, ville durable, politique publique, urbanisme, aménagement, développement durable
Le n°363 de la revue Urbanisme consacre un dossier au thème "La ville durable en question(s)". Extrait de l'éditorial d'Antoine Loubière : On pourrait multiplier à dessein les références à l’actualité, en commençant bien sûr par le vote (en première lecture) de la loi dite Grenelle 1, le 21 octobre, à une très large majorité de l’Assemblée nationale. “Un texte essentiel pour l’avenir, pour préparer la transition énergétique et la mutation durable de notre société”, selon les mots de Jean-Louis Borloo. Bref, la France, en particulier celle des villes, basculerait de bon cœur dans la “durabilité”, si tant est que le mot fasse véritablement sens. Car tel est le fil conducteur de ce dossier : mettre à l’épreuve cette notion de ville durable qui s’impose actuellement comme nouveau paradigme des politique publiques. Voir le sommaire complet du n°363.
Harlem Heritage : mémoire et renaissance
Présentation par l'éditeur : Harlem, années 1920. Le quartier noir de New York est le foyer d’une véritable explosion culturelle : Harlem Renaissance. Une avant-garde remet en question les hiérarchies sociales et raciales, invente d’autres liens, repense un héritage et fonde une autre modernité. Revisiter cette fascinante période, à partir de ses grandes figures et les questions qu’elles ont soulevées, pour mieux éclairer quelles sont leurs incidences sur la création et la réflexion contemporaines : ce hors série de la revue Riveneuve Continents veut ainsi jeter d’ici, vers l’Ouest et vers le Sud, de nouveaux ponts sur l’Atlantique, et aussi des passerelles vers l’avenir autant que le passé.
, densité urbaine, friche, forme urbaine, étalement urbain, urbanisme, immobilier, Suisse
Présentation par l'éditeur : "Reconstruire la ville en ville", ce mot d’ordre est devenu incontournable dans les débats en matière de développement territorial. Les opérations de densification de l’environnement construit et de reconversion des friches industrielles devraient en effet permettre d’obtenir une forme urbaine plus compacte et davantage en adéquation avec les principes de durabilité. Cet ouvrage entend faire le point sur ces réflexions en réunissant des contributions basées sur des recherches effectuées en Suisse (Lausanne, Neuchâtel, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Estavayer-le-Lac, etc.) et à l’étranger (Bruxelles). Il propose un état des lieux des principales tendances de l’urbanisation (étalement urbain, retour en ville, recomposition de la structure économique). Les différents articles abordent la question du potentiel de densification des villes suisses (notamment en ce qui concerne les friches ferroviaires), le rôle et les stratégies de certains acteurs du marché immobilier (investisseurs institutionnels, promoteurs privés, collectivités locales), les facteurs à l’origine du regain d’attractivité des villes constaté ces dernières années ainsi que les enjeux et les limites du modèle de la ville compacte. Sommaire : • Editorial (Chardon Badertscher Katia, Piguet Etienne, Rérat Patrick) • Reconstruire la ville en ville, tendances et enjeux (Rérat Patrick) • Régime métropolitain, migrations résidentielles et recomposition sociales: l'hypothèse de l'inversion du modèle de mobilité (Da Cunha Antonio) • Le déclin du commerce local, les pendulaires et l'autoroute (Chenal Jérôme, Kaufmann Vincent) • Les friches ferroviaires urbaines en Suisse, un potentiel à conquérir (Jaccaud Jean-Paul, Kaufmann Vincent, Lamunière Inès, Lufkin Sophie) • La reconversion du quartier Gare/Crêt-Taconnet à Neuchâtel: réflexions sur la densification qualifiée (Thomann Marianne) • Le rôle des promoteurs immobiliers dans la reconversion d'usines en logements à La Chaux-de-Fonds (Ischer Patrick) • La recomposition territoriale des circuits immobiliers: le cas des caisses de pension suisses (Theurillat Thierry, Corpataux José) • Urbanisme néolibéral et politiques de gentifrication: main basse sur le quartier de la gare TGV à Bruxelles Van Criekingen Mathieu
Les cultures visuelles de l'urbain contemporain
banlieue, culture urbaine, espace urbain, grand ensemble, image, photographie, représentations
Présentation par l'éditeur : numéro 11 de Lieux Communs explore l’actualité des cultures visuelles de l’urbain. Alors que certaines contributions interrogent la crise de l’imagibilité urbaine - difficulté de lire la ville en raison de son éclatement ou bien profusion d’images dont nous serions plus ou moins captifs, d’autres textes proposent de questionner les prothèses à partir desquelles nous lisons, figurons et éprouvons le milieu dans lequel nous évoluons. Si l’iconicité de l’urbain contemporain est parfois interrogée, c’est dans d’autres cas les processus par lesquels nous nous représentons les espaces urbains qui retiennent l’attention. Qu’ils soient critiques ou analytiques, les articles du dossier se voient doublés d’interrogations proches portées dans la rubrique Transpositions. À partir de quels points de vue l’urbain s’organise-t-il ? Comment émerge-t-il comme un ensemble figurable ? Quels panoramas et attitudes contemplatives sont aujourd’hui à l’œuvre ? Des réponses se croisent dans les textes ici sélectionnés.
