Interrogating the city: Comparing locally distinct crisis discourses. (July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Barbehön, Marlon; Münch, Sybille
• Other Names: Bayırbağ Mustafa Kemal guest-editor.; Davies Jonathan guest-editor.; Münch Sybille guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Urban studies. Volume 54:Number 9(2017:Jul.)
• Page Start: 2072
• Page End: 2086
• Publication Date: 2017-07
• Subjects: comparative urban research -- discourse analysis -- distinctiveness of cities -- interpretive research -- urban crisis; 城市比较研究 -- 话语分析 -- 城市独特性 -- 诠释性研究 -- 城市危机; Cities and towns -- Periodicals; City planning -- Periodicals; 307.1216
• DOI: 10.1177/0042098015613002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0042-0980

Abstract

There is a long tradition of debate about the crisis of cities or the crisis of local government in public, political and scholarly circles. The diagnosis of 'the urban crisis' often implies a homogeneous phenomenon with each city facing similar and unambiguous problems. However, we know little about local practices in constructing a city's crisis. Taking discourse analysis as a starting point, we propose an interpretive and comparative framework that investigates how 'the urban crisis' and 'the city' emerge interdependently with specific meanings in different socio-spatial contexts. By comparing the discourses of Frankfurt, Dortmund, Birmingham and Glasgow, we illustrate how in each city the meaning of crisis is constructed differently and how these constructions constitute the collective understanding of the particularities of these cities.