‘London is avocado on toast’: The urban imaginaries of the #LondonIsOpen campaign

Edanur Yazici, Karim Murji, Michael Keith, Steve Pile, John Solomos and Ying Wang
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Edanur Yazici: University of Warwick, UK
Karim Murji: University of West London, UK
Michael Keith: University of Oxford, UK
Steve Pile: Open University, UK
John Solomos: University of Warwick, UK
Ying Wang: University College London, UK

Urban Studies, 2023, vol. 60, issue 12, 2418-2435

Abstract: This article examines the production, representations and reactions to the #LondonIsOpen campaign to ask how urban imaginaries are produced and what they entail for understanding the city. The analysis considers how the idea of a cosmopolitan, diverse and multicultural city is framed, what it includes and excludes and the distinct geographies of the city it produces. It draws on three data sources: documentary analysis of videos used in the campaign; social media analysis of tweets using #LondonIsOpen; and semi-structured interviews with key figures in the campaign team. The main arguments are that the appeal to openness contributes to the versatility of the campaign and the range of responses to it, making it highly adaptable and flexible to respond to current affairs; and that open London is geographically selective and imagined as business focused, trendy and cosmopolitan. In turn, the reactions to the idea of open London range from seeking a borderless world to anti-migrant rhetoric. Although the campaign represents London as welcoming and inclusive, such welcoming is partial and subject to contestation. The article concludes that over time, the openness of #LondonIsOpen has come to serve multiple political functions and act as a brand for the city.

Keywords: Brexit; city branding; diversity; open city; welcoming; 英国脱欧; åŸŽå¸‚å“ ç‰Œ; å¤šæ ·æ€§; 开放城市; 热情的 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:60:y:2023:i:12:p:2418-2435

DOI: 10.1177/00420980221149841

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