While there is a growing interest in citizen-led initiatives, there is still no consensus on how to situate them, especially in relation to state institutions. On the one hand, citizen-led initiatives are seen as being co-opted by formal institutions in a context of austerity. On the other hand, these initiatives are often presented as “spaces of resistance” to neoliberalism, or as political acts of reclaiming the city. Mapping and tracing urban gardening and dumpster diving from their grassroots emergence to their inclusion in the institutional world through a two-level analysis, we show that individuals and loosely organized collectives involved in such initiatives are embedded in complex relationships with local institutions and third sector organizations that do, in turn, structure their practice and its consequences. The two-level analysis we propose follows this process: it is through interactions and relationships with other “practitioners” and with their social and institutional environment that these urban social practices gradually institutionalize.
{"title":"Creating Local “Citizen's Governance Spaces” in Austerity Contexts : Food Recuperation and Urban Gardening in Montréal (Canada) as Ways to Pragmatically Invent Alternatives","authors":"Laurence Bherer, Pascale Dufour, Françoise Montambeault","doi":"10.1177/10780874231224359","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231224359","url":null,"abstract":"While there is a growing interest in citizen-led initiatives, there is still no consensus on how to situate them, especially in relation to state institutions. On the one hand, citizen-led initiatives are seen as being co-opted by formal institutions in a context of austerity. On the other hand, these initiatives are often presented as “spaces of resistance” to neoliberalism, or as political acts of reclaiming the city. Mapping and tracing urban gardening and dumpster diving from their grassroots emergence to their inclusion in the institutional world through a two-level analysis, we show that individuals and loosely organized collectives involved in such initiatives are embedded in complex relationships with local institutions and third sector organizations that do, in turn, structure their practice and its consequences. The two-level analysis we propose follows this process: it is through interactions and relationships with other “practitioners” and with their social and institutional environment that these urban social practices gradually institutionalize.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"13 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139444083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-02DOI: 10.1177/10780874231222174
Simon van Zoest, T. Daamen
Value capture (VC) is widely cited as a method for local authorities to provide urban public goods to their cities in the face of fiscal stress. Its application in practice however remains limited. In this article, we aim to explain the implementation process of VC as a strategy to fund public transportation infrastructure through case studies in London, New York, and Copenhagen. Adopting a theory of gradual institutional change, we argue that the implementation of VC depends on the capacity to change distributional institutions that are inherently contested. Particularly relevant is the role of the beneficiary, whose support of VC is necessary but not likely. Our results show that a strategic urban development project can act as a driver to overcome this barrier, but that this driver can, simultaneously, also hinder the institutionalization potential of a VC strategy. We therefore suggest that, for VC strategies to become more commonplace, sharing value uplifts among beneficiaries must become more commonplace too.
{"title":"Explaining Value Capture Implementation in New York, London, and Copenhagen: Negotiating Distributional Effects","authors":"Simon van Zoest, T. Daamen","doi":"10.1177/10780874231222174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231222174","url":null,"abstract":"Value capture (VC) is widely cited as a method for local authorities to provide urban public goods to their cities in the face of fiscal stress. Its application in practice however remains limited. In this article, we aim to explain the implementation process of VC as a strategy to fund public transportation infrastructure through case studies in London, New York, and Copenhagen. Adopting a theory of gradual institutional change, we argue that the implementation of VC depends on the capacity to change distributional institutions that are inherently contested. Particularly relevant is the role of the beneficiary, whose support of VC is necessary but not likely. Our results show that a strategic urban development project can act as a driver to overcome this barrier, but that this driver can, simultaneously, also hinder the institutionalization potential of a VC strategy. We therefore suggest that, for VC strategies to become more commonplace, sharing value uplifts among beneficiaries must become more commonplace too.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"17 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139452738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1177/10780874231222243
Austin Zwick, Zachary Spicer
Cohen's Smart City Generational model has been the basis of understanding for the evolution of the Smart Cities movement. However, how does this model align with practitioners’ conceptualization of the term? Our research focuses on Infrastructure Canada's Smart City Challenge (SCC). Through 14 primary interviews and 20 finalist applications, this research reveals that practitioners overwhelmingly understand Smart City building as a government-driven, data-centric endeavor (Smart City 2.0), as opposed to being about vendor transactions (Smart City 1.0), resident engagement (Smart City 3.0), or community co-creation (Smart City 4.0), where the specific technology is of secondary importance to project objectives. We conclude that, rather than moving through distinct generations, the smart cities movement should be understood as a gradual process of municipal public administration modernization as local governments are becoming increasingly savvy and experienced about contracting with technology firms to address urban problems.
