Uwe Altrock

Urban Governance in Zeiten der Schrumpfung

Uber Governance im stadtischen Kontext ist in den letzten Jahren viel geschrieben worden (fur einen Uberblick mit Zuspitzung auf Stadtentwicklungs- und Planungspolitik vgl. Nuissl/Heinrichs 2006). Mindestens drei Stromungen waren dabei zu beobachten: eine eher definitorische, die dem schillernden Begriff Governance naher zu kommen versuchte, eine normative, die in dem Postulat einer Abwendung von Government und hin zu Governance einen Ausdruck eines kooperativ agierenden Staats sieht und Grunde benennt, warum eine Zusammenarbeit von politisch-administrativem System, privaten Unternehmen und Zivilgesellschaft zur Bewaltigung stadtpolitischer Herausforderungen sinnvoll sei, und schlieslich drittens eine an alytische, der es im Wesentlichen darum geht, die Ausformungen einer solchen Zusammenarbeit zu beschreiben und zu erklaren1.

The Pearl River Delta in Progressive Transformation

This introduction gives an outline of the book and explains the context the developments happen in. It sets out to define the notion of “maturing megacities” and stresses why the selected topics are of major relevance for the Pearl River Delta. It explains the thematic focus on projects that deal with the redevelopment, restructuring, and reuse of parts of the urban cores that have already been in use or still are and consist mainly of already built-up areas. This focus allows for a more profound analysis of the evolving strategies of dealing with one of the major challenges of southern Chinese maturing mega-urban regions. The challenges of a combination of changes in market value, functional loss, and physical neglect and the search for appropriate ways to overcome it are outlined here. The chapter sketches crucial background developments in the context of political, socioeconomic, and physical restructuring. It introduces the two major case studies, the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen and the crucial experimental modes of governance that accompany the ongoing reform process.

Stadtentwicklungsprobleme der mittelosteuropäischen EU-mitgliedstaaten

KurzfassungDie Öffnung der mittelosteuropäischen Staaten um 1990 und die sich anschließenden Transformationsprozesse haben tiefgreifende Umbrüche für die Städte mit sich gebracht, die stadträumlich wie regional selektiv wirken und die Metropolen bevorzugen. Im Umgang mit ausländischen Investoren ist es nur teilweise gelungen, die räumliche Entwicklung vorausschauend zu steuern. Die beachtlichen Aufwertungstendenzen in den Innenstädten gehen daher mit Nebenwirkungen einher, die teilweise aus dem Westen bekannte Entwicklungsmuster wie die Einzelhandelssuburbanisierung nachvollziehen. Der Beitrag plädiert vor dem Hintergrund des 2004 erfolgten EU-Beitritts und der sich abzeichnenden Polarisierungstendenzen für die Stärkung der staatlichen Ansätze einer umfassenden Bestandspolitik.AbstractThe transition from socialist to market-oriented economies after 1990 brought about farranging changes in Central European cities with locally and regionally selective effects. The capital areas that profited a lot from those trends were only partly successful in strategically influencing spatial development. Therefore the remarkable upgrading of inner cities was accompanied by unintended effects somewhat similar to known development patterns in the West such as suburban sprawl. After the enlargement of the EU in 2004 and with the upcoming socio-spatial polarisation there is an increasing need for state-funded regeneration strategies that should contribute to overcoming the lack of integrated urban policies prevailing in many of the accession states.

Das Leitbild von der „Wachsenden Stadt“ — genial oder fatal?

Der vorliegende Beitrag hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, das Konzept des Hamburgischen Senat zur „Wachsenden Stadt“ vor dem Hintergrund der in den letzten Jahren wieder aufgeflammten Leitbild-Debatte in der deutschen Planerwelt zu reflektieren und in Beziehung zu setzen mit anderen Versuchen, uber ein gesamtstadtisches Konzept Wachstum zu erzeugen, zu stimulieren oder zu „verordnen“. Dazu wird insbesondere diskutiert, welche Wirkungen Leitbildern in der Stadtentwicklungspolitik heute zukommen. Die im Titel dieses Beitrags enthaltene Unterstellung, es handle sich unter Umstanden sogar um ein geniales Leitbild, wird die zahlreichen Kritiker des Ansatzes vielleicht zu einem Aufschrei veranlassen. Dennoch wird im Folgenden begrundet werden, warum es unter gewissen Kriterien — namlich genau denen, die ublicherweise an die Wirkungsweise von Leitbildern angelegt werden — tatsachlich als beachtlich angesehen werden muss. Damit wird aber noch kein Bekenntnis fur oder gegen die enthaltenden stadtentwicklungspolitischen Positionen ausgedruckt. Die Trennung zwischen stadtentwicklungspolitischer Einschatzung des Konzepts und seiner strategischen Funktion wird hier ganz bewusst gemacht. Sie weist darauf hin, wie problematisch die haufig zu beobachtende Verquickung von Bewertungskriterien fur planerisches Handeln durch Beobachter ist. Diese betrachten die mobilisierende und damit tendenziell Verfahrensblockaden uberwindende Funktion von Leitbildern mit Faszination - die dann bisweilen zum Selbstzweck wird. Nichtsdestoweniger - oder gerade wegen dieser Faszination — werden Leitbilder in ihrer Wirkung uberschatzt.

‘Windows Upon Planning History’ conference at the University of Kassel, Germany, 7–9 February 2013

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.

