Dissertation•
Business Improvement Areas and the Justification of Urban Revitalization: Using the Pragmatic Sociology of Critique to Understand Neoliberal Urban Governance
01 Sep 2019-
About: The article was published on 2019-09-01 and is currently open access. It has received None citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Urban sociology & Social order.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated a downtown revitalization project in a Canadian city and the problem it encountered to shed light on neglected aspects of urban revitalization, security provision, and knowledge transfer.
Abstract: This article investigates a downtown revitalization project in a Canadian city and the problem it encountered to shed light on neglected aspects of urban revitalization, security provision, and knowledge transfer. With a gradual shift to “market friendly” downtown land-use, Windsor’s core underwent expansion of a night-time, youth-oriented, retail alcohol economy. A security problem with moral dimensions emerged and was deemed to detrimentally affect police patrol resources, residential development and living, and retail business. Using governmentality and Latourian-influenced analytical tools, attention is paid to three interrelated facets: (1) the role of Windsor’s downtown business improvement association (BIA); (2) the influential movement of a consultant’s report through urban institutions rendered responsible for revitalization; and (3) resulting measures, including an interim control bylaw and then a zoning bylaw targeting and redefining a particular type of licensed liquor establishment called a “kiddie bar.” The implications of this analysis for understanding the role of BIAs, governance “from below,” and knowledge transfer are discussed.
Abstract: Cet article analyse le projet de revitalisation urbaine d’un centre-ville canadien et le probleme que posait la mise en lumiere d’aspects negliges de relance urbaine, de securite publique et de transfert de connaissances. L’utilisation des proprietes du centre-ville de Windsor a peu a peu cede aux forces du marche et le quartier a connu une proliferation de bars pour jeunes. Le resultat en etait un probleme de securite publique a connotation morale, ce qui a semble grever les ressources policieres et nuire tant a la vie et au developpement residentiels qu’au commerce de detail. En utilisant la gouvernementalite et des outils analytiques influences par la methode Latourienne, l’auteur examine; (1) le role de la Business Improvement Association (association pour favoriser le commerce) du centre de Windsor; (2) l’influence progressive du rapport d’un consultant aupres des institutions municipales; et (3) les mesures qui en ont resulte, incluant un reglement municipal provisoire suivi d’un reglement de zonage visant a redefinir un type de bar a permis, appele « bar pour jeunes » ( kiddie bar ) L’auteur discute des conclusions a tirer de cette analyse pour comprendre le role de la Business Improvement Association , la gouvernance « d’en bas, » et le transfert des connaissances.
44 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the issue of BID performance measures with the goal of enhancing their capacity as diagnostic and prescriptive tools and examine the different kinds of performance measures in the context of designation and evaluation, paying attention to the needs of the varied stakeholders invested in BIDs performance.
Abstract: This article explores the issue of BID performance measures with the goal of enhancing their capacity as diagnostic and prescriptive tools We examine the different kinds of performance measures in the context of BID designation and evaluation, paying attention to the needs of the varied stakeholders invested in BID performance We develop a typology of the different kinds of indicators that are most appropriate for the mission and land uses within BIDs and discuss ways to institutionalize the use of these indicators This research is based on survey data and case studies of the City of Chicago's Special Services Areas (SSAs) as well as an extension of theory in public administration on the appropriate use of performance measurements We find that Chicago SSAs rarely evaluate their performance in a systematic manner When they are required to do so, they tend to rely on subjective appraisals by stakeholders with conflicts of interest, confuse outputs with outcomes, and assume that renewal applica
43 citations
TL;DR: The authors identify different discursive legitimation strategies that are used by managers to deal with conflicts between justifications, and argue that this framework has broader implications in understanding the arguments that underpin social conflict over environmental sustainability.
Abstract: Despite increasing interest in corporate environmentalism, less attention has been directed to how corporations justify and defend their initiatives in this area. This is important in understanding how corporate environmentalism is legitimized in the face of crises, such as climate change, and the ongoing criticism of corporations' deleterious impacts upon the environment. Based on qualitative data from Australian corporations, we illustrate how organizations and managers employ a range of justifications for their activities in order to meet criticism and challenges. We identify different discursive legitimation strategies that are used by managers to deal with conflicts between justifications, and argue that this framework has broader implications in understanding the arguments that underpin social conflict over environmental sustainability.
43 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Mitchell states that business improvement districts (BIDs) really are not trying to do anything new, Mitchell states in Business Improvement Districts and the Shape of American Cities.
Abstract: Economic Development Business improvement districts (BIDs) really are not trying to do anything new, Mitchell states in Business Improvement Districts and the Shape of American Cities. They're tryi...
43 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the thesis of the Americanization of homelessness in a Swedish context regarding public spaces and the deliberate exclusion of homeless people from them, and develop a concept of soft policies of exclusion through an analysis of the construction of an ambient sense-scape in Gothenburg.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to investigate the thesis of the Americanization of homelessness in a Swedish context regarding public spaces and the deliberate exclusion of homeless people from them. It will show that the "sanitization" of public spaces for consumer-friendly purposes applies to Gothenburg just as in U.S. cities, but is achieved by different methods that need to be analyzed as an alternative performance of power. The concept of "soft polices of exclusion" is developed to provide a better analytical understanding. "Soft" does not refer to a more gentle form of revanchism but rather to a more elastic and fluid form of power. The concept of soft policies of exclusion is developed through an analysis of the construction of an ambient sense-scape in Gothenburg that attracts the flows of "the right people" and steers away visible poverty and disturbing, associated behavior.
41 citations