| In recent years there has been an explosion of work on the changing nature of public and private space in cities. In return for control of public space, and correspondingly active (political) engagement with urbanity, citizens were given rigidly controlled gated communities by big business interests. Often called post-public space, this has been attached to postmodern architecture, culture and urbanism, as well as the rise of the neoliberal city. However, as opposed to a break or strict differentiation between modernity and postmodernity, this dissertation looks at the way in which Spanish-Colonial Revival served as a precedent for contemporary enclaves and urban fortifications. Looking at the discourse around architecture, urban planning and visual culture in the 1920s, we find that the urban spaces of late capitalism are part of a longer 'history'. This 'history and the production of meaning is bound to mechanisms of capitalism and the exercise of power. Thus, this dissertation examines the historical and political implications of Spanish-Colonial Revival as part of Southern California's 'heritage' and vernacular landscape. As such, I argue that such a 'pseudo-history' is integral to both the real and imagined aspects of regional space. Furthermore, it can reveal the continuities and discontinuities of a post-public organization of space. |
