Rise of the Department Store and the Aestheticization of Everyday Life in Early 20th Century Japan

Abstract:  This paper focuses on the ways in which the department store has become a key site for the constitution of Japanese modernity through the introduction of images and goods taken from the West, along with the emphasis on "Western design" and "Western taste". These new consumer spaces have become aestheticized in various ways so that we can speak of an "aestheticization" of everyday life. Yet this was also a modernizing learning process for Japanese consumers, hence a key problem was how these new experiences were to be classified and ordered into a relatively stable habitus. The rise of the department store has had an important mediating function here. Department stores not only provided new goods along with interpretations of how to use them, but also acted as theatres, as rehearsal spaces, with front and back stage areas where one can watch the performance, try out for oneself new roles. This is especially the case for women in the city, who were able to explore a new identity space with a new set of competence experiences and pleasures. In this process, the department store also provided a form of women's public sphere where they could enjoy shopping, entertainment and learning opportunities. Department stores encouraged not only a sense of luxury and theatrical settings, but also help to teach women how to assemble new tastes and styles into their lifestyle. In addition, it should be emphasized that in the Japanese case, department stores also played an important role not just as a new cultural initiative on the part of the businessmen and cultural intermediaries who invented consumer culture, but also as a political initiative on the part of the government who sought to link them to the reform of everyday life and the production of good Japanese citizens.     

THE BRIDLED BRIDE OF PALESTINE: ORIENTALISM,ZIONISM, AND THE TROUBLED URBAN IMAGINATION

Through ethnographic and archival research centered in Jaffa, this article analyzes how the image of the Jewish-Arab mixed city has been represented and (re)produced in the Zionist historical imagination since the establishment of the state of Israel to the present. Vacillating between romantic historicity and political violence, the image of Jaffa poses a political and hermeneutic challenge to the territorial project of urban Judaization, which ultimately failed to define and establish the national-cum-cultural identity of this “New-Old” city. This failure, I argue, results in a persistent pattern of semiotic ambivalence which, from the Jewish-Israeli point of view, positions Jaffa both as a source of identity and longing (in the distant past) as well as a symbol of alterity and enmity (in the recent past)— an object of desire and fear alike. As such, Jaffa and other ethnically mixed towns (including Ramle, Lydda, Haifa, and Acre) occupy a problematic place in Israeli and Palestinian political and cultural imagination. A bi-national borderland in which Arabs and Jews live de facto together, these cities bring to the fore, on the one hand, the paradox of Palestinian citizens in a fundamentally Jewish state, while simultaneously suggesting, by the very spatial and social realization of “mixed-ness,” the potential imaginary of its solution. Unfolding through four distinct historical modalities of urban Orientalism, this article historicizes the highly politicized image of the Jewish-Arab city and the discourse on its future. These discursive formations reconfigured the public space that enabled, paradoxically since the October 2000 events, new political claims for equal citizenship, bi-national cooperation, and Palestinian presence.     

The Integration of Tradition and Modernity: A Search for an Urban and Architectural Identity in Arriyadh, The Capital of Saudi Arabia

About 40 years ago, traditional villages, towns and cities of the Arabian Peninsula started to lose their regional characteristics and embody modern forms and shapes. Since then, these characteristics have been subject to dilution due to social and cultural changes as well as institutionalized changes imposed by planning and architectural practices. This process creates debates and clashes between tradition and modernity. Projects carried out since 1975 are the least representative of the regional characteristics but do attempt to have urban and architectural identity. This paper argues that all the actors in “design formulation” (clients, architects, urban designers and planners) are trying to use historic elements in the creation of architectural identities. In fact they are making efforts to create urban and architectural identity to substitute regional characters. These attitudes flourished as a result of dynamic cultural, economic, political and ritualistic influences. This paper highlights the importance of urban and architectural identity in architectural and urban projects in Arriyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia because such projects create precedents for other Saudi villages, towns and cities. The study identifies the forces behind the initiation, transformation and evolution of the urban and architectural identity and attempts to supplement scholarship in the fields of architecture, urban design, and planning with regard to the role of identity as a tool for improving the spatial quality of the built environment. Architectural identity participates in setting up meaningful schemata which influences human behavior as a cultural process. The paper supports the concern for search for historic symbols which may influence the architectural identity and the quality of perceived environment during the design process of new or transformed physical environments. The paper views the traditional part of the city as an amalgamation of history and economic interests and its symbolic importance seems to be a perfect place for the emergence of different forms of engagement between tradition and modernity. The importance of the traditional part is unique while the importance of continuity of tradition is very likely complementary.     

