Blind Spots and Pop-up Spots

What is it about?

This paper explores the concept of 'do-it-yourself' (DIY) urbanism and raises some important questions about our current understanding and practice of it. DIY urbanism refers to grassroots, citizen-led planning initiatives that often take place outside formal planning institutions. Common DIY urbanism activities in the US include pop-up parks and shops, temporary re-appropriation of streets and parking spaces for non-automobile-based activities, and 'guerrilla' public art exhibits and beautification efforts. Using a feminist analytical lens, this paper sheds light on the ‘blind spots’ in current scholarship by highlighting the racialized, classed, gendered, and sexualized biases found within dominant conceptualizations of the topic, its activities, actors, and spaces. It also investigates how DIY urbanism activities and actors are connected to larger urban systems and policies.

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Why is it important?

The concept of DIY urbanism is gaining considerable attention in mainstream planning practice and academic scholarship in the US and Europe. However, the discourses on the topic are narrow, with ‘blind spots’ and biases present along gender, racial, class, and sexuality lines. As policy makers and planners increasingly embrace DIY urbanism as a way to address many of the challenges cities are faced with today, it is more imperative now than ever to critically explore it, namely from an intersectional feminist framework. This paper draws from and contributes to feminist inquiries into urban planning and politics, namely, neoliberal and ‘creative class’ urban politics.

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