Spots of Spatial Desire

Abstract

This article examines the intersection of alternative sport practices and spatial regulation ideologies in urban environments through an analysis of skateboarding terrains. It forwards skateboard spaces as contradictory sites for both practicing and contesting urban governance. These urban spaces span the gamut from do-it-yourself struggles for public space to public—private partnerships and corporate brand-building theme parks. Skatespots, skateparks, and skateplazas conform locations of exhilarating desire that frame skateboarding within a landscape of social control. The article surveys the found and purpose-built sites to demonstrate the political potential of skateboarding within variations on the themes of accommodation and resistance to spatial regulation.

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