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Battery Park City and the Battle Over West Street: How Space Affects Social Relations
Unformatted Document Text:  ___________________________________________________________________________________ 2 definitively) been proposed for a site in Battery Park City. When the bus depot was to be closer to them, but on the other side of West Street, they supported it. Once it had been moved further away, but onto their side of West Street, they opposed the pollution and traffic it would bring to them. In both, the barrier function of West Street strongly influenced residents’ opinions of what should be done. Both of these cases demonstrate how space and the design of the built environment can influence the position and opinions of people who exist in those spaces. But both cases come with an important caveat: just because residents’ views are shaped by an exclusive space doesn’t mean they’re wrong. Both examples provide evidence to substantiate the claim that Battery Park City’s exclusive design has translated into an exclusive attitude towards outsiders. But people can’t be dismissed simply because of that, in part because my argument is not that Battery Park is unusual, but that space can always influence social interactions. In fact, the projects residents oppose, and the infrastructure they demand, are important to the quality of life in the neighborhood, and resident activists’ reasons for opposing the current plans are relevant to a broad sector of the public. Understanding the role of space is most valuable not for evaluating the legitimacy of different positions, but for understanding interactions, political positions, the ramifications of design decisions, and the different values of spatially defined groups that must be considered in such cases. The Role of Space Since the growth of sociological interest in space as described by Thomas Gieryn 1 , those working on the sociology of space have tried to stake out a middle ground between two competing views. Still, just what the role of space is has not always been clear. While insisting to skeptics that space does play a role in social relations, no one has wanted to be tarred a spatial

Authors: Smithsimon, Gregory.
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definitively) been proposed for a site in Battery Park City. When the bus depot was to be closer
to them, but on the other side of West Street, they supported it. Once it had been moved further
away, but onto their side of West Street, they opposed the pollution and traffic it would bring to
them. In both, the barrier function of West Street strongly influenced residents’ opinions of what
should be done.
Both of these cases demonstrate how space and the design of the built environment can
influence the position and opinions of people who exist in those spaces. But both cases come
with an important caveat: just because residents’ views are shaped by an exclusive space doesn’t
mean they’re wrong. Both examples provide evidence to substantiate the claim that Battery Park
City’s exclusive design has translated into an exclusive attitude towards outsiders. But people
can’t be dismissed simply because of that, in part because my argument is not that Battery Park
is unusual, but that space can always influence social interactions. In fact, the projects residents
oppose, and the infrastructure they demand, are important to the quality of life in the
neighborhood, and resident activists’ reasons for opposing the current plans are relevant to a
broad sector of the public. Understanding the role of space is most valuable not for evaluating
the legitimacy of different positions, but for understanding interactions, political positions, the
ramifications of design decisions, and the different values of spatially defined groups that must
be considered in such cases.
The Role of Space
Since the growth of sociological interest in space as described by Thomas Gieryn
1
, those
working on the sociology of space have tried to stake out a middle ground between two
competing views. Still, just what the role of space is has not always been clear. While insisting to
skeptics that space does play a role in social relations, no one has wanted to be tarred a spatial


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