Communication, Conflict, and Community in an Urban Industrial Ruin

Abstract

The revitalization of ethnic areas into urban historic districts is alternatively applauded as urban renewal and criticized as empty superficial attempts to evoke and spectacularize history merely as a means to attract tourists. Arguing that such critiques treat historic districts as static sites and infer passive observers, this study offers a communicative, dialogic approach to studying such sites. Focusing on several contemporary conflicts concerning the meaning of “community” in Ybor City, a national landmark historic district in Tampa, Florida, this study reveals how people actively occupy, struggle over, and use such urban spaces.