The Social Life of a Barrier: A Material Ethnography of Urban Counter-terrorism

2021 ◽  
pp. 120633122098544
Author(s):  
Martin Trandberg Jensen ◽  
Ole B. Jensen

In the aftermath of the truck attacks in Berlin, Nice, Paris, and Stockholm, new counter-terrorism measures are being installed in European city centers. Through an ethnographic approach, this article explores the socio-material effects triggered by the most conspicuous material responses to hostile vehicle treats: concrete barriers. We draw on the recent turn towards mobilities design thinking to address the béton barriers as more-than physical obstructions, but designed artefacts negotiated and re-appropriated in unexpected ways. Set in the context of Copenhagen, we explore how the concrete barriers reveal the social, cultural, and practical conditions of the city. By establishing a critical mobilities design-oriented understanding of counter-terrorism “in situ,” we seek to broaden out what the process of “designing out terrorism” entails and to discuss new participatory design processes for future transformations of the city in light of terrorism threats.

Author(s):  
Carlos Machado

This book analyses the physical, social, and cultural history of Rome in late antiquity. Between AD 270 and 535, the former capital of the Roman empire experienced a series of dramatic transformations in its size, appearance, political standing, and identity, as emperors moved to other cities and the Christian church slowly became its dominating institution. Urban Space and Aristocratic Power in Late Antique Rome provides a new picture of these developments, focusing on the extraordinary role played by members of the traditional elite, the senatorial aristocracy, in the redefinition of the city, its institutions, and spaces. During this period, Roman senators and their families became increasingly involved in the management of the city and its population, in building works, and in the performance of secular and religious ceremonies and rituals. As this study shows, for approximately three hundred years the houses of the Roman elite competed with imperial palaces and churches in shaping the political map and the social life of the city. Making use of modern theories of urban space, the book considers a vast array of archaeological, literary, and epigraphic documents to show how the former centre of the Mediterranean world was progressively redefined and controlled by its own elite.


2012 ◽  
Vol 450-451 ◽  
pp. 999-1003
Author(s):  
Peng Chen ◽  
Jun Min Zhang ◽  
Ji Nan

Along with the progress of society, the development of the city and economic prosperity, outdoor advertising has achieved great development and plays an increasingly prominent role in the social life. In this paper, the development present situation of outdoor advertising management of Jinan as the starting point, we analyze the problems in the management of outdoor advertising and put forward corresponding countermeasures.


Author(s):  
Г.А Акимниязова

Развитие торговли и экономических связей привело к необходимости строительства специальных заведений, предназначенных для торговцев, путников, с помещениями для вьючных животных. Это в свою очередь привело к появлению постоялых дворов. У каракалпаков постоялый двор назывался шарбақ. Он были двух видов: для кратковременного пребывания, расположенный в черте города недалеко от базара, и долговременного пребывания, устанавливавшийся при въезде в город. Второй из них предпочитали путешествующие издалека. Посетители же первых постоялых дворов останавливались в нем для разгрузки привезенного для продажи товара, реализовав который в течение дня, покидали заведение. Функции шарбақ заключались не только в предоставлении приюта, возможности отдыха, размещения товаров и животных, но и в общении, обмене новостями. В базарные дни сюда стекались жители со всей округи для того, чтобы узнать последние новости. Для старшего поколения шарбақ был, в первую очередь местом проведения досуга. Постоялый двор играл важную роль в жизни каракалпаков. Об этом свидетельствует их количество. К середине XX века постоялый двор начинает терять свою значимость в связи с развитием городской инфраструктуры и появлением гостиниц. The development of economic ties entailed arranging special establishments for traders and travelers, with premises for beasts of burden. This resulted in the construction of hostelries. The Karakalpaks called them sharbak. There were two types of sharbaks: located within the city near the bazaar, intended for a short stay, and installed at the entrance of the city for the long-term visitors. Travelers from far away preferred the second type. Guests of the first type of hostelries usually stayed there just to unload the goods and sell them at the bazaar during the day. The sharbaks not only provided shelter, recreation, and accommodation of goods and animals, but also served as a place for communication and news exchange. On market days, residents from all over the area flocked there to find out the latest news. For the older generation, sharbak was a place of leisure. The hostelry played an important role in the social life of the Karakalpaks, which is evidenced by their large number. By the middle of the 20th century, the sharbak began to lose its significance due to the development of urban infrastructure and modern hotels


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-24
Author(s):  
Fatma Ünal

Universities have missions to conduct scientific research, produce information and technology, fulfill the function of qualified human power needed by the societies at the universal level, as well as lead the transformation of the region and the city regarding social, cultural and economic perspective. The growth and development of universities and effective fulfillment of their functions are associated with the people’s perception about universities’ economic and social contributions to society along with getting approval and support from them. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions, evaluations and expectations of Bartın people towards Bartın University, which celebrated the 11th anniversary of the foundation in 2019. In the study, which used a mixed research method, 255 people were reached by using the criterion sampling method and the data were collected by demographic information form, scale and interview form. Findings revealed that Bartın people had little participation in the activities organized by the university and were not aware of these activities sufficiently. Findings also showed that socio-cultural activities organized by the university had enriched the social life, the development of the university had increased the possibilities of transportation both in the city and intercity and the increase in the number of the students positively affected the tradespeople. Additionally, it was concluded that the trainings and activities organized in the university contributed to the personal and professional development of the society. Moreover, the activities should be increased and cityoriented researches should be conducted. Participants, who stated the rapid development of the university as the most powerful aspect of the university, shared the suggestion that the academic staff should be increased in quantity and merit should be taken as the basis for the improvement.


