Waterfront development, urban regeneration and local politics in New Orleans and Liverpool

The French Quarter in New Orleans, a diverse and homogeneous area of unique historic character, is the locus of study. It is an area pregnant with tensions between development interests tied to tourism supported by local political and economic interests, and preservation concerns that have been defended by long standing neighborhood movement organizations. This research addresses the question of how, within these overarching development and preservation frames, subframes can be identified that incorporate elements of diversity/ exclusivity (how different groups, minority racial groups, gays, gutter punks, transient tourists, local lower paid service workers, etc., are considered acceptable or not), homogeneity/ heterogeneity (tolerance of noise, mixed uses, tourist activities, etc.), as well as different visions of what preservation of historic buildings implies. Incorporated in the analysis is concern for the way these frames are constructed in the process of neighborhood organizing and through life-politics, and how they are related to the unfolding of specific controversies over intervention in the French Quarter