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This book draws together interdisciplinary perspectives to examine the legal, moral, and socio-spatial regulation of sex work in the contemporary context. With a thematic focus on the gendered landscape of sex work, formal and informal methods of socio-spatial control, and (in)access to justice, this book explores the role of space in the regulation of sex work in diverse contexts, from the local to the global. The chapters collectively bring together complex, inter-related issues that impact the lives of sex workers throughout the world, providing evidence of the impacts of regulation on sex workers and subsequent barriers to accessing justice and rights. This collection centres the regulated lives of sex workers, using an intersectional lens that highlights the gendered and racialised impacts of stigma. Incorporating knowledge derived from both academic research and lived experience, this book provides a unique contribution that will be of interest to academics and policy-makers globally.

(Sub)Urban Sexscapes brings together a collection of theoretically-informed and empirically rich case studies from internationally renowned and emerging scholars highlighting the contemporary and historical geographies and regulation of the commercial sex industry. Contributions in this edited volume examine the spatial and regulatory contours of the sex industry from a range of disciplinary perspectives—urban planning, urban geography, urban sociology, and, cultural and media studies—and geographical contexts—Australia, the UK, US and North Africa. In overall terms, (Sub)urban Sexscapes highlights the mainstreaming of commercial sex premises—sex shops, brothels, strip clubs and queer spaces—and products—sex toys, erotic literature and pornography—now being commonplace in night time economy spaces, the high street, suburban shopping centres and the home. In addition, the aesthetics of commercial and alternative sexual practices—BDSM and pornography—permeate the (sub)urban landscape via billboards, newspapers and magazines, television, music videos and the Internet.The role of sex, sexuality and commercialized sex, in contributing to the general character of our cities cannot be ignored. In short, there is a need for policy-makers to be realistic about the historical, contemporary and future presence of the sex industry. Ultimately, the regulation of the sex industry should be informed by evidence as opposed to moral panics.••• Winner of the Planning Institute of Australia (WA) 2015 Award for Excellence in Cutting Edge Research and Teaching •••