2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 137-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ash Amin

This paper examines the social life and sociality of urban infrastructure. Drawing on a case study of land occupations and informal settlements in the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil, where the staples of life such as water, electricity, shelter and sanitation are co-constructed by the poor, the paper argues that infrastructures – visible and invisible – are deeply implicated in not only the making and unmaking of individual lives, but also in the experience of community, solidarity and struggle for recognition. Infrastructure is proposed as a gathering force and political intermediary of considerable significance in shaping the rights of the poor to the city and their capacity to claim those rights.


Author(s):  
Eric Pawson

This substantial book focuses on the social life of the New Zealand city between the 1840s and about 1920. The evocative title is an invitation to the reader, the term originally emerging to portray “the sense of anticipation and excitement” of going to and experiencing the city and city life. Its application historically to New Zealand cities as they began to grow is described as “surely aspirational – or ironical” (p. 29)


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Abbas Abbas

This article aims at describing the social life of the American people in several places that made the adventures of John Steinbeck as the author of the novel Travels with Charley in Search of America around the 1960s. American people’s lives are a part of world civilizations that literary readers need to know. This adventure was preceded by an author’s trip in New York City, then to California, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Saint Lawrence, Quebec, Niagara Falls, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, North Dakota, the Rocky Mountains, Washington, the West Coast, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, New Orleans, Salinas, and again ended in New York. In processing research data, the writer uses one of the methods of literary research, namely the Dynamic Structural Approach which emphasizes the study of the intrinsic elements of literary work and the involvement of the author in his work. The intrinsic elements emphasized in this study are the physical and social settings. The research data were obtained from the results of a literature study which were then explained descriptively. The writer found a number of descriptions of the social life of the American people in the 1960s, namely the life of the city, the situation of the inland people, and ethnic discrimination. The people of the city are busy taking care of their profession and competing for careers, inland people living naturally without competing ambitions, and black African Americans have not enjoyed the progress achieved by the Americans. The description of American society related to the fictional story is divided by region, namely east, north, middle, west, and south. The social condition in the eastern region is dominated by beaches and mountains, and is engaged in business, commerce, industry, and agriculture. The comfortable landscape in the northern region spends the people time as breeders and farmers. The natural condition in the middle region of American is very suitable for agriculture, plantations, and animal husbandry. Many people in the western American region facing the Pacific Ocean become fishermen. The natural conditions from the plains and valleys to the hills make the southern region suitable for plantation land.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Zieleniec

Henri Lefebvre’s project, developed over decades of research produced a corpus of work that sought to reprioritise the fundamental role of space in the experience and practice of social life. His assertion that there is ‘politics of space’ provides a challenge to the planning and design of the built environment by emphasising the need to understand the complex of elements involved in ‘the production of space’. Lefebvre’s approach and his ‘cry and demand’ for a ‘right to the city’ reflects the fundamental focus and importance he imparts to the practices, meanings and values associated with the inhabitation and use of the social spaces of everyday life. It will be argued that planning and design theory and practice should seek to address more fully and incorporate Lefebvre’s spatial theory as a means to reinvigorate and regenerate the urban as a lived environment, as an oeuvre, as opportunity for inhabitation, festival and play and not merely as a functional habitat impelled by the needs of power and capital.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zihni Turkan ◽  
Çimen Özburak

