Divided cities exhibition visits Manchester

A free exhibition showing the complex relationship between the city environment - such as buildings, walls and murals - with urban conflict is in Manchester this week. The recently finished study was led by Dr Ralf Brand from The University of Manchester, who showed how the urban environment in Belfast, Beirut, Berlin and Amsterdam is affected by and helps to cause conflict. 'Architruck' - the Royal Institute of British Architects North West's mobile exhibition - will be in Manchester over four days starting on Mon Apr 19 as part of the Manchester Architecture and Design Festival. The exhibition, which has already been to Beirut and Belfast and will also visit Berlin, Amsterdam, Exeter and London, displays photographs and diagrams of conflict points in the four cities. Dr Brand hopes the work will help policy makers, planners, architects, urban designers and citizens to create a built environment which will tackle social polarisation and foster community cohesion. The project team coordinated focus group discussions, conducted around 100 interviews and asked volunteers to interpret their daily environment with disposable cameras and mental maps. In Belfast, Dr Brand found the stubborn persistence of sectarian attitudes could be partially blamed on everyday urban features which would be uncontroversial in cities less blighted by conflict.