Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7834
S. Heeg
Neoliberalism is a widely used in social science to refer to processes such as privatization, deregulation, commodification, and austerity. Quite often in this interpretative framework, neoliberalism is also associated with the dismantling of the welfare state, the opening up of free trade and investment, and an increased emphasis on the private sector. In the academic discussion, various authors criticize the use of the term because it lacks analytical clarity and/or is used as a political slogan to denounce social and economic change. The aim of the article is neither to question the analytical dimension nor to develop an irrefutable definition, but to provide insight into the strength of a place- and time-sensitive discussion of neoliberalism.
{"title":"Neoliberalism and Neoliberalization: Helpful Devices for the Analysis of Urban Development in the Middle East and North Africa","authors":"S. Heeg","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7834","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7834","url":null,"abstract":"Neoliberalism is a widely used in social science to refer to processes such as privatization, deregulation, commodification, and austerity. Quite often in this interpretative framework, neoliberalism is also associated with the dismantling of the welfare state, the opening up of free trade and investment, and an increased emphasis on the private sector. In the academic discussion, various authors criticize the use of the term because it lacks analytical clarity and/or is used as a political slogan to denounce social and economic change. The aim of the article is neither to question the analytical dimension nor to develop an irrefutable definition, but to provide insight into the strength of a place- and time-sensitive discussion of neoliberalism.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"18-26"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43432392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.8022
C. Steiner, Steffen Wippel
#12–2019 Battlefields, visions, and construction sites: the urban as an arena of contest. This is how urban development1 in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is presenting itself at the end of this decade. Urbanity and identity are still violently transformed into ruins in long-lasting civil, and in fact international, wars. They destroy the homes and livelihoods of millions of people and eradicate not only national but also world heritage in some of the culturally richest and longest-urbanized areas on earth. In contrast, other urban landscapes in the region seem to fascinatingly prosper and are being massively pushed upward to the global scene.
{"title":"Urban Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Deconstructing Visions, Politics and Identities","authors":"C. Steiner, Steffen Wippel","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.8022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.8022","url":null,"abstract":"#12–2019 Battlefields, visions, and construction sites: the urban as an arena of contest. This is how urban development1 in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is presenting itself at the end of this decade. Urbanity and identity are still violently transformed into ruins in long-lasting civil, and in fact international, wars. They destroy the homes and livelihoods of millions of people and eradicate not only national but also world heritage in some of the culturally richest and longest-urbanized areas on earth. In contrast, other urban landscapes in the region seem to fascinatingly prosper and are being massively pushed upward to the global scene.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"5-16"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41413736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7940
Anton Escher
The article is a personal review of the scientific work of Eugen Wirth. It briefly highlights the essential aspects of the role of Eugen Wirth in the German community of geographers during the last decades of the 20th century. The text focuses on his scientific work concerning the “Oriental City”. Eugen Wirth’s publications on the Oriental City consist of empirical work and mapping in innumerous old quarters of Islamic cities. Also, this close-up documents his influence on scientists in various disciplines, not only geographers.
{"title":"Eugen Wirth (1925-2012) - Geographer of the Oriental City in North Africa and the Near East","authors":"Anton Escher","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7940","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7940","url":null,"abstract":"The article is a personal review of the scientific work of Eugen Wirth. It briefly highlights the essential aspects of the role of Eugen Wirth in the German community of geographers during the last decades of the 20th century. The text focuses on his scientific work concerning the “Oriental City”. Eugen Wirth’s publications on the Oriental City consist of empirical work and mapping in innumerous old quarters of Islamic cities. Also, this \u0000close-up documents his influence on scientists in various disciplines, not only geographers.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"122-126"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41848180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7828
R. Beier
This article suggest analyzing megaprojects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as worlding practices, hence, as a way to influence emerging countries’ own status of being in the world. This analytical lens differs from traditional perspectives that have tried to identify regional particularities such as the influence of Gulf countries and an authoritarian way of planning. Seeing megaprojects as worlding aspirations, instead, helps to see them embedded in a wider global context, stressing the post-colonial and developmental dimension of this significant planning trend. It further allows emphasizing interactions with other urban policies such as slum resettlement.
