Showing papers in "International Development Planning Review in 2002"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use data gathered in the now legalised self-help settlements of Bogota to question the benefits of legalisation and show that there is little sign of a secondary housing market, and if there is a little possibility of selling a house, home ownership in the selfhelp suburbs can offer little in the way of capital accumulation.
Abstract: Hernando de Soto's new bestseller, The Mystery of Capital, attributes the failure of capitalism in the Third World to the lack of property titles. Many governments around the world are following this advice and are busy distributing legal titles to self-help families. Using data gathered in the now legalised self-help settlements of Bogota , the paper questions a number of the alleged benefits of legalisation. It shows how sales are more common when people lack legal title, how informal finance is available at the commencement of an illegal settlement and how little formal finance is forthcoming after legalisation. Most importantly, it shows that there is little sign of a secondary housing market. And, if there is little possibility of selling a house, home ownership in the self-help suburbs can offer little in the way of capital accumulation. It is hard to make money from a house that cannot be sold. Perhaps, de Soto's argument is less a panacea than a populist dream.
381 citations
TL;DR: The Indonesian experience shows that the internet can be a double-edged sword in facilitating democratisation as mentioned in this paper, and the Indonesian experience is traced through two recent episodes: the student movement leading to the downfall of President Suharto in 1998, and the more recent rise of the Jihad Troopers.
Abstract: The Indonesian experience shows that the internet can be a double-edged sword in facilitating democratisation. Responding to the debate about whether the internet leads to democratisation, is an Orwellian menace to democracy, or is a facilitator of global capitalist hegemony, this paper shows that these questions cannot be resolved in the virtual world of the internet itself. Rather, they are played out locally through struggles revolving around the creation and assertion of identities that coalesce and galvanise actors into contests of power and control over the public sphere. To better understand the outcomes of the localisation of the internet, the Indonesian experience is traced through two recent episodes: the student movement leading to the downfall of President Suharto in 1998, and the more recent rise of the Jihad Troopers. Whether the internet will be sustained as a cyber-civic space or will instead strengthen the tendency towards perpetual resistance and political crisis is the outstanding quest...
64 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of "adaptive potential" is introduced to expose the social base of vulnerability, which offers a framework for broadening the analysis of risk to include an examination of local social assets.
Abstract: Urban areas are becoming increasingly risky places to live, especially for low-income residents of cities in developing countries. Exposure to environmental risk and hazard has stimulated a range of work examining the physical processes creating these hazards, and the human processes that lead to vulnerability. Both approaches are useful, but are in danger of focusing on proximate rather than underlying causes. The concept of 'adaptive potential' is introduced in this paper to expose the social base of vulnerability. It offers a framework for broadening the analysis of risk to include an examination of local social assets. Such assets may already be used in confronting vulnerability, or they may be more latent; in either case, they offer a way for strategic policy interventions to enhance community resilience with regard to future risk at a time of growing environmental uncertainty. Adaptive potential is applied to a case study community in Santo Domingo.
62 citations
TL;DR: This article examined the effect of variation in mobility levels on the economic outcomes for female home-based garment producers in Ahmedabad, India, to determine if those who are more mobile are more economically successful.
Abstract: In the Indian context, norms of female seclusion limit women's mobility in the public sphere, constraining their economic opportunities by limiting their choices of work location and their ability to interact in markets. However, women do not experience the constraints of female seclusion homogeneously. This article examines the effect of variation in mobility levels on the economic outcomes for female home-based garment producers in Ahmedabad, India, to determine if those who are more mobile are more economically successful. It does this using two-stage least squares estimation techniques to represent the endogeneity of mobility levels. The results show that for this group, mobility has no significant effect on economic outcomes, probably reflecting characteristics of the garment sector in the research site that reduce the potential returns of mobility. Regardless of this lack of significant instrumental effect, a case is made for increasing women's freedom of movement in order to prepare them to take ad...
45 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, eight types of civic spaces are identified as a way of assessing trends in the vitality of civil society in Pacific Asia, with its tradition of strong 'developmental' states.
Abstract: Eight types of civic spaces are identified as a way of assessing trends in the vitality of civil society. In Pacific Asia, with its traditions of strong 'developmental' states, the emergence of civic spaces has largely taken place through resistance and insurgence. However, ongoing political reforms lead to new possibilities for the routine provision of civic spaces that are open to all and are protected against state abuse by the rule of law. At the same time, the impacts of globalisation on civic spaces are emerging, as cities compete for international investment and as urban spaces become fragmented by global linkages and privatisation for commercial interests. Agendas for civic space policies thus need to pay attention not only to progressive reforms in state–civil society relations, but also to ways in which relations between localities and globalisation are transforming the contents and uses of urban spaces.
