Consuming the City 2016 by Consuming the City 2016

Consuming Consuming Consuming the City

Colophon

Editorial board Daniela Brose, Koko Bernell Herder, Emilia Wojtowicz, Nicole de Groot, Jaap Houtzagers, Rosa de Jong

Magazine design Daniela Brose, Koko Bernell Herder

Photography All photography by authors unless otherwise noted; cover photo by Daniela Brose

Illustrations Illustrations of contributing authors by Nicole de Groot; Illustrations of cityscapes by Oskar the Illustrator (instagram.com/oskar_the_illustrator)

Contributing authors Luca Bertolini, Daniela Brose, Gerald Brugman, Grant Diamond, Marijn Ferier, Afra Foli, Monica-Paula Giovică, Koko Bernell Herder, Annefleur Noom, Alana Osbourne, Patricia Roach, Joline Rodermans, Federico Savini, Michael Schwind, Reza Shaker Ardekani, Justin Stephens, Emilia Wójtowicz

Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of our contributing authors and illustrators for being so remarkably creative. Also we would like to thank the Centre for Urban Studies and the University of Amsterdam for giving us the opportunity to produce this magazine. Lastly, we would like to thank The Proto City for publishing a number of the magazine’s articles on their blog as well as Pakhuis de Zwijger for providing us with a space to share and discuss thoughts on the theme of ‘Consuming the City’ during the seminar held on the 6th of June 2016.

This publication is also available online on issuu.com and a number of texts have been published on www.theprotocity.com Amsterdam, May 2016 Printed in the Netherlands

Editorial

discussing several topics around consumption, we hope to offer new insights in the way cities and its people operate. Our authors look at different issues through the lens of

We have an uncomfortable relationship with consumption and its connotation is generally a negative one. The common

consumption and the city, finding new perspectives and insights to familiar issues.

understanding is the consumption of material goods and

The diverse submissions within this compilation are divided

is associated with waste, deterioration, squander, or an

into three categories: Essays, reports, and commentaries.

impertinent excessiveness in use. The historical application

The ESSAYS

of the word tells us that consumption was used describe

consumption, covering how market imperialism affects urban

the physical effects of its eponymous disease, the wasting

everyday life both during the day (Amsterdam) and at night

away of the body. In a sense, however, it describes not only

(Johannesburg); how the idea of ‘urban’ itself is becoming

the behaviour of the disease itself, but a social dis-ease

commodified and what the production and consumption

with consumptive behaviours. The social disease finds its

of political matters in the urban space (Hong Kong). The

expression in adopting a moralistic view on consumption: We

REPORTS are filled with observations from around the world,

still scoff at performances of ‘conspicuous consumption’ and

describing smaller phenomena and situating them in a broader

we invoke pejorative terms to describe socially unacceptable

context. We have articles that explore the interwovenness

or culturally discordant practices that somehow violate our

of high fashion and the informal economy (Milan); the

newly discovered moral code of material consumption.

role of performed multilingualism as a tool for distinction

illustrate the turn

in the understanding of

The term consumption is so ubiquitous, that it is easy

and class affiliation in semi-public spaces (Teheran); the

to take its meaning for granted, to assume we share the

discrepancy between media-produced images of a city and

‘obvious’ understanding of the word. But a closer look

the image inhabitants produce while consuming their city

at both the denotation and its theoretical applications

(Brussels); contrasting examples of how consumption of

challenges this straightforwardness. We can find both sides

space can empower minorities and help to reproduce their

of common binaries: rationality and irrationality; materiality

culture (New York), while the power of the production of

and non-materiality; destruction and pleasure. Embracing

space still remains in the hands of a very few (Vancouver);

these dualities provides new openings to a broader range

the problematics of the consumption of space exemplified

of questions about life in the city. If we move away from the

by poverty tourism (Kingston); and the everyday encounters

judgment, production = good, consumption = bad, to take

produced by consuming in a neighbourhood (Hong Kong). The

them more seriously as co-constituting, we can then reflect

COMMENTARIES ask us for introspection as both consumers

upon the complex relationship between consumption and

and researchers, discussing: The ethics of consumption

society, both negative and positive. We can open ourselves

and alternatives to the familiar cycle of production and

to the multiple definitions of the term. We can incorporate

consumption; the role of the researcher and his wardrobe; and

experience, full engagement and avid enjoyment as positive

finally, what music production and consumption can teach us

part of the consuming process. We can consider both

about the ontology of research itself. Lastly, an ART INSERT

destruction and transformation. We might consider its

featuring works from the Sounds of the City Exhibition reminds

application to the city itself. From this starting point, we may

us that sounds of a city spaces that we move through in our

ask a series of questions:

daily lives.

What material and immaterial elements of the

This anthology is part of the bigger project Consuming the

city are consumed? How and by whom is the city

City, undertaken by the students in the final year of the master

produced and made ready for consumption? Does

programme Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. It

the city only become a real city (a real product) by

accompanies a symposium, an exhibition and a documentary.

being consumed? Who decides how the city should

We enjoyed working on these projects and are proud to

be produced? Are cities losing their local culture

present the results to you in these various forms. See back of

due to a globalizing consumption culture? How do

the publication for more information.

trends of food consumption shape the city? Consuming the City is thus not only about the impacts of changing material practices, but also about the relation

We are sure that you will enjoy this

between the city and its residents. By stressing the way

read from the cover to cover.

we consume cities and shape them through consumption behaviours,

this

publication

provides

new

way

understanding what it means to be an urban citizen. In

Daniela Brose and Patricia Roach

Contents 6

The Exploited City Dweller ESSAY

The City as a Consumed Adjective of Economy ESSAY

How urban dwellers are exploited in the case of cycling in Amsterdam by Daniela Brose

Consumption of the ‘urban’ label and loss of meaning by Federico Savini

Do Cities Ever Sleep? The Night-Time Consumption Story ESSAY

Lingua Urbanus: Ordering the City Using the Right Laguage ESSAY

#UmbrellaMovement: A Photographic Essay ESSAY

La Vita e Bella with Prada REPORT

Peculiar night-time consumption in Johannesburg by Afra Foli

The language of the urban by Justin Stephens

A photo essay of the civic protests in Hong Kong by Luca Bertolini

Informal fashion street vending in Milan by Monica-Paula Ciovica

The Consumption of Language; The Language of Consumption REPORT

How Brussels Became “World’s Terrorist City” REPORT

Practicing languages in coffee houses in Tehran by Reza Shaker Ardekani

Brussels’ image and the discourse on terrorism by Annefleur Noom

Art Insert: Sounds beyond Cities ART

Casitas in the South Bronx: Making A Place Called Home REPORT

How to Strangle a City: Is Vancouver’s Green Agenda Futile? REPORT

“Don’t Leave Jamaica Without At Least One Visit Here” REPORT

Four Stories from Third Street REPORT

Eating From the Trash Can (of Ideology) COMMENTARY

Voting With Your Fork? COMMENTARY

The Wardrobe of a Researcher: Do We Care? COMMENTARY

Learning from Kanye ... unfinished ... COMMENTARY

An acoustic and visual hodgepodge of the globalizing cityscape

Community gardens and its members’ consumption patterns in the Bronx by Marijn Ferier

The politics of green aspirations in Vancouver by Grant Diamond

Ghetto tourism and the aesthetization of poverty in Jamaica by Alana Osbourne

Everyday stories of people of Hong Kong’s Third Street by Patricia Roach & Michael Schwind

Food dumpstering and squatting in the consumerist city by Emilia Wojtowicz

Consuming with a sense of morality by Joline Rodermans

Reflecting on the positionality of a researcher by Gerald Brugman

What academia can learn from a notorious rapper by Koko Bernell Herder

Eve ryd ay L i fe

Commodific ation

The Exploited

Tourists

City Dweller by Daniela Brose

CYCLING IN AMSTERDAM IS A GREAT EXPERIENCE AND A LOT OF FUN. The whole city is honeycombed with wide cycle lanes, the scenery is beautiful, and as a cyclist you are on top of the mobility food chain. One of my favourite things about it is ringing tourists out of my way. Sometimes, they are scared because they were standing in the middle of the way, looking somewhere up or on the map. But often being scared is dashed with excitement, and even joy. It seems that for many tourists, this encounter with Amterdam's cyclists is just as much part of their expe-rience of the city as going to the Red Light District or eating cheese. Personally, I am glad to cater this experience for them. However, what I only learned recently is that I am actually being exploited, doing free labour, simply by living my everyday life in the city.

Daniela Brose holds a BSc in ‘City and Regional Planning’ from the TU Berlin. Currently, she is completing her master’s degree in Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She is interested in the human-space-relationship and how this is affected by broader social, political and economical structures.

4 | Consuming the City

ESSAY atmosphere—decorating

not monetized and in a wider sense it

the image of Amsterdam they have

other people’s holidays, because

is damaging true human flourishing

in mind upon arrival, are the sum

tourists come to see the authentic

and dignity, potentially undermining

of many influences through various

culture and city life of a place that

the capacity people have to pursue

channels. These can be popular

was sold to them, but is essentially

life projects or to be an equal citizen.

media or stories from friends and

the intrinsic urban social life.

