Hans Thor Andersen

New trends in urban policies in Europe: evidence from the Netherlands and Denmark

Abstract Current social dynamics have aggravated social inequalities in most European countries during the last two decades. The changes have accelerated differences in living conditions between groups in the cities and between neighbourhoods within cities. Along with increasing social polarization, there are clear signs of a spatial dimension to this process. The past gives clear indications that universal programmes and urban polices of regeneration have been unable to cope with the problem of polarization. Cities and national governments seem to be aware of this, as they have developed new ways of organizing urban policy. There are many similarities in the changes of urban policy from country to country, although no coordinating authority has influenced this. First, the new urban policy is organized differently: it now involves partners other than public authorities, often including (parts of) the population of the areas in question. There seems to be a shift from government to governance. The greater openness to the public is of decisive importance. Second, citizens have been invited into the process of urban improvements; empowerment labels attempt to generate social capital in marginalized neighbourhoods. Third, the new urban policy is being targeted to bounded areas. Fourth, a move from sectoral to more integrative policies can be discerned. And finally, at least in some countries, policies are taking the form of contracts or covenants. All of the above changes are made in order to maximize the efficiency of public policy. This paper discusses these now widely used aspects of urban policy. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the effort to broaden the sphere of stakeholders? What are the benefits of a shift from a universalist to targeted strategies and of a shift from sectoral to more integrative policies? What are the problems and consequences of the increasing use of governance?

The End of Urbanization?: Towards a New Urban Concept or Rethinking Urbanization

Urban growth and development have always been associated with specific nodes in an urban system. This association, however, does not make much sense in a world where the functional areas of many large cities have merged to form continuous urban landscapes. When more than 85% of a countrys population is urbanized, the process of urbanization as commonly understood has come to an end, so that traditional means of analysis no longer suffice. Within a Danish context, this paper discusses limits to traditional urban analyses based on individual urban places and an urban rural dichotomy. It argues for the use of an alternative concept related to localization within a larger urban landscape and goes on to demonstrate how the pattern of urban growth in Denmark over the last 25 years may be explained by increasing mobility and improved access to labour markets.

The emerging Danish government reform – centralised decentralisation

Across Western Europe, a number of governmental reforms have been implemented and more recently many have been rejected. These reforms are considered to be examples of adaptation to new global conditions; however, not all shifts in governmental systems and organisation are a result of the logic of globalisation. The current implementation of a new local government reform in Denmark can be considered to be one such example. In each case, the specific circumstances and history of a country play a major role; there is no universal model for the transition to neoliberal state reforms. To many observers, the nation state is being ‘hollowed out’ – simply squeezed from both the international and the subnational level as a result of globalisation and related processes. The Danish local government reform does not strengthen the metropolitan Copenhagen vis-à-vis other North European metropoles. Rather, the reform seems to reduce the room for manoeuvre and in fact dismantles major parts of the citys strategic capacity and institutions. On the other hand, the Danish case of increased pressure for local adaptation to global economic challenges and financial control from central government represents a special version of the neoliberal competitive state.

Social polarisation in a segmented housing market. Social segregation in Greater Copenhagen

Abstract As in most other western countries Denmark has experienced increasing concentration of social problems in certain housing areas. This geographical polarisation has a double root; on the one hand has globalisation led to economic restructuring and in turn squeezed large groups out of labour market. On the other hand, since about 1970 the Danish housing market has become strongly segmented in relation to social composition of the residents of different tenures. This article examines the impact of a segmented housing market on segregation in Greater Copenhagen. It is concluded that housing segmentation is the major component behind the exisiting pattern of segregation. Geografisk Tidsskrift, Danish Journal of Geography 100: 71–83.

Social change and segregation in Copenhagen

This article examines socio-spatial changes resulting from economic and social restructuring in Copenhagen in recent decades. The main features of these changes have involved a sharp decline in manufacturing employment, a rise in the participation of women in the labour market, increasing unemployment among unskilled workers, a growing number of immigrants in obsolete dwellings and social housing estates, a relative decline in the number of families, and a growth in the numbers of single parent households. Do these changes challenge the classic models of segregation, or can they still be considered valid? Empirical evidence is produced concerning the socio-spatial effect of these changes in Copenhagen. The conclusion is that the classical model of social segregation is still valid, although some additional dimensions must be included. Furthermore, the overall socio-spatial structure of Copenhagen remains relatively intact, largely because of the inertia of the urban landscape and its social relations. However, the radical nature of the restructuring processes can also be called into question.

