Third ISA Forum of Sociology (July 10-14, 2016)

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Urban Neighbourhoods and Culture-Led Revitalization: Comparative Processes, Entanglements, and (Un)Intended Effects

RC20 Comparative Sociology (host committee)

Language: English and Spanish

Culture-led revitalization and processes of urban branding in “entrepreneurial” cities from Santiago to Vancouver have transformed city neighbourhoods into “creative”, cosmopolitan, and heritage quarters oriented toward middle-class residents, visitors, and workers (Cronin and Hetherington, 2008). While much work has addressed the gentrification effects of such revitalization, less attention has been paid to the different (and unintended) ways in which various actors engage with the material and cultural frames afforded by these rebranded neighbourhoods, and how revitalization and rebranding have not only been resisted but also put forward by different groups as a means to “remain in” urban districts. 
Beyond gentrification, how are revitalized and rebranded urban spaces bound up with and co-produced through the performance of class-based identities and consumer cultures? What various processes and actors are implicated in the surfacing of revitalized neighbourhoods, and how do these arrangements differ across (and within) various cities? How are revitalized and rebranded districts promoted as a means to “remain in” the city and by whom? In what ways do people challenge such urban configurations, and with what (un)intended effects?  
This paper presentation session welcomes proposals that address these issues, and that are based on empirical, especially ethnographic, research conducted in “entrepreneurial” cities worldwide. The discussant will aim to draw the themes of the papers together to consider: What can we learn about the ways in which such processes unfold and are challenged in different urban centres? How might this impact on the futures of our cities and urban life? Posters: