Showing papers in "Urban Studies in 2014"

Smartmentality: The Smart City as Disciplinary Strategy

Abstract: The paper analyses the concept of the smart city in critical perspective, focusing on the power/knowledge implications for the contemporary city. On the one hand, smart city policies support new wa...

Urban Energy Transitions: Places, Processes and Politics of Socio-technical Change

Abstract: 1. Prologue On the second anniversary of the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, some of the focus fell on the abandoned, radioactive ghost towns in and around the disaster exclusion zone from which remaining residents have been forced to evacuate. A series of poignant images shows the empty streets, collapsed houses, unused drinks and rice vending machines, school bags hanging outside a class in an abandoned school (The Guardian, 11 March 2013).1 All are a reminder of the sudden, brutal collapse and absolute fragility of urban livelihoods and materials in the wake of an energy infrastructure failing to withstand an earthquake and tsunami. Meanwhile, following the explosion in global oil prices in 2008, residents in Lome in Togo and many other cities in Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso have become ever more dependent for fuel on an illegal trafficking of subsidised petrol from Nigeria. Every morning at dawn, dozens of containers of petrol are washed up on the beaches of Togo and Benin, thrown overboard from boats on their way back from Nigeria. The containers are dragged out of the water and their contents transferred into plastic bottles and other receptacles, which are then transported to the streets of Lome and other cities for sale to the local populations at prices up to 30 per cent lower than the normal market price. While this flow of petrol�from resource extraction in Nigerian oil fields, through an intricate transport network, to its burning and use for cooking in somebody�s home�sustains whole livelihoods, cities and informal economies, it also financially benefits mostly local elites who employ the traffickers and represents a significant loss of income for these already-poor West African states (Le Monde, 23�24 September 2012). Finally, in western Canada, Vancouver defines itself as �the most liveable �

Low-carbon Transitions and the Reconfiguration of Urban Infrastructure

Abstract: Over the past decade, a growing body of research has examined the role of cities in addressing climate change and the institutional and political challenges which they encounter. For the most part, in these accounts, the infrastructure networks, their material fabric, everyday practices and political economies, have remained unexamined. In this paper, it is argued that this is a critical omission and an approach is developed for understanding how urban responses to climate change both configure and are configured by infrastructure networks. Central to any such analysis is the conception of how and why (urban) infrastructure networks undergo change. Focusing on urban energy networks and on the case of London, the paper argues for an analysis of the �urban infrastructure regimes� and �experiments� through which climate change is governed. It is found that climate change experiments serve as a means through which dominant actors articulate and test new �low-carbon� logics for urban infrastructure development. It is argued that experiments work by establishing new circuits, configuring actors in new sets of relations and through these means realising the potential for addressing climate change in the city. At the same time, experiments become sites of conflict, a means through which new forms of urban circulation can be confined and marginalised, leaving dominant energy regimes (relatively) intact.

Supply, Demand and the Value of Green Buildings

Abstract: Attention to ‘sustainability’ and energy efficiency rating schemes in the commercial property sector has increased rapidly during the past decade. In the UK, commercial properties have been certified under the BREEAM rating scheme since 1999, offering fertile ground to investigate the economic dynamics of ‘green’ certification in the commercial property market. This paper documents that, over the 2000–09 period, the expanding supply of green buildings within a given London neighbourhood had a positive impact on average rents and prices, but reduced rents and prices for environmentally certified real estate. The results suggest that there is a gentrification effect from green buildings. However, each additional “green” building decreases the marginal effect of certification in the rental and transaction markets by 2 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. In addition, controlling for lease contract features, like contract length and the rent-free period, modifies the impact of environmental certification on ...

Landscapes of antagonism: Local governance, neoliberalism and austerity:

Abstract: This paper offers an engagement with theoretical deficits in some uses of neoliberalism as an explanatory concept. It draws on theories of ideology, of governmentality and of assemblage to offer alternative conceptions of the relationship between neoliberalism and its others, and to illuminate the ambiguous and contradictory role of local governments in the UK in processes of neoliberalisation. The paper develops an analysis of local governments as strategic actors in the ‘landscapes of antagonism’ generated by current cycles of economic, political and governance change, and argues for more attention to be paid to the relationship between theory, politics and critique.

Public greenspace and life satisfaction in urban Australia

Abstract: This paper examines the influence of public greenspace on the life satisfaction of residents of Australia's capital cities. A positive relationship is found between the percentage of public greenspace in a resident's local area and their self-reported life satisfaction, on average corresponding to an implicit willingness-to-pay of $1172 in annual household income for a 1 per cent (143 square metres) increase in public greenspace. Additional results suggest that the value of greenspace increases with population density and that lone parents and the less educated benefit to a greater extent from the provision of public greenspace than the general population. In all, these results support existing evidence that public greenspace is welfare enhancing for urban residents and adequate allowance should be made for its provision when planning urban areas.

Land use change and economic growth in urban China: A structural equation analysis

Abstract: Land use change is not only the consequence of economic growth but also its direct and indirect driver. Based on official land use change data from 2004 to 2008, this study found substantial land use changes in China, with considerable cultivated land conversion into urban, industrial and transportation purposes. Correlation analysis shows a strong association between land use change and absolute GDP expansion. Structural equation analysis indicates that economic growth drives land use change. Industrial land expansion directly stimulates economic growth. Land has been successfully used as a tool to attract foreign investments and to sustain infrastructure investments, indirectly triggering economic growth. The findings suggest that land is not a simple factor of production but a strategic tool for economic development in urban China.

The interplay of urban energy policy and socio-technical transitions : The eco-cities of Graz and Freiburg in retrospect

Abstract: The cities of Graz in Austria and Freiburg in Germany have been perceived as ecological model cities since the late 1980s.This is shown by various international awards, press coverage and many visitors from other municipal administrations. Both cities have been well known for their attempts to bring about transitions towards more sustainable and low-carbon energy systems. The comparison of Graz and Freiburg over a period of two decades enables us to study how differing contexts, actor constellations and historic developments shape the transformation of energy systems towards greater sustainability. It is argued that understanding the role of cities for energy transitions requires a detailed examination of the coupled dynamics of socio-technical interactions across the levels of niches, regimes and landscapes on the one hand, and multilevel systems of governance on the other. At these intersections new, although spatially confined, socio-technical constellations of sustainable energy provision may emerge and be stabilised. Nevertheless, empirical evidence shows that it is misleading to conclude that true socio-technical transitions are taking place in these cities, even though a number of foundations for long-term change processes have been laid.

The Impact of the Built Environment on Bicycle Commuting: Evidence from Beijing

Abstract: This paper aims to contribute to existing literature on the effects of the built environment on bicycle commuting, examining the case of Beijing. A group of city-wide random samples is analysed. The analysis shows that bicycle commuting is significantly associated with some features of the built environment when many demographic and socioeconomic factors are taken into account. Higher destination accessibility, a higher number of exclusive bicycle lanes, a mixed environment and greater connectivity between local streets tend to increase the use of the bicycle. These effects differ across gender, age and income groups. However, residential density has no significant effects on the use of a bicycle for commuting, while higher levels of public transit services tends to decrease rather than increase bicycle commuting. The results imply that the drastic changes in the built environment are a major reason for the demise of ‘the kingdom of bicycles’ in China.

Spatial Heterogeneity in Hedonic House Price Models: The Case of Austria

Abstract: Modelling spatial heterogeneity (SH) is a controversial subject in real estate economics. Single-family-home prices in Austria are explored to investigate the capability of global and locally weighted hedonic models. Even if regional indicators are not fully capable to model SH and technical amendments are required to account for unmodelled SH, the results emphasise their importance to achieve a well-specified model. Due to SH beyond the level of regional indicators, locally weighted regressions are proposed. Mixed geographically weighted regression (MGWR) prevents the limitations of fixed effects by exploring spatially stationary and non-stationary price effects. Besides reducing prediction errors, it is concluded that global model misspecifications arise from improper selected fixed effects. Reported findings provide evidence that the SH of implicit prices is more complex than can be modelled by regional indicators or purely local models. The existence of both stationary and non-stationary effects implies that the Austrian housing market is economically connected.

The Hybrid Spatialities of Transition: Capitalism, Legacy and Uneven Urban Economic Restructuring

Abstract: This paper conceptualises post-socialist urban economic geographies through the notion of hybrid spatialities that emerge from the mutual embeddedness of neoliberalism and socialist legacies. While the dismantling of state socialism was a massive moment towards the exacerbation of uneven development, ironically it is the socialist-era spatial legacy that has become the single major differentiating factor for the economic status of cities. This superficial overdetermination, however, masks the root causes of uneven development that must be seen in the logic of capitalism and its attendant practices which subsume legacy, recode its meaning, and recast the formerly equalitarian spaces as an uneven spatial order. The authors argue that the socialist legacy, rather than being an independent carrier of history, has been alienated from its history to become an infrastructure of neoliberalisation, conducive to capitalist process. The paper draws specifically on the experiences of Russia, although its reflections should reverberate much more broadly.