城市快速发展中的价值取向矛盾——以江门市新区建设为例

城市物质空间发展迅速，但宜居城市的独特个性却不易取得，“千城一面”，这是存在于当下快速发展中的普遍现象。本文通过对珠三角中等城市江门市新区建设实例的研究，指出问题的结症在于快速发展推动力机制的实际作用指向与宜居城市建设的发展目标之间存在价值取向的矛盾和偏差。在解决的途径上，需要突出“量”之上的“质”，尤其是“形而上质”的建构，即从城市规划的层面开始，重视空间环境的连续性，调整“政府主导”的作用，持续着力于经营城市生活的精神感受，包括城市居民对于城市的体验，城市文化认同及归属感等，催生丰富多样的城市气质。     

Nationality and the European union competing identities in the visual design of four European cities 1

In this study, we integrate visual and linguistic research to analyze the relationship between a city's regional, national, transnational, and European identities as the face of four cities depicts it. We explore the cultural identity of Brussels, Luxembourg, Munich, and Dortmund through the study of public signs found in these cities. We examine how the choice of language, layout, typography, accompanying images, and positioning of city signs reflect the tensions involving the change from a national or regional identity to a Pan‐European identity. Our methodology combines an ethnographic approach and neutral observations with interviews of city inhabitants. By combining interpretive analysis with a meta‐discursive approach to how signs are read and perceived, we consider both the production and reception ends of the signs.     

Race, Representation, and Trust: Changes in Attitudes After the Election of a Black Mayor

This article addresses the general proposition that changesin leadership images precipitate changes in public opinion.Specifically, the purpose of this research is to determine ifchanges in the levels of political trust expressed by blackand white city residents can be attributed to the election ofa city's first black mayor. The attitudes of black and whiteresidents of the City of Atlanta before and after the electionof a black mayor are compared, and changes occurring duringthe study period are compared to similar national data. Alternateexplanations for the changes observed are explored. The dataexamined suggest that increased identification with city governmentamong blacks is stimulated by the election of a black mayor.     

Citizen Alevi in Turkey: Beyond Confirmation and Denial

Abstract Critics of the current national citizenship models argue that, although it rests on claims to be inclusionary and universal, it can never eliminate exclusionary and particularistic practices when challenged by those identities excluded from the historical trajectory of "nation building." Turkish citizenship has been a form of anomalous amalgamation since its conception. On the one hand, the state insisted on the pre-emptive exclusion of religion and various communal cultural identities from politics, while, on other hand, it promoted a particular religious identity primarily as a means of promoting cultural and social solidarity among its citizens. Contemporary Alevi movements, representing the interests of a large minority in Turkey, provide a new source of energy for the revision of concepts of citizenship. Alevis have suffered from prejudice, and their culture has been arrested and excluded from the nation building process. They were not able to integrate into the form of national identity based on the "secular" principles that the republican state has provided as a means of promoting solidarity among citizens. What Alevis seek is a revised citizenship model in terms of a system of rights assuring the condition of neutrality among culturally diverse individuals.     

