Culture and the City

Author(s):  
Marta Massi ◽  
Chiara Piancatelli ◽  
Sonia Pancheri

This chapter focuses on the case of Matera, one of the less developed cities in the South of Italy, known as the “shame of Italy” for many years, which has recently been selected by the Council of European Ministers to be the European Capital of Culture in 2019. Matera 2019 has been chosen to illustrate how arts and culture can be particularly critical drivers of rebranding and repositioning of “tough” cities. The chapter emphasizes how the contribution of the city private and public stakeholders has played a crucial role in the rebranding process. Through in-depth interviews with two of main stakeholders involved in the development of the Matera 2019 concept (i.e., the Director of the Matera 2019 Committee, Paolo Verri, and the Mayor of the city, Raffaello De Ruggieri), this chapter will provide practical insights for arts and culture-based rebranding aimed at repositioning a place that has a reputation of “tough” city.

Author(s):  
Louisa Yee-Sum Lee ◽  
Philip L. Pearce

Abstract This chapter considers tourism development in Bangkok from the past to the present, and then ventures on to examine the city's future. The analysis introduces how the evolution of the city, its urbanization and the overall growth of Thai tourism more generally have shaped the present state of Bangkok. The chapter draws on existing literature augmented by in-depth interviews; specifically, six significant and influential interviewees from both the private and public sectors of Bangkok help reveal how the past and present are shaping the future of tourism in the city.


TERRITORIO ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 103-109
Author(s):  
Francesco Gastaldi

- Major events have played a crucial role in the urban transformations that have taken place in Genoa over the past 15 years, both for the huge investments they require and for the way they have redefined the city's image. Urban transformation, upgrading and maintenance, all of which have affected the historical centre and the waterfront, have contributed decisively to the reversing of the process of physical, economic and social degradation which had been devouring many parts of the city centre. 2004 was the year Genoa became European Capital of Culture and this was a turning point in the endeavour to relaunch and consolidate the role of the city in the tourist and cultural panorama of both Italy and Europe.


Author(s):  
Violeta Dikenstein

En este artículo nos proponemos analizar la actividad de un conjunto de actores, residentes de un barrio del sur de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, que hacen de la inseguridad su ámbito de intervención, de ejercicio y de “trabajo”, a quienes denominamos –provisoriamente– vecinos en alerta. Desde una perspectiva cualitativa basada en la realización de entrevistas en profundidad con los actores implicados en el proceso estudiado y observación participante en los múltiples escenarios por donde circulan, reconstruimos los perfiles de los vecinos en alerta, el repertorio de actividades que llevan adelante, las relaciones que establecen entre sí y con otros actores, los lazos de coordinación y conflicto que entablan en este transcurso, así como las situaciones de interacción en las que este rol entra en juego. Hallamos que hay un repertorio compartido de actividades que desempeñan estos actores, variado dentro de ciertos límites. También, que el rol de vecino en alerta está sujeto a una constante negociación y redefinición, en las instancias de encuentro con diversas autoridades institucionales encargadas de la seguridad. Abstract In this article we propose to analyze the activity of a group of people, residents of a neighborhood in the south of the city of Buenos Aires, who make insecurity their area of intervention, exercise and "work", whom we call alert neighbors. From a qualitative perspective based on in-depth interviews with those involved in the process studied, and participatory observation in the scenarios where they circulate, we describe the profiles of the alert neighbors, the repertoire of activities that they carry out, the relationships they establish among themselves and with other actors, the bonds of coordination and conflict that they establish in this course, as well as the situations of interaction in which this role comes into play. We find that there is a shared repertoire of activities performed by these actors, varied within certain limits. Also, that the role of alert neighbor is subject to constant negotiation and redefinition, in the instances of meeting with various institutional authorities in charge of security.


2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evinç Doğan ◽  
Ibrahim Sirkeci

This study examines the ways in which the city image of Istanbul is re-created through the mega-events within the context of the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) 2010. Istanbul “took the stage” as one of the three ECoC cities (Essen for the Ruhr in Germany and Pécs in Hungary), where the urban spaces were projected as the theatre décor while residents and visitors became the spectators of the events. Organisers and agents of the ECoC 2010 seemed to rebrand Istanbul as a “world city” rather than a “European capital”. With a series of transnational connotations, this can be considered as part of an attempt to turn Istanbul to a global city. In this study we examine posters used during the ECoC 2010 to see whether this was evident in the promoted images of Istanbul. The research employs a hermeneutic approach in which representations, signs and language are the means of symbolic meaning, which is analysed through qualitative methods for the visual data (Visual Analysis Methods), namely Semiotics and Discourse Analysis. The analysed research material comes from a sample of posters released during the ECoC 2010 to promote 549 events throughout the year. Using stratified random sampling we have drawn 28 posters (5% of the total) reflecting the thematic groups of events in the ECoC 2010. Particular attention is also paid to the reflexivity of the researchers and researchers’ embeddedness to the object of research. The symbolic production and visual representation are therefore investigated firstly through the authoritative and historically constituted discourses in the making of Istanbul image and secondly through the orders of cultural consumption and mediatisation of culture through spectacular events. Hence enforcing a transnationalisation of the image of the city where the image appears to be almost stateless transcending the national boundaries. Findings and methodology used in this study can be useful in understanding similar cases and further research into the processes of city and place branding and image relationships. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-389
Author(s):  
Eduardo Oliveira