Privatisation

The expectations of visitors, or

relatives, but also intentional city

urban

Outsiders

want

the

marketing, which more and

City dwellers plying their everyday lives are coerced into workers—doing free labour as extras, staging the pictureperfect urban atmosphere.

experience city-specific

urbanity,

and

this means that

space

endangers

the

pluralistic reproduction of everyday life in the city. It could be argued that this example is far-fetched. But I believe

the assets of a

that many of you have had the

city

exploited,

feeling that they were being watched

but

also

its

while pursuing ordinary activities.

or sense of life—usually classifiable

inhabitants who, with their everyday

Sure, other cultures are interesting,

as illusory and tacky. Policies aim

lives, create this specific urban

and human activity is fascinating.

at making cities more attractive and

character. Investors shape the urban

In Amsterdam particularly, though,

creating positive associations and

environment

their

the mentioned refurbishment of the

expectations. Urban landscape, with

needs and their urban imagery.

city centre, is severe. Being there

its soft location factors is facilitated

In this case only one ideology, or

can sometimes evoke a feeling of

places

imagery, of the city is supported

alienation—as beautiful as it is. Too

are turned into service centres

with resources while all others are

much disneyfication may lead the

catering economy, culture, tourism,

being neglected. Hence, the citizens

extras to fail to appear on the scene.

consumption

become excluded from the potential

City marketing creates expectations

process

right to shape and appropriate

and

‘disneyfication’ or ‘festivalisation’,

their city. But public space is a

course, I am not doing actual work

two

terms.

common good, which is essential

as in the capitalist sense when I

Tourists visit cities with a well-

to the civic sphere of a city and to

am cycling through the city. It is

constructed image in mind, which

the individual in terms of belonging

important for my personal sense of

has been communicated to them,

and identification. However, this

life. The incidents with the tourists

and which they expect to find and

threatens the experience of urban life

are a result from chance and of the

experience.

plying

and undermines democratic virtues.

unique set-up which is idiosyncratic

their everyday lives are coerced

Reducing the urban space to a

into workers—doing free labour as

commodity carries with it downsides

should be genuine and the fun of

extras, staging the picture-perfect

for the civic society. The real value is

cycling not have a bitter aftertaste.

specific

experience of a place

according

only

public

exploitation

are

advertises

not

and

to attract the contemporary event society and possibly professionals who are expected to take the sense of

urbanity

into

account

when

looking for places to live. The experience-driven society, with all physical needs covered, wants to have an added dream value when consuming goods—and also places. City centres are being refurbished to meet the needs of its visitors in order to generate income. History and cultural capital are being revamped for

outsiders.

Scholars very

and

termed

Hence,

entertainment. this

emblematic

City

dwellers

5 | Consuming the City

determines

each

experiences.

city—those

encounters

P l an n i ng

Na rratives

Eco n o my

The City as a Consumed

Adjective of Economy by Federico Savini GIVING ADJECTIVES TO CITIES HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF THE MAIN TASKS OF PLANNERS, politicians and architects. As storytellers for inspiring policies, they frequently make use of peculiar terms such as ‘organic’, ‘garden’, ‘creative’, ‘smart’ and ‘healthy’ gives meaning to the city, turning its built surface into a living phenomenon with its own

Federico Savini is Assistant Professor in Urban Planning at the Department of Geography Planning and International Development Studies. He has a broad socio-political approach to land use planning and urban development. His work focuses on urban politics, land use regulation, public-private negotiations in urban projects and participatory forms of technology driven urbanism.

dynamics and metabolism.

These terminologies always link

metaphorical

narratives.

where in my opinion a peculiar

Production

Lefebvre

new narrative is emerging. The

the early 20th century, the garden

explained that space is actually

city is no longer produced through

was

that

produced through the combination

particular imaginaries, but it is itself

inspired city and regional planning.

of material space, practices and

becoming a narrative to produce

As Mumford asserted in his History

symbolic-rhetorical

elements.

spaceless economic relations. In

of Utopias, the garden (and later

Storytelling produces the city to

this way, urban space is consumed

the larger idea notion of suburban

the extent that it gives meaning to

instead of produced, as a narrative

living) was a subtle abstraction of

its material sphere and fabric. This

for economic relations that have

the imaginary of the puritan country

meaning is a necessary condition for

little to do with the complex, diverse

house. The ‘creative’ city, a more

any complex social relations to exist.

and disordered urban life itself.

recent example, similarly links to an

Moreover, as any meaningful object,

The notion of ‘urban’ is becoming

ideal of economic growth, based on

symbols and narratives constantly

increasingly used and abused as a

the utopia of human intelligence as a

change, as they reflect particular

meaningful narrative in and of itself.

driver of progress. The ‘organic’ city,

time-bound configurations of urban

The relation between rhetorical

as it is used in Amsterdam’s current

power. In Lefebvre’s revolutionary

elements

and

urban

development strategy, refers to a

conceptualization,

outlined

Lefebvre,

contemporary dream of a possible

action, which proposes new ways

distorted when urban space turns

symbiosis between human

kind

of living must be supported by a

into the adjective for any kind of

(and its production system) and the

careful building of new meaningful

human or economic relations. The

world of nature.

narratives, bounded to the lived

city is becoming a unitary rhetorical

space of the people.

element

powerful

Throughout

metaphor

history,

urban

observers of all kinds have made sense

urbanization

through

Something

Space,

the

to certain utopias of the time. In a

any

seems

political

strange

used

space,

seems

corporations,

architects and planners to build

today’s urban narratives however,

a new idea of urban space. This is

6 | Consuming the City

ESSAY a fundamental oxymoron, which

nowadays we even have to look

names printed on T-shirts. being

for urban-farmed tomatoes to feel

effective in opening up new markets,

homogenized. While the city has

local or sustainable, and why we

new economies and supporting the

historically been associated with

frame agriculture as ‘urban’ to give

consumption of new experiences.

heterogeneity, in the current context

meaning to the agricultural land

The urban is used to enrich spaceless

the label ‘urban’ is instrumentally

around our cities.

relations of consumption within the

used to foster highly specific activities

In this adjective use of ‘urban’,

new economy of lifestyles.

at specific locations (i.e. commercial

the urban is emptied of any spatial

activities in city centres). Thus,

meaning and specificity of place,

much

paradoxically, in the metaphorical

thereby becoming vague and elusive

smaller cities such as Lancaster,

use of ‘urban’, its connotations

yet somehow attractive. As such,

or Kendal in the UK (a tiny village

‘the urban’ is an appealing notion

on the English lake district I visited

reframed to mobilize a diversity of

for

recently),

consumers towards homogenous

policies and cultural economies.

consumption practices.

The paradoxical consequence of this

nevertheless appears to be very

Walking Paris,

around

Milan,

one

Amsterdam,

well

inevitably

comes

across a shop, café or restaurant

Second,

the

urban

heterogeneity

are

effectively

consumer

markets,

spatial

that portrays its products as ‘urban’

Third, and more importantly, the

uncritical consumption of the label

or somehow expressions of the

non-specific use of the urban as a

‘urban’ is that it loses its meaning

city. In Amsterdam we find shops

product or experience inevitably and

for social relations, exactly as any

like Urban Outfitters and Urban

subtly marginalizes possibilities of a

object loses its value when it is over-

Chocolate, which sell clothes and

non-urban life. As everything gets

produced and over-consumed.

food. We see large advertisements

attached to this all-encompassing

of new residential projects, which

notion of the urban, what is left

depict the experience of being in

becomes excluded from any socio-

the city as the full realization of the

economic relations. This is why

true individual urbanite. We also see cafés that make reference to other cities considered even more urban than Amsterdam, such as New York or Tokyo. We see urban Thai streetfood restaurants selling westernized curries at inflated prices. And, we see IBM, Cisco and Philips advertising innovative ‘urban technologies’ in their campaigns for smart cities. These forms of consuming ‘the urban’ show certain common traits. First, the urban is being detached from the city. There is usually little or no reference to a particular city, metropolitan area or region. This allows

customers

‘consume’

the urban in their own way, by attaching to this word a cityscape of their own background. When they do so, new practices of economic investment occur, like, for example the

Amsterdam-based

marketing

Oskar the Illustrator

campaign of local neighbourhood

7 | Consuming the City

Jo h a n n e s b u rg

Transition

Eve rday Urbani sm

Do Cities Ever Sleep? The Night-Time Consumption Story by Afra Foli

THE UBER DRIVER HANDED ME THE AUX CABLE AND I HELD IT UP TO THE BACKSEAT SMILING “Shumaya or Kose Kuse?” We were on our way to Braamfontein after dinner in Maboneng. Hopping from one regenerated inner-city neighbourhood to the next, it only seemed fitting that our transport came via app. Uber may have been developed in Silicon Valley, yet it was completely integrated into our Jozi experiences, and the music was a big part of it. The aux cable, the CDs, the USB-stick loaded with South African house jams; always the question of what we wanted to listen to.

