In/formal reappropriations: spatialised needs and desires in residential alleys in Melbourne, Australia

Moreau, M. (2023) In/formal reappropriations: spatialised needs and desires in residential alleys in Melbourne, Australia. Urban Studies, (doi: 10.1177/00420980231195617) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

This paper engages in critical debate with urban informality in interstitial urban spaces through the lens of micro-scalar spatial practices motivated by everyday needs and desires. The aim is to examine the generative potential of small-scale reappropriations to change the functions, meanings and governing policies of undervalued urban spaces. An empirical focus is taken on residential alleys in inner-city neighbourhoods of Melbourne, Australia. Remnants of 19th-century sanitation and drainage infrastructure, these alleys are now underdetermined spaces of manifold functions and meanings. Drawing from extensive fieldwork documentation and interviews, this study maps and interrogates the interplay of formal and informal spatial practices. Formal practices, driven by assertion of authority rather than vision for public space, operate like Bourdieu’s habitus. Informal practices, driven by everyday needs and desires, have a teleoaffective dimension that can modify the social field in which these dispositions are formed and thereby alter habitus.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was made possible by Australian Postgraduate Award (later Research Training Program Scholarship) to the author.
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Moreau, Dr Miza
• Authors: Moreau, M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Urban Studies
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0042-0980
• ISSN (Online): 1360-063X
• Published Online: 13 September 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © Urban Studies Journal Limited 2023
• First Published: First published in Urban Studies 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons licence