On the Liminal Fertility of Urban Binaries in the Sin City of Neon Lights

This paper engages in an initial exercise of re-imaging one of the most well-known—and most misperceived—cities on the planet. Las Vegas’ one-sided reputation will first be expanded into a series of binary pairings, and then the problematic friction between them will be highlighted. While a structuralist approach, the added dimensionality by these established polarities will reveal the fertile potential of their liminal gradients. As new identities materialize, important questions about the future of Las Vegas will begin to arise. A surprisingly contested and isolated urban condition in perpetual tension between diminishing water resources, vested capital interests, troubled sociological phenomena, expanding military operations, and delimiting natural preservation practices, Las Vegas is volunteered as a city ripe for further critical analysis and exploration.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.Intl.2018.48

Volume Editors
Ángela García de Paredes, Iñaqui Carnicero & Julio Salcedo-Fernandez

ISBN
978-1-944214-18-0