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Dialogues in Urban
and Regional Planning.
Volume 2
Publisher: Routledge/Taylor and Francis
Group Buying information
Book review Through a selection of the best urban planning scholarship from each of the world's planning school associations "Dialogues in Urban and Regional Planning Volume II" offers a wide overview of the state of the art of regional planning across the world. All the papers presented have been previously selected and awarded through a competition by the Global Planning Association Network (GPEAN). However, the "academic" character of the book doesn't have to be considered as a limit. On the contrary, the book presents a significant point of view on a crucial topic of our time: knowledge formation processes in the age of globalization. In the introduction, Bruce Stiftel, Vanessa Watson and Henri Acselrad, editors of the book, underline what said before as one of the most problematic aspects of their work, but also as one of the most interesting ones. They maintain how, in a period of great transformation of the idea of knowledge itself, it is necessary to start from the "global themes" to measure the relationship (gap?) between global and local cultures. Thus, it seems useless to remark that the starting point of the book is represented by the topic of globalization and its impact on local knowledge systems. The rise of globalization has fostered a number of different representations
of the impact of global economy and global power on local socio-spatial
systems. Some of these representations imagine the complete disappearing
through assimilation of local cultures; others depict a process
of homogenization of the methodological and analytical approaches
to city and space. This consideration is very important for example,
at the European level, where the process of integration is progressively
fostering a general convergence of different planning traditions
toward very similar positions. At the global scale, the situation
doesn't seem so different, as long as the increasing pressure of
economy and power seems to impose almost everywhere similar strategies.
In the opening essay, entitled "Post-industrialism, post-modernism
and the reproduction of Vancouver's central area: retheorizing the
twenty-first century", the author focuses on the relationship between
globalization of economic processes and its impacts on social urban
life. In the last two decades Vancouver central area has been witnessing
to a general restructuring of its physical and social landscape,
with the location of multinationals, foreign investments in property,
the development of the urban mega-project, and growth of enclaves
of immigrant population. Thus the article tries to understand the
role of planning in introducing public values into the development
process to include public housing and public amenity. A key initiative,
Hutton argues, was the 1991 Central Area Plan, which enabled the
comprehensive reordering of the inner-city space within a complex
process that included diversity, complexity and interdipendency
of territory and land-use. The topic of globalization, which somehow represent the common
ground of all the essays presented, introduces a second topic, related
to the relationship between planning process, democracy and decision-making.
The March and Low article, entitled "Knowing and steering: mediatization,
planning and democracy in Victoria, Australia", offers a critique
of planning, viewed as an aspect of democratic governance, using
as a case the local planning system of the state of Victoria in
Australia. Starting from Habermas conception of the way policy is
influenced by "steering media" (e.g. low, bureaucracy, money), the
article analyses the relationship between the local government and
the problem of democracy in decision-making processes. From the
analysis of four "dilemmas of democracy", the authors underline
how in most liberal-democratic forms of government there are problems
in achieving a democratic decision-making process. The dilemmas
are: first, the need to include as many people as possible in a
democratic process versus the need to circumscribe the process itself
when decision have to be taken; second, the opposition between concentration
and dispersion of power; third, right-based approach versus utilitarian
approach based on public interest; fourth, equality delivered by
the state and liberty exercised through the market. The authors
conclude that each single institution involved in the functioning
of local democracy can act to remove barriers and limits and to
achieve a correct democratic planning process. The existing of multiple intersections between the topics exposed above and some main aspects of the Italian debate confirms the substantial continuity between local aspects and the global scenario. This element allows some conclusive notes on the nature and the utility of this debate in the analysis of the contemporary condition. A first consideration regards the need for an open debate between different experiences, as a fundamental element within the process of knowledge construction. There is however at least one aspect that must be considered. This regards first the nature of the process itself, which ultimately requires a more conscious consideration of the methodological and analytical criteria applied. For example the increasing claim for "superlatives" in urban analysis is progressively confusing more than clarifying the terms of the problem. Ultimately, it seems necessary to adopt a more careful methodological approach able to put in evidence the existing gap between reality and its (scientific) representation. This book represents a step in the direction of a global confrontation among planning schools across the world, not just in the sense of cultural exchange but also in terms of a deeper understanding of the methodological differences existing in each approach. The aim is hard but the outcome deserves attention, especially for the Italian university and research that could enrich itself a lot from such debate. (*) PhD in Territorial Policies and Local Projects, Roma Tre University.
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