"They are deconstructing the city"

The present article examines the role of the media in (re)producing positive and negative discourses on tactical urbanism, through a case study of recent tactical urbanism measures in Barcelona. To this end, the article analyses 106 news items on tactical urbanism, published in two newspapers with c...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Nello-Deakin, Samuel|||0000-0002-4007-0148
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:290878
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/290878
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1080/17549175.2023.2257197
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Barcelona
Frame analysis
Media narratives
Street space
Superblocks
Tactical urbanism
Descripción
Sumario:The present article examines the role of the media in (re)producing positive and negative discourses on tactical urbanism, through a case study of recent tactical urbanism measures in Barcelona. To this end, the article analyses 106 news items on tactical urbanism, published in two newspapers with contrasting ideological viewpoints. Through an inductive coding process, I map arguments put forward in favour of or against tactical interventions, and identify five main narrative frames on tactical urbanism (three negative and two positive): 1) "Disorder and decadence;" 2) "The war on cars;" 3) "Strangling the city;" 4) "The new hygienism;" and 5) "Reclaiming the street." Negative frames criticise tactical urbanism primarily on aesthetic and procedural grounds, while positive frames tend to justify it through appeals to public health. In the Discussion, I suggest that emphasising the experimental nature of tactical urbanism might contribute to mitigate the polarisation of media frames on the topic.