Spaciocontrol | Banned areas in London

I will post later today a video interview of Elias Redstone, the curator of the travelling exhibition Archizines. This aside…


The Guardian posted this morning an interactive map that maps the 435 banned zones in London. This map is designed by The Manifesto Club, a cvil liberties group which campaigns against the "hyper-regulation of the everyday life".

Banned in London, © The Manifesto Club 2012

Simply put, alcohol consumption, protest, gathering in groups, leafleting and dog walking are banned, as Owen Bowcott reports. Josie Appleton, director of the Manifesto Club said:

The map shows that ordinary freedoms and legal protections have been suspended in large areas of public space. An everyday activity can be an offence if you do it on the wrong street… At the very least, these zones should all be marked: it is fundamentally unjust that people could be punished for offences they did not know they were committing.

An interesting map that reveals these "invisible" zones in London. These "dramatic loss of liberty in public space", to paraphrase the Manifesto Club,  exist in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Beijing, or Rio, and Beirut. Beside these exclusion zones, public surveillance is another form of loss of liberty in public space. In general, these zones are not marked with forbidden signs, however as the Manifesto Club writes:

Within a dog exclusion zone, you can be fined or prosecuted just for walking your dog. Within a no-leafleting zone, you be fined or prosecuted for handing out leaflets without a licence. In an alcohol confiscation zone, officials can confiscate your alcohol without justification, and arrest or fine you if you refuse. In a dispersal zone, a police officer can order you to leave the area for 24 hours, and it is an offence to return within that period. In a regulated protest zone, it is an offence to use sound amplification equipment.

On both site, The Guardian and Banned London, you will find this interactive map.

Source: The Guardian, Banned in London, Manifesto Club

Last but important point: Forensic Architecture, a laboratory that maps, images, and models sites of violence within the framework of international humanitarian law and human rights has its website under the direction of Professor Eyal Weizman. You will find all the information on urbicide, spaciocide and forensic architecture, video, audio, lectures included.