1st Edition

Selling Ethnic Neighborhoods The Rise of Neighborhoods as Places of Leisure and Consumption

Edited By Volkan Aytar, Jan Rath Copyright 2012
    178 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    186 Pages 16 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    While ethnic neighborhoods are usually associated with poverty, crime and social problems, they have also emerged as places of leisure and consumption, providing opportunities for numerous entrepreneurs and employees. Local and national governments and other regulatory actors, as well as the media, have started to see and promote these neighborhoods as urban attractions for tourists, city dwellers and others. This book aims to analyze the roles of ethnic entrepreneurs and their associations and governments, and - by extension - of consumers and other actors in the rise of ethnic neighborhoods as places of leisure and consumption. Through case studies, it situates those neighborhoods at the edge of different theoretical debates about urban political economy and the politics of culture, and seeks a dynamic synergy between both.

    Introduction: Ethnic Neighborhoods as Places of Leisure and Consumption  Volkan Aytar and Jan Rath  1. Urban Ethnic Tourism in New York’s Neighborhoods: Then and Now  Johannes Novy  2. Ethnic Minority Restaurateurs and the Regeneration of ‘Banglatown’ in London’s East End  Stephen Shaw and Sue Bagwell  3. Gateways to the Urban Economy: Chinatowns in Antwerp and Brussels  Ching Lin Pang  4. Kreuzberg’s Multi- and Inter-cultural Realities: Are They Assets?  Johannes Novy  5. Sanitizing the Metropolis of Leisurely Consumption: A Missed Chance to Re-invent Entrepreneurial Dynamism in Sulukule, Istanbul  Volkan Aytar and Suheyla Kırca-Schroeder  6. When Diversity Meets Heritage: Defining the Urban Image of a Lisbon Precinct  Catarina Reis de Oliveira  7. Symbols of Ethnicity in a Multi-ethnic Precinct: Marketing Perth’s Northbridge for Cultural Consumption  Kirrily Jordan and Jock Collins  8. Risotto and Zighiní? Milano’s Lazzaretto between Multiculturalism and Insecurity  Roberta Marzorati and Fabio Quassoli

    Biography

    Jan Rath is a Professor of Sociology in the University of Amsterdam. He is currently the head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and involved in the Institute for Ethnic and Migration Studies (IMES).

    Volkan Aytar is currently a Lecturer in the Faculty of Communication at Bahçeşehir University, Istanbul, and a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam.

    "[T]he book offers insightful descriptions and analyses of ethno-cultural commodification in the urban context and draws attention to the conflicting aspects, which is an ongoing issue in both socio-political and scholarly debates."Gwen van Eijk, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment