ABSTRACT
Inclusion in urban environments extends beyond visual markers—it is also perceived through auditory and olfactory landscapes. The timing and semantics of sounds, alongside the intensity and character of smells, signal underlying social dynamics revealed by sensory negotiations and struggles over the public realm’s multifaceted uses. Employing the Sicilian market neighborhood of Fera o'Luni in Catania as a case study, this chapter asks how the sonic dimension of the public realm can shed light on how diversity is championed (or tolerated) and how inclusivity is promoted (or resisted).
On Saturdays, this neighborhood and its elliptical market piazza accommodate a kaleidoscopic variety of sounds of various communities and actors: a newly-opened mosque operates close to century-old churches; Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities take over market stands to set up impromptu cooking stations selling Asian foods; and informal parking attendants shout instructions to partygoers filling the streets behind the market with their loud revelry. Findings reveal that distinct visual and sonic features have sustained the neighborhood’s transformation and enabled its plural character. A multi-method approach—combining on-site observations, semi-structured interviews with sellers and residents of diverse backgrounds, and GPS-enabled noise monitoring—demonstrates how inclusion is continuously produced through the sensory politics of socio-ethnic heterogeneity.
