Summary of the Article
The article under consideration is called The Organization of everyday living space and is written by Thomas Sieverts. In the paper, the author reveals the problems of the rapid development of the globalization process where cities are acquiring the status of conurbations that are connected by a number of routes. In other words, city networks represent current cities with the communities that are attached to their towns and with individuals searching for their own goals having no interest in their cities. Hence, Sievert gives his own interpretation of Zwischenstadt, the co-called “the in-between city”.
At the beginning of the article, the author considers the main trait of this phenomenon diving Zwishenstadt into opposite definitions: a city with a well-organized system and as an intermediary between the cities are a kind of living space of “agora” (Sieverts, 69). The researcher accentuates that both notions are the results of constant changes in society and its evolution. Thus, the former concept refers to the process of globalization whereas the latter means the cultural space for living where people often witness the confrontation of minds and traditions. Here, Sieverts identifies the Zwishenstadt with Touraine, an area in France that could be referred to as neither a city nor a certain region since it does not have a cultural and social entity. Regarding that, it is better to consider it as a spatial organization of societal structure since such regions lack centrality (Sieverts, 71). Analyzing such concepts as ‘system’ and ‘agora’, the researcher comes to a conclusion there is a rigid contradiction between these two notions because on the one hand it is an inherent part of the suburbs of the city and on the other hand it belongs to the global system of economic and cultural integration.
In the next part of the article headlined as Day-to-day living becoming insular, Sieverts breaks the outlook on conventional city systems with a framed “island” structure by introducing the new concept of social structure (Sieverts, 76). Hence, he traces the historical development of the in-between areas beginning from the sixties of the last century. Then, those areas were considered as spatial structures adjusted to the city areas where people could move from one center to another by different kinds of transport. Currently, Zwischenstadt gradually acquires the status of an insular with its own system independent of the city structure. A society begins creating its own islands with its specific functions. According to the article, such specification predetermines further separation and creation of unique communities that are not reduced to towns since it also includes the countryside areas. In this respect, such systems only aggravate the quality of life since the only connection between those areas is traffic routes. The author argues that this pattern of organization implies a decline in the importance of the immediate environment. Considering this, the article enlarges upon the problem of the absence of proximity of the resources required for normal living. To be more exact, in order to have access to resources it is obligatory to use the transport in case of the necessity. However, Sieverts explains that the issue lies not in the availability of transport but the social level of the separate communities with children living in poor or incomplete families.
In conclusion, the given paper is of great value for researchers in this field since it touches upon such problems of social instability due to the extreme integration process. In addition, the author highlights what consequences may occur if not take this problem into deeper consideration.
Summary of the chapter
The chapter under consideration is called Aulnay-Aubervilliers. – The RER inspectors has had enough. – Cite de la Muette at Drancy: a model estate. – From council flats to concentration camp. – The barometer-flower and is written by Francois Maspero. The book itself depicts the author’s journey around the RER, a transit system that covers Paris and its suburbs, thus presenting the image of day-to-day life in France that is rarely noticed by people. In particular, chapter enlarges upon the travel to the northeastern suburbs of Paris and to Cite de la Muette, a town that was built in a post-war period.
The chapter starts with the description of the railway station of town and its disastrous situation. The author describes Gare du Nord as a desperate island where people desperately want to depart and leave the town. Here, the author presets us with a veritable picture of life in the suburb brightly depicted in the photos so that the reader could perceive the actual situation and life conditions. For the suburbs inhabitants, RER is the only way-out to flee from the solitary existence.
Further, the chapters mirror the actual image of the town where the writer compares it with a model estate. He tries to emphasize the impoverish existence of people living in the town that previously was designed as a concentration camp. Maspero’s comparison of Cite de la Muette with deadly estate reveals the idea that is not appropriate for a full-fledged life. Even the name of the city translated as “Silent City”.
Then, the writer introduces us to history of this council estate that was previously built as a shelter for French Jews who were rejected to live in the central part of Paris. Therefore, the town served as the jail for people considered as a refuge of society. During the Second World War, Jewish people were rounded up in such camp in the suburbs of Paris. Regarding this, Maspero (139) traces the influence of the past on the present situation thus showing that the town preserved the image of the concentration camp. Moreover, the residents were greatly influenced by the atmosphere of the past. Therefore, the writer condemns the government that neglects the condition of living in the suburbs thus paying more attention to the center.
In the chapter, Maspero accentuates the symbolic meaning of RER as a real rescue from the past. Thus, he illustrates the situation that takes place at the station where people try to get the ticket to the centre of Paris, to the center of normal life. The express is the only link with world. Arising from this, the writer reveals the negative consequences of the integration process that captured not only urban cities in France but other developed countries as well.
In conclusion, the chapter is worth reading since it reveals the ordinary life of people living in the suburbs. Through out the depiction of artificial and grey landscapes of Cite de la Muette at Drancy district, the reader can perceive all the disadvantages of living in the remote regions of Paris. That is why, the chapter is rather predicting since it shows the perishable outcomes of the globalization process.
Works Cited
Sieverts, Tom ‘The organization of Everyday Living Space.’ Cities Without Cities: An Interpretation of the Zwischenstadt Spon Press (2003), pp. 69-87.
Maspero, Francois. Chapter 7. Roissy Express: A Journey Through the Paris Suburbs . Verso (1994). pp. 135-153.