MIT SLAB

sidewalk laboratory

property rights maps

Our most central objective is to develop maps that illuminate the social negotiation of claims to sidewalk space. What is shown here is a layer of our basic GIS survey data laid onto a cadastral map, which indicates that a considerable amount of sidewalk space is being used for activities other than walking. Our data contains many attribute variables that we can re-parse in a number of ways. The problematic epistemologies in this map is one of the central challenges we are seeking to address. We are exploring how to release the data from Euclidean geometry which may obscure other important issues. We keep pushing the connection between physical space and society by analyzing questions such as what space is not taken, space under different government jurisdictions, mobile space versus stationary space, and sidewalk agglomeration economies.

 

Claiming the Pavement (2010)