Les mutations du logement en région bruxelloise
accès au logement, crise du logement, habitants, logement social, mixité sociale, pauvreté, politique du logement, précarité, sociologie, Bruxelles
Présentation par l'éditeur : La situation du logement à Bruxelles ne peut qu’interpeller l’observateur. Loyers élevés, carence de logements sociaux, valeurs acquisitives en hausse, pléthore de logements vides : tous les indicateurs sont pour le moins préoccupants. À l’heure où la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale s’apprête à souffler ses vingt bougies, il a semblé intéressant de se pencher sur ce que le gouvernement actuel a désigné, avec l’emploi, comme l’une de ses priorités. La région s’est profondément transformée en vingt ans, et il se pourrait fort que les recompositions encore à venir dépassent celles du passé. Comment des évolutions comme l’atomisation des familles ou la polarisation spatiale du logement social vont-elles réorganiser l’offre de logements de la capitale et, à travers cette offre, comment vont-elles bouleverser les comportements de la population ? Sera-t-il possible de socialiser le marché privé ? Comment reconvertir des bureaux en logements ? Comment assurer la mixité sociale du logement ? Les habitants ne font pas que subir la ville et ses métamorphoses. Ils la modèlent à leur tour, dans un vaste mouvement de réappropriation du fait urbain. Nicolas Bernard évoque les expériences de participation des locataires de logements sociaux et les perspectives qu’offre l’habitat intergénérationnel. Une importance particulière est attachée par Nicolas Bernard aux personnes qui vivent dans la précarité. Une ville attire des personnes paupérisées persuadées d’y trouver les secours et les expédients susceptibles de les extraire de la misère. À cet égard, il évoque les pratiques d’épargne collective solidaire, qui n’ont pas encore trouvé d’appui du côté des pouvoirs publics. Docteur en droit et licencié en philosophie, Nicolas Bernard est professeur aux Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis (Bruxelles). Ce numéro 1993 du Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP est disponible sur le site de Cairn.
aménagement de l'espace, architecture, cadre de vie, grand ensemble, habitat, habiter, utopie
La revue Geste consacre un dossier au thème de l'"habiter" dans le numéro 5 de l'automne 2008. Sommaire de ce dossier : - Pratiques d’espaces - Habiter, vivre, exister - Entretien avec Chris Younès - Aucun animal n’habite dans un cube - Entretien avec Véronique Willemin - Politiques de l’interstice - Entretien avec Donia Petrescu et Constantin Petcou de l’Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée - Fictions urbaines - Entretien avec Sylvie Blocher et François Daune du collectif Campement Urbain - Grands ensembles en Pologne. Passé – présent – futur - Entretien avec Lydia Coudroy De Lille - A quoi pense un architecte ? - Entretien avec Eric Lapierre - Pagaille : Jacques Jouet - Cécile Mainardi, Nicolas Bouyssi - Olivia Rosenthal - Didier Garcia - Nathalie Quintane - Arno Bertina - Thomas Gunzig - Philippe Vasset - Guénaël Boutouillet - Pierre Pachet - Le machin architectural - Entretien avec Christian Pottgiesser - Habiter en mouvement par Julien Brachet - Turner à Lima par Sylvain Prudhomme - Les cosmophonies domestiques de Karlheinz Stockhausen par Lambert Dousson - Habiter aux alentours par Pierre-étienne Schmit - Habiter en 2050 par Marie Dariel
, ville durable, marché du travail, crise du logement, écologie, Vienne, Le Caire, Zhuhai, Afrique du Sud, Chine
Cities, la revue internationale d'analyse de la gestion urbaine et d'étude des politiques urbaines, vient de publier son volume 25, Issue 5 d'octobre 2008. Sommaire : • Editorial Board • Cultural sources of variations in US urban sustainability attributes ( William Budd, Nicholas Lovrich Jr., John C. Pierce, Barbara Chamberlain) • Is there a spatial mismatch in South Africa’s metropolitan labour market ? (Wim Naudé) • Greater Cairo’s housing crisis: Contested spaces from inner city areas to new communities (Wael Fahmi, Keith Sutton) • Cost–benefit analysis of the leisure value of urban greening in the new Chinese city of Zhuhai (Wendy Y. Chen, C.Y. Jim) • City Profile : Vienna (Gerhard Hatz) • Book Review : C.J. Burns and A. Kahn, Editors, Site Matters: Design Concepts, Histories, and Strategies, Routledge, New York and London (2005) (Frank Witlox) • Book Review : Malcolm Miles, Cities and Cultures , Routledge, Oxford and New York (2007) (Luke Dickens) • Corrigendum to “Waterfront design without policy ? The actual uses of Manila’s Baywalk” (José Edgardo Abaya Gomez Jr.)
