The Entangled Field of Temporary Urbanism

Abstract

The chapter analyses the emergence of pop-up and temporary urbanism in the UK after the 2008 global financial crisis as an entangled field made of competing narratives and representations. Media coverage, public events and self-representation are discussed to outline how official and unofficial narratives are constructed, mobilised and performed. Focusing on London, it presents a critical cultural discussion of transfers and translations between central and local government officers, property investors and estate agents, and third-sector ‘meanwhile space’ intermediaries. Temporary urbanism at times of post-crisis austerity is confirmed as an ambiguous urban cultural discourse that raises the promise of practices of dissent and vacant space re-appropriation, such as community-oriented radical practices and squatting, while practically foreclosing them.