Contemporary City – serie

Considering Asian cities ranging from Taipei, Hong Kong and Bangkok to Hanoi, Nanjing and Seoul, this collection discusses the socio-political processes of how neoliberalization entwines with local political economies and legacies of ‘developmental’ or ‘socialist’ statism to produce urban contestations centered on housing. The book takes housing as a key entry point, given its prime position in the making of social and economic policies as well as the political legitimacy of Asian states. It examines urban policies related to housing in Asian economies in order to explore their continuing alterations and mutations, as they come into conflict and coalesce with neoliberal policies. In discussing the experience of each city, it takes into consideration the variegated relations between the state, the market and the society, and explores how the global pressure of neoliberalization has manifested in each country and has influenced the shaping of national housing questions.

This book argues the crucial role of culture and cultural policies in defining the notion of urban citizenship in Barcelona since 1979. Through analysis of official documents, municipal publicity campaigns, sport – including the Olympic Games and Barcelona F.C – and film, Balibrea makes sense of the city as a global cultural destination and reveals how such transformation impacts local inhabitants. Scrutinizing municipal discourses on culture from the late 1970s, this interdisciplinary work unveils how ideas of the function and nature of citizenship articulate changing definitions of the city, from model to brand. Over the course of topics such as: tourism, social democracy and urban regeneration, Balibrea constructs an original argument for how the Barcelona image mobilizes neoliberal fantasies of subject transformation. A wide-ranging study, this book will be of great interest to scholars of urban geography, sociology and cultural studies.

With the rise of wealth inequalities, our cities are changing dramatically. This collection critically engages with and advances existing debates on the super-rich and their roles in these transformations.  An interdisciplinary range of contributions from international experts including sociologists, geographers, historians, discourse analysts, and urban studies specialists reveal crucial aspects of the real estate investment practices of the super-rich, their social spaces in the city as well as the distinct influence of the super-rich on the transformation of four key cities: London, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. By drawing together diverse disciplines, perspectives, and experiences across different geographical contexts, this book offers a fresh, comparative, and nuanced take on the super-rich and the 1% city, as well as a solid, empirically and theoretically grounded basis to think about future research questions and policy implications.

​This book seeks to understand the urban transformation of Amsterdam over a 40-year period. In addition to charting social and economic changes associated with gentrification, it analyses the electoral dynamics and middle-class politics that have underpinned Amsterdam’s change to a middle-class city.

This book argues the crucial role of culture and cultural policies in defining the notion of urban citizenship in Barcelona since 1979. Through analysis of official documents, municipal publicity campaigns, sport – including the Olympic Games and Barcelona F.C – and film, Balibrea makes sense of the city as a global cultural destination and reveals how such transformation impacts local inhabitants. Scrutinizing municipal discourses on culture from the late 1970s, this interdisciplinary work unveils how ideas of the function and nature of citizenship articulate changing definitions of the city, from model to brand. Over the course of topics such as: tourism, social democracy and urban regeneration, Balibrea constructs an original argument for how the Barcelona image mobilizes neoliberal fantasies of subject transformation. A wide-ranging study, this book will be of great interest to scholars of urban geography, sociology and cultural studies.

With the rise of wealth inequalities, our cities are changing dramatically. This collection critically engages with and advances existing debates on the super-rich and their roles in these transformations.  An interdisciplinary range of contributions from international experts including sociologists, geographers, historians, discourse analysts, and urban studies specialists reveal crucial aspects of the real estate investment practices of the super-rich, their social spaces in the city as well as the distinct influence of the super-rich on the transformation of four key cities: London, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong. By drawing together diverse disciplines, perspectives, and experiences across different geographical contexts, this book offers a fresh, comparative, and nuanced take on the super-rich and the 1% city, as well as a solid, empirically and theoretically grounded basis to think about future research questions and policy implications.