Metropolitan Marketing and Strategie Planning: Mega Events. A Copenhagen Perspective

Danish Journal of Geography: 71–82, 1995. This paper presents two mega events as tools in the strategic planning of the Copenhagen area. Due to growing inter-metropolitan competition, increasingly offensive and complex means are applied. This demands strong leadership, stable longterm planning and willingness to accept the costs in order to reach the objectives. Marketing versus strategic planning is discussed. The general position of Copenhagen in the European urban system gives perspective to a potential change on the South Scandinavian urban scene. New instruments of strategic planning in Greater Copenhagen are introduced. The competitive level of Copenhagen is analyzed in relation to Stockholm, Berlin and Hamburg. Two examples of mega events are discussed that represent typical elements in urban competition: cultural events and infrastructure improvements. 1) Copenhagen as ‘The cultural City of Europe’ in 1996 represents a temporary mega event. 2) The planned bridge between Copenhagen and the south Sw...

Globalisation, spatial polarization and the housing market

Abstract Major cities in the western world now have entered a new and different phase of economic and social development since the apparent end of urban growth during the 1970s. The growing and, especially in Europe, more intense international cooperation have created a new institutional structure for coping with social and economic turmoil in the wake of globalisation. A number of papers have discussed and demonstrated the social and economic effects of economic restructuring inherent in globalisation, and other associated transformations. However, other processes peripheral to globalisation challenge its claim to being the sole cause of most important social changes. Demographic changes such as an ageing population have a major impact on the social structure of cities as well as local institutional arrangements, i.e. in relation to housing conditions.

Land and Building Values Development Cycles of the Built Environment

Danish Journal of Geography 95: 59–70, 1995. The present paper examines the relationship between developments within the built environment and the land (sites) on which they are situated. It has four parts: Firstly, problems related to an urban concept as well as the concept of a “built environment” are examined. Physical as well as economic lifetime of urban structures are considered in relation to urban land, and problems related to the urban land market are discussed. It is concluded that—as urban land is socially produced and has a fixed location which is inseparable from the buildings located on it—specific problems arise when the buildings decay. Secondly, problems with respect to industrial restructuring and the built environment, particularly in the Copenhagen area, are reviewed. Thirdly, an idealized model of the development cycles of the built environment is presented and a number of individual empirical examples are examined in relation to the model. Finally, it is concluded that the changing r...

Urban Knowledge and Large Housing Estates in Europe

Urban challenges have become increasingly important in policy making in Europe during recent decades and greater resources and research activities have been directed toward addressing these challenges. While cities during the 1970s and 1980s were mainly considered as problem containers, they have, perhaps due to globalisation, become core localities of the present efforts to strengthen national and European competitiveness (ESDP 1999; Brenner 2004; Ache and Andersen 2008; Andersen et al. 2009).

Urban Knowledge and Urban Policy

As we have seen in contemporary societies, particularly in relation to the ‘knowledge-based society and economy’, the role and position of knowledge has acquired increasingly strong and positive connotations; this is an indication that reflection and careful preparation is important before action takes place (although one might argue that this has always been the case). When knowledge is deployed in relation to specific subjects or objects of action, it is assumed that this will lead to improved outcomes compared to other forms of action that do not explicitly seek to integrate the relevant knowledge that is available. Yet despite this recognition of the importance of knowledge what counts as knowledge is often not considered, its substance is rarely carefully examined. Given this it worth bearing in mind that while knowledge is a generic concept used in everyday interactions and contexts it appears in many shapes and guises ranging from scientific and codified forms of knowledge to everyday forms; what the chapters in this book, and the wider literature show is that there is a wide range of knowledge forms that are often summarised as ‘common sense’, a kind of reasoning based on experience or ‘learning by doing’ (what might be termed practical knowledge or ‘know how’). As a result a good deal of knowledge is never expressed directly; experience tells the individual how to handle various situations. This is related to what is called tacit knowledge, which generally is the most common mode in which knowledge appears in many areas of life, including the sciences. On the other hand, formulated (or codified) knowledge is what we can discuss and exchange views about; to organise this debate some basic rules have developed over time.