Creative Urban Atmospheres

Nicola Di Croce is an urban researcher and sound artist. He holds a PhD in Regional Planning and Public Policies from the Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy, and has been Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Iuav and McGill University, Montreal. His research deals with the relationship between Urban Studies and Sound Studies and the potential for sound-based, qualitative, participatory, and creative approaches to inform urban (policy) analysis and design. He is active as composer for sound installations and has been an artist-in-residence in several institutions in Europe, North America, and Asia. He is co-founder of SSH! Sound Studies Hub at the Università Iuav di Venezia.www.nicoladicroce.com

• Introduction Chapter 1: Tactical Urbanism and the neoliberal city Chapter 2: Atmosphere and the sonic experience of urban space Chapter 3: Exploring Research-Creation in urban planning Chapter 4: Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles: A case study Chapter 5: The promise of participation for urban change Chapter 6: Conclusions: Urban tactical imagination Index

"Sound design of urban spaces is either still quite rare or almost completely left to architects, urban planners, and/or project developers who have hardly been educated in this discipline. Thanks to Nicola’s new book, interesting sonic interventions not only become the specialty of artists; sound is also recognized as a political force."Marcel Cobussen, Professor of Auditory Culture and Music Philosophy at Leiden University, the Netherlands"Although there is significant awareness that consumption-oriented urban policies have been detrimental to urban liveability in many cities, there is little exploration of alternatives. Di Croce addresses this shortcoming by carefully drawing on his own research in Montréal to show how tactical urbanism can function as a tool to resist the negative impacts of consumption-oriented urban interventions. While doing so, Di Croce also presents a detailed and inspiring example of the potential of research-creation."Daniel Paiva, Researcher in Human Geography at University of Lisbon, Portugal"Through original research, grounded in a first-person narrative, Nicola di Croce casts a fresh outlook onto urban soundscapes and atmospheres. Challenging decorative tactical urbanism, Di Croce opens up new pathways of research-creation into sonic urbanism, in ways that may inform better planning and design as well as support bottom-up action.” Andrea Mubi Brighenti, Professor of Social Theory at University of Trento, Italy"Nicola Di Croce’s book expertly connects atmospheric thinking and sound studies with tactical urbanism, exploring ways in which these approaches can challenge the neoliberal takeover of modern cities. The book should be of great interest to academics, students and designers who are concerned with the creation of socially inclusive cities."Jordan Lacey, Senior Lecturer of Design at RMIT, Australia