Reading the City Stadt Lesen

Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann (Hrsg.)

Reading the City Developing Urban Hermeneutics Stadt lesen Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik Dieter Hassenpfl ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann (Hrsg.)

Reading the City: Developing Urban Hermeneutics Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

Lektorat: Dr. Heidemarie Schirmer Lektorat englische Beiträge: Truly Translated/ Dr. Ross Beveridge Umschlaggestaltung: Michael Kraus Layout & Satz: Michael Kraus Druck: docupoint GmbH Barleben

Verlag der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar Marienstraße 5 99423 Weimar Telefon: +49 (0) 3643/58 11 52 Telefax: +49 (0) 3643/58 11 56 E-mail: [email protected]

ISBN: 978-3-86068-426-9 Printed in Germany Preface and Acknowledgement

Th e original idea for this edited volume em- into a general interest in decoding the socio-cul- anated from Dieter Hassenpfl ug’s research on tural messages contained in – and conveyed by – current urbanisation processes in China. His urban spaces. Is it possible to read the city and, if long-term studies on this issue have been led by the answer is yes, how can this be accomplished? a search for the main social and cultural forces In an attempt to address these questions, the which have fostered and steered the incredibly search for concepts suitable for interpreting rapid urbanisation process in China that we have urban space, for developing an urban herme- witnessed in recent years. Does the urbanisation neutics, came to the fore of urban research. In of western countries serve as a model for the Chi- particular, the approach of urban semiotics – nese case, or can we also detect the continuing decisively informed by Roland Barthes, Henry infl uence of earlier forms of urban space pro- Lefèbvre, Umberto Eco and Mark Gottdiener – duction? Th e pertinence of this research ques- has been shown to be a highly productive means tion grew with the knowledge that several urban of achieving urban readings of this kind. Such an development projects led by western architects approach appears all the more relevant because and planners had oft en struggled to gain full it can be understood as a method which concep- acceptance or had ultimately even failed. Ob- tualises the city as a system of socio-culturally viously, there has been a lack of understanding encoded signs, as a ‘syntagma’ (de Saussure). concerning the particularities of producing and Th e results which emerged from the lectures utilising urban space in China. Moreover, as cit- on the semiotics of the Chinese city were pub- ies essentially represent a society’s habitat and lished in the book “Th e Urban Code of Chi- since they must be understood as spatialised so- na“ in 2010. Th e book illustrates the existence cieties, a failure to understand the city amounts of signifi cant, genuinely Chinese urban codes to a failure to understand a society altogether. despite the evident infl uence of global trends. In this way, the search for the main driving Obviously, these specifi c urban codes are the forces of Chinese hypermodernisation evolved expression of practices and cultural traditions Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

4 deeply rooted in Chinese society. Th e striking accessible to a wider audience: academics and and salient insights gained from this exploration students from various fi elds of urban studies, of urbanisation processes in China inevitably led practitioners dealing with urban issues, as well to thoughts about the prevailing practices of so- as the general public. We therefore decided to cio-cultural encodings in other countries and re- ask all those who presented papers to rework gions. It provoked questions concerning the im- them in the light of the discussions of their pa- pacts produced by the clash of diff ering socio- pers and the more general insights they gained spatial encodings on the stage of a globalising from the symposium. The volume here is the world which is being shaped decisively by mass result of this undertaking. media and in which the abovementioned driving Th e editors are grateful to all participants forces are oft en rendered ubiquitous by fl ows of in the symposium. Special thanks go, of course, fashions, styles, aesthetic schemes, discourses etc.. to all those, who delivered a speech and rewrote Beyond questions about the applicability of it for publication in this volume. Many thanks urban semiotics to existing forms of spatial pro- also to the Volkswagen Foundation for funding duction in other regions, cultural spheres and the symposium, and especially to Dr. Gudrun societies (from Europe, Africa and Latin Amer- Tegeder. We would also like to thank Ms Syl- ica to the city fashioned by Muslim culture), ur- via Kästner and Ms Viola Piegelbrock for their ban readings following an urban hermeneutics much appreciated assistance in organising the raised crucial issues about disciplinarity: How is symposium. We thank the Board of Editors of it possible to read the city in terms of both inter- the publisher, the Verlag der Bauhaus-Universität disciplinary commonality and in a comparative Weimar, for accepting the book for publication. manner? In this context, ‘commonality’ implies We are indebted to Dr. Heidemarie Schirmer widening the scope and deepening the analysis, from the publisher for managing the publica- whereas the term ‘comparative’ points to raising tion and for the proofreading of the German the awareness of cultural diff erences and inter- language contributions to this volume, and to cultural complexity. Dr. Ross Beveridge of Truly Translated for the Th is brings us back to the idea which brought proofreading of the English texts. All remaining this edited volume into being in the fi rst place. mistakes are, however, the responsibility of the We, the editors, made a decision to organise a authors who reserved the right to a fi nal revi- symposium to investigate the problem of the sion of their papers. Michael Kraus, a student “readability” of cities and to develop illuminat- of architecture in his fi nal year, produced the ing approaches to urban hermeneutics. Under sophisticated layout of the book. Many thanks the title “Reading the City: Urban Semiology to him and to those we could not, or may have in Cultural Comparison” the symposium took forgotten to, mention. place at the Institute for European Urban Stud- ies (IfEU) of the Faculty of Architecture, Bau- Th e editors haus-Universität Weimar on the 9th and 10th October 2009. Th e large number of valuable insights gained at the symposium gave rise to the idea to make these thoughts and fi ndings Vorwort und Danksagung

Die Idee zu dem vorliegenden Band geht des Stadtraums allgemein – nicht allein des chi- auf Dieter Hassenpfl ugs Forschungen zum ge- nesischen. Kann man Stadt lesen – und wenn ja, genwärtigen chinesischen Urbanisierungspro- wie? Mit dieser Frage rückte die Suche nach Deu- zess zurück. Im Zentrum seiner langjährigen tungskonzepten für den städtischen Raum, nach Untersuchungen steht die Frage, durch welche einer urbanen Hermeneutik in das Blickfeld der sozialen und kulturellen Gestaltungskräft e die Stadtforschung. Für die Stadtlektüre erwies sich sich in unerhörter Geschwindigkeit vollziehen- die von Autoren wie Roland Barthes, Henry Lefèb- de Verstädterung Chinas informiert und orien- vre, Umberto Eco und Mark Gottdiener entschei- tiert wird. Folgt Chinas Urbanisierung westlichen dend geprägte urbane Semiotik als besonders er- Vorbildern oder erkennen wir auch die Einfl üsse giebig – insbesondere unter der Bedingung, dass sie historisch überkommener Traditionen der ur- als Methode verstanden wird, welche die Stadt als banen Raumproduktion? Motiviert wurde diese ein System von soziokulturell kodierten Zeichen, Forschungsfrage nicht zuletzt durch die Beob- als ‚Syntagma‘ (de Saussure) konzeptionalisiert. achtung, dass manches städtebauliche Projekt Die Ergebnisse der semiotisch angeleiteten vor allem westlicher Architekten und Stadtpla- Lektüre der chinesischen Stadt wurden 2009 in ner mit erheblichen Akzeptanzproblemen zu dem Buch „Der urbane Code Chinas“ publiziert. kämpfen hatte und einige Projekte sogar scheiter- Im Ergebnis zeigte sich, dem Einfl uss globaler Strö- ten. Off enbar wurden chinesische Praktiken der me zum Trotz, eine signifi kante Eigenständigkeit Nutzung und Produktion des städtischen Raums des chinesischen urbanen Codes, die in tief in der nicht bzw. unzureichend verstanden. Stadt nicht Gesellschaft verwurzelten sozialen Praktiken und verstehen bedeutet jedoch nichts anderes als die kulturellen Traditionen seine Ursache hat. Die Si- Gesellschaft , deren Habitat sie ist, nicht zu ver- gnifi kanz der am Fall der aktuellen chinesischen stehen. Denn Stadt ist verräumlichte Gesellschaft . Urbanisierung gewonnenen Resultate provozierte So entwickelte sich aus der Frage nach den geradezu zwangsläufi g die Frage nach den Prak- Gestaltungskräft en, die der chinesischen Hyper- tiken soziokultureller Kodierungen in anderen modernisierung zugrunde liegen, das Interesse an Ländern und Regionen, nach den Auswirkun- der Dekodierung der soziokulturellen Botschaft en gen des Aufeinanderprallens unterschiedlicher Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

6 stadträumlicher Kodierungen auf der Bühne ei- die interessierte Öff entlichkeit. Wir entschlossen ner medial globalisierten Welt, in welcher die uns daher, all diejenigen, die auf dem Symposium erwähnten Gestaltungskräft e vermittels Moden, einen Vortrag gehalten haben, zu bitten, diesen zu Stilen, ästhetischen Schemata, Diskursen etc. als überarbeiten und dabei auch die Diskussion ihres ubiquitär zu gelten haben. jeweiligen Beitrags sowie weitere Einsichten, die Doch neben die Perspektive der Anwend- sie durch ihre Teilnahme am Symposium für ihr barkeit einer urbanen Semiotik auf die städtische jeweiliges Forschungsfeld gewonnen haben, mit Raumproduktion anderer Regionen, Kulturkrei- in die Überarbeitung einzubeziehen. Der vorlie- se, Gesellschaft en – von Europa über Afrika und gende Band ist das Resultat dieser Bemühungen. Lateinamerika bis zur muslimisch geprägten Stadt Die Herausgeber möchten allen Teilnehmern – schiebt sich als weitere Fragestellung diejenige und Teilnehmerinnen des Symposiums danken. nach den disziplinären Stadtlektüren bzw. urba- Ein besonderer Dank gilt all denen, die einen Vor- nen Hermeneutiken. Wie können wir in inter- trag gehalten haben und diesen für die Buchver- disziplinärer Gemeinsamkeit Stadt vergleichend öff entlichung im oben skizzierten Sinne überar- lesen? „Gemeinsam“ bedeutet dabei Erweiterung beitet haben. Ein herzlicher Dank geht auch an des Blickfeldes und Vertiefung der Analyse; „ver- Dr. Gudrun Tegeder von der Volkswagen Stift ung. gleichend“ bedeutet demgegenüber Schärfung des Der Stift ung sei gedankt für die fi nanzielle För- Bewusstseins der kulturellen Diff erenzen und der derung des Symposiums. Bei Sylvia Kästner und interkulturellen Komplexität. Viola Piegelbrock bedanken wir uns für die tat- Damit sind wir am Ursprung der Idee für die- kräft ige Unterstützung bei der Organisation und sen Band angelangt: Wir, die Herausgeber, ent- Durchführung des Symposiums. Dem Herausge- schieden uns, ein Symposium zu organisieren, das bergremium des Verlags der Bauhaus-Universität sich in interkultureller und zugleich interdiszipli- Weimar haben wir zu danken für die Aufnahme närer Perspektive dem Problem der Lesbarkeit von des Buches in ihr Verlagsprogramm. Dank schul- Stadt und der Analyse exemplarischer Beispiele den wir auch Dr. Heidemarie Schirmer vom Verlag urbaner Hermeneutik widmet. Unter dem Titel für die hervorragende Betreuung des Buchprojekts „Stadt lesen: Urbane Semiologie im Kulturver- und für das Korrekturlesen der deutschsprachigen gleich – Reading the City: Urban Semiology in Beiträge dieses Bandes. Dr. Ross Beveridge vom Cultural Comparison” fand das Symposium am Büro Truly Translated gebührt unser Dank für das 9. und 10. Oktober 2009 am Institut für Euro- Korrekturlesen der englischsprachigen Beiträge. päische Urbanistik (IfEU) der Fakultät Archi- Alle noch verbliebenen Fehler liegen jedoch in der tektur an der Bauhaus-Universität Weimar statt. Verantwortung der Autoren, da diese Letztkorrek- Die Vielzahl der wertvollen, auf dem Symposium turen ihrer Beiträge vornehmen konnten. Michael gewonnenen Einsichten war ausschlaggebend da- Kraus, ein Architekturstudent im Abschlussjahr, für, diese Erkenntnisse und neuen Befunde einer hat das anspruchsvolle Layout des Buches wesent- weiteren Öff entlichkeit zugänglich zu machen: lich entwickelt und technisch umgesetzt. Auch Lehrende und Studierende aus unterschiedlichen ihm und allen, die wir hier nicht erwähnen konn- Disziplinen und Bereichen der Stadtforschung, ten, ein herzliches Dankeschön. Praktiker, die sich mit verschiedenen Th emen und Problemen der Stadtentwicklung befassen, und Die Herausgeber

Contents Inhalt

Preface and Acknowledgement/ Vorwort und Danksagung 3/ 5 Contributors and Abstracts 13 Introduction/ Einleitung 23/ 37

Once Again: Can Urban Space be Read? 49 Dieter Hassenpfl ug

Stadt als Text, als Massenmedium oder als Event? 59 Wandlungen in den Lesarten des Urbanen aus semiotischer Sicht Claus Dreyer

Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: 69 Schrift und Entschrift ung des öff entlichen Raumes Frank Hartmann

Reading the urban through the rural: 85 Comments on the signifi cance of space-related distinctions and semantics Marc Redepenning

Th e City IS the Sustainable Development 103 Jacques Lévy

Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia 113 Bernhard Stratmann

Reading Mega-Urban Landscape — A Semiotic Sketch 171 Detlev Ipsen

Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Sigfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren 181 Jörg Döring

Die Sichtbarkeit der Stadt. Moderne und gegenwärtige Konzepte des Stadtfi lms 199 Oliver Fahle

Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films 207 Laura Frahm

(Mis)reading the City: Rethinking Urban Semiology 227 Donald Preziosi

Contributors and Abstracts Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

14 in the Weimar Republic due to a specifi c con- Prof. Dr. Jörg Döring stellation in the history of media, the desire to overcome disciplinary fragmentations in urban University of Siegen, Germany discourses is not only historically documented, but inherently constitutive. Following a close Jörg Döring is Professor for modern German reading of selected passages in Kracauer’s writ- philology, media studies and cultural studies at ings, this contribution will introduce and con- the University of Siegen. His studies mainly focus textualise three types of feuilleton-related ur- on classic modernism, literature and the “Th ird ban readings: i) the model of “Flanerie”; ii) the Reich”, post-war literature, contemporary litera- model of “Vedute” and iii) the model of “in-situ ture, editing and editorial studies, media culture sociographics”. studies, cultural hermeneutics, cultural studies, the theory of screenplay studies and the geography of media. His most recent publications include Mediengeographie. Th eorie – Analyse – Prof. Dr. Claus Dreyer Diskussion (co-edited with Tristan Th ielmann), Bielefeld 2009; Spatial Turn. Das Raumparadig- Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences ma in den Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaft en (co- edited with Tristan Th ielmann), Bielefeld 2008; Claus Dreyer was born in Bassum (Lower Benn als Reporter: “Wie Miss Cavell erschossen Saxony) in 1943. He studied philosophy, Ger- wurde” (together with Erhard Schütz), Siegen man language and literature, art history and art 2007. education in Marburg, Berlin and Stuttgart. He completed his PhD (“Semiotische Grundlagen Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: der Architekturästhetik”) in 1979. He held a Siegfr ied Kracauers Stadtlektüren Professorship on foundations of designing, (Urban Semiology in the Feuilleton: spatial design and design theory (1982–2009) Siegfr ied Kracauer’s Urban Readings) at the department of architecture and interi- or design at Ostwestfalen-Lippe University Th is contribution introduces an exempla- of Applied Sciences, Detmold. He is member ry series of texts written by Siegfried Kracauer of the “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ästhetik”; which were fi rst published in the Frankfurter “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Semiotik”; “Inter- Zeitung during the 1920s. As an architect, ur- national Association for Semiotic Studies”; ban planner, architecture critic and author of “Association Internationale de Semiotique de the Weimar Republic’s urban feuilleton, Kra- L’Espace”. He has published extensively on vari- cauer appears to be a promising exponent of ous research fi elds, focusing particularly on se- context-sensitivity and the holistic approach, miotics and aesthetics of architecture. both of which can be found at the heart of this volume’s interest. Stadt als Text, als Massenmedium For the urban feuilleton, which can be un- oder als Event? Wandlungen in den derstood as a specifi c kind of text prospering Lesarten des Urbanen aus semiotischer Sicht (City as a Text, a Mass Medium Stadtfi lms (Th e Visibility of Cities. 15 or as an Event? Shift ing Readings of Modern and Contemporary Concepts Urbanity fr om a Semiotical Point of of Urban Cinema) View) Films have made an outstanding contribu- Semioticians as well as scholars of literature tion to the visual knowledge and presentations and culture have long stated and illustrated that of modern cities. Th erefore, visions of the city it is possible to read the city like a text. Such an are to be understood as a crucial characteristic approach implies that a rational and discursive of cinematic aesthetics – ranging from silent pic- structure forms the basis of this urban text, and tures (Th e Crowd, Metropolis, Man with a Movie that this structure is accessible and reconstructa- Camera) through modern fi lms (Neo-Realism, ble by analytical methods which allow for contin- Film Noir, Nouvelle Vague) to the present (Short uative interpretations. Within the past few years Cuts, Lola rennt, L.A. Crash). these urban texts have become ever more overlain Th is contribution addresses the aesthetic rec- with more or less elaborately staged spectacles reation of the city in contemporary fi lms in terms and events which are no longer to be “read“, but of a semiotic of density. On the one hand, fi lms rather to be experienced and actively shaped by point to a novel space interspersed with electronic its visitors. media, which distances itself from the urban image which had prevailed until the 1960s. On the other hand, however, various cultural codifi cations of urban spaces (Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Prof. Dr. Oliver Fahle Berlin etc.) have become visible.

Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany

Oliver Fahle is Professor of fi lm aesthetics and Dr. Laura Frahm fi lm theory at the University of Bochum. He is author of “Jenseits des Bildes. Poetik des franzö- Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany sischen Films der zwanziger Jahre” (Mainz 2000) and “Der Film der Zweiten Moderne” (Weimar Laura Frahm received her MA in theater, fi lm, 2005). He was the editor of various books about and television studies, history of art, and Romanic fi lm philosophy and media theory, such as “Das languages in 2004 from the University of Co- Kino bei Deleuze/Le cinéma selon Deleuze” (Par- logne. From 2005 to 2007 she was a Doctoral is/Weimar 1997, jointly with Lorenz Engell) and Fellow at the Transatlantic Graduate Research “Technobilder und Kommunikologie. Die Me- Program Berlin-New York, “History and Culture dientheorie Vilém Flussers” (Berlin 2009, jointly of the Metropolis in the 20th Century”. In Fall with Michael Hanke and Andreas Ziemann). 2006 and Spring 2007 she was Visiting Scholar at Columbia University and New York Univer- Die Sichtbarkeit der Stadt. Moderne sity. She holds a PhD from Humboldt Univer- und gegenwärtige Konzepte des sity Berlin (Dr. phil., 2008), and is currently a Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

16 postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the In- overly interrelated world to inwardly disintegrated ternational Research Institute for Cultural Tech- urban environments that are only graspable and nologies and Media Philosophy (IKKM) at the readable through their fragments. Yet the episodic Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Her recent publi- fi lms of this period signifi cantly diff er in the way cations are: “Jenseits des Raums. Zur fi lmisch- in which they conceive of their urban fragments en Topologie des Urbanen” (2010); “Bewegte – be it a self-contained, unconnected fragment, Räume. Zur Konstruktion von Raum in Video- be it an overly interconnected fragment, or be it a clips von Jonathan Glazer, Chris Cunningham, transformative, paradoxical fragment that exceeds Mark Romanek und Michel Gondry” (2007). the boundaries of space. In their diff erent readings She is co-editor of the book series “Cultural Ur- of the urban fragment, a trace of the cinematic ban Studies” (since 2008) and has published sev- history of the city always resonates. Moreover, in eral articles on cinema and the city, cinematic creating a consciousness toward their cities, the space and topology, cultural urban studies, new episodic fi lms serve as a precise seismograph of media art and music videos. urban transformations, allowing us to trace a shift in the spatial perception of the cities at the turn Reading in Fragments. Toward an of the century. Urban Topology of Episodic Films

As the 1980s became the 1990s, it was possible to observe the rise of a series of episodic fi lms Dr. Nico Giersig that revealed a complex urban environment. Th ese fi lms reveal expansive urban worlds, where mate- University of Bamberg, Germany rial, social, and symbolic spatial orders are overlapping, forming a dense spatial structure, while Nico Giersig holds a PhD in social sciences at the same time giving rise to a new concept of from Humboldt University, Berlin. His doctoral space – a fragmented, ephemeral space of tran- and postdoctoral studies focused mainly on inter- sition. In their disjointed, multi-layered gaze on disciplinary urban studies and the history of ideas. the city, episodic fi lms like NIGHT ON EARTH He has worked as a doctoral research fellow at the (Jim Jarmusch, 1991), SHORT CUTS (Robert University of Helsinki, a researcher and lecturer Altman, 1993), and MAGNOLIA (Paul Th omas at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and has par- Anderson, 1999) imply a spatial dynamic that is os- ticipated in a number of international, EU-funded cillating between moving both inwards, in order to scientifi c networks. Currently he is employed as generate singular spatial fragments that fully con- a scientifi c coordinator at the University of Bam- tain the city’s complexity, and moving outwards, in berg. He also works as a translator of academic order to stretch and to expand the city’s inherent texts (English-German). boundaries. Th e episodic fi lms of this period mark a signifi cant shift within the development of the Preface and Introduction cinematic city in that they carry the relationality of spaces, characters, and storylines to extremes. In Nico Giersig co-authored the preface this process, they link their confi gurations of an and introduction to this volume (with Dieter Hassenpfl ug and Bernhard Stratmann). He also Zur visuellen Kommunikation von 17 wrote substantial parts of the research proposal for Urbanität: Schrift und Entschrift ung the international and interdisciplinary symposium des öff entlichen Raumes (On Visual “Reading the City: Urban Semiology in Cultural Communication of Urbanity: Scripts Comparison”, which took place at the Institute for and “De-scripting“ of Public Space) European Urban Studies (IfEU) of the Faculty of Architecture, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in Scripts and captions are constitutive struc- early October 2009. Th e symposium lay the foun- tural elements of urban spaces of communication dations to this book (see preface). – spaces which are particularly characterised by indirect and de-personalised contacts. However, with the notable exception of graffi ti-research, these issues have hardly been tackled in commu- Prof. Dr. Frank Hartmann nication research thus far. Th e language of urban signs condenses meaning in certain places, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany whereas the proliferation of visual communication (which is due to the technical improvement Frank Hartmann studied history of art, soci- of presentations) rather tends to impair social ology, and philosophy at the University of Vien- acceptance. Given all the blow-ups on historical na, Austria, where he also completed his doctor- facades, it remains questionable whether it is pos- ate in Philosophy and his postdoctoral qualifi ca- sible to fi le a suit for visual integrity. Th is paper tion (Habilitation) in the interdisciplinary fi eld introduces artistically and politically motivated of Media Th eory. Between 2000–2008 he taught examples of a “de-scripting” of public space so as courses in media philosophy at the Department of to pose the question whether semiotic manipu- Communication, University of Vienna. He was lations have the potential to substantialise com- Visiting Professor at Danube University Krems munication in public space. (2005), at the Faculty of Cultural & Social Scienc- es, Universität Salzburg (2007) and at the Faculty of Philosophy, Universität Erfurt (2008). Other professional activities include media consulting Prof. Dr. Dieter and features writing. In 2009, he was appointed Full Professor at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Hassenpﬂ ug where he now holds the Chair for History and Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany Th eory of Visual Communication at the Faculty of Art & Design. His book publications include: Multimedia (2008), Medien und Kommunika- Dieter Hassenpfl ug, born 1946 in Harare, tion (2008), Globale Medienkultur. Technik, Ge- Zimbabwe, studied economics, sociology and schichte, Th eorien (2006), Bildersprache. Otto philosophy at the Freie Universität Berlin, Tech- Neurath, Visualisierungen (2006), Medienphi- nische Universiät Berlin and University of Kas- losophie (2000; Korean translation 2008). sel, where he completed his Dr. phil. and “Ha- bilitation”. He was a lecturer at the Technische Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

18 Universität Berlin, the Berlin College of Eco- of abduction (a weak form of deduction) as a nomics, the University of Kassel and the J. W. key approach for the constructive role ascribed Goethe-University Frankfurt/Main. Since 1993 to the observer of urban signs. Finally, we make he has been the Chair of Urban Sociology, Fac- use of Walter Benjamin’s technique of superposi- ulty of Architecture at Bauhaus-Universität Wei- tion, which understands the elements of our built mar. From 2002–2007 he was a visiting scholar environment as a socio-cultural memory. As a at Harbin Institute of Technology and Tongji- result, this semiotically strengthened urban so- University Shanghai. At present he is a visiting ciology thus approaches perspectives of cultural scholar at University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute geography from a structuralist angle. of Urban Planning. His main fi elds of research are currently Chinese urban development, Eu- ropean urban history and urban semiotics. His most recent publication is “Th e Urban Code of Prof. Dr. Detlev Ipsen China” (Birkhäuser, Basel 2010). University of Kassel, Germany Once again: Can Urban Space be Read? Detlev Ipsen was born in 1945 in Innsbruck, Austria. He studied sociology and psychology in Physical urban space remains a weak spot of Munich, Vienna, Mannheim, Ann Arbor (USA) social scientifi c urban studies despite all the recent and Colchester (GB). He is now Professor for endeavour of scholars to address this shortcom- Urban and Regional Sociology at the University ing. In fact, urban sociology still fi nds itself in of Kassel (D), Guest Professor at the University need of a hermeneutics which ultimately allows of Porto Alegre (Brazil) and El Minia (Egypt). for the reading of the built environment as a so- His main fi elds of interest are: the urban hous- cial text in a productive manner. Th at said, the ing market and urban segregation, migration and contribution “Once again: How to Read Urban urbanization, images and semiotics of cities and Space” should be understood as an attempt to landscapes, space and ecology and regional de- widen the epistemological foundations of exist- velopment. His has conducted fi eldwork in Aus- ing concepts related to urban semiotics. tria, China, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany Our project draws upon a range of earlier, and Japan. Currently his research focuses on the important work by Roland Barthes, Henri Lefèb- dynamics of urban landscapes in China; the role vre, Umberto Eco, Mark Gottdiener and other of aesthetics of place and landscape for regional scholars. However, we would like to suggest that development. established ideas in the fi eld need to be advanced in terms of both their methodological and their Reading Mega-Urban Landscape – conceptual dimensions in three respects. Firstly, A Semiotic Sketch with recourse to Ferdinand de Saussure, we hold that the city is to be seen as a syntagma, i.e. a sys- Not only is the number of urban and mega- tem of structurally interwoven signs. Secondly, urban regions growing, but the pattern of urban- drawing on Charles Peirce, we suggest the method ization is changing substantially in most parts of the world. In the 19th and the majority of the group, Karthala, 1999), Les sens du mouve- 19 20th century urbanization was characterised by ment (Belin, 2005, ed. with Sylvain Allemand the pattern of an urban core, a ring of suburban- & François Ascher), the special issue “Eine geog- ization and fi nally a perurban area. Th is paper at- raphische Wende” (Geographische Zeitschrift tempts to display the new development towards 2005), L’invention du Monde (ed., Presses de an urban landscape. Th is urban landscape devel- Sciences Po, 2008), Th e City (Ashgate, 2008) ops a new spatial structure following the logic of and Our Inhabited Space (dir., FNRS, 2009). spatial fl ows on the one hand and of islands on the other. Th e paper discusses the semiotics of Th e City Is the Sustainable urban landscapes in the case of the Pearl River Development Delta in Southchina which has, for the last three decades, and continues to be today, a case of high Th e relationship between the concepts of speed urbanization. Th e so-called urban villages “city” and “sustainable development” is proba- play a special role in this case as active agents in bly simpler that we could have imagined. Such a producing these urban landscapes and its semi- statement emerges from an analysis of both no- otic structure. tions. A city, when considered on its own, is a peculiar expression of the urban phenomenon. Sustainable development is a very specifi c expression of ecological awareness. When we explore Prof. Dr. Jacques Lévy and “purify” the meaning of both, a large degree of consubstantiality between the two notions can École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland be observed. Models of urbanity and paradigms of nature/society relations are closely related in pub- Jacques Lévy, born in 1952, is a geogra- lic debates. If it is accepted as the par excellence pher and an urbanist and Full Professor at the urbanity-oriented condition, the city ultimately Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne appears as the spatial component of sustainable (EPFL). He is the director of the Chôros Labora- development. tory and co-director of the Collège des Humani- tés. He has been a Visiting Professor at various universities: UCLA, NYU, USP (São Paulo), L’Orientale (Naples), Macquarie (Sydney). He Prof. Dr. Donald Preziosi also held the Reclus Chair in Mexico City and has been a fellow of the Wissenschaft skolleg zu UCLA - University of California Los Angeles, Germany Berlin. His key interests are the social theory of space, urbanity, globalisation, cartography, spa- Donald Preziosi is Emeritus Professor of Art tial development and the epistemology of social History and Critical Th eory at UCLA and for- sciences. He has more than 500 publications mer Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford. He including: Europe: une géographie (Hachette, received his PhD at Harvard, has taught at several 1997; 2nd edition 1998), Mondialisation: les American universities including Yale and MIT, mots et les choses (with the ‘Mondialisation’ and has lectured widely in Europe, the U.S., and Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

20 Australia. He is the author of 12 books on art and architectural history, critical theory, and the Dr. Marc Redepenning historiography of cultural institutions, including Th e Semiotics of the Built Environment; Archi- Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany tecture, Language and Meaning; Aegean Art & Architecture; Rethinking Art History; and Th e Marc Redepenning is a researcher and lec- Art of Art History. He is co-author with Claire turer at the Institute of Geography, Friedrich- Farago of Grasping the World: Th e Idea of the Schiller-Universität Jena, Germany. He worked Museum. His newest book, on relations between at the Department for Th eory, Methodology and art and religion, Enchanted Credulities: Art, Re- History of Regional Geography at the Leibniz- ligion, and Amnesia, is forthcoming in 2011. Institute for Regional Geography (Leipzig) and received his PhD from Leipzig University in 2004 (Mis)reading the City: Rethinking for his work on systems theory, critical geopolitics Urban Semiology and space-related semantics. Before moving into his current position he worked at the Institute of Any reading of cities is always doomed to be a Geography, Leipzig University. His research is in mis-reading. Cities are neither texts nor material the areas of social and cultural geography, geog- artifacts; nor are they spatial or visual languages, raphies of the rural, the geography of boundaries the concrete eff ects, refl ections, expressions, or and diff erences and sociological systems and form representations of behavioral events or perfor- theory. His most recent publications include: Die mances. Th is paper argues for a critical rethink- Komplexität des Landes – neue Bedeutungen des ing of the foundational premises and paradigms Ländlichen im Zuge der Counterurbanisierung. of urban semiology, outlining possible bases for In: Zeitschrift für Agrargeschichte und Agrar- productively moving beyond the apparently ir- soziologie 57 (2): 46 –56 (2009); Die Moral der resolvable dilemmas and conundrums that have critical geopolitics. In: Geographische Zeitschrift hampered the fi eld’s ability to advance upon tra- 95 1+2: 91– 04 (2009); Eine selbst erzeugte ditional forms of disciplinary knowledge-produc- Überraschung: Zur Renaissance von Raum als tion since its modern articulation in the immedi- Selbstbeschreibungsformel der Gesellschaft . ate post-world-war-two period. Th e paper draws In: Döring, J., Th ielmann, T., eds., Spatial Turn upon recent empirical research carried out on (Bielefeld 2008). indigenous multimodal and multidimensional uses of space, language, gesture, dance, object- Reading the Urban Th rough the fabrication, and visual marking of various kinds Rural: Comments on the Signifi cance among several Australian aboriginal groups in of Space-Related Distinctions and that country’s central western desert. It concludes Semantics with a re-assessment of the current state and future prospects for urban semiology and related Th is article tackles two apparently separate epistemological technologies. issues which need, nonetheless, to be interrelated. On the one hand, I introduce the concept of space-related semantics in an attempt to develop an approach inspired by theoretical work fi eld of social sciences for higher education at the 21 on “diff erence”. Th rough this it becomes possible Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH (HIS), to display the increasing use of spatially relevant Hanover. Twice he has been a visiting scholar at communication as well as spatially related self- the Department of Sociology, Flinders Universi- descriptions in both science and everyday life and ty, Adelaide, Australia. His research interests are: to scrutinize their societal functions. In turn, it globalization and urban development, sustainable is becomes possible to reveal the ways in which development, the Healthy Cities project, mega cit- space-related semantics of the rural are concep- ies, mega events and Australian cities. tualised and applied as a corrective value for the urban. I will ask if, and in what sense, studying so- Suburban Dreaming. A Social cio-cultural descriptions of the urban can reveal, Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in ex negativo, insights about the urban condition. Australia I will emphasise that despite all the research fi ndings (and terminologies) which suggest a dis- When looking at suburbs, people and plan- appearance of the urban-rural divide and a gen- ners tend to see something very diff erent. Whereas eral urbanisation of all areas of life, the distinc- the former dream of a better lifestyle, the latter tion between urban and rural remains a highly oft en talk about urban sprawl and point to a long useful means of thinking about society. For such list of negative impacts that would result from this an endeavour it is deemed necessary to no lon- kind of urban form. Continuing trends towards ger regard “urban” and “rural” as distinct spatial global suburbanization have caused concerns, par- units. Instead, both should be considered social ticularly in view of rising energy consumption, the categories or semantics which deploy the “spa- depletion of natural resources (peak oil etc.) and tialisation of the social”. possible climate change. However, more recently the “reading” of suburbs has changed. Th e prevailing critical discourse has been challenged by the assumption that suburbs – if designed, serviced Dr. Bernhard Stratmann and managed well – can be aligned with the overall goal of sustainability. Th e New Suburbanism is Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany empirically backed and includes a reappraisal of “suburbanism as a way of life” that might off er a Bernhard Stratmann is a lecturer in urban soci- lot to a variety of diff erent people. Th e paper re- ology at the Faculty of Architecture, Bauhaus-Uni- veals the international discourse through a lens of versität Weimar, Germany. He studied sociology diff erent perspectives and academic disciplines. In (Dipl.-Soz., 1993) at the University of Bielefeld, doing so, a multitude of national experiences with where he also worked as a research assistant in so- suburbs and (sub)urban life will be considered and cial sciences/public health. In 1998 he received his decoded. For the purpose of an in-depth analysis doctoral degree (Dr. phil.) from the Philipps-Uni- a regional focus will be placed on Australian cities versität Marburg, where he was a research assistant and their large suburban areas. It will be argued and junior lecturer in sociology. Prior to his cur- that the debate on suburbia is embedded in a much rent position at Weimar he was a researcher in the larger, underlying debate on the good life.

Introduction Einleitung

Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Challenges for Urban Hermeneutics in the 21st Century

Many actors are involved in the process of palimpsest” (Pauwels 2009). Th e fact that each constructing the city as a physical, social, eco- city has a unique character of its own is due to this nomic, cultural and political entity. Apart from complex confi guration of layers and dimensions. various professional groups (such as architects, Berking and Löw (2008) have stated that cities investors, entrepreneurs, local politicians, mem- oft en possess an elusive “logic of their own”. To bers of municipal administrations, artists, etc.), a large extent, urban structures may result from it is the diff ering forms of citizens’ collective ac- the unintended side eff ects of everyday actions tion that contribute to shaping the physical and carried out by their inhabitants. For example, sub- social appearance of urban spaces (Giersig 2008; urbanisation is oft en deemed to be a side eff ect Hassenpfl ug 2001; Short 1989). In the best-case of people’s apparent desire to live close to nature. scenario, a social system and urban environment Over time, numerous individual decisions and ac- made up of natural and architectural features cor- tions have been productive of an outcome which responding to the needs and wishes of its inhab- contradicts the original objectives of individual itants will emerge. agents, namely urban sprawl (for further expla- Th rough their built environment, cities mir- nations of the emergence of suburban spaces see ror the attitudes of past and present generations Stratmann in this volume). towards urban planning. At the same time, how- Scholars have refl ected upon these forms of ever, they refl ect the increasingly diverse and of- intervention in urban spaces in diff erent ways and ten confl icting preferences of numerous (and with diff erent intentions. Approaches range from unequally infl uential) social groups. Ultimately, mere observation and the explanatory analysis of cities are shaped by a complex interplay of local in- urban development processes to the production fl uences and developments on regional, national of new practical knowledge appropriate for urban and global scales retroacting on the local level. In planning. Th ere are at least as many theoretical this sense, the reality of cities can be understood and empirical access points to “the city” as there as a multi-layered and multi-dimensional “urban are academic disciplines involved in these debates. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

26 Th is is hardly surprising in the light of the com- the same time, they serve as a useful theoretical plexity of urban issues. To achieve a comprehen- “anchor”: a leading issue which may guide and sive understanding of the urban, one which is also instruct these required forms of cooperation. In suitable for shaping urban development in practi- this context, urban semiotics can be understood cal terms, urban scholars with diff ering disciplin- as an interdisciplinary fi eld of action and research ary backgrounds have repeatedly pressed for an which asks whether it is possible to draw conclu- interdisciplinary dialogue (cf. Waldheim 2010). sions on social relations and cultural practices Inter-, trans-, or postdisciplinary approaches are on the basis of observing cities as built environ- applied as a means of coming to terms with the ments and the elements of which they are made. complex fabric of the city.1 In view of threatening Is it possible to decode the city? Can cities be developments (such as climate change, the fore- read? If the answer is yes and if this decoding of seeable depletion of many natural resources and the urban is an empirically viable method, the global population growth), the questions con- insights thus gained would help to advance urban cerning the future viability of our cities pose a analysis as much as our understanding of the ur- signifi cant challenge for both the theory and prac- ban as such. Moreover, they would also enhance tice of urban development and call for sustain- the practical use of urban research. able and comprehensive collaborative eff orts. At

Hermeneutical approaches to the 1 In particular, US-American scholar Neil Brenner has city of the 21st century: targets and repeatedly pointed to the necessity of pursuing urban studies in a challenges “postdisciplinary” way today if it is to explain increasingly complex socio- economic, socio-spatial and political urban contexts and constellations Urban semiotics provides the integrative in an appropriate manner (cf. e.g. Brenner 2004: 23ff.). In doing so, postdisciplinarity needs to be clearly distinguished from codisciplinarity: analytical framework of this edited volume. It whereas codisciplinarity implies a cooperation of distinct academic views urban spaces as systems of signs which are disciplines, the concept of postdisciplinarity points to a paradigm which charged with varied social and cultural meanings rejects methods and theories as obsolete if constrained by particular which can be accessed and interpreted. Th us far disciplinary paradigms or peculiarities. Similar to the related concept spatially oriented semiotics has remained highly of transdisciplinarity, it defi es specialisation and the subject-specifi c fragmented in character. Moreover, it is hard to formation of sub-systems. However, it has been shown to be extremely diffi cult to draw an unambiguous distinction between the concepts identify a common framework of analysis which of transdisciplinarity and postdisciplinarity. However, in view of the could serve as a basis for a systematic cross-coun- accentuation of the transdisciplinary character of the practical world, it try and cross-cultural comparison of urban sign can be assumed that the concept of transdisciplinarity is still based upon systems. Against this background, this edited vol- an intact foundation of various disciplinary logics – which is nonetheless ume attempts to make urban semiotics a more transferred and integrated into super- or non-disciplinary concepts by comprehensive and systematic approach. In do- means of practically oriented and thus transdisciplinary methods. In contrast, postdisciplinarity appears to altogether reject the very idea of ing so, we fi nd ourselves confronted with two such an intact foundation of discrete disciplines and instead devotes itself principal challenges. First, despite the fact that to ontological observations. social scientists, architects, geographers, literary scholars and cultural scientists have become increasingly inclined to adopt semiotic perspectives Dieter Hassenpfl ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Introduction: Challenges for Urban Hermeneutics in the 21st Century to urban issues over the last few decades, coop- then will it be possible to “decode” them in a 27 eration transcending disciplinary boundaries re- meaningful way, i.e. to draw conclusions from mains the exception. As such the potential ben- a certain carrier of meaning (“signifi er”) in or- efi ts of synthesizing approaches has rarely been der to understand the content of its meaning exploited. On the other hand, a consensus is grad- (“signifi ed”). ually emerging that any attempt to successfully Ultimately, a convincing, systematic and cul- decode the city as a complex system of social, turally comparative interdisciplinary approach cultural and political signs can only be considered to urban semiotics is possible only if attention productive if existing disciplinary fragmentations is paid to the specifi cities of context and the de- can be successfully replaced by an interdisciplin- manding (yet not unattainable) theoretical re- ary (or at least co-disciplinary) approach to urban quirements of our research. Th e contributions to semiology (cf. table 1). As this volume brings to- this volume introduce cases drawn from Europe- gether representatives of various disciplines with an, East Asian, Australian and Northern Ameri- a multitude of subject-specifi c approaches, con- can experiences and refl ect upon the implications cepts and analytical instruments, it contributes of adopting a context-sensitive approach for their to the launching of a rigorous dialogue on the case studies. In this way, these key challenges are multi-faceted character of research in the broad always kept in view. fi eld of urban semiotics. At the same time, it aims Th e “insights into urban issues” represent- to identify common ground and thus aims to fos- ed in this book also reveal that urban semiotics ter a discussion which transgresses disciplinary wrongly leads a somewhat marginal, shadowy ex- boundaries. In this manner, experts with diff er- istence within the rich landscape of social theory. ing professional backgrounds come into contact Despite the attempt by Bernd Hamm (1982) to with diverging or even contradictory approaches. attract attention to what he calls a “spatial se- Th is allows them to analyse and interpret their miotics” (“räumliche Semiotik”) and those au- own topic from diff erent analytical, methodolog- thors who have followed suit with their intro- ical and theoretical angles, whilst staying within ductions to architectural or urban sociology (cf. the confi nes of a shared “language” of urban signs. e.g. Bounds 2004; Gottdiener/Hutchison 2010; By this means, we wish to provide readers with an Schäfers 2006), contributions to urban semiot- overview of the diverse, multi-faceted approaches ics have, to date, remained restricted to sketches to urban issues. and infrequent single case studies (at least in the Second, however, we wish to highlight the German-speaking world). fact that seemingly identical or comparable ele- A number of textbooks which aim to pro- ments of urban space are encoded with very dif- vide an overview of theories in the fi elds of urban ferent meanings in diff erent cultural spheres and sociology or urban geography have even neglect- that this provides a key challenge for all research ed urban semiotics altogether. Th is is despite the related to urban semiotics (cf. Abu-Lughod 1990; fact that interpretive approaches such as (social) Bartetzky/Schalenberg 2009). Urban space as constructivist positions or techniques related to such as well as objects in urban space need to be discourse analysis (as developed by Foucault and interpreted in the light of their respective histori- others) are repeatedly represented in textbooks cal, societal, cultural and political context – only and research practice. Moreover, hermeneutical Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

28 or anthropological (or ethnological) approaches range of semiosis for spatially oriented (urban) which fall back upon diff erent varieties of “thick research: how does the process of constituting descriptions” (Geertz 2007), have been refi ned and assigning meaning work in the case of spa- and adopted, especially by qualitative urban stud- tial, physically built signifi ers? Once we pose this ies (Döring/Th ielmann 2009; Kokot/Bommer question about semiosis, it becomes obvious that 1991; Sturm 2000). Th ere are, however, a range it is not only the signifi er (or transmitter) and of diff erent methodological principles which the corresponding states and formats of trans- tend to overlap in these semiotic approaches mission (denotation, connotation, primary and and some authors have consciously aimed for secondary meanings) that play a role. Instead, synthesis. Partial and more implicit references the processes related to a subjective construction to semiotics, drawing on stand-alone assumptions of sense and an assignation of meaning are highly or concepts from the fi eld, can also be observed. relevant – a fact which has remained epistemolog- Nonetheless, obtaining a targeted application of ically undervalued thus far. It is a huge challenge semiotic methods and concepts within the frame to produce credible results through semiological of empirical and applied research in the future re- and hermeneutical analyses rather than merely quires a considerable improvement of its general plausible chains of reasoning (Chandler 2007: analytical apparatus. 221ff .). Without ignoring the still unanswered questions and desiderata of semiotically oriented analyses, the volume at hand illustrates the poten- 2 For an overview on issues which could not be considered tial of hermeneutical and especially semiological here, see the website of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Semiotik (or semiotic) approaches through bringing to- (www.semiose.de) as well as various articles in the relevant journals gether diff erent studies from the interdisciplinary such as Zeitschrift für Semiotik (which is the organ of the Deutsche fi eld of urban research.2 In the following sections Gesellschaft für Semiotik e.V. (DGS) and published in cooperation with the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Semiotik (ÖGS) and the Schweizerische we list some examples and highlight generalisable Gesellschaft für Semiotik (SGS/ASS)) or Semiotica, the “Journal of the fi ndings which can be drawn from the individual International Association for Semiotic Studies”. contributions to this edited volume.

Th e multi-dimensional character of the Such work does not, however, aim to add built environment to the complexity of semiotic concepts, as this would only impair their accessibility and applica- Urban analyses will necessarily remain one- bility for concrete research. Similarly, the devel- sided if work (research, architectural draft s and opment of overly simplistic models which sug- planning concepts) does not give suffi cient con- gest a dull and mechanic handling of predefi ned sideration to the functional, aesthetic and semi- research categories is also not desirable. We can otically determined qualities of our cities’ built assume that the latter option is likely to yield inter- environment. Th is is a crucial insight which is esting results on only very rare occasions. Instead, repeatedly emphasised in the contributions to the contributions in this volume indicate that the this volume. Urban buildings, streets, squares prior challenge lies in clarifying the meaning and and green spaces exert a signifi cant infl uence on Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Introduction: Challenges for Urban Hermeneutics in the 21st Century

29 ning fi c fi Relevance to practice, direct implementation of research results, transformation of sciences ity, Mode-2-science, Post-normal-science Integration of other sectors and actors Cooperation with subject-speci relevant practical sectors or collective actors (affected groups, municipalities, planners, private com- panies, etc.) in de research problems and suggesting shared targets and solutions; science itself becomes an actor or agent of change in this case Academic disciplines and practice-related sectors or actors cation cation of initial fi fi to disciplines, methods, and theories Synthesis or modi Modi theories, concepts and methods with repercussions for the original disciplines or emergence of new disciplines with concepts, approaches and methods transcending existing disciplinary boundaries; both is possible as a result of intense forms of research cooperation Academic disciplines n- fi nition of nition fi Integrated cooperation One shared research goal is pursued on the basis of re ing the de the problem studied and by agreeing on approaches and concepts as well on methods and the ways of their application Academic disciplines Innovation Innovation Innovation with regard Division of labour plus exchange One research topic taken from the disciplines involved is approached by means of repeated exchange of partial and intermediate results (hypotheses, data, conclusions, etc.); process is regulated via input-output- steering Academic disciplines uence the uence fl Extension or consolidation of particular analyses within one discipline Transfer of a method A particular method is transferred from one discipline and applied to examine research issues related to another discipline; this transfer of method may or not in turn exert in original discipline Academic disciplines c knowledge c fi Multidisciplinarity n/a n/a Codisciplinarity Postdisciplinarity Transdisciplinar- Two or more disciplines observe an issue or respective aspects thereof; additive presentation of results (in edited volumes, research reports, etc.); synopsis provided by reader- ship Academic disciplines Specialisation, consolidation of subject- speci research Other designations Functioning Participants Goals Form Side-by-side

Tab. 1: Forms of interdisciplinary research (a typology); Source: Stratmann, 2007: 100 (slightly modiﬁ ed and translated into English) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

30 urban action patterns, since they allow and en- pointed to the enormous signifi cance of culture courage certain actions whilst rendering others for the development of the urban economy. Th e impossible. At the same time, however, the urban city is the place where the production of sym- built environment is charged with various symbols occurs and, thus, where new options for bols which may also shape actions (e.g. whether the creative ascription of meanings are continu- polite and respectful or bold and lively behaviour ously fashioned. appears more appropriate in a certain room de- Th e football stadiums which were built for pends on whether this room has a sacred air or the Football World Cup in South Africa 2010 rather a more casual and relaxed atmosphere). serve as a striking example of the multi-dimen- Taken together, these circumstances reveal the sional character of the built environment. Th is multi-dimensional character of the “materiality World Cup was a media event for more than of the urban” (Prigge 1987). just football-related reasons. Th e stadiums un- Naturally, doors are needed in order to pass derline the importance of the symbolic power through a wall or a mural. At the same time, the of built environments. According to the Ger- symbolic substance connected to this wall or mu- man broadsheet “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (4th ral contributes to whether a person eventually February, 2010, page 40), the stadiums built feels invited to walk through this door or not. exclusively for the World Cup represent much Th ese statements are all but trivial, since numer- more than just a material addition to established ous “calls for action” arise from our everyday en- urban sports venues. Instead, the stadiums’ ar- vironment – and individual agents ultimately chitecture is potent in semiotic terms, as is their comply with instructions without consciously location within the city as a whole and the ques- refl ecting on them in specifi c cases. Even the mations about the ways black workers were involved terial condensate of urban lifestyles (which can in the construction process. In all these ways, the become manifest in consumption patterns such stadiums indicate that Black Africa has re-dis- as furnishings, fashion, cars, etc.) can be investi- covered itself. Th ey symbolise confi dence, high gated in terms of its multi-dimension character, performance, integration and hope for a better as Aida Bosch (2010) has revealed in her study future. In this way, we can speak of the “multiple of consumption and exclusion. character” of the artefacts produced by human A city’s atmosphere, which becomes appar- labour: at any one time, they are functional shells ent to visitors quite quickly, if oft en in a sub- (houses, factories, schools, etc.), objects of util- conscious manner, partly depends upon the ity, expressions of aesthetic (mis-)understand- self-staging of inhabitants and the forms this ings and spatially condensed power relations as takes. It is not so much the things themselves, but well as indicators of membership or techniques their symbolic content which contributes to the of exclusion. Finally, they serve as a (frequently production or maintenance of a certain urban ambiguous) symbol for “abstract” messages that image. On these grounds authors like Richard can only be decoded precisely by reference to Florida (2003) or those dealing with the inter- the relevant contextual (historical, political or relationships between urban development and cultural) knowledge. culture (e.g. the contributors to the volume edited by Gudrun Quenzel 2009) have repeatedly Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Introduction: Challenges for Urban Hermeneutics in the 21st Century

Levels of semiotic analysis claims for urban space oft en expressed in a sym- 31 bolic way (think of the debates on the construc- Another conclusion can be drawn from the tion of mosques in some Western countries or the contributions to this volume and from what has controversies on the call to prayer of the muezzin been said so far: semiotic analyses possess a “dou- in some places). ble character”. Th ey may refer to two levels of ur- In the light of these complexities, decoding ban analysis. On the one hand, the objects which becomes a highly demanding task and it is easy to together constitute the city in its material form become disorientated. Th us both the people in- can be analysed in a semiotic way. In this case, the volved in these urban processes and “outside” ob- aim is to understand and read the immediately servers have oft en felt anxious and insecure while visible and concrete elements of the city. Th is dealing with or discussing such issues (Reicher poses a particular challenge to comparative inter- et al. 2010). Planning-related solutions often national urban studies because researchers must hover between an attempt to reduce complex- decrypt the specifi c codes which have emerged ity (e.g. by erecting symbolically charged urban from particular geographical settings, historical gates or landmarks which are supposed to com- contexts and cultures and become manifest in pensate for the perceived lack of a demarcation urban space. Only on this basis can we hope to between the urban and the rural) and off ering begin to explain tangible urban processes and strategies which are meant to help people come structures in a meaningful way (Abu-Lughod to terms with the specifi c requirements gener- 1990; Bartetzky/Schalenberg 2009). Th is is not ated by this increased complexity (e.g. orienta- only of importance to forecasting, but for every tion guides of all kinds). kind of applied research which deals with the However, a semiotic analysis should not be shift ing dynamics of urban conditions and the confi ned to dealing with the immediate mate- experiences of urban residents. riality and objects of the urban. Instead, it also Conversely, it is clear that serious mistakes needs to take into consideration the equally im- in urban planning oft en result from urban anal- portant sphere where the urban expresses itself yses uninterested in semiotic approaches. Th is by means of literature, paintings and movies. Th e is true of interventions by urban planners in contributions in this volume which relate to these their own cities or familiar contexts as well as fi elds point to another crucial diff erentiation. On those conducted in foreign or unfamiliar urban the one hand, a semiotic analysis, with respect to contexts, since urban ways of life have become urban hermeneutics of textual, pictorial or cin- increasingly diff erentiated through the ever- ematic self-expressions of the urban, aim to work progressing process of individualisation. Th e out its interpretive value (What is said about cit- increasing heterogeneity of the urban popula- ies? What kind of picture is being generated?). On tion (also known as the pluralisation of lifestyles) the other hand, there is the attempt to discover enhances the complexity of urban planning. Th is the way in which, for example, movies themselves complexity is further intensifi ed by globalisation can be utilised as a tool of semiosis, as a method processes which have brought about an increase of hermeneutical or semiotic analysis of the urban in urban tourism and migration. In this setting, and by this means pursues the goal of broaden- spatial imageries tend to overlap with competing ing the analytical apparatus of urban semiotics. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

32 Power – planning – semiotic 1960s and 1970s. Subsequently, it became di- enlightenment rected against the lifestyles of those people who inhabited these prefabricated housing estates. Some of the chapters in this book clearly il- Th rough a form of psychological transference, lustrate that power relations must not be under- further enhanced by the media, the rejection of estimated when it comes to debates on multilevel prefabricated housing estates thus generated a urban planning. Spatial planning is fundamen- rejection of people who lived there, which, in tally based on values. It is therefore impossible to turn, intensifi ed processes of social exclusion. Th e strive for a “neutral” way of planning which exclu- numerous prefabricated housing estates which sively draws upon technical and logical reason- were erected in the former GDR became ex- ing (Allmendinger 2009; Short 1989). However, posed to these processes of devaluation only aft er actual values and goals which are connected to German reunifi cation. Since that time, moving concrete forms of urban planning are frequently to these residential areas has become seen as a less not made transparent by the actors involved in attractive proposition – and many inhabitants these processes. Th erefore, a semiotic (or, to put fi nd themselves stigmatized by being labelled as it in more general terms, hermeneutic) analysis “those who continue living there” (Großmann can be utilised in order to create transparency 2007; Rietdorf/Liebmann/Haller 2001). and to decipher and disclose hidden codes and In an essay for which he received the “Edward constructions of meaning. In this way, it can be W. Soja Prize for Critical Th inking in Urban and demonstrated how alterations to diction can serve Regional Research”, Alex Schafran highlighted to alter fears and prejudices (whether they are jus- similar processes of shift ing meanings and prob- tifi ed or not). Sometimes these changes in diction lem-defi nition through the example of inhab- even result from international agreements among itants of disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the actors who have an interest in these alterations. United States. Due to “imprecise language use”, By this means, “insecticides” are known as “plant we can observe a signifi cant shift in emphasis protection products” and “peripheral urban ar- in debates on urban poverty. Instead of focus- eas” can become “semi-rural paradises”. ing on the poor physical condition of buildings, In a similar sense, urban hermeneutics can insuffi cient provision of infrastructure and the make a contribution to societal progress by reveal- poverty of those living in these districts, the ur- ing how social change produces ways of think- ban poor themselves are increasingly assumed to ing and speaking which lead to a stigmatisation be the problem. As a result, the spatial displace- of certain socio-economic or ethnic groups – ment of these heterogeneous groups from their even if these processes are not consciously con- homes has been frequently suggested as a “solu- ducted by certain interests. In an article entitled tion” to this “problem” (Schafran 2009). Th is is “Schneller Wohnen” (“Living Faster”), Schmoll another research fi eld where urban hermeneu- (1990) demonstrated that the shift from Fordism tics can contribute to a better understanding of to Post-Fordism, which brought about a gradual such processes. rejection of mass products, fi rst made itself felt As a basic principle and in accordance with in West Germany by means of a growing rejec- our theoretical frame of reference, we can con- tion of prefabricated housing estates built in the clude that urban hermeneutics (and, hence, Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Introduction: Challenges for Urban Hermeneutics in the 21st Century urban semiotics) needs to be substantially inte- literary scholars and art historians are represented 33 grated with data, concepts and theories drawn in this book. Th is volume can therefore be lo- from social sciences and cultural studies in order cated at the point of intersection between social to provide clear, insightful fi ndings on urban de- sciences and cultural studies. At the same time, velopment processes. Th is may also serve as an it mirrors those debates on image and imagery, explanation for the (aforementioned) fact that which analyse image-based processes of cogni- many studies contain “a little bit” of semiotics. tion in a transdisciplinary manner and scrutinise For many researchers, semiotic analysis certainly pictures and the roles they play for the processes yields supplementary insights and hypotheses, of scientifi c representational processes (for the yet it is seen as being ill-equipped to fully explore concept of representation, see Webb 2009). and comprehend research issues. Th e editors are particularly pleased by the At the same time, the lack of a concrete set fact that the diff ering disciplinary approaches of assumptions, statements and arguments about to the issue of urban hermeneutics, the varying urban issues can also be seen as an advantage of epistemological interests and the diverse concep- urban semiotics. Unlike other theories and ap- tual and analytic “toolkits” have not prevented a proaches, it is not confi ned to a particular set of fruitful and productive debate. On the contrary, basic assumptions on how cities “work”. Th is is with an outlook based on mutual curiosity and exactly why a conjunction of semiotic approaches respect, the authors have striven to defi ne the with more extensive scientifi c theories and ap- shared foundations which allow for a penetra- proaches appears to be particularly promising. It tive analysis and sophisticated understanding of broadens our perspective, permits the develop- urban sign systems. ment of new hypotheses and allows us to criti- cally question many a “tenet” or “dogma” which has made its way into urban sociology. In this way, it might shed new light on well-established concepts in urban analysis, many of which have Literature become somewhat worn and tired and in need of revitalization. Abu-Lughod, Janet, 1990: New York and With this edited volume, based on our inter- Cairo: a view from street level. In: International disciplinary symposium, “Reading the City: Ur- Social Sciences Journal, 125, 307–318 ban Semiology in Cultural Comparison“(held at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in October Allmendinger, Philip, 2009: Planning Th e- 2009), we are convinced that we can play a role ory. 2nd ed., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan in bridging existing disciplinary gaps and real- ising interdisciplinary synergies. Th rough their Bartetzky, Arnold; Schalenberg, Marc, 2009: contributions, the authors in this book provide Shapes of Happiness. Planning Concepts and insights on urban semiotics and urban hermeneu- their Manifestations in Urban Form. In: ead. tics from very diff erent and specifi c disciplinary (eds.) Urban Planning and the Pursuit of Happi- angles. Apart from sociologists and geographers, ness. European Variations on a Universal Th eme philosophers of contemporary media, linguists, (18th–21st centuries). Berlin: Jovis, 6 –17 Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

34 Berking, Helmuth; Löw, Martina, 2005: Giersig, Nico, 2008: Multilevel Urban Gover- Wenn New York nicht Wanne-Eickel ist... Über nance and the ’European City’. Discussing Metro- Städte als Wissensobjekt der Soziologie. In: ead. politan Reforms in Stockholm and Helsinki. Wies- (eds.) Die Wirklichkeit der Städte. Baden-Baden: baden: VS Verlag Nomos, 9 –23 Gottdiener, Mark; Ray Hutchison, 2010: Berking, Helmuth; Löw, Martina (eds.), New Urban Sociology. 4th ed., Boulder: West- 2008: Die Eigenlogik der Städte. Neue Wege für view Press die Stadtforschung. Frankfurt/M., New York: Campus Großmann, Katrin, 2007: Am Ende des Wachstumsparadigmas? Zum Wandel von Deu- Bounds, Michael, 2004: Urban Social Th e- tungsmustern in der Stadtentwicklung. Der Fall ory. City, Self, and Society. South Melbourne, Chemnitz. Bielefeld: Transcript Vic.: Oxford University Press Hassenpfl ug, Dieter (ed.), 2001: Die Euro- Bosch, Aida, 2010: Konsum und Exklusi- päische Stadt – Mythos und Wirklichkeit. Müns- on. Eine Kultursoziologie der Dinge. Bielefeld: ter: Lit-Verlag Transcript Kokot, Waltraud; Bommer, Bettina C. (ed.), Brenner, Neil, 2004: New State Spaces. Ur- 1991: Ethnologische Stadtforschung. Eine Ein- ban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood. führung. Berlin: Reimer Oxford: Oxford University Press Pauwels, Luc, 2009: Street Discourse: A Vi- Chandler, Daniel, 2007: Semiotics. Th e basics. sual Essay on Urban Signifi cation. In: Culture 2nd ed., London, New York: Routledge Unbound, Vol. 1, pp. 263–272 (www.cultureunbound.ep.liu.se/v1/09v1_complete_volume. Döring, Jörg; Th ielmann, Tristan (eds.), pdf, accessed April 5, 2010) 2008: Spatial Turn. Das Raumparadigma in den Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaft en, Bielefeld: Prigge, Walter, 1987: Raum und Ort. Kon- Transcript tinuität und Brüche der Materialität des Städ- tischen. In: id. (ed.) Die Materialität des Städ- Florida, Richard, 2003: Th e Rise of the Cre- tischen. Stadtentwicklung und Urbanität im ative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Lei- gesellschaft lichen Umbruch. Basel, Boston: Birk- sure, Community and Everyday Life. [Repr.] New häuser, 9 –27 York: Basic Books Quenzel, Gudrun (ed.), 2009: Entwicklungs- Geertz, Cliff ord, 2007: Dichte Beschreibung. faktor Kultur. Studien zum kulturellen und öko- Beiträge zum Verstehen kultureller Systeme. 10th nomischen Potential der europäischen Stadt. Bie- ed., Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp lefeld: Transcript Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Introduction: Challenges for Urban Hermeneutics in the 21st Century

Reicher, Christa (ed.), 2008: StadtPerspekti- University, Graduate School of Design), Ba- 35 ven. Positionen und Projekte zur Zukunft von Stadt den: Lars Müller Publishers, 114 –121 und Raum. Stuttgart, Zürich: Krämer Webb, Jen, 2009: Understanding Representa- Rietdorf, Werner; Liebmann, Heike; Haller, tion. London, Th ousand Oaks, New Delhi, Sin- Christoph, 2001: Schrumpfende Städte – verlas- gapore: Sage sene Großsiedlungen? Stadtstrukturelle Bedeu- tung und Probleme von Grosswohnsiedlungen. In: DISP 146, 4 –12

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Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Herausforderungen einer urbanen Hermeneutik für das 21. Jahrhundert

An einer Stadt – im baulichen, sozialen, wirt- Konglomerat aus diesen Schichten und Dimensi- schaft lichen, kulturellen und politischen Sinne – onen lässt jede Stadt anders aussehen, macht sie bauen viele mit. Neben zahlreichen Berufsgrup- zu einem Unikat: „New York [ist] nicht Wan- pen (Architekten, Investoren, Unternehmer, Lo- ne-Eickel“ (Berking/Löw 2005). Städte haben kalpolitiker, Mitarbeiter der Stadtverwaltung, eine – mitunter schwer fassbare – „Eigenlogik“ Künstler etc.) sind es vor allem die mannigfal- (Berking/Löw 2008). Stadtstrukturen können tigen Handlungen der Bürgerinnen und Bür- sich zudem in erheblichem Umfang aus nicht- ger, die zu Eingriff en unterschiedlichster Art in intendierten Nebenfolgen alltäglicher Handlun- den physischen und sozialen Stadtraum führen gen der Bevölkerung ergeben. Beispielsweise wird (Giersig 2008; Hassenpfl ug 2001; Short 1989). Suburbanisierung mitunter als Nebenwirkung Im Idealfall entsteht dabei ein soziales System und des Wunsches vieler Stadtbewohner nach einem baulich-naturräumliches Gefüge, das den Bedürf- vermeintlich naturnahen „Leben im Grünen“ er- nissen seiner Bevölkerung weitestgehend gerecht klärt. Massenhaft realisierte Einzelentscheidun- wird. In einer Stadt überlagern sich jedoch so- gen führen so – von den einzelnen unbeabsichtigt wohl die (städte-)baulich umgesetzten Erwartun- – zur eigentlich nicht gewollten Zersiedlung der gen vergangener und heutiger Generationen als Landschaft (zu dieser und weiteren Erklärungen auch die zunehmend ausdiff erenzierten, oft mals der Entstehung suburbane Räume vgl. Stratmann konfl igierenden Präferenzen zahlreicher (und un- in diesem Band). terschiedlich einfl ussreicher) sozialer Gruppie- Auf wissenschaft licher Ebene erfahren diese rungen. Zudem überlagern sich lokale Einfl üsse von unterschiedlichen Akteuren und Handlungs- mit solchen, die von der regionalen, nationalen ebenen ausgehenden Eingriff e in den Stadtraum und globalen Ebene auf die Städte zurückwirken. eine Analyse und Refl exion, deren Intentionen Die städtische Realität kann daher als ein viel- von der reinen Beobachtung über das Verstehen schichtiges und mehrdimensionales „urbanes Pa- und Erklären von Stadtentwicklungsprozessen limpsest“ begriff en werden (Pauwels 2009). Das bis zur Produktion neuen Praxiswissens für die Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