This volume sheds light on the development of squatting practices and movements in nine European cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Rotterdam and Brighton) by examining the numbers, variations and significant contexts in their life course. It reveals how and why squatting practices have shifted and to what extent they engender urban movements. The book measures the volume and changes in squatting over various decades, mostly by focusing on Squatted Social Centres but also including squatted housing. In addition, it systematically compares the cycles, socio-spatial structures and the political implications of squatting in selected cities. This collection highlights how squatters’ movements have persisted over more than four decades through different trajectories and circumstances, especially in relation to broader protest cycles and reveals how political opportunities and constraints influence the conflicts around the legalisation of squats.p>

This volume sheds light on the development of squatting practices and movements in nine European cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Rotterdam and Brighton) by examining the numbers, variations and significant contexts in their life course. It reveals how and why squatting practices have shifted and to what extent they engender urban movements. The book measures the volume and changes in squatting over various decades, mostly by focusing on Squatted Social Centres but also including squatted housing. In addition, it systematically compares the cycles, socio-spatial structures and the political implications of squatting in selected cities. This collection highlights how squatters’ movements have persisted over more than four decades through different trajectories and circumstances, especially in relation to broader protest cycles and reveals how political opportunities and constraints influence the conflicts around the legalisation of squats.p>

Focusing on Mostar, a city in Bosnia Herzegovina that became the epitome of ethnic divisions during the Yugoslav wars, this cutting edge book considers processes of violent partitioning in cities. Providing an in-depth understanding of the social, political, and mundane dynamics that keep cities polarized, it examines the potential that moments of inter-ethnic collaboration hold in re-imaging these cities as other than divided. Against the backdrop of normalised practices of ethnic partitioning, the book studies both ‘planned’ and ‘unplanned’ moments of disruption; it looks at how networks of solidarity come into existence regardless of identity politics as well as the role of organised grassroots groups that attempt to create more inclusive; and it critically engages with urban spaces of resistance. Challenging the representation of the city as merely a site of ethnic divisions, the author also explores the complexities arising from living in a city that validates its citizens solelythrough ethnicity. Elaborating on the relationships between space, culture and social change, this book is a key read for scholars, students, and urban practitioners studying ethnically divided cities worldwide.

For nearly a century families have been out-migrating to suburbs and peri-urban areas. In this book, Johanna Lilius conceptualizes the relatively recent phenomenon of families choosing to live in the inner city. Drawing on a range of qualitative data, the book offers a holistic approach to simultaneously understanding changes within parenting practices and changes connected to city development. The book explains not only why families choose to stay in the inner city and how they use the city in their everyday lives, but also how families change the landscape of contemporary cities, and how the family is, and has been, perceived in urban planning and policy-making. The Nordic perspective provided by Lilius makes this book an important contribution in helping understand inner city change outside the Anglo-American context, and will appeal to an international audience.

Power, Glamour and Angst is about the social and cultural life of three Australian neighbourhoods – Toorak (Melbourne), Mosman (Sydney) and Cottesloe (Perth) - which are home to some of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful citizens. The book explores how living in these neighbourhoods shapes the lifestyles, social networks and status of Australia’s elites. The book explores the everyday rituals through which residents produce their neighbourhood's status. It maps residents’ social networks and exposes the local institutions – including schools and sports or social clubs – in which access to such high-powered networks is granted or withheld. Power, Glamour and Angst examines how the collective social and cultural capitals of elite neighbourhoods are mobilised towards varied objectives, from initiation of business connections and opportunities, through to opposition against unwanted development or traffic, both sources of ongoing angst. Deeply conservative and resistant to change at their core, despite their wealth and power these communities have not always been successful in fully repressing external pressures. In the 21st century Australian city, even elite neighbourhoods must learn to adapt to population growth, urban densification and increased cultural diversity.