Situating the local in the neoliberalisation and transformation of urban governance

Abstract: The local state, and more broadly the logic of the local, remains divorced from accounts of urban governance. Addressing this omission, this article examines how a focus on the local opens up new avenues of enquiry in urban governance. It first discusses the interactions of the ‘urban’ and the ‘local’, analysing the significance of both to an understanding of neoliberalism in action. It then evaluates the opportunities and challenges that emerge from the multiple interplays of the ‘local’ and the ‘urban’, setting out five focal points for the exploration of the local: understandings of ‘crisis’; politics, meaning and affect; agency and regulatory intermediaries; the turn to practice; and place and comparison. The article concludes by calling for the study of local practices, in ways that recognise the multiple logics at play in different conjunctures, and the spaces such ambiguities and ‘messiness’ open up for different forms of situated agency.

Accessibility and residential land value uplift: : identifying spatial variations in the accessibility impacts of a bus transitway

Abstract: New public transport investment can improve accessibility for existing and new users of the urban transport network and this can lead to land value uplift with uplift benefits being distributed in ...

Biographical Narratives of Encounter: The Significance of Mobility and Emplacement in Shaping Attitudes towards Difference.

Abstract: This paper is located within work in urban studies about the significance of contact with difference as a means for reducing prejudice and achieving social change. Recent approaches, influenced by theories of affect, have emphasised non-conscious everyday negotiations of difference in the city. In this paper it is argued that such approaches lose sight of the significance of the subject: of the reflective judgements of ‘others’ made by individuals; of our ability to make decisions around the control of our feelings and identifications; and of the significance of personal pasts and collective histories in shaping the ways we perceive and react to encounters. Rather, this paper uses a biographical approach focusing on interviewees’ narratives of encounter. Through its attention to processes of mobility and emplacement, it contributes to debates about when contact with difference matters by highlighting the importance of everyday social normativities in the production of moral dispositions.

Happiness and job satisfaction in urban China: a comparative study of two generations of migrants and urban locals

Abstract: This study investigates determinants of happiness and job satisfaction of urban locals, first-generation migrants and new-generation migrants in China’s urban workforce. We present evidence to suggest that new-generation migrants are less satisfied with their jobs and lives than first-generation migrants, despite having higher income. This finding is consistent with aspirations rising faster than income in China’s fast-growing urban economy.

Understanding culture-led local development: A critique of alternative theoretical explanations

Abstract: In this paper we carry out a meta-analytic review of the literature on culture-led local development models. We identify and discuss three typical fallacies characterising mono-causal culture-led development schemes: instrumentalism, over-engineering, and parochialism. We then discuss their analytical background, and provide examples illustrating the consequences of each. Based upon this critical discussion, we make a case for a ‘new territorial thinking’ approach that takes into account the tangled hierarchy of global and local viewpoints that is connatural to spatially situated cultural production, and focuses upon a non-linear, multi-causal scheme as the only possible framework for the policy design of credible, socially accountable, culture-led development strategies.

Do parental perceptions of the neighbourhood environment influence children’s independent mobility? Evidence from Toronto, Canada:

Abstract: Children’s independent mobility (CIM), or a child’s freedom to explore their neighbourhood unsupervised, is important for their psychological development and potentially enables daily physical acti...

Geography, policy or market? New evidence on the measurement and causes of sprawl (and infill) in US metropolitan regions

Abstract: This paper proposes four metrics to measure sprawl in metropolitan regions as marginal changes in land use over time. The metrics (change in urban housing unit density, marginal land consumption per new urban household, housing unit density in newly urbanized areas and percent of new housing units located in previously developed areas) are computed for all 329 metropolitan areas in the continental USA for 1980 and 2000. Regression analysis is used to explain variations in sprawl metrics across metropolitan areas, incorporating variables representing market, geographic and policy factors. Changes in development patterns reflect interactions of market and geographic structures. States with a substantial state role in planning accommodate a higher percentage of new housing units in previously developed areas and with lower marginal land consumption, suggesting that policy can mitigate sprawl development.

