Introduction: Planning reform and state spatial rescaling

Author(s):  
John Sturzaker ◽  
Alexander Nurse

This chapter considers the pressures and drivers for change facing cities all over the world, specifically in England, and identify the range of governance approaches adopted to confront them. It situates the discussion in the subsequent chapters within wider frameworks of urban governance, including the theoretical and analytical tools which can be used to explore governance practices.

Author(s):  
John Sturzaker ◽  
Alexander Nurse

In a time of political upheaval around the world, many jurisdictions are making changes to how they govern their cities in an attempt to redistribute (or appear to redistribute) power within those cities. Such changes can occur at a range of scales, with various aims, explicit or implicit. The UK is one such place, having experienced a particularly rapid series of changes over the last 10 years, at every scale from the national to the community levels. This book provides, for the first time, comprehensive analysis of this period, looking in detail at the UK but situated within the broader international context. The book looks in turn at each tier of government/governance, from the national to the community, analysing from top-to-bottom the outcomes of a decade’s worth of reform, explicitly considering whether they can be said to be progressive in nature. The book interrogates the results of changes to governance practices as a means to explore the extent to which power is genuinely being redistributed and spatial inequalities are being addressed. It draws on recent work of the authors and others to explore these issues primarily in the UK, but using international examples to highlight commonalities, suggest ways in which the UK can learn from elsewhere, and, where they can be identified, likewise identify lessons for other places.


Information ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Danica Zendulková ◽  
Boris Rysuľa ◽  
Andrea Putalová

In the light of the increasing importance of the societal impact of research, this article attempts to address the question as to how social sciences and humanities (SSH) research outputs from 2019 are represented in Slovak research portfolios in comparison with those of the EU-28 and the world. The data used for the analysis originate from the R&D SK CRIS and bibliographic Central Register of Publication Activities (CREPČ) national databases, and WoS Core Collection/InCites. The research data were appropriate for the analysis at the time they were structured, on the national level; of high quality and consistency; and covering as many components as possible and in mutual relations. The data resources should enable the research outputs to be assigned to research categories. The analysis prompts the conclusion that social sciences and humanities research outputs in Slovakia in 2019 are appropriately represented and in general show an increasing trend. This can be documented by the proportion represented by the SSH research projects and other entities involved in the overall Slovak research outputs, and even the higher ratio of SSH research publications in comparison with the EU-28 and the world. Recommendations of a technical character include research data management, data quality, and the integration of individual systems and available analytical tools.


2021 ◽  
pp. 239965442110021
Author(s):  
Ratka Čolić ◽  
Đorđe Milić ◽  
Jasna Petrić ◽  
Nataša Čolić

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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helena Cermeño

In Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city, high population growth rates, decades of rural-urban migration, and rampant land and real-estate speculation have contributed to the rapid urbanization of peri-urban land and the engulfing of pre-existing rural settlements. Lahore’s spatial transformation goes hand in hand with an increasingly complex urban governance framework. Historically shaped by colonial planning institutions and decades of political instability as power alternated between military and civilian regimes, Pakistan’s governance practices have contributed to increasing levels of urban segregation and inequality. This raises questions around the in- and exclusionary role of planning in fostering or constraining residents’ access to housing and services. Comparing three vignettes and drawing upon insights gained from extensive fieldwork, this article employs the concept of ‘access-assemblages’ to analyze how access to urban resources—i.e., land, housing, and services—is experienced, disputed, and negotiated in the rapidly urbanizing peri-urban fringe of Lahore. The cases represent different spatial and socio-political configurations brought about by a variety of actors involved in the planning and development of the city’s periphery as well as in contesting development: private developers, the army, the city development authorities, and the residents of affected villages. The analysis unpacks the planning rationalities and mechanisms that reinforce inequalities of access and exclusions. Unfolding practices that enable or hinder actors’ ability to access resources sheds light on the complex layers assembled in urban planning in Lahore and serves as a basis to rethink planning towards a more inclusive approach.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-375
Author(s):  
Andressa Kikuti Dancosky ◽  
Jacques Mick ◽  
Dairan Mathias Paul ◽  
Suelyn Cristina Carneiro da Luz ◽  
Alessandra Natasha Costa Ramos ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT – This paper presents the results of research on journalistic economic alternative arrangements to the major media corporations in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. It draws a profile of 20 arrangements identified through combined research techniques (snowball and questionnaire), characterizing them from three central axes: 1) “what is journalistic” in the journalistic arrangements (defining aspects of the type of journalism that is produced – or “markers”) and considerations about the world of work of the people in charge of these arrangements; 2) organization and production process (publication regimes, target audience, independence, and alternativeness); and 3) innovation and sustainability (if the arrangements consider themselves as entrepreneurial and innovative, what their legal status is and how they are financially sustained). The results point to three ideal types of journalistic arrangements, identified by their different bonds with the capital, their communities, or their political causes. Each ideal type corresponds to a distinct understanding of what journalism is and to distinct governance practices. Without constituting consolidated models, these types respond, each one in its way, to the structural changes that occur in the profession.RESUMO – Este artigo apresenta resultados de uma pesquisa sobre arranjos econômicos de jornalismo alternativos às grandes corporações de mídia no estado de Santa Catarina. Traça um perfil de 20 arranjos identificados por meio de técnicas combinadas de pesquisa (bola de neve e questionário), caracterizando-os a partir de três eixos centrais: 1) “o que há de jornalístico” nos arranjos jornalísticos (aspectos definidores do tipo de jornalismo produzido – ou “marcadores”) e considerações sobre o mundo do trabalho de seus e suas responsáveis; 2) organização e processo produtivo (regimes de publicação, públicos-alvo, relações de independência e alternatividade); e 3) inovação e sustentabilidade (se os arranjos consideram-se empreendedores e inovadores, quais seus status jurídicos e como se sustentam). Os resultados apontam para três tipos ideais de arranjos jornalísticos, identificados por suas diferentes conexões com o capital, as comunidades ou as causas políticas. Cada tipo ideal corresponde a um entendimento diferente do que é o jornalismo e a distintas práticas de governança. Esses tipos, sem constituírem ainda modelos consolidados, respondem, cada qual a seu modo, às mudanças estruturais do ofício.RESUMEN – Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación sobre proyectos económicos de periodismo alternativos a las principales corporaciones mediáticas en el estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil. Se dibuja un perfil de 20 proyectos identificados por técnicas de investigación articuladas (bola de nieve y cuestionario), caracterizándolos desde tres ejes centrales: 1) “qué hay de periodístico” en los proyectos periodísticos (aspectos definidores del tipo de periodismo producido – o “marcadores”) y consideraciones sobre el mundo laboral de sus responsables; 2) organización y proceso de producción (regímenes de publicación, públicos objetivo, relaciones de independencia y alternatividad); y 3) innovación y sostenibilidad (si los proyectos se consideran emprendedores e innovadores, cuál es su estatus legal y cómo se mantienen). Los resultados apuntan a tres tipos ideales de proyectos periodísticos, identificados por sus distintas conexiones con el capital, las comunidades o las causas políticas. Cada tipo ideal corresponde a una comprensión diferente de lo que es el periodismo y diferentes prácticas de gobernanza. Estos tipos, sin ser modelos aún consolidados, responden, cada uno a su manera, a los cambios estructurales de la profesión.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taylor Shelton ◽  
Thomas Lodato

In response to the mounting criticism of emerging ‘smart cities’ strategies around the world, a number of individuals and institutions have attempted to pivot from discussions of smart cities towards a focus on ‘smart citizens’. While the smart citizen is most often seen as a kind of foil for those more stereotypically top-down, neoliberal, and repressive visions of the smart city that have been widely critiqued within the literature, this paper argues for an attention to the ‘actually existing smart citizen’, which plays a much messier and more ambivalent role in practice. This paper proposes the dual figures of ‘the general citizen’ and ‘the absent citizen’ as a heuristic for thinking about how the lines of inclusion and exclusion are drawn for citizens, both discursively and materially, in the actual making of the smart city. These figures are meant to highlight how the universal and unspecified figure of ‘the citizen’ is discursively deployed to justify smart city policies, while at the same time, actual citizens remain largely excluded from such decision and policy-making processes. Using a case study of Atlanta, Georgia and its ongoing smart cities initiatives, we argue that while the participation of citizens is crucial to any truly democratic mode of urban governance, the emerging discourse around the promise of smart citizenship fails to capture the realities of how citizens are actually discussed and enrolled in the making of these policies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Oleg Aronson

