Showing papers in "International Planning Studies in 2008"

Errors Expected — Aligning Urban Strategy with Demographic Uncertainty in Shrinking Cities†

Abstract: At the beginning of the 21st century, the majority of Europe's cities experienced a population decrease. Dealing with the results of demographic, economic and physical contraction processes and planning for the future of considerably smaller but nevertheless livable cities presents some of the most challenging tasks for urban Europe in the near future. This article highlights the example of Dresden in Eastern Germany, where the breakdown of the state-directed economy caused economic decline, industrial regression, and high unemployment rates. Due to out migration and decreasing birth rates, the city lost 60,000 of its 500,000 residents within one decade. As a consequence, there were housing and office vacancies as well as infrastructure oversupplies. Yet the administrative system was still directed towards growth objectives throughout the 1990s. Only after 2000 this situation changed dramatically. The new strategic plan for Dresden is no longer growth oriented. Instead, it focuses on a model of the compac...

East European Cities — Patterns of Growth and Decline, 1960–2005

Abstract: The paper examines the long-term population trajectories of East European cities and analyses how their fortunes have changed, both in relation to their past growth profiles and to other settlements. The main finding is that the absolute and relative positions of cities have declined sharply since the 1960s and 1970s. During the last decade the population of three-quarters of cities has been contracting, and slightly faster on average than the overall population. The immediate explanation for the downturn appears to be general demographic decline, including a fall in the fertility rate and international out-migration, rather than specific urban factors. Some places have fared less badly than others, including many of the capital cities and the principal centres of rural regions.

The Shape of Things to Come: New Urbanism, the Grid and the Cul-De-Sac

Abstract: There is much debate in the UK, North America and Australia within both crime prevention and planning concerning New Urbanism and the design of suburban housing layouts. New Urbanism promotes high-density, mixed-use residential developments in ‘walkable’ neighbourhoods close to public transport, employment and amenities. One significant factor is New Urbanism's support for permeability and the preference of the grid street layout over the cul-de-sac (Morrow-Jones et al., (2004). The authors present the evidence as it relates to the grid and the cul-de-sac across a range of inter-disciplinary issues such as crime, walkability, social interaction, travel behaviour, traffic safety, cost and sustainability and housing preferences. This paper provides a brief history of the grid and cul-de-sac, discusses their respective strengths and weaknesses and concludes that any ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is myopic and simplistic. It calls for a more holistic approach to understanding the localized and context...

The Turning Tide: Amenity Migration in Coastal Australia

Abstract: An enduring population movement led by alternative lifestylers, downshifters, economic migrants, and retirees continues to transform Australia's non-metropolitan coastal landscape. Dubbed ‘sea change’ in Australia, the movement is an expression of the international phenomenon known as amenity migration. A defining quality of amenity migration is that migrants move for lifestyle, rather than jobs, choosing places with natural amenity, climate, recreation, and affordable housing. This article examines the social and environmental implications of this movement for fragile coastal landscapes in coastal Australia, drawing on population census data (1991–2006) for a sample of 67 affected communities.

Changing Interpretations of ‘Flexibility’ in the Planning Literature: From Opportunism to Creativity?

Abstract: This article reflects on changing interpretations of flexibility in planning literature from the planning scholars' point of view. Flexibility was seen as a negative feature in the 1960s in the literature. In time, the literature shifted towards the idea that flexibility may be a positive asset that helps the stakeholders of urban development to cope with the challenges of growing complexity and diversity in urban space and society. In the recent literature, flexibility is associated with creativity. The article discusses recent trends in planning literature practice to explain this change.

Landscapes of Peripherization in North-Eastern Germany's Countryside: New Challenges for Planning Theory and Practice

Abstract: The countryside of North-Eastern Germany is characterized by declining population size, and this ‘shrinking’ has severe impacts upon the regional quality of life, land use and infrastructure planning. However, population decrease in these regions is just one symptom of an overall process of peripherization, which needs to be addressed not only in terms of demographic change, but in the context of restructuring global relations and societal change. While debates on coping strategies still focus on technical innovations and the redefinition of planning standards, we suggest the creation of more flexible planning frameworks that leave space for place-adequate, adaptive and participatory solutions.

Convergence and Policy Transfer: An Examination of the Extent to which Approaches to Spatial Planning have Converged within the Context of an Enlarged EU

Abstract: The paper explores the evolution of approaches to spatial planning within the enlarged European Union (EU) and seeks to assess the extent to which such approaches have converged. The context for the evolution of the discipline is examined before the extent of convergence is assessed on the basis of case studies examining spatial policy in Ireland, Scotland and Wales and the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The assessment reveals a certain ambiguity where a significant degree of convergence in approach and practice can be detected until closer examination raises the question of how far such convergence has gone beyond the level of rhetoric. Evidence from the case studies also suggests that a lacuna between rhetoric and reality appears to be an emerging characteristic of spatial planning throughout the EU. In this context the need for and value of context sensitive local solutions is clear.

