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From a more theoretical perspec-tive, however, two major remarks mustbe made. First, although the book ad-dresses the interplay between cultureand economy in a convincing way, itfails to take into account the socialdynamics that produce a need or desirefor events/festivals, and which theevents are also successively absorbedinto – through memories, communica-tion and other forms of symbolic re-articulations. The book opens with aconsideration of the social relation-ships articulated and reproducedthrough festivals in historical times(Greek and Roman spectacles, Medie-val fairs, etc.), and how they contrib-uted to the spatiality of cities. Afterall, it is within the framework of sociallife that every event, as well as everycity, must find its particular form. Peo-ple are not only ‘visitors’ or ‘audiencemembers’, but also cultural producers.This perspective is not developed suffi-ciently in the rest of the book; how-ever, Gold and Gold do not provideany social explanations as to why par-ticular events became popular andsources of local pride, while othersdid not. More specifically, the authorshave a tendency to discuss organizers’miscalculations, for example in termsof number of visitors, without discuss-ing the broader social framework thatmight explain how such a miscalcula-tion is actually produced. For example,it is argued that ‘‘against the real suc-cess of Barcelona [1992 Olympics],particularly urban reconstruction, theSeville [1992 Expo] authorities neededto try to ameliorate the damage left byill-conceived and over-ambitious
plans’’ (p. 136, italics added). Buthow are we to understand the socialand ideological contexts producingthese diverging stories? As a compari-son, Maurice Roche has presented amuch fuller account of the socialmeaning of Olympics and Expos inhis book Mega-Events and Modernity(Roche, 2000).
Secondly, Gold and Gold do notconsider the historical impact of glob-alization and media in relation toplace-marketing in general and cul-tural events in particular. In fact, theword ‘globalization’ is only mentionedthree times in the book. And the word‘media’ is only discussed on two pages,referring to events as media in them-
selves – means of bringing attentionto particular cities and nations. Thelatter perspective is useful. But inorder to analyze how the sign-valueand level of fascination attached toExpos have altered since the pioneer-ing years in the mid 19th century, onecannot overlook the significance ofnew means of communication andtransportation, as well as the globalexpansion of consumer culture. Thesedevelopments are mutually reinforc-ing, and provide an important back-drop for analyses of why Expos arebecoming increasingly peripheral com-pared to the Olympic Games. In theera of globalization, place marketingcannot be effective without transna-tional media exposure. By the sametoken, the media fundamentally alterthe spatial logic connecting culturalspectacles to particular places. WhileExpos are still primarily about local-ized experience, sites whose appealcan be found in the spatial experienceof being there, the Olympics exist toan increasing extent in media space(e.g. Whannel, 1992). A deeper consid-eration of these developments wouldhave further heightened the value ofthis book – supporting the argumentthat Expo 67 was ‘‘the high-watermark of the international exposition’sappeal and popularity in the postwarperiod’’ (p. 19). Since those days, thesports-media complex has turned intosomething completely different thanthe expo-media complex.
Andre JanssonDepartment of Art History and
Communication Studies,McGill University,
853 Sherbrooke Street West,
Montreal, Que.,Canada H3A 2T6
E-mail: [email protected]
References
Roche, Mauric, 2000. Mega-Events andModernity: Olympics and Expos in theGrowth of Global Culture. Routledge,London.
Whannel, Garr, 1992. Fields in Vision:Television Sport and Cultural Transfor-mation. Routledge, London.
