Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

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EUROMASTER IN URBANSTUDIES Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

Anthology of articles building on master theses from the 4Cities Master Programme in Urban Studies 6th cohort, 2013-2015

Ed. Sune W. Stoustrup

Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung

! ! ! ! ! ! ! Cities:!! Changes,!Places,!Spaces! ! Anthology!of!articles!building!! on!master!theses!from!the! 4Cities!Master!Programme!! in!Urban!Studies! 6th!cohort,!2013A2015!! ! Ed.!Sune!W.!Stoustrup! ! ! ! ! !

! ! EUROMASTER IN URBAN STUDIES ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

Editor: Sune W. Stoustrup

Design and layout: Sune W. Stoustrup

Photo on front-page: Anja Petrović

First edition published 2016

The information and views set out in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the 4CITIES Master’s Programme in Urban Studies or of the Institute for Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this publication lies entirely with the authors.

Published by Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung, Universität Wien Universitätsstr. 7, 1010 Wien, Austria

ISBN 978-3-900830-87-8

Editor contact:

Sune W. Stoustrup

Email: [email protected]

Index

1 Introduction 1 Sune W. Stoustrup

2 Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces 3 Lorena Axinte

3 Habits in Habitats: School architecture and teachers’ interactions 26 with space in Manchester and Copenhagen Jamie Furlong

4 Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns 49 of social housing schemes in Vienna and Copenhagen Sandra Jurasszovich

5 Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are: 74 Investigating the Socio-Spatial Networks and Identity Building of Muslims in Lavapiés-Embajadores (Madrid) and Nørrebro (Copenhagen) Aliona Lyasheva

6 Demotorisation and Economic Consumer Culture: A contradiction 94 in the post-modern city? (Case studies from Copenhagen and Vienna) William Otchere-Darko

7 Urban Green in European Medium-Sized Urban Area: Analyzing 117 the changes with a land-system approach Lucie Rosset

8 Spaces Of Interculturalism in Inner-City Neighborhoods: 140 Comparative Study of Nørrebro (Copenhagen) and Lavapiés (Madrid) Ognjen Šobat

9 European Spatial Planning - From Policy to Project 158 in Budapest and Vienna Sune W. Stoustrup

10 Transitioning to the After-Sprawl in Flanders, Belgium 176 Devon Willis

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

1 Introduction

This publication assembles ten chapters, each of which contains the findings of research undertaken for the author’s master thesis, the capstone project in the 4CITIES Master’s Programme in Urban Studies (http://www.4cities.eu). As many Master’s theses are only read by a student’s supervisor and others who take part in evaluating the work, and in some rarer cases by future students seeking inspiration for their own work, this book is a collective attempt to save the results of many months of research and analysis from dusty library shelves or forgotten online final resting places. With every individual thesis bringing together more than a year of research and nearly one hundred pages of work, we have attempted here to make them digestible. If in this shortening and simplification things were lost, we encourage those who are curious for more to contact the author for a copy of their full thesis.

4CITIES is a joint Master’s degree offered together by six European universities: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Universität Wien, Københavns Universitet, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Universidad Complutense de Madrid. During the 2-year course, students approach the city from a transdisciplinary perspective that bridges, straddles the border and combines the fields of urban planning and studies, urban sociology, economic and social geography, cultural studies, and more. This transdisciplinarian view produces a rich analysis of the city that makes it possible to view it in the holistic light it so dearly requires, and also produces a pluralistic collection of topics, as can be seen in the result of the theses and the chapters included in this publication:

How bottom up temporary use projects are being formalized by city governments. How school architecture influences teaching methods. How, where and why social housing units are located. How the development of public space is effected by austerity politics and policies. How immigrants connects to and use particular spaces in the neighborhood they live in. How the demotorization of streets changes the configuration of retail type and space. How urban greening is affecting cities.

Introduction

How interculturalism is used to foster urban diversity. How the EU co-financed projects are influencing urban governance. How local actors are leveraging a transition away from urban sprawl and to a more sustainable urban model.

These accounts together demonstrate how the field of urban studies has evolved to study a wide array of themes on a number of geographical scales. Topics range from the examination of urban politics, governance, and economics, to the use of urban space, the emergence of global cities, and the organization of city space. What is more interesting, is how the field of urban studies, and in particular the present work, examines these topics on a myriad of geographical scales: From the regional level of Flanders, to the metropolitan areas of Copenhagen and Vienna and the cities of Metz and Magdeburg, to smaller delimitations such as the neighborhoods of Lavapiés in Madrid or Nørrebro in Copenhagen. The scale can vary still more, considering an even smaller area, when looking at commercial patterns on high streets, the refurbishment or design of buildings.

This book thus presents a mosaic of research that reflects how urban studies as a research field covers the analysis of cities on the ground and up to how cities are connected at a larger spatial scale. At the same time, the influence of local contexts is confirmed, illustrating how the researched phenomena play out differently in historical versus contemporary circumstances, as well as different social, economic and political contexts. It is especially interesting to note the international (albeit purely European) character of the case studies included: From the Southern European cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Salamanca, to the Western European cities of Berlin, Copenhagen, Manchester, Metz, Magdeburg and Vienna, and the region of Flanders, to the Eastern European cities of Budapest and Szczecin, this publication introduces local contexts and their trajectories of spatial development; be they converging or diverging.

This publication is recommended for all who are interested in the output of the 4Cities Master Programme, as well as scholars, students or the general public who are interested in getting a glimpse into how different urban practices and phenomena play out across Europe. As each chapter stands alone, curiosity and page-leafing is encouraged. Sune W. Stoustrup, editor

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

2 Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces Lorena Axinte Abstract: The paper follows the transformation suffered by an old, bottom-up practice into an urban planning tool in two specific contexts: Copenhagen and Barcelona. The research starts by examining how the temporary use of vacant spaces has been traditionally present in these cities and has slowly entered government-led programmes, being formalised by authorities under different arrangements. The intention is to unveil the conditions which determined a change in the way the urban is built, by enlarging the array of stakeholders who have access to decision-making processes and interventions, as well as to elucidate the effects of this formalisation on all the actors involved.

Prologue: research rationale and question(s)

Temporary use of urban spaces entered academic discussions some decades ago, determined probably by the proliferation of such actions after the 70s. Nonetheless, the phenomenon has been analysed by an increasing number of scholars who have taken different standpoints. One of the most influential works has been the project called Urban Catalyst (Studio Urban Catalyst, 2003) which researched five European cities (Helsinki, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna and Naples), unveiling the potential of temporary use to influence or stimulate urban regeneration. Later publications derived from it (Haydn and Temel, 2006; Lehtovuori and Ruoppila, 2012; Oswalt et al., 2013; Overmeyer, 2007; etc.), stressing the cultural and economic benefits in abandoned areas. Apart from these, other studies have connected temporary use to social theory and culture, linking it to indeterminate spaces (Groth and Corijn, 2005), squatting (Pruijt, 2003), everyday activism (Chatterton and Pickerill, 2010) or creativity (Colomb, 2012). Almost all papers have had a positive interpretation, highlighting the qualities of actors (self-initiative, flexibility, creativeness, pro-active character, etc.) and arguing that such qualities should be incorporated in formal planning systems (Lehtovuori and Ruoppila, 2012; Oswalt et al., 2013; Street Plans Collaborative, 2012).

Besides numerous bottom-up initiatives observed, an additional reason why certain contexts (such as Germany, the Anglophone world and the Netherlands) have attracted more attention is because of some governments’ reactions in trying to create formal programmes and include temporary use in their planning frameworks. Scholars like Andres (2013) or Foo (2015) have, thus, researched temporary usages as a new instrument of collaborative practices employed in multistage governance arrangements. Honeck (2015) conducted research in Germany that considered the new

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

way planning involves temporary uses as a form of social innovation. Before, planning legislation did not differentiate between long and short term, imposing the same rules no matter the time span. However, temporary use projects require a different agenda which allows more flexibility, faster decision-making, a less tedious bureaucratic systems and, at times, even inconsideration of restrictive laws (Németh and Langhorst, 2014).

Although explored from different angles, I argue that government-led temporary use programmes still offer aspects to be researched. One of the identified directions lacking from the literature seems to be the process through which the planning system starts integrating previously informal temporary usages, the distribution of power within the new collaborations and the aftermath for all the stakeholders. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper focuses on two particular urban contexts (Barcelona and Copenhagen) where formal temporary use is still a new practice, used mostly as an experiment. Before exploring the two cities, the theoretical framework is briefly outlined, drawing from works related to temporary use, vacant spaces and formalisation processes, and establishing a connection between them.

Consequently, taking into account that temporary use has initially been associated with informal bottom-up initiatives, activism and a do-it-yourself mentality of city residents (Bishop and Williams, 2012; Lehtovuori and Ruoppila, 2012; Oswalt et al., 2013), and that nowadays it is often adopted by municipal authorities in their tools for urban development (Bishop and Williams, 2012; Frisk et al., 2014; Oswalt et al., 2013), it can be said that the temporary use of vacant spaces is a new way of making the city which has implications for all stakeholders.

The research question is then, how does formalisation affect the temporary use of vacant spaces and the actors involved? In order to answer this, several sub- questions can be formulated. Who are the actors and what are their motives for getting involved in municipally-initiated programmes? How is the vacant space and its (re-)use negotiated? Can temporary use still retain its inherent characteristics (such as being user-driven, dynamic, spontaneous, etc.) if planned? But also, are any of these characteristics enhanced? How did temporary use come to be considered a viable solution and an urban planning tool in Copenhagen and Barcelona? What does formalisation mean in these two settings, as well as what limitations and benefits does formalisation bring for all parts involved?

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

Main insights from relevant literature

Space has always been a valuable resource, unaffordable and inaccessible for many people. At the same time, there is plentiful land that is not being taken advantage of in urban territories, and as a result, this discrepancy between demand (the society’s real needs) and supply engenders a wide range of transient activities, different from the owner’s expectations or the designated use. In an attempt to determine the ideological roots of temporary use, Haydn and Temel (2006, pp. 12-13) relate it to the Situationist International (SI) revolutionary organization. Other actions associated which add to its intricate history are the numerous occupy movements (that prevailed after the 60s and continue today), or squatting (which entails living in or otherwise using a space without the owner‘s consent). Nonetheless, in spite of the impressive number of studies from all over the world, temporary use remains a notion that lacks a generally accepted definition. Scholars such as Kohoutek and Kamleithner have actually asked whether or not all urban uses are already transitory in nature and what could distinguish the temporary from the normal (Haydn and Temel, 2006, p. 25). Precisely because the concept is so difficult to grasp, the definition adopted in this research has allowed some clearer boundaries for delineating temporary activities. Thus, use is temporary only when (1) people other than the real estate owner perform activities on the site, (2) the owner does not receive any relevant financial income for this use of ground and building, and (3) the use is limited in time by the illegal status of the activity which can end at any time, by an unwritten permission which can also end at any time, or a predefined lease or permission (Hentilä et al., 2002). The advantages of this definition are that although being precise, it remains inclusive enough in terms of temporality. Also, it does not necessarily imply that the temporary use is only a stop- gap, at least not for the users who frequently aspire for longer periods.

Thus, temporary use projects can engage very different actors and their intentions are quite diverse. In order to follow the development of temporary use into an urban planning tool it is important to distinguish who these stakeholders are. Existing literature on specific case studies (Oswalt et al., 2013; Lehtovuori and Ruoppila, 2012) has identified many different stakeholders: users, facilitating agents, owners, policy makers and city administrators, private investors, the media and also the general public composed of city dwellers. Some of these categories will be highlighted during the presentation of the case studies.

Clearly though, besides initiatives and proactive individuals, temporary use is considered to depend on another essential prerequisite: the availability of vacant

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

space (keeping in mind that vacancy is a matter of definition and perception). For instance, vacant spots have been named ‘areas whose future is vague for a definite or indefinite period of time and which find themselves in a state of no longer or not yet’ (Oswalt et al., 2013, p. 14), becoming a ground for opportunity, a more flexible environment that incites action precisely because of the in-between condition.

The existing literature discusses thoroughly the phenomenon of vacancy, often through a theoretical framework that includes Harvey’s (2001; 2006) theory of space production, Neil Smith’s rent gap theory (1979) and Slater’s allegations that a) rent gaps do not just appear out of nowhere, but are instead dynamically created by the actions of numerous actors (such as landlords, bankers, urban property speculators, etc.) and b) the authorities should not be seen as a non-interventionist body, but most often as a political and economic facilitator. Profit is the basis of capitalism and through rent gaps, certain social interests are revealed (Slater, 2014). Undeniably, the highest and best use is arguable depending on the actors involved and this explains the increase in the examples of provisional interventions in vacant spaces. Even though for owners or developers there is no possibility of gaining profit, other people may bring a different perspective and the chosen case studies are illustrative in this sense.

Therefore, the different conditions when temporary usages have the possibility to materialize can be created by users, owners, and recently, local governments. This novel process through which temporary use is formalised embodies the major focus of the research. The formal-informal dichotomy has been widely debated, from an economic perspective (where informality encompasses the unregistered economic activities that form the underground economy), a legalistic one (considering informal everything happening outside the formal regulatory framework) or in the social sphere (concentrating mostly on the creation of informal social networks). Informality should also not be seen as something lying beyond the sphere of planning, but rather it should be acknowledged that ‘it is planning that inscribes the informal by designating some activities as authorised and others as unauthorised’ (Waibel and McFarlane, 2012, p. 4). Therefore, defining as well as changing the status from informal to formal requires a certain (political) power and will and formalisation is a proof that (in)formality is a negotiable value that governments can play with to offer or take authorisations, as a response to emerging situations (Waibel and McFarlane, 2012, p. 6).

Consequently, many informal practices become at some point not only tolerable, but even practices to follow, and local authorities can go beyond tacit acceptance by formalising them. This stands true in numerous cases of bottom-up temporary use.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

Certain cities have chosen to respond to these actions that are indicators of a certain deficit at local level, and at the same time of an abundant local knowledge able to find alternatives and even be self-sufficient.

In general, this recognition of the residents’ savoir-faire is seen as a sign of flexibility and openness to testing and learning (Waibel and McFarlane, 2012) since municipality- initiated temporary use means setting up collaborative processes. Lauren Andres posited that ‘the power shift goes from the temporary place-shaping users to formal place-making decision-makers’, empowering citizens during the time when authorities are generally in a stand-by position (2013, p. 5). However, disguised behind the will of improving participation and activism, traditional power elites can have many reasons to support this widening of the stakeholders’ array. As aforementioned, land is a powerful asset over which governments want to impose as much control as possible in order to influence development and growth. In this manner, shaping temporary use allows for dictating rules and restrictions. Moreover, several scholars have argued that citizen initiatives to intervene in space are supported by authorities only whilst there are no other more profitable options (Andres, 2013; Foo, 2015; Lawson, 2004). Thus, periods of crisis when vacancy tends to augment, making physical space for possible intervention, are at the same time accompanied by a more permissive governmental context. Once real estate values start improving, bottom-up interventions can come into conflict with official plans and be mutated or completely banned. Nonetheless, the formalisation of temporary use represents a new kind of negotiation over how the city is (re)constructed and whose interests are served.

Methodology

In order to accomplish the aims of this research and answer the main question, an inductive approach seemed best suited: the investigation began with observation and data collection, then this information was analysed in order to construct theories and conclusions. As Becker (1998, p. 180) claimed, ‘a description of details, unfiltered by previous ideas and theories, can lead to theoretical growth and articulation’ .

A number of steps were taken in this sense. Based on the idea that ‘the pathway that leads to any event can be seen as a succession of events that are contingent on each other in this way’ (Becker, 1998, p. 51), it seemed necessary, first of all, to do primary and secondary research into the histories of the city, the surrounding area and the location itself. This research revealed the factors which cause vacancy to come about at

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

specific point in time , as well as initiatives for changing this status, thus the next stage was meant to reveal the different occupations. Then, the process through which temporary use is formalised by authorities is closely connected to the general urban context and is relevant for how it assembles numerous actors. It can mean that the initial users do not act alone, but form social organizations, making it interesting to see how these are shaped and how new entries might influence the process, as well as the kind of negotiations or conflicts which might emerge.

The observation and data gathering focused specifically on two cities (Copenhagen and Barcelona) for a grounded insight. To ensure that all stakeholders were taken into account, the method used was inspired by the stakeholder analysis (Aaltonen, 2011). This explores all individuals and organizations that take an active part in a project and can affect the evolution. Based on this idea and on Becker’s recommendation for conceiving ‘society as an organism in order to see all connections that contribute to the outcome’ (Becker, 1998, p. 63), certain aspects were revealed: stakeholders (internal and external), their needs and motivation, their influence power, actions, expectations and results. Unfortunately, not all selected persons could be contacted or reached, but additional desktop research and questions addressed to other key players tried to compensate for this.

In addition, knowing that the development of a phenomenon is not only affected by human beings, the study took into account ideas from actor-network theory – considering all elements just as important as persons, treating them impartially, without an a priori distinction between the natural and the social (Callon, 1986). This permitted the discovery of the ways in which the idea of temporary use has circulated, through what channels and how it has become a legitimate urban planning tool.

For Copenhagen, Danish literature and media were consulted since numerous articles had recently been written , documenting both informal and formal temporary uses. Then, general interviews and discussions were conducted with people whose knowledge about the city helped reveal patterns and uncover examples that could be worthwhile for a more in-depth study. Gathering data one interview at a time facilitated the discovery of new variables worth exploring (Becker, 1998, p. 265). The discussions were very helpful for discovering an initiative formalised by the Fuglekvarteret Area Renewal, entitled Container By (Container City). The novelty of the Container City project made it difficult to obtain information but semi-structured interviews (organized using the snowballing technique) and ethnographic research closed undocumented gaps.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

In Barcelona, in addition to desktop research, two preliminary discussions with people involved in temporary use actions played a primary role in discovering Pla BUITS, Barcelona City Council’s official project for the temporary use of vacant spaces. The interaction with them allowed the selection of one case and thereafter its close observation. Formal and informal interviews were conducted with people involved in different ways in the Espai Germanetes project. In addition, numerous site visits and participation in different events allowed me to become more immersed in the group itself. The research tried to investigate more than just the ‘super-ordinates in hierarchies of credibility’ (Becker, 1998, pp. 127- 128) to unravel various opinions and conflicts.

Temporary use in Copenhagen

Well known for the high degree of freedom experienced as part of daily city life, Copenhagen’s familiarity with temporary initiatives is worth following, proving to be an interesting and multifaceted case study. The next part will follow briefly some of these initiatives to see if they have left any marks and have influenced the evolution of temporary use in Copenhagen.

Establishing the birth of the phenomenon in Copenhagen is difficult since different sources depict different cases. Nonetheless, the Free City of Christiania, Ungdomshuset, as well as Bolsjefabrikken are often examples which show that local initiatives for using vacant areas (mostly for creating alternative social spaces) have faced strong opposition from authorities and encountered numerous difficulties, giving rise to unseen social strife (Ziehl et al., 2012, pp. 378-381). Christiania’s example is definitely exceptional since this (semi-) autonomous community was born in 1971 as a squat of a 34ha abandoned military base and, against all odds, it has survived for more than 40 years in spite of its central location, on a stretch of land with enormous real estate value today. Impossible to do away with, it had been tolerated (especially because of its immense value as a touristic attraction) as a social experiment by the Danish government who in 2012 negotiated a set of special rules and procedures that reframed (and refrained) Christiania’s autonomy (Coppola and Vanolo, 2014, p. 14). This marked the beginnings of an , an extremely controversial formalisation process.

More recent initiatives have a much more entrepreneurial nature. Basecamp, Thorsen, Luftkastellet and Pappa Hotel are examples of kick-starters for the place’s next

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

development. Initiators negotiated directly with the private owners and permission was given to use the space, managing to transform the old industrial harbours of the city centre into a recreational area (combining beach cafés and an open air cinema with facilities for paintball and golf). Although not existing anymore, they are remembered as an ingenious (for that period, at least) example of seeing potential in a place which had definitely lost meaning and functionality for most people. Although some of the activities had a very short time span, they left noticeable marks on the city. Besides catching the attention of private investors, they have remained in the collective memory. Mikkel Mindegaard, project leader of the municipal Urban Life Department said that ‘these were still an exception, a grassroots movement and not a strategic tool’.

Nonetheless, in Copenhagen’s history of formalising temporary usages, a milestone was reached only in 2005 when the new municipal plan was adopted, designating eight creative zones and two potential ones. Although the document did not specify exactly that these were dedicated to temporary activities, it emphasized that small creative industries and craft companies wanted cheap and flexible leases so a change had to be made in order to maintain the existing business areas’ mixed nature and attractiveness (Københavns Kommune, 2014). In fact, today, the potential zones host initiatives of temporary use. Besides the private one in Carlsberg Byen, the two others have been formalised by the city itself. PLUG N PLAY is a provisional park built in Ørestad South, while the other potential area is located in Nordhavn (the newest urban development which is transforming the north harbour of the city into a mixed use neighbourhood), both owned by CPH City & Port Development. In March 2015, a part of PB43 1 (probably the most discussed example of temporary use in Copenhagen) provisionally set up its location there, having to pay a rent almost equal to normal market prices. It might be a sign that in Copenhagen temporary use is no longer a cheap solution for small-scale industries.

As previously mentioned, vacancy is often considered a sine qua non condition for temporary use. However, Copenhagen is notorious for the reduced availability of space and strong pressures on the housing market. Nonetheless, the city has numerous areas which are being transformed with new spaces created for temporary activities,

1 PB43 was initiated by an independent organization promoting the use of vacant spaces with the aim of providing free/cheap workspace for creative start-ups in a former paint factory. A cooperative of small companies, start-ups, artists, NGOs and students was soon formed and took over the management, but in March 2015 the owner decided to sell the property, forcing the cooperative to find another location. This proved to be extremely problematic since no affordable place was suitable for the entire group and the collective was forced to split in two different locations.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

especially in neighbourhoods where renewal programmes have already been started. One such example is the municipal body called Fuglekvarteret Area Renewal (FAR) which is undertaking a ‘holistic effort to lift the neighbourhood culturally, socially and physically’ (Københavns Kommune, 2013, p. 2) between 2013 and 2018. The chosen case study is part of the FAR and will be described next.

Copenhagen Case Study: The Container City

There were only Romas and junkies and graffiti makers that used the space. We want a constant flow of normal people in the area.

(Fuglekvarteret Area Renewal)

The vacant space located on Ørnevej 3 is administered by FAR. Owned by the city of Copenhagen, the long, narrow plot is located at the intersection of Nørrebro and Bispebjerg neighbourhoods, right next to the railway line that leads to Nørrebro Station. For the moment, the station only serves the urban rail network (S-Train), but is included in the expansion of the metro’s City Circle Line which will be accomplished in the coming years. Nonetheless, the history of this piece of open land is rather simple because the space has officially been used in the past only as storage for trains. Thus, it can be included in Northam’s (1971) category of ‘remnant parcels’ which are generally undeveloped and often considered undevelopable. The inconvenient shape of the plot and the noise pollution provoked by the trains prevented it from other usages. But, as Becker (1998, p. 220) considered, ‘an object’s physical properties are only constraining the possibilities of using the object when and if a person uses the object the way it is usually used’. Thus, once the old trains were taken out, the plot was left unused by the local council, allowing informal and often illicit activities such as squatting, substance abuse and graffiti to occur.

Nonetheless, the city of Copenhagen has planned to tear down the house that closes the Southern edge and build a cycle path, but the project has not received the necessary funds to start yet, leaving the plot empty and available for alternative functions. These substitutes chosen by authorities would ideally serve to change the perception over this zone and recreate the feeling of security which was diminished by the closed edges and the undesirable activities.

For this purpose, the FAR decided to open the plot on Ørnevej 3 for temporary use initiatives. Kristoffer Theisen, representative of FAR, confessed during an interview

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

that they did not have a clear vision for development, but the discussions clearly revealed the desire to change the social groups that often occupied the place. It seems thus, that the potential was clearly acknowledged by the officials but since the actions of the area renewal have to be aligned to Copenhagen’s local policies and strategies, they knew permanence was not an option. In addition, temporary use could be used as a test bed to understand what would be worthwhile future investments. Also, the success of the interim actions could determine the central unit to supplement the financial aid given each year. Hence, without expecting something particular, members of the Area Renewal had a ‘lucky encounter’ with Bureau Detours (BD), a cultural collective (about 40 people with different professions such as architects, designers, sound artists, light artists, garden planners, visual artists, etc.) in search of affordable space to develop its projects. Its profile and the proposal members came up with seemed suitable to activate the space so an agreement was signed in January 2014. The FAR representative said that without having a previous model to follow, the arrangement was conjointly drafted with BD and remained general enough to allow modifications that different situations might ask for.

As such, the formalisation of the temporary use came under the form of an agreement between the FAR and BD. First and foremost, the one year agreement allowed BD to use the space freely, without having to pay any rent. The contract could be renewed every year until 2018 (when the Area Renewal ends) or anytime the city announces the commencement of the bike path. At the same time, it could also be suspended by either party providing they give three month’s notice. There would be no additional funding from the authorities, except for the setting up of the needed infrastructure (electricity, waste, etc.) and for the organization of workshops imposed by the area renewal.

In exchange for this, BD was asked to host public workshops, exhibitions, create an urban garden and any other activities that could give positive attention to the neighbourhood and the city. For this, they presented the idea of a Container City, ‘a movable and removable culture centre’ (Loui Andersen Salinas, member of BD) where social entrepreneurs can work on their projects by using the facilities provided by BD inside different large shipping containers. Each container has a different purpose and is appropriately equipped to function as a carpentry studio, a metal workshop, a radio station, a stage, as well as a kitchen or a place for socializing. Some of the containers can be taken and moved throughout the city whenever there is an event which requires it (such as the radio station or the one which can be converted into a stage). BD is not allowed to charge rent since the ground is not theirs, but they can sell their work and

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

impose prices for entrepreneurs using the different tools and work spaces. Moreover, the agreement stated that it was the responsibility of Bureau Detours to maintain a clean environment that is attractive to visitors. The back of the plot is occupied by a community garden.

The Container City had to involve also people living in the neighbourhood by organizing at least three public activities each year, enlarging the network of actors. Therefore, the Container City project has managed to assemble together different types of actors: the initiator is in this case, the Fuglekvarteret Area Renewal which is acting in the name of the City of Copenhagen, the owner of the space. The permanent users are members of the BD collective, while the participants to different workshops and events could be considered secondary users. Last but not least, the financer of the project, Realdania, has had a crucial role for the development. Bureau Detours applied for funds for a different project and the convention obliged it to use the money before the end of 2014, but since this did not happen, they were allowed to use the rest during 2015 as well, helping them to arrange the Container City.

The project has affected all actors involved in different ways. Copenhagen now has an unconventional cultural centre which adds to its image of a creative city. Authorities did not even need to create a special body, like in Barcelona, because the strategy was implemented by an already existing unit. It can be said that this decentralised unit has successfully attained its goals of changing both the social composition of the users and the activities taking place in this space, while also obtaining a new location for artistic manifestations to which people living in the neighbourhood could participate. It has been an easy solution for the city to cede the space and do almost nothing in exchange.

Nonetheless, there were advantages for both sides because like Loui Andersen Salinas explained during the interview, even though the city is using them to improve the area’s image and get positive attention without putting any effort into it, BD truly needed cheap space for their ideas. Considering the low vacancy rate and the real estate market of Copenhagen, obtaining land for free is definitely remarkable. Although in some situations the users feel that their freedom is limited, it appears that the formalisation of their project did not necessarily affect their behaviour and decisions. BD acts frequently before asking for permission and their success manages to question the existing regulations – considered interim and often bended by the area renewal. This shows a certain degree of flexibility from the authorities’ side and helps maintaining the relations non-conflictual.

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

The people living in the neighbourhood have been affected in different ways. The project has obviously been very important for the small number of permanent users who live nearby and have now a place to develop their projects, but the significance for other individuals is highly questionable. Events and workshops might not be attractive enough or well-suited for everyone, but the fact that they can now enter the space without any hindrance might be a plus. Nonetheless, there is a part of the population which definitely did not gain anything from the project: the former users of the space who have been displaced. Unlike in other cases where the city tried to design spaces which accommodate all types of people, the desire to force out the substance abusers, homeless people and graffiti makers was clearly expressed. Interesting though, is the fact that almost all containers brought by BD are graffiti-painted. It remains an open question then: for whom is the city being built?

Temporary use in Barcelona

Similarly to Copenhagen, it is impossible to locate the precise beginnings of temporary use in Barcelona. Nevertheless, the literature and some of the interviews have indicated various activities that could be considered precursors. The complex history which is hereafter briefly sketched proves that Barcelona’s experience has been linked to different key concepts than those in Copenhagen. As opposed to the Danish capital city where words such as creativity, innovation and entrepreneurialism are found in almost all discourses, in the Catalan example (and all over Spain), self-management (autogestión), participation, social movement and occupation define not only the beginnings of temporary use, but even the formalised, more recent attempts.

In Barcelona, collective efforts for self-sufficiency have been documented as early as the 19th century when athenaeums were organized inside neighbourhoods, trying to compensate for the lack of facilities. These cultural centres hosted lectures, artistic representations, political debates, as well as libraries. Although not always temporary, they are important in portraying essential characteristics later observed in temporary use cases throughout Barcelona. First, athenaeums are administered by assemblies, a form of government which (ideally) offers all present members the same power of influence. Second, the members’ cooperative funding grants complete freedom from the state or private investors. Finally, athenaeums appear as civic socio-cultural initiatives which try to counterbalance the city’s failure in providing basic amenities.

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Another identified milestone was the end of Franco’s regime which awakened a revolutionary spirit engendering neighbourhood assemblies that were formed often in abandoned locations in neighbourhoods marked by blight and decay. Squatting had been an old practice, yet it was mostly related to housing needs, hence the new ‘okupa movement’ differentiated itself through the added cultural, social and political activities available for a wider public (Martínez, 2007, p. 383). Two notorious cases, Can Batlló and Can Vies, have survived until today, fighting continuously with the authorities for their survival.

An important legacy of okupas is the community gardens they often encompassed. The city authorities had provisionally tolerated these urban gardens which later became an inspiration for what seems to be Barcelona’s first attempt to formalise temporary use. The city created a platform of participation for people over 65 years old who were ceded thirteen small parcels which would allow them to do agricultural work for a period of maximum five years (Barcelona City Council, 2015). Despite the fact that they indeed authorized self-management, the numerous rules and conditions imposed showed the proclivity for top-down governance.

Nonetheless, in October 2012, the city took a further step and incorporated temporary use in its planning system through Pla BUITS. Considered an outcome of the 15M movement, the project provisionally opened up twenty unused public spaces in order to facilitate the involvement of civil society in the regeneration and revitalization of the urban fabric (Barcelona City Council, 2013, p. 1). This time, the initiative went well beyond granting the simple management of urban gardens by allowing inhabitants to participate in a contest - the winner of which would be able to help determine both the uses and direction of the project. The rules stated that a) individuals had to be part of an entity, an organization or a neighbourhood association; and b) the project had to be of public interest or social utility, prove its self-sufficiency (meaning that the city would not invest any funds), have a temporary character and be easily removable. A liability of Pla BUITS was that the choice of locations was made top-down, by districts, while citizens or already existing projects were not consulted. The result was that in the first edition, eight plots remained unoccupied. However, one of the successful examples which seemed most relevant to portray the complexity of the network of actors, the different rationales at play and the on-going tensions was chosen for a deeper analysis and will be presented next.

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

Barcelona Case Study: Espai Germanetes

Just because a tiny group of people could intervene in these spaces doesn’t change the real way this city is built.

(Laia Torras, Participation Dept., Hàbitat Urbà)

Located in the dense neighbourhood of Eixample, the so-called Espai Germanetes is an empty plot of over 5500m², enclosed by a very tall brick wall and metal gates. It hosted the Convent of the Sisters of the Poor, and two years after its demolishment, in 2006, the space was ceded to the city. The municipal plans included building facilities such as a daycare centre, a nursery, a secondary school and apartments for young and elderly, yet these plans were never carried out, causing a lot of frustration among the inhabitants who were already suffering from the harsh conditions that followed the property bubble and its afferent crisis.

Having to deal with the lack of amenities on a daily basis and animated by a small group of people (part of the 15M indignados), the community decided to intervene and revive Espai Germanetes. Forming a Neighbourhood Assembly that transformed into the group called Recreant Cruïlles (RC), they instigated a project which aimed to use the empty space for a community garden and a multifunctional area for physical, cultural and social activities. Going beyond this plot, RC’s higher ambition was to pedestrianize the adjacent streets and calm the heavy traffic, and also develop as a community-based educational space in an area which at the time lacked public places for children.

Concurring with the announcement of PlaBuits and aligning to the competition’s requirements, the project was submitted and proved successful. Nonetheless, not all RC members agreed with this action since Eixample District unlocked only 585m² out of the total available, on top of the essential rule to limit the project’s existence to three years (during and after which the city was still expected to construct the promised amenities). Although social and cultural activities were successfully organized and attracted numerous participants from all over the city, this rift deepened and resulted in a rupture between the RC and Els 5000. The latter are the users who believed that collaborating with authorities meant playing by their superimposed rules, rather than supporting the unrestricted self-management of the entire space which would have been a more logical approach given that the authorities had not kept their promise for years. Nevertheless, it is crucial to mention that in March 2015, disgruntled after waiting for any action from the city, RC organized a farmers’ market and a paella party

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by illegally opening the entire 5000m². The event was very successful since numerous people from the neighbourhood participated (possibly without knowing they had entered the space illegally) and shortly after, the works for the primary school started. It is difficult to establish whether the occupation was an impulse for the administration or if the then forthcoming May elections had any influence. Moreover, for some people this is a success of years of neighbourhood activism, whereas for others it is an example that the temporary use was only an interim opportunity for self-management that will soon come to an end.

Therefore, Espai Germanetes amasses today a complex network of actors, who despite their intrinsic unpredictability, can be grouped into some main clusters. The users of the space have developed from a neighbourhood assembly and still continue to have varying levels of commitment. Certainly, RC’s main struggles have been with the Eixample District, whose paternalistic attitude have caused mutual distrust. Although also working on the behalf of the city, the representatives of Pla BUITS are perceived as a distinct entity by citizens. They are, in this case, both the initiators and mediators of the temporary use, constantly attempting to shift the impression people have of the administration in general, considering that dialogue is very important and that citizens should start looking at authorities as collaborators and not adversaries. Last but not least, it is important to acknowledge the role played by other local associations from the neighbourhood or some outside entities linked to urban or architectural matters, groups of alternative movements, as well as artists and student groups, that not only helped promoting Espai Germanetes and disseminating information about events, but also carried out different projects and activities here.

Finally, it might be the case that the city of Barcelona has improved its reputation for being flexible and open to experiments which recognize the residents’ savoir-faire and empower them. However, even if in general the neighbourhood has benefited from the opening of a valuable space, actors still maintain their traditionally established positions. In the initial phase, authorities have a higher degree of control and decision- making, while citizens are a subordinated part who is given the opportunity to act but needs to do it according to the rules imposed. If accepted, the users’ contributions are then evaluated at the end of each year in order to decide whether the project should go on for another year. It is true though, that in reality, no project has been disregarded, cancelled or removed (at least for now). Unfortunately, even Laia Torras, chief of the Participation Direction, believes that Pla BUITS, just like other examples of temporary use, has had more impact in literature and academic circles than in real life where the

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

factual impact is rather limited. Nevertheless, allowing temporary uses of vacant plots is almost always a better idea than leaving them unused. It also challenges existing neoliberal and capitalist rationales for which city branding and large scale projects (flagship projects) have replaced the more citizen-oriented and lower-scale ways of building the city.

Comparison and Discussions

The two case studies discussed have validated that temporary use is ‘increasingly a structural component of urban development’ (Overmeyer, 2007) and that practices are no longer only user- driven. Municipalities are now seeing the value in impermanence and have become themselves the initiators, formalising activities and facilitating processes which implicate actors who were not traditionally involved in space intervention and decision-making (Groth and Corijn, 2005). As expected, Copenhagen and Barcelona have had different approaches in doing so and the comparison developed on next follows the research question, revealing the results obtained after testing several hypotheses.

Temporary use incentives and formal reactions

To begin with, Copenhagen and Barcelona have both been marked by civil initiatives of space appropriation and social struggles that have tried to challenge spatial commodification and established orders. They were ignited by similar conditions, such as a lack of public facilities and a pro-active attitude of citizens who decided to intervene in areas left vacant in order to self-govern them. Very often, these fights had a political orientation and tried to offer an alternative political and cultural scene. Both cities have witnessed a wide array of responses from the authorities yet, in general, initiatives were if not sanctioned, at least tolerated as long as there was no other ‘higher and better use’ for the moment. As Mark Vacher, assistant professor at the Department of Ethnology of Copenhagen University, said during an interview, ‘to some extent, all cities need this kind of persons that are able to re-activate an area’. However, there have been very few cases which have managed to resist, not necessarily because of internal issues, but mostly because capitalist logics have been put forward.

Vacancy and inspiration for renegotiation

Today, the supply of vacant spaces, defined by Overmeyer (2007) as ‘currently unsuitable or undesirable in mainstream economic cycles’, is very different in

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Copenhagen and Barcelona. While the former is characterised by high real estate pressures and very few empty areas, the latter has a surplus of available plots and buildings which have not been reused after the property bubble. However, even if Copenhagen does not seem to suffer from too many urban voids, many areas are being developed or renewed, allowing time and space for temporary uses. Based on Bishop and Williams’ (2012) idea that temporary uses are more dependent on the capacity of professional advisers and city governments to unlock spaces and disregard existing financial, legal and planning frameworks, the research has confirmed that the political will is one of the most important aspects in formalising temporary uses. The stimulus for such actions has different roots but sometimes inspiration comes from abroad, like in the case of Copenhagen where all interviewees mentioned how (especially) German cities were an example to follow in dealing with vacancy. In Barcelona though, the city officials considered inspirational the local individual initiatives or examples from some other Spanish cities.

Formalisation of temporary use in different contexts and under different forms

The Container City and Espai Germanetes are illustrative of moments where a vacant plot of land has been opened up by authorities, inviting (for a provisional period of time) citizens to participate in its design, governance and use. Nonetheless, these decisions are part of dissimilar processes: whereas in Copenhagen it has been included in a broader programme of neighbourhood renewal, Barcelona has developed a specific project for temporary use, causing serious consequences for the structure and organisation of further actions: FAR had never been involved in something similar so its vision for development was not strictly defined. Nonetheless, its main goal was to change the current undesirable uses and gain positive attention for the neighbourhood. On the other hand, Barcelona created the programme Pla BUITS through its Participation Department. Opening municipal plots was done for social and cultural activities and users underwent a rigorous competition to obtain permits. However, in both cases the users have had to write a proposal which required acceptance from the authorities. FAR representative’s affirmation is suitable here: ‘the idea was to do something different, spontaneous, but still have it under control’.

The two cases are also useful in showing what meaning authorities give to temporary use, as here the temporary is an intentional phase (Bishop and Williams, 2012, p. 5) and this phase is comparable for the Container City and Espai Germanetes: 3-4 years. It is important to keep in mind though that this does not apply for all authority-led projects since the timescale can vary. Besides, since the cities have something

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

permanent planned, both projects can be ceased as soon as funds are allocated for works to start. Therefore, although actions are formalised under legal agreements, users face the continuous threat of being evicted, yet the advantage (as compared to informal activities) is their legal right to a period of notice for any such eviction. . Although it is still too early to formulate conclusions, to a certain extent the two case studies confirm the first hypothesis: temporary use is ended if a more profitable use is foreseen by authorities.

Authority-lead temporary use up to a point

It is difficult to decide whether the second hypothesis can be confirmed or not: authorities have not entirely disengaged with their traditional duties, although the funding has been very limited. The Danes and the Spanish have realised that at least basic facilities should be provided by them. Whereas Pla BUITS took care of this, the area renewal in Copenhagen delayed the process until users decided to improvise and do it themselves (although later on, the area renewal office did fund some events they required). Therefore, temporary use and citizen empowerment seem like practical solutions for reducing costs but the diminishment of the role of public institutions in managing the city should be seriously considered since it might translate into a barrier in allowing all categories of people, regardless of their financial situation, to appropriate space and be part of these programmes. In addition, others might not find it worthwhile to invest time and money in spaces which will then be taken away and developed for other uses. Marc Martí (2013) rightfully explained that, ‘we can talk about low cost urbanism, but not about zero cost urbanism’.

Systems of actors

The network of actors has proven quite complex in both projects. Besides the already mentioned initiators who were the two cities (through their decentralised units), the main user groups have slightly different compositions. Nonetheless, reality has shown that despite the emphasis on horizontality and consensus, groups sometimes mimic bureaucratic structures (Chatterton and Pickerill, 2010, p. 482). Some users occupy more important roles and even if not desired, leadership tends to appear and networks are less democratic than they aspire to be.

