Urban Memory Research Articles

Creating a City for All of Us: The Possible Role of the Fediverse in Archiving Civic Urban Memory

This paper attempts to build a case for adopting the model of the Fediverse to archive digital citizen-generated urban memory. Examining literature from several relevant fields of debate acts as a pragmatic foundation for reasoning to then outline potential core technical functionality for provision of such an archive, using the Mastodon app as an example. This ‘civic urban memory’ archive is considered as open, curated by citizens themselves and owned by them through civic public ownership in a context of technological sovereignty. Reflecting on issues of citizen self curated and moderated memory collection archives, and the potential for opt-in or anonymous archive posting may offer some mechanisms for fair and open curation, moderation and privacy protection in such archives. Conceptual backdrop for a civic urban memory archive is placed in current debates concerning civic technological platforms acting as a digital public good in a context of a techno-social contract for learning, with a co-constructed shared civic urban memory forming part of open incidental lifelong learning in a future learning city.

Chronological Analysis of The Ontological Sequence of The Neighborhood in Urban Physical Stratification; Şükran Neighborhood-Konya

The aim of this study is to understand the change in the spatial structure of Şükran district, which has been shaped by the concept of neighborhood from past to present in the urban memory of Konya. In this context, the stratification in the urban space with the historical stratification, the structure and road relationship that will be revealed together with the ontological structure of the neighborhood, and the evolution of the land subdivision form and situation over the years will be examined in detail. In this sense, the connection of the structure, which is expected to be completely changed in the future with the urban transformation of the neighborhood, which is located in the historical city center of Konya and where mainly dwellings are built, will be questioned and the systematic structure of the transformation will be investigated. As a result, questioning the transformation of urban spaces where the urban physical gradation continues is important in order to transfer urban memory to future generations. In line with these purposes, within the scope of the study, the ontological structure of the neighborhood will be questioned within the urban physical stratification that took place in the historical process, its formation in the city in unplanned and planned periods from the past to the present will be investigated in detail within the framework of the decisions taken by the city administrators and the changing regulations and a documentation will be done at the point of transferring the urban memory to the future.

Research Progress and Prospects of “Urban Memory” Renewal Planning Paths — Based on International Comparative Perspective

Urban memory is preserved not only in the collective consciousness of residents but also through tangible and intangible heritage, such as old streets, ancient buildings, and historical sites. Protecting urban memory helps maintain the city’s authentic historical character and enhances its sense of belonging. This paper systematically collects and organizes research materials on urban memory planning from both domestic and international sources, categorizes and analyzes the relevant literature, and reviews the perspectives, content, methods, and planning practices in urban memory research worldwide. By summarizing these research experiences, the paper aims to deepen the understanding of urban memory theory and offer new recommendations for renewal planning practices guided by urban memory.

The art of resisting mega-event amnesia: reconstructing urban memory post-expo in Sydney and Brisbane

This article examines the work of ‘image construction’ and ‘memory reconstruction’ by focusing on World Expos held in Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. We argue the construction of urban imaginaries through triumphal narratives induces a form of mega-event amnesia: the erasure from collective memory of communities and cultural artefacts, and the suppression of protest and resistance against these events. We then show how art can be used as a form of ‘memory reconstruction’. Two case studies offer alternative narratives in the form of public art and archival media. The first case forges new storylines that remember Aboriginal culture and language through a major public art project in the heart of Sydney. The second discusses how a digitised archival film made by feminist filmmakers spotlights decades of disregard for the destruction of Brisbane’s working-class inner-city fabric when made accessible to new audiences. These alternative narratives reconstruct the memory of the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition and Brisbane’s World Expo 88 to show how art may be used to awaken urban memories and collective remembrance. Alternative narratives also breathe new life into the complex and contested histories of mega-events. While protest and ‘the art of dissent’ have been widely discussed regarding the Olympics, few scholars have considered their relationship to World Expos. Fewer still have considered how art reconstructs and reinterprets mega-events decades after they were held.

