Actually existing managerialism: Planning, politics and property development in post-1945 Britain

Abstract

This article engages a long-established paradigm within urban studies: that of the transition from managerialism to entrepreneurialism in late 20th-century urban governance and the associated process of neoliberalisation. It begins from a fundamental intellectual problem; although we are well served with studies of urban entrepreneurialism and neoliberalism, we know surprisingly little of the detailed workings of the ‘pre-neoliberal’, managerial era from the 1940s to the 1970s. In the absence of sustained investigation of this period, many chronologies and critiques of urban transformation rest upon a set of assumptions which – as this article shows – are not always accurate. The article focuses upon Britain, tracing the installation of a modern planning regime in the 1940s and surveying some key features of the UK urban redevelopment regime as it evolved over the ensuing decades. It shows that much of what is held to be paradigmatic of neoliberal urbanism (public–private partnerships, urban entrepreneurialism, financialisation) was already powerfully present within British urbanism in the earlier, managerial era. I highlight in particular the dramatic post-war rise of the UK property development industry, and the new urban forms and norms it generated, as a key product of the era of urban managerialism in Britain. I relate these surprising findings to Britain’s distinctive history and political economy but I also advance arguments that are of wider relevance; around the nature and aims of governance from the 1940s to the 1970s, and how we should best conceptualise and explain processes of neoliberalisation.

Entrepreneurs beyond neoliberalism: Municipally owned corporations and climate change mitigation in German cities

“…But these strategies vary both nationally and regionally (Brenner, 2004: 471–476; 2019; Cox, 2017; Parés et al, 2014; Pierre, 2011, 2014). Therefore, comparative debates highlight the importance of characterising and differentiating forms of, and historical trajectories towards, entrepreneurialism (Kefford, 2021; Phelps and Miao, 2020).…”

Building ‘Holland’s Tallest Office Block’: The Transnational Origins and Troubled History of a Speculative Office Development in Post-War Rotterdam

“…Rotterdam -as will be seen -was another major focus of activity. Town & City's operations in 1970s Rotterdam were also directly linked to the course of post-war urban redevelopment in the UK (Kefford 2021), where the company was a major player in the London office market, a favoured partner in state-sponsored urban renewal schemes, and a popular investment for the City of London's powerful financial institutions.…”

“…The firm was responsible for planting dozens of American-style shopping malls across the UK. Many of these projects were part of state-sponsored urban renewal schemes, undertaken in partnership with the public sector during the high moment of enthusiasm for comprehensive redevelopment and urban modernism in Britain (Kefford 2021).…”