From Haifa to Ramallah (and Back): New/Old Palestinian Literary Topography

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 26-42
Author(s):  
Amal Eqeiq
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Border Crossing ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
National Imaginary ◽  
Palestinian Literature ◽  
Literary Topography ◽  
The City

This article explores border crossing and the Palestinian city as a literary metropolis—two major themes in the works of emerging Palestinian novelists in Israel. It looks at the “re-Palestinization” of urban space by writers who belong to a post-Oslo generation of Palestinian intellectuals that left villages and small towns in Israel to go and study, work, and live in the city. What distinguishes the literature of this generation is its negotiation of border crossing in a fragmented geography and its engagement with the city as a space of paradoxical encounter between a national imaginary and a settler-colonial reality. Based on a critical reading of their works, the article argues that Adania Shibli and Ibtisam Azem challenge colonial border discourse, exposing the ongoing Zionist erasure of the Palestinian city and creating a new topography for Palestinian literature. The article also traces the role of these writers in the “twinning” of Haifa and Ramallah starting in the late 1990s, and it examines how this literary and cultural “sisterhood” informs spatial resistance.

scholarly journals Gay Subculture and the Cities in India: A Critical Reading of Select Works of R Raj Rao

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sriya Das ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Ultimate Objective ◽  
The City ◽  
Indian Penal Code

In delineating the painful experiences of LGBTQ individuals after the introduction of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code R Raj Rao’s works look into the struggle of these people to survive the onslaught of normative sexual discourses. Given the fact that Queer sexuality has been continuously questioned, suspected and tormented prior to its legitimate recognition in 2018, Rao draws attention to the nuances of gay urban life in India. The paper critically analyses the representation of gay subculture in the cities of India as reflected in select works of Rao. It demystifies how gay people share the urban space, manage to make room for their pleasure in the cities, and pose a threat to the dominant understanding of sexuality. The ultimate objective of this paper is to understand the role of the city in the (un)making of a subcultural identity. Textual analysis, with reference to certain theoretical frameworks, would be used as a qualitative research method.

scholarly journals An Analysis of the Role of Lifestyle in Urban Tourism Sustainable Development (Case Study: Esfahan City)

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Arghavan Momtazpour ◽  
Masoud Taghvaei ◽  
Neda Rahmani
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Simple Random Sampling ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Statistical Population ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
The City

Since urban space is one of the important places that tourism takes place, in order to create stability in tourism, the interaction between tourism planning and urban sustainable development should be investigated with regard to cultural elements. Lifestyle is derived from culture as a social phenomenon and affects it and is a reflection of human thoughts in relation with behavior, ethics and culture. Therefore, this aim of this research is to investigate the role of lifestyle in urban tourism sustainable development in Esfahan city, the third most populous city in Iran. This research’s goal is Practical and developmental and about the origin and method, it is descriptive, analytical and casual that has been done in a field research method. The statistical populations of this research are: tourism custodians, tourism experts, national tourists who have travelled to Esfahan city and local residents of all 15 municipal districts of the city. Simple random sampling method was utilized and 838 questionnaires were gathered from 4 statistical populations. In order to analyze the data, factor analysis test was utilized by smart PLS software. The results show that there are meaningful connections among the variables “lifestyle”, “sustainable development” and “urban tourism”. The most frequent factor that was selected by respondents for the concept of lifestyle in the statistical population was sociocultural factor (such as: visiting relatives and friends and attending soirees, traditional foods and drinks festivals, the desirability of Esfahan city in order to spend leisure time, the willingness toward group entertainment). For the concept “urban tourism”, all the populations chose urban texture significantly (such as: revival of workshops for producing traditional clothes, hand-made attractions, systematizing historical areas, developing sidewalk routes, constructing modern entertaining centers and systematizing landscapes and providing equipment for parks). About the sustainable development and its multi-dimensional nature, however, different factors were selected by respondents which in order of importance and frequency are economic, environmental, urban management, sociocultural, urban texture and political factors. Among the recommendations, a few can be stated: arranging cultural plans with a focus on soiree and elders’ reunions, holding traditional and religious festivals in different parts of the city, improving the condition of the existing theme parks and diversifying leisure and entertainment facilities of Esfahan city and pitching in municipal management and being parallel with plans of different organization in city. Especially by mayoralty as a trustee for city and cultural heritage could be mentioned as a tourism trustee.

