Pausing in the city: exploring placemaking through linguistically diverse landscapes

This paper explores how multilingual signage in an urban landscape can function as a tool to bring the residents from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds close to each other, and make connections with the city they live in. This study is grounded in the well-established field of Linguistic Landscape (LL) and uses ‘walking-in-the-LL methodologies’ to capture the experience of LL users. This inclusive ethnographic approach recognises that individual signs may carry particular resonance for different participants. Following the walking participants, this paper discusses how linguistic signs are actively recruited by moving bodies and integrated into their affective practices in specific times and places. The project involves a walking workshop organised in collaboration with a local community centre in Edinburgh, followed by a focus group discussion. Our findings show how engaging with the LL enables participants to reflect on inclusion, belonging, and their connection to multilingual urban spaces. By using the LL as a lens to examine participants’ affective practices, the workshop foregrounded reflection on how the LL shapes perceptions of home, community, and evolving relationships with the city.