"Circe among cities": Images of London and the languages of social concern, 1880-1900
London, social conditions, nineteenth century, 19th century, literature, social problems in literature
This thesis is an investigation of sociological, documentary and literary texts whose central concerns are the social conditions in London during the period 1880-1899. London is chosen as a focus because during this time it was perceived as being in a state of crisis which produced an unprecedented amount of writing in response. The investigation has two complementary objectives: (i) to analyse, through the changing presentation of London in literary texts, the response of novelists working within the realistic tradition to the challenge of divesting language and form of inherited social meanings; (ii) to ascertain how conditions in London were articulated in a wide range of non-fictional writings, and to assess the role played by discourses inherited from Christian perspectives of society in absorbing, hindering, expressing or developing radical thought. The first part of the thesis will establish what the dominant images of London were. It will concentrate on the inner city texts of the 1880s and the suburban texts of the 1890s. What these images reveal about changing moral and political responses to social issues are assessed. The second part will be concerned with a London of spiritual and moral significance. Certain doctrinal, sociological and fictional works which attempted to make Christian terminology appropriate to the contemporary city will be considered. The impact of Socialism on religious and fictional discourses is evaluated. The thesis will conclude with a discussion of London as a political construct and assess how far such a perception sets up a break with tradition. Fictional texts assume a peculiar importance here since they are strongly differentiated from each other and from their literary tradition. In fictional texts in particular, images of London highlight the particular difficulty of redeploying a tradition of realism to accommodate radical ideas and the consequent formal challenges. The presentation of London in a diverse body of literature can therefore be seen to offer a variety of perspectives on the process of change in both language and form.
Challenges of traffic development in Kabul City
Kabul, Kabul City, traffic, transport, public transportation, public transit, getting around, transport policy, infrastructure
Following two decades of war (1980-2002) that destroyed the Kabul City, it started to rebuild its transportation infrastructures from scratch. Though the upgrading of the city transportation system was on the focus of Governmental institutions (Kabul Municipality, Kabul Traffic Office and the Ministry of Transportation) and international donors, the city inhabitants have been suffering from the lack of public transportation (public transit/mass transit) and negative effects of crowded (travel/reaching time) and costly transportation. They have been spending about 20 percent of their monthly income on transportation cost. Of course, the authorities try to solve the problem, but the lack of a scientific research and data make it difficult to reach a right decision. Therefore, the need for a scientific research on the city transportation system was strongly felt, and this paper is based on this research that is obviously supposed to answer the following questions: • What transportation challenges does the city face? • Where do the challenges come from? • How to improve the transportation system? This strategy follows three steps. The first step considers the city structure, function and population, examines the existing city transportation system which includes technical/physical, organizational and administrative infrastructures and transportation demand. Establishing the scope and character of a new transportation system to meet the expected demand is covered by the second step. The third step studies the economic feasibility which is not included in this paper. A survey was done in 2009 to identify the characteristic and function of the city and its transportation demand. About 1100 roadside interview were conducted to gather information of transportation cost and modal split in the city. Besides, seven survey points were selected to estimate the peak hours and reaching time in the city. Moreover, the Kabul municipality, the Kabul Traffic Office and the Ministry of Transportation were frequently visited to collect the transportation data. The result of field work and studying of literatures and historical maps implies that the Kabul City is a bipolar model of Islamic cites with ancient and modern urban nuclei, where the former still has, according to the functional characteristic, a strong effect on the transportation system, where most of the municipal bus lines emanate from. The current transportation system has been by no means effective as it is very poor and cannot meet the needs of a public transit system (400 buses for 4.5 million inhabitances). Besides, the physical infrastructure (road network) is also in poor condition, as only 30 percent out of 1100 km planned roads are asphalted. The paper shows that among the various strategies the low cost strategy emphasizing on upgrading the existing infrastructures is an appropriate option for Kabul City. It is used for cities lacking adequate budget and financial support, focusing on improvement of public transportation system as the only most useful alternative to reduce the negative impacts of overloaded traffic.
Towards safe city centres? Remaking the spaces of an old-industrial city
economic restructuring, crime control, regeneration, community safety, policing, Glasgow, city centre, urban space, critical Marxism
Situated at the intersection of economic restructuring and crime control, this thesis explores the practices and policies of economic regeneration, community safety and policing in the city of Glasgow. In particular old-industrial cities and regions have felt the pressures to ‘revitalise’ and regenerate their failing economic base, as well as to change the modalities of governance, and subsequently embarked upon local economic development and attracting growth industries. Examining the interest in quality-of-life offences within such regeneration agendas, my thesis explores the importance of crime control, policing and community safety in a series of empirical ‘cuts’ through the subject, starting with wider issues of crime control, imagineering and city centre upgrading. Practices of regulating city spaces are carried out in distinctive fields of community safety policies, the policing of homeless people and street prostitutes, and also include the regulating of businesses in the wake of economic regeneration. Furthermore, a city centre warden project, the City Centre Representatives, is studied in detail in relation to their work remit, encompassing a tourist service as well as a range of ordering tasks in the newly regenerated spaces of the city centre. Explicitly framing these substantive debates in a theoretical context, the first part of the thesis engages in questions of social ontology, working towards a research perspective of a reworked critical Marxism. Such critical Marxism is arrived at by discussion of current approaches, both in policy and academy, of how to account for processes of economic restructuring and crime control in late-capitalist societies. While maintaining concepts of a(n), although fragmented, social totality, held together in dialectical processes, social praxis as mediation between social totality and agency becomes the central hinge for researching such ontology. As embodied, routine and partially reflected upon social practices that centre on people’s work practices, such social praxis is subsequently spatialised by drawing on Lefèbvre’s work on the production of social space and employed in a detailed empirical study. In so doing, this thesis puts forwards a proposal of how a reworked critical Marxism can fruitfully engage with current theoretical debates within geography and he social sciences more widely without neglecting the importance of in-depth empirical research to develop and strengthen any theoretical engagement.
Commercial galleries in Copenhagen, London and Reykjavík: A comparative study of the formations, contexts and interactions of galleries founded between 1985 and 2002
art, gallery, gallerist, museum studies, urban culture, creativity
This study situates the commercial gallery operator, or ‘gallerist’, in the context of art world conceptions. Specifically it examines the contexts and activities of gallerists in Copenhagen, London’s East End and in Reykjavik in the era of the Young British Artists and the revitalised art market that phenomenon engendered. Drawing upon interviews with gallerists and studies of urban culture and environments, this thesis reveals that gallerists are driven by creativity and artistic vision, often at the expense of market awareness. The London and Copenhagen gallerists saw themselves as pioneers who through their actions not only established new art businesses but developed new cultural quarters in these cities. The tiny capital city of Reykjavík exposed the significance of scale and position; its new galleries remained within the comfort zone of established art institutions in the city centre. They were small and internationally isolated, and appeared much like those found in provincial cities in larger countries. Copenhagen also lacked the world city status of London and its gallerists sought recognition and buyers through international art fairs. In contrast, London found itself at the heart of an international art world. Galleries were established in such numbers in the East End as to produce an art world momentum of its own. Gallerists in the more cosmopolitan settings of London and Copenhagen possessed a greater sense of community; those in constrained markets of Reykjavik retained a small-town competitiveness. The creative desires of gallerists were also reflected in their proactive pursuit of artists; it was they who decided what to show and who to patronise. While the majority of gallerists favoured art with a conceptual edge, all denied that they were specialising in this work. They emphasised the diversity of the works on sale. The London and Copenhagen markets were mature markets but those in Reykjavík appeared more regulated. Within these cities it was possible by these means to detect distinctive art worlds as products of, and woven into, the cities they inhabited.
A geographical study of the evolution of the cities of Tehran and Isfahan
urban morphology, Persian cities, Tehran, Isfahan, urban development, Iran, origin of cities, townscape, urban form, urban geography, urban history, population, urban characteristics
The introduction to this thesis sets forward its aims which are to account for the present morphological features of Tehran and Isfahan and to examine in detail the characteristic features of Persian towns. It goes on to examine the sources for such a study and to describe some of the methods which have been employed. The thesis itself is divided into three sections. The first traces the historical development of Tehran and Isfahan from the earliest times. The periods during which the cities have been capitals of Persia, the Safavid period in the case of Isfahan and the Qajar and present Pahlevi periods for Tehran are considered in detail and the morphological effects of growth or decay are emphasised. The second part is a detailed examination of certain morphological features which have played significant roles in forming the townscape of Tehran and Isfahan and which are valuable as distinguishing features of the Persian town in general. Those studied are defences and palace quarters, bazaars, gardens and palaces, Islamic religious buildings, squares, baths and foreign establishments. A further chapter considers changes of population up to the present and the part played by minority groups. The third section uses the material thus presented in an analysis of urban characteristics in Persia. Finally an attempt has been made to apply modern theories of urban geography to Tehran and Isfahan especially those concerning the classifications of towns by typology and an urban hierarchy, and the trait complex.
