PhD project In major European cities, ethnoculturally diverse streets oppose neoliberal capitalist high streets and malls by producing alternative pluralities through distinct practices, knowledge, and spaces. The doctoral research aims to investigate - How diverse streets, beyond their role as contested spaces for migrant communities' social and economic survival, actively catalyze urban differences and establish conditions for situated pluralism through their spatial, cultural, and temporal dynamics?
This PhD research explores ethnically diverse European streets as vibrant spaces where multiple cultures co-create urban life. Moving beyond views of migrant areas as marginal, it investigates how these streets foster unique plural urban identities and inclusivity. Grounded in social space and postcolonial theories, the project aims to reveal these streets as models for designing cities embracing diversity as a strength, inspiring more just and cosmopolitan urban futures.
This research examines the evolving pluralities within Europe’s ethnoculturally diverse streets, challenging conventional understandings of migrant neighborhoods as marginal or peripheral spaces. These streets have historically emerged in gaps and overlooked corners of the city and have transformed from isolated ethnic clusters into vibrant, cosmopolitan environments. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the social production of space, the study approaches these streets as both lived, material environments and conceptual imaginaries in which multiple cultures coexist, interact, and generate new social relations. The research argues that such diverse streets produce distinct urban typologies that embody and sustain plural modes of existence, offering alternatives to the homogenizing tendencies of neoliberal urban development.
Grounded in postcolonial theory and the concept of the pluriverse, the project understands diversity not as a challenge to be managed but as a generative force for imagining and co‑creating more inclusive futures. Édouard Glissant’s notion of the right to opacity informs the analysis by framing cultural difference as layered and irreducible rather than transparent or fully knowable.
Methodologically, the research engages with ethnoculturally diverse streets through close readings of urban fragments. It combines critical historiography, spatial mapping, and ethnographic fieldwork to trace layered histories, everyday practices, and spatial negotiations. This multi-method approach supports an interpretation of urban space as dynamic, contested, and continuously shaped by plural narratives.
Expected outcomes include academic publications, conference presentations, and a monograph. More broadly, the research aims to contribute insights for designing urban environments that are more socially and culturally responsive.