Generational Differences in Urban Identity: Eskişehir

Cities are regarded as spaces of co-production of the social sphere, leaving diverse imprints on the memory and discourse of individuals within society. This study investigates these differences by categorizing them according to generations, focusing on the components of urban identity as perceived, lived, transformed, and interacted with by different generations within the city. The aim is to uncover the type of identity the city offers to various generations and the generation-oriented breakpoints in the production of collective memory. This research is intertwined with themes of urban politics, urban memory, and urban-public space, providing an opportunity to not only observe the generation gap but also to discern the distinct dynamics of the city. It underscores the importance of considering the generation gap in the city's collective accumulation and urban politics. The study draws on data from in-depth interviews with 12 participants, comprising three individuals from each of the X, Y, Z, and Baby Boomer generations, all of whom were born, raised, and currently reside in Eskişehir. Through an examination of factors such as age, upbringing, and life experiences, the research delves into how these elements shape individuals' senses of identity and attachment to the urban environment. Additionally, it explores how generational perspectives influence attitudes towards urban development, cultural identity, and community engagement in Eskişehir. By delving into these aspects, the study aims to provide deeper insights into how generational differences manifest within the context of urban identity in this specific city.

Urban memory and identity weighed against economic investment in urban renewal projects: A case of Kisumu City, Kenya

Urban memory and identity weighed against economic investment in urban renewal projects: A case of Kisumu City, Kenya

Visibility Assessment of a Historical School Building through Isovists and Visibility Graph Analysis

City image includes people's perceptions of the built and natural environments as well as the emotions and ideas the city arouses in them. In the city image, the preservation of the buildings, especially historical buildings, which carry the past cultures, meaning and structural features of the city to the present day, can be ensured by making these buildings visible and perceptible by the inhabitants. Historical buildings' visibility can facilitate the recognition and appreciation of their historical significance, thereby contributing to the preservation of the city's cultural heritage. This study aims to analyse the visibility of a historical building that holds a significant place in the urban memory and to suggest recommendations for enhancing its visibility. In this context, the viewpoints used to examine the İskenderun Beş Temmuz Primary School Historical Building’s visibility were specified by space syntax visibility graph analysis (VGA). Subsequently, the building's visibility in three different historical periods was determined by the isovists technique, utilizing these viewpoints. Based on the same viewpoints, an observational field study and a survey applied to 47 people were conducted. Consequently, it was identified that the historical building could not be sufficiently seen due to the presence of surrounding service structures, perimeter walls, and high buildings. Furthermore, this study proposed the removal of additional structures that negatively affect historical building's visibility. Additionally, a design approach was developed for new buildings and landscaping to enhance the historical building's visibility, and the efficacy of the proposed design was evaluated through isovists and VGA analyses.

Urban Memory and Street Design: A Comparative Analysis of Traditional and Contemporary Street Patterns in Nablus City

Urban Memory and Street Design: A Comparative Analysis of Traditional and Contemporary Street Patterns in Nablus City

Making urban memory visible: the on-screen transformation of Beijing’s hutong districts during modernization (1940s–2010s)

Abstract As a vernacular dwelling form, the historical hutong districts in Beijing have represented local people’s traditional ways of living and thinking. However, in recent decades, such urban memories have dissipated as the old cityscape has gradually been overwritten by modernist, international-style designs. To ensure that locality and identity are not forgotten, this article examines the potential role of fiction films as a form of digital ‘lieux de mémoire’ (sites of memory), which not only archives but also evokes nostalgia for memories lost in urban transition. This interdisciplinary study rereads the extensive modernist transformation of Beijing’s historical hutong area through the lens of film (1940s–2010s), and thus brings a humanized, historical insight into this vernacular cityscape by focusing on reviving and strengthening the fading urban qualities.

Environmental color analysis and facade color design in a street rehabilitation: Adana, Kayalıbağ

AbstractStreets and buildings that become inactive within the historical texture of cities can be restored to the district through rehabilitation projects and color designs, which encourage urbanites to use them more actively. Such spaces are especially important for urban memory, yet they risk losing their integrity over time due to uncontrolled development. Therefore, making them available for urban use is important for socio‐cultural and economic development. This study involves the application, under a rehabilitation project, of a holistic approach to façade color design for buildings located on two streets in the center of Adana, a city in southern Turkey that dates back to the Common Era. The study began with collecting color samples from the area as part of environmental color analyses, after which the colors of the samples were measured. In line with the environmental characteristics that affect color perception, a range of colors with Munsell's equivalent value and hue contrast was considered appropriate for application to the facades of buildings in the Kayalıbağ neighborhood. In the color design, five different hues with high‐value (light) and low chroma were selected to increase the attractiveness of the historically and archeologically highly significant district. The aim of the color design was to increase the livability and attractiveness of the district, while not overshadowing the cultural qualities of the urban environment.

