scholarly journals The Business of Improving Neighborhoods. A Critical Overview of Neighborhood-Based Business Improvement Districts (NBIDs) in Sweden

2022 ◽  
pp. 107808742110707
Author(s):  
Dragan Kusevski ◽  
Maja Stalevska ◽  
Chiara Valli
Keyword(s):  
Urban Policy ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Business Improvement Districts ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Urban Issues ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
Policy Failures ◽  
Critical Overview

This article offers an overview of neighbourhood-based BIDs (NBIDs) in Sweden. Swedish NBIDs tend to appear in stigmatized residential areas engaging with pressing sets of urban issues that have been longstanding concern of social policy. Their overarching goal is raising property values in neighborhoods on the edge between urban decline and (re)development potential. Emerging in a neoliberalizing institutional context, NBIDs present themselves as correctives to public-policy failures by promoting property-oriented solutions. The adaptation of the BID model in the Swedish ‘post-welfare’ landscape, however, exhibits, and arguably exacerbates, the shortcomings found in BID elsewhere. Their opaque institutional structure and lack of accountability contribute to curbing democratic influence over local development, thus reinforcing spatial inequalities. We argue that the growing political advocacy for the institutionalization of the BID model in Sweden presents a new milestone in the neoliberalization of urban governance, as private actors are promoted to legitimate co-creators of urban policy.

scholarly journals The smart grid as a security device: Electricity infrastructure and urban governance in Kingston and Rio de Janeiro

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802098571
Author(s):  
Francesca Pilo’
Keyword(s):  
Smart Grid ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Smart Grids ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Spatial Inequality ◽  
Technical Failure ◽  
Spatial Inequalities ◽  
Urban Security ◽  
Security Device

This article aims to contribute to recent debates on the politics of smart grids by exploring their installation in low-income areas in Kingston (Jamaica) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). To date, much of this debate has focused on forms of smart city experiments, mostly in the Global North, while less attention has been given to the implementation of smart grids in cities characterised by high levels of urban insecurity and socio-spatial inequality. This article illustrates how, in both contexts, the installation of smart metering is used as a security device that embeds the promise of protecting infrastructure and revenue and navigating complex relations framed along lines of socio-economic inequalities and urban sovereignty – here linked to configurations of state and non-state (criminal) territorial control and power. By unpacking the political workings of the smart grid within changing urban security contexts, including not only the rationalities that support its use but also the forms of resistance, contestation and socio-technical failure that emerge, the article argues for the importance of examining the conjunction between urban and infrastructural governance, including the reshaping of local power relations and spatial inequalities, through globally circulating devices.

scholarly journals City intelligence for enhancing urban performance value: a conceptual study on data decomposition in smart cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-222
Author(s):  
Karima Kourtit
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Urban System ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Data Decomposition ◽  
Blowing Up ◽  
Technology Age

AbstractThe contemporary ‘digital age’ prompts the need for a re-assessment of urban planning principles and practices. Against the background of current data-rich urban planning, this study seeks to address the question whether an appropriate methodological underpinning can be provided for smart city governance based on a data-driven planning perspective. It posits that the current digital technology age has a drastic impact on city strategies and calls for a multi-faceted perspective on future urban development, termed here the ‘XXQ-principle’ (which seeks to attain the highest possible level of quality for urban life). Heterogeneity in urban objectives and data embodied in the XXQ-principle can be systematically addressed by a process of data decomposition (based on a ‘cascade principle’), so that first, higher-level urban policy domains are equipped with the necessary (‘big’) data provisions, followed by lower-ranking urban governance levels. The conceptual decomposition principle can then be translated into a comprehensive hierarchical model architecture for urban intelligence based on the ‘flying disc’ model, including key performance indicators (KPIs). This new model maps out the socio-economic arena of a complex urban system according to the above cascade system. The design of this urban system architecture and the complex mutual connections between its subsystems is based on the ‘blowing-up’ principle that originates from a methodological deconstruction-reconstruction paradigm in the social sciences. The paper advocates the systematic application of this principle to enhance the performance of smart cities, called the XXQ performance value. This study is not empirical, although it is inspired by a wealth of previous empirical research. It aims to advance conceptual and methodological thinking on principles of smart urban planning.

Institutional capacity development within the national urban policy formation process – Participants’ views

2021 ◽  
pp. 239965442110021
Author(s):  
Ratka Čolić ◽  
Đorđe Milić ◽  
Jasna Petrić ◽  
Nataša Čolić
Keyword(s):  
Formation Process ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Capacity Development ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
Institutional Capacity ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Institutional Capacity Development ◽  
National Urban Policy

In 2019, Serbia adopted its first national urban policy. This document was established through a communicative process during 2018–2019, formally encouraging urban governance as a practical innovation in Serbia’s planning doctrine. The main aim of this research is to explore institutional capacity development within a live setting of the policy formation process. The participants of this process are the primary subjects of the research. Data was collected through participatory events in four instances during the process. The concept of institutional capacity development is used in this paper as a basic framework to assess knowledge, relational and mobilisation capacity for urban governance. The main contribution of this paper is providing an understanding of the challenges and potentials for establishing urban governance practices in a post-socialist country planning context. Findings indicate an increase in the participants’ knowledge and understanding of governance instruments such that coordination and cooperation are continually unfolding. The identified challenges relate to the mobilisation capacity and fragility of institutions and resistance to change, while a need to deal with complexity and uncertainty remains present.