doi:10.1016/j.cities.2007.01.001
Planning Middle Eastern Cities:An Urban Kaleidoscope in aGlobalizing WorldY.Elsheshtawy (Ed.) (2004).Routledge,
London and New York
While much has been written on theurban history of Middle Eastern cit-ies, there are very few such accountswritten by natives of those cities.Yasser Elsheshtawy has brought to-gether seven Middle Eastern archi-tecture scholars and one practicingarchitect to write about the urban his-tory and current conditions of severalWest Asian cities (including Bagh-dad, Sana’a, Dubai) and three NorthAfrican cities (Algiers, Cairo, LakeTunis). The selection reflects thechallenge faced by cities around theworld to balance modernization andthe development of international eco-nomic relations with the maintenanceand/or creation of a local architec-tural identity. The authors conveythe sense of urgency felt in each cityto create a new vernacular designusing modern building materials andmethods in a place-appropriate way,a sentiment often magnified in coun-tries that have been colonized. Whilestill managing the effects of colonial-ism, these cities are increasingly sub-ject to the architectural products ofglobalization, which is further alteringtheir cities in ways residents feel theycannot control. The authors givevoice to a general discontent with ur-ban development since colonial times,much of which fails to reflect localidentity, lacks unity and cohesiveness,is unsuitable for specific culturalcontexts, and is environmentallyinappropriate.
The authors outline the historicaldevelopment of the urban fabric oftheir respective cities in three broadphases. First, existing knowledge ofpre-colonial urban forms and buildingstyles is examined with particularattention to materials, technology,building envelopes and architecturalstyles. Second, the authors examinehow European colonizers activelytransformed the urban landscape
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through the introduction of new mate-rials and technology, then-currentplanning philosophies, and policies ofsocial segregation. These moves pro-duced a lasting unevenness in the cityin terms of economic opportunities,urban densities, and access to advanta-ges. Third, the authors examine theperiod after independence and thestruggle to construct a national formof architecture and urban design whilesimultaneously trying to manage ur-gent urban crises such as overpopula-tion, rural-urban migration, woefullyinadequate infrastructures, poverty,congestion and conservation.
Elsheshtawy and some of the otherauthors recognize the complexitiesinherent in the term ‘Middle East’and are aware of the dangers of treat-ing the ‘Middle East’ as a homoge-nous, monolithic entity. It is, forexample, noted by one of the contrib-utors that the ‘‘Islamic city should becalled the ‘colonial Islamic city’ sinceMoslems themselves engaged in formsof colonialism in newly conquered cit-ies’’ (p. 20). Rather than PlanningMiddle Eastern Cities, the collectioncould just as easily have been called‘Planning Postcolonial Desert Cities’.In their editorial discussing the viabil-ity of making comparative studies ofcities in the Middle East, ‘Cities inthe Middle East: Politics, representa-tion and history’, Schechter and Yacobi(2005) chose to use the Ottoman Em-pire to guide their selection process.In this book, however, Elsheshtawy isvague in his criteria for the selectionof cities, particularly in justifying theinclusion of North African cities,which he considers ‘culturally and so-cially . . . associated with the MiddleEast region’ (p. 20). While he makesit clear that he has cast a wide net inhis selection of cities, his choiceswould have been more persuasivehad they been accompanied by a moredetailed justification rather than leav-ing the reader to trust Elsheshtawy’scultural assumptions.
Although the collection covers agroup of cities that reflects the rangeof urban challenges and solutionsfound in the Middle East, it is unevenin the degree of critical analysis. Thisis partly due to the fact that many ofthe authors seem to have struggledwith varying success to discuss the cit-
ies they review in the limiting andcomparatively irrelevant terms ofglobalization. Urban population pres-sures, depressed economies, andoppressive political regimes surelyhave a far greater affect on the mor-phology of some of these cities thanglobalization, making Sana’a and Al-giers, for instance, unconvincingchoices for inclusion because theyare far less integrated into the ‘global-ized’ world than, say, Dubai andCairo. Although interesting in theirown right, perhaps these chapterswould better fit into a collection of pa-pers about growing desert cities orpostcolonial (Muslim?) cities. While Iunderstand that the editor has at-tempted to convey the range of urbanconditions in the Middle East, itwould have been a tighter, more fo-cused collection if either the rubricof ‘globalization’ had been abandonedor more similar examples had beenexamined to understand how different‘global’ Middle Eastern cities are han-dling new global opportunities andconstraints.
