"Environmental issues at the core of Urban Governance"

organized by the Working Group on Urban Governance

Urban environmental issues are hotly debated in relation with two questions: one is the impact of globalisation on local and regional economies, and the second is the institutional arrangements for land tenure, basic services and housing.

Therefore, the Urban Governance Working Group panels will focus on these two main areas of concern in urbanization: (1) the drivers of local / regional growth and their possible link with environmental issues (2) new institutional arrangements around environmental concerns, land tenure, basic services, housing and mobility, and new forms of citizenship, participation and democracy versus conflict and competition between different issues on urban development.

(1) Recent research in the territoriality of urban economies has shown that specific regions in rapidly growing economies,such as India and China, are becoming important local-global interfaces in globalised economic networks. What drivers provide support to the growth of these urban regions, and what opportunities does this provide for further diversification of the regional economy in the context of its absorption into global economic networks? What is the role played by environmental/ ecological concerns? How are environmental issues included or ignored by regional support institutions for economic growth, and other drivers?

(2) The politics of institutional arrangements in urban governance has been a topic on which a body of research has emerging based on case studies in a variety of countries in the global South and North. This makes it possible to draw out general propositions on the opportunities and limitations of such new institutional arrangements in transforming the quality of life for ordinary citizens in urban areas, the reduction of poverty, and the extension of participation and democratic citizenship.

Research on the expected advantages of urban governance arrangements in terms of citizenship, participation and democracy, has shown wide differences between regions such as Latin America and Asia. Examples show that particularly the middle class and elites are often best able to take advantage of the 'invited spaces' provided by the state in a context of liberalization. Environmental issues are often the most direct cause of conflict between the poor (informal economy , housing ...) and the rest of the city.

Therefore, we welcome papers discussing urban institutional arrangements from different perspectives (e.g. Brenner, LeGalès, Gaventa, Gaudin ...); papers examining different impacts by social class or networks, concerning environmental issues in local governance (including in their links with labour, basic services, land tenure, housing, heritage) and papers addressing the issue of transformation of environmental urban governance through different instruments of public policies (legal framework; contractual arrangements, fiscal policy).

We also welcome papers which address specifically multi-level governance issues, such as conflicts between different perceptions of urban sustainable development, contestation between different levels of government, or between government and civil society at different spatial levels, international institutions and/or social movements.

Please use the Online Submission Tool to submit your abstract. We welcome submissions in English and French.

Conveners:

Isa Baud
International Development Studies
University of Amsterdam
The Netherlands
E-mail: I.S.A.Baud@uva.nl

Isabelle Milbert
Graduate Institute of Development Studies
Switzerland
E-Mail: Isabelle.Milbert@iued.unige.ch

Berit Aasen
Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research
Norway
E-Mail: berit.aasen@nibr.no

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