Consequences of formalisation

By joining these officially-generated projects, users need to organise themselves and communicate efficiently, often negotiating and sometimes even entering in conflict with authorities. In both cases, authorities managed to maintain a superior position

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conferred by their ownership status, the power of limiting activities as well as putting an end to the temporary use. The restrictions imposed are quite different in the two cases. BD have enjoyed a lot of freedom in creating their project, but there were some exceptions such as only building structures that are containers, not transforming any container into a sleeping space and sometimes having to organize workshops imposed by the area renewal. They were not necessarily affected by them but the lack of funding from the city was the biggest issue. On the other hand, RC have had to function according to the rules of the competition which enforced that all installations be easily removable and that public/social activities be hosted with a non-commercial character, as well as the organisation having financial autonomy. However, the biggest issue was the space limitation. Having to confine all activities in a space ten times smaller than the whole vacant parcel, but also seeing the rest remaining unused on a daily basis, has been extremely challenging for Espai Germanetes. Added to the users’ different visions about the future of the space, it has lead to the segregation of the group. As such, it can be said that the third hypothesis is only true in Barcelona’s case where the high number of restrictions have considerably limited the uses.

Informal in the formal?

It appeared provocative to find out whether these limits were respected and if anything informal was still going on in these spaces. Based on the idea that ‘there is no clear-cut boundary between formality and informality’ and also that all urban realities are characterized by an amalgam of both (Daniels, 2004; Guha-Khasnobis et al., 2006; Waibel and McFarlane, 2012), the field research has confirmed the fourth hypothesis that informality does not completely disappear inside an officially- generated project of temporary use. Instead, users often find subversive ways of following their goals, but also government representatives might turn a blind eye, knowing that bending rules is sometimes necessary in temporary use to facilitate and make processes faster. For both case studies, these projects are also an experiment which might give all actors more liberty to test actions and reactions.

Finally, the last hypothesis assumed that formal temporary use projects can be, at the same time, a means of empowering citizens but also a tool for control and regulation. This has definitely proven to be true in both case studies. In Copenhagen, the Container City has successfully displaced the former users and sought positive attention, but it has also offered an autonomous working space for an artistic collective which might facilitate the access of other people from the neighbourhood (not only to a previously closed space, but also to craft tools and knowledge). In Barcelona, although strongly

Formalising the Informal Temporary Use of Vacant Spaces

disputed by the authorities, the users’ and media’s unanimous opinion was that Pla BUITS has been a strategy for pacifying the 15M activists by offering some space they were fighting for. In addition, by entering the competition Recreant Cruïlles agreed to use only one small part of the parcel and all in all play by the city’s rules.

Epilogue

Undeniably, the formalization of temporary use has a rather paradoxical nature since civil initiatives often lay outside of the limits imposed by local regulations. They are frequently a sign of citizen resistance and rejection of neoliberal practices, yet they also highlight the numerous local issues that need to be dealt with. At times, the benefits brought (which are always subject to one’s social values) determine authorities to ignore the informal aspects or try to convert the usages to fit defined frameworks. Taking everything into account, it has not been easy to establish whether temporary use retains its inherent characteristics (such as being user-driven, dynamic, diverse, spontaneous, etc.) because generalisations in this sense would be faulty. The case studies cannot be considered archetypes or reproduced in other contexts because they are completely dependent on the neighbourhood, local and national contexts, as well as the group’s dynamics.

Nevertheless, even if this research has highlighted the distinctive role of local conditions for temporary usages, both the Container City and Espai Germanetes confirm broad ideas already discussed by theorists such as Németh and Langhorst (2014) or the Urban Catalysts (2013): traditional planning must move towards more tactical approaches, create a more loose regulatory framework and accompany citizens instead of trying to direct them. At the same time, the different civil initiatives must adjust to certain structured and formal mechanisms and accept that authorities are not necessarily a force to fight against. Furthermore, an assertion valid in both cases is that there is a continuum between formality and informality and this is highly necessary in assuring the success of a project. It represents the way through which all actors can be satisfied, giving local authorities the feeling of control, but also citizens a feeling of freedom. The optimal degree of involvement from authorities remains an open question: how little is insufficient and how much is excessive?

For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at contact [email protected]

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References

Aaltonen, K. (2011). Project stakeholder analysis as an environmental interpretation process. International Journal of Project Management, 29(2), 165–183. Andres, L. (2013). Differential spaces, power hierarchy and collaborative planning: a critique of the role of temporary uses in shaping and making places. Urban Studies, 50(4), 759–775. Barcelona City Council. (2013). Competition rules for the temporary use of plots included in “Plan Empty”: urban vacant land with territorial and social implication. Barcelona City Council. (2015). What is it? | Urban gardens | Green areas | Environmental Vectors | Environment | Barcelona City Council. Becker, H. S. (1998). Tricks of the trade: how to think about your research while you’re doing it (1 edition). Paris: University Of Chicago Press. Bishop, P., & Williams, L. (2012). The Temporary City. Routledge. Bureau Detours. (2011). Bureau Detours Portfolio. Retrieved from http://lager.detours.biz/public/tryk/BD_PORTFOLIE_20012011_ultralight. pdf (12.02.2015) Callon, M. (1986). Some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St Brieuc Bay. In Power, Action and Belief: a New Sociology of Knowledge? (pp. 196– 223). London: Routledge. Chatterton, P., & Pickerill, J. (2010). Everyday activism and transitions towards post- capitalist worlds. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, NS 35, 475–490. Colomb, C. (2012). Pushing the urban frontier: temporary uses of space, City Marketing, and the Creative City Discourse in 2000s Berlin. Journal of Urban Affairs, 34(2), 131–152. Coppola, A., & Vanolo, A. (2014). Normalising autonomous spaces: ongoing transformations in Christiania, Copenhagen. Urban Studies. Daniels, P. W. (2004). Urban challenges: the formal and informal economies in mega- cities. Cities, 08(21), 501–511. Foo, K. (2015). Institutionalizing urban possibility: urban ecology & vacant land governance in three american cities. Presented at the Transience and Permanence in Urban Development Workshop, Sheffield, UK. Retrieved from http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/trp/research/foo (06.05.2015) Frisk, R., Loulie, J., & Frisk, J. (2014). Temporary use 2.0. A tool for planning and developing the new urban context. Presented at the UHPH 2014 Conference - The 12th Australasian Urban History/Planning History, Wellington, New Zealand. Groth, J., & Corijn, E. (2005). Reclaiming urbanity: indeterminate spaces, informal actors and urban agenda setting. Urban Studies, 42(3), 503–526. Guha-Khasnobis, B., Kanbur, R., & Ostrom, E. (2006). Beyond formality and informality. In Linking the formal and informal economy. Oxford University Press. Harvey, D. (2001). Globalization and the “spatial fix”. Geographische Revue, (2), 23–30. Harvey, D. (2006). The limits to capital. London: Verso. Haydn, F., & Temel, R. (Eds.). (2006). Temporary urban spaces: concepts for the use of city spaces (1 edition). Basel: Birkhauser.

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Hentilä, H.-L., Bengs, C., & Nagy, D. (2002). Urban Catalysts. Strategies for temporary uses - potential for development of urban residual areas in European metropolises. Analysis report. Helsinki University of Technology, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Honeck, T. (2015). Temporary uses as innovations of spatial planning? Presented at the Transience and permanence in urban development, Sheffield University. Retrieved from http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.452227!/file/Honeck.pdf (06.06.2015) Københavns Kommune. (2013). Fuglekvarteret neighbourhood plan. Teknik- og Miljøforvaltningen. Retrieved from http://kk.sites.itera.dk/apps/kk_pub2/pdf/ 1063_bmPMzgj7vS.pdf (16.02.2015) Københavns Kommune. (2014). Proposal to the municipal plan for creative zones. Økonomiforvaltningen. Lawson, L. (2004). The planner in the garden: a historical view into the relationship between planning and community gardens. Journal of Planning History, 3(2), 151–176. Lehtovuori, P., & Ruoppila, S. (2012). Temporary uses as means of experimental urban planning. SAJ -Serbian Architectural Journal. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/6067024/Temporary_uses_as_means_of_experimental_urb an_planning (12.03.2014) Martí, M. (2013). Pla Buits: urban politics for the interim? El Diario (online). Retrieved from http://www.eldiario.es/catalunya/pistaurbana/Plan- Vacios_6_140046010.html (06.07.2015) Martínez, M. (2007). The squatters’ movement: urban counter-culture and alter- globalization dynamics. South European Society and Politics, 12(3), 379–398. Németh, J., & Langhorst, J. (2014). Rethinking urban transformation: temporary uses for vacant land. Cities, 40, Part B, 143–150. Northam, R. M. (1971). Vacant urban land in the American city. Land Economics, 47(4), 345–355. Oswalt, P., Overmeyer, K., & Misselwitz, P. (2013). Urban Catalyst: the power of temporary use. Berlin: DOM Publishers. Overmeyer, K. (Ed.). (2007). Urban pioneers: temporary use and urban development in Berlin (Bilingual edition). Berlin: Jovis. Pruijt, H. (2003). Is the institutionalization of urban movements inevitable? A comparison of the opportunities for sustained squatting in New York City and Amsterdam. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27(1), 133–157. Recreant Cruïlles. (2012). Espai Germanetes – Self-management neighbourhood project of the urban vacant plot in Espai Germanetes. Recreant Cruïlles. (2013). Recreant Cruïlles project. Report. Slater, T. (2014). Unravelling false choice urbanism. Crisis-scapes: Athens and Beyond. Retrieved from http://www.crisis-scape.net/conference/item/180-unravelling-false- choiceurbanism (08.06.2015) Smith, N. (1979). Toward a theory of gentrification a back to the city movement by capital, not people. Journal of the American Planning Association, 45(4), 538–548. Street Plans Collaborative. (2012). Tactical urbanism, short-term action, long-term change (Vol. 2). Studio Urban Catalyst. (2003). Urban Catalysts: strategies for temporary uses – potential for development of urban residual areas in European metropolises. Retrieved from

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http://cordis.europa.eu/documents/documentlibrary/65794761EN19.doc (28.11.2014) Waibel, D. M., & McFarlane, D. C. (2012). Urban informalities: reflections on the formal and informal. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Ziehl, M., Osswald, S., Hasemann, O., & Schnier, D. (2012). Second hand spaces: recycling sites undergoing urban transformation. Distributed Art Pub Incorporated.

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3 Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space in Manchester and Copenhagen Jamie Furlong

Abstract: When we think of urban architecture, it seems images of secondary schools and their design rarely come to mind, despite their ubiquity in cities. Architects who have considered school buildings have been too blithe in their focus on the ways in which the spaces they construct are used, reused and reconstructed by those within: teachers and students. This research plugs this gap by approaching school architecture and spaces from a multidisciplinary perspective to assess the complex ways in which teachers’ relationships with space are embedded in the school context, with a particular focus on the patterns that have emerged in different schools according to their architectural or physical form in two locations: Manchester and Copenhagen. Uncovered here is the way in which teachers value primarily the instrumentality of their environments: older cellular schools are somewhat restrictive for implementing today’s mix of pedagogies that require a diversity of spaces. Yet teachers do interact with spaces to employ seemingly incongruent pedagogies: smooth spaces are sometimes created in striated physical environments. Finally, secondary schools are fit into their geographical context to reveal the impact of international, national, urban and internal cultures upon the myriad ways that teachers produce space in the schools.

Introduction

Schools are inextricably tied to our urban centres and increasingly so, if only because the world’s population is becoming steadily more urban (Hentschke, 2012: 205). Yet thoughts of urban architecture more often conjures up images of skyscrapers, street design and transport hubs than secondary schools. From the relative paucity of research that has been devoted to the practical and symbolic impacts of school buildings, it would seem that architectural and spatial research has also been blind to its significance (Higgins et al., 2005). This reflects the bounded nature of research: pedagogical studies have concerned teaching methods and curricula, school design has been part of architectural studies and the impact of buildings on students’ attainment has been largely restricted to environmental psychology - three disciplines approaching from

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

different angles. This does not reflect a reality in which pedagogy and architecture are inherently interconnected, from the monumentalist nineteenth century school built to accommodate authoritarian approaches to clustered educational spaces designed for differentiated teaching today. The historical relationship between school architecture and pedagogy is outlined below:

British & Danish schools in the nineteenth century: The 19th century left behind a legacy of monumental schools in the UK and Denmark, often built like factories and ran in a rather militaristic fashion: pedagogies were linked to long corridors and bounded classrooms where children would be educated in batches at tables and desks in uniform ranks. From this regimented style, the school would become, through a combination of architecture and pedagogy, what Foucault (1995) terms a form of disciplinary technology designed to produce obedient yet useful bodies under relentless observation . Students would be separated into enclosed and partitioned classrooms by rank, age, performance or behaviour. The classroom itself reflected the unequal teacher-student power relationship, symbolised by the teacher’s desk, almost always positioned at the front as a ‘symbol of authority and a point of surveillance’ – untouchable to students, whose own desks didn’t confer the same status (McGregor, 2004b: 15). Knowledge is still today often transmitted didactically from behind the desk that forms a teacher- student barrier (ibid.), and row seating separated by gender or ability remains prevalent. Although schools today are inevitably a reflection of ideas and architecture from the past two hundred years, these ideas from the 19th century still live on and spatial arrangements continue to inflict a disciplining of bodies that is not wholly dissimilar to these older schools.

Schools in the twentieth century: The 20th century saw a slow transformation in school architecture marked by the persistence of the modular school design and the later influence of more open schools with greater spatial types and modes of adaptations that came from a new focus on student-centred learning (Dovey & Fisher, 2014). Both in the UK and Denmark, traditional pedagogies and architecture from the 19th century remained completely dominant up until the Second World War (Darling & Nisbet, 2000; de Coninck-Smith, 2010). After this period, a more questioning approach to education emerged internationally (Radu, 2011: 88), marked by the influence of John Dewey and with several key themes: child-centred learning environments;

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multidisciplinary and collaborative learning; a rejection of didactic methods; social learning. A greater awareness of the intermediary role of the environment in education prevailed, perhaps best encapsulated by Dewey (1966: 19) himself: ‘we never educate directly, but indirectly by means of the environment’. In the 1960s and 1970s a number of open-plan schools were built in British and Danish suburbs to encourage a diversity of methods and the kind of child-centred environments encouraged by Dewey. However, they were never dominant, particularly in the UK, where by the 1980s, a national neurosis regarding behaviour emerged, for which school teachers and school buildings were to take much blame (Dudek, 2000). A dual shift in architecture and pedagogy occurred: architectural designs became reminiscent of prison-like school structures, and particularly after the implementation of the National Curriculum in 1988, dominant pedagogical ideas moved away from task-based activities, towards ‘forms of learning which would be assessed and…delivered by way of paper and pencil tests’, overwhelming subject-specific teachers in bureaucracy (Dudek, 2000: 47).

Schools in the nineties and twenty-first century: The OECD (2011: 26), continually promoting the creation of “learning environments for the 21st century”, argue for a push ‘beyond the simplicity of flexible open space’ that was seen in the open plan schools of the 1960s and 1970s, towards the incorporation of special purpose spaces, multipurpose spaces and ultimately the creation of a physical form where learning can take place anywhere, by any means, and at any time. In the UK, the Building Schools for the Future programme sought to build new schools and renovate existing ones to instil pedagogies with: students directing their own learning; personalised learning in a diverse curriculum; fewer traditional timetables; the possibility for mixed-age teaching; and greater flexibility in learning styles; the teacher as a facilitator (see: DfES 2002, 2004). Likewise, new curricula in Denmark have emphasised teamwork and collaborative learning in a rich diversity of spaces – Dewey’s rationale coming to life.

In fact, what is left today is a confusing mix of school buildings and pedagogies from these periods as well as many schools which are a physical hybrid of designs after being updated, renovated and expanded in different time periods. This article will look at the way in which teachers interact with this mix of architecture and educational spaces to ask the following question: how do different educational spaces in Manchester secondary schools and Copenhagen gymnasia influence teaching practices and vice versa? The double-sidedness of this question reflects a Lefebvrian (1991) perspective that acknowledges space as continuously physically and socially (re)produced – a process

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

that teachers are very much part of. Tendencies are uncovered in the ways that different architectural forms and spaces inhibit or empower teachers and in the ways that teachers perceive, use and produce such spaces. In particular, consideration will be given to the extent to which teachers continue to use cellular spaces for didactic, teacher-oriented practices and newly designed school environments in ways congruent with twenty-first century pedagogical ideas of personalised, differentiated learning. Through this focus, a secondary question can be formed: to what extent and in what direction is there a “lag” between architecture and teaching methods in Manchester secondary schools and Copenhagen gymnasia? To use the terminology of Martin (2002), this research uncovers the extent to which, in different types of space, teachers feel free to employ whatever teaching method they desire, and which spaces leave teachers feeling more confused or worse imprisoned by the environment around them.

Review of Academic Literature

Space and Schools: Extending the Academic Field

‘Considering that it is almost axiomatic that space as the physical environment of a school will affect the teaching and learning within it, there has been surprisingly little research on this’

(McGregor, 2004a: 2).

Even after the open plan movement of the sixties and seventies, the dominant assumption amongst educationalists was that ‘the child’s learning depended solely on pedagogical, psychological and social variables’ (Weinstein, 1979: 577). This aspatial approach has largely remained since in which the physical bodies of teacher and student have not been situated and school buildings have often been articulated simplistically as ‘places where school is kept’ (Clark, 2002: 9). This reflects both the fact that the “spatial turn” in education is still only in its infancy and a wider ignorance of the socio-spatial production of space that sees it as an empty vessel waiting to be filled by certain actions (Massey, 1992). The potential impact of school buildings on learning and teaching has only materialised in a serious way since the turn of the 21st century (McGregor, 2004a; Gulson & Symes, 2007). Most studies however have focused on educational performance with little attention given to the subjective experiences of students and teachers in their environments (Fisher, 2004: 37). Taking on the tautological language of architects and policy-makers instead of the voice of teachers, research has often assumed an underlying need to move from formal to informal

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

learning spaces because the former is ‘one-way transmission of knowledge’ and the latter social and personalised (Boys, 2009). This study breaks with the tradition of assuming an inherent connection between architecture and teachers’ methods; instead I will uncover the ways in which teachers understand and use space of different styles and eras from students’ and their own perspectives.

Studies on the Interactions between Environment and Teacher

Studies in traditional, modular schools have highlighted both the restrictive nature of these environments on teachers and the ways in which teachers have adapted spaces to more modern pedagogical ideas. Bissell’s (2004: 2) study of two large, British suburban comprehensive schools supported the findings of Adams and Bibble (1970): smaller, crowded, cellular classrooms restricted teachers’ abilities to modify the space resulting in traditional work patterns. Bissell (2004: 32) nevertheless conceded that even the most traditional spaces are modified and used not in ways that were intended: ‘architects and others involved in the planning and design of school buildings do not create learning environments. Teachers create learning environments’. Irrespective of the visions of designers or architects, teachers might engage in a process that Horne (1998: 213) calls ‘adaptive redesigning’ – reworking the environment to meet their own objectives. A lack of flexibility and crowdedness might be compensated for by: good classroom organisation (Follows, 2000); the modification of teaching plans and methods with a more directive approach to the students’ use of space, frequently assigning them to specific areas of the room to play (Fagot, 1977); or by compensating for students’ inability to move by the teacher moving (or adapting the room to move) more frequently around the room (Martin, 2002). In this case, where “hard” physical features of the classroom cannot be controlled, environments with “soft” features such as moveable walls and tables seemingly offer greater freedom to teachers to manipulate their environment and realise a different kind of “spatial pedagogy” (Horne, 1998; Lim et al., 2012). This process might also be necessary when teachers wish to implement more traditional methods in open-plan school where there might be increased noise and distractions in the environment (Gifford, 2007). On the contrary, more open-plan schools have also been found to induce self-control in students’ behaviour by quietening down the lesson as necessary, thereby not necessitating an authoritarian role from the teacher (Itoh, 2001).

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

Deleuzian Theory and the Production of Smooth Educational Spaces

The application of the theoretical approach of Gilles Deleuze allows us to re-think how we might unwrap the over-coded striations of schools and their territorialised spaces. His idea that the material world is part of the same network of relationality as the human world gives power to physical contexts which can be understood as having potential to effect and simultaneously be affected by those that interact with them (Davies et al., 2009). In short, ‘architecture becomes pedagogical and pedagogy becomes architectural’, as architecture itself becomes an actor in the same network in which students and teachers interact (Ellsworth, 2005: 48). Neither architecture, spaces and their uses, nor students and teachers in schools, should be separated according to differences, but instead there should be a kind of fluidity of categories - a shift from difference to differentiation (Davies, 2009). This involves the banishment of striated learning spaces and the creation of smooth ones.

Striated school spaces are the regulated, standardised, dull classrooms where the ‘over-coded striations take hold of memory and imagination seeming to leave no space for the emergent possibility of new ideas, of movement and of becoming’ (Davies et al., 2009: 135). They reflect the complete abandonment of effective teaching and learning: ‘the room which is bleak and chill permeated her [the teacher’s] body and mind, making her feel as blank and numb as the walls themselves. The new ideas generated elsewhere, the life of ideas, cannot make it over the threshold’ (ibid.: 136). Teacher creativity and innovation will always be restricted in striated learning spaces that are characterised by their boundedness, overwhelming sense of organisation and the subordination of students to the power of the teacher- as-expert (Savin-Baden, 2008).

In contrast, smooth spaces are those with open, soft and movable features, where borders that once existed between classroom and corridor, teacher and student, and subject and object are removed. The smooth classroom functions ‘not as a place of semination, but as an agora, a meeting place, with exchanges going on all the time, in various corners of the room’ (McMahon, 1996: 17). Open and contested spaces should encourage students to develop their own stance towards knowledge (Savin-Baden, 2008: 13-14), thereby replacing the teacher-as-expert with the teacher-as-analyst (McMahon, 1996). The physical or psychological removal from traditional learning environments allows the teacher to re-evaluate their own role, methods and perspectives and reflect upon the ways in which they are producing learning spaces.

Most critical to this research is the understanding that smooth and striated spaces do

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not exist in isolation: ‘smooth space allows itself to be striated, and striated space reimparts a smooth space’ (Deleuze & Guattari, 2008: 537). However, the idea that teachers are easily able to create smooth teaching/learning spaces within the striated space of either a cellular school design or traditional school culture where routines and rituals are continuously enacted is problematic. Teachers may be powerless to change space that is ordered by a combination of the timetabling, curriculum, school culture and architecture – the production of space can imply control and power over those who use it in a Lefebvrian (1991) sense. Smooth spaces and their physical and pedagogical characteristics may seem incompatible to a culture and wider environment that teachers relate to and understand; teachers can become plagued by a sense of disjunction that results in a “troublesome learning space”, which like “troublesome knowledge”, Savin-Baden (2008) argues, seems incoherent, counter- intuitive and alien. Any attempts to instigate a flexible environment can be ‘increasingly subsumed by busyness and accountability in a performative academic culture’ (Savin-Baden, 2008: 14). As Deleuze and Guattari themselves write, ‘never believe that a smooth space will suffice to save us’ (2008: 551).

Case Studies and Methodology

Case studies: In total, six gymnasia in Copenhagen and five secondary schools in Manchester agreed to take part in the study. Their locations are shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: maps showing the predominantly suburban location of the schools in this research (source: maps.google.com)

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

The case studies above were all initially constructed between 1920 and 2010 with most occupying suburban locations. The schools are separated into three categories according to when they were first constructed:

1) Schools built between 1900 and 1945: Gefion Gymnasium and HF-Centret Efterslægten.

2) Refurbished schools originally built between 1945 and 1980: Middleton Technology College, Nørre Gymnasium, Gammel Hellerup, Loreto Chorlton, Københavns Åbne Gymnasium (KAG) and Abraham Moss.

3) Schools built in the 21st century: Manchester Communication Academy (MCA), Ellesmere Park, Nærum Gymnasium.

The schools themselves are somewhat reminiscent of the time period in which they were built, particularly the most recently built schools that have more flexible environments and distinctive differentiated learning spaces. For many of the older schools, particularly those in group 2, their design has been updated and added to over time, leaving today a hybrid of different styles reflecting various epochs2.

Methodological approach: In order to acquire a depth of understanding of the complex ways in which teachers interact with school spaces, a largely ethnographic approach was taken: semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with teachers, some students and two architects, and observations took place in lessons and throughout the school generally. As respondents could influence the thematic direction of the interview, the semi-structured interview process allowed for this ‘strong element of discovery’ (Gillham, 2005: 72), thereby eliciting from teachers what they considered to be important elements of the way they interact with different spaces. The esoteric interpretations of teachers offer far more valuable data than any so-called “expert” reading of spatiality from myself.

The purpose and limits of the research: The data produced, because of the relatively small sample size of participants, will not ‘continually lead to the same measurements or results and therefore lacks quixotic reliability (Kirk & Miller cited in Flick, 2002: 219-220). It must be acknowledged that classroom observations were rarely possible

2 For more information on the architectural history of the school buildings and photos of each of the schools, please contact the author at: [email protected].

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and in some schools I was only able to formally interview one or two teachers whose interactions with the space might differ significantly from that of other teachers. However, the aim of this research is neither a detailed, immersive study into each school nor is it generalisability or synecdochic persuasion; this is a qualitative analysis of teachers’ interactions with different spaces across two different locations, and can only be used to show tendencies according to the type of school building and the location.

Results and Analysis a) The persistence of two 19th century ideas

The immutability of the cellular classroom

For almost all teachers the cellular classroom continues to be an important space in which a quiet, private atmosphere is generated for didactic teaching and surveillance of the class. At some older schools this reflects the limited non-classroom spaces. At others, however, such as Middleton Technology College, where there is a newly-built communal space in the sixth form block, teachers opted to remain in the classroom, even during group work. Indeed, even in more open-plan schools such as Ellesmere Park, teachers explained: ‘I would still have a couple more classrooms on certain floors’. Many teachers, even at schools with more luxurious open spaces, felt they could interact with the cellular classroom in a way that would bring about a calm environment with few distractions closed off from the corridor.

The enclosure of the bounded classroom was also symbolic, in that it separated the sanctified classroom as an academic space from everything outside its walls, as a teacher at Gefion Gymnasium explained: ‘I like the fact that we are in a classroom where we are closed off from the world. This is our holy temple of knowledge and science in some way’. Indeed, for many teachers the classroom was a familiar space of learning - a space in which they felt at ease, irrespective of the design or age of the school: ‘you know you're at a school when you're here’, explained one teacher at Efterslægten. This comfort would be more pronounced if the teacher had access to their own classroom – a space that could serve to express their identity: ‘I sometimes think it might be cool if I had my own classroom […] because then I could plaster the walls with posters of studies’ (Teacher, Nørre G). Ownership of a classroom would allow greater control of the learning environment – decorations, seating plans, furniture – to give the teacher more flexibility in their pedagogical approach.

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

This flexibility to differentiate teaching was only prominent however in larger classrooms, more often in newer schools. In many of the older schools, teachers were restricted by a lack of space that inhibited the practical implementation of their desired methods. In contrast to Martin’s (2002) findings that teachers compensate for students’ inability to move around in small classrooms, at Abraham Moss, one teacher described how in her small classroom ‘you're squishing around all the desks like this and you can't get round and see every child apart from the fact that you trip up over the bags’.

Despite the difficulties faced in smaller classrooms, for most teachers modular classrooms are fundamental to their teaching offering a degree of comfort and identity, and in larger classrooms, flexibility. This is summed up most aptly by a teacher at Nærum Gymnasium – the school with by far the widest range of teaching spaces outside of the classroom: ‘I might be old-fashioned and quite conservative […] but I still feel that my teaching is performed really well in a classroom, and in terms of this building that gives me so many options’.

The school as a site of disciplinary technology

For Foucault (1995: 141-143), discipline proceeds from the spatial distribution of individuals that often comes from a combination of: enclosure - ‘the specification of a place heterogeneous to all others and closed in upon itself’; and partitioning – ‘disciplinary space tends to be divided into as many sections as there are bodies or elements to be distributed’. In the more traditional modular schools, discipline was enabled by the design of the bounded classroom which enabled teachers to know the spatial location of students and to regulate their behaviour (see: McLaren, 2002). An important feature of the 19th century classroom was that students – seated in rows - would be visible to the teacher at the front. This idea was prevalent across many of the more traditional, older schools today: ‘to me a classroom is just a classroom […] All I need is to be able to see my students and see that they are directing their attention towards me. Then I'm satisfied’ (teacher, Efterslægten).

Whilst enclosure and partitioning allow for the production of sites of disciplinary technology in traditional, cellular environments, it is exposure that provides the same end in recently built, open plan schools. At Ellesmere Park, the lack of physical separation between the departmental areas for teachers and the open learning spaces means students are always “on show”: ‘Because we have these open spaces where teachers are working on a regular basis […] kids aren't getting up to what they would do

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

in the old building because […] they're always kind of being watched all the time’ (teacher, Ellesmere Park). At Nærum, in an environment of large, open curved spaces and glass walls, students are conscious of the potential visibility of their actions and regulate their behaviour accordingly: ‘everything you does everyone sees it [sic]…so you kind of have to behave really grown up all the time’ (student, Nærum). Unlike Bentham’s Panopticon, where self-disciplining behaviour was ensured by restricting the inhabitants’ awareness of when exactly they were being watched (Foucault, 1995: 201-202), students are aware they are being observed and often modify their behaviour accordingly. In these two examples, the “epistemological power” of the school is built into the transparent walls and open spaces as much as in the wholly enclosed space of the bounded classroom. This power is also exercised over teachers as well, as explained by one teacher at MCA, ‘it's like the minute you come in through the front door you're on show. You don't go into the classroom and collapse and have a fag [cigarette] like you might have done in the past’.

b) Embedding 21st century ideas in space

Moving beyond didacticism in the classroom

On top of the unsuitable or insufficient numbers of large classrooms, teachers in older schools frequently faced difficulties employing desired teaching methods, such as differentiated or collaborative learning, because of a lack of perceived suitable space outside of the classroom. This was for many teachers built into the design: ‘I think this school is built very much or designed very much to have classes […] We don't have a lot of rooms like this where you can actually be four or five people and do some group work’ (teacher, Efterslægten). The environment was acknowledged as being prescriptive, encouraging didactic methods: ‘since I started here I've been going back to traditional ways of teaching […] I just tend to go back to the old...blackboard style now’ (teacher, Gammel Hellerup). The lack of spatial freedom afforded to teachers combined with the dominant striated physical form of cellular classrooms served to stifle creativity, generating a sense that ‘nothing new seems possible’ (Davies et al., 2009: 135). This was best explained by a teacher at Loreto Chorlton school: ‘I think at the beginning everyone thinks ‘ohh we're gonna do loads of group work. We're gonna set the world on fire and now it's like, ‘no, you're gonna sit in a line and be quiet’’.

Teachers in Manchester did sometimes find innovative ways to create smooth learning spaces in inhibitive classrooms, whereas in Copenhagen collaborative

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

learning spaces were frequently created outside the classroom, often in an area not conceived for such uses. For example, in many Manchester schools tables were moved to adapt the classroom to group work or personalised learning. In contrast, at Gammel Hellerup, students frequently used the canteen for study work – an ill-defined environment in which they were easily distracted. At Gefion school, the philosophy teacher ‘uses the old Greek method where sometimes we pair up […] and just walk around the school, maybe go outside for twenty minutes’ (student, Gefion). There, the teacher overcomes the restrictive, cellular design by utilising the corridor to create a smooth learning space where students can generate their own stance towards knowledge (Savin-Baden, 2008).

Although the observations of Lim et al. (2002) that didactic methods are foregrounded in old, cellular schools is partially confirmed, it is clear that the classroom, particularly in Copenhagen, is clearly not surrounded by impermeable walls outside of which no teaching takes place. Just as with Lefebvre’s (1991: 92-93) description of a house falsely imagined as ‘the epitome of immobility, with its concrete and its stark, cold and rigid outlines’, any critical assessment of the physically bounded classroom would find that its walls are permeable and that there is no strict boundary between inside and outside or activity and non-activity. Leander et al. (2010: 332) ask: ‘if we deliberately “destroy the appearance of solidity,” however, what might we observe?’ Perhaps teachers need to imagine the classroom space not as a fixed container-like environment but as potential to be part of a fluid network of learning spaces that transcend its walls.

Newly built schools: Creating spaces for 21st century learning

All three newly built schools – Ellesmere Park, Nærum and MCA – are most successful in extending teaching beyond the walls of the classroom and affording a greater diversity of teaching methods. At Nærum Gymnasium, the huge diversity of spaces (large classrooms, open spaces, a glass-walled library and small learning rooms) are both well-used and clearly linked to pedagogy: at the same time as ‘maybe a third or half of all teaching’ (teacher, Nærum) taking place outside of the classroom, a student explains that, ‘more often than not we're working in groups. I think it's kind of rare that we work alone’. Teachers can vary their methods more easily and are empowered by the architecture that does not constrain them to the classroom.

Ellesmere Park - a newly rebuilt school - also has a design that includes a mix of large

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classrooms and open spaces affords teachers much more agency to differentiate learning: ‘now because we've got these open areas as well as the classrooms - and the classrooms are far bigger - you've got that flexibility where you can do those types of activities [acting, roleplaying, moving around]’ (teacher, Ellesmere Park). Lessons at the school can be changed quite spontaneously and the teacher can adapt the environment and pedagogy to suit the needs of individual students. Personalised learning is also possible for individual students as a result of the way that surveillance is embedded into the open spaces and glass windows of the adjoining classrooms: ‘If you look at the girl over there […] she's sitting on her own outside of the classroom doing some work. Because of the space that we've got, we can do that […] I'm here as well so I can supervise her’ (teacher, Ellesmere Park). Rather than narrow corridors, the school has different multidisciplinary, colour-coded learning zones consisting of large classrooms and open learning spaces with tables, chairs and whiteboards – an internally fluid and cohesive environment. The result is clear: ‘we never really used to speak to anyone else that much really but now we're right next to science... we all kind of have the same working space really so we see each other a lot more’. The open environment allows not just spontaneous contact but also spontaneous team teaching: ‘If any teachers are walking through the lesson, I get them involved […] I do like that because you don't feel as isolated (teacher, Ellesmere Park). The multidisciplinary and team teaching opportunities afforded by teachers’ spatial freedom supports studies (Siegel, 2002; Hansen, 2011) that have found that greater physical distances between departments in schools leave teachers more isolated in reinforced subject subcultures.

Whilst MCA shares some design characteristics with these other two 21st century schools, it is more a unique example of the way in which an internal culture can be embedded into the built environment to impact upon teaching. Radical pedagogical ideas are instilled in daring architecture: there are very few closed classrooms, and large learning zones on each floor offer a complete multidisciplinary environment in which teachers team teach classes of 60 students. At this school, it is seemingly impossible for pedagogy to “lag” behind the school architecture: teaching didactically every day at the front of a closed classroom is impossible because neither the space nor the culture would permit it.

The school has purposefully instilled a culture where ‘people aren’t just going off and doing their own thing. They're doing it under and understood banner of "this is how we do it here”’ (teacher, MCA). This supports comments by head teacher, Lynne Heath (2015: 141-142): ‘the habits of the users had to be carefully nurtured to ensure that

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

the new staff and students arriving on a yearly basis over the next four years could be modelled, replicated and remain consistent with the habitat’. There is consistent onsite teacher training and adaptation to the environment is made easier by the “collegiate approach” at the school where “teams” of teachers share ideas and planning at specific times in spaces which connect them. Teachers are neither spatially nor culturally isolated as they are situated in multidisciplinary “schools within a school” where they plan lessons together with other teachers. Similar to the “pod school” described by Lackney and Moore (1994), each area of the school has its own rationale and approach with ideas continuously shared amongst teachers. Within each pod, there is a “project-based” learning approach whereby in a year group of approximately 215 students, there are small schools of 55 students taught in a space by three teachers. It is this team teaching and multidisciplinary intermingling of teachers, afforded by the design of the school that shapes the culture therein: ‘if your school is modular classrooms it's hard to get teachers to work together if they're all in separate rooms (teacher, MCA).

Confirming Raffo’s (2014: 131) findings at the school, I observed that, rather than dominating, didactic learning forms part of a repertoire of diverse methods afforded by the range of spaces. In fact, it is used to support students with greater academic difficulties: ‘If a kid isn't getting the concept or if they’re falling behind...that's when you can identify a group of students and take them into that learning space and teach them more traditionally’ (teacher, MCA). The option thus exists to create a more personalised environment adapted to individual needs: ‘some students can't learn in a large learning space because they get distracted […] so they might get taught in one of the side rooms, particularly a lower ability student’ (teacher, MCA). More negatively, this could be described as a 21st century manifestation of “place capturing” where students are spatially segregated based on their academic ability – not so far removed from the 19th century Bell- Lancaster method (Paechter, 2000).

c) The contextual impact of the curriculum and culture

Secondary schools in the UK have often been theorised as being “examination factories” where students are educated to achieve good exam results in fragmented disciplines (Boyd, 1997). The structure of GCSE and A-Level courses, as opposed to the Danish model of four interdisciplinary programmes, is to treat subject areas as naturally bounded, rather than recognising that they are actually ‘territorial spaces

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

carved out by academic scholars for their own purposes’ (Beane, 1991: 9). This connection between subject-specific curriculum and school architecture is well explained by the interviewed teacher at MCA: ‘the national curriculum meant that people had to be taught subjects, so walls went up. So large spaces ended up being turned into modular classrooms’.

Today, recently built spaces designed for differentiated, multidisciplinary learning are incongruent with these embedded “territorial spaces” of subjects and the pressure teachers feel to produce good results in “their” subject: ‘you've got time pressures as a teacher that are phenomenal and the pressures of grades and of achieving certain standards for your classes. So it is a slow, subtle shift [in changing teacher methods to reflect multidisciplinary aims in the new school building]’ (teacher, Ellesmere Park). A fine balance is sought between producing an innovative space in the open environment and satisfying the need for quantifiable progress: ‘my students have to be making progress. If I can do that in a creative way then I will use creative [methods]… if that is not working then I have to shift my approach and do something different’ (teacher, Ellesmere Park). The pressure of an intense exam culture in Manchester only reinstates the prevalence of didactic teaching methods in all types of schools. In contrast, in Copenhagen, teachers are afforded much more trust and freedom in determining the content and methods of their teaching, irrespective of school architecture or environment: ‘the way this school and I think in Denmark the schools work is as a teacher there's great confidence that I know what I'm doing’ (teacher, KAG). Thus, in newer schools, such as Nærum, there is a clear congruence between the national culture of a more open education and the more open architecture. For as long as this difference exists in national education systems, teachers in Denmark are likely to find it much more straightforward to implement their desired methods in new, flexible educational spaces. Whereas in the UK, even in flexible educational spaces, teacher are more likely to create a striated environment through didactic teaching methods in order to fit into the education system.

d) Limited symbolic reflections and their relationship to the urban fabric

The way in which teachers have reflected upon the school environment, as exemplified, is most often tied to instrumentality. Symbolic reflections are limited, as, like Dewey (1915, 1966) argued, teachers predominantly understand school spaces as intermediaries to be used efficiently. This may be a bias in the chosen case studies:

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

many of these schools are post-war, anti-monumentalist schools in the suburbs – more functionalist than awe-inspiring. Perhaps many of the schools visited impact negatively the way in which teachers dwell within (Heidegger, 1971), in the sense that they are not interacting with the learning environment in a way that awakens their future aspirations or uplifts them and the educational process to a higher realm. The concept of dwelling is inherently connected to the built environment for Heidegger (1971: 157) who envisions that we can only build if we first understand how to dwell. Perhaps then if these teachers taught in “cathedrals of learning” with towers and spirals, they might feel uplifted and be able to reflect more easily on their symbolic interaction with the environment (Ream & Ream, 2005). On the occasions where teachers did feel symbolic inspiration from the environment, it was largely the result of building renovations or the suburban location. One teacher at Nørre Gymnasium reflected on the renovation of the building: ‘it makes you feel this L'oreal kind of thing...I'm worth it’. Much the same inspiration was found at Ellesmere Park, where one teacher emphasised how uplifting the new environment is: ‘it's light, it's bright, it's new, it is inspiring, it makes you feel better about yourself, it's almost like "look what we're giving you" and then you kind of rise to that level’. At some schools, particularly in suburban Copenhagen an uplifting feeling was generated by large windows providing light and views of open, green spaces: ‘It makes me positive when I get to see the sun and there's light’ (teacher, Gammel Hellerup). At Efterslægten, a feeling of calmness was generated, both from the large windows with ‘such a view of Northern Copenhagen’ and from the light, airy corridors with curved edges on the walls. Suggesting that this elevates both those within the space and the whole value of education might appear far-fetched, but these symbolic aspects of the space can only have a positive effect on a teacher’s motivation to innovate and become more creative in their use of space.

A Brief Summary

The influence of the school building upon teachers in this study is clear: teachers are, on the whole, more constrained in older schools with more typical cellular designs where there are fewer spaces to create collaborative learning beyond the classroom walls. They often respond by employing a more traditional, didactic approach. However, to use Martin’s (2002) terminology, this is not to say that they are imprisoned by this architecture: in older schools in Manchester, teachers find ways to modify the classroom to inject 21st century ideas into the space; in Copenhagen teachers frequently extended the learning process beyond the classroom into ill-defined open

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spaces such as halls and canteens, which in turn raised some practical concerns. What’s more, despite limitations, the traditional cellular, bounded classroom is still valued by teachers across all schools, particularly large classrooms that offer flexibility to employ a diverse range of new and old teaching methods in an area that is free from distractions found in more open spaces. To use Deleuze and Guattari’s (2008) terminology, even if teachers are restricted, the possibility usually exists to produce smooth learning spaces in the striated structure of the bounded classroom and prescribed school curriculum.