, architecture, histoire, Paris, Lumières, architecture bourgeoise, sanatorium, Hénard Eugène, dix-neuvième siècle, vingtième siècle
Travaux d'histoire culturelle et sociale de l'architecture et des formes urbaines Présentation par l'éditeur : première livraison, le numéro 2 de fabricA traduit l’esprit dans lequel la revue a été fondée en accueillant les contributions des doctorants hébergés par le Laboratoire de recherche histoire architecturale et urbaine – sociétés (Ladrhaus) de l’École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Versailles, et des travaux présentés dans le cadre du séminaire régulier où se rencontrent jeunes chercheurs et chercheurs confirmés. La contribution d’Alexis Markovics, axée sur la fortune critique de l’œuvre bâtie d’Albert Joseph Sélonier, est particulièrement originale. En s’intéressant à la production ordinaire d’immeubles parisiens, caractéristique des premières années du vingtième siècle, elle invite à s’interroger sur les processus de fabrication de la ville. Elle complète la série de communications centrées autour du problème de la réception des œuvres et rassemblées dans le premier numéro de la revue. À partir d’une très bonne connaissance des traités allemands d’architecture bourgeoise des Lumières à la veille de l’ère industrielle (1750-1830), qui ont fait l’objet d’une thèse soutenue en novembre 2007, Véronique Samuel-Gohin propose de réviser les perspectives de l’histoire de l’architecture sur la question des origines de la pensée théorique de l’architecte néoclassique berlinois Karl-Friedrich Schinkel, imputées jusqu’ici à Durand et au succès de son Précis en Allemagne. Les nouveaux référentiels que constituent ces ouvrages didactiques, propres à l’aire culturelle germanique, laissent déjà transparaître le rationalisme des théoriciens de l’architecture du XIX° siècle. Enfin, Philippe Grandvoinnet nous livre une petite partie de son travail de thèse sur les sanatoriums français, en s’attachant en particulier au contexte et aux ambitions de la politique sanatoriale, ainsi qu’aux modalités de mise en œuvre d’un vaste programme d’équipements dont les contours sont définis par la loi du 7 septembre 1919. On lira également une étude consacrée à Eugène Hénard (1849-1923), ainsi qu’aux parcours et engagements professionnels de son père Antoine-Julien et de son frère Gaston, tous trois architectes de la Ville de Paris. Cette longue saga familiale traverse l’histoire des services de la Ville. Un premier état a été présenté en mai 2006 par son auteur, Catherine Bruant, chercheur au Ladrhaus, dans une séance du séminaire des doctorants consacrée aux architectes dans la fonction publique aux XIXeet XXe siècles. Elle alimente ainsi la série de monographies, objets déjà de plusieurs thèses soutenues ou à soutenir, qui seront mises en perspective dans le cadre d’un séminaire organisé en 2009 conjointement par le Ladrhaus, le Groupe d’étude de la ville régulière (ÉNSA de Bordeaux) et le Centre d’histoire des techniques et de l’environnement (CNAM).
