Saving Space for Place: Municipal cultural planning as a tool for resisting the making of placeless space in cities.

摘要

This thesis examines the emerging practice of municipal cultural planning (MCP) in Ontario, and considers whether it is an effective tool for resisting the making of 'placeless space' in the province's largest metropolitan region. The thesis lays out a framework for understanding how placeless space is made through placeless businesses, buildings, and infrastructure, and a lack of opportunities for community engagement and cultural expression. MCP in Toronto and its largest suburb, Mississauga, is then examined in terms of its ability to address these causes of placeless space. It is concluded that MCP can address each of the causes of placeless space, but cultural planners are often constrained by narrow understandings of culture, space, and place. Also, there is often still a reluctance to resist the making of placeless space if it will prevent capital accumulation.