Heritage, Place, and Neighborhood: Itineraries as Public Space Contention in Ring-Road Districts of Madrid

TitleHeritage, Place, and Neighborhood: Itineraries as Public Space Contention in Ring-Road Districts of Madrid
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsPedro Limón López, Sergio Claudio González García
JournalResearch in Urban Sociology
Volume15
Pagination255-285
ISSN10470042
Abstract

Links between urban areas and public space have always had a central presence in the field of Urban Sociology. During the last four decades, and in relation with globalization processes, reflection about city places and what constitutes the "public" has increasingly been in line with what has been called an "emplacing heritage process," which emerged as a controversial point of intervention in urban areas. In this sense, itineraries have been considered of primary importance in urban heritage signification, recognition, and symbolic production. In short, these routes appear as ways in which public space is materially and symbolically occupied, becoming emplacing heritage processes in themselves. In this chapter, we study two heritage-making processes through neighborhood itineraries, which are carried out in district territory and are located in two peripheral neighborhoods belonging to the City of Madrid (Hortaleza and Carabanchel). Ultimately, the point here is that these routes are not merely a pathway that "goes" along acknowledged heritage places; these itineraries are an emplacement and a signification of patrimony itself. These processes act as markers of iconic places and as remembrance performances of neighborhood memory. We would argue that routes around historical places in Carabanchel, as well as the "Three Wise Men" popular parades in Hortaleza bring shared geographical imaginaries, collective memory, and iconic places together in everyday experiences of both places. These itineraries change both urban sites in terms of their neighborhood heritage by disputing spatial discourses and imaginaries of heritage, urban place, and neighborhood.

DOI10.1108/S1047-004220160000015011
Short TitleHeritage, Place, and Neighborhood