scholarly journals SMO and SMM Models of Tourist Area Promotion as a Form of Social Interaction in the Vital City Space

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1061-1063
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Reputation Management ◽  
Community Formation ◽  
Trust Level ◽  
City Space ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
Brand Promotion ◽  
The City

The article shows a significant role of social networks in the system of forms of social interaction in the vital city space. The task to identify the most popular platforms for promotion SMO and SMM – brands in the tourist area of a hero city Volgograd was chosen as the key tool. The study identified the effectiveness of priority methods of given marketing practices such as the community formation of brand of territory, work with blogosphere, reputation management, personal branding and extraordinary promotion. The conditions for the infinite social interaction are created in these forms in open ICT environment for the residents and the city guests who have common interests in urban space. The research has accomplished the following tasks such as identification of the most popular open platforms for SMO and SMM of tourist area brand promotion of a hero city Volgograd, detection of related communities, identification of a trust level to them, establishment of their purposes and the range of issues of their interest, places and attractions, related to the brand of territory; uncovering of factors and mechanisms which detect mood changing of the target audience and creation of methodological templates which allow to develop, implement and optimize SMO and SMM campaigns

Analysis of the local communities focused around improving the quality of urban space on the example of activities in public spaces and cultural activities in Bytom

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylwia Widzisz-Pronobis ◽  
◽  
Grzegorz Pronobis ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Local Community ◽  
City Life ◽  
Social Activists ◽  
Good Investment ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Basic Ideas ◽  
The City

Bytom is a polish, post-industrial city which is looking for a new vision of the future. City dwellers are between a history related to coal and new challenges. It is not easy for them to understand that industry is a thing of the past and you need to look for yourself and your identity again. Groups of social leaders are trying to show a different picture of the city and engage more and more people to act for the city. Building the city's identity and new image are basic ideas. However, in the era of global discussion about climate change and the technologization of city life, it becomes important to become aware of the role of greenery and community. In the article I want to show how Bytom social activists promote and animate the local community in the spirit of collectivism and improving the quality of life in the city. The assumption of the described groups was the maximum involvement of residents in activities to improve the space in Bytom. In the article I want to show what tools they used and what effects they obtained. Particularly important here are activities that contribute to making the community aware of the role of greenery and pedestrian space. The effects of social activities show more clearly how important are strong communities opposing local authorities and supporting good investment decisions. Analysis of the activities of social groups showed how important local leaders play and how various methods and tools used by them gave measurable effects in the city space. The bottom-up activity helped to understand the advantages of a pedestrian city, which is Bytom, and to show how little it takes for the city to gain a new image.

scholarly journals On Allotopia: The Spatial Accumulation of Difference in Bixiga (São Paulo, Brazil)

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-404
Author(s):  
Jeroen Stevens ◽  
Bruno De Meulder
Keyword(s):  
Urban Area ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Urban Analysis ◽  
Territorial Claims ◽  
The City

This article will unfold a longe durée spatial biography of the urban area of Bixiga (São Paulo, Brazil) to probe the particular role of space in the conflation of different cultural practices and territorial claims. The extended case study bridges indigenous, colonial, and postcolonial urbanization as they amalgamated an intricate assemblage of material and cultural strata. Combined historical urban analysis and fieldwork allow to uncover how the resulting urban milieu integrates discrepant urban worlds, perpetually iterating between centrality and marginality, innovation and degradation, oppression and resistance. Building on Foucault’s (1984) conception of heterotopia, Bixiga will surface as an allotopia, a place that accommodates, cumulates, and celebrates a multitude of differences. It sheds light, this way, on more insurgent histories of urbanism, where urban space is piecemeal forged through contentious struggles over space in the city.