41 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine Nepal's forestry policies and use practices during the pre-unification period (pre-1769), the Rana regime (1846-1950), planned development (the 1950s), the Panchayat regime (1960-90) and post-democracy (1990 to the present).
Abstract: The history of Nepalese forestry reveals that very little progress has been made in effectively integrating people's needs with forest management objectives through forestry policy mandates and practices. This paper critically examines Nepal's forestry policies and use practices during the pre-unification period (pre-1769), the Rana regime (1846–1950), planned development (the 1950s), the Panchayat regime (1960–90) and post-democracy (1990 to the present). This historical critique finds that political posturing, rhetoric and personal profiteering have taken precedence over public duty, regardless of whether autocratic or pseudo-democratic regimes were in power. Thus far, forest policy studies have focused on the hill zone of Nepal. This paper focuses on Tarai forestry, and exposes the geopolitical and political economic forces in play. It concludes that a lack of fiscal transparency and accountability on the part of the government, and the monopolistic control of the sale of forest produce by the Timber C...
36 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the crisis faced by Matjhabeng and the Free State goldfields, and evaluates local economic development initiatives that have been introduced to provide employment and diversify the local economy.
Abstract: Gold mining has played a vital role in the growth of South Africa's economy and the creation of major industrial and business centres such as Johannesburg. In recent years gold production has contracted, leading to widespread redundancies among mineworkers. The situation is particularly serious in the Free State goldfields, which are centred upon Matjhabeng municipality and the city of Welkom. The downsizing and closure of many gold mines has had serious economic and social effects on businesses, communities and individuals. This article examines the crisis faced by Matjhabeng and the Free State goldfields, and evaluates local economic development initiatives that have been introduced to provide employment and diversify the local economy. However, the magnitude of the crisis and the limited success of development initiatives suggest that much more significant and better coordinated interventions will be needed from a range of community-based and business institutions, together with support from provincial...
32 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss a corpus of scholarship that directly links spatial theorisation, informal sector dynamics and planning practice, and propose to chart the geographies of what Bingham and Thrift call the 'full world'.
Abstract: This article discusses a corpus of scholarship that directly links spatial theorisation, informal sector dynamics and planning practice. Six cities of the informal sector are mapped. While respectful of the many insights gleaned from these cities, the main argument is that we need less theoretically fragmented and more empirically persuasive accounts of the urban informal sector. One possible route to such accounts, it is further suggested, is to begin to chart the geographies of what Bingham and Thrift call the 'full world'.
31 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors dissect the relationships between the form and function of civic space, with a view to addressing the question of how civil society emerges in an urban context, and identify four types of civic spaces in South Korea: the most explicit are those places in which citizens' voices can be organized and magnified, as in street protests.
Abstract: Civic space is not a 'given': it is created by civil struggles over the ways in which the use of space is determined. This paper aims to dissect the relationships between the form and function of civic space, with a view to addressing the question of how civil society emerges in an urban context. In South Korea, four types of civic space can be identified. The most explicit are those places in which citizens' voices can be organised and magnified, as in street protests. A second type involves new spaces created by state–society contestations over land-use. The third type, of which there are many examples, involves those places that accommodate collective life, where civil society-based life is socially reproduced. A fourth type are those spaces in which people experience postmodern phenomena such as consumer identity, virtual engagement, neoliberal competition and exclusion. The differences between these four types are outlined in terms of their contributions to the enrichment of Korean civil society.
25 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a case study illustrating contemporary trends and conflicts in the provision of civic spaces with regard to the impacts of major global trends in privatisation and economic competition, and make suggestions for improving planning and design processes to provide better civic spaces for the benefit of urban communities.
Abstract: Enlarging 'spaces of democracy', including civic spaces, is crucial for encouraging citizens' involvement in the governance of cities and regions. However, global trends in urban development have intensified the use of land and the built environment for economic activities at the expense of civic spaces, and urban spaces are increasingly being transformed into spaces for consumption rather than for social and civic life. Inadequacy in the provision of civic spaces is of concern because of its effects on the political efficacy and well-being of city inhabitants. Bangkok is used as a case study illustrating contemporary trends and conflicts in the provision of civic spaces with regard to the impacts of major global trends in privatisation and economic competition. Suggestions are made for improving planning and design processes to provide better civic spaces for the benefit of urban communities.
11 citations
TL;DR: In the last few decades, informality has became the dominant feature of urban growth on the periphery of Greater Cairo and in the city of Alexandria, which is the second largest urban area in Egypt.