However, the amount of freedom that teachers are granted to employ their chosen methods is far greater in the three newer schools, both in Copenhagen and Manchester, due to the diversity of spaces in which teachers can often team teach and create spaces for differentiated and personalised learning as well as group work. Regarding refurbished and reconstructed schools, the same applies: teachers value a range of spaces to employ a range of methods. Where architectural changes haven’t afforded such diversity, such as at Middleton Tech or Abraham Moss, teachers are still largely restricted to classroom-based teaching, often didactically.

Teachers interact with all spaces across all types of school in order to supervise and observe students. In 20th-century cellular school buildings, the classroom remains a site of surveillance and disciplinary power from teachers upon students, supporting the idea that classroom-based learning “is not simply the uncomplicated transmission of knowledge, but involves a complex web of embodied relations of power” (McGregor, 2004b: 18). In newer schools, surveillance is a fully embedded part of the socio-spatial assemblage with large open spaces, glass walls/windows and curved edges denying teachers the opportunity to escape the gaze of others without any opportunity to withdraw to the enclosure of the classroom and therefore they become subject to the same disciplinary technology.

Beyond the direct influence of the architecture itself, there are several other factors that influence the way in which teachers interact with their environment at varying scales from national cultures to the location of the school within the urban environment. In Manchester, confirming Savin-Baden’s (2008) ideas, a rigid and prescribed national curriculum and strong performative teaching culture was incongruent with newly designed architecture, impacting negatively on teachers’ abilities to produce smooth spaces where students guide their own learning and teachers are facilitators rather than experts imparting knowledge. This is often far simpler in Copenhagen, where a less prescribed curriculum and more relaxed teaching

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

culture is better suited to 21st century school architecture and pedagogies.

MCA presented a very specific case study displaying the importance of fusing an internal culture with the school building in order to influence the way in which teachers interact with spaces to produce different pedagogies. At this school, there was an ethos instilled in spatiality. Teachers are simultaneously emancipated and constrained: they are freed from a physical or cultural environment that might push them into teaching didactically in a classroom; yet pushed into employing 21st century methods of team teaching and differentiated teaching even if it is against their wishes. Nonetheless, embedding an internal culture is one clear way of achieving congruence between a newly-built environment and pedagogy. This confirms Heath’s (2015: 137) idea that ‘the success of new buildings relies heavily on its users being able to articulate a distinctive vision for their school’. Such a vision should be reflected in the organisation of the school, for it is not just the availability of spaces, but also school curricula, time availability, departmental structure and students’ behaviour that often demand boundaries and priorities in classroom activities (Aubusson, 2002).

Implications of this Research

In Lefebvrian (1991) terms, this study has been an examination of the reconciliation between the lived, conceived and perceived realms of secondary school and gymnasium spaces. The extent to which the three create a coherent whole is inevitably different at each school and is determined by so many aforementioned factors: the diversity of spaces offered; the size of the classroom space; the influence of internal and external culture; and the symbolism of refurbished or light and open spaces in proximity to nature. Consistency is assured in this triad ‘only in favourable circumstances, when a common language, a consensus and a code can be established’ (Lefebvre, 1991: 40). Below I promote several ways, based on the findings of this study, in which a more joined-up approach to create greater congruence between school architecture and teachers’ methods can be achieved:

Implications of the research for architects designing schools

There is clearly no “one-size fits all” approach to designing some implausible “perfect school” for any environment must fit to the national, local and internal culture. There are however some pragmatic and symbolic findings that transcended both locations

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

and thus can tentatively be suggested for consideration by architects. There is an overall need for a diversity of clustered spaces of different sizes and openness to match teachers’ needs to employ a range of pedagogies:

● Large, bright cellular classrooms with room to modify seating arrangements.

● Instead of corridors, adjoining open learning spaces - visible from the classroom - that can be used for lessons and collaborative/group work.

● Small, bounded rooms to enable one-on-one teaching and personalised learning.

● Glass walls and curved edges could reduce the need for invasive surveillance (e.g. CCTV).

● Multidisciplinary learning zones in close proximity to each other to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

● Considering a location close to green space and designing a building with large windows and open spaces in order to create a light, airy and uplifting environment for teachers and pupils.

Implications of the research for schools and education authorities

In many schools in this research, teachers had rarely received adequate training to use new educational spaces or to modify older spaces to fit new ideas. Uncertainty often prevailed concerning how to interact with spaces, leaving potential for methods incongruent with the architecture. In order to overcome this, teacher training should encourage a form of “collaborative placemaking” by promoting spatial literacy and more specifically an understanding of the way teachers are shaped by spaces and shape it (Fisher, 2004: 37): to identify ‘the ways in which striated spaces and systems have moulded our assumptions, perceptions and pedagogies’ (Savin-Baden, 2008: 15). Teachers simply must be connected to the design of classrooms and be instilled with greater spatial awareness in their training to avoid a passive acceptance of poor environments (Horne, 1998). Bringing spatial awareness back from the subconscious, coupled with organisational changes to the school (e.g. timetabling, team teaching, creating multidisciplinary learning zones) will help embed an ethos into the school space and encourage congruence between teachers’ methods and the school architecture.

Habits in Habitats: school architecture and teachers’ interactions with space

Wider implications upon architecture and urban design

Just as educational theorists have given far too little attention to the physical environment of schools, it has often been the only focus of architects who have treated the use and production of space rather blithely. Architects need to be given some knowledge of learning processes as they ‘often have little conception of the complexities surrounding the role of the classroom teacher’ (Clark, 2002: 21). Generally, the voice that this research has given to teachers and their interactions with space should serve to highlight more widely the importance of considering the esoteric experiences of those who interact with built environments. This could also be applied to urban planners and designers. As this research has shown the uplifting influence upon teachers of a proximity to nature, green open spaces and sunlight in suburban schools, we might consider how to situate schools in the urban fabric in the changing cities of the future in order to maintain these beneficial symbolic interactions.

Conclusion

This research has successfully illuminated the complex ways in which teachers’ relationships with space are embedded in the school context, with close attention to patterns that have emerged in different schools according to their architectural or physical form. Teachers are generally more restricted in older, cellular buildings, and to some extent emancipated in newer buildings with diverse spaces: it is in the latter where they are able to successfully apply new pedagogical ideas of differentiated, collaborative and personalised learning and in the former where didactic, classroom- based learning remains more common. However, this is no clear binary of old/new architecture or pedagogy, for teachers are neither completely imprisoned in their ability to adapt and modify older spaces nor are they completely abandoning traditional didactic, teacher-led practices in the classrooms of newer schools with diverse spatial configurations. Striated environments are still created from smooth spaces where, particularly in Manchester, a performative teaching culture restricts the freedom and creativity of teachers even in the newest schools. In this sense, we may observe a tendency for there to be a “lag”: teaching methods following newer, innovative architecture. However, the case of MCA shows that this can be, to some extent, overcome by a heavy and consistent focus on building and maintaining an internal culture that fits the school environment itself. There are of course no clear answers for the design of schools across different cultural contexts, but the challenge

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for architects and designers is clear: all plans must begin from the acknowledgment that school environments are not simply physical spaces but socio-spatial assemblages (Dovey & Fisher, 2014). From the onset, teachers should be involved in design processes and architectural considerations should be guided by the following thought: “in what ways can we empower teachers and students to achieve their pedagogical goals in this environment?”

For access to the original master thesis with photos of the schools and more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at: [email protected]

References

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Research Analysis and Design Patterns. Center for Architecture and Urban Planning Research Monographs. Book 32. [Online] Available from: http://dc.uwm.edu/caupr_mono/32 [Accessed 28 Nov. 2014]. Leander, K., Phillips, N. and Taylor, K. (2010). The Changing Social Spaces of Learning: Mapping New Mobilities. Review of Research in Education, 34(1), pp.329-394. Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Lim, F., O’Halloran, K. and Podlasov, A. (2012). Spatial pedagogy: mapping meanings in the use of classroom space. Cambridge Journal of Education, 42(2), pp.235-251. Martin, S. (2002). The Classroom Environment and its Effects on the Practice of Teachers. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 22(1-2), pp.139-156. Massey, D. (1992). Politics and space/time. New Left Review, 196, pp.65–84. McGregor, J. (2004a). Editorial. Forum, 46(1), pp.2-5. McGregor, J. (2004b). Space, power and the classroom. Forum, 46(1), pp.13–18. McLaren, M. (2002). Feminism, Foucault, and Embodied Subjectivity. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. McMahon, C. (1996). Hysterical Academies: Re-imagining Lacan’s Theory of the Four Discourses. Unpublished MS dissertation. James Cook University, Queensland, Australia. OECD, (2011). Transforming spaces for learning. Designing for Education: Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities 2011. [Online] OECD Publishing. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264112308-5-en [Accessed 27 Nov. 2014]. Paechter, C. (2000). Changing school subjects. Buckingham, UK: Open University. Radu, L. (2011). John Dewey and Progressivism in American Education. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov, 4 (53)(2), pp. 85-90.[Online] Available from: http://webbut.unitbv.ro/BU2011/Series%20VII/BULETIN%20VII/03_4%20Radu.pdf [Accessed 28 Nov. 2014]. Raffo, C. (2014). Improving educational equity in urban contexts. London: Routledge. Ream, T. and Ream, T. (2005). From Low-Lying Roofs to Towering Spires: Toward a Heideggerian understanding of learning environments. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37(4), pp.585-597. Savin-Baden, M. (2008). Learning spaces. Maidenhead, England: McGraw Hill/Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press. Siegel, J. M. (2002). The Physical Environment as a Context of Teachers’ Work and School Reform. EDRA, 33, pp. 81-88. Weinstein, C. (1979). The Physical Environment of the School: A Review of the Research. Review of Educational Research, 49(4), pp.577-610.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

4 Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns of social housing schemes in Vienna and Copenhagen Sandra Jurasszovich

Abstract: Providing social housing is a crucial issue in current political debates as well as in scientific literature. However, where are new social housing units constructed within a city? This question, which is related to the planning system of a city, is often underestimated or simply overlooked in literature covering social housing in Europe. The current research addresses exactly this problem, its objective being the analysis of processes which frame the spatial configuration of social housing schemes across urban spaces, referring to Vienna and Copenhagen as case studies. Both cities have recently introduced new instruments, which are related to the concept of inclusionary housing, to meet the challenge of finding land for new social housing developments. By examining the similarities and differences in making land available for social housing developments in the two case studies, this research provides insights that can inform future housing and planning policy approaches.

Introduction

In recent decades, socio-spatial segregation and inequalities in cities are increasingly discussed and also described as the spatial image of social changes in the city (Farwick, 2007, p. 40). A growing body of literature has emerged focusing on the relationship between the organisation of socio-spatial divisions, residential patterns and the institutional differences in housing policies (see e.g. Musterd & Ostendorf, 1998). Housing policies are embedded in economic interests, political motivations and in society's discourses on welfare. In a number of European cities, a significant social housing sector – including state-owned and not-for-profit housing3 - was developed as part of a national welfare state arrangement. The idea of social housing recognises the needs of households whose incomes are not sufficient to allow them to access appropriate housing in the market without assistance. Since housing is fixed in space,

3 In the literature the terms ‘non-profit’, ‘not-for-profit’ or ‘limited-profit’ housing associations are used to describe providers of social housing besides municipalities (see Scanlon, Whitehead & Arrigoitia, 2014). For reasons of clarity the term ‘not-for-profit’ is used consistently in this article.

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

the housing choice is also a choice of neighbourhood, a choice of access to workplaces, to educational institutions, to recreational facilities and to other services. In Social Justice and the City, David Harvey (2009 [1973], p. 168) describes the urban housing market graphically as a theatre with differently priced seats. Those with high income can choose from a wide range of seats, and are likely to choose the most expensive ones with the best location, whereas those with limited incomes and resources can only afford cheaper seats, while some cannot afford a seat at all. The degree of choice is largely based on the ability to pay. However, it is also important to look at the seat structure and the pricing policy of the theatre (Butler & Hamnett, 2012, p. 150).

The aim of this research is to analyse social housing schemes from a spatial perspective and to identify how planning systems are used to influence the location of social housing developments across urban space, using the examples of Vienna and Copenhagen. Both cities have repeatedly been appraised for being amongst most liveable cities in the world. As a result of their attractiveness as places to live in, land and housing prices continue to soar.

Why explore all this? The emphasis of academic literature on social housing lies on how the social housing system works in different European countries and which current trends can be observed in the sector (see e.g. Scanlon, Whitehead & Arrigoitia, 2014), but little is spoken about a spatial perspective and where these social housing units are actually situated in the urban space. For urban planners and policy makers, the question should be how the institutional framing of social housing production results in particular spatial organisations. It does not only matter if and under what conditions low-income and poor households are able to live in the city, but also where (Kadi & Musterd, 2014, p. 14). Where a household lives determines its access to urban life and to the qualities of the city, as the location of public and privately supplied services and facilities are not evenly distributed across urban space. The allocation of urban resources and housing provision is one field of policy where social inequities and segregation can be reduced or at least damped by compensatory distribution, overseen by the public authorities. Welfare cutbacks have affected the supply of social housing due to the diminished subsidies provided by the state (Levy-Vroelant & Reinprecht, 2014, p. 298). In times of welfare dismantling, alternative policies are needed to ensure the provision of social housing. The emergence of means of using the planning system to influence the provision social housing is one of the most significant new policy directions in the realm of social housing in the recent decades (Calavita & Mallach, 2010; Burgess, Monk & Whitehead, 2007).

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The methodological approach of this research includes literature analysis, expert interviews about housing policies and the role of social housing in Vienna and Copenhagen as well as a spatial analysis to visualize the spatial distribution of social housing in the two case studies.

The role of Housing

Housing after the Golden Age

The research on social housing in Europe (see e.g. Priemus & Dieleman, 2002; Van der Heijden, 2013; Scanlon et al., 2014) shows that there is neither one single common definition of social housing in Europe, nor is there one single approach to this issue. However, it is possible to identify some core elements of social housing. According to the Second Biennial Report on Social Service of General Interest, social housing provision encompasses “[…] development, renting/selling and maintenance of dwellings at affordable prices as well as their allocation and management […]” (European Commission, 2010, p. 47). The other main feature of social housing is the existence of administrative means for the allocation of dwellings opposed to market mechanism (Haffner, Hoekstra, Oxley & Van der Heijden, 2009, p. 235; CECODHAS, 2011, p. 22). Although there is no single European model for social housing and large differences in tenure types, there are nevertheless a number of common trends, driven by the turn towards neoliberal policies. After the Golden Age in the period from 1945 to mid-1970, the role of social housing started to change. On the one hand, the greatest housing shortages after World War II had been solved and housing was no longer a top priority of policy makers. On the other hand, the economic crisis in the mid-1970 and the breakdown of the Fordist regime, including the undermining of the Keynesian welfare policy, has led to the modification of welfare state arrangements, including the approach to social housing (Levy-Vroelant, Reinprecht, Robertson & Wassenberg, 2014, p. 285; Andersen, 2006, p. 8). The overall direction is towards governmental retreat and greater reliance on market housing provision. The relative share of social housing in the overall stock has been shrinking since the 1980s in the majority of European countries, while at the same time the number of applicants for social housing has increased (CECODHAS, 2011, p. 24).

“Since the mid-1970s, the welfare state, which underpins the provision of social housing, has been subject to a series of external and internal pressures which have brought about major changes and may even

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

threaten its future survival. Globalisation and the apparent inexorable demand for economic competitiveness, technological change, restructured labour markets, plus demographic and social changes and shifts in political ideology have all called into question the traditional forms of the delivery of welfare”

(Edgar, Doherty & Meert, 2002, p. 25).

The spatial dimension of housing

In Housing and social theory, Kemeny (1992) raises the issue of a socio-spatial approach to housing studies. Kemeny (1992, p. 159) considers the location of the dwelling as “[…] one of the key elements — if not the key element — in the social integration of individuals into society. It determines the manner in which individuals will be knitted into the various relationships that constitute their everyday lives and work […].” The housing location places the residents in a certain context of a neighbourhood and determines which facilities and amenities will be available for residents at which distance. Thus, housing influences people’s everyday life and well-being. Whether a household has access to a desirable housing location is greatly influenced by its resources, such as income, as the private market uses the price mechanism to determine who gains access to dwellings (Friedrichs, 1998, p. 170). In addition to this individual level of resources, Friedrichs (1998, pp. 170-171) also underlines that the context affects the spatial structure of the city and the segregation of social groups within the city. The context level includes housing and planning policies. Housing policies determine the composition of housing tenure structures and they are particularly important for establishing the level of availability of affordable housing. Planning systems affect the degree of spatial concentration of housing tenures within cities through public ownership, control and negotiation of land supply and thus, by distributing housing opportunities over space (Friedrichs, 1998, pp. 170-171; Arbaci, 2007, p. 429). Hence, social composition of neighbourhoods reflects to some extent the demand of specific groups and the market power of individuals and households, but is also structured by wider public policies which interfere with the natural processes of segregation (Atkinson & Kintrea, 2000; Musterd & Andersson 2005; Skifter Andersen, Andersson, Wessel & Vilkama, 2013).

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Figure 1: individual and context level influencing the spatial outcome of a city, source: author

In the process of housing distribution, the different forms of land supply arrangements - ranging from public provision to market-led provision – are a central element. The practices are related to who owns the land and to what extent it is owned by public actors as well as on other kinds of planning instruments which regulate the use of land (Arbaci, 2007, pp. 418-422). Since social housing providers cannot afford market rents, they are in a weaker position than other market actors when attempting to purchase land. “So if they have to compete with other demanders, they will get either no land or only the land which other do not want, or land only under unattractive conditions” (Needham & De Kam, 2000, p. 5). As a result, the practice of encouraging social housing developments through enforcing conditions on new residential developments – known as inclusionary housing – has emerged as tool for social housing provision (Meda, 2009, p. 159). Inclusionary housing can be described as “[…] land use regulations that require developers of market-rate residential development to set aside a small portion of their units, usually between 10 and 20 percent, for households unable to afford housing in the open market” (Calavita & Mallach, 2009, p. 15). It was first introduced in the USA in the 1970s; in Europe, inclusionary housing was implemented in the 1990s. Today, there are many countries, including the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain that have adopted some form of inclusionary housing, reflecting the urban planning tradition in each country (Calavita & Mallach, 2009).

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

Closely link to inclusionary housing is the practice of land development agreements between land-owner and local authority. Land development agreements are legally binding contracts where mutual obligations to the creation of infrastructure are formalized. “In return for planning permission developers agree to cover the costs, or part of the cost, of a range of items that otherwise would not be provided or would be provided wholly by the public purse” (Oxley, 2008, p. 663). ‘The range of items’ may include technical infrastructure such as roads and drainage, social infrastructure such as schools, health care services as well as social housing (Oxley, 2008, p. 663). Healey, Purdue & Ennis (1996) speak about ‘planning gain’ whereby planning authorities use negotiations to tap into some of the development value and redirect it to the benefit of the community.

Although inclusionary housing has become increasingly applied over the past several decades, it is still a controversial topic (Schuetz, Meltzer & Been, 2011; Mekawy, 2014). Critics argue that inclusionary zoning is not an effective approach since social housing provision is linked to the provision of market housing and therefore might not be helpful to increase the availability of affordable housing in times of crisis and low levels of construction by private developers. Moreover, some claim that it may reinforce the shortage of housing by causing developers to raise prices on market-rate housing or to develop less housing (Arthurson, 2002).

Models and practice in social housing in Vienna and Copenhagen

Vienna and Copenhagen offer two interesting cases due to their political and social structures as well as their historical contexts. The two cities are comparable in their status of capital city and their population growth which has increased the pressure on the housing market. Additionally, the first dense ring of suburbs surrounding the municipality of Copenhagen is also included in the case study, in order to allow a better comparison regarding scale of the two case studies and in order to meet the reality of the integrated area.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

VIENNA COPENHAGEN & SURROUNDINGS

population 20154 1,797,337 1,290,013

(Stadt Wien) (Byen København5 + Københavns omegn6) population growth7 +15% +13% (2001 – 2015 in %) surface area8 414.65 km2 521.53 km2 welfare regime9 conservative social democratic social housing10

(% of total 44% 29% housing stock)

Table 1: Case studies: Facts & figures

4 for Vienna: MA 23, 2015; for Copenhagen & surroundings: Danmark Statistiks, 2016 5 Byen København = København, Frederiksberg, Dragør, Tårnby = 728.243 inhabitants 6 Københavns omegn = Albertslund, Ballerup, Brøndby, Gentofte, Gladsaxe, Glostrup, Herlev, Hvidovre, Høje-Taastrup, Ishøj, Lyngby-Taarbæk, Rødovre, Vallensbæk = 530.612 inhabitants 7 for Vienna: MA 23, 2015; for Copenhagen & surroundings: Danmark Statistiks, 2015a 8 for Vienna: Statistik Austria, 2015a; for Copenhagen & surroundings: Danmark Statistiks, 2015b 9 Matznetter, 2002, p. 269 10 for Vienna: Statistik Austria, 2015b, p. 27 ; for Copenhagen & surroundings: Danmark Statistiks, 2015c

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

Vienna: Maintaining the post-war housing consensus

The housing system of Vienna has acquired an international reputation because of its special nature as it has a strong history of housing policies sustained by decades of Social Democracy and its social housing programme. The remarkable continuity in the housing policy is based on a broad consensus beyond political boundaries (Reinprecht, 2014, p. 61). Nonetheless, in the context of Austria’s accession to the European Union in 1995 and the Eastern enlargement in 2004 which resulted in a geopolitical repositioning of Vienna from the fringe into the heart of Europe, Vienna has become a new ground for capital investment. “Within a few years the demand on high-quality offices and apartments increases – the real estate market is booming” (Paal, 2008, p. 141).

In Austria, there is no official definition of social housing but there are different forms of housing provision other than the private market. The different forms of social housing include, on the one hand, housing provided by the municipality, and on the other hand, housing provided by not-for-profit housing associations which are regulated by the Not- for-Profit Housing Act and have access to public subsidies (CECODHAS, 2011, p. 40). The two different segments of social housing target different groups, as not-for-profit units - in contrast to municipal housing - require a down payment by tenants. “Municipal housing focused traditionally on the working class and low-income people, while the nonprofit private sector was mainly oriented towards the middle class” (Reinprecht, 2014, p. 70).

Looking more closely at the Viennese housing stock, it is striking that Vienna has a large rental sector; only 20% of the total housing stock consists of owner-occupied flats. The following table shows that social housing makes up a very large percentage of the total housing stock. The municipality of Vienna owns 25%, and indirectly controls another 19%, which is owned by not-for-profit housing associations. Together the two groups make up 44% of the total housing stock and around 58% of the rental sector.

There are income limits to determine who can have access to social housing. In the year 2015, the limit was € 43,970 for one person and € 65,530 for two persons (MA 50). The logic behind this comparatively high level of income ceilings is social mix, the income ceiling de facto allows about 80% of households to access social housing in Vienna (CECODHAS, 2013, p. 5). As a result of the strong share of social housing, the Viennese housing market is structured as a unitary rental market, to use the term coined by Kemeny (1995), where social housing is a proactive and competitive part of the housing market.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

Vienna`s housing stock (2014)

HOME OWNERSHIP owner-occupied flats and homes 174,000 20% 20% privately rented flats 280,000 32% RENTAL SECTOR rented flats from municipality 215,000 25% 76% rented flats from not-for-profit housing [SOCIAL HOUSING associations 170,000 19% 44%]

OTHER FORMS other legal forms 38,000 4% 4% in total 877,000 100% 100%

Table 2: Vienna`s housing stock (2014), source: Statistik Austria, 2015b, p. 27

The representative of the city of Vienna interviewed (personal communication, June 15, 2015) as well as the researcher in the field of housing in Vienna interviewed (personal communication, February 24, 2015) stressed that “social housing in Vienna is everywhere”. The fact that social housing is quite evenly distributed across urban space is also shown in figure 2. In the period of Red Vienna, the municipal housing estates were built throughout the city, “[…] and thus had a long-term anti-segregation effect” (Reinprecht, 2014, p. 64). As availability of land in the central areas of the city is decreasing, most new buildings – private and social housing together - are erected in the outer districts, namely Donaustadt, Floridsdorf and Favoriten.

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

Figure 2: Amount of social housing in relation to total housing stock in 2014,

source: author

Even though the not-for-profit housing associations have been indispensable for the housing provision in Vienna in the last decades, finding land is becoming more difficult for them and social housing construction cannot quite keep up with the overall construction dynamics. Kadi (2015, p. 254) notices that the city government “[…] has increasingly lost grip of rocketing prices in recent years.” € 250 to € 300 per square meter habitable floor space is the upper limit for the purchase of land for social housing in Vienna. According to an analysis from the Viennese Chamber of Labour in the year 2014, the cost for land in a good urban location amounts up to € 1,200 per square meter achievable floor space. This figure clearly exceeds the maximum limit for not-for-profit housing associations (Tockner, 2014, p. 7). Karl Wurm, head of the Austrian Association for Limited Profit Housing, expressed his concern that social housing construction will take place only where the land prices are low, for example due to a lack of infrastructure or due to heavy traffic (Wurm as cited in Bohmann Druck und Verlag, 2012, p. 23).

In 2014, the amendment of the Vienna Building Code brought innovations regarding strategic measures for housing developments. The two main instruments which are

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

important for social housing are development agreements [in German: städtebauliche Verträge] and the new land-use category ‘fundable housing’ [in German: förderbarer Wohnbau].

The city of Vienna uses private-law development agreements between the public sector and private developers in relationship to zoning measures and building regulations to influence urban planning projects. In these development agreements, not only standards regarding infrastructure (e.g.: educational and health facilities, recreation areas, roads) can be defined, but also a quota for social housing units can be set. This approach is seen as reconciliation of interests. "They do not pay for the zoning, but the developers are committed to do something for the city and thus for the general public in return for the conversion to urban land, which means a massive increase in the value of the property” (Christoph Chorherr, member of the Viennese municipal council, as cited in Putschögl, 2015a; translated into English by the author). Legal and spatial planning expert Arthur Kanonier, from the Vienna University of Technology, insists that the development agreements are an appropriate tool only if the agreement negotiations are transparent because it also concerns the legal certainty for investors. “Is there any leeway in negotiating? Will the conditions have to be renegotiated each time or is there an underlying model. And if so, which model?” (Kanonier as cited in Putschögl, 2015b; translated into English by the author).

In the Vienna Housing Annual Report 2014, the introduction of the new zoning category ‘fundable housing’ is described as “[…] another milestone for supporting and advancing affordable construction and housing in the city […]” (MA 50, 2015, p. 10). However, experts consider the actual effects of this change of the Vienna building code rather doubtfully (Representative of city of Vienna, personal communication, June 15, 2015; Representative of not-for-profit housing association in Vienna, June 29, 2015). The law only states that the standards of the newly built dwellings, regarding size of the apartments and energy efficiency standards, have to meet the criteria stated in the Viennese Housing Promotion and Renovation Act and thus, are eligible for subsidies. Not critical is whether such subsidies will actually be provided in the end; otherwise it would be interference in the federal competence (Kirchmayer, 2015, p. 2). On the part of the not-for-profit housing associations, the current definition falls short of the mark and a more sharp formulation with an upper price limit is requested (Representative of not- for-profit housing association in Vienna, personal communication, June 29, 2015).

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

Copenhagen & surroundings: A changing understanding of social housing

Housing policy has been a major concern of the Danish welfare state, especially after World War II. However, in recent years housing construction has increasingly shifted to the private market. After the elimination of the national quota system regarding the distribution of social housing developments in Denmark in 1994, local authorities have blocked the construction of new social housing in their municipalities because they do not want an influx of people with social problems and with need of welfare assistance (Vestergaard & Scanlon, 2007, p. 4). Consequently, the distribution of tenure is not only an outcome of market forces but also the result of political processes (Skifter Andersen, Andersen, & Ærø, 2000, p. 79).

The Danish social housing sector consists of housing for rent at cost prices and includes housing owned by not-for-profit housing associations and a small amount of publicly- owned dwellings, which are ordinarily used for emergency housing. The not-for-profit housing associations are economically subsidised by the state, but owned collectively by the association members themselves (Vestergaard & Scanlon, 2014, pp. 77-78).

Since the 1980s, the balance between rented housing and owner occupied housing has shifted significantly in Copenhagen and the surrounding area, leading to a reduction in the share of rental apartments, which consequently also narrowed the social mix within the rental sector. Today the housing market of Copenhagen and its surrounding area consists of 29% owner-occupied housing, 16% private renting, 29% social housing (whereby 27% are rented flats from not-for-profit housing associations [in Danish: almene boliger] and 2% are owned by the municipalities11) and 21% cooperative housing12. The cooperative movement [in Danish: andelsboligforening] is a growing phenomenon, especially in the city of Copenhagen, where it makes up about 33% of the total housing stock; by comparison, social housing makes up about 20% in the municipality of Copenhagen.

11 The existing statistics give information about ownership structure, but not about the actual use of these dwellings. It may occur that dwellings owned by the municipalities are not available for the housing market (and thus, cannot be considered as social housing) as they are retirement homes or homes for public servants. A distinction between the different forms of municipal housing could not be made. However, as the amount of dwellings owned by the municipalities is negligible, it does not affect the overall statements of this research. 12 Cooperative dwellings are an intermediate form of housing situated between ownership- and rental- based housing; the property is collectively owned by the residents who each have the right to a specific dwelling (Danish Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Affairs, p. 5).

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

Copenhagen & its surroundings’ housing stock (2014)

HOME OWNERSHIP owner-occupied flats 174,000 29% 29% privately rented flats 96,000 16% RENTAL SECTOR rented flats from municipality 10,000 2% 45%

rented flats from not-for-profit housing [SOCIAL HOUSING associations 162,000 27% 29% ] cooperative flats 127000 21% OTHER FORMS other legal forms 33,000 5% 26% in total 603,000 100% 100%

Table 3: Housing stock of Copenhagen and its surroundings (2014),

source: Danmark Statistiks (2015c)

In principle, access to social housing is available for everyone; access depends on the position on waiting lists. There are no income limits or any other formal restrictions on who may join a waiting list for social housing. In the Copenhagen area, the time on a waiting list can last 10 to 20 years (Vestergaard & Scanlon, 2014, p. 81). As there are no regulatory barriers to competition between profit and not-for-profit providers, the housing market of Copenhagen can also, as in the case of Vienna, be defined as a unitary rental market. In spite of the universalistic approach, the social housing sector has currently the image as “[…] a place for losers” (Researcher in housing field in Copenhagen, personal communication, November 17, 2014; Representative of city of Copenhagen, personal communication, July 7, 2015).

In the post-World War II period, social housing was often constructed as high-rise buildings on the outskirts; the highest proportion of social housing can be found in the municipalities west of the city of Copenhagen that were transformed from villages to suburban areas in the 1960s and 1970s (Vestergaard & Scanlon, 2014, pp. 78-80). In the municipality of Copenhagen itself the highest share of social housing can be found in the districts of Brønshøj-Husum, Bispebjerg and Valby (see figure 3). In the last three decades social housing developments have concentrated strongly on the district of Nørrebro, followed by Amager Vest and Valby; in the surrounding areas most social

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

housing developments were carried out in Høje-Taastrup, Frederiksberg and Gladsaxe.

Figure 3: Amount of social housing in relation to total housing stock, source: author

In recent years, as a by-product of increased social problems in older social housing estates, there is a growing awareness of the location of social housing estates. In the period between 1960 and 1975, but also in the 1980s and 1990s, large social housing estates were built which separated social housing from other tenures leading to ghettoization (Skifter Andersen et al., 2013, p. 19; Representative of city of Copenhagen, personal communication, July 7, 2015). “Copenhagen was named the world's best city […]. At the same time there has been a concentration of problems in certain urban areas. […] This means that the distance between the functioning parts of the city and the disadvantaged urban areas has increased and threatens the cohesion of our city” (Københavns Kommune, 2013, pp. 4-5; translated into English by the author).

In 2015, the Danish Parliament13 passed the amendment of the Planning Act and the Act on Social Housing which gives the municipalities greater opportunities for developing neighbourhoods with mixed residential composition. The amendment changes the

13 The amendment of the Planning Act and the Act on Social Housing was passed in the parliament under the former coalition government between the Social Democrats and the Social Liberal Party. The new regulation was introduced as a pilot scheme for 10 years. However, because of the change of government in Denmark later in 2015 there is the possibility that the new government will repeal this regulation (Representative of city of Copenhagen, personal communication, July 7, 2015).

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framework for local planning regarding the land-use categories ‘Housing’ and ‘Housing and service industries’ so that it is possible for municipalities to demand that up to 25% in new urban development areas are built as social housing (Københavns Kommune, 2015). Furthermore the municipalities of Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense and Aalborg, Denmark's largest municipalities, have the opportunity to provide financial support to ensure social housing developments in otherwise unattainable plots. The new regulations aim at ensuring a social mix in new developments and at scattering social housing throughout the city (Dover, 2015; Kulager, 2014). In the case of the not-for- profit housing associations, the new regulations are viewed as very helpful. To find land for social housing projects in the area of Copenhagen has become increasingly difficult in the last years (Representative of not-for-profit housing association in Copenhagen, personal communication, July 3, 2015). In 2004, a maximum limit of building costs (land costs and construction costs) for social housing projects was introduced, and in 2015, the average permitted building cost per square metre was DKK 22,410 [about € 3,000] for Greater Copenhagen (Alves & Andersen, 2015, p. 10). As the municipality of Copenhagen is now allowed to give loans to cover the amount which exceeds the permitted building costs of DKK 22,410, not-for-profit housing associations “[…] are able to battle with private developers […]” in neighbourhoods where land prices were out of reach before (Representative of city of Copenhagen, personal communication, July 7, 2015).

The city of Copenhagen added a new assessment criterion regarding the approval of social housing developments in 2015. With the objective of promoting a cohesive and diverse society the city has adopted a new policy in which locations of new social housing units will be approved by the city. In neighbourhoods where there is already a share of more than 25% social housing in relation to the total housing stock, no new social housing construction will be approved. Instead, neighbourhoods with less than 20% will be the focus point of new construction of social housing units. In areas with a share between 20% and 25% social housing, the approval is decided in each individual case depending on if the social housing project can contribute positively to the area (Representative of city of Copenhagen, personal communication, July 7, 2015). “The main focus will be where there are very few social housing today. […] We must ensure a mixed and cohesive city without ghettos, whether wealthy ghettos or ghettos for socially vulnerable” (Morten Kabell, Chairman of the Technical and Environmental Committee, as cited in Heltoft, 2015; translated into English by the author). The school districts of Copenhagen are used to delimit the neighbourhoods (see figure 4). The unit of school

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

districts is not a coincidence, but was chosen to foster in an early stage in life the encounters of people who come from different social background (Heltoft, 2015). This new policy, of course, significantly limits the areas where new social housing may be constructed in the future within the city of Copenhagen. It should be noted here that most of the areas with a share of 0% to 20% of social housing are in the historical centre and already are fully built up.

Figure 4: school districts of Copenhagen and share of social housing,

source: author adopted from Københavns Kommune, 2015

Comparison & Discussion

In order to better understand the case studies we need to have a closer look at the differences and similarities analysed in this research. Both cities are experiencing a strong population growth. The strong housing demand has resulted in climbing prices in the rental and ownership market, which are making residential development a lucrative business for investors in both cities and their surroundings. In the course of rising land prices due to increased competition to acquire land, the major challenges for the future will be to build enough social housing; and a pre-condition for that is to find suitable and affordable land for social housing developments. In Vienna as well as in Copenhagen and the surrounding areas, upper price limits to purchase land for social housing exist. These caps were introduced to ensure the affordability of rents, but it also limits where new social housing projects can be built. The gap between these price limits and the

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

actual prices for land in good locations results in not-for-profit providers being in a weaker position than private developers in the competition to acquire land. Against this background, the local authorities saw the need to introduce new instruments to be able to exercise a controlling influence on the location of new social housing developments. As argued before, the planning system impacts housing outcomes through its functions of allocating land for residential development, affecting thereby the composition of the housing market as well as the mix of inhabitants in the neighbourhoods. The instruments introduced are related to the concept of inclusionary housing. It is based on the premise that the developers interests in housing projects offers an opportunity to extract some of the resulting development`s gain, which can be redirected towards the provision of social housing. The city of Copenhagen and the surrounding municipalities have the possibilities to actively indicate a desirable amount of social housing in new urban developments. There are also critical voices towards the new regulations. Hans Thor Andersen, research director of the Danish Building Research Institute at the Aalborg University, points out that spatial proximity does not automatically leads to social cohesion and warns against considering the new regulations as a miracle cure (Andersen as cited in Kulager, 2014). In Vienna, the local planning authority does not have the possibility to actively reserve a certain share for social housing in the land use plan. The designation of land as ‘fundable housing’ is an extension of the spectrum of planning instruments in Vienna, but it does not imply that the land will actual be used for social housing developments. The share of social housing in relation to private residential projects is determined on the basis of development agreements, which correspond to the concept of planning gain. Social housing is thereby only one aspect, the development agreements also enable the local authority to ensure requirements for social or technical infrastructure aiming at providing an attractive housing environment. The most important criticisms by experts regarding the present model of development agreements in Vienna is that there are no generally applicable rules regarding what percentage of planning gain the city authority is pursuing. “If there are no rules, one is dependent only on one’s negotiation skills” (Christof Schremmer from Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning as cited in Krutzler, 2015; translated into English by the author). Another essential difference between the two cities is the possibility of the city of Copenhagen to financially support not-for-profit housing providers to acquire land and to compete with private developers for desirable land. A similar assistance has also repeatedly been requested from the not-for-profit providers in Vienna to make the purchase of land easier. The criticism on the part of not-for profit housing associations and planning experts in Vienna is based on the fact that there is no

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

adequate instrument that can stem the rocketing prices of recent years.

The following figure summarizes the objectives and instruments of the cities in the context of social housing and the provision of land.

Figure 5: Comparison of objectives and instruments related to social housing in Vienna and Copenhagen, source: author

Conclusion

Considering the importance of the housing sector to society and city development as well as the universal need for adequate and affordable housing, this research is an attempt to contribute to the understanding of processes which are linked to the provision of social housing.

The analysis has shown that the location of social housing is not just a descriptive factor, but can be seen as a major element in understanding broader urban policies and objectives of a city. The local authorities of the city of Copenhagen clearly speak about achieving social mix in the city with the help of social housing. Hence, the significance of social housing developments has changed in the course of promoting housing diversity across urban space and the understanding of the spatial distribution of social housing was the basis of a new policy in Copenhagen. Even though social housing policy in Vienna has always been aiming at improving the social mix in the city, the degree of knowledge in Vienna about spatial configuration of social housing is less developed than in Copenhagen. The local government in Vienna sees the long-standing tradition of social housing construction as safeguards of good social mix. However, there are critical

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

voices warning that the pride about the rather unique social housing system should not obscure the fact that living in the city for poorer households has become increasingly difficult (Holm, 2014; Kadi, 2015).

The increased focus of social housing developments as a tool to prevent social segregation and promote a socially cohesive community has revealed also a fundamental discussion about the socio-political function of social housing and how to spend public subsidies. The scarcity of subsidies has always been the subject of controversial discussions: Should the local government strongly support only a few social housing dwellings with very low rents? Or should the local authority support a larger group with the disadvantage of increased rental costs? In addition to this fundamental issue of public subsidies, the increasing spatial residential segregation of households by income and social class has led to the issue of where to provide housing for low and moderate income households. The local government “[…] would be able to get more housing square meters out of the millions [in neighbourhoods with cheaper land prices] than, for example, at the Carlsberg grounds in Valby, where land prices are significantly higher. Should everybody have a place in central Copenhagen? That is not a natural law” (Researcher in the field of housing in Copenhagen, personal communication, November 17, 2014).

An important aspect, which should be considered in the discussion, is the question, what kind of social mix is pursued. There is fundamental criticism in both case studies concerning the overly expensive rent level or entry prices for social housing which excludes vulnerable households. Especially in Copenhagen, the target group who can afford to live in newly built social housing differs essentially from the residents in the vulnerable neighbourhoods of the city. It must therefore be concluded that the newly introduced policy in Copenhagen aims at a tenure mix and a greater diversification in the housing market, but it is not necessarily a policy of mixing social groups or of actually countering socio-spatial segregation. The city government in Vienna wants to counteract the tendency of social housing being out of reach for poorer households by building new municipal housing. However, finding land in good locations for the municipal housing projects is going to become more and more difficult. The future will show whether the new municipal housing projects will be able to continue the successful anti-segregation strategy of the historical model of the Red Vienna or if municipal housing is outsourced to the edge regions of the city and thus, reinforces a segregation effect by pushing lower income groups out. In times of austerity policies, where an increase of subsidies is not very likely, the big challenge for the future will be

Location of Social Housing: Analysing spatial patterns

if social housing can be viewed as a means to promote socially mixed communities and as a means to provide enough affordable housing for vulnerable households and groups with lower income.

