Parochial imaginations: The ‘European City’ as a territorialised entity

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Abstract

The European city is often presented as role model in contemporary urban policies, literature and architecture. In this chapter, I explore ways in which the very idea of a 'European city' caters to parochial imaginations of the urban, resonating with racist and white supremacist narratives. Conceptually, I draw on territorio as a political term, as discussed in Latin America-based literature and activism. Employing empirical examples from Germany and Italy, I apply a socio-territorial lens to the urban. Aspects of the ‘European city's’ territorialised character and its appeal to identitarian actors become apparent in replicas of 'historical' facades in Berlin, Frankfurt and Dresden, as much as in emblematic writings by key urban scholars. In Venice, Rome and other Italian cities, there are similar parochial resonances in urban decorum policies, a particular type of urban regulation rooted in Othering. By tracing some of the outlines of colonial continuities in the production of urban space and urban knowledge through a socio-territorial lens, this chapter puts the 'European city' in relation.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEuropean Cities: Modernity, Race and Colonialism
EditorsNoa K. Ha, Giovanni Picker
Place of PublicationManchester
PublisherManchester University Press
Chapter1
Pages37-55
Number of pages19
ISBN (electronic)9781526158420
Publication statusPublished - 2022
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85137438288
ORCID /0000-0001-7043-4670/work/167705190

Keywords

DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards

Subject groups, research areas, subject areas according to Destatis

Keywords

  • political geography, territory, urban studies