Abstract: In the last few decades, informality has became the dominant feature of urban growth on the periphery of Greater Cairo and in the city of Alexandria, which is the second-largest urban area in Egypt. This results in diverse and complex informal housing development. Three main forms of housing—semi-informal, squats and ex-formal—have emerged, all of them making use of agricultural or desert lands. Various actors have been involved in the informal development process. Understanding the built environment of informal housing developments would enable the state and housing professionals to provide better information about quantification and valuation in this sector, and promote economic development. The value of informal property should be harnessed to promote development and alleviate poverty.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the political processes involved in the implementation of Pune's current development plan (1987-2007), and focus on three proposals within this plan, examining the reactions of the actors to the proposals, and analyses the impact of their responses on the implementation process.
Abstract: India has an elaborate system of urban planning, yet plans remain largely unimplemented. This is often attributed to 'politics', but the precise role played by politics has not been rigorously explored. This paper examines the political processes involved in the implementation of Pune's current development plan (1987–2007), and focuses on three proposals within this plan. It examines the reactions of the actors to the proposals, and analyses the impact of their responses on the implementation process. The central argument of this paper is that politics is not in a separate category from the other factors that influence implementation. Based on Grindle's (1980a) model of policy implementation, this study develops an analytical framework for analysing plan implementation in India. It uses data from documents and studies, newspaper clippings, in-depth semi-structured interviews and observation. It highlights the mismatch between the long-term nature of the development plan and the shorter tenures of municipa...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the decline in the use of public space is in some measure a result of the increasing loss of individuality and privacy in the public realm, and that planned public spaces have not served the civic needs of the citizenry.
Abstract: The development history of public space in Singapore has been dominated by the hegemony of planned spaces. The transformation of public space in public housing estates can be read as an essay in realising Foucault's idea of disciplinary technology. The hegemony of the state dictates the spatial practice of control and discipline effected through the instruments of new town planning. This paper argues that the consequent decline in the use of public space is in some measure a result of this increasing loss of individuality and privacy in the public realm. Hence, planned public spaces have not served the civic needs of the citizenry. The role played by the use of public spaces in the realisation of 'self' and its public expression has been displaced. Castells described urban planning as political intervention. The increased abstraction and homogenisation of space, albeit ideological space, has displaced public space from its larger context, the city, and its greater role as civic space.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare urban planning in Botswana with aspects of planning theory and public policy theory to assess the disjunction between urban and water planning, and show that conventional urban planning processes neglect water resource planning because it is an unconventional land-use planning issue.
Abstract: Water is a scarce resource in many semi-arid cities in the developing world, but remains ignored within the domain and processes of urban planning. This paper compares urban planning in Botswana with aspects of planning theory and public policy theory to assess the disjunction between urban and water planning. It shows that conventional urban planning processes neglect water resource planning because it is an unconventional land-use planning issue. Water planning is a concern that warrants a central role in urban planning in order to reconfigure the water management paradigm and shift the emphasis away from water supply augmentation, which dominated the twentieth century.
TL;DR: In the absence of a strategic statutory planning framework or clear policy guidelines, ad hoc decisions are made that compromise feasible future development options, compromise the capture of higher land rents, undermine the provision of solution space and increase user conflicts as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Land reclamation and the building of coastal structures often take place in response to demands from tourism, industry and the upper-income housing market. The development strategy for islands is to capture the high amenity value of the coast and to provide 'solution space' for congested urban areas. However, in the absence of a strategic statutory planning framework or clear policy guidelines, ad hoc decisions are made that compromise feasible future development options, compromise the capture of higher land rents, undermine the provision of solution space and increase user conflicts. Once approvals are granted such development is, unfortunately, irreversible. From the perspective of private sector developers, policy guidelines for land reclamation and coastal structures are unclear, fragmented jurisdiction is scattered among a number of agencies, and inadequate administrative procedures compound uncertainties and delays. Private developers are also using these institutional deficiencies as loopholes to ...
TL;DR: The authors analyzed the evolution of Mumbai's unorthodox strategy of demolishing existing slums and resettling slum-dwellers in new, cross-subsidised, on-site housing.
Abstract: This paper analyses the evolution of Mumbai's unorthodox strategy of demolishing existing slums and resettling slum-dwellers in new, cross-subsidised, on-site housing. The strategy is facilitated by government intervention in land development regulations. This paper argues that the strategy evolved in response to competitive electoral politics and high property values in the city. Secondly, although the strategy provides beneficiaries with an opportunity to own valuable real estate assets, more slum-dwellers would gain from a deregulation of the specified benefits. Deregulation and flexible benefits can lead to innovation in housing improvement projects. Moreover, the deregulation of benefits might be the only politically feasible alternative. This paper, nonetheless, supports government intervention in land development regulations.
TL;DR: In this article, the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Seattle, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Honolulu and the G8 summit in Kananaskis illustrate trends of militarisation, radicalisation, routinisation and dislocation.