Braamfontein was busy, cars lined

sweat, and in the courtyard clouds of

scale and how it shapes spaces of

up and down Juta Street, dropping

cigarettes and weed greeted us. We

leisure and the night-time economy.

and picking up people. ‘Regular’

danced.

taxi

drivers

potential

In studying the city we often

the late hours: beyond the bars to

customers, people queued outside

overlook what happens when the sun

the street vendors catering to the

bars, street vendors sold worst. Once

goes down. My night-time excursions

peckish partyer, the aforementioned

inside,

our

called

There is an economy operating in

ears

were greeted by a

Johannesburg

taxi-drivers

getting

the

partyer

gave me only the

home, and I imagine many more I

tiniest idea of what

may not see. Who is making money

one can learn about

at this hour? Is money changing

a city from a night

hands in different ways than it does

out in the town.

during the day? Which parts of the

Fela Kuti faded into Black Coffee

Nonetheless they do provide some

city become alive with business

which faded into Erykah Badu. The

insights into consumer culture and

disguised as revelry?

air smelt of perfume, French fries,

potential convergences on a global

mixture of South African

house,

American R&B and plenty

afrobeat.

In studing the city we often overlook what happens when the sun goes down.

8 | Consuming the City

Braamfontein

was

whites-only

ESSAY during

apartheid

were

all

space, some university buildings

fries), and other times (worst means

central city areas. Post-1994 the

and, like in the street I described,

sausage in Afrikaans) and while some

neighbourhood

neglected

spaces of leisure. Boutiques, bars

drinks are global (gin tonic anyone?),

and unsafe. In a now familiar-

and restaurants line a substantial

others are more home-grown like

sounding

public-

part of Juta Street attracting people

Savanna Dry. These experiences of

private cooperation, parts of the

from far beyond the downtown

transnationalism and change may

neighbourhood were fixed up, provi-

area who come for fun or for work.

not seem unique but Johannesburg

ding a safer environment for people

The shift in the use and users of this

at this point in time is in emergence

who can afford to pay a cover fee and

space reflects the shift in the ruling

-seemingly in transit - figuring out

drinks at Kitcheners or Great Dane

ideology: now it is not just race that

its identity. To the outsider it might

(I’ll admit I am one of them). The

will determine your movement, but

seem

neighbourhood now houses office

class, too. Historically the darkness

imaginings: now it’s Western, now

of the night has brought people

it’s African, now it’s the remnant

together and liberated the misfits of

of an apartheid city. While these

the day. Nightlife allows for the loo-

are not mutually exclusive per se,

sening of norms and the tightening

none quite grasps the meaning of

of bonds. This, always facilitated by

Johannesburg.

was

process

music and dance, sometimes in the presence of alcohol and drugs.

caught

between

different

Using night-time consumption as a lens to understand the city is an

On Juta Street the music comes

exercise in opening up all the senses

across as a proper hybrid of South

and leaving behind all assumptions.

Africa’s own and the world beyond,

It is something to consider next time

most recognizably Nigeria and the

you step out after dark - or looking

USA. The food could serve as a

out your window, if night-life is not

refe-rence to other places (french

your thing.

Afra Foli is an Urban Studies graduate student at the University of Amsterdam. She is interested in the everyday lives of urbanites and how they relate to patterns of opportunity and inequality in cities. Her current research looks at urban middle-class families and their social reproductive strategies.

9 | Consuming the City

L an gu a ge

Pl a nning

L a nd Use

Lingua Urbanus

Ordering the City Using the Right Language by Justin Stephens

IN HIS ESSAY, POLITICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, GEORGE ORWELL SAYS A METAPHOR’S TASK “is to call up a visual image. When these images clash…it can be taken as certain that the writer is not seeing a mental image of the objects he is naming; in other words he is not really thinking.” This insight applies to the language of urban planning, particularly in the United States. The American urban planning profession realized its depleting effect on the land, and simultaneous wasting away of its credibility, resulted from the muddling of planning concepts and language. The effort of modern American planning has been about establishing a corrected language and

Justin Stephens is a student currently residing in the southeastern United States. He earned his A.A. in General Studies from Middle Georgia State University, and can be found studying and jotting about urbanism, politics, math and science, art, and pretty much anything else he can think of.

fighting confused interpretations.

It is helpful to have examples of the confusion that can happen. In Getting Your T-Scale Right Sandy Sorlien,

the

Transect

regional development of those cities

and multimodal commuting are

would happen.

talking about.

Mistakes like that can happen at

What resolved those types of

Codes

every scale. Imagine for instance,

misunderstandings

Council, highlights a problem that

a region gets partitioned correctly

planners

arose when some cities were crafting

and it comes time to decide how

driven by the New Urbanist cohort,

new comprehensive plans for large

those partitions will be developed.

carefully and precisely defining their

intrastate regions. They misapplied

Further,

everyone

tools and concepts. The delineation

the

involved is against building any

of the regional and the neighborhood

conceptual framework that orders

suburban sprawl. There could still be

scales is done with such clarity

the environment in gradations from

argument about, say, whether what

in documents like the SmartCode

untouched wilderness to the densely

is built should be Transit Oriented

that the transect confusion of the

developed urban core. In turn,

Development (TOD) or Traditional

municipalities above makes itself

they used it to partition and zone

Neighborhood Development (TND).

obvious.

massive swaths of land, sometimes

Assume that too is reconciled. One

the transect also helps prevent

several miles across, rather than

could find the traffic engineers

friendly fire between allied factions.

the neighborhood and pedestrian

involved are only fluent in the

For example, one realizes TOD is

shed scales for which the transect

stultified language of thoroughfare

appropriate for a denser transect

was adopted. That misapplication

capacity—and do not understand

zone than TND, and thus the two

compromised

what those pushing for lively streets

coexist, not compete. In the last

urban-to-rural

how

transect,

skillfully

the

grant

that

10 | Consuming the City

and

were

urban

designers,

largely

Properly

understanding

ESSAY several years there has been great

the

movement on the traffic engineering

non-professional

the

the center of precisely nowhere

citizenry?

and making shopping a miserable

front, with the Institute of Traffic

Digesting the issues professional

experience. This is largely the fault

Engineers working directly with the

urban planners consider can be

of post-WWII planners; the laypeople

Congress for the New Urbanism

bewildering, made more so by the

neither planned nor named these.

to develop its “context sensitive

languages of the layman and the

Those

solutions” paradigm, which actually

professional not always aligning.

commercial

provides

building

Those in the midsize cities of the

meanings,

streets for walkable and mixed-use

U.S. will recognize the phenomenon

misapplied they no longer evoke clear

areas. Also, the National Association

called

images of what they refer to. Luckily

Officials

“parkways” that for maybe a quarter

there are professionals who have

released design guides for urban

of their lengths have any nature

written to share with the layperson

bikeway, street, and transit creation.

flanking them; they quickly give

the renewed vocabulary, like Duany

The result is that conversations

way to horrendously large swaths

Plater-Zyberk & Co. did with their

happening within and between these

of pavement. Or of state highways

Lexicon of the New Urbanism. As

groups have an added precision

becoming

“Something-or-other

more of these dictionaries, and thus

which has greatly sharpened their

Street” with no apparent change

a corrected urban language, spread

urban planning sensibilities. Just

to their physical dimensions—or to

to the masses, more voices will speak

by clarifying language we get forces

behaviors of the drivers on them.

against indiscriminate consumption

working together toward sensible

Or some odd collection of strip

of land, and will better advocate for

development.

malls being called a shopping center

smartly planned cities.

City

guidelines

for

Transportation

Has this clarity made it beyond

professional

having

realm

thoroughfares

words—parkway, center—had but

were

street, actual often

or commercial center while being

Oskar the Illustrator

11 | Consuming the City

S p ace

Protests

Peopl e

#UmbrellaMovement A Photographic Essay by Luca Bertolini

I SPENT A SABBATICAL LEAVE IN HONG KONG IN THE SECOND HALF OF 2014 AND THIS WAS A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE IN MANY RESPECTS. Nothing, however, surpassed the

space of possibilities. It painfully showed what Hong Kong now misses, but above all powerfully fueled the imagination of what it could possibly become. These contrasts is what these photos are about.

impressions made on me by the widespread civic protests to become known as the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Umb rella Movementâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. I visited the occupied sites several times, and these visits brought about thoughts that went well beyond the protests and their direct political aims, and stretched into the uses, meanings, dynamics and ownership of cities, both of Hong Kong and elsewhere. In the occupied sites a city materialized that was in many ways the literal opposite of the everyday Hong Kong I had experienced thus far,

Luca Bertolini is professor in Urban and Transport Planning and director of the Centre for Urban Studies at the Univesity of Amsterdam.

erupting in a sudden, unexpected and unprecedented

12 | Consuming the City

ESSAY

B E FO R E P ublic s pa ce i s for m ovi ng

D U RING p u b l ic s p a ce is for interacting

BEFOR E n o p l a ce to m eet

D U RING s p a ce fo r debate 13 | Consuming the City

B E FO R E t he s t reet i s for t raf f i c

D U RING th e s treet is fo r p e ople

14 | Consuming the City

BE FO R E everything/where for s a le

D U RI N G everything/where for free

BEFORE a top - d ow n c ity 15 | Consuming the City

D U RING a b otto m -u p p roce ss

Inform a l Eco n o my

Street Vending

Il l ega l Immig rant s

La Vita e Bella

with Prada by Monica-Paula Ciovica

WHEN ONE THINKS ABOUT ITALY, THE FIRST DESTINATION THAT COMES TO MIND IS ROME. As the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital and the pinnacle of culture and religion, it holds a reputation of being the most beautiful city in Italy. Milan, with its industrial reputation on the other hand, stands in the shadow of monumental Rome. Nevertheless, this northern, gray, Italian metropolis is more than meets the eye. Alongside Paris or London, Milan is also considered one of

Monica-Paula Ciovica studied Urban and Landscape Planning (Bsc) and Territorial Planning (Msc) in Bucharest. She is currently following the research master Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam, focusing on the relationship between politics and planning. Her main interest is how political agendas shape urban transformations.

the European centres of fashion and design.