{"title":"Worlding Cities in the Middle East and North Africa – Arguments for a Conceptual Turn","authors":"R. Beier","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7828","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7828","url":null,"abstract":"This article suggest analyzing megaprojects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as worlding practices, hence, as a way to influence emerging countries’ own status of being in the world. This analytical lens differs from traditional perspectives that have tried to identify regional particularities such as the influence of Gulf countries and an authoritarian way of planning. Seeing megaprojects as worlding aspirations, instead, helps to see them embedded in a wider global context, stressing the post-colonial and developmental dimension of this significant planning trend. It further allows emphasizing interactions with other urban policies such as slum resettlement.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"28-34"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44585540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7933
Patrick Loewert, C. Steiner
The New Administrative Capital reshapes Egypt’s urban landscape thoroughly. Nevertheless, empirical research on its political economy and spatial imaginaries is lacking. Building on a political geography framework and extensive qualitative fieldwork, we aim at contrasting official constructions of space with an analysis of the hidden interests, actions, and power struggles between its main stakeholders. Whereas foreign and private investors are officially key to the project, our analysis demonstrates that state institutions rivaled over its control, providing the military with new rent sources. The location and seize of the new palace indicates a lack of democratic conviction whereas citizen participation is largely missing.
{"title":"The New Administrative Capital in Egypt : The Political Economy of the Production of Urban Spaces in Cairo","authors":"Patrick Loewert, C. Steiner","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7933","url":null,"abstract":"The New Administrative Capital reshapes Egypt’s urban landscape thoroughly. Nevertheless, empirical research on its political economy and spatial imaginaries is lacking. Building on a political geography framework and extensive qualitative fieldwork, we aim at contrasting official constructions of space with an analysis of the hidden interests, actions, and power struggles between its main stakeholders. Whereas foreign and private investors are officially key to the project, our analysis demonstrates that state institutions rivaled over its control, providing the military with new rent sources. The location and seize of the new palace indicates a lack of democratic conviction whereas citizen participation is largely missing.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"66-75"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48994785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7935
Éric Verdeil
Unlike many metropolises that use green urbanism as a worlding strategy, Arab cities seem reluctant to embark on ambitious schemes addressing sustainability issues. To explain this situation, the article highlights three arguments. Firstly, as state-led governance prioritizes social stability, existing green plans have been scrapped in the face of political threats. Second, large, allegedly sustainable projects such as Masdar should not hide ongoing unsustainable urbanization features. Thirdly, the dominant framings of sustainability tend to focus on global issues (greenhouse gas emissions and low carbon energy), hence neglecting local claims for sustainability that do not fit into global environmental narratives.
{"title":"Arab Sustainable Urbanism: Worlding Strategies, Local Struggles","authors":"Éric Verdeil","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7935","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7935","url":null,"abstract":"Unlike many metropolises that use green urbanism as a worlding strategy, Arab cities seem reluctant to embark on ambitious schemes addressing sustainability issues. To explain this situation, the article highlights three arguments. Firstly, as state-led governance prioritizes social stability, existing green plans have been scrapped in the face of political threats. Second, large, allegedly sustainable projects such as Masdar should not hide ongoing unsustainable urbanization features. Thirdly, the dominant framings of sustainability tend to focus on global issues (greenhouse gas emissions and low carbon energy), hence neglecting local claims for sustainability that do not fit into global environmental narratives.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"35-42"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46402836","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7937
Hend Aly
In 2017, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia announced the new mega-city NEOM. The city is envisioned to be a “start-up the size of a country”, and it aims at attracting the “best talents”, offering them “technology with livability at its core.” The paper foregrounds city branding to understand what NEOM is all about: its imagined society and proposed governance. It further explores how city branding strategies position NEOM and the Kingdom regionally and globally and reaffirm the Crown Prince’s power. It also questions the conceptual nature of the branded object itself, as branding documents show that NEOM alternates between being a city, a start-up, a country, and the Crown Prince’s legacy.
