In her book, Brave New Neighborhoods: The Privatization of Public Space, Margaret Kohn illustrates the “political impact of the privatization of public space” (2004). When cash-strapped cities and local governments began to encounter difficulties providing public goods (such as public parks and public open space) in the 1970s, a significant shift gave way to private interest as cities bartered zoning rights for the provision of public space with businesses and corporations. Zohn argues that this trend towards privatization severely handicapped many aspects of democratic life and led to the commodification of public space and a newly defined public through social controls (changing accessibility) (2004). Ultimately, Zohn concludes that privatization led to a seeming “disappearance of public space” (2004). This literature review will explore the privatization and commodification of public space, and how these issues have contributed to a narrative of “loss of space” among academics.
Privatization of Public Space As local governments experienced detrimental budget cuts beginning in the 1970s, they became increasingly reliant on external private interests to develop and provide public goods that were previously delivered by the government. Banerjee explains, “financially strapped cities…show more content… Such commodification is observed in what scholars term the “Disneyfication” of space. Disneyfication is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the transformation (as of something real or unsettling) into carefully controlled and safe entertainment or an environment with similar qualities” (Definition, 2015). This theming of space leads to a newly defined public space—what constitutes public space, who constitutes the “public” (and is therefore allowed to utilize public space), and what can take place in public