16 | Consuming the City

REPORT other

of a low educational level. As such,

confirms that Milan deserves this

fashion brands, like Michael Kors

they enter street vending because

status. Beyond the classic Gothic

have been spotted, Prada seems the

they cannot find a job in the formal

cathedral or the Teatro alla Scala,

go-to choice for street vending. Could

economy.

emerges

this informal sector be pointing at

A leisure stroll through the city

another,

elegant

Milan. Starting from the impressive

phenomenon’.

This phenomenon is not a novelty

walking along Corso Venezia or

in Milan. It all

Corso Buenos Aires, the Milanese

started around

streetscape is animated by shiny

the 1930s, when

store

the city became

micro-universes

which of

create

grace

and

What is striking to observe is that fashion seems to dictate a sort

this season’s ‘must have’?].

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and

windows

Although

of division within this informal vending community.

What is striking to observe is that fashion seems to dictate a sort of division within this informal vending community.

popular

As the formal sector is

divided

between

high-end and low-end fashion

items,

the

informal level in Milan

sophistication. The most luxurious

destination

firms are based here: from Versace,

for

Prada and Dior to Chanel and

immigrants

way

follow the same pattern. To explain

Burberry. No wonder one can feel

through Europe. Looking for new

further, the ‘informal low-end’ street

underdressed while walking among

economic

they

vendors are usually located in the

the elegant Milanese. Fashion is

occupied jobs such as street vendors

city center, walking all day around

not just a brand label in Milan, it is

of trinkets. Some Milanese still

the busy spots, trying to convince

embedded in the city’s DNA, and

remember the improvised kiosks

people to buy hand-made, colourful

this is visible not solely in the formal

along the sidewalks, where the

bracelets. You will always find them

economic sector, but also in the

Chinese would mostly sell ties and

walking the streets, no matter the

informal one.

cheap jewelry. One could idealize

weather conditions. By contrast, the

this image of the past as a sign

‘informal high-end’ vendors, which

that fashion was to become the

are in charge of the latest (fake)

representative label of the city.

Prada handbags, seem to have better

Fashion is not just a brand label in Milan, it is embedded in the city’s DNA, and this is visible not solely in the formal economic sector, but also in the informal one.

Chinese

making

their

opportunities,

Nowadays, fashion street vending

appears to somehow

working conditions and a different

popular,

sales pitch. They improvise a selling

informal activities in Milan, but

display for the merchandise and are

there is a noticeable change in

located on the luxurious fashion

the social structure that underlies

streets of Milan. They don’t walk

informal

the community. It is interesting to

around all day trying to persuade

economy in both Northern and

observe, that almost all the street

customers, but sit quietly next to

Southern Italy has been tied to the

vendors that occupy the streets

their items and calmly approach

growth of luxury markets in these

are male and of African descent.

interested buyers. Also, in the case

areas. In the case of Milan, this is most

Following what seems to be the

of bad weather they move to the

apparent in the growth of fashion

same path as priorly the Chinese

nearest metro stop and display their

street vending. While walking along

community, they come to Milan

merchandise at the entrance.

the major streets of the city, the

in hopes of improving their living

scenery is sometimes conflicting.

standard. Considering that most

observation-based and schematic

Enchanting store windows attract

of them are illegal immigrants, the

explanation of the phenomenon.

your attention, but at the same time

only sector that allows them to

More in-depth research would have

you notice, right by the entrance,

earn a living is the informal one.

resulted with a bracelet around the

small, improvised displays of fashion

Low barriers of entry, limited costs,

wrist and a Prada around the arm.

accessories, namely bracelets and

and flexible hours are some of the

Nevertheless, it seems that, for

Prada handbags.

factors that draw the immigrants to

Milanese street vendors, life is better

[I wish to make a quick note of

this occupation. Also, taking aside

with Prada.

what I like to refer to as the ‘Prada

their legal status, there is the issue

The

growth

the

remains

one

the

17 | Consuming the City

course,

this

only

Id e nt i ty

Distinc tion

L a ngua ge

The Consumption of Language: DURING MY FIELDOWRK IN TEHRAN

in July and

August 2015 to investigate the characteristics of the new middle classes through the lens of specialty coffee consumption, I have faced a lot of codes that consumers were constantly employing in order to symbolically communicate with each other. It was really interesting to observe and talk to them and to try to understand and decode their applied symbolism. It provided a window through which a range of relationships and social transformations could be perceived. For instance, their in-group conversations about houses, furniture, paintings, hobbies, traveling, books, as well as their choices of coffee, cigarettes, perfume, clothes, sports, and entertainments have been a mechanism to manifest their distinction, class

After finishing his bachelor and master in Urban and Regional Planning in Tehran, Reza Shaker Ardekani became interested in urban sociology and he is currently studying Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. His main research interest is the effects of globalization on the interactions between small scale urban space and urbanites.

hierarchy, and subcultural capital.

Probably one the most fascinating means

distinction

which

found was the practice of foreign languages within coffeehouses. I have seen young Tehranians having conversations in English, German, or French. Even more surprisingly, I was told that they, while sipping their

coffees,

sometimes

write

down some pieces of their own poetry and/or thoughts in those languages to practice their linguistic competences. consumers

Obviously, identity

coffee seekers/

makers, and interpretive agents with

meaning-creating

activities,

use foreign languages as a cultural symbol to creatively reflect their authentic, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;coolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; self and to embody their

cultivated/learned

cultural

capital. I have also noticed that the frequency

conversations

English was way more than in

18 | Consuming the City

REPORT

The Language of Consumption by Reza Shaker Ardekani

German or in French. Astonishingly,

though that there are associations

globalized mind, however, they

those who could speak German or

between the choice of language and

remain rooted in their local

French described themselves as

the social structure and distribution

urban environments, where they

having more skills or competencies

of economic resources. Those able

belong to dense networks of

than

to speak other languages besides

friends and family, and manifest

frequenting coffeehouses. For them,

English

a glocalised culture.

German or French is way more

capabilities as a distinct form of

Overall, what has fascinated

difficult than English and therefore

subcultural capital through which

me more is that although these

require more efforts to master it.

they not only display their taste an

young Tehranians are trying to

Here, again, a foreign language

identity but also socio-culturally

differentiate themselves through

reflects aspects of hierarchical and

distance themselves from the less

speaking different languages,

competitive

affluent.

in nature, they are still using

English-speaking

social

people

classification

embody

their

linguistic

systems, which turn consumption

Last but not least, an interesting

one single but simple language:

into social markers. In this sense,

point on the consumption of foreign

consumption. Their identities

the Tehranian new middle classes

languages

within

and

which because of their high cultural

commodification

and economic resources have the

cosmopolitanism.

ability and are willing to spend

cosmopolitanism,

the

coffeehouses of

lifestyles

influenced

are

highly

consumption,

Here,

from the kind of clothes they

slight

wear, the food they eat, the

time and money, consume different

sense of orientation and openness

coffee they drink, the language

languages as a symbolic vocabulary,

towards foreign others and cultures,

they speak, to where they live

becomes a commodity by language

and what they buy. They are just

differentiate

institutions. In return, a language

constantly using grammars and

themselves. Put differently, widely

as a cultural commodity is being

vocabularies of the new middle

used by other social classes, the

consumed by a class through its

class lifestyles. It is not about the

English language seems to be losing

purchasing power. These upper-

consumption of language but

its â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;distinctionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; power; therefore, a

middle classes practice cosmopolitan

the language of consumption.

need for new languages has been

consumption to identify themselves

generated. It should not be forgotten

form

hierarchically

communication,

cosmopolitan.

