neoliberal architecture has affected the overall city and its buildings. More specifically: diversity of structures within a city, scarcity of truly public spaces, and how its sole purpose has become to facilitate mass consumption. With an in depth look at Stratford City’s urban regeneration project as a case study. Completed in anticipation of the Olympic Games held in London in 2012, this urban area is the perfect example of neoliberalist architecture and city planning designed for mass consumption. Focusing on Queen Elizabeth’s Olympic Park and Westfield Stratford shopping centre, to discuss the use of privately owned public spaces, memorable architecture and designing circulation through crowd modelling. Thie essay will ultimatly analyze the negative lasting effects of urban regeneration on the sorrounding area often reffered to as ‘Mallification’ of the city (a more in depth look on this is provided in Cohen’s literature review). This paper will ultimately shine a light on the recent patterns which have overtaken the way architecture is designed and affected the overall city in which neoliberalism is practised, with a strong emphasis on why/how this presents problems to the city in question and its inhabitants.

Introduction

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Lizabeth Cohen’s A consumers’ republic provides context on the initial shift in regards of how consumption is carried out within a society/city. In the aftermath of World War II, The United States among many other countries were seeking to instigate an economic boom by encouraging consumption to recover from the Great Depression of the 1930s. A “vision of post-war America where the general good was best served not by frugality or even moderation, but by individuals pursuing personal wants in a flourishing mass consumption marketplace” (Cohen, 2004) This gave rise to a new way of living which was unprecedented. Citizens flocked to the suburbs encouraged by government’s cuts on taxes and newly constructed highways leading out of the cities. Residential constructions saw a rapid increase in the 1950s and new infrastructures were designed to further promote mass consumption. These new market structures emerged mid-1950s designed in such a way that “the centre of community life was a site devoted to mass consumption.” (Cohen, 2004) However, as the concept of Neoliberalism and privatization further integrated itself in society it began to affect other infrastructures such as:

Literature review

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“hospitals, train stations, museums, airports … all fell victim to a profound mallification while new suburban malls flourished [...] The modern shopping centre, airport or even museum slowly transform themselves into environments that only [...] serve to lubricate the consumption process that finances the existence of said environment.” (Martens, 2018).

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This idea of the mallification of cities is also highlighted in David Harvey’s Neoliberalism and the city. Where he describes the urban transformation New York City was undergoing in the 1960s with the end goal of selling the city “as a destination for anyone interested in culture” (Harvey, 2007) by building culutral institutions like museums for tourists to consume. As the purpose of infrastructures was shifting, architecture had to adapt according to its new function of consumption. Contractors concerned with minimizing costs of production begun playing a more prominent role in the design process of new buildings: “for architecture to move beyond a development cost item, it must quantify its effect on profit” (Kunz, 2019) therefore, there was a strong pull towards cutting out the non-essential, simplifying the designs and using cheaper materials wherever possible. As Rem Koolhaas wrote in Junkspace: “Building materials have become more and more modular, unitary, and standardized. [Junkspace is] simply applied - mostly in stucco - as ornamental afterthought on hurriedly erected superblocks.” (Koolhaas, 2015). This so-called value-engineering led to a wave of homogeneous, uninspired structures which started taking over the architecture of the city.

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However, what constitutes problematic Neoliberal Architecture comes with the managerial properties linked to it; especially given the increasing popularity of paradigms in architecture, in using complex scripts and crowd modelling. The responsive behaviour of the consumers can be modelled and consequently the architecture around them is adjusted so that they are “incentivized to act and think in accord with the optimal functioning of the system” in other words, “individuals ‘want’ what the system needs in order to perform well” (Spencer, 2016); And what the system needs is a steady consumption of its product. As previously stated, contractors will alter the physical qualities of a building to decrease its cost of construction; however, this is not the only way

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they can maximize profits. Given the privatization pushed by Neoliberalist ideologies, infrastructures that appear as a public commodity (i.e., shopping centres or even squares) are actually privately owned; resulting in so-called ‘POPS’: privately owned public spaces. Being a private space, the owner has the power to enforce its own ‘laws’ around the infrastructure with the goal to further promote mass consumption on his land. In The Architecture of Neoliberalism Spencer paraphrases the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard’s work The Postmodern Condition:

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‘The needs of the most underprivileged’, writes Lyotard, ‘should not be used as a system regulator as a matter of principle: since the means of satisfying them is already known, their actual satisfaction will not improve the system’s performance, but only increase its expenditures. … It is against the nature of force to be ruled by weakness.’ (Spencer, 2016)