Research on the Symbolic Construction and Translation of Internet Celebrity Urban Memory in the Video Era

This paper aims to explore the phenomenon of "symbolic construction and translation of Internet celebrity urban memory in the video era". By taking the Harbin explosion as a case, this paper analyzes the mechanism and influencing factors of urban image construction in the video era and its implications for urban development. The study found that in the video era, the construction and dissemination of city image no longer relies on traditional publicity methods, but is realized through emerging channels such as social media and short video platforms. The success of Harbin's popularity is inseparable from the careful creation of the city's image and the choice of communication channels, which reflects the importance of city culture and characteristics. However, the construction of urban image also faces challenges of authenticity and objectivity, as well as the need for local cultural inheritance and characteristic protection. Overall, this study provides important inspiration for further exploring the construction of urban image in the video era.

Hawker Centres, Cultural Heritage and Tourism – A Case Study of Lau Pa Sat, Singapore

Summary In the dynamic matrix of urban development, the conservation of heritage sites and the imperative of modernisation often find itself at a challenging nexus. This case study delves into the intricate interplay between urban heritage conservation and contemporary socio-economic demands, using the transformative narrative of Lau Pa Sat, Singapore, as a focal case. Drawing upon the dual paradigms of “use value” and “exchange value”, the research underscores the potential of heritage sites to both conserve cultural memory and catalyse modern economic revitalisation. Lau Pa Sat’s adaptive repurposing from a historical edifice to a dynamic hawker hub exemplifies a successful synthesis of architectural preservation and entrepreneurial initiative. Such an approach ensures the site’s functional sustainability while amplifying its cultural resonance. The research further highlights the significance of multi-stakeholder participation in rejuvenating urban memory through visual representation, communal spaces, and cultural paradigms. The findings underscore that, with strategic planning and community engagement, heritage sites can transcend historical confines, emerging as vibrant spaces that harmonise cultural conservation with contemporary relevance. This study provides invaluable insights for urban planners, policy makers, and heritage management professionals, advocating for a holistic approach that balances cultural stewardship with economic imperatives in urban heritage contexts. Information © The Author 2024

Restricted Access to Remembrance: Problematic Usages of Industrial Memories in Belfast's Titanic Quarter

AbstractThe paper addresses the contemporary usages of collective memory in the Titanic Quarter's project in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, elected officials proposed urban revitalisation policies that aimed to mitigate the effects of deindustrialisation and the ethnonational conflict. On the old shipyard wastelands, public authorities were relying on the redevelopment of the built environment to suggest a shared urbanity but also a shared past, a connection with a common space, mobilising the myths and memories of the Titanic to achieve this. Yet, in a globalised world where memory increasingly surpasses national borders, it bears into question who is the targeted audience of this revitalised urban memory? Through careful observations in the neighbourhood and its flagship museum, the paper aims to criticise the use and manipulation of a conflictual working‐class memory to sidestep Northern Ireland's sectarian divide.

A Study on the Perception of Local Characteristics in Cultural Street Vending Spaces, Taking Xi’an Baxian Temple as an Example

