Staging urban tourism: A tale of concrete barriers and fortress urbanism

    Activity: Talks and presentationsConference presentations

    Description

    New counter-terrorism measures are being installed across European city centers in the aftermath of the recent truck attacks in Berlin, Nice, Paris and Stockholm. Consequently, new urban plans and architectures are shaping the conditions for urban tourism experiences. On this background, and through an ethnographic approach, this paper explores the effects of one of the most conspicuous responses to truck-based terrorism: concrete barriers. We draw on the recent turn towards mobilities design and non-representational theories to suggest that these material interventions are more-than physical obstructions, but artifacts that both shape, and is shaped by, everyday practices in unexpected ways. Set within the context of Copenhagen, we explore how these newly introduced concrete barriers reveal the social, cultural and practical conditions of the city, and thus function as ‘canvases’ upon which the hopes, desires and political convictions of both locals and guests can be expressed. By so doing we seek to establish a critical mobilities design oriented school of thought engaged with design thinking, change, public activism and not least the distribution of power in the intersection between urban tourism and fortress urbanism.
    Period26 Sept 201829 Sept 2018
    Event titleATLAS Annual Conference 2018
    Event typeConference
    LocationCopenhagenShow on map