Challenging Neoliberal Normativities: Making the Space for Queer Urban Theory and Radical Practices

The essay explores the political and theoretical possibility offered by a conscious use of queer radical approaches in the analysis of urban space, reflecting on convergences and distrust between queer theory and critical urban studies. Reflections on the idea of the «inclusive» city and LGBT assimilationism highlight the contradictions that arise not only for sexual and gender minorities, but for a whole range of subjects who inhabit the symbolic and material margins of our cities. Finally, a model of the not-yet-here city is proposed, based on bell hooks’ conceptualisation of the margin as a space of radical openness.