New Leisure Class and Conspicuous Politics in Urban Regeneration Initiatives

Piret Tõnurist, Rainer Kattel () and Veiko Lember

The Other Canon Foundation and Tallinn University of Technology Working Papers in Technology Governance and Economic Dynamics from TUT Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance

Abstract: New forms of urban regeneration have been based on strong citizen involvement and support. Based on the new realist theory of social class, we argue that these processes have the face of the new leisure class – urban professionals, designers, intellectuals, etc. – who create the agenda for citizen-led regeneration activities. This leads to conspicuous politics: status-based participation attracts (media/popular) attention and creates competitive emulation among various groups among the leisure class. This new perspective helps to describe how – through competition and class practices in citizen initiatives – inequalities are reproduced in the urban environment even if urban governance processes are opened to citizens. The wider context for the discussion is the post-Soviet urban development; a case of the Urban Idea – a large-scale citizen-led collaboration framework with the city of Tallinn – is analysed as a case study of how new leisure class participatory practices lead to conspicuous urban politics.

Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2015-11
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