Down to Earth: Linking Planning Theory and Practice in the ‘Metropole’ and Beyond

Abstract: The paper explores the issue of the link between planning theory and practice, and achieving what is sometimes termed ‘situated’ planning theory. It argues that mainstream planning theory (i.e. the various strands of communicative planning theory [CPT]) has come closer to this than most previous theorizing, but that there is still a significant gap between theorizing about, and the reality of, practice in particular contexts. While this issue has been a subject of debate within that part of the world where CPT has its origins (the global North), the relevance of mainstream planning theory to practice in other parts of the world has had less attention. This paper asks how well CPT ‘travels’ across the globe, and what might be required to improve its portability.

Progressive Planning Ideals in a Neo-liberal Context, the Case of Ørestad Copenhagen

Abstract: Large-scale development projects have frequently been interpreted as products of neo-liberal policies. Many of them have been fiercely criticized because of their closed governance settings and their negative local spatial impacts. What space is left in them for a more progressive planning agenda? This article presents an empirical investigation of a major mixed-use large-scale development, the Orestad project in Copenhagen. Although Orestad is certainly representative of a timeframe in which Danish urban policies shifted strongly towards neo-liberal competition-oriented approaches, this project aimed to develop a progressive agenda as well. Our study analyses its success and failures and discusses the possibilities, inspired by North-American and Pacific-Asian examples, for stimulating a progressive agenda in these kinds of urban interventions.

Multiculturalizing Rural Towns — Insights for Inclusive Planning

Abstract: Many regions of the United States, including the Midwest, have recently undergone significant demographic change. Much of this Midwestern demographic change, particularly in rural areas, has been due to the recruitment of low-paid workers for food processing industries. Though immigrants remain concentrated in their traditional urban destinations, many are choosing other locales as well, including rural destinations in states that historically have not drawn immigrants. Such shifts have increased the racial and ethnic diversity of many small communities whose formal structures of decision making and planning are ill-equipped to deal with the resulting social heterogeneity. The paper points out that much of the inclusive planning perspective is based on the experience of metropolitan areas and large cities. To look at multiculturalism and planning rather through the lens of rural communities' rapid diversification achieves insights useful to the ongoing dialogue in planning scholarship. Through the case st...

Between State and Market: A Third Way of Planning

Abstract: The ‘Third Way’ offers a critical but realistic view of planning to support a progressive agenda. Grounded in integrated transaction-cost theory (TCT), it refutes neo-liberal arguments from their own economic theory, associating planning with organization, breaking its juxtaposition to ‘the market’ and recognizing planning in the market and planning for and of markets, which includes public planning and regulation. The ‘Third Way’ disarms libertarian attacks on public planning, while TCT forces retreat from generalizations to focus debate on particular issues and cases. Here contingent TCT-based institutional analysis and design is the tool for promoting progressive values, enabling effective resistance to neo-liberal practices and encroaching globalization.

The Changing Position of Strategic Spatial Planning in Flanders. A Socio-Political and Instrument-Based Perspective

Abstract: This article explains how and why strategic spatial planning in Flanders has gone through some important transformations in the last 20 years. To do this, it relates spatial planning and its tools to some major societal changes. It first explains some of the complexities of this interplay from a theoretical point of view and argues for a socio-political and co-evolutionary perspective on planning tools. The article then provides some empirical evidence, exploring Flemish planning tools in general and strategic spatial planning more specifically. Although not evident at first sight, it appears that both the tools and the socio-political position of Flemish strategic spatial planning have changed. This poses some major challenges in rehabilitating spatial planning tools and repositioning spatial planning in Flanders.

Strategic Planning for City Networks: The Emergence of a Basque Global City?

Abstract: Throughout Europe, policy-makers recognize the development potentials of regions in which multiple cities are located close to each other. However, developing synergies among these cities requires networking to optimize the critical mass and exploit complementarities. Much is expected of spatial planning in terms of fostering networks. However, little is known about the actual contribution planning may have in developing city networks, in particular, since it involves planning on a new scale and based upon new starting points and objectives. Exemplary is the territorial development strategy (1990s) of the Basque country aimed at developing the networking among its three main cities (Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria) to develop a Basque ‘Global City’. We find that the leverage of this planning strategy has been poor, due to strong local identities and the lack of regional organizing capacity. This also appears to be common for other polycentric regions.

Shelter, Location, and Livelihoods: Exploring the Linkages in Mexico City

Abstract: For many low-income households in cities of the developing world, ‘self-help’ or informal housing provides not only their shelter, but also functions as a vital productive asset. The land accessible to the urban poor for informal housing, however, is often remotely located in the urban periphery. While providing access to shelter, such peripheral locations may undermine the potential of shelter to serve as a productive asset, especially for women whose mobility is constrained by their dual roles as care-givers and wage-earners. This research explores how location influences the potential of housing to serve as a productive asset in two informally settled communities in different parts of Mexico City. The paper argues that the ‘right to shelter’ associated with informal housing needs to be ‘scaled-up’ to include the ‘right to the city’ through closer consideration of the linkages among shelter, location, and livelihoods. Such a policy focus necessarily situates housing in a broader socio-spatial context an...

