Hacène Belmessous

Independent Researcher and Essayist (France)

Hacène Belmessous is an independent scholar and essayist. Over the past twenty years, his research focused on urban sociology and policy, covering politics in the public sphere in France (in large cities and in working class banlieues) and abroad (London, Berlin, Hamburg, Brussels, Charleroi, Jerusalem, Algiers, Dakar, etc.). His main interests concern the interaction between individuals within urban social systems. In his essays, he combines his observations about the city with broader questions and criticism. 

It Is Necessary to Defend the Public City

During his residency at the Camargo Foundation, Hacène Belmessous planned to draft an essay on the future of urban public spaces. All around the world, collective existence is disappearing, replaced by exclusive communities. What constitutes society? Are we still building "public cities" or are we merely creating illusions of such? And, in the end, are these processes destroying the idea of "Us" while undoing collective life?

Hacène Belmessous was in residence at the Camargo Foundation from April 25 to June 9, 2017.