Sommaire du numéro 47, 3e trimestre 2008, de la revue Autrepart. Variations Dalal Benbabaali : les élites de la haute fonction publique indienne Olivier Kahola Tabu, Benjamin Rubbers : l'ambivalence des rapports entre pouvoirs publics et enfants de la rue à Lubumbashi (RDC) Clotilde Binet, Bénédicte Gastineau : mariage, fécondité et autonomie conjugale à Madagascar Isabel Georges : l'emploi domestique féminin au croisement de l'espace public et privé (Sao Paulo, Brésil) Paula Regina Pereira Marcelino : la sous-traitance chez Honda au Brésil Jérôme Lombard : Kayes, ville ouverte. Migrations internationales et transports dans l'ouest du Mali Olivier Walther, Denis Retaillé : le modèle sahélien de la circulation, de la mobilité et de l'incertitude spatiale Dynamiques urbaines Pauline Bosredon : comment concilier patrimonialisation et projet urbain ? L'exemple de la vieille ville de Harar (Ethiopie) Nicolas Bautès, Caterine Reginensi : la marge dans la métropole de Rio de Janeiro : de l'expression du désordre à la mobilisation de ressources Emilio Duhau, Céline Jacquin : les ensembles de logement géants de Mexico Juanita Lopez-Pelaez, Luis Fernando Gonzalez : marginalité et inclusion urbaine à Medellin (Colombie) Mathieu Hilgers : politiques urbaines, contestation et décentralisation. Lotissement et représentations sociales au Burkina Faso Jean-Fabien Steck : Yopougon, Yop city, Poy... périphérie et modèle urbain ivoirien Note de recherche Franck Poupeau : les ambivalences de la participation communautaire : le cas du service de distribution des eaux à El Alto (Bolivie)
, urbanisme, économie, logement, gouvernance, spéculation
Le n°362 de la revue Urbanisme consacre un dossier au thème "Pour une éconmie politique des villes". Extrait de l'éditorial d'Antoine Loubière : La question est moins celle de la “ressource” proprement dite que de la “culture” qui doit accompagner sa mise en œuvre. Alors que le monde résonne des inquiétudes liées aux crises économiques et financières – l’Institut de l’épargne immobilière et foncière (IEIF) organise par exemple cet automne un colloque intitulé “Tourmente mondiale : quels scénarios pour l’immobilier ?” Notre dossier ne prétend pas apporter des réponses précises aux interrogations des opérateurs. Il vise plutôt à donner des pistes pour l’émergence d’une économie politique urbaine, dont l’absence en France s’explique par des raisons historiques que l’économiste Vincent Renard analysait remarquablement dans un récent entretien avec la revue Esprit. Voir le sommaire complet du n°362
El turismo urbano y la segmentación motivacional: aplicación econométrica a la ciudad de Barcelona
turismo, situación econòmica, política econòmica, economia, Barcelona
De todos es sabido el auge que ha experimentado la actividad turística en las últimas décadas. La época de la industria ha dado paso a la edad de los servicios, las tecnologías, la información. El hombre tiene cada vez más deseos, y a la vez más medios, de saber. El turismo, actividad con mucho siglos de historia, vive su época de oro. Los cambios del siglo que ahora acaba han transformado al hombre, y con él al turismo, pues no hay que olvidar que la actividad turística no es más que la expresión del individuo fuera de su entorno de vida cotidiano. La presente Tesis emprende la labor y el objetivo de intentar comprender un poco mejor algunos de los aspectos que perfilan el turismo en este cambio de milenio, los cuales probablemente marcarán las pautas para el próximo siglo, centrándose en el análisis de una de las tipologías más importantes y a la vez más olvidadas por parte de la literatura turística: el turismo en las ciudades, o turismo urbano. En todo este entramado van a destacar dos cuestiones básicas: la definición amplia de turismo y la segmentación de la demanda turística bajo dicha definición en las ciudades. Para ello, el objetivo de análisis de esta Tesis lo va a constituir el comportamiento de la demanda, bajo dos manifestaciones concretas: la repetición de las visitas y el gasto en destino. La presente Tesis se divide en cuatro grandes partes: una primera parte, de introducción al estudio, contiene dos epígrafes: una introducción general al tema, y el siguiente, de introducción al turismo urbano, en el que se analizan sus características y especificidades, para facilitar el estudio posterior de la demanda en dicho entorno. La segunda parte, de contenido eminentemente teórico, incluye siete epígrafes: el primero simplemente introduce y limita el tema; el segundo realiza un breve repaso a cuestiones previas fundamentales para los desarrollos posteriores; el tercero versa sobre el análisis macroeconómico de la demanda, poniéndose de nuevo de manifiesto la relevancia de dicha segmentación; el cuarto epígrafe, centrado en el análisis microeconómico de la demanda de turismo, aplicado al caso de las ciudades; en el quinto epígrafe se recoge la ampliación del esquema teórico microeconómico para el análisis de la repetición de las visitas; el epígrafe seis incluye un resumen acerca del estado de la econometría aplicada al turismo; y en el epígrafe séptimo se recogen las principales conclusiones y aportaciones de esta parte. La tercera parte incluye el análisis empírico de las cuestiones previas, repartido en cincoepígrafes: el primero, introduce el análisis del turismo en la ciudad de Barcelona, para evidenciar de este modo la especificidad del turismo urbano señalada de modo teórico, y servir de contexto en el que situar los apartados siguientes; el segundo epígrafe recoge la modelización de la repetición de las visitas en Barcelona, durante 1996; el tercero y el cuarto incorporan el análisis estadístico y econométrico del gasto en destino, de nuevo en la Barcelona de 1996; por último, el quinto epígrafe recoge las principales conclusiones y aportaciones de dicha parte. la cuarta parte, como colofón de la Tesis, presenta a modo de resumen las principales conclusiones obtenidas, las aportaciones realizadas, así como las líneas de futuro en que se propone proseguir el trabajo.
