Antarctic Cities: from Gateways to Custodial cities

• Main Authors: Salazar, JF, James, P, Leane, E, Magee, L
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Institute for Culture and Society 2021
• Subjects: Human Society; Human geography; Cultural geography; Antarctic; Christchurch; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Ushuaia; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://ecite.utas.edu.au/150096

The cities of Cape Town, Christchurch, Hobart, Punta Arenas, and Ushuaia are formally recognized international gateway cities through which flows most travel to the Antarctic region . All significant engagement with the South Polar region is co-ordinated through them. By geographical placement and historical contingency, these cities have a special connection to their bioregions to the south. They are the most connected to the Antarctic in the world. They have become important scientific hubs where the diplomatic and logistical co-operation underpinning most of the world's interactions with the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean take place. Through these cities, Antarctica has exercised a powerful hold on the global imagination since the late nineteenth century. In 2009, these five cities came together to sign a document, the first of its kind, the Statement of Intent between the Southern Oceanic Rim Gateway Cities to the Antarctic. The agreement invoked the spirit of the Antarctic Treaty, outlining in-principle support for knowledge exchanges and 'promot[ing] the enhancement of peaceful and co-operative relations between signatory nations' (Sciurano, et al., 2009). Although the statement expired 18 months after it was signed, in the period since, the 'Antarctic city' status of several of the cities has been reinforced by policy papers at all levels of government that put forward visions for enhancing this place-identification (Leane, et al., 2021). Today, the Antarctic region faces unprecedented challenges. These Southern Oceanic Rim cities, individually and as a group, are in a position to play an important role in defining how Antarctica is imagined, discursively constructed, and vicariously experienced. This requires elaboration of the more conventional roles they have played as 'gateway cities', portals for goods and services (Hall, 2000). As this report shows, these five cities are much more than gateways. They are intimately connected to the south in ways - historical, cultural, political, affective - that ...