{"title":"Examining the Smart City Generational Model: Conceptualizations, Implementations, and Infrastructure Canada's Smart City Challenge","authors":"Austin Zwick, Zachary Spicer","doi":"10.1177/10780874231222243","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231222243","url":null,"abstract":"Cohen's Smart City Generational model has been the basis of understanding for the evolution of the Smart Cities movement. However, how does this model align with practitioners’ conceptualization of the term? Our research focuses on Infrastructure Canada's Smart City Challenge (SCC). Through 14 primary interviews and 20 finalist applications, this research reveals that practitioners overwhelmingly understand Smart City building as a government-driven, data-centric endeavor (Smart City 2.0), as opposed to being about vendor transactions (Smart City 1.0), resident engagement (Smart City 3.0), or community co-creation (Smart City 4.0), where the specific technology is of secondary importance to project objectives. We conclude that, rather than moving through distinct generations, the smart cities movement should be understood as a gradual process of municipal public administration modernization as local governments are becoming increasingly savvy and experienced about contracting with technology firms to address urban problems.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"31 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139148203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-28DOI: 10.1177/10780874231221641
Richardson Dilworth, Mara Sidney
{"title":"Celebrating Sixty Years of Urban Affairs Review with a Look at the 1970s and Street-Level Bureaucracy","authors":"Richardson Dilworth, Mara Sidney","doi":"10.1177/10780874231221641","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231221641","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"32 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139149902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-03DOI: 10.1177/10780874231212843
Eric Stokan, Michael Overton, A. Deslatte, Christine Zhang
Local governments must balance their growth ambitions against needs arising from social inequities. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program aims to redress these disparities by directing funds toward disinvested tracts. We ask whether a city's institutional design, public and private actor composition, and resource availability influence the decision to invest in communities with greater levels of social need. Utilizing a social equity framework, we connect place-level procedural fairness mechanisms with neighborhood-level access equity consequences. Combining U.S. local government survey data over two decades with census tract-level CDBG expenditures, we find that in neighborhood where 51 percent or more of the families are low-to-moderate income (LMI), its likelihood of receiving funds increases with its share of LMI population relative to the city's, but at a diminished rate compared to non-LMI tracts. Further, city-level factors moderate this relationship (e.g., including community development corporations in planning processes).
{"title":"Whose Neighborhood Needs? Assessing the Spatial Distribution of Federal Community Development Funds","authors":"Eric Stokan, Michael Overton, A. Deslatte, Christine Zhang","doi":"10.1177/10780874231212843","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231212843","url":null,"abstract":"Local governments must balance their growth ambitions against needs arising from social inequities. The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program aims to redress these disparities by directing funds toward disinvested tracts. We ask whether a city's institutional design, public and private actor composition, and resource availability influence the decision to invest in communities with greater levels of social need. Utilizing a social equity framework, we connect place-level procedural fairness mechanisms with neighborhood-level access equity consequences. Combining U.S. local government survey data over two decades with census tract-level CDBG expenditures, we find that in neighborhood where 51 percent or more of the families are low-to-moderate income (LMI), its likelihood of receiving funds increases with its share of LMI population relative to the city's, but at a diminished rate compared to non-LMI tracts. Further, city-level factors moderate this relationship (e.g., including community development corporations in planning processes).","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"100 39","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138605647","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-29DOI: 10.1177/10780874231208825
Richardson Dilworth
{"title":"Celebrating Sixty Decades of Urban Affairs Review With Reflections on Race, Riots, and the Study of Urban Politics","authors":"Richardson Dilworth","doi":"10.1177/10780874231208825","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231208825","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"45 1","pages":"5 - 10"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139213901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-29DOI: 10.1177/10780874231208834
John Mollenkopf
{"title":"Reflections on the Late 1960s","authors":"John Mollenkopf","doi":"10.1177/10780874231208834","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231208834","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"19 1","pages":"11 - 15"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139214880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-22DOI: 10.1177/10780874231216038
Chihsin Chiu
Empirical studies on energy democracy (ED) tend to presume boundaries among community energy (CE) practices, corporate operations, and state leadership. This research note identifies three features underlying existing literature: an implicit binary thinking of state and society, the understated market influence, and a lack of urban features that enable ED functioning through spatial means. I therefore propose urban commons (UC) as a complementary framework to interrogate the interplay among the state, society, and market operations in CE research and practices. I examine how ED informs CE operations in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea, identifying a set of limitations to which UC can respond. Some latest thinking on UC and a body of strategies proposed by key interlocutors were discussed. I then propose “state-led, market-enabled commons” as a conceptual framework to account for urban civic energy initiatives in East Asia.