City-to-city co-operation and the realisation of urban sustainability
city-to-city co-operation, local authorities, urban policy, sustainable development, governance
This thesis examines the extent and the nature of city-to-city co-operation (CTCC) for sustainable development among UK local authorities. Policy-makers and analysts believe that various forms of local authority co-operation, here termed CTCC, will enable local authorities to effectively deliver local sustainable development objectives. To date, little attention has been given as to why and how such governing processes take place or to the realities of their outcomes. The thesis informs academic debates on governance. It argues that the 'hollowing out' (Rhodes, 1997, p. 138) and changing role of the state (MacLeod and Goodwin, 1999) have allowed for the emergence and diffusion of self-organizational networks. This shift in the nature of governance has created the political opportunity for CTCC. The thesis draws on the policy networks (Marsh and Rhodes, 1992) and governance networks (Marcussen and Torfing, 2003) literature to consider how key characteristics in governing through networks - resources, fact-to-face interaction, and inter-personal relationships and trust - are relevant to CTCC. In turn, the thesis argues that hierarchy and meta-governance, often neglected in discussions of self-organising networks, have important roles in shaping governing processes. The thesis has developed a three-fold typology for understanding the nature and implications of CTCC. Three main methods were employed in the research: the use of an empirical survey to 100 local authorities within the UK; semi-structured interviews, and documents analysis within the context of four UK-based local authority case studies. Two of the case studies examined the policy area of climate change adaptation; and the other two explored community planning. The findings suggest that CTCC is widespread transnationally and domestically. Links between local authority institutions can be virtual - e.g. browsing of websites, on-line policy documents, e-mails, telephoning - which is generally excluded from the governance literature, but is becoming increasingly important for policy learning as practitioners see this to be cost and time effective. Interestingly, central government considers face-to-face engagement and identified `best practice' through mandatory benchmarking practices between local authorities as key to learning. The implications for the quality of learning through virtual and physical interaction are discussed. The research is an ESRC collaborative (CASE) project with the Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF).
El plan general de Murcia de 1978. La implantación práctica del urbanismo contemporáneo
urbanismo, Murcia, Ribas i Piera, evolución urbana, arquitectura, desarrollo urbanístico, planificación, intervencionísmo, barroco, medieval
La tesis analiza del PGOU de Ribas i Piera. Que incide en la nueva forma urbana de la Ciudad de Murcia, dando lugar a lo que podemos denominar como su tercera definición urbana, que supera a las "forma urbis" anteriores, medieval y barroca. Añade al aspecto de abierta, el carácter de espaciosa en la que el espacio privado es inferior al público, en la que ésta clase de interés resulta predominante. Ordena exhaustivamente todo el territorio, con los más de 50 núcleos menores. Se analizan la evolución histórica, los resultados, y los condicionantes que su desarrollo futuro, la vigencia de este modelo. Entronca con los principios fundacionales del urbanismo contemporáneo, Declaración de La Sarraz y Carta de Atenas, e incorpora el concepto de Ocio activo. Pone fin a una forma de actuar posibilista y pragmática, agotado hacia los 70. Claramente intervencionista, se estructura como plan programa y plan reglamento. Los planes de desarrollo y la ejecución se deben a iniciativa municipal, que asume el plan como una función pública. Reestructurando la ciudad de forma uniforme y homogénea en sus tipologías, consolidando el gran ensanche y los viales vertebradores del desarrollo futuro. Con un alto nivel de zonas verdes y dotaciones públicas. Se encuadra entre los documentos de transición política y legislativa, y representa una de las primeras aplicaciones, escrupulosa, de la Ley de 1975. Está vinculado con el urbanismo contemporáneo, porque su formulación deriva de las leyes del Suelo. Se ajusta también, y de un modo más libre a unos principios y conceptos, que son el resultado de un largo debate sobre la ciudad. Cumple el objetivo de transformar una ciudad atrasada en una ciudad central de ámbito regional.
Universitat Politècnica de València (España)
Alonso De Armiño Pérez, Luís. Director de tesis
Urban and regional restructuring and barrio formation in Massachusetts: The cases of Lowell, Lawrence, and Holyoke
barrio, urban restructuring, regional restructuring, barrio formation, Massachusetts, Lowell, Lawrence, Holyoke, Puerto Rican, ethnic enclave
In the last decade, the number of Puerto Ricans in small cities and towns of the Northeastern United States has been growing steadily. This regionalization is in part the result of two processes: barrio formation and barrio differentation. The former is a multi-stage process of development mediated by social networks wherein Puerto Ricans use their ethnic and social bonds as a strategy to cope with drastic social and economic change both in the island and in the mainland. Three main stages of barrio formation can be identified: colonia formation, colonia expansion, and barrio maturation. During the latter two stages of barrio formation, population dynamics, economic restructuring, urban renewal and urban policies, and sociocultural dynamics are the four main factors of differentiation which transform the spatial/residential, family/household, labor-market, and organizational characteristics of barrios and their residents. The result of this process of barrio differentiation is barrios which exhibit a mix of characteristics from three types of barrios: working-class barrios, underclass barrios, and ethnic enclaves. Our research has shown that the mix of characteristics exhibited by barrios is critically framed and defined by the factors of differentiation. However, in some specific instances the mix of characteristics can be countervailed by the interaction between human agency and the factors of differentiation. To investigate this process of barrio formation and differentiation our research compared three case-studies of development of Puerto Rican communities in Lowell, Lawrence and Holyoke, Massachusetts between the late 1950's and the early 1990's. In all three cities the colonias formed as a result of a dual situation of employment instability in Puerto Rico and in the US, and of the conditions of social hardship and isolation in the new locales.
