The Dynamics of Place Making in Contested Cities

Cuny John Jay College Of Criminal Justice, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Edward K. Snajdr and Dr. Shonna Trinch (both of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York) will undertake research on the dynamic and mutually transforming relations between local communities and urban development projects. The research will be carried out on Atlantic Yards, New York City's largest urban redevelopment project in the past 50 years. Atlantic Yards, which will consist of a new professional basketball arena and a collection of high-rise towers set to be built in a residential area of Brooklyn, offers a unique opportunity to study the contested city, a space where different people compete to define, create, and contribute to urban life. The researchers will employ a combination of data collection methods, including ethnography and particiant observation; interviews with representatives of all stakeholders; repeated surveys of a random probability cluster sample of households; and discursive and textual analyses of archival and web-based information. These data will allow them to track changes in representations by supporters and opponents; correlate changes in perceptions with other variables; and build a model of how different processes of place-making unfold, interact, and change over time. Findings from this research will help to understand new patterns in contemporary urban development, including the effects of new technologies of communication, contributing to social scientific theories of urban life. The results of this research will also be of use to policy makers, politicians, developers and community groups to address a range of ethical, material, economic, cultural, and social issues surrounding the process of urban redevelopment.