Public space research inspired by ‘heterotopia’: A tentative discussion

Abstract

Heterotopia, as introduced by Foucault and developed by many scholars from different disciplines, describes sites that are other to, deviant or different from the normal and the mainstream. Characterised by its ambiguity as well as open-endedness and simultaneity, heterotopia could offer inspiration for rethinking contemporary public space and its publicness. More specifically, public space research has a strong tendency to be normative in nature, which, though useful, does not adequately address issues heightened by the increasing complexities of the contemporary city such as how to approach the contextual dynamics of public space and the relational quality of publicness. This paper offers an attempt to bridge heterotopia and public space. Instead of using heterotopia as a label to define any space as heterotopian or as a definite analytical framework, it draws on key developments of the concept of heterotopia following Foucault’s original idea, namely heterotopia as space of alternative ordering and heterotopia in relation to normative city models, actors, and change. The paper calls attention to three aspects of public space and publicness, including actors and visions, normativity, and processes of ordering, in order to reflect on approaches to public space that could reflect and reveal the complexities inherent to public space.