| Summary: | This thesis investigates the process of post-war reconstruction in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), particularly focusing on the post reunification phase (since 2004). Drawing on the theory of "the production of space", as elaborated by Henri Lefebvre, this project explores the ways in which the urban space is produced socially . By re-appropriating Lefebvre's methodological tool of the spatial triad, this research investigates both the ways in which space is imagined, designed, and built at the level of political administration, and the various practices through which this space is re-appropriated, experienced, and lived in everyday life in order to produce a more complex account of the post-war rehabilitation process. Hence, this project adopts an ethnographic perspective to explore the ways in which space is produced (and reproduced) in the quotidian of Mostar to engage with the extent of its polarisation in everyday life. Accordingly, the project sets out the question of how Mostar becomes a divided city by critically engaging with how the city is administered, planned, represented (in political and academic discourses) and also the ways in which the city• is lived and used by the citizens. Empirical evidence of this research shows that Mostar is not merely a divided city but also a shared space and, more importantly, a platform for the activities of engaged actors in Civil society working towards a more just (and shared) future (in the city and beyond). As a general conclusion, this thesis argues that investigations about Mostar should start by unravelling the multifarious dynamics that produce its space as complex, rather than picturing the city as solely divided (or united) . Furthermore, this project suggests that more investigations about Mostar should engage with its spaces of resistance in order to share the story of those who are already producing change.
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