Nancy Holman

Re‐evaluating the Contribution of Social Capital in Achieving Sustainable Development

The last decade has seen considerable interest in the concept of social capital and there have been a number of publications focused around the concept. A wide range of claims have been made for the analytic potential of social capital leading some to question the concepts continued value. We think that the concept still has considerable value if used in a careful and rigorous way. We further think that the concept has particular value when considering policy for sustainable development. However, just as sustainable development is a multi‐faceted concept, this application requires a multi‐faceted reading of social capital. Having concluded that a clearer typology of social capital is needed, we propose a threefold typology, adding the new category of ‘bracing’ social capital to the more commonly used distinction between ‘bonding’ and ‘bridging’ social capital. We also address the issues of what social capital can do and how it actually works, specifically in the context of policy for sustainable development.

Local Sustainability Indicators

Local Environment has established a bit of a niche in local sustainability indicator studies. In 1997 it published the important debate between Jeb Brugman and Graham Pinfield, which highlighted that sustainability indicators and their role are contested issues (Vol. 2, Nos 1-3). In 1999 it produce a first special issue on the topic (Vol. 4, No. 2). As the editors identified, this special issue probed ‘deeper into aspects of indicator selection, methodology, theory and practice’. The papers presented there began to discuss a theme that is developed further in this special issue, that of the relationship between the objective and the subjective in indicator development and use. Our special issue brings together three full papers and a commentary presenting research and information from the USA, Sweden, France and Austria. In this editorial we are going to review the growth of interest in sustainability indicators and the changing way in which they are viewed and briefly comment on some recent indicator projects that we have been involved in.

Incorporating local sustainability indicators into structures of local governance: a review of the literature

Too often studies about sustainability indicators focus either on the science that goes into indicator development seeking to make them rational and relevant or on the soft impacts such as social capital, community empowerment or capacity building that are outcomes of their use. When attention is turned to what effect they have on policy, it is often difficult to discern any link between their use and policy change. This paper seeks to address this problem by consolidating current thinking on indicators and asking the question: How far have notions of governance been incorporated into current research into indicators? The answer to this question has implications for the continuing utility of indicators as policy tools, not only in so far as they are able to aid the evaluation of policy, but also, and arguably more importantly, in how they are able to facilitate relationships between actors and act a catalyst around which various contested meanings of sustainability can be evaluated.

Institutions and indicators – The discourse about indicators in the context of sustainability

In order to implement policies towardssustainable development indicators are widelydiscussed to promote action in this direction.In addition, in many strategic documents onsustainable development (e.g., EU documents) theimportance of the development and use ofindicators is pointed out. In this contextindicators are meant to be used to supportpolitical decision making as well as toevaluate measurements towards sustainabledevelopment. In this article the developmentand use of indicators is questioned consideringtheir contextualisation and, hence, theirrelationship to existing institutions.Incorporating some of the main results from ananalysis of a regeneration programme in theLondon Borough of Southwark and from theanalysis of the Climate Protection Programme inthe city of Vienna, which are two of the casestudies examined during an EU funded projectcalled PASTILLE (Promoting Action forSustainability through Indicators at the LocalLevel in Europe), indicators are seen asdynamic sites of conflict and co-operationbetween policy actors. Different groups ofactors have diverse expectations or objectionsto this instrument. Indicators are, forexample, tools to augment transparency.Concerning certain institutional traditionsthis characteristic could explain opposition tothem.Indicators are meant to be another opportunityfor shaping the network of relationships,forging new relationships or reinforcing oldones. They are perceived as a means by whichactors seek to exercise power, retain statusand strive towards policy goals. The stabilityand fluidity of existing structures ofgovernance will, therefore, be central factorsin determining the history and future ofindicators promoting actions towardssustainable development. To put it differently,the central question of our paper is how thenature of institutions of governance is shapingthe use and development of indicators.

Incorporating sustainable development concerns into an urban regeneration project: how politics can defeat procedures

It is often thought that new procedural arrangements can help embed sustainable development as a policy goal into policy practice. This is the hope of tools such as environmental assessment, sustainability audits and sustainability indicators. Using a case study of urban regeneration in the London Borough of Southwark, this paper critically examines these claims. It shows how sustainable development was sidelined as a policy goal during the evaluation of the Master Plan for the area, the appraisal of individual projects for funding under the Single Regeneration Budget and the development of two local sustainability indicator projects. In each case the local political circumstances were key factors in shaping policy practice and outcomes. This leads to a re-evaluation of such procedural policy tools, emphasizing the importance of local governance contexts.

