Aline Suter, Lars Kaiser, Martin Dušek, Florin Hasler, Simone Tappert
The organization, management, and production of urban space through digital information and communication technologies have become a central means for governing urban life. To overcome a lack of citizen-centered practices in today’s smart cities, governments and municipalities institutionalize citizen-centered digital infrastructures such as Decidim, a digital infrastructure proposing non-corporate, decentralized, and collaborative forms of digital production to evoke participatory governance practices and ultimately social transformation (Barandiaran et al., 2018). Swiss city administrations have adapted the Decidim platform for participatory budgeting processes and city-wide participation platforms since 2019. This article explores the process of institutional adoption, focusing on how the use of Decidim impacts local practices and negotiations for governing urban space. The examination of the Decidim platform in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Lucerne will be framed by re-conceptualizing Lefebvre’s right to the city in the age of digital transformation. The findings show that for a successful introduction of the Decidim platform based on principles of the right to the city (a) local needs for a new digital democratic instrument need to be pre-existent, (b) government employees must implement a scope of action which allows organized civil society and grassroots initiatives to appropriate the infrastructure for their own purposes, and (c) local practices of hybrid communication and organizing must be aligned with the structure of the platform. Nevertheless, digital participation tools such as Decidim cannot solve entrenched inequalities such as the financialization of land, the issue of disadvantaged neighborhoods, or the absence of voting rights for certain communities. Therefore, city administrations need to integrate hybrid participation strategies which prioritise collective power over distributive power as well as tackle urban inequalities through political means.
{"title":"Digital Rights to the City: Local Practices and Negotiations of Urban Space on Decidim","authors":"Aline Suter, Lars Kaiser, Martin Dušek, Florin Hasler, Simone Tappert","doi":"10.17645/up.7065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.7065","url":null,"abstract":"The organization, management, and production of urban space through digital information and communication technologies have become a central means for governing urban life. To overcome a lack of citizen-centered practices in today’s smart cities, governments and municipalities institutionalize citizen-centered digital infrastructures such as Decidim, a digital infrastructure proposing non-corporate, decentralized, and collaborative forms of digital production to evoke participatory governance practices and ultimately social transformation (Barandiaran et al., 2018). Swiss city administrations have adapted the Decidim platform for participatory budgeting processes and city-wide participation platforms since 2019. This article explores the process of institutional adoption, focusing on how the use of Decidim impacts local practices and negotiations for governing urban space. The examination of the Decidim platform in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Lucerne will be framed by re-conceptualizing Lefebvre’s right to the city in the age of digital transformation. The findings show that for a successful introduction of the Decidim platform based on principles of the right to the city (a) local needs for a new digital democratic instrument need to be pre-existent, (b) government employees must implement a scope of action which allows organized civil society and grassroots initiatives to appropriate the infrastructure for their own purposes, and (c) local practices of hybrid communication and organizing must be aligned with the structure of the platform. Nevertheless, digital participation tools such as Decidim cannot solve entrenched inequalities such as the financialization of land, the issue of disadvantaged neighborhoods, or the absence of voting rights for certain communities. Therefore, city administrations need to integrate hybrid participation strategies which prioritise collective power over distributive power as well as tackle urban inequalities through political means.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135342691","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}
Carlos Smaniotto Costa, Juan A. García-Esparza, Kinga Kimic
Participatory budgeting has arisen as an interesting form of citizen participation in urban development and, thus, as a new way of exercising placemaking and grassroots democracy. In this article, we provide an analysis of projects in Lisbon (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), and Warsaw (Poland) with a focus on three key projects concerned with improving the public realm and their contribution to enhancing the network of public open spaces. Our guiding question is: What are the potential benefits of participatory budgeting to increase green spaces and urban governance? A comparison of the three cities’ participatory budgeting programmes provides an overview of their social and political goals and the contents that provide opportunities for citizens’ participation in decision-making. The cases of Jardim do Caracol da Penha (Lisbon), the Green Street Świętokrzyska (Warsaw), and the Green Plan for the Poblats Marítims District (Valencia) pave the way for a discussion on engagement, empowerment, and connectivity with the local communities through public spaces. Using participatory budgeting as a planning and political instrument at the municipal level, as the three cases show, can be a useful way to enhance and enrich the communities’ engagement with their environments. One aspect that emerged is the communication strategies implemented in the three cases. The analysis shows that the use of media and social networks to disseminate information and gather supporters for their ideas and this growth in political influence seems to be essential for participatory budgeting. The study is backed by desk work (comprehensive understanding of the local programmes) and field work to better identify the changes in loco.
