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 Foucault-inspired sociology of governance perspective is adopted to examine the role of business improvement districts in securing and shaping conduct in public retail and entertainment spaces in Canadian cities.
Abstract: This paper interrogates the complex role of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in securing and shaping conduct in public retail and ‘entertainment’ spaces in Canadian cities. Adopting a Foucault-inspired sociology of governance perspective, this paper uncovers key features of the role of BIDs therein and casts doubt upon assumptions evident in previous research, including in relation to urban neo-liberalism. BIDs seek to exclude obstacles, which include ‘panhandlers’ and the homeless, from public spaces. Yet, other barriers are placed into relief by a proliferating ‘clean and safe’ rationality and are deemed to interfere with consumption conduct and pedestrian flow. These include BID members engaged in moralized enterprises. Some BIDs are deploying CCTV surveillance arrangements and interactive ‘ambassadors’ consistent with ‘clean and safe’, whereas others avoid these modes and rely upon and lobby for public sources. The role of BID coordinators in brokering specialized knowledge is pivotal in these va...
39 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the potential contribution of French pragmatism thinking to how social life is produced through practical dialogue between actors through critique, argumentation and justification, and propose a framework for the formalization of relations and negotiations between actors.
Abstract: Recent times have witnessed a growing belief in urban spaces as ‘assemblages’ produced through interwoven and spatially differentiated forces that converge at particular sites. There is also continuing interest in the nature of neoliberal tendencies and the rise of post-politics and democracy in urban governance. These accounts typically lack attention towards the comprehensive conceptualization of the heterogeneous logics and mechanics of relations and negotiations between actors. This paper seeks to advance these perspectives by exploring the potential contribution of French pragmatism thinking to how social life is produced through practical dialogue between actors through critique, argumentation and justification.
39 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address the question of whether a business improvement district (BID) can be run by a board of directors elected through a process that weighs votes in proportion to the value of land owned.
Abstract: Business Improvement Districts ("BIDs") have changed the landscape of urban governance. Clothed with limited powers traditionally held by the state, BIDs are private entities that provide supplemental sanitation, security, and social services to limited geographic areas within cities.' Today, BID workers are a regular presence on the municipal terrain-whether they are sweeping streets, hailing taxis, or providing tourist information. BIDs have harnessed private sector creativity to solve complex municipal problems and have made cities safer and cleaner.2 Funded by an extra assessment on property owners, BIDs conduct their operations with an efficiency that eludes city bureaucraciesthey are flexible, nimble, and directly accountable to the local businesses that pay for the bulk of their operations. Yet, questions of constitutionality exist when a BID, exercising limited governmental powers, is managed by a board of directors elected through a process that weighs votes in proportion to the value of land owned and
38 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored practices of uniformed, mobile "hospitality" teams called ambassadors in Canadian downtown cores through document analysis and in-depth interviews with ambassadors, police and business improvement district (BID) personnel.
Abstract: This article explores practices of uniformed, mobile ‘hospitality’ teams called ambassadors in Canadian downtown cores through document analysis and in-depth interviews with ambassadors, police and business improvement district (BID) personnel. The study reveals how ambassadors conduct surveillance and produce knowledge to remake downtowns for a consumption-oriented order, the institutions to which knowledge is transferred and for what purposes. The paper argues that the significance of ambassadors in downtown cores cannot be reduced to a physical security function. Rather, ambassadors’ scope is broader and reflects BIDs’ peculiar and precarious institutional position in urban governance, one that is highly dependent on knowledge for shaping and encouraging downtown consumption, justifying practices to its mandatory membership and board, and persuading other institutions to do its bidding.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the emergence of Public Private Policing Partnerships in England and focus on two increasingly common partnership bodies in particular: Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and Town Center Management (TCM) schemes.
Abstract: This study considers the emergence of Public Private Policing Partnerships (PPPPs) in England and focuses on two increasingly common partnership bodies in particular: Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and Town Center Management (TCM) schemes. It argues that in order to fully understand the operations of these partnerships, research must pay attention to their introduction, evolution, and social relationships. Through comparative case studies of local TCM schemes and BIDs in Coventry, Plymouth, and Reading, it reflects on the ways in which policing services are speculatively used to improve the "experience"' of being downtown, and increase the likelihood of consumers and investors spending more in their district. It also sheds light on the evolving policing "portfolios" the partnerships have developed and the roles that socio-technologies (e.g., CCTV, circulars) play in shaping the performance and relations of the partnerships.
37 citations