urban studies and planning, African Americans, housing, case studies, suburbs, United States, residential mobility
In the past three decades, one of the major trends in metropolitan areas has been the substantial increase in the size of the suburban population. Until the most recent decade, blacks were not a significant part of this trend. In the decade of the 1960s more than 800,000 blacks moved from the central cities to suburban parts of metropolitan areas. While the black proportion of the total population did not change as a result of this movement, this is only because white out-migration continued at a high level. While there have been numerous studies of black mobility, and separately of blacks in the suburbs, there have been no systematic inquiries into the process by which this migration takes place. This thesis is an investigation of the process of black suburbanization. The hypothesis suggests that black suburbanization is a function of the level of black "effective demand". The thesis is organized around three elements to test this hypothesis. Who, among blacks move the the suburbs, what type of physical setting (housing and neighborhood) do they move to, and what pattern emerges in their settlement? Census data and case studies are the sources of data.
Identity politics and city planning: The case of Jerusalem
Jerusalem, territoriality, national identity, commemorations, identity discourse, identity politics, commemorative narratives, city planning, traditional Zionism, place-making, city policy, green Zionism
Jerusalem is the declared capital of Israel, fundamental to Jewish tradition, and a contested city, part of the Israel–Palestine conflict. Departing from an analysis of mainly interviews and policy documents, this study aims to analyze the interplay between the Israeli identity politics of Jerusalem and city planning. The role of the city is related to discursive struggles between traditional, new, and post-Zionism. One conclusion is that the Israeli claim to the city is firmly anchored in a master commemorative narrative stating that Jerusalem is the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel. A second conclusion is that there is a constant interplay between Israeli identity politics, city policy, and planning practice, through specific strategies of territoriality. The goals of the strategies are to create a political, historical and religious, ethnic, economic, and exclusive capital. Planning policies are mainly focused on uniting the city through housing projects in East Jerusalem, rehabilitating historic heritage, ancestry, and landscapes, city center renewal, demographic balance, and economic growth, mainly through tourism and industrial development. An analysis of coping strategies shows that Jerusalem planners relate to identity politics by adopting a self-image of being professional, and by blaming the planning system for opening up to ideational impact. Depending on the issue, a planner adopts a reactive role as a bureaucrat or an expert, or an active role, such mobilizer or an advocate. One conclusion drawn from the “Safdie Plan” process is that traditional Zionism and the dominant collective planning doctrine are being challenged. An alliance of environmental movements, politicians from left and right, and citizens, mobilized a campaign against the plan that was intended to develop the western outskirts of Jerusalem. The rejection of the plan challenged the established political leadership, it opened up for an expansion to the east, and strengthened Green Zionism, but the result is also a challenge to the housing needs of Jerusalem.
The urban turn - and the location of economic activities
innovation, urban turn, business climate, people climate, human capital, outer city, creative class, talent, regional development, city regions
Competitiveness of city regions has gained a more and more central position in regional development and regional planning within the last decades. A reason for this is that globalisation has caused pressure on industrial structures forcing firms to increase their competitiveness by more actively promoting innovation and knowledge creation. Access to knowledge has therefore become vital for most types of productions in the Western economies. As creation of and access to knowledge have become increasingly important in order to stay competitive, a growing focus has been put on the geography of highly skilled labour. A growing string of this literature argues that large cities shall be understood as locomotives of regional development and growth because they have an attractive effect on highly skilled labour. This line of thinking is called the urban turn in economic geography. This study examines the urban turn by studying the dynamics of location of economic activities in Nordic countries. The thesis consists of 5 papers and a research report and offers both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the dynamics of location of economic activities in the knowledge economy. It approaches regional development both from an interregional perspective and an intraregional perspective. It provides a critical and thorough examination of the technology, talent and tolerance approach to regional development put forward by Richard Florida in his book The Rise of the Creative Class by examining the adequateness of the approach in a Swedish and Nordic context, and next it retheorises the approach based on empirical findings. Further, by studying intraregional dynamics in the greater metropolitan area of Copenhagen, the thesis addresses the geographical heterogeneity of the city region on the one side and the importance of social relations for location of economic activities on the other. Thereby the presented research calls for an intraregional perspective in mainstream regional development.
