Urban discourse – city space, city language, city planning: Eco-semiotic approaches to the discourse analysis of urban renewal

Abstract

Abstract. Sustainable Urban Planning has to be understood as a communicative process connecting city architecture, technology, city district management and social infrastructure of neighbourhoods. The focus on sustainability raises the question of the necessary discourse conditions that allow architects and city planners enter into a dialogue with other urban stakeholders, citizens, local administrators and politicians, and discuss which cultural heritage should be preserved and where sustainability takes precedence. Looking at the style of discourse in urban communication brings also its socio-cultural modalities into focus. At the intersection of communication and discourse studies, urban ecology and sociology, the article focuses on the growing interest in architectural communication and, taking current approaches as a starting point, seeks to clarify which conversational maxims and discourse requirements by mediation, moderation, and integration are promising for achieving a new urban quality.

Signs of trouble: Semiotics, streetscapes, and the Republican struggle in the North of Ireland

“…. discuss which cultural heritage should be preserved” (Hess-Luttich, 2016: 12). Among the influential stakeholders shaping narratives for political tourists are political parties, especially Sinn Fein (SF) in West Belfast where Irish Republican heritage is most pronounced.…”

“…There, political tourism is a conscious strategy for stakeholders who are committed to shedding Belfast of its reputation as the “Pariah City” due in large part to “the Troubles” (Neill et al, 1995). By comparison, Berlin has been long characterized as “a city condemned forever to becoming and never being” (Scheffler, 2015 [1910], quoted in Hess-Luttich, 2016: 29). Whereas Berlin and Belfast each have their unique historical circumstances, present day tourism invites outsiders to experience an evolving semiosphere that has been shaped by a controversial boundary (i.e.…”

Post-place branding as nomadic experiencing

“…In the light of the already massive literature on the subject, asserting that place and destination branding concern physical places (i.e., non-discursively and narratively mediated), rather than cultural, themed spaces (Firat et al 2011;Campelo 2015), is a truism (Abousnnouga and Machin 2011;Hess-Luttich 2016;Lagopoulos 2009). ''Space may be considered as a cultural text, or rather as cultural texts'' (Lagopoulos 2009, p. 171) as ''different spaces with different practices by different agents superimposed upon it'' (Sonnenburg and Baker 2013, p. 15).…”

Assessing sustainability in cities : a complexity science approach to the concept of happiness for the urban environment

“…Sustainable city planning must be understood as a communicative process connecting among others city architecture, technology, city district management and social infrastructure of neighbourhoods (see Sections 1.2 and 1.3). In this sense, urban communication is seen as a complex, historically and culturally specific process of negotiation (Hess-Lüttich 2016). The roll of discourse as a component of urban processes and change (Hastings 1999), directly connected to communication, is considered thus of great importance.…”