Ideological or religious? Contending visions on the future of Alevi identity

Establishing a coherent collective identity within the modern urban context among people who have different ideological, social and religious orientations, and social and economic backgrounds, is an ongoing struggle within the Alevi community in Turkey. This study tries to understand how alternative positions on Alevi identity dynamically construct the boundaries, moral contents and the new shape of Alevi identity in modern urban contexts through use of various discursive resources. At least two main contending ‘positions’ on Alevi identity try to institutionalise Alevi identity in modern urban contexts, which are ‘Ideological Position’ and ‘Religious Position’. Those discourse positions constitute different visions about the past and the future of the Alevi community as well as the cultural and the political boundaries of Alevi identity. More importantly, those positions resonate in ordinary citizens’ life stories as well as group narratives. This study utilises the analytical frame of ‘positioning theory’ to shed light on the complexities of identity negotiation.     

论广州城市中轴线的形成与规划

城市轴线通常是指在城市中起空间结构驾驭作用的一种线形空间要素,本文通过阐述广州城市传统中轴线以及新中轴线的形成和发展,分析广州城市中轴线发展过程中存在的不足,并提出未来发展的规划设想。     

提升廊坊市文化软实力研究

随着我国经济社会的快速发展,城市规模的不断扩大,对城市规划也提出了越来越高的要求。面对当前城市规划和城市建设的一系列突出问题,必须对传统的城市规划模式进行改革和创新,以可持续发展理论来指导城市规划。据此,以研究廊坊建设"易居、易识别"城市为契机,以期找到能够解决城市建设及发展中诸多问题的有效方法。     

未来30年互联网发展提升上海城市能级与智慧城市研究

上海应以推进智慧城市建设、提升城市能级、建设世界级全球城市为目标导向,打造 “智能发达、创新活跃、生态宜居、和谐包容”的智慧城市:实施“网络空间强国战略”,持续提升形成全球网络与信息枢纽;深化“四个中心”建设,提升上海全球资源战略配置能力;布局“大数据、人工智能”产业,提升上海科技创新全球影响力与领导力;加速“互联网+”的融合与重构,激发上海产业与市场活力;加强智慧城市建设,提升城市规划、治理、服务能级;凝练城市文化,抢占“中国文化”输出战略高地;推动区域联动发展,打造世界级城市群全球门户.     

Stabilität und Wandel der nationalen Identität in der deutschen BevölkerungContinuity and change of national identity in the German public

In this article we study the content dimension of German national identity at three points in time. We run multigroup confirmatory factor analyses with data from the ISSP modules on national identity to demonstrate that in 1995, 2004, and 2014 three distinct latent dimensions can be identified in the meaning Germans attach to their nation, namely civic pride, ethnoculturalism, and chauvinism. These dimensions correlate substantially higher in 1995 than in 2004 and 2014. Exploratory latent class analyses show both continuity and change in the combination of positions citizens manifest on these dimensions. We discuss the implications of these findings for the conceptualization and measurement of national identities as well as for the development of German citizens’ relationship to their nation in the period studied.     

新型城市化背景下城市休闲文化发展研究

城市作为文化的载体,城市文化建设体现了"以人为本"的城市基本责任与发展方向,其中城市休闲文化发展将提升城市文化品位,提高市民生活质量,丰富游客旅游体验。在新型城市化背景下,面对市民游憩休闲与游客旅游休闲需求,促进"城市文化休闲化、城市休闲文化化",建设城市休闲文化,丰富市民与游客休闲生活应该成为城市规划、建设与管理的指导思想和基本政策之一。     

“新市民”家庭教育对儿童社会融合的影响

近年来,随着城市化进程的加速,许多大城市在外来农民工落户政策方面有所宽松,使一大批学历较高、有稳定收入来源的新一代农民工得以在大城市或者省会城市落户扎根,成为了真正意义上的"新市民"。这些正值婚育期的"新市民"随着户籍身份的改变,其家庭教育也呈现出新的特点,这些特点中既有"新市民"对城市生活的主动适应,也有对原来农村家庭教育文化的扬弃,城乡家教文化的杂糅相陈在一定程度上影响到了这类家庭儿童的社会融合。     

