Geography, Difference and the Politics of Scale

Smith, Neil

doi:10.1007/978-1-349-22183-7_4

Cited by 367 publications

(188 citation statements)

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“…During the evolution of the conception and theories of Scale, there have been several well-known theories in the published international literature, such as scale jumping [3], scale penetrating [17] and scale overlapping [9], which provides a theoretical framework for analyzing the scale strategies in neoliberal urbanization policy in China. Howitt (2003) [1] contends that "scale" is far beyond a single definition, and has become a central theoretical process since 1980s.…”

Section: Scale and Scaling-up In The Context Of Chinese Urban Developmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling-up Strategy as an Appropriate Approach for Sustainable New Town Development? Lessons from Wujin, Changzhou, China

Chen

Cheng

et al. 2015

Sustainability

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China has achieved rapid urbanization and unprecedented economic booming over the past three decades. Numerous cities and towns dreamed of cloning the miracles of Shenzhen and Pudong, Shanghai, in terms of their international development. However, inappropriate development strategies have meant that the majority of fast expanding urban suburbs or newly developed towns suffer a high ratio of vacant dwellings in real estate markets and a massive loss of farmland. The frequent exposure of these empty cities to mass media or the public has urged urban governments to impose fiscal austerity. These unexpected and negative consequences of urban development have explicit conflicts with sustainability. This paper aims to provide a political economy view of these unsustainable outcomes of new development. To achieve this, the processes and agendas of new city or town planning in Wujin District, Changzhou City, are analyzed and evaluated from the OPEN ACCESS Sustainability 2015, 7 5683 perspective of scale theory. Extensive interviews conducted with local politicians at different levels, planners, real estate agents and local residents facilitate the interpretation of these processes and agendas. It is argued that the legends of Shenzhen and Pudong, Shanghai originate from a modified neoliberal capitalism intervention at the right time and place, with which other peer cities are not comparable. It is concluded that the scaling-up strategy is not appropriate for the local new town development of Wujin, which has led to unsustainable outcomes-empty cities and towns-and created important lessons for the sustainable development of Chinese cities.

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Section: Scale and Scaling-up In The Context Of Chinese Urban Developmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling-up Strategy as an Appropriate Approach for Sustainable New Town Development? Lessons from Wujin, Changzhou, China

Chen

Cheng

et al. 2015

Sustainability

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“…Também caberia à Geografia a compreensão das articulações escalares envolvidas no processo de produção do espaço. Nenhuma outra disciplina desenvolveu um arcabouço teórico-metodológico capaz de articular as escalas, tal qual a Geografia (Smith, 1992;. Aqueles agentes que possuem maior mobilidade e detêm o poder de "saltar escalas" são os que podem subverter a ordem estabelecida, definir a agenda das políticas públicas e controlar o Estado.…”

Section: A Importância Das Escalas Geográficasunclassified

Saúde: fundamentos de Geografia humana

Guimarães¹

2014

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“…The debate about scalar politics has primarily occurred within political economic (Brown and Purcell, 2005; cf Brenner, 1997;Smith, 1992) and urban geography (Neumann, 2009; cf Leitner et al, 2002;Marston, 2000), with recent contributions from poststructuralist work (MacKinnon, 2011), but human-environment geographers have also sought to further our insights on the construction and politics of scale, particularly in the field of political ecology (Buzzelli, 2008;Neumann, 2009). This use may be most prominent in considerations of environmental justice, where scholars have noted that the choice of scale influences whether injustices are found (Cutter et al, 1996), and that the scale of governance responses differs from that of the injustice (Darby, 2012).…”

Section: The Rise Of Local Sustainabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Scalar Politics and Local Sustainability: Rethinking Governance and Justice in an Era of Political and Environmental Change

Lawhon

Patel

2013

Environ Plann C Gov Policy

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Abstract. The local was institutionalised as a key scale for environmental action at the Earth Summit, and remains salient in discourse, policy, and action. However, given both real changes and geographical insights into the politics of scale in the past twenty years, we suggest it is time to (re)consider this focus. We assess local sustainability through the lens of scalar politics, arguing for the need to consider what challenges particular scale frames foreground and which they silence. We focus on three changes which have occurred in the last twenty years-the growing salience of the Global South, shifts from environmentalism to sustainability, and new governance patterns-and reflect on the significance of these changes for local sustainability. We suggest the local frame occludes questions of international responsibility and justice, and that the changes since Rio require that we reconsider the scalar frame of local sustainability. We conclude by questioning who benefits from the local frame, and when, where, and for whom a focus on local sustainability may be relevant and ethical.

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Geography, Difference and the Politics of Scale

Cited by 367 publications

References 0 publications

Scaling-up Strategy as an Appropriate Approach for Sustainable New Town Development? Lessons from Wujin, Changzhou, China

Scaling-up Strategy as an Appropriate Approach for Sustainable New Town Development? Lessons from Wujin, Changzhou, China

Saúde: fundamentos de Geografia humana

Scalar Politics and Local Sustainability: Rethinking Governance and Justice in an Era of Political and Environmental Change

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