Policy mobilities as informal processes: evidence from “creative city” policy-making in Gdańsk and Stockholm

Abstract

This paper emphasizes the role of informal and ad hoc processes in policy-mobility by analyzing "creative city" policy in two relatively marginalized and neglected urban contexts-Gdańsk (Poland) and Stockholm (Sweden). The paper extends studies of "creative city" policy to diversify understandings of policy mobilities as a "social condition" in which territorial and relational aspects are combined as cities "arrive at" mobile policy, to contribute to provincializing urban theory and comparative urban analyses. Extending recent literature emphasizing the role of formal "informational infrastructures" in understanding policy mobilities this paper develops new insights into: the ways in which informal and ad hoc processes coexist with and are important for the operation of formal processes; what the learning process in cities actually looks like in different contexts; and the role of individuals in policy-making as a social condition. The Conclusion draws out the wider implications of these points for understanding policy mobilities.

Knowledge and place-based development – towards networks of deep learning

“…Similarly, Dzudzek and Lindner (2015, 391) argue that policies do not just 'land' in a place, but interact with the local governance regime in 'a process of intense mutual engagement'. Moreover, Borén and Young (2020) emphasize the various informalities involved in networked learning. Although formal 'informational infrastructures' (McCann 2011;Andersson and Cook 2019) such as conferences, meetings and similar social events, are important in facilitating the transfer of ideas, knowledge and beliefs, recognizing that much learning takes place by serendipity within rather informal contexts is an additional key to understanding how learning in networks actually comes about.…”

“…We argue that leading actors could be expected to ensure the inclusion of both local knowledge and place-based knowledge in development actions, and that constructing mutually beneficial learning loops based on these is a collective and relational effort, demanding opportunities, time and ultimately money. In a sense, a network of deep learning is an 'informational infrastructure' (McCann 2011), but one which involves 'satisfaction' (Fazey et al 2013), social learning (von Schönfeld et al 2019) and opportunities for informal exchanges (Borén and Young 2020). Moreover, in a network of deep learning, the 'linkages' (Rydin 2007) are sustained over a long period to sufficiently include, and make possible the learning of the local traditions (Lennon 2017).…”

Spatializing authoritarian neoliberalism by way of cultural politics: City, nation and the European Union in Gdańsk’s politics of cultural policy formation

“…So now we can discuss … with the people who are travelling around the world, travelling around Europe, who know something about how different cities can develop. So, from the cultural point of view it is also very important that they were somewhere, and they have some friends from the different parts of the world … Here it is clear that engagement with the EU goes beyond funding and is beneficial because it allows for engagement with globally mobile ideas and individuals (Borén and Young, 2020). Engagement with EU programmes and funding is thus part of a wider ‘creative infrastructure’ which combines formal programmes and the requirements of funding streams with opportunities to encounter ideas and knowledge on an international scale, which can then be adapted to local circumstances.…”

The ordinariness of struggle and exclusion: a view from across the north–south urban ‘divide’

“…Despite lingering claims of unique processes in global-south cities as a critical reaction to longstanding Western ethnocentrism, comparative urban research nonetheless has burgeoned to examine differences between north-south contexts while calling attention to wide-ranging similarities among cities worldwide, from policy (Peck and Theodore, 2015) to informality (for example, Borén and Young, 2020;Chiodelli, 2019;Durst and Wegmann, 2017;Jaffe and Koster, 2019;Parker, 2020;Parkinson et al, 2020;Roy, 2011;Sheppard et al, 2020;Tucker and Devlin, 2019). We suggest that enduring tendencies of people towards exercising power to reap rewards at the expense of others along multiple axes of difference broadly explain why cities of different sizes, demographic and institutional configurations and historical processes across the so-called 'north-south divide' share features that frame lived experience.…”