Mjesta i nemjesta u suvremenim konceptualizacijama prostora
Places and Non-Places in Contemporary Conceptualizations of Space

Summary/Abstract: Globalization, urbanization and technological development are the processes that create new phenomena and new structures in social life, changing the meaning of a place from concrete and symbolic anthropological place into non-place as a space deprived of identity, history or relation. Fast-food restaurants, shopping malls and airports are places that are part of everyday modern life. The main similarities that connect those places are uniform architecture, commodification and their transit character, also representing the key features of the 21st century: acceleration, abundance in everything and shrinking effect. Fast life and excessiveness of events, products, information and choice make the world so small that it can fit a week holiday. This article explores a theoretical frame which connects Saskia Sassen’s global city theory, Marc Auge’s theory of supermodernity and Manuel Castells’ theory of space of flows, illustrating the emergence and development of non-places as a contemporary urban space phenomenon. The article reexamines placelessness and non-places as symbols of contemporary comprehension of place as well as changes in the conceptualization of place.

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