The Political Life Of Urban Streetscapes

Streetscapes are part of the taken-for-granted spaces of everyday urban life, yet they are also contested arenas in which struggles over identity, memory, and place shape the social production of urban space. This book examines the role that street naming has played in the political life of urban streetscapes in both historical and contemporary cities. The renaming of streets and remaking of urban commemorative landscapes have long been key strategies that different political regimes have employed to legitimize spatial assertions of sovereign authority, ideological hegemony, and symbolic power. Over the past few decades, a rich body of critical scholarship has explored the politics of urban toponymy, and the present collection brings together the works of geographers, anthropologists, historians, linguists, planners, and political scientists to examine the power of street naming as an urban place-making practice. Covering a wide range of case studies from cities in Europe, North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia, the contributions to this volume illustrate how the naming of streets has been instrumental to the reshaping of urban spatial imaginaries and the cultural politics of place.

Streetscapes are part of the taken-for-granted spaces of everyday urban life, yet they are also contested arenas in which struggles over identity, memory, and place shape the social production of urban space. This book examines the role that street naming has played in the political life of urban streetscapes in both historical and contemporary cities. The renaming of streets and remaking of urban commemorative landscapes have long been key strategies that different political regimes have employed to legitimize spatial assertions of sovereign authority, ideological hegemony, and symbolic power. Over the past few decades, a rich body of critical scholarship has explored the politics of urban toponymy, and the present collection brings together the works of geographers, anthropologists, historians, linguists, planners, and political scientists to examine the power of street naming as an urban place-making practice. Covering a wide range of case studies from cities in Europe, North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia, the contributions to this volume illustrate how the naming of streets has been instrumental to the reshaping of urban spatial imaginaries and the cultural politics of place.

Images of the Street captures the vitality, excitements and tensions of the street. Using examples from the U.K, India, Australia and North America the contributors draw on research in cultural geography, sociolgy, cultural studies and planning to explore the making and meaning of urban space. Among the themes examined are:1.the way streetscapes are shaped by interplay between politics, planning and local political economy 2.social differences of individuals experiences' of the street 3.how social identities are shaped and represented in fiction and film 4.the meaning and significance of streets as settings to play out social practices 5.how social life is regulated on the street, formerly by police and indirectly through architecture and urban design

International Encyclopedia of Human Geography, Second Edition, Fourteen Volume Set embraces diversity by design and captures the ways in which humans share places and view differences based on gender, race, nationality, location and other factors—in other words, the things that make people and places different. Questions of, for example, politics, economics, race relations and migration are introduced and discussed through a geographical lens. This updated edition will assist readers in their research by providing factual information, historical perspectives, theoretical approaches, reviews of literature, and provocative topical discussions that will stimulate creative thinking. Presents the most up-to-date and comprehensive coverage on the topic of human geography Contains extensive scope and depth of coverage Emphasizes how geographers interact with, understand and contribute to problem-solving in the contemporary world Places an emphasis on how geography is relevant in a social and interdisciplinary context

In the wake of recent protests against police violence and racism, calls to dismantle problematic memorials have reverberated around the globe. This is not a new phenomenon, however, nor is it limited to the Western world. De-Commemoration focuses on the concept of de-commemoration as it relates to remembrance. Drawing on research from experts on memory dynamics across various disciplines, this extensive collection seeks to make sense of the current state of de-commemoration as it transforms contemporary societies around the world.

This is the first book to address the design needs of older people in the outdoor environment. It provides information on design principles essential to built environment professionals who want to provide for all users of urban space and who wish to achieve sustainability in their designs. Part one examines the changing experiences of people in the outdoor environment as they age and discusses existing outdoor environments and the aspects and features that help or hinder older people from using and enjoying them. Part two presents the six design principles for ‘streets for life’ and their many individual components. Using photographs and line drawings, a range of design features are presented at all scales of the outdoor environment from street layouts and building form to signs and detail. Part three expands on the concept of ‘streets for life’ as the ultimate goal of inclusive urban design. These are outdoor environments that people are able to confidently understand, navigate and use, regardless of age or circumstance, and represent truly sustainable inclusive communities.

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