What Makes Cities Attractive? The Determinants of Urban Labour Migration in Germany

Abstract: Striking disparities characterise the population growth of cities in industrialised countries. Some cities suffer from ongoing population decline, whereas other cities have experienced increasing numbers of inhabitants in recent years. Whether labour market conditions or amenities via their impact on migration primarily account for differences in cities� demographic development is an important issue. This paper investigates the determinants of the migration balance of German cities between 2000 and 2007. The focus is on the mobility of workers because labour migration in particular affects the future prospects of cities. The findings suggest that not only labour market conditions but also amenities have an impact on the net migration rate. Moreover, large cities seem to be, ceteris paribus, more attractive than small cities. This finding possibly points to the importance of amenities such as cultural infrastructure and matching externalities in urban (labour) markets that are linked to city size. Urban policy aimed at enhancing the attractiveness of cities should thus consider both boosting the local economy and improving the quality of life.

Socio-technical Change and the Politics of Urban Infrastructure: Managing Energy in Berlin between Dictatorship and Democracy:

Abstract: This paper reconstructs the trajectory of energy efficiency policies in Berlin from the 1920s to today in order to illustrate how the shifting political and socioeconomic conditions of a city can shape urban energy provision and consumption. Taking a long-term perspective on the relationship between urban transitions and energy policy, it investigates how the geo-political turbulence, regime diversity and socioeconomic volatility experienced by 20th-century Berlin influenced strategies of electricity generation and use in the city. Drawing on different ways of conceptualising change to socio-technical systems in the literature, the paper’s findings present a more differentiated picture of urban energy transitions than notions of path dependency and transition pathways imply, highlighting the importance of non-linear trends, political contestation and crisis discourses in and beyond the city and their relevance for reconfiguring urban energy systems today.

From ’Rabble Management’ to ’Recovery Management’: Policing Homelessness in Marginal Urban Space:

Abstract: Over the past three decades, scholars have documented the emergence of a new model of urban governance predicated on the spatial exclusion of visible poverty. In order to revitalise and recommodify...

Cities and the geographical deconcentration of scientific activity: A multilevel analysis of publications (1987–2007):

Abstract: Most current scientific policies incorporate debates on cities and the geographic organisation of scientific activity. Research on 'world cities' develops the idea that interconnected agglomerations can better take advantage of international competition. Thus, the increasing concentration of activities in these cities at the expense of others could be observed by certain scholars using measures based on scientific publications. Others, however, show that an opposite trend is emerging: the largest cities are undergoing a relative decline in a country's scientific activities. To go beyond this seeming contradiction, this paper provides a global analysis of all countries with papers in the Web of Science over the period 1987-2007. The author's addresses were geocoded and grouped into agglomerations. Registering of papers was based on the fractional counting of multi-authored publications, and the results are unambiguous: deconcentration is the dominant trend both globally and within countries, with some exceptions for which explanations are suggested

Observing Guerrillas in the Wild: Reinterpreting Practices of Urban Guerrilla Gardening

Abstract: Despite an emerging literature on guerrilla gardening as a political practice in public spaces, with few exceptions, these accounts theorise it as working against many corporate and bureaucratic forms of power. Using the example of ‘F Troop’—a group of gardeners operating on a site in an English midland city—this paper focuses on the practices of urban guerrilla gardening in order to illustrate that these are perhaps not as ‘resistant’ or ‘celebratory’ as previous accounts have suggested. Rather, this paper draws on ethnographic data to focus attention on the micro politics of garden activism, arguing that the social backgrounds and motivations of those involved in guerrilla gardening and their relationship with other users of the space surrounding the dig site are also important—but largely underacknowledged—aspects of guerrilla gardening.

Culture and authenticity in urban regeneration processes: Place branding in central Barcelona

Abstract: In the post-Fordist economy, culture has become an important resource for cities to compete at the regional and international levels. Thus, local elites have used culture as an instrument of urban regeneration and these processes increasingly seek to promote urban branding. Moreover, culture is seen as a way to generate narratives that help cities avoid the perception of standardisation, characterise cities as a unique urban space and create authenticity, which are necessary elements if a city is to be globally competitive. The case of central Barcelona and, specifically, the Raval district is exemplary and singular: the joint action of the cultural institutions and representatives of the cultural sector based in the neighbourhood have turned the Raval into an brand space of ‘authentic Barcelona’ that makes the official, tourist-frequented Barcelona more rich and complex.

