This comparative qualitative case study examines the co-presence paradox in Texas, how municipal festival branding highlights heritage while excluding the community members who produce these tradition
In contemporary multicultural cities, municipal authorities operating under neoliberal governance increasingly commodify ethnic heritage and cultural celebrations to market city brand identities and drive tourism revenues. This dynamic generates a spatial and governance contradiction: the co-presence paradox, wherein cities hyper-visibilize immigrant cultural expressions, such as Día de los Muertos and Lunar New Year, while promoting the exclusion of the community members who produce those traditions. This exploratory qualitative case study investigates how Mexican and Chinese cultural festivals function as spaces of placemaking, and how they shape cultural identity and belonging within immigrant communities in Texas. By utilizing a comparative qualitative case study design, the research triangulates archival policy documents and semi-structured interviews. The study addresses critical literature gaps by linking formal municipal spectacle with informal, domestic rituals of belonging, providing urban planners with actionable frameworks to recognize marginalized communities as co-producers of urban space rather than passive cultural assets.
Community and Regional Planning PhD program at the University of Texas at Austin, his research focuses on climate vulnerability, environmental policy, cultural heritage, and urban development.