Abstract

European cities respond to demands arising from the global standpoint competition, supporting progress and development according to a profit-oriented ideal. Neoliberal policies and large-scale urban restructuring projects are common tools aimed to create safe cities for a shopping society. But even though persistent power relations seem to dominate the struggle for space and place in European cities, the outcome of large-scale interventions remain unpredictable. Too many people with conflicting interests take part in the daily hustle of urban societies sharing a common space. In the course of a two-month fieldwork focusing on asylum seekers, it became clear that memories, basic needs, and future perspectives were associated with specific places and became relevant for undertakings to (physically) re-shape and re-design places. This paper shows how asylum seekers with outstanding transnational experience but limited local knowledge about Bolzano (Italy) establish relations with specific places and develop tactics opposing governmental place-making ambitions. It outlines the separation between asylum seeker’s place-making tactics and local elites’ place-making strategies and aims for new opportunities for urban development.