参与式预算已经成为公民参与城市发展的一种有趣的形式,因此,作为一种新的方式来实施地方制定和基层民主。在本文中,我们对里斯本(葡萄牙)、瓦伦西亚(西班牙)和华沙(波兰)的项目进行了分析,重点关注三个与改善公共领域有关的关键项目,以及它们对加强公共开放空间网络的贡献。我们的指导问题是:参与式预算对增加绿色空间和城市治理的潜在好处是什么?对这三个城市的参与式预算编制方案进行比较,可以概述它们的社会和政治目标以及为公民参与决策提供机会的内容。Jardim do Caracol da Penha(里斯本)、绿色街道Świętokrzyska(华沙)和Poblats Marítims区绿色计划(瓦伦西亚)的案例为讨论通过公共空间与当地社区的参与、赋权和联系铺平了道路。正如上述三个案例所表明的那样,在市政一级将参与式预算作为一种规划和政治工具,可以是加强和丰富社区对其环境参与的有效途径。出现的一个方面是在这三个案例中实施的沟通策略。分析表明,利用媒体和社会网络传播信息和为其观点聚集支持者,以及政治影响力的增长,似乎对参与式预算编制至关重要。这项研究得到了案头工作(全面了解当地方案)和实地工作的支持,以更好地确定地点的变化。
{"title":"Participatory Budgeting and Placemaking: Concepts, Methods, and Practices","authors":"Carlos Smaniotto Costa, Juan A. García-Esparza, Kinga Kimic","doi":"10.17645/up.7162","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.7162","url":null,"abstract":"Participatory budgeting has arisen as an interesting form of citizen participation in urban development and, thus, as a new way of exercising placemaking and grassroots democracy. In this article, we provide an analysis of projects in Lisbon (Portugal), Valencia (Spain), and Warsaw (Poland) with a focus on three key projects concerned with improving the public realm and their contribution to enhancing the network of public open spaces. Our guiding question is: What are the potential benefits of participatory budgeting to increase green spaces and urban governance? A comparison of the three cities’ participatory budgeting programmes provides an overview of their social and political goals and the contents that provide opportunities for citizens’ participation in decision-making. The cases of Jardim do Caracol da Penha (Lisbon), the Green Street Świętokrzyska (Warsaw), and the Green Plan for the Poblats Marítims District (Valencia) pave the way for a discussion on engagement, empowerment, and connectivity with the local communities through public spaces. Using participatory budgeting as a planning and political instrument at the municipal level, as the three cases show, can be a useful way to enhance and enrich the communities’ engagement with their environments. One aspect that emerged is the communication strategies implemented in the three cases. The analysis shows that the use of media and social networks to disseminate information and gather supporters for their ideas and this growth in political influence seems to be essential for participatory budgeting. The study is backed by desk work (comprehensive understanding of the local programmes) and field work to better identify the changes in loco.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135868525","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}
After several decades of deindustrialisation in the so-called advanced economies, we are seeing a renewed enthusiasm for urban manufacturing in cities, and the integration of production into the city fabric. Yet, small-scale industrial accommodation has long been susceptible to displacement by higher-value land uses—particularly residential and prime office—which directly undermines such aspirations. This article focuses on the case of London and, through a review of planning policy and planning documents, market data, and participant observation in both public and private sector networks, provides evidence for and explores the impacts of a hyper-competitive industrial market that has emerged as an outcome of ongoing limited supply and growing demand in the sector. Although it signals a reversal of displacement dynamics between industrial and residential uses, potentially slowing the loss of industrial land supply, it is also leading to a narrowing of demand and competition within the industrial market that leads to intra-industrial gentrification and threatens smaller manufacturers. The article reveals tensions and limitations in planning approaches that seek to manage industrial land supply and create a diversity of workspace accommodation, as well as a gap between popular policy narratives of industrious cities and manufacturing renaissance, and the coherence of policies to support them. The article concludes with a discussion of future research that could advance policy and other interventions to support manufacturing in cities, to further sustainability and social inclusion agendas.
