Planning Local Uniqueness: Drawing the Line between Development and Loss

Abstract

This article looks at a redevelopment conflict arising from divergent ways of addressing the perceived uniqueness of Coney Island, a historic amusement destination in Brooklyn, New York. By examining this conflict, this study helps explain the paradoxical confluence between planning efforts to promote unique development and accusations that such efforts have the opposite effect and engender sameness. It also thereby demonstrates the advisability of looking beyond the stark pro- and anti-development distinction to consider ways in which the negotiation of alternative forms of “uniqueness” can provide a means for addressing community demands in the face of perceived neighborhood threats.