Having

19 | Consuming the City

Me d i a

Neighbourhoods

Reputation

How Brussels Became

“World’s Terrorist City” by Annefleur Noom

MID-AUGUST I TRAVELLED TO THE POLITICAL CAPITAL OF EUROPE, prepared to spend a semester in the city and investigate differences between insiders’ and outsiders’ evaluations of

neighbourhoods.

Based

newspapers

and

social media I decided to investigate Cureghem, a neighbourhood that has a poor reputation in Brussels. When talking to Cureghem’s residents it became clear that they possess a more detailed understanding of their neighbourhood than outsiders - and that they assess

Annefleur Noom holds a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and is currently enrolled in the Research Master Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Her main research interests focus on the (variety of) everyday experiences of cities and neighbourhoods.

their neighbourhood quite differently.

20 | Consuming the City

REPORT As I conducted my research, the

attacks in the city in March.

and will have to face in the future were

representation of Brussels in the

Following the news obsessively

not neglected. Some of them argued

media changed. Media shifted their

during the weekend of the Brussels

that there is tendency towards what

attention

from

lockdown,

the news on EUdecisions

made

in the city and the pedestrianisation project

felt

Manuel Castells and Saskia Sassen

was

called a dual city, in which high- and

m i s re p re s e n te d .

low-skilled workers reside and work

When

strolling

in segregation. The high-skilled EU-

Boulevard

employees live in the areas around

the

Following the news obsessively during the weekend of Brussel’s lockdown, I felt the city was misrepresented.

city

on Anspach

saw

the European quarter in the eastern

that

were

part of the city, while low-skilled

lunch,

residents settle in the poor crescent

city. This media shift followed the

residents grocery shopping and a

in the north-western part where in

terrorist attacks in Paris, the related

few tourists visiting Grand Place. A

some neighbourhoods the youth

arrests in Brussels and eventually

couple of days after the lockdown

unemployment rate is more than

the terrorist attacks on Brussels’

the city was still patrolled by soldiers

airport and metro station. I found

and

interviewees

myself

and

police actions in Molenbeek, but

emphasised

disapproving of the image presented

essentially the city went back to

segregation in the city because of

by the media.

normal again. Boulevard Anspach is

the difficulties with applying for the

the

the best example. When I moved to

Dutch-speaking

media reports related to terrorism

Brussels last summer, the boulevard

which are perceived as better than

overshadowed

news

changed from a four-lane road to

their French equivalents.

coverage of the city. The four days

a pedestrianised zone, attracting

tourists to visit the city centre,

Boulevard Anspach towards

From

Brussels

shocked,

November

lockdown

all in

cafés as

terrorist

surprised

onwards, other the

immediate

open,

people

occasionally

having

interrupted

percent.

French-speaking predominantly the

linguistic

primary

schools,

The media presented Brussels selectively.

This

seducing

Paris worsened Brussels’ reputation.

employees

During this lockdown most of the

an early evening

shops, bars and all metro stations

drink,

in the city centre were closed, and

inviting residents

even schools and universities were

from

shut down for two days. According

neighbourhoods to spend their spare

material consequences for the city.

to the media, the city had turned

time playing ping pong or pétanque.

Tourists stopped visiting the city.

into a dangerous and militarised

The boulevard’s Christmas Market

Unexpectedly, during my months

city; photos of an empty city centre

opened just after Brussels lockdown

in Brussels, I experienced the rapid

guarded by soldiers were frequently

at the end of November. Although

stigmatization of a place. I found

presented on newspapers’ front

guarded by soldiers, the market

myself

pages. Brussels was blamed for

area was primarily a place of leisure.

manner as one of my interviewees

being

Belgian

helped

in Cureghem: I felt as if I was allowed

having an inefficient police system,

tourists with directions. Teenage

to criticize Brussels, but the media

and being a spatially segregated

girls asked (young, flattered) soldiers

and other outsiders were not, as

city. Molenbeek was, and still is,

for pictures with them. Where in the

they

presented as Europe’s jihadi central.

newspapers and in television shows

and misrepresenting the city. So,

By the time I moved back to

were all these scenes of this side of

even though some of the criticism

Brussels?

presented in newspapers is agreed

shelter

for

terrorists,

Amsterdam at the end of January,

for and

adjacent

security

image

aftermath of the terrorist attacks in

EU-

selective

Where were all these pictures in the media about this different side of Brussels?

forces

Brussels

been

consumed

(often)

without

criticism by readers of

newspapers,

resulting

responding

risked

has

similar

misunderstanding

the media began to slightly shift

However, while speaking with my

upon by some of Brussels’ residents,

their attention away from Brussels

interviewees, friends, flat mates,

the feeling that newspapers and

as a terrorist capital. This, obviously,

and professors at the university, the

television channels exaggerated the

changed again after the terrorist

problems the city of Brussels faced

situation predominates.

21 | Consuming the City

Art Insert

Sounds Beyond Cities

Urban scene 1.0: the subway // le métro // die U-Bahn // ‫ ورتم‬// la metropolitana We use our card to open the gate and descend into the ground. We wait on the platform. The doors slide open. Mind the gap. Hold on firmly. Next stop.

Tehran

soundcloud.com/ctc2016

ART INSERT HOW DO WE EXPERIENCE THE CITY TODAY?

A city is complex, organic; a living organism with its

We may come across once lively historic buildings,

forms, rhythms, and patterns—-interwoven amidst these

now decrepit being towered over by shinier behemoth

is its voice. A voice which seems to have been washed

structures that rise high above into the sky, scraping

over and muted by busy sights and busier minds, as we

a new landscape. We may see cars and bikes flashing

make our way through the city plugged into our devices.

through the streets, and sights of people marching

But hushed though it may be, its vibrations continue.

to their agenda, or in stasis, lining the streets on cafe

The sounds of a city can tell us much about the urban

terraces — But what happens when we unplug from the

spaces that we move through in our daily lives. Listening

notion that the image is worth a thousand words, and

to sounds can unveil an untapped experience of the city.

instead tap into the urban experience that is afforded by

Cities are becoming more deeply rooted in a culture

the sounds that accompany these sights, that so often go

of globalization. This has resulted in the construction of urban spaces that, while located in different

unheard?

Sound provides an often-ignored element of our conceptualization of the urban fabric.

cities across the globe, increasingly look-alike. But when we include sounds in analyzing these scenes, can we then still argue for this increasing homogenization?

- Atkinson THE METRO An example of such an urban space is a public transit

The ambient soundscape of a city is made up of a

system. Millions of citizens in cities around the globe rely

shifting metropolitan fabric, which may guide us in our

on the metro for their daily commute. Although, metro

experience of the urban, thus highlighting an invisible

systems have their own distinct design language – think

yet relevant area of inquiry. It allows us to explore a

art-nouveau in Paris and Helvetica in New York City –

different process through which globalization and

these spaces also have a very similar format. How strong

consumption materialize in cities. By not only including

is their visual distinctiveness? And if we are not able to

the appearance of the urban space, but also its sounds,

visually distinguish them, can sound help us to define in

we can ask ourselves about the degree of the spatial

which metro we are?

transformations that are triggered by globalization.

Milan 23 | Consuming the City

Paris

New York

The installation â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Sounds beyond Citiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; presents an amalgam of moments in time, in world cities. Each story evokes a mood of time and place. A quintet strings together tales of urban angst, languages, and continents that span across time zones. Through sounds, new doors of analysis are opened to examine the transformation of public space and everyday life. The soundscape

EXHIBITION

ambients that make up this installation allows viewers

The opening of the exhibition will take place on

to collectively tap into familiar realms with a new,

Sunday June 12th at Kriterion in Amsterdam

rare experience that takes us a step back as we begin

and will be held for one month.

listening to the way cities pulsate, transform around us, and perhaps also in some ways transform us.

24 | Consuming the City

ART INSERT

Berlin

P l a ce m akin g

Co mmunity Ga rden

Puerto Ric a n C ul t ure

Casitas in the South Bronx Making a Place Called Home by Marijn Ferier

Marijn Ferier is a research master student Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She has a background in Cultural Anthropology and is particularly interested in cultural groups and their relationship to urban space.

DURING THE 70s, MANY OF NEW YORKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NEIGHBOURHOODS STARTED TO SUFFER FROM INCREASING POVERTY RATES rates and declining living standards due to economic restructuring and urban disinvestment. In addition to the economic and the physical environment, the social environment was in distress as well. The loss of primary life spaces such as bodegas (corner shops), churches and social centres, led to the need to rearrange the environment and restore the well-being of the community. By appropriating the urban environment, and building alternative landscapes, Puerto Rican migrants transformed the mea-ning of place.

26 | Consuming the City

REPORT on a different lot one block down.

By taking a closer look at two

used in Caribbean cooking. Not

South Bronx community gardens,

only does this have the very

Casitas have multiple functions:

the

obvious purpose of providing food

cultural (religious holidays, ethnic

consumption is explored. I spoke

for the residents of Caribbean

festivities, reconnection to nature),

with garden presidents and members

descent, it also sends a message to

social (birthday parties, mother’s

to come to an understanding of this

the city. By growing produce that

day, everyday social interaction,

particular use of urban space.

normally needs to be imported, the

community

In 1988, a local organization called

garderners are proving their value.