{"title":"Hyper-Competitive Industrial Markets: Implications for Urban Planning and the Manufacturing Renaissance","authors":"Jessica Ferm","doi":"10.17645/up.v8i4.7114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v8i4.7114","url":null,"abstract":"After several decades of deindustrialisation in the so-called advanced economies, we are seeing a renewed enthusiasm for urban manufacturing in cities, and the integration of production into the city fabric. Yet, small-scale industrial accommodation has long been susceptible to displacement by higher-value land uses—particularly residential and prime office—which directly undermines such aspirations. This article focuses on the case of London and, through a review of planning policy and planning documents, market data, and participant observation in both public and private sector networks, provides evidence for and explores the impacts of a hyper-competitive industrial market that has emerged as an outcome of ongoing limited supply and growing demand in the sector. Although it signals a reversal of displacement dynamics between industrial and residential uses, potentially slowing the loss of industrial land supply, it is also leading to a narrowing of demand and competition within the industrial market that leads to intra-industrial gentrification and threatens smaller manufacturers. The article reveals tensions and limitations in planning approaches that seek to manage industrial land supply and create a diversity of workspace accommodation, as well as a gap between popular policy narratives of industrious cities and manufacturing renaissance, and the coherence of policies to support them. The article concludes with a discussion of future research that could advance policy and other interventions to support manufacturing in cities, to further sustainability and social inclusion agendas.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136262326","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}
In spite of all efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, climate change has become a new reality that requires regional planning to provide effective solutions. This article focuses on commercial and industrial areas (Gewerbegebiete), which are important but often overlooked spaces, by means of examples in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The article investigates whether and how regional planning can help these areas adapt to climate change. Three commercial and industrial areas in different spatial settings are examined, using an inventory of place-based measures, general standards, and regional networking of planning actors. This inventory is based on a backcasting analysis that compares normative future images of climate-adapted commercial and industrial areas with their current local situation. Spatially differentiated guidelines for the adaptation of commercial and industrial areas are then developed from a regional planning perspective by “climate-proofing” regional plans. These guidelines provide both place-based and general solutions for integrating and governing climate adaptation measures and standards into existing frameworks using a hands-on regional planning approach.
{"title":"Place-Based Climate-Proofing of Commercial and Industrial Areas: Inventory and Guidelines From a Regional Planning Perspective","authors":"Cordula Schwappach, Elke Beyer, Lech Suwala","doi":"10.17645/up.v8i4.7100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v8i4.7100","url":null,"abstract":"In spite of all efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, climate change has become a new reality that requires regional planning to provide effective solutions. This article focuses on commercial and industrial areas (<em>Gewerbegebiete</em>), which are important but often overlooked spaces, by means of examples in the Berlin-Brandenburg region. The article investigates whether and how regional planning can help these areas adapt to climate change. Three commercial and industrial areas in different spatial settings are examined, using an inventory of place-based measures, general standards, and regional networking of planning actors. This inventory is based on a backcasting analysis that compares normative future images of climate-adapted commercial and industrial areas with their current local situation. Spatially differentiated guidelines for the adaptation of commercial and industrial areas are then developed from a regional planning perspective by “climate-proofing” regional plans. These guidelines provide both place-based and general solutions for integrating and governing climate adaptation measures and standards into existing frameworks using a hands-on regional planning approach.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136261812","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}
The National Map of Security Threats (NMST) implemented in Poland in 2016 is a GIS-based tool for digital crime and threat mapping involving citizens in the processes of shaping local security by reporting hazards in their neighbourhood (volunteered geographic information). The map—open for external users—is a source of information about common threats to the safety of human life and health, property, and public order, taking into account their spatial distribution, in the opinion of its users. Among 26 reportable hazards, there are categories related to (1) Traffic, (2) Greenery, (3) Water, (4) Demoralisation and Vandalism, (5) Poverty, (6) Alcohol and Drugs, and (7) Animals. The study aims to investigate which threats reported by citizens are the most represented on the NMST. The study covered data collected based on public access to the map in the period from January–December 2022. The analysis of the results allowed us to conclude that the most common threats belong to the following categories: (1) Traffic, (2) Alcohol and Drugs, and (3) Greenery. While the first two categories are not a surprise for researchers, and their importance is confirmed by other studies, the category of Greenery—its condition, damage, etc.—becomes more and more important, which was not confirmed in previous studies. Recognizing this is crucial to support processes of planning and designing more secure public spaces.
