Metropolitics

Professionalisation, gentrification and welfare reform: 20 years of socio-spatial change in London

Manuel Appert & Anaïs Collet & Chris Hamnett — 2013-06-19T04:55:00Z

The 2008 financial crisis called time on a long period of economic transformation in European cities that has seen their socio-spatial structures change radically. The conventional wisdom, in line with the works of Sassen, is that social inequalities have increased, but Chris Hamnett, interviewed by Metropolitics, takes a more finely shaded view, and invites us to take a closer look at the trajectories of ethnic minorities and the impacts of welfare reform. Major cities across the world - Interviews / gentrification, ethnicity, housing, housing policy, inequalities, welfare state, urban regeneration, globalization, socio-spatial inequalities, polarization, displacement, metropolization, replacement

The Negotiated Urbanism of Grand Paris Express

Lara Belkind — 2013-06-12T04:55:00Z

In the fragmented context of Paris's metropolitan and regional politics, the Grand Pari(s) design consultation and subsequent public process demonstrate that the Grand Paris Express project, a major new orbital metro line, can become a form of emergent governance and negotiated planning. Although the Grand Pari(s) design consultation can be interpreted as a strategy through which the state regained control of the metropolitan narrative, this does not signal a return to the centralized - Debates / banlieue, Grand Paris, participation, public transportation, urban planning, governance, local governance, transport, metropolis, Greater Paris, consultation

“Soft densification” in Canada

Anastasia Touati & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-06-05T09:41:09Z

Against the backdrop of a housing crisis, a number of local authorities in Ontario, Canada, have developed policies to encourage the creation of “accessory apartments” or “secondary suites” – in other words, new dwellings within single-family homes. Anastasia Touati analyses the advantages, as well as the ambiguities, of this novel form of residential densification. Urban densification: a range of possibilities For the last 15 years, densification has been at the heart of sustainable urban - From the field / housing, density, housing estates, densification, subdivisions, crisis, affordable housing

Pedestrians, cars and the city

Cédric Feriel & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-05-29T10:01:37Z

Pedestrianisation and the ability to get around the city on foot are key considerations in contemporary projects for public spaces – and yet the very first pedestrian zones date back to the 1960s, not just in Europe but also in the United States. Cédric Feriel re-examines this important legacy in the light of current thinking on the subject. Since the early 2000s, pedestrians have regained their place at the heart of debates on urban development in Europe and the United States (Urbanisme 2008; - From the field / public space, downtown, city centre, pedestrian

Château Rouge: a “Little Africa” in Paris?

Marie Chabrol & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-05-22T04:55:00Z

The Château Rouge area of Paris is regarded as an “African neighbourhood”. But what is the reality behind this image? Marie Chabrol shows that it has less to do with residents' backgrounds than with the commercial uses of the area, which put this district at the heart of large-scale mobilities. Paris, like any major metropolis, has different neighbourhoods whose images are built and rebuilt around business activities linked to immigration. The Château Rouge area – situated in the shadow of - From the field / immigration, public space, mobility, retail, neighbourhood, Goutte d'Or, Château Rouge, ethnic retail, user, use of space

Haussmann: from modernity to revolution

Jean-Marie Huriot & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-05-15T08:32:12Z

Jean-Marie Huriot shows how the latest work by geographer David Harvey to be translated into French sheds new light on the major changes that affected Paris from 1848 to 1871. Through a process of creative destruction, “Haussmannisation” brought with it modernity, but also set the stage for the rise of the Paris Commune. In the tumultuous period of Paris's history that extends from the barricades of 1848 to the bloody repression of the Commune in 1871, profound transformations occurred that are - Reviews / capitalism, urban history, social movement, Haussmann, Marxism

Beirut: the new front lines of urban research

Éric Verdeil & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-05-06T05:05:00Z

In Beirut, the extremely rapid transformations of both urban spaces and urban policy raise a number of questions and give researchers much food for thought. Two recent collective works reflect the vitality of urban research in Beirut today and the revival of critical urban theory. Since the Civil War years, urban issues have become much debated in Beirut. Researchers explored the social and sectarian roots of the fragmentation of urban areas in Lebanon (Seurat 1989; Nasr 1985) and became - Reviews / public space, reconstruction, civil war

Mongolian (urban) homes

Lucile Chombart de Lauwe & Justine Pribetich & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-04-29T13:05:57Z

The rapid urbanisation that Mongolia has undergone in recent years has changed the way its population lives. These transformations – at the crossroads between traditional culture, Soviet influence and Westernisation – are here portrayed in pictures by Lucile Chombart de Lauwe and in words by Justine Pribetich. How are we to address these changes and transformations? How are we to understand them? It is by combining two approaches – the first photographic, the second sociological – that we are - From the field / housing, urbanization

Identity checks and the law

Nathalie Ferré & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-04-24T10:04:47Z

In France, the issue of identity checks is at the heart of the thorny debate on how to ensure better relations between the police and the public. Against a backdrop of discussions on whether to issue “ID check receipts”, reintroduce uniform numbers or establish a new code of ethics, Nathalie Ferré here provides an overview of the current legal framework. The existence of proper legislation regarding identity checks in France is relatively recent. Until the 1980s, the national police acted on - Debates / public space, democracy, police, policing, public order, law, identity checks

Regulating public spaces: the ambiguous role played by new professions

Jacques de Maillard & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-04-17T13:52:12Z

Despite a hiatus in the debate on community policing in France, the “new professions” involved in regulating public order have been the subject of renewed interest of late. Jacques de Maillard has studied the work of correspondants de nuit (“night-time mediators”) in Paris, and here describes how an alternative – a compromise between repression and abandonment – has been sought. In the early 1990s, initiatives to manage conflict in public places, on public transport and in social-housing - From the field / public space, safety, proximity, profession, policing, security, public order