Questions in Contemporary Urban Space The megalopolis of the eastern United States is a terrain rich in interpretations, and an extremely slippery concept when trying to avoid the traditional opposition between metropolitanist and regionalist, which has strongly polarized the American debate since the 1920s.2 American regionalism, with its geographical regard, is an evident reference when reflecting on the character of American urbanization. But the term “region,” with its implications of homogeneity (natural, economical, and the like) does not seem
appropriate to reflect on contemporary urban fragmentation. “Metropolitanism,” on the other hand, emphasizes the role of the great city as the new territorial center, and the metropolis as the space of domination in a much larger territory. The metropolitanist position has returned to the Territorialis(m): An Introduction
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Territorialis: of the territory; the Latin adjective defines what pertains to a territory. A territory is the expression of borders, powers, and relations among subjects. A territory is a geographic space, a physical collection of qualities and characters. “Territorialism” is about both dimensions: the form of contemporary urban territories and the social artifact.1 Territorialism is the appropriation of a place from a species or group that through this process defines its own territory and the limitation of movements in a precise area. Processes of inclusion and of exclusion are connected to the idea of territorialism, as well as boundaries and defensive strategy. Reflecting on territorialism for urban and landscape designers means to reflect on the notion of territory at a high conceptual level and, in parallel, as well grounded in a situated reality. What we perceive as a territory, or as our territory, is above all a mental construction inside which imaged and concrete appropriations meet the material nature of the site, and inside which territories can be created or erased. The urban field has changed dramatically in recent decades: an understanding of the relations among multiple rationalities, ecological and social, can offer opportunities to intersect and integrate various territorial layers. Territorialism and the form of the territory are fundamental bases for understanding the contemporary city and the important changes that have occurred in its spatial, economic, and social structure. The centrality of landforms, the continuous redefinition of natural and social territories, and their dynamics inspire less abstract and more situated approaches—“a new modernity” in which the agency of natural elements is integrated in social space, and social space in the ecological frame. Territorialism is a means of directing or redirecting attention toward what constitute support in contemporary urban territories. It focuses attention on time, lifecycles, impermanence, and biotic and social relations.
political debate on the nature of American cities, stressing the need of new coalitions beyond the city-suburb dichotomy and attempting to overcome the metropolitan battlefield.3 “Territory” is the term that highlights the complexity of this battlefield, without immediately looking for homogeneity of solidarity; it is a polysemic term, the different interpretations of which produce heterogeneous descriptions and representations that reveal diverse perspectives. Territorialis(m) is an attention to territories as expression and acts of biopolitics. As an investigational tool, it is a way to grasp the spatial dimensions of practices, flows, and lifecycles. The relation between territory and power cannot be excessively simplified. Territory is not the sole support for different political and institutional forms: it is an artifact, a principle of organization with social origins and characters. It is a collection of particular places and positions; it is a resource, where goods, services, and values are produced.4 The territory is a palimpsest,5 not only a layered construction; it is a space of appropriation, an individual and collective construct and imaginary. A fragment of the megalopolis. Urbanization along the northeastern coast, highlighting the political boundary of Massachusetts.