Transforming Cities: Opportunities and Challenges of Urban Regeneration in the Basque Country

Urban renewal policies seek to reverse physical, economic, and social decline in particular areas or neighborhoods—or in whole cities. Such policies are typically associated with public sector solutions to problems in the urban decline of former industrialized spaces that involve developing new economic activities by means of transforming such spaces once more into dynamic and attractive areas. Transforming Cities explores the multiple dimensions—incorporating physical-morphological, economic, functional, cultural, and residential elements—of urban renewal policies in the Basque Country and beyond. Individual chapters discuss urban regeneration in Bilbao, the legal framework of urban planning as a public function, the "smart city" model of sustainable and intelligent urban spaces, and culture as a strategic element for the reactivation, renewal, and development of new urban models, including the specific case of cultural heritage as a factor in the urban regeneration of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the legal implications of expropriating cultural assets, public and private collaboration to create cultural clusters, and, finally, the tensions that exist between institutionally driven visions of such transformation and more community-based approaches.This book was published with generous financial support from the Basque Government.Introduction by Arantxa Rodríguez and Joseba Juaristi ? 1. A Model of Regeneration? Urban Redevelopment and Policy-led Gentrification in Bilbao by Arantxa Rodríguez, Pedro Abramo, and Lorenzo Vicario ? 2. Some Reflections on Urban Revitilization and Regeneration in Central Asturias and Metropolitan Bilbao (1980-2010) by Joseba Juaristi Linacero ? 3. Urban Rehabilitation and the Necessity of Conservation: A New Approach by Pilar Garrido Gutiérrez ? 4. RDI and Urban Sustainability: The "Smart City" Model in the Basque Autonomous Community by Estibaliz Rodríguez Núñez and Iñaki Periàñez Cañadillas ? 5. Cultural Policy and Urban Regeneration: Exploring Conditions for Renewal Effectiveness by Beatriz Plaza ? 6. Cultural Heritage as a Factor in the Urban Regeneration of Vitoria-Gasteiz by Agustín Azkarate and Ander de la Fuente ? 7. The Expropriation of Cultural Assets in Urban Regeneration: On the Ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Kozacio?lu v. Turkey, February 19, 2009 by Carmen Agoues Mendizabal ? 8. Urban Development and Commercial Invigoration through Cultural Clusters in Peripheral Neighborhoods of Bilbao by Gloria Aparicio and Jon Charterina ? 9. Power and Potential: Enclosure and Eruption in Bilbao by Igor Ahedo Gurrutxaga and Imanol Telleria ? Inde