Urban History, published by Cambridge University Press is pleased to announce the publication of the first “Multimedia Companion” in a programme to promote the development of multimedia websites that elaborate the print articles published in Urban History.

These refereed, Multimedia Companions are fully linked and cross-referenced to the print version. Exploiting the full potential of the web-based format, these Companions are not to be confused with the online text-only articles already appearing in Cambridge Journals Online. Access to this first multimedia work is offered free of charge, via the Cambridge Journals Online website:
www.journals.cambridge.org/jid_UHY

The inaugural publication, “Ferrol Urban History,” was produced by José María Cardesin (University of A Coruña, Spain). This bilingual English-Spanish website accompanies, and elaborates, Professor Cardesin’s original print article, “A tale of two cities: the memory of Ferrol between the Navy and the working class” in the December 2004 (31:3) issue of Urban History. Again, for free access to this article and its companion please visit:
www.journals.cambridge.org/jid_uhy and click on the relevant link.

The Editors of Urban History encourage authors of paper-printed articles to produce online-only “Multimedia Companions,” which will be self-contained websites published by Cambridge Journals Online (CJO). Upon acceptance of the author’s print manuscript, authors will have up to a year to produce an alternative, multimedia exploration of the same argument and subject matter. These Multimedia Companions will be posted simultaneously with the release of the print issue of Urban History, and linked to the digital version of the same article in CJO. The URL for the multimedia companion will also be printed on the first page of the paper article. Physically, these websites will be stored on the CJO servers, after having been created and tested on servers by the authors at their home institutions.

An increasing number of scholars—especially those in interdisciplinary fields such as urban history—are creating original multimedia works that include graphics, sound, and other elements that are impossible or cost-prohibitive to publish in paper form. More profoundly, the digital medium opens up possibilities to structure works of original scholarship in new ways, not limited to the linear narrative of a traditional journal article. Multimedia articles provide authors with the opportunity to analyze, interpret, and present maps, photographs and other materials that are especially helpful for the historical study of urban places. Please visit the website www.cambridge.org/journals/uhy/ifc for complete details and submission guidelines.

Abstract:

“A tale of two cities: the memory of Ferrol between the Navy and the working class’, the article appearing in the print issue 31:3 (December 2004) issue of Urban History (Cambridge University Press), explores three centuries of history of a Spanish city, Ferrol. It is a project for a multimedia website, ‘Ferrol Urban History’, the result of two years of teamwork, and intended for publication on Cambridge Journals Online. Finally, it is the seed of a pedagogical experience aimed at combining traditional teaching, the use of multimedia materials, and guided tours around the city. The research outlines the history of Ferrol, a city that was designed ‘de novo’ by military engineers to serve the Spanish monarchy of the Age of Enlightenment, housing its naval base and dockyards. The need to defend the city from enemy attacks and to discipline workers led to the application of a spatial plan charged with violence and with the segregation of the Navy officers and the working-classes. In the long term, the changes brought about by international economics and geopolitics, as well as the art of war, all had a direct impact on the viability of the city. Furthermore, changes in political culture and class alliances led to a redefinition of the practices of power. In the 19th century, the naval base and the enclave economy of Ferrol became obsolete. In the Spanish Civil War, the pro-Franco Navy converted the political repression against the working-class people into a major issue in the victory against the Second Republic. Franco’s dictatorship meant the return of a segregated and militarised Ferrol, whereas in the 1980s, Spain’s integration in Europe and the transition to democracy made this model obsolete.