Community Participation: Using Social Network Analysis to Improve Developmental Benefits

Current British government policy leans heavily toward a participatory approach to urban development. The alleged benefits range from the growth of trust and social capital to better policy delivery and implementation involving a greater range of actors in the policy process. Yet, in many cases, poorly carried out partnership and participatory efforts can produce outcomes directly opposite to the benefits listed above. The author examines participation as a structural phenomenon and in doing so offers insights into how relationships could be strengthened in order to avoid these negative outcomes. Social network analysis is used to examine the structural relationships found within an urban redevelopment project in Portsmouth, England. Through the application of these measures, a number of relational patterns emerged which were not conducive to participation and left community groups feeling overwhelmed and underrepresented. The author concludes by noting how this technique could be used not only to highlight network imbalances, as seen in the case study, but also to offer community groups proactive advice in developing their network ties and communication structures, thus improving their overall position within the network and helping to deliver better levels of trust and social capital to the process.

What Can Social Capital Tell Us About Planning Under Localism

Abstract Local government and the planning system in England are set to be significantly overhauled with the passage of the Localism Act, which received Royal Assent on 15th November 2011. The localism agenda sees a new enhanced role for community participation but this raises a number of key questions: Who will get involved? Will the Act foster NIMBYism? How far can the localism agenda engender action toward implementation? Using the concept of social capital we examine these questions and outline what the key dilemmas may be for localist planning, in the process assessing the value of the social capital concept for such an analysis.

FOLLOWING THE SIGNS: APPLYING URBAN REGIME ANALYSIS TO A UK CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT: As the debate continues regarding the applicability of urban regime analysis in a UK context, three aspects stand out as highly significant: the target for analysis, the mode of scrutiny, and the context of local governing arrangements with its implications for interdependence as an impetus for co-operation. This article will examine urban regime analysis and the move from government to governance in order to answer why and how the private, voluntary and public sectors might be inclined to collaborate in regimes. In addition, the regime analysis will provide the parameters for examination whilst the issue of governance will afford context for local governing arrangements. Although some issues require slight reframing to reflect the UK context, the article will follow a rigorous framework for examination utilizing the full weight of regime analysis as articulated by Stone such that it could not be accused of “concept stretching.” Far from it: Through the examination of an informal partnership, a coalition of actors from the public, private, and voluntary sectors that has been in existence for more than 13 years, the article focuses, specifically, on the long-term, less visible aspects of local governance. As such, it is able to demonstrate how economic and political change can have a tangible effect on the manifestation of interdependence as an impetus for co-operation, not only for this specific locale but also for other cities facing similar challenges.

Effective strategy implementation: why partnership interconnectivity matters

Planners and city officials are increasingly being encouraged to create and make use of a variety of partnerships designed to tackle ‘wicked issues’ in their localities. However, many of these partnerships are by nature ephemeral, lasting only as long as their funding exists or until their particular work package is completed. A great deal of attention is paid to the internal functioning of these partnerships, but rather less is paid to the structural elements involved in how these partnerships are mapped onto existing governing structures. This creates a problem where the knowledge generated by these partnerships may also be seen as ephemeral, adding to partnership fatigue and cynicism amongst stakeholders. By linking network structure and collaborative capacity, I explore the depth of penetration and longevity of the knowledge created in such local partnerships.

A fetish and fiction of finance: unraveling the subprime crisis

Abstract As the moderately strengthened financial regulation of Basel III comes into effect over the next seven years, this article sets out a cautionary reminder as to why regulation needs to move beyond a focus on the mitigation and distribution of risk. To do so, the article unravels the much-misunderstood experiences of eight Norwegian municipalities whose investments plummeted as the subprime crisis unfolded: investments that had no immediate ties to subprime mortgage lending or mortgage-backed securities. Focusing on the processes, practices, and instruments of financialization, the article puts forward two new analytical concepts—“the fetishization of the knowledge of risk” and “fictitious distance”—to help explain how the crisis spread so quickly and extensively that it threatened not only the municipalities’ investments but also the functioning of global finance as a whole. In so doing, it becomes clear that financialization has set a far more risky form of capitalism that is manifest through concrete economic geographies, from towns and cities in the United States to “distant” Norwegian municipalities. In the highly interconnected entanglement of geographies and finance that make up the global financial system, the fetishes and fictions of finance cannot be ignored.