The article is devoted to an analysis of the creative work of the Russian philosopher Valery Podoroga. It focuses on the special discipline he created, namely, “analytical anthropology”, and the book “Anthropograms”, in which Valery Podoroga sets out the basic principles and analytical tools of his philosophical work. Examining the books of the philosopher that preceded the creation of analytical anthropology and those that were written later, it is possible to single out two important lines of his research. First, the philosophy of literature and second, research in the field of the political. Podoroga’s understanding of literature is broader than that of a cultural practice or a social institution. For him, it is the space of the corporal experience of contact with the world, in which the affective aspect of thinking is realized. This line of analysis points to the “poetic” dimension of the experience of thinking, since the emphasis here is on what Jakobson called the “poetic function of language”, its orientation toward itself. It is precisely the literary aspect that becomes important when analyzing the texts of philosophers (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger); however, what is even more important is that in the very experience of fiction Podoroga is trying to find new means for philosophy. His “poetic line” is closely connected with the poetics of space (Bachelard) and the phenomenology of the body (Merleau-Ponty, Henry). It is the combination of poetics and phenomenology that allows Podoroga to overcome both the orientation of poetics exclusively toward language and the categorical apparatus of philosophy. The main result of Valery Podoroga’s work is the creation of an “anthropogram”, a special kind of scheme in which the action of the Work (a literary work, but not only) is immanent to the dynamics of the world. Is it possible to create such anthropograms outside the field of literature? Podoroga does not specify. The article attempts to show how Podoroga’s ways of working with literary texts correlate with his works dealing with the technologies of power and violence, transforming separate political and ethical terms into anthropograms, that is, forms of thought immanent to life itself.


2020 ◽  
pp. 239965442097211
Author(s):  
Yaffa Truelove ◽  
Natasha Cornea

In the global South, urban infrastructures and environments are marked by significant heterogeneity and the presence of multiple overlapping systems, configurations and actor networks that keep the city working – water flows, electricity is available, and waste is collected. This occurs in the face of what has been traditionally characterized as failed or incomplete infrastructures and the presence of governance practices that often deviate from formalized norms and policies. However, increasingly academics are arguing that such heterogeneity represents not failure but spaces of possibility and transition. This introduction lays out some of the theoretical underpinnings and conceptual ideas that frame urban environmental and infrastructural governance in the everyday. We then outline how the contributions of this Special Issue (SI) reveal the contested, negotiated, and situated nature of everyday urban governance and the multiple ways that politics become spatialized and power shapes contemporary cities, urban environments, and infrastructures. The SI brings together an interdisciplinary and diverse range of contributions focusing on case studies in secondary and metropolitan cities in India, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya and Guinea-Bissau, and Brazil. Read together, the papers in this issue contribute to four primary debates and discussions in urban studies and social science studies of the urban environment. These include responding to noted absences in studies of urban political ecologies, contributing to new understandings of the urban political, focusing on the practices that produce political subjectivity and render groups governable, and highlighting everyday spaces of possibility for a more equitable urban future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orianna Calderon-Sandoval ◽  
Adelina Sanchez-Espinosa

Following Karen Barad’s diffractive methodology, we encounter feminist documentary cinema as a diffraction apparatus: that is, as technologies that make part of the world intelligible to another part of the world in specific ways, by means of intra-actions between human and non-human agencies and objects of observation. We propose three analytical tools: materiality, emotionality, and performativity. In this article, we analyse two Spanish documentary films that render visible the potential of feminist documentary cinema for building alliances from and against precarity: Cuidado, resbala and Yes, We Fuck! Reading the insights and patterns raised in each case study through one another (i.e., diffractively), we discuss the intra-actions by which each of these films participates in co-creating the real. We end up describing three possible effects of feminist material-discursive practices in documentary cinema.


2007 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garen Markarian ◽  
Antonio Parbonetti ◽  
Gary John Previts

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