Kiley Miller

Response 

Week 4

Development of Space

This week, we were tasked with reading "Railroad Space and Railroad Time" by Wolfgang Schivelbusch and “Fortress Los Angeles: Militarization of Urban Space” by Mike Davis. At first glance these readings appear to be entirely different. However, I see these readings as a chronological story. These readings show what happens as the spaces of humans progress.

In "Railroad Space and Railroad Time", Wolfgang describes the new relationship humans have with their surroundings after the invention of commercial railroads. Space and distance seem to shrink now that a weeks long walk to another country can be reached in a day by train. As day trips become more commonplace, places start to lose their individuality in order to accommodate the increasing number of tourists. However, not only are railroads forcing places to lose their uniqueness, but they are also altering the entire human perception of space. As previously stated, space-time seemed to shrink due to the fast traveling of trains, but as Wolfgang puts it, “the alteration of spatial relationships through the speed mustered by the railroad is not simply a process that diminishes space, but that it is a dual one: it both diminishes and expands space.” Towns feel smaller, but now other towns are more accessible, thus making space feel bigger. In making the world more available, humanity sacrificed the perception of space-time, and the uniqueness of our homes.

As humans shove forward into tourist grabbing cities, we stumble into Mike Davis’  “Fortress Los Angeles: Militarization of Urban Space”. Los Angeles is a city that builds its current identity of a tourist trap on the backs of its lower class citizens. While it strives for a sleek and beautiful downtown, it fights to hide the “undesirables” on the outskirts. This city is so concerned about being a traveling center, it has lost its own uniqueness, and lost sight of the beauty of all its citizens. The overdependence on the traveling masses has caused Los Angeles to wage war against its own citizens, and it is using architecture to do it. Instead of taking care of all citizens, the city has built walled parks, fenced malls, and a fortressed library in order to intimidate the lower class from entering public spaces. Bum-proof benches and random sprinklers keep the homeless from sleeping within view of shops. However, public spaces are not the only areas under attack. Police forces and cinder block barricades line city blocks to keep the outskirts in order. Public officials call the lower class “drug lords” and “crack smokers” in order to make the middle class fearful. The number of gated communities has risen because of the increasing demand of security. The city is so busy catering to travelers, it has lost all ties to the original Los Angeles. It is now just a mess of smoky mirrors and dirty tricks to keep outsiders from seeing the truth.

These readings show that as the demand for travel destinations increases, the original cities lose value and are bleached out to pull people in.