Urban Renewal and Disconnect: Varying Perceptions on the Value of Urban Development in Tbilisi, Georgia

Abstract

In recent years, many cities in the developing world have been experiencing explosive upwards and outwards growth, with economic development often outpacing the capacity of citizens to adapt. A key tool in the reconfiguration of the urban space can be found in Urban Renewal, as an attempt to reverse and prevent decay. Urban renewal, in theory and practice, is often presented as the all-encompassing solution to existing problems whilst simultaneously enabling for further development, particularly in terms of bringing different stakeholders together. However, the degree to which urban renewal facilitates such an interaction, supplementing an integrated planning strategy that empowers and includes local communities remains largely unexplored. In most developed cities, urban renewal has had an eroding effect on the community fabric and used to mask or justify inequality and segregation. As such, the present research serves an examination of whether a similar process can occur in a developing setting. It set out to conceptualise and rationalise urban change by investigating whether urban renewal in Tbilisi has contributed to a sense of ‘disconnect’ between residents and institutions.

This paper examined existing literature on urban renewal and drew comparisons with data gathered from Tbilisi. A survey with 62 residents, 30 interviews, an analysis of secondary data and local media attempted to understand the effects urban renewal has had on the connectedness of different stakeholders, primarily through an exploration of territorial stigma.

The results of the research confirmed the complexity of the urban experience and the multiplicity of adaptation strategies towards –desirable or undesirable- change. It claims that urban renewal has indeed contributed to disconnect, a dual widening gap between residents and their institutions, as well as between residents themselves. It uncovered how urban renewal has failed to address perennial issues, formalised inequality, challenged notions of possession, and fundamentally altered the enfranchisement of residents in relation to change. Nevertheless, the study also acknowledges the centrality of context in being able to attribute or substantiate the interlocking of disconnect with any of these phenomena. This proves that further and more systematic research is necessary, while also proposing an enhanced understanding of urban renewal, marginality, and territorial stigma as analytic tools. Therefore, it concluded that any branding of urban renewal as 'sustainable,’ even when employed exploratively, ought to be approached with caution, particularly in terms of transparency, optimisation, and emancipation.