Sebastian Haumann

Urban renewal nowadays is quite different from how inner cities were reconstructed in the 1960s. What used to be attempts to modernize urban society from above by intervention of local and national authorities has changed to network oriented betterment of neighborhoods in cooperation with their inhabitants. It has been stated that the development of an urban "civil society" owes much to the activities of social movements during the 1970s and 80s. Regarding government programs such as the German "Soziale Stadt" or the British "Neighbourhood Renewal Unit" this line of argumentation has become crucial for the justification of current policies. These cannot be understood without knowing more about the historical process underlying them. A closer look will lead to the conclusion that this development was less linear and did not follow straightforward rules of cause and effect as is suggested in retrospective. That is what makes examination of the interdependence of protest and urban renewal not only rewarding but also a necessity for some reconsiderations on urban policy. Still historical research dealing with this topic is scarce.

So far only the political sciences and sociology have worked systematically on urban social movements. Starting with Manuel Castells' influential studies on grassroots movements in urban settings around 1980 a constant discussion over the causes and impacts of social action on local society has been going on. From their perspective urban social movements are seen as a positive force bringing about changes in society in general and local policy in specific. Social activists, minorities, and dissenting citizens need to be integrated in the process of urban planning. This does not happen to keep these groups quiet, but assuming that they enrich the planning process and add impulses that are more adequate for the inhabitants. In this interpretation protest movements have had a major influence on the development of an urban civil society, eventually successful in their demand for extension of democratic rights and serious involvement in decision making.
This assumption is embedded in a larger narrative of the role social movements played for societal and political modernization, „civil society“ being the current and most advanced mode of public decision making in western societies. It is the – preliminary – climax of a development guaranteeing ever more people ever more say in governance. Every step in this history has been triggered and enforced by protest. Starting research from this perspective a specific interpretation of findings is already anticipated and the results tend to fall in line with the master narrative of protest as a source of modernization. This is where critical questions need to be raised and an open ended interpretation relying heavily on primary sources trying to understand actions in the context of their time is the way to go. After all we do find two phenomena that correlate throughout the period at question: There was protest against urban renewal, and there was a change in how urban renewal was done. Still, finding out about interdependence of protest and urban renewal leads to the general difficulty to differentiate between correlation and causation.

The assumption that there is an interrelationship between protest and the changes in urban renewal policies seems to follow political intentions and can only be backed hypothetically by historical facts. On the contrary, it does not seem that clear that protest and social movements had any impact on urban renewal at all. What was the role of protest in the change of urban policy? How did it depend on other factors? Who wanted to bring about changes, and why? What were the causes, the  incidents triggering protest, the circumstances of mobilization, the short-term results and the longterm effects. This line of questioning will reveal a more complex picture of urban protest activities and  lead to some paradox results compared to the assumption of the rise of an urban civil society.

In order to assess the protest movements' influence it is necessary to contextualize oppositional actions on the background of specific urban renewal projects. This leads to the suggestion to conduct a set of case studies. It is my aim to look at the selected cases as closely as possible. I will turn to two very specific cases in which an urban renewal project sparked protest. These cases are characterized by the continuity of protest movements challenging the authorities' plans encompassing a number of different stages of planning intentions and policies as well popular response. Looking at the small scale down to the level of individuals forming the protest may open up research to aspects that are overlooked when pursuing a large scale approach. I want to find out about interpretations, intentions and strategies the individuals involved thought of as most convincing to challenge current developments. The same will be done for the planners and authorities trying to „sell“ their ideas to  reluctant inhabitants.
Methodologically my approach will evolve around the question of how material and cultural phenomena reflect each other and intertwine. Recent research on urban history has concentrated on the concept known as spacial turn, stressing aspects of cultural coding and representation of built environment. On the other hand material preconditions of natural environment and built environment are both the basis and the object of culturally induced stability as well as change. Looking closely at the actors, their concepts, ideas, and beliefs about space at issue on the one hand and their actions addressing that space as an object of change or preservation on the other hand may help to grasp the complexity of materiality and culturality of space.

The cases I chose to analyze are the Südstadt section of Cologne and the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia. The Südstadt consisted largely of working-class homes built in the 19th century. By the 1960s many buildings were decaying and it was among the first neighborhoods slated for renewal. Starting in 1970 it became one of the most prominent cases of protest directed against the authorities' plans for redevelopment peaking in the 1980 squat of the large Stollwerck industrial complex. Society Hill had likewise been a working-class neighborhood that was stigmatized as run down when a publicly subsidized roll-back started in the 1960s. As a larger scheme for the redevelopment of Center City in preparation for the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence in 1976 the authorities' plans were opposed by a variety of citizens' groups throughout the 1970s.
The rationale behind comparing the West-German case of Cologne with the US-American case of Philadelphia is to find out about the assumed development of a „civil society“ due to the activities of grassroots movements. With this comparison I attempt to contrast two cases that differ largely in the field that I want to scrutinize while other factors remain rather homogeneous. Both, the political system of the FRG and the US are to large degree similar on a structural level, stressing the idea of representative democracy and the sovereignty of the people. Likewise economic developments and large political currents in West-Germany in general resemble the situation in the US. Still cultural differences in the understanding of civic engagement in both countries may point to important factors concerning the rise of a „civil society“. Also, the the two specific appraisals of property rights are to be taken into consideration when working in a field that touches heavily on respective rights.

Besides the prominence and consistency of the two cases at scrutiny the choice of Cologne and Philadelphia was also determined by the availability of archival sources. The main repository to draw on for the Cologne case is the KölnArchiv currently maintained by the Historische Archiv der Stadt Köln. It is a collection of manuscripts and brochures collected by a number of protagonists of several 1970s and 80s protest movements. On the other hand the city's archives also provides materials collected by the city agencies concerned with urban renewal, starting from the mayor's office down to the redevelopment authority. In addition to that the Hauptstaatsarchiv Düsseldorf holds records of the state secretary concerned with urban renewal as well as court hearings related to protest activities.
On the Philadelphia part my work will heavily rely on the holdings of Temple University's Urban Archives, among them the collections of initiatives such as the Tenant Action Group and the  Philadelphia Council of Neighborhood Organizations. On the side of the local authorities the holdings of Philadelphia City Archives holds a number of relevant records created by the Tate and Rizzo administrations throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In addition the City Planning Commission and the Redevelopment Authority's materials will serve as a sources to analyze the city's plans and their respective modifications through the years.