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"London is avocado on toast” : the urban imaginaries of the #LondonIsOpen campaign
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Yazici, E., Murji, K., Keith, M., Pile, S., Solomos, John and Wang, Y. (2022) "London is avocado on toast” : the urban imaginaries of the #LondonIsOpen campaign. Urban Studies . ISSN 0042-0980. (In Press)
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Abstract
This article examines the production, representations, and reactions to the #LondonIsOpen campaign to ask how urban imaginaries are produced and what they entail for understanding the city. The analysis considers how the idea of a cosmopolitan, diverse, and multicultural city is framed, what it includes and excludes, and the distinct geographies of the city it produces. It draws on three data sources: documentary analysis of videos used in the campaign; social media analysis of tweets using #LondonIsOpen; and semi-structured interviews with key figures in the campaign team. The main arguments are that the appeal to openness contributes to the versatility of the campaign and the range of responses to it, making it highly adaptable and flexible to respond to current affairs; and that open London is geographically selective and imagined as business focused; trendy; and cosmopolitan. In turn, the reactions to the idea of open London range from seeking a borderless world to anti-migrant rhetoric. Although the campaign represents London as welcoming and inclusive, such welcoming is partial and subject to contestation. The article concludes that over time, the openness of #LondonIsOpen has come to serve multiple political functions and act as a brand for the city.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Tourism -- England -- London, Tourism -- Social aspects, Cities and towns -- England -- London, Sociology, Urban -- England -- London, Urban geography -- England -- London | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Urban Studies | ||||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||||
ISSN: | 0042-0980 | ||||||
Official Date: | 2022 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | In Press | ||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | Posted ahead of print. Yazici, E., Murji, K., Keith, M., Pile, S., Solomos, John and Wang, Y. (2022) "London is avocado on toast” : the urban imaginaries of the #LondonIsOpen campaign. Urban Studies. Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications. https://journals.sagepub.com/home/usj Users who receive access to an article through a repository are reminded that the article is protected by copyright and reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses. | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 14 December 2022 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 15 December 2022 | ||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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