The intention of this research was to understand the challenges regarding social housing developments, location and land availability for social housing. Nevertheless, there are still a number of issues that could be only touched upon. The approaches to influencing the location of social housing developments have only recently been introduced in both case studies. Future research is needed to evaluate the actual effectiveness of these approaches, in terms of their ability to make land available for social housing developments and in terms of their ability to achieve a diversity of social mix in neighbourhoods. Furthermore, it would be interesting to broaden the research and to look at other European cities with similar challenges to obtain a more profound understanding of the relationship between housing and planning instruments.

For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at [email protected]

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http://derstandard.at/2000018327079/Danube-Flats-Sozialwohnungen-nur-fuer- zehn-Jahre [accessed 21.08.2015] Reinprecht, C. (2014). Social Housing in Austria. In K. Scanlon, C. Whitehead, M.F. Arrigoitia (eds.) (2014), Social Housing in Europe (pp. 61-74). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Scanlon, K., Whitehead, C., Arrigoitia, M.F. (eds.) (2014). Social Housing in Europe. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Schuetz, J., Meltzer, R., Been, V. (2011). Silver Bullet or Trojan Horse? The Effects of Inclusionary Zoning on Local Housing Markets in the United States. Urban Studies, 48 (2), 297-329. Skifter Andersen, H., Andersen, H. T., Ærø, T. (2000). Social polarisation in a segmented housing market: Social segregation in Greater Copenhagen. Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography, 100 (1), 71-83. Skifter Andersen, H., Andersson, R., Wessel, T., Vilkama, K. (2013). Housing Systems and Ethnic Spatial Segregation: Comparing the Capital Cities of Four Nordic Welfare States. Paper presented at ENHR Conference Tarragona, 2013. Statistik Austria (2015a). Bundesländer [Federal provinces]. Retrieved from http://www.statistik.at/web_de/klassifikationen/regionale_gliederungen/bundeslaend er/ [accessed 7.3.2015] Statistik Austria (2015b). Wohnen 2014. Mikrozensus - Wohnungserhebung und EU-SILC [Housing 2014. Micro census - Housing survey and EU-SILC]. Wien: Statistik Austria. Tockner, L. (2014). Wien wächst – Wien wohnt. Leistbarer Wohnraum gesucht! [Vienna grows – Vienna resides. Affordable housing is wanted]. Arbeiterkammer Wien. Retrieved from http://media.arbeiterkammer.at/PDF/AK_Stadt_Nr_4_2014.pdf [accessed 10.08.2015] Van der Heijden, H. (2013). West European Housing Systems in a Comparative Perspective. Amsterdam: IOS Press OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology. Vestergaard, H., Scanlon, K. (2007). The solution or part of the problem? Social housing in transition. The Danish case. Paper presented at ENHR conference 2007, Rotterdam. Retrieved from http://vbn.aau.dk/files/13669230/W12_paper_Scanlon_Vestergaard.pdf [accessed 04.05.2015] Vestergaard, H., Scanlon, K. (2014). Social Housing in Denmark. In: K. Scanlon, C. Whitehead, M.F. Arrigoitia, (eds.) (2014), Social Housing in Europe (pp. 77-89). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Personal Communications Vienna Representative of city of Vienna (June 15, 2015). Magistrat der Stadt Wien - Magistratsabteilung 50 Abteilung Wohnbauförderung und Schlichtungsstelle für wohnrechtliche Angelegenheiten [Municipal Department 50 - Housing Promotion and Arbitration Board for Legal Housing Matters]. Representative of not-for-profit housing association in Vienna (June 29, 2015). Austrian Association for Limited Profit Housing (GBV). Researcher in the field of housing in Vienna (February 24, 2015). Lecturer and assistant at University of Technology Vienna.

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Personal Communications Copenhagen & surroundings Representative of city of Copenhagen (July 7, 2015). Teknik- og Miljøforvaltningen. Byens Udvikling [Technical and Environmental Department. City Development]. Representative of not-for-profit housing association in Copenhagen (July 3, 2015). SAB Samvirkende Boligselskaber. Researcher in the field of housing in Copenhagen (November 17, 2014). Danish Building Research Institute Town, housing and property (THP).

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5 Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are: Investigating the Socio-Spatial Networks and Identity Building of Muslims in Lavapiés-Embajadores (Madrid) and Nørrebro (Copenhagen) Aliona Lyasheva

Abstract: This research reveals the connections between the religious and national identities of migrants coming from Muslim countries and the urban space of the neighbourhoods where they are concentrated. The case--studies were two neighbourhoods – Lavapiés--Embajadores in Madrid and Nørrebro in Copenhagen. In--depth interviews with Muslim residents in these neighbourhoods were employed as the main research tool. The research demonstrates that the Muslim population creates a number of social networks inside the community, which are connected to specific places. These places were classified in four categories: housing, workplaces, places for communal activities, and leisure places. At the same time these social networks reproduce the religious and national identities. The connection of the Muslim population to particular places embeds the parallel use of the neighbourhoods by them and by other groups such as other national or religious groups and young professionals. These findings show that space has a strong influence on the inclusion of migrant populations. Reducing of socio--spatial segregation, of ethnic labor segregation as well as creation of spaces for common action between different groups may push for more exclusiveness of Muslim populations in European cities.

Introduction “To become a migrant is to enter into a life of continual jolts and tremors, a life of uncertainty, but willingly or not it is also to act out hope and a belief in the future”

(Leese et al, 2012, p. 8).

The globalisation of economic activities ties the planet in networks of capital flows, migration ways and communication lines. The hubs where the networks assemble and intertwine are the big cities and urban regions. It makes the actors based in cities strong players in the global economy and weakens national economies and nation states

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

(Sassen 2002, p. 49). But at the same time cities are places of great contradictions: “If we consider the changing realities of urban life in Western societies, a number of rather disturbing trends manifest themselves. In an ideological milieu in which socio-spatial ordering for and by the market has become the dogma of the day, the city, more than ever before, has become a landscape of socio-economic power where islands of extreme wealth are interspersed with spaces of poverty, social exclusion and erosion of the socio-economic fabric” (Swyngedouw and Baeten 2001, p. 827). Lower classes that usually occupy sectors of unskilled labor are, at the same time, groups of inhabitants without whom no city would be able to function properly, and the citizens facing critical problems.In order to overcome problems such as unemployment, lack of housing and infrastructure, the urban lower classes are creating social networks; sometimes semi- legal ones. Though these networks are less institutionalised and influential compared to the networks established by actors of the upper classes, they are sustaining a lot of economic and cultural activities of different social groups. One of the most burning questions with regards to the lower classes in cities is the fact that a significant part of them are immigrants, who are spatially segregated (Murdie and Borgegård 1998, p.1-2).

In many European cities a significant part of the immigrant population are not just holders of a different nationality, but also of a different religion. This provokes numerous conflicts. Violence in Paris (The Guardian, 2015a) and Copenhagen (The Guardian, 2015b) has drawn attention to Europe’s Muslim population and provoked discussions on restrictions on immigration (CNN, 2015). To understand the problems met by the Muslim minority in European cities one can take a look at religious and national identities of the immigrants coming from the Muslim countries and EU-citizens who have Muslim backgrounds.

Identity of an individual has a lot of dimensions and could be contradictory. For example, a person can be a Moroccan, Arab, African, male, cook and a Muslim at the same time. To focus on something precise this research will mainly talk about national and religious identities of Muslims, since those are the ones different from identities of the local population. There are numerous factors influencing this identity, but since the focus of the research is on the spatial perspectives of the problem, factors such as the neighborhood becomes crucial for this study of identity (Swyngedouw et al 2010, p. 221). The described issues of segregation of immigrants could be seen in the examples of neighborhoods such as Lavapiés-Embajadores (Gomes Faria, 2010) and Nørrebro (Husain et al, 2011, p. 20-22). Both are situated very close to the city center of their respective cities, both have a high share of Muslim population, and both are going

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through a gentrification process.

This research discovers, how the identity of migrants is influenced by the neighborhood where they live in. To explore the connection between the national and religious identities and space of the neighborhood, the social networks were used. This is because social networks influences the identity and is connected to some specific places. Therefore, this research aimed to understand, what is the connection between the neighborhood and the national and religious identities of Muslims living there and using it?

In order to answer the research questions, a mixed methods research approach was used. Three main methodological steps were taken in the analysis of the Muslim population in the neighborhoods including qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Firstly, to argue that neighborhoods that were chosen as the case-studies have potential to open up the topic of social networks between Muslims, they were compared in terms of concentration of Muslims. Secondly, to describe and compare the two neighborhoods, some already existing research on the neighborhoods was used. Finally, the last methodological step was the exploration of the neighborhood-identity connection through in-depth interviewing and participatory observation of the case-studies. The target group was found in the places in the neighborhood, which they used. And then, later through the interviews, more places which were of interest for the research, were discovered. Apart from the research groups, some other users of the neighborhoods, who were not in the research group were interviewed, to show that the identities, social networks and places described by Muslims are special for them as a social category.

The interviews were held in the unstructured way, but the main topics discussed with the individuals were the following:

1. National and religious identities were discussed through asking people about their life before and after immigration - in the home country and in Spain/Denmark. During the conversations respondents were expected to simultaneously express who or what is the ‘other’ for them and which national and religious groups they identify themselves with. These were the main indicators of identity. In cases of difficulties with answering indirect questions on identity, direct questions were asked. 2. Social networks were explored through questions about the interviewee’s family, friends, social circles, people they meet with everyday and with whom they communicate through the internet, etc.

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

3. Places used by the research group in the neighborhood were discovered by asking people their opinion on the neighborhood; as well as talking about their everyday activities, work and leisure time and direct questions about the use of some concrete places, which were mentioned by previous interviewees.

Social identities, social networks and urban space

In order to create the theoretical framework of the research, notions which are central to the topic were meticulously defined.

Firstly, social identity is defined as the process of imagining and describing oneself with different characteristics, which is influenced by the fact that one is a part of some group in-group, and opposes oneself to the group of the ‘others’, out-group (Carter 2007, p. 2223; Jenkins 2004, p. 89). National identity will be analysed as a process of imagining and describing oneself as a part of some nation, “an imagined political community” (Anderson 1991, p. 6-7). And religious identity will be analysed as a process of imagining and describing oneself as a part of Islam, an imagined religious community regarding concrete beliefs and practices.

The important characteristic of the identity for us in this research is not just the type of it - national/ religious/ gender / class/ etc., but also the level of its inclusiveness for the ‘other’. Based on work on inclusive identity by Dovidio et al (2015), the term inclusive social identity is defined in this research as an identity, which has a positive attitude towards the ‘other’ in spite of acknowledging the differences between the in- and out- group. Consequently, a social identity, which has a negative attitude toward the ‘other’ is an exclusive social identity.

Secondly, social networks are defined as sets of relationship between people or groups of people, which are valued by people who are in the networks (Putnam, 2007, p. 137- 138), but still operate very much independently from each other, created as survival strategies to fulfill the diverse interests of the minorities (Castells 2000; Larsen et al 2006, p. 11).

Thirdly, social space is defined as an element of means of production, which is being constantly produced, consumed and a means of control for the users by means of social relationships which take place in the physical space. Neighborhood is part of the social space limited by the objective and subjective borders and criterions, which are constructed in the process of space production (Lefebvre 2007, p. 68-168; Massey, 2005, p. 9).

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The social identity formation process goes along with processes of developing and keeping the social networks of an individual. The people engaged in the close and intimate social networks will imagine each other as parts of one group, real or imagined, and the social networks are not likely to be created with a member of an out-group. Social networks can exist on their own, just involving individuals. But as the urban space is an important part of a lot of social processes, there are social networks, which are tied to some particular places in the space, or there are some places created as an outcome of the existing social networks. For example, a social network between parents can be established as they are visiting the same public space with their children, or a group of followers of one religion can create a religious place for their common activities.

To sum up, as there are connections between the social identity and social networks, and social networks and places in some space, the assumption in this research is that, there is a connection between the social identity of an individual and the places in the space he or she uses. This theoretical assumption is therefore examined using the cases of Muslims in two neighborhoods: Lavapiés-Embajadores and Nørrebro. A detailed look into the social networks between the Muslim inhabitants of the two neighborhoods will give a better understanding of the connection between the neighborhood and identity. The influence of space on the identity and the reverse process - the influence of identity on the space were analysed.

Who are the Muslims and Why are we interested in them?

The object of the research was the category of inhabitants of the case neighborhoods, who follow Islam. They were either immigrants coming from the countries where Islam is a dominant religion or were born in the families of the immigrants from these countries and were introduced to Islam through family relationships. Most of the Muslims were economic immigrants, as they moved in order to improve their socio- economic status, or the descendants of the immigrants, who came in 60s and 70s.

Describing Nørrebro and Lavapiés-Embajadores: What are these Neighborhoods?

In order to compare the two case studies, the socio-economic, spatial and political similarities and dissimilarities between the two areas are defined. An important similarity between the two neighborhoods is the high share of immigrants and descendants from Muslim countries. The figures below show the concentration of

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

Muslims (as share of immigrants from countries where Islam is the predominant religion among other immigrants) at neighbourhood level. In the case of Madrid, the district of Centro where Lavapiés-Embajadores is situated, is used for mapping because of the data availability.

Figure 1: Muslims among other immigrants in Nørrebro. Source: Created by Maria Boiko and Aliona Liasheva with data from Københavns Kommune

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

Figure 2: Muslims among other immigrants in Centro. Source: Created by Maria Boiko and Aliona Liasheva with data from Ayuntamiento de Madrid

It is observed that both districts segregate Muslims. Centro (15% of migrants are Muslims) is one of the only districts in Madrid, where they could be found. And most of the Muslims situated in Centro are actually situated in Lavapiés-Embajadores - 33%, which is very high compared to other parts of the city, where there are also a large number of immigrants. For example, Usera has a large immigrant population, but only 4% are from Muslim countries. Though Nørrebro both absolutely and relatively has more Muslims compared to Centro, (28% of migrants are Muslims), this situation is

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

typical for other districts in Copenhagen. This may be explained by the fact that Denmark attracts more immigrants from Muslim countries than Spain. As seen in both neighborhoods, the concentration of Muslim immigrants is high, however for different reasons. Nørrebro as any other ‘immigrant’ neighborhood in Denmark has a a lot of Muslims, but Lavapiés-Embajadores is a place of their concentration in the city of Madrid.

Another important parallel, which could be drawn between Nørrebro and Lavapiés- Embajadores is the socio-economic situation of the two neighborhoods. A research about socio-economic and spatial segregation and polarization of living conditions in Copenhagen conducted by Elm Larsen and Hornemann Möller (2013, p. 7) highlights the following important characteristics of the socio-economic conditions in Nørrebro. A large share of residents live in poverty, because of precarious labour or unemployment. But the neighborhood is mixed in terms of class, as there is “also a group of residents in Nørrebro, mostly living in the outer areas of the district that belongs to the middle class”, they constitute 22% of the households. There is an ethnic segregation line between these two groups:“...almost 30% of all immigrants and their descendants live in poverty compared with 17% among ethnic Danes. Especially among the long‐term and permanent poor there is a high concentration of immigrants” (Elm Larsen and Hornemann Möller 2013, p.11). A research with similar research question was conducted about Madrid. Díaz Orueta (2007, p. 187) describes Lavapiés-Embajadores as a mixed neighborhood in terms of social classes and ethnicities, but the groups involved in unskilled service sector are mostly immigrants and descendants. On the other hand, the groups involved in cultural industries and other spheres with higher income than unskilled service labor in Madrid are predominantly locals and immigrants from Western countries. In both cities the studied neighborhoods are on the same position in the processes - disadvantaged. This is the main characteristic that gives us basis for comparison, as in the absolute characteristics - level of income, level of unemployment and social welfare spendings on the neighborhoods - differ strongly, as they are situated in different nation-states.

Density and poor quality living conditions are other similarities between the two neighborhoods. The density of an area can usually determine the quality of the living conditions for an individual, especially when the infrastructure is used on top of its designed capacity. Both districts are in this kind of situation: “The city district Nørrebro is the city district with the highest density of the population (18.000 per km2)”. Overall low living conditions in Nørrebro compared to other parts of the city - small apartments

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and rooms, old water supply and heating infrastructure - together with high density is making the neighborhood one of the most unpleasant to reside in, in terms of living conditions. Very similar situation could be observed in Madrid, but there the density is higher and the living conditions are lower also because of lack of regulation over the property market. When the immigration flows started to come to the neighborhood, “property owners without scruples have taken advantage of this situation to make fat profits, permitting large numbers of people to accumulate in small flats of very low quality or even using the ‘‘hot bed’’ system, whereby rent is payable by the hour on each bed in the dwelling” (Díaz Orueta 2006, p. 187 ). The overcrowdedness and living conditions described cause a number of other issues, such as health problems, poor conditions for children and teenagers to study, stress and conflicts between family members as a consequence of lack of privacy.

Ongoing gentrification is also typical for both areas. For both neighborhoods the close geographical proximity to the important nodes in the city creates opportunities for every resident to have better access to the working places, education institutions and leisure spaces, etc. But at the same time it creates conditions for gentrification. The aforementioned socio-economic structure of the neighborhoods - the presence of two classes, unskilled service workers and young specialist - is an indicator of the gentrification.

In both Nørrebro and Lavapiés-Embajadores the left-wing political views are predominant and at the same time the level of political mobilisation is very high and has a long history. Nørrebro has “during many decades been known for showing strong solidarity with the underprivileged segments of society and people have demonstrated against racism and right‐wing extremism more than anywhere else in the country and in Copenhagen” (Elm Larsen and Hornemann Möller 2013, p. 21). In Madrid, Lavapiés is “the heart of the activism” as it is named by activists themselves (El blog de José Fariña 2015). There a lot different organisations, which function on the neighborhood and on the city level as “La Corrala”, neighbourhood association movement (Facebook page of La Corrala 2015), associations linked to various collectives of immigrants, various manifestations of the okupa (squatter) movement, NGOs (Xenofilia, Paideia), environmental and cultural, associations (Díaz Orueta 2006, p.189). After the 15 de Mayo movement, during 2014-2015 they provided the social base for the left-wing Ahora Madrid group, which now has the majority in the government on the city level and has a potential to transform the city in a socio-oriented way, emphasizing such spheres as local economy, social inclusion of immigrants and minorities, quality of

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

housing, etc. (Programa Ahora Madrid 2015). Such a strong political engagement and orientation towards solving the social issue of the lower classes and immigrants, gives the neighborhoods a high transformation potential on the grassroot level and creates a specific atmosphere in the area.

Apart from aforementioned characteristics both neighborhoods have ambiguous reputation. They are perceived by a lot of people as attractive places to live and spend time, as it is an outstanding part of the city with special atmosphere, cultural and leisure places, and very diverse. This was expressed by an active user of Nørrebro, a young Egyptian university professor: “It is a migrant district, of course. But a lot of Danes at certain ages want to live there, because it is not only for migrants, it is also trendy, hip, diverse. The Egyptian also states that apart from Muslims there are a lot of people from the EU, so this creates this positive image of the area...Regardless of where I am completely fitting in, but in other places, like Vesterbrø I am center of attention sometimes, people are giving me the looks or just a bit curious” (I1). The same kind of reputation exists in Lavapiés. It is an attractive area, because of “the cultural diversity of the area, its central position in the city, its historical character, its nightlife etc.”(Díaz Orueta 2006, p. 187). But at the same time both could be perceived negatively, mostly by outsiders and often by the media as “criminal” and “dangerous” neighborhoods, which need to be “cleaned up”. Often the negative representation of the neighborhoods is on the media and Muslims play an important role in this negative picture (Díaz Orueta 2006, p.188; Husain et al 2011, p. 213-226). A lot of respondents were mentioning this problem even without being asked about media directly: “Now all the media are talking about Muslims. They are all lying. It is business, it is money, but normal Danish people are not like that...Before they were talking about Russians, now they came to Muslims. After 2011 all the media are just blaming Muslims ” (I5).

Type of mobility is very noticeable difference for those who used both of the neighborhoods. It is connected to general differences between Madrid and Copenhagen transportation systems. Lavapiés-Embajadores is very well connected to other parts of the city by public transport. There are no motor-free streets in the neighborhood itself. Nørrebro also has high mobility, but it is organised in completely different way. The backbone of Copenhagen mobility system is bicycle infrastructure, which is broadly used by different groups. Nørrebro is not an exception. The metro line, which is being constructed at Norrebro at the moment will make the neighborhood even more mobile, but at the same time it is pushing even for more gentrification.

The other important difference is the structure of the housing stock. Madrid as a

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typical city of a Latin-rim regime has more privately owned housing and low share of rented-out housing, unlike Copenhagen which follows the social democratic system, where there is a lot of housing on the rent market, as well as social housing (Arbaci 2007). This has direct consequences for the lower class immigrant population, who are not able to afford their own housing, so they seek to rent it. Immigrants are residing the areas, where the housing could be rented. Since in Copenhagen the rent market is broader it does not provoke strong segregation, as seen in figure 3, but in Madrid, where the rent market is comparatively narrower, the segregation happens stronger. Lavapiés- Embajadores is therefore one of the examples of a neighborhood which attracts immigrants because of the opportunity to rent housing. The last important dissimilarity is the size of the neighbourhoods. Based on the theoretical analysis and definition of neighborhood, it was decided to analyse neighborhood geographically, rather than a symbolically and intersubjectively existing unit. Both Lavapies-Embajadores and Nørrebro are imagined by residents and users as part of cities, which have a number of characteristics and organized around several nodes, but there is no consensus about where they start or end as the official geographical borders are not used as the reference. The difference in geographical area and number of inhabitants does not contradict the social phenomenons created in the area. So it is possible to undertake the study of the identities, social networks and create parallels between the two neighborhoods.

Identity and Places of Muslims

To understand what is the connection between the neighborhood and the national and religious identities of Muslims living there and using it, the research described how every place in the neighborhood mentioned by the representatives of Muslim population relates to their national and religious identities through the social networks. The research also analysed how the respondents define the ‘other’ for themselves and whether there is any connection between this definition and the way their social networks are created and reproduced, and if it has influence on the places in the neighborhood. The table below represents the findings about places used by respondents, social networks created there and identities reproduced.

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

Table 1: Identities and Places of Muslims

Social networks created around housing play an important role in the life of Muslims. This group is mostly occupied in precarious labor, so do not have time for leisure activities. As a consequence most of their time apart from work, is spent at home; “All my free time I spend with my family and kids at home, I do not have time for anything else” (I5) said a shopkeeper from Copenhagen. Though there are a lot of differences in the type of housing in the two neighborhoods, there are social networks, which are similar in both places; these will be described further.

Different structures of housing stock in the two cities have similar influence on the social networks and identity formation in both neighborhoods. Apartments, both owned

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or rented to a lot of tenants in Lavapiés-Embajadores, as well as social housing in Nørrebro – are suitable places for creation of social networks between the Muslims and reproduction of national or religious identity, because they are strongly segregated there. This keeps Muslim communities attached to the neighborhood, economically and as a consequence – with the social networks. It pushes for creation of social networks between newcomers, family and friends networks, as well as neighbors’ networks. The research shows that these are mostly created between the same members of the same nationality, religious beliefs play a weaker role in this process. In this case the ‘other’ is constructed out of the representatives of other national groups of immigrants and descendants. But there are also examples of strong social networks between different groups, which are created on the basis of common problems, such as socio-economic instability or discrimination.

Social networks created around workplaces are one of the main types of networks discovered in the neighborhoods of Lavapiés-Embajadores and Nørrebro. The job places could be different, but mostly here the reference is being made about unskilled labor, which is common for Muslims in both cities (Elm Larsen and Hornemann Möller 2013, p.16). Typical working places for Muslims are restaurants, small shops, hairdresser salons, cleaning services, etc. For most of them the workplace is the place, where most of the time is spent, so the social networks created there are very strong and experienced by people from day to day. All other networks, apart from family, are weaker than the networks around workplaces: “I do not have a lot of friends, because I spend a lot of time at work, this was always my principle” (I5). So this is where the identity is reproduced strongly. The workplaces engender networks between colleagues, employers and employees. These networks mostly connect people from the same family, city, nation, and to a lesser extent between those who speak the same language. In the highly competitive labour market getting a job within community of migrants from your country is much more probable, this stops migrants from upper mobility. But the phenomenon of employing locals who are members of other minorities is widely spread. Almost every shop or restaurant visited, observed and where interviews were conducted had at least one non-Muslim employee. A Pakistani shopkeeper from Copenhagen was employing a couple of homeless people from the neighborhood for some physical work, one Somali and one Danish (I5, I6). Other Pakistani shopkeepers in Madrid employed a Spaniard, who “did not have a job for a long time and was in a bad situation in his life” (I24). These examples show that the social networks are created also with members of other nationalities or religious groups, but on the basis of the

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

same economic position. This does not mean refusal or losing one’s nationality or religious identity, but – creation of solidarity with the ‘other’, thus inclusiveness of identity towards the ‘other’.

Most of the social networks created by Muslims in the neighborhoods are local, meaning they connect with people in the same neighborhood or city, but often the supply networks of the business Muslims are involved in are connected to the home country. In Copenhagen an interview was undertaken with a Palestinian family, who runs a traditional clothing shop for Muslims. Together with their relatives they have a chain of shops all over Scandinavian cities. The clothes sold in the shops are produced by means of outsourcing: “Together with my brother we have a brand-name called Hijabhus; they are in Oslo and Copenhagen. We produce clothes in Jordan as it is very cheap and bring them to Scandinavia” (I2, I3). The same phenomenon was discovered in Madrid with an interview with a man from Morocco, whose family runs a shop of Arabic products in Lavapiés-Embajadores – most of the goods are brought from Morocco by them personally by travelling there almost every month (I17). But apart from the material connection the symbolic one is often present, especially in businesses like restaurants and clothing shops. There are a small number of cases, when the restaurant of Indian or African food is run by a local, usually this kind of business belongs to an immigrant or a person with an immigrant background. “Before they did not have Turkish food, only pizza shops, during last years we opened more and more...And they like our food” (I7) said a restaurant keeper in Lavapiés-Emabajadores. Sometimes the situation is not that straightforward. A lot of examples of replacing of a country symbol with a more significant one was found. The best empirical case for that was found in Lavapiés street in Madrid, this street is known in the city for restaurants of Indian cuisine. But it was a problem to find a person of Indian origin working there – most of waiters and other workers of the restaurants were from Bangladesh, though this was rarely known by the clients.

There are two types of outcomes of an exclusion of migrants from the labour market. In some cases the socio-economic exclusion of minorities provokes segregation between them. The social networks created around the workplaces puts an immigrant of every other nationality in a specific labor niche. It creates segregation according to the nationality/ethnicity/religion in an unskilled labor market: “Arabic community does not really interact with the Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese community. The other community is Turkish, Kurdish one. This is one thing, but also inside every bigger community people are fragmented, even when the language is not a barrier. But by the public opinion they

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

are put under one big umbrella of immigrants”(I1). The segregation of Muslim communities in specific job niches provokes competition between them as well as between them and other minorities. For example, the aforementioned Turkish respondent was very negative about the Arabs: “There are so many conflicts between the migrants themselves. People from countries where they have dictatorships come to a country with freedom, but they do not have education, so they do not know how to use this freedom. That’s why Palestinians and other people have conflicts with Danes and with us”(I7). In this case the ‘other’ is a member of the other minority, whom one opposes strongly. In other cases the socio-economic exclusion creates a solidarity between people from different nationalities and religious backgrounds in order to create a common survival strategy. In this case the national and religious identities do not disappear, but the ‘other’ - a person in the same socio-economic situation - is being perceived more positively.

The other type of places where Muslims spend time are communal places and leisure places. Under these type of places, I generalise all the places used for activities such as communication, educational, medical, political and activism purposes. As it was mentioned before, the precarious nature of labour that Muslim minorities are mostly occupied in, does not allow them to spend a lot of time even on communal and leisure activities. “I was only able to take time off to come here (language school) two hours a week. I would like to have more activities and enjoy, but I don't have time for it” (I16) as explained by a Moroccan cleaning-lady from Madrid. But still among the places mentioned by the respondents there were such places as markets, educational and medical institutions, cultural centers, mosques and public spaces.

Markets in both case-study neighborhoods attract a lot of Muslims, because of the lower prices compared to other shops and supermarkets, type of products one can get there, a lot of goods imported from the home countries of Muslims and the potential for social communication. Istanbul Market of Nørrebro was mentioned by almost every Muslim interviewed in Copenhagen. An young Irani man, who came to Copenhagen to look for a job and lives on a very tight budget told me: “Almost all the products I consume I buy at Istanbul Market, apart of cigarettes and milk, those I get in 7/11. On the market the goods are cheaper and it is situated on my way from Danish classes to the hostel I stay in” (I11). The Antón Martin market and El Rastro market play very similar roles in Lavapiés-Embajadores: ”On Sunday I go to the Sunday market, just over here. They are cheaper shops and you get the same kind of products” (I15). These places, on one hand, are strategies for economic sustainability of lower classes as the goods are usually

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

cheaper there; but at the same time they are creating platforms for social interaction between different inhabitants of the neighborhood and for community building.

There are two types of educational and medical institutions in both neighborhoods – those run by the government and those organised on the grassroot level. The educational and medical institutions run by the government are the places for direct implementation of integration policies. There are official schools for children, free language classes and public hospitals, which are open for citizens and documented immigrants. These places are highly important for most of the people I interviewed: “You need to learn the language. If you want to study here it is always open for you” (I7). It also connects them to the neighborhood: “When I was a kid we lived here, my school was here, I played football here. I feel very connected to Nørrebro, of course” (I5). Education pushes for creation of diverse social networks, which changes the identity to be more open and inclusive. The access to medical care gives stability and determines social inclusion. But there are some immigrants, including Muslims, who do not have access to it: the undocumented immigrants. The third sector organisations, NGOs and political groups are actively providing services for them, as well for those migrants for whom there is not enough place in the public institutions. On one hand these initiatives are strong in solving practical issues of lower-class Muslim immigrants, but on the other hand these initiatives are using volunteer unpaid work, because the state is not able to pay for this work.In both neighborhoods there are several clubs, cultural centers and mosques. Most of them are self-organised by the immigrants. Such places attach minorities to the space of the neighborhood and help them not only fulfill the cultural and social needs, but often serve as a place to ask for help in case of any kind of problem, including economic and work-related problems. But as these kind of places are organized on the basis of language or nationality, the social networks are created only within the national community. Thus this makes the identity exclusive and constructs the ‘other’ as representative of another national group – this was the case with the Albanian respondent (I8), for him the ‘other’ were Serbians. An alternative for such type of social networking such as NGOs and social centres (as already mentioned in the previous section), connects people on the basis of some other similarities. Example is gender and immigration, such as Immigrant Women center (Indvandrer Kvindecentret) in Copenhagen, which is an organisation focused on helping women with legal issues, domestic violence or language problems. This type of organisations are giving opportunities for creation of inclusive identities.

Though public spaces are often considered to be places of social mix in the cases

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

described, the opposite trend was observed; Muslims being a spatially segregated group engaged in unskilled labour continue to be one even on the small part of the geographical space as the social conflicts are being reproduced in public space. This conflictual nature of public spaces was expressed by one of the respondents through his individual perspective: “There is enough parks for me in the neighborhood, but those parks are for both kids and dogs. Also there are a lot of different people in the parks, but some people do not know what a park means, they just smoke and drink beers there. We do not need more parks, we just need parks for kids, for drinkers (borrachos) and for dogs apart from each other” (I17). As a consequence the social networking happening on the public spaces are still happening inside the community.

Conclusions

Firstly, the research has shown that there are different ways of construction of identities among Muslims in the case-study neighborhoods. Throughout the research the respondents were expressing their identities in different ways. To generalise it could be stated that often the ‘other’ is another national group, with which the competition for space, business niche or other privileges is established. In the case interviewing immigrants (and to a lesser extent descendants of immigrants), none of the respondents expressed negative attitudes towards Denmark or Spain, but rather the opposite: “Danish people are very good people, they like different cultures and people coming here. We learn a lot from them” (I7). More often the ‘other’ is a different national minority. For example, in Lavapiés-Embajadores there are divisions and conflicts between Bangladeshis and Senegalese immigrants: “Within our community we don't have a very tight relationship with the Senegalese. Just a formal hi-hello relationship. We don't share the same ideas” (I23). In Nørrebro the divisions between different groups of Muslims exist, which often have roots in the conflicts between their home countries and regions: “There are always conflicts, because of some political questions inside the Muslim community”(I2). This way of constructing the identity is exclusive and breaks the social cohesion, between minorities. The other way of identity formation is around the social problems and common immigrant and minority issues. This could be seen in examples of the employment networks between members of different national groups, who work together to survive, or in the case of NGOs working on legal issues of the immigrants, which they all have in common. Such a way of identity development is more inclusive and creates social cohesion and solidarity among minorities and other residents of the neighborhoods.

Tell me, where you are, and I will tell you, who you are

Secondly, the research revealed that the social networks inside national groups are more likely to be created than inside the religious groups. The workplaces are the places where Muslims strongly segregate in their national groups. The socio-economic exclusion makes individuals rely on family and national connections strongly on issues of employment, which makes the social networks created with similar nationalities stronger. The same phenomenon could be observed in the sphere of housing either the owner-occupied property or rented out social housing segregates different national groups in enclaves, where the creation of networks outside the community is very unlikely. The places, which have the potential to create more social cohesion between different groups are communal and leisure places. But as the state is shifting managing of such places to the third sector, the work is therefore being done in a fragmented unorganised way without a common public vision or strategy. Mosques or some only- for-Muslim/ Bangladeshi/ Moroccan places and activities are more popular. The research reveals “glass labyrinths” (similar to the “glass ceiling” for women) in the neighborhoods of Lavapiés-Embajadores and Nørrebro between the places Muslims work, live, shop and have leisure. The social networks exist, from a social housing quarter to a halal shop to a mosque without intersecting with the social networks of a young professional residing in the same neighbourhood.

Thirdly, these ways of identity construction have direct connections to the space of the neighborhood. The exclusive identity creates a “parallel” space in the neighborhood. In this case a Muslim in the place where he or she lives, interacts only with members of his national group. He or she also works in a place, where the co-worker, partners and clients are mostly representatives of the same national group and takes part in common activities and leisure within his or her community. As a consequence, the places constructed by such type of behavior reproduce the national and religious identities. The inclusive identity creates a common space of the neighborhood. The social networking with people, with whom one lives, is not determined by their nationality and religion, neither the choice of co-workers and partners for business; but the common activities and leisure is shared with different people. These ideal types were never expressed by any of the respondents, both were presented in one or the other way. One or the other type of behavior is determined by socio-economic status, cultural capital and political attitudes. And in the conditions of socio-spatial segregation, difficulty in having access to housing, segregation of the labor market, precarious employment and legal issues creates the tendency towards the exclusive construction of coherent national and religious identities.

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For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at [email protected]

References

Anderson, B. (1991) Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (Revised and extended. ed.). London: Verso. Arbaci, S. (2007) Ethnic Segregation, Housing Systems and Welfare Regimes in Europe. European Journal of Housing Policy. Volume 7, Issue 4, pp. 401–433. Castells, M. (2000) The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, Volume 1. Blackwell, Oxford. Carter, M. (2007) Identity theory. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Ed. Ritzer G. CNN (2015) Anti-Islam protesters march in Dresden, Germany. [Online] Available from: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/12/europe/germany-anti-islam-marches/ [Accessed: 15/07/2015] Díaz Orueta F. (2007) Madrid: Urban regeneration projects and social mobilization. [Online] Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fernando_Diaz_Orueta/ publication/222399597_Madrid_Urban_regeneration_projects_and_social_mobilization/ links/550724800cf26ff55f7bd037.pdf [Accessed: 17/02/2016] Dovidio et al (2015) Inclusive identity and the psychology of political change. [Online] Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282988758 [Accessed: 17/02/2016] El blog de José Fariña (2015) Lavapiés en el corazon del activismo. [Online] Available from: http://elblogdefarina.blogspot.com.es/2015/08/lavapies-en-el- corazon-del- activismo.html [Accessed: 15/07/2015] Elm Larsen, J., Hornemann Möller, I. (2013) The increasing socioeconomic and spatial segregation and polarization of living conditions in the Copenhagen metropolitan area. RC 19 Annual Conference of Research Committee 2013, ISA, 22#24 August 2013 , Budapest, Hungary. Facebook (2015) Asociación de vecinos La Corrala. https://www.facebook.com/ ondalavapies [Accessed: 15/07/2015] Gomes Faria, R. (2010) Islam in Madrid. Euro Islam. [Online] Available from: http:// www.euro-islam.info/2010/03/08/islam-in-madrid-2/ [Accessed: 6/5/2015] Husain, N. et al (2011) Muslims in Copenhagen. Open Society Foundation. Jenkins, R. (2004) Social identity, 2nd edition. London: Routledge. Larsen, J., Urry, J., Axhausen, K. (2006) Mobilities, Networks, Geographies. Hampshire: Ashgate. Leese, P., McLaughlin, C., Witalisz, W., (eds). (2012) Migration, Narration, Identity. Cross- Cultural Perspectives. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Edition. Lefebvre, H. (2007) The production of Space. Blackwell Publishing. Massey, D. (2005) For space. Sage Publications.

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Murdie, R., Borgegård, L. (1998) Immigration, Spatial Segregation and Housing Segmentation of Immigrants in Metropolitan Stockholm, 1960-95. Urban Studies, Volume 35, Issue 10. Programa Ahora Madrid (2015) [Online] Available from: https://conoce. ahoramadrid.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/AHORAMADRID_Programa_ Municipales_2015.pdf [Accessed: 6/5/2015] Putnam R. (2007) E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century. Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 30 – No. 2 Sassen, S. (2002) Locating cities on the global circuits. Environment and Urbanisation. SAGE Publications. Swyngedouw, E. et al (2010) Can Neighbourhoods Save the City. Community Development and Social Innovation. New York:Routledge. Swyngedouw, E., Baeten, G. (2001) Scaling the City: The political economy of ‘glocal’ development – Brussels Conundrum. European Planning Studies, Volume 9, Issue 7. The Guardian (2015a) Latest news and comment on the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris. [Online] Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/world/charlie-hebdo-attack [Accessed: 6/5/2015] The Guardian (2015b) Copenhagen shootings. [Online] Available from: http://www. theguardian.com/world/copenhagen-shootings [Accessed: 6/5/2015]

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

6 Demotorisation and Economic Consumer Culture: A contradiction in the post-modern city? (Case studies from Copenhagen and Vienna) William Otchere-Darko

Abstract: The influence of consumption as a driver of economic growth in post-modern cities means that there is now an increased focus on quality of place. Automobility has thus been critiqued and slowly being replaced (through demotorisation) with cycling and pedestrianisation in some city streets; especially in Europe and to a lesser extent the United States. Conversely, demotorisation has also been linked to rises in rents and a change in shopping preferences in inner cities. The research therefore aims to find out whether there is a contradiction between the critique of automobility and the emerging dynamics of demotorisation as a path towards alternative mobility. It is based on the hypothesis that ‘the postmodern identity of cycling and walking as anti-consumerist models have been used as a tool by city authorities to re-invent and revitalise cities’. Using case studies from Copenhagen and Vienna, this research delves into the extent of the relation between demotorisation and changes in shops as well as changes in rental levels on a street. A Street – level analysis is undertaken to determine whether the hypothesis holds.

Introduction

Demotorisation of streets has become a vital part of inner city development especially since the 1970s in cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam. It was aimed at enhancing access for sustainable transport modes, restricting car use or improving the overall quality of an area (Gehl, 2011; Litman, 2014). Here demotorisation is used to refer to a reduction or total elimination in the road capacity for automobiles. This can be achieved through either a road diet, traffic calming or pedestrianisation (Hass-Klau, 1993).

This research adopts a comparative case study analysis to look at the demotorisation of streets from car-based to cycling-based mobility in Copenhagen and from car – based to walking-based mobility in Vienna; and how these two cases relate to economic consumer culture.

Consumer culture in the postmodern context is in reference to the rapid flow of signs

Demotorisation and Economic Consumer Culture

and images which saturate the fabric of everyday life. It also denotes the consumption of experiences and pleasure; symbolised by shopping centres and malls as the spatial convergence of “consumption, play and entertainment” (Featherstone, 2007, p. 94).

From Zero to Hero? Cycling, walking and Consumer culture

Western Consumer Culture

The role of consumer culture in everyday life cannot be understated. It has always provided sustenance, shelter, safety and entertainment. It also provides mobility and counterbalances the effects of nature (Wallendorf & Arnould, 1988, p. 531).

In the modernist era, the burst of consumer culture (from the 17th to the early 20th century) entailed an explosion of shops and new marketing methods especially in centres with already developed commercial economies and with access to global economies through colonial trade.

In the postmodern era, (1960s onwards), consumer culture was stimulated by the “aesthetisation of everyday life” (Featherstone, 2007). This basically denoted the rapid flow of signs and images which saturate the fabric of everyday life in contemporary society. This culminated in the expansion and extension of commodity production in the big cities resulting in new buildings, department stores, arcades, malls etc. Consumption in the postmodern sense has also consequently taken on new meanings to also involve the consumption of experiences and pleasure; thus activities such as visiting shopping centres and malls is seen as a convergence of the postmodern city as a centre of “consumption, play and entertainment” (Featherstone, 2007, p. 94).

