Linking polycentricity concepts to periphery: implications for an integrative Austrian strategic spatial planning practice

The paper analyses with a case study the use of a widely applied normative concept of polycentricity as spatial imaginary. The case study of Helsinki City Plan and the conflict over its city-boulevard scheme draws on qualitative content analysis of planning documents and expert interviews. It demonstrates the instrumental role of multiple interpretations of polycentricity in tension-ridden metropolitan and city-regional spatial planning. The conflict reveals how the conceptual ambiguity of polycentricity and the institutional vagueness of city-regional planning have together enabled advancing contradictory political aims under their guise. In conclusion, the paper emphasizes the persuasive performativity and fluidity of polycentricity as a spatial imaginary in multi-scalar planning settings.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Oliveira & Hersperger, 2018;Shaw & Sykes, 2004), for example, for reaching densification and competitiveness goals (Schmitt, 2013). Similarly, polycentricity has successfully been used as an integrative concept at inter-city (Meijers et al, 2018) and national levels (Humer, 2018).…”

Section: Polycentricity As Spatial Imaginarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Polycentricity as spatial imaginary: the case of Helsinki City Plan

Granqvist

Sarjamo

Mäntysalo

2019

“…The Austrian Conference on Spatial Planning, a national level organization without legal mandate to enact plans, thus establishes working groups on specific themes to ensure the implementation of the legally non-binding Austrian Spatial Development Concept. Similar to the Urban Agenda partnerships, these partnerships involve actors from different organizations, which are expected to implement the results of the partnership in their respective jurisdiction (Humer, 2018).…”

Section: [C International Union Of Tenants]mentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the partnership approach in the EU Urban Agenda from the perspective of soft planning

Purkarthofer

2018

At the European level, several strategic documents concerned with spatial and urban development have been published during the last decades. While these documents are essential to communicate European ideas and objectives, they are often regarded least influential in practice due to their abstract nature, legally nonbinding status and lack of allocated resources. Though these limitations apply to the EU Urban Agenda, this recently published policy paper introduces partnerships as a new implementation tool. The partnerships can be regarded as innovative in two respects: On the one hand, they involve new actors, most importantly cities, in European policy debates. On the other hand, they ensure the anchorage of the Urban Agenda with a broad range of actors at various spatial scales without challenging its legally non-binding status. The Urban Agenda can thus be understood as another example of the move towards soft European spatial planning and urban development. This article investigates the notion of partnership as a soft planning and governance tool within the Urban Agenda. Moreover, based on expert interviews, it presents early opinions and expectations of actors involved in the development of the Urban Agenda and the partnerships on affordable housing.

“…In doing so, it convincingly shows that spatial analysis (Shearmur, 2011) within economic geography should go beyond accessibility and should incorporate indicators and concepts from the peripheralization literature. This is also true for policy documents which still apply simplistic periphery concepts, also in Austria (Humer, 2018). A first step would be to adapt the peripheralization discourse more profoundly in spatial development strategies on all geographic scales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peripheralization and knowledge bases in Austria: towards a new regional typology

Eder

2018

Scholars are increasingly interested in innovation in peripheral areas. However, research and policy documents are still often based on a traditional understanding of the core-periphery dichotomy. Here, the peripheralization discourse argues for a broader understanding and highlights the importance of economic, demographic, and political factors as well as knowledge intensity for defining core and peripheral areas. Concerning the latter, the differentiated knowledge base approach provides new insights, as it emphasizes the varying foundations for different kinds of innovations. By combining these hitherto unconnected strands of literature, this paper first develops a conceptual framework for a new regional typology, which considers both the degree of centralization/ peripheralization and the prevailing knowledge base. Second, an exploratory analysis applies this framework to the 95 districts of Austria and provides first insights into peripheralization and issues of regional prosperity. The results show that there are indeed many nuances and that regions that are clearly either central or peripheral are the exception. Furthermore, peripheries come in many shades and are not uniform, as often assumed implicitly. Consequently, this paper argues that a tailor-made innovation policy for lagging regions would benefit from the incorporation of the peripheralization discourse. To conclude, it outlines directions for future research.