Painting Walls and Planting Plots: Counter-Hegemonic Visions of City-Making Through Public Art and Urban Greening

• In Event: Environmental Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Urban Space, Development, and Gentrification

Abstract

In post-industrial cities throughout the U.S., the balance between promoting new economic growth, but not succumbing to the threat of gentrification is a difficult one. Caught in this balance is Worcester, a mid-sized city in central Massachusetts with a long working-class history. Over the past ten years, Worcester has been experiencing a “renaissance.” Not surprisingly, the response by residents is mixed. While some are very enthusiastic about the economic growth, many are frustrated by the displacement of low-income and immigrant communities and the threat of rising inequality.

Given this context, this study asks: how do local groups use beautification as a tool to combat gentrification? And to what extent can beautification efforts achieve a more just vision of the city? In response, I show that (1) public art and urban greening projects are intertwined through a shared counter-hegemonic vision of the city that is predicated upon three pillars: internally-driven, grassroots-led, and collaborative. (2) These visions are pluralistic and, at times, contentious. (3) Despite portraying an emancipatory and cosmopolitan future, these forms of city-making impose normative measures upon the public.

While much of the sociological literature on urban greening tends to take a top-down approach and examine large-scale hegemonic projects, it overlooks the counter-hegemonic efforts by social movements that espouse an alternative, even radical vision of the city. On the other hand, the just cities literature grapples with how to ensure that justice is a central component of urban planning. With an emphasis on grassroots approaches to city-making, the just cities literature shows that public art and urban greening are part of the same counter-hegemonic project. By marrying these two literatures together, I respond to the call to “environmentalize urban sociology” (Angelo and Greenberg 2023) and integrate traditionally considered “green” spaces like parks with “grey” spaces like housing and schools.

Author

• Apollonya Maria Porcelli, Bucknell University