Redevelopment…
The British Consulate emailed me last Tuesday, and said that my visa could take up to 15 more working days than originally expected because they have to make additional enquiries… I haven’t heard anything since, and it has been almost 6 days.
I have, however, made a revised outline for my thesis (woohoo!) and I have a ton of reading that I can do while stuck in upstate new york…
There has been a significant amount of redevelopment in Belfast in recent years. This includes a fair amount of grandiose plans for “the New Belfast”, such as the Titanic quarter (www.titanic-quarter.com/) and Victoria’s Square (www.victoriasquare.com/), which will announce to the international community that Belfast has moved on from the Troubles. Most of this redevelopment, however, is located in downtown Belfast, the harbor area, and the area near Queens University- mostly places that have remained relatively neutral throughout the Troubles.
Architects could never use this much glass during the Troubles.
So what does this mean for the working-class neighborhoods that remain fairly segregated and politically marked? Are current redevelopment schemes swapping ethnic segregation for socio-economic segregation? My thesis will investigate opportunities for designing shared spaces throughout Belfast- particularly along interfaces between segregated, working-class neighborhoods. The notion of shared space, itself, is quite nuanced, so first a thorough study of public space theories, especially in regards to contested cities, and the history of spaces in Belfast will be crucial.
January 19th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
enjoyed reading your notes about your trip to our wee country. Am only writing to give you a bit of insight on our band parades after reading your report on the South Belfast Young Conquerors parade. I am an ex-member of the band and am now in another local band from Sandy Row. The parade you were at was actually a competition where all the bands on parade are judged and trophies given out on various different caterogies such as blood & thunder, melody flute style and appearance and colour party. Their are many of these competitions held thrughout our marching season which runs from roughly March to September, minly on Friday and Saturdays. My own band takes part in about 50 of these competitions and then the Orange Order parades on top of that such as the 12th of July. Contrary to a lot of opinion these are not secterian parades and are taken very seriously by a lot of the bands taking part. There is a lot of rivalry between bands at these competitions and the bands put an awful lot of work into their playing ability with some bands practising 2 to 3 times a week. The cost of running our bands is extremely high as well. For example, say an average sized band like my own with about 40 members, to purchase our uniforms, drums and flutes cost in the region of £25000. Add on top of that the buses we have to get once or twice a week to take us to competitions at an average of £300 a time and you can see its quite a bit of money over the year for what is basically a hobby. All this money has to be paid for by the members themselves so over the year is quite an outlay. Anyway, I suppose the point i am trying to get across is that we are not just a group of secterian thugs out to intimidate people but a serious musical body who love what we do. I hope this gives you a little bit of insight into our culture so if you are ever hear again and see a parade you can watch and enjoy it for the spectacle it is and not be wary. All the best, Mark