38 Stadtplanung reichen. Die theoretischen und em- Insbesondere die aktuellen Fragen der Zukunft s- pirischen Zugriff e auf das „Th ema Stadt“ sind da- fähigkeit unserer Städte stellen – angesichts dro- bei mindestens so zahlreich wie die beteiligten henden Klimawandels, abzusehender Erschöp- Disziplinen. Dies ist auch angesichts der Kom- fung vieler natürlicher Ressourcen und globalen plexität des Phänomens Stadt nicht verwunder- Bevölkerungswachstums – sowohl eine große, lich. Im Interesse eines urbanistischen, umfassen- Zusammenarbeit einfordernde Herausforderung den Stadtverständnisses, das auch geeignet ist, für die Th eorie und Praxis der Stadtentwicklung die Praxis der Stadtentwicklung zu informieren, dar als auch einen geeigneten theoretischen An- wird von Stadtforschern und Stadtforscherinnen ker, ein Leitthema für die Organisation eben die- unterschiedlicher disziplinärer Herkunft jedoch ser Kooperation. Die urbane Semiotik lässt sich in immer wieder auf den interdisziplinären Dialog diesem Zusammenhang als ein interdisziplinäres gedrängt (vgl. Waldheim 2010). Inter-, Trans-, Handlungs- und Forschungsfeld begreifen, das oder Postdisziplinarität1 sollen helfen, das kom- danach fragt, ob man aus gebauten städtischen plexe Gebilde Stadt in den Griff zu bekommen. Räumen und den Elementen, aus denen diese ge- schaff en sind, Rückschlüsse auf soziale Verhält- nisse und kulturelle Praktiken ziehen kann. Lässt 1 Insbesondere der US-Amerikaner Neil Brenner hat in seinen sich Stadt dekodieren? Ist Stadt lesbar? Wenn Veröffentlichungen wiederholt betont, Stadtforschung müsse heute not- dem so ist, wenn also die Dekodierungen em- wendigerweise „postdisziplinär“ angelegt sein, wenn sie auch weiterhin pirisch belastbar sind, dann können die gewon- ernsthaft das Anliegen verfolgen wolle, die zunehmend komplexen sozioöko- nenen Erkenntnisse die Stadtanalyse vertiefen, nomischen, sozialräumlichen und politischen Zusammenhänge, in die Städte und Stadtregionen eingebettet sind, angemessen zu erklären (vgl. dazu z.B. das Verständnis von Stadt verbessern sowie den Brenner 2004: 23ff.). Postdisziplinarität muss dabei klar von Kodisziplinari- Nutzen der Forschung für die Praxis erhöhen. tät unterschieden werden: Während Kodisziplinarität von einer Kooperation eigenständiger Disziplinen ausgeht, verweist das Konzept der Postdiszip- linarität auf ein Paradigma, welches eindeutig disziplinär ausgerichtete Ziele und Probleme hermeneutischer Methoden und Theorien als obsolet zurückweist. Es widersetzt sich so in Näherungen an die Stadt des 21. ganz ähnlicher Weise wie der verwandte Begriff der Transdisziplinarität einer Spezialisierung bzw. fachlichen Subsystembildung. Eine trennschar- Jahrhunderts fe und eindeutige Abgrenzung der Begriffe Trans- und Postdisziplinarität gestaltet sich – vor allem angesichts der Vielschichtigkeit und insgesamt Die urbane Semiotik beschreibt und analy- uneinheitlichen Deﬁ nition beider Begriffe – außerordentlich schwierig. We- siert städtische Räume als Systeme von Zeichen, gen der Akzentuierung von Praxis als transdisziplinärem Handlungsbereich die mit vielfältigen sozialen und kulturellen Be- ist anzunehmen, dass das Konzept der Transdisziplinarität noch von einem deutungen aufgeladen sind. Die Betrachtung der intakten Fundament disziplinärer Logiken ausgeht, die vermittels praxisbe- zogener, mithin transdisziplinärer Methoden, in einen nicht mehr disziplinär Stadt als interpretierbares Zeichensystem bildet beschreibbaren Ansatz „integriert“ und überführt werden. Demgegenüber dabei den integrierenden Rahmen für die An- scheint Postdisziplinarität selbst dieses Bestehen eines Fundaments eigen- lage dieses Buches. Bei der raumbezogenen Se- ständiger Disziplinen als Ausgangspunkt von Analysen per se zurückzuwei- miotik handelt es sich insgesamt bisher jedoch sen, um sich letztlich eher ontologischen Betrachtungen hinzugeben. noch um ein disziplinär höchst fragmentiertes Forschungsfeld. Auch ein gemeinsamer Analyse- rahmen, der eine Grundbedingung für einen systematischen Vergleich urbaner Zeichensysteme Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Einleitung: Herausforderungen einer urbanen Hermeneutik in unterschiedlichen Ländern und Kulturen dar- anderer Analyseformen, Methoden und Begriff s- 39 stellt, ist bislang nicht erkennbar. Mit dem vor- bildungen – aber gleichwohl im gemeinsamen liegenden Band soll vor diesem Hintergrund ein Rahmen einer urbanen Zeichensprache – zu Schritt zur Entwicklung eines ganzheitlicheren interpretieren und zu analysieren. Der interes- und systematischeren Ansatzes urbaner Semiotik sierten Leserschaft wird dabei zugleich ein Über- geleistet werden. Dabei sehen wir uns mit zwei blick über den Facettenreichtum der „Zugänge zentralen Herausforderungen konfrontiert: zur Stadt“ geboten. Zum einen hat die Tatsache, dass sich Sozi- Zum anderen wird auch die Tatsache, dass alwissenschaft ler, Architekten, Geografen, Lite- identische oder vergleichbare Elemente des ur- ratur- und Kulturwissenschaft ler in den letzten banen Raumes in unterschiedlichen Kulturen Jahrzehnten vermehrt um einen semiotischen in ganz verschiedener Weise mit Sinn aufgela- Blick auf den Gegenstand „Stadt“ bemühten, den (kodiert) werden, als eine wesentliche Her- bislang erst in Ansätzen zu fachübergreifenden ausforderung an die semiotische Stadtforschung Kooperationen geführt. Das Potenzial möglicher begriff en (vgl. auch Abu-Lughod 1990; Bartetz- und erwartbarer Synergieeff ekte konnte bisher ky/Schalenberg 2009). Objekte des städtischen noch nicht ausgeschöpft werden. Andererseits Raums – wie auch dieser im Ganzen – sind dem- bildet sich allmählich ein Konsens heraus, dass nach im Rahmen ihres jeweiligen historischen, der Versuch, die Stadt als sozial, kulturell, gesell- gesellschaft lichen, kulturellen und politischen schaft lich und politisch bedeutsames Zeichen- Kontextes zu interpretieren. Nur so ist ihre „De- system in all seiner Komplexität zu entschlüs- kodierung“ – also das Schließen von einem Be- seln, letztlich nur dann Erfolg versprechend ist, deutungsträger („signifi er“) auf dessen Bedeu- wenn die noch bestehenden wissenschaft lichen tungsinhalt („signifi ed“) – sinnvoll möglich. Fragmentierungen zugunsten eines interdiszip- In diesem Zusammenhang geht es darum, das linären, mindestens jedoch eines kodisziplinären Bewusstsein für die Notwendigkeit einer „kon- Ansatzes stadtsemiologischer Forschung über- text-sensiblen“ Forschung und für die weitrei- wunden werden (vgl. Tab. 1). Der Band leistet chenden und anspruchsvollen (jedoch keinesfalls insofern einen Beitrag zum gewünschten fach- unerreichbaren) Bedingungen zu schärfen, an die übergreifenden Dialog, als er Vertreter und Ver- eine aussagekräft ige, systematische und kultur- treterinnen unterschiedlicher Disziplinen mit vergleichende urbane Semiotik jenseits rigider einer Vielfalt disziplinär je spezifi scher Heran- disziplinärer Grenzen letzten Endes gebunden gehensweisen, Begriffl ichkeiten und analytischen ist. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes, die Fallbeispiele Instrumentarien konfrontiert und so einen inten- aus dem europäischen, ostasiatischen, australi- siven Dialog über diese Diversität, aber auch die schen und nordamerikanischen Raum behandeln gemeinsamen Grundlagen der Erforschung des und die die Frage nach der Tragweite der Folgen Th emenbereichs „urbane Semiotik“ ermöglicht. und Implikationen stellen, die eine kontext-sen- Die – hier weit aufgefasste – Fachwelt wird auf sitive Betrachtung des jeweiligen Fallbeispiels im diese Weise mit sich ergänzenden, voneinander je konkreten Fall mit sich bringt, behalten diese abweichenden oder gar konträren Ansätzen in zentrale Herausforderungen stets im Blick. Berührung gebracht, welche es ebenfalls erlau- Die in diesem Band zusammengeführten ben, das jeweils selbst behandelte Th ema mithilfe „Einsichten in die Stadt“ belegen auch, dass Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

40 die urbane Semiotik gegenwärtig noch zu Un- Es bedarf jedoch einer weiteren Schärfung recht ein Schattendasein innerhalb der sozial- des semiotischen Instrumentariums, damit es in wissenschaft lichen Th eorienlandschaft führt. der empirischen und angewandten Forschung Zwar hat bereits Bernd Hamm in seiner „Ein- in Zukunft leichter wird, zielführend mithilfe führung in die Siedlungssoziologie“ (1982) der der Semiotik zu arbeiten. Bei dieser Schärfung „räumlichen Semiotik“, wie es bei ihm heißt, ein geht es weder um eine weitere Komplexitätsstei- eigenes Buchkapitel gewidmet – und auch an- gerung semiotischer Begriffl ichkeiten, die die dere Autoren sind in ihren Einführungen zur Zugänglichkeit bzw. Anwendbarkeit der Me- Architektur- und Stadtsoziologie diesem Bei- thodik für konkrete Forschung nur reduzieren spiel gefolgt (vgl. z.B. Bounds 2004; Gottdie- würde, noch um die Entwicklung übersimpli- ner/Hutchison 2010; Schäfers 2006). Dennoch fi zierter Handreichungen, die die Möglichkeit ist es bisher – zumindest im deutschsprachigen eines stumpfen, mechanischen Abarbeitens von Raum – bei solchen Skizzen der wesentlichen Forschungsschritten suggerierten. Letzteres Ver- Annahmen semiotischer Ansätze sowie bei fahren dürft e wohl nur in Ausnahmefällen zu einzelnen Studien, die auf deren Basis empiri- interessanten neuen Erkenntnissen führen. Die sche Stadtforschung betreiben, geblieben. In so vorrangige Herausforderung, so wird aus der mancher Überblicksdarstellung zu stadtgeogra- Zusammenschau der einzelnen Beiträge dieses fi schen oder stadtsoziologischen Th eorien fehlt Bandes deutlich, besteht in einer Klärung des- eine Darstellung der urbanen Semiotik gänz- sen, was Semiose in den raum- bzw. stadtorien- lich. Dabei fi ndet in Lehrbüchern und in der tierten Wissenschaft en bedeutet, wie also der Forschungspraxis durchaus eine Auseinander- Prozess der Sinnzuweisung bzw. Sinnkonstitu- setzung mit interpretativen Ansätzen wie etwa tion im Falle räumlicher, gebauter, physischer (sozial-)konstruktivistischen Positionen oder Signifi kanten funktioniert. Es wird ersichtlich, diskursanalytischen Verfahren (nach Foucault dass in Beantwortung der Frage nach der Semio- oder anderen) statt. Besonders in der qualitativ se nicht allein der Signifi kant bzw. Sender und die orientierten Stadtforschung kommen darüber entsprechenden Sendeformate, Sendestati (De- hinaus weitere hermeneutische und auf Varian- notation, Konnotation, primäre und sekundäre ten der „dichten Beschreibung“ (Geertz 2007) Bedeutungen etc.) eine Rolle spielen, sondern zurückgreifende anthropologische bzw. ethnolo- auch, und dies wurde erkenntnistheoretisch bis- gische Ansätze zum Tragen (Döring/Th ielmann lang unterschätzt, der Prozess subjektiver Sinn- 2009; Kokot/Bommer 1991; Sturm 2000). Da konstruktion bzw. Bedeutungszuweisung. Die zahlreiche Spielarten methodologischer Zu- Herausforderung dabei ist, dass am Ende herme- griff e bestehen, sich nicht alle Ansätze eindeu- neutisch oder semiologisch angelegten Untersu- tig voneinander abgrenzen lassen oder bewusst chungen nicht mehr nur „plausible“ Argumenta- ein Methodenmix angestrebt wird, fi nden sich tionsketten stehen, sondern zugleich belastbare in Studien, die auf den eben genannten Ansät- Resultate (Chandler 2007: 221ff .). zen basieren, jedoch immer wieder semiotische Ohne die noch off enen Fragen und Desi- Anleihen im Sinne partieller, teils auch impliziter derate semiotischer Forschung zu ignorieren, Rückgriff e auf die Semiotik bzw. einzelner ihrer dokumentiert der vorliegende Band anhand Annahmen und Begriff e. einer Fülle unterschiedlicher Studien aus der Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Einleitung: Herausforderungen einer urbanen Hermeneutik

41 nition fi sch fi und Zielsetzung sowie der Entwicklung von Lösungsvorschlägen; Wissenschaft wird dabei selbst zum Akteur wissenschaftliche Disziplinen und Praxis- sektoren Praxis, direkte Umsetzung von For- schungsergebnissen, Veränderung der Wissenschaft Mode 2-Wissenschaft, Post-normal-science Einbeziehung der Praxis Zusammenarbeit mit themenspezi relevanten Praxis- sektoren bzw. gesell. Akteuren (Betroffene, Kommunen, Planer, private Unternehmen) bei der Bestimmung der Problemde kation fi wissenschaftliche Disziplinen Disziplinen, Methoden und Theorien Synthese oder Modi Veränderung der Ausgangstheorien, -konzepte und -methoden von Disziplinen mit Rückwirkung auf die Stammdisziplinen oder Entstehung neuer Disziplinen mit fächerübergreifenden Konzepten, Ansätzen und Methoden; beides als mögliches Ergebnis intensiver Forschungs- kooperation nition und nition fi wissenschaftliche Disziplinen Konzepte (theoretische Ansätze) sowie über Methoden und deren Einsatz Integrierte Zusammenarbeit Bearbeitung eines gemeinsamen For- schungsziels durch Abstimmung über Problemde wissenschaftliche Disziplinen Innovation Innovation Innovation in Bezug auf Arbeitsteilung mit Austausch unter Austausch von Teilergebnissen (Aus- sagen, Daten) wird ein Thema von den beteiligten Disziplinen be- arbeitet; Regelung des Prozesses über Input- Output-Steuerung wissenschaftliche Disziplinen Erweiterung, Vertie- fung der Gegenstands- analyse innerhalb einer Disziplin Transfer einer Methode bestimmte Methode aus einer Disziplin wird in einer anderen Disziplin genutzt, um dort eigene Forschungsgegen- stände zu behandeln; Methodentransfer kann, muss aber nicht in die „Quelldisziplin“ zurückwirken wissenschaftliche Disziplinen Spezialisierung, Vertiefung des Fach- wissens Multidisziplinarität keine keine Kodisziplinarität Postdisziplinarität Transdisziplinarität, zwei oder mehrere Disziplinen bearbeiten ein Thema oder jeweils relevante Aspekte davon; additive Darstel- lung der Ergebnisse; Zusammenschau er- folgt durch Leser des Forschungsberichts der Disziplinen Beteiligte Ziel weitere Bezeichnung Arbeitsweise Form Nebeneinander

Tab. 1: Formen interdisziplinären Forschens (Typologie); Quelle: Stratmann, 2007: 100 (leicht modiﬁ ziert) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

42 interdisziplinären Stadtforschung die beste- sich eine Person befi ndet, durch seine Symbolik hende Leistungsfähigkeit hermeneutischer, Sakralität, Erhabenheit oder Freizeitatmosphäre insbesondere semiologischer bzw. semiotischer ausstrahlt). Eine Mauer oder Wand bedarf also Betrachtungen.2 Nachfolgend werden dafür ei- zum Durchschreiten zum einen Türen, zum an- nige Beispiele und weitere generalisierbare Be- deren legt der mit dieser Mauer oder Wand ver- funde angeführt, die sich aus den Einzelbeträgen bundene Symbolgehalt jedoch mit fest, ob eine herausdestillieren lassen. Person sich zum Durchschreiten aufgefordert fühlt oder nicht. Diese Feststellungen sind keineswegs trivial, da von unserer Umwelt zahlreiche 2 Zu Themengebieten, die wegen ihrer Fülle hier keine Handlungsauff orderungen ausgehen, denen die Berücksichtigung ﬁ nden konnten, sowie zu weiteren Entwicklungen vgl. die Akteure letztlich folgen, ohne sie sich im konkre- Webpräsenz der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Semiotik (www.semiose.de) ten Fall explizit bewusst zu machen. sowie die Veröffentlichungen in den einschlägigen Fachzeitschriften wie z.B. Selbst das materielle Kondensat der Lebens- der Zeitschrift für Semiotik, „dem Organ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Semiotik e.V. (DGS) in Kooperation mit der Österreichischen Gesellschaft stile der Stadtbewohner, das beispielsweise in für Semiotik (ÖGS) und der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Semiotik den Dingen, die sie kaufen (Wohnungseinrich- (SGS/ASS)“ oder Semiotica, dem „Journal of the International Association tung, Kleidung, Auto etc.), sichtbar wird, lässt for Semiotic Studies.“ sich auf diese bedeutungsvolle Mehrdimensi- onalität hin untersuchen, wie dies Aida Bosch in ihrem unlängst erschienenen Buch „Konsum Der mehrdimensionale Charakter der und Exklusion. Eine Kultursoziologie der Dinge“ gebauten Umwelt (2010) getan hat. Die Atmosphäre einer Stadt, wie sich Besuchern meist rasch und unbewusst Dass Stadtanalysen notwendig einseitig blei- erschließt, hängt unter anderem mit Art und ben, wenn die Mehrdimensionalität der nicht nur Ausmaß der Selbstinszenierung ihrer Bewohner funktional und ästhetisch, sondern zugleich se- zusammen. Nicht so sehr die Dinge selbst, son- miotisch determinierten gebauten Umwelt in dern ihr Symbolgehalt wirkt stadtimage-pfl egend Forschungsarbeiten, Entwürfen und Planungs- oder -produzierend. Auch deshalb wird von Au- konzepten nicht hinreichend Berücksichtigung toren wie Richard Florida (2003) oder in dem fi ndet, ist ein weiterer Befund, den dieser Band von Gudrun Quenzel (2009) herausgegebenen belegt. Die Mehrdimensionalität der „Mate- Sammelband „Entwicklungsfaktor Kultur“ im- rialität des Städtischen“ (Prigge 1987) ist dar- mer wieder auf die enorme Bedeutung der Kultur in zu sehen, dass die Gebäude, Straßen, Plätze für die wirtschaft liche Weiterentwicklung einer und Grünfl ächen einer Stadt eine eigene Hand- Stadt hingewiesen. Denn sie ist „Ort“ der Sym- lungsrelevanz besitzen, da ihre physische Struktur bolproduktion – und damit auch der kreativen bestimmte Handlungsweisen zulässt oder verun- Schöpfung neuer Deutungsangebote. möglicht, zugleich aber die gebaute Umwelt mit Ein Beispiel für die angesprochene Mehr- Symbolen aufgeladen ist, die wiederum Hand- dimensionalität der gebauten Umwelt sind die lungen beeinfl ussen können (z.B. eher pietätvol- neuen Fußballstadien, die anlässlich der Welt- les, bedächtiges oder eher ausgelassenes Verhal- meisterschaft 2010 in südafrikanischen Städten ten je nachdem, ob der Raum, vor oder in dem errichtet wurden. Aus einer ganzen Reihe von Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Einleitung: Herausforderungen einer urbanen Hermeneutik

Gründen war die Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft in Zum einen können mit Mitteln der Semio- 43 Südafrika ein Medienereignis – samt der neu tik unmittelbar die Dinge der Stadt – das, was gebauten Stadien. Letztere unterstreichen die ihre Materialität ausmacht – untersucht werden. Bedeutung der Symbolkraft der gebauten Um- Ziel der Forschung ist dann das Verstehen bzw. welt. Einem Bericht der Süddeutschen Zeitung Lesen dessen, was in einer Stadt an Gegenständ- vom 4. Februar 2010 (S. 40) zufolge sind die lichem unmittelbar sichtbar ist. Insbesondere eigens für die WM errichteten Fußballstadien für die komparative, international vergleichen- nämlich weit mehr als nur eine materielle Er- de Stadtforschung stellt dies eine große Heraus- gänzung von Sportstätten im Stadtraum. Von se- forderung dar, denn es gilt, die aus der Lage, Ge- miotischer Bedeutung sind die Architektur der schichte und Kultur einer Region erwachsenen Stadien, ihre räumliche Lage in den Städten und und im Stadtraum verwandten Codes zu ent- die Art und Weise der Beteiligung schwarzer ziff ern. Erst wenn dies gelungen ist, ist es mög- Bauarbeiter am Konstruktionsprozess. Durch all lich, sich an das Erklären städtischer Prozesse dies signalisieren die Stadien, dass das schwarze und Strukturen in einem Untersuchungsgebiet Afrika wieder bei sich angekommen ist. Sie ste- heranzuwagen (Abu-Lughod 1990; Bartetzky/ hen für Zuversicht, Leistungsstärke, Integration Schalenberg 2009). Dies wiederum ist nicht nur und Hoff nung auf eine bessere Zukunft . Man von Bedeutung für Prognosen, sondern auch für kann also stets von einem „Mehrfachcharakter“ jede Art von anwendungsorientierter Forschung, der Artefakte menschlicher Arbeit ausgehen: Sie die auf eine Veränderung konkreter städtischer sind zugleich und zumeist funktionale Hülle Situationen bzw. der Lebensbedingungen von (Haus, Fabrik, Schule etc.) oder Gebrauchs- Stadtbewohnern abzielt. gegenstand, Ausdruck ästhetischen (Un-)Ver- Umgekehrt sind folgenschwere Planungsfeh- ständnisses, räumlich gewordener Machtkon- ler oft mals das Ergebnis einer unzureichenden – stellationen und Zugehörigkeitsdemonstrati- semiotisch uninspirierten – Stadtanalyse. Dies gilt onen (bzw. Ausgrenzungspraktiken) sowie ein im Übrigen auch für das planende Handeln oder – häufi g mehrdeutiges – Symbol für „abstrakte“ Eingreifen im eigenen kulturellen Raum. Denn Botschaft en, die sich meist nur mit je spezifi - im Zuge der voranschreitenden Individualisierung schem historischen, politischen oder kulturellen kommt es zu einer weiteren Ausdiff erenzierung Hintergrundwissen präzise entschlüsseln lassen. urbaner Lebensformen. Die wachsende Hetero- genität der Stadtbewohner, die auch als Pluralisie- rung der Lebensstile beschrieben wird, erhöht die Ebenen der semiotischen Stadtanalyse Komplexität planerischen Handelns. Die Globa- lisierung, die mit einer Zunahme des internatio- Aus dem bisher Gesagten folgt unmittelbar nalen Städtetourismus und der Migration einher- ein weiterer Schluss, der aus den Beiträgen die- geht, trägt überdies zur weiteren Komplexitäts- ses Sammelbandes gezogen werden kann, dass steigerung bei. Raumsymboliken überlagern sich nämlich semiotische Analysen insofern über ei- dabei leicht mit konkurrierenden, auch symbo- nen „Doppelcharakter“ verfügen, als sie auf zwei lisch zum Ausdruck gebrachten Raumansprüchen unterschiedliche Ebenen der Stadtanalyse abstel- (man denke z.B. an den Moscheenstreit oder die len können: Auseinandersetzung um den Ruf des Muezzins). Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

44 Orientierung bzw. Dechiff rierung wird Macht – Planung – semiotische dabei zu einer zunehmend schwierigeren Auf- Aufk lärung gabe, was mitunter zu Unsicherheiten bei vielen am Geschehen Beteiligten, aber auch bei Aus einigen Beiträgen wird auch die nicht zu „außenstehenden“ Interpreten führt (Reicher unterschätzende Bedeutung von Machtfragen, et al. 2010). Planerische Lösungen schwanken wie sie sich in der Stadtplanung und auf überge- oft mals zwischen dem Versuch einer Komplexi- ordneten Handlungsebenen stellen, ersichtlich. tätsreduktion (z.B. durch das Errichten symbo- Räumliche Planung basiert grundsätzlich auf lischer Stadttore oder Landmarken, die eine als Werten und kann daher gar nicht rein sachlich, fehlend empfundene Grenzziehung zwischen neutral-technisch oder ausschließlich logisch her- Stadt und Land wiederherstellen sollen) oder leitend vollzogen werden (Allmendinger 2009; dem Angebot von Strategien im Umgang mit Short 1989). Die tatsächlichen Werte oder Ziele erhöhten Komplexitätsanforderungen (Orien- jedoch, die mit einzelnen Planungen verbunden tierungshilfen jedweder Art). sind, werden oft mals von interessierten Akteu- Zum anderen kann sich die semiotische Ana- ren bewusst nicht transparent gemacht. Eine se- lyse nicht nur unmittelbar auf die Materialität des miotische bzw. – allgemeiner – hermeneutische Städtischen bzw. die Dinge der Stadt beziehen, Analyse kann daher dazu genutzt werden, Trans- sondern auch auf die ebenso wichtige Ebene der parenz zu schaff en, indem verdeckte Codes und Stadtdarstellung in Literatur, Bild und Film. Die Sinnkonstruktionen dechiff riert und off engelegt diesbezüglichen Beiträge des Bandes lassen die werden. Verdeutlicht werden kann dabei auch, Relevanz einer weiteren Unterscheidung her- wie über propagierte Änderungen der Wortwahl vortreten, nämlich zwischen einer semiotischen Ängste und Vorurteile (seien sie nun berechtigt Analyse bzw. einer urbanistischen Hermeneutik oder nicht) gezielt verändert werden sollen. Über von textlichen, bildlichen oder fi lmischen Stadt- – teils sogar internationale – Absprachen interes- darstellungen mit dem Ziel, ihren interpretativen sierter Akteure werden zum Beispiel aus Schäd- Gehalt herauszuarbeiten (Was wird über Städ- lingsbekämpfungsmitteln Pfl anzenschutzmittel, te ausgesagt? Welches Bild wird erzeugt?), und aus Atomkraft werken Kernkraft werke und aus eines Versuches herauszufi nden, inwiefern zum suburbanen Stadtrandlagen kleine Paradiese. Beispiel der Film selbst Mittel (Werkzeug) der In einem ganz ähnlichen Sinne kann die ur- Semiose sein kann. Bei dem letztgenannten An- bane Hermeneutik zur gesellschaft lichen Auf- satz würde es dementsprechend darum gehen, klärung beitragen, indem sie aufdeckt, wie der Filme als Methode einer hermeneutischen oder gesellschaft liche Wandel Redens- und mithin semiotischen Stadtanalyse einzusetzen. Hierbei Denkweisen produziert, die – ohne dass der wäre das Ziel also eine Erweiterung des Instru- Prozess interessengeleitet wäre – zur Stigmatisie- mentariums der urbanen Semiotik. rung bestimmter sozio-ökonomischer oder eth- nischer Gruppen führen. Bereits in seinem Buch- beitrag „Schneller Wohnen“ konnte Schmoll (1990) zeigen, dass im Zuge des Wandels vom Fordismus zum Postfordismus es zu einer allmäh- lichen Ablehnung von Massenware kam, die in Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug, Nico Giersig, Bernhard Stratmann Einleitung: Herausforderungen einer urbanen Hermeneutik

Westdeutschland zunächst auf die in Massen- beitragen, um dem Verstehen solcher Prozes- 45 bauweise erstellten Großwohnsiedlungen der se noch ein weiteres Stück näherzukommen. 1960er- und 1970er-Jahre übertragen wurde, Ganz grundsätzlich kann man abschließend fest- um anschließend auch auf die Lebensweise der stellen – und dies spricht nicht gegen den hier Bewohner dieser Hochhaussiedlungen zu zie- vorgestellten theoretischen Bezugsrahmen –, len. Die Ablehnung des Massenwohnungsbaus dass die urbane Hermeneutik – und damit auch bewirkte demnach über – psychologische und die urbane Semiotik – einer substanzwissen- medial forcierte – Übertragungsprozesse auch schaft lichen Ergänzung durch sozial-, geistes- eine Ablehnung der Menschen, die dort leben, und kulturwissenschaft liche Daten, Konzepte sodass der sozialen Ausgrenzung der Bewohner und Th eorien bedarf, soll sie zu konkreten Aus- der in Hochhaus- und Fertigbauweise errichte- sagen zur Stadtentwicklung gelangen. Dies erten Stadtteile Vorschub geleistet wurde. Die im klärt sicherlich auch, warum in mancher Studie, Städtebau der DDR häufi gen Plattenbausied- wie weiter oben bereits erwähnt, „ein wenig“ lungen durchliefen erst im Zuge der deutschen Semiotik vorkommt. Eine semiotische Analyse Wiedervereinigung seit 1990 einen solchen Ab- liefert zusätzliche Einsichten und Hypothesen, wertungsprozess, der sowohl den Zuzug in sol- doch scheint sie vielen Forschern nicht auszu- che Wohngebiete für viele unattraktiv erscheinen reichen, um ihren Forschungsgegenstand ange- ließ (und lässt) als auch mit einer Stigmatisierung messen zu erfassen. In diesem Fehlen konkreter der dort jetzt oder „immer noch“ Wohnenden Aussagen zu Städten liegt zugleich eine Chance einhergeht (Großmann 2007; Rietdorf/Lieb- der urbanen Semiotik: Anders als andere Th eori- mann/Haller 2001). en und Ansätze ist sie nicht festgelegt auf ein be- Alex Schafran weist in einem mit dem „Ed- stimmtes Set von Grundannahmen darüber, wie ward W. Soja Prize for Critical Th inking in Ur- Städte funktionieren. Eine Verbindung semio- ban and Regional Research“ ausgezeichneten tischer Zugänge zu Fragen der Stadtanalyse mit Artikel auf ähnliche Prozesse der Bedeutungs- substanzwissenschaft lich ausgerichteten Th eo- bzw. Problemverschiebung hin. Betroff ene sind rien und Ansätzen erscheint daher besonders in seinem Beispiel die Bewohner von ärmeren vielversprechend. Sie erweitert die Perspektive, Stadtvierteln in den USA. „Unpräziser Sprachge- erlaubt so die Generierung neuer Hypothesen brauch“ hat dazu beigetragen, dass ganz allmählich und auch ein kritisches Hinterfragen so mancher nicht mehr die schlechten baulichen Zustände, „Glaubenssätze“, die in die stadtsoziologische die mangelnden Infrastrukturangebote oder die Modellbildung im Laufe der Zeit eingefl ossen Armut der Bewohner dieser Viertel Gegenstand sind. In diesem Sinne könnte sie ein neues, helles der Diskussion waren, sondern die Armen selbst Licht auf bewährte sozialwissenschaft liche Kon- zunehmend als Problem begriff en wurden. „Lö- zepte der Stadtanalyse werfen, die inzwischen sungen“ des „Problems“ bestanden in der Folge jedoch etwas angestaubt und blass wirken und nicht selten in einer räumlichen Verdrängung die- dringend einer Auff rischung bedürfen. ser heterogen zusammengesetzten Bevölkerungs- Wir sind der Überzeugung, dass der vor- gruppen aus ihren angestammten Wohnvierteln liegende Band und das ihm vorausgegange- (Schafran 2009). Auch hier kann die urbane ne internationale und interdisziplinäre Sym- Hermeneutik zu einer Präzisierung der Analyse posium „Stadt lesen: Urbane Semiologie im Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

46 Kulturvergleich “, das im Oktober 2009 an der Literatur Bauhaus-Universität Weimar stattgefunden hat, dazu beitragen werden, bestehende disziplinäre Abu-Lughod, Janet, 1990: New York and Gräben zu überbrücken und interdisziplinäre Cairo: a view from street level. In: International Synergien zu realisieren. Selbstverständlich be- Social Sciences Journal, 125, S. 307–318 leuchten die in diesem Band vertretenen Auto- ren das Th ema „urbane Semiotik“ bzw. „urbane Allmendinger, Philip, 2009: Planning Th e- Hermeneutik“ dabei aus sehr unterschiedlichen, ory. 2. Aufl ., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan disziplinär je spezifi schen Blickwinkeln: Neben Soziologen und Geografen sind unter den Au- Bartetzky, Arnold; Schalenberg, Marc, toren auch Medienphilosophen, Sprach- und 2009: Shapes of Happiness. Planning Con- Literaturwissenschaft ler und Kunsthistoriker cepts and their Manifestations in Urban Form. vertreten. Der Band lässt sich daher zum einen In: dies. (Hg.) Urban Planning and the Pursuit an der Schnittstelle zwischen Sozial- und Kul- of Happiness. European Variations on a Univer- turwissenschaft en verorten. Zum anderen fi ndet sal Th eme (18th-21st centuries). Berlin: Jovis, sich in dem Buch aber auch die Debatte um Bild S. 6 –17 und Bildlichkeit wieder, in dessen Zentrum die transdisziplinäre Analyse bildlicher Erkenntnis- Berking, Helmuth; Löw, Martina, 2005: vorgänge und die Rolle des Bildes im Repräsen- Wenn New York nicht Wanne-Eickel ist... Über tationsprozess der Wissenschaft en stehen (zum Städte als Wissensobjekt der Soziologie. In: Repräsentationsbegriff vgl. Webb 2009). Beson- dies. (Hg.) Die Wirklichkeit der Städte. Baden- ders erfreulich für die Herausgeber ist, dass die Baden: Nomos, S. 9–23 unterschiedlichen disziplinären Herangehens- weisen an das Th ema „urbane Hermeneutik“, das Berking, Helmuth; Löw, Martina (Hg.), je unterschiedliche Erkenntnisinteresse und die 2008: Die Eigenlogik der Städte. Neue Wege für diversen begriffl ich-analytischen Instrumenta- die Stadtforschung. Frankfurt/M., New York: rien einer lebendigen und fruchtbaren Debatte Campus nicht abträglich sind. Im Gegenteil: Mit Respekt und großer Neugier an der Position des jeweils Bounds, Michael, 2004: Urban Social Th e- anderen sind die Autoren bestrebt, auf konst- ory. City, Self, and Society. South Melbourne, ruktive Weise gemeinsame Grundlagen für eine Vic.: Oxford University Press Analyse und ein Verständnis urbaner Zeichen- systeme auszuloten. Bosch, Aida, 2010: Konsum und Exklusion. Eine Kultursoziologie der Dinge. Bielefeld: Transcript

Brenner, Neil, 2004: New State Spaces. Ur- ban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood. Oxford: Oxford University Press 47

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Once Again: Can Urban Space be Read?

Let me start with the answer to the question a place to meet), he underestimates the signify- in the title: Yes, cities are readable. Th ey are con- ing strength of urban centrality when the centre structed essays informing their readers about so- is seen as the place of most intensive communi- ciety and the respective culture which have in- cation, i.e. ‘erotic space’ (Barthes 1988: 204ff .). habited them. Th e art of decoding urban space Although Lefèbvre off ers us the deepest, most is, however, far from straightforward. comprehensive understanding of the urban in the Urban space is composed of three main di- past and the present, he provides us with political mensions: functional, aesthetical and symbolic. semantics, assuming that all urban space is politi- Taken together, these structures or layers are in- cal, that the city is constituted by ideologies. His trinsically related to the society which inhabits prioritisation of the political in decoding and re- and produces urban space. Th erefore the impor- coding the city tends to hide both the cultural and tant question is not so much if cities are readable universal dimension of the urban (cf. Lefèbvre or not. Rather, the real question is how to read a 1974/91). Although Eco off ers a variety of highly city. Indeed, there has been a long discussion on eff ective semiotical tools for reading the city, and the city’s readability, infl uenced by famous lin- although his semiotical analysis of Brasilia pres- guists, anthropologists, philosophers or sociolo- ents a very convincing example of how real life gists like Barthes, Lefèbvre, Eco and Gottdiener. is able to undermine, even destroy and replace a However the answers to the question of how planned signifi er (Costas and Niemeyers city of to decipher the symbolic landscape of cities re- equality), he underestimates the notions of diff er- main unsatisfactory. In this respect the situation ence (cultural diff erence and social inequality) in has not signifi cantly changed since Gottdiener urban semantics (Eco 1972: 355ff .). Gottdiener mentioned that urban semiotic analysis is ‘an un- may have pushed open the doors for a sociologi- fi nished project’ (Gottdiener 1994). Although cal understanding of urban semiotics, in that he Barthes provides a truly universal defi nition of helps us to make use of spatial analysis to un- what the ‘city’ means (a space of communication, derstand social forces, structures, and confl icts. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

50 Nonetheless, he tends (like Lefèbvre) to neglect constrained by an absence of unique features. It is the urban hermeneutics of cultural and social dif- no coincidence that ‘urban exceptionalism’ plays ference (which is diff erent from ‘social inequality’ a great role for those branches of urban research or ‘social injustice’) in favour of a spatial semantics which are mainly preoccupied with topics such as of materialised ideologies. How can we explain strategic urban development and city-marketing. this continuing fl aw in the debate? What is the Similarly it is no surprise that the real pressure problem here? for ‘urban exceptionalism’ fosters corresponding A little more than two years have passed since urban theories: notions that cities are something I challenged myself to convey the spatial specifi ci- like unmistakeable (and in this respect incompa- ties of the Chinese City to a professional audience rable) spatial ‘personalities’. Note, for example, unfamiliar with China. I wanted to fi nd out what the discourse about the ‘specifi c logic’ (‘Eigen- it is that makes a city in China a Chinese City in logik’) of cities (Berking and Löw 2008). terms of its spatial characteristics. I did not aim Th is is fi ne up to a point. However, theories to explore the reasons behind the uniqueness of like this run the risk of becoming ideologies, i.e. Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an or other Chinese cities. a universalistic understanding of the urban, once Instead, I was interested in extracting the shared regarded as the only existing way to approach cit- features that make them Chinese cities and thus ies scientifi cally. According to such a universal distinguishable from cities in culturally diff erent interpretation of urban exceptionalism, it is not parts of the world. helpful -in terms of scientifi c understanding- to Th is ambition is necessarily based on two assign cities to certain cultural categories, orders fundamental assumptions. First, we have to as- or typologies. If the only raison d’être of a city is to sume that something like the Chinese City really set itself apart from any other, the question about does exist and that some specifi c shared traits are shared characteristics has to be taken as less rel- observable beyond the empirical singularity of evant or even superfl uous. In the end individual Chinese cities. Second, we have to assume that diff erence constitutes the only characteristic cities it is possible to read the city in terms of culture; really share with each other. Such a conclusion that there exists a cultural hermeneutics of ur- leads to the very universalism this theory attempts ban space, an art of urban interpretation that to avoid: a universalism of uniqueness. allows identifying something like the ‘sinity’ of By this means, those forms of urban research Chinese cities. which attempt to understand cities by exploring Let us briefl y turn to the fi rst assumption. Ad- their affi liations to certain cultural geographies mittedly, in the fi rst instance urban studies always (by assigning cities to cultural typologies, for ex- deal with individual cities, with their peculiarity, ample) tend to be overlooked. As a consequence uniqueness and distinctiveness. In extreme cases, research strategies which strive for a socio-cultur- they even tend to label cities as defi cient as soon al reading of the city are apt to fall by the wayside. as they appear to lack characteristics which make Th us the decoding of shared elements, of common them unique. In times of inter-urban competi- structures and patterns seems to be something tion increasingly staged by the media and boosted researchers can do without. in times of ubiquitous information, these cities’ Cities should not, either from a diachronic capacity for development is oft en deemed to be or a synchronic perspective, be understood as Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug Once Again: Can Urban Space be Read? only ‘urban individuals’. Rather, we are always to cities (city as ‘civilization machine’ or ‘creative 51 confronted by particular cultural – and there- milieu’) or assessments based merely on routines fore also geographical – types of cities: with both or fashion. For this purpose it will be suffi cient historical and contemporary urban collectives to accept a socio-cultural notion of the city as a not only representing societal circumstances, but hypothesis. Th is hypothesis could then be exam- also cultural practices. Take the example of the ined against the background of empirical facts. German city Weimar. It is not only diff erent to But how can this be achieved – especially in view other German cities. Nor is it only diff erent to of the fact that it remains unclear exactly how we other European cities or even from a Canadian are to identify socio-cultural diff erences. By what or Chinese city. Instead, it constitutes something means is it possible to systematically diff erenti- entirely diff erent, since it belongs to another cul- ate between cities which belong to diff erent so- tural urban archipelago, a diff erent urban species cio-cultural geographies? In this context I found than the Chinese or the Northern American city. myself confronted with the question of how it is It is not only unique in terms of being an urban possible to read the city. At present, my particu- entity, but also in terms of being a German – and lar concern is: How can the asserted sinity of the – European city. However, regarded as a Euro- Chinese city be proven? pean city, it is a specimen sharing a number of In order to answer this question, urban semi- urban codes with other European cities. otics off ers itself as an appropriate method. Aft er Having said this, we need to concede that all, many of its proponents – from Roland Barthes issues such as ‘diff erence’, ‘singularity’, ‘unique- (1988) and Henry Lefèbvre (1991) to Umberto ness’ are vital for the discipline of urban studies. Eco (1972), Mark Gottdiener and Alexandros We are certainly concerned with identity and Lagopolous (1986) – have claimed that natural identities, but our concern involves an attempt or artifi cial, animate and inanimate components of to avoid one-sided universalism. More precisely, our urban environment are able to generate com- this means introducing a third layer between one munication and, as a consequence, can be regarded which understands the city as a mere universal as signs (signifi ers). Th is leads us to the question term (e.g. city as a ‘superstructure’, ‘civilisation of whether we can physically detect built signs machine’ or the like) and another for which the in and of Chinese cities which communicate ‘in city constitutes a distinctive spatially defi ned in- Chinese’, which transmit Chinese messages. dividual (Berlin, Cape Town, Los Angeles, Bei- I can very well understand if this question is jing, Tokyo, Weimar). With the aid of the third rejected on the grounds that it is inappropriate. layer, the city can be identifi ed and analysed as Once we observe a Chinese city, we start notic- a cultural phenomenon and thus also as a social ing streets, squares, residential buildings, retail sculpture. A Chinese city is of course a city. Each shops, factories, parking lots, train stations and and every Chinese city is a distinct urban entity other kinds of functionally determined spaces. We in itself. But in addition to this, it is a Chinese observe urban elements which are not solely found city as well. in other Chinese cities, but in cities all around the What we need for a cultural urban analysis is globe. Since every city’s spatial structure is com- a structural understanding of the city which goes posed of functional elements like streets, squares, beyond almost ontological assignments of reason residential buildings and so on or of basic elements Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

52 such as paths, edges, quarters, nodes, and land- only through this assignment that the signals are mark as pointed out by Kevin Lynch (1960), one transformed into meaningful messages. Th us, the might fear that nothing much is gained by trying recipient is partly involved in the construction of to comprehend the Chinese case. Instead, it may messages. But what is it that protects the observer be deemed more expedient to observe the Chi- or recipient from carrying out mere projections nese city Beijing or Shanghai or Shenzhen and or arbitrary assignments of sense and meaning? to assemble all the characteristics that make each It may be possible that a particular urban sign of these cities a unique place in China and the already reveals parts of its secret by means of its world. One might also contemplate what these (iconic, indicative or symbolic) format of trans- cities could or should do in order to sharpen their mission. Perhaps it includes a kind of instruction profi les, to enhance their singularity. Despite all sheet, to borrow Ugo Volli’s interpretation of the these concerns, we will not abandon our project. method of reasoning Charles S. Peirce’s termed Instead, let us cling to the idea that Chinese cit- abduction. In contrast to induction or deduction, ies off er spatial elements which transmit Chinese abduction constitutes a ‘weak’, semi-logical kind messages – contents which can be recognised and of reasoning, what Peirce called an ‘explanatory understood in other Chinese cities, yet not in Eu- hypothesis’. Th is allows for a plausible (hypotheti- ropean, American or African ones. cal) access to the meaning of transmitted codes. Nonetheless, it is quite evident that urban ele- Th us we can assume that each specifi c transmis- ments are unable to transmit messages like written sion format of urban signs has its own specifi c text or speech. If we follow the common classifi - way of providing bridges of meaning – bridges cation of transmission types as proposed by the which we should have the heart to step on. It is pioneer of semiotics, Charles Peirce, the format in this quest for sense and meaning that the ‘fun- those urban signs use to transmit their messages is damental semiotic act’ is made (Volli 2002: 13). of an iconic nature where an affi nity or similarity Apart from the variety of possibilities provided between sign and meaning (signifi er and signifi ed) by hypothetical, associative and semi-logical forms is present; it might also be of an indicative nature if of reasoning, I personally believe that Walter Ben- a natural connection between them exists; fi nally, jamin’s outline of the technique of superposition is this format can also be of a symbolic kind if the of particular value in this quest to grasp the sense relationship between sign and meaning appears to of urban signifi ers. According to Benjamin, super- be mainly arbitrary or conventional (Volli 2002). position refers to the ability to remember the new Perhaps there are even more formats of transmis- - for instance by regarding present urban elements sion. What is most important to note, however, as elements of a spatialised memory and, in so do- is that urban elements constantly speak to us in a ing, as anticipations of prospective urban realities language which we cannot simply understand, a (Benjamin 1991, V1: 493, 576; V2: 1023f.). Th e language which we fi rst need to decipher – be it technique of superposition points to history which iconic, indicative or symbolic. is preserved in the elements of cities. In order to be Spatially oriented semioticians have not able to assign sense in a meaningful, non-extrinsic failed to notice that the recipient – in our case and non-projective way, we need to take possession the observer of the Chinese city – assigns mean- of this history which has always been inscribed in ing or sense to the signal he/she receives. It is animate and inanimate things. Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug Once Again: Can Urban Space be Read?

Let us take a look at an urban housing estate such compounds. Are we dealing with a pow- 53 in China. We notice that it is enclosed by walls, erful temporary fashion here? Is it because of fences and oft en also commercial perimeter block security problems? developments. Moreover, it possesses at least one Th is is hardly likely to be the case, since gate with a gatehouse, guards, ground beams, roll- history has shown that Chinese urban dwelling grills or barriers and sometimes archways are ers have lived in spatially secluded neighbour- present as well. What, then, is the message of this hoods as long as anyone can remember. As we spatial arrangement? What is denoted? Security can conclude with recourse to the method of problems? American lifestyle (‘gated community’)? abduction, we are in fact dealing with some- Exclusiveness of specifi c social groups? (fi g. 1) thing that is characteristically Chinese. A more thorough analysis of Chinese hous- Let us now enter the residential area ing estates reveals that almost all of them tend through the gate. We are struck by the fact to seclude themselves from their environment. that the residential buildings are without ex- Corresponding to this, considerably more than ception ribbon developments which flow in 90% of all Chinese urban residents reside in an east-west direction and hence are aligned

REFERENT (Object): Gated Settlement; Compound

SIGNIFIED SIGNIFIER (Message, Content): denotes (Sign, ‚Transmitter‘): Exclusion, Introversion, Gate, Barrier, Wall, Fence Segregation, Urban Village

Figure 1 Entrance to compound in Shanghai Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

54 southwards (fig.2). Have the rules of modern of Feng Shui (which have regained popularity urban construction (the Athens Charter, for recently) in this context, we regard our method example) influenced this orientation to the of reasoning as abductive rather than inductive. south? After all, the migration of the Fordistic Finally, entering the settlement’s centre, we (Bauhaus) Style can be traced from Western fi nd ourselves in an inner yard which is more or Europe via Leninist Russia through to Mao- less designed to details. Also in this case, thor- ist China. ough analysis has shown that most housing es- However, a closer, abductive look at Chi- tates dispose of such ‘neighbourhood courtyards’. nese history guides us to an appropriate ex- In combination with the gate and their enclosed planatory hypothesis: this south orientation character, Chinese housing estates speak a clearly has existed for millennia. It was established introverted spatial language. Is there a message due to climatic conditions: the desire to avoid here – and if the answer is yes: what does it de- the overheating of apartments when the sun note? (fi g. 3) is low in the west or east. In the course of I would like to off er the following explanatory time, this climatic advantage then became in- hypothesis: neighbourhood courtyards consti- corporated with the privileging of a particu- tute a symbolic space which connotes a primacy lar family subgroup. In the case of the classic of the collective, the neighbourhood (and within courtyard houses (Siheyuan), the main build- that, the family) and in this respect a prioritisa- ing aligned to the south was reserved for the tion of the Gemeinschaft (the ‘community’ in highest-ranking family members, the elderly. terms of the notion coined by Ferdinand Tön- In the present, this privilege has been taken nies). Th is sociological assignment of sense can be over and transformed into a symbol of social further reinforced by, for example, referring to the status by the rapidly growing middle and up- Chinese phenomenon of upper middle class and per classes (Hassenpflug 2009: 47ff.). Since it luxury class housing estates featuring serial villa is difficult to assess the significance of the rules ensembles. In contrast each prosperous European villa owner would insist on attaching strong value to the singularity or distinctiveness of his luxurious premises. From this we can conclude that European villa suburbs denote strong individualism. In other words: Th ey convey the prioritisation of the Gesellschaft (‘society’ or ‘association, i.e. a society based on contracts, abstract, public driven institutions, market economy etc.; fi g. 4). Th e notion that compounds denote ‘community’, ‘collective’, ‘family’ or even ‘urban village’ could also be reinforced by referring to the opposing, markedly extroverted spatial language of the historical European city, which is epitomised by the cult of façades being enabled by the perimeter block arrangements. It is in this cult Figure 2 Middle class neighbourhood with southward oriented lines Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug Once Again: Can Urban Space be Read?

REFERENT 55 (Object): Gated Settlement; Compound

SIGNIFIED SIGNIFIER (Message, Content): denotes (Sign, ‚Transmitter‘): Introversion, Community Spirit, Centered Courtyard Neighbourhood Courtyard

Figure 3 Neighbourhood courtyard (Shanghai)

REFERENT (Object): Villa Settlement

SIGNIFIED SIGNIFIER (Message, Content): denotes (Sign, ‚Transmitter‘): Collective Distinction Strategy, Prefabricated Series of Single Family Lack of Bourgeois Individualism Houses in High Density Arrangement

Figure 4 Serial arrangement of villas in compound (Qingdao) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

56 that the spatial production of an individualising One to be told with reference to the comprehen- bourgeois society becomes manifest. sive book of Chinese urban history, drawing on Additionally, once we take into account the narratives surrounding linear centrality (symbol- enclosed character of Chinese housing estates, it ising a hierarchically organised society by a strong- becomes plausible (in terms of a spatially orient- ly structured sequence of space) or the dualism of ed sociological approach) to defi ne the Chinese ‘wide street and vertical block’, i. e. Campanella’s housing estate as an urban village. Hence, the intro- ‘superblocks’, which support the typical process of verted housing estate can be understood as an ele- ‘compact urban growth’ (fi g. 5 and 7). ment of the Chinese city, one which rejects urban Using the example of Chinese urban housing estates, we attempted to demonstrate how it is possible to read the city as a socio-cultural text or – to put it diff erently – how we are to identify and to interpret elements of urban space as meaningful socio-cultural signs. Amazingly these signs and their messages are not isolated or separated from each other. While the gate or fence refers to the neighbourhood courtyard, the yard refers to open space (not to be confused with ‘public space’). In turn, the open space then refers to the closed space of the neighbourhood, while the latter refers to linear centres, the linear centres refer to diff erent kinds of urban villages (‘villages’ based on rural land use rights and closed neighbourhoods), and so on. Obviously there exists a kind of syntagmatical (de Saussure 1931) or structural urban super Figure 5 Open space with commercial perimeter lines framing compound code which indicates a close interrelation of all these signifi ers and messages. Th e code we are openness, and civic extroversion. Consequently it thinking of is ‘community’ (family, collective, turns the Chinese city into a cellular, bolted and neighbourhood, guanxi) and its dominant role barred landscape of urban villages, the buildings of in the Chinese society. In terms of urban semiotics which tend to align themselves – just like magne- this super code provides a syntagmatical integra- tised cuttings – in an east-west direction (fi g. 6). tion of heterogeneous urban signs in one decisive In contrast, commercial utilisations represent message: It is the spirit or rather the culture of the pillars of Chinese urbanity, since they enrich ‘community’ which makes up what Barthes called its cities with fl exibly oriented and open perim- the ‘sinity’ of Chinese urban space and its modes eter block structures. As a result, the open space of production. – which is otherwise purely defi ned in functional However, while collecting the messages and terms – becomes vitalised, thus obtaining genuine discovering their syntagmatical or paradigmatic urban qualities. Th is is, however, another story. status we should never forget to consider that Dieter Hassenpﬂ ug Once Again: Can Urban Space be Read?

REFERENT 57 (Object): Village in Shenzhen

SIGNIFIED SIGNIFIER (Message, Content): denotes (Sign, ‚Transmitter‘): Persistant Village Community; High Density Vertical Settlement; Hetero- Informal Quarter; Labour Migrant Location topic Structure Surrounded by New City

Figure 6 ‘Village’ in the centre of Shenzhen: These REFERENT ‘villages’ derive from former rural villages the (Object): labour units of which were allowed to keep their Beijing rural (i.e. collective) land use rights. Over time business turned from agriculture to renting space for labour migrants amongst others.

SIGNIFIED SIGNIFIER (Message, Content): denotes (Sign, ‚Transmitter‘): Social Hierarchy; North-South Axis (Dragon-Axis); Hierarchical Sequence of Meaning East-West Axis

Figure 7 Linear centrality – historical axis and present linear centers of Beijing Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

58 sociological and cultural fi ndings should initially References only claim to be explanatory hypotheses which need to be secured by further hermeneutical ef- Barthes, Roland, 1988: Das semiologische forts. Obviously the biggest challenge of decod- Abenteuer. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp ing urban spaces seems to be the art of assigning relevant social and cultural meaning to messag- Berking, Helmuth; Löw, Martina (ed.), 2008: es transmitted by physical urban elements. Th is Die Eigenlogik der Städte - Neue Wege für die challenge of completing the act of semiosis by Stadtforschung. Frankfurt/M.: Campus transferring oft en illegible, undecipherable, diffuse, unclear, incomplete, fragmented or even Campanella, Th omas J., 2008: Th e Concrete ‘speechless’ spatial messages into relevant knowl- Dragon. China’s Urban Revolution and What it edge is identical to those problems of understand- Means for the World. New York: Princeton Ar- ing which the practice of hermeneutics has grap- chitectural Press pled with since its very beginnings. However, the more profound the observer’s Eco, Umberto, 1972: Einführung in die Se- knowledge of the history and culture of a par- miotik. München: DUV ticular country or region is, the more lucidity and clarity will be added to the assignment of Gottdiener, Mark, 1994: Urban Culture. sense and meaning. As Walter Benjamin put it: From Th omas Sebeok’s Encyclopedia of Semiotics. Urban elements wish to be remembered. From Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter this point of view urban semiotics could be taken as an art of rescuing urban memory. And as Gottdiener, Mark; Lagopolous, Alexandros, memory holds the key to the future, the sphere 1986: Th e City and the Sign. New York: Colum- of signs and symbols has to be regarded as an bia University Press indispensable dimension of the urban, as one of the three dimensions to be considered in urban Hassenpfl ug, Dieter: 2010: Th e Urban Code space production: the functional, the aesthetic of China. Basel: Birkhäuser and the semiotic dimension. Lefèbvre, Henri, 1991: Th e Production of Space. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley

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Saussure, Ferdinand de, 1931: Grundfr agen der Allgemeinen Sprachwissenschaft . Berlin: Wal- ter de Gruyter

Volli, Ugo, 2002: Semiotik. Eine Einführung in ihre Grundbegriff e. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp Claus Dreyer Stadt als Text, als Massen- medium oder als Event? Wandlungen in den Lesarten des Urbanen aus semiotischer Sicht

Dass man die Stadt wie einen Text lesen kann, anheim fallen wollen. Den Wandlungen in den ist seit längerer Zeit von Semiotikern, Literatur- Lesarten des Urbanen entsprechen Wandlungen und Kulturwissenschaft lern festgestellt und bei- im Stadtbild, die einen veränderten urbanen Text spielhaft gezeigt worden. Dieser Ansatz unterstellt konstituieren. Der Beitrag soll diese Entwicklung dem städtischen Text eine rationale und diskursive untersuchen und verdeutlichen. Struktur, die einer analytischen Methodik zugäng- lich ist und so rekonstruiert werden kann, dass an- schließende Interpretationen möglich sind. In den Stadt lesen letzten Jahren werden die städtischen Texte durch mehr oder weniger aufwendig inszenierte Spekta- Wenn man davon spricht, dass eine Stadt „ge- kel und Events überlagert, die nicht mehr „gelesen“, lesen“ werden kann, sind unterschiedliche Bedeu- sondern erlebt werden sollen und an denen sich tungen von „Lesen“ im Spiel, die folgendermaßen die Besucher aktiv beteiligen können. unterschieden werden können: Die Stadt wird zu einem Massenmedium, das a. in eine metaphorische Bedeutung, nach zusammen mit anderen Medien um die Informa- der alles Wahrnehmen und Beobachten von Welt tions-, Kommunikations- und Unterhaltungsho- eine Art von Lesen ist, bei der Zeichen und Texte heit in ihrem Einzugsbereich konkurriert. Dabei identifi ziert und gedeutet werden können; in po- werden städtische Texte zu „Skripten“, die Rollen- etischer Sicht ist in diesem Zusammenhang sogar angebote für Bewohner und Besucher enthalten, von einem „Buch der Welt“ die Rede, dessen Text nach denen ein urbanes „Schauspiel“ aufgeführt aufgeschlagen vor uns liegt, das ständig fortgeschrie- und gemeinsam interpretiert werden kann. Städte ben wird und das gelesen und verstanden werden müssen Bühnen und Kulissen für dieses Th eater muss, wenn man die Welt verstehen will (vgl. Blu- anbieten, wenn sie nicht der Bedeutungslosigkeit menberg 1981); Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

60 b. in eine wortwörtliche Bedeutung, in der die Allen drei Bedeutungen von „Lesen“, die Strukturen urbaner Systeme mit den Strukturen einzeln oder vermischt im weiten Kontext von sprachlicher oder anderer kommunikativer Syste- „Stadt lesen“ vorkommen, haben gemeinsam, dass me verglichen und soweit parallelisiert werden, es darum geht, die Botschaft en und Informatio- dass gleichsam analoge „Textsorten“ einer uni- nen, die die gebaute Umwelt vermittelt, zu ver- versellen Kommunikation identifi ziert werden stehen und zu interpretieren; aufgrund der un- können, deren jeweils spezifi scher Informations- terschiedlichen Zugangsweisen ergeben sich aber gehalt sich mit anderen ergänzt und in komple- auch unterschiedliche Auff assungen und Sicht- xen Bedeutungsschichten überlagert (Beispiele in weisen darüber, was als Inhalt und Sinn urba- Gottdiener / Lagopoulos 1986); unter dem Ein- ner Kommunikation angesehen werden kann. fl uss medientheoretischer Ansätze, die „Archi- Neben der methodisch bedingten Divergenz tektur als Massenmedium“ (vgl. de Fusco 1967) gibt es auch noch einen historisch bedingten oder als digitales interaktives Netzwerk begreifen Umbruch, den man generell in dem kulturellen (vgl. Rötzer 1995), wird das „Lesen“ durch me- Übergang von der Moderne zur Postmoderne dienspezifi sche Rezeptionsmethoden erweitert fundiert sehen könnte, der mit der Erweiterung (z.B. durch digitale „Telekommunikation“) oder der Uniformität zur Pluralität, der Homogeni- sogar in körperpraktischen Aneignungsformen tät zur Heterogenität und der Kontinuität zur von Nutzern urbaner Räume wiedergefunden Diskontinuität des Denkens und Wissens ver- (vgl. Dreyer / Führ 2002); bunden ist (vgl. Welsch 1987). Der „Wandel in c. in eine „konzeptionelle“ Bedeutung, die, den Lesarten des Urbanen“ wird im Folgenden vergleichbar einem „experimentellen“ Ansatz in in der Dominanz bestimmter Lektüreweisen in der empirischen Forschung, das „Lesen“ auf dem bestimmten historischen Perioden gesehen, die Hintergrund eines theoretischen Konzepts so de- auch Auswirkungen auf die Gestaltung der Stadt fi niert und operationalisiert, dass ein Rahmen als „Produktion urbaner Texte“ hat. Auch wenn und ein Instrumentarium für spezielle Unter- die Rollen der „Stadtleser“ und der „Stadtdichter“ suchungen mit genau eingegrenztem Horizont ungleich verteilt sind, wird eine Wechselwirkung entstehen, innerhalb dessen konkrete Fragestel- unterstellt, die sich aus den jeweiligen kulturellen lungen untersucht werden können; einen solchen Gemeinsamkeiten der „Lesarten des Urbanen“ Rahmen und ein entsprechendes Instrumenta- ergibt. Als methodischer Hintergrund wird das rium liefert z. B. die Semiotik, die verschiedene theoretische Konzept der „Architektursemiotik“ Zeichenarten und -charaktere, Zeichenverbin- zugrunde gelegt, das hier nicht weiter ausgeführt dungen und -prozesse, Codierungen und Trans- werden kann (vgl. dazu ausführlich Dreyer 2003). formationen, Präsentationen und Repräsentati- onen, oft sogar in einem systematischen Zusam- menhang (vgl. Kiefer 1970, Bense 1975, Dreyer 2003 und Hassenpfl ug 2009), bereitstellt; die Er- gebnisse einer solchen „konzeptuellen Lektüre“ sind nur vor dem Hintergrund ihres fundieren- den theoretischen Konzepts interpretierbar und erhalten dadurch ihr epistemologisches Gewicht. Claus Dreyer Stadt als Text, als Massenmedium oder als Event? Wandlungen in den Lesarten des Urbanen

Stadt als Text wie literarische Strukturen ein Analogon zu ar- 61 chitektonischen Strukturen fi nden: in der Bezie- Die Auff assung von Stadt als einem „Text“, hung zwischen Haupt- und Nebenräumen, im den man „lesen“ kann, ist eng verknüpft mit Gefüge der räumlichen Anordnungen oder in dem Denken der Moderne, insbesondere mit der Positionierung von räumlichen Elementen dem Strukturalismus der 1950er- und 1960er- zwischen unterschiedlichen Strukturebenen wie Jahre (Vorläufer reichen über Walther Benjamins Technik und Stil (Scalvini 1980). Die Fokussie- „Passagenwerk“ bis zur Romantik, besonders rung auf die internen Funktionen des architek- Victor Hugos „Sprache der Steine“, vgl. Hugo tonischen Textes hat natürlich eine Verbindung 1832: Kap. V.2). Dabei muss eine architekto- zu den externen architektonischen Funktionen, nische „Sprache“ vorausgesetzt werden, die aus die als Arten und Weisen des Gebrauchs von Ar- Zeichen, Relationen und Regeln besteht, mit chitektur aufgefasst und als wesentlicher Inhalt denen man bedeutungsvolle Äußerungen her- der architektonischen Botschaft en verstanden vorbringen, vermitteln und apperzipieren kann. werden können. Diese Verbindung zwischen Solche Zeichen sind etwa Räume aller Art, Ge- Strukturalismus und Funktionalismus darf als bäudeformen und -typen, Bauteile und Materia- ein charakteristisches Merkmal des Architektur- lien, Straßen und Plätze, Ornamente und Dekor; verständnisses der Moderne angesehen werden, Regeln ergeben sich aus der Bau- und Planungs- bei dem das „Lesenkönnen“ der internen Struk- technik, den Funktionen, der Stilistik und dem turen des architektonischen Textes zu einem soziokulturellen Umfeld (vgl. Hesselgren 1967 „Verstehenkönnen“ der externen Funktionen und Luning Prak 1968). Diese Sprache der Ar- führen soll. Die regelrechten „grammatikalen“ chitektur ist eng verknüpft mit der „Schrift “, in Strukturen des architektonischen Textes sollen der sie dargestellt und vermittelt wird: die ma- die „Logik“ der funktionalen Organisation der terielle und technische Realisation der Archi- Architektur aufzeigen und die prinzipielle „Rati- tektur, die allerdings ergänzt wird durch weitere onalität“ des Gesamtkonzepts verbürgen. Die an- Schrift systeme der Information, der Werbung, gestrebte Entsprechung von „grammatikalisch“ der Stadtmöblierung und -begrünung sowie der regelrechter Struktur und funktionaler Logik der „Kunst im öff entliche Raum“, die sich mit der Architektur folgt einem Ideal von Rationalität, architektonischen Primärschrift verbinden und das dann erreicht wird, wenn das menschliche diese überlagern (dass auch die Verbildlichung Leben (vorwiegend als Gebrauch oder „Nut- von Architektur durch Foto, Film und Video zung“ verstanden) in der geplanten und gebauten eine solche „Schrift “ sein könnte, muss hier außer Umwelt ein genaues Spiegelbild erhält (z. B als Acht bleiben; vgl. Vetter 2009). Aus struktura- „strukturelle Ähnlichkeit“ bei Norberg-Schulz listischer Sicht sind es besonders die Strukturen 1963 /1968: 173 ff .). Dem entspricht architek- der internen Funktionen, die architektonische tonisch die perfekt geplante verkehrsgerechte Gebilde zu komplexen Texten machen und die Stadt, in der die Bereiche von Arbeit, Wohnen, mit Texten anderer Textsorten und -klassen kom- Verwaltung und Unterhaltung sauber getrennt patibel sind. Unter Rückgriff auf Barthes’ Th e- und deutlich markiert sind. Der tiefere Sinn die- orie der strukturalen Analyse von Erzählungen ser Architektur fi ndet in der spiegelbildlichen (Barthes 1966) hat Scalvini zu zeigen versucht, Entsprechung von gebauter und funktionaler Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

