Refereed articles
Lost in Translation? – The Bristol Accord and the Sustainable Communities Agenda (#44)
Neil Evans
Abstract
The Bristol Accord, agreed at an EU Ministerial Informal meeting in December 2005, was the UK‟s contribution to the emerging EU urban agenda. Although nominally positioned within contemporary European debates on sustainable urban development and linked to previous Ministerial Informals on urban policy, it can be seen as an example of the „uploading‟ of national policy to the EU policy arena. This paper argues that by drawing too closely on domestic policy agendas (as well as the very wide-ranging nature of the sustainable communities agenda) little has resulted from the Accord. This contrasts with the more sustained legacy of the Leipzig Charter, the 2007 successor agreement to the Bristol Accord which, while also an example of the uploading of national policy, has been more successful in tapping into the mainstream of EU urban policy.
23pp (Refereed Articles, December 2011, no 44)
Evans, N. (2011). Lost in Translation? – The Bristol Accord and the Sustainable Communities Agenda, European Journal of Spatial Development, 44
Cohesion Policy Contributing to Territorial Cohesion – Future Scenarios (#43)
Andreas Faludi & Jean Peyrony
Abstract
The Barca Report advocates for developmental policies to be ‘place-based’: integrated as far as they affect ‘places’. The debate on territorial cohesion is equally concerned with integrating relevant policies and actions. This requires well-established democratic institutions and adequate responses to the demands of technical systems and of markets. Following Lisbeth Hooghe and Gary Marks, the respective arrangements are described as Governance Type I and Type II. All levels of government, including that of the EU, partake in both types, but relations between them are problematic, particularly in the context of Europe 2020: Will this EU strategy be mainly a matter for Directorate-Generals and their various clients pursuing their policies (Governance Type II), or will Cohesion policy, with its more integrated and decentralised approach, involving many levels of government and stakeholders (Governance Type I) form platforms for integrating them? This paper presents four scenarios; each based on a combination of strong/weak Governance Type I and Type II, which are labelled as the ‘Anglo-Saxon’, ‘Saint-Simonian’, ‘Rhineland’ and the ‘European’ Scenarios. The authors prefer the latter, but the best one can hope for in the short term is for this option not to fall by the wayside.
21pp (Refereed articles, September 2011, no 43)
Faludi, A. & Peyrony, J. (2011). Cohesion Policy Contributing to Territorial Cohesion – Future Scenarios, European Journal of Spatial Development, 43
Participation in planning – a study of urban development in Norway (#42)
Eva Irene Falleth & Gro Sandkjær Hansen
Abstract
In Norway, the dominance of neo-liberal ideas has resulted in a private planning practice whereby the developer is the principal actor in opaque negotiations between planning authorities and developers. We examine patterns of contact between stakeholders in urban development planning. Based on information obtained from a survey of the 145 most populous municipalities in Norway, as well as from case studies in Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim, we find considerable interaction between the stakeholders involved in the planning process. The interaction patterns are different for civil society actors and private developers. We find that while developers have contacts with the planning authorities, the civil actors have contacts with the politicians. In the initial phase, i.e. before formal planning begins, this pattern is highly significant. Politicians frequently feel bound by negotiations and agreements that are made by the planners and the developers during the initial planning process.
19pp (Refereed Articles, August 2011, no 42)
Falleth, E. I. & Hansen, G. S. (2011). Participation in planning; a study of urban development in Norway, European Journal of Spatial Development, 42
Research briefings
Online survey as a tool in participatory urban governance - The Polish experience (#3)
Lukasz Damurski
Abstract
Sustainable urban governance needs to be participatory. Municipal decision-making processes have to be responsive, transparent and inclusive, they should also actively promote citizen involvement. While the concept of participatory urban governance is increasingly popular in Western societies, in East-Central Europe it struggles to overcome the complex effects of system transformation. The Polish experience of participatory urban governance is still quite shallow with few examples of good practice in this field discernible. To stimulate cooperation between local authorities and citizens we need to develop new tools of social participation in decision-making. In this paper, I present the results of public consultations held in Wroclaw and Zielona Gora in 2007 by means of online surveys. The findings of the studies were used to define the principles of the future development of the respective cities highlighting the growing possibilities for the use of using online surveys as effective mechanisms in co-operation and co-governance.
14pp (Articles, February 2011, no 3)
Damurski, Ł. (2011). Online survey as a tool in participatory urban governance - The Polish experience, European Journal of Spatial Development, Research Briefing No. 3
Debate articles
Europe should cherish its major urban nodes
Arjen van der Burg
Abstract
In this article Arjen van der Burg argues that by choosing the spatial concept of 'polycentricity' the European Territorial Agenda (TA) has opted for an outdated one. An alternative approach would have been to place emphasis on the major European urban nodes that function within worldwide networks and to leave the planning of the urban regions entirely up to the member states of the European Union (EU).
8pp (Debate, August 2011)
Van der Burg, A. (2011). Europe should cherish its major urban nodes, Debate, European Journal of Spatial Development.