Edward W. Soja called Los Angeles ‘the quintessential postmodern metropolis’. This, however, shall not be the premise of my argument in this essay, because of the obvious danger of circularity. Yet I will use postmodern critics and compare my findings to postmodern models of culture, space and society. I will not discuss the term postmodernism itself, simply because the range of this essay does not allow my entering this ongoing debate. The term will be used as denoting both a period, beginning, for my purposes, in the 1960s, and a theory of cultural tendencies in contemporary life. For this essay, I will assume that postmodernism is a fact, a part of everyday reality, and that it differs substantially from modernism. The main body of this essay will consist of a discussion of the fundamental factors which define Los Angeles as postmodern space. I will focus on particularities that distinguish Los Angeles from other cities, most of all from those which have not yet crossed the threshold of postmodernity. Firstly, I will investigate the geographical instability of the city; the fact that it is threatened to be annihilated by natural forces such as earthquakes and the desert. Secondly, I will address the idea of the city as a desert, its horizontality, its vastness, its lack of centre. Thirdly, the structure on this flat surface will be addressed; the freeways as an arterial network, and the structure of segregating walls, both literal and metaphorical. Finally, I will conclude by investigating the parallels between the idea of instability that underlies all of the factors I discuss, and the notion of the unstable in postmodernism.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Instability
2. Horizontality
3. Segregation
Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This essay explores the fundamental factors that define Los Angeles as a postmodern space, specifically investigating how the city's unique geography, urban design, and social structures reflect the instability characteristic of postmodern theory.
- Geographical instability and the threat of natural disasters
- The concept of the city as a desert and its infinite horizontality
- The urban structure defined by freeways and arterial networks
- Social segregation and the formation of fortified residential enclaves
- The relationship between fear, paranoia, and the social "other"
Excerpt from the Book
3. Segregation
Baudrillard’s term ‘superficial neutrality’ may be misleading. Although Los Angeles is a horizontal and flat space, its surface is nevertheless structured. Looking at a map of the city, the most obvious structure is the network of freeways. For Reyner Banham, the freeway grid is the alternative urban structure of Los Angeles.
Rejecting the Exiles’ criterion of comparability with ‘classical’ urban space, Banham claimed that Los Angeles’s polymorphous landscapes and architectures were given a ‘comprehensible unity’ by the freeway grid in a metropolis that spoke the ‘language of movement, not monument’.
The urban structure of Los Angeles is thus defined as a network of different cities, or city cells, connected by the freeways and the constant flow of automobiles on them. “The city was here before the freeway system, no doubt, but it now looks as though the metropolis has actually been built around this arterial network” (Baudrillard, America, p. 55).
It is significant that this structure of city cells connected by a network on a horizontal surface is similar to the postmodern concept of society in an information age.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This section establishes the theoretical framework by identifying instability as the primary lens for examining Los Angeles as a postmodern metropolis.
1. Instability: This chapter analyzes the physical and geographical threats to the city, including geological fault lines and its dependence on scarce water resources.
2. Horizontality: This chapter discusses the sprawling, centerless nature of Los Angeles and how its "infinite horizontality" contributes to its identity as a postmodern space.
3. Segregation: This chapter examines the structural and social divisions within the city, highlighting how freeway networks and fortified walls create segregated urban cells.
Conclusion: This section synthesizes the identified factors of instability, horizontality, and segregation to confirm Los Angeles as the quintessential postmodern space.
Keywords
Los Angeles, Postmodernism, Instability, Horizontality, Segregation, Urban Structure, Edward W. Soja, Jean Baudrillard, Freeways, Desert, Social Fragmentation, Paranoia, Fortress L.A., City Cells, Urbanization
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work examines Los Angeles as a representative case study of a postmodern metropolis, focusing on its unique structural and social characteristics.
What are the main thematic pillars discussed?
The essay centers on three key factors: physical and geographical instability, the city's horizontal and centerless expansion, and the intense social and structural segregation within its urban design.
What is the central research aim?
The primary aim is to demonstrate that instability—in its physical, urban, and social manifestations—is the fundamental premise that defines Los Angeles as a postmodern space.
Which methodology is employed to analyze the city?
The essay utilizes a comparative approach, contrasting findings about Los Angeles with various postmodern theoretical models of culture, space, and society.
What topics are covered in the main body of the essay?
The main body investigates the threats of earthquakes and drought, the "centrifugal" nature of the city's layout, the role of freeways in connecting and separating urban cells, and the rise of fortified enclaves driven by social fear.
Which keywords best describe the discourse?
Key terms include postmodernism, instability, horizontality, segregation, urban sprawl, and the societal impact of the information age.
How does the author characterize the role of the freeway system?
The author argues that the freeway grid acts as the defining arterial network of Los Angeles, turning the city into a complex, connected, yet segregated series of city cells.
Why does the author focus on the concept of 'walls' in Los Angeles?
The author uses walls—both literal and metaphorical—to illustrate the extreme level of segregation and the "paranoia" of the middle and upper classes towards the social and ethnic "other."
- Quote paper
- Mag. Markus Widmer (Author), 1998, Los Angeles as Postmodern Space, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/14781
