A comparative analysis of urban identity through the phenomenology of urban attributions (original) (raw)

The Global and the Local Identity in the City

2016

The notion of urban identity has been the subject of many researches. In the era of globalization, the impact of urban change and the challenges which faces the local urban identity of the city increases. Some cities are experiencing a serious struggle with the issue of identity in various ways while they are exerting a great effort in its architectural character to be recognized among world cities. These cities are exposed to enormous forces that tend to assimilate its urban character to serve the interests of the new world order. The difficulty of deciding which trend of urban development suitable for the city creates struggles of keeping their Local Urban Identity which changes and takes different forms as a result of such struggles. The goal of this paper is to highlight different trends of global urban development and their impact on the Local Urban Identity of the city. The paper analyzes different approaches for urban development in cities for significant theorists and organi...

Urban identity of the City – The transformation of Cities at the Turn of Two Centuries

Post-socialist cities in Central and Eastern Europe, today, pass through the complex changes in the conditions of post-socialist transformation, Europeanization and globalization. A relatively neglected aspect of these changes is the creation of typical post-socialist identity of the considered European cities that suppose, through transformation, to achieve a wide range of objectives proclaimed along with the legitimacy of new political and economic policies. The goal is to create good enough places for integration into regional and global networks and flows. The tendency of the transformation of Eastern European cities, in general, is the "Europeanization" of urban identity and repression to elements and signs of "infamous" past, specifically socialistic. However, the question is where is the limit, and to what extent should cities break with its own, recent history. This paper analyses the gradual transformation of the city, from the socialist past to the present time, with attempt to identify the new urban identity in post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This process is researched as the case study city of Nis in Serbia. In a brief analysis of the historical development of Nis, it was marked a period of the largest urban growth. That was the socialistic period just after World War II, followed by creating a distinctive city identity as a socialistic city, the city of the "revolutionaries" and "workers". In the context of recent history (last decade of the twentieth century and the beginning of the XXI century), the paper further analyses the gradual transformation of the influences that occur during this period, from traditional-rural to postmodern. Although the transformation of the city is developing more slowly than social change, it still manages to keep pace with changes in society through their physical and spatial appearance, inevitably, retaining remnants and influences of previous periods. We conclude with the necessity of exploring the historical context in the formation of new "modern" urban identity by relying on our own past. History and tradition, the affinity of the mentality of a society that makes a city must be taken into account along with the goals that we want to achieve by forming a brand new picture" of the city – the new urban identity.

The Locality and Supralocality of Models of Urban Life – a Relational Perspective

In this article I propose to analyse models of urban life (especially in large cities) by treating them as an expression of the broader social changes defined as late modernity (Giddens 1991(Giddens , 2001. I assume that the city, understood as a socio-spatial whole, distinctly reflects the main characteristics of contemporary phenomena and social processes, and that analysing urban reality can comprise an important part of the discussion on unity/plurality of culture in social life suggested by the editors of this publication. For the purposes of this text, I understand culture as models of community life, rather than as a specific set of values, ideas and norms. In spite of this rather broad view, however, this understanding does not equate culture with social life as such, but rather focuses attention on the specificity and models of the relations between the elements that constitute a given community. This is close to the position taken by Marek Krajewski, who writes: "The culture of a specific community is a particular way of linking the elements that make up that community, a kind of constantly evolving recipe which determines the relations between these parts. In speaking of a recipe I am thinking not only of reflexivised and codified rules linking together the various components constituting a certain whole, but also the objectively existing properties of these links, how they are constructed, and which constituent parts are joined. (…) Culture understood as a property of a network of links creating a certain community defines its specific nature, and this decides what it is and why, what functions and roles it fulfils, what its particular characteristics are, what distinguishes it from other communities etc." (Krajewski 2013: 32-33) I approach this issue with the roots of urban sociology in mind. This was founded on premises about the existence of a specific mentality among city dwellers as well as ways of urban life, peculiar social relations and unique mechanisms of transformation. The output of urban sociology, which developed in the United States and Europe in the first half of the 20th century, came under heavy criticism in subsequent decades. This was delivered especially by 2 scholars proposing a critical urban sociology, both in the so-called macrostructural paradigm of "new" urban sociology (cf. Frysztacki 2004) and in urban studies which analysed the city in the context of the processes of globalisation (e.g. the concept of the global city). Critics pointed to the extremely limited possibilities afforded by the qualitative approach, which according to them did not fit the reality of the city determined above all by economic and political factors at the macro level (first state, then global). Today, however, not only are the "classic" conceptions and qualitative methodologies employed effectivelysuch as in case studies (of districts, specific areas or groups of inhabitants), but we can even speak of a revival of urban fieldwork and methodology that combines the sociological, anthropological and ethnological perspectives. The works of Simmel and de Certeau are being read "anew", and very interesting and promising research on cities is taking place in the paradigm of sociology of everyday life and visual sociology. 1 In my opinion, the return towards qualitative urban research is connected to the development of studies of globalisation and the associated theories (of space, community, local development), in which this phenomenon is perceived as a process rooted in localities and with various consequences for them.

