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Commodification, Control and Civic Space: Findings From Manchester, UK

NCJ Number
236099
Journal
Crime Prevention & Community Safety Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2011 Pages: 187-204
Author(s)
Joanne Massey
Date Published
August 2011
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article recounts the struggles and contests around public space and the impact of tighter regulation and control on public space.
Abstract
This article focuses on the experience of the city of Manchester, England, which has undergone intense regeneration as a result of the 1996 IRA bombing and hosting the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Although the rebuilding has led to the creation of new civic spaces that are more heavily used post regeneration, certain groups (most notably youths) have been subject to increased control and surveillance. As a consequence of this, imaginative ways of legitimizing the youth population's presence in such spaces led to the inception of a Peer Youth Work Project. Data analysis will explore the notion that peer youth workers (PYWs) have become agents of control themselves as they are 'policing' the area. An important question here is: Whose values and rules are PYWs upholding and enforcing? (Published Abstract)