Evinç Doğan (2016). Image of Istanbul, Impact of ECoC 2010 on The City Image. London: Transnational Press London. [222 pp, RRP: £18.75, ISBN: 978-1-910781-22-7]The idea of discovering or creating a form of uniqueness to differentiate a place from others is clearly attractive. In this regard, and in line with Ashworth (2009), three urban planning instruments are widely used throughout the world as a means of boosting a city’s image: (i) personality association - where places associate themselves with a named individual from history, literature, the arts, politics, entertainment, sport or even mythology; (ii) the visual qualities of buildings and urban design, which include flagship building, signature urban design and even signature districts and (iii) event hallmarking - where places organize events, usually cultural (e.g., European Capital of Culture, henceforth referred to as ECoC) or sporting (e.g., the Olympic Games), in order to obtain worldwide recognition. 


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khangelani Moyo

Drawing on field research and a survey of 150 Zimbabwean migrants in Johannesburg, this paper explores the dimensions of migrants’ transnational experiences in the urban space. I discuss the use of communication platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook as well as other means such as telephone calls in fostering the embedding of transnational migrants within both the Johannesburg and the Zimbabwean socio-economic environments. I engage this migrant-embedding using Bourdieusian concepts of “transnational habitus” and “transnational social field,” which are migration specific variations of Bourdieu’s original concepts of “habitus” and “social field.” In deploying these Bourdieusian conceptual tools, I observe that the dynamics of South–South migration as observed in the Zimbabwean migrants are different to those in the South–North migration streams and it is important to move away from using the same lens in interpreting different realities. For Johannesburg-based migrants to operate within the socio-economic networks produced in South Africa and in Zimbabwe, they need to actively acquire a transnational habitus. I argue that migrants’ cultivation of networks in Johannesburg is instrumental, purposive, and geared towards achieving specific and immediate goals, and latently leads to the development and sustenance of flexible forms of permanency in the transnational urban space.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Ibnu Kanaha

The purpose of this study was to determine the performance of employees (ASN) in the South Morotai District office. The form of this research is descriptive qualitative, with data collection techniques through observation and in-depth interviews with the subdistrict head, subdistrict head secretary, employees, and the community. This study concluded that employees at the South Morotai District Office were not disciplined in terms of time, both when they entered the office and after working hours. Employees are not able to make the best use of time to do productive work to improve performance. employees generally do not know and understand their respective fields of duty. The concept of the right man in the right place is not applied in the placement of employees. Performance evaluation of employees at the South Morotai District Office is difficult because of unclear job descriptions and division of tasks for the state apparatus. This causes the work performance is not measurable both in quality and quantity..


Transfers ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-130
Author(s):  
Mariana C. Françozo

Located at the old harbor of the city of Genoa, the modern Galata Museo del Mare was inaugurated as part of the commemoration of Genoa as the 2004 European Capital of Culture. Only twelve years later, the museum proudly welcomes 200,000 visitors annually into its twenty-eight galleries, organized in an impressive exhibition space of 10,000 square meters, showcasing 4,300 objects. While the aim of the museum is to tell the maritime history of Genoa—ranging from Christopher Columbus to an open-air space showcasing the story of the Genoese shipyard—it is the exhibition on migration to and from Italy that will truly impress the visitor.


2012 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-328
Author(s):  
Armand Van Nimmen

Deze bijdrage handelt over de perikelen in de jaren dertig rond het plan om het lichamelijk overschot van de Vlaamse dichter Paul Van Ostaijen over te brengen uit het klein Waals dorp waar hij in vergetelheid begraven lag onder een houten kruis naar zijn geboortestad Antwerpen. Daar zou hij herbegraven worden op de stedelijke begraafplaats Schoonselhof onder een gepaste denksteen. Zoals meermaals het geval is bij het oprichten van publieke monumenten, verliepen – wegens onderling gekibbel en gebrek aan financiële middelen – meer dan zes jaren vooraleer de oorspronkelijke idee kon verwezenlijkt worden.Aandacht in dit artikel gaat naar Jozef Duysan, bewonderaar van de dichter en uitgesproken flamingant, die een cruciale rol speelde in de conceptie en uitvoering van het initiatief. Ten slotte beschrijft het artikel hoe deze nu bijna totaal vergeten man tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog in het vaarwater geraakte van de collaboratie, fungeerde als directeur van het Arbeidsamt in Antwerpen, na de oorlog veroordeeld werd en jaren lang ondergedoken leefde in die stad.________Jozef Duysan’s battle with the angel: Skirmishes around the tomb of Paul Van OstaijenThis contribution reports the vicissitudes concerning the plan dating from the nineteen thirties to transfer the mortal remains of the Flemish poet Paul Van Ostaijen from the small Walloon village where he was buried in oblivion under a wooden cross to Antwerp, the city of his birth. He was to be reburied there on the municipal cemetery Schoonselhof under a fitting memorial headstone. As frequently happens on the occasion of creating public monuments, more than six years passed before the original idea could be carried out – because of internal bickering and lack of financial means. This article focuses on Jozef Duysan, an admirer of the poet and an explicit Flemish militant, who played a crucial role in the concept and realisation of the initiative. In conclusion the article recounts how this man who has been practically completely forgotten now,  ventured into the deep waters of the collaboration during the Second World War, how he acted as director of the Arbeidsamt in Antwerp and how he was convicted after the war and lived for many years in hiding in that city.


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