Image of the city and its identity - contemporary relations

Architectus, 2017

The issue of the identity, and in particular the identity of cities and places, has become an especially interesting research topic over the last years. Identity is one of the main parameters of urban space description. Nevertheless, the growing competition between urban units and the rivalry resulting from the growing needs of urban stakeholders means that cities are looking for new ways to achieve competitive advantage and that urban identity is materialized as an urban resource – one of the most important tools for creating competitive advantage. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the relationship between the terms “image” and “identity” and then to indicate whether this relationship is relevant in the management of urban spaces in contemporary contexts.

The city memory as a reflection of its identity

THE CITY’S ROLE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY - International Scientific Conference, Balcan Architectural Bienale 2013, 2013

This paper studies the role and importance memory of the city, as part of its identity in the globalization process, discontinuity and urban transformation of the city. Many cities are now facing with an identity crisis that occurs in complex social, economic and cultural changes and the imposition of new values that affect the difficulty in readability and sustainability of traditional forms of creating city and preserving the memory of the city. Cities are a reflection of society development, and overall awareness of different social structures. Each city is a result of permanent changes of a specific time and space of the development process. Participants in this process are not only experts in the development of the city but in the first place are its residents and users of the city. During this process the factor space is generally allocated, the city built primarily defined by its structure. But how the city lives through the time, are noticeable elements of his identity through the different layers of time. In the city's memory are stored many meanings that make up the city's identity. Man experiencing urban space in an active, communicative relationships, in the constant change and action. Urban space is changing along with us, guide us, fascinating, or sad, accepted or rejected, but there is still unfinished and changing as life. Changes in the present must above all respect all those layers and the memory which possesses some place, and with its new layer must to mark the current presence in the area. Under the influence of general globalization and because of the constant transformation of the city, disappears or permanently impairs the city memory and thus gradually distorts also the city's identity, which is being replaced by the general appearances of new urban spaces and activities.

Municipality and Urbanity Today from a Sociological Perspective CITY Re-Imagining the CITY

The significance and appeal of this book lies in the fact that it contains chapters which propose novel and innovative tools for analysis of the city. What is especially crucial in this publication is the highly transparent and comprehensive manner in which the authors have presented the ways by which they conducted their explorations of the metropolis. The very presence of such broad descriptions of research not only increases their credibility, but, in many places, also makes this volume a sort of manual delineating how to effectively carry out studies of the city that meet the demands of modernity. Yet another valuable aspect of this book is that it allows the reader to familiarize him or herself with inquiries – often very detailed and local studies – which it would otherwise be very difficult to access. Hence this volume becomes a forum where the most notable scholars of urban sociology meet those who are only just starting their academic careers, and where representatives of Western sociology meet those from beyond the center. Quite crucial is that the editors have managed to create such a space where these different – ideological , theoretical as well as generational – perspectives on urban research can be confronted with one another in a creative, scholarly dialogue. Professor Marek Krajewski, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań Not only the extensive range of topics covered, but, above all, the intellectual level of the chapters – as well as the multinational representation of the authors – render this a volume which will be received with great interest and thoughtful consideration by broad, international circles of readers. These will principally include sociologists, especially those studying urban issues, but also representatives of local governments. Generally speaking, this will draw persons interested in urban politics broadly understood as well as those interested in the social issues of contemporary cities and their prospects for development. This book introduces the reader to the multicolored mosaic of urban problems. It sheds light on them through the prism of various theoretical concepts and methodological approaches. Moreover, it applies the latest technologies for gathering and processing information about the cultural patterns of urban life as well as the structural identities of cities.

Urban Identity in (Post)Modern Cities: A Case Study of Kharkiv and Lviv

East/West: Journal of Ukrainian Studies, 2020

This article aims to highlight the results of an empirical study of urban identity that was conducted by the author in Kharkiv and Lviv. The theoretical underpinnings of this research are based on the ideas of Manuel Castells and Zygmunt Bauman, as well as others. They assert that under the conditions of (post)modern society, groups which are involved in one way or another in the global post-industrial economy interpret cities and their relationship with them in a variety of ways-in other words, their definitions of urban identity vary. The author's hypothesis is generally confirmed that groups will interpret their connection to a city in distinct ways: representatives of different groups will differ in their interpretation of the question of what it means to be an "urbanite" or a "true [insert city name]-ian," in their ways of participating in the resolution of urban issues, etc. The unique features of the sampled Ukrainian cities (Kharkiv, Lviv) are described. The confirmation of the hypothesis serves as an argument in favour of considering urban identity in the context of an "imagined community." Under such consideration, a city comprises not a "local community" but an aggregate of groups that consider the city to be "theirs" and defend their "right to the city" based on their individual image of the world, which depends on their social, cultural, and economic conditions.

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Self-organization, appropriation of places and production of urbanity

C. Cellamare (2014), “Self-organization, appropriation of places and production of urbanity”, in C. Cellamare & F. Cognetti (eds, 2014), Practices of Reappropriation, Planum Publisher, Milano, ISBN: 9788899237011, p. 35-40, 2014