Whose Urban Renaissance?
An international comparison of urban regeneration strategies
Kate Shaw editor Libby Porter editor
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Published:15th Dec '08
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£49.99(9780415860710)
The desire of governments for a 'renaissance' of their cities is a defining feature of contemporary urban policy. From Melbourne and Toronto to Johannesburg and Istanbul, government policies are successfully attracting investment and middle-class populations to their inner areas. Regeneration - or gentrification as it can often become - produces winners and losers. There is a substantial literature on the causes and unequal effects of gentrification, and on the global and local conditions driving processes of dis- and re-investment. But there is little examination of the actual strategies used to achieve urban regeneration - what were their intents, did they 'succeed' (and if not why not) and what were the specific consequences?
Whose Urban Renaissance? asks who benefits from these urban transformations. The book contains beautifully written and accessible stories from researchers and activists in 21 cities across Europe, North and South America, Asia, South Africa, the Middle East and Australia, each exploring a specific case of urban regeneration. Some chapters focus on government or market strategies driving the regeneration process, and look closely at the effects. Others look at the local contingencies that influence the way these strategies work. Still others look at instances of opposition and struggle, and at policy interventions that were used in some places to ameliorate the inequities of gentrification. Working from these stories, the editors develop a comparative analysis of regeneration strategies, with nuanced assessments of local constraints and counteracting policy responses. The concluding chapters provide a critical comparison of existing strategies, and open new directions for more equitable policy approaches in the future.
Whose Urban Renaissance? is targeted at students, academics, planners, policy-makers and activists. The book is unique in its geographical breadth and its constructive policy emphasis, offering a succinct, critical and timely exploration of urban regeneration strategies throughout the world.
‘Appropriately critical, this wide-ranging and well balanced collection moves beyond the simplistic caricatures of urban regeneration as all good or all bad that have dominated the literature for so long. In so doing it keeps open the possibilities of urban regeneration for creating a socially just city’ - LORETTA LEES, King’s College London
"This is an exciting and thought-provoking collection. It combines a critical review of the international practice of urban renaissance and urban regeneration, with a profound and sympathetic understanding of local experience. It's exciting because it brings together evidence and ideas from across the world and though-provoking because it points to a range of alternative futures. It is explicitly focused on the ways in which contemporary urban policy helps to generate inequality, but also looks for ways in which dominant approaches can be challenged. The stories told in its case studies are stories of possibility as well as stories of top-down neo-liberalism. Instead of presenting policy as something that is simply handed down to a passive population, these stories offer the prospect of a world in which active engagement can generate positive outcomes. This is a book that should be read by planners and policy-makers, academics and activists, students and teachers. It undermines old certainties and encourages new ways of thinking about old problems" - ALLAN COCHRANE, Open University
‘This is an extraordinary and much-needed collection. Porter and Shaw have assembled a truly international cast of critical urban scholars, and their editorial skills have resulted in a book that will surely become the definitive resource for anyone interested not just in the dark side of urban regeneration, but - more importantly - what might be done about it. Any quick skim of the book will be arrested by essays that are truly riveting. The courage, the honesty, and the genuine optimism of the contributors that there can be something other than gentrification will create and enliven debates for years to come’ - TOM SLATER, University of Edinburgh
ISBN: 9780415456821
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 840g
320 pages