Spatial justice: A fundamental or derivative notion?

The concept of “spatial justice” is widely employed in the contemporary academic literature and public debates. This concept is usually deemed decisive for a radical change in urban policies and planning. However, there is no agreed definition of what spatial justice is. This happens also because the idea, despite obtaining immediate and extensive success, still lacks some necessary conceptual and analytical explorations and clarifications. This article critically revisits the idea itself of “spatial justice”. To do so, it makes three preliminary specifications in regard to: the primary subject of justice; the distinction between the general concept of justice and specific substantive conceptions of justice; the circumscribed meaning of the notion of distributive justice as a mere component of the more general notion of social justice. Further specifications follow on the issue of “space” itself. Against this background, the article discusses five cases in which space is effectively involved in justice issues: as an influencing factor; as a unit of allocation; as a privately owned asset; as a public domain; as a precinct. The article concludes by arguing that the notion of “spatial justice” is derivative rather than foundational.