Zürich West. Erkundungen zum Städtischen

Zurich West, form­er­ly an indus­tri­al area, has deve­lo­ped in recent years into Zurich’s ‘in’ dis­trict, often com­pared to New Yor­k’s Green­wich Vil­la­ge: this is whe­re the urban heart of the Lim­mat metro­po­lis beats. But what lies behind the myth of Zurich West? What is urban about this dis­trict? What is its ever­y­day urban qua­li­ty? Based on the­se ques­ti­ons, the elec­ti­ve cour­se com­bi­nes prac­ti­cal and theo­re­ti­cal per­spec­ti­ves on the ques­ti­on of urba­ni­ty. It is based on an exami­na­ti­on of social sci­ence and urban plan­ning theo­ries on urban space, from clas­sic texts on urba­ni­ty to epis­te­mo­lo­gi­cal and semio­tic reflec­tions to cur­rent deba­tes on gen­tri­fi­ca­ti­on and glo­ba­li­sa­ti­on: What does ‘city’ mean? How does an “urban” situa­ti­on ari­se? And what cha­rac­te­ri­ses an “urban” neigh­bour­hood? Using qua­li­ta­ti­ve social rese­arch methods (typ­ing, obser­va­ti­on, inter­views), we will explo­re spe­ci­fic urban situa­tions in Zurich West in their ever­y­day con­text. The cate­go­ries of per­cei­ved, con­cei­ved and expe­ri­en­ced space deve­lo­ped by Hen­ri Lefeb­v­re will ser­ve as ana­ly­ti­cal guidelines.

Tea­ching: Chris­ti­an Schmid, Ber­na­dette Fülscher