URBAN RENEWAL
The Buzz around Thirdspaces &
Urban Renewal
BY KATE THOMPSON-DUWE
In his article , ‘ Third Space First ’, author Erling Fossen notes the following : “ Real estate is no longer about buildings , but how we use the urban fabric to create communities that are economically and socially sustainable . That ’ s a completely new ball game for real estate developers . But it ’ s very good news for the rest of us .”
At the centre of this consciousness is the concept of ‘ Thirdspaces ’. The late urban theorist Edward Soja , who penned ‘ Thirdspace : Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places ’ ( 1996 ), described this concept in an interview with author Christian Borch as follows : “ I use Thirdspace to refer to a particular way of thinking about and interpreting socially produced space . It is a way of thinking that sees the spatiality of our lives , the human geographies in which we live , as having the same scope and critical significance as the historical and social dimensions of our lives .”
To truly understand Thirdspace , it is important to understand the terms “ Firstspace ” and “ Secondspace ”. The blog , ‘ there ’ s no space like home ’ unpacks Soja ’ s explanation of these phrases as follows :
“ Firstspace is the ‘ real ’ space – the urban built form of physical buildings that can be mapped and seen . Secondspace is the ‘ imagined ’ representational space – i . e . how the space is perceived , seen and argued over . In urban settings , this would be evident through , for example , the role of marketing and redevelopment projects .
“ Thirdspace takes this thinking further – it combines First and Second space to create what Soja describes as , ‘ a fully lived space , a simultaneously real-and-imagined , actual-and-virtual locus of structured individuality and collective experience and agency ’. Thirdspace , then , is the experience of life in the Firstspace mediated through Secondspace expectations .”
36 MAY 2017 SA Real Estate Investor www . reimag . co . za