Re-conceptualising Territorial Cohesion Through the Prism of Spatial Justice : Critical Perspectives on Academic and Policy Discourses

Peer reviewe

Deindustrialization and the Polarization of Household Incomes: The Example of Urban Agglomerations in Germany

The tertiarization, or perhaps more accurately, the deindustrialization of the economy has left deep scars on cities. It is evident not only in the industrial wastelands and empty factory buildings scattered throughout the urban landscape, but also in the income and social structures of cities. Industrialization, collective wage setting and the welfare state led to a stark reduction in income differences over the course of the twentieth century. Conversely, deindustrialization and the shift to tertiary sectors could result in increasing wage differentiation. Moreover, numerous studies on global cities, the dual city, and divided cities have also identified income polarization as a central phenomenon in the development of major cities. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we find an increasing polarization of household income structures since the mid-1990. In agglomerations, this income polarization is even more pronounced than in the more rural regions. The income polarization in Germany is likely to have multiple causes, some of which are directly linked to policies such as the deregulation of the labor market. But extensive deindustrialization is probably also one of the drivers, that has led directly to the weakening of middle income groups

Urban regeneration and sustainable housing renewal trends

Urban planning, affordable houses and protection of the cultural natural heritage are important elements to be considered in the design of sustainable urban realities. Homes for One Pound, Granby Four Streets CLT, Homebaked CLT, Make Liverpool CIC and Engage Liverpool CIC are examples of successful initiatives oriented to foster urban regeneration by promoting environmental quality and social cohesion

Fragmented governance and spatial equity in metropolitan areas: the role of intergovernmental cooperation and revenue-sharing

This article focuses on policies seeking to address social inequalities in metropolitan areas, where the allocation of resources to places with needs often clashes with the politics of redistribution in fragmented local government systems. Scholarship on metropolitan governance has yet to overcome the opposition between proponents of consolidation and defenders of polycentrism. The crucial open question is whether and how intergovernmental cooperation and revenue-sharing can redress spatial equity in institutionally fragmented metropolitan areas. This article addresses this question by exploring the determinants of social expenditures in the 630 municipalities of seven major metropolitan areas in Switzerland, where revenue-sharing systems are common. The analysis shows that intergovernmental grants make a significant but limited contribution to reducing the mismatch between needs and resources in fragmented and decentralized metropolitan areas, depending on the redistributive efforts made by higher state levels

Planificación, Justicia y Ciudad

A pesar de que el énfasis inicial por parte de la planificación era la implantación de una visión de la ciudad, el mundo académico se ha focalizado en momentos más recientes más en los procesos de planeamiento que en los resultados deseables. Los movimientos sociales urbanos de los años 60 y 70 se rebelaron contra la prepotencia de los expertos que habían impuesto su visión de una ciudad racional y ordenada por encima de ellos. Los activistas llamaron tanto a una participación comunitaria como a una visión alternativa de la ciudad. Los académicos del campo de la planificación, sin embargo, evitaron especificar la naturaleza de la ciudad deseable, enfatizando aspectos comunicativos y pasando por alto las condiciones subyacentes de desigualdad estructural que eran objeto de crítica económico-política. Estas definiciones procedimentales de la planificación se han convertido en soporte de decisiones políticas neoliberales y militancia contra una mayor equidad. Mi argumento es que la justicia, definida por la democracia, la diversidad y la equidad, debería ser el criterio de evaluación para la planifi cación y política urbanas

Planificación, Justicia y Ciudad/Planning, justice and the city

ResumenA pesar de que el énfasis inicial por parte de la planificación era la implantación de una visión de la ciudad, el mundo académico se ha focalizado en momentos más recientes más en los procesos de planeamiento que en los resultados deseables. Los movimientos sociales urbanos de los años 60 y 70 se rebelaron contra la prepotencia de los expertos que habían impuesto su visión de una ciudad racional y ordenada por encima de ellos. Los activistas llamaron tanto a una participación comunitaria como a una visión alternativa de la ciudad. Los académicos del campo de la planificación, sin embargo, evitaron especificar la naturaleza de la ciudad deseable, enfatizando aspectos comunicativos y pasando por alto las condiciones subyacentes de desigualdad estructural que eran objeto de crítica económico-política. Estas definiciones procedimentales de la planificación se han convertido en soporte de decisiones políticas neoliberales y militancia contra una mayor equidad. Mi argumento es que la justicia, definida por la democracia, la diversidad y la equidad, debería ser el criterio de evaluación para la planifi cación y política urbanas.Palabras clave: Urbanismo, ciudad justa, democracia, diversidad, equidadAbstractAlthough the initial impetus for planning was to implement a vision of the city, scholarship has recently focused on the planning process rather than on desirable outcomes. Urban social movements of the 1960s and 70s rebelled against high-handed experts who had imposed their vision of a  ational, orderly city upon them. Activists called for both community participation and an alternative vision of the city. Planning scholars, however, avoided specifying the substance of a desirable city, instead emphasizing communication and overlooking the background conditions of structural inequality that were the subject of political economic critiques. Such procedural defi nitions of planning are supportive of neoliberal policy making and militate against greater equity. My argument is that justice, defined by democracy, diversity, and equity, ought to be the evaluative criterion for urban planning and policy.Keywords: Town planning, just city, democracy, diversity, equalit