Community planning and urban design in contested places. Some insights from Belfast

摘要

Although social conflict due to the presence of different groups divided\udby cultural, religious or ethnic issues plagues many contemporary cities,\udcommunity and participatory planning methods still pay little attention\udto segregation in contested spaces as a specific matter of concern. This\udpaper aims to contribute to filling this gap through the development of\uda novel tool to be implemented during community planning processes\udin contested cities, particularly in (visual) mapping processes. The pilot\udarea for developing the lexicon has been selected within the city of\udBelfast, which has been struggling for years with problems related to\udinter-religious sectarian conflicts. The material effects on the urban\udstructure of the long process of defensive planning during the socalled\udTroubles and within the post-conflicts peace programmes\udhave been investigated by analysing urban artefacts including edges,\udborders, barriers, doors, visual control points. The paper suggests that\uda simple, recognizable lexicon may contribute to honing community\udplanning methods in contested places by integrating the traditional\udmethodology of visual mapping with a tailored taxonomy of elements\udof urban conflict, which may be used at many stages of the planning\udprocess, including developing a visual map, design and planning, and\uddeveloping and implementing an action plan.\ud© 2016