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16 - Uncovering Competing Senses of Place in a Context of Rapid Urban Change

from Part V - Urban Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2021

By
Lynne C. Manzo  and
Richard Desanto
Edited by
Christopher M. Raymond ,
Lynne C. Manzo ,
Daniel R. Williams ,
Andrés Di Masso  and
Timo von Wirth
Christopher M. Raymond
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki, Finland
Lynne C. Manzo
Affiliation:
University of Washington, Seattle
Daniel R. Williams
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Colorado
Andrés Di Masso
Affiliation:
Universitat de Barcelona
Timo von Wirth
Affiliation:
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
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Summary

In this chapter we examine multiple, competing senses of place in a rapidly changing city in the USA through a lens of critical theory. In particular, we analyse discourses around urban change in the city of Seattle, one of the fastest growing and most dramatically changing cities in the USA, in order to uncover how hegemonic discourses are constructed and deployed to establish a normative order, and how those dominant narratives are challenged by divergent perspectives. Although the specifics of the urban change and discourse we highlight are fairly unique to Seattle, the broader dynamics around multiple competing senses of place vying for expression pertain to any city undergoing transformation. In analysing competing narratives and demonstrating the power of dominant discourses to create a falsely homogenised sense of place, this chapter offers a cautionary tale for vigilance against the erasure of multiple senses of place.

Keywords

Urban changecritical theorysense of placesenses of placediscourse analysis
Type
Chapter
Information
Changing Senses of Place
Navigating Global Challenges
 , pp. 209 - 220
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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