Urban Authenticity and Heritage : Creating Images and Contesting Identities in European Cities

Urban Authenticity and Heritage explores the contested notion of “urban authenticity” in European cities after 1945. It examines how buildings, neighbourhoods, and cultural practices are perceived as “authentic” — and why these claims matter.

Urban Authenticity and Heritage explores the contested notion of “urban authenticity” in European cities after 1945. It examines how buildings, neighbourhoods, and cultural practices are perceived as “authentic” — and why these claims matter. From post-war reconstruction to contemporary urban transformations, the book shows that authenticity is not fixed but a dynamic process shaped by social actors, political agendas, and collective memory. The contributors move beyond traditional heritage frameworks to analyse how authenticity is constructed through debates, representations, and practices of “authentification.” They reveal the role of citizens, institutions, media, and tourism in shaping places and traditions as symbols of identity and belonging. In doing so, the volume challenges essentialist understandings of heritage, presenting authenticity as relational, negotiated, and deeply embedded in changing urban contexts. Bridging urban history and critical heritage studies, the book offers new insights into the cultural, political, and emotional dimensions of cities. It demonstrates how claims to authenticity influence urban planning, identity formation, and the reimagining of Europe’s urban past and future. Its multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary approach will appeal to researchers in heritage, urban, historical, tourism, anthropological, sociological, and European studies, as well as heritage professionals