ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses how the Troubles, as well as the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), have left material marks on the spatial topography of Belfast. The history of the conflict in Northern Ireland, as in most conflict-affected societies, is complex and dates back centuries. Spatial politics reveal the contestation surrounding space and place in the city of Belfast where both communities live closely together yet divided by the physical infrastructure of the peace walls that cut across the urban landscape. Attempts at both a political and a community level to try to address issues of community identity, integration and sectarianism have recently taken on increased importance. As peace and conflict are manifested in different ways, space-making becomes a process that enables us to cross-cut between a variety of those manifestations. The advent of peace spurred a heated debate surrounding how to deal with a difficult heritage and the meanings of such material places in the present and future of Northern Ireland.
