PRESERVING IDENTITY OF HISTORICAL ENVIRONMENTS IN SIBERIA: A CRITICAL LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction: Currently, the projects related to the development of identical historical environments in Siberia, Russia, are predominately inconsistent. Yet there is an opportunity to find a more holistic approach to sustaining local heritage, which could address local cultures and identities through an understanding of how the location, as well as specific spatial and architectural practices, evolve. Purpose of the study: The study aimed to establish a theoretical and methodological framework for sustaining the local identity in architectural terms. Methods: According to the methodological recommendations of Groat and Wang, such methods as critical literature review and logical argumentation were used. Results: The research came to the conclusion that the city identity can be unfolded through two or more congruent layers of existence. This study deals with architectural heritage and society as two types of such layers. It suggests that the local identities of historical environments could be sustained by a combination of the following methods: 1) looking to the past, through analyzing the city’s fabric and searching for “social traces” and semiotic meanings; 2) looking to the future, through using participatory design methods. This methodology should be further tested on specific historical environments in Siberia. The critical literature review will provide researchers and practitioners in the field with a fundamental theoretical framework.

Theorizing the globally engaged city in world politics

Cities both large and small, more and less economically advanced, are deeply involved in efforts to address the most challenging and complex issues of contemporary global governance, ranging from climate change and conditions of insecurity to human migration and public health. Yet this puzzling phenomenon is largely ignored within International Relations (IR) scholarship, and only partially theorized by scholars working in other fields of inquiry. Our premise in this article is that attempts to understand and assess city participation in world politics are augmented by focusing on the global identity of the city, since understanding what cities do in world politics is shaped by who cities (think they) are on the global stage. In proposing a subtle shift, from the passively labeled global city to what we call the globally engaged city, we direct analysis to the political and discursive forces shaping, delimiting, and informing this novel role for the city as a world-political actor. We propose that city identity is now fractured into local and global dimensions and set out two analytically distinct contexts in which the global identity of the city is forged through a process of differentiation from the nation-state. Our framework highlights in particular the politics of recognition shaping how the globally engaged city is defined and diffused. Through two empirical vignettes we illustrate the value of our framework as a means for IR scholarship to bring cities in from the analytic hinterlands and better understand their (potential) impact on the world stage.

The discourse of civic pride: Hawleri identity as one of the oldest Kurdistani cities in the Middle East

Local identity and civic pride have not been comprehensively taken into consideration as the main parameters in the previous studies related to discourse and identity, especially in most of the developing countries. In other words, discourse analysts have not thoroughly studied the mentioned parameters, and systematic data on this path are very scarce. For that purpose, a critical discourse analysis approach was used to study the city identity of “Hawleri” people of Erbil city which is the capital and the most populated city in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, and known as a center for the worship of the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. Thus, the ultimate goals of this study are to first understand how urban residents tend to group themselves according to the cities and communities they live in, and then to show how they proudly affiliate themselves to geographical regions. The data are taken from the city social media and through a survey distributed among people in Erbil. In order to achieve the goals of this study, the author attempted to investigate (i) how civic pride and urban identity are formed, (ii) in what ways people try to group themselves in the cities, (iii) what is the role of culture in shaping the community identity, (iv) who is called Hawleri, and (v) does the language variety have an impact on speakers’ civic identity, through studying the place, experience, emotions, history, culture, beliefs and language variety of Hawleri people. Additionally, the total number of participants is 809 people (236 people from the online community and 573 people from the survey). This study concludes that civic pride and city identity are found in the discourse of most people. Hawleri people, as the residents of the oldest city in the Middle East, tend to show this feeling and belonging through speaking a local variety of Kurdish language, their textiles and their common culture, history and geographical birthplace. These sentimentalities sometimes lead to discrimination, bias and racism among different ethnicities living in the city.

Search for identity in the process of new architectural design in changing historical city Centre of Setif, Algeria

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the involvement of the concept of city identity in the design process of urban densification and outline how can today's urban projects be able to reinforce the delicate balance between conservation, development management and sustainability objectives.Design/methodology/approachBased on case study approach, this paper focus on “Park Mall and Four Point Hotel” project, located in the historic city centre of Setif (Algeria) and takes the procedure of designing as its conceptual framework. Following this, it explores genesis document of the project and assesses architect's choices attributed to six elements of architectural language. These elements are apprehended regarding their relevance, which depends on whether the new building is or not compatible/integrated with the existing environment, and how far does it reinvent the modern vision.FindingsThe paper provides empirical insight about how the concept of identity is used during the design process of densification project. It argues that this latter consists on a dynamic process shaped by cultural, socioeconomic and institutional specificities applying local/global design precedents, multifunctionality concept and novel features in a tourism-oriented mindset and to still maintain and improve the specific identity of the city centre, thus becoming an active way to reconcile conservation, sustainability and development management objectives.Originality/valueThis paper raises discussion on how the concept of city identity could renew the field of heritage conservation and development management. Therefore, it fulfils an identified need to study how can urban projects reconcile conservation, development management and sustainability objectives.