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Therefore, ‘POPS’ impose rules around their property that deliberately exclude social groups which would not positively affect the rate of consumption within a space. These may include, but are not limited to: racial minorities, the homeless and the poor. The Politics of the Envelope by Alejandro Zaera-Polo – another article cited in Spencer’s work – shares his concerns with the decreasing percentage of truly free and public urban environments compared to the ever-increasing large scale architecture, which is invading these spaces so fundamental to a healthy city. “The political dangers of the scale of the flat-horizontal envelopes lie in the scale of space they regulate.” (Zaera-Polo, 2008) This phenomenon of Mallification of the city is causing drastic divides between social class and threatening the growing scarcity of common public grounds: “public places should address an abstract, inclusive notion of the public, instead of a defined, limited, and exclusive […] audience” (Martens, 2018)

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When privatised Neoliberal architecture does not literally exclude people from their premise, they exclude entire social class groups from cities by consequence of their existence. The implementation of a ‘corporate-centre strategy’ in urban planning offered privatized companies state and local subsidies to restructure declining commercial districts. However, a by product of this, caused constantly increasing property prices making it impossible for individuals, which do not benefit from subsidies, to find affordable housing within the city. Allowing companies to further invade public and domestic spaces unimpeded by competition.

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Case-study and discussions 3.1 Stratford’s history

Stratford is a district located in the North East London. It was predominantly a site dedicated to industries which could not house their plants and factories in the city due to the pollution they caused. The site therefore functioned as a manufacturing centre for the Royal docks during the early 19th century. However, the closure of the docks in 1961, left the area impoverished and in an economic decline becoming one of the most deprived communities in the country. Unemployment rates were rising, and with-it crime and poor health followed (Clugston, 2016). However, when London was announced the host city for the 2012 Olympic games it saw it as an opportunity to revitalize Stratford through an urban regeneration of the area. Firstly, multiple state of the art stadiums were necessary in order for the athletes to compete. These make up the ‘Queen Elizabeth

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Olympic Park’ which unsurprisingly is privately owned by the (L.L.D.C) London Legacy Development Corporation (Burrows, 2017). A beautiful park spanning 560 acres of playgrounds, stadiums, offices, and homes; but as the literature review highlighted this is all a fancy disguise that enables mass consumption to happen behind closed doors. Zaha Hadid, who’s firm designed the Aquatics Centre for the London Olympics has often expressed her believes on avant-garde architecture and its effects on its surrounding area:

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“‘ambitious museums and galleries' […] are precisely what architects […] are called upon to provide in the current climate. Icons, gigantic three-dimensional advertisements, usually designed to ‘anchor' a postindustrial area with a regular clientèle of tourists, while the functional buildings that follow will be designed by corporate journeymen.” (Hatherley, 2010)

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3.2 Architecture to impress The use of avant-garde acrhitecture can be observed in Stratford and its Olympic park; although the stadiums all provide a certain aesthetic that can be ‘sold’, there is one structure in particular that fits these criteria; although be it not a “museum or gallery” (Hatherley, 2010). The ArcelorMittal Orbit designed by Anish Kapoor (figure1), is not a building at all, but rather a massive sculpture. It was commissioned as “a symbol for the London 2012 Games” (Fraser, 2012) or in other words a “gigantic three-dimensional advertisement” (Hatherley, 2010) marketing the Olympic park. This functions as a viewing platform for the surrounding site and is adorned with a slide which leads all the way down to the foot of the sculpture providing tourists with views and a memorable (marketable) slide experience. However, it serves a different function to the L.L.D.C.: the purpose of attracting as many people and tourists as possible so that they can consume the various amenities within the park. Matter of fact, the entire urban planning of the site was meticulously designed to promote mass consumption which comes as no surprise given the Neoliberal climate it was built in.

Figure 1 - Aquatics Centre, Orbit Tower and Stadium, Olympic Park, Stratford, London (RIBA Collections, 2017)

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3.3 The dangers of ‘POPS’ The Politics of the Envelope discussed in the literature review, talks about the dangers associated with large privately owned buildings due to the managerial powers of the owner. Although the Olympic park is technically not a single structure, it is still owned by a single company making the aforementioned concern still valid. In the East Village residential development, where people live within the Olympic park, Vivienne Ramsey, the head of development and building control, states that: “They have very tight management system that makes sure the communal areas are kept nice, and security guys who go around all the time to make sure there’s no anti-social behaviour” (Burrows, 2017), enforcing a “three-strike” system before one is escorted from the park. This implies that, within any of the seemingly public spaces, behavior which would disrupt the public from consuming the park’s amenities is unacceptable, and the persecutor might be asked to leave. Essentially giving L.L.D.C. the power of excluding people from their ‘POPS’.

