Summary
Explaining the growth and development
of cities has been called 'one of the great challenges for social science'
(Storper, 2011, p.33). But what is specifically 'urban' about the range of
problems facing economies today? The increasing recognition of the partiality
of urban development and growth policies (e.g. global cities; creative cities),
the decoupling of economic growth from social and environmental development, the
ongoing financial crisis and the emergence of austerity urbanism, as well
as decreasing confidence in mainstream economics more generally, suggests that
the scope for new ways of theorising, measuring and intervening in urban
economies is significant. Contributions are welcomed from PhD students who are
exploring some of the diverse ways in which we might re-think urban economies.
Key Words: urban economies; re-thinking economy; global cities; creative
cities; ordinary cities; development; well-being; financial crisis; austerity
urbanism
Chairs: Alvaro Sanchez Jimenez, Louis Moreno, Myfanwy Taylor
Papers:
Juliana Martins, Bartlett School of Planning, University
College London - 4th year of study
Re-framing creative cities
research: lessons from the spatiality of digital production in Tech City,
London
Research on creative cities has been largely
influenced by the concept of creative class (Florida, 2002) and the idea that
cities should try to retain or attract these professionals has had a great
impact on urban policy. Following from a PhD research that examines the
spatiality of the work in the digital media industries located in Shoreditch,
London, this paper explores how this research approach can contribute to
critically reassess creative cities research and thus urban economic
development strategies targeted on the creative industries economic sector. The
paper argues for (1) more attention to production in these industries,
examining their industry specific characteristics and needs, and including the
range of organizations, people, and activities involved in those processes in
lieu of focusing solely on an idea of creativity; (2) the study of everyday
work practices rather than creative class consumption patterns, recognizing the
diversity within creative workers both in terms of lifestyle and role in
production processes; (3) finally a focus on space and the material, examining
the role of multi-scalar spatial conditions in supporting those processes and
the multiple spaces that constitute the creative places of the city. Findings
from this research suggest that an approach based on these three aspects provides
alternative ways to rethink urban economies and the role of urban planning and
policy in supporting place-based economic (and creative) strategies.
Melissa
García Lamarca, University of Manchester, Department of Geography, First year PhD candidate
Re-thinking urban
economies: exploring the city as a common(s)
Seeking an
emancipatory, truly democratic urban politics arguably requires rethinking
urban economies and other elements constitutive of urban life. Moving towards
this aim, my contribution will explore the city as a common(s), focusing on
"the commons” as a socio-historically produced configuration – the city as
an oeuvre, as a process of socio-ecological-political configuration, among
others – as well as touching on "the common” as a politics around the
construction of being in common. Such a conceptualisation of the city as a
common(s) fundamentally rethinks neoliberal political economic orders as it
disrupts and indeed shatters notions of private property, urban commodification
and capital accumulation, the dominant drivers of urban development in most
cities across the globe. Through this exploration I argue that we must move
beyond the public-private binary that underpins the existing political economic
system, and outline a possible path towards this that seeks to create an
alternative counterhegemonic project on economic, political, social and
ecological terrains. My theoretical examination will be complimented by
preliminary empirical work investigating Spain’s 15-M movement and the Platform
for Mortgage Affected People in Barcelona and Madrid, whose insurgent practice
is disrupting the existing political economy in efforts to promote social
justice, equality and democracy, towards a bottom up re-coupling of social and
economic development in urban planning and politics.
ThienVinh
Nguyen, University
College London, Department
of Geography
Sedonki-Takordi,
Ghana is a site of territorialized economic development, given its
local-dependency on natural resources and site as a port for Ghana. Despite
it’s ‘run-down’ reputation, global lines of production
flow and international capital weave into the city. The Ghanaian state insists
that oil production off the cost of Sedonki-Takordi, will bring the city and
state unprecedented wealth. Narratives about the potential for growth highlight
how the city will be “one of the modern cities of the world,” with “
skyscrapers, six-lane highways and malls” (Walker 2011). Alongside this hypothetical
landscape, key investment players—from the Ghanaian state to international
investors from the UK, US, and China—posit that the urban poor will be the
major benefactors, as they reap the rewards of economic growth and new social
programs. Yet, these visions have yet to be realized.
Three
main themes will emerge from this paper: 1) the exploration of the potential
trajectories of development vis-à-vis the burgeoning oil industry; 2) the
scrutiny of the rhetoric of the Ghanaian state, developers, and investors thus
far; and 3) the recognition of ways in which the the urban poor and people’s
movements are articulating their interests within this context. It will examine
the rising land and property prices, job speculation, and the complex workings of
governance, investment, and development.
Given
the uniqueness of the engagement by varied actors seeking to benefit from the
supposed economic transformation of the city in a country known for its ‘good
governance,’ this research hopes to contribute to the growing literature on
‘cities of the Global South’ by exploring the articulation and fruition of
‘development’ fueled by the promise of a natural resource.
Jacob Salder, Doctoral Researcher, 2nd Year, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham
The city and its
‘edges’ in the post-regionalist era: reinterpreting the core-periphery
attachment
Recent debates within economic geography have moved toward
relational interpretations of space and definitions of the region. This shift
away from notions of sub-national political economy has situated networks and
flow as principle agents in development and competitiveness. Increasingly in
both theoretical and policy terms the locus of these flows has been interpreted
as the city, this relational turn changing the regional question into a
city-regional one and placing the city at the vanguard of sub-national growth
aspirations. The regional space outside of the urban core has been cast in a
subordinate role, providing core amenity to supplement this potential.