Of course in such collections it isalso tempting to consider what citieshave not been included. Adding achapter on Israeli urban planningand territorial expansion would havecreated an opportunity for fascinatingcomparison, as Israel is very much intune with the ‘globalizing world’. Is-raeli planners and architects have cer-tainly been active for many decadesand analysis regarding how planninghas developed in sites of on-goingpolitical, cultural, and religious con-flict would have been a thought-pro-voking addition. As highly contestedplaces, a chapter on how Israeli citieshave been planned for exclusion/inclu-sion, how they have been fortified,how an identity has been createdthrough urban design, what has beenpreserved and what has not and theplanning philosophy behind urbanexpansion would have enriched thecollection. Furthermore, severalauthors use the terms ‘Middle East-ern’ and ‘Muslim’ interchangeably.Whatever one’s political beliefs, Jewsare a part of the ‘urban kaleidoscope’that is the Middle East.
While claiming to be written by lo-cals who ‘project an empathy and adeeper understanding’ (p. 10) of their
urban environment, none of the con-tributions were written by local wo-men, who would likely have beenable to provide insight as to how thesecities are gendered. In fact, no men-tion is made in the text at any pointof any gender tensions that may existin each city. Other omissions are amap indicating the location of eachcity as well as a glossary, which wouldbe useful because the internationalaudience the book is intended formay not be familiar with such urbanforms as a medina or Casbah.
There are two main strengths ofthis book. The first lies in its accessi-bility and good historical and culturalcoverage of the changing urban con-ditions of the included cities. It willbe of great use to non-Middle East-ern architects and planners who haveprojects in the region to help themunderstand the complex urban histo-ries that are unique to each place aswell as the many similarities these cit-ies share.
The second strength lies in thediversity of its authors and the rangeof planning philosophies and perspec-tives they hold. This is best illustratedby the editor’s inclusion of the chapterby Jamel Akbar called ‘the Merits ofcities’ locations’, in which he makes astrange plea for Middle Eastern citiesto use Islamic texts as the basis for ur-ban planning. Basing his arguments onthe assumption that the entire popula-tion believes not only in the samereligion but also in the same interpre-tation of the Quran, Akbar’s utopianIslamic vision sees Islam as a socialand economic system equivalent tocapitalism or socialism. He uses theterms ‘Moslem world’ and ‘MiddleEast’ interchangeably, despite therebeing more Muslims outside the Mid-dle East than within it. Akbar claimsto subscribe to an ‘Islamic perspective’without acknowledging that Islam isinterpreted in a variety of ways, mak-ing the Muslim world a ‘kaleidoscope’,as the title of the book suggests, ratherthan a single, monolithic perspective.As alien as it may seem to some touse an ancient religious document toinform current urban planning, thischapter provides an interestingglimpse into the wide spectrum ofvoices and perspectives that exist inthe region.
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While the range of voices makesthis collection uneven, it is preciselythis scope that is a strength. It pro-vides the non-Middle Eastern readerwith rich insight into the attitudesand beliefs common among practitio-ners in the region and offers a tasteof what to expect if one is intendingto join an urban design project there.Planning according to religious be-liefs exists in much of the world anddesigners as well as academics wouldbenefit from a deeper understandingof such perspectives. Elsheshtawyhas made a commendable effort to al-low local architecture scholars acrossthe postcolonial world to tell theirown cities’ stories, to interpret theirurban histories in their own way.Planning Middle Eastern Cities is agood addition to the literature onplanning in the region and a correc-tive to the many writings by externalobservers.
Sarah MoserNational University of Singapore,
Department of Geography,Block AS2, 1 Arts Link,
Singapore 117570,Singapore
E-mail: [email protected]
Reference
Schechter, R, Yacobi, H, 2005. Cities in theMiddle East: Politics, Representationand History. Cities 22 (3), 183–188.
doi:10.1016/j.cities.2007.01.002
Cities of Culture: Staging InternationalFestivals and the Urban AgendaGold, John R, Margaret M Gold,Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 1851–2000
In the era of informationalization andglobalization, spectacular place-mar-keting efforts like festivals, congressesand exhibitions are often understoodas a ‘cure-all’ within urban develop-ment. The production of positive urbanplace-images is supposed to generatesynergies within the economic sector,as cultural assets to attract people andinvestments, which in turn might alter‘real’ social conditions. At least, this is
the rather simple recipe promotedwithin the place-marketing discourse.