West African uncontrolled settlements and the intra-urban mobility model: A case study of the secondary city, Jos, Nigeria
West Africa, Jos, Nigeria, uncontrolled settlements, intra-urban mobility, urban migration, informal settlements, migrants, housing, economy, mobility, urban policy
Turner's (1965,1967,1968) study of Lima's squatter settlements led to the view that uncontrolled settlements of the Third World cities are mainly a manifestation of the desires for housing ownership by people who are well integrated in the city and have experienced some amount of social mobility. In his work, Turner (1968) advanced a theoretical model of intraurban mobility in which rural-urban migration; upward social mobility, intra-urban mobility and the growth of spontaneous settlements are inter-related. Within this model, migrants are classified into three successive groups which corresponds with their level of involvement in gainful employment namely, 'Bridgeheader' i. e. the newly arrived migrants who are in search of employment or involved in low paid jobs, 'Consolidators' i. e. those who have had some urban experience and are in relatively better paid jobs; and 'Status Seekers' i. e. the upper class of low income group. Three housing priorities: - Location, security of tenure and quality of housing and environment were assigned to those class of migrants. Upward economic and social mobility from a low paid job to a better paid jobs, is argued within this model, to be reflected in a housing priority and expectation about living conditions. Those who move from lower position in the social hierarchy to a higher position also move from inner city slums to the suburbs. In other words, social mobility necessarily entails spatial mobility within the urban environment. Security of tenure and improvement of the quality of housing are thus functionally related. Consequently, it is recommended that stimulating those spontaneous activities as opposed to their eradication would benefit enormously from the resourcefulness of the squatters. Legalisation of land tenure, provision of infrastructural services and support-for local neighbourhood organisation are some of the essential elements for a more healthy urban policy. In this study attempt is made to test Turner's model of intraurban mobility in a regional context of West Africa. The study specifically examines the validity of the model in relation to a secondary city of (Jos) Nigeria, and asks whether Turner's model which is based almost entirely on the migratory characteristics and experience of Latin America has gone far enough in acknowledging the various dimensions of Third World rural-urban migration in which some migrate permanently while others intend only a temporary migration as well as the varying types of uncontrolled subareas that have emerged as a result of these differences. In most of West Africa, Including Nigeria, rural-urban migration tends not only to be temporary in character but is also structured by kinship relationships. Within this migratory context, migrants do not strive to consolidate their stay in the city. They prefer cheap rental accommodation, with a view to consolidating their position in the rural home towns. Security of tenure does not therefore rank high in their order of priorities, their social mobility does not lead to a spatial mobility. Within this migratory context, the distinction between permanent and temporary migrants has more validity and practical application than Turner's bridgeheader - consolidator dichotomy, since bridgeheaders are likely to remain bridgeheaders while in the city. Adopting the proposed distinction between permanent and temporary migrants provides a lot of insight into the ways in which migrant groups perceive the city environment and how their perception of the city in turn affects the development process of their settlement areas. Indeed, varying migratory characteristics leads to varying housing demands and housing ambitions in the city of migration. This also leads to variation in migrants reception areas in the city and thus affords the capacity of uncontrolled subareas to improve via self help housing. Thus, the distinction between permanent and temporary migrants provides a lot of insight into the understanding of why some uncontrolled settlements might improve through self help housing and why others might not. Most importantly, it provides more insights into the policy dimension of the problem.
Development and urbanisation: The case study of Amol and Manzandaran province, Iran
urban development, urbanisation, Amol, Mazandarin province, Iran
Many developing countries in the 1950s, and 1960s adopted a growth centred strategy which was a centralised approach to development with the main focus on efficiency. But this strategy failed to improve the socio-economic situation of the majority of their rural population because it ignored the needs of the urban and rural economy i.e. agriculture, especially in commodities-based export countries. From 1970s onwards, the emphasis has shifted towards more a decentralised approach to development with a rural development bias. But the experience of different countries shows that with such a strategy the objective of equity is attained at the cost of efficiency and national growth. In both the centralised and decentralised approaches, the small towns and intermediate cities remain neglected. The researchers and planners have argued that in countries with an unbalanced settlement hierarchy, especially in the case of urban primacy, equity and efficiency could be achieved by promoting the development of smaller settlements which would integrate the entire urban hierarchy. To get the context for the empirical study, a literature review is undertaken. This examines the theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of development and urbanisation in developing countries. Then, the urbanisation process in Iran is discussed in detail, with particular reference being placed upon the socio-economic transition in the pre and post-Revolutionary era. The present research investigates the impact of development policies on urbanisation in Iran in general and at the provincial level in particular. The centralised development policy of the pre-Revolutionary period created severe regional disparities despite the availability of great wealth (oil) and undermined the peasant economy of the mass rural population. The most conspicuous consequence of this policy was rural-urban migration and rapid growth of urbanisation. This study investigates the impact and effect of such policy in an area where the dependency on agriculture is very high. The post- Revolutionaiy development policies tend to be decentralised and shown a greater concern with agriculture. Thus the research aims to evaluate the effect of a new decentralised policy on rural and urban development at the regional level in Mazandaran province. By closer study of Amol city, the research investigates the impact of rural prosperity on an intermediate city and its hinterland. The research has shown that although the new sectoral development (agriculture) decreased the overall economic gap between rural and urban areas, it has failed to prevent migration and the rapid urban expansion of small cities such as Amol.
