06th Sep2012

The Production of Space

by emilywarheit

1. Lefebvre gives as one of the implications of the creation of social space that “(physical) natural space is disappearing” (30). Does this mean that natural space is the raw material for the production of social space, and once altered can never cease to be social space? Also, in this conception of space, how do we account for the physical aspects of social space if they are excluded from what Lefebvre considers (physical) natural space?

2. The idea of mental space had always seemed to me to be a metaphorical concept, but Lefebvre regards mental space as as “real” as physical or social space. He indicates that social space can overlap either category, but I am still wondering how a mental space can be purely mental, when all the examples he gives are of a space created by the exchange of ideas, which is still a social function.

3. The concepts of mental and social space are obviously useful to understanding digital space, but can digital space be limited to these categories? Is digital space simply a non-physical social space, or does it necessitate a rethinking of Lefebvre’s categories?

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