{"title":"National Map of Security Threats as a Citizen Involvement Tool for Planning Safer Urban Public Spaces","authors":"Paulina Polko, Kinga Kimic","doi":"10.17645/up.7156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.7156","url":null,"abstract":"The National Map of Security Threats (NMST) implemented in Poland in 2016 is a GIS-based tool for digital crime and threat mapping involving citizens in the processes of shaping local security by reporting hazards in their neighbourhood (volunteered geographic information). The map—open for external users—is a source of information about common threats to the safety of human life and health, property, and public order, taking into account their spatial distribution, in the opinion of its users. Among 26 reportable hazards, there are categories related to (1) Traffic, (2) Greenery, (3) Water, (4) Demoralisation and Vandalism, (5) Poverty, (6) Alcohol and Drugs, and (7) Animals. The study aims to investigate which threats reported by citizens are the most represented on the NMST. The study covered data collected based on public access to the map in the period from January–December 2022. The analysis of the results allowed us to conclude that the most common threats belong to the following categories: (1) Traffic, (2) Alcohol and Drugs, and (3) Greenery. While the first two categories are not a surprise for researchers, and their importance is confirmed by other studies, the category of Greenery—its condition, damage, etc.—becomes more and more important, which was not confirmed in previous studies. Recognizing this is crucial to support processes of planning and designing more secure public spaces.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134909145","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}
Rising the quality of life through improving existing living environments remains one of the critical tasks of contemporary urban design. The quality of life is, in part, a subjective matter and shall thus be approached not only through professional measures but must also include participatory inputs. The techniques for including the residents’ points of view are various and greatly depend on the broader context of each case. However, using new ICT and other digitally supported tools is an ongoing trend and can be traced in various places and stages of the process. This article addresses the issue of the participatory reading of characteristics in existing living environments as they are assessed through residents’ eyes. It reviews and analyses two case studies, a Slovenian and a Spanish one, that used the photovoice approach with photography and related supplementary materials to get to know residents’ perceptions towards cultural and natural values that enhance their quality of life. The cases illustrate two different contexts, the urban and the rural one. In both cases, the processes were supported by a digital approach to achieve broader participation in the process, to offer residents an additional channel of expression, to analyse the input data, to disseminate the results, and to encourage a wider community and stakeholder dialogue. The case studies reflect the added value of using digital support in terms of the level of the integration of residents’ voices into the placemaking process. It concludes that the photovoice supported by digital tools can importantly enhance community-oriented urban planning processes.
{"title":"Revealing the Community’s Interpretation of Place: Integrated Digital Support to Embed Photovoice Into Placemaking Processes","authors":"Juan A. García-Esparza, Matej Nikšič","doi":"10.17645/up.7074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.7074","url":null,"abstract":"Rising the quality of life through improving existing living environments remains one of the critical tasks of contemporary urban design. The quality of life is, in part, a subjective matter and shall thus be approached not only through professional measures but must also include participatory inputs. The techniques for including the residents’ points of view are various and greatly depend on the broader context of each case. However, using new ICT and other digitally supported tools is an ongoing trend and can be traced in various places and stages of the process. This article addresses the issue of the participatory reading of characteristics in existing living environments as they are assessed through residents’ eyes. It reviews and analyses two case studies, a Slovenian and a Spanish one, that used the photovoice approach with photography and related supplementary materials to get to know residents’ perceptions towards cultural and natural values that enhance their quality of life. The cases illustrate two different contexts, the urban and the rural one. In both cases, the processes were supported by a digital approach to achieve broader participation in the process, to offer residents an additional channel of expression, to analyse the input data, to disseminate the results, and to encourage a wider community and stakeholder dialogue. The case studies reflect the added value of using digital support in terms of the level of the integration of residents’ voices into the placemaking process. It concludes that the photovoice supported by digital tools can importantly enhance community-oriented urban planning processes.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136381997","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}
Lidwine Spoormans, Wessel De Jonge, Darinka Czischke, Ana Pereira Roders
Much of the building stock subjected to the upcoming European Renovation Wave is neither listed as heritage nor considered valuable architecture. This also applies to Dutch housing built between 1965 and 1985, more than 30% of the Dutch housing stock, for which there is no consensus on their cultural significance. Their successful renovation process requires broad support. What attributes do citizens consider significant in their neighbourhood? How do we include a multitude of stakeholders? And can digital methods help collect and process responses? This article reveals significant attributes of residential neighbourhoods from 1965 to 1985, assessed by various stakeholders with a digital tool based on case studies in Amsterdam and Almere. A mobile application allowed individuals to identify significant attributes at various scales while visiting the neighbourhood. By qualitative data analysis of survey and interview results, groups of tangible and intangible attributes were deduced. Results show that identifying attributes by current stakeholders broadens existing expert-led assessments on 1965–1985 neighbourhoods by including, for example, generic attributes not originally intended by the designers. Asking open-ended questions is considered essential to identify undiscovered attributes by alternative stakeholders, although dealing with large numbers of responses is recognised as a challenge to cluster and classify. Lastly, the mobile application appears to be a useful digital tool, but integrating scientific consistency and usability is recommended for further development. Engaging multiple stakeholders with such mobile applications allows for collecting opinions, anticipating conflicts, or shared interests between stakeholders and integration into renovation designs. It can empower citizens to preserve the neighbourhood attributes that are most significant to them.