The impacts of attempts to stimulate private sector involvement and investment in the urban regeneration process: The case of the city of Glasgow
private sector, private investment, urban regeneration, Glasgow
This thesis investigates the impact of attempts to stimulate private sector involvement and investment in the urban regeneration process, looking at the case of urban regeneration institutions operating, and policies implemented, in disadvantaged areas of the city of Glasgow. Successive governments; analyses of the urban problem and the perceived role of the private sector in these are critically analysed and an alternative advanced. The history of attempts to stimulate private sector participation in the regeneration process in the USA and UK is discussed to introduce the delivery structures and policies pursued in Glasgow in the post war period. A review of the economic history of the city and the characteristics of its disadvantaged areas highlight the weakness of the city economy and the scale of the regeneration problem. The key original fieldwork elements of the thesis investigate the findings of a survey of attitudes in the private sector towards the regeneration process, the impacts of private sector participation in organisational structures and attempts to stimulate investment through the labour and property market. Further, a survey of key players in the business community assesses private sector attitudes to the regeneration process. The research argues that the rationales for stimulating participation advanced by proponents are flawed. Those concerned with organisational aspects confuse concerns over ownership with those of effective management. In investment terms there are major weaknesses in the attempt to adapt market failure policies to fundamentally redistributive issues. Analysis of policy history shows that there has been convergence towards a holistic approach attempting to address both growth and redistributive issues and that the City of Glasgow is a good example of this. Empirical evidence shows that business opinion is relatively well informed about the issues to be addressed but not about the agencies charged with delivering policy. Although the importance of the issues is recognised, attitudes in the private sector are largely negative on the potential for additional intervention from this source to assist in their resolution. The impacts of participation on delivery structures are limited because a public sector culture and funding structure dominates, allowing private sector representatives to input only at the margins.
City competitiveness and attractiveness: A new approach to evaluate economic development in Mexican cities
competitiveness, attractiveness, economic development, economy, Mexico
This research attempts to build a model to evaluate the economic development level of cities using a set of factors associated to the concepts of competitiveness and attractiveness. Traditionally competitiveness has only been related to rankings with a very limited contribution to regional and urban economics. At the same time, the concept of attractiveness is gaining more attention from economists who now define it in terms of competition for capital, people and government resources. Attractiveness is now linked to stages of economic growth to provide a broader framework to analyse the process in which cities are immersed to reach a higher standards of quality of life for their inhabitants. It is claimed that cities do compete with each not just for resources or people, but also for great events, resources from international organisations and institutions, prizes, infrastructure of high calibre, and even for an image among the public. On the other, attracting investment is not just reduced to companies from any economic sector. The theory suggests that making the city more attractive implies a competitive process to create the appropriate conditions for business to work in a stable environment. “Redefining” the cities’ image is useless if it is not accompanied by a total reengineering of the government’s activities, where support for business plays an important role. The empirical analysis begins with the presentation of the economic asymmetries among the sample of 40 Mexican cities. It is concluded that the economic policies of the central government in the last ten years have benefited those places which were already rich. Evidence is presented using the factors and variables of competitiveness and attractiveness with secondary data in order to illustrate the magnitude of the asymmetries among cities. In the second part of the analysis, two econometric models are presented. The first one intends to “capture” the variance of the 72 variables used in the experiment. The objective is to build an equation portraying urban economic development. However, as it was expected, the high statistical correlation among the variables led to a model including only 9, very few if the model is intended for simulating the impacts of decisions made by local authorities. The second model is constructed using all the factors and variables with the idea of being able to simulate as many as possible urban policies in a dynamic context. The results provided by the model are consistent with the results presented in the first part of the empirical analysis and seem to fit well the data for the sample selected.
