Things Don’t Really Exist Until You Give Them A Name

An edited volume tracing contemporary urban heritage discourses and practices across the globe. From Dar es Salaam to Berlin, via Istanbul, Flint, and Kolkata, a wide range of voices connects to heritage debates. Artists, curators, activists, historians, architects, planners, and urban researchers address the urban heritage conundrum: although heritage is claimed to have the power to achieve social cohesion and galvanise urban communities, it is intrinsically contested and divisive. Through fresh perspectives, concepts, methods, and tools rather than a belief in absolute aesthetic and material values, the book argues for a more citizen-centred and rights-based approach to heritage which could help to make cities more just and inclusive. For urban planners, heritage practitioners, activists, and students of urban studies interested in how cities contest and construct their pasts. Complements Street Level (Row 218) as part of Mkuki na Nyota’s growing list on Dar es Salaam’s urban heritage.