Suchergebnisse

AbstractProgrammes of organized, political violence have always been legitimized and sustained through complex imaginative geographies. These tend to be characterized by stark binaries of place attachment. This article argues that the discursive construction of the Bush administration's 'war on terror' since September 11th 2001 has been deeply marked by attempts to rework imaginative geographies separating the urban places of the US 'homeland' and those Arab cities purported to be the sources of 'terrorist' threats against US national interests. On the one hand, imaginative geographies of US cities have been reworked to construct them as 'homeland' spaces which must be re‐engineered to address supposed imperatives of 'national security'. On the other, Arab cities have been imaginatively constructed as little more than 'terrorist nest' targets to soak up US military firepower. Meanwhile, the article shows how both 'homeland' and 'target' cities are increasingly being treated together as a single, integrated 'battlespace' within post 9/11 US military doctrine and techno‐science. The article concludes with a discussion of the central roles of urban imaginative geographies, overlaid by transnational architectures of US military technology, in sustaining the colonial territorial configurations of a hyper‐militarized US Empire.

In the year 2000, a small conservative New Zealand town received a new name. Pokeno became JenniferAnn.com. Why take on such a name? Familiar to motorists as the town at the end of the Southern Motorway, in the 1990s Pokeno was also "Bacon Country." Distinctive welcome signs featured pink pigs that smiled at the 12,000 motorists entering Pokeno daily. They sat within a plethora of messages: Coca Cola, Mobil, Kodak, speed limit signs, and utility instructions. In 1999, the motorway bypassed Pokeno. With reduced traffic, how could this little town retain a place on the map? Enter JenniferAnn.com, brainchild of the owner of an Internet lingerie business. Renaming the town JenniferAnn.com was a stunt to propel Pokeno—and JenniferAnn.com—to great publicity. The town moved from having a name to being a brand. The highly local became global. Pokeno—now JenniferAnn.com—became a site in cyberspace.

The study deals with the process of a power transition in Moravian nationally mixed towns after the First World War. The formation of Czechoslovakia was accompanied not only by the takeover of central political authorities, but necessarily also by a power transition at the regional level. The study takes particular note of the complicated process of the taking control of municipal councils in key Moravian towns, which were, until the formation of Czechoslovakia, in most cases under the decisive influence of the German bourgeoisie. Unlike in the Austro-Hungarian era, when the question of the composition of self-governments had been entirely in the hands of the local voters, the interest of the central institutions of the new state as well as of the political parties was now reflected in municipal affairs. In the process of the power transfer, the merging of municipalities played a very important role, being carried out in the post-war reality to serve as a means of solving the complex national-political situation in nationally mixed areas.