62 Struktur seinen Ausdruck und kann nach ein- Dabei tritt an die Stelle des vertrauten „lo- gehender „Lektüre“ von urbanen und räumli- gischen“ Nacheinanders der Zeichen und Texte chen „Texten“ ermittelt und gedeutet werden. ein Neben- und Miteinander, das sich zu dyna- mischen und hybriden Konfi gurationen aus Bil- dern, Texten, Grafi ken und Installationen über- Stadt als Massenmedium lagert. Für ihre Zusammensetzung gibt es keine etablierten „Grammatiken“, sondern vielfältige Mit dem zunehmenden Interesse für die Gewohnheiten und Konventionen, die im stän- Rolle der Medien in der Massenkommunika- digen Wandel begriff en sind und dabei auch im- tion der Spätmoderne (vgl. McLuhan 1964 mer wieder auf vertraute Muster und Motive und 1967) verändert sich auch die Auff assung zurückgreifen. Für de Fusco und Venturi sind es von Architektur als Sprache oder Text. Archi- besonders die Welten der Reklame, der Freizeit- tektur wird zunehmend als ein „Massenmedi- und Unterhaltungsindustrie und des Kommer- um“ begriff en, das vielfältige Informationen und zes, die die Seh- und Lesegewohnheiten ebenso Botschaft en im Konnex mit den anderen Mas- prägen wie die aktuelle Produktion architek- senmedien übermittelt und verbreitet (bes. de tonischer Zeichen. In der digitalen Transforma- Fusco 1967, Venturi 1972 und Dreyer 1997). tion der gegenwärtigen Architekturentwicklung Dadurch erhält auch das „Lesenkönnen“ ei- bekommen diese Zeichenwelten eine zusätzli- nen anderen Status: Es geht zunehmend weni- che neue Dimension, die der „Virtualität“, die ger um die ausschließliche Beschäft igung mit dem „Leser“ ein immenses Vorstellung- und Sprache und Schrift (zu den Konsequenzen Unterscheidungsvermögen abverlangt, um vgl. bes. McLuhan 1964 und Postman 1985) den architektonischen „Hypertext“ zu verste- als vielmehr um die Auseinandersetzung mit hen. Ebenso wie am heimischen Bildschirm komplexen Mischungen von Bildern, Grafi ken, wird das „Lesen“ im urbanen Kontext zu einem Texten und Installationen, die eine erweiterte „Checken“ und „Navigieren“, um interessante Lesefähigkeit erfordern. Mit der zunehmenden Situationen und Informationen zu fi nden, die Digitalisierung der Kommunikation durch elek- „heruntergeladen“ und gespeichert und erst im tronische Medien erhält diese Mischung eine Nachhinein (wenn überhaupt) analysiert und weitere Dimension, die die Materialität mit interpretiert werden können. Dabei bleibt es der Virtualität der Zeichen und Texte ebenso oft bei diff usen Mischungen aus Erinnerun- vermengt wie die Unterscheidungen zwischen gen, Dokumentationen und Assoziationen, oft historischer Zeit und Echtzeit, Stillstand und ergänzt um Foto-, Film- und Videoaufnahmen Beschleunigung, Realität und Imagination. Es sowie digitale Visualisierungen, die das Ergeb- entstehen komplexe „Hypertexte“, die in einem nis einer solchen Stadtlektüre darstellen. Das multimedialen Netzwerk von analogen und di- kann poetisch-literarisch sehr reizvoll sein (vgl. gitalen Medien fungieren und eine andere Lese- Brinkmann 1979), ist aber für den urbanisti- fähigkeit erfordern: Zeichen und Symbole aus schen Diskurs erst in Ansätzen zu dechiff rieren völlig heterogenen Repertoires müssen so gele- (z. B. Rötzer 1995). sen und verstanden werden, dass sie eine konsis- Hier kommt ein zentrales Th ema in den Blick, tente Botschaft ergeben können. das schon in längerer Tradition der Anwendung Claus Dreyer Stadt als Text, als Massenmedium oder als Event? Wandlungen in den Lesarten des Urbanen kommunikationstheoretischer Positionen auf ar- von architektonischen Codes eine wesentliche 63 chitektonische und städtebauliche Sachverhalte Voraussetzung zum Verständnis spätmoderner steht: das der architektonischen Codes (vgl. Eco und – bei einem weiten Codeverständnis – aller 1968). Unter einem „Code“ versteht man in der Architektur und Urbanistik ist (vgl. die umfassen- Semiotik ein jeweils besonderes und im Prin- den Untersuchungen zum gegenwärtigen Städte- zip formalisiertes Zeichensystem, dessen „Aus- bau in China von Hassenpfl ug 2009). druckselemente“ zu einem ebenfalls prinzipiell formalisierten System von „Inhaltselementen“ in einer „konventionalisierten und sozialisierten Stadt als Event Korrespondenz“ stehen (Eco 1973/1977: 170), sodass bei Auft auchen einer codierten Botschaft Ein auff allendes Phänomen der gegenwärti- mit Kenntnis des Codes der Inhalt entschlüsselt gen Architektur ist die Gestaltung und Nutzung und gedeutet werden kann. Neben Codes wie der „Stadt als Bühne“ für vielfältige Veranstal- den Verkehrszeichen, Geheimsprachen, Mor- tungen und Ereignisse des öff entlichen Lebens. sezeichen, genetischen Codes, Moden und Ri- Neben die traditionellen kirchlichen, sportlichen tualen hat man auch seit Langem architektoni- und volkstümlichen Festen, die ihren unverrück- sche Codes identifi ziert und interpretiert (vgl. baren Platz im Jahresablauf und in der städti- Eco 1968, Jencks 1977). Dabei sind sowohl for- schen Topografi e haben, sind zahlreiche Events male wie funktionale, historische wie typologi- getreten, die nur manchmal an historische Ge- sche, soziale wie regionale, populäre wie artifi zi- gebenheiten anknüpfen, oft aber einer aufwen- elle und neuerdings auch digitale und mediale dig geplanten polit-ökonomischen Strategie zur Codes identifi ziert und analysiert worden (vgl. permanenten Bespielung innerstädtischer Are- dazu Dreyer 2003 und 2010). Obwohl es keine ale folgen. Die jeweiligen Ereignisse werden konsistente Terminologie und Methodik gibt, wie theatralische Auff ührungen organisiert, scheint die Codeanalyse ein fruchtbarer Ansatz mit „Skripten“, „Rollen“ und „Choreografi en“ zur „Lektüre“ architektonischer und urbaner für die Aus- und Darsteller und kulissenartigen „Hypertexte“ zu sein, der besonders für das Ver- Einrichtungen für die Gestaltung räumlicher Si- ständnis spät- und postmoderner Architektur tuationen (für die Folgen amerikanischer Stadt- geeignet ist. Dabei ist es wichtig zu beachten, dass planungen vgl. Sewing 2003). Die Programme dem analytischen Ansatz auch eine produktive und Akteure solcher Veranstaltungen folgen einer Komponente gegenübersteht: Den Prozessen der eigenen Dramaturgie, die auf Mobilisierung, Ak- Decodierung entspricht der Vorgang der aktiven tivierung und Partizipation der Teilnehmer zielt, Encodierung, der als postmoderne Entwurfsstra- dabei allerdings oft nur passive Anteilnahme und tegie zwar in Verruf gekommen ist (vgl. Dreyer konventionelles Konsumverhalten erreicht. Die 2009), aber im weitesten Verständnis als anth- massenhaft e Beteiligung von Besuchern an urba- ropologische Konstante des menschlichen Zei- nen „Spektakeln“ (Debord 1967) aller Art lässt chengebrauchs ein unumgänglicher Bestandteil allerdings auf ein tief verankertes Bedürfnis nach sozialer Kommunikation zu sein scheint. Des- besonderen Erlebnissen schließen, das ein zentra- halb kann man sagen, dass die Kompetenz zum les Charakteristikum der gegenwärtigen „Erleb- Identifi zieren, Lesen, Deuten und Interpretieren nisgesellschaft “ (Schulze 1992) zu sein scheint. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

64 Die urbane Architektur versucht, diesen Anfor- („Autoren“) und Darsteller als auch die Teilneh- derungen mit ihren Mitteln gerecht zu werden, mer und Besucher sich in dem Spektakel wieder- indem sie die städtische Bühne einrichtet und erkennen und darin ihren aktiven oder passiven nach thematischen Motiven gestaltet. In den Stra- Platz fi nden können, wobei die Rollen zwischen ßen, auf den Plätzen, in den Parks, in den Foyers Darsteller und Zuschauer idealerweise austausch- öff entlicher Gebäude und manchmal mit ganzen bar sein und einem ständigen Wechsel unterlie- Gebäudegruppen werden „Geschichten“ erzählt, gen sollen. die einem besonderen Anlass entsprechen (der Diese „Stadt zum Mitmachen“ erfordert von auch sehr willkürlich sein kann), aber auch kollek- allen Teilnehmern eine erweiterte Lesefähigkeit tive Träume und Fantasien verkörpern (nach dem urbaner Zeichen, wenn sie über den bloßen Kon- Motto: „Unter dem Pfl aster liegt der Strand“) sum hinausgehen soll: Bilder, Texte, Gesten, und oft in kaum verhülltes Stadtmarketing über- Handlungen, Installationen und Atmosphären gehen (vgl. dazu Löw 2008). Im Wettbewerb der (Böhme 2006) müssen simultan wahrgenom- Städte um mediale Aufmerksamkeit, Investoren men, analysiert und gedeutet werden können, und Besucher sind solche Veranstaltungen zu ei- um daraus Impulse für eigenes Verhalten ablei- nem beinahe unverzichtbaren Bestandteil kom- ten zu können. Das „Lesenkönnen“ umfasst hier munaler Politik geworden, die es vor allem auch neben der Rezeption konventioneller visueller, erfordern, möglichst spektakuläre und singuläre grafi scher, situativer und aktionistischer Informa- architektonische Objekte von Stararchitekten als tionen auch körperhaft e Aneignungsmethoden, „Kulissen des Glücks“ (Schulze 1999) zu reali- z.B. durch sportliche oder spielerische Aktivitä- sieren oder, falls im Bestand vorhanden, zu res- ten (vgl. Dreyer / Führ 2002), sowie zunehmend taurieren und zu revitalisieren. auch das mobile mediengestützte Navigierenkön- Als gemeinsamer Nenner für alle diese Maß- nen in digitalen Netzwerken, die den urbanen nahmen und Prozesse hat sich der Begriff der „In- Text überlagern. Damit wird das „Lesen“ von szenierung“ eingebürgert (vgl. Dreyer 1996 und aktuellen Stadtinszenierungen zu einem Prozess, Janson / Jäkel 2007), der eigentlich ein komplexes der eine umfassende Kompetenz in urbaner und theatralisches Geschehen bezeichnet, dass erfor- medialer Kommunikation voraussetzt. derlich ist, um ein literarisch oder musikalisch dramatisches Werk auf einer Bühne zur Auff üh- rung zu bringen und die zugehörigen Rollen, Abstrakte versus konkrete Stadt Räume, Requisiten, Kostüme und Beleuchtun- gen zu gestalten. Auch wenn der Architektur Abschließend soll noch einmal ein Blick auf vorwiegend die Aufgabe zukommt, die Räume die „Wandlungen in den Lesarten des Urbanen“ szenisch so zu gestalten, dass das „städtische aus semiotischer Sicht geworfen werden. Dabei Raumtheater“ (Hassenpfl ug 2009: 15) möglich lässt sich feststellen, dass eine erste „Spur“ der wird ( und möglichst viele verschiedene „Stücke“ Wandlungen so verläuft , dass die moderne Auf- zur Auff ührung kommen können), muss der ge- fassung von Architektur und Stadt als Sprache samte Kontext einer Inszenierung mitbedacht oder Text abgelöst wird von einer spätmoder- und gestalterisch mitbehandelt werden. Es geht nen Konzeption, die den massen- und multi- schließlich darum, dass sowohl die Veranstalter medialen Charakter des urbanen „Hypertextes“ Claus Dreyer Stadt als Text, als Massenmedium oder als Event? 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Raspaud: „Dabeiseinwollen“ geworden, in dessen Erfüllung Die Gesellschaft des Spektakels. Hamburg: Schu- sich der Sinn von architektonischer und urbaner lenburg (Edition Nautilus) 1978 Lektüre erschließen würde. Ob diese Wandlun- gen ein Fortschritt oder eher ein Rückschritt im De Fusco, Renato (1967): Architettura come kommunikativen Umgang mit urbanen Texten mass medium. Note per una semiologica architetto- sind, muss hier nicht entschieden werden. Es wäre nica. Bari: Dedalo. Deutsch von A. Giachi: Archi- zu wünschen, dass der „Stadtleser“, vor allem aus tektur als Massenmedium. Anmerkungen zu einer dem professionellen Bereich, über Kompetenzen Semiotik der gebauten Form. Gütersloh: Bertels- in allen drei modellartig vorgeführten Leseweisen mann 1972 verfügt, damit von ihm sowohl historische als auch aktuelle Stadttexte gelesen und interpretiert Dreyer, Claus (1996): Die Inszenierung des werden können. Raumes in der neueren Architektur. 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66 Dreyer, Claus (1997): Architecture as a Mass Gottdiener, Mark / Lagopoulos, Alexandros Medium? In: W. Nöth (ed.): Semiotics of the Me- Ph. (eds.) (1986): Th e City and the Sign. New dia. Berlin und New York: Mouton de Gruyter, York: Columbia University Press S. 689–702 Hassenpfl ug, Dieter (2009): Der urbane Code Dreyer, Claus (2003): Semiotische Aspek- Chinas. Basel: Birkhäuser te der Architekturwissenschaft : Architekturse- miotik. In: R. Posner u.a. (eds.): Semiotik. Ein Hauser, Susanne/Dreyer, Claus (eds.) (2009): Handbuch zu den zeichentheoretischen Grundla- Das Konkrete und die Architektur. Wolkenku- gen von Natur und Kultur. Berlin und New York: ckucksheim 1 / 2009 (www.tu-cottbus.de/the- de Gruyter 2003, Bd. 3, S. 3224 –3278 oriederarchitektur/Wolke/wolke_neu/inhalt/ de/heft /2009-1.php, 16.April 2010) Dreyer, Claus (2009): Semiotik und Ästhe- tik in der Architektutheorie der sechziger Jahre. Hesselgren, Sven (1967): Th e Language of In: Daniel Gethmann / Susanne Hauser (eds.): Architecture. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Englische Kulturtechnik Entwerfen. Bielefeld: Transkript, Ausgabe 2 Bände: London: Applied Science Pu- S. 179–201 blishers 1972

Dreyer, Claus (2010): Architektonische Hugo, Victor (1832): Notre-Dame de Paris. Codes aus semiotischer Sicht. In: Andrea Glei- Deutsch von E. von Schorn: Der Göckner von niger / Georg Vrachliotis (eds.): Code: Zwischen Notre-Dame. Frankfurt/M.: Insel 1996 Operation und Narration. Basel: Birkhäuser (im Erscheinen) Janson, Alban / Jäkel, Angelika (eds.) (2007): Mit verbundenen Augen durch ein wohlgebautes Dreyer, Claus / Führ, Eduard (eds.) (2002): Haus. Zur szenischen Kapazität von Architektur. Urban Bodies. Wolkenkuckucksheim 1/2002 Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang (www.tu-cottbus.de/theoriederarchitektur/ Wolke/deu/Themen/themen021.htm,16. Jencks, Charles (1977): Th e Language of Post- April 2010) Modern Architecture. London: Academy Editions. Deutsch von N. von Mühlendahl-Krehl: Die Spra- Eco, Umberto (1968): La struttura assente. che der Postmodernen Architektur. Stuttgart: Mailand: Bompiani. Deutsch von J. Trabant: Ein- Deutsch Verlags-Anstalt 1978 führung in die Semiotik. München: Fink 1972 Kiefer, Georg (1970): Zur Semiotisierung der Eco, Umberto (1973): Segno. Mailand: Institu- Umwelt. Eine exemplarische Erörterung der sekun- to Editoriale Internazionale. Deutsch von G. Mem- dären Architektur. Stuttgart: Diss. mert: Zeichen. Einführung in einen Begriff und seine Geschichte. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp 1977 Löw, Martina (2008): Soziologie der Städte. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp Claus Dreyer Stadt als Text, als Massenmedium oder als Event? Wandlungen in den Lesarten des Urbanen

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68 Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums

Die Metapher der Lesbarkeit von Stadt Anschläge, Baustellenordnungen und derglei- möchte ich in meinem Beitrag auf einen ihrer chen handelt. Die orientierenden Hinweise im pragmatischen Aspekte eingrenzen: Die Stadt ist Bereich der Signaletik und die Verkehrszeichen kein Text, wohl aber gibt es Text in der Stadt. Im dienen der Orientierung von Menschen und der Folgenden werden kommerzielle, subkulturelle, Koordinierung ihrer Bewegungsströme (Bau- künstlerische und letztlich immer auch politische er 2009). Dazu kommen die allgegenwärtigen Textformen im urbanen Umfeld (1) anhand aus- Botschaft en einer vollständig kommerzialisier- gesuchter Beispiele behandelt sowie ansatzwei- ten Konsumkultur, widerständig dazu dann die se der Umgang mit diesen als unterschiedlich der Kritik und des Protestes. Und schließlich motivierten Ästhetisierungen im Rahmen von buhlt noch die Kunst im öff entlichen Raum um künstlerischen Modalitäten der Einschreibung Aufmerksamkeit: In Kulturstädten wie Weimar (2) sowie der gelegentlich funktionierenden In- beispielsweise fi nden sich literarische Sinnsprü- terventionen zur Entschrift ung des öff entlichen che an zahlreichen Hauswänden über die Stadt Raums (3). verteilt, auf andere Beispiele künstlerischer In- tervention werde ich in diesem Beitrag noch eingehen. Markieren Zum Einstieg ist die unvermeidliche Beob- achtung von Walter Benjamin in Erinnerung zu An allen Enden und Ecken des städtischen rufen, der in seinen surrealistisch angehauchten Raums fi nden sich systemkonforme, orientieren- Aphorismen „Einbahnstraße” (1928) die ent- de, kommerzielle oder subversive Texte. Sie sor- scheidende Beobachtung festhält, dass inner- gen für Disparität, sie tauchen nach eigenen Ge- halb der modernen Großstadt der Schrift eine setzlichkeiten auf und gelegentlich verschwin- neue Form im ontologischen Sinne zukommt. den sie wieder. Die Regeln dafür sind festgelegt, Das „Geschehen dieser Tage in Wirtschaft , sofern es sich um Verlautbarungen, Plakate und Technik und öff entlichem Leben” verlange es: Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

70 „Die Schrift , die im gedruckten Buche ihr Asyl mittlerweile unabdingbar zur Wahrnehmung von gefunden hatte, wo sie ihr autonomes Dasein Urbanität, die ohne Lichterglanz und Werbeta- führte, wird unerbittlich von Reklamen auf die feln kaum mehr vorstellbar ist. Es handelt sich da- Straße hinausgezerrt und den brutalen Hetero- bei meist nicht um reinen Text, sondern um eine nomien des wirtschaft lichen Chaos unterstellt.“ Kombination von Schrift - und Bildelementen, Benjamin war Zeitzeuge einer Ära, in der nicht deren Ästhetik reproduktionsbedingt sich zu- nur neue Medien den bürgerlichen Alltag durch- nächst auf typografi sche Elemente konzentriert drangen, sondern in welcher durch die visuel- und mit der Farblithografi e und dem Aufk om- le Kultur der Reklametechniken der städtische men modernerer Druckverfahren wie Siebdruck Raum sein Gesicht grundlegend verändert hat. und Foto-Off setdruck zunehmend grafi sche und Während nach seiner Beobachtung die Schrift fotografi sche Bildelemente integriert hat. Gegen- von der Horizontalen des Schreibtisches sich wärtig erlaubt Digitaltechnik neue Formate der in die Vertikale von Hauswänden und Plakaten Außenwerbung wie die an Gebäuden temporär bewegt, ist es der Reklame geschuldet, dass in angebrachten Riesenposter („BlowUps“), darü- der Stadt ein neuartiges „dichtes Gestöber von ber hinaus sorgt Beleuchtungstechnik für neue wandelbaren, farbigen, streitenden Lettern“ auf mediale Plakatformen („Mega-Light-Poster“) die Flaneure und Passanten niedergeht (Abb. 1) und dank LED-Technologie fi nden sich zuneh- (Benjamin 2002: 196f.). mend bewegte Bilder auf Videodisplays im öf- fentlichen Raum. Bekanntlich bleibt diese Entwicklung nicht ohne Wirkung für die Wahrnehmung von Urba- nität, wobei dieser Begriff schon einem Bedeu- tungswandel ausgesetzt scheint: von „urban“ im Sinne von verfeinerter oder distanzierter Haltung hin zu „Urbanität“ als Versprechen der vielseitigen Möglichkeiten und Nutzungen, die eine Groß- stadt den Menschen bietet. Letzteres kommt zunehmend laut und schrill daher, zu schrill, wie manche meinen. Besonders die Werbemittelin- dustrie treibt vieles auf die Spitze und dehnt jede sich bietende Oberfl äche noch einmal künstlich aus, um sie dann mit ihren plakativen optischen Abb. 1: Piccadilly Circus, London ca. 1930er-Jahre Reizen zu überziehen. Dass Betrachter auf Schritt und Tritt dieser „Push“-Mediensituation ausge- Eine neue Bildersprache verändert die Di- setzt sind, wird von diesen aber nicht kritiklos hin- mensionen der urbanen visuellen Kultur. Der genommen. In den vergangenen Jahren wird gene- strukturierende Code für die öff entlich wirksa- rell verstärkt kritisiert, dass es den Unternehmen men Bildersprachen wurde in der ersten Hälft e im Kampf um Marktmacht mehr um ihr Marke- des 20. Jahrhunderts von neuen Akteuren entwi- nimage geht als um tatsächliche Produktqualität ckelt (Hartmann und Bauer 2006). Sie gehören geht – Stichwort „No Logo!“ (Klein 2001). Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums

Man muss nun kein unversöhnlicher „An- entwickelt, die den symbolischen Raum des Ur- 71 ti-Corporate“-Aktivist sein, um zu erkennen, banen eigensinnig strukturieren. Besonders auf- dass die Markenindustrie in ihrem Kampf um fällig ist das Auft auchen von Graffi ti seit den die Aufmerksamkeit der Konsumenten in prak- 1960er-Jahren; hinsichtlich des privaten Raums tisch jeder Alltagssituation eine Art Koloniali- oder der Persönlichkeitsmerkmale ist in diesem sierung des Blickfeldes betreibt. Protest kommt Zusammenhang neben den Tätowierungen etwa von Seiten der Stadtverwaltungen. Neben auch das in letzter Zeit so populäre „Piercing“ dieser politischen gibt es eine subkulturelle und bemerkenswert. Die subversiven, sich Öff ent- eine künstlerische Ebene, auf denen Protest ge- lichkeit erschleichenden Zeichen kritisieren öf- gen die Proliferation visueller Kommunikation fentliche Lesarten und treten zu einem ebenso in städtischen Räumen zum Ausdruck kommt andauernden wie fi ktiven Dialog an mit jedem, – bzw. auf denen dieser Protest funktionalisiert der sie wahrnimmt. wird. Urbane Zeichensprachen unterschiedlichster Provenienz kondensieren Bedeutung an bestimmten Orten, und es ist kein Zufall, dass sie sich gegen eine Homogenisierung des Visuellen durch die Welt des „Corporate Design“ sträuben. Die Form, in der sie das tun, ist sowohl getragen von ihrem Anspruch auf visuelle Integrität als auch von den ikonoklastischen Gesten der Ge- genkultur, die sich dann zum Missfallen ordent- licher Bürger als Graffi ti-„Schmiererei“ an den Fassaden der Stadt wiederfi nden (Abb. 2). Soziologisch können Graffi ti als Zeichen einer Aneignungspraxis öff entlichen Raums interpretiert werden, einer Praxis, die zunehmend einer Rückeroberung gleichkommt: Gegner ist die neoliberalistische Ökonomie, die Wirtschaft s- welt mit ihrer globale Marken- und Produktpo- litik, die von lokalen Werbe- und Marketing- agenturen visuell inszeniert werden. Bedingt Abb. 2: „Pixação“Grafﬁ ti, São Paulo, Brasilien durch die ständige technische Verbesserung von Präsentierungen gelingt ihnen dies immer Graffi ti kann vieles bedeuten: Vandalismus im perfekter und umfassender, wobei die Dauer- öff entlichen Raum, Subversion privaten Eigen- präsenz visueller Werbebotschaft en deren sozio- tums, Signatur tribalistischen Territoriums oder kulturellen Akzeptanz jedoch eher schaden. Die einfach nur Ausdruck persönlicher Kreativität, Überfl utung des öff entlichen Raums mit Zei- vielleicht illegitime Kunst im öff entlichen Raum. chen und Schrift en, die systemkonform kom- Eine Stimme des Protestes auf jeden Fall oder die munizieren, ist off ensichtlich. Parallel dazu ha- Spur einer Aneignungspraxis. Der zugrunde lie- ben sich subversive Kommunikationsstrukturen gende Kampf aber ist der zwischen System und Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

72 Subkultur, und er dreht sich um die Deutungsho- mitgetragen nach dem Kauf, ob man will oder heit innerhalb einer von der Werbeindustrie be- nicht: Das Logo wirkt weiter, es unterwandert, reits nahezu restlos kolonialisierten Lebenswelt. altmodisch formuliert, jegliche Aneignung des „Meine Tags reproduzieren und kritisieren deine Gebrauchswerts zugunsten des universalisierten Schweinereien; sie machen sich über sie lustig; du Tauschwertes. sagst, dass ich die Mauern und die Türen der U- Der Prostest dagegen ist alt, und vor der kapi- Bahn bekote, aber fi ndest du nicht meine Werke talistischen Kommerzialisierung richtete er sich origineller und weniger repetitiv als die deinen, generell gegen die Obrigkeit. Wie eine aktuelle die alles mit ein und derselben Marke wie mit Kot soziologische Studie (Lorenz 2009) zeigt, grün- beschmieren?“ (Serres 2009: 62) deten in Neuzeit und Aufk lärung vandalistische Akte, die an öff entlichen Kulturgütern ausge- übt wurden, in der ständigen Demütigung und Ausbeutung der einfachen Menschen durch die adelige Herrschaft . Der Pöbel demolierte gern Baumpfl anzungen und Gartenanlagen und einige Wut wurde an den im 18. Jahrhundert auf- kommenden Straßenlaternen ausgelassen, deren Zweck eine bessere polizeiliche Überwachung der nächtlichen Stadt war. Im Zeitalter der In- dustrialisierung dann, wie der Hamburger Stadt- archivar Otto Beneke 1856 festhielt, kommt es verstärkt zum „Beschmieren und Bemalen der Planken und Mauern mit unpassenden Wör- tern und Zeichnungen usw.” (zit. nach Lorenz 2009: 51). Abb. 3: „Style Writing“ in Berlin In der Wissenschaft interessierte sich zu- nächst nur die Archäologie für Graffi ti, in den Den französischen Philosophen Michel Ser- Katakomben von Rom ab 1600 und bei der Aus- res beschäft igt dieser unmögliche Dialog, der grabung von Pompeij im 19. Jahrhundert wur- zwischen dem rebellischen Sprayer und dem den Graffi ti-Spuren untersucht. Als Zeugnis der dominanten Werbefachmann angesiedelt ist – menschlichen Kommunikation reicht Graffi ti wer „sagt was“ im öff entlichen Raum und „wie“? wohl bis in prähistorische Zeiten zurück, doch Heutzutage markieren Unternehmen ausnahms- als urbanes Phänomen ist es modern defi niert, los alles, daher hat jedes Produkt ihre Marke und vor allem hinsichtlich der unterschiedlichsten jede Dienstleistung ihr Logo. Selbst die Unterho- Formen semiotischer Aufl adung von Umgebun- se trägt den Namen ihres Designers. Es scheint, gen. Generell sind Schrift und Schrift bilder we- als ob ein jedes Ding auch nach dem Kaufakt sentliche Strukturelemente des städtischen Kom- noch im Besitz eines anderen bleibt, wenn des- munikationsraumes, der im Unterschied zum sen Namenszug ebenso untrennbar wie unüber- ländlichen mehr durch indirekte, transpersona- sehbar am Produkt haft et. Die Werbung wird le Kommunikationsverhältnisse charakterisiert Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums ist. Dieses urbane System der Zeichen erzeugt So ganz neu ist dies alles nicht, hier sei an ei- 73 im verkehrstechnischen Sinn Verhaltensmodel- nen gewissen Josef Kyselak erinnert, der im frü- le, aber eben auch im lebensweltlichen Sinn: im hen 19. Jahrhundert überall in der österreich- Fall der Werbefl ächen etwa als Konsumauff or- ungarischen Monarchie sein „Kyselak war hier!“ derung, wobei Graffi ti dann zum konterkarie- hinterlassen hat; noch heute ist seine Signatur renden Zeichen alternativer Verhaltensoptionen etwa an einer Säule im Wiener Stadtpark zu se- werden kann. Das erklärt die ewige Aufregung hen (Abb. 4a). 1947 diskutierte ein Artikel der der Spießer und jeder beliebigen Lokalpresse „New York Times“ das Graffi ti-Phänomen „Kil- über die dauernden „Schmierereien“, die – kaum roy was here“ (Abb. 4b). Dabei haben amerikani- wurden sie teuer gereinigt – stets erneut auft au- sche GIs nur fortgesetzt, was Aufständische der chen, und das nahezu zwingend: Weil eben jede Pariser Kommune und früher noch, der Franzö- Bereinigung, hinter welcher die Homogenisie- sischen Revolution, begonnen haben: sich einer rungsabsicht bürgerlicher Verwaltung steckt, lau- verschworenen Gemeinschaft zuzuschreiben, die fend weitere subkulturelle Artikulationswünsche sich gegen gewisse hegemoniale Machtansprüche provoziert. So steht, über die Aneignung von Be- deutungsraum hinaus, die Explizitmachung des subkulturellen Lebensentwurfs durch Graffi ti in einer Tradition der ikonoklastischen Transfor- mation von Werten (Latour 2002). In diesem Sinn deklariert Michel Serres seine Sympathie für die Graffi ti-Künstler der „Banli- eue“, der Vororte von Großstädten wie Paris. Hier ist eine minder privilegierte Immigrantenkultur angesiedelt, die sich seit einigen Jahren – in der zweiten und dritten Generation mit ihren Inte- ressen und Artikulationen in den öff entlichen Medien praktisch unsichtbar geworden – zur Ex- plizitmachung ihrer Existenz in vandalistischen Akten anschickt. In New York war dies schon in der 1960er-Jahren virulent. Dort entwickelte sich mithilfe von Spraydosen eine neue Form von Graffi ti, das „Style Writing“. Straßengangs mit unterschiedlichem ethnischem Hintergrund markieren ihr Territorium oder einzelne „Writer“ ihren Machtanspruch. Die Zeichen, die sie dabei im öff entlichen Raum hinterlassen, werden „Tags“ (Signatur des Writers) oder „Pieces“(von Masterpiece) genannt und dieser Stil wird seit den 1980er-Jahren von den Subkulturen euro- päischer Städte kopiert (Abb. 3). Abb. 4a/4b: Kyselak, Kilroy Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

74 stellt und dies in der Öff entlichkeit verschlüsselt ist mittlerweile unschwer die Trauerarbeit der kommuniziert. 68er-Generation zu erkennen, die gerade in je- Gegenwärtig ist Graffi ti meist dem gegen- nen Jahren ihre Hoff nung auf ein revolutionäres oder subkulturellen Bereich zuzuordnen, hat geschichtsphilosophisches Subjekt verabschie- aber übergeordnete kulturelle Bedeutung und den musste. wird dort auch von kommerziellen Akteuren übernommen, beispielsweise in Werbekampa- gnen, die besonders Jugendliche ansprechen Ästhetisieren sollen. Graffi tis treten neben die legalen Bot- schaft en, die es in der Stadt zu lesen gibt. Sie Natürlich geht es bei Graffi ti nicht allein um kritisieren diese schon aufgrund der Öff nung die Faszination der illegalen Botschaft , sondern eines parasitären Kommunikationskanals, sie um jene semiotische Aufl adung, mit der andere unterlaufen die oberfl ächliche Wahrnehmung Kommunikationen im öff entlichen Raum kon- oder sie konterkarieren die offi zielle Semantik kurrenziert werden. Die inzwischen auch in Eu- von Orten. Es wird also in den städtischen Kom- ropa längst verbreitete Graffi ti-Szene vollzieht munikationsraum eine neue Bedeutungsschicht dies mit durchaus künstlerischem Anspruch. Sie eingezogen. Graffi tis transformieren Objekte versteht sich nicht als Resultat einer vandalisti- auf der Zeichenebene oder schaff en eine Sicht- schen oder ideologischen, sondern einer durch- barkeit, die entweder subversiv oder schlicht ex- aus kreativen Aktivität. Ihr sogenanntes „Style- pressiv codiert ist. Writing“ steht seit den 1980er-Jahren im Zusam- Die Lesbarkeit von Graffi ti hängt ab von menhang mit der „Hip-Hop“-Kultur. der Kenntnis der lokalen Codes. Wichtigstes „Hip-Hop“ ist „Street Culture“ und als solche Element von Urbanität im Sinne einer Frage ein aus Sprechgesang (Rap), Tanz (Breakdance) der Macht ist der Kampf gegen die „Semio- und Graffi ti (Writing) bestehendes, identitäts- kratie“ des systemkonformen Zeichenensemb- stift endes Ritual sozialer Randgruppen bzw. ur- les, wie Jean Baudrillard einst das New Yorker baner Subkulturen. Bei diesem Ritual handelt es „Style Writing“ deutete: ein Kampf, der sich sich gerade im Zusammenhang mit „Hip-Hop“ gegen den deklarierten Unterschied zwischen nicht immer um reale Gewalt, sondern um auf Sendern und Empfängern von Zeichen rich- symbolischer Ebene ausgetragene Kämpfe, um tet und in welchem er zu Recht den Ausdruck „Battles“, in Parallele zu dem ursprünglich auch der gesellschaft lichen Machtfrage identifi zierte auf der Straße ausgetragenen „Rappen“. In soziolo- (Baudrillard 1978: 23). Aber Baudrillard glaubte gischer Hinsicht handelt es sich also um einen Ha- in Unkenntnis der subkulturellen Codes auch, bitus, den jugendliche Subkulturen im Kontrast die „Tags“ als bloße Namen würden sich jegli- zu traditionellen Sozialisationsinstanzen ausge- cher Interpretation entziehen – es handle sich prägt haben; als „genuin großstädtisches Produkt“ hier um „leere Signifi kanten“ im urbanen Raum, gehören die Bilder des Städtischen zum „Hip- so die irreführende Behauptung des Soziologen, Hop“ wie zu keiner anderen Jugendkultur, ja ihr der die Stadt als ein „linguistisches Ghetto“ be- Authentizitätsgehalt misst sich geradezu an dieser trachtete, in dem nun eben ein „Aufstand der Bildhaft igkeit: „Das Urbane tritt nicht mehr als Zeichen“ ausgebrochen sei. An dieser Diagnose gelebte städtische Kultur in Erscheinung, sondern Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums entfaltet seine Wirksamkeit als theatrales Gestal- lassen, verwenden „Adbuster“ Graffi ti im Sinne 75 tungsmittel. Über die Bildinszenierungen des Ur- der ideologischen Kritik, indem etwa bestehende banen wird ein urbanes Lebensgefühl weltweit Werbebotschaft en durch subversive Zusätze se- vermarktet. Insofern erfüllt die HipHop-Kultur mantisch neu codiert werden (Lasn 2008). mit ihrer bildlichen Inszenierungspraxis eine Vor- Überdies ist Graffi ti als Kunstform („Street reiterfunktion bei der symbolischen Überhöhung Art“) mittlerweile offi ziell anerkannt, aber auch des Städtischen in postindustriellen Zeiten, in de- in Schranken gewiesen worden. Gegenüber nen Städte ihre Funktion als Standorte ökonomi- künstlerischen Ausdrucksformen im öff entli- scher Produktion verlieren.“ (Klein und Friedrich chen Raum fortschrittlich gesinnte Stadtregie- 2003: 100f ). rungen – beispielsweise Helsinki im Jahr 2008 Ein sehr frühes Indiz dafür, dass diese sub- – haben sich dazu entschlossen, Graffi ti nicht kulturellen Zeichen auch auf ihren ästhetischen mehr ausnahmslos zu verfolgen und zu bestra- Wert hin gelesen werden können, ist eine Aus- fen, sondern erklären sie zum Teil der Stadtkul- stellung des „Museum of Modern Art” in New tur. Der Bürgermeister von Wien folgte bereits York aus dem Jahr 1956, in der es Brassais Fo- 2006 dem Rat seines Kulturstadtrates und er- tografi en von Graffi ti auf Pariser Hauswänden klärte Graffi ti entschlossen zur Kunst: Da aber zu sehen gab. Auch die visuelle Gestaltung der Kunstwerke bekanntlich auch durch ihren Rah- Schrift züge eines „Style-Writers“ zielen auf äs- men defi niert sind, stellte man dieser Form der thetischen Mehrwert, dem keineswegs leere Si- Kunstausübung nur defi nierte Flächen inklusive gnifi kanten zugrunde liegen. Der „Writer“ selbst amtlich vorgeschriebener Nutzungsbedingungen codiert seine Identität – und wer sich ästhetisch zur Verfügung.1 durchsetzt, wird zum Star, dessen „Masterpieces“ dann auch nicht mehr angetastet werden. „Tags” selbst, die eigentliche Schrift , wird fi gürlich bis hin zum Logo, und ein guter „Style-Writer“ wird durchaus als Akteur von Kunst im öff entlichen Raum wahrgenommen. Dann folgen nicht selten öff entliche Auft räge zur Gestaltung einer Wand oder einer Straßenbahn. Firmen und ihre Agen- turen haben Graffi ti längst entdeckt, und so berei- chern ihre Formen und Stile die Optik etwa von Plakaten besonders dann, wenn ein Unterneh- men „Street Credibility“ vortäuschen will (ein Beispiel dafür sind McDonald’s Werbeplakate in „Stencil-Optik“, Abb. 5). So kehrt eine vom ge- schäft ssinnigen Getriebe der Agenturen verbann- te Ästhetik durch ihre zynische Vereinnahmung zurück in den Diskurs der offi ziellen visuellen Kultur. In Umkehrung dieses Trends zur Kom- merzialisierung, nur um dies nicht unerwähnt zu Abb. 5: Werbung für McDonald’s in „Stencil-Optik” Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

76 Es ist nicht nur der „Fast-Food“-Kommerz, Straßenkünstler, der mit Schablonen arbeitet der sich durch visuelle Zitate aus der Subkultur und der längst seinen eigenen Galeristen sowie „Street Credibility“, also eine Spur von Wahr- Website und Publikationen hat (Bansky 2007). haft igkeit und Glaubwürdigkeit erschleicht, es Doch nicht nur im Fall Bansky hat Graffi ti die ist off ensichtlich auch die Kunst im öff entlichen Grenze zur kulturindustriellen Verwertung oder Raum. Generell schlägt postmoderne Kunst ihr zumindest zu Kunstmarkt-affi nen Äußerungen symbolisches Kapital gern aus ihrer deklarier- überschritten, ohne dabei den von der subkultu- ten Nähe zur Subkultur, wenn nicht gar die rellen Ästhetik stammenden Anspruch auf Sub- Grenzen, die hier mehr oder weniger bestehen, versivität aufzugeben. durch die Akteure selbst überschritten werden. Ich wende mich nun kurz einigen Beispielen der Kunst im öff entlichen Raum zu, die Formen von Schrift in der Stadt vor allem konsumkritisch 1 Das Projekt „Wiener Wand” – vgl. unter Impressum das „Wort thematisiert bzw. diese Form der Kritik ästhe- des Bürgermeisters“, www.wienerwand.at tisiert haben. Zunächst die sogenannte Kunst- 2 Presseinformation zu den Projekten, www.linz09.at meile von „Linz 09“, einer der Aktivitäten der letztjährigen europäischen Kulturhauptstadt. Für die Kunstmeile wurden Schaufenster, Fas- saden und Passagen der österreichischen Stadt an der Donau bespielt: Kunst am ungewohnten öff entlichen Ort, so lautete die Devise, und die beteiligten Künstler mühten sich, den gewohnten städtischen Kaufrausch mit einem sogenann- ten „Schaurausch“ zu konterkarieren.2 Dass das Ergebnis dann wenig spektakulär ausfi el, entspricht einer freiwilligen Selbstbeschränkung so vieler Kunstproduzenten, die sich gern innerhalb des Kanons von genereller Erwartbarkei- ten bewegen. Eine Neudefi nition eingespielter Gewohnheiten durch den künstlerischen Akt, der den Kaufrausch im Schaurausch aufzuheben vermag, übersteigt wohl die Möglichkeiten von Kunst, wie eine längere Geschichte einschlägiger Projekte zeigt (hier sei etwa auf das Scheitern der Situationisten verwiesen); wohl aber werden subversive Praktiken wie eben Graffi ti und „Adbusting“ ziemlich ironiefrei kopiert. Abb. 6: Fassadenentwurf für Douglas, Stefan Sagmeister Beim ersten Beispiel (Abb. 6) handelt es sich um eine Umgestaltung der Fassade einer Umstrittene Berühmtheit hat hier Bansky er- Parfümeriekette (Douglas) durch Stefan Sag- langt, ein bislang inkognito agierender britischer meister. Als Grafi ker für einige Popmusiker Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums international bekannt geworden, beglückt er in 77 jüngster Zeit die Welt gern mit erkenntnisfreien Sinnsprüchen (Sagmeister 2008) und wird da- für mit überdurchschnittlich hohen Budgets belohnt. Damit ließ sich dann auch die Fassa- de des Linzer Spielcasinos mit einem Blow-up neu gestalten, angeblich mit „Witz und Ironie“, wie in der Presseaussendung formuliert wurde. Wie originell: Am Ort der monetären Fanta- sien wird Geld selbst zum Th ema, und zwar mit der Absicht, dessen Glücksversprechen zu de- konstruieren (Abb. 7). Umgesetzt in der „Ho- kusetsu“ (= Schneeberg) Typografi e des japani- schen Designers Ken Miki lesen die Passanten auf einer Fassade des Linzer Casinos zuerst den affi rmativen Teil der künstlerischen Botschaft , nämlich das Wort „Money“, und in der Kon- sequenz auf der anschließenden Fassadenseite dann die Negation „does not make me happy“. Ungeachtet der Tatsache, dass Geld etwa im Fal- le einer etwas anspruchsvolleren Zahnbehand- lung, die sich Durchschnittsverdiener schon kaum mehr leisten können, durchaus glücklich Abb. 7: Casino Linz macht, ungeachtet solcher Implikationen also kann ein Künstler immer dann auf Zustimmung eines befl issen kritisch gestimmten Publikums hoff en, wenn Platitüden breitgetreten werden wie jene, dass Konsum und Massenkultur irgend- wie grundsätzlich schlecht sind – eine immer wieder unspezifi sch wiederholte Botschaft , die aber stets vorgibt, solch tiefschürfende Erkennt- nis ließe sich eben erst dank der künstlerischen Intervention gewinnen. Kritik wird hier zum Teil des Betriebs. Es ist überaus bequem und auch lukrativ geworden, kritisch zu sein. Wer seine Botschaft im urbanen Raum anbringen will, muss sich mit den Mäch- ten (Kulturstadtrat, Kuratoren) entsprechend arrangieren. Die Wut und Virilität von Graffi ti geht dabei zugunsten ästhetisch anspruchsvoller Abb. 8: The Urban Alphabet, Nikolaus Gansterer Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

78 und professionell gemachter Oberfl ächengestal- stehen. Sein möglicherweise ironischer An- tung verloren. Dazu ein aktuelles Beispiel aus spruch, mit der Assoziation einer Schultafel auf Wien: „Th e Urban Alphabet“ von Nikolaus eine off ensichtlich veraltete Form der Wissens- Gansterer, das schon aufgrund seines Titels vermittlung hinzuweisen, wird nicht explizit. Die hier Erwähnung fi nden soll. Es befi ndet sich Zeichen selbst sind der kartografi schen Symbolik als Installation an einer Wandverschalung des entlehnt, lassen aber keine Systematik und da- grundrenovierten Schnellbahnhofes Praterstern mit keine Aussage erkennen. Sie sollen „Urban in Wien und sieht aus wie eine mit Kreide auf Characters“ darstellen, wobei die Installation der einer Schultafel angebrachte asiatische Bilder- Materialität der Wandverschalung entsprechend schrift (Abb. 8 ). Bei den aus ablösbaren Klebe- im ersten Augenblick die eines wirklich außerge- folie bestehenden Zeichen handelt es sich um wöhnlichen Graffi tis ist. Wer näher tritt, bemerkt Kartografi en internationaler Städte, die eine Art jedoch den Betrug, da es sich um ablösbare Klebe- fi ktives Alphabet als „Ausdruck einer globalen folien handelt. Wenn diese Kunst den ihr von of- Sprache“ bilden sollen – eine „Intervention“ im fi zieller Seite genehmigten Zeitraum hinter sich Rahmen der Veranstaltungsreihe „Urban Signs – gebracht hat, darf sie spurlos verschwinden. So Local Strategies“ (Fluc, Oktober 2009). also sehen heutzutage subversive Kunstaktionen aus: umweltverträglich und auft ragskonform. Die wahren „Urban Characters“ am Praterstern erschließen sich nur dem Betrachter, der gleich um die nächste Ecke biegt: Sie sind, Monate nach der inzwischen vergessenen Kunstaktion, immer noch vorhanden (Abb. 9).

Intervenieren

Das letztgenannte Beispiel ist eines von vielen, bei denen es um leere Beschwörungsformeln von urbanen Zeichen und Zeichenhaft igkeiten geht. „Contemporary Public Art“ oder Kunst im öff entlichen Raum verlässt sich gern auf jene Abb. 9: „Urban Characters”:Team Royal semiotische Valorisierung, die in den 1970er- Jahren begonnen hat. Seit Baudrillards theore- Das Fluc am Wiener Praterstern war ur- tischer Nobilitierung von Graffi ti ist die Pers- sprünglich ein lokaler Projektraum für elektro- pektive daraufh in angelegt, jegliche Zeichen- nische Musik und „hinterfragt“ mit der Präsenta- manipulation sogleich als eine Implosion der tion aktueller Kunst deren Potenzial im öff entli- „Macht“ umzudeuten. Doch eine Manipulation chen Raum. Gansterer liefert einen von mehreren auf symbolischer Ebene bleibt eben dort stehen, Beiträgen von Künstlern, die aber untereinan- wenn ihr nicht Maßnahmen auf politischer und der in keinem off ensichtlichen Zusammenhang auf technischer Ebene entsprechen. Schließlich Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums waren es Politik, Wirtschaft und Technik, die in im öff entlichen Raum sich als visuelle Kommu- 79 den vergangenen vier Jahrzehnten unsere Kom- nikation ereignet. Aspekte der urbanen Zeichen- munikationsverhältnisse verändert haben, und welt werden allein auf deren kommerziellen Teil kein Aufstand der frei fl ottierenden Zeichen. reduziert. Es gibt in Wien 6000 Werbefl ächen Mangels Beispielen, bei denen etwa Künst- im 24 Bogen-Plakatformat, das ist dreimal so- ler auf Augenhöhe ihrer Zeit elektronische In- viel wie in vergleichbaren Städten. Und ständig foscreens gehackt und damit für neue Lesarten kommen neue Werbefl ächen hinzu, wie City des Urbanen gesorgt hätten, möchte ich ab- Lights, Rolling Boards oder Halbschalen an schließend noch ein analog realisiertes Beispiel Licht- und Strommasten, die nur von diesem anführen, das in die Zeichenwelt der Stadt in- Unternehmen gestaltet werden dürfen; jede terveniert hat, wenn auch sehr konsensuell, also Fremdplakatierung auf diesen Flächen ist strikt mit Zustimmung aller Beteiligten. Es handelt verboten. Dieses Unbehagen an der Werbekultur sich um „Delete!“, das ebenfalls in Wien reali- in Wien führte zur Suche nach einer Form der sierte Projekt zur Auseinandersetzung mit der künstlerischen Intervention, wobei aus Gründen visuellen Kommunikation einer Geschäft sstraße. der strafrechtlichen Relevanz eine direkte Be- 2005 realisierten Christoph Steinbrenner und arbeitung der Werbefl ächen nicht möglich war Rainer Dempf die „Entschrift ung“ der Wiener (Dempf Hrsg. 2006: 63f.). Neubaugasse. Dies ist eine prominente Seiten- gasse der größten Wiener Einkaufsstraße und wie zum Verständnis festgehalten werden muss, sind die dort agierenden Kaufl eute lokal bestens organisiert, d. h., sie organisieren Feste und andere Aktionen zur Belebung und Kommunikati- on ihrer Gegend. Für das Projekt „Delete!“ nun wurden, wie der Titel schon andeutet, im gesamten Straßenzug jegliche Schrift en, Logos und Werbetafeln für zwei Wochen abgedeckt. Die Reaktion war enorm, es gab eine internationale Medienberichterstattung (Abb. 10). Auch folgender Hintergrund muss erwähnt werden: In Wien dominiert im öff entlichen Raum relativ unangefochten die GEWISTA, Abb. 10: „Delete!” im ARD nachtmagazin ein städtisches Werbeunternehmen, das den größten Marktanteil in der lokalen Außenwer- Ein echtes „Delete!“ oder vollständiges Lö- bung besitzt. Die Monopolstellung dieses fl ä- schen von Schrift bzw. Werbebotschaft en konnte chendeckend agierenden Unternehmens, die wiederum nur symbolisch realisiert werden. Alle mit immer neuen Werbeformen gefestigt wird, Reklameschilder und Werbungen wurden mit stört nicht nur Wild-Plakatierer und Sprayer: gelber Folie überdeckt, was die Absicht symbo- Hier bestimmt ein der sozialistischen Stadtre- lisieren sollte, den öff entlichen Raum durch die gierung nahestehendes Unternehmen alles, was Entschrift ung zu neutralisieren: „Streichung, Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

80 Tilgung aller um die Aufmerksamkeit der Pas- Ein anderer Aspekt, auf den „Delete!“ hin- santen werbenden Schrift signale“ durch mono- weist, ist die Verschiebung der Erfahrungsebe- chrome Farbfolien. Passanten nutzten die gelben ne eines städtischen Raumes. Der persönliche Flächen, um projektbezogene und allgemeine Eindruck bei einer Begehung ließ die Assoziati- Kommentare zu hinterlassen. Diese Kommentar- on von Schneefall hochkommen: Die laute und funktion wurde sozusagen zum ungeplanten Teil bewegte Stadt wird bei Neuschnee entschleunigt des Projektes, und doch wäre es übertrieben, hier und ihre Geräusche sind plötzlich gedämpft . An mit wohlfeilen Formeln wie jener der Rückerobe- die multisensorische Erfahrung wird eher wenig rung von urbanen Kommunikationsräumen zu gedacht, denn das kulturwissenschaft liche Para- hantieren (Abb. 11). digma ist immer noch „Lesbarkeit“, also Stadt als Text, und es wäre an der Zeit, Schrift und Sprache als Strukturmodell kultureller und persönlicher Erfahrung zu relativieren: „Indem Delete! gerade das Lesbare aus der Einkaufsstraße tilgt, setzt es nicht nur den Blick auf andere Dinge im Sinn einer Schule des Sehens frei, sondern es provoziert ein Nachjustieren des gesamten Sinnesappa- rates.“ (Dempf Hrsg. 2006: 93) Natürlich gefi el die Aktion den „Culture Jammern“ gut, und das „Adbusters Magazine“ hob eben jenen sinnes- ökologischen Moment hervor, wenn es über die Aktion schrieb: „Vienna‘s mental environment was a little cleaner this past June thanks to a bit of ‚streetsculpture‘.“ Das Motiv der Reinigung ist hier mit einer anderen Konnotation angespro- chen als bei jener des Entfernens von Graffi ti im Sinne kleinbürgerlichen Ordnungsstrebens. Der Wunsch, die städtische Umgebung einem origi- nären Erleben zugänglich zu machen, steht ebenso unmissverständlich wie disparat hinter einer künstlerischen Aktion wie jener von „Delete!“, mag die angestrebte Nachjustierung des menschlichen Wahrnehmungsapparates auch noch so sehr als blaue Blume im Land der postmodernen Urbanität erscheinen. Diesen erstrebten Moment einer (mit Pless- ner gesprochen) ästhesiologischen Konzentrati- Abb. 11: „Delete!” on gilt es abschließend noch auszuloten. Diese scheint als Form einer Konzentration, die einer Beruhigung der aufgeregten Sinne gleichkommt, Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums immer weniger leicht zu gelingen – als Askese entgegensetzt. Entfaltet Kunst traditionell eine 81 hinsichtlich all der durch Geschäft sreklame und Sphäre des ästhetischen Scheins, eine von der Außenwerbung künstlich herbeigeführten Ein- Lebenswelt abgesetzte Sondersphäre, so ist sie drücke, jenes bereits von Benjamin bemerkten auch in diesem Fall nicht rückübersetzbar auf den unaufh örlichen Gestöbers „von wandelbaren, Alltag, den nach bloß vierzehn Tagen in der Wie- farbigen, streitenden Lettern“ in der modernen ner Neubaugasse wieder die Welt der Geschäft e Großstadt. Die neue Verkehrswelt, die im ver- mit ihren Reklameschrift zügen übernommen gangenen Jahrhundert herangewachsen ist, und haben. In dem mit einer Verhüllungsstrategie mit ihr die Elektrifi zierung erzeugen ihre eigene arbeitenden Projekt artikuliert sich unfreiwillig Nervosität. Da sind einerseits die in den lebens- die Machtlosigkeit der künstlerischen Aktion, die weltlichen Alltag eindringenden Medien, mit höchstens temporäre Wahrnehmungsoptionen denen bereits Sigmund Freud ein „Unbehagen anbietet und damit eine Debatte auslöst, nicht in der Kultur“ (1929) attestiert hat, und ande- aber die Verhältnisse ändern kann. rerseits die neuen Formeln und Strukturierun- gen der Einbildungskraft , die durch optische Medien und neue Visualitäten (wie Farbdruck, 3 Vgl. den Bericht des Handelsblatt-Korrespondenten Alexan- Fotodruck, Leuchtreklame, Verkehrsschilder) der Busch: Rückkehr der Nacht, 19.1.2008 - http://www.wiwo.de/lifestyle/ verursacht werden. rueckkehr-der-nacht-262463/ (nachfolgende Zitate ebd.) Wie der Philosoph Helmuth Plessner einst in seiner „Anthropologie der Sinne“ ausgeführt hat, erschöpft sich die Bedeutung der sinnlichen Kann kritische Kunstpraktik eine dominante Wahrnehmung für den Menschen nicht in der Hegemonie infrage stellen? Nein, wie Chantal Aufnahme von Informationen (Plessner 2003). Mouff e diagnostiziert: Sie kann es sich nämlich Die Sinne werden „erlebt“ und das bedeutet: nicht leisten, traditionelle Formen der „politi- über ihre funktionale Bedeutung hinaus refl ek- schen“ Intervention außen vor zu lassen (vgl. in: tiert und sind dabei ständig einer Suche nach Dempf, Hrsg. 2006: 146f ). Wer die Homogeni- dem ästhetischen Mehrwert ausgesetzt. Jen- sierung der visuellen Codes durch die neolibera- seits der billigen Klage über die Informations- listische Ideologie im Stadtbild kritisieren will, fl ut kann hier nach einem Maß gefragt werden, muss auf einer grundsätzlichen Ebene antreten welches die Sinnestätigkeit und die Umwelt in – das kann nur die Legislative leisten. Dafür gibt ein entsprechendes Verhältnis zu setzen erlaubt; es, als Reinigung nicht bloß einer Geschäft sstraße, das Motto „Weniger ist mehr“ darf dabei getrost sondern einer ganzen Stadt, seit 2007 ein promi- herangezogen werden. Insofern kann eine kriti- nentes Beispiel: São Paulo – eine brasilianische sche Kunstpraxis wie das Projekt „Delete!“ we- Stadt von hoher Industriedichte und großem sentliche Akzente setzen, um darauf aufmerksam Verkehrsaufk ommen – wurde durch das „Lei zu machen, dass es eine Fülle von Korrekturmo- Cidade Limpa“ (Gesetz der sauberen Stadt) des menten gibt, wie auch immer verschieden artiku- neu gewählten Bürgermeisters Gilberto Kassab liert, um einer widerständigen Ästhetik Raum zu praktisch von einem Tag auf den anderen wer- geben, die sich dem werbeindustriell gestalteten befrei gemacht. Die Logos und Aufschrift en an Projektionsfeld einer Waren- und Konsumwelt den Fassaden mussten verschwinden, alles, was Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

82 über eine bestimmte Größe hinausging: die Pla- Wie der brasilianische Filmregisseur Fernando kate, die Schilder sowie die riesigen Leuchtrekla- Meirelles (u.a. „City of God“, „Blindness“) dazu men; faszinierte Beobachter sprachen von einer sagte: „Endlich kann ich die Stadt sehen, statt sie Rückkehr der Nacht.3 Solches kann nur mittels permanent lesen zu müssen.“ politischer Macht umgesetzt werden. Im Sinne ei- „Schrift “, so der Medienphilosoph Vilém nes „ästhetischen, kulturellen und ökologischen Flusser, ist in ihrer kulturellen Funktion durch Wohlergehens“ der Stadt wurde das neue Gesetz die neuen Aufzeichnungsmedien der techni- drastisch vollzogen. Die von der Außenwerbung schen Moderne infrage gestellt (Flusser 1987). befreite Stadt wirkte wie von einer Maske befreit Die Mediengeste des Schreibens hat er an die Ab- – was den Bewohnern gefällt. Das Gesicht der sicht der Herstellung eines bedeutenden Ganzen Stadt war wieder das der Architektur, nachdem gebunden, wie einen geschlossenen Text oder ein die Werbekosmetik verschwunden war (Abb. 12). Buch, also ein Werk, was in einer zum Performati- ven tendierenden Kultur langsam an Stellenwert verliert. Ich möchte abschließend nur einen seiner Gedanken aufgreifen, der uns das Phänomen „Schrift “ noch einmal in einem anderen Lichte zeigt. Flusser war selbst viele Jahre in São Paulo heimisch, doch da er 1991 verstarb, konnte er die radikale ästhetische Veränderung dieser Stadt na- türlich nicht erleben; in einem Sammelband über „Urbane Milieus“ hat er sich zuvor jedoch noch mit den Codes der brasilianischen Stadt befasst (vgl. in Flusser 1994: 287ff .). Er bemerkt hier vor allem die vorherrschende Geste der „bildherstel- lenden Intellektuellen“ – der Funktionselite aus Architekten, Planern, Intellektuellen, Künstlern und Medienleuten. Dies steht off ensichtlich für die überkommene Praxis von Intellektuellen, die Teilnahme am Urbanitäts-Diskurs auf jene Code- Produzenten zu beschränken, deren Modelle auf die offi ziellen Lesarten abgestellt sind. Was umso erstaunlicher ist, da Flusser durchaus neugierig in der Vielzahl der Codes herumstochert und nach lebensraumgestaltenden Alternativen fragt. Die Überblendung von europäisch-rationaler Bewusstseinsform mit dem nicht-okzidentalen magischen Denken im Kulturraum der brasilia-

Abb. 12a/12b: Sao Paolo nischen Stadt übersieht er dabei nicht. Aber er bleibt insofern Kulturpessimist, als er behauptet, ein in Werbeagenturen beheimateter neuer Frank Hartmann Zur visuellen Kommunikation von Urbanität: Schrift und Entschriftung des öffentlichen Raums

„Menschenschlag“ nutze die Stadt als ihr „wei- 83 tes und kaum Widerstand leistendes Projekti- onsfeld“, um eine überall zu beobachtende Ho- mogenisierung der visuellen Codes zu betreiben (Flusser 1994, 312). Heute kann man das nicht mehr einfach so behaupten. Ein neues „Sehen“ ist im Entstehen, und es wird beispielsweise durch die politische Intervention begünstigt, welche die Projektionsfelder einer auf Kommerz abge- stellten Gruppe von Akteuren beschneidet. Es erinnert an die „Slow-Food“-Bewegung, der es um die Aufwertung des genussvollen, bewussten und regional geprägten Essens geht. Jenes „Sehen“ aber, wie der oben zitierte Filmemacher bemerkt, befreit vom permanenten Imperativ des „Lesens“ und der „Lesbarkeit“. Jenseits der Schrift bedeutet aber auch „Jenseits der Bilder“ (Debray 2007) – weil es nicht darum gehen kann, gegenüber Lesbarkeit jetzt den Status von Bildlichkeit an- zuheben. Mit dem Sehen hingegen bewegen wir uns in Richtung eines Zeitalters der neuen „visuelle Kulturen“, in dem es darum gehen wird, nicht mehr nur Lesbarkeit zu schaff en, sondern „Explizitmachungen“ zu leisten, das heißt, die unsichtbaren Codes von Sichtbarkeiten an die Oberfl äche der Wahrnehmung zu bringen. Doch damit eröff net sich eine erkenntnistheoretische Dimension, deren Auslotung im gegebenen Zu- sammenhang erst schematisch angedeutet werden konnte.

