David Harvey speaks about ‘the right to reshape the city in a different image’. He presents the city as a manifestation of our heart’s desire; ‘In remaking the city we remake ourselves. The question of what kind of city do we want cannot be divorced from questions about what kind of people do we want to be.’
Harvey points out that urban development doesn’t fix poverty, it simply moves it around – gentrification of the urban environment is achieved through the suburbanisation of the poor.
He urges us to ask ‘who’s heart’s desire is driving the reconfiguration of the city?’
A good reminder of who is doing what to whom.