(rallies,

Amigos Unidos del Bronx founded

Moreover, the garden president,

and economical (food provision).

the community garden El Flamboyan

Gloria, emphasizes the value of

The dual meaning of the casita

gardening as a central part of

community gardens as an oasis

Caribbean culture.

(hope and therapy) and a fort

transformative

152nd

Street

power

and

Concord

Avenue. The Department of Housing Preservation

and

Development

Some

argue

that

activities),

community

political

organizing),

earlier

(reclaiming and control of space) is

owned the abandoned lot, which

movements

community

stressed. In addition, the claiming of

like so many others was plagued by

gardens were primarily focused

public space is perceived as a shift

garbage dum-ping, drug dealing, and

on food production, and more

in the use and production of space,

violence. They allowed the residents

recent

which can lead to empowerment

to establish the garden, on condition

about open space and community

that removal would not be met with

development. Latino community

resistance when the land became

gardens

viewed

casitas by Puerto Ricans in New

subject to development. When that

as social and cultural ga-thering

York conveys multiple messages.

time came, the gardeners asked to

places before they are seen as

First, casitas are a way of turning

be relocated rather than removed. A

agricultural

sites.

‘the bad’ into ‘the good’. By forcing

new spot at 150th Street and Tinton

However,

whereas

literature

illegal activities out of abandoned

Avenue was assigned in 2003.

often

distinguishes

between

lots, landscapes of des-pair were

During the 70s and 80s, Puerto

an economical and a cultural

reshaped into landscapes of hope,

Rican residents in New York City

function, Gloria’s account reflects

rich in values and contributing to a

started to appropriate rubble-filled

the intertwinement of the two.

sense of attachment and regional

movements

especially

are

mostly

are

production

and political power. In

summary,

identity.

the

Members

building

describe

the

vacant lots, neglected by the city,

Casita Rincón Criollo (photo left)

transforming them into community

is known as the oldest and largest

casita as a safe haven; a place where

gardens.

wooden

casita in New York. In 1978, its

you do not have to watch your back.

structures that were built are called

founder, Jose, and his neighbours

Second, casitas articulate a right to

casitas and serve as clubhouses.

claimed an abandoned lot at

the city. It is about the right not to

Casitas are a type of vernacular

158th Street and Brook Avenue.

be displaced. In times when massive

architecture,

Together they cleared the space

displacement

gable

and built a casita, which they

they offered a form of resistance

roofs, bright colours, and large

called Rincón Criollo. It became

verandas.

They

surrounded

well known, mainly because of its

Furthermore, the casita is about the

space

vegetable

emphasis on cultural and musical

right to articulate a Puerto Rican

gardens, as is common in Puerto

events and educational activities.

cultural identity. The casitas validate

Rican

traditio-nal

For instance, the bomba y plena

the cultural identity of Puerto Rican

architecture, as well as other ethnic

musical group Los Pleneros de la 21

residents in New York City.

symbolism such as the Puerto Rican

emerged from the casita. In 2006,

flag and decorations invoke a feeling

their original lot was reclaimed by

of being on the island.

the city. The garden members and

wooden

The

small

recognizable

structures,

open

culture.

Learning

metal

are and The

about

gardening

neighbourhood residents fought

important in several ways; gardeners

for its existence, resulting in the

mainly grow products which are

city allowing them to re-establish

27 | Consuming the City

further

was

abundant,

deterritorialization.

G re e n C ons um ptio n

G overnment Sa bota ge

Automobil e -b i ng e

How to Strangle a City Is Vancouver’s Green Agenda Futile? by Grant Diamond

VANCOUVER IS OFTEN CALLED ONE OF THE GREENEST AND MOST LIVEABLE CITIES IN THE WORLD. Its green “brand” was recently valued at $31 billion by Toronto-based think tank Brand Finance, above other “green” cities like San Francisco. If you read my blog on city rankings, you know the level of credence I attribute to these indices. However, it is clear from the Vancouver’s Greenest City 2020 Action Plan that the municipal government is serious about mitigating climate change and implementing sustainable policies. But Vancouver is being strangled after over a decade of provincial and federal policy (the latter government was recently replaced) undermining its efforts to become a green city by cutting or freezing public transit funding while promoting car culture and fossil fuel exports. Are the city’s green aspirations all in vain?

Grant Diamond is an urban planner and policy analyst and recently completed an MSc at UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning. He is interested in how the political realm can be navigated to achieve sustainable urban policy in Canada and abroad. In 2014 Grant studied abroad at the University of Amsterdam’s Centre for Urban Studies.

REPORT The provincial government has a long and storied history of meddling in municipal affairs in Vancouver but in recent years they have displayed a great mastery in their role as saboteur of sustainable policy. In 2015 the Province engineered the defeat of a referendum on whether the sales tax should be increased to fund new transit projects such as the Broadway Subway; a policy grudgingly proposed by the regions’ mayors after the Province refused to increase transit funding itself. Meanwhile, the Province happily funds

major

auto

infrastructure

projects sans referendum.

The images of Vancouver as perpetuated by the media and the municipal government and consumed by the masses are indeed convincing: a dense downtown, people biking, walking, and taking transit, trees, urban farming, electric ve hi c l e s , t ra i n s , n o f re eways . P h oto : C i t y of Va n co u ve r

sinister plot just outside the city’s

bridge at the obscene cost of $3.5

borders

move,

billion. While the City of Vancouver

agreement with the National Energy

surrounding the city with massive

tries to end our obsession with the

Board stating that it would forego

freeway infrastructure while starving

single-occupancy

its right to perform environmental

public transit within. A siege on the

infrastructure is receiving a major

assessments

greenest city.

boost. There is talk in some circles

alarmingly,

Province

signed

2010

the

equivalency

major

energy

projects such as pipelines and accept

pincer-like

vehicle,

auto

Just outside the city proper, on

that the true motivation behind

the banks of the Fraser River the

this particular project is to dredge

In the following year the then

Province

recently

the channel deeper to allow larger

Conservative

completed Gateway Program with

ships up the Fraser River to new

gutted the Canadian Environmental

LNG

Assessment Act in an attempt to force

This

efforts are essentially just offsetting

pipeline projects through including

included the replacement of the old

greenhouse gas increases outside its

the expansion of one that terminates

five-lane Port Mann Bridge with the

borders.

municipality.

widest bridge in the world at the

While the situation is dire as the

Tanker traffic through Vancouver’s

time (the provincial government

Province beefs up its offence on

harbour would more than double if

is evidently obsessed with mega-

Vancouver’s green aspirations, the

this project goes ahead. This along

projects). Freeways on either side

citizens have a chance to end it. Those

with the Province’s plans to boost

were widened and nine highway

who seek to undermine Vancouver’s

the liquefied natural gas industry in

interchanges replaced, creating new

policies were recently dealt a blow

BC would make Vancouver a major

and freer flowing access for single-

with the election of Justin Trudeau’s

exporter of fossil fuels to be burned

occupancy vehicles to the sprawling

Liberal

in other parts of the world. How could

suburbs. New highways were built

promised billions to Canadian cities

Vancouver maintain its green brand

south of the Fraser River to provide

for much needed infrastructure.

if it were complicit in increasing

easier truck access to the container

In a year British Columbians head

greenhouse gas emissions?

port despite existing freight train

to the polls with the chance to end

right of ways.

the 15-year reign of this provincial

federal

assessment federal

neighbouring

certificates. government

The above example highlights how

senior

governments

mobilized

unprecedented freeway

its

expansion

infrastructure.

depots.

Vancouver’s

government

that

green

has

have

It seemed the siege was ending

government. Will we succeed in

undermined green efforts within the

until the Province announced its

releasing the stranglehold on the

City of Vancouver. But the provincial

plan to replace the 4-lane George

City of Vancouver so it can finally live

government is also engaged in a

Massey

up to its green aspirations?

Tunnel

with

10-lane

29 | Consuming the City

C i ti e s

Tourism

Inequa l it y

“Don’t Leave Jamaica Without At Least One Visit Here” by Alana Osbourne

“

Don’t leave Jamaica without at least one visit here. This is a must for Bob Marley fans but a lot more than that too. See the birthplace of reggae music and so many greats. Of all the tours and museums on Bob this is the real thing…

Reviewed on Tripadvisor by ‘Gazza’ in February 2016

TRENCH TOWN, THE AREA DESCRIBED IN THE REVIEW, IS AN INNER-CITY NEIGHBOURHOOD IN THE VERY HEART OF KINGSTON. Commonly referred to as a ghetto, it is characterized by high levels of poverty and violence. Despite this reputation, Trench Town has become an increasingly important tourism destination for both local and international travellers, principally because it was Bob Marley’s home community and is perceived as the birthplace of reggae. Tourists who want to travel to the genesis of this popular musical genre are drawn to the ‘Culture Yard’ - a communal housing scheme now transformed into a locally run museum that celebrates both the community and the life of a young Bob Marley.

