The lack of natural self-presentation can be referred to as an aspect which is impossible to control and influence. This process is not amenable to regulation and correction. The city sometimes does not choose whether the natural self-presentation will be positive or negative. At the same time, artificial self-presentation of “cool” cities can be controlled. It is created with the aim of winning the commitment of the target audience. This type of representation of the city is prepared in advance, can be carried out separately or in addition to the natural self-presentation. Elements of artificial self-presentation make it possible to veil the negative aspects of the natural appearance, and turn them into the advantages of a country, region, or city. However, at the same time, it can create a false impression of life.
In his book The Culture of Cities the author Sharon Zukin analyzes in detail the phenomenon of Disneyland, which creates a false impression of the norms of urban life. Therefore, the author studies the activities of urban development corporations that actively privatize public lands and benefits, describes modern art museums acting as the most powerful developers, and immerses the reader in the exotic world of ethnic restaurants that create the flavor of the city. However, being deprived of access to the results of the capitalization of their own exoticism, explains what is not only the beauty, but the benefits of similar markets (Zukin 30). The book is useful to anyone interested in understanding the phenomenon of urban culture.
Culture, playing the role of a serious urban business, is not neutral, as it allows stimulating the growth of real estate prices and ousting “undesirable” representatives of urban publics from urban spaces. Such audiences do not fit the cultural landscape being sold. In this regard, culture as an influential resource becomes the subject of a competitive struggle between class, ethnic, religious, and other groups that claim to conceptualize and control streets, museums, parks, and other urban spaces.
Zukin demonstrates how, since the 1970s, the economies of modern American metropolitan areas have become increasingly dependent on symbolic production. Such production, in turn, becomes city-forming. New restaurants, art galleries, boutiques, museums appear everywhere, which, among other things, contributes to the formation of an attractive and marketable image of the city (Zukin 49). Museums and galleries, having lost state subsidies, are forced to look for approaches to the public to expand the audience through the capitalization of art and other assets when they open restaurants and, in the evenings, they host entertainment events.
The palette of examples in the book is notably diverse: the reader will be able to get acquainted with the author’s observations made in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, New Haven, Phoenix, and other American cities. In addition, Zukin’s book is a kind of encyclopedia that presents a kaleidoscope of key urban sociology stories (Zukin 13). The urban areas covered include culture, politics and urban economics, their ethnic and racial diversity, social inequality measurements, public spaces and their planning, the culture of everyday fear and security techniques.
Urban cities are often presented by their residents. At the same time, these are not always locals, but often visitors who want to seem “cool.” American writer Paul Stoller is a famous ethnographer who worked for many years primarily in Niger, in a region called Western Sudan, or the Sahel zone. The knowledge he acquired there came in handy when Stoller began to study Africans who came to America. The book Money Doesn’t Smell describes how Africans from the French-speaking countries of West Africa – Niger, Mali and other countries – are moving to New York, and in recent decades their number has increased.
West African migrants bring African culture to New York. They begin to commodify Africa in accordance with the mystified ideas of African Americans. Thus, Stoller describes a group of Africans who travel to African American festivals in a van full of African goods. Migrants are trying to find their niche in American society, their ways of existence, so they begin to bring African culture to New York (Stoller 212). This means establishing special, very nuanced ties with the African American community. These connections are ambiguous, they can not be called either good or bad, since both would be an oversimplification. Africans understand that they will not find anyone closer in America, but trying to get closer on this basis, they find that cultural differences repel them from each other.
In conclusion, some cities are represented by their natural resources, while others create their “coolness” using artificial methods. Such artificial methods may incorrectly demonstrate the reality of life, but at the same time attract the attention of other people to visit certain places (Mousavi et al. 83). The attempt of cities and their inhabitants, including migrants, to show a certain culture from a positive side, is largely based on commercial earnings. At the same time, urban life in the original concept implies a realistic perception and presentation.
Works Cited
Stoller, Paul. Money Has No Smell: The Africanization of New York City. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Zukin, Sharon. The cultures of cities. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1995.
Mousavi, Seyyed Najemddin, Saber Taghipour, and Masome Momenimofrad. “Designing a brand coolness model with the foundation data method.” New Marketing Research Journal 10.1 (2020): 83-104. Web.