Brave Tolerant City

Abstract

Tolerance is an essential tool of peaceful coexistence that allows diversity to flourish and a multicultural pluralist society to function. In times of globalisation, digitalisation, and polarization, it is becoming more critical than ever. Nevertheless, tolerance faces multiple issues. As a concept, it is being washed up, belittled, and critiqued either for its extensiveness or narrowness. Consequently, it became a vague notion, posing the question of what it means in contemporary society. Is it emotion, feeling, or attitude? How does it relate to other concepts of inclusivity and justice? In addition, even with an increasing amount of studies, there is still a gap in knowledge about the relationship between tolerance and space. It is still largely unknown how one associate with the other, what forces are affecting this link and how to use it to facilitate tolerance. Moreover, Kaunas, my hometown and choice as a case-study area, has very explicit issues regarding discriminatory but also changing attitudes, making it an optimal location to investigate (in)tolerance and conditions for it. Therefore in this paper I embark on a journey to study this concept, following the main research question: how can spatial and policy planning be used to foster more tolerant attitudes towards difference in everyday Kaunas?
Tolerance is subjective, partly non-representational, and unconscious. For this reason, I chose to use a mixed-methods explorative approach, combining comprehensive theoretical and empirical analyses. I consolidated spatial observations, institutional research, in-depth unstructured interviews, extensive literature and media review, and poetic investigation of artistic mediums. Through these methods, I integrated knowledge from a diverse range of disciplines, from psychology and philosophy to urban planning and architecture.
The fusion of multiple methods and disciplines allowed me to conclude on conceptual and spatial aspects of tolerance. By integrating tolerance into the affect theory, I argue that it is a process which, through encounter, transforms one state of being into another, meaning that tolerant attitudes are in constant flux. I transferred this new definition into the theoretical framework, which guided my empirical investigation in Kaunas. Based on unstructured interviews and an analysis of multiple cases, I uncovered a force affecting people’s attitudes in Lithuania – the Tolerance Event. It is a very active form of encounter that ruptures the passive status quo while at the same time addressing severe socio-cultural issues and allowing people to get to know diversity. Building on this theory, I propose multiple strategies as an example of how to use the Tolerance Event in Kaunas. They involve funding, policy, institutions, design, and planning proposals and are covered by one central vision – to become the Brave Tolerance City, Kaunas needs More Tolerance Events.