Industrial Infrastructure: Translocal Planning for Global Production in Ethiopia and Argentina

Abstract

Current development and re-development of industrial areas cannot be adequately understood without taking into account the organisational structures and logistics of commodity production on a planetary scale. Global production networks contribute not only to the reconfiguration of urban spatial and economic structures in many places, but they also give rise to novel transnational actor constellations, thus reconfiguring planning processes. This article explores such constellations and their urban outcomes by investigating two current cases of industrial development linked with multilateral transport-infrastructure provisioning in Ethiopia and Argentina. In both cases, international partners are involved, in particular with stakeholders based in China playing significant roles. In Mekelle, Ethiopia, we focus on the establishment of a commodity hub through the implementation of new industry parks for global garment production and road and rail connections to international seaports. In the Rosario metropolitan area in Argentina, major cargo rail and port facilities are under development to expand the country’s most important ports for soybean export. By mapping the physical architectures of the industrial and infrastructure complexes and their urban contexts and tracing the translocal actor constellations involved in infrastructure provisioning and operation, we analyse the spatial impacts of the projects as well as the related implications for planning governance. The article contributes to emergent scholarship and theorisations of urban infrastructure and global production networks, as well as policy mobility and the transnational constitution of planning knowledge and practices.

Industrial development and urban spatial planning practices: The case of Galan and Dukem cities in Ethiopia

“…Among other things, the limited capacity of urban and regional planners, municipal urban designers, and related expertise partly contributed to a haphazard urban settlement that has also been aggravated by migrants looking for economic opportunities. Consultation and collaboration are indispensable for successful spatial planning [ 15 , 55 ]. Cities are a product of the interaction between political and economic decisions made by several actors [ 24 ].…”

“…Moreover, institutions are crucial in contexts where many interdependent decisions and agreements occur [ 51 ]. The creation of urban spaces is a result of an imbalanced interaction among global, national, and municipal actors, each with conflicting aims [ 15 ]. Pertinent stakeholders' participation and institutional collaboration are indispensable for the effective implementation of urban spatial plans [ 25 , 36 ].…”

“…Yet, urban planning practice is deeply political [ 55 , 67 ], the state is the leading actor in creating legislation and is responsible for the plan implementations gap [ 2 ], and political ideology shapes how planning is managed [ 39 ]. The need for understanding planning in a context of conflicting rationalities and the role of power in shaping urban spaces is indispensable [ 15 , 57 , 68 ]. Urban activities, whether economic, social, or any other influenced and guided by politics [ 69 , 70 ].…”

“…The relationship between urban spatial planning, human life, and society is intricate and far-reaching. Urban spatial planning influences the physical urban environment, including the location of industries [ [8] , [9] , [10] ], land allocation [ 2 , [11] , [12] , [13] ], arrangement of buildings [ 14 ], infrastructure networks [ 15 ], and urban parks [ 16 , 17 ], and can significantly impact inhabitants quality of life [ 8 , [18] , [19] , [20] ]. Thoughtful urban spatial planning can enhance urban residents' quality of life and promote sustainability [ 3 , 13 , 18 , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] ].…”

Unboxing Urban Infrastructure: Three Methodologies for infrastructure-oriented Urban Design and Architecture Education

“…Therefore, to compose an understanding of their nature, the construction of descriptive narratives and images is necessary. The following three methodologies approach the exploration of infrastructural regimes through different scales and scopes and have been developed and inspired by a group of colleagues in and outside of the Technical University Berlin concerned with infrastructure-centered research and design education for years [13]. They all depart from studying material underpinnings of vital systems that allow contemporary cities to exist.…”