scholarly journals The Role of Sectors in the Socio-Demographic Process of Nukus

2021 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Shnekeev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Small Towns ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Active Movement ◽  
Urban Nature ◽  
Social Infrastructure ◽  
Demographic Process ◽  
Main Challenge ◽  
The Social ◽  
The City

It is natural that all modern small towns move to the level of megacities. The city of Nukus is trying to accept this status on the basis of its socio-demographic process, but it is natural that the bigger the city, the more problems. The main challenge for the rise of Nukus to the level of a megalopolis is to determine the evolutionary demographic growth of the population, to study the climatic conditions, to identify and improve the social infrastructure of the population. The climate of the urban nature, the social infrastructure of the population, the areas and shortcomings of each sector were studied. The result of the active movement of sectors to implement the state program in all areas of the city will serve to prepare for the level of the megalopolis.

scholarly journals TIGHT OR FLEXIBLE? THE DEGREE OF DETAIL OF LOCAL LAW REGULATIONS AND ITS IMPACT ON A QUALITY OF URBAN SPACE – SELECTED CASES FROM POZNAN

space&FORM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2020 (46) ◽  
pp. 165-186
Author(s):  
Wojciech Skórzewski ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Spatial Development ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Development Plans ◽  
Local Law ◽  
The One ◽  
The City

Local spatial development plans, are one of the most important urban landscaping tools. Their goal is, on the one hand, to protect urban space including, inter alia, prevention of creation of illconsidered developments, that are bad to the urban landscape, the environment or the local communities. For this purpose, there is a number of restrictions introduced into local spatial development plans. On the other hand, the role of local plans is also creating the space, so they should be conducive to projects with high-quality architecture, that are often unconventional and innovative, adding new value to the architectural landscape of the city, which could be blocked by too strict regulations. The trick is to create regulations in a way that can help reconcile that two goals.

scholarly journals Cities in Asia by and for the People

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Urban Spaces ◽  
Community Life ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Capitalist Production ◽  
The People ◽  
Alternative Spaces ◽  
The City

This book examines the active role of urban citizens in constructing alternative urban spaces as tangible resistance towards capitalist production of urban spaces that continue to encroach various neighborhoods, lanes, commons, public land and other spaces of community life and livelihoods. The collection of narratives presented here brings together research from ten different Asian cities and re-theorises the city from the perspective of ordinary people facing moments of crisis, contestations, and cooperative quests to create alternative spaces to those being produced under prevailing urban processes. The chapters accent the exercise of human agency through daily practices in the production of urban space and the intention is not one of creating a romantic or utopian vision of what a city "by and for the people" ought to be. Rather, it is to place people in the centre as mediators of city-making with discontents about current conditions and desires for a better life.

scholarly journals Post-Pandemic City: Historical Context for New Urban Design

2020 ◽  
pp. 94-108
Author(s):  
Veaceslav MIR
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Past ◽  
The City

Cities have been almost completely unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Urban history has known many epidemics and pandemics, and there are clear historical parallels between the 13th and 19th century plague pandemics and cholera epidemics and the 21th century COVID-19 pandemic, from an administrative point of view. However, the cities’ public administration did not take into account the experience of the cities of the past to be prepared for the future problems. This requires developing flexible pandemic strategies and focusing on the decentralization of urban space through an even distribution of population in the urban environment. The COVID-19 pandemic will change the city, as previous pandemics and epidemics did. Urbanism v.3.0. will emerge, combining a green vector of development and digital technologies to ensure the autonomy and sustainability of buildings, districts and cities. At the same time, the role of culture will increase, which will become an effective tool for consolidating the soft power of the city in order to attract new people as the opposition of nowadays trend for living in the countryside.

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