Neoliberal Urban Movements?: A Geography of Conflict and Mobilisation over Urban Renaissance in Antwerp, Belgium

Loopmans, Maarten; Dirckx, Toon

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-8924-3_6

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It has been further suggested that communicative action tends to suppress the radical and transformative edge in practice (Harris, ), favouring some social groups and not others (Young, , ; Flyvbjerg, ; Fainstein, ; Gunton et al ., ) by excluding the latter from urban decision‐making processes (Swyngedouw, ). Furthermore, the project‐based character of urban planning is criticized for preventing ‘movements from transcending the localized issues associated with a project's implementation’ (Swyngedouw et al ., : 574), aggravating the vertical fragmentation mentioned above, since it appears to be ‘too divisive for the local populace to provide a basis for widespread collective mobilization’ (Loopmans and Dirckx, : 112). An urban political setting based on diversification of interests, competition over rights and resources (Blokland et al ., ), an entrepreneurial modality privileging private interests, and the appearance of too many NGOs in urban space have contributed to the fragmentation in the movement terrain (Kemp et al ., ).…”

Section: The Relationship Between Urban Movements and Urban Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This situation has led to the initiation of urban movements by people directly affected by the planning decisions as well as people who oppose the neoliberalization of urban space. There has been a number of studies of movements against urban plans that introduce large‐scale infrastructure, renewal and redevelopment projects to urban centres (Pruijt, ; De Souza, ; Uitermark, ; Martinez, 2011; Loopmans and Dirckx, ; Nicholls and Vermeulen, ; Rutland, ; Lelandais, ; Schipper, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Fragmentation in Urban Movements: The Role of Urban Planning Processes

Özdemir

Eraydın

2017

Int J Urban Regional Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: The Relationship Between Urban Movements and Urban Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fragmentation in Urban Movements: The Role of Urban Planning Processes

Özdemir

Eraydın

2017

Int J Urban Regional Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Likewise, Harvey's (2001) use of the concept of 'militant particularism' warns that urban-based mobilizations are susceptible to being directed away from general social movements and locked into engagements over fragmented and particularistic issues. So far, the right-to-the-city literature has not responded to the conundrum of 'reactionary utopianism' identifi ed by their 1970s forerunners, even though its militant particularism has been identifi ed both theoretically and empirically as an obstacle to movement unity and upscaling (Ahmed, 2012;Loopmans and Dirckx, 2011;Mayer, 2006).…”

Section: Moving Beyond the Right To The Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cities and Social Movements: Theorizing beyond the Right to the City

Uitermark¹,

2012

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Guest editorial Cities and social movements: theorizing beyond the right to the city Cities breed contention. Social movements usually express themselves in cities, but cities have nevertheless been seen merely as a backdrop, as the empty canvas on which social movement activity unfolds. We maintain that the city is constitutive of social movements. The defi ning features of cities-density, size, and diversity (Wirth, 1938)-provide the basic elements for contention to develop. Because cities are dense, they are likely to trigger confl icts over space. Because they are large, they have suffi cient numbers to sustain organizations of even small minorities. And because cities are diverse, they become the laboratories where new ties are forged and the battlegrounds where competing demands vie for domination. Contention thus emerges from the microinteractions between large numbers of diverse people living in close proximity. Social movements crystallize when people organize to collectively claim urban space, organize constituents, and express demands. Contention and movements emanate from cities but also stretch outwards as activists broker relations between local and their more geographically distant allies. The recent series of protests demonstrate how the urban is uniquely conducive of contention and reveals the linkages that connect contention between different locales (Salah Fami, 2009). All over the world, protesters occupied central areas, formed relations among themselves, and expressed their demands for equality and liberty. During the Arab revolutions, relational and cognitive connections permitted activists in Tripoli and Bahrain to imagine their struggles in very similar ways to those in Cairo, in spite of very different and uneven political opportunities, mobilization capacities, and cultures (Lopes de Souza and Lipietz, 2011). This movement then inspired protesters in Spain to take to the squares, which inspired Occupy Wall Street, which in turn spiraled into the global-yet geographically uneven (Uitermark and Nicholls, 2012)-Occupy movement. Cities not only breed contention; they also breed control. In their ongoing struggles to maintain order and power, local states and their partners develop strategies and techniques to direct the ebbs and fl ows of contentiousness constantly bubbling up from the urban grassroots. The city is a generative space of mobilizations and, because of this, it is also the frontline where states constantly create new governmental methods to protect and produce social and political order, including repression, surveillance, clientelism, corporatism, and participatory and citizenship initiatives. These techniques combine in different ways from one city to the next, making cities not only prime sites for contentious innovation but also the places where new ways of regulating, ordering, and controlling social life are invented. This collection of papers examines the dialectic of contention and control within cities. On the one hand, it identifi es when, how, and why cities breed c...

show abstract

“…Planning, as has been shown in other previous studies, has moved to a more neo-liberal perspective, which has private economic interests and cooperation with private developers at its core. Other examples here include the development of the South Bank in London, UK, Örestad in Copenhagen, Denmark or the development of such policies in Antwerp, Belgium, which have been developed with similar spirit as Nova has [20,[52][53][54].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This could also be seen in light of neo-liberal planning, which others have taken up in research. The fact that economic and private aspects are influencing planning is not only the case in Sweden, but also in other parts in Europe [20,[51][52][53][54].…”

Section: Why Was Nova Allowed To Be Built and Expanded And What Happened To Cycling Accessibility?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Shopping Centres, Cycling Accessibility and Planning—The Case of Nova Lund in Sweden

Koglin

Glasare²

2020

Urban Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper evaluates the history and cycling accessibility of Nova, a shopping centre established in Lund, Sweden, in 2002. The current situation was also analysed through observation and a literature review. Moreover, the study conducted a closer analysis of the history and role of the municipality based on further literature study and interviews with officials. The conclusion of the analysis indicates poor and unsafe bikeways caused by conflicts of interest between politicians, officials, landowners and the general public. It also depicts a situation in which the municipality’s master plan has been ignored, and, in contrast to the local goals, cycling accessibility at Nova has seen no significant improvement since the shopping centre was first established. The reasons for this, arguably, are a relatively low budget for bikeway improvements in the municipality, as well as a situation in which decision-makers have stopped approaching the subject, as a result of the long and often boisterous conflicts it has created in the past. Lastly, it must be noted that it is easy to regard the whole process of Nova, from its establishment to the current situation, as being symptomatic of the power structures between drivers and cyclists that still affect decision-makers at all levels.

show abstract

Neoliberal Urban Movements?: A Geography of Conflict and Mobilisation over Urban Renaissance in Antwerp, Belgium

Cited by 7 publications

References 24 publications

Fragmentation in Urban Movements: The Role of Urban Planning Processes

Fragmentation in Urban Movements: The Role of Urban Planning Processes

Cities and Social Movements: Theorizing beyond the Right to the City

Shopping Centres, Cycling Accessibility and Planning—The Case of Nova Lund in Sweden

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About