Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 2011

Subject: LCSH

Environment (Aesthetics), Structural optimization, Spatial behavior

Disciplines

Sociology

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which spaces are structuring influences on, or targets of, action. Two factors and their interactions are presented: the extent to which a space is 1) maintained and 2) used. As these factors increase in strength, the structural influences of a space increase while agential opportunities are diminished. Conversely, as spaces become dilapidated and abandoned, structural forces are weakened and the potential for creative action heightens. These spaces can be conceptualized as elements of the ‘residual landscape’: spaces left behind by socio-historical processes and practices. Special cases are considered where the factors are inversely related and issues of structure and agency are complicated. A brief case study serves to illustrate each type of space and the factors which operate therein.

Comments

This is the Author's Accepted Manuscript of the article published in Environment, Space, Place, volume 3, issue 2, Fall 2011, pages 51-81.

Full-text of this article is available from the Philosophy Documentation Center.

DOI

10.7761/ESP.3.2.51

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