Automobility and Consumer Culture

The early 20th century marked a pivotal period in transportation with the privatisation of the automobile (Freund & Martin, 2007, p. 38). This new development was especially sparked by Henry Ford's Model-T. Automobility was consequently able to form a nexus between transportation and social values like progress, freedom and the good life (Freund & Martin, 2007; Sheller & Urry, 2000, p. 739; Manderscheid, 2013, p. 285).

A paradigm shift was witnessed in the wake of the 1970s oil crisis with concerns over energy use and the criticism over the petroleum industry following the crisis made the car an obvious target for the environmental movement (Sheller & Urry, 2000, p. 750). In addition, fuel-based transport mobility came to the forefront of scientific and political discourse on climate change, and the reduction of car travel seemed to be one of the

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

points of agreement (Manderscheid, 2013; p. 284).

In the wider political – economic spectrum, the car was seen as encapsulating neoliberal ideologies and seen as a symbol of capitalist commodification (Scott, 2013). These links between automobility and consumer culture have been captured in jargons like “asphalt's magic circle”; which is an auto-industrial complex between hydrocarbons, public highways, auto-manufacturing and real-estate based on near compulsory consumption (Goodman, 1972; Soron, 2009 cited by Scott, 2013; Furness, 2010).

These kind of linkages can also be related to Sheller & Urry's (2000, p. 738) idea of a “Machinic Complex” which also indicates technical and social interlinkages of cars with suburbanisation and sprawl, roadside service areas and motels, new retailing and leisure complexes, advertising and marketing among others. These critiques further pushed the agenda of demotorisation and alternative transportation into the discourse and practice of urban development and planning.

Demotorisation

A vast array of literature exists concerning the benefits of demotorisation; concerning its benefits to the environment, its positive impact on the urban structure and as a symbol of localism (Horton, 2006). In addition, demotorisation is seen as a symbol of equity that vulnerable segments of the society can rely on; and thus pushing for such modes of transport is akin to pushing for “social equity, a fair distribution of public resources and economic opportunity objectives” (Litman, 2014, p. 16). Cycling especially has also been used as a symbol of political movements in the 1960s against consumer capitalism in general and its symbolic representations and reproduction through commodities like cars (Horton, 2006). “Critical Mass cycling events” are therefore seen as contemporary versions of such movements whereby cyclists appropriate streets as a performative critique of automobility (Furness, 2010).

Emerging Caveats of Demotorisation

In the wake of the process of deindustrialization in developed countries, cities have become aware of the decline of city centres and downtowns and thus there is a push for a paradigm shift in ‘re - inventing’ the city. This neoliberal push for a paradigm shift is argued by Florida (2005) that cities should divorce from the notion that “the economic importance of a place is tied to the efficiency with which one can make things and do business”. Florida (2005) states that this traditional view was employed by governments using tax breaks and highway construction to attract business. Florida (2005) therefore proposes the human capital theory which seeks to focus urban

Demotorisation and Economic Consumer Culture

development policies on highly educated and productive people. This is a central theme of the Florida’s Creative class theory.

What does this have to do with demotorisation? Place–promotion and the creation of an attractive urban imagery have emerged as some of the tools designed to push the competitive position of cities as “place products whose high urban quality standards can be marketed and sold to residents, investors and tourists” (Whitehead et al, 2006, p. 3). In addition, Florida asserts that place promotion interventions attract the creative class and cycling/walking are one the ways of attracting them (Florida, 2002; Florida, 2011; Gibson, 2013, p. 7 – 8).

Place promotion therefore endorses the post–industrial urban ethos where patterns of consumption dictate that of economic growth and thus the former guides central land use decisions (Smith, 1979, p. 538). The crave for walkable (and bike friendly) downtowns therefore falls into this line of thinking because such places have a mix of restaurants, offices and housing, deemed to compete better in the new knowledge- driven and service-oriented post - industrial economy (Local Government Commission’s Centre for Livable Communities, 2001).

Florida's concept of the 'Creative Class' (which strongly employs demotorisation as one of its tools) has been highly criticised for celebrating gentrification (Peck, 2010; Stehlin, 2013). Rose (1984) uses the concept of ‘marginal gentrifiers’ to refer to cyclists as “marginal gentrifiers, unevenly endowed with social power, for whom a central urban location confers social, economic and cultural advantages, but who cannot simply be collapsed into the role of agents of capital”; although Rose’s (1984) analysis preceded that of the Florida’s (2005) creative class theory. Davis (2011) also argues that improvements such as bike lanes increase the perceived ‘liveability’ of a neighbourhood, serving as a sign to developers and housing speculators that a neighbourhood is open for business. In this way, the construction of bike lanes could play at least an indirect role in making neighbourhoods too expensive for low income residents. Examples of such cases are in Washington D.C. (Hoffmann 2013; Gibson, 2013).

Hence it has become evident that “the various actors involved in gentrification interpret opportunities to act on rent gaps.through signs such as the appearance of art galleries, cafes, community gardens, and bike shops in certain places” (Stehlin, 2013, p. 4). The egalitarian and democratic symbolism of demotorisation is therefore being challenged in this context.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

The nexus of Demotorisation and Consumer Culture: Ongoing Research

Various forms of research have been undertaken (especially from the 1970s to now), which deal with various aspects of demotorisation on streets. A number of studies attempted to look at the aims for demotorisation projects. The results show that such projects are influenced by the need to “revitalize an area, provide better access to it or alleviate congestion” (Forkenbrock & Weisbrod, 2001, p. 35). There is also a focus on reducing the speed of cars on a road and enhancing other forms of transport including walking, cycling and public transport (Drennen, 2003; Litman, 2014). It is also seen to result in an improvement in the overall quality of life of an area or a city (Litman, 2014; Gehl, 2011). Demotorisation also helps to reduce expenses on travel especially in the context of compact, dense cities (McCann, 2000; cited by Litman, 2014; Hess & Ong 2003)

In the context of the actual construction process, demotorisation has been known to face a lot of resistance, especially in its early stages, because various groups have various interests regarding the project. Hass-Klau (2003, p.21) asserts that such resistance falls into a pattern; with sceptical local retailers, optimistic or neutral chain stores, enthusiastic pedestrians and optimistic local authorities. In addition, it is deemed that a 50 – 70% approval from residents is required (Ewing, 1999 cited by Kumar, 2006, p. 20).

Additionally, a lot of research has gone into the positive effects of pedestrianisation and traffic calming on retail turnover (Hass-Klau, 1993; Gehl & Gemzøe, 1987; Whitehead et al, 2006; Wooller, 2010 etc.). What has been found to be an area of controversy is the initial phase of the project. This is because a reduction in retail is expected during the first 1-2 (transition) years of the construction due to the temporal inconveniences of the actual construction (Hass-Klau, 1993, p. 21).

Car – parking spaces represent a sensitive issue in the context of such projects, because it is usually these spaces that are ‘sacrificed’ for non–motorized and public transport improvements during demotorisation. Furthermore, some studies (e.g. Tolley, 2011 cited by Kumar, 2014) show that converting car parking spaces into bicycle parking spaces can provide higher levels of retail

Moreover, location should also be considered during demotorisation projects. This is because any retail property is inherently of economic importance based on its physical location such as general accessibility as well as a micro-location within the shopping area; and this can be favourable or unfavourable to pedestrian and/or transport flows,

Demotorisation and Economic Consumer Culture

information flows, transport nodes and to other retail outlets (Chau et al, 2000, p.6). Research shows that areas with poor cycling, pedestrian and transit conditions are deemed to be harmful to businesses due to the potential loss of worker productivity and time due to traffic delays whiles the converse situation provides more convenience for employees (Drennen, 2003, p.7). Also such successful shopping centres are located on major streets and thoroughfares and thus traffic counts (including cycling and footfall) serve as a major determinant of rental rates. (Chau et al, 2000, p.5). Another interesting aspect about (micro) locational choices is the street-corner. Such a location exhibits both location and physical characteristics because it has two sides of shop frontage, and thus provides a higher perimeter of exposure for shoppers than immediately adjacent sites (Chau et al, 2000, p.11).

In general, it is assumed that demotorisation and associated urban quality improvements have more positive than negative impacts (Whitehead et al, 2006). This does not just relate to pedestrianisation; research shows that cycling–focused demotorisation also has the potential to impact positively on retail and turnover (Drennen, 2003)

Research has also been done to delve into the impact of demotorisation on property values and rent. Such demotorisation projects are noted to be “catalyst(s) for comprehensive urban reinvestment projects with the expectation that they will increase property values” (Forkenbrock & Weisbrod, 2001, p. 32). Demotorisation projects have been deemed to typically raise land value from 70%-300% (SERG, 2014, p.8). A comparison of demotorised streets versus automobile-dependent areas showed that pedestrian friendly, new urbanist community designed areas tend to increase property values (Eppli & Tu, 2000; cited by Litman, 2014, p.11). This is also attributed to the reductions in traffic noise, traffic speeds and vehicle-generating air pollution which then creates an attractive place for people and in turn increase property values (Local Government Commission’s Centre for Livable Communities, 2001). A case in point is a study which (roughly) estimates that “each reduction of 100 vehicles per day below 2,000 provides a 1% increase in adjacent residential property values” (Litman, 1999, p.17).

Summary of Literature Argument

It is important to trace through this literature review to highlight the argument being made on Demotorisation.

Cities: Changes, Places, Spaces

Since the inception of leisure into modern and post - modern Western consumer culture (Stearns, 2006), its evolution has also witnessed the emergence of consumption as the driver of production and economic growth (Smith, 1979). Thus the new post - modern focus on quality of place (as proposed by Richard Florida, 2002) draws from an evolution where leisure has become a vital aspect of life and consumption becomes the pre-occupation of leisure. People therefore seek new forms of identities through their consumption practices (Arnould & Thompson, 2005).

Florida's creative class group (new middle class) - with higher incomes and higher levels of education are deemed to distance themselves from the sprawl of the suburbs, as well as the petroleum exploitation and pollution; all associated with automobility. They therefore opt for alternative transportation (walking - distance and especially bicycle friendly cities) as a new form of consumer identity in the new knowledge economy.

City Governments on the other hand in trying to attract these new middle classes, have to play by the new rules of walkable and bicycle friendly streets (with the assortments of new expensive shops, cafes, bars, galleries etc.) and new forms of street culture and entertainment that this new middle class enjoys (Horton et al, 2007). Through demotorisation, this might lead to increases in rents (and produce gentrification and new areas of conspicuous consumption). This ironically mirrors the sprawl and conspicuous consumption associated with automobility. As a result, it has become evident that the links between automobility and sprawling new retailing and leisure complexes, hotels and motels, advertising and marketing among others can now be seen with the demotorisation of streets.

New shopping streets and cycling - friendly streets are becoming the new centres of conspicuous consumption and driving increases in rents; influenced by advertisements and marketing of liveable and bike - friendly cities to attract a new set of urban dwellers. Thus demotorisation might also be used as a tool to deepen the chasms of inequality in inner city areas; similar to the role of automobility in perpetuating a (conspicuous) consumer culture.

Various researches have also been done to show the benefits and pragmatism behind demotorisation; in terms of improving certain urban spaces, how it influences the types of shops, its links with the locational choices and advantages gained by retailers on a street and its influence on retail turnover, rent and property values.

This research thus tries to find out to what extent these influences of demotorisation can be linked to or detached from economic consumer culture and analyse how the anti-

100

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consumerist symbols of cycling and walking mobility might be caught up (or not caught up) in the fluidity of capital. It is therefore based on the hypotheses that “the postmodern identity of cycling and walking as anti-consumerist models have been used as a tool by city authorities to re-invent and revitalise cities”. The aim is not to criticise demotorisation but to examine these nuances. Lastly, it is fitting to summarise this literature argument with this quote by Hoffmann (2013);

“The bicycle (and pedestrian) ... and related amenities are assumedly off- limits for critique because of the way that (they are) framed in the media, by advocates, and some city governments as a positive, progressive, and good thing for all people (but) technology is never neutral, space is never empty, and mobility is never disconnected from power”

(Hoffmann, 2013, p. 57).

Methodology

Research Question(s)

The research primarily answers one question which is sub – divided into three;

What is the relationship between Demotorisation of Urban Shopping streets, shop types and Rents on a street?

1. How do the Political and Commercial interests of a city negotiate on demotorising an Urban Shopping street? 2. How do the Specific Urban Demotorisation strategies influence the types of shops on the shopping street? 3. To what extent does Demotorisation of an Urban Shopping street influence Retail Rents of the street? The research therefore narrows down economic consumer culture to a street – level study by analysing the relationship between demotorisation on streets and how it relates to the types of shops on the streets and the general rental and vacancy levels of the street. Thus the types of shops, as well as rent and vacancy levels (emphasising commodification of space; Harvey, 1991) are used to proxy economic consumer culture in this context.

Research Outline

The research employed a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods and based the

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selection of the case studies on the similarity of the population size and structure in the two case study cities and streets. A combination of desktop research, spatial analysis and observation as well as 28 expert interviews were undertaken. The interviewees were mainly city politicians, urban planners, business experts and mobility lobby- groups in the two case-study cities. Data was also collected from a combined sample of 50 retailers from the two streets using open – ended questionnaires.

Case studies

Two case studies were utilized for this research; Nørrebrogade in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Meidlinger Hauptstraße in Vienna (Austria). The research focuses on cycling–based demotorisation on Nørrebrogade and walking–based demotorisation on Meidlinger Hauptstraße.

Nørrebrogade

Nørrebrogade is a 2 km shopping street located in the district of Nørrebro in Copenhagen. It is a major thoroughfare for commuters from the north western suburbs into the city-centre of Copenhagen (picture and map below).

Source: Author, January 2015

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Source: Copenhagen Commune, 2010

In 2008 - 2015, a (road diet) demotorisation project was initiated on the street to make it more attractive, to improve the cycling conditions and enhance public transport travel times (T & E, 2013). The project was therefore aimed at restricting automobile movement and traffic. The Road diet involved widening the cycling lanes (to between 3m –3.5m) and the pedestrian sidewalk as well as restricting access for cars in parts of the street whiles public transport takes precedence in the centre of the street. The results of the project shows that the mobility dynamics have changed considerably since the demotorisation. The street is now the most heavily (bike) trafficked in Copenhagen on weekdays, with 76% bike traffic (42,000 cyclists) and 24% cars (City of Copenhagen, 2015, p. 11). Also car traffic in the district of Nørrebro has generally reduced by about 10% since the start of the project (T & E, 2006 & 2013; Fietserbond, 2009). The project has also reduced the bus travel time by 10% and bus passenger numbers have risen to about 24,000-24,500 daily on Nørrebrogade (T &E, 2013).

Nørrebrogade is also one of the six major shopping streets in Copenhagen and has an estimated retail space of about 83,000sqm (City of Copenhagen, 2009). The “retail- scape” of the street has been the subject of intense debate in Copenhagen ever since the demotorisation project was started in 2008.

Meidlinger Hauptstraße

Meidlinger Hauptstraße is located in the 12th district of Meidling in the south – west of Vienna; located outside the second city ring of Vienna (Picture and map of Meidlinger Hauptstraße below).

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Source: City of Vienna, undated

Source: MA 41 Vienna, undated

Meidlinger Hauptstraße was pedestrianised in 1994 at the expense of the trams and cars which previously accessed the street. Consequently an underground metro line was constructed under the street. The demotorisation project involved a pedestrianisation of about 800m of the 1km street (in the south) whiles the northern part was left mainly for car and bicycle access. Historical accounts also indicate that the pedestrianisation of the street was also influenced by the increasing competition from other shopping streets in Vienna. Specifically, the establishment of a suburban shopping centre (Shopping City Süd) in 1976 and the redevelopment of one of Vienna’s main shopping streets (Innere Mariahilfer Straße) in 1993 served as sources of competition for Meidlinger Hauptstraße (Stöferle, 2009). The street is currently used mainly by pedestrians with cars and cyclists having access to its fringes.

In 2010, an EU-wide competition was undertaken to invite proposals for the renovation

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of Meidlinger Hauptstraße (undertaken in 2014-2015). This involved a renovation of the existing road-space, unlike the 1994 project which was a demotorisation project (i.e. reallocating street for other transport modes)

Currently, the 1km Meidlinger Hauptstraße has a retail space 32.000sqm and is considered the 5th most important shopping street in Vienna. A 2008 study done on the modal use of ‘potential customers’ on Meidlinger Hauptstraße shows that on an average weekday, public transport users make up 49.2%, pedestrians make up 43.1% and car users make up 7.8% (Stöferle, 2009, p. 19). A footfall count in 2008 also shows that the average footfall per day is 12, 870 (Stöferle, 2009, p. 22).

Findings of the Research

Negotiating Demotorisation projects

The findings showed the different commercial, mobility and political interests related to the projects.

Commercial Interest

The negotiation of Nørrebrogade was carefully undertaken to avoid some participatory bottlenecks that could stifle the project. After the then mayor (Klaus Bondam) successfully passed the project through the ‘Island Kingdoms’ (the various departments) in the Copenhagen city council, the trial project was undertaken (from 2008 to 2010). The residents were involved after the trial project was done to assess whether the project should be made permanent (statistics showed that 67% of Nørrebro citizens, 69% of cyclists and pedestrians as well as 51% of car owners were in favour of making the project permanent - Catinét Research, 2008).

In this sense, it was practical to go on with the project because the aims of the project were targeted at making the street more attractive, improving cycling conditions and enhancing public transport travel times on the street (T & E, 2013). Thus even though a participatory process was undertaken with retailers, the fact that commercial interest was not one of the aims of this project showed that there was a perception that ‘business will take care of itself’. On the other hand, the disapproval by the shop owners in making the project permanent (67% against it in 2008; 43% against it in 2015) should not be confined to the classic retailers’ reaction to demotorisation. By looking carefully at the negotiation process with the shop owners, it is seen that information dissemination could have been better executed especially looking at the scale of the

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project. 27.6% of sampled retailers interviewed got information about the project while 43.3% claim they didn’t. The consultative form of participation which allowed the Nørrebro traders association the chance to make minor adjustments to the project was done to keep the general idea of the project intact without much alterations; but this also alienated the retailers and raised their general discontent with the project. In effect the negotiation process was more of a top – down approach.

In terms of Meidlinger Hauptstraße, commercial interest was the prime motivation for the 1994 demotorisation as well as the 2014/15 renovation. Even though the construction of the metro lines under the street and train lines near the street (with metro and train stations nearby) were seen as a reason for the demotorisation, increasing competition from other shopping centres also influenced the 1994 demotorisation (Stöferle, 2009). The negotiation process for the 1994 demotorisation seems to have been a good decision in hindsight due to the current approval ratings of 70% by sampled retailers on the current state of the street. The 2014-2015 renovation seems to be the major point of reflection for the shop owners who are also in favour of this project.

Mobility interests

According to cycling-mobility activists in Copenhagen, the Nørrebrogade project is seen to be a next-step in cycling infrastructure planning in the city and the controversy and resistance by retailers is seen as an act to ignore the fact that the ‘real’ customers in Nørrebrogade and Copenhagen are cyclists and not car-owners. This is also supported by research which shows that as at 2014, 32% of supermarket and street-level turnover in Copenhagen were done with the bicycle while pedestrians, car-drivers and multi- modal users made up 23%, 32% and 13% respectively (City of Copenhagen, 2011 & 2015, p.13). Interestingly, the car lobby in Copenhagen seems to be playing a ‘numbers game’ in terms of its attention to the Nørrebrogade project. Nørrebro (being an inner city lower income district) is not a primary target area for the car lobby; their focus is more towards their suburban clientele.

A comparison of pedestrian and car lobby groups in Vienna also provided an interesting peak into mobility politics in Vienna. Meidlinger Hauptstraße does not attract attention from mobility groups such as Walk space Austria, the mobility office of Vienna (Mobilitätsagentur) and car lobbies in the city.

Political Interests

The political negotiation process of Nørrebrogade was along the left-right political

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divide in Copenhagen whereby the right-wing parties are not in favour of the demotorisation whiles the left wing parties are in favour of it. Even though the mobility alliances of the various political parties were made clear during the interviews, it is not possible to clearly identify the commercial/retail structure preferences of these political parties. The quality of retail and the protection of small businesses on Nørrebrogade were major areas of agreement on both sides of the political divide; the major difference in opinion was the mode of transport that is preferable for such streets.

The political spectrum in Vienna surrounding the 1994 demotorisation of Meidlinger Hauptstraße and also the 2014/15 renovation also follows a similar trajectory as the one witnessed in Copenhagen. The influence of the Social democratic party as at the time of the 1994 demotorisation was strong at both the city of Vienna and the Meidling district level. Their political weight in addition to the various commercial reasons cited for the demotorisation ensured that the project was undertaken briskly. In 2010 however, the political situation in Vienna changed from a domination by the social democratic party to a power sharing between them and the Green party. Thus the 2014/15 renovation of Meidlinger Hauptstraße entailed some degree of city-level and district-level negotiations and compromise especially between the two parties.

The influence of the demotorisation strategies on the types of shops

This research aimed to find out how the different configurations of demotorisation (road diet on Nørrebrogade and Pedestrianisation on Meidlinger Hauptstraße) influence the types of shops on the street. This section therefore looks at the types of retail as well as vacancy levels of the two streets,

On Nørrebrogade, the low quality of retail on the street has raised a lot of questions; including questions about the demotorisation project. A 2013 longitudinal study on Nørrebrogade showed that retail food stores had increased by over 100% within this 2005 – 2010 period. Further analysis shows that these retail food stores are mostly individual fast food places with a high propensity to undertake short term rental arrangements which does not auger well for the commercial street (DAMVAD, 2013). Even though a significant proportion of the retail food industry is tailored towards an ethnic/immigrant demographic amidst the 26.7% foreign population in Nørrebro district and the 42,000 daily bike-traffic on Nørrebrogade, these retail food industries still find it difficult to stay in operation on the street and therefore close down. Some reasons cited for this include the recovery of the street from the clutches of the 2008 financial crisis and its indirect manifestation in physical blight on the street, the

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elongated timeline of the demotorisation project and the general low income levels in the district. Spatial analysis also showed that the demotorisation of Nørrebrogade has resulted in a positive influence on the number of bicycle shops on the street (44% increase between 2010 and 2015).

The retail structure of Meidlinger Hauptstraße is also quite similar to that of Nørrebrogade in terms of the types of retail that are prominent on the street; even though the quality on Meidlinger Hauptstraße is better. It is dominated by food retail, textile and household equipment as well as clothing and footwear stores. The quality of the shops on the street is as a result of the constant ‘feeding’ of the street with potential customers of about 140,000 from the underground metro and train stations. This results in a daily footfall of about 12,870 (Stöferle, 2009, p. 22). It is also a product of the successful post – “transition” stages (Hass-Klau, 1993) of the 1994 demotorisation.

In terms of the types of merchants on the case-study streets, the ‘local’ retail character of Nørrebrogade is enforced due to the two-thirds of independent shop owners on the street whiles the rest are either national or international chains. Meidlinger Hauptstraße on the other hand is dominated by national and international chains (52%) which de- localises the street to some extent. Nonetheless, the presence of 48% local shops shows that Meidlinger Hauptstraße is a shopping street that is polarized and provides a wide range of ‘merchants’ on the street.

Also, the retail situation on Nørrebrogade has culminated in a vacancy rate of 7.7% on the street. This rate of vacancy has been stable in comparison to research from 2013 (Duffy 2013, p.35) although properties could be ‘changing hands’ or churning as at the time of this research (February, 2015). In contrast, retail vacancy on Meidlinger Hauptstraße stands at 4%.

Interestingly, the majority (76%) of the 21 international chains on Nørrebrogade are located at the street corners, thus emphasizing the pragmatic locational choices that such businesses take in order to set up on the street; it therefore provides more mobility options with bicycles on Nørrebrogade and car access on the adjacent streets. Nonetheless, the independent/single owned shops are still the majority in terms of the street corner-shops on Nørrebrogade.

On Meidlinger Hauptstraße, the national and international chain stores mostly ‘avoid’ the northern end of the street which is not totally pedestrianised; thus reinforcing the importance of the pedestrianised street for footfall retail success. Also, the presence of subsidized parking for Meidling district inhabitants in addition to the 58% of the

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shopping sales on the street coming from inhabitants in the district (Stöferle, 2009, p. 13) shows that the street corner provides a proximity to an extra pool of car-owning customers and pedestrians. These advantages of the street-corner are evidenced in Meidlinger Hauptstraße by 46% international chains at the street corners whiles national chains and independent stores make up 17% and 37% of the street corners respectively.

The influence of the demotorisation strategies on Retail rents

The rental characteristics of the two streets have similarities and differences. Nørrebro district is one of the six lowest areas for rent in Copenhagen (Sadolin & Albæk, 2015, p. 50) and Meidling is also among the 5 lowest in Vienna (www.mietguru.at). This in effect translates into cheaper rental levels in comparison with the other shopping streets in other districts in Copenhagen and Vienna.

On Nørrebrogade, retail rents average around €134-€268sqm/yr. thus representing one of the prime retail rental areas in the district. Although it is deemed that the general rent levels on Nørrebrogade have not increased due to the demotorisation project, the project (in connection with factors such as the general economic health of the street after the financial crisis) is deemed to have influenced short – term renting preferences especially by independent shop owners since they are mostly characterized by “uncertain sales and financial instability” (Benjamin et al, 1990). Thus the economic condition of Nørrebrogade puts these independently-owned businesses and their capital in further vulnerability if they do not opt for such short term rental options.

Meidlinger Hauptstraße also shows a similar characteristic of a prime rental area in comparison with the rest of Meidling district. It shows the characteristic of a street that has passed the transition stages of its (1994) demotorisation. This has resulted in a dual or polarized retail regime on the street characterized by low-end and high-end shops co- existing on the street. This is also reflected in the general rent levels on the street - i.e. ranging from €96 to €360 sqm./yr., which emphasizes low-end (at the northern end) and high-end (at the south) rental areas of the street.

All together: Demotorisation, types of shops and rents

One of the most important influences of demotorisation on the types of shops and rents is the life stage of the street after the project. As seen from the two case studies, the different dynamics on the street in terms of the types of shops and rental levels were as

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a result of their life stage. Nørrebrogade’s demotorisation, even though it has been going on from 2008 to 2015, is still in the transition stages (Hass–Klau, 1993). The 1994 demotorisation of Meidlinger Hauptstraße on the other hand, means that it has completed its transition stage and is in more stable condition in terms of retail and commerce.

The life-stage of the street is also a big influence on the retail rental levels on the street. The transition stage of Nørrebrogade has resulted in low or generally stable rent levels whiles rental arrangements are more short term. On Meidlinger Hauptstraße however, rental levels are generally higher and rising whiles there are still opportunities for low end retailers to set up on certain parts of the street.

Another interesting aspect that could potentially differentiate the cycling-focus of Nørrebrogade from the pedestrianisation-focus of Meidlinger Hauptstraße is the mode of transport itself (i.e. cycling and walking). Pedestrians are more likely to have a slower and more detailed view of the urban space than cyclists would; a cyclist has a more direct origin-to-destination motive than a pedestrian who could be easily distracted by a coffee shop he/she sees on the street. According to de Certeau (1984), “space is a practiced place. Thus the street geometrically defined by urban planning is transformed into a space by walkers. In the same way, an act of reading is the space produced by the practice of a particular place: a written text, i.e., a place constituted by a system of signs” (p. 117). Thus the practice of walking on a street is akin to reading the space. In addition Featherstone’s conception of postmodern consumer culture as the ‘aesthetisation of everyday life’ (Featherstone, 2007, p. 75) can be applied to mean that pedestrians become better readers of these post-modern aestheticized spaces than cyclists. This could also strike a marked difference between the retail situation on Nørrebrogade and that of Meidlinger Hauptstraße; especially since Meidlinger Hauptstraße is enhanced by its access to major public transport hubs that enhances pedestrian-access to the street.

Contradiction or Consensus?

The research was based on the argument that ‘The postmodern identity of cycling and walking as anti-consumerist models have been used as a tool by city authorities to re- invent and revitalise cities’. Thus economic consumer culture in this sense was represented with the types of goods on display as well as the rent levels on the streets.

On Nørrebrogade, the official aim of the project was to make the street more attractive,

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enhance cycling as well as public transport travel times. In addition, Copenhagen has a strong cycling culture. This project can therefore be assumed to be another approach in the city’s advancement of the cycling agenda. Thus there was a direct aim by the city council to re-invent and revitalize the street; even though the emphasis is on enhancing thoroughfare access for cyclists. Nonetheless, although the aim was not to gentrify the street, it could be a strong by-product of this revitalization in the long-term if unchecked. This is especially evident when looking at the wider area context of Nørrebrogade Street. The demotorisation project, in combination with the development of nearby newly-developed public space (i.e. Superkilen Park) could intensify this process.

Superkilen Park

Source: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group (April 3, 2013) & Orf3us (June 2012)

The emerging kinds of shops on the street also provide interesting perspectives. Even though there is not a direct replacement of shops with more expensive ones, the existence of 41 bike shops on a 2-kilometre street raises some questions. It could partly be a response to a new market. It could also partly be a process of retail (and probably residential) displacement.

On Meidlinger Hauptstraße, the role of the city government and the district government of Meidling in the 1994 demotorisation and the 2014-2015 renovation was aimed at enhancing the commercial fortunes of the street. This entailed improving the shopping street and the types of shops on the street. The creation of the Meidling mall on the shopping street, the emergence of international chains and the various plans for

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renovation are aimed at intensifying the experience of shopping on Meidlinger Hauptstraße as a haven of “consumption, play and entertainment” (Featherstone, 2007, p. 94). It has therefore created a positive by-product of enhancing the attractiveness of the street with other effects like retail and residential gentrification. For instance, the emergence of international chains on the street has exacerbated this retail gentrification with the assortment of expensive shops on the street in addition to low priced shops on the street. But these low priced shops are expected to fizzle out in favour of more high- end shops especially with the 2014-2015 renovation.

Meidling Mall

Source: Author, February 2015

In summary, the negatives attached to automobility (effects on the environment, space, social and sub-urban life) that ushered in the preference for demotorisation are still far greater than the negative by-products that can be derived from demotorisation in inner cities (potential increases in rents, gentrification etc.) based on these case studies. There is still however a potential for demotorisation to contradict itself and be a driver of inequality just like the automobile. The obligation therefore lies on city governments to ensure that a steep process of gentrification and expensive places of consumption does not replace the ideal that cycling and walking are supposed to represent.

‘....technology is never neutral, space is never empty, and mobility is never disconnected from power’ (Hoffmann, 2013, p. 57); but space and power can be managed.

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For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at contact [email protected]

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Photographs BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group. (April 3, 2013). Superkilen Plan. Available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Superkilen_plan.jpghttps://commons.wikim edia.org/wiki/File:Superkilen_plan.jpg City of Vienna (undated) The current Meidlinger Hauptstraße. Available at: https://www.wien.gv.at/m19prjdb/wettbewerbe/html/show_ausschreibung.asp?ID=2 636&Q_A_TYP=2&Q_A_STANDORT=&Q_A_QUERYSTR=&Q_A_ART=4&Q_A_VERFAHREN =0&Q_A_VON=&Q_A_BIS=&Q_A_LAUFENDOrf3us (June 2012) Superkilen Park. Available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Superkilen.JPG, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Superkilen3.JPG & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Superkilen2.JPG

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7 Urban Green in European Medium-Sized Urban Area: Analyzing the changes with a land system approach Lucie Rosset

Abstract: Most research on land system changes take either a quantitative approach on land cover and use or a qualitative approach on land function. The aim of this research is to study urban green in European medium-sized urban areas (MSUA) with an interdisciplinary approach using mixed methods. In the course of this research, the case studies are gradually being reduced: from a study of land cover and land use changes related to urban green in 214 European MSUA to an analysis of urban green functions in 4 shrinking cities: Salamanca, Metz, Magdeburg and Szczecin. This innovative approach based on various types of data (CLC, LUCAS, strategic planning documents and interviews) leads to several conclusions on the way urban green is changing in European MSUA along the three components of the land system: cover, use and function. Additionally, it gives a reflection on methodological problems when considering land system changes with a comparative approach at the European regional scale.

Problem setting

Over the last decade, there has been a growing trend of urban greening in most European urban areas whether as bottom-up initiatives or top-down policy-based programs. Green spaces not only improve living conditions and ecosystems but also they play a role in the promotion and branding of cities. This tendency results – at least partly – from the “Green City” concept presented as the magic potion for all cities aiming for sustainable development. The issue of green spaces in cities is not new, but two main elements have changed and they need to be understood. First, unlike the past, when a limited number of groups or individuals expressed an interest, urban greening has become omnipresent. Today, greening cities is not only a concern for public institutions and ethically minded individuals, but it is an enticing field for private sector investors, who have come to recognize, that nature is a finite resource that can be converted into a new commodity. Furthermore, society at large is more aware of environmental limits and more concerned with health than ever before; citizens have emerged as important stakeholders in the process of greening cities.

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Second, the process of urbanization has intensified land pressure in most parts of Europe, influencing the way urban green has evolved. Indeed, as urban green requires space, it can be influenced by existing territorial structures; conversely, its existence can also dictate territorial patterns. The greening of urban areas fostered by existing structures also creates changes in the land system’s cover and use as well as its function. Indeed, in close conjunction with other existing traditional socio-economic land functions in urban areas, green spaces have become part of almost all urban development projects, adding new components to the land system (urban gardening/agriculture, productive landscapes etc.). Therefore, there is an inherent conflict when it comes to urban greening. On the one hand, there is a growing interest for urban green in most cities, which leads to the establishment of planning strategies that aim to develop green spaces. On the other, the pressure on the land system created by the growth of impermeable surfaces in urban areas limits the ability to increase urban green spaces.

The positive effects of urban green are widely described in various fields of expertise (health, environment, risk prevention, social integration, etc.), but most research focuses on the effects of already existing urban green. However, the opportunities for future green spaces in cities have not been discussed to the same extent. What is more, most works identify the benefits of urban green either on a local scale (e.g., strengthening social cohesion) or a global scale (e.g. greenhouse gases reduction), omitting or under- estimating the importance of the regional scale. Also, whereas the majority of the European urban population lives in medium-sized urban areas, research in urban studies has focused on large metropolitan areas, leaving out smaller cities. Finally, comparative studies on land system changes in Europe are scarce, especially at the scale of medium-sized urban areas. The lack of research in these areas is significant as a comparative knowledge of the opportunities and challenges of urban green in European medium-sized urban areas can provide some key insights for better decision-making when planning new developments. In order to examine the opportunities and challenges of future projects involving urban green, it is crucial to understand the current individual urban context. In this study, the complex issue of urban context will be simplified by looking at two aspects in more detail: density and socio-demographic dynamics. Using these two elements, a 4-class Typology Model (Fig. 1) was established on which assumptions were developed based on simple logic. For instance, when looking at density, regions with “low density” generally have a high share of non-built areas, whereas “high density” regions have a low share of non-built areas. Similarly,

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when looking at socio-demographic dynamics, one is more likely to find high competition for land in growing regions than in shrinking ones.

Figure 1: The 4-class Typology Model [Author]

Although one can argue that the rationale based on this 4-class typology is no more than common sense, it has never been tested before. At first glance, space and capital are needed to increase urban green. Therefore, areas with low density and growing socio- demographic dynamics would be the best candidates for developing urban green. In reality, this configuration is rare; growing areas often lack space and shrinking areas often lack financial resources. Indeed, as growing urban regions attract investors, the space available is more likely to be in competition with uses other than green. On the contrary, shrinking cities often experience economic and demographic decline, providing a high potential for green but with limited means to invest in development or even maintenance of green spaces. This study proposes a new conceptual approach combining the 4-class Typology Model and its related assumptions with the observation of urban green and taking into consideration the land system (cover, use, function) changes in European medium-sized areas.

Research questions and definitions

To what extent are density and socio-demographic dynamics influencing the way urban greening(a) is developing in European medium-sized urban areas(b)?

To answer the main research question, there are two secondary questions that will

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guide how the research will be conducted.

1. Are the rising urban greening activities in the last decade visible on the land system(c) changes of European medium-sized urban areas?

2. To what extent do existing data allow observations of the land-system changes at the scale of European medium-sized urban areas?

(a) Urban greening:

Includes all activities implying a temporary or long-term change in the land system (cover, use and/or function) from a non-green to a green area.

(b) Medium-Sized Urban Areas (MSUA):

Definition: Urban area between 200,000 and 500,000 inhabitants. Based on a classification published in 2012 by OECD on functional urban areas, a sample of 214 European cities have been defined and adapted to NUTS 3 regions for matter of availability and delimitations of statistical data delivered by EUROSTAT and related agencies.

A holistic approach to examining land change that focuses on the following three components:

1. Land cover (LC): the biophysical character of a given surface, observable not only in the field but also with remote sensing methods.

2. Land use (LU): the way humans exploit the land cover to produce, maintain or change it.

3. Land function (LF): the intended and unintended results of a certain land use, often expressed as goods and services that a certain piece of land provides.

Methodology in brief

The proposed research is anchored in various disciplines, the methodology is inspired by Verburg et al. (2009) work, that distinguishes among three levels of the land system: land cover, land use and land function.

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Figure 2: Methodology illustrate through the land system

[Author, based on Verburg et al (2009)]

As Figure 2 shows, three levels structure the methodology. The first two parts focus on land cover and use based on Corine Land Cover (CLC) and Land Use and Cover Areas Survey (LUCAS) data. The third part, based mainly on interviews and strategic plans, considers the land functions in four shrinking cities: Salamanca, Metz, Magdeburg and Szczecin.

Results

Part I – Urban green changes in European MSUA

As a first step, 214 NUTS 3 regions14 were classified into 4 typologies according to their structure (low or high density) and socio-demographic dynamics (shrinking or growing) to fit into the 4-class Typology Model described earlier.

14 They were selected on the basis of the OECD classification of Medium sized urban areas (MSUA) published in 2012. From a sample of 228 MSUA listed by OECD, the sample was reduced to 214 because of compatibility concerns, when comparing the MSUA to NUTS 3 regions

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Figure 3: Applied 4-class typology to European Medium-sized urban areas [data: EUROSTAT & ESPON, created by Author]

Figure 3 shows the 214 European MSUA under the 4-class Typology Model. In addition, the soil sealing is represented by the size of the dots. The scatter graph shows a relatively uniform distribution of the NUTS 3 regions with few outliers. Interestingly, the area of the graph surrounded by a rectangle contains a high concentration of regions with relatively low density as well as socio-demographic dynamics close to the median and soil sealing that exceeds the European average15, of between 180 and 350 square meters per person.

15 According to a European Commission (2012) report, the European soil sealing average was 200 square meters per person in 2006.

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Figure 4: Spatial distribution of the 4 typologies in European MSUA [data: EUROSTAT & ESPON, created by Author]

The map (Fig. 4) shows clearly that the NUTS 3 regions are not proportional. This is explained by the fact that they are based on existing administrative subdivisions and their population is supposed to fit within a range between 150,000 and 800,000 inhabitants. Indeed, most of the regions in the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany are very small and even difficult to see on the map. It is not surprising that these regions are geographically located in the so-called blue banana16, the heart of highly urbanized Europe from northern England to northern Italy. But rather unexpected is that most of them are in the shrinking category, as more than 86% of the class “high density & shrinking” are German (58%) and British (28%) regions. The explanation for that can be found in the Shrinking Cities International Research Network’s (SCIRN) argument that shrinking cities do so because of the attractiveness of surrounding global cities that host most economic activities. Although there are probably many factors at play, SCIRN’s argument fits particularly well in this research as MSUA have small core cities and can be easily impaired by larger urban areas. As for other regions in France, Southern & Eastern Europe and Scandinavian countries that are rather classified as “low dense” no particular pattern for socio-economic dynamics is

16 The French geographer Roger Brunet developed this concept in 1989.

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visible except a light trend following the traditional dichotomy between growing north and shrinking south.

Based on the scatter graph and the map (Fig. 3 and 4) one topic that requires further testing is the correlation between population density and soil sealing. As Figure 5 shows, population density and soil sealing are slightly negatively correlated. The negative relation follows intuition: when population density is high the impermeable surface per inhabitant is low. Nevertheless, the correlation between the two is rather weak with a correlation coefficient of -0.4.

Figure 5: Two opposed trends in correlation between population density and soil sealing [data: EUROSTAT & ESPON, created by author]

The crucial point to understand about this minor correlation is that the differentiation between population and built density is relevant for researching on the potentials for urban green. Moreover, two opposite trends are outlined with red lines: very high correlation and no correlation at all. A more detailed analysis of the data shows that the two opposite trends are related to the disproportional territorial sizes of NUTS 3 regions. Indeed, whereas the median size of the 20 correlated regions is less than 100 square kilometers, the size for the 20 non-correlated regions is about 100 times bigger, reaching more than 10,750 square meters. In other words, most of small NUTS 3 regions have a high population density and a low soil sealing whereas most of the large NUTS 3 regions have a low population density and a rather high soil sealing.

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The 4-class Typology Model was refined with Corine Land Cover (CLC) data with particular attention given to the changes of Urban green17 in the period 2000-2006. First, during the short six years period, territorial changes related to urban green areas or sport and leisure facilities occurred in 121 regions, representing about 57% of the 214 MSUA analyzed (Fig. 7). While 70 regions, or approximately one third of the total sample, registered a change implying only sport & leisure facilities, 35 regions had a change in both green urban areas and sport & leisure facilities. Finally, 16 regions representing about 8%, only transformed their green urban areas.

