Urban Landscape and Architecture

2009 ◽  
pp. 237-247
Author(s):  
Robin Osborne
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Ideals ◽  
Common Identity ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
The City

That the idea of the polis came to stand as a reference point for Hellenic cultural ideals is not, as one might have thought, purely the result of later memory, or memorialization of the political structures that obtained during a rich and productive era in Greek cultural history. This happened, of course; but it built on a conscious attempt by its inhabitants to promote the polis as a centre for cultural identity. This article looks at how the city developed and how it was developed physically to reflect an ideal, ‘common’ identity, both cultural and political.

Stuart Succession Literature

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
British Literature ◽  
The Political ◽  
Literature And Politics ◽  
Distinct Category ◽  
Political Structures ◽  
Distinguished Group ◽  
Modern British Literature

Moments of royal succession, which punctuated the Stuart era (1603–1714), occasioned outpourings of literature. Writers, including most of the major figures of the seventeenth century from Jonson, Daniel, and Donne to Marvell, Dryden, and Behn, seized upon these occasions to mark the transition of power; to reflect upon the political structures and values of their nation; and to present themselves as authors worthy of patronage and recognition. This volume of essays explores this important category of early modern writing. It contends that succession literature warrants attention as a distinct category: appreciated by contemporaries, acknowledged by a number of scholars, but never investigated in a coherent and methodical manner, it helped to shape political reputations and values across the period. Benefiting from the unique database of such writing generated by the AHRC-funded Stuart Successions Project, the volume brings together a distinguished group of authors to address a subject which is of wide and growing interest to students both of history and of literature. It illuminates the relation between literature and politics in this pivotal century of English political and cultural history. Interdisciplinary in scope, the volume will be indispensable to scholars of early modern British literature and history as well as undergraduates and postgraduates in both fields.

scholarly journals Toponymy, Pioneership, and the Politics of Ethnic Hierarchies in the Spatial Organization of British Colonial Nairobi

Urban Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Wanjiru-Mwita ◽  
Frédéric Giraut
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
The Political ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Urban Citizenship ◽  
Ethnic Affiliation ◽  
Early Colonial ◽  
British Asians ◽  
Colonial Government ◽  
The City

Toponyms, along with other urban symbols, were used as a tool of control over space in many African countries during the colonial period. This strategy was epitomized by the British, who applied it in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya from the late 1800s. This paper shows that toponymy in colonial Nairobi was an imposition of British political references, urban nomenclature, as well as the replication of a British spatial idyll on the urban landscape of Nairobi. In early colonial Nairobi, the population was mainly composed of three main groups: British, Asians, and Africans. Although the Africans formed the bulk of the population, they were the least represented, socially, economically and politically. Ironically, he British, who were the least in population held the political and economic power, and they applied it vigorously in shaping the identity of the city. The Asians were neither as powerful as the British, nor were they considered to be at the low level of the native Africans. This was the deliberate hierarchical structure that was instituted by the colonial government, where the level of urban citizenship depended on ethnic affiliation. Consequently, this structure was reflected in the toponymy and spatial organization of the newly founded city with little consideration to its pre-colonial status. Streets, buildings and other spaces such as parks were predominantly named after the British monarchy, colonial administrators, settler farmers, and businessmen, as well as prominent Asian personalities. In this paper, historical references such as maps, letter correspondences, monographs, and newspaper archives have been used as evidence to prove that toponyms in colonial Nairobi were the spatial signifiers that reflected the political, ideological and ethnic hierarchies and inequalities of the time.

Food, Fear, and Dreams

2019 ◽  
pp. 144-166
Author(s):  
Robert Lemon
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
The Political ◽  
Taste Preferences ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Spatial Strategy ◽  
Legitimate Business ◽  
The Social ◽  
Immigration And Customs Enforcement ◽  
The City

Chapter 7 takes a detailed look at how taco truck owners continually have to develop new ways of adapting spatially to the political and social dimensions of Columbus’s landscape. For most taco truck owners in the city, deportation is a legitimate business concern. Many taco truck owners fear confronting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while vending along city streets. Thus, taco truck owners use their mobility as a spatial strategy for survival in an uncertain and unsettling urban landscape. As taco truck owners navigate the social terrains of Columbus, they must modify their menus to their newfound community’s taste preferences. This is to say that food is spatial, and so the chapter makes an argument for the ways in which food evolves across space.

scholarly journals Óræð inngrip og pólitísk orðræða í borginni

Ritið ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-103
Author(s):  
Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Guiding Principle ◽  
Art Practices ◽  
The City