The search for territorial fixes in subnational governance: City-regions and the disputed emergence of post-political consensus in Manchester, England

Abstract: The paper considers the notion that innovation in territorial governance is associated with a set of core neoliberal ideas about local economic development which have come to constitute a new and pervasive consensus. Through a case study of attempts to construct city-regional institutions in Manchester, England, over a period of 25 years, it attempts to track the themes that have underpinned the development of a local politics of economic development. The paper considers the extent to which evolution of city-regional institutions and policy accord to wider ideas about post-political forms of governance and the erosion of democracy in cities. It concludes by considering the degree to which this experience is representative of a wider orthodoxy in the governance of local economic development.

Til work do us part : the social fallacy of long-distance commuting

Abstract: This chapter focuses on the social implications of long-distance commuting on commuters and their spouses in Sweden. In a nationwide study, the extent to which long-distance commuting increases the odds that couples will separate is investigated through event history analysis. Discrete-time logistic regression models were employed with longitudinal data on Swedish couples in 2000 to explore the odds of separation following long-distance commuting during 1995–2005. As expected, the results show that separation rates are higher among long-distance commuting couples compared with non-commuting couples. More complex results show that for men the odds of separating are highest if the commuting is on a temporary basis and that women’s odds decrease when they continue commuting for a longer time period. The long-distance commuting effect on relationships also varies depending on residential context.

City-Dyad Analyses of China’s Integration into the World City Network:

Abstract: The business connections between Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai and other major world cities are investigated using the interlocking network model based upon the location strategies of advanced producer service firms. This approach emphasises non-hierarchical relations between cities. A key new finding is that city-dyad analysis enhances the prominence of these China cities compared with simple ranking by total global network connectivity. This suggests that Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing have developed more strategically important roles in the world city network than previously understood. Yet the geographies of these links are distinctive, with Shanghai shown to be better connected to the more important world cities such as London and New York than Beijing; and Beijing is found to be better connected to political world cities such as Washington and Brussels, and to other Pacific Asian cities, than Shanghai. The results are interpreted as suggestions for developing a new research programme.

Small-business viability in America’s urban minority communities

Abstract: Although minority and immigrant entrepreneurs in the US have chosen to concentrate in low-profit retail and service lines of business clustered geographically in urban minority neighbourhoods, their reasons for doing so are unclear. We investigate their motivations by analysing viability among urban small businesses; specifically, we compare the longevity of firms targeting clients in minority neighbourhoods to those serving clients in nonminority-white residential areas. Our broader concerns are to understand why the entrepreneurial occupational choice has been embraced. A key objective is to identify specific barriers that may retard small-firm creation and development in minority-neighbourhood environs. While some claim this market offers attractive opportunities, others stress that predominance of minority- and immigrant-owned firms in this sector reflects the fact that only the least desirable market niches are accessible to them. We find that serving local clienteles in minority neighbourhoods is strongly related to firm closure and low profitability.

The Impacts of LRT, Neighbourhood Characteristics, and Self-selection on Auto Ownership: Evidence from Minneapolis-St. Paul

Abstract: There is a growing interest in exploring the relationships between the built environment and auto ownership and a number of studies have investigated the impact of rail transit on travel behaviour. However, few have disentangled the impact of rail transit on auto ownership from the influences of the built environment and residential self-selection. Using the light rail transit (LRT) in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, USA, this study applies the statistical control approach and quasi-longitudinal design to examine the effects of LRT, neighbourhood design and self-selection on auto ownership. It is found that residential self-selection influences auto ownership; backyard size, off-street parking and business density marginally affect auto ownership; and the LRT does not have an independent impact on auto ownership beyond neighbourhood design and self-selection. The results point to the importance of neighbourhood design in rail transit development.

Urban spatial restructuring, event-led development and scalar politics

Abstract: This paper uses Guangzhou’s experience of hosting the 2010 Asian Games to illustrate Guangzhou’s engagement with scalar politics. This includes concurrent processes of intra-regional restructuring to position Guangzhou as a central city in south China and a ‘negotiated scale-jump’ to connect with the world under conditions negotiated in part with the overarching strong central state, testing the limit of Guangzhou’s geopolitical expansion. Guangzhou’s attempts were aided further by using the Asian Games as a vehicle for addressing condensed urban spatial restructuring to enhance its own production/accumulation capacities, and for facilitating urban redevelopment projects to achieve a ‘global’ appearance and exploit the city’s real estate development potential. Guangzhou’s experience of hosting the Games provides important lessons for expanding our understanding of how regional cities may pursue their development goals under the strong central state and how event-led development contributes to this.