Abstract
Twenty years on from Northern Ireland’s emergence from ethno-political conflict to relative peace and prosperity, research has criticised the region’s fragmented governance of the built environment. With Belfast City Council acquiring planning powers more than 40 years after they were centralised, questions are being asked as to the future of democratic participation in the capital’s urban environment.
To explore this, my research will look at three retail centres in the city core: CastleCourt, Victoria Square, and the proposed development known as Royal Exchange. Each development represents a unique moment in Belfast’s political and physical history. Discourse analysis will be conducted on the utterances of a range of stakeholders in the governance process, namely: politicians, planners, developers, the media, and the public.
Sources include but are not limited to: declassified files; council minutes; ministerial statements; newspaper articles; letters to newspapers and periodicals; plans, policies and strategies (PPS); and interviews with key stakeholders. These sources will also allow for a comparison with present day utterances from stakeholders in regards to the Royal Exchange scheme. Further analysis will be conducted on relationships between stakeholders, and between stakeholders and discourse. The aim is to create a clear framework which evaluates both the discourse and the actors participating in the discourse. This framework will attempt to visualise the stakeholders and illustrate their influence in the discourse of development in Belfast city centre.
The first group being researched are a collection of activists who are presently formalising Belfast’s first ‘Right to the City Alliance’. Based on the model espoused in New York, the coalition is seeking to organise a stronger movement for urban justice. My intention is to present an initial framework which exhibits the discourse, the actors involved, and the relationship between discourse and actors.
To explore this, my research will look at three retail centres in the city core: CastleCourt, Victoria Square, and the proposed development known as Royal Exchange. Each development represents a unique moment in Belfast’s political and physical history. Discourse analysis will be conducted on the utterances of a range of stakeholders in the governance process, namely: politicians, planners, developers, the media, and the public.
Sources include but are not limited to: declassified files; council minutes; ministerial statements; newspaper articles; letters to newspapers and periodicals; plans, policies and strategies (PPS); and interviews with key stakeholders. These sources will also allow for a comparison with present day utterances from stakeholders in regards to the Royal Exchange scheme. Further analysis will be conducted on relationships between stakeholders, and between stakeholders and discourse. The aim is to create a clear framework which evaluates both the discourse and the actors participating in the discourse. This framework will attempt to visualise the stakeholders and illustrate their influence in the discourse of development in Belfast city centre.
The first group being researched are a collection of activists who are presently formalising Belfast’s first ‘Right to the City Alliance’. Based on the model espoused in New York, the coalition is seeking to organise a stronger movement for urban justice. My intention is to present an initial framework which exhibits the discourse, the actors involved, and the relationship between discourse and actors.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2019 |
| Event | 49th Annual Meeting: Claiming Rights to the City: Community, Capital, and the State - UCLA, Los Angeles, United States Duration: 24 Apr 2019 → 27 Apr 2019 Conference number: 49 |
Conference
| Conference | 49th Annual Meeting |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | UAA |
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Period | 24/04/2019 → 27/04/2019 |