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3.4 Westfield Stratford Shopping centre and crowd modelling Nevertheless, while flagship sculptures and excluding social groups imply the presence of mass consumption, nothing does it as explicitly as the largest urban shopping centre in Europe: Westfield Stratford City. Located immediately outside Queen Elizabeth’s Olympic Park it covers 190,000 square metres housing retail space, offices, a hotel, and even a casino. As of 2018 the entire Westfield line is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (U.R.W); consisting of 2 different shopping centres, both in London. Therefore, the expected consequences of ‘POPS’. once again appear here. However, what stands out in the mall’s design, is the circulation around it. Crowd modelling and its uses in Neoliberal architecture are as relevant as ever in this design. Taking advantage of the assured influx of people caused by the Olympic games, Westfield was designed in such a way to redirect this traffic through the shopping centre. “an estimated 70 percent of visitors to the 2012 Games, some 360,000 people on peak days, will need to pass through the mall on their way to and from events.” (Fraser, 2012). To further encourage flow through the mall, Stratford’s Underground, Overground and National Rail lines all exit directly Infront of Westfield, with large main roads encouraging the flow of motion into the shopping centre. While Stratford International rail station located on the other side of Westfield has two exits, one leading into the city and one directly to the shopping centre. Meaning that anybody visiting to see the Olympic games, or even just wanting to stroll through the park nowadays will be redirected through Westfield and is therefore more likely to consume some of its amenities; encouraging the consumption necessary for the structure to exist.

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3.5 By products of urban regeneration The urban regeneration of Stratford city can be argued to have been a huge success from an economic perspective; however, it is important to examine the lasting effects years after the Olympic games. Invigorating a decaying area with new infrastructures, park, and a general increase in the quality of life will lead to gentrification. Figure 2 and 3 are ariel views comparing a before and after photo of the city. Wealthier professionals and individuals with disposable income started flocking to the new and improved Stratford to reside their homes or offices. Thereby the image of the city started changing, and it had to adapt to satisfy a new clientele. Once again quoting Lyotard, “It is against the nature of force to be ruled by weakness.” (Lyotard, 2010). The increase in demand rises costs of living and property prices, forcing people which lived in the city pre-gentrification to move to the outskirts, unable to afford the increasing rents. Similarly to the events of the 1960s in New York, this causes a class divide between the population, and businesses are mainly going to

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cater to the wealthy few. It is significant that John Lewis, a high-end department store, was only introduced in Stratford in 2011 during the urban regeneration. As David Harvey writes in his essay regarding New York and Neoliberalism:

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“the municipal government had to address creating a good business climate […] this leads to is the general idea that neoliberalization, from its very inception, was about the restoration of class power and, in particular, the restoration of class power to a very privileged elite” (Harvey, 2007)

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Figure 2 - Ariel view of the construction of Olympic Park, London – 2009 (Bointon, 2009)

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Figure 3 - Panoramic aerial view of the Olympic Park taken on 16 April 2012 (EG Focus, 2012)

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In conclusion, since its inception, Neoliberalism only concern was in wealth production; and although it did help the world speedily recover from the damages (both physical and economical) of world war II it carries dangerous implications for the city and its space usage. As discussed in the literature review the pursuit of mass consumption and profit maximizing is changing the way we circulate and inhabit the city. There appears to have been a shift in the way the city sees its citizens. We have become a tool for consumption: slaves to the same capitalist system we helped build.

Conclusions

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The ever-increasing number of privately owned public spaces creates confusion and contradictions between these pseudo-spaces and their respective legislations. In contrast, the decreasing number of truly free, accepting public spaces where citizens can simply exist with no underlying motive shows no signs of slowing down. The architecture surrounding these misleadingly private spaces has become monotonous and repetitive. It lacks the cultural essence which keeps a city vibrant and exciting. Architects suffer from limited creativity and artistic interpretation tasked with designing structures with extremely low budgets which undergo “cost-cutting vulgarization”(Hatherley, 2017). With the exception of a selected few projects which sole purpose is to attract a constant stream of tourists with its intricate ‘avant-garde’ designs. Neoliberalism has gone as far as manipulating the way people navigate a building through crowd modelling and it has applied the same concept to large urban areas such as Queen Elizabeth’s Olympic Park; all in the name of consumption.

