A Neighborhood Shopping Street and the Making of Urban Cultures and Economies in Germany

Abstract

This paper examines the cultural, social, and economic contributions of multi‐ethnic neighborhood businesses to the transformation of German cityscapes. The diversity on N‐Street in Stuttgart has been at the forefront of urban transformations and cultural production. I show that neighborhood stores and shopping streets are sites of urban experiments and cultural beginnings which produce new authenticities in the face of rapid urban homogenization. Combining theoretical debates about urban “authenticities,” the creative potential of immigrant neighborhoods, and ethnic/cross‐cultural economies, I analyze transformations of N‐Street and the surrounding neighborhood. I argue that neighborhood shopping streets are relevant nodes and agents in urban transformations and the production of urban futures. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, I introduce N‐Street's history, its current configuration of genuinely local urban cultures and economies, and its cultural complexity and cultural and economic innovation.

Buffalo's West Side Story: Migration, Gentrification, and Neighborhood Change

“…These areas have used globalization and transnationalism as strategies for economic development. In fact, Kuppinger (:154) suggests that immigrant entrepreneurs are “agents of urban cultural production.” Moreover, Tighe and Ganning (:786) contend that even “amid decline, pockets of prosperity flourish” in cities. Individual neighborhoods may experience gentrification even if the city overall remains weak.…”

Multicultural Engagements in Lived Spaces: How Cultural Communities Intersect in Belleville, Paris

“…As with the owner, long‐term employees are a key barometer of interethnic ties in the neighborhood. Kuppinger () examines the very lively cross‐ethnic exchanges found in a hair salon in a Stuttgart neighborhood. Here, Eritrean, Turkish, Albanian, and Portuguese employees engage with a wide cross section of customers, overseen by a Turkish employer.…”

Health maintenance of Japanese rural small enterprise shopkeepers

“…SSEs can be considered pioneers in rethinking the working style of an ageing society and in finding a healthier alternative, because the concept of retirement does not exist in a traditional sense for SSEs. Sociological (Kuppinger, 2014; Shamsuddin and Ujang, 2008), gerontological (Taylor et al , 2016; Lowenthal, 1964) and business (Gratton and Scott, 2016) studies already imply the existence of this possibility. However, these disciplines are not oriented towards leading and providing practical implementation in nursing.…”

“…They continue to work in these rural regions, suffering from mental and physical hardships due to their losses and the subsequent restoration efforts (Small and Medium Enterprise Agency of Japan, 2012; Dasanayaka and Wedawatta, 2014). Furthermore, these SSEs cooperate with each other and foster social support within shopping streets (Kuppinger, 2014; Shamsuddin and Ujang, 2008).…”