In this article I discuss how various collective art projects involving artists and curators using the city as an exhibition site have transformed artistic discourse in Iceland. Chantal Mouffe´s conception of public space as a battleground and art practices as agnostic interventions into this space raise questions about the branding and commodification of art and cultural institutions. Mouffe believes that despite the unrestrained commercial control of the urban landscape, artists still have the possibility of intervening in the political and economic status quo. Employing Mouffe´s analyses as a guiding principle, the study confirms that the permanent value of art in public spaces need not be limited to individual artists’ form, style or content, but may be capable of mobilizing political, critical and artistic discussions within the urban community.

Religious-Cultural Identity in Thrace and Moesia Inferior

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Peter
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Female Figure ◽  
Philip Ii ◽  
Good Insight ◽  
Special Regard ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Identity ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into

The Beauty and Attractions of Philippopolis, named after Philip II, king of Macedonia, praised in this poetical manner by Lucian, were also celebrated on its coinage in Roman times. Hence the river Hebrus, navigable up to Philippopolis in antiquity, was often depicted on coins; on Hadrianic coins it was even named (pl. 8.1, 1). Its great importance for the city is further reflected in the common illustrations of the river-god and the city-goddess (pl. 8.1, 2). And one coin with the river-god also shows other sources of wealth for the city: little genii are depicted representing agriculture and mining (pl. 8.1, 3). While the AIMOΣ, depicted only on coins of Nicopolis ad Istrum, is shown as a male personification (in the form of a young hunter), the smaller mountains of Rhodope, situated near Philippopolis, are depicted as a charming female figure with an explanatory legend (ROΔOΠH) on coins of Philippopolis (pl. 8.1, 4). In addition, the three hills which formed the acropolis of the city (which, as a consequence, was called Trimontium in Roman times), and are known today as Nebet-, Džambaz-, and Taximtepe, were depicted (singly or all together) on coins of Philippopolis (pl. 8.1, 5). Sometimes even the other hills of the city (which are said to have been seven in all) can be seen on the coins. So a statue of Heracles, situated on a hill, supposedly represented the second highest elevation of the city, the Bundardžika (pl. 8.1, 6). The pictures of these hills are combined with appropriate buildings—temples, statues, aqueducts— on the coins (pl. 8.1, 7). It is clear that such illustrations conveyed a specific image of the city and the landscape, and were intended to show essential aspects of the common identity of the Philippopolites. As a consequence they give a good insight into the processes of acculturation which led to the formation or change of identities. They show how indigenous, local, or regional traditions, myths, and stories of origins were conserved or changed. They also inform us about the adaptation of foreign influences (for example, the taking over and/or integration of foreign deities in the local pantheon) or the resistance against such influences. Such central aspects of ‘Coinage and Identity’ will be studied in detail in this chapter, with special regard to Thrace and Moesia Inferior.

The Aesthetic versus the Political

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weijie Song
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Everyday Objects ◽  
Material Basis ◽  
Industrial Civilization ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The City

This chapter addresses how Lin Huiyin, a female poet and architect, carries out modernist, impressionist, and urbanist mappings of Beijing’s everyday objects, imperial relics, and socialist sites from the post-Warlord Era to the high Cold War years. In her literary writings of the 1930s and her failed project of urban planning of the socialist capital in the 1950s (against Maoist and Stalinist propaganda), Lin deliberately juxtaposes the pastoral and the counterpastoral, the threatening and disturbing images of modern industrial civilization and the lyrical and aesthetic items in everyday life. Imperial palaces and other grand buildings still dominate the urban landscape of Beijing. However, in Lin’s poetics and politics of daily objects, the sensuous, superfluous, and aestheticized things constitute the cultural texture and material basis of the city, which outlive historical transformations and political turbulence and protect Beijing from the “gust and dust” of modern times.

scholarly journals Continuity of heritage urban landscape: the case of Jeron Beteng Yogyakarta

2021 ◽  
Vol 879 (1) ◽  
pp. 012031
Author(s):  
D H Rahmi
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Dynamic Environment ◽  
Heritage Buildings ◽  
History Of ◽  
Landscape Character ◽  
Physical Elements ◽  
Traditional Area ◽  
Social Management ◽  
The City