This edited volume advances our understanding of urban activism beyond the social movement theorization dominated by thesis of political opportunity structure and resource mobilization, as well as by research based on experience from the global north. Covering a diversity of urban actions from a broad range of countries in both hemispheres as well as the global north and global south, this unique collection notably focuses on non-institutionalised or localised urban actions that have the potential to bring about radical structural transformation of the urban system and also addresses actions in authoritarian regimes that are too sensitive to call themselves “movement”. It addresses localized issues cut off from international movements such as collective consumption issues, like clean water, basic shelter, actions against displacement or proper venues for street vendors, and argues that the integration of the actions in cities in the global south with the specificity of their local social and political environment is as pivotal as their connection with global movement networks or international NGOs. A key read for researchers and policy makers cutting across the fields of urban sociology, political science, public policy, geography, regional studies and housing studies, this text provides an interdisciplinary and international perspective on 21st century urban activism in the global north and south.

Focusing on Mostar, a city in Bosnia Herzegovina that became the epitome of ethnic divisions during the Yugoslav wars, this cutting edge book considers processes of violent partitioning in cities. Providing an in-depth understanding of the social, political, and mundane dynamics that keep cities polarized, it examines the potential that moments of inter-ethnic collaboration hold in re-imaging these cities as other than divided. Against the backdrop of normalised practices of ethnic partitioning, the book studies both ‘planned’ and ‘unplanned’ moments of disruption; it looks at how networks of solidarity come into existence regardless of identity politics as well as the role of organised grassroots groups that attempt to create more inclusive; and it critically engages with urban spaces of resistance. Challenging the representation of the city as merely a site of ethnic divisions, the author also explores the complexities arising from living in a city that validates its citizens solelythrough ethnicity. Elaborating on the relationships between space, culture and social change, this book is a key read for scholars, students, and urban practitioners studying ethnically divided cities worldwide.

For nearly a century families have been out-migrating to suburbs and peri-urban areas. In this book, Johanna Lilius conceptualizes the relatively recent phenomenon of families choosing to live in the inner city. Drawing on a range of qualitative data, the book offers a holistic approach to simultaneously understanding changes within parenting practices and changes connected to city development. The book explains not only why families choose to stay in the inner city and how they use the city in their everyday lives, but also how families change the landscape of contemporary cities, and how the family is, and has been, perceived in urban planning and policy-making. The Nordic perspective provided by Lilius makes this book an important contribution in helping understand inner city change outside the Anglo-American context, and will appeal to an international audience.

Power, Glamour and Angst is about the social and cultural life of three Australian neighbourhoods – Toorak (Melbourne), Mosman (Sydney) and Cottesloe (Perth) - which are home to some of the nation’s wealthiest and most powerful citizens. The book explores how living in these neighbourhoods shapes the lifestyles, social networks and status of Australia’s elites. The book explores the everyday rituals through which residents produce their neighbourhood's status. It maps residents’ social networks and exposes the local institutions – including schools and sports or social clubs – in which access to such high-powered networks is granted or withheld. Power, Glamour and Angst examines how the collective social and cultural capitals of elite neighbourhoods are mobilised towards varied objectives, from initiation of business connections and opportunities, through to opposition against unwanted development or traffic, both sources of ongoing angst. Deeply conservative and resistant to change at their core, despite their wealth and power these communities have not always been successful in fully repressing external pressures. In the 21st century Australian city, even elite neighbourhoods must learn to adapt to population growth, urban densification and increased cultural diversity.

This edited volume advances our understanding of urban activism beyond the social movement theorization dominated by thesis of political opportunity structure and resource mobilization, as well as by research based on experience from the global north. Covering a diversity of urban actions from a broad range of countries in both hemispheres as well as the global north and global south, this unique collection notably focuses on non-institutionalised or localised urban actions that have the potential to bring about radical structural transformation of the urban system and also addresses actions in authoritarian regimes that are too sensitive to call themselves “movement”. It addresses localized issues cut off from international movements such as collective consumption issues, like clean water, basic shelter, actions against displacement or proper venues for street vendors, and argues that the integration of the actions in cities in the global south with the specificity of their local social and political environment is as pivotal as their connection with global movement networks or international NGOs. A key read for researchers and policy makers cutting across the fields of urban sociology, political science, public policy, geography, regional studies and housing studies, this text provides an interdisciplinary and international perspective on 21st century urban activism in the global north and south.

