Memory Politics: Growth Coalitions, Urban Pasts, and the Creation of “Historic” Philadelphia

Abstract

Facing economic changes and disinvestment, powerful actors in post-World War II American cities attempted to define the city as a space of public culture to confront demographic shifts, suburban growth, and the breakdown of community. Some civic actors, especially in older Eastern cities, looked to a nostalgic and heroic past where a theme of American identity became salient as a result of the Cold War and rapid cultural and economic changes in the postwar era. To achieve urban growth, elites argued for urban redevelopment policies based on historical themes and imagery. We examine the sociopolitical history of Philadelphia's Independence Hall redevelopment project (1948)(1949)(1950)(1951)(1952)(1953)(1954)(1955)(1956)(1957)(1958)(1959) and the development of the adjacent Society Hill neighborhood (1959)(1960)(1961)(1962)(1963)(1964). We offer the framework of memory politics-political contests over the use of shared community history-to examine how growth coalitions implement plans for economic growth, tourism, and civic allegiance. Philadelphia, particularly during the postwar era, exemplifies how heritage, politics, and place dynamically collide and direct urban development.

Architectures of Memory: When Growth Machines Embrace Preservationists

“…This process of "memory politics" (Hunter et al 2018; see also Olick and Robbins 1998) illustrates the terms under which historically oriented redevelopment projects are proposed, defended, and disputed. Historical built environments often present symbolic and material barriers to new development.…”

“…But the “memory politics” (Hunter et al. ) of resolving those tensions ultimately dictate the form that redeveloped urban spaces will take.…”

“…Urban historic districts contribute to gentrification (Brown-Saracino 2009;Freeman 2006;Shaw and Sullivan 2011) and consumption zones (Hyra 2008;Ritzer 1999). Because of these factors, the politics of combining historic preservation and new development involves similar players as more typical forms of redevelopment politics, but the power arrangements among those players often requires the support of experts and institutionally embedded actors (e.g., the National Park Service, academics, or city planning units) with knowledge of local history (Baldwin 2016;Hunter, Loughran, and Fine 2018).…”

“…Different redevelopment proponents have different visions for a project's historical aesthetics and the key question of "how much" history to include. But the "memory politics" (Hunter et al 2018) of resolving those tensions ultimately dictate the form that redeveloped urban spaces will take.…”

When Heritage Meets Creativity: A Tale of Two Urban Development Strategies in Kampong Glam, Singapore

“…Difficult questions of whose history and heritage are being represented, how it is being represented, to what ends they are being used, and for whom, reflect disagreements among preservationists, residents, and other local community stakeholders (Chen and Mele ; Hunter et al. ). Marginalized groups in the local community, for instance, may be alienated by heritage representations that cater to the “gaze” of global tourists (Nash 1989; Urry ).…”