Figure 6: General overview of territorial changes (expansion and reduction) related to green urban areas and sport & leisure facilities [data: EEA, Corine Land Cover (CLC), created by Author9

As shown in the chart (Fig. 6), 30% of the regions increased only their sport & leisure facilities; 8% expanded their sport & leisure facilities but simultaneously reduced their green urban areas and in about 7% of the regions both categories increased. Further, the share of regions with a decrease (5%) of green urban areas is slightly higher than with an increase (2%).

The two maps below show the balance between gain and losses of green urban areas (Fig. 7) and sport and leisure facilities (Fig. 8). There is no particular spatial pattern visible. Nevertheless the comparison of the two confirms the following trend; although there is an overall increase of urban green in terms of surface, there are more regions with a decrease of urban green. Also, whereas the majority of regions recorded no changes concerning their urban green areas, most of them increased their sport and leisure facilities.

17 Includes two types of land uses in the category “Artificial, non-agricultural vegetated areas” of the CLC classification: Green urban areas (141) and Sport and leisure facilities (142)

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Figure 7: Map with land use changes related to 141, [data: EEA, Corine Land Cover (CLC), created by Author]

Figure 8: Map with land use changes related to 142, [data: EEA, Corine Land Cover (CLC), created by Author]

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It is important to note that in contrast to possible predictions, the reduction of green urban areas does not seem to be directly correlated to the growth of sport & leisure facilities. Indeed, from the entire sample of 214 MSUA, only two regions Wolfsburg (DE913) and Pirkanmaa (FI197), converted green urban areas into of sport & leisure facilities. Moreover these changes involved very small surfaces, both fewer than 6 ha, representing about 2% of the total green urban areas converted into another use. As shown in Figure 9, most of the changes are in favor of construction sites (45%), urban fabric (28%) and industrial and commercial units (24%). On the other hand, the increase of the surface used for green urban areas acts to the detriment of construction sites (24%), arable land (18%), agricultural areas (14%) as well as forest and semi natural areas (12%), industrial and commercial units (12%), pastures (9%) and urban fabric (<1%).

Figure 9: Land use main changes to and from urban green (141) [data: EEA, Corine Land Cover (CLC), created by Author]

Below, Figure 10 indicates that the classes behave differently, especially in categories “No changes” and “Sport & leisure increase”. In the “No changes” category, the classes with a high density are largely above the average (56%) and the ones with a rather low density are significantly below the average (31%). The reverse is true for the “Sport & leisure increase” in the second line of the table: regions with a low density had a greater increase in their sport and leisure facilities than those with a high density. This supports the assumptions made by the 4-class Typology Model, i.e., regions with a low density intrinsically have a higher share of non-built areas and therefore more opportunities for

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territorial changes. The opposite rationale is valid for regions with a high density – a low share of non-built areas and therefore less space is available for green. Further, the shrinking regions are changing less in terms of land-use than the growing regions. Indeed, the growing regions contain more territorial changes (60%) than the shrinking ones (53%). This trend is particularly interesting in the context of this research that in later step aims to look at urban green in shrinking regions.

Figure 10: Table with shares by type of land use changes divided into 4 characteristics (low/high density, low/high dynamic) [data: EEA, Corine Land Cover (CLC), created by Author]

Part II – Land cover, tell me what is the land use?

Based on the results of Part I, it challenges CLC data and compares the information that can be gained from an alternative set of data: LUCAS survey. Although it is alternative data, it is complementary as LUCAS data is used in the validation process of CLC data. In other words, LUCAS supports the production of CLC by providing land use and land cover information and in-situ photos (Büttner & Eiselt, 2013). Whereas both datasets describe land cover and land use, they differ in how they collect data and how they organize their classifications. CLC data shows territorial changes by mapping the areas to a minimum scale of 25 ha but changes are detected up to 5 ha. Figure 11 illustrates how the data are displayed with the example of Innsbruck. The clear advantage of CLC data is that it can be quantified in terms of surface changes.

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Figure 11: Example of the way CLC displays land use and cover changes – the case of Innsbruck [data: EEA, Corine Land Cover (CLC), created by Author]

Although criticized by some because of its area delimitations errors or misclassification (Diaz-Pacheco & Gutiérrez, 2014; Büttner & Eiselt, 2013; Siedentop & Meinel, 2004), the CLC data is a very interesting tool to examine land cover and land use changes at the European scale. Some of the mistakes in CLC data are corrected thanks to reinterpretations based on in-situ LUCAS data. Based on in situ field observations by surveyors, LUCAS data provides a land cover and land use dataset that uses its own detailed classification. The LUCAS survey counts 1.1 million points over the European territory that are systematically spaced every 2 kilometer. There are two main types of data provided by LUCAS: “microdata” with the land use and cover classification for each point and photos of the four cardinal directions around the point. The so-called microdata display not only the land cover and land use data but also render very detailed information that includes (but is not limited to): a description of the types of species, an estimation of the height of the trees, and even an extraction of a soil sample to be analyzed. These details, collected by surveyors on the field, are not only useful for the validation of CLC data but also to monitor and control environmental changes.

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Figure 12: Example of the way LUCAS display land use and cover changes – the case of York [data: EUROSTAT, Land Cover and Use Area Survey (LUCAS), Adapted by Author]

This example of York (Fig. 12) gives a good overview of the kind of information that is displayed by LUCAS data. Whereas the data is collected on a punctual scale of about 3- meter radius, CLC measures areas in the scale of 25 ha. In order to make both datasets complementary, the photos are needed to fill the gaps between these two distinct mapping scales (Büttner & Eiselt, 2013). Furthermore, according to a more detailed analysis conducted in the context of the master thesis on which this article is based, we can state that the LUCAS dataset has imperfections. We can assume that the surveyor’s subjective interpretation and small variations in the location of the point measured from one survey period to another are at least partly responsible for misclassifications outlined.

Both datasets have defects but their weaknesses are at different scales. Whereas CLC lacks a detailed interpretation of areas or contains defects in the delineation accuracy, LUCAS, because of its measurement scale, can be too detailed and is not always representative of territorial characterization. Both are based on interpretation: CLC interprets remotely sensed images using computer assistance and LUCAS interprets observations made in-situ by different surveyors. Concerning the usage of these datasets, since CLC measurement units are surfaces it is adapted for quantitative

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methods. On the other hand, LUCAS is more suitable for qualitative methods because it uses points units and also because there are numerous diverse categories in the classification – making quantification and comparison difficult.

Although LUCAS is not an appropriate tool to look at land use changes at the regional scale, given that it does not account for the whole territorial surface, it can – in some cases – reflect reality better than CLC data. For example, abandoned land is often dissimulated or largely reduced in land cover classification based on remote sensed pictures (Verburg et al., 2009). This is why we can argue that CLC and LUCAS complementarity is positive, especially when considering a holistic approach to the land system. After having discussed the changes in cover and use, the last step was to analyze changes in land functions that will only be described very briefly here.

Part III – Urban green functions

Based on their strategic plans and on interviews with 16 stakeholders of these cities, the aim is to discuss urban green functions by outlining some particularities that appeared while comparing 4 shrinking cities18: Salamanca, Metz, Magdeburg and Szczecin.

Branding Tool

-At the neighborhood scale

In Metz and Salamanca there are two urban development projects Quartier du Sansonnet and Tormes+, which put forward the creation of new allotments. Meeting the people involved in the design and realization of these two projects resulted in a very interesting and unexpected conclusion. In both cases, the creation of these allotments is central as they use it as one of their main branding tools. In reality these allotments are not new. In both projects, the pieces of land where “new” allotments are planned were already used as allotments or agricultural land prior to the development of the project. The motivation for developing these projects is similar; they are both in vulnerable areas, haven’t been renewed for a long time and break with the continuity of the urban fabric, despite the fact that the processes are very different.

18 Defined as shrinking on the basis of the 4-class typology presented in Part I. It is built on a composite indicator that considers Growth Domestic Product in Purchasing Power Parity (GDP-PPP), unemployment rate and population change. Although the regions are defined as shrinking, for the period 2004-2014, only Salamanca and Szczecin experienced depopulation strictly speaking

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In the case of Metz, it is an area of 12 ha that belonged to 22 different landowners. This is a widespread spatial configuration that is difficult to develop because of the complexity of putting together such an important number of landowners. Nevertheless, in the context of French law, in which public institutions have a strong expropriation power, the municipality of Metz was able to play a role and create a cohesive urban redevelopment including housing units and a large public park surrounded by these “new” allotments. To do so, they had to destroy existing gardens (jardins-familiaux) and rebuild them anew. According to the public agent interviewed, out of 40 existing allotments, about half were functioning, about a quarter used without valid permission of use and the last quarter were unused. The park and the allotments were completed in 2012. Planning them first is a way to enhance the rest of the project by attracting real estate investors to come, buy the land and build housing units. This attraction factor, and more broadly the creation of added value is an interesting intrinsic function of urban green.

In the case of Salamanca, the nature of the project is different as it concerns a larger surface: the entire southern part of the city situated further from the city center, on the other side of the Tormes River. It is still at the concept development stage and it is a strategic plan (Estrategia de desarollo urbano sostenible 2015-2020) with goals and actions and only a few physical interventions. One of the latter is the creation of 100019 urban gardens. They would be located in an area mainly publicly owned but of which the main current use is agriculture. In other words, if the project is carried out, farmers will be relocated in order to create the gardens. The idea to use land that has a functioning socio-economic activity in a shrinking city with numerous vacant and unused spaces seems strange. According to an employee of the company that designed the project, there were two main reasons for planning urban gardens on that site. First, the urban garden projects initiated in small municipalities (Santa Marta de Tormes and Carabajosa de la Sagrada) surrounding the city of Salamanca are very successful. Second, alongside the proposed site, gardening activity already exists in the form of a social enterprise aiming to help people with disabilities enter the labor market. These two reasons for planning urban gardening on that site seem to show that no proper spatial analysis was

19 This is the number stated in the only document published in September 2014 available to the public so far (August 2015). In reality after the conversation with a person working for the contracted agency for that project, another number came out. Indeed, originally 1000 urban garden of 50 square meters were panned. This number was reduced to 600 during the participation process. Indeed, fruit and vegetable sellers lobbied against, afraid of losing their market. The gardens will be divided into different aims of use: about 100 for research, 300 for social economy and the rest for the municipality to be used further.

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carried-out but that it was designed by looking at what works elsewhere. Moreover, the promotional slogan for the project is that it will be one of the largest developments of its kind in Spain. According to an interviewee from a group of young researchers, there is no demand for so many allotments; this project is just part of a political game before the city elections. In this case, urban green is not only used for project branding but also as a political tool to keep the electorates happy.

-At the city scale

In Szczecin there is a strong emphasis on city branding, as the city website clearly attests:

“There are plenty of cities in the World and they each offer similar features. Cities compete, those who win are those that are able to present their uniqueness. They win for example when the people do not leave the cities. On the contrary they want to live in it. Cities winning the competition with others are developing. With the brand we show others our uniqueness, and this translates into growth.”

(translated by Author)

Also the brand logo “Szczecin, floating gardens 2050” is visible not only online but everywhere in the city, at the train station, in the bus, printed on transport tickets, etc. As we know from the interviewees, Szczecin uses existing green features to promote itself but is not really planning to focus particularly on green space. This is enough to conclude that green is used here only as a branding strategy and not in an overall urban development strategy.

Social tool

-At the neighborhood or city scale

In Salamanca, Asprodes association aims to integrate people with disabilities into the labor market. In Magdeburg, IKuGa – Interkulturales Garten promotes tolerance towards different migrant groups. In Metz, there are for instance groups of friends in associations, like the case of Carré d’air, (Air square) an association of 10 members that started gardening in their leisure time just because they like to spend time together. These three examples are representative of the variety of possible social functions at the neighborhood or city scale.

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-At the inter-city scale

Through its different networks and projects, urban gardening also has the social function of increasing collaborations between cities. In Magdeburg, one of the stakeholders involved in urban gardening talked about the fact that he and his colleagues are active through the Transition Network, that according to their website are: “a charitable organisation whose role is to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities as they self-organise around the Transition model, creating initiatives that rebuild resilience and reduce CO2 emissions.” As of 2013, this network had 1,700 various initiatives in 43 different countries. Another example of an “inter-city social function” but of another kind is the collaboration between Szczecin and Berlin- Kreuzberg. There are two types of urban green initiatives created through this collaboration. First, based on the model of Grüner Hof (green courtyards), in 2008, Szczecin created an identical project that aimed to encourage residents to revitalize neglected backyards. Second, in 2013, the members of the Prinzessinnengarten 20 in Berlin-Kreuzberg came to Szczecin to provide their expertise on launching an urban gardening project. Unfortunately, after a year the project stopped because of lack of funding and a lack of active citizens in this field.

Allotment versus urban gardening

On-site observations and discussions with the 16 stakeholders allow us to argue that there is no direct relationship between the amount of available green spaces and the urban gardening initiatives. Indeed, the best way to illustrate this argument is by comparing Metz and Magdeburg. Whereas in Metz there are not enough allotments (about 300 people are on a waiting list), in Magdeburg there are too many allotments (a surplus compared to the demand). Metz is promoting urban gardening initiatives by offering help finding a plot, connecting it to the water system, and providing fences as well as helping administratively in the creation of an association. Magdeburg does not play such a supportive role in the development of urban gardening initiatives as, only some large long-lasting projects can get funding. Nevertheless, Metz has far fewer urban gardening initiatives than Magdeburg. In other words, whereas in Metz there is a lack of allotments and support by the city to enhance urban gardening, only a few initiatives exist. The reverse is true of Magdeburg: there are more allotments available than the

20 It is often cited as a very successful example of urban gardening in Europe. The Prinzessinnengarten is an ecological and social landscape garden at Moritzplatz in Berlin. The 6000 m² large area remained unused for 60 years until the summer of 2009. The project of the nonprofit organization Nomadic Green converted the former brownfield into a wearing surface.

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people interested in using them and there is no explicit public support for urban greening initiatives, but there are many initiatives. There are many reasons why urban gardening initiatives develop in some places more often than others - the existing green space available not being one of them. Also, even if the general activity “gardening” is the same, the motivations and the goals of each urban gardening project are unique. For many stakeholders, the fact that people get involved in urban green depends a lot on the given milieu. The comments made during the interviews attest the importance of the social context. When the representative of the city responsible for green areas in Metz was asked about the relatively low number of urban gardening initiatives, he answered that it is related to the context of the city, in which people are not used to being active. Traditionally, right wing politicians have not tended to enhance any kind of associative civil movements. For the past 8 years, there has been a leftist mayor who is in favor of bottom-up initiatives and tries to promote them. The interviewee believes that it will take time until the associative spirit takes hold in Metz.

Despite the fact that for several years the number of new allotment leases is lower than the number that are cancelled, Magdeburg has numerous urban gardening initiatives. The large presence of urban gardening initiatives is surprising also because politicians and public institutions at large are not particularly supportive. One of the interviewees explained that in his opinion it comes from the urban milieu in Magdeburg. On one side there are young progressive people inspired by the general movement of urban gardening in Germany and elsewhere. On the other, politicians and people employed in public institutions are rather conservative and not open to these kinds of initiatives especially after 40 years of centralized and bureaucratic communism.

In Szczecin the allotments stem from a long tradition and are usually used by elderly people. There are many factors that could explain why only the elderly use allotments. One explanation posed by the city agent interviewed is that because of its history the population is composed of people from all over Poland and mostly people from the countryside. Therefore, traditionally the users are people that come from the countryside and that value the land as a resource. They would care for allotments with the idea of growing food to reduce their expenses or to even sell some of their surplus. This follows the logic of “the allotments for the poor” of the 19th Century21. According to the same interviewee, younger age groups in Szczecin are not interested in gardening at

21 In the industrial city of the 19th Century, urban gardens relieve overcrowding and poverty in working class neighborhoods caused by the process of industrialization and rural-urban migration. To ease the situation existing social conflict governments and church workers provided land for cultivation, they are called "gardens for the poor".

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all; this might also explain why the urban gardening project initiated with the collaboration of Prinzessinnengarten in 2013 was not successful.

Conclusion

This article aimed to present some of the results of a larger study that looked at the way urban green is developing in European MSUA with the particular focus on two specific elements: density and socio-demographic dynamics. The methodology chosen for dealing with the changes in urban green follows a land system approach considering the cover, use and function of land.

In the first instance, the 4-class Typology Model was applied to 214 MSUA. The in-depth analysis of the changes of land cover and use show that during the short period of six years (2000-2006) more than half of the 214 MSUA recorded a change of land use concerning sport & leisure facilities and/or green urban areas. As predicted, both categories increased in terms of surface, but sport & leisure facilities increased more than green urban areas. Further, the results show that the initial assumptions based on the 4-class Typology Model could be verified. Indeed, on the one hand, regions with low density, because they have generally less built-up areas, have more potential for changes of their land-system. On the contrary, regions with high density, because they have a low share of non-built areas have limited space in the land system for changes occur. Additionally, competition for land is greater in growing areas than in shrinking ones. Whereas the initial assumptions are based on population density, they should have considered soil sealing as a more representative indicator for density when looking at land use changes. The correlation test between population density and soil sealing illustrates a methodological limitation when using the European regional units (NUTS 3). Indeed, the size of the different regions is disproportionate, leading to biased results. Additionally, research on density at the macro-scale is particularly difficult to carry out because of the significant variations from one residential block to another. All of these elements limit the comparative approach on the relation between density and urban green. Leaving out these methodological problems, the relation between density and urban green was never completely tested; we argued without empirical findings that the relation depends on the type of density considered but that initial physical features as well as (past) political decisions and regulations play a bigger role than density in the way urban greening is developing.

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In a second step, an alternative set of data Land Use and Cover Aras Survey (LUCAS) was analyzed. Although many errors or misclassifications were detected, it breaks with the traditional data based on remote sensed images. LUCAS data collection methods provide detailed information, such as on quality of soils or type of species. What is more, its classification logic is interesting, since unlike Corine Land Cover (CLC), it clearly divides land cover and land use allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the land system.

The third and final step provides is an analysis of land functions in four European shrinking cities (Salamanca, Metz, Magdeburg, Szczecin). Based on strategic planning documents and 16 interviews with stakeholders concerning urban green, a discussion about two selected land functions was conducted. Examples of urban green as a branding tool and as a social tool were illustrated at different levels from the neighborhood scale to the inter-city scale. Further, we argued that there is no relation between the number of existing allotments and the number of urban gardening initiatives. Following the interviewees’ comments, we emphasized the importance of the urban milieu in the present and future development of urban greening.

One last outcome resulting from this research as a whole is that it illustrates the importance of considering an interdisciplinary approach when analyzing land system changes. Indeed, the intrinsic nature of the land is that it provides multiple contexts, making different uses possible, of which there are several functions. These functions are diversifying, or better said, they are more valued than ever before: urban green is attracting a greater number and more diverse group of stakeholders. In order to be able to better understand the changes of the land system, innovative approaches in the collection and the transmission of data are needed.

For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at contact: [email protected]

References

Büttner G., Eiselt B. (2013). LUCAS and CORINE land cover. EEA & EUROSTAT Diaz-Pacheco, J., & Gutiérrez, J. (2014). Exploring the limitations of CORINE Land Cover for monitoring urban land-use dynamics in metropolitan areas. Journal of Land Use Science, 9(3), 243-259. European Commission (2012). Guidelines on Best Practice to Limit, Mitigate or Compensate Soil Sealing. Commission staff working document. SWD(2012) 101, Bruxelles.

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OECD (2012). Redefining “Urban”: A New Way to Measure Metropolitan Areas, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264174108-en Siedentop, S., & Meinel, G. (2004). CORINE Land Cover 2000 in nation-wide and regional monitoring of urban land use and land consumption. In CORINE Land Cover Workshop, Berlin. Verburg, P. H., Van De Steeg, J., Veldkamp, A., & Willemen, L. (2009). From land cover change to land function dynamics: a major challenge to improve land characterization. Journal of environmental management, 90(3), 1327-1335. Internet sources European Commission – EUROSTAT, LUCAS – Land use and cover survey http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/LUCAS_- _Land_use_and_land_cover_survey (accessed 2015, February 25) European Commission – EUROSTAT, Database (n.d) http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ data/databasehttp://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database European Commission – EUROSTAT (n.d), Statistical Atlas http://ec.europa.eu/ eurostat/statistical-atlas/gis/viewer/?myConfig=LUCAS-2012.xml European Environmental Agency (EEA), Corine Land Cover 2000-2006 changes http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/corine-land-cover (accessed 2013, June 25) European Environmental Information and observation network (EIONET), http://uls.eionet.europa.eu/Land_monitoring_in_Europe_CORINE (accessed 2012, September 20) European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) (n.d) Data navigator http://datanavigator.espon.eu/

Interviewee List Ramon Garachana Alonso (Urban planner, TAU planificacion territorial S.L, Madrid) Jesus Maria Hernandez Mesanero (Director, Ciudadanos por la Defensa del Patrimonio, Salamanca – Citizens for the defense of patrimony) Jesus Delgado Mesanero (Representative, Ciudadanos por la Defensa del Patrimonio, Salamanca - Citizens for the defense of patrimony) Juan Ignacio Plaza (Director, Geography department in University of Salamanca) Marcos Merino (Member, Instituto de Investigaciones Cientificas y Ecologicas – Institute for research in science and ecology) Mara Ruiy Lozanno (Member, Instituto de Investigaciones Cientificas y Ecologicas – Institute for research in science and ecology) Nicolas Guilbeau (Operations manager - Pôle Urbanisme, habitat et planification urbaine, Metz – Section urbanism, housing and urban planning) Charles Beiss (Member, Association Carré d’air, Metz - Urban gardening) Michel Koenig (Director, Pôle Parcs, Jardins et Espaces Naturels, Metz – Section gardens and natural areas) Stephan Herrmann (Employee, Landeshauptstadt Magdeburg Stadtplanungsamt Stadterneuerung / Untere Denkmalschutzbehörde – Magdeburg city urban planning office, urban renewal and lower monument protection authority)

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Eric Reissig (Initiator, urban gardening Werk 4) Schlomo Hetzel (Initiator, urban gardening Werk 4) Ralf Weigt (Social worker, active in urban gardening – transition town network) Stephan Westermann (Urban planner, Büro Stephan Westermann Stadt und Landschaftsplanner – city and landscape planner ) Ewa Kurjata (Urban planner, Biuro Strategii miasta Szczecin – City strategic office) Krzysztof Michalski (Director, Biura Planowania Przestrzennego Miasta Szczecin – City spatial planning office

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8 Spaces Of Interculturalism in Inner-City Neighborhoods: Comparative Study of Nørrebro (Copenhagen) and Lavapiés (Madrid) Ognjen Šobat

Abstract: This research provides an analysis of interculturalism as an approach to fostering diversity on the level of urban neighborhoods. Firstly, it illustrates interculturalism as a contemporary theoretic paradigm and relates it to important phenomena occurring in urban space, such as migration, culture and diversity. Secondly, a comparative study of the most diverse inner-city neighborhoods of Copenhagen and Madrid unravels how interculturalism transpires practically in the form of initiatives facilitated by a variety of urban actors. The research results indicate that interculturalism is a diffused paradigm that operates on a micro level and reflects the societal need for spaces that generate social resources. Finally, this research depicts how by supporting the diverse social fabric of cities with social, cultural and structural resources, interculturalism has a potential of producing pluralist transformation of the urban context.

Objectives and Research Questions:

Research Objectives: European urban context has become multicultural in terms of its demographic structure and cultural heterogeneity. Nevertheless, the contemporary academic discourse, along with civil society, is shifting the focus from multiculturalism towards interculturalism - a new paradigm representing an improved approach to fostering urban diversity. The main objective here is to research the relationship between interculturalism and diversity in inner-city neighborhoods. More specifically, the focus of this article is on the set of urban actors who are the facilitators of intercultural approach. An analysis of the benefits and limitations of this phenomena situated in the urban context is unraveled through a comparative study of two neighborhoods - Nørrebro in Copenhagen and Lavapiés in Madrid.

Primary Research Question: Thus, the main research question imposed here is how are the intercultural initiatives fostering the diversity of inner-city neighborhoods.

Intercultural initiatives are defined here as various civic platforms that foster interaction between individuals with different socio-cultural backgrounds as a valuable

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process. Thus, intercultural interactions are initiated by a set of actors, in the form of municipal institutions and civic society organizations. In order to provide an analysis encompassing the intercultural approach as a practice on the neighborhood level, this research deals with all types of urban actors that facilitate intercultural process through various activities.

Urban diversity is reflected in the heterogeneous demographic profiles of the selected case studies. More specifically, the inner-city neighborhoods are selected by two criteria:

➢ Geographic: they are a part of the central district (Lavapiés in Madrid Central District) or the zone around the city center (Nørrebro as a northern extension of Indre By in Copenhagen);

➢ Demographic: they are neighborhoods within a city with especially diverse social fabric, which is reflected in a variety of origins of the neighborhoods’ residential structures.

Secondary Research Questions: Furthermore, this article identifies forms in which the urban actors enable intercultural process on the neighborhood scale, in terms of activities, users and aims. It also explores the effectiveness of such approach, in terms of resources that intercultural initiatives provide for urban residents and how they affect their livelihoods. Finally, this research questions the limitations of intercultural approach in terms of the degree of effectiveness and the ways it is implemented.

Methodological Framework:

Approach: This research is based on a micro level approach, which means that it applies its frameworks of analysis to case studies within a particular urban scale – neighborhoods. The aim of this approach is to provide a deeper analysis of intercultural initiatives on a neighborhood level, which enables a localized identification of the outcomes. The two case studies that are explored are inner-city neighborhoods with diverse demographic profiles – Nørrebro in Copenhagen and Lavapiés in Madrid. A comparative study of these two neighborhoods is produced through a qualitative methodology. This approach is utilized in order to highlight the powers of situated everyday life in neighborhoods, through which historical, global and local processes intersect to give meaning to living with diversity. (Kihato et al., 2010)

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Method: This article is based on qualitative methods of research, mainly derived from anthropologic approach. Thus, the research framework includes interviews, observations, and literature analysis. Firstly, interview-method is applied to the set of urban actors belonging to the target group. More specifically, open interviews are conducted with individuals involved in the specific intercultural initiatives in each case study. In most cases, the interviewees are staff members of the organizations analyzed in this thesis. Secondly, the observation method, as a way of exploring and noting down observations, is done in spaces where the intercultural initiatives operate. Finally, this research material is supported by relevant literature, online sources and statistical data.

Case Studies: The case studies of this research are the inner-city neighborhoods with the most diverse demographic profiles within the given cities – Copenhagen and Madrid. Hence, this thesis puts diverse urban neighborhoods under the intercultural filter by following Amin’s (2002) notion of mixed neighborhoods as places where the negotiation of difference occurs at the very local level. The definition of a neighborhood beyond an administrative unit is derived here from the urban anthropologist perspective, in which neighborhood represents physical, geometrical, social, cultural and symbolic space where socio-cultural relations are reconfigured and redefined. (Schmidt, 2012) Therefore, the selected case studies represent neighborhoods with a demographic mix as a significant element of everyday life.

Nørrebro (Copenhagen): According to Copenhagen Municipality data from 2014 (www.kk.dk/statistik), Nørrebro is the most populated and most diverse neighborhood in terms of the origin of its inhabitants. In 2014, Nørrebro had a total population of 77.804 inhabitants, which was the highest as compared to other inner-city neighborhoods. Furthermore, Nørrebro also has the highest proportion of inhabitants with non-Danish background - 26%, whilst the proportion of this group on the level of Copenhagen is 23%. Additionally, according to Elm Larsen & Hornemann Möller (2013), Nørrebro is the city district with the highest population density (18.000 people per km²). Therefore, the heterogeneity of Nørrebro, in terms of its demographic and spatial structure, makes it represent urban diversity of Copenhagen in its most compact and varied form. Empirical study of this research involved field work with the following intercultural initiatives in Nørrebro:

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➢ Retro Nørrebro: nonprofit cafe organized by a non-profit organization. It serves as an intercultural meeting spot for a large number of international volunteers. Social interaction between people with various socio-cultural backgrounds is encouraged directly as an active aspect of the volunteer experience. Furthermore, volunteering as a common activity provides a fertile ground for the intercultural process to take place.

➢ VKC: cultural house administered by Municipality of Copenhagen. It strives to accommodate and support cultural diversity in Copenhagen by hosting cultural events and by facilitating local projects, associations and networks. They organize cross-cultural events, in which different artistic traditions are combined together in order to promote diversity as inter-culture (Interkultur in Danish). Furthermore, VKC represents an important institutional resource for civil society by providing assistance to local citizen associations.

➢ The Urban Garden Project: urban gardening project initiated by Immigrant Women Center with support from Area Renewal Nørrebro. The Area Renewal Nørrebro as the official municipal body regards intercultural process as a part of citizen involvement strategies in the neighborhood, through which they attempt to empower local initiatives. This specific initiative utilizes gardening as a social resource for women with immigrant background.

Figure 1: Nørrebro Case Study Map, Source: Københavnerkortet, 2015

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Lavapiés (Madrid): Lavapiés is a neighborhood positioned in the central district of Madrid and it corresponds to the territory of the administrative neighborhood of Embajadores. As an official delimitation of Lavapiés does not exist, it represents a case of a symbolic neighborhood constituted by its community (Schmidt, 2012). According to data published in 2014 by Madrid Municipality (www.madrid.es/estadistica), the total number of residents in the neighborhood was 44.854. The neighborhood is characterized by its cultural heterogeneity which is a direct consequence of the high proportion of foreign population - 25%. The proportion of foreigners is double in Lavapiés as compared to the city of Madrid, in which case it is around 12%. Furthermore, it is also the most densely populated area of the central district (443 people per Ha). The urban actors from Lavapiés included in the empirical frame of this thesis include:

➢ Social Community Center Casino de la Reina: municipal organization located in Lavapiés, providing the whole central district in Madrid with social services through a social community intervention program, with an aim to develop and promote the involvement of social and civic organizations, providing meeting spaces and networking for residents of Central District.

➢ La Tabacalera de Lavapiés: self-organized cultural center that promotes direct participation of citizens through its democratic structure and inclusiveness. It operates through collectives – groups of citizens initiating various projects within the space.

➢ Lavapiés Integra La Diversidad: a nongovernmental organization promoting tolerance and contributing to diversity of the neighborhood through educational activities and promotional events. Furthermore, it functions as a social service by providing administrative support for immigrant population of Lavapiés.

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Figure 2: Lavapiés Case Study Map, Source: www.madrid.es/estadistica

Theoretical Review:

Defining Interculturalism: The contemporary academic discourse provides several conceptualizations of the term interculturalism, with a lack of a unified definition or a singular way of approaching it in terms of analysis and empirical research. This fact is highlighted by Cantle (2013) who argues that the concept has just recently started being analyzed in academia. Furthermore, this author states that there is no agreement over the term and no consistency in its application in policy and practice. Thus the aim here is to provide an analysis of various definitions in order to produce their synthesis as a framework that accommodates the objectives of this research.

Firstly, Bouchard (2011) provides a structural definition of interculturalism - as a model of fostering diversity on the level of a nation-state, through interactions, exchanges, connections, and intercommunity initiatives. According to the author this model favors integration by emphasizing the need for interactions and connections. The underlying argument behind this notion seems quite simple: “the best way to counter the unease we sometimes feel towards foreigners is not to keep them at a distance, but to approach them

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in a way that breaks down stereotypes and facilitates their integration in the host society”. (Bouchard, 2011:450) Based on this concept, interculturalism is a social practice consisting of interactions that have a potential to induce the feeling of commonality between people from different ethno-cultural backgrounds, while enabling reduction of prejudices and negative social attitudes. The values of these social practices that constitute intercultural process are taken into the framework of this thesis. However, the notion of interculturalism as a model is problematic, because it is not present as a unanimous structural policy on the level of nation-states. In contrast, this research addresses interculturalism as it occurs in the urban context, or in other words on a city- level where it is facilitated by a set of actors.

Secondly, Cantle (2013) identifies the key features of interculturalism included in various theoretical frameworks, such as - sense of openness, dialogue and interaction. Therefore, for Cantle interculturalism is a paradigm that aims to facilitate dialogue, exchange and reciprocal understanding between people of different backgrounds, whilst embracing all areas of difference. This is a very significant point, indicating that interculturalism looks at differences beyond ethnicity. Moreover, the author regards interculturalism as a narrative or an approach to diversity, and therefore not as formulated into a model through policy-making or practice. Both of these points are included in the framework of this thesis.

Thirdly, Abdallah-Pretceille (2006) offers an anthropological understanding of intercultural process, with its emphasis on interaction that unites and defines individuals and groups in relation to each other. Hence, this definition is based on relational and hermeneutic anthropology, which means that it is derived from interpretation and analysis of interactions as a process, and of inter-definitions of participants of those interactions. This definition is particularly significant for this research as it strongly resonates with the anthropological approach applied in the methodology.

Finally, according to Zapata Barrero (2013) who provides an analysis of intercultural policies on a city-level, interculturalism is basically viewed as a set of policies sharing one basic idea: that the interaction among people from different backgrounds is important. However, the same author highlights the need to develop a shift from rhetorical discourse towards producing theoretical frameworks based on practical evidence. This article contributes to this direction with its research based on empirical findings.

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Figure 3: Defining Interculturalism Diagram, Source: Author

Thus, here interculturalism is regarded as a contemporary paradigm to diversity in urban context, based on social practices constituted on interactions and reciprocity, in order to enable understanding between individuals with different socio-cultural backgrounds.

Interculturalism in the Contemporary Urban Context: This review situates interculturalism in the urban context by relating it to its relevant phenomena, more specifically with Cantle’s (2013) three elements of globalization - culture, migration and ultimately diversity.

Firstly, the intercultural approach “does not recognize cultural boundaries as fixed but in a state of flux and remaking”. (Cantle, 2013:9) In other words, culture is no longer seen as a stable category, but as a fluid medium of social practices and meanings. Thus, the contemporary discourse has to acknowledge that the notion of culture is fluid due to the interconnectedness on a global level as a consequence of globalization. Additionally, this approach relates to culture as a social category, where according to Williams (1961) it describes a particular way of life and expresses certain meanings and values not only in art and learning but also in institutions and ordinary behavior. Interestingly, Pacione (2001) indicates that culture as a way of life or set of social meanings becomes an important focus of postmodernism, characterized by the cultural turn that highlights study of culture in cities during the last three decades. In addition, Hannerz (1996) provides an anthropological perspective of culture as a contested concept that has been greatly affected by the increased mobility on the global level. He states that the idea of an organic relationship between a population in a territory and cultures, has for a long time been enormously successful. Nonetheless, Hannerz (1996) points out that as people move with their meanings, and as meanings find ways of traveling even when people stay put, this idea becomes challenged, because territories cannot really contain cultures. Therefore, culture, in the urban context is best regarded as ‘ways of life’ – it is a process of social significance wherein meaning is fluid and contested as it emerges from

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the shared discourse of different human groups.

Secondly, Cantle (2013) places the patterns of migration as underlying phenomena requiring the intercultural approach, especially in cases where this also means dissolving homogeneity and distinctiveness of national identities, which is the challenge of many nation-states in Europe. In this way, interculturalism is depicted as an approach that is set to motion by the need to resolve issues of identity caused by greater patterns of movement on a global scale, that create diverse categories of identity, culture and ethnicity on a localized level. The author further warns that seeing individuals and groups who migrate as the causes of global changes on a social and economic level, makes them very vulnerable in terms of producing negative social attitude towards them. Interculturalism, thus, has a significant role to play as it seeks to overcome the prejudices and stereotypes between people. As a consequence the social discourse leads to cultural reductionism, in other words a phenomenon that Terkessidis (2010) explains as putting migrants into the position of foreigners, which they eventually cannot escape. This means that cultural attributes and stereotypes towards minority groups become predominant and serve as explanations for actual social problems. In addition, immigrants become representatives of a whole group, which reduces them to a supposed cultural membership and limits their individual personality.

Thirdly, Cantle (2013) defines the contemporary period as the age of super diversity on a global level. Nonetheless in the urban context, diversity has a significant relation to the heterogeneity of the urban context. Heterogeneity as one of the defining characteristics of urbanity indicates that “the juxtaposition of divergent personalities and modes of life tends to produce a relativistic perspective and a sense of toleration of differences” (Wirth, 1938:15). Therefore, the urban context is simultaneously defined as a fertile ground for diversity as a potential and a generator “of plurality of interests and goals that are often in conflict”. (Kihato et al., 2010:6) Accordingly, the paradox of diversity as an aspect of urban heterogeneity imposes the demand for interculturalism. In his book Interkultur, Terkessidis (2010) explains that in many European states heterogeneity, along with immigration, is often negatively perceived. He argues that only when diversity is seen as normality can its potentials become visible.

Post-Multiculturalism: In order to avoid possible misunderstandings, it is important to distinguish the difference between multiculturalism and interculturalism. Hence, Meer & Modood (2011) refer to interculturalism as an updated version of multiculturalism.

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Furthermore, Cantle (2013) refers to multiculturalism as a protective mechanism for minorities that has failed. According to the author, this paradigm encompasses a range of notions of both ‘multi’ and of ‘culture’ and is always heavily contextualized. Contrary to the older paradigm, interculturalism goes further from this notion, by operating beyond equal opportunities and respect for cultural differences, to production of pluralist transformation of public space, institutions and civic life. This idea is also supported by Irwin’s (2004) genealogy of these paradigms, in which the author stresses their difference in the fact that the multicultural paradigm opted for the solution of the co-existence of a plurality of independent cultures, while interculturalism goes one stage further by generating the inter-culture. This criticism is supported by Hannerz (1996:18) who states that multiculturalism as an “image of a cultural mosaic, where each culture would have been a territorial entity with clear, sharp, enduring edges, never really corresponded with realities”. Similarly, Amin (2002) points out that multiculturalism represents a political structure based on a strong respect for diversity with an emphasis on the rights and freedoms of group identities and cultures. Nevertheless, this author uses the term intercultured in order to stress cultural dialogue as the distinguishing characteristic of interculturalism and a “contrast with versions of multiculturalism, that either stress cultural difference without resolving the problem of communication between cultures, or versions of cosmopolitanism that speculate on the gradual erosion of cultural difference through interethnic mixture and hybridisation” (Amin, 2002:967). Hence, in light of these authors, interculturalism is postulated here as a form of post-multiculturalism.

Intercultural Neighborhood: Interculturalism as a paradigm could be implemented on a level of nation-state as a set of policies or on a city-level as a model that supports diversity as an asset to various functions of the city. It is questionable if the current political and social trends in Europe will lead to implementation of such policies or models on these large scales of influence. However, in reality - interculturalism as a practice is present on the neighborhood scale where it is implemented by a variety of actors, both formal and informal. Therefore, Amin (2002) agrees that the national frame of racial and ethnic relations remains important, but argues that much of the negotiation of difference occurs at the very local level, through everyday experiences and encounters. Therefore, the potential of intercultural approach should be explored within the heart of residential areas with diverse demographic profiles. In this way, the neighborhood approach emphasizes local livability, as a notion that Amin (2002) calls

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the micropolitics of everyday social contact and encounter. These micropolitics are crucial for reconciling and overcoming cultural differences through local negotiations of difference inflected by class practices, cultural habits, and ingrained norms. The author suggests the local approach on a neighborhood level that is based on microcultures of place. These microcultures of place represent a process through which abstract rights and obligations, together with local structures and resources, meaningfully interact with distinctive individual and interpersonal experiences. It is important to note that “this focus on the microcultures of place is not meant to privilege bottom-up or local influences over top-down or general influences, because both sets make up the grain of places” (Amin, 2002:967). Therefore, it is not enough to investigate interactions as dependent only on formal or informal structures, but as an intertwined process.

Figure 4: Social Event at Superkilen Park In Nørrebro, Source: Author

Research Findings:

This section provides a comparative analysis of the results found in Nørrebro and Lavapiés, and it attempts to unravel the way intercultural paradigm transpires in these neighborhoods.

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Interculturalism as a Challenging Goal: The personal communication with urban actors involved with intercultural initiatives reveals that interculturalism, as a vision of how diversity should operate in the neighborhoods, is often perceived as a goal and a challenge. The current situation is frequently described as a lack of interactions between people with various backgrounds, specifically the national and non-national groups. Still, major ongoing conflicts between various groups of residents were not found in both cases studies. Therefore, the lack of interaction is not based on conflicts, but is due to insufficiency of mechanisms that foster social interactions. This confirms Cantle’s (2013) opinion on prevalence of interculturalism on a rhetoric level, rather than the empirical. Thus, there is a demand for producing additional practical methods and more social spaces as mechanisms for fostering intercultural process at the local level.

Interestingly, in the case of renewal goals of Nørrebro Renewal office and intercultural education activities at Lavapiés Integra La Diversidad, the focus is on the youth. This represents an attempt to shift the present situation in neighborhoods, marked by the lack of interactions, towards interculturalism as a long-term project that affects new generations. However, in order to support the contemporary reality through positive relations on the local level, other methods that address current generations of adults should be regarded as equally important.

