THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: TOWARDS THE HISTORY OF THE CONCEPT

Abstract

The article attempts a historical and conceptual analysis of the "right to the city," a political and philosophical concept that means the right of citizens to transform urban life. The "right to the city" is a concept focused on the orderly and informed participation of different groups of citizens in the common space of the city. The first part of the article touches on the biography, creativity and own definitions of this concept in the works of the French Marxist philosopher Henri Lefebvre. The concept of the right to a city was first formulated by him in the article "The Right to a city" (1967). At the end of the XX — beginning of the XXI century. This concept has become the basis for discussing the problem of social justice in the urban context both on a theoretical level in the works of academic authors from social theory, sociology, urban studies, and on a political level, becoming a popular slogan for urban social movements around the world, including Russia. In 2001, the City Statute, based on the idea of the right to the city, was consolidated at the level of the federal constitutional legislation of Brazil. The key difficulty of implementing the "right to the city" in practice is related to its semantic ambiguity. Another difficulty is related to the declarative nature and the lack of legal and real mechanisms for its implementation in the political and legal sphere. Finally, the problematic side of this right lies in the difficulty of distinguishing between justified and unjustified demands within the framework of the right to a city.