Eliot Tretter

University of Calgary, Geography, Faculty Member

The University of Texas at Austin, Geography and the Environment, Research Affiliate

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I am an urban geographer. I research and write about environmental racism, political economy, cultural economies, urban governance the politics of urban development, geographic scale, and urban sustainability.
Supervisors: David Harvey and Erica Schoenberger
Address: The University of Calgary
2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T2N 1N4

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Alessandro Camiz, Ph.D.

Università degli Studi "G. d'Annunzio" Chieti Pescara

Don Ross

University College Cork

Tomasz Zarycki

University of Warsaw

Rui Ramos

Lancaster University

Dylan Trigg

Central European University

Bob Jessop

Lancaster University

Andrea Peto

Central European University

David Seamon

Kansas State University

Pedro Serrano Gomes

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research

David Morris

Concordia University (Canada)

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Papers by Eliot Tretter

Creative re-uses: The promises and challenges of temporary land use in Calgary

Cities

YIMBYISM AND THE HOUSING CRISIS IN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES : A Critical Reflection

International Journal of Urban and Regional Research

Shadows of a Sunbelt City

“Turn your brand into a destination”: toponymic commodification and the branding of place in Dubai and Winnipeg

Naming Rights, Place Branding, and the Cultural Landscapes of Neoliberal Urbanism

ABSTRACT The selling of naming rights to corporate sponsors has led urban policymakers to increas... more ABSTRACT The selling of naming rights to corporate sponsors has led urban policymakers to increasingly view the identities of public places as rent-generating assets to fund urban infrastructure. Yet few scholars have critically analyzed this emerging global trend of toponymic commodification and the seeking of “naming rent.” Through a combination of archival research, on-site field observations, and semi-structured interviews, this study examines how the practice of toponymic commodification is transforming the cultural landscapes of contemporary cities by considering two naming rights programs: Dubai’s Metro Naming Rights Initiative and the Sponsor Winnipeg Program. In each case, we explore the implications of commodifying public place names as well as the conflicting perceptions of such sponsorship programs. In doing so, the present study illustrates how the selling of naming rights is reshaping the built environment into a space of symbolic/economic capital transformations as brands become destinations and public places are reconceived as marketing opportunities.

Transforming Rainey Street

New Geographies of Racism: Canadian Urbanization, the Biopolitical, and Racial Capitalism

Labour / Le Travail

The environmentalization of urban entrepreneurialism: From technopolis to start-up city

Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space

This paper investigates two trends in contemporary forms of urban entrepreneurialism: (a) an incr... more This paper investigates two trends in contemporary forms of urban entrepreneurialism: (a) an increasing focus on cultivating entrepreneurship, and (b) the promotion of entrepreneurial ecosystems that leverage culture and sustainability to attract and support entrepreneurs. We argue that these trends signify a shift from the entrepreneurial city to new strategies that shape cities for entrepreneurs. Underpinning this development is a broad normalization and valorization of entrepreneurship as the dominant pathway for urban economic growth. Additionally, we show how sustainability and greening are enrolled in these economic development strategies, promising to bolster the environmental image of the city. We highlight these two changes by focusing on the intellectual foundations of the technopolis concept in Austin, Texas, and the development of a cleantech entrepreneurial ecosystem that has increasingly been leveraged in Austin’s entrepreneurial growth efforts. We offer insights into ...

Eliot Tretter

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