Abb. 12c/12d/12e: Sao Paolo Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

84 Abbildungen Flusser, Vilém, 1987: Die Schrift . Hat Schrei- ben Zukunft ? Göttingen: European Photography 1. Piccadilly Circus, London ca. 1930er-Jah- re; Autor Hartmann, Frank und Bauer, Erwin K., 2006: 2. „Pixação“Graffi ti, São Paulo, Brasili- Bildersprache. Otto Neurath, Visualisierungen, en; Quelle: http://www.fl ickr.com/photos/ Wien: Facultas gaf/2543060964/ 3. „Style Writing“ in Berlin; Quelle: http:// Klein, Gabriele und Friedrich, Malte, 2003: Is de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffi ti this real? Die Kultur des Hip-Hop, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp

Literatur Klein, Naomi, 2001: No Logo! Der Kampf der Global Players um Marktmacht, München: Bansky, 2007: Wall and Piece, London: Riemann Century Lasn, Kalle 2008: CultureJamming. Das Ma- Baudrillard, Jean, 1978: Kool Killer, oder Der nifest der Anti-Werbung, Freiburg: Orange Press Aufstand der Zeichen, Berlin: Merve Latour, Bruno, 2002: Iconoclash. Gibt es eine Bauer, Erwin, 2009: Orientation&Identity. Welt jenseits des Bilderkrieges? Berlin: Merve Portraits of International Way Finding Systems, Wien: Springer Lorenz, Maren, 2009: Vandalismus als All- tagsphänomen, Hamburg: Hamburger Edition Benjamin, Walter 2002: Vereidigter Bü- cherrevisor, in: Medienästhetische Schrift en, Plessner, Helmuth, 2003: Anthropologie der Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp Sinne (1970), Ges. Schrift en III, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp Debray, Régis 2007: Jenseits der Bilder. Eine Geschichte der Bildbetrachtung im Abendland, Sagmeister, Stefan, 2008: Th ings in my life that Berlin: Avinus I have learned so far, Mainz: Hermann Schmidt

Dempf, Reiner et al. Hg., 2006: Delete! Die Serres, Michel, 2009: Das eigentliche Übel. Entschrift ung des öff entlichen Raums, Freiburg: Verschmutzen, um sich anzueignen? Berlin: Merve orange Press

Flusser, Vilém, 1994: Alte und neue Codes: Sao Paulo, in: ders.: Brasilien oder die Suche nach dem neuen Menschen, Schrift en Band 5, Mann- heim: Bollmann, S. 287–316 Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural: Comments on the Signiﬁ cance of Space-related Distinctions and Semantics

A documentary fi lm 1 A digital two-part version of the ﬁ lm can be found at the Inter- net Archive. The ﬁ lm is distributed under Creative Commons license (Public In 1939, Lewis Mumford wrote a commen- Domain): http://www.archive.org/details/CityTheP1939; and http://www. tary for the documentary fi lm Th e City, a fi lm archive.org/details/CityTheP1939_2 sponsored by the American Institute of Planners which received its premiere at the 1939/1940 New York World’s Fair.1 Engaging with the early twentieth century American metropolis, the fi lm delivers a dystopian image of existence in the city: hyper-accelerated social life created by new mobilities (such as telecommunication, cars and trams), grey and dirty skies as the result of modernity’s heavy industries, the insecurity and poverty of many urban dwellers. Mumford catches the es- prit of that particular solid modernity (Bauman 2000) in an apt and ironic phrase: “Machines, inventions and power black-out the past. Forget the quiet cities. Bring in the steam and steel, the iron men, the giants … Machines to make machines, production to expand production. Faster Figure 1a The dark and crowded metropolis and faster, better and better” (fi g. 1). (The City, Part 1, Creative Commons license: Public Domain) Th is dystopian urban image stands in contrast to what is depicted as rural in the documentary: Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

86 Th e image of a 19th century community full of and immediately post-feudal values: of an order honest craft smanship, of hard working and up- based on settled and reciprocal social and eco- right and religious people within a healthy and nomic relations of an avowedly total kind“ (ibid., pleasant environment. Here, one fi nds the ro- p. 35) underlies these representations. Th e rural manticism of the ‘good’ rural life. However, in and the countryside serve as markers of a ‘good’, presenting images of the good old days of ru- yet disappearing history. ral life, the viewer soon recognises that this life And it is exactly this idea of a lost country- has disappeared and is overrun by urbanisation. side, of a lost rurality that also gleams through Mumfords commentary: “Th ere was (…) harmony between the soil and what we have built and planted there. We used our hands and mastered what we have laid our hands on. Working and living, we found a balance. Th e town was us and we were a part of it. We never let our cities grow too big for us to manage. We never pushed the open land too far away”. Th e good countryside is distinguished from and placed in opposition to the bad metropolis (fi g. 2).2

Modernity as the force disrupting the harmonious relationship between the urban and rural Figure 1b The dark and crowded metropolis (The City, Part 1, Creative Commons license: Public Domain) Times have, however, changed and if, as Bau- man (2000, p. 113) writes, modernity is all about Bemoaning the loss of traditional rural life, the size and volume it should be of no surprise that fi lm to some degree contributes to the long “his- “year by year our cities grow more complex and tory of rural complaint” as Raymond Williams less fi t for living”, as Mumford declares. No won- has precisely observed (Williams 1973, p. 44). der then that this particular urban condition also Drawing on a wide range of English literature, creates the modern metropolitan man who adapts Williams suggests that the loss of rurality and the to the size, speed and volume of Modernity while tranquil and harmonious rural way of life seems to anonymity becomes one of the predominant so- constitute some sort of cultural invariance which cial characteristics (Simmel 1950; Wirth 1938): generations of writers have since made use of: “On “With each crossing of the street, with the tempo the country has gathered the idea of a natural way and multiplicity of economic, occupational and of life: of peace, innocence and simple virtue“ social life, the city sets up a deep contrast with (Williams 1973, p. 1). Social relations are (re) small town and rural life with reference to the presented in implicitly spatialising and moralis- sensory foundations of psychic life. Th e metropo- ing ways as being intact. “An idealisation of feudal lis exacts from man as a discriminating creature a Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural diff erent amount of consciousness than does rural intensifi cation of rapid urban growth, he feared, 87 life. Here the rhythm of life and sensory mental would take place at the expense of weakening the imagery fl ows more slowly, more habitually, and rural. And with culture, power and economic in- more evenly. Precisely in this connection the so- novation tending to reside more and more in ur- phisticated character of metropolitan psychic life ban areas, agriculture and rural traditions were, becomes understandable – as over against small he argued, being successively devalued and seen town life which rests more upon deeply felt and as representing a decent and yet seemingly out- emotional relationships” (Simmel 1950, p. 410). of-time way of life. It is already a commonplace to state that there On the last page of his book, Bookwalter re- was, with respect to the early 20th century, a fas- vealed what he considered to be the true value of cination in sharply distinguishing the rural from the rural: “To those who hold the belief that the the urban on the basis of dissimilar kinds of social safety and stability of a nation can be maintained interaction – a theme that can be unanimously only through sustaining a just communion of all traced back to the writings of Georg Simmel and its essential parts, and especially the purity of rural Louis Wirth. But there is more to it than that. life, does it not seem an ever increasing and pressing Separating the rural from the urban was not only necessity that the agrarian rights and powers of a combined with the expression of a particular mor- people should be ever more vigilantly safeguarded, al geography but also a political geography. Not long aft er the turn of the 20th century, a text with the programmatic title Rural versus urban 2 It has to be mentioned that in the end Mumford solves the was published by John Bookwalter (1911), who opposition between rural and urban by proposing a third entity which explicitly distinguished urban from rural parts transcends both the rural and the urban by introducing and marketing the in a somewhat binary fashion. For Bookwalter idea of the Garden City. The second part of the ﬁ lm then introduces to one of these new cities, Greenbelt (Maryland). the distinction between urban and rural and its balanced state were nothing less than a national requisite. Th is argument enabled him to caution against the eff ects on the nation’s welfare of the emerging supremacy of the modern city and the consequent decline in importance of rural villages and the rural economy. Representing a good deal of early 20th century organistic thinking, Book- walter argued that rural and urban were separated spatial domains. Th ough each contained a diff erent form of social organisation both were indispensable components to ensure the nation’s viability and national harmony. Each attempt in disbalancing the relation between rural and urban parts of the nation causes a dysfunctional- ity which leads with the utmost probability towards instability (Bookwalter 1911, p. 90). Th e Figure 2a Honest farmers in rural setting (The City, Part 1, Creative Commons license: Public Domain) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

88 by holding urban aggression and power under salu- and interventions that criticise logics of presence, I tary restraints, and thereby placing them both on will base my arguments upon systems-theoretical the same common and enduring basis of equity” thinking which challenges the assumption that (Bookwalter 1911, p. 272)? “(b)inary structures therefore establish relations Taking into account that Bookwalter depict- of opposition and exclusion rather than of same- ed the modern city as being characterised by a ten- ness and interconnection between the two terms dency towards vice, it becomes clear that the once involved” (Cloke/Johnston 2005, p. 12). Secondly, established moral geography between the good I want to explore the ‘technique’ of attributing dis- and pristine rural way of life and the bad and de- tinct social features exclusively to the rural, in rela- bauched urban way of life was seen to be under tion to the urban. Take, for example, the distinct threat from urban expansion (Bookwalter 1911, meanings assigned to Gemeinschaft (community) p. 78ff .). Th ere is much evidence that Bookwal- and Gesellschaft (society), both of which originally ter’s moral geography fi ts well into a more general relate to diff erent types of social organisation on episteme which became visible in the fi rst quarter the basis of division and association and to particu- of the 20th century. For instance, we fi nd this motif lar places. Th is assignation usually links Gemein- of the dangerous and risky urban in Burgess’ refl ec- schaft with rural places and Gesellschaft with urban tions on 1920s Chicago: “Rapid urban expansion places (Tönnies 1887; Halfacree 1993). I call this is accompanied by excessive increases in disease, technique the ‘spatialisation of the social’ and will crime, disorder, vice, insanity, and suicide, rough return to it later when introducing theories of dif- indexes of social disorganization” (Burgess 1925, ference and the concept of space-related semantics p. 57). A few years earlier, Frederick DeLand Leete, to explore and demonstrate the societal function Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, de- of spatialised distinctions in more depth (see sec- manded that more churches had to be built in the tions “What about asymmetrical distinctions ...” modern metropolis because “it is the Church itself and “Emphasising distinctions ...”). which is required to stem the tide of immorality in the midst of dense populations, and to seize with a fi rm hand the youth who is beginning to be car- Distinguishing the urban ried whither he knows not” (Leete 1915, p. 22). fr om the rural Th e urban/rural binary draws sharp boundaries by referring to an exclusive set of social and To draw a fi rst intermediate conclusion: From cultural practices attributed to each area. In the re- the accounts presented above, one can discern the mainder of this article, I scrutinise this distinction outlines of the societal function played by the ru- by emphasising two diff erent aspects. Firstly, in in- ral. Mumford, Bookwalter and Leete regard the vestigating the urban/rural distinction, I want to rural as a necessary corrective to some new and of- show that the rural is always connected to the urban ten deviant social forms that emerge and evolve even if we concentrate predominantly (as within with the rise of the modern metropolis. In their contemporary geographical research) on research- arguments, the rural as the ‘other’ to the urban is ing and talking about urban phenomena (thereby necessary for the sake of a greater whole. Th e ru- remaining silent about the rural or even marginal- ral constitutes a socially accepted counterpart of ising it). Acknowledging a multiplicity of theories the urban. From their perspective it is necessary Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural to draw a distinction between the urban and the in everyday life (Jones 1995, p. 43). Can we really 89 rural, one which respects both as separate realms think and communicate without distinguishing that should not be intermingled, at least if the col- one thing from another, without deciding to look lapse of national cohesion is to be avoided. closer at only one object thereby ‘cutting off ’ all In contrast to these arguments, a well estab- other objects? To dismiss this and other binary lished critique in geography, sociology and many distinctions by simply arguing that they are inap- other disciplines can be discerned to abolish this propriate categorisations of socio-spatial reality too easy binary thinking expressed so obviously is, in itself, a far too easy and inappropriate argu- in the urban/rural dichotomy (Cloke/Johnston ment. In contrast to too hasty attempts to abolish 2005, see section section “Th e blurring of ...” for the urban/rural distinction, we might instead pay further discussion of this argument). Critique usu- attention to some “other more hidden messages” ally puts forward the much more complex and in- (Cloke/Johnston 2005, p. 10) that are carried with termingled spatiality of today’s advanced society this distinction and categories like urban and ru- that undermines and blurs sharp distinctions like ral. Indeed, we can keep in mind that the act of the urban/rural one (see with reference to social distinguishing, of bounding and categorising, is complexity Urry 2005). Instead of accepting sepa- unavoidable in order to construct and to know the rated realms, attention should be paid to a third world (Jenkins 2000; Luhmann 1997). And, as form which is neither rural nor urban but some- Reese Jones (2009) recently remarked, these space- thing in-between (Sieverts 2008). related classifi cations and categorisations are cru- A second set of criticism expresses serious cial issues which geographers should be interested doubts as to whether social diff erentiation can in. Or, to be more precise: the researcher should be explained at all by looking at processes of spa- pay much more attention to the “inchoate process tial diff erentiation. Hence, as Ray Pahl has stated, of bounding that delimits the categories that shape “(a)ny attempt to tie particular patterns of social daily life and academic work” (Jones 2009, p. 178). relationships to specifi c geographical milieux is a singularly fruitless exercise” (1966, p. 322). Any identifi cation of a rural-urban continuum understood in spatial terms is bound to fail because it explains social diff erentiation by regional dif- ferentiation and not by social causes – a kind of category error: “No one disputes the right of the layman to use these terms to denote diff erent patterns of land use, which are easily observable; what is disputable is the sociological relevance of these physical diff erences especially in highly complex industrial societies” (Pahl 1966, p. 299). In this article, however, I argue that researching the urban/rural distinction (and binary thinking in general) is still of much relevance today since this is an integral part in the organisation of the social Figure 2b Honest farmers in rural setting (The City, Part 1, Creative Commons license: Public Domain) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

90 Yet, the act of distinguishing and categorising at the very same time. Th ese things simply are goes hand in hand with an asymmetrical handling – metaphorically speaking – transferred to a re- of the categories. We oft en observe that one (dis- sidual space where they usually escape our atten- tinguished) category is very present and impor- tion. For example, the density of people, goods tant as an organising scheme in our society while and services, as one important geographical and at the same time its other side is absent in the sociological observation to signify the urban and way that it is pushed to the periphery, becoming urbanity, is only possible through the absence of an unimportant object or issue. Roughly spoken extensive farming practices and wide open spaces and with respect to the urban/rural distinction, (‘nature’) within the city. In particular, the ab- urban issues are much more present than rural sence of these particular features, commonly des- ones, which are, indeed, quite absent. Th e urban ignated as rural, is producing the kind of urbanity is very much at top of the political, cultural and we love or hate today. Consequently, this allows economic agenda while the rural ekes out a dire us to argue that the presence of an object or even existence on the fringes. Th ink, for example, of an idea, like urbanity, is only possible by the ab- cultural industry discourses or of the key places sence of other ideas and objects. But things are of recent credit crunch – both happen to take somewhat more complicated. place in very urban settings. Th us, the city and Let’s consider this: No one seriously doubts the urban seem to constitute a highly undisputed, that agricultural products (like meat, wheat, unquestioned and present part of reality. Even as fruits and vegetables) are a necessary condition a scientifi c category of understanding, the city has for the reproduction of today’s urban citizen. been left relatively intact and only rarely subjected Doesn’t that mean that the absent agriculture is to deconstructionist interventions (Cloke/John- at the same time present through its products that ston 2005, p. 10). Th e urban is present while the are consumed by the urban dweller on a regu- rural seems to be absent. lar basis? Although being separated by diff erent spaces and by the principle of bivalence, urban consumers and rural agriculture are connected 3 Kwa (2002, p. 26) deliberately uses the expression baroque. through the performative act of consuming, to Amongst others, he sees the baroque epoch characterised by ﬂ ows, the name just this one example. Accepting these thin blurring of traditional distinctions and the variation of forms as a system of and oft en invisible relations between urban and differences as in baroque music (see also Hofstadter 1980). rural spaces, we can directly postulate a connection between the absent and the present. To generalise: If we talk about present objects Absence/presence it seems necessary to keep in mind that those present objects are connected with those that But, isn’t it inherently problematic to defi ne we regard as being absent in a given and specifi c what is actually present? Some social theories, situation (Law/Mol 2001; Callon/Law 2004). especially those clinging to the paradigm of com- Annemarie Mol and John Law in this regard en- plexity, have repeatedly pointed to the seemingly courage us to think “about the dependence of trivial insight that presence is only possible because that which cannot be made present – that which there are many other things and objects absent is absent – on that which is indeed present. Or, Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural as the poststructuralist literatures sometimes put What about asymmetrical distinctions? 91 it, the way in which the authority of presence depends on the alterity of Otherness” (2001, pp. Situating this with reference to the article’s 615 – 616) … “Th e constancy of object pres- topic, I suggest a renewed interest in the old and ence depends on simultaneous absence or alter- famous urban/rural distinction – but not at the ity” (ibid., p. 616). We now know that there is price of reifying some kind of urban/rural divide, a plethora of relations between the present and binary or dichotomy. At this point, the criticisms the absent. Th e presence of something is enact- made by postmodernism and amodernism as two ed by the absence of other things. Niklas Luh- intellectual movements against binary thinking, mann’s theory of social systems and especially its should be taken seriously. However, if we admit diff erential theoretical elements comes to quite that things and objects are logically preceded by similar fi ndings. As one of the theory’s general processes of distinguishing we might build up a propositions, Luhmann emphasises that there ‘fi rewall’ against reifi cation by focussing on the is a connection between the divided (Luhmann processes out of which things and entities emerge: 1984, p. 52; Baecker 2005, p. 68). But to make “We should not look for boundaries of things but these connections visible, the inventiveness of the for things of boundaries“ (Abbott 1995, p. 857). observer who produces “lots of novel combina- Th ings and objects only emerge aft er distinctions tions out of a rather limited set of elements” (Kwa have been drawn. 2002, p. 26) is required. Chunglin Kwa (2002) has labelled such an understanding, one which is interested in tiny and invisible connections 4 In Luhmannian social systems theory the term com- between objects, as the baroque understand- munication is used in a very broad sense: Communication includes not only ing of complexity3 (see also Law 2004). From language and speaking but also all kinds of actions and practices which are designed to be understood by someone else thereby performing the social. this perspective, one should “look down” at the Communication is the speciﬁ c mode of operation in social systems. detailed practices of social life. Only from this view is it possible, Kwa argues, to become sur- prised by the various associations and connections that exist alongside established distinctions Th is interest in things of boundaries is con- like urban/rural. If we accept the viewpoint that stitutive of modern social systems theory, as social life is indeed a dialectical process of mak- proposed by writers like Niklas Luhmann and ing and blurring distinctions, a general focus on Dirk Baecker who try to translate these process- distinctions and especially on drawing these dis- oriented premises into social theory (Luhmann tinctions seems a much more promising starting 1997; Baecker 2005). Luhmann and Baecker point for conducting geographical research that are key fi gures in a wider project of redesigning focuses on sole objects – like ‘the’ urban or ‘the’ systems theory as “distinction theory” (Arnoldi rural. A focus on distinction also emphasises that 2001, p. 2). Th is understanding of systems the- two separated sides are nevertheless connected ory argues that society is made up of commu- to each other. Again, why are (space-related) dis- nication4; every communication therefore per- tinctions and their societal functionality not a forms society and ensures the reproduction of bigger concern in geographical research? the social. Communication is a specifi c type of Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

92 operation that only belongs to social systems: to end the chat because I feel more and more “A social systems emerges if communication de- repulsed by traffi c noise. I can even pull myself signs communication” (Luhmann 2006, p. 74). together and try to adapt to the situation. How- Hence, as Dirk Baecker argues, communication ever, I can also ‘feed’ communication by drawing is in constant need to select issues which then be- on the themes of the communication we already come the entities of the communication process maintained or that have been discussed earlier. (Baecker 2005, p. 29). Th e act of distinguishing In this respect, my dissatisfaction with the actual and indicating to select the basic elements for situation could have been obviated by reminding communication and its reproduction is called in me of some semantics my friend used earlier to Luhmannian terminology ‘observing’ (Luhmann designate the quality of the place, telling me that 1998. p. 73) – a defi nition quite unfamiliar to it is a very urban one. Apparently, this would have our everyday life imagination of observing. One allowed me to adjust my expectations by keeping advantage of the theory is to regard boundaries in mind what urban means: density, crowds, hy- not as expressions of pre-given objects and things. peractivity, and noise. Th us, semantics like urban On the contrary, boundaries emerge with each act are able to categorise a particular set of impres- of making distinctions. Th rough the boundaries sions in order to calibrate our expectations and of each distinction (‘this’ and not ‘that’) things to point to the circumstances under which the and objects are produced which then can be used social will perform itself. to perform a certain kind of social order. Hence, To regard expressions like urban or rural as drawing boundaries is the precondition to clas- semantics means to understand them as condens- sify and mark things and objects as belonging to ed artefacts or condensed observations5 within the inner or outer side of a particular boundary communication to which we hark back in specifi c (Baecker 2005, pp. 156 –157). Or to put it very situations. In this paper, I use the term semantics bluntly: without boundaries (i.e. drawing distinc- with no reference to linguistics but with reference tions) there is no communication and no society. to the specifi c understanding of the term that has been proposed by Luhmann (1980). Luhmann advocates a sociological understanding of seman- 5 German Original: Sinnverdichtungen tics that bears similarities to the concept of the evolution of ideas. To speak of semantics, then, is to speak of particular imaginations of how to From a Luhmannian systems-theoretical per- understand an idea or concept within society. Th is spective, we can see that communication repro- does not mean that there is only one understand- duces itself by distinguishing something from the ing of an idea. On the contrary, we might accept multiplicity of other possibilities. To illustrate that the more oft en a specifi c semantics is used this abstract formulation, let’s construe a simple in society, the more it is accumulated with diff er- example that very much prescinds from the com- ent meanings from diff erent social contexts. Luh- plexity of the social: Being with a friend in some mann terms this accumulation the “condensation sidewalk café, I can choose my next actions by and confi rmation” of diff erent context-specifi c drawing from the specifi c set of impressions that meanings (Luhmann 1998, pp. 311–315). Both I perceive in that particular place. I can intervene nevertheless ensure the identity of semantics. Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural

We can deduce from this a preliminary, Th ey form a distinction of which society fre- 93 rough working defi nition: Semantics are self- quently makes use to observe, describe and ul- produced expressions within communication timately order its own functioning. Yet, these that, despite a variation in meaning, generally distinctions or diff erences are usually enacted possess a fi rm identity. But as long as seman- asymmetrically: one side of the distinction is tics are used in diff erent contexts, their identity privileged over the other. Th is becomes obvi- should be understood as some kind of fl uid or ous when reviewing, as has already been men- viscous identity: some content is added, some tioned, the signifi cance urban references have is completely ceded, while some gain in promi- gained within recent discourses of competitive- nence, others decline and so on. But from the ness, innovativeness, cultural industries, or the systems-theoretical perspective, the concept (assumed) rise of the creative class. Undoubt- of semantics does not only point to meaning edly, urban issues are much more prominent on and to the identity of important expressions or the policy maker’s agenda than rural ones – at ideas. Rather, emphasis is paid to the potential least today, as it has to be emphasised that this of semantics to serve as structural units or per- asymmetry is always open to change. Again, this manencies within the overall autopoiesis (self- poses some interesting challenges to scientifi c reproduction) of communication. Semantics, research, when keeping in mind that every dis- therefore, permit to orientate and guide com- tinction only reveals a hidden connection (see munication because of their frequent repetition section “Absence/presence …”). Th e changing (see Luhmann 1998, pp. 107–111). No wonder relationships, the diff use (re)organisations of then that they play a crucial role in the self-de- the connections between urban and rural now scription of societies since they constitute one come to the fore. German sociologist Detlef Ip- ‘tool’ to categorise the fl uidity of performing sen (1992) stressed this point by arguing that the social, i.e. to make it meaningful and sta- there is not one relationship between urban and ble while constructing identities around which rural but there is a plethora of ever changing the social can be ordered (Jenkins 2000; Jones and fl uctuating relationships. Relations between 2009). At least with reference to what can be urban and rural are thus complex; they detract called spatial disciplines key words like urban from perfect designation and off er many dif- and rural doubtlessly constitute such infl uential ferent varieties. semantics. I will call those semantics that refer Th e social functions of space-related seman- to spatiality in the widest sense, space-related tics and distinguishing between urban and ru- semantics (for further discussion see Redepen- ral will be discussed in the last sections of this ning 2006, 2008). article. My central argument is that sustained We fi nally have arrived at the point to con- analysis of the various forms in which the ru- clude that rural and urban as space-related se- ral is distinguished from the urban allow us to mantics emerge out of boundary drawing pro- cast an interesting but unfamiliar eye over the cesses. From the theoretical design promoted contemporary city. here both, far from being distinct spatial realms, form a distinction directrice (this term from Luh- mann 1998, p. 212) within communication. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

94 Distinctions, dichotomies and space- What can we keep in mind so far? From a related semantics systems-theoretical perspective, the distinction between urban and rural is marked by a consti- Space-related semantics allude to the ‘spatiali- tutive vagueness concerning each side of the dis- sation of the social’ (see section “Emphasising tinction, yet a sharp boundary divides both in the distinctions …”). In society, these particular se- way that they appear as distinct and fi x categories mantics allow us to locate and to place particular (Jones 2009, p. 179).6 But as categories they do social activities: Some activities are designated not represent a spatial order or even a natural to be very urban, some to be very rural. Th us, in order of the world. Both are the results of per- using space-related semantics, the heterogeneity forming the social by distinguishing. A distinc- of the social can be ordered by attributing social tion, then, is a: practices to occur only in particular places. Quite oft en, this takes the form of a mutually exclusive performance that underlies no higher-order arrangement: Th e urban with its associated activi- laws to steer social life; ties is here, the rural with its associated activities performance that is always open to change is there – without anything in-between. Space- because of its process like character; related semantics can therefore be seen as a ‘smart performance that produces results that from a tool’ to come to terms with the fl exibility and diachronic perspective are contradictory to each the fl uidity of contemporary social arrangements. other; Th ey locate the social, pin it down and ‘capture’ performance that also stimulates contextu- it by translating it to the material sphere. Hence, alised interpretation. space-related semantics, such as the urban and the rural, aim to cope with the complexity of the so- Each distinction simply represents “complex- cial. In other words, they contribute in an eff ective ity without telos” (Kwa 2002, p. 42) and as such way to the reduction of the complexity and ob- adds bit by bit to the fl uid characteristics of the scurity of the social (see Cloke/Johnston 2005). social (see also Law/Mol 2001). So do space-re- Such a perspective theorises space as a medium lated semantics, like urban and rural. Th ey too for processes of social ordering (Hetherington accumulate new meanings, particularly under 1997) and concentrates on the diff erent seman- conditions of rapidly changing social relations. tics space acquires in communication. From a systems-theoretical perspective the urban/rural distinction becomes more and more fl uid and thus cannot be adequately grasped with 6 And if one wants to consider the hybridization of urban-rural, traditional images of rigid boundaries because of he has nevertheless to draw another sharp distinction and to form another the distinction’s constant modifi cation.7 Th ese side from which this hybridization is distinguished. characteristics of fl uidity and changing relations permit a scientifi c endeavour which explores 7 To speak of ‘rigid boundaries’ would only be reasonable, if a bit (the particular distinction) of the endless process of performing the the movement of the ideas of rural and urban social is scrutinised. But this would only lead to a static and inadequate view in more depths (see also Williams’ proposition of the social. 1973, p. 275). Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural

Th e problems of blurring the urban/ In addition, the erosion or diminishment of 95 rural distinction the diff erences between urban and rural regions is one objective of European Rural Development As mentioned earlier, interest in the urban/ policies (under the European Agricultural Fund rural distinction is contradictory to contemporary for Rural Development [EAFRD]). Th ese place debates in those scientifi c disciplines that share a the urbanisation of the rural to the fore by estab- strong interest in the spatial diff erentiation of so- lishing principles of competitiveness, effi ciency ciety. A short and quite superfi cial look at these and the uptake of new technologies to enhance debates shows a concurrence that the distinction the production of goods (and services). At the between urban and rural proves to be an obstacle very same time we can observe a ruralisation of épistémologique. It is already a commonplace to the urban. Urban revitalisation programs, at least emphasise that the boundaries between rural and those with a focus on social policies, usually pro- urban are becoming more and more blurred and mote ideals of close neighbourhood and primary are thus in a state of dissolution. Especially, emerg- face-to-face social contacts – something the lay ing new fi gurations of the rural, like the consump- imagination in general terms regards to be a very tion countryside (Marsden 2002) and the trend rural quality (see for emphasis on such primary towards commodifi cation and urbanisation of the contacts Wirth 1938). rural (Cloke 2005) are put forward to underline To put it bluntly: the majority of recent pub- profound changes in rural areas. Some observers lications stresses that the dominant spatial struc- already talk of post-productivist rural areas and al- ture of (at least) western nations is marked by lude to the diminishing role of traditional agricul- a hybrid syntheses of urban and rural elements ture as the predominant feature of rural landscapes which renders talk of ‘the’ urban and ‘the’ rural (Wilson 2001). Business parks and new housing as distinct realms inappropriate (Cloke/Johnston estates have eff ectively blurred the morphologi- 2005, p. 5). And even those who do not want to cal diff erence between rural and urban areas. New give up space-related semantics like rural agree space-related semantics like the Zwischenstadt (the that the present-day rural is a fragmented and city-in-between) already respond to these devel- heterogeneous entity. But such an endeavour to opments (Sieverts 2008). Many writers argue that keep the notion of rural alive by attesting to it a rural areas are to quite the same extent aff ected fragmented character appears somewhat ironic by global processes as are urban areas, hence the because those who do so must turn to attributes blurring of the urban/rural distinction and the ur- which social sciences usually relates to the urbanisation of the rural. Th is is why Michael Woods ban sphere: incoherence, fragmentation, plurali- speaks of the global countryside (Woods 2007); a sation and the like (see Simmel 1950). However, countryside that is in itself politically, socially and the arguments for the dissolution of the urban/ culturally diff erentiated because of uneven devel- rural distinction are manifold and at fi rst sight opment generated by global fl ows and interests quite convincing. (Murdoch et al 2003). Years ago, Keith Hoggart Again, let’s pause a moment. Research which (1990) provided an interesting solution to this dis- emphasises the erosion of the urban/rural discussion with his famous and now programmatic tinction depends on at least one signifi cant pre- phrase: Let’s do away with rural! supposition: We can only perform the erosion Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

96 or the blurring of this distinction if we already endeavour might contradict scientifi c Zeitgeist know on what grounds the rural can be distin- which looks to deconstruct and erode all tokens guished from the urban. We already have to of binary thinking (see above). But, on the other know which activities are labelled as typically hand, such a course of action enables us to take rural and which as typically urban (see Cloke a closer look at the functions of space-related 1985, p. 4). Without already having an idea of semantics and of the techniques of spatialising the diff erences between urban and rural it makes the social. As the discussion, particularly in the no sense to state that the hybridisation of urban last section, has shown, space-related semantics and rural is to be observed today; places and like urban and rural still play an important role landscapes that are neither ‘really’ urban nor ru- in accompanying and ordering the development ral. Behind this observation of a blurring urban/ and evolution of societies – even within theories rural distinction, there still has to be an overall trying to dispose semantics like urban and rural. organising blueprint which advises us on what However, the price to pay when using space- criteria to draw the distinction between urban related semantics to order the social is rather high. and rural. Or, using the terminology introduced By using this set of semantics, social and physical in this article: Even those who state the blurring attributes are mixed and intermingled simply by of the urban/rural distinction can only do so by projecting the social onto material and physical using space-related semantics of the urban and space. In the aft ermath of this spatialisation of the rural. It seems as if the semantics of urban the social, a creeping naturalisation takes place. and rural as distinguished entities are nonethe- In other words, each spatialisation must accept less effi ciently at work. that the “contingent social reality will be stripped off of its social disposability and disposed of its political contents”8 (Lossau/Lippuner 2004, p. 8 My translation from German: Jede Verräumlichung muss 202). Th e products of social practices and com- in Kauf nehmen, dass die „(k)ontingente soziale Wirklichkeit dabei der munications are thereby transformed into seem- gesellschaftlichen Verfügbarkeit enthoben und ihres politischen Gehaltes ing natural and unchangeable geographical facts. letztlich entledigt“ wird. Without doubt, the distinction between urban and rural also draws on this spatialisation of the social because semantics like urban and rural are Emphasising distinctions and usually regarded as place dependent and invari- separations and putting them on the ant manifestations of the social. agenda of rural studies Th e social signifi cance of distinguishing and even dividing the urban from the rural, as it be- If we accept that there is this blueprint which comes utmost prominent in popular journals organises the distinctions between urban and ru- like LandLust or Country Living or within the ral realms and that space-related semantics of the green anti-capitalist agenda (Halfacree 2007a), urban and the rural are still important, why not cannot be denied. Th is distinction is simply too pick up this distinction between rural and urban relevant to wipe it away with reference to the ‘sci- anew and see how it is enacted under contempo- entifi c fact’ that both semantics rely on an archaic rary societal conditions? At fi rst glance such an space-related blueprint for ordering the social, Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural and that this old blueprint has to be replaced by Mirrors 97 concentrating on the blurrings or even the an- nihilation of the urban/rural distinction. Th ings What someone is able to observe in these ear- are not that easy. As argued above both sides of lier eff orts of distinguishing, even dividing the the distinction need their respective ‘other’. Even urban from the rural, is a particular fi gurative if only one side of the distinction is picked out vision in which the rural becomes an area upon as a central theme and therefore made present, which yearnings and visions for the better life are the absent side is nevertheless present and neces- projected. Intellectual ideas have oft en positioned sary and ‘silently’ shapes its other. Th is particular the rural as a clear-cut counterpart to the urban. conception of distinctions should permit a ma- In this spirit, the rural serves as the negation of noeuvre in which we try to read or understand the urban (Williams 1973, p. 235). one side of the distinction by reading the other Th e theoretical propositions made in this ar- side. Looking at particular fi gurations of the ru- ticle allow us to regard the rural and its diff erent ral then provides insights on the condition of its fi gurations in a metaphorical way, as a kind of mir- other: the urban. ror. A mirror can be understood as being a tool that To do so, it is rewarding to refl ect upon ear- enables us to see something that would otherwise ly writings about this distinction. For example, be invisible (Luhmann 1998, p. 96). A mirror is Raymond Williams in Th e Country and the City other to us but at the same time an absolute require- notices the loss of fundamental features of the ment for viewing and improving ourselves. Maybe rural as an innocent space marked by simpleness, it is even the mirror that renders self-awareness homeliness and ordered life as a recurring topos and self-refl exivity possible because it inescapably in the literature throughout centuries (Williams shows us who we are and how this might not match 1973, p. 23). Th e fear of being overrun by the new the cognitive picture we have of ourselves (Luh- urban condition is a theme apparent not only in mann 1997, p. 915). In theorising the rural as a the work of English writers but a broader body kind of mirror, the urban society is able to see and of global literature. As discussed above (section read its defects and defi ciencies by looking at the “Modernity as the force ...”), John Bookwalter’s diff erent fi gurations of the rural. From this particu- thoughts on Rural versus Urban were refl ective lar perspective, distinguishing the urban from the of this structure of feeling in America. For Book- rural appears not to be an outdated and obsolete walter it is the purity of rural life (Bookwalter mode of thinking but an essential opportunity for 1911, p. 292) which must be a rigid counterpart performing self-refl exivity. Dissolving and abolish- to the vice of cities to safeguard national balance ing the distinction would then mean the loss for and concord. the urban condition to read and refl ect upon itself. From this, a new interpretation of how to read the urban might also emerge: one that centers upon looking at the diff erent conceptuali- sations of the urban counterpart under contemporary social conditions. To do so, an analysis of distinguishing space-related semantics like urban and rural in quite stark (and oft en binary) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

98 ways, seems promising. Th erefore, research on helpful to look at current articulated space- those social practices and institutions9 that con- related semantics. If we take theories of dif- nect and adapt to the old tradition of keeping ference seriously it might also make sense to the rural separated from the urban, is worth to look closer at those semantics that are distin- be enforced – without falling prey to reifi cation guished from each other – without falling prey of such distinctions. to reifying and spatialising this distinction! If we talk about the urban, it seems important to make its absent other present again and to 9 See, for example, some of the ‚new social movements‘: have a glance at the different ways in which the movement of Bioregionalism but also those that keep an eye at the it – the rural – is figured. protection and preservation of traditional rural properties.

A last remark

Finally, a last remark is necessary. Which specific figurations of the distinction between urban and rural appear the most promising for future investigation? One suggestion would be to relate the urban/rural distinction to more general social conditions such as those of acceleration and deceleration (see Rosa 2003; 2005). To regard the rural as a space of deceleration adapts to the long tradition of seeing and envisioning the rural as a corrective value to the urban: as a place which endorses the yearnings, cravings and imaginations of harmony to oppose the powers of modernisation. This space-related semantics of the rural as a decelerated area becomes apparent by looking at the growing significance of (new) back-to- the-land movements (Halfacree 2007b). Stud- ies indeed show some evidence for emphasising the aspect of deceleration and of finding one’s particular place for solitude – meanings which indeed add to familiar semantics of the rural (see Sorokin/Zimmerman/Galpin 1930, p. 233). If we try how to understand the contemporary condition of the urban, it might be Marc Redepenning Reading the Urban Through the Rural

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102 Jacques Lévy The City IS the Sustainable Development

Th e relationship between the concepts of as well as the various material and non-material the ‘city’ and ‘sustainable development’ is prob- realities that characterise social life. ably simpler than we could have imagined. Such Similarly diversity is defined as a diversity a statement emerges from an analysis of both no- of people (‘social mix’), of activities (industry, tions. A city, when considered on its own, is a commerce, school, etc.), of functions (activi- peculiar expression of the urban phenomenon. ties, housing, transport, etc.), of times in daily Sustainable development is a very specifi c expres- life as well as in the history of the city. sion of ecological awareness. When we explore Density and diversity are not completely and ‘purify’ their meaning (in the spirit of Ed- orthogonal notions, since a too diffuse diver- mund Husserl’s eidetic reduction), a large degree sity (like, for example, that existing at the glob- of consubstantiality between the two notions. al scale) entails a loss of the main characteristics of diversity, i.e. the exposure to otherness. Conversely, density creates, mutatis mutandis, What Do We Mean by ‘City’? proximity between social realities that enhance this exposure. Nevertheless, it can be argued Let us defi ne some terms fi rst. For this pur- than the methodological distinction between pose, I have to introduce another concept here, density and diversity is relevant because many that of urbanity. Urbanity is what makes an ur- situations, such as those of mono-industrial ban space urban. What makes a space an urban towns or touristic resorts, are characterised by space? Th e combination of density and diversity, density without diversity. or, to put it diff erently, diversity within density. Density is understood here as the density Urbanity = Density + Diversity. of any kind of social reality: built-up objects of course, but people too, in their homes, at work, in a hotel, in a shop or in the street in buildings, Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

104 Within this general framework we can defi ne a and non-permanently inhabited areas are urban. city as an urban space characterised by a maximum A recent book on urban Switzerland (Diener et of urbanity (Lévy, 2008). Th e city is not the only al., 2006) contends with good reasons that the type of urban space. We can fi nd urbanity in places Matterhorn, an icon of the Swiss Alps, is urban, a other than cities (in periurban or diff erent ‘exur- statement that can be extended to many touristic ban’ confi gurations), but a city is a space where spots, as void as they seem to be of any urbanity. the intensity of urbanity is maximal. Th e traditional urban/rural divide is no lon- Th is simple defi nition allows us to compact ger relevant and the landscape or functional op- diff erent terms into one: position between, city and countryside deserves Urbanity ≈ urbaneness ≈ ‘urbanness’ ≈ ‘ur- a serious relativisation. As the table below shows, banism’ (in the meaning developed by Wirth, the city has been a particular expression of a domi- 1938) nantly rural society, for example during the Euro- In short, urbanity is based on co-presence: pean Middle Ages. Today, the countryside has be- the maximum social realities in a minimum spa- come a peculiar actualisation of the urban world. tial extension. Th is simplifi cation is all the more As a result, in a virtually all-urban world, the important in that we are experiencing the end of control panel of societies is defi ned by whether or absolute urbanisation. not they want to inject relative urbanity, that is As the diagram below shows (fi g. 1), we are in- to increase the density + diversity rationale of a creasingly living in a totally urban world. Ex-rural given spatial area with a stable population (fi g. 2).

Billions of people %

10 100

7,5 75

5 50

2,5 25

1950 1975 2000 2025 2050 2075 2100

Quantities (absolute value) Share of the Overall Population

Population Living in Cities Cities Overall Population Countryside

Figure 1 Overall and City-Dwelling World Population / The End of Absolute Urbanisation Process (Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Secretariat, 2007) Jaques Lévy The City IS the Sustainable Development

105 LAYOUT City Countryside

SOCIETAL DOMINANCE Metropolitan City-Centre, Peri-Urban, Exurbia, Urban Suburbia Infra-Urban Rural Medieval Town ‘Country’, ‘Land’

Figure 2 Spatial Conﬁ gurations and Spatial Contexts

An Archipelago of Public Spaces deliberative democracy. In the practice of civility, there is no deliberation and ‘discussions’, ‘negotia- In this context, a specifi c word to character- tions’, or ‘decisions’ are not dissociable from the ise the city carries a critical importance: public. weak social links of concrete, everyday agency. Th e public spatial sphere in the urban dimension In this regard, spaces of movement replay the can be defi ned as that what makes an urban soci- opposition of stable places. Public metrics is the ety a whole, a system, something other than the set of the relations to distance that have a pub- sum of its parts. What is public does not belong lic dimension. Public transport requires public to individuals, nor to a (communal) community space (accessibility to all is a condition of its rel- (Gemeinschaft ), but indivisibly to the overall so- evance), but also creates public space (exposure ciety. Th e public space is a space, which is part of to otherness exists in stations, stops as well as bus, an urban area, where anybody knows that he/she trams, or trains). Public metrics is then the part should expect to experience an urban diversity of of the mobility system that requires and produces a magnitude that might be similar to that of the public space. overall urban area. Given the importance of public space in the We can notice that public space should not urban realm, the urban areas of the world can be confused with the public domain that is state be seen and appraised as an emerging intercon- property, nor what can be termed the ‘public nected archipelago of public spaces, including scene’, that is the explicit part of political life. Th e spaces of public mobility. Th is archipelago can public realm, Kant’s and Habermas’ Öff entlich- be addressed as the main grid, and even as a base- keit, includes the public space as it encompasses map, of global civil society. Conversely, urban ar- all the aspects of production and distribution of eas deprived of public space appear as blind spots public goods, that is, in a wider sense, politics in the geographic dimension of this civil society. (French: le politique). However, in public places, Th e issue of public space is part of a larger the relevant expression of politics is civility. Ci- framework. As a matter of fact, we can identify vility is a permanent interaction-based, non-in- two models of urbanity, which are at stake in ex- stitutional construction of politics. Th us, in con- perts’ debates as well as in public controversies. trast to a common misunderstanding, the public Th e table below shows the dividing lines of this space cannot be seen as an ‘agora’, a place for direct opposition. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

106 Th e fi rst model accepts urbanity and its con- If we identify the three major ways, the three sequences: public space and public metrics. Th e dominant modalities of managing distance (co- second one rejects it and tries to privatise space presence, mobility, and telecommunication), we beyond private personal space. Th e ‘Amsterdam’ can sum up their interrelations by the notion of model is more common in Europe and Asia, in coopetition (= co-operation + competition). Every large cities, and city-centres. Th e ‘Johannesburg’ ‘method’ uses the other ones for its own goal but model prevails in North America and Africa, in is also used by the others. No city without phone small towns, and in suburbs (fi g. 3). and internet. No email without places to meet. No Which urbanity model will overcome the e-commerce without delivery system. other? Th e debate has recently been re-opened Actually, as is shown in fi gure 4, co-presence worldwide. Many authors had predicted the end gets its best results in situations where multi-sen- of co-presence thanks to private mobility. In 1964 sorial exposure to the environment enhances the Melvyn Webber coined the term ‘Non-place realm’ capability to put together diff erent kinds of infor- to express this view. Another author, William mation and allows for innovative processes. Mitchell, in City of Bits (1994) also forecast the In brief, a city that takes on its urbanity can end of co-presence because of new technologies be considered as a societal utopia, that of develop- of telecommunication. But this did not happen. ing society by maximising co-presence. Th is utopia

‘Amsterdam’ ‘Johannesburg’ Density +- Compactness +- Cross-accessibility of urban places +- Public Space +- Pedestrian (=public) metrics +- Co-presence of dwelling/jobs +- Diversity of activities +- Sociological mix +- Intra-urban polarities +- Per capity productivity +- Positive self-valuation of all urban places +- Preservation of natural environment (soil, water, air) +- Self-visibility and self-identiﬁ cation of urban society +- Urban-scale polity +-

Figure 3 Two models of urbanity; from Lévy, 1999 Jaques Lévy The City IS the Sustainable Development requires the notion of development, of economy more conceptual terms, on the agency framework 107 of means, of self-improvement. that should result from its fundamental values. Th e Th e reason why the city and city-centred ur- SD approach includes a procedural component that ban planning (let’s call it urbanism) has re-emerged cannot be dissociated from its substance: all the con- in the last decades, is probably to be found in the cerned people, ‘big’ or ‘small’ stakeholders, includ- fact that to make the urban choice effi cient, the ing ordinary citizens should be invited to participate city is the best solution. Th is can be related to the in this permanent process of interpretation of its ba- comparative advantage of a systematic co-presence. sic principles through a transparency in the circula- Th e comeback of the city began in the 1980s tion of political legitimacy and both representation as a criticism of the Modern movement by ur- and participation of the general public. Th us, sus- ban planners, who convinced a part of the politi- tainable development is basically incompatible with cal players that the urbanity option was the best non-rule-of-law, non-democratic political regimes. means of strengthening political cohesion. But, In saying this we should not, however, neglect at the same moment, developing environmental the substantial component of the SD paradigm awareness, has given a fresh, unexpected compara- which was present from the very beginning. In the tive advantage to dense and diverse urban spaces. Brundtland Report (1987), the three major ‘pillars’ of SD, economic growth, social cohesion and environmental preservation, are defi ned as being What Do We Mean by ‘Sustainable compatible with, rather than in opposotion to, each Development’? other and, further, that each of these pillars can support the others. Th e SD paradigm should not be Th e paradigm of sustainable development seen as a compromise between ecology and econ- (SD) should be understood as a discussion frame omy, simply because these two realities are not ad- in which only the general principles are explicit. Th is dressed as an antinomy. Th e notion of development approach opens up a large array of public debates, underpins and encompasses the whole rationale of not only on its practical implementation, but, in the SD paradigm.

Co-presence Mobility Telecommunication Accessibility to identiﬁ ed information –=+ Serendipity + –/= =/– Exposure to place otherness –+– Exposure to body otherness +=– Type of space generated Place, territory Territory, network Network, place Examples City, family Intercity and intra- Mail, books, the Web city transportation networks

Figure 4 Managing distance: Three modalities Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

108 It is important to remember that this intellec- Sustainable Development and the tual construction is challenged by another politi- City: Close Encounters cal current, epitomised by another founding text: the Meadows Report to the Club of Rome (1972), On urban issues (density, diversity, mobility), which states that there is an ineluctable incompat- the three paradigms are clearly at odds with each ibility between limited natural resources and the other. Th e ‘agro-industrial’ conception has strong perspective of enduring societal development. In resonances with the ‘Johannesburg’ model, and, this scope, the Meadows Report contends that, even more clearly, the ‘post-materialist’ paradigm whatever social orientations and choices, and the ‘Amsterdam’ models can be seen as two Th ere is here a bold opposition between two expressions of the same framework. Because of conceptions of the relationships between nature its general hostility to massive human agency, like and society. Clearly the very defi nition of devel- urbanisation, the ‘neo-naturalist’ approach cre- opment in the Brundtland Report reveals an un- ates a signifi cant disruption in this duality. equivocal refutation of the Meadows Report’s For the ‘agro-industrial’ paradigm, cities are conclusions. mere locations, sites, topos. For the ‘neo-naturalist’ Environmental concerns should not then be stance, the city is condemned for its very existence reduced to sustainable development, and vice as a disruption of natural rationales, with density versa, sustainable development should not be re- being seen as an increasing of the ‘ecological foot- duced to environmental concerns. Indeed, in the print’ and mobility as the opposite to the suppos- current confi guration of the ideological debate, edly necessary local preference principle. Th is is three major families of conceptions are at stake, challenged by the SD promoters, who consider among which two claim to be part of an ecolog- a city as a technical system with the better per ical awareness. Th is is summed up in the table capita rate of surface, energy, land-consumption below, where we can see a third paradigm, ‘agro- sobriety. From this perspective, it can be argued industrial’, which represents a social model that that, in an urbanised world, the city as urbanity- considers environmental issues as irrelevant and based confi guration is the spatial dimension of does not address it as a signifi cant political issue. sustainable development. As fi gure 5 shows, each of those three para- Th ere is therefore a dramatic convergence be- digms has a strong consistency, not only in the tween an urbanity-maximising model and a sus- realm of nature/society relationships, but also in tainable development model. Th e close encounter terms of the representation of history, political between them was not planned but it appears philosophy, social structure, development model obvious and powerful today. Actually, as shown and spatial patterns. For the SD approach, more in the table below, if green cars can possibly reach development can, if well designed, mean great- the objective of preserving the natural environ- er conservation of natural resources, while for ment, at least in its air-protection component, the ‘neo-naturalist’ model, the only solution is they certainly fail to satisfy the two other ‘pillars’ décroissance, ‘un-growth’. of the SD-framework (fi g. 6). Jaques Lévy The City IS the Sustainable Development

109

Paradigm

Agro-industrial Neo-naturalist Post-Materialist

The Nature of Stand-object for agency Extra-societal, Environment, Nature independent actor component of the . society

Nature is a set of available Nature has a point of view Nature is a heritage resources and rights to be invented Development/ Irrelevant Antinomy Compatibility Environment Relationship Type of Hazardous Sustainable under- Sustainable Development development development development Nature/society: Nature/society: Nature/society: zero sum game negative sum game positive sum game.

Topics System of Values Moral norms Morals of duty and guilt Ethical values Momentum for the Predatory production, Reproductive predation, Reproductive Productive System growth zero or negative growth production, development

Dominant Players Gemeinschaft Organisations, institutions Individuals, societies (communal community) Spatial Values Generality, uniformity, Idiosyncrasy, Singularity, locations, circulation, parochialism, immobility, universality, trivialisation, sites ruralness, milieu places, mobility, urbanity, globalness, environments Expectation Scientism, technological No cumulative history, no Self-perfectibility of Horizons historicism progress societies

Figure 5 Society, nature, and space: Three paradigms; derived from Lévy, 2008 Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

110 Pillar II + III Production of urbanity

YES NO

YES Public Metrics ‘Green’ Car Metrics (non-fossil energy) Pillar I [public transport, incl. individual transportation Preservation of the (taxis, bicycle, car- natural environment pooling, car-sharing)],

NO Current Automobile Metrics (fossil energy, urban sprawl)

Figure 6 How many pillars of SD?

In this regard, Asian cities are the key places 3. Pro-urbanity urbanisation policy (Tokyo, because it is there that the huge majority of the new Osaka, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei today [Europe: urbans will live. Th is is all the more critical when the today]): functional and sociological mix in new ‘asianisation’ of the Pacifi c Rim (Australia, New Zea- urban projects, exclusive choice for public trans- land, Hawaii, Pacifi c Coast of Canada and the US) port, legal and economic restrictions to car use, leads Asians, for example in Hong Kong or South collapse of the pro-car ideology. Korea, to reappraise themselves and their infl uence It is pretty clear that, from the point of view (food, body image, aesthetics and density), and turn of urbanity, Asian cities have been ‘saved’ by their them into powerful actors beyond Asia itself. density, and that fi nally diversity has experienced We can observe the same 3-stage process in all a revival, in spite of a catastrophic start. Is it pos- Asian metropolises, as fi gure 7 shows. sible to skip stages 1 and 2 and directly go to 1. Anti-urbanity urbanisation policy (Tokyo in stage 3? Th ere is no evidence of this so far and the 1950 –70s, Hong Kong in the 1970–80s, Bang- China is currently undergoing the collateral ef- kok in the 1980 –90s [Europe: 1950–1970; North fects of stage 1 as it moves toward an infl exion America: 1930–90]): destruction of old districts, point between stages 1 and 2. creation of specialised, mono-functional districts, construction of freeways, neglect of public trans- In conclusion, it can be stated that: port and the glorifi cation of the car as the perfect ex- i there is no signifi cant component in envi- pression of individual and collective achievement. ronmental policies that does not deal with the 2. Dual, ambivalent urbanisation policy (Bang- general issues of an urbanity model: dwelling, kok, Djakarta, Manila, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, mobility; Kolkata today [Europe: 1980–90; North Ameri- ii there is more than an intersection between ca: today]): massive infrastructure investment in urbanity and sustainable development: if they public transport, emerging concerns about the wholeheartedly make the choice for urbanity, toxicity of a car oriented-urbanism, hesitancy cities are logically to be addressed as the spatial concerning the urban model. component of sustainable development. Jaques Lévy The City IS the Sustainable Development

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 111

Deﬁ nition Anti-urbanity Dual, ambivalent Pro-urbanity of the Stage urbanisation policy urbanisation policy urbanisation policy Asian Tokyo (1950-70s), Hong Kong Bangkok, Djakarta, Manila, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Metropolises (1970-80s), Bangkok (1980- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Seoul, Taipei (currently) 90s) Kolkata (currently) West European Western Europe (1950-1970s); Western Europe (1980-90s); Western Europe (currently) and North American North America (1930-90s) North America (currently) Metropolises

Figure 7 A three-stage process in Asian metropolises

References Webber, Melvyn, 1964: ‘Th e Urban Place and the Non-Place Realm’, in M. Webber et al, Explo- Brundtland, Gro Harlem, 1987: Our Com- rations into Urban Structure. Philadelphia: Uni- mon Future. Brussels : UN Commission for En- versity of Pennsylvania Press, 19– 41. vironment and Development. Wirth, Louis, 1938: ‘Urbanism as a way of Diener, R., J. Herzog, et al., 2006: Switzer- life’, Th e American Journal of Sociology, vol. 44, land: An Urban Portrait, 3 vol.. Basel: Birkhäu- No 1, July 1938, 1–24. ser Verlag.

Lévy, Jacques, 1999: Le tournant géogra- phique. Paris: Belin.

Lévy, Jacques (ed.), 2008: Th e City. Alders- hot: Ashgate.

Lévy, Jacques (ed.), 2008: L’invention du Monde. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.

Meadows, Donella H. et al., 1972: Limits to Growth, Report for the Club of Rome. New York: Universe Books.

Mitchell, William, 1994: City of Bits. Cam- bridge (USA): MIT Press. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

112 Bernhard Stratmann

Suburban Dreaming A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

Suburbia polarises. Whenever people take a of which have been conducted in fi elds such as look at a photo of a leafy suburb, there will usu- urban history, urban geography, urban sociol- ally be two groups who claim to “see” the exact ogy, and urban planning. Th e interdisciplinary opposite in suburbia: some see it as a much de- character of the approach outlined in this pa- sired Arcadian place to live, a paradise on earth; per is based on an attempt to do justice to the whereas others cannot imagine living there, be- complexity of the issue (Forsyth, 1999, 2005; lieving it would be hell. Some see it as a dream, Nicolaides and Wiese, 2006). It also rests upon others as a nightmare. Such puzzling facts (or ob- two important methodological insights. First, servations that at fi rst sight appear contradictory a social semiotics analysis inevitably requires a or paradoxical) are oft en a good starting point “substanzwissenschaft liche Ergänzung”, i.e. a com- for research. Both of the two above-mentioned pletion by theories and concepts on the issue a groups are also of particular relevance to the particular study is concerned with. As it is an practice of urban planning. Th ose who fall into approach or tool, which can be applied to a large the fi rst category will contribute to the continu- number of issues, it does not include concrete ing suburbanisation of cities, provided they have statements on particular fi elds of research (e.g. suffi cient assets and no other obstacles are put in hypotheses or fi ndings on the actual situation of their way. Members of the second group will help cities or on the characteristics of suburbs). In any to reurbanise cities and thus add to urbanity. At social semiotic study this needs to be gathered the same time, they might also contribute to the from other theories and studies that do provide gentrifi cation of inner cities. such information or hypotheses. In a way the Th is chapter attempts to shed light on the latter serve as necessary “add-ons” to an urban diverging views on suburbia by combining a so- semiotic analysis. Secondly, a semiotic analysis cial semiotic approach to urban studies (“urban does not allow for determining the “truth”, i.e. semiotics”) with discourse analysis and fi ndings providing evidence for or against a hypothesis from empirical studies on the issue, the latter (Chandler, 2007: 64f. and 221ff .; see also van Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

114 Leeuwen, 2005; Kress, 2010). As enlightening 2000). As a result, features, which have a bearing as a social constructivist or social construction- on social interaction and human behaviour such ist concept of the “author dependence” of “a as spatial distance, boundaries, and public space truth” (amongst a group of other “truths”) may qualities, have been absent from much of urban be, as soon as one intends to provide applicable research conducted by social scientists. Th is has knowledge to the practice of urban planning by rendered many fi ndings irrelevant to practice or means of academic research, there will be a need even misleading. Conceptual denial (of the rel- for empirically tested concepts and (sets of ) hy- evance) of space, on the one hand, or, conversely, potheses. Th is is not to say that such “down-to- an overemphasis on space on the other should, earth” approaches should not be qualifi ed by therefore, be avoided in both, policy develop- (modern and post-modern) conclusions on the ment on urban issues and in the study of suburbs social construction of truth. Such insights may and suburban ways of life. encourage politicians, planners and citizens to For an adequate understanding of contem- adopt a more critical stance towards science and porary (zeitgeist) discourses, it is essential to ac- technocratic solutions. knowledge that in today’s knowledge-based soci- Th e following research question will serve ety academic, literary, media and public percep- as a unifying thread for this complex undertak- tions of an increasing number of issues interact ing: What discourses of suburbia have evolved with each other at an ever growing speed. Th ey and how do they relate to the debate on sustain- intersect and infl uence each other profoundly. ability? By asking this question, the paper enters “Multimodality” (Kress, 2010) has become the the wider debate on the liveability of cities and mode of our time. Claims to truth and author- sustainable urban development. Both are fun- ity are diverse, subtle and contested at the same damental issue within urban studies and have time. Th is is also true for the urban arena and been crucial to the practice of urban planning for urban analysis in itself, where power, (self- (Wheeler and Beatley, 2008). Th e discussion will positioning) practices of various actors and in- also point to the fact that in recent decades there stitutions, identity (construction) and represen- have been two major fl aws in urban studies (and tation have become central issues and concepts in much of both, the theory and practice of ur- (Gottdiener/Lagopoulos, 1986; van Leeuwen, ban planning). First, deterministic approaches 2008; Webb, 2009). Suburbia plays a complex to space, the environment, technology and archi- role in these processes and practices and has de- tecture have, among other things, suggested that veloped into a deictic term evoking many con- there is a “spatial fi x” (Gleeson, 2008a) to most notations and associations. Unless targeting a or at least many of the pressing environmental specifi c audience, the term – in politics as well and social problems cities face (Broady, 1969; as in marketing – will not function as a purr Harvey, 1997). Second, urban sociology has too word or snarl word anymore. In order to capture oft en ignored the relevance of urban design, pub- some of the variety of the meanings involved I lic space and spatial arrangements. In fact, the will refer to perceptions of suburbia in movies, importance of the physical reality of cities, i.e. TV series, songs and literary texts in some sec- their materiality, has been denied or overlooked tions of this paper. It will become obvious that (Schroer, 2006; Schäfers and Bauer, 1994; Sturm, the academic world as well as many fi ction and Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia screenplay authors grapple with the “localisa- fr om other forms of semiotics. In a social-semiotic 115 tion” (i.e. theoretical positioning or classifi ca- account of meaning, individuals, with their social tion) of suburbia. Th is is one point where urban histories, socially shaped, located in social environ- semiotics comes into play. ments, using socially made, culturally available resources, are agentive and generative in sign-making and communication” (Kress, 2010: 54). Urban semiotics: Doing meaning, the Sydney circle, and palimpsests As original work, especially by Michael Hal- liday, has been further advanced by a number of Urban semiotics, as presented in this con- Sydney-based scholars, Chandler (2007: 219ff .) tribution, is rooted in social semiotics. Th e lat- speaks of a “Sydney semiotics circle” or a “Syd- ter originated from the enduring discussions ney school” of social semiotics. Cobley and about Ferdinand de Saussure’s and Charles S. Randviir (2009) also speak of an “Anglo-Aus- Peirce’s approaches to semiotics, and follows tralian, Hallidayan perspective” of sociosemiot- many of Peirce’s propositions (Kress, 2010). In ics, indicating that there are also some other ap- contrast to some other accounts in semiology, proaches to the social in semiotics. Prominent in social semiotics does not assume that there is a the fi eld of urban sociology, Mark Gottdiener’s fi xed relation between a term and what is meant (1994) approach combines the so-called “New by it. Th is relation is not considered to be arbi- Urban Sociology” with urban semiotics (see trary, though. Instead it is held that meaning also Gottdiener and Hutchison, 2010). As (the relation between a signifi er and the signi- Soja (1996) points out, there are also semiotic fi ed) is maintained or challenged every day, i.e. strands in parts of Henri Lefebvre’s work (see constructed constantly by social processes that also Kofman and Lebas, 1996: 17; Lefebvre, include power relations. Th us, the relation be- 1996: 114ff .). Soja himself is not disinclined tween a signifi er and the signifi ed is aff ected by to apply semiotic thinking in order to make his social change and simultaneously serves as an socio-geographical studies of cities and space agent of this change itself (Hodge and Kress, more comprehensive. 1988; Kress, 2010). Analogous to the concept Social semiotics has much in common with of “doing gender”, one could speak of “doing critical discourse analysis (van Leeuwen, 2008; meaning”: Low, 2009). Both approaches have been used to explore a large variety of issues, including urban “Th e core unit of semiotics is the sign, a fusion ones. For instance, Ann Forsyth (1999), in her of form and meaning. Signs exist in all modes, so excellent study on the Rouse Hill development that all modes need to be considered for their con- project in the north-west of Sydney that creat- tribution to the meaning of a sign-complex. Th e ed a long lasting debate on suburban expansion, genesis of signs lies in social actions. In semiosis – showed that fi ve major views on “good urban the active making of signs in social (inter)actions – form” have informed the debate: expansionist, signs are made rather than used. Th e focus on sign- economic developmental, scientifi c environmen- making rather than sign use is one of several feature tal, locally environmental and consolidationist. [sic!] which distinguishes social-semiotic theory Th ese views represent not only diff erent economic Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

116 or other individual interests of people, they also Although the discussion on problems of decline are interpretations of the “given” situation and of in some suburban areas has been ongoing for quite what public interest means (in the particular case a while, the current housing crash that followed and in general). As such, they represent a con- the fi nancial crisis of autumn 2008 has aggravated glomerate of goals (own ones and those of others, the situation, especially in some of the newly built which are either accepted or rejected), perceptions suburban areas and outer suburbs (Lucy, 2010). of reality, visions of what makes a good city and In a New York Times article published on February beliefs of what is deemed best for the greater public 10, 2010, correspondent Timothy Egan writes: good or for the community’s welfare.1 “Drive along foreclosure alley, through new planned communities that look like tile-roofed ver- 1 Rouse Hill continues to receive the attention of developers, the public and the media. In March 2008, for example, a shopping centre sions of a 21st century ghost town, and you see what called the Rouse Hill Town Centre was opened. It was built at a cost of happens when people gamble with houses instead 470 million Australian Dollars and offers more than 65,000 sqm of retail of casino chips. [...] Dirty fl ags advertise rock-bot- space and another 3,500 sqm of ofﬁ ce space. The centre was built in tom discounts on empty starter mansions. On the anticipation of substantial residential growth in Rouse Hill and nearby ground, foreclosure signs are tagged with gang graf- areas in the near future (www.gpt.com.au/contentdocs/FactSheets/ fi ti. Empty lots are untended, cratered with mud FactSheets_development_rhtc.pdf, retrieved June 1, 2010). See also an article by Michael Duffy in the Sydney Morning Herald of March 15, 2008 puddles fr om the winter storms that have ham- (www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/new-city-in-modern-times-shows- mered California’s San Joaquin Valley.”3 best-and-worst-ofdesign/2008/03/14/1205472079218.html?page=fullpa ge#contentSwap1, retrieved June 1, 2010). One problem of the Rouse Hill Later in his article Egan off ers some long- Development Area is that parts of it belong to the ﬂ ood-prone areas in term hope for those newly built suburbs current- the Sydney region (www.sydneywater.com.au/majorprojects/NorthWest/ ly facing a foreclosure epidemic. Especially the StormwaterManagementRouseHill.cfm, 01.06.2010). expected strong increase in the U.S. population due to immigration and high birth rates is seen In a seminal article Alex Schafran (2009: as a chance for economic recovery (see also Ko- 24ff .) demonstrates how – in the course of a dis- tkin, 2010). Next to suburbs under stress, there course – language use (and interpretations de- are also many leafy suburbs and “boomburbs” rived thereof ) can gradually change to fi nally turn (Lang and Simmons, 2003; Lang and Lefurgy, against people. His example is well-intentioned 2005).4 Moreover, urban sociology reveals that policies to tackle (sub)urban decline and pov- locations oft en experience ups and downs over erty. Frequently, these policies move away from time. Th e recovery of the U.S. housing and fi - targeting poor quarters and the reasons that lie nancial markets also depends on psychological behind poverty and decline, and move towards factors such as confi dence in the future and gen- eventually defi ning the poor as the problem. Th is eral optimism. Th e fate of suburbs, especially the may result in policies of exclusion or removal as troubled ones, is also heavily infl uenced by their has oft en happened as a consequence of “urban image and representation. In order not to repeat renewal” projects in the US and elsewhere, and is the mistakes caused by earlier policies aimed at likely to happen to suburban areas if the discourse urban renewal it is essential to watch one’s lan- on “slumburbia” gains even more momentum.2 guage when discussing suburban decline: Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

“Inasmuch as Americans were unwilling or view on urban expansion, which – resting on 117 unable to separate poor people and people of color a particular vocabulary, purr words, and a lan- fr om ideas of slums and blight a generation ago, guage code comparable to a dress code – creates why should we assume they will do so during this political, media and academic support for fur- go ‘round of abandonment?’ Although it may ther expansion. At the same time, the narrative seem far-fetched right now, I can envision a fu- created discredits any kind of criticism of urban ture where the representation of suburbs as slums expansion as ill-informed or even motivated by reaches the point where we see policies of ‘subur- bad intentions. ban renewal,’ which remove people and not problems. One can stand on top of rooft ops shouting, ‘It’s not black people! It’s neoliberalism, dammit!’ 2 For the article referred to above Alex Schafran was awarded but without paying attention to how the new sub- the Edward W. Soja Prize for Critical Thinking in Urban and Regional urban reality is represented; no matter how bad Research (Youn, 2009: 6). it may become, we risk making the same mistakes 3 Egan, T., Slumburbia, The New York Times, February 10, 2010, that scholars and writers made a generation ago“ accessible online at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/ (Schafr an, 2009: 26). slumburbia (retrieved June 10, 2010) 4 Suburbs under stress are those, where foreclosure problems Th e power attributed to discourses can also loom and/or some of the following problems accumulate: an ageing housing be drawn from the formation of alliances of inves- stock, a declining and/or ageing population, high rates of unemployment, a deteriorating infrastructure, the prevalence of vandalism and crime, much tors and developers who, sharing vested interests waste land or many underutilized commercial buildings. The term “troubled in ongoing suburbanisation, try to establish dis- suburbs” may be applied as well, but has been widely used to denote areas cursive dominance. Supported by international where massive riots have broken out, especially those that took place in consultancies these alliances develop a joint lan- some “banlieues” (mostly high-density, high-rise suburbs) in France some guage on urban issues, which becomes the basis years ago. for lobbying activities. One element of the meta 5 For an example of an initiative that equates concerns about (or master) narrative is the discrediting of ur- urban sprawl with “un-American ideals” see a paper published online by ban planning and environmentalism. Both are the Connecticut Partnership for Balanced Growth at www.cpbg.org/ PDF%20documents/CPBG%20-%20Is%20it%20Sprawl%20or%20 portrayed as if they were tokens of a small, but Suburbanization%20Handout.pdf (retrieved June 7, 2010). ambitious and albeit dangerous minority acting against the majority’s right to freely choose their form of housing. Th ose who worry about urban Th e struggle for dominance between self-ap- sprawl are considered to be opposed to freedom pointed “pro-market” alliances and an (alleged) of (housing) choice, prosperity and progress. anti-growth coalition gives rise to the question Critics of unhampered urban sprawl or of other, of how to balance power and interests in or- more regulated forms of suburbanisation tend der to bring about fair planning. Can planning to be lumped together in one category as if they regulations assure neutrality in urban develop- were all members of some kind of obscure anti- ment? In “Th e Code of the City” Ben-Joseph growth movement working against people’s and (2005) reminds us that planning codes do not national interests.5 In contrast, the goal of “pro- simply contain and condense technical informa- growth” alliances seems to be to push a certain tion or solely represent the codifi able aspects6 Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

118 of technological knowledge. Instead, they are planning is a social process that includes engineering a means of constructing reality. Accordingly, tasks and not, vice versa, an engineering process societal values and social norms are always re- that just has to include some social aspects. His- fl ected in planning codes, no matter how neutral torically and internationally, urban planning has and technical their wording may be. It is there- oft en been linked to the pursuit of happiness – in fore probable that minority groups will be dis- fact, it has oft en been regarded as a means to this criminated against by planning practices based end (Bartetzky and Schalenberg, 2009). To the on these codes.7 Th is might occur unintention- extent that towns and cities are built realisations ally by “simply” not considering their needs in of specifi c historic, social, political and architec- the planning process. tural ideas and visions, a sound understanding or “reading” of urban structure requires adequate knowledge and awareness of the social forces and 6 Written planning codes cannot fully represent the ideas that have rendered these structures mean- technological knowledge they are founded upon. This can be drawn from ingful for people in a particular local situation. A. Ziedonis (2002) discussion of patents (which are a comparable matter Urban semiotics tries to make the city “read- in this regard): “Patents also incompletely represent technological able”, not only by analysing and interpreting the knowledge. A patent represents “codiﬁ ed” knowledge, (i.e., knowledge that can be articulated in written form). However, a substantial fraction obvious signs in the urban realm, but by treating of technological knowledge is “uncodiﬁ able” or “tacit,” (i.e., knowledge everything that can be observed in a city (build- that requires face to face interaction to transfer or knowledge that is ings, streets, parks, shop windows, advertise- accumulated through experience and not otherwise easily gained or ments, road signs, the “expressive” life-styles of transferred“ (p. 13f.). the inhabitants, etc.) as a “sign” or “symbol.” Th e 7 In fact, all planning is based on some kind of code, whether latter is also called a “symbolic sign” in Peirce’s written or unwritten. What matters are their contents and wording, the terminology (Kress, 2010: 63). Th e decoding of interpretations derived thereof, and the practices of their implementation historical and other layers plays an important adopted by planners and other relevant actors. For planning outcomes to role in this conceptual approach. Th e struggle be just, there is a need for transparency, accountability and democratic control of the planning process. over the meaning and uses of urban space as well as the discursive power of “memory poli- 8 Retrieved on July 5, 2010 from http://urbanpalimpsest. blogspot.com/2007/01/about-this-blog.html tics” (i.e. the creation of collective memory or of “present pasts”, see Huyssen, 2003) become evident through this type of research: It is also likely that dated planning codes – which once upon a time may have fi tted a society “Cities constitute a constant ‘work in progress’ of and its cities and towns well – are no longer appro- diff erent actors with competing agenda’s. Cities are priate to the changed social fabric of contempo- the dynamic result of prior necessities and choices rary cities. Th ey might, then, be out of touch with and present day re-articulations and revisions of everyday life; appearing (or being) impracticable those. [...] Some artifacts of the past are simply torn or bureaucratic. Th ese examples stress the need down and replaced but many remain and are re- for advocacy planning, community participation, imbued or re-infused with new meanings, or at the and, more generally, social inclusion that go be- least refr amed as a materialized memory of past yond tokenism. Th ey also illustrate that urban events and ways of living. Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

Th us the present inscribes itself on the past, lay- “Th e erasure of histories is a loaded gesture in 119 er aft er layer, and in an asynchronous fashion. In cities that are more prone to swoon at the novelty of this respect the city can be thought of as a palimpsest corporate architecture than contend with the con- which is constantly being rewritten, repainted, and tradictions of history [...]. Th e elision of unsavoury re-populated by hurried crowds with a purpose. or problematic histories either through the renam- Th e day-to-day metabolism of the city may be ing of streets or districts, or the transfi guration of observed through its artifacts which are as much Communist or Nazi-era buildings into contem- materializations of norms and values and func- porary institutions in post-Communist cities, does tions as objects that are constantly being uploaded not entirely do away with their residual signifying with new meanings, or redefi ned or re-appropri- power; instead, they take on the character of what ated to fulfi ll new functions. But the social fabric Lisiak refers to as ‘urban palimpsests’ and thus can also becomes apparent through routine behavior, persist in diff erent, oft en troubling or unsettling, incidents, major events and the various signs and ways” (Stahl, 2009: 259; see also Lisiak, 2009, on symptoms of how the city is ‘used’” (Pauwels, 2009: the examples of Berlin and Warsaw). 263).