{"title":"Discovering the Significance of Housing Neighbourhoods by Assessing Their Attributes With a Digital Tool","authors":"Lidwine Spoormans, Wessel De Jonge, Darinka Czischke, Ana Pereira Roders","doi":"10.17645/up.6998","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.6998","url":null,"abstract":"Much of the building stock subjected to the upcoming European Renovation Wave is neither listed as heritage nor considered valuable architecture. This also applies to Dutch housing built between 1965 and 1985, more than 30% of the Dutch housing stock, for which there is no consensus on their cultural significance. Their successful renovation process requires broad support. What attributes do citizens consider significant in their neighbourhood? How do we include a multitude of stakeholders? And can digital methods help collect and process responses? This article reveals significant attributes of residential neighbourhoods from 1965 to 1985, assessed by various stakeholders with a digital tool based on case studies in Amsterdam and Almere. A mobile application allowed individuals to identify significant attributes at various scales while visiting the neighbourhood. By qualitative data analysis of survey and interview results, groups of tangible and intangible attributes were deduced. Results show that identifying attributes by current stakeholders broadens existing expert-led assessments on 1965–1985 neighbourhoods by including, for example, generic attributes not originally intended by the designers. Asking open-ended questions is considered essential to identify undiscovered attributes by alternative stakeholders, although dealing with large numbers of responses is recognised as a challenge to cluster and classify. Lastly, the mobile application appears to be a useful digital tool, but integrating scientific consistency and usability is recommended for further development. Engaging multiple stakeholders with such mobile applications allows for collecting opinions, anticipating conflicts, or shared interests between stakeholders and integration into renovation designs. It can empower citizens to preserve the neighbourhood attributes that are most significant to them.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134908757","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}
This study analyses the promotion of public health, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability in two Norwegian cities through the co-production of outdoor equipment-lending outlets. Building on seminal insights from Elinor Ostrom, we investigate how the co-production of equipment-lending initiatives can bridge the divide between government, civil society, and the market. Engaging citizens in outdoor activities to promote public health, social inclusion and sustainability is a political focus area in Norway, but the activities often demand access to expensive equipment. Since the 1990s, many Norwegian municipalities have organised lending outlets for outdoor equipment, often relying on volunteer work. The emergence of BUA, a nationwide NGO aimed at engaging children and youth in outdoor activities, added the goal of environmental sustainability as a foundation for equipment-lending outlets. Additionally, it became a catalyst for the articulation of a diverse array of partnerships for the co-production of equipment lending as a public service. This study draws on fieldwork and in-depth interviews with users, staff, volunteers, and institutional partners at two lending outlets, in Kolbotn and Tromsø, in south-eastern and northern Norway. We focus on the co-production of BUA as a public service and discuss how the interplay of various actors leads to the achievement of societal and environmental goals, and subsequently how equipment-lending initiatives can facilitate collaborative consumption practices with the potential to reduce consumption.
{"title":"Sharing for Health, Inclusion, and Sustainability: The Co-Production of Outdoor Equipment Lending in Norway","authors":"Espen Eigil Barratt-Due Solum, Anniken Førde, Monica Guillen-Royo","doi":"10.17645/up.7253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.7253","url":null,"abstract":"This study analyses the promotion of public health, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability in two Norwegian cities through the co-production of outdoor equipment-lending outlets. Building on seminal insights from Elinor Ostrom, we investigate how the co-production of equipment-lending initiatives can bridge the divide between government, civil society, and the market. Engaging citizens in outdoor activities to promote public health, social inclusion and sustainability is a political focus area in Norway, but the activities often demand access to expensive equipment. Since the 1990s, many Norwegian municipalities have organised lending outlets for outdoor equipment, often relying on volunteer work. The emergence of BUA, a nationwide NGO aimed at engaging children and youth in outdoor activities, added the goal of environmental sustainability as a foundation for equipment-lending outlets. Additionally, it became a catalyst for the articulation of a diverse array of partnerships for the co-production of equipment lending as a public service. This study draws on fieldwork and in-depth interviews with users, staff, volunteers, and institutional partners at two lending outlets, in Kolbotn and Tromsø, in south-eastern and northern Norway. We focus on the co-production of BUA as a public service and discuss how the interplay of various actors leads to the achievement of societal and environmental goals, and subsequently how equipment-lending initiatives can facilitate collaborative consumption practices with the potential to reduce consumption.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136381788","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}
The everyday life of public space is characterised by many kinds of convivial, conflictual, and improvisational encounters between people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Because public spaces are, in principle at least, freely accessible to all, they are of central importance to everyday life and intrinsically interesting to social scientists. This thematic issue brings together a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on everyday encounters in public space. In the introduction to this thematic issue, we appeal to urban scholars of all backgrounds to take the social life of public space seriously; as essential social infrastructure, public space is key to the collective well-being of city-dwellers, and it provides a crucial bridge between urban planning and the social sciences. Here, we briefly survey research on everyday encounters and introduce each of the contributions to the issue. While the articles in this issue are organised around the three core themes of conviviality, conflict, and improvisation, we argue for the entanglements of each within the everyday life of public spaces.