Abstract: Most famously at the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Seattle, meetings of global governance bodies have been the sites of large assemblies critical of perceived global injustices. People who gather outside such meetings often do so in political yet convivial and festive ways as they engage in a process of creating insurgent civic spaces. However, local, regional and national pressures, and the international state actors that host these meetings, have engineered the effective elimination of proximate civic spaces for social protest. The cases of the WTO in Seattle, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Honolulu and the G8 summit in Kananaskis illustrate trends of militarisation, radicalisation, routinisation and dislocation. In hosting such events, state actors should move towards facilitating an active citizenry on a more regular basis, which requires more favourable attention to the need for open civic spaces near world governance events. Such a move will require pressure from non-state, non-cor...
TL;DR: In this article, the structural and institutional properties of the Bandung technology cluster are investigated based on recent empirical investigations, and factors that specifically favor knowledge-based industrial development are discussed.
Abstract: Almost unremarked by the outside world, and overshadowed by the country's current troubles, Indonesia offers remarkable regional clusters of indigenous knowledge-intensive firms. One of the most important areas is Bandung, West Java, which can be characterised as a technology region; many companies have been operating there for decades, and a self-sustaining specialisation in sophisticated activities has developed. Bandung is a missed regional development opportunity in the South-east Asian context. This article offers a deeper insight into the structural and institutional properties of the Bandung technology cluster, based on recent empirical investigations. Factors that specifically favour knowledge-based industrial development— from local infrastructure to dense networks of information-rich relationships based on trust—are discussed. However, despite this potential, local firms have not enjoyed major success for a long time. Explanations for this, covering economic, political and cultural aspects, are ...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the tension between modernisation and heritage protection in the Lao capital, Vientiane, and conclude that heritage protection is largely aimed at reinforcing monumental and nation-building elements, emphasising the development of a contemporary national capital of a modern nation state.
Abstract: This paper examines the tensions between modernisation and heritage protection in the Lao capital, Vientiane. Vientiane provides an interesting case study of the dilemmas facing small cities in developing countries as those countries try to manage the pressures that result from greater integration in regional and global processes of economic and cultural change. While modernisation appears to be winning out over heritage protection, the paper concludes that they are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and that heritage protection in Vientiane is largely aimed at reinforcing monumental and nation-building elements, emphasising the development of a contemporary national capital of a modern nation state.
TL;DR: In this paper, an innovative combination of computer tools that was developed and tested as a methodology for regional industrial location policy in Pakistan is presented. The broad objective of the PSS is to guide public-sector decisions about industrial locations, meeting the twin objectives of safeguarding the natural environment and contributing to public welfare.
Abstract: There is no complete planning-support system (PSS) as yet, and such a thing is unlikely to emerge in the near future, at least in the form of a single software system or a fixed set of tools that can be applied to all planning situations. It is most likely that future PSSs will comprise combinations of software applications, with 'soft couplings' structured to a greater or lesser extent. Such systems are likely to be useful and technically feasible in developing countries, despite institutional obstacles that tend to be greater than those in industrialised countries. This article examines an innovative combination of computer tools that was developed and tested as a methodology for regional industrial location policy in Pakistan. The broad objective of the PSS is to guide public-sector decisions about industrial locations, meeting the twin objectives of safeguarding the natural environment and contributing to public welfare. The methodology consists of four modules that are used sequentially to identify a...
TL;DR: In this paper, the theoretical structures of various management mechanisms for urban upgrade projects, considering both the basic conceptual phase and the execution of the project, are discussed, and the authors discuss the importance of community participation in local development projects if the local heritage attracts national and international interest.
Abstract: Enabling local communities to participate actively in furthering their communal interests has become a well-established criterion for urban upgrading projects over the last three decades. Funding agencies (international agencies in particular) use this criterion as a prerequisite for funding projects. However, in many urban upgrade projects in less developed countries (LDCs), local community participation is problematic at both legislative and procedural levels. The willingness and ability of the local community to participate, the existence of a formal community enabling mechanism, and even the initial set-up of the project are three issues that are normally overlooked at these levels. Community participation is even more important in local development projects if the local urban heritage attracts national and international interest.This article discusses the theoretical structures of various management mechanisms for urban upgrade projects, considering both the basic conceptual phase and the execution p...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors pointed out that the apparent failure to use spatial planning after possible projects have been identified, and particularly the tendency of decision makers to program only those projects that are required to overcome current deficiencies.
Abstract: Indonesia's countrywide Integrated Urban Infrastructure Development Programme (IUIDP) included a unique attempt to use spatial plans to guide infrastructure expenditure selection and scheduling. Methods for creating spatial plans relatively quickly and easily were used to overcome the inadequacies of traditional plan preparation processes. However, some of the more important lessons to be learned from this experience concern the apparent failure to use spatial planning after possible projects have been identified, and particularly the tendency of decision makers to programme only those projects that are required to overcome current deficiencies.