{"title":"Royal Dream: City Branding and Saudi Arabia’s NEOM","authors":"Hend Aly","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7937","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7937","url":null,"abstract":"In 2017, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia announced the new mega-city NEOM. The city is envisioned to be a “start-up the size of a country”, and it aims at attracting the “best talents”, offering them “technology with livability at its core.” The paper foregrounds city branding to understand what NEOM is all about: its imagined society and proposed governance. It further explores how city branding strategies position NEOM and the Kingdom regionally and globally and reaffirm the Crown Prince’s power. It also questions the conceptual nature of the branded object itself, as branding documents show that NEOM alternates between being a city, a start-up, a country, and the Crown Prince’s legacy.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"99-109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46847775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7930
Stefan Maneval
In recent decades, Saudi Arabia, much like other places around the world, has witnessed a trend towards the privatization and securitization of urban space. In this paper I argue that although indisputably exclusive, gated communities and other types of privatized public spaces in Saudi Arabia enable practices which, outside the walls of such developments, are strictly banned. In a country known for its strict moral standards and lack of civil liberties, these architectures permit the formation of “counterpublics.” Offering alternative perspectives on gender relationships, modesty, and nudity, such “counterpublics” challenge prevailing notions of what public and private mean.
{"title":"Counterpublics in Saudi Shopping Centres, Beach Resorts, and Gated Communities","authors":"Stefan Maneval","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7930","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7930","url":null,"abstract":"In recent decades, Saudi Arabia, much like other places around the world, has witnessed a trend towards the privatization and securitization of urban space. In this paper I argue that although indisputably exclusive, gated communities and other types of privatized public spaces in Saudi Arabia enable practices which, outside the walls of such developments, are strictly banned. In a country known for its strict moral standards and lack of civil liberties, these architectures permit the formation of “counterpublics.” Offering alternative perspectives on gender relationships, modesty, and nudity, such “counterpublics” challenge prevailing notions of what public and private mean.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"76-86"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41517154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.8020
Christoph H. Schwarz
{"title":"Koenraad Bogaert: “Globalized Authoritarianism. Megaprojects, Slums, and Class Relations in Urban Morocco\"","authors":"Christoph H. Schwarz","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.8020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.8020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"128-134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44379624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-06-25DOI: 10.17192/META.2019.12.7929
C. Pfaffenbach, Maike Didero, Aysha Farooq, Sonja Nebel
In our contribution, we discuss how modern types of urban structures and mobility have developed in Muscat, Oman. With regard to mobility practices, we argue that a transition from modern to postmodern types of mobility will be closely related to the transition from a car-dependent society to a society with options for multi-modal and smart mobility as well as new organizational forms. We raise the question to what extent specific social groups are disadvantaged by the existing mobility system. Furthermore we explore if current plans will turn the future mobility system into a more postmodern and more inclusive one.
{"title":"Urban Oman: From Modern to Postmodern Mobility?","authors":"C. Pfaffenbach, Maike Didero, Aysha Farooq, Sonja Nebel","doi":"10.17192/META.2019.12.7929","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17192/META.2019.12.7929","url":null,"abstract":"In our contribution, we discuss how modern types of urban structures and mobility have developed in Muscat, Oman. With regard to mobility practices, we argue that a transition from modern to postmodern types of mobility will be closely related to the transition from a car-dependent society to a society with options for multi-modal and smart mobility as well as new organizational forms. We raise the question to what extent specific social groups are disadvantaged by the existing mobility system. Furthermore we explore if current plans will turn the future mobility system into a more postmodern and more inclusive one.","PeriodicalId":30565,"journal":{"name":"Middle East Topics Arguments","volume":"12 1","pages":"87-98"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47655007","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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