In this article, I contribute to recent debates about the concept of neoliberalism and its use as an explanatory concept, through the analysis of urban planning and regeneration policy in Lisbon amidst crisis and austerity. Suggesting a look at neoliberalization from a threefold perspective-the project, governmentalities, and policymaking-I analyze how current austerity-policy responses to the European economic crisis can be understood as a renewed and coherent deployment of neoliberal stances. The article presents implications for urban planning in Lisbon and thus suggests an exploration of the negotiations and clashes of hegemonic neoliberal governmentalities and policies with the local social and spatial fabric. For this exploration, I select a "deviant" case-the Mouraria neighborhood, a "dense" space in which the consequences of policies diverge sharply from expectations. In conclusion, I suggest that neoliberalization (in times of crisis) should be understood as a coherent project compromised by a set of highly ambiguous governmentalities, which bring about contradictory policymaking at the local level.
The article contributes to recent discussions on convergence/divergence of local policies for urban security and public safety amid globalization, exploring comparatively local approaches to crime prevention and explaining differences/similarities through multilevel connections. I analyze situational prevention, social policy, and proximity/community policing in two “not-so-global” metropolises: Lisbon, where security is the goal of a wide set of policies in many fields, and Memphis, where social problems have become security issues and policing the only game in town. Differing approaches are explained on the grounds of political traditions, neoliberalization of policy, and multilevel relations among polities. I discuss implications for the relation between policy and policing: Police attempts at social outreach amid coupling/decoupling of security with/from urban policy, and the “mission creep” of policing when it is expected to lead prevention. Conclusions advocate that policy reform is necessary at many levels to deal with the intersection of crime, retrenching welfare, and aggressive policing in U.S. cities such as Memphis.
Full reference: Allegra M., Tulumello S., Colombo A., Ferrão J. (2020), "The (hidden) role of the EU on housing policy: the case of Portugal in multi-scalar perspective", European Planning Studies, online rst.
We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for constructive critique and detailed suggestions, which helped us streamline and strengthen our arguments. Simone Tulumello is funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (DL57/2016/CP1441/CT0007).
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