Manchester University Press
5 Spatial planning in contested territory
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William J. V. Neill
Abstract
This chapter reviews the history of strategic spatial policy in post-partition Northern Ireland. It focuses on developments since the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in 1998, especially in relation to the vision of regional planning as a whole and physical image enhancement of the 'post-conflict' city of Belfast in particular. At a regional level, there is a danger of oversimplifying the complex ethnic geography, which features many enclave communities living in the territory of the 'other'. The understanding of spatial governance and planning amid such contestation thus cannot be divorced from a deeper appreciation of two cultural identities in conflict where the meaning of place is constitutive of identity itself. This remains the case in a 'post-troubles' environment. The post-war policy is against the perceived shortcomings of the economic and spatial modernisation plans of the late 1940s that all subsequent spatial policy in Northern Ireland has been judged.
Abstract
This chapter reviews the history of strategic spatial policy in post-partition Northern Ireland. It focuses on developments since the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in 1998, especially in relation to the vision of regional planning as a whole and physical image enhancement of the 'post-conflict' city of Belfast in particular. At a regional level, there is a danger of oversimplifying the complex ethnic geography, which features many enclave communities living in the territory of the 'other'. The understanding of spatial governance and planning amid such contestation thus cannot be divorced from a deeper appreciation of two cultural identities in conflict where the meaning of place is constitutive of identity itself. This remains the case in a 'post-troubles' environment. The post-war policy is against the perceived shortcomings of the economic and spatial modernisation plans of the late 1940s that all subsequent spatial policy in Northern Ireland has been judged.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of tables ix
- List of figures x
- Notes on contributors xi
- Acknowledgement xiv
- 1 Introduction 1
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Part I Political developments and divisions
- 2 Telling stories, facing truths 29
- 3 From conflict to communal politics 49
- 4 Belfast 73
- 5 Spatial planning in contested territory 88
- 6 Policing change 110
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Part II Social identities
- 7 Religious change and persistence 135
- 8 Gender and ethno-nationalist politics 156
- 9 The glacier moves? 175
- 10 Whiteness, racism and exclusion 192
-
Part III Cultural practices
- 11 Still taking sides 215
- 12 From shellshock rock to ceasefire sounds 232
- 13 House training the paramilitaries 253
- Index 273
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- List of tables ix
- List of figures x
- Notes on contributors xi
- Acknowledgement xiv
- 1 Introduction 1
-
Part I Political developments and divisions
- 2 Telling stories, facing truths 29
- 3 From conflict to communal politics 49
- 4 Belfast 73
- 5 Spatial planning in contested territory 88
- 6 Policing change 110
-
Part II Social identities
- 7 Religious change and persistence 135
- 8 Gender and ethno-nationalist politics 156
- 9 The glacier moves? 175
- 10 Whiteness, racism and exclusion 192
-
Part III Cultural practices
- 11 Still taking sides 215
- 12 From shellshock rock to ceasefire sounds 232
- 13 House training the paramilitaries 253
- Index 273
