As American intellectual property rights lawyer and activist Lawrence Lessig explains in his book "Code is Law", there are rules which you will never find in the law books. He is specifically talking about software and hardware, and his point is that if the software on your computer or the software that makes up the internet dictates a certain kind of use or prohibits another use, than you are constrained. It doesn't matter if you have the legal right or not. A perfect example is the digital rights management software that is built into the iPod and iTunes. It doesn't let you have more than 5 copies of a song you bought from the Apple music store even though there are no such restrictions required from the federal or provincial government. These digital rules sometimes support consumer rights, and sometimes support commercial interests.

The same holds true for cities. We can look at the built city as full of rules that exist by virtue of how they empower or constrain us in different ways. Those rules are written by developers, in conjunction with architects and municipal urban planners. Some of those rules are parks and public spaces and (...read more...)