Regeneration of Derelict Industrial Sites in Guangzhou and Shenzhen

The regeneration of derelict manufacturing sites—as part of the “three olds” policy—is now pushed forward through incentive policies and, to a great extent, depending on the officially planned future uses. Still space is left for negotiations and creative ideas. This chapter focuses on those sites preferring adaptive reuse of derelict industrial sites in Guangzhou and Shenzhen and examines how the redevelopment policies work at the operational level as well as the renovation strategies of case studies in the two cities.

Maturing Megacities: Lessons from the Pearl River Delta Experiences

The concluding chapter summarizes the indicators for a changed picture of urban development in the maturing megacities of the Pearl River Delta. It discusses the policy answers to the challenges of mega-urban development at different spatial scales. At the regional level, significant steps in the direction of a much closer integration of the municipalities and their development efforts can be noticed. They translate, among other things, into tangible efforts toward regional planning by the province of Guangdong. At the municipal level, planning urban expansion seems to have overcome the traditional model of development zones with the help of more integrated strategic planning approaches. It is worth noting that the lack of space for development, combined with the efforts toward introducing a more “harmonious society,” has finally brought about a relatively sophisticated set of urban regeneration policies. As yet, not only have they produced a system of redeveloped former manufacturing sites that provide space for service industries and consumption, but they have also been able to offer experimental settings for a gradual upgrading of old town cores and urbanized villages. In sum, the facets of maturing mega-urban (re)development have demonstrated an astonishing degree of strategic capacity to adapt to profoundly changing development challenges. While in many respects, the solutions found so far seem to offer room for further sophistication and do by no means address all self-imposed claims of a “harmonious society” satisfactorily, they nevertheless show how dynamic the transformation of the planning and development system in the megacities of the Pearl River Delta still is and indicate that the southern Chinese development system may be able to master the challenges of mega-urban development successfully.

The lost centre: Magnitogorsk revisited

The following article sketches the history of Magnitogorsk, once the most exciting new industrial city in the Soviet Union under Stalin, and recently experiencing the problems of a city in transition. It is argued that even under a rigid planned economy city development is shaped by continuously changing paradigms. It is interesting to find the political and economic history of the city expressed in its design, and to note its richness in urban fabric and architectural detail. It is shown that the city, once outlined for the socialist way of life, nowadays has to adapt radically to the capitalist economy. This process can best be studied by looking at the central functions of the city. Magnitogorsk is an interesting example of a city that creates an unusual pattern of centres as a result of its history and the ongoing adaptation. The pattern is interpreted by looking closely at the concept of centrality. Finally, the potential of the city that lies in the central lake-separating and connecting at the same time-is illustrated.

Ostdeutsche Großwohnsiedlungen im Haltbarkeitscheck

Wissenschaftliche Diskussionen und fachliche Auseinandersetzungen zu den Perspektiven von ostdeutschen Groswohnsiedlungen sowie deren Weiterentwicklung haben seit Mitte der 2000er Jahre zu wenig stattgefunden. Vielerorts wurden die Perspektiven dieser Siedlungen uber lange Zeit auf ihre Funktion als Ruckbaumasse zur Stabilisierung der kommunalen Wohnungsmarkte reduziert, und Uberlegungen zur Aufwertung ostdeutscher Stadte konzentrierten sich mehr und mehr auf historische Innenstadte. Doch auch nach dem Abriss von ca. 300 000 Plattenbauwohnungen im Rahmen des Programms „Stadtumbau Ost“ blieben deutlich mehr als drei Viertel des Bestands erhalten.

Informality in Governing Mega Cities in China: The Example of Shenzhen

Despite the series of reforms, the vertical devolution between the central and the local levels of government, and the horizontal competition among cities, urban governance in China is still strongly influenced by the logic of the party state. A certain trend toward re-centralization of power that can be noted since the 2000s shows that the consequences of the rapid urbanization in the last decades cannot be predicted and even less easily controlled by centralized planning. The development of mega-cities leads to a tremendous increase in urban complexity and a certain amount of inequality both in socio-economic and in spatial terms. In the past, the associated challenges were addressed by a series of governance innovations. By analyzing urban development in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen in a broader context, this chapter argues that there is a strategy behind the innovation process that builds on experimentation and informality. Contrary to a widespread understanding, informality in this context does indicate neither the loss of control over spatial development nor a simple exploitation of “guanxi” for the sake of a selected powerful few. Rather, it can be interpreted as a crucial element in the reform strategy that can be used intentionally for a flexible response toward the challenges of development. In a context of gradual consolidation of rapidly growing mega-cities, the system of urban governance is constantly evolving. It consists of a complex spectrum of governance arrangements that suit for different degrees of deliberation, planning rationalities and priorities, allowing for a certain amount of experimental governance in times of uncertainty with respect to planning routines, in transitory spaces, and in insecure institutional terrain. Informality is used intentionally to create leeway for the governance arrangements associated to those settings—to produce new spatial and functional settings, and a range of procedural approaches that can be chosen from when there is a need for mainstreaming, and to direct the attention of urban development forces on to or away from certain types of neighborhoods and planning challenges at least temporarily. Thus, urban development is, contrary to some expectations, rather governed by a patchwork of governance styles than an overarching governance arrangement, but nevertheless characterized by a degree of flexibility that does not seriously challenge the managing authority of the party state.