When Patterns of Intercommunal Relations Meet the Symbolic Landscape in Divided Cities: A Critical Exploration

This study proposes a new agenda for studying intercommunal relations in divided cities by examining these cities’ symbolic landscapes in general and toponyms (place names) in particular. It posits that when existing political patterns of intercommunal relations such as control, partition, and power-sharing are juxtaposed with the symbolic landscape of divided cities, these ideal patterns become less clear-cut and reveal important points of overlap, dynamism, and hybridity. Drawing on political walking as a method of interpreting the urban symbolic landscape and on archival research and semi-structured interviews, we explore three prominent examples of divided cities, each representing a different ideal pattern of intercommunal relations: West and East Jerusalem under Israeli rule after 1948 and 1967, respectively (control), Nicosia after the Turkish intervention in 1974 (partition), and Belfast after the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 (power-sharing). By analyzing and comparing various types of toponyms in each city and their actual presentation in the urban space, we demonstrate how each of these cities’ symbolic landscapes reveals interesting deviations from these ideal models when "theory meets asphalt."