Community planning and urban design in contested places. Some insights from Belfast

Esposito De Vita, G; Trillo, Claudia; Martinez- Perez, A

Abstract

Although social conflict due to the presence of different groups divided
by cultural, religious or ethnic issues plagues many contemporary cities,
community and participatory planning methods still pay little attention
to segregation in contested spaces as a specific matter of concern. This
paper aims to contribute to filling this gap through the development of
a novel tool to be implemented during community planning processes
in contested cities, particularly in (visual) mapping processes. The pilot
area for developing the lexicon has been selected within the city of
Belfast, which has been struggling for years with problems related to
inter-religious sectarian conflicts. The material effects on the urban
structure of the long process of defensive planning during the socalled
Troubles and within the post-conflicts peace programmes
have been investigated by analysing urban artefacts including edges,
borders, barriers, doors, visual control points. The paper suggests that
a simple, recognizable lexicon may contribute to honing community
planning methods in contested places by integrating the traditional
methodology of visual mapping with a tailored taxonomy of elements
of urban conflict, which may be used at many stages of the planning
process, including developing a visual map, design and planning, and
developing and implementing an action plan.

Citation

Esposito De Vita, G., Trillo, C., & Martinez- Perez, A. (2016). Community planning and urban design in contested places. Some insights from Belfast. Journal of Urban Design, 21(3), 320-334. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2016.1167586

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Apr 19, 2016
• Publication Date: Apr 19, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 26, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 26, 2016
• Journal: Journal of Urban Design
• Print ISSN: 1357-4809
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-9664
• Publisher: Routledge
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 320-334
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2016.1167586
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2016.1167586
• Related Public URLs: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjud20/current#.Vx86ha32bcs