30 | Consuming the City

Trench

Town’s

appeal

lies in more than its link to the famous musician, and the tourism experience isn’t only about reggae. As the following TripAdvisor review reveals, the Trench Town tours are also about the poverty and violence

that

characterize

the

neighbourhood.

“

You don’t want to just stroll around here, but get a taxi or friend to take you into the urban sprawl that isn’t just Trench Town, but a cluster of poor neighbourhoods that are hard to tell apart—though that didn’t keep denizens of each from engaging in all-out war some years ago; you can still see the pocket marks left by bullets. I was struck by both the desperate poverty and the people’s spirit. Want to know why Bob was pissed? Have a look around, especially if you’re staying in New Kingston with the villas and wealth, and see the face of Kingston most visitors miss. Compare the level of services—rare trash pickups, women wheeling makeshift water carriers to public wells, occasional electricity. Posted on TripAdvisor in 2013

Both TripAdvisor posts divulge the

“

But

REPORT

I ask how poverty and violence

that locals endure on a daily basis.

are aestheticized and how space

pervasive idea that in Trench Town

Visiting urban sites of poverty and

lies a ‘real’ Jamaican experience,

violence isn’t a recent practice. It can

one that ‘most visitors miss’ when

be traced back to the 19th century

investigate

choosing to visit the city’s wealthier

during which the richer residents of

dynamics that inform inequality

neighbourhoods

Western metropolises would tour the

tourism,

beach

poorer districts to see how the ‘other

fascinating lens through which to

constructions

half’ lived. The neighbourhoods of

look at how we consume cities.

of Trench Town as an authentic

Harlem or Five Points in New York

tourism

the

were famed for this, as was the

violence and poverty that are part

Whitechapel borough of London.

of the neighbourhood’s make-up are

However,

perceived by visitors as a hallmark

international travel, destinations for

of genuineness. This in turn opens

such expeditions have diversified,

up questions as to how, as tourists,

and now spread from the Slums of

we perceive, imagine and above

India’s megalopolis to Brazilians

all, consume urban poverty and

Favelas, Mexican Barrios Bravos and

violence.

South African Townships. While this

stereotypical landscapes.

the

Caribbean These

space

imply

that

with

increase

During the walking tours of Trench

practice isn’t yet common in the

Town, visitors are unshielded from

Caribbean, it could be argued that

the heat and exposed to the smell of

this is what is practiced in Trench

garbage, witness the lack of proper

Town, Jamaica.

water or electricity supply, and are

Beyond

assessing in

visiting

the

ethics

shown the crippled state of the area’s

involved

derelict housing. Furthermore, as

destitution, or trying to determine

the reference to ‘pocket marks left by

its positive and negative impacts, I

bullets’ shows, outsiders are invited

investigate this type of ‘inequality

to look at the scars left by political

tourism’ (also known as slum or

conflicts and violence. All of these

poverty tourism) as a complex

aspects of the tour offer (relatively

phenomenon that raises numerous

wealthy) tourists the opportunity to

questions

consume the violence and poverty

power, and subjectivity. Therefore,

concerning

sites

inequality,

31 | Consuming the City

produced

for the

tourism, power

addressing

this

and laden as

Alana Osbourne studied anthropology at UCL (University College London), then integrated the Belgian National Film School (INSAS) for a Master’s degree in film directing. She recently started a PhD at the University of Amsterdam, partaking in a research project on inequality tourism in the Americas. Her research concentrates on the encounter between tourists and residents of Trenchtown, an infamous “ghetto” area of Kingston, Jamaica.

Ho n g Kon g

Streetl ife

Encounter s

Four Stories from Third Street 第三街 by Michael Schwind and Patricia Roach The following stories are from Third Street in the Sai Ying Pun (西營盤) district of Hong Kong. Video Link: https://goo.gl/T7iCIt MR. YEUNG Every night of the week, Mr. Yeung mans the counter

store against an armed assailant in the wee hours of the

of the 7-Eleven® for twelve hours, selling cheap beer

morning? Why didn’t I hear the police sirens? And why

and light snacks, servicing the late night cravings of

isn’t there more security to protect valiant Mr.Yeung? Or

a trickle of customers. With most of his patrons fast

does Mr. Yeung lead a double life, going to nightclubs after

asleep, he stocks the inventory and mops the floor. A

his shift ends at 7 am? I could never, and will never, ask.

thirtysomething man with a round face and shaved

Just as Mr.Yeung doesn’t flinch when I buy a children’s

head, Mr. Yeung is the strong silent type, never batting an

chocolate milk and a bag of salty crackers after midnight

eye at strange purchase combinations such as four tall

on a Friday, I’ll reciprocate with an equally expressionless

cans of rice beer and one copy of the China Daily. So how

look. When I hand over the change, he’ll treat my pile of

did even-tempered Mr. Yeung end up with a black eye?

children’s snacks accompanied by a teen magazine he

With each visit after it first appeared, the eye seems to

knows I can’t read as the most natural purchase in the

progressively worsen, becoming more and more difficult

world. When I take the coins from his hand, I’ll look into

to ignore. As the blood pools under the skin below his

his eyes as if half his face is not swollen and discolored,

right eye, fantastic stories became more probable: was

as if nothing is out of the ordinary.

Mr.Yeung the victim of a robbery? Had he protected the

MY HAIRDRESSER By all accounts, I have a good

is the futility of his work. In few

players.

Trapped

the

barber

relationship with ‘my hairdresser.’

minutes all of my freshly treated hair

chair, I start to panic. Endless David

I say ‘my’ because I’ve been here

will be a pile of trimmings on the

Beckhams and Brad Pitts appear

twice. He discovers that I’m German,

shop floor. Feigning obliviousness

on his screen as he looks at me

sharing the same origin as his

but avoiding eye contact, I move on

searchingly. In vain, I try to gesture

electric shaver. With pride he says,

to the barber’s chair.

that all I want is a little shorter on the

“German quality. Twenty years and

Wiggling into the hydraulic chair,

sides and longer on top. At the last

I’ve never had to sharpen it.” He likes

my hairdresser gives me a pile of

moment, at the height of my terror,

soccer and Mesut Özil: clearly we’re

assorted magazines to find my new

I spot a men’s magazine hidden

a good fit.

intended hair style. Caught off-

under the hairstyle catalogues and

A man whose sole occupation is to

guard by catalogue ordering, I have

point to the cover model: a debonair

ready my hair for cutting: washing

a hard time picking a haircut. We

man with three-day stubble, a tight

the hair multiple times, thoroughly

don’t share a common language,

blue blazer, and a meticulously side-

massaging my scalp, before applying

and the hairdresser interprets my

parted coif. One of those classics

intensive conditioning products that

indecisiveness as a rejection of

always useful when words fail and

turn my hair into silky strands. What

current Hong Kong fashion. He picks

opinions differ. He nods, takes his

he probably doesn’t know (and I

up his I-phone and starts image

German-made machine, and starts

can’t bring myself to admit to him)

searching Western actors and soccer

in.

32 | Consuming the City

REPORT

ERICA Erica is the ever-smiling owner of a little laundromat, taking care of towels and bed linens from adjacent hotels and hairdressers. She of

also local

handles

the

residents

clothes

whose

tiny

apartments are incompatible with such heavy machinery. Erica faces stiff competition—there are at least

MS. LAU

three laundromats on the block.

When the doors of the small coffee

In her mid-50s, she keeps vigil by

retailer open, Third Street fills with

her machines until the wee hours.

the odor of freshly ground coffee.

Occasionally guests come by and eat

Inside the tiny shop, there are dozens

dinner with her behind the counter,

of mason jars filled with beans. The

chatting away over the constant

labels promise origins from all over

rumbling of the machines.

the world. I quickly become familiar

I like Erica a lot. She offers to help

with the store owner, a petite

me when the bags are too heavy,

woman who drags heavy sacks into

she’s always game for a chat when

the storage room to later refill the

I’m passing down the street. The only

beans into tiny more manageable

hitch is that her industrial washing

aluminum bags. I’m probably not

style isn’t so great for my clothes: my

difficult to recognize: each visit I’m

whites are now grey and everything

overwhelmed by the plentitude of

has shrunk. Switching now is out

so many little brown beans. Grown

of the question:

we’ve built a

in Costa Rica, Indonesia, Kenya,

relationship, and her shop faces the

Ethiopia, they travel to hip roasters

sole entrance of my building. She’d

in Berlin before arriving at their

know if I lugged my sack out of the

final stop: this tiny store on an

building and turned left or right

unassuming street in Hong Kong.

instead of walking straight toward

I’m intimidated in this connoisseur’s

her. I can’t bear the awkwardness of

trove and with barely enough room to

such a betrayal.

turn around: I have no place to hide.