<p><strong>ABSTRACT</strong></p><p>Selimiye Square, placed in the historical Selimiye neighborhood within the walled city of Nicosia, has become an important center, shaped with the architectural heritage of different cultures throughout the history of Cyprus.  The creation of the square began with the building of the St. Sophia Cathedral of the Lusignan Period, at the beginning of the 1200s, and it developed as a religious center with the addition of St. Nicholas Church and the Archbishopric right after.  Although not much development in the texture, a guest house built for travelers and pilgrims (The Venetian House) and the meeting place built for the priests of the cathedral (Chapter House), continued the process of creation of the square and the religious quality of the texture.  During the Ottoman Period, which was an important era for the historical urban texture of Nicosia, Turkish Architecture, a new architectural style, was added to the surroundings of Selimiye Square.  St. Sophia Cathedral was turned into a mosque with the addition of minarets, the Archbishopric and the building next to it were turned into Traditional Turkish Houses with alterations and additions, and St. Nicholas Church was turned into Bedesten (covered bazaar).  With the addition of Sultan Mahmut Library and the Big and Small Medrese (madrasah), educational and business functions were added to the religious center; thus the creation of a historical environment and the boundaries of the square became clarified.  The boundaries of the square were completed during the British Period with the construction of houses towards the west of the square and it gained the identity of a meeting place for the social activities of the city.  During this period, the square was opened for vehicle traffic, and its texture, its religious and business center character were preserved.  The periods of the Republic of Cyprus and the following Cyprus Turkish Administration years were a stagnant period for the creation and development of the square.  During this period, the square was used as a place of ceremonies with the erection of the Fighters Monument in the east of the library.  The buildings around the square underwent functional changes during the TRNC period, from 1983 to today, but the texture preserved its importance with its religious, educational, and business activities.  With the new arrangements in 2001 within the scope of the pedestrianization project, an important meeting place was created for the social activities of the city.  Thus, becoming an important center for the tourism and social life of the city with the mosque, cultural center, museum, folk arts atelier, restaurants, and bars, which all exist within this historical texture. </p><p><strong>ÖZ</strong></p><p>Lefkoşa Suriçi’nde, tarihi Selimiye Mahallesi’nde yer alan Selimiye Meydanı; Kıbrıs’ın tarihindeki farklı kültürlerin mimari mirasları ile biçimlenen önemli bir merkez olmuştur. Lüzinyanlar Dönemine ait St. Sophia Katedrali’nin, 1200’lü yılların başında burada inşa edilmesiyle başlayan meydan oluşumu, hemen sonrasında St. Nicholas Kilisesi ve Başpiskoposluk Binasının eklenmesi ile buranın bir dini merkez olarak gelişmesini yönlendirmiştir. Venedikliler Döneminde, dokuda fazla bir gelişme olmamakla birlikte, seyyahlar ve hacılar için yapılan misafirhane binası (Venedik Evi) ve katedralin rahipleri için yapılan toplantı binası (Chapter House), dokunun dini merkez niteliği ile meydanın oluşum sürecini devam ettirmiştir. Lefkoşa tarihi kent dokusunun gelişimi için önemli olduğundan, Selimiye Meydanı için de bir değişim dönemi olan Osmanlı Döneminde, Selimiye Meydanı çevresine yeni bir mimari olan Türk Mimarisi kazandırılmıştır. St. Sophia Katedrali, eklenen minarelerle camiye, Başpiskoposluk binası ve yanındaki bina, tadilât ve ilâvelerle Geleneksel Türk Evi’ne, St. Nicholas Kilisesi de Bedesten’e dönüştürülmüştür. Sultan Mahmut Kütüphanesi ile Büyük ve Küçük Medrese binalarının dokuya eklenmesiyle de dini merkeze eğitim ve ticaret işlevleri de katılımış; böylece tarihi çevre oluşumu ve meydan sınırları belirginleşmeye başlamıştır. İngiliz Döneminde, meydanın batı yönüne inşa edilen konutlarla meydan sınırları tamamlanmış ve kentin sosyal etkinlikleri için toplanma alanı kimliğini kazanmıştır. Bu dönemde meydan, araç trafiğine açılmış, çevre dokusu, dini ve eğitim merkezi özelliğini korumuştur. Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti ve sonrasındaki Kıbrıs Türk Yönetimi Dönemleri, meydan oluşumu ve gelişimi için durgun bir dönem olmuştur. Bu dönemde, kütüphanenin doğu tarafına inşa edilen Mücahitler Anıtı ile meydan, tören alanı olarak da kullanılmıştır. 1983 yılından günümüze kadar olan KKTC Döneminde, meydan çevresindeki yapılar işlev değiştirmiş, fakat doku yine dini, ticari ve eğitim faaliyetleri ile önemini korumuştur. Yayalaştırma projesi kapsamında 2001 yılında meydanda yapılan yeni düzenleme ile kentin sosyal etkinlikleri için önemli bir buluşma alanı oluşturulmuş, tarihi dokuda yer alan cami, kültür merkezi, müze, halk sanatları atölyesi, lokanta, bar gibi işlevlerle de kentin turizmi ve sosyal yaşamı için önemli bir merkez olarak yaşam bulmuştur.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Sovová ◽  
Radoslava Krylová

Abstract The position of urban allotments in the rural-urban spectrum is evaluated in this paper, which contributes to literatures on urban gardening, as well as contemporary rural-urban dynamics. Historically, European allotments can be seen as a product of urbanisation. At the same time, they embody a number of “non-urban” characteristics that create the impression of “the countryside in the city”. This research project investigates how the urban and the rural are materialised, represented and practised in five allotment sites in Brno, Czech Republic. We follow three main lines of enquiry where the urban and the rural seem to meet: the physical environment of the allotments; the social life of these spaces; and food production as one of their core functions. Critical reflection of the rural-urban perspective advances our understanding of urban gardens, while, at the same time, allotments offer an example of hybrid spaces, which, in turn, contribute to discussions on current cities and countrysides. Overcoming the urban-rural dichotomy could facilitate the inclusion of urban gardening in contemporary cities.


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