"Everything was Concrete": The everyday impacts of planning and urban redevelopment policy before and during the Troubles

This chapter explores the impacts of urban redevelopment policies on everyday life in NI from the late 1950s to the 1970s. It uses Derry as a case study to trace the impact of urban redevelopment policy on the everyday lives and activities of people at a time when the shocking particularity of violent conflict intersected with the mundanity of the everyday. This is examined through the lens of Michel de Certeau's concept of 'strategies and tactics' in an effort to comprehend the intersecting impacts of 'ordinary' and 'extraordinary' government policies on everyday life during the Troubles. The chapter offers a history and interpretation of this multi-layered experience by focusing on the city of Derry, which has been the subject of ongoing research by the author. It delves deeper into this clash between the priorities of urban redevelopment and the desires of the people and communities it affected.