Private Space. Private Land

Books, podcasts, movies, and other media are a rich source of insights in my life. However, often the insights gained are due to a tangential comment rather than the main thrust of the narrative. One recent example is the discussion on EconTalk between host Russ Roberts and his guest Tiffany Jenkins. Ostensibly, the episode topic was the role of various factors on the shaping of public and private life. A short discussion on private space in the home and architectural history peaked my interest. Jenkins talks about the the corridor (or hallway) as a relatively recent addition to the home. Previously, rooms were simply connected to one another with minimal barriers to provide privacy. As noted by the Victorian architectural critic Robert Kerr, the home needed a separation between the private spaces of its occupants and the common spaces of the public sphere. Corridors were introduced to the home to separate occupants from servants, the latter being required to request entry from the corridor (in plain language “knock”).

It is an interesting historical note but also parallels my current work on zoning and land use in Calgary, AB. In the same way that the rooms of the home are perceived as private spaces requiring a separation by design via corridors, zoning segregates land use between private residential space and shared retail and public space. Those passing through a residential community are relegated to the streets (i.e., corridors) of the neighbourhood. Entry to the social space of the residence (and increasingly many third spaces such as clubs and eateries) is restricted through zoning. Access requires the permission of the private owner. This example illustrates the parallel structure at multiple scales (or fractal relationship) exhibited by built form. Neat stuff!

Reviewing some notes, I was reminded of a discussion by Anand Giridharadas in his book “Winner Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” in which Giridharadas references Daren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, who stated that “life goes more and more behind the gate”. Walker was references a pattern among his affluent friends of retreating to private schools, jets, and privately run public parks. Writ large, Walker notes that many of our public institutions have become privatized - an interestingly comment, particularly coming from the president of a private philanthropic foundation. Giridharadas continues by arguing that the privatization of public services stems from a culture that exhibits a decreasing trust in public institutitions. Continuing the historical discussion from above on the rise of corridors, the ‘(re)public’ in many historical periods and places was seen as a solution to the ‘privat(ion)’ of capital and inequity. It was an achievement of modernity that we gradually expanded our sphere of care beyond the family and tribe to encompass all fellow citizens. The resurgence of inequity since its historical low in the 1970s (according to Thomas Piketty and others) is slowing shifting us back towards tribalism and segregation through institutions and built form.

As in so many cases, the start of a solution to these problems is to recognize the trend. In the same way there is a debate as to the relative roles of nature and nurture in child-rearing, we can also consider whether it is our natural tendency as a species to isolate (it is not - going back to our desire for social interactions and settlement as agricultural ‘(soc)ieties’ rather than the more energy capture efficient hunter gatherer existence) or something that has been nurtured in our society through dominance patterns. I do not have answers to the question of tribalism. If I did then I would not be an engineering professor writing drivel on a laptop in a Calgary townhouse. I see my role as studying these dynamics and testing alternative organizational structures through surveys and models. I hope that my small contribution will provide tools for those with more eloquence and powers of persuation to shift the political conversation: from tribal isolationism to inclusive codependence; from structural, in the literal sense, delineation between the public and private spheres to an open space (dare I say ‘Agora’) for cultural dialogue and social understanding. Shifting gears, in the importal words of Bugs Bunny ‘that’s all folks’!