{"title":"Entanglements of Improvisation, Conviviality, and Conflict in Everyday Encounters in Public Space","authors":"Mervyn Horgan, Saara Liinamaa","doi":"10.17645/up.v8i4.7580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v8i4.7580","url":null,"abstract":"The everyday life of public space is characterised by many kinds of convivial, conflictual, and improvisational encounters between people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Because public spaces are, in principle at least, freely accessible to all, they are of central importance to everyday life and intrinsically interesting to social scientists. This thematic issue brings together a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives on everyday encounters in public space. In the introduction to this thematic issue, we appeal to urban scholars of all backgrounds to take the social life of public space seriously; as essential social infrastructure, public space is key to the collective well-being of city-dwellers, and it provides a crucial bridge between urban planning and the social sciences. Here, we briefly survey research on everyday encounters and introduce each of the contributions to the issue. While the articles in this issue are organised around the three core themes of conviviality, conflict, and improvisation, we argue for the entanglements of each within the everyday life of public spaces.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136381916","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}
This article presents the case of the Beirut River corridor in Lebanon, which defines the administrative border between the capital Beirut, its eastern and south-eastern suburbs. The Beirut River has undergone several transformations from being a lotic environment to becoming complex urban infrastructure. This is often unnoticeable due to the scarcity of its running water and its walled existence at the edge of administrative boundaries. The separation from its riverbanks, disconnection from the urban fabric, and continuous pollution have contributed to its liminality, being simultaneously neither present nor absent. To understand this in-betweenness, the river’s spatial, temporal, and social liminality are analysed by identifying major events, actors, and key urban planning interventions that impacted the river at the national, city region, and local scales. The article explores the development of the river corridor both in terms of urbanisation and population dynamics; its distinct positionality in different periods that corresponded to major events and decisions made; and the contrasting river experiences and perceptions across generations, which vary between reminiscence and aversion. By examining the various transformative processes, collective practices, perceptions, and diverse actors, the article highlights the contextual implications of this obdurate liminality, but also Beirut River’s potential alternative future positionality amidst present and imminent urban challenges.
{"title":"Transformations of the Beirut River: Between Temporary and Permanent Liminality","authors":"Christine Mady","doi":"10.17645/up.6963","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.17645/up.6963","url":null,"abstract":"This article presents the case of the Beirut River corridor in Lebanon, which defines the administrative border between the capital Beirut, its eastern and south-eastern suburbs. The Beirut River has undergone several transformations from being a lotic environment to becoming complex urban infrastructure. This is often unnoticeable due to the scarcity of its running water and its walled existence at the edge of administrative boundaries. The separation from its riverbanks, disconnection from the urban fabric, and continuous pollution have contributed to its liminality, being simultaneously neither present nor absent. To understand this in-betweenness, the river’s spatial, temporal, and social liminality are analysed by identifying major events, actors, and key urban planning interventions that impacted the river at the national, city region, and local scales. The article explores the development of the river corridor both in terms of urbanisation and population dynamics; its distinct positionality in different periods that corresponded to major events and decisions made; and the contrasting river experiences and perceptions across generations, which vary between reminiscence and aversion. By examining the various transformative processes, collective practices, perceptions, and diverse actors, the article highlights the contextual implications of this obdurate liminality, but also Beirut River’s potential alternative future positionality amidst present and imminent urban challenges.","PeriodicalId":51735,"journal":{"name":"Urban Planning","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135616052","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}