Housing Identities: At the Roots of Presentday Belonging’s Uneasiness

The paper assesses housing as a global issue affecting wide sectors of societies not just in less developed countries. Trends and cases show the crucial role that building industry cycles have played in the financialization of the economy and its speculative side effects, even in sectors presented as alternatives to mainstream production, as the sharing economy. We are, therefore, experiencing a radical change today in the meanings attached to terms like city, identity, rights, and growing inequalities affecting ever-larger shares of the population. When the fundamental human right to housing is denied the social bonds and trust on which citizenship relies is lost.

Industrial Archaeology As Urban Informer: The Wellington Destructor

The city identity, city image and the recognition of its industrial past are at question in a quickly developing post-industrial urban context. The voices of industrial archaeology, of obsolete infrastructure, of unintended industrial monument in dialogue between fast developing new urban and past locus are all ingrained in the city’s memory. This urban discourse, if allowed to happen, will inform the development of contemporary urban fabric. It is vital that continuity of the built environment structures the contemporary post-industrial city identity This thesis engages with the Industrial artifact of the Wellington Destructor and suggests a conservation strategy for the obsolete and abundant industrial built artifact that will inspire new development and integrate within the masterplan. It will activate city’s past and future dialogue and it will inform the emerging urban development while preserving the continuity of urban heritage with industrial past. Industrial Archaeology becomes agent to changing urbanity.

Industrial Archaeology As Urban Informer: The Wellington Destructor

The city identity, city image and the recognition of its industrial past are at question in a quickly developing post-industrial urban context. The voices of industrial archaeology, of obsolete infrastructure, of unintended industrial monument in dialogue between fast developing new urban and past locus are all ingrained in the city’s memory. This urban discourse, if allowed to happen, will inform the development of contemporary urban fabric. It is vital that continuity of the built environment structures the contemporary post-industrial city identity This thesis engages with the Industrial artifact of the Wellington Destructor and suggests a conservation strategy for the obsolete and abundant industrial built artifact that will inspire new development and integrate within the masterplan. It will activate city’s past and future dialogue and it will inform the emerging urban development while preserving the continuity of urban heritage with industrial past. Industrial Archaeology becomes agent to changing urbanity.

The role of heritage in new development: conserving city identity

Garrison Commons, known today as Liberty Village, can be identified as one of the most important historic industrial districts in the west end of Toronto, due to high density and strong character of a great number of manufacturing buildings from late 19th and early 20th centuries. The purpose of this thesis is to focus on heritage value of the industrial character of Liberty Village in Toronto and, by proposing and re-programming and new sensitive re-development for the historic site, to introduce a way for a rapid growing contemporary city to develop its fast changing identity without losing the historical and cultural past. The second objective of this thesis (that may have become the primary focus of the design exploration) is to revitalize and enhance public life in the somewhat forgotten neighborhood of South Parkdale. Adjacent to industrial in its character Liberty Village, lays one of the oldest Toronto neighborhoods - South Parkdale - and underprivileged residential community of low socio-economic status, presently lacking public amenities, the community that lost its pride and is missing an identity.

The role of heritage in new development: conserving city identity

Garrison Commons, known today as Liberty Village, can be identified as one of the most important historic industrial districts in the west end of Toronto, due to high density and strong character of a great number of manufacturing buildings from late 19th and early 20th centuries. The purpose of this thesis is to focus on heritage value of the industrial character of Liberty Village in Toronto and, by proposing and re-programming and new sensitive re-development for the historic site, to introduce a way for a rapid growing contemporary city to develop its fast changing identity without losing the historical and cultural past. The second objective of this thesis (that may have become the primary focus of the design exploration) is to revitalize and enhance public life in the somewhat forgotten neighborhood of South Parkdale. Adjacent to industrial in its character Liberty Village, lays one of the oldest Toronto neighborhoods - South Parkdale - and underprivileged residential community of low socio-economic status, presently lacking public amenities, the community that lost its pride and is missing an identity.

Ambiguity and Abjection: Residents’ Reactions to a New Urban Casino

While the social and economic costs and benefits of new gambling locations have been studied extensively, less is known about how new venues are experienced in view of city residents’ spatial and sociocultural identities. This study examines residents’ opinions and expectations on a new small-scale casino in the City of Tampere, Finland, as a case of new gambling opportunities in an urban setting. Nine focus group interviews were conducted with 43 Tampere residents three years prior to the scheduled casino opening. The study points out ways in which the residents struggled conceptually with the casino project. When speaking about it, participants drew on an imagery of popular culture, drawing a sharp line between casino gambling and the everyday convenience gambling so omnipresent in Finnish society. As residents of a historical industrial urban region, the participants positioned themselves as critical towards the municipality’s aims to brand the venue in a larger experience economy entity. By drawing on the concepts of city image and city identity, the study is able to demonstrate that the cultural geographical intrusion of new physical gambling spaces can appear as harmful to the city character. In the studied case, this is likely to hamper the City of Tampere’s chances to prevail on the very same experience market, of which the new casino is part.