Reframing the Reclaiming of Urban Space

Reframing the Reclaiming of Urban Space examines DIY urbanism from an intersectional feminist analytical framework. The racialized, classed, gendered, and sexualized aspects of DIY urbanism, including its activities, its actors, and its spaces are highlighted, as well as the connections between DIY urbanism and urban political agendas.

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In Reframing the Reclaiming of Urban Space: A Feminist Exploration into Do-It-Yourself Urbanism in Chicago, Megan E. Heim LaFrombois explores the concept of do-it-yourself (DIY) urbanism from an intersectional, feminist, analytical framework. Interventions based on DIY urbanism are small-scale and place-specific and focus on urban spaces which can be reclaimed and repurposed, often outside of formal urban planning institutions. Heim LaFrombois examines the discourses and processes surrounding the institutionalized and embedded nature of DIY urbanism. She weaves together sites and sources to reveal the ways in which DIY urbanists make sense of their participation and experiences with DIY urbanism and with the broader political, social, and economic contexts and spaces in which these activities take place. Her research findings contribute to and build on current research that illustrates the importance of gender, race, class, and sexuality to cities, local politics, urban planning initiatives, and the development of communities.