Ethnic Diversity and Democratic Public Spaces in the Contemporary City

Reflecting deepening globalisation, how diversity is addressed through social relations and the challenges it poses for social harmony have become key research issues among urban scholars. Ethnic Diversity and Democratic Public Spaces in the Contemporary City explores the play of inter-ethnic relations and the multiplicity of public spaces in the city through which interaction occurs. This book focuses on the making of democratic public spaces in which inter-ethnic relations foster recognition and respect between different groups as well as a fuller understanding of ethnic difference. The study is rooted in the experience of one city, Glasgow, and, two neighbourhoods within it, representing the more 'ordinary' city in which in-migration has had an important historical role as well as being of increasing significance to its present-day development. This book explores how planned intervention - through cultural projects including public art, street performance, the design of dedicated green spaces, policing, and local government policy making - seeks to enhance positive inter-ethnic relations, and to constrain the public performance of ethnicity in the city where it is seen as erosive to social harmony. An essential read for urban practitioners and academics, this volume addresses ethnic diversity as an increasingly important reality affecting everyday life in the city