The mode of urban renewal in China has changed from incremental expansion to a value-added stage, and the development of cities has increasingly focused on the human experience and quality improvement. However, Cultural Street Vending and the unique street spaces in the historic districts that bear important connotations to the city have shown a trend of rapid decline and even disappearance. Therefore, how to identify the characteristics and connotations of such street vending spaces, grasp the relationship between perception of locality and built environment elements in different states and formulate targeted protection and renewal strategies is presently an urgent problem to be solved. Many studies have now discussed in detail the identification of elements, street perception and preservation strategies for historic districts. However, the Cultural Street Vending space, which carries special urban memory connotations, has been neglected, especially the characterisation of this type of space in different time dimensions. This paper takes the Cultural Street Vending space as a research object and focuses on the perceptual differences between its market day and non-market day, aiming at grasping the perceptual characteristics and constituent elements of this type of street space in different time states, as well as the patterns of changes they undergo. This paper took the Baxian Temple, a typical Cultural Street Vending space in a historic district of Xi’an, as the research object and took 30 architecture students as the evaluators to score 33 pairs of adjectives and recall the elements of nine streets. This paper compared and analysed the differences in the structure of people’s psychological perception of the street in the state of market day and non-market day by SD method. It was found that the activities of the vendors obviously promoted people’s positive emotions, and three commonality factors including impression, vitality and morphosis were extracted through the factor analysis. Moreover, through the element recall method to understand the change in element perception on the market day, we found that the range of people’s perception was smaller on the market day and summarised the element map of the space and the element components of high, medium and low characteristics. The correlation analysis between psychological quantities and environmental elements revealed that people’s positive psychology has a positive correlation with vendors, goods and street components and a negative correlation with greening, colour and texture. This study can provide an important research basis for the development of conservation and renewal strategies for this type of Cultural Street Vending space.

Cityscapes, trance states, and women walking: embodied practices of walking in experimental film and video

ABSTRACT Commonly associated with the cinema of Béla Tarr and Gus Van Sant, walking on screen has received relatively little attention from researchers despite the ongoing popularity of wayfaring films and videos. Unsurprisingly, even less is known about how walking functions in experimental film and video or responds to avant-garde storytelling. To fill this gap, I take a phenomenological stance on walking to discuss the pedestrian’s embodied experience in a few stylistically distinct works: Crowdog (Vanessa Renwick, 1984/1998), A Walk (Jonas Mekas, 1990), Ordinary Matter (Hollis Frampton, 1972), and Death Songs & Car Bombs (Brendan and Jeremy Smyth, 2013). Despite having different formats and narrative foci, which, respectively, explore walking in a structural-diaristic framework and as a trance state or turn it into a social commentary on female liberation and the culture clash, all of these films echo the phenomenological turn in film studies, demonstrating how pedestrians relate to the multisensorial, kinaesthetic practice and space of walking. Compared to the itinerant mode of art cinema, experimental film and video usually challenge the representational nature of walking and present it as a more complex, disorientating, and unconventional experience, linking the sensation of walking to social mobility, personal freedom, feminism, or place and urban memory.

What does the City of Grozny Want to Remember and Forget? Changes in the Memorial Landscape 2000–2022

The article describes changes in the urban space of the capital of the Chechen Republic in the period from 2000 to 2022. The period under review includes the active phase of military operations of the “second Chechen war,” or counter-terrorism operation in the North Caucasus (ended on April 16, 2009), which became a continuation of the first Chechen war of 1994–1996. However, the policy of renaming and de-Sovietization of the urban space of Grozny began long before 2009. These processes led to the gradual nationalization of urban memory, in which two parallel lines of commemoration became noticeable It has been revealed that there is a substitution of the tragic and “inconvenient” past associated with the period of the Great Patriotic War — the deportation of Chechens and Ingush in the form of Operation “Chechevitsa” (Lentil) in February 1944. The leadership of the Chechen Republic strives to construct and preserve in the memorial landscape of Grozny only those objects that which indicate the exclusively positive role of the Chechens in achieving Victory in 1945. Memory of the armed actions of 1994–1996 and 1999–2009. Almost completely leveled out by changes in urban toponymy. This is also confirmed by the authors’ tested hypothesis about the existence of memory “for our own” and “for visitors” during a tour over Grozny.

Analyzing the Place of Isparta Governor’s Building in the Urban Memory

Public buildings, which have an essential place in the urbanization process, reveal their existence in the city through their location. Depending on the selection of the site, how memory is shaped and oriented or whether memory enters an extinction cycle forms the main problem of this study. Public spaces in the city center hold an essential place in urban memory. These spaces hold a place in the urban memory in terms of social and cultural architecture, which are elements that are built in line with the city’s administrative, educational, and military needs. Then, they become a remarkable part of a city’s social life. The main frame of the study is the Governor’s Office of the City of Isparta in the Mediterranean Region of Türkiye. This study aims to discuss the practices in which the social life of the city of Isparta takes place in the memory of the city. Several relevant official and other documents were obtained and examined to reveal the relationship between memory and place. The meaning of the building, news about the building, opinion articles, and texts were analyzed.