{"title":"Toward a State-led, Market-Enabled Commons: Positioning Urban Civic Energy in East Asia","authors":"Chihsin Chiu","doi":"10.1177/10780874231216038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231216038","url":null,"abstract":"Empirical studies on energy democracy (ED) tend to presume boundaries among community energy (CE) practices, corporate operations, and state leadership. This research note identifies three features underlying existing literature: an implicit binary thinking of state and society, the understated market influence, and a lack of urban features that enable ED functioning through spatial means. I therefore propose urban commons (UC) as a complementary framework to interrogate the interplay among the state, society, and market operations in CE research and practices. I examine how ED informs CE operations in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea, identifying a set of limitations to which UC can respond. Some latest thinking on UC and a body of strategies proposed by key interlocutors were discussed. I then propose “state-led, market-enabled commons” as a conceptual framework to account for urban civic energy initiatives in East Asia.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139248295","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-15DOI: 10.1177/10780874231212897
Maura Fennelly
With the privatization of urban development, anchor institutions are becoming stakeholders in neighborhood revitalization. Cities are eager for anchors due to their purported benefits, but residents are often wary of negative externalities and push for more accountability. This study uses new urban regime theory and focuses on the contestations during an anchor's planning and analyzes the significance of the contestations’ associated outcomes. I use the case of the Obama Presidential Center and the Obama Foundation's rejection of a community benefits agreement to show how anchors can promote a community vision that supersedes that of residents and local organizations. Interviews with organizational stakeholders and analysis of planning materials reveal competing positions regarding organizational identity, community definitions, and racial legitimacy. Enforcing accountability with anchors will require city governments to critique meanings of neighborhood revitalization, prioritize local voices and consider impacts for all large developments, irrespective of whether they are for-profit or non-profit.
{"title":"Community Benefits Through an Anchor: Contestations During the Planning of the Obama Presidential Center","authors":"Maura Fennelly","doi":"10.1177/10780874231212897","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231212897","url":null,"abstract":"With the privatization of urban development, anchor institutions are becoming stakeholders in neighborhood revitalization. Cities are eager for anchors due to their purported benefits, but residents are often wary of negative externalities and push for more accountability. This study uses new urban regime theory and focuses on the contestations during an anchor's planning and analyzes the significance of the contestations’ associated outcomes. I use the case of the Obama Presidential Center and the Obama Foundation's rejection of a community benefits agreement to show how anchors can promote a community vision that supersedes that of residents and local organizations. Interviews with organizational stakeholders and analysis of planning materials reveal competing positions regarding organizational identity, community definitions, and racial legitimacy. Enforcing accountability with anchors will require city governments to critique meanings of neighborhood revitalization, prioritize local voices and consider impacts for all large developments, irrespective of whether they are for-profit or non-profit.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"96 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139273133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-15DOI: 10.1177/10780874231215068
Matthew D. Nelsen, K. Ramanathan, Thomas Ogorzalek
Do patterns of unequal policing persist or transform within gentrifying neighborhoods? Using an original survey of Chicago residents, we assess whether gentrifiers and longtime residents experience policing differently. Building on macro-level studies which rely on aggregate population data and micro-level studies which rely on ethnographies and interviews, we conduct a meso-level study that compares the experiences and views of differently positioned residents. We find that the phenomenon of being “over-policed and under-protected” that characterizes race-class subjugated neighborhoods is replicated within gentrifying neighborhoods for longtime residents. Meanwhile, gentrifiers express less concern about crime and report fewer interactions with police. While the average gentrifier has low levels of police contact, we find some evidence that a subset of gentrifiers are more likely to call the police about quality-of-life issues compared to neighbors. Our methodological approach provides a blueprint for how survey research can provide insights on individual-level experiences and attitudes in gentrifying neighborhoods.
{"title":"Experiences of Policing in Gentrifying Neighborhoods: Evidence From Chicago","authors":"Matthew D. Nelsen, K. Ramanathan, Thomas Ogorzalek","doi":"10.1177/10780874231215068","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874231215068","url":null,"abstract":"Do patterns of unequal policing persist or transform within gentrifying neighborhoods? Using an original survey of Chicago residents, we assess whether gentrifiers and longtime residents experience policing differently. Building on macro-level studies which rely on aggregate population data and micro-level studies which rely on ethnographies and interviews, we conduct a meso-level study that compares the experiences and views of differently positioned residents. We find that the phenomenon of being “over-policed and under-protected” that characterizes race-class subjugated neighborhoods is replicated within gentrifying neighborhoods for longtime residents. Meanwhile, gentrifiers express less concern about crime and report fewer interactions with police. While the average gentrifier has low levels of police contact, we find some evidence that a subset of gentrifiers are more likely to call the police about quality-of-life issues compared to neighbors. Our methodological approach provides a blueprint for how survey research can provide insights on individual-level experiences and attitudes in gentrifying neighborhoods.","PeriodicalId":51427,"journal":{"name":"Urban Affairs Review","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2023-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139271746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}