NO -GO IN THE FORTRESS CITY: YOUNG PEOPLE, INEQUALITY AND SPACE

Abstract

Public urban space is regulated and functionally ordered in very specific ways. It tends to be subject to strict rules of entry and use, reflecting both the growing private ownership of ‘public’ space and the role of the state in maintaining a particular kind of spatial order. This has enormous implications for the dispossessed and marginalised in Australian society, particularly the young. The aim of this paper is to highlight several issues relating to the position of young people in the urban environment. Specifically, it is argued that the social construction of urban space in a manner which reflects first and foremost the protection of private property and commercial interests serves to disadvantage those who do not have the economic and social resources to either establish a ‘legitimate’ claim to be in the consumer spaces or to access alternative outlets or spaces in which to gather and socialise. A good living environment for the majority who make up ‘the community’ is not one which is based on the principles and practices of social exclusion.