Search

This introductory article does three things. First, it compares neo-liberal and social innovation discourses about urban socio-economic change, including associated policies and key agencies. Second, it seeks to improve the analytical framework of urban development by combining 'spatialized' Regulation Theory with elements from Cultural Political Economy and from Urban Regime Theory. Third, with the help of case-studies, the article illustrates how social innovation is a potentially powerful concept, capable of anchoring urban change movements more firmly into the local social and political fabric. The case-studies, some of which are included in this special issue, analyse examples of social innovation in a number of European urban contexts, within the framework of the FP5 SINGOCOM research project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the changes since the 1970s in the urban political regime in Antwerp. It focuses on the period 1990-2005; there was a shift from the traditional physical renewal policy (including social housing construction) of the 1980s, to a neighbouthood-based socially innovative urban development policy (1990s), and finally to a more mainstream real-estate led and market-driven urban policy starting in 2002. The article addresses both the material and discursive practices of main actors within the spheres of political and civil society. The analysis is built around the history of the neighbourhood development association BOM, once a leading urban policy innovator, but closed down in 2005 because it no longer fitted within the 'new' city-hall-controlled top-down urban policy concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to launch a debate on a broader meaning of the term 'innovation' and its significance for local and regional development. Innovation and related economic and social categories have been at the centre of policy discussions on the future of the European economy and society Reflections on the innovative and learning region (Territorial Innovation Models; TIMs) have under- pinned regional and local development policies. Yet dissatisfaction with the technologist and market- competition-led development concept of the TIMs is growing and today its shortcomings are well known. But to formulate an alternative based on a different ontology requires a multidimensional reflection on the pillars of territorial development The first section briefly refers to the critical evaluations of the literature on regional innovation and the so- called Territorial Innovation Models. The second section returns to basic questions about the meaning of regional economic development and innovation. It puts forward community development based on social innovation as an alternative to market-led territorial development. The third section examines the consequences of the community ontology for the definition of a number of basic concepts. Categories such as capital, knowledge, learning, evolution, culture and so on receive a different meaning in a model where the economic is only one dimension of the overall dynamics of community development. The fourth section integrates the role of power relations and the articulation between various spatial sales and institutional settings into the community-development approach. The final section dwells on the consequences of this community-oriented territorial approach for contemporary research agendas on local and regional development policies and strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has large-scale urban regeneration in general and Euralille in particular affected the social and economic harmony of the Lille Metropolis, the largest northern agglomeration of France? To answer this question, the impact of large-scale urban development projects on real estate, housing and job markets is evaluated. It is found that Euralille plays in the first instance an emblematic role in the economic development and social reconstruction of the Lille community. Its impact on socio-economic 're-zoning' of the metropolis is however far from just symbolic. It has set the trend to a new type of corporate estates, it has disturbed the construction cycle of new offices in other parts of the urban region, and it has taken the lead in the creation of a 'middle-market' retail system attracting customers from far beyond the Lille agglomeration to its shopping arcades. Moreover, together with other downtown real estate initiatives, it has fuelled the displacement of lower-income housing to cheaper areas of the Metropolis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the role of urban policy in the process of social polarization of metropolitan areas in Europe. Inequality among communities ans social groups within the city; Poverty trap for all urban communities; Eras of imperialism and colonialism.