scholarly journals John Lindsay, the Association for a Better New York, and the Privatization of New York City, 1969-1973

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 557-577
Author(s):  
Joe Merton
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Street Crime ◽  
Urban Problems

Focusing on the collaboration between Mayor John Lindsay and business advocacy group the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), this article illustrates the utility of public and elite anxieties over street crime in legitimizing new, privatized models of urban governance during the early 1970s. ABNY’s privatized crime-fighting initiatives signified a new direction in city law enforcement strategies, a new “common sense” regarding the efficacy and authority of private or voluntarist solutions to urban problems, and proved of lasting significance for labor relations, the regulation of urban space, and the role of the private sector in urban policy. It concludes that, despite their limitations, the visibility of ABNY’s initiatives, their ability to construct a pervasive sense of crisis, and their apparent demonstration of public and elite consent played a significant role in the transformation of New York into the “privatized” or “neoliberal” city of today.

Two Models of Local Development Politics

1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Baglioni ◽  
S Vicari
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Relative Strength ◽  
Implementation Processes ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Planning Policy ◽  
Development Politics ◽  
Development Policies

In this paper three case studies of urban development policies are outlined in order to advance two models of the diverse structuring of interaction between business and politicians. The three cases concern the Italian cities of Pavia, Parma, and Modena. For each city we describe the economic and political context and review the planning policy, focusing on specific decisionmaking processes. This sets the stage for an analysis of the interaction between political and economic actors and for an evaluation of the results of that analysis with respect to the effectiveness of the decisionmaking and implementation processes of urban policy. Those factors which account for the relative strength of business interests and elected officials and favor their engaging in the bargaining relationships are discussed, and two contrasting models of their interaction are presented.

Smart City: An Approach from the View of Smart Urban Governance

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hung Viet NGO ◽  
◽  
Quan LE ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Effective Governance ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Government Work ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Urban Issues ◽  
The City

The world’s population is forecasted of having 68% to be urban residents by 2050 while urbanization in the world continues to grow. Along with that phenomenon, there is a global trend towards the creation of smart cities in many countries. Looking at the overview of studies and reports on smart cities, it can be seen that the concept of “smart city” is not clearly defined. Information and communication technology have often been being recognized by the vast majority of agencies, authorities and people when thinking about smart city but the meaning of smart city goes beyond that. Smart city concept should come with the emphasizing on the role of social resources and smart urban governance in the management of urban issues. Therefore, the "smart city" label should refer to the capacity of smart people and smart officials who create smart urban governance solutions for urban problems. The autonomy in smart cities allows its members (whether individuals or the community in general) of the city to participate in governance and management of the city and become active users and that is the picture of e-democracy. E-democracy makes it easier for stakeholders to become more involved in government work and fosters effective governance by using the IT platform of smart city. This approach will be discussed more in this paper.

Fostering Ecocultural Resources, Identity, and Tourism in Inland Territories (Galicia, NW Spain)

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Elena De Uña-Álvarez ◽  
Montserrat Villarino-Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Life Experiences ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Nw Spain ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Territorial Identity ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Private Actors ◽  
Depth Interviews

Inland territories hold a great diversity of ecocultural resources, increasingly constituted in tourist products for local development. Their role in improving the socioeconomic conditions and wellness of local communities, as well as in promoting tourism and sustainability, depends on the involvement of public and private actors. The relationships and the collaboration of local actors are essential in that regard. The study of aforementioned processes takes place in the inland territory of Galicia (NW Spain). The methodology of research relied on in-depth interviews. Due to the key role of the local actors, the interviews focused on their professional and life experiences. The analysis of the answers establishes the definition and the appraisal of the main resources, attached to territorial identity, and highlights the engagement and involvement of the actors in the territorial dynamics that foster the promotion of the ecocultural resources for tourism.

Competition through Interurban Policy Making: Bidding to Host Megaevents as Entrepreneurial Networking

2014 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 2638-2653 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Lauermann
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Urban Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Municipal Governments ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Entrepreneurial Strategies ◽  
Transnational City ◽  
City Policy

Recent scholarship on policy mobility, globally active municipal governments, and transnational city-to-city policy making suggest a new dynamic in entrepreneurial cities: entrepreneurialism based not only on place competition, but also based on practices of interurban networking. This paper argues that cross-city initiatives to share planning expertise can function both as policy-making networks and as markets for policy knowledge, as urban governance stakeholders strategically leverage intercity initiatives for sharing urban planning knowledge. Bidding to host sporting ‘megaevents’ highlights these networked entrepreneurial strategies. A comparative study of bids to host the Olympic Games over a twenty-year period shows that policy-making knowledge (templates, models, and best practices) shared between cities is both necessary for competing to host events, and represents ‘policy commodities’ that planning coalitions can use as part of their entrepreneurial portfolios. While much commentary on interurban policy making focuses on how policy practices are received by cities or mobilized by international businesses or policy makers, this paper signals to a multidirectional entrepreneurial strategy: although megaevents federations and sponsors developed megaevents knowledge networks to leverage urban planning for profit, many local development coalitions have incorporated these same networks into their competitive strategies.

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