Linguistic Diversity and the City: Some Reflections, and a Research Agenda

Abstract: This paper will consider the significance of recognising – and researching – the linguistic diversity within contemporary cities in Europe in particular, and other parts of the world more generally. It will argue that failure to take linguistic diversity – and linguistic identity – seriously has limited analysis, diagnosis, and prescription in urban planning and urban policy. Currently, a heightened attention to cultural difference, of which linguistic diversity is a central feature, is re-shaping the social fabric of cities of all sizes and in all parts of the world. This is reflected in new, or re-newed, forms of cultural identity, of cultural division in urban labour markets, of political mobilisation, of conflict and cohesion .These changes need to be better understood by urban policy and planning (and, indeed,by language planning). The paper is organised around four inter-related topics identified as key dimensions of current discussions of city life, its tensions and potential: • identity a...

What is New in Planning

Abstract: Organized labour, once considered to be a key component of democratically managed political systems, was dismissed as a hindrance to economic and political modernization in the neo-liberal economy. As the size and influence of organized formal sector labour diminishes, this paper examines how unionization as an institutional form of labour organization is gaining popularity among informal workers in newly industrializing nations. Counteracting the impression that this unionization is outdated; the paper looks at this return of unionization and its significance for planners and concludes that this trend calls for more, not less planning, albeit of a different kind than used earlier for state-led industrialization.

New Arrivals, Old Places: Demographic Changes and New Planning Challenges in Palermo and Naples

Abstract: If we look at the demographic changes in the largest cities in Southern Italy, the most significant trend is a balance between population growth and decline, affecting in particular inner urban areas, which is due to the predominance of new ethnic inhabitants. After having described these demographic changes in Naples and Palermo, the paper will include some considerations on the ‘institutional’ landscape of planning and the related policies. How do planning policies and practices face this quick change in such peripheral contexts, which are new to the phenomenon? Can the plural composition of the local society be viewed as an opportunity, and not just as a threat? The paper will use some analyses of the immigrants' distribution and characteristics of housing problems as elements of discussions of the changes in the urban social structure, which can be considered as positive potential for a more equal and culturally mixed context.

Town Planning, Planning Theory and Social Reform

Abstract: Town planning is often seen as an instrument of social reform. It is argued here that this was not the case under social democracy, and by implication neo-liberalism and globalization do not necessarily act as brakes upon reform. Planning should be interpreted in class terms, as a means of stabilization and legitimation thereby helping to ensure growth. It fragments social reality in order to contain the political movements that urban problems could generate. This view of planning may explain why social reform is not high on planning's agenda. But social reform is possible but only at times of intense conflict. For planning to take advantage of such transient opportunities, planning theory needs development. The paper concludes by developing a model of social reform and looking at some of the flashpoints that could trigger it.

The Production of Bergen

Abstract: The production of space contains an antagonism between a use-value relation and an exchange-value relation. In this paper these categories are used to analyse two empirical cases from Bergen, Norway. The first case concerns a public debate in 2005, about whether Clear Channel should be allowed to install advertising boards in the city. The second case concerns a debate in 2007, about whether Bergen should establish retail chain-free zones in the city centre. This paper argues for the importance of understanding the preconditions for these processes and debates. It took both time and experience before the workpeople learnt to distinguish between machinery and its employment by capital, and to direct their attacks, not against the material instruments of production, but against the mode in which they are used. Karl Marx (Capital)

Towns Against a Background of Cities : Recent Evolution of Town Urbanization Policy in the People's Republic of China

Abstract: Continuing a long tradition of promoting town development, the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) intends to grow towns further to achieve the twin goals of sustaining economic growth and narrowing the rural–urban income gap. Under the Asian Development Bank-financed ‘Town-Based Urbanization Strategy Study,’ Planning and Development Collaborative International, Inc. and the China Center for Town Reform and Development explored, on behalf of the PRC, different ways to promote the growth of towns. Case studies in Liaoning and Shanxi provinces showed that towns grow best when they are physically and economically linked to nearby cities; when they benefit from strong local leadership that articulates a clear vision for future development; and when they have been priority targets of government-channelled private sector investment. To enable the development of towns, it was proposed that PRC should: (1) grow towns by facilitating the development of larger urban agglomerations made up of...

Migration, Changes of City-Region Structure and Implications for Planning Practices and Regional Development Policies in the Yangtze River Delta Area in China

Abstract: The Yangtze River Delta Area (YRDA), especially Metropolitan Shanghai, is undoubtedly the leading economic region in China, and it has become one of the most important population convergence areas. It is also widely considered as the sixth largest urban agglomeration in the world. Concluding that migration is the most important aspect of population dynamics in YRDA, the author studies two important forms of internal migration: migration into or out of YRDA, and migration among different cities within YRDA. The paper explores how both forms of migration jointly influence the population distribution among cities and determine the changes of the city-region structure. Furthermore, the paper makes a demographic projection of the future evolution of the area based on estimates of urban-specific fertility, mortality, and net migration. The author suggests that it is necessary to adopt migration-led development strategy and polices in YRDA, in the context of the national population redistribution and achieving a...