In recent years the term “urban palimpsest” Th e “For Sale” sign has become more widely used as a metaphor to capture the multi-layered urban reality which How do people know that a house in their is essentially made up of the built environment, neighbourhood is for sale? In Australia people open public and green space, the history of a could ring a real estate agent, read the classifi eds city, the interests of its current inhabitants, its in their local newspaper, or simply walk around social and demographic structure along with and look for “for sale” signs in the front yards the local and broader political, cultural and eco- (fi g. 1). In Germany, the latter option would not nomic conditions and contexts. On “Google”, exist, as people do not put up such signs in their the term will return more than ten thousand front yards. What is the reason for this seemingly results if entered in plural form, and will show minor diff erence? almost four thousand hits if entered in singu- In Australia, the sign “For Sale” in the front lar (Google search performed by the author on yard of a house usually indicates upward social July 5, 2010). In her blog, “Urban Palimpsest”, mobility. Most Australians can and actually do the Baltimore-based journalist Elizabeth Evitts go for two types of career: a professional career Dickinson writes on a variety of urban issues and housing career. Th ey can climb the profes- ranging from architecture and urban planning sional and the “housing ladder” (Paris, 1993; to culture. She is particularly interested in “the see also Beer et al., 2007; Johnson, 1994; Wulff built environment and the layers of place and cul- and Maher, 1998). “Anything for the House” ture that exist in cities.”8 Th e diffi culty of dealing (Murphy and Probert, 2004) has strong historic adequately with the “urban palimpsest” or these roots: “[S]uburbs are more or less tacitly un- layers of the urban becomes particularly obvious derstood in Australia as an embodiment of the whenever buildings, streets or places can be said Great Australian Dream of affl uence, independ- to bear some kind of historical burden: ence, privacy and security: a dream of certainty Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

120 in a ‘new’ world characterised above all by fl ux” against false advertising that might mislead po- (Davison, 2005: 3). Th erefore, it is no wonder tential home buyers as to the exact location of that people who get a substantial pay rise or get a property which is for sale: “Inaccurate adver- off ered a better paid job are inclined to buy a tising can give false perceptions to prospective bigger or nicer house in a more prestigious and buyers about the level of amenities available in more established suburb. Especially fi rst home the suburb, rates charged by local council, and buyers think that way. Moving is, therefore, as- schools in the area” (REBA, 2007: 1). Using a sociated with the idea of leading a better life. South African example to illustrate some me- thodical problems of address matching tools (address geocoding) Rahed et al. (2008: 201) point to a more general observation: “Th ere is also always the human ego factor that sees a person, living near the boundary of a more prestigious suburb, use the name of that suburb in their address.” Th is quotation emphasises the point that people attribute meaning to a location, with the address especially acting as a signifi er of social status, of belonging to a particular social group. Conversely, the representation of addresses on (digital) maps based on geocoding (e.g. by apply- ing ISO 19112:2003 “Geographic information – Spatial referencing by geographic identifi ers”) includes assignments of social status, of market value of properties, and of the desirability and general appreciation of a location. Unlike most Australians, many people in Ger- many hope that when they decide to build or buy a house, they will be able to stay there for good. When they move in, say at the age of 30, they still imagine themselves living there when they retire — too oft en, though, they do not consider a barrier free design or a “universal design”, when Figure 1 “For Sale” sign in front yard, Adelaide they make the decision to buy or build a home Photo: B. Stratmann (Büscher et al., 2009; GdW, 2009; Führ, 2005; Häußermann and Siebel, 2000). Mortgages are Living in a leafy suburb is a powerful symbol usually high and must be paid off within thirty of personal social and economic success.9 As lo- or forty years (Ammann and Demuth, 2009: 5ff .). cation strongly impacts on the price of a proper- Usually, there are no “for sale” signs in the front ty, the Western Australian Real Estate and Busi- yard when people have to sell their house, as this ness Agents Supervisory Board (REBA) warns would indicate that something has gone wrong Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

(e.g. that they cannot pay the mortgage any more et al., 2009; Chudacoff and Smith, 2005, ch. 9; 121 due to long-term unemployment, illness, marriage Gleeson, 2008b; Hanlon et al., 2010)? Was it a breakup or other unexpected life events). Since dream at all – or rather a nightmare? TV series people usually do not want everyone to know such as the British dramedy “Suburban Shoot- about these things, they would not want a sign in out” and its US-American counterpart “Des- front of their home potentially indicating that the perate Housewives” or the movie “Th e ‘Burbs” inhabitants of the house might have faced serious (starring Tom Hanks) seem to suggest that life problems. In spite of a growing number of labour in suburbia is so boring that only (self-) destruc- market and lifestyle induced changes, in Germany tive behaviour, shootings and intrigues can help selling a house is still strongly associated with the people (and the suburban TV viewers or movie assumption that someone has to sell their house. audience) escape from it. Th is, in turn, is understood as a symbol of down- ward social mobility, personal problems, or even severe hardship. Th e same assumptions are not 9 A current AHURI (Australian Housing and Urban Research made for renters (about 58 percent of the German Institute) research project tries to determine, whether or to what extend population are renting – fl ats, mostly; see Timm, low to moderate income households beneﬁ t from home ownership. There is some evidence that these households might underestimate the potential 2008).10 It is believed that they move fl ats (more risks of home ownership (Hulse and Burke, 2009). Considering the American rarely houses) for a variety of reasons, e.g. starting case Pitcoff (2008) points to the mortgage strain being particularly risky a new job somewhere else or needing more space for low-income households. Reason for the ﬁ nancial crisis that followed can because of additions to the family (BBSR, 2009; already be drawn from the paper.

Gieck, 2007; Sturm and Meyer, 2008). 10 The owner occupancy rate has been relative stable in recent years. However, it is estimated to rise up to 47 percent by 2025 (Waltersbacher and Scharmanski, 2010: 5) Currently about ﬁ ve percent Suburban dreaming: stuck in a cul- of all households own a house or ﬂ at, but live elsewhere in rented de-sac or when does “Revolutionary accommodation. Road” turn into “Mulholland Drive”?

“It’s been a bad couple of decades for dream- Are a lack of humour, endurance and experi- ers. So many collective dreams shattered into ence the reasons for such a one-sided and rather ugly shards. Th e devastation was democratic. cynical perspective? For Richard Gordon, much- Almost every political and social constituency loved British writer of many humorous books, a suff ered the agonies of disillusion. [...] Th e neo- “suburban postcode had the ring of the Gulag liberal dream of the boundless economy (‘Go for Archipelago and it was to be avoided at all costs. Growth’) is drowning in frightful waves of eco- However aft er decades living in suburbia he has logical feedback and, even worse, popular doubt” come to love it – the way Gauguin loved Tahiti” (Gleeson, 2008b: 1). What has, then, happened (Gordon, 2001: back page). Shaun Tan, a much- to the suburban dream so many Australians share acclaimed Australian illustrator and writer, en- with the majority of the inhabitants of coun- joys life in suburban Melbourne. He, a Chinese- tries such as Great Britain, the United States, Australian, and his partner Inari Kiuru, a Finnish France and Germany (Barker, 2009; Büscher born graphic designer, are a good example of the Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

122 diversity of today’s suburbia. Like many other In his 2008 book “Tales from Outer Sub- members of the “creative class” (Florida, 2003; urbia” Shaun Tan tries to capture some of the see also Heßler, 2007) they do not believe that intuitions that arise from observing life in fringe suburbs must necessarily be a dull place to live. suburbs. Th e book comprises fi ft een illustrated As Tan says in an article in Th e Australian on May short stories and was published almost simultane- 24, 2008: “Suburbia [...] is oft en represented as a ously in a number of countries (title of the Ger- banal, quotidian, even boring place that escapes man edition “Geschichten aus der Vorstadt des much notice. Yet I think it is also a fi ne substitute Universums”; Carlsen Verlag, Hamburg, 2008). for the medieval forests of fairytale lore, a place of Th e international success of the book might sug- subconscious imaginings. I’ve always found the gest that the author off ers a timely account of idea of suburban fantasy very appealing.” In her what happens “out there”. article Rosemary Neill, the interviewer, continues Th e idea that the suburban dream can eas- to summarise Tan’s observations: ily turn into a nightmare has been the theme of songs such as “Th e Ballad Of Lucy Jordan” sung by Marianne Faithfull, or movies such as 11 Neill, R., Suburban dreaming, article/interview with Shaun “Revolutionary Road” (USA, 2008, directed by Tan, The Australian, May 24, 2008; retrieved on January 15, 2010 from Sam Mendes). Interestingly, in both cases (song http://www.theaustralian.com.au/story-0-1111116392211 and movie) the realisation of being unable to 12 Nielsen, J., Cul-de-Sacs: Suburban Dream or Dead End? get to Paris (the city which is one of the world’s NPR, June 7, 2006; retrieved on June 14, 2010 from http://www.npr.org/ foremost icons of sophistication and urbanity) templates/story/story.php?storyId=5455743 can be seen as the catalyst for disenchantment. 13 Source: see previous footnote. In the fi lm, the suburban road where the central characters live literally turns into “Mulholland 14 Retrieved on June 14, 2010 from http://www.cnu.org/Intro_to_new_urbanism Drive” (title of a 2001 David Lynch movie) – a surreal world of despair, confusion and subtle violence. What is it that seems to turn suburbia “Tan argues that a double reality attends sub- into a battlefi eld? In the real world there is also urbia: it is highly visible but, at the same time, plenty of confusion in the attempt to assess the unseen. On the one hand, it’s so familiar it’s taken attributes of a suburban location. Whereas many for granted; on the other, this familiarity means urban dwellers strongly believe that suburbia is it is overlooked or ridiculed. [...] Nevertheless, he the best place for bringing up children, statistics, thinks ‘there is something unsettling about (life in at least in parts, tell a diff erent story. Th e cul-de- the suburbs) fr om an aesthetic point of view, and sacs, for example, which were and still are popular also fr om a cultural point of view’. He feels new, in the layout of US-American suburbs, turn out fr inge suburbs lend themselves to surreality because to be amongst those streets, where many children they lack a settled identity. [...] For [him], outer are killed by cars while playing outside: suburbia is as much a state of mind as a place: as he puts it, ‘somewhere close and familiar but also “Lucy [William H. Lucy, a professor of ur- on the edge of consciousness (and not unlike outer ban and environmental planning at the Univer- space)’”.11 sity of Virginia, USA] says cul-de-sac communities Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia turn out to have some of the highest rates of traffi c In order to better understand how these 123 accidents involving young children. ‘Th e actual diverging views on suburbia have evolved the research about injuries and deaths to small chil- following section will introduce some necessary dren under fi ve is that the main cause of death is diff erentiations. being backed over, not being driven over forward [...] And it would be expected that the main people doing the backing over would in fact be family Fringe Living members, usually the parents.’”12 Th at a large portion of the population of Even though arguments like these have led to many Western countries can aff ord to live in sub- councils banning cul-de-sac suburbs in some US urban areas these days can, in many ways, be seen cities, houses on cul-de-sacs are still very popular as symbol of enormous social progress. Ordinary with many home buyers and, therefore, sell at a people have managed to live a modest version of better price. Th is, of course, is an incentive for the villa lifestyle previously reserved to the upper developers to continue building suburbs based classes and the nobility in past centuries – and on a tree-shaped layout with as many cul-de-sacs that is still reserved to the affl uent and the pow- as possible at the “branches“. Internationally the erful in most countries of the world. However, model has also met with interest: “Speck [Jeff because so many people want to live at the fringe Speck, an infl uential American town planner and of the cities and towns they now oft en end up writer] says this isn’t just an American dream living at the fringe of the fringe’s fringe. Th is can anymore. He says that in countries like the Phil- be understood as an example of the unintended ippines and China, and in parts of the Middle consequences of purposeful action, a collective, East, cul-de-sacs are fast becoming all the rage.”13 yet unexpected or undesirable outcome of many However, a heated public and expert debate on individuals’ activities directed towards the same the social, economic and ecological sustainabil- goal (in this case: owning a single-family home).15 ity of those suburbs is currently taking place. In a video that won the Congress for the New Ur- banism’s video contest in Denver in 2009 the 15 In Sociology, unintended consequences and their meaning message even is “Th e greatest threat to our plan- for the shaping of society is one of the key concepts in understanding et is cul-de-sacs!”14 Th is is, of course, to make a social change. The (purposeful) activities of individual or collective actors often produce side effects, which can be negative or positive. Unintended point. Unfortunately, in the debate sprawl and consequences of social action are, thus, unanticipated by the actors, but any form of suburbanisation are oft en incorrectly not necessarily harmful to them or to society as a whole. Sociologists equated (for a critique of the equation between such as Robert K. Merton, Anthony Giddens, Raymond Boudon or James sprawl and suburbanisation see Gleeson, 2008a: S. Coleman employ the concept as a central element of their theories. 2654f.; for an ambitious defence of sprawl see In urban planning there are many examples of negative side effects of Bruegmann, 2005; for fi erce criticism of sprawl well-intentioned planning activities that, in some case, have even resulted in outcomes, which turned out to be in diametrical opposition to the and suburbanisation see Duany et al., 2000; see original intent (Terlinden, 1994). Trying to anticipate possible unintended also Kunstler, 1993; Marshall, 2000; Saunders et consequences of planned actions (e.g. proposed new urban planning al., 2005; for a “smart growth manual” see Duany strategies) is, therefore, an important task for researchers, practitioners and Speck, 2010). and other responsible social actors. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

124 “Unintended consequences”, however, do not life provides the cognitive basis for the forma- fully explain suburbanisation, nor do they tell us tion of suburbia. what suburbs and suburban life are like. Th ere In the last two decades there have also been has been a long, and still ongoing debate about growing concerns regarding the sustainability of what happens at the urban fringe. Mainly, it has the expanding suburban areas in many parts of been a debate on the “subs” or better the “sub” the world. In particular, ecological sustainability of the city (historically most suburbs were seen (energy consumption of buildings and for trans- as bad places to be and live, see Archer, 2006; port, air and noise pollution due to automobile Fishman, 2006). Th ree main areas of discussion dependence, loss of arable land, etc.) became can be diff erentiated: Firstly, there is a debate an important issue widely discussed. However, on suburbs as a built form. Is there an optimal the economic costs to the public and the indi- urban density, scale or size? What urban func- vidual household (infrastructure provision and tions should be provided, and where? What is maintenance, rates, increasing costs for travel, the best layout? How do suburbs relate to the health costs due to road accidents and stress-re- city spatially? Secondly, there is the debate on lated diseases caused by the daily driving grind, mass suburbanisation as an important new stage etc.) are also a matter of concern. As to the social in the urbanisation process – a process leading dimension of sustainability, issues such as the to suburbs gradually becoming the major part of aff ordability of housing and transport, accessi- urban space in many (Western) countries. What bility of services, public health, social isolation, does this mean for “suburban nations” such as the gender roles and equality, safety, segregation and United States and Australia, where more than exclusion are of particular relevance (Dempsey half of the total population live in suburban ar- et al., 2009; Forster, 2004: 72ff ., 168ff .; Jenks eas? Do these countries deurbanise? What should and Jones, 2010; Saunders, 2005). Th e combined be the rationale for decisions on administrative eff ects of the increasing world population and boundaries of cities and municipalities, in view the growing share of people living in cities have of the fact that economic activity, commuters and further fuelled the debate as problems seem to air pollution constantly cross these boundaries? accumulate and urgency for action increases. Is there a need for reorganising the distribution Th e housing demands of the growing middle of tax revenues among (urban and suburban or and upper classes in emerging markets such as rich and poor) local governments and between China, India and parts of Southeast Asia are seen them and the other tiers of government, e.g. in as additional factors that might contribute to a order to fund infrastructure? massive suburban expansion in this highly popu- Finally, there is a debate on “suburbia” as a lated part of the world (United Nations, 2008; socio-cultural phenomenon. It includes ques- UN-HABITAT, 2010: 10f.). Considering this, tions such as whether there is a “suburban way it is “only” a secondary issue whether new sub- of life” (that is non-urban or even anti-urban), urbs emerge as an accumulation of single-family whether suburbs create or help to create a cer- homes or of high-rise apartment blocks. Global tain type of suburban mentality that shapes par- suburbanisation is a fact, and fringe development ticular lifestyles (architectural determinism), or a normal result of population growth and eco- whether, vice versa, an existing model of the good nomic expansion. Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

A plethora of terms has been coined to development (McManus [...]), the term in use has 125 capture the developments at the urban fringe: tended to blanket neatly the entire suburban form, well planned or otherwise. Sprawl’s totemic power “Th ese names range fr om wordplays on the is signifi ed by the deathly potency granted it in etymological roots ‘urb’ and ‘burb’ (such as slurb, scholarship and commentary, especially in the US. the burbs, the technoburb, exurbia, disurbia, su- Hirschhorn’s 2005 book reports that Sprawl Kills perburbia, shock suburbs, suburban downtown, and annihilates comprehensively by also stealing suburban activity center, nonplace urban fi eld, ‘your time, health and money’. Th e pathologised dispersed urban regions, the rurban fr inge) to word view of suburbia in the US is extended by Frumkin combinations with ‘city’ (edge city, outer city, tech- et al. [...] who conceive smart growth as ‘a medicine nocity, galactic city, elastic city, polynucleated city, that treats a multitude of diseases’. Australian ar- spread city, perimeter city, città autostradale) and chitectural critic Elizabeth Farrelly [...] provides other labels (sprawl, megalopolis, exopolis, out- forensic detail: ‘the traffi c jams and the water short- town, growth corridor, multinucleated metropoli- ages, the poisonous air and the childhood asthma, tan region. Nowheresville, Anywheresville, auto- the obesity, the neuroses, the depression’. Th e social pia...“ (Ghent Urban Studies Team, 1999: 28; see impotence of the ‘sprawl’ totem, however, is marked also Hauser, 2010, who uses parts of this quotation by the manifest failure of urban critique to blunt as an introduction to her article on “Urbanisierte the continuing enthusiasm of Western populations, Landschaft en“ [urbanised landscapes]). most especially Australians, for some form of suburban life” (Gleeson, 2008a: 2654). Th e infl ationary production of novel terms is sometimes even confusing for those who Four aspects are oft en not considered when are quite familiar with the analysis of cities. It it comes to discussing suburbs: hampers communication among and between researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. a) Vibrancy and diversity: Suburbia is not It also leads to misunderstandings, as notions class-coded, culturally dull, uniform or “single- partly overlap in meaning and as diff erent au- lifestyled” anymore. In fact, it has for a long time thors use diff erent defi nitions of the some of been more diverse than readily acknowledged these terms. “Sprawl” is an excellent example (see, e.g., Barker, 2009; Clapson, 2003; Hanlon for this (see Hanlon et al., 2010: 162ff .). Espe- et al., 2010). In Australia, suburban life has never cially in the case of international comparative been exclusive due to the fact that houses were studies and cross-national knowledge transfer aff ordable to most income-earning households an uncritical adoption of terms can be detri- – this is not to say that some suburbs are more mental to research: exclusive than others (Davison, 1999; Forster, 2004; Murphy and Probert, 2004). “Th e landscape of Australian urban scholarship and debate has been signed by imported US b) Variety: Th ere are declining and grow- totems, such as ‘sprawl’, ‘smart growth’ and ‘new ing, rich and poor suburbs. “Boomburbs” and urbanism’. Although sprawl is defi ned as poorly “slumburbia” are two of the many faces of today’s planned – that is haphazard – low-density urban suburban reality. Multicultural areas and ethnic Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

126 enclaves can also be found in suburbia. Th e sub- Th ey oft en display a photo of a leafy suburb or urban dream does exist alongside the “suburban parts thereof (see, e.g., the covers of the excellent gothic” – sometimes they even seem to co-exist as books by Clapson, 2003; Forsyth, 1999; Hanlon dark movies such as David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” et al., 2010, or of the readers edited by Nico- (USA, 1986) suggests (Clapson, 2003; Hanlon laides and Wiese, 2006, and by Saunders, 2005). et al., 2010, Lang and Simmons, 2003; Lang and Th e authors and editors of these and many other Lefurgy, 2005; Schafran, 2009). books on this issue know that suburban reality is far more complex than the popular image may c) Size, density, and height: Suburbs can vary suggest. However the cover pictures represent the a lot in terms of population. Th ey can be as small issue well because criticism of suburbanisation as a village (where most people know – or could oft en focuses on this type of suburbia; one seen know – each other), but also as big as a town. Va- as monotonous in its physical appearance and riety exists within and between countries. Th ere uniform in its social life and social structure. are also medium-density and high-rise suburbs, To highlight the multitude of forms subur- not only suburbs made up of single-family homes. ban reality can take is not to deny that powerful Within a suburb density and height of construc- stereotypes of middle-class suburban life have tions can vary. A suburban shopping centre, for existed and will partly continue to persist, exert- example, can develop into an urban sub-centre, ing an infl uence of how people live their lives. where scale will also become more urban (Bo- Films such as “Th e Ice Storm” (Ang Lee, USA, denschatz, 2009; UN-HABITAT, 2010). 1997, German title “Der Eissturm”), “Revolu- tionary Road” (Sam Mendes, USA, 2008; Ger- d) Uses: Suburbanisation does not only man title “Zeiten des Aufruhrs”) or “American refer to the growth of suburban housing areas. Beauty” (Sam Mendes, USA, 1999) brilliantly It also refers to the suburbanisation of industry, illustrate both the confi guration of the ideal and trade and commerce, shopping, administration, its limitations, downsides and pitfalls. Th e fol- education and recreation. Industrial areas lowing quote elaborately summarises much of and business parks, administrative and offi ce the conventional narrative on suburbia prevail- buildings, shopping centres and malls, schools ing in 20th Century America. It also serves as a and campuses, public parks, cafés and pubs, tennis reminder that the massive 20th-century wave of courts and squash centres all can be found in suburbanisation was heavily promoted by gov- suburban locations (Bodenschatz, 2009; Forster, ernments (the so-called “GI bill” that included 2004; Hanlon et al., 2010). a special program providing insured and low- interest building loans to returning servicemen, Regardless of its diverse character, the im- the availability of various tax deduction schemes age of suburbs people have in mind – no matter encouraging home ownership, the hedging of whether they love or despise suburbia –, is that of banks via mortgage repayment insurance pro- a built-up residential area consisting mainly of sin- vided by the Federal Housing Administration gle-family homes. Th is popular image is also oft en (FHA), and federal road subsidies were impor- taken up for covers of textbooks or monographs tant means to this end; see also Hanlon et al., on the issue of urban and suburban development. 2010: 46ff .): Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

“Th ough suburbs varied in quality and compo- 2001-2009) well represent this popular and, at 127 sition, American culture celebrated and intensifi ed times, romanticised picture of rural life. Nota- version of domesticity that presumed single-family bly, both TV series were highly successful inter- housing in suburbia, with the breadwinner fathers nationally (in Germany each episode has been and homemaker mothers fi nding personal satisfac- dubbed for German TV broadcasting by voice tion in family life and in the commodity purchases actors). that enhance it. New Deal social legislation, the GI bill, and FHA-insured mortgages subsidized the demographic trends of high marriage rates, earlier 16 Levittown is the name of some large, mass-produced ages at marriage, and large families, with which post World War II suburban developments, which became a model life in the suburbs became associated. Th e presump- for the development of many other postwar American suburbs (see http://web1.fandm.edu/levittown/one/b.html; see also: http://www. tion that suburban husbands would go off to the levittownhistoricalsociety.org). city to work, leaving wives at home to care for children, was refl ected in the suburban home design. Each house in Levittown16 was intended to be a Despite this widespread appreciation of ru- self-contained world marked off by a white picket ral virtues, cultural, political, professional and fence. Inside were a standardized living room with economic elites usually prefer urban lifestyles television set built into the wall and a kitchen and (though not rarely realised in a suburban loca- washing machine. Th e grassy lawns surrounding tion). As suburbia incorporates aspects of the large house lots highlighted privacy, and the ga- rural it is not fully accepted as an integral part rages took car ownership for granted” (Chudacoff of the urban: and Smith, 2005: 275). “Th e way we read the street will be a product In Australia, many people would subscribe of our culture and experience. Th ese commonali- to the view held by Barker: “Suburbia is the great ties are drawn on and created by architects, artists, compromise between privacy and price, and be- advertisers, and planners. Th e social construction of tween town and country” (Barker, 2009: 216). the city involves a preparedness to reject the tradi- Since colonial beginnings most Australians have tion of rurality embodied in suburbia and embrace tried, and managed, to live in the major cities the city. In modernity this is perhaps best refl ected along the coast. Even though or precisely be- in the work of Baudelaire and his image of the cause the remoteness, loneliness and bleakness fl aneur” (Bounds, 2004: 114). of the outback were feared, rural communities and farmers on isolated homesteads were and Interestingly, in Australia academic papers are celebrated for their courage and mateship. in defence of suburbia are published in critical Down-to-earthness, integrity and unpreten- journals such as Australian Rationalist (Hassan, tiousness are other associated values (Bulbeck, 1996; Troy, 1996) or avantgarde journals such as 1998: 24ff .; Davison, 2005; Share et al., 2000; Polis (O‘Connor, 1994). Book or journal articles Waterhouse, 2005). Television drama series such on the issue are oft en written by well-respected as “Th e Flying Doctors” (original run 1986– authors such as Hugh Stretton (e.g. 1996), who 1993) and “McLeod’s Daughters” (original run could never be accused of sacrifi cing his academic Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

128 ideals to aid the vested interests of developers, Th e social history of suburbanisation property speculators, real-estate agents or institutional investors. Suburbanisation is not a “A nation of homeowners, of people who won a project promoted only by big business or con- real share in their own land, is unconquerable” (US servative politicians, it is also a process encour- Pres Franklin D. Roosevelt, quoted fr om Kenneth aged by proponents of social equality such as T. Jackson, 1985, p. 190). trade unionists or labour party members. It is as much about business as it is a social movement Th e fi rst known proclamation of the subur- and an element of national identity built around ban ideal is much older than one might think the idea of the “fair go” (Davison, 1999; Forster, and refers to a suburb of Ur: 2004; Gleeson, 2008b; Stretton, 1996). Th is “national coalition” for the detached house on its “Our property seems to me the most beauti- own block of land, the “Great Australian Dream”, ful in the world. It is so close to Babylon that we is now challenged by the quest for sustainability. enjoy all the advantages of the city, and yet when Once more a negative light is shed on suburbia. we come home we are away fr om all the noise and Th is has some kind of tradition. Writing from dust” (Letter to the King of Persia, written on a a UK perspective, Paul Barker (2009) observes: clay tablet in 539 B.C., quoted fr om Kenneth T. Jackson, 1985: 12). “Almost all architectural and planning commentaries, in the press or in government publica- In his award-winning book “Crabgrass Fron- tions, still speak of the suburb as an evil that must tier. Th e Suburbanization of the United States” somehow be cast out. To call anything or anyone Kenneth T. Jackson shows that the term “sub- ‘suburban’ is to utter a put-down, an anathema, urb” was used in London from about 1500 A.C. a curse. Yet suburbs are almost unbelievably pop- to describe parts of the urban area. Th ere is also ular. Th ey do not merely survive: they fl ourish, evidence that in continental Europe medieval in the teeth of all criticism, like a leylandii cy- and early modern cities and towns had suburbs press or a red-fl owering horse chestnut. eTh ‘new (French: le faubourg, German: Vorstadt). Th ey era’, which so delighted the Baptists of Hackney were oft en, though not necessarily, located out- in north-east London, was in fact the return of side town walls, and in peaceful times many of the old. Suburbia resumed its grip on hearts and them were considered desirable places to live, of- minds” (Barker, 2009: 13f.) fering cleaner air, greenery and more space. Th e latter was also seen as protection against diseases Th e history of the evolution of suburbs sheds (Jackson, 1985: 12f.). Drawing on work done more light on the reasons why suburbia has so by Frank A. Smallwood he writes that “much of many connotations, why it heats emotions and London’s early suburbanisation [can be ascribed] tends to polarise both, academic discussions and to two catastrophes in 1665 and 1666, the plague public opinion. and the fi re” (ibid.). Suburbanisation thus preceded the car. Th is is even true for modern forms of suburbanisation, which fi rst took shape in some of the major cities Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia in Great Britain and the United States in the early [...] Th e suburban orientation of the Australian 129 19th century, and gradually replaced the “walking colonies in the nineteenth century resulted fr om the city” (Chudacoff and Smith, 2005, ch. 3 and 4). interaction of pro-urban and anti-urban forces” “Walking cities” have fi ve “spatial characteristics”: (Davison, 2005: 4f.). congestion (due to high population density, relatively small lot sizes, and narrow lanes and streets), Australian Cities grew “as public transport a “clear distinction between city and country”, the cities” (Forster, 2004: 10) and the same is true mixed use of most urban areas for functions such for German and American cities. Tramways as housing, trade and production, short walks and light-rail systems allowed for commuting or horse rides to work (due to short distances and, therefore, early growth centred around between workplace and home or even spatial in- their routes (Bodenschatz, 2009; Chudacoff tegration of both), and fi nally “the tendency of and Smith, 2005, ch. 4; Jackson, 1985: 120ff .). the most fashionable and respectable addresses to Extensive road construction and the increasing be located close to the centre of town” (Jackson, aff ordability of cars due to rising income levels 1985: 14ff .). In Germany, the evolution of the then led to further urban expansion. Th e car is modern suburban city(land)scape began in the therefore not the source of suburban growth. In- late 19th century (Bodenschatz, 2009: 34f.). In stead, it rather accelerated this process and oft en Australia, suburbanization almost immediately led to a decline in the provision of public trans- followed white settlement beginning in 1788. It port services. Th e main proponents of “Human was, at least in parts, a response to the negative Ecology”, an early approach to urban sociology, experience with high residential density made in did not recognise these historical facts and were British cities, especially in the working class areas criticised by exponents of the New Urban So- of the early industrialisation period. Moreover, ciology for seeing the car as the cause of subur- it was not, at least at the beginning, a zone in- banisation (Gottdiener and Feagin, 1988). Not between of town and country: even trams and trains can be held responsible for changes in urban form. Rather, new tech- “Unlike the fi rst modern suburbs [...] Aus- nologies are invented and applied if there are tralian suburbs were not lodged between city and strong social, political or economic forces, which country, between urban and rural orders, but de- urge for change. To argue the other way round veloped as an unprecedented form of settlement in would lead straight to “technological determin- their own right. Th ese were truly suburban cities in ism”, a term used in science to criticise concepts which the ‘capitals developed suburbs before their claiming that new technological developments centres were built up’ (Dingle & Frost [...]). As early are the main agent of social change. Th is is not as 1788, in the fi rst months of settlement, Arthur to say that technological change does not mat- Phillip, Governor of New South Wales, wrote of ter. On the contrary, without new technologies his (only partially implemented) plan that ‘land some changes cannot be realised. For example, will be granted with a clause that will prevent more the carriage of goods by truck instead of trains than one house being built on the allotment, which requires reliable trucks in the fi rst place, capable will be sixty feet in fr ont and one hundred and of long haul. Cars also made it possible to com- fi ft y feet in depth’ (Phillip cited in Davison [...]). mute long distance comfortably. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

130 In America, massive interstate highway con- Even though the exact staging of the sub- struction and the urban network of streets and urbanisation process, its detailed historic back- roads made it increasingly attractive to move ground and the approaches to urban plan- goods by truck. In turn, this contributed to the ning and urban design it encompasses diff er suburbanisation of industry, wholesale, retail, from country to country, the general picture as and professions (see, e.g., Chudacoff and Smith, sketched above captures features of a rather simi- 2005, ch. 9). Commercial areas led to the sub- lar suburbanisation process occurring in many urbanisation of employment and trade. At the Western countries. Th is is true even for the struc- same time suburban shopping centres and recrea- ture and content of affi rmative and critical dis- tional facilities were added in large numbers. In courses on suburbanisation and urban sprawl. Is- many cases the clustering of these activities creat- sues discussed, lines of argumentation employed ed suburban centres that started to compete with and solutions proposed resemble each other. the city centres. Some sub-centres became strong What varies between countries is which dis- “edge cities”. Other suburbs have developed into course, affi rmative or critical, is more infl uential. “boomburbs”, large independent cities that have Nonetheless, suburbanisation as such is currently a strong local economy, but usually no identifi - globalising in that the above mentioned urban able centre (Lang and Simmons, 2003; Lang and processes can be observed in a growing number Lefurgy, 2005). Th us, the massive suburbanisa- of countries, especially in emerging markets such tion of housing, employment and retailing in re- as India and China. In these countries suburbs cent decades has changed urban structure dramat- oft en consist of high-rise buildings (Campanella, ically. Moreover, growth at and beyond the urban 2008, ch. 7; CRIT, 2007a and b; Hassenpfl ug, fringe has also aff ected the inner cities. Th ey have 2010; Heitzman, 2008; Ipsen, 2004; Jun and lost population, jobs and commercial activities to Xiaoming, 2008; Liauw, 2008; Monson, 2008; suburban areas, which are oft en located outside Sivaramakrishnan et al., 2007). Depending on their municipal boundaries. Th is means that cit- the quality of their planning they are either an ies also lose tax revenues, which, in turn, makes it approach to reduce the consumption of valu- harder to fund urban infrastructure. In Australia, able and scarce land or – if ill-planned – are an for example, all major cities apart from Brisbane example of “vertical sprawl”. are divided up into many independent local gov- It should be noted that high-rise suburbs are ernment areas (LGAs) so that the suburbs sur- not unknown in Western countries, either. Th ey rounding the inner cities usually do not belong were oft en built with the intent to provide af- to that city in administrative, political and fi scal fordable housing to lower-income households. terms. In Germany, towns and cities usually form Frequently, however, they led to aggravated just one municipality. However, suburbanisation forms of socio-economic and ethnic segrega- oft en takes place in the form of the establishment tion (Knorr-Siedow, 1997; see also Friedrichs or expansion of single-family house areas at the and Triemer, 2008 on recent trends in German fringe of small neighbouring municipalities, oft en cities). Th ey demoralised their inhabitants and former rural villages or small towns nearby larg- stigmatised them at the same time. Vandalism, er towns and cities (Hirschle and Schürt, 2008; high crime rates, alcoholism and substance abuse Sturm and Meyer, 2008). are just some of the negative connotations soon Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia to become associated with this type of subur- What was condemned as inhumane if practised 131 bia and housing form. Residents are variously on one side of the fence was appreciated by some labelled as poor communicators, diffi cult, aggres- of the same people as welfarism and wise use of sive, anti-social, benefi t scroungers, underachiev- scarce land, if practised on the other side of the ers, job hoppers, and lazy. Even though the ma- ideological fence: the same type of housing, but jority of residents of such estates usually do not two diff erent stories told.17 fi t this stereotype, but lead an orderly, working class or petit bourgeois life, they are still aff ected by both the negative ramifi cations of these stere- 17 Sure enough, there also was some early criticism of high- otypes (discrimination by address, deterioration rise estates in Western countries. of the neighbourhood, physical decline due to 18 http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/planen/basisdaten_ little maintenance investment, etc.) and the gen- stadtentwicklung/atlas/de/stadt_umland.shtml and http://www.stadtent eral social change towards post-fordism. When wicklung.berlin.de/planen/basisdaten_stadtentwicklung/atlas/de/ the latter gradually began to replace fordism in bevoelkerung.shtml (last viewed January 31, 2010) many fi elds of production and consumption the new (and old) middle-classes started to reject cheap mass produced consumer goods, includ- In East Germany, aft er reunifi cation, the ing prefabricated high-rise housing, and even the GDR high-rise quickly lost its popularity. Many lifestyle of those who lived in these buildings people moved back to the inner cities, which were (Schmoll, 1990; see also Hannemann, 2010). redeveloped (in that process, nice old towns and Th e era of this type of social housing (in some historic quarters could be reconstructed; the po- countries the concept of social housing alto- litical turn, the so-called “Wende”, came just in gether) came to an end. However, the problems time for much of the built cultural heritage to with the existing stock will remain for quite some be preserved). More people, however, moved time. Th e massive riots that took place in the to suburban areas, where they started building “banlieues” of Paris and other French cities in single-family homes – something that was not autumn 2005 are just one, yet striking example possible for most people under communist rule of high-rise planning gone wrong. (Großmann, 2007; Häußermann, 1997; Kahl, In the former socialist countries many high- 2003; Haller, 2002; Rietdorf, 1997; Rietdorf et rise residential areas were built in order to gradual., 2001). During the fi rst fi ft een years aft er really replace the traditional urban form and hous- unifi cation Berlin lost 381,000 inhabitants to the ing styles. Some politicians and some other com- surrounding area. As there was also substantial mentators in Western countries attacked the in-migration from the region and other parts of model of the socialist city, its urban design, ar- Germany as well as immigration from abroad, the chitecture, layout and vision for being inhumane. migration balance left Berlin with a total loss of In the cold war era it did not seem to matter much only about 38,000 inhabitants as compared to that residential high-rise buildings were also put the time when the Wall came down.18 With this up in large numbers in countries such as France, net migration fi gure the culturally vibrant city West Germany or the Netherlands in order to of Berlin is doing much better than many oth- house poor citizens or (newly arrived) migrants. er towns and cities in the former East Germany Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

132 which suff er from the combined eff ects of a low chance to better cities. As a matter of fact, many birth rate in the years of uncertainty following measurements that need to be taken include the reunifi cation, a persistently high unemployment potential to considerably improve the liveability rate, the movement of people to other areas, and of cities and to enhance prosperity, social justice, the low levels of in-migration and immigration. equity, and human health. A move towards the In Australia, ‘high-rise’ signals, fi rst of all, “solar city”, for example, would not only reduce

city centre. Th e skyline of the fi ve largest cities the CO2 emissions of cities drastically, it would is made up of skyscrapers serving as offi ce tow- also eliminate other emissions related to burning ers for major industries such as banking, invest- fossil fuels, and would thus improve air quality ment and insurance (with others being used as and, consequently, health. It goes without saying hotels). High-rise blocks of fl ats used to be, by that fossil resources are currently still very im- and large, public housing. Now, there are more portant to the production of many goods used and more advertisements in the newspapers or on on a daily basis (much of clothing, any house- TV promoting high-end, high-rise condomini- hold items being made of or containing plastic um buildings located at the waterfront, at subur- parts, most food packaging, detergents and other ban beaches or near the Central Business District cleaning agents, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals (CBD). Th e luxurious and spacious apartments based on mineral oils, etc.). A lot of these uses are oft en off ered at a price that exceeds the me- of fossil resources will not easily be replaced by dian price of an average single family home in other resources in the near future, at least not at the suburbs. Whether this indicates a sea change adequate quality, in the quantities required for in housing preferences will be discussed further a growing world population and at acceptable below. Th e following section will examine the social, economic and environmental costs. It is relationship between sustainability and urban also for this reason that fossil resources should form and, in the process, conventional wisdom not be wasted as fuel. will be challenged. In science and politics there is a widespread agreement that human induced climate change does exist. It is also generally held that there is Climate change, peak oil and the still a chance to limit the extent to which glo- debate on urban form bal warming will occur. A dual strategy is usually suggested: adaption and mitigation. Th e Climate change and peak oil pose enor- latter refers to all activities which are likely to mous challenges to cities. Th ere is the urgent stop, or at least limit, global warming. In Co- need to avoid the “urban meltdown” (Doucet, penhagen, at the 15th United Nations Climate 2007) and to speed up planning for the post- Change Conference (COP 15) the countries fossil city (Droege, 2009; Schindler et al., 2009). of the world could not agree on a binding plan Both global warming and declining reserves of for action, but rather agreed on expert opin- fossil fuels are as much related to the future of ion that global warming should be limited to cities as to the economic and ecological survival 2°C by the end of the century.19 Adaptation, of mankind. Both processes do not necessarily the other component of the double approach, suggest only additional burdens, they also off er a comprises all measures and policies that can be Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia taken to reduce the possible impact of climate “More than half of the world’s population lives 133 change on cities, infrastructure, human health, within 60 km of the sea, and three quarters of all and the ecological system that sustains our lives large cities are located on the coast. Globally, 60 (e.g. protection of biodiversity, fl ood control per cent of the world’s population lives in Low El- and prevention, suffi cient ventilation to avoid evation Coastal Zones (less than 10 metres above urban heat island eff ects and high concentration sea level). Th e Low Elevation Coastal Zones rep- of emissions, bush fi re control). For the develop- resents 2 per cent of the world’s area but 10 per ment, testing and implementation of measures cent of its population. Coastal zones are the most and policies on mitigation and adaptation, the urbanized with 80 per cent of coastal populations local level is held in high regard: living in cities. 14 of the world’s 19 largest cities are port cities” (UN-HABITAT, 2009: 3 of 12). “Generally speaking, it is held that the city as a system constitutes the ideal geographical unit with which to organise integrated solutions to the 19 For more detail see http://unfccc.int/meetings/cop_15/ climate problem, i.e. to plan and test practicable items/5257.php (last viewed June 28, 2010) combinations of measures of prevention and adap- 20 This statement does not come from “city-loving” urbanists, tation, and this in direct dialogue with the actors but has been put forward by two natural scientists, both professors of concerned“ (Rahmstorf and Schnellnhuber, 2007: physics. One of them, Hans Joachim Schnellnhuber, is also the founder and 130f., translation by author).20 director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

Cities are seen as both a major cause for climate change and a victim of climate change. In order to prevent the “urban meltdown” The large and mega cities of the Global South, (Doucet, 2007) the structure of cities, i.e. their which are often coastal cities or located near spatial layout, has become an important matter in the coast or at the banks of large rivers are the debate on both dealing with climate change especially prone to risk. However, other cit- and with the energy crisis (peak oil). It is oft en ies in developing countries are also likely to assumed that urban form is directly related to be affected by climate change as a result of CO2 emissions. It is argued that a more com- desertification, (sand) storms, heavy rain, the pact urban form, a reduction of sprawl, would reduction of water and food supply, and mas- reduce the distance of travel and need for trans- sive in-migration or international migration port in general. Th is would decrease the level due to the influx of refugees from those coastal of car dependence and also reduce the overall or river cities most affected by global warm- energy consumption of private households. Th e ing. To a lesser – but possibly still dramatic – assumption is therefore that the more compact a extent, countries and cities in the developed city is, the less energy dependent it will be and, world are likely to be affected by these proc- as a consequence, the lower its dependence on esses as well (Stratmann, 2007; Suzuki et al., fossil fuels will be. Urban compaction, i.e. the 2009; Taylor, 2007; UN-HABITAT, 2008). combination of increased housing density with The following quote illustrates the potential mixed use, has become a guiding principle in enormity of the challenge: urban planning. Other terms used are “urban Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

134 intensifi cation” and “compact city model” (for a Similarly, Brian Cody (2009) argues that en- variety of aspects, fi ndings and positions on the vironmental assessment of individual buildings matter see the edited volume by Williams, Bur- more oft en than not focuses too narrowly on ton and Jenks, 2001; see also Dempsey, 2010). the energy consumption of a building at a par- As far as dealing with the energy crisis, the re- ticular point in time. Th ese calculations usually duction of air pollution in urban centres, and the suggest that a new, high-tech “green” building mitigation of greenhouse gases are concerned, equipped with the latest trends in active and there is another proposal which is gaining in- passive insulation technologies would perform creasing political and scientifi c support, one much better than a more moderately insulated which is less dependent on a particular urban older building. Calculations like these, Cody ex- form. Th e focus here is not so much on energy plains, ignore the total life cycle costs of a build- consumption (and energy saving), but on the ing, in terms of both economic costs and burdens source of energy production. What is proposed placed on the environment in the long run. A is the “solar city” or the “renewable city” (Droege, total cost analysis would oft en show that the 2008, 2009). If it were to replace the current “fos- production of some insulation material creates sil fuel city” (through a move towards the use more environmental harm than it will ever be of renewable energy for transport, heating and able to compensate for by its energy saving eff ect cooling, electricity generation, etc.) the “energy in a building. Results are even worse if a reason- autonomy” of regions and countries could also ably insulated, still functioning and well-main- be increased. Energy production itself would be tained building is pulled down in order to be less centralised as a large number of small sup- replaced by a new “green” building. In such cases, pliers would enter the market (Scheer, 2007). the “grey” energy (embodied energy) stored in David Satterthwaite (2009) has pointed out the old building will be destroyed. Cody, head that the measurement of greenhouse gases pro- of the institute for buildings and energy at the duced by cities is a diffi cult issue. If, for example, University of Technology in Graz and former

the total amount of CO2 emissions for London is Associate Director with Arup, concludes that calculated per area, and the resulting fi gures were there certainly is a need for a reasonable degree compared to some industrial regions in emerging of insulation (i.e. one that takes into account markets (say in China), then London, including the total life cycle of a building), but that fu- its large suburban metropolitan region does bet- ture cities concerned with emission reduction

ter than those other regions. However, once total (including CO2) and investors interested in

CO2 emissions are calculated per capita (and this cost effi cient buildings should focus more on calculation does include the emissions created by the potential of the buildings to actively pro- the production, transportation, and use of goods duce energy. Similar statements were made by consumed by the inhabitants of London but pro- other engineers, architects and urban design- duced elsewhere in the world), then results are ers delivering speeches at the Bauhaus.SOLAR

diff erent: All of a sudden, London’s CO2 emis- 2009 conference in Erfurt, where Cody gave his sions appear much higher than those caused by highly insightful keynote address.21 the lifestyle of people living in industrial regions in emerging markets or Th ird World countries. Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

Having reviewed a lot of the Australian and they stress that although much of suburban cri- 135 international research on the subject of energy tique appears convincing, there is a fundamental consumption and urban form, Brendan Gleeson lack of empirical evidence to sustain many of (2008a) concludes: the assumptions made. Th erefore, it is wise and in the very best interest of urban and suburban “At best, the suburban critique – in its present dwellers not to rush policy before robust scien- form – may refl ect a serious overestimation of the tifi c knowledge is available. infl uence of urban form – and of spatial arrangements generally – on sustainability. In particular, the faith of many analyses (and more numerous 21 For more information on the Bauhaus.SOLAR 2009 conference commentaries) in residential density as a simple see www.uni-weimar.de/projekte/twl-net/energybaseddesign/pages/ lever that can be used to manipulate urban sus- solar/solar_projekte.html. For information on the 2010 conference and future activities of the Bauhaus.SOLAR project see www.bauhaus-solar. tainability appears to be misplaced. International de; for the English website see www.bauhaus-solar.com. The Bauhaus- scientifi c assessment of the link between density and Universität Weimar is a major scientiﬁ c partner of the project. energy use remains equivocal. It suggests multi- causal, context-dependent relationships between urban form and energy demand. [...] At worst, In a study on Buenos Aires, Silvia de Schiller sprawl-angst masks aesthetic not scientifi c com- and colleagues (2006) demonstrate that centrally plaint with the suburban form. [...] Th e poorly located high rise buildings cause an overheating grounded and condemnatory critique of ‘sprawl’ is of their surroundings and, thus, contribute to the a vexing problem for a suburban nation. Its failings so-called “urban heat island” eff ect which is mak- haunt the grounds of contemporary suburban de- ing public places in aff ected areas unattractive or bate with misleading spectres, whose lamentations unbearable for people to stay in. Th ere is also an warn of obesity, poverty, loneliness and almost increased need for cooling inside the buildings – a every other human malady, including an early factor that adds to the high energy demand of of- death. I describe this critique as ‘suburban gothic’, fi ce towers and other high rises. In areas of lower opposed by an equally melodramatic counter-nar- urban and housing tower density, e.g. at the urban rative, Th e Great Australian Dream Swindle. Th is fringe, high rise buildings have other problem- tale of planning noir bemoans a stolen generation atic eff ects. For instance, they cause strong winds of homeownership dreams. A cinema-scoped fable that make people avoid walking there and, thus, of hopeful newlyweds in wagons turned back fr om make nearby public spaces unattractive for use suburban fr ontiers by unfeeling black-robed bu- (de Schiller et al., 2006). Density is not therefore reaucrats” (Gleeson, 2008a: 2655). an end in itself, no guarantor of urbanity, liveability or sustainability. In fact, it can be Janus- Focussing predominately on the American faced, even detrimental to public space quality debate on suburbs Hanlon, Short and Vicino and a sense of community (in high rise apartment (2010) arrive at a similar conclusion: “‘Sub- blocks occupants oft en feel isolated or alienated, urbs’ is a free-fl oating signifi er of a variety of not knowing or trusting their neighbours). What ills, a deep container of social malaise, anomie matters is how density is achieved. European style and civic disengagement” (p. 52). Nonetheless, perimeter block development, for example, has Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

136 many advantages over high rise. More generally, BedZED (Beddington Zero Energy Develop- this suggests a discussion about ‘proper’ or ‘opment) in Hackbridge, London, or Freiburg- timal’ urban density (or whether it is possible to Vauban in Germany (for details on these and defi ne it across regions, cultures and societies): other model sustainable housing developments see Downton, 2009: 179ff .; Farr, 2008: 212ff .; “Th e arguments about density are oft en very Wheeler and Beatley, 2008: 393ff .; for a case simplistic. Th ey are a camoufl age screen that con- study on living in a sustainable research house, ceals a wish that no one else should build anything see Buys et al., 2005). Instead, what is criticised is anywhere. Th e case for saving on carbon emissions the “spatial fi x” (Gleeson, 2008a), i.e. the assump- by building more densely is very thin. [...] Projec- tion that there is a linear relationship between tions like that in the London Plan for densities of urban form (urban density) and sustainability. up to 60 dwellings to an acre (150 per hectare) were Th is ignores the qualities and potential of sub- stupendously misguided. In his polemic Th e Land urbs as a built form and suburbia as a cultural Fetish, Peter Hall cited a detailed study by the con- phenomenon. It denounces suburban dwellers as sultants Llewelyn Davies that proved that you can’t polluters and anti-social egocentrics, and limits just keep ratcheting up the density of homes, and the perception of the problem as it denies the expect to make the same saving in land all along complexity of cities, urban life and sustainabil- the rising graph of propinquity. To pack in more ity. All this poses enormous challenges for ur- homes (if they are to be a tolerable place to live) ban planning and the next section will deal with also means allotting more space for schools, recrea- exactly this issue. In doing so, it will of course tion, GPs’ surgeries and local shops. Most of the gain relate to what has been discussed above while, comes fr om getting the density up to between 12 and at the same time, off ering a wider context for 16 homes per acre (30 to 40 per hectare). Th is is interpretation. remarkably similar to the density at which many existing suburbs are built. At higher densities the gains rapidly diminish. One important diff erence Th e pursuit of happiness: the good life, fr om the past is that, with the change in household urban struggle and planning sizes, far fewer people will now be living in each of these new homes” (Barker, 2009: 222). In planning and public opinion, urban consolidation has a variety of meanings and impli- By presenting a critique of common assump- cations. Depending on the specifi c situation, tions on the prevailing discourse surrounding the the wider context and the people involved it is relationship between urban form and sustain- a magic formula, a buzzword or a provocative ability, this chapter is not arguing that medi- term. Th us, just like suburbia, it has become a um-density housing areas cannot be sustainable deictic term (on the latter, see the introduction themselves or cannot contribute to the overall to this paper). sustainability of a city. On the contrary, there are Urban consolidation is oft en seen as a coun- already many excellent examples of high quality termeasure to urban sprawl. It refers to the poli- medium-density housing, such as Christie Walk cies and processes of increasing residential densi- n the inner city of Adelaide, South Australia, ties in established urban areas. Similar terms are Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

“urban compaction” or “densifi cation”, though losing precious public open space to urban infi ll, 137 concepts and defi nitions vary between authors, by placing residents in noisy locations, by concen- regions and countries. Policies of urban consoli- trating social disadvantage, and by potentially dation include the encouragement of residential undermining social cohesion“ (Byrne and Sipe, development on vacant or underutilised land 2010: 1). in the city centre, around transport nodes and in inner suburbs (infi ll development, oft en on However, Byrne and Sipe (2010) do not claim brownfi eld sites). Moreover, an increased num- that urban consolidation is the wrong strategy, ber of housing units per building lot is usually but rather that it has been inadequately realised promoted (e.g. semi-detached houses, terrace in many cases and places. Th eir diagnosis rep- houses, multi-storey blocks of fl ats). Increased resents the current state of research in the fi eld. residential density in outer suburbs or at the ur- Balanced scientifi c criticism of urban compac- ban fringe may, however, be counterproductive: tion does not suggest that further uncontrolled sprawl or unplanned urban expansion is the so- “Policies of urban consolidation need to be lution. Nor does it deny that increased density, developed carefully to avoid increasing housing especially what is termed “medium density”, may densities ‘in the wrong areas’. For instance, increas- have some advantages, if well planned (Gleeson, ing the densities of new housing lots in periphery 2008a; Jenks and Jones, 2010). Instead, it is about development areas alone may result in a ‘dough- deconstructing the myth that urban compaction nut’ eff ect. isTh is where low population density on its own – and no matter how it is realised – suburbs, well serviced by infr astructure and fa- will reduce the ecological footprint of cities, in- cilities surrounding the city centre, are in turn cluding CO2 emissions (see, e.g., de Schiller et surrounded by high density living with minimal al., 2006). It is also about rectifying views that access to services and infr astructure – the exact increasing urban residential density on its own opposite to what urban consolidation practition- can somehow act as a cure for other urban and ers were trying to achieve“ (Smith, 1997: 5f.). social ills such as isolation, alienation, exclusion or segregation. Th ere is no “simple spatial fi x” In a critique of urban consolidation Hugh (Gleeson, 2008a) to social, economic or ecologi- Stretton asks, “Who consolidates who?” (1988; cal urban problems. Findings from an ongoing see also Stretton, 1996). His article suggests that large-scale study conducted in fi ve cities in Eng- consolidation policies are not in line with the land and Scotland support this viewpoint: “fair go” Australians are proud of. To this day criticism persists that this approach to urban plan- “A wide variety of fi ndings emerge omfr the ning undermines social and economic sustain- CityForm project [...] Such fi ndings both support ability, thus reducing the quality of life in cities: and refute the claims that high-density, compact urban development is more sustainable than low- “[V]arious community groups and urban density, indicating that the relationship between scholars have criticised urban consolidation, ar- urban form and sustainability is a complicated one. guing that it compromises the character and herit- Th e integration of the fi ndings across all the datasets age of inner city neighbourhoods, for example by is in progress, using a number of measures of urban Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

138 form, in particular by modelling spatial structure the other hand, this location comes at a price using multiple centrality analysis (MCA).”22 for the occupants, particularly those in lower quality blocks of fl ats which are oft en situated in noisy and changing environments with high 22 Retrieved on June 30, 2010 from http://www.city-form.org/ levels of air pollution. It could be argued that uk/research_ﬁ ndings.html; see also Jenks and Jones, 2010 those who live in these medium-density dwellings, the “consolidated”, reduce traffi c and sprawl Another very detailed study on the issue of for those living in the suburbs. At the same time, energy consumption and urban form has been however, they suff er the most from the noise and conducted in Adelaide, the state capital of South the air pollution caused by suburban commuters. Australia. In the study a life cycle analysis was Th e pioneers and the poor seem to be punished applied in order to compare the total energy for their adherence to the compact city model. consumption of a sample of households in cen- Wendell Cox even argues that the recent decline trally located apartment buildings to the energy of air quality in Sydney is partially due to the used by households in low-density suburban ar- increase of density as “housing densifi cation is eas (Perkins et al., 2009). Th e analysis included intensifying traffi c congestion” (Cox, 2010: 1). the operational energy use of the buildings, the Such arguments revive old fears, and appeal to energy embodied in the buildings and in the lessons learned from historical experiences with means of transport as well as the energy used overcrowded and overloaded cities that let to the for travel. Calculations were used to determine career of suburbs in the fi rst place: the amount of greenhouse emissions caused by each type of household. It turned out that, on a “Th e suburb has become so closely identifi ed per capita basis, those people living in the apart- with popular ideas of the good life that any move ment buildings had on average the highest fi g- away fr om it, for example towards urban consol- ures for greenhouse gas emissions. Th e authors of idation, looks like an attack upon people’s living the study argue, however, that higher residential standards. ‘Saving our suburbs’ means defending densities off er the potential to save energy and the quarter acre block against the threats of dual reduce greenhouse gas emissions, if buildings are occupancy and unsympathetic design codes. It is an constructed diff erently and households adopt issue that excites strong emotions and taps folk mem- more sustainable lifestyles (Perkins et al, 2009; ories and fears deep within the national psyche. [...] see also Rickwood, Glazebrook and Searle, 2008; Is the attack on a quarter acre block also an attack Williams, Burton, and Jenks, 2001). on the Australian way of life?” (Davison, 1999: 26) In her study on Sydney, Schüttemeyer (2005) points to a dilemma in the planning of medium- Th is paragraph, taken from a paper by Graeme density dwellings and estates. In Sydney (and oth- Davison entitled “Suburban Character” (1999), er Australian cities) they are oft en located at or illustrates that there is a very close link between near major roads and railway lines. Th is allows concepts of the good life, the perception of what is for a good return on investment for residential the most appropriate built urban form conducive land-use in or close to the inner city. It also pro- to leading a healthy and happy life, and the role of vides residents with easy access to transport. On urban planning. In the process, planning is oft en Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

139 CONCEPTS OF THE GOOD LIFE BUILT URBAN FORM

URBAN PLANNING

Figure 2 Relationship between the built environment, urban planning and the good life Source: B. Stratmann charged with the task of building the foundations number of members of the new middle classes for the pursuit of happiness (fi g. 2). Whether this into well-established upper class neighbour- task is implicit or explicit in urban planning, and hoods. Th e authors’ thesis is that the middle whether it is to include the entire urban popu- class households investing their capital in such lation, has, of course, changed over time and is a move assume that they will get access to the also dependant on the level of democratisation social and cultural capital concentrated in the of a society (Bartetzky and Schalenberg, 2009; upper class. A move of parts of the middle class Bruegmann, 2005; Short, 1989). in the “other direction”, into former working Even within democracies people’s abilities to class quarters, is called “gentrifi cation” in urban infl uence urban form and to pursue their own studies (Breckner, 2010). Both processes tend version of the good life varies according to fac- to create confl icts between diff erent groups of tors such as their involvement in local politics, people claiming a stake in particular urban areas. their economic situation, their health and their As notions of the good life also vary between level of education. For example, in a study on people, the goals of sustainability and liveabil- Zurich, Koll-Schretzenmayr, Ritterhoff and ity can, at times, appear to be at odds with each Siebel (2009) demonstrate that the new mid- other. Waldheim (2010), however, argues that dle class is producing a new socio-spatial phe- there is no longer any alternative to the goal of nomenon: “ennoblement”. Th e term refers to the sustainable city. All other goals need to be the spatial and social changes that occur in a city subsumed within sustainability, or otherwise as a consequence of the move of a substantial cities will fail in the long run. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

140 All this makes urban planning a far from easy urban development policies to revitalise parts task to perform. Th ere are many people with dif- of town (docklands, run down areas, brownfi eld ferent needs living in cities, and these needs are sites), to enhance the social mix (i.e. to reduce sometimes at odds with each other. One person segregation), to promote inclusion, and to cher- alone may have diff erent needs at diff erent times. ish diversity – all are expressions of present-day For example, some noise is inevitably linked to struggles to reclaim urban space, to expand life going out at night. Regulations determining the chances and to reinvigorate urbanity. Cities are trading hours of pubs or limiting outdoor seating redefi ned and reinvented by these processes – to certain hours of the night might reduce fun through, among other things, the reattribution for people going out. If these or other people live of meaning to terms such as community, partici- close to inner city entertainment areas and have pation, solidarity, subsidiarity, urbanism, public to get up early to go to work the next morning, space, local identity and local citizenship. they will, however, suff er from the fun-related In the midst of all this, poor urban planners noise and are therefore likely to appreciate any are held responsible for everything that suppos- regulation which will help them sleep at night. edly goes wrong. Planners, urban designers and Planning and urban design are thus not mere- architects cannot fulfi l all the promises of hap- ly technical or engineering tasks, where objec- piness projected and imposed on urban plan- tive principles can be applied to problems that ning, urban design and architecture. Th eir pow- might arise. On the contrary, all decisions that er, qualifi cations and resources are limited – by have to be taken are political in nature (Allmend- the very nature of both the human and urban inger, 2009). In democratic countries, planning condition (Duhl, 1989; Harvey, 1990). Cities thus includes the fair recognition and balanc- are sites and mechanisms for the production and ing of interests and needs. Th e right of citizens consumption of many kinds of goods, services to political participation in planning decisions and activities (economic, social, cultural, etc.), is a means of making more voices heard. Social and they are arenas for the struggle over the dis- movements and citizens’ initiatives have oft en tribution of power, resources and recognition developed around contested issues in urban plan- (of values, ideas, innovations, etc.). Women as ning (Castells, 1983). In his book “Th e Humane a group, their emancipation from narrowly de- City” John Rennie Short (1989) captures these fi ned gender roles are an example for these strug- issues by calling part one of the book “Cities as gles, the (sub)urban component of which will be if People Don’t Matter” and by titling the con- discussed in the following section. cluding chapter of this part of the book “Cities as if Only Some People Matter”. Cities are a battlefi eld of cultural, ethnic, so- Gender relations cial, political and economic interests and values, with many actors in the urban arena claiming a It took decades of feminist critique of urban stake. “Right to the city” movements, gentrifi - planning until “gender mainstreaming” became ers and squatters (as agents of urban renewal or an institutionalised part of the planning process of resistance to it, respectively), “reclaiming the in many, mainly Western, countries (Adam and street” groups, women “reclaiming the night”, Bergmann, 2006; BMVBS and BBR, 2006; Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

Terlinden, 2003). In Germany and Australia, for even though men as a group may have been the 141 example, substantial progress has been made in main protagonists in shaping this suburban so- many fi elds of private and public policy, includ- cial reality). Th is is brilliantly displayed in a moving urban design and planning – though the goal ie directed by Sam Mendes called “Revolutionary of equal opportunities in all spheres of life is still Road” (USA, 2008; German title “Zeiten des a long way from being achieved. Margaret Alston Aufruhrs”). Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCap- (2009), for example, shows that offi cial drought rio play a married couple living with two children management strategies, which aim at support- in American suburbia of the 1950s. Th e couple ing fi nancially troubled farms in rural Australia, happily moves to suburban Connecticut before still remain gender blind. Th us, she calls gender their two children are born, assuming they will mainstreaming with regard to drought policy an break out one day and move to Paris or simply “empty signifi er” and argues that there is need for break out another way. In the fi lm, the name of utilising more international and national exper- the city serves as a signifi er for an exciting life. tise, for collaboration and coalitions of various “Paris” is both a concrete destination and a recur- actors in order to achieve the goal of gender- ring appeal to change the way life is lived. Th e sensitive policy development. In many cases the attentive observer notices that gender arrange- organisational culture of departments and other ments rather than the actual spatial location are agencies must also be changed, while broader in- at the heart of the problem. Life in suburbia only stitutional settings need to be reconsidered (see contributes to the Catch-22 situation. Disen- also Hankivsky, 2008). chantment, dissatisfaction and a feeling of having Feminists have demonstrated that the inter- been misled or having deluded oneself emerge, ests of women are oft en neglected in urban plan- especially if accessing services and amenities is ning (Terlinden, 2003). Radical feminists even diffi cult, as is the case with many locations at the argue that in patriarchal societies planning is a urban fringe (Clapson, 2003, ch. 6). means of controlling women, regulating, in par- Th roughout many decades, traditional gen- ticular, their movement in space. Suburbia has der roles (who keeps the house, who raises the oft en been criticised in a similar vein. It has been children, who goes to work, who is allowed to do contended that women are locked away in sub- what in the public, etc.) have been reinforced by urban areas, isolated from the diverse activities, the “ideal” of suburban life as promoted by many opportunities, and everyday amenities located politicians, mainstream public opinion, the zeit- in the city centre. As a result of this isolation, geist, the churches and the media: and excluded form the bustling urban life, their life chances are limited, with lifestyle choices “Mass culture celebrated the new suburban ide- oft en restricted to housekeeping and child rear- al. In Life magazine’s special 1956 issue on Ameri- ing. Th ere is some empirical evidence to support can women, the most space was devoted to a subur- this view (Frank, 2003). Men do not necessar- ban woman, aged thirty-two and mother of four. A ily benefi t from this socio-spatial constellation. high school graduate who had married as a teenag- With traditional gender arrangements, men and er, Life’s model mother sewed her own clothes, and women alike can feel trapped in suburbia – even entertained fi eenft hundred guests a year, and was though they initially desired to live there (and supported by her husband’s middle-class income. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

