Paper short abstract:

This paper addresses landscapes of deindustrialization through two case studies of "reclamation" in Winnipeg, Canada. Analyzing these sites show how logics of urban renewal, neoliberal privatization, environmental remediation, and Indigenous sovereignty contrast and align into new landscapes.

Paper long abstract:

This paper addresses landscapes of deindustrialization through the lenses of neoliberalism, environmentalism, and Indigenization. Using case studies from Winnipeg, Canada, we investigate sites where brown and grey landscapes are targeted for redevelopment. Most proposed changes are coded through the language of “reclamation” where urban decay is presented as an opportunity to return places to their original purpose or natural state. In Winnipeg, two recent reclamation projects pair this discourse with the settler colonial logic of reconciliation and restitution of Indigenous sovereignty: the redevelopment of the Canadian Armed Forces base into Naadi-Oodena by Treaty One First Nations, and the $100 million revitalization of the iconic Hudson’s Bay Building in downtown Winnipeg by the Southern Chiefs Organization after a symbolic sale of one dollar. We analyze environmental reclamation / Indigenous reconciliation as a powerful tool to remake urban space, but also a powerful discursive framework that builds upon an insurgent neoliberalism joining disparate projects like wilderness parks, housing cooperatives, infill developments and parking lots, urban reserves, department stores, and shopping malls. Analyzing these sites show how logics of urban renewal, neoliberal privatization, environmental remediation, and Indigenous sovereignty contrast and align into new landscapes.