A B S T R A C T
Beyond Blade Runner: Urban Control - The Ecology of Fear, was originaly published in December 1992 in New Jersey, as part of a pamphlet series supported by the Open Magazine. The book begins from a metaphoric reference to the popular Holywood movie to present Davis' critique of the Downtown Strategic Plan for Los Angeles. Davis provides a detailed analysis of the emergent changes in the urban landscape of Los Angeles at the beginning of the new milenium.
Two events worked as motivation for the publication of this text. First, the riots of the Spring of 1992, which turned Los Angeles into a battlefield, and required the intervention of the tactical armed forces. And second, the publication of the Downtown Strategic Plan, the urban plan for the multicultural Los Angeles of the next milenium. In Beyond Blade Runner, Davis focuses his criticism on the existence of deteriorative urban phenomena, like the privatization of the public space and the artificially stimulated hysteria of "security" , which amplifies racial segregation and class polarization in urban communities. The Greek edition includes an extended appendix on the cultural and actual history of Los Angeles, and the positioning of Mike Davis within the cultural landscape of LA. |
