Place and identity
This chapter outlines the importance of space and place in ‘post conflict’ Belfast by critically unpacking how territory and division remain important for certain groups. Through outlining important links between place and identity, the book calls into question Northern Ireland’s status as one of the most successful ‘post conflict’ societies in the world. This sets the scene for the book’s primary purpose which is to illuminate the everyday spatial practices of teenagers who grow up in divided localities. By redressing the relative lack of research on the lives of young people who grow up in estranged and declining communities, the book illuminates what young people’s everyday spatial movements can tell us about the visible and invisible borders of politically contested cities.