"In weaving critical and comparative perspectives throughout a very lively and accessible exploration of urban governance and policy, Madeleine Pill's book is a significant achievement. It will reward students at all levels for years to come, especially those who study cities for their political vibrancy and transformative potential." - Professor Jonathan Davies, De Montfort University, UK "Governing Cities provides students across planning, public policy, politics and geography the conceptual tools to understand how cities are governed, and how they could be governed in more equitable, democratic and citizen-centred ways. Its use of historical and contemporary examples from a diverse set of countries means that it will become foundational for urban studies teaching and learning worldwide." - Professor Robyn Dowling, University of Sydney, Australia "This is not just another public policy textbook. Governing Cities is an exploration of theory and practice. The reader is invited to consider how to understand politics and policymaking in relation to cities and how to improve them both. As such, it presents an ambitious discussion of the history, role, and governance of cities, which informs how to engage in urban politics to address the future of cities in relation to crises such as climate change and pandemics. It is a great example of how to make the study of policy jump off the page into real life." - Paul Cairney, University of Stirling, UK "This is the book so many of us critically-minded urbanists have been waiting for! A clear, comprehensive, and refreshingly critical introduction to the governance of cities, urbanism, and the possibilities of equitable and just urban social change. Completely accessible to undergraduate students, yet analytically sophisticated and in-depth enough to also serve as a foundational text for graduate students." - David Imbroscio, University of Louisville, USA This textbook helps us understand the political and policy-based challenges of how to equitably govern cities. It poses critical questions – about how cities are governed, by whom and for whom – and draws from a wide range of urban scholarship. The 'how' covers urban politics and the policy instruments which result. The 'by whom' addresses power relations within and beyond the city. The 'for whom' centres equity and the role of citizens and collective action in how we are governed. In addressing these questions, the book provides an overview of the core theories of urban politics and governance, explores what happens at different scales, and examines new forms of citizen activism. It is a unique introduction to students, policymakers and practitioners who want to understand and seek to improve urban politics and policy. Madeleine Pill is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- List of contributors -- 1. Creating smart cities -- Introduction -- The political economy of smart cities -- Smart cities, citizenship and ethics -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Acknowledgements -- References -- PART I: The political economy of smart cities -- 2. A Digital Deal for the smart city: Participation, protection, progress -- Introduction -- Smart governance: Austerity and accumulation -- Austerity -- Accumulation -- A programme for alternative smart urbanism -- Snapshot: The Digital Deal -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 3. Politicising smart city standards -- Introduction -- What do smart city standards standardise and why? -- Orders of meaning and action -- Reconfiguring the field of possibilities -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 4. Urban revitalization through automated policing and "smart" surveillance in Camden, New Jersey -- Introduction: From industrial collapse to economic revitalization -- The evolution of policing practices -- Securing the city through automated surveillance -- Conclusion: Who benefits from the surveilling of Camden? -- Acknowledgements -- References -- 5. Can urban "miracles" be engineered in laboratories? Turning Medellín into a model city for the Global South -- Introduction -- From entrepreneurial to experimental cities: Urban exemplars and innovation in the social sciences -- Innovation as an "engine for development" -- Assembling economic performance and social inclusiveness through urban experiments -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 6. Building smart city partnerships in the "Silicon Docks" -- Introduction -- Selective modernity and urban decline -- The Dublin Docklands becomes a national signifier.

This book reports on the latest, cutting-edge scholarship on integrating social network and spatial analyses in the built environment. It sheds light on conceptualization and Implementation of such integration, integration for intra-city level analysis, as well as integration for inter-city level analysis. It explores the use of new data sources concerning human andurban dynamics and provides a discussion of how social network and spatial analyses could be synthesized for a more nuanced understanding of the built environment. As such this book will be a valuable resource for scholars focusing on city-related networks in a number of 'urban' disciplines, including but not limited to urbangeography, urbaninformatics, urban planning, urban sociology, andurban studies.

"Company towns have shaped Canadian culture, but many of such communities have undergone radical transitions to an uncertain post-industrial future. How are these communities dealing with their historic landscapes--especially the residential neighbourhoods threatened by neglect or gentrification, places that some would prefer to forget, others to romanticize, and still others to understand and to re-use. There is much more work to do than put up plaques or pass designation by-laws. There are complex social and financial realities to consider. This book explores what happens, or sometimes what does not happen, when residents and policy-makers try to conserve the fabric or vestiges of communities whose economies have collapsed or places that have been forced to make a major transition to stay alive. But the ability to make a transition has a great deal to do with the DNA of a place. What were its founding moments? What were the early institutions and organizations that forged a spirit of place? How have these shaped the character of the community and made it more or less entrepreneurial when faced with the sometimes urgent need to re-orient the local economy and find new vocations for places. These sorts of economic and social considerations are seeping into the consciousness of those who work on and champion heritage conservation in Canada, and they are the subject of this collection of essays from academics and practitioners widely engaged in a variety of projects hoping to redefine the company town."--

With the urbanization of the world's population proceeding apace and the equally rapid urbanization of poverty, urban theory has an urgent challenge to meet if it is to remain relevant to the majority of cities and their populations, many of which are outside the West.This groundbreaking book establishes a new framework for urban development. It makes the argument that all cities are best understood as 'ordinary', and crosses the longstanding divide in urban scholarship and urban policy between Western and other cities (especially those labelled 'Third World'). It considers th