Al-Balad as a place of heritage: Problematising the conceptualisation of heritage in the context of Arab Muslim Middle East
heritage, Middle East, Arab city, Islamic city, Al-Balad, Amman, built environment, identity
This thesis addresses a problem affecting places of heritage throughout the world as represented by the case of al-Balad, the historical centre of Amman in Jordan: despite the increasing efforts expended on the conservation of built heritage, most social groups appear to be uninterested; this contradiction results in problems of neglect, dilapidation and lack of participation in its construction and representation. The research explores three possible sources of contradictions that cause this problem: the process of meaning construction in capitalist societies, the global conceptualisation and institutionalisation of heritage, and the role of dissonance of identities in creating dissonance in the construction of heritage. In order to explore such a subjective topic in a manner that would produce generalisable findings instrumental for purposes of urban planning and development, the chosen methodology is structural and positivistic and relies on frameworks of semiotics, mapping, media topic analysis, and most importantly on the findings of an extensive questionnaire survey that was made possible by the gradual opening up of public expression in Jordan. The first source of contradictions explored manifests through the construction of meaning. In an investigation of frameworks that explain the process, the semiotic framework of the myth developed by Barthes is synthesised with the ideas of Baudrillard and Lefebvre who also explored the process of production and consumption of meaning in bourgeois societies that is of particular relevance to the neo-liberal economic framework in Jordan, which caused a focus on cultural tourism and revitalisation of heritage as drivers of economic development. An application of the semiotic framework to the attributes of al-Balad showed that although al-Balad is becoming known as a place of heritage (a place of the past), for the majority of the Ammanis it is still conceptualised as a market (a place of the present). The second source of contradictions emerges from the global conceptualisation and institutionalisation of heritage. An analysis of the plethora of definitions of heritage in literature leads to re-instating its historical role as a legitimiser of social identities, and the significance of this role for the newly emergent nations that accompanied the advent of the age of Enlightenment and modernity and espoused its ethos and latent contradictions. The major contradiction in this process is conceptualising an interruption between the present and the past, which renders the past frozen and dead. The third source of contradictions is the dissonance of identities in Jordan. An exploration into the society of Jordan reveals several hybrid identity groups: Islamist, Arab, Jordanian nationalist, tribal and Palestinian; it also reveals that the construction of heritage in Jordan is dominated by an exclusivist Hashemite narrative constructed by the Royal family for purposes of self-legitimization, and by an attempt to create a historically unique Jordanian identity rooted in pre-Islamic history to counter the threat of Israel. Despite the dominance of these two narratives in the Jordanian historical discourse, in reality heritage narrative is strongly shaped by US funded tourism industry, resulting in an emphasis on Jordan’s Christian past. The resulting manipulation of narrative in the construction of heritage for purposes of political empowerment or economical revenue excludes most identity groups from the process, and thus they find the resulting urban heritage of little meaning or relevance; it becomes “abstract space” in Lefebvre’s terms. The conclusions of the exploration of the three sources of contradictions are discussed against the results of statistical analyses performed on the findings from the questionnaire survey revealing that despite al-Balad’s deteriorating status in the urban dynamics of the city, the Ammanis still find it significant, however they perceive it primarily a place of function, and do not fulfil its potential as a place of heritage by using it to legitimise their identities. Understanding the complex socio-cultural processes that accompany the construction of heritage in Amman reveals numerous aspects of urban practices in Arab Muslim cities at a point in time directly preceding the Arab Spring.
urban segregation, social inclusion, urban policy, MASUS, simulation, São José dos Campos
Urban segregation represents a significant barrier for achieving social inclusion in cities. To overcome this, it is necessary to implement policies founded upon a better understanding of segregation dynamics. However, a crucial challenge for achieving such understanding lies in the fact that segregation is a complex system. It emerges from local interactions able to produce unexpected and counterintuitive outcomes that cannot be defined a priori. This study adopts an agent-based simulation approach that addresses the complex nature of segregation. It proposes a model named MASUS, Multi-Agent Simulator for Urban Segregation, which provides a virtual laboratory for exploring theoretical issues and policy approaches concerning segregation. The MASUS model was first implemented for São José dos Campos, a medium-sized Brazilian city. Based on the data of this city, the model was parameterized and calibrated. The potential of MASUS is demonstrated through three different sets of simulation experiments. The first compares simulated data with real data, the second tests theories about segregation, and the third explores the impact of anti-segregation policies. The first set of experiments provides a retrospective validation of the model by simulating the segregation dynamics of São José dos Campos during the period 1991-2000. In general, simulated and real data reveal the same trends, a result that demonstrates that the model is able to accurately represent the segregation dynamics of the study area. The second set of experiments aims at demonstrating the potential of the model to explore and test theoretical issues about urban segregation. These experiments explore the impact of two mechanisms on segregation: income inequality and personal preferences. To test the impact of income inequality, scenarios considering different income distributions were simulated and compared. The results show how decreasing levels of income inequality promote the spatial integration of different social groups in the city. Additional tests were conducted to explore how the preferences of high-income families regarding the presence of other income groups could affect segregation patterns. The results reveal that the high levels of segregation were maintained even in a scenario where affluent households did not take into account the income composition of neighborhoods when selecting their residential location. Finally, the third set of experiments provides new insights about the impact of different urban policies on segregation. One experiment tests whether the regularization of clandestine settlements and equitable distribution of infrastructure would affect the segregation trends in the city. The simulated outputs indicate that they had no significant impact on the segregation patterns. Besides this test focusing on a general urban policy, two specific social-mix policy approaches were explored: poverty dispersion and wealth dispersion. The results suggest that policies based on poverty dispersion, which have been adopted in cities in Europe and the United States, are less effective in developing countries, where poor families represent a large share of the population. On the other hand, the policy based on wealth dispersion was able to produce substantial and long-term improvements in the segregation patterns of the city.
