A critical assessment of David Harvey's suggestion that we should "adopt the right to the city as both working slogan and political ideal"

by Jane Hoffe, 2012

Around the globe urbanisation has increased at an alarming rate with more people occupying cities today than the entire world population in 1960 (Davis, 2004:5). However, the process of urbanisation has brought success and prosperity to only a select few. Grounded in the development of the capitalist system, Harvey (2008; 2012) argues that cities developed out of a notion of individual monetary gain with little recognition of the collective will. Through an analysis of the context and structure of today’s modern city it becomes evident that many who occupy the capitalist urban centre are left on the periphery of political and social influence of the cities in which they inhabit. Harvey (2008; 2012) therefore suggests the adoption of what he terms “the right to the city” as both a working slogan and political ideal in addressing the problems faced by city dwellers. By first assessing what the “right to the city” truly means and how it fits into the context of the modern city structure, one is then able to discuss in what shape the adoption of such a right will take and the challenges faced by those adopting it.