This conception of peripheral space may cast it too
narrowly. Whilst the edges have played a key role in city evolution these may
extend beyond the core-periphery hierarchy. Industrial and post-industrial
dispersal trends have repositioned not only key economic activities but also a
set of networks and flows to a space outside of the urban core. This has
fundamentally shifted the relationship between city and periphery, extending it
beyond simple hierarchical notions.
Using the changing relationship between the city of
Birmingham and the peripheral space of Southern Staffordshire, this paper
discusses how economic development and industrial evolution have reshaped the
core-periphery model. Using a relational approach it analyses the changing
forms of transaction, interaction, and dependence between the city and the
periphery. Through this it examines the evolving nature of spatial attachment
and the changing role of space within the city-region.
Neoclassical economics,
crises, austerity and the experience of governments across north and south
since the 1980s
Alvaro Sanchez-Jimenez; UCL
Geography (year 1)
In the 1980s, most Latin
American countries were plagued with severe macroeconomic problems, high
inflation and unsustainable debt. The largest economies were the most affected.
Economic growth stalled and urban areas were the first ones to show the
symptoms of what became a ʻlost decadeʼ. As a response, IMF recommendations
were adopted throughout the region in the form of SAPs. These economic
interventions were largely associated with orthodox economy and neoliberalism.
The dramatic austerity measures introduced across many Latin American countries
were costly due to their profound and longterm socioeconomic consequences.
However, they were said to be necessary to address increasing macroeconomic
pressures. European countries also underwent important economic transformations
in the 1980s. Although such changes were not mainly driven by widespread
macroeconomic crisis, they were linked to orthodox and neoliberal choices
accompanying economic restructuring.
The adoption of policies
drawn from orthodox economics either to address macroeconomic debacle or to
foster growth has produced satisfactory but limited results worldwide. The
ongoing and widespread economic crisis in Europe suggests that mainstream
economics has flaws that even in the ʻbestʼ circumstances produce deep socioeconomic
disillusionment. Given the pervasive nature and relative dominance of
neoclassical economic thought worldwide, how can we re-think urban economies?
This paper will explore the implications and experience of a “truly imaginative
strategy” that according to Massey (2007) could redefine the way we think about
the economy of cities in an increasingly globalised world. This might help us
to uncover the potential of international cooperation between cities rather
than competition.
Tools for commoning: Collectively renegotiating value with the ‘Little Mesters’
Julia Udall, Sheffield School of Architecture
What alternative futures are available to communities wishing to
develop economies, and safeguard their assets, which are sustainable, just and
equitable? What strategies can be developed that empower people to take control
of their resources and to engage in collective activities and actions to create
wealth and prosperity? Can architects design tools that create economic agency
in an urban context whilst renegotiating what might constitute value?
Tools are a way of mediating a relationship; they employ head
and hand, and perform differently according to the skills, motivations and
knowledges of the person handling them. You can borrow or modify a tool, use it
as intended or experiment with it in order to learn something new. I would like
to use this workshop to codesign and modify tools for creating collective
economic agency in relation to the use or ownership of contested urban spaces.
To do this I will bring examples of tools we have
co-created at Portland Works, a metalwork factory threatened with closure and
the conversion into bedsit flats. For us the pressure of gentrification would
have meant the loss of over 30 ‘maker’ tenants, including many ‘Little
Mesters’, musicians and artists who could not relocate their studios, and
workshops. We need tools to propose an alternative future to the one narrowly
defined by the market and to enable us to safeguard the Works as a place of
making. I would like to understand how we can refine these tools and share them
with others faced with similar challenges.
TITLE: THE STRUGGLE TO BELONG:
APPROPRIATION OF PRIME LOCATIONS IN SUSTAINING INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS IN DAR ES
SALAAM, TANZANIA
NELLY J BABERE, SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING
AND LANDSCAPE, NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY, PhD, FOURTH YEAR.
This study explores
appropriation of prime location and regulation of informal activities using the
lived experiences of the stakeholders involved. Little is known about the
process of appropriation and other regulation strategies used by the
municipality in the designated and undesignated areas, and the spatial
ramification of such processes. The theoretical framework which guided the
examination of such issues is through reciprocal relationship between operator
and prime location, informality and built-environment, social relations and
policy frameworks which are embedded in poverty, land use, location and
governance discourses. This study used a
mixed method approach to arrive at its findings. Information from secondary
data is used together with primary data in the form of questionnaires, in-depth
interviews, mapping and observations. Through a focus on prime locations the
thesis investigates how appropriation of such locations contributes to social
and material transformation. The process of accessing and using prime locations
and the operators’ ability to innovate various means against municipality is
explored along Msimbazi/Uhuru road and Mchikichini market as a lived experience
of informal livelihood operators in Dar es Salaam.
The study offers insight into
the socio-economic characteristics and changes in economy and policies that
influence their participation in the informal activities. It shows how these
processes allow for social and material transformation which impact on the
operators’ social, economic and environmental relationship. The municipality
uses two main strategies to regulate the informal activities i.e. in-space
arrangements and the in-time arrangements. The use and regulation of prime
locations bring together stakeholders such as the municipality, operators’
organisations, and other non-governmental organisations. The ineffectiveness of
municipal regulatory model leads to their inability to distribute planning
outcomes to the disadvantaged operators. It is argued that a fuller understanding
of these processes of appropriation and regulations could provide a lesson for
future programmes of relocation elsewhere. Instead of fighting the informal
operators the initiatives should consider the shared experience provided in the
process of producing spaces and implementation of policies for informal
livelihood activities in Dar es Salaam.