Urban ethnicity in Santiago de Chile. Mapuche migration and urban space
urban space, migration, urban ethnicity, urban identity, Santiago de Chile
The urban phenomenon is changing. The social and political transformations of recent decades have created new forms and models of inhabiting in the city. In Latin America, phenomena of globalization and the implementation of liberal policies have, on the one hand, expanded flows of information and communication and, on the other hand, affected forms of social cohesion which were developed from the modern urbanization process of the mid-20th Century. This new context has transformed the ways in which the people build identity and a sense of belonging inside the urban society. Since the 1990s ethnicity has become an important source of identity construction for a growing percentage of city dwellers in Latin America. The ethnic roots of its inhabitants are turned into resources for social cohesion and recognition as social actors. The purpose of this study is to explore the process of formation of an urban ethnicity in Santiago de Chile. The Mapuches are the largest ethnic group in Chile and about half of their total population resides in the city of Santiago. However, despite being the largest ethnic group in Santiago, the Mapuche do not have a visible presence in the city. The emergence over the last decade of the political and social category of urban Mapuche and Mapuche-warriache describes the growing importance of ethnicity as a source of identity in Santiago. Ethnicity is related to the notion of collective identities. In this sense, it is a process whereby a group of people are collectively different from “others,” ethnicity is a broad concept which describes a process of differentiation. The objective of this research is to investigate the strategies through which Mapuche society in Santiago establishes differences, both in relation to the remaining urban society, and to "traditional" Mapuche society. Accordingly, this work aims to identify processes through which an urban ethnic identity is constructed. The working hypothesis is that the Mapuche currently in the city - first and second generation migrants - build hybrid forms with the remaining urban society more than they reproduce or reterritorialize their society of origin. The Mapuches in the city are not trapped between their societies of origin and the host urban society, but are, in turn, building strategies in which ethnic identity is part of a system of identities in which they participate. The work has two parts. The first part presents two critical reviews: a chapter on the method of ethnographic research and its application to urban space, and another chapter which focuses on the history of modern Mapuche society. The second part is experimental and composed of three case studies. Each experimental case is presented and analyzed through ethnographic methodology. This work explores the urban ethnicity as a contemporary form of building identity and sense of belonging. Currently, in Latin America an essentialist perspective prevails to deal the indigenous identities. This paper argues that the Mapuches in the city are not trapped between their societies of origin and the host urban society, but are, in turn, building strategies in which ethnic identity is part of a system of identities in which they participate. These strategies are a very dynamic form of communication and differentiation.
Experience and conflict. The dialectics of the production of public urban space in the light of new event venues in Helsinki 1993-2003
urban planning, public urban space, urban events, spatial dialectics, weak place, Lefebvre
Why do new urban spaces lack feeling, power and sensory quality? Why does 'urbanness' retreat from the newly produced public spaces? Why does the political significance of urban space seem to be lost? In this research, the structures of thinking in planning and architecture are identified as a key reason for those problems. Urban reality is never 'transparent' to the planners. Rather, planning is conducted in an artificial reality, which I call Concept City, characterised by a simplified and outdated conception of space. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to formulate a new, richer theory about space in general and public urban space in particular. The new theory includes physical space, its use and, as the most difficult aspect, the personal, singular moments of invention and existentially important experiences that are indispensable elements of the lived urban space. Instead of visual and practico-material, space is understood as socially produced. The central new notions the work develops, include 1) 'weak place', a new conceptualisation of place as the individual and singular moment of signification; 2) 'spatial dialectics 2.0', a development of Henri Lefebvre's dialectique de triplicité; and 3) 'quasi-object', leading to a new interpretation of the role of material artefacts and spatial configurations in the production of space. The work contextualises Lefebvre's ideas to urban planning and architecture. It aims at reconceptualising the notions of space and place in those fields in such a way that the conflictual coming-together of individual experiences, spatial practices and public perceptions can be understood as the constituent process of public urban space. Though the thesis is primarily a theoretical treatise, it is grounded on empirical observations in Helsinki, with references to Manchester and Berlin. Since the late 1980s, urban events have had an important role in the production of new public urban spaces in Helsinki. In events, citizens have claimed urban space, producing new meanings and new uses. Simultaneously, processes of commercialisation and routinisation of the event scene have taken place. The material of Experience and Conflict focuses on the period, marked by two major events in Senate Square, the Total Balalaika Show (1993) and its tenth anniversary, the Global Balalaika Show. A juxtaposition of both symbolic.and configurational centrality and marginality is found to characterise the most successful event venues. Töölönlahti Bay area is emblematic in this respect. The struggle to save the old railway warehouses Makasiinit for event uses and its repercussions on the public imagination about desirable city life are seen as the culmination of the urban cultural change of that decade. Makasiinit also provides an important theoretical lesson, because there the material shell of the buildings momentarily acted as the 'Other' of the spatial dialectics, thus dynamising the socio-material situation. Finally, the influences of the new theory in planning and design methods are discussed through the author's own projects. New approaches and tools leading to 'experiential urbanism' are suggested and developed.