Urban Renewal Through Intercultural Lens: In the context of both neighborhoods, interculturalism as an approach of dealing with urban diversity is relevant to the history of urban planning in these areas, or more specifically to the evolution of participation as a significant aspect of redevelopment schemes.

In the case of Nørrebro, intercultural interaction is a part of the social and cultural redevelopment agenda, implemented by the municipal body Area Renewal. Here, interculturalism as a goal is supported as a soft process by funding or co-creating projects with civil society organizations that take into account diversity of the neighborhood. Therefore, it can be inferred that urban planning in Nørrebro is embracing the principle of planning “through intercultural lens” (Wood & Laundry, 2008) by encouraging local strategies, such as the example of The Urban Garden Project. The promotion of interculturalism is also positively evaluated on the city-level by the survey of Copenhagen done by The Intercultural City Programme in 2013. However, in order to insert interculturalism as an active aspect of renewal in Nørrebro, it has to be implemented through a greater number of projects that correspond to diversified

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population of the neighborhood. At the moment, interculturalism is a goal in the renewal scheme and a long-term project.

On the other hand, the non-presence of participation in the renewal plans in Lavapiés generated a contested process between the city officials and local forces. As an outcome, interculturalism is nowadays implemented in an informal way by a variety of organizations, and not directly by official municipal bodies (although they do fund organizations like Lavapiés Integra La Diversidad). Therefore, interculturalism is not a formal aspect of the renewal agenda in Lavapiés, but other urban actors facilitate it as a part of their demand for participation and social integration.

Intercultural Initiatives as Social Service and Cultural Experience: Based on the examples of intercultural initiatives in the two neighborhoods, it can be concluded that they foster diversity by providing social services and cultural experiences.

As a social service, some of these initiatives serve as social spaces (such as Retro Nørrebro and Garden Project) providing the users with opportunities to socialize, gain contacts and built social networks. Besides these social benefits, some initiatives offer important institutional resources that cater to issues of specific parts of the population - such as legal assistance and language education for immigrants at Lavapiés Integra La Diversidad and Casino de La Reina. In the case of Lavapiés, the social issues of immigrant population seem to be more prevalent in the program of the intercultural initiatives, than in the case of the analyzed organization in Nørrebro.

On the other hand, as platforms for cultural expression, some intercultural initiatives serve as cultural centers. In that sense, it is interesting to compare VKC in Nørrebro and La Tabacalera in Lavapiés. VKC is an example of a formally organized space for cultural and cross-cultural events, providing its users with musical or artistic intercultural experience by bringing together artists with different cultural references. However, La Tabacalera is self-organized through collectives that provide various cultural activities for the users of the space. In that way, La Tabacalera represents a platform that is more likely to encourage intercultural process by engaging the users with each other through common activity, instead of assigning them with a passive role of audience. Based on the favorable conditions for intercultural process to take places, the direct interactive experience at La Tabacalera represents a more efficient method of fostering intercultural relations, rather than providing sheer spectatorship. Engagement in a common activity as a part of the intercultural experience also ensures less possibility of

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cultural reductionism, in line with Terkessidis (2010).

Direct and Indirect Production of Interculturalism: The empirical findings of this research indicate that interaction between the people with different socio-cultural backgrounds can be facilitated in the urban context either directly or indirectly by a variety of organizations working as urban actors. Direct production of interculturalism occurs when the actors organize activities that deliberately foster and promote intercultural interactions. Such examples are found in both neighborhoods, at the Urban Garden Project in Nørrebro and some of the activities initiated by Lavapiés Integra La Diversidad. Indirect production occurs when the organization is not formally based on intercultural values, but provides activities that generate intercultural experience for the users. An appropriate example would be Retro Nørrebro and La Tabacalera in Lavapiés.

Conclusions

This section attempts to reflect on the research questions by summarizing the empirical findings from Nørrebro and Lavapiés into specific themes.

Active Promotion of Diversity: Intercultural initiatives actively promote urban diversity, through their values and activities, as a positive asset of a neighborhood’s livelihood. This goes beyond superficial acknowledgment of diversity in terms of multicultural atmosphere present in the visual landscapes of inner-city neighborhoods. More importantly, diversity is promoted as a social and cultural advantage of the local areas and often the city in general. In that sense, this promotion serves as a pursuit of accommodating diversity of the population and ensuring the right to the city for all its residents. This goes in the line with Terkessidis (2010) who suggests that diversity has to be apprehended as normality in order for its potentials to become visible. However, in the contemporary reality of Copenhagen and Madrid this perspective is present in the micro scale, encompassing work of fragmented organizations. These urban actors have different relations to interculturalism, identified either as a vision (future goal) of diversity or a set of practices supporting diversity. Thus, empirically interculturalism is present as a diffused paradigm, whilst generating the intercultural city as the long-term project is a challenging task for a limited number of urban actors.

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Intercultural Empowerment: Even though interculturalism is supposed to cater to individuals with various sociocultural backgrounds, it still has a special focus on the population of new arrivers (immigrants and foreigners) as a group with a greater need for integration in everyday life in a given city. As found in the case studies, interculturalism as an approach can generate social spaces and social resources for these individuals. Retro Nørrebro and Garden Project are examples of social spaces, where socialization based on a common activity enables the intercultural process. Furthermore, this experience serves as a social resource that provides contacts, relationships and network. These resources have empowering effects on those who are socially marginalized or are trying to socially integrate in a given society. Therefore, diversity is fostered through empowerment of those who are in the need of spaces that provide social resources.

However, based on the research findings, intercultural initiatives differ when it comes to specifying target user-groups. For instance, some are very specific (such as the case of Urban Garden Project in Nørrebro), whilst others are less methodological in this regard and have a broad range of users (such as Retro Nørrebro and La Tabacalera of Lavapiés).

Additional Institutional Support for Diverse Urban Populations: As a response to a lack of institutional resources, some intercultural initiatives provide administrative support for urban residents as a part of their programs. This research identifies two categories of institutional support provided for two types of users: educational and administrative support for individuals or groups. For example, Lavapiés Integra La Diversidad provides legal and administrative advice on individual-basis for persons with immigrant background, whilst VKC in Nørrebro provides administrative assistance for groups of citizens in order to help them obtain status of an association. In this way, the diversity is structurally promoted by enabling administrative integration of diverse individuals and groups.

Micro Method of Fostering Diversity: Based on the empirical evidence of this research, intercultural approach is limited due to its micro-scale effectiveness, both in terms of the number of initiatives that provide intercultural activities, and the number of participants who use them. The intercultural initiatives in Nørrebro and Lavapiés tend to operate on the level of smaller groups, whilst the evidence of mobilizing large groups

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in the neighborhoods through intercultural practice are not found. This is because these initiatives do not focus on the interaction between large groups, but they put an emphasis on individuals. However, a significant finding is that even though they operate on the micro scale, their outreach often exceeds the neighborhood as their main domain of effectiveness. This happens if the organization manages to gain users from various parts of the city. Thus, the intercultural initiatives do facilitate diversity by providing spaces of social and cultural exchange, but not necessarily on the neighborhood level. In fact, in most cases they are open to the entire city and their users often reside in other parts of the city. This happens unless they specifically delineate their areas of influence to a specific spatial scale (i.e. the case of Lavapiés Integra la Diversidad focusing exclusively on Lavapiés and its inhabitants).

Fragmented Form of Integration: Intercultural initiatives operate on a voluntary basis. Therefore, as an approach to integration, interculturalism is dependent on the interest and curiosities of individuals. Intercultural interactions can be promoted, but cannot be enforced. Moreover, the research findings here indicate that interculturalism caters to those who either express a need for intercultural contact as a way of expanding their social life or to those who demand it as a way of socially integrating in a given society. This limitation contributes to the small-scale effects of interculturalism in the case studies. Hence, the benefits of interculturalism do function most frequently on the individual level, but they go beyond generating positive social attitudes. In other words, additional benefits found in this research are based on provision of social resources that enables integration of individuals with different sociocultural background.

Nevertheless, intercultural initiatives represent a fragmented integration method, as a consequence of being initiated differently by a variety of urban actors. Moreover, their variety of approaches to interculturalism leads to a disconnection on a practical level. Thus, in its current phase of development, interculturalism is practically constructed as a diffused paradigm.

Reflection of Societal Issues: By promoting and supporting diversity with social, cultural and structural resources, the intercultural approach attempts to protect diverse social fabric of inner-city neighborhoods. At the same time, this article as its empirical study reveals, shows that this micro-scale approach unravels greater issues of the society. More specifically, it reveals how this approach profoundly reflects the issues of

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immigration on an individual basis - in terms of contemporary challenges for social and structural integration in Copenhagen and Madrid. In this way, the greater societal issues unfold in the micro socio-spatial scale in which interculturalism currently operates in Nørrebro and Lavapiés.

In practice, interculturalism in its present fragmented form has limited capacities of contributing to improvement of issues related to integration. Nonetheless, in agreement with Cantle (2013), there are successful examples that depict a capability of intercultural approaches to establish pluralist transformation of the urban context, such as generating multifunctional public spaces (La Tabacalera of Lavapiés), new institutions (associations, such as Trampoline Huset, through VKC in Copenhagen) and participatory civic culture (participatory local projects at Area Renewal Nørrebro).

For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at contact: [email protected]

References

Abdallah-Pretceille, M. (2007) Interculturalism as a paradigm for thinking about diversity, Intercultural Education, 17:5, pp. 475 - 483 Amin, A. (2002) Ethnicity and the Multicultural City: Living with Diversity. Environment and planning A 34. No 6: 959-80 Bouchard, G. (2011) What is Interculturalism? McGill Law Journal - Revenue De Droit De McGill Cantle, T. (2013) Interculturalism as a new narrative for the era of globalisation and super-diversity, in: Barrett, M. (Ed) Interculturalism and multiculturalism: similarities and differences, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Elm Larsen, J. & Hornemann Möller, I. (2013), The increasing socioeconomic and spatial segregation and polarization of living conditions in the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Hannerz, U. (1996) Transnational Connections: Culture, People and Places, Routledge, London and New York Irwin, J. (2004) Intercultural Everyday Life via Henri Lefebvre, in: Powell, D. & Sze, F. (Eds) Interculturalism: Exploring Critical Issues, Inter-Disciplinary Press, Oxford, United Kingdom Kihato, C.W., Ruble, B.A., & Massoumi, M. (2010) Urban diversity, space, culture, and inclusive pluralism in cities worldwide, Johns Hopkins University Press Meer, N. & Modood, T. (2011) How does Interculturalism Contrast with Multiculturalism? Pacione, M. (2001) Urban geography: A Global Perspective, Routledge, London and New York

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Schmidt, H. (2012), Lavapiés: Fenómeno migratorio y claves de la convivencia, Epic, Madrid Terkessidis, M. (2010) Interkultur, Suhrkamp Vergal Berlin Williams, R. (1961) The Analysis of Culture, in: Storey, J. (Ed) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture, The University of Georgia Press Wirth, L. (1938) Urbanism as a Way of Life, The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 44, No. 1m, pp. 1-24 Wood, P. & Landry, C. (2008) The Intercultural City: Planning for Diversity Advantage, Earthscan, London Zapata Barrero, R. (2013) The three strands of intercultural policies: a comprehensive view, GRITIM-UPF Working Paper Series n. 17

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9 European Spatial Planning - From Policy to Project in Budapest and Vienna Sune W. Stoustrup

Abstract: Among the member states in the European Union, projects in urban settings are increasingly being influenced and co-financed by the structural funds and the accompanied policies. At the same time, the European Commission does not hold any legal competences on the issue of spatial planning. This study uses a comparative approach to understand how the mechanism of the co-financing scheme is transformed in t he local contexts. Through an analysis of the governance structure, it is unveiled how the practices of different actors and statements of policy papers, are embedded in the contexts of Budapest and Vienna. The results show, on the one hand, the conflicts the funding can lead to, and on the other hand, how the funding becomes merely an extra asset for adding quality to projects that would be carried out anyway. By tracing the discourse of European spatial planning, the research points out how EU strategies are connected to the city on a local scale, but more importantly, how this changes on the way from the EU to the local level.

Introduction

“Writing about European spatial planning is like sailing into the wind: planning seems anonymous and distant, and Europe the more so [...]”

(Faludi, 2010, pIX).

Researching on the topic of European spatial planning from the perspective of Urban Studies can be quite the frustrating. As Andreas Faludi (quoted above) writes, the planning, actions and projects that we know take place with (and sometimes only because of) the funding from the EU through its different funding schemes, are ‘in theory’ mostly non-existent. The goal of this paper is to present an analysis of how the projects and interventions connected to, and funded by, the cohesion policy are transformed when meeting local governance structures in Budapest and Vienna. Therefore, it is the intention of the author that the implementation of EU co-financed projects and the European spatial planning discourse can be unraveled from the fuzziness, anonymity,and contradictions connected to its workings (Cf. Hissink Muller, 2013; Faludi, 2010; Salez, 2009; Barca, 2009).

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A discourse on the spatial development of cities, as a place where economic growth is fostered, is emerging from the European Commission. From here it is outlined that “The regions of the EU can only be competitive and hence contribute to the reduction of unemployment if towns and cities, especially those outside the global integration zones and metropolitan regions, have enough economic potential” (EC, 1999, p22). The spatial planning vision, which we can read in the European Commission communications on regional and urban development, furthermore presents this economic growth as connected with a more social aspect; as where “The future of the towns and cities in the EU depends on fighting growing poverty, social exclusion and stemming the loss of certain urban functions” (Ibid).

This can be seen in a wider context where we can observe a spatial restructuring of the contemporary state space in urban regions and their paired urban policies. In the current processes of rescaling from a traditional structure of ‘hierarchy’, we can observe the change to a ‘mosaic’ structure where we can observe the making of a (re)configuration of geographical scales, that operates relationally and with new connection between actors that did not interact before. As new scales appear for state intervention (e.g. regional or neighborhood), the former hierarchical relationships between these changes, and the control of these are being contested (Brenner, 2004). Such new relations – for this research between the city and the EU Commission - between different scales are organized interscalar networks (Stubbs, 2005, p76), where different scales inhibits particular “[…] spatial practices and the construction of symbolic meanings […]” (Richardson & Jensen, 2003, p13), as presented in the quote form the European Commission above. The struggle to command a particular scale then causes a continuous reshuffling of governance structures as actors, strategies and meanings embedded therein change with the increase and decline of the particular scales importance (Swyngedouw, 2004, p33). To control a specific space we can then observe how “the mobilisation of scalar narratives, scalar politics and scalar practices, then, becomes an integral part of political power struggles and strategies.” (Ibid., p34).

European Spatial Planning

European spatial planning rests on the political and financial foundation of the cohesion policy, which aims at achieving a “…balanced, inclusive and sustainable development of territories and to make value of their specific potential, …” (Salez, 2009, p13). It consists of a range of policy papers and reports coming out of the different organs and

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institutions connected to the European Union. As the EU carries no legal or authoritative actions to push its member countries in the direction outlined by its policy papers, they instead make use of financial incentives and “best practice” development strategies. The funds that have been allocated to the cohesion policy over a seven year period are extensive. For the period between 2007-2013, it amounted to 346 billion euros, equal to 35.7 percent of the EU budget, its practical impact is great. The budget is divided into three distinct funds: The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, or Regional fund), which makes up 58 percent of the entire budget, the European Social Fund (ESF, or Social fund), which represents 22 percent of the budget, and finally, the “Cohesion Fund” which accounts for the remaining 20 percent (Barca, 2009, p60-61), making it a powerful tool for implementing the spatial development vision of the European Commission department to influence local urban development.

The "Cohesion policy is central to the greater project of European integration because of its emphasis “…on solidarity in the face of growing disparities." (Faludi, 2010, p1). The term ‘cohesion’ is the condition in which people or things are closely united’ (merriam- webster.com, 2014) and does describe at least the initial vision of the EU project. In more recent times, the cohesion policy funds have also been the means to promote and further a EU that maintains its economic position in the global world system.

In practice, the funding scheme is implemented through a number of principles that by large works “[…] by taking an integrated, partnership-based approach to organising cooperation between territories at all levels and coordinating the policies applicable to these territories.” (Salez, 2009, p13). The projects and partnerships are anchored at the local level like this as they are “…expected to reinforce local and regional development opportunities by serving as interlinking mechanisms between local conditions, national policy systems and the policies of supra-national institutions.” (Godenhjelm, Lundin & Sjöblom, 2015, p9). Thus, the necessity to involve local authorities and actors in co- financed project is specified from the EU because they are “[…] considered potential resources for the knowledge they can bring in because of their proximity to local contexts. At the same time, cities are considered central for the capacity to bring the European Union close to citizens.” (Fedeli, 2014, p75). As subnational and nongovernmental actors then participate in the implementation of the EU co-financed projects as required, this “[…] creates a direct link between these actors and the Union which bypasses the member-states.” (Piattoni, 2009a, p29), thus creating leverage for cities in their struggle over competences with national or regional government. The implementations of partnerships is then challenged by a duality in which they are both

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‘necessary’ for establishing projects and gathering knowledge, they are “[…] similarly undermined because all players have their own goals and agendas, which at times are conflicting rather than converging.” (Milio, 2013, p5). An example for such is when participating in projects; public managers´ a priori role as experts will be challenged by the involved citizens, NGOs and activists, who bring in knowledge claims on their own, (Hajer & Versteeg, 2005, p346). Here especially non-governmental and civil society organizations are often challenged in negotiations with governmental organisations when developing projects (Piattoni, 2009a, p27). Even with the Commission attempting to impose uniformity of partnership arrangements throughout its member states, the situation is still one where the“[…] relations between public and private actors located at different governmental levels understandably different forms in different national contexts” (Piattoni, 2009b, p168). The differences in the actors’ ability to organized to take part in negotiating future projects, plans and regulations thus creates tensions in the governance processes, and so although the principles of partnership in its idea were supposed to produce non-hierarchical relationships, the reality is that only specific actors have agenda-setting and decision-making powers; and others only carry out the project’s implementation (Stephenson, 2013, p828).

Process of Europeanization

Applying this multi-level governance system by employing the governance principles attached to the EU funds is as such one way for the EU to influence and align policy making and implementation practices on a local level, a process referred to as europeanization. The literature on the Europeanization of policies and politics builds on the position that no “…political processes and policy-making in an EU Member State [can] now be adequately understood without taking into account the influence of the EU.” (Jachtenfuchs, 2001, p250). Following this the EU member states adjust their national spatial development policies and plans by aligning it with the “European dimension of spatial development” (Richardson, 2000, p65). This means that:

Lastly the EU’s concern and strategies for territorial cohesion and interscalar cooperation and networks between European cities and city-regions have been implemented in such a way that it has been accompanied by the depoliticization of what used to be contested economic policy fields (Tickell & Peck, 2003, p177 in Brenner, 2004, p298). As we can observe an increasing alignment or overlap between the focus national and EU discourses on e.g. cross-border collaborations, or in how local problems

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are framed to muster EU funded projects (Bache, Andreaou, Atanasova & Tomsic, 2011, p6). As such the process of Europeanization has the effect on domestic politics, where we can observe “[…] the reorientation or reshaping of politics (and governance) in the domestic arena […]” (Ibid., p5). As a consequence urban policy and urban economic development is treated “[…] as a technocratic matter to be managed by local, regional, or national political- economic elites, [...]” (Brenner, 2004, p299), thereby it is “[…] increasingly positioned ‘off-limits’ to political debate” (Ibid., p298).

Methodology in short

If we look at the process of developing an EU spatial policy, we can observe how it is “[…] as much about politics and power as it is about rational policy making” (Richardson, 2000, p56). The introduction of certain objectives and the development of normative positions are something “constructed” in the policy and planning discourses and so an analysis of spatial policy needs an approach that “[…] deals not only with discourses but also with spaces and spatiality” (Richardson & Jensen, 2003, p7). The question is then not about the truth of a given argument, but to develop an “[…] understanding of the policy process as being shaped by the relations between power and rationality” (Sharp & Richardson, 2001, p197). We then can begin to focus on how the power struggles between competing actors and discourses creates conditions that shapes the social and physical world, and how the different discourses embed themselves as “[…] text and practice: […]” (Ibid., p196 emphasis in original). With the influence of local contexts in mind, a comparative approach has been chosen for this research. In the focus of such an approach “…are questions of how cultural representations change or, if they are removed from their ‘original’ context, how they are integrated with other local cultures and recontextualized” (Wiest, 2012, p841). This means that in the present work, we approach the topic with a view ofEuropean spatial planning as practices, policies and discourses that are embedded – or attempted to be embedded - in local situations as text or practice, taking the examples of Vienna and Budapest. With an increasing European and “…international integration it becomes evident that the city does not constitute a distinct social unit or an ‘independent’ mode of production and life, but rather a diffuse local formation of varying globalization processes” (Ibid) - hereunder also Europeanization.

The analysis builds on fieldwork that combines interviews with local city government offices in charge of EU co-financing locally, with the local (Austrian and Hungarian)

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partners in the new EU supported SEiSMIC and JPI Urban projects. This informs an understanding of both the practice already in place, and the new strategies for connecting the EU level with local level stakeholders. Together with an analysis of public documents and other publications describing the EU funding from a local perspective, the analysis attempts to paint two holistic and grounded pictures of the EU’s influence on urban governance in Budapest and Vienna.

Case Study: Vienna

As Vienna is both the capital of the Federal Republic of Austria, a federal province as well as a municipality, it has a large extent of independence in regard to competences in spatial planning and the use of different funding schemes. Due to the Viennese culture of delegating subsidiarity and constitutional spatial development competences to the local level, there have been no significant materialization of vertical governance effects (Wolffhardt, Bartik, Meegan, Dangschat & Hamedinger, 2005, p82). As such the city can act as both project initiator and managing authorities for the EU programmes, which puts Vienna “…in a position to draft, oversee and implement the programmes largely on their own.“ (Ibid.).

Regarding the Austrian EU accession, for Vienna the first thing to note is that Vienna provides an example of a European city which has participated in a range of EU supported programmes, e.g. the area-based EU renewal programmes (URBAN I in 1995- 99, URBAN II in 2000-06, Objective 2 in 2000-06), and which also takes part the INTERREG Community Initiative focusing on cross-border regional cooperation and development. As such Vienna the European policies are uses as both a financial resource for urban and regional development, and as an arena where an European profile can be developed among European cities (Ibid., p71). From the city hall website (www.wien.gv.at) it is possible to interpret how the EU contribution is portrayed. Here activities such as having drinks in the renovated railway arches in the Gürtel, concerts in Sankt Marx, spending time with your kids in green parks, or using the Twin City Liner to Bratislav would not have been possible in its current form without financial support from the European Union (http://www.wien. gv.at, 2015). In publications from the Vienna city hall office of European affairs, the MA27, the implementation of the co- financing scheme is portrayed as “EU funding should be used to make early investments in places that need to become more attractive, particularly public spaces” (MA27, 2011,

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p3). As such, in both cases the EU funds is used to make the city of Vienna more attractive and enjoyable for it citizens as well potential investors.

Contrary to this, in an interview the MA27 instead described the influence of EU funding as a “push on” effect that added value to already planned projects (MA27 interview, 2015). This was explained, as the EU funding would add better quality to a project – e.g. better design and equipment in a public space, but would not change the way in which the planning of it was organized. Instead they described their work as one of mediation (Ibid). As the MA27 does not design projects by themselves, but connects local partners to the EU programmes or funding schemes, the MA27 mediates between different project goals and policies to make them eligible for funding. As the partnership principle is a requirement from the EU in area-based programme planning, this was established between quasi-governmental institutions and departments (e.g. the other municipal departments or the publicly owned companies). As such, consultation with civil society institutions are absent. Instead of seeing the improving potential of adding partners into the urban governance and planning practices - as in the view of the Commission, “…the EU programmes are rather seen as a financial opportunity” (Wolffhardt, Bartik, Meegan, Dangschat & Hamedinger, 2005, p87).

When attempting to get the perspective from project partners in the other municipal departments, the response was that the ones in charge of dealing with the EU funding had either left or retired, leaving any capacity for any future dealings with the funding in the hands of the MA27 only. At the same time, it was often expressed that many partnerships (also to other municipality departments) were lost as the paperwork required was considered as too much effort compared to the potential gain. As such, municipality departments declined invitations for partnerships. This was also the view in the EU supported SEiSMiC / JPI Urban project partners in Vienna, which was recently invited to take part in an INTERREG programme, but turned it down as they did not “want to do the paperwork needed” (AIT interview,2015). The existence of a bureaucracy barrier in Austria is corroborated in the results of a study of the project selection process in Cohesion Policy Programmes in Austria from 2007-2013 (Rambøll, 2012). Regarding the new projects of SEiSMIC and JPI Urban, making bridges between politicians, civil society, public institutions and researchers was so far without success, in many parts due to the lack of a common language, which combined with different goals made it hard to make successful collaborations reality. Even though public institutions (e.g. city hall departments), were seen to participate at times, it was difficult to get political actors to participate. The attempt to involve them has also mostly been

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abandoned as the “politicians might not fit in anyway”, as dialogue and consensus seeking were not seen as their priority (AIT interview, 2015).

Conclusions from the Vienna case study

Portrayal of EU As a financial opportunity making possible the specific projects of projects improving the quality of life in Vienna.

Distribution of An overlap between the areas who received funding through the projects in the earlier programmes and the recent projects. city

Challenges for The majority of the work is needed to “fit” projects into the EU implementation boxes, or to convince receivers it’s worth the extra work.

Governance Financial incentive is too small to instigate change in local planning bottlenecks practices.

The added EU The absence of significant change in the mode of governance leads value to questioning of the added value of European policy implementation in Vienna. At the same time, most projects would be carried out even without the co-financing by the EU.

New EU The attempt to connect cities, researchers and city NGOs is so far strategies for without success as it is difficult to find common ground and ways of connecting articulating problems. different stakeholders

In the case of Vienna, where the mediating of co-financing is integrated into the structure of the city hall, the funded projects merge with what has already been decided upon by the city hall –meaning that the funded projects align with already locally pre-set spatial planning aims. The implications are that the added value of receiving funding does not lead to different projects, but to an upgrade of projects –what the interviewees called “push on” effect. As such, the public rhetoric of the EU improving the quality of life in Vienna is not far from the truth, but it might nonetheless be diverging from the ‘good practice’ spatial planning principles, that the EU discourse promotes in its policy

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documents. In many ways, the European spatial planning practice is not implemented but rather mediated and transformed into fitting with the City´s own way of doing things and goal settings. As the funding is directed through this mediating, this can be seen as a depolitization of the application in the sense that the funding scheme becomes predominantly technocratic management without any political values shaping the overall strategic orientation (Rambøll, 2012; Wolffhardt, Bartik, Meegan, Dangschat & Hamedinger, 2005).

It is experienced that Vienna does feature a deficit in regards to the Commission goals of involving other stakeholders in urban governance through partnerships. This does not necessarily mean a lack of public participation, but what we could call a one-to-one relationship in the decision-making – this also goes for the relation between the MA27 and the other public institutions. As there seems to be a strong indication of paperwork hindering the opportunities for Commission promoted collaborations, Vienna would benefit from reducing or simplifying bureaucracy this opening up for the establishment of partnership to be easier. In Vienna, we can thus observe the “…problem of reconciling top-down-oriented funding criteria with the development of project ideas” (Novy & Hammer, 2007, p216) – both between the municipality planning practice and the partnerships, but also between what policy the EU level promotes, and what practice the local level prefers.

Case Study: Budapest

To understand the case of Budapest we must first understand how the EU funding scheme affects the general Hungarian financial situation. In many Central and Eastern European member states, the Structural Funds amounted to more than 40 percent of government expenditures between 2007 and 2013, which means, that “…the overall share of programmes financed by Structural Funds peaked at around 10 percent of the national public budget” (Károly & Gábor, 2014, p4). In that period, Hungary waseven counted as an extreme case where the EU funding was almost the “…exclusive funding of all developments in the public sector…” (Ibid., p6). This offers both a new opportunity for developments, but also is a massive challenge for the government, as “…analysis showed that even much smaller amounts of EU Funds required a ‘high-quality’ institutional environment to be effective” (Ibid., p4). Even though Hungary got the finance in order to implement a large amount of (large scale) projects, “…the appropriation of European Union funds is not proceeding as smoothly as planned due to

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the lack of institutional capacity of the new member states.” (Hirt & Stanilov, 2009, p101).

With the EU accession in 2004 came also a change in the organization of Hungarian territory. The traditional Hungarian system with 19 self-governing counties, each with between 500 to 600 thousand inhabitants, and the Budapest metropolitan region of 1,8 million did not fit into the EU regional structure scheme. As the average region size in the EU is roughly 1,5 to 3 million inhabitants, Hungary was forced to construct new regions so that the Hungarian divisions fit into the framework of the Structural Funds. This was done by combining three counties into one unit, thus making six regions, with Budapest and its surroundings being the seventh (the Central Hungarian region).

This meant that the independent counties each had to nominate one person to represent their region, but as the county leaders did not want to lose and to hand over their political power, the newly formed regions were politically and administratively weak and had little to say. In 2010, the national government chose to close down the governing regional agencies, but for funding allocations in the EU, these regions still exist. As the EU framework allocates funding after the economic status of the regions, then Budapest receives less funding than it would have done if the funding allocation was calculated for the city alone, because it is agglomerated with its more affluent surroundings, it (MRI interview, 2015).

With the GDP of the Central Hungarian region currently approaching the EU average, Budapest has changed from the objective “convergence with the rest if the EU”, to a competition objective promoting mainly economic growth, and so has seen a decline in projects eligible for receiving funding. This has the consequence that many important public buildings or institutions are worn down in Budapest, but less important buildings in the countryside are new and well maintained, (NDA interview, 2015). Initially, the EU funding in Hungary was administered by the National Development Office (NDA), but by controlling the funding the office became too powerful in the eyes of the government politicians and its competences were restructured. The EU funding is now centralized into the Prime Minister’s and Finance Minister’s offices, who now handle the overall delegation of EU funding, with a focus “more on loyalty than capacity” when hiring new employees ( Interview with NDA.).

In broad historic lines, the city hall of Budapest held a position as a strong power center under the socialist development model with state control and non-market institutional forms, where all real decisions for Budapest were taken in the city administration

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(Tosics, 2010, p128). With the entrance of the democratic/capitalist system in 1989, a decentralization of decision power from city hall to districts took place, changing the city into a two-tier system where the “…municipality has the ownership of the public utilities and has some strategic planning power, while the districts decide about the basic level services and control as much as half of the total public money available for the city.” (Ibid., p128)

As such, it was from that point on the district governments that implemented the renovation and adaptive re-use of old buildings and new construction (Hirt & Stanilov, 2009, p72). Through the pro-active district government and private developers, joint public-private ventures were formed. These projects produced well received (by new residents) mixed-use and architectural quality, but on the other hand lacked in social perspectives, thus displacing low-income residents (Ibid., p73).

This delegation of competences is still in place, and so the Budapest districts fight for EU funding being allocated to their area, especially by attempting to change project parameters to make their district eligible. This means that almost every district in Budapest, no matter its average income, is eligible for receiving EU co-financing, but also that the district prepares their own local development plans and projects independently, and often unknowingly to the city hall (Tosics, 2010, p132).

Additionally the technical capacity to carry out spatial planning developments is very limited in Budapest, and therefore the help of private consultants are required for more complex projects – e.g. those involving EU funding. This brings more complexity to project development, both as the municipality loses control, but also as before mentioned focus on loyalty also in Budapest seems to rule the choice of consultant more than their capacity (MRI interview, 2015, Budapest City Hall interview, 2015).

The distrust towards outsiders also applies to civil society; this was both towards expert groups and local NGOs who attempts to initiate and manage project and between the city hall and the districts, who made their own plans. This has made it difficult to develop and implement a framework that was both innovative and worked with the needed multi-level partnership approach instigated from the EU (URBACT interview, 2015). As such the Budapest city hall, the national government and the district level fight for implementing their projects.

The European spatial planning discourse emerges in the publications from the Budapest city hall, where it is written that the aim is to steer toward “…the development and preservation of a compact city with diverse functions in accordance with the European

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line of urban development” (Municipality of Budapest, 2003, p7), hereby aligning with the European “good practice” discourse. In the outline of Budapest’s Medium-Term Development Programme Podmaniczky Programme 2005-2013, they explicitly write that the project described “…aims to make sure that Budapest and its environs receive as much European Union aid as possible in the 2007- 2013 period ”(Municipality of Budapest, no date, p4). At the same time the urban renewal in Budapest has mainly been limited to physical rehabilitation or reconstruction, and also gives evidence of a one- sided focus on new construction without the existence of previously elaborated strategies concerning an overall area development (Keresztély & Scott , 2012, p1122).

In the city hall, the interest lies mainly in prestige projects and not in “soft projects”, i.e. integrated renewal schemes, which are too slow to progress in the eyes of the politicians (Budapest City Hall interview, 2015). Prioritizing the social dimension over physical improvements or economic developments is difficult – even with the added pressure from the Structural Funds programmes (Tosics, 2013, p94).

As the partnership principle is especially relevant in the integrated project, the lack of participation of the politicians in these programmes is especially getting in the way of making progress and improving urban governance in Hungary (Tosics, 2010, p132). This was also felt in the Hungarian SEiSMiC network, where in one workshop “…participants included social innovation practitioners, academics, researchers and NGOs. [But] No municipality or governmental organisation was represented” (Mezei, 2015, p3). As participation is often only taking place on the strategic level or “superficially encouraged”, the impact of bottom-up governance or partnership on urban development is much reduced (Keresztély & Scott , 2012, p1112).

For many – both politicians and planning professionals - the social aspect in the integrated urban renewal programmes is seen as something that originates from the EU level policies (seen as western European practices), and is only added to the projects as a prerequisite for being eligible for receiving EU funding (Budapest City Hall interview, 2015).

Conclusions from the Budapest case study

Where Vienna was a case of mediating, the case of Budapest is one of conflict. The availability of EU funding seems to promote more conflict than is does promote integrated solutions to planning in Budapest.

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Portrayal of EU As both a specific way of developing projects, and also as a financial projects resource desired to be used.

Distribution of As the main funds for developing projects, every governmental level projects in the wishes to control the funding allocation , which means ‘most areas’ city are eligible instead of those in need according to EU policy.

Challenges for The lack of technical capacity to develop projects that fit into the EU implementation discourse makes the employment of large numbers of consultants required. Loyalty is prioritized over capacity.

Governance With a distrust for the opposition (both political, and “outsiders”) bottlenecks and a disregard for supporting projects not their own, urban governance in Budapest is mainly ruled by a small circle of politicians who pushes through with their ideas.

The added EU The added value of making the project with EU co-financing is value mainly the financial gain – which is often the only thing making the project possible. The “learning value” of taking part is mostly missing.

New strategies The Hungarian government has declined to take part in the JPI for connecting Urban project. However, the local SEiSMiC project partners are different optimistic in using new methods to activate and connect different stakeholders civil society actors.

Where Vienna showed a stable governance structure, Budapest – and Hungary in general – shows a system fluctuating in accordance with the political changes in the national and local power structures. As the mediating organs also become entangled in this, the planning strategies become more political – and less practical in regard to solving the challenges in the city. This diluting of the planning offices into the mainstream political machinery has the consequence of planning departments lacking the capacity which makes it necessary to employ external consultants. The conflict here appears as the system is now inhabited by “experts” in the service of the political aims – which seems to differ from local, city or national level. In the view that the use of EU funds in Vienna was depoliticized, the case of Budapest shows the opposite. Here the

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technocratic control is limited by the politicians, and the whole practice of city planning is politicized as the EU funding is the only opportunity to reach political goals.

This situation does not promote the realization of the partnership principle and a stable governance structure in a long-term view. However, the outline of Hungary and Budapest presented in this paper should also be acknowledged as a quite recent and short-term story. As such, what might here appear as a historic outline of the conflict in Budapest regarding political change, might outline more how political changes, both on national level and locally in Budapest, impact the governance structures. Final judgment should therefore have to wait, but at the same time, as one interviewee told, Budapest and Hungary are in a position now that the funds in themselves are not enough to progress; what is needed is advice and capacity building to go with this funding(NDA interview, 2015).

Conclusion

The goal of this analysis was to understand how and with what implications the European spatial planning (and funding programmes) translates into urban spatial planning through comparing the two case studies Vienna and Budapest. We can here see two very different modes of governing the co-financing of urban projects. From the EU level and down to the local level, we can see how scalar narratives, scalar politics and scalar practices (Brenner, 2004), becomes an integral part of local political power struggles and strategies, and that what is left of the “official” EU discourse on spatial planning mostly disappears. The Commission's introduction of certain objectives and the development of normative positions are “constructed” in the policy and planning discourses, and these vaporize on their connection with local practices; they stand left behind as “castles in the air”. Instead we can observe a recurring depoliticization of the use of funding. Both in Vienna and in Budapest urban development is treated as “…a technocratic matter to be managed by local, regional, or national political- economic elites” (Brenner, 2004, p299). In Vienna, where the handling of EU affairs was placed internally in the city hall, and where - maybe more importantly - the financial situation does not rely solely on external funding, the importance of EU funding does not draw political interest. In contrast, the importance of EU funding in Hungary forced the implementation of EU funding from technocratic management to political, but is still kept in the hands of a small political elite. Even before the eastward expansion it was noted by the Commission that:

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“The weak, and in some cases absent, regional level in the political and administrative structures of Central and Eastern European Accession Countries is one of the most important issues that requires the specific support of the EU for the establishment of regional institutions.”

(EC, 1999, p49).

Furthermore, the Commission's competence in spatial planning is articulated directly in the relation to the future EU member states in Eastern Europe where the Commission sees itself as implicitly having an active involvement in the implementation of the funding scheme, “…the Community’s financial commitment in the Accession Countries clearly indicates its responsibility for ensuring that different policy measures do not counteract or neutralise each other “ (Ibid). We can read that the responsibility for meeting the challenges involved in the process of enlargement is “…considered a national responsibility in the Central and East European Accession Countries. This does not leave any scope for applying regionally differentiated strategies” (Ibid., p48).

The consideration is however deep enough to state that with regard to the EU promotion of integrated planning and the inclusion of the social dimension, this local culture does in many ways constrain it. On one hand, as “it is widely argued that post- socialist countries are still lagging behind the developed West; therefore they must grow fast to catch up” (Kulcsar & Domokos, 2005, p550). On the other hand, we should also be careful in our acceptance of t “…the emotional appeal of the ‘goodness’ of Europe [which] has been significant, making EU accession mean not simply “EU Europeanization” or “Unionization”, but (also) a “return to Europe” (Varró, 2010, p1272).

One criticism of urban research in Central and Eastern European countries which we should be careful about, is the tendency “…to treat differences from ‘Western’ comparative cases as evidence of a modernization backlog, backwardness, and deviations from the normal case” (Wiest, 2012, p834). By contrast, the case study of Vienna shows an implementation where we either could in “good faith” declare it a success – after all, the funding from the EU is making the city a better place to live. However, we could also accuse the implementation of EU funding as being redundant, as its assimilation into the customary practices of Viennese spatial planning leaves a lot out when it comes to the incorporating “best practice” of “value” from the EU in the city. What could be forgiven in newly accessioned EU countries with newly established or weak governance structures and spatial planning capacity, is in the setting of Vienna

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somehow less acceptable. Here the lack of real implementation of the partnership principles cannot be put down to lack of capacity, but to lack of will, in practice accepting EU funding without the accompanying policy recommendations. .

For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at contact: [email protected]

References

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Keresztély, K., & Scott, J. W. (2012) Urban regeneration in the post-socialist context: Budapest and the search for a social dimension. European Planning Studies, 20(7), 1111- 1134. Kulcsar, L. J., & Domokos, T. (2005) The Post‐Socialist Growth Machine: The Case of Hungary. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 29(3), 550-563. MA27 (2011) EU Projects In Vienna. Strengthening Regional Competitiveness And Integrated Urban Development 2007–2013. Magistratsabteilung für Europäische Angelegenheiten, Vienna. Milio, S. (2013) The conflicting effects of multi-level governance and the partnership principle: evidence from the Italian experience. European Urban and Regional Studies, 21 (4), 384-397. Municipality Of Budapest (2003) Urban Development Concept Summary, Municipality Of Budapest Mayor's Office Bureau Of The Chief Architect. Municipality Of Budapest (No Date) Podmaniczky Programme 2005-2013, Budapest’s Medium-Term Development Programme Novy, A. & Hammer, E. (2007) Radical Innovation In The Era Of Liberal Governance - The Case Of Vienna. European Urban And Regional Studies 14(3), 210-222. Piattoni, S. (2009a). Multi-level governance in the EU. Does it Work. In Globalization and Politics: A Conference in Honor of Suzanne Berger. MIT, 8–9 May. Piattoni, S. (2009b) Multi‐Level Governance: A Historical and Conceptual Analysis, Journal Of European Integration, 31(2), 163-180, Doi: 10.1080/07036330802642755. Richardson, T. (2000) Discourses of rurality in EU spatial policy: the European spatial development perspective. Sociologia Ruralis, 40(1), 53-71. Rambøll (2012) Comparative Study Of The Project Selection Process Applied In Cohesion Policy Programmes 2007-2013 In A Number Of Member States, Report prepared on the request of the European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy. Mezei, C. (2015) NaNet Workshop Report 1, SEiSMiC Hungary. Richardson, T., & Jensen, O. B. (2003) Linking Discourse And Space: Towards A Cultural Sociology Of Space In Analysing Spatial Policy Discourses. Urban Studies, 40(1), 7-22. Salez, P. (2009) How Europe Comes To Spatial Planning: From The Birth Of Regional Policy To The Green Paper On Territorial Cohesion, The Emergence Of The Community As A Player Over More Than 20 Years, From Http://Www.Eu-Territorial- Agenda.Eu/Related%20documents/Livre%20geographie%202009%20texte%20bis%2 0en.Pdf Retrieved July, 2015. Sharp, L. & Richardson, T. (2001) Reflections On Foucauldian Discourse Analysis In Planning And Environmental Policy Research. Journal Of Environmental Policy & Planning, 3(3), 193-209. Stephenson, P. (2013) Twenty Years Of Multi-Level Governance: ‘Where Does It Come From? What Is It? Where Is It Going?’. Journal Of European Public Policy, 20(6), 817-837, Doi: 10.1080/13501763.2013.781818. Stubbs, P. (2005) Stretching Concepts Too Far? Multi-Level Governance, Policy Transfer And The Politics Of Scale In South East Europe. Southeast European Politics Vol. VI(2), November 2005, 66 – 87. Swyngedouw, E. (2004) Globalisation Or ‘Glocalisation’? Networks, Territories And Rescaling, Cambridge Review Of International Affairs, 17(1), 25-48.