Abstract The urban landscape, which is in a dynamic environment, continues to change, meaning it has transformed the relationship between humans and the environment. Many changes have occurred since the early formation of the city until now. Nevertheless, many heritage urban landscape that has been formed hundreds of years ago are continuing to date with their various elements remain the same. Jeron Beteng is a part of the Yogyakarta Sultanate Palace, which has existed since the early construction of the palace. This traditional area was once a residential area for the abdi dalem (people who served the Sultan and Palace) and the sultanate princes or brothers of the Sultan. Along with the developments of Yogyakarta, Jeron Beteng has developed into a dense urban settlement. Various changes have occurred, both the function of the area, architecture building, and land use. As a heritage area, it is interesting to know whether Jeron Beteng can adapt to the changes and continue as the cultural identity of the Yogyakarta Palace. This paper is based on research that intends to identify the urban landscape characters of Jeron Beteng and examine the continuity of its physical landscape characters as the cultural identity of the Yogyakarta Palace. A qualitative method is used with two approaches: interpretation of the history of Jeron Beteng and qualitative approach based on the contemporary empirical phenomenon. This research found that Jeron Beteng today is the culmination of hundreds of years of physical and social management. It is not just a collection of heritage buildings, events, and precincts, but the whole landscapes, that have unique characters. The character of Jeron Beteng is mostly formed by its physical elements that have heritage values, mainly the Palace, Alun-alun, and the beteng wall. Changes in the spatial and physical environment have happened, however, the essence or core of the physical landscape character of Jeron Beteng is continuing and contributes to the cultural identity of the Yogyakarta Palace and the city.

scholarly journals Tourism as a territorial marketing strategy: the case of the electric in the landscape of the city of Coimbra

2021 ◽  
pp. 57-66
Author(s):  
Paulo Fernando Pereira Fabião Simões
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Marketing Strategy ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
The Other ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Place Marketing ◽  
Social Spaces ◽  
Core Element ◽  
Territorial Marketing ◽  
The City

The electric tram played an important role in people's lives, in their individual and collective experiences, becoming a symbol with cultural identity. It has a strong seductive power capable of changing the urban landscape, materializing into a geo-symbol and even transforming the use of new social spaces. The tram may be a heritage of extreme relevance in the (re) creation of new tourist territories through representations that are territorialized, as they change places and urban landscapes. On the other hand, territorial marketing is used as a strategy for planning, managing and promoting places with the aim of increasing attractiveness with internal and external audiences. The brand constitutes a core element, demonstrating the specificities of the process of building the territorial brand and it argues about its synergetic relationship with the attractiveness and competitiveness of places and explores the question of how the electric can be seen as an active capital of place marketing, but also as an attractive pole and recipient of tourism. The active capitals of places to position and communicate their attributes can present themselves as strategies at the service of place marketing, with the electric tram being a case in point.

The Urban Conquest of Water in Guayaquil, 1880–1945: Cocoa and the Urban Water Dream

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Swyngedouw
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Water System ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
The Political ◽  
Urbanization Process ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The City

The problems outlined in the previous chapter evolve from particular historical political ecological processes. As the urbanization process is predicated upon the mastering and engineering of nature’s water, the ecological conquest of water is an integral part of the expansion and growth of the city. At the same time, the capital required to build and expand the urban landscape is itself, at least in the case of Guayaquil, generated through the political ecological transformation of the city’s hinterland. In this and the following chapters, we shall explore the historical dynamics of the urbanization process through the lens of this double ecological conquest. The city’s growth created the need for water systems, which stretched further and further from the city in order to tap additional water resources. Foreign capital had to be generated to finance the imported technology of these projects. This necessitated a sound export-based economy, initially driven by cocoa (until the early twentieth century), bananas (from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s), and oil (from 1973 onwards). The urban process was consequently embedded in a double ecological conquest: ever greater flows of water became urbanized, while the city’s hinterland was socially and ecologically transformed. The latter conquest, in turn, plugged the Ecuadorean economy into the international division of labour. Guayaquil was the arena and medium through which those circuits of transformed nature and money were organized. The contemporary social struggle around water is evidently the result of the deeply exclusive and marginalizing ways in which political, economic, and ecological power have been worked out. The current water system and water politics exemplify the wider socio-economic and political processes that characterized Guayaquil’s urbanization process. Until the mid-nineteenth century, Guayaquil was just a large port village on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, surviving in the shadow of the political and former colonial centre of Quito and the economically dominant Sierra (Andean highland) hacienderos. In 1780, Quito had a population of 28,500 compared to 6,600 in Guayaquil, and by the mid-nineteenth century these figures had risen to 36,000 and 25,000 respectively.

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