The hidden injuries and hidden rewards of urban restructuring on working-class communities: A case study of gentrification in Partick, Glasgow
working-class lives, community, urban change, gentrification, hegemony, neoliberalism
This thesis explores the relationship between urban restructuring and working-class communities in the context of post-industrial neoliberalism. While working-class communities were the bedrock of classical sociological analysis in the industrial period, it is thought that class no longer provides a meaningful social identity and increasing individualisation is often said to signify that agency is set free from the confines of structure. In this thesis, I attempt to, first, confront these assertions by reasserting the relationship between urban restructuring working-class communities and, second, represent contemporary working-class lives, through an ethnographic case study of gentrification in working-class neighbourhood, Partick in Glasgow. Substantively, in this thesis I take gentrification as a key process of class restructuring which is spatially articulated and is the leading edge of urban policy both in the UK and globally. While gentrification intimates that urban restructuring and working-class communities are inextricably connected, this relationship is not always fully explicated within research; orthodox definitions separate economic and cultural fields and working-class experiences are underrepresented. Thus theoretically, in this thesis, I attempt to attend to these shortcomings by using hegemony as framework. Hegemony refers to a form of rule relevant to how transformations in social relations are managed whilst the capitalist system is maintained overall. This involves a mix of consent and coercion which combine structural and agential processes, highlighting the reciprocal relationship between material and the phenomenological levels. Within this, gentrification is conceived as a political strategy, which not only seeks to create space for the more affluent user; it seeks to, consensually, create the more affluent user which, in the context of neoliberalism, relates to a moral and financial economy. This new sociological perspective on gentrification combines cultural and material understandings, whilst making working-class communities and their everyday lives the centre point of analysis. This focus is imperative since working-class people and places are the principal targets of policy-led gentrification, yet current representations of and conceptual language used to describe working-class lives have waned within mainstream sociology. I examine how working-class residents receive, negotiate and resist gentrification processes to reveal the ‘hidden injuries’ as well as the ‘hidden rewards’ of urban restructuring. This study aims to do this by collecting ‘locational narratives’ of 49 residents of Partick. These accounts revealed that respondents’ rejection of traditional class identity did not signify the end of class, rather, it demonstrated that there was a material rationale underpinning individualisation and their disassociation with class, which relate to neoliberal ideologies that decontextualise class and promote self-determination. Residents’ place-based attachment is revealed to be a crucial class signifier – on both phenomenological and material levels. Elective fixity describes the choice and control residents’ have over their ability to stay fixed within their neighbourhood. Respondents are shown to have a paradoxical relationship with gentrification whereby they are invited to participate in processes as consumer citizens, through homeownership or consuming privatised neighbourhoods services, yet are not provided with the means to consume. Residents’ experiences of gentrification are characterised by tensions around control and choice and lack thereof. While gentrification brought new rewards whereby working-class respondents could, provided they had the means, act as gentrifiers, they were also confronted with novel forms of displacement, identified as new typologies which relate to the increased privatisation of social housing. Thus, an emergent negotiated culture of contemporary working-class communities is revealed which is set within the confines of structure within a post-industrial neoliberal context. Using a framework of hegemony to understand the political project of gentrification reveals the reciprocal relationship between urban restructuring and the remaking of the working-class subject.
Visual representations of working-class Berlin, 1924-1930
art history, urban history, Weimar Germany, Weimar culture, cultural geography
This thesis examines the urban topography of Berlin’s working-class districts, as seen in the art, architecture and other images produced in the city between 1924 and 1930. During the 1920s, Berlin flourished as centre of modern culture. Yet this flourishing did not exist exclusively amongst the intellectual elites that occupied the city centre and affluent western suburbs. It also extended into the proletarian districts to the north and east of the city. Within these areas existed a complex urban landscape that was rich with cultural tradition and artistic expression. This thesis seeks to redress the bias towards the centre of Berlin and its recognised cultural currents, by exploring the art and architecture found in the city’s working-class districts. The thesis adopts Henri Lefebvre’s premise that each society creates its own space in which it lives, works, and sustains its cultural identity. On this basis, working-class culture and the spaces in which it was practiced, are treated with equal weight. The thesis begins by examining how the laissez-faire economics of the German Empire (1871–1914), combined with a massive influx of rural migrants into Berlin, creating a complex industrial landscape, whose working-class inhabitants retained many pastoral traditions. The thesis moves on to study the works of a number of artists active in Berlin between 1924 and 1930, using examples of their work to examine the unique nature of the working-class districts, and the culture and traditions that took place within them. The second half of the thesis explores the working-class districts from an explicitly political perspective. The extensive house building programme that took place across Berlin throughout the twenties is explored in all its varied and conflicting political perspectives. What emerges is a picture of a growing schism between Berlin’s Social Democratic government, and Communist supporters in the working-class districts. 1929 emerges as a critical year in which political contestations of space between the two parties and their supporters reached new levels of hostility, as working-class culture clashed against Social Democratic urban policy.
