Gray space is a theoretical concept that explains the causes and consequences of a rapid expansion in informal and temporary urban development, widely prevalent in contemporary city regions.
The concept was formulated by Geographer and urbanist Oren Yiftachel who noted that through a process of 'gray spacing', urban society is increasingly being governed under frameworks of 'separate and unequal', spawning greater uneven fragmentation, conflict and ethno-class stratification.
Gray spacing has become a common policy response and control strategy towards peripheral groups, treating them as a 'state of exception' and condemning them to urban existence in 'indefinite temporariness', under a constant shadow of state criminalization, violence and possible displacement.
On the other hand, as public policy scholar Erez Tzfadia shows, Gray spacing 'from above' refers to encroachment beyond the law and the plan by privileged groups often under quiet approval of the state.
These scholars, including AbdouMaliq Simon, Ananya Roy, Gautam Bhan, Raquel Rolnik, and Vanessa Watson, also argue that communities subjected to ‘gray spacing’ are far from powerless recipients of urban policies, as they generate new mobilizations and insurgent identities, employ innovative tactics of survival, and use gray spaces as bases for self-organization and empowerment (Bhan, 2017; Watson, 2017).