Power and administration in two Midlands cities, c. 1870-1938
urban history, public administration, local government, governance, public service, nineteenth century, twentieth century, 19th century, 20th century, Midlands, Leicester, Birmingham
Municipal government mattered as much in the 1930s as it did in the 1870s. Taking a case study of a prestigious urban institution in Birmingham and Leicester, this thesis explores the role of the Watch Committee in interacting with other local, national and professional institutions in administering urban police and fire services. A melding of approaches prevalent within the disciplines of public administration and urban history facilitates a thematic approach to the nature and practice of administrative power. R. A. W. Rhodes' model of power-dependence, modified and reinforced through recent research into policy networks and communities, allows the modem urban historian to explore the interplay between structure and agency within intergovernmental relations between 1870 and 1938. Through an analysis of legal, financial, organisational, political and informational resources, this thesis argues that neither central nor local government dominated the decision-making or policy implementation processes. Governmental institutions negotiated and interacted amongst themselves through a variety of networks, both locally and centrally initiated, for their access to such resources. Ultimately, powerful and prestigious county boroughs continued to influence national decision-making structures throughout the inter-war years. The Watch Committee was an independent institution and consisted of experienced and expert members. Through its close relationship with the Police and Fire Departments, in particular their chief officials, the urban dimension of `police' policy remained integral despite increasing central regulation of local services during the period under review.
The suburbs of Victorian Oxford: Growth in a pre-industrial city
urban growth, suburbs, Victorian, 19th century, nineteenth century, Oxford, suburban life, housing
This study examines the origins, growth and subsequent character of the Victorian suburbs of Oxford, a small provincial city with no industrial base. Major sources include newspapers, census enumerators' returns, deposited plans, and plan registers, rate books, the records of leasehold estates and deeds of properties acquired by the City Council. Chapters are devoted to:- The Creation of the Suburbs; Development Control; the House-Building Industry; Suburban Houses; House-Ownership; Residents of the Suburbs and Life in the Suburbs. Victorian Oxford grew steadily, attracting local migration because of the varied job opportunities. Suburban development was profoundly influenced by topography and the decisions taken by landowners. Corporate landowners preferred leasehold development to outright sale and their concern for reversionary value encouraged the building of high-cost, low-density housing. On freehold estates, too, standards were raised by the social and financial preferences of developers and builders, the introduction of building byelaws and the rising real incomes of potential investors and tenants. Access to cheap freehold plots prolonged the fragmentation of a building industry which depended heavily upon loans and credit. The suburbs were the product of innumerable local and personal decisions, providing a safe income for many private landlords and larger, more sanitary homes for better-off tenants. The new suburbs required many services and facilities, but the provision of these owed much to their social status. With an increasing number of resident councillors, leasehold, middle-class North Oxford had the political and economic power to maintain and enhance its character. Elsewhere, market forces prevailed over amenity, public utilities were grudgingly provided and the limited nature of municipal intervention was most seriously felt. Conditions were ameliorated, however, by those people and organisations who, for various reasons, provided churches, schools and recreational facilities.
Planning for shrinking cities in Portugal
shrinking cities, Portugal, urban planning, regional planning
This thesis is about shrinking cities and planning. Urban growth has been a synonym of success throughout the world; and even considered the true and sole reason for planning. Even though shrinkage is as old as growth, it has become more visible since unquestionable facts started to challenge conservative and established planning paradigms. Consequently, the theory of shrinkage is still under development, gradually building up. Portugal is not an exception to this rule. This presents an opportunity to contribute to the theory of shrinkage, to find original evidence about shrinkage in Portugal and investigate how planning is dealing with this issue. The first part of the dissertation corresponds to a literature review to assemble a theoretical framework for shrinkage and its relation with urban and regional planning. The second part of the research focuses on the Portuguese case, first on a macro scale and then materializing the city scale of shrinkage. In the third part, cluster analysis is used to classify the Portuguese shrinking cities. Finally, plan content analysis is applied to national, regional and local spatial planning instruments to determine responsiveness to shrinkage. The study is completed by revisiting the most important questions both in the theoretical discussion and the empirical research. Together with the theoretical analysis, the results comprise, firstly a broad picture of shrinkage; secondly, a typology of shrinking cities; and thirdly, an account of the awareness and approach to shrinkage in Portugal. The research concludes that despite the embryonic character of shrinkage in Portugal there is evidence of its existence, although planning’s response does not match evidence found. Recommendations for city policy, planning practitioners and future research on this topic are offered based on the findings.
