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“Selling (off) Diversity: The Governance of Ethnic Business Districts in Transatlantic Comparison” (Habilitationsprojekt)

Publikationen

Schmiz, Antonie (2016): Staging a ‘Chinatown’ in Berlin: The role of city branding in the urban governance of ethnic diversity. In: European Urban and Regional Studies. Link

Schmiz, Antonie; Zhuang, Zhixi Cecilia (2016): Ethnic Retail Neighbourhoods in Toronto: Place Making and Branding. RCIS Research Brief 2016/1. Link

Schmiz, Antonie (2014): Transnationale vietnamesische Öffentlichkeiten und ihre lokalräumliche Steuerung in Berlin. In: Asta Vonderau und Caroline Schmitt (Eds.): Transnationalität und Öffentlichkeit. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Transcript: Bielefeld, S. 143-173.

Projektleitung: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Antonie Schmiz
Förderung: DAAD P.R.I.M.E.-Programm (EU Marie Curie/BMBF, 2014-2016)
Zusammenarbeit mit:
Prof. Dr. Henning Nuissl, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Prof. Dr. Robert Pütz, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M.
Prof. Harald Bauder, PhD, Ryerson University, Toronto
Laufzeit: 2013 bis 2018

Project description

Neoliberal urban development has encouraged a proactive attitude towards branding ethno-cultural diversity. At the local level, branding affects the development and governance of ethnic neighborhoods. Ethno-cultural branding strategies are expected to differ between national and local contexts, depending on immigration histories and integration paradigms.

A comparative study of Berlin and Toronto examines the emergence, development, and spreading of ethno-cultural urban branding strategies. In contrast to the established tradition of neighborhood branding through Business Improvement Areas (BIA) in Toronto, Berlin only recently turned from a reactive to a resource-oriented approach towards migrants.

Theoretically, the project draws on the city branding discourse and on (re-)scaling as analytical concept to explore strategies and programs by different actors. In this way, the project will sketch a policy-centered as well as an actor-centered perspective. By investigating neighborhood and locally-based policies, and globally circulating approaches in a relational perspective, the project asks about the contradiction of the political objective of branding and the requirements of migrant entrepreneurs as research objects.

Methodologically, the project is based on a combined document and literature analysis, complemented by interviews with municipal politicians, BIA-managers, representatives of business promotion agencies, migrant entrepreneurs, and residents in both cities. Empirical activities in Toronto will focus on two BIA’s – the Gerrard India Bazaar and Chinatown Spadina – and the privately managed East Chinatown.

This project is realized in collaboration with the Ryerson Center for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS), the Ryerson Department of Geography & Environmental Studies and the Department of Human Geography, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt a.M. For further inquiries please contact Dr. Antonie Schmiz: schmiz@geo.uni-frankfurt.de

The project has been funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Postdoctoral Researchers International Mobility Experience (P.R.I.M.E.)