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Stratford city is only one of the many examples of privately financed urban regeneration; Tower Hamlets, Newham, and Ealing, to name a few, are under planning for regeneration in the upcoming years. And although gentrification and class divide are an issue in Stratford, I believe urban regeneration can be executed in such a way which benefits the city as a whole rather than the privileged elite. Regulations must adapt to address large, privatized spaces and reduce the amount of legislative power especially so on POPS. Douglas Spencer even suggested that these private ‘envelopes’ integrate “sophisticated mechanisms of permeability across the skin” (Spencer, 2016) to allow a healthy mix of the representative population within the structure. Additionally, price ceilings or other means of rent control must be introduced in these areas to protect lower social class residents which inhabited the site before the restorations. Furthermore, future urban regeneration could be planned to benefit the lower income percentage of the population even if that implies a loss in potential profits. Ultimately, it is our city: the wealthy, the poor, the homeless; they all account towards the population. The city should therefore accommodate every one of us, and the architecture should reflect the diversity of its inhabitants and intricacies of its functions, not a bland shell for mass consumption.

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References

Burrows, T., 2017. Legacy, what legacy? Five years on the London Olympic park battle still rages. The Guardian, [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/27/london-olympic-park-success-five-yearsdepends> [Accessed 20 January 2021]. Cambridge, n.d. [online] Available at: <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/privatization> [Accessed 12 January 2021]. Clugston, H., 2016. London 2012, 4 Years On: How Stratford Has Transformed. Culture trip, [online] Available at: <https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/london/articles/london2012-4-years-on-how-stratford-has-transformed/> [Accessed 12 January 2021]. Cohen, L., 2004. A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), pp.236-239. Fraser, M., 2012. The Global Architectural Influences on London. Architectural Design, [online] 82(1), pp.14-21. Available at: <https://onlinelibrary-wileycom.abc.cardiff.ac.uk/doi/abs/10.1002/ad.1342>. Harvey, D., 2007. Neoliberalism and the City. Studies in Social Justice, 1(1), pp.2-13. Hatherley, O., 2010. ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS AND THE NEOLIBERAL AVANT-GARDE. Mute, [online] Available at: <https://www.metamute.org/editorial/articles/zaha-hadid-architects-andneoliberal-avant-garde> [Accessed 15 January 2021]. Hatherley, O., 2017. The Architecture of Neoliberalism by Douglas Spencer review – privatising the world. The Guardian, [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/12/the-architecture-of-neoliberalism-douglasspencer-review> [Accessed 8 January 2021]. Koolhaas, R. ed., 2015. Junkspace. Kunz, B., 2019. Architecture in Neoliberalism. M.Arch. University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Lyotard, J., 2010. The postmodern condition. Minneapolis, Minn: Univ. of Minnesota Press. Martens, J., 2018. Mallification: The Vengeful Return of the Mall in the 21st Century. Failed Architecture, [online] Available at: <https://failedarchitecture.com/mallification-the-vengeful-returnof-the-mall-in-the-21st-century/> [Accessed 10 January 2021]. Spencer, D., 2016. The architecture of neoliberalism. Bloomsbury Academic. Zaera-Polo, A., 2008. The Politics of The Envelope. Log, 13/14, pp.193-207.

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5.1 Immages Figure 1 - RIBA Collections, 2017. Aquatics Centre, Orbit Tower and Stadium, Olympic Park, Stratford, London. [image] Available at: <https://www.architecture.com/image-library/ribapix/imageinformation/poster/aquatics-centre-orbit-tower-and-stadium-olympic-park-stratfordlondon/posterid/RIBA113782.html> [Accessed 12 February 2021]. Figure 2 - Bointon, J., 2009. Aerial view of the Construction of Olympic Park, London. [image] Available at: <https://www.flickr.com/photos/48511058@N00> [Accessed 12 February 2021]. Figure 3 - EG Focus, 2012. Panoramic aerial view of the Olympic Park taken on 16 April 2012. [image] Available at: <https://www.flickr.com/photos/egfocus/6944382210/> [Accessed 12 February 2021].