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Tosics, I. (2010) The Approach Of Budapest To The European Union The Europeanization Of A Post-Socialist City. In: Hamedinger, A & Wolffhardt, A (Eds): The Europeanization Of Cities – Policies, Urban Change & Urban Networks. Techne Press Amsterdam 2010, 127-144. Tosics, I, (2013) From Socialism To Capitalism: The Social Outcomes Of The Restructuring Of Cities. In: Carmon, N & Fainstein, S. (Eds) Policy, Planning, And People. Promoting Justice In Urban Development. University Of Pennsylvania Press, 2013 , 75- 100. Varró, K. (2010) Re‐Politicising the Analysis of “New State Spaces” in Hungary and Beyond: Towards an Effective Engagement with “Actually Existing Neoliberalism”. Antipode, 42(5), 1253-1278. Wiest, K. (2012) Comparative Debates In Post-Socialist Urban Studies. Urban Geography, 33(6), 829-849. Wolffhardt, A., H. Bartik, R Meegan, J. S. Dangschat, A. Hamedinger (2005) The European Engagement Of Cities –Experiences, Motivations And Effects On Local Governance in Liverpool, Manchester, Vienna, Graz, Dortmund & Hamburg, In: Antalovsky, E., Dangschat, J.S. & Parkinson, M.(Eds.) Cities in Europe. Europe in Cities. NODE, 2005, 65- 112. www.wien.gv.at (2015) http://www.wien. gv.at/rk/msg/2015/01/23001.html (accessed July, 2015)

Interviews AIT Interview ,2015, interview with employee in the Austrian Institute of Technology, the local partner in SEiSMiC and JPI Urban. Budapest City Hall Interview, 2015, interview with former employee of the Budapest City hall who took part in EU funded projects. MA27 Interview, 2015, interview with two employess in the Vienna City Hall department for European Affairs. MRI Interview, 2015, interview with employee from the Metropolitan Research Institute in Budapest who took part in EU co-financed projects. NDA Interview, 2015, interview with former employee from the National Development Agency who developed the EU funding scheme for Hungary URBACT Interview, 2015, interview with expert from the EU funded URBACT network.

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10 Transitioning to the After-Sprawl in Flanders, Belgium Devon Willis

Abstract: The academic literature largely accepts sprawl as a problematic issue faced by major urban areas around the world. As such, researchers, planning professionals and civil society have started to propose solutions and alternatives to this energy-intensive urban form. The current work aims to explore the solutions to sprawl in Flanders, Belgium. The solutions found and described seek to tackle the underlying dispersion in Flanders through transit-oriented development, freezes on the conversion of open space for housing, mixing functions, compaction, densification and renewal of the existing urban fabric, and consolidation or even dismantling of low-density development lacking amenities or public transportation. However, sprawl in Flanders is recognised by many to be locked-in or obdurate. Transitions management is explored here to understand the ongoing transition from the current regime of single-family homes on the countryside to a more sustainable urban model in Flanders. It was found that some actors are actively leveraging a transition towards a new regime, and that some issues are more powerful in pushing a transition: All three projects in Flanders leverage population growth to modify the spatial composition of the territory and intensify development around public transportation.

Urban Sprawl: A Long-Standing and Unresolved Issue

The academic literature largely accepts sprawl as a problematic issue faced by major urban areas around the world. While traditionally associated with North American cities, it is also acknowledged as a problem in Europe (Kasanko et al., 2006; Ludlow, 2006; Moliní & Salgado, 2013; Reckien & Karecha, 2007; Reeh & Zerlang, 2011; Xaveer De Geyter Architects, 2002). In a report on this topic published in 2006, the European Environmental Agency states that, “European cities were more compact and less sprawled in the mid-1950s than they are today, and urban sprawl is now a common phenomenon throughout Europe. Moreover, there is no apparent slowing in these trends” (Ludlow, 2006, p. 5). They define urban sprawl as “the physical pattern of low- density expansion of large urban areas, under market conditions, mainly into surrounding agricultural areas” (Ibid, p. 6).

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The negative environmental impacts of sprawl are well-documented (Ludlow, 2006; Gans, 1967; Kunstler, 1993), as are examples of policies in Europe and North America which were intended to slow or stop the process of sprawl, such as the 1948 Finger Plan in Copenhagen (Reeh & Zerlang, 2011), urban growth boundaries in the United States (Calthorpe & Fulton, 2001; Kunstler, 1993), green belts and green wedges in the United Kingdom and Australia (Couch & Karecha, 2006), minimum densities in Spain and the United States (Anthony, 2004; Moliní & Salgado, 2013) and transfer of development rights, conservation easements, environmental mitigation and restoration, clustering of development and density bonuses in Florida (Brody et al., 2006).

In addition, there is a growing body of knowledge on how to fix the already existing sprawl by increasing density via infill development (Wegmann & Chapple, 2014; Merlini & Zanfi, 2014; Bervoets & Heynen, 2013; Calthorpe & Fulton, 2001), transforming suburban infrastructure for other uses (Dunham-Jones & Williamson, 2011), renaturalizing low-density areas (Vall-Casas, Koschinsky, & Mendoza, 2011; i Dorda & i Berenguer, 2008; Bervoets et al., 2014), or a combination of these policies, such as densifying areas well-served by transit and services and renaturalizing areas of low- density, low-connectivity and poor services (Tachieva, 2010). This paper will focus on the latter, solutions to fix existing sprawl, in the context of Flanders, Belgium.

Methodology

The methodology used to advance this research consisted of site visits, document analysis and interviews with key actors. A total of twelve interviews with researchers, planners, architects and engineers from both the public and private sectors and different levels of government including regional, provincial and municipal, were conducted in Brussels, Leuven, Ghent and Mechelen in the months of June, July and August 2015. Most of these interviews were semi-structured and common topics of discussion were the history and development of sprawl in Flanders and ongoing studies, plans and projects seeking to convert this sprawl to a more compact urban form.

Urban Sprawl in Flanders: An Overview

Urban sprawl has a long history in Belgium and is well-documented (De Decker, 2011; Bervoets & Heynen, 2013). It started with industrialisation, when living conditions in cities started to deteriorate.

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Map 1: Region of Flanders in Belgium.

Source: Adapted by author from Google Maps (2015).

In Belgium, the Liberal and Catholic elites created incentives to encourage workers to live in the countryside and commute to work in the city (De Decker, 2011). First, there was an expansion of the rail network in the 19th century, which was replaced by highways in the 20th century (Bervoets & Heynen, 2013). Then, laws emerged that encouraged homeownership, such as the 1889 Housing Law (De Decker, 2011). In 1935, the National Society for Small-Scale Land Ownership was established, which encouraged living in rural areas and provided a large amount of single-family houses on large plots (Ibid). By the post-World War II era, houses were being built “anywhere where there was a road,” according to Wiet Vandaele (2015), Project Manager at the Flemish Spatial Planning Department. In 1948, the De Taeye Act came into effect which made large subsidies available to individuals to borrow at much as 90% of the building costs of their home, according to Hans Van Hoof (2015), Traffic Expert at De Lijn (Flemish Public Transportation Company). While today the De Taeye Act no longer applies, there is a Huispremie which is a form of tax-reduction if you possess a loan on your first home (Ibid). In this way, ownership remains more interesting than renting (Ibid). Pascal De Decker (2015), Professor of Architecture at the Department of Architecture at Catholic University of Leuven Sint-Lucas campus in Brussels, reiterates that homeownership has always been the solution to housing problems in Belgium.

For all of this, the single-family home in the countryside remains a majority of the housing stock today and homeownership is more prevalent than renting: 79% of housing stock consists of single-family houses and 74% of households own the dwelling

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they live in (De Decker, 2011). More specifically, detached, single-family homes, also known as “villas” or “fermettes”, are the dominant housing typology, making up 42% of the housing stock (Ibid). In comparison, there are few large housing estates, with only 6% affordable housing in Flanders (Bervoets & Heynen, 2013).

The comprehensive planning law at the federal level in Belgium arrived in 1962 (Vandaele, 2015). According to Pascal De Decker (2015), the plan of 1962 included regional plans, sector plans, communal plans, as well as building permits and allotment plans. It should have also resulted in a national plan but this never materialized (Ibid) and the regional plans came much later, mostly at the end of the 1970s (Van Hoof, 2015; Vandaele, 2015; De Decker, 2015). In the meantime, the only elements of the 1962 law in place were building permits and allotment plans, but without any frame (e.g. regional or national plan) (De Decker, 2015). Thus, while this law and the subsequent plans sought to limit sprawl, they were over-dimensioned (Vandaele, 2015) and exacerbated the problem, according to Vandaele’s colleague at the Flemish Spatial Planning Department, Jan Zaman (2015).

The law and subsequent plans were followed years later, in 1996, explains Vandaele (2015), with a Flemish decree, the legal base for what became the Spatial Structure Plan for Flanders (RSV) in 1997. The motto of the plan was “Flanders, urban and open” (Bervoets & Heynen, 2013, p.363). The RSV is widely accepted not to have met its ambitious objectives (Boussauw & Boelens, 2015).

Flemish Solutions to Sprawl

While there is an overwhelming agreement in Flanders that sprawl cannot continue, there is also an understanding that it cannot be undone. Nick Naudts (2015), an architect from Architecture Workroom, a Brussels-based Flemish architecture firm, affirms that “the biggest remark you could make on the compact city proposal or ambition is that, I think we should agree upon the fact that we cannot go back”. Rather, actors in Flanders seek to make changes to the existing landscape to make it more sustainable, transit-oriented and compact. This section will introduce and describe one plan and two projects in Flanders that seek to consolidate the underlying dispersion of the territory.

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Spatial Policy Plan of Flanders

According to Vandaele (2015), in 2010 the Flemish Government decided that the 1997 Spatial Structure Plan for Flanders (RSV) needed to be updated and replaced with a Spatial Policy Plan of Flanders (BRV), especially in light of growing concerns over climate change. The process resulted in a Green Paper (Government of Flanders, 2012), which is a tentative government document, including policy proposals, which serves as a tool for debate and discussion, but does not represent a commitment to action by the government. The next step is a White Paper, which would propose measures to attain the goals expressed in the Green Paper. However, the White Paper is in a process of constant revision and Zaman (2015) expresses doubts as to whether a final version will ever materialize.

The Green Paper outlines the aim for a “meticulous use of space” (Government of Flanders, 2012, p. 22). This means doing more with the space that is already developed. They propose three ways of attaining this meticulous use of space. The first is to place new activities in areas that are already built-up. The second is to reuse areas that are already built-up. Finally, when new space is created it should be reversible, especially when it is created on greenfields. In addition to concerns over open space and dispersion, the population of Flanders is expected to growth from 6 to 7 million by 2050 (Ibid, p. 11). The BRV is the basis for other projects to consolidate sprawl in Flanders, including the two following projects from Leuven and Antwerp.

Regionet Leuven

Regionet Leuven is the result of a study done by Bureau voor Urbanisme (BUUR), a Leuven-based architecture firm that works predominantly in Flanders. The project seeks to address the mobility and suburbanisation problems arising from sprawl in the city of Leuven (BUUR, 2015). This is all within the context of a society increasingly concerned with climate change and demographic growth. Leuven and the province of Flemish Brabant have the goal to be climate neutral by 2030, decreasing their emissions by 90%. Since transportation accounts for one quarter of their emissions, BUUR argues that tackling car-dependence is a good starting point (Ibid). Further, there is demographic22 and economic growth expected in Leuven. Traffic is expected to increase by 15-30%, so this growth can be leveraged to create more sustainable mobility,

22 The current population of Leuven is 98,376 (Statistics Belgium, 2015). By 2030 this population will increase to 150,000 and by 2050 to 220,000 (BUUR, 2015).

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increasing population density along the transportation network and avoiding further fragmentation of the open space (Flemish Brabant Government, 2015).

One goal of the project is to reduce the need for mobility, by concentrating activities in urban and village centers. The other is to create a network of priority transit lines in Leuven, including trains, trams and buses, to make mobility more sustainable. BUUR argues that transit should be comfortable, frequent, fast, reliable and punctual. Local buses would feed riders into this high-speed, priority network of priority lanes, and bike, minibus, collective taxi and car would complete mobility system for mobility that falls outside the reach of the network (BUUR, 2015).

Figure 1: The Concept of Regionet Leuven Mobility and place: Towards a proximity logic. Concentration of daily facilities in residential areas with sufficient density and critical mass. (The left-side image depicts the status quo, whereas the right-side image shows how facilities can be concentrated along transportation corridors.) Source: BUUR, 2015.

According to Kevin Penalva-Halpin (2015), architect at BUUR, the network proposed would grow on existing rail lines. Former stations can be re-opened, new stations added and frequency increased. Where there is no possibility of rail, a tram or bus corridor with a priority lane can be substituted. While in the short term a bus may be more viable, the bus line should be built to be compatible with the conversion to a tramline in the future. Finally, growth should occur around transit stops. Penalva-Halpin explains that the total space around this network is sufficient to absorb the projected future

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growth in the region. The areas around the main lines are therefore to be densified in different ways, either by restructuring existing tissue or by generating new development areas (Ibid).

Beyond mobility, BUUR is working on land use. The idea, although controversial, is to delineate “high dynamic” and “low dynamic” areas. The high dynamic are areas along the transit network that should grow with higher density, whereas low dynamic areas are mostly small villages and open space that should not grow any more, but rather be consolidated and perhaps eventually removed (Ibid).

Penalva-Halpin explains that Regionet Leuven is a collaboration between several public entities, the province of Flemish Brabant, the City of Leuven, the Flemish public transportation agency (De Lijn), Interleuven (a consortium of cities in Leuven), the National Railway Company (NMBS) and about fifty mayors of the municipalities in the region of Leuven (Ibid). In addition, the project is gaining support and entered its second phase in 2014. Four partners (De Lijn, Interleuven, the City and the Province) have allocated three to four full-time employees to the project. They meet once per month to discuss and have started to bring in experts for equipment, bicycle lanes and housing, for instance. There are also two pilot projects planned: The line between Diest and Leuven and the line between Leuven and Tervuren. The latter is considered an urgent necessity and would start off as a bus connection, while “making sure it is compatible with the future tram” so it can be easily upgraded later (Ibid).

Labo XX Antwerp

Labo XX is a study commissioned by the City of Antwerp in which four teams of designers participated and developed ideas for a strategy of urban renewal and compaction of the 20th century ring of Antwerp. The City of Antwerp wishes to accommodate demographic growth in its already developed 20th belt. By 2030, the current population of 500,000 in Antwerp will grow by 100,000, an increase of 20% (City of Antwerp, 2014). Their focus is the 20th century belt as the city center of Antwerp has already undergone a process of renewal and has recently reached “the maximum density and capacity” (Ibid, p. 7), resulting in increased prices, shortcomings in amenities, lack of parking spaces and congestion problems. The 20th century belt is the next logical place to densify (Ibid).

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Map 2: City of Antwerp, highlighting the 20th-century belt and the rail network.

Source: Author’s own elaboration using spatial data from Mapzen.com (2016), Open Data Antwerp (2016), City of Antwerp (2016)

As in the case of Leuven, Antwerp is growing and the city needs to find space to accommodate new housing, facilities and workspaces. The City suggests this growth can be used to modify the spatial composition of the territory and intensify development around public transportation, compacting and mixing functions, not converting any additional open space (Ibid). The 20th century belt is well-served by public transportation and within biking distance from the city centre. It is also well-served by a wide-range of amenities. Thus, the City of Antwerp suggests concentrating growth in this area that is already prepared for it, rather than low-density municipalities farther from the centre (Ibid).

The City of Antwerp set three starting premises for the participating design teams: Growth and densification as opportunities, high levels of amenities in terms of quantity and quality and utilisation of existing urban fabric instead of converting new areas for development (Ibid). The first proposal, again from BUUR, is to construct a tangential tramline around Antwerp, creating new stops, new nodes and centrality points. Just as

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BUUR proposes mobility-driven development in Leuven, their proposal for Antwerp is called “Urbanisation, open space and mobility as a trifecta for the urban renewal of the twentieth-century belt” and proposes a new tramline, called the rocade, which would be tangential (see Figure 2). That is, while the other public transportation in the city is radial, connecting various parts of the 20th century belt with the city centre, they propose a tram to connect the various parts of the 20th century belt with each other. Further, they propose to add more stops and that stops at the intersection of more than one line become nodes, priority areas for new development of housing, workplaces and amenities. Like Regionet Leuven, the approach is mobility-driven development, as well as compaction and densification of the existing urban fabric (Ibid).

Figure 2: Schematic representation of BUUR’s proposal for a tangential tramline in Antwerp. (Left: Status quo, Right: BUUR’s proposal.) Source: BUUR, 2015

The BRV and the two projects highlighted above propose to stop the development of open space in Flanders by densifying and compacting existing areas well-served by public transportation and amenities and mixing functions, while consolidating or even dismantling scattered development in areas that are not served by transportation or amenities (see Figure 3). All three strategies also rely on population growth in Flanders, which they want to leverage to concentrate new development along transportation corridors, as well as increasing environmental concerns among the population.

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Figure 3: Summary of the common strategies included in the BRV, Regionet Leuven and Labo XX Antwerp. Source: Author’s own elaboration.

Understanding the Enduring Flemish Sprawl: Locked-In and Obdurate?

While there have been numerous studies and plans seeking to address the sprawl in Flanders, as seen in the previous section, the Flemish landscape remains dispersed. The following section will turn to the concepts of “lock-in” and “obduracy” to understand the enduring sprawl in Flanders.

In 1998, Kemp et al. looked at regime shifts to sustainability via niche management, using the example of sustainable transportation technologies to illustrate their idea. They argue that carbon is locked-in and that there are barriers to transitioning to sustainable transportation technologies. These barriers includes technological factors, government policy and regulatory frameworks, cultural and psychological factors and both demand and production factors (Ibid).

The idea of lock-in was also used by Unruh (2000) to explain why fossil fuels continue to dominate even though there is a scientific consensus that they are the cause of climate change. According to Unruh, lock-in “arises through a combination of systematic forces that perpetuate fossil fuel-based infrastructures in spite of their known environmental externalities and the apparent existence of cost-neutral, or even cost-effective, remedies” (Ibid, p. 817). Citing Nelson (1995), Unruh explains that technological systems “are often conceptualized in an evolutionary framework with the ‘dominant design’ as a basic theory for the establishment of a technological system” (Ibid, p. 820).

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In the case of carbon, the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) is the dominant, locked-in design. While it is more noisy, noxious and complicated, it was less expensive than the alternatives (Ibid, p. 821). The other competitors to the ICE were forced out of the system and since firms tend to focus on developing existing competencies, change has been only incremental and largely remains founded on this dominant design (Ibid). Unruh describes how network externalities (e.g. the road and highway infrastructure) and institutions, both social (e.g. worker’s unions, driver’s unions) and public (e.g. antiquated subsidies and government agencies) contribute to this the carbon lock-in. Regarding political institutions, he states that “once founded, governmental and legal institutions can greatly exacerbate lock-in conditions” (Ibid).

Later, Geels (2012) describes other carbon lock-in mechanisms such as shared beliefs that make actors blind to developments outside their scope, consumer lifestyles, regulations and laws that create market entry barriers, sunk investments in machines, people and infrastructure, resistance from vested interests and low costs because of economies of scale. Kemp et al. (1998), Unruh (2000) and Geels (2012) all explain how the current energy and transportation systems, reliant on fossil fuels, are locked-in and while alternatives exist and the disadvantages of fossil fuels are well-documented, the status quo endures.

The concept of obduracy, from Science and Technology Studies (STS), is similar to the concept of lock-in. In recent years it has also been transferred to the understanding of the city, notably by Hommels (2005):

Once in place, urban structures become fixed, obdurate. As a consequence, urban artifacts that are remnants of earlier planning decisions, the logic of which is no longer applicable, may prove to be annoying obstacles for those who aspire to bring about urban innovation (p. 2).

Thus, urban structures (e.g. roads, buildings), although intended to advance the city at the time they are built, by improving accessibility (e.g. roads) or supplying housing (e.g. affordable housing), once erected, are difficult to change, obdurate. While new conceptions of how cities should be planned emerge, these physical structures create barriers to change. It is not just the material parts of the city that act as obstacles, but also antiquated social and political institutions (e.g. laws, subsidies, regulations). The difficulty of changing the materiality of Flemish cities, due to their physical composition, but also to outdated laws, subsidies and regulations, as well as cultural preferences (e.g.

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the Flemish preference for homeownership), come together to make the sprawl obdurate, or locked-in.

Lock-in and Obduracy in Belgium

This is not the first time that the concept of lock-in or obduracy has been used to understand the Flemish sprawl (Bervoets & Heynen, 2013). Just as Unruh defines the ICE as a dominant design in transportation technology, Bervoets & Heynen argue that the single-family house is the dominant building type in Flanders: "The single-family house became the dominant building type located in residential subdivisions, ribbon developments or as piecemeal developments scattered through the landscape" (Ibid, p. 358). Bervoets & Heynen attribute this obduracy to the materiality of the house, the meaning of home, the local home culture, real estate values, spatial policies, zoning plans and the legislative framework (Ibid).

The “sprawl lock-in” includes elements of Unruh’s analysis, including network externalities, social institutions and public institutions. Network externalities include the hard infrastructure that exists to support and facilitate sprawl (roads, highways, railways, gas stations, etc.). Filip Canfyn (2015), the author of Het syndroom van verkavelingsvlaanderen, a critique of suburban lifestyles in Flanders, affirms that Flanders has the highest density of roads, railways, stations and on/off ramps in the world. Social institutions also play a role and include the Catholic Church which, alongside the government, encouraged suburbanisation at the end of the 19th century (De Decker, 2011). In addition, the Flemish Middle-Class, whose preference for single- family housing in low-density residential neighbourhoods and their anti-urban mentality, contribute to reproducing the sprawl. Anne Malliet (2015), project manager at the Flemish Government Architect’s Office, refers to the Belgian saying that Belgians are born “with a brick in their stomachs”, meaning that they are born wanting to build their very own house, and Bervoets & Heynen (2013) write that this “compulsion to possess a single-family house is engraved in the minds of the people, the historical options of the Belgian housing model thus prove to be very resistant" (p. 363). Finally, public institutions are particularly important in Flanders. Numerous public institutions lock-in the culture of homeownership on the countryside, dependent on heightened mobility, and the ensuing sprawl. Van Hoof (2015) points to the “bedrijfswagens” (salary cars), the practice of employers giving their workers a car in lieu of a pay raise in order to avoid paying more taxes, and gasoline vouchers, intended both for professional

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and private use. The salary car represents a 4-Billion euro per year loss in taxes to the Belgian government (Canfyn, 2015). In addition, since the salary cars replace a pay raise and are proportional to one’s ranking in the company, it results that larger, more expensive cars represent success and productivity in the workplace.

In addition to subsidised vehicle-mileage, Van Hoof (2015) explains that Flanders has an extensive network of highways, roads and railways, as well as subsidized rail tickets, factors that encourage commuting and sprawl. Regulations until recently also allowed for ribbon- development, that is, development along any “equipped” road. In addition, the “Opvulregel” (infill regulation) stated that the space between any two developed lots on such an “equipped” road, even if not currently zoned for development, could be developed for housing. Therefore, development followed the extensive road network (Ibid).

While there is much land zoned for residential development, Simon Verdelens (2015), Architect and Spatial Planner at the Spatial Planning Department of Ghent, explains that this land has strict rules in regards to how it may be developed. On these so-called “verkavelings”, legislation dictates what can be developed, including the size, height and setback of the building (Ibid). Van Hoof (2015) also explicates that the rules for development are static and difficult to change, “once assigned by law, that is how it is going to look".

Van Hoof adds that the mobility law “basismobiliteit” (basic mobility) says that every inhabitant living in a housing area has the right to a bus stop or some other form of public transportation within 750m of their doorstep, every hour. In cities this is 500m and on weekends two hours is acceptable. This means that Flemish people could build a home wherever they like and still be guaranteed some form of public transit. While the intention behind this is to fight transport-poverty, Van Hoof explains that it has made public transportation very expensive and unviable in Flanders: “The public transport- company was obliged to try and fulfill a need created by a plan which was designed … with the car in mind” (Ibid).

Not only are there incentives to commuting, but Vandaele (2015) explains that homeownership “is still very much stimulated” in the form of incentives to buy a house. Malliet (2015) agrees, stating that "There have been programmes for social housing, but for the middle class it has always been by subsidies for individual housing and that is why we have a large amount of homeowners in Belgium and a lot of individual houses".

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All of these political institutions have contributed to the expansion and durability of suburbia in Flanders and are politically tricky to eliminate, as Unruh (2000) claims.

These political institutions emerge from the political history of Belgium. According to Kim Wouters (2015), Mobility Supervisor at the Department of Mobility and Roads for the Province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium is a very liberal country today, and Van Hoof (2015) explains that this has been particularly so since the end of the Second World War, and one of the reasons that planning arrived so late. “After World War II, planning was associated with collaboration with the Germans” (Ibid). Zaman (2015) argues that this is also due to the 1831 constitution of Belgium which emphasized freedom and liberty and had a Napoleonic idea of land rights, which makes the landowner owner of the surface, as well as above and below the surface and able to do what he wishes with the land. In this way, property rights in Flanders are very well-protected under the law (Van Hoof, 2015; Zaman, 2015).

Finally, while sprawl is “locked-in”, there is “no coherent planning system” to address the problem. According to Zaman (2015), the various branches of the planning system in Flanders are separate and uncoordinated and "almost no one responsible for having the links". The four branches of the planning system are visioning, land use, permits and inspections and when there is a development in one branch, there is often a delayed reaction (or no reaction) from the other branches (Ibid). For instance, when the RSV was written in 1997, it took many years for the permitting process to change in compliance with the plan (Ibid).

In addition to the categories set-out by Unruh (2000), parts of Geels’ (2012) analysis are present in the sprawl lock-in. These include cultural and psychological factors, as well as demand and supply factors. Bram Vermeulen (2015), Chief Urban Designer at Eurostation explains that Flemish people "really identify themselves with the house they own, the car they have, this is very important to them". In addition to identifying with their home and their car, Canfyn (2015) says that Flemings identify wealth and success with this lifestyle, so it is a symbol of social status. In terms of demand, as long as the single-family house remains socially important and politically as well as economically supported, there exists little demand for alternatives, and the supply of alternatives is limited, due to government policies but also, according to Chris Kesteloot (2015), Professor of Geography at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven, architects in Belgium are trained to build single-family homes.

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The idea that the problem is somehow obdurate is well-known by professionals working on the issue. Van Hoof (2015) states, "we want to do it differently, but on the other hand, this is a quality that no one wants to let go". Nonetheless, the sprawl problem is complex and multi-layered and while there are projects that attempt to break this system, Van Hoof admits that "The market is driven by car, by companies that can do that but not much else, and it is like a vicious circle, which is very hard to break … and they can't break through the mentality of the villas and the salary cars" (Ibid).

Figure 4: Summary of the elements making up the sprawl lock-in in Flanders. Source: Author’s own elaboration.

There are signs that this may be changing, however obdurate the sprawl is. For instance, the “Opvulregel” was abolished in 1993 and there is talk in the parliament, according to Van Hoof (2015), of changing “basismobiliteit” (basic mobility) to “basisbereikbaarheid” (basic reachability), thus not placing such a strain on the public transportation company and substituting demand-responsive transport. In addition, there is general recognition that the salary car is problematic, although Van Hoof concedes that no politicians are willing to touch this issue, as too many are afraid of losing this privilege and the status that is carries (Ibid). In the next section, the possibilities of transitioning towards an alternative to sprawl in Flanders are explored through the concept of sustainability transitions and the transitions management governance model.

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Transitioning to the “After-Sprawl”

If the sprawl is locked-in or obdurate, as presented in the previous section, how can we transition to another kind of urban form that does not have the environmental, social and economic problems of sprawl? The field of sustainability transitions is one that studies how these transitions towards sustainability take place, and transitions management is a model of environmental governance in which actors actively influence this transition (Loorbach, 2007).

Loorbach describes transitions as “transformation processes in which existing structures, institutions, cultures and practices are broken down and new ones are established" (Ibid, p. 17). This can take some time, perhaps several generations, although partial transitions can happen much quicker (Ibid). Geels (2012) suggests that “transitions result from interplay of multiple developments at three analytical levels”. The first level is that of niches, the “protected spaces” (Ibid, p. 472) where new alternatives that deviate from the existing regime are conceived. The second level is the existing socio-technical regime in which “innovation is mostly incremental because of lock-in mechanisms and path dependence” (Ibid, p. 473). The last level is the socio- technical landscape, “the wider context, including spatial structures (urban layouts), political ideologies, societal values, beliefs, concerns, the media landscape and macro- economic trends” (Ibid, p. 473). New alternatives (niches) face much opposition when trying to dislodge the existing socio-technical regime (Ibid, p. 472).

There are signs that the socio-technical landscape may be changing in Flanders, which could give strength to a transition. For instance, there is a plan to make the city of Leuven climate neutral by 2030 (“Leuven Klimaatneutraal”). This exemplifies the growing concern over climate change in Flanders. In addition, as the population ages, the sprawling landscape becomes less and less adapted to the needs of the elderly, as the villas have many floors and large lots that require significant amounts of maintenance and are often far from services, requiring travel by automobile, emphasize both Naudts (2015) and Karl Vermaercke, Mobility Coordinator at the Mobility and Roads Department of the Province of Flemish Brabant (2015). There is also concern over traffic congestion, according to Vermaercke (2015). Finally, while the physical infrastructure of sprawl, including the houses and roads, is obdurate, they are growing old and have already started to require repair, according to Michiel Van Meeteren (2015), Doctoral Student in Social and Economic Geography at the University of Ghent. This offers an opportunity for alternatives to move into the place of the existing, single- family, low-density housing regime,

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It seems that at least at the level of public policy and in the minds of the public service in Flanders there is a need for change. According to Malliet (2015), "We need to make a turn-around or a turn in a different direction". This emerges in policy documents from the Flemish government, such as the Green Paper of the Spatial Policy Plan, and the municipality of Ghent in their Spatial Structure Plan, which both focus on the importance of constraining the conversion of more open space into housing (Government of Flanders, 2012; City of Ghent, 2004). However, it is still taboo and politically untenable to discuss, for instance, eliminating the salary car and huge subsidy it represents. The president of the Flemish Socialist Party, Bruno Tobback, was quoted in the newspaper De Morgen in May 2015 as saying, “I know it’s wrong, and we should do something. But I just don’t see how I will get re-elected if I do” (Eeckhout, 2015). This shows just how well-known the problem is and also how entrenched the sprawl is politically, socially and culturally in Flanders.

Several of the people interviewed argue that while the solutions exist to the problem of sprawl, there is a lack of political willingness to deal with the problem and that a shift in the mindsets of people, politicians and developers is necessary (Penalva-Halpin, 2015; Verledens, 2015; Zaman, 2015). One requirement from politics, according to Zaman (2015) is changing some of the land currently zoned for residential development in the district plans to nature or agricultural land. He states, "It is easy to say in a vision that we are against sprawl but if you don’t change the land use plan nothing will happen". This would require changing the land use and compensating the land-owners for the change in value of their land. However Zaman explains that this is considered too expensive by the government (Ibid). Another option is Transfer of Development Rights23, although this has not been seriously considered yet, and remains under study, according to Zaman (Ibid).

Managing a Transition

Transitions management is introduced here to understand how growing social, economic and environmental concerns can be leveraged in support of a transition from the existing sprawling landscape in Flanders to a more sustainable alternative urban form. According to Loorbach (2007), “the goal of transition management is to enable,

23 This idea is also explored by BUUR in the development of Regionet Leuven. The idea is to transfer development rights from ecologically valuable areas to areas that are less sensitive and therefore more appropriate for intense growth (Brody et al., 2006).

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facilitate and guide transitions to sustainability”. Therefore, he argues that actors can leverage a transition, with the help of a favourable context.

In the context of Flanders, several actors are already working to push this transition, as discussed in section 4. Regionet Leuven starts with the problem of sprawl, the dispersion of the territory that stimulates the use of cars and makes public transportation unaffordable and inefficient (Penalva-Halpin, 2015). BUUR proposes to solve the mobility and suburbanisation problems with a very high quality public transportation network based on priority lanes for buses and trams to ensure that public transport is fast, reliable, on-time and attractive (BUUR, 2015). Penalva-Halpin emphasizes that this is not a utopian vision, but rather making use of existing potential and capacities in the form of existing lines and former stations (Ibid). Aside from the mobility and suburbanisation concerns, the leaders of the project use three other strategies to push the transition: Leveraging the population growth expected in Leuven, emphasizing the growing concern in Leuven over climate change, and involving a broad array of stakeholders in the process. First, they emphasize the population growth expected in Leuven and propose that it should be placed along the transit corridors. In fact, the proposal relies on growth, otherwise the new lines would not be viable, according to Van Hoof (2015) and Penalva-Halpin (2015). "The whole study is based on a projection of growth. The province of Flemish Brabant is growing a lot and for 2050 it is expected that the region will grow to more than 200,000 inhabitants …if there were no growth, this whole vision or study would be seriously put into question because it is supported and it is the starting point to justify the building of new transport lines” (Penalva-Halpin, 2015). The study therefore suggests, according in Penalva-Halpin, that this new growth can “feed the efficiency of public transport and steer the region to a more sustainable model” by distributing the growth along the transit lines (Ibid).

Second, as aforementioned, the socio-technical landscape in Leuven is also ready for the transition: Leuven has a plan to become climate neutral by 2030 (Leuven Klimaatneutraal 2030). Lastly, according to Penalva-Halpin, the team of Regionet Leuven has gotten a large number of actors involved, including the city of Leuven, the province of Flemish Brabant, Interleuven (an association of municipalities in Leuven), the national railway company (NMBS) and the Flemish public transportation agency (De Lijn).

BUUR knows that the success of the project depends on how their argumentation is received in political discussions. Penalva-Halpin explains: “We are the people that whisper ideas to the politicians and we whisper them a thousand times, hoping they will

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get momentum, some of them become very relevant in the political debate and some of them just die” (Ibid). BUUR is aware that they need to “get a lot of political forces” on board with them and therefore the head of BUUR is approaching each municipality in Leuven bilaterally to gain their support for the project (Ibid). This is necessary as each municipality has its own municipal plan and its own spatial and economic areas, and sometimes these areas are outside of the transit network. In addition, some municipalities are considered “low-dynamic areas”, meaning they should not grow. For these reasons, BUUR is working with the municipalities to quell concerns. They propose that land removed from development outside the network could be compensated with land along the network and that low-dynamic areas can be given an “alternative story for them to survive”, such as tourism and recreation, food production or energy production (Ibid). According to Penalva-Halpin, Regionet Leuven has also started to close the gap between municipalities who plan development and the region who plans transportation, by giving the Regional Transportation Company, De Lijn, an excuse to discuss with municipalities. “This project is an incentive for De Lijn… and it is a platform to sit around the table with different people” (Ibid).

In this way, Regionet Leuven is a good example of the development of an alternative from within a niche, that is, from within BUUR and its team of architects and their partners, which offers solutions to the local concerns over sprawl. Their solution is clear: A high-quality public transportation system on existing, former and new priority lines, prioritizing future development along these transit corridors. The socio-technical landscape is favourable to their idea, as there is a growing local concern over mobility and congestion, climate change and demographic growth. In this way, the main drivers of the project leverage local concerns to push forward their alternative to transition away from a dispersed, auto-dependent landscape to a more compact and consolidated, transit-oriented landscape in Leuven.

Regionet Leuven is not alone among the Flemish solutions to be pushing a transition. Labo XX also leverages population growth to push for urban renewal and compaction, increased density and mixing of uses and functions in Antwerp, focusing new development in already developed areas (City of Antwerp, 2014) and the Green Paper of the BRV refers to population growth and climate change it its justification for making a more efficient use of open space. The manner in which Regionet Leuven, Labo XX and the Green Paper of the BRV actively influence a transition is illustrated in Figure 5.

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Figure 5: Transitions Management: How Regionet Leuven, Labo XX and the Green Paper of the BRV attempt to leverage a transition.Source: Author’s own elaboration based on the concept of transitions from Geels (2012).

Conclusion

While the problem of sprawl in Flanders is well-known, and while there are solutions being developed and proposed by a range of actors, the sprawl remains, and is in this way obdurate or locked-in. The field of sustainability transitions and the model of transitions management were explored here to understand how actors can leverage societal concerns related to sprawl as well as elements of the socio-technical landscape to transition away from sprawl and towards a more sustainable urban form. It appears that some concerns are more powerful than others in leveraging a transition: The BRV as well as Regionet Leuven and Labo XX all leverage population growth to modify the spatial composition of the territory and intensify development around public transportation. It has yet to be seen whether these ongoing studies, plans and projects will succeed in permeating political and societal discourses to produce a transition in Flanders, but it seems the seeds have been lain for such a transition.

For access to the original master thesis with more detailed descriptions and analyses, please contact the author at contact: [email protected]

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Interviews

Date of Place Interviewee Title Affiliation interview 25/06/2015 Brussels Wiet Project Manager Spatial Planning Vandaele Department of Flanders 28/06/2015 Ghent Michiel Van PhD Student Department of Social Meeteren and Economic Geography, University

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of Ghent 30/06/2015 Brussels Nik Naudts Architect Architecture Workroom 01/07/2015 Mechelen Hans Van Traffic Expert De Lijn (Flemish Hoof Public Transportation Company) 07/07/2015 Brussels Anne Malliet Project Manager Flemish Government Architect’s Office 08/07/2015 Brussels Filip Canfyn Author of Het syndroom City of Kortrijk van

verkavelingsvlaanderen (2014)/ Former Director of Urban Planning and Development 09/07/2015 Leuven Karl Mobility Coordinator/ Department of Vermaercke/ Mobility Supervisor Mobility and Public Kim Wouters Policy, Department of Mobility and Roads, Province of Flemish Brabant 10/07/2015 Brussels Bram Chief Urban Designer Eurostation Vermeulen 15/07/2015 Leuven Kevin Architect/Urban Planner BUUR – Bureau voor Penalva- urbanisme (Urbanism Halpin Office) 16/07/2015 Brussels Chris Professor of Geography Department of Earth Kesteloot and Environmental Sciences of the Catholic University of Leuven 17/07/2015 Ghent Simon Architect and Spatial Department of Spatial Verledens Planner Planning of the City of Ghent 23/07/2015 Brussels Jan Zaman Researcher Spatial Planning Department of Flanders 11/08/2015 Brussels Pascal De Professor of Architecture Department of Decker Architecture at Catholic University of Leuven (Sint-Lucas campus)

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EUROMASTER IN URBANSTUDIES

This publication assembles ten chapters, each of which contains the �indings of research undertaken for the author’s master thesis, the capstone project in the 4CITIES Master’s Programme in Urban Studies (http://www.4cities.eu). As many Master’s theses are only read by a student’s supervisor and others who takes part in evaluating the work, and in some rarer cases by future students seeking inspiration for their own work, this e-book is a collective attempt to save the results of many months of research and analysis from dusty library shelves or forgotten online �inal resting places.

This book presents a mosaic of research that re�lect how urban studies as a research �ield covers the analysis of cities on the ground and up to how cities are connected at a larger spatial scale. At the same time, the in�luence of local contexts is con�irmed, illustrating how the researched phenomena play out differently in historical versus contemporary circumstances, as well as different social, economic and political contexts. It is especially interesting to note the international (albeit purely European) character of the case studies included: From the Southern European cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Salamanca, to the Western European cities of Berlin, Copenhagen, Manchester, Metz, Magdeburg and Vienna, and the region of Flanders, to the Eastern European cities of Budapest and Szczecin, this publication introduces local contexts and their trajectories of spatial development; be they converging or diverging.

Institut für Geographie und Regionalforschung