Planners and the moral power of the “unpleasant”

Abstract

Aesthetics are paying increasing attention to negative sensations and to individual judgements that cannot aspire to universal validity, The agreeable or pleasant, and especially its converse the unpleasant, have a considerable motivating power for action, often intertwined with ethical judgment, legitimizing action in the public sphere. The aesthetic and ethical power of the unpleasant is illustrated by three case studies in Madrid. The first one is tactical urbanism response for street redesign (Vallecas, Arboleda street). The second one (Puerta del Sol) shows the accommodation of the public space to the pressure of touristification, to foster economic opportunities. The third case one (Green Southwest Boulevard) shows the consolidation of pre-existing power relations in response to a blighting process.