Keywords
Ideology
Public Space
High Line
Urban Landscaping
Abstract
This article explores how certain forms of aesthetic rebellion are reconfigured and legitimized within public space, using the case of the High Line in New York City. A qualitative sociological approach is adopted, combining institutional discourse analysis, visual interpretation, and situated observation. The aim is to understand how an urban initiative initially associated with spontaneity and symbolic resistance is gradually absorbed by institutional narratives that redefine it as a consumable object and a tool for spatial and economic valorization. The findings reveal that such processes activate material and cultural disputes, in which ecological and visual elements serve as mechanisms of consecration and territorial reorganization. It is concluded that public space functions as a site of contested meanings, memories, and legitimacies.
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