Pinho, Paulo Manuel Neto da Costa. Supervisor
La transformación de la ciudad en la era de las múltiples pantallas : nueva configuración espacio temporal (1980-2010)
pantalla, espacio público, ciudades y comunidades virtuales, arte crítico
La pantalla, eterna ventana a otros mundos, en los últimos años ha pasado de ser un fiel soporte de imágenes para transformarse en un auténtico visor por donde todo pasa, pero nada permanece. Por ella corre aquello que ha perdido presencia tangible en nuestro amplísimo repertorio visual, lo que ha reposicionado nuestras experiencias y sensaciones con respecto al entorno e imágenes que nos rodean. Ha modificado nuestros espacios de vida, contribuido a condicionar una nueva lectura espacio-temporal que tiene que ver con la simultaneidad, con la contracción, con la vida en tiempo real, en donde los diversos escenarios son una constante y por consiguiente la posibilidad de mundos y ciudades "múltiples", así como la creación de comunidades virtuales, una realidad. La ciudad contemporánea se vive a través de y en pantallas, al mismo tiempo, también es albergue de ellas; de manera que el discurso visual y el arte crítico que reflexiona y cuestiona el papel de este artilugio en las sociedades contemporáneas puede resultar un real revitalizador de las experiencias que, a través de ese discurso, se viven fundamentalmente en los espacios comunes. Lejos de satanizar este, tan cuestionado aparato, que pronto dejará de mostrarse tal y como hoy todavía lo reconocemos, el trabajo de investigación que aquí presentamos busca colocarlo en su justa dimensión con respecto a su papel condicionante en y para los espacios públicos.
Cuesta Valera, María Salomé. Directora de tesis
Bordons Gangas, María Teresa. Directora de tesis
"La révolution urbaine" Henri Lefèbvres Philosophie der globalen Verstädterung
Praxisphilosophie, Raumproduktion, Verstädterung, Recht auf die Stadt
Die These einer globalen Urbanisierung beansprucht bei Lefèbvre eine umfassende geistige Konfrontation, die im Übergang von ruralen zu urbanen Strukturen zentrale Elemente von gesellschaftspolitischer und philosophischer Relevanz aufzeigt. Von der konkreten politischen Situation im Paris der sechziger Jahre ausgehend, entfaltet sich Lefèbvres provokative These von der Auseinandersetzung mit der "Praxis" als Kritik des Alltags ("critique de la vie quotidienne") über entwicklungstheoretische Fragestellungen und Konzepte bis hin zu ästhetischen Debatten um zentrale Probleme des Urbanismus. Unterschiedlichste Aspekte werden schrittweise in ein umfassendes Konzept eingebunden. Einerseits die praxisorientierte Ausrichtung der These der globalen Verstädterung, die am politischen und gesellschaftlichen Alltag dokumentiert wird, andererseits die philosophische Dimension, die Schaffung einer zweiten Natur, der urbanen, ausgehend von der ursprünglichen, der ruralen als Entfaltungsprozess des Menschen. Beiden Lesarten, die sich zum Teil ergänzen, zum Teil schwer in ein schlüssiges Konzept einzubinden sind, wird in der Arbeit Rechnung getragen. Die philosophische Ausrichtung wird anhand der Bezüge zum praktischen und theoretischen Umfeld sowie der Einbindung in das Gesamtwerk progressiv erarbeitet. Die Arbeit am Original, allein schon durch die zum Teil irreführenden Übersetzungen und die Sperrigkeit einiger Textpassagen unumgänglich, steht für die Intention einer Wiedergabe und einer Interpretation aus erster Hand. Die Schwierigkeiten und Herausforderungen einer möglichst umfassenden Darstellung bestehen in der Tatsache, dass Lefèbvres Texte zur Stadt auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen zu lesen sind. Methodisch begegnet die Arbeit der These der globalen Verstädterung mit einer Darstellung von "La révolution urbaine", um darauf aufbauend, zentrale Elemente und Aspekte erneut aufzugreifen und weiterzuentwickeln. Im Laufe der Arbeit ergibt sich eine zunehmende Verdichtung, die es erlaubt, die These der globalen Verstädterung als Kernaussage der Philosophie Lefèbvres ‚fugenartig’ darzustellen und zu deuten. Die Stadt als "oeuvre" und die globale Urbanisierung als "oeuvre total" zu bestimmen, erlaubt die "strategische Hypothese" der globalen Verstädterung über jede soziologische Dimension hinaus im "praxisphilosophischen" Zusammenhang zu deuten und Lefèbvre in philosophischen Kontext zu setzen. Der Bezug zur Gegenwart ergibt sich durch eine selektive Bestandsaufnahme, sowie den Versuch die These der Urbansierung zu aktualisieren.