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Whose city? What politics? Contentious and non-contentious spaces on Colorado’s Front Range

Author

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  • Don Mitchell

    (Syracuse University, USA)

  • Kafui Attoh

    (City University of New York, USA)

  • Lynn Staeheli

    (Durham University, UK)

Abstract

Drawing on research from Colorado’s Front Range (the Denver/Boulder metropolitan area), this paper examines the validity of the ‘post-political’ hypothesis for explaining contentiousness and non-contentiousness in urban space. Examining major urban redevelopment efforts in Denver and a controversy over homeless people sleeping in public space in Boulder, we suggest that the literature on post-politics too narrowly circumscribes the realm of political action and in so doing loses analytical force and risks misunderstanding the nature of political engagement in the city. By contrast, a less circumscribed, more supple definition of politics allows for a better understanding of how the question of ‘Whose City?’– who the city is for – is always up for grabs. The appearance of post-political consensus, when it occurs, is itself a political achievement, the making of a hegemony, not an explanation.

Suggested Citation

  • Don Mitchell & Kafui Attoh & Lynn Staeheli, 2015. "Whose city? What politics? Contentious and non-contentious spaces on Colorado’s Front Range," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(14), pages 2633-2648, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:52:y:2015:i:14:p:2633-2648
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098014550460
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Erik Swyngedouw, 2009. "The Antinomies of the Postpolitical City: In Search of a Democratic Politics of Environmental Production," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 601-620, September.
    2. Margo Huxley, 2013. "Historicizing Planning, Problematizing Participation," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(5), pages 1527-1541, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gunilla Lindholm, 2019. "Land and Landscape; Linking Use, Experience and Property Development in Urban Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-15, September.
    2. William L. Swann & Shelley McMullen & Dan Graeve & Serena Kim, 2019. "Community Resistance and Discretionary Strategies in Planning Sustainable Development: The Case of Colorado Cities," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(4), pages 98-110.

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