Erica

now

knows

very

I stand vulnerable in the center and

intimately. She knows when to

mumble

incoherently,

something

expect me each week, what my

about ‘dark’ and ‘bold.’ Before she

apartment looks like—at least in

can answer, I pre-emptively assure

terms of its mismatched towels and

her that under no circumstances

candy cane patterned bedspread.

will anyone add sugar or milk to any

She knows my fabric and intimate

coffee brewed from these sacred

apparel preferences. She knows that

beans. They’ve travelled too far to be

I’m in dire need of new socks and

transformed into a run-of-the-mill

pants but that I never get around to

cup of joe. I wince, feeling judged,

replacing them, that my clothes are

as she searches for the off-trend

often a few sizes too big for me, and

dark roasted beans languishing on a

that my exercise regime is hardly

bottom shelf. Afraid she will ask me

consistent. At this point, would I

about my brewing or even grinding

really want somebody else to air my

technique, I quickly pay, wish her

dirty laundry?

well, and run back across the street.

33 | Consuming the City

After studying at BauhausUniversity Weimar, Michael Schwind is currently finishing the Urban Studies programme at University of Amsterdam. His research interests are located at the intersection of urban and cultural sociology.

Patricia Roach is also wrapping up her degree in Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Her work focuses on informal citizenship and migrant domestic workers.

D ecom m od i ficatio n

Produc tion

Housing

Eating from the Trash Can (of Ideology)

by Emilia Wójtowicz

Emilia Wójtowicz is a student in the Research Master Urban Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She is currently writing her master’s thesis on how cities affect young people’s life courses, and getting inspired by studying and observing social urban movements while on exchange in Berlin.

AS IT SEEMS VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ESCAPE CONSUMPTION IN THE CITY, we should look at ways in which urban residents can defy the taken-for-granted logic of consumerism. Does consuming ‘better’ necessarily mean buying only ‘ethically’ produced goods? Or could our consumption patterns be more constructive and contribute positively to our urban environment, rather than making less of a negative impact? Finally, could the way we consume challenge the dominance of the capitalist processes of production and consumption? Well, first we have to start calling it for what it is.

Recently, I watched a documentary

commodity. I must digress here:

obscures the processes underlying

which

looking for a word to best describe

it.

followed the production chain from

skillfully crafting a product, I looked

farms in Honduras and Rwanda to

up ‘craftily’ and found that the other

capitalist

artisanal cafés in Tokyo, Portland,

meaning of the word is ‘marked by

consumption, profit and growth.

Seattle, San Francisco and New

underhandedness, deviousness or

The

York. Despite the film’s claims of

deception’. Touché.

consumption patterns by defining

about

specialty

coffee,

Urban space is shaped by the

dominant

production,

interests

to the coffee-growing communities,

coffee consumption in specialty

perfect consumer is, and who will

the overly romanticised image of

coffee shops can be seen as a

be excluded. However, as tourism

the production process, complete

perfect example of how we, the

researcher Irena Ateljevic argues,

with farmers in Honduras tasting

urban dwellers, see consumption

challenging

coffee for the first time in their

as something that it is not. Slavoj

consumption’

life, made me a little uneasy. What

Žižek would probably agree that his

way we consume the city also

misleading

metaphor of ‘eating from the trash

affects how it is produced, through

however, was that the CEO of the

can of ideology’ quite acurately

the

coffee company and various baristas

captures the lack of awareness and

reproduction, in which common

referred to specialty coffee as if it

reflexivity when it comes to our

sense understandings, or hegemonic

were the opposite of ‘commodity

consumption practices. To quote

discourses, are constructed. The

coffee’, that is mass produced coffee

his words from The Pervert’s Guide to

capitalist logic of consumption is

one can buy in the supermarket.

Ideology (2012): “The material force

therefore easily taken for granted.

Unarguably, artisanal coffee, no

of ideology makes me not see what

After

matter

and

I am effectively eating.” Indeed, the

inevitable. We consume everything:

painstakingly produced, is still a

way consumption is packaged often

food, energy, entertainment, media,

how

‘responsibly’

34 | Consuming the City

fashionable,

shape

The special experience of specialty

particularly

fairness and positive contribution

found

what

logic

the

‘production/

dichotomy,

interconnecting

all,

who

the

process

consumption

seems

COMMENTARY

Oskar the Illustrator

even

housing.

cases,

experiences in a way that does

consumption is usually understood

not involve paying and obtaining

as a straightforward act of utilisation

a packaged product in return. He

position between a commodity and

However,

argues that as consumers perform

a public good, or a human right, is

do the processes of consumption

their involvement in the experience,

sometimes also consumed outside

in a capitalist city necessarily have

something else is produced, namely

of the usual circle of production and

memories and identities.

consumption,

material

exchange.

connotation

wastefulness spending?

these

deterioration,

and

Could

excessive be

then,

other

ways

occupying

unused buildings or engaging in

any

which we consume the city can

other

positive by-products of consumption

also be productive from an anti-

push the city councils, property

or the way in which we consume?

consumerist perspective, that is

developers,

And finally, can the hegemonic

experiencing urban life in a way

activate vacant property. Sure, it

discourses

that has a positive impact and

might be against many â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;logicsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, not

altering the cycle of production and

defies

urbanism.

only that of capitalism, but also that

consumption?

Take for instance consuming (not

of law and order. Nevertheless, it is

purchasing

goods

a useful practice to think of when

in a way that makes use of the

considering how the production-

mind.

by-products of consumption and

consumption cycle can be altered

The phrase is often used in the

produces something new or - in

and

work on new cultural geography,

this case quite literally - eating from

undermined. And although squatting

which discusses the blurring of the

the trash can and reducing waste.

is now illegal in Amsterdam, it is

boundary between the economic

Recycling, upcycling, second-hand

still not uncommon. The stories of

and the cultural, often in reference

exchange,

skipping,

success, such as won legal battles

to tourism, cultural industries and

freeganism, collection of past sell-

and secured contracts, suggest that

mega-events, as well as everyday

by-date food from supermarkets;

there is room for negotiation. Maybe

practices, such as shopping and, of

through practices such as these the

after all, these small cracks in the

course, drinking coffee. However,

dominant discourses are challenged

monolith of the capitalist city can be

as dance music ethnographer Ben

and goods de-commodified, thereby

dug into deeper, disturbing, if only

Malbon points out with reference

escaping the logic of capitalism.

slightly, the way the city is consumed

there

Perhaps

through

undermined

The consumption of experiences, for

example,

kind

brings

consumption

clubbing,

also

different to

consume

profit-driven but

free

utilising)

shops,

Housing, which holds a special

35 | Consuming the City

forms

the

of and

activism

speculators

hegemonic

and reproduced.

which to

discourses

Fo o d

Po litic a l Consumption

L ifestyl e

Voting with your fork? The moral ambivalence of buying a better world by Joline Rodermans

POLTICAL EATING USED TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE. Nowadays, shopping for vegetarian, vegan, organic and fair-trade food seems to evolve into a mainstream practice. Urban alternative consumption spaces pop-up everywhere, in cities all over the world (Zukin 2008). Just think of the rise of farmers’ markets, organic supermarkets like Whole Foods or Marqt, self-sustainable cafés, or vegan food events over the last decade. As a matter of fact, I am among these people who try to make a difference through what they consume. I rather buy local, seasonal and organic products, preferably from a local farmer or entrepreneur. But recently, I stumbled upon a Dutch book written by the young philosopher Wouter Mensink. The title Kun je een betere wereld kopen? De consument en het fairtrade-complex (2015) (Can you buy a better world? The consumer and the fairtrade-complex) made me wonder: Is it actually possible to buy a better world?

After finishing her bachelor in Human Geography at the UvA and working for cultural organizations in Amsterdam, Joline Rodermans is now a MSc student in Urban Studies at the UvA. Her research interests are food, consumption, social movements and issues of social and environmental sustainability.

These new consumption spaces

spaces can also stimulate processes

offer their food with the promise

of gentrification and displacement.

that their consumers’ choices are

Apparently,

‘good’ choices, contributing to a

and trying to buy a better world

better world. However, it seems to

brings with it a moral ambiguity.

ethical

consumption

be much more complex than that.

Likewise, it appears that this

Alternative consumers are not just

moral ambivalence can also be

“innocent agents of change” as

identified in contemporary popular

Zukin argues among others. While

urban lifestyles—those that seem

shopping for fruits and vegetables

to shape these urban alternative

on the local farmers’ market or at

consumption spaces. Two of these

the organic supermarket, alternative

lifestyles, that I would like to focus

consumers

on, are food-based and green-based

might

buy

better

world in terms of CO2 emissions or

lifestyles.

labour conditions, but Zukin shows

seem to be underpinned, at least to

that these alternative consumption

some extent, by notions of ethical

36 | Consuming the City

These

urban

lifestyles

COMMENTARY consumerism (buying with a sense of

necessary

structural

the citizen-consumer. If it is indeed

morality) and political consumerism

social and environmental change. In

the case that these individual- and

(political action through individual

this sense, political parties and social

consumer-based solutions replace

consumption).

Interestingly,

the

movements are the ideal actors of