试论新生代农民工道德同一性问题

新生代农民工和道德同一性在当下已引起各学科各专家的关注，新生代农民工的社会身份认同和道德自我认同的问题也成为社会学、伦理学的热点问题。新生代农民工的生存困境更体现在精神层面上，企业思想政治教育对于推动和加强新生代农民工的道德教育及道德同一性培育能够发挥积极的作用。目前仍需努力拓展各种途径加强新生代农民工的思想道德及价值观引导并促其向市民转变。     

网络文化提升城市认同的路径探析

城市认同感体现着城市对于主体的凝聚力、感召力和吸引力,是城市文化和城市软实力建设的重要维度。网络媒介作为一种强势崛起的新的文化范式和传播范式,在城市认同感的构建中具有不可忽视的重要地位。要加强对于网络文化提升城市认同的路径和机制的研究,充分发挥网络文化在时间、空间、符号、仪式、共同体等维度对于城市认同的构建作用,促进网络所形构的城市记忆、城市地方感、城市符号、城市媒介仪式、城市共同体想象,增强网络主体与城市之间的情感、记忆和审美等纽带联结,使网络媒介成为构建城市认同、增进城市文化魅力和文化软实力影响效果的有效途径和方式。     

城市文化形象塑造的路径研究:基于重庆的实证分析

在城市化与全球化高度发展的今天,独特的"城市文化形象"已成为当今城市发展战略的重要组成部分,是提升城市国际地位与竞争力最为有效的手段之一。本文在分析重庆构建城市文化形象意义的前提上,基于重庆城市文化形象现状的问卷调查结果分析,总结出重庆城市文化形象建设中的现存问题及其根源,并从明确城市定位、规范市民行为、整合公共空间、加强城市营销以及建立城市"瞭望塔"系统五个方面提出了应对策略,为重庆城市文化形象的建设提供新的思路和方向。     

How do people perceive urban trees? Assessing likes and dislikes in relation to the trees of a city

Cities are systems that include natural and human-created components. When a city grows without proper planning, it tends to have low environmental quality. If improving environmental quality is intended, people’s opinion should be taken into account for a better acceptance of urban management decisions. In this study, we assessed people’s perception of trees by conducting a survey with a controlled sample of citizens from the city of Morelia (west-central Mexico). Citizens liked both native and exotic tree species and rejected mainly exotic ones. Preference for trees were related to tree attributes; such as size. Trees that dropped leaves or tended to fall were not liked. The most-mentioned tree-related benefits were oxygen supply and shade; the most mentioned tree-related damages were accidents and infrastructure damage. The majority of respondents preferred trees near houses to increase tree density. Also, most respondents preferred trees in green areas as well as close to their houses, as they consider that trees provide oxygen. The majority of the respondents thought more trees were needed in the city. In general, our results show that although people perceive that trees in urban areas can cause damages, they often show more interest for the benefits related to trees and consider there should be more trees in cities. We strongly suggest the development of studies that broaden our knowledge of citizen preferences in relation to urban vegetation, and that further policy making takes their perception into account when considering creating new urban green areas, regardless of their type or size.     

旧城更新的中观层面规划管控思路与方法——以广州市旧城保护与更新规划为例

在日益复杂多变的市场环境以及多元博弈的利益格局下,旧城更新具有多目标、多主体、系统性强等特点。然而传统规划管理体系中,上至市域层面的城市总体规划、历史文化名城保护规划,下至指导地块开发的控制性详细规划,均因其编制侧重点不同,缺乏立足旧城整体、具有综合系统视角的规划建设指引。本文借鉴广州旧城保护与更新的经验,结合目前旧城规划管理方面的要求,总结提出了新城与旧城联动、整体系统更新、保护与更新差异化管控、控制与引导相结合的中观层面规划管控思路和方法,以期科学有效地引导旧城发展。     

特大城市乡村旅游交通规划研究与实践

综述城郊乡村旅游兴起的原因、乡村旅游交通相关研究背帚等方面，并对城郊乡村旅游交通的交通特征、规划思路以及解决策略等问题进行探讨，以我国特大城市的交通发展为研究背景，结合某城市乡村旅游的交通规划实践，构筑城乡互动的都市旅游交通新格局。