University of Newcastle urban design professor Ali Madanipour’s observations on spatial
aspects of social exclusion in contemporary European cities is relevant to understanding
social exclusion in cities everywhere in the world both today and in the past.
As globalization continues to bring people from throughout the world into closer contact, and
as the pace of immigration increases, the issue of exclusion becomes ever more pressing.
Questions Madanipour addresses:
- In what different ways are some people excluded from participation in the life of the
cities where they live?
- How is exclusion expressed in urban space?
- What can be done about it?
Madanipour distinguishes between economic discrimination, in which members of a group
are excluded from employment, political discrimination, in which they are excluded from
political power by being denied voting rights or full political representation, and cultural
exclusion, in which the group members are marginalized from the symbols, meanings,
rituals, and discourses of the dominant culture.
Madanipour suggests two potentially promising theoretical approaches to promote greater
inclusion of marginalized groups into urban space - decommodifying space so that the
private real estate market plays a less decisive role in where different groups are located
within the city and deliberate city planning to de-spatialize social exclusion.
Madanipour concludes his analysis by advocating inclusionary practices - to assure that
outsiders are more fully included in urban societies based on his broad approaches.
aspects of social exclusion in contemporary European cities is relevant to understanding
social exclusion in cities everywhere in the world both today and in the past.
As globalization continues to bring people from throughout the world into closer contact, and
as the pace of immigration increases, the issue of exclusion becomes ever more pressing.
Questions Madanipour addresses:
- In what different ways are some people excluded from participation in the life of the
cities where they live?
- How is exclusion expressed in urban space?
- What can be done about it?
Madanipour distinguishes between economic discrimination, in which members of a group
are excluded from employment, political discrimination, in which they are excluded from
political power by being denied voting rights or full political representation, and cultural
exclusion, in which the group members are marginalized from the symbols, meanings,
rituals, and discourses of the dominant culture.
Madanipour suggests two potentially promising theoretical approaches to promote greater
inclusion of marginalized groups into urban space - decommodifying space so that the
private real estate market plays a less decisive role in where different groups are located
within the city and deliberate city planning to de-spatialize social exclusion.
Madanipour concludes his analysis by advocating inclusionary practices - to assure that
outsiders are more fully included in urban societies based on his broad approaches.
