ABSTRACT
Planning interventions and policies in cities can play supportive and even catalytic roles in regional and national peacebuilding. There exist several types of practical policy approaches able to move cities of deep ethnic and nationalistic conflict toward greater normalization of daily and political life. This discussion synthesizes findings from 17 years of research involving over 240 interviews with political leaders, planners, architects, community representatives, and academics in the politically contested cities of Jerusalem, Beirut, Belfast, Johannesburg, Nicosia, Sarajevo, Mostar, Bilbao, and Barcelona (Bollens 2012). These cities are ‘polarized’ where two or more ethnically-conscious groups— divided by religion, language, and/or culture and perceived history — have been or currently are in deep and intractable conflict. Ethnic identity and nationalism combine to create pressures for group rights, autonomy, or even territorial separation.
