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Urban Geography and Planning City regions and economic geographies Session organiser: Brita Hermelin, Dept Human Geography, Stockholm Univ Fast regional enlargement in Sweden - a phenomenon missing an explanation Jan Amcoff, Institute for futures studies, Stockholm, Sweden Since the early 2000s regional enlargement ( regionförstoring ) has become an important objective in the Swedish regional policy. Smaller regions are intended to be functionally integrated into larger neighbours through intensified commuting. This strive is facilitated by the fact that the coveted process seems self-propelled and already running. The number of functional regions is reported to have halved during the three last decades of the 20th century and are expected to half again until 2030. However, it has been difficult to confirm this fast development in other data. In this paper a set of explanations to this seemingly contradictory condition are suggested. The conclusion is that the Swedish regional enlargement partly might be fictitious, an effect of flaws and errors in the data and the way used to measure the process. The unfortunate message is that regional enlargement might not be such an easily practicable way to regional development it seems to be and that the assumption of a future Sweden of only 55-60 functional regions might have defective grounds. Swedish cities in ‘the space of flows’: National, European and Global Networks Brita Hermelin, Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University Cities are internally related to the ‘outside’ via interconnections, which involve flows of information, persons, and goods. The idea about the importance of the situation of cities is widely acknowledged and discussed by a large number of authors. A major trend in this discourse is that the geographical scale in focus has changed from the national to the international and global scales (cf. Robinson 2005). Concepts such as ‘world cities’ (Friedmann 1986), ‘global cities’ (Sassen 2001) and ‘globalising cities’ (Marcuse and van Kempen 2000) have emerged. This paper presents a literature overview of studies about Swedish cities in national, European and global networks of interconnections and flows. The analysis will primarily consider flows related to the economic sphere and the endeavour is designed to contribute to the body of existing knowledge on the development of Swedish cities. The paper also comprises a pilot study of the advertising sector and how firms in this sector involve flows to and from cities in Sweden. The study develops on the basis on quantitative as well as qualitative data. Good news for cities? The economic impacts of an aging population Peter Kresl, Dept Economics, Bucknell Univ., Lewisburg, PA, USA The growing age dependency ratio is a powerful factor facing all industrialized economies for the foreseeable future - especially in Europe and Japan. For national governments this is a ticking time bomb of fiscal consequences of rising retirement and health costs. But I argue that for cities or urban regions there is the potential for a very positive impact. This conclusion is based on analysis of the seniors themselves - in the coming years they will be healthier, wealthier, more mobile and more educated than ever before, as well as their decisions about place of residence - many chose to move into the city center for its amenities and convenience, and about how they will spend both their time and their money. The 45 and older cohort is disproportionately committed to cultural events and activities and to education - both of which are urban functions. In my presentation I will discuss the issue itself and what policies some municipal governments are introducing so as to capture this potential for revenues and audiences. I will discuss cities in both North America and the EU. Mobiles all around: Changes in everyday practice of urban youth Eva Thulin and Bertil Vilhelmson , Dept Human and Economic Geography, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg Univ.
[email protected], Bertil
[email protected] This paper explores how young people’s everyday patterns of social communication are affected by the increased use of mobile phones. We discuss three areas in which there are potential implications: (i) contact patterns and face-to-face interaction; (ii) other forms of spatial mobility; and (iii) individual planning and use of time. Empirically, we rely on an in-depth, three-wave panel study of forty young persons living in Göteborg, Sweden, supplemented by national ICT-use survey data. Results show that young people’s total interactions with their social environment increase as the mobile promotes a flexible lifestyle of instant exchange and constant updates. Thresholds — regarding space, time, and content — for communicative action are reduced. A more impulsive practice of decision-making evolves and people become more careless about timekeeping. With the reduction in the constraints of time and space, the instant access of the mobile becomes difficult to refuse, and perceived dependency on mobiles increases. Yet, relationships are not uniform. Among more frequent mobile users the mobile seems to generate additional out-of-home interaction. Less frequent mobile users stay at home more, but spend more time socialising on the Internet. Gender differences in mobile use become less apparent over time. Office development in Dublin: Out to the edge and back …? Sunnhild Bertz, Dept Geography, National Univ. Ireland, Maynooth Postal address: 22 Cambridge Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6, Ireland E-mail:
[email protected] The rapid emergence of large-scale office development at Dublin’s edge was a defining feature of the city’s growth during the period 1996 – 2001 (which represents Dublin’s fourth office development boom), accounting for around 70 per cent of office space completions compared to less than 15 per cent during 1960 – 1995. This geographical shift, with serious implications for sustainability, occurred within the context of a highly favourable suburban planning environment, driven by inter-local authority competition for commercial rates income and, in some cases, tax incentives for developers, investors and occupiers. The limitations of a planning-driven approach to office development quickly came to the fore during the office market downturn after 2001, with the tide of new office development swiftly retreating from Dublin’s edge. Dublin’s office property market is currently experiencing a fifth major phase of expansion (since 2004). While edge urban locations have so far been largely by-passed in terms of further new development, the paper considers the potential of these peripheral sites for being incorporated into the current boom and highlights some of the key factors impacting on office development outcomes over the next couple of years. Reassembling the urban. Creating and destroying contemporary city landscapes Session organisers: Mauro Cannone, Royal Holloway Univ. London, and Sara Fregonese, Newcastle Univ. ALL THAT IS SOLID DOES NOT MELT INTO AIR: SOCIAL CAPITAL, POWER, AND TRUST IN VENICE’S URBAN DEVELOPMENT. Mauro Cannone This paper examines the dynamics of urban regeneration in the specific context of Venice, a city in which the complex strategies of ‘development’ has had to face the challenges of a built environment constrained by the exceptional presence of water and ‘history’. The present analysis focuses on the redevelopment of the Arsenale , a vast semi-abandoned area formerly hosting industrial and military activities, and now lying at the heart of Venice as a problematic urban void. In particular, the paper addresses the processes of the creation of a Maritime Technologies Centre ( Thetis ) located in the Arsenale . This redevelopment initiative, besides contributing to the rejuvenation of the area, crucially shows an interesting example of how to revitalize the socioeconomic life of a city jeopardized by the permanent loss of residents and functions. Rather than framing Thetis as the result of a coherent strategy put forward by urban administrators and business leaders, its constitution is re-narrated here through a closer description of a more precarious network of actors mobilized around the project. Woven by both social and material threads, the network is configured by often undistinguishable relations of friendships, business, acquaintance etc., able to draw on and effectively put into action various resources embedded in the local milieu of Venice. In this account, social capital – that is, the mobilization of resources through social relations – emerges as the key element flowing within a network which crucially takes and holds its shape according to the modalities in which ‘power’ and ‘trust’ are able to assemble the associations between different actors. In highlighting the role of these two dimensions, the article aims at enabling new possibilities of addressing the dynamics of socioeconomic growth, suggesting that local ‘development’ depends also on how potential resources rooted ‘in place’ are effectively enacted by means of social relations. Rebuilding a Troubled Past The political geography of urban redevelopment in Germany. Dr. Jan Henrik Nilsson Department of Service Management, Lund University. Box 882, 251 08 Helsingborg, Sweden. Town planning has increasingly been forced to take history seriously when city centres are redeveloped. Preservation, conservation and finding new use for degraded buildings and areas has gained importance, politically and publicly. Some environments that previously have been
