ABSTRACT

Johannesburg and South Africa’s history and contingencies of colonisation, apartheid and a complex transition to democracy shaped different iterations of Pieter Roos Park. I argue that the dynamics and contingencies of the park in turn played a role in shaping those same histories. Using public space as a lens into history is revealing of how the formation of different publics and their resultant conflicts have produced a public culture of contestation that is embedded in Johannesburg. These dynamics were refracted and reflected in Pieter Roos Park, the development, management and use of which contributed to the changing public culture of the city. Lefebvre’s spatial triad helps reveal how different drivers, motivations and processes interact to produce space, cutting through different levels of complexity and temporality in the interactions between public space and spatial (in)justice. Based primarily on archival research and interviews, this article shows how historical contestations that shaped the production of space at Pieter Roos Park demonstrate its shifting potential for publicness and spatial justice. This offers new insight into the micro-level realities of tensions and opposing sentiments that shaped public space and public culture during apartheid and the transition to democracy.

摘要

约翰内斯堡和南非的历史以及殖民化、种族隔离和向民主的复杂过渡的偶然事件塑造了彼得鲁斯公园的不同迭代。我认为公园的动态和突发事件反过来在塑造这些相同的历史方面发挥了作用。将公共空间作为历史的一个镜头，揭示了不同公众的形成及其由此产生的冲突是如何产生一种植根于约翰内斯堡的争论的公共文化。这些动态在 Pieter Roos 公园中得到折射和反映，其开发、管理和使用促进了城市公共文化的变化。Lefebvre 的空间三元组有助于揭示不同的驱动因素、动机和过程如何相互作用以产生空间，在公共空间和空间（不）正义之间的相互作用中，切入不同层次的复杂性和时间性。本文主要基于档案研究和访谈，展示了塑造彼得鲁斯公园空间生产的历史争论如何证明其在公共性和空间正义方面的转变潜力。这为在种族隔离和向民主过渡期间塑造公共空间和公共文化的紧张局势和对立情绪的微观现实提供了新的见解。