142 ‘In her daily rounds she attends clubs or charity in urban studies: a person from the countryside meetings, drives the children to school, does the will very oft en remain a person from the coun- weekly grocery shopping, makes ceramics, and is tryside (in the way he or she feels, thinks and planning to learn French,’ Life revealed as it fol- behaves), even when he or she moves to the city. lowed the housewife fr om domestic chores to so- Th us, much of suburban critique is essentially a cial events. Born in the Depression, most suburban critique of particular lifestyles and grand delu- homemakers appreciated the security and stand- sions (e.g. ideologies reinforcing consumerism ard of living represented by a suburban lifestyle“ and traditional gender roles). Th e fact that some (Chudacoff and Smith, 2005: 275). people who live in the suburbs are living a lie, are susceptible to self-delusion and may, for this What is described above appears to be an or other reasons, experience disillusionment one outdated ideal today. Th e quote highlights the day, is oft en attributed to the location – as if sub- journey from a shared dream of the past to an urbia were the (sole) cause of disappointment anticipated nightmare of today’s more eman- or would determine life. Both, the exaltation cipated people (see also Clapson, 2003, ch. 6). of suburban life and the disenchantment with However, as pointed out earlier, it does not re- suburbia are oft en examples of cause and eff ect fl ect the total picture of suburban life in the confused. In psychological terms, suburbs as a 1950s. Rather it portrays the public and media built form serve as an object of projection, upon image of white middle-class suburbia that infl u- which positive or negative feelings, thoughts, enced people’s views in those days. Th e reality of behaviours and experiences are projected. For American suburbia was far more diverse: there that reason, suburbia is an ambivalent signifi er were rich and poor suburbs, segregated predomi- of the good life. It is even used as a scapegoat nantly white or black suburbs, and ethnically as for things that go wrong in life (fi g. 3). well as socially mixed suburbs (Hanlon, Short Another problem with much of suburban and Vicino, 2010). critique is that there is an inherent tendency to From what has been said so far, it can be ignore or degrade what women do in the sub- concluded that criticism of suburbs is oft en not urbs. In the very attempt to defend and revive so much a critique of suburbs as a built form, urbanity by criticising suburbanization women’s but an expression of the dissatisfaction with (suburban) life-worlds – gender-stereotyped or everyday life in suburbia. In particular, white not – appear as inferior to those of men. In her middle-class lifestyles “out there” that allegedly review of Lynn Spigel’s book “Welcome to the include gender-stereotyped behaviour, egocen- Dreamhouse: Popular Media and Postwar Sub- trism, cocooning, and apolitical as well as non- urbs” Erin Smith writes: urban attitudes serve as an object of criticism. However, these forms of behaviour and attitudes “Spigel argues further that scholarship are not necessarily tied to a suburban location. on postwar suburbs is fundamentally fl awed by Ultimately they can be found everywhere. More- an uncritical acceptance of this gendered binary over, attitudes, behaviour and lifestyles will not between public (masculine) and private (femi- automatically change as a consequence of reloca- nine) space. Th ere is a long tradition of critical tion. Th is, in fact, leads back to a classic insight and scholarly scorn for postwar, mass-produced Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

143 SUBURBIA as a symbol for the good life

INDIVIDUALS SUBURBS with their hopes and dreams, projection as a built form with their anger, frustrations, and dashed hopes Figure 3 Suburbs as an object of projection Source: B. Stratmann suburbs. In this tradition, the suburbs emerge as Urban Australia: towards liveable and a dull, domestic, feminine, consumption-centered sustainable cities intellectual wasteland, while the city is the domain of masculine reason, enlightened public life, and Despite an abundance of space about 60 per- authentic production of culture. Th e suburbs, Spi- cent of all Australians live in the fi ve major cit- gel argues, are much more interesting and com- ies: Sydney (4.4 million inhabitants), Melbourne plicated than this, and the acceptance of overly (3.9), Brisbane (1.9), Perth (1.6) and Adelaide simplistic, misogynistic ways of thinking have (1.1).23 Th ese cities are all located on the coast, disguised the ways women, the mass media, and a result of the colonial history of urbanisation in suburbs have all participated in the creation of Australia. Most other large cities are also coast- cultural and intellectual life. Spigel investigates al cities leaving the outback sparsely populated the ways gendered binaries of production and con- with only some small urban centres (oft en mining sumption structure our ideas about craft , art, and towns), rural communities, remote homesteads mass culture to render invisible the kinds of cul- and farms. A well known exception is Canber- tural production women do in suburban homes ra (346,000 inhabitants), a planned city, built and related community spaces. She is also curious inland on its own territory (Australian Capital about the conditions of possibility for breaching Territory, ACT) as the national capital. Fig. 4 or trespassing these powerful cultural hierarchies” provides details on the location of cities, states (Smith, 2002: 361). and territories as well as on the distribution of Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

144 the population across the continent – the only in Mercer’s “Quality of Living worldwide city continent in the world to form one federal state, rankings 2010” (Tab. 1). the Commonwealth of Australia. Nevertheless, as in other countries, important problems and challenges remain (Cox, 2009; Forster and Hamnett, 2008; Droege, 23 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Estimated Resident 2008; Habibis and Walter, 2009; Hulse and Population at 30 June 2008, cat. no. 3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Burke, 2009; Kelly, 2010; Th ompson, 2007; Australia, 2008–09, released March 30, 2010 Troy, 2000). Th ese include:

· aff ordable housing (availability, quantity and Australian cities tend to sprawl as they are quality) surrounded by rings of inner and outer suburbs. · suitable housing, e.g. for frail elderly people Th e lifestyle is, therefore, more suburban than and large (migrant) families urban. Like America, Australia is called a “subur- · responding to climate change (mitigation ban nation” with the majority of its inhabitants and adaption) living in suburban rather than urban or rural are- ·fl ood, drought and water shortage as (Chudacoff and Smith, 2005; Davison, 1995; management Duany, Plater-Zyberk and Speck, 2000; Forster, · reducing the dependence of cities on fossil 2004; Forster and Hamnett, 2008). In general, fuels, e.g. through a move towards “solar Australian cities do well in terms of health care, cities” or “renewable cities” social welfare, safety and security, economic per- · social and health problems such as alcoholism formance, standard of living, public amenities · and substance abuse, gambling, isolation, (drinking fountains, restrooms, urban furniture, depression, obesity, fall injuries, exclusion etc.), open and green spaces, public services and · and poverty. transport, cultural off erings, leisure facilities and · the overall quality of life. Th is is also refl ected

Table 1 Mercer’s 2010 Quality of Living Worldwide City Rankings

1 Vienna 7 Frankfurt** 21 Perth 2 Zurich 7 Munich** 32 Adelaide 3 Geneva 9 Bern 34 Paris 4 Vancouver* 10 Sydney 36 Brisbane 4 Auckland* 17 Berlin 39 London 6 Düsseldorf 18 Melbourne 49 New York City

* joint fourth; ** joint seventh

Source: Stratmann based on data retrieved from http://www.mercer.com/qualityoﬂ iving (accessed July 6, 2010) Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

145

Figure 4 Australia: states, territories, and geographic population distribution Source: Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia), 1996, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia Licence Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

146 Th e latter problems in particular create spe- The related article describes how the family cial housing needs (including the need for in- is on the brink of becoming homeless because stitutions), increase the demand for social serv- their “landlord has defaulted on a mortgage ices, and can reinforce socio-spatial segregation to [a trustee company], and now the company if they are not adequately dealt with. As a con- wants the property, free of tenants, in order to sequence, policy development is taking place sell it.”24 The article was published just four in all these areas, with constant attempts made days before the date fixed in the notice to va- to adjust policies to both, an ever changing so- cate. For months the family has been trying cial, economic and political environment and to find a new place to live, but given the high the conclusions drawn from new fi ndings about demand for rental housing and the large size of the challenges and problems mentioned above. the family, they had been unable to find suit- In the process, globalisation is a major force for able and affordable accommodation. change, which involves new risks as well as new According to the 2009–10 Year Book opportunities for urban development (Braun Australia around 98% of all Australians live in and Schüttemeyer, 2008). “private self-contained dwellings such as houses, fl ats or units” (ABS, 2010: 318). Th e remaining 2% live in institutional settings ranging from hos- 24 Adele Horin, Homeless by default, through no fault of their tels, boarding houses and staff quarters to pris- own. The Sydney Morning Herald, February 7, 2008, p. 4 ons, nursing homes and the like. “Of the 8.1 million households living in private dwellings in 2007-08, 78% were living in separate hous- In Australia, housing policy and housing es, 13% in fl ats, units or apartments, and 9% in markets are very hot topics, thoroughly ana- semi-detached, row or terrace houses or town- lysed by researchers, discussed and disputed in houses” (ibid.). With regard to the types of dwell- the media and a regular subject of conversation. ings there are marked regional diff erences, most On an almost daily basis, Australian newspa- prominently among the major cities and between pers report on mortgages, a fact reflective of most urban centres and non-metropolitan areas: mortgage anxiety and the desire to escape from rack rent. Compared to some European coun- “For Australia’s fi ve most populous cities (Syd- tries, protection of tenants (including rent con- ney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide) the trol) is not that well established in Australia. proportion of households living in separate houses One-year leases are quite common, and yearly ranged fr om 61% in Sydney to 81% in Brisbane. rent increases of 5-6% have been reported for Th e average across all eight capital cities was 73%. many areas in Melbourne and Sydney in recent Outside of capital cities, the proportion of house- years. Large families face particular problems holds living in separate houses was higher – more in finding accommodation as most flats and than 85% in all states except Queensland. Higher houses are not designed for them. In the Feb- density housing was most common in capital cit- ruary 7, 2008 edition of the Sydney Morning ies, particularly in Sydney, where approximately Herald there is a photo by Dallas Kilponen (p. one in four households were living in fl ats, units 4) of a family of two adults and six children. or apartments in 2007–08“ (ABS, 2010: 318). Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

Whereas in Germany the size of a house or Population growth in the major cities (aver- 147 fl at is usually described by the number of rooms age rate of 2.3% in 2008–09) took the form of: (not counting the kitchen and the bathroom, but including the living room in this fi gure) and the · inner city growth total fl oor size of the dwelling (e.g. 75 sqm, 3 · urban infi ll (change of urban land use to rooms plus kitchen, bathroom and balcony), in · residential purposes or from lower-density Australia and other Anglo-Saxon countries the · to higher-density housing) number of bedrooms is usually mentioned fi rst in · outer suburban growth. advertisements or daily conversation. Th e fi gure then might be further detailed by adding “spa- Th us, there is some evidence of reurbaniza- cious”, “large”, medium-sized” or “small” to the tion alongside the ongoing suburbanization (see dwelling description (e.g. large three-bedroom also fi g. 5).25 Th e still strong preference for a sin- house), and people usually have a good grasp gle-family detached house is the major driver of of what is meant by these signifi ers. Talk of a suburban growth because this type of dwelling three-bedroom house will imply that there are, is hard to fi nd in inner cities. Even the majority additionally, a lounge (living room), a kitchen of those who rent live in detached houses, let (oft en designed as a kitchen area only partial- alone home owners: ly separated from the lounge) and at least one bathroom. Th us, a three room fl at in Germany “Australia’s preference for a fr ee-standing house would resemble a two-bedroom fl at in Australia on its own block of land is most evident among (as in the latter country the lounge is implied home owners. Of the 5.5 million households that and therefore not counted). Th e three-bedroom owned their home in 2007–08, 88% lived in sepa- house dominates the Australian housing market: rate houses [...]. Over a half (56%) of all renter households lived in separate houses; 30% lived in “Separate houses are generally larger and have fl ats, units or apartments; and 14% lived in semi- more bedrooms than other dwelling types. Typically, detached dwellings“ (ABS, 2010: 322). separate houses have three or four bedrooms; semi- detached houses have two or three bedrooms; and fl ats, units or apartments have one or two bedrooms. 25 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), cat. no. 3218.0 – Th e three-bedroom house is by far the most com- Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2008-09, released March 30, 2010 mon type of dwelling in Australia. In 2007–08, 41% of all households were living in separate houses with three bedrooms, while a further 28% were living in As mentioned earlier, the prevailing type houses with four or more bedrooms [...]. In total, of dwelling has been challenged on grounds of 76% of households were living in dwellings (mainly the sustainability of the urban form it produces. houses) with three or more bedrooms; 20% were liv- However, the criticism itself is contested on the ing in two-bedroom dwellings (houses, row or terrace same as well as other grounds (see the two pre- houses, townhouses, fl ats, units or apartments); and vious section). Th e Australian debate can be il- 4% were living in one-bedroom dwellings (mainly lustrated by making the following comparison, fl ats, units or apartments)” (ABS, 2010: 318f.). which, for the sake of making a point, is slightly Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

148

Figure 5a Common style of houses, Adelaide Figure 5b Common style of houses, another example from Adelaide

Figure 5c Heritage building, Adelaide Figure 5d Modern “Bauhaus style” home, Adelaide

Figure 5e Sandstone home with landscaped garden, Adelaide Figure 5f Newington, former Sydney Olympic village

Figures 5a-l Australia: housing forms and styles (examples) Photos: B. Stratmann Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

149

Figure 5g Semi-detached house, recent style, Adelaide Figure 5h Living upmarket on piers, Sydney

Figure 5i A court in Adelaide Figure 5j Medium density, West Hobart

Figure 5k Recent marketing promotes new high-end, high-rise Figure 5l More examples from Sydney: high-rise offering harbour developments, example from Sydney views

Figures 5a-l (continued) Photos: B. Stratmann Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

150

Figure 6 Leafy suburbs: Hobart (top left) and Sydney (all others) Photos: B. Stratmann

stereotyped. Imagine that a photo of a leafy sub- · valuable land is being wasted urb (fi g. 6 and 7) was shown to representatives of · per capita costs for infrastructure and public three diff erent groups of people: “most Austral- · services are very high (roads, public transport, ians”, “conventional” urban planners, and LO- · electricity supply, sewage system, etc.) HAS26 and “unorthodox” urban planners. What · housewives and mothers are locked away, would they see? · excluded from participation in public life, and · isolated from the opportunities the city centre “Most Australians” would see an area: ·off ers · very desirable to live in, especially with children and an urban form · or when retired · which creates a high demand for travel · where successful, happy people live · where car dependence is fostered. · where low levels of air pollution, little noise, · a low crime rate, friendly neighbours and good Many LOHAS and “unorthodox” urban · schools can be expected planners would see an area: · that is an ideal place to relax, for leisure and to · requiring retrofi tting, remaking and · entertain friends. reinvention · that off ers chances for change (solar panels Many “conventional” urban planners would on rooft ops, rainwater tanks at the houses, front see an area where: · yards for communication, etc.) Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia

· that provides opportunities for the realisation the chance of owning a house very appealing. 151 · of new and individual ideas (control over space Th is includes migrants from Asian countries, to · as an asset, e.g. for free thinkers and “backyard whom home ownership is an important reason · ecologists”) for migration, with the home being a symbol of · that needs to be better designed and better success in life. In fact, people from a large number connected to public transport of countries and a variety of cultural, social and · where good governance, participation and religious backgrounds tend to think similarly community development can make a diff erence on this matter. Th is accounts for, among other · which must and can off er more opportunities things, the global success of suburbanisation. In · for connecting people, work, leisure activities, fact, the web page just referred to is meant to · shopping and living appeal to both, people from overseas (potential · where public open and green space of high · quality can be integrated more easily than in 26 LOHAS stands for “Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability”. · inner city areas. The acronym is also used to name people who try to live according to the ideal of a lifestyle, which is simultaneously healthy, comfortable and Th e suburban lifestyle most Australians en- ecologically sound. LOHAS do, therefore, consume goods and services joy has become an issue in regional and national that ﬁ t these categories (fair trade products, organic food, solar power, place marketing and thus has an eff ect on mi- sustainable tourism, etc.). Many members of the global LOHAS movement call themselves a LOHAS (see, e.g. www.lohas.com), but there are far more gration strategies and decisions about moving. people who, at least in part, live according to the principles without having Whereas the Federal Government’s Depart- heard the term (Stratmann, 2010). ment of Immigration and Citizenship informs 27 see www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/994i.pdf, retrieved July migrants on a web page that it might be diffi cult 10, 2010 and/or expensive to fi nd housing in Australia27, 28 see www.migration.sa.gov.au/sa/why_move/housing.jsp, the South Australian government points to the retrieved July 10, 2010 aff ordability of housing as one of the advantages of a move to South Australia. Th e web page “Housing” of the offi cial “Why move/Make the Move” section even includes fi ve pictures of typical Adelaide housing.28 Four of the fi ve dwellings displayed show diff erent types of single-family homes. Th e text next to the pictures informs the reader about, among other things, the closeness of these dwellings to the inner city of Adelaide; the furthest is a 15 minute drive away. Th e information provided is certainly helpful to those potential migrants who have little knowledge about what housing looks like in Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is also smart marketing, as studies have shown that people who are toying with the idea of moving to another country fi nd Figure 7 Leafy suburbs: view from Flinders University, Adelaide. Viewed from the hill, the trees almost hide the houses. Photo: B. Stratmann Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

152 immigrants) and people from interstate (i.e. the Resilient cities, however, will not have to be other Australian states and territories). It aims medium-density all over. A variety and mix of resi- to convince both groups that home ownership dential densities as well as construction heights is is a goal much easier achieved in Adelaide than part of the urban character (i.e. that what makes in most other major Australian cities. Adelaide’s a city a city, what makes it recognisable in its comparatively lower housing prices serve as an quarters and distinguishable from other cities). argument and incentive to attract new residents. It also allows for citizens to easily fi nd their way In particular, a larger share of future migrants around and does cater for a variety of housing might therefore consider Adelaide a place of resi- needs for an increasingly diverse urban popula- dence – instead of the highly popular migrant tion. Furthermore, the current debate on urban destinations Sydney and Melbourne. form, as detailed in this paper, has demonstrated In Australia, as the data provided above clear- that sustainability and suburbanisation are not ly show, “home ownership” usually implies the necessarily at odds with each other. Th e current possession of a separate house on its own block urban structure of Australian cities is more sus- of land (though most home owners fi rst have to tainable than is oft en assumed, as alternatives are repay a mortgage before they become outright less sustainable than is oft en proclaimed. Th is can owners). In recent years there have, however, been be illustrated with reference to the wishful think- more and more advertisements in newspapers and ing surrounding the argument that an increased other media promoting ownership of luxurious urban density will lead to an automatic decrease fl ats in medium density estates or high-rise apart- in emissions: ment blocks. Th ese buildings are either located in favoured locations close to the city centre or at “Th e mathematics of traffi c and densifi cation popular (suburban) beaches “off ering spectacular is that unless each additional resident drives minus views and a lifestyle” (as it sounds in marketing kilometres and minus hours, there will be more traf- language). Especially in the major cities with their fi c, even before considering the impacts of intensify- enormous spatial expansion people who work in ing commercial and heavy vehicle traffi c. [...] Th e the CBD and enjoy urbanity for leisure can save fact is that higher densities are strongly associated much time otherwise spent on commuting if they with more traffi c [...], which means greater traf- decide to live in an apartment in the inner city. If fi c congestion. eTh additional ‘stop and go’ traffi c one were to encourage more Australians to live produces greater pollution on the roads adjacent to in central locations, one would have to make sure where people and their children live. It also means that inner city urban environments off er higher more greenhouse gas emissions because fuel con- residential qualities and that the fl ats available in sumption increases as traffi c congestion intensifi es” inner city and inner suburban neighbourhoods (Cox, 2010: 1). can be a home. At present, the association between house and home seems to be much stronger Th is is not to say that there is no need to than the one between home and fl at (see fi g. 8). improve public transport or retrofi t suburbia in If this were changed, medium density housing many areas and many ways. Reducing the de- would no longer be seen as a threat to the Aus- pendence on fossil fuels is another crucial issue tralian way of life (Davison, 1999). to be tackled. Furthermore, there is a need to Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia adjust lifestyles to the new challenges of urban which “should be designed, located, built, oper- 153 resilience (Droege, 2008; Newman, Beatley and ated and maintained in a way that maximises the Boyer, 2009; Stratmann, 2010). With regard to ability of built assets, associated support systems “natural” disaster mitigation and adaptation, (physical and institutional) and the people that Australian cities face the particular challenges reside or work within the built assets, to with- of fl ooding, sandstorms, the continuing drought stand, recover from, and mitigate for, the impacts and its impact on urban green space, water sup- of extreme natural and human-induced hazards” ply and food production. Th ere is also the grow- (Bosher cited in Bosher and Coaff ee, 2008: 145). ing risk of bush fi res reaching the suburbs. Th ese Th is task provides ample work for architects, plan- problems may or may not be related to climate ners, engineers, social scientists and others. Ac- change, they nonetheless demand urgent action. complishing the goal of creating better, sustainable If the problems are taken seriously and cities ad- and resilient cities also requires the participation just accordingly, this does not mean that future of local citizens. Together with ambitious local urban life will be based on austerity. On the politicians and urban managers they can contrib- contrary, there is the chance to build better cit- ute to this overall objective by reconsidering their ies – cities that are more vibrant, economically lifestyles and by developing creative and innova- viable, cleaner, safer and healthier (Downton, tive ideas for the city or neighbourhood they live 2009; Droege, 2009). in. In that, a “new suburbanism” (Kotkin, 2006) Increasing urban resilience is a good starting and a “new urbanism” could evolve side by side point to this end. It includes the built environment, – the Australian way.

FLAT

Can an inner city HOME ﬂ at be a home? Clean air Little noise Safety and security (protection against the bad things out there) Comfort and comforting Sense of belonging (family, kin, partner) Status symbol (feeling of social integration and strong positive association economic security)

HOUSE

Figure 8 Attributes of home ownership (not house ownership) Source: B. Stratmann Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

154 Conclusion to the urban poor in other countries. Would it, however, be attainable to most people in a sus- “Suburban Dreaming” is the title of a 2009 tainable manner – and would it correspond to album by the Adelaide-based band Huckleberry their needs? Th e dream itself, its semiotics, and Swedes, and it is also the title of an academic book the long-term sustainability of suburbs as a built edited by Louise Johnson in 1994. “Suburban urban form and of suburbia as both, a social re- dream” is a term used in countless media stories ality and cultural expression of modernity have and numerous academic publications. Th e con- been the core themes of this paper. cept implies that there is more to a specifi c built It can be concluded that a sea change in perurban form than just housing. Has the dream ceptions about suburbia is underway. In “the of the good life been made real in the suburbs? blabberland of urban critique” (Gleeson, 2008a: Or what is the world like, if we wake from the 2655) much has been said about suburbs, their dream? Despite the existence of alternatives and “nature” and impact on people and places and much suburban critique, a suburban address is the their alleged pros and cons. With some excep- theme of the Great Australian Dream and a core tions the academic discussion on suburbs over the element of the American Way of Life (Gleeson, last few decades can be characterised as hostile 2008a; Nicolaides and Wiese, 2006). Th e tradi- to its object of investigation. Now the “suburban tional housing styles of the British aristocracy, question” is being asked again and approached the bourgeois villa culture and the exclusive Bev- in a diff erent way (Kirby and Modarres, 2010; erly Hills homes owned by Hollywood celebrities McLean, 2010). Joel Kotkin’s approach to a “new all serve as role models. Th e detached house on suburbanism” (2006) and a reconsideration of its own block of land is little more than a more Sylvia Fleis Fava’s study of “Suburbanism as a Way modest version of it – and the suburban dream of Life” (1956) are just some of the many starting an expression of the desire to experience some of points for the debate. Th ey are elements of a more what is assumed to be a happy, easy-going upper fundamental rethinking of the overall sustain- class lifestyle. Around the world, high-rise – as ability of suburbs as a socio-spatial reality and of prefab or not – is the second choice of housing. suburbia as a cultural phenomenon and cultural Even in emerging markets such as China and In- achievement (Clapson, 2003; see also McLean, dia, where large parts of the new middle class live 2010 on a just launched international collabo- in modern apartments in high-rise estates, those rative research project that is funded by the Ca- to whom money is not a problem move to medi- nadian Social Sciences & Humanities Research um-density or single-family homes (Campanella, Council. Th e seven-year project will include more 2008: ch. 7; Pridmore, 2008: 128ff .). Th e wish than 40 researchers from Canada and many oth- of many around the world is clear: “My home is er countries and is headed by Roger Keil.). my castle”.29 In many Western countries a large A key issue in the debate has been urban part of the population is lucky in that they can form. It is again high on the international ur- realise their housing preferences. Th e “suburban ban research agenda (Jenks and Jones, 2010; dream”, despite its fallacies and drawbacks, off ers www.city-form.org). Here the central question a much higher living standard and a healthier is whether suburbanisation (and ongoing urban living environment than most housing available sprawl) are in line with the overall goal of creating Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia a sustainable urban future. Some critics argue greenhouse gas emissions in the built environ- 155 that the ideal of the “compact city” (medium to ment” (p. 394f.). More generally, what seems to high density housing, mixed land use, clear urban matter are not location and suburbanisation as boundaries, etc.) is the only way to achieve sus- such, but the actual design and planning of cities tainability. Other academics maintain that the and suburbs, including access to public transport, solution is more complex and that suburbs can services, and public open space, etc. (Cox, 2009 be designed in a sustainable manner (Dempsey, and 2010; Gleeson 2008a; Lucy and Phillips, 2010; Williams, Burton and Jenks, 2001). 2006). In order to deal with the existing suburbs A review of the urban form debate conducted practical solutions are off ered, for example, in for this contribution clearly shows that current two infl uential books: Ellen Dunham-Jones and empirical studies on the issue do not allow for June Williamson’s book on “Retrofi tting sub- a simple answer to the question (Barker, 2009: urbia. Urban design solutions for redesigning 222; Holden and Norland, 2005; Jenks and suburbs” (2009), and Paul Lukez’s “Suburban Jones, 2010; Rickwood, Glazebrook and Searle, Transformations” (2007). 2008; Scheurer, 2008). Th e relationship between urban density and sustainability is not linear. In- creased housing density does not necessarily lead 29 In a recent talk show on German TV (Radio Bremen TV, talk to improved sustainability. Institutional settings show “3 nach 9”, July 9, 2010) even Berlin-based rapper Sido revealed (see, e.g., Skovbro, 2001 on Copenhagen, Den- that his future plans may well include a house with a garden somewhere in a nice suburb. This personal plan is in contrast to much of the messages mark) and social status seem to play an important conveyed in popular music: “In the few remaining record stores, ‘urban’ is role. In a study on Santiago de Chile, Christopher code for the swagger of rap and hip-hop; songs about suburbs are paeans to Zegras (2010) demonstrates that in comparison ennui. Indeed, it is easy to use the suburbs as a shorthand for hypocrisy and to relative location and varying neighbourhood superﬁ ciality in any cultural context [...]” (Kirby and Modarres, 2010: 65). densities income is the single most infl uential factor in determining car use. Th e combined effects of all factors are, however, lower (i.e. the In spite of everything, suburbia will remain likelihood of high income households to drive a battlefi eld of meanings and connotations, since is reduced by good location and more compact the link between the signifi er and the signifi ed is urban settings, though it remains higher than loose, yet not arbitrary. It might turn out that sub- that of lower income households). urbanization as both a process and phenomenon is Th e relationship between ecological sus- too complex and diverse to be properly discussed tainability and density remains non-linear and as “one thing” or within the scope of one approach. equivocal, if one not only looks at energy used for Meanings and defi nitions might prove to be too transport, but also includes the operational and wide for scientifi c inquiry and unbiased academic embodied energy used for housing. Considering discourses. Already today, we can observe a “blur- the state of much current architecture and the ring” of the distinction between cities and suburbs prevailing lifestyles of the inhabitants Perkins et with job growth in some regions concentrating al. (2009) conclude: “Th e densifi cation of hous- in suburbs instead of cities or crime rates being ing in central locations per se is not a suffi cient higher in many suburbs than in their inner cities condition for achieving a reduction in per capita (Hanlon, Short and Vicino, 2010; Jackson, 2006). Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

156 Many urban planners, urban designers and of an approach based on the acceptance of the university-based researchers alike criticise con- reality of the town and country continuum. Th is tinuing suburbanisation and ongoing sprawl and other approaches that deal with the total- (for ecological reasons, because of infrastruc- ity of urban experience might lead to “the city ture costs, social isolation, etc.). At the same reloaded”, as “new urbanism” and “new subur- time they oft en criticise many of the numerous banism” are not competing concepts (Kotkin, examples of re-urbanisation as involving gen- 2006). “If we are to deliver a sustainable built trifi cation leading to the displacement of less environment, we must create places the people affl uent inhabitants. Th ese criticisms are not will value and to which they can connect emo- tionally” (Schwartz, 2010: 525). Th e Australian housing system has been ex- 30 A BankWest Quality of Life survey maintains that many of the tremely successful in terms of social and eco- inner suburbs of Australia’s major cities are among those areas offering nomic sustainability. Th e combined eff ects of the highest liveability in the country (ABC News, Quality of life is better in welfare statism and a housing policy promot- the city: survey, August 20, 2008; retrieved on July 25, 2010 from www.abc. ing home ownership have contributed to equity. net.au/news/stories/2008/08/20/2341018.htm). Widespread home ownership is understood as the most visible evidence for the existence of the contradictory, as both developments do have “fair go”, i.e. distributive justice. Th e compara- their specifi c downsides. Nonetheless questions tively low rate of homelessness points into the remain. Where should we concentrate our ef- same direction. According to surveys, Austral- forts? What are the fundamental problems, and ians believe that their living standard is among how should they be approached? What alterna- the highest in the world, that their lifestyle is tives actually exist –including alternative ways of excellent, and that they are free people (Davi- thinking? Th is paper has pointed to many roads son, 1999; Forster, 2004; Lüdicke and Diewald, that might be worth travelling. Suburbia as we 2007; Stretton, 1996; see Forster and Hamnett, know it might come to an end one day. On the 2008 as well as the previous section for current basis of the current state of the art of research trends and challenges). Whereas in the last two there is no need to artifi cially speed up the pro- decades or so many Australian urban planners cess. Once again: It is wise and in the very best have treated suburbia solely as a problem and interest of urban and suburban dwellers not to some even perceived it as a socio-spatial malady, rush policy, before robust scientifi c knowledge is the current academic view on suburbanisation is available (see also Clapson, 2003: 197; Dempsey, moving closer to the popular understanding of 2010). For the moment strategies to retrofi t sub- most Australians. Whether this is just a sign of urbs (insulation, solar panels, rainwater usage, buckling to reality or whether this altered view is on-site treatment of suitable wastes, telecommut- based on a better understanding of sustainability ing, more and better services, areas of mixed land issues, is yet to be determined. At the same time, uses, etc.) and to promote sustainable lifestyles a growing number of Australians are moving back in suburbia appear to be appropriate approaches. to the inner city or close to it (inner suburbs, wa- Th omas Sieverts’ (2003) proposal to qualify the terfronts, etc.: examples in Melbourne include St. Zwischenstadt (“in-between city”) is an example Kilda and the new Docklands, in Sydney most Bernhard Stratmann Suburban Dreaming. A Social Semiotic Analysis of Suburban Life in Australia of the Sydney harbour area, and inner-city sub- References 157 urbs such as Glebe, Surry Hills, and Ultimo, but also the Eastern Suburbs). Th ey are prepared to ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics), pay relatively high rents or mortgages in order 2010: Year Book Australia 2009 –10. Canberra: to live closer to the city centre. Many of them Commonwealth of Australia, ABS move into medium-density housing or even high-rise for the same reason. 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170 Detlev Ipsen Reading Mega-Urban Landscape A Semiotic Sketch 1

Th e Meaning of Landscape 1 This paper is a revision and supplement of Ipsen, Detlev, 2008: From Urban Growth to Mega-Urban Landscape. In: Sophie Wolfrum, Winfried Nerdinger (ed.): Mulitple City. Berlin: jovis Verlag, pp. 19–22 Th e pattern of urbanization is changing substantially in most parts of the world. While in 2 For me the study of Rem Koolhaas and his team has been an the 19th and 20th century the process of ur- important starting point in asking if mega-urbanization will produce another type of urbanization as we do know it in Europe and the USA (see Chung, banization could be understood as a spatial en- Koolhaas and others 2001). In 2003 an international group of students started largement consisting of suburbanization and with ﬁ eld work in the PRD. For some results see Ipsen, Li, and Weichler 2005. peri-urbanization, with, for example, the grand ensembles in Paris being a form of suburbanization and the new towns around London a fi elds etc. but this will not help us to under- pattern of peri-urbanization, we can see now a stand the connectivity of diff erent land uses, substantial change. In many cases the process of the logic of change and the interrelation of the mega-urbanization not only means that urban local and the global. We hope that an analysis areas become bigger and bigger, but in many combining the concept of informality to un- parts of the world a new type of urbanization derstand how processes are regulated and the is emerging: the mega-urban landscape.2 If one concept of mega-urban landscape to study the is crossing these areas by train or car, one will spatial eff ects of informality will lead to a bet- see a fl ow of housing areas, industrial parks, ag- ter understanding. Informal processes and the ricultural fi elds, unused territories, recreation genesis of an urban landscape are analyzed in parks, old settlements, villages and towns, old the context of how the transformation of ur- and new traffi c infrastructure, sections of wil- ban villages takes place. In urban villages both derness, rivers, channels, and so on. aspects can be studied in a concentrated way Th e pattern of a mega-urban landscape can because the villages are informal in the context be understood as a consequence diff erent land of urban planning and politics and they control uses. It can be structured in islands, corridors, most of the land. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

172 To define a mega-urban landscape we start isolated from human influence. The treatment with the concept of landscape. What is the of nature and its cultivation affect the material scientific meaning of landscape? Very often flows and modify local characteristics. The use landscape is used as a metaphor for tradition- of fertilizer modifies the fertility of the soil, al images of space. Contrarily we would like the settlement density the local climate, the to understand landscape in a more analytical canalization of streams the water balance, etc. fashion. From a scientific point of view a con- The treatment of nature is not only contemporary definition of the term landscape trolled technologically, but is subject to a vari- should refer to its dual character: On the one ety of social rules. This is what we call the social hand, landscape is a material objective structure structuring of landscape. Ownership rights or of space. One part of this material characteris- regulations, which restrict the land use, and tic is natural, the other one is man made. The laws for nature conservation, are examples of natural material elements of landscape are the the social structure of landscape. All regula- territory with its specific soil, the climate, the tions relating to planning law are an important vegetation and a particular topography as the part of the social structure of the landscape. outcome of its natural history. The manmade, In our model the concept of culture defines material character of landscape is the outcome the center landscape. Culture is a system of in- of men’s work: the history and present form of terpretations and meanings; it contains codes, agriculture, settlement, traffic infrastructure, which enable us to understand a landscape and water management, etc. the evaluations, which are tied to landscapes. On the other hand, landscape is a subjec- The image of landscape is probably the most tive, culturally determined form of perception important part of landscape culture. Therefore, and evaluation of this material structure. The regarding the relationship between landscape sociocultural history in each part of the world development and landscape image, the natu- and each period of time correlates with a par- ral conditions and forms of utilization play an ticular meaning of landscape as one can ob- equally significant role for both. At the same serve in poems and paintings. To understand time, landscape development and landscape landscape we have to analyze the relationship image influence each other. The representation between the material and the perceptional as- of a subtropical river delta has characterized the pects of – at least in the case of the Pearl River image of the Pearl River Delta for a long time; Delta – an extraordinarily dynamic process. soon, as a model of the Mega city Pearl River, Given the dualistic character of landscape, this it could impact future development. process is marked by a high level of interde- The following diagram shows the elements pendencies. We would like to explain this in a of the interdisciplinary concept of landscape. little bit more detail. The natural conditions, the use of the land and Geological formations, geomorphology, the social regulations form a triangle. The cul- water balance, soil and local climate, wildlife tural forms of perception, the interpretations – all have inherently natural characteristics and and images are located in the center in order interactions with each other. In reality, land- to suggest that culture is as an integrative ele- scapes are (almost) nowhere to be viewed as ment (fig. 1). Detlev Ipsen Reading Mega-Urban Landscape - A Semiotic Sketch

173 nature work

culture

social regulation

Figure 1 The concept of landscape

With this concept of landscape in mind it A Landscape of Disembedding and becomes clear that landscape does not only re- Reembedding late to rural space; to a large degree, it also relates to urban spaces. Cities as well as rural areas As we have already mentioned, one can gener- are linked to nature; both contain soil, water, ally understand landscape and in particular mega- air, and wildlife. In this sense, we speak about urban landscapes more as a process than a stable urban and rural landscape even if they are sig- constellation. If this general idea is developed, nifi cantly dissimilar. the theory of modernization and the theoretical One hypothesis of this research project is concept of “landscape in transition” will reveal a that the mega-urban landscape and especially way of understanding the interaction of societal the Pearl River Delta constitute a new form of and spatial processes much better. landscape neither urban nor rural. As a typical Globalization is understood as a special form spatial form one can fi nd urban corridors in rural and period of modernization. As Giddens argues, areas and rural islands in urban areas. Th e mix- modernization means, in part, a process of disem- ture of industrial areas, villages, housing areas bedding. Giddens argues that the process of mod- owned by villagers, business districts, traditional ernization has a strong impact on the function- markets, highway infrastructure etc. are some- ing of social networks. Modernization disembeds times the result of formal zoning, sometimes due and alienates people from their traditional social to informal self-regulation and sometimes the relations and their traditional belief systems. We zoning is the formalization of self-regulation. can see this in the millions of migrants as well as In the Pearl River Delta, containing the most the worldwide fl ows of capital and goods. But diverse forms ranging from city to country, the what is the meaning of reembedding to follow usefulness of the term Mega-Urban Landscape the idea of Giddens in a mega-urban landscape. will be explored. To analyze the process of reembedding we will Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

174

concept/ image in consciousness

hyperreal synchronous

regressive

materiality of landscape

Figure 2 How image and materiality of landscape change

follow the idea of Castells to study both the dia- At the peak of the political ecological move- lectics of the space of fl ows (of traffi c, goods, capi- ment in Europe the Swiss sociologist Lucius tal and migrants) and the space of places. And Burckhardt (n.d) struck a sober note. He wrote: once again it seems very fruitful to study this in landscape is clearly changing. We want to pro- urban villages. Here we fi nd traditional places tect the landscape, but we do not know what we like markets and modern shopping halls owned should hold on to … We have to deal with two by village holdings. And we fi nd a space of fl ows: unstable phenomena: reality changes and, at the most global factories are located in village areas same time, the conceptual apparatus that is meant (hypothesis) and most migrants live there. Th e to determine that reality also changes. villages, up until now at least, can be understood Starting from this perspective, we developed as important topos of mega-urbanization in the the theoretical concept, “Transitional Land- PRD. But it is necessary to highlight changes in scape”. To read transitional landscape excludes this importance. We observe initial indicators simple concepts like the famous Greek formula that the roles of the villages are changing and the the “panta rei” – all is fl ux, get under way. On weight of other organizational forms may grow. the one hand, the image of landscape changes both itself and the material reality. On the other hand, reality may change the image of landscape. Transitional Landscape Concept and reality are certainly related to each other, but are by no means identical. If we examine To sum up the discussion about the term landscape development, we do well to keep them landscape in general and the important role this apart. Th e concept of landscape can change, but concept will have in the analysis of mega-urban the materiality of landscape must not. And the dynamics, we introduce the idea of “Transitional reality of landscape can change, while the image Landscape”. stays the same. Detlev Ipsen Reading Mega-Urban Landscape - A Semiotic Sketch

Th e fi gure above shows the diff erent rela- Th e Semiotic Pattern of “High Speed 175 tions which can develop between the change of Urbanism” concepts and the change of materiality of landscape (fi g. 2). Th e case of a simultaneous change Th e following maps of the Pearl River Del- of the reality of landscape and the meaning is ta show the transformation of the region. Most only one of the possibilities: we call it synchro- notably, one can observe “high speed urbanism” nous. In the Pearl River Delta one can observe (Ipsen 2004) in the delta. In less than ten years the high speed urbanization over the last twenty delta has been substantially transformed from a years. A lot of indicators show how fast agricul- rice chamber of China to an urban and industrial tural land has been switched to industrial use, landscape. Th e fi rst map shows the Pearl River housing quarters, traffi c infrastructure, busi- Delta in 1998. Apart from the city of Guangzhou ness districts. However, we know little about the (Canton) and Hongkong/Koowlon most of the change of the image, the concept and conscious- area in the delta is used for agriculture, while other ness of landscape in this period. To fi nd a balance parts are natural areas consisting of rivers, plains, in the planning between economic development hills and mountains (fi g. 3a). and the quality of the urban place it is useful to know more about the image of landscape in the mind of planners and politicians. We have the hypothesis that the fi rst period of rapid economic growth of more or less simple production industries will be fi nished very soon. To achieve economic development based on a higher degree of technological sophistication the human capital becomes more and more important. Th e quality of the urban environment is one important factor in attracting qualifi ed human capital. Th erefore the image of the PRD landscape will be a crucial factor for the future development of the region. One of the means Figure 3a Hong Kong in its regional setting 1998 to develop quality of life in a mega-urban landscape is the knowledge of ideas and images of landscape (re)development. To locate and un- Even more importantly, however, one can derstand the image of a territory, whether this now see two new structural forms of an urban is urban or rural or a landscape, it is useful to landscape: the urban- industrial island and the analyse the semiotic structure and meaning. If urban corridor. In the very beginning of indus- one aims to plan and change a landscape and trialization and urbanization the process is orga- the meaning, the image, one should search for nized by generating urban and industrial islands. open contradictions and latent qualities. In this If the process continuous a pattern of corridors sense I understand semiotic analysis as a part can be found. It seems that in this period the or- of planning. ganization of traffi c fl ows is dominant. Th e map Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

176 of 2007 seems to me like an inversion of the is- other parts of the world is not merely a repetition land structure: now urban and industrial land of the 19th and 20th century urbanization in Eu- use is no longer like a set of islands; instead the rope and the US but may be developing another natural and agricultural forms and land uses take form. If urbanization and industrialization take the form of islands (fi g. 3c). place in a time where information technology is highly developed it should, in turn, be analyzed as part of a global network of fl ows. But let us go to the spatial situation fi ve years later. One can use the ‘gestalt theory’ to analyse the change: in 2002 the urbanized parts of the delta look like shape, the non-urbanized areas are the ground. Now one fi nds the opposite: the urban area is the ground, the open or agricultural landscape is the shape (fi g. 3b.). Th e map shows that most of the area now is urbanized with islands of hilly or wet parts. Th e high speed urbanization avoids spaces which are not easy to develop because time and costs are par- amount, not density or intensive land-use. Th is leads us back to Castells: in an informational society time is more important than space. To play a role in the world economy, fast reaction to the change of demands makes the diff erence between the winner and the loser. Islands and corridors are the spatial expression of this kind of urbanization.

How to Read a Mega-Urban Landscape

To read and to understand the structure of the

Figures 3b & 3c (from top) Hong Kong in its regional setting 2002 and 2007 urban landscape we use the concept of modules. A module is not each kind of a defi ned territory but a typical part of a whole. Th e whole consists Th eoretically this can be seen as the interac- of a limited number of modules, which one will tion of two forms of space: the space of places fi nd again in the space of a particular landscape. and the space of fl ows – as Castells (1996a) has Urban landscape can be understood as “desakota” argued – are the spatial forms of the information (McGee and Yao-Lin 1992), neither urban nor or network society. If this is true it leads to a rath- rural. But this defi nition is not rich enough. We er important thesis: urbanization in China and need to fi nd a substantial defi nition which accepts Detlev Ipsen Reading Mega-Urban Landscape - A Semiotic Sketch urban landscapes as a distinctively new form and heterogeneity and innovative potential. But the 177 pattern (fi g. 4). high speed urbanization in some parts of Africa, Th e following map shows the urban landscape South America and Asia have diff erent driving around Donguan, one of the regions which has forces and produce other types of urbanity. One been the location of electronic industries since of these forces might be the diff erent relation of the 1980s. To read this picture one can diff eren- the space of place and the space of fl ows (Castells tiate between natural elements such as the river, 1996b). In the cities of the West the systems of types of land use like agricultural fi elds, local places and fl ows are highly and formally regulat- streets and highways, factories and housing. But ed. In the West, fl ows of traffi c, energy, water and simply listing the elements does not help us un- information are part of the general infrastructure derstand their meaning. To arrive at a more so- and housing areas or business districts are for- phisticated interpretation one has to know the mally defi ned parts of space. Land use is seen as driving forces behind the use pattern. Some parts functional, connected to the network. seem to be formally planned like the highways. Other parts like the villages reveal a rectangular structure and a high level of density. Is this a formal structure, planned like the highways? Th is is not the case but to better interpret this semiotic structure one needs historical, descriptive knowledge. Th e rectangular and dense pattern of the villages goes back to Mao’s revolution. To gain the villagers support for the communist revolution, the farmers and only the farmers got the right to own private land which they were meant to use as gardens. Nowadays the farmers do not use this private land for gardens to produce vegetables to feed their families. Rather, the farmers use this 10 by 10 meter pattern to build houses which Figure 4 Aerial view of Donguan are mainly rented out to the families of migrant workers. Th e farmers now oft en make their living In the case of China this seems not to be the as landlords. Th erefore to understand the semi- case. If one analyses the following picture, one otic meaning of space, theoretical and descriptive can see that the urban landscape is constituted knowledge is required to develop a sophisticated through a particular interaction of the space of interpretation. fl ows and the space of places. Th e space of fl ows Th e intellectual instruments employed to and the space of places are important for any from read the modern cities in Europe and the US are of urban area. We can see the highway as a space well-developed because the genesis of this mod- of fl ows and some village buildings as the space ern form of urban area has been occurring since of places. A characteristic of the mega-urban the 19th century. Th e theoretical work of Simmel landscape is not that these two forms of spac- and Louis Wirth gave us the idea of density, social es exist, but that they are not integrated at all. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

178 Th e mega-urban landscape can be described with Resume reference to diff erent strata of physical and social forms, which are not developed or planned as an Th e analysis of the semiotic language of high integrative system. Th e one strata is infl uenced by speed urbanization and industrialization led to the other and vice versa, but this is not planned, some tentative fi ndings. Methodologically speak- it just happens. ing, a semiotic analysis requires theoretical and At the front of the picture one see parts of descriptive background information. We fi nd it gardens with some fruit trees and fl ower beds. In useful to understand the mega-urban area as a the background, some new apartment building, landscape, which denotes the interaction of so- normally rented out to migrants. Buildings and cial, cultural and natural aspects of an area. In gardens are the space of places. But there is no relation to semiotic forms, this paper formulates reference and no relationship (fi g. 5). the idea that islands and corridors will change Th e space of fl ows and the space of places are their function: in the very beginning urbaniza- always changing but not necessarily in the same tion takes the form of islands. In a second period, direction. It is possible that population and in- the process resembles the formation of corridors. dustry will grow in the next 10 years in this area. Th e next step may be a substantial inversion. In Another possibility is destruction, shrinking or the beginning industry and urban settlement ac- the emergence of fallow land. In this sense it is quire the form of islands and corridors, while later an open landscape, which is fl exible, adaptable natural areas and agricultures come to take the and structurally under-defi ned. form of islands or corridors. Last but not least, the analysis of semiotic meanings reveals the problem of integration and connectedness. However this may not only be negative, but might also provide the opportunity for fl exible and open development of the processes of urbanization and industrialization. Th is paper has not discussed the consequences of these results for planning. Nonetheless it seems evident that the dialectics of islands and corridors, integration and disintegration, fl exibility and structural order may be the fi eld of a special form of complex planning.

Figure 5 Bridge at Shalo Detlev Ipsen Reading Mega-Urban Landscape - A Semiotic Sketch

References 179

Burckhardt, Lucius, n.d: Warum ist Land- schaft schön? Die Spaziergangswissenschaft . Berlin

Castells, Manuell, 1996a: Th e Rise of the Net- work Society. Blackwell: Oxford (UK), Malden (MA)

Castells, Manuel: 1996b: Th e Information Age: Economy, society and culture. Volume 1: Th e Rise of the Network Society. Blackwell: Oxford

Chung, Judy Chiuihua, Rem Koolhaas et al., 2001: Great Leap Forward. Harvard Design School: Harvard

Ipsen, Detlev, 2004: High speed Urbanismus. In: arch+, No. 168, 28–29

Ipsen, Detlev, 2008: From Urban Growth to Mega-Urban Landscape. In: Sophie Wolfrum, Winfried Nerdinger (ed.): Mulitple City. Ber- lin: Jovis Verlag, 19–22

Ipsen, Detlev; Yongning Li, Holger Weichler, 2005: Th e Genesis of Urban Landscape. Th e Pearl River Delta in South China. Kassel: ISP-Press

McGee, Terry G.; Wang Yao-Lin, 1992: La formation des mégapoles en Asie. In: Mappe- monde, No. 4, 2–3 (http://www.mgm.fr/PUB/ Mappemonde/M492/MEGAPOL.pdf, June 7, 2010) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

180 Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren

Reading the City das „Wandern“ durch die Natur. Das Zitat gibt sich damit auch als Abkömmling der Rede vom Woher stammt eigentlich die prima vista un- „Buch der Natur“, in dem zu lesen sei, zu erken- wahrscheinliche Vorstellung, eine Stadt sei etwas, nen – dem alten literarischen Topos (Blumen- das man lesen könnte? Sie geht nicht auf die Se- berg 2003) von der „Lesbarkeit der Welt“. Zu- miologie zurück, nicht auf Roland Barthes1 und gleich – und das wird bei der Diskussion dieses nicht auf den linguistic turn, sie ist überhaupt Topos zumeist übersehen – bedeutet die Rede nicht wissenschaft lichen Ursprungs, sondern sie stammt aus dem Feuilleton des 19. Jahrhunderts. 1822 schildert der Journalist und Schrift steller 1 „Die Stadt ist ein Diskurs, und dieser Diskurs ist wirklich Ludwig Börne den Zeitungslesern im provinziel- eine Sprache: Die Stadt spricht zu ihren Bewohnern, wir sprechen unsere len Deutschland seinen Enthusiasmus, einmal aus Stadt, die Stadt, in der wir uns beﬁ nden, einfach indem wir sie bewohnen, durchlaufen und ansehen“ (Barthes 1988: 202). einer richtigen Metropole berichten zu dürfen: „Ein aufgeschlagenes Buch ist Paris zu nennen, durch seine Straßen wandern heißt lesen. In diesem lehrreichen und ergötzlichen Werke, mit na- vom Stadtwandern als Lesen auch einen fol- turtreuen Abbildungen so reichlich ausgestattet, genreichen semantischen Umbau (Bollenbeck/ blättere ich täglich einige Stunden lang“ (Börne Knobloch 2001). Das vormals müßiggängerische 1964: 34). Ganz bewusst sei hier von Enthusias- Flanieren wird zur Lektüre veredelt. Als Zeitver- mus die Rede, denn das Zitat verrät auch einen treib sei es ebenso lehrreich für das stadtwandern- libidinösen Kern: sich der – mindestens für ei- de Subjekt wie mitteilenswert für andere. Das nen Deutschen dieser Zeit – sozialgeschichtlich ist der Trick bei der Metapher von der Stadt als neuen Erfahrung der Großstadt auszusetzen, ist Text, die hier präfi guriert ist: dass sie nämlich nicht nur „lehrreich“, sondern eben auch höchst weitere Texte erforderlich macht. Texte über die „ergötzlich“ – so ergötzlich wie vormals vielleicht Stadt, die mitteilen, was in diesem Buch der Stadt Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

182 geschrieben steht. Texte, die zu schreiben jenen Ausgesagten auszeichnete: die berühmte „Kleine professionellen Pfl astertretern vorbehalten sein Form“, in der sich die journalistischen Textsor- soll, die in den Städten sich aufh alten, um über ten wie Glosse, Kritik und Reportage mit lite- sie zu berichten – den Journalisten. Die fl orieren- rarischen Formen der Kurzprosa wie Anekdote, de Textproduktion über die Stadt ab spätestens Aphorismus oder Erzählung vermischten. den 60er-Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts ist ohne Obwohl ursprünglich als unterhaltendes Ge- das Zeitungsfeuilleton nicht zu denken. Man gengewicht gegen die stärker nachrichtlich ge- könnte sagen: Ein Ressort erfi ndet sich sein Su- prägten Ressorts konzipiert, gilt das Feuilleton jet. Damit soll nicht gesagt sein, dass die Stadt, von Beginn an – und im Übrigen bis heute – ge- allzumal die große, keinen wirklichen Berichts- rade wegen seiner thematischen Unbestimmtheit anlass darstellt. Aber hier geht es um die medien- bzw. Off enheit, der Lizenz zum Subjektiven, sei- geschichtlichen Randbedingungen, die eine Af- nem Sinn für das „Allerlei“ wie das „Nebenein- fi nität von Stadt und Feuilleton wahrscheinlich ander“ (Stalder 2003: 71f.) des Verschiedenen als werden lassen. Das gilt für Börne, aber in jedem wichtiger Ort der Meinungs- und Profi lbildung Fall für die vielen journalistischen Stadtbeschrei- einer Zeitung. Unser Interesse hier soll aber vor ber in der Weimarer Republik: für Joseph Roth, allem der Hoch-Zeit des Großstadtfeuilletons in Alfred Polgar, Bernhard v. Brentano, für Kurt der Weimarer Republik gelten. Allein die nack- Tucholsky, für Heinrich Hauser, Egon Friedell, ten Zahlen machen die eminente Bedeutung des Egon Erwin Kisch, Franz Hessel, Arnold Höllrie- weitestgehend konkurrenzfreien Printjournalis- gel oder eben für Siegfried Kracauer, um nur die mus für die damalige Öff entlichkeit kenntlich: bekanntesten unter ihnen zu nennen. Die Wei- 1928/29 gab es in Berlin wenigstens 93 sechs- marer Republik war ohne Frage – in qualitativer mal wöchentlich, 18 zwei bis fünfmal und 29 wie in quantitativer Hinsicht – die Hoch-Zeit wöchentlich erscheinende Zeitungen, von den des Großstadtfeuilletons. Tageszeitungen an die 10, die bis zu dreimal pro Tag erschienen (Schütz 2009). So sprach Walter Benjamin von den „Heuschreckenschwärme(n) Großstadt und Feuilleton von Schrift , die heute schon die Sonne des ver- meinten Geistes den Großstädtern verfi nstern“ Zunächst noch ein paar grundsätzliche Be- (Benjamin 1972: 103), und Joseph Roth spot- merkungen zum Feuilleton, bevor hier die Texte tete: „Die Zeitungen sind schneller als die Zeit, von Kracauer im Mittelpunkt stehen sollen. Der nicht einmal das Tempo, das sie selbst erfunden Begriff Feuilleton wird zumeist in einem doppel- haben, kann ihnen nachkommen. Atemlos rennt ten Sinne verwendet: Er meint dann a) ein Zei- der Nachmittag dem Spätabendblatt nach und der tungsressort – den Kulturteil der Zeitung, anfäng- Abend dem Morgenblatt vom Morgen“ (Roth lich noch auf jeder Seite unter dem berühmten 1929). „Strich“ zu fi nden – ebenso wohl wie b) eine Text- Für das Verhältnis von Text und Stadt in sorte, einen bestimmten Schreibstil, der sich ge- Hinsicht auf die Bedingungen der Möglichkeit, genüber dem in den härteren Ressorts wie Politik eine Stadt zu lesen, hat diese besondere medien- oder Wirtschaft gepfl egten durch eine besondere geschichtliche Konstellation mindestens zwei Form der Subjektivierung und Literarizität des Konsequenzen: Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren

1) Zum einen erzeugt die singulär hochfre- Das ist in etwa das publizistische Umfeld, in 183 quente Th ematisierung der Metropole Berlin im das hinein Siegfried Kracauer seine Texte platziert. Feuilleton das, was der gegenwärtig wichtigste Er scheint besonders prädestiniert, die Stadt deutsche Feuilletonforscher Erhard Schütz den zu lesen und zu beschreiben: Er ist studierter Ar- „Fließtext“ Berlin (Kauff mann/Schütz 2000: 21) chitekt, hat im Städtebau gearbeitet – und beginnt genannt hat: Mehr noch als in Romanen wie Döb- seine journalistische Karriere Anfang der 1920er- lins Berlin-Alexanderplatz konstituiert sich der Jahre mit Architekturkritik. Bezeichnenderweise Gegenstand des Großstadtfeuilletons – die große fi ndet er nicht den Weg von der Literatur zum Stadt – gerade erst durch den Umstand seiner fort- Großstadtfeuilleton, sondern von einer profes- und im Grunde unausgesetzten Beschriebenheit. sionellen Perspektive auf umbauten Raum und Berlin-Feuilletons von morgens bis mitternachts: Raumwirkungen des Gebauten. Im aufgeschlagenen Buch Berlin wird nicht noch wie bei Börne einige ergötzliche Stunden, sondern quasi rund um die Uhr gelesen, und damit entsteht 2 Roth an Benno Reifenberg vom 22. April 1926 (zit. n. Eckert/ jenseits der Grenzen des Einzeltextes ein fortlau- Berthold 1979: 160f.). fender Fließtext, in dem die Stadt lesbar gemacht, gleichsam feuilletonistisch erfunden wird. Der Be- griff des Fließtextes zielt darauf ab, sich von der Seit 1921 arbeitet er als festangestellter Re- Betrachtung einzelner eminenter Texte zu lösen, dakteur regelmäßig für eine der Qualitätszeitun- stattdessen das ganze Ensemble von in der Tages- gen der Weimarer Republik, für die Frankfurter presse seinerzeit publizierten Stadttexten in ihrem Zeitung: von 1930 bis 1933 als deren Berlin- diskursiven Zusammenhang zu untersuchen. Korrespondent. Diesen Job hatten vorher Joseph 2) Mitte bis Ende der 1920er-Jahre steigt das Roth, danach Bernard v. Brentano inne. Dass er Selbstbewusstsein der Großstadtfeuilletonisten nicht für den Tag allein schreibt, sondern dass ins Unermessliche. Joseph Roth verwahrt sich ge- seine Texte bleibenden Ansprüchen genügen, gen die Unterstellung, er sei in der Zeitung nur dessen ist er sich bewusst. Er sammelt die Texte für das literarische Amusement zuständig: „Das und konstelliert sie für den Nachdruck im Buch Feuilleton ist für die Zeitung ebenso wichtig wie – so entstehen 1929/30 Die Angestellten, seine die Politik“, schreibt er an seinen Chefredakteur. Darstellung einer neuen großstädtischen Sozial- „Ich bin nicht eine Zugabe, nicht eine Mehlspeise, formation aus einer Artikelserie in der Frankfur- sondern eine Hauptmahlzeit. Mich liest man mit ter Zeitung heraus (Kracauer 1971). Interesse. Nicht die Berichte über das Parlament. Hier soll nun im Folgenden anhand von drei Ich mache keine witzigen Glossen. Ich zeichne das Beispieltexten ein Vorschlag dazu unterbreitet Gesicht der Zeit.“2 Dies ist eine Formulierung, die werden, wie man die Stadtlektüren Kracauers dann auch Kracauer für sich in Anspruch nehmen systematisieren könnte. Die Beispieltexte ste- sollte. Sie bezeichnet den Universalitätsanspruch hen jeweils für einen Typ, für ein Modell von des seinerzeitigen Feuilletons: die „Ausweitung Reading the City, das in sich je eigene literari- der Kulturberichterstattung zur Sozialreportage“, sche Traditionslinien aufweist und – so wird hier nicht selten sogar mit gesellschaft skritischem Im- behauptet – bis heute auch für manche nicht- petus (Prümm 1988: 81). literarische Formen der Stadtbeschreibung in Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

184 Großstadtethnologie, Geschichtswissenschaft zahllosen Eisenträgern, die einander in winzi- und Urbanistik nach dem Spatial Turn maß- gen Abständen folgen und mit unendlich vielen geblich geblieben ist (Döring/Th ielmann 2008). Nietnägeln versehen sind [...] Viele Menschen ei- - das Modell Flaneur als Erzähler, len durch diese Unterführung. Ich sage eilen und - das Modell der Vedu te , also der Stadtbe- meine es wörtlich. Denn sei es, daß die Passanten schreibung als Landschaft sbeschreibung, nach Hause oder zum Zug müssen, sei es, daß ih- - das Modell der Stadtreportage als nen das kellerartige Wegstück Unbehagen einfl ößt in-situ-Soziografi e. [...].“ (Kracauer 1987: 38)

Inwiefern und durch welchen Raumaus- 3 Zum Begriff des „Durchgangsortes“ vgl. Augé (1994). schnitt ist hier die große Stadt überhaupt the- matisch? Sie wird repräsentiert durch einen ihrer Durchgangsorte – einen Ort, der dafür da ist, durchquert zu werden.3 Der Erzähler gehört Der Flaneur als Erzähler selber zu denen, die diesen Ort oft durchqueren. Zum einen ist hier also gesagt, dass die subjek- Dieser Typ Großstadtfeuilleton bei Kracau- tive Perspektive maßgeblich ist; zum anderen, er zeichnet sich unter anderem dadurch aus, dass dass, um die Stadt zu lesen, man in ihr unterwegs hier der Erzähler als eine Art Flaneurfi gur eta- sein muss. Nicht notwendigerweise müßiggän- bliert wird. Zur Veranschaulichung sei hier der gerisch wie der klassische Flaneur, vielleicht Text „Die Unterführung“ aus der Frankfurter genauso geschäft ig wie die anderen Passanten. Zeitung vom 11. März 1932 herangezogen, ein Aber die Erkenntnis der Stadt scheint in jedem berühmter unter den Berlin-Feuilletons von Fall eine peripatetische zu sein. Zugleich gibt der Kracauer (wie überhaupt alle drei, die hier be- Erzähler auch das Movens für diesen Text zu er- handelt werden, zu den ganz kanonischen Kra- kennen: Er will sich selbst (und damit den Zei- cauer-Texten gehören…) Er beginnt wie folgt: tungslesern) erklären, warum ihn dieses Grauen befällt: ein subjektiver Schreibanlass, gedacht „Dicht beim Bahnhof Charlottenburg zieht als Aff ektmodellierung – eine Selbstaufk lärung sich unter den Gleisen eine schnurgerade Straße mit dem Anspruch, sie anderen mitzuteilen. Es hin, die ich oft passiere, weil an ihr jenseits des fällt noch auf: Der Erzähler beschreibt zunächst Bahndamms der Bahnhofseingang liegt. Ich ge- das Material und die Statik, die Konstruktion stehe, daß ich diese Unterführung nie ohne ein dieses Durchgangsortes – ganz wie ein Experte, Gefühl des Grauens durchmesse. Es könnte von der sich auch auf die Ingenieurskunst versteht. ihrer Konstruktion herrühren, aber ich glaube Dann aber stellt sich heraus: Der Ort wird von nicht einmal, daß sie allein das Grauen verur- den Subjekten, die ihn bevölkern, gar nicht nur sacht; obwohl sie von einer fi nsteren Strenge ist, als Durchgangsort angeeignet. Es gibt so etwas der jede Heiterkeit fehlt. Backsteinmauern gren- wie eine Unterführungsgesellschaft : Menschen, zen die Unterführung ein, verrußte Mauern, die die sich dort notgedrungen oder freiwillig län- mit zwei Reihen eiserner Stützen zusammen die ger aufh alten. niedere Decke tragen. Diese Decke besteht aus Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren

„Zwei eiserne Stützen nahe beim Ausgang um- Verband schaff en, aber sie sind unfähig dazu, sich 185 rahmen einen weißgekleideten Bäcker, der Salz- selber als Gesellschaft zu organisieren. Kraß und brezeln feilbietet, die niemand kauft . Tiefer im schrecklich wird durch das vollkommene System Innern halten sich Bettler auf, die von der Back- toter Stoff e die Unvollkommenheit des lebendigen steinmauer, an der sie stehen und kauern, kaum Chaos enthüllt [...].“ (Kracauer 1987: 39) noch zu unterscheiden sind. Alte längst verwelkte Mauerblümchen, beschäft igen sie sich damit, ir- Die Pointe deutet darauf hin, was hier mit gendeinen Schlager zu dudeln, dem nur die Niet- Reading the city gemeint ist: Der Flaneur als Er- nägel lauschen, oder murmelnd auf eine Gabe zu zähler erklärt sich und uns Lesenden sein Grau- warten. en durch das Missverhältnis von „Belebtem und Was in mir jenes Grauen hervorruft , ist aber Unbelebtem“ (Prümm 1988: 102), von Perfekti- auch nicht eigentlich die entsetzliche Unverbun- on des Baukörpers im Unterschied zu der Des- denheit aller genannten Personen. Ich weiß na- integration des darunter versammelten Gesell- türlich, daß sie vorhanden ist [...].“ (Kracauer schaft skörpers. Dies ist beileibe kein plumper 1987: 38f.) Raumdeterminismus, der sich in dieser Analy- se kundtut, so, als ob die Konstruktion für die Hier zwingt sich der Erzähler, gewisserma- Fragmentierung der Subjekte verantwortlich sei. ßen den Blick des Flaneurs einzunehmen: Er Vielmehr handelt es sich hier um eine dichte Be- hastet nicht durch den unwirtlichen Ort hin- schreibung der Mensch-Dinge-Anordnung an durch und schaut beiseite wie die übrigen ge- einem eher ephemeren Ort der großen Stadt, schäft igen Passanten. Und obwohl er deren Un- einen, der wohl in keiner Architekturkritik behagen dem Ort gegenüber teilen mag – stärker vorkäme. noch: er spricht von „Grauen“ – verweilt er in Flanerie heißt hier mithin wie bei Franz Hes- der Unterführung, um die dort versammelten sel „eine Art Lektüre der Straße, wobei Men- derangierten Subjekte zu beschreiben. Er setzt schengesichter, Schaufenster (...) Autos, Bäume sich diesem Grauen intentional aus, aber mit der (hier müsste man ergänzen: Backsteinmauern Selbsterklärung seines Grauens ist er noch nicht und Stützpfeiler; J.D.) zu lauter gleichberechtig- an sein Darstellungsziel gelangt: ten Buchstaben werden, die zusammen Worte, Sätze und Seiten eines immer neuen Buches erge- „Es ist wohl der Gegensatz zwischen dem geben“ (Hessel 1929: 129). Das Großstadt-Feuille- schlossenen, unerschütterlichen Konstruktionssys- ton bei Kracauer schließt hier mit der Imagina- tem und dem zerrinnenden menschlichen Durch- tion eines anderen Ortes. Die Stadtspaziergänge einander, der das Grauen erzeugt. Auf der einen des Flaneurs führen nicht zurück ins Reich der Seite die Unterführung: eine vorbedachte, stabile Kindheit wie bei Hessel, sondern münden in eine Einheit, in der jeder Nagel, jeder Backstein an sei- Gesellschaft sutopie. Auch das ist ein Indiz für das ner Stelle sitzt und dem Ganzen hilft . Auf der an- gestiegene Selbstbewusstsein der Feuilletonisten deren Seite die Menschen: auseinandergesprengte gegen Ende der Weimarer Republik. Wie häu- Teile und Teilchen, unzusammenhängende Split- fi g bei Kracauer, dem fl anierenden Architekten, ter eines Ganzen, das nicht vorhanden ist. Sie ist diese Gesellschaft sutopie vermittelt über eine können aus Mauern, Trägern und Stützen einen städtebauliche Fantasie: Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