L’Habitation de la ville: écriture de la mémoire urbaine et recomposition identitaire dans deux textes de Régine Robin

Abstract My article aims to analyse two essays by Régine Robin, Cybermigrances: traversées fugitives (2004) and Mégapolis: les derniers pas du flâneur (2009), in the light of Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia. I am interested in highlighting the concept of writing seen by the writer as a patchwork of spaces and as a protective site. I suggest theorizing it as a memorial writing or a form of urban memory creation as well as a space of identity reconstruction. According to Robin, in the experience of the nomad of surmodernity (Augé) memory is an ephemeral element, and yet memory is the most stable component in the existence of an individual in movement. The writer’s constant journeys, and the correspondences that she finds between the mega-cities that she walks through as part of her familiar routines and temporary placements, constitute for the narrator a home of memory and a space of identity (re)construction.

The museum method of reusing Shanghai waterfront industrial heritage: continuation and reconstruction of urban memory

In the context of transforming traditional labour-intensive industries into the service economy in China, the reuse of industrial heritage as museums has become a trend, for example, along Shanghai waterfronts, gradually fuelling the continuation of urban memory, reshaping urban cultural identity and promoting the development of the waterfront economy. Additionally, the connotation of a museum is continually being expanded from an institution to a method, and the major function is gradually shifting from collection to display. Previous studies on Shanghai waterfront industrial heritage have mostly referred to cultural factors, but these factors are still mainly included in macroscale large waterfront projects or microscale single practical project analyses. Mesoscale typology discussions between the two are rare. Therefore, this paper examines eleven industrial heritage sites that have been repurposed as museums along Shanghai waterfronts to analyse the urban memory elements of industrial heritage and summarise three classes of memory interpretation strategies: translating memory information, renovating memory carriers, and relating memory clues. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the study cases are discussed separately, and the following corresponding recommendations are made: 1) further enrich and balance memory interpretation strategies; 2) enhance the rationality, service, and tolerance of the “exhibition + ” mode; and 3) improve local laws and regulations related to the protection and utilisation of industrial heritage to provide references for similar reuse designs.

Kent Etnografisinde Çoklu Yöntem Kullanımı: Yürüyüş, Fotoğraf ve Video

Bu araştırmada, 2013-2023 yılları arasında yaptığım saha araştırmalarının arka planına odaklanarak kent etnografisinde çoklu teknikleri bir arada kullanmanın metodolojik ve teorik katkılarını inceliyorum. Bu araştırmalar süresince tuttuğum alan notları üzerinden yürüyüşün kentsel mekândaki toplumsal yaşamı anlamaya katkısını ele alıyorum. İstanbul, İzmir ve Sapanca’da yürüttüğüm etnografik ve otoetnografik araştırmalar ve bu esnada yararlandığım yöntem ve tekniklerin kent etnografisinin olanaklarını genişletmeye etkisine odaklanıyorum. Metropolleşen kentin gündelik hayatını analiz ederken, kentte bir yaya olarak hareketliliği, hareketliliğin sınıfsallığını ve toplumsal cinsiyetini tartışıyorum. Görsel ve işitsel teknolojilerin imkânlarının gelişmesi, kentleşmeye başlayan bölgelerde kaybolan doğal yapının kaydını tutmaya da olanak yaratıyor. Mobil teknolojilerin artan etkisiyle sahada daha çok kullanılmaya başlanan fotoğraf çekimi ve video kaydı kent hafızası oluşturma ve kentin ve kentlinin hikâyesini toplamaya önemli katkı sağlıyor. Bununla birlikte, sahada çoklu metotları işletirken dikkate alınması gereken farklı dengeler devreye giriyor. Bu makalede, sahadaki ilişkilere ve araştırılanların gündelik hayatına müdahale etmeden metotların nasıl çoğaltabileceğine dair öneriler getirmeye çalışıyorum. Kent etnografisinde çoklu teknik kullanmanın dezavantajlı gruplar için ortaya çıkarabileceği katılımcı yöntemleri ve etnografiyi sosyal adalet için bir araç haline getirmenin imkanlarını değerlendiriyorum.