The book addresses the rapid shifts which have taken place within cartography, and argues that no amount of technological sophistication will lead to neutral representations, and that as such critical cartography provides a solid foundation for questioning the power of maps. It considers the fragmentation, dynamism and opacity that characterise online maps, and argues for the need of new ways of thinking and researching maps. The book offers an approach grounded in ‘ontological’ social theory and feminist technoscience, and illustrates it through the analysis of three Jerusalem-related mapping controversies. Using online media, historical maps and ethnographic work, each case study explores a different map provider and a recent mapping development: Google Maps and the distributed authorship of web-maps; Waze and algorithmic navigation; OpenStreetMap and crowdsourcing. The book is a key read to faculty and advanced students in Urban Studies and Critical Cartography. It will particularly appeal to those working in the digital geographies

The book addresses the rapid shifts which have taken place within cartography, and argues that no amount of technological sophistication will lead to neutral representations, and that as such critical cartography provides a solid foundation for questioning the power of maps. It considers the fragmentation, dynamism and opacity that characterise online maps, and argues for the need of new ways of thinking and researching maps. The book offers an approach grounded in ‘ontological’ social theory and feminist technoscience, and illustrates it through the analysis of three Jerusalem-related mapping controversies. Using online media, historical maps and ethnographic work, each case study explores a different map provider and a recent mapping development: Google Maps and the distributed authorship of web-maps; Waze and algorithmic navigation; OpenStreetMap and crowdsourcing. The book is a key read to faculty and advanced students in Urban Studies and Critical Cartography. It will particularly appeal to those working in the digital geographies

This book examines the affective domain of the city to visibilise the invisible order that informs the complex urban reality in today's world.  Exploring both the lived and imaginary properties of Dhaka, it uncovers alternative spatial logics and signifying relations among other local dynamics shaping urban knowledge. Moving beyond traditional research frameworks, it focuses on ordinary residents’ subjective engagement with the city and conceptualizes the imaginary city as a social intermediary. Taking Dhaka as a case study, the author highlights the complexities in the relationship between the "hard city" (physical infrastructure) and "soft city" (lived, embedded realities), arguing the latter is not merely an emotional response to the concrete urban space. Using an interdisciplinary lens from literature, the book expands the scope of urban studies, promotes inter-Asia references, and enriches empirical analysis of Asia’s cultural changes. It also examines inclusive, competing urban knowledge production sites by analyzing non-official popular cultural products—such as transport art —which circulate and sustain the city’s popular imaginaries. As a valuable addition to psycho-social and cultural urban scholarship, it positions the "imagined city" as a key analytical tool, prompting readers to rethink the boundary between the physical and imaginary urban spaces globally.

This Book examines an interplay between discourses on the city that stress theneed for rational-functional order and art’s imaginative deviations from the topdownstructures of urban life. Moving between theory and praxis, the booksituates the city as both a concept and physical construct through which lives andpossibilities are shaped or defined. In response, certain modalities of art createspontaneous, non-rational and playful interludes that risk escape from the urbanapparatus and a hyper-valorisation of rational order. A three-part framework isused to discuss this push-pull dynamic and to assess the strategies of shock,performative embodiment and intervention that emerged in post-war artmovements and in contemporary performance and participatory art practices.The book examines how the disturbances introduced by artists throw the cityconstruct into sharp relief, making it visible and activating momentary encounters where new modes of expression can emerge.This Book offers a new approach to interdisciplinary studies of art and urbanity.The book aims to delineate how the city—as concept and construct—is madevisible through artistic practice and in turn challenged or interrogated. Students,researchers and professionals with an interest in the interaction between art andurban studies will discover a new perspective on how urban conditions and issueshave been addressed through artistic practice. The book contributes to anevolving discourse in the urban humanities through an exposition of the city’sdefault construct that is made visible or reimagined through visual art in publicspaces.