Hidden barriers and divisive architecture: The role of “everyday space” in conflict and peacebuilding in Belfast

David Coyles,Brandon Hamber,Adrian Grant

doi:10.1080/07352166.2021.1930017

Abstract

ABSTRACT Whilst “spatiality” and “architecture” have become recognized as important dimensions of urban conflict, contemporary forms of power push our gaze toward symbolic landmarks such as Belfast’s “peace walls.” This paper uses Belfast as a case study to instead highlight the fundamental role occupied by “everyday” urban space and architecture. It reveals evidence of an undisclosed body of divisive architecture put in place through a confidential process of security planning between 1977 and 1985 to physically segregate and spatially fragment Catholic and Protestant communities in contested areas of Belfast. Termed here as hidden barriers, they are formed from “everyday” roads, housing, shops, offices, factories and landscaping, and the ways in which they continue to promote division represents a crucially undervalued aspect of conflict-transformation planning. The paper examines the complex urban challenges that they pose, arguing for a reevaluation of the role of everyday architecture and space in conflict and peacebuilding processes.

Highlights

IntroductionThe conflict in and about Northern Ireland (often referred to as “the Troubles”) has profoundly impacted the social, political, and economic structures of the region
The conflict in and about Northern Ireland has profoundly impacted the social, political, and economic structures of the region
While the achievement of a policy ambition to remove all peace walls and associated “interface structures” by 2023 (Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, 2013, p. 6) seems unlikely, it is representative of the “top-down” policy approach often adopted when dealing with the architecture and spaces of conflict

Summary

Introduction

The conflict in and about Northern Ireland (often referred to as “the Troubles”) has profoundly impacted the social, political, and economic structures of the region. The “peace-walls” constructed between Catholic and Protestant communities in many of Northern Ireland’s most contentious residential areas, have come to embody the architectural representation of lingering sectarian conflict. 6) seems unlikely (at the time of writing, 46 of 59 officially registered interfaces remain), it is representative of the “top-down” policy approach often adopted when dealing with the architecture and spaces of conflict. These rationalizations tend to focus on the symbolic landmarks through which both “war-making and peace-making” activities take place (Koopman, 2011; Megoran, 2011). This article seeks to move beyond these conceptualizations by highlighting the value of micro-level interactions between people and their “everyday” built

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