Spillover of the private city: BIDs as a pivot of social control in downtown Los Angeles

Abstract

Our paper addresses the complex role of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in current processes of inner-city restructuring and the function of BIDs in the implementation of new forms of social control in downtown areas. Our thesis is that, in the context of recent urban renaissance initiatives, BIDs are expanding their ‘clean and safe’ profile to be a much more comprehensive programme. Their goal is not only to produce safety and cleanliness in the urban environment but to influence the symbolic dimension of what the city is and for whom it is made. This implies indirect forms of governing the way in which the city is used, which go unnoticed if BIDs are identified solely as a tool to create ‘clean and safe’ public space. We will substantiate this claim with a case study on the current restructuring of downtown Los Angeles (L.A.). Since 1999, downtown L.A. has been profoundly ‘revitalized’ as a living and entertainment district for affluent residents. The nine BIDs covering the main parts of the downtown play an important role in making this gentrification happen by providing the appropriate context for restructuring. Beyond overt measures such as security forces or CCTV, the BIDs also have an important impact on the ‘geographical imagination’ (Harvey, 1973) of the city. The examples elucidate the anticipation of a broadening field of activity for BIDs, not only in securing an ‘urban renaissance’ but also in framing the way it is performed symbolically.

Caught Between the Spectacular and the Vernacular: The Illusory Demos of the Popular Music Museum

“…The efforts instead concentrate on a surface beautification." 79 The gentrification of downtown Los Angeles has reproduced the most common outcomes of the dual development pathway in which international markets of investors and tourists are courted at the expense of the social development of those communities most directly affected by the developments. The focus on tourism, real estate, and construction has confronted working-class and poor residents of downtown with the strains of trying to afford increased rents on a dwindling number of inexpensive places to live.…”

Urban / Rural Hybrids: The Urbanisation of Former Suburbs (Urfsurbs)

“…When the suburbanisation wave subsided, urban research began to concentrate on counter-movements like the re-urbanisation and gentrification of the inner city (Blasius 2008; see also Blasius, Dangschat 1990;Füller, Marquardt 2010;Gebhardt, Wiegandt 2014;Helbrecht 1996;Helbrecht, Dirksmeier 2011;Marquardt, Füller 2012;Wiegandt 2014), or on specific smaller residential areas that were growing in profile and importance (for Germany see e.g. Schnur 2005Schnur , 2008Weber 2013).…”

Urbanität nach exklusivem Rezept. Die Ausdeutung des Städtischen durch hochpreisige Immobilienprojekte in Berlin und Los Angeles

“…Teil der Baugenehmigung ist hier bisweilen auch die Gestaltung des Straßenlandes, die Errichtung von Straßenbeleuchtung und Verantwortung für die Straßenreinigung. Die Immobilienfirmen sind die zentralen Geldgeber in einigen der örtlichen Business Improvement Districts und sind insofern auch an der einflussreichen Gestaltung städtischer Atmosphären und Intensivierung sozialer Kontrolle durch diese Akteure beteiligt (Marquardt/Füller 2012). Diese Form privat finanzierter Gebietsaufwertung wurde in Deutschland bisher nur sehr sporadisch und in Berlin noch gar nicht unternommen.…”