In their book Cities of Culture:
Staging International Festivals and theUrban Agenda, 1851–2000, John R.Gold (Professor of Urban Geography)and Margaret M. Gold (Senior Lec-turer in Arts Management) ventureinto an historical exploration of therelationships between large-scale cul-tural events and city development.The city is regarded both as the sceneof such events, i.e. the place where dif-ferent kinds of performances arestaged, and as the socio-economicorganization upon which events mighteventually have some positive influ-ence. To grasp this interplay, theauthors argue, cultural events mustbe approached as processes closelyinterwoven with other parts of urbanlife. To understand the socio-eco-nomic legacy of events one must takeinto account their entire production-cycle. Large-scale festivals and exhibi-tions not only take several years toplan and set up. As the authors note,since buildings might have to be dis-mantled or converted, and the sitemight have to be re-landscaped,‘‘transferring the site to its post-festi-val state takes a further extended per-iod of time’’ (p. 6, italics added). Froman economic perspective, then, mak-ing the post-festival state profitable isoften a greater challenge than produc-ing the festival itself. In addition, theeconomic value of cultural spin-offs(image, symbolic capital, etc.) is noto-riously difficult to estimate.
Gold and Gold focus upon threeparticular types of festivals: interna-tional expositions (such as World’sFairs and Universal Expos); the mod-ern Olympic Games; and the Euro-pean Cities (or Capitals) of Culture.While Expos and Olympic Gameshave been popular among Westerncities throughout the modern era,European Cultural Cities are a ratherrecent invention. Except for their ma-jor scale, what these events have incommon is the fact that cities/nationshave to compete with one another inorder to be appointed as a host.Accordingly, since the number ofoccasions are limited (such as theOlympics every four years), the sym-bolic value of hosting any of theseevents is outstanding – which does
not mean, however, that the city/na-tion can take success for granted.Through their historical review –including separate chapters for theGreat Exhibition in London in 1851;the 1939 New York World’s Fair; theMontreal’s Expo 67; the ModernOlympic Games; the European Citiesof Culture; and the Millenniumcelebrations associated with Expos,Olympics and European Cities ofCulture – Gold and Gold demonstratethat the staging of urban spectacleshas always been a risky business. Na-ıve economic projections and timeschedules, unforeseen alterations inpolitical and economic affairs, andorganizational and infrastructuralshortcomings, have all too oftenturned spectacles and celebrationsinto fiascos and economic ruin. Post-festival debates among local and na-tional decision makers concerningthe outcome of a spectacle have beenjust as common as the debates preced-ing the decision to candidate. Forexample, although the Montreal Expo67 was a formidable success in termsof visitors (more than 50 millions,compared to a calculation of 30 mil-lions); helping to produce a nationaltrade surplus in 1967, and leavingMontreal with a much improved infra-structure, the exhibition itself was aloss. And the attempts to create sur-plus through subsequent annual Exposof smaller scale only produced an in-creased loss. The public interest hadebbed away, and eventually the fed-eral government agreed to write offthe debts of Expo 67. Cities of Cultureis a book that manages to pinpoint thecritical issues that every urban deci-sion maker must counter when plansare made for staging big culturalevents.
What is the main objective of theevent? When and in what way do weexpect the event to ‘pay off’? In par-ticular, these questions touch uponthe ambiguities regarding planningand evaluation which arise at theintersection of culture and economy.While these two spheres are increas-ingly interwoven throughout society,they continue to obey separate, notto say oppositional, logics in terms ofvalue. Economic and cultural valuesare opposite kinds. Thus, throughtheir careful assessment of how the
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