A place for play ... in post-conflict reconstruction

Abstract

Division within a city is commonplace, if not inevitable, whether geographically, politically, or by income, race or ethnicity. The extreme environment of polarized cities therefore has a significant relevance within urbanism and the study of the built environment of cities in general. The physical markers of dichotomization imposed on the urban landscape, whether in the form of walls, roads, fences or zones of vacant or patrolled land, become a significant presence and extremely meaningful element within the segregated city, and very much so in any future transformation or redevelopment of the city. The question of how to deal with these physical manifestations of conflict and segregation is a key issue within any post-conflict reconstruction and development within these cities, and is the main concern of this thesis proposal. Belfast, in the province of Northern Ireland, is one such polarized city, with the Peacelines manifesting the sectarian tensions between neighbouring communities and the conflict at large. These Peacelines, and surrounding interface areas are the site of this thesis, which attempts to deal with many of the issues associated with architectural intervention in, and the future possible urban morphology of the polarized city, in a specific and complex urban situation.