Temporary appropriation
Temporary appropriation refers to the action in which a person or a group of people realises an activity in a public space for which it was not designed for. According to Lara-Hernandez and Melis,{{cite journal |last1=Lara-Hernandez |first1=J. Antonio |last2=Melis |first2=Alessandro |title=Understanding the temporary appropriation in relationship to social sustainability |journal=Sustainable Cities and Society |date=May 2018 |volume=39 |pages=366–374 |doi=10.1016/j.scs.2018.03.004|bibcode=2018SusCS..39..366L |url=https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/understanding-the-temporary-appropriation-in-relationship-to-social-sustainability(53d7b677-9557-4f3e-8054-48e12c55e359).html }} it is process that implies dynamism similar to what Graumann called the humanisation of the space, which is the fundamental societal defined meanings interiorised by the individual.{{cite journal |last1=Graumann |first1=Carl Friedrich |title=The Concept of Appropriation (Aneignung)And Modes of Appropriation of Space |journal=Appropriation of Space |date=1976 |volume=6 |issue=2 |url=https://iaps.architexturez.net/doc/oai-iaps-id-iaps-00-1976-009 |language=en}} Representative activities of temporary appropriation can be grouped in three main categories: 1) sports, leisure and [http://uis.unesco.org/node/3079728 cultural activities]; 2) activities related to economy such as work and services; and 3) activities related to sacralisation or worship. Authors stress two main factors that encourage the temporary appropriation phenomenon, on the one hand the cultural factor (also known as Synthetic psychological environment)Trollope-Kumar, Karen, Last, John M., "Encyclopedia of Public Health: Cultural Factors", 2002 [http://www.answers.com/topic/cultural-factors] while on the other the configuration or design of the built environment. The former refers to the group of symbols, values, attitudes, skills, knowledge, meanings, communication ways, social structure and physical objects that make possible the life of a determinate society.{{cite book |last1=Bonfil Batalla |first1=Guillermo |title=Pensar nuestra cultura : ensayos |date=1991 |publisher=Alianza Editorial |location=México, D.F. |isbn=968-39-0481-5 |edition=1 |url=https://antropologiapoliticaenah.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/bonfil-pensar-nuestra-cultura.pdf}} While the latter refers to human-made structures, features, and facilities viewed collectively as an environment in which people live and work.{{cite web |title=Built Environment {{!}} Definition of Built Environment by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Built Environment |url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/built_environment |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029025542/https://www.lexico.com/definition/built_environment |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 29, 2020 |website=Lexico Dictionaries {{!}} English |access-date=24 August 2020 |language=en}} Temporary appropriation is an example of Architectural Exaptation in the urban environment.
Theoretical explanation
The term appropriation was firstly introduced by Korosec-Serfaty{{cite book |last1=Korosec-Serfaty |first1=Paola |title=Appropriation of Space: Proceedings of the Strasbourg Conference |date=1976 |publisher=Louis Pasteur University |location=Strasbourg |pages=655 |edition=1}} in the Proceedings of the Strasbourg conference in 1976. Within the field of environmental psychology, the term appropriation is described as a temporary phenomenon that implies a [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dynamic dynamic] process of interaction between the individual and its surroundings. It is a process similar to that of [https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/humanization humanisation].{{cite journal |last1=Graumann |first1=Carl Friedrich |title=The Concept of Appropriation (Aneignung)And Modes of Appropriation of Space |journal=Appropriation of Space |date=1976 |volume=6 |issue=2 |url=https://iaps.architexturez.net/doc/oai-iaps-id-iaps-00-1976-009 |language=en}} Since then, several authors such as [https://urbdp.be.uw.edu/people/mark-purcell/ Purcell],{{cite journal |last1=Purcell |first1=Mark |title=Excavating Lefebvre: The right to the city and its urban politics of the inhabitant |journal=GeoJournal |date=2002 |volume=58 |issue=2/3 |pages=99–108 |doi=10.1023/B:GEJO.0000010829.62237.8f|s2cid=18096395 }} Pol,{{cite book |last1=Pol |first1=Enric |title=Psicología y medio ambiente. Aspectos psicosociales, educativos y metodológicos |date=2002 |publisher=Asociación Galega de Estudios e Investigacion Psicosocial-Publiedisa |location=A Coruña |pages=123–132 |url=https://www.academia.edu/8036325}} and Yory{{cite journal |last1=Yory |first1=Carlos Mario |title=El Concepto de Topofilia entendido como Teoría del Lugar |journal=Revista Barrio Taller |date=2011 |pages=1–17 |url=http://www.construccioncomunitaria.es/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Topofilia-como-teoria-del-lugar_C.-Yori.pdf}} with the theory of topophilia, have used the term to explain the theoretical link between people and places. These authors consider the appropriation as an inborn necessity of humans that can be expressed through activities that occur in the urban landscape. Public spaces are an essential part of the urban landscape and their design is therefore strongly linked to the possibility of occurring activities related to the Temporary Appropriation. In other words, while appropriation is a broader term, its temporary variation refers more specifically to public spaces.{{Citation |last=Lara-Hernandez |first=Jose Antonio |title=Chapter 29 - Building urban resilience through infrastructure exaptation |date=2023-01-01 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323917186000219 |work=Resilient and Sustainable Cities |pages=537–549 |editor-last=Allam |editor-first=Zaheer |access-date=2023-08-23 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-323-91718-6 |editor2-last=Chabaud |editor2-first=Didier |editor3-last=Gall |editor3-first=Catherine |editor4-last=Pratlong |editor4-first=Florent}}{{Cite journal |last=Lara-Hernandez |first=Jose Antonio |date=2023-12-01 |title=Emergent temporary appropriation versus lockdown regulations: The case of Venice |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210670723004651 |journal=Sustainable Cities and Society |volume=99 |pages=104854 |doi=10.1016/j.scs.2023.104854 |bibcode=2023SusCS..9904854L |s2cid=260879763 |issn=2210-6707}} The accent in the latter has always been placed on the informality of this action ( for more details see [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275118317311 Temporary appropriation and urban informality: Exploring the subtle distinction]). Dr. Lara-Hernandez conceptualises temporary appropriation instead as a consequence of the necessity of adapting [https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-94-007-0753-5_1345 human needs] to a city that deprives the population of reference points due to sudden and unexpected changes.{{cite book |last1=Lara-Hernandez |first1=Jose Antonio |title=Temporary appropriation : theory and practice of the street |date=2019 |publisher=University of Portsmouth |location=Portsmouth, UK |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.806713}} Additionally, it has been claimed that temporary appropriation plays a key role in enhancing urban resilience (see [https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030321192 Temporary Appropriation in Cities: Human Spatialisation in Public Spaces and Community Resilience]).