Reinterpreting the museum: Social inclusion, citizenship and the urban regeneration of Glasgow
museum, social inclusion, citizenship, urban regeneration, New Labour, soft-disciplinary power, governmentality, Glasgow, Scotland, cultural policy, urban geography
This thesis considers the contemporary work of the museum in the post-industrial setting of Glasgow. It interprets and understands how the museum as a space gives voice to New Labour’s concepts of social inclusion and citizenship whilst being embroiled in the wider process of urban regeneration and city enhancement. This research has been conducted using a mixed methodology incorporating policy analysis, participant observation and interviews, engaging with policy documentation, museum professionals and museum users in its goal to understand how the museum has been and is positioned within society. In exploring how museums have sought to become more socially inclusive, the research examined four different programmes in detail. These included two outreach projects; one working with adult learners and the other with different religious groups in the city. The research has also followed the contribution of a group of volunteers and finally it has engaged with the on-going processes surrounding the building of the city’s latest museum. The research findings have highlighted a complex and entangled set of power relations in the attempts to articulate social inclusion policy through the museum. This suggests, building upon the work of Foucault, that the museum embraces a soft-disciplinary power in relation to citizens. Specific programmes of the museum service targeting social inclusion reveal the benefits the individual may enjoy through participating in cultural events from which they might otherwise feel excluded. Yet, the reach of such programmes question the extent to which they are able to address social inclusion in the city. Recent developments – the production of the city’s newest museum as part of the riverside regeneration in particular – reveal how the installation of the iconic museum is closely allied to the wider project of urban economic regeneration. The planning of the Riverside Museum, however, has been attentive to the social inclusion agenda, particularly through the questions of access. Finally, the research shows how the city’s dominant growth agenda has resulted in a changing role for curators, shifting their agency away from a more traditional practice in which they were key gatekeepers, coordinating what museums displayed and how they did so, and towards a role that reflects a more scrutinised form of managerial control.
The anatomy of a working-class neighbourhood: West Sparkbrook 1871-1914
history, economic history, working class, class, economy, urban society, residential segregation, Birmingham, West Sparkbrook, nineteenth century, twentieth century, 19th century, 20th century, Victorian, Edwardian, neighbourhood
This thesis explores the premise that during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras there existed a significant and influential division within the working class of England's industrial towns and cities. This division, based largely on economic factors to do with the size and regularity of earnings, manifested itself first in the type and locality of residence, which in turn emphasised and reinforced the division of the working class into an upper section of better-paid usually more skilled and regularly-employed and a lower, poorer section of the low-waged and casually employed. Whilst it is not suggested that this produced "working classes" rather than "a working class", it did, nevertheless, result in two sections among the wage-earning class whose members pursued in many significant ways quite different ways of life. Economic differences allied to residential segregation meant that each section: developed different notions of such concepts as "rough" and "respectable" and did not by any means share beliefs as to what constituted acceptable or "deviant" behaviour. These and other questions are pursued by an examination of the years from 1871 to 1914 in the Birmingham neighbourhood of West Sparkbrook. The chronology has been set to make possible the use of census material and oral evidence, and the neighbourhood was chosen because, although it was in these years mainly an area of middle and upper working class housing, it had within it clearly differentiated pockets of lower working class housing, and so makes significant comparisons possible. After an examination of the growth of West Sparkbrook as a residential district, an analysis has been made of the institutions, habits and behaviour of the people of the district. Documentary, archival and oral evidence has been called on to examine the cultural schism in a number of exemplary areas. Differences in housing, schooling, working and shopping have been considered, and attitudes towards drinking, gambling and fighting. The differing roles and responsibilities within the family of men, women and children have been shown in the different groups, as well as leisure behaviour and the role of religion and of religious and charitable institutions in the lives of the community. From this picture emerges a clearer idea of the limits imposed on behaviour by the notions of "rough" and "respectable", and the extent to which these notions were developed by each group within its specific social, economic and cultural environment.
Francis Brett Young's Birmingham: North Bromwich - city of iron
Francis Brett Young, Birmingham, regional novels, industrial fiction, historical fiction
In this thesis I investigate Francis Brett Young’s Birmingham portrait in his North Bromwich novels, showing it to be a valid interpretation, though biased to suit the anti-urban prejudices of its author. Chapter One sets Young in his biographical and literary context. Birmingham during the North Bromwich era (c1870-1939) is examined and the role of novels as historical source established. In Chapter Two I define and explore Young’s North Bromwich canon, one exemplar among many historical realities, and show that the name and soubriquets of North Bromwich interpret Birmingham. Chapter Three investigates North Bromwich’s climate and topography, commercial, political and civic life, indicating clear Birmingham parallels. Chapter Four describes North Bromwich suburbs, housing and transport, each of which accurately replicates Birmingham originals. In Chapter Five I show North Bromwich’s recreational and religious life reflecting Young’s own Birmingham experience. Chapter Six traces North Bromwich’s interpretation of Birmingham’s educational provision, particularly concentrating upon its university’s evolution. Chapter Seven establishes links between North Bromwich and Birmingham medicine, revealing thinly-disguised fictional characters as key Birmingham practioners. Summarizing the above, Chapter Eight confirms the integrity of Young’s North Bromwich portrait and his seminal role in the on-going literary interpretation of Birmingham.