186 „Immer wieder packt mich dasselbe Grauen, zur Rechenschaft ziehen lassen. Wo immer sich wenn ich durch die Unterführung gehe. Und ich Steinmassen und Straßenzüge zusammenfi nden, denke mir manchmal wie zum Trost bessere, schö- deren Elemente aus ganz verschieden gerichteten nere Konstruktionen aus. Solche, deren Baumate- Interessen hervorgehen, kommt ein solches Stadt- rialien nicht nur aus Eisen und Backsteinen, son- bild zustande, das selber niemals der Gegenstand dern gewissermaßen auch aus Menschen bestün- irgendeines Interesses gewesen ist. Es ist so wenig den. Dann brauchten sich die Menschen nicht zu gestaltet wie die Natur und gleicht einer Landschaft beeilen, und die Musik wäre kein Wink für die darin, daß es sich bewußtlos behauptet. Unbeküm- Barmherzigkeit.“ (Kracauer 1987: 39) mert um sein Gesicht dämmert es durch die Zeit [....].“ (Kracauer 1931: 40) Soweit das Modell Flaneur als Erzähler, das auf sehr viele Stadttexte Kracauers anwendbar ist. Die expositorische Geste des Textes besteht nun gerade nicht in einer Beschreibung des konkreten Stadtbildes, das etwa vom Fenster aus be- Großstadt-Vedute: Berliner trachtet würde, sondern in einer allgemeinen Landschaft Bestimmung: der Unterscheidung „bewußt geformt(er)“ Stadtbilder von den „absichtlos(en)“, Der zweite Texttyp, in dem die große Stadt den ungestalteten, unbekümmerten, „bewußtlos“ gewissermaßen wie eine Landschaft beschrieben sich behauptenden. Der Text mündet nicht in wird, ist dem Flaneursmodell insofern entgegen- eine Unterscheidung, sondern geht von einer sol- gesetzt, als hier die Stadt zur Sprache kommt ganz chen aus, die der sich anschließenden Stadtbild- ohne die Menschen, die sie bevölkern. Das soll beschreibung gleichsam als Leseanleitung voran- hier veranschaulicht werden an dem für diesen gestellt wird. Auch dies ist ein Hinweis auf das Texttyp gewissermaßen programmatischen Text zeitdiagnostische Selbstbewusstsein des Feuille- „Aus dem Fenster gesehen“ aus der Frankfurter tonisten. Er vertraut darauf, dass seine Darstel- Zeitung vom 8. November 1931. Wir behandeln lung – die Beschreibungsleistung am konkreten auch hier zunächst den Anfang des Feuilletons: Phänomen – schon wird einlösen können, wovon die allgemeine Bestimmung handelt. Das ist in- „Man kann zwei Arten von Stadtbildern un- sofern bemerkenswert, als man die Textgattung terscheiden: den einen, die bewußt geformt sind, Feuilleton eher mit dem umgekehrten, wenn man und den anderen, die sich absichtslos ergeben. Jene so will: induktiven Verfahren der Evidenzproduk- entspringen dem künstlerischen Willen, der sich in tion in Zusammenhang bringt. Plätzen, Durchblicken, Gebäudegruppen und per- Der Begriff des Stadtbildes jedenfalls wird spektivischen Eff ekten verwirklicht, die der Baede- hier nicht in seiner geläufi geren, weiten Bedeu- cker gemeinhin mit einem Sternchen beleuchtet. tung gebraucht (als kursorischer Ausdruck für Diese dagegen entstehen, ohne vorher geplant wor- die Wahrnehmung der Gesamtheit ortsspezifi - den zu sein. Sie sind keine Kompositionen, die wie scher Bestandteile eines urbanen Raumes bzw. der Pariser Platz oder die Concorde ihr Dasein ei- eines besonders charakteristischen Merkmals4), ner einheitlichen Baugesinnung zu verdanken hät- sondern mit mittlerer Reichweite: Gemeint ist ten, sondern Geschöpfe des Zufalls, die sich nicht off enbar ein defi nierter Ausschnitt der Stadt (das Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren

Bild eines Platzes, eines städtebaulichen Ensemb- „Vor meinem Fenster verdichtet sich die Stadt zu 187 les, die standortgebundene Wahrnehmung einer einem Bild, das herrlich wie ein Naturschauspiel ist. je spezifi schen urbanen Konfi guration aus „Stein- Doch ehe ich mich ihm zuwende, muß ich des Stand- massen“ und „Straßenzügen“), der durch seine orts gedenken, von dem aus es sich erschließt. Er be- „bewußt geformten“ bzw. „absichtlos“ sich erge- fi ndet sich hoch über einer unregelmäßigen Platz- benden Anteile gekennzeichnet sei. Das Interesse anlage, der eine wunderbare Fähigkeit eignet. Sie des Beobachters für die beiden Seiten der Unter- kann sich unsichtbar machen, sie hat eine Tarnkappe scheidung ist dabei durchaus ungleich verteilt: Es auf. Mitten in einem großstädtischen Wohnviertel gilt in erster Linie den ungestalteten Stadtbildern. gelegen und Treff punkt mehrerer breiter Straßen, Für die „bewußt geformten“ bleibt der Baedecker entzieht sich der kleine Platz so sehr der öff entlichen zuständig, sie sind sattsam bekannt. Damit stellt Aufmerksamkeit, daß kaum jemand auch nur sei- sich der Beobachter in die Tradition des Feuille- nen Namen kennt [...]“ (Kracauer 1931: 40) tonisten als Spezialist für das Ephemere, für das optisch Unbeachtete, für die Banalisierung des Besonderen („Pariser Platz“, „die Concorde“) 4 So wie man sagte: ‚Das Stadtbild von Siegen ist geprägt von bei gleichzeitiger Besonderung des Alltäglichen wetterseitig verschieferten Hausfassaden.‘ (hier: die zufälligen Stadtbilder) – als Ausgleich 5 Die Kracauer-Philologie hat den Standort, von dem aus das dafür, dass dieses „selber niemals Gegenstand ei- Stadtbild der „Berliner Landschaft“ beschrieben wird, genau rekonstruiert. nes wirklichen Interesses gewesen ist.“ Es handelt sich um den Blick aus Kracauers Arbeitszimmerfenster im 4. Die Aufwertung des „absichtslos“ sich erge- Stock seiner Wohnung in der Charlottenburger Sybelstraße, Blickrichtung benden Stadtbildes wird auch dadurch unterstri- Nordwest: vom Holtzendorffplatz über die S- und Fernbahngleise bis hin zum chen, dass es im letzten Satz der Exposition me- Berliner Funkturm in etwa 1,5 Kilometer Entfernung (Stalder 2003: 165). taphorisch belebt wird („Unbekümmert um sein Gesicht dämmert es durch die Zeit“). Es wird zu einer Art Tableau vivant, aber eines, das sich kei- Die Rede von der Stadt als „Bild, das herrlich nerlei ästhetischer Gestaltung verdankt. Am „be- wie ein Naturschauspiel ist“, gibt Aufschluss da- wußt geformten“ Pariser Platz ist die Stadt Objekt rüber, was Kracauers Vorstellung vom Stadtbild der Planung – zum Subjekt einer unbekümmer- noch mit einem Bild zu tun hat. Die erste Satz- ten Selbstbehauptung hingegen wird sie erst in bestimmung („Vor meinem Fenster“) gilt der un- ihren absichtlosen Konfi gurationen (– wenn es hintergehbaren Positionalität dieser Wahrneh- heißt, das zufällige Stadtbild gleiche „einer Land- mung. Das Stadtbild, so wie es beschrieben sein schaft darin, daß es sich bewußtlos behauptet.“). wird, bedarf eines bestimmten Betrachterstand- Auch wenn Kracauer hier nicht den psychoana- orts und wird ihn immer mitkommunizieren – lytischen Begriff des Unbewußten bemüht, soll hier die mittlere Distanz vom Fensterplatz zu die Stadt gleichwohl durch die metaphorische einem bestimmten städtischen Horizont. „Zu- Verlebendigung ihrer Bilder in die Rolle eines fällig“, „absichtslos“ mag das Stadtbild sich zei- Analysanden gerückt werden. Und der Feuille- gen, insofern damit sein propositionaler Gehalt tonist wird ihr Analytiker sein. gemeint ist – „Steinmassen“, „Straßenzüge“, hier Welches Stadtbild aber wird im Hauptteil des im Folgenden vor allem Bahngeleise, Züge, Si- Textes konkret beschrieben? gnalmasten und ein Rundfunkturm5–, dessen Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

188 spezifi sche Form hingegen erweist sich als in erfüllt. Er klingt von Eisenbahngeleisen wider. Sie hohem Maße vermittelt. Das Stadtbild, wie es kommen aus der Richtung des Bahnhofs Charlot- sich zeigt, wird durch den Fensterausschnitt ge- tenburg hinter einer überlebensgroßen Mietshaus- rahmt. Anders gesagt: Erst der (Fenster-)Rah- wand hervor, laufen bündelweise nebeneinander men gestaltet den Stadtraum zum Bild, das be- und entschwinden zuletzt hinter gewöhnlichen trachtet und beschrieben werden kann. Schon Häusern. Ein Schwarm von glänzenden Paral- das Verb „verdichten“, das Kracauer in diesem lelen, der tief genug unter dem Fenster liegt, um Zusammenhang benutzt, verrät die konstruk- seiner ganzen Ausdehnung nach übersehen werden tiven Anteile dieser Wahrnehmung. Es heißt zu können [...].“ (Kracauer 1931: 40f.) nicht etwa: ‚Vor meinem Fenster zeigt sich die Stadt, herrlich wie ein Naturschauspiel’, sondern: Das Naturschöne von Kracauers Berliner „[…] verdichtet sich die Stadt zu einem Bild, das Landschaft besteht aus Verkehr, Lichtern, Schie- herrlich wie ein Naturschauspiel ist.“ Das Stadt- nen, Masten, wohingegen die erste Natur (viel- bild entsteht zuallererst durch die Aufmerksam- leicht besser: Kulturlandschaft ) überhaupt nur keit des Betrachters, der beim Blick durch den auf metaphorischer Ebene präsent ist: „ein me- Fensterrahmen eine ungeplante „Komposition“ tallischer Eisenacker“; der „Schwarm von glän- erkennt, die „so wenig gestaltet“ sein soll „wie zenden Parallelen“ (gemeint sind die Gleise); die Natur“, gleichwohl „herrlich wie ein Natur- der „helle Häuserstreifen“, der die „Ruhe der schauspiel“ sei. Hier wiederholt sich ein für das eisernen Fläche“ (gemeint ist die Bahntrasse) Großstadt-Feuilleton der Weimarer Republik nicht „anders auff ängt wie ein Waldrand ent- charakteristischer Topos: die bejahende Identi- eilende Wiesen; schließlich das Blinklicht des fi zierung von Stadt mit Natur – gleichsam als Funkturms, das nachts, „wenn der Sturm heult, Umwertung der modernisierungskritischen, teils [...] über die hohe See (fl iegt), deren Wog e n den apokalyptischen Stadtnatur-Beschwörungen Schienenacker umspülen“ (Kracauer 1931: 41; des Expressionismus. Für die Weimarer Feuille- Hervorhebungen J. D.).“ tonisten ist die Großstadt (umständehalber in Neben der Natur fehlen in diesem Text-Stadt- Deutschland vor allem Berlin) ein Laboratori- bild, so „herrlich wie ein Naturschauspiel“, die um, in dem experimentell die Reaktionen auf die Menschen – und das bezeichnet den entschei- Verheißungen bzw. Zumutungen der Moderne denden Unterschied zu den Großstadtfeuilletons erprobt und beobachtet werden, in dem sich Mo- des ersten Texttyps. Der Betrachter beschreibt dernisierungserfahrungen verdichten – so sehr, hier von seinem Fensterplatz stattdessen lieber dass sie – je nach Temperament – entweder em- euphorisch geometrische Formen, dort, wo Un- phatisch (Bernhard von Brentano) oder kritisch terführung und Schienenstrang sich kreuzen, (Joseph Roth) als zweite Natur beschrieben wer- das „laufende Querband“ von Automobilen den (Prümm 1988; Bienert 1992; Schütz 1992; auf der Durchgangsstraße, die horizontale Be- Scharnowski 2006; Scharnowski 2008). grenzungslinie des Häuserstreifens gegenüber, die bildkompositorisch eminente Vertikale des „Das Stadtbild selber nun, das bei diesem Funkturms, „ein senkrechter Strich, der mit der Plätzchen beginnt, ist ein Raum von außeror- Reißfeder dünn durch ein Stück Himmel gezogen dentlicher Weite, den ein metallischer Eisenacker ist“ (Kracauer 1931: 41). Verlebendigt wird das Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren

Stadtbild nicht durch die Subjekte, die es bevöl- Raumbilder als „Träume der Gesell- 189 kern und die man fraglos auch aus mittlerer Dis- schaft “: In-situ-Soziografi e tanz vom Fensterplatz hätte in den Blick nehmen können. Verlebendigt werden solche Stadtbilder Dieser Text entspräche der hier vertretenen rein metaphorisch als „Geschöpfe des Zufalls, die Th ese zufolge dem dritten Modell, was es für sich nicht zur Rechenschaft ziehen lassen“ (Kra- Kracauer hieße, eine Stadt zu lesen: eine dich- cauer 1931: 40). Kracauer malt sein Sprachstadt- te Beschreibung städtischer Räume, die sogar bild von der Berliner Landschaft wie eine Vedute beansprucht, zu wissenschaft lichen Formen der des Industrie- und Massenverkehrszeitalters. Soziografi e in Konkurrenz zu treten. Der (aber- mals sehr berühmte, viel behandelte) Text „Über „Diese Landschaft ist ungestelltes Berlin. Ohne Arbeitsnachweise. Konstruktion eines Raumes“ Absicht sprechen sich in ihr, die von selber gewach- erschien erstmals in der Frankfurter Zeitung vom sen ist, seine Gegensätze aus, seine Härte, seine Of- 17. Juni 1930. fenheit, sein Nebeneinander, sein Glanz. Die Er- kenntnis der Städte ist an die Entziff erung ihrer traumhaft hingesagten Bilder geknüpft .“ (Kracauer 6 Gemessen an Zeichenzahlen, ist er länger als die größten 1931: 41) Formate im heutigen Tagesjournalismus (in der Regel das klassische „Seite drei“-Hintergrund/Reportage-Format). Auch für Weimarer Zeitungskontexte, auch gemessen an den Umfängen, die Kracauer Wenn in der Schlussformel dieses Feuille- üblicherweise eingeräumt bekam, ist es ein ungewöhnlich langer Text. tons gleichwohl von „Erkenntnis der Städte“ die Rede ist, wird damit zugleich ein analytischer Anspruch verknüpft , den – das hat die Analyse von „Berliner Landschaft “ gezeigt – dieses Feuil- Formal entspricht der Text den Grundbe- leton mehr behauptet als einlöst. Die Stadt als stimmungen der Reportage als journalistischer Analysand folgt – freudianisch gesprochen – der Gattung: Ihr Autor besucht einen Ort oder psychoanalytischen Grundregel und äußert „be- mehrere (hier: mehrere Berliner Arbeitsnach- wußtlos“ und unzensiert manifeste Trauminhal- weise des Frühsommers 1930) und schreibt date. Eine „Entziff erung der traumhaft hingesagten rüber zeitnah (nicht unbedingt: tagesaktuell) Bilder“ aber – sprich: eine Übersetzung in den und aus der Perspektive des Augenzeugen, der latenten Traumgedanken, welcher Aufschluss „Ich“ sagen darf und mit der Lizenz zum sub- gäbe über die psychosoziale Realität des Träu- jektiven Ausdruck ausgestattet ist. Nicht zuletzt mers – steht dahin. An einer solchen Analyse, die die exorbitante Länge von „Über Arbeitsnach- das Raumbild demgegenüber – im Sinne seines weise“6 spricht für den Stellenwert, der solchen Lehrers Georg Simmel – auch als „soziale Tatsa- Texten „unterm Strich“ im Kontext der Gesamt- che“ begreift , versucht sich Kracauer in dem Text zeitung mittlerweile eingeräumt wurde. Selbstbe- „Über Arbeitsnachweise“, der hier als Beispiel für wusst vertritt hier der Reporter den Anspruch, in den dritten Texttyp fi gurieren soll. Konkurrenz zur Wissenschaft sogar die bessere Gesellschaft sdiagnostik zu betreiben. Sein Dar- stellungsziel ist – ganz unbescheiden – Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

190 „zu ermessen, welche Stellung die Arbeitslosen „Ich habe mehrere Berliner Arbeitsnachweise faktisch in dem System unserer Gesellschaft ein- besucht. Nicht um der Lust des Reporters zu fr önen, nehmen. Weder die verschiedenen Kommentare der gemeinhin mit durchlöchertem Eimer aus dem zur Erwerbslosenstatistik noch die einschlägigen Leben schöpft , sondern um zu ermessen, welche Stel- Parlamentsdebatten geben darüber Auskunft . Sie lung die Arbeitslosen faktisch in dem System unserer sind ideologisch gefärbt und rücken die Wirklich- Gesellschaft einnehmen.“ (Kracauer 1990: 185f.) keit in dem einen oder anderen Sinne zurecht [...].“ (Kracauer 1990: 186) Man darf sich nicht täuschen: Die hier geäu- ßerte Kritik an der Reportage dementiert keines- Darin bekundet sich mithin nicht nur so wegs den pragmatischen Kontext der Reporta- etwas wie Ressortkonkurrenz gegenüber Leit- ge, dem Kracauers Text weiterhin zugehört. Al- artiklern und Kommentatoren. Auch Kritik lerdings ist Kracauer seit seiner Serie über Die an der gesellschaft spolitischen Relevanz von Angestellten auch auf einen Distinktionsgewinn Statistik, quantitativen Erhebungen zur So- gegenüber den (wie er meint: von den Zeitläuf- zialstruktur ganz allgemein, insofern sie zum ten über Gebühr hofi erten) Sozialreportern aus. Gegenstand politischer Entscheidungsfi ndung Eine Parallelstelle aus den Angestellten macht das werden. Demnach beansprucht Kracauers Text kenntlich, die hier zitiert und kommentiert sei, auch Geltung als qualitative Sozialstudie, die weil sie sowohl für den Bildbegriff Kracauers in – gleichsam in situ – die soziale Realität va- „Über Arbeitsnachweise“ als auch für sein Ver- lider, unparteilicher beschreiben kann als die ständnis von „Konstruktion“ (zur Explikation des Zahlenwerke der Parlamentsdebatten. Kracau- Untertitels: Konstruktion eines Raums“) maßgeb- er tritt damit nicht zuletzt – wohlgemerkt im lich ist: Kontext journalistischer Formen, wohl auch im Bewusstsein um deren Öff entlichkeitsmacht – „Seit mehreren Jahren genießt in Deutschland in Konkurrenz zu wissenschaft lichen Formen die Reportage die Meistbegünstigung unter allen der Soziografi e.7 Darstellungsarten, da nur sie, so meint man, sich des ungestellten Lebens bemächtigen könne. Die Dichter kennen kaum einen höheren Ehrgeiz als 7 Vgl. dazu den ausgezeichneten Aufsatz von Niefanger (1999). zu berichten; die Reproduktion des Beobachteten ist Trumpf. Ein Hunger nach Unmittelbarkeit, der ohne Zweifel die Folge der Unterernährung durch Doch Kracauer ist noch ehrgeiziger: Er will den deutschen Idealismus ist. Der Abstraktheit des in „Über Arbeitsnachweise“ nicht nur der Sozial- idealistischen Denkens, das sich durch keine Ver- statistik eine gehaltvollere Soziografi e gegenüber- mittlung der Realität zu nähern weiß, wird die stellen, sondern auch im Medium der Reportage Reportage als die Selbstanzeige konkreten Daseins die Reportage kritisieren. Das zeigt der Satzteil entgegengesetzt. Aber das Dasein ist nicht dadurch aus der Exposition von „Über Arbeitsnachwei- gebannt, daß man es in einer Reportage bestenfalls se“, der der Formulierung des Darstellungsziels noch einmal hat [...] Hundert Berichte aus einer vorangestellt ist: Fabrik lassen sich nicht zur Wirklichkeit der Fab- rik addieren, sondern bleiben bis in alle Ewigkeit Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren hundert Fabrikansichten. Die Wirklichkeit ist eine Standpunktlosigkeit wirklich abzukaufen wäre, 191 Konstruktion. Gewiß muß das Leben beobachtet kritisiert Kracauer schon die epistemologische werden, damit sie erstehe. Keineswegs jedoch ist sie Anspruchslosigkeit des Kisch’schen Reportage- in der mehr oder minder zufälligen Beobachtungs- konzeptes, sich mit einem photographischen Ab- folge der Reportage enthalten, vielmehr steckt sie bild der Wirklichkeit zu begnügen. Demgegen- einzig und allein in dem Mosaik, das aus den ein- über wird der Bildbegriff in Stellung gebracht – zelnen Beobachtungen auf Grund der Erkenntnis und das könnte auch ein Hinweis sein auf den ihres Gehalts zusammengestift et wird. Die Repor- Bedeutungshorizont von „Raumbild“ in „Über tage photographiert das Leben; ein solches Mosaik Arbeitsnachweise“. wäre sein Bild.“ (Kracauer 2006: 222)

Was die Sozialreportage den dürren Daten 8 Vgl. auch die Anm. der Hg. in Siegfried Kracauer (2006: 346). der amtlichen Statistik an Realitätsgehalt voraus hat, wird hier nicht verhandelt, vielmehr schon vorausgesetzt. Kracauer geht es um den Erkennt- Die dem Vergleich zugrunde liegende (auch nisanspruch der Reportage, der sich in Realismus- zeitgenössisch reichlich unoriginelle) Diskreditie- ansprüchen nicht erschöpfen dürfe. Er defi niert rung der Fotografi e als Abbild im Unterschied zum die Anforderungen dafür, dass aus der Sozialre- allein darstellungsmächtigen Bild soll hier nicht portage eine gehaltvolle in-situ-Studie wird, wel- weiter historisch aufgefächert werden. Auff ällig che wissenschaft lichen Formen der Soziografi e nur, dass Kracauer zur Kennzeichnung seines so- Konkurrenz machen könnte: statt Reproduk- ziografi schen Verfahrens ausgerechnet den Mosa- tion des Beobachteten seine analytische Durch- ikbegriff bemüht, um den Konstruktionscharakter dringung. Für diese Unterscheidung guter von seiner Wirklichkeitsbeobachtungen zu betonen, schlechter Soziografi e wählt Kracauer einen für und nicht etwa die (seinerzeit debattenkurren- die Reportagediskussion der Weimarer Republik te) fi lmische Montage. Das spricht dafür, dass geläufi gen Vergleich: Die Reportage (als schlech- Kracauer die Materialbasis seiner Wirklichkeits- te Soziografi e) „photographiert das Leben“, sein „Konstruktion“ als möglichst kleinteilig beschrei- „Bild“ hingegen (als Ausdruck für eine gelungene ben wollte, bei der jeder Bestandteil – das einzelne Soziografi e) stift e allein ein „Mosaik“ aus Ein- Stein- oder Glasstückchen des Mosaiks – für sich zelbeobachtungen, dem eine „Erkenntnis ihres betrachtet keinerlei Realitätseff ekt in sich berge – Gehaltes“ notwendig vorausgehe. Der Vergleich anders als etwa das fi lmische Einzelbild oder die fi l- der Reportage mit der Fotografi e bezieht sich kri- mische Sequenz (als Materialbasis der Montage). tisch auf Egon Erwin Kischs in der Vorrede zu Den Untertitel Konstruktion eines Raumes von dessen Reportagesammlung Der rasende Reporter „Über Arbeitsnachweise“ im Lichte dieser Parallel- 1925 lancierten Th ese, der Reporter habe grund- stelle gelesen, lässt sich jetzt vorläufi g sagen: „Kon- sätzlich „keine Tendenz, nichts zu rechtfertigen, struktion“ kann zumindest zweierlei bedeuten: a) keinen Standpunkt“, und seine Texte seien reine im vorgeordneten Wortsinne die Beschreibung „Zeitaufnahmen“, „Bilder“, zu einem „Album“ der Konstruktionsweise eines architektonischen gefügt (Kisch 1982: 10).8 Unabhängig davon, Raumes und b) im epistemologischen Sinne die ob ausgerechnet Kisch die weltanschauliche textliche Konstruktion einer sozialen Realität. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

192 Meine Th ese dazu lautet nun, dass Kracau- (in Grenzen) beständige Form angenommen ha- er in den Arbeitsnachweisen einen Gegenstand ben – gleichsam als ein besonderer Aggregatzu- fi ndet, der es ihm ermöglicht, beide Bedeutun- stand des Sozialen. So weit, so unproblematisch. gen von „Konstruktion“ operativ miteinander zu Kracauer sagt aber zudem, dass der Raum als verschränken: Sein Text konstruiert die soziale Container typischer gesellschaft licher Verhält- Realität dort, wo sie sich räumlich formt. Dabei nisse für die Analyse ein besonders aufschluss- kommen ihm seine architektonischen Kenntnis- reiches Korpus darstellt, weil in ihm gerade das se bzw. Darstellungsregister zur Beschreibung ar- gesellschaft liche Unbewusste sich verkörpere, chitektonischer Phänomene ebenso zugute wie weil sich die soziale Realität ohne die „stören- der gesellschaft sdiagnostische Anspruch, den er de Dazwischenkunft des Bewußtseins“ in ihm mit der soziografi schen Reportage verbindet. Er ausdrücke. Wer auch immer an der Produktion spricht über architektonische Konstruktionen, gesellschaft licher Verhältnisse beteiligt sei, wird und dies nicht im Sinne einer Abbildung der so- hier behauptet, wisse nicht darum, dass diese Ver- zialen Wirklichkeit ihrer Nutzer oder Bewohner, hältnisse in einer Raumgestalt sich besonders un- sondern um ein „Bild“, eine Konstruktion des zensiert darböten: „Alles vom Bewußtsein Ver- Gehalts zeitgenössischer Sozialräume zu geben. leugnete, alles, was sonst gefl issentlich übersehen Am Ende der Exposition zu „Über Arbeits- wird, ist an seinem Aufbau beteiligt.“ Als All- nachweise“ steht die am häufi gsten zitierte Pas- aussage über die Produktion architektonischer sage des Textes, die hier bislang vor dem Hin- Räume kann das nicht gemeint sein: Schließlich tergrund ihres äußeren Kontextes wie ihrer ex- handelt – wie zu sehen war – ein Gutteil von positorischen Einbettung diskutiert wurde. Sie Kracauers Architekturpublizistik in der Frank- bedarf abschließend einer genaueren Re-Lektü- furter Zeitung von „Baugesinnung“, also gerade re – unter Berücksichtigung ihres inneren Kon- von den höchst bewussten „Aufbau“-Absichten textes: „Jeder typische Raum wird durch typi- professioneller Raumproduzenten. Sinn macht sche gesellschaft liche Verhältnisse zustande ge- die Aussage nur, wenn man eben nicht an bau- bracht, die sich ohne die störende Dazwischen- künstlerische ‚Leuchttürme’ denkt, sondern ge- kunft eines Bewußtseins in ihm ausdrücken“ rade an die architektonische Massenproduktion (Kracauer 1990: 186). Hier wird zunächst die – seriell geplante, gesichtslose Durchschnittsräu- große Streitfrage in der Geschichte der Sozialgeo- me, denen man prima vista keine „Baugesinnung“ grafi e – ‚Macht der Raum den Mensch oder der ablesen kann, die nicht bewohnt, sondern wech- Mensch den Raum?’ – bündig entschieden: Ganz selnd genutzt werden, die (wie heutige „Investo- im Sinne seines Lehrers Simmel optiert Kracauer renarchitektur“) nichts anderes darstellen wollen gegen einen plumpen Raumdeterminismus. Es als eine bestimmte Aufwands- und Kostenratio- sind „typische gesellschaft liche Verhältnisse“, die nalität. Gerade diese kruden Räume seien für die typische Räume hervorbringen. Zugleich aber Analyse typischer gesellschaft licher Verhältnisse wird hier eine Aussage darüber getroff en, warum besonders aufschlussreich, sagt der Raumspezia- ausgerechnet Räume als Gegenstand der Analyse list Kracauer als Soziograf – eben solche Nicht- gesellschaft licher Verhältnisse sich besonders eig- Orte, Durchgangsräume wie die, in denen ein nen: Weil in gebautem Raum sich bestimmte ge- soziales Massenschicksal wie Arbeitslosigkeit in sellschaft liche Verhältnisse materialisiert haben, der Weimarer Republik verwaltet wird. Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren

Wenn es im Folgesatz apodiktisch heißt: bislang noch nicht als Repräsentant einer „spatia- 193 „Die Raumbilder sind die Träume der Gesell- len Hermeneutik“ in Anspruch genommen wur- schaft “, dann kann im Lichte des skizzierten de, wie sie im Kontext des Spatial Turn vor allem Satzkontextes mit Raumbild nicht die Bildlich- von Karl Schlögel (2003) diskutiert und vertreten keit einer bestimmten Architektur gemeint sein. wird. Dessen titelgebendes (eine Formulierung Schon gar nicht im bildwissenschaft lichen Sinn des Anthropogeografen Friedrich Ratzel anver- ein konkretes nicht-fl ächiges Bild. Vielmehr wird wandelndes9) Programm „Im Raume lesen wir der Begriff bei Kracauer ganz off enbar metapho- die Zeit“ wird auch in Kracauers soziografi schen risch gebraucht – zum einen in erkenntniskriti- Reportagen, vor allem aber in „Über Arbeitsnach- scher Hinsicht, um das Text-Mosaik einer sozio- weise“, beherzigt. grafi schen Wirklichkeitskonstruktion in seiner qualitativen Diff erenz zu den möglichen, ‚bloß’ abbildlichen Raumfotografi en der Sozialreporta- 9 Zum Kontext des Schlögeltitels vgl. Döring/Thielmann (2008: 22). ge zu umschreiben; zum anderen mit Bezug auf eine Semantik des Unbewussten, die die gesamte Passage bestimmt, um der Produktionsweise des Betrachtet man nun, welche konkrete Pra- Unbewussten metaphorisch zu entsprechen. So xis der Raumbeschreibung diesem programmati- wie der Traum Bilder produziert, produziert er schen „Raumbild“-Begriff entsprechen soll, dann auch Raumbilder, in denen das „vom Bewußtsein zeigen sich deutlich zwei wesentliche Unterschiede Verleugnete“ mitgebaut hat. Die Rede von der zu dem Raumbild z.B. aus „Berliner Landschaft “: „Entziff erung“ einer „Hieroglyphe“ betont zu- a) Der spatiale Hermeneut der Arbeitsnachweise dem die Übersetzungsbedürft igkeit dieser Raum- nimmt keinen erhöhten Beobachterstandpunkt bilder. Auch das spräche für eine orthodox-freu- ein wie den Fensterplatz im 4. Stock am Holtzen- dianische Lesart der [Text-] Stelle: Die Raumbil- dorff platz, sondern er muss sich im Raum und der bedeuten nicht, was sie manifest darstellen, durch ihn hindurch bewegen, um ihn entziff ern sondern sind Ergebnis eines vom Träumer selbst zu können. Als Analytiker solcher Räume muss er undurchschauten Entstellungsvorgangs. Kabatek ein Peripatetiker sein; b) „Über Arbeitsnachwei- verweist in seiner Interpretation auf den die Hi- se“ beschreibt kein abstraktes Raumbild, sondern eroglyphe auszeichnenden intermedialen Kode, eine ganz spezifi sche Raum-Mensch-Anordnung, bei dem je nach Kontext die phono- oder ideo- bei der die Anwesenheit von Menschen im Raum grammatischen Zeichenanteile bedeutungskons- nicht nur zur Kenntnis genommen wird, sondern titutiv sind: „Mit einer zeittypischen, gehörigen als bedeutungskonstitutives Element zum Tragen Portion Zeichenoptimismus ist für Kracauer die kommt. Der Gegenstand der Beschreibung ent- Hieroglyphe eines Raumbildes die sichtbare Re- spricht in etwa dem, was in humangeografi scher präsentanz einer lediglich dem fl üchtigen Blick Defi nition im Unterschied zum abstrakt-metri- nicht erkennbaren Struktur“ (Kabatek 2003: schen Raum ein Ort genannt wird: nämlich ein 202). Kracauers Raumbilder stehen demnach bewohnter, ein angeeigneter Raum (Agnew 2005; für einen hybriden „Text“, der gelesen, übersetzt obwohl man sich schwertut, den Aufenthalt der und gedeutet zu werden vermag. Es ist vor die- Arbeitssuchenden an diesem Ort als „Bewohnung“ sem Hintergrund verwunderlich, dass Kracauer oder „Aneignung“ zu qualifi zieren. Entscheidend Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

194 aber für den Ortsbegriff ist der unverzichtbare As- Die Beschreibung des Innenraums nimmt pekt von agency, wie passiv und fremdbestimmt die soziale Topografi e seiner Ausstattung in den auch immer …). Das Raumbild, so wie es hier kon- Blick: das erhöhte Podest, von dem aus ein Be- struiert wird, setzt sich aus den unterschiedlichsten amter die ausgeschriebenen Stellen bekannt gibt Bestandteilen zusammen, und sein Aufbau orien- – umdrängt von dichten Scharen von Arbeitssu- tiert sich sequenziell an der Erschließung des Or- chenden, die den Verkündigungen lauschen, die tes durch den spatial-hermeneutischen Reporter. „aus der Höhe des Arbeitsgeberreiches auf sie nie- Zunächst wird die stadträumliche Umgebung derträufeln“ (Kracauer 1990: 187). Kracauer re- beschrieben: „die nähere Umgebung“ zeigt sich gistriert das Mobiliar der Arbeitsnachweise und „mit Zillefi guren bevölkert“ und nicht als „der ge- seine massennutzungsrobuste Beschaff enheit, be- eignete Aufenthalt für edle Karosserien“ – gemeint stehend „aus Tischen und Bänken, solider recht- sind jene der Arbeitgeber, die aus Angst um ihre winkliger Ware, die einen derben Puff schon ver- „kostbaren Wagen“ den Weg zum Arbeitsnach- trägt“. Der Innenraum ist also schon in Erwartung weis scheuten, um eine Stelle anzubieten. Dann von möglicherweise mangelhaft aff ektmodellier- beschreibt Kracauer die Situierung des Raums im ten Benutzern ausgestattet. Kracauer konstelliert Gebäudekomplex: Die Arbeitsnachweise sind in diese Beobachtung mit einem Schild an der Wand, der Regel in Hinterhäusern und -höfen unterge- das – in den räumlichen Kontext der „elenden bracht. Sein Beispiel ist der Arbeitsnachweis im Tische und Bänke“ gerückt – ein Beispiel dafür dritten Stock eines Hinterhauses, zu dem man sich abgibt, was mit der aktiven Konstruktion eines erst „durch die endlose Geruchszone einer Volks- Raumbildes gemeint sein könnte. Der Zusam- speiseanstalt durchzuarbeiten“ hat. Zu der räumli- menhang von Mobiliar und Schildaufschrift wird chen Deklassierung der Arbeitssuchenden gehört nicht vorgefunden und abbildlich geschildert, er off enbar auch eine Geografi e des Olfaktorischen. muss vielmehr zuallererst erfasst und hergestellt An solchen Details bewährt sich die teilnehmende werden. Das Schild besagt: „Arbeitslose, hütet Beobachtung des Reporters als Soziografen. Der und schützt / allgemeines Eigentum“. In seinem Rückschluss von den gesellschaft lichen Verhältnis- Kommentar zu dieser innenräumlichen Konstel- sen auf die Räume, in denen sie sich ausdrücken, lation greift Kracauer die expositorischen Bemer- folgt auf dem Fuße – und bislang ist der zu beschrei- kungen zu einem räumlich Unbewussten explizit bende Raum noch gar nicht von innen betreten: wieder auf. Er diff erenziert dabei zwischen sub- jektiv-gemeintem und objektiv-latentem Bedeu- „Daß er [der Arbeitsnachweis; J.D.] den Ein- tungsgehalt des „Raumbildes“ – als unbewusste druck eines an die Hinterfr ont verstoßenen Spei- Fehlleistung der Raumplaner und -gestalter: chers macht, hat durchaus seine Richtigkeit. Auch die Arbeitslosen harren an der Hinterfr ont des „Bei dem gering entwickelten Sprachgefühl in gegenwärtigen Produktionsprozesses. Sie scheiden Deutschland ist anzunehmen, daß die öff entliche aus ihm als Abfallprodukte aus, sie sind die Reste, Ermahnung harmlos gemeint ist und wohl auch die übrig bleiben. Der ihnen angewiesene Raum harmlos aufgefaßt wird. Aber die Worte entwinden kann unter den herrschenden Umständen kaum sich leicht dem Benutzer, der sie nicht zu benutzen ein anderes Aussehen als das einer Rumpelkammer versteht, und verraten: nicht was er sich gedacht haben.“ (Kracauer 1990: 186f.) hat, sondern was ihm so selbstverständlich ist, daß Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren er es gar nicht mehr bedenken muß [...] Gewiß, es Wenn sie bislang kontextualisiert wurde, dann 195 heißt: allgemeines Eigentum; für die Erwerbslo- in der Regel mit dem (berechtigten) Verweis sen jedoch, deren viele gegenwärtig als Objekt der auf andere berühmte programmatische Aus- öff entlichen Wohltätigkeit enden, ist auch das all- sagen von Kracauer wie „Die Wirklichkeit ist gemeine Eigentum nicht allgemein genug, um den eine Konstruktion“ aus den Angestellten oder – Privatcharakter einzubüßen. Zum Überfl uß sollen häufi ger noch: „Der Ort, den eine Epoche im sie dieses Eigentum, von dessen regulärem Mitge- Geschichtsprozeß einnimmt, ist aus der Analy- nuß sie ohne ihre Schuld ausgeschlossen sind, noch se ihrer unscheinbaren Oberfl ächenäußerungen hüten und schützen. Wofür der ganze Aufwand an schlagender zu bestimmen als aus den Urteilen großartigen Vokabeln? Für ein paar elende Tische der Epoche über sich selbst“ aus dem Ornament und Bänke [...] So hütet und schützt die Gesell- der Masse (Kracauer 1977: 50). Hier hingegen schaft das Eigentum; sie umgibt es auch dort, wo sollte abschließend gezeigt werden, dass es sich seine Verteidigung gar nicht nötig wäre, mit sprach- lohnt, auch den inneren Kontext von Kracauers lichen Gräben und Wällen. Vermutlich tut sie es reportagehaft er „Konstruktion eines Raums“ zu absichtslos, und vielleicht merkt kaum ein Betrof- berücksichtigen. fener, daß sie es tut. Aber das ist eben das Genie der Sprache: daß sie Auft räge erfüllt, die ihr nicht erteilt worden sind, und Bastionen im Unbewuß- Schluss ten errichtet.“ (Kracauer 1990: 188f.) Das close reading in gewisser Hinsicht modell- Vergleichbare Deutungen sind der Wand- haft er Texte für das Großstadtfeuilleton bei Kra- aufschrift „Milch ist gesund. Aber wie genießt cauer und in der Weimarer Republik ganz im All- man sie? Nie ohne etwas zu essen“ und einem gemeinen sollte mindestens die Variationsbreite Buntdruck gewidmet, der zur Unfallverhütung dieser Art der Stadtlektüre veranschaulichen. beim Umgang des Arbeiters mit der Maschine Die Texttypen Flanerie, Vedute und in-situ-So- auff ordert mit dem Satz: „Denk an Deine Mut- ziografi e weisen über den hier verhandelten Au- ter“: „Nichts kennzeichnet aber die Beschaf- tor Kracauer hinaus und können zwanglos auch fenheit des Raumes mehr, als daß in ihm sogar für andere Autoren dieses Zeitraums und solcher Unfallbilder zu Ansichtskartengrüßen aus der Textsorten im Zeitungskontext in Anschlag ge- glücklichen Oberwelt der Tarifl öhne werden“ bracht werden. Holistisch und kontextsensibel (Kracauer 1990: 192). – zwei Eigenschaft en, die auch das urbanistische Zugegeben: Die spatiale Hermeneutik, die Reading the City als Voraussetzung hat10 – sind Kracauers Text betreibt, bewährt sich vor al- diese Texte allein schon aufgrund der Ich-Pers- lem an sprachlichen Elementen der Raumge- pektive, die sie einzunehmen sich nicht scheuen. staltung, weniger an den im engeren Sinne ar- Als Vorgeschichte auch der wissenschaft lichen chitektonischen. Auch das ist ein Befund, will Stadtforschung nach 1945 wären sie erst noch man die Praxis der Raumbeschreibung in „Über zu entdecken. Arbeitsnachweise“ als Anwendungsfall lesen, in dem der methodische Gehalt der berühmten, 10 Vgl. die Einleitung zu diesem Band. „Raumbild“-Sentenz auf dem Prüfstand steht. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

196 Literatur Eckert, Brita; Berthold, Werner (Hg.), 1979: Joseph Roth 1894 –1939. Eine Ausstel- Agnew, John, 2005: Space:Place. In: Paul lung der Deutschen Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main, Cloke; Ron Johnston (Hg.) Spaces of Geograph- Frankfurt/M. ical Th ought, London, Th ousand Oaks, New Del- hi: , Sage Publications, S. 81–96. Hessel, Franz, 1929: Spazieren in Berlin, Leipzig/Wien: Epstein. Augé , Marc, 1994: Orte und Nicht-Orte. Vor- überlegungen zu einer Ethnologie der Einsamkeit, Kabatek, Wolfgang, 2003: Siegfried Kracau- Frankfurt/M.: Fischer. ers Verfahren der Oberfl ächenlektüre. In: Micha- el Barchet; Donata Koch-Haag; Karl Sierek (Hg.) Barthes, Roland, 1988: Semiologie und Ausstellen – Der Raum der Oberfl äche, Weimar: Stadtplanung. In: ders., Das semiologische Aben- Vdg-Verlag, S. 199–224. teuer, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp, S. 199–209. Kauff mann, Kai; Schütz, Erhard (Hg.), 2000: Benjamin, Walter, 1972: Einbahnstraße. In: Die lange Geschichte der Kleinen Form. Beiträge ders., Gesammelte Werke, Bd. IV.1, hg. v. Tilmann zur Feuilletonforschung, Berlin: Weidler. Rexroth, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. Kisch, Egon Erwin, 1982 [1925]: Der rasen- Bienert, Michael, 1992: Die eingebildete Me- de Reporter, Berlin: Reiss tropole. Berlin im Feuilleton der Weimarer Repu- blik, Stuttgart: Metzler. Kracauer, Siegfried, 1931: Aus dem Fenster gesehen. In: Frankfurter Zeitung , 8. November Blumenberg, Hans, 2003: Die Lesbarkeit der 1931, S. 40f. Welt, Frankfurt/Main: Suhrkamp. Kracauer, Siegfried, 1971 [1929]: Die An- Bollenbeck, Georg; Knobloch, Clemens gestellten. Aus dem neuesten Deutschland, (Hg.), 2001: Semantischer Umbau der Geistes- Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. wissenschaft en nach 1933 und 1945, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter. Kracauer, Siegfried, 1977: Das Ornament der Masse. Essays, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. Börne, Ludwig, 1964: Schilderungen aus Pa- ris (1822–24). In: ders., Sämtliche Schrift en, Bd. Kracauer, Siegfried, 1987: Die Unterfüh- 2, hg. v. Inge und Peter Rippmann, Düsseldorf: rung. In: ders.: Straßen in Berlin und anderswo, Melzer, S. 3–190. Berlin: Arsenal, S. 38f.

Döring, Jörg/Th ielmann, Tristan (Hg.), Kracauer, Siegfried, 1990: Über Arbeitsnach- 2008: Spatial Turn. Das Raumparadigma in weise. Konstruktion eines Raumes. In: ders.: Schrif- den Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaft en, Bielefeld: ten Bd. 5.2: Aufsätze 1927–1931, hg. v. Inka Mül- Transcript. der-Bach, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp, S. 185–192. Jörg Döring Urbane Semiologie im Feuilleton: Siegfried Kracauers Stadtlektüren

Kracauer, Siegfried, 2006 [1929]: Unbe- Schütz, Erhard, 1992: ‚Kurfürstendamm‘ 197 kanntes Gebiet. In: ders., Werke, Bd. 1, hg. v. oder Berlin als geistiger Kriegsschauplatz. Das Inka Mülder-Bach, unter Mitarbeit v. Mirjam Textmuster ‚Berlin‘ in der Weimarer Republik. In: Wenzel, Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp, S. 217–222 Klaus Siebenhaar (Hg.) Das poetische Berlin. Me- tropolenkultur zwischen Gründerzeit und Natio- Niefanger, Dirk, 1999: Gesellschaft als Text. nalsozialismus, Wiesbaden: Deutscher Univer- Zum Verhältnis von Soziographie und Literatur sitäts-Verlag, S. 163–191. bei Siegfried Kracauer. In: Deutsche Vierteljah- resschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Geistesge- Schütz, Erhard, 2009: Bei der Zeitungshu- schichte (DVjs), S. 162–180. re. Joseph Roth in Berlin. In: Der Tagesspiegel, 26. Juni 2009. Prümm, Karl, 1988: Die Stadt der Reporter und Kinogänger. Das Berlin der zwanziger Jah- Stalder, Helmut, 2003: Siegfr ied Kracauer. re im Feuilleton der ‚Frankfurter Zeitung‘. In: Das journalistische Werk in der Frankfurter Zei- Klaus R. Scherpe (Hg.) Die Unwirklichkeit der tung 1921–1933, Würzburg: Königshausen & Städte. Großstadtdarstellungen zwischen Moder- Neumann. ne und Postmoderne, Reinbek bei Hamburg: Ro- wohlt, S. 80–105.

Roth, Joseph, 1929: Der Kurfürstendamm. In: Münchner Neueste Nachrichten, 29. September 1929.

Scharnowski, Susanne, 2006: ‚Berlin ist schön, Berlin ist groß.‘ Feuilletonistische Blicke auf Berlin: Alfred Kerr, Robert Walser, Joseph Roth und Bernard von Brentano. In: Matthias Harder; Almut Hille (Hg.) Weltfabrik Berlin. Eine Metropole als Sujet der Literatur, Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, S. 67–82.

Scharnowski, Susanne, 2008: ‚Neben- und Durcheinander von Kostbarem und Garstigem‘. Das feuilletonistische Berliner Großstadtbild als Dokument der Moderne. In: Zeitschrift für Li- teraturwissenschaft und Linguistik (LiLi), 149, 38, S. 34–50.

Schlögel, Karl, 2003: Im Raume lesen wir die Zeit. Über Zivilisationsgeschichte und Geopolitik, München/Wien: Carl Hanser. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

198 Oliver Fahle Die Sichtbarkeit der Stadt Moderne und gegenwärtige Konzepte des Stadtﬁ lms

Der Stadtfi lm die Stadt als ästhetische Konfi guration, die durch den Film herausgestellt oder gar erst hergestellt Film und Großstadt sind komplementä- wird (Fahle 2000). re Phänomene. Beide sind im 19. Jahrhundert Der folgende Text fokussiert vor allem den entstanden, beide sind Resultat der industri- Unterschied zwischen dem modernen Film, der ellen und technischen Moderne, beide haben sich ab den 1960er-Jahren etabliert, und dem Wahrnehmung und Wissen neu geordnet, bei- nach-postmodernen Film ab den 1990er-Jah- de beruhen auf der ständigen Herausforderung, ren. Eine vorläufi ge fi lmhistorische Untertei- Bewegung und Fragmentierung neu zu ordnen lung könnte nach meiner Auff assung vier Typen und zu synthetisieren (Engell 1992, 21). Filme von Stadtfi lmen unterscheiden. Die Filme der sind in Städten entstanden und haben dort ihr 1920er-Jahre konstruieren vor allem Experimen- Publikum und – das Wichtigste – sie spielen talstädte, wenn man neben den genannten, die in ihrer überwiegenden Mehrheit auch in Städ- oft Resultat hervorgehobener fi lmischer Monta- ten. Allerdings ist nicht jeder Film, der Städte ge sind, besonders auch an Metropolis (Fritz Lang, als Handlungsort auff ührt, ein Stadtfi lm. Zu ei- D 1926) denkt. Ab den 1930er-Jahren setzt sich nem solchen wird er nur, wenn die Stadt selbst das Studiosystem Hollywoods endgültig durch. als Protagonist auft ritt, wenn sie nicht nur Ku- Die Städte, die dort inszeniert werden, sind vor al- lisse, sondern selbst Handlungsträger oder Ort lem Studiostädte, das heißt künstliche, auf das je- eigener ästhetischer Produktion wird. Dies ist weilige Genre abgestimmte Orte. Herausragend etwa im Film der 1920er-Jahre in besonderem ist sicherlich der „fi lm noir“ mit seinen Schwarz- Maße der Fall. Filme wie Der Mann mit der Weiß-Nuancierungen und Kontrasten, die Städte Kamera (Dziga Vertov SU 1929), Berlin, Sinfo- zum Ort des Verbrechens und der dunklen Lei- nie einer Großstadt (Walter Ruttmann, D 1927), denschaft en machen (Werner 2000). Die Städ- Ménilmontant (Dimitri Kirsanof, F 1924) oder te im modernen Film ab den 1960er-Jahren, die Th e crowd (King Vidor, USA 1928) behandeln im nächsten Kapitel genauer untersucht werden Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

200 sollen, können als fragmentierte Städte bezeich- vielleicht die paradigmatische Form der Stadt- net werden. Sie entsprechen am ehesten den mo- wahrnehmung und von der Stadtsoziologie ver- dernen Stadterfahrungen als Ort vielfältiger und schiedentlich thematisiert worden (vgl. Böttner heterogener Wahrnehmung, als fragmentiertes 1989). Dort wird die Stadt als Zusammenstellung Ganzes, das nur durch Einzelausschnitte erfahr- des Heterogenen verstanden. Ruttmans Sinfonie bar wird. Schließlich entstehen die Informati- einer Großstadt oder auch Jean-Luc Godards A onsstädte der Gegenwart, die besonders in Ab- bout de souffl e (F 1959) sind recht eindeutige und setzung von modernen Konzepten genauer ana- populäre Beispiele einer solchen Fragmentierung, lysiert werden sollen. Diese Informationsstädte wie sie vor allem in dissonanten Montageformen, stellen neue Erfahrungsformen des Sichtbaren etwa dem Jump Cut, zum Ausdruck kommen. bereit, etwa indem sie teilweise an Computer- Die Beispiele ließen sich leicht erweitern.1 spielästhetik anknüpfen (vgl. Fahle 2006) und Die Stadt als Labyrinth – zweites Konzept – indem sie sich vom Konzept der Lesbarkeit und begreift die Stadt als einen Raum voller Hinweise der semiotischen Dechiff rierung, wie sie sich für und Wegweiser, ohne dass jedoch ein klares Ziel die Stadtfi lme der 1960er-Jahre, wenigstens als anvisiert werden kann. Zum Stadtlabyrinth Krisenphänomen, noch darstellen, absetzen. gehört das Steckenbleiben, die Unwissenheit darüber, welcher Weg tatsächlich zu einem nicht Der moderne Stadtfi lm immer klar defi nierbaren Ziel führt. Klassisches Beispiel ist Fritz Langs M – Eine Stadt sucht einen Ich möchte vier Inszenierungsformen vorschla- Mörder (1931), aber auch Jacques Rivettes Paris- gen, die den modernen Film ab etwa den 1960er- Filme sind hier einschlägig. Zu denken wäre auch Jahren in herausgehobener Weise prägen. Diese For- an Martin Scorseses Inszenierungen von New men sind Fragment, Labyrinth, Dechiff rierung und York . beliebiger Raum. Sie sind von verschiedenen Au- Das dritte Konzept nenne ich Dechiff rie- toren wie etwa Walter Benjamin (Benjamin 2002) rung. Der Begriff ist lose an Walter Benjamin und vor allem von verschiedenen Künsten, etwa der angelehnt, der die Erfahrungswelten der mo- Literatur (vgl. unter anderen Dos Passos 1966), vor- dernen Stadt prägnant beschrieben hat. Beispiel- gezeichnet, erhalten im Film aber einen eigenen au- gebend für den Dechiff rierer der Großstadt ist diovisuellen Charakter. Diese Konzepte sollen nun der Flaneur. Er streift durch die Straßen vor al- kurz erläutert werden. lem deshalb, um zu beobachten. Die Wahrneh- mungsform des Flaneurs kann als „pointillistische Erfahrung“ (Waldenfels 1990, 251) verstanden 1 Ich denke etwa auch an Jürgen Böttchers Jahrgang 45 (DDR werden, die sich von ständigen De- und Rekon- 1965), in dem die Stadt als Fragment und Aufbau inszeniert wird. textualisierungen leiten lässt. Hier könnte man wieder Godards A bout de souffl e anführen, etwa die Szene, in der eine Leuchtschrift an einem Ge- Fragment bezeichnet die Filme, die Stadt bäude Hinweise für den Gang der Handlung gibt, so inszenieren, dass sie nur noch fragmenta- aber auch Masculin Féminin (1966) oder Deux ou risch wahrgenommen und somit nicht mehr trois choses que je sais d’elle (1967), beide ebenfalls als Einheit begriff en werden kann. Dies ist von Godard. In letzterem wird die Bebauung von Oliver Fahle Die Sichtbarkeit der Stadt. Moderne und gegenwärtige Konzepte des Stadtﬁ lms

Paris zum Zeichen kapitalistischer Korruption eigene Visualität entfalten, die sich noch diesseits 201 und Enthemmung. Auch Wim Wenders’ Alice in von semiotischer Lesbarkeit entwickelt. Räume den Städten (D 1974) oder Eric Rohmers L’ami werden dabei in ihrer Entstehung und Verdich- de mon ami (F 1987) funktionieren in ähnlicher tung gezeigt, mithin auch als variable und per- Weise. meable Schichten. Neben ihrer Funktion, lesba- Das letzte Konzept schließlich ist der belie- re topografi sche Größen darzustellen (Straßen, bige Raum, den Deleuze im Anschluss an Marc Parks, Häuser, Zimmer, Gegenden, Favelas etc.), Augé für den Film herausgestellt hat (Deleuze werden sie in ihrer instabilen Konstruktion the- 1989, 151). Hier werden besonders öff entliche matisiert und gleichsam von innen heraus neu Durchgangsorte thematisiert, etwa Bahnhöfe, erschaff en. Da sich der städtische Raum nicht Flughäfen, Marktplätze, Hotels oder Cafés, die mehr entfaltet, sondern vielmehr in sich zusam- sich vor allem als fl üchtige und sich permanent menzieht, möchte ich die damit verbundenen fi l- destabilisierende Räume begreifen lassen, die mischen Konstruktionen als Ästhetik der Dichte ohne feste Zuschreibungen von Identität und bezeichnen. Geschichte auskommen müssen (Augé 1994).2 Die besonders modernen Montagetechniken, wie wir sie von Godard oder Bresson kennen, aber 2 Der These Augés, dass die Transitionsorte Bahnhof, Flughafen, auch die leeren Straßen Antonionis aus L’eclisse Hotels oder Cafés Orte ohne Identität seien, ist allerdings auf der Tagung, (1962) wären Beispiele für die von Filmen insze- die dem Sammelband zu Grund liegt, mit Recht widersprochen worden. nierten beliebigen Stadträume, die mit den von senso-motorischen Handlungen entkoppelten Aktionsräumen des modernen Films insgesamt Ästhetik der Dichte oder der Film ab den in Verbindung stehen. Herausgehobenes Beispiel 1990er-Jahren zuletzt ist Terminal (2004) von Steven Spielberg, der den Flughafen als Nicht-Ort entfaltet, in dem Denken wir an den Beginn von L.A. Crash (Paul sich Personen aufh alten, die ihrerseits keine rech- Haggis, USA 2004): Aus dem nur von einigen ver- te Identität aufweisen, allerdings den Flughafen schwommenen Lichtern leicht erhelltem Dunkel andererseits zu einem Ort der Identitätssuche heraus spricht der Polizist Graham: „Es ist das Ge- hervorheben. fühl der Berührung. In jeder normalen Stadt be- Die hier aufgeführten modernen Stadtkon- rührt man einander, man rempelt sich an. In L. A. zepte lehnen sich an die Idee einer Lesbarkeit berührt dich niemand. Alles hinter Metall und Glas. der Stadt an, thematisieren aber zugleich deren Wir vermissen die Berührung so sehr, dass wir erst Krise. Der Stadtraum legt zwar Fährten, aber kollidieren müssen, um etwas zu fühlen.“ Kollision er verweigert sich doch der Lesbarkeit, die in als das unvorhersehbare und fatale Zusammentref- Umherstreifen und Beliebigkeit mündet. Meine fen auf einem Raum, der eigentlich nur für einen Th ese ist, dass sich die Stadtinszenierung vom und nicht für zwei oder mehrere Platz bietet, be- modernen Ansatz der Lesbarkeit zur Entfaltung schreibt die extreme Form der Ästhetik der Dich- von Sichtbarkeit wandelt. Städte sind dann nicht te, die ich im Folgenden – analog zur numerischen mehr nur Räume, die entziff ert werden wollen, Analogie der oben genannten klassischen Konzepte sondern selbst in Szene gesetzt werden und eine – ebenfalls in vier Punkte aufspalten möchte. Diese Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

202 vier Konzepte nenne ich Simultanraum, Kontin- Veränderung des Raums verloren. Die Frage, genzraum, Aff ektraum und Kontraktionsraum.3 wie ein Raum von seinen Bedingungen und Kennzeichnend sind die narrativ-experimentel- seiner medialen Beschaff enheit abhängt, wie len Verschränkungen verschiedener Erzählebe- er als Gestalt erst sichtbar wird, kann mit der nen, die Episodenstruktur, die Neukonfi gurati- Beschränkung auf unterschiedliche Zeitformen onen des chronologisch-narrativen Schemas so- nur unzulänglich beschrieben werden, denn die- wie insbesondere eine neue Raumästhetik, die an se schreibt dem Raum einfach unterschiedliche die dichten Räume des Computerspiels erinnern. temporale Modi zu und ordnet ihn der Zeit un- Betrachten wir die Konzepte genauer. ter. Der Raum als wandelbare Größe kommt so nicht in den Blick. Besonders gut sichtbar wird diese Konfi guration des Raums etwa, wenn er 3 Diese vier Konzepte lassen sich sicherlich erweitern. In einer wiederholend dargestellt wird. So ist das zum Diskussion zum Thema kam u. a. der Vorschlag des Steuerungsraums, der Beispiel in Lola rennt (Tom Tykwer, D 1999) schon direkt auf das Computerspiel verweist. zu beobachten, wenn der gleiche Platz drei Mal von Lola durchrannt wird. Gerade die scheinbar neutrale Durchquerung zeigt die Abhängigkeit Erstens: Simultanraum. Eigentlich dient der des Raums von seiner fi gurativen Anordnung. Begriff des Simultanen zur Beschreibung tempo- Es ist eben entscheidend, ob Lola den Platz ein- raler Verhältnisse. Selten gerät dabei das Räumli- mal gerade und einmal quer entlang der Qua- che in den Blick. Das ist nachvollziehbar, kehrt dersteine läuft . Ein besonders schönes Beispiel sich der Simultanraum schließlich gegen eine We- fi ndet sich auch in Episode 2 von Lola rennt, sensbestimmung des Raums, die Georg Simmel wenn Lola Manni fast erreicht hat, bevor dieser getroff en hat: den Supermarkt Bolle überfallen will. Der Raum wird vervielfältigt, der gleiche Raum aus zwei „Wie es nur einen einzigen allgemeinen Raum Perspektiven sichtbar. Das allein ist noch nicht gibt, von dem alle einzelnen Räume Stücke sind, das Entscheidende, sondern der Übergang, der so hat jeder Raumteil eine Art von Einzigartigkeit, Moment des Eindringens von Lola in den zu- für die es kaum eine Analogie gibt. Einen bestimmt nächst anderen Raum, weil erst dadurch der Si- lokalisierten Raumteil in der Mehrzahl zu denken, multanraum produziert wird. Zwei getrennte ist ein völliger Widersinn“ (Simmel 1986, 223). Räume werden zu einem, der aber in sich noch einmal in zwei Perspektiven aufgespaltet wird. Die Einzigartigkeit des Raumteils ist eine In City of God (Fernando Meirelles, Brasilien Grundbestimmung des Raumdenkens. Ein Si- 20020) sind es immer wieder dieselben Gas- multanraum würde jedoch die Einzigartigkeit sen, in denen die Protagonisten auft auchen. jedes Raumteils aufh eben und es gleichsam viel- Auch ist die Wandlung des Appartements, in fältig verfügbar machen. Wenn dies geschieht, dem der Drogenhandel sein Zentrum hat, hier greift die Filmtheorie gerne zum Begriff der einzuordnen. Die Veränderung des Raums wird Zeit. Der Raum ist dann verzeitlicht und kann von einem Punkt im Film über drei Rückblen- deshalb gleichsam mehrmals besetzt werden. den gezeigt, die zwar narrativ gesehen auf un- Dabei geht aber der Blick auf die physische terschiedliche temporale Schichten verweisen, Oliver Fahle Die Sichtbarkeit der Stadt. Moderne und gegenwärtige Konzepte des Stadtﬁ lms visuell aber den gleichen Raum in verschiede- Drittens: Aff ektraum. Unter Aff ekt verstehe 203 nen, kaum unterscheidbaren Varianten zeigt. ich hier nicht das Verhältnis von Bild und Rezi- In Chungking Express (Wong Kar Wai, China pient, wie es in den meisten Th eorien zum Aff ekt 1996) ist dies vielleicht am radikalsten durch- formuliert wird. Es geht also nicht um die emo- geführt: Die Passage, in der nahezu der gesamte tionale Steuerung des Zuschauers, die der Film Film spielt, ist zeitweise ein einziges verschwim- mit seinen Mitteln zu produzieren imstande ist. mendes Raumknäuel, das immer wieder neu aus Unter Aff ektraum möchte ich die Produktion den Bildordnungen hervortaucht. eines bestimmten Bildraums verstehen, der ten- Zweitens: Kontingenzraum. Diese Kategorie denziell die Raumkoordinaten aufgibt und eine dürft e am ehesten einleuchten und bedarf we- Visualität entwirft , die sich zwischen den Bildern niger Erläuterung. Das Nicht-Vorhersehbare ist abspielt, die Bilder – und ihre Raumstellen – so die off ensichtlichste Konsequenz der narrativen weit verdichtet, dass diese selbst verschwinden. Umordnungen, die diese Filme vornehmen. Vor- Es handelt sich dabei also vor allem um Bilder, aussetzung für Kontingenz ist zudem die Begeg- die sich gegenseitig affi zieren – vielleicht ähnlich nung mit dem Fremden oder die Erwartung des wie das im Musikclip oft eingesetzt wird. Es ist so, Nicht-Erwartbaren. Auch dies ist normalerweise als würden sich nicht nur die Räume emotional eine temporale Kategorie, die aber nun im Rah- aufl aden, sondern auch die Bilder, was zu entspre- men des Stadtraums eine entscheidende räumli- chenden Verdichtungen führt. In der Inszenie- che Dimension erhält. Denn Kontingenz heißt rung des Raums von Chungking Express wird das nun nicht einfach nur grundsätzlich zeit- und zum Beispiel sehr off ensichtlich. Ein Bild ist da- ereignisoff en, sondern es bezieht dies vor allem bei durchsetzt von anderen Bildern – gemeinsam auf räumliche Nähe. Nur weil man sich in der produzieren sie einen off enen Raum des Sichtba- Nähe des anderen aufh ält, ist Kontingenz über- ren, einen multiplen und variablen Raum. Die haupt denkbar. Die paradoxen Situationen, die Grenzen des Bildes, seine Kadrierungen, werden in L.A.Crash vorgeführt werden – etwa der ras- dabei gleichsam durchstoßen und auf transversa- sistisch-sexistische Polizist, der die von ihm gele Bewegungen durch die einzelnen Rahmungen demütigte Frau aus dem brennenden Auto ret- hindurch geöff net. In L.A. Crash und Short Cuts ten muss, oder umgekehrt: der gute, politisch (Robert Altman, USA 1993) verschwinden die korrekte Polizist, der aus Angst einen unschul- Städte öft er mal im nächtlichen Lichtermeer, ei- digen Schwarzen erschießt – diese paradoxen nem pixelartigen Panorama, das die Objekte der Situationen sind dem räumlichen Zusammen- Stadtwelt (also Häuser und Autos) zu einem vi- treff en geschuldet, die nur die Stadt mit ihrer suellen Feld zusammenzieht. Die Gassen, Höfe speziellen Einheit des Heterogenen produziert und Appartements der Favela in City of God sind (hier besonders akzentuiert durch die Enge des einfach zu eng – die zumeist tödlichen Ereignisse Autoinneren). Auch in Chungking Express und drängen sich dort zusammen. Immer sind zu viele City of God ist jede Handlung durch die Enge Personen in einem Zimmer oder auf der Straße, der Passage bzw. der Favela provoziert, zu denen so, als müsse man sich zwanghaft aus nächster es praktisch kein außen gibt. Für die Favela gilt: Nähe erschießen, um ein bisschen Platz zu schaf- Wer den Falschen zur falschen Zeit anrempelt, fen. Genau diese Enge der Favela, die in einigen bezahlt dies mit dem Leben. wenigen Szenen mit der Weite der Außenwelt, vor Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

204 allem des Strandes, kontrastiert wird, erfordert Damit komme ich – viertens – zum Kon- eine schnelle Reaktion nicht nur der Bewohner, traktionsraum, der vorwiegend mit Auf- und sondern auch der Bilder, die im Augenblick ihres Entladung zu tun hat. Alle angesprochenen Fil- Auft auchens auch schon wieder verschwunden me haben es mit einer ständigen Abfolge dieser sind. Der Aff ektraum koppelt also die physische Auf- und Entladungszustände zu tun, die sich Dichte des Stadtraums mit der Ereignisdichte von gewohnter Narration unterscheidet. Es geht der Bilder. weniger darum, im Laufe des fi lmischen Ablaufs zwei, drei Höhepunkte zu inszenieren, auf die der Rest der Handlung ausgerichtet ist, sondern die 4 In diesem Rahmen kann man andere Filme heranziehen, die eine Filme zielen auf eine Streuung von Höhepunk- Ästhetik der Dichte produzieren und besonders mit der Konstruktion eines ten über das gesamte Geschehen hinweg. Ruhe- informatischen Raums zu tun haben. Der Staatsfeind Nr. 1 (Tony Scott, 1998) ist pausen sind kaum vorgesehen. Der Stadtraum ist dafür ein Beispiel, der den Stadtraum in überwachende Informationseinheiten dabei wie eine Art dezentrales Kraft - oder Ener- aufl öst. Die narrativen Konsequenzen aus dieser Konstruktion zieht der Film allerdings nicht und bleibt brav den Ideen der Überlegenheit des einzelnen giefeld zu begreifen, wobei sich die Energie bei Individuums und der linearen Erzählstruktur verpfl ichtet. Ansammlung und Stauung entlädt und gleichsam an einen anderen Ort weiter transportiert wird, jedenfalls nicht verloren geht. Der abrupte Der Aff ektraum hat allerdings noch eine Ausbruch mit nur kurzer Vorbereitung ist dabei weitere Dimension. Alle Filme sind von Bildern ein über den jeweiligen Film häufi g gestreuter anderer Medien durchsetzt. Comics in Lola Topos. Ein Anrempeln von Lola kann eine gan- rennt, ganz obsessiv Fernsehbilder in Short Cuts, ze Lebensgeschichte beeinfl ussen, wie in den fo- Leuchtreklame in Chungking Express, Fotografi e tografi schen Fortsetzungsfolgen jeweils gezeigt; in City of God. Die Filmbilder stehen also in ei- ein falscher Blick kann viele Menschen das Leben nem Verhältnis zu diesen anderen Bildern, was kosten, wie in City of God, wenn Mané Galinha jeweils im Einzelnen diskutiert werden müsste. Zé Pequeno nur einen Moment zu lange ansieht. Werden sie von diesen Bildern hervorgebracht, Oder eine irrtümliche Assoziation in einem en- sind sie abhängig von ihnen, stehen sie zu ihnen gen Polizeiwagen kann in der ethnisch aufgelade- in Kontrast? – das wären entscheidende Fragen, nen Atmosphäre von Los Angeles zum tödlichen die hier nicht beantwortet werden können, aber Schuss führen, wie in L.A. Crash. Auch hier ist eines wenigstens deutlich machen. Die Filme öff - das permanente Zusammenziehen von Situatio- nen selbst einen transmedialen Raum, in dem nen ein Resultat des Zusammentreff ens und der die Filmbilder nicht mehr dominieren, sondern räumlichen Verdichtung. Bilder unter anderen sind. Die Stadt ist hier ein Diese vier Konzepte, Simultan-, Kontin- globaler, multimedialer Informationsraum, in genz-, Aff ekt- und Kontraktionsraum, ergän- dem sich verschiedene Bilderordnungen kreuzen und dominieren also die Filme der 1990er- zen und affi zieren.4 Genau deshalb, wegen dieser Jahre und legen erste Spuren einer Ästhetik der Abstrahierung von gewohnten Raumordnungen, Dichte. Sie schließen dabei durchaus an soziolo- sind das physische Zusammentreff en, die phy- gische Bestimmungen der Stadt an, wenn man sische Dichte so explosiv. Nichts berührt sich, etwa Armin Nassehi folgt, der die Stadt als Zu- alles kollidiert. sammentreff en des Verschiedenen und Einheit Oliver Fahle Die Sichtbarkeit der Stadt. Moderne und gegenwärtige Konzepte des Stadtfi lms der Diff erenz betrachtet, „(...) denn Städte sind Deleuze, Gilles, 1989: Kino 1. Das Bewe- 205 letztendlich nichts anderes als soziale Operatio- gungs-Bild. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp nen, deren Verbindendes allein in der räumlichen Begrenzung und Verdichtung an einem Ort zu John Dos Passos, 1966: Manhattan Transfer. sehen ist“ (Nassehi 2002, 215). Dennoch trei- Reinbek bei Hamburg: rororo. ben die Filme der Gegenwart diese Defi nition weiter, sind doch die Verdichtungsmerkmale der Engell, Lorenz, 1992: Sinn und Industrie. Stadt zunächst noch im Einklang mit der Bestim- Einführung in die Filmgeschichte. Frankfurt/New mung des Raums nach Simmel zu begreifen, in York: Campus. der – trotz Verdichtung – jedes Raumteil einzig- artig ist. Der Film arbeitet also an einer höheren Fahle, Oliver, 2000: Jenseits des Bildes. Poe- Verdichtungsstufe, indem er das Bild in mehre- tik des fr anzösischen Films der zwanziger Jahre. re sich überlagernde Sichtbarkeitsschichten auf- Mainz: Bender. löst. Diese neuen Räume (wenn man sie noch als Raum begreifen möchte) sind nicht mehr durch Fahle, Oliver, 2006: Die Stadt als Spielfeld. sich überlagernde Objekt- oder Zeichenstruktu- Raumästhetik in Film und Computerspiel, in: ren zu verstehen, wie sie die moderne Großstadt Rainer Leschke/Jochen Venus (Hrsg.): Spielfor- vielfach herstellt (etwa Leuchtschrift en auf Häu- men im Spielfi lm. Zur Medienmorphologie des Ki- serfassaden), sondern als Grenzgang und Virtu- nos nach der Postmoderne. Bielefeld: transcript. alisierung des Raums selbst. Filme beschreiben S. 225–238. damit nicht nur konkrete Stadträume (New York, Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, Los Angeles), sondern auch Nassehi, Armin, 2002: Dichte Räume. Städ- ihre Wahrnehmung im Zeitalter sich überkreu- te als Synchronisations- und Exklusionsmaschi- zender medialer Steuerungselemente. nen, in: Martina Löw (Hrsg): Diff erenzierun- gen des Städtischen. Opladen: Leske + Budrich, S. 211–232 Literatur Simmel, Georg (1986): Soziologie des Raums, Augé, Marc, 1994: Orte und Nicht-Orte. Vor- in: Ders.: Schrift en zur Soziologie. Frankfurt/M.: überlegungen zu einer Ethnologie der Einsamkeit. Suhrkamp. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. Waldenfels, Bernhard, 1990: Der Stachel des Benjamin, Walter, 2002: Charles Baudelaire. Fremden. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. Frankfurt/M.: Suhrkamp. Werner, Paul, 2000: Film noir und Neo-Noir. Böttner, Johannes, 1989: Himmliches Baby- München: Vertigo. lon. Zur Kultur der verstädterten Gesellschaft . Ber- lin, New York: de Gruyter. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

206 Laura Frahm

Reading in Fragments Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films

At the end of the 1980s and beginning of stretch and to expand the city’s inherent bound- the 1990s, it was possible to observe the rise of a aries. Any attempt to decipher the way in which series of city fi lms with an episodic structure, in- episodic fi lms read the city does, then, have to terweaving diff erent storylines and a multitude start from these assumptions. It has to take into of characters, while at the same time evoking a account that episodic fi lms not merely produce wide variety of urban spaces. Episodic fi lms like a multi-layered spatiality, but moreover develop New York Stories (Martin Scorsese/Francis a two-sided spatial logic of compression and ex- Ford Coppola/Woody Allen, 1989), Night on pansion, of densifi cation and diversifi cation of Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1991), Short Cuts the city’s spatial relations. (Robert Altman, 1993), and Magnolia (Paul If we look at the history of fi lm, and more Th omas Anderson, 1999) reveal a complex ur- specifi cally, at the history of the cinematic city, ban environment that is characterized by a mul- we can see that the idea of ‘reading in fragments,’ tiple layering of spaces. Th ey reveal expansive ur- which is deeply incorporated in this episodic ban worlds, where material, social, and symbolic logic, has always formed a signifi cant part of spatial orders are overlapping, forming a dense creating and redefi ning the spatiality of the cin- spatial structure while at the same time giving ematic city. Already the early cinematic visions rise to a new concept of space – a fragmented, of the city show a distinct tendency to isolate ephemeral space of transition. In their disjoint- and to dissect the diff erent elements of the city, ed, multi-layered gaze upon the city that con- multiplying and serializing urban fragments like tinually shift s from one character to the other, rushing trains, crossing cars, and whirling masses from one place to the next, episo dic fi lms imply a on the streets in order to recompose them into a spatial dynamic that is oscillating between mov- cinematic cross-sec tion of the city – a facet that is ing both inwards, in order to generate singular most remarkably expressed in the early city sym- spatial fragments that fully contain the city’s phonies of the 1920s, like Berlin. Symphony complexity, and moving outwards, in order to of a Great City (Walter Ruttmann, 1927), Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

208 Skyscraper Symphony (Robert Florey, the city. On the contrary, the spatial confi gura- 1929), or The Man with the Movie Cam- tion in these fi lms always remains fragmentary; era (Dziga Vertov, 1929). It is important to it remains fragmentary through the alienation note, however, that the fragmentation of the and isolation of urban elements that have lost urban elements in these early city symphonies their connections and thus cannot be traced eventually aims at a symphonic (re-)construc- back to the urban ‘whole’ anymore. As a conse- tion of the city, orchestrating and synchronizing quence of this logic of fragmentation, the idea the daily rhythms of the city and its inhabitants of reading in fragments in Italian neorealism is according to the rhythms of cinematic move- extended to the entire spatial confi guration, un- ment and montage. covering an irretrievably broken and fractured post-war world. To what extent, then, do the episodic fi lms 1 It is crucial to note that episodic narration in ﬁ lm is not an of the 1980s and 1990s change and further de- invention of the 1980s and 1990s. On the contrary, as early as the 1920s and velop this idea of reading in fragments? In my 1930s we can observe intial attempts to apply episodic structures in ﬁ lm, article I will argue that episodic fi lms provide like for example in DIE ABENTEUER EINES ZEHNMARKSCHEINS (Berthold Viertel, 1926) the opportunity to reconsider and to reread the and GRAND HOTEL (Edmund Goulding, 1932), while the adaptation of LA RONDE (Max Ophüls, 1950) is widely acknowledged to have marked a crucial turning cinematic city at the turn of the century. Th ey point in episodic narration. incorporate a two-sided spatial dynamic that refl ects as much the history of the cinematic city as it anticipates and prefi gures the development While in the early city symphonies, the of the cinematic city in the 21st century.1 In their idea of reading in fragments only forms a tran- constant concatenation and overlay of spaces, sitional, ephemeral stage within the overarch- characters, and storylines, episodic fi lms foster ing attempt to capture a city on screen, and a signifi cant shift in the spatial confi guration of furthermore, to produce a specifi c cinematic the cinematic city as they carry the relationality vision of the city, it takes on a very diff erent of space to extremes. In this process, episodic signifi cance in the context of European post- fi lms link their confi gurations of an overly inter- war cinema. Especially in the city fi lms of Ital- related world to inwardly disintegrated urban ian neorealism, and most notably in Roberto environments that are only graspable and read- Rossellini’s Paisà (1946), which forms the fi rst able through their fragments. Th us in the view of part of his post-war trilogy, the idea of reading episodic fi lms, the idea of reading in fragments in fragments changes in its nature. Here, the is again being modifi ed and takes on a diff erent episodic, the fragmentary, and the ephemeral quality. Th e urban fragments are neither rear- no longer assume a provisional, temporary state ranged into a cinematic collage of the city, nor within the overarching question of creating a do they remain fragmentary, but rather reveal cinematic city. Instead, they evolve into the fo- a complex layering of spaces. Th e urban frag- cal point of the entire spatial confi guration. In ments of episodic fi lms condense and intensify other words, the episodic fragmentation of the the spatial dynamics of the city, allowing us to urban world in Italian neorealism is no longer observe the urban developments of their time being reintegrated into a cinematic collage of as if seen through a magnifying glass. Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films

As a matter of fact, these brief observations on Cinema and the City: An Introduction 209 the transformation of the idea of reading in fragments in view of the cinematic city are in them- If we try to disentangle the relationship be- selves only fragmentary and necessarily incom- tween the cinema and the city, we have to de- plete. Nevertheless they allow us to re-evaluate fi ne, above all, our conceptual level for looking the emergence of episodic fi lms in the 1980s and at the city. In the last decades, the question of the 1990s, which the fi lm critic Rudolf Worschech interlinkages between the cinema and the city once has described as being the city fi lm genre of the has been widely addressed – not only within re- last decade of the 20th century (Worschech 1999: cent publications on the cinematic city (Brooker 49). As episodic structures increasingly dominate 2002; Clarke 1997; Mennel 2008; Schenk 1999; the city fi lm genre, they inevitably become a deci- Shiel/Fitzmaurice 2001a; 2003; Vogt 2001), but sive factor within the overarching question of how also in fi lms that explicitly refl ect on their own to read the city at this particular moment in the relationship toward the city. Scholars in the fi eld history of the cinematic city. As a consequence, if of fi lm and urban studies unanimously agree that we want to address the question of reading the city, there exists, without any question, a high affi nity we have to engage with the specifi c spatiality of between the cinema and the city, which is not episodic fi lms. We have to take a closer look at those least based on their mutual infl uence within the complex spatial arrangements that are engendered process of modernization in the 20th century. In by the episodic logic of concatenation and overlay this context, Mark Shiel notes in his introduc- of spaces, characters, and storylines. And we have tion to Cinema and the City: to address the theoretical implications that arise from the emergence of this fragmented, ephemeral Th is book is concerned with the relationship be- space of transition in episodic fi lms. tween the most important cultural form – cinema In the following and as a precondition for my – and the most important form of social organiza- discussion of the notion of ‘reading in fragments’ in tion – the city – in the twentieth century (and, for episodic fi lms, I will start by recalling two crucial the time being at least, the twenty-fi rst century), aspects that we have to keep in mind if we want to as this relationship operates and is experienced in explore the spaces of the cinematic city. In a fi rst society as a lived social reality (Shiel 2001b: 1). step, I will discuss the highly entangled relationship between the cinema and the city in order to Shiel invokes two concepts that are crucial in defi ne my particular perspective of ‘looking at the disentangling the complex relationship between city.’ In a second step, and closely interlinked with the cinema and the city: Firstly, movement and that, I will briefl y sketch out the specifi c way in mobility, and secondly, space and spatial rep- which the cinema is able to read the city. Th e epi- resentations. Th e correspondences between the sodic fi lms of the 1980s and 1990s in particular, cinema and the city are articulated, according to as I will argue, engender the dynamics of a genuine Shiel, in the “correlation between the mobility cinematic reading of the city, that is, a reading in and visual and aural sensations of the city and transition, which is con tinually shift ing between the mobility and visual and aural sensations of a reading through passage and a reading through the cinema” (Shiel 2001b: 1). Second, and even transformation. more crucially, Shiel defi nes fi lm as a medium Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

210 that is much more based on spatiality than on corresponds with the term ‘city fi lm,’ which ac- textuality, which leads him to draw the far-reach- cording to Vogt mainly encompasses documen- ing conclusion “that spatiality is what makes it tary fi lms that display the city as an architectural diff erent and in this context, gives it a special ensemble, thus emphasizing the impact of archi- potential to illuminate the lived spaces of the tectural space within the city fi lm genre. On a city and urban societies” (Shiel 2001b: 6). third level, and most crucially, Vogt defi nes the concept of the ‘cinematic city,’ which refers to the specifi c spatiality of cinema, that is, to the 2 Original quotation: „Trotz vieler Bemühungen existiert cinematic space of the city that not only engenders kein Genre des Stadtﬁ lms. [...] Zu vielgesichtig sind die Geschichten, the idea of cinematic movement and montage, zu unterschiedlich ihre Erzählweisen, als daß sie sich in einem Genre but beyond that continually fosters technical and konventionalisieren lassen.“ aesthetic innovations (Vogt 2001: 27ff .). And it 3 Original quotation: „Das aber ist nichts anderes als das is exactly this specifi c spatiality of the cinematic Kino, in dem auf sichtbare Weise immer wieder unsichtbare Städte gebaut city that Vogt addresses as he ends his introduc- werden. Meist sind sie den realen ähnlich, aber nie mit ihnen identisch.“ tion with the words:

Yet this is nothing else than cinema, where Th is focus on the spatiality of the cinematic again and again invisible cities are constructed city is crucial, because it off ers a productive per- in a visible way. Oft en they resemble the real cit- spective of looking at the city; that is, looking ies, but they are never identical (Vogt 2001: 60).3 through the eyes of space and spatial relations. Yet what does it mean – given this intrinsic re- Th e fundamental diff erence between the lationship between the cinema and the city – to ‘real’ city and the cinematic city that is addressed speak of a genuine city fi lm and what conceptu- in this statement is crucial, for it defi nes the rela- al levels does this term imply? Following Knut tionship between the cinema and the city as one Hickethier, there exists “in spite of all the ef- which is highly complex and complicated. It is a forts […] no such thing as a city fi lm genre. […] relationship characterized by entanglement and Th e storylines are too manifold, the narrative mutual infl uence, which clearly transcends and styles too diverse, which makes it impossible to counteracts the idea of an immediate or direct conventionalize them into a genre” (Hickethier ‘depiction’ of the city in cinema. 1987: 148).2 Opposing this general rejection of Still, the idea of a mutual entanglement be- the city fi lm as a genre, Guntram Vogt suggests tween the cinema and the city can be even further three diff erent ways of conceptualizing the rela- developed. In his infl uential experimental fi lm tionship between the cinema and the city. In his Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003), the fi lm- infl uential book on the history of the cinematic maker Th om Andersen off ers a critique of the nu- city Die Stadt im Film (2001) he introduces, on merous attempts to depict ‘his city’, Los Angeles. a fi rst level, the term ‘city in fi lm,’ where the city Los Angeles Plays Itself is a cinematic essay serves as a mere backdrop for the narration and and moreover, a cinematic cross-section of nine- is thus deeply incorporated within the idea of ty years of this particular cinematic city, which narrative space. Th e second level, by contrast, fi rst and foremost addresses the question of the Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films relationship between the city and the cinema, observations reveal that if we deal with the ques- 211 trying to disentangle, step by step, the precondition of the cinematic city, we have to take into tions of fi lming a cinematic city. On a most basic account a complex layering of spaces – a layering level, Andersen addresses the city as background, of spaces that not only refers to the spatial ar- that is, a notion of the city as ‘just being there,’ rangement of one particular fi lm, but that has the providing the mere background for the narration. potential to evoke the cinematic past of a specifi c Going further, Andersen assembles and discusses city, of a specifi c neighborhood, or even of a spe- those fi lms where the city does not only serve cifi c building. Every new attempt to capture a city as a mere backdrop, but rather achieves its own on screen necessarily re-writes and re-arranges the impact on the spatial confi guration of the city. cinematic history of this city. As a consequence, In their specifi c sense of place, the fi lms that An- the historical dimension of the cinematic city al- dersen subsumes under the category of the city as ways resonates in any city fi lm, while at the same object produce a spatiality that gradually trans- time clearly transcending and counteracting the forms the urban spaces of the city, capturing their notion of an ‘unmediated’ spatial representation. atmosphere on screen and thus accumulating a Reading the cinematic city thus calls as much for spatial memory of the city. Th irdly and fi nally, a reformulation of the spatiality of cinema as it Andersen introduces the category of the city as does for an awareness of the historical dimension subject, that is, the most advanced and complex of the cinematic city. category within this triad of the cinematic city, which is mainly defi ned by its potential to develop its own consciousness and its own form Reading the City: From Passage to of cinematic critique of the city. It is most im- Transformation portant to note, however, that Andersen defi nes these levels of reading the city as three diff er- Th e reformulation of the notion of reading ent categories that are only distinguishable on the city that I will present in my article is devel- a theoretical level. In most city fi lms these three oped, to a great extent, with regard to the specifi c categories will be essentially overlapping, as we spatiality of cinema. Yet at the same time my re- shall see in the case of episodic fi lms of the 1980s marks on the transformations of urban space are and 1990s. Th ey all create a certain sense of place by no means exclusively restricted to the spaces of that is defi ned by a multitude of interconnec- cinema, for they provide, above all, the opportu- tions between characters, spaces, and storylines, nity to conceive of space from a diff erent angle. which at the same time problematize this overly Th ey provide the opportunity to rethink space interconnected urban world and formulate a cin- within a conceptual framework that transcends ematic critique of the city. the notion of a fi xed, immovable, and confi ned In his overall attempt to classify the ever- space that is still – and in spite of its fundamen- circulating images of Los Angeles and to cre- tal questioning in the wake of the Spatial Turn ate a cinematic cross-section of the cinematic of the 1980s and 1990s (Davis 1990; Harvey history of his city, Andersen sharpens our view 1990; Lefèbvre 1991 [1974]; Scott/Soja 1996; on the historical complexity of the relationship Soja 1989; 1996) – persistent in the discourse of between the cinema and the city. His cinematic the cinematic city. In the context of my article, Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

212 however, reading the city becomes a question of evolved into a defi ning moment of the medial- transitional movement and passage on the one ity of cinema in the 1920s and 1930s (Engell hand, and spatial transformation and topological 2003: 29–32; Fahle 2000). In the context of the overlay on the other. Th rough this a transforma- cinematic city, however, the idea of reading the tive concept of space is introduced, one that is city through passage and movement only con- able to grasp the quintessentially moving, over- stitutes one side of the coin within the overarch- lapping spaces of the cinematic city. ing process of constructing a cinematic city. Be- In his Passagenwerk (1927– 40), Walter Ben- cause at the same time cinema has the potential jamin delineates his notion of the readability of to transform and to modify the spaces in a way the world in relation to the dialectical image that that exceeds the question of movement and mon- “emerges suddenly, in a fl ash. What has been is to tage. Especially in the case of the cinematic city, be held fast — as an image fl ashing up in the now the cityscape oft en appears as a complex “‘refrac- of its recognizability” (Benjamin 2002 [1927– tion of a refraction’ of reality,” turning the lived 40]: 473, N9,7). Th is idea is crucial, because it spaces of the city into “self-conscious, highly- allows us to conceptualize the possibility of read- mediated acts” (Massood 2003: 6f.) as Paula J. ing the world, as Georges Didi-Huber man has Massood has so convincingly shown in her book pointed out with close reference to Benjamin, Black City Cinema. Far from merely depicting as being only and exclusively thinkable through a particular city, most city fi lms transform and the passage of an image (Didi-Huberman 2007: rearrange their city spaces to such an extent that 13–15). In the context of cinema these ideas be- they develop a diff erent spatiality. Following this come especially decisive, since cinematic space thought, I will unfold the possibility of reading reveals itself most clearly through the transitory, urban spaces and the spaces of cine ma through or more precisely, through a two-sided process the idea of transformation. Further, I will delin- that is shift ing between a spatial fi xation or fram- eate the conceptual consequen ces that arise from ing on the one hand and an expanding spatial this shift of perspective, that is, the shift from the dynamic on the other, which is constant ly cross- question of representation that is predomi nantly ing and transgressing the inherent boundaries addressed in the discourse of the cinematic city of the image (Frahm 2010: 167–178). And it is to those pro ces ses of spatial transfor mation that exactly this fl exi ble, transformative thinking of are produced by transforming the city into what space, which points to one of the most essential I will call ‘cinematic topologies.’ qualities of cinema: its ability to create a space Yet what does the concept of cinematic to- in between the images, and moreover, the ability pology entail and which conceptual consequenc- to refl ect this spa tial in-be twe en ness as a consti- es arise from this shift of perspective toward the tutive factor within the process of creating and cinematic transformation of the city? At its most constructing a cinematic space. basic level, topology is defi ned as a complex spa- In early fi lm theory in particular, this po- tial structure, where the spatial properties re- tential for cinematic movement has been widely main stable under continuous deformations addressed; moreover, the manifold movements and transformations of objects. According to in front of the camera, the movements of the Joachim Huber, topology was initially devel- camera itself and the movements of montage oped “even in its most rudimentary form [...] in Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films order to describe complex, non-repre sen table argue, in their overall attempt to create a highly 213 ‘things’ by means of a spatial vocabulary” (Huber interrelated urban world. With that, they pre- 2002:35).4 Topology is a way of describing spaces fi gure the development of the cinematic city in through the idea of transformation; it is a way the 21st century, which further accentuates and of conceiving space as a highly fl exible, dynamic stresses the interconnectedness of spaces in the structure that is only defi ned and redefi ned by face of an ever-expanding urban world – one its diff erent spatial relations. As a result, topol- could think of Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, ogy introduces a way of thinking space through 2000), 21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, a set of modal, qualitative relations – a facet that 2003), L.A. Crash (Paul Haggis, 2004), and one of the founders of mathematical topology, above all Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Johann Benedict Listing, in his Vorstudien zur 2006). Yet at the same time, the episodic fi lms Topol og ie (1847) pointed out as the most basic of the 1980s and 1990s show a high awareness property of topological space: of the historical dimension of the cinematic city, which is refl ected in the way in which they con- By topology we mean the doctrine of the modal ceive of the urban fragment. In order to advance features of objects, or of the laws of connection, of this argument, I will distinguish three diff erent relative position and of succession of points, lines, phases of episodic fi lms in the 1980s and 1990s surfaces, bodies and their parts, or aggregates in that all develop distinct and even contradictory space, always without regard to matters of measure notions of reading in fragments. In their diff er- or quantity (Listing 1847: 814).5 ent concepts of the urban fragment, there always resonates, or so it seems, something of the his- Listing thus aims for a qualitative way of tory of the cinematic city. More precisely, they thinking about spatial positions, which tries to connect their notion of the urban fragment with grasp the full complexity of non-metric relations diff erent and overlapping concepts of the cin- as a “degree of order and coherence of the space ematic city. of all ‘complex ions’” 6 (Heuser-Keßler 1994: 8). In its integration of n-dimensional spaces and manifolds, topology provides the opportunity of 4 Original quotation: „[D]ie Topologie wurde auch historisch in thinking about space as a complex spatial struc- ihrer rudimentärsten Form immer gebraucht und entwickelt, um komplexe, ture, where diff erent topologies are superim- nicht-repräsentierbare ‚Dinge‘ räumlich zu beschreiben.“ posed onto each other creating a dense spatiality. 5 Translated in: Breitenberger 1999: 916. In developing my view on the episodic fi lms 6 Original quotation: „[...] der Ordnungs- und Zusammenhangs- of the last two decades of the 20th century, I will grad des Raumes aller ‚Complexionen‘.“ further contour this topological, transformative reading of the city in terms of a transgressing spatiality that continually connects and transforms Th e fi rst reading entitled ‘reading the city’s the urban fragments, combining and superim- fragmentation’ ad dres ses both the emergence posing them, while at the same time opening up of a fragmented, transitional space in episod- space to the paradoxical and the improbable. Th e ic fi lms like New York Stories (1989) and episodic fi lms of this period all coincide, as I will Night on Earth (1991) and its conceptual Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

214 proximity to the urban discourse of the ‘disin- reading, which is entitled ‘reading the city’s rela- tegration of the city’ that widely characterizes tionality,’ I will address a signifi cant shift within the 1990s. In these fi lms the urban fragments the development of episodic narration, which is are unconnected and distributed to singular epitomized by the fi lm Short Cuts (1993), episodes that carry their own set of spaces and oft en referred to as being the fi rst ‘real’ episod- characters. Moreover, they are transferred to a ic fi lm in fi lm history (Treber 2005: 9f.; Wach series of diff erent self-contained microcosms 2006: 89). Here the diff erent episodes and urban that coexist within the city without intersect- fragments are not unrelated anymore, but on the ing or overlapping. As a result, what we fi nd contrary, the relations between the spaces, char- in these fi lms is, above all, a signifi cant concat- acters, and storylines become the crucial aspect enation of fr agments, which are composed and of the entire spatial constellation. Short Cuts rearranged into a cinematic cross-section of the signifi cantly remodels the potential of episodic city, where the boundaries between these urban narration in introducing a series of manifold and fragments are still stable and seemingly unaf- complex interrelations between the fr agments. Th e fected by the occasional overlay of storylines, episodic narration seizes on the idea of relational characters, and spaces. space that is solely produced by diff erent relations between objects. Moreover, Short Cuts refl ects on its own (over-)production of relations, 7 For a recent discussion of the notion of the ‘complex city’ and which both integrates and disintegrates the ur- its conceptual framework see Eckardt 2009, especially: “Konturen einer ban fragments of the city. komplexen Stadtforschung,” pp. 187–231. Building upon the fi rst two readings, the 8 Early developments of episodic narration have been discussed third part entitled ‘reading the city’s transform- in Schreitmüller 1983, while the most detailed and comprehensive analysis ability’ relates to a series of episodic fi lms that of episodic fi lms and episodic narration is to be found in Treber 2005. emerge toward the end of the 1990s. Films like 9 In this context, the Berlin fi lms of the 1990s play an Magnolia (1999) and Time Code (Mike Fig- important role in addressing the topos of the ‘fragmentation of the city,’ gis, 2000) build on the notion of urban fragmen- see for example DIE ARCHITEKTEN (Peter Kahane, 1990), DAS LEBEN IST EINE BAUSTELLE tation and the relationality of space addressed (Wolfgang Becker, 1997), and NACHTGESTALTEN (Andreas Dresen, 1999); Guntram above. Yet at the same time, they introduce a Vogt notes: „Im Unterschied zu frühen literarischen Stadtkonstruktionen new way of thinking of spatial complexity and [...] und zum späten Film etwa bei Wenders [...], bleiben die Filmfi guren der 90er Jahre (zusammen mit ihren Zuschauern) in meist engen Stadt-Teil- overlay. In their constant overlay of urban fr ag- Perspektiven verhaftet, die mit ihren fragmentierenden Konstellationen das ments, these fi lms do not only foreground the Urbane insgesamt vor allem als Bruchstück verschiedener Lebensweisen complexity of urban spaces,7 but they also ad- verstehen. Entsprechend verteilen sich diese Lebensweisen auf eine dress the paradox of the contingency of the city. gewisse Vielzahl von Figuren“ (Vogt 2001: 56). In particular Magnolia reveals an enigmatic urbanscape that in its transformational logic continually opens up space toward the para doxical Th e fi rst group of episodic fi lms is still based and the impossible, thus producing a series of on a strict episodic structure that clearly assigns distinct, yet contingent versions of the city that, the diff erent characters, spaces, and storylines to in their multiplicity, fundamentally question the singular, unconnected episodes. In the second ‘entity’ of the city. Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films

Reading the City’s Fragmentation: If the public spaces of the city are present in these 215 New York Stories, Night on Earth fi lms, they are oft en concentrated on one singular location – like Lionel Dobie’s studio-loft in Soho Within the development of the cinematic in New York Stories or Auggie’s cigar shop city, the episodic fi lms of the 1980s and 1990s Brooklyn Cigars & Co. in Smoke –, focalizing mark a signifi cant change. Most importantly, the urban world outside through the magnify- this change is based on the fact that the percep- ing glass of their own urban microcosms9 (fi g. 1). tible transformation of the urban environment is not only visibly inscribed into the imagery of the city but is rather directly integrated into the cinematic construction of space: as the episodic, as the ephemeral, in short: as a fr agmented visibility of the city.8 Episodic fi lms introduce a spatiality of fragmentation and displacement, because they no longer conceive of the city as an urban ‘whole’, which can be transferred to the cinema screen. Instead, they react to the fact that cities have become too complex and too multi-layered, to the extent that only a monumental cinematic experiment like Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reg- Figure 1 NEW YORK STORIES and SMOKE: creating urban microcosms gio, 1982) is still able to fully capture them on screen. As a result, the episodic fi lms cut the city A diff erent spatial dynamic, however, char- into singular pieces and fragments that neverthe- acterizes a second group of episodic fi lms that less contain the complexity of the city. visualizes the fragmentation of the city not pri- Episodic fi lms like New York Stories marily via the display of its isolated and separa- (Martin Scorsese/Francis Ford Coppola/Woody ted spaces, but rather via the diversifi cation and Allen, 1989) and Smoke (Wayne Wang, 1995) distribution of spaces, constantly expanding and engender this notion of a highly complex urban subverting the boun da ries of the city. Night world that is only perceptible through its frag- on Earth (Jim Jarmusch, 1993) and moreover, ments. Th ey construct diff erent microcosms The Grass is Greener Everywhere Else within the city where the spatial relations are nar- (Michael Klier, 1989) are likewise building up rowed down and condensed – into a single neigh- microcosms – be it the confi ned space of a taxi borhood, into a single street, or even into a single drive by night in Night on Earth, be it a re- building. Moreover, this spatial fragmentation mote barrack in the outskirts of the city in The and densifi cation oft en leads to a concentration Grass is Greener Everywhere Else. Yet on private spaces. In fact, the lack of public space they spread their mi crocosms all over the world, seems to be a key characteristic of these early epi- from Los Angeles, to New York, to Paris, Rome, sodic fi lms, which intensifi es the process of delim- and Helsinki; from Warsaw to Berlin, and back iting the overly complex world outside to a series to New York (fi g. 2). It is a particularity of these of private, inner spaces (Treber 2005: 180–183). episodic fi lms that they produce a spatial shift Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

216 within their cityscapes (Kilb 2001; Mahoney city’s inherent boundaries, postulating the ubiq- 1997), or more precisely, that they conceive of uity and the proliferation of the ‘urban condi- space only and exclusively through a transitory tion.’ On the other hand, we fi nd a dissection movement or passage, which not only stretches of those processes that underlie these changing the boundaries of the city, but at the same time cityscapes, which, for example, Walter Prigge has refl ects on the processual construction of space defi ned as the fragmentation, the individualiza- in cinema. tion, the medialization, and the suburbanization of the city center (Prigge 1999: 104). Th e overall shift between center and periphery becomes a decisive process of urban transformation, or, as Robert Fishman puts it: “Th e real innovations in twentieth century urban space have taken place not in the center but at the periphery” (Fish- man 1994: 92). Th ese coincidences between the urban discourses of the 1990s and the emergence of episodic fi lms and their disconnected, fragmented urban spaces are crucial, because they most clear-

Figure 2 Passage across an urban world: NIGHT ON EARTH ly demonstrate how these city fi lms actively engage with their cities, thus formulating their very Th is cinematic reading of the city through own way of cinematic critique. In turning their passage is crucial in that it opens up the pos- view from the city as a ‘whole’ toward a concat- sibility of perceiving the inversion of the city’s enation of singular urban fragments, these epi- spatial relations through the transitory. Th at is sodic fi lms im ply a two-sided spatial dynamic of to say, through a constant movement back and densifi cation and diversifi cation, and with that, forth between the center and the periphery – a two readings of the city’s fragmentation: fi rstly, a movement that is preeminently addressed within reading of the city as a conden sed, self-contained the discourse of the ‘disintegration of the city,’ cosmos that seemingly exists without an exterior which centers on the rise of an irretrievably frag- space, and secondly, a reading of a sprawling city mented, disconnected urban space (Breuer 1998; that continuously spreads its spatial fragments Meurer 1994; Prigge 1996), where the spatial all over the world and thus gradually reverses perception is increasingly dominated by so called the relationship between center and periphery. ‘non-places,’ as Marc Augé has formulated in his On both levels, these episodic fi lms identify the infl uential book Non-Places. Introduction to an idea of reading the city with a concatenation of Anthropology of Supermodernity (1995). In order fragments – of fragments, however, which con- to grasp this changing spatiality of the city, we dense and contain the complexity of the city, can see on the one hand the em ergence of new reformulating, in a way, the cinematic program city concepts in the 1990s like Th omas Sieverts’ of the early city fi lms. Zwischenstadt (1997) or Rem Koolhaas’ Th e Ge- neric City (1995), which expand and reverse the Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films

Reading the City’s Relationality: Mainly developed in opposition to Isaac 217 Short Cuts Newton’s notion of absolute space as an “eternal and infi nite being,” (Leibniz 1989 [1715–16]: While the episodic fi lms of the early 1990s 685) relational space is a way of thinking space as emphasize the overall fragmentation of the city a spatial arrangement, as a set of distances, within order to unfold, within a single neighborhood, out regarding its size or proportion. Especially within a single street, or even within a single build- in recent sociological concepts of space, like in ing the complexity of the city, in the following, I Martina Löw’s Raumsoziologie (2001), the con- will address a second way in which the episodic cept of relational space has been used in order to fi lms of the 1990s read ‘their cities.’ Th is second focus on the relational positioning and on the reading resumes the two-sided spatial dynamic processes of ordering that transcend the dualism of compression and expansion addressed above, between structure and action (Löw 2001: 166). yet reverses it in focusing on the relations between these dynamics. Using the example of Short Cuts (1993), which has been considered, time 10 Most signiﬁ cantly, most of the later episodic ﬁ lms are set in and again, the most infl uential episodic fi lm of Los Angeles, which has been widely addressed by the Los Angeles School the 1990s (Clark 2000; Grob 2006; Treber 2005: of Urbanism as a “postmetropolis” and as “paradigmatic window through which to see the last half of the twentieth century” (Soja 1989: 223); see 9f.; 157–177), I will focus on the confi guration of also Davis 1990; Scott/Soja 1996. an intermediate, relational space that is not only crucial to understanding the spatiality of episodic fi lms, but also gives rise to a new city concept that In view of the episodic fi lms of the 1990s, focuses on the interconnectedness of spaces.10 and particularly with regard to Short Cuts, Th e concept of relational space introduces I will interpret relational space as a spatial in-be- a way of thinking about space that is exclusively tweenness that carries the interlinkages of spaces, composed of relations between objects. Primarily characters, and storylines to extremes. Because formulated in Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz’ cor- Short Cuts, above all, reveals an overly in- respondence with Samuel Clarke from 1715/16, terconnected urban world, where every single relational space can be defi ned as a complex spa- person is seemingly linked, at all times, to all the tial arrangement, and moreover, as an order of other inhabitants of the city. Th e com plex i ty of coexisting (“spatium est ordo coexistendi”), as its spa tial structure is mainly based on the fact Leibniz suggests in Th e Metaphysical Foundations that Short Cuts not merely produces and re- of Mathematics (1714): produces the relationality of the city, but rather creates a series of distinct relations that are pre- Space is the order of coexisting things, or the cisely orchestrated according to the development order of existence for things which are simultaneous. of the storylines. Once and again, Short Cuts In each of these two orders – that of time and that challenges the basic structure of episodic nar- of space – we can judge relations of nearer to and ration by continuously interweaving and cross- farther from between its terms, according as more ing formerly distinct sets of spaces, characters, or less middle terms are required to understand the and storylines; it transforms the idea of reading order between them (Leibniz 1989 [1714]: 666f.). in fragments by focalizing not on the diff erent Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

218 fragments anymore, but rather on the ways in Furthermore, it is a particularity of Altman’s which these fragments are increasingly and al- fi lm that, apart from creating a series of chance most excessively put into relation, while at the meetings between the characters, it frequently same time transforming the overall cityscape. plays with the decisive role of media within the cityscape – be it a TV show that is simultaneously watched by the diff erent characters, be it the omnipresence of broadcast noises in the city, or be it the subtle overlapping of two telephone calls, all of which lead to a signifi cant densifi cation of the spatial relations (fi g. 3). In its complex orchestration of sounds and signals, Short Cuts constantly intensifi es the relationality of the city. As a result, the diff erent urban fragments are not confi ned to isolated, Figure 3 A city of relations: SHORT CUTS enclosed microcosms anymore, but on the contrary, they display a complex series of interre- On closer examination, we can observe that lations. Just as the early episodic fi lms, Short the ensemble of chara cters is initially introduced Cuts fosters a multiplication of microcosms; yet by a series of contiguous relations, which are based it signifi cantly diff ers from its cinematic precur- on relations of kinship and vicinity, thus unfold- sors in that these microcosms are not conceived ing the spectrum of the diff erent families liv- as separate entities anymore, but rather expose ing in L.A.’s spread-out, diverse neighborhoods their interlinkages and intersections. Short and living their separate lives. At the beginning Cuts confi gures an urban world that is almost of the fi lm the diff erent ensembles of characters excessively based on interrelations and connec- are still coexisting in the city without actually tions – not only on the level of narrative space, overlapping. Th ese contiguous relations of kin- but moreover, on the level of cinematic space ship and vicinity are soon gradually transformed itself. More than once the camera movement into a series of chance relations, where the for- prefi gures relations between the characters that merly distinct ensembles of spaces, characters, will only later reveal their consequences (Treber and storylines begin to intersect; they intersect 2005: 164 –167); and more than once the noises in the chance meeting in Andy Bitkower’s bakery and signals of the city play a crucial role in inter- and, most crucially, in the car accident, where the weaving the diff erent ensembles. Here, Short collision between the car driver – the waitress Cuts increasingly establishes a series of direct Doreen – and the school-boy Casey Finnigan aural and visual relations, thereby producing a eventually has fatal consequences. In this con- complex audio-visual confi guration of the city, text, it is important to note that Robert Altman where almost every single movement and almost introduces a series of new connections and in- every single sound resonates or is taken up again terrelations between the diff erent short stories in the following sequence. by Raymond Carver that serve as the basis for At the climax of this overly connected and his fi lm (Clark 2000; Treber 2005: 161–164). interrelated urban world, however, there is a Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films moment of conversion; a moment, where these in my third analysis of how episodic fi lms read 219 almost excessive relations suddenly change their the city. If the construction of cinematic space nature. With the increasing alienation between was hitherto mainly addressed as a transitory the city and its inhabitants that paradoxically process, I will now focus on the idea of cine- arises exactly from this overproduction of rela- matic transformation. Cinematic topology, as I tions and connections, the direct aural and vi- have argued earlier, introduces a transformative sual relations are gradually turned into relations way of thinking space into the discourse of the of distance. Toward the end of the fi lm, the city cinematic city. Yet it unfolds its transformative mo re and more becomes an unsettling space of character in two diff erent ways: Firstly, with ref- dislocation. Th ere is a moment of rupture, whe- erence to the urban world that is transformed re the excessive connected ness between fi gure and transferred into a specifi c kind of cinematic and space is transformed into a fundamental visibility – a visibility that I described in the fi rst disconnection. And it is exactly at this point, reading as a fr agmented visibility of the city. Sec- where Short Cuts transforms its diagnosis of ondly, and this question was main ly addressed the ‘urban times’ into a cinematic critique of the in the second reading, the transformative char- city – of a city, where the role of media is decisive acter of the cinematic city is articulated through in creating a multitude of connections between a relational construction of cinematic space that the inhabitants, but which, in the end, have the is continually expanding the notion of spatial negative eff ect of completely overstraining and in-betweenness. Seen from this perspective, the overpowering them. As a result, the reading of fi rst two readings of the city already bear a trace the cityscape, which most signifi cantly started of transformation – although they conceive of as a reading of its relationality, here eventually the process of transformation in two diff erent evolves into a reading of spatial disconnection. ways, shift ing between the transformation of the In the face of the individual, social, and natu- urban environment and the transformation of ral catastrophes – the deaths, the plagues, the cinematic space itself. earthquakes –, which are the remainders of this Th is transformative reading of the city be- overly connected world, the characters fi nally se- comes particularly decisive in the case of a group clude themselves again from the interconnected of episodic fi lms that emerges toward the end of urban world. Th us, at the end of the fi lm, the re- the 1990s. Highly infl uenced by the relationality lationality of space is transformed into a fragile, of space in Short Cuts, fi lms like Magno- ephemeral coherence, which, at any point, bears lia (Paul Th omas Anderson, 1999) and Time witness of its own inner fragmentation. Code (Mike Figgis, 2000) introduce a complex layering of spaces that reaches beyond common spa tial ca te gories, and with that, expands Reading the City’s Transformability: and challenges the very boundaries of reading Magnolia, Time Code the city in cinema. Unlike the earlier episodic fi lms, they confi gure cinematic cityscapes that Th e relationality of the city and its subse- are neither fully graspable through the idea of quent conversion already imply the notion of the a fragmented space of transition, nor can they transformability of the city that I will develop be equated with the concept of relational space. Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

220 Th ey rather proceed from the assumption that already being prefi gured and predefi ned. While a singular concept of space behind the urban Magnolia links its layering of spaces to a para- fragments does not exist. Instead, there are mul- doxical circularity of time, Time Code, instead, tiple forms of spatiality, which are constantly reveals a layering that is based on strict simul- overlapping, creating paradoxical and transfor- taneity. Time Code is a cinematic experiment mative spatial relations. With that, they intro- that is fi lmed simultaneously with four cameras duce a topological concept of space, where the that are projected on four simultaneous screens urban fragments are, as John Law has pointed (Treber 2005: 306ff .; fi g. 4). It engenders a mul- out in his discussion of the relationship between tiplication of screen-spaces that, most crucially, Objects and Spaces (2002), only and exclusively all show the events taking place at one single thinkable as an “intersection between diff erent location – a production studio on Hollywood spatialities” (Law 2002: 96). Boulevard in Los Angeles. More than once there are moments of convergence, where the four formerly distinct screens suddenly overlap, creating four diff erent variations of the occurrences in the studio. In the presence of these four simultaneous screens, space is constantly opened up to its own multiplication, producing a variety of diff erent and even contradictory visions of its own confi ned urban space.

Figure 4 TIME CODE: The simultaneity of space On a second level, both Magnolia and Time Code are characterized by a constant Taking up this idea of spatial intersection refl ection of the very basis of spatial construc- and topological overlay, both Magnolia and tion in fi lm. In the case of Time Code, this Time Code produce a layering of their urban refl ection is articulated in the way in which the fragments that leads to a transformation of the fi lm plays with its four simultaneous screens, structure of episodic narration. In the case of constantly refl ecting the constructedness of cin- Magnolia, this layering of spaces is generated ematic space, trying to dissect its diff erent au- by a constant multiplication of characters and ral and visual levels, which are, time and again, storylines that are not only put into relation, transformed into an abstract series of signs and but also related to a series of improbable events. signals. Magnolia, in contrast, refl ects on the From the very beginning on, the narrator of the transformability of the city in constantly linking fi lm refl ects on the strange repetition of events its cinematic cityscape to the irrational logic of and biographies (Treber 2005: 200–203), where chance. Already at the be ginning of the fi lm, we the diff erent layers of the history of the city are fi nd a permanent refl ection of the improbability constantly intersecting. As a consequence, the of chance, which the narrator relates to a series spatial logic of Magnolia seems to be linked, of three mortal coin cidences throughout the 20th at all times, to a circular notion of time, where century (fi g. 5). In creating a space of chance and the series of unforeseeable occurrences, acci- coincidence, Magnolia constantly relates its dents, and coincidences reveals the paradox of cityscape to the improbable and the impossible. Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films

It confronts its characters with an ungraspable In these late episodic fi lms, the critique of the 221 urban world, unable to react in the face of a se- cinematic city is expressed through a multitude ries of irrational and unpredictable events. In its of possible and contingent city images, which permanent alignment of the diff erent storylines reveal, in their interplay, the constructedness and and biographies as well as in its concatenation the transformability of cinematic space. of improbable coincidences, Magnolia creates a tension between the exemplary and the contingent; a tension that generates a series of paradoxical events – like the devastating frog rain – that render everything that is visibly inscribed into urban space as being already de- formed, asynchronous, and asymmetrical. Only the orchestrated choreography of the charac ters still seems to provide the possibility of self-as- surance in the face of the arbitrariness and con- Figure 5 A city of contingency: MAGNOLIA tingency of a world that has lost its readability, or more precisely, that is only readable though a paradoxical, transformative thinking that transgresses the boundaries of space. Toward an Urban Topology: It is a particularity of these late episodic Complexity and Overlay fi lms that they continually link their cityscapes to the contingent, the paradoxical, and the im- If we try to refocus the question of reading probable, thus fostering a cinematic critique of the city in cinema, the episodic fi lms of the 1980s a city, which not only has become overly com- and 1990s may serve, as I have pointed out in my plex, but even entirely ungraspable and incon- article, as a productive starting point in disentan- ceivable. Th is observation is crucial, because it gling the relationship between the cinema and points to a signifi cant shift in the way in which the city – a relationship that has been reinvented the episodic fi lms read their cities. While the ear- and remodeled throughout the 20th century. In lier episodic fi lms like New York Stories and their active engagement with urban space, they Night on Earth still seem to aim at grasping allow us to examine in detail the transforma- the specifi city of place, which is narrowed down tions of their cities at the turn of the century. to singular urban fragments that nevertheless More than once, their readings of urban space sustain a tension to the diversifi cation of urban serve as a precise seismograph, detecting even spaces, Short Cuts captures the specifi city of the smallest shift s within the conception of ur- the city in exaggerating and overemphasizing its ban space as if seen through a magnifying glass. multitude of spatial interrelations. Magnolia In this process, they both prefi gure future ur- and Time Code, in contrast, transfer the idea ban developments and refl ect on the historical of reading the city into a multiplication of city layers of the (cinematic) city. Th e episodic fi lms images, producing diff erent variations that are of this period constantly read and decipher the put into an order of chronology or simultaneity. signs of their times and thus form a crucial part Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

222 in reconstructing the traits of spatial perception, respective cities, the episodic fi lms of this pe- or more precisely, of the specifi c sense of place riod create overly complex cinematic cityscapes, at the turn of the century. where a multiplicity of characters, a multipli- Th e episodic fi lms of the 1980s and 1990s city of spaces, and a multiplicity of storylines actively intervene in the question of how to read are incessantly interweaved and interlinked. In a city. Yet their readings of the city are always order to fully grasp these spatial tensions, they fi ltered through the eyes of cinema, or more pre- introduce a two-sided spatial dynamic of frag- cisely, the horizon of their urban explorations mentation and expansion, of densifi cation and will always be a cinematic reading of the city. diversifi cation of the city’s relations. Moreover, Th eir confi gurations of a fragmented and disin their view of a fragmented, yet highly complex persed urban world always imply a refl ection on urban space in transition, episodic fi lms gener- the ways in which cinema is able to read the city. ate images that are themselves in a state of fl ux, For cinema allows us to perceive the city through while at the same time positioning themselves, as the transitory, through a passage that constantly fi lms, in relation to this change. In developing a interweaves the most diverse urban spaces. Seen cinematic consciousness toward the urban trans- from this perspective, the episodic fi lms fi rst and formations, they produce highly diff erentiated foremost show that the crucial point of all spatial readings of a city in transition – of a city, aft er construction in cinema lies in its transitions, in all, where the full complexity of spatial relations the passage, and in the interlinkages between lies within its fragments. the diff erent spatial fragments. Yet this reading through passage is incomplete and inconceiv- able without a reading through transformation: a reading that not only combines the diff erent spatial fragments, but also has the potential to entirely transform the cityscape. While the reading through passage refers to a fragmentary, ephemeral space of transition, which continually shift s from one character to the other, from one place to the next, the reading through transformation is intrinsically linked to a transformative concept of space, which remodels and rearranges the urban fragments into a cinematic vision of the city. Th e episodic fi lms of this period mark a signifi cant shift within the development of the cinematic city in that they exaggerate and thus criticize the complexity of the city. With that, they not only reformulate the cinematic program of the early city symphonies, but also address the crucial role that diff erent media play within the cityscape. Far from merely depicting their Laura Frahm Reading in Fragments. Toward an Urban Topology of Episodic Films

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224 Kilb, Andreas, 2001: Night on Earth (1991). Massood, Paula J., 2003: Black City Cine- In: Rolf Aurich; Stefan Reinecke (ed.), Jim Jar- ma: Afr ican American Urban Experiences in Film. musch. Berlin: Bertz, S. 213–226 Philadelphia: Temple University Press

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Fitzmaurice (ed.), Cinema and the City. Film and Filmography 225 Urban Societies in a Global Context. Malden MA: Blackwell, 1–19 21 Grams (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2003) Shiel, Mark; Fitzmaurice, Tony (ed.), 2003: Screening the City. London, New York: Verso Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006) Sieverts, Th omas, 1997: Zwischenstadt. Zwi- schen Ort und Welt, Raum und Zeit, Stadt und Berlin. Symphony of a Great City Land. Braunschweig, Wiesbaden: Vieweg (Walter Ruttmann, D 1927)

Soja, Edward W, 1989: Postmodern Geogra- Das Leben ist eine Baustelle phies. Th e Reassertion of Space in Critical Social (Wolfgang Becker, D 1997) Th eory. London, New York: Verso Die Abenteuer eines Zehnmark- Soja, Edward W, 1996: Th irdspace. Journeys to scheins (Berthold Viertel, D/USA 1926) Los Angeles and other Real-and-Imagined Places. Malden, MA: Blackwell Die Architekten (Peter Kahane, GDR 1990) Treber, Karsten, 2005: Auf Abwegen. Episo- disches Erzählen im Film. Remscheid: Gardez Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, USA 1932) Vogt, Guntram, 2001: Die Stadt im Film. Deut- sche Spielfi lme 1900 –2000. Marburg: Schüren Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, USA 1982) Wach, Margarete, 2006: Zufallskombinati- onen im off enen Netz der Lebenswege. Das epi- La Ronde sodische Erzählprinzip in Short Cuts und (Max Ophüls, F 1950) die Folgen. In: Th omas Klein; Th omas Koebner (ed.), Robert Altman. Abschied vom Mythos Ame- Los Angeles Plays Itself rika. Mainz: Bender, 78–105 (Th om Andersen, USA 2003)

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Nachtgestalten (Andreas Dresen, D 1999)

New York Stories (Martin Scorsese/Fran- cis Ford Coppola/Woody Allen, USA 1989) Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

226 Night on Earth (Jim Jarmusch, F/UK/D/USA/JP 1991)

Paisà (Roberto Rossellini, I 1946)

Short Cuts (Robert Altman, USA 1993)

Skyscraper Symphony (Robert Florey, USA 1929)

Smoke (Wayne Wang, D/USA/JP, 1995)

The Grass is Greener Everywhere Else (Michael Klier, D 1989)

The Man with the Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, USSR 1929)

Time Code (Mike Figgis, USA 2000)

Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, D/USA 2000) Donald Preziosi (Mis)reading the City: Rethinking Urban Semiology

To reduce cities to objects or to see them as instrument or modality for cueing such percep- texts to be “read” is to fundamentally misread tions in given sensory channels and in conven- them. In what follows I will argue not only that tional and culturally-specifi c media. we should abandon the reading of cities but also So the question is: what exactly would it mean that we should abandon the “cities” that we claim to “decode, read, and interpret” the “spatial lan- to be reading. guage” of urban space or built environments – to While there are a number of issues dealt with use the terms of the invitation abstract for our in the attempt to create a truly substantive ur- original Weimar symposium – if what we are ac- ban semiology, the most important of them is tually confronted with are situations in which the problem that underlies not only urban semi- a strictly “spatial language” (or the spatial built ology but all aspects of urban history, theory, and environment from which it is abstracted) is itself criticism more generally. Th is is the question of be only part of the Umwelt? Th is is one of the causality – the ways in which we account for the fundamental challenges to any self-proclaimed appearance of built environments. Th is has been urban semiology: the problem of accounting for a fundamental issue throughout the history of the totality of multimodal, multifunctional, and urban and architectural studies, and the problem multidimensional signifi cation. refl ects broader social, political, philosophical, Th ere are several implied questions in this. and religious debates in many cultures. But the First: What are the methodological implications “appearance” of cities is only part of what char- for accounting for multimodal social communi- acterizes these extraordinary phenomena. cation, performance, or behavior? How can we In the ongoing semiotic bricolage of daily possibly model such complexities eff ectively life, we orchestrate anything and everything at and effi ciently? Secondly: What are the pos- our disposal (including our own and other bod- sible eff ects of such investigations: what could ies) to create and maintain a meaningful environ- or should such information be used for, and for ment. Any sign system is a complexly-ordered whom under what conditions would it be used? Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

228 Th is question has obvious ethical and political Th e situation we face recalls the many at- ramifi cations. Th irdly: What exactly is or should tempts to account for the multifunctional and be meant by “interpretation”? Th is is a broad is- multidimensional nature of semiosis, most nota- sue with philosophical implications which are bly the long tradition beginning with the Prague beyond the limits of this short paper to adequately School of semiotics through its more recent re- address, so I shall pose it in a slightly more man- thinking in the work of Roman Jakobson.1 From ageable way by reframing the question of what the perspective of the latter, semiotic perspectives is an interpretation by asking instead, When is on urban formation are essentially metacritical interpretation? Under what conditions is some- infl ections – which is to say, one of the several thing interpretative? Can a city interpret itself? co-present perspectives in any communicative or Is a city its own interpretation; its own metaphor signifying act – the phatic, declarative, conative, or allegory? emotive, aesthetic, metacritical / metalinguistic functions of a semiotic act. In his book “Reality and its Shadow” 1 For a brief review of some of the critical history of these (1987: 7), Emmanuel Levinas observed that issues, see the following: Jan Mukarovsky, “On the Problem of Functions in “[t]he whole of reality bears on its face its own Architecture,” in J. Burbank & P. Steiner, 1978 (eds.) Structure, Sign, and allegory... In utilizing images art not only refl ects, Function: Selected Writings of Jan Mukarovsky. New Haven, London: Yale but brings about this allegory.” As human arti- University Press, 236–56. Originally published in Prague in the 1930s; a review of this literature may be found in D. Preziosi, 1989: Rethinking Art facts, cities may always have “borne on their face” History: Meditations on a Coy Science. New Haven, London: Yale University their own allegories. Press, 122–55. See also Martin Krampen, 1979. Meaning in the Urban What is seen in the fi rst illustration is precisely Environment. London, Pion, 1979, and Roman Jakobson, 1960: Linguistics this allegorizing, interpretative process. It is an & Poetics. In Thomas Sebeok (ed.) 1974. Style in Language. Bloomington, image (fi g. 1) of what some archaeologists claim London: Indiana University Press, 360–77; and R. Jakobson. 1978. Coup may be the oldest remaining representation of d’oeil sur le developpement de la semiotique: Rapport a l’ouverture du premier Congres de l’Association internationale de semiotique, Milan, what we would call a “city plan.” It shows what 2 juin 1974. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press; and id., 1978. Six appears to be the plan of the town of Catal Huyuk Lectures on Sound and Meaning (Six lecons sur le son et le sens), trans. in the Konya plain of Turkey, dated to about the John Mepham, with a preface by Claude Levi-Strauss. Cambridge, MA: seventh millennium B.C.E.2 Th e square units in Harvard University Press. the plan (painted on the wall of one unit, what the excavators refer to as a shrine) appear to repeat the 2 Illustrations are all taken from James Mellaart, 1967. Catal form of individual house units, which may have Huyuk. A Neolithic Town in Anatolia. New York, McGraw-Hill. The site was inhabited from about 7400–6000 B.C.E. Excavations have continued since looked like the reconstruction next shown on the 1993 under the direction of Ian Hodder both on the ﬁ rst (eastern) mound screen (fi g. 2). Th e fi rst painting does not repre- settlement site excavated by Mellaart, and the more recently uncovered sent an exact copy of the actual city, but shows ruins on the later (western) mound settlement. See especially Hodder, a generic aggregation of many units. Th e overall Ian. 1999. Representations of Representations of Representations. “city plan” is shown below what appears to be TenDenZen 99, Jahrbuch VII, Übersee-Museum Bremen 1999, 55–62. a bull or a mountain – or perhaps deliberately ambiguously both; large powerful bulls are very prominent in the iconography of wall paintings at the site. Donald Preziosi (Mis)reading the City: Rethinking Urban Semiology

As a mountain, it appears to be erupting, 229 and the excavators have concluded that this is the mountain Hasan Dagh, which is visible today on the horizon, and which was volcanically active at the time. Th e mountain’s own product – the very hard volcanic glass known as obsidian – was the city’s actual source of trade wealth, since in the pre-metal-working stone age, obsid- Figure 1 Town plan, shrine VII.14 ian was widely employed throughout the eastern Mediterranean as an essential tool in all aspects of daily life. Traces of obsidian from this particular volcanic mountain have been identifi ed at many archeological sites throughout the region. Th at this painting, this visual piece of the city of Catal Huyuk, is an “interpretation” of the town, may be understood by considering the details of its form. In the overall town (fi g. 3) individual units were not separated from each other by spaces between walls, and all house units have physically contiguous walls. Each discrete unit was entered from the roof (fi g. 4). So what is being shown is not exactly an iconic image of the material formation of the town as if seen from above, but an interpretation of what are plausibly suggested as discrete functional units. On the Figure 2 Shrine unit VI.B.1 basis of associated fi nds and distinctions in the subject matter of wall paintings, about half of the units served largely domestic functions, and the remainder were considered by the excavators as shrine units, places for off erings to the dead. Each unit is a separate social unit but not a materially discrete entity (fi g. 5). At any rate, one of the things that may confi rm the archaeological hypothesis that what you see here is a “representation” of the city itself is that its form is contemporary with analogous wall-paintings in the town, one of which is seen in the next illustration (fi g. 6). Th is painting was plausibly interpreted by the town’s excavators as a beehive: you can see schematic images of individual bees Figure 3 Plan of building level VIB Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

230 in some of the cells of the honeycomb, and the to characterize what we call a city on the anal- formation overall is surrounded by and appears ogy of other things – in this case, as if it were thereby to be tended by schematically rendered like a beehive. human hands. Th e Catal Huyuk painted image is the mark Seen in this context, the city plan, represent- of the allegory of itself: a fact which has impor- ing an agglomeration of individual house units, tant signifi cance for our meeting in Weimar. Semio- resembles a beehive: as if the city itself were a logically, any formation is potentially metacodal or (human) beehive; an analogue of a hive. Each metacritical; a commentary or allegory on itself. self-contained unit was entered from above rather And – if current archaeological interpretations of than being interconnected with each other or at- formations such as Catal Huyuk are reasonably co- tached to corridors or exterior streets (there were gent – this has been an enduring phenomenon in no streets in this town – or at least none have been the orchestration of urban behavior. Th e utility of identifi ed so far, since only a fraction of the town any metaphor or allegory is of course transitory or has been excavated as yet. It may have originally temporary, and context-dependent; useful for par- resembled a southwestern American mega-struc- ticular (symbolic, functional, aesthetic, political, tural pueblo settlement in this respect). etc) reasons. Moreover, there is obviously a semi- autonomous relationship between these, as with all human sign systems. By calling attention to the artifi ce of its own fabricatedness, any material entity – such as Catal Huyuk – foregrounds the arbitrariness of itself as mere medium: as something distinct from its “reading.” Which considerably complicates attempts to clearly distinguish or oppose to each other an entity or phenomenon and its “interpretation” as if these were ontologically fi xed, rather than relationships mooted between diverse domains of the sensible. Ultimately, a closer critical attention to the actual multimodal and multidimensional character of signifying behavior may off er contemporary urban semiology a way forward. An attempt to eff ectively Figure 4 Diagrammatic view of typical unit account for spatio-temporal behaviors might use- fully begin with accounting for situations where Th e city of Catal Huyuk was in existence the strict or fi xed delineations between subjects and from about 7400–6000 B.C.E., aft er which it objects, objects and behavior, formation and signi- was abandoned for unknown reasons. Many are fi cation, or indeed the urban and non-urban (how- familiar with Catal Huyuk, so I will not say any ever defi ned) are deeply problematic at best, and more about it except that it appears that even in of circumstantial and transitory usefulness under very early times, humans have been attempting certain (also dynamically changeable) conditions. Donald Preziosi (Mis)reading the City: Rethinking Urban Semiology

Observing and recording multimodal, multi- 231 dimensional, and multifunctional uses of space, language, gesture, spatio-kinesis, and object- fabrication and marking of various kinds are extremely diffi cult and may remain abstract and empty without simultaneously investigating the premises and paradigms of causality supposed to inform the artifacts and events being studied. In addition, we must be very clear about the inherent multifunctionality of all semiotic events whether explicitly intended or not. Th e most important task for any would-be urban semiology, then, would be that of accounting for the ways in which we orchestrate the actual multimodal, Figure 5 Isometric reconstruction of level VI multidimensional, and multifunctional aspects of semiotic behavior. Th is also entails accounting for semiotic redundancy and indeterminacy, for indeterminacy is itself a natural, relational feature of any multiplicity. Th is is a corollary of the essential disjunction between intention and ef- fect: once staged, any formation opens up possibilities for “reading” which may not have been “intended” by its fabricators, even assuming that agreement could be reached as to what those in- Figure 6 Beehive, with hands, shrine VIB.8 tentions might have been. Does a city’s “meaning” exist as something to as urban semiology: a semiology or attention distinct from, or even prior to, its material ar- to the signifi cative properties of the staging and tifi ce? It would seem that we should be not a framing of possible (and impossible) occasions little wary of assuming that meaning or signifi - for social behavior cation has an existence independent of any em- I began by claiming that any reading of a city bodiments or manifestations. Ultimately such an is always essentially a misreading because of its assumption is theological, and is consonant with inevitably reductive nature, and that in order to explicitly religious beliefs in a real distinction be- actually understand urban phenomena, we need tween matter and spirit; between the material and to understand why it is also necessary to “for- immaterial. What attention to the actual com- get that city” as a more than allegorical object. plexities of semiological behavior or activity may If a city is imagined to be an object or a text, it then highlight is the very artifi ce (and the tem- will always be simultaneously read and misread: poral and space-specifi city) of this epistemology there can therefore be no proper reading, for all itself. Which, fi nally, may suggest a way forward such readings are ultimately moot and problem- in what we may (or may not) still wish to refer atic. Th e point is not to fi nd better metaphors or Reading the City – Stadt lesen: Beiträge zu einer urbanen Hermeneutik

232 more literally correct allegories for such a phenomenon, but to understand what purposes are served by causally distinguishing allegories and cities in the fi rst place. A city is not an object but an occasion: and this is where and how we should begin dealing with cities.

Epilogue

Th e spoken version of this paper included examples of the multimodal, multidimensional, and multifunctional orchestration of spatial behavior among Aranda-speaking aboriginal peoples in the Central Western Desert region of Australia, as studied by Jenny Green of the University of Mel- bourne (discussed in great detail in J. Green, 2009. Between the Earth and the Air: Multimodality in Arandic Sand Stories. University of Melbourne: Doctoral Dissertation). A video presentation of this material, given in my spoken paper in Wei- mar, could not be reproduced in this publication. Green’s research clearly demonstrates that the extraordinary complexities and fl uidities compris- ing ordinary space-time behavior – what Anne Haila in the Weimar conference referred to as “urban processes,” or what